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26 'iriftPfiifT?jjjitiiij-.iii'iiii up to the present imoment. The discussion has been pro- 'longed. thorough and exhaustive. The case has gone to the, Jury and a verdict has been given. The sovereign people, after fullest inquiry and investigation, have pronounced upon it. The Govern- ment confidently expected a favorable verdict. and has not been disappointed. Further. Mr. Speaker, in no less than nine of our important counties, there has been a complete rehearing of the case, there has been a second trial, so to speak, all the evidence has been gone over in minuteat detaiiu. second time. the arguments have. been repeated and a. second verdict rendered eontlrming that Riven on the lat of March. When Hon. Richard Harcourt. rose to deliver his budget speech he was greeted with loud _cheers from the Gov- ernment benches. He was in tine form, and his exposition of the position ot the financial affairs'of the Province was masterly and convincing. After a few brief remarks of a. congratulatory na- ture. he took up the question " finance and said ".--- a. measure which. he trdikeF, meet with approval of the'House and the country. The Provinclal Treasur- er was followed by Mi. Mathewson, who made an attack on the Government's financial policy, suggested the issue of 3 per cent. Provincial securitles and de.. nounced the omeltb% for interfering in the bye-elections. . There are very manifest reasons. Mr. Speaker. why I need not discuss the finances of the Provinces at any great length on the present occasion. For weeks prior to the last general elec- tion, from one end of the Province to the other our finances were minutely discussed from a thousand platforms. The newspapers of the Province, reach- ing each day tens of thousands of read- ers. joined in the discussion and gave valuable space and much intelligent at- tention to the same subject. Ordinar- ily a lull follows a general election, and these much-discussed topics, no matter how interesting or important they may be, are, between sessions at any rate, kept in the background. nut, Mr. Speaker. recent political happenings have been quite exceptional and far from ordinary. We have not expeN- enced the usual lull mfpoimo'al discus- Mon. A special session of the House has been held since the general election of March last. and following the spe- cial session we have had nine bye-elec- tions in different parts of the Province. and the earnest discussion of these party issues has, thereforeiigen cease~ The Budget Speech. We received In 1998 an Crown lands revenue the large sum " $1,ll'?..rf'.'.. fi'heers.) This reoNpt ts $163,909 bo- yond our estimab. (Rnnewwl chnr'rs.) Our average Crown lands receipt from 1867 to 1897 inolnsl'm is .t.9t9,.n'?1. F'O that tho t'cceipt of 18994 iv, considerably above the average. We receivsvl Itat year from the woods and forests 3981.186: as rent from mining lands. te.g4ic from sale of Crown lands, 342.693. Thes, are the largest items in our Crown lands us. In 1897 v P tirrrr1 hum the no mlnlon as interest $2l'LiH: in 1596. $214, 528; in 1895. $262,274. In 189t we retelv ed 3310.020. oelpts. The am aunt of th, annual "Ub- sidy received from the Dominron Gov- ernment, 'st' 'ourw'. remains the same as~herotororn Wo renelved ttndray the head of inturoet in 18.1; t3irt..tls't. The corresponding receipt last year was $247,435. In 1896 '. W": "2'1".371. This large Interest rocoipt mch wax- is com- posed almost cxchmlrnlv of three items, 'sa.. interest rm mp'hl sums dm. Us from the Dominion, itttettst on our special deposits tn -he hanka, and in- terest on our dl'alnmu downturn-s. In 1898 we receivvd 'tyr.,'.",: as int-rost on our bank dtn,nooi.'a, 5:13.031 mum-st. on our drainage loans. anal $2if.414 intwes: received from the Domlxrtun Govern- ment on the nln'i','_\'5 it holds in trust t.tr us. In 1897 v P tirrrr1 hum the Ud- Receipts Exceed the Estimates. Our total receipts for 1898 amounted to $3,647,353. In December, 1897, when addressing the House, I estimated that we would receive 43,310,Ti"2. We have, therefore, an excess of receipts over the estimates amounting . to $333,981. (Cheers) In 1897 we aim had an ex- cess of actual over estimated receipts amounting to $722,087. In 1896 the ex- cess was $192,000. This constantly re- curring large excess of actual over es- timated receipts helps to explain the do- lusion my hon. friend from South Lan- ark delights to indulge in, when he from time to time gleefully announces that we are to have a large deficit in some particular year. My hon. friend invariably quotes for purposes of calcu- lation the ~estimated receipt instead of the actual receipt. although no one knows better than he that the latter invariably exceeds the former by hundreds ot thousands of .lviiurs. Recent occurrences in Provincial poli- ties, to which I new] rfot more dccmaitely allude, amply prove that the elm-tors and_the public gene-Milt; in not take my hon. frivnd vary seriously. The de- lusion seems to plane my hon. friend: It deoeives no one, and (improve T med not further l't'f'T to it. I will, Mr. Spa-akin now very trlofty refer to some of amr mas: 1mpovta.nt re- ceipts. The am mnt of tho annual "ub- I allude to these acts, Jr, in these general terms simply and only as giving a good reason why I should not be ex- pected to speak at any great length this attgnoon. As usual, Mr. Speaker. I wm tihrt refer to the receipts of tho Province for the year 1898. and Speak briefly of our leading sources of revenue in the order of their relative import- ance. '