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1 34 alarm about the reduction in the cut of timber, as the Americans: reéequire our timber, and if they do not get it in the shape of logs they will ta,k;a it as X122« has o r re a reason for"l'r'i'l'pos'fr?g? tm'st tat)a;.'mn?. He found the true reason in the facts which he had asgerted for years, name-- ly, that the Government has been going behind each year at the rate of $400,-- 000 a year, because the Government has not -- cut down -- the expenditure. He charged.. that. there -- had been no serious attempt by the Government to reduce the expenditures, but, on the contrary, there had been _ a steady in-- crease all round: The reduction in ex-- penditure, he declared,. was not needed L1 _ 4 We l lona l ie 41200 Ee o m O aex e i e o2 ta in any one item, but throughout the whote service of the Province. It was not, however, for the Opposition _ to point out where the expenditure should be decreased ; but he intimated that there should be a reorganization of the whole service. -- Neither would Mr. \Matheson criticize the items of the re-- 'solutions, but asked why it was neces-- sary to impose $20,000 of taxation upon the railways or $100 each upon the hotelkeepers of Toronto in order that Mr. Rutter should get $20,000 more per annum than he should get ?--.0r why they should rob the widows and or-- phans of the Province of $40,000 or $50,-- 000, which, if the company did not have to pay it in taxes, would be added to the policies of their husbands and fathers. in order that Mr. Noxon might get $1,700 from the Dominion Govern-- ment for services rendered while he was in the employ of the Province, which only deducted $400 from his sal-- ary for the time during which he was absent from his duties ? In passing, | Mr. Matheson raised the point that the \ Government was by this bill depriving \the municipalities of sources of taxa-- \tion. The bill was, he declared, but the 'thin end of the wedge, which prepared \the way for future increases in taxa-- tion,. The tax of $5 per mile upon rail-- ways could easily be increased to $1i0. Mr. Matheson's speech was received with heaity applause from the Opposi-- tion benches. Mr. Graham was pleased to know that Mr. Matheson agroed that the bill was on the right principle. The latter had nothing to say so far as the prin-- ciple of the bill was concerned, and the only observation pertinent to the meas-- ure which he had uttered was that he thkought there should be no more tax-- ation,. but the expenditure should be re-- duted. '(He was glad to hear an expres-- sion in favor of economy from Mr. MNatheson, because, bearing in mind that gentleman's record, he would not -- have suspected him of any desire to reduce the expendi-- ture. It was not so many years ago that Mr. Matheson labored faithfully in his own constituency to defend the prodigal expenditures of his Conserva-- tive leaders, and he had no word of con-- demnation for the vast expenditure made upon the Tay Canal. Mr. Matheson--Oh, that's a chestnut. Mr. Graham, proceeding, said that in spite of these facts Mr. Matheson pro-- fessed to be horrified at the expenditure that was going on in Ontario. The hon. gertleman wanted to have reductions Mr. Graham's Speech. ~made, but he failea to cite wherein the present expenditures were extravagant. Mr. Matheson was supposed to be here | in the interests of the Province, and | although he claimed that there should be: retrenchment, he failed to show , where economy should be carried out.| In the absence of this information it must be presumed that the Opposition | had no ground for their charges, and| were simply drawing on their lmagin-! ation. Time and time again the Oppo--| sition had been challenged to point to | wrongful expenditures, but had failed to do so. The previous speaker had | drawn a woeful picture of the suffer-'; | ings of widows and orphans under tax--; | ation. They were not the parties who ' would be taxed. The principle of the bill was to tax those who were most able to bear taxation. The bill suc-- cecded admirably in that purpose, and talk about widows and orphans would rot appeal to the common sense of the community. These institutions and corporations were making large profits and could well afford to pay. He did not belteve in setting one portion of the community in antagonism against the other, but it must be remembered that for many years past these. large corporations had not borne their share of taxation. Any law which sought to make the wealth of Ontario pay its pro-- per proportion of taxation ought' to go Su I -- VEVT ¥i c a. lb LAE hnd «ul dieipedreaiiraadiinmeen anry Ip through without opposition. Referring | to the Opposition criticism of the ex--| penditure, Mr. Graham said it was not' a sound argument to say that because the expenditure stood at a certain fig-- ure at a certain period it must remain there for all time. Our business was increasing, and the development of a country entailed additional responsibili-- ties. It was said the Province borrow-- ed money on annuities. It should be said in all fairness that when new lia-- bilities were Iincurred by the sale of annuities the proceeds retired other railway liwbilities. Rather than recede the Province must increase its expendi-- tures for the purposa of developing and4 opening up the country. Mr. Harcourt replicd that he had re-- ceived a letter from the Manager of the bank in question that morning. The bank certainly came under the provi-- sions of the bill, but tnere were cer--| tain exceptional cireumstances in its case which would be considered. At 6 o'clock the Speaker icft-- the At 6 o'c chair. _ Mr. McLaughlin cited the case of a Quebec bank which had only one branch in Ontario. Would the full tax be levied on that institution? If so it would be driven out of business. _ _ enue Evening Session.