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a Falling off. Our estil rent year, however, is be a slight increase of £50,000. Whether we expectations or not rer The operation . of sion -- duties act h satisfactory, and, -- al with some oppositi quarters when first i ' 11 e i ie e mcertit practically all opposic drawn. It does not ta> estate ; it does not tax of the man of mode reaches those large which -- sometimes have through what has been C fits of the unearned i from savings or investm P TB t _ _Now, to pass on rapidly, I will refer to the expenditure of the Province. In 1898 our expenditure was $3,803,081.38. In 1899 it was £38,710,420.82, or less by £92.0600.56 than the expenditure of the | previous year. In that expenditure let 'me notice two or three cireumstances "worthy of attention. In 1898, instead of paying our railway eertificates out \ of revenue, we sold annuities, and they | were paid in that way. In 1899 we paid | railway certificates out of our ordinary revenue account, and we paid out for this purpose $236,5786.32%. Had it not been for the increase of revenue that we received we might not have been able to do that. I think it is well that the revenue of the country should be maintained if possible, leaving margin enough to enable us to pay these rail-- way aid eertificates as they become due. Our expenditure. therefore, I am sure, will be satisfactory to hon. gen-- tiemen opposite. On education there was a slight increasge in the expenditure ag compared with the previous year ; in facét, in almost every instance where the expeonditure was for the mainten-- eral wealth of the country, and to the wealth of corporations in particular, by giving them such advantages as that expenditure -- necessarily -- involves, +t was but reasonable that we should ask them to contribute something in re-- turn. bli The Provincial Expenditure. off. Our estimate for the cur-- r, however, is that there wili ht increase of some $40,000 or Whether we will realize these ons or not remains to be seen. »eration . of the succes-- ities -- act has hbeen very ory, ard, although it met me opposition in -- certain when first imposed, I think ty all opposition is now with-- 1t does not tax the poor man's t does not tax even the estate nan of moderate means ; it those -- large accumulations c tmtse 'have ~been Inadt «nce of some great public se t was an increase. For instance, in Ifi -- pitals and charities there was a slight increase of about $15.000. In agricul-- ture there was an increase of about $15,000 also. In public buildings there was an increase of about $14.000, the increase in that connection being caus-- ed by the erection of a Normal School at London and by some other changes necessarily imposed upon us. We think that civil government in Ontario has always been carried on at very rea-- sonable expense, We propose a slight increase this year, but under that head I think no reasonable eriticism will put the Government to shame, either in the salaries paid to our publie ofiicers or in the contingencies required for the pub-- lic service. In the administration of justice, of course, there is a growing charge. Every new township, or block of townships at all events, added to our territory imposes a charge upon the Department of Justice. We have to build lockups in the small towns in the north ; we have to appoint Police Mag-- istrates or Stiperdiary Magistrates and constables ; we have to preserve the peace ; we have to make secure the person and property of every man who goes into the country, and as the cour-- ' The charge for public insLitutinns.' hospitals and charities last year| amounted to over $1,000,000. T'nese1 items have furnished hon. gentlemen. | opposite for many years with mater-- |ial for criticism, which, I think,. ;on the whole, was not very well found-- ) ed, but which serves, at all events, to | put the Government upon its guard, and to observe the greatest economy in 'lhe expenditure of such a large sum of | money. 1t is evident that for all time | to come, unless there is some radical | change in the physical economy of »ur i people, that the maintenance of our public institutions will be a heavy charge upon us. I think perhaps one of the most gratifying features of the methods of government which were adopted in this Province at Confedera-- tion is the fact that we have assumed the care of those who are helpless, sometimes the indigent and the suffer-- ers from hereditary weakness, or from misfortune which leads to insanity and inability to take care of themselves. The grand total of admissions to luna-- tic asylums and idict asylums and hospitals and charities since Confeder-- ation has been 8369.376. In the four years from 1867 to 1871 the cost of in-- mates of our asylums was $140.70. The cost in 1899 was $124.05, a de-- creasoe of $16.65 per patient. The per try expands to the north, so will the expenditures of the Department of Jus-- tice grow. creasge of $16.65 per patient. The per capita cost from 1872 to 1839--that is, the average of 27 years--was $132.0G8, so that our cost in 1899 is less than it was in the four years from 18067 to 1871. and is lower by about $8.61 than the average cost between 1871 and 18909}. . Now, if reduction in cost means anything it means that -- reasonable cconomy has been practised. Taking Public Institutions. 63