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sATURDAY, MARCH 31. | Many measures were considered at 'yesterday afternoon's session of the \Legislature. The attendance was slim, lbut this did not detract from the de-- 'spatch of business. The only enliven-- ing incident was an attack by Mr. iBea,tty (Leeds) upon the system of measurement of lumber in use in On-- 'tario, which, he said, inured greatly to ithe benefit of the lumbermen by reck-- [onlnx a lower number of feet than was iactually the case. A short, spirited de-- bate followed, during which it was pointed out by members on the oppo-- site side of the House that no rule of measurement was in itself perfectly correct. -- In reply to «Mr. Monteith (South 'Perth), who asked what amount of time the Government agent had given to 'an examination of the spruce or other itimter included in the 75 miles' reser-- .vation granted to the Sturgeon Falls 'Pulp & Paper Company, also to the 'Spanish Pulp & Paper Company, Hon. 'Mr. Davis said no reservation had :been granted to either of these com-- panies. 'Present System in Ontario-- Vig-- orously Attacked. Mr. Beatty (Leeds) moved for a re-- turn giving a copy of the order in Coun-- 'cil changing the Ontario standard of Jlog measurement from the Scribner to 'the Doyle or Durkin rule. In doing so he made an attack on the present sys-- tem of log measurement. Under it, he said, the Province received dues on 700 feet of timber, board measurement, iwhere the actual area was 1,000 fect, in 'other words the Doyle was 30 per cent. 'below the actual fact. Proceeding, Mr. 'Beatty objected to the sale of pine tim-- iber by public auction. He did not re-- MEASURING LOGS. PROVINCE SAID TO LOSE. Dr. ¥yne's Bill to Abolish Mortgage Covenants--Many Measures Con-- \_ sidered at Yesterday's Sitting of the Legislature, Measurement of Logs. Inspection of Pulp. Igard the present dues of $1.25 per M as sufficient return for the timber cut on our limits. He believed that the Pro-- vince had lost $3,000,000 dues through the Doyle rule. Hon. Mr. Davis said the Doyle rule had been substituted for the Scribner measurement of, logs in 1879 by the then Commissioner < of Crown Lands, the' late Mr. Pardee, than whom no officer of the Government ever enjoyed more the confidence of the people. The 'department considered that the Scrib-- ner system would return more measure-- ment from a run of small logs, while the Doyle rule would show a larger measurement for a run of large logs. He considered that Mr. Beatty's state-- ment criticizing the sale of pine tim-- ber by public auction was a condemna-- tion of the position taken by the Op-- position only the day previously. Mr. Davis had no objection to the motion for a return going through Mr. Matheson (South Lanark). said Mr. Beatty deserved the thanks of the House for bringing the matter up. In Nova Scotia, Quebec and other Provinces the Scribner rule was in force. Lumbermen who cut 1,000--feet in this Province paid dues on only 700 foet. He complained that there was no provision for the measuring of lumber after it is sawn, so that the Government's measurement might be ehecked. Mr. Conmee said neither the Doyle nor Scribner rule was correct. There could not be an exact measurement in the case of logs. In the Speak-- er's opinion, it did not make much difference which rule was adopted, the result in payment -- to the Province would be about the same, because when a limit was put up for sale the lumbermen knew what rule was going to be adopted. If there was a run of large timber in the limit the rule would be against the lumberman, and if it was a run of small timber, the rule would be in his favor. As a matter of fact, the Province had -- received more for its timber than would be considered a fair price in the open market. eoiael . . On the motion of Mr. Reld (Adding--| ton) the debate was adjourned. School Sections. Mr. Bain's bill to repeal that elause] of the school act requiring school sec-- tions to be undisturbed for five years was withdrawn, at the request of the Minister of Education. Position of Companies. Mr. Hill's bi'l imposing the same penalties for criminal acts upon com-- panies doing business in Ontario as upon private individuals was allowed to stand.. . The provision making the President and Manager of a company responsible for all the acts of employees was char-- acterized by Hon. Mr. Stratton as absurd, and outside the jurisdiction of 'the Legislature. Abolition of Covenants. _ A bill by Dr. Pyne sought to amend No Rule Is Correct. Mr. Davis' Reply.