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THURSDAY. t Jim Legislature sat ior only fifteen: minutes yesterday, and transacted rou-l , tine business. There was a holiday'; .air, after the heavy work oi the pre-1 mious day, and members' minds wan-i dered to the Horse Show, to which! their complimentary tickets seemed th beckon them. Although nothing was, said publicly on the matter, an impres-i sion prevailed that there was a mote, than accidental coincidence in the early) adjournment. With the mental prof 'mise that they would work alli the harder on the morrow,, 'they betook themselves hence; before 4 o'clock, entirely at peace with their consciences. Several .questions were answered. the most im- portant being one by Mr. Whitney re- 'specting the timber license acquired by .Patrick Shannon for $250. Mr. Davis gave details, and said the transaction Aras a bona fide one so far as the de- partment was concerned, and that the department was not aware who were the-present holders. Mr. Powell and air. Murphy presented Ottawa's ses- sional batch oi legislation, one of the bills providing ior municipal coal yards. and another for shorter hours for ie- male labor. Many Questions. Mr. Davis, informed Col. Matheson that it was the intention of the Govern.. inmt- tty introduce legislation to ex- 'tend the time for filing claims for vol.. untcer land grant}. Col. Gibson informed Mr. Duff (West Simcoe) that Mr. James W. Bettes was Sheriff of Muskoka at the present time. The Government had not been formal- rtt: "vised _ of / hfs' intention to . resign, ih'tiugh in a conversation with the At- torney-General he had spoken " if contemplating the possibility of such action on his part. A __ Mr. Ross informed Dr. Barr that nc money had been paid to any munici. pality towards the establishment of a mugtcipgl cpld-storage station. Col. Gibson read to Mr. J. J. Foy a list bf 23 persons who had been ap- pointed to "office or promoted in the civil seryice sine Marcl1 I, 1903. Mr. Ross informed Col. Matheson that Alfred McDougall had assigned to the Treasury Department life insur- ance policies amounting to $20,000, on which $1,150 premium was paid in 1902. The department had made no valuation of the surrender value .of such' policies. They were only rtinnirt.ior a short time when they were assigned to the Province. Bill to Authorize Municipal Coal Yards - Question Day in the Legislature-Municipal Act To- dar. Mr. Dryden informed Mr. Carnegie (West Victoria) that the amounts paid for student labor at Ontario Agricul- tural College in recent years had been as iollows :---r809, $4.236 ; 1900, $5.016 ; 19m. tsa36; 19.02.- $s.92+, - 7 Mr. Davis Says it Was a Bona Fide Transaction. Mr. Powell's Bill to Regulate . Them. HOURS OF FEMALE LABOR. TIMBER DEAL. J Mr. D. .Murphy (Ottawa) introduc- ed a bill to amend the assessment act b: Providing that courts of revision in thi, House adjourned at 3.35' p.m. Property Quatification. W. Ross informed Col. Mathcson) that 135000 pounds of bihder twine were: manufactured at the Central Prison in the suson of 1902, and that it was now being manufactured daily. ' Shannon" Timber Deal. Irc. Ross then explained that there' had been such a shower of bills the! primers were unable to keep up, Gil there was little material for the Howie, to work on. The bill respecting muni- cipal power plants had been distributed during the day, but he thought it better to wait until the report of the Nia- gara Falls Park Commissioners and of experts who were employed to report on the available power sites remaining had been received. These he expected on Monday. He suggested taking up the bill respecting municipal taxation to-morrow (Thursday). It was intend- ed to refer that bill to a small speciall committee ii agreeable to the House. who could hear further evidence if do! sired. If the committee was a good practical committee and found no ijy,,t,ici cular difficulties the bill would probably, be disposed of this session, as the ques- tion had been before the House in a: somewhat uncertain condition for some time. He hoped other Government bills would be down very soon. The balance of Thursday would be spent in supply. - Mr. ttoi-s said his hon. friend had stated what occurred on Tuesday as he (Mr. Ross) understood it. Programme for To-day. Mr. Davis informed Mr. Hoyle {North Ontario) that no charge was made for free grant homestead lands anywhere in the Province. They were iree in fact as well as in name. In ad- dition to their free grant homestead lands settlers were allowed to purchase (a) in Thunder Bay district 160 acres at 50 cents per acre, (b) in Rainy River district 80 acres at $1 per acre. On May 18. 1899, the lands in the Rainy River district were withdrawn from the free grant list and ordered to be sold at 50 cents per acre. On May 3rd, 1900, those lands were restored to the free grant list. There were no free grant lands in Dryden district, lands there being sold at 50 cents per acre. Knew it All the Time. Before the-orders of the day were called Mr. Whitney drew attention to a statement in The Globe that the House had been surprised on Tuesday at the sudden collapse of the budget debate. He said the statement was altogether untrue. as the debate had proceeded just as far as it had been intended at any time to extend it. He also took exception to the report in The Mail oi his explanation. His statement. he said, had been that the understanding was that the House would be as tree to discuss the matters on a motion that the Speaker leave the chair as though the budget debate was in progress. 7_ - f, - - - _ :Mr. Davis, gtt't to Mr. Whitney, said .that a tim er license was issued on May I, 1902, to Patrick Shannon. It was transferred by Patrick Shannon to the Traders' Bank on July 29, 1902, and was again transferred by the Traders' Bank to the Molsons Bank on April 8th, 1903, The license covered the northwest quarter and the northeast quarter of section 23 and northwest quarter of section 24, Township of Rutherford. and also unsurveyed lands north oi above sections, covering an area of 40 x 80 chains. The total area of the whole territory, sections and un- surveyed lands,was one and one-quarter square miles. Shannon paid $250 as bonus and $1.25 per thousand ieet 15.3 M. was to be paid as the timber was cut. The department did not know what was paid for it by the present holders, and the transaction was a bona fide one on the part of Shannon. sd hr as the department knew or now/ knows. P?' _ '.. .Qqn'sagt of We members GI', _ 'tii" fpt'duee; iirtti. that 'fouy shall be ai] abpoihted by the City Council and one Bret tr. thé.Afa,.vttr. . . id Mr. Murphy also. i.nttoduerd a bill ow to amend the municipal act by reduc- ing the property qualification neces- sary for voters from $400 to $200 in ree) property." - . _ . . " i: " m, _. Bart , (Didrerin). introduced a Iriti providing that the Council of any [township may by _by-law provide for taking the assessment between the Ist a Febguqry 9nd lst piJuly. - _ " Mr. C. B: Powell (Ottawa) has in- troduced bills providing that street car companies provide seats for all passengers, and indicate when the cars are filled by sigma; requiring the p.ayment of overtime at the rate of tune and a half to all women em- played in shops and factories for over nine hours per day, under severe penalties. for violation; giving power to municipalities to pay day laborers for the "Labor Day" holiday, and compelling hotelkeepcrs or others who rent commercial sample rooms to take out licenses. McDougall's Obligations. Mr..John Brown (North Perth) itt- troduced a bill providing for the elec- Ition of water commissioners by by- aw. Col. Matheson will asks-What is' the date and what amount oi bond given by A. McDougall? Has it been paid? Is payment disputed? What are the dates and amounts of the var- ious insurance policies assigned to the Province hy A. McDougall? in addi- tion to the moneys handed over by Alfred McDougall to the; Provincial Treasurer, what moneys did he receive and hand over by his own personal check, at dates later than his receipt of said moneys? Mr. Hanna will ask:-Are Cane Bros. of Newmarket cutting timber this season and did they cut last sea- son on certain islands in the Georgian Bay. under license from the Crown Lands Department, near Point au Baril? Did they secure the right to so cut. ii thev did cut. or are now cut- ting, at public auction or by private, arrangement with the department? If any timber was cut last season what number of feet were so cut, and were duespaid upon the same?