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Mr. Davis Refreshes Mr. St; _ John's Memory. The Government's Attitude to Timber Resources. On thc orders of the day being call- ed the Premier explained that he was anxious to have the bill respecting mu- nicipal taxation fully considered by the members before they entered upon a discussion-of it at the second read- ing. It was a very comprehensive bi ' included a number of new fea- tures. and a full discussion would .be tiery useful before referring it to a special committee. The discussion would also be usefui fur the members of theupmmittee when they came to -eaisidef the bill in driui.1.. He there- fore asked that the M! be laid over until Tuesday next. yshcu ii other busi- ness permitted. they "a and take the second reading. llc ir-lace) that in the Mtime the member»: -qive it careful consideration .' . , ", 'er."Harcmn-t prngms'ml thersrind fading of a bid trwamend the public 'Iehools act. prnuhlnm'a retirintréihné- A MOST EFFECTIVE REPLY. Mr. St. John Falls Foul of Mr. Milton Carr-A Day's Discussion in the Legislature. , I e . .. The first of the expected 1iis.c.'assior", public] on motions to go into Committee of which l supply arose in the. Legislature' yes- year. . _ . h ad . in cstm terday. when Mr. St. Jo n ma e a public lengthy criticism of the timber policy pe.nded of the Gdvernment. He declared they of grar . . r . ll . department was ignorant of the reg: "daft-3d sources, accepted its information res- .5 Ext- I',', pecting the. territory beyond the height in 'such of land from Indians, a.nd said the respect; timber was not protect.ed from fire. flag!" Hon, Mr."Davis; in a brief but most 1'iditee, complete reply, showed that Mr. St. school John had, totally. ignored the exten- Ithat ev the report oi the exploration. parties It 15" 'uiigar, Which had revealed much val- icalocli); nable 'information, that the Goverh- system ment had made provision for tire-jytid, w: ranging beyond the height oi land. and familiar!" that the conditions for r.e.ior.cstizingl biiries" were not-nearly so favorable here tttil Books in a country where the whole oi the, braries tree (vas marketable and at? a. higherl Ida. I price. During this address Mr. St. l his} (:3 John. made an admission that the fire- when tl ranging on the licensed land was satis- ably inc Jyctdrr... Mr. St. John had indulged The. l in cntictsm of the agricultural value . oi new Ontario lands. and this drew Timber a spirited and effective reply from Mr. On 'th .Milton Carr. No division was taken, J. w. many of the Opposition members. iii-! and c eluding Mr. Gamey, being absent.' i ment Assessment Bill Deferred. i9PPhtt§l 7 ADMINISTRATION. mm. the; Srvnnfl med. t.he pytil..ir. a re'.irittg'tiiloi- I, 1903. I on the motion to iw into supply Mr. J. W. St.: John (West York) rose iand congratulated |tlhe Govern- i ment on having had another ',, opportunity to declare a surplus. i, He objected to the claim of $2,248,000, , the fund created under the act of 1884, , as an asset. The Government capital- . iz.ed its wealth on the receipt sidcrand .rel'used to capitalize its debts on the expenditure side. Omitting that cup- -itulized amount. and leaving out the common school fund. there was a de- l fieit of $4,278,473. He did not take is- 'sue' with what the Government spent, ibnt with what they wasted." Our for- ', ests were our greatest source oi wealth l and revenue under proper management. lThe Government knew nothing 'oi the [timber wealth beyond the height of [land except what they learned from :Indians and agents of the Hudson's ' Bay Company. The Crown still owned 183' per .cent. of the timber re.rtiaitp'ng, inml they Rave ii, very little c6nsidera- .:im:. Owing to their lack oi policy li.'~"er blocks were destroyed' by fire. 6 ".t efforts to settle new Ontario were '.t--v custly,.and, besides, unsuccessful, . .'r. 'L-,__ M - _ 'e ' C. _i;iiiti,i, Tat". school' .ihtpyittMs, 'atyt'd ttp- M in" fot"Pthe . union. "of. ;pa,rts of school, Isettions, to " jdrrtr new .sc'Jiools.. In' reply .to... Cor-l onel Matheson be said that their 'wasl ~also . the.) question _ of conveyance of i, ;chiIdrc'n.to schools, which. would comer up in committee. The second reading; was carried. _ -.Mr. Harcourt proposed the second reading oi the act respecting the Edu- cation Department giving representa- tion on the Educational Council to the high school and public school sec- tions oi the Ontario Educational As.. sociation. This matter was import'- ant because hereafter everything relar. ing to school text'books would be set- tled by the council. . ' Colonel Matheson was glad that rad- ical changes were to be proposed. The system of borrowing to buy books,-he said, was the result olthe policyof the Government and its administration of the liliriiry.act. The .'grants to li- braries 'wcre gradually decreasing. Books were being kept by.many li- braries that should be. burn- ed. The evil was that a grant that was stifiicient for a mbderate num- ber oi libraries remained the same when that nuiuber had been innumer- ably increased. The bill to amend the public librar- ics m was then proposed forasecond reading by Mr. Harcourt. He ex- plained that this bill was intended only The bill was read a second Timber Policy Criticized. Mr. Whiting thought the bill a very proper one, t e only objection to it being that it was o.nly a short step in the track that he had been blazing out for the last few years.. He wel- comed the bill for its worth. The sec- ond reading was carried. Utility of Libraries. _ as a temporary one. until 'a thorough public library act could be introduced, which he hoped to be able to do next year. The present bill provided that m estimating a Provincial grant far a public library, only the amounts ex- pended in, cash payments, made out of grants, gifts or iees,.shallhe con- sidered, and not money borrowed or paid in notes or in any other way ex- cept-in cash. Inine United States in,such schools as ours there was a respectable libra.ry in each, 'und well selected and of good size. We should be able to say the same of our schools. Another plan was to furnish the school authorities with catalogues, so that every book purchased would be of a suitable character. _ time. I Hon. E. J. Davis, who followed, " Iced, his congratulations to the mem- (her for West.York (Mr. St. John) for ihaving discussed public matters. (Hear, lhear.) The policy he had offered in- volved many valuable suggestions. which. however. had been adopted by .the Government in. many cases. and 'put upon..the statute books already.: lln reference ttttthe Shannon magical - Continuing in the evening, Mr. St. John spoke of the development of .the charcoal iron industry through a pro- per system, and said the Government 'should standby the Clerk-of Fores- try and by. the recommendations of the Royal Commission respecting fores- try. They 'stood condemned for their neglect in dealing with that wonder- ful area: He proposed hortre:mahurac- ture by Canadian labor of all our pulp- wood and nickel. Under a proper pol- icy it would be impossible' for the Government to sell a timber berth to a favorite for $250. to be immediately resold by him for $9.000. Parry Sound Defended. Mr. Milton Carr (Parry, Sound) said Mr. St. John had referred to the set- tlers leaving Parry Sound District, and The Globe had also commented unfav- orably upon t.he district. .Mr. Carr re- plied that in 1873 the total population of that district was only 1.800; to- day it was 25,000. It' was a "slarider upon the district to say that it was not going ahead.. _Thtre were 1.500 self- binders in the district. An agricultural implement company had an agent there, to whom they paid $1,200 a year. and a staff of twenty local agents, who were trying to obtain the trade. Was it the trade'bl the people-who were leaving the, district that-they wereai- ter? In conclusion. just to give some intimation of the advance oi the dis- trict. he mentioned the fact that 20.000 cattle were brought down to.the To- ronto "and Buffalo' markets. ' . Mr. Davis Makes Reply. .hile iorrnew. Ontirionretteratir 1.541' tventitt and 700 chm; iitit. "Mrs.Se. John- read figures for seieral"yeats' previoi, also ghoivitttrlarte numbers who "came out." .. _ ' l l Mr. St. John skid the COmmissioncr of Crown Lands could enlighten the hon. gentleman. He quoted from the report oi a speech .try, Mr. Davis, wherein reference" was made to the echoing tramp of the army' ot:iiettlers going' mto' new .Ohtario. Tt'was the tramp, the speaker said, of the poor unlortunates who had attempted to make agriculture out of land only fit- ted for forestral growth. T He'estimat- ed that there were 80,000 square miles oi iorestral growth in. Ontario, and that the annual groivth was worth $73,000,000. The pulpwood policy was .criticized, and the argument urged that all our . pulp should be made into ga'per within our own country. Mr; t.' John gave statistics of the growth of pulp, which he esti- mated at 5.760.000 cubic feet per year on 150 square miles. .' . Mr. Carr's Poser. Mr. Carr-How much should there be now, when it has been growing ior 2,qop ytars.1 "Laughter.) Mr. St. John said decay had been' proceeding all the time, and .went on to quote figures respecting pulpwood, and said there was enough of it to en- gage 590 mills of 100 tons a day each. What Ontario wanted was a scientific system of forestry, by which the tim- ber should not, as at present, be trans- muted into ashes, but industrialized in.. to cash, and that under-the direct su- petyisipn pf the State itself. _ ,- Mr. Carr. said the ,hamds of thence who citttte' om Ivete not iecbrdeir by the Government. .' ' .