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[ _ Favorable reports were -- § ffrqm many of the duck prescr\l;gg?l;:?i | while, on the whole, duck may not 'h u y 'hecn as plentiful as they were in ?]VL ! season of 1902, still good sport was h.lfi | throughout the season. _ It is gratjfcl ing to know that the black duck is 'commg to us in increasing flu-mbc:?} 'yca:i. t'?y year, tancll) this duck is conSldh.' i ered by many to be among th !thc table. e fie best for' Deer Were Plentiful. _ Deer were plentiful in the north, and the number of sportsmen. from the United States and Europe showed a Premier "Iio.s's. has bil} respecting aid to tral & Hudson Bay pary. . ) Game Commission I The report of the Commission for the ] ln oo -- "Toe VHIP We duced :--Mr, 7?..C. Can ing the Townships of s Papinongc; Mr. Richards the Town of N ewmarket; an act respecting the co local improvements in t North Toronto; Myr., T uc late the width of sleicht -- CE SmTR UC! EV ,£ 7 (AhKt. NHOL to 'exercise during the 25 years the right of purchasing the Property of the said Tagona Water & Light Comnarm; Vower Compan,\', Company,- the Alg son Bay Railway Algoma Commerc the 25 yeats at a anntim. The toy undertake not to flr4 _1 «_ ,, 5 UV MCreéase the capital as the shareholders see fit om a two--thirds , Yote, "Mr.' C. K. Smith introduced a bill @xtending the franchise of the Tagona Water & Light Company from ten to twenty years from October 7, 1902, and extending the franchise of the Interna-- nonal Transit Company {rom 20 to 25 Ntars from Nov, 15,. 903. -- The bhill also seeks to make the franchises ex-- Clusive during that time and to 'fix the taxation of the two companies, to-- gether with that of the Lake Superior Power Company, the Algoma Stccl{ Company, the Algoma Central & Hud--] son Bay Railway Company and the| Algoma (=A.. L n . U 1 rFCnty years 1 extending the YIO"&I "]'ranSIt _A Lroods Act Not Enforced. , Hon. Mr, Dryden informed Mr. Eil-- ber that the Department of Agriculture Of Feb: 15 received from the Secretary (0f the Ontatio Beckeepers' Association !a copy of suggested amendments to thc;~ foul broods act. . No decision had | Y°t been reached, Complaints . had' | been received of: lack of cnf-o::cemcnt' 'of the present law, notably in .the| Lounties of Norfolk and Simcoe. | ' The Premier informed Mr. Gallagher; that Mr. MoCallum, fGovernment en--=) |&incer, in 1902 did not report the ad--} ".'*"*bi"ty of building a bridge across Sydenham Lake, in' Frontenac. nor a {bridge connecting Howe Island wrth' [the mainland, The only reports madc! li\.\-erc verbal, and no record was kept. | | Bills Introduced. | Dr.. Rcau-mc'introduccd a bill rs. Specting the Windsor, Essex & Lake Shore Rapid Railway Co ipany, which s asking for power to increase its capital from $3500,000 to $1,000,000, and Power to further increase the capital as the shareholders see fit om a two--thirds vote, 09 Feb. 15 rec 91 the Ontario 4 copy of sugge Six granted, 190 Sevep &ranted, 1 and six granted. Foul Broods A, he __Af,. pp 2l's_were also intro-- *--Mr, D?..C. Cameron, respect-- Townships aof Neebing and mss 4. It 1 .3 Lompany. _ _ following bi1} 7 m L C1 TtE -- £h0¥ | Lommercial Company during, yeats at altogether $5.000 per The town . aiso wishes --to ke not to exercise during the| > the right of purchasing the| * AF klha "anc ao Pae LX 1902 four applications :mdi' d, d1903 eleven applications || t ol Ec e ermig v¥market; Mr, St. John, 3 the construction of hits in the Town of Mr, Tucker, to regu-- sleight runners. has given notice of 3 7 °_ BCYVE Richar'dg(;,;: Report. the Algoma Cen-- Raifway Com-- respecting The admissions to the year totalled 889, or a d as compared with last decrease is due only to there was not sufficien tion at the asylums for Cants. : " The torsal uwl i (Mohie . Subier ndairiatis A ubulllfl& the immoral and destructive influences which have been the cause and are con-- tinuing to be the source of so much diggess "an.d evil to society at large." }' species Ol game, to insure its better protection during both open and close seasons. This would have the effect of stopping country storekeepers employ-- ing boys to shoot partridge for export from the Province. It would also en-- able us to have more effective espion-- age in the back country where the practice prevails." Causes of Insanity. | ge increase.' There were 5707 deer | licenses issued during the year, and 153| for moose. 4 | _ The Canadian Express Company -- carried during the season 2950 -- car-- casses of deer, and the Dominion Ex-- _press Company 416, a total of 3,366, an ncrease of 176 over 1902 -- Ninety-- ith_rec head of moose were reported _ killed by licensed hunters. These fig-- ures give but an inadequate idea of the total number killed during the season. ,Thc beaver, the most intelligent and | valuable of our fur--bearing animals, is mcreasing in numbers in some sections . of the Province. But otter are still | reported to be very scarce. pd The commissioners oppose the use || of automatic and repeating shotguns for sporting purposes, _ as natural causes alone are making the birds scatrce, The receipts of the department for 1903 were $19.503.82, and expenditures $9,308.10. The Chief Warden recom-'- mends that Wardens should devote 8"4' their: time to the work when 'gamci needs:--to be protected, and they <hmfldj be paid accordingly. > i aaat n ] A General Fee Proposed. > fil 1 amissions to the asylum for the alled 889, or a decrease of 127, pared with last year, but the is due only to the {fact that as not sufficient accommoda-- the asylums for all the appli-- The total number of inmates { Migihs on lP P odlireints w ied indatrendats . cdvi ns dsn trted makin%)$8,ooo all told. / Mr. Preston--I figure out that the assessment in Brantford will be $2,000 $6,000, and in addition there were the rca'l_estate and business assessments, e / . Fids pinbnemins marin oo 9 6 Satxr Wt dorls sn my brt $21,589. Their present total assessment was $3.000. In Brockville they were assessed last year $6,000, the Judge re-- duch it to $2,000, and now under this special tax it would be put back to The question of the special tax_ on gross receipts was then taken up. Mr. Staunton said that the company was willing to allow the amount actually collected in Ontario to stand as gross receipts. It had been proposed to as-- sess the receipts on a basis of 60 per cent. In fourteen towns that would mean an increased assessment of $60,-- 000 over witat they were now paying on 'poles and wires; There was not a city or town that would not benefit. very largely by the bill. In Brantiord, for instance, tgeiq gross receipts were: éolls°$6,'7v9'4,_rcntals $14:795, a total of] E Reepeone o Cnsb tratwics P63 : Oof assessing O the -- smaill branch '}ines in the rural . districts $200 per mile. The lines were purely f'ori the personal use of the farmers, doc~, tors and country residents. and were | | not used for the general business of the company-- They were hung on small poles supplied by the farmers them-- selves. There would be only five or six telephones perhaps on 25 miles of j such lines. To tax them as was pro-' posed in the bill would certainly put | them out of business and result in great inconvenience. He thought that! branch lines up to 25 miles should-- be exempt. It should. be remembered that the company would pay the busi-- ness tax on 500 offices in the Province. Tax on Gross Receipts. Hon,. Mr. Ci5§011{ the Chairman, sug-- gested that more information should be obtained on this poiunt, and further discussion of the clause was postponed. Telephones in Townships. So far as the smaller towns were concerned. said Mr. MacKay the sub-- stitution of the business tax for a personalty. would deplete their finan-- ces. As a rule the personalty was a larger percentage of the whole tax and real estate was not very -- valu-- able. If, therefore, a business --tax were adopted on the basis of a per-- centage of the real estate value, a big loss would result. The committee should examine carefully the resylt of the application of the bill to towns of from 2000 to 10,000 population before reporting the bhill. On the suggestion of Mr. Hoyle, the Municipal Taxation Committee of the Legislature at its session yesterday de-- cided to extend the application of the business tax to townships and unor-- ganized municipalities Very often in unincorporated _ villagesd, Mr. Hoyle pointed out, there were stores and mills which should be liable for the business tax. The Assessment of Gross Reduction in Asses Branch Lines. SPECIAL PROPOSITION FOR THE CITY OF TORONTO. compared with 5,372 the previous year, while the total number of insane offi-- cially known to the department,includ-- ing those in jails and private asylums, was 6,236, or a total 'increase for the year of 183. 'The entire expenditure for maintenance of the asylums was $715$.918.--; 'There is an increase per capita, as compared with 1902, of $11.15, due to the increased cost ofl coal, groceries and other supplies. _ TELEPEONE CO. TAXATTON at the end _of the year was 5,458, as UGross Receipts-- Assessmient _ of J