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TL *As1Cuiiure and the conduct of that i department. Mr. Thompson scored ef-- fectively when he mentioned the inertia and lack of progressiveness of the pre-- sent Government with respect to agri-- culture. Mr. Hugh Clark (Centre f Bruce) at length defended the Govern-- ment's educational policy, and also dealt with local option. Speaking par-- ticularly in regard to the three--fifths clause, he contended that the Govern-- ment were acting wisely in not repealing it because it had not been -- sufficiently tested. Mr. T. . Lennox (North York) denicd that the Government had brought into existence the spoils sys-- tem,. and alluded to cases where mem-- ; bers of the civil service had under the 'l_ate Administration taken part in po-- \litical campaigns. The Whitney Gov-- 'ernment would have been w ithin their rights had they dismissed these men, he said, but had refrained from doing , so. Before the House adjourned Mr. Whitney stated that there would only be a formal session to--day. as tlie ma-- ©Jority of the members intended to visit 'the Ontario Agricultural College. A Little Breeze. _ Before the orders of the day werse «taken Colonel J. Munro (North Oxford) 'endeavored to ascertain the Govern-- | ment's position with regard to the EKlec-- | trical Development Company. He call-- l ed the attention of 'the Government to % the following quotation from an editor-- djal in The Mail and Empire :--*'"Should } Mr. Mackenzie's supremacy in the gov-- | ernment of the Electrical Company re-- sult in power being supplied consumers | by the distributing agency of the Tor-- onto Electric Light Company at prices _ low enough to be on a parity with those iat which power could be supplied by I the Hydro--electric Power Commission { and the civic distributing plant, Toronto ; ought not to complain." Colonel ~Munro was proceeding to Lquote an ecditorial published in an even-- MINISTERS SILENT ON POWER POLSTY. Mr. Thompson of North Wentsirtt Tells How Interests of Farnuing Community Are Being NXeglected Inertia of Agricultural Degart-- ' ment Talked About. In view of events of the last few days an attempt to obtain from the Govern-- ment a statement as to their power policy was deliberately -- foiled py Pre-- miér Whitney in the Legislature yes-- terday. Coloncl Munro (NXc*th Oxford) drew attention to certain newspaper reports with reference to the Hlectrical Development Company deal, but the Premier insisted that the member for North Oxford was out of order, and in this he was upheld by the Speaker. Mr. Thompson (North Wentworth), who was the only Opposition speaker -- in the debate during the afternoon, devot-- ed most of his attention to the Minister of Agriculture and the conduct of that 'heral Member Inquires, an« is Out of Order. ----Mr. Hugh Clark on Editcational and Local Option Ih=.tcrs--Hpoils bystem. TE STILL GOES CN. ARY 19, 1 {"majvstit- form of the present leader'" t graced the chief seat of the Opposition. t Mr. Clark thought he could name four | or five members of the Opposition who | were unwilling to follow their present | Joader. _ Turning to more political mat-- | ters, Mr. Clark stated that the mem-- | ber for Sault Ste. Marie had found | fault with the Government because they | had not voted for the "800o" loan. While i the industries of the "Sq0" were pro-- "grossing, the speaker argued that no , amount of success could justify the vot-- 'ing for the loan. . Regarding educatiton-- al affairs Mr. Clark said whepn the n»reo-- sent Minister took charge of :fio depart-- | ment he "found the public school sys-- |tem in a deplorable condition." ! Colonel Munro--Am T onut of order ? 1 The Speaker ruled Colonel Munro out | of order. ; Colonel Munro--I only wish as repre-- | senting a city---- The Premier--The hon. member is out i of order. i -- The Hon. A. C MacKay--Surely it is ,nfit out of order at this time to ask | what is the Government's policy in a matter of public interest. ( _The Premier--Then my hon. friend's | knowledgeo of the rule is even less than ' that of the member for North Oxford, A Majestic Form. Mr. Clark (Centre Bruce), rosuming the debate on the reply to the speech from the thrones, devoted some sent-- 'mwt.'\' to congratulating the leader of the Opposition. HMe told how the pre-- l:-'(-.nt leader was the third man to oc-- cupy that position since 1905. Hon. I GGeo. P. Grahsam, he said, had gonn | throughout the country feeling the pul«e | of the people and drawing on his fun« | of optimism. Yet Hon. Geo. P. Graham | had gone to Ottawa, and now the l"majnsti(' form of the present leader'" | graced the chief seat of the Opposition. ' Mr. Clark thought he could name four | or five members of the Onposition who Die a Natural Death. "Now, J want to tell the hon. gentle-- men," said the speaker, "that the model schools are going to remain in the Pro-- vince just as long as there is a demand for them. When they go it will not be an act of murder. -- They will die a natural death." + Mr. Clark stated that the Opposition leader had emphasized a charge that the Government had introduced legisla-- tion which compelled trustees to pay a minimum salary. When the bill was introduced it contained no reference to trustees at all, but merely made it a teacher's duty not to accept less than the minimum salary. The Three--fifths Clause. Mr. Clark then took up the question of the three--fifths clause, saying that it had not had a sufficient test as yet. The Opposition, he said, might make capital out of the fact that the three-- fifths clause had been repealed in Manitoba by the Roblin Government, but, he added, the Roblin Government had a right to reduce the majority re-- quired. The Manitoba law required a majority of three--fifths of the number of names on the voters' list, not of the total vote polled, as in Ontario. Unde: the Maénitoba law, as formerly, local option would not have passed in one place in Ontario in 1907, and only in twe places in 1908. Farming Community Neglected. Mr. Thompson (North Wentworth) first referred to educational matters, calling to mind that the compulsory clause regarding teachers' salaries had been practically withdrawn owing to the complaints which had come from all over the Province. oAE ECE o CR o PC o MR 19 but he is going on making a speech, and when hbe ondeavors to get an article at-- tacking the CGavornment read in the House I can only say I object. Colonel Munro--I hbhave no desire to make a speech. The Premier--You want to read an editorial. Colonel Munro--IT represent a constl-- tuency intorested in this matter. The Premier--I disti¢ctly and de-- cidedly object. _ The hon. member has not hesitated to come aut in the opei and express his desire to have an edi-- tovrial read attacking the Government. AIIU T have to say is that he is out of order, and if be does not know it he ought i. The hon. member is not ashamed to stand up and endeavor ta get read an editorial attacking the Gov-- ernment for the purpose of making 4 little capital. _ I have no reply to make cither to the hon. member or the edi-- torial. Colonel Munro--Am I onut of order ? "Have the people of this Province to thank this Government for any special Ing paper, dealing with the same sub-- joct, when he was interrupted by ths Premier . The Premier--Il am afraid that the hon. member is utterly and completely out of order. _I should have. no rea~-- son to object if he were taking excep-- tions to anything credited to himsgelf, . Mmss C amreseaan. oP 5. S e oo Mr. T. H. Lennox (North York) dwelt at length on the policy adopted by the present Administration with re-- gard to the Montreal Pulp & River Company's concession and that of the previous company. . He asserted that the first agreement with the company did not, as claimed, provide that a mill should be erected only in New On-- tario. -- In that respect, therefore, there was no difference in the agreements, but under that entered into by the pre-- sent Government the revenues had benefited to the extent of $300,000, Mr. Lennox also denied that the Liberal party had ever favored the giving of mineral rights to bona fide settiers. Far from having given away twenty--seven miles of timber lands, as accused, the Government had compelled the Georgian Bay Lumber Company to nay a further royalty of $50,000 for conces-- sions they had received from the pre-- vious Administration. Mr. Lennox also thought the Government deserved credit for the action they had taken with re-- ference to the public service. He de-- precated the accusation that the Gov-- ernment had introduced the spoils sys-- tem. In thirty--three years only one Conservative was appointed in North York a Justice of the Peace by the Ross CGovernment. The present Government had appointed twenty--eight Liberals and thirty--eight Conservatives in North York. Mr. Lennox spent a consider-- able time in stating that officers of the Crown Lands Department had been employed in political campaigns by the late Commissioner of Lands. The Gov-- aid to agriculture ?" asked the speaker "It appears to me that the Governmen have not come to the aid, have no come to the support, of the farmers i1 any way." i L & uy us PP o t t #_ heniané 4 POV C The amount of money invested in agriculture in Ontario, he said, was $1,189,119,000, or $550 for every man, woman and child in the Province, while $319,000,000 was invested in manufactur-- ing concerns. The returns from manu-- facturing amounted to 92 per cent. of the investment, while the farms return-- ed 18 per cent., which showed that something more should be done for the agriculitural interests. In 1906 and 1907 the attendance at farmers' institutes was 110,765, or 15,000 less than the year before, or 37,000 less than in 19082. The membership of the farmers' institutes had dropped off considerably also, he said. Regarding immigration Mr. Thomp-- son expressed the thought that the Min-- ister of Agriculture was shirking the Auty which devolved upon him. Men were wanted for farms all over the Province. _ Still the control of this im-- migration had been allowed to pass from the Province to the Dominion. The address from the throne foreshadowed much of the legislation to be passed this sgession, but there was nothing of importance mentioned in that address as emanating from the Department of Agriculture. '"Where," he asked, "had the present Minister made his impress on the councilis of this Government?" Shifting Responsibility. '"What excuse can be given for this serious falling off ?" asked the speak-- er. "Is it because not enough energy has been displayed by the Minister in charge ? Does it not look as if ths policy were one of drifting, always drifting ?¢ These farmers' institute meetings have been a success in the past. The Minister of Agriculture has not made his department prominent enough before the eyces of the public, so that the people can be led to expect anything new. In fact some Conserva-- tives in my riding do not know who the Minister of Agriculture is." An Eulogy Serious Falling Off. in