"--,e-- V' d - if» a , FRIDAY, FEBRL ARY ill-ll!!?.?,, 'tti.. Government Regards Circum . stanoetras' Special l _ ,_m'_....-- i BUDGET IS UNDER FIRE! I, l Libvral Members Complain of Too Rapid Growth of Expenditure and . Point to Need for Economy'ln Pro-', xinciaI Finances. The aid to be given by the GOV?" mom to the Toronto-Hamilton high' way enterprise is to meet the spec1al' circumstances of this case, and-is not to be regarded as a general r'"'." ciple applying to other protects m the Province. This point was made clear by Hon. F. G. Macdiarmid. Minister of Public Works, in moving the second reading of the bill in the Legislature yesterday. A Time for Eco nomy. . Mr. w. McDonald, North Bruce. resuming the debate on the Budget; raised roars of laughter by making the request, "Give me some water; I am on the water waggon. Proceeding to allude to the Budget. Mr. McDonald said this was a time for economy, and a start should be; made in some places where they! could afford to cut. Mr. McDonald, however, did not agree with'a reduc- tion of grants for country fairs. Hon. Mr. Duff interposed to say that they had representations with! reference to the matter. "and it is be-l ing Very carefully considered. If,' when the proper time comes, the Gov- ernment can .pay---and the 1j'overm-l ment think they can do so----" willl certainly be done." i Mr. McDonald welcomed this assur-i ance, and proceeded to point out in-, stances where he thought reductions! in expenditure could be reasonably and properly made. Among other things. he thought if 220 members T could look after the business in the; Dominion Parliament, the S/lite; Legislature could be reduced by fifty members. This would save $70,000. I Partners to Bear Burden. I Concluding. Mr. McDonald said! that the proposed war tax, in the last) analysis, would fall upon the farm-; are. The manufacturer were welll looked after in the increased taritr,, and were I?c_anetiting. as well by orders) from the War Office. They should;i not escape paying their full share; and this could best be done by im- posing a general income tax. Spending Too Rapidly. Mr. H. Munro (Glengarry) tiloughti too much store was being placed on; the war and its relation to the fin.. am-es. and declared the fact was that, in this Province they had been spend-I lug at too high a rate. Despite itsf favorable resources Ontario had notg made the progress it should have made in agriculture when comparisoni was made" with other Provinces. Otrci tario was not getting benefit tori the money which had been spent] ',Major, Tolmie Stirs the House. , .Mrhile the Legislature was droning 'wearlly through theBudget last night a new force Was precipitated into the debate when Major (Rev.) J. C. Tor. mic. tho new Liberal member trom, Windsor, made his debut. Something had been heard about Major T013119 as a speaker, and stories had been whispered that a crowd could he drawn from a ball game "to been Totmid preach," but; his advent into. the Oppoution ranks last night Prov- 'ed that the new member from _,tttt) .1 J19"? riding was a man to be reckoned