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es ons rCH 4. 1915. THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 1910. C Compnamenmcstemeniencene «--m" * + Expressions by Members in ._ the Legislature Not Ap-- proved by Government-- If Admiralty is Satisfied, Why Not Ontario ? | The nickel question was onct more fairly well thrashed out in the Legis-- lature yesterday, when Mr. Carter, the member for South Wellington, moved for & return relating to the royalties or taxes paid by the nickel companites, @nd for other information. The dis-- cussion evoked was wide in scope and centred chiefly round whether the nickel companies were contributing enough to the Treasury in the way of taxes, the public ownership of the nickel industry, and the prohibition of the export of nickel during the pro--| gress of the war. * Mr. Carter, in support of his mo-- tion, which was passed. said that go-- ing over the returns up to the year | 1912 it could be told that the figures | were apparently worked on a 3 per! cent. basis, but for the year 1912%--13-- | 14 the taxation from the nickel con-, cerns was a stated amount of $40,000. | In 1912 the products represented $4.-' ©00,000, and in 1913 $5,200,000. If j the increase had _been taxed an addi-% tional $15,000 would have gone into' the Treasury of this Province. The, speaker referred to the success of pub-- | lic ownership in reference to the Hy--| dro--electric, and with regard to the | nickel matter declared: "My sugges-- | lion is that this Province invite the ' Dominion Governmert and the Im-- ; perial Government to take over this | business. I mean entirely take it over | ----get rid of all the capital, water and | everything." 6 ' Government Control DPifficult. Hon. Howard Ferguson, Minister of Lands, Forests and Mines, pointed out that many years ago these concerns were given a patent, so that without actual confiscation it was impossible for this Government to control the| commercial dealings with the nickel project. He explained that the fa.c-l tor in the taxation was the value Otl the ore in the ground. It was a very | easy matter of calculation in a silver an® gold proposition, where they had the entire completion of the refining and marketing of the product, but it had been found utterly impossible to refine nickel in the Province. Pays Big Share of Tax. The nickel industry to--day paig 20 per cent. of the total mining tax the Province collected. With regard to taking over the nickel proposition, 'he would state that not once but twice that suggestion had been made to the Imperial authorities, and for reasons best known to themselves they de-- clined. As to the assurance t}mt none of their nickel was rea,cht.ng the enemy, he stated the Imperial Gov-- ernment had g@xpressed its satisfaction with the arrangements . that had been made, and declared there was no pos-- slibility of the nickel reaching the enemy. The Imperial Government having been satisfied, he thought they in this Province should feel amply : secure. Does Ontario Get Proper Return? Mr. C. M. Bowman (West Bruce) addressed to the House the question: Ts this Province getting a proper re-- turn in the shape of royalties . or taxes from the production of nickel? The International Nicke!l Company was an American concern, and the stockholders were practically all in the United States. The net ;ncome$ 2o! this company had grown from x 629,000 in 1907 to $6,386,799 in 1913, and in the lattér year the profits to _ the stockholders in round figures were $4,000,000, and there was an: