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E , -- FRIDAY, . MARCH --12,, 19%9. «mm ----mmmndionienmmmmmmmnnrmeemmnnemneinnhstunantaieemammenmnmemames memmnemememestennenernmrenttreemien BUILT "CASTLE OF FOLLY" * # Had to Repeal Statute to | Cover Extravagance at ,i Government House -- Es-- timates Exceed War Con-! tribution Last Year ---' Sharp Criticism by the: Opposition i + 1 Ontario's "castle of folly'" ox'er-g looking the Don Valley brickyards, as'! the new Government House was de-! scribed by the Opposition in the Le-] gislature yesterday, gave the Minis-- | ters an hour of sharp heckling when a vote of $200,000 in the supplement-- ary estimates was under considera-- tion. Already $723,088 has _ been spent on the work; $100,000 was pro-- vided in the main estimates for 1915, and the additional amount of $200,000 is now to be voted. With direct tax-- ation staring the Province in the face it was time to call a halt. The | building was undemocratic, and the; office of Lieutenant--Governor, he-g cause of the extravagance of the | House, would be beyond the hope of | any man of ordinary means, no mat-l ter what his personal merit might be. | A motion by Mr. C. M. Bowman| (West Bruce), the Liberal Whip, to{ A strike the amount out was nezatived,' by a straight party division, but not | before assurances had been given by the Minister of Public Works that stringent economy was being exercis-- ed in completing the work. | Had Few Defenders. i e Conservative sponsors for the costly : pile were few, and although almost | every member on the Opposition? benches made grave and gay com-] ments on the extravagance, the Min--| isterial benches were characterized by | a glum silence, and only two of thel cohorts ventured a defence. Mr. A. F. Donovan ((Brockville) and Mr. R.| H. McElroy (Carleton) had the hardi-- l hood to speak out, and in doing so | the former placed an effective imple-- | ment in the hands of Mr. Rowell for' showing that the Government had' gone ahead with the undertaking in | the face of a direct statutory pro--| hibition. Apparently from the looks on the faces of the occupants of the Treasury seats the member for Brock--| ville will hardly be congratulated for his nimble essay to save what was un-- 4 doubtedly an embarrassing situation. f ? Would Cut Out $200,000 Item. The debate started when Mr. C.| . M. Bowman (West Bruce) asked that' ' the item of $200,000 for Government | House be struck out. The time had' f really come when the Province should ' consider the financial situation seri-- ously. It was well enough to look to ! the future, but it was hardly, neces-- | | sary to go ahead on this scale to | meet possible emergencies. i Hon. F. G. Macdiarmid, Minister of i Public Works, thought a moment's, F reflection would convince Mr. Bow-- man that his course was unbusiness-- ; like. Contracts were now under way with sixteen different firms. Mr. 8. Clarke (West Northumber-- land) pointed out that the Govern-- ment had been severely criticized last . year for the expenditure on the Gov--| ernment House, and should have tak-- en heed. "This matter has been brought up time and time again for the last four years,'" said Mr. Hugh Munro (Glen-- garry). '"The Government cannot o'b-' ject when we strongly protest against | this increasing expenditure. If the, » property would increase in value it |