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r-.." - "a "-0 "-5. II at the very ttrtrt opportunt be spying "There, there!" " remember when the Attorney- Genera-l 'bemoaned the idea of a Gov- ernment sharing in the prxtftts of the liquor trattle," went on the Gren- ville member. "But, having got to th e fleshpots, the chameleon changes his color; he sits down and enables his good-natured friend, the Pro- vincial Treasurer. to work out Just how much of these profits he can get." Revenue From Liquor. Last year, he said, the Treasurer had received from the liquor traffle in Ontario the sum of one million dollars. assisted by the Attorney- General. who, in years Bone by, had stood on a higher plane and had been looked up to by the youth of the land as a pa ragon of right-doing, Under the presént AttoFrie..v-Gen- em]. Hon. Mr. Ferguson stated, Ilaw entprement was little to be proud of. Picking from his desk Hon. Mr. Raney's pamphlet on the business of racetrack gambling, Hon. Mr. Fergu- son twitted the Attorney-General upon his literary efforts of that character. The Attorney-General/he said. had contributed liberally to the libttries--and the waste-baskets-of the Proyince, and a notable contribu- tion had been the pamphlet he held in his hand. Yet the author of that pamphlet now was sharing in the ill- gotten gains of those same race- tracks, as he was in the profits of the liquor business. The present Gov- ernment in the past year had prxettt- ed from track-racing to the extent of $770,000. Tho Attorney-General. he said, was sharing in the protits of this old friend, Abe Omen. "I don't wonder he is anxious to consult closely, and perhaps make a. client of, my old friend, Abe Orpen. I used to know him in my old, uhre- generate days," he declared, amid laughter. Interrupted by the Attorney-Gen- eral as to whether he understood the legal authority of the Province in respect of the suppression of race-track gambling, Hon. Mr. Fer- guion replied that he had read the recent judgment "hot from the oven." and his opinion was that the Judgment in question left a splen- did ground for appeal. The case presented by the Attorney-General, in his opinion as a lawyer. was not a. proper one. -Atiirrnev-Genera1---Do I under- Btand--- A member-Oh, yes; you under- stand all right! Hon. Mr. Ferguson-Your tttTru- ment was from the standpoint of morals, which is within Dominion jurisdiction. but--. Attorney-General-Will the hon- orable member put his judgment as a lawyer against the judgment of tho two counsel who represented the Crown? Hon. Mr. Fertruson---1 am not here to make invldious comparisons between individuals. Continuing. Hon. Mr. Ferguson stated that he had read between the lines of the judgments. and in them ho "saw excellent grounds for appeal." "In the last year in which I had charge of the forest reserves," he said. "when it was said that I sold without limit and without price all the pieces of timber and pulpwood that could be sold. the department disposed of some 1,600 square miles of resources. But now, in the very first year after this riot among the plain people, the Crown has 8,418 square miles less of forest reserves than When it came into office. Not content with selling 8,418 square miles of natural resources. this Gov- ernment has advertised to-day 5,700 more square miles of natural re- sources to be disposed of." Reply of Premier Drury. Attorney-General-ls the honor- able member charging that this Government deliberately stated its case to get a certain Judgment? Hon. Mr. Ferguson-rm glad you are realizing that: I had the temers ity to tell you that once myself. About Timber Lands. Hon. - Mr. Fertruson---1'm saying you are a bit weak on your job. _ Attorney-General-We haven'tan the brains on this side ot the case. "Mere fault-finding with expendi- ture simply because of its increase or decrease accomplishes nothing," declared Premier Drury. "There are. it seems to me. just three gen- eral questions which should be ask- ed. and on the answers to than will questions thoue'in charge of PM; cial expenditures should be burned or praised. First, are the works and activities of the Government, in all its departments, such as should pro- perly be undertaken by the Provin- cial Government? Second, has the money been spent so as to get a rea- sonably efficient return, a, dollar's worth for a dollar? Third, are the sources of revenue such as properly and justly belong to the Province? "The care of the helpless and afflicted is a duty which falls upon the individual, the municipality and the Province," continued the Prem- ier. "We must provide in some way for looking after the mentally af- flicted, the sick, the incurable, the aged and the orphaned. This ser- vice is a growing one. Twenty-five years ago we had five hospitals for the insane, with a population of 4,- 614, maintained at an annual charge ot $799,222. To-day we require eleven such institutions, which have 7,475 patients and cost us $3,399,000 to maintain. Twenty-five years ago 40 per cent. of these unfortunates came from the jails, and to-day some 23 per cent. We are giving finan- cial assistance to 88 general hospi- tals. 4 homes for incurables. 41 re- fuges, 31 orphanages and 9 sani- taria for consumptives. Where we spent $190,221 per annum in 1896 for this purpose, we are to-day spending $743,661. Besides this, we take care of neglected and depen- dent children, we provide compensa- tion for injured workers, and lately we have established a. system of pen- sions for widowed mothers with de- pendent children." Regarding " highways, Premier Drury traced the development of the plan for co-operation between the townships, the counties and the Pro- Vince. Highway Expenditure. "Under this plan," he said, "from 1902 to 1919 the contribution of townships to road purposes was doubled, and the counties and the Province spent between them the sum of $17,000,000. Last year the counties spent $7,250,000, toward which the Province will pay over $3,000,000; the townships spent $2,- 000,000, of which the Province will contribute $400,000, and in addition we invested $4,500,000 in Provincial highways. A comprehensive plan of co-operation is now in existence, un- der which the Province is respon- sible for 1,800 miles of Provincial highways, the counties are in charge of about 10,000 miles, and the townships from 40,000 to 45,000 miles." "Let us look at the financial situ- ation when we were called to office two weeks after the fiscal year, 1919, had commenced," he went on. "We had, of course, to assume the fin- ancial obligations and the commit- ments of our predecessors. During the year 1919 they had increased the public debt by nearly $22,000,- 000. They had had a deficit on the year's transactions of $1,559,802, and they had collected a direct war tax of $2,085,000, which they had abolished. They also left a legacy of unpaid debts incurred during the previous year of $608,000 for the - . ,1__, __.I um had tn Safe- plc'luuu .' a--. v, . general election, and we had to aasrl sume an obligation of $460,000 to the Teachers' Superannuation Fund which had been ignored by the re- tiring Administration. In addition to this the cost of everything reach- ed the highest peak in 1920. We had to pay about 15 per cent. more for all supplies than was paid in; 1919, and the cost of living rose in! the same proportion to all the em-l ployees of the Government. l "Under these circumstances tho, financial outlook for 1020 presented serious dimculties. To carry on the works of tho Government and meet its obligations we had to secure ad- ditional revenues, and we did so. In 1919 the ordinary revenue. including the war tax, was $19,904,772, and in 1920 we raised a revenue of $25,- 078,094. or an increase of $6,173,322 over the receipts of 1919. Not one dollar of this money was levied in direct taxation upon the people. The bulk of the increased revenue was brought in by means of taxes on amusements. luxuries, corporations, estates passing at death and re- ceipts from mines and forests. "The expenditure during the year increased from $21,404,574 in 1919, to $25,880,843 in 1920. The actual increase was $4,416,269. which was $757,053 less than the increa'ed rduwenue. We find that the result at Left Some Legacies.