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---..-- rivii'iiiirr'_ . _ WEDNESDAY. MARC 'tttltr.,, " . . V-- ---u----------- -__ O F BUDGET i0PPOSIT TON CR1 (l I cs W k . _ . \Forgctting Economy? . . N. Sinclair, Member After readingkto the House the . "economy" pan of the United for South Ontario, and' 2"te,1T'iinr'etitrttev' hMr. Sinclair went . . . . . ', on to del neate t e. jumps in ordin-. Liberal Financial Critic/ ary expenditures of the Province. from $9,951,000 in 1917 to $18,651,-l Says Adherence to For- 903 in 1921. Surely, he commented, the United Farmers' Government mer Style of Bookkeep- had no regard for its frayed reputa- . tion. He went on to impress upon "ur Would Have Shown the House the breadth of the gap q _ between 1919 total ordinary, includ- a Deficit of $2,600,000 , ing statutory, expenditure of $19,- " --------. . 972,000, and that of 1921, $28,579,- " ', 687; and the increase in Provincial. ECONOMY PLANK i debt from $97,572,000 in 1919 to NO LONGER USEDi $204,959,690 in 1921. "The debt," ; lgergid, "has increased since the - - . '. . . took over office by 8107,- Instead of a surplus of $681,000,' 386,908. That is not bad going for - Opposition financial critics in the an economical Government." . . Taking capital and ordinar - O . Y ex fntario Legislature claim to have penditure for 1921 of $119,405,000. ':, ound a huge deficit In the Public and contrasting it with the figure of Accounts for the fiscal year ending $47,360,000 of 1919, he pointed out October 31, 1921. w. E. N Sinclair that last year's expenditure was . . ' equal to the fall and spring wheat 3:23:11 'l'nembler for South Ontario, and oat crop of 1920. . a, ca culated the actual, 'All I ask," he declared, "is for deficit at something like two and as them to consider seriously whether half million dollars. while Charles' '1'"??ng t1)1'at"°rm was con- ' q . s we e o ge n 0 power on or SlcCrea. Conserxatlve member for whether it was constructed to oper-! 'tef""" left the amount unspeci- ate upon after they were in power. ed. It cannot be the latter, because Both critics vigorously attacked they have departed so far from what the Provincial Treasurer's manner they promised at the time they, of} bookkeeping, and alleged Jug- adopted it." e g ng 0 Capital and Ordinary Ac- ' ', counts for the purpose of showing Master Mind at Work. . a Government surplus. Mr. Sinclair Coming to Hon. MR Smith's $680,- specified one or two accounts which) 000 surplus, Mr. Sinclair com- he thought required some explana-g mented: "Ot course, this is election tion, but Mr. McCrea presented a . ' year, and it looks better to have a tabulation of items he had picked surplus than a deficit." But, even out at random, amounting to nearly granting the accuracy of the Pro- $700,000, which, he argued, should vincial Treasurer's figures, he said, not have been inserted in "Capitali :2"? 2:12:11 '"1vtithnfdl/tQi,t twilen and Ext d "' e a we ea een aten raor inars accounts. I into account. He advised-the Gov- Allcgcs Patronage. l ernment to take another year in The record expenditure of the 1 office before going to the country. Government during the past year Dealing with successmn duties was also made the' subject of warm revenues, the speaker declared that criticism, and Mr. Sinclair, in that he was aware that efforts had been connection, asked whether the Unit. made by the department to havoi ed Farmers' "economy" plank was paid in before the end of the last. merely One upon which to train fiscal year moneys that were Q power. He thought that the finan.. reality notldduehfor tri'."":i2/,a"t""t'eti,t cial returns were the best argument . 1 am to ' .-e s ' t a Cie- _ grams were flying around-letters for a return to the two-party Syl- were not fast enough-urging that tem and business administration. He . I , l money be got in so that they would; also accused the Government of[ be able to show a surplus to the' dealing in patronage when it hand- Province of Ontario." ed ,0"? big advertising to The Farm- Another doubt Mr. Sinclair had 's'l','. un for timber Bales, and BO as to the authenticity of the Provin- orth, when Sun readers were the cial Treasurer's surplus was in con- most' unlikely pe0ple to be ttnan- nection with the cheque issues at cially interested In the propositions the close of the fiscal year. Figures set fOFth- . T in the accounts, he said, "leave in During the debate the Treasurer's the mind of anyone a doubt as to Department was also charged with whether there was not a master holding out on cheque payments to- mind working out the balance which ward the close of the year, with a we have announced to us here." 1uew to turning an actual deficit into Neither was Mr. Sinclair satis- an apparent surplus, and also, by fied with the manner of bookkeep- Mr. Sinclair, of rounding up sums ing on which the surplus was based. of money under succession duties, He listed a host of items which which were actually not due until had been placed in Capital Account, long after the close of the last ttscat declaring: "As I read the accounts, year. these items do not appear in Capital . Account last year, and there are Public Accounts Iiato. large decreases in the ordinary ex- Mr. Sinclair, in opening, referred _ penditures in these various depart- . to the failure of the Provincial ments corresponding with the in- Treasurer to make any reference in crease which appears in the capital his Budget speech to the t1nancial account. lf ordinary expenditures outlook of the Province. He ven- have gone into capital Account to tured the opinion that the Farmers' make the surplus, it seems to me newspaper organ, which had ac- We should have the fullest and freest cused lawyer legislators of perpetu- "W, anation.' " ally looking backward, would never samI Elgbmlgé hf said, 1haMii,Ut?, accuse Hon. Peter Smith of look- e oo eep ng as e u c . Accounts of last year the Govern- mg forward. Whereas the Speech ment would have had a deficit of from the Throne had promised an about $2 500 000 If it has been early" presentation of Public Ac- necessary to, transfer l items from counts, these actually were tabled ' N , Ordinary to Capital Accounts in on the twentieth day of the session order to make a surplus it is high and the Budget presentment made time the people of the Province on the twenty-second. ""If the knew about it." ' twenty-second day is early, he com- Mr. Sinclair estimated that under mented, I "in see yt,1,"tthi't',")v'g, of us the present regime annual interest T will lose oy_r21SLSrih!l..'.1.2LftCu=c, ', charges on indebtedness alone had . Surely the Government had not in amounted to $12,000,000. "When mind the holding back of discussion you figure," he said, "that interest V of public finances in the Public Ac-l charges have doubled in a. period of counts Committee." l ' two years, it is going some for a Gov- _ 'ernment with a platform of economy. I This has got anything beaten, I think, . in the history of political organiza- tion, where the public debt has been _ doubled in two years." The member for South Ontario