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Biil Amalgamétes $ Municipal Bureau _ AndRailway Board "Acequate provision for reorganiza-- tion of the capital debt is made, with proper safeguards to protect creditors' interests by stipulating that any re-- frrancing scheme must ceither be ap-- proved in advance by a majority ~of creditors or, if not so approved, it cannot go into effect if objected to by one--third of the creditors. _ "One of the principal factors which have induced default on ths pare of DEBENTURE ISSUEsS UNDER SCRUTINY Attorney--General William H. Prics : legislation providing for amalgamation of the Ontario Railway and Municipa' Board and the Burcau of Municipal Affairs, under a new administsrin> title of "The Ontario Municipal Board," with power to deal direct wit"n floating dsbt applications from m=-- nicipalities, to scrutinize debenture issues that municipalities may from time to time offer voluntarily for en-- corsation, and, more particularly, i0 order operation of a moratorium pre-- vonting suit against a municinality that is in Gefault or may dcfaul, made its bow to the Ontario Logis-- lature yssterday afternoson. Names Five Supervisors. New Body Given Power to Order Moratorium Preventing Suit Agains! Municipality in Defaui or That May Default In a detailed statemeont on the pro-- posed legislation, as furnished by the Attorney--General to the press, the board's "moratorium for municipali-- ties" arrangement is explained as follows: "The schome set up is that the board upon requsst of a municipality or of 20 per ceont. of its creditors may inquire into its affairs and, if satis-- fied that it is in default or may de-- fault, the board makes an order do-- claring the municipality subject to Part VI. Notice of the order is thon published and a moratorium becomes operative preventing suit against the municipality and thereby avoiding disastrous consequences which might otherwise ensue. The board appoinis a committee of five supsrvisors, two of them nominated by the municipal-- ity, two to represcnt creditors and a fifth independent person who will be Chairman. "The supervisors will take charze over all financial aspects of the mu-- nicipality's affairs, so that contrcol may be cbtained looking to the eventual working out of the munici-- pality from a position of bankruptcy to a sound financial condition. "The board will have ultimate and exclusive jurisdiction in all matters and an appeal will lie from any deci-- sion to the supervisors at the instance of any person affected. To Protect Creditors. of | it | to | lthc municipalities is the very subsian-- tial amount of tax arrears upon va-- | cant lands" which cannot be collected by the ordinary means, including tax sals. Neod for a simple and inexpen-- sive method of vesting the lan's in the municipality is indicated. Con-- soquently Part VI. seis up provision for vesting title in the municipality where taxes are in arrears upon va-- cant lands for ons ysar, and upon improved lands for two years, by regis-- tration of a certificate. When that is registered, notice is to be served upon all interested in the land as indicated by the Registry Office records, and a year is given for redemption. "In the circumstances the greatcst concern must be shown toward the ratepayer who pays his taxes, and to the creditor who has to wait for payment of the debt which is due, and their interosts are to be preferred to those of the owner of vacant lancs who is not paying his taxes. "At present the act contains pro-- visions relating only to municipalities in which there is registration of title, and not to those in which the land titles system is effective. Next year clauses to cover filing of vesiing cer-- tificates in Land Titles Offices should be provided, but they will require fur-- ther study kefore being drafted, and, it not being essential to immediate re-- quirements, they are omitted from the present bill. W i8 y.'v"i;:i;:t 'iI _of the bill sets forth the constitution of the board under the new name of 'The Ontario Municipal Board,' it being felt that, with a gradual diminution in its railway jur-- isdiction and extended jurisdiction in municipal matters, the new name will te more indicative of the main pur-- poses of the board. The railway jur-- isdiction will, of course, remain with the board as heretofore. ¢ "It is hoped that by the means thus provided municipalities will be able to avoid in many cases coming to the Legislature for confirmation of by-- laws, with all the attendant delay, trouble and expense. While this may reduce to some extent Provincial reve-- nues dorived from fees for private bills, the annual saving to the mu-- nicipalities should reach many thou-- sands of dollars, even with a mod-- erate charge made by the board to cover the cost of its service. This part also contains authcrity for the board to deal with floating debt applications, and thereby avoid applications being necessary for special legisla.tion.' "Part VI. is entirely new, and con-- tains the clauses dealing with the spe-- cial jurisdiction to be exercised by the board when default occurs or is prob-- able." Mar 17. Grant of $20,000 Yearly Given Western University Premier Georgs S. Henry intro-- duced a bill to the Legislature yos-- terday which provides for a grant of $20,000 a year for ten ysars--a total of $200,000--to the Medical Faculty of the University of Western Ontario. This assistance, Mr. Henry afterward told the press, is for the extension of facilities at Western's Faculty of Medicine. While no confirmation is forthcoming, it is anticipated that out of the grant will come some pro-- visions for cancer research work as reccmmended in the report of the Ontarin Cancer Commission. Provision for a grant to Western University of $300,000, which is $50,-- 000 less than the grant of previous years, is included in these suppl»e-- mentaries. Some other votes ars: Services and expenses in game and fish law enforcement (additional), $30,000; grant to Dominion Govern-- ment for Hawkesbury--Grenville intes-- provincial bridge, $26,067.87; purchase and installation of wire--rope testing machine in East Block of Parliament Buildings, $17,500; payment to On-- tario Research Foundation for con-- trol work in connection with con-- tagious abortion in cattle, $3.000: additional allowances in connection with Old Age Pensions Act, $2,000.003; grant to promote work of Ontario Marketing Board (additional), $20,-- 000; wolf bounty, $25,345. SUPPLEMENT ARIES TOTAL $5,366,168 $25,345 WOLF BOUNTY Supplementary estimates for the current fiscal year, totalling $5,366,168 were tabled in the Ontario Legislaturs yvesterday by Hon. Edward A. Dunlop, Provincial Treasurer. By departments, the votes are as follows: Attorney--General's, $34,640: Education, $1,582,900; Lands and Forests, $8,125; Mines, $1,329.63; Game and Fisheries, $69,900; Public Works, $1,231,017.87; Highways, $33,-- 825; Health, $219,900; Labor, $33,-- 041.50; Public Welfare, $2,072,000; Provincial Secretary's, $5,825: Provin-- clal Treasurer's, $46,075; Agriculture, $30,524; and miscellancous, $66.345. Vote to Department of Public Welfare is $2,072,000