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he said, approximately $500,000 had been paid out by the Government in this way--'"evidently," he added, "to keep the gas people sweet, and pre-- vent them challenging the Govern-- ment's right to collect such a tax at all." Charles A. Robertson _ (Liberal, North Huron) and Fred W. Ellioctt (Liberal financial critic) also criticized the principle of gas tax collection, the former comparing highways rev-- enues in Quebec and Ontario, and declaring that in view of the fact . that every Province, with the excep--| tion of Ontario, paid 100 per cent.. of the cost of Provincial roads, and | to consider the enabling resolution in; connection with Hon. Leopold Mac--| aulay's bill to increase the present| five--cent gas tax to six cents. Mr. Mac--| aulay informed the House that during recent years the exemptions under the act had increased to the point where, sooner or later, the Government would | have to face the question squarely. In the amendment as first proposed, only | fishsrmen and farmers were to secure exemptions, and then only on gas used in pursuit of their callings, but the Premier since had given his undertak-- . ing that the old exemption on munici--| pally owned and operated vehicles, such as fire reels, etc., would be main-§ tained, and now it was to be left to him (Mr. Macaulay), by regulation, | he said, to name what exemptions . would apply, and what would not. i Nixon Objects. { Hon. Harry C. Nixon, Progressive Leader, expressed very grave Gdoubts as to the Government's ability to collect the tax as a "highways" tax, and took strong exception to the Gov-- ernment's policy of paying "enormous sums" to big gas corporations to col-- lect the impost. In the past two years, trouble." To y h "1 Not a Highway Tax. i This tax, he stressed, was not a. highway tax at all, but a straight | revenue tax, and had it not been for the small amounts involved, the right of the Government to collect and use | it as a highways tax would have, he {g};. been tested in the courts long | Mr. Sinclair's argument was voiced when the House went into committee "The sooner the Government gets away from the false premises upon which it rests in connection with this legislation," he said, "the sooner it is going to rid itsoelf of all sorts of Mr. Sinclair entreated the Govern-- ment to be honest with itself, and admit that the gas--tax revenue went into the consolidated revenue fund. E. N. Sinclair, Liberal Leader, told the Ontario Legislature last night that if the Government persisted in its attitude that revenue from this tax went to highways, no person should be legally obliged to pay tax on gas used for other than road purposes. Claiming that the ever--increasing exemptions demanded in recent years under the Ontario gasoline tax had resulted "entirely from the dishonesty surrounding the legislation," William Ontario Gas Levy Not a Highway Tax, Sinclair Asserts SEES DISHONESTY IN LEGISLATION It Is Straight Revenue Impost, and, But for: S m all Amounts In-- volved, Right of Qusen's Park to Collect and | Use It for Roads Would Have Been Tested in Courts Long Ago, He Says | ¥red W. Elliott, Libsral Whip.made mention of the Municipal Law Clerk, H. L. Cumming, whose work, he said, had been invaluable in straightening out many municipal -- legislation tangles, and who, he thought, should be publicly commended for the great thought and consideration he had given to the matters embodied in the boards--amalgamation and other cor-- rective legislation. 3 Mr. Sinclair believed also that it went far enough, and was glad to see that the Government had apparently modified its attitude on the matter from that expressed by the Attorney-- General in his Toronto pronounce-- ment of last December. Either that, or the Attorney--General's remarks on that occasion had been misinterpreted as "more severe" than they actually were. In moving second reading, Colonel Price pointed out that Quebec had a similar bill of a much more drastic nature, but he thought that the bill now before the Queen's Park House would do for Ontario. f Hon. Dr. Paul Poiston (Conser-- vative, North Essex) and Frank Wil-- son (Conservative, East Windsor) also spoke warmly in commendation of the proposed amalgamation and the bene-- ficial effects which, in their opinion, it would have on Border Cities municipalities. Premier Henry, in a short, snappYy reply, defended the principle of the tax, claiming it to be the most accept-- able ever established in Ontario. Mr. Nixon, however, expressed criticism of members of the Private Bills Committee of the House, who, he thought, had been "too easy'" when municipalitiese came to them for authority to make expenditures with-- cut the consent of the ratepayers. _ Although united in opposition to certain phases of this measure, the two Opposition heads went out of their way earlier in the day's sitting to approve of the objective in Attorney--General Price's legislation providing for an amalgamation of the Ontario Railway and Municipal Board and the Bureau of Municipal Af-- fairs, with power to scrutinize mu-- nicipal borrowings and to declare a moratorium in the case of any mu-- nicipality defaulting or about to de-- fault. all Provinces, with the exception of Ontarin and Quebec, paid 100 per cent. of the costs of construction, there was no justification whatever for On-- tario's proposed cne--cent increase in the gas tax. Menry Defends Tax. Mar. 2 3. Independent theatre exhibitors from many points in Ontario who \Joined the large deputation which waited upon Premier George S. Henry and Hon. E. A. Dunlop, Pro-- ALLIED EXHIBITORS DISCGUSS AFFARS Officers Authorized in Mo-- tion to Represent In-- dependents vincial Treasurer, at the Parliament Buildings at noon yesterday to make a last--minute plea for amusement tax relief, gathered in the King Edward Hotel yesterday afternoon for a gen-- eral meeting of the Allied Exhibitors of Ontario, at which President C. T. Ross of Bowmanville presided. A general report of association ac-- tivities was presented by Oscar R. Hanson, General Manager, and was unanimously adopted on the motion of J. L. Murray of Renfrew, sec-- onded by Harry O'Regan of Ottawa. Officers of Allied Exhibitors of On-- tario, recently elected at a board meeting, were confirmed in office as follow: President, C. T. Ross, Bow-- manville; Vico--Presidents, W. S. Brady and M. Gebertig, Toronto; Secretary, Gordon Filman, London; Treasurer, W. Yates. An indication of unity in the mo-- tion picture field was a motion by O. M. Chapelle of Whitby, which au-- thorized the officers of Allied Ex-- hibitors to represent the independent exhibitors in dealings with chain theatre companies and film dis-- tributors in matters affecting the whole industry. This resolution was unanimously adopted. The appointment of W. M. Gladish as Director of Publicity for the mo-- tion picture business was endorsed by the mceting on the motion of P. J. Nolan of Ottawa. Following the meeting, a dinner was held which was attended by representatives of Famous Players Canadian Corp., and the film exchanges. Speakers were J. FBarl Lawson, MP.; J. J. Fitz-- wibbon, representing Famous Players Corporation: Colonel J. A. Cooner, President Motion Picture Distributing Asqociation, and Mr. Hanson. With regard to the musical copy-- right situation, reference was made to the current test case by the Per-- forming Rights Society against the Madison Theatre, which had aroused considerable interest throughout the motion picture business. «. ROSS IS PRESIDENT