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$2,952,000 Deficit . Forecast by Henry In Budget Address Announcement of Increasing Debt and Curtailment of Outlays and Services Marks Presentation of Financial Statement by Premier in Absence of Treasurer -- Gross Public Debt Is Higher by $53,751,892 -- Comparison With Drury Term Draws Fire of Nixon 'BRIGHTEST FEATURE | rame interesting document. . Tt is ONLY ONE NEW TAX SXE expesnditurss of the Province . "This afternoon I appear in a new role. I regret exceedingly that Mr. Dunlop is not able to be present to deliver his own address, but I can state that he is rapidly recovering from his indisposition. I spent a couple of hours with him the other night. He, I believe, identifies him-- self with everything I shall have to "As far as the Education Depart-- ment is concerned, I do not feel that it is being neglected because I am Prime Minister as well as Minister of Education. My predecessor (Mr. Fer-- guson) presided over the department for some seven years in an adequate, constructive way," said Mr. Henry, expressing confidence in the work of the officials of the department. Aiter twenty years in the Legisla-- ture, one--half of which was spent as a member of the Cabinet, Premier George S. Henry yesterday, for the first time, presented a Budget to the waiting fublic. This was occasioned by the illness of Hon. E. A. Dunlop. Provincial Treasurer. And listeners seemed to feel, as the Prime Minister delivered the address in his methodi-- cal, unimpassioned manner, that al-- Referring to the fact that he had served as Ministers of Agriculiure, of Works and Highways. and of Educa-- tion, the Prime Minister stated thet he had also spent four years in the "cold shades of Opposition." Opposition Care--free, Education Department. "But I do not know why they dub-- bed it as cold or as a shade. 1 often feel that I would like to congratu-- late the two Leaders opposite. Thcoy are care--free and without responsibii-- ity. They may change their views | from day to day; or at least from year to year, and no cne criticizes them for it. They are free of responsibiliiy | and free to criticize as they will." > His years as Minister of Works and Hignways had been happy ones. "They were two departments I naturally en-- jJoyed. One thing I like is gcotting things done--to do som:thinsg. O: course, Ministers of other depart-- ments are like that too, but they toil long hours and the results are not so apparent. I am provd of the builaing on the east side of the park,. and I have, I presume. reason to te proud of the work done on the hign-- ways.' most any of the other years of his tenure of office would have provided a happier occasion for his inaugural Budget address. Only One New Tax. For it was a tale of deficits, mount-- ing capital debts, curtailment of ex-- penditures and services. The bright-- est feature of the rather dreary rc-- cital of bad news was the announce-- ment that there would be only one new tax--the succession Guty surtax. The Prime Minister attempted to re-- lieve the pictur; by comparing the record of the Conservative Admin-- istration with that of the Drury regime, but, apart from a few cross-- fire passages with Hon. Harry Nixon, Progressive Leader, and scle survivor of that administration, no particular enthusiasm resulted from the com-- "There just came into my hands a rather interesting document. It is a copy of a statement of the estimates and expenditures of the Province of Upper Canada in 1832. The resources of the Province, as noted then, were comparatively small. The total in-- zcome of the Province was £80,000. Of this, £17,500 was from the Canada Company Crown land reserves, £33,-- 400 from timber cut on Crown lands, £1,400 from the sale of Crown lands, and £3,000 from survey fees, fines, etc. "There were also amounts included for the Welland Canal, £1,500; Bur-- lington -- Bay Canal, £1,500; Kettle Creek Harbor, £200; Oakville Harbor, £200; and York lighthouse, £175," he stated, "while hawkers, peddlers and auctioneers' licenses provided £3,500. Debt Plan Not New. "The estimated expenditures," the speaker contended, "were compara-- tively small, and the statement shows that £43,850 was carried forward from the £80,000 toward a reduction of debt. I thought that we, under the admin-- istration of the present Attorney-- General, started the debt--retiring plan, but apparently they had thought of it 100 years ago. We have got a long way from using half our reccipts to retire debt as they did then." Minister, who used round figures throughout. He then told of the savings of the various departments. _ "I would like to make comparison Of the regime under Mr. Ferguson and myself during the past nine vears As evidence of the manner in which reductions were being made, he quoted figures to show that the per capita cost of inmates per day at the Guelph Reformatory had been reduced from $2.25 in 1923 to 68 cents in 1932; of the Ontario Reformatory, Mimico, from $3.11 to 12 cents; at the Mercer Reformatory from $2.01 to 92 cents; at the Industrial Farm, Burwash, from $1.75 to $1.45, and at the Fort William Industrial Farm from $2.33 to $1.34 in the same period. The decided drop at Mimico was because of what had been sup-- plied the rocks department, and it had been credited with two years' amount in one. But the average per capita reduction was from $2.14 in 1923 to 90 cents in 1932. Debt Figures Contrasted. A great deal had been said about the climbing gross debt of the Prov-- ince, said Mr. Henry, and it had been suggested that the last nine years had seen Governmental extravagance, and that there had been nothing to whow for It. _ _ % o Mr. Henry--We have charged one-- fifth of this year's cost of relief to the year's expenditures. We are not dealing with it this year as an ordi-- nary expenditure, and four--fifths of it is being charged to capital. "During these times we have been seeking to economize, and we have been fairly succcessful. n 1931, without the relief or exchange, we spent $43,000,000, and in 1932 we cut it down to $38,000,000, making a saving of $4.500,000," said the Prime Unexpected expenditures on relief:; old--age pensions; fines paid over to Toronto and exchange totalled $4,-- 060,000, and changed what would have been a surplus of $2,000,000 into a deficit of $2,060,000, he stated, for the year. Mr. Nixon--Are you writing off the unemployment relief? March 24 * ts = w i ~with the term under the Drury Gov-- ernment. In 1919," he said, "the total gross debt was $97,000,000, but when the Drury Government went out in 1923 it had risen to $291,000,-- ©00, or $194,000,000 in four years. And I want to be fair in this com-- | parison. That money was not all i -- spent on unproductive development. "There was $76,000,000 charged to Hydro, $7,500,000 to the Timiskaming & Northern _ Ontario, and $10,-- 000,000 to the Agricultural De-- velopment Board. _ Out of $194,-- 000,.000 there was $106,000,000 spent during those years on realizable re-- ducible assets. There was $55,000,-- 000 spent on highways. I think we 2ll realize that this expenditure was é justified. In the experience of pres-- | _ ent--day light, we also realize that we | might have gone faster than we | -- ashould." | He referred to the other expendi-- | @ures which had added to the gross _ éebt under the Drury regime, and spoke of the "extraordinary expenses golumn" that had been introduced. | _ *"We all remember that," he said. a Mr. Nixon--What do you call it this a Fear? I suppose it is the special ac-- es sount. What is the difference? ©UULLLC, j 4 drt i B s Ts .20 d 2 cctothc ts Pb en ts Mr. Henry--We have added nothing to the lists, We have brought down & Budget that all may understand. The Drury Governpment had failed to balance its Budget during fairly good years and had 'increased the debt by $193,991,000, he said. Addition to Grosgs Debt. In the nine years since that time, $281,000,000 had been added to the gross debt, it having risen from $294,-- 000.000 to $572,000,000. Of this in-- erease, $63,000,000 was due to the Hydro; $2,000,000 to the T. & NO. Railway, and $39,460,000 to the Agri-- cultural Development Board. Of the increase in the nine years $104,000,-- 000 was spent in realizable assets, and $112,000,000 in non--realizable, but revenue--producing works, such as highways, said the Prime Minister. There was also $6,000,000 spent on rural Hydro extensions, he said, adding that the previous Administration had never advanced one dollar for this purpose. CE 0o aa% Mr. Nixon--Why don't you tell the whole truth? We called that an ordi-- nary expenditure, but as soon as yOu got in you called it a capital one. Mr. Henry--Your expenditures were so small that they didn't amount to eanything. N 2 s Mr. Henry--And during the last nine years there had been $8,000,000 spent on bond discount--that is in selling $100 bonds for $98, or some ether amount below the par value. And there was $64,000,000 spent in smaller items for the nine years, com-- _ Mr. Nixon--They would amount to ©1.000.000. _ " _ "' ~'=_ o pared with $31,000,000 in similar amounts by the Drury Government. In other words, the Drury Administra-- tion had spent $106.000.000 in realiz-- able works, and $55,000,000 in non-- realizable during the four years, while the Ferguson--Henry _ Governments have spent $104,000.000 in realizable assets and $112,000,000 in non--realiz-- able assets in the nine years. Declares Comparison Fair. "That is a fair and reasonable com-- parison to make, and is an answer to those 'who go around the hustings and talk of extravagant administra-- tions, without giving the other side of the story, where the money has gone and what it was for," declared Pre-- mier Henry. y 4 "Last year we were charged with being too reckless with the people's credit. and last July we considered that we were carrying too n#fuch short-- term stuff for an uncertain market, and we tried a new feature. We de-- termined to sell $20,000,000 over the counter, and made no arrangements of any kind with any bond house. We agreed to pay 1 per cent. to brok-- ers or banks for what they brought in. We established a record for any Province in Canada and it was very successful." s s In the Sasketchewan loan of March, 1932, there had been a spread of $3 between the price to the Government and the price to the public, he said. In the Manitoba loan, in October, 1932 the spread was $2.50, as was the New Brunswick loan floated the same month. The Montreal loan of January, 1932, had a spread of $2; the February, 1932, Ontario loam $1.87 and the July, 1932, Ontario loan, had cost $1. he auoted.