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The former Attorney--General refus-- ed to be pressed into a more definite statement. "I'm just pointing it out," he said. . _"What Jdo you think about it?" ask-- i'ed Riverdale's MPP., Robert Allen. Former Attorney--General Claims Delegation | of Power to Ottawa Is Indefensible 1 W. H. Price. Reading Delayed. -- The former Attorney--General made his point at a little before 11 p.m. Speakers to the bill from both sides of the House had used up most of the afternoon anc. all of the evening in protracted debate. Conservatives still delayed a second reading by rising one by one, to demand that the Govern-- ment say why it needed the in-- come tax levy. The bill was unconstitutional, co_lone! Price hazarded, because of the delega-- tion of powers to Ottawa fu. the col-- lection of the tak. | | . _ _ "I doubt," he said, though he Ad--| mitted the value of such a means of ' collection, "whether that will stand up : in the courts, because it is a delegation ' of power from one Government to an-- | other." _ "I'm not giving free opinions," grin-- ned the former Attorney--General. "Just a Schooiboy." At one time the former Attorney-- General declared that Premier Hep-- burn was "just a schoolboy as far as finance was concerned." "He thinks ne can do these things {balancing the budget) by a wave of the hand, but it's a man's job, a big man's job," Mr, Price said. At i1.10 pm, the House adjourned, but Acting Premier Harry Nixon warn-- ed the Opposition that there' woulf'l'be k 'NHak mAE O 2 C _ wilfrid Heighington idol _ | wiun n » of the no 'Tories." maintained as the | TRiifwure reconvencd for last night's Tegislature reconvened for last night's night soamone LE IOCurm®e AmAnuu o Lhad been given the bill. Questions Finances. "Where's the statement--that's the burden of our tale," Colonel Price ad-- mitted, as he took up the repeated Conservative demands for a statement of Government finances. The Colonel supported his demand with a speech which struck at all weak points in the Liberal structure. uin iR amnsr rrrarr TY PE C :00 Government . was Cocculllis MIVIY | money; stiffening its revenue colleéec-- tions; making cuts in the Civil Serv-- lce--"and yet you come hnere and want to levy an income tax." "We ask the supporters . of the Govemment-why don't they insist on & statement." «gteam--Roller Tactics." «"Steam--roller tactics' on the income --| tax bill will weaken the Govemmetr;'t.. 5.2 050. t w\ PC 4 o eswkk we See® > ECCC weak points in the Liberal structure. He touched in witty fashion on the abolition of agriculture development board sessions; on the repeated sched-- uling of a special session; and on the "quarrelling among yourselves," at the post--election Ottawa conferences. "«Wasn't that an edifying spectacle at Ottawa?" he askeq the Govern-- onstitutionality _ Of Income T ax Bill Assailed by Price ment. 'The former Attorney--General said he read the papers; read how th? nmuarnment WAE \COollecting® more HE constitutionality of the Ontario Government's proposed income tax bill was questioned in the Legislature last night by former Attorney--General until second reading the & iong periu U insist|| Mr. Price--I 'member has 1 ! mentary debat« } Mha --Bdmeati o4 th dn | hootntci--Pifubtnictsredr~ /0 i 4 and || clent, and filled with reckless, drunk-- . en, stupid extravagance, extended over the |a long period of years." nsist'l Mr. Price--I think the honorable (member has far overstepped Parlia-- Febru ay 18 The young Conservative member | made an avowed attempt to get the Government to debate the principle of the tax bill. He challenged the Lib-- | erals with the statement that, they had no mandate for such legislation and had a mandate for rigid economy and reduced taxation. _ The Government, Mr. Heighington said. would not have garnered the vote of the municipalities in 1934 on the program now proposed. "We would like to hear some defense in principle," he urged. '"We are as-- sembled here to discuss a matter of exacting $15,000,000--or $5,000,000 ---- from the pockets of those who are not here and have us to represent them." "Why isn't it good sense to intro-- duce this legislation?" Mr. Heighing-- ton queried. He quoted Premier Hepburn and | The Globe to answer his own ques-- tion The Premier had warned of the dangers of a great tax burden. The : Globe had asked tax--making bodies to preserve a sense of proportion. -- Further, said Mr. Heighington, taxes had been increasing, and the national iIncome had fallen since the depres-- sion. Mr. Nixon. "That's what I've been waiting for," the speaker snapped, as he gave the Liberal benches a tongue--lashing for answering arguments with a refer-- ence to past records. "¥ou're on trial now--not the Henry Government." "But that man seems to want us to take a short time to correct t.hlr_t.y years of maladministration," ob | served Arthur Des Rosiers, little, French--Canadian member for Rus--; sell. | Sees Justification. It was 9 o'clock when Dr. L. J. Simpson rose to follow Wilfrid Heigh-- ington -- (Conservative, Toronto St. pavid). "This bill, while it is an important one, needs no further explanation," said the Minister of Education. "The members on this side of the House have gone into it fully." The Opposition had been demand-- ing a reason why the Government should find it necessary to introduce such a bill, he said. "The facts of the matter are that money is needed, ' and hence this bill," was his answer. _ He charged the Henry Administra-- tion with being "incompetent, ineffi-- mentary debate." The Education Minister offered to withdraw the word "drunken," and continued: "The other side of this House is almost Leaderless. 'The pres-- ent Leader is leading in the Mouse simply because no one else has been found to take over and'_p_ut. the party ":'Who was in power then?" queried | "Why are you here?" he demanded | of the Tory members. '"The answer | Is--because you were in three--cor-- | nered fights." ' _ Debt charges today had spiralled } upward urtil they amounted to forty \ cents on the daollar. How could a busi-- {ness man carry on on such a basis? h>o asked. ies on its feet." Sees Account Juggling. The results of the election on June 19, 1934, woere "not so much an elec-- tion, but a rebellion, and in fact al-- most complete annihilation," he said. It would have been complete except for third partics. The Province, per-- haps, owed a debt of gratitude for the situation as it turned out, for, had it been otherwise, Ontario might be in a position similar to a sister Province who had no opposition whatever in its Legislature, he said. -- "That, Mr-- Speaker, was the plight we found ourselves in in the summer of 1935." s Never once had the Henry Govern-- ment balanced its Budget, but it had frequently juggled its figures, he said. He extended an invitation to W. A. Baird (Consorvative, Toronto MHigh Park). to cross the floor of the House and voto with the Government for the income tax bill. Mr. Baird had once said he was in favor of the principle of taxing incomes. f § s /. --"I think that if he is going to be fair ne should come across and sup-- port us in this bill," Dr. Simpson said "There is no desire on the part of this Government to soak the rich, but we are anxious to give them op-- portunity of sharing the burden of operating this Province. _ "When we succeed in balancing our Budget and pegging our debt, industry is not going out of this Province, but will be coming back to us in increas-- ing greatness." he said. "Consider well before you vote against this bill," he warned the Op-- position. "The people of the Province are concerned; they want to see this Province go back to a pay--as--you--go basis. He quoted the London Free Press, a Conservative paper, as saying that it considered that Premier Hepburn was working in the right direction in levy-- ing a uniform tax. "What about getting away from party prejudice for a while and sup-- porting this measure, which you know in your hearts is for the welfare of the people?" he concluded. Tax Weakness. The weakness of the proposed in-- come tax is its failure to allow tax-- payers an exemption for the revenue from real estate, G. C. Elgie, To-- ronto-- Woodbine member, told the Legislature. C 7 The new Conservative member from East Toronto made a serious appeal to the Government for reconsidera-- tion of this clause. Give taxpayers, he urged, the real estate exemptions granted under the old municipal in-- come tax. C o "Not to exempt revenue from real estate is to discriminate against it," said Mr. Elgie. "Take this bill back in:o Cabinet and give real estate men a chance. If they fail it will be the greatest blow that could be delivered against em'ployment.': & . poses. As another alternative, he sug-- lgested that the Dominion Government should collect all the taxes on one l form and apportion it to the Province. "There isn't any Objection to that," ; he said, with a dig at all--Liberal pré« clection slogans, "now that we're one family="_ continu:& _ Owners, said the Toronto membetr, would not build on real estate to pay an additional levy. Mr. Eigie opened fire at 9.30 p.m-- with the admission that an income tax, justly applied, was about as far a tax as any. "But what the people want," he said, "is to know why this tax is being levied." f C i _ The Toronto member SUuggesled _ +> might be well for the income--tax rev-- enue to be earmarked for relief pur=