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The investing public, he said, had largely lost faith in the present Gov-- 'ernment. Nothing had done more \to damage the credit of the Province than the repudiation of the original 'HMydro--Quebec power contracts. The |Province, he said, was now reaping fthe harvest of that "ill--considered and ill--advised cancellation." \Instance Cited. No other Province, he submitted, had either the assets or the natural resources of Ontario. Its credit, he said, should stand the highest of any Province in Canada and its bonds should command the highest price, and yet, in 1935, he added, there was the "startling situation" of two municipalities selling their bonds at a better price. _ Charging that the Hepburn Gov-- ernment to date had sold bonds amounting to $122,500,000 without calling for public tender in a single instance, Arthur Ellis, Conservative financial critic, in the Legislature yesterday, claimed the Prime Min-- ister had no excuse whatever for taking such a course, and that nothing he could say would con-- vince him "why there should be in the hands of one man the right to sell bonds of Ontario to whomso-- ever he may see fit and at whatso-- ever price he may see fit." At the evening session Hon. Duncan Marshall, Minister of Agri-- culture, took up the cudgel in de-- fense of the Budget. Hon. Duncan Marshall Heard in Reply at Legislature Night Session Mr. Ellis and Provincial Secretary Harry C. Nixon indulged in a heat-- ed exchange of words at this junc-- ture when the Conservative critic endeavored to trap his opponent into a declaration that, with its out-- standing resources and assets, On-- tario should get better prices for its money than any other Province. Mr. Nixon agreed to the suggestion at first, but Mr. Ellis began to press the point, and the former "smelled a rat." CREDIT HURT, FLLIS HOLDS Charges $122,500,000 in Bonds Sold Without Calling Tenders "If you are going to refer to the first loan of Mr. Duplessis in Que-- bec, let me say there were different considerations there," said Mr. Nixon. NIXON MAKES REPLY ""In October, 1936, the Province of Quebec sold an issue of bonds of $15,000,000 bearing the same rate of interest and payable in the same year. These bonds are selling today at 95% to 96%. Is there not some-- thing wrong with the financial standing of Ontario when bonds of the Province of Quebec are selling at two points higher than an exactly similar issue of the Province of On-- "My honorable friend," cracked Mr. Ellis, "first said Ontario should get a better price, and then he sens-- ed something coming, and changed his mind. Let him answer my ques-- tion. Does he agree that Ontario should do better than any other Province? No, he won't answer now. If he does I'm going to catch him napping." Quotes Prices. In December, 1936, said Mr. Ellis, the Hepburn Government sold an issue of $20,000,000 worth of bonds bearing 3 per cent. interest and pay-- able in 1951 at 99.75. These bonds are now selling at 93% to M%, he declared. "I would ask you to re-- member these figures," he told the House. "In June, 1936," continued Mr. Ellis, "the Hydro--Electric sold bonds guaranteed by the Province of $10,-- 000,000 with interest at 2% per cent payable in 1944. These bonds are now selling at 96% to 97%. I would ask you to remember these figures. In October, 1936, the Province of Quebec sold an issue of bonds of $12,000,000 at the same rate of in-- terest and payable in the same year These bonds are selling at 98 to 99. Why is it, I may ask, that the bonds of Quebec are selling at 14 points higher than the Hydro--Electric bonds guaranteed by Ontario?" Toronto Bond Issue. Proceeding with his bond sale ar-- gument, the Conservative critic said that in January, 1937, the Govern-- ment had sold $20,000,000 worth of serial bonds. "I am glad to say," said he, "that for the first time this Government has sold serial bonds. It never should have sold anything else but serial bonds." ) _ "Absolutely wrong," put in Mr. Nixon. --_"Then If It's absolutely wrong," clicked Mr. Ellis, "why did you sell twenty millions' worth?" _ _ j Hon. Mr. Marshall, Minister of Agriculture, took up the cudgels in defense of the Hepburn Budget in the Legislature yesterday, and roused applause from the Liberals when he replied vigorously to the attack made by the previous speaker. Arthur Ellis (Cons., Ottawa South), financial critic for the Opposition. _--The Cabinet Minister carried the fight to Mr. Ellis by quotin_g frorp an editorial in the Ottawa Journel, in which the Budget surplus and taxation reductions were highly praised. In this editorial was a com-- ment to the effect that "much Gov-- ernment determination for the pub-- lic good" was shown by the Budget. "I would just as soon take the opinion of this newspaper as take that of the honorable member who spent so much time asking us for information," said Mr. Marshall, re-- ferring to the frequent questions which Mr. Ellis asked the Premier and his colleagues. At the outset Mr. Marshall remarked that rarely had he heard a speaker evince such a great thirst for information as had Mr. Ellis, "and I have noever seen a man so much in need of it." -- "The policy of Conservative Ad-- ministrations of the past was: 'We have the money and we'll spend it,'" said Mr. Marshall. "Our policy is we have a surplus and we'll give it back to the people. My honorable friend says it was bad budgeting to have so large a surplus. I never heard of a person being criticized for budgeting on the right side of 'the redger""; . . _ .. . . ._ Mr. Marshall admitted that the Government had spent less money than the previous regime, but ar-- gued that the Liberal Admiristra-- tion had got more for its expendi-- tures. He took the case of his own department as an example. The Henry Government, he said, closed one experimental farm at | Hearst. the Kemptville School for Girls and the New Liskeard Experimental Farm. The present Government, though spending less money, had reopened these institutions and in addition, had opened a school at Kidgetown. _ _ The Provincial income tax was stoutly defended by the speaker. The inequalities that existed under the municipal income tax system had been abolished entirely and the tax rate was now collected from those best able to pay, no matter where they resided. As far as suc-- cession duties were concerned, Mr. Marshall said, that if it was bad business to collect money from es-- tates of wealthy people who died, then he was all in favor of this kind of business. C "The two most equitable taxes known are the income tax and the succession duty tax," declared the Minister of Agriculture. "It is a sound principle and one that was long ago recognized in the Mother Country." Maxrch i2