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more into debt, but on the other hand the province had an invalu-- able asset to offset that capital ex-- penditure increase. Federal Loans to West, What, he asked, had the {federal government to show for its heavy debt increase in recent years? Sev-- enty millions of dollars had been thrown away to the wheat growers; $148,000,000 had gone to the west-- ern provinces in the form of loans that never would be repaid. "And my personal organ, The Globe and Mail, in its propaganda sheet, which I read every day, and I hope it doesn't take me to task any more than it does, gives us the story of how $40,000,000 went to Saskatchewan for relief," said he. "One--half of that huge sum, no doubt, will have to be met by the taxpayers of Ontario some time. Does my honorable friend the Leader of the Opposition support Ottawa in that move, or will he pro-- test the eventual assumption by our taxpayers of that load? Nothing to show for all that increase in debt. Well, that sort of policy does not apply in Ontario. Whenever we in-- crease the debt here we have some-- thing to show for it, at least" The Premier said that he was proud of the work his government had done to assist the hard--hit municipalities in reducing their taxation and debt. Colonel Drew could glibly say that the govern-- ment hadn't done a thing. But through road subsidiecs, assumption of the counties share of King's Highway costs, assumption of all social service charges, increased grants to the schools, and a special one--mill -- subsidy, among other things, the government had actually handed back $12,712,000 in one given year to the municipalities. Speeches Analyzed. understand. He talks about us hav-- ing lost the confidence of the peo-- ple. I say to him, let him resign his seat, and we won't give him an ac-- clamation again, and he'll soon see where he gets off at." Mr. Hepburn dealt at some length with the speeches of Colonel Drew in his post--convention northern trip, in one of which, he said, the charge had been made that "the sunshine budget had been respon-- sible for the loss of millions of dol-- lars in timber lands." The Premier quoted figures to show, as he claimed, that every form of fire-- prevention equipment from pumps and hose to planes and watch tow-- ers had been increased since 1934. Other Conservatives had charged'| the government with sabotaging Ottawa's youth training scheme.| when, as a matter of fact, said he, the Province of Ontario had been' the only province to "use sense"---- not sabotage--in dealing with it. | Under this arrangement, said he, Ontario would continue to co--oper-- ate except where jobs could abso-- lutely be provided for the youth concerned. The Premier dealt with the ex-- service men's situation, claiming that now there was no justification for the "wholesale dismissals" al-- legation which had been levelled against him. He admitted that the Succession Duties Branch had taken on a large number of expert | accountants, "but believe me," he| added, "they have earned their sal-- aries." Last year, said he, they were directly responsible for collecting some $20,000,000 in revenue that would not have been obtainable but ul o o is : es h "I don't believe the people of this province fully realize what we have accomplished, and I'm sure the Leader of the Opposition does not 3 a 4(4 2Gncdisocodifiioesatniing for their presence on the staf their activity. fand Mental Hospital Staffs. Staffing of the mental hospitals, he also admitted, might have to be increased at the rate of 100 a year, if the patients' increase maintained its present serious rate. "It's a situ-- ation," said he, "that can't be helped. These mentally afflicted simply have to be taken care of." The provincial | savings offices opened by the government had like-- wise more than justified their oper-- ation, said he. In fact, they had been responsible for the low rate of in-- terest which the province on its borrowings now enjoyed. The Opposition Leader, he gibed, had had the temerity to suggest that the Hepburn Government hadn't done anything; that it should resign and go to the country. Why, said he, efficiency of administra-- tion had increased the net earnings of the Timiskaming & Northern Ontario Railway from $245,000 in 1934 to $1,266,000 in 1939. In regard to liquor administration last year the board, with some 230 fewer em-- ployees than in 1934, and in spite of the increased activities necessi-- tated by beer and wine sale, had in-- creased its net revenue by $4,503,000 over 1934. Considerable was being heard, he said, about the size of the present Cabinet--with the talkers quite un-- mindful, he added, of the fact that the increased services demanded by the people required a larger ad-- ministrative body than in other years. In spite of the argmentation, however, salaries for the present Cabinet over a three--year period amounted to only $84,000, as against $107,000 in a corresponding period under the Conservative Government. And where the travelling expenses of the Tory Ministers in that period aggregated $150,271, expenses of the present Cabinet totalled but $8,410. Debate on Hydro Issue. Replying to Colonel Drew on the Hydro issue, Mr. Hepburn intimated that it would be debated at length before the session wound up. As a result of the new contracts with the Quebec companies, the province would save over the period of the life of the contracts some $92,000,-- 000. Colonel Drew, he said, had stressed the point that the Province had refused to co--operate with Ottawa on the St. Lawrence project. It was high time that Ottawa ex-- tended some co--operation to Ontario. What co--operation had been forth-- coming from the Federal authority in the proposed Ogoki and Long Lac diversions? What co--operation had been forthcoming when the Hydro proposed to export surplus power from the Quebec contracts to the United States, with a po-- tential great benefit to the power MmARCH 19 consumers of the Niagara district? None, in either case, he contended. "The Leader of the Opposition," he said, "says I refused to negotiate or to discuss the St. Lawrence matter with Ottawa. There is noth« ing more to discuss. The Hydro engineers have been down there and discussed it. Representatives have been down there and discussed it. Other people have discussed it. There is nothing to be discussed now that hasn't been discussed often in the past. Ottawa knows my stand. I don't believe construction of the St. Lawrence project at this time is economically sound, and I believe the rest of Canada thinks the way I do. Ostensibly it is nothing more than a new avenue of transporta« tion for the movement of wheat, at a time when we need less and less wheat than ever before." Ottawa and Taxes. He did not propose, said Mr. Hep-- burn, to enter into any further argument over the Rowell Comums-- sion stand of his administration. Ontario's case had been presented; he did not propose to alter it in any way. Things had come to an im« passe, he charged, when the Feder-- al Government had clearly violated the whole spirit of taxation by in-- vading the Ontario field with a new levy. "I am glad," said he, "to see the Leader of the Opposition taking up cudgels in Ottawa's behalf, because apparently, nobody else will do it. He's all alone in that regard, and his lot may not be a very happy one. But why doesn't F let it go at that, instead of coming into this House trying to wreck provincial rights?" In sarcastic vein, the Premier admitted that in the election --~n-- paign of 1937, he had conceived the famous billboard "Roweboat" pic-- ture. Now, he said, he would have to rechristen the sinking craft "The Showboat," with Colonel Drew as "Miss Canada, No. 1." Colonel Drew, said he necd not have to worry at this moment about an election. In time it would roll around he said, and when it did he could promise him he would be "taken into camp" as easily and ef-- fectively as his predecessors in of-- fice had been taken in.