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--. B FERRuARY 16 Hepburn Lauds Policy of Municipal, Welfare NEFEREEEEIE |\ -- Branches Under Cross s§55 SouEs|e onl e § &6 t< 3o |¢ | c ERAtEEIr | DEBTS ARE REDUCED #§"® FRH © § whomearwarem en icrcnacis t Municipalities of! Ontario will g §82R S&S§TE & save more than $3,500,000 during the # E §§§ §§§§§ g fiscal year ending March 31 as a x TS ,:%2 ggfips w result of the continuance of the 4 sla'_: en § a Government's policy of assuming 5 w a i its share of the cost of old--age pen-- sions, pensions for the blind and t« & C s '::58. ggzgg ~4 !mothers' allowances, Premier Hep-- > g §§S§. $ekta4Y § burn forecast yesterday in a review U vot | tur g < Hég% :;.§§83; ;...1 of the municipal and welfare T odGaomn Gi6t c branches under Hon. Eric Cross, a 8 led r-- ": " ® He believed the department might § %_' Bs3 s3%sg )8 look back .vithor;ride upon its accom-- T lishments. outstandi 6 5 g§§§ §.$.§§;§. § plishme f s r'\'mg. note " . 8 5¥o §"§2 g he said, was the stabilization of E s "AkE &@8 § municipal credit due to the amicable w* -- t= r4 & <¢ C &# |rf a s « % 3 debt refundings for the supervised s ¥ & <'!te municipalities. °.§ égg §§§ I:|g $93,000,000 Refunded. T t 5_;8-' g-g-"- c }o Out of a total of $105,000,000 of x § "8,,% Rvai § & debenture debt in default at one Z %w" PA a time, involving thirty--five munici-- : 2 palities, over $93,000,000 has been o £242 SE3 ::l~ refunded for some twenty--four "p m g :gé égg & & g municipalities. Debenture holders' | & 3 ?Ru: & E0 : : |r-- committees have been arranged to lE = ?ggg .'3$3§ i & g carry out the plans of four more l 'G o f.g.'; 4 }: municipalities involving over $9,-- F3 )# & 3 500,000. Plans for two other _' | municipalities are pending and pre-- fix 2 gggge a4@ :: 73 liminary surveys are now under > ':':'EE"; '3' E§§ & & § consideration for the remaining five § §5° g?g. steecg:|s with a view to refunding at an early | Sm;"-é"' "'--"5 +# g- Gross municipal debenture debt 6 2 E60 w w e e at the close of 1938 will amount to C @ oo8, .3 approximately $404,300,000, a reduc-- C I ts :111 tion of almost $21,500,000 for the 8 * i in i.k * & year. Thus the gross debenture < :ik filfrl debt of Ontario municipalities now [~ E % 3-'-"- : > * stands at its lowest figure since |\ * E 14 ; c E " & 1923, when at Dec. 31 of that year '! g I t :-5 eR & -- E.; it amounted to 3376.512.«". | T ELE3 Saving on Relief. | a< t iB :: :A Referring back to the Department w * i ta t tE of Welifare, the Premier cited, as «2 -- i i4 }ilgs an indication to which the public C Hik!!los y generally is affected by this branch § * i' t.* TB O of the Government, that during the % P te : § '= 8 month of December, 1939, more than € * E * ;'-g -s a M .3 290,000 persons were dependent, | i fig ;32§'§ wholly or in part, upon its assist-- * . *C *s ance. : § Euzgéfi Another saving which accrued to M:F 4 Plage® Ontario's municipalitiee this year 3388 $ 85 S was by reason of the arrangement 82 8 §5z<';;'; made whereby the Dominion Gov-- <Sbks8 s358 ernment, the Province and the MR2<2 a£ORLW municipalities contribute on a 40--40-- o s o y uis 20 basis for unemployment relief, rather than by way of direct grant-- * in--aid, he said. "This change will result in a saving to Ontario munici« palities of $1,640,000 this year. On March 31, 1939, there were approxi« mately 300,000 persons in receipt of , relief and it is anticipated that in . the same month this year the rolls will be decreased by about 85,000."