The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

—_—T , mo ‘ \horsday, Marek 31.40 Hon. William Finla son Minis- ter of Lands and Fpiexis. ‘disputed Mr. Sinclair’s claim that the Gov- ernment was to blame for the be- lated convening of the committee, and alleged, instead, that the Op- position had been negligent. The Government, he said, was not shirk- ing its responsibitity. It had noth- ing to hfde. And the committee could sit day and night—‘for weeks, as far as that matters’’-——if it de- sired, On the other hand, the Goy- ernment had no objection, he said, to meeting. the Liberal Leader's re- quest, provided that such approval did not involve any reflection cn the ‘Government. Col J. A. Currie, Conservative member for Toronto St. Patrick, at once protested, Postponement o the inquiry would mean, he said, that “a dirty rag would be tied to the Tory party,” and*that the Op- position would go shouting around the hustings: ‘We've got them.” Col. Currie submitted that the Sin- clair resolution did not lie within the power of the committce. To this contention Mr. Finlayson agreed after a half-dozen other Conserva- tive members took the Currie stand, and appealed for ‘an immediate in- quiry, if any.” “> Gossip Downtown. Col. Currie further alleged that it was common gossip “at downtown hotels” that the Opposition had two Ministers of the Government in its hands. and “could do anything with them.” “They're saying,” Col. Currie told Mr. Sinclair, “that you have two or three Cabinet Ministers you're going to trim. Come on now, let’s have it.” Mr. Finlayson expressed himself as agreeable to accepting the Sin- clair motion provided the preamble which, he said, was inclined te lat the onus of responsibility for the late summoning of the committee on the Government's shoulders, Was struck out. In that shape, he ould have no objection. he added, to it going before the House as 4 recom- mendation. “You're foolish,” interjected Col. Currie. “If the Opposition has anything to dc. let it do it now.” On the prompting of Leo Mac- aulay, Conservative member for South York, Mr. Finlayson suggest- ed that Mr, Sinclair lay before the committee the items which he pro- posed to probe in 1928. Mr. Sin- elair declined to do so. Would Not Give Names. “Will you file the men’s names with the Clerk?” asked Hon. Joseph Thompson, Chairman of the commit- e. “I'll file them with no one,” said the Liberal Leader. Russell Nesbitt, member for To-| ronto Bracondale, urged that the | committee be called for ‘‘next week.” That would, he thought, give the | Liberal Leader plenty of time to’! prepare for examination of witnesses. Unless the inquiry was held this year the public would be under the im- “pression for twelve months that Mr. Sinclair had seven specific charges against Government officials, wheth- er they were specific or not. Mr. Finlayson then framed @ m0o- tion which he thought would cover the situation, but which Mr. Sin- clair refused to accept. Mr. Finlay: | son then filed it as an amendment to the Libera! Leader's original reso- lution, and it carried the commit- tee by a vote of 30 to 12. It waa qword<d as follows: “That the Public Accounts Com- mittee are now prepared to consider and hear evidence on any matter in the Fublic Accounts of 1926 and to devote as much time as is necessary for ine full hearing and considera- tien of all such matters; and as to any matters which the Leader of the Opposition or any other member of the committee wish to postpone to 29°58, the committee leave such mat- ter or items to be determined by the committee of 1928.” ROAD BUILDING PLAN IN NORTHERN ONTARIO GIVEN BY FINLAYSON Hon. W. E. Raney, Progressive Leader, submitted that there was just as much need for the detailed ex- penditures of these Commissions: be- ing carried by the Public Accounts. as there was need for the detailed expenditures of the Lands.and For- ests or Public Works Department. While agreeing with Premier Fergu- son that such action would necessi- tate a change in the Jaw, there was no reason, he contended, why this change should not be made. Importance of Development - Qutshadows That of Any Political Party, He Says FAVORS LEGISLATURE TRIP Debate in the Legislature yester- day on the resolution of M. E. Scott (Liberal, South Oxford) “that moneys granted by the House for Northern and Northwestern Ontario development used only after appropriations therefrom have been approved by the House in esti- mates.” drew from Hon. William Finlayson, Minister of Lands and Forests, some interesting informa- tion regarding the Government's road development plans in the North for the present year, and the assur- ance that, while it was impossible to estimate expenditures for tion of the Province because of ever- varying conditions, an effort would be made next year to ‘provide for the House more detailed informa- tion concerning moneys spent in this regard than has been available in past years. Rush North Bay-Timiskaming Road. Mr. Finlayson informed the House that “he North Bay-Timiskaming road would be completed by Sept. 1, if not by July 1. He said that one section of 25 miles, from Swastika north, remained to be constructed, Premier Ferguson, he admitted, had should be , ihis seec- given instructions, in view of the approach of the Diamond Jubilee anniversary of Confederation, that the work toward the highway’s com- pletion should be rushed with all possible speed. Work on lateral roads in the Kapuskasing district; repairs on the trunk road west from Sault Ste. Marie; expenditure of a large sum for improvement of the main high- way south from Port Arthur and Fort William; extension of the road from Kenora easterly as far as Wabigoon: and extension of the road from Fort Frances north to Nesbitt’s Falls and the Lake of the Woods, also featured the develop- ment program as announced by Mr. Finlayson for the present season. Mr. Finlayson went into the ques- tion of Northern development on 4 large scale, and, in this connection, expressed the hope that two years from now, if not later this year, the Legislature, as a whole, would make a tour of this end of the Province and see for itself a growing develop- ment, “the importance of which far outshadowed the importance of any political party.” “Sorry End” for Resolution. The Seott resoluiion was with- drawn. Anether resolution debated during the afternoon was also with- drawn. Liberal Leader William FE. N. Sinclair, who had sponsored. it. termed its withdrawal “a sorry end.” It expressed the belief of the House that the Public Accounts should con- tain a statement in detail of all rev- enues and expenditures in connection with the T, & N. O. Railway Com- mission,.the Board of License Com- missioners. the Queen Victoria Ni- agara Falls Park Commission and the Hydro-Electric Power Commission, similar to the statements furnished by the various departments of Gov- ernment, Mr. Sinelair’s vigorous support of the.motion was disputed by Premier , Ferguson, who claimed that “policy and cost” were two factors which interfered with supplying details of all public expenditures in the manner suggested by Mr. Sinclair. If, he said, all details, such as advocated. were to be included in the Public Ac- counts, “the volume named would be as big and cumbersome as the Re- vised Statutes,” BUSINESS OF HOUSE DRAWS T0 A CLOSE Prorogation of Legislature Set for Tuesday of Nexi Week TODAY MAY SEE WIND-UP Official business of Oniario Legislature will wind up today or tomorrow at the latcst Proroga- tion will be set for Tuesday, April 4. Hon. John S. Martin, Minister of Agriculture, will finish his speech to the Agriculture estimates this af- ternoon. A night session will pro- vide Hon, Charles McCrea, Minister of Mines, with a chance to review the work of his department and to speak also on the game Jaws of the Province. With the exception of some legislation from the Statutes Revision Commission, most Govern- ment and private bills are ready for third reading or Royal assent. Two special committees meet this morning for the first time this ses- sion, namely, the ion, Committee on Privileges and Elections, and the Committee on Legal Bills. To the first committee Hon. W. E. Raney’s bill to prohibit political contribu- tions from distilleries, breweries, corporations, ete., was referred a month ago, following the House's discussion of it. The committee rul- ing on the measure will be an inter- esting one, inasmuch as Mr. Raney, it is said, will vigorously support it again, as he did before. FIRST STEP 10 CHECK THEFTS OF CHICKENS Crown Attorneys Requested to Emphasize Serious- ness of Crime As a first step of a plan with which the Government hopes to check the practice of chicken-thieving and reé- sale to foreigners that obtains at the present time in several sections of the Province, Attorney-General W. H. Price has requested the Crown Attorneys in various centres and ju- dicial districts to emphasize the seri- ousness of this crime. In fact, the Attorney-General has directed that the general public be educated to the fact that stealing chickens is every bit as serious as stealing horses or other animals. Yhe next step, it is understood, will come at an early date when Hon. John S. Martin, Minister of Agriculture completes a preventive measure on Which he is now work- ing. Information to this effect was di- vulged in the Legislature yesterday by George Shields, Conservative member ior Toronto Woodbine, who, at the request of poultry dealers of Tilbury, where a regular epidemic of this sort of theft is said to have raged in recent months, appealed to the Attorney-General’s Depart- ment for assistance. Mr. Shields was inclined to be- lieve, he said, that much of the fail- ure to stop “this thieving” Was due to Magistrates who ‘treated it as a trivial matter.”