ac, iS A SAMI Sa nti Sa sc SR ik Re ee ree ete ee TT COUNTY OF PERTH HERALD. Select Poetry. PLD LDAP PLLA PDL LLLP Ot PEL "His Hand upon the Latch." My cottage home is filled with light The long, long summer day, But oh! I dearer love the night, And hail the singing ray ; For eve restores me one whole smile Can more than morning match,-- And life afresh seems dawning while His hand is on the latch! When autumn fields are thick with sheaves, And early shadows fall, And grapes grow purple 'neath the eaves, Along our trellis wall,-- T dreaming sit,--the sleepy bird Faint twittering in the thatch,-- To wake in joy when soft is heard His hand upon the latch! In the short winter afternoon I lay my work aside, And through the lattice, whilst the moon Shines mistily and wide, On the dim upland paths I peer In vain his form to catch-- I start with wild delight and hear His hand upon the latch! Yes, I am his in storm and shine, For me he toils all day ; And his true heart I know is mine, Both near me and away, And when he leaves our garden gate Atmorn his steps 1 watch-- Then patiently till eve T wait His hand upon the latch! Vrovineial Parliament, PAID LILLL DRILL Debate on the Budget. Hon. Mr. Gart--Mr. Chairman, I must congratulate the Finance Minister on the clear and lucid manner in which he has made his financial statement. But there, I regret to say, this congratulation must end. There never was, I venture to affirm, a speech made in this House which will have such a bad effect as the speech just delivered by the hon. gentleman. (Hear, hear.) The Finance Minister saw what his duty was, but unfortunately he did not point out in what manner the House could help him to avoid this great crisis, and to succesfully triumph over it. (Hear, hear.) I differ, Mr, Chairman, from many things stated by the Hon. Finance Minister, with regard to the finances and credit of this country ; and, in order to make myself understood, I shall refer to some time back. Mr. Gar would not go as far back as 1857, because that year was before his time ; but he would re- fer to 1858. It was well known what was the policy of the Government at that time, and what was the condition of the country. For the creation of public works, then in progress, money in great profusion poured country. With the great abun- dace of money, and the sudden prosperity, came the unfortunate spirit of speculation. Then came the sudden collapse ; and to add to the commercial failures which marked that unfortunate era, there was the failure of the harvest in 1858? There never was a more trying time. The difficulties under which the country labored then were unex- amp! d. The spirit of the people was pros- inte the trate. The difficulties with which the Government of the day had to contend were enerons, far exceeding anything that lay in :oe path of the present Government. Besi °-sther things, a Governmental debt of 450,000,000 had to be provided for, and a deficiency of over $2,000,000, and this at a time when the country was suffering from the coubined influences of a financial crisis, a failure of the harvest, and the consequent depression of public spirits which results from : veaction to poverty from prosperity. This was the position of the country in ~ 1858, when the Government.was called upon to legislate for the crisis. The position of the country was now yastly better than it was then, yet the policy of the Goverament was The Government of 1858 had a firm persuasion that the country would, de- spite all her difficulties, be able to meet all her liabilities, and to get out of all her difficulty ; and that, too, although the cer- far worse. tain embarrassments relative to banking dens of the pevple? pressed heayily upon the Government. This matter could now be freely mentioned, inasmuch as the matter had proved a topic of enquiry before the Financial and Depart- mental Commission -- the proceedings of which had been reported. With all these things to contend with, what had been the policy of the Government of 1858 ? Did they a¢ such a erisis propose to add to the bur- No, (Cheers.) they met the occasion in a proper spirit. They made provisions suitable for the occasion. They settled the Seigniorial Tenure, and the Municipal Loan Fund, in a manner that enabled the present Government to receive a considerable revenue from those sources. And thereby, the public burdens were great- ly reduced. [Hear, hear.] The allusion of the Finance Minister to the policy of the Cartier-Macdonald Government in abolish- ing the tolls was very unfortunate. [ Hear, hear.] The policy of the Macdonald- Dorion Government on this question was most predjudicial to the best interests of the country. [Cheers.] To show the great good that had been derived from the abo- lition of the tolls, and the great evil that would accrue from the re-imposition of those tolls, all that was necessary, was a reference to the Trade and Nayigation Returns. There it would be seen that since the abolition of the tolls, the trade of the canals had largely increased. The following table would show the number of tons of bread- stuffs that were carried down the Welland Canal within the period mentioned :-- RO 240,000 Tons. aarti .467,000 « TOGL dis es 581,000 Bane Ream 721,000 « Representing an increase of over 300 per cent. Again, a similar gratifying increase could be observable in the trade passing through the St. Lawrence Canal, as the fol- lowing figures from the official report showed :-- LBS oe ccs obpbione canta 59,000 Tons. HT BEO stn vivant ade. 186,000" LEG. iiss ce sake vip 342,000. « PEGS te cosnG soso 421,000 Or an increase of four hundred per cent. And yet, the Finance Minister came down, and in the face of these facts, stated that the policy of the Government in abolishing the tolls was a bad policy. [Cheers] But the Finance Minister might say that the net revenue of those canals had fadlen off on account of the abolition policy. Hon. Mr. Houron--You ought to give the gross, not the net revenue. Hon. Mr. Gait--lIt was the net revenue with which the public debt was paid, and therefore the Finance Minister ought not to object to the estimate being made with regard to the net revenue, [Hear, hear.] Well, the net reyenue for the year mentioned "was as follows :-- O59 led. Ay. Lyme $ 92,000 18600235. eS: 83,000 A861 SK Se he tis 69,000 POGR. RY Le 88,000 Thus showing a loss to the Province in net reyenue, by taking off the tolls, of the enor- mous sum of $4,000! [Hear, and cheers. ] This was the great loss that resulted from the throwing open of our national highways tothe trade of the world. Just $4,000! But did this sum represent a loss to the Province? Would any one say that the small sum of $4,000 equals in value the benefit which the country receives from the moving in one single article--of 721,000 tons through the Welland Canal, and 421,- 000 tons through the St. Lawrence Canals? [Cheers.] This did not represent a loss, but a great gain to the country. It cer- tainly was a strange thing to hear the Fi- nance Minister advocate the re-imposition of .tolls, and in the next breath announce himself a lover of the commercial policy of England. Nothing could be more different than the policy of the Government announ- ced, and the policy they pretended to be enamoured with. The policy of the Mac- donald-Dorion gevernment was to impose burdens on the trade of the country while the policy of England was to remove obstruc- tions to trade. So far from the Finance Minister following the commercial policy of the mother-country, he had done quite the reverse in the only instance in which he had an opportunity of following that policy. The policy of England was free trade. The Finance Minister proposes to re-impose the tolls on the Canals, and thus restrict trade. The late Finance Minister [Mr. Howland] had done the trade of the country a great injury when he, in the first place, imposed those tolls. The effect of this movement was to divert the trade into other channels. The present Finance Minister proposes to go further, and to injure the country still more. (Cheers.) It was a matter of great disappointment that the present Finance Minister did not bring down some measure to do some justice to the trade the injustice done by his predecessor. Did not the Finance Minister know that the of the country, and to counteract some of forwarding houses of the conntry into the greatest distress? Did he not know that it was the commerce that kept the country up--that it was the flow of commerce that | kept up trade, cheapened freight and stim- ulated industry. (Cheers.) What had the country incurred her present debt for? Was | it not for those public works? Did not the ! greater portion of the $60,000,000 of) national debt go to build those canals ? Most undoubtedly this was the case. It was the policy of the Government of the | day to make the St. Lawrence what it | was-- the great highway of the West. | Those costly canals were not built for the | purpose of making a few dollars of revenue | out of them, but for great national purposes. | [Cheers.] It was true that in some cases, | and under certain circumstances, it was | right to impose a toll on canals. As an | instance of the great good that the abolition | of tolls had caused, Montreal city was a case in point. It was well known that | before the abolition of tolls, the trade of ber for South Oxford had not scrupled to say that it was a measure to build up Montreal. Hon. Mr. BrowN--Hear, hear. policy that dictated the abolition of the tolls it was a Provincial policy. (Hear, hear.) Every way the toll question was reviewed, the impolicy of reimposing the tolls was ap- parent. The following figures would show the increase in tonnage of the canals that had taken place since the abolition :-- | vious. , gentlemen on the TreasuryBenches to cast | now difficulty in meeting our engagements 3 : country. Montreal languished ; and be would be re- "amounted to $52,500,000; in 1859, to membered that when the Government first | $58,300,000; in 1860, 869,790,000; in proposed to sweep away the tolls, the mem- 1861, $70,360,000; and in 1862, $79,577,- ports had grown from $52,500,000 to up- wards of $79,000,000, an increase of 50 per Hon. Mr. Ganr--It was not a Montreal cent. He appealed to this Committee, to the this much abused measure had proved a complete success, and formed in fact, a con- siderable source of revenue. [Hear, hear.]} And, he felt sure that, as time rolled round. all the much abused financial measures of his [Mr. Galt] would be found to be equally good. If we found the credit of the country suffering, it was owing to the conduct of the gentlemen now in power. Under the Cartier-Macdonald government, the credit of Canada stood as high as any year pre- (Cheers.) It was reserved for the the first stain on Provincial credit. If dis- trust arose from their measures, if we had or reassuring capitalists in England, it was owing to the acts of the prssent Adminis- tration--Cheers. Let the responsibility rest on the right shoulders. There was one infallable criterion as to the wisdom of the Government of which he had the honor to be a member, and that was the trade of the Tn 1858 our exports and imports 000. Thus it would be seen that within the short period of five years the imports and ex- judgment of the country, to say whether the policy productive of such results could justly be characterised as one that had brought the country into difficulties, or to which we must now attribute the present financial troubles. He would appeal to the House to decide if there was not now, as regards the material interests of the country, BS ae eRe Rye 9: 1,282,000 Tons. 2 40) 0 aN Res 6 1,655,000 " TSOP crests npeees 2,132,000 WS02...--,.> |. cheers 1,127,000 He ventured to predict that the tonnage of 1863 would show great falling off on account of the policy announced by the Finance Minister. Trade which hitherto flowed down the St. Lawrence would now be forced into other channels, and a great injury would be done to the best interests of the country. [Cheers.] So much for the pol- icy of the Government on tolls. With re- gard to the manner in which the Government of 1858 proposed -- to extricate the country from difficulties, and the manner which has just been advanced by the present Govern- ment, he proposed to say a few words. The policy of the former Government was to enccurage trade--and to foster industry. The result of that policy was most bene- ficial, and gave a great impetus to manufac- turers. Ifthis was not the case, the dis- tress of the period would have been much greater--inasmuch as it would have been swelled by the manufactures. It was not the policy of the Government te keep back the surveys of the wild lands of the Province --and to withold the funds necessary for the opening up of the colonization roads--to girdle the tree as it were--and destroy the prosperity of the country. It was not the policy of the Government of 1858 to do any of these things. That Government felt it their duty to do every thing in their power to develope the resources of the country--to open up the wild lands--to push the surveys, and construct the colonization roads. [ Hear, hear.] The report of the Commissioner of Crown Lands of the day would show that at that time a large proportion of the wild lands of both Upper and Lower Canada were surveyed and utilized--and also that then the proportion of wild lands taken np in Lower Canada was nearly equal to the pro- portion taken in Upper Canada----nearer in fact than had ever been observed 'before. (Hear, hear.) There could be no more unfortunate policy than that actually boast- ed of by the Government, the stoppage of the surveys and the abandonment of the colonization roads. [Cheers.] And what return did the present Government propose to give the country for these drawbacks? Why, an increase to her public burdens. (Cheers.) To return. During the time that the Government of 1858 was develop- ing the resources of the country, they were also engaged in funding the public debt and and in creating the sinking fund. And here he must remark that the statement' of the Finance Minister had given him great satisfaction. It was, in fact, a complete revenge for the attacks of the hon. member for South Oxford on this very measure. Time and again that hon. gentleman had condemned his (Mr. Galt's) policy in ere- ating a sinking fund. He had predicted its failure. Yet now the House had heard her great measures of Mr. Howland had plunged the matter for well grounded satisfaction to all. --Hear, hear. We have been this year blessed, thank Providence, with an abun- dant harvest, our trade is in a healthy and prosperous state, we have no distress pre- vailing in our cities or country districts, and every branch of industry can find profitable employment, while there is no cause for ap- prehension on any side. The country's resources were undiminished, its wethers unwrung, and we could approach with con- fidence the question of making provision for our financial wants. When he [Mr. Galt] brought down his financial scheme 18 months ago, the then government did not hesitate to submit frankly, and freely their opinions in regard to what the wants of the country were, and the manner in which they ought to bemet. [Cheers.] The Cartier- Macdonald Government on that occasion never had the opportunity of going into the details of their scheme; no one could refer to it and say they were in any way inclined ot forget the duty devolving upon them, as re- gards the full exposition of their financial policy. (Hear, hear.] They had waited until the resources of the country had re- covered from the depressive shock they sus- tained in 1857 and 1858, until the industry of the country was able to bear an additional strain upon it, which was considered the time when additional taxation could be im- posed to the best advantage, when the country would not feel the burden, nor its in- dustry be seriously affected thereby ; when our financial wants could be met in a way at once satisfactory to Parliament, and in no way onerous to the public, He would direct the attention of the House to the ex- penditure and taxation since 1858. In this year the expenditure was $3.95 per head of the population ; interest on the public debt amounting to $1.34 per head. In 1861 the expenditure had fallen to $3,71. per head, the intereston the public debt amounting to $1.31. In 1862 it was £3.62, the interest on the debt reaching only $1.27 per head ofthe popu- lation. . Consequently, between the years 1858 and 1862, with all these frightful accumulations of debt and interest, on ~vhich the Opposition had declaimed so long and loudly, we find that the gross expenditure of the country, including interest on the debt, had decreased from $3.95 to $3.62 per head of the people. Hon. Mr. you take? Brown--What census do Hon. Mr. GALT was understood to say he took the actual sensus for each respective year in making his calculation, and the sen- sus of 1861 bore him out completely. Con- sequently there never was a greater impo- sition than that attempted to be palmed off on the country respecting our financial con- dition, by hon. gentlemen on the other side, and he charged them publicly with the at- tempt to decry our credit and standing before the world. [Cheers]. The Government South Oxford was more so than anybody else for the way in which the public mind was debauched on this subject. [Cheers.] It had been rspresented from one end of the country to the other that the expenditure of the country had increased in a far greater ratio than its population and resources; that we are running in debtat a fearful rate. What were the facts? He challenged the hon member for South Oxford to make good the charges which he had made over and over again. The facts established that, always with the increase of the population of the country there was a continual redue- tion in the general and gross expenditure an& of the interest of the public debt. In re- gard to the wealth and resources of the country, did the hon. member mean to say they had not increased in proportion to the increase of population and even beyond it. The fact was, the population and wealth of the country increased in a greater ratio than the expenditure and interest on the public debt. The statements he had condemned were mere inyentions,whose object was to establish the theory of hon. gentlemen opposite, viz., that the position of the Province was be- coming worse, when it was on the contrary becoming better. When he remembered the different position in which the Province now stands, as compared with that of 1858, a time of general depression ; that in 1859 those magnificient western counties were crying out for bread in the midst of want occasioned by circumstances beyond control, he could see with pleasure how much bet- ter off was the country now when reeling under the weight of an abundant harvest; and the House could appreciate the difficul- ties then besetting the Finance Minister's path as contrasted with those of the present hon. Finance Minister. The hon. gentleman said the deficit was nothing less this year than $2,000,000. Then itwas over that amount, and the Cartier-Macdonald Govern- ment had to meet it either by the use of our credit or by taxation. They adopted both modes. When they had an impoverished country to deal with and the other difficul- ties enumerated. But the hon. Finance Minister had now the whole resources of the country untouched, and would be wanting in his duty if he allowed the House to sep- arate without making provisions for our liabilities. Cheers.) He would now ad- vert to the circumstances under which the Government took office. He could not for a moment admit that the Finance Minister was entitled to shield himself from the re- sponsibility of his position by the fact of his having assumed office only four months ago. It would be remembered that there was a budget before the House when it last was prorogued, and though being that of a for- mer Finance Minister, who was now a mem- ber of the present Government, it must be assumed to be the same as the present, as the Government had declared repeatedly they had not changed their policy. The present budget must, therefore be regarded as the same as the last; and Ministers had ample time to prepare their scheme and mature their financial policy since the pro- rogation. But it was found the Hon. Fi- nance Minister and present Government had really thrown to the winds their former budget, and how could the Hon. Finance Minister come here and ask the House to sanction a certain system of taxation, and so forth, representing the feelings and opinions of Government, in the face of the last budget brought in by the Hon. Receiver General; and how the latter could sit here and see every principle of the budget, which was also in accordance with the views of the Cabinet, abandoned at this moment, and how the latter could reconcile this conduct with his self-respect, and re- main a member of this Administration, he [Mr. Galt] could not conceive. Cheers.) It was bad enough to have had such ex- planations in the House with regard to Goy- ernment policy, but it was worse still that, in relation to the trade and commerce of the country, as well as its finances, the Govern- ment could not remain of the same opinion for four months. [Cheers.] And the House was called upon to give the Finance Minis- ter six or eight months more to make up his mind as to what scheme he should propose to us. He might congratulate the hon. member for South Oxford on the budget brought down to-night. He had not been altogether pleased with the last financial statement, and had not been pleased to find that extra burdens were going to be on the country ; and he had declared to the House that the explanations given by the present Hon. Receiver General would be unsatisfac- tory to the country. He (Mr, Galt) would the Finance Minister state in his place that were responsible, but the hon. member for like to know if he was better pleased with COUNTY OF PERTH HERALD 5 the present Finance Minister's explanations, with his policy as to retrenchment and the means of adjusting the financial balance. It was satisfactory to gentlemen on this side of the House, who had been for years the mart of abuse and calumny on the part of hon. gentlemen opposite, to hear now from their own lips a statement giving the lie to the whole of their previous assertions about retrenchment--assertions made simply, it appeared, to deceive and mislead the people, and that in this, as well as in other questions respecting which they made so many promis- es, it would be found, now--they had got into office, they had displayed no intention whatever of carrying out. The Hon. Fi- nance Minister had spoken truly when he said it was not his intention to propose any additional taxation at present. Hon. Mr. Houron--No; I said not at this stage of the session. Hon. Mr. Gaur belived: that he had ex- plained what he meant by " this stage of the session," which amounted to putting the matter back indefinitely, for he said he sup- posed the House would meet again in No- vember or somewhat later. [Laughter. ] Hon. Mr. Hotron--What I said was this: that if the House continued in session without interruption, or make out a full, regular session, I would bring down the fi- nancial measures. I did express a desire that the financial measures would be so postponed as to take effect from the begin- ning of next year. Hon. Mr. Gaur said it was singular that the hon.' gentleman who had control of the finances was unable to say when he would be ready to submit his measures to the House. - He scarcely expected to elicit such an answer from the hon. gentleman. He believed 'he would have had his budget ready to-night had he possessed control of the House. Government did not desire to bring down the budget till they had com- pleted their arrangements for obtaining con- trol of the House--a majority. (Cheers.) The hon. Finance Minister pleaded that he was only a short time in office; but he could not detach himself from the responsibility for the acts of the Government which, it had been contended, had not changed its policy. The House and the country would hold the Government responsible for that policy, because his hon. friend had not given them the advantage of his great talents for the last four months. He had said our eredit was imperilled--who had imperilled it? At-the time of the Trent difficulty, during the prevalence of the American war, our securities in London stood at 99; and the first blow given them was the rejection, by an unpatriotic vote of gentlemen opposite, of the Cartier-Macdonald Militia Bill.-- (Cheers.) There was no doubt but that they were greedy for office; and had sacri- ficed the interests of the country, and placed itin peril for the purpose of gaining a petty party triumph over opponents against whom they had struggled in vain in previous years. He believed that the conduct of the Govern- ment with regard to the Grand Trunk 'Postal arbitration had also damaged the in- terests of the country. He would be able to point out to the Committee the fact that an addition was made to the actual burthen which would haye to be paid this year, and that the reductions talked of were, in real- ity, mere postponements of payments; that the statement now submitted showed a larger burthen to be borne than even that made by the present hon. Receiver-General in May last. In the first place, there were three items omitted from the estimates now under consideration. There was, for in- stance, Public Works and Buildings, $372,- 000. He told usit was no part of the policy of the Government to make a change in this matter. The money must be paid next year. The next item was a sum $163,000 for the construction of Roads and Bridges. He explained it was not to be a reduction, but it was not, however, to be expended this year. The Seigniorial moneys of $300,000 would not be paid this year, but they must be paid next year. These items amounted to about $800,000. The difference in the two budgets was only $563,000. -- Conse- quently, the estimates we have this year to meet will exceed those contemplated in the last budget by $291,000; and he heard there were yet supplementary estimates pro- mised. There was a singular item respecting a road at Caughnawaga. (Laughter.) The hon. gentleman further charged the Minis- try with being responsible for the expendi- ture caused by the election--a sum of $300,- 000; and had, at the same time, managed to perform the shuffie which had prevented the country from judging on the policy and personnel of the new Administration. (Cheers.) It was a very dangerous course for the hon. gentleman to take, to state that there was likely to be achange in the finan- cial policy of the Government. Who could embark in trade when a doubt existed as to whether in December, January, February, or March next, the alteration in the tariff would go into effect? In the Speech from the Throne the attention of the House was directed to the state of the finances, and the means of adjusting a fair balance between the expenditure and the income; and the House was now ready to consider such measures, but the hon. gentlemen were not yet ready to submit them, withholding from the House the means of acceding to His Excellency's request, and stating their policy might be made known in six months. Not a day should be lost in putting the fi- nances of the country in a proper order. The hon. gentleman went on to say that he would feel it to be his duty, if no other hon. member understood the task, to test whether the policy announced by the hon. Finance Minister was one which deserved to be carried out, and whether it was right that the House should be allowea to separate without endeavoring to provide in an effec- tive manner for the wants of the country. (Hear, hear.) He had no doubt, however, that the hon. member for Chateauguay felt the responsibility of his position» but he was unfortunately going to avoid the issue which had arisen, and to send hon. gentle- men back to their constituents without the adoption of any remedial measure to stay the evil about which he had said so much. Yet, in the interval before the House met again, the hon. Finance Minister was will- ing to borrow alarge sum of money in order to meet some portion of the deficiency. [Hear, hear.] The hon. gentleman [Mr. Holton] had taken occasion to allude to the public debt, and he [Mr, Galt] would take occasion to correct a number of statements which he had made in connection with that subject. He had ingeniously tried to capitalize the debt at five per cent, forgetting that he could not do it--forget- ting that he could only capitalize thirty-one millions at four per cent, and the remainder at six per cent. however, that not only the past Finance Minister, the present Finance Minister, and the antecedent Finance Minister, but hon. members opposite, generally, had fallen into a habit of doing everything in their power, when speaking of our financial condition, to swell up the public debt as much as pos- sible. He [Mr. Galt] was totally opposed to this kind of conduct--he believed that in all matters concerning our revenue, expen- diture, or liabilities, we should endeavor to be as accurate and as truthful as possible, instead of adopting as truthful statements that which existed only in the ardent im He [ Mr. Galt] had already occupied the attention of the Committee for a considerable length of time, but he thought it would be better to give utterance to any further remarks he might have to make now, rather than take It was a strange fact, aginations of certain individuals. up the subject again, at a future occasion. The best way to show that they appreciated the urgency of the case on which the hon. Finance Minister had descanted so patheti- cally would be to insist that proper meas- ures should be placed before the House ; and that they should be taken up and considered without delay. [Hear, hear.] | The Fi- nance Minister was not justified by the ex- cuse he had alleged. for not coming down with a full and complete scheme. He had been in office some four months, and yet, forsooth, because of the crisis and the elee- tions and other kindred causes, he was not in a position to come down to the House with a proper measure, [Hear, hear.] The Government.of which he was a member had been in power sixteen months--they had occupied office since May 1862, and yet they had never yet given a financial meas- are to the country. It was rather too good to tell the House and the country now in September 1863, that they had been unable to produce a feasible project for remedying our financial condition, since May 1862. (Hear, hear.) The fact of the matter was just this--they would not accept the state- ments which had been made by their pre- decessors in office, but they went around the country with a sham ery of retrenchment-- pretending that they could meet the current expenditure without additional taxation, solely by nieaus of strict economy in the outlay, and retrenchment in the several branches of the public service. This pre- tence of course*was a failure, it was a com- plete and utter sham, and now it was gone. Hon. J. 8. Macponatp.--Where is it gone ? Hon. Mr. Gatt--lIt is gone to the minds of the people of Upper Canada; and they are not likely to forget it. They will re- member long the treatment they have met with at the hands of the Premier and his colleagues. [Cheers.] The hon. gentle- man went on to say that the people would indeed long remember the sham ery of re- trenchment with which they had been most speciously duped. Was it merely for this miserable policy of economy that cherished principles had been abandoned, and the re- forms so long believed indispensible to the welfare ef the country given up? Was this all the people were to receive from the men for whom they had sacrificed so much ? [Hear, hear.] Would they rest contented with such a disproportionate return? No, they would not; they would not forget their treatment in a hurry, and the hon. member for South Oxford was very much mistaken indeed if he imagined that the people would grant an acquittal in full of all claims, for the much vaunted retrench- ment policy of the Government; that hon. gentleman was mistaken if he thought they were going to abandon their principles en- tirely, in order merely to enjoy the privi- lege of following the lead of the honorable member for Cornwall. [Cheers.] The sham perpetrated upon the people was of such a nature that dissatisfaction was gen- efal. It extended from the extreme West to the extreme Hast--from the Manitoulin Islands downward. | What had the consti- tuency of Huron and Bruce received ?-- That constituency was the most populous in Western Canada, and its representative had found himself compelled to rebuke the Hon. Commissioner of Crown Lands; and according to the principles of the latter, the statement of the former in the House on that occasion should have had considerable weight? What had the people of the po- pulous counties got in return for their agi- tation for Representation by Population ? What share had they got of the Improve- ment Fund? Then, as for Perth--what had it got? An Hon. Memper--aA highly respect- able representative. (Hear, hear.) Hon. Mr. Gaur said he did not at all doubt the respectability of the hon. gentle- man, The hon. gentleman then went on to say that the members for Toronto had been duped, with another sham relative to the Seat of Government, which had been held «ag a bait during election time. The hon. gentleman for South Oxford himself was an instance of the duping system which hon. gentlemen opposite had inaugurated and carried out. The hon. gentleman was to have had the Speakership--the Seat of Goy- ernment question in connection with the re- moyal to Toronto was to have been arranged in a satisfactory manner; but had these promises been fulfilled? They had not so happened. The speakership had_ slipped away into other hands, despite the boasts of the hon. gentleman; and the rights and claims of Toronto had been set aside. All that remained to the hon. member for South Oxford was a" grave misapprehension" of past hopes and past promises ; and, indeed, everybody must admit that there had been a very "graye misapprehension." _ (Laugh- ter and cheers.) Coming down towards Ottawa, he (Mr. Galt) would ask--what treatment--had hon members belonging to that district received. Was it fair, or manly, or candid? And here, in Quebec, there was another sham which had played rather an important part in the election of the Hon. President of the Council--he alluded to the promises made respecting the Quebec Fire Loan. (Hear, hear.) The fact of the matter was--andhe (Mr. Galt) regretted to say it--since the hon. member for Corn- wall had entered upon the management of the public affairs of the country, there was a seal of bad faith set upon every one of our public transactions, whether commercial, financial or political. (Hear.) It was unnecessary to refer at any length, in con- nection with this portion of the subject, to the carrying on of negotiations relative to the proposed Intercolonial Railway, and to other matters known to the British and Canadian public. And was his course to- wards those who were associated with him that which deserved the title of fair or hon- orable? Let the avenging voices of his discarded colleagues answer that question. Now the Premier was responsible, in the matter now before the House, to a greater extent even than the Finance Minister,--if an attempt was made to adjourn without making such provisions as the present state of the country demanded ; and he would be held responsible for it. (Cheers.) Mr. J. A. MACDONALD said that he had been sitting, quietly resting himself in his chair, and listening through his slumbers to the speech which had just been delivered by the hon. member for South Oxford. And he would say that it brought him away several years back, into former political scenes. There was the same voice, the same tone, the same subject, the same ar- gument--with perhaps a little less reason, and some more noise. (Hear, hear and laughter.) The Finance Minister had made a calm statement, in very temperate language the hon. member for Sherbrooke had follow- ed, and had undoubtedly spoken ably and lucidly to the subject ; but really the hon. member for South Oxford seemed to have allowed himself to be drawn away into the belief that a motion of want of confidence had been made, for he had taken up the supposed merits of the Government with the greatest energy and vigor ; and had set to work, in equally strong tones, to denounnce hon. gentlemen on the other side of the House. This was conduct certainly not be- coming the position of the hon. member for South Oxford. Mr. A MackEenz1e--Oh, dear ! Hon. J. A. Macpbonatp--The hon. gen- tleman might well say "' Oh, dear ;" it was, indeed, dear at any price. The conduct and tone of the hon. member for South Ox- ford were those of a young aspirant for legis- lative fame, just fresh from the polls, and determined upon repeating his election speeches. The hon. gentleman said he had confidence in the present Government. What were the reasons upon which he based that confidence? Was it upon their con- duct towards himself in the matter of the Speakership--or was it the manner in which the Toronto people had been served about the Seat of Government? What part of the Ministerial policy--if indeed they had a policy--met his approval? But the fact of the matter was that the hon. gentleman had proved from his own statements, that in almost every view they held, and in al- most every course they took, he was opposed to them. For instance, he had said, speak- ing of the last shred in the way of a policy to which they could lay claim, the Inter- colonial Railway, that it was a mad scheme --this was the manner in which he had ex- pressed his confidence in the Government. (Hear, hear and laughter.) The hon gen- tleman then went on to refer to the proposed survey, and the arrangements which had been entered into. He reminded the hon. member for South Oxford that he had at- tacked the present Government both in the Globe newspaper and on the hustings, de- claring that he had no confidence in them, censuring their abandonment of principle ; and saying that he would rather the Cartier- Macdonald Government should return to power than that the present Government should continue. He then defended Mr. Galt from the sweeping attacks which had been made upon him, and reminded the hon. member for South Oxford, who had assailed the member for Sherbrooke because he had spoken in terms of satisfaction of the fact that a great portion of the public debt was irredeemable. This was a fact upon which Mr. Gladstone would have to congratulate himself just as well as the hon member for Sherbrooke ; but the hon. member for South Oxford, relying on the credulity of his followers, had resolved to use the statement for the purpose of making a point, and in- ducing the belief that the country was, by this fact, embarrassed in some dreadful way. Instead of being a financial triumph. (Laughter. The hon. gentleman had, how- ever, succeeded in making his point, and even getting a*round of applause; and that was what the honorable gentleman wanted. (Hear.) The honorable member seemed, despite his own statement of want of con- fidence, despite the course of Government on the'question of the removal to Toronto, and other little matters of the kind, he seemed to have resolved to lend his aid to save them yet a little while. (Hear, hear.) He was, doubtless, willing to do all he could; but his exertions would not suffice to keep them in until January. aye, or even until November, which had been named in con- nection with the probability of an adjourn- ment, and he (Mr. Macdonald.) was certain that when he (Mr. Brown) heard hon. gentleman on his [Mr. Macdonald's} side of the House getting up and stating why they voted want of confidence in the Goy- ernment, he would, in his heart, agree with every word they uttered. After some further debate--which was however, of a conversational nature and re- lated to a point of form--the Committee arose, reported progress, and asked leave to sit again. The House then, at half-past one a. , Speech of the Hon, John A. Macdonald on Mr. Cockburn's Motion, (From the Quebec Chronicle.) Hon. J. A. Macdonald decried the attempt to pooh-pooh this question, made by hon, gentlemen opposite, and especially by him who had last spoken. He knew that the warmest and best friends of the government must regret the tone in which the Hon. Soli- citor-General Hast had attempted to evade the great charges brought against the min- istry in regard to this appointment. He had attempted to make light of this charge, and tried to defend the effect--true, it is' wrong, we cannot defend it; but then, other governments, in other days, have done much worse than that now complained of. He had not attempted to defend the principle involved, but merely charged us with having made all sorts of appointments, and all sorts of purchases on the eye of motions of want of confidence. What if every previous ad- ministration were liable to the charges. indulged in by the Hon. Solicitor- General Hast, did that make the present act of the present one anything better, the act of the honorable gentleman who had talked so long and loudly against alleged acts of corruption on the part of honorable members on this side of the House ? Had we not been told by those pure politicians on the government side that the reign of corruption was oyer forever, and that swept away from public life were those corruption- ists; that we are going to have a golden era in Canada; that we should have a govern- ment that would come down with retrench- ment schemes, were going to rescue the country from the disgraceful system of ex- trayagance so long maintained for corrupt purposes ; were going to appoint only proper men to government offices ; to inaugurate a new, virtuous and beneficial system--And Instead of this, we had the extraordinary apology of the Hon. Solicitor-General East [Hon, Mr. Hunting- ton] that there could be no retrenchment in consequence of the opposition given to the min- istry, and the tremendous attacks made on them by the members of this House. Instead of em- barking on this new era, we find the government plunging into disgraceful acts, and justifying them by their comparison with other alleged justifiable doings, invoking in their own defence as precedents, transactions of former govern- ments, which they had over and over again de- nounced. [Cheers.] He then went on to argue that the introduction of the government's finan- cial and militia measures in this discussion were perfectly justifiable, despite the argument to the contrary just listened to, The government did not hope to stand on its own merits ; it was only by going round the House, and blowing hotand cold in the ears of honorable members, remind- ing us of the attempts made upon the virtue of our first parents at the tree of knowledge, that they hoped to maintain their position. [Cheers.] If theretwas a time when the government should have avoided the very appearance of an attempt upon the independence of parliament, it wag now. Wemust remember that those gentlemen had fallen by a vote of want of confidence ; that a majority of the people's representatives had de- clared them unfit to hold office, and that they should be replaced by better men; that on the appeal to the people, the people had sent to Paliament gentlemen to decide whether they were fit to hold office or not, and ministers should have been prepared for the issue of this trial, and guilty or not, capable or incapable, should never have attempted to bribe a member of the jury. [Cheers.] We were sent here to try the ministry, and their duty was to stand their trial here, and if guilty receive sentence, And when the division was so close that it might be said the Jury had not agreed ; when, by a mere accidental vote, they had obtained a majority of three, but in this House not a majority at all, that they should attempt to buy off a man who had preferred the indict- ment against them in strong language, and charged them with being gnilty of a breach of the constitution; and, as individuals, with a breech of faith and political fraud against a colleague, with the object of with- drawing a juror to prevent a verdict, and avoid the consequences of their misconduct, was a proceeding as disgraceful as unprecedented, (Cheers.) The conductor of his hon, colleague' (Mr. Cartier) had been sneered at for several judicial appointments, but though government were liable to make unwise appointments, he' defied any member to show they ever appointed a political opponent to get rid ofhis opposition ; while he was happy to say, at the same time, that they had rewarded and stood by their friends, (Cheers.)--The Hon. Attorney-General for Low- er Canada had cited our appointments in justi- fication of the present one, and afterwards had gone on to condemn them as improper, The question was not whether they were good or bad, but whether Hon. Mr. Sicotte's appointment was a good one, Such an appointment was adjourned, unheard of in modern times, and was impossible