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5 3.: Test M Ire, he no tl at ' Jn w Luge tl when .'n would clapsé Before it? Mr. MOWAT said it would be. satisfactory to the hon. gentleman to know that no single case of inconvenience in the administration of justice had yet arisen so far as he knew ; and that the urgency of the decision was not of the character the hon. gentleman suggest- ed. To prevent any possible evil from aris- iug before the arbitrators should arrive at a conclusion, provisional lines had been agreed on both on the west and the north on certain conditions, which had been made known last Session. The truth was that every possible diligence had been used to bring the matter to a conclusion. (llcar, hear.) The hon. gentleman knew Very Well that questions of boundary between states and provinces always involved along period in their set. tle.nent,and if they succeeded in settling the matter this year they would be more successful in regard to time than had been the casein any state or province of equal importance, and the only way to judge of their diligence was to compare this case with analogous ones. The hon. gentleman seemed to be very much in favour of the ' Privy Council as a tribunal to decide this l matter, but there were many dithculties l in the way of having the case de- ; cided by that body. He could cite I a very high authority for the statement that it was the worst possible tribunal for the decision of a case ot this kind. Though he (Mr. Mowat) had a good deal of confidence in the Privy Council, he believed that the tribunal which had been chosen was one in which the country would have even greater cohfidence than in the Privy Council. Ono of tho arbitrators was chat Justice lIarrison,a judge in whom, in every respect, the people had the highest confidence; an- other was Judge Wilmot, a gentleman of great ability and experience, who had filled the ollice of Lieutenant-Gov/mor. The hon. member for South simcoe had made some disparaging remarks regarding Sir Edward Thornton's fitness, but that gentle- man had had special opportunities of con- sidering' those kind of questions, in the part he had taken in the settlement of boundary questions between England and America. The conclusion the Government had come to was that they could not select three better arbitrators than they had chosen. (Hear, hear.) A body composed as he had described was one from whom they were quite " likely to obtain a sound judgment, and in whom the people would have, he believed, greater confidence, than in the Privy Couneil,a body who were thousands of miles t off, and of whom they knew nothing. ( Another diiiieulty in presenting the case to I the Privy Council was that they could not I agree as to. the facts. These facts were to boundary short of the north-West angle of the Lake of the Woods; all the evidence before them led inevitably .to that conclusion. He did not think that there were good grounds for congratulation in the paragraph under consideration. Mr. CAMEitON-Is it the intention to ;.ive these arbitrators the power to give and tame, or are they to decide strictly according to our legal rights ? Ur. MOWAT said the first thing to con- this" was whatouriegal rights were, The hon. gen human knew tlmtif We succeeded in estab- lir,'. ' n'; a case to theltocky Mountains/ttcould not he made eirectual,for Manitoba had been 1'ectcd into th Province, and the North. ":th Territories and Keewatin interrened. ttt his report tho hon. member did not er T es! where the northern boundary should In he now suggested the height of land us t. -.o I .ndnry. The matter was nowin such a t..;,-: lint he (Mr. Mowat) did not see any rpm-:1 t "apprehenuing that many months l -nI'I.I " -_-e, Ir " .. ' - - be ascertained from a great body of evidence of various kinds, some stronger and some weaker. This evidence, could be brought before the arbitrators in the same way as if proved by the direct rules of evi- dence. To put this in such n. shape as to present it to the Privy Council would be a task which was simply appalling. He was not afraid of ordinary ditiit ultics; but that would be a task ten times greater than any he had ever attempted. It might take years to have this matter settled by the Privy Council. would be deciided.' If Mr. W001) moved, tt That tho mange ot his Honour bo referred to tho Committee on Supply on Wednesday next." Carried. Mr. WOOD moved, tt That the House re- solve itself into Committee of Ways and Means on Wednesday next." Carried., MLWOOD moved,",Thuihe House resolve itself into Committee of Supply on Wednes- day next." Carried. . they had gone into the evidence it would have had to have been taken in the Old Country, and the delay and expense attend.. ant upon that course would have been very great. It was, however, generally by arbitration that these mat- tors were settled. The hon. member objected to a construction which he said the Government had put on tho Imperial Act, by which it was thought that the Do- minion had the power to consent .to the boundary, but under the Act, the consent of the Province being given, the Government had that power. Mr. MACDOUGALL-The original Act shows that. Mr. MOWAT said the hon. member knew that they could not refer to the original draft. Tho hon..gentleman had stated that the original intention was to provide for the adjustment of the boundary between the two Provinces, but ho knew that an Act, it intended for a particular Province, might by Parliamentary action be extended to apply to the Provinces. It was extremely important that we should have on this side of the Atlantic some means of settling this question. The feel- ing of the people of this country was that questions which arose here should be de.. cided here, and not sent to the Old Country. (Hear, hear.) He claimed that the policy of the Government had been a sound one, and ought to receive the confidence of the coun- try. (Loud cheers.) The 16th paragraph was then carried. On the 17th, Mr. WILLS asked whether the ac. counts mentioned in the Speech from the Throne were those tor 1877 t Mr. MOWAT-0f course they must be. Mr. WILLS said that the House had yet to see tho accounts for 1876, and he wished to know whether the same delay would occur this' year as had occurred last year in the matter. Mr. Hardy presented the Report of the Commissioner of Public Works for the year 1877. Mr. SPEAKER read a message from his Honour, seating that he would require cer- tain sums tortho services of the Province until the estimates for the year 1878 were tinally passed. After some further remarks by Mr, Wills, the remaining paragraphs of tho Address Were adopted and referred to a Committee, who reported, and it was ordered to be on- grossed for presentation to his Honour the Lieutenant-Governor. Mr. MOWA'i'said the hon. member surely recollectcd that Mat year a statement of the receipts and expenditures for the previous year had been brought down. The long de- tailed accounts could not possibly have been got ready in time to lay before the House during the last session, but the statement of the re- ceipts and expenditures was tsufficient for the purposes of tho Committee on Public Accounts. If this year the fuller accounts could be printed in time they would be brought down in addition to the ordinary statement. Hon. members knew that the public accounts were very long and compli- cated. They could not be compiled before the 3lst of December, because they must embrace items up to that date, and they were of such a nature that the print_ ing of them was naturally a slow process. Whatever could be done towards bringing the detailed accounts down would be done, but in the meantime the statement of the receipts and expenditures would be laid before the House immediately. MESSAGE FROM HIS HONOUR. PUBLIC WORKS REPORT. SUPPLY.