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Mr. Ross then moved concurrence i1 the resolutions passed at the inter-- provincial conference at Quebce in December, 1902. He referred to the increase in revenue in the Dominiou of fourfold since confederation, while the subsidies to the Provinces had remain-- "by a vote of . 33 to 37, and thu carr:ed on the same vote -- _ A Temporary Increase to $1,000. ihiintth /iy Oulk istain l ds Aieas . & 4A sc 45.23 d 4 5c 2 of the rates charged the consumers in the various municipalities of the Pro-- vince for water, gas and electric light-- ing. Interprovincial Resolutions. Mr. Ross informed Mr. Lucas that | the ballot boxes and papers in con--' nection with the election in North Grey . on May 20th, 19o02, had not yet been: burned, under the provisions of the | statute. 1 Mr. T. H. Preston (Brant) secured| an order for a return--similar to that ordered by the British House of Com-- mons on the 25th day of June, 1902, of reproductive undertakings operated by municipal boroughs in Great Bri-- tain--respecting waterworks, electric lighting plants, gas works, and other public utilities operated by municipali-- | ties in the Province of Ontario, also. "Not now," replied the 'Pt"-emri'c'l.', as he paused half way down the corridor. The mace was whisked hurriedly away, while the Attorney--General was informing Mr. °St. John that Mr. Aemilius Irving, K.C., had been sent to investigate reported irregularities in North Grey, and that he had.report-- ed verbally and presented certain facts and statutory declaratitons. Mr. Smyth (Algoma) asked if it was intended to grant any subsidy to the Bruce Mines & Algoma Railway. His Honor the Lieutenat--Gov»--r-- nor then entered at 1.30, and assent-- ed to the list of bills passed during the session. 'The House adjourned for half an hour for lunch. Clearing the Paper. When the House resumed a few min-- utes was spent in clearing the order paper of a number of comparativealy unimportant questions, some of which stood until next week. The House went into supply on the supplementary estimates. The Premier announced that under the head ofi the indemnity increase, it was not intended that this should be a permanent indemnity. The sum of $800 was, to his mind, a reasonable indemnity, having regard to the cir-- cumstances. Next year they would, perhaps, be able to fix the indemnity at $800. The appropriation of $1,000 for the present would not be consid-- cred excessive, in consideration of the length of the session. Nr. Whitney said that he agreed with the increase on general princi-- ples, and he thought that the sum of $1.000 would be a proper indemnity in future years. e ts A 1 Mr. Ross then proceeded toward the door to meet the Licutenant--Gover-- nor. The House went into Committee of Ways and Means, after which the Pre-- mier's formal supply bill was introduced and passed through all its readings. The House proceeded to concur in three items which had stood over from the main estimates. The only amend-- ment was one by Mr. Duff (\x'est Sim-- coe) to reduce the estimates by $4,400, the amount granted for the Pioneer Dairy Farm and the Western Dairy School. The Premier pointed to the provision of $1,500 for a Provincial archivist, a new official, to take charge of the early historical records of the Province. The gentleman to whom he thought the appointment would go was Mr. Alex. Fraser,. formerly connected for years with The Toronto Mail, and afterwards with several other publications. Mr. Fraser was a graduate of the Glasgow University, and a man eminently fitted for the work. Mr. Whitney agreed with the ap-- pointment on general principles, and believed Mr. Fraser was well fitted for the position. Supplies All Passed. The supplementary estimates were concurred in without further discus-- sion by the committee. . ; Speaking of our grants to railways as one of the important causes of the increase in Ontario's expenses. Mr. Vhitney said that we gave $22,000,000 for railways and spent $2,500,000 -- on the Temiskaming Railway. But the Dominion Government had given no aid to the Temiskaming road, al-- though we were taxed at both ends and contributed to the funds for Do-- minion subsidies to other Provinces. The question was not whether it was wise or unwise to change the condi-- tions introduced _ at confederation. They had been changed, and the mat-- ter to be discussed was whether On-- tario should obtain her just share un-- der any change. Mr. Whitney moved in amendment that the following words be added to so. Perhaps he had been too busy. He was not going to accuse the Pre-- mier of neglecting the interests of the Province. The stubborn fact, how-- ever, was that by his own admission he had done so. as the Dominion received. We now taxed ourselves as a Province for three times the amount of the subsidy we re-- ceived, and he contended the dispari-- ty between that and the subsidy should not be so large. We consumed more dutiable goods per head than the east-- ern Provinces. Wouldn't it be better to receive something of what we pay into the Dominion Treasury than to pay in and not receive anything? Eighty cents a head was more com{fortable in 1867 than a dollar a head would be now. Notwithstanding all that. we re-- ceived the same subsidy as in 1867. He therefore asked the House to concur in the resolutions, as they had been concurred in already by the eastern Provinces. t--2 of that total to the Dominion. On-- tario was, beyond a doubt. being treat-- ed unfairly. Yet, although the inter-- ests iof every sother Province were carefully urged by their representa-- tives, Ontario's Premier did not do Mr. Ross--Yes, get a iew thousand more, perhaps. The City of Toronto, Mr. Ross went on to say, had increas-- ed its expenditure tenfold in 32 years. In 1871 it was $533,587; in 1900 it was $5,871,258. The Dominion spent in 1867 $13,000,000, and last year $30,000.-- 000. The same agplicd to Great Bri-- tain, and to the States of the Union. If their request that the subsidy be based on each decennial census were granted, the subsidy would be increas-- ed this year by $749,000. On this basis the total subsidies paid by the Do-- minion would be a little over $2,500,000, not a large sum for such a revenue -- Mr. F'oy.----Get better prices for your timber limits. Expenditures Increased. A Mr. Whitney said that there was no doubt that our requirements were re-- latively larger than they were at con-- federation, but that was no reason why the basis of Provincial subsidies should be altered. The first question was whether the settlement of 1867 was supposed to be a permanent one, and whether it had been so accepted. It had not been so accepted, and it had been departed from on many occa-- sions. It made very little difference whether one agreed to periodical changes in the subsidies or nct. He took objection to the provision of the resolutions whereby the increases in the subsidies were to stop as soon as the population of Ontario reacher 2,-- 500,000. Mr. Whitney quoted a num-- ber of ®tatistics showing that On-- tario received only 1--6 of the total railway subsidies, whereas we paid Mr. Whitney's Criticisms. a very slight extent, while our reve-- nues could not be increased much. kok ty d 60 db c es c o0 in c 3 Sib> ie nietatanane L Peprep as Ontario and Quebec were concern-- ed. _ At confederation the Provinces received 34 per cent. of the Dominion revenue, andpnow only 11 per cent. of the money collected from the people. There shouid be an increase in the sub-- sidy. If we were paid by the increase of population. the increase in our sub-- sidy would: be $700,000 or $800,000. There had been large increases in ex-- penditures in the Province, --rendered necessary by ~the circumstances. It might be said we should cut down ex-- penditures. That was only possible to so far _ Mr. Ross explained the procedure for next week. _The House would meet, he said, 'on Tuesday at 3 o'clock, and then, after any necessary uncon-- tentious business had been attended to, on Wednesday morning he would 'move that the report of the Gamey commissioners be approved, and the |debate would ctontinue from day to \'day. The House would sit each day until 10 or :1 o'clock at night, but not later, and some time between 'Tuesday and Friday, they would be abl¢ to form a definite conclusion as to when the House should be pro-- rogued. _ Respecting the Ontario & Sault Ste. Marie Railway Company. Respecting the town of Whitby. To enable the city of St. Thromas to issue debentures to redeem others now outstanding. + Respecting the township of York. To incorfiorate the gclleville & Point Ann Railway Company. Respecting the town of Peterboro'. To confirm by--law No. 455 of the city of Guelph, and for other pur-- pose. Respecting the city of Toronto. To incorporate the Stratford Radial Railway Company. Resp'ectin? the assessment of the property of James Playfair, in the town of Midland. Pespecting the town of FortWil-- am.. / To amend the act §ncorporagin%{fl;e Hurcn, Bruce & Grey Electric Rail-- way Company. To confirm a certain by--law and agreement of \the town of Niagara Falls.: -- > To incorporate the L'ondon, Park--| hill & Grand Bend Electric Railway Company. | Respecting the St. Thomas Street! Mr. Whitney assented to this view, and the House adjourned at 4.20 o'ciltock, until 3 o'clock Tuesday aifter-- noon next. The following is the list of bills assented to :-- Respecting the Town of Listowel. Res(?ccting the Sarnia Street Rail-- way Company. _ _ Respecting the assessment of Chew Bros. in the town of Midland. Mr. Ross replied, hardly to--day. He thought that general consent had been given to their not being issued until alter the Gamey investigation. That im'estigation was practically not yet concluded, and it would not be advis-- able to issue the writs until it was. To incorporate the Embro Radial Railway Company. t!e motion:--"But this House regrets that the position of the Province of Ontario with reference to the mon-- eys expended on railway construction and railway subsidies, by the Parlia-- ment of Canada, the proportion there-- of received by her, the proportion of Dominion taxes paid by her, and her just claims on any rearrangement of the Federal subsidies to the Provinces, were not put forward by the First Minister of Ontario at the interpro-- vincial conference, and pressed by him upon the attention of the Dominion Government." No Interests Neglected. Mr. Ross, replying, pointed out that it was essential for all the Provinces to agree upon a course. The Maritime Provinces had had special claims to press, but were obliged at first not to press them, for the sake of presenting Mr. Whitney asked _ whether the writs f'or bye--elections were to be is-- sued to--day, | . a uniform set of claims. The Mari-- time representatives had presented their -- special _ claims subsequently, and he believed they had not been entertained. We -- had © a number _ of special claims, and were presenting them from _ time to time. The major claims were pre-- sented, and, that having been done. they were justifhed in having refrained from pressing the smaller claims,which might have jeopardized the larger ones. * Bills Assented to. Mr. Foy spoke briefly, and the mo-- tion | was then carried on the same division as upon the previous vote. Next Week's Procedure.