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LOWER EXCISE LEVY ON IMPORTED LIQUOR APPROVED BY HOUSE Resolution Seeks Reduction Where Sales Are Made by Government Agencies OPPOSED BY SINCLAIR The Ontario Legislature took the exam: in per gum... v- '-'. . stund yesterday that the reduction ttren $1.60. while now it was $9. In! Ister and Attorney-uenerai Eoac0, of the exciso t _ ' view the said. of the fact that the quoting excerpts from their plat- ,. ._'w' ax and duty on alllontario Government W'ctfi trying "tot form appeals to the effect that Gov- mnlt and spirituous liquors wouldivream better conditions." the time! ernment control would banish the null" to " great extent the moth-1-3mm come to ask the Fedora} Goy-» bootlegger. It was diffleult,he said, tics of tho "short-circuit-ing" bo t ointment to co-operate with Ontario; to reconcile those arguments with Iowm- ' I 'tire'. . f/f. or-,in this regard. . the. recent admission from Mr. wr, ' tttttl, ut'coruin,rply, adopted a Mr. Welchei said there had been ll eichet that the bootlegger ap- umdiuion S'IKKOStlllg to the homin- too much inequality in recent 31:31qu patently was here to stay. inn Government that it make "cuts"; The ri/m man had'been able to ly . "A.re you taking the position," in tux on "ll "Hum. where sales arm good honor at a Government Ven- inquired Premier li erguson. "ot not made to Provinces operating Caddor's. but the poor man had been trying, to help eliminate bootleg. evntuent-contvo1 systems. " (getting his supply from the bootleg- sing? The resolution Was introduced h /rree-1y",-'.rit,1lil: stuff, that sometimes "My honorable friend seems veto Karl Ilmnuth (Independent 'i'1',ol'ri1tte,1,tt,.ti, lit deaths. . In 1curoprtaP,iy,yl"e to ltnow my position," ro- Suulh Waterloo). seconded by 'iii" C, ', co.uyt,1y's, 5".th wme was oheeprielitd Mr. Sinclair. "Let. me Bal Weivhol tConservative. Vorth l said Mr. \\ etchel, there was the'; that the people of this Province were Waterloo), vigorously onnoee'd bvlgroatest sobriety. ' . t? . '2. good pany years finding out hit Liberal Leader W. is. N. Sinclair l It "as the 1p.t.ytf.,t','j,' belie't tly,": if "with" . . . ml the ground that in tramimr, it t%'i,yg,.,J?td/,?,"y Government reduced the 1' urther cmttcxsm ot the Govern, Manse was "meddling" in frederq] lex'ctlse dutyuthc Provinces of the Do- ments catyp.aurn argument brouglr affairs of finance, and before hte'iC,1.iJ,1f,',1,1 with . ri0(-i-Gfiaty1ty,tyt,t,rell.!reey)he Prime Minister the. query vote. was amended 1'i1g1'ui'tl.'1li're'i'Ji'2e,.t5lll's' oiieTrcinav---rvavr'Tul,yr1a,r 0nd "Don't you think reduction o im- Ferguson so as to Make "it 'gir,t,C.tj,r,i,cc,--,.sl1o,y/,1, reduce their "(H.101 l -this.t1E,yould help to reduce boot cide with the terms of " resolution Enact? 1n 'oyvortison to the reduction'; legging? Pile-"Ml at lust sunnner's 7 . " .. In,, e excise. ' ' . . r , x. "Hui," 1'onfe:rcttrt at Cstd,',ly'it', . if lhutuls "ot,.tjoytr.'.'. warned 131:1 Bottling home of in l; .,1 Mr Si text follotss: __. g"f'lchel. we will have boot1eggingl, . can't say, ec aret ' r. in .. i lust as We. had it before." I chair. "But I doubt very much i ' it will For as long as human no " hr ""30"" in". "That in the opinion of this Horuue u wry substantial reduction should be made in thc r-xcisv tax and duty on a!) malt and spirituous liquor whoru miles are made to Provincial Governments or agencies created by the said Governments for the ad- tttiniy:tvatiott of tho, law. where a tttcthod ot Government control has been adopted. in accordance with the tm'ms uf the rnsolutions passed at the conl'm'cnvo of Provincial Govern- xums held in Ottawa on Juno 7, S and 9, 1926. and presented to the Dominion Government." Evoked Stirring Debate, As" expected, the motion toy its udoptiun evoked some stirring de- bate, in which the Prime Minister; :[tytthe Liberal Leader repeatedly' crossed swunls. Mr. Sinclair ridi~ culetl the Government for "knock-, ing at the door of Ottawa for help"; for its Liquor Control Bill." whilol Mr. Ferguson taunted the Liberal, Leader for his "reticent attitude" on the question. Considerable election campaign argutuent'was rehashed: and the crowded galleries had a good day of it. Aims ttt Bootieggr,ct's. "The only idea in my mind." said Mr. llomuth. in speaking to his res. olutinn "is to try and clintinute the distillers of illegal liquor and the hootleggers throughout the l'rov- inn-e." Referring to the early intro- duction of Government control as "the dawn of a new era." he added that the only way ot getting a suc. cessful administration of" the act was to cut the price of liquor down as closely as possible and eliminate Just as closely all elements ot protit from sale. Aim at Lower Prices. "We are now going to have." he said. "a law that will do away with the deceit and hypocrisy upon which the old law was based. but we are not going to get rid of the bootleggts unless we remove from the sale of liquor this element of profit by which the bootlegging business is main- tained. One thing we must see to: that whatever reduction is made be passed on to the people. K. Homuth and W. G. Weichcl Strongly Favor Plan ConfiRCnt About Euler. "I have been asked if the Federal Government will co-operate if we pass this resolution along to it. T believe it will. Every day it thtdtt fresh vamiliteations in the liquor tr:rmo----teesh evidence of hootlegging tpatrto. on a tremendous scale. I think Mr. Euler will co-operate with us. I know him well. I believe that when he recognizes an evil he has no hesi- tation in bringing in a remedy tor it. so I'm sure that when he sees this duty ls wrong he. will take steps to have it reduced. I hope that every member of the House will see tlt to support this resolution with a. View to doing away with one of the great- est evils of the present time." Mr. wrichel's News. w. C. \Vcichel. as secondnr. men- tioned the recent election and the statements of Government support- ers that Government control would eliminate the hootlcgger to a certain txtcnt, and added that it behooved those members of the Legislature who had used that argument to sup- port the resoiuilon before the House. Mr. weiohel said that in 1911 the excise tux per gallon of liquor had been $1.60. while now it was $9. In view the said, of the fact that the Ontario Government. was trying "to {ereate better conditions." the time Chad come to ask the Federal Gov- ernment to co-operate with Ontario .in this regard. - _ . SA "~th hur' 1109.11 in HHS I'I'gzuu. Mr. woichel said there had been too much inequality in recent years. The rich man had been able to buy 200d liquor at a Government ven- idur's. but the poor man had been Tgettin: his supply from the bootleg- "ev-op/oy)'; stuff, that sometimes gresulted in deaths. In European icountvies. when! wine was cheap. lsaid Mr. Weichel, there was the igroatest sobriety. i It was the speaker's belief that. it ithe Federal Government reduced the .. "J-H'l-'nna AF thp Do- 200d liquor at dor's. but the getting his sup "iier---olmoxioyr in the BAcmc. "It that is not done," warned Mitt Troicheh "we will have, bootleggiugl just as We. had it before." _ Premier Ferguson Speaks. g "I am sure" tsaid Premier rerge-l Full. "that the. House is indebted to 1hovhot1orable, member for bringing' this important matter to its atten- tion. For it is one. oi the features of liquor administration. and it goes to the very root of the problem." 1 He declared that he believed that Dominion Government was interest- ed more in the social and moral well-being of a Province than in the. revenue bollected from imported liquor. He went on to outline the amount of revenue affected by the proposnl. Federal revenue from tax on spirits amounted in 1924 (the last figures available) to ts.000.000. Of this $4,500,000 was obtained trom 1Ontario. Quebec contributed a little .hetter than $2,500,000. "So it ap- pears," he added. "that Ontario con- sumes more spirits than Quebec un- 'p.ier the present system, as evidenced tin these figures." SBTvvia by. T :zu'utn, V..9""'" _ ' ricty. Ia good many years nnumg um, um speaker's belie: that. ifl position." Govorm'mnt reduced the Further criticism of the Govern- the Provinces of the Do- ment's campaign argument brought Ill F/ii-IG/Gent-control from the Prime Minister the query: ia.in:a---rruvticularltr ion-l "Don't. you think reduction of - .., A---- _. ' A_--- ...._..m ha'n tn reduce boot- I "SS. He declared that the Government would be prepared, and he thought the House. as a whole, would also be willing, to accept Mr. Homuth's motion if it was amended to have the excise reduction to apply only' to liquor imported for Government! liquor agencies under a system of! Government control. and he 19t'O-, posed such an amendment. Sinclair Protests. Proposes Améudmcm. 'I The Liberal Leader, in caustic vein, referred to the election cam- paign statements of the Prime Min- ister and Attorney-General Price, iquoting excerpts from their plat- I form appeals to the effect that Gov- inrnment control would banish the f bootlegger. It was difficult, he said, ,to reconcile those arguments with ithe recent admission from Mr. [Weichei that the bootlegger ap- i patently was here to stay. "Are you taking the position." inquired Premier Ferguson. "ot not trying to help eliminate bootleg- . ging?" _ . At the very outset of his remarks Mr. Sinclair expressed the belief that from Federal matters Ontario could very well hold itself aloof. The present Government at Ottawa was. he contended, "eminently fitted to take care ot its own financial mat- ters." "I think," said he, "we are going considerably out of our way in pass- ing a resolution from his Legislature to the Federal Parliament. 1 wish to register a protest on that ground." Arguments Hard to Reconcile. 1mm Cites Precedent. Col. Price, speaking next, declared lthat every Province had made the isume representation to Ottawa in "he matter. Mr. Belanger wonder- 'ied if this had been done by resolu- ition in any Legislature. Col. Price believed the British Columbia House had adopted such a, resolution _ i This plea for a, reduction of the -!exeise tended, he went, on. to do away with bootlcgging. He appealed to the House: "Let. us try it." Urges General Approval, He gave further figures on the excise. it was $1.80 n quart on _ liquor. $14.85 on an Imperial gal- ' Ion of alcohol. He felt that the ', members, irrespective of party, L should approve the move as "a good "My honorable friend seems very anxious to know my position." rc- plied Mr. Sinclair. "Let me say that the people of this Province were a good many years finding out his "he matter. Mr. " wed if this had been 'tion in any Legislat believed the British had adopted such a "I can't say," choir. "But I t' it will. For as ture is as it is, your law as law." -i; "knocking at tawa, fur lytlp {or Control Bill," the ment, concluded unquestionably ow isdiction. This plea for excise tended, away with boot? to the House: " excise. It "a: w..." .- -. liquor, $14.83 on an Imperial gal- lon of alcohol. He felt that the members, irrespective of party, should approve the move as "a good thing." "Never mind our old scores," he added. "We're over that." "No! No!" came a shout from the Liberal benches. . "Don't forget your old speeches." took a 'Ita show that conflict.". "If we're going to Upcu t..- Co-" of discussion on matters exclusiw ly of Dominion, jurisdiction." said h "where will it all end? On ti other hand, I don't like to oppo: the measure." The motion did not come fro a Government member, he sai Was the Government going to star behind it? The situation was som what similar to that resulting fro the introduction of Mr. Bane) amendment in the debate on Tue day, which hoped that Governmer control legislation "would be bas on principles of true temperam with especial regard'for the pr tection of the youth of Ontario." Iotltlict Indicated. V A. Belr1ttgtrr' \Libeml. 111153 ook a 1iatid in the discussion Jana? that "two principles are , say," declared Mr. Sin- ',ut I doubt very much it "or as long as human na- it is, people will violate as well as any other's :oing to open on matters l m Jurisdiction: it an end? 1 don't like t at the door ot Ot- for the Government he Ontario Govern- d Mr. Sinclair. was overstepping its jur- did not come from member, he said. unent going to stand situation was some- l that resulting front on of Mr. Raney's the debate on Tues- ed that Government- _on "would be based of true temperance... "oaard, for the. ryar-l . On the to oppose the gums exclusive- ." said he, 1usscll) sion to are in very