— . CAPITOL TODA Y ONL Y

. LAST suowmc; ‘fVIRTUOUS HUSBAND ”

WITH

ELLIOTT NUGENT-BETTY COMPSON

_n=~~ q 1i we rri u’ b’: \ usuuuo PIOTUBI H

1X“- l‘)

REX LEASE IN

“Old Cheyenne”

romance in the bad lands-where l

1 r

men's primitive ,assiuns mink

the law of the land.

CIIAVPER. 9

“FINGER PRINTS” ANDNCOMEDY

"rm: CHARLOTTETOWN GUARmAN

G PRINCE EDWARD TDIIAY ONLY

LAST snowmc “IT’S A WISE CHILD ”

WITH

‘MARION

I TOMORROW

MAT use 3.00 16c. 26¢- nvrlsixo 1, v.45 26124211.

THRILLING W ESTERN

F . 051i 1900570.!!!)

SPY

tic struggle to escape the clutch and claw of the "Tcheku", Russia's Spy

Sweethearts

pitted against lovers, wives against hus- bands, s o n s against moth- ers, in a fran-

. .L'IIL

DAVIES

TUMURROW

Against prying eyes and clutching hands she bat- tled for love for life, for family.

Mat. at 3.00 .. .. . 16c, 37c. Eve. 7 and 8.45 26c, 42c, 52c.

ALSO SEVERAL SHORTS

Lea Governmentb Sorry Record Of Squandering And Borrowing “Analyzed ByMr. H. D. MacLean

,With_ Over $300,000 More Revenue Annually Than Any Previous Ad'- I ministration, The Lea Government Mismanaged Affairs So Badly [That They Have placed An Increased Debt Of $8.60 On Every Man, /Woman And I Child In The Province. Mr. McLean Probes Into Publio .Accounts In Able Speech‘ In Budget Debate.

Speaking in the budget debate in the Provincial legislature on May 6. Mr. H. D. 0131012511, First District of King's, first congratulated the

‘ Speaker on his elevation to his re-

sponsible position. He then pro- ceedcd:

After the address last night of my hon. colleague I was rather surpris- ed to find the next speaker. the member from Belfast, take up so much time with Dominion Iiolitics. The members opposite have Elppfil." ently come to the conclusion that the Record of this Government is not defensible and they are looking for something to dodge behind, crcn 1f it be only a smoke screen. It has been said that thcrc arc two clrtéscs of people who should not judge work half done. If that be so, I nzn sure that work that is hardly com- menced is not in the stage to be judged by the members and sup- porters 0f this Government. The Bennett Government is now only in

its first regular session; it has five-

yeers to run from thc time it was elected, and the people will have their chance to pronounce judgment upon it when its record is complete. In the meantime, this local Govern- ment has run its course and is on the verge of going to the country, and it will be for their own sins that they will have to answer, zmil not the sins of either oi’ the federal parties.

When the member from O‘Lcary (Mr. Dennis) W215 spcnklug, he men- tioned that lre had been n member of this House for the past sixteen years. I might say that I have bccn a member with him during that time. As n matter of fact, I think we are the only two members who have attended this House con- tinuously since 1916. The indica- tions now are that both these "0r- naments" may not bc in the House next your, Judging from the result of the by-clcction in the Second District of Prince, we may consid- er that the people in that District, who had steadily sent Liberal anem- bers t0 this House since Confeder- ation, have now seen the crror of their ways, and that a change has taken place there. So far as my own case is concerned, four years ago I indicated to my constituents my desire to retire from politics, and I expect that they will by this time have selected another and I hope a. better to take myplace.

(Mr. MacLean, as Guardian read- ers are aware. has since been ten. dered and accepted the nomination at a. LlberalConscrvative Conven- tion in First Kings).

ruauo ACCOUNTS

On that account I would not take up the time of the House ln a dis- cussion of the Budget, but for the fact that some things were brouht in. My name has been mentioned as one of the Conservative mem-

‘IJQTQOI. the Public Accounts Com- unltteenkwho we are Ltold neglected

their duty by not attending a meet-

ing of the Committee called immed-

iately aftcr the accounts were

brought down. You will remember

the circumstances. Mr. Speaker. The

Guardian i1o\vsp:1pci', in comment-

lng on the. Public Accounts, stated

that they wore clillicult to nhalyzc and that apparently some items were cntcrcd twice on the revenue side of the page. We have heard ac-

cusations from the other side that thc Opposition were trying to throw

aspcrtions on thc Auditor; but 1' think the records of this House will

bear out the fact that the Conser-

vative mcmbcrs made their com-

parisons from the Public Accounts

as presented by the Auditors and I will show that that was not always the attitude of the other side. I might say that as members of the Committee we ,\vere not interested in attending that investigation to 11nd out whether there was a sur- plus 0r (leficlt. We had the Ac- counts bcfore us and wc intended to discuss them as they were pre- scntcd.

First I wish to call to the atten- tion of the House the report of the government members of the Public Accounts Committee on the Public Accounts of lust year, which you will find in the Journals on page 140 and which rcacl as follovrs:

“Your committee appointed to inquire into the Public Accounts, alter careful consideration, rcs- pectfully submit the following re- port: Tin: toinl ordinary rcvcnue for tllc year was $il4Il,fZ26.50. while the ordinary expenditure was 5830.430, making a surplus for the year of $3,740.79."

But if you will turn ‘to ‘.11.: ‘Public Accounts of lost ycor you will find that the Auditor says, on page 6, Revenue side. that the total ordin- nry revenue was $823,002.25; so that the Public Accounts Committee of last your did not accept the Pro-

vincial Auditor's report as regards revenue: and the auditors statement does not show the surplus claimed by them last ycnr.

PREMIER EVADES ISSUES

In regard to this year I was rath- 01‘ Silrnriscd at the Premier's bud- get speech. He apparently docs not ncccpt the Provincial Auditor's re- port either; and I was surprised at it for more reasons than that. I was surprised that alter mention- ing the Public Accounts and giving us an estimate for next year, he found it more convenient to drift off into federal matters and to set this example for the rest of his fol- lowers, an example which they have very carefully followed of avoiding us far as possible discussion of their own poor showing.

The Premier ln his speech nude comparison of debt, based on an

external nudit. You will remember, Mr. Speaker, that this Govern- ment did away with extemalaud-

' 11.1w fizz?“ aw".

.wvo¢ “r

its. The last external audit we hnd here was lnvl927. We have had con- siderable discussion on the merits and demerits of this system, but this Government has maintained that an external audit was an un-‘ necessary expenditure of money and this government has economized on External Audits-their only econo- my. ' '

The Premier has admitted that he had a budget deficit of some $32,000 this year which is the amount we claim the deficit to be on current account. His statement was that Premier Saunders last year hnd budgeted for a, deficit of $38; 000, and that through his superior financing they were able to reduce this t0 $32,000.

MISMANAGING REVENUE

Now 1 wish to call your attention to the fact that this “superior” fin- ancing involved an increased ex- penditure of $54,000 over Mr. Saun- ders’ estimate. The amount of Mr. Saunders’ estimate for expenditure for the pest year was $1,067.000, and this Government expended $1,122, 000. It is a. rather curious way to tum a deficit into a. surplus by in- creasing the expendlture, but this Government had some windfalls, some extra revenues, and they also converted revenues I by statute to specific purposes into ordinary rev- enue and thus managed to reduce their deficit from $38,000 to $32,000.

Attention has been drawn to the year 1924 and the budget speech of that year has been quoted. A com- parison of the statement of 1924 with that of this year will show clearly the manipulation of the ac-

of $15,382.70. Included in the ordin- ary revenue this year we find i0!‘ the first time the receipts from the motor vehicles and gasoline taxes. These have never before been counted as ordinary imveniics lac- cause they are devoted by statute i0 specific purposes.

Now if we look at page 19 part 1, revenue from_ motor vehicles We find the net. revenue was $138,710.00 and there ls charged against this the following:

One years interest on highway bonds 954.3751") ‘Transfer to hlghivay sinking I funds .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 21,250.00 Transfer to current account 5000.00 Balance for highway improve- ment expenditure 58,085.00

On the same page We find the gasoline tax account and charged against it another transfer to cinlo lng funds amounting to $8,500.00.

ordinary revenue and no allowance has been made for the fact that $21,250 in the one case and $8,500 in the other or a. total of $29,750.00 had already been deducted for highway sinking funds. In other words to arrive at the surplus this Govern- ment claims the totals of the rev- enue from gasoline and motor ve- hicles have been carried into the ordinary revenue column and the $20,750.00 has been lcft out of the corresponding expenditure-dropped below the line-and in this way an attempt is made to make it serve two purposes, provide a sinking fund and also a "liberal" surplus.

counts which converted a. deficit of $32,000 into this so called surplus. In 1924 the total ordinary revenue was $676,064.23 and the deficit showrv in the statement of that year was‘ $23,000.00. In this year's statement.‘ the Audltor shows the mm ordln-l ary revenue as $1,148,748.84 and the

CROSS EXAMINING TIIE AUDITOR

The Provincial Auditor ln the in- troduction to the public accounts states that the changes to be found in this year's statement have been mode to make the statement clear- er. The result has been, as you know

the Public Accounts Committee were rushed off to examine thB Auditor u to the correctness of his statement and especlnlly 0B i0 i!" genuinan o! the 50ml"!-

They questioned the auditor on this matter and his explanation was that the $29,750.00 was not an ex- penditure as it was only let Hilde to provide for u bill coming dur- I suppose the chairman and the members of that committee when they were small boys, were cau- tioned that one could not eat his cake and have it too; and I am sure they must have been dellghtedwbeu the Auditor showed them how this difficult trick could be performed. because the accounts as they are presented show that one can eat his cake and have 1t too.

Besides the $20,750.00’ there was paid out of but not charged against the ordinary revenue another amount for sinking fund account the vote of $111,515.50 these two amounts totalling $48,265.50 wipe out their surplus of 515382.70 and leave a deficit of $32,882.80.

smncruo COMPARISON

In regard to the Accounts for 1924 you will remember that the Conservative Government had a deficit of $23,000. Their accounts plainly showed that deficit; they made no attempt to hide it. If you compare the ac- counts of 1924 with the accounts as they are made up this year, you will find that the current ordinary rev- enue shown in the Public Accounts was $676,004.23. In 1924 the revenue from the motor vehicle receipts was placed where the statute provided that it should be placed. The inter- est and sinking funds were taken out and the balance was placed against Highway account. But if we take 1t as they have taken it this year, and add it to the ordinary revenue, we will have to place it above the line. In addition to $51,- 546.50 motor vehicle receipts we will have to add the unexpended gaso- line tax, $4,640.81.

Against. that amount the total ordinary expenditure shown was $699,160.04, to which we will have to add interest on debentures charged out of motor vehicle receipts, $24,- 625, making a. total of ordinary re- ceipts for that year of $732,351.64 and a total ordinary expenditure of $723,785. In other words, by employ- ing the methods employed this year in making up the Accounts. the de- llclt of 1023-24 would disappear ni- together, and in place of it you would have a. surplus of $8,566.60. But surplus or deficit the fact rc- mains that there was a huge in- crease in the debt o1‘ this province last year amounting to over $234 000 according to the auditor-over $176,000 the year before, nearly $200,000 in 1929 and in their first five months this government man- aged to go into debt more than $150,000. Yet the Premier in his budget speech placed the increase in debt during their term as $465,- 000. He does not accept the Public Accounts furnished by the Auditor either but makes up an internal-

The total receipts are curried in as‘

‘mated the uncoliected taxes,

made up by someone else for the occasion.

In the statement the Premier made use of we find listed as assets items whichno external audit ever included before and this makes his comparison unsound. For instance he puts a. value on the cattle at Fal- conwood Farm and includes them

as assets, there have been cattle at

Fnlconwood I suppose as long as Ex- ternal Audits have been mode cer- tainly since 1011, never included 1n an external aud- it before. He has‘ included Road Machinery, old trucks and old cars, motor cycles and road drags never included before although some of them were new in 1927 and only junk now, also ferry boats and scows, not additions for new ser- vices but merely replacements, these have no place in an external audit. He hes swelled his assets in this way, as nelr as I could make out, by $150000 more than he has esti- I would say, from $50,000 to $75,000 more than any two independent audltorswould estimate thern- That

is the method he his pursued in his

Ofdlflfllry expenditure $1,l33,3%.14 that even the Government mem-lendeavour to get the debt down ltlillld t e members opposite claim bers did not know whether the ‘from $2,793,000 to $2,485,000. 08B "Ell": dmwnst-rflte a sllrplllfl statement was correct or not and 1 I wish to show exactly what the

BRINGING UP FATHER

external audit himself or has one _

but these were '

records of uric Provincial Auditor show um increased debt m be.

LARGE DEBT INCH-Ell!

‘Ilo get at the debt of the Province at any time there are three accounts to be examined. There are the de- benturm which are issued when money is borrowed to pay the cap- ital expenditures; there is the loan account and there is the overdraft at the bank. Those three give the amount of the debt exclusive of liabllitiu for unpaid bills and 1f we compare the bank account at Aug- 12, 1927 as given by the Provincial Auditor to the external auditors o! that time we 11nd that on Aug. 12, 1927, the Provincial Auditor glve a. statement to Messrs. Poole and Scarth that there was then due the bank $251,505. 0n Dec. 31, 1930, the Public Accounts we have just re- celved show that the amount due the bank was $668,801. That is an increase from Aug. 12 1927, to Dec. 31, 1930. of bank overdraft of $417,- 290.

Now take the debenture account. In the first place I will take the highway debentures, which accord- ing to Auditors statement to Poole a: Scarth 1n 192': amounted to $790,000. There had been placed in the sinking fund against that issue $71,519, leaving a. net amount of

of the Liebilitics

Debentures Ordinary Debentures Highway

Less Sinking Fund: Ordinary Highway

Due Banks ... .............. ...$ Due Loans ..............

Total Liabilities . . . . . . . . . . . .

also Same Statement

from figures supplied by‘ the Provl Scarth and found 1n their report:

Debentures Ordinary ............ Debentures Highway

Less Sinking Funds Ordinary . . . Highway

....$

Due Banks Due Loans

--...-...--.----- u.

Total Liabilities Total Liabilities, Dec. 31, 1930 ..... Total Liabilities, Aug. 12, 1927 u...

Increase in debt in 3 years between August l2, 1927 as the Premier would have it.

Shown in Previous Statement

From figures supplied Mr. Blanchet Blanchet Audit in Journal of 1924:

Debentures Ordinary . .. Debentures Highway . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Less Sinking Funds- Ordinary Hlghway .. . ..

Due Loans ..$ Due Bank . .

The previous Government increas- ed the debt in four years 8413.000

years this government has increased the debt nearly $760,000 and has in- eluding $300,000 for gravelllng only $768,000 to its" credit for cap- ital expenditure. But the Premier says the Conservatives received $194,000 from Ottawa against High- way Account, which is correct butl

0718.401. 0a Doc. l1, 1000, the issue had increased to 01,000,000: the sinking fund hlll accumulated to t141,460.‘lesvin¢ s ‘not smountwlue on highway debentures of $1.118.- 550, m increase in highway do; bent/tire account of 0400.000.

Toke the loans account. In 1027 the Provincial Auditor guve I. rte-te- ment to Messrs Poole l-nd South that there was due on loans at that time, $848341. In the Public Ao- counts for 1930 we have the amount due on locus, 863344-511 1n- cresse of 015,403. Tint makes s tot- si Increase on those three fteuu of $832,766.

SPENDING T11! IONS!

Now we come to the ordinary de- bentures. In 1927 the issue was $1,003,000. and the sinking fund: against that were $306,999, leaving s net amount of 0716.100. n: 1930 the issue was $1,029,000; the sink- ing fund was 0890.775. leaving a net amount of 0042.225, a reduction of $73,706. If you subtract that reduc- tion from $932,766 it shows that the

‘debt bu increased in the three

yeers this Government bu been In power, $758,903.

1n order that there may be no question of these figures I submit the auditors statement to be found on page a port 1. mobilities and balance sheet.

PROVINCIAL AUDITGES STATEMENT

of; the Province

at December 81, 1930 Page 8. Part 1, Public Accountl

$1,029,000.00 1 300000.00

$2,329,000.00

386,755.32 181,450.02 $ 568,225.34 $1,760,774.60

668,801.86 863,744.77 $1,032,546.63

.......-...........$ 2,793,321.29

Dec. B1. 1930

the atAug. 12, 1927

nclal Auditor to Messrs. Poole 8r

$1,083,000.00 790,000.00

$1 873,000.00

aaesaaso - 11.51032 4311,5192: $1,434,010.11: 251505.24 346,341.89 seasons . . ................ . 4 2-034,327.91 $2,793,321.29 2,034,121.91

758,993.88- nnd Dec. 31, 1930, and not $465,000

THE DEBT INCREASE DURING CONSERVATIVE P1170101) from Sept. 5, 1023 to Aug. 12, 1927 is shown as follows in the some way

Liabilities of Province at Aug 12, 1927

. . . . . . . . .0 3,054,327.91

Liabilities of Province at septfe, 192a

by the Provincial Auditor found in

$ 775,268.41 800,000.00

$ 1,075,268.41

. . .8 105,562.99

28,937.01 194,500.00

C 940,768.41

975,387.94

404,967.70 680,355.64 $1,621,134.05

Increase in Debt in 4 years _under Conservatives m...) 416,203.80

he did not say st the some time

and left Highway and permanent that this government received $166,- works costing $677,000. In three 000 s. year from Ottawa. or 0495.000

in their 3 years which the Stews-rt government did not receive but which the Province his to thank Mr. Stewart for securing.

PER OAPITA DIBT Something hu been said about the debt per heed of population.

JULY 8, 1931

-._...‘!-._i, We have been given comparing of the debt-per heed in New 3mm wick, Nova Scotis. Ontario “q other Provinces. Applrently l; \ L, done because these gentlemen did not feel that the debt in thl; pm, vines wls isrge enough The, w,“ very anxious, lllllllfllfly, p, l,“ crease it. They want to build hurd. surfaced hlghvveys outing $21,909 ‘ mile, which would certainly 11¢], i,’ llwnlle the debt per held consld. enbly.

But they have done very we“ u, ready in P6810600 H! 11102005113 (he debt per heed. As late In 1918 u,‘ lust lull yelr of the Arsensult rid. ministration the debt per mad m this Province was mm, found b, dividing a. population of 68.000 mm the debt at that time $995,202.11

from Confederation to 1918 a," previous QUVQfIIIIIQIIII had only n", up e, debt of $11.20 per head but u, the lent three your this [Wernmeul with $800,000 more revenue annual. l: then any previous government, mismanaged IIIIII so badly um they placed an increased debt o] $0.60 on every heed in this PIOVIIJQQ.