r of the Opposition twitted the Gov-

ment upon ‘its silence respecting the | to secure the independence of Parlia- ment. Sir, tuat bill has already been twice before this Uouse; and, although

nothing has been said about it in the Ciovs ernor’s speech, it is the intention of the Government to introdace it again. | am sure my honorable friend, the Leader of the Opposition, will,—if he is true to his lately uttered professions—this year give

the Government more assistance in ] i$s- t that he did last year. ihere was

} eed then, a great deal sari yutan honorable member of this louse, who is not now pres

»nt—who is in the Senate at Ottawa—and the Leader of the Opposition strongsy op posed the position that hon. gentleman oc ihere may be some objections to fhe only one to my mind, is that of inconvenience. but, there are very serious objections, indeed, to some non. gentiemen who have seats in this House--who are tovday seated around this Honorable Board, — gentlemen who ho a ollices, and draw their salaries

cupied, that postition.

; ; ntleme hye Dominion Government, — gentlemen who |

do not, at present, occupy independent po- sitions. It is all very well for hon. mem» bers of the Opposition, to insist that we should be free as air; sir, the members on this side of the Llouse are quite as I pendent as those on their side; and, it Is our intention, to introduce a measure which

will ensure a little more independence in |

the future. has been hard upon our system of educa. tion, are, unfortunately, not in a healt

dition; and the School Act, undoubtedly, requires some alteration. The cost of maintaining teachers is a heavy drain upon the Province. The amount expended every vear is, | believe, about $60,000; and yet, many vf the schools are vacant and the re- sult generally unsatisfactory. To relieve the heavy drain upon the tinances of the

Province, and to awaken a greater interest |

in our public schools, it is necessary that the people should contribute more directly,

as in the United States and Canada, to the |

support of their schools. Yet, 1 doubt whether we would be justified in adopting that course. Some years ago an alteration was made, What was the effect? Why, sir, the pressure was so great that we had to back out. ihe p:oper course to pur-

sue, under, the circumstances, is, [ hesitate |

not to say, to leave the question to the people themselves. The most wecan do is to appoint a Commission to enquire into

the state of our public scheols, and to}

bring the question before the people in a practical shape. It is all very weil for my iearned friend to held up our public schools as acrying shame; but, sir, at the bottom ofall, there is another great question, and that is whether our schools shall be purely secular or not. conscientious men on each side of lution of it until itis submitted to the peo- ple at the polls. im my hon. friend’s speech to which I will briefly allude. It respects the manage~ ment of public lands on this colony. It is not, sir, the policy of the Government, to retain the estates off which they will soon become possessed. I[t will not do for the Government to remain proprietors. The iands will have to be sold; and, there is no doubt about it, the head of the Department

for the time being, will—as my hon. friend |

rightly remarks—hbave to be a very able man indeed. I trust, sir, that the time is

not very far distaut when all the lands of the |

Province will pass out of the hands of the Government into those of the occupiers ; and we will have to take care that the money received for them is capitalized.

Mr. L. H. Davies—<Are we to understand |

that the policy of the Government is to sell the lands se that the estates will be self- sustaining ?

Hon. Mr. Baecken—No, no. The policy of the Government is not to remain the proprie- tor of the Jands; and to sell them at prices at which the tenants will be induced to buy. None of the lands have yet been secured with the exception of two-mail estates ; but when they are, there can be no doubt about it, the Land Department—which 1s an ex eeedingly difficult one to manage—will bave to be placed in the ablest hands. My learned friend advocates the abolition of imprisonment for debt; and I cordially agree with all that he said upon that point. It is certainly hard to see what end 1s ob- tained in placing a poor unfortunate man in jail, to do no good whatever—either for his creditor, his family or himself. Not very many years ago, however, imprisonment was abolished for £10 and under. what was the result? Why. sir, petiticns poured into this House asking for repeal. fhe passage of an Act entirely abolishing imprisonment for debt would probably have the effect of ‘shutting down’ upon the credit system altogether.

Mr. B. Davins—I did not expect, Mr. Speaker, that an attempt would have been made to pass the Address by a silent vote. We were informed that the House would be opened upon a certain day; and upon that day it is usual for the Government to show what has been done and what is in- tended to be done. On jJooking over the

Lieutenant Governor's speech, however, |

I find that, taken altogether, it is one of the weakest epeeches ever delivered from the gubernatorial chair. | expected, sir, that his Honor would have told us how his Government had carried out the instruc tions giver: by this House last session. | thought we would hear something about the Lunatic Asylum and other public works ordered last year. But, sir, we heard nothing of the kind. Taking the country asa whole, it does not lavish very high encomiums upon his Honor’s Government:

and the speech delivered by His Honor is |

made up of a very few words with very little meaning in them. xindly thrown # veil over the misconduct ot hisGovernment. The financial depres- sion existing at present is alluded to. In my opinion that depression has been over- estimated. The country is sound at heart. It is true, sir, we feel the loss of the money expended upon the railway while the job was in progress,but the trade of the country is just as great as before. At the same time the commercial depression abroad has, toa certain extent, re-acted upon us. The prices of our ships have gone down, and other adverse circumstances have combined to bring about a stringency in our money market. Then there is a paragraph about the railway. This is the second time the railway and its advantages have been held up to the admiration of this Legislature in the Governor’s Speech. For my part, sir, [am not so certain about its beneficial results. If the railway were now a burden upon our resources—as at first contemplat- ei by its projectors—it would be a curse to the country. Sir, it is lucky for the country

that the Dominion Government has agreed |

to run the road and bear the expense of maintaining it. As it is, I believe it will be of no great advantage to the people at large. Of course it will be very convenient for travel. Butit can be of little use to eur farmers; for the rates of freignt on

coal and limestone—the two great require- |

ments of the people—are so high that farm- ers cannot afford to move them into the country by rail. And for my part, sir, { cannot see any great advantage the road has yet been, further than has accrued to

the people from the immense amount of

money which was expended upon its con- struction. That the awards of the Land Commissioners have been cancelled is a matter of regret—but not of surprise. We might have been sure that any Act which did not receive the sanction of the Supreme Court would be baulked. The office of Public Lands over which the hon. member for Fort Augustus presides is now the most important in the Colony. That office has not been in very good repute. If you will remember, Mr. Speaker, it was stated in this House }ust year, by the late Commis- sioner, that the office was not then in a good position. He said that it was impos- sible to get details respecting the land owned by the Province ; that the lands were not surveyed, and that they were not ac. cessable for want of roads. This was a most extraordinay statement to come from the head of the Department; and I,for my part, should like to hear that the office is in good working order now. | hope, sir, the present incumbent will be able to give this House all the necessary information. I should also

like to hear some account of the finances of

the Province. | fear, sir, that they are ina very bad state indeed. It is, to say the least, ominous that there is not in the Speech a paragraph assuring the Legis'a dure that the finances are in a healthy con- tition. His Honor says something about settling the claims of the railway contrac- tors. lhe Government, sir, ought to have

come to arettlement with the contractors

before they accepted the road. The con< duct of the Government in taking the road as they did, was very extraordinary, par- ticulary when it is considered that they had peen warned by a Dominion official that the

under the

indes |

The Leader of the Opposition |

At present, our Common ore y con-

There are, sir, many good | this | question, and there can be no practical so- |

There is another point |

But |

His Honor has |

PCOS EDGAR MEAS RELL LSI SS TET PT IS

; " aibeeahe

IIox. Mr. Ketry, Comm ner ol

Lands could ure the House th the |

Public Lands of the vinea are now al

sur eyed and that « ; } ed

out upon the } lat tie had . een

Commissioner very } | had en-

deavored to make the office as efficient as Hon. Leader of the Op-

possible. i position had st ated that he (Mr. Kelly) was

unfit to perform the duties of the office

If the hon. gentleman will only wart tll the accounts ar » | ht down, he whi nd a

’ is | a aties. But la itumn he (the Com n yer) had l rtisement to be inserted in the W papers to the effect |

’ r would be proceed |

ecded ti i directs. and since | t licat r< ] » more money | has been paid into the office than for the} tw ive months prev ous. <As reg

yn, it seem the hon. gen-

that some of tlemen on the other side of the think they have found a mare's nest in the schools of Charlottetown. I see that they have placed a notice on book, asking for the pi ion of papers cerning them,

Mr. L. H,. Davixs—Does the hon.mem ber mean to say that we have not the right | to put such & question on the order Look?

Hon. Mr. Ketty—Certainly not. 1 was only going to remark that perhaps it would not be so easy to show tha the Board of

Education have neglected their duty as | the hon. members th

the order

duet cons

heavy. | Mr. Hortanp—As I have been alluded to by the Hon. the Leader af the Opposi- tion I will take this opportunity of making a few remarks in reply,and upon the speech. | The hon. gentleman attempted to criticise the grammatical construction of one of the paragraphs in the draft address, but it has | been shown by the Hon. Dr. Jenkins that | the sentence is perfectly correct. I will | give acase in which a singular verb is used | Which, if correct in one case must be in the | other. lhe sentence is, ‘ Phe wages of sin } is death.’

Mr. L. H. Davies ber mean to say that th iment is death?

Hon. Mr. Hortaxp—No. But I mean to say that the political wages of the Hon. | Leader of the Opposition may lead to his | political death. Much has been said re- specting the Public Works we | Minister of Public Works, in the person of the chairman. to complain of in that respect.

Does the hon, mem- » wages of Govern<

Sir,

In respect

| to the charge of copying from last year’s | ' journal, | have only to say that the first |

paragraph in every address is the same. The Opposition finds great fault with the mover and seconder of the address for not speaking to it; but I can assure the Oppo- | sition that we followed the custom which has been practiced in this House at least for the last ten years. The hon. senior member for Belfast, in his remarks, asserted | that the paragraph in His Honor’s Speech which alludes to the commercial depression, that it was incorrect ; but I contend thet com. | mercial depression prevails very extensively both in Earope and America; but on this Is~ land, [ am happy tosay.thatit does not pre~ vail to the same extent thatit does in the sis- ter provinces and United States,and that our farmers are prosperous and appear to enjoy almost an immunity from want which is ow- ing to their intelligence and industry ; and | ifthe farmers of P. E. Island continue to | prosper in the future as they have in the

past, they will soon be looked upon as

being the most independent and prosper- | ous agricultural community this side of the | Atlantic. In regard to the Land Question,

I regret, as you do, sir, that the final set-

tlement of the question has been obstructs

ed. I sincerely trust the obstructions

may prove only temporary. I hope that

when the estates

the Government, that they wil! see their | way sufficiently clear to offer the lands to | the tenants at so lowarate, (say two dol- lars per acre), as to induce them to come} in immediately and purchase the broad

1 acres which they cultivate so industriously. Mr. L.H.Davies—Did the hon. member support the Government in the policy of settiing the Land Question? Mr. Hottaxp—Yes, and when the Ques~

suggesting tothe Government a plan, which if it had been adopted, would have saved the country thousands and thousands of dollars. | was twitted then by his hon.the Leader of the Opposition, with having an eye to my own iateres's, butI think the | hon. member, when he twitted me, had 'an eye to the grist which he was likely to

| bring to his own mill. With regard to

| Registration ot votes, I am in favour of that |

| measure; but I think the question of voting

by ballot is one which shouid be received | fer consideration of the people. It is a | system I never approved of. | corruption and bad practices; and there-

fore I hope it will never obtain in | this Province. On this Island the Elections | compare more than favourably with those of

| the neighboring Provinces, and the United |

States, where the ballot has been introduc- fed. Look at the elections in Ontario. | How many elections have recently been | contested and declared void there, on ac- j}count of corruption? At one election, | there was, actually, two hundred more bal- | lots thrown than there were names of voters upon the register. I, sir, am in favor of the system of open and free voting. That can- not be a corrupt system: and I hope it will continue to obtain in this Island. With res | spect to the railroad, we have reason, sir, to congratulate ourselyes upon the possession of that great work. That it has not given | entire satiefaction rests with the Dominion Government. What have they done to

ple of this Isiand? Why, sir, when I look at the management, | am forced to the | conclusion that they are doing all they can | to bring the railroad into disrepute. Mr. | Davies tells us that the rates of freight are

too high on coal, limestone, and other ar. |

| ticles. Yes, sir, they are out of all pro- | portion to the cost of the railroad, If | we have a cheap railroad we should have | cheap accommodation, Allusions has been |}made tothe subject of winter communi- cation with the Mainland. That service is certainly « difficult one; but the Dominion Government have not put forth such exer- tions to perform it, as by the terms of Con- federation, we havearight toexpect. They have saved at least, $60,000 by the non- performance of the controct; and, in my opinion, we should make a strong eilort to

of applying it to !ocal works, t'ouse took recess for one hour.

Monpay, March 20, 1875, | Houee met after recess. | Mr, Spreasen in the chair.

Debate on motion to go into Committee on Draft Address, resumed.

Mr. Stewart said that as the matter cons | tained in the Speech with which the sess sion had been opened, did not invite much discussion, his remarks would be brief, | He regretted exceedingly that the second- er of the Address, had not delivered him- | sclf of a speech with reference to some of | the subjects alluded to in it, as his bay~ | done so would have greatly facilitated the | the business of the House. That hon. mem.- | ber for Bedeque—had given the House to | understand that when money was required | to carry out any public work, no matter | whether a suflicient sum had Leen granted | by Parliament or not, the Board of Works | should proceed with the work, and the Government should supply the funds. There was no difficulty in the hon. mems | ber’s mind about the matter; in order to | gratify his ambition, the money would be _ forthcoming. With reference to the Rail- | way, be (Mr. Stewart) thought the Domin- | ion Parliament had treated us very liberals | ly, as it had, atits iast Session, granted $200 000 for the working expenses and ; its better equipment; but so badly built was the road, and so deficient in rolling | stock was it, that the whole ef that amount |had been expended upon it, and not a | dollar was leit fcr the purchase of new locomotives. Yetthese facts were as no- thing to the hon. member for Bedeque, as he insisted that all the blame in connection with the unsatisfactory working of the | road was chargeable to the Dominion Goy- (ernment. ‘The first matter mentivned in | in the Speech was the commercial depres- , sion which existed throughout this Pro- | vince at the present time. He(Mr. 8.) ; believed that similar expressions had | lately been used in every Parliament and Representative body on this side of the | waiter. Le was strongly of the opinion that ub economy was practiced by the Govern- ment aud people of this Province, agri- cultural pursuits were of so recuperative a

House | level t | sure to meet with their own cure.

necessity of a Minister of| have already a}

Therefore we have nothing |

come into possession of |

tion firstcame up, I took the liberty of |

It admits of |

make it useful and acceptable to the peo- |

obtain part of that money for the purpose |

’ : n its tlourishing co!

: ‘ va count ‘ iy regait i

’ } . sch, OF the cK

mmercial depres- yi nti existing amengst us,

over which we as a commune ut the proper tite,

ty might have, i Our farmers, instead of

exere control, , advising themselves of the prices of the principal articles of export in the countries which are our best markets, and endeavor- ing to regulate their own demands accord. ingly, had not taken advantage of our hone | mark ts when good prices were offered for their farm produce, The fact was that lately been a disposition on the of this Island to ask ex»

here had

part of the farmers

orbitant prices for the produce of their | }

farms, and they now suffered from the cons | ‘uences of their own actions, He be- |

lieved that. last year no less than $300,000

} |

| was thus lost to the capital of this province,

Farmers should acquaint themselves with ‘oreizn markets and regulate their own foreizn m rket $

Trade will always find its own

generally exorbitant demands

and In the the present instance, he regretted that the commercial depression consequent upon } sucha course had come upon us 80 sudden- \ly and heavily, and that we had felt it so severely. Under such circumstances we | should endeavor to shape our course under |awise economy. fe thought that instead ‘of promising a meagre measure for the registration of persons entit'ed to vote at elections, the Government come down with a proposal to place the whole matter upon a new footing. Hon. members on the Opposition side of the House had made every effort in their power | to make that best of all measures, the Land Parchase Act, a success; and ha hoped that ‘the lecal question arising out of the pro. ceedings of the Commissioners would soon be decided.’ Any measure ten ng to bring the settlement of the Land Question to a speedy termination would receive his warmest support. Much blame was sought to be fastened upon the Dominion Gov-~ ernment for the ineflicient working of the railway, which should have been laid upon other parties, viz., those who constructed it. Ifthe people of this Island had not received all the advantages from it which | they should have had, the blame is chargeable at the doors of the hon. mem- ber tor Bedeque and his party. The mo- ney granted by the Dominion Parliament, | last session, was not suflicient to stock the | road properly, and when the superintend- | ed, Mr. McKechnie, asked for new locomo< | tives, the government of Canada were per:

fectly astounded, But the state of the road and its equipments were such that an

in a workable condition. Other subjects should have been alluded to in the Speech, and the necessary measures proposed. Ample time bad been given to the Govern- ment to prepare the necessary measures, and they would have placed themselves in a better position before the country, when seeking re-election, if they had taken hold of those subjects. The more difficult the subject taken up aad dealt with and wisely handled, the greater will be the credit that will redound to their honor. The Educa. tion Question is one that demands a speedy remedy; and if it is a difficult one, the greater will be the credit to the party that masters the difficulty. He did not think this question a difficulty that could not be | surmonnted; and he had no doubt what- | ever, that when the reins of power would | be handed over to Her Majesty’s Opposition | they would handle itatonce It _betoken- | ed cowardice on the part of the (iovern- | ment to shirk the amendment of the Edus

cation Act. The expenditure for the sup- | port of our Education system was second

only to that of Public Works, The amend- ment of our Education Laws, involves the great question, whether our young men aad women should be educated citizens, or otherwise. Ifthe rumor was true, that the House had no reports on the state of our Public Schools, either from the School Visitors or from the Secretary of the Board

'of Education, matters must be in a very | It is of the first importance |

loose state.

| for hon. members of the House to know the

|

| many schools are vacant for want of texch- er:, and whether it is true that some of the | school-houses are sources of immorality. | Many persons in Charlottetown, are taxed | from ten to fifteen dollars per year for the support of Education. and yet he who wish- jes to give his children a good educa-

tion sends them to a private school. | A poor mechanic has, under such circums | stances. tostretch his means to the utmost | in order to give his children an education. here is, therefore, a pressing necessity for an amendment in our education laws. The | Government have been repeatedly assured | by the members of the opposition that no obstruction would be thrown in the way of a thorough amendment of our Educa. tion Act, yet they refuse to take hold of the matter and make the necessary changes. | He did not wish to appeal to the prejudices of any hon. member around the Board, but he felt bound to say that our Educa- tional affairs should be placed upon an entirely different footing. Education which costs the country from

j

under thorough and efficient management. When his mind was fuliy made up that the

upon our public schools was necessary, he would feel bound to support it, He would go for grappling with our Educational dif. ficulties stoutly and strongly, and would favor no way of escape from dealing with them. Another department that urgently

Works. This demand would be set to music before the House rose, It was to be hoped that the Boara had not expended more money than was piaced at its dis. posal by the House iast Session, notwitb. standing the urgent demands of the hon. member for Bedeque. It appeared that a public meeting was lately held in the dis- trict represented by that hon. member for the purpose of taking measures to ex- tend its wharf accommodation. When aps plied to, the hon. member informed his constituents that this was a matter which devoived upon the general Government. at Ottawa, and advised an application to it for assistance. This was the way in which that hon.member shirked the performance of his duty with reference to such matters. The hon. senior member for Belfast had, very properly, alluded to the Lunatic Asy- lum. Although it was not mentioned in the Speech, he [Mr. S.] hoped that the Gov. ernment were prepared with necessary plans etc., for commencing operations for the erection of a new building.

Mr. Conroy said that the subject of education was not alluded to in the Draft Address, but it still seemed to be the fore. most question now before the public of this country. His hon. friend, the mem- ber for Strathalbyn, had just informed the | House that our public schools were now | the sources of immorality and ignorance ! | Is this the condition into which our public | schools have fallen? Although this was a most important matter, and one for which avery large amount of money was annually expended, not a single report was before the House to show the state of the schools and the progress, if any, made during the past year. of Education had not submitted a report of any kind! ‘To whom, he would ask, was that officer responsible? The Secretary was, he believed,a clergyman. Did the Clergy of which that gentleman was a mem- ber, countenance such a state of affairs in our public schools as that stated by the hon. member for Strathalbyn? Surely not! That hon, member hid described the public schools as ‘dens of immorality and ignorance.’ No language of his (Mr. ©.) could depict the condition of our public schools in more shocking words than those of that hon. member. Surely such a state of matters would not be allowed to last long! ‘

He regretted very much the depressed state of trade in this province. district had suffered, and was still suffering from the general depression; but he hoped that in a short time trade world revive,and that the strinuency of the money market would be relieved. If the hon. gentlemen composing the Government had not that firm trust in Providence which they should have, he had; and he believed that the country would soon be as flourishing as it was a few years ago. As for the railway, he | thought it had not, under the system by which it had hitherto been managed, proved so beneticial to the poor of this pros vince as it should, except that many hai received employment in clearing the snow from the track during the winter season. But as the iatter was not the object for which the road was cons structed, its real object had not been attained. The fact that the transporta. tion of oats from Tignish to Charlottetown cost six cents per bushel, was sufficient to

will be |

should have |

immense outlay was necessary to place them |

state of education in the country—whether

$60,000 to $70,000 per year, should be put

appointment of a Commission to. report

required remodeling was the Board of

Even the Secretary of the Board |

His own |

~—

RENE LET NE SOL

| cumstances, that the poor. farmer could | not reap much benefit from its operation at such rates. The passage money is,also, entirely too high, The fare from Tignish to the city is $3.35, or 3.50 per head —a sum entirely above a poor man’s means. Again, the poor Indian and the rich mer. | chant had, under the present management, to travel in the same car. In order to| make the road a benefit to the poor, there | should be second class cars p!xce dt upon it, and the rates should be materially reduced, | if this were done, there would in his opin- ion, be a mnch larger troflic upon the line, | ile would hke to see the round managed go | as to benefit the community generally. As at present operated it was merely a luxury instead of a general benefit. He was glad | to see that a measure would be introduced | by the Government for the registration of | voters, as he believed 4t to be really neces-

| |

|sary in order to ‘prevent the practice of | day evening next,—Subject : “Six Weeks on rices so as to allow exporters to trade with | swearing political opponents at elections | wheels.”

is edus | xuvantage to themselves and to the country | with reference to their votes. ‘The frivols rds e¢ | SHURE 74

; ous swearing, at such times, now so coms mon, should be abolished. ‘To demand } | the administration of an oath to old men in such cases, was extremely offensive. | Oaths were often demanded in the case of | young men, in order to intimidate them, | and to prevent their voting. It is high | time that the old system was superseded | by a betterene. Another measure alluded toin the Address was the Land Purchase | Act. He thought that the awards of the Land Commissioners were in some cases far too high. In some instances £5.00 per jacre, and in others $5.25 per acre was | awarded, The lands should be sold to the | tenants at such prices as to enable them to | become freeholders on fair terms. If the | prices were fixed at too high a figure, the poorer class of tenants would be forced to remain tenants, and the lands would re- | main In the possession of the Government. This would be contrary to the spirit and intention of the Land Purchase Act. The 3oard of Works,as an institution, had never, in his opinion, given satisfaction to the people of this Island. As this would be the last session of the present Llouse, he thought the Government should make amends for the past, and do justice to his district. Some attention should be paid by them to the applications made by his constituents with reference to their roads and bridges Mr. CaLLBECK was much disappointed with the Speech with which His Honor had opens ed the session, as he bad expected that a speech emanating from a Government, by many persons considered not only able, as politicians, but as statesmen, would have contained something worthy of note. In his Opinion, it was the duty of the Govern. ment to propound measures and that of the House to ratify or reject those measures, as it might see fit. The measure promised, in reference to the registration of votes was not important, unless something more in | connection with it was also to be brought down. But the most important measure al. luded to in the address, was the Land Pure chase Act. He had often been asked by the tenants how the proprietors’ estates were to be managed when they became the property of the Government, and he had , always answered that he expected the Gov~ / ernment would, when the House met,bring in a Bill, making provision for disposing of | the lands which came into their possession. | He fully expected that the Address would | have contained some allusion to such a |}mecsure; but he had been grievously dis. appointed. There were many other impor- tant questions which should have been taken into hand this session: the chief of which was that in reference to the Board of Works. During the last session of the House, the Opposition were almost unani- mous for the abolition of that institution, and placing the department under the control of a central head, who would be responsible to the House for all ex. penditure of monies for public works. The Government themselves, admit that such a change was necessary. Why had they not. therefore, alluded to this matter in the Speech with which the Session was opened? He would, probably be told that he was at one time a member of a Govern- | ment which introduced the Bill to establish that institution. This was true; but if the principles acted upon at that time were as strictly carried out to day, he did not think there would be any just reason for coms | plaint. Under the practice now followed, | the House was annually voting money in | the dark, to be expended by the board. At last session no less than $17,000 or $18,000 | were asked for unfinished contracts alone, | concerning which, the House knew nothing, | Where could the Government find a pre | cedent for such a course? None was to be | found in the acts of either the Canadian or | the Imperial Parliaments. Our Board of | Works, as at present constituted, was an | irresponsible body, because, although some | of its members occupy seats in the House |others did not. It was the undisputed | privilege of the House to vote the public | monies for particular purposes, knowing how they were to oe expended. If there was | anything for which hon. members of the House Were responsil.le, it was the expends iture of the publicfunds. But how could

A system of | they be responsible under the system now

carried out by the Government? If the whole department were placed under the control of a central head, it would become the duty of the Government to bring down an estimate of the expenditure necessary for the most important public works, and to explain where the money was to be ex, pended, The House would then be in a position to say ‘ yea’ or ‘nay,’ as its mem- bers thought proper. But according to present appearances, the same old course as that pursued last session, would still be followed. Reference was made in the Ad- | dress to the new law court’s building: but not a word was said about the new asylum, | for which provision was made last session. Was it the intention of the government to erect a new building or not? Hon, mem, bers all felt the necessity for increased accommodation for the inmates of the present institution. The oid asylum was now crowed, and the poor-house contained many who were {fit inmates for an asylum, Instead of being a poor-house as intended, the latter building was now really an in, firmary. Increased and improved accoms modation for the old and infirm of that class of persons was absolutely necessary: Ihe subject of education had been spoken to by the hon. member for Strathalbyn. Allus sion had been made by the hon. member for Tignish (Mr, C.) toa remark which fell from Mr. Stewart with reference to the state of our public schools. He (Mr. Call. beck) understood the latter to say that many of the school-houses were unoccu- pied—not that immorality prevailed in the schools, The hon. member for Bedeque had stated that the Leader of the Govern< ment was the head of the Board of Works, Superintendent. if so, his honor had never brought in a report showing what public works had been undertaken; what portion of them had been completed, and what portion remained unfinished, as he should have done. Whether his honor would do so during the present session or

not, he (Mr. C.) did not know; but he should do so. [f the head and the tail were taken from the Speech, the middle portion weuld be found to be worthless, as it contained almost nothing worthy of no- tice. On the whole, there were few meas sures involving much responsibility alluded toin the Speech. The promi-ed amends ment to the Land Purchase Act of last ses-

sion, was the chief measure referred to.

Another measure for the Registration of the votes of persons qualified to vote at elections, was aiso promised. Looking at hon, members of the Government as _ they

sat around the board, one would suppose

some of them equal in ability to a Burke, a

Chatham or even a Palmerston. Some

of them in wealth and, as financiers,

might be likened to the Rothchilds. He

would not say that there were not able

men among them; but he certainly

did expect from them, a great number

of useful and ab.e mexsures, especially

when the latter were so much required.

As the Government had a large majority

at their back, they could not plead a lack of

force to carry out their schemes. [Ilis

honor the Attorney General, during the

course of his remarks, declared that the

supporters of the Government were at least

as independent as the hon. members of

the Opposition. Le (Mr. C.) differed in

opinion from his henor in this matter, as

he could count a majority of Opposition

members who wero perfectly free from the

trammels of oflice, while on the Govern-

ment side he could only count two. This

was certainly a very small number of in-

dependent members in so large a num-

ber of supporters.

The Grand Duke of Mecklenburg, father-

in-law of the Grand Duke Wladmir, and

Prince Alexander of Ilesse, brother of the

Czarina, are visiting their relations in St.

Petersburg. Alexis has returned to his

nature, ade would soon revive, and the

convince any person familiar with our cirs

frigate the Swetlana in the Mediteranean,