PAGE ELEYLEN

* WW flllARljflTTliTfiwfl TYUARYITAN

IJPPOSITION LEADER ANAL YZES THE‘ E110

GE

Continued from page 9 l i Mr. Saunders fiazy

m the course of my remarks on the Draft Address I dealt with this matter again. My hon.~ friend the mdcr of the Government, who rm. [owed rne in the debate, came out with some statement, of a_~ver‘y Vague and general nature. with regard to a meeting of a commission of experts to be held some time this fall. He intimated that the Government would have an opportunity o: pro. seating our claims before that body, and that they would pass on a. rec- ommendation to the Federal Cov- ernment. lily hon. friendnppearrd to me to be very hazy on the subject he did not appear to have a very clear knowledge of what might hap- pen or what the course might he,

l have since made‘ enquiries flum the other Provinces, and l have not been able to find that they have any knowledge of this board to which my hon. ‘friend referred. Apparently, than, these experts are to be appoint- rd to deal only with the subsidy claims of this Province. If so it is a most remarkable course to take I; i; without precedent. Time and Lilli: again We have had delegations from [practically every Government the‘. has been in powey since Confedera- tion, going to Ottawa. to deal with this matter; and they have always dealt either with the-Ministers or more frequently with a sub-com- mittee 0i’ the Privy Council. And, of tourse. there is not any reascn for any other way. The only reason why l cvcr sugested a. commission of cc:- |~crts was because all the intcrcstg of the different Provinces would have to be considered, because a. great deal of data would have to be prepare-ti and presented and a great many fin- ancial considerations would he in- volved before u proper cnirrlusioh rnuld be arrivbd if. 1t might be that the matter ceitid best be dealt wi,h byjhe Supreme Court of Canada. especially if theyhad the advice and assistance oi ‘expert assessors and accountants on matters of pure m. iilimetlc.

No Ccrroboraticn

But there ts the slttiotion. We fiml flat when the pressure from the teachers began, when the time l'ur making some sort of public announce- ment was getting close, the leader ot the Government gocs to Ottawa, ccmcs back with this word which ht- rcceivcd apparently in private from the Federal Minister, and we have this announcement ntly made to the teachers. I submit, Mr. Speak- cr, that had the teachers received any ground of assurance that my hon. friend was sincere, that he had actually made substantial Drogrcss and had a fair opportunity of suc- cess, they would have trcatcd the nlatter reasonably, this strike would Iwver have come so near materializ- ing as it did and they would have gone back to their work with con- tented miuds. But the leader of thc Government was not able to givc thcri any concrete assurance. ln other Words, he had no corroboration, (Ap- plause.) i Corroboratton is a very important thing. as my hon. friend knows from his experience at law. It is very °l' ten required. Many cases have b"'--- non-suited for want of corroborative evidence. If, then, the leader of the Government had been able to corrob- orate his statements in any Wily. "w teachers certainly would have accept- ed his proposal and they would have gone back to their duties. But un- fortunately for the leader of the Gov- ernment, unfortunately for this 11"" vlnce, he was not able, or he did not choooe, to produce that corrobora- tion. I, ‘myself, attempted to 1155151 him out, of the dliilcuity by plume on the Order Paper a request that he table the correspondence in connec- tion with this matter; because x can- not conceive, and I do‘ not think any man in this province can 000C611"; how he could be actively and ener- setioeuy engaged in pres-sins the claims of this province for subsidy throughout the year, without beinz able to produce correspondence J0 that effect. Bulineeihrls not done in that way nowadayiq be were doing hi: full duty iu the tter he would not only be oorreepondin; With 0"‘ town. but be vvoulibe tekinl It "P In the most active‘ we! with the other. provinces of Canada. and es- lminiirwitb the other two Milli-III" nwmeu. n u m: import-at "u" we should know this: vvrv lmwm"! for this province to know vvhet er or Int my hon. friend bu been attempt-- for at hut u. eel-owni- ""11 °‘" eivteuprovineu of Nova Booth ml! my Brunswick.

ii‘ ‘cream semen- oviwflvn"!

.~ ‘A; we Q11 may, the Province 0!, Nova seem irin u bad we! film“ eiliil. lult as thie Province is. They cannot p , we»... no m m dire need e1 humanely-xii 1 M" "i °“

a .un.ui<it-.c.e‘9'eume out n. use end of the

their Provincial subsidies. Now if this shibholcth of “Twp Govemmems 1n line" were oi any value at all, if my hon. friend was in earnest and was Pfvlmred to put aside his pflfly mu. ties. look at the great opportunity he would have! The only Premier In the Maritime Provinces in line with the Governmental. Ottawa! What a. benefit he would be to the Maritime Provinces if he had used that priv- 5103c to assist our sister Province; by the sea! (Applause) But we have no reason to believe that he did. lie has not even told us that he did! 2c hm not taken us into his confi- deucc in the slightest degree; and 1 say, upon his silence on that account if on no other, that the blame must rcst with this Government for the teachers‘ strike. (Applause)

My hon. friend says that to place in the hands of the people of this Province tlic details of his endeavors during the past year to obtain an increase in provincial subsidy would not be in the public intcrestnlt was not in the public interest that the pcuplo should know what he had been doing in the public interest, in the interest of tin: teachers, in the inter- crt of incrcascd revenue forthls Pro- tine?! boiler that this information be airp- prrsscd, il.at the public should not know anything about it. 1's that a reasonable statement, Mr. Speaker? is it n statement oi a man who is cnxlcuvoring honestly and squarely to do his lzcst in the public interest’! Why shouidrft the public see these letters? Are we in danger of we: bctwccn the Provinces, or between this Province and the Dominion 0i Canada? Are the diplomatic rela- tions s» straincd and so delicate that it would he dangerous to lot the peo- ple sore the correspondence? (Loud applause.)

The People Lcft in The Dark

This Province does not know where it, stands with regard to increased subsidy. It docs not know whether the (lovcrrnncnt which it elected to power is doing anything, or whether thcy arc simply lying down on the job cr doing something even worse. It may be that, my hon. friend does not. wish to trouble, to worry, to an- noy, the Ministers at Ottawa. lf that. is his position, the public should know it. lie should let us KlwW. and some other method could be adopted at once of pressing this mat- tcr of subsidy, No other interests should stand in the way, public or private. The mutter is too serious i0 be [flayed withyit is too vital to IF low any political camouflage to en- tcr into it for a moment. Our argu- ments, my hon. friend admits, are irrefutable. Then why the delay? 1t, docs not rest on the shoulders of the Federal Government, because we have the word oi the Prime Minister cf‘ Canada. on the floor of the lloillfi of Commons to that effect. lie him- self placed the blame where lt b6- longs, and it rests on the shoulders of the Government of this Provlllfl that this matter has not been press‘; ed. W111’ NOT? That is the 111$’ lion which will not down. Are the people of this Province _io be treet- cd us children by my hon. 1110111? Arc they to be excluded from the confidence of the Government ll! h“! _,; ;'~r'.' Can not the correspondence -if '. . _ . any-be published? l almost ice. Zlke venturing the state- ment that there is no correspondence. M; speaker, when we take lfltil 00"‘ ‘dcratlon all the facts and circum- stances. (Loud 1111111110599

Found A Surplus. Left A Deficit

With regard to the financial situa- tion, I um not going to weary the Hgugg with g, great array of figures. I do not think it is wise. The people of‘ this Province study the Public accounts and they are in a 1113mm‘ to judge for themselves of the fill- anclal position as there set forth. I made one general statement 10st night, however, which I shall repeat: that when this Government came In- to power they found a surplus in the treasury. I am not mlililfll m" statement on my own authority merely, it is made on the authority of their m“, auditors, appointed by them t9 re-audit thefitceounts the moment they come into. power. Accordllll VJ the audit of Messrs Poole and Scarf-h l, w“ ghowntghat, there vu a small gurplus in the treasury at thlit 91ml- Then we might tum to the reveri- o! the Provincial Auditor; a realism“ with when! have no m" ‘t’ "M? u cgpable ofllciai who is. I W119"- entirely acceptable to this Govern- ment; at lelat they nv w- °fl We ii of his ttatement of exrfllliuiilfl. revenue and liability 1w the W" 1'" it is stated that the increase of debt in 1921 was 8159.1011-

I do‘ not need to deal with that my further. Tint is couch-ire. We left a eurpliu in the It ti! expiration of our term of oflloe. Ill

year with an increase in Geld-If If“- aeehy 0100.000. or eeuno. merit-

. . animus" . , m ~ ,4;

lie says, in effect, that it is‘

in the face oi the statements of their own auditors. If further corrobora- tlim i5 ‘ ’, however. it is contain- ed 1n their record for this year, where they cannot blame anyone but; them. selves for the expenditures incurred. The? had full control from January until December, and they again‘ lu- creued the debt, according to the same auditor's report: only this-year it is not referred to n lfdebt at all, it is called "liability." What, a mar- vellous metamorphosis! What a won- derful transformatlonl The very same thing which was a debt in 1927 was converted into o. "liability" m 1928. (Laughter) I don't know what they will call it next year.

Voice: A surplus! (Increased laugh- ter.) < Hon. Mr. Stewart: Yes, I suppose that will be the end oi it. At any rate the increase in liability in 1928 Wu $192,845. Surely that is corrob- oration of the responsibility which we placed on their shoulders for 19117. What have we got as a result? A total increase in debt, or in mixed debt and "liability" of $351,714. And that wonder! ‘ result, Mr. Speaker. was brought about by a gentleman who raised his hands to heaven and made the walla of this House sound with his denunciation of’ the Conser- vative Government because we had gone behind to the tune of about $41,000 a year. That is the diflerence between criticism and implementa- tion. That. is the difference between being outside and looking in, and be- ing inside and looking out. A man may be a very “strong" man when he is outside, looking in; and he may be very weak when he is inside looking out.

A Comparllon

sjuppose we take that record for‘ two years, what would it amount to? My hon. friends can figure that out for themselves, but I shall give them an example of how other records have been figured which may assist them. In 1927 the present leader of the Government, speaking on the budget, stated that we had gone be- hind in our full term of four years; he figured it out in three different ways and arrived at three different results. When he came to the third. however. he said: "This is true"; and the result was $494,000. That must be true, Mr. Speaker, since he said so; and that covered the four years of our administration. Now, let vs take the result this year. an increase in debt or liabllity—or both-of $192,645. and multiply it by four. You will find, I think, that. it will exceed $494,000.. A: n. nutter of fact, it will pretty nearly double that amount. That, I submit, ls a pretty fair comparison between the two records so for as they have gone. But in the one of my hon. friend, the record is going to be worn. because last year he- budgeted for a deficit of $15,000 and this year he is auticlpathig practically $30,000 of deficit,

This matter of increase in the debt of the Province. apart altogether from politics. is a very serious one. Just let us examine the figures for a mo- ment. In I918. the debt of the Pro- vince-or the liability, if you Wish to call it their-was $985,262. Ten years went by. and in 1928 it was $2,382,- 199. In other words. we increased the total debt in teuyeui-u to the tune of $1,396,837: more than double.

Road Expenditures

The great; difficulty, so far as the debt is concerned. is with regard to public road expenditures. If you take away the moneys that have been spent on roads in this Province dur- ing the period I have just mentioned you will find that there has been practically no increase in public debt. Of course, if we were getting ahead it might be excusable. But are we getting ahead? Have we increased ‘the efficiency and quality of our pub- iic roads in proportion to our expendi- ture‘) Both parties have been en- glged in this, and I am not dealins with it from l, partisan standpoint at all. We have in this Province a most serious financial problem on account of oiir road system. We have not mode very much advance, in my op- inion, with regard to permanency. It il true we have constructed some culvert; and iii-lever; all those minis are good and they are worth the motley. Bug apart from that what have vrof Take this road machinery, for example; it is only a very tem- porary expedient at the best. Take our highways that have been con- ltruoted. both under the Bell Gov- ernment and our own.’ How long. after L11. will thl! etlnd if left alone? What permanency tvu there in them? We are faced vviththil situation and we do not lee any solution; bug, I submit in all sincerity they it is a proposition which must be comidor- ofvlry ion-newly and carefully.

’ m» ml! fl our debt increasing, but. u a corollary of that. our inter- est charge is also increasing. I wou- (ier new may of our people have e!- emmldtoleel-luvrmuohvvemoli-

"9 119W Dllyllli; $74,000. As rt matter of fact we ore paying almost double "181 llmfllilll; $117,355, l0 be exact. Next year we will pay about $123,- 000 for interest charges oiofic; as was spent altogether, a few years ago, in the Department of Pub- lic Works, The $74,000 in the Pub- lic Accounts only takes in the nutcr- est we pay on bank ovcrilraft, short loans and some of the ‘debenture debt. The bond issues for highways are paid, as you ‘know, from the motor vehicle earnings, and consequently they do not. appear as interest char- ges at all; nevertheless we are pay-

ing that additional interest. \Vc would ,

have that, much more rcvcnuc if we, did not have to pay that lliiPffliti

charge. And that is going to keel)! power; bccausc the moment he be-Hhus “mm. n, “m, ,-,.3,,,._.L_ He Hug,“

doubling up ycai‘ nftcr your. "that is.

the suuamcn’ am‘ ‘i- is a dmqmcliwgWlffi 101d that 1110 MR5 BIN] dilvkcnb, has dune gcnciullly to ]ll't)lii(.il(' agri-

one. Funding Systrm

My hon. friend said SOllllillilli; the other night with reg-aid Lo the iunrl- ing of the public dzrbt. We have ‘

a: limited funding system ruivx. oi

course. IL i" quite true that our Sl'l"- p v ° ‘belongs, and that is to the iuti-ui- WU _ “up, ,A,,,,;_,,,,,.,_

ing fund system will not lzikc mic oi ‘ all our bonds as Lhcy mature, but they are taking care oi 111cm par‘,- laiiyi i would likp to rcmind my hon. friend, since he has rcicrrcd to this mutter, that whcn \‘.‘c, cxunc ma.) powci" the sinking funds \\'t‘i'C 11H! being funded, the money v.11; goiufl‘ into revenue and wo W810 losing ail the benefit oi the sinking fund Sri- tem by that PSYIlICLOLLt sysicul that‘ had crept, in. "i

Tcn years ago. as I scicl before, we‘ were only paying zibolli. ha" of in‘: interest that. v.1» ma: t.>d1v, Our debt and our i!l'- :c'~t 11.1w 11:11 -- ticaliy doublcd in l-‘ii iTT-‘Bl l"\‘l what have we got for ii?

My hcn. fricnd marl;- suuh‘. (‘Nu- parison ins; nigh‘ with 1 ‘(i-to til-r different dcprriznc . l suihziiit tiara’. his statements w ' ll: was merely coznrarlng l . J1 himself; his record in 132.’ wkli i115 record in i928. \V: will grant that lie has made $01111‘, iniprovcziizmt, that , he has 1iroflicd in some little d:- grcc by his cxprricucc. so Bill; 1 would rather maize a conpai e tween c. yccr of . emmcnUs ndlllillici‘. year; and u.‘ ordcr ta bu 11.; nearly fair as 112s. ole I will tube the lad? ycai" in which the lWCTilJllS guvz": ment was in power. My lllill, lrl: '. in making companions bu‘. "ccu Lin‘ two acimiliiszrstiuli. on a lf>l‘lll(‘l' r.:~, casion. said tin‘. the f.u.ii‘._v bu:l_,l-t had nut vurirzt miltcvially so i.ir cos; is ccnccrncfl, and we ciu the same in making u CJllil)5".'i:i(l‘.l between the ycals 13:0 illlii 132i), 11:0 cost of governing has w: . in that time, and 192i‘. i; ill? ncai- est full ycor we can _ Conservative comp present adlninisirzzlioz‘. (luring 1031i.

p2",

Tii

all;

Dcpariincnt cf Jnrdicc

,hv|, h: was vcry emphatic about r h" -

‘cti have lrein donc away with.

me he would contradict that state- rncnt. I can almost hear his dCCi1llll' niifilli “The idea! when the potatoes were grown so well, when the chick- ens were fattening and the lamb tasted so nice, to say that this Gov- ernment is not doing anything for agriculture. Prcposterous!" And yo: there are the cold facts. We have not

Anothcr promise was "to thorough- l)‘ test the feasibility of establishing the canning industry in this Prov- ince." I would like to get some 1n- furnfation on that ma.tcr. Unfur-

rowcd $150,000 for grave-ling. Tiicy did that undcr statute; they took statutory authority; they passed an act in this House which empowered thcm to borrow $300,000 for gravel-

tilnatcly. tho lc1idci~ 0i the Goverir, mg the roads They borrowed half of

menu has oircudy spoken, and tile i that. but they only spent $83,000. Thc-

il there was any money to be spent. on_ Prince Edward Island it should“ not be spent. 0n highway improve- ment but on railway extenglpg, I! necessary I can produce the Hansard report of his speech to that eflect. There i5 i111 example of Goygrnmgntg

Minister of Agriculture i; nm hero. rcst wcnl into what might be uapcdwin |ine-._““S Government pawn‘ .

l am going to ask the ltiinistcr 0t

ordinary revcnuc. There l5 no rec-

BHY 610601100. 11111055 we are to credit Public Works, when he speaks in tins-turd of it being expended tor gravel.

the Minister of Agriculture with ha‘.- ing- accomplished these things. I have the highest regard for that hcu. gentleman, but my regard for him is‘ not hlsh enough to Dluce himbcsidci Providence. I have not got to the‘ point where I can glorify him as the‘ loader of the Government did, attri- buting to him almost supernatural,‘

came ltlinister of Agriculturc- wcl‘ grew bcltcr in flavor and quality. the; potatoes thrived and the butter and» cheese cl c v e lo p e fl miraculously. (Laughter) We know just to whom‘ to give thc credit for those things.

~ n i5 dub‘ and Wm b6‘ Ewell by "Bllfllaiislv he canno; do ll. ’l‘ii“rc is n:-

sanc person to the people to whom it

gent farming community of this I'm- vincc: to their ciiorts and to them, alone. We would have the Skill?‘ quality oi potatoes, of lamb, and c: clziclzcne ii we ncvci" haci a Minis-t): oi Agricullilrc, so far as that go's.

My iltJil, friend from West Ilivci

HUI] .l\l'.l..ci’a"c ‘ ill ‘czi! , . “ 1 =' ) 15 a ‘l5 “m?” or murc tluzn our uhon: rcvcnuc

that he from his religious principles as uitunpt to give credit to the blink-

wiil not depart so very mum to

_tcr of Agriculture instead of to Pro-

vidence for the good growing conrli "cm! Lfipplnusc).

Agrlruiiliral Courscs lilsconiinuznl

‘I've now acting lliuislci- ul‘ A111» miiurc (lion. Mr. Saunders; 1m. made thb siatement-z that they 111-‘