‘Ill’. hi:

JULY

(lltu

m

a; the we'll)" 9mm‘ into this matter because it is quite

n"g;;,‘,‘,',_“;;'; 15%;?‘ 13L Mo“, was m! we hfld i0

I ‘d m cal-gym; on all the gov- ental services of the Province. ‘mm as you know, the revenue is Nowlm of subsidy from Ottawa. affine balance from tax“. 1199"" :2, etc. We had been pressing in!‘ “ma, years to get more subsidy [mm ottawa. I shall not deal with m, matter just now, except to say

o, 05m, in obtaining In additional

‘uhsldy Q1 $155,000 fllllilliiyl 3°

mat must be added to the revenue

‘flayed by this Government during

Lu the time they have been in pow-

er, More than that when we went

but of oflico we had motor license

[m 5nd gasoline taxes. At that time

m, number of motor cars in the. provififie was very limited; the tax m, gasoline was a comparatively gmlll item. and neither of those “mo; of revenue afforded very much more money. After they came m“, pews.- the number of motor ‘,1... increased very orently. as did p... number ail over Canada, and wisequently the revenue, both mm license fees and gasoline tax. m, vary greatly augmented.

. 1w!!! ask you t0 Pardon me for ymying you with figures, but I am going to make a comparison of the revenue collected by both Govern- ments. I shall leave out, in both was, the election years and re- fers only to the years 1924. i925 ‘and 192s as against the years. ma. 11929, and i930 under the present liberal regime. . v

g STRIKING COMPARISON r . wIn 1924 the total ordinary revenue plus motor license fees and gasoline tar, was $745,011. In 1925 it was $748,208, --ulmost the same. In i926 we received the first pay- ment onl the railway taxation which we had obtained as a result of the inter-provincial conference of that year, and so the revenue was in- creased in that year to 8852.000. Now let us compare the years ‘.1928, 1929 and 1930. I shall take the yery some figures-the ordinary rev- enue, the motor license fees and the gasoline tax: ln i928 the total revenue hum line sources W“ 80111011111:- ' 1h 192B it was $1,052,411»

In i090 it had increased to ll.- ‘10145. .

Mliilll’ an avenge revenue from these sources alone, under the prea- ‘lll Gllvllfllmtni». of over a million llollsrs a year.

011s total revenue for the three [ms was 92,36,269.

Their total revenue for the cos- hmndins period was 53,442,231.

In other words, they received $1.- il96.968,more than we did. or an Iverage of over 8865,00!) g yo" m";

'19 than we enlilycd, to carry an‘ Public services of the Prov-

on sun new narmvn

a lhlt $1. Ma b: additional “mne- Idd It u. the difference be- wu our debt and theln, and you

find that they went farther be-

‘l “"98 their verloc in ofilce by million and one-hall dollars, than h iiiii in the Oilrrggpflndmfln‘ "u. N ll" "lime. (Loud applause).

I have shown how much they have gone behind, and how much 711010 revenue they ind, 341w 1 wmt

make another comparison, to “WW lust, how they spent the mo... I that is. their internal house- Pillg as compared with ours, other they were as frugal in tak- W-N of the public services dur- “mi lime; because 1 take it lllleinecnie will admit the pub- Wvices have been taken care of 5° ‘"11 dnrlne our tune-and u‘ will‘! ii Inlldly whom! say

‘momma ocuranrsosi

“M! take om the Department mfilgsticcdn 1926. our-last fullysas- n ‘°°- tllll department coat a1,- ‘unilhlritomtlllyilliunlg. Illlll this Gavel-union of hum!" dollars. t‘ “mix; 1m um depart- Mm Jlastyluritccat

i "Motion: h" taoesoo. Pflnenwccu: 9105.579. m ma: m‘ ‘"5318: lllclically my.-

’ "m"!!! Collars men than In m ‘"1 "n w» w living o... not

wmrmfl- In fact. it was less last

mom u. ma; last

thine: could be bought chas-

"Wllllllndlne that. it cost

Nimomlnoro to manage Pal- 1

mama". t did in our corres-

m, we succeeded, during our term i

Iriterest pile on the indebted of the country. I am giving the fig- ures now from the ist and 2nd pages of the report of the Provincial Auditor: In 1936, $74,046. In i930, $147,137.

Legislative grants: $10,419 in i926 930,476 in 1930.

Office of Provincial Auditor: Coat in mo. arsro; in 1930, um; practically double.

Pmvinnlnl Building: 00st in 1020. $5.867; in 1930. $8.624. or more than three thousand douars of an in- crease, almost double the amount under our corresponding year,

If you have followed those figures you will note that in every depart- ment the cost was greater last year than ln 1926; and I would invite your attention to this point, that the comparLson can be continued all the way through; it is just an iuusmuch of wbstyas happening every year during their fflime as eoanparcd with ours.

CONSERVATIVE ECONOMY

During our period of oflice we endeavored to practice rigid econo- my. I do not think it will be claim- ed by any person that we ztinted the public services. Certainly it cannot be said, as it has been said of the Bell Government. that we ilfiklected to pay the bills that should have been paid for necess 1y expenditures incurred. But wc did exercise a. certain amount of ccorio- my. lust as a business man would do with his own aflairs. And I may say now, that if~ returned to [lower wc will continue to practice the same care and economy in a-onngg. tlon with the public services cf the Pr ' (Applause). 1 think 1 have "W" you that we are able to do it, that we have demonstrated, dur- illl i116 in!!! yea-rs we were in power that we have the ability and the inclination to handle the business of the Province in that way.

I do not suggest for a moment that we should be parsimonious, that we should starve the public services. Those things are not in. eluded within the meaning of the phrase "rigid economy." It simply means that ordinary, business-like care and supervisiorrwill be exer- cised by the Government over all the different departments‘ of the public services.

NO TAX INCREASES

Another thing of which I can as- sureyonisthattherewllibenoln- crease of taxation on the people of this Province. (Applause). I think tbalwehsvesrecordlnthstre- gnrd. that whenever it was possible we reduced the taxes upon the pec- ple cf this Province; we gave them I nsideration on every occasion. And we have been blamed for that! We have been accused of injuring the country by reducing taxesl 8o far as that charge is concerned, we plead guilty to the extent that we did prevent this Government from squander! more ‘of your moucy during the past four years. To any- thing further than that, we do not plead guilty- (Applause).

When we took oiIice in i929 one of the planks of cur platform was that we would press for further subsidy from the Federal Govern- ment, and upon attaining to that, that we would give the benefit to the people in reduction of taxes. We obtained an increased subsidy, and we kept our promise by reducing tho taxes. We are accused-and just think of who accuses usi-of doing that for the purpose of pan- dering to the electors on the ova of an election; of endeavoring to "buy the people with their own money." Doesn't that come very finely from the lips of men who have done what this Government has done within the lsst few mouths? Are those the cues to cast a alone at anybody for buying votes! (Loud applause). The difference is this, that the present. Government docs not seem to understand what it menus to keep its word to the people. That is what we did: we promised that if we obtained a certain thing, we would give the taxpayers the bene- ntwccbtsmscmmiwsiicptciu word. And if/wa hsd bcanreiurned tcpoweriniiifblamfrecioaay thsiyouwouldnctfiudthefinanc- ea in the condition in which you llnd them today. (Applause).

LIBERAL INCONBISTINOY

Int us see what was done at that time. You will remember that a rc- ducticu of taxation was made in the session of 1927. just prior to the cbction} because it was just shortly before that that we obtain- ed tho additional subsidy. In fact. it hcd not then been received, but wcwaicsurethstitwouldberw- cslved, and wc accordingly proceed- ed to Implement our prcmiie. net us sea what the attitude of the liberal members was at that time. m. sounder-was their leader of the Oilllnslticu. and hero is what he

ssiecabibsirestbsmusipar-

/

ty, on the fioor of the Legislature, as Nllorted in the Patriot of March l9, 1927:

"As leader of the Liberal party, I want to say that one of the planks of the platform of the party if returned to power will be at least a reduction in the auto tax and a downward revision of “X19911 ".- I make this hill-amen! and mime it so that there may be no mistake about it."

The assurance is repeated, prac- tically in the same words, in their platform which they put out during the campaign. Now let us see how they turned their coatl At that time they were vielng with us- they were attempting to put cut a more attractive platform. just on the eve o! the election. The election passed, and they were returned to power. Then they began to find out that they needed more money. Let us sec what they did. i-lere is the statement of Premier Saunders, two years afterwards, as reported in the Patriot of April 15. 1929:

“Had the taxes remained the same as they were in i920, I think we could have acceded to the de- mands of the teachers. But un- fortunately through the weakness of the late Government who were

" playing politics 1n order to hold their position, the taxes were re- duced. with the result that we are now lu the unfortunate position that we haven't the revenue to meet essential demands."

You see there the difference be- tween locking out and looking ini In 1927. when they we're seeking the '9'"! °l 110W". they were prepared to reduce the taxes. In 1929, when "lily had tasted 1W0 years of [NW5 l-iifly wanted more money, and tho people who reduced the taxes were “wt-ak" and committed a crime against the country 1n making that reduction!

“BROADENIING our"

That was the statement repeated also by Mr. Mclnt-yre in the legis- lative session of 1920. He said, on that occasion:

“When I hear the Opposition say to reduce taxes, to cut down expenditures, I say that it is time that both parties should broaden out. . . . We should gel clear of this small politics and say: ‘We are going lo spend more money.‘ It would be in the interests of the farmers themselves if they would agree to pay more taxes. if we spent it on the roads and put them in good shape."

Nothing else needs any money but the roads, according to Mr. McIn- tyre!

we have never been given to in- creasing taxes, but we have reduced the taxes, and we assure you now that ff we get into power we will not ‘ crease 1hr: taxes on the people of this Province (Applause).

Have you had any assurance of that kind from the other side, from the present Government? Iiave they told you they would reduce the taxes. or that they would not in- crease them if they got another lease of power? What has been their history in that regard? What has been the record of the present Premier with retard lo taxation? lie has always chimed that he was the father, the Instigator of the Lea Tax Act. He was most indignant at us because we took off, the Poll Tax and made other reductions in the Tax Act at that time. Has he ever suggested that he would re- duce the taxes? Baa not his whole record pointed in the other direc- tlolly-just like Mr. McIntyre’; who says wa should ‘broaden out"-wc should my moi-s taxes-lo that m. Mr- McIntyre will have more money to spend on the roads? (Laughter).

That, ladies and gentlemen. is a matter which you should weigh in this campaign, whether or not this Province, at this time, when the whole world is endeavorlng to prac- tice economy, when eoonorny is necessary, when in many cases it is a matter of economize or perish- should you elect to power a govern- ment that has preached increased taxation, and for what purpose?- in order that the Government might have mole money to spend. Is that the kind of a Government you want inpcwerinthesedaysfAsIsald before, we don't want parsimony; we don't want people to work for nothing in the public services; but wodcfccltbatltisatimewhsu expenditure should be whely super- vhed, and that ucmoncy should be thrown away-whether upon the roads ce otherwise. (loud applause)

AMAZING PEBIOBMANCE

I was rather amused, in the Pat- riot ncwspsper-‘a account of the Liberal meeting at Hunter River, to read that Premier Lea had shown "very clearly" how all the plsnh intheirplatformof lbflhldbcen “fully implemented." in fact more than implemented! The Patriot said that the hail fairly rocked with sp- plauae. The ihlng that surprises ma is that after a statement of lbui kind ihcbslldiduotfallovcrlhair cars. (loud laughter and applause). Letusseew tthat famouselcc- tion platform isted of. The first

plank read as follows:

"At the Inter-provincial Con- ference to be assembled this fall we will, if returned to power at the ensuing election, exert our

‘ * us: ‘ our claims for subsidy for our Pro- vince. 0n o ‘ ' ‘ increased subsidy a. downward revision cf taxation."

That was their own assurance. embodied in their election platform of 1927. Ilave they curried that out? What have they done about it? I want to say, with all the emphasis that I can command. that that question ofsubsidy is the most im- pcrtaht matter that can engage the attention c! the electors in this campaign. If there is one thing that this Province is in dire need of at the present time, It is more rev- enue; and, as l said before. we cannot afford to place any heav- ier burdens of taxation upon our people. It is a great struggle, even in this Province, toexist. There are just two avenues to further revenue: the first is increased taxation on our people; the second is obtaining the implementation of the Duncan Commission report. You know the early history of that matter, that there has always been a struggle for a subsidy settlement from Ot- tawa, and that practically su the increase of subsidy that has been obtained for this Province had been obtained by the Conservative party. (Applause).

SLEEPING ON THE JOB

When I first entered the House in i917, that matter of subsidy was pretty dead, because we were fac- ing the War and the expenditure of the War, and it was felt that that was no time to press for additional subsidy. So the matter rested. But the War passed. and the Liberals came silo power. They were in pow- 61'. fls you remember, for four years. from i919 to 1923; and during those four years nothing at all was done in the way of ,_l'€d8li18 our subsidy claims. Something could have been obtained by the Bell Government, but it was not, because no effort of any kind was made to secure lt. They simply slept on the job.

I remember, in one of my early years in the Legislature, listening to a. full dress debate on the sub- ject of our claims. It was taken part in, for the most part, by Liberals. They were splendid debaters on that subject; but they never got be- yond debating; they never got Into into the sphere of~ action, and so the whole mailer ended in that full dress debate. I do not suppose any- body outside the walls of the Leg- islature heard of it; certainly it never reached the ears. of the Do- minion Government.

And so the matter rested until the election of 1923. Alter we came into power, I had the honour of taking it up. My first difficulty was with the two Liberal Premiers of Nova Bvcotia and New Brunswick and I could not make very much head- way because they did not give me very much encouragement. I was told by one of them that there was absolutely nothing in our claims. He took the same attitude that Mr. Saunders took in the Legislature when he said it was merely a mat- ter of "chestnuts." Those pcoplc never had any faith in our claims against Canada; and before you can succeed in anything you must have faith-faith in your cause, before you can win anything. That is the first stepping stone to success; and these gentlemen, by their words and by their deeds, demonstrated that they never had any faith in the merits of our claims against tho Dominion Government. (Applause).

ACTION BY STEWART GOVT.

However, I felt that as leader of the Conservative party and Premier of_ this Province a responsibility had fallen upon my shoulders. and that I had a. right to bestir myself and see what could be done. You know the rest. You know that in the first place we obtained $40,000 for rail- way taxation, and that was only obtained because we succeeded in calling an inter-provincial confer- ence. bringing ii to the attention of the other Provinces, getting the assistance of those Provinces, who already had that money, and prea- Illlt it Iron the Canadian Natlcusl Railways. It was simply a mailer of exerting our-selves u little!

With regard to our subsidy claims that matter, you will remember. arcusecflhe whole Maritime Provin- ces. You will remember also those words of Mr. Mackenzie King: “What arc Maritime Rights?" I had the pleasure of attending a grsatmass meeting when that cam- paigustsrted in the town of Am- herst, N5. There wercaiscpresent Hon. m". Rhodes, then Premier of Nova scotia. and Hon. Mr. Baxter, who was than leader of the Opposi- tion in New Brunswick. Ircur that meeting alerted the campaign which resulted-in the election of almost every Conservative candidate from the llarillmcs to the House of Com-

nnunaudevsutuallylulhasp- t

run GHARLOTTETOWN GUARD’ -_ ~

ggressive “Policies Oatliried By_ Conisie rvdffiv

T polntmenf. of the Duncan Oom- nrhalon; because Mr. King found out that it was absolutely necessary fcrhim to hear-ken to the cry of the Maritime Provinces, to give some " to this if he wish- ed to save his position and his Gov-

eut. (Applause).

_So the Duncan Commission W“ appointed. I need not go further in- to that matter; you know the IB- sult, you know how the claims were presented by the Premiers of the Maritime Provinces, and how we succeeded in getting $125,000 inter- im subsidy for this Provnice, a. pay- ment, so to speak, on account.

That payment opened wide lllfl door, because the recommendation of the Commission was that it Wll only a payment on account and that a very much larger amount was due and should be paid. It WM only a question, then, of account- ing, to finding out just how much each Province should receive.

.. A4

THE 1927 CONFERENCE

That was the situation when the Saunders Government came into power in 1927. Further than that, a conference had been arranged for and was about to be held in the month of October, i927. NOW. there was the opportunity of obtain- ing our rights-a splendid oppor- tunity, an ideal opportunity, that should never have been passed 11D by any body of men who had any intelligence, any thought or care for the Province which they were attempting to govern.

What happened? They attended

that conference, three of them; They presented a brief, showing that we were entiled to more sub- sidy! That, of course, was already admitted by the Duncan Commis- sion; it did not require any argu- ment at their hands. The only matter that remained to be settled. as I said before, was how this Ml- judicstion was to be made, how they were to decide between Can- ada. and the three Maritime Prov- inces the cunt that was to M paid to each of the Provinces.

You would expect ‘that these gentlemen, having presented their claim, would have been ready 10 offer some suggestion to the Ion- ference as to the manner in which those claims should be met! Yet we have the minutes of that collie!‘- ence, and you will be amazed when I tell you that no proposition 0| any kind was submitted by the dele- gates from this Province. They were dumb as oysters, when it came l4) that matQr. I

THE LOST OPPORTUNITY

There, as I said, was their oppor- tunity, where they had representa- tives from all the Provinces sssemb led, together with representatives of the Canadian Government-all the parties to the contract were there, prepared and ready to do business, and only waiting for a pro posai as to how it should be done. Yet these geniclmen, going up there at the expense of this Government —at YOUR. expense, with YOUR money-hadn't the sense to sulkfli a way out, to suggest means of making this adjudication, and so the matter ended, in ‘cxrltlllflfll of sympathfl-and not one dollar of additional subsidy from that dfly to this.