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THE HURON EXPOSITOR
NEW .ALt VERTISEMENTS.
Spring and Summer Goods.—T. Kidd..
Musical Instruments—Scott Brothers:
New Goods—A. G. McDougall & Co.
Seeds Wanted—EdWard Cash.
Insolvent Act of 1&75—Robert Gibbons.
Houses to Rent—Edward Cash.
To Builders—James 13raithwaitp.
Seaforth Drayage—Messrs. Brownell.
Seed Grain—W. A. Anderson.
Seedse-Robert Carnochan.
Auction Sale—Wra. Logan.
,• Flax, &c.—Armitage, Beattie & Co.
Farm for Sale—A. Strong.
Wanted—Grey, Young & Sperling.
Spring 187s,--11. Jamieson.
Seeds—M. Morrison.
Lake Huron Herring—Wilson & Young
Seeds—Wilson & Young.
Something New—Graham Winiamson-
k 4 I)
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non txpooitor.
SEAFORTH, MARCH 15, 1878.
--•-- s . •
The. Political Situation in
Quebec.
The politicel crisis in the Province of
Quebec, has now assumed a definite
shape. From explanations which have
been made to the Perliaartent of that
Province, it seems that the DeBoucher-
vine Govermnent was dismissed by the
Lieutenant -Governor, the leader of the
Opposition was called upon to form a
new Government, in the perform-
ance of which thsk he has been success-
ful. After the explanations were made,
the House was prologued, and the sev-
eral member; of the new. Governnaent
heve gone to their constituencies to
seek reelection. So soon as they. are
re-eiected, the Legislature linenT be
dissolved, and there will be it„ neneral
election. As appears from the c.xplena-
none made, the reasons which induced
the LieutentiaAovernor to take tne
course he did were, first, that represen-
tntions frequently made by linn ques-
times- of great public importance were
entirely unheeded by his constitutional
advisers ; second, ,that measure: which
he considered. UliconStitlitionar,,and re-
pulsive to- the people, were submitted to
end carried, throegh Parliament with-
out his authority er consent, and third,
that petitions to him from the people
in oppoaition toe those objectionable
reteafittres were uever presented to him,
but were. kept from hia knowledge by
the Goelernenent ins short, that his
Government treated him with such con-
tempt aa to' pay no heed to hie counsels,
or even to ask his consent to submit to
Parliament measures which must of
necessity be submitted in his Immo.
Thia action of the Government, the
Lientenann-Govereor Maintains, placed
him in e peculiar and very -unpleasant
position., the reeponsibilities of which
he was not prepared to assume. He
must either give his assent to mess -
urea which he believed to be uncon-
stitutional and opposed to the wishes
and interests or a majority4of the pecn
ple of the Province, or he must refuse
to seuction the measures ivisieb had
been passed by a large majority of the
people's representatives. Not wishing
to compromise himself to shield those
who had treated him with so. little re-
spect, by adopting either of theee
courses, he pursues the only reinainitig
way (men to linn to get out of the diffi-
cult positiou iu which he I has been
pieced.. He dismisses those advisers
who by their contempt of him have
forfeited his confidence, Wogs for
others in whore he can cenfide, and re-
solves to eppeal to the people for a rati-
fication of his eourse.
That tiji procedure of Lieutenent-
Governor Waller is unusual, mnie will
deny, but that it ie. conatitutional there
seems to be no reel doubt. Whether or
not his course will be sritained by the
= people at the polls; it ia impossible just
now to sny. Considering the nature of
the legislation, however; which the
t Government se arrogantly attempted
te foist upon the country, we can seereca
ly believe the people will be so blind as
te submit to it, now that they have been
_
afforded an opportunity to repudiate it.
The two measures which the Inenten-
ant-Goveruoe objects to. and which the
Governmeutisubmitted to the Legisla-
ture without hie consennere known aethe
" Railway Bill - and the - Stamp Act."
The fleet of these is the meet iniquitous
legislation that was ever cenceived, and
it would be a shame that it eltould
'grace a statute book in this enlightened
age, eeems that seme years ago eer-
tain municipalities haa granted large
bonuses to a, proposed railway called
the Quebec. Montreal. Oftawa and Oei-
deutel Railway. The Location of this
road was definitely specified by its pro-
moters, and from its location it was
supposed it would be a very great bene-
fit to the municipalities granting the
bouusee. Some considerable time tater
the bonusee were grann d. the scheme
fell into the hen& of the_ Government;
who felted it neeceeary t, ehange the
route: By tim new route the road.
would be a direct injury inetead of a
benefit te thole= municipalities that had
granted the bonuses, and, as a, cense-
quinine they refused to pay them. The
Government, instead of eppealing to
the courts and basing the justice of
their claim tested in the usual way.pre-
pared. a measure, and induced. the Legis-
lature to sanction it, which would foree
these municipalities to pay their
bonuses, whether they had any legal
or mend right te do so or not. The
measure even went so far as to give the
Government the power, in the event of
,
refusal or neglect on the part of the even say that he believed Mr. Nixon -
municipalities to fork ever the bonuses, • had been guilty of wrong doing. All
to issue and negotiate debentures for that could be got from theni was that
Such necinicipalitiee, and to levy and they heard certain rumors. _ Mr. Mac -
collect a tax to previde for the interest kenzie very properly held that it would
and redemption of the debenture& .so not be right or just to the ;official in
issued. This is one measure which the question to suspect ' or ancust him
Lientenant-Governor of Quebec declined of dishonesty without better found -
to sanction, and this is one of the mess- anon for the suspicion than mere
tires winch his Government forced flying rumor which none could
through Parliament in his name, but trace to any reliable source. At length
without his sanction. Who will say when Mr. Plumb, after a great deal of
that in dismissing a Government 'that fencing, stated that he had cause to be-.
would propose, and in dissolving a , lieve rumors which he had heard, Mr.
Legislature that would pass, such an Mackenzie at once'end without further
outrageous law, Mr. Letellier did not hesitation consented to witnesses being
act the part of a friend to the People ? called, and en investigation b,eing made;
To bring the- matter home to ourselves, such as the Opposition .members on the
only on a much smaller Scale, iet us Committeeasked for, providing the sus -
suppose that the Town of Seafortn and pected officiel were else a,lleived to ap-
the townships of Tuckersrnith and Mc- pear beforethe Committee- in his own
'
Killen had granted 'ergo bonuses -to the interests. Whe e was there even an
Louden, Huron and Bruce Railway, on : appearance of n wringing " in all this,
conditions that it should run through or where were there any signs of " auto-
Seaforth, but that after the line hed °racy" on the part of the Government ;
been located and work on it cdmmenced, 9r where evers is there " signal tri -
it was found. necessary to change its lo- umph for the popular cause," whatever
cation so as to run through ,Clinton, that means ? Of:course we do met . ex -
would it be juet of the company to still `peat the big orgen to condescend. to
cleim the bonuses granted by Seaforth, ! make any explatiations to its • readers.
Tuckersmith and Mcidillop 9 But, sup- It makes the bold statement, and it ee-
pose still further, the , company, after poets them to 'swallow it kolas bang
changing the location of the road, when and ask no questions even if they
they found they could not legally force shoold have theii doubts. We do not
these municipalities to give their think, however, hat many of them are
foolish enough t fulfil its expectations
bonuses, they handed the whole thing •
, in this respect.
over to the Ontarici Government. and
that Government used its majority to ,
carry through Parliament a measure •
compelling Seaforth and. the other mu-
nicipalities similarly situated to hand
over their bonuses to assist in con- {
structing a road which would seriously
injure them, is there a Reformer in :
either of the three municipelities who
would censure Lieutenant -Governor
McDonald if he should dismise the Gov -
eminent for having forced through the
Legislature, without his nonsent,
measure so twit:1st, so outrageous, ann -
so contrary to law end justice ? We
venture to stty there is not one. This,
then, precisely the position of affairs
in the Province of Quebec, in so far as
nee late Government and the Railway
Bill are concerned.
The second objectionable measure
was that imposing a stemp tax in order
to furnish revenue ; or in: other words
the inaugaration of direct taxatiom
This act proposed. the levying of a tax
by having all legal documents and nego-
tiable paner of every deecriptioe, such
as noten eeceipts, bills -of exchange and
all ench., stamped. witn a provincial
stamp. This law, if permitted, would!
be a serious barrier to trade, a heavy
and irksome burden upon the people
generally, and would he ruinots to cer-
tain useful branches of trade, and was
censequently strongly protested against
by the people. The Government were',
ho waver, in dreadful straits. They had
not the eourage or firmness to retrench
in their expenditure lest they would
loosen some of the barnacles who
clung to their ekirts, while they were
terribly embarrassed emd crowded on
all sides for money. It was this dire
nec essi ty , brought on by their own reek- ;
less extravagance in the first place, fol-
lowed by imbecility and lick of courage,
which induced them to force their fol-
lowers to sanction such a measure.
That thla people of the Prevince of Que-
bec will censure their Lieutenant-
Goyernor for interposiug in their be-
half, and saving them from the rapacity
of those wbo were devouring theie sub-
stance and squanderieg it in riotous
living, we cannot believe. We know
the people , Ontario„ if -similarhy sit-
uated, would rejoice at being afforded
an opportunity of puniening _any who
could so shamefully betray the confi-
dence reposed in theme
_
The Situa ion in Europe.
(comet -sic TED DT " DELTA."
The bases of p ace in the war_between
Russia and Tur ey have been signed,
and an armistice has put an end to
hostilities, and in the interests of hu -
inanity, let us h pe, to the wee itself,
although having regard. to /the largely
increased nrospeiny which would result
to Canada from ngland's complicity,
Might• be an excu e for a different senti-
ment. Diploma y is now at work, and
-it will be =forth ate if it fails to pre-
.
vent the recomi encement hostili-
' ties, or a recpu se to arms by other
! powers. A con rence is to meet to
' consider the RI ssian. demands upon
Turkey, and if the victor is as moderate
I II
as his legitimate claims po nt to, it is
not likely that any .serious divergence of
opinion will , arise. England will, of
course be represented at the Congress,
and public opinion selected Lord Salis-
1 bury as the man to ko, but it now ap-
pears Lord. LyonS is to represent Eng-
lish intereete. The Czar, on congratu-
lating •some of his troops on the cessae
don of hostilities, remarked • " this am
misticenhowever; is far from being the
end. We should hold. ouraelves
readinees till we ebtein a durnble peace
and one worthy of Russia. May God.
aid us !" And,. j.n readiness Russia
means to be ; for freeh troops are being
embodied, and other steps taken to
strengthen the aemies in the 'Add. It
will be a lementeble thing if eneterri-
ble war ends onle for a more terrible
one to open.
Whatener may be in the future, it ie
an immense gain that the fighting and.
its attendant carnage and misery are
over, at least for a, time. Not only ere
of slaughter, but here is no longer need,
Turks and Russires called off the work
if ever there wine . for the headlong flight
of the civil subjepts of thePorte. They
are tolerably safe under Russian pro-
tection, safer, indeed, than under their
-own feeble a-utherities, for elready Rus-
sia has been celled upon to sav,e'a Turk-
ish tOwn and people from the mur-
derous end plunnering Circassia.ns an d
Bashi-Bazoulcs.1
It will, perheps, never be kuown
whether the flight of the Turks towards
Constantinople, in which they under-
went intense suffering, was the result
offeer or the effect of desige. -.It is
known, however; that the Piish.a in gem-
naand' ..9..drianople, wneri the time
came te anando the city, did so in - a
mannee which- praotically put every-
thing at the co mend of his disbanded
soldiers, and amed, instead of allay-
ed, the feara a the inhabitants, and.
General Strtikoff, who has been guard-
ing thefugitives against their Own sol-
dierv, reports that' the Turks assured.
nim " that they hed been compelled to
eminrate, their ewn autherities telling
them the RusSians would massacre
them." The aim of the Pashas was to
excite the sympethies of England, and,
if possible, her aid, and they did not
nt might be to the un -
who bend to her eule.
glish who encouraged
the requirement of the
thus helped to bring
More Misrepresentation.
Wa occnsionally take it upon ohm -
selves, in our humble -wan, to point out
some of the inaccuracies of which
our big brother the Toronto Mail is
guilty when speaking of its politicel
opponents. In pursuing this dety, we
cannot omit. the following, which is one
of its mitenglaring, aud which appeer-
ed in its issue of Tuesday ; •
" Yistrulaf the l'ublie- Accounts' t'orninitti,-
sueei ded , ..the :Ministry the
lid ge of lair. 'Mr. Thomas Nixon
ut r•198,0t9 of the puNie looney in the North-
:ueNt.:-. In these ail) of autocratic goy& rument this
st and a signal triumph for the popular
• To characterize the above paragraph'
" inaccuraey" is to use a milder term
than such a statement deserves, as ause
of our readers can see for themselves by
referring even to the very meagte re-
port of the -proceedings of the Public
Acconuts' CoMmittee which appeare
our contemporary's own. columns. In-
stead of the Committee being obliged to
" wring from the 'Ministry the privilege,
nee". the very reverse ie thrfact. Mims
the metter was first mooted by Mr.
Nunn., the member fur -Niagara. Mr.
Mackenzie. stated that if any pernto
would prefer a charge of wrong -doing
..againet Mr. Nixon, ,or if any member
of the Committee would. eveu state
that he believed there wae cause to sus-
pect wrong -doing. the Government
would afford es-ery faeility possinle„
even to the grannie; of a. eel -Commit-
tee, if neceesery, to seeura a thorough
and. searching investigation, but there
was not one Opposition member of the
committee wno dared Make a single
change against the efficianor who would
care what the c
fortunate peopl
;'It is for the in
Turkee to resist
' Conference, an
these pone fugitives to the pitiable statd
- they Etre in, to ecide as to the petent
of the help. wh oh is _morally inaum-
bent upon them to render to the peece-
ful victims of the war. •
Servia has been induced. by Russia
to join in the armistice, end Monten-
egro, too, agrees to a cessation
- e. C -e, who began bem at-
. tack en Turkei elmet the time that
peace was deterinined upon, found her-.
• self in an unplesartt predicament, from
which she will be extricated; by neing
included in the istice. It ought to ;
be, if it is not generally known,:that the
Turks did not &skier the aseistance of
the Britiish Fleet. In a' despatch nub-
lished a month -ago, the Turkish Minis -
e ter says tho fleet entered. tbe Darde-
nelles " on the initiative "of the :Eng- „
lish Government and eonsent was
given to it only on " the pressing repre-
eentations of the English Ambaesador."
• An Irish member in the Imperial House
of (*ominous, remarked that it may
have been a great stroke of policy to
t the Straits, and then
r it back anain, but it
it_ What it did look
neble member describ- •
send straight fo
id dn't look like
like as the hom
ed it in the House, was the -feat of the ,
femous Generel, Who, - with 20,000 .
men, marched , up the hill aed then ,
- marched down ngain, parodyirm the
lines as follows .
" -nee British le -et with Al,000 nai
Steamed up the iStraits and then i.t.cumed out
astis
When there was an end of the fighting
in Turkey, it was thought that there
; would be no necessity for the war vote,
, but not so—Mr. Gladstone's speech on
the debate for the war vote- was con-
sidered too pro -Russian by the Minis-
try,: and the independent members.
n Let," said Mr. Gladstone, let us
prepare to present a united front as
Englishnien, to' whatever the future
May ccintain. That we may do this,
postpone the vote for six millions, and
a,..ee on an address to the Throne, ex-
pressing the desire of both Houses of
Parliament to give a united support to
Her Majesty's Government in the Coun-
cils of Europe." - The suggestion pro-
duced an angry and exciting debate,
which resulted in the vote being car-
ried by a large majority, and the action
of the House.was endorsed by the peo-
ple. It yet remains a serious question
whether the peace proposals will be
completed -without a farther appeal to
arms. The war horizon is clondy, and
those who have maintained a danguine
conviction- of a peaceful issue, may yet
be bitterly disappointed. England,
like Russia, is preparing for any emer-
gency, and the end is still in the
shadowy future.
TORONTO TOPICS.
THE DIVISION COURTS—DEBTS INCURRED
13Y RAILWAY COMPANIES—AID TO
RAILWAYS — T.UE JURY SYSTEM—
. THE MERCER CASE—SLAUGHTERDIG
TUE INNOCENTS. -A UNANIMOUS VOTE
—THE PROROGATION. °
( Front Oar gpecial Correspondent.).
With a view of hastening the day of
I prorog,ation, the House has recently
been sitting on Saturdays, and on ev-
ery day, from 11 A. M. to 1 P. 31., be-
-sides their ordinary sessiona. By this
means much more business was traue-
acted; and the saving of time, even:in
the Short period which remained, was
censiderable. To further expedite mat-
ters, the Government brought down au
'• emnibus " bill—a bill containing _the
substance of several private bills—and
:
cemprising amendments to various
widely -differing statutes, too numerous
te be treated: expeditiously in separate
measures. Besides amendments to the
school,. railway and other lawn the
bill contained a provision defining the
jerisdiction of Division Courts; The
peovision, though net very important in
iteelf, gave rise to! an extended discus-
sion on the advisability of continuing
tnose courts in their present condition.
A proposition was made and upheld by
several members that their jurisdiction
should be extended so ae to enable
them to decide matters of greater im-
porta,nne than at present they have
newer to do, It was suggested that
newer should be given them of settling
matters involving sums Of two .h.undred.
oe three nundred dollars. The: gentle -
Man who advocated this change, cer-
tainly made out e strong case. _There
seems no good reason why a judge who
is, competent to decide in a County
Cpurt upon a matter of four hundred
dellars, should not be cOmpetent to de -
eine in a Dieision Court a matter in -
\relying a larger sum than one hundred
d liars. It is well known that the ex-
p :use connected with the bringing Of a
suit in the County Court from mail
municipality distant from the county
town is so great, that many prefer to
put up with an injustice rather thee
teke the matter there: In some cases
wheu the sum slightly exceeds one hun-
dred dollars, the suitor is willing to
tlerow off the additional amount in or-
der to get the matter settled in a Di-
✓ sion Court. The Attorney -General
p •omisen to give the matter full °onsid-
e anon; but pointed out that the change
as not _one which 'could be effected by
a, simple provision that the sum of two
un deed, or three hundred dollars should
t ke the place in the' Division Courts
t at the, eum of ono hundred dollars
njow occupies. It would not be just to
ake the decision ofnthe judge in cases
O such importance a final one, and es
t iere in no eppeal from a DiviSien
ourt, the law would have to be altered
that respect. In other matters, tee,
t e procedure of the Division Coenns
Would have to be brought into harmony
With that of the County Courts, and!it
Would require a broader and. more
thorough measure, such as there was
oot this sessioh time' to prepare. ife
'nted, howener, that the Government
ight bring down a measure dealieg
with the question nett session. Hon..
Mr. Macdougall, who is always to the
fore when any discunsion is going on res
letive to the law ceerts, seized the .o
nortunity of expressing his well-knoe n
hostility to the higher courts, end
espectally the Court of Chancery, 'as
it at present exists. This is a. subject
upon Which he holds strong opin-
ions, though they ere not in a'n-
eorcl with the views. of other leaders
a the Oppositiemand notahly with those
of Mr. Cameron. Perhaps the decision
arrived. iat in the Collet of Chancery, in
a late seit with whicn he was'connected
may heve brought the matter more
forcibly home to hiria, at all events he
advocated his views, on this occasiOn
With- even more than ordinary vigor
end with More than ordinary a,bility.
In the course of his speechon this ques-
ion he took the House into his .conii-
ence far enough to iuform them thet
t was nis purpose to mak-e the Law
'milt Reform question one of the lead-
ing disL es in the bill of fare at Conser-
vative nc-nics next summer. If his
health should be epared, he piously
said, he intended to; make the country
ting wi 11 this matter before the neAt
.
-1)
sitting if the House: and if hon. gentle-
men op osite woul not make the de-
eired changes they emuld be forced to
gitve wan to those who would. It woind
te inteiesting to- know why Mr. Mac-
dongall, did not make the country ring
with the question when he occupied a
more poiwerful position in its affairs then
he. does at present, and why during tbe
twenty years and more of his public
career llie has never until now attempt-
ed to Illiale any change in this direction.
Ammo .the other ELI'S endinents proposed
,-, I
was ode by which debte incurred by
tailwan companies for winking expellees
eould be recovered by en executieu en
their personal property. In the chart-
frs of several Railway companies are
provisions which enect that the hold,
ers of preferential bonds shall be en-
ntled to a first mortgage upon all pro-
perty possessed by the, company, and.
sn some few cases advantage has been
taken of this clause to refuse payments
for debts incurred for running expenses. •
Cases were cited in which farmers after •
naving supplied a company with wood :
were told. that they could not receive "
-Value therefor because of these pre- i
,
1 fereIntial bonds. The clause proposed
to remedy this evil was opposed by
several memhers" on the ground that
such privileges having been granted to
the companies and their bonds having
been sold on the.strength of their char-
ters, to make any alteration now would
be to! interfere with the rights of bond
holders. It is evident that the evil is
one for which there' should be some
-remedy. It is unjust to the contractor
who furnishes supplies and it affords a
company disposed to ent in such a way
an opportunity of dishonestly dealing
with its bondholders. The measure in-
troducedlo deal with this matter was
not one which on due consideration was
thought likely to do justice to all parties
and the Govemnient therefore desired
that it should stand for ther deliber-
ation:
It was intimated in -the Lieltenant- .
.: Governor's speech at the openine of the
session that the Government did not .
intend to continue the system of grant- i
ing aid to railways to any considerable !
extent this session. The only railways
that have received aid are the Hamd-
ton and North-western, the Port Stan-
ley, Strathroy and Port Francis, and -
the North Simcoe, in all a distance of
about fifty-three miles. The total
amount granted is $122,500, the pay-.
ment of which is to extend. over a period
of twenty years and which is to be con-
tingent on , the aided companies comt
plyina with the conditions under which
the grant is made.
The Jury System was again brought
under bonsideration. Mr. Bethund is
the originator of a bill, the chief feature
of which is a proposal to do away with
the necessity of a unanimous verdict in
civil cases. He proposed that after one
hour eleven. might bring in a verdict;
after two hours ten, and after three
hours nine ; in any of which cases the
verdict should be binding. The honoe-
able gentleman's high_ legal standing
and intimate acquaietance with legal
matters lend great weight to his opinion
while they are still fuether enforced by
his moderate method of advocating then].
,Mr. Bethune is an eminently fair and
Courteous deliatenis as ready to listen to
aAtuggestion from one side of the House as
frona the other, and never attempts to
weaken a measure by attacking the
motives of its Supporters. He invariably
deals with a question upon its merits
alone, an?..lein consequence there is no
prominent member of- the House more
exempt from thosepersonal attecks and
insinuations Which tend so much to loWer :
the character a Parliamentary debatets.
Still, in spite of .Mr. l3ethune's ability
and *knowledge of the subject it seemed
to be the general opiniou that he was
attempting to remedy a theoretioal-
grievance. It was not shown that -juries
as a rule are wont to disagree, although
it is unquestionable that such is seine -
times the fact. But in such. cases: it
may be that the very disagreement, is
the best verdict that °child be rendered
on the evidence before the jury. ;In
-cases where the weight of evidenee leans
heavily to neither side it is impoSsible
that unanimous yerdicts can be returned
without some of the iurymen doing ,vi-
olence to their obligationa, and in sock
cases it is better that no verdict at all be •
given than one of more than doubtful
justice. That the jury law is open to I
amendment is an indisputable fact, but
the amendmenti required are such as
would do aevay with its cumbrousness
and expensivene s. The exteneive modi-
i
fication of the G and jury, tne simplifi-
cation a the m de of selecting inners
and doing away with the:system of sum-
moning so manydwere some of the
changes proposed by various members
of tho House and which would undoubt- -
edlyesimpliny and cheapen the working
ofithe system. There is also force in the
position that twelve jurymen is an un-
necessarily lerge, number. There seems
no valid man= Why a jury of seven or
nine inclivictualS should not be capable
of returning a verdict equally as well as
twelve, besides- possessing the advan-
tage of being! less liable to : dis-
agceement. lion. Mr. Hardy agreed with
Mr. Bethupe that the jury system was
not one which shouldbe done away with
He considered that the unanintous de-
cision of twelve men 'having a greater
force than that ef niee out of twelYm
would be moee likely to render the des
cision afair one: A commendablefeature
of the jury systetn, he said,is that it,is the
connectory link.between the law and the
people. By making the people take a
part in the administration of the law,
tney ire made acquainted with it and
acquire confidence in its operations. If
their powers 'were relegated to judges
people would look with suspicion oe judg- I
ments and. would be disposed to : ques- 1
tion the 'justice of decisions,even though j
justice Might reiilly be given, The bill,
on -the motion of Mr. Massie was, given
the sik months' hoiet, .
The Mercer estete matter has at
length been settled. The partieulars
of this case have been before the public
in one form or another so long, thp.t
much explanation regarding it is un-
necessary. Seneral years ago a wealthy
gentleman named Andrew Mercer, died
without m,aking a Will. His property
was claimed by a, sonlancl namesake, as
being the only heir. :1It was afterwards
proven in the c tuts, ;however, that this
quent13-, not the' legitimate heir , to the
i
young man wa au illegititaste son of
Andrew Merce , Sr. and t;,a,s, , conse-
estate. Therelbeing no ether heirs the
estate was handed oner to the Crown,
and, consegnentfv, mine under the juris-
diction of :the Ontario Government to
deal with it. After _much patient in-
vesti anon and careful consideration
the ' overnment deterrnined - upon a
course which they considered would do
ample justice tO the young man and at
the same time carry ,ont what : seemed
to be the desire4 before his death, of Mr.
Mercer. The conclusion the Govern-
ment had come to was : That An-
drew Mercer, the natural son of the
deceased Andrew Mercer, should re-
ceive v530,000 ; that 510,000 be appro-
priated towarde the erection of a Pro-
vincial Eye and Ear Infirmary, in con-
nection with the Toronto General Hos-
pital, to be called " The Andrew Mer-
cer Eve and Ear Infirmary..." 'and that
'a further suni of $00,000 be devoted to
elle erection of a. reformatory institution ,
to be called “ The Andrew Mercer On-
' tario Reformatory foe Fenaales." Ithis
latter institution is te be maintained
and managed in the same way as the
Reformatory at Penetenguishene, and
to be for the retention of females irre-
spective of age. It is to be located in
Toronto. A general discussion 'on the
subject ensiled in committee, it being
argued on the one side that the appor-
tionments were fair and just, and. on
the other that Andrew Mercer, Jr., was
entitled to the whole of the estate if he
•
was i3ntitled to any of it. Mr. Scott
moved that the 110,000 and $r;000 ap-
propriatiens stand over for One year,
WhiclOm a count, Was leste On the
vote for concurrencewith the Speaker
in the chair, the same gentleinan moved
that, with the esception of the.$30,000
to be given to Mercer its a temporary
apportionment, the resolutidn be not
concurred in. This was lost by a vote
'of 43 nays to 30 yeas, and the resolution
passed.
The last few days of the House have
been mainly taken up with the third
reading of measures which have been
already noticed in these columns,' and
in considering and passing the -supple-
mentary estimates. As the end. of the
session draws on, apace the desire of
members to get away seems to propor-
tionally increase. Matters that in e
earlier part of the session would. have
caused endless discussion are now per-
mitted to pass almost unchallenged.
Those members who introduced their
little bills merely with the purpose of
getting their names before the country,
having attained their abject are quite
willing to have them .sniffed. out. On
Monday_ the slaughter of private bills
was somethingextraerdinary. Member
after member got up' as the name of
his bill *as called. and after making a
few romans concluded by saying that
'" in view- of. the speedy rising of the
House, and. not wishing to take up time
he would be willing to withdraw, etc.,
etc." It would be betterforthesegentle-
men not to take up the time of the
Honse at all, but to use a Ili,bernicism
to withdraw their bills before they in-
.
troduce them.
A rather amusing occurr nice took
place on Tuesday last. A Aqision was
made and seventy-six yeas etarted to
their feet' but not a single nay respond-
ed to the call. The incident was caus-
ed. by some misunderstanding of the
force of an amendment to an eanend-
nient, but it was rather calculated to
give an outsider the opinion that the
House sometimes does not know verY
well what it is about.
At three o'clock. his Honor the Lieu-
tenant -Governor left the- Goyernment
House, andnroceededto the Parliament
Buildings, to prorogue the Manse. The
usual salute was -fired by the Toronto
Field Battery, under the command on
Major Gray. A detachment of the
Queen's Own Rifles, commanded by
Capt. Nash, was drawn up Within the
Parliament aromas. The attendance
within the Chamber was quite- as large
as at previous prorogations. A con-
siderable number of the memberg were
absent nrom their 'places, hut, for the
nonce, their seats were taken posses-
sion of by the gentler sex, n -ho very
gracefully performed the duties of the
absent representanyes of the people.
The clerk read over the titles of the
several measures, which had been,
pissed. during the session and His
Honor confirmed them by giving a nod
of his head for each. This eeremeny
completed, His Excellency's address
was the next thing in order. After it
was read, and the other usual formali-
ties got through with, 4‘ the assemblage
quietly dispersed." Thus endetli the
third session Of the third Parliament of
CI-Tnotoriaoto. , ;Arch 9th, 1878: T. W: G.
• MARcir 15, 1878.
oedug
ahlevyayerchtailushteedw, aansd, puhuyt soinc alio nya,etleree.
on either sidepaid the slightest awn_
tion to what he said. As he remarkea
f, whi foet uanpllirkdra; den:3g: ileut oasmie_vsbtaohimaueneedcoolearma
himself, he was talking to the country
and not to the House. It might b;i,
gathered from the fol-
., ,t eee eteevhieedswe mmayeafy
.wbioeewirsllii,likhg oce Iwo I: vi npe urot
tbaetion. The cost of login
lotion last session amounted to n596,000;
some years the sum has been less, and
in others it has exceeded 1725,000. Can
this year an average one, and the sun
the cost of legislation will reach may
be set down fairly at 4609,000. Thisaa
dudes the salaries of Members and ail
the expenses connected with the &dual
sitting of Parliament. Take 70 'work-
ing days as the average length of a sea
sion— that is Overstatina it—and Ise
have as the result that eali day Parte-
riaTekenet esixitsh,eurcoestase tthhee avcoeurangtoryl'enngtenheeoi
of each day's' sitting, and we find the
cost to be n1,428 per hour- As nit
Plumb spoke four -hours his speech ma
tailed a direct expense on the nation of
45,712. Its practical value as nearly%)
can. be ascertained, and yet not to be
hard. on poor Mr. Plumb may be place&
at one cent and three-quarters, which
leaves a dead loss the country has to
sustain of $5,71.1.98i—a, sum at which
under the circumstances,,this Canadaof
-e urTshwie tettearnodb saegrbvaasnt; e of the S ab bath
day in the House of Parliament is at -
treating general attention- It is not '
many years ago that the House of Com-
mons was as busy a, scene on Sunday
ta,s on Saturday, nearly every Member.
making a point to come in the morning,
det his mail matter, and then write an-
swers. Others, who were busy all the
Week, left Sunday to clear off the score
of unanswered letters, and the cense-
quence was nearly every offider of the
House was on duty all daylong, and late
into the night. The corridors were
thronged with visitors in fine weather,
and the library, reading room and smok--
ing room well patronized by the mem-
• bers and strangers. Even up to lad
session .games at draogbts and chess
were often played in the smoking rbom
on Sunday, and the day generally made
'light of. Now it is different. Those
members who go to church, do not come
near the House except in the middle of
the d.ay when they get their letters and
their papers which. they read at their.
lodgings. Those who do not attend di-
vine service for the most part remain
in their rooms or hotel and pass the
tine as they please. Last Sunday
there were not a dozen Commoners in
their seats in the Chamber, and' en-
gaged at work, and during Church hours
the whole wing of the building was de-
serted, compared with what has been
the case in the past. The change for
the better has been so marked that it is
a question whether the wholesale dese-
cration of the Sabbath, which but a few
years ago pained Sunday observing peo-
ple will ever be seen again.
The new stamp act introduced by
Hon. Mr. Laurier, requires that when
the duty on promissory notes, bills of
exchange, &c., exeeeds three cents and.
the instrument is made in Canada it
Shall be paid in whole or in part 'by
- making it upon stamped paper, using
in each case stamped paper of the de-
nomination then issuednearest in value
to the duty:to which such instrument is
liable, and when no denomination of
stamped paper his been issued exactly
xepresenting the duty to which the in-
strument is liable,the difference between
the duty represented by the stamped
paPer shall be paid by affixing - an ad-
hesive stamp or stamps to the amount
of such difference. Where the duty
does not exceed. three cents- it may be
paid by affixing an adhesive stamp re-
presenting the amount of such duty.
If the instrument is made out of Can-
ada, but payable in Canada, the dine, -
shall be paid when such instrument is
accepted, endorsed by or becomes the
property of any individual, bank or cor-
poration in Canada, by affixing thereto
an adhesive stamp or stamps, or by hav-
ing impressed thereon, at some revenue
office an embossed stamp tO the amount
of such duty or to the amount nearest
to such duty, for which an embossed
stamp can be obtained, and by affixing
thereto an adhesive stamp or stamps to
the amomit of the rest of the duty.
In the Public Accounts:Committeeon
Monday Mr. Plumb brought up the ac-
, counts of Mt -ell -mon as purveyor in the
Northwest. He asked. that a 'witness
be summoned from Winnipeg -to give
evidence in regard to them. On bein
questioned, he admitted that he had
not looked into the accounts, had no
knowledge ef .any wrong in connection
with them, and refused to state on his
own responsibility that the reports of ir-
regularities in the accounts were reli-
able, or that he Oven had reason to be-
lieve they were. All :he would do was
to insinuate that there were irregulari7
ties, and that Mr. Sutherland, of Win-
nipeg, could give important informa-
tion in regard to them. This is the
htyle of the Oppesition in making -
charges against the Government and
Govermnent :officials. The Premien
rather than. give ground. for even a
suspicion of wrong, consented to the or-
der foe a summons for Sutherland, on
Mei Plumb stating that " he had been
informed that there were some sup-
posed irregularities," and on the under-
standing that Nixon should alas be sum-
moned, so as to be ready t6 explain any
charges made against him, The Audi -
or -General produced the Nixon. ac-
' counts for the information of the Com-
mittee, It required three trunks to
h- ld them. Some idee of the extent of
a scrutiny into them may be gathered
fr dint 4t h aot, ofiaocotk.
e vote was -talecienWoeanile'SiersaJaYohlnil"Mritg-
donaldn amendment, with the following
reeult Naye, 77 ; yeas, 114 ; showing
that 192 members were present at the
division out of a House of 206. The
following were paired for the amend-
ment : Messrie White (Hastings), White
(Renfrew) and Mitchell, with Mesa's.
plake, Delorme and D. A. Smith,
eagainst the amendment, making with
the above 198. The following were eh-
' sent unpaired *Messrs. Workman, Cun-
ningham, Barinatyne, Blackburn, Ma-
Leod and Devlin, supporters of the
Gevernment, and Messrs. Campbell and
, McGreevy, members of the Opposition:
eight in all, and completing the fun
number of the House. No Opposition-
ist voted against the amendment, while
five gentlemen who usually suppert the
Government voted for it. The result.
Will give the Government on a square
voteof confidence a majority of 52.
Doings at Ottawa..
The Opposition have at length nailed
their colors to the Protection mast, but
in a very insecure and uncertain Way.
On Friday last their leader Moved the.
following as en amendment to -the mo-
tion than the House go into conninittlee
of Supply :
" That the .alif,r do not now lea e the ha* ,
but that it be resolved that this Rouse is of opin-
ion that the -welfare of. Canada require.s the adop-
tion of a national policy, which by a judicious re-
adjustment of the tariff, will benefit Ind foster the
agricultural, mining, Manufacturing and other in-
terests of the Dominion ; that such a; policy would
retain in Canada thousands of our fellow country-
men now obliged to expatriate themselves in search
of employment denied them at home, restore pros-
perity to industries now depreased, and while pre-
ireertitiitur eiadneaotafrome tbeindgeNiiorocplemeantacfroificeirzi-
proiviviiciallrade and meving, as it onglitto do,
the direction of a reciprocity of tariffsiwith our
ada may demand, would greatly tFnd to Procure or
neighbors, so fir as the trade and industales of Cr
this country eventually reciprocity of .trade with
the United States."
It will be seen that this Motion is a
conglomerition of the varidus resolu-
tions which have .been moved on the
same subject in former sessions and it
is equally indefinite: In supporting his
amendment Sir John made f4r hfin,
an exceedingly lame effort. It seemed
impossible for him notwithStanding the
the aid and enceuragement iven
by way Of frequent appleuse y his' fql-
lowers, to get up steem, end es a conse-
quence he floundered and ' blundered
painfully. This for Sir joh
thing very unusual. Foe alt
tne7ett n, ntoerayfe°: fsotii eal cisnogr uvpe ;Lei 11'
fants,when he can make a po nt arinst
an opponent by giving a false color he is
uso ally voluble, forcible,. and' frequently
sharp and witty, but on Friday night
hewas neither. -When; he ,completed
his speech his hearers were ne.mtich in
the dark as to what particuler intereds
-he desires protected, or what measure
of Protection he desires te sedure,as they
were when ne began. In is becoming
more evident every day that, Sir John
and his followers have simpin raised. the
Protection cry to assist them to lime;
and should they succeed they have
neither the will nor the ability to carry
out the indefinite thing they profess to
desire. The debate has since been con-
tinued on this amendineet every avail-
able day, and there is nci knowing when
it will terminate. The best speech yet
made on the Tariff question was th t
deli end a. few evenings ago by r.
Ch rlton, of Norfolk. There is not a
nia in the House who can isms's this
question more intelligently o - who can
produce more incontroveriib e faatiland
fiamres to su.bstantiate his po "tion than
nhe member for Norfolk.
Inle on the subject of epeeches it
may not be out of place here to allude
to that delis-erel a few evenings ago.by
Mr. Plumb, of Niagara. A prominent
Liberal threatens to move fer the -abol-
ition of the Hansard,on thelground that
the official reportiug of the debatee is
not only expensive, but thet it causes
men like Mr. Plumb te make dreaalul-
ly long speeohes and waste the time ;of
the country. He calculates that that
noodle has already spoken 10 hours thin
session. Should every member do the
same, tnere would be 2,000 houre spent
in debating, averaging each working
day at 10 hours each, 206 days or two-
thirds of a year, not incinding Sundays
and holidays,would be wasted. Heppi-
ly there is rib lope of the calculation
becoming reelized. Dining bis recent
effort the member for Niagelea spoke for
four mortal hours,—he roared and roar-
is sorne4
?ugh he is
ely to his
regard for
IVLA.Ren 15, 1878.
J3Euron Notes.
'rEi.pilts—acbri rsttbb:annesa'tbashlyabl :Latotahnw:earthhe: oegot otyna llhdv mea xoyataihi sben ros ihnheehsla ne: 71:1
aeoftsurinoa. ti:setrsrph.eutorasewtiepyntth:ssara.t0117Ttehyhreee aza,,,1372443.00:81,
:108Eitrel3 ttt7h:iqUiliate out of their own
4314.31, thus leaving,
—0-n Monday evening last, s
Jer.. Tyo.tenWr ratceiontt? 7inarmrepttaan.nixtywigth!
pt.", r cbteohlirtitafrshooemfeav: ae7f tei ezPirlPoey: unsdelOtt Teet: te nk n gbt cht ahe:1
aria ncs c es gs elNa, ebrl, ee sacnsat t edr ee sap ii nt. e at:::
ar6iThees'mg°etnl,ow°sheo' ittnvaerien'aleuft
hseoarcmeh aesf tbheestanimthe.ty:T:eownehnle:3dredF,h,ressari
they knew not where, nor aia:
ot e na ,:toelsr enacebh: ilaat aehia;
Church, Blyth. This Churchwf
o, previous te
ing thoroughly seated. Servic4
then continued in the ipla
Sabbath 3rd, when, in view of
thing being in readiness, the
tion assembled in their new
Worship. Upon the occaaion.
able discourse was delivered
A. MoNatighton, of Walton, a
the sacrament of the Lord's S
disgatirmussied.m. eeTthiheg fowilttoewihenigadiaeyr t
pose of renting pews and other
'TS1hoeanaotctecuupatlidee th:cvse
Wm. Drummond, Esq., re
moat as to the standing of the ,
after which the pews were rent
izing upwards of 1800-.
—On Saturday, fith inat,
McInnis and. wife, of Exeter,
into Usborne visiting their frie
leaving the house in charge of1
Innis' sister. A boy- about 11,
to the house for some milk am
the- young lady -Was getting Cul
fluid the boy took a silver watt
135, which he Ala hanging o
He then sold. it to another b
trifling sum—a few cents.
nis, on his way home, desir
the time, and put his hand
pocket to pull out Ins watch,
his astonishment, -was no
Thinking he had possibly left i
he paid no more attention to
his arrival at his house, whe
oovered that the watah was n
accustomed place. Constable:
dertook to work the matter
found the young lad almost
But finally he drew from hi
mission that he had seen t
hanging up in the houae whe
for the milk. Xt. Gilithen
that he had been trading wit
boy. To the f3econa boy he
and demanded. the watch,
produced immediately and r
its owner.
—A young man named He
wiao has for some time past -
ployed by Mr. James Clark,
and was married. about thre
ago, left that yinage-
night of last week fair the la
stars and. stripes. His dis
has taken every one by eurpr
even. letting his wife know,
about his movements. He hi
and. drove his wife tie her
house, and. told her to stop
would come back from Luca
stead of going to that plac
back to Crediton, gave back
tare to the party from tvli -
purchased, and tied hia wif
up. About I2 o'clock, he hi
ting it be known to that indiv
to drive him to Aliso, Craig,
amtieChraigaigns. that he intende
—Severed daysago a young
Front was arrested in Et:etc
stable Gill on inforn2ation
ham charging him with stea
owns or leases a large hall i
and it appears that On the ni
extensive fire which visited •
a few Weeks ago, a. quantit
were removed to this hail fis
buildings. When the OWD
goods went to elaiM them, a.
articles were missing. A
search was made in Pro
where the missing articles
found. Prout had been en
day or two, and. was on
ba'ae. to Wingham, where al
tour when arrested.
tion was held before a bone
trates, but no -evidence w
sideration was addueed
Front, and he was ax,cordi
ed. Before the large
spectators dispersed Mr. P
ed their attention for a
He assured. them that he w
and he hoped AS he haAl
in a court of justice he we
acquitted at the bar of pub
He referred. to his sanest,
which under the eireurostan
ticulerly painful. Mr.
neat speech, at the coneI
he was loudly cheered ;
down from the platform •
congratulated on. his acqu
it —is Tn.ohwe -13nera'asrlsyelis,P3o,esatraof:s11
stone became a resident (if
from that time his progn
marked. During that p
erected buildings for his o
amount of fk,37,i)00 and al
met -with misfortunes and
not faltered by the way,1--
gled manfully on, until h
one of our most prominei
and real estate owners.
paid a visit to his gristing
mill. It is a large three -
fitted up with the best
quisite for the winking
mill, run by water power
turning out 150 barrels I.
hours. On the first lime
of stones, which are coma
-motion, a Eureka pack -e
packing 200 barrels of
Richmond eraiinclemeen
large graink'hoppers for ,
poses, which arc worked
with the eievators,aleo tie
, establishment. The eeet
floors are likewfse filled
ery of various deseriptio
bran duster, a middlinas
-chants bolts, a large eou
machinery is run by la tit
power Leffell waterswhe