No part of the record of the Liberal Government appears in a more favorable light than that pertaining to the finances of the country, and the Liberals are justly proud of it. It will warrant the closest criticism and examination, and the more closely it is looked into the more clearly will it be seen that the administration has been sound, progressive and business like, and has redounded to the great advantage of the whole people.
It is true, as stated by the Conservatives, that both the ordinary and capital expenditures have been increased, but nevertheless the principles of economy advocated by the Liberals when in opposition have been adhered to. There has been economy in the true sense of the term. Economy is not parsimony; it means wise and prudent expenditure for necessary purposes. No one ever seriously supposed that with the increasing business and development of Canada there would never be any increase in expenditure. The Liberal party, though they severely criticized the expenditure of the Conservative Government in past days, never said the expenditure of the country would not increase. What they claimed was, that the increase of expenditure under the Conservatives was out of all proportion to the increase of business and general development. During the last five years of Tory rule the country practically stood still, yet there was no attempt at financial retrenchment in unison with the times and condition. In the last three years of Conservative administration deficits in the annual accounts amounting to nearly six million dollars were recorded, and the public debt was increased by nearly seventeen millions of dollars. The tariff, too, bore more heavily than it should on the consumers. The country also had ample evidence that many of the expenditures had been corrupt and extravagant. Ministers of the Crown were shown to have been in league with public contractors for improper purposes. The political mind of the country was shocked by the disgraceful disclosures in the McGreevy-Connolly, and Langevin cases; the notorious Curran Bridge affair; the Langevin Block scandal; the Tay Canal extravagance, and many other similar cases.
The Conservatives in their criticism of the expenditure of the Liberal Government compare to-day with 1896, without making any allowance what ever for the improved conditions. They deliberately, and with political
