The extravagance of IL Mercier, the Premier of; French Canada,
was not, it appears, confined to his dealings with;con.- tracts. M. Hall, the Treasurer of the Province, declares that during his five years of rule, the Debt increased from 24,428,000 to £7,196,000; while the " assets "—that is, we presume, works and buildings—had only increased from 22,150,000 to 22,312,000. The surplus revenue, which was in 1887-88, 274,000, was changed into a deficit of 2127,000 for last year, and a deficit is expected for this year of 2140,000. The revenue has only increased by £90,000 a year, all due to in- creased taxation ; while the ordinary expenditure has increased from 2606,000 to 2819,000. It looks as if in French Canada, where undoubtedly corruption was rampant, millions had been wasted on jobs of all kinds ; but the puzzle to us is this. M. Mercier can neither have raised nor spent all this money without the authority of the local Legislature ; and why was such authority given? The French Canadians are among the most careful of mankind ; but they seem to have looked on complacently while their representative scattered millions as if they came from some purse of Fortunatus. Judging by French, American, and Canadian examples, there is nothing a democracy is so stupid about as the use made of its own money.
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