Legislative Assembly I utterly fail to comprehend. Perhaps these men have a slogan that "Even the teeth of the shark don't hurt as long as they bite someone else." We hear, Mr. Speaker , much carping criticism of the so-called Liberal failure to live up to their campaign promises. Believe, me, Mr. Speaker , the Liberals do also share the deep concern of the Honourable Leader of the Opposition that many of the measures that the Liberal Party confidently planned to put into force, will not be possible for some time, and for good and valid reasons. Perhaps the Honourable Leader of the Opposition may be even more con¬ cerned when we draw to your attention the reasons why. He should not be surprised, however. No one should know better than himself the tragic financial condition in which the Province was left when the electorate ended, in July of 1966, the wildest spending spree which this province has ever seen. He should know better than any¬ one else the enormity of the financial disaster brought about by the policies of his government. Perhaps he has not read the auditor's report which has fully documented this incredible raid on the public treasury. Perhaps he does not understand the re¬ port and the words of the Provincial Treasurer, and of the Provincial Auditor. Per¬ haps he has forgotten that in the mere four months between March 31, 1966, and July 28, 1966, that his government increased the net debt of the Province by more than $8,000,000, and more than trebled the the provincial debt of $32,000,000 accum¬ ulated over a period of eighty-six years; and in the short period of seven years the Tories pushed this debt to the astonishing figure of close to $99,000,000. Perhaps he did not hear the Provincial Treasurer explain the other day that there was an increase of $11,000,000 in the gross debt of this Province from July 28th to March 31, 1967, during which period his Liberal successors had to pick up the tab for the last chapter of his spending spree. When we came to power we were not long finding that the bottom of the financial barrel had not only been reached but that the Tories had kicked it out and were furiously mining the dirt beneath! Is it any wonder, Mr. Speaker , that we look now, on the one hand aghast at this piratical raid on our financial resources, and on the other hand, deeply concerned with the necessity of providing for the people of our province the services which they have the right to expect, the building of pavement, the increased welfare, the building of schools, Medicare, snow removal and others. In attempting to reconcile these conflicting forces we can do nothing else but act in a responsible role as the elected representatives of our people. Our people would certainly chastise us if we were to sweep under the rug the results of that seven years of Tory Rule, if we were to deceive them by telling them we could afford all those things that we would like to do, if we were to insult their intelligence by foisting upon them even more debts than they now bear. We would indeed be deceptive unless we were honest in admitting the difficulties which face us. What did we hope to do and what we promised, we shall do, but it will take longer, much longer. We have first to rectify our house, to regain the reputation of Prince Edward Islanders as sensible, careful managers of their own affairs. We can do this, the people want us to do this, and we shall do this. But, again, this is part of the tragedy of Georgetown , and its monument, to the slavish and tenacious devotion of a one-time Minister of Fisheries, to the evil designs of Jens Moe , assisted by, and defended by the Tory Government of the years 1959 to 1966. Is it any wonder that that charming fellow, the Honourable Member from Second Queens, when he was the irresponsible Minister for this affair, is it any wonder that this little man could only throw his hands in the air in holy horror, and declare, "Had I known conditions were so bad, I would never have taken on this position." It is true that he must have felt very unimportant, indeed in awe of that August presence of a certain Director of the Industrial Corporation, that Financial Moses, —264—