81 



Monday Afternoon Session 



Mr. Willard G. Bixby called the meeting to order at 2:20 o'clock. 

 Controller J. Gibbons, representing Mayor McBride of Toronto, 

 warmly welcomed the convention to the city. 



After expressing the regrets of Mayor McBride, Controller Gib- 

 bons continued: I wish to extend a very cordial welcome to you all to 

 the city of Toronto. We are always pleased to welcome visitors to 

 Toronto because we realize that every visitor means another booster 

 for us. 



Toronto was incorporated a City in 1834 with a population of 

 9,000 and since that time every ten years it has doubled its population. 

 Today the population of Toronto is over 600,000. Greater Toronto 

 has a population of over 700,000. All you have to do is to look around 

 you to see how Toronto is progressing. We have this year, to the 

 present date, issued over $34,000,000 of building permits, and this 

 does not include the big departmental store which is going up and 

 Vhich they say is going to cost $17,000,000, neither does it include 

 the government Customs House. 



Among other things Toronto is noted for its public ownership. 

 Toronto is the largest public ownership city in the world. When you 

 come to Toronto and take a drink of our good water you may know 

 that it is produced by the municipality. We own our own electric 

 railway system at a cost of $45,000,000, our electric light is generated 

 at the falls, but we own our own transmission lines. We have over 

 $34,000,000 invested in that. 



Sixty-four per cent of the people in the city of Toronto own and 

 live in their own homes, which I think you will agree with me is a 

 very healthy state of affairs. 



Our taxes are a little over 30 mills, and we give the citizens of 

 Toronto more for their taxes than any other city in the world. We 

 spend $9,100,000 on education, that is irrespective of our university, 

 which is the second largest in the world, and you can educate your 

 child in the city of Toronto from the kindergarten up to the highest 

 profession. 



We have the healthiest city on the continent. There is less con- 

 tagious disease in the city of Toronto than in any other city on the 



