1901-02-15

Mr. MacLAREN (Perth) asked :: 1.	Are the government aware that the caretaker of the Stratford post office has been recently dismissed?
2.	What was the cau3e of his dismissal?
3.	Has an investigation been held?
4.	Has his successor been appointed?

5.	If so, what is his name, and what is his salary?
6.	At whose instigation was the dismissal made?
7.	If an investigation has not been made, will the government cause it to be held?


The MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS (Hon. J. Israel Tarte) :: 1.	Yes, on January 26, 1901.
2.	Such employment is of a temporary nature and such services can be dispensed with at any time.
3.	No.
4.	Yes.
5.	J. P. Murray, $50 a month, the same as
his predecessor.	[DOT]
6.	Minister assumes responsibility.
7.	No.


LIGHTHOUSE, VICTORIA BEACH, ANNAPOLIS, N.S.
Mr. BORDEN (Halifax) asked :: 1.	Has the government or the Department of Marine and Fisheries received tenders for the construction of a lighthouse at Victoria Beach, in the county of Annapolis, N.S. ?
2.	From what persons have such tenders been received, and what is the amount of each tender?
3.	Has the government or Department of Marine and Fisheries accepted any, and if so, what tender?
4.	Has the lowest tender been accepted? If not, what is the difference between the amount of the lowest tender and the amount of that which has been accepted?
5.	Whose tender has been accepted?


The MINISTER OF FINANCE (Hon. W. S. Fielding).: In the absence of my hon. colleague the Minister of Marine and Fisheries, I beg to reply :
1.	Yes.
2.	John Roney, $497; R. W. Hardwick, $497 ; Ralph M. Oliver, $645; John W. Snow, $698.11 ; Lemuel Moonson, $850 ; John S. Hayden, $1,000 ; Pickels & Mills, $1,100.
3.	Yes, the tender of John Roney.
4.	Two persons tendered at the lowest sum, and the tender of one of these was accepted.
5.	The tender of John Roney.


DISMISSAL OF JOHN CRAIG.
Mr. ROCHE (Marquette) asked :: 1.	Has Mr. John Craig, for many years postmaster at Strathclair, been dismissed?
2.	If so, for what reason?
3.	Were charges made against him, what was their nature, if any, and was an investigation held?
Has a petition been received to retain Mr. Craig in his position? If so, how many names are attached?
5.	Has his successor been appointed? If so, who, and upon whose recommendation?


The POSTMASTER GENERAL (Hon. Wm. Mulock) :: The answer to the first question is, yes.
To the second, active political partisanship.


Mr. MacLAREN (Perth).: To the third question, yes, active political partisanship, which, having been shown, no further investigation was deemed necessary.
To the fourth question, yes, ninety-five.
To the fifth question, yes, William H. Reed, on the recommendation of the Hon. Mr. Sifton.


PRINTING DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS.
Mr. CLARKE asked :: .
1.	Were all the departmental reports presented to the House on Monday last printed in the government printing office in this city?
2.	Are the departmental reports yet to he presented to the House being printed, or to be printed, in the government printing office in this city? '
3.	If any of the departmental reports have been printed, or are being printed, in outside offices, what are the names of such offices, where are they located, on what terms is the work being done, were tenders called for the work, and why was the work not done in the government office?


The PRIME MINISTER (Rt. Hon. Sir Wilfrid Laurier) :: 1.	Yes, with one exception, the Department of Public Works Report.
2.	Yes, with one exception, the Trade and Navigation Report.
3a. The report of the Department of Public Works has been printed at the office of La Patrie, in Montreal ; the Trade and Navigation Report is being printed at the Herald office in Montreal.
3b. At current commercial rates.
3c. No.
3d. Pressure of urgent work.


THE G. T. R. SHIPPING PORT.
Mr. MONK asked :: 1.	Has the government taken any steps to ascertain exactly whether the Grand Trunk Railway Company and the Dominion Steamship Company intend making the city of Portland, in the United States of America, the shipping port of both these companies, to the exclusion of Montreal?
2.	What steps has the government taken in regard to said change contemplated by these companies?
3.	What information has the government of Canada obtained in reference to said proposed change ?


The MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND CANALS (Hon. A. G. Blair).: As soon as the announcement was made in the newspaper press with reference to the transfer of the Dominion Steamship Line to Portland, and of the Grand Trunk Railway business to that port, inquiries were made by correspondence.
That correspondence is still pending, it is unclosed at present, and it would be premature to make any announcement as to what conclusions may be drawn from the correspondence passed between the parties.



FEBKTJARY 14, 1901 LAND SCRIP TO SOUTH AFRICAN CONTINGENTS.

Mr. McCORMACK asked :: Is it the intention of the government to issue scrip for land to each officer, non-commissioned officer and man from Canada who served the empire in South Africa?


The PRIME MINISTER (Rt. Hon. Sir Wilfrid Laurier).: I have to inform the hon. gentleman that such is not the intention of the government.



MR. OGILVIE, YUKON COMMISSIONER.

Sir CHARLES HIBBERT TUPPER asked :: 1.	Has Mr. Ogilvie, Commissioner of the Yukon district, been recalled or dismissed?
2.	Has any communication been sent to him respecting in any way his continuance in office or his retirement from office?
3.	Has any communication been received from him on this subject?


The POSTMASTER GENERAL (Hon. Wm. Mulock).: In the absence of my hon. colleague the Minister of the Interior, I beg to reply :
1. No.
2 and 3. No official communications have been sent or received.



RAMA TOWNSHIP INDIANS.

Mr. McLEOD asked :: 1.	Do the Indians of Rama Township, Ontario, pay any taxes to the municipality for roads and bridges, or do any road work?
2.	What acreage of land is held by the Indians in that township?
3.	Is it the intention of this government to assist the white settlers of Rama Township in the maintenance of roads and bridges, in proportion to the acreage and value of lands held by the Indians?
4.	What amount of money stands to the credit of the Indians of Rama Reserve in the department here?


The POSTMASTER GENERAL (Hon. Wm. Mulock).: In the absence of my colleague the Minister of the Interior, I beg to reply :
1.	These Indians, like all other Indians m the Dominion, are exempt from paying municipal taxes on lands within a reserve, but they perform statute labour on the roads abutting, as well as those running through the reserve, as required by the provisions of the Indian Act.
2.	2.380 acres.
3.	The question of granting assistance to the municipality to maintain the roads in the township of Rama, is under consideration.
4.	$52,485.45.



CENSUS COMMISSIONER FOR CHARLOTTE, N. B.

Mr. GANONG asked :: 1. Has a census commissioner been appointed for the electoral district of Charlotte, N.B. ?
2. How many applications were made for the position, and what were the names of applicants ?


The MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE (Hon. Sydney A. Fisher).: 1. No census commissioner has been appointed for the electoral division of Charlotte. 2. The applications are private.



WATER LEVEL OF THE GREAT LAKES.

Mr. LANCASTER asked :: 1.	Is the government aware that in the Senate of the United States, at the first session of the 56th Congress, in January, 1900, the following resolution was passed, viz.:-
'That the President of the United States invite the government of Great Britain to join in the formation of an international commission, whose duty it shall be from time to time to report upon the conditions .and uses of the waters adjacent to the boundary line between the United States and Canada, including all the waters of the lakes and rivers whose waters flow by the River St. Lawrence to the Atlantic Ocean, and also upon the effect upon the shores of these waters and the structures thereon and upon the interests of navigation by reason of their diversion from their natural flow, and further to report upon the necessary measures to regulate such diversions.'
2.	Have any representations been made to this government by (1) the government of the United States, or (2) by the Imperial government in reference to the above?
2. If so, will the government state how the matter referred to now stands?


The PRIME MINISTER (Rt. Hon. Sir Wilfrid Laurier).: The government has not been informed of the matter referred to in the question, either by the Imperial authorities, or by the United States government.



DOMINION ELECTIONS ACT AMENDMENT.

Mr. ANDREW B. INGRAM (East Elgin).: I beg leave to move the second reading of Bill (No. 2) to amend the Dominion Elections Act, 1900. I may say that this deals with the form of ballot that was used in the last general election. Hon. gentlemen will remember that, in counting up their votes, they found a number of ballots that were blank-had no mark on them at all.


The PRIME MINISTER (Rt. Hon. Sir Wilfrid Laurier).: I will ask my hon. friend (Mr. Ingram) to allow this to stand. We have not received the Bill yet.
Order allowed to stand.



CHARTERED CORPORATIONS.

[Stage Direction]
On the motion :
Mr. Smith (Vancouver)-List of all corporations now doing business in Canada under charter of the Dominion government. The number receiving subsidies by cash or land grants, and the amount of such subsidy attached to each.
Mr. RALPH SMITH (Vancouver).: In presenting the resolution, that which stands in my name on the Order paper, I would move

that it be amended by inserting the word ' railway ' before the word ' corporations.' I do this at the suggestion of the hon. Minister of Railways and Canals (Hon. Mr. Blair).


The MINISTER OP RAILWAYS AND CANALS (Hon. A. G. Blair).: I would ask my hon. friend (Mr. Smith, Vancouver), to have the notice of his motion put on the paper, so that the motion may come before us in the regular way on Monday.
Motion dropped.



OTTAWA AND THE C.P.R. STREET CROSSINGS.

Mr.   THOS@: BIRKETT (Ottawa) moved for:	,
Copies of all applications, documents, papers and correspondence by or between the Canadian Pacific Railway Company and the government, or the Minister of Railways and Canals, whereby the Canadian Pacific Railway Company applied for and obtained permission to cross, or continue to cross, certain streets in the western part of the city of Ottawa.


The MINISTER OP RAILWAYS AND CANALS (Hon. A. G. Blair).: There is no objection to the motion passing. But I am not aware that there has been any correspondence on this subject. Applications, I apprehend, would come in the regular course. But any papers there are in the department will be brought down.


[Stage Direction]
Motion agreed to.

[Stage Direction]
The PRIME MINISTER (Rt. Hon. Sir Wilfrid Laurier) moved the adjournment of the House.
Mr. MACLEAN.: Before we adjourn, 1 would like to ask the Minister of Finance (Hon. Mr. Fielding), whether it is his intention to move the House into Committee of Supply to-morrow ?
The MINISTER OF FINANCE (Hon. W.
S.	Fielding). Some hon. members requested, and I thought it reasonable, that we should not proceed with supply until the Auditor General's Report was placed on the table. On the assumption that that report would be presented on Friday, I said that on that day we would proceed with supply.
I still anticipate that we shall have the report to-morrow. And if it is likely that some matter is to be brought up for discussion on going into supply, we might proceed. If the report be laid on the table after the House opens, perhaps hon. members would not be willing to proceed with business in Committee of Supply. But, as it seems that any discussion might be proceeded with, I would say ' yes ' to the hon. gentleman's (Mr. Maclean's) question.


Ralph Smith: 


Mr. BORDEN (Halifax).: But the hon. minister (Hon. Mr. Fielding), does not propose to make any progress in supply V Otherwise, I would ask, what particular portion of the estimates he intends to deal with ?


The MINISTER OF FINANCE.: I would be pleased to make progress, but possibly objection might be taken to proceeding in supply at the same moment that the Auditor General's Report is laid on the table. Otherwise we might go on with supply, beginning with civil government.


Robert Laird Borden: Then the report will not be laid on the table till after we meet to-morrow ?


The MINISTER OF FINANCE.: Perhaps not.


Mr. MONK.: If we are to meet to-morrow only to adjourn, I am sure there are a number of members who would prefer to be absent. The report of the Auditor General should be in our hand for a little while before we go into supply. Under the statute, it ought to be before the House the first week of the session


Mr. FRASER.: Fourteen days.


The MINISTER OF FINANCE.: No ; the hon. member for Jacques Cartier (Mr. Monk) is right.


Frederick Debartzch Monk: I have verified it but recently. If we receive the report of the Auditor General late in the sitting to-morrow, what progress shall we make ? We shall merely meet and adjourn.


The PRIME MINISTER.: The government is in no way responsible for the fact that the Auditor General's Report has not yet been placed before parliament. 1 think it would be a bad example, if we wish to have a short session, to commence adjourning. We must adjourn over next Wednesday in any case, as that is Ash Wednesday, and a legal holiday.


Mr. SPROULE.: It does seem to me that the contention of the First Minister can hardly be sustained, when he says that the government is in no way responsible for this report. Though the Auditor General may not be an officer under the government, still, he is under the supervision of the government, and this is a departmental report which parliament needs before it can intelligently do its work. It is the duty of the government to see that the House is in possession of these reports before the business to which they relate is gone on with.


Hon. Mr. TISDALE.: It seems to me that we might as well not sit to-morrow, thus allowing many members, even those who live at a considerable distance, to return home.
I am willing to sit to-morrow if there is I business to be done. But as we see by the

Order paper that there is no work that we can go on with, we might as well adjourn until Monday. There is no use in meeting merely to adjourn. I hope the Prime Minister will reconsider the matter.


Mr. WALLACE.: Speaking for myself, I am not much in sympathy with the proposal to adjourn over to-morrow. We have met to do business, and we should be ready to do it. But, when the First Minister tells us that the government are not responsible for the Auditor General's Report not being down, I cannot agree with him-and for two reasons. In the first place, the Auditor General's Report will be prepared promptly if the ministers present their documents to the Auditor General in good time to give him the opportunity of going over and revising them. And when the Auditor General's Report is prepared, it is a matter for the printer ; and the printers are under the direct control of the government. If the Auditor General has no control over the limiting of the documents that he presents, the ministers have. There must be control somewhere, and where is it V The Printing Department is in the control of the ministers themselves. We hear today that the government are sending part of their printing down to the city of Montreal ; and I am told by printers who know what it means, that the printing of the Trade and Navigation Returns is most profitable, because it is printed in both languages, and the same figures are retained for both the French and English edition, so that it is a doubly profitable transaction for the printers. That was sent down to the favoured newspapers, giving them enormous profits, though the ministers state at regular rates. Well, the regular rate is double the rate for column work, and it is double rate again for printing in English and French, though as a matter of fact it is printed in the one language only, the figures being the same for both languages. And still we are waiting for the Trade and Navigation Returns that should have been in the hands of the public many months ago.


The MINISTER OF FINANCE.: As regards the Auditor General's Report, of which alone I care to speak, the hon. gentleman is entirely mistaken in assuming that it is under the control of the government. The Auditor General is not an officer of the government ; he has been purposely made an officer of this House.


Nathaniel Clarke Wallace: Nobody said he was an officer of the government.


The MINISTER OF FINANCE.: Well, the hon. gentleman says that we are responsible, but if he is not our officer, ,we cannot be responsible.


Nathaniel Clarke Wallace: I said the ministers are responsible for the printing, I did not say they are responsible for the work of the Auditor General's Report.


The MINISTER OF FINANCE.: This happens to be a question of the work of the Auditor General, because, as I said a day or two ago, the Auditor General, in the discharge of what he deems to be his duty, includes in his report correspondence which occurs down to the very eve of the meeting of the House. I am not sure that is the wisest possible plan, if we are to get the document promptly. But he desires, and it is a convenience no doubt to the members when the book comes out, that the correspondence should be placed in that part of the book where the particular matter referred to is found, and that keeps a large quantity of printing matter open and undetermined up to the very last day, on the eve of the session.


Nathaniel Clarke Wallace: When was the copy handed over ?


The MINISTER OF FINANCE.: The copy goes down by stages, it is not matter that goes down all at once, that vast volume cannot be all tumbled into the hands of the Auditor General at once, he prepares his report from time to time. I am not prepared to say, I have not heard any complaint from him as to the time when he receives the copy, but I think the difficulty arises from the fact that the Auditor General, in his desire to do his work well and faithfully, tries to include documents covering a period down to the very eve of the meeting of the House. That is my own opinion of it, and while it is convenient for the members to get the document in that shape ultimately, it inevitably leads to some delay.


Nathaniel Clarke Wallace: But the Auditor General's Report does not come down to any recent date at all.


The MINISTER OF FINANCE.: The hon. gentleman will find, when the report comes down, that it contains correspondence down to within the last few days.


Nathaniel Clarke Wallace: It may contain the correspondence, but that is not what we most want.


The MINISTER OF FINANCE.: The correspondence is a part of the one and the same book, the document we are talking about; and if the Auditor General, in his desire to make these very interesting notes and comments, wishes to bring the book down to a very late date, I am sure he only does so for the convenience and information of parliament. But the plan has its disadvantages.


Frederick Debartzch Monk: Is it in conformity with the law that the Auditor General puts this correspondence in this report ?


The MINISTER OF FINANCE.: Of course the hon. gentleman is aware that the Auditor General's Report includes a large mass of documents. When we speak of the Auditor General's Report we speak of the whole printed book. Merely bringing down any special part of his report without all the details would not be a compliance with the statute.


Mr. BENNETT.: I desire to call the attention of the premier to this fact, that many members who live west and north of Toronto, owing to the fact that there are no Sunday trains on a great many of the branch lines, are compelled to wait till Monday before they can start for Ottawa. So if there is nothing to be done to-morrow, and we have an opportunity of getting home to-night, we will have a couple of days at home without losing an extra day.


The PRIME MINISTER.: If my hon. friend will look at the Votes and Proceedings to-day he will find that the hon. member for East York (Mr. Maclean) has given notice that when the government moves the House into Committee of Supply, he will move a motion of a very important character. We can discuss it to-morrow.


Mr. HAGGART.: With reference to the Auditor General's Report, if I remember rightly, there is an order of this House that the report shall be published before the 31st of October. Why is not that done? There is also a provision for its distribution before parliament meets.


The PRIME MINISTER.: It may be proper when the Public Accounts Committee is organized to have this subject discussed. With regard to bringing down the Auditor General's Report at the present time, the hon. gentleman knows that we are quite powerless in the matter.


William Findlay Maclean: If the House will pardon me, after what the First Minister has said I wish to repeat that I am willing to let the discussion on my motion go over until next week if that will suit the convenience of members. My hon. friend from West Huron (Mr. Holmes) has just come to me and says that he and others of his friends would like it to go over until Monday.


Mr. HOLMES.: I agree with what the hon. member for Simcoe (Mr. Bennett) has said with reference to the adjournment. There are quite a number of members from the west who would like to return home, and who will necessarily lose Monday from the cause he stated. If some arrangement could be made whereby we would not lose Monday, it would be an advantage for the members from the west.


Mr. FIELDING.: 



COMMUNICATION WITH PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND.

Mr. HACKETT.: I desire to call the attention of the Postmaster General (Hon. Mr. Mulock) to the fact that we have had no mails from Prince Edward Island for the last eight days. What steps has he taken to overcome this difficulty ? I know the government has two steamships blocked in the ice, and while these ships are not available, I want to ask the Postmaster General if he is going to have the mails conveyed by ice boat from Cape Traverse to Cape Tormentine, as formerly.


The POSTMASTER GENERAL (Hon. Wm. Mulock).: When my hon. friend the Minister of Marine and Fisheries (Sir Louis Davies) succeeds in getting across from the island to the mainland and reaches Ottawa, I will consult him, and be then in a much better position to answer the hon. gentleman's question. At present I understand that all communications between the mainland and the island is interrupted by reason of the condition of the ice.


Edward Hackett: I want to say in answer to the minister-


Mr. SPEAKER.: Order, the hon. gentleman has already spoken.


Mr. LEFURGEY.: I would like to know what the passage of the Minister of Marine and Fisheries from the island to the capital has got to do with the transmission of the mails. What action has been taken with regard to the transmission of the mails from Prince Edward Island to the mainland ? There are a number of people here who are interested in what is going on down in the island.


Nathaniel Clarke Wallace: Before that motion is carried-


Lawrence Geoffrey Power: Order, the hon. gentleman has already spoken.



THE PARLIAMENTARY MAILS.

[Stage Direction]
Mr. LaRIVIERE. I have not yet spoken. I want to ask the Postmaster General if he could not get better service at the post office here. The evening papers from Montreal only reach us on the following morning. They get here at nine o'clock by the mail service and they never come up from the city office until the following day. This is my experience since the opening of the session. It is not the fault of the office in the Commons, but it appears that the distribution office in the city is not carried on as it should be. The same thing takes place in regard to our western mail. The mail from the west arrives at two o'clock in the afternoon, and we do not get our mail in the House until eight or nine o'clock the same evening. I think it is quite too long

for us to wait-three or four hours-for the transfer of our mail from the city office to the office in the Souse of Commons.
The POSTMASTER GENERAL (Hon. Win. Muloek).: Mr. Speaker, I will inquire into this matter that the hon. member for Provencher (Mr. LaRi viere) has brought to my attention, but, 1 will say, that there has been no change since 1 took office four years ago.
Mr. LaRIVIERE. Last session the mails were sent up more regularly.


The POSTMASTER GENERAL.: There has been no change made to my knowledge since we took office.


Sir CHARLES HIBBERT TUPPER.: Mr. Speaker, I want to draw the attention of the government to what appears to me to be an extraordinary fact. The only reason given for this House meeting to-morrow is to consider some business that is to be brought forward by hon. gentlemen occupying seats on the opposition benches, and, although we were told in the, speech from the Throne that measures would be submitted to us :
-tor the better supervision of the export trade in food products, and also in connection with the post office, the Pacific cable and various other subjects
-we have been meeting and adjourning here day after day for want of a single measure introduced on the part of the government. This is the only part of the programme suggested to us in what was expected at the opening to be a business session.


Duncan Cameron Fraser: So it is.


Charles Hibbert Tupper: We have, on this side of the House, given every assurance that we were ready to go on, but everything has come to a full stop because, as the hon. Minister of Finance (Hon, Mr. Fielding) says, one department of the government has for the moment broken down and it is not able to discharge its proper duties. Consequently, not being in a position to ask for supplies, having none of their measures ready for the consideration of the House, they propose that we should take up only such business as the opposition shall bring forward. I think this is a very unfortunate position for the government, and since the business of the government is in our hands they might very well listen to the suggestion of the hon. gentleman who has his business ready and rest over to-morrow before we tackle that.


[Stage Direction]
Motion agreed to, and House adjourned at 3.40 p.m.
4i
[Stage Direction]
Friday, February 15, 1901.