Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-03-11
WANTED TO KNOW.
An inquisitive Liberal Member
Of Parliament.
A REGULAR INTERROGATION POINT

He Fairly Bristles with Questions. Sor,,e
of Which VIII Not Please Canada-He
Ais" Raises Cain in the Commons. but
rails t" Get All the Information He
th"t IIarbor at EsquimauIt
Again the subject OF Discussion-Some
Statements on the Seal Question.
LONDON, March 1.-THE question of the
defenses Of the harbor of EsauimauIt on
Vancouver island was raised in the bouse
oil commons yesterday and was discussed
with heat by Lord George Francis Hamil-
ton, first lord of the admiralty, and several
Liberal lntcrrogators. Hardly had this
breeze died out when the Behring sea con.
troverSy was brought before the house bv
the questions addressed by Edward Ten.
perley GOurley, the advanced Liberal
member from Sunderland, and answered
for the government by the Rt. Hon James
William Lowther, under secretary of the
foreign office. Ferguson. Liberal member
from Leith, led off in the matter of Esoui-
mault's defenses by asking these questions
OF the first lord of the admiralty:
a FusiIIade of Questions.
Does the site Of the navy yard at Esquimault
belong to Canada or to the crown? If Canada
provide the stores, guns and site. will she also
provide the garrisonE VIII the work of i'm
proving the dcfenses of the harbor, including
the plans, engineering and construction, he
done by the Canadian government or the
crown: What rights of control, as regards
stores, coal, the support of the garrison in
case Of need. and harbor anchorage has the
commander of the Pacific feet? Are any ad-
vantages secured to her majesty's vessels at
ara y1.,.,,
in such foreign ports of the United States,
France or other civilized nationsE
Reflections on Canada's Loyalty.
In case the p.oposed Notifications should be
eTectcd. woulG the guns mounted there lie the
property OF CGnada or the CROWN VIII the
garrisons of the harbor defences receive their
orders from the imperial or the Canadian gov
ernment? If the garrison be put under the or
ders of the Canadian government, will the
home government have any means of assuring
itself the support of the same for her maiesty's
fleet in times of war; If, as has been suggested,
Canada should decide to cast her lot with the
United States and become incorporated w:.h
that country, would she carry with her the
guns and other portable equipments Of the
fOrtifcations!
a Storm of Tory Protests.
While making these interrogatories Mr..
Ferguson was interrhp pied frequently by
cries of "Oh. OH ironical laughter and
other noisy demonstrations from the min
isterial majority. All his interrogatories
after the one concerning the support of
the Pacific fleet by the garrison were de-
livered amid storm of eXclamations of
remonstrance. This was due to the fact
that the last six questions were put in
such a way as to suggest that in times of
war or threatened war the imperial gov
ernment could not rely upon the loyalty
of the Dominion government for support
and therefor it was foolish to place in un-
certain hands fortified harbor that might
be used as effectively against the empire
as for it.
Encouragement from the Liberals.
The impression left by his inquiries and
by the emphn.ic "hear hear" with which
the last six were greeted from the opposi.
tion, was that he intended TO say thIt
Canada had drifted too far toward the
United State to be! trusted to cooperate
with the mother country in case of trouble
with the American government. Ills
was HamiltOn's view of the matter and
he declined to answer any except the first
three questions.