Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-07-25
|MAY REQUIRE OATH DEMANDS VOTE NOW
Prime Minister Sends Notice
to Canadian Parliament.
TO PASS ON RECIPROCITY
Refusal to Act Will Mean Vote by
People on the Question,
He Declares.

OTTAWA, Ont, July 25.-'Permit a
vote to be taken in parliament on reel
procity or we will take a vote of the
Canadian people upon it without delay"
was the ultimatum Prime Minister Sir
Wilfrid Laurier delivered to the COM
sentative opposition in parliament yes
terday. The chief obstacle to holding a
general election. to which the premier
is just being taken, western Canada will
be entitled to twenty or more additional
members, The census will not be COM
pleted until October, and a law giving
the west its increased representation can
not be passed for some weeks after that.
II an election Is held before the law is
enacted the west will be under-repre-
scented in parliament for at least four
years, and the political leaders believe
Will show it's resentment to the party
which it holds responsible for this.
With this situation confronting them
there was a sharp debate when consid,
GRAFTON Of the agreement was resumed
yesterday afternoon. A. s.. M1ddleooro
conservative said that fifty five conserv-
ativeS have not spoken on RECIPROCITY VINO
have the right to speak without obstruc-
ton being charged He declared that the
two months earlier.
Want Reciprocity to Pass.
my honorable friend replied Premier
I4aurier. tries to convince the house and
the country that the opposition is not OBJ
structing Neither the census nor redis-
tribution are before the house today, and
we cannot go on with them. But reci-
&c hafn hp tn he
with We do not want reciprocity to
wait. We want it to pass either in this
house or before the country.
THE opposition say that they want an
election, but when we take steps to have
one they protest. But we understand
this. The last thing the conservatives
want is to go before the peope of Canada
in opposition to this question in an cleo
ton. Well. there is but one way for them
to escape that, and that is by allowing g
pass it SO that the Canadian farmers may
have access to the American market for
their crops this fall
Opposition Leader Borden replied that
as Canada had waited forty years for
reciprocity it could afford to wait six
months longer and allow redistribution to
give the west its proper representation.
Urges Trial of Reciprocity.
Finance Minister Fielding urges a
trial Of reciprocity in a long state
ment published here today, in which he
declares that if the agreement proves
unpr ofitable to Cauada'it may be sus-
pended at any time.
There is nothing permanently binding
about IT. he urges, las either country
can withdraw at any time. / challenge
the opposition to let 1t pass now. Then
we will have an election in a year If.
as the opposition says, reciprocity will
prove bad thing for Canada, the people
will have had a years test Of it and will
return the conservatives to power to form
a new government and cancel the reci-
procity agreement.
But reciprocity will prove good thing
for the whole country. It is good thin
for the Canadian manufacturer that we
have achieved reciprocity without import
ant concessions in manufactured articles.
But let me give a word of advice to
Canadian manufacturers who needlessly
alarmed, are opposing reciprocity. l be-
lieve that they are doing an injury to
their own interests as we'll as those of
Canada If, perchance, these manufac-
turers succeed in preventing a great new
market being opened to the farmers of
Canada, there will arise in the western
country storm cloud which will grow
until the end will be q change in the
fiscal policy of Canada which is not now
contemplated.