PROCEEDINGS OF THE lHIOU IE (Of ASSJEMJBILY During the Second Session of the Twenty-Fourth General Assembly of Newfoundland 1921 UNION PUBLISHING COMPANY, LTD. 'i -, ' IJ r

PROCEEDINGS of the House of Assembly of Newfoundland SESSION 1921 Began and holden at St. John's, in clock in the afternoon, when Mr . the said Dominion on Wednesday and Thirtieth Du.y of March, Anno Dom­ ini, Nineteen Hundr ,ed and twenty-On!:: being in the Eleventh Year of the Reign of His Majesty, Our Sovereign Lord, George, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Brit- . ain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, King De­ fender of the Faith , Emperor of India . WEDNESDAY, March 30th, 1921.

His Excellency hav~ng fixed the hour at which he proposed to open the present session of the Legislature at thre e of the clock in the afternoon of this Wednesday, the thirtieth day of March inst., the Members of the House of Assembly met in the Assem­ bly Room at a quarter to three of the . Speaker tcok the Chair. At three of the clock a message from Hi s Excellency the Governor, was de­ liver ed by -the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, commanding the immedi­ ate attendance of Mr. Speaker and the ,House in the Council Chamber. Ac­ cordingly Mr.

Spe.aker and the House attended His Excellency the Governor in the Council Chamber, and being re­ turned to the Assembly Room , Mr. Speaker informed the House that when in attendance on , His Excell­ ency the Governor in the Council Chamber, His Excellency had been pleased to make a gracious speech to both branches of the Legislature, a copy of which for greater accuracy he had obtained, and then read to the House, as follows: Mr. President and Honourable Gentlemen of the Legislative Council: Mr.

Speaker and Gentlemen of The Honourable House of Assembly: ~ On this fourth occasion of addressing you at the opening of the annual session of the Legislature it is my first desire to express my sincere regret at the loss which has been sustained by the death of a member of the Legislative Council, who, though he was a junior in that body, was one of the most experienced business men and able speaker ,s in this Colony. The policy of the regulation of the marketing of the Colony's staple product which passed the liouse of Assembly in the summer of ' \

r HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS last year, without dissenting vote, was placed in the hands of the Codfish Exportation Boarj _ created for that purpose by the Act. The practical application by the Board of the policy so unanimously adopt­ ed has met with difficulties adventitious as well as those inherent in all policies which seek. to regulate the trade of nations. I feel quite cer­ tain that should the matter come before you as legislators you will approach its consideration with one ambition only, namely, the wel­ fare of -Newfoundland, }:ler commerce and her people.

A year ago I called your attention to the fact that the long­ standing dispute between the Colony and the Provjnce of Qu_ebec had, by agreement between the parties, been referred to the adjudication of His Majesty's Privy Council. The final agreement to that effect was signed in London by the Attorney General of Canada and my Attorney General in November last, a_nd substantial progress has already been made in the preparation of the Colony's case. Mr.

Speaker and Gentlemen of The Honourable House of Assembly: The Revenue for the last fiscal year showed a substantial surplus over all expenditures, but it is to be anticipated that the world depres­ sion, . which we with all other countries must _ necessarily share, a de­ pression which is the natural aftermath of war, will cause a large shrinkage in revenue for ~he current fiscal year.

The revenue is so largely -dependent upon ad valorem duties on imports that, while the finances of the Colony benefited largely by the greatly increased cost of imported goods during the war and immediately afterwards, this present readjustment of world conditions with largely re9uced cost of goods must have a • corresponding effect in reducing customs returns. My Ministers have had this necessary readjustment of expendi­ tures to income under careful consideration.

The Estimates of expen­ ditures and the Budget for the next fiscal year to be submitted to you will in_dicate the efforts which my Ministers have made to deal with the financial problems which you have to face in the readjustment of the Colony's expenditures, · so that the great annual burden which the war has entailed may be met without curtailment and the necessiiry public services efficiently . maintained.

This will necessi .tate tempor­ ary curtailment of .cer-tain brge expenditures which previous adminis­ trations felt justified in undertaking out of the inflated revenues of the war period, and such rigid economy , as is consistent with the satis­ factory maintenance cf the various essential public services.

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS 5 Mr. President and Honourable Gentlemen of the Legislative Council: Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of The Honourable House of Assembly: My Ministers have kept in close touch with the Imperial authori­ ties in the matter of Newfoundland claims against the German Gov­ ernment and I _anticipate that certain legislation in tended to har­ monize the Statute hi1ws of Newfoundland with those of Great Britain in the matter of the ::ollection of the German indemnity will be sub­ mitted to. you for condderation in due course.

The Prime Minister of Great Britain has expressed his desire to meet the Prime Ministers of all the self-governing Dominions of the Empire for conference in London on important imperial business in Jue next. My ·-Prime Minister has authorised me to accept t_he invita­ tion on his behalf. I appreciate the great importance of Britain's oldest Colony being rc!presented at this conference.

You will be invited to ::onsider a Bill to amend the Crown Lands Act to permit the exportation of certain pulp wood cut during the past winter, and an important Bill submitted by the Social Service Council relating to the welfare of children . The Charter for the City of St. John 's will, I am informed, be introd!,lced at an early date, so that its many provisions may be fully discussed, and , it is hoped , finally dealt with at this session. The subject of inland '.l.nd coastal transportation will come before you, and reports will be submitted in the matter of the coal possibili­ ties of the Island .

An important arrangement is under consideration in connection with th :: exploration of oil areas and it is probable that sufficient progress will be made to submit a Bill in relation thereto within t;lt:" course of a few weeks. I trust that, under the guidance of Divine Providence, your delib­ erations may tend to the welfare and ·prosperity of th is Colony . HON. THE PRIME MINISTER-Mr. Speaker, before we proceed with the regular work _of the session, it is my duty to call atention to the irrepar ­ able loss the legislature has sustain­ ed in the death of the late Hon. W. B. Grieve . In February last Mr.

Grieve passed from amongst us and in his passing he· has left a place, not only in the Legislative Council , but in the commercial life of the Colony itself, which it will be difficult to fill. Be had long been connected with this House, had represented the Districts of Bonavlsta and Trinity, while for several years previous to bis death, he occupied a seat in the Legislative Council. He had the reputation of being an able and a courteous gentle­ man, whether in social, business or legislative circles .

When the call to arms came, his only son was one of the first of our men to respond, and although the later did not actually lay down bis life on the •battle field, it was due to the hardships of a sol­ dier 's life that be contracted the dis ­ ease whlh shortly afterwards termin-

6 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS ated in bis death, an event which did much to shorten the life of his father. In patriotic work the activities of the late Hon. W. B. Grieve were well known. Ho was prominently identi­ fied with the Newfoundland p·atrlotic Association and worked indefatigably in that capacity until the end of hos­ tilities. He was a gentleman, not merely in the narrow class sense, but in the broad sense, ari educated and c:,m rteous citizen and he accepted suc­ ,·c~s and defeat with an equanimity which won for him the admiration of all who had the advantage of know­ ing him personally.

During bis declining months be faced the inevitable with all the joy of one who sees in death no severance of the strongest ties, but rather as one who looks upon it as going to those on the other side who had pre­ ceded him years before, his wife and -children and those others dearest to him. Permit me then, Sir, in expressing on behalf of the House our deep sense we have found in the past twenty­ eight years experience in this .

House that two or three members have pass­ ed away in the short time from one session to another, and it must strike even the youngest of us not alone the oldest, that our turn must some day come. Since I have bad the honor to sit in this House over seventy mem­ bers now deceased have passed thru the doors of the Upper , and Lower Chambers. Many listening to me now might think my tim .e was at hand . Last year I seconded a resolution of this kind relative to' the same class • of public citizen. The Hon. W. B.

Grieve was one of the princes of Water Stre et, ·one of the men who put his life and all his best energies into the busine ss of the country. Altbo be was seventy-two years of age, he was • in this House before , I think some seven or eight years, as an elected representative. He was elected for Bonavista in 1380 ancl was re-elected unopposed in 1895. He had retired from th e House before I had the hon- of loss, to propose the following re- or of a seat here .

I have known Hon. solutions: RESOLVED:-That. the House de­ sires to record the expression of its de ep regret at the death, since last session of the Legislature, of the Honorable W.alter Baine Grieve, sometime member of the Legislative Council, and of the House of Assem­ bly RESOLVED:-That a copy of this Resolution be forwarded to the relat­ ives of the deceased Honourable Gentleman. siR M. P. CASHIN:-Mr. Speaker, I rise for the 'purpose of seconding the resolution propose9 by the leader of the Government.

Being the oldest sitting member of the House to-day, I cannot recall a session but that the leader of the House was called upon to pass such a resolution as bas been moved here .to-day. In many cases W. B. Grieve for years here as a politi cian, but when I got close to him it was after the war broke out in 1914. When the bugle sounded, Hon. W. B. Grieve was one of the first to rush to the Morrie. govern­ ment, sinking all differences in poli­ tics or in other directions, and placed himself at the disposal of his Country and his King.

I was very close to him thru my positi-on in the House, being Finance Minister at the time . Hon. W. B. Grieve came voluntarily to the Morris government and placed himself at its disposal. You will find that that is correct by looking up the records. Hon. W. B. Grieve was on every committee appointed for the re­ cruiting of the sailors and lookini; after them, as a member of the Fin­ ance, Standing, Patriotic Committees, Patriotic Fund and Recruiting bodies,

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY ' PROCEEDINGS 7 and was nearly always found to bl;! the first man in his place when work was to be done. Up to that time I knew little of him socially , but dur­ ing that period I learned to love him. He was an outstan~ing figure on the Patriotic Fund Committee which was created to deal with the dependents of our soldiers and sailors . He was always to be found on duty there and always erred on the right side, al­ ways anxious to do the most for the deserving fighting men .

He gave his time, and the country !mows he gave much more-he gave his only son at the first call to arms, one who was of the first 500, one of the Blue Puttees that we hear so much of, and wl~o while not shot on the field of battle, contracted sickness while doing his duty that brought him to an early grave. Such was Hon . W. B. Grieve as a man as a politici an a -true man in every sense of the word. To take him as a politician or merchant would need a better tongue than mine to do him justice. He took charge of a great firm at the age of 21 or 22 and , managed it at. least 50 years.

When one considers the business of the Col- the word. I remember meeting Mr. Grieve after his return from England a few months ago and talking over the fish situation . He naturally loved to talk of fish. That was the first time I spoke to him. In leaving , his last words were : "Cashin, you will find that in Newfoundland by the first of May we will have financial paraly­ sis." How many here to-day can contradict that ·statement. Mr. Grieve was all that has been pointed out by the Prime Minister this evening; he was even more . I feel sorry that i did not know more of him .

His firm if look ed up , will be found to be the first to pros ecut e the sealflshery with steamer s. They tried other ventures - - the herring fishery , for instance , which was taken over without com­ pensatio!l from the government-and brought out steamers with drift nets, but lost considerable money in that direction. We have seen the last of ., Mr. Gri eve on earth . I wil not delay th e House further, but leave him with • God, who, in His great mercy, will deal kindly with him . May his soul rest in peace. . It was moved by Mr. Scammell and ony for the last half century one must - seconded by Capt.

Jones, that an Ad­ come to the conclusion very quickly dress of thanks be presented to His that a man who could manage a business such as Mr. Grieve .had charge of must be one possessed of great ability and foresight. Mr. Grieve filled a great position in this country and during the last ten years numbers of young aspiring mercbants looked to him for counsel and guid­ ance. He is _dead now; gone for evermore. His experience, I take it, was second to none. Go back to last year and cons"ider the 1nterest he .took in the fu;h business.

The war was over; we were supposed to be back to normal conditions and all were wondering how we would fit in financially . Mr. Grieve then, in my opinion, was right in every sense of Excellency in reply to the gracious Speech with which he had been pleas­ ed to open the present Session of the Legislature, and that a Select Coni, mittee be appointed to draft such Address in Reply. MR. SCAMMELL:-Mr. Speaker, l rise for the purpose of proposing the • appointment of a select committee to draft an address in reply • to the speech which His Excellency the Governor has been graciously pleased to deliver to us to-day.

And, first ot all, Sir, I desire to add a personal word of regret on .the loss this City , and this Country, has .sustained by the death of the Hon. W. B. Grieve. 'rile Hon . W. B. Grieve , as has been

/ 8 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS stated here this afternoon by the Prime Minister, and the Leader of t~e Opposition, stood out pre-emin­ ently in the social and commercial life of the country. He was a man whose vast experience and sage counsel the country could ill afford • to dispense with at a period of doubt, unc_ertainty and hesitation in our commercial affairs, such as the coun­ try is facing at present . The Hon. W. B. Grieve bas left a name that will be a memory fragrant of refine­ ment, charity and fair dealing, and his passing leaves the community the poorer.

My next duty, Sir, must be to wel­ come to this House the gentlemen who have recently been elected to serve as representatives for the his­ toric district of Hr. Main and to con­ gratulate ,the Leader of the Opposi­ tion and his party on having retained these seat~, although perhaps the con­ test • was in a great measure a vic­ tory for the Government in as tar as the Government received a greater vote by ten per cent than it did in the general election of 1919.

To turn now, Sir, to the matters referred to in the Speech from the Throne, I think it will be agreed by all that the reference of paramount importance Is to the Fishery Regula­ tions. No policy bas excited more controversy during the past season than the Fish Regulations. No sub­ ject has been discussed with more prejudice and bias by its opponents in the press and before the public.

Much of the criticism hurled at the regulations has been of a highly de­ structive nature, undeserving and un­ fair. · The evident design, and the ul­ timate result of it "all, was, and hai, been, to render their operation less efficacious. .It will be remembered that at the last session of this House, two acts of vast Importance in rela­ tion to our staple industry were pass- ed without dissenting vote. I refer, Sir, to the Codfish Standardization Act, and the Act in relation to the export of Salt Codfish.

The first of these acts provided the means where­ by rules and regulations were draft­ ed, having chiefly for their object the improvement of our cure of Fish, providing for a standard cull as be­ tween fisherman and buyer, and .the proper inspection of all cargoes des­ tined for the foreign markets. It was felt by all that in view of the very keen after-war competition we were facing in the markets, the time bad arrived when it behooved us to put our house in order, and to take steps to lmproye our cure if in the face of such competition we were to expect anything like decent prices abroad.

We are pleas ·ed to-day to be In a posi­ tion to state, that to the call of the need for an improved cure the Fish­ ermen have respond _ed nobly. There has been indeed a marked improve­ ment all round and we have ample evidence that the result has been taken ·due cognizance of by our cus­ tomers, has been favourably com­ mented upon and has reacted largely to our benefit in the market ~.

The regulations framed under the Exportation Act were primarily de­ signed with a vie-w to the sustaining of prices abroad, and consequently en­ suring to our fishermen at home the minimum price with which they could possibly decently exist, having regard to the" fact that there bad been no ap­ preciable decline in the prices of sup­ plies and commodities . We may hold divergent views, Mr.

Speaker, as to whether that object J:ias been con­ summated, but as an individual repre­ sentative entitled to an opinion of my own, I wish to place myself on record as being strongly of the opinio_n that had there been no such regulations this • season the fishermen of this country would not have received for

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS 9 tl~eir fish this season the prices they ,r;, did by as much as three or four dol­ lars per quintal , and I know whereof I speak when I state that in that opin­ ion I shall have in agreement with me thousands of fishermen from all parts of this Dominion. I do not propose, Mr. Speaker, to discuss the se regulations fur.ther just now. They were drafted from time to time as circume.tances and con­ ditions demanded by the Codfish Ex­ portation Board under the chairman­ ship of the Minister of Marine and Fisheries .

It cannot be sai'd that the composition of the Board was partisan eith er from a political stanrlpoint or from the vievis hel d by the MelJ!.bers as to the advisabilit y of Regulation s or oth ei·wise. I am sure , Sir, we all regret that the Minister is not with us to-day, and I feel that further discussion of th!~ subject is therefore superfluous until such time as we are in a position to hear from him . Colony. No one anticipates or ex­ pects to find the actual facts and flg­ ·ures there relative to our financial position. That will come later.

It is encouraging and gratifying, however, • to know that we are in a position to round the corner safely as at the enct of the fiscal year June 30th, 1921. l should like to refer to that portion ot this paragraph from the Speech out­ lining the necessity of adjusting our expenditure to our income and !or the practise of rigid economy . I have had the opportunity of visiting several sections of the country recently, and I can safely say that any policy of economy or retrenchment undertaken wm receive the approbation and sup­ port of the country as a whole .

Our financial position to-day ls largely due to the fact that during the years im, mediately following the war the price& of goods and commodities generally were on the upward grade instead of on the downward grade, and business peopl e anticip ating this laid in large stocks and on that account a larger revenue than was normal was derived for the fisca.l year · -ending June 30th, 1920, so that had conditions been nor, ma! the same result from revenue }Vould have obtained at the conclus- M-r.

Speaker , another matter of country wide importance referred to in the Speech from the Throne ls the Labrador Boundary question . I wish first of all to congratulate the Attor­ ney General in having so successfully completed the case for presentation. • ion of the fiscal year June 30th, 1921. I understand this subject has been under discussion for many years, and it is gratifying to all of us to know that we have been successful and that the case is now nearing an end.

We all are awar •e that until this matter is final!zed and adjudicated upon the (l.evelopment of our resources in Lab­ rador must be held in abeyance. We all know the untold possibilities of our water powers, mineral and tim­ ber wealth there and· the great ruture for employment that awaits us in that . .dependency. Then the Speech from the Throne has the usual paragraph addressed to the members of this House with re­ gard to the financial position of the With the decline of prices abroad again must come a decrease of thEi revenues largely derived from ad val­ orem duties.

Again the purchasing power of the people ~vas lessened by the almost absolute failure of the shore fishery and these are largely tht. reasons, Mr. Speaker , why we are go­ ing to experience financial difficulties. I wish to reiterate what I said before, and that is than any policy of economy :which l'he Gov-ernment undertakes will receive the unqualified suport of the country ,' Reference is made in the Speech from the Throne to the passing ot legislation In conformity with Eing­ llsh legislation with regard to the puylng of the German indemnity of

10 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS our share of losses sustained during the wai'. I feel sure that any legis­ lation of this nature which wlll come forward will receive the support of the whole House, as ·we are all anx­ ious to be recouped as speedily all possible for the losses we met and the expenses incurred by our share in the struggle . I desire to congratulate the Hon­ ourabJ.e the , Prime Minister upon his invitation to attend the Imperial Con­ fer,ence in Jun·e next.

I think it Is a sign that although we may be small and Insignificant, we are not over­ looked by the Imperial authorities a_nd that it is only our due right and . priv­ ilege to be represented at the Imper­ ial Conference . I am sure that in the Prime Minister we have an able repre­ sentative; who will at all times ael.• vance and protect the interests of Newfoundland, and see that we re­ ceive our just due. I am ple~sed to note that the Gov­ ernment contemplates passing

an act to amend the Crown Lands Act deal­ ing with ~h,e exportation of pulp­ wood cut for charitable purposes dur­ ing the winter, and I may say that I am personally interested in this sub­ ject. As I said before the shore fish­ ery last ·season was an absolute fail­ ure and to obviate actual starvation the Government was faced with the possibility of having to dispense po01 relief on a tremendous scale or the alternative of providing employment .

After much serious consideration it was decided to allow the cutting 01 pulpwood in the areas su.ffering most, and this was largely the case in cer­ tain sections of the district of St. Barbe. Peace and plenty have been brought to many a home this winte1 ~s a result of this action, where other wise I fear dire distress and destitu• tion mu&t have prevailed. There is another matter referred to In the Speech from the Throne which perhaps inter .ests the members of St.

John's more than those representing outport constituencies, and that is the contemplated passing of a Bill deal­ Ing with delinquent and neglected children in St. John's. This bill ha 0 been drafted under the guicla~c0 and on . recommendation of the Social Council, an organization that has the support of all religious denominations. The bill referred to In the Speech fr, modeled and styled after the English Acts 1906-8 and partly after Acts · of the same nature passed by the Pro­ vincia l Parliament of the Province of Ontario .

I feel that It will be receiv­ ed quite favourably by the whole Hou se, and we anticipate no captious criticism of its provisions. Those of us who have lived in St. John's, even though for a short time, must of necessity have recognised the press­ ing need of passing solll;e sort of legislation giving properly authorized persons authority to deal with delin­ quent and negle cted ch!ldren . It wlll ma!ce for the moral well being of the youth of our city and in the end rea ct to the social benefit of the whole country . In conclusion, Mr.

Speaker, I should like to say that we all ought to take due cognizance of the causes ' for the difficulties confronting the country to-day. We in Newfoundland are only bearing our fair share of the depres­ sion which is affecting the whole world ·as the aftermath of the war. A country like an individual does not live to itself and we cannot have de• pression In the United Kingdom, Can­ ada, the United States and European , count ries , with all of whom we trade and not experience depression in Newfoundland as well.

But I have travelled around the country a great deal during the past year, and I would like to tell the House this · ev.ening, that there is not in Newfoundland to-day anything like the destitution and privation that one might be led to think exists as a resnlt of all one reads and hears. I wish to congratulate the ·Government

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDLNGS 11 of which I am a supporter and a mem­ ber, upon the able manner in which it has grappled with th~ serious situ­ 'ations which have arisen this year. We are passing through a period un­ precedented in the country's history and the Government is indeed con­ fronted with serious problems, but I feel that we hav,e reached rock bot­ tom and that things will be bette1 and brighter from now on.

It may bb with me ·the optimism of youth that inspires this feeling, but I think that · •if we all put aside political difference~ D-nd personal animosity and starid to­ gether in service to the country that we shall very soon see the light of a better day and become more than ever a happy and prosperous country. It therefore, Mr. Speaker, gives me much pleasure to move that a Com­ mittee be appointed to draft an ad­ dress in reply tb the Speech from the Throne. CAPT. GEO. JONES:-Mr. Speaker, I rise to second the motion so ably and eloquently proposed by the Hon, o_rable Member for St.

Barbe, namely that a committee be appointed to draft an Address in Reply to the gracious speech of His Excellency the Gover­ nor at the op.ening of the session. In doing so, I ask the indulgence of the House, while I make a few gener­ al observations regarding the subjects touche.cl on in the Speech, subjects that are vitl to us all. Mr. Speaker, as we mee for the second time under the present Administration, we are confronted with the fact that this Dominion is passing through strenu- . ous and tr"oublesome times; .but, we also realize that those times and con­ ditions are not of our making.

In common with .all the world we have to suffer from the after effects of the war; the period of depression we are passing through is world wide; thing& over which we have no control 'what­ ever have brought about present con­ ditions, all of which goes to prove that we do not llve unto ourselve~, and that our interest is identi~al with the interest of the rest of the world.

Al­ though our llttle Island home is so Insignificant compared with the great world, yet we are part of it, a unit in the general scheme of things, and not only in community llfe, but In nation­ al life, the conditions that prevall so act and react upon each other that our interests become common to all. After all, could we expect anything better than we are getting after a time of wholesale destruction, aftet years of great wantonness and waste, and so many of the world's . producers engaged in that great destruction and carnage instead of production?

Is it to be wondered at that we should be faced with hard times and difficult problems in the way of reconstruc­ tion and bringing order out of chaos and ruin? Shall we not look forward to the time'--we trust in the near fu­ ture--when order has been restored, when the industries and business of the country shall be rebuilt on a more solid foundation than ever before, and out of the seeming evil times that have befallen us, we shall emerge financially stronger than ever before, because neither men nor nations are made in the easy times when every­ thing is going fair and smoothly.

It is in the hard times, the times of ad: versity, when everything seems going the wrong way, when the difficulties we have to contend with call for the very best that ls in _us, when we have to fight for our lives-those ara the times when we develop such qualities as endurance, perseverance, the abil­ ity to successfully grapple with the great difficulties that confront us; so that it often happens that what we thought would bring ruin crushing defeat to us, has in the long run worked for our greater well being and prosperity.

With regard to the Labrador Bound­ ary question it is with pleasure that we learn that steps are being taken • that w!ll speedily bring about a final

12 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS settlement of that long standing dis- • pute. Labrador,· with its vast timber areas, water powers and mineral wealth, developed as it undoubtedly could be, would certainly be a great source of employment for the people, as well as of revenue to the country.

The returns to our people from thl; fisheries last season · were not very satisfactory; •either as regards catch or price; not that the price was small when you compare it with what we used to get years ago, but when you consider the cost · of outfit, as well as the cost or living generally, it was small, so small, that many fishermen found it difficult to pay their bills. I believe that the fishermen profited by the Fish Regulations, by getting, considerably more for their catch than they would have got if there had been no r,egulati9ns.

The action of the Government, in providing for the exportation of pulp wood, I believe to .be a wise one. Surely, this js not a time when it would be advisable to stick to the strict letter of the law, when by giv­ ing permission to export pulp-wooa would provide a means of livelihooa !or a large number of people who, otherwise would be destitute. I feel . sure that In some of the districts where this wood is being cut, the people appreciate the action of the Government in granting this permis­ sion. What would have been done in some places without it, ls hard tc. contemplate.

Surely, it wo~ld be a great thinll, for NewfoundJand if the oil wells that are to be found, could be opened, so that we could. produce our own supply of oil, and perhaps a great deal more for export. Recent operations · have . proven be­ yond any doubt that there are very extensive coal deposits in Newfound­ land, and I can see no reason why coal boring on a very large scale could not be carried out.

So, with all this great wealth lying at our feet, just within our reach, awaiting the investment of capital and enterprise to develop it, there ap­ pea,rs a 'much greater and more pros­ perous future for Newfoundland. With the great wealth · in timber, water power and mineral of Labrador, and the oil and coal deposits of ·New­ foundland, developed as they could ,be, may we not hope that the time will soon come when we shall not be so entirely dependent upon the fisher­ ies for our support.

I trust that the time may soon arriv -e when the fish­ ery, with all its uncertainties of catch and price, will not be practically the only great industry of Newfoundland. In the meantime we must do all pos­ sible to develop our fisheries, be­ cause we cannot get away from the fact that at present we are depend­ ing on them; nor can we neglect the old industry that has been and ls the mainstay of our industrial life.

The coastal and inland transporta • tion service is a very important mat­ ter; it is a very difficult problem to give satisfactory and efficient service along our coast, the people being se, scatter ed, the harbors, cov-es and arms winding in and out, making it almost impossible to give complete satisfac­ tion.

When you get on a coastal or bay boat on some parts of the coast, you find that after a good day's work steaming and landing mail, passen­ gers and freight, you are almost at the same point you were in the morn­ ing, but as time goes on, we are look­ ing forward to much improvement iL this branch of the public s~rvice. It is gratifying to hear the encour­ aging reports from the sealers, and trust they will secure good trips, re­ turn safely, and that the sealing voy­ age will be the beginning of a good and prosperous year for Newfound­ land.

May we not look forward hopefull:i> to the time when the sunshine shun have chased away the shadows, and the · sun of prosperity will. again :shine

HOUSE 'op ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS 13 upon us, and we shall be lvling in the enjoyment of peace and plenty. I have much pleasure, Mr. Speaker, in seconding the motion that a com­ mittee be appointed to draft a reply to the gracious speech, with which His Excellency has ,been please _d to open this session of the Legislature. SIR M. P. CASHIN:-Mr. Speaker, I wish to congratulate the Mover and Seconder of the · Address in Reply to the Speech from . the Throne. The mover indeed I certainly feel that I must congratulate. It strilces me that he was the right man for the job, as be has made a very good case out of nothing.

He was selected by the Government, I presume, for special pleading this evening. Never, Mr. Speaker, since I have had the honor of a seat in u,is Hom,e, was there such an absurd speech read by the representative of His Majesty, and handed down to the House. I know that the gentlemen will bang their heads when I make this statment , but it is perfectly true . What is -there in it? Not a ray of hope, not one statement telling us what has been clone in the past twelve months or what will be clone in .. the next twelve months. It strikes m·e that it is about time for Newfoundland to wake up .

We are here this evening to know something, we are waiting for this House ~o open to tell us the condition of the country, not to come down here with a document like this in an en­ deavor to camouflage it. You arc cnly the trustees of this country. The people in the gallery and the people outside the House are the real rulers of the country; you are only sent here to represent them. Are those the true facts given in that speech to-day . The Labrador Boundary, pit­ props. We don't want to know about the Labrador Boundary.

What is troubling you on the other side of the House is not the Labrador Boundary, it is whether you can get clear with your political perfidies; it is whether you will not have to hand the coun­ try over to England or Canada. I, know you are troubling a lot about the Labrador Boundary. It is a piece or impertience to come down with that speech to this House which is supposed to be composed of Intelligent men.

We are told that this House passed Fish Regulations . last year It is true we dcl pass them, but what happened af.ter they were passed, that is not told, it is too long a story for this evening, but it will be told before this House closes. The Regulations were passed , but they were carried out as passed. We agreed to give them a chance , but we also agreed that if they were not the right and proper thing that they were to be canc elled .

A commission was to be appointed of men of good standing, 1nen who knew the business of the country, and after consurtatlon with the Governor, a proclamation was to be issued appointing these men . Was that done when the House closed last year? I am not going to talk behind the honorable gentleman's back, but I have to mention bis name. Diel he not, ,the Hon. W. F. Coalcer, go to his Department and t,alce charge of the whole fishing indu1,try of the country?, irrespective of everything • ancl everybody else?

How many men from the West and North were ap­ pointed, and how many . fishermen from the city were appointed, and · where is the recommendation that ap­ pointed them. The whole thing, I re­ peat, was taken • charge of by one man · and the story in connection with the matter is, a very long one. ' After the House closed last year the Leader of the Government left the country and left it in charge of that one man ancl clicl not return for four or five months. But we hear nothing in the Speech • from the Throne about that . What are you members doing on the

14 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS other side of the House? The peo­ ple elc.cted you and the Prome Min­ ister to this House to safeguard their interests . In what way wm: the Prime Minister to this House to safe­ guard their interests? • In what way was the Prime Minister looking after the country during his long holiday abroad. And then we are told by Mr, Scammell this evening that there was nol enough fish caught in New­ foundland last summer. Was Mr. Scammell in this House last year when the statement was made by Mr.

Coaker that the more men that went out of ,this country the better it would be for the country, and that the less fish caught the better it would be? Did Mr. Scammell's lead­ er make that statement in this House last year?

Still there are thousands of quintals of fish held by the fisher- the Government of that day was do-. ing was wrong, and we were all blaQklegs and( pira,tes. • Detectivee were brought here from abroad , as everybody kno,vs, to find out the al­ leged wrong-doings and to judge the .o'ut-going government, but there ie nothing in the Speech from the Throne showing bow many went to jail; nor is there anything in the Speech from • the Throne telling the • House what we handed over to the · present Government.

Well, I am go­ ing to tell the· country this evening, thru the reporters' box ; that we hand­ ed over four million of dollars as sur­ plus and that there is not a cent of it in the treasury to-day. · We hear nothing about that in the Speech from the Throne . Now where is that four millions gon e ? In the Prime Mi~)s­ ter's Manifesto and in the Speech from the Throne last year we heard a lot men of the country to-day that are or railw ay work that waa going to be unsaleable . Do _ you know, Sir, that clone. We passed a Loan Bill in this there are over half a million quintals House last year.

After the Prime of fish in this .Colony to day unmark- • Minister had got off a spiel denounc- etecl and some of it will have to be t~rown over the wharves? Mr. Scammell told us something about the North. Yes , thef got a fair price North for fish; but was not some of . that . money wrung from tbe tax-pay ­ ers of this country. He says fish would be only three or four dollars 11. quintal only for the R,egulations. He should have said fish would be three or four dollars ,only for the money v as taken from the treasury and the taxpayers of the country have to pay it back to reimburse the Gov­ ernment.

But there is nothing in the Speech from .the Throne about that Again, there is nothing in the Speech from 'the Throne telling how Labra­ dor fish was sold and paid for. . We were confronted eighteen months ago with the Prime Minister's / manifesto and there was great beat- ing of trumpets and everything that ing the contractors and the railroad · he introduced a Loan Bill asking for one million and a half dollars at six per cent interest, one million of which was to _go to repair the railroad and put it in shape , and a half million for coal. ·Has that money been raioed? Was work done?

Who authorized the work done? When was the work 1 done? Did the House authorize it? Was any measure put before the House to carry on that railway pol­ icy? No; the same thing happened with the railroad that happened wit h regard to the Fish Regulations. Af­ ter the House closed last year a man called Coaker took charge of the whole outfit and he gave the Prime Minister a long holiday. HON. THE SPEAKER:-! have to c_all you .to order. The gentleman You refer to is an honorable member of this House and Minister of Mar-

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS 15 ine and Fisheries and should be re­ ferred to as such. SIR MICHAEL CASHIN:-The man is called Coaker, is he not? HON. THE SPEAKER:-! thinlc it is distinctly out of order. SIR MICHAEL CASHIN:-! dis agree with you, Sir. I stand to be corrected, but Coaker is his name. I w:is going on to ·say that this same thing happened with the railroad a~ with the Fish Regulations .

When the Hous·e closed last year the Prime Minister, the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Agriculture and Mines were given a long holiday and a so­ called Railway Commission was ap­ pointed, the chairman of which was an individual named Coaker. Th ey toolc over the railroad from the con­ tractors who had an agreement with this Colony to run it for fifty years. We are not told anything in the Speech from the Throne about that this evening. What authorized the laking over of the railway and how many people in this country know th e story about it?

I stand by what J have already said that the same thing happened as with the Fish Regula ­ tions. One man took control of the whole thing and took over the rail­ road from the Reid Newfoundland Company, but we have to find out before this House closes the whole story in connection with those trans­ acti ons; we have to drag from the members of the Government how the money was spent and how much it cost the Colony to operate the rail­ road, and why the one million dollars was not raised to pay the bill.

What happened, in my opinion, is that the ~overnment could not raise the money hut took it out of the p11blic treas­ ury , an·d we will find that before the House closes that the Railwr.y policy will cost the Colony from two to two and a half million dollars for the op­ eration of the railroad up · to June 30th next, yet we find a Loan Bill still on the Statute Boole and the money never raised. Now, in view of that, I think I was justified in malting the statement this evening that railroad matter s were handled on the same principle ar the Fish Regulations. Getting back to Mr. Scammell again.

He told us that there was not enough fish caught in this country last summer. Well, all I can say is that Mr. Scammell mu~t • have been out of this Colony for a Jong time. Th ere are a half million quintals of, fish in this country to-night that i!'i un saleable and I know of a number of fishermen who have from ten to fifty quintals of fish each in their pos sessio n and who have to go to th eir neighbor s with hat in hand and beg to try and support their wives and families, and I know of some of them who cannot ·get a barrel of flour ,,dvance cl th em on their fish .

I know that 260 quintals of fish came _into St. John's from my own district by the last train that came over the road, \Jelonging to four or _five fishermen, who were endeavoring to get the wher ewithal to support their families. After tramping all over the town they could not sell a quintal of it, nor could they raise enough money on it to buy a barrel of flour, but thru the kindness of Sir John Crosbie and others , that fish wa6° put in the store of Sir John Crosbie, who advanced the money to those poor people. That fish is still in Sir John Crosbie's store, and Mr.

Scamrnell may have it to-morrow if he wants to buy it, and at a very low figure, too. Still we are told in an entertaining manne ·r here this evening by a supposedly intelli­ gent man like Mr. Scammell , that there was not enough fish caught In Newfoundland last summer. He must be dreaming. Let him go to Water St. and find out how many thousands or quintals of fish there are that can-

16 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS not be marketed. But that is not all. The worst is yet to come. The great trouble is where are we going to get the wherewithal to supply the fish­ ermen the coming year . The Govern­ ment lmo,v as well as I can tell them. The Government to-night is in the worst predicament experienced since Responsible Government was granted us. I make this statement without fear of successful contradiction. There are·. not five merchants in the country to-day ready to supply for the fishery and not one merchant to buy a quintal of fish.

Imagine a man coming here after holidaying all sum­ mer, surrounded by sane, intelligent people, ancl talking now about the La, brador Boundary, under present cir­ cumstances . Why it's a lot of tommy rot. There are parts of the world where, if our financial matters were thus dealt with we would be tied to lamp posts . Cannot we have common sense . We on this side of the House do not want the government, but we want to preserve the independence of the country. We ,vere born here, we live here, and we want to die here. We do not want to see it financially strangled in this fashiion.

As I have already said, when we handed over the government about eighteen months ago there was an overflowing exchequer of practically four millions bf 'dollars, and _ I make the statement to-night for this coun­ try, that when all the bills are paid now b} the present Government not one cent will be le!t. How that money was spent is an­ .other story that will have to be told. Newfoundland to-night is not in as good a position as It was In 1894, the year of the Bank Crash.

Our rev­ enue then was about one and a half million dollars, our expenditure an equal amount and our population was something smaller than it Is at pres­ ent. Now what is the position of the country to-night? Last year the Re­ ceiver General a·sked for $11,400,000 revenue. He estimated expenditure was something in the vicinity of $10,- 500,000. I take it that after putting in his supplemental supply and other amounts that his expenditure will be brought up. to an amount equivalent to his anticipated revenue.

Now where Is he going to get his revenue for this year when the purchasing power of the people of the Colony is , twenty-five or twenty-six · millions of dollar& less than what it was last year. I do not suppose that there was more than five millior..s of dollars paid from fish this year. What are you going to get your revenue on? It is on its purchasing power that a country has to depend for its rev­ enue and if you lessen that purchas­ ing power by forty per cent where are you from a standpoint of . revenue? How are you going to supply for the fishery the coming season?

You have to supply on the .expectation of get­ ting $4 and $G for fish, an average of certainly not more than $5 per quin­ tal, and against that you have flour · !'.t $H a barrel, molasses at $1 a gal­ lon, and everything else 'accordingly, and would you call it a 1 fancy invest­ ment to supply for the fishery under these circumstances? Now, Sir these are but a few of the small proofs of the truth of what I have said this afternoon, and I fear no contradic­ tion to these statements.

It is said that the revenues at the end of the fiscal year will $3,000,000 short, Last year the government asked for eleven million dollars and they have (o get that on a falling market. When we handed over the administration of affairs to the present government the imports were $26,000,000 and now they are reduced to seven, or eight mil­ lions. I think, Mr. Speaker, that it is plain to all we are up against almost insurmountable difficulties. Take, for

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS 17 instance a man who last year had a thousand dollars with which to buy his supplies and this year he goes down with two hundred dollars requiring the same amount of goods . That is· the • position of Newfoundland to-day and it is the first and only time that we have ever found ourselves in that position. To get back to the Bank Crash, the revenue that year was one and three quarter million dollars while flour was three or four dollars per barrel against fourteen dollars now. Molasses was then twent y-five or thirty cents a gal­ lon where to-day it is $1.00 a gallon .

We were then in a pos ition to increase taxation , but are we in the same posi­ tion to-day? Our purch asing power has declined by many millions of dol­ lars and we are . in no posit ion to fur­ ther burden the people. I think that in bringing down this Speech from the Throne the government has made a great mistake. If they told all the facts, they would have a very different story to tell. Now, Mr.

Speaker, it is not my intention to delay the time of the House this afternoon as it is not usual on opening day, but when I read that Speech from the Thron~- I was so disgusted that I could not refrain from making some comment. To get back to the fishermen , where , is he going to get his supplies this spring? Is any sane man going to give supplies for fish that are still • swi,nming in the water? Another mistake was made with regard to our fisheries last season was in the matter of cure. The cure last year was much worse than for any previous year in my remembrance.

Go down arid ask any merchant how much West India fish he hand handled . I know hull­ d reds of men who did not have 500 quintals of Merchantable fish out of 2000. I admired Mr. Scammell when he struck off from the subject and said that he would leave . it to the House; he very carefully avoided go­ ing too far . Now, Mr. Speaker, I hope and trust that the Government still have some­ thing up their sleeves to tell the House and the country as to how they are go­ ing to get out of the mess they are in to-day . Will the Prime Minister tell • us how much relief was asked for during the winter?

The western fish­ ery amounted to practically nothing while the fishermen of Placentia, For­ tune and other districts in that sec­ tion cannot get supplies this season . I hope when the House meets again we will get or perhaps the Prime Min­ ister will get up in his place and give us some information on these points. When we we nt out of power we hand­ ed over a surplus of. some"thing like four millions of dollars with all bills paid. Now take the daily papers and compare the _insolvencies of the past year with those of any of previous year s. We have been told we arc to take off the export duty on pit props .

That's a case of "killing the goose that lays the golden egg ." If that is the onl y thing you will have to tell us. 1 t strikes me that you have a very in­ complete programme . SIR M. P. CASHIN:-I want that to go down through the reporters ' box into history . That was Mr. Grieve's statement . I have decided to wait the next two months and believe that will be verified. I apologize Mr. Speaker if I'm a bit out of order. I congratu­ late the mover of the address and in looking through the government ranks I can see no other who could put it so well, not even the Prime Minister himself. HON.

THE PRIME MINISTER:-! desire to join with the Honourable the Leader of the Opposition in his courte­ ous references to Mr. S'cammell, the member for St. Barbe, who in such an eloquent manner moved for the ap­ pointment of a committee to draft the Address in Reply to the Gracious

18 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS Speech with which His Excellency has been pleased to open the present ses­ sion of the Legislature. He is one of the youngest members of the House and one of the most eloquent. I feel sure every person who heard him this afternoon expect from him much ex­ cellent ·work in debate during this ses­ sion and j1 brilliant political future. Captain Jones, of Little Bay Island, one of the members for the important constitu ency . of Twilling ate, made a most excellent address. He has not had the platform experience which JY\ r.

Scammell has had, but his utterance s bore the hall mark of the firmness of character and sincerity of purpose for which Captain Jones is well known. I heartily congratulate these two gen­ tlemen on their efforts. The observations of the honourable leader of the Opposition on the Speech from the Throne interested me very much , for it gave me an opportunity to judge the sincerit y of his attack. I looked through several of the ad­ dresses he made on public matters last year. I read some of the speeches he made some years ago when he was a bitter antagonist in this House of the Rt. Hon.

Sir Robert Bond, P.C., K.C.M.G., the great Liberal chieftian and successor to the Rt. Hon. Sir Wm. Whiteway . Some of the most vigorous pronouncements he made this after­ noon are practically a verbatim copy of last year's attack . Some of his .vig­ orous attacks upon myself personally arc mild replica of his attacks of a few years ago upon my distingui shed p redccessor. My honourable friend has assured the House that this is the worst speech with which a Legislature has ever been opened.

He discussed the fact that there were many · things in which various sections of the country were interested, which matters were not re­ ferred to in the Speech from the Throne. The fact is there are many matters, some of considerable import- ance, which have no reference made to them in the Speech from the Throne. As a matter of fact, it is not the custom here or in the old country to put a multitude of matters in the Speech from the Throne, but matters of major importance only. My honor­ able friend has ridiculed the idea l)f referring to the Labrador Boundary dispute .

My honourable friend may regard this matter as insignificant and of no importance . Certainly the fact that the area in dispute is estimated at three times ·the area of the whole Island of Newfound­ land is naturally not known to the hon­ ourable member. He frequently boasts that he has spent twenty-eight years in this House, yet he is presumably not aware that area is of any import­ ance to Newfoundland, and the ques­ tion of the ownership of an area three times the size of our entire Island is of no importance .

Sir Michael evi­ dently has the size of mind to ap­ preciate a speech if reference were made to rabbit and deer regulations, and it is a worthless document • if _it does not say whether legislation is contemplated about the closing or opening of a patridge season and does lay stress upon the international _mat­ ter, in the decision of which an area twice or three times the size of New­ foundland is involved . Referring to the Revenue , my friend opposite pointed out that the customs revenue was falling.

I presume he desired to suggest that he was respon­ sible for the large revenues of war years, and I am responsible , for the fact that Customs Returns are now falling. Was not my honourable friend sufficiently long ,jn the Depart­ ment of Finance and Customs to know that our Customs Revenue is depen ­ dent upon an ad valorem duty on im­ ported goods. Inflated 'prices of im­ ported goods meant inflated revenues. We are anxious that prices should de­ crease and • that must mean reduced

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS 19 customs returns. Taxation on the country was exceedingly heavy during the war because of inflated prices . On the inflated price there was put by our system of ad valorem customs reven~es an inflated taxation . Prices are going down; revenue is going down, and the problem of readjust­ ment has to be faced at this session of the House . Taxes during the war were approximately three times as much as before the war. SIR M. P. CASHIN :-! admit that. HON. THE PRIME MINISTER:­ Thank you for that.

Every man is glad to see a reduction of prices but the readjustment of world conditions must necessarily mean a falling in the Customs returns . That's a fact that must be faced. Reference has been made to the Budget of last year. It contained certain figures of expendi­ ture- SIR M. P. CASHIN :-You didn't propose much in your Manifesto . If you ·keep on as you are going you won't be long in power . HON . THE PRIME MINISTER:­ If I keep on as I am going it is evident I will be here a long time.

The esti­ mates of last year were different from the estimates of the year before main­ ly in the fact that they were honest estimates, giving the . salaries which the officials were receiving and not, as the estimates of my honourable friend opposite, the Leader of the Opposition, giving fictitious salaries as voted and saying nothing about the large supple­ mental amounts which a multitude of officials were receiving. In some cases the salaries as voted last year in the estimates were smaller than the sal­ aries which the honourable Minister of Finance, and Customs had been previously paying. SIR M. P.

CASHIN:-Especially the scssional pay. HON. THE PRIME MINISTER:­ The sessional fee was increased at the last session of the Legislature to $1,000. Every member of the opposi­ tion supported the increase. I have not yet heard that my honourable friend, the Leader of the Opposition, returned his cheque because it was too large. As a government we were un­ fortunately situated in finding our­ selves compelled to adopt the inflated expenditure . Some salaries were, as a matter of fact, · undervoted. SIR M. P. CASHIN :-Can you quote one? HON. THE PRIME MINISTER:­ Ycs, Messrs .

Martin and Doyle, the Registrar and Deputy Registrar of Vital Statistics. Their ·salaries were increased in our estimates, but as voted were less than the salaries which they were actually receiving prior to the supposed increase . SIR M. P. CASHIN:-What was your predecessors', such men as Bond and others got less . And then there are your extra amounts besides. HON. THE PRIME MINISTER:-! receive $4,000 a year as Colonial Sec­ retary, and $4,000 as Prime Minister. My predecessor, Rt. Hon . Sir Wm. F.

Lloyd, who was the leader of the party which the honourable the leader of the opposition supported, was Prime Min­ ister and Attorney General. The salary which he received for these two offices • was the sum of $5000.00. As to my salary of $8,000, if the honourable the leader of the opposition will ~sk any one of the s~veral lawyers of his party, he will be informed that my earning capacity as a professional and business man, entirely outside of any political associations, is more than twice that figure .

I am her.e, not be­ cause the office pays me a wage, but because ' it is a joy to fight on behalf of Newfoundlanders against such peo­ ple as constitute the opposition. No prime minister under present condi­ tions or under past conditions could occupy the office and support and maintain himself and his family upon • the income received from public

20 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS l · . • .• •, i , I sources, unless he received money ln the way that some of the honourable members of the opposition received it during the war, namely, beca use of' contractual relationship with the gov­ ernment. The sum of $8,000 a year voted in the estimates as a salary for the Prime Minister and Colonial Secretary is not as great as the amount of money which some of Sir Michael's colle­ agues when he was in charge af af­ fairs drew out of the public _ funds per month. Certainly they drew the money in a w;iy which could not be seen in the estimat~s.

The transaction was o! a contractual nature with the govern­ ment of which they were memb ers. SIR M. P. CASHIN :-Sir Wm. Whiteway and Sir E. P. Morris lived on it. HON. PRIME MINISTER :-Sir Wm. Whiteway and Sir E. P. Morri s did not live on it, nor did Sir Robert Bond or Sir James Winter live on it, I do not know the details of the fin­ ancial affiars of these gentlemen, but I do know that when Sir James Winter who was the leader of the Newfound­ land Bar, Attorney General for many years and prime minister of this country, passed away, his estate was not sufficient to pay his liabilities.

His income was barely sufficient to support and maintain himself in comparative penury for a man of his standing and to educate his children. Sir William Whiteway was another outstanding case, in ,vhich that gentle­ man, who was an outstanding . states­ man, a man whose name is indelibly written in the political history of New­ foundland, after a life of rigid econo-· my, died a pauper, leaving his widow and children practically penniless. The Rt. Hon. Sir E. P.

Morris, when he be­ came prime minister of this colony, was a man of substantial wealth, but when he retired from the position of prime minister, he was a comparative­ ly poor man . Take the case of the Rt. Hon. Sir Robert Bond, it cost him many thousands of dollars a 11ear out of his own personal wealth t; live as prime minister of Newfoundland. Sir William Whiteway was the most la­ mentable case of all. SIR M. P. CASHIN :-You know his friends called him Money Bags White- way. HON . THE PRIME MINISTER:- Quite right.

And they had just :is much reaso n for calling him Money Bags Whiteway ·as you ha,;e for y~ur dis'courtcous reference to me in a similar connection a few minutes ago. Sir William Whiteway was a states­ man and a gentleman, a man who lived the rigid economy, and even then could not lea ve an estate sufficiently large to pro vide his widow with a living in- come.

Before the honourable the leader of the opposition was pleased to interrupt me I was pointing out to this House that the seriousness of the situation which we have in this country is such that the time of this House should not be wasted in lengthy and acrimonious debate on the Address in Reply. This sess ion is called for the despatch of business and not for the display of oratory. As representatives of the people we must looJc the facts fairly and squarely in the face. Our customs revenues are based al­ most entirely upon ad valorem taxa­ tion. Prices have been and will con­ tinue to be tumbling.

That means that our customs revenue has been tumbling , and will so· continue . The late administration found enormous revenues blowing in, because of the increased price of goods, it being upon that increased price of goods that the ad valorem taxation brough~ such in­ flated revenues. Our predecessors made no effort to conserve to New­ foundland these revenues. They in­ creased salaries and expenditures in all directions, and by the building of two new wings to the Lunatic Asylum

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS 21 . and a huge addition to the Sanitarium, placed upon this present government not only the expenses of paying a large share of the cost of the build­ ings which they started to construct, '. but the expense of equipment and out­ fitting of these large additions and of the staff, upkeep , maintenance and supplies. Salaries have been enorm­ ously increased .

A half million dol­ lars of the money which came in easil y in ad valorem duties because of . the increased price of goods w_as scattered around the country as the famous cor­ ruption fund with which they attempt­ ed to secure their return to power in • November, 1919, an expenditure for which not ten per cent. value was given.

As I shall have many occas ions of discussing these various matters dur­ ing the course of the session , I sh all not, on this , the occasion of the formal opening of the House, further deta in you, but I cannot sit down without im­ pressing upon each honourable mem­ ber present necessity for serious con­ sideration of the grave problems which Newfoundland must face in this after­ war reconstruction period. The fact that · we are politicians is a mere inci­ dent to Ne\yfoundland; the fact that we are Liberal or Tory i's also a mere incident to Newfoundland.

The • im­ portant point to Newfoundland is that we are Newfoundlanders, and we per­ form our duty to ourselves, this Cham­ ber and our country only _. insofar as each member of this Chamber, whether Liberal or Tory, devotes hi!l very best effort to the solution of the problems ot the land o! our birth. MR. WALSH:-lVIr .

Speaker, not­ wlthstaudjng -the fact that it is not customary on the opening day to refer at length to the Speech from the Throne, especially by others outside of the Mover, the Seconder, the Leader of the Op1iosition and the· Leader of the Government,' J think this occasion the most important one In • the history of our country and I cannot allow this opportunity to pass without saying a word or two with regard to the seriousn ess of the sit­ llil,tion we find ourselve s faced with. · Before doing so,, however, I wish to associate myself with the expres­ sions of congr atulation which have IJeen tendered the Mover and Second­ er for a Committee to draft an ad­ dress , in reply to the Speech from the Thron e and I would also wish to, ass ociate myself with the r esolutions of sympathy which were so ably pro posecl and sec ondecl by the Leacler, of the Government and my Leader, 'Sir Michael Cashin .

The death of the Hon . Walter Baine Grieve means a distinct loss to both branches or the Legislature . Without attempting to reflect on the ability of any man who holds a seat in either of these Chambers, I think I can truthfullY, say th at the late Walter Baine GrievEl was one of the most brilliant orators 1 th at it was my lot to ever hear speak, in thi s countr y and we have ample , proof s of his great wisdom. If his advice had been taken at the lasG session of the Legislature condition:, , that now exist in .the country to a great extent would not be. By thei passing of the Hon . Mr.

Grieve the merc antile community of Newfound 1 land suffers a severe blow and the district that I have the honour to, r epresent will be one of the greatest sufferers, especially now when OUl) people -are so sorely in need of fin-/ f'.ncial assistance, so -that they may be able to carry on the fishery dur­ ing the coming season.

During the past four or five years we have been call ed upon to record the d'eaths or some • of our mercantile men whom the country could ill afford to lose. 'l'he death of the late John Harve}' was a serious blow, and tha.t fol­ lowed in the I walce of the loss sus­ tained by the death of the late Johll/ S. Munn of Bowring Bros. , then the

r 22 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS Jnss of M'r. Goodridge, whose name was a household word, especially in, I he district of Placentia and St. Mary's, and all of these men and others, including the subject of the resolutions befo're the House are meilj whom the trade of this country can, not • be carried on without. I am glad of this opportunity on behal! of the people of Placentia and St.

Mary's to add a few words to this resolution and through you, sir, I wish to tender to the relatives of the late Walter Baine Grieve, on behalf of the_i people of the district I have the hon- 1 our to represent, as well as on my own behalf, my sincerest sympathy. 1 Now sir, with regard to the Speech J from the Throne, I would first say, tllat I feel sorely disappointed with J the emptiness of this document. It: is not the kind of programme that the people of this country were ex­ pecting at the opening of this Legis­ lature.

There is so little of sub­ stance to be found in this document that one would have to look else- • where to find material that would be worthy of discussion in this Cham­ ber. It has already . been held up to so much and such well-merited criti­ cism and conte .mpt by Sir Michael Cashin that it is almost unnecessary for me to go into detail. One thing; I wish to point out, Mr. Speaker, is that this country ls , now passing through n period of depression and 1 destitution as was never befor _e ex~ perienced in our history.

When the people of this country are given· an opportunity to read and digest the contents of this document, I have no hesitation in predicting that theY; wlll be amazed. It will be poor con­ solation to the tens of thousands of our fellow countrymen who are this very evening perhaps without the ordinary necessities of life, to find out that the Labrador Boundary question occupies a prominent place in the Speech from the Throne.

I-t will be poor consolation to the half hungry men, women and children who are existing to-day in some cases on pauper-dole to know that the Hon. the Prime Minister is drawing down a salary of $8000 per year besides1 pickings and picnics galore; it wm1 be no consolation to the people of this country to !mow that the Hon .. Mr.

Warren, the Attorney General i has commissioned himself to take aJ slice out of the tax-payers of thls1 country for his services in connection; with the Labrador Boundary question and that already according to the Auditor General's report, $20,000.00; has been paid to some seven or e!gh1j firms or lawyers in connection with/ this Labrador Boundary In . my opinion, Mr.

Speaker, this is one or, the worst scandals, one of the most vicious pieces of political graft an<" corruption that has ever been perpet­ rated in this country, and if conditions are allowed to go along as they have1 been in the past eighteen months and expenditures are allowed to be ·made to party heelers, and ignorant inter­ fer ence with the legitimate trade of the country is to be continued by the powers that be, it will be a matter of indifference to the peopl~ of thisi country whether our claim to thl51 disputed territory is justified or whe­ ther Canada wins out in the case be-, fore the Privy Council.

Because illj my opinion before six months have passed our financial condition will b~ such that we will be compelled .to g~ with onr hats in our hands , and O'l!'!j fingers in our mouths so to speak :..nd ple_acl with Canadian statesmen to take us in bolus-bolus. So not. only will Canada get the Labrador but the city of St. John's and every 1 town and village in the country, and every man, woman and child in the country will be owned body and soul by the Dominion of Canada. Mr. Speaker, if it is not the in-, tention to sit tonight I have much

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS 23 pleasure in moving the adjournmeny of the debate. The following Select Committee was appointed, namely :-Mr. Scammell, Mr. Jones, Hon. the Minister of Posts and Telegraphs, Mr. Targett, Mr. Hig­ gins, Mr. Lewis .

Hon. the Prime Minister gave notice that he would on to-morrow ask leave to introduce a Bill entitled "An Act to Am.end the Women's Patriotic Funds Trust Act, 1920." Hon. the Prime Minister gave notice that would on to-morrow ask leave to introduce a Bill entitled "An Act to Amend the Crown _Lands Act." Hon. the Prime Minister gave notice that he would on to-morrow ask leave to introduce a Bill entitled "An Act Respecting the Encouragem ent 'Jf Sheep Farming ." Hon. the Minister of Justice gave notice that on to-morrow he would ask leave to introduce a Bill entitled "An Act for the Protection of Neglected, Dependent and Delinquent Children.

" Hon. the Minister of Justic .e gave notice that he would on to-morrow ask leave to introduce a Bill entitled "An Act to Amend

Chapter 170 of the Con­ solidated Statutes (Third Series) en­ titled 'Of Ma_rine Courts of Enquiry' ." Hon. the Minister of Justice gave · n~tice 'that he would on to~morrow ask leave to introduce a Bill entitled "An Act to amend the Law relating to Lot­ teries." Hon. the Minister ·of Justice gave notice that he would on to-morrow ask leave to introduce a Bill entitled "An Act to Amend the Terra Nova Sulph ite Company's Act, 1!)20." Mr. Higgins gave notice of question. Sir M. P. Cashin gave notice of question. Mr. Moore gave notice of question. Dr. Jones gave notice of question . Mr.

Bennett gave notice of question. Mr. MacDonnell gave notice of ques- tion. Mr. Lewis gave notice of question ·. Mr. Sinnott gave notice of question . Mr. Fox gave notice of question. It was moved and seconded that when the House rises it adjourn until Monday next, April 4th, at three of the clock. The House then adjourned accord­ ingly. MONDAY, April 4th, 1921. The House met at three of the clock in the afternoon , pursuant to adjourn­ ment. SIR M. P. CASHIN :-Mr.

Speaker, 1 I ask the indulgence of the House for the purpose of drawing the attention of the House to a most unfortun ate matter which appear ed in the organ of the government on Saturday · last and of which we desir e to register our dis­ approval. I have here the

article •n question , printed in the Daily Star on Saturday last and which reads as fol­ lows : "GAMBLING FOR A GRAVEYARD" It is with deep sorrow that The Star is compelled to express its opinion on the horrible desecration of the name or Beaumont Hamel by the occupants or Government House. The public re­ members Beaumont . Hamel. With the best blood of our b.o¥s was that field enriched. There is no more precious spot in God's Universe to a Newfound­ lander. With bloody sweat and agony at home has the name been conse - . crated .

After July 1st, 1916, our boys' bodies lay on the oozy soil in the scorching heat and nightly dew and and then became a part of Mother Earth. . Truly, it was earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. No burial was possible. Nature herself provided interment, ·and the roar of battle was the requiem they had. More than a year ago the Govern­ ment arranged through the Depart­ ment of Militia to purchase the entire field and keep it sacred as a bit of Newfoundland in France, in fnct, the

24 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS richest bit of Newfoundland in the world. By what authority then did His Ex­ cellency the Governor have a card and pool party at Government House on Thursday night last to raise money by a big social function and gambling for the purchase of this burial plot? If the Governor felt that the taxpayers of Newfoundland were too callous and poor to provide their own shrine and sacred burial plot, then his action might be pardoned, though because of its nat ure it could never be justified.

The Governor would not have in­ voked the gambling table of Govern­ ment House to provi~e funds for Beau­ mont Hamel if his boy had sunk into the m·oist clay to becom·e a part of mother earth with ~esting place un­ marked and untraceable. Supposing the editor of this paper had no sensi­ bilities and no sense of propriety . Sup­ posing he put up a wheel of fortune and had a dance in The Sar office to get money to bury the body of the Governor's boy. What would the Gov­ ernor think about it ?

What difference is there between that crude illustration of callousness and the action of the Governor in running of a gay function ·with draw poker on terms that all the money won at gambling that night should be used to buy the beloved burial plot of Newfoundland? If money has to be secured by private subscription for this pur­ pose it should be given with prayer and devotion, and not through the excitement, glamour and hilarity of the card room or the ball room, not even if· Government House sets the pace. Let Beaumont Hamel rest in peace. I beg, Mr.

Speaker, give notice of the following Resolution: RESOLVED:-That this House be­ fore · pro_ceeding with the consideration of the Address in Reply, feels called upon to place on record its indignant and forceful protest and emphatic con- demnation of the

article in the "Daily Star" ne~spaper of ~Saturday last en­ titled "Gambling for a Graveyard" This

article constitutes a brutal and uncalled for attack upon His Excel­ lency the Governor, in regard to a purely personal matter and one, which in . the opinion of the House, in no way warrants the criticism directed at it. MR. BENNETT:-Mr.. Speaker, it is my painful duty to rise for the purpose of seconding the resolution proposed by the hon. leader of ·the Opposition. The subject is a most painful one and in my opinion it is desirable that it be ' debated as little as possible. A more unfortunate

article never appeared in ,a local newspaper. Where it emanated from or with what motive it was writ­ ten I ca nnot say, but the fact of it be­ ing in a government organ makes it all the more serious. I therefore, Mr. Speaker, beg to second the resolution just proposed. • HON. MR. FOOTE :-Mr. Speaker, I regret very much that the leader of the ·opposition has thought fit to bring the matter in question before this House. What any newspaper , might do is no matter for this House. :' I was one of those present at the pa/ty referred to and I participated in that session or whatever it may be called .

I brought the matter to the notice of the mem­ mers of the Government and knew no­ thing of it. I don't think it should be brought in here at all and· I would ask the hon. member to withdraw his reso­ lution. SIR M. P. CASHIN :-Mr . • Speaker, I am sorry I cannot see eye to eye with the hon. gentleman. Doctors differ you know, and patients di_e. It is a well known fact that the Prime Minis­ ter is the owner of the paper in which that

article _ appeared. HON. PRIME MINISTER:-That is not true. SIR M. P. CASHIN :-I hear . that for the first time. Everybody beli_eves

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS 25 that you are or at least th at you are the controlling spirit behind it. HON . PRIME MINISTER:-! am a substanti al creditor, that is all. SIR M. P .. CASHIN:-That is mere­ ly splitting hairs, sir. It is well known that you control the Daily Star. HON. PRIME MINISTER:-That does not happen to be the case . SIR · M. P. CASHIN :-',-It is public property all the same that you do con­ trol° it. HON . PRIME MINISTER:-It is not true . SIR M. P.

CASHIN ::;-There is not a man in sound of your voice who does not belie ve that you are the owner or at least · that you have the controlling interest in that paper and many que s­ tion the writer of that article, indeed many are uncharitable as to blame you for it. Then when we come in here and express our disapprovai of this beastly, contemptible treatment of the king's representative a minister of the government gets up and tells us the matter is not one for the house. The resolution has been moved and seconded in the regular ,vay and it will stand. The prime minister admits that he is a shareholder. • HON.

PRIME MINISTER :-1 aqi not a shareholder, and the government knows nothing · of the

article in ques­ tion. I stated that I was me~ely a creditor of the Dail)I Star, as no doubt Sir Michael Cashin is of many similar concerns. SIR M. P. CASHIN:-And still after that

article apP,_earing in the Daily Star, he goes down and dines at Gov­ ernment House Saturday night. He says he is n; t the owner of that pa­ per but he is not in a position to go down and dismiss Dr. Mosdell if he wishes to? Now I don't want to critic Dr. Mos­ dell, he is open to criticism where the war is concerned, and was one of those · who took to the woods when the war was _ on and his paper was closed up for sedition. Then you came out and told the country you would stand by The Star politically and flnancially and your brother member now asks to have this resolution withdrawn. The

article was rotten in every sense of the word. There is no reason to withdraw the resolution and he gave none . It should be the first duty of the House to pass the resolution condemning the

article . HON. MINISTER OF JUSTICE:­ The leader of the Opposition is right in saying he is ,vithin his rights in bringing the matter before the House, bur notice must be given . of question and none was given in this case. ·sIR M. P. CASHIN :-That's . only quibbling. HON. MINISTER OF JUSTICE :-! do not like that remark and it is not so. The rules of the House are there and if you want to debate it-and I say right here that I wish to disassociate myself with the sentiment of the ar­ ticle-you should give notice of ques­ tion for to-morrow . MR.

HIGGINS:-! think you have lost sight of the point and look upon this as a ' vote of censure on the gov-· ernment. It seems th at the govern­ .men! side wishes to take all the claim for loyalty. The leader of the Opposi- • tion instead of moving the adjourn­ ment of the House to discuss the question, as he might have done and as in the practice in England, did ask the indulgence of the House to deal with it. !believe that both sides of the House will go on record in sup­ port of the resolution .

We have every right to demand that this be dealt with at the earliest possible moment and to go on record , as legislators in deplor­ ing it. I think if very unfortunate that this should be asked to be left stand over for debate. None of us desire _to debate it; I have memories of Beau­ mont Hamel that prevent me wishing to discuss it. . As to what paper it is in is only a matter of incident . I should be condemned , in '}hatever pa-

26 HOUSE ' OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS per it might have appeared anq I think we would be unworthy of. ourselves if we failed to go on record as opposed to such an attack on His Excellency . If the desire is to have a dress debate I regret it as there is so much to be said in connection with the matter. In justice to those coming after us we should keep the House clean. This is not a party measur~ and is not raised in a partisan spirit. It is not raised as an opposition measure and it is this spirit I support the resolution . HON . MINISTER OF JUSTICE :-! speak that the indulgenc e of the House .

The paper referred to happens to be an organ of the government but I wish to disassociate myself with the sentiment of the article. When the opposition leader got up he left the impress ion it was a part y measu re as he stated the

article was in the gov­ ernment paper, but I'm glad to hear such is not the case. I don't know what is in the

article but think we should follow the regul ar parliament­ ary procedure and notice be given of the question for to-morrow . The lead- • er of the ·opposition might have ad­ journed the House for consideration of the question but I think it should be left over till to-morrow. MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS: -I would like to express myself in favour of the view of the Hon. Minis­ ter of Justice and before voting would like to have the privilege of reading the

article over. Otherwise I would be voting for so~ething I know noth­ ing about and should like to be able_ to see it. HON. PRIME MINISTER :-1 agree with some of the observations of my learned friend Mr. Higgins ·but dis­ agree with the working of the resolu­ tion and expressions of the leader of the opposition, if a suitable resolution were moveq by Mr. Higgins · I believe it would pass unanimously. It is un­ fortunate that attention was called by the News J!} the morning and The Siar in the afternoon to the incident at Government House. Sir M. P. Cashin tabled the resolu­ tion. HON.

PRIME MINISTER :-1 beg to lay on the table of the House the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General on the accounts of the Colony for the fiscal year ending 30th June, 1920, and also his special report under

Section 33B of the Audit Act. MR. HIGGINS :-! would like to ask the leader of the House if the mo­ tion for the adoption of the Address in Reply to the Speech from the Throne be deferred until to-morrow, till we get the answers to some of the questions asked. The reason for this request is • that anything that I have to asy on the Speech from the Throne, I want to be able to say intelligently , and this I cannot do without some of the inform­ ation asked for in the questions of the previous sittings of March 30th.

Now that the report has been received, I would ask the Hon. the Prime Minis­ ter if this motion might stand until to­ morrow. The information in par.ticu­ lar that I would like to have is in con­ nection with the railway policy. HON. PRIME M,INISTER :-Mr. Speaker, with regard to all questions addressed to myself, with the excep­ tion of Nos. 6 and 7 which have al­ ready been dealt with, the typewritten answers have not yet arrived but will be here some time this afternoon. That applies to Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, No. 7 ex­ cepting statement of accounts, Nos. 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21.

Having been in the reporters' box myself I know the difficulty of report­ ing these answers, and I am therefore having them prepared in writing , and will be in a po9ition to deal with all of them during the afternoon. MR. WALSH 0 :-l\fr. Speaker, hav­ ing already said a word or two in re­ lation to some matters now before the House; having already extended my congratulations to the mover and

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS 27 seconder of the Address in Reply to His Excellency the Governor's Speech) from the Throne and having already, associated myself with the Resolu­ tions of sympathy passed the open- 1 Ing day, it Is scarcely necessary for me to go back over the same ground 1 lmt I also intimated to the House atJ ,the ·opening that I would avail o! th e first possible opportunity to deai at greater length with the very Im­ portant matters that are holding a prominent place in the minds of the people of this country at the present t:me.

Now, I might say at the star~ that I do not at all approve of thei attitude of those Ministers on tho , other side of the House from whom -we have to try and glean all the pos­ sible information we can get, so tha tj we can deal inteliigently with the; conduct of the present administration for the past twelve months. It seems , to me 1 rpat the set policy of the,, papers supporting the Government Is lo attack the members of the Oppos­ ition and hurl at them the vilest kind .of personal abuse so that the:i, may be frightened from asking ques- , tinns that would expose the conduct of their bosses.

But I want to servr notice on these literary assassins thaq :i.uy reference of theirs in 'the public; press will not prevent me from turn -,. ing the searchlight on th ecations or the Government for the past eight ~ cen months. When I asked a ques­ tion yesterday, a question · that in my opinion is one of the most important that will possibly be put on the ordelj paper, I am the subject of a bitter, attack through the columns of th~ Evening Advocate, the official orgaIJi of the Hon. Mr. Coaker and his asso• ciates in the F. P. U.

The question referred to was as follows:- "I give notice that I will on to­ morrow ask the Hon. tqe Prime Minister ' in the absence of the Hon. Minister of Finance to lay on the table of the House a statement showing If the F. P. U. or any of its, subsidiary ·-companies , owe any money for bonds at the Custom House. " 'J'o-day when I took up a copy of the Advocate I was unmercifully at­ tacked because . I had dared to ask sueh a duestion. Whll'st I have nq' personal desire to enquire into the private affairs of any private con­ ce rn, nor have I any desire to in an:i, way inju_re the legitimate actions o& the F.

P. U., or any of its companies. r hav e also a desire and a firm de­ cision that I am going to safeguard in so far as I can the interests of the other sections of the country that a re not represented in this House by the F. P. U. nor its officia ls. No 11anc man can argue that the F. P. U. can be regarded as a private enter­ priz e. It must be conceded by all . int elligent people that the Fishermen's Protectiv 'e Union is the biggest politl• ral and mercantile corporation that Newfoundland has ever had.

As fo:r its political powers one has only to look across the House and there you can find eleven men wh9 came _here r epresenting the business and finan- 1 <:iul interests of this corporation and j it is for ,this reaso ·n and this reason . alone that I must demand to have an:i, questions that I have ·to ask in ref­ erence to this organization answered promptly. !notice by ,the AuditOI) General's report . that $500,000 was taken from the ·treasury and handed over to the Hon. the Minister of Marine and Fisheries, who is Presi­ dent of the F. P.

U. and Managing Director of its commercial enter­ prizes, (o be used in the purchase ot fiRh. The motto of the official organ of Mr. Coaker is "Suum Cuique" . which means equal rights to all. Well Mr. Speaker, I ask you in all Reriousness, is this practising the doctrine or equal rights? This $500,- 000 was a. part of the surplus left by_ the Govemment of Sir Michael Cash-

28. HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS in. It was owned by the tax-payers of this country, no particular sect!oni of them . The men of Placentia ana· St. :Mary's Bays, the men of Fortune Hay, the men of Burin District and the men of Conception Bay and the pl!ople of this city had just as much claim on the Treasury of this coun­ try as had the men who are represent­ ed by :\'Ir. Coaker. But the Hon~ ~Iinister of Marine and Fisheries, whom nobody would dispute is the. dictator and who was acting Prime Minister in the absence of the Hon. 1 Mr.

Squires last year, was apparently \ given carte blanche by the Execu~ tive Government to handle this $500,- , 00t)as he saw fit and then when one comes In here and from his official place in this House makes a query as to the · expenditure of the moneYJ he is held up to ridicule by a

section of the press. I find that a large amount of that money was spent to1 pu~·chase fish from a certain

section of the Island. I deplore the attitude} of the Members of the Governmen~ who are not representing F. P. U.• constituencies, who will sit by and allow the interests of the districts they represent to be sacrificed. I am sony to make this stateme_nt that we have in the distrjct of Placentia and St. Mary's to-day no less than 20,9001 quintals of fish which at the pres­ ent moment you could not get twenty cents a quintal for · and the poor fish- . crmen who had to toil from morn to night to procure that fish have had to appeal to the Commissioner or, Public Charities .for support.

During , the seven years that I have had the honour of a sea.t in this House as a, n•presentative for this important dis­ trict to my certain knowledge there was not altogether during these seven y,ears $700 worth of poor relief sent: t.o the district, but unfortunately with­ in the past two or three months there has been thousands of dollars worth of provisions doled out in the usulil way. It is a stigma that the people of this historic old district abhor and resent. It is a stigma that wa!! placed upon them not by their own' actions but by the insane legislation or an incapable administration.

If the men who are holders of this fish were able to market it as theY) would have been able to do had the1 trade not been interfered with, they would be in a position to-day to be. able to outfit for the coming season. 1 But it is ancient history now what ha s happened to our foreign markets and I doubt if the tens of thousands of quintal s of fish bought by Mr. Ccaker from his friends and from himself in some cases and in the • districts which he politically con, trols at the present moment will be, ever utilized as an

article of food.\ By bull-headed interference and un-, diplomatic actions the Italian market has been destroyed and this fish, which is a perishable article, is now lying around St. John's in stores andj with the warm weather approaching, J predict that by the middle of the summer it will have to be shovelled out and carted away to some of the farmers in and around St. John's. The whole proceedure -is a piece of vidous class legislation and I predict, that when .the people of this country find out what has really happened ther ,e will be an uprising.

If for _ no other reason -than this, it is quite suf- 1 ficient that the present administration will go down in history as the most dishonest and most in competent ad­ rninis"tration that ever controlled the affairs of this country. It may be alright for Mr. Jennings or Mr. Coaker or any other Hon. gentleman who holds a seat in this House to do their best for this particular con­ stituency but. the other sections of the Island should not be sacrificed . All I would ask for is a. square deal . and as the Fishermen's Advocate says "to every man his own." But the

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS 29 attitude o[· the Government in con-. nection with this fish business is not in accordance . with this motto. Per­ sonally I have nothing but respect and 1 sympathy for any number of the fish­ ermen who banded themselves to-. g(,ther for the betterment of their homes anrl surroundings. I am in, sympathy with the F. P. U. as an or-. ganization if its activities were con­ fined to the original intention, but when the F. P. U. or any other cor-; porat oi1 tries to control the Govern- . ment of the co~ntry then it is about time for someone to step in and say "tliou shalt not pass." Mr.

Speaker: What the - fishermen and laboring men of this country are interested in at the present time is what is the Government going to do to find employment for the tens of thousands of our people who are to­ day alarmed at the serious situation. They want to know what programme the Government has to relieve the tension.

They want to know what proposition the Minister of Marine and Fisheries has with regard to the prosecution of the cod-fishery the coming summer; they want to know wliat is the Government's program­ me for the opening up of new avenues of employment which are daily referred to in the . papers sup­ porting the Government and which were outlined in the Manifesto of the Leader of the Government when he appealed for votes.

The public are anxious to know what ·is being done with regard to Bell Island, 'and whether that antagonistic spirit which I presume is responsible for the tying up of this important indus­ try, is still in evidence. I say it is the duty of the Leader of this House and every individual member in the House irrespective of where his desk may be located, to see that· these matters are ventilated properly. Cheap personalities and camouflage should be abolished. Every question that is being sent across to the Gov­ ernment benches by . the . representa­ tives of the Opposition is a fulfilment o! our duty.

We are here as the safety valve of the whole machinery which operates the Government and the country who are watching our actions today and are demanding that our queries be answered by the prop­ er men. · It is quite tn;e that these questions sometimes cause' bad feel­ ing ·and uneasiness in the ranks of the Government, but we care not who is hurt. We are bound to do our duty .

If the members of the Govern­ ment did not regard these queries as being detrimental to ,a continuation of their rece1vmg high emoluments, they would have freely handed back answers, but it is because they know that the country is determined to know the true situation that they are complaining about our questions. But the public know and the Ministers of the Government know that there is sufficient ability on this side of the House to be able to force the infor. mation no matter how much the Gov­ ernment supporters may wriggle.

Yesterday for a few • minutes I dealt with one or two subjects that I found in the Auditor General's Re­ port. I also dealt with the Labrador Boundary question; I cio not propose to deal with it any further this ses­ sion. I found an amount in the Aud­ itor General's report paid to the Price Waterhouse Company of $10,- 546. I presume this Company is the • expert auditors who were brought down here a little while ago so that they may be able to turn the X-ray on the actions of Sir Michael Cashin, ,.Sir John· Crosbie, Mr.

Woodford, · the ex-:tyiinister of Public Works, and other gentlemen who were associat­ ed with them In the late Government . It is _quite alright apparently to spend $10,000 to compile a report to try to put one of tliese gentlemen in an aw}cward position. They never

' 30 HOUSE OF AS.SEMBLY PROCEEDINGS did hope lo · convict any of these gentlemen and send them to prison as they published broadcast through their filthy papers, but they thought they might be able to · get something which would be sufficient to belittle Sir Michael Cashin and his asso­ ciates in the eyes of the public; and the result ls. that the tax-payers ot this country are called upon to pay . $10,000 for this report, and the re­ port itself is one of the best possible compliments that could be paid Sir Michael Cashin and his associates for their honesty, integrity and ability during their term of office; and the men who were responsible for these dirty insinuations, the men who were responsible for bri~ging thei;e sleuths from America to this country to make this report are not possessed of suf­ ficient manhood to get up here in their place in this House and apolo­ gize to Sir Michael Cashin and his associates whom they so foully charg­ ed.

When Sir Michael Cashin and his Government went out of office in 1919 their story, Mr. Speaker, : had been told several times and :.in several places, but I think the time is quite opportune to repeat this story from my place in the House. I say when Sir Michael Cashin went out of office in November, 1919, he handed over to the Exchequer of this country the magnificent sum of three and a half millions of dollars as a surplus. He handed it to the Hon. Mr. Brownrigg, who, by the way, I regret, is absent from his place in this House .

I regret that he escaped my memory on the opening day, and if I may be pardon­ ed, Mr. S'peaker, I would avail of this . opportunity to express my sincere re­ gret at his absence, and I hope and trust that the time is not far distant when my hon. friend will be restored to his former good health; Though the Hon. Mr. Brownrigg and myself have agreed to disagree so far as politics are concerned, I regard him as an honorable man, and I regard him as a good citizen. We all hope that before the session is very' far advanced that he may be able to take his seat. To get baclc to the matter I was speaking of, Mr.

Speaker, I say that the ·enormous sum of three and a half millions of dollars was handed over by Sir Michael , Cashin to his suc­ cessor, the Hon. Mr. Brownrigg. This money was given in trust for the people of this country, to be put aside fo~· the unfortunate rainy day which any man with the slightest sense of vision or foresight could see must be the inevitable outcome of the termination of the Great War. · The present Government, under the lead­ ership of Hon. R. A. Squires, went to the country in 1919, and they present­ ed to the electorate a very attractive programme .

I have a copy of the Manifesto in my hand, and after per­ using it very carefully, I cannot blame the larger number of people all over the Island who spontaneously responded to the appeal sent out by the Leader of Government. I say, sir, that this little document, if it wer(l written, as I have no doubt it was written , in sincerity, could hardly fail t.o secure sympathy and :mpport. Were any of the promises embodleu in that Manifesto carried out?

I say no, Sir: Despite the fact that the sum of three and a half millionc: of dol­ lars that was earned by Cashin and his associates 1.nd han\led over to Squires and his 1ssoclates and used by the Hon. Mr. Squires and his fol­ lowers in most caoes for their own personal benefit. So far as I can see there has been no attempt made to carry out any of the claims contain­ ed in q11s Manifesto. In thts l~ttle ·book . a very attractive policy is out­ lined. ·The wisdom of being conserv­ ative with regard to public expendi­ ture is interestingly portrayed: tne erection of public utilities in variou:1

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS 31 parts of the count~y whi.ch requires them is promised. Increai:;ed votes for public charities and all the vari­ ous subjects dealt with in this Mani­ festo were entitled to sympathy and support of the country, if one bell w­ ed that the man who made them .i11r intended to carry out his promise:;.

I do not care to unnecessarily J.J, c­ lang the business of the House, i:Ju•; "! would say before going any fur~her that I have no fear of what construc­ tion may be put upon my attitude by those who are anxious to injure me, politically or otherwise; but I have sufficient interest in the people wJ10 sent me to this House to show up as far as I can the misdeeds and broken faith of the Hon. the Leader or the House and his associates. With this intention in my mind, Mr. 'Speaker, I wish to review for a few minutes the actions of the Government during the past eighteen months.

Let us ex­ amine how conservative were those who had charge of that three and a · half millions of dollars which was llanded over to the Treasury by Sir Michael Cashin when he relinquished power in November, 1919. Let us see how conservative the present Gov­ ernment was with his political friends and supporters. , Let • us see how honorable the present Government has been with regard to the poor widow and the orphan; with the old, wom- • out fisherman or farmer, or cooper, or miner-with the poor man, no matter .what his calling may be.

A prominent place is to be found in the Manifesto for promises that every .old worn-out fisherman would re­ ceive the pension . Sufficient money _ is promised to give every old man who has passed his three-score and ten, fifty dollars each. Not only this but the Hon. Mr. Squires went one better than Sir Edward Morris, to whom, by the way, this country is en­ debted for this pension scheme; Mr. Squires in his Manifesto promised that no matter what the age or the person if he were incapacitated by sickness or infirmity and were in need, they would be entitled to this pension.

Not only this, but besides giving the pension to old worn-out fishermen , old women who required assistance would be also given a pen­ sion. The fee of the widow and the orphqn was to be largely increased. There is op.ly one answer, Mr. Spealc­ er, in my opinion, to these promises made by the Premier: no attempt has been made to give to the poor old worn-out fishermen this well-earned recompense for their long and faith­ ful services to their country. Down in the office of the clerk in charge of this department you· will find hun­ dreds of applications from fishermen all over the country.

The office is worn out from the visits of represent­ atives and clergymen and other friends who go there to secure the aid of Mr. Woods to try and get this pension for those poor old men. But they are met with the answer · that there is no increased grant and those three and a half millions of dollars have been squandered • on wildcat schemes and picnics and the poor old worn-out fisherman is allowed to die in hunger and want. This promise was made deliberately to catch votes and now when no election is pending no consideration is given to these poor men. I do not care, Mr.

Speaker, to bur­ den the House with a perusal of the Manifesto at this 0 particular time. We will have ample opportunity to deal with the broken promises before the close of this session. I thinlc that the burning question at the present time is the financial condition of the country, and · what has brought that condition about. I think the matter of Government purchase of fish is perhaps one of the most serious questions that we are confronted with and one of the most important mat.

32 HOUSE ~ OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS ters that we as an Opposition as well as representatives of the Government in this House will have to contena with this session. I thinlc perhaps that I may be pardoned if I again re­ vert to this important subject. It • seems almost incredible that a Gov­ ernment which has as its Pi:ime Min­ ister a ~epresentative of the city of St. John's, the Receiver _ General also representing St. John's, the Hon. Minister of Shipping representing a Conception Bay constituency, the • Hon. Minister of Education, repre­ senting Harbor Grace with a seat:'•in the Executive Government, the Hon.

Mr. Foote another Executive Member representing ·the important fis~g district of Burin, which embraces Grand Bank, Fortune and other im­ portant shipping centres, the Hon. the Attorney General who represents the old historic district of Fortune Bay which is one of the most import.. ant banking centres in the Island, and the district of Burgeo and LaPoile represented on the Government side of the House; I say it is almost in­ credible that these hon. gentlemen will allow half a million dollars of public money to be handed over to the Hon.

Minister of Marine and Fish­ eries to be manipulated by him in the interests of himself and his poli­ tical associates and the commercial enterprises over which he presides at a great sacrifice to the other sections • of the country which I have named. I may tell you frankly, Mr. Speaker, that if I were a member of the Gov­ ernment and such legislation was· at­ tempted, I would immediately resign my seat. Whilst I am ·prepared not only to give but to assist tn securing for the districts that are represented by F. P.

U. men 100 per cent. of what ls due them, I am not prepared to allow them to get 1 per cent. more than their due. I think this is a sound principle, and it is a principle which I have no doubt would be en- dorsed by the Hon. Mr. Coaker were he present in this House this after­ noon. In the early part of November when I heard that Government assistance was being given to a certain section, I wrote a letter to the public press over my own signature and denounc­ ed such a procedure.

In one para­ graph of that letter I claimed in the following words: "If Government assistance is to be given to fishermen, it must be coun­ try-wide. The men of Placentia Bay, St. Mary's Bay, Conception B~ or any other

section of the country have an equal claim on the Treasury of this Dominion, and unless the same privilege is extended, the same pro­ _portion and assistance given to all fishermen, no Government · should be allowed to vote one dollar in the House of Assembly that would be a discrimination against any particular

section of the Island." I think this is al&o a sound prin­ ciple . If ft is correct that the Hon. Minister of Marine and Fisheries has · been given half million of dollars of the people's money. to purchase fish from any particular

section of the country, the offence is of -such a na­ ture~ that His Excellency the Gover­ nor should immediately demand his resignation. If this is- not Star Chamber ' legislation, then I do not know what is meant by Representa­ tive Government. The man who would sit at an Executive Board and allow this discrimination against the . men who sent him to this House to safeguard their interests, is in my opinion not fit to represent any con­ stituency.

Where do the electors of and fishermen ' of the District of Ferrylnnd come in for their propor­ tionate part of that halt mlllion dol­ lars? \\There do the electors of Bay de Verde, which js so ably represent­ ed by the Hon. Mr. Cave, who draws a salary of $5,{)00.00 from the tax-

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS 33 payers of this country, and his col­ league, Lieutenant LeGrow , our lat­ est agricultural expert, who draws a salary of $4,000.00 ; I . ~ onder if the people of , Bay de Verde who honored these gentlemen with their votes have received their proportionate part of that $500,000.00. I wonder if my gal­ lant friend Mr. Small, who is ably r~presenting the District of Burgeo and La Polle , has seen to it that the fishermen of Burgeo and La Polle are to get their proportionate part of this money. I feel sure that my friend the Hon. Mr.

Foote has seen to it that Burins interests have been safe­ guarded. There is a story going around that at least one of the representatives for Conception Bay, Mr. Gosse , has been successful in sell!ng his fish tn the Government at a fair price . Of course I feel sure that Mr. Gosse saw to it tl!at the fishermen of bi& con­ stituency who placed him in the House of Assembly sold their fish also at just as good a price, and it is a pity , Mr. Speaker, that the Hon. Messrs. Cave and LeGrow, the Hon. Mr. Warren and Mr. Foote, Messr;;.

Gosse . and Barnes and their assoc!. ates did not possess sufficient lib iH'­ ality in their make , up to do unto others as they would others do to them. They should have remembered th'at there are just as good men liv­ ing in the districts that are not rep .­ resented by the Government side or the House as there are in these dis­ tricts that are so represented. They should havll remembered that the men of Placentia Bay, Trepassey Bay, St. Mary's Bay were just as much en. titled to this Government protection or assistance as the people of their own districts.

Now I am presuming that these gentlemen who represent Western districts have seen to it that the whole expenditure did not go to the North, but I have been told that s·uch Is the case. I met a gentleman this afternoon who comes from For­ tune Bay district , which is represem.­ ed by the Attorney General. He told me that there is a , large amount of fish still on hand In sections of For • tune Bay and that not one dollar of Government money was paid for any fish in that

section so far as be knew. Well , if this is so, it makes the case ten thousand times worse against these representatives who are not fol­ lowers of the Hon . Mr. Coaker and his politi cal organization. The amount of ~oney involved in this expenditure is so large, Mr. Speaker , and the principles invol ved of so much Im­ portance to the future conduct of this Legislature, I think that the matter is of too much importance to pass over lightly. It is ;n my opinion absolute proof that we ran never again have in tb/s countr y Governm ent of the people, for the pe:ople and by the people, whil'st the Hon . Mr.

Coaker or any nth er Hon . man is weilding such large influenc e_ in the affairs of the Gov­ ernment . I have no objection to· the people of the North getting their share of what is going. As a ma,tter of fact I have a certain amount of spe­ cial sympathy for some of the North­ ern districts . I spent sixteen years of my life in the North and, perhaps know as much about conditions there as most of the Hon . Gentlemen on the other side of this House. I had the honour to be a resident of a part or the district of Twillingate for sixteen years .

Naturally having spent six- · teon years of my life, closely asso •. ciat.ed with my fellow residents there r know something about conditions. I have nothing but sympathy for the people of that" district or in fact any,, other district, but I believe that my Hon. Friend the Minister of Public Works has so ably and well repre­ sented the district referred to is broad-minded enough and honest en-, ough to admit that when the expen- .

34 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS diture of half million dollars is made that th el people of the south , the west . 2n d the East are just as much en- . titled to the'l'r share of it as the peo-, 11le of the north. I believe that my friend, ;\fr. Jennings will agree with this principle.

Personally if I were rl?presentlng the no:r,th that would be my attitude and I want to state here that if I had been holding a place in1 the Government when this ~xpendi­ turc was authorised _by the Govern- , ment to the district which was not represented in the Government re-, quired the encouragement and pro­ tection that was being offered to my district and the representative of that dist rict came to me and asked me to. m;e my influence to relieve the sit- . uat.ion that existed in his district l would be qute prepar ed to see that equal rights was given to all dis- . tricts or I would be no party to this cla ss distinction and I further be-1 lieve that if the members of the pres ~ cut Government had been consulted , before this monstrous piece of cor-1 rnption was perpetrated there are men I think on the other side of the\ H0use who would not stand for this , Legislation.

They would not be sat-. 'isified to hand to one man half mil- 1 lion dollars to be spe.nt as he wished for his own interests and for the in7 terests ,1f the Companies that he, was financially interested In. It is in' my opjnion the duty of the Mem­ bers of this House to denounce and condemn in the strongest possible . language this spending of public money by any Individual or any cor-, poratlon when it is at the expense cf other sections of the country. The Hon.

Minister of Marine & Fisheries is we all know, human, ' he is only au ordinary human being li!ce most of us, he is to be complimented upon the success he has met with in re, gard to the formation of the F .P.U. But I think it is fortunate that Mr. Coaker and his F. P. U. enterprizes should have such political power which in my opinion is detrimental to, the best interests of a free Govern­ ment.

Whether he is Leader of the GovernmE•nt,Attorney General or whe­ ther in the Government O!' not, whll'st he controls in this House eleven , seats he is seriously interfering witbj the principles of repr ese ntative Gov­ ernment. The present Government will never be of the people, by the peop le and for the people whil'st any, one man controls eleven seats in .this Honse, whil'st any man who ·so con­ trols is head of a corporation or the magnitude of the F. P. u. I SYIU ; pathis e with the Leader of the House 1 because of the unfortunate position in wh.ich he finds him self.

I do not bElieve that the Leader of the Gov-1 crnment was the introducer of that minute of council which hands over 1,alf · million dollars of public money,, to be spent at the wish and whim of i\Ir. Coaker and his associates. I be­ lieve if the Leader of the Govern -; rnent found himself in the lead of aJ party affiliated with the F. P. U .. Reid Nflcl. Company, Grand Falls, Bell I~land or any other corporation he would not be a party to any such tl'·ansaction. It Is common knpw­ ledge what led up to· this unfortunate expenditure. Everybody is familiar with .the doctrine preached by the President of the F. P.

U. and his as- , sociates during the past eight or ten years the price of fish is what Mr. Coaker makes it, the law of supply ancl demand has been relegated to the \;:;.ck-ground and the price of fish ls nothing more or less than Coaker makes it. This was in the days be­ fore my friend the Hon. Minister ot Marine and Fisheries had this title p ,~ccd before his name. I am sorry that the Hon. Gentleman is not In hi~ seat and no doubt I will be .toll'!. to-morrow that I availed of this op-. purtunity to attack Mr. Coaker in his absence, but if he is not in his place

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS 35 i1:. this House it is through no fault of mine and he is not absent from this House on any mi_ssion that I am responsible for. It is his duty to bei here and I am not going to be cle­ ba rred from making the reference that I intend to make his public actions by his being absent. I say sir, that when the Hon. · Mr. Coaker was plain Mr. Coaker, President of the F.P.U. we used to have the price of fish dished out in this Chamber in all kinds of ways by this gentlemen and 1• his followers. We used ,to have it in this House for breakfast. dinner anrl supper.

When the price was high , it was that Mr. Coaker made it, but now that the price is low it Is . because of the hanger-clowns, the wnoden heads, who are represented by Cashin, Crosbie and the rest of us, who are associated with these gentle­ men on this side of the House. It is now ancient history that last autumn the men of the North who were guar- . (l.nteecl they would be given $10 for fish came on here to St. John's In large numbers, they found that they , had been fooled and that there was . no · such price offering.

They held public meetings here in the city and passed resolutions condemning the action of Mr. Coaker and his as­ sociates. The result was that Mr. Coaker and his associates became scared and he was forced to use the powers that he held in the present Government to force through the Ex­ ecutive Council a minute or arrange­ ment whereby he would be able to, come to the rescue of his followers whom he had deluded, arrangements whereby he would be able to keep 01 nearly keep the promises he had made them, the whole

section of the coast from Baccalieu to Cape John. It was then that the Hon. Mr. Coaker and his associates had placed 1 before them in no uncertain way that . the price • of fish was controlled ab­ solutely by supply and demand. There is no doubt in my mind, Mr. Speaker, knowing the ability of Hon. Friend . both in business and in •poJl.tics thatJ half a mlllion dollars will be spent to the best advantage of Mr. Coaker . and \he F. P. U. both polltically and commercially. Before leaving this subject I wish to again enter mYJ strongest protest against this travelitY) of public funds.

Is it not reaping the whirlwind when we find the people on the verge of revolution. How can they be blamed. The attitude of the Government with regard to this trans-; action is only in accord with their actions with regard to ~very public matter they have dealt with. Tn sea• son and out of season, through the public press and from public plat­ forms the Reid Newfoundland Com­ pany was denounced by the leader ; of the Go~ernment and by the Hon .. Mr. Coaker and their as~ociates I who claimed and shouted persistently that if ever they were given power they would see to it that the Reids were made toe the line.

After all not a1 few will believe this and It gives 3j ring of sincerity to the argument51 handed out by the Daily Star as to :rutting the Relds iri their proper place. The country will unfortunate- , ly find that these people who made these statements, .the Leader of the Govr.rmncnt who sandbagged the R11id Nfld. Co., from his • place in this • House a short year ago, the Hon.

Minister of Marine & Fisheries who through bis paper and in every con­ ceivable way attacked a!J.d denounced the Reids and all associated with them are the very men who have f'candalously betrayed the trust or the people and have relieved the Reids from all the obligations to this cou~try and have placed further bur­ dens of taxation which I am afraid will be the last straw that broke the ' camel's back. No sooner was this House of Assembly closed last ses­ sion, th\3 ink was scarcely dry which

36 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS reported the • famous . denunciatory s11eech against the Reids that the 1•\xecutive Government met in solemn conclave and entered into an agree 7 ment with neid Nfld. Co. which will cost the taxpayers of this country, millions of dollars. To-morrow I ,vill be told by members on the op-, posite ~ide of the House or through the Press that I am taldng advanrt­ age of th e abs ence of the Minister or i\'larine and Fisheries to vilify him. , I am not doing so. I told the Honi.

Minister from my place in this House one year ago that I was prepared to give him a chance and a.Jso serv ed not.ice on him that if I discovered that he was attempting to treat the peopl e, false I would have no hesitation in calling a spad e a spad e and I would not be deterred from denouncing, him In the strongest language at my disposa l if I found him acti ng dis 0 honestly by the people.

I owe no allegiance to any newspap er, I owe no allegiance to any <;orporation or political organiation or no man inside or outside of this House, but I do owe . ailegiance to 20,000 people who reside in th e d/strict I repres ent and sent me to this . House to safeguard .thei17 interests and while I hold my health 1 and str ength which is fairly good1 at the present moment, barring my1 hP:tring, I will do all I can to de­ fend the rights and priv-ileges which\ in my opinion are being at the pres- 1 cot moment by the present Gover