PROCEEDINGS OF THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY DURING THE FIRST SESSION OF THE TWENTY-SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NEWFOUNDLAND 1909. EvitNING HERALD, Lrn1'rnn Prescott Street, St. John's, Newfoundland. 1913 •

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PROCEEDJNGS OF TH:2. HOU E OF ASSEMBLY OF NEWFOUNDLAND M10NDAY, May 3'fsf, f 9'0'9. His Excelfency SIR WILLIAlVI l\:IacGREGOR, Knight Gr'an~:I Cross of the lVIo·st Distingulslied Order of Saint Iviichael and Saint GeoTg·g, eompanion~ of t·he M:ost Horrourable <D~der 0f the Bath, E>octor of Medi .. cine, Go·vernor and Command 1er-in­ Ch ief in and 01rer the. Island of : :e .. 1 ~: 0 . .-~ndla.!1d and its.

Depen.den .. cle;.3, .by his !Proclamation bearing date the Tenth D "ay of" April last, navin · g di.ssolvetf the~ la.t~ · Gen­ eral Assem bl~, and by ·liis , I?roclama­ tiolli bearing. dat. e. the · "Bentlli Day of April last . cal.le& a;. n.e.w o.ne; and by .his Proclan1ation bearing date the Eighteentli Day of May in­ stant, having appointed il\foncfay, tlie 'Pliirty:..First Day of May· instant, for the meeting of the said fleneral Alss.-embly f!on the.: d!E!spatch\ e~ ·llusi­ ness, the following are th-e names of the memhex.s , i1eturned~ b~ the r.eturn­ ing officers of the several electoral! districts. t0: ireDi=.esent the said dis­ tricts 1in the Gener~ .

A.ssem.bly,: .- List of !J{ embers returned to serve in the House o/ Assembly., . .JJ.909 ... ,:-- Hon~ Sir Edward P. Morris, John R. ff ennett and Michael E. Kennedy, FllJClUfres.. · St .. , .to · Western Dwision· .Famew M:. ~ent, George ), SBea md 1909. Jehin: IDwy er.~ ltsqui.1-~-S- lo hn•· £:.astern Divisicn; Wil.liam Woodford and John J. Mu·rphJ!, Esquires Harbor Main; Willia:m R.. Warren, Esquire­ .Ito :rtrd:e-G.r.a..ve; Ara.h1bald W. Piccott, , Al.f:i:etl H. ·S'eym!011r & d (EJdward Pa.If.'Sons, Es­ q. 1 Jil!e s F.1 ar·be· r Grace; J 'oil1n R.· 1Goodison, Esquire · - Carb ·onear; Hon.

John Crosbie and Jesse Whlteway, Nsquire Bay de -V er'cfe ;. R. Anderson ~quites·, Esq'ti'l~, H'on. Robert · Wa:rson .. and Eawl\r · G. a·rant, :EJsq·uire Trinfty; Hon. £):dney Blandtor~ William ~ WinsOD,. Esvi.ir..~ . an Iilon . Do M<l.riso~B. ona.lfi$.t4\;, Heney J · . Eal'le;. Es4ni-rs: Fo · ,, Rb. Bon. Sir Jto b~llU. B<ntd~ • .Mugutstn& · €lift and <Jetfirge go~', ms'(! uires--'11wil~ing~t~. , .. Wi'llinm M. Clapp, Es·qutre ~­ Barbe; . Joseph F. D-owney, Iilsqui .re. St. G~Ol'ife!~ R:oDer Mattltutl Es<PJi~ aind LaPbif e;. !To~. Charles~ :A:. Emerson · Irbr;.. tune; Itren.r~ @ ·ear and• Ed.Wudl H. D™JJ, .

Esq uk.eifJ · · B Ul!i •

18 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS. Richard J. Deve1reux, William R. Howley and Frank J. ..Morris, Es- quires-Placentia; Hon. l\1ichael P. Cashin and Philip Moore, Esquire Ferryland. By virtue of a Commission under the Great Seal to the I-Ionourable Sir Edward D. ,Shea, President of the Legislative Council, the Hono11rable George Skelton and the Honourable Robert K. Bishop, 'members of the said Council, w·hich is as follows:- WM. MACGRE:GOR, Governor, ( L.

S.] EDT¥ ARD, by tlze G·race of God, of tlie U11ited [(i1ig­ do 11t of Great Brit r.i1t a1id Ircla1td, a1iti -of tlie Brit £slt Do11iinions be ~'011. d the Seas, J(l1ig, Def e1tde1· of ti';e Faitlt. Eni­ peror of I1zdia. To all to whom these ·presents shall come, Greeting: Know ye that we .have appointed Honourable Sir Edward D. Shea, President of the Legislative ·Council of our Island of Newfoundland, the Honourable George Skelton and the Honourable Robert K.

Bishop, mem- bers of our Legislative Coun ·cil, to be Commissioners, they or either of them to administe i r the Oath of Al­ legiance to the undermentioned per­ sons, elected to serve in 1the House of Assembly for the several Dis­ trlcts and Divisions of Districts set opposite their names, respectively, and appointed :by P,roclamation by our Governor of our Island of !New­ foundland, to be ·holden dn St. John's on the T.hirty-first Day of this instant month:- Hon. Sir Edward P. Morris, John R. Bennett and Michael E. Kennedy, Esquires St. John's, Western Division; James M.

Kent, George Shea and John Dwyer, Esquires St. John's, Eastern Division; William Woodford and Joh11 J. Murphy, Esquires Harbor Main; William R. Warren, Esquire­ Port-de-Gra ve; • Archibald W. Piccott, Alfred H. .Seymour and 1Edward Parsons, Es­ quires Harbor Grace; John R. 1Goodison, Esquire­ Carb ·onear; I-Ion. John Crosbie and Jesse Whiteway, Esquire Bay de Verde; R. Anderson Squires, Esquir ·e, Ho11. Robert Watson and Edwin G. Grant, Esquire Trinity; Hon. Sydney Blandford, William C. Winsor, Esquire, and Hon. Donald ~!.[orison Bona vista; Henry J. Earle, Esquire Fogo; Rt. Hon. Sir Robert Bond, J.

Augustus Clift and George Roberts, Esquires Twillingate; William M. Clapp, Esq uire--St. Barbe; Joseph F. Downey, Esquire St. George; Robert Moulton, Esquire Burgeo and LaPoile; Hon. Charles H. Emerson For­ tune; Henry Gear and Edward H. Davey, Esquires Burin; Richard J. Dev·ereux, William R. Howley and Frank J. ·Morris, Es­ quires Placentia; Hon. Michael P. Cashin and Philip Moore, Esquire Ferryland. Giving to them or either of them • full power and authority to perform the matters herein .before mentioned,

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS. 19 ratifying and confirming all what­ soever they or either of them shall do and perform in this behalf, and thereof tb.ey or either of them are to make due return under their hands and seals unto our Governor of our said Island with these presents an- nexed. Given unde 1r the Great Seal of our aforesaid Island of Newfoundland. \Vitness our trusty and well­ belov·ed SIR WILLIAM MacGREG­ OR, K11igh t Grand Cross of he 1\fost Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint .

George, Com­ panion of the Mos· t Honourable Or­ der of the Bath, Doctor of Medicine, Governor and Comma.n ·der-in-C ;hief in and over Our said Island of New­ foundland an· d its Dependen·cies, at St. John's, in Our said Island, this Tv1enty-Ninth day of May, A.D. 1909, and in the Ninth year of Our Reign. By Hie; Excellency's Command, R. WATSON, Colonial Secretary. MEMBERS ARE SWOR·N IN His Excellency's Commissioners ca:me bet-w~een the hours of 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. of th· e clock on the said Thirty-First Day of May in the Council Chamber, P·atrick T.

Mc­ Grath, Esquire, ·Clerk of the House of Assembly, as in duty bound, at­ tending, and the names of the me·m­ bers returned for the several Dis­ tricts having ·been called over by the Clerl{, they appeared and took and subs ·cribed the Oath of Allegian ·ce in the presence of the said Commis­ sioners, as follows: Hon. .Sir Edward P. Morris and Michael E. Kennedy, ·Esquir · e St. John's, Wester · n Division; James M. Kent, George Shea and John Dwyer, Esquires St. John's, Eastern Division; William Woodford and Jolin J. Murphy, Esq11ires Harbor Main; William R. Warren, Esquire­ P·ort-de-Grave; Archibald W.

Piccott, Alfred H. 1Seymour and Edward Parsons, Es-· quires Harbor Grace; ,Jo.hn R. :Goodison, Esquire­ Carb ·onear; Hon. John Crosbie and Jesse Whiteway, Esquire Bay de Verde; R. Anderson Squires, Esquire, Hon. Robert Watson and Edwin G. Grant, Esquire Trinity; Hon. Sydney Blandford, William C. Winsor, Esquire, and Hon. Donald 11 orison Bona vista; Henry J. Earle, Esquire Fogo; J. Augustus, Clift, Esquire­ Twillingate; William M. Clapp, Esquire-St. • Barbe; Joseph F. D,owney, Esquire St. George; Robert Moulton, Esquire Burgeo and LaPoile; Ho11. Charles H. Emerson For­ tune; Henry . Gear and Edward H.

Davey, Esquires Burin; Richard J. Dev·e1reux, William · R. Howley and Frank ,J. ,Morris, Es­ quires Pla.centia; Hon. Michael P. ·Cashin and Philip Moore, Esquire Ferryland. And the said membe1rs who had taken the oath, took their seats ac­ cordingly. OPENING OF TB 11: SESSION At three of the 1clock, the Gentle­ man Usher of the 1Black Rod appear­ ed at the Bar and· said:- •

• 20 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS. • • Ge11 tlew.en of the House of J£.s .. sembly: ''Iii~ jJxpellen,ey the Go1rerno.r re­ quests your immediate attention ta the Coun·cil Chamber.'' Accordingly, the members (?)· f the Ass~mb1y p:roeeeded to the Council Cb.amb~r, ,vh.e:re the following Com­ missio11 was rea.d by the Clerk .of the Legislative Council:-..... WM. MA<!GRE6-0R, Governor, ED WARD, by the Grace of God, of the U1iited Kitzg dom of Great Br i tai1i and Ireland aud of Ike Brit ... • fL.S.J ish Domi11ions be-, j'Ottd the ... <:;eas, King ,Defe11der of the Faitli, m­ peror of I11dia ..

To the Honourable Sir Edward D~ Shea, President of the Legislat­ ive Co11ncil. tl1e Honourable George Skelton and the Honour­ able Robert I-{.

BislTop, members ot the Legislative Council, Greeting: WUEREAS I have deemed it ex­ pedient that the First Session ot the Twenty-seQond General Assembly s1hould be opened .for the despatch · o! business on tbe Thirty-first day of tbii iDstant month, whereof I have given notice in my Proclamation, dated the Eighteenth day of this in­ stant month; and WHEREA·S it i~ not e4Pedi ,ent that tbe nurposeR tor which l have called the said General Asembly together should be declared on the said da)r, nor t1ntil the m·em.bers of the1 Hou·se • of Assembly have proceeded to the cllotce of a Speaker, you, the said Hon·ourable Sir E.

D. Shea, Honour .. able George Skelton and Honourable Robert K. Bishop are hereby author­ ized and directed to signify to th members of the House of Assembly, ou the Thirty-first day of May in· stant:' that it is my pl€ast1re that they shall procE:ed to the choice of some proper person to be their Speaker, and present such person on the fvllowing day for roy approba­ tion.~ Given under my Hand and Seal at the G·overnment House, Saint Joh11's, the Tweuty ... Ninth Day of May, A.D. 1909. By His Excellency's Command~ R, WATSON Colonial Secretary. SPEAKER IS ELECTED The Honourable Sir Edward D.

Shea, President of the Legislative Council, then said:- f"Gentlemen of the Honourable H·ouse ·Of Assembly:- . ''It is not convenient for His Ex­ cellency the Governor to declare the reason o:r his calling this General Assembly to-day and it being ne­ cessa .ry that a Speaker of the House of Aesembly should be first chosen by you; therefore, it is His Excellency's pleasure that you, Gentlemen of the House of Assembly do now repair to the place where you are to sit and there proceed to the choice of some p·roper person to be you.r Speaker, and present such person, whom you sh.all so choose, ·here to-morrow at three o'clock for His Excellency's ap ... proval.'' An· d the members having returned to the Assembly Room, the Honour­ able the Prime Minister, addressing himself to the Clerk, who, standing up, pointed to him and then sat down moved ' 1that William R.

Warren, Es­ quire, Member elected for the Dis­ trict of Port de Grave, do take the Chair of this House as Speaker ~·r •

HOUSE OF ASSE1\1:BLY PROCEEDINGS. 21 which motion was seconded by the Honourable the Acting Leader ·of the Opposition, l\'1r. Kent. No other member being -proposBd as Speaker, lVIr. W.ar:ren was unan­ ir.aously called by the House to the Chair, and was conducted to the Chair by the members who propos .ed and seconded ·him. Whereupon Mr. Warren, standing on the step, addressed the House, ex­ pressing his g1~atitude to the Hon­ ourable members for the high hon­ our unanimously conferred upon him. The House then adjourned u11til to morrow, Tuseday, at half-past two of the clo.ck in the afternoon.

TUESDAY, June 1st, 1909. The House met at half-past two of the clock in the afternoon, pursuant to adjournment. At three o'clock a . message from His Excellency the Governor was de­ livered by the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, commanding the im­ mediate attention of Mr. Spealrer and the House in the Council Cham­ ber. Then Mr. Speaker and the House · attende1d His Excellency in the Coun- cil Chamber; and being returne · d to the Assembly Room, Mr.

Speaker in­ formed the House that when in at­ tendance upon His Excellency in the Council Chamber, His Excellency had been pleased to approve of his election as Speaker :of this House; and that His Excellency had also been pleased to make a speech to both bran·ches of the Legislature of which Speech he had obtained a copy, which he read to the House as follows:- SPEECH FROM TBli~ THRONE Mr. Presid ,ent and Honourable f~e:mtlen1Bn of the Legislative Coun ... cil: lVIr.

Sp-eake · r and Gentlemen of the Honourable ,I-louse of Assembly: For nearly five y·ears it has been my high privilege to represent in . this Colony the great and wise I{ing that the peo.p1e o.f this country re• vere and love with such touching lo~ra1ty and devotion~ and to whom they are so grateful for the substan tial benefits he has conferred on them and their descendants. I have felt th·at to be Gove1 .. nor of Ne,,rfoundland is an honor of which any man ,wl1oever he may be, may be justly proud.

To me personally, Newfoundland ·has been in a peculiar sense a congenial home, because, both the nature of the country and tl1e character of the people so close ... ly re·semble my own native land ·and my own .country men. I cannot, th,ere- fore, witl1out sadness, quit Newfound­ land even though it is to proceed to a great and delightful country, where I have already ,during many years ·expe .rienced much kindness. I shall leave this Colony . full of hope for its future.

In view :of its splendid resources, and of its fav­ ourable geographical situation; and in the light of the character of its people for energy, perseverance, in­ dustry, and not least, their adapt­ ability, ·one can clea.rly see before it the era of great ·progress whi·ch, ·with wise and prudent administration cannot but -be in store for this land so bounteously endowed by nature. The development and prosperity of New­ foundland will always be watched by me with real affection.

Within the past :se:ven two general elections have . . months taken place within this Colony, with the circumstances occasioning which you are all conversant in your in·dividual capacities. The first was · indecisive •

22 I-IOUSE OF i\.SSEJ\1BI~Y PROC EE DINGS. in that it resulte · d in th· e election of eighteen member s to ·S11pport the Administration under "\Vhose au s­ pices it was held, and of a s~milar number to support the Oppositi ·on; the second resl1lted in an einphatic declaratio.n by the col1ntry endors­ ing the policy of my present advisers The questions arising o. u t of the

interpretation of

Article One of he TTeaty of 1818~ beitween H;~s MajestJr's Gover11ment and the Gov­ ernment of the United States have been submitted to the Pern1an­ ent Court of Arbitration at the Hague, and. the matters at issue will come up for adjudication a;bout a year hence before the Special 1Court of Aribtration chosen to pass upon the points in dispute · . A co.py of the Sp.ecial Agreement for Sl1bmission with other papers Telating thereto, will be laid before you.

My late Ministers agree 1d to su·b­ mit to the adjudtcation of ills Maje ·sty's Privy Council the d'isp·ute between the Province of Quebec and this Colony with regard to the boundary of their :respe ·ctive posses­ sions in the. Labrador Peninsula.

Steps will be taken to provide that d u1ring the ·coming season and 'her· e·after, reports upon the miner­ als, forests, an1d water powers of Labrador, may be obtained, so that th· e Government may ibe better in­ formed as to the value of areas there for which applications ·are made, so that measures may be initiated to secure for this 1Colony an ae·dquate share of the 1pot.ential ·wealth of this region.

In the month of February last, an invitation was extended to this Col- ony by the President of the United States to appo1int a representative to the North American Conservation Conference, which met at Washing:.. ton on the 18th of that :nonth. j\j_ vantage was ta1-:en of the President's courtesy, and a representative at­ tended this Conference · on behalf of tihe Colony. 1His report, as ·well as the Declaration of Prin ,ciples, signed by the representatives of the differ­ e11t countries present, with othe:r docum .e11ts relating to tl1e i)rocee ·d­ ing3 of the Conference will be la:ld 1be fore yot1.

The r·esult of last .season's fishing operations was, on the whole, as regards the catch, more than an average. Unfortunately, however, the realization of the product of the ·cojfishery was atten ,ded by a marked decline in price.

Various ·Causes are assigned for thi 1 s unfort11nate con·dition of affairs, :but ther . e is a general agreement an1ongst all interested in securing the best returns fron1 the annual prose·cut'.ion by our people · of this industry, that t11e tin1e ·has arrived wl1en the co­ operat:on bet\veen the Government of the Colony and those who .handle and market the· prodt1ce of our peo­ ple, should be 1broug .ht ·about with a view to in1proving the cure, ,estab­ lishing a stan 1 dar1::l and equitable cull, introducing prove . d methods mo·dern and im­ of preparing and exporting the fish, opening up new markets, encouraging the establish­ me11 t of direct communication with thos · e countries, to which our fish might profitably be exported, apply­ ing tl1e principles of ·cold stor ·age now so generally adopted in other countries, an· d otherwise devising means by whic · h the· 1best vesults ·may be obtained by our 1people for the .fruits of their toil. rrhe various agricultural opera­ tions of this Colony for the past year were fairly remunerative, but some effective en·couragement is required to induce · a greater numb .er

H01JS~~ <.)F i\SSEMBLY .PROCEEDINGS. 23 of our people to turn t·heir attention to the cultivation of the soil. My ~Iinisters have in ·contemplation a policy by wh!i.ch it is hoped to attain the end, through th· e provision of a bounty for clearing land, the intro .. du·ction fo:r a good breed of ·Cattle and sheep, the procuring of new seeds, and the establishment of low rates by steamer an· d train, in order that those producing the crops may be able to market the same · with profit.

To further encourage the prose­ cution of 011r mining in·dustry, and as an incentive to the prospector and to the introdu ·ction of ·capital from . abroad, my Minister3 propose the enactment of a measure which will give the original discoverer of a mi11eral deposit a greater assur­ ~ nc e c1 E n1a!:eri'al return for his dis­ covery; while provision will also be made for the· better housing of min­ ers and of wo!rk·men ·at industrial centres, with a preferential .claim for their wag·es, an1d other protec­ tion which the experience of recent years has shown to ·be necessary.

The steadily incre ·asing price of ·coal to our P·eople all over the Colony calls for the adoption of a measure that will decide, once and for all, wl1ether our coal ·deposits are '.at present .comn1ercially available, and whether the extensive ·peat areas in different parts of the Colony can be utilized to provide the people with a cheap an1d satisfactory supply of fuel. My Ministers have established a bait and fishery telegraph service whi·ch, it is ~ hoped, will prove · of great .. advantage in connection with our fisheries.

It is intended to ex­ tend this s:ervice to Labrador at as early a date as ·Cir.cumstances will permit. T.he utilization of the tele- graph system of the Colony in this connection, without .in any w·ay les­ sening the . receipts of that depart­ ment, will, in a measure, enable our fi3hermen to participate more direct­ ly in the fa.cili ties which that ser­ vi ee 2.fford.s. l\tiy Ministers ~a\· e also arrange ·d for the supplying of a daily synopsis of local and foreign news to the people of the outports.

There being now one hundred and thirty­ f 011r .Postal T elegraph stations through .out the Colony, and the nu1111ber gradually increasing, this service should be of great advantage in apprising our :people daily of what is happening in their .country, as well as in the outside world.

The Anglo-American Telegraph Company and the Reid-Newfound­ land Con1r>any ha·ving generously un­ ·dertaken to tra11sn1it daily, free of ·charge, the fishery intelligence and n.ews despatches to the localities tot1ched by their wires, a much lar­ ger number of our people will be ·ena.bled, through this public spirited a·ction, to avail of the advantage of the two services. T. h e wireless telegraph service · to Labrador has, so far, not realized expectations as a ·Convenient adjunct · to the fishermen resorting there.

Its improvement is !absolutely neces­ sary, seeing tl1at some twenty thou .. sand peo1>le annually visit that sea- board, and 1bef ore the next session my Ministers hope to have :perfect arrangements whereby the ·desire · d improvement may be broug .ht iaibout. Mr. ·Speaker and Gentie·men of the Honourabte House of Assembly: The total revenue of the Colony f1or the year ending June 10th, 1908, was the largest in the history of the Island, reaching the sum .of tw•() mil­ lion, eight hun·dred and twenty-nine thousand, and eight dollars. When . :· !

HOUSE OF ASSE1\1BLY PROCEEDINGS. _ e consid'er that ten years ago the revenue from all s·ources was only 0ne milli0n, five h u.ndred and fifty­ oner th10-usand, f0ur hnndred and 1'twren ty doll:ars, an·d that this in nerr years has increased one million, two J.rundred and fifty-seven thous ·and, five ltundred and ninety-ei ·ght dollars · , it peaks v0lumes for what, with wise nd· judicious regislat1 ·on in connect­ ton. with. our fisheries, minera:s, fc-l'ests and agricurture, mign~ t be a-e- 001mplished fo.r o·n- r people.

The estimate by my late advisers 0:f the reven ne 1uf the current fiscal year, ending on the thirtieth of th is month, 'vas · two million, seven h u11- dred and ni'nety-four thousand ' dol­ lars, and' the estimated e·xpenditure for th-e same- period was- two, milliorr, S'even hundred: and eighty-three thD'usand do-Ila.rs, sh·0wing an es ti-­ mated snrp-Tus of revenue crver· expen­ d'iture· of eleven · thousand · dol;fars.

The resu·l t~ however, of the· years' :flnanei'al operations, exhibits tne fact th·at while the revenue to· da:e i: ewu- mil'lion, two hundTed and nine th:ousand, eight h und'red' d, ollars~ arid a a:a.n:efu'l~ estimate shows that it is ~ likte13t to. exceed two ·million, sev.-en.. .Jbu:ndT-ed and: tllirtr-two thousand do:llars,. a -detcrease . of 1lfty~ne thousand dnlla:rs, from the es.tbna e iv.·f. my late Min.ist .ers, yet n& expendit.UTe to date iS t:Wro mil­ lion, fbUT.' ltun.dfred. and sevent:\r;..eigh1t ·thousand~ severu hu,ndred an.a:. sixty.­ Sim'. dollaa-s, an.dt tlre bligations · to DtBet the .

CaTrYing ·an 0f the· 1ordinaxy nubile se.rvice.s. of th. e Colony t10 the end of the fiscal ?ear on the thirtieth instant will increase the expenditure to two million, nine h und·red and seventy-:flve thousand dollars, or a. n excess or 10ne hundred and' six tho11s­ and dollars t\>ver the estimate, in· ­ volvlng a d'e:ffcit on the- 30th of June, 19 09· of> on~ liun·dred · and' fi:fty s-even thousand dollars.

This amount together 'vitl'l the indebtness on ac­ count af -Hospital and .Museum con­ struction, Public Works undertaken without Legislative authority, and temporary loans· amounting to one hundred and seventy-five thousand do'll'ars, will rep·resent a floating deb· t 10n the 30th June, 19 0 9, of t11ree· h und·red and thirty th·ousand dollars. Yo--u will be invited to pass a meas·­ nre to provide for the· raisfng of' a loan to liquidate these obligations:. lVIr. President an· d Honourable Gentlemen of the Legislative Council : Mr.

Speaker all:d Gentlemen of the Honourable House of Assembl)f: My Ministers - have in. con templa.r tion. the re.vising of the tariff as the:y reaogruze. that the bur.den of. taxa~ tion . bonne by the . fishenmen . and w.0xking-classes · ·of the· Qol·0n.y is: to.G great . and calls for such an adjust,.. ment ·as will lean more equitably on thos-e who at pnesent. feel most . ser­ iously the in.crease . d cost . of living in this country. . D,uring the next . f.ew months preliminary investigations with a view t0 this end will be under­ taken.

The desirability of. fur.ther inc:ceasr­ ing the grant f-0r education has im~ pressed itself -upan my Mlnisters and a. measure with that ·object in. view wiIT be introduced at an early date in which . special provision will' Be made for au.gme:nting tea·cli.ers' sal­ aries in addition to the vote for d'es­ titute places and an appropriation fur ·th-a im:p·rovement of scll:ool build­ ings: The navages wrought amongst our 1>eonle by the spread of tuberculosis ·Commonly known as cons.J1,mn.tion, tl1 r.ough·out . the. Colony, make it. ne­ cessary that the State sh·cluid ass.ume the responsibility of enaeaviouring to

' HOUSE OF ASSEI\iBLY Pl{OCEEDINGS. 25 arrest its future spread. Hitherto, private philanthrophy through the agency of the Society for the Pre­ vention of Consumption has under­ ·taken this task and their labours have been such as t0 merit the com­ mendation of all who would see suf­ feri11g humanity rid of . this d.read White Plague. My 1VIinisters pro­ pose to appoint a C·ommission to deal with this subject in its larger phases and to supplem ·ent and ex­ tend the laudable worlr. already ac­ complished. Y10u will be invited to provide a sum for this purpose.

The time would appear to have ar­ rived when the demands of cert:ain sections ·of the Island for railway connection can no longer be ignored and pre1iminary surveys will be un­ dertaken s0 that a measure dealing with this important subject may be submitted to you at the· next session, which will provlde for such exten­ tions and yet be within the means of the C·olony. The question of Old Age Pensions has been before the Legislature for s10me ·time past.

My late advisers in December 1907 appointed a com­ mission to inquire into the question of improving by means of pensio11s, the condition of the aged poor aud 1Uf those who are helpless and infirm. Up to the present time that commis­ si1on has not presented any report, n·or am I aware of what progress it has made in the co·nsideration of the question. My Ministers · (propose to talre the subject in :han1d with­ iuut delay, so as to expedite the adoption of a measure economically possible and yet sufficiently com­ prehensiv ·e.

You ·will also be· asked to make provision for maintaining a Winter Caastal Seirvice ,to !Northern ports, as well as .an impri.:>ved service for he districts of F1ogo and For-tune Bay, Bay St. George and Bay ·of Is­ lands, and an a·dditional steamer to Labrador.

In leaving you now, your delibera­ tions, and this being, perhaps, the last opportunity I shall enjioy of meet ing you as a Legislature, I earnestly hope that the spirit of harmony, born of love of country, may inspire you to such prudent and patriotic action as, under the guidence 'Jf Divine Providence, shall lead to meas11res fraught with good for :the future 1of this Colony. MOTION FOR ADDRESS IN REPLY MR. DOWNEY I rise, Mr . . speak­ er, to ·move the ~ppointment of a Select Committee to draft an Ad­ dress in Reply to the ,gracious Speech with which His Excellency the Governor has opened the present session.

In doing so, I confess to a feeling of diffidence and honestly wish 'that the ·duty :ha·d de.volved up­ on abler shoulders than mine. Never in my recollection .had I the good fortune to hear in an opening spee ·ch so many features so :pregnant of good to the country. The only re­ grettable feature in connection with • the Spee-ch was the one w.ruich fore- shadowed the impending department of His Excellen ·cy. This, I feel sure, all will regret.

T.he· country h!as 1been singularly fortunate during the past five years, and espe ·cially the i:>ast year, in h ·aving the wise -counsel and rip· e experience of His Excellency, acquired by so many years of successful administration, guiddng its affairs. His departure we s.hall all· regret, but still it is vleasing to know ·that His E~cel­ Ien·cY will be ·Continued . in other fields f.or the service of the E·mpire, and whilst re·gretting ·hf:s loss to Newfoundland, we can congratulate our fellow subjects of Queensland on

26 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PEOCEEDINGS. their goo· d f·ortune iin having assign­ ed to them so ,able an ad.ministrator as His Excellen .cy Sir William Mac­ Gregor had proved 'himself to .be. In the second paragrapfil of the Spee ·ch from the Throne His Ercel­ lency referred . to th· e decisive result of the recent election. It is perh ·aps, unnecessary for me to refer to that matter, other than hope that at the expiry of the lease of the present p1arty, there pow.er of may be abundant ·cause for mutual .congratu­ lation by the 1people and the Gov­ ernment.

We· ar.e, in the next place, tol: d by His E~cellen, cy th·at the disp ·ute· d features of the T·reaty with the United States respecting fishery matters · . h· a ve· .been r·eferred to the Hague Triibunal for ar.bitration. That, of course, rendered 'impossible any unfortunate outcome, but let the dispute ·be for our weal or woe, we can not do otherwise than accept with th, e best !possible grace the de­ cision of su.ch a hig'h Tribun ·al.

Another matter, Mr . . speaker, that we have the assurance of His Excel­ lency, is being submitted for adjudi­ eation to His M 1ajesty's Privy ·Coun­ cil, is that of the ,disputed jurisdi.c­ tion of Newfoundland, by the Prov­ ince of Que.bee, over a .portion of the Labrador Coast. Its settlement, at an early date will, of co'urse · , be most desirable, and it is earnestly to be hoped that this d·ecision will ibe flavorable to the 1People of New­ foundland.

His Ex·cellency next directs our attention to the fact that the result of l·ast year's fisheries was not near­ ly so ,successful as it mi1g·ht h·ave ·been, but that, so far as ·the financi :al results were con·cerned, they w.ere ·more ·en·couraging; and different means were suggeste · d by which permanent stability may be attained. Those are prin ·c@al] through the in.creas . e in markets an the in trod U ·ction of more diver .sifle methods of .cure and the ;factor cold storage. Our fis·hery dn· d us tr is prosecuted in a most 'manner, as far as the commerci aspect is ·concerned.

The ·CO mercial law of demand and. suppl seems to be entirely elimin 1ated fro o·ur calculations. The world ove the one governs the other and r. acts against the other; and it go erns the result of industrial oper tions, but it appears as if it ·did n ·matter to us how great or ho small the demtand for our :produ · c mig·ht b· e in the rforedgn market, : w use: d our utmost endeavour to mak the supply as large as \possible b catching all the fis: h we .could. I making 1an effort to unload thi ·upon an alr.eady glutted an· d diso ganized market, th'. e result inevita ly must ibe that the price goes t ipieces.

A sort of com·mercial dys pepsia, if I might us. e the term, set in w hi-ch is intensified by gl u ttoni ing it with surplus produ ·ct Many methods ·are suggested fo the improvement of this unfortun ate condition of 1affairs that of se •curing new markets being one. For over · a ce·ntury ·we .have bee a fish-exporting 1People, and fo that period 1have confined our e ports to four :countries :in E.urop and to on· e in South Am~ica.

Th Eureopean countries are, Sp·ai Portugal, Greece and Italy, chiefi T'hese are th· e ·poorest countries i Euro.p ,e, and it ·would appear tha these markets have already bee fully exploited. In ·South Ameri· there a.re el-even or twelve independ ant nationalities, with an aggregat population of 40,,000,000, but singular to say, no endeavour hal been made to sell a fish to any .. ot

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS. 27 thes · e countries, except Brazil, and the population of Brazil is -co·mp.ara­ tivelY limited. The people of those other countries are ethnologically the same of those of 1Brazil, and it is I only reasonable to su•ppose that they would .ibuy fish as ·well as the peo.ple of Brazil, if it were · •put in their reach.

In the past there m:ight have been . urged as an excuse for want of energy in the endeavour to secure new; markets that these 1coun­ tries ·were drifficul t of access and not come-at-able · readily, 'but in the re- . cent past, trade facilities have been established that should enable us to rea-ch those 1countries with the greatest 1possil;>le readiness in the future, or, rather, the .present; and it is to be ho:ped that the energy of our commer .cial people, backe . d by the Governmenal aid which it 11 ii1tende • d to ·extend to them, will en­ able them to enter thos . e ·markets with a most marked benefit to our fishe·ry indus ,tries.

The n·ext method or aid to the betterment of the -present status of the fishery industry :is the diversi­ fying of methods of cure. W.hilst I have said that ·we ·had no doubt .fully exploited the European markets, I ref~r to the ordinary 1dry cured cod­ fish, :but if we varied our methods of ·cure, if we put up the fi,sh in a manner to suit the requ:irements of th· e different European ·countries, it .is my firm ·con vi,ction th't a very large voiu ·me of trade m.ig·ht pirofit­ ably be done therewith.

The next beneficial feature that is in contemplation to introduce into the ·prosecution of the fishery ind us­ try, is. that of · cold storage. The ·phrase has become somewhat hack­ neyed of late years, through the un­ successful methods . hitherto at­ tempted for giving practical ef- feet to this · innovation. I mignt perhaps best convey to this House a ·con.ce1ption of what I am 1convince · d cold storage would do .for the fish­ ery, if I stated what .has .been my own personal ex:perience with regard to its operation.

Som· e fourteen years ago I noted the ·wonderful success that had attended the efforts of New Zealand, Australia, and the ' Argentine Re·pu blic in the transport­ ing in a fresh con.dition of their 1chief articles of export fr·esh beef and mutton to Br,itain, a distance of 12,000 miles, at a ·Cost of a frac­ tion of a cent a . pound. I thought that if this could ibe done with such a perishable ·

article as meat ·bY Aus­ tralia, .surely the people · of New­ foundland ought to be able to ac­ ·co·mplish the t,ransport of fis. h in • fresh condition to the extensive markets offered by the British Isles, at a distance of only 2, 0 0 0 miles. I felt so sanguine of su.ccess, indeed, that I wrote to the :press concern­ ing the su.bJect, an· d later, on the ·completion of the railway and the initiation of the iBru1ce route, I felt that the time was rtpe for personal expe,riments, and went to Port-aux­ Basq u·es· and attem !pted to organize cold storage for fresh fish there.

I found no difficulty in freezing from 1,000 to 10,000 1pounds o· f fish witho ·ut any expensive plant, 1 but the trouble ·was to keep it so. F.is. h must be kept in cold · stor­ ag· e until the time that it is needed for .consum1Ption. That was the great difficulty in Port-aux-Basques. It was easy to freeze the· fish theire, but until there were facilities of a satisfa -ctory kin·d to enable t·he fish to be transported in a prope : r manner to the market it was destin­ ed for, no .pra1ctical result ·co.uld be hoped for. Given that, there was no

28 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS. doubt of the outcome. The profits were all that ·Could 1be asked for. T.heire was this distinct advantage in that ·while fish, salt cured, is sol· d without the head and bone, which becomes so much offal; when It is sold for the fresh fish market, the bone and head are paid for, as are the more valuable portion of the fish, and .at the same rate, so that in­ stead of :being 1paid for 3 0 8 1 bs. . in each quintal, the seller is really be­ ing ·paid for 5 0 0 lbs.

It cost 2 0 ·Cents pe,r 10 0 lbs. to freeze tl1e fish, but as the whole labour inci ·dental to the freezing and packing of the fish ·cost only about 1 %, cents ·per lb., and as the price obtained was 2 % 1cents per pound, f.o.b., it co11ld be easily seen how great were the profits de- r·i"ved therefrom. The only impedi­ ment to the business at Port-aux­ Basques 'Was the fact that it was not run on a sufficiently large scale. From my experience, I feel quite confident that ·cold storage could be satisfa .ctorily carrie · d on.

I am pleased to notice that His Excellency has referred to the im­ portan·ce to the country of :its min­ ing interests. The futu .re of the country depends very largely on its fishery and mining products. Our m·ining in·dustry has suffered much in the past from the need of a syste­ matic survey. The surveys that have been made are ve,ry incom- 1plete, an1d, as a result, the surface has in many places only been s·cratched. By the extension and de­ velopment of our mineral areas mu.ch em1ployment will 'be provided for our laborers. The country has need of mo.re working mines than it has at the present time.

The .Speech from the Throne gives the ·country the ·hope that we shall have it set­ tled, once and for all, whether or not :we possess extensive areas of coal. Nobody can foresee wl1at be11efits ·can be derived to the .country from the ·discovery of good seams of coal. The.re ha3 been much .development of copper and iron, but there 'is much room for ·more industrial development, and I do not think that money coul::l be more wisely expended than for such a pur.pose if the House desired to better the present state of things.

I am av1a,re that there are in the country very extensive deposits of excellent .peat, .but that tl1ese have never 1been utilized by the peo·ple. In Sweden, Norway, Germany and Ireland, at the present time, highly· v .. aluable fuel is being made from ·peat at a cost much less than that of coa-1, and it seems quite possible tb.at th·is n1etl1od might be intro­ duced ii1to t11is country with :much 1benefit to the people. The members ·Could not realize the hardsl1ips our people suffeµed through the lack of f:iel. They have to travel miles for wood, while near at han. d there are large deposits of peat.

With instructions as to the appliances needed to cut it and the methods used to dry it, the people ·could obtain at but little cost much of this fuel, and I sincerely hope that very shortly many of the out­ po,rts will be able to secure benefits from those deposits which are so bountifully .sprea · d over the country. The Speech from the Throne draws attention to the shortage of revenue.. There is at the present time a deficit, but it could not now be helped. The expenditure .could not now ,be recalled, and it is neces­ sary to make the best of .matters as they stood.

I can only hope that for a considerable period there will be no repetition of this deft .cit. I am glad to learn that the Gov­ ern·men t will deal with e.ducation~

· " HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS. 29 and that the grant for that purpose will be increased. There could 1be no more .desirable way in which to spend money than in education, for in the present age only those best qualified educatioally could mal{e a decent living. I feel sure that fathers and mothers 1desire to see their .children pro.perly equip .ped for the battle of life, and there is no equipment that could compare with that of a fairly good ed11cation. At the present moment there were large sections of the country ln which ed11cational facilities were greatly Ia.eking.

Any increase in the grant should be made cheer­ fully, and there could be no· ques­ tion as to the benefits 1derived from it. The Governor's S·peech likewise calls attention to the highly laud- able efforts of the 1Society recently formed to .cornbat the scourge of Tuberculosis, which has spread to more than an ordinary extent • throughout the Colony, and I am glad to know that the Government proposes to co-01pearate with t11e Society in its work. I ·do not intend to give the cause for the spread of this disease through the ·country.

I have my opinions, ·but these might conflict ·with those of persons more qualified to give them. However, I feel sure that the education that has been imparted through the Associa- tion, and the work that would be done would not ·be in vain, if there was even but a more ·Correct appre­ ciation of t·he damage .done to the country and to its people by this disease. Another point in the · S:peech that I wish to refer to is the contempla­ ted extension of the rail way. The people of ·St.

John's, and o· f the large centres along the trunk line~ vv-e:re aware of the advantage of the road to them, and to the country at large. It v1ould not be for them to withhold ·from their less fortunate fellow countrymen the advantage they have possessed for some time. l\1any im1portant centres were depri-.;:r ed of the benefits attending rail way traftlc. The Government has now decide , d to give many of these cen­ tres the advantage of railway ·Com. ­ m11nication, and I have no doubt t 1 hat the result will justify their ac­ tion in so doing.

It v1as written in Holy Writ that ''the poor we always .have with us," and it is with a feeling of gratification that I note that Old Age Pensions are to .be introduced. T,hey sb.011ld prove to be a blessing an. d a boo11 to the· unfortunate ones among· us, and that alone would be sufficient compensation for any expenditure that might :be ·made. Its early introduction vvas something to be very much desired . The Speech from the Throne fore­ shadows t1he extension of coastal service, and I ·Can not too ihighlY' commend the improv ·ement in this service in Notre Dame ;Bay, For­ tune Bay, an1 d also in 1St.

George~s Bay, inclu·ding Bay of Islands. These districts deserve consideration at the hands of the Government. especially as they were somewhat deprived of the advantage of the railway. T.he· di.stri ,ct of .st. G.eorge's, which I ;have th· e ihonour to 1r.e­ present, has in the· past been 1ba·dly treated. I do not blame any .past Govern ·ment or any former represen tative for th'is state of affairs, but I do not hesitate to say that it has been treated unkindly, and I am pleased to see that the present ·Gov­ ernment intends to make amends for this neglect of the past. I aP-

• 30 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS. preciate the efforts 01 f the Govern­ ·ment and regard this step . in the dire .ction of better coastal service I as one from which Bay St. George and Bay of Island 1 s ·would derive much be·ne:fit. The reference ito the contemplated timber and mineral survey on Lab­ rador I think is a very important feature of His Excellency's speech. We had no surveys of many of our timber areas an· d ·water powers, and before we were aware of their great value they had passed fro · m our control.

Labrador was 1becoming more important to us, and it there­ fore behoved the people of New­ foundland, in the 1best interests of Labrador, to make themselves fami­ liar with the ·country by surveys, and to become a.cquainted with the value of its water power. We must take care that valuable assets do not pass from us unless bene .:fits ac­ crue therefro . m to the country. The .closing 1paragraph of the . .Speech from the Throne was one which deserve , d the support of all me·mbers of the House.

Nobody would deny that during the past all the members of the House had not been on the friendliest terms with one another, ·but it was ·with the present, and not w'ith the .past th·at the mem1bers had to deal.

T·he kind­ ly admonition of His ·Excellency that all the members work in frien :dly ·harmony, ·will, I feel sure · , m,eet with the ,hearty support of the me·mbers, and I sincerely trust that during the session we have just entered upon, no unkindly words would !be heard~ I ihave much plea- sure, therefore, in Select Committee to moving ·draft for a an Ad- dress in Reply to His E~cellen. ey's gracious Speach. MR. WINSOR. I have much pleasure, Mr. Speake .r, in rising second the niotion for the Co mittee to draft an Ad·dress in Repl to the gracious Speech of His E cellency the Governor.

I would first take advantage the opportunity to congratulate Hi! Honour the Speake · r on his· appoin ment to that high position, and am confident that at the end of Hi Honor's four years of office in thi House the membe .rs will be able t rejoice in the impartiality of his d • • CISlOnS. In reference · to His Excellency' Speech I note wtl1 very sincere r gret t·hat the 1Gove ·rnor is sho·rtly t leave the Colony. F ·or five or mor years His Excellency has been wit our people, and I feel sure that no only in St.

John's, but in the ou ports, in fact in all parts of our I land Home, there will be gen uin r~gret a, t His Excellency's departur As a fishermen it has been my priv ilege to come in con tact with His E cellency, and to have met him no only in St. J ohn'-s but also on the dis tant .coast ·Of Labrador. The ·coun try had many Governors, many o whom had been excellent men, wh had taken great interest in the coun try and the fishermen, but in m opinion and to my knowledge, th Governor ·Who is about to leave th Colony has taken a practical interes in the life Of the people unsurpasse by that of any former Governor.

During the first year I ha· d th privilege of occupying a seat in thi Honourable House, which was ab·ou four year · s ago, His Excellency prom ised that a survey of the Labrado coast would be made. I am please to tell the House that this had bee to some extent car.ried out, and tha many :fisherm ·en on that ble·ak coas have in the dark nigh ts alread

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS. 3I reaped the benefits of that Survey. When I met His Excellency on the Labrador .coast it was not on the· 1 deck of the Fiona, but on a hill 3 5 0 feet high whe.re His Excellency was work ing for the benefit of the Fishermen and not for his own personal pleas­ ure, but making su.rve.ys to help out our fishing population. It was not gen­ erally known, but it was a fact that His Excellency went to Labrador last year and assisted Dr. Grenfell to survey the north coast of Labrador and I ha.ve before stated, the survey is of great assistance to the fisher­ men.

Many of them, in the No·rth­ ern .parts of the Island especially, will be sorry to learn that very shortly he will .de1pavt from O ·Ur shores. I can tell the House that not only in Labrador, but in many other parts of the island, benefits h·ad accrued from the work of His E~cellency who had visited their homes, seen them at their work an· d would be able , when he went abroad, to tell of the many difficulties our fishermen had to conten · d with. His · Excellency ·woul· d be able 1 to tell the· m of our fisheries not from hea.rsay, but from actual experience.

I observe with very great pleasure that His Ex­ cellency referred to the fishe ·rmen and the labouring classes of the community as men who took a great interest in their wo·rk and per­ formed in an able manner their daily advocation. Such an interest as His Excellency had shown was a credit to any Governor, and I feel sure that whatever position in the British Em­ J>ire His Excellency may hold in fu­ ture, h. e will be well fitted for it and will carry with him the very best wishes of every Newfo .undlander.

I also note with much pleasure that His Excellency visited during his stay here many of our great tim­ ber limits and the towns of Grand Falls, Bishop · F'alls and others; in fact in every 1th.ing that ·CQn1cer. n1 S · th. e .welfare and betterm ·ent of th· e fishe ·r­ m.en and labourin : g ,classes, His Ex­ cellency has taken a practical in­ terest and as a member of the House and as · a fi· s·herme · n .myself, I a.m proud of it. Never ,perhap ·s, since His Excellency had come to the Is­ land, was his administrative ability more clearly ·demonstrated than dur ing the past six or seven months.

In November there was a political dead lock, both parties having eighteen seats, but His Excellency thought out the crisis and adopted a wise course and the course was approved of by the people o, f ·the country. How thoroughly they did approve of it is shown by the fact that

whereas in November both parties had an even number ·of seats the Government now in power has a majority o· f 2 6 to 9 and there is yet one ·district to be heard from. The next paragraph in the Speech dealt with the 1818 Treaty with the United States. The ~u· estion was now before the Hague Tribunal and I have no doubt that those appointed ·to look after Newfoundland's wel­ fare in this connection will accomp­ lish all that can be done in our in­ terest. Quite a lot had been saf.d and done during the past five years and there was no doubt that once it was settled a lot of our fishermen would benefit.

All are aware of what happened at Bay of Islands , two years ago, and it was necessary that our people sho·uld know where they stood before they began their work and not find themselves in Court houses and jails as they had been. I notice also a clause in the Speech showing t.hat the new Government

32 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS. intend doing .their utmost towards regulating the sale and development of timber limits, mineral areas, etc. on the Labrador. Some persons have gone ·down to the Labrador and re­ turned with the report that there is nothing of value to be found. Such is not the case. We mt1st admit there are great possibilities in that region, and better communication between this country and Labrador will tend to promote the welfare of both. Quite a large number of peo­ ple . depend entirely on the cod-fish ery as a . means of a support.

If we counld find for them other ad voca­ tion it would somewhat relieve · th~ pressure and make it better all round. There has been a large . amount of money spent by private parties in timber limits and mineral claims on .the coast of Labradn1·. If the Government takes the matter in hand and succeeds in developing the resources of La brado.r as well as those of this country, this itself at 1the end of four years, will return the Treasury a ,h unidred-f old. I am glad to see that .great stress s laid on the desirability of im­ provem ·ent in the codfishe .ry general­ ly.

It is time something was done, for if we get another fishery experi­ ence similar to last year, we will n.ot only have starvation, but we will have a revolution. The failure of last yea·r's fishery may be laid to many causes. We had a fairly good shore fishery; we had a fairly good Labrador :fishery, but the fishermen fared very poorly. A large number of ou· r fishermen had· made good catches, but when "t was sol· d it was found that it did not realize sufficient ;to ride them over the winter. This was due largely to the low price and strict cull.

I am not here to com­ plai of last year's particularly, but I w.an the same cu every year. No one suffered as much from last year's results as the outport merchant and sharemen. It is now up to the pres­ ent Government to help keep up the price of codfish, or keep the fisher­ men acquainted with the price in the foreign marlrets. The Government, for the satisfaction of the people, should get the telegraph reports of the price of fish on the other side and the condition of foreign markets_ and then the fishermen wouid know if they were getting paid as much as the· merchants ·co11l· d afford.

A few years ago the cry .was,''Down with the Merchants,'' and a bad day it was for the poorer classes. The ·day is happily gone and the fisher­ men realize that instead of putting down the merchants it is more of them we want. Now that this new Government has come into power with a large majority not ''too many for comfort'' they should do everything possible to maintain the price. I have gone down twice in seven months to Bonavista Bay and promised the people to do every­ thing to maintain a regulated p.rice an· d proper cull and I have every con­ fidence that Sir E. P.

Morris will do everything to keep up the main indus try of this .country Eighty per ·Cent. of the revenue comes from the fisher ies and surely it is up to the Govern­ ment to keep them up to the highest standard. In speaking to people of the outports and in particular those of Bonavista Bay, regarding the spending of money on Fog Free Zones, Museums, etc., it was their unanimous opinion the money could be spent to better advantage in ad vancing the interests of the fisher­ men by :finding new markets and as­ sisting them in other ways.

I feel sure that the fishery policy of the preset Government will be so ably carried out that at the end of tour

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS. 33 years the people who send us back to power, won't be sorry. I noticed .also in the Speech from tihe Throne that the Government in .. tends paying attention to agricul ... ture. If more of our ·people · were ecouraged to settle on lan·ds, ·Cut timber, etc., it would 'be a great benefit.

A few years ago a bounty of $ 2 O per acre ·was .paid for clear­ ing land, and why it was dropped I never could fin: d out or understand. 1Sl1ould th. e Government decide to re-introduce th·is bounty, and pro­ tect it with proper rules and regu­ lations, ·com·pelling the people to work the land they had cleared, I will give it my unqualified support. I notice also in th· e· iSpeech 1fro · m tihe T.hrone . a referen ·ce· to the de­ velopment of our coal areas an· d bog lands. :Regarding the 1prlce of ·Coal it did not ~ffect my · district as it does some in other .parts of the country.

But we ·should not be selfish; and if coal could .be ·pur­ chased at a reasonable ·price it would be far :better for my ·constituents to use it, as the time now occu .pied in getting woo· d .for fuel could be spent to ·far g~eater adv. a.ntage. Some money " has been spent to find sea:ms ·Of 1CO·al, but ve·ry little, so far, has been really a.ccomplished. Any vote ask· e· d for to develop our coal areas should re.ceive t· h· e hearty support if th:is House. T·hen as to •the m·anu·facture of peat, we have quite a lot of bog land down north.

Some people wh. o :hav· e travelled there know this, es·pe1ci·ally the ladies, who., in goin , g :ashore .from the ·Coastal boat to thi e telegraph office, frequently lose their ru.bbe·rs amid have to pay men to pick th.em up. I am glad to be a)ble to inform the House that a. ·com.pany is now being formed for th· e pur,pose1 of m·anu.factull"in· g peat for fuel, and I can assure the House that any effort put forth by the Government to aid it, will receive the ·hearty 1e1ndorsa­ tion of the people of Bonavista Bay.

I also notice a clause in the Spe.ech from the Throne dealing ,_ with the establish ·ment of B'ait an· d Fisheries Intelligence Service. I believ . e that if .hon. mem.bers too· k the trouble to go all over the .coun­ try and ·com1 e in contact with the fishermen, they would find that the fisher .men ·considered this service as a God-send to the ·country. With regard to the cold storage system, I ob·serve that it is the in­ tention of the Government to take this impo .rtant ,matter up at .an early date. It is needed ba·dly.

F·or in­ stance, take the case of the :fisher­ men belonging to Wesleyville d ur­ ing the month of August. He w.orks from six o'clock until nearly ten at night fishing. Naturally he would be then looking for s·ome rest, but be­ fore that could be taken 1he would have to go perhaps five or six miles :for . b·ait for next ·morning's ·opera­ tions. If they had a cold storage system there, this would not happen It was time that this syste · m was in­ trod 1 u1ced, an1 d I think it 1should have been done long ago.

I notice that Sir Edward Morris has taken tlie tr·ouble to interview the Reid Newfoundland Company and the Anglo American Telegraph Company, in relation to the sending of local and 'fo.reign news to ·the out­ ports free. Fo· r this , th· e 1Gov·ernment deserved great credit, and the Reid Newfoundland Company, and the Anglo Ame·rican Telegraph c .ompany deserves much praise for their laud- 1able a·ctions. The people in St. John's do not kn1ow of the want of a news service in the outports, s·ome of which were as isolated as Si­ be.ria. There was .no !coastal service;

34 HOUSE OF ASSETuIBLY PROCEEDINGS. there was hardly any · mail service. Why, it even took a fortnight for the mail to go from Wesleyville to St. John's and return during the ' winter. The daily synopsis of local and foreign news was received with g.reat joy by the 1outport people, and it was a source of much gratification - that this great boon had been brought about without any extra cost to the Colony. I noticed that the G.overnment in­ tends to do all in its power to ex­ te~d the telegraphs up north and also to Labrador.

If there is any mem·ber ·who knows 1the needs of the system it is myself, and when I ·speak for myself, I speak for many fisher­ men who go away down north, be­ yond the reach even of the steamers. The North C·oast of this Island has been greatly neglected in this mat­ ter. From White Bay all around this coast to Flower's Cove, a dis­ tance of 2 5 0 miles, there is not a single .office, though five thousand fishermen go down to this part of the coast every summer.

I . hope that this ;Govern ·ment will extend the telegraph service so as to 1benefit these 5,000 people, and also these •poor creatures who pass th: e winter seasons there. Every dollar spent in improving and ex­ ten·di· n· g the service down to Labra­ dor would · be a 1 dollar well .spent. About the 12th day of July 1there would be about 12,000 ·down north. They would ·not h.ave the ben·efits of a telegraph service; they ·would see no steam .ers, except those taking sup·plies; thus · , they · W ·ere shut of from nearly all com·mun'ication with the outer world. .The :fishermen ,. ·have been greatly aided .by Dr.

Grenfell the p·ast few years, and th.ey greatly appreciate all he has done for them. I ·hope that next year will witness the wireless sys- tern extended to the utmost limi of Labrador. I notice it is the intention present Government to redu ice tax tion on those that felt it most. I a very pleased to know this, as th poor people find it V ·ery hard to liv in the country with su·ch ~ bu den of taxation. The sharemen an the fishermen found it very ,hard · , o account of the low price of fish t secure, because of the higher ·pric those arti-cle . s whi-ch they have t wear, and the necessary •provisions ..

Any Government that would reduc taxation would confer a great blesi.o sing, too, and deserve well of the .people. It was the intention of the pres. ent Govern ·ment to vote a certai sum of money for the purposes o education. This attracted pleased attention, and why? Because al were aware of the advantages o education. It is absolutely necessar that our children should be properly educated, in order to take their right place in the world's work. It was my privilege some years ago to spend a short vacation in Can­ ada, in a district near the Grea Lakes.

While there I came in con tact with many Newfoundlander Some of these had left there nativ home ten or fifteen years ago. Chat ting with some of them about ent things concerning this countrr they told me that what was chiefl n eded here was education. The told me if they had had educatio they could have secured good posi tions instead of working with th pick and axe. Given an education our boys could keep up the end o their plank in any part of the world It was with the greatest pleasure some years ago, that I cast my vo for the additional sum o"f $60,000 fo the cause of education, and it wil

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS. 35 be with still greater pleasure that I will supnort any increase in the vote now. I am very glad to see that endeav­ ours are being made to try and pre­ vent the further spread of con­ st1mption. Nearly every settle1nent in the countr~r is more or less af­ fected by it. Unfortunately, in rnany places there are not resident doctors, and the people have not been taught to fully appr~ciate its danger. The worlr of the Anti-Consun1ption Soci­ ety in its crusade against this insid­ ious disease is noted with n1uch pleas­ ure by the outport people, who suf­ fer mostly from its ravages.

The extension of the railway to dif­ ferent sections, not now touched . , is a step in the right direction. T11e railway would be of great benefit to the people througl1 whose sections it is intended to pass, and not only to tl1em, but the vvhole country. It would also attract an influx of tour­ ists and pleasure-seel{ers, who other­ wise would not have a chance to see those places. Next with regard to the old age pension scheme, that question has been before the Legislature for some time past, and nothing has been one with it, but I feel sure that he present Government will seriously eal with it.

The fisherman, after ears of toil, is worn out at 65. His est days are over. Perhaps so1n·J f his sons are dead, some are mar­ ied, and he is no longer able to arn his bread, and has nothing to upport him. He gets a paltry $12 r $16 a year from the poor grant, lld becomes a pauuer. It is a hame, a disgrace, that such should e, and it is up to the Government to eal with the matter, so as to im­ rove the condition of those people.

From the many good things out­ ined in the Governor's sneech for ' he benefit of the people, I believe that a new era of prosperity is dawn­ ing for this Colo11y, and I according­ ly have much pleasure in seconding the motion for an P..t..ddress in Reply. MR. KENT-I do not intend, Mr. Speaker, to enter into any criticism of the Speech from the Throne. I simply rise to extend the usual courtesies to the members who have proposed ana seconded the Address in Reply.

I also desire to congratu­ late the Speaker upon the high posi­ tion whicl1 the House has conferred on him, as ·well as the Premier, on the high honor and dignity to which he has attained, though he is not the 1 re through any wis. h of mine. The House has listened with con­ siderable interest to the speeches from the lion. me1nber for St. George's, Mr. Downey, and from Capt. Winsor, one of the members for Bona vista. I have had the honor of listening to n1any evening speeches of a very higl1 standard, but I have never heard such ad.dresses V{ith greater interest and nleasure than -those just delivered.

Both dealt with their subject with considerable abil­ ity and nut their views before the House ·clearly. T,he House ha· s lis .. tened to Capt. Winsor before, and with profit; and in Mr. Downey it has acquired one who will be a strong addition to its debating force. I do not propose ~o crliicise the Speech at the present moment, but suppose another opportunity will be given us to review it, after we have had a chance of reading it in print­ ed form. It is a mistake to regard the Speech from the Throne as the Speech of the Governor.

It is simply a statement by the Ministry of the policy which they intend to pursue. An· d in the present instan ,ce it is very difficult to gather from a curs­ ory hearing what the policy of the Government is to be, as the sentences are considerably involved. I would

36 HOVSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEED:!:NGS. describe the Speech as a remarkable product of expression of thot1ghts in confused language which might be interpreted to suit any policy w.hich may be carried out. All in this House would join in re­ gretting that the Governor was leav­ ing. He had taken a great interest in the welfa1 e of our people, and had taken great pains to inform 11im­ self of their conditions, and to gather such knowledge of the coun­ try as his abode here had permitted. His Excellency would carry with him the regard of our people.

We had known him as a philosopher and the closest student of arts and science that we ever had. I was sorry that in some of the Governor's decisions on matters of constitutional laws and practices I could not concur with his findings, but these were matters in which all might legally and fairly differ, and notwith .standing these dif- f·erences of o· p.inion, I regret that His Excellency is severing his con­ nection with us, even though he is going to what is said to be a high­ er post. While it might be consid­ ered a promotion, I hold a different view.

Financially, the change is better, but while Newfoundland is an independent colony, Queensland ls a sub-colony of the Dominion of Aus­ tralia. Looking down the Speech from the Throne, I find that it covers a ve.ry large area. I observe one item, the reference to the Loan Bill, which I hoped was an item that had been laid by the heels some time ago.

For eight years, instead of there being any necessity to provide a loan to defray a deficit, there had always been a surplus. remarkable that the It is rather first Speech which the new Governmep.t brings down has to announce a deficit, and I hope that tb.e large policy which the Hon. the Leader of the Govern- ment has laid before this count will not mean a recurrence of sue bills. I have noticed that while th Hon. the Leader of the Governmen in the present Speech, proposes readjustment of the tariff, he doe not p.ropose any reduction in th taxation, for he knew tl1at if he so it would be an absurdity.

There is one other feature in th Speech to which I would refer, name ly, to 1the :promised grants for ed uca tion and tuberculosis. Education i a fair subject for which all n1oney that co11ld be reasonably afforde should be contributed. It traine young pe·ople for their future i life, and on that training depende the future of the state and of th men and women who would fill I think it a pity that some means ha not been taken which would brin home to our young men the dignit of labor.

I believe a lar·ge effor should be inade to point out tha the trades and mechanics are th real independent and prosperou sources of employment. There is tendency on the part of our youn men to seek clerkshios in prefer ence to these, and an effort shoul be maQe to encourage the trade and mechanical pursuits. I hop that when the Leader of the Gov ernment brings down his schem and the House is asked to make a appropriation, the policy outline will be such as will commend itsel to the members on both sides. Another subject to which I woul refer is the anti-consumption move ment.

None of us can shut our to the fact that this disease been gaining ground for some tim past, silently and unobserved. Re cently its s9read had shocked ou sense of proportion. Those human gentlemen who have identified them• selves with the Anti-Consumptioii League deserve the applause of ev·

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS. 37 ery rigl1t-thinking citizen. Any as­ sistance that could be given them would be well deserved and put to good use. When we come to consider the Speech later "\"\"e will have an oppor­ tunity of criticising at some length the variot1s features in it. I wish again to congratulate the mover and seconder of the Address, and hope to have the pleasure of hearing both gentlemen again. THE HON. THE PREMIER (SIR ED\iVARD l\rIORRIS)-I do not intend, l\1r. Speaker, to delay the time of the House.

I rise merely to say a word or two in reply to the Acting Leader of the Opposition in relation to one or two points, as it is import­ ant that some of them should not be allowed to go into print without refutation. First, however, I desire to congratulate the mover and sec- onder of the Address. I 'have ·been present at the 09ening for twenty­ five years or more and I have never listened to more comprel1t,nsive and more entertaining speeches or ones which have displayed so intimate an acquaintance with the subjects dis­ cussed. If congratulations are to be the order, I would also congratulate Mr.

Kent on the exalted position to which he has attained and I hope tl1at he (l\!Ir. Kent) will hold it for many, many years. I thank Mr. Kent for his kind words to me, pe,r­ sonally, and while I am prepared to accept the statement that Mr. Kent had nothing to do with putting me in the high position I now have the honor to occupy, I think I had a little to do with putting Mr. Kent where he is. I am sorry that the Acting ·Leader of the Opposition did not maintain the same fairness throughout his speech that he start­ ed with. Mr.

Kent said that he con­ sidered the Speech from the Throne involved and difficult to understand, especially as regards the policy it outli11ed. Of course he didn't un­ derstand it. The Speech delivered by tb.e Governor is not intended to be understood by the Opposition, but by those whom the Opposition did not represent. The Speech was not to be tried by the Opposition, and it was not on them that the Govern­ ment was depending for its tenure of offi.ce, but on the outside country, ·and I am satisfied to leave the merits of the Speech to be judged by those who have sent us here.

I want to take exception to the remarks of my hon. friend in regard to the Loan Bill and I desire to say that the reason the Loan Bill is being intro­ d11ced is because the late Govern .. ment had involved the country in a floating debt of $330,000. On the 30th of June this Colony will owe the Bank of Montreal this amount. If that is not so, as the honourable gentleman now says, let him go to the Bank and get a certified state­ ment to that effect, and I will be glad to ·with ,draw ·my .statemen•t.

Fail- ing that, however, I repeat that there is a deficit of $150,000 on current account, added to which there is over $170,000 overdrawn at the Bank and paid on account of the Hospital, Mt1seum, etc., without legisla~ ive sanction. This was the reason for the Loan Bill. Not one solitary cent of this debt ·has been incurred .by the .P.Ldministration now in power. There would, I hope, be no more need for further Loan Bills. I will see there will .be none fo· r ove·r- expenditure.

Neither would there be need of increased taxation, as the public monies would not be wasted, but would be spent in the interests of the people and the country. One other remark of Mr. Kent's calls for reference, nan1ely, that re­ ferring to education and tuberculo­ sis. Now that Mr. Kent ftnds him-

38 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS. self in Opposition he a wakes to facts over which he fell asleep when he was a member of the Govern­ ment. Mr. Kent had enunciated a false policy with regard to the edu­ cation of the children of the work­ ing classes, which would condemn them to manual labor alwa11s. Mr. Kent argued that they ought to stick more to their trades rather than take higher positions. I take a dif­ ferent view of the matter. I want to see the son of every mechanic able to take any gift in the public ser­ vice.

As to tuberculosis, I believe it is time something was done to prevent the spread of the disease. Thousands of our people are d)·ing annually from it. If we hear of a few deaths from smallpox we be­ come frightened about it, and take most active steps to kill it out; but, quietly an·d insidiously, tuberculosis is doing its work and we either do not hear of it or, if we do, we fail to take any notice of it. It is no use preaching about it. We must do something to try and stop it, to help the poor people get it out of their homes.

We must aid those who are doing so much in a quiet way to end its terrible ravages amongst our people. The motion was put and carried, and it was ordered that a Select Committee be appointed to draft an Address of Thanks to His Excel- 1ency the Governor in reply to the gracious Speech with which he has been pleased to open the present Session of the Legislature, and the following were named as a Commit­ tee-Mr. Downey, Mr. Winsor, Hon. Minister of Justice, Mr. Kent and Mr. Davey. DESPATCH APPROVING GOVERN. OR S A'U.rlTUDE IN EJ,ECTION CRISIS THE HON.

THE PRIME MINIS­ TER, by command of His Excellency the Governor, laid upon the House · a copy of a despatch fro the Right Honourable the Secreta of State for the ColoniEs, appro·v·in of the action of His Excellency th Governor, and which vv?as read tl1e House, as follo-vvs : GOVERNOR TO PREMIER. Government House, St. John's, Nfl.d., 28th May, 1909 Dear Sir Edvvard l\1orris-I the honour to transmit, for the in formation of :r-,1:inisters, copy of Des patch No. 76, of the 14th inst., fro the Secretary of State, with refer ence to the recent political crisis.

It will be observed t11at the Secre tary desires that this despatch shal be i11ade a public record. No doub lVIinisters v vill consider how this ca best be done, and take a~nY step they deem proper under the ci stances, I have the honour to remain, Yot1r most obedient servant, (Sgd.) WM. MacGREG ·OR. The Honcurable Sir Edward Morris, K.C., LL.D., &c., &c._, Prime Minister. SECRETARY OF STATE FOR TH COLONIES TO GOVERNOR MacGREGOR. (Nfld., No. 76).

Colonial Office, Downir1g Street, 14th May, 190 Sir-I have the honour to acknow edge the receipt of your telegram the 12th May, reporting the resu of the General Election in Ne foundland. You will have learned from previous despatches and telegra that your action through the cult political situation which created in the Colony by the

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS. 39 isive result of the last general elec­ ion has met with my approval, but desire to place publicly on record y high appreciation of the man­ er in which you have handled a sit­ ation practically unprecedented in he history of Responsible Govern­ ent in the Don1inions. I may add that I consider your ecision to grant a dissolution to Sir dward l\tforris-which has, I ob­ erve been adversely criticised in a '

section of the Newfoundland press- to have been fully in accordance with the principles of Responsible Govern- ment. I have, etc., (Signed) CREWE. Governor Sir Wm. MacGregor, K.C.M.G., C.B., &c., &c. NOTICES OF MOTION THE I-ION. THE PRIME MINIS­ TER gave notice that he would on to-morrow ask leave to introduce a Bill to establish a Newfoundland Board of Trade. THE HON. THE PRIME MINIS­ TER gave notice that he would on to-morrow move the House into Con1mittee of the Whole to consider Resolutions on the subject of Edu­ cation. DOCUMENTS TABLED TI-IE I-ION.

MINISTER OF FIN­ ANCE AND CUSTOMS, by command of His Excellency the Governor, laid on the table of the House Estimates of Expenditure for the Colony for the financial year 1909-10; the de­ tailed statement of the Expenditure of the Colony for the financial year 1907-08; and the reports of the Auditor General : (a)-On the Revenue and Appro­ priation . Accounts for the fiscal year ended June 30th, 1908; (b)-On the Expenditure under the 23rd

Section of the Audit Act, 1899; and (c)-On the Expenditure, authorized by the Legislature, December 31st, 1908, to April 1909 not from 30th, THE HON. MINISTER OF FIN­ ANCE AND CUSTOMS gave notice that on to-morrow he would ask leave to move that Supply be grant­ ed to His Majesty THE HON. MINISTER OF FIN­ ANCE AND CUSTOMS gave notice that on to-morrow he would ask leave to move the House into Com­ mittee of the Whole on Supply. TI-IE HON.

MINISTER OF FIN­ ANCE AND CUSTOMS gave notice that on to-morrow he would ask leave to move the House into Com­ mittee of the Whole to consider cer· tain Resolutions with respect to raising sums of money by Loan for the Public Service of this Colony. THE HON. MINISTER OF FIN­ ANCE AND CUSTOMS gave notice tl1at he would on Friday next ask leave to move the Hot1se into Com­ mittee of the Whole on Ways and Means. THE HON. MINISTER OF FIN­ ANCE AND CUSTOMS gave notice that on to-morrow he would ask leave to introduce a Bill to provide for certain Retir~ng Allowances. NOTICE OF QUESTION MR.

KENT gave notice that he would on to-morow ask the Hon. the Prime Minister to lay unon the table of the House a copy of all cor­ respondence between His Excel­ lency the Governor and him in regard to the assumption of the Govern­ ment by him and his colleagues in the Ministry; also a copy of all correspondence between the Gov­ ernor and the Prime Minister relat­ ing to the recent dissolution of the Legislature. It was moved and seconded that when the House rises it adjourn till to-morrow, Wednesday, June 2nd, at

• 40 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS. three o'clock in the afternoon . The House then adjourned accord­ ingly. WEDNESDAY, June 2, 1909. The House met at three o'clock in the afternoon, pursuant to a 1 djourn­ ment. DOCUMENTS TABLED THE HON. COLONIAL SECI .. E­ TARY laid upon the table of the House: Report of Registrar General for the year ended Dec. 31st, 1908; Report of Newfoundland Savings Bank for the year ended Dec. 31st, 1908; Report of Methodist Schools for year ended Dec. 31st, 1908; Report of St. John's Council for year ended Municipal Dec. 31st, 1908. THE HON.

PRIME MINISTER, by command of His Excellency the Gov­ ernor, laid upon the table of the House certified copy of a Minute of the Honourable Executive Council, appointing the Commission of Inter­ nal Economy for the Session of 1909. Certified Copy of Minute. Under the provisions of

Section 4,

Chapter 1, 61 Victoria, the follow­ ing gentlemen to form the Commis­ sion of Internal Economy of the ~egislature-Hon. Sir E. D. Shea, Kt., President of the Legislative Council; Hon. John Harris, Hon. Geo. Skelton, His Honor the Speaker, Hon. Sir E. P. Morris, Kt., K.C., LL.D, Hon. Donald Morison, K.C., and Hon. R. Watson. Certified true copy, (Signed) R. WATSON, Colonial Secretary. PETITIONS PRESENTED . - HON. MR. EMERSON-I ask leave to present a petition from J.

R: Cour­ age and 9thers of Garnish, in the electoral 'district of Fortune Bay, praying that an extension to the breal\:water at that Dlace be and that a telegraph office· .be lished there as soon as possible. inspected the breakwater last au ... tuimn and was strongly of o.pinio that extension of about one hundr 0 ,..,,.. feet was necessary to malre a com .. plete job and meet the requirements of the petitioners.

A telegraph offic has been promised time and again b Governments in the past, but up to a; short time ago nothing has been done The Government now had this matte under consideration, and I think I ca assure the petitioners that before Ion the establishment of a telegraph o:ffic at Garnish will be an accomplishe fact. I feel sure that the Hon. mem hers for Burin will support this p tition, for they had taken upon them selves last autumn to promise tha this work would be done if the would be returned to power. MR.

DA VEY.-I have great pleasur in supporting th· e prayer of the 1petl tion and indorsing all the Hon. member for Fortune Bay has said. happened to be ·at Garnish 1du·rin the late election campaign and ca vouch for the necessity of the break water and telegraph office bein established at Garnish. T.he petition was re1ceive 1 d ·and i was or·dered to be referre · d· to •th Departm ·ent to whf.ch· it related. MR. MOULTON.-! ask leave present a petition from Edwar Seeley and others of Mother Lake' Brook and· Port aux Basque · s 1for light.

This is very important matte and one whchi ~ I hope will receive th earnest at•tention of the Governme This place is very much frequented b schooners during the fishing seaso seeking s·hel ter, and by many .belon ing to the districts of Burin a Fortune also. As a matter of fact interested the whole country, as man :fishermen ·. went there from all par People who did not know the co

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS. 41 were not a ware of the necessity for the light, but those acquainted with the place, and with the danger of getting around Cape Ray would find it ver)' convenient and greatly ap­ preciate it. l trust the hon. mem­ bers for the other two districts in­ terested will suuport the prayer of the petitioners who asked for either a lighthouse or a leading ligl1t. The c.ecision, I suppose, vvould be left to the Inspector of Lighthouses. I have much pleasure in supp-0rting the petition HON. MR.

EMERSON-It affords me much pleasure to support the pe­ tition presented by the hon. member for Burgeo. I am acquai11ted with the locality of Mother Lake's Brook, and can safely say that there is no place on the South Coast where a light is more needed. A great many fishermen of Fortune Bay, Burin and other places prosecute the fish­ ery in that neighbourhood during the winter months, and pass quite close to it on their way to the. Gulf in the spring of the year.

I cs.n assure the House that the light near Mother Lake's Brook 1would ,be o, f .great ad- vantage to the fishermen and would be very much appreciated by them. MR. DAVEY-I am very pleased to support the petitition. !The petition was ordered to be received and referred 1to the 1de­ partment to which .it relates. MR. CLIFT as_ked leave to present a petition from John Purchase and others of Pilley's Island, in the Dist­ rict of Twillingate, on the necessity for the introdt1ction of le,gislation for the purpose of protecting miners in the payment of wages.

Hon. mem­ bers vvould remember that there was operating at Pilley's Island a very extensive mining industry - and about a yea:r or so ago the mining company got into financia diffieulties, with the result that a considerable 9um of money was still owed to the miners for wages. It was found that all the a\railable assets belonging to the company were conveyed to the bond holders, so that there was nothing left upon the premises for the min­ ers to attach as security for wages, and consequently they have been compelled to have recourse to the law courts.

I might say that I have noticed a reference in the Speech from the Throne to the subject and I feel sure that it is unnecessary for me to make any further remarks up­ on it, as no doubt the Hon. the Pre­ mier or some other hon. member of the Ministry will introduce the ne­ cessary legislation in order to bring about what is asked for in this peti­ tion. I have very much pleasure in supporting the petition. HON.

THE PREMIER-I would like to say, as far as the Government are concerned, that they are fully in sympathy with the prayer of the petition just presented by the hon. n1ember for Twillingate, and at the present time the Minister of Justice is considering a measure to deal with that subject, creating a lien for the wages of miners. The Govern­ ment hone to be, able to go probably - a little further than this because, af:... ter all, the creation of a lien on the works or machinery is not sufficient to protect the men, because that might be unavailable, or it might be im­ ·possible to realize on the articles so taken.

At present the Governmen~ through the Attorney General, is con­ sidering the best and most modern :precedents in the matter and b.ope that, if not this session, then next session, to introduce a bill which would de,al with the question as had been outlined and foreshadowed in the Speech from. the Throne. The matter has een brought to their notice, not alone by the case sn pertinently reierred by tha i - •

42 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS. troduction of the petiti-on, but also by the York Harbor and other cases where men had to wait for years en­ deavouring to get their wages and did not suicceed. I ;hope thait the legis- lation will go a little further and compel the operators at all indus­ trial centres to pay the laborers their wages weekly.

There was a time when it was difficult to get money to these centres without great inc0n­ venience and great risk, and very often with a loss, but that difficulty is gradually disappearing with mail and · trade facilities and banks in various centres, I kn·ow of no reason why people at all large industrial centres should not now be paid tb eir wages every week, and in that way minimise to a very great extent the risk men run in the event of insolv- ency or shutting down of works.

It was a matter of satisfaction to feel that there was such harmony between both sides of the House in relation to this necessary legislation. MR. KENT-I strongly support the petition presented by the hon. mem­ ber for Twillingate and, in doing so, am pleased to note that the Prime Minister has promised to bring down at an early date legislation bearing on that subject. In connection with any such legislation it would be well to remember that the creation of a lien in itself was a very small bene­ fit to those whom it may intend to benefit.

The easy realization or en­ forcing of the lien rapidly and se­ curely, for people in this country, would have to be made under circum­ stances which were perhaps not par- alle ·led in other countries, as th:ey di; d not, in many places throughout the country, where it would be neces­ sary to enforce liens of that kind, any judicial machinery which, per­ haps, would have to be part of the means of enforcing liens.

In order to make this enforcement beneficial, the finding on the merits of lien oug·ht to . be rapid and final, cept in very exceptional circum ... stances, as otherwise they have to have recourse from court to court, which often caused the delay referred to by the Prime Minister and by my friend, Mr Clift.

I have much pleasure in supporting the pe­ tition and trust that when the Min­ ister of Justice brings down the leg­ islation on that point this session or next it will be such as will meet the approval of the entire House The petition was received and or­ dered to be referred to the depart­ ment to which it relates. MR. PARSONS-I ask leave to pre ... sent a ·peti·tion from Rev. J. A1d· a·ms, B. B. Squires and others of Span­ iard's Bay, praying for the erection of a place for the carrying on of the Postal Telegraph business there, as well as that of the Postal Depart­ ment proper.

This is a very neces .. sary step. At the present time there is not sufficient room in the small place where the business is done t give even the least satisfaction. It is most important that this should be attended to at once, as it is very badly needed. I have much pleasur in supporting the petition MR. SEYMOUR-I heartily support the petition. I was at Spaniard's Bay but a short while since, and the con dition of the place where the postal work is now done claimed my atten tion. Not alone is the building unti for the work, but it is located in poor place.

I hope the Governmen will give every consideration to th prayer of the petition. The petition was re,ceived dered to be referre·d · to the ment ·to which :it re·lates. MR. MOULTON-I ask leave present a petition from Mr. G. Par sons and C'thers of Burnt Island an vicinity, asking for steam connectio

• HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS. 43 There are almost a thousand people in the neighbou1 hood, and \'1hereas thirty years ago they had a sailing paclcet, now they have only an old man carrying the mail around. I have presented several other peti­ tions on previous occasions on the san1e subjeJt, but t11ey 11ave not been granted. I ha,re also appealed to the Bov1ring Coa.stal Co. and to the Reid Co.,. but have been told they could do nothing, as the captains ~rere not '\\rilling to call there. Burnt Island ancl Isle-a11x-Morts are t\VO cf the most important fisl1ing settlements in the Island.

Thousands of quintals of fisl1 vvere caught in the neigl:1bourl1ood by people from Burin to Cl1annel in Ma.rch, April and May. 1.~l1e i11habitants fished there all V{in­ ter and it was easy to understand the necessity of having a steamer call tl1ere and bring supplies to the fish­ ermen, who often wanted bait brought from Bay of Islands and could not get it without losing a fine day's fish­ ing. The captains of the coastal boats said it was too hard a place to enter, but I n1aintain tl1at they co11ld get there if they v1anted to. I consider that the coa,stal service is not arranged as it should be.

It was not at all necessary tl1at the Portia ' should go around Cape Ray. It was quite sufficient for her to go to Port­ aux-Basques; and if she .did not go into the Gulf, there vv-ere nun1erous ports, not touched at all by steamer now, where she could call. Tl1ose beyond Port-aux-Basques ·were .con- nected by train every day. The Home called at Bay of Islands and the peo­ ple from there do~rn the coast could get all the freight they wanted week­ ly. Also from l\1ay 1st up to the end of the year the Harlaw "\\"ent from Port-aux-Basques weekly. The whole service should be re-arranged. MR.

DOWNEY-I am heartily in accord with that part of the petition which asks that Burnt Island be made a port of call for the stean1er, but I do not think the Portia should cease calling at the harbors of St. George's District, as if the people there could not get their freight direct in one bottom from St. J ol1n's they might get it from Halifax by the Harlaw. I have plans in course of arrangement which n1ight reduce the time occupied by tha1t ste·amer in the waters of the District of St.

George's, and possibly with this re­ duction there might be ample time for the steam.er to make Burnt Is­ land an additional port of call. l am convinced from my own knowl­ ed.ge of the place that Burnt Island could easily be reached by the steam­ er, and I think that, if necessary, a survey should be made of the har- • bor. I have much pleasure in sup- porting the petition. The petition was received and or­ dered to be referred to the depart­ ment to which it relates. HON.

COLONIAL SECRETARY-I asl{ leave to present a petition from John Harris and others, of Seal Cove, praying for a grant for an agricul­ tural road. After the grants are passed it is my intention to con­ sult with my colleagues and see what can be done in the 1matter. ~1R. SQUIRES-I rise with particu­ lar pleasure to support the prayer of the petition. It is most appropri­ ate that the first petition to be pre­ sented from Trinity this session should be from the industrious and energetic settlement of Seal Cove. I am sure every effort will be made to coincide with the wishes of Mr. Harris and his fellow petitioners.

The petition was received and or­ dered to be ref erred to the depart­ ment to which it relates.

• 44 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PEOCEEDINGS • DRAFT OF ADDRESS IN REPLY PR.ESENTEiD MR. DOWNEY, on behalf of the Select Committee appointed to draft an Address in Reply to His Excellency's Speech, presented t11c report of the said Committee, as follows : ''To His Excellency Sir William MacGregor, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St.

George, Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Doctor of Medicine, Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over the Island of Newfoundland and its Dependencies. ''May it please Your Excellency : ''We, the Commons of Newfound­ lan, in Legislative Session assembled, beg leave to thank Your Excellency for the gracious Speech which Your Excellency has addressed to both Houses of the Legislature." MR. CLIFT-I would like to ask the hon. member (l'v.Ir.

Downey) if it is his intention to furnish the House with a copy of the Sveech before the members are called upon to adont the renort of the Select Com-- - mittee. The Speech has been deliv- ered from the Throne and has been read in this House, but no copies of it have been placed in the hands of the members. I am prepared to fac­ ilitate the work of the House, but consider that this is undue haste. On entering the House to-day I ask­ ed the Clerk for a copy of the Speech, but I have not received it. Until it has been placed in the hands of the members I am not prepared to sup­ port the adoption of the report.

THE HON. PREMIER (SIR E. P. MORRIS)-! have no objections what soever to the request of the hon. member for Twillingate. I presun1- ed that a copy of the· Speech had been given to each member. Und the circumstances, I would asl{ th t11e report be received, but not adop ed. The G -overnment have no d sire to rush any matters with undu haste but, on the contrary, are ve desirous to have matte1--s discusse at full leng·th. The report " ras, on inotion, · receiv ed; and it \'1las 01·de:red ttiat i adopti0n be considered to-morrow. NOTICES OF QIJESTION MR.

KE1'JT asked the Hon. th Pri1ne Th<'.Iinister to lay upon the tabl of the Ho11se a copy of all spondence between His Excellenc the Governor and him, prior to relating to the assumution of Government by him and his leagues in the Ministry; also copy o all correspondence bet\veen His Ex cellency the Governor and the Prim Minister relating to the recent disso 11tion of tl1e Legislature. . HON. 'l.,I-IE PREJVIIER (SIR E. P MORRIS)-In reply to the hon. mem ber, I he.\re to say that I have aske His Excellency for leave to tabl tl1e correspo11dence desired. NOTICES OF MOTION. TIIE HON.

THE PRilVIE MINIS TER--To move the House into Com mittee of the Whole to consider cer tain Resolutions on the subject o Education. On motion of the Hon. the Minister, tb.is motion "'as deferred. THE HON. THE PRilVIE MINIS TER-To introduce a Bill to lish a N evvfot1ndland Board of Trad&. On motion of the Hon. the Prim Minister, the Bill "ras read a firs time and ordered to be printed. MOTI0 1N FOR SUPPLY TO GRANTED TO ms MAJESTY THE HON. lVIINISTER OF FIN ANCE AND CUSTOMS-To move tha. Supply be granted to His Majesty. TIIE HON. MINISTER OF FIN ANCE AND CUSTOMS I

HOUSE OF AssnMBLY PROCEEDINGS. 45 to move that Supply be granted to f.Tis Majesty; in other words, that tl is I-louse do formally undertake to urovide the funds necessary to carry ~n the Pl1.blic Service of this Colony for tl1e next fiscal year.

It will be ren~embered that the underlying isst1e in the late political deadlock \YaS the fact that the Supply which was passed by tl1e last House was only for the flscal year, Vlhich closes at the end of the present month, and that a co1nplete stoppage of the ad­ ministrative machinery of the Colony would result unless Supply for the next fiscal year were provided be­ fore the 30th day of June. As the result of the continued deadlock, and the inability of His Excellency to se­ cure the necessary Supply, the Leg­ islature ba.d to be dissolved and a new election held a month ago.

The outcon1e of that election was that the deadlock V\ras br·oken, and there "'"as no longer any real issue on this point. I feel confident, therefore, that this House will have no hesita­ tion in passing this formal vote. I shall presently m·ove the House into Committee of the Whole to consider the details of Supply that is to be provided. The motion was then adopted and it was ordered that Supply be grant­ ed to His Majesty. :A<IOTION FOR COMl\llTTEE , ON SUPPLY TI-IE HON. MINISTER OF FIN­ ANCE AND CUSTOMS-I now ask leave to move the House into Con1- mittee of the Whole on Supply.

Yes­ terday afternoon I laid upon the table of the House, by direction of His Excellency the Governor, the Estimates for the coming fiscal year. These Estimates, I would ex­ plain, are substantially the same as those prepared by the late Govern­ ment, and which were found printed and ready for submisgion to the Legislature when the present Gov­ ernment took office three months ago to-day. They have not been altered, except in one or tvvo unimportant details, and tl1ese I will explain in Committee.

As m.any of the n1e1n­ bers of this House are new to par­ lia,mentary life; and they may de­ sire to be enlightened on any of the votes as they come up for discussion, I shall be glad to afford them any information in my power, ,and vv-hat details I am not familiar with the other heads of departments will be very pleased to st1pply. It was ordered accordingly. MR. SPEAI(ER I _;f~ the Chair. COl\fMITr.I:E 1 ON SUPPLY lVIR. EDWARD PARSONS took the Cl::.air of Committee. MR. P J\ ... RSONS-I would like to n1ake a few remarlrs before assum­ ing this post, if permitted to do so.

I am very glad that the members ha,ve placed in me the confidence which they did. I am a new mem­ ber of the House, and parliamentary pra~ctice is !)ractically unknown to ine, so I ask the co-operation and indulgence of the members, assuring t11em that I will end~avour to carry ot1t the duties of the office to the best of my ability, and to do my duty without fear or favor. TI-IE HON. MINISTER OF FIN­ ANCE AND CUSTOMS-I wish to point out, at the start, that some of the printed statements are inaccur­ ate, but I shall be glad to give the members all t11e information at my command.

I would aJso draw atten­ tion to the fact that the Speech from the Throne foreshadowed that the Government would ask for a loan of $330,000, and also that a loan would be asked, for the Municipal Council, for $100.000. The interest on the latter loan would be paid by the Council and not by the Colony. MR. CLIFT I would like . to ask

HOUSE OF ASSEMB~Y PROCEEDINGS. the Hon. Minister if it .is :his inten­ tion to go through the Supply votes, or to deal only with votes which were not of a ·ContentiollS nature; and later to go back to ·those votes on which there would be some ·discussion. I would like to have the opportunity of making some observation on the votes, but 1 could not be expected to do so without 1havin 'g seen them. The members of the Opposition are q·uite willing to facilitate the work of · the Government as ·muc· h as pos­ si-ble, an. d I believe that the Hon.

Mintster :himself would be relieved of much trouble if only the non­ conten tious matters · were :dealt with this afternoon. THE HON. MINI :STER OF FI­ NAN·CE AND C1U1 S.TOM1 S The .hon. gentleman must 1 be fam1iliar with the estimates as they were the work of the late Government, of w.hich he (Mr. Clift) was a member. How­ ever, I am willing to accede to the request of the hon. member, as I have no intention of rushing the estimates through, and therefore I will take u· p only those votes whic · h . are not .contentio ·us, allowing the re- mainder to wait over over till to­ morrow. MR.

CLIFT I have no comment to make on the estimates w'hich 1had been dealt w.ith 1by the last A1dminis­ tration, but am only anxious to .have an o.pportunity of discussing any new votes. It was only in reference to alterations that I aske · d for ·con­ sideration, and I felt sure it would be granted, for it would facilitate the business of the House. While on my feet I wo.uld take the oppor­ tun·ity of tenderin · g my 1hearty ·con­ gratulations to the Chairman on ·his pro·motioh to that position.

T,he position of Chairman of Committee in this House is not an easy one, and requires ·Consi·derable judgm e and a,bility. I feel confident that t the exercise of his duties he (.M Parsons) will so administer office as to reflect credit upon · hi self and upon his native distr which has sent hlm here. There w a possibility that at any moment th hon. gentleman might be elevated t a higher position. i H1is Honor th Speaker, who so ably filled th position, might be a·bsent for S 'om unavoidable reason, and in th event the Chair ·man of Commit t woul · d have to take the Speake r .chair.

Still, while such an eve ·happened some eighteen years ag to my knowledge 'it had not ha· pened before or since, so the pro pects of the present Chairman sec u in~ su.ch ·promotion are not ve promising. In 18 91 I had the h o our of occupying the .Speak er chair, and that time ·became a vi.cti to a prevailing co·mplaint. Dur i my temporary absence the De, pu S·peaker, or Chairman of Commit te the late l\'.Ir. Whiteley, who was al a representative of Harbor .Grae took the Chair as , S.peaker.

I :ho for the sake of the Speaker, that th w.ill not occur during the pres e session, b·ut I am confident that t Hon. 1Chairman wo.uld 1carry out t du ties of his office with fairness a impartialty. It is not be·cause We· , r t Op·position ·were few in number th they did not deserve considera ti or fair .play. For my own · part,, ' though I have sat as a membe r · the House for over twelve yea and have been conne ·cted with it another capacity for three or fo years, I ' have never till now .had t pleasure of sittin · g on the Opp tion .benches.

I think it is a h ap place, where ·members enjoy a se of freedom w.hich those on the ot side lack. There were some tri fli

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS. 47 inconvenience. I do not refer to the necessity of having to go down through what ·was generally known as the ''coal hole,'' the real in·con­ venience was the la,ck of those e,molt1ments which were en.joye · d !by the other side. I tr·ust that this 1 in­ convenience will be only of a tem­ porary nature. I do not envy the members on the other side, an1d am content to abide by the decision arrived at by the majority of the people on the 8th of May last. I am willing to serve my 1country to the best of my ability in what :is called His Majesty's , l'oyal 0 1pposition.

Why it was thus designated I do not know. I re· m·emb.er that the phrase was first used by the Hon. ·Mr. Greene wh·en he was on this side · of the House, but was until lately unde · r the impress-ion that it was used more in a sense of derision than in any other way. However, as I now fini d the 1p.hrase was a.ccepted and even .made use of .by the· Hon. Premier in his : m·anifesto of last fall. I would assure the House that during the Committee stag . a the Chairman would receive at the hands of the Oppos 1ition that cour­ tesy which belonged · to him as Chairman of Committees.

M·R. p A.RSON . s I thank the hon. me.mber for T·willingate for ·his kind remarks and :woul 1 d only re.peat that I will do my best in the posi­ tion. I am 1 gl~d to see the hon. mem:ber of Twillingate iin the flesh, and to find that .he .had not fallen into the hands of my brother artizans. MR. CLIFT I wis· h to draw at­ tention to the unsa tisf ,actory method in which the bailiffs atten·d 1 ing upon the 1SUpreme Court are paid for their se·rvi1ces. THE HON. MINISTER OF FI­ NANCE AND CU1STOM·S We have ma1de no alterations course adopted by the. ment. from the late Govern- MR.

CLIFT That might be so, but nevertheless , these officials · were subj e1ct to a good ideal of in·con veni­ en·ce ·and ·delay in. o·btaining their rem unera ti on. These officials were capable · and efficient in their work, and it was time they were · put ·on the regular salaried list like other employees of the 1Government. For twenty years or more Mr. Roil had .been performing the ,duties of bail­ iff in an emine11tly satisfa.ctory man­ ner, and it was time ; some consid· era ti on was shown ,him.

I .Jlope the Minister of ,Justice will give the matter h1s attention and ;have the existing unsatisfactory 1conditions re·eified. MR. KENT I rise to ask if the ·Government intend to make any more s.atisfactory arrangements , re- garding the reporting of the debates of this House. This subject has been discussed for some years by members of both sides of the House, who have complained of the wrong construction placed on speeches de­ livered by them. It was time some­ thing was done in this matter, even if members were only given the op­ portunity to see their remarks be­ fore they appeared in print.

In Can­ ada they have a far more satisfact­ ory method. The speeches of mem­ bers are revised and placed on their desks for perusal before being in­ serted in the Hansard. If a similar system were adopted here by the Internal Economy Commission it would be conferring a great favour on members of the House. THE HON. THE PREMIER (SIR E. P. MORRIS)-There is a great deal of truth in what the Hon. Act­ ing Leader of the Opposition has saM,conoorn~gfue~s~mof r~

48 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS. porting. Our debates were not tak­ en down verbatim and for that rea­ son it was only fair that the mem­ bers should be allowed to revise their speeches. It was a pity that there was not s·ome way of preserv­ ing a record of the debates. No re ... cord whatever existed of debates which had taken place in the past. If one wished to refer to a debate on an impo tant measure, which had come up for the consideration of the House, it was often found impossible to find any record.

It was true tbat they had been printed in the newspapers and that copies of the papers were supposed to be on file in the Legislative Library, but en­ quiry there always elicited the re­ ply that the papers were either lent and had not been returned, or had been lost. In England and Ottawa, as the Hon. the Acting Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Kent, said, the speeehes were talren down verbatim. They were printed and the proofs were laid on their desks for the convenience of the members on the following day.

Thus the speaker bad a chance to revise them before they were :finally printed and passed into permanent form.. I will bring the matter before the Internal Economy Committee a;nd I can promise that it ill eceive every attention. VOTE FOR EDUCATI N. THE HON. THE PREMIER (SIR E. P. MORRIS)-In relation to the Education vote, I wish to say that the ote in the Estimates is the same as last year, but it is proposed later to bring in an additional vo e In Supplementary Supply, which we will ask the Legislature to endorse.

The exact amount I cannot now name, but tt w II be somewhere in he ne · gh ourhood of twenty-five or thirty tho sand dollars. As ·to how this money w·11 be spent I could not efinitely say now, but t e Gover - ment is consulting with the Superi tende11ts of Education as to the be way it could be utilized. It woul perhaps, be principally devoted, fir to the augmenting of teachers' sa a1~ies. The Governr11ent proposed pass a su1n that would increase t salary of every teacher in the Co ony.

It was also proposed to spe a su1n of n1oney to provide schoo in. destitute places, vvhere at prese there are no educational facilities ar1y kind. It was also the Gover ment's intention to vote an a1nou to build new schools throughout t country on hygienic and sanitar principles. Nothing definite in co nection with this vote could be sai at the present time, but probably ,,.,.ould be used to pay the interest o $100,000, which \vould co"rer th erection of 150 new schools at $7 each.

The money for the buildin would be provided by the differe Boards of Education throughout ·country and the interest be paid the Government. The heads of the various denominational bodi the Council of Higher Education, t different School Boards, and Association for the Prevention Consumption, are all working with view to improving · the existing ditions. I have o doubt but when the vote comes before House it will receive the consider tion it deserves. MR. KENT-I notice a further i crease . of six thousand dollars in t Education Grant. What is this fo THE HON.

THE PREMIER­ amount is to cover the deficiency the Augmentation Grant. The gr impetus given to education uri the past few years has resulted many of the lower grade teaeh seeking and obtaining the hi grade. This, with the inerea ntim er of teache s througho.ut untr , made h . demands on

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEltDINGS. 49 Bonus Grant so large that the reg­ ular amount was insufficient to cover them. lVIR. KENT-I concur very warmly in this vote. It is necessary that t11e work of the teachers and their efforts to make themselves nlore pro­ ficient should be properly recognized. l\1R. KENT-I vrish to suggest to the Gover11ment an improvement in the postal accommodation at North S d The Postmaster there is a y ney. NeYlfoundland Government official and handles a great part of the 1rewfoundland nostal matter.

I no­ ticed during a visit I paid to the office there on my return journey fro1n the United States last Febru­ ary the poor accon1modation and position of the Post Office there. It is a small office, built on a wl1arf. I am sure that both the hon. mem­ ber for Burgeo, Mr. Moulton, and tl1e hen. member for Harbor Main, Mr. l\riurphy, whom I met there, will thoroughly agree with me in the matter. l\1R SEY1\10UR-I also agree with lVfr. Kent. The work at North Syd­ ne)r is very hard. The hours are long, sometimes continuing till early morning. The accommodation and remuneration are very poor indeed. MR.

HOWLEY-I rise to ask whe­ ther the salary of the Postmaster at Placentia has been raised at the in­ stance of the I>resent or the late Government? THE HON. THE PREMIER-At the instance of the late Government. MR. HOWLEY-I thoroughly real­ ize the impossibility of the Govern­ ment dealing with all the requests from the constituencies in the pre­ sent estimates. The short time in which they have been prepared will not admit of this. But I wish it to be understood by the constituencies that it is not through neglect that their immediate necessities are not at- tended to.

The Estimates were those prepared by the late Government and the present Government had not had the requisite amount of time to attend to all the applications from the various districts. l\IIR. KENT-I am of the opinion t11at tl1e Government 11ave adopted these Estimates, if they have not thoroughly appoved of them. The excuse is put forward that they had not had the time to consider them, but this is not a justifiable excuse. The Government has now been in power three months.

It has met this House on two occasions, on each of which it has said that it was prepared to proceed with the busi­ ness of the House, and that included the adoption of the Estimates. These ''1ere prepared by the various de­ partments and submitted for the con­ sideration of the late Government, but had not been adopted by that Government, nor formally accepted by it. I admit that the conditions vie have lived under during the last six months have been unusual, in fact, unique. But I think that if the Government undertook to intro­ duce Estimates they should have the manliness to accept them as their own. lVIR.

F. J. MORRIS-I wish to say that there is at present under con­ struction a fog alarm on Marticot Island, in Placentia Bay, but I see no reference to it in the Estimates. Last fall it was under construction and certain moneys were spent, the late Minister of Marine and Fisher­ ies, Captain Dawe, having visited the place to locate the site. Surely that work has been going on UTt'! 0 r some authority from the De:partment of Marine and Fisheries, and if so there ought to be some place in the Estimates for the work done and further provision for its completion, which it is very necessary should be

50 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS. done. I an1 very sorry that the Minister of Marine and Fisheries is somewhat indisposed and could not be present to-day, as I am desirous of getting so1ne information concern­ ing it. MR. CLIFT-I would like to ask the Hon. l\1inister of Agriculture and Mines what volicy the Government intends to adopt vrith regard to coal boring during the pre3ent )-ear. Last year a contract was entered in­ to with an expert drill man for the p,urpose of boring the areas in the neighbourhood of Goose Brook, and that contract is not yet completed.

Already a very large sum of money has been expended in our endeavours to find paying seams of coal, but anyone who will take up the re­ ports n1ade to this House by the Geological Surveyor, Mr Howley, \Vill find that whatever sums of nloney were expended on coal boring were well spent. He will find that Mr. Rowley's operations in the neigh­ bourhood of Goose Brook have de­ monstrated the truth oi his ovvn theory, that the neighbourhood is the true seat of the coal. In his opera­ tions Mr. Howley has been more or less handicapped by want of proper machinery and expert assistance.

Last year, however, he was provided with expert assistance and with the best possible machinery that could be procured, and his operations were most successful. Mr. Rowley's re­ ports will show that coal was struck in several places and that in one par­ ticular place he opened a seam five feet thick, and there was every pos­ sible indication of his finding fur­ ther seams of the same quality of G ... :1, which on examination was found to be all th at could be desired. I hope that the present Government will still act uuon the advice and reports of Mr.

Howley, and continue to prosecute a search under his di­ rection. That we have coal in this country in large quantities I ha no doubt, both from the reports t I have been able to gather from Howley and frorn other sourc Great care and prudence should taken in our effort to find and d velo1) these sea1ns. It has frequently been m to appear to the pu bli· c that t large sums of money expended coal boring have been squander and, in fact, tl1rovvn away. it unfair to attack any Governm for its endeavours to discover so thing \Yhich would be be11eficial the wl1ole country.

P~ny money pended by tl1e late Government w expended upon the advice of gentleman who presided at the be of the Geological Survey, and it w upon his re1)orts that the ment was induced to pursue icy in the neighbourhood to. I happen to have v.rith me · report that was made by Mr. Ho ley last year, in September, whe had the honour of presiding o the department having charge of coal boring operations. I like to read one or two portio (Mr. Clift then read a report fr Mr.

Howley on the work he had d up to the 6th September last ye I am only reading this for the p pose of showing that any money plied for this purpose has been sp '\veil, and that it is on.Iy a quest of time when substantial retu for the same will result from development of our coal wish to impress upon the ment the great necessity of areas. Gove with the v1ork under the direc of the gentleman who has been charge and is carrying on the tract, viz., Mr Randell, of New Y a gentleman eminently qualified do the work, and who contracted do it at a figt1re he considered reasonable. Last year he had

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS. 51 I re 3~000 feet, and if he had suc­ .eE dec1 in completing his ·'\\rork be­ ore the end of the season he would ra\ye rnade a fair profit, but the con­ itions 'vere such that h.e ~nly suc­ ecded in bori11g one-half of the .ontract, and I believe on his oper­ ticns Tvir. Randell vvas really out f poclret.

I hoDe tl1e lVfinister vill be able to offer some informa- ion as to wl1ether operations are to go on this season under the same contract as last year, and whether any new areas will be surveyed. l\1:r. 0 ,vley has been forced to spend too n1t1ch of his time at the really mechanical part of coal boring. His · presence for the last few years has a!v{ays been necessary at the scene of operations. I trust that the pre­ sent Government will see that in f1rtl.!re tl1is will not be ~o and that :rvrr. Ho\vley vv-ill be able to spend more of his time at the actual geol­ ogical st1rvey work. THE HON.

MINISTER OF AGRI­ CULTlJRE AND MINES-In reply to the hon. gentleman, I would say that the oolicv of the present Government - ~ "rith reE"ard to coal boring will be .._ practically the same a.s that carried cut by the late Administration. Iv!R SPEAKER resumed the Chair. THE CHAIRMAN FRO:r~ THE COl 11\iITTEE reported to the Speak­ er t.1::tt the Con1rr:.ittee of tl1e Whole Hou.se had considered t11e Estimates, passet.l certain resolutior...s and beg­ ged leave to hold another sitting. Ordered accordingly, and that the Committee have leave to sit again to-morrow The remaining notices of motion "\\·ere deferred.

NOTICES OF QUESTION. HON.· MR. EMERSON gave notice that he would on to-morrow ask the Minister of Public Works to lay on the table of the House a statement shovting the amount of Special Grants expended in the District of Twillingate from July 1st, 1907, to December 30th, 1908. HON. MR. EMERSON gave notice tb.at he would on to-morrov1 ask the l\lfiriister of Marine and Fisheries to lay on the table of the House a statement showing the amount for !viarine V/ or ks expended in the Dist­ rict of Twillingate from July 1st, 1907, to December 30th, 1908 MR.

SQUIRES gave notice that he v:ould on to-morrow ask the Hon. the Prime Minister to lay on the table of the House c·opies of all corre­ spondence between His Excellency the Governor and the Right. Hon.

Sir Robert Bond, between November 1st, 1908, and this date, in relation to the issues raised by the result of the G·eneral Election in November last; the continuance in office of Sir Ro be rt Bond and his I\1inisters; the convening of the Legislature in February last; the resignation of office by Sir Robert Bond and his Ministers; the dissolution of the late Legislature; and the recent election cf members to serve in the House of Assembly . I\ifR. DOWNEY gave notice that he would on to-morrow ask the Hon.

Colonial Secretary to lay on the table cf the House a statement show­ ing the number of letters issued by the Colonial Secretary's Department last year, purporting to be a fare­ well address from Mr. Carty, the la,te member of St George's District, to his constituents; to say by whose authority these were sent through the Colonial Secretary's office; by 'vhose authority they were franked by the department; and what was the amot1nt of the postage which was Jost to the Colony by their being fra.nked.

It was moved and seconded that when the House rises it adjourn till to-morrow, Thursday, June 3rd, at ._ .... --. ._ ---·

52 HOUSE OF ASSE iBLY PROCEED:NGS. three o'clock in the afternoon. The House then adjourned accord­ ingly. THURSDAY, June 3, 1909. The House met at three o'clock in the afternoon, pursuant to adjourn­ ment. PETITIONS PRESENTED. HON. MR. El\/fERSON-I ask leave to present a petition from John Spencer and others of Hardy's Cove, in the District of Fortune Bay, pray­ ing for a grant of $120 to build a bridge along the cliffside of that place. The petitioners state that owing to the want of this bridge they are hindered and gre~tly handi­ ca,pped in their business operations.

I know the locality well, personally, and · there is great necessity for the bridge there. Tb.e petition recei"~es my hearty sup!)ort and I trt1st that when the grants for the district are being allocated I will be able to meet the wishes of the petitioners. I also beg leave to present a peti­ tion signed by Wilson Garland and others, inhabitants of Pushthrough, praying for the sum of $400 to build a breakwater at that place. The pe­ tioners state tl1at a large number of crafts are contint1ally going into Pushthrough.

The harbor itself is an exposed one, being open t3 south and south-east winds, which make it almost impossible to protect the crafts and boats. The want of such a breakwater as aslrerl for was badly felt and a great hindrance to the fishermen in carrying on their work. They also state that this is the first time they had asked any Govern­ ment for that work to be done and, recognizing that the present Govern­ ment is the People's Government, in which they had ever faith, they feel that their wishes would be complied with.

I give the petition my hearty support and ask that it be referred to the Department of Marine Fisl1eries. MR. lVIOULTOrI-I heartily SU port the petition. I know the plac 'vell. Very often I have had a ve sel call there a11d, therefore, kn o hovv ,~ery urgently a breal-rwater i needed. I trl1st the prayer of petition will be granted. It was ordered that the :petitio n b received and referred to the dep art ment to ~rhich it relates. HON. MR.

ElVfERSON-I ask leav to present a petition fro1n Garland and others of Hermi tag Bay, in the District of Fortune Bay praying that the mail courier wh leaves Gal1ltois on the arrival the Portia ,, for Bay D'Espoir, shoul also call at the nlace called "Barn es. - Wl1ile dealing "rith the subject mat ter of this petition I would poin out that the mail service at present time in Fortune Bay Dist r· could only be regarded as a fa re The district wbicl1 I have the hono to represent V\ras sadly neglecte d b past Governments in many respe c and the n1aiJ service in partic ul stood out in a consnicuous as one which req_uired immediate a tention.

The candidate of the la Government sect1red his return t 1904 in a large measure by reaso n promising to !)lace a small b steamer on Fortune Bay and He mitage Bay. These promises we not only left unfulfilled, but the m service was allowed to go from b to worse, and this in face of t fact that every bay in the vrith the excention of this which I have the honor to repre se bas been provided with steam fact ties. In Twillingate District, Bon vista Bay, Conception Bay and on Burin, all have their tay stea me tapping the small places and maki connection with the coastal boa In the District of Twillingate alo

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS. 53 it ,vill be found that the Clyde touches at thirty or forty places tvvice a Vleelr and, in addition to this, the coastal boat from St. John's call