PROCEEDINGS OF THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY ERRATA. In the speech of Mr. Jennings,. on page 275, the 38th and 39th 11~es should be deleted~ and the following substituted therefor: ''At Greenspond, f , , a place o about 1 ,375. E 'SION TWENTY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY · OF FOUND LAND 1914 ROBINSON & COMPANY, LIMll'ED, l-)RESS Duckworth Street, St. John's, Ne\vfoundland. 1914. •

PROCEEDINtiS OF THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY OF NEWFOUNDLAND SESSION 1914 WEDNESDAY, Jan 14. 1914. Upon the fourteenth day of Janu­ ary, A.D., 1914, the members return­ ed for the several districts, assembled at two o'clock in the afternoon and between the hours of two and three of the clock the members, with the .exception of the Rt. Ho.n Sir Robert Bond, P.C., K.C.M.G., appeared in the Council Ciham· b·er and took and sub­ scribed the oath of allegiance before the Hon·ourables John Harris, George Skelton and Robert K. Bishop, the commissioners of His Excellency the Governor, thereto appointed.

At three of the clock, the members hieing assembled in the Assembly Room, the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod delt.vered a ·message fr >m H.E. the Governor requAs·ting th~ at· tendance of the members in the Coun cil Chamber, "rhere His Excellency's commission 11aving been read by the Clerk, the oommissi ·oners signifie<1 that the members sb0uld forthwith return to their own chamber and elect a proper person to be their Speaker, and present such person to His Ex­ cellency on to-morrow in the Council Chamber at three of the clock. Whereupon the members having returned to the Assembly Room, the Rt. Hon.

Sir Ed ward P. Morris, P.C., I<.C.M.G., moved that the m·ember for Carbon ear, John R Goodison, Esq, do take the chair as Speaker, and it was seconded by Robert Moulton, Esq., 111ember for Burgeo and La Poile; and no other person being proposed, l\'.Ir. Goodison "\Vas u11anin1ously called to the chair lJy the Hou se, and 'vas conducted to the chair by the mem­ bers vvho proposed and seconded him. Whereupon tl1· e Speaker, standing on the steps, addressed the House ex­ presRing his gratitude tt• tl1e 11011. members for the high 11onor unanim­ ously conf·erred on him .

The House then adjourned until to­ morrow, Thursday, at half past two of the clock in the afternoon. • THURSDAY, Jan. 15, 1914. At 11alf past two of tl1e clock the members of the House of Assembly met in the Assembly Room, purst1ant to adjournment. At three of the clock a message from His Excellenc)r the Governor was delivered by the Gentleman Ush­ er of tl1e Black Rod commanding the immediate attendance of Mr. Speak­ er and the House in the Council Chamber. Whereupon Mr. Speaker and the House attended His Exc·ellency in the Council Chamber and having return, . ed to the Assembly Ro·om, Mr.

SpeaK.­ er inforn1ed tl1e House that when in attendanc · e upon His Excellency in the Council Cha.mber, His Excellency had been pleased to approve of his election as Speaker of this House, and that in th·e ndime a11d on behalf of the House of Asesmbly he had by humble petition to His Excellency laid claim to all their ancient rights and privil­ eges, which His Excellency had con­ firmed to them in as full and ampl · e a manner as tl1ey have !.Leretofore

4 :IIOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS been granted or allowed by His Ex­ cellency or a11y of hi3 pred ·ecessors. l\1r. Speaker also expressed his re­ spectful acknowledgments for the hig·h honol1r which the House had u11animously confierred Ul)On him. Mr. Speal\:er f11rther announced that whilst in the Council Chamber His Excel­ lency had been pleased to make a speech to both branch·es of the Legis­ lature, of which Speech for greater accuracy 11e had obtained a copy. which he then read to the House as at home largar quantities of man-y of tlie foodstuffs no'v partly procured from other countries.

Feeling confident that in so doing I vvas but v1oici11g the wishes of tl1e Legislature and the people of New· foundland, I recently extended · an in­ vitation to their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Connaught to visit this country during the coming st1mmer, if their engagern .ents will permit, and you will rejoice to kno· w that they have promised to do so if it is at all possible. I am confident that, should they find themselves able to come to Newfoundland, they will receive the whole hearted welcome that always goes out to members o! the Royal Family from the people of tl1e Oldest Colony.

SPEECH FROM THE THRONE. Mr. President and Honourable Gentle­ men of the Legislative Council: Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the Honou ,rable House of Assembly: I "'.,.e1come you with pleasure at this, the opening of the Twenty-third Gen­ eral Assembly, and I trust that your labours, under Divine Providence, will tend toward a continuance of the gratifyi11g conditions of pros ,perity and contentment now so general am­ ongst our people.

I availed myself of the opportuni­ ties during the past year to visit dif­ ferent parts of the country and fam­ iliarize mys·elf with the industries of the people and the res·ourc ·es of the Island.

It was a great pleasure to me to find the evidences of well-being ev­ erywhere manifest, and to note the ind us trial progress made in the dif­ ferent localities and I take pleasure in expres 1 sing the hope that these hap­ py circumstances will long continue, and that still other avenues of em­ ployment will open up, to enable the people further to improve their ma­ terial position, and to add to the \vealth of the commu11ity.

I was specially gratified to observe the in­ creased interest in agriculture, and to le·arn that developme11ts in this re­ spect are but the forerunner, it is be­ lieved, of still fl1rther efforts to raise You have been summoned thus early in the year in the belief that a session at tl1is seas ,on, wb.en virtual­ ly undivided attention can be given to public business, ·will operate to th.e general adva.nta,ge.

The General Election held in Oc­ tober last was, it is pleasing to note, marked on the whole by a continua­ tion of the good order and peaceful discussion characteristic of suc· h contests hitherto, a fact affording strong testimony to the law-abiding character of the people. - The fishing indt1stry last year in its various branches was, I rejoice to say, attended with s·uccess. The catch of codfish was about an average one and tl1e prices realized were good. Tl1e returns from the seal fishery were considerably in excess of those of 1912.

Though the lobster pack was small, the high prices which rul­ ed helped to offset the shortage. The outlook in the foreign n1arkets, more­ over, is encouraging, and the recent chang·e in the American Tariff Law, by \Vl1ich our fisl1ery products are admitted free to tl1e markets of the United States, will help materially· to maintain price . 3 as \Vell as stimttlate

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEl>'.NGS. 5 the export of green fish. 'l"'he agricultural pr.ospect, viewed in the light of last year's operations, is most gratifying. The number of agricult11ral soceties is increasing, and the stimulus imparted to tl1e industry lJy their activity warrants the belief that, as the years go by, this purst1it wi11 be 1nuch more widely practiced.

The results of the distribution of in1- proved stock and seeds during the past few years are becoming apparent, and each season increasing numbers of our pe<Jple are widening the scope of their activities in this regard as dis­ closed by the encouraging exhibits at the series of exhibitions held in the various districts, some of which ex­ l1ibitions it was my good fortune to open.

The volume and value of 011r ex­ ports are being swollen each year by the constantly increasing output of the mining companies at Bell Island and of the pulp and paper companies in the Exploits Valley, while, of course, the high prices obtained for our fish­ ery products are a cl1ief contributor),. to ot1r economic stability.

The output of iron ore for the calendar year am­ ounted to one million, four hundred and fifty-eight thousand, five hun­ dred and twenty-five tons · , valued at 011e million six hundred and four thou­ sand dollars, against one million, one 11undred a11d seventy-six thousand, five 11undred a.nd ninety tons for the previous calendar year, and a similar increase is estimated for the year just opened. '"fhe export of pulp and paper for the last fiscal year amount­ ed to two million, four hundred thou­ sand dollars, as against one million, six hundred thousand dollars for the previous year, and figures for the past six montl1s show an output from this source valued at one mil1ion, nine hundred thousand dollars, so that the exports of these commodities will probably represent a very large in- creas · e at the end of June next over tl1e shipme1 1t s for tl1e t\\rel-r,ro inon :I1s which ended in June, 1913.

Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the Honourable House of Assembly: The revenue for the fiscal year 1912-13 was substantially in excess of that for the previous year and re­ Sl1lted in a surplus of o'rer one hu11dred and fifteen thousand dollars. '"J'he re­ venue for the first half of the current fiscal year is belo\v the estimate, the removal of the duties from certain necessaries · of life last session having had the effect of lessening thie Ct1s­ toms receipts.

As the expected in­ creas·e in duties paid on a.dditional imports of oth·er articles has not been realized, proposals will be sub­ mitted to you at an early date to ad­ just the equiljbrium between revenue and expenditure, without, however, departing fro1n the · principles embod­ ied in last session's enactme11t, name­ ly, that tl1e producing classes should have, so far as possible, the neces­ saries of life untaxed. The estimates for the public ser­ vice will be laid bef.ore you in due course. They have been prepared with regard to economy and the efficient administration of the public service. • Mr.

President and Honourable Gentle- men of the Legislative Council: Mr.

Speaker and Gentlemen of the Honou irable House of Assembly: In view of tl1e increasing cost of coal to our people, the price of which 11as been enhanced because of the ad­ vance in wages paid to thos · e mining it in Cape Breton and the ever grow­ ing· demand for coal in Canada, the Government have decided to make a further effort to determine whetl1er our own coal deposits are co·mmer­ cially workable and have invited Pro­ fessor Dunstan, Director of the Im­ perial Institute, London> to visit this country and thoroughly examine our ,.. carboniferous areas. H~ has pro-

6 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS. mised to come here early tl1is season and besides undertaking this d11ty will also study the pos·sibilities of our oil shale, of which extensive deposits ex­ ist near the line of railway now being built to Bonne Bay. The require­ ments of the British Admiralty for oil fuel for the navy make it evident that if these shale beds are what we hope, an industry of immense mag­ nitude may be inaugurated.

The lack of an assured supply of bait is one of the greatest drawbacks to the expansion of our codfishing in­ dustry, and no"\\.,., with the employ­ ment of motor boats, which is becom ing more general, the poss 1 ibilities of a much larger annual catch are in­ creased, and the need of an adequate bait supply becomes all the greater. lVIy Ministers are giving attention to this matter, and have already taken steps towards securing the fullest in­ formation as to how Norway and otl1- er cou::.1tries are grappling 'vith this problem; and it is proposed, as soon as this information is completed, to take such action with regard thereto as may seem dcs ,ira ble in the endeav­ our to meet the situation in our own midst.

Railway extension during the year has been rapid and eminently satis­ factory. The equivalent of sixty-four n1iles of railway has been completed. The Trepassey branch has been all but finished and is now being operat­ ed to Renews on

schedule time. The early summer months ought to be suf­ ficient to have this line brought up to contract specification so that the autumn may see the entire branch operated. The Heart's Content branch has also been practically com­ pleted and will be operated early in the present year. The Bay de Verde branch has been graded, the rails and ballasting far advanced, and some of the stations built. It should be ready for operation in the early fall. The Fortune Bay Branch has been graded · for sixteen miles·, and rails laid to the fifteenth mile, but not yet ballast· ed.

The Bonne Bay branch was com* menced late in the season and thb work done to date is but preliminary. It is encouraging to observe that your efforts to attract the attention of outside capitalists to the varied and . natural resources of the country are gradually bearing fruit.

My Minis­ ters are at present in negotiation with the representative of a large group of Ilritish investors · with a view to the • utilization of some of the vast water powers of Labrador and the establish­ ment of very large industries calcul­ ated to afford permanent employment to numbers of our people, and to re­ produce in that land the trans .form­ ation that has been effected in our own Island in recent years.

My Ministers have also been for some time, and are at present, engag­ ed in negotiating with British capit­ alists· for the construction of a rail­ way from Notre Dame Bay to Bay of Islands, and for the establishment of a train ferry service between Bay of · Islands and the eastern seaboard of Canada, for the purpose of establish­ ing better transport facilities and of developing the fishing industry of the Island. It is now somewhat over fifteen years since the prosecution of tl1e whale fis·hery was revived in this country.

During that period a feel­ ing has grown amongst our fisher­ men that the carrying on of this in­ dustry is detrimental to our great fishery, the cod, as well as to our bait supplies of capiin and squid. It is· important that this question should be promptly enquired into, and if the fears of our people are well ground­ ed, measures must be adopted to re­ move the evil. My Ministers propose to have an investigation ma.de into that matter immediately.

. HOtJSE o · F ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS. 7 RESIGNATION OF RT. HON. SIR R. BOND, P.C., K.C.M.G. RT HON. THE PRIME MINISTER -1\'.Ir. Sp·eaker, before the . House pro­ ceed . s to tl1e regular 'vork of the ses ­ sion, I desire to inform you Mr. Speaker and the House through you, at the request of His Exc·ellency the GoverntJr that he has received a noti­ fication fron1 the Rt. Hon. Sir . Robert Bond, one of the representativ ·es of tl1e district of 'I'willingate, resigning his seat in this House · . His Excel­ lency has asked me to notify you of this occurrence.

In doing· so I desire, \vith the permission of the House, at the earliest possible moment to re­ cord my sincere regret that th·e Rt. Hon. gentleman has found it necessary to resign his seat. We are not now concerned \Vith the domestic or party reasons which led to the unfortunate decision; but as one of the brancl1es of the Legislature I do not think we 'vould b· e acting fairly to ourselves if someone did not at least record tl1e regret \vhich we all must feel that Sir Robert Bond has found it neces­ sa.ry to resign his seat.

It is now nearly thirty years since I came into this Chamber myself and I ha ,re been 11ere continuously during the whole of that period-a very short period in the life of a country but a very long period in the life of an individual. When I first took iny seat here he had alread:y~ attained eminence.

He came into tl1e House thre · e years be­ fore I did-in 1882-a .nd was only here a year or so when he was elect­ ed to the highest position in th, e gift of the House-the Speakership-and \vhile occupying that position he gave e"\rery indication that he had selected the theatre best suited to the disp1ay of his fine talents and his work since then not alone brought credit to him­ self but great advantage to the coun­ try.

In filling the position of Speak- er for the years he occupied that post, he had succ(,eded n1en of high legal and constitutional attainments-fol­ lowing on the resignation of one of my late leaders in Opposition, the father of my friend the present l·ead­ er of the Oppositic11 - I refer t::l tl~. e late Hon. Robert Ke11t--and other il­ lustrious men 'vl10 had pr·eceded him; and it is sometimes not easy to fill these positions and preserve their high traditions and play the part so highly and ably maintained by such men as these.

Since then I have been associated \Vith Sir Robert Bond in this Legislature, and for over sixtee11 years, as a member of His l\tiajesty's G -o,rernm·ent, I 11ave been \rery close­ ly connected with him in the public affairs of the Colony-in tl1e Govern­ me11t of Sir William Whiteway and in his o'vn Govern111ent. I have had the h·o11our to repres ·ent the Colony a broad with him, in Canada a11d in other places, and I can testify here to tl1e high attainments and splendid industry tl1at he always displayed in carrying out the work upon wl1ich we w·ere engag·ed.

I am not the only one here to-da)'· who remembers him in this House; tl1e splendid parliament­ ary courag·e he al,vays displayed, al­ ways ready to fight when fighting was nec·essary and always ready to be fair and reasonruble when it was proper that he should be so. I have had occasions to differ with the right hon. gentleman on many oc­ casions but these w·ere differences on questions of policy and not on person­ al matters.

On these occasions eacl1 of us \Vas satisfjed that party ties should give way to principle and I am glad to be able to look back over th·ese years and to say that there is nothing on the record that to-day I wish to delete. I 11ope that the right hon. gentle­ man may see fit some day to come back to tl1is House and to take his •

8 ROUSE OF ASSEMBI..,Y PROCBEDINGi.

part c nee m. Jre in its work. Tl1ere are man jr large questions and policies to be worked out in the government of the Colony, if we are to hold our position in the British Empire, which to-day is a foren1ost plac·e among her overseas dominions. \Ve cannot afford to sit do\vn and be content merely to collect the revenue and pay the salar­ ies of our officials in th· e civil service. If we are to continue to be a colony that men will be 8 .nxious to make a home in and not to leave, 've must be 1)repared to d·eal with many matters of pressing i1nportance.

The right hon. gentleman is emin­ ent1 y qualified for work of this kind for 11e is a gentleman of means and leisure and there are not many men in the Colony who are able to give the whole of their attention to public affairs owing ate business. sure that no to the pressure of priv­ For that reason I feel rnatter \Vl1at their per- so11al er l)Olitical views m.aJr be ev­ erybody inside and outside this House regr,ets thr~ t the rt. hon. gentleman has considered it advisable to resign his seat. I\~ R. KENT.-1\!Ir Speaker, I wish to a.ssociate myself vvith the expres­ sions wl1ich have been voiced by the Rt. Hon.

Prime Mi11ister in connec­ tion with the retirement (temporary, I l1ope) of the Rt. Hon. Sir Robert Bond from 11is S8at tn tl1is Legislatur·e. I tl1ink that it is one of the greatest calamities that this Colony could ex­ perience at the present time, when there are so 1nany important ques­ tion.s to be solved in the near futur·e. Tl1e rt. hon. g·entleman's experience, bJ.s ability and his integrity are so great thait the Colony can <ill afford to Ios·e his services at the pr6.3ent junc­ ture.

Personally, I think that there is no person in this chamber that re­ grets more than I do his retirement frc·m the legislature. H· e stands in iny opinion above all our statesmen and to my 1nind he has no peer in the Colony. I know that the foundation~ on which I base that opii-:..ion are per­ haps not agreed upon to the full ex­ tent by some members of this House but I sincerely "rust that his retire­ ment is only temporary and that his work in the interests of the Colony is not yet complete. He has still much work to do and I hope the day will come when he will again take a prominent

part in the public life of the Colony. I wish to associate myself with ev­ erything the rt. hon. gentleman has said and I agree with him that the whole country will regret his retire· me11t I feel confident that when the great questions that are before us co1ne befor·e this House and the Col- 011y, hls advice and direction will be required by the Colony. I hope, there­ fore, that he will see fit to take up again the duties which he has laid down. MOTION FOR ADDRESS IN REPLY. MR. CU RRI E.-Mr.

Speaker, I rise for the purpose of moving that a select e·ommittee lbe appointed to draft an Address in Reply to the gracious Speech with which His Ex­ cellency has been pleased to open this, the twenty-third general assembly. Follo,ving custom I shall, with your permission, sir, take advantage of the opportunity, 'vl1ich the occasion pre­ sents, to comment briefly on some of the various matters referred to in the Speech.

Before doing s·o, however, I desire to extend to you my most Elin­ c·ere and hearty congratulations on the great honour wl1ich has been conferred upon you by the Hous , e in selecting you as Speaker. It is a1.L 11onour which falls to few, and your unanimous selection is proof of tht esteem in which you are held and a compliment to your ability and fit­ ness to fulfil the responsibilities and obli·gations of the off:ice. I feel sure

HOUSE OF A. SSEMB~Y PROCEEDINGS. 9 sir, that should occasion necessitate any decisio11 on your part on any ql1es· tions that may arise, the House can depe 1nd on yo,ur imp1arti 1al1itY ,,and that you will l1pho1d the dignity of your high office with cr·edit to yourself and honour to the Hot1se.

In the first part of the Speech His Excellency refers to the visits which he 11as made to the diff·erent parts of the country, "\vhereby ·he has been en­ abled to "familiarize himself with the industries of the people and the re- sources of the Is1land.' In making these oc_casional vi0its His Excellency has been following a somewhat beat­ en track, for his im.mediate predece .s­ sors performPd the same duty during their terms of office. 'Time was, how­ ever, whe11 such was not th· e custom, when Gcverno1 s were content to re­ main in St.

J ol1n's and more or less perfunctorily perform the duties of th·eir office only occasionally coming in contact with the people, and then mostly the provileged class, who re­ ceived occasional social invitations to Government House. It is gratifying to know that all this is changed, that the m,en no-vv sent to the Colony are men of large experience, trained in matters of l1Jmpire, men of great ability, who are wortl1y of the posi­ tion and who se·e and know it to be their duty to go among the people, make themsel\res acquainted with their conditions, an.d get a first-hand know­ ledge of the country.

Th,ese visits must be beneficial not only to His Excellency in assisting him to ap­ praise and appreciate the country in which he is called to serv ·e, but also to the people, for it brings them in close contact vvith tl1e representative of His Majesty the I(Jng and so str·engthens that bond of loyalty and affection to t.11,9 crown which has so large a place in the hearts and the lives of our people.

Again, sir, these visits of His Ex­ cellency are not without effect in another particular for the Speech points out that His Excellency has noticed "the evidence of well-being every ,where m·anifest a.nd th. e indus­ trial progress made in the different localities." Here we have the un­ biased testimony of the Governor to the great development that is taking place throughout the country and to the prosperity ot our people-surely, sir, evidenc6 of incalculable value in promotir1g tl1e Colony's standing and cr·edit abroad.

N ewfoundlana_ers, gene1~a1Iy, will "relcome the announcement that we are to be honored by a visit from His Royal Highness the Duk·e of Con­ naught during the coming summer, if his engagen1ents will so permit.

There was general regret that the project­ ed visit of last year did not materialize owing to the illness of Her Royal Highness the Duchess, and His Ex­ c·e::llency may rest assured that should tl1e opportunity present itself this year Newfoundlanders will unite in extending to the uncle of the King a,nd his royal spouse a real N·ewfound- land welcome than which there can ' be none more kind, n1ore warm or 1nore sincere. \\Tith the smoke of the recent political campaign still hovering over the country it was to be expected that the Speech would contain some refer·ence to th.e election of Oct,ober last, which resulted in the re-election of the present Government to power.

His Excellency has referred very cautiously and 'vith much tact to the election and confines himself to com­ pli1nen ting tl1e peo1)Ie on the general good conduct shown throughout the campaign; btri: I think I may be p·er­ mitted to go a little fl1rther and ex­ tend t, o the Prime Minister those hearty congratulations which he so richly deserves on the result of t1'~

IO I-IOUSlt OF P.LSSEMBL 1.'' PROCEEDINGS. election. Tr11e the country did not support hin1 as a whole-what c oun­ tr)r e\'er did unanimously support any mrun or any policy?

But it mUlst be P'articularly .satisfactory to him to know that in tl1ose distric. ts where the e1lecti-0n was fought; on a ques­ tion of policy only, wl1ere no other questio11s were involved, his policy -vvas e11dorsed by the return of prac­ tically a solid pl1alanx of supporters to this House,-e. ver. y gratl.fying r&- sult a·1.d 011e calculated to encourage hi1n in the continuation of that policy of prog·ress wl1ich he inauguratec _ during the past four years, and whict _ has been so ben·eficial to the country.

The next paragraph of the Speech deals witl1 the general trade of tl1e Colony and particularly with th<-~ gr·eat fishing industries that play sucl1 an important

part in the country' -3 welfare. It is pleasing to learn that the fisheries were attended with great success; that the codfishery was above the average catch and the prices exceedingly good-the highest in the history of the Colony. rrhis most satisfactory state of affairs is due in some measure to the opening up of the American . market.

Hon. me1nbers will remember that the last election in ·that country resulted in the ret11rn of the Democratic Govern­ rnent to power on a policy of free food, and amo11g the articles included i11 the free list was fish. '"-!'his gave us tl1e ma:rl{et we -vvere a long v1l1ile seeking, and our people were quick to avail of it.

During th·e past year thousa11ds of quintals of salt bulk fish were shipped to the American mar­ ket, particularly from the West Coast, thereby relieving the congestion in other mark·ets. _.L\..s a consequence prices \Vere l{ept high and I think vve may feel assured that we shall not suffer again from low prices.

This should tend to renevv confidence in the fishery and novr that tl1e introduction of motor boats 11as made fishing much easier th,an it has been it is probable that n1any of 011r people 'vho in re~ cent y·ears l:ave left the fishery be­ cause tl:ey hav c: founcl it too hard and t111remunerative may find encourage­ ment to again engage in that indus­ try, increasing their earning pow·er and adding considerably to the gen­ eral trade of the country.

Closely identified with tl1e codfish- ery is another matter to which Excellency refers, the question bait supply, a matter which it His of • IS needless for me to say, is of very great and pr·essing importance. Dur­ i11g t11e past feTvv months it has been n1y good fortune to come in close contact witl1 very many fishermen and their one continual cry was bait. Day after day, we·ek after week, these men l1a ve suffered from enforced idle11ess, even \vhen fish was plenti­ ful on tl1e grounds, b·ecause there was no bait, Ct.nd it seemed as if there was something wror1g somewhere.

It is a well-known fa.crt that during tbe capr­ lin season tl1ousand_s cf tons of bait a.re lost becat1se the fishermen l1ave no method of preserving them for future use. The establishment of bait freezers shot1ld to a large extent ob­ viate this, and it is pleasing to learn tha. t the Government intends to mak·e enquiries as to the conduct of these depots, and if possible to have them establisl1ed here. Any expenditure made for this purpose will be re­ turned ten-fold.

The question of the effect of the whale fishery on the supply of bait is another matter that we hear very frequently discuss·ed, and on whicl1 there is a great difference of opinion. Some people hold that the killing of the whale has result­ ed in the bait fishes leaving our coasts and taking to the deep waters while others take tl1e opposite view. It is certainly a matter for very care·

• HOUSE OF i\.SSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS. I 1 ful enquiry and it would be a matter of much satisfaction if the question could be decided once and for all and the minds of the fishermen set at rest. Not alone has there been an increase in our fisheries, it is grati­ fying to kno'v that there has been a large increase in the general trade of the co1111try. I have some figures here wl1ich show that the general trade for the past year 'vas _ $32,595,- 632,000, witl1 the balance on the right side of the ledger.

It is a the­ oretical principle of political econo­ my that for the trade of a country to be on a sound basis, its exports should exceed its imports. Tl1at being so, sir, we have reason to rejoice, for our exports during the past year totalled more than half a million dollars over imports. It is interesting to note that the general trade of the Colo­ ny has very largely increased during the past five years. Ind-eed during tl1at period tl1e increase was larger than during the preceding twenty years. In 1888 our total trade was $14,816,453. In 1908 (after a space of twenty years) it amo11nted to $22,251,- 250.

In other words the trade of the colony had increased by nearly sev­ en and a half million dollars during that period. From 1908 to 1913, that is in five years, it increased by ten nlillion dollars, or three million dol­ lars rr1ore i11 these five years than it did during the twenty y-ears preceding 1908. Certainly this is a record that the Colony and the Government can feel proud of, for such prosperity has never been known in the history of the Colony.

Par­ ticularly ple·asing is it to know that • this prosperity is not based alone on the succes·s .ful pursuit of our fisher­ ies b11t that here has been also an in­ 'crease in t11e production of our lum- ber and mineral reso11rces. Furth­ ermore, there has been a large in­ crease in the quantity of vegetables raised in the Colony and it is to be hoped that this increase will continue until we shall have to depe11d very little on the outside world for those foodstuffs that can be raised in the Colony.

Concurrent with the gro"\vth of our trade the revenue of the Col­ ony has increased by leaps and bounds during the past four years ·.Each year showed a surplus over expendi­ ture, and in the four years this haB amounted to about $800,000 00. That amount has been expended in im­ pro,rement of our p·ublic and marine works, in largely increased grants to tl1e public schools of the Colony and i11 other directions beneficial to the people. The sum of $228,000.00 was spent in the improvement of our public works and a somewhat similar amo11nt was expended on our marine 'T1orl{S.

The grant for education was increased by $100,000.00, which am­ ount does not include the special grant of $100,000.00 to construct new schools and improve old ones. We ar-e told in the Speech from the Throne that the revenue for the first half of the current fiscal year is be­ low the estimate and that we ar.e not to expect a surplus this year. T:1is is not surprising for it will be remem, bered that last session the · Hon. Min­ ister of Financ·e thought that the re· 'renue could stand a reduction of $385,000.00 on food stuffs and accord­ i11gly sugar, tea, pork and beef were placed upon the free list.

It is pos­ sible that the decrease will be made up during the remainder of the year and the hopes of the Minister fully justified but h'e may have been a lit­ tle too sang·uine. There is one point in co11nection ¥vith the matter that should not be overlooked, but whicl1 possibly escaped the attention of the l\/linister at the time, and that is. elections generally have a marked ef· feet on the trade of th·e country and consequently on the revenue. Bun1-

12 BOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS. ness n1en throughout the world are practically unanimous in the opinio.:i that a"r1 el·ection year is a poor busi ness year, for an election has t~o ff­ fect of making matters unsettled a.nJ uncertain.

Business men beco11 . e suspicious and do not care to go ir. tc· ventures until tl1e campaign is <; v ~ r and the country assumes iti;; 11atural condition. :Lt is quite pro1bab1le, there- fore) that the revenue ha·.s suffered considerably during the past six months from this reason and that the deficit may be made up from the buoyancy of trade that is bou11d tG occur during the next few months. The Hon.

Minister of Finance, how­ ever, is not trusting too much to this, and wisely so, for we are informe · d that tl1ere will be an adjustment of the tariff during the present session, which will provide the n·ecessary re­ venue, without departing from the principle laid do\vn by the Govern­ ment "that the producing classes should have, so far as possible, the necessaries of life untaxed." The question of the taxation of food together \vith that of the high cost of living is one that has been engaging the attention and study of students of political economy the world ov·er. l\tlany reasons have been advanced for the present high cost of living; the Trusts have been blamed by many; otl1·ers claim that it is due to a de­ mand for higlier rate of wages by labour org.anizations; others attribute it to transportation and handling charges.

All these things tend of course to increase the cost of living, but there is anoth·er reason, which has been ad\ranced by J. J. Hill, the Am· erican railway magnate, that cannot be p·assed over. His idea is that the 11igh cost of living is due to the cost of high living, and th·ere is possibly a great deal in what he claims. Ev­ erybody knows there has been a com­ plete change in the manner of living throughout tl1e world during the past f.e\v years. Conditions have changed in this country. What were luxuries a g·eneration ago have now become necessities.

Our people are no long­ er co11tent to live as they did only a few years ago. Their houses are bigger and better built; tl1eir clothing is of much better manufacture than it was, and they dernand better food than tb.ey were content "'Tith in the past. The resultant increase in tl1e demand for better things has now become great­ er than the supply and prices have soared. Particularly is this so in food stuffs, and there seems but one wa)· out of the difficulty and that is by greater attention to agricultural d·e­ velopment.

In tb_is country we have made agriculture the cinderella of our industries, we have probably not giv­ en it that serious attention tl1at we sl1ot1ld. True d t1ring f ac~nt years governments have made some at­ tempts to foster agriculture. During the past four years, for instance, the people have been helped and encour­ aged by the distribution of better seeds and an improved breed of cat­ tle.

The establisl1ment of the ninety­ one agricultural Boards, vvith their thousands of n1embers, must also have had sorr1e beneficial effect; but there is still room for improvement, still room for development in this in­ dustry. In the past agriculture has been impeded to some extent by the fact that there has bee11 no means ot getting at some of our best areas, and though the railway development of the past four years has improved this, there are yet parts of the cou.n try, particularly fitted for the promotion of agriculture not yet touched.

This is especiaJly true of the beautiful Sal­ monier Valley and the Burin penin­ sula. A few months ago I had a con­ versation with a Canadian gentleman who was 11ere for the purpose of securing land to establish a large cat-

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS. 13 tle ranch. Easy transportation facil­ ities 'vas a big factor in deciding his location. ai1d yet tl1e 011ly two parts of the country that. appealed to him '''ere the two portions I have men­ tioned. He was especially pleased witl1 the Salmonier Valley, but the lack of transportation opportunities shut hin1 completely out there. This 011ly proves how essential it is that we sl1o·uld co11tinue the policy of rail­ way extension. The District of Bur­ in to-day is urgently seeking the bene­ fits of tl1e railway.

Fron1 l\riarystovvn, on the one side, noted for its beauti­ ful scenery and growing rapidly as a commercial centre, to Grand Bank, the fisl1i11g and commercial capital of the west, there is a strong demand for the railway. I need not detain the I-louse, sir, telling of the importance of Burin District, or what, for in­ stance, the value of the railway would be to Grand Bank with its larg·e bank­ ir1g industry but poor 11arbour.

Hon. men1bers will probably know as much about it as I could tell them; but I an1 looking forward witl1 confidence to the day wh.en the extension of the railway through the district will be an accomplished fact, and when the industrio11s people of the wei;;t will be brought into closer touch and speedier communication with the rest of the Island. There are other 1natters in the Speecl1 -vvhich ar· e worthy of atten­ tion, but \Ve shall have an opportunity of discussing the1n later on.

The qt1estion of coal is a live topic just no,v, and it is interesting to note that tl1e Government have made another move to do something toward tl1e de­ velop1n ·ent of our coal areas, and have succeeded in inducing Prof. Dunstan, of the Imperial Institute, to come out ancl report on our carboniferous areas. Anything that could be done to remove tl1e burden vvhich is no\v J)ressing so l ea vily on o Ir people by the l1ig·h cost of this necessary ar­ ticle \.Vould be greatly appreciated.

Only a fe\\T days ago the price \Vas increased in the city forty cents a ton, without any apparent reason, and tl1e e11 d is not yet. :rvray \Ve hope that Prof. Dunstan's visit 'vill be produc­ tt,re of much good, and that the day ,,-ill soon come when we shall be pro­ d uci11g this very necessary comn10- dity ii1 our ovvn country.

In closi11g, I can only hope tl1at the ensuing years will witness a continu­ ation of that prosperity which is so general throughout the country, years pre-eminently distinguished by the in­ creased growth and development of our industries, by the augmentation of our public revenue, by the diminu­ tion of our public burdens, by the im­ provement of our laws and by all those other victories of peace in which are to be found the true felicity of the state and the true glory of the statesman. I beg to move the appointment of the Select Committee. MR. H IGGI NS.-Mr.

Speaker, be­ fore seconding the motion which 11as jt1st been so eloquently made for a Committee to draft an Address in Re­ ply to the Speech which has been de­ live1·ed by His Excellency, I trust I may be pern1itted to join ""ith my learned friend, tl1e 11011ourable mem­ ber for Burin, in asking you to ac­ cept my heartiest congratulations on , ... our election by your fellow nlembers ~ to tl1e 11igh office of Speaker of this House. I assure you, sir, that you enter 11po11 your ne\v dl1ties with the entire confidence and support of tl1ose ""rho unanimously called you to the post of our First Commoner.

And because of this fact, because of the general chorus of approval with \\rl1ich your selection has been greet­ ed by tJ1e pt1blic, and because of the knowledge \\Te all ha,re of your fit­ n ss for th pos 'tion "re trust you

I-IOUSE Oti~ ASSE1\IBLY PROCEEDINGS. 111ay be long spared to grace it~ I like~vise join witl1 the Right Ho11. t.l1e Prir11e l\1i11ister, a11d \Vith my col­ league, the I-Ion. tl1e Leader of the Opposition, 1\1"r. I{ ent, in expressi11g iny regret at the information that the Rt. Hon. Sir Robert Bond has seen fit to resign his seat in the Legislature. llis loss is especially to be deplored by us young·er members of tl:Lis House, \-Vho will miss the guidance a11d ex­ amp!e of 11is superior knowledge an· d greater experience in legislative mat­ ters.

I would endorse all that has been said in tribt1te to the high cl1ar­ acter and great accomplishments of the Rt. Hon. gentlen1an, and concur in the l1ope that we n1ay again see him on the floors of this House. As regards my task of seconding the motion just n1ade, I think hon. members will appreciate the truth of my remark when I state that, para­ doxical as it may appear, my duty is at once easy and difficult.

My learn· ed friend 11as so very ably reviewed the salient features of His Excel­ Plit tl1em before you ir1 his 1,rery elo­ quent speech to \vhich I an1 sur0 we have all listened with sucl1 plea,sure, But, Mr. Speaker, I deen1 the privi­ lege of being per1nitted to second the motion sucl1 a very high honour in­ deed that I trt1st 11on. in embers will bea.r \·vitl1 me whilst I say just a word or t"?o. I endorse all that has been so well said "\Vitti reference to the visitations of His Excellency to the different sec­ tions of tl1e Island.

Son1eoJ1e 11as re­ marked that those vvho dwelt under the shelter of the British flag live \vitl1i11 a real republic, in that Eng­ land's flag to-da .y typifies tl1e hi~hest forn1 of democratic government. AI­ t11ot1g-11 monarchial in name and form t.l1e constitution has so developed that it inay be said the people rule througl1 tl1 e so,rereign. And instead of the earJ:y day barrier between l{ing and \ subjects \Ve have to-day the freest intercourse.

And it is this association of the mor1arcl1 'vitl1 his subject& 'vl1icl1 enables him tl1e better to un­ derstand a11d govern them, and in lil{e man11er it is fitting that in self­ governi11g colo11ies sucl1 as ours the representative of His lVIajesty sh·ould 11a,re free intercourse with and kno'v the people 0'"1er who1n 11e is placed. He11ce it 11as been the practice for our Go1rernors of late to visit the different outports and see for themsel\res the con.ditio11s under wl1ich our people -vvorlr and live.

His Excellency began this intercourse immediately on com­ ing an1ongst us, for it will be remem­ bered that a.lmost co-incident '1vitl1 that arrival ·v.ras the departure of our sealing fleet. His Excellency visited tl1e different crews, and his receptions then and on all occasions at the vari· ous outports that 11e has called at dt1ring the past year l1ave been as we knO\V \Vhole-souled and entl1usiastic .

I think it may be safely said that eveL1 • allovving for the loyalty of our peovl<-. much of the heartiness of th0se re­ ceptions vvere due to tl1e gr;1~io~1s manners and ~Kindly disposit~0u:; <J: His Excellency and l\/Irs. Davidson \Vl10 always accompanied him.

Hif, Excellency has correctly gauged tl11."l vvisl1es of our people in invitir1g the D11lre and Duchess of Conr1at1gl:t . 'to visit the Colony during the coming summer. 1Vfe1nbers of tl1e Royal Fam ily l1a ve ever received an especially warn1 \Velcon1e in tl1is loyal and an cie11t Colony, and if the proposed vis­ it rn.aterializes it will be found that our distinguished visitors will receive a '\velcon1e in line with the best tra­ ditio11s of Eng·land's oldest depend­ ency. It is indeed, l\1r.

Speaker, as His Excellency remarks a matter of con­ gratulation that the recent general elections \Vere conducted with no un­ usual disorder or trouble. This is '

16 .HOTJSE OF ASSltMBLY PROCEEDINGS. J11st a word, Sir, with reference tu tl1e paragraph in the Speech from the 1"'11ro11e v\rherein His Excellency ~pe:aks of the fact tJh,at the estimaJte of revenue has not materialized. I do not consider that this is a problem over \Vhicl1 this House or the mem, bers of it have any cause to feel con- cerned p·artfi,cularly when Ollie looks ' at tl1e facts. It might be ~ matter of grave concern were we not able to find reasons in explanation of it.

But ·one reas 1on is and in the ·~f. act that while it is true that th·ere is an actu­ al shortage in the revent1e we must not be unmindful of the position that during the past year tl1ere has been approximately $400,000 taken from the revenue and this has gone back into the pocl{ets of those people who aft­ er all need the benefit of it most.

The second feature in this problem is to be found in the fact that this non sufficiency in revenue, or rather in tl1e est1mate of revenue is found in a country "'l1ere we are making large expenditures year by year upon which we 11ave not alone to pay an annual interest , but from which we c.an ex­ p.ect no immediate returns. The value of tl1ese expenditures i11 the \Vay of railwa~rs and other develop- . ment works cannot be felt at once, a11d it will take a f.ew years before their effect ''rill be n1anifest.

In the years to come when we begin to get va1t1e for thes-e expenditures no short­ age in revenue can possibly occur. l\1ean '\Vhile th.ere is no cause for alarn1,-taking into consideration these two points I ha,re m·entioned, and we can all feel assured tl1at the shortage of to-day will be a surplus of to-morrow. The reference to the price of coal con1es witl1 peculiar force at this particular time. On all sides one cannot help noticing the outcry t11at has been rais ·ed at the latest ad­ vance in price.

We live in a countrv .., 'vl1ere because of peculiar climatic co11di tior1s coal is one of the prime nec·essities of our lives. It now bids fair to become a luxury. It is a ne­ cessity~ in. the truest n1eaning of the word. B11t it is fast becoming a lux­ t1ry as t11e price soars higher and highei\ v\Te all r· equil~C> it. but only a fe,v- can now 11ave it.

It is therefore pleasing to note that further efforts are bei11g n1acle to solve this problem and that another enquiry is to be · set on foot to see what can be done in tl1e directio11 of lessening the price. \\Te have had these areas ex­ ami11ed ancl re1)orted upon most fav­ ourably b~r those compete11t to j11dge. .A.mc>11gst otl1ers Mr. Howley has ex­ pressed 11in1self most forcibly on the question, and has stated in no uncer­ tain terms his unsl1aken belief in the existe11ce of good coal in this coun­ try. I feel sure, Mr. Speaker, that "\\r e 'vill all look forward to the visit of Prof.

Dunstan because we feel that he will concur in the opinion expres· sed by Mr. I-Iov1ley, and such a con­ currence "rill go a long way towards interesting outside capitalists in these a.reas and we 11ope the development of these areas vv-ill go hand in hand with the development of our oil s.hale deposits. His Excellency also re.ferred to the interest tal{en in regard to inaki11g· the resources of this colony known to outside investors.

I think I n1ay be permitted to voice tl1e opi11io11 of all tl1e members of this IIouse and of the people generally 'ivl1en I say tl1at to a very large ex­ tent this interest can be attributed almost solely to the Prime Minister. To him vvTe are indebted to a large degree for the t1nusual intere ·st tak· en in this Colony by British inves­ tors. By his labours across the wa­ ters, by his methods of showing his faith in tl1e country, by the manner i11 wl1ich he conducts public affairs CJlltside the Colony ",.e have become the source of much enquiry in regard •

HOUSE Ott ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS. to our resources-and we all hope that the reference made tc the de­ velopment of Labrador water powers by British investors will bear fruit. If it should bear fruit it will be an­ other testimony to the wisdom of the policy of prohibition in regard to the pulp wood export from Labrador. I think it would be unfair to the members of this House who have been good enough to give their attention to me after the eloquent speech of my hon. friend, Mr. Currie-if I were to continue further.

I should hope that the first session of the 23rd gen­ eral assembly, and I feel sure we all 11ope the same, no matter on what side of the House we sit, will be marked by a unanimous effort to de­ velop our common country, and I trust in the words of His Excellency that the conditions of prosperity and happiness that now exist may long continue. I have much pleasure in seconding tl1e motion that a select committee be appointed to draft an appropriate Address in Reply to His Excellency's Speech from the Throne. MR. KENT-Mr.

Speaker, I wish to join with the previous speakers in congratulating you upon the high hon­ our conferred upon you in being chos­ en as the Speaker of this I-louse. I feel in common witl1 every member and in common with the Pllblic at large that every confidence can be p1aced in your judgment, impartiality and fairness in all matters that will come before the House and in your power and willingness to maintain the dignity, privileges and rights which are the fundamentals of its constitution. rrhese opiniong give us every cc.nfidence in the choice that has been made.

The Speech that has been delivered from the Throne is of the usual char­ acter, but before I pass to a criticism of the Speech itself, I wish to extend iri no formal manner, but with true feelings of pleasure my congratula ­ tions to the mover and seconder ot tl1e motion no"'· before the chair. Sel dom in the hi~tory of this House have the moving and seconding of the Ad­ dress in Reply been done with more felicity and adaptabi'lity or in bet1ter ' form than by my fri·end the member for Burin and my colleague in the district of St. Jol1n's East, Mr.

Hig­ gins. 'l~hey l1ave covered the matters contaiued in the Speech from the Throne and l1ave dealt most intelli­ gently and lucidly with the various questions raised therein from their own voint of view. It is not usual up­ on opening day for the opposition minutely to criticise those matters con taitned in the S peec 1 h from t-ie Throne, nor to go in to the policy of the government itself, nor as it is expressP-d in the Speech from the Throne. For there are many things that strike an observer in connection with th8 policy of the government which do not occur at all in the Speech from the Throne.

There are many things which one would expect to appear in the speech which his ministers pr·epare to be delivered by His Excellency the Governor which do not appear. Many things that would just.ify criticism, many things that have been pointed out from this side of th~ House which have been thoroughly justified by time. Time in its evolution has amply justified many of the critlcis1ns offered from this side of the House. In particular, time l1as justified that criticism of­ fered twelve months ago, at the time when tl1e reduction of duties took place.

As was then pointed ot1t this r·eduction was for no other purpose that that of influencing the voters at tl1e election then pending. Not only was that a fact, but we have tl1e Hon. member for Burin point- ing out as one of the r·easons to jus­ tify the i1ecessity for now m king up

18 ;HOUSE OF ASSEJ\ifBLY PROCEEDINGS. the deficit, the fact that last year was election year. Sir, the Hon. Min­ ister of Finance knew it 'vas election year. I ren1ember that wl1en the es­ timates were going through I point­ ed out tl1at there was no estimate for a general electior1. Perhaps the Hon. member forgot that there was an el­ ection coming on. Sur·ely, Sir, he was reminded of it often enough dur­ ing the session. Tl1e result might have been different had the country kno\·vn th·en \vhat it knows now. Th6 estimates no1w show by the practical light of a.ctuality tl1at the government was wrong.

The electors did not know that- 1they know now. This I say, sir, is a justification offered by us· in th· e House last year. As I said , sir, the speech itself is in the usual form. Tl1ere is really nothing to it that is not familiar to every member of the House, who has sat here for years past. If you take the Speech of 1909 you will find the s·ame mat­ ters referred to. Tl1e sam· e promises held out-and there has been noth­ ing accomplished. It has been as though we wer· e chasing rainbows for the past five years.

It is a matter of great pleasure I am sure to the members of this House and to the country at large to know tl1at His Ex­ cellency the Governor has invited Th.eir Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Connaught to pay us a visit during the coming summer. I hope that the intended visit will be realized and that we will have the honour to entertain in this country once more a member of tl1e Roya.I fam­ ily. They are sure of tl1e same re- ception, hearty and complete, that has always been tend·ered to members of the Royal family in this island home of ours.

I do not intend to go through tl1e Speech from the Throne paragraph by paragraph. I 11ave al- ready re:~rr· sd brit;fly to the feature whic~: 1s rei-;'.i~P'"' ttte most: ~tt·ik.i~. namely 11ecessity wl1ich the . l\ilinister of Finance is under of mak­ ing tl1e revenue ineet expendi­ ture. rr11is under any circu1n­ stances is a serious condition for a Colony to find itself in. Even under ordinary conditions this is a matter of seriot1s cons ·equence to the courj_ try but we are to-day, sir, in no or­ dinary condition.

We are undet heavy obligations, heavy contractual obligatior1s which necessitate the entering in to of further borrowings to co1nplete the cantracts for construe· tion of the branch railways which \Vere enter ·ed i11to four years ago.

I think it is generally admitted that the borrowings 'vl1ich tl1e Colon)T has made up to the present time for the purpos ·es of rail\vay construction will not be sufficient to meet the full and comr)lete construction cost of the railw ·ay and works called for by these contracts. \Ve have borrowed $6,000,- 000 already und·er this head alone and up to tl1e present as far as my inforn1- ation goes there is not one of these branches completed. On not one of thes . e branches has the final certifi ­ cate been given. I speak no\v sub· ject to correction. If I am not cor· rect the Prime l\1inister can correct n1e.

No\V, every one knows that any Colony or any Dominion or any cot1n­ try \Vhatever tl1at goes into the Lon· don market at the present time or at an)T further time cannot go there un­ der the same conditions or with the same prospects of raising money on tl1e same tern1s as has been done here· tofore. v\Te know tl1at it is getti11g more a11d more diffict1lt for colonial governments to raise has been in tl1e past. money than it vv~e know that the conditions of the markets are changing . a11 extract I 11ave here in mv hand ~ taken from a s tement is- stied by I"ord Strathcona .

High Con1- 1ni ssioner for Canada. in J""ondon. C:t.t

HOUSE OF ASSEMB"L Y PROCEEDINGS 19 .. the end of the year jl1st passed, 1913. In this he says:- ''Speaking generally, money has not ' been easy in the matter of rates, and there 11as not been quite the same disposition to welcome Canadian or any oth·er loans as was the case a few years ago. The Dominion and Provincial Governments and the larg­ er n1unicipalities have been able at one time or another to get the money they desired, but in every case at the cost of higher rates of interest, and tl1is may be said a.Iso of th·e great railway companies. The Do·minion has had to increase its interest to 4 per cent.

The Provinces have been com· pell ·ed to make their rates 4 % per cent., and so have the larger munici­ palities. For the smaller municipal­ ities 5 per cent. has been the mini­ mum rate on loans. And it is by no m·eans certain that the maximum has yet been reached. But, as already mentioned, the difficulty of obtaining money is · not confined to Canada. It has been felt in official, financial and industrial circles in th· P TTnited King­ dom, in all the Dominions beyond the seas and in most foreign countries.

It may be said, in fact, tl1at the de­ mands for money have been greater than the available supply, and that in order to make the transactions more tempting borrowers have been forced to give higher rates of inter­ est." That is tl1e opinion of an experienc· ed financier and statesman who has occupied the responsible positio11 of High Commissioner for Canada for a i1umber of years. How does the con­ dition he describes affect this Colony and its present financial condition.

Do·es it i1ot point to the lack of wis­ dom and the lack of judgment shown by the Government in making the con tract8 for the construction of the railways . Wh_ a. t becr1rnes now of the argun1e11a. tnat th.ere was a11 advant- age in paying in gold instead of in bonds. Surely now under the chang­ ing condition of the market we will have to pay a higher rate of interest, while if the construction contracts had provided for th· e payment for the work in 3%% bonds as was done un­ der all former contracts, the Colony would have been in different circum­ stances financially as to the fluctu­ ations in tl1e i11arket.

Its rate of in­ t·erest wo11ld have been fixed and it would be saved the difference not 011Jy in the price of the securities but !n the changing rates of interest. ·1~h~ Governme11t talks about tl1e nec~R· sity of establishing the equilibritliTI be­ tween expenditure and revenue. Her~. you have a menace "\Vhich like a large s11owball is growing year aft~~ J1 ear and will render it necessary to re-f:b· tablish th· e equilibrium of our finan­ ces year after year and whicn .s go­ ing to fall ultimately upon the people of this COUD try. Not one of these railways is under final certificate.

The ·estimates as to mileage were wrong; the estimate of the cost of the '\vork was wrong and when the work is complet ·ed and the final certificate given and the full balance of tl1e cost 11as been estab­ lished it will be found that th· e am­ ount allowed in the contract price for equipment &c. will not equip one branch and that all the equipment and rolling stock &c. for all the branches exc·ept that one will be extras over and above tl1e $15,000 a mile. I did not intend, sir, to '\veary the House with these matters thls after­ noon but one matter has led up to anoth ·er.

I think it a pity tbP.t t11e Minister of Finance did not last .v· ~., ~ ;­ find some other way of financing P !f ~ budget than th-at which renders . necessary to undo what he did las: s·ession. A11 intelligent readjustmen·l of the tariff would have been far bet · ter . The Minister was not 11appy in I

20 HOUSE OF .. >\.SSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS. tl1e manner in which he financ·ed these matters last year. He has had to un­ do them again. I think that this man11er of "backing and fillingH is not going to have a good ef­ fect upon the standing of the Colony. I think tl1at if there is one thing that is necessary in handling finance it is that it should be permanent. It should show clear anticipation of events to come and we should not shut our eyes to th·e fact that we ard facing a general election. I \vould like to refer briefly to the matter .of coal.

I think tl1at this mat­ ter has reached that stag·e when we can hardly believe in any proposals made in reference to it. Year after year we hear about what is going to b·e done, but notlling is dove and no Governn1ent h~ts made less effort than the present to develop our areas. There seems to b·e a general admis­ sion that the coal is there. Mr. How­ ley, our Geological Surveyor, in his reports year after year, points to the coal areas at Grand Lake and Codroy whicl1 he says are only waiting de­ velopment.

The only act of the pre­ sent Government in relation to this matter of coal su1Jply was in the first or second s·ession of tl1e last l...1egisla­ tur to make a contract handing over the coal areas for development to some English. concerr1. I am not . a \vare that tl1is Company e'rer did anything l1nder its agre·ement and I think i_ts rights have lapsed long ago.

It is time that so111ething really ef­ fective should be done and it would have been much b·etter that the one or t'vo hundred thot1sand dollars that have been squandered in other direc­ tions had been expend·ed in a per­ sistent effort to uncover and see b} practical work what coal we have. \Ve have t1ad in the past experts com­ ing h·ere regarding coal as we have had regarding other matters, but, sir, I think that so far as the coal is con~ cerned and the power of deciding '\\~hether we 11ave coal or not, we have as much information and as much in­ teiligence and as n1uch probability of ascertaining the value and extent of our coal areas fron1 Mr.

Howley, our Geological St1r"\reyor, who from his experience of thirty or forty years, ought su.rely be able to tell where our coal is and ii1 what quantities, far better tl1an any expert imported from abroad, who would almost exclusive­ ly depend on Mr. Howley. I think. slr, that any expert we may bring in l1·ere will not be able to give us any better information than Nir. Howley is able to give. vVe should get down to work give Mr. Howley a free hand and do wl1at can be done on these coal ar·eas. I notice that arrangements are be­ ing made for the development of La­ brador.

I hope that the Prime Min­ ister will be able to infor1n us some­ time during tl1e session as to the posi­ tion in which the dispute between us and tl1e Province of Quebec r1egarding the Labrador territory, sta11ds. Thi5 is a matter of much vital import­ ance to us. vVl1ile I m}~self believe that we have a cas·e that is impreg­ nable in defence of our clain1 to I..4a­ brador territory, still "\Ve see in tl1e papers that the legal advisors of the Province of Quebec, take an equally strong stand in defence of their pre· tensions.

Five or six years ago, when I ·\\ras at the Department of Justice, it 'vas agreed that tl1is matter should be referred to the In1perial Privy Council. Since then we 11ave heard nothing regarding it. I hope, sir, that b·efore any large expenditures are un­ dertaken or co11tractual obligations en­ tered into that this question will be settled decisi,rely one "'"ay or the other. I note that it is the intention of tl1e Government to have an enquiry into tl1e effect of the wl1ale fishery upol1

I OTJS.E OF the coclfishery. ·_ . This,. of . course, is most desirab1e. It is · a matter in which the fishermen of the country have been interested for some time rast. If an enquiry in which they will have confidence is held into this inat­ ter and it is found that there is noth­ ing to "~orry over, then they will be satisfied. If on the other hand it should be est.ablished PY sucl1 a Board that there are grounds for their fears, then · steps must be taken to protect the · codfishery, which is the great staple industry of the country. I shall not delay the House furth­ er.

I would simply say that when tl1e various matters which the Govern­ ment 11as under contemplation come before the Hous·e, they will receive from the Opposition the most careful consideration. We can11ot at the pre­ sent time determine what m€ans the Government will talre to establish the equilibriu1n in their finances, but I am sure, sir, that '\vhen th·ey appear in the Minister of Finance's budget they will be given our best attention. RT. HON. PRIME : MIN I STER.­ Mr. Speaker, just two or three obser­ vations in relation to the remarks that have fallen from my hon. friend, the Leader of the Opposition.

I agree with 11im that it is not usual on the opening day to go into details as regards the various matters that form the subjects of the Speech from the Throne, yet I may be pardoned if I say a word or two, and only a word or two, in reply to the remarks which he has made. • In the first place, I should like to follow his lead in congratulati11g you, sir, upon the important position t<> · which you have been elected.

From tl1e acquaintance of this House with you, your general fitness for the posi­ tion, and your experience in the late Parliament, we feel that you will fully sustain the highest traditions that have bean handed down to you l by your distinguished predecessors. I would also, like to extend my con· gratulations to the mover and secon­ er of the Address in Reply. I a.gree. with what the Leader of the Opposi­ tion has said, that it is not often that we find two juniors, at least juniors in parlia1nentary life, acquit them­ selves so acceptably as they have done.

I am sure that it will be a mat­ ter of congratulation to their consti­ tuents when tl1ey read the report of the very interesting and able speeches vvhicl1 they have made to-day. And if congratulations are the orde.r of the day, surely, Mr. Speaker, I may be pardoned if I congratulate my friend Mr. Ker1t on his appointment to the leadersl1ip of the Opposition ., and ex· press the hope that for many years he may be spared to fill that post. I should also like to welconie to tl1e House the new members.

There are son1e of the old faces missing, some --w~hose experience and industry and general knowledge of tl1e country's affairs would have been of great value to the Legislature. They are with us no longer, but I hope that some day they will be back again. Notwith­ standing tl1at I te11der a hearty wel- . coine to the new members on both sides of the House, and I am quite satisfied that the}T will all establish a record that will be appreciated by tl1eir constit11.encies and do good gen­ erally for the wl1ole country.

My first difference with my hon. ,friend on the opposite side of the Hou8e is as regards the statement that he made in .relation to the re­ duction of the ta.riff last year, namely, that that reduction was made for the purpose of influencing the electors. Last year when we were in session we put tea, sugar, porlr and beef on tl1e free list. We were told then, and we are told now, that that was done to influence the electorate. Is it not extraordinary how some people are

22 HOUSK OF ASSIMBLY ROCBltDING • always imagining that others are doing just what they would do themselves if similarly situated? That is the ex­ planation for the statement made here this evening. My learned friend is aware that nearly six years ago, when this Party first appealed to the country, the first and most solemn pledge made was in relation to the reduction of taxation, and the placing of these items on the free list.

It was not an election promise; it was not a death-bed repentance; it was the fulfilment of a solemn obligation entered into with the people ~ix years ago. ''Chasing rainbows," is the expres­ sion with which my hon, friend de­ scribes tl1e work in which 've have been engaged for the last six years. What effect "chasing rainbows" has to the action of the Government does seem incomprehensible. Well, I could have closed my eyes and imag­ ined that I was listening to a speecl1 that was delivered here thirty years ago.

The Leader of the Opposition in referring to the Speech from the Throne stated that it was lilre nearly every. otl1er Speech that he had heard . delivered. I can say precisely the same of the speech which he 11as just made. I do not say this in any sense of blame, because one of the duties of the leader of the Opposition, if any duty at all a_ttaches to that position, is to put up a criticism to the Speecl1 from the Throne. He is expected to do it and he does it a.nd I find no fault whatever with him for the man .. ner in 'vhich he has performed the . task.

But I d. o ·say that j, t is not fair to the district he represents, to his party,or to the country that statements should be made by one holding a re­ sponsible position which may injure the country abroad. For the last five years in this House vve have heard tl1e same old story told here, that the bottom is dropping out of everything; thi:Lt there is no hope for the country; that we are pursuing a policy which will ultimately end in ruin; that all • that we have been doing, all the pro- jects which we have been p11tting for­ ward, are opposed to the best inter· ests of the country.

For five years in opposition my friend has played the part of a Cassandra, a prophet of evil. In his opinion there is no hope for the country; it is simply a ques­ tion of calling in an official receiver and winding it up. Of course no one takes him seriously. I have been listening to this for thirty years in this House from men in opposition. I remember in 1890 when we embark­ ed on the policy of building a railway from Whitbourne to Port aux Basques we were told by the then Leader of the Opposition that it meant ruin for the country, bankruptcy and confed­ eration.

You have only to turn up the debates of that day and you will find resolution after resolution point­ ing out that to build the railway across country meant absolute ruin.

But those of us who supported that policy -·Sir Willi·am Whitew ·ay, who. has passed away; Sir Robert Bond who has now retired; and others whom 1 ' could mention that were in the Party at that time and started to build the railwa . y from Whitbourne to Port aux Basques; had faith in the country and its great natural resources which that railway was destined to develop; and instead of having to increase tax­ ation, government after governm-3nt have been enabled to put the ne\. .as­ saries of life on the free list, so thc1.t now the people are taxed less tha1 ... tl1ey were in 1882 when we started to build the railway.

In 1882 an ordinary fisherman's account of $400 paid about $50 taxation. To-day it pays half that amount. When I was associated with Sir Robert Bond's government 've placed flour and salt, lines and tw;-ies and molasses and kerosene oil on t11 9

ous free list. Th·e present Governmen·c placed tea,· sugar, pork and beef on the free list. And we are not going to reverse that policy. It is a wond-er to me 'Wl1y a dollar is brought into the country; how anyone ca. n have any faith in the country, if they read "\Vhat is said here by the members on the other side and by persons in appar­ ent authority outside. You can hard­ ly take up a paper without finding som.ething decrying the country and its resources.

Speaking of the rail­ \Vay my learned friend the Leader of the Opposition referred to the fact tl1at not one final certificate has bee11 issl1ed in relation to any of the five branches of railway. Well, I may say that that is a fact, and no Final Certificate will be issued until the Contractor 11as -entirely carried out his contract, until the last nail is driven and the last bit of ballasting put in. Tl1ere is only one branch that a Final Certificate might be issued for - the Bonavista branch. All the oth­ ers are only partially built, and -even. the Bona vista branch is not yet entire­ lv finished.

There is certain trestle • work to be remov ·ed and filled in and otl1er details to be fi11ished. It is a 111atter between the Government En­ gineer and tl1e Reid Nfld. Company. No final payment will be made or certificate issued until the Govern­ ment Engineer, who is an absolutely im1)artial and thoroughly cornpeten t man, reports tliat lie is satisfied that tl1e 'vorl{ has been done and passes tl1e branch. In vie\V of this explana­ tion 'vhat becomes of th·e statement of my learned friend, that no final certificate has been passed, or of vvhat value is it?

Then my learned friend r·eferred to the responsibility of tl1e country in Jiav ing to pay for the brancl1 lines, and what they are going to cost the Colony. Well, all I can tell him is expected that the roads would be built free. We l1ave alread:,r borro\Ct­ ed $6,000,000 to build these branches. Th· e interest on that sum amounts to about $210,000 a year. In other words at a cost of a little more than $210,- 000 a year "re will have built the five branches C>f rail\va .y.

He then went on to point out tl1at we "\vould have done better if we had got the contractor to take bonds as he did before instead of paying him in gold. One would imagine, to 11ear rny hon. frie11d, that the contractor was prepared to take bonds and that we refused to make such a contract. The contract that we m de with him was the very best that could have been made at th-e time. As my lion. friend well knows, tl1e price of labour, rails, ties and equipment has increased since 1893 'vl1·en we made the first contract with him.

In the contract we made with the contractor not alone did he agree to build at the figure of '93, namely, $15,600 a mile, but he reduced that figur · e to $15,000 and he raised the pay of tl1e 12.bourers on the works from $1 to $1.50 per day. In consideration of that reduction in price and the in­ crease in the labour wage we agreed to pay 11im in gold instead of in bonds. It meant the same to the Col­ ony if vve could get $96 clear for our $100 bond. The reduction of the $600 represented the four points. We raised the first loan of $4,000,000 at that figure and the Colony netted 96.

The next loan, that is the $2,00,000 raised two years ago, only netted u.s 91, the bonds having been placed on the n1arket at 93 but this difference was more than made up by the incr-ease in the labour wage paid our people and the Colony has more than recouped itself by the dut­ ies collected by· reason of the increas­ ed purchasing power of the people. We were not able to go to Reid and this: In the first plac · e no one ever ask him to take bonds wl1en we were ,

, 0 ASS:! _ llLY P OC ltDI insisting en better terms under the 1909 contract than had been given un­ der any previous contract. Under the contract for building the road to Port aux Basques tl1e men who worked on the road got a dollar a day. We in­ sisted that no man should get less than $1.50, an increas,e of fifty per cent. In other words, he brought a dollar off the road, as it probably cost him a.bout 50c. a day to live on the road.

When it is remembered that out of that $15,000 a mile which we pay the contractor for building these lines, half goes in wages, then the value of the contract which we made can be understood. As regard the increas€d cost of borrowing money, I don't doubt the accura .cy of Lord Strathcona's staten1ent just read by 111y le2.:-ned friend, but that statement ~~~ true not only in relation to Ne,v­ fnl1ndl3.nr hut to the whole ". ,;rld. The cost cf rr oney i~ going up. People will probably never ag~~in g0t :n1ot1f·Y in England at 31,6 per cent., as they have been g·etting it for hundreds of years.

Over two billions of dollars <)f ~nglish gold have gone into Canada to build up that country at 31h and 4 and 41,6 per cent. Just fancy! . N 0t t\vo millions, nor two hundred mil­ lio11s, but two billions. But L~ord Strathcona is probably right. He s~~ s that that day has gone, and thai: ;n future people will ha v1e to pay a ·it­ tle more. But suppose we do ha \'f.i to pay a little more, are we not able to do it in order to bring the train to the doors of every man, woman and child in the country?

One would imagine that we \Vere going to live on this ea.r.th for a thousand years and tl1at the conditions that "'~e have around us in this country were good eno11gh for the people. People are satisfied to pay a little more and live better. They want some of the comforts and con- veniences and some of the civilizing agencies that we find in every cuuntry. Look at th.e peopl~ of Bonavista and Trinity and Bay de Verde and all that

section of the country to-day. Why, they ran the risk of their lives if they came on here to carry on the seal fishery in the spring; while with the railway, they can for a small amount sit comfortably and safe in a car as they come through district after dis­ trict. Then the railway is a develop­ ing agency, to open up the grea.t nat­ ural resources of the country. And you hear people ask: Will it pay? vVhy there are a thousand things that we do not because they will pay but because we have got to do them and because they are necessary.

Did you e·ver hear anyone ask whether a dose of medicine when taken to save life, will pay? Does a lighthouse pay? We get no money returns from them but still they pay and we must have them. We have got to keep the young people in the country, and if we don't make the country worth stopping in they will go away to Canada or the States or other countries where con­ ditions of life are easier, where they get higher wages and where the com­ forts and conveniences of life ar.e all round them.

If we sit down and do nothing, if we simply pursue a policy of collecting the revenue and paying the officials, ithen we will have an emigration out of the count1~y and there will be no body left but the old and infirm. We can get all the money we want. I will be able to sho"\v my learned friend before the session is over the truth of that statement. We will require something like a million and a half more to finish the five branches, and even then the total cost will not be large. All tl1is critic­ ism about the railway is intended to throw dust in the eyes of the people.

The question is merely selected be­ cause it is more difficult for the peo- ple to assess its value and follow the reasoning. If I were here to-night

ou· J~ o proposing an increas ·ed vote of $100,- 000 a year for Pa11per Relief there would not be a word about it because hon. members \Vould be afraid to op­ pose what would b· e regarded as popular. When we can1e into office there were not alone the ordinary • permanent poor but there was pauper relief all over the country. Now lab­ our is plentiful and well paid, you can­ not get a man to go to work. This eould only hav·e been accomplished by opening up and developing the country. Then my learned friend referred to the reduction in the tariff.

The Min­ ist·er of Finance did not reduce the tariff for tl1e purpose of getting re­ venue. He reduced it in pursuance of a solemn pledge made to the country, a pl·edge that we were not able to carry out until the last session be­ cat1se we had other and more serious obligations to deal with.

The first thing we had to do was to find $210,- 000 a year to pay the interest on the railway loan; then we had to find $100,000 a year for education; then we had to find $60,000 a year for Old ~t\.ge Pensions; then we had to find money for lighthouses, fog alarms; and then, being blessed with large revenues, after carr3ring out our polic) ... we found ourselves in a position to meet every obligation and take $380,- 000 a year off the shoulders of the poorest people in the country.

And suppose that right here this evening we were proposing to put it back , would the people be in any worse con­ dition tha11 they were before we came in? But we are not going to put it ba.ck. We will get that $380 ,000 from those who are be·tter able to pay it than they are. Why that sum is only a , mere bagatelle for the people of this country. There are people ln this country to-day spending $200,000 a year on the maintenance of motor cars who would have dropped down LY P 0 EEDIN()S dead with heart dis.ease ten years ago if you had told them that they would own a motor.

And some of them have not only one motor but five motors, and that is the class that we are going to get the rev·enue ·from. There will be nothing unfair about jt. We will re1nove the burden further from those who are unable to bear it and put it on the shoulders of those who are spending their t~·ille looking around for new pas.times and new ways to spend money. l\1y learned friend wound up a very creditable and a very able speech by reference to tl1e coal qt1estion. The coal question is still troubling him. It has b·een a source of trouble to the Opposition, as far as I can remember, for thirty years.

When they are on this side of the House they never tl1ink of doing anything in relation to boring for coal, but when th·ey get on the other side they never "let up" on tl1e boring. They bore themselves and ev·eryone else but don't bore for coal. It reminds me of the story of tl1e friend sympathizing with the lady . \Vhose husband had recently died.

"Poor fello\v," she said, "I know how he would feel if he were here this cold weather; he would 'be thinking abo11t the coal." "Well," :::;aid the oth­ er, "where he is now, he isn't worry­ ing much about coal." Now, as re­ gards the coal, it is a matter of his­ tory that when Sir Robert Bond was in office, and I happened to be a mem­ ber of his Cabinet, we did everything in our power to develop the coal. The first step in the matter \Vas taken by the late Tory Government, by the late Sir James Winter arid Mr. Mo­ rine; it "ras to hand over tl1e coal areas at Grand Lake to Mr.

Reid as part of the :and grants h~ was en­ titled to. He further bound himself to develop the coal The Reid Co. sp·ent fifty or sixty thousand dollars in developing .this coal area, and then

OUSE OP' ASSEM L ' OCEE INGS, dropped it, and surrendered the grant of the coal areas to the Government and it is now down in tl1e Colonial Sec­ retary's office and may be had by any of the men1bers of the Opposition or any of their supporters outsille wha happens to have fifty thousand dollars to invest in this proposition. The n·ext effort of tl1e Bond Government was in 1905.

When we entered jnto a contract with Lord N orthcliffe, who, jointly with the Government decided to develop the coal area at Grand Lak·e, Lord N orthcliffe obtained the services of an expert from the Unit­ ed States wl10 examined the regions, but the result was not sufficiently satisfactory for Lord Northcliffe to feel himself justified in proceedi11g furtl1er with the venture. rrhe Gov­ ernment then looked around and spent a large amount annually in boring for coal summer after summer by importing expert coal borers. The hon. member, Mr.

Clift, the tl1en effi­ cient Mi11ister of Agriculture and Mines, will remen1ber that although : this "\vork was carried on for some years nothing of a tangible nature re­ sulited beyond tl1e making of a report. If hon. members will look at the re- in obtaining the services of an expert: Prof. Dunstan, to come out and malre an examination of our coal areas. The only thing we can do is to keep on obtaining the best experts to make examinations of these regions. The late Capt.

Cleary had a grant of pro­ bably the best seam of coal in the Is­ land, and paid the rent on it for near­ ly fifty )rears and entered into all sorts of contracts and options with various persons and con1panies for its· operation but without avail; and his estate surrendered their lease only last year because the representativs of the estate did not feel justified in n1aking ft1rther expenditure on the claims. These areas are i1ow at the disposal of any applicant 'vho n1ay a1)ply for the1n at the Crown Lands Office. I have read the reports of our Geologist, lVIr. Howley and those of 11is predecessor, Mr.

Murray, and I am firm1y convinced that the coal of a superior quality is there in large qua11tities. I ha.ve also had special re­ ports upon tl1e coal ·eas of this country made by l\ir. Fletcher and others and I am satisfied that large quantities of good coal exist but that a great deal of money is required for cords they will find tl1at failu:-'3 after develo1)mer1t r)urposes; in fact much failt1re was the outcome of attempts to exploit the coal areas. When we came into office we found only the re­ cords of repeated failure.

This Gov­ ernment tl1en made a contract witl1 an English con1pany, the members oi which were highly recommended by our financial agents in London, but o'ving to tl1e inability of that Com­ pany to procure the necessary capital notl1ing further vvas heard of the mat­ ter. It is a very easy matter to ex­ ploit an undertaking of this <iescrip­ tion, but it is an altogether different thing to raise the necessary nloney for its operation.

We then entered i11to communication with the Colonial Office and we have now succeeded nlore money tl1an we as a Govern­ ment \\'Ould be justified in spending; consequently the d·evelopme11t of ot1r coal areas must, I fear, be large­ ly left to private enterprise. The hon. member, lVIr. Kent, is not justified in his remarks in reference to the de­ velopment of our coal areas when he spoke as if this Government alone \Vere to blame, and it is a pity that he marred l1is speech in this connec­ tion. All of us are anxious for the time to arrive when we will be con­ suming coal mined from our own areas.

I can assure the Hot1se that nothing will be left undone by the Government to bring about this de-

OU E S E sirable condition of affairs. We all deplore the increased cost of coal but every rise in tl1e price of coal brings nearer tl1e day when our coal areas must be developed, and we may hope that that day is now at hand. Nothing that the Government can do to assist it, whether in the way of expenditures for boring or otherwise, 'vill be left undone, havi11g regard al,vays to the safety of the finances of tl1e country. The motion being pt1t, was then car­ ried, and it was ordered that Messrs. Currie, Higgins, Ciift, Grimes and Le­ Ji..,euvre be the Committee to draft an Address in Reply. Rt.

Hon. the Prime Minister gave notice that on th· e morrow he would ask leave to introdt1ce the following bills: I A bill to amend Chapters 40 and 41 of the Consolidated Statutes, respect­ ing the Storage and carryi11g of Gun- 1)owder a11d other explosives. A bill to amend

Chapter 129 of the Consolidated Statutes, respecting Pat­ ents. A bill entitled, "An Act respecting the exhibition of Adv·ertisements." A bill to amend 6 · Ed. VII. Cl1ap 3, entitled, "The Aliens Act." l\lfr. Coaker gave Notice of Ques­ tio11. lVIr. Kent gave Notice of Qt1estion. It -v.ras moved and seconded that 'vb.en the House rises it adjourn until to-morro\·v, Frida .y, at 3 of the clock in the afternoon. The House the11 adjour11ed accord­ ingly. FRI DAY, JAN. 16, 1914. The House met at 3 p.m. pursu­ ant to adjournme11t. QUESTIONS. MR.

COAKER asked th·e Minister of Marine and Fisheries to 13.y on the table of the House a detaiLed state­ ment si1owing (1) the cost of the L OCEED Lighthouse erected at Shoe Cove Point, Greenspond; (2) and the Fog Alarms at Puffin Island a11d Greens­ pond; (3) the amount paid for coal for Lighthouses during 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912, and 1913, from whom pur­ cl1as·ed, the cost paid per ton for the coal, and the cost of freight per ton delivered at Lightl1ouse; ( 4) also a detailed statement of all moneys ex­ pended for the construction of Mar­ coni Stations during the years 1909,, .1910, 1911, 1912 and 1913; (5) also a state1nent sl1owing when the Cod Liver Oil Expert en ter·ed the service of tl1e Gover11ment and what amount of money has .been paid for his ser­ vices; ( 6) also a statement showing the amot1nts expended by, or in con­ nection with, the Fishery Board from 1909 to 1913, both years inclusive; (7) also a statement showing wl1at money was collected by the Inland li-,isheries Board during the y€ars of 1912 and 1913, for what, and from v1hom received. (8) also a statement showing· the number of foxes confis­ cated during the year 1913, from wl1om taken, how such fox.es were disposed of, and 'vhat tl1ey were sold for.

HON. MINISTER OF MARINE AND FISHERIES-I beg to infor1n tl1e .hem.." member that the am.swers to all these questions are in the course ()t pre,p.aration except that relatmg to the Marconi stations . , whi'!h is not in my department, being under the Department; of the P.ost Office. MR. COAKER askied tl1e Minister of Public Works to lay upon the table of the House a statement showing (

a) vvhat grants otl1er than local were is­ st1ecl by his department during the months of .i\pril, May, June, July, Au- gus~ Septemb ·er Ocoober, November and December, in the district of Bona­ vista giving dates such grants were issued and to whom, and copies of the returns of such expenditure and accounts in conn ·ection therewith. (b)

• SS M What grants otl1er than local were issued by his department for Bona­ vista District during the years 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912 and 1913, and to whom sent. MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS- ! would like to call the attention of the hon. gentleman to th· e fact that

section (

a) of the question does not set forth the year for which he wishes to obtain the grants referr ·ed to. Mr. COAKER-I ·wish to have them for tl1e year 1913. MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS­ In that case I shall have them pre­ pared. As to

section (

b) of the ques­ tion I wish to state that it \vould take the en tire staff of my department fully six weeks to prepare the state-­ men ts therein asked for. If tl1e hon. gentleman is satisfied I shall bring the originals here and leave them in care of the Clerk of the I-louse in order that the 11on. gentleman ma~ be ab1le to examine them. I am sor­ ry I cannot leave them out of tl1e care of th· e Clerk of the IIot1se for last year I brought up some original papers and owing to the fault of some party they were not returned. MR. KENT-The members of the opposition r·eturned all pa·pers given to them. MIN.

OF PUBLIC WORKS-I do not knovv who was to blame~ but I cannot allow the papers of my de­ partment to go out of the possession of the Clerk. MR. KE NT asked the Hon.

Minis­ ter of Finance and Customs to lay on tl1e tabl·e of the House a statement showing, in detail, the dates, amounts and parties of all payments made to <late under the Railway Extension Act, 1910, and the amendment ther ·e­ of and the contracts thereby confirm­ ed or authorized, showing se1)arately the amot1nts paid under the following headings: (1) to th· e Contractor for construction work, showing separate / ly the amount paid for each branch line; (2) to the Contractor for any of the -v.rorks specified in Sections 34, 36 and 37 of the contract, showing the particular vvorks in respect to vvhicl1 each sucl1 payment \V~as made and the branch line to \Vhich it relat­ ed; ( 3) other payments to tl1e Con­ tractor or any other person the au­ thority for which is based upon the said ~l\.cts or the contracts thereby confirm·ed or authorized, specifying the dates and purposes of every such payment; ( 4) whether any payments other tl1an tl1ose above specified have b·een made out of the loans of £ 800,- 000 and £ 400,000 respectively and, if so, give tl1e details of each such pay­ ment with amount, date and purpose of, and pers1on to whom each pay­ ment was made; (5) the balance now to the credit of tl1e said loans and. wher·e such balance is now deposited.

HON. MINISTER OF FINANCE AND CUSTOMS-All the answers to the questions asked are in the course of preparation with the exception of tl1e answer to ( 4), vvThich I now tabiie. MR. KENT asked the l\1inister of Public Works to lay on the table of the House, a statement showing, in detail, ~11 amounts paid or allocated in the District of St. John's East, out of the ordinary, sp·ecial and surplus trust grants, from February 1, 1913, to date, giving in each case the dates, names of tl1e parties and purposes of each payme11t; also, a copy of the returns of each such payment.

MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS­ I gave instructions this morning to have the statement prepared and I hope it will be ready early next week. MR. KENT ask·ed the Minister of Marine and Fisheries to la)T on the table of the House a statement show· ing, in detail, all amounts paid or allocated in the District of St. John"s East, out of the ordinary, special and surplus trust grants from February

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS. 29 1 1913 to date, giving in each case ' ' tlie dates, i1ames of the parties and purpo .ses of each payment; also, a copy of the returns of each such pay­ ment. MINISTER OF MARINE AND FISH ERi ES-The statement asked for is in the course of preparation. EXPLOSIVES BILL Pursuan i t to ·notic'e ,aJnd leave grarnt­ ed the Rt. Hon. Prime Minister in­ troduced a Bill to amend Chapters 40 a11d 41 of the Consolidated Statutes, respecting the Storage and Cansying of Gun powder and other Explosi'ves, and it was re·ad a first "~i1 m•~· , a1nd ordered to be read a seciC)D.Jd time on to-morrow.

PA TENTS BILL. Pursuant to noti,ce and leave grant­ ed the Rt. Hon. Prime Minister in­ troduced a Bill to amend Chapt·er 129 of the Consolidated Statutes, respect­ ing "Patents" and it was read a first time and ordered to be read a second tim·e on to-morrow. ADVER,._rISEMENTS BILL. Pursuant to notice and leave grant­ ed the Rt. Hon. Prime Minister in­ troduced a Bill entitled, "An Act Re­ specting the Exhibition of Advertise­ m·ents," and it was read a first time and ordered to be read a second time on to-morrow. ALIENS BILL. Pursuant to notice and leave g·rant­ ed the Rt. Hon.

Prime Minister intro­ duced a Bill to amend 6 Edward VII.

Chapter 3, entitled: "The Aliens Act," and it was read a first time and ordered to be read a second time on to-morrow. MR. KENT gave Notice of Ques· ti on. MR. CL I FT gave Notice of Question. MR. COAKER giave Notice of Ques­ tion. MR& K ENT.-Mr. Speak·er, I sug .. gest that in future a record should be kept in the Journals and the pub­ lisl1ed debates, of all answers to ques­ tions asked in the Hous ·e.

It is r:us­ tomary to keep a record of t:1e QL_e3· tions Cllone, in the JOlirnals &Ild Off i­ ci~1 reports of the House of A ~: s0L.~­ L ' J 11a ve nev·er been ab le to f~e0 "' . ~~1c !'02 son for this, as the qu \nti'l!1S are of no use as a re1cord w~thout the answers. RT. H 0 N. P R 11\1 E M 11\! I S ·r E R - Mr. Speaker, I agree with th·e hon. member. I cannot understand why the ans\vers do not appear in the Journals. I believe that their omis­ sion is d u· e to the ruli11g of some form­ er Speaker, for what reasons I do not know. I ag·ree with my hon. friend, Mr.

Kent, that a record sl1ould be keut of the answers and will bring .... the matter before the Internal Econo­ my Committee. The House then adjournP,d till Mon­ da)'" at 3 p.m. MONDAY, Jan. The House met at 3.15 p.m. pur­ s11ant to adjol1rnment. HON. MINISTER FINANCE AND CUSTOMS.-Mr. Speaker, I beg to table replies in n1ember for St. Ke,nt's que.stion asked ye'3terday. ans\ver to the hon. John's East, Mr, about expenditures PETITION. MR. KENT.-Mr. Speaker, I beg to present a petition from John Cl1urchill and others of Portugal Cove, in the District of St.

John's East on the qt1estion of the appointment of a Road Board in that section. They think it is in the public interest that a Road Board should be appointed and that better results would be ac­ complished and that more satisfac­ tion \Vould be given to all the parties concerned, tablished. able that if a Road Board wer·e es­ I think it would be desir­ expenditi1res of public

HOUSE OF ASSEJ.\iIBLY PROCEEDI~GS. 111oneys in any locality should, where possible be under local control, botl1 in this a11d other departments. I beg to reco1nmend this petition first to tl1e Department of Public v.rorks, a11d tl1en to the Gover11ment. I ask that tl1is petition be referred to the De- 1)artn1ent of tl1~ Colonial Secretary and be brought before tl1e Go,rern­ ment. QUESTIONS. MR. KENT asked the Rt. Hon. the Prime l\!Iinister whether Hon. Donald Morison still fills tl1e office of Minister of Justice and Hon. Sydney D.

Bland­ ford still fills the offic·e of Minister of Agriculture an.d 1VIines, and what measures have bee11, or 'vill be, ad.opt­ ed to have these offices filled by mem­ bers of the .House of Assembly, and \vhen will tl1ese measu:res be given effect. RT. HON. THE PRIME MINISTER - l\/Ir. Mcrison does not fill the Office of Ivlinister of Justice and 1\i1r. Bland­ ford does not fill the Office of Mi11- ister of Agriculture and Mines. These gentlemen resigned their respective offices 011 the 2nd January 1914. Up to the present the Gov·ernment has not considered the filling of these offices. MR.

CL I FT asked the Minister of Public Works to lay on the table of the I-louse a staten1ent showing, in detail, all amounts paid or allocated in tl1e electoral clistrict of T\villin­ gate out of ordinary, special, or sur­ l)l11s trt'!.st grants dt1rir..g tl1e year 1913, giving the dates of sucl1 alloca­ tion, the names of the parties to 'vhom allocated, and also the pur­ poses for which allocations were made. MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS.­ I am now preparing the required state­ n1ent. MR.

CLIFT asl{ed the Minister of · ing, in detail, all amounts paid or al­ located in tl1e electoral district ot Twillingrute out oif ordi ~nary, special, or surpl~s t1·ust grants during the year 1913, givin . g the date i s of S ·uch alloca­ tions, the na1nes of the parties to 'vl1om allocated, and also the purpoBes for "'rhich allocations "rere made. M I N IS TE R 0 F · MAR I N E J, N D FISH ERi ES.-I have the statement asked for by the hon. gentlemar1 and beg to· table s.ame. MR. COAKER asked the Hon. Col­ onial Secretary to lay upon tl1e table of the I-louse a detailed statement sl10\ving (

a) wl1at amounts of money were expended for Telegraph exten­ sion in 1912 and 1913; (

b) v1hat am­ ount was expended in each District; (

c) the nun1ber of miles of cable used and the cost of such cable; (

d) also the amou11t of money exp·ended in 1912 and 1913 for repairs to cables. HON COLONIAL SECRETARY l\'Ir. Speaker, I wish to inform the 11on. gentleman tl1at lV'~r. LeMessurier, the accountant at thra Post Office is getti11g the statement ready. I have n1ade arrangements and will table the ans\ver to-morrow if possible. I may say that the a ccov.ntant has been ill for a fe\v days~ hence some delay. MR. COAKER asked the Minister of Public \Vorlcs to lay upon the table of the Hot1se a statement showing (

a) what g·rants, otl1er than local were iss11ed by his department during the i11onths of April, May, June, July, A11gust, Septe1n·ber, October Novem ­ ber and December, for th· e District of Harbor lVIain, giving dates such grants were issued and to whom, and copies of tl1e returnP of s11cl1 expendi­ tt1re and a.ccounts in connection th·ere­ with; (

b) what grants other than loca? were ibdUed by his department for Harbor Main District during the years 1911, 1912 and 1913 . and to \vhom ~\!farine a11d Fisheries to lay on 1.l1e sent. table of the House a statement. sll<>w- MINISTER PUBLIC WORKS.-! I

• IIOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS. 31 beg to inform tl1e 11on. gentleman that am having an answer prepared. INTERNAL ECONOMY COl\!IMITTEE MR. SPEAKER presented to tho House a certifj ed copy of minute of His Excellency the Governor in Coun­ cil appointing the Commissioners of Internal Economy orf the LegislaJture for the Session of 1910, as follows: Tl1e President of the.... Legislative Council. Hon. R. K. Bishop. Hon. P. T. McGrath His Honour the Speaker Rt . . Hon. Sir Edward P. Morris~ P. C., l{.C.M.G Hon. J. R. Bennett. Hon C. H. Emerson. ADDRESS IN REPLY. MR. J. S.

CURRIE tabloed the re­ port of the committee appointed to draft an Address in Reply to the Speech from the Throne, which was as follows: To His Excelle 1ncy Waiter Ed­ ward Davidson, Esq., Com· panion of the Most Distin­ guished Order of St. Michael and St. George, Governor and Commander in Chief in and over the Island of Newfound­ land and its Dependencies. l\Iay it Please your Excellency: We the Commons of Newfound­ land in Legislative session assembled, beg leave to thank Your Excellency for the gracious Speech which Your Excellency has addressed to botl1 Houses of the Legislature. Signed,- J. S. CURRIE, W. J.

HIGGINS, THOS. LeFEUVRE. House of Assembly, Jan. 19tfu, 191·1c On motion of MR. CURRIE the re, ' port iNas received. MR. CLI FT.-Mr. Speaker, before the adoption of the Report I should like to malie one or t\'.\ro obser1rations in connection with it. B11t first of all I 'vould 11\\,~ to avail of t11is oppor- tunity to extend to you iny personal felicitations upon your elevation to tl1e chair of this House. I have every confidence in yo11 personally and ev­ ery confidence that as Speaker you 'vill perform your duties in such a manner as to be acceptable to the \Vhole House.

I 'vi sh also to a 'rail of this oppor­ tu11ity to follow the remarl{S made by tl1e Premier and my hon. friend, the Leq,der of the Oppositio11, upon open­ ing day when it was announced to this House that the Rt. I-Ion. Sir Rob­ ert Bond 'vho for so many years had bee11 a prominent figure in this House 11ad retired from active political life and had resigned his seat in this House. I wish to place on record my feelings of the deepest regret on ac­ count of this occurrence. Mr. Speaker, I need no1t dilate 11P· on Sir Robert Bond's political history. Tl1at is well known to tl1e country, well known to this House.

It is a matter cf sincerest regret that he has disassociated himself from ,his House. Pers ---i:P-ally, I have bf:lell ~fi:.. sociated with him in politics for a period of twenty-five years and dur- ingthe past thiriteen years I have been associated with him as a colleague in the representation of the District of Twillingate. And I say, sir, tha;t it is a matter of the grea.test regret that that gentleman has thougl1t fit to re­ sign his seat. The absence of such a man from this House is a distinct loss to the whole country.

No matter on what side of the House he sat, whethe · r on the Govemment benches or upon the Opposition side, he al­ ways brought into debate in this House very much matter that we might all profit by in the future. I make these observations because I feel that I am being severed from one for whom I aJways had the very high· est regard and estteem. N otwith·· standing anything that may be said •

. 32 HOUSE OF ASSEM:BLY PROCEEDINGS . to the contrary by certain portions of the Press I think that the public gen­ erally will concur with me in this ex­ pressio11 of deep regret and in the 11ope tl1at at no distant future date Sir Robert B,ond may ag,ain be in­ duced ·to enter political life. As to the Speech with which His Excellency opened the present parlia­ ment I do not intend to make any le11gthy comment. The Speech itself . is very like many other similar speech- es from the same source. \Ve all know that practically it is the Speech of the Government of the day.

It is intend­ ed to be a record of the many matters tl1at have been dealt witl1 by the Government and an intimation of tl)e policy that the Government intends to pursue in the futt1re. In proposing the appointment of a Committee to draft an Address in Re­ ply the hon. member for Burin, Mr. Ct1rrie, made a very excellent speech and I have to congratulate him upon the manner in which 11e delivered that s:peecl1 a11d upon the tone in which it \Vas delivered. I am glad to see com­ ing into this House inen vvl10 are able to deal with a matter of tl1is lrind as • he dealt with it.

And the same re- n1arks apply to the hon. men1ber for St. John's East, Mr. Htggins, who secooded the motion. In 11is speech Mr. Currie, a1nongst other things pointed out that the r·e­ venue of the country during tl1e past four or five years had increased to a very large exten ,t.And he pointed 011~ that tl1at increa .se had taken place during the administration of the pre­ sent Government. That is perf·ectly true. But an ordinary observer wo11ld t:e led to suppose that that increase nad taken place by reason of some act of the present Government.

It ,~.yas not O\ving to any particular pol­ icy of the present Government that that incre~ ase too, k p,Iace , , it was be<'"' cause of the result of the policy of the • previous government. I am sure, sir, there is no one in tl1is House or in tl1e various consti­ tuencies represented by this House who will not join in extending a he.arfy welome t!o their Roy,al High .. nesses the Duke and Duchess of Con· naught should tl1ey honor tl1is coun­ try by visiting it during the coming st1m1ner.

We are all delighted at the prospect of such a visit and I am sure that the people of the country will extend to the Royal visitors that hearty welcome which is of this country a noteworthy characteristic. ,..rl1e Speech from the Throne points out the fact, if it is a fact, that the ag·ricultural prospects in. the light of last year's operatio11s are most grati­ fyi11g and that the number of agricul­ tural societies have increased all over the co11ntry.

Well, sir, I shall con­ tent myself with observing at the pre­ sent moment tl1at so far as the agri- ­ cul'tural policy of the Governm .ent ts concer:ne 1 d I have not yet be·en able to see that an)T sub;:::;tantial result has come from it and vve have had no re­ turn adequate to the large amount of i11oney expended annually in tb.e S(•­ called ad ·vancement of agricult11re .

The system of appointing societi e:: thro11g·no11t tl1e Colony for the purprJse ofpromotingthe best interests of ~ri·· culture is not a sound 0ne and the 0111y way in whicl1 our agri.c1Jit11ral conditions can be improved is by tal~­ ing the n1atter up in 011r scbo(Jls a11d teaching tl1e science of agr~11 ~ ~ure t '1 011r c;1 ~ lrlren or by the estalJti !J1r11er·t of an agricultural college. In no oth­ er way in my opinion can the great science of agriculture be taught to our people.

The Speech goes on to deai witl1 ot1r coal areas and points r1ut that Professor Dunstan, Director of tl1·~ Imp erial I11 stit11te, has been invited to come to the Colony for the purpose of making enquiry into our possibilities in this di rec ti on. vVell, sir, I only say I •

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS. 33 that I hope soimethin.g definite will be done in conJ.1ection. with tl1ese areas. vVe have not yet 11ad any opportun­ ity of hearing very much about Pro­ fessor Dunstan but I have no doubt that 11e is a man of some reputation and if he does come to this country and is able to make a favorable re­ port upon our coal areas it is just possible that upon this report some ca,pitalists may b·e induced to take up the matter.

It cannot be expected that -vvithin tl1is country itself it "'ould be possible to form a company that would be able to undertake the operation of our coal ar·eas. vVe must not expect an)rthing in the way of de­ velopment in this direction. It must come from capital to be obtained abroad and it is only upon the report of some reliabl-e and eminent man th.at outsid 1e ·Cap1italists will be in­ duced to put their money into this venture.

Some of the matters that have been d·ealt v1ith in the Speech from the Throne will no doubt come before the House in other forms during the bal­ ance of the session and I shall con­ tent myself until then as I 11ave fur­ ther observations which I desire to make. MR. COAKER.-Mr. Speaker, I should like to make a few remarks in connection with the matters before the House. I should like first of all to congratulate my 11on. friend, Mr. Cur­ rie, upon tl1e speecl1 he made upon opening day. Although I bPartily CO.tl· gratulate him upon that speech I do not agree with him iln mo,st of the things he said.

Especially is this so wl1e11 he took up the question of the fishery. He stated that the price of fish was ke:p,t so hig.h this yearbyth 0 fact that "'N<? exportec1 so mu.eh green fish to the U11ited States. Before he made tba.t statement he evidently did not try to find out the exact figures, because if he did he would know that the export of green fish to the Unit­ ed States for the past year was not as great as that for the year 1912. In fact, Sir, the export of green fish had nothing v1hatever to do with the price.

There was not en_ough exported to malre a11y difference in the price, but I hope the day is not far distant when \Ve will have one-third of our total catcl1 going out of the country as green fish for the ~.\.merican mar­ ket, or i11 sucl1 forn1s as it is now packed for use in the United States. \Vhen that time comes you will find that the export of green fish will have a11 influence on the price of fish in 1~ e\vfoundland. AnothE.r re111ark made by my learned frie11d 'vas that after the reduction of taxation ~he re,Tenue did not come up tn expectations. There is not the slightest doubt about that.

But why was not better consideration givelJl to that fact -vvhen the Government were co11si.dering their reduction? $380,- 000 was tl1e amount of the reduction made by the Government. I contend that v1hen this amount of $380,000 V\ras under consideration, e·verything J)OSsible sho11ld ha1re been considered And sucl1. was not the case. I am told that ail the members or the Ex­ ecutive were not present when the matter was decided upon.

I do not know whether 1 thalt is true or not, but in any case the matter did not re ... ceive a great deal of consideration. \Ve, as 1nembers of the F.P.U., have been considering the matter of the redt1ction of tl1e tariff. We have ex­ pressed our opinion, and we have 'brought our opinions before the Gov­ ernment We as1red for a reduction in tea, sugar and other articles, but we never con·template . d tha,t therE would be a reduction of three cents 011 granulated and four cen_ts on cube sugar If tl1e Government wanted t(_) take off the dt1ty on sugar, why did .

34 I-IOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS. they not take off t\vo cents on gran­ ulated and keep on one cent That wol1ld ha.ve given them fifty or sixty thousand dollars The amount of su­ gar const1med since the reduction has nec:trly doubled 9 and at one cent a p<)u11d tl1at would have given $50,000 or $60,000 revenue The11, again, tl1ey took four ce11ts off cube sugar Tl1at is the sugar used by professional men, b3r b11siness men, 1Jy inen who have p 1 le·n1ty of money to pay for it.

The Government took off 4 cents when they ,sh10 1uld have put on 2 cents and made the duty 6 For these rea­ sons I do not agree with a lot that has bee·n sald by my hon. friend, Mr. Currie. I hope that V\""hen any such matter comes before the Government it will receive better consideration than heretofore. I do not believe that the duty should be taken off these articles altogether. I do not believe in bringing in a number of articles and making then1 free of duty. The people expect a lot of money to be spent upon pul>llc necessities, and that being so, it is not fair that all these things should be free.

One cent a pound upon sugar should have been left, an_d the people would have been just as well p] eased to get that re­ duction. Then that particular duty shot1ld be ear-marked. I do not believe in everything being placed to the general revenue. There are various things required by the fishermen for which certain duties and certain mon- eys should , be 1es1pecially ear-marked. Such thing·s as n1otor boats. Certain duties should be ear-marked for cer­ tain purposes. Another remark made by my hon. friend was in regard to the recent elections.

He said that \vhere the policy of the Go1;rernn1ent was discuss­ ed, tl1e Go\rernment vv-as victorious. vVhat was discussed down North? What was discussed in the districts \Vhere lVIr. Blandford, Mr. Morison, Mr. Squires and other gentlemen stood? \\That was disc11ssed bt1t matters of l • T? po IC) . I con tend that in. t11e north, ern districts nothing but the Govern­ me11t's policy was laid before the peo­ ple. It was in the northern districts tl1at the matters were discussed, and no other m·atters were laid before the people.

Else\vhere and in the Southern Districts anything· and everything was Sl1fficient to hl1rl about~ and we find t11e 111 en who fought tl1ese districts attacl~i11g not only the Opposition part}r, b11t the F.P.U., \Vith s11ch cries as Socialism and Godless schools, and otl1er catch-cries. I have here in my hand a paper issued just previo11s to the eJ ection, in which such cl.astardly charges are made against the F.P.U. No-vv- ~ l\/fr. Speaker, where is this das­ tardly thing, Socialism? Where is it in the F.P.U.? This kind of thing was got off on dozens of platforms in the electio11s.

I contend that we are as far fron1 Socialism in the F.P.U. as the North Pole is from the South. We ha;'-re never had anything to do with Socia1isn1. Socialism, as it is lrnown i11 Germany anc1 E11gland, has never 11ad a foothold in tl1e Councils of the ' F.P.U. \7\Te have been accused of cir- cu1ati11g "Cotton's \Veekly't and ''The Menace." Now, Sir, we have never circulated "Cotton's Weekly" or "The 1\tier1ace." I have never taken "Cot­ to11's V\Teekly.' It is true it was sent to me for three inonths, but I returned it and told them I did not want to have an.ything to do with it.

If you are going to r11n a.n election lipon such stuff as that, how can you say that tl1e policy of the Government has been laid before the people, and that you ha.ve vvon on. its merits? Now, Mr. S·pe1aker, what does the Speecl1 contain? I was expecting that the first Speecl1 that \Ve would l1ear in this House would contain something that \Vould be of real bene­ fit to the fishermen. \

HOUSE OF ASSEl\IBI~Y PROCEEl)fNGS. 35 • The Premier congratulated us as the ne-Yv members of tl1e House. I do not think he really meant that. I think he \Vould prefer that some of his friencls 11ad been returned in our place. Bl1t, Sir, now ~hat we are here I hope that we \Vill worl{ together, tl1at we will l)e able to do something that will be of great benefit to the people, and that at the end of four • years we will be able to say that the fishermen of tl1is country are in a better position than they are now As I said before, there is nothing in tl1e Speech fro1n the Throne.

I see tl1ere is reference to the water powers on La.bra;dor. I doubt whethe·r we are e\rer going to have that. There is no chance of it. There is no more chance of getting a company to un­ dertaJ{e the development of these wat­ er powers than there is of my flying to Heaven to-night. If the Premier can show us one specific letter tl1at he can lay uefore the House to show t11at he is negotiating with some sub­ stantial Company or man to open up the water powers on Labrador, I would believe it.

And I \Vould ask the Prem­ ier that he 11and any agreement he n1ay contempla.te to the Hot1se, and to take the House into his confidence before anything of a binding nature is do11e, so tl1at we may not be party to ai1ytl1ing that is likely to ca use fric­ tion with tl1e fishermen of the coun, try. We have several agreements with companies and cor1Jora tions, and par· ticularly with the Reid-Nfld. Com­ pany. They all appeared to ·be splen­ did when brol1ght before the House, bl1t were of dot1btful benefit when the agreements can1e into operation. I hope so1nething will come of tl1is.

La­ brador bt1s-iness, and I hope the Prem­ ier will lay 11is proposals before us in a friendly V\ray before they ctre em­ bodied in a forn1al agreem 8n.t, so that something may be done to develop tl1es water ·powers to th i ter st of the country. One thing that strikes n1e about this matter is the dispute over tl1e boundary question. That seen1s likely to v\rreck the whole pro­ position. If people are gomg to: spen·d six n1illion or one million dollars in a venture lik·e t11is, they are :lot going to do it without k11owing who has the right to gi\re them the land, and who is going to gi.,{e it to them.

Another rnatter is that son1e provision will be necessarv so tl1at no one will b·e al-., lowed to export wood pulp from La­ brador. Now, I hope we wont have any such measure without that. If we do, I am sorry but we shal1 have to OPI)OSe it from this side of the House. Then there is going to be an in­ vestigation into the whale fishery. I reme1n hP.r taking an interest in this \vhaling business when it first came up in Newfoundland. Quite a number . of fishermen presented a petition to Sir Robert Bond, who was then in power, agains~ allowing any whale factories in this country.

An inves­ tigation was tl1·en supposed to have taken place, and the decision nf the Government was that no injt1ry haO. been caused to ithe Norwegian fishery by tl1e killing of \Vhales there. Now that tl1e \Vhales have been exterminat­ ed and tl1e damage done we find that tl1e Gov·ernment are to have an in­ vestigatio11 to find out what effect the killing· of \Vl1ales has on the f1sl1eries. There are hundreds and thousands of fishern1en in Newfoundland wl10 think that if you kill tl1e whales you will get no bait. I do not give this as my opinion.

I ha 11e no opinion upon the matter; but these fishermen think tl1at if yot1 kill the whales you destroy tl1 e agency which drives the bait fishes towards the shore. They may be right and the)T inay be wrong, but \lll1y shot1ld the Government have wait­ ed te11 or twelve years, until all the \Vhales have been killed out, and then it do,,rn and make an investigation

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS. i11to the 1natter? Another thing that we want is Cold Storage, and the Government are going to see now what can be done in this matter. The only way to deal with that question is to erect bait sta­ tions, and in cases where tl1e fisher­ men would not have easy access to these stations, have a flotilla of motor boats to carry bait to where they can get it. Thousands and thousands of quintals of fish are lost annually to our fishermen because of the want of bait. How often will you see fine fishing days in the summer or fall, wl1en there will be lots of fish around arld no bait?

If the Gov·ernment had done wl1at we wanted there would be no necessity to take up this matter now. The Fishermen's Union offered to erect bait depots free and maintain them free if the Government would provid·e the money for tl1e materials. v\re knew that our fishermen wanted this, a11d we offered to assist the Gov­ ern1ne11t in the matter of erection and mainte11a11ce; all they had to do was to lJrf>vide the materials; but, of course, nothing vvas done; and now we are going to 11ave another investi­ ga.tion to see whether such a thing as bait depots are required. No\v, give it up and get down to business.

Al­ locate $100,000, and offer to every har· bor who will come forward and agree to build the depots free and maintain them fr·ee, whatever the cost of tl1e necessary materials will be-$1,000 or $2,000, or whatever it may be-and you will fi.nd ·that nothing that you have done since you have been a Gov· ernm·ent will be of g·reater value to the fisl1errnen. We are also going to have some­ thing done with coal again. We are going to have a Professor come here to t·ell t1s about our coal.

Well, it seems to me that we have had a lot of n1en here from time to time to tell us whetl1er we have got coal or not, but w·e do not seem to have got any further ahead. If there is coal there, I vv·ould like -to see it located# There is nothing that I would not do to set­ tle this question; but wh·ether, in the event of coal being found, it is going to be a treme·ndo :u;s ben·efit to our peer ple is another matter. I don't think it is going to be of v·ery great benefit to the outport people or to St. John's people.

It may be a great benefit in developing tl1e interior resourc·es of the Colony, and the Fishermen's Union, l\!Ir. Speaker, will de nothing to cause any trouble to the Govern· m·ent if their object is to find out fair arnd .square what ooal 1there is in the interior. ~t\.s regards supplyi11g coal tc the outports, \Ve 11ave taken up this q uesltion . We find q ui1te1 a lot of tro· u .. ble in getting schootners and many a harbor that wants coal cannot get it because of their i11ability to get schooners to bring it. We have done what we can, in fact we have sup­ plied all our harbors that wanted coal at $6.00 a ton.

Som·e of the business men think that we are off our heads because we are doing that, but I vvant to say that so far as we are concerned we have lost no money on the coal which we have delivereo to the outports; and if we can de­ liver coal at $6.00 a ton and mak·e a profit on it I don't see why business men cannot do the same. We are bringing in a load of coal now to sell 11ere in St. John's to the poor people at $6.80 a ton. Coal has not ris·en in Sydney to the extent that local busi­ ness men s