• JOURNAL of PROCEEDINGS of the First Session of the Twenty- · Sixth General Assembly of Newfoundland 1924 • • The Evening Telegram , Ltd . •

PROCEEDINGS • of the House of Assembly of Newfoundland SESSION, 1924 WEDNESDAY, July 9th, 1924. Begun and holden at St. John's in the said Island on Wednesday, the ninth day of July, Anno . Domini, Nineteen Hundred and Twenty-four, bei11g in the Fifteenth year of tl1e reign of ·His Majesty our Sovereign Lord George, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain · and Ireland, and of the British Do­ minions beyond the Seas, King, De­ fender of the Faith, Emperor of India. His Excellency William Lamond Allardyce, Esquire, Knight Command­ er of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St.

George, Gover­ nor and Commander-in-Chief in and over the Island of Newfoundland ancj its Dependencies, by His Proclama­ tion bearing . date the 25th day of April last, having dissolved the late Ge11eral Assembly, and by His Procla­ mation bearing date the 3rd day of Jul)' having appointed Wednesday the 9th day of July for the Meeting of . the said General Assembly for the despatch of business, the following are the names of the Members re­ turned by the Returning Officers of the several Electoral Districts to rep:resent the said Districts in the General Assembly:- I-ION. SIR JOHN .C.

CROSBIE, K.B.E., WILLIAM JOSEPH BROWNE, ESQ., WILLIAM J.i...,. LINEGAR, ESQ., (St. John's Western Division). HON. WILLIAM J. HIGGINS, CYRIL J. FOX, ESQ., NICHOLAS J. VINICOMBE, ESQ., (St. John's Eastern Division). MAJOR PETER J. CASHIN, PHILIP F. MOORE, ESQ., Ferr~land. HON. MICHAEL S. SULLIVAN, WILLIAM J. WALSH, ESQ., EDWARD F. SINNOTT, ESQ., Placentia & St. Mary's. HAROLD BERTRAM CLYDE LAKE, ESQ., HON. JOSEPH J. LONG, Burin. WILLIAM R. WARREN, ESQ., Fortune Bay. WALTER McK. CHAMBERS, ESQ., Burgeo and LaPoile. THOMAS J. POWER, ESQ., St. George's. JOHN H. SCAMMELL, ESQ., St. Barbe.

4 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS THOMAS G. W. ASHBOURNE, ESQ., KENNETH M. BROWN, ESQ., GEORGE F. GRIMES, ESQ., Twillingate. RICHARD HIBBS, ESQ., Fogo. HON, WALTER S. MONROE, LEWIS LITTLE, ESQ., WILLIAM C. WINSOR, ESQ., Bona vista. WILLIAM W. HALFYARD, ESQ., ISAAC R. RANDELL, ESQ., EDWIN J. GODDEN, ESQ., Trinity. ·-~ I HON. RICHARD CRAMM, JOHN C. PUDDESTER, ESQ., Bay de Verde. ' ROBERT DUFF, ESQ., Carbonear. ALBERT E. HICKMAN, ESQ., HON. JOHN R. BENNETT, CHARLES E. RUSSELL, ESQ., Harbour Grace. HON. F. GORDON BRADLEY, Port de Grave. HON. WILLIAM J. WOODFORD, CYRIL J. CAHILL~ ESQ. Harbour Main.

By virtue of a Commission under the Great Seal to the Honourable .T. D. Ryan, President of the Legislative Council, tl1e Honourable A. B. Morine and the Honourable S. Milley, Mem­ bers of the said Council, which is as follows: COMMISSION. (Sgd.) GEORGE T H E FIFTH by the Grace of God, of the United W. L. Allardyce. K i n g d o m of Governor. G r e a t Britain and Ireland, and of . the British Dominions be­ yond the Seas, King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of In­ dia. To all to whom these Presents shall comU-e- Greeting: Know ye that We have a_ppointed the Honourable James D.

Ryan, the Honourable Samuel Milley, and the Honourable Alfred B. Morine, Mem­ bers of our Legislative Council, to be Commissioners, they, or either of them, to administer the Oath of Allegiance to the undermentioned persons, elected to serve in the House of Asesmbly for the several Districts and Divisions of Districts set oppos­ ite their names, respectively, and appointed by Proclamation of Our Governor of Our Colony of Newfound­ land to be holden in St. John's on the ninth day of this instant month:- (Sgd.) W. J. HIGGINS, Attorney General. I-ION. SIR JOHN C.

CROSBIE, K.B.E., WILLIAM JOSEPH BROWNE, ·ESQ., WILLIAM F. LINEGAR, ESQ., (St. John's Western Division). HON. -WILLIAM J. HIGGINS, CYRIL J. FOX, ESQ., NICHOLAS J. VINICOMBE, ESQ., (St. John's Eastern Division). MAJOR PETER J. CASHLN, PHILIP F. MOORE 2 ESQ .• Ferry land.

HOUSE OF ASSE.MBLY PROCE 'EDINGS 5 HON. MICHAEL S. SULLIVAN, WILLIAM J. WALSH, ESQ., EDWARD F. SINNOTT, ESQ., Placentia & St. Mary's. HAROLD BERTRAM CLYDE LAKE, ESQ., HON. JOSEPH JAMES LONG, Burin. WILLIAM R. WARREN, ESQ., Fortune Bay. WALTER McK. CHAMBERS, ESQ., Burgeo & LaPoile. THOMAS J. POWER, ESQ., St. George's. JOHN H. SCAMMELL, ESQ., St. Barbe. KENNETH M. BROWN, ESQ., GEORGE F. GRIMES, ESQ., THOMAS G. W. ASHBOURNE, ESQ., Twillingate. RICHARD HIBBS, ESQ., Fogo. HON. WALTER S. MONROE, LEWIS LITTLE, ESQ., WILLIAM C. WINSOR, ESQ., Bona vista. WILLIAM W. HALFYARD, ESQ., ISAAC R. RANDELL, . ESQ., EDWIN J.

GODDEN, ESQ., Trinity. HON. RICHARD CRAMM, JQHN C. PUDDESTER, ESQ., . B_ay de Verde. ROBERT DUFF, ESQ., Carbon ear. ALBERT E. HICKMAN, ESQ., HON. JOHN R. BENNETT, CHARLES E. RUSSELL, ESQ., Harbour Grace. . , HON. F. GORDON BRADLEY, Port de Grave. HON. WILLIAM J. WOODFORD, CYRIL J. CAHILL, ESQ., Harbour Main.

Giving to them, or either of them, full power and authority to perform the matters hereinbefore mentioned, ratifying and confirming all whatso­ ever they, or either of them, shall do and perform in this behalf, and where­ of they, or either of them, are to make due return under their hands and seals unto Our Governor and Our said Col­ ony, with these Presents annexed. Given under the Great Seal of Our aforesaid Colony of Newfoundland.

Witness Our Trusty and Well- 1beloved Sir William Lam.and Allardyce, Knight Commander of the M·ost Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Governor and Com­ mander:...in-Chief in and over Our said Colony of Newfoundland, at St. John's, in Our said Colony, this 8th day of July, A.D. 1924, and in the Fifteenth year of Our Reign. By His Excellency's Command, (Sgd.) J. R. BENNETT, Colonial Secretary. HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY OF NEW· FOUND LAND. The said Commissioners came into the Council Chamber between the ) ' hours of two and three of the clock on the said Ninth day of July, Henry Y.

Mott, Esquire, Clerk of the House of Assembly, as in. duty bound attend­ ing, and the names of the Members returned for the several Districts and Divisio.ns of Districts having been called over by the Clerk, they appear­ ed with the exception of I I

I) I .. I I • I I" ( I lq • I l I • I I f

• I I I I I • • pl 6 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS WILLIAM J. BROWNE, and took and subscribed the Oath of Allegiance in the presence of the said Commissioners, as follows: HON. SIR JOHN C. CROSBIE, K.B.E., WILLIAM F. LINEGAR, ESQ., St. John's Western Division. HON. WILLIAM J. HIGGINS, CYRIL J. FOX, ESQ., NICHOLAS J. VINICOMBE, ESQ., S•t. John's Eastern Division. MAJOR PETER J. CASHIN, PHILIP F. MOORE, ESQ., Ferry land. HON. MICHAE 'L S. SULLIVAN, WILLIAM J. WALSH, ESQ., EDWARD F. SINNOTT, ESQ., Placentia . & St. Mary's. HA~OLD BERTRAM CLYDE LAKE, ESQ., HON. JOSEPH JAMES LONG, Burin. WILLIAM R.

WARREN, ESQ., Fortune Bay. WALTER McK. CHAMBERS, ESQ., Burgeo & LaPoile. THOMAS J. POWER, ESQ., S•t. George's. JOHN H. SCAMMELL, E·SQ., St. Barbe. WILLIAM W. HALF ·ARD, E·SQ., IS•AAC R. RANDELL, ESQ., EDWIN J. GODDEN, ESQ.t ·· ·' Trinity~ HON. RICHARD CRAMl\'.I, JOHN C. PUDDESTER, ESQ., Bay de Verde. ROBERT DUFF, ESQ., Carbonear. ALBERT E. HICKMAN,' ESQ., I HON. JOHN R. BENNETT, CHARLE · S E. RUSSELL, ESQ., Harbour ·Grace. HON. F. GORDON BRADLEY, P.ort de Grave. HON. WILLIAM J. WOODFORD, CYRIL J.

CAHILL, ESQ., Harbour Main. . . ' At three of the clock, the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod appeared at . { . ' the Bar and said: Gentlemen of the House of . As­ sembly- "His Excellency the Governor re­ . quests your immediate attendance · in the Council Chamber." Accordingly, the Members of ·· the Assembly proceeded to the · Council Chamber, where the following Com­ mission was read by the Clerk of the Legislative Council: COMMISSION • By ' His Excellency Sir William La­ KENNETH M. BROWN, ESQ., . W. L. Allardyce, mond Allardyce, Knight · C o ·m - mander · of · · the GEORGE F. GRIMES, ESQ., Governor . . .

THOMAS G. W. ASHBOURNE, ESQ., Twillingate. RICHARD HIBBS, ESQ., Fogo. HON. WALTER S. MONROE, LEWIS LITTLE, ESQ., WILLIAM C. WINSOR, ESQ., Bona vista. Most Distinguish­ ed Order of Saint Michael .,. a n d Saint G e o r g e , Governor a n d Commander - in - Chief · in · and · ov­ er the Colony of Newfoundland.

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS 7 To- Honourable James D. Ryan, Honourable Samuel Milley, and Honourable Alfred B. Morine, K.C., Members of Our Legislative · Council, Greeting:

Whereas I have deemed it expedi­ ent that the First Session of the Twenty - sixth General Assembly sho~ld be open for the despatch of business on Wednesday, the Ninth day of this instant month, whereof I have given notice in my Proclamation dated the Third day of July instant; and

Whereas it is not convenient that the purposes for which I have called the said General Assembly together should be declared on the said day, nor until the Members of the House of Assembly have proceeded to the choice of a S1peaker, you, the said Honourable James D. Ryan, Honour­ able Samuel Milley, and Honourable Alfred B.

Morine, are hereby author­ ized and directed to signify to the Mem1bers of the said House of As­ sembly on the Ninth day of this in­ stant month, that it is my pleasure that they should proceed to the choice of some proper person to be their Speaker, and present such person on the following day for my approbation. Given under my Hand and Seal at the Government House, St. John ·'s, this 8th day of July, A.D. 1924. By His Excellency's Command, (Sgd.) J. R. BENNETT, Colonial Secretary. W. J. Higgins, · · Attorney General. The Honourable James D.

Ryan, President of the Legislative Council, then said:- "It is not convenient for His Excel­ lency the Governor to declare the reasons for His calling this General Assembly on this day, and it being necessary that a Speaker of the House of Assembly should be first chosen, you, Gentlemen of the House of As­ sembly, will repair to the place where you are to sit, and there proceed to the appointment of some proper person to be your Speaker, and present such person whom you shall choose here to-morrow, at three of the clock, for His Excellency's approbation.'' And the Members having returned to the Assembly Room, the Honour­ able the Prime Minister, addressing himself to the Clerk, who standing up pointed to him and then sat down, moved "that Cyril James Fox, Esquire, Member elected for the District of St.

J1ohn's (Eastern Division), do take the chair of this House as Speaker," which m·otion was seconded by Albert E. Hickman, Esquire, Member elected for the District of Harbour Grace. No other person being proposed as Speaker, Mr. Fox was una.nimously called by the House to the Ch_air, and was conducted to the Chair by the Members who proposed and seconded him. Whereupon, Mr. Speaker standing on the steps, addressed the House, expressing his gratitude to the Hon­ ourable Members for the high honour unanimously conferred upon him.

The House then adjourned until to­ morrow afternoon, at a quarter to three of the clock. FRIDAY, July 10th, 1924. The House met at a quarter to three of the clock in the afternoon, pursuant to adjournment. At Three o'clock a message . from His Excellency the Governor vv-as de­ livered by the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, commanding the im- 1nediate attendance of Mr. Speaker and the House in the Council Cham­ ber. Whereupon Mr. Speaker and the

8 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDING ' S House attended His Excellency in the Council Chamber; and being returned to the Assembly Ro·om, Mr.

Speaker informed the I-louse that, when in at­ tendance upon His Excellency in the Council Cl1amber, His E·xcellency 11ad been pleased to approve of his elec­ tion as Speaker of this House, and that in the riame and on behalf of the House . of Assembly he had, by hum­ ble petition to l-Ils Excellen .cy, laid claim . to all their ancient rights and privileges, which His Excellency had · confirmed by them in as full and am­ ple a ma.nner as they have bee· n grant­ erl or allowed by His Excellency or any of his predecessors. Mr.

Spe. ak~· r also · expressed his respectful acknow­ ledgme~ ts for the high honour which the House had unanimously confer · ­ red upon him. Mr. Speaker further announced that '"~hilst in the Council C.hamber, His Excellency had 1.Jeen please · d to make a Speech to both branches of · the Legislature, of which Speech, for gre·ater accuracy, he had obtained a copy, which he then read to the House . as follows: l\Ir. Pre1sident and HonfJllra ,ble Gen­ tlemen ()J the Le·gisl'a.tive ·counci 1 I: l\'Ir.

Spe·aker and ·· Ge11tle 1 men of the Hono ·111·3ble IJ 011se o· i AsseJ11bly: I welcome you to this the first ses­ sion of the twenty-sixth General As­ sembly. Tl;le circumstances under 'vhich you meet suggest that your deliberations ne·ed not be. protracted, for my advisers have not been in of­ fice long enough to permit of that close investigation into public affairs '\\'"hich should pre.cede · legislation. Since the last General Assembly '\Vas prorogued, tl1ree a.dministrations have been appointe · d and two l1ave re­ signed, and a General Election has re­ sulted in a large majority for my present a.dvisers.

Of my Ministers who sought re-election, all except two were returned by accla .mation, and tl1e two who . were opposed, obtained largely increased majorities. Many electors being absent at·: this season, at the Fishery and elsewhere, from Bonavista District, the . two members who sit for that Const~tuency will seek re-election at a later date this ) yean. ' ' The Seal Fishery: this . Spring was a successful one, an. d the Cod Fishe ·rY has commenced . ho· p·efully, with P.ros­ pects of satisfactory marl}ets.

Unem-:­ ployment has decreased~ and upon the whole, a new spirit . of encour­ agement is manifested by the people . of the ·colony. Field Marspal Earl Haig l1a. s re­ cently honoured the Colony by his ' ' ' presence under the aµspices of the Great War Vet~;rans' Association, to unveil a beautiful National Memorial ' ' ' to the Colony)s loyal sons who fell . • l . • in the Great War, and the ma.nne·r. in ' ' ' vvhich the occasion was ma.rked, and \ ' ' the success which attended the efforts ' of those responsible will never ~e forgotten.

The Field Marshal was ac­ companied by Lady Haig, and war-. ' ~ . ~ ' ships of Great Britain, France . and the f ' I; ' I ' ' : ' Ur1ited .States of America were pres- • I ' ' ent in the Port of St. John's, and ·of- ficers and crews took p~rt in the ceremony. ' . lllr. S·pea.ker a.nd ·Ge·ntleme· n of th, e Hoilou1·a.ble Ho11se of .Llssembly: • I Estimates were provided by the pre­ ceding Government for the considera­ tion ·of the last General Assembly. l\iy present advisers have not b.ad suf­ ficient ,time for a complete considera­ tion of those estimates.

They have am.ended them in SO!Jle particulars, only in the direction of greater ' econ­ omy and propose to submit them as amended, with a promise that such further economies shall be made as investigation may prove feasible. The Enquiry by Auditors into the affa.irs of several Public Deportments

ROUS'E OF ASSEMBLY PROOEED:INGS instituted by a recent Government, has been steadily pursued, but has not ·yet reached a stage which would justify an Enquiry on Oath. When such a stage ha. s been reached, a Com­ missioner to hold the Enquiry will be obtaine , d from England. In the mean­ time, investigations · on even a wider scale · than was proposed, will be comm'ericed. ' Mi·. President 1ind Honourable Gen­ tlemen of tl1e Legislative Co11nci'l: Mi·.

Speaker and Ge1ntlemen of the Honourable House· of Assenibly: It is .publicly recognized that the Prohibition Act 11as not been en­ forced, and that unlawful practices with reference to the importation, manufacture and sale of . liquor, have become general. ~i\. measure designed towards more adequate contr ·ol, and to decrease the many evils which re· ­ sult from law tlreaking, will be sub- mitted to you. ,, The · excessive cost of public print­ ing and stationery have · induced my Ministers ·to prepare for your consid­ eration, a Bill designed to place the matter under the control Qf the Col­ onial Secretary, with a special official i11 charge as King's Printer.

Tl1e work of pri11ting, and the supply of station­ ery it is propc>sed to submit to· tender and eon tract .. Contracts concerning an enterprise on the Gander River, and a Flour Mill at· St. John's, are being reconsidered by my ,present advisers, and if and whe· n· satisfactory to them, will be submitted for your consideration. My Ministers ctre giving ea.rnest at­ tention to pla11s for the development of natural resources to give gre·ater employment, and stimulate . tl1e trade of the Colony, and when these ha.ve be· e· n completed, your approval will be asked.

I commend your deliberation to the guidance of the Almighty for the pro- motion of the best interests of the people. MR. H. B. LAKE, Men1ber for Burin moved that a Co·m1nittee· be appointed to draft an Address in Re­ ply to tl1e S1)e~ch with whic · h His Excellency th~~: Governor was pleased to o·pen th · s session of the Legi~lat­ ure. He congratulated the Speake · r o· n being appointee! the first Co·mmon­ er of the land and felt sure tha:t His Honour the: Speal{er will do his duty fairly and impartia.11y. He also C ·On­ gratulated Hon. Walter S. Monroe on be·coming the Prime Minister of thi~ Island.

The1 J_,ertder o.f the House had brought back with him a substant · a~ majority o.f i1Jen1bers a.nd he had no doubt that, u11rler the l1eade :rship , of ' ' ' . Mr. Monro·e, the peop 1le of th.is coun- try will not have cause to regret their action. As Hjs :BJxcellency ap·prop­ riately suggested in the beginning of his spe.ech, in ,,.. e\v of all t.he Gir­ cumstances, our delibe ·rations need not be protracte"<l .

It is unusual to have a. session of Parliament at t~is particular seaso11 of the year when so many of O ·Ur people are engaged in the fishe ·ries a11d trade of the country, but, unde 1r the circumst.a11ces, the beist p· o·sib.Je "\V~ts done n the best in-· terests of all . c·on cerned. A brief se·ssion is desirable from the fact that this Gover11J11ent has been to10 short a time i11 office to· acquire that information about public affairs which i. s necessar)T for w · se and so.und ~egislatiop..

The past six r11onths has been ex­ trao ·rdinary in tl1e p·olitical history of Newfo .undland, as, during that period, no· t less than three adm·inistrations were ap·po,·nte ·d, t"r. o of which res:lgh­ ed; but he felt 1 .ll'at the p1resent party is here to stay and that the · Leader has the confidence of the ·whole country. Mr. Lake was pleased to note that the Bye-Elections . in ·Hr. Grace re­ sul te, d so favorably for his colleagues.

10 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS In the case of Bo.navista it wa. s deem o. d advisal)le tc. have the Bye­ Election postponed until the Fall 'vhen the .fisherrt1en_ are ho,me, thus show.ing l1ow fair lVIr. Monroe s, and that no voter w~:ll be disfranchi 1sed. He endorsed the re1narks of His Excellency that tl1is year's sealfish­ ery w:as a succi~ssful one and that the c·odfisherjr-tl1e · mainstay o. f the country-. bad ,)p<~ned up so fav·orably and he trustecl tJ1at the· prices paid fo· r this product i11 the local and for­ eign markets "'rill be such as to be remunerative to the fishermen O · f the co,untry.

He went to the B.ank fishery as a boy w 'tl1 hiR father, o·ne of the p-ioneers of tl1<::1t branch o.f the fishery, and had seen the fish1ng business in a.II its stages ancl he was sure that this Governmen·c was c·omposed of men who will see that no legisiatio · n will be. ··ntroduced that will again handicap this great industry ¥lhicl1, in his opinion, means practically everything to N e\vfoundland ; and he trusted that our Fisheries Depart­ ment, unde · r so eapable and experien­ ced a Minister as Captain Winsor, Member for Bonavista, would be brought to such rt stage of u1sefulness that everyone would be proud of it.

He said he was a'vare of the· fact that \ we had the Hu1r1ber, Grand Falls and Bell Island industries and lie: trusted I to· have the Gar1,ler and othe · r .i 1 ndus- tr'ies o·pened up with 1n a short time, but still we cottld I.i.ot get away fro· m the fact that the codfishery was our main industry. . ·He endor :sed tJ1e opinion exp. ress~d by His Excellency that unemp .10.y­ ment had decreased and that a new era of things ha.j been entered upon, and hoped that able-bodied relief would 'be a thing of _the past, and that the people generally abhor the idea of do1e. , He tho·ught that a great advertise­ ment had been given Newfoundland this Summer hy tl1e visit of so dis· ­ tinguished a soldier as Field Marshal Earl Haig and t11a.t the Great War Veterans, particularly Padre · Nangle, deserved · congratttlations upon the succ ·essfuI m<1nner in wh ch the whole programme in co 1 nnectio · n witl1 that eve1nt harl been carried out.

The Estimates ior the· carrying . on of the public s(-;rvie.e, which are no· w in the ha.nds of tJ1e Finance Minister, have due regard tor econo1ny and re­ trenchment which he thought was nec­ essary to allow the working classes of the C ·ountry to live in the country. With reference to the enquiry into the public affairs of the Colony, he sajd the· Go·ver11111ent proposed to in­ vite a Commiss .io· n fro , m England to deal with the matter when the t me • • is ripe. Regarding the· Prohibition Act he tho·ught that the !)resent law \Vas not being enforced and he denounc ed the script business.

He said that the Government rJroposes to remedy the whole system at an early date. Sp·eaki .ng of the exces .sive cost of print ng, he said tl1at the Government proposed to intr ·otl11ce a systen1 of economy and retren .chment by having printing done l)y tender and contract and that the woric will be co·ntr·olled by the Colonial Se!cretary with a special o·ffic: al in charge as King's Pr.inter.

He tho,ught it w·ould be good news for the· workingn1an to know that legislation will be passed at this ses­ sion fo· r the manufacture of pulp and paper on the (iander Rive : r and the Flour Mill on t11e So.uth Side of St. Jo·hn's. These .ind11stries, con1bine · d w· th those alread: r mentioned, will give , employme ,nt to thousands of men when the fisheries are over. He said that 5.~00 men · are no· w engaged on the Hu.mber and that 90 per cent are Ne\\rfoundlanders and he had no doubt t11at as time went on

• HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS 11 and our people became proficent that all the men employed there w 1 ould be N ewfoundlander 'S. He was also gla. d to know that the steel w·orks at North Sydney will not bo cl1bsed down, as at first thought, because the Besco peo· ­ p,le h1ave receivefl orders from the Ca.na.dian Gove·r111r1ent fo• r steel rails. This will mea11 our men no1w emplo ·y­ ed w.ill be ke,pt goir1g in full sw.>ng. In c·onclusio · n I\fr.

Lake said he was pro·ud of the ho·nour conferred on him in mo, ·''{int~ that this Clommit­ tee be appo.inted arid in particular as represe ·nting tl1e electo ·rate of Burn District. MRr. LINE .GAR ha. d very much pie. a.sure in seconding the motion made by the· ho,nourable me1mber for Burin. He congr .atulated the Speak­ er on the high honour co·nferred upon him ·and felt confidently certain that he· W ·ould do honour to himself and to the people of this Do,minion.

Es­ pecially did it give 1 him p1lea.sure · to expr ·ess his feelings as a labour re· ­ presentative-the fir,st time . a repres­ e, nrt.ative of labour h.ad a seat in the legislature in the history of New­ foqndland---.,and th,at is one p. a.rticular reason why he felt gratifie , d in ex­ pressing his thanks to the· Executi ;ve Government for asking h:im to se1co·nd the moition to-day. He expressed him­ self as to w·heth . e· r· he w.ould be ab1le to fulfil all that was required o.f him ' at the pre1sent time, because it wa, s such a large contract to fulfil and perform.

He sa.id he was p·ro·ud to be rthe repre ,senta !tive of la.bour in the H 1 ouse, and that he had the plea .sure of being the· first representative o· f labour to stand o· n the: fio· o1rs of the Honoura . b1le House of Assembly. He represented la.bour in all '.its form ,s, organized and unorg , a.nized; he re­ presented 300 coopers stro ·ng, beside · s 0 1 ther numerous forms of labour · , a.nd he trusted that he wo·uld be· success­ ful in keep-ing up. to wh·at wa, s e·x­ pected of him. He assured all those whom he repre ·sen ted in the House th.at he would do his best for their welfare and benefit.

Lab1our needed a rep,resenrt.ative , in the House~ He did not want to see crowds o, f men coming to the· Ba, r of the, Hou,se this year, as they did :in the past asking for their rights.

He advocated for ye. a.rs that 1th. e cond:ition . s of the, la,b­ ourers be improve ,d, and h. e· trusted and hop· e· d that his efforts were to be re·warde · d now; a.nd he als , o hoped that he would mea,sure up in a good way to that which was e·xp.ected of him, and that when he, went hack to h.is District four ye·ars he·nce he would be1 worthy of ,so·me· rewa .rd for accomplishments and acts which he performed on behalf of the labourers, a.nd the, labour · movement.

H· e· co·n­ gratulart.ed the Prime Minister upon the· c. o·nfidence repose · d in him by the people · of this country, and express­ ed his c:andid conviction that the electorate of this c:ountry ha. d made a wise · choice · in .selecting the Hon. W. S. Monroe · as Pr:ime Minisrte· r of our . a.ncient colony. He also congr ,atulate 1d Mr. Lake the Ho·n. Member for Burin, on the splend :id speech made by him, and particularly because , of it b·eing hi.s m'aide · n s·peech on the fio·ors of the Hon. House of Asse ·mbly, and that it rivetted his confide ·nce and fa.ith in Mr.

Monroe when he had such m. e· n a, s 1the· H,on. Member for Burin allied with him. With re·gard to· the speec · h from th. e throne, Mr. Linegar d.id not propose to· deal at length w:ith it. With regard to the Sealfishery, Mr. Linegar e·xpresse · d himself as being pleased to note and say that it had been a successful one. La.ter on in the session he ho,ped to s.ay some­ thing regarding the conditi~ns of the Seal Fishery and to· show why the Seal Fi1she·ry .is not a, s p·rofitable to the l,abo,urer · as it should be. He· als· O said th.art the fish m.arkets at present

• 12 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS are good and he d.id not think that there is any doubt whatever, but what we will have good results throughout the year. He was glad to express his pleasure up·on the visit of our distinguished guest Field l\!arshall E. a.rl Haig. He fe·lt certain that all were pleased to have h.im here · , and infinitely more ·pleased t10 know that the distingu.ished visitor enjoye · d him­ self to such an e~tent during his stay amongst us, and that he was given such a rousing and whole hea.rted re­ ception. Regarding estimates Mr. Linegar sa.id ·that as they had already been covered by Mr.

La.ke the· H·on. Mem­ ber for Burin he could only reiterate what had already be·en said by th.at Hon. Gentleman. With regard to the motto of cle·an­ ing up and ke·eping clean Mr. Linegar said that it was one of his election planks all through the campaign and that he me·anit to .stand by it; and it was only right · and proper and just that tho,se who have done wrong should be punished to the utmost ex­ tent of the law. W:ih regard to proh 1 ibition, Mr. Linegar assured the· people that so·me­ thing would be done in the very ne·ar future to remedy the abuse of the law as it stands at the present time.

With regard to indu ,stries in gener­ al, Mr. Linegar s.aid that it was high time that we had some confidence in ourselves. · Thts country possesses suffi.cie·nt industries to be in a flour­ ishing financial position if we only had the confidence in our resources. This country has been demoralize ·d, the spirit of the working people i: s br·oke·n.

The working p·eople have been taken, .in a good many cases, from their o·rd:inary work and put in some P·lace where they do· not belong and C ·onsequently have not be·en able to d· o justice to their country in general, or themselves in p·articular; conditions as they at present exist must cease, and a general im­ provement made for the betterment of the wo·rking class. In conclusion, Mr. Linegar re­ marked that he ·would like to refer to ·the· cond1itio ·ns of our work men. which to-day are appaling.

He could say in dealing with this mrutter that he knew as much a,bout the conditions of the working m.an in this · country as any person in Nfld. and any person who wants to know under what con­ ditions the labourer works and lives in this country has only to go am·ong them and be convinced a. s to· the un­ fairness and the disadv ·antages under which they exist. He said th.at the conditions were such that it was a miracle how ithe people could live · at all. It has been said that you can­ not get go·od results or returns fro· m the labourer, but Mr. Linegar · affirm­ ed that the working man of St.

J o·hn's was the finest kind of man, and the fine·st kind of wo·rkmen that you co·uld get, but he w.as sorry to say that the working man's spirit was broken, .and that when th.ings did , start it would take two or three years to get him going, and to instill a feeling of inde · p.endence · and willing­ ness ' in him. He wished to thank the Government, its H·on.

L· e·ader, and the Electorate of his District for .sending him to the House to-day and in giving him the privi ,lege of being able to ch.ampion the rights of those whom he· rep.res­ ented, and he assured them all that he would do his be· s· t to justify his seat in t·he house as a re. p·resentative of the District of St. John ''s West. MR. HICKMAN:~Mr. Hickm .an said he wished to make a few op·ening re­ m.arks and in doing so he, would l!ike to tender his congratulations to Mr. Fox on his election as Speaker. He felt sure that: Mr.

Fox would do his duty fairly and unb'iassed, and that he would treat the Members of the Oppo·sition in the same w.ay as he

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS 13 would the M.embers of the Govern­ ment. Mr. Hickman also wished to con­ gratulate the mover of the Speech of Reply. He said it was good to see. men of the type of the Hon. Member for Burin represe · n ting their owu Districts in the Hon. House of As­ sembly, and that he felt ce!rtain that the District of Burin would find an able . a.nd confident supp ·orter in the person of Mr. Lake. He also wished to congratulate Mr. Linegar the Member for St. Joh.n's West up·on the speech made by him. He said that Mr.

Linegar claimed to represent La.bour and th.at the Op­ position were pleased to see him and have him in the House and th. a. t they assured him of their symp 1athy in the move·ment in which he was so interested. We of the Opposition are: veritable working men and before the session concludes we wi,11 g:ive: evidence of it and see that legislation is put in force · to pr·ovide for the laborer.

As to the Speech from the Throne it has been custom . a.ry heretofore to dis­ tribute copies previous to the opening of the· House · so thrut members of the Opp1osition might have an op­ portunlty to discuss it but on this occasion this ha. s not been done. As glanced over by him, Mr. Hickman said, there was· nothing o.f importance 5n the Speech, though it might be in­ teresting to the public to know th.at Earl and Countess Haig had visited here and that those who had oppose · d the Gove·rnment in th. e election had been defeated.

He promised to as­ sist the Prime Minister in carrying out his promises to· the p.eople .and to assist in eve1ry w.ay possible in forwarding wh.atever legislation that might be brought before the House. Fie hoped that the po1licy of "clean­ up" the maintenance of law and order and the· amendment of such .acts at present in force and incap ·able of b·~- ing carrie · d out, would be brought in­ to being and employment· found for the people, particularly the fisher­ men, so as to enable them to live in comfort.

As to the cutting down of expenses he trusted that men would not be dismissed because of their party affiliations and their positions filled by supporters of the Govern­ ment on the only grounds that they had supported the· r.ight side. In con­ clusion he expressed the belief that though Newfoundland i.s at present facing a serious situation in he 1 r his­ tory, she can w·eather the storm as she has done before and by p.ro,per legislation be brought back again to a condition of pro.sperity. T'he Member for Fortune Distr.ict, Mr.

Warren, speaking for the In­ dependent Qp. p·osition, congratulated Hon. the Spea .ker on the dignity con­ ferred on him by h.is election to the position of First c ·ommoner of the land and paid a glowing tribute · to his ability as citizen and lawyer. He· also congratulated Messrs. L·ake aiid Line­ ga. r on their e.fforts in proposing and • seconding the motio · n for the address in reply. HON. THE PRI~1E MINISTER took the opp.ortunity to congratulate the Mover and S•econder of the Address in Reply and the Hon. the Leader of the Opposit 1i1on and lVIr.

Warren for · the manner in which they had referred to the Speech from the Throne. He con­ gratulated the Sp.ea.ker on his elec­ tion to that imp.ortant p·osition, ex­ p.ressing the belief that none was mo·re qualified to fill it. He regretted that copies of the Speech from the T·hr1one. had not been evailable for the Opp·osition, but that was due to his inexperien'Ce. As ,to the promises made; or said to have been made, by the present Government, they h.ad ne·ver m.ade anything like the promis­ es oif their predecessors but would guarantee to carry out their pro­ gramme as well as any party who '

14 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS ever held power before · . The Go·v­ ernment is sincere in its effo,rts to clean up and to give a . squ.are deal to all and that pol'icy wil.J be rigidly ad­ hered to. He did not wish to make a political speech, but as to the sugges­ tion of the Hon. the Leader of the Opposition that Go·vernment employ · ­ ees might be dismissed be· c.ause of party affiliation . s he w;ished to state that none wo·uld be· interfered with as long as theY' we 1 re faithfully perform­ ing their dutie · s but men who · had taken an active

part in p· o! l,itics might ha.ve. to be· dealt with. He was sorry to· say that previous gove ·rnments had dism :issed p.eople fr.om various office· s simply because the' Y or their relatives had su.pported those · o·pposed to the Governme ·nt. As to the fishery the Government would do all possible to foster it and every other labor giv­ ing industry and a speedy solution of the Bell Island pro bl em is looked for.

The position of the Government is to try and make labor and capital agree and while some th'ink that a standard wage should be given to labour throughout the Island, the whole sit­ u.ation hinge · s on supply and demand. We have · to go cautiously before · sa.y­ ing that every emplo ·yer shall pay a ·certain rate.

Continuing, he hoped to reduce taxation but pointed out that at p·re·se·nt it is impossible to m.ake an estimate of the co·untry's fi­ nances owing to the way in which the accounts have been jumbled for some years past, salaries, bonuse ·s, etc., be­ ing s~ C · O ·nfused that it is next to im­ possible · to tell the wa.ges of some of­ ficials. Th.is W 'ill be· straightened out and everything ma.de· clear to the public.

At the next session it is hop­ ed to be a. bile to state wher · e the country stands financially, but at present this is imp·ossible , owing to the wa. y in which figures have be·en turned and twisted. The· Prime · l\iin­ ister concluded by stating he would have more to say on this subject later. On the motion of M.r. Lake, second­ ed by Mr.

Linegar, it was ordered th.at an Address be presente · d to· His Ex­ cellency the Govern ·or in reply to the Gracio ,us Speech with which he had been ple·ased to open the present Se·ssion of the Legislature, and that a Select Committee be appointed to dr.aft such Address tn Rep1ly and that the follo ·wing ge;ntlemen be stich Co·m­ mitte , e :-Mr. Lake · , · Mr. Linegar, Mr. Halfyard, Mr. Hibbs, Mr. Chambers.

Hon. the M'inister o.f Justice gave notice that he would ask leave to in­ troduce a Bill "to Ame·nd the War Pensions Act, 1922." Hon. the Minister of Justice gave no,tice that he would .ask leave to· in­ troduce a Bill to "Amend

Chapter 86 of the Co·nso,lidated Statutes (Third Series) entitle~ d "O· f Stip ·endJary Mag­ istrates and Justices of the Peace." Mr. Halfya .rd g.ave notice that he would ask leave to1 introduce a. Bill to "Ame,nd the Election Act 1913." Hon. the Colonial Secr ·etary gave notice that he· would ask le·ave to in- traduce a Bill entitled "An · specting the Department of Printing .and s ·tationery." Act re­ Public Mr. Brown gave notic . e that he would ask lea.ve, to introduce a Bill entitled "An Act to amend

Chapter 216 of the Co·nsolidate · d Statutes en­ titled "Of the Employme ·nt of men en- gaged in L1ogging. 1 " Hon. the Miniiste 1 r of Finance gave notice th.at he would move . that Sup­ ply be granted to· His Maje ·sty. Ho·n. ' the c ·olon ;ial Se,creta .ry tabled the Annual Report of Newfoundland Savings Bank, also Estimated Re­ venue of St. John's Municipal Council for yea. r 1924. ' Mr. Warren gave notice · of ques- tio,n. Mr. Scammel gave notice of ques­ tion.

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS 15 Mr. Grimes gave notice · of question. It was moved and sec·onded that . when the House r:ise·s, irt adjourn un­ til Monday next, 14th inst. . The House then adjo ,urned a.ccord­ ingly. MONDAY, July 14th, 1924. The House met at three of the clock in tl1e afte ·rnoon, pursuant to adjourn­ ment. MR. SCAMMELL:-Mr. Speaker, I beg leave to present a largely signed petition fro1n the pe·ople of Rocky Harbour, on the subject of having tl1at place made a regular Po·rt of Call, coming and going, for the Boat that plies . on tJ1e Humbermouth-Bat­ tle Hr. route .. Originally, Rocky Hr. \Vas place · d on the

Schedule as a Port of Call for this l~oat, but for some rea­ son or other, year in and year out, the Boat has been l)assing up and down and utterly ignoring this Port. It is one of the largest and most important fishing centre · s in the ·District, and people are greatly inconvenienced by the Boat not calling t11ere, and they are inconve ·nienced cl1iefly as regards freight and passe11ger service, and 11ave to underga extreme hardships at all times in the conduct of their work i11 this connectio ·n.

I can quite under­ stand that it is i1ot al\vays possible for the Boat to call there, particular­ ly in stormy 'veather during the Autumn mt>nths, b11t through the Spring a11d Summe · r inonths the Har­ bour is perfectly safe rt11d there is no reason vvl1atever why tl1e boat should not call as requested. I strongly support the prayer of the petition, and W<)uld ~tsl~ the Colonial Secretary, as ex-officio , Head of the Rail,vay to ask the l\tlanagement that the Captain be instructecl to 11ave this Place made a Port of (;all continually d llring the Summer, com.ing and going. MR. K.

BRO\VN !)resented a peti­ tion from the people of Pilley's Island asking fo,r an allocation of $500.00 for the repair to the public wharf and for tl1e dredging of a cl1annel through \Vhich small boats were accustomed to pass. MR. ASHBOURNE supported the petition. MR. LINEGAR presented a· petition from the · block-1nakers of St. John's. (The clerk read the petition). During the war the material for blockmaking \Vas imported duty · free. The petition asked that the act be made again the same as it was befori~. 1916. , MR. .

CASHIN pre·ser1ted a. petition from the :fishermen of Rene,vs with regard to the setting of traps. He read the petition. It ,,ras presented to him ii1 January or February, but because the House was open for only a.bout an hour he did not get an opportunity to present it. He supported the petition. For a number of years schooners have been coming there from the North and West and have been a trouble to the fishermen of the settle­ ment because of the d11mping of bal­ last into the harbour. 1.~l1ey also throw tl1e offal from their traps into the harbour thereby polluting the water.

He hoped that the Minister of Fisher­ ies would see. tl1at the petitio11 should go through and that a proclamation might be issued and sent forward to Renews. He also hopecl tl1at the Gov­ ernment would bee fit to send a :fish­ ery warden up to this district at an early date. MR. MOORE gave tl1is petition his support. He felt that if the Minister of Fisheries would co11sult with him­ self and Mr. Cashin some · satisfactory arrangement would be a.rrived at. MR. WARREN gave itotice of ques­ tion. MR. HICKMAN gave notice of ques­ tion. MR. GODDEN gave r.:.otice of ques­ tion. MR. GRIMES gave notice of ques­ tion. •

16 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS Pursuant to notice and on motion of Hon. the Minister of Justice, the Bill to amend the War Pensions Act 1922 was introduced, and it was or­ dered that the said BjJ l be read -a sec­ ond time on to-morrow. Pursuant to 11otice, and on motion of Hon. the Minister of Justice, the Bill to amend (jhapter 86 of the Con­ solidated Statutes (Tl1ird Series) en­ titled, "Of Stipendiary Magistrates and Justices of the Peace" was intro­ duced, and it was ordered that the said Bill be read a. seco11d time on to- 1norrow. Pursuant to order, a.nd on motion of Mr.

Half yard the Bil 1 to amend the Election Act, 1913" 'vas introduced, and it was · ord?-red that the said Bill be read a seconcl time on to-morrow. Pursuant to ortler, ar1d on motion of I Hon. the Colonial Secretary, the Bill ~ entitled, "An Act respecting the De­ partment of Public Print _ing and Sta­ tionery" was introducecl, and it was ordered that the said Bill be read a second time on to-morr ·ow. Pursu~nt to order, and on motion of Mr. Brown the Bill e11titled, " ... ~n Act to amend

Chapter 216 of the Con­ solidated Statues entitiec1 . 'Of the em­ ployment of men engaged in Logging' "'~as introduced, and it was orqered tl1at the said Bill be read a second time on to-mor ·ro"\V. On motion of Hon. tl1e l\'linister . of Finance it was ordered that Supply be deferred until to-morrovv. ANSWERS 'Ill QUESTIONS. MR. w ARREJN [1.Sked the Ho· n the Prime Minister wl1at Dep.artme .nts of the Public Service have been subject to investigatic1n during the past two ino·nths; if a.n"''t of Sllch invest :gatio ·ns have been co111pleted; if any report there ·on has bee11 sub111itted to· the Government.

THE HON. 'I'HE PRIME MINIS­ TER in re,ply s1atE-cJ. that only the de· ­ partments suggested by the Member for Fortune ha<l llp to the· present been investigate•I tut none had bee· n completed. He hacl receive 1 d a commu­ nication fro · m l\/Ir Watson in. which he stated tha.t bf~caase or the work entailed in the· (~11stom House -' t had be e· n necessary to sus·pend work in the· other publjc ctepartme ·nts, with the exception of the Dep· a.rtment of Controller, whtcl1 had nea.rly be·en completed, and t11ey w·ere only await­ ing so·me prices from the other side. MR.

WARREN a,sked if a.ny report had been submitted. THE HON THE PRIME MINISTER repl · ed that tl1er~ had not bee· n any rep·ort submittecl. MR. SC.t\.MMELL asked the Hon­ ourable the Pri1"Je Minister, if it is the i1ntention of the Government to continue the payment of bounties for shipbuild · ng, a.s provided for during the past few years. HONOUR~.\.BJ_J}J ,..rHE PRIME MIN­ ISTER in repl~; ~aid that . it was the . intentio · n of the (}ove·rnn1ent to con- tinue the payn1ent of bo· ~nties fo· r shipbuilding in tl1e same way as b~­ fore. MR.

GRIMES asked the Hon the Pr 1me Minister if it is tl1e intention of the Governt1te11t to allow the Mem­ bers of the Op1JoR.ition to co·ntrol the Gran .ts · for the Districts they repre­ sent. THE HON TH:Bl PRIME MINISTER -The control of grants for the var­ ious districts i3 -~11 the hands of the Minister of PltlJ lie Works and the ·M ·nister of l\'1ari11P, and Fisheries, who are advi'3e<l by the various re- presentatives, or Opposition. '\i ilether Go·vernment It is the desire of the Government to follow former procedure. HON.

MINISTER OF FINANCE laid on the table ti1e follow'ing state­ ment: ' The Cl1stoms Revenue collec­ ted in the. Colo ·ny during the yea. r ending June 30th, 1923; Impo ·rts · and

Exports o.f the C~olony for the year ~µd. i 1ng. June 30tlt, 1~923 _ ; a . compara­ tive statement of go1ods· , . wares, and .

I merchand "se· impo .rted into the Colony I I I ,, 1 J during the ye:ttr · ending June 30th, 1922 and r June 30tl1, 1923, ·sho·wing · in­ crease and decrease for ·:. the year 1922- 23; a.· co1nparative state ·ment of' rev­ enue rece 1 ive. d a.t · (;acl1 o.f ·the outp .orts fol" ·tlie years 1921•22 and 1922-23; . a comparative · st~ltement' of Light Dues 'showing collection · at · each out port for the -· ·years · 192.!.-22 and 192·2-23 ;· ·a ·return 'o.f , the· , l~a111{ · fishery · for · the - year -1923; ·a · st~1. te1nent sho·wing · the revenue c. o·llected · on ·goods, wares and merchandis~J imported thrciugh the Post Office ·; d, staten1ent show 'ng the move .ments cf shipping · during the , ·year endin~ June 30th, 1923, and an , abstra ·ct of .nl1ipping for the year • ending December 31st, 1923.

It · 'wa. s· in·OVe(l · a11d seconded tliat when the Ho.use· rises, it adjourn · un­ til to-morrow a,.fte ·rno·on· at three of the clock. ·The H , o,use tl1en adjourned accor ,d- ingly. . . . ' •' TUESDAY, July 15th, 1924. · ·The · House met at · three . of . the clock ·in the afternoon, pursuant to adjournment. · · MR~ 1 BROWN presented a petition from the residents of Long Island, . . Pilley~s Isiand and Triton Island · in the District · of · Twillingate, asking that the sum of $800 be allocated for the · purpose of repairing and building . - the North Twin Lakes and Badger • • ! • • Roads. MR.

MOORE supported the prayer of tne petition. MAJOR CASHIN presented a large- - ly signed petition from the residents qf Ferryland asking for . a public wharf ·at . that place. For a number of years coastal boats and others used the wharf of a private conc~rn. Last winter . this wharf was · carried 17 ) . away by . Jee . -~nd at . pr~sent . 1 there . ; ~S ,no plaGe,, for the 1 fi, ~herwen of 1fe~rY­ la11d and . adjp,cent . settle;m.ents to ~ie I I • ' \ • on ,their boats. ~ ; , _ 1 .• 1 · l\iIR . .

W-£00RE gave the . petition ,his hearty support. · . . . · MR. · LAKE, on behalf ·of the Select Committee, appointed to draft a · re­ ply to His · Excellency's' · Speech, 'p're­ sented the report' of ·the Select ,· Oom- " mittee, a· s fvllows ': : . • • • i To His Ex'celle,ncy Sir William La ... ' ' .. morid . Allardyve, K.O.,M:G., Gover~or . an, d C·om:mander-i:n-Chief . _in ., artd ' ' $ • ~ - ( ( over the Island of Newfoundland r • , , , ~ • . ' I and its Dependencies. M~y it . ple~se Yo~r .

Excelle~~y· : " .. · • - :! • • • • .. • 1 " ; We , the , Commons of ~ew. fo~ndland ' ' • ' t l , • - ·• I ;ff•. in Legislative Session .a~ss~. mbl~q, ~~g to thank .- Y 9ur Excelle11GY . ~~r, t\le Gracious Speech ~-h_ ich ~o~r -~:x,:ce!- . ' le11cy has .addressed . to .both . ~QJI~. ~s of the ~egislature. . . .. • ... j_: Assembly : Room, · July · 15th, 1924. · · . ; .. . {Sgd.) _ ~- B. yLYDE ~A~~' " W. F. LINEGAR, " W.· McK. CHAMBERS, " W. W.- :H4.LFYARD, " R. HIBBS. , MR.HIBBS: ~lV1r.

Speaker, ·,.before commenting · on tl1e matter before tp.e Chair I wish to congr&tulate you, S :r. on the h:igl1 · h.on· o-ur ·. cot;!Jferr~. d up·on ··yo. u by t:1is Ho· u·se. · ·,He -felt that the Assen1b ·ly \Vas very fortup.- l ate in their '.:ielection, a. s th. e · Si;>~a}.{~r po1 ssessed nia11y .outstanding· ! i{].1U<ll1iji- .. cations which . ·e111ine: ntly ~ fttted ·: h\m for the high posjt1on for which · J1e had been seiect ed. , Because i ·of our assoc atio11 witJ1 him during the ,past fo1ur years W9 all feel tl1at he.·; will dischar ,ge . the l1·igl1 dl1ti9s . of · his offi;ce , not .,only with greet credit . to : ~p.is Legislature, br!.t with -- a:-bsolute . ip1- partiality to1\Vard the B;pn ourable gentl~men 0n both , si des of the House.

He also w .· sh.etl to .. congratulate . ·~ . .

18 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDING8 Mr. Lake, who was an 01ld friend a,nd it was 110 bUrpri ·se to him when Mr. Lake enterta:i.ned the House with such a splenclid Alldres i s on opening day, as it ha.j been his ple· a1sure to hear Mr. Lake en more than 01ne oc­ c:asion in tl1e past, he also congratu­ lated Mr. Linegar the Seconder of the Addre ,ss in Reply, for the splendid manner in which he acquitted him­ self, and felt tl1at Mr· . Li11e·gar wo,uld be he,ard fro · m ii1 the future in de­ fence of labo1ur arid in upholding the ' interests of 11is constituents in St.

Jo·hn's West. 1-Ie felt tl1at he had made · a good beginning. Mr. Hibbs said tl1at it was not cus­ tomary for Me111 bers of the Opp.os·'L tion to co1ngratalate the Leader o, f the new Gove:·n111Pnt but, as we wer· e not following tht~ ct1stom, he desired to exte·nd congratulations to Ho·n. Mr. Monroe up· o· n hi'S boo1d fortune in be­ ing returned \Vith such a large ma, ­ jority just . at a time when it was reasonable to· 110pe that pro,sp·erity was abo·ut to da\'1""n upon this country.

We a,re all gla.cl to feel that we have ro·unde , d tl1e c·orne ·r, .and that the period of ciepressio · n under wh ·ch tl1is country 11as been struggling, in comm :on with all the vvorld, since 1919 is past, and tl1at an era of bet­ ter times is ab011t to dawn fo 1 r New­ foundland. Witl-1 the· Humber indus­ try whic . h was created by the late Government err1plo)Ting six thousand men, w it11 the fisl1ery outlook con­ siderably improve(1, and othe · r indus­ trial resource , g about to be develop­ ed there · is eve-ry re,aso· n to believ 'e that the c.ountry has see11 its w:orst days.

There is a :::-tur)T told that after the 1919 ele·ctil)ll when certa .in me­ mbers of the present Gove ,rnme ·nt vVe·re dep·lo·ring the fact that their Party had bee11 defe ·ated, Sir. John Crosbie sa · d to his associates at the time '"D,on't worry boys, go, home "and say your prayers . , and tha,nk "Go, d that yo,l1f· Party ha~ ·been de­ "fe,ate,d, fo, r this Government has the "biggest job to tackle that ever any "Admil.ni1stratio11 ltad in the history "of the country." c ·ontinuing, . Mr.

Hibbs 1said that Sir John was right, and he W01ndererl " , f those who com­ prise the p,re;3e11 t Gov·ernmen t were now thanking God for the favour- . ab1e a.usp.ice· s ttnder which they w;ere electe 1d and the l1a.ppy outlo ·Ok that was ahead of them. He said it was very easy to criticise n-ow that we are emerging from t110 w,oods. Many of us seem to1 fo·rget that there wa.s ever a War with all its di1sastro .us con­ sequences ancl aftErmath . . .

No· w that the sun is beginn · n g to shine we ·for­ get the dark c1ays thr:ough wl1ich we passed fr'om 1919 to 1923, which wer- ~ by far the most trying time ' s in the annals of this Colony. With practi- caJly ever source of employment closed down, with a succession of . . bad fisheries a11d lo\v prices, the lat- ter a direct result o· f the great con­ flict which had just closed, we had perhap · s 75 p.c. of the labouring peo­ ple of Ne'Nfounc1Iand thrown out of emplo ·yn18·nt ::l11rl (lemanding frorr1 tl1e Government tl1e -.,,yl1erewitbal to ke,ep their families fro'111 starvi11g.

It is all ve,ry \Vell fo· r thnse , wl10 througl1 so·me fluke of pt1litical fortune hap­ pen to be in power to-da . y to talk of squander111ania. So1ne of those who we1re lo, ud 1 ~ 1 st i11 t11eir demands upo 1n th.e Go·vernment c..1.ur 'Ilg those terrible years are ~a-day unfair enougl1 to misrepresent 1112 late Go,ve·rn1nent to the extent ·of saying that the sole pur- pose of that nc..lrr1inistration wl1ile in office was to· sq11ander and thro\v o,ut mo·ney extrava ,gct:itly.

If monies were sp ent the P·JOr of Newfound­ land recei ·ved it) and he ~elt safe Jll saying t11at n ')' 1nore than 25 p.c. of the monies c~c!manded both by tJ1e Oppo 1s tion and tl1e people thro11gh­ out tl1e co·11ntry was expen<led by t11·-~ late Governmen .t no mo,re tban 25 p.c.

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS 19 of the demands that were incessantly being m ade rr<)TI1· day to day wer3 met but, is it not a fact in human histo ·ry that people will make de­ m·ands up· o· n their represe ·ntative · s iri the GovernmAnt 'vl1en they fee 1l tl1e need, and if 40 p.c. only of those de- mands are co·m1)lteJ witl1 a.nd ti1e same is shown · uo in ccJlcl type t\vo years · late ·r, the sa111 1~ people w,_ill ·con..: demn the .... i\..dmii1i~~t.rr"tio11 fc-'r · co.mp1y­ ing with · th<~ir O\V11 req11est. This is history. T'his is 11u111an iiature. . I .

He wished to say to the Leader of I ·, the Ho use that both he a11d his Gov-. ' ' . ernmen t will lJe favo ,urably jud1;ed by ,the peot)_ l(~ of th s e<>l_1ntry, not bJ' their m is,re· pr~S8·ntatic>.1 of their poli- 1 i ~ tical opo·nents ,,·-110 l1ave bo·urne the ( ' heat an d Lurden of the c ir.)·, but b}· what re.a1 . go0d. they tl1e1nselves rlc while .in . office dur·i.11f5 tl1e L.ext fo,ur . . . yea~s . Mr. Monroe i,3 n~'v tc tl1e higl1 posi-, tion to wl1iel1 lie I1a~~ been e·lected, and w e are preparecl to . g ·ve him a, chance .

We 11ave· S<>n1e co11fidence in him, and ·we : \Vill ''1 atcl1 ,~ery close1)­ to se1e that lie ca.rries out the promt3- es which he made to the people of this co.untry [ hroltgh hi;;; l\ilani.festo 5n the rec e·nt electi() ·n. It is true his Ma.nife sto was not a ve·ry volum ·,n- .' ous document, bti.t., it contained some promis e1s tl1a. t are· of vital importance to· this · co·li11try, a11(1 've will see how far he will go to· re.deem those pledg­ es made to the electorate wh· o placed his Go. vernment ii1 power.

Misre presentation anc1. exaggerated statem ents made rega , .rding those who brough t this country through the most try ing period in its histo ·ry will not ava il much. We on this side · of the House · a re anxious to see all the true facts disclosed. We have absolutely nothing to hide. T'herc is no desire on the par t of any Member of the, Opposi­ tion fro m the I .. t:-~ader down to . cloak ·or conce al a.nything .t11at transpired during the regime of the late Adminis- tration. All we ask for is the plain, unvarnished truth to be told.

We a.re all human beings, and are the·refore lia.ble to make mistakes, and Mr. Hibbs predicted that l\ir . Monroe and his associates in the present Gove ·rn­ ment will make their mistalres and "·ill be wiser four years hence than they are to-day. If they could only visualize what the future holds in store for their Party they would do things a great deal different from the way they will ·be done. Their whole a.ttitude · perhaps towards public af­ fairs would take a widely different course. We are all wise prophets af­ ter the act. Mr.

Linegar in his speech referred to deputations coming to the Bar of this House during years past, and de­ plored the means that were adopted to · secure · a.ssistance. ~ir. Hibbs sin-• cerely hoped that the present Gov- ernm .ent woul(l not have to cope with similar conditio11s, and he asked the Leader of the House, Mr. Monroe, v1hat he would . do if a deputation of four or five hundred n1en were · re­ peatedly coming to the Bar of the House making demands upon his Gov­ ernment, some of those · demands ex­ trtmely unreasonable backed and st1pported by the Opposition?

He would find the position that he now occupies no sinecure, or the lead ·er­ ship of the Government to be no bed of roses. The speaker tl1en went on to say that the in.te·ntion of the Opposi­ tion was not to obstruct, for if an op­ position could i1ot offer constructive criticism, then it were better for them to remain passive and silent. It is a buildin · g up policy we· want and not one of tearing down. Mr.

Hibbs said, · a. s tl1ere is every good reason to hope tl1at the revenue of this country will enable a further policy of development to be carried out during the coming y·ears, 11e would take this early opportunity of calling the Leade · r of the Governments' at-

• 20 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS ten ti on to the possibilit:r of creating a· Tou.rist ' traffic that , Viill, · 'in ~ future years . add largely to . tlie revenue of tl1is country. Mi~. Hibbs fully re·aliz­ ed that our fibance~ at . the preseht time did not permit of a.ny· very large expenditure, but wl1at we could not do · this ye.ar 11e hoped "rould be done rtext, arid that at the earliest opp'or­ tunity ' tl1e Government ,.,,.ould consider a tour ist trade policy along ·common sense lines · . . . i ' . Tl1e. -q~estion might bf· asked why ' ~icl . Y.QU not do , this whe11 yoµ. were in office.

The answer to that is ver:r Pl.ain to the mind of any honest man, and tl1at is that owing to the depression a.nd extremely difficult times through vvhich the· late Gover11ment · passed; the frightful co11dition.s that had to be coped with from day tc day;· the· ex­ treme · emergency case · s that liad to be dealt with in order to keep people fro - m dying of starvatio11 · did ·not · per­ mit of a·ny policy to be develo -ped along~ those lines~ · For the devel0pn1ent of tl11s trade . . - we have the re-sources at our disposal . . •, --,ve have practically E :verything . that i .- , . f ~r 1 is required for the clevelopment of a tourist . trade fro1n the standpoint of sport, beauty of scenery and splendid climatic conditions.

He felt sure ' that it was only a n1atter · of the Govern­ ment getting busy ina11guratirig some sound, se·nsible, feasible policy an'd it would . meet wit11 the approbiatiori and ' ' support of the entire ~011ntry. He called the attent~on of the . House to the great tourist trade . that has . been recently developed in Ber-. . muda from which that country reaps the greater · portio11 · of · its revenue.

It is true, · perhaps, that · Newfound­ land may not possess such favourable · r>esources as ·Bermuda enjoys, but, at the· same · time ·if the necessary scheme is inaugurated and carried out, Newfoundland can be placed on the map in this respect as it can in no other .;· way. He referred to the different prov­ inces in · Canada; -where great . Tourist trade · ha· s been developed · during ·: re­ cent years. The .· Tou·rist ·trade ·to Nova · Scotia .to.-day is valued , ati. from six to ·eight ' ·million dollar .s. In New Brunswick from eight " ito ten · million dollar .s, . in the Provinc · e of Queb~c the ,.

Tourist " trade was ·" w,orth last ·.year twenty-five ' ~ million '. dollars, ·and ·· ·On­ tarie realises · about thirty · million dollars from · the sa·me '. source · , · while the Province .of · ·British Columbia last , year .estimated the . revenue ; . de­ rived from Tourists who ente;red . from the Unit~d States at . twenty .. million dollars.

We, in· N ew_ foundl~nd, are not able to develop any great tourist trade over night, it will take some • ' < • , • ' 1 time; it will ~ean hard work,, resllits may be somewhat slow, but . it _w.ill be sure, and he . would appe~l to the Prime Minister, the Minister of , Fin­ ance anµ Customs, and the Minister . ' ; of Public Works particularly to · get busy and · lose no time in making a . . beginn ,ing ,and arty effort . vut forw ·ard · by the · Govern'ment ·in th.is . direction wot11d have his whole-hearted sup­ port. ,- !

One of the greatest essentials . ·in building up a tourist trade is the opening up of the country by ·a sys­ ten1 of decent roads, if private . enter­ prise is not prepared to . .look after the hotel problem, then . let the . Gov­ ernment do it. In any case build roads and hotels,. and equip our­ selves to avail of this splendid source of revenue which nature has made possible for us . .. .. ·.

Speaking from an Opposition stand­ point, it inay not be to · our interest nor tlie interest of Newfoundland ··· to see the ·Monroe · Admi'nistration: ·'re­ turned when they . again appeal to the polls, but · he assur .ed the Prime ' Min­ ister · that · if he developed .. such · 1- ( a ·plan as was briefly outlined ·by h'im, and put forward an honest, . ·earnest effort · for the · creation of · a tourist

HOUSE OF, ASSEMBLY. PROCEEDINGS 21 trade policy, that it would go: a - long way towards . -the . success of his par ... ty at .. the . next gene .ral .ele·ction.

The late Government 1 had cr·eated the : ··greatest ·· ·industrial programme ever : thought · of in 'this co·untry in the form . of the' great Humber enterprise which is now employing six thousand men; and has alre ·ady prove · n such a \ . bobm to the ' workingrtien · of this cou-ntry,' arid, if the late ;Government had been returned a bi~l would have · beet1 intorduced by this time giving effect ·to· ·the Gander · De·al whic 'h would greatly •assist in · revolutionizing the conditions of the · workingmen throt1ghout thB ·Island. It ts now up to ·the ·Monroe ·Admrnistration to · put this Deal · through.

While it , would be a splendid thing for , the country in general, the ·. District · of Fogo; which he had tI.ie., hon·or ,to r~p~es~nt t. ~ .. f I \. ·:. .. ~. f -· .... . I '{ was especially interested in this ,. .... ~ project. He asked the Government to ldse 1 no time in bringing the "bill .torward · ; and; · if the · same favourable terms cart ; be obtaineu ·- by the1 pre:sent Government • as was arranged by the late 'administratton, then he felt that the ' same would be · a ' great industrial rbon · to the .· country. · · , ~ . -; ' I ,, • .

One of the . bones of contention ~ ' • ' • ( • • • • #' - ' 1 ,• t I " between all Oppositionists and . the I , 1 • . J _ ~ ' ' • Go.vernment that happens to be ip I , ,, i . · power, ,is in relation to the hJ.ndling .,. • ' J l. r .; of . district . affairs. , It has not been ' ... . . ... , ,_ de:finitely stated w:µethe , r , th~ Gove.rn- me:nt was inclined , to permit mem- , ~ ' ~ f - .....,. bers o.~ ,th e , qpposition to . prop~rly c~rry .out th(jir . cons_titµ~ional privil­ eg~s o~ . attend~ng _to , . ~~l ~atters . in connection ,with their several dis- • > ' , ' • _, .. I tricts. ..

He . knew . t~at / µp , to the pr,e,s:- ent ti. ~e , th_ ~s . was not . b~ing . done in the Distript ,of . Fogo . . \ It ~ould ap­ pear that recommendations on all . . . ' ' , ' \ ,, public · matters in , cqnnection with Fogo . District instead of . b~ing made by ~he duly elected members of the District, has been handled by a gentleman who was elected to repre- sent the D.istrict .. of Burin, namely; Mr. Joseph Long. Mr.

Hibbs said, that . whi .le . not . being . among ·the old­ er members l)f the House, he had oc. ­ cupied a seat long eno:ugh here to · lea·rn that · that ·kind of thing . doei s not reflect to the credit of th,e person who tries .. to practice it . . · He . could understand a young , man . like Mr~ Long coming in here with absolutely no . experience; being flushed with vi.ctory because . of · his . success, . and think that he could run the . whole universe, but he. will live to , learn, and he will find that before he occu- . pies .- a seat in this Ho.use very long~ that . it wdll be to his interest . to look . after his . own ,district.

He . ca·nnot possibly . do me: any harm in the · dis- · trict of Fogo ,. by butting into my af­ fairs there. · I . will do . my duty by that · District as . I always have ,s-ince I have ·been honoured as its repre­ sentativ:e, and I would now ask the Leader of,. the · House to stop 'this ·in­ terference at once, ' and let · the mem­ ber for Burin look after 0 his .. own af­ fairs as . I : am well able to · look· after the District of Fogo. I · would ask , the older members of. the Governm~nt to see to it that discrimination of this charaGter cease~.

W.hen they w;ere .in ,Opposi­ tion a.nd we occup,ied .· se·ats o· n the Gove·rnme ,nt side, we did not dis"." 'I. ~ ' cr·imiin.ate against them. I have . \ . known .cases ; where me·mbers of the . .. ·. l ~ ,,. Governme ·nt, including myself, m,ade request of the G·ov:ernmen _ t through de.partm .ental hea.ds, and while , tho· ~e requests wer~ not gra,n·ted, me· n ~ho r~prese· nted Qp, p· o· s;ition dii;;tr:icts w~r· e - ' . giv·en every c. o· nsid~rat~on.

If de·ce·nt treatment is accprded the Oppo ·si­ tion, the Gqvernrµ.ent might c9unt up.­ on the· ~uille· st supp .art being given to eve·ry rea.sp·nable measure · th.at has for it. s object the ~dvanpement of this country. If, on the other . hand, .these tactics are pur·sued by those who for the time be:ing hap· p· ~n to have a se·at on the Government side of the House,

22 ~ HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS we wish to warn ithe Pr;ime Minister th.at it wo·uld: not red·own to his cre,d­ it, nor enh.ance , his pop,ularity e 1 ither in this Ho·use or thro ·ughout the, co,un­ try. The Opposition only want a square deal and they w:ill demand that, .and altho ·ugh our numbers ·are not gr·eat, we w. a.rn th. e Pr·ime Mints­ ter that the Oppo 1 sition ar· e quite ca.pa.ble· o· f giving h~ im and his Ad­ minis rt.ration a very troublesome time if this th:ing is f orc.ed up·on them. That is, however, not t.he. spirit of the Opposition at the present time.

We have p·assed thro .ugh the mill our­ selves and re.alises th.wt the; country needs the, assistance of us all, irres­ p.ective of political affiliations. There are many difficulties still ah. e.ad of us, and if the new Administration en­ ters upo· n ,its ta.sk witth an honest in­ tention of dealing w.ith the, countr 'y's problems, it will give . the Op·position much pleasure and they need not ex­ pect obstruction or the display oif any tactics tha. t will r.e:fle-ct to- the- de­ triment of the, Government o· r of any construction p· o1licy whi:ch they m.ight br'ing befor · e the Le·gislature.

MR GODDE 'N said that he would like to, say a few words with re• g. a.rd to the Speech from the Throne.. He said that it co· nitained very little in­ de,ed, but it was not alw.a:ys wh.at a man said that counted, but wh.at -]1. e did.

He po.inted out thart it was men­ tioned fro. m. the Sp· e·ech fro , m the Throne that . a further and more thorough investigation was to be held into the: d· o,ing· s o.f seve ·ral . de· p·arrt­ me·nts of th. e· Government, and . · h. e trusted th.at those investigations wou1ld be conducted in a p,ro·per way and th.at the misdoings o· f the guilty parties bro·ught to l: i1ght -a.nd that the parties resp ·onsible · be dealt with . ac­ cord :ing to justice.

He, .also · made mentio · n of rt.he prop . o,sal to have the matter of public pri~ting controlled by the Colonial Secretary's Office· , and in this co·nnection he calJe , d atten­ tion to and sqggeste 1 d thart public or Government advertising might also be handled and controlled in -the s.ame way, and no· t to · waste · money by havJng Government advertise- ' . men ts scaitte ·red over pages of pam- phlets, magaz ;ines and v,arious . other sm.all P'Ublications. He q,lso p·ointed . . out that as it was the, wish o· f the . ; ,.

Gove· r·nme·nt to have a brief session it w.as not ';the inten .tion . of the Op­ position to . prolong the .. ses·sion un­ nesessari ,ly. He also wished to congratulate _Mr. Monroe upon his suc. c. e,ss at the ~e"." cent Ele·ction, and h~ trusted thart Mr. Monroe ·will be square and fair with ' . all conce , r·ned. He did not intend to critise · just yet as there is nothing to criiticise , at the prese :nt time, but after a . short while he · m~y ha ye . ' more to say on th,is p·oint. ODDRES· S IN REPLY, JULY 15th, . 1924. MR SCAMMELL: - Mr.

Speaker, I desire first of all to ' congratulate you, Sir, up·on the higl1 ho-nor which has bee· n co·nferred t1pon ·you by this House, in cal,ling :you to the· high office .which you no, w . ' l1old. lit is not necessary fo· r me to ' a.dd anything to the eulogi , e· s alrea .dy expre .ssed to, yourself by members of this ,House , , and I feel sure · you. will uphold the1 go-od na.me and the 'best t~aditions of the House.

I also de­ s,ire to co·ngr:atulate the Mover and Seco11cler of rthe· Address :in Re·ply to ' the Speech fro· m th. e · Throne · ;· resp ·ect- ive.ly. · I listened, · with particular · in­ terest to Mr. Lake's speech, as he ·has been a personal frie :nd o.f mine for a number of years, and we have fre­ quently had many ·discussions together on public m.atters. I am p.roud to see· a yo1ung tnan so p·rominen :tly id­ entified with the co·mmercial · · I,ife · of the D:istrict of Burin, representing his native District in the House · of As­ sembly. I -also desire · to congr ·atu­ late Mr.

Linega .r, .and .althoough it is the first itime I have had the pleas- •

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS 23 ltre of liste ·ning to him, I feeJ sur· e that if he consistently pursues the attitude , he has assumed here , to·-day, that rthe Laborers of St. John's West will have a good champion in him in the future and we shall all watch him in this respect, Now Sir, .in; p.assing I would like to reite ·rate the. remarks of the· Ho·n. me·mbe· r for Trinity, when he said that the moist notab1e · feature a.bout the Sp·ee·ch fr·om the· Throne · was its brevity. We have not m.uc· h. op· p·ortu­ nity to talk at p, r·esent.

There , is not much in the Speech :iJtse:lf to mer­ it lengthy debate, and besides the Governmen · t has been in O:ffice such : a short time that there is scant room ~·or crjt.icism at p. r·esenrt. Ref erring to th. e Bona:vista Bay bye-ele ·ction, which is due :in the Autumn, I note that the Prime .

Minis­ ter stated that his rea.son for post­ poning this bye-election was chiefly that such a large · numbe 1r o· f men would be disfr :anch , i:sed .if th. e bye­ election had been · held -in the Sp· r:ing but to. my mind the same rea~o·n could ha.ve been applied with equal f';rce to rthe recent bye·-election just held in Hr. Gra.ce, hundreds o· f men had left that District for the Fishery since . the General Eiect:ton on June 3rd, .and were ~onseque· ntly disfran­ ch.ised, . but apparently the Pr;ime Min:ister and his Colleagues did not thinlr it worth . while to aply this ar­ gun1ent in the case of Hr. Grace.

I elm inclined to believe· that the1 Prime lVIinister consequently must ha.ve in the back of l1is head more · co.gent rea­ so·ns for delaying the Bonavi .sta Bay bye-election than the one given by him a.nd no doubt time will show what these reasons a.re .. We now have to look to th. e· futur ·e, and in this connectio · n I would like to ref er to the Prime Min.ister's re­ c·ent Manifest, which . I have before me.

It is a very brief do·cum.ent but it is also very weighty, and I fe·ar contains a great deal more in the way of serious responsibility and large pro·mis ·es rthan even the Prime Minister · h!im. s.eilf i~ fully aw.are of as yet. I wish to say that I am ver)7 much afr.aid that be.fore Mr. Monroe sees the fruition of .all the promises co11tained in this Manifesto, he will experience many w.ake.ful and sleep­ less nights.

The Prime Minist0r through, this Manifesto holds a large re·sp.onsibility and assumes a large t1nr1ertaking and . as an Op·position, we are bound to see to it that the· re­ sp·onsibility s· o assumed is live · d up to. In the m.ain howe ·ver, spe.aking for myself personally, and I feel the sa111e ap.plies to all the Opp·osiition l\Ie1nbers such criticism as we ha,~e ' to offer from this side of the House w;ill be constructive · and not subver . ­ sive or of an obstructive natur ·e. ' . With re.ference to the Humber In- dustry, I note that Mr.

Lake in speak­ ing, said that tl1e n11n1ber of New­ foundlanders employe · d up there was as 96% to 4% in relation to foreign­ ers. I am glad to hea1~ this statement, but I have some doubt ·as to the ac­ curacy of it, and I would certainly like to know the authenticity and au­ thority for the statem ·ent Mr. Lake has made in this connection. Ho·w­ ever, even if his figures are correct, I am of the opinion that there is a great deal of room for improvement in this re·spect. All kinds of reports are coming from the Humber area re­ garding matters of employment and labour conditions prevajling up there.

Only recently, I he·ard that a whole carload of foreigners had arrived. There are scores of i;ositions being filled to-day by foreig11ers that, in my opinion, and the opinion of many others, could and ought to be filled by Newfo ·undlanders. This is an a.bsolute otltrage in view of the fact that we have hundreds of splendid young fel­ lows around the country who are looking for jo·bs. I maintain, Mr. Speaker, that everything else being

24' HOUSE·OF ASSEMBLY · PROCEEDINGS equal, . the· Newfoundlander sh6u1d b'e gfv·en th.e' ·fl.rst ·chance at ways. · · . . . ' ,,Beyond thii;; . speqial r.eference to the . one . or two points I 11ave me·n-. ' , ' . tion~d,. ,I do· not .Propos . e. just now, to delay , tne d~bate, becaµ~e .as I stated be.fo_re tJ:ie . SpeecJ~ .has i~othing of. su.f:­ ficietit importance in i jt to. merit lengtl).Y;.debate, . and "'lye shall all have an opportu.nity of dis ;cµssi .ng variol1s • • matt-ers more . ~Qlly from time to time as . the· y. ~ome b~.fore th~ , House. MR. BROWN, mem.ber for ..

Twillin­ gate, s·aid he "'otlld like td support the Gander - ·proposition. He ·congratulated Mr. : Fox on his · elevati011 to the Speak"'" ership · and felt that in 11im both sides of ' the :House had · ever.r ·. · co11fidence~ ., He ' 'also com'pli1nented · the ·Mover and Sec'ond·er of th'e' Address in · Reply, but took exception · to the claim · of Mr. Lih1egar · in . ·his · opening remarks .as · to being the first labor represe ·ntative elected to the ; .House.

He thought that honor devolved on hi~n1self as he. had bee:n acting on behalf . of the \vorkme . n for 14 years and had attended various conventions abroad r in their . behalf .. He · congr ·atulated Mr. Linegar, how­ ever, on bringing bacl{ a Labor seat . and ·hoped to see ma,n~r more ·like him in the· House t© give Labor its proper representation, ·and .. l1e would give him every support i11 {fighting for the rights of those whom h~ stood for. Wh"ile Mr.- Linegar r€presented Labor in St.

John's,. he stood for 1 it through- - out · the country, and 11oped to see the day ·when it · would , ·be .. properly · or­ ganized. He · welcomed the . Gander proposition a. s a - 1a 1 bor giving ente·r­ prise and . thought tl1at provision ' should be ,made to liave those en­ ga·ged there · ·reoe-ive better·~ pay · than at ·similar -concerns at present in · op­ eration in ·the countrjT.- The s.ub-con­ tract system, ··¥1l1ich · he claimed . as disgraceful, sho11ld be abolished and he 1ater hoped to introtluce a bill to that extent.

Children of sub-con­ tractors are starving · to-day, a con- dition not due to the present : Govern- ' . ment, an 1 d he hoped to s·ee this situa:.. tion speedily remedied and a square deal given 'to all. ; , . " I • .MR. A. SHB9URNE~~Mr. ,.

Spea~er, I, too, would like to . add my: voi'ce to those who have already congratulated you on the .. ·high honour · that · this H.ou·se has ·been ·pleased to confer on . you, 1 and , feel assured ··that ··· you will carry · out your duties fairly and impartially. · I ' would ·, also like ·· to · congratulate · the mo·ver ·and " the seconder of the · Address in Reply to the Speech 1 from the· ·Throne.

To my mind, it •is a sign of the times to ·see so many 'new and young faces in the House of Assembly, and I ·consider · it a good omen as · their · presence means the introduction of new blood in cond .ucting the affairs of . the coun-- try. . , . ,. . There are one or two ·salient p'oints in·· the · Speech · from the· Throne ·and, ! • as brevity seems to be the or·der ·,of · the day, I would ·like to refer to them in , a very few words. · · · · · Regarding ·Prohibtiion. the Spee 'ch ' states that the. law has not 'been · 'e·n- · f(1r'ced. 1 · This ' is I consider a serious ad­ mission to be made, and .

I would like ' tc be . informed ' as to why this law J1as ndt ''bee· n carried out. It ' is one. of the .'. , • I \ ' ) 't • laws on the ' Statute Book, and · I ask if the fault lies with- : the r medical practitioners ', · the Government ' - o~ with the. Departme ·nt of Justice. This Prohibition 1h' w was '·put on , the · Sta­ tutes · by the 1 free ' voice of the people, and I hope " this ·Government . will see. ~ • ' ' • ) 'i that it is enforced.

I' notice by ' the Speech · 'that ' it is contemplate · d to . . , , . \ ~ , , : I change the Act. ·I should be in favour . ' < ~ . ' ~ ' of · seeing a. plebiscite taken and the '\Vomen of this Colony be given · an op~ Itl)rtunity to voice their sentiments ·on this important · question. · As to the Government printing being put out to tender, I w. ould advocate th.at all Gov­ ernment purchase . s be· made by tender and if necessary that a purchasing

ROUSE· OF ASSEMBLY·PROCEEDINGS agent ·· be · appointed to whom 1 te·nders · for : all Government needs ·should be Sllbmitted. T'his· 'I consid ' T . would re­ dound '. to the bene.fit of· the . country ar1d would . do· awa:~ ' with giving · pat­ ronage to · p·olitical heelers.

I I hope the members of the Opposi- tion ·will : be· given an opportunity to express the!r dpirrionir fu1ly; ·and 'that the Hoh~ · the Prim~ Minister :will see to it that their advice is taken as we ' ' here on th~ 1 Opposition · side · 'of the · ' House, · represent 'certain districts · ·of the cduntry, · and 'I believe that this · ' consideration would t~· nd · tb the · greater ' stability :of dbrhestic affairs i11 ·general. · ,. · ·, - - i- 1 W. e. ha.Ve be~n tol . d that O!llY 4% of for~igner~ . ~re b~-i,ng employed on tp~ Humb~r.

I would like to · he.ar the pro- • ( • .. • • - ' • ~ " 1 ' portion of wages given to that 4% in ' "' • ~ • • I comparison with the 96% of New- . ·• ~ ' I - , - foundlanders. I think we should see . • , ' ~"' I - l . ' } . that steps ar~ immediately ta.ken to ' ;, " . " . prevent a foreigner occupying any position th.at a Newfoundlande · r can fiil : The country, it seems, has eilte .t­ ed ·upon ' ai:r era · of · pro'sperity, a.nd I · feel sure that : the ·Opposition ·are anxious to ; co-operate . I -W-ith the ' a ·ov­ ernment ' in e·very step that would condu~e · at1d pr.dinote ·better times.

I ccnsider that ·the 'fisheries are the backbone of ·· N ewfoundlahd, ' a.nd I , hope · ·that everything ) 'Possible 'will be done tb foster them 'and ·to encourage the ;fishe 1:rmen. ·Ac.cording ' to the rP-­ Pdrts to 'h'and 'the 1 'ti'shery · N ortl1 '1s not ' so good ' ·as at "first exp ·ecte .d, 'bu't · I ; trust that there · wili be lah advance '. iii.

Price · tb offset this' ; ,shortage, and I ! hope 'the ' fisherfoik will be· better o'ff than · in previo 'us years. 1· am glad that the ·1ast Government took off ·· the "du­ ties from ' certain · nece:ss·aries of · life. ' I expect the ptes~nt Government to gc further in this dire~tion and . help the fishermen to re·ap ·tlie ·rewards due tl1em from their strenuous labour a:nd toil.

I think that our attractions · should be advertised abroad in order to encourage tourists to come 1 to· N e·w­ foundland and .enjoy our . scenery, · fishing and hu,nting. ; , · .. ·: To-'day we want men : of visibn ' whd will develop our latent and dorniaiif · resources. We have great possibilitie 's · a. h.ead of us, but we need men of keen fo,resight ...

In mining and timber 1 've · are second . to none . an. d, .the tr.eas ·ures . of the deep a.re at .our · back d·oors. · · With .regard to .our forests, . -it is not good en.ough , to allow all our. ,wood ·to· be cut · out without , making , provision · for those coming after us, · and seeing that the . rights of futu .re generations are protected. We should attend - to and have , a law providing that those cutting . timber .mus· t do · certain . re­ afforesta.t,io .n, so that · we.- shall not · have a -barr€n waste ..• or Wilderness.

With regard · to the dismissal , of· Government employ ·ees, I aril · not in accord ·with ·the idea · 'that 1 one should be. discharged · me·rely , to take ·on · 'a · party supporter as this would .be ' .:: I • • I ~ ._ 1 w-ithout ! a;dvantag~ . to . t.he couµtry, a.nC,l 've can , nev;((. r hope to b\J.ild. -µp a go9d , , effi,cient civiJ s~. rvice py this .. mea.ns. \Ve must ge~ the best me. n for .the ,jobs and leave ,, them there · . Though ,we have the trappings O: ~ an . e:rnpire . ,we . a,r~ r~aJiy only ~ . small .commu .nity.

I . am , glad that , th~ Gover11JJJ.ent will not dism~ss any . except those who took ~n . a ,ctiv~ · part ~n .Politic~ . . I~ you dismis~ thos~ who opp·osed .you, are ' you. going to d,ea1 ~i~ilarly with those . who ~up, portep. you? ..... With .regard to the· -finances , of : ·the country I ·hope · ·the .

Government a will · live on . its income and endeavour to n1ake two : ends meet. , I als· o hope that · the system .of Government by Minute · of · Council ·Will cease, ·and · that · we · sli.all have .an opportun,ity i to debate tl1e various problems . confronting . the country · on the floors of this House: · I ~ 11ope the · criticism of the Opposition · will be constructive and helpful, , and that it will receive due consideration bv the Government side.

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS My desire as a IJ0us ·e -is to ·do the member of best that , lies this • 1:1 my power for the district of TwillirJ_­ g~te ~hicl! I have the high ho~our to r,epresen .. t, a_nd also for . the ciuntry at large. ' . · CAPTAIN RANDELL after co11- gr'atulating the Speaker and tl1e Mover and Seconder of the address t11·ought the introduction of new blood. into tl1e Assembly would help the de­ ba.tes, and to clear up many difficult p.ojnts which we.· have to face in tl1e future.

Dealing with · matters that came to · his notice in the political c.ampaig11 he referred to the encour­ a.gement of the fisheries, and pron1- ised to support anything to that end even to·· the granting of a bonus. An­ other thing, ·he said, in which we are all inter~sted is the matter of · Joans and he felt that our duty to-day is to get down our expenditures . to a lev2l commensurate with ·our ability to pay. He a· s father · of a family~ should not ' . incur respbnsibility that his son must - ' meet.

He ·was ·not in · favour · of any borrowing.- : No Government as the father · of a family had any right to I . borrow and hand do"'.n a legacy fur future generations to meet. Another point 'he mentioned was in connection with the charges on shipping. He said that · the port of St. .John's migl1t easily be tlie repair shop · of the N'ortl1 , Atlantic.' But ·as · a · matter of fact c011- ditions were such as to almost · pro­ l1ibit ships from coming here except driven in · by stress of we.ather.

Ot1r Customs regulations are. so worded that a ship coming in on the last <lay of December . pays her full port cl1arges if she leaves on the first rJay of January. He also wished to call n .t­ tention to the rates .of passage of men going away to Canada and · the United States on the Governme ·nt railway. A man- who goes away and ea.rns $500 for his family is just as much a. pro­ ducer a. s the man who goes to tJ1e Labrador fishery. Yet · ·a man who goes to Labrador gets a . fisherman's ticket while the other has to pa. y the full fare.

In conclusion he said that any bill brought before the House tJ1.at would be for the good of the country he would be proud to sup­ port. MR. HALFY ARD in speaking about tl1e unemployn1ent o~ the last two or tl1ree years said that in Trinity . the fiRhermen had been badly off beca11se no fisl1 had come to the shores. For­ m.erly when tl1e fish came in the n1onths of July or August the fisher­ man had supplies to last until Nove1n­ ber or Dec.em,ber. But the last two O!' three years the merchant only gave supplies for one month. Ther<~ were no fish ca.ught and ·tJie me·r­ chant would not supply · any more.

The fishermen had tb api;>e.al to the . ' representative of his district for ~t p.ass to go to the Humber or some other place. Nobody but the Govern- · inent would help these people~ } Thousands of dollars wer~· -givC'n out in relief "7'here the party would often run the, risk of starving to deatl1 it relief was delayed U:Qtil it was ~s­ certa.ined whe.ther relief was rea.lly nee~ed. In speaking further . he refer­ red to Minute of Council Governme .p.t, and said that ac~ording to the . Spe~cl1 from the 1;hrone if there is no more legislation introduced there would 'be very little done unless by Mint1te of .

Council. He referred to Mr. Mo11- roe's Manifesto where he says that a bounty would be· given to the fish­ ermen. He Sqid that also would hav~ to be done by Minqte of Council if the fishermen are to get the be·nefit of it next fall. He als· o felt sure that a M_inute of Counci? would be . riece ·ssar}T to cope with the s~tuation on Bell I-;­ land when the a.greement with the ' Cc;mpany would terminate in Decem- ber of this yea.r. He said that it would be of no use to appoint an Executive at all, if it were not to do those things which C:\re

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY , PROCEEDINGS 21 for the interest of the country and is going to clean things up_, ·The Prime neces sa.ry when the House of · Assen~­ bly is not in session. Of course 1'.l1e - Exec utive -Government would · make n1ista kes. The very best Exec .utive Governments have made them and will be still making them. The- y have n1ade mistakes when they acted w!tl1 tl1e very best of intentions. He re­ mein bered that during the past · thre '~ or four years everything was a.gair1st the Executive of which he was a men1~ ber. They would do certain things to I relie ve· the unemployment situation.

Thi ngs happened two or three months afte rwards · altogether contrary to w11at ·had been expected, and ·it ivas imposs ible to take any meas.ures io comb at them. ' The Government has to deal with the· British Empire Steel Corpor .ation in connection with the conti nuation of the operation of · th~ mines at Bell Island. If there has not been some change lately then the Gov­ ernm ent . is going to have trouble ii1 this connection. Capt. Randell, saicl Mr. H alfyard, was speaking on the railwa y.

There . has been nothi11g SE:'ttle d, although the House of Asse1n·­ bly had decided that there should be three men elect~d to form a Railway Commi ssion. He had no acquaintance with tl1e Prime Minister, but frq1n what he had heard and what hacl . ~ .; come before his notice he was ·of op- - . inion that his inte ·ntions might be good, but having no experience · in Gover nment matters, his actions no dcubt would depend 'largely upon · the advice of others.

Howe .ver, the Prime l\'.Iinister speaking the. other day said that in the election campaign · prom­ ises had been made as othe · r political Parties had made 'promises in · i:l1e. Past. H e- thought that the party that made promises could not last. It might ·get through a. few years but in a shor t time it would come to gri~f. The P rime Minister made the state­ ment boldly, and still the Governme ·nt Minister is ,not only . r.esponsible · for his own actions but als· o f.or.the ·doings and the sayings of the members of tl1e Executive, and he , gave the Prime Minister the benefit of the d.oubt.

Wit}1 regard to dismissals, the Government is 'solely responsible, and anytliing he said . would not alter their decisions. But he knew of a case in which a man' vvas .dismissed and the: Prime Minis­ te1· and the · Exe.cutive . Government l1ad known nothing about it. There '\Vere cases in whjch men displayed no party feelings, even though they had sympathies, had been dismissec;i. l\ir .' Halfyard then said that he did i1ot intend at this juncture to make a long speech, and· with ·1 that , he closeci his remarks. - I MR. HICKMAN moved that the de-, bate be adiourned until the next sit--ting. MR.

WARREN gave notice of ques-. . ' ti on. . ' \ ' MR. GRIMES gave notice~ of ·ques- ti on. ' . MR. RANDELL gave notice of ques..: ti on. .. MR. BROWN gave notice of ques- ' , ti on. MR. _ H-ALFY ARD gave notice · of question. · . ' . . ' THE PRIME MINISTER gave no­ tice that on to-morrow he · would move the House I into the Committee of the Whole · to consider certain resolutions to confirm an agreement ente ·red into betw ·een the Government and the New­ foundland Milling Company, ·· Limitecl.

ANSWERS TO QUES'r 'IONS. . ~ - In re.ply to questions No. 1 ·of the Order Paper the Minister of Pcis'ts and Telegraphs made the following stalement:- Arrangements are being made

28 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINQS the · ~distribution of . the . mails in the District ' 1of·, Fortune by motor bouts. '· Tl1e ~'· Wren'' · has been taken off · tl1e route . because the - cost of . the service vvas out o:fl all ·Proportion . to the . ser- · vice rendered . . . . I - • ' ~ • ) I . The Glencoe was taken off because . . . ~ ' it w_as founq that the P9rtia . Gan per- • I f _ 1 ... \- j: ';j, / "' form all tl1e services alone. : • ~ '·' ·~· c - ,1 . ~. ,·) ·' \ 1 ,· The · Seb'astopol · has ·been taken c.ff Bay .of ..

Islands and · pending fur.ther 1 arrangements 1 a .small .steamer- is · em..- · ployed for a few trips. . . l The ·"wren" ·will be replaced · · b.v motor boats ' at a probable saving of , ' ' • . I I J • ' ' abo~t $25,000.00. · · ' i .. . ;. . Tne. Sepast9pQl _, was ~ost_ing $4,500.00 per month while a small steamer . can · be had for a thousand or less sav­ ing in ·· eight mo'ritfts about · $28~000.00. , ' • • .I ~ '" Taking off the Glencoe means a sa,T- ir1g of say $35,000.00. 'N'o . steamer · will' 'be s · ~nt · ;to 11 'Norti1- ern Labrador this season saving $25, :_ · 000.00.

Total saving $113,000.00 · . ~ ._ f I . ~ t - '- 'I j ,/. In reply to No. 2 of the Order Pa.­ per relative to House of . Assembly . I i \ ~ • .. - i artpointments the 'Prime Minist9r ' made the following statement:- Cha·s. E. Hunt replaces · E. L. Car­ ter as Law Clerk; Reuben Parsons i; e­ places , A. , Targett . as Sergeant'-at­ Arms; J. G. Muir repla .ces John Bar­ ron as Supervisor of Debat~s; W. ,J . .t ' ;; .. ' • ~ ' ' I" ., { O'Neill replaces John Brown as Com- • .. . • • • i . " # piler of Synopsis; Chas.

Whitten re- • ' . r , ,. .. , ~· 'places Robert Walsh as Speaker's at- . ·, • ' J ' .. < _. ~ ~ tendent. As messengers John Gray, \ "' / i · \ • \ ' Ed. Butt, Thos. Walsh, Wm. Coona .. 11- .· / • - ) J ~ replace R. Butler, Chas. , Tucker. Jno. Snelgrove and Stan Breen. ~ As door ,keepers . Edward - · Earle~, JoJ::ln .Burt, Thos. Martin replace Hy. t ~ ' '4 l l\1orey, Thos. Eustace and M.oses . . .. 1 , • f Strong. These changes are · made at ' I • l I • I ~ I ' . tl1e discretion of the Government and the Commmission of Internal Economy in pursuance of the usual custom. ORD~RS OF THE .DAY • ..

Sec.and reading of Bill .entitled . ".L\.n ~ Act to Amend 12 and 13 Geo. V. Cap. ; I • • , j C f" I • • 20, entitled 'An Act Respecting War . ' Pen.sions ~ ' " " · .. . ' ' i , ... ~ .. • ~ - , 1 • The MINISTER OF JUSTICE ex- • ' J - pl aine 'd' 'in .. thl.s coniiecfion that there ' \.Vere originally thre · e membel's 'of: the · War - Pensions Board. , o.ne m· embe1--~ · Mr.

Clift had / .died . .and . the1· re- · maining members had been giv~n the , • • ~ ' • ;. ' ' • 4 • power of action of the original three. ' • • ~ J ' ., There is at present one member 011 the Board'.. · The Great War · Veterans~ . ' . ·,. ~ 1 I ). ( T have recommended the appointment I , ' . f L • I ' ~ " ' I I • • . oJ: Commander R. A. Howley and Mr., J- . c. Pratt, i and these !hen h~ve . of- ' ' ... \. ·' ; • •• ~ '· $ fered to serve with .out re·compens(! . ' .

I \ I , \ • , 1 ' ~ l ._ Tl1eir offer has been accepted and it . ' ) . ' . - is now proposed to· m~ake three mem- • '~ ,,· .l i I r f • ~ i bers of the Board . ~nd the expen~e will 'be mucli ' less . than 'it Ii.as , be-en. ' i . ' J . I t . .. I :I ' ',. J J?ur.suant to order, · a;nd ·on . motion . of JI on. thE} Ministe .r o.f Justice, .~ the ;~ Bill enti,t,led ''An Act to .Amend , 1,2 and 1:3 Geo .. V. ,Cap. !20 entitled . 'An Act 1re T spe,cting War Pep.sions/ was.·. re·ad . a second .· time, a. n. d .1it was order .ed that the · .sai<;l Bill be referred . to a .

Com- · mittee .of the ,Whole Ho.use on to , nlorrow. ~ . - I I ' Second r·eading of Bill entitie 'd "'An Act· to ·Amend Cap · 86 of : 1 the · 1 Con­ solidated -Statutes ' (Third Ser'ies) ;en­ titled 'Of Stipendiary ;Magistrates ~nd · . ' Justice of 'the 1 Peace." ·" ' ' • I l The MINISTE 'R .OF JUSTICE ef{- t ,. '- , • ~ 4 • plain~d that formerly on, many . occa- .. ~ • ,.. ' ~ •' i. ~ • I \ sions . w~en it ~~d be~n / nec.((ssarY, t~. send magi~trates out of their own • 1 • ( , ... ' districts into others it was very -in- .

I • • • t " .I .• • >- • - 1 C<)n,yenie:p.t b1ecause , the old act pro · ~ • ' - • ~ • .. • t vided ,that these men were, , and had ' . . ~ / ' .· ( the powers of, , magist .rates only iJ?. their o~n districts. It was no'f pro-. ' posed to make any man appointecl . ' ~ . ( \ Stipendiary Magistrate, a Justice of • ~ f • -. ,. Peace for the whole Island. At present, he said, we· ha\.?e two or three very excellent Magistrates, an<l

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS 29 at ti mes it is ·found necessary · to t'ransf er them · for . "temporary ·work in otl1er quarters. He thought the House \voul d be· wise in ·adopting ,this amencl- ment . . . P u rsuant to order, and· ·on motion of Hon. the Minister of Justice, th.e .Bil l en ti tled "An Act to Amend Chap­ ter 86 of the Co.nsolidated Statutes ' ' ,(Thi rd Ser i ~~) · entitled '·Of Stipend.iary l\1agis trates and .

Justices . of. the Pt~ ace ,' "'. was ,r.ead a second time, : ancl it was · ordered , tl1at tl1e· · said B_ill lle refe rr ed to a Committee of .the · vVholc ' 011 t o-morrow. , , , • - r ' I Second reading of bill to amend the . . ' . ' Ele~. ti on , Act, . 1913. At the request of the Hon. l\1:inister of Justice · Mr. ' I , . ' Halfy ard moved that the second read- • I , ing of tl1is , bill be deferred, until to- • • • ' ! ' :r;norrow.

THE COLONIAL . ·SECRET 'ARY -tabl ed the Annual Repo .rt of the R.eg · istra r General for tl1e · yea· r ending Dece mber ·31st, 1923. • 1 TH E PRIM ' E MINISTER ·tabled the A11nual R eport · of · the Department {)f E'duc at ion for the year 1922-23. ·· l\1R . SCAMiVIELL gave notice of qt1~st ion. · . . MR. WARREN iri speaking to the ' n~otion for an adjournment, asked 'the leade r of the Government if · there . I ¥.-·ere any new arrangeme ·nts made witl1 . regard ' to reporting of the . de. be:1tes of the ·H·ouse.

He understood that some change was made ·in the s)rste m ; and ' he wanted · to · know if · it was put in operation. ·· , ' , HON · THE PRIME MINI 'STE· R . ·sai(l fJ1e· Government · came to the eon­ cl usio ri tl1 at verbatim reporting wa.s ' riot:· a riec·essity, and they .. proposed lT a Y in g a synopsis · taken Of the de­ . · bate: s ' arid · published in the ·papers -in 1 tl1e us ual \Vay. ·There will be . no Hansa rd tl1is · year, as it was looked up an as u· nnecessary expense. · · 1 • MR. W ARREN:.......,By · whom . ·is the ·synops is prepared · ? . • ' HON· . .

MINISTER · OF JUSTICE, speaking as a member .. of ·the Internal Economy . Con1'.mission~ 1 said it . wa.s be ing prepared by · the regular ., ·re­ porting staff. Tl1is systein, ·he· said, -vv·as being '' tried a . s an experiment to see how it works out, and as this was not likeJY, .tq ~ b~e, , ~ lqng , ~es~iQil jt .. wc:is tl1ough ·an opportune time to try out ' ~ .; .., ' ' ~~ . r' 1 . •\ .... ( ~ ' ' r " tl1e system.

I Yea.rs ago, ' without 'the .. \ • . • • ' r • , H an sard, speeches were got from ' tli.a I ' l •. ,. , r • -1 ':' r.. • • • back files of old papers months af-. . ' ' • • \ • ! l . /· ' ~ ; ter tl1ey were · delivered. That sys- tem was abaiidon~d a:hd the idea <lf · 1 iaving a H~ns. ard was . a· dopted~·: The :Hansard w~~ found ·. botli · exp~nsrve . " . .. l . ' and unsatisfacto .ry, and it is ·now ' pro- posed to· try the syste 'm of a 'digest of · tl1e speeches· ~ · and · he ··thought this _ m·ethod will be found economical. · , . · · 'l\1:R.

GRIMES · asked ' if this system .,-vas defini t ely ' decided ' upon. r ' HON. THE MINISTER ' OF ·.JUSTICE '. replied that there was nothing · de­ done beyond what is clo.ne ' finitely now. 'r ' It was . moved ·a'.nd . seconded : . that when the House rises; it , adjourn un- • ( I ' • ~ • t • til T'l1ursday afternoon, at three of ' the clock. ' ,, ' J • ~ - - The House then . adjourned accor ~l- . • ,, l • • • ingly. . ' . . . ' ' ' THURS.PAY' ·. July 17th, 19.24. Tl1e House met at three . of the . clock . ' . . in · the afternoon, pursuant to adjourn- ment: . . ' . ' . . ~ Mr.

Scamniell' gave notice ·o.f ques- ti 0 n • ' ! . 1 1 • , ' • ' I . 1 • r . i Mr~ War:re · n gave notice of question. I, ' 1' ., : ' I Mr. Duff gave notice of question. · • I • J ·~ • ' - • • • • • Mr. Ashrourn~ gave notice of ques- . - t ' , t~on. , \ .. .. • .Mr. Puddiste . r·. gaye notice .. of . qu~s- tion. · 1 -,. ! , ·: ,_.;,·\ __ t ,... , , .• •i , .. Pursuant to notice, -and . ~n9 ;rn9tion . of ·Hon. the Prime Minister~ . Sup~ply .was granted to His, Majesty. _ .. THE HON. · TH· E PRIME MIN.ISTER

30 HOUSE OF .ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS asked that the motion to move the Ho·use into Committee of the whole to consider ce·rtain ·resolutions to con­ firm an , agreement entered into be­ tween the Government and the Nfld. Milling -C·o., Ltd., be deferred. It was ·ordered accordingly. ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS: MR .. WARREN asked the Hon. Prime . . I Minister ·(

a) if the Railway was being operated under the .supervision of com­ missioners as heretofore; (

b) if sq, who are the commissio ·ners; ( (

c) if it is the · intention of the Government to continue this system; (

d) have any steps been taken to provide for , any other mode of operation. HON. PRIME ·MINISTER replied that the Railway was being operated by Mr. Russell, and that no · commis­ sioners had been appointed; also that it was . the intention of the Government to continue . this system for the imme­ diate present, and . that no steps had been taken as yet for altering it. MR. GRIMES asked .the Hon. Prime Minister (

a) when the new I~orin. al School would . be open; (

b) how many teachers would be employed (

c) if any teachers would be engaged outside of Newfoundland; (

d) if so how many and from where. HON. THE PRIME MINISTER re- " . plied that it was proposed to open the Normal School on September 1st; he cou1d ·not say how many teachers would be engaged, probably about the same n'umber as formerly. ·He inform­ ed Mr. Grimes it was not proposed to employ or engage tt-achers outside of Newfoundland. He also said that if . the Carnegie Fund of $1500.00 was . available a junior college could ·be run in connection with the Normal School for a further sum of $40.00.00

whereas now the cost was about $6000.00. MR. GRIMES asked the Hon. Prime Minister if it was the intention of the Government to act on the findings and to put into force any · or all of the re- commendations of the Royal Commis~ sion ·appointed in 1921 to enquire into the working of the Prohibition Act. THE HON.

THE PRIME MINISTER replied that the question was receiv- · ing the consideration of the Govern­ ment. · It was only yesterday that he had seen the commissioners report, and he . . was surprised that nothing had been done although the report was present- ; ' ed in 1921, and 'Contained some excel-, ' lent suggestions that were well worthy consideration. · · MR. RANDELL asked the Colonial - Secretary to lay on the table of the . House the . answe~s to the following:-;­ W~at amount of coal has been bought or contracted for by the management of the Nfld.

Government Railway since the first day of March of this year' to date? If tenders have been asked for such coal? What price is being paid or agreed on by the management of the Railway? The names of the Compan­ ie· s or persons through whom the pur­ chases or contracts had been made? What are the ·prices, terms and· dates of such contracts, if any, and if the coal has been bought c.i.f. St. John's? If other than Sydney coal has been contracted for? THE HON. COL-ONIAL SECRETARY tabled reply. MR. BROWN asked the Hon.

The Prime M.inister if it was the · intention of the Government ·to operate the Steamer Watchful on the Bonavista Mail Service this season. THE HON. THE PRIME MINISTER replied that at present it was not the intention to operate the Watchful, !but that as soon as certain repairs which are now being effected on the Govern­ ment wharf at Port Blandford the Malakoff would take up the old Clyde route. MR. HALFYARD asked the Colonial Secretary to lay on the table of ·the House copy of the latest agreement •

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS 31 made between Dominion Steel Corpor­ ation Ltd. and Nfld. Government for the operation of the iron mines at Wabana; also if it is the intention of the Government to introduce legisla­ tion during the present session for the continuation of the operating of the said mines after - the 31st December, 1924, so as to avoid minute of Council Government which was so strenuous­ ly objected to by certain Members of the Legislature during paSit session. HON. THE COLONIAL SECRET ARY replied that since the advent of the present Government in power there had been no agreement.

He also said that when his hon. friend was Colonial Secretary an agreement was entered into; , the present Government had ' made no decision regarding the policy which it intended to persue. MR. SCAMMELL asked the Hon. Minister of , Posts and Telegraphs . if the S.S. Earl of Devon had been en­ gaged to undertake certain cable work, and if so, to state (

a) for what work in particular she has been engaged (

b) at what rate per day had she been en­ gaged. THE HON. MINISTER POSTS & TELEGRAPHS replied that the S.S'. Earl of Devon was employed on cable work in Notre Dame Bay and Green Bay, and that the Steamer was being paid at the rate of $132.00 per day. MR. SCAMMELL asked the Minister of Justice to lay on the tal1le of the House the report of G. N. Read, Son & Watson, chartered accountants, into the affairs of Controller's Department for the financial years 1921-22 and 1922-23. THE HON.

MINISTER OF JUSTICE replied that he was not pre:pared to give the answer to this question as it involved certain other matters which were under consideration and in­ vestigation. MR. SCAMMELL I ·beg to accept the Hon. Minister's Explanation. ADDRESS IN REPLY. • MR. GRIMES, in speaking to the - motion of Address in Reply to . the Speeck from the Throne, congratulat-­ ed the Spe_aker upon the high office to which he had been elected by the un­ animous vote -of the House. When he (Mr. Grimes) first entered the Assem- ­ bly as a member Mr. J. R.

Goodlson · was the Speaker. · He co-nducted him· ­ self with such grace, , dignity and ~act that caused the admiration of members on l oth sides. The present Minister of Justice followed and his parlia­ mentary experience enabled · hi-m _· to continue in like manner. Mr. Fox he had :p.o doubt would f9llow in t~e sam. e path . . His training . and _education, his legal ability and parliamentary ex~ perience, left no doubt in his :µiind that the H·ouse had made a wise choice in - ' . . ' selecting -him. In movin 'g the motion for the Address in Reply, the member for Burin, Mr.

Lake, made Harmon - y ' - and Good Will the theme of his re-. . marks. This was a very .good be&'in'."' ning -on the part of the Hon. meµiber, and . 'if he was speaking on behalf of th- e Government, -he (Mr. Grimes) would be ready to co-operate in having such a spirit dominate . the delibera­ tion -of the Assembly. , For this to i:;;uc­ ceed the Government must be as ready to accept suggestions from the Opposi­ tion Party as they are from their own. If they did, much good may 'be accom­ plished. There _were many .pressing prol .lems demanding solution.

TheI."e were serious conditions that had to be faced in the interests -of the Coun-- . try. Unity would do more to over- come these conditions than bickerings and strife. Economy had not only to be preached t.ut practiced an~ a square deal to all carried out. Continuing Mr. Grimes said th'at the seconder of the motion of the Address in Reply Mr. Linegar had announced himself as a Representative of Labor. He was glad · to W ·elcome him · as such to the Assembly and agreed with Mr.

• 32 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS Brown that there shoultl be 'more Lab­ or. Representatives .so that Labor's in­ terests could be better cared ·for in the work of L'egislation. The Labor- \ 1 I ; ~ ing · and Artisan Classes have rights . ' . which are not exercised to the full, ' ' ' . and, to exercise them , fully the. y must fit ·themselves for the responsibilities th-ey will bring with them:. He (Mr.

Grimes) was ih accord with Mr.· Half­ yard that membership in a Union was not ·a necessary qualification for one . ' . to have the interest of the Laboring ' . and Artisan Classes at heart and he would be sorroy to think that anyone ' . . . sitting in the House was not as much ' c'oncerned · about the welfare of the Laboring Artisan and Fishermen Classes as any other classes. To be a true representative one · had to reco ·g­ nize the claims of all a:\}d · deal with them · as circumstances · .. ·warranted.

Men not only froni the ranks of Labor but from the ranks · of the weii-to-do and the · nobility have been foremost in the · fight ! ·for the b·etterment of so- • ' I , ; • \ ' ' cial conditions. It , was Robert Owen, . ' a manufacturer of Lanark -who in the eighteenth centuary started the ·move­ ment for a shorter working day, and e"ventually succeeded. It was Lord Shaftsbury who fought against child-, ren under age being employed in the Mine ' s and Factories of Great Britain, and . eventually succeeded.

The His- - toi:y of Legislation is nearly all civil­ ized conditions will show that that ( . . : ~ feeling of Justice and fair · play is not ~n the possessio _ n of one class only. He h·oped the glowing pictures of ' - . . 'j ' ' prosperity dangled before us, did not I ' . blind our eyes to the actual conditions existing. None 'deprecated more than he the painting of blue ruin pictures ·of ·Nfid.,. and ithe · constant featuring of them i11 our daily newspapers. They · did considerable - harm abroad and at home. But there is a danger in talk­ ing of prosperity, and lulling ourselves -with · a fanciful picture.

To say pros- • perity was coming our way 1by leaps and bounds was n·ot the truth. While • , ' ~ J times are better in Newfoundland than . . they were last _year, t4ere is still much - . unemployment. S1e.veral .hundred fp,m­ i.Iy men in St . . John's were find.iJ;lg-.e.m­ ployment so s.carce that they . wer· e on a bare existance with the long . winter ahead when employment for the casu~l lat~ orer practically ceases. · There was much construction work going ·01 ... ' . ' in the interior by the A.N.D. Co. and the.

Newfoundland Pulp·. a~d - Pap.er· Co., the end of November will see much of that work completed - and w·ould wit-. . . . ness the laying off of three or four 1 • l . . • ..- . thousand men. Conditions in connec- tion . with the British Empire Steel ' . Corporation was not promising .·· for continued work at Bell Island. He J ' • . would ask what 'steps the· Government proposed to' take for ··the coming · win­ ter in case of a: repetition of .~conditions as prevailed the ·previous ·· years. ··' It is ·true that we have a.

Labor Bureau l ut that is not functioning to-day , in such a manner as to be of . benefit -to the unemployed. ·He did not 'blame Capt. Byrne or his associates for this, it was · more the fault of the Govern­ ment for not giving it greater poweJ;'S.

A Labor Bureau to ~erve its purp~~e should . be a place where everr unem­ ployed person could hav~ his ~ame registered as such showing .wbat . kifl.d of work he was accustomed to, and ' . . . . - ~ what he was willing to do an_ d in_ case . . 'v·ork could not be found in what . he . ' . . ~ had been trained to do, what · other , . . ~ - ' kind he was willing to undertake. Ev- . • , ' ' - ; . .. . i . ery employer or other perso 'n wanting . . ' - a man should also register his name in ' the same Bureau. If this were done he (Mr. Grimes) believed · more ·work . , for unemployed _men could be found.

The Bureau would alsd prove 'of ser- i .. ' t· vice in acquainting ; the ' Government with actual conditions prevailing irt the La l'Or Market and give an oppo'rtun­ ity of knowing the number of. men out of work through no fault of. ·their own,

t HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS 33 and save the charitably · disposed per­ sons of the Commun.ity against much imposition when beggars come round. Cert_ain it is that the Government has the advantage of the experience of previous Gover~ments in dealing with unemployment and if it fails to learn the lesson, there will be no excuse for the Government. _To deal haphazardly with such conditions wol1ld be a • crime. In dealing with the Gander develop­ ment and the establishment of a Flour Mill, Mr. Grimes said that he hoped the Government would not delay their establishment.

Every inducement con­ sistent with the true interests of New­ foundland should be held out so that such Labor giving industries should be started at the earliest date. Dealing with the Salaries of Civil Servants, Mr. Grimes said that he thought it advisable that a Civil Ser­ vice Commission should be appointed consisting of experienced men, who knew the value of work to the Govern­ ment and could better apportion sal­ aries than they are to-day.

No Civil _Servant with dependents should re­ ceive a salary less than what is requir­ ed to keep him ·in decency and com­ fort, and they should be graded from that up according to their ability and their . responsibilities. Civil Service examinations should ·be · established and only those qualified to take posi­ tions should have them. Unless this is done the Prime Minister will have failed to reform the Civil Service. Mr. Grimes hoped economy would be practised in the right direction. Re­ ference was made to the abolition of the Mounted Police in order to effect economy.

Would the saving effected be commensurate with the loss of the value of such services to the Commun­ ity. This should be given due consid­ eration b·efore such a change was ef­ fected~ As to the saving to be effect­ ed by the establishn1ent of a King ''s Printer, . he . would like to have the figures before he could form an opin­ ion. There should be proper reasons given for the creation of new jobs, and facts given to show that any such job will pay .the country to . have it.

The abolitio · n of the Hansard would be a grave mistake, it is a record of the work of the Legislature, the Govern­ ment and the Opposition. It enables the member of the House to refer to it at any time for information he l!lay want and from it he can keep his mer,n­ ory . fresh and be in a ·better position to inform his constituents of what 1s being or has been done. As to the Prohibition Act Mr. Grimes said if the amendment to be .made were in opposition to the spirit of the Act, it was not the business of the Legis­ lature to alter it in .such a way.

The Prohibition Law had seldom been re­ 'ferred to during the whoJe political Campagin and consequently there was no mandate from the people to destroy the spirit of the Act. If it was propos­ ed to do so it should be decided by the ' ' people in the same way they brought it about; through a plebiscite. Mr. Grimes referred the Government to the findings and the recommendations of the Royal commission · appointed , in 1921 to enquire into the working . out of the Prohibition Law. There _were a number of valuable suggestions con-, tained therein.

He understood · from the Prime Minister's remarks that on­ ly those Civil Servant would be dis­ missed who were actually engaged in politics during the last campaign. He (Mr. Grimes) would remind him that not only those l ut others who had taken no part were being removed al­ s·o. Mr. Geo. Roberts of Brigus, a lightkeeper on the Labrador had been removed. There are those who can testify that Mr. Roberts was neutral dur;ing the last election. Yet he is dis­ missed. A man in the eventide of life, past seventy years of age, thrown on the scrap heap without a justifiable reason . for it. Mr. Chaulk .1" is given

34 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS the job. He (Mr. Grimes) had nothing against Mr. Chaulker and he thought if he was c·ompetent to fill a job there would be ample opportunity with-in a year or two, when a vacancy may occur which he could fill. In reference to the ·Customs Mr. Grimes said it was time efforts were . put · forth to protect legitimate busi- ness in this country, against those who were importing goods and giving false invoices. It was a notorious fact that all sorts of tricks were being worked to defraud the Customs and get goods in under value.

If this is allowed to continue no business man wanting to act straight with the cus­ toms will be able to exist, and all such will' be driven out of business in three or four years. If the Minister of Fn­ ance prevents the further recurrence of these · disgraceful practices, , he will have the commendation of all honest men. Mr. Grimes referred to his tour of Twillingate District with his colleague and what he saw in connection with the Herring Fishery. Thousands of . . Herring were being thrown away that did no· t measure up to the size re­ quired for the Market where they were reing sent.

Herring Factories estab-, lished there that would manufacture Herring Oil, Herring Meal and Fer­ tilizer could have saved all this waste, ' and he hoped the Government would take this matter up. The employment they would give to those near home would be of immense value. MR. DUFF congratulated the Speak­ er -on his appointment as the First Commoner, and . also the Mover and Seconder of the Address in Reply, and more particularly did he refer to the m-over, Mr. Lake who was a young outport representative from his own district. It was more of the type of men like Mr.

Lake we desired to see in this House, men acquainted with the needs of their district and with a practical knowledge of its fisheries and undertakings. Although we had nearly a score of districts in this country, there were' a -, great many people who were of the impression there were only two-St. John's East and St.

John's West, and this had been more ·· particularly im­ pressed on my mind during the past few ' days since · I ·had an opportunity to travel the roads to this vicinity, to find perfect roads reaching in all di­ rections whilst in the outports we have the very opposite. · Some time ago it bec~me my duty to report to the Minister of Public Works that there were llridges in the settlement of Victoria with as many .as three planks broken out of one and they were not safe for car or carriage, and in fact were a manace . to life and limb.

Similar conditio:p.s . were apparent on the road between Carbonear anq Har­ bor Grace where broken planks were in evidence. In a recent issue of the mor .ning pa­ per reference was made to the opposi­ tion and it would desire to give its readers the impression that tl1e Opposi .. tion were desirous of getting out of sight. It said we had taken to the lack benches and the i11ference was that we had crawled ·into a hole and pulled the hole in after us. · As one meml ier of the Opposition I would de­ sire to state to the House that I had no such feelings.

I quite realized my responsil ilities · and was quite satis­ fied to · l·e found ·on this side of the House and found the seat very com­ fortal ,le. I represented the district of Carl onear, a district that .had produc­ ed a great percentage of , the : Master Mar.iners and seamen of this . country, and the men who carried our products across the ocean during the great war. I notice we have two real Labor Can­ didates in this House, Mr. Linegar on the Government side, who says he re­ presents 300 men and Mr. Brown on this side, who also represents · a cer-

• • HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS 35 tain number; ·but · I do not ·purpose takin : g second place to any Labor ·Can­ didate, 1 as I · represent · · labour indis­ ·cr-iminately, .from the ma· n who catches . the cod on Northern Labr· ador~ the . sea­ men . who carries .it to market, the miner and . lab0;rer · . And ·in·. my-:, district · we (. prq.duce . the . best · miners as well as · the best railr ·oaders. , , . ... I . am 1 pleased to · note that the Op­ . position has .' intimated their intention ·of not ·hampering the Government · and in that .

I · concur. ·· · 1 am as · desirous · of · a · clean up a1nd keep c·leati and ·a square deal , to· 'all · as the Premier, and ·also for · Economy and ·retre]ichtnent; ·but . I· d'o.ubt the Premier's sincerity · in this and I have reason to.

I find that ·quite recently a· n 'estimable · old fish- ·ermen of my district that was fire­ warden has been dismissed '. and ·an­ other '. citizen; also · a very wbrthy one 1 has been · appointed in his · stead~ ' Again · irt· Vtctoria there · has 1 been a new ap­ . ·pointm ·ent as firewarden~ I have · no­ . thing to say against .these · appointees as they are most . desirable men, but · 'why , appoint men to such ·positions where there is · nothing ' to ·burn, and the · same thing : applys to co·nception ·Bay, th·erefore I ·doubt the sincerity of tlie Premier.

If the fire wardens had · been ·dismissed · a:nd no' other · appoint­ ed I would not · .comm ·ent on· it. ··when the Minister ·of Posts, in this -House yesterday gave . his reasons » to Mr.

Warren for . ·tak-ing off the boats on the South and West Coasts and declared what . a --saving he - was making · -in the Public S~ervice,. th· e visitors · to this ·House - heartily appla · u. d-ed him, . which ·was proof 1 \positive that the ·people of · St. :· John's were· behind the Govern­ \ ment -- i'.n · a policy · of economy and - re­ trenchment, and I ,hope they will con- tinue ·to applaud .when the retrench­ ment _ policy comes neare~ home, as I t know no place whe.re t,he need for lop­ ping · o.ff · needless goyernment officials is greater than this city of St. John's.

One meets _smart . sprightly · men day after day on the · streets that · · hQve been pensioned to · ·make room ! 1for camp followers -,. -as · we'll as 'officials in .galo.re. ·· ·: :· .. : , . ·1·;1,, .. ' · , it is pleasin · g · to 1'hear that : tli~ ·Min- , ister of Finance : ha:s ·takeh 1 hold. iiI 'liis department in his ' usual · ~vi ·go'.roliS and effective style; ·' And w · e sha:tl ; hope r·to hear news of similar purp ·ort ' from · 'the o~her departments of ·the! Govern~ent . .

Evi,dently there ia a. brighter ;, . day . da WI,ling for this ·old, · la~q; ~- prqsp~cts . for :ij~h mar~eting , is good, . we . h~ve the , G~nder :E>rop~sitio~ and the -F;lqur .. Mill i.ndustr.y in prosp .ect ftn!l . w.e have tp.e Hu~b. er . industry ~· booming, .. ,a;nd what we wo.uld .have done with9:ut this latter to take care of our sui:plus .,iab­ our population I cannot ·co_mpr.ehend. '-. .. ~r. Lake, in hi~ speech ,info:nmed , us . . that there were only 4 p~r c~nt. o.f out-. - ' . ., •, ' side wor:trmen _., eng?,.geq -in ~ that · indus- , try, I d· o . not know where ., he -got .- his I ' t • \, ;.

I • ~ figures, but I very much questipn . th~µi. I would qe .inte;rest .ed tq k.nO'Y th,e . per-. . ' centage ip. wag~s, ~hat gp . tp . 1 th~_ ,9ut- .side or alien w9r}{ers~ ~ h~ve , be~n told that our w9r~men r ,ec~ive 125 ,cents . , : ' . an hour and men from abroad . d·oing J "\ - -~ the same work , ~iqe by $i~~ o:b~~in I ' three and five times . as much, doing . .. ' ' ' ; t ! :;, ~ _the same work. . . . . I . ' ' . .. ' . . ' . l • .-. • · · We hear of scores of young ' n;ten, sons of patricans, coming to the · Hum­ ber to ·gain experience, · and we . do .. not begr