96 



CANADA, DOMINION OF. 



instead of the Canadian coat-of-arms. and then 

 proceeded : " Our fellow-countrymen have upheld 

 the British Hag in this country. And as to us, 

 the young generation of to-day, we mean also to 

 uphold the same Hag." Mr. R. L. Borden, the 

 Conservative leader, followed with a short speech, 

 in which he denied that the Government had been 

 responsible for the public prosperity, and quoted 

 one of its supporters, John Charlton, as declaring 

 that " it was due to the blessings of Providence 

 and to causes beyond the control of the Canadian 

 Government.'' He asked why the imports to 

 Great Britain in the first three years of Liberal 

 rule had only risen $4.000,000, while those from 

 the United States had increased $34,000,000. He 

 expressed regret that adequate recompense had 

 not been meted out to the returned soldiers from 

 South Africa: that the fast Atlantic line project 

 was still dormant; and that no reference had been 

 made in the speech from the Throne to the subject 

 of the Washington negotiations, and especially to 

 the question of the Alaskan boundary. Sir Wil- 

 frid Laurier followed and joined Mr. Borden in 

 congratulating the mover and seconder of the 

 address, and explained that the Imperial Govern- 

 ment intended to do something in the way of pen- 

 sions and allowances to the soldiers. If these 

 were not sufficient, he had no doubt that " Par- 

 liament would be well disposed to supplement 

 them by an extra grant." When the war was 

 finished conditions might, he thought, permit a 

 resumption of the Atlantic line negotiations. As 

 to the Joint High Commission : " It is still in ex- 

 istence, and we intend at the earliest possible 

 moment to resume negotiations." The address 

 then passed without division, and af-ter an unpre- 

 cedentedly short discussion. 



During the session that followed and was pro- 

 rogued on May 23 interesting and important de- 

 bates took place. The coronation oath of the 

 King was discussed at length, and a resolution 

 was carried asking the imperial authorities to 

 modify its terms so as to eliminate any offensive 

 allusions to Roman Catholicism. The South 

 African war was debated for many hours upon a 

 motion presented by Henri Bourassa condemning 

 the British Government for entering upon the con- 

 test, and urging its termination by granting inde- 

 pendence to the Boers, subject to control of their 

 foreign policy. The motion had only three sup- 

 porters Messrs. Bourassa, Monet, and Angers 

 but was notable for the eloquent speech made by 

 the Premier in defense of the mother country, in 

 approval of the objects of the war, and in sym- 

 pathy with the Canadian forces which had joined 

 in fighting for British rights and liberties in that 

 far-off land. The address attracted much atten- 

 tion in England. 



There was a prolonged debate upon Govern- 

 ment ownership of railways, in which Mr. W. F. 

 Maclean pressed that idea as a panacea for all 

 the ills that Canada was heir to; upon the gen- 

 eral transportation policy, or lack of policy, of the 

 Government, and their expenditures upon the St. 

 .awrenee route and the harbors of Port Colborne, 

 Montreal, etc., with a view to diverting the grain 

 trade of the far West from American to Canadian 

 channels; upon the Pacific cable scheme, the 

 taxation of Canadian Pacific Railway land grants 

 in Manitoba, the question of a beet-sugar indus- 

 try, and the manner in which the preferential tariff 

 was injuring the woolen industry. The Govern- 

 ment's majority was tested on March 29, when 

 Mr. Borden moved the following, which was de- 

 feated on a party vote by 54 majority: 



That in the opinion of this House the wel- 

 fare of this country requires a pronounced policy 



of adequate protection and encouragement at all 

 times to the labor, agricultural, manufacturing, 

 mining, and other industrial interests of Canada. 



" That in the opinion of this House the adop- 

 tion of a policy of mutual trade preference within 

 the empire would prove of great benefit to the 

 mother country, and to the colonies, and would 

 greatly promote the prosperity, unity, and prog- 

 ress of the empire as a whole; and that the pres- 

 ent time, when the Commonwealth of Australia 

 is laying the foundation of its fiscal system, is , 

 particularly opportune for taking prompt and 

 energetic steps toward the furtherance of this ob- 

 ject. 



" This House is further of opinion that equiva- 

 lent or adequate duties should be imposed by 

 Canada upon the products and manufactures of 

 countries not within the empire, in all cases where 

 such countries fail to admit Canadian products 

 and manufactures upon fair terms, and that the 

 Government should take for this purpose all such 

 available measures as may be found necessary." 



The subsidy to the Pacific cable was increased 

 so that Canada would take its share of 2,000,000 

 instead of 1,700,000. The silver-lead industry 

 was encouraged with a bounty of $5 a ton for lead 

 refined in Canada, the maximum sum not to ex- 

 ceed $100,000 in any one year, and to terminate in 

 five years. The Dominion lands act was amended 

 so as to give a settler from the United States 

 one year in which to perfect his homestead entry. 

 The alien labor act was changed so as to make 

 the penalty of $1,000 or less discretionary instead 

 of arbitrary, and giving the right of application 

 to a police magistrate, subject to judicial permis- 

 sion, as well as to the Attorney-General or High 

 Court judges of the provinces. The late Queen's 

 birthday was made a permanent holiday as Vic- 

 toria Day. To Prince Edward Island was given 

 an annual grant of $30,000 in consideration of cer- 

 tain failures in the pledge by Canada at confed- 

 eration to give it steady and efficient steam com- 

 munication with the mainland. To the Montreal 

 Harbor Commissioners was granted $1,000,000 to 

 build elevators and improve their terminal facili- 

 ties. Power was obtained to appoint three addi- 

 tional judges in the Superior Court at Montreal, 

 a chief justice for the Northwest Territories, and 

 two police magistrates in the Yukon. A subsidy 

 of $100,000 was voted for a steamship-line be- 

 tween Canada and France. The sessional indem- 

 nity of members of the Commons was increased 

 from $1,000 to $1,500. 



The House adjourned on May 23 after a large 

 number of measures had been assented to, besides 

 those already mentioned, the following being the 

 most important: 



To incorporate the Canada National Railway 

 and Transport Company. 



To provide for the marking and inspection of 

 packages containing fruit for sale. 



To amend the Dominion lands act. 



Respecting the Canadian Northern Railway- 

 Company and the Northern Pacific and Manitoba 

 Railway Company, The Winnipeg Transfer Com- 

 pany, Limited, the Portage and Northwestern 

 Railway Company, and the Waskada and North- 

 eastern Railway Company. 



To amend the Yukon Territory act, and to 

 make further provision for the administration of . 

 justice in the said territory. 



To amend the franchise act, 1898. 

 . Further amending the act relating to ocean 

 steamship subsidies. 



To amend the act to restrict the importation 

 and employment of aliens. 



To amend the Pacific cable act, 1899. 



