CANADA, DOMINION OP. 



71 



last session of Parliament, a carefully devised body 

 of regulations has been adopted, applicable to all 

 railways and public works within the Federal 

 jurisdiction, making adequate provision for the 

 sanitary protection and medical care of working- 

 men. 



" The attention of the Government has been 

 called to the conflicts which occasionally arise be- 

 tween workmen and their employers. While it 

 may not be possible wholly to prevent such diffi- 

 culties by legislation, my Government think that 

 many of the disputes might be avoided if better 

 provisions could be made for the friendly inter- 

 vention of a board of conciliation the conclusions 

 of which, while not legally binding, would have 

 much weight with both sides, and be useful in 

 bringing an intelligent public opinion to bear on 

 these complicated subjects. You will be invited 

 to consider whether the provincial legislation in 

 this matter may not be usefully supplemented by 

 an enactment providing for the establishment of 

 a Dominion tribunal for assisting in the settlement 

 of such questions. 



" I am happy to observe that the number of 

 settlers who have taken up lands in Manitoba and 

 in the Northwest Territories is larger than in any 

 previous year, and affords conclusive evidence of 

 the success which has attended the efforts of my 

 Government to promote immigration, and I have 

 no doubt that the greatly increased production of 

 the West will henceforth add materially to the 

 growth of the trade of the whole Dominion. While 

 the efforts made to secure increased population for 

 the West have thus been successful, much atten- 

 tion has also been devoted to the repatriation of 

 Canadians who in less prosperous times have left 

 Canada. You will be pleased to learn that this 

 work has been attended with satisfactory results. 



" L am pleased to say that our canal system, 

 connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic sea- 

 board, has been completed so as to allow vessels 

 having a draught of 14 feet to pass from the head 

 of Lake Superior to the sea. The vigorous and 

 successful prosecution of these works by my Gov- 

 ernment has already attracted the attention of 

 those interested in Western transportation, and 

 there are good grounds for the hope that when 

 the necessary facilities for quick and inexpensive 

 handling of ocean traffic are provided, and which 

 are in progress, Canadian ports will control a much 

 larger share of the traffic of the West. 



" Measures will be introduced to renew and 

 amend the existing banking laws, to regulate the 

 rate of interest payable upon judgments received 

 in courts of law, to provide for the taking of the 

 next decennial census, for the better arrangement 

 of the electoral districts, to amend the criminal 

 code and the laws relating to other important sub- 

 jects." 



In the ensuing session the issues connected with 

 or growing out of the South African war were the 

 most interesting, and will be discussed elsewhere. 



On Feb. 9 Mr. Mulock reintroduced in the House 

 the redistribution bill which had been rejected by 

 the Senate in 1899, and which aimed, according to 

 the Liberal contention, at remedying the inequali- 

 ties and injustice of the " gerrymander act " of 

 1882, and, according to the Conservative belief, at 

 making a new gerrymander which would keep the 

 Liberal party in power for another term of years. 

 The plan proposed w-as to restore, nominally, the 

 old county boundaries, and to create a board of 

 high court justices to divide the constituencies 

 accordingly. The Conservatives also opposed the 

 measure as improper and unnecessary just before 

 the decennial census, which is to be taken in 1901, 

 and which would involve another readjustment 



of constituencies. This view was embodied in an 

 amendment by Sir C. Tupper, and rejected by 45 

 to 91 votes. After passing the Commons the meas- 

 ure was again thrown out by the Senate on a 

 vote of 41 to 19. In connection with this and 

 other evidences of the Conservative character of 

 the Senate, the agitation of previous years in favor 

 of the reform of that body entered upon one of its 

 periods of fitful activity, and the Liberal press 

 joined in a fierce attack upon the upper house. 

 Events, however, tended to show that the hand of 

 death would soon change its composition if the 

 Government remained in power, and during this 

 very year several vacancies were filled by the 

 appointment of Liberals notably Hon. Joseph 

 Shehyn, of Quebec; Hon. Finlay Young, of Mani- 

 toba; Hon. Charles Burpee, of New Brunswick; 

 Hon. George T. Fulford, of Ontario; Hon. J. P. B. 

 Casgrain, of Quebec; and Hon. Kobert Watson, of 

 Manitoba. 



In the course of the session evidences of corrup- 

 tion and irregularity in by-elections in Huron 

 and Brockville were brought home very strongly 

 to Liberal representatives, and hot debates and 

 charges ensued. Early in June the Government 

 decided to appoint a judicial commission to inves- 

 tigate alleged fraudulent practices at elections. 

 The commissioners were Sir John A. Bo yd, Chan- 

 cellor of Ontario; Hon. W. G. Falconbridge, of the 

 Ontario High Court of Justice; and B. D. McTav- 

 ish, County Court Judge of Carleton, Ontario. Mr. 

 Justice Falconbridge was soon afterward promoted 

 to a chief justiceship without the Conservative 

 Opposition even hinting at the possibility of his 

 views being influenced by such action. The com- 

 missioners were given a pretty free hand, and the 

 power of summoning witnesses under oath. The 

 Opposition held, however, that their powers were 

 only on the surface, and in a proposed amendment 

 declared that the provisions of the act were not 

 sufficiently comprehensive. The proposal to widen 

 the scope of the commission was voted down on a 

 party division. 



On July 18 the session was formally closed by 

 the Governor General in a speech from the throne, 

 which briefly and succinctly outlined the legisla- 

 tion passed, from the Government's point of view. 

 He said : 



" I desire to congratulate you on the buoyant 

 state of the revenue. The large receipts have en- 

 abled my Government to provide liberally for the 

 public service and to maintain Canada s strong 

 financial position. The improvements of the act 

 relating to banks will tend to perfect a system of 

 banking of which Canada has reason to feel proud. 

 The extension of the British preference in our tariff 

 will tend to reduce the burden of taxation and 

 stimulate the growth of every trade with the 

 mother country. The measure you have passed re- 

 specting the admission of Canadian inscribed stock 

 to the list of securities in which trustees in Great 

 Britain may invest is being followed by similar 

 legislation in the Imperial Parliament, which will 

 in due course consummate this very important im- 

 provement in the financial affairs of the Dominion. 

 I particularly congratulate you upon the passing 

 of the conciliation act, which, it is confidently 

 hoped, will not only improve the condition of the 

 industrial classes, but will also better promote the 

 relations which ought to exist between capital and 

 labor." 



By-elections in the early part of the year had 

 resulted in a Conservative victory in Sherbrooke, 

 Quebec ; the choice of an Independent-Liberal, sup- 

 ported by the Conservatives, in Winnipeg; and the 

 success of an Independent-Liberal in Lotbiniere, 

 Quebec, over the Government candidate. 



