all that we will try to forget. This attitude on the part of the electorate teaches an important political lesson. The Conservative party is stronger than is indicated by the ballot. But the people, who realize their responsibilities, who read and who understand, had enough of the campaign of personalities, of defamation and of minor incidents, which aid in no wise the development of a country. No longer do they believe people who see all in black, in apostles of ruin and in bankruptcy, and in false prophets who unceasingly preach that everything is going wrong. They did not believe in the catastrophe. This is the reason that a large number of Conservatives rallied to our sides. They see in our Party and in our Government a programme which was the sense of reality, and a constant and determined movement towards practical, useful and progressive ends. Mr. Sauvé ignored all of these, and only offered a programme of denials to the people. The remarkable success which has crowned our work obliges us to redouble our efforts in order that we may be worthy of the confidence which has been tendered us. Let us forget the aftermath of the battle so that we may courageously resume work. Our Province is only at the beginning of an era of marvellous progress which is reserved for it. Let us work together so as to secure its realization. In conclusion of his statement, Mr. Taschereau referred to a certain part of the press opposed to him, in these words: Then the good press, too often unjust as regards us, should finally see that between them and us the people have pronounced judgment, a judgment which should make them understand that the infallibility they assume is rather slightly acknowledged by the immense majority of the Catholic and French-Canadian element of our Province. Mr. Sauvé, in his statement, said in part: The result has profoundly surprised me. It is not the expression of popular sentiment, but rather the consequence of a frightful organization. Elections are carried out in discouraging conditions, with inconceivable exigencies. It is becoming more and more difficult to fight freely for the people against the trusts which control the wealth and business of our Province. Our hope lies in wellinformed youth. On May 27, Mr. Sauvé announced that he would withhold his resignation from the leadership of the Conservative Opposition until such time as a Party caucus might be held to deal with the question. Union of Quebec Municipalities. The 1926 Annual Convention of this Association was held on board the Canada Steamship Company's boat, Richelieu, in a trip from Montreal to Chicoutimi during the second week of June, 1926. The members visited the extensive aluminum works in course of erection at Arvida, four miles from Chicoutimi, and the power plants on the Saguenay River. The Convention adopted resolutions recommending the codification of all laws related to municipal government, completion of circular improved highways connecting all the municipalities of Lake St. John and Chicoutimi with the principal cities of the Province, and the enactment of a law by which all rural mayors of the Province would be elected every two years, in the same year. The election of officers for the next year resulted as follows: Hon. Patron, Hon. L. A. Taschereau; Hon. Presidents, Mayor Méderic Martin, M.L.C., Montreal; Mr. Emile Vinck, Senator of Brussells, Belgium; Hon. First Vice-Pres., Dr. V. Martin, Mayor of Quebec; Hon. Second Vice-Pres., Mayor Arthur Bettez, Three Rivers; Hon. Third Vice-Pres., Mayor J. E. Edwards, Sherbrooke; President, Mayor Joseph Beaubien, Outrement; First Vice-Pres., Alex. Thurber, M.L.A. Longueuil; Second Vice-Pres., W. P. McLagan, Westmount; Third Vice-Pres., J. A. A. Leclair, Verdun. The Directors elected were: James Ballantyne, Montreal West; Ald. Léon Trépanier, Montreal; P. E. Boivin, Mayor of Granby; J. P. Dupuis, Mayor of Verdun; W. A. Moisan, Mayor of Drummondville; J. D. Hamel, Mayor of Magog; Ald. J. A. A. Brodeur, K.C., Montreal; Mayor J. É. Demers, Levis; Mayor Dr. L. J. Moreault, Rimouski; Mayor Augustin A. Legault, Maniwaki; Mayor L. J. Levesque, Bagotville; Mayor Achille Menard, St. Basile le Grand; Mayor Joseph Versailles, Montreal West; Mayor L. J. Desbiens, Chicoutimi; Secretary-Treasurer, Mayor T. D. Bouchard, St. Hyacinthe. Nearly four hundred citizens of the Province of Quebec took part in the annual voyage and discussions of the Union of Quebec Municipalities in June, 1927. The boat trip included the Thousand Islands, Prescott, Toronto, St. Catharines, Niagara, Hamilton, and Rochester, N.Y. Premier Taschereau and Mrs. Taschereau accompanied the members a large part of the way. The governmental and civic receptions in Ontario were of a most cordial nature, and received warm appreciation from the press of Quebec province. In the course of a speech delivered at a civic dinner tendered the delegates in Toronto, Mr. Taschereau said: So far as the Province of Quebec is concerned, she will stick to Confederation as long as it lives. You may be sure that the Province of Quebec will stick to the British tie and the British connection as long as the British Empire shall endure. The Mother Country may feel sure that she has no more faithful subjects, none who realize more than we do the advantages of the British Constitution and the British tie. The British flag has given us liberty, and the British flag does not interfere with our national aspirations. We are satisfied with that flag, and it will remain ours.-(The Globe, Toronto, June 16, 1927.) Eleven resolutions were passed by the Union, of which the following are those of general importance. One asked the Government to extend progressively and rapidly the establishment of the county units of sanitary control; another, that the law regarding municipal loans be amended to the effect that authorized loans. should not only have the signature of the Deputy Minister of Municipal Affairs, but also the seal of the Department; another approved the working of the inspection of the accounts of municipal and school corporations by the inspector-auditors of the Department of Municipal Affairs, but asked that this inspection be undertaken. not merely when applied for by the corporation, but also when the Department deemed it necessary; another asked for a revision. of the Municipal Code, on account of the many amendments since 1918. "Town Planning" was also approved, and the Government was asked to establish a special branch in this connection. The election of officers resulted as follows: Patron Hon. L. A. Taschereau, Prime Minister; Honorary President, Hon. Méderic Martin, Mayor of Montreal; First Honorary Vice-President, Dr. V. Martin, Mayor of Quebec ; Second Honorary Vice-President, M. Arthur Bettez, Mayor of Three Rivers; Third Vice-President, J. K. Edwards, Mayor of Sherbrooke; Executive Committee: Messrs. Joseph Beaubien, President of the Union; Alexander Thurber, First Vice-President ; P. W. McLagan, Second Vice-President; J. A. A. LeClair, Third Vice-President; Damien Bouchard, Secretary-Treasurer. following were appointed Directors: Messrs. James Ballantyne, P. E. Boivin, J. P. Dupuis, W. A. Moisan, J. D. Hamel, L. J. Levesque, Joseph Versailles, L. P. Desbiens, L. E. Forget, Cleophas Blouin, R. Madore, Dr. J. E. Guibord, Léon Trépannier, W. Lebrun, and M. Laurin. The Executive Council of Quebec. Prime Minister, Attorney General, and Minister of Provincial Secretary and Registrar. Provincial Treasurer.. Minister of Agriculture. Minister of Lands and Forests. Minister of Public Works and Labour. Minister of Colonization, Mines and Fisheries. Minister of Roads. Minister without Portfolio.. Minister without Portfolio.. Minister without Portfolio. Minister without Portfolio.. Speaker of Legislative Council Speaker of Legislative Assembly. Hon. L. A. Taschereau. Hon. Antonin Galipeault. Hon. J. E. Perrault. Hon. J. L. Perron. Hon. Emile Moreau. Hon. Lauréat Lapierre. Hon. Joseph Henry Dillon. Hon. Alfred Leduc. Hon. Adelard Turgeon. Deputy Minister of Lands and Forests. Deputy Minister of Agriculture.. Charles Lanctot, K.C. A. P. B. Williams. J. A. Métayer, K.C. Louis Guyon. Hon. Cyrille F. Delåge, LL.D. .J. A. Grenier, B.A., LL.D. F. X. Lemieux. Deputy Minister of Colonization, Mines and Fisheries.. L. A. Richard. Deputy Minister of Municipal Affairs.. Clerk of the Executive Council. Clerk of the Legislative Council. Clerk of the Legislative Assembly. Oscar J. Morin, K.c. A. Morisset. R. Campbell, K.C., D.C.L. THE MARITIME PROVINCES The Maritime With the appointment by the Dominion Government on Apr. 7, 1926, of a Royal Commission to inquire fully into the various aspects of the "Maritime Rights" question, definite progress was made towards the solution of problems which had agitated the three eastern Provinces for several years.* The Commission, which became known as the Duncan Commission, was composed of Sir Andrew Rae Duncan, Beckenham, Kent, England (Chairman); Hon. W. B. Wallace, Judge of the County Court, District No. 1, Province of Nova Scotia, and Prof. Cyrus Macmillan, McGill University, Montreal. Joint secretaries in the persons of Alvin F. Macdonald, Editor-in-chief of The Halifax Chronicle, and Prof. Norman M. Rogers, of Acadia University, Wolfville, were first appointed, but on July 10, following the accession of the Conservative Government at Ottawa, Orders-in-Council were passed cancelling these appointments and substituting the name of F. Maclure Sclanders, Commissioner of the Saint John Board of Trade, as sole Secretary of the Commission. Sir Andrew Duncan arrived in Canada early in July and proceeded to Ottawa, where, with his colleagues, several days were spent in collecting information from Federal Government departments. The Commission then repaired to Halifax and, after holding several private sessions, commenced public hearings on July 21. The case for Nova Scotia was opened by Col. E. C. Phinney, counsel for the Province, who spent three days, July 21, 26 and 27, in elaborating the argument for better terms and readjustments, under the following heads: (1) historical survey prior and subsequent to Confederation, with analogous comparisons; (2) provincial subsidies; (3) Canadian public domain; (4) transportation and freight rates; (5) coal and steel industries; (6) port development, export trade and transcontinental railways; (7) fisheries; (8) colonization and (9) Maritime representation in the Dominion House of Commons. It was Col. Phinney's contention that "adequate adjustments can be found within the four corners of Confederation" for the disabilities under which Nova Scotia was languishing. On July 28, F. C. Cornell, freight-rate expert for the three provinces, was examined on transportation aspects of the problem. One of his main contentions was that the deficit charged against the Atlantic Region of the Canadian National Railways was due in *NOTE.-See The Canadian Annual Review for 1925-26, page 395, for steps leading up to the appointment of the Commission. large measure to the low rates into the Maritime Provinces enjoyed by shippers in other parts of the country. He advocated establishment of a differential basis of rates on domestic traffic, lower in the case of westbound than of eastbound traffic. The following day several witnesses appeared, including A. H. Brittain, Managing Director of the Maritime Fish Corporation, who presented the needs of the fishing industry; R. H. Williams, of Simpson, Roberts Co., Halifax, who discussed the lobster fishing industry; Dr. M. Cumming, Secretary of Agriculture and Principal of the Nova Scotia Agricultural College, who advocated restoration of the federal grant for agriculture discontinued in 1923; Hon. F. B. McCurdy, former Minister of Public Works in the Dominion Government, who pointed out the difference in economic interests between the Maritime and Central Provinces, and suggested as a remedy for the economic ills of Nova Scotia, "a lower revenue tariff, with greater control over her trade and fisheries"; and Hance J. Logan, ex-M.P. for Cumberland, who declared in concluding his testimony that "if nothing is done, then we have only one alternative, namely, retiring from the Dominion and setting up a free and independent Parliament, loyal to the Throne of England, to work out our destiny as a new British Dominion in close relationship with Newfoundland and the Islands of the British West Indies." The Commission then moved to Saint John, where it held sittings on Aug. 2, 3 and 4. Among those who made representations at this point were Hon. J. B. M. Baxter, Premier of New Brunswick, who presented the case for his Province, asking particularly that the Valley Railway should be taken over by the Canadian National Railways and urging a greater use of Canadian ports, increased subsidies and lower freight rates; Hon. Lewis Smith, Minister of Agriculture, who asked for the restoration of the federal agricultural grant and protested against Western harvest excursions; Hon. J. A. Murray, Superintendent of Immigration, who sought a greater degree of co-operation between the Federal and Provincial departments of agriculture; A. N. McLean, President of Connors Bros., sardine packers, who asked for better protection and lower freight rates; W. S. Fisher, former President. of the Canadian Manufacturers' Association, who stressed the importance of increased port facilities; Dr. Murray Maclaren, M.P., and Angus McLean, President of the Bathurst Co., Limited. At Charlottetown on Aug. 6, Hon. J. D. Stewart, Premier of Prince Edward Island, in presenting the case for the Island Province, asked for an increased Federal subsidy. He was followed on Aug. 7 by Frederick B. McKay, who discussed the canal systems of Upper Canada, the national parks, the geological survey_and protection for the oyster fisheries. From Charlottetown the Commission went to Sydney, returning to Halifax where further public hearings were held on Aug. 12-13. On this occasion representations were made, among others, by W. E. Rundle, General Manager of the National Trust Co., receivers for the Dominion Iron and |