Minister of Labour, said the Government had no objection to the motion and promised to bring the subject to the attention of the Inter-Provincial Conference. Debate adjourned.

Mar. 23. Dr. Edwards proposed a resolution asserting that those who suffered loss through the Farmers' Bank should receive the same measure of relief as was given in the case of the Home Bank. The motion was opposed by the Finance Minister and defeated by 105 to 56.

Apr. 14. A vote of $500,000 for the purchase of a residence and office for the Canadian Minister at Washington was challenged by the Conservatives, both in Committee of Supply and on the passage of the Supply Bill containing the item. On the ground that it was extravagant to purchase a building at the outset of what was an experiment, Hon. Hugh Guthrie, leader of the Opposition moved to reduce this vote to $25,000 and to change the policy of the Government from one of purchase to that of rental. The item was defended by the Prime Minister on the ground that it would be an economy in the long run to purchase at the present time. On the vote in Committee of Supply Apr. 13th Mr. Guthrie's amendment was defeated by 90 to 54. When his motion was made later as an amendment to the third reading of the Supply Bill it was rejected by 89 to 48. On this occasion four of the Farmer members voted with the Conservatives.

Shorter Speeches in the House of Commons. There had been discussion for some years of the desirability of speeding the business of the House of Commons. A committee investigated the subject during the Session of 1926 and reported amendments to the rules for this purpose, but this report had not been discussed up to the time of dissolution in July of that year. A Committee on the same subject was again appointed in the Session of 1926-27 and its report was adopted by the House on Mar. 22, 1927, to come into effect at the next Session of Parliament. The two main changes made in the rules were a limitation placed upon the length of speeches and the adoption of an eleven o'clock closing hour at night. In addition a reduction was made in the membership in the standing committees; provision was made for the dropping of private members' resolutions after having been called twice without being proceeded with; one sub-amendment to motions to go into Committee of Supply of ways and means was allowed in addition to a main amendment; the requirement of a resolution preceding a bill in case of legislation regarding trade was dropped; fees were increased for private bills and steps were taken to put an end to the system under which a private bill which aroused vigorous opposition might block other private legislation.

The rule regarding the limitation of speeches caused the chief discussion in the House, and five different amendments were moved to it. A. W. Neill (Ind., Comox-Alberni) proposed to exempt the Budget debate from the time limitation on speeches. Robert Gardiner, spokesman for the U.F.A., moved to make the time limit one hour and to apply it to all except Ministers. C. G. Power (Lib., Quebec S.) moved that forty minutes be the limit for all speeches. A great part of the opposition to the rule arose because it exempted only Ministers of_the Crown and the chief spokesman for the official Opposition, and A. M. Carmichael (Ind.-Prog., Kindersley) and T. W. Bird (Ind.-Prog., Dauphin) moved to amend it so as to allow spokesmen for all opposition groups, or at least one spokesman for opposition groups in addition to the official Opposition, to speak more than the forty minutes fixed in the rule. After an extended debate, however, all amendments were defeated and the rule was passed by 115 to 20. As adopted it read as follows:

"No member, except the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, or a Minister moving a Government Order and the member speaking in reply immediately after such Minister, or a member making a motion of "No Confidence" in the Government and a Minister replying thereto, shall speak for more than forty minutes at a time in any debate."

During the debate on the report, G. G. Coote, (U.F.A., Macleod) asked whether the Special Committee on the rules had considered the British practice of referring estimates to Special Committees. The Speaker, Hon. Rodolphe

Lemieux, replied that he had proposed such a change to the Committee but that it had been considered too radical to be adopted at present.

Legislation and Other Incidents

An Act was passed to incorporate a National Committee for the Celebration of the Diamond Jubilee of Confederation. The sum of $250,000 was appropriated for the purposes of the Committee. The Committee consisted of Their Excellencies the Governor-General and the Viscountess Willingdon, of the Lieutenant-Governors and Premiers of the Provinces, the Speakers of the two Houses of Parliament, a few members of the Privy Council, the Chief Justice of Canada, the heads of the two large Railway systems, the heads of a number of representative organizations, and

of the Year

others.

The Civil Service was granted an increase of pay which was in the nature of a flat increase throughout the inside and outside service but was subject to certain exceptions. The supplementary vote for the purpose was $2,700,000. The Civil Service Superannuation Act was amended to extend the time till July, 1927, for civil servants to exercise their option of coming under it, and another amendment provided pensions for the widows of retired civil servants.

A Federal District Commission was created by a special Act to take over the work of the Ottawa Improvement Commission. It was provided that the new Commission should consist of ten members, nine appointed by the Dominion Government, one by the City of Ottawa. One of the nine chosen by the Government was to reside in the City of Hull, Quebec, The Act provided for a grant of $250,000 per annum to the Commission for sixteen years. Authority was given for the expenditure of money in the suburbs of the cities of Ottawa and Hull, but no specific limits were set to the Federal District. The Act left the municipal authorities in each province intact, such matters belonging, under the British North America Act, to provincial jurisdiction.

A vote was placed in the Estimates for the commencement of work on the new group of Federal buildings in the Capital. Approval was given to plans for the first structure, to be in the nature of a general office building.

The memorial to the nurses of Canada who gave their lives in the Great War was unveiled by Margaret C. Macdonald, LL.D., R.C.C., Matron-in-chief of the Canadian Nursing Service, on Aug. 24, 1926. The memorial was presented to the Government by Miss Jean E. Browne, President of the Canadian Nurses Association, and accepted on behalf of the Government by Sir Henry Drayton. Premier Ferguson of Ontario was present at the ceremony. Tributes were received from His Excellency the Governor-General (Lord Byng), Rt. Hon. W. L. Mackenzie King, the Matron of the Imperial Army Nursing Service, and from the American Nursing Association.

The trade treaty between Canada and the British West Indies, Bermuda, British Guiana and British Honduras was brought into effect on May 1st, 1927, by proclamation.

Oliver Mowat Biggar, Chief Electoral Officer by Act of Parliament, resigned and Jules Castonguay was appointed, under an amendment to the Act, by resolution of the House of Commons.

Out of 1,510 claims from civilians under the Reparations Clauses of the Treaty of Versailles received by the Dominion Government, reports had been made on 1,504 up to Apr. 11, 1927. Under the Dawes plan Canada had received $4,009,517 on this account and was entitled on the date just given to receive $3,789,430. On Feb. 23 the value of the property in the hands of the Canadian Custodian of Enemy Property was $11,577,768.

Miss Agnes Macphail wrote a letter to the school children of her riding on the situation in China, which led to a debate in the House.

Miss Macphail urged the amendment of the Naturalization Act to permit Canadian women who marry foreigners to remain British citizens. Hon. Fernand Rinfret, on behalf of the Government, expressed sympathy but said it was necessary to get action throughout the Empire. The British House of Commons, he added, had already approved the view put forward by Miss Macphail,

The appropriations contained a vote to allow the resumption of experiments at the Alfred peat bog. The Minister stated that so far about $300,000 had been spent in this work.

Provision was made for the addition of one judge to the Supreme Court and for the compulsory superannuation of all judges of the Supreme and Exchequer Courts on reaching the age of seventy-five.

The Loan Companies Act and the Trust Companies Act were amended to require companies operating under them to take out an annual licence and in some other particulars. The Insurance Act was also amended.

The Trade Marks Act was amended to authorize the registration of "union labels" under certain conditions.

The postage on certain classes of newspapers was reduced by an amendment to the Post Office Act.

Three Acts were passed dealing with agriculture. Provision was made for grading fruit for export. Machinery was created for the registration of insecticides and fungicides. The Live Stock Act was amended to facilitate the operation of co-operative organizations on the exchanges.

Representatives of the Trades and Labour Congress of Canada laid a number of proposals before the Prime Minister on Dec. 16, 1926. They asked, among other things, the amendment of the Criminal Code to allow peaceful picketing, for the abolition of appeals to the Privy Council, for the discontinuance of grants for military training in the schools, and for the repeal of the Sales tax before the Income tax was reduced.

A deputation from the Retail Merchants Association of Canada waited on the Minister of Finance on Feb. 1st, 1927. Among the more important requests made were the cancellation of the Income tax, gradual abolition of the Sales tax, reduction of the registration fee on letters from ten to five cents, and amendments to the Criminal Code to stop the use of trading stamps and similar devices.

Sixteen Bills to amend public laws were introduced by private members but none got past second reading. One, which passed the Senate but got only first reading in the Commons, proposed to set up a divorce court for Ontario. Another would have removed the necessity for Ministers of the Crown seeking re-election, in certain cases, after accepting office.

A private Bill affecting the capital structure of the Sun Life Assurance Company was amended so as to limit the dividend to shareholders to fifteen per cent, and the Bill was withdrawn.

The North American Relations Foundation was incorporated by a private Act. Its purpose was declared to be the promotion, maintenance and safeguarding of international amity and friendly relations between the peoples of Canada and the United States.

A Bill to incorporate the Thousand Isles International Bridge Company, which was to be financed by American capital and proposed to erect a bridge across the St. Lawrence near Ganonoque, was rejected by the Private Bills Committee of the House of Commons. In this connection Major Graham Bell, Deputy Minister of Railways and Canals, stated that it was anticipated that the Canadian railways would bridge the St. Lawrence at the point chosen for the foot of navigation from the new Welland Canal, probably at Brockville or Prescott.

Hon. W. M. Martin, a Judge of the Court of Appeal of Saskatchewan, was appointed on Mar. 8, 1927, to investigate the claim of the Province of British Columbia for the reconveyance to the Province by the Dominion of the Railway lands conveyed by the Province to the Dominion under the terms of the union.

In reference to the Home Bank the Minister of Finance stated (Feb. 16, 1927) that of the $3,000,000 voted by Parliament for relief all but $222,233.59 had been paid by the commissioners. In addition the liquidator had paid twenty-five per cent. to all creditors. In a further statement (Apr. 4) he

said that out of 1,686 shareholders, 835 had met their double liability in full.

The par value of the shares and the double liability received to that date was $756,765.52; the liquidator then hoped to secure an additional substantial

amount.

A joint committee of the two Houses investigated the claims of the Allied Indian Tribes of British Columbia and of the Indian Tribes of the Interior of that province during the Session of 1926-27. In regard to the claim that the Indian tribes had an aboriginal title to the lands of British Columbia which had never been extinguished, the Committee found that the Indians had no such title based on aboriginal or other right. They reviewed a number of other grievances presented by representatives of the Indians and, while advising some changes in the policy of the Department of Indian Affairs, they expressed the view that "the Indians of British Columbia receive benefits which are in excess of those granted by the treaty to Indians in other parts of Canada." The report was presented to both Houses on April 11, 1927, and adopted. The Indian Act was amended during the same Session, chiefly in the direction of giving the Department more control over places of amusement on the reserves. Another Act gave the Superintendent-General certain powers to deal with the St. Regis Indian islands in the St. Lawrence.

The

Conservative
Leadership

and

Convention

Following the defeat of the Conservatives in the Election there was much discussion in the Conservative press as to the causes of the disaster, and the suggestion was made that it was necessary that the Conservative party should have a new leader. There was a discussion on this matter between The Mail and Empire, Toronto, and The Gazette of Montreal. The former asked "what other man at the head of the Party could have done any better in the last Election than Mr. Meighen did? What reason is there for supposing that Quebec would have been kinder to any other leader in Mr. Meighen's place?" The Gazette summed up the criticism of Mr. Meighen in its issue of Sept. 22. "French-Canadian Quebec," it said, "has voted solidly against the Conservative party led by Mr. Meighen, and has done it thrice in succession, despite the admitted fact that the Conservative policy conforms absolutely to the social and economic requirements of the Province. There was no accident about these votes; they were given deliberately upon each occasion by an overwhelming majority-and upon one issue-Mr. Meighen. The Gazette did not argue whether the people of Quebec had real ground for the antipathy they had shown. "The essential fact, it stated, "is that Quebec will not have Mr. Meighen, and it is a stubborn fact, one that is not affected in any way by debates as to whether the French-Canadian attitude is just or unjust." At the time he relinquished the premiership on Sept. 27, 1926, Mr. Meighen also announced that he would resign the leadership of the Conservative party and that a caucus of Conservative Senators, Members of the House of Commons, and defeated candidates would be held in Ottawa on Oct. 11, 1926. At the caucus on Oct. 11, Mr. Meighen persisted in his intention to resign. "After the contest at the end of 1921," read a statement issued from Mr. Meighen's office, "he submitted his resignation to a conference similar to that which met yesterday, at the same time he placed his services at the disposal of the Party should they desire.

him to continue. On this occasion, such was his conviction that the best interests of all concerned could be promoted by his retirement, that the decision announced two weeks ago was definite and admitted of no conditions. It was, he said, his desire to bring about to the utmost, circumstances conducive to the advantage of his successor, and he urged the conference to take no step which would weaken the hands of him who was from this time on to have the great responsibility of leadership. Everything that could be done within his power to advance the interests of the Party and make happier the path of his successor would be done. Mr. Meighen urged that the conference confine its attention solely to matters arising out of his resignation." (Canadian Press Report, The Gazette, Montreal, Oct. 12,1926.)

At the same caucus, Hon. Hugh Guthrie was selected to lead the Conservative opposition during the approaching Session, and a committee was appointed to make arrangements for a national convention of the party to select a permanent leader.

The retirement of Mr. Meighen from the leadership was the occasion of many tributes paid to him in the press. "He goes out without a stain upon his armour," said The Ottawa Journal (Sept. 27), "To his last fight he gave his all; it was not his fault if he did not reach the summit. He believed in himself, he believed in Canada, and he believed in his policies, and he was true to the last to all of them.

The Mail and Empire, Toronto (Sept. 27) said that "as House leader and as Opposition leader," Mr. Meighen was "unequalled" and expressed the hope that a seat would be offered to Mr. Meighen and that he would be elected to it.

The Manitoba Free Press (Lib.) said (Sept. 28) that "while Mr. Meighen's retirement from the leadership of the Conservative party was inevitable at this time, it is not inevitable that he should remain permanently out of public life. . . . To enter Parliament at thirty-four, one of a horde of undistinguished raw recruits, and to become almost immediately a parliamentary figure," was the tribute paid the retiring Conservative leader by this journal; "to fight his way to the charmed government ranks in six years; to win premiership at forty-six; to attain and hold against all comers the position of the first swordsman of Parliament-these are achievements which will survive the disaster of to-day."

The Vancouver Province (Sept. 25) declared that "as a parliamentary fighter, Mr. Meighen can scarcely be surpassed. But as a political leader he has not met with the success his abilities deserved." The Daily Colonist of Victoria (Sept. 26) expressed the view that "unfortunately for Mr. Meighen as a political leader he was a member of the Government which adopted a policy of conscription." La Patrie of Montreal said that "when the smoke of battle has died away, it will be acknowledged throughout the whole Dominion, and particularly in the Province of Quebec what great efforts the Hon. Arthur Meighen made to bring about national