Mr. Speaker, I desire to rise to a question of privilege. I notice in the Ottawa ' Citizen's ' report of what occurred in the House last night that the hon. member for East Northumberland (Mr. Cochrane) stated that the Hon. Sydney Fisher was a director of the Montreal ' Herald ' Company'. I wish to state most emphatically that this is not the case, that I have- not been a director of the Montreal ' Herald ' Company since I have been a minister of the Crown ; and, furthermore, when I became a minister of the Crown I disposed of my stock in that company, and have had no connection with it in a pecuniary way since.

Mr. SPROULE.

I may say that I understood the hon. member for East Northumberland to say that it was understood. He did not say whether it was correct or not.

The report in the ' Citizen ' states it most unqualifiedly.

Mr. SPROULE.

He did not say whether it was correct or not.

PAItMELEE (Shefford). Mr. Speaker, in rising to move concurrence in the third report of the Joint Committee of both Houses on the Printing of Parliament, I desire to make a brief explanation. Following a practice which has grown up, the committee ventured to recommend to this House the purchase of a certain number of copies of a book entitled ' Decisions of Speakers of the House of Commons.' The committee felt justified in taking that position, rely'ing upon the validity of the precedents which had been established in 1893, 1895, 1896 and 1898, when reports of a similar character had been concurred in by this House. My attention has been called to

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the constitutional aspect of a procedure of that kind. The committee is .prepared to assert all its rights and to exercise all the powers that are given to it ; but, on the other hand, it has no desire whatever to insidiously undermine the British constitution. It seems to me that when the committee makes a recommendation of this kind, and it is concurred in l>y the House, we strike at one of the fundamental principles of the constitution in respect to the appropriation of public moneys. It is a well known principle of the constitution that all appropriations of public funds and public revenues have to be initiated by the Crown and have to be brought down to this House by means of a message from His Excellency the Governor General. This question lias never been definitely settled, though at one time or another it has been brought up in this House. I would be very glad, as chairman of the committee, as I am sure all members of the committee would be, if this question were settled for all time to come on lines that would guide us as to our future action. There is no doubt that the Printing Committee has full power with respect to the printing of parliament, but I am not aware that any other powers are conferred on the committee. While on my feet, I might say that very often motions are made in this House to authorize the printing of parliamentary documents. Even that, I believe, is irregular, because I think that under the powers vested in the committee all motions respecting public and parliamentary printing should first be considered by that committee, and be brought before the House in the form of a report from us. In moving the adoption of the report, I have decided, for the reasons I have stated, to drop the particular clause recommending the purchase of books, which, logically, should be followed by an appropriation of money. I beg to move, seconded by Mr. Cowan :

That the third report of the Joint Committee of both Houses on the Printing of Parliament be concurred in, save and except the last paragraph, recommending the purchase of a book entitled ' Decisions of Speakers of the House of Commons.'

Mr. SPEAKER.

I have the honour to inform the House that I have received the following letter from His Excellency the Governor General's secretary :

Ottawa, 24th June, 1903.

Sir,-I have the honour to inform you that the Honourable Sir Henri E. Tasehereau, acting as deputy to His Excellency the Governor General, will proceed to the Senate Chamber on Thursday, the 25th inst., at 4 o'clock p.m., for the purpose of giving assent to certain bills which Mr. PARMELEE.

have passed the Senate and House of Commons during the present session.

I have the honour to he, sir,

Your obedient servant,

F. S. MAUDE, Major, Governor General's Secretary.

The government have consulted the Department of Justice in respect to the points brought forward by the governments of New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island on the question of representation in this House, and the opinion given by the Department of Justice lias been sustained by the Supreme Court on a reference to that court.

1. Is a Miss Hagar employed at the Central Experimental Farm ?

2. How long has she been in Canada ?

3. Who recommended her 1

4. What is her occupation ?

5. How long has she been employed ?

6. What salary does she receive ?

7. Has any addition, or change, in any of the buildings on the farm been made on her account ?

8. What is the cost of such addition, or change ?

1. A Miss Hagar is temporarily employed at the Central Experimental Farm.

2. About eight months.

3. She was recommended as having had a thorough training in botany and other branches of natural science at Owens College, Manchester, England, by Professor Weiss, one of the professors in that institution of learning, and by Professor Marshall Ward, professor of botany in Cambridge University, England. She was also recommended by Professor H. T. Bovey, Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science, McGill University, Montreal.

4. She has been engaged in special expert work in making up for the director of

experimental farms records of the large *collections of trees and shrubs at the Central farm and cataloguing the collection of herbaceous plants, also in compiling scientific details on varieties of cereals, the action of fertilizers, and other topics for the use of the director, for bulletin purposes, and for his evidence before the Committee on Agriculture and Colonization of the House of Commons; detail work which bad unavoidably run into arrears, owing to the ever-increasing press of work under which the director labours.

5. Since the middle of March last.

6. Forty dollars a month.

7. No addition; but some slight changes have been made in a room in the office building for her accommodation.

8. The cost of the changes made on Miss Hagar's account has been about ten dollars.

OWEiN SOUND HARBOUR.

1. What are the names of the party, or parties, who measured and valued lot number 13, on the east side of West street, and north of Front street, required for the improvements to harbour at Owen Sound ? What are the names of the party, or parties, who measured and valued water Jot at mouth of the Polawatamie river, and transferred to Harrison & Sons ?

1. Lot No. 13, on the east side of West street and north of Front street, is not Indian land.

2. John Mackenzie, of Presqu'isle, in the county of Grey, examined and valued a marsh lot near the mouth of the Polawatamie river, in the town plot of Brook, which was sold by the Department of Indian Affairs to John Harrison.