1. Yes.

2. Mauger's Beach, Nova Scotia ; Father Point, Quebec ; Baskin's Wharf, Ontario : Aylmer, Quebec ; and the lighthouses on the Upper St. Lawrence, between Montreal and Kingston.

3. The answers to questions Nos. 1 and 2 cover this question.

1. Has the government purchased from a Boston firm, or company, a number of submarine signals ?

2. If so, how many have been obtained ?

3. What was the price paid for them ?

4. On whose recommendation were these submarine signals purchased ?

5. In what countries are they in use, and to what extent ?

1. Yes.

2. Three have been ordered.

3. Cost $1,200 each.

4. On the recommendation of the deputy minister, the commander of the marine service and the commissioner of lights.

5. In the United States, and on the American lightships between New York and Boston. .

HUGHES-by Mr. R. L. Borden-asked :

1. Has any notice recently been issued by the Militia department concerning arrears of pay claimed to be due to members of C Battery for service in South Africa ?

2. What is the nature of such notice ?

3. Are those members of C Battery who were denied the extra pay accorded to other corps in South Africa to receive such pay now ?

1. Yes.

2. It requests ex-menlbers of C Battery to make application to the Officer Commanding, R.C.F.A., for payment.

3. Presumably this question refers to ' deferred pay.' Members of C Battery drew pay in South Africa at a higher rate than the Canadian rate, and, therefore, were not entitled to deferred pay.

Hon. W. S. FIELDING (Minister of Finance) :

Mr. KAULBACH.

Mr. T. O. DAVIS (Saskatchewan).

Before the Orders of the Day are called, I wish to draw the attention of the House to the state of the mail service in the Saskatchewan district. I received a telegram to-day from the secretary of the Board of Trade of Rosthern. in my constituency. It is as follows :

Rosthern Board of Trade requests you to urge Postmaster General to hasten transportation of mails, none since fourteenth delays unreasonable for months business men and general public greatly inconvenienced also as to freight situation desperate do what you can.

DR. A. B. STEWART, President Rosthern Board of Trade.

I might say in connection with this matter that I have received by telegram during the past two or three weeks communications of a similar kind from the Boards of Trade of Prince Albert and other places. I can quite understand that owing to the snow blockade of last winter, there might be some reasonable excuse for the company then not being able to deliver the mails. But I am given to understand from the same localities that the company is short of coal, and that that is one of the reasons for the present delay. However I think that at this season of the year the fault rests largely with the company, for the simple reason, that while no mails have gone into or out of that country for fourteen or fifteen days, passengers

have come down and have brought mail with them. If passengers could come down and bring mail matter with them 1 would think that the railway company 'should be forced by the Postmaster General to deliver the mails. I know that the bridge at Saskatoon has been swept away by the flood but there is a ferry on the river and the mails could have been transported on it. The company have quite a number of locomotives between Prince Albert and Saskatoon and also between Saskatoon and Lumsden where I believe the trouble is, as the Qu'Appelle Valley is flooded. But they could get the mail across by boat if they took the trouble. The Canadian Pacific Railway, however, will not take any action and while passengers are able to get through they refuse to take the mail out, and I think they should be forced to do so. I draw the attention of the government to it, and I think the administration should see that the railway carry out their contract, and perform the services for which they are paid.

Mr. W. P. MACLEAN (East York).

Before this motion is carried I would like to call the attention of the Finance Minister (Mr. W. S. Fielding) to the circulation in this country of the silver of the Straits Settlements. It is exactly similar in its appearance to the Canadian silver coinage and has on one side of it the Queen's head very much like our own coinage. But it is a depreciated coinage. The 50 cent piece I am informed is not worth 20 cents in value and there seems to be an organization, almost a conspiracy-and I am told it is an Oriental conspiracy-to unload great quantities of this silver in Canada. The business men of Toronto, Montreal and other places are complaining of its circulation. It if passed in rapid circulation and every one takes these coins for 50 cent pieces, but when you come to examine it, it is found to be depreciated money of the Straits Settlements. I think it should be the duty of the Canadian government to protest against the use of the Sovereign's head of a depreciated currency, in such a way as to mislead the public and injure tbe silver coinage of colonies whose silver is up to standard. A protest from this government to the home government might be effective. It has been suggested that this 50 cent piece should be made much thicker, or should have some distinctive mark on it such as the square hole which we find in the centre of Chinese coins. In some way our people should be protected from this coinage. I simply wish to ask the Finance Minister (Mr. W. S. Fielding) to consider whether it would not be wise to enter a protest against the circulation of this depreciated silver coinage which so closely resembles the Canadian coinage.

Hon. W. S. FIELDING (Minister of Finance).

I am afraid we would be hardly justified in entering a protest against the action of another colony which might claim the right to manage its own currency. If there is a dangerous similarity between the coinage of the Straits Settlements and our own, possibly we might have to adopt some alterations in our own coinage. No one is obliged to take silver, which is not a legal tender, and the people have it in their hands to refuse it. But I know that by the practice of commerce the mere fact of its not being tender is not enough ; people take it as they do American coinage. I should be glad to take the matter into consideration, and if the similarity is so dangerous that it requires attention, we may be able to find some solution of the difficulty. ,

Mr. SPEAKER.

May I take this opportunity of asking hon. members to keep better order ? Talking in the House, I am sorry to say, is getting from bad to worse. It is very unpleasant to the Speaker to have to shout at the top of his voice to request order. I do not wish to do so : it is undignified and certainly, the Speaker ought not to be put under that obligation. The order is so bad in the House that the example is followed in the galleries. Hon. gentlemen on the floor of the House talk at the top of their voices and naturally ptople in the galleries follow their example, so that, when the order is bad in the House, we find that it is bad in the galleries. I desire to make a special and earnest appeal to all the members of the House to preserve better order.