1. Has the government given instructions to the Deputy Minister o{ Railways and Canals to. impure into the causes of delay in the construction of the Napoleon bridge over the La-chine canal ?

2 If so, has the deputy minister made a report on the subject ?

3. If so, what is the nature of that report ?

4, Is the government preparing to take the necessary steps to bring about the immediate execution of those works ?

Rt. Hon. Sir WILFRID LAURIER (Prime Minister).

I understand that the Railway Department is attending to this matter, but I cannot give the precise information that my hon. friend asks for to-day.

1. No, so far as the Minister of Militia is concerned.

2. (a) An option was reported as having been obtained ; (b) The price asked for the whole property is not known to the department, but the sum of $3,250 was asked for the small lot on which the house stands.

3. Yes.

4. The chief engineer of the department proceeded to St. John to report on several proposed sites not owned by the government. Of such proposed sites he recommended the Chipman property. He did not report as to whether this site was to be preferred to the present drill shed site.

5. Yes.

6. Matter is under consideration.

Mr. HACKETT asked :

In view of his important services to the country, in the making of the Dominion, of his great talent and eloquence, and 'especially of his sterling patriotism, is it the intention of the government to honour the memory of the late Hon. Thomas D'Ar'cy McGee) and through him people of Irish birth and descent in this Dominion, by the erection of a suitable statue to him on Parliament Hill, as has been done in the cases of Sir John A. Macdonald, Sir Etienne Carter and the Hon. Alexander Mackenzie ?

Rt. Hon. Sir WILFRID LAURIER (Prime Minister).

It is the intention of the government to erect on Parliament Hill monuments to the great characters in the history of the Dominion, and, of course, Mr. McGee would be included amongst them.

1. In connection with the rush to the Yukon gold fields in 1897, were any communications received by the government, or any member thereof, in the year named or the following year, advocating the Edmonton route as a means of reaching the Yukon ?

2. If so, from whom were these communications received ?

3. What is the nature of these communications ?

4. What action was taken upon them ?

5. Did the government cause to be published a pamphlet descriptive of the Edmonton route to the Yukon ?

6. Did the government cause a notice to be issued warning people of the dangers of the route in question to inexperienced persons ?

1. Yes.

2. From the boards of trade of Edmonton, Winnipeg and London ; the legislative assembly of the Northwest Territories ; the

town councils of Edmonton, Regina and Winnipeg ; and the municipality of Springfield, Manitoba.

3. They recommend the Edmonton route on account of the advantages which would accrue to Canada by its adoption.

4. A small body of Northwest Mounted Tolice, in command of Inspector J. D. Moodie, was detailed to test the route in the year 1897. His report is contained in the annual report of the Northwest Mounted Police for 1898. A grant of $15,000 was voted by parliament during the session of 1898 toward the construction of a trail from Edmonton towards the Yukon Territory, which was expended by the government of the Northwest Territories.

5. No pamphlet was issued especially dealing with the Edmonton route. A pamphlet entitled ' The Klondike Official Guide ' was prepared by Wm. Ogilvie, D.L.S., and published in 1898 by authority of the Department of the Interior. It contains a description of the various routes to the Yukon, and, among others, gives some description of the Edmonton route.

6. The government neither advised nor discouraged travel by the Edmonton route. The information at the disposal of the government was placed before the public, so that1 travellers might judge for themselves.

MAIL SERVICE BETWEEN /CAPES TRAVERSE AND TORMENTINE.

Mr. LEE URGE Y-by Mr. Hackett-asked :

1. How many men were employed in carrying the mails by the iceboats between Capes Traverse and Tormentine during the winter of 1904 ?

2. What are the names and respective post office addresses of the men so employed ?

3. What was the amount ef wages paid to each, and were they paid by the day or by the trip ?

4. Who had the contract for carrying the mails between the shore and the iceboats at Cape Traverse during ,the winter of 1904 ; also between the iceboats and the shore ?

5. How was said contractor employed, by so much per diem or by the round trip ?

6. If by the day, how much was paid ? If by the trip, the cost of same ?

7. What was the total 'amount paid to the contractor for said services ?

S. When did this service commence, and on what date did it cease ; and on how many days were the mails carried by the capes ?

9. On how many days did the steamships ' Stanley ' and ' Minto ' fail in crossing between Georgetown and Pictou during the winter of 1904, and what were the dates of same ?

10. While mails were carried by the capes, on how many days did the boats fail in crossing ?

Hon. RAYMOND PREFONTAINE (Minister of Marine and Fisheries).

If the hon. gentleman will move for a return, the papers will be laid ou the table of the House in a very short time. The information is very voluminous.

GRAND TftUNK PACIFIC-EMPLOYMENT OF ALIENS.

Mr. R. L. BORDEN (Halifax).

Mr. Speaker, before the Orders of the Day are called, I would like to 'ask the government whether or not any counsel are being employed on the investigation which Is now proceeding before Judge Winchester ? I have only a knowledge of the character of the proceedings by what I see in the dally press, and I would gather from this that while the people are not represented by counsel the corporation particularly Interested is represented by counsel in some of the proceedings at least. I would not think that an investigation of that' kind would probably be very effective or that we would get at the bottom of the facts which we desire to be made public unless counsel are employed to assist the judge. A man in the judicial position of Judge Winchester, because he is assuming a judicial position in this investigation, could not very well be expected to properly cross-examine the witnesses called before him. I do not know what the character of the examination is except from what 1 observe in the dally press, but if the examination of these witnesses is of the character reported, then I would venture to say that the investigation will not amount to very much, and the facts will not be elicited. It is absolutely impossible for the government to establish the facts as they should be established if they simply have Important witnesses summoned before Judge Winchester and have that judge administer to these witnesses interrogatories of the somewhat mild and not very far-reaching character which are reported in the press. It may be that the press is not doing him justice, but the investigation is hardly worthy of the name if' it is going on as reported in the press. If the investigation is designed to be thorough, I would suppose that the facts would be put into possession of counsel, and that these witnesses would be subject to cross-examination, so that we may have a report In which parliament might afterwards place some confidence as having been thorough and exhaustive. It may he that counsel are employed, but the report In the press does not indicate that.