Mr. PREFONTAINE.

12. The sale and export of speckled trout, black bass and maskinonge, is hereby prohibited for a period of five years from the date of this Order in Council, provided, however, that any person from a foreign country fishing in the waters of the province, and applying and paying for an angler's permit, may, upon leaving the province, when the same are accompanied by him, take with him the lawful' catch of two days' fishing.

The Governor General in Council is further-pleased to order that any previous Orders in Council which are in conflict with these regulations be rescinded in so far as the province of Ontario is affected.

(Sgd.) JOHN J. McGEE.

Clerk of the Privy Council.

Mr. A. A. LEFURGEY.

I obtained an order of the House on April 25th for certain papers in connection with the Murray Harbour Railway and Hillsboro' branch. I call the attention of the Minister of Railways to the fact that they have not been brought down. On the 30th of May an order of the House was issued for certain letters and petitions with reference to a letter from the Minister of Marine dated the 22nd of April. On the same date I obtained an order of the House for returns with regard to the chicken fattening station, and also a further order for papers with regard to the Murray Harbour Railway and the Hillsboro' bridge. I would like to have these returns brought down at as early a date as possible. As the session is drawing to a close, we wish to get this information so that we may make some use of it.

Hon. SYDNEY A. FISHER (Minister of Agriculture).

In view of the question that was asked of the government yesterday, in regard to the matter referred to by Lord Dundonald on Saturday last, at a banquet held in Montreal, I have to make the following personal explanation

Mr. Speaker, I am glad to take this earliest opportunity permitted me to state the exact facts, in regard to the incidents referred to by the General Officer Commanding, Lord Dundonald, in his speech at the military banquet in Montreal, Saturday, the 4th instant.

In consequence of the reports which appeared in the press of Lord Dundonald's utterances, the Minister of Militia wrote the following note to the General Officer Commanding :

June 8, 1904.

Dear Lord Dundonald,-Will you be good enough to read the inclosed newspaper-clipping from this morning's ' Citizen ' and let me know if it correctly reports your utterances and the-attendant circumstances.

Yours very truly,

(Signed) F. W. BORDEN.

Rt. Hon.

The Earl of Dundonald,

Major General.

To -which Lord Dundonald replied as follows [DOT]

Militia Headquarters, Canada, June 8, 1904.

Dear Sir Frederick Borden,-I am obliged for the extract from this morning's 'Citizen.' Though I made some notes for my speech at Montreal, I did not refer in these notes to the 13th Light Dragoons or to Mr. Sydney Fisher, and have therefore nothing to refer to with regard to this portion of my speech beyond memory.

The 'Citizen' states that I.said:-

' A most flagrant instance of political Interference has recently come before me in connection with the appointment of officers in the new Eastern Township Cavalry regiment, the Scottish Light Dragoons. The commanding officer of the corps had selected officers because of their apparent fitness from a military point of view. The names reached me and were sent to council, and gentlemen, what do you think happened ? The list having my approval was returned with the name of one officer striken out, and initialled hy the Minister of Agriculture.

' The gentleman whose name was stricken from the list was Dr. Pickel, the mayor of Sweetsburg, and warden of the county of Mis-sisquoi, a man chosen of the people and well qualified to serve his King and country. His political colour was not, however, that of the Minister of Agriculture, and consequently he was not considered fit to serve his King in the military force of Canada.'

The above is substantially what I said, except that I also stated that Mr. Fisher interfered with the organization of the corps and with the names of other proposed officers as well as Dr. Pickel. With regard to the first portion of the extract you sent me I did not say that all appointments are made in the militia through political intrigue. The substance of -what I said, if my memory serves me right, w as that : ' In time of peace the hands of the general were liable to be embarrassed by political intrigue and consequently the interests of the country suffered.'

Yours very truly,

(Signed) DUNDONALD.

The Hon.

Sir Frederick Borden, K.C.M.G.,

Minister of Militia and Defence.

Ill regard to Lord Dundonald's general statement that I interfered with the organization of the corps and with the names of other proposed officers of the corps as well as Dr. Pickel's, let me say this : That the only grounds on -^vhich I made any suggestions in regard to the establishment of this corps were the immense importance of the appointment of leading officers with military qualifications, who knew the country find the people of the eastern townships, the district where the corps was to be established ; that I took no exception to anybody's appointment on political grounds alone as evidenced by my recommendation and endorsement of many well-known Conservatives ; that no one believes more thproughly than I do that the first necessity in the recommendation of officers on the establishment of a new regiment is military qualification, and general personal suit-146

ability, and that no political considerations should be allowed to interfere with this. Should occasion arise for the discussion of details in regard to these general statements, I shall be prepared to furnish them and to prove what I am now stating.

In regard to what Lord Dundonald calls ' a most flagrant instance of political interference,' through my having stricken the name of Dr. Pickel from the list recommended by him to the Minister of Militia, I have this to say. Lord Dundonald says :

' The gentleman whose name was stricken from the list was Dr. Pickel, the mayor of Sweetsburg, and warden of the county of Mis-sisquoi, a man chosen of the people and well qualified to serve his King and country. His political colour was not, however, that of the Minister of Agriculture, and consequently he was not considered fit to serve his King in the military force of Canada.'

In the list of proposed appointments signed by Lord Dundonald in which the item appears of Dr. P. A. Pickel to be major, there is an asterisk opposite his name and a foot-note stating :

' As a special case, and will be required to pass the qualifying examination.'^

When I first saw his name upon the list, knowing him personally and knowing something of military matters in the neighbourhood, I was aware that he had never been connected with the militia and had never shown any interest in military matters or participated in any such movement. I therefore suggested that his appointment as commander of a squadron should not be made.

Further, investigation confirmed me in this and also proved to the commanding officer who recommended his appointment that I was right. Dr. Pickel himself so appreciated this fact that he was reluctant to accept the position.-

On May 19th, in the absence from Ottawa of the Minister of Militia, the commanding officer of the regiment, Col. Smart, came to my office asking that I should press through council the passage of the general order authorizing these appointments. The next morning I received the following from Col. Pinault, Deputy Minister of Militia :

>

Ottawa. May 19. 1904.

Dear Mr. Fisher,-Will you kindly sign the inclosed, for the minister, and if possible have it passed to-day.

Very faithfully yours,

Mr. Speaker, as my name has been referred to in connection Mr. FISHER.

with this matter, I crave the indulgence of yourself and the House to make a personal explanation. I confirm literally and entirely the statement just made by my colleague, the Minister of Agriculture (Mr. Fisher). He had for several years advocated the organization of a mounted force in the Eastern Townships-his own home and that par.', of the Dominion, in the general good government of which he has a right to feel a special interest-and when the time came to take the question up, I naturally looked to him for advice and assistance. And let me say at once that recognizing myself to bo the man upon Whom-and upon whom alone -the entire responsibility rests to this parliament and to the Canadian people for the proper administration of the militia, I am always desirous of consulting everybody, whether colleague, member of parliament, officer or private citizen, who is willing to offer advice, or from whom I am likely to gain information. I was aware that Lt.-Col. Whitley, one of the ablest and most efficient cavalry officers in Canada, had been consulted with reference to the organization of the proposed new cavalry regiment mentioned iu the Montreal speech of the General Officer Commanding, and also that Lt.-Col. C. A. Smart had been recommended by Lt.-Ool. Whitley and the General and approved by me as commanding officer thereof. Toward the eud of March last T wrote to Lt.-Col. Whitley, expressing a desire to .see him. Having learned afterwards that he was in England, I requested the General to suspend 4.1ie work of organization until Lt.-Col. Whitley's return, having previously explained the reasons to the military secretary, for the information of the General. About the end of April Lt.-Col. Whitley returned, and early in May brought Lt.-Col. Smart to Ottawa to have a conference with me. This conference was of a most pleasant and satisfactory character. Both officers expressed a strong desire to have the general order containing the appointments connected with the organization of the regiment, with its several squadrons, put through promptly, in order that the regiment might be able to go to camp this year. This I promised to do. Finding that I would be obliged to he absent from Ottawa from the 18th to the 20th of May, I instructed my deputy to take the general crder containing the proposed list of appointments, so soon as completed, to my colleague, the Minister of Agriculture, to be by him submitted to Council, in view of the urgency of the case. I telegraphed to Lt.-Col. Whitley to meet me at Montreal on my way from Ottawa to Nova Scotia, which he did. He then repeated his previous request as to the necessity for putting the appointments through immediately. I lold him of the instructions I had given my deputy, and asked him to go- to Ottawa to assist in the final adjustment of the list. He promised to do so or send Lt.-Col. Smart.

My colleague has already stated what followed.