Sir WILFRID LAURIER.

I shall come to that presently. The force is composed of 700 men. We have one commissioner at $3,000, two assistant commissioners at $2,000 each, eleven superintendents at from $1,500 to $1,800 each, thirty-six inspectors at from $1,050 to $1,400 each, two surgeons, one at $1,700 and the other at $1,600; three assistant surgeons, two at $1,400 and one at $1,100. There is a special allowance to the, fourteen officers serving in the Yukon and Hudson bay of $1.25 per day, and of $2 per day to the officer commanding in the Yukon. There are eleven sergeant-majors, ten at $1.75 per day and one at $2; thirty staff sergeants, five at $1.50, 22 at $1.75 and three at $2 per day; forty-six sergeants at $1.25 per day, sixty-five corporals at $1.10 per day, four hundred and ninety-three special constables and constables at 85 cents per day, and then there

is special allowance to officers and con stables in the far north of $12,000. With regard to the subsistence, we distribute the item of $425,000 as follows: Subsistence

of men and horses, are as follows:

Pay of force

Subsistence-men. ..

horses ..

Light and fuel.. ..

Clothing

Repairs and renewals Horses, arms and ammunition, books and stationery, hospital. Billeting and travel

ling

Transport and freight

Contingencies

Buildings

$110,000. The details

$325,000

We have in the two provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan 500 men, 100 in the Yukon and 100 in the Territory. We have 12 principal stations distributed in Alberta, Saskatchewan, the Territory and the Yukon. _ In each of these 12 stations is a district, at the head of which is an officer and a small staff, and each one of these stations has a certain number of detached stations. We have 150 subsidiary stations dependent upon these 12. In Alberta there are 63 such stations; in Saskatchewan, 70; in the Yukon, 10; in the Northwest Territories, 7. We propose to distribute them from the United States boundary line up to Whitehorse and Dgwson in the Yukon, to the mouth of the Mackenzie river in the north and to the Hudson bay in the east.

Mr. FOSTER.

How many men have you in Alberta?

Sir WILFRID LAURIER.

Two hundred and fifty, and 250 in Saskatchewan, 100 in the Northwest Territories, and 100 in the Yukon. There are 12 posts where the men are distributed. My non. friend is familiar with the duties of those men. They include not only the duties of police officers in the ordinary sense, but they are of great assistance to colonization and settlement. I may say that the force is all the time patrolling; the men are all the time on horseback, visiting every settlement and every settler, visiting the ranchmen, asking if there are any complaints, rectifying erroneous reports, and reporting anything out of the ordinary. I may say that though we ask for an appropriation of $750,000, the cost to the federal treasury is only $600,000, because we receive $75,000 each from the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Mr. FOSTER.

What rifles is the force anned with now?

Sir WILFRID LAURIER.

The Lee-Met-ford and the Winchester.

Mr. FOSTER.

I would like a little more explanation as to the disposition of the men. Is it a part of the policy of the department gradually to withdraw the men from the more thickly settled portions of Alberta and Saskatchewan, the large towns for instance, the large villages along the line of railway, and distribute them to the outlying portions, where there is lesser civic authority, and influences that come from the more settled conditions, especially in view of the fact that the time is approaching when these provinces must, the same as British Columbia and Manitoba, look after their own civic affairs, in so far as this force takes the place of bailiffs and constables, and that kind of officer which, in other provinces, is provided by the provincial authority. So it is a matter of some importance to know whether the policy of the department is to withdraw from the older portions and gradually to distribute the force, send them into the outlying districts where the power of the civil authority is not so strong. There is another point which I would like to mention to the Prime Minister, and I will be frank about it: Does he allow local party interests to have any part or lot in this matter, or is he keeping this force in that respect on the high level of a military force? Is he sure that it is not used in any way to advance the interest of-we may be frank about it-the party, or the party representatives?

Sir WILFRID LAURIER.

With regard to the first point, my hon. friend has anticipated tne policy of the department; it is gradually to withdraw police protection from the larger and older sections of the community and give it to the new settlements. I am afraid that for some years to come we will be forced to keep a portion of the force on the frontier of the United States until settlement becomes thicker there. It is a matter of necessity for the protection of the revenue, and of the settler, and the preservation of peace, to keep a little closer watch on the line than in the interior. But gradually we are reducing the force in the larger towns, and extending it northward to the newer settlements. The day cannot be far distant when the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan can dispense with a large portion of the force; but I imagine that as long as immigration flows in at the rate it is doing now, it would be a mistake to withdraw the force altogether. The sight of the uniform is an encouragement to the settler, he feels more secure; especially those who come from the continent of Europe feel more safe when they know that the police constable is not far distant, and they can have recourse to

him, not only for the purpose of protection against violence, but for all sorts of needs. If the settler feels a difficulty about anything he goes to the police force, and that force is of great value to him in many ways. With regard to the second question of my hon. friend, I do not think that my hon. friend has received any complaint of the action of the police, I think it has been kept absolutely free from any partisan action. I have received complaints, perhaps on one or two occasions. The instructions are very severe to the officers that they should not interfere in politics in any way. But more than one or two complaints I have not received, and I do not think my hon. friend has received any either, or at most, very few.

Mr. FOSTER.

The right hon. gentleman says there are a hundred men in the Yukon. Would he tell me how they are distributed in the Yukon?

Sir WILFRID LAURIER.

We have reduced the force there from 300 to 100. At present there are two chief stations in the Yukon, at Dawson and at Whitehorse. In the Dawson division there are substations at Town Station, Grand Forks, Selkirk, Quartz creek, Granville, Selkirk and Forty Miles. In the Whitehorse division there are substations at Carcross, Livingstone creek and Champagne's Landing. They are looking after the miners chiefly. Of course it is our intention to reduce the force and eventually to withdrraw it completely. The experiment was tried two years ago in Dawson of having their own police force, but it did not work and they had to fall back upon the Mounted Police.

Mr. FOSTER.

As far as I am concerned, I agree entirely with the general idea of the Prime Minister that the force is of inestimable value to us and to the Northwest. The only points I think we ought to guard against, beside those I have mentioned, are that we do not give up its consummation, in the not very far distant future, of the idea that the provinces as they grow become densely populated and get their municipalities organized will ultimately have to look after their own police work.

Sir WILFRID LAURIER.

Hear, hear.

Mr. FOSTER.

There are two influences which, T suppose, the Prime Minister has constantly upon him. The local governments themselves, for various reasons, would be loath to see a single man of the Mounted Police disappear from either of the provinces and the localities seem to have a decided preference for the Mounted Police over a provincial constable or officer. These two influences would work towards the perpetuation of the force in all its fulness and it is against that that I think the Prime Minister is wise in having his policy defin-Sir WTLFRTD LAURTFR.

itely stated and currently carried out. The real need comes where settlement is more sparse. But, I think, that no one can question for a single moment that the force has been worth its cost a hundred times over in the development of the Northwest. It has not only been a credit to Canada but it has really been the backbone and support of the people of that country. It has kept order, maintained respect for the law and it has given to scattered families and homesteaders a real peace and comfort to know that the mounted policeman was within hail and made his occasional visit. Nothing could compensate for the loss of that, and I think the Dominon has done properly and rightly in keeping this force at its high level and distributing it through those portions of the Northwest. It is one thing, that, if it is kept out of party politics and kept up to its original excellence, there will never be much quarrel between the two sides of the House upon it.

Mr. SPROULE.

The right hon. Prime Minister did not know what the force in the Yukon cost. There are a hundred men, I understand?

Sir WILFRID LAURIER.

There are one hundred men in the Yukon.

Mr. SPROULE.

What is the cost?

Sir WILFRID LAURIER.

We estimate that in the Yukon the cost per man is $1,500. We estimate that the cost per man in Alberta and Saskatchewan is $900.

Mr. LAKE.

How much is contributed by the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta to the maintenance?

Sir WILFRID LAURIER.

$75,000 by each province, or $150,000 in all.

Mr. SPROULE.

Then the cost of the force in the Yukon will be $150,000, I take it?

Sir WILFRID LAURIER.

Yes.