Mr. R. L. BORDEN.

Mr. Speaker, it appears that a motion moved by the hon. member for North Toronto (Mr. Foster) on the 14th instant was defective in form. It demanded a statement showing the cost of the Senate of Canada for each year since the fiscal year 1896. That information can only be obtained by a message to the Senate. I therefore beg to move, on behalf of Mr. Foster :

That a message be sent to the Senate requesting that tlieir honours will be pleased to grant to this House a statement showing the cost of the Senate of Canada for each year since the fiscal year 1896, under the headings of the number of senators, indemnity, travelling expenses, printing, stationery and contingencies.

I have been asked by Mr. Foster to make this motion to correct a defect in form which was called to his attention toy the officers of the House.

Sir WILFRID LAURIER.

I gave notice some time ago that I would move the following motion :

That when the House adjourns on Friday, the 16th instant, it stand adjourned to Tuesday, the 10th of January next.

It has been represented to me toy several members from the maritime provinces that it would be very inconvenient for them to be here on the 10th of January, as they would have to leave on Saturday and travel all day Sunday. If agreeable, therefore, I will change the date to the 11th of January.

Motion as amended, agreed to.

Sir WILFRID LAURIER.

I beg to

move :

That, as the time for receiving petitions for private Bills, and the time for presenting private Bills without additional charges, will be curtailed through the Christmas adjournment of the House, the said time as fixed by rule 88 and rule 89, subsections 3 (b) and (c), be extended to Wednesday, the 25th January, Wednesday, the 8th February, and Wednesday, the 8th March, respectively.

Mr. R. L. BORDEN.

Mr. Speaker, before the orders of the day are called, I would like to make a suggestion to the right hon. the Prime Minister with respect to the proceedings of the delegation which waited upon the government and upon parliament this morning. The occasion was rather a memorable one, not only on account of the very great number of delegates, but also on account of the force and earnestness with which they presented their views, as well as on account of the great ability with which those views were put forward. The occasion, I may say, was also a memorable one to myself, for another reason, that it was the only occasion since 1896 on Which I have seen the treasury benches occupied toy gentlemen in whom I had complete confidence. But the suggestion I desire to make is this. We do a good deal of printing in connection with the proceedings of parliament. Some of this printing does not really subserve any useful purpose afterwards, the documents being piled up and stacked away, and not put to very much use. But it would seem to me that the proceedings of this morning, the addresses that were made, the resolutions that were submitted to the government, and as I understand to parliament as well, and the reply of the right hon. the Prime Minister, might very well be printed, so that they would be available for the use of members, and also perhaps to some extent for distribution throughout the country, so far as they might be required by persons interested in the matters of public interest which were discussed by the delegation and toy the right hon. gentleman. I do not know whether the government made anv arrangement to

have the proceedings reported. I observed that there was one of the ' Hansard ' stenographers taking shorthand notes. 1 do not know whether that was for the government or not ; but, in any case, as practically all the addresses were in manuscript, there would be no difficulty at all about securing the necessary material for making a complete report. I would, therefore, urge as this delegation addressed itself not only to the government but to parliament, that the House should pass an order for the the printing or 20,000 or 25,000 copies of the proceedings, which would thus be available for the purpose to which I have already referred, and I earnestly hope that the government will act on my suggestion.

Sir WILFRID LAURIER.

The matter is well worth consideration, I shall look into it.

1. What amount of aid has been given or will be given to cold storage in Canada, and what are the names of persons assisted?

2. How is the amount of assistance of 30 per cent arrived at?

3. What rates are charged at Owen Sound?

4. If the capacity of Lemon Bros.' cold storage plant at Owen Sound is insufficient to accommodate the trade, would any assistance be given to a further approved plant at said town ?

1. Under contracts entered into under ' The Cold Storage Act,' up to date, aid has been given or will be given as follows:

Name. Paid. To be Paid.

New Brunswick Cold Storage Co $43,420.00 $ 6,680.00Lemon Bros

4,400.00 1,600.00

Wilson Co., Ltd... 16,720.00 5,780.00Halifax Cold Storage Co. 7,900.52 1,215.48

Woodstock Cold Storage

Co., Ltd

6,650.02 1,023.08Scott & Hogg

3,770.00 580.00

Palmerston Cold Storage

Co

5,250.00 5,250.00J. D. Moore Co., Ltd.. .. 5,402.94 5,402.94Davis & Fraser

6,000.00 9,000.00

Chatham Fruit Growers'

Association 4,500.00

The Canadian Fish and

Cold Storage Co 60,000.00

Trenton Cooperage Mills 12,744.40

Maritime Cold Storage

Co 18,000.00

The Dominion Fish and

Fruit Co

17,250.00 20,250.00St. Lawrence Produce Co

15,600.00Scott, Ashton & Co

18,000.00The Hamilton Cold Storage

18,000.00

2 The contract which is entered into with applicants for cold storage subsidies fixes the maximum subsidy which may be paid, based on a reasonable estimate of cost, but the amount of the subsidy is finally determined by the actual cost, as shown by proper vouchers submitted when the warehouse is finished.

3. The following schedule was approved for the warehouse owned by Lemon Bros., at Owen Sound, Ontario.