Mr. TAYLOR (New Westminster).

I would like to ask the hon. Minister of Fisheries (Mr. Brodeur) whether the regulations under the Fisheries Treaty of 1908 with the United States have been proclaimed, and if not, what is the obstacle to their proclamation?

Mr. BRODEUR.

They have not yet been proclaimed. I have been informed that a message has been sent to the President of the United States to the Congress recommending the passage of the necessary legislation to put these regulations into force, but I have not been informed that the necessary legislation has been passed. So that- the matter is in statu quo for the present.

Mr. BRADBURY.

When may we expect the report down with regard to the Manitoba Fisheries Commission? I have had a wire to-day from Manitoba asking for it. As it is pretty late in the season, the people there are getting anxious about the matter.

Mr. BRODEUR.

A report was received by me a few days ago, and I immediately transmitted it to the Printing Bureau to be printed. As soon as it is printed it will be brought down. I expect that it will be ready in a few days.

Mr. BRADBURY.

Is it possible to get a copy before it is printed, as the printing may take some time?

Mr. BRODEUR.

Only one copy was sent to me. I expect that it will be ready in a few days, as it is not very voluminous. I will call the attention of the Secretary of State to the matter

Mr. W. B. NORTHRUP (East Hastings).

Mr. Speaker, before the orders of the day are called, I rise to make a personal explanation as a question of privilege. Last evening, while I was absent from the House, certain references were made to myself and to some remarks which I made last Wednesday, by the hon. member for North Cape Breton (Mr. McKenzie). So deep is my respect for the dignity of this House, and so sincere my regard for the maintenance of the good reputation of its members, that had the references been only to myself, rather than have marred the pages of ' Hansard ' with the proofs

Mr. McKenzie.

which I shall be compelled to give this afternoon, I would have preferred to have lain under the imputation of being the hypocrite and fool which I must have been had I made the remarks attributed to me. But . as the remarks of the hon. gentleman not only related to myself, but reflected on the honour of the leader of the opposition, and on the fair fame of the Conservative party, I am compelled, however reluctantly, to lay the facts before the House. The hon. member for North Cape Breton, according to ' Hansard,' at page 5124, spoke as follows:

Later on, I think it was yesterday, another front bencher of very high standing I suppose in the Conservative party, evidently very close to the leader of the opposition, and, I presume, when talking on trade questions, voicing the ideas of that hon. gentleman; I refer to the hon. member for Hastings (Mr. North-rup), spoke on the question of protection to coal, and said:

We only bear the duty on coal and iron in consideration of a duty on our products, and since that was the direct bargain made in 1878 and renewed since, as you have broken the bargain, and removed our duties, we will insist that the duty on coal and iron be removed in order that justice may be done. >

That is what we have to expect if our friends on the other side should come into power, and I submit, Sir, that on the ques-[DOT]tion of coal, as I have already explained, whatever is done to-day in the province of Nova Scotia, whatever strides the industry has made, have been made, not because of any assistance or support received from the National Policy, as I have pointed out that during the ten years of the National Policy the great property now known as the Dominion Coal Company coal areas, and that of the Nova Scotia Steel Company across the water, together only produced 700,000 tons of coal, whereas to-day the same properties are producing, under the new legisaltion, something over 5,000,000 tons, all brought about by what is known as the Whitney legislation, a new departure from the old road, in which we travelled for 20 years before that departure was made.

The hon. member who spoke, being not merely a distinguished member of this House, but a gentleman who enjoys the experience of having occupied a seat on the bench for many years, and being therefore acquainted with the consideration of questions of evidence and the construction of documents, when that hon. gentleman chose to say, in the first place, that I was voicing the sentiments of the leader of the opposition, and that, I take it, could only mean the Conservative party-and were there any doubt on this point it is put beyond question by his final words: ' That is what we have to expect if our friends on the other side should come into power '- I think the House will allow me to state what I did say on the occasion in question. Referring to the unrevised ' Hansard'

of last Wednesday, at page 4962, I quote my remarks as follows:

I warn the Finance Minister that if he is as regardless of Iris own province as he apparently is of the Dominion as a whole, the farmers whom he has selected as the particular objects of his animosity, who, of all people, are to he deprived of protection, whose markets are to be given not to the United States but to the world, I warn that lion, gentleman that if he really is true to his newly found and oft-professed although rarely acted-up-to belief in the doctrine of protection, the day is not far distant when the farmers of Ontario will say: We only bear the duty on coal and iron in consideration of a duty on our products and since that was the direct bargain made in 1878 and renewed since, as you have broken the bargain, and removed our duties, we will insist that the duty on coal and iron be removed in order that justice may be done.

I went on:

I, as a protectionist, would be exceedingly sorry to see a movement of that kind on the part of the agricultural element of this country. I think perhaps the most dangerous feature in this measure is the unhappy setting of one class against another, for nobody can possibly argue, even the Finance Minister, and the Prime Minister know it is impossible to argue this agreement on any platform without denouncing the manufacturers and appealing to the farmers. If it is to the interests of this country to set class against class, let us proceed with this discussion, but if not, let us know that the true basis of our national prosperity is a protective policy, then let all classes enjoy it, or as the farmers say, either all shall have it or none, and I am sure there is no man in Canada so rampant a free trader, except possibly the hon. member for Red Deer (Mr. Clark), as to believe that it is the true interests of Canada that all protection should be removed from all industries. Ill'll

I leave the alleged quotation given by the member for North Cape Breton and the full ' Hansard ' report of my words to show whether or not I am justified in calling the attention of the House to what I would consider certainly a misquotation of my remarks. The hon. gentleman, as a judge, knows perfectly well what perhaps some men may not know, but in order to make perfectly clear to him, the difference between a partial and a complete quotation, let me give him an illustration. If I were to look at my hon. friend in the eye and say: The Good Book says: ' All men are liars,' probably he would counter on me by saying: Yes, but the

Test of the quotation is: 'I said in my

haste, all men are liars.' And, therefore, the Psalmist meant exactly the opposite of what the garbled quotation would have indicated. I trust I have done my duty jn laying before the House this alleged quotation of my remarks and my actual remarks as reported in ' Hansard.'

Mr. FOSTER.

I wish to revert to the return to an order of the House of Corn-mans dated February 6, 1911, for a copy of the curators' reports in the cases of all banks for which curators have been appointed. 1 mentioned the other day, and the Finance Minister took note of it that with reference to the Bank of Yarmouth, instead of the return including the curator's report, it simply included a synopsis of the curator's report what I want is. not a synopsis which may be very different from the report itself, but that which is provided for in the Banking Act, and which the Finance Minister has a right to have, and which the member of parliament has a right to call for. Coming then to the Bank of St. Johns, and the St. Hyacinthe Bank, I think that the only thing brought down is a small page of statistics giving a financial statement, that and that alone. With reference to the other banks, the curators give reports upon the conduct of the banks, and causes that led to the failure and they detail the delinquents and in what matters they have been delinquent, which of course is the only thing that a curator's report is meant for. to give to the Finance Department, after it has given it to the Bankers' Association, an idea of what were the defects, what were the faults, what were the delinquencies, so that, having this knowledge, the department can do what is considered proper either to punish in these cases or to provide that such things shall not easily occur again. Therefore, in the case of the Banque de St. Hyacinthe and Bank of St. Johns I want the curator's report upon the nature of the transactions and the causes that led to the failures. They are given in the case of the St. Stephen bank with great particularity, and I may say that they furnish food not only for consideration, but for legislation. I am certain that the full report from the Bank of Yarmouth will do the same, and I shall be very much mistaken if we do not get profitable information from the curator's reports in reference to the. other banks. Therefore, what I want from the Finance Minister is first the full report of the curator in the case of the Bank of Yarmouth and the full reports of the curators in the cases of the Banque de St. Johns and the Banque de Hochelaga.

Mr. DANIEL.

Is the Minister of Marine and Fisheries prepared to give an answer to the question I asked yesterday in regard to the colour line in the naval service?

Mr. BRODEUR.

I thought at first from the remarks of my hon. friend that he referred to a man who wanted to come as a recruit in the navy, but I understand it is the case of a man who wanted to pass his examination for the inside service. It appears that this mail had not passed his examination for the inside service, but had passed the qualifying examination for the outside service and consequently was not qualified to come into the inside service.

Mr. REID (Grenville).

What about the coloured man the Minister of Agriculture sent out to the agricultural farm?

Mr. FISHER.

The gentleman in question has been sent by the Civil Service Commissioners for temporary service at the experimental farm. He is doing there most excellent service, and everybody there is perfectly satisfied.

Mr. REID (Grenville).

He is looking after the black Minorca hens? Is that it?

Mr. BORDEN (Halifax).

In the outside service or the inside service?