Mr. DELISLE:

Is the Government aware that Mr. Chas. NapolSon Dorlon, a practising lawyer of the city of Quebec, is said to receive a Government salary as an employee of the post office of said city?

Mr. CASGRAIN:

Charles Napoleon

Dorion, third class clerk, grade "A"; salary, $900 a year, since the 1st July, 1914.

Mr. Dorion has tendered his resignation to take effect as from the 1st of May, and the department has consented to his services being retained until that time, provided he works the regular hours.

1. Is L. H. Fournier, of Winnipeg, in the employ of the Government?

2. If so, when was he appointed, what is his salary, and what are his duties?

3. By whom was he recommended?

Sir ROBERT BORDEN:

If the hon. gentleman will tell us what particular depart-

[DOT]ment is alluded to, it will assist us in answering the question at an earlier date. Question stands.

Mr. PARDEE:

Is James P. Jaffray now employed as a Government Immigration Agent at Philadelphia, U.S. ? If so, at what salary and what are his duties?

Mr. ROCHE:

Yes. Salary $2,000 per

annum. His duties are to encourage emigration to Canada of desirable settlers and to examine Canadian bound passengers arriving by vessels at Philadelphia.

Mr. EDMOND PROULX moved:

For a return showing the names of all the Dominion Civil Service employees and Provincial Service Employees serving in the Home Militia as guards on bridges, canals or otherwise, and holding the rank of officers and noncommissioned officers; the salaries they receive from their respective governments as Civil Service employees and the remuneration allowed to them by the Department of Militia.

I shall be glad to bring down the return in so far as the Dominion Civil Service is concerned. As regards the Provincial Civil Service, I shall he glad to bring down the return so far as the information is available.

Sir ROBERT BORDEN:

I am informed by the Minister of Finance that the larger portion of this correspondence is of a confidential character. There may, however, be something to be brought down, and there is no objection to the motion passing.

1. For a full statement and description of all lands taken possession of by the Government lor the camp at Valeartier.

2. For copies of all titles of the Government to the same, whether by expropriation, purchase or otherwise.

3. For a specified statement of all amounts claimed and still unpaid whether for land or damages.

For a sPecifled account of all amounts pai up to date either for land or damages.

He said: My object in presenting this motion is not to ask for information a-s to

why there was a camp at Valeartier for the first contingent. The necessity for having a camp there has not been made clear to me nor, I believe, to the general public. If a camp was needed, Petawawa was available for the purpose, but the contingent which is now in course of preparation is being assembled neither at Valeartier nor at Petawawa; more properly, perhaps, the men are being assembled at the different stations throughout the Dominion where recruiting is going on. I believe it would have been better if the same policy had been adopted in respect of the first contingent. But what I wish particularly to bring to the attention of the Minister of Militia to-day is that many of the owners of land who were disposessed for the establishment of Valeartier camp -have not yet been paid. I understand that the camp comprises nearly ten thousand acres, and that between forty and fifty men were dispossessed. These men, practically all farmers, were not in circumstances of affluence, and each one needed the crop which he was then expecting to raise, and, of course, the price of bis land upon expropriation. On August 28, the following notice was served upon one of the men so dispossessed -I understand that a similar notice was served on all.

From Lt.-Col. Wm. McBain.

Quebec, Que.,

To Mr. Michael Holton.

Dear Sir:

I have been instructed by -the Department of Militia and Defence to notify you herewith that it is their intention to expropriate the land held by you in Valeartier and described as parts of Cad. Nos 54, 68, 67, 68 and list Cad. No. 71, on the official plan for the parish of St. Gabriel de Valeartier containing in all 240 acres.

I have been further instructed to notify you that it is the intention of the department to take immediate possession of the above described land and to offer you in full and complete settlement therefor the sum of $4,800. If this offer is not accepted by you within thirty days of the date of this notice, proceedings in expropriation will be commenced.

Kindly take notice of the above and govern yourself accordingly.

Yours truly,

(Sgd) Wm. McBain, Authorized agent of the Department of Militia and Defence.

Who was Mr. McBain? For my part I do not know, nor did any of those to whom these letters were addressed. He was not connected with the Department of Militia. He styled himself colonel; I understand that he suddenly rose from a rank of obscurity to be a full-fledged colonel of the first rank. The management of the camp at Valeartier had been placed at first in the

.hands of Sir William Price, a well-known business man of the city of Quebec and a former member of this House, a man holding the highest reputation for business ability and integrity of his character. Why Sir William Price was not continued in the agency of the Department of Militia is not known to me, but I believe that the change does not conduce to the public interest. I think there would have been less complaint than there has been if Sir William Price had been continued as agent of the department instead of Colonel McBain. I do not wish to reflect on Mr. McBain; I do not know him; but I do know Sir William Price very well, and, not knowing Mr. McBain and knowing Sir William Price as I do, and as everybody in this House does, I believe the change was not calculated to promote the public service. Be this as it may, the one fact I make complaint of is this: I have been informed-I have no special information except that which I received by correspondence-that though these men were dispossessed of their lands in the month of August last, yet, with the exception of one or two, these owners, some forty or fifty in number, have not yet received the money to which they were entitled. There may have been some dispute as to price. This was not unnatural. But I desire to represent to my hon. friend that in view of the circumstances an extra effort should have been made to give these people ample satisfaction. These men had their property invaded just at the time when their crop was ready. Some of them could not gather anything of their crop, and some of them are reduced, I will not day to penury, but certainly to stringent circumstances, in consequence of the delay. And, so far as I know, no effort has been made to have these men paid. I understand that the matter has been referred to the Department of Justice. That is to say, all these men have to go to law in order to get their money. If their claim has been put into the hands of the Department of Justice, that department cannot proceed except by due course of law; these forty or fifty owners, suddenly despoiled of their property, will have to go to the court to get the value of their land and also of their crop. I make this motion simply to have the information from the minister. Charges have been made as to the management of the camp. I make no charge; I simply ask for information.

The leader of the Opposition has dwelt upon the necessity of Valcartier camp; but he says he will discuss that at some other time. I am willing to oblige him and will reply to his criticism of the camp at Valcartier at some other time. But, inasmuch as he went out of his way to discuss it a little, I may point out that the camp at Valcartier stands unique in the history of the world as having produced the best shooting regiment that ever wore a uniform. The object in getting the force assembled at Valcartier- war being a game of shooting-was to give the boys an opportunity to learn practically how to hit the bull's eye. They succeeded; and let me say, without disrespect to the second contingent, which is made up of a lot of as fine boys as ever gathered in any part of the world, that it will take them six or eight weeks' actual practice at the targets before they will be in the same class -I refer to rifle shooting alone-with the boys who sailed on the 1st of October.

The right hon. leader of the Opposition asks, who is Colonel McBain? May I tell him?

Sir WILFRID LAURIER:

Certainly.

Col. McBain is a descendant, a great-grandson, of an officer who stood beside Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham. Colonel McBain's ancestors ever since 1759-nearly as long as the ancestors of the leader of the Opposition- have lived at Valcartier, on the very spot where this camp was erected. Col. McBain is a gentleman of whom the city of Quebec and his home district are very proud. Col. McBain is a gentleman who struck out into western Canada years ago and who by honest business industry has amassed a fortune. Col. McBain is a gentleman who, when the call to arms came, volunteered for any position to go to the front. Col. McBain is a gentleman who has given his time and his services freely to the Canadian Government, 1 believe without any remuneration-I am not aware that he has accepted any; and in some ways I know he has refused it-in order to perfect the boys for service at the front.

The right hon. gentleman (Sir Wilfrid Laurier) wants to know why Sir William Price was not given the position. Sir William Price is another distinguished gentleman of whom the people of Quebec and the people of Canada are proud. He also volunteered his services and refused to accept

Sir WILFRID LAURIER:

What is the date of the memorandum?

Major General HUGHES; It was given to me to-day; I do not know when it was prepared. Every effort has been made to bring about a settlement, and, more than that, we instructed each of the valuators to give a fair valuation. My right hon, friend may not know this locality well, but the McBain family is one of the oldest in Quebec. Every effort was made to induce these people to accept the fairest possible valuation, and instructions were given to give compensation because the people were being turned out. When some of the people demurred at taking what was considered a good, fair valuation, we used every effort to bring about a settlement, and I understood that in every instance the offer had been accepted until, through some manoeuvring, the spirit got abroad among them to hold for higher prices.