Hon. FRANK OLIVER (Edmonton):

I

do not know that it would be out of place if one whose business in Parliament it is to criticise should endeavour to express appreciation of the tremendous task that has lain upon the shoulders of the Government of this country since the beginning of the war, and in measured terms and with all due reservation express appreciation of

the manner in which those great responsibilities have been carried out. We do not at all forego our right, or, I should say, our duty of criticism.

Sir ROBERT BORDEN:

Hear, hear.

Mr. OLIVER:

We desire to be considered as at one with the Government in every endeavour they have made to see that Canada takes her proper part in the tremendous struggle which is now in progress. We realize, as we believe our colleagues on the other side of the House realize, that this is not a fight in which Canada is taking part as an outsider, but that it is a fight in which Canada is taking part for her existence and for her liberty, as a part of that Empire which stands for liberty, and has stood for liberty for a thousand years. The failure of the arms of the Allies in the present struggle would undoubtedly mean the destruction of the autonomy of Canada and the liberties that we enjoy. This is not a fight to preserve the neutrality of Belgium; this is a fight to preserve the existence of the British Empire, and every man who feels that the power and the prestige of the British Empire is the best guarantee of the liberty of Canada and of the principle of liberty throughout the world, has only one duty in this war, and that is to do everything that he can to support those who are taking part in it.

At the moment the responsibility of dealing with Canada's share in the war rests upon -our friends on the other side. We may criticise what they are doing, or the way they are doing it, but when we do make that criticism it is not with a desire of hampering their efforts, but rather with the hope that whatever has been done may still be done, and, if possible, done better. May I say that the details of the work of creating an army as large as my hon. friend has said, and much larger, in fact, than that which decided the fate of the world at Waterloo, is in itself a great task. In a country with a widely scattered population, in a country whose people for a full hundred years have had virtually no practical knowledge of war, where we have had our attention entirely occupied with advancing material interests, when the occasion arose, and when the business of war had to be taken up, it necessarily took some time for the change of ideas to penetrate the public mind. It was hard for those who had been born in times of peace, whose fathers had lived in times of peace, whose grandfathers only could remember

a condition of war, to realize that we were face to face with circumstances which called for the sacrifices of warfare. I doubt if our people have fully realized yet how terrible this war is or how terrible the urgency of it is, but from day to day there has grown upon our people that realization, and I feel and believe with my right hon. friend the Prime Minister that Canada has responded nobly to the call as far as it has gone.

However hopeful we may be of the early and victorious closing of this tremendous struggle, we can have no assurance as to the date at which it will take place. It is more than possible that, in so far as Britain is concerned, the war is only beginning, and it is only in the months that are to . come that we throughout the Empire, and particularly here in Canada, will be able to realize to the full what the horrors and sacrifices of war are. I have every confidence though, that, whatever occasion arises, our people will meet it with a good heart, and that we will face whatever fate brings us with a courage and a devotion that will ultimately bring victory.

Progress reported.

Mr. ROGERS moved:

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Resolved, that towards making good the supply granted to His Majesty, on account of certain expenses of the public service for the financial year ended March 31, 1915, the sum of $14,766,499.3.9 be granted out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund of Canada.

Mr. ROGERS moved:

Resolved that towards making good the supply granted to His Majesty on account of certain expenses of the public service for the financial year ending 31st of March, 1916, the sum of $156,496,333.73 be granted out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund of Canada.