Mr. LEMIEUX:

May I ask the Prime Minister or the Minister of Railways and Canals if any Order in Council has been passed of late concerning either the payment of subsidies or giving a guarantee of bonds to the Quebec and Saguenay Railway? If so, has that Order in Council been laid upon the table of the House?

Sir ROBERT BORDEN:

So far as I apprehend the hon. gentleman's question, there has been nothing passed of late on the subject.

Mr. LEMIEUX:

Is the matter under consideration?

Sir ROBERT BORDEN:

Everything that is not passed is under consideration.

Mr. VERVILLE:

Is the Minister of Labour aware that campaign literature is being distributed from his department? If so, under what authority is it being done, and are the employees of his department working at it?

Mr. SCHAFFNER:

This is an old story.

Mr. CROTHERS:

I am not aware that such literature is being issued from my department, but if my hon. friend will give particulars concerning the matter I will look into it.

Mr. VERVILLE:

I would like to ask the Minister of Labour if I can have an answer to question 11, which is as follows:

1. Is the Government aware that the Western' Union Telegraph Company is said to control the Great North Western Telegraph Company, which, since the 1st January, 1915, js the name under which the amalgamation of the Great North Western and the Canadian Northern Telegraph Companies is carried out?

2. If not, can the Government indicate to What authorities application should be made for such information?

Mr. CROTHERS:

I do not think it is a proper question, because my department is not supposed to keep in touch with private enterprises of this kind. We have had some correspondence making complaints against these companies, and I shall be glad to let my hon. friend know the substance of that correspondence; but we do not keep track of the information required by this question, and we do not indicate to members of this House where they can get information concerning private enterprises.

Mr. SPEAKER:

My attention has been drawn to this question, and in my judgment it is not a proper question to put on the Order Paper and it is not in the proper form. The rule is laid down that members putting questions on the Order Paper become responsible for the allegations of facts in them, which is certainly not done here. A question should also refer to something in connection with the business of the House or of the country with which the Government is dealing, which does not seem to me to be the case in regard to this question.

Sir GEORGE FOSTER:

The Bill, which was sent up from the House to the Senate and which has been returned with these amendments, was very carefully thought out and thoroughly discussed in the House, and it was sent to the Senate as it had been thought out and as the consensus of opinion in the committee and in the House after it was discussed seemed to dictate. The Senate, however, has fallen foul of one of the sections and has altered it by striking out the word " shippers." This amendment was moved in the House, but it did not seem to receive the assent of the House and was not even pressed to a vote. It, however, has been revived in the Senate and is now part of the Bill as the Senate has returned it to the Commons. It destroys the full efficiency of the Bill and will hamper the work of the department to the extent that this interest is left out of the poivers that are to be given by this legislation to the Grain Commission. At this late time, however, I suppose it is better to take a mutilated Bill than to have no-

thing at all, and with the determination to work it out as well as we can under what has been sent back to us from the Senate,

I propose to let the matter go. I move that the amendments be concurred in.

Amendments concurred in.