Hon. Mr. COCHEANE:

This measure is to grant an extension of time to the company for the completion of the road.

Sir EOBEKT BOEDEN:

I beg to lay upon the table of the House copies of Order in Council approved by His Excellency on the 16th instant, providing for the appointment of an officer to be known as Food Controller for Canada. I have further to inform the House that the Hon. W. J. Hanna, Toronto, has been asked to accept the position of Food Controller, and he states that he is free to do so upon the condition that no salary shall be attached to the office.

Sir WILFKID LAUEIER:

That is something new.

Sir ROBERT BORDEN:

His Excellency, the Governor General, has been pleased to approve of Mr. Hanna's appointment.

Mr. Speaker, having occupied the position of Minister of Militia for a considerable time during the war, -tl am more or less familiar with matters concerning recruiting, how it is carried on, and why it fell off, and possibly I may be in a position to give some suggestions as to what in my opinion, at all events, would be the proper method to adopt for the future. I may point out that I gave notice on May 8, that I would move the following resolution.

On the first opportunity on going into Committee of Supply, I shall move:-That in the opinion of this House the hest interests of Canada, of the Empire, and of humanity, will be served by the application of the Militia Act, or by other action, to raise troops for compulsory overseas service.

This was not intended as a "want of confidence" motion, although I wrote the Prime Minister on the 17th October last strongly recommending compulsory service. I spoke about it at meetings all over the country during October, and I have consistently advocated it ever since. If the Prime Minister has no objection, I shall read the letter which I sent him on the 17th October last.

Sir ROBERT BORDEN:

I have no objection.

Sir SAM HUGHES:

The letter reads as follow:

October 17, 1916. Dear Sir Robert,- .

Regarding Compulsory Service.

The following are my own personal views and I alone wish to be held responsible for them; that is, I do not wish to profess to express any one's views but my own; others, however, let me hope, may hold the same ideas.

As you ara aware, I have always been in favour of universal training and service. If the Federal Government had control of the schools and educational institutions of the country generally, I would, as I have frequently stated, so far as I am personally concerned, favour compulsory training for the young lads and young men.

As I have, also, frequently pointed out, this training, even if war might never come, would

be a great benefit to them from the manhood viewpoint. They would be better physically, mentally and morally. A higher standard of manhood -would be established for Peace, and in case War should ever come, the Nation would be ready to defend its loved ones and its honour.

Since the outbreak of the War, Canada has raised considerably more than four hundred thousand men for all military purposes. This is about one hundred thousand men for each million of British birth or descent. After deducting the number of enlisted soldiers of other than British birth or descent, this still shows a higher percentage of enlistment than has oc-cui red in Great Britain, or, I believe, any other country. This has been under the voluntary system.

But the War has assumed gigantic proportions beyond what was anticipated. It is no longer a War of peoples or nations, it is a War of the sacred principles of human liberty against Prussian autocracy and tyranny. It is a question of men and munitions. At last the munition problem is being fairly well met. The men problem is not yet solved. Sir William Robertson, Chief of the General Staff; Mr. Lloyd George, Secretary of State for War; Mr. Bonar Law, Colonial Secretary; Mr. Asquith, the Prime Minister, as well as His Majesty the King, have each and all pointed out that it is now a question of "men and. still more men."

There are parts of Canada which have not yet been successfully reached by voluntary enlistment. Whether or not the influences against voluntary enlistment are backed up by Prussian gold, is a question as yet not fully determined.

There are, in Canada, of all British origins, vide the last census returns, less than 3,900,000; there are of French origin upwards of 2,000,000 ; German origin about 400,000 ; of Austro-Hungarian origin about 130,000, etc., etc.

Britain at the outset of the war, resorted to voluntary enlistment only; but after having exhausted every available means that could be used under the voluntary system, the Nation, in the end, has had to resort to Compulsory service. On every hand, able-bodied "slackers" were seen. Families would send one, two three, and sometimes more, sons to the Front, while the neighbours would remain at home, filling the positions vacated by those gallant boys.

The same principle has been carried out in Canada, only on a broader scale. There may be some excuses for those of German and Austro-Hungarian descent hesitating to enlist ; there can be none for any other nationality. However, to their credit, a considerable number of gallant Canadians of these nationalities have enlisted and have done splendid service at the Front.

I have evidence in my possession, that there are distinct movements abroad, in parts of Canada, whereby persons are urged not to go to the Front; not to fight, but to let these of British descent go away and leave open their positions in order that those who remain as "slackers" should fill them.

Such condition is certainly unfair to the gallant fellows who have risked their lives in the service. In short, one might as well claim that the paying of taxes should be voluntary, as the defending the Empire, in such a crisis, should be voluntary.

Of course, proper exemption should be made for the maintenance of our great industrial, agricultural, commercial and other requirements at home; but this exemption can only be arrived at after complete inquiry and registration. .

I, therefor, have the honour, in view of all the circumstances, to recommend that the gravity of the situation, the justice of the cause, the preservation of the Liberties of our Canadian people and the successful issue of the War require a system of compulsory service, with careful observation of the above safeguards.

Will you kindly give this your best consideration andr should you agree with the principle involved, may I hope that effect will at an early date be given thereto.

Faithfully,

(Sgd) Sam Hughes.

The Right Honourable,

Sir Robert L. Borden, G.C.M.G.,

Prime Minister of Canada,

Ottawa, Canada.

I received no answer to that proposition. It is also well known that prominent members of the Cabinet, up till a couple of weeks ago, declared that, there would be no compulsory service. It is further asserted that shortly before the Prime Minister sailed for England, definite pledges were given to certain dignitaries against conscription. In the presence of the Prime Minister during last December, the Chairman of the National Service Commission several times declared that compulsory service was out of the question; that to introduce it would mean civil war. The Minister of Militia, Hon. Sir Edward Kemp, quite recently declared in the House that the question of compulsory service had never been considered by the Cabinet. I have always pursued the educative line, realizing that men who are not informed on the subject tend to cater to fads and fancies of the public mind. They forget that under responsible government ministers must have the courage of their convictions-as was pointed out by the Minister of Trade and Commerce yesterday, in theory-and be leaders of public opinion; that only under autocratic forms of Government should advisers of the Crown be influenced by agitations forced upon them, and that the duty of members of Parliament is to educate kindly. Therefore, have I pursued a moderate line.

Had my aim been personal advancement or influence, or my desire to injure or embarrass the Government, it would have been easy early in the session, when such a motion would not have been accepted, to force it on the House. But my ambition is solely to help the boys at the front to win the war; therefore I took no action until I

felt that the Cabinet and the country were well educated up to the line. Again, therefore, knowing the trend of a government to await being encouraged to act, have I pursued the educative policy, my aim being the success of my plans.

The day after the Prime Minister's return to Canada, with this same end in view, I sent him a letter. As it is not personal, I assume that there is no objection on the part of the Prime Minister to my reading it.

Sir ROBERT BORDEN:

No.