Mr. VIEN:
They just get the difference from him?
Major-General MEWBURN: Yes.
Salaries and wages, $260,000.
Mr. VIEN:
What comes under this item?
Major-General MEWBURN: This vote is to provide for the salaries of caretakers of armouries, clerks, charwomen and messengers. Additional help of this kind employed since the war has been paid out of the war appropriation vote. The increase of $10,000 is accounted for by an increase in wages to some of the caretakers. I can give my hon friend the details if he desires them.
The CHAIRMAN:
Shall the item be carried?
Mr. VIEN:
No, Mr. Chairman do not
let. us be in too big a hurry.
The CHAIRMAN:
No one is in a hurry, but if no honourable member rises, the Chairman must declare that the item is carried.
Mr. VIEN:
I will ask the Chairman to be a bit more patient and to give us time to consider the items that come up for our consideration. I would like the minister to state whether any of these items have reference to the Ross rifle?
Major-General MEWBURN: No.
Mr. VIEN:
Under what item of the estimates does the Ross Tifle come?
Major-General MEWBURN: Under the
war appropriation.
Mr. CANINON:
Is Mr. McBain still the
caretaker of the camp at Valcartier?
Mr. LEMIEUX:
Sir SAM HUGHES:
I d'o not know who the caretaker of Valcartier Camp is, but McBain is a very honoured name. It is enjoyed by the descendants of Major McBain who fought at the capture of Quebec and settled at Valcartier. Ever since that time the name' has been an honoured one in the locality. I do not know the caretaker of Valcartier camp, or whether the oflice is filled by a McBain, but if it is the gentleman comes of a good family. Let me tell the committee that Colonel William
[Major-General Mewburn.]
McBain is a gentleman who has done yeoman service for this country since the war broke out. He has saved the department hundreds and thousands of dollars, and Canada, and the city of Quebec in particular, owes him a deep debt of gratitude.
Mr. LEMIEUX:
Speaking of Valcartier
camp, did not this Mr. McBain make the expropriations of land there?
Major-General MEWBURN: It is not the same man.
Mr. LEMIEUX:
Have the expropriation cases all been settled?
Major-General MEWBURN: I understand that all but three or four cases have been settled.
Mr. CANNON:
How much does Colonel McBain receive?
Major-General MEWBURN: The officer in question is not Colonel McBain, but Captain A. E. McBain, and as camp superintendent he receives a salary of $1,320.
Sir SAM HUGHES:
The hon. member (Mr. Cannon) asks what Colonel McBain receives. He does not receive anything.
Major-General MEWBURN: I beg the ex-minister's pardon. I understood the hon. gentleman (Mr. Cannon) to say the superintendent.
Sir SAM HUGHES:
Let us be accurate about it, he said Colonel McBain.
Major-General MEWBURN: At any rate Captain A. E. McBain, .superintendent of Valcartier camp, receives $1,320 a year salary. That is not one and the same person as the other McBain.
Sir SAM HUGHES:
Now you have got it.
Mr. LEMIEUX:
He belongs to the same family.
Sir SAM HUGHES:
He belongs to the province of Quebec, and to a prolific family.
Transport and freight-Transport of staff, $20,000 ; transport of permanent force, $1.5,000.
Mr. POWER:
Transport of the staff is estimated to cost $20,000, Whilst transport of the active militia is estimated at $15,000. The staff cost $20,000 for transportation and the troops only $15,000.. These items appear to be funny, because surely there are more troops than staff to be transported?
Mr. VIEN:
I understand that every time a staff officer travels he receives a requisition for transportation on the railway. Is that paid for dn the item under consideration?
Major-General MEWBURN: That is all charged back to the department and has to be paid for out of this vote.