Mr. SPEAKER:

I have the honour to inform the House that I have received the following message from the Senate:

That a message be sent to the House of Commons by one of the Clerks at the Table, to inform that House, that the Senate doth insist on its amendment to the Bill No. 78, intituled "An Act to amend the Criminal Code (Sexual Offences)" to which the House of Commons hath disagreed.

Hon. ARTHUR MEIGiHEN (Acting Minister of Justice): With regard to Bill No. 78 to amend the Criminal Code (Sexual' Offences) the Senate has insisted on the insertion of clause 5 by way of an amendment to the Bill in respect to which this House refused to agree. I beg to move:

That this House do insist on its disagreement to clause 5 of Bill No. 78, an Act to amend the Criminal Code (Sexual Offences).

Mr. McKENZIE:

Do I understand the

Acting Minister of Justice to say that if we persist in our opposition to the amendment the Bill fails for this session?

Mr. MEIGHEN:

Yes.

Mr. McKENZIE:

I would very much prefer that the Bill should go through with the Senate amendment in it. After all, it is merely to leave a discretion with the jury and the judge. I do not view the

effect of the Senate amendment as the* Acting Minister of Justice does. The Bill, I think, is very good.

Mr. MEIGHEN:

The Senate amendment renders ineffective the clause of the Bill which we have passed in that the law as so amended would he in precisely the same condition, as to efficiency, as before. But there is still another effect. The law as it stands to-day provides the punishment for most of the offences that are covered by the legislation-not for all-and in respect of punishment, there is no provision that the judge must instruct the jury that they must weigh the culpability of the male and the female. If the judges were to instruct the jury as to this provision of the law in that way, the law would be very much weaker after the passage of the Bill than it was before.

Mr. BUREAU:

Is it not just one particular section dealing with registration in an hotel that has been stricken out?

Mr. MEIGHEN:

That clause was struck out but we agreed to that amendment. We agreed to everything except the clause which the Senate added, which clause is a direction to the judge, in the trial of any man accused of an offence against any of the three previous provisions, to instruct the jury that unless they were of the opinion that the man was wholly or principally to blame they were at liberty to acquit. That applies to all three clauses and, so applying, would, in my judgment, render the law less efficacious than as it stands to-day.

Mr. MEIGHEN moved:

Mr. Speaker, there are two or three measures upon the Order Paper on which I would like to say a word; they are measures that cannot be enacted at the present session. One is Bill No. 46, respecting the Purchasing of Departmental and other Supplies and Materials for His Majesty. This Bill was supported by a very considerable majority of the iHbuse and subsequently there was a good deal of dis-

cuss ion in Committee. Opposition has developed on both sides of the House. In view of the necessity for an early session of Parliament, and in order to take into consideration suggestions that have been made, the Bill will not be further pressed it the present session. The Orders in Council still in force will enable the Government to maintain the principle until Parliament will have another opportunity of dealing with the matter.

With respect to Bill No. 107, for the purpose of validating and continuing certain oiders respecting the prohibition, manufacture, importation, sale and transportation of intoxicating liquors, I adhere to the v:ew expressed in the reasons which were transmitted to the Senate. The acceptance of the Senate amendment would undoubtedly have had the effect which was set forth in those reasons. Under the circumstances, the Bill cannot become law at the present session, but another session will probably be held before the Orde-.s in Council can possibly cease to be in force. This or another measure to accomplish the same purpose will then be submitted to Parliament.

Another measure upon which there has been considerable discussion in this House i.s Bill No. 77, respecting Divorce, which stands No. 11 on Public Bills and orders. Since the debate took place, there has been an announcement in the press that the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council has sustained the decisions of courts in several provinces. Those decisions were to the effect that the provincial courts already have jurisdiction in divorce in the provinces of Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan. The acting Minister of Justice (Mr. Meighen) informs me that the decisions were confined in their effect to two provinces, but the reasons set forth in the judgment sustaining the jurisdiction of the provincial courts would apply also to the other province. Then there is the further consideration that this Bill does not seem to have been circulated amongst the judges of the existing divorce courts in Canada, I think, therefore, that before it is further considered by the House, the suggestions and recommendations of the judges of the various provinces should be received. Steps will be taken during the recess for that purpose.

" I endeavoured, on behalf of the Labour Commission, to get an agreement on a redraft. I am sorry to say that I was not altogether successful, but 'Sir Robert Borden was more successful than I have been in getting agreement upon a redraft which he is going to submit to this meeting, and which, I have to say, so far^as I can see, does embody the spirit of the nine resolutions which were adopted by the Labour Commission. It is my duty, however, just as a matter of form, to revive the resolutions as they came from the Labour Commission, and to submit those resolutions to you in their original form."

Sir Robert Borden (Canada) ffroposes in the following terms the amended draft of the nine resolutions (Annex II (B)):

44 It is proper that, in the first instance, I should read the amended text which I move as an amendment to that originally proposed:

44 ' The High Contracting Parties, recognizing that the well-being, physical, moral and intellectual, of industrial wage-earners is of supreme international importance, have framed a permanent machinery associated with that of the League of Nations to further this great end.

" ' They recognize that differences of climate, habits and customs, of economic opportunity and industrial tradition, make strict uniformity in the conditions of labour difficult of immediate attainment. But, holding as they do, that labour should not be regarded merely as an article of commerce, they think that there are methods and principles for regulating labour conditions which all industrial communities should en-reavour to apply, so far as their special circumstances will permit.

" ' Among these methods and principles, the following seem to the High Contracting Parties to be of special and urgent importance:

44 4 First.-The guiding principle above enunciated that labour should not be regarded merely as a commodity or article of commerce.

" 4 Second.-The right of association for all lawful purposes by the employed as well as by the employers.

44 4 Third.-The payment to the employed of a wage adequate to maintain a reasonable standard of life as this is understood in their time and country.

44 4 Fourth.-The adoption of an eight hours day or a forty-eight hours week as the standard to be aimed at where it has not already been attained.

44 4 Fifth.-The adoption of a weekly rest of at least twenty-four hours, which should include Sunday wherever practicable.

44 4 Sixth.-The abolition of child labour and the imposition of such limitations on the labour of young persons as shall permit the continuation of their education and assure their proper physical development.

44 4 Seventh.-The principle that men and women should receive equal remuneration for work of equal value.

44 4 Eighth.-The standard set by law in each country with respect to the conditions of labour should have due regard to the equitable economic treatment of all workers lawfully resident therein.

44 4 Ninth.-Each State should make provision for a system of inspection in which women should take part, in order to itisure the enforcement of the laws and regulations for the protection of the employed.

44 4 Without claiming that these methods and [Sir Robert Borden.I

principles are either complete or final, the High Contracting Parties are of opinion that they are well fitted to guide the policy of the League of Nations; and that, if adopted by the industrial communities who are members of the League, and safeguarded in practice by an adequate system of such inspection, they will confer lasting benefits upon the wage-earners of the world.'

That closes the quotation so far as the amended draft is concerned. I then proceeded to speak as follows:

I may say, in the first instance, of this, as President Wilson said of the new drift of the League of Nations, that there are no alterations in substance, as I understand it. There is, however, a new arrangement, and the phraseology has been somewhat altered. For example, the difference of conditions among different nations which was alluded to in paragraph 7 of the articles as originally drafted is now recognized as a consideration which must apply to all the principles here laid down. Further, as it is manifestly impossible to establish at once a code which shall be permanent or enduring, emphasis is laid in the new draft upon the view that these articles are to be regarded as an enunciation of the principles upon which from time to time, if need be, a code may be built up. In the concluding paragraph, emphasis is also laid upon the consideration that these methods and principles are not to be regarded as complete or final. It is quite impossible for us to foresee all developments and all ideals which may arise in the future and, therefore, this is put forward as no more than a tentative enunciation of principles which, if they are observed and carried out as they should be, will result in a vast improvement of labour conditions throughout the world. I desire to explain, also, that the amended articles are not presented here as embodying merely my own language and my own ideas. The suggested changes in phraseology and arrangement have come from the different delegations which are represented in the conference. They have received, I believe, the approval and endorsement of all the important industrial communities.

I am glad to say that I am to be supported in making this proposal by Mr. Vander**elde, whose eloquent and inspiring speech on the subject at a previous session of the conference still dwells in our memory. Therefore, with some confidence and for these reasons I venture to present the amended draft as one which should command the support of this conference.

Mr. Vandervelde (Belgium), speaking in French, expresses his approval of the proposed amendment in the following terms:-

44As Sir Robert Borden has just said, a mere comparison of the two texts suffices to show that there is no essential difference between them. The text proposed by the Commission was more precise, and I may say that my personal preferences were for such precision. However, in the course of the exchange of views which preceded this meeting, we have convinced ourselves that in order to secure unanimity between the representatives of the thirty-two nations, situated in every corner of the globe, a little scumbling, if I may use the phrase, was indispensable.

We have, therefore, slightly scumbled the text, and I give my complete adhesion to the final text proposed by Sir Robert Borden. I do so all the more gladly because, as regards the questions to which European workingmen are more

especially attached, that is syndical liberty, a minimum wage, and the eight-hour day, the two texts are wellnigh identic. Having placed on record the foregoing observations, I beg your leave to propose three amendments to the drafting. .

The French text, line %, speaks of " industrial wage-earners." In agreement with Mr. Fontaine, Director of the French Labour Bureau, I propose to say "paid workers," for it has always been understood, during the labours of the conference, that international labour legislation ought to be applied no less to agricultural wage-earners than to the wage-earners of industry. That is, moreover, the sense of the English text.

Furthermore, in line 3, instead of saying "a permanent machinery," we have thought that the words " a permanent organization " should be substituted. That 'will point out the possibility for growth of the institution which we are about to create.

Finally, at the end of the page (of the French text), instead of " Commission des Nations," I think it would be more accurate to say "League of Nations."

Thereupon this revision of the clauses was unanimously adopted by the Conference [DOT]without a single dissenting voice. Exception seems to have been taken in some quarters to the status accorded to the British Dominions in the League of Nations and in the Labour Convention. Of this I shall speak more fully at another session and on a more appropriate occasion. For the present it is enough to say that the original drafts in both cases were so framed that representatives of (Canada and other self governing British Dominions were not eligible for election to the Council of the League of Nations or 'to the Governing Body of the Labour Convention. I took distinct and emphatic ground on this question and stated my firm determination that representatives of Canada should have this right and my strong opinion that Canada could not continue as a party to the League of Nations or to the Labour Convention on any other terms. This right had been accorded to many small states which had taken no active part in the war and I saw no reason whatever why it should not be accorded to this Dominion. Eventually it was accorded.