Mr. SPEAKER:

I'beg to present a communication from His Excellency the Governor General approving of a Minute of the Privy Council appointing Hon. John Do wsley Reid, Minister of Railways and Canals; Hon. Martin Burrell, Minister of Customs and Inland Revenue; Hon. J. A. iCalder, Minister of Immigration and Colonization; and Rt. Hon.' A. L. Sifton, Secretary of State, to act with the Speaker of the House of Commons as commissioners for the purpose, and under the provisions, of the Eleventh Chapter, Revised Statutes o.f Canada, 1906, entitled "An Act Respecting the House of Commons."

Mr. SPEAKER:

This motion, of course, can only be entertained by unanimous consent of the House.

The House, gave unanimous consent.

Hon. W. L. MACKENZIE KING:

Explain, please.

Hon. Mr. ROWELL:

Mr. Speaker, hon. members will recall that last year a Bill was passed making provision for the amalgamation of the Dominion Police with the Royal Northwest Mounted Police, which amalgamation has now been carried into effect. Under the Ticket of Leave Act, however, certain special duties and powers are assigned to the Dominion Police, and the first section of this Bill is to transfer to the Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police those duties and powers, the office oif Commissioner of Dominion Police being no longer in existence. The object of the other portion of the Bill is to make a slight change in the pension provisions contained in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act of last year.

Motion agreed to and Bill read the first time.

Mr. Speaker, before we proceed with the Orders of the Day, 1 have a sad duty to discharge, that is, to refer to the vacancies caused by the death since last session of two of our members. Mr. Marshall, who was elected for the East Elgin division in 1906 at a bye-election, and re-elected at the general elections thereafter, has been suddenly called away, and we have on this side of the House a vacant place formerly occupied by a very much beloved friend and loyal supporter, not only of the old Liberal-Conservative Government in its time but also of the Union Government since its formation. Mr. Marshall never took a very prominent part in the discussions of the House. He was a man of Stirling character and of excellent business ability, and he made his way with his fellow members by the possession and exercise of those qualities. 1 am sure that my fellow members on both sides of the House will join with me in deploring his decease and in sending to his family our sincere regrets and condolences.

Another member has also been taken by death since the last session of Parliament, the representative of the St. James division of Montreal (Mr. L. A. Lapointe), a man with whom I had a less intimate acquaintance, but who in his day and generation- he was not an old man when called away -served well his native city in many positions of responsibility and trust.

These two gentlemen have both gone from us. Yesterday they were here; to-day they are not. These occurrences may well make us think of the valuations that we put upon life and its purposes. Realities and vanities make up most of this life of ours, and as we grow older I think we come to the conclusion, especially when face to face with these occurrences, that the vanities are far more regarded than the realities, and that we pursue many of the former when we should be devoting our lives to the pursuit of the latter.

May these occurrences be to all of us a warning and a lesson that life is short, that its duties are great and that its responsibilities are heavy, and that it becomes us, more especially as representatives of the people, to play well our part as we pass across this short stage on our march through the eternities.

Hon. W. L. MACKENZIE KING (leader of the Opposition):

Mr. Speaker, may I add

my tribute to what the Acting Prime Minister has said respecting the memory of our two deceased colleagues. They belonged to different provinces and they represented different parties in this House, but both were alike in this regard, that much of their life was given to public service. It is gratifying to recall that in the case of these late members we had an example of appreciation of public duty such as is given only by those who are willing to incur the responsibilities and obligations of public life.

Mr. Lapointe, who was on this side of the House for a period of something like ten years, gave a great deal of his time not only to the service of his country in Parliament, but also to the service of the municipal affairs of his city. For sixteen years he was a dominating personality in the Council of Montreal. He was chairman for ten years of the Finance Committee. At one time he was a candidate for the mayoralty. During the whole period of his municipal career the financial affairs of the city were conducted with a degree of efficiency and regard for public integrity such as satisfied the most exacting citizens.

Mr. Marshall, who sat on the other side of the House, was known to us, as my right hon. friend has said, not merely as a faithful, efficient and industrious public servant, but also as one of those who have done much to build up the most important of our industries. I am sure that we all join together in conveying to the relatives and friends of our late colleagues the deep sympathy which this House feels at their sudden and unexpected demise.