Mr. DONALD SUTHERLAND (South Oxford) :

Mr. Speaker, as a member of the special committee appointed by this House to which was referred Bill No. 15, an Act to Readjust the Representation of the House of Commons, introduced by the Prime Minister on the 13th instant, I desire to direct the attention of the leader of the government -I am sorry the Prime Minister (Mr. Mackenzie King) is not here-and of the members of this House, to a statement which appeared in the Ottawa press of to-day, alleged to have been made by a prominent supporter of the government, dealing with the question referred to this committee. The statement is as follows-

Mr. SPEAKER:

I ask the hon gentlemen not to read any article from the press, but rather to give the House a synopsis of it.

Mr. SUTHERLAND:

It is really a synopsis that is given in the press. However, I will not read it. The effect of the statement is that at a meeting of the Welland county Liberals yesterday the member for Welland (Mr. German) stated that Thorold would be added to Lincoln and Wainfleet to Haldimand under the redistribution act. I would like to ask the leader of the government, in view of the fact that the committee to which the bill was referred, has not only not met but has not yet been notified to meet, whether the government have already decided upon a plan of redistribution and have worked out the details which were supposed to have been submitted to the committee.

Mr. SPEAKER:

I must ask the hon. member not to insist on that question. He is anticipating legislation which has already been referred to a committee of the House.

Sir HENRY DRAYTON:

I would very respectfully suggest, Mr. Speaker, that there is one question which is certainly in order, namely; was the hon. gentleman authorized to make the statement?

Mr. W. M. GERMAN (Welland):

As I am the gentleman referred to, having attended the annual convention of the Liberal Association in the county of Welland yesterday and made the statement, if I have the permission of the House, I will state exactly what I said. I pointed out that the county of Welland had,

by reason of its great prosperity, increased in population to such an extent that it nearly equalled the population of the two adjoining counties of Lincoln and Haldimand; that it was possible in the redistribution of constituencies certain sections of the county of Welland might be removed therefrom and added to the counties <5f Lincoln and Haldimand so as to adjust the representation according to the regular unit of population; and that if such should happen to be the case, the town of Thorold and the township of Wainfleet, adjoining on either side the counties of Lincoln and Haldimand, would be the only municipalities in the county of Welland that could possibly be removed from the county of Welland and added to the counties of Lincoln and Haldimand; that so far as Thorold was concerned I was quite willing that it should go to the county of Lincoln, and that I preferred to retain Wainfleet as an adjunct of the county of Welland.

Mr. ANDREW KNOX (Prince Albert):

In view of the adverse agricultural conditions prevailing and the reference made thereto in the Speech from the Throne, and in view of the fact that this House has on various occasions been given to understand that a special committee would be appointed to inquire into those conditions, I would like to ask the government when this committee will be appointed.

Hon. W. R. MOTHERWELL (Minister of Agriculture):

Owing to the illness of the

Prime Minister we have not yet decided on the chairmanship of this committee, but we hope in the course of a day or two to have it' convene and organize.