Mr. GEARY:

Then these men will have to wait until the report of that commission is received and this house takes action.

Mr. YENIOT:

I may say that it is true that the question of the salaries of this class, as well as others, has been referred to the Beatty commission and if I am not mistaken the lower paid officials will receive particular consideration, and there will be the matter of fixing a minimum salary for them. There is nothing in the present estimates which enables us to pay them for this year's work, unless the commission in its report would recommend retroaotion to April 1st, 1930.

Mr. GEARY:

Does the minister propose to abandon his efforts in this particular matter?

Mr. VENIOT:

I certainly do not; I shall make it a point to attend to the interests of these men and if it is at all possible I shall appear before the commission.

Mr. GEARY:

But that may be a matter of a year or so. I take the word of the minister that he is anxious to do something, and that he recognizes the justice of the claim made by the letter carriers. In fact he has actually stated that their requests should be acceded to. If the minister were able to convince the Civil Service Commission in regard to the necessities of this particular branch, would he now be able to provide the money?

Mr. VENIOT:

Not at the present time, or through these estimates. It may be done by means of retroaction. The, putting into effect of recommendations by the Beatty commission would depend upon the policy of the government holding office at that time. So far as I personally am concerned, I shall certainly stand behind what I have already attempted to do for these men.

Mr. GEARY:

The minister is obliged to say that reference to the Beatty commission shuts off any possible action along other lines?

Mr. VENIOT:

No.

Mr. GEARY:

What other action does the minister propose to take?

Mr. VENIOT:

It does not out off action, but rather gives us more action, because the reference to the Beatty commission will be investigated and there will be a reference to the government. I feel fairly sure that from the expressions of opinion on both sides of the house in connection with this question the government will be disposed to do whatever is proper under the report of the Beatty commission.

Mr. GEARY:

The minister has misunderstood me. He proposes to take no further action in regard to increasing the salaries of letter carriers, pending the report of the Beatty commission?

Mr. VENIOT:

That is correct.

Mr. STEWART (Leeds):

With a view to making further progress, may I suggest that the Hill matter to which we were referring is included in the item with which we are now dealing, the $5,000 for the payment of compassionate allowances. I have no objection to the passing of this item.

Mr. GEARY:

There is a man by the name of Kirk with whom there has been some correspondence. He was arrested, tried and acquitted but he lost his job. In the meantime he has paid a considerable sum of money towards the superannuation fund, and he cannot get it back. He cannot receive superannuation because he is not in the service and, I suppose, never will be. Has the minister made any provision to deal with such cases as this?

Mr. VENIOT:

My hon. friend drew my attention last year to the case of this man; I know he does not wish me at this time to go into the particulars of the case. Under the refund clause however this gentleman cannot receive a return of the amount of money which was coming to him. May I explain that this refund clause is under the control of the service, not of the government? The men pay 5 per cent into it; true, the government does add certain other percentages to the fund. We have to be very careful in the administration of a fund which belongs to the service, and I remember that last year I was asked the question whether I would recommend a compassionate allowance. In order to do that I would have to bring the matter before the treasury board and from the treasury board it would have to go to the council. I promised the hon. gentleman from Toronto South (Mr. Geary) that I would go into the matter, and when I did so I found that if we once opened the door we

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would have to open it to hundreds of men who knew when they entered the service what the consequences would be if for cause they should lose their positions. I discovered that if we opened up this case we would have to take the same action in connection with 'hundreds of other cases and in this way deplete the fund which the men should have to their credit. I refrained from recomending to the government the payment of a compassionate allowance, and that is how the matter stands at the present time.

Mr. GEARY:

In the courts they said the minister had no right to dismiss this man.

Mr. VENIOT:

No, the courts did not find against the minister. If the hon. gentleman wishes to go into the details of that case and have them placed on Hansard we will do so, but I think for the sake of the individual himself that should not be done.

Mr. STEWART (Leeds):

The next item

I would suggest is the amount of S925 to provide for a telegraphic news service for the Magdalen islands during the winter months.

The CHAIRMAN:

Shall the resolution

carry?