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

Mr. Speaker, with your permission and the permission of hon. members of the house I should like on behalf of all of us, before the afternoon's proceedings begin, to say to my right hon. friend the Prime Minister how glad we are to see him again in his accustomed seat.

Hon. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear.

Mr. MACKENZIE KING:

I am sure I need not say to my right hon. friend how deeply we all regretted the illness which rendered unavoidable his absence from this house for so many weeks, nor with what degree of real satisfaction we received from time to time reports of the progress he was making towards recovery, which recovery in deepest sincerity we hope has been very real, and we trust will prove to be complete. We were particularly pleased that my right hon. friend's recovery was such as to make it possible for him to visit England, and to be present to represent Canada at the ceremonies in connection with the silver jubilee of King George; also to take part in conversations which he had while there with the members of the British government and the prime ministers of other parts of the British empire. Possibly at his convenience my right hon. friend may wish to give to the house a word or two respecting the ceremonies, and also, if he is free to do so, with respect to the conversa-

Greetings to Prime Minister

tions he has had on matters of concern to us all. That, however, will be a matter for himself to decide and for the convenient moment. At present I just wish to repeat that, irrespective of party, as a united House of Commons, we welcome him back to the place which he has occupied during the past five years. I know hon. members on his own side hope, and we of the opposition join very sincerely in that hope, that he may find himself, regardless of what the fortunes of political warfare may be, sufficiently well and strong to be able to continue in the leadership of his party for .many years to come.

Hon. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear.

Mr. MACKENZIE KING:

I should like to add just one further word; that is to say to my right hon. friend how much we all admired the manner in which his loyal and faithful colleague and lieutenant, the right hon. member for Argenteuil (Sir George Perley) conducted the proceedings of this house-

Hon. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear.

Mr. MACKENZIE KING:

-as acting Prime Minister during my right hon. friend's enforced absence. The right hon. member for Argenteuil has added one more laurel to the many he has earned in the course of a long public life for the self-effacing service he has been ready to render his party at all times and the conspicuous service he has given in times of need.

Hon. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear.

Mr. ROBERT GARDINER (Acadia):

Mr. Speaker, I am sure that on this occasion all hon. members of the house can forget their political differences in order to extend a very hearty welcome to the Prime Minister on the occasion of his resuming his duties as leader of this house. I concur very heartily in the sentiments so ably expressed by the right hon. leader of the opposition (Mr. Mackenzie King) not only in welcoming the Prime Minister back to his duties in the house, but also in that portion of his remarks expressing our appreciation of the manner in which the acting leader of the house conducted the business while the Prime Minister was away. Having that in mind, I trust that the Prime Minister will recognize that in the event of his not feeling as well as he might wish, he can safely leave the business of this house in the hands of the colleagues who surround him. May I express the hope that the Prime Minister's health will continue to improve and will soon be fully restored.

Right Hon. R. B. BENNETT (Prime Minister):

Mr. Speaker, it is very difficult to express in words one's appreciation of the kindly sentiments voiced by the right hon. leader of the opposition (Mr. Mackenzie King) and the hon. leader of the third party (Mr. Gardiner). But I do appreciate their kindly expressions, and I thank them and thank this house from the bottom of my heart. Shakespeare said that:

The evil that men do lives after them, the good is oft interred with their bones.

So let it be. Whether or not there is any thought of that in the mind of hon. gentlemen who spoke I know notl I said to my hon. friend the Minister of Justice (Mr. Guthrie) that there was another saying "de mortuis nil nisi bonum"; possibly that also was in the minds of some who are not in this chamber but perhaps within sound of the voices of those who are in the chamber!

But I should like to say how grateful I have been for, first of all, the prayers of many people. I do not refer to those formal expressions of sympathy or those formal appeals that are made to the Godhead, but to the letters I received from remote parts of the country, from the multitudinous poor, which make one believe after all that the great solid sentiment of this country is a sound sentiment and that the people have a proper appreciation of their relations to the problems of the country. Then to those who are members of this house, on bothsides, may I express my very sincere and deep sense of obligation for the kind terms in which they have expressed their interest in my well being and welfare. The right hon. leader of the opposition (Mr. Mackenzie King) was particularly happy in the expressions of sympathy which he conveyed on behalf of himself and his party, and thesame might be said of the party opposite and to the extreme right. Then the flowers, the telegrams and messages from various parts of the world made one think that after allit was not a bad thing to be ill if for a

moment it afforded people an opportunity to speak well of one who is still living! But I value most the expressions of goodwill which have been made this afternoon with such apparent sincerity. I know that some -and this has been expressed in the printed page-have felt that there was no reason why one should be ill because one should not have worked so hard. Well, Mr. Speaker, I am sorry to say that during the last five years I have seen no opportunity to slacken or lessen the efforts I was compelled to make from day to day in the discharge of what I

Greetings to Prime Minister

conceived to be my duty to the country. That I overdid it is, of course, a matter that is known to most hon. members now; that I regret having overdone it is equally true, but if I had to do it over again I know of no way in which I might escape it, and I say that in all sincerity.

I am grateful for having had the opportunity to represent this country at the recent jubilee celebration, about which I shall make some further observations at another time. To the other matters referred to by the right hon. leader of the opposition, in connection with the discussions that took place in Great Britain between the prime ministers of the various overseas dominions and the Prime Minister and ministers of the motherland, I shall also refer later. It is sufficient for my purpose to say to this house this afternoon that the European situation is one of great difficulty, and at times it gives evidence of being very dangerous. But I am hopeful that the efforts which have been made during all these years by the government of the United Kingdom to secure, shall I say, a collective security pact and peace with disarmament, may prevail. Great Britain has disarmed to the point of insecurity; at this moment she finds herself in a position of very great difficulty. I think that is not too strong a statement to make in view of the knowledge we have all obtained from the press as well as from other sources. At this moment I shall not do more than say that I think it very desirable that I should at once make it clear that so far as this dominion is concerned no commitments were sought with respect to the matters to which reference has been made, nor were any given. I say that because it is desirable that there should be no false conceptions and no misstatements or misunderstandings abroad with respect to matters of such importance to us all. That the future is difficult to foresee goes without saying; that public men who have a firm and clear grasp of the situation are doing their utmost to preserve the world's peace is equally true, but that the task is difficult I do not for a moment deny.

A moment ago I was speaking of the health of the body politic. So far as my personal health is concerned, Mr. Speaker, I did consult the best opinions that I could secure, and the advice I have received is that if I were able to proceed with a certain amount of leisure and rest-I see one of my hon. friends who is a medical practitioner looking at me as though he knew what I was about to say, as he probably does-and avoid too much effort, in the fullness of time I might recover my wonted strength and health. I think I

should say to this chamber that they urged me not to return at this time, but knowing as I did what were the conditions with respect to this house and the date of its adjournment I felt it my duty to do so, whatever might be the consequences. I may not be able to give to public business that measure of attention and that strength of purpose that sometimes has characterized my conduct-so, at least, I have heard-but I shall do my very best while I am here to make clear what my appreciation of the situation may be with respect to the legislation that will engage the attention of the house during the balance of the session.

There are many things that men forget; there are some they always remember. When I say to you, my fellow members of this house, this afternoon that I shall never forget this moment, I but state the simple truth.

1. What was the amount paid to Mr. G. T. Clarkson, as trustee for the Home Bank?

2. What was the amount paid to I. E.

Weldon, K.C., as assistant trustee for Home Bank? .

3. What firm or firms of solicitors were

employed in connection with Home Bank proceedings? _

4. What amount or amounts were paid to such firm or firms of solicitors?

5. Is the said I. E. Weldon, K.C., or the said G. T. Clarkson, at the present time in receipt of any remuneration from any governmental sources?

Mr. CAHAN:

1, 2, 3 and 4. The liquidators of the Home Bank of Canada are appointees of the Supreme Court of Ontario. Their remuneration and accounts are within the jurisdiction of the court and must be passed and approved by the master. The Department of Finance has no detailed statement of payments to liquidators or solicitors employed in connection with liquidation proceedings.

5. No.

Questions