Mr. CAHAN:

I have a higher opinion of him than to think he had any such idea.

Mr. HOWE:

It was explained to Major Hahn at that time that the department had no plans for procuring this gun, that they had simply brought it out for inspection. However, Major Hahn decided that he would put himself in a position to manufacture the gun, when the time came, by the ordinary methods used by any manufacturer; that is, he determined that when the time came he would know more about the process of manufacture of that particular gun than any competitor in his field.

Mr. HOMUTH:

May I ask the minister how Major Hahn knew that that opportunity was going to come?

Sit down.

Mr. HOMUTH:

I won't sit down.

Mr. HOWE:

What is the question? Mr. Speaker, I object to interruptions from this bird of passage.

Mr. MANION:

I rise to a point of order, Mr. Speaker. The minister has described an hon. member as a bird of passage. The hon. member who just sat down (Mr. Young) described me as a cheap Tammany Hall politician, and the hon. member (Mr. Howe) talked of our blackguarding the Minister of National Defence. All these expressions, I submit, are unparliamentary and I object to their being used of any members of this party. If that type of rough language is going to be used, we can use it too. I ask, Mr. FEBRUARY 9, 1939

Bren Gun-Mr. Howe

Speaker, for a retraction of that disrespectful remark, a bird of passage, made by the minister and applied to an hon. member of this house.

Mr. HOWE:

I withdraw the remark, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. LAPOINTE (Quebec East):

And the leader of the opposition should withdraw the threat he has just made. He has no right to threaten the house.

Mr. MANION:

Better be a little more careful, then, of your language. We can use the same kind of language too.

Mr. LAPOINTE (Quebec East):

Too much heat.

Mr. MANION:

Not much light from my hon. friend.

Mr. LAPOINTE (Quebec East):

Nor from you either.

Mr. HOWE:

Major Hahn proceeded with the thought in mind that he would put himself in a position to manufacture the Bren gun, and he proceeded to England to learn as much as he could of its manufacture. He had a letter of introduction, and we have been told that that letter of introduction was patronage. Now I once gave a letter of introduction. It was addressed to an acquaintance of mine holding an official position in England. The man to whom I gave it was interested in obtaining an order for aeroplanes. When he returned to Canada he told me that my letter had been most helpful; and I assume that on that ground I am charged with patronage. The letter I gave was given to a gentleman who happened to be, in 1930, the dominion treasurer of the Conservative party. That is how much " patronage " there is in that type of letter. I believe that any member of the government would be glad to give a letter to any man visiting England for a purpose which is beneficial to the Dominion of Canada.

Mr. MANION:

And make him a representative of the government, as the Prime Minister did?

Mr. SPEAKER:

Order.

Mr. THOMPSON:

And pay his expenses?

Mr. HOWE:

That is not so, as my hon. friend knows. In March of 1938 the government was in a position to order Bren guns: in other words, it had reached a stage in its armament plans where it could afford to spend the money necessary to purchase this equipment. When the time came, Major Hahn was in exactly the position in which,

in 1936, he had started out to place himself. He knew the type of equipment required for the manufacture of Bren guns. He had so strongly impressed himself on the British government that he had a contingent order from Britain for an additional 5,000 guns, and he came before the Department of National Defence in a position in which no other Canadian manufacturer could possibly place himself. It is strange to be told that so manv plantc could manufacture this gun, when there is no information that any rival manufacturer had taken the slightest interest in this branch of manufacturing in the time intervening.

Mr. STEWART:

None of them knew anything about it.

Mr. HOWE:

We are told that there were any number of plants in Canada which could have manufactured this gun; that is, they could have just taken it in as a matter of routine.