Right Hon. W. L. MACKENZIE KING (Prime Minister):

I desire to table the text of the convention between Canada and the

Hong Kong Prisoners

United States of America for the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion, which was signed at Washington on March 4, 1942.

Right Hon. W. L. MACKENZIE KING (Prime Minister):

Mr. Speaker, the United Kingdom secretary of state for foreign affairs made the following statement in the House of Commons at Westminster to-day in reply to an inquiry regarding the treatment of military prisoners and civilians by the Japanese army at Hong Kong after its capitulation:

Out of regard for the feelings of the thousands of relations of the victims, his majesty's government have been unwilling to publish any accounts of Japanese atrocities at Hong Kong until these had been confirmed beyond any possibility of doubt.

His Majesty's government are now in possession of statements by reliable eye witnesses who succeeded in escaping from Hong Kong towards the end of January or early in February. Their testimony established the fact that Japanese army at Hong Kong perpetrated against their helpless military prisoners and civil population, without distinction of race or colour, the same kind of barbarities which aroused the horror of the civilized world at the time of the Nanking massacre of 1937.

It is known that fifty officers and men of the British were bound hand and foot and then bayoneted to death. It is known that ten days after capitulation wounded were still being collected from the hills and Japanese were refusing permission to bury the dead. It is known that women, both Asiatic and European, were raped and murdered and that one entire Chinese district was declared a brothel, regardless of status of inhabitants.

All the survivors of the garrison including Indian, Chinese and Portuguese have been herded into a camp consisting of wrecked huts without doors, windows, light or sanitation. By the end of January 150 cases of dysentery had occurred but no drugs or medical facilities were supplied. The dead had to be buried in a corner of the camp. The Japanese guards are utterly callous and the repeated requests of General Maltby, the general officer commanding, for an interview with the Japanese commander have been curtly refused. This presumably means that the Japanese high command have connived at the conduct of their forces. The Japanese government stated at the end of February that numbers of prisoners in Hong Kong were British 5,072, Canadian 1,689, Indian 3,829, others 357, total 10,947.

Most of the European residents, including some who are seriously ill, have been interned, and like the military prisoners are being given only a little rice and water and occasionally scraps of other food.

There is some reason to believe that conditions have been slightly improved since date on which the eye-witnesses, whom I have quoted, escaped, but Japanese government have refused their consent to visit to Hong Kong of a repre-

sentative of protecting power and no permission has yet been granted for such a visit by representative of International Red Cross Committee. They have in fact announced that they require all foreign consuls to withdraw from all territories they have invaded since the outbreak of the war. It is clear that their treatment of prisoners and civilians will not bear independent investigation.

I have no information as to condition of our prisoners of war and civilians in Malaya. The only report available is a statement by Japanese official news agency of March 3 stating that 77,699 Chinese have been arrested and subjected to what is described as "a severe examination." It is not difficult to imagine what that entails.

I am sorry that I have had to make such a statement to the house. Two things will be clear from it, to the house, to the country and to the world. The J apanese claim that their forces are animated by a lofty code of chivalry, l>ushido, is a nauseating hypocrisy. That is the first. The second is that the enemy must be utterly defeated. The house will agree with me that we can best express our sympathy with the victims of these appalling outrages by redoubling our efforts to ensure his utter and overwhelming defeat.

That is the end of Mr. Eden's statement. I am informed by our high commissioner in London that on the basis of information so far received, United Kingdom authorities agree that of all the reports of specific atrocities received1 to date none are alleged to have been committed against Canadians, but no reports show that in so far as general treatment of prisoners of war is concerned Japanese have made any differentiation between Canadians and other British troops.

Words cannot begin to express the sense of outrage and the feeling of bitter resentment to which this announcement of Japanese atrocities at Hong Kong is certain to give rise among civilized! peoples everywhere, and nowhere more than in the different countries of the British empire and in the United States with which Japan is at war.

Retribution for barbaric behaviour of the kind will follow in full measure in due course. Meanwhile, numbers of Canadians, both soldiers and civilians, in Hong Kong and in other parts of the far east, are now and will continue for some time to be at the mercy of the Japanese forces. Remembering this fact, it is of the utmost importance that no act of vengeance should be permitted or taken against persons of Japanese origin in our country, since any such acts might be made an excuse for acts of retaliation upon Canadian soldiers or citizens in the orient.

I may add that the Canadian government, in conjunction with the governments of Australia, India, the United Kingdom and the United States, have been and are making every effort, both through the countries which are protecting their interests in enemy coun-

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tries and through the International Red Cross, to get into personal touch with prisoners of war and others. The object of all these inquiries is twofold: to secure all possible authentic information, and also to bring such measure of relief in the nature of medical supplies, food and personal comforts as can possibly be arranged.

Hon. R. B. HANSON (Leader of the Opposition):

Mr. Speaker, the facts related by Mr. Eden and detailed to this House of Commons will shock the whole world. But they will help us to renew our determination to end forever those systems of government under which such atrocities and barbarities are permitted to occur. I should like to express this further thought. Reprisals are unthinkable to those of us who believe in the Christian way of life; and I would sound a note of warning-that reprisals against Japanese nationals in Canada must not be contemplated. Let it never be forgotten that there are still Canadians and British in the hands of the Japanese foe.

Mr. M. J. COLDWELL (Rosetown-Biggar):

I should like to add a word to what has already been said. I am sure the recital we have just heard has filled each one of us with horror. The day must come when the officers and governments who have been responsible for these atrocities must be brought to the bar of justice and dealt with in a fitting manner.

I too would join with the leader of the opposition (Mr. Hanson) in expressing the hope that however much our people may be provoked against the Japanese, nowhere in Canada may there be any untoward act which would, as has already been said, give an excuse to the devilish men who are wreaking this kind of treatment upon those who are simply carrying on their activities both military and civil in war time in a fitting way. I cannot help thinking that the civilized world, which is shocked now,' ought to have been equally shocked when similar outrages were committed at Nanking. That, however, is in the past, and I join in the expressions of horror and resentment expressed by the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.

Mr. J. H. BLACKMORE (Lethbridge):

In times like these it is easy for us to be unwise. The all-important thing for us to keep in mind is this, that because of mishaps, misconceptions and mismanagement in the past the British empire has allowed itself to become so weak that these things have been made possible. We are suffering from the results of our past mistakes. We cannot in any way

atone for them, or extricate ourselves from the difficulties into which they have plunged us, by making others. The thing for us to do is to keep our minds calm and to concentrate with all the power of our being on the things we can do to retrieve ourselves from the disaster into which we are plunged. Certainly one of the things we should not do is indulge in any untoward act toward any national of Japanese origin in this country.

Mr. A. W. NEILL (Comox-Alberni):

Mr. Speaker, may I say a word in the circumstances? I should like to ask the leaders of the first three parties who have spoken whether there has been the least suggestion from anyone in British Columbia, or in Canada, that we should take any action against Japanese which would invite retaliation or which could in even the faintest degree be comparable to the brutalities about which we have heard. What we have tried to do is to get the government to take steps, before it is too late, to protect our wives and children in British Columbia from atrocities that may come upon us.

Mr. G. A. CRUICKSHANK (Fraser Valley):

Mr. Speaker, I agree that the problem before us is a serious one, and I agree with what has been said by the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the leaders of the other groups. But I do wish to point out that members from British Columbia almost unanimously have tried to impress upon the government this very fact about which they have spoken. My information last night at 11 o'clock was that only some 700 Japanese have been moved from British Columbia. Mr. Speaker, that is not good enough. As the hon. member for Comox-Alberni (Mr. Neill) has pointed out, some of us have our wives and children or families out there. We want to impress upon the government what the situation is. So far the government has not taken it seriously enough. It is not that we are advocating reprisals. But the government must bear the responsibility, and it is a most serious responsibility, if they do it well. We do not advocate reprisals; we deprecate them, and will do everything in our power to prevent any. But the government must wake up to the seriousness of the situation.

Order.

Mr. CRUICKSHANK:

I might say a lot

more than I have, but I want to ask a question, which I am entitled to do, on the orders of the day-and I am more serious than I have ever been before with respect to anything I have said in this house. How many Japanese have been moved from the province of British Columbia since December 7?

Merchant Shipping

Mr. MACKENZIE KING:

I was informed only at noon to-day that about 1,000 have been moved. I can assure my hon. friend that both the security commission of British Columbia and the department of government which has to do with this matter are leaving no stone unturned to see that eveiy possible action is taken that will make for the security of the people of British Columbia.

Mr. CLARENCE GILLIS (Cape Breton South):

Mr. Speaker, I should like to direct a question to the Minister of National Defence for Naval Services. As a member for a Nova Scotia coast constituency I want to ask whether reports are correct that several cargo ships have recently been sunk within sight of the Nova Scotia coast, and what steps are being taken to protect this coast and ships plying along it.

Hon. ANGUS A. MACDONALD (Minister of National Defence for Naval Services): I have just received notice of my hon. friend's question. In reply to the first part of it I can say it is true that ships have been sunk not far distant from the Nova Scotia coast. As to the second part, namely, what steps are being taken to protect this coast and the ships plying along it, I do not think that that is the sort of question to which a detailed public answer could be made. All I can say to my hon. friend is that steps are being taken, and that every facility at the command of the naval service and the Royal Canadian Air Force to guard our coastal waters is being used.

Mr. W. G. WEIR (Macdonald):

Mr. Speaker, I should like to ask a question of the Minister of National Revenue (Mr. Gibson), which I take to be of some importance in its general application. I have here the serial number of a tractor which was sold to a farmer in August, 1940. Under protest the purchaser paid a tax on this tractor of $70.80. I have as well a letter from an officer of the Department of National Revenue which states that this tractor was cleared through customs in April, 1940, and as such would not be subject to the war exchange tax. I have also the serial number of a second tractor that was purchased in 1940 and on which a tax of S66.20 was paid. I am not certain of the date on which this second tractor was cleared IMr. Cniiokshank.l

through customs, but I think it was early in the spring of 1940. I have also on my desk an article printed in a local newspaper which in effect states that some companies, or at least a company, imported large quantities of farm implements before the imposition of the war exchange tax. These implements have been kept in stock and apparently the policy has been practised of adding the amount of the war exchange tax to the price of the implements.

I would put my question to the minister in this way. First, has the department any knowledge which would lead it to believe that the practice just referred to has been followed by any farm implement company or companies? Second, will the department take steps to determine the correctness or otherwise of the assertion made? Third, if this tax was added to the price of the machinery, was the money so collected paid to the treasury? Fourth, if the tax was collected and not paid to the treasury, will the department take steps to (a) secure the money so collected for the benefit of the treasury, or (b) require the implement company or companies to reimburse the purchaser the amount of the tax so collected?

Mr. SPEAKER:

f have already referred to the fact that questions are asked on the orders of the day which should be placed on the order paper. We have an illustration this afternoon in this question which is not capable of being answered at the moment. I think hon. members must take into consideration that these questions, important though they may be, should be placed on the order paper. I would prefer that the minister should not reply to the question.