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

It will be the wish, I am sure, of hon. members of all parties that I should give some expression to the loss which our country has sustained in the passing of the Hon. Robert J. Manion. His very sudden death at a late hour on Friday evening last must have come as a great shock, not only to his many personal friends and admirers, but to all who have followed his notable career.

Although not a member of this house during the present session, Doctor Manion's long association with parliament-he was a member for some twenty years-and the high and important positions which he held in the public life of Canada, would cause it to be the natural wish of many who sat with him in previous parliaments to pay, in this place, some slight tribute to his memory, and to the many services he rendered Canada, both in and out of parliament.

Doctor Manion, I am sure, would have been the last to wish, or to expect, that any attempt should be made at this time to estimate the place which history may accord his many contributions to our public life. I, myself, am the first to recognize that, at any time, it would be for some other, rather than for me, of whom he was so strong a

political opponent, to perform that task. At the same time, I should like to say that, while differences in political opinion occas-sioned changes in our political affiliations, and open opposition in our political relationships, I shared throughout the course of many years an association in public affairs with Doctor Manion much more intimate than most political opponents enjoy, and a personal friendship correspondingly close.

A mere enumeration of the national services voluntarily performed by Doctor Manion, and of the positions of confidence and trust which he held, are in themselves sufficient to ensure that his name will hold a high place in the honour roll of Canadian statesmen who, throughout their lives, have sought to give to the service of their fellow-men and to their country the best that is in them, at home and abroad, in times of war, and in times of peace.

Doctor Manion began his career as a physician and surgeon, and to the end of his days he kept the touch of the physician in his desire to be of service to his fellow-men. The great war saw him ministering to the needs of soldiers on the field of battle. The present war saw him discharging, with his characteristic enthusiasm and vigour, the duties of national director of civilian air raid defence.

He entered the House of Commons in 1917 as a supporter of the Union government, and quickly made his mark as a parliamentarian. In the period of Mr. Meighen's brief administrations he held respectively for a few months the portfolios of Minister of Soldiers' Civil Reestablishment and of Postmaster General. Throughout Mr. Bennett's tenure of office, from 1930 to 1935, he was Minister of Railways and Canals. In these positions he was regarded as an able administrator.

Doctor Manion, in parliament and on the platform, was at all times, fearless and outspoken. His thoughts came with great rapidity to his mind and were as rapidly expressed. I am sure he wished sometimes that some of his utterances might have a little more caution. However, all of us in the heat of controversy are apt to go further than we would at other times. He had many of the qualities of the pioneer: a resolute courage, complete self-reliance, and a sturdy independence of character. He possessed a great love for Canada, and her interests and future were ever closest to his heart.

Although defeated at the general elections of 1935, such was the confidence he had won among the membership of his party that he

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The late Hon. R. J. Manion

was chosen its leader at the national Conservative Convention in 1938. He then became for the ensuing two years its leader in this house and also the leader of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition.

The failure of his party to gain office at the general elections of 1940, and his defeat in his own constituency, must have been, for Doctor Manion, a bitter disappointment. Without recrimination he accepted the verdict of the country, and sought to continue his service to it in other directions. Shortly after his resignation as leader of his party, he offered his services to the government and, as is known, they were promptly availed of. The house is fully aware of the devoted manner in which Doctor Manion's time and talents were subsequently given to the country's service up to, and including, the day of his death.

It was evidence of the energy Doctor Manion possessed and of his desire to impart something of his own spirit to others, that he should have found time in the course of his active life to have written one or two books, and thus to have added to his record of surgeon and soldier, parliamentarian and patriot, the distinction also of being an author. His autobiography published under the title: "Life is an Adventure," contains in its pages many of the thoughts he would have wished most to bequeath to his fellow-men. Its pages disclose his genial nature, his sense of humour, his fearless attitude, and above all, the spirit of service which was the underlying purpose of his life.

It was on the 5th of July, 1938, that Doctor Manion was chosen leader of his party. Today is the fifth anniversary of that memorable day in his career. The period of his leadership was brief. Brief indeed was the course of his life on earth, brought as it was to its close at the age of 61, when from him, had he been spared, so much more might have been expected. This morning, members of all parties accompanied his mortal remains to their last resting place. As we meet this afternoon, we pay common tribute to his memory.

Life, truly, is an adventure; an adventure far beyond our ken. In these halls of parliament, in which, in bygone years some of our political battles were fought, I take my leave of him, with the thought, that surely all is not over here, that-

Somewhere, surely, afar,

In the sounding labour-house vast Of being, is practised that strength, Zealous, beneficent, firm!

Mr. GORDON GRAYDON (Leader of the Opposition):

Mr. Speaker, following the well chosen remarks of the Prime Minister (Mr. Mackenzie King) I should like on behalf of the Progressive Conservative party to add a word to what he has said on this occasion.

It was truly and appropriately said in the House of Commons on an occasion similar to this that in the midst of life we are in death. The passing of the Hon. Robert J. Manion in the midst of his public duties serves, I think, to recall that thought. Doctor Manion died in harness. He had a full life, and a long heritage of accomplishments and friendships which all might properly envy. He was one of the many Canadians who have risen to high position by following relentlessly the royal road of honesty, integrity and hard work. For well over a quarter of a century he was intimately associated with the public life of Canada. Prior, to his entry into the House of Commons in 1917 he had reached a high peak in his chosen profession and had been decorated for gallantry in the service of his country in the first great war.

The contributions which Doctor Manion made as a surgeon, a soldier, an author, a member of parliament and a cabinet minister, and later as the leader of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition, will be long remembered by the people of this dominion who loved him as a fearless fighter, a warm-hearted friend and a brilliant parliamentarian. His deep attachment to the things that are best in Canadian life, both in peace and in war, prompted him to offer his services again in world war No. 2. As before, he acquitted himself in the discharge of his duties with high credit to himself and to his country. Great as was his record in public affairs, equally great was his exemplary life as a family man, one who loved his own home. He believed that the real bulwark of a nation must lie within the home and family relationships.

Doctor Manion's passing comes as a great shock and will be a cause for deep sorrow on the part of his widow and his three sons, two of whom, in pursuance of their father's example, are to-day to be found in the armed forces of our country. It is of them we think at this time, and to them we send our sympathy and our condolences. In the midst of their loss they may properly take consolation from the thought that this good husband and father discharged his high duties in a full life with great credit, both in the public and in the private domain. Doctor

The late General Sikorski

Manion's life is an inspiration to all of us. He has left the heritage of a good name and a life well lived.

Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime,

And departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time.

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

Mr. Speaker, may I join with the Prime Minister (Mr. Mackenzie King) and the leader of the opposition (Mr. Graydon) in extending to Mrs. Manion and her family the deepest sympathy of the members of the party with which I am associated. As for myself and others who sit with me, we shared the atmosphere of this chamber with the late Doctor Manion. There is not much that one can say, except that when we disagreed with him we realized that here was a happy nature, a man typical of the race and people from which he sprang, and one whose quick retort and ready wit often enlivened this chamber.

He left this House of Commons in 1940 after defeat, the policy laid down by his party having found little popular support throughout the country. For that failure no doubt he himself grieved and to some extent suffered.

We wish to join with all members in the house in paying tribute to the memory of a man with whom we disagreed often, but whose many qualities were admired and whose work we respected.

Mr. J. H. BLACKMORE (Lethbridge):

Mr. Speaker, when I heard that Doctor Manion had been called away I was asked to voice an expression for publication in the press. I issued these words:

Sincerely, energetically, honourably, Doctor Manion strove to build a better Canada, serving as a surgeon, a soldier, a statesman. Doing so he was actuated by those warm and noble feelings which former generations knew as patriotism. He deserved well.

I wish to join with those who have already spoken in expressing on behalf of this group our profound sympathy with the wife and children who by his death are bereaved. May I also congratulate them upon having had as a husband and father a worthy man.

Hon. P. J. ARTHUR CARDIN (Richelieu-Vercheres) (Translation):

Mr. Speaker, the sad news of Hon. Doctor Manion's premature passing away recalls to the members of this house and, in fact, to all human beings, the implacable 'brevity of life and the vanity of most of the things that hold our attention during our rather fleeting stay in this world.

On this occasion, it is fitting to say that, in spite of differences of opinion and of the disagreements inherent to political struggles, the citizens of French descent always held in the most profound respect the personality, the works, the activities of the distinguished deceased whose loss we mourn to-day. In the thick of the contest and of the struggle, he always showed himself of unimpeachable loyalty and, because of his attitude, of the nobility of his character and of his radiant sympathy, he was always considered as a friend by the citizens of my province and by Canadians of French descent; no political discussions ever left a trace of the feelings or altered the friendly relations which existed between him and Canadian citizens of French descent.

Joining all other Canadians, we, the citizens of Quebec and Canadians of French descent, respectfully bow our thoughts over the grave which, far too soon, was sealed over a citizen who made his mark in Canada's political and social life. The memory of this distinguished Canadian and of his works will long be cherished by us, and this same memory will long be veiled by the sadness which his death has caused.

Mr. MACKENZIE KING:

I assume that it is unnecessary for me to ask you, Mr. Speaker, on behalf of all the members of this House of Commons, to convey to Mrs. Manion and to her sons the expression of our very deep sympathy in their bereavement.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is with great regret that I have to inform the house that General Sikorski, prime minister of Poland and commander in chief of the Polish armed forces, was killed yesterday in an aeroplane accident at Gibraltar while returning to the United Kingdom from a visit to the Polish forces in the middle east. General Sikorski's daughter and the chief of staff, General Klimeeki, were also killed.

General Sikorski was an eminent statesman and soldier whose place in the councils of the united nations it will indeeed be hard to fill. He had faced with supreme courage, high intelligence and unshaken confidence the baffling problems that confronted a government which had been deprived of direct control of all of its national territory. He had also been foremost in the task of reorganizing units of a Polish army which have lately fought with great gallantry in north Africa and other theatres of war.

Privilege

General Sikorski visited Canada in 1941 and 1942, and again briefly early in the present year. Only on Friday last I read to the house a cable received from Cairo from General Sikorski extending his good wishes on the celebration of Canada's Dominion Day and an expression of his own and the Polish nation's admiration of Canada's contribution to the allied cause on the battlefields of this war. On the occasion of each of his visits to Canada, General Sikorski impressed all who met him as one of the ablest diplomats and bravest fighters in the common cause.

In my contacts with him during his visits to Canada, I felt that, if he were spared to survive the war, he would be destined to play a leading part in the reconstitution of a free and independent Poland and in the establishment of stability in eastern Europe. He has not been so spared, and his untimely death is an irreparable loss not only for the Polish government and people, to whom I extend sincerest sympathy in the name of the government and people of Canada, but also for all of the united nations.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise to a question of privilege. Speaking in Toronto on Friday last, Mr. John Bracken, leader of the Progressive Conservative party, is reported in the press of Canada as having said that the war policy of the dominion government had been "in too many of its aspects prompted by political cowardice."

Had Mr. Bracken, as leader of the Progressive Conservative party, been a member of this House of Commons, I should to-day at once have asked you, Mr. Speaker, to see that Mr. Bracken was obliged immediately to withdraw his charge of political cowardice. As one who himself has been a member of a legislative assembly, Mr. Bracken must know that these untrue and offensive words could not have been used in this house or in the legislature of any province without the house insisting upon their being withdrawn. As Mr. Bracken is not in the house, I suppose I must content myself by saying that a charge of "political cowardice" comes with ill grace from a leader of a political party who, throughout the whole of a session of parliament, following his appointment as

(Mr. Mackenzie King.]

leader of his party, has avoided attempting its leadership on the floor of the House of Commons.

I should like also to draw the attention of the house to Mr. Bracken's further reported reference, in speaking of that part of the Canadian army called up for service in the western hemisphere, to his "judgment that this home draftee army is not only an injustice to the men who are in it, but it is the biggest hoax ever perpetrated on the nation." I think the use of the word "hoax", which in existing circumstances is equally uncalled for and equally untrue and offensive, is something which the leader of the Progressive Conservative party himself will come greatly to regret ever having used.

Mr. POULIOT:

Isaac Laquedem.

Hon. C. W. G. GIBSON (Minister of National Revenue):

Mr. Speaker, as a matter of privilege I should like to refer to an article appearing in the Globe and Mail on Friday, July 2, under the heading "Did Abitibi bondholders follow wrong policies?" This refers to an article written by James F. Clark, statistician, Toronto, which contains the following statement:

In the last two years Abitibi has paid out to bondholders the substantial sum of $20,272,140, equal to forty-two per ceht on the $48,267,000 stated amount of the bonds. These moneys have, with the approval of the dominion income tax authorities, been applied on the principal, an unheard of practice in the writer's knowledge, and accordingly bondholders are not required to pay income tax on these receipts. Here again the reason advanced for the payment to apply against principal instead of unpaid interest is the possibility that final settlement .would find insufficent assets to repay bondholders' claims for principal and interest in full. If these payments came from liquidation of the properties of the company there might be some validity to this reasoning. The writer believes that these payments would probably not have been made at all had the income tax authorities refused to consider them free from income tax.

I wish to take exception to the statement that I have read, as it by no means represents the facts. The writer refers to "an unheardi of practice," whereas I would point out that it is a common practice for the payor of a debt to direct on what account the payments should be applied. But in this case the courts, by various orders, directed that payments be made on account of the principal. The question whether such payments were to be considered on account of the principal or interest was decided by the court, not by the income tax department.

Questions

Mr. Clark states that "the reason advanced for the payment to apply against principal instead of unpaid interest is the possibility that final settlement would find insufficient assets to repay bondholders' claims for principal and interest in full." No such reason has been advanced by my department. It may be that the court used this reasoning in directing that the moneys be paid on account of the principal debt, but when a creditor takes payment in the manner directed by the payor, the reasons for the action are immaterial. The fact remains that the money was paid by direction of the court in liquidation of the principal.

The suggestion by Mr. Clark that the method of applying the moneys owing by the company was subject to the approval of the income tax department and that the income tax department had power to direct how such moneys should be applied, is entirely unfounded.