Mr. JOHN BRACKEN (Leader of the Opposition):

Mr. Speaker, I am sure all hon. members will wish to associate themselves with the minister in the statement he has just made. It has been the privilege of some of us, with many members of the government,

to have been acquainted with Jan Masaryk and to know something of what he was trying to do for his country. As the minister has said, the son of a great patriot of Czechoslovakia was trying to serve his country in the footsteps of his father. We not only regret the circumstances which have brought about his death, but we sincerely regret the event itself. On behalf of my associates I wish to join with the minister in the statement he has made in extending our sympathy to that nation in the loss of this great man.

Mr. Speaker, I should like to associate myself with what has been said. Those of us who knew Jan Masaryk and the ideas which always guided his political life were shocked to find his name among those who were included in the new government two weeks ago. We could not understand what had happened. Perchance when the curtain is lifted we may understand and realize that he took the step in order to do something further for his country, and having failed to do so, not being satisfied to live under a regime which he thought would destroy those democratic principles for which he stood, somehow he met his death. One day history may tell us how and why.

Right Hon. C. D. HOWE (Minister of Trade and Commerce):

At the request of the leader of the opposition I now wish to lay on the table a copy of the international wheat agreement in English and in French. Perhaps I could amplify the answers I gave the leader of the opposition at the last sitting. The agreement is open for signature until April 1. Fifteen governments had authorized their representatives to sign on March 6. The remaining

Hong Kong Inquiry

twenty-one, mostly small importers excepting Australia, were still awaiting instructions from their government to sign. All of them expected their authorizations to sign before April 1. In addition to signature, the agreement is subject to formal acceptance by the thirty-six governments by July 1. Adjustment in the guaranteed quantities is provided for in the event any minor countries fail to formally accept, and for the agreement not to come into operation if one of the major countries stays out.

Hon. BROOKE CLAXTON (Minister of National Defence):

Mr. Speaker, in accordance with the Prime Minister's statement of February 24 and the order of the house the following day, I now beg leave to table the evidence in the Hong Kong inquiry. I shall be glad to show the leaders of the different parties the originals of the various cables to verify the fact that the paraphrasing that is required has been made without changing the meaning in any way, and so that they may see also the four cases in which references of a confidential character have been made to units or individuals not forming part of the Hong Kong forces.

Mr. JOHN BRACKEN (Leader of the Opposition):

Mr. Speaker, I wish to direct a question to the Minister of National Defence arising out of the statement he has just made. The minister intimated that he was going to table the evidence, and I gathered that was done. May I ask how many copies of the evidence are available?

Mr. CLAXTON:

There is only one copy.

Mr. BRACKEN:

In view of the fact that there were two battalions there, the Winnipeg Grenadiers and the Royal Rifles, why is the evidence tabled only in one language?

Mr. CLAXTON:

The royal commission

heard all the evidence in English, and the evidence that has been tabled and the exhibits that have been tabled are the same transcripts of evidence and the same exhibits that were used by the royal commissioner himself.

Mr. BRACKEN:

The minister, then, does not intend to provide us with more than one copy of the evidence. That is all we are to have. Is that correct?

Mr. CLAXTON:

There is only one copy.