William Pugsley
Liberal
Mr. PUGSLEY:
The item is put in to cover " travelling and other expenses." I quite agree with my hon. friend from Fron-tenae (Mr. Edwards) that $5,000 seems a large item for " travelling and other ex-
penses." I think it would he ibetter to make an allowance to the Chief Justice as deputy Governor General, toy reason of the very high ,and honourable position he holds and by reason of the fact that he does discharge the duties of deputy Governor General. I think it would be better to put it on that distinct ground. To my mind it would not be proper to strike out the item, because the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada has always acted as deputy Governor General, and has always received an allowance. I do not knorw whether it was $5,000 per year. It certainly would seem rather ungracious to discriminate against the present occupant of that high position and refuse to treat him in the same way as his predecessors have been treated. I agree with the minister, that the salary of the Chief Justice of Canada is not by any means a large one. I think we pay the Chairman of the Board of Railway Commissioners $15,000 a year, $5,000 a year more than the salary of the Chief Justice of Canada. The other day a vote was passed to pay the Chairman of the Bureau of Research $10,000 per annum. As has been stated, a lawyer in good practice in Canada can earn twice or three times as much as the salary of (the Chief Justice, and a gentleman oif the eminence of the Chief Justice could easily earn at the Bar from $25,000 to $50,000 per annum in the larger cities. I do not object to voting the amount. What I object to is the language of the vote and the way it is put, as " travelling and other expenses."
Post Office-Outside Service.
To increase the minimum salary of railway mail clerks from $500 to $600, and to raise the annual statutory increases of railway mail clerks from $50 to $100 in cases where the salary is over $800, notwithstanding anything in the Civil Service Act or the Post Office Act; also to provide for the payment of provisional allowance of $100 each to Civil Service employees of the Outside Service of the Post Office Department whose salaries are $1,600 and under, and also to provide for the establishment of inspectorate at North Rattleford,_ Sask., $608,000.