Mr. SAMUEL GOBEIL (Compton):

At

the outset of my remarks may I extend to the hon. Minister of Finance (Mr. Rhodes) my congratulations upon the very able manner in which he presented the budget for this fiscal year. It is not a political budget, not a budget to mislead the people of this country but the budget of a business man setting forth the facts as they are, and one which the future will justify.

Until I heard the speeches of hon. gentlemen opposite, especially that of the hon. member for Shelburne-Yarmouth (Mr. Ralston) and the hon. member for Medicine Hat (Mr. Ger-shaw) I was undecided whether or not I should participate in this debate. But as they have repeated the assertion that this government and the Conservative party have strangled the external trade of our country and, as they are constantly doing, have claimed that this party is a party of high tariffs, and as I come from a constituency bordering on the United States I felt that I could not let this occasion pass without stating once more the actual facts in regard to the tariff. Before going into that, however, I should like to say a few words concerning the speech made by the hon. member for Medicine Hat. At the beginning of his speech he said:

I am of the opinion that the people of this country want a general election at the earliest possible moment.

Mr. GOBEIL:

My time is nearly up, Mr. Speaker, or I should have liked to mention a few of the bills that have been passed this session, but it is not necessary because my hon. friends know what has been done, although they may not know all that is going to be done. Unless they are absolutely insincere when they speak in this house, it must be that they do not feel the pulse of the people, or they would not have opposed many of the bills which this government has brought down. I will mention the Farmers' Creditors Arrangement Act. That was a good law, and my hon. friends opposite should have realized that since it has been passed it has been very well looked upon and has rendered invaluable service to the farmers of this country although

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it is just beginning to operate. When we hear hon. gentlemen opposite making statements about that act such as we heard a few days ago, it simply means that they are not aware of what the electors are thinking or they would not make such statements. Only yesterday a Liberal member of the legislature of the province of Quebec made a speech in the provincial legislature praising the Farmers' Creditors Arrangement Act. That was a Liberal member of the provincial legislature, Mr. Lamoureux, representing the county of Iberville. He said that that law was very advantageous to the farmers of the province of Quebec and to the farmers of Canada generally. I might also mention the marketing act, the amendments to the Farm Loan Act, and the legislation that has been brought down this session, the minimum wage law, the eight hour day law, and so on. Again I repeat, Mr. Speaker, that it is absolutely necessary in order to do justice to this government as well as to the electors of this country that all the legislation that has been brought down by this government should be passed before there is an appeal to the people. It is also necessary that everyone entitled to vote should foe given the opportunity of voting at the next elections. The electors should have the opportunity of forming an opinion as to the effect of the legislation passed by the present government and I do not think this government should be in a hurry to have the elections. Personally, I am not.

Mr. GOBEIL:

I hear some hon. gentlemen saying "Hear, hear."

Mr. GOBEIL:

Are hon. gentlemen opposite as anxious as they seem to be for a general election? Have they confidence in the judgment of the electors? I hear nobody saying, "Hear, hear." I can only conclude that they

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are not as confident of the result of the coming election as they would try to lead people of this country to believe. I see two principal reasons for that. One is not only a reason but a proof that my hon. friends are not at all anxious to have an election noWj "without delay," as they say. If that be true why should they want to disfranchise a couple of hundred thousand electors? If they were so confident of the verdict of the electors why should they be clamouring to have an election now or within a couple of months, thereby disfranchising all the boys and girls who have come of age or will come of age between the date of the making up of the list last year and the next revision in May? If my hon. friends were as confident as they claim to be they would want to have these boys and girls vote so as to enlarge their majority. But they know that these boys and girls are not going to vote for the Liberal party. They know very well that the youth of to-day are thinking seriously, that they realize that the civilized world is at the parting of the ways and that this government has done all that could possibly be done. The youth of this country do not overlook, as my hon. friends opposite always do, that we have been passing through a depression for six years. They are aware of that, and they also realize that this government has done everything that could be done to minimize the seriousness of the depression, and that it is now passing legislation which will give the youth of the country a chance. Of course I can only speak for myself, but personally I would urge the government not to dissolve parliament, or at least not to have a general election, before all those young people, who will probably number around two hundred thousand, have their names put on the lists and have a chance to have their say in the election of the next parliament.

The CHAIRMAN (Mr. Gobeil):

I do not wish to interfere with the hon. member's remarks, but unless he has the consent of the committee he is certainly out of order.