Mr. EDWARDS (FrontenaoAddington) :

We will let it go at that. Now there are and have been in parliament, ever since I have had anything to do with public affairs, gentlemen who have come as representatives of the people and as tillers of the soil themselves, and excellent representatives they have made. But I submit that, valuable an education as it is to be a practical and experienced farmer, education alone was not what made these gentlemen useful to this House; and I assert that we have had in this parliament from all parties men who, while they were not actually engaged in farming, were nevertheless most stalwart champions on the farmers' interests on this floor. In his remarks the other day the hon. member for Brandon made the following statement, to use his precise words this time:

Strange to say, Saskatchewan is the greatest dairy province in the Dominion. I want the hon. member for Marquette (Mr. Mullins) to note that.

I do not know where in the world the hon. gentleman got his information for that statement. I was very much surprised to read it inasmuch as it came from a gentleman who I believe is a farmer himself and who is the leader in this House of the Progressive party. Because of his position in parliament he should post himself on these things and get reliable information before undertaking to make a statement of that kind, for it is very, very wide of the mark. I have here figures to prove what I am going to say and I shall take the trouble to enlighten the hon. gentleman so that in future he will not make the same mistake. We will forgive him here, but he might make this mistake outside and make himself ridiculous in the eyes of someone better posted. As to the relative importance of the dairy industry in the various provinces, I submit that we can judge only by the number of milch cows, by the factories, by the capital invested, by the people employed, and by the dairy production. That seems to me to be a fair test. Now I find in the first instance, in regard to the number of milch cows, that

508 COMMONS

The Address-Mr. Edwards (Frontenac)

Ontario is first, Quebec second, Alberta third and Saskatchewan fourth. In the number of dairy factories Quebec is first with 1,752, Ontario second with 1,056 and Saskatchewan and Alberta tie for third place with 60 each. In regard to capital invested, Ontario stands first with $19,500,000, Quebec second with $7,500,000, Alberta third with $2,73-4,1.00 and Saskatchewan fourth with $2,663,000. In the number of employees, Ontario is first, Quebec second, Manitoba third, Alberta fourth, and Saskatchewan fifth. In the quantity and value of creamery butter produced in all factories, Quebec is first with 57,000,000 pounds, Ontario second with 51,000,000 pounds, Alberta third with 15,000,000 pounds, Manitoba fourth with 10,000,000 pounds, and Saskatchewan fifth with nearly 9,000,000 pounds.

Mr. EDWARDS (Frontenao-Addington):

I have the hon. gentleman's speech under my hand but I have not marked the exact words. I do not wish to misrepresent him, but I certainly understood 'him to take the ground that he and his followers were the representatives in a special sense of the farmers of this country.