Mr. SPEAKER.

I have the honour to inform the House that I have received from the judges selected for the trial of election petitions, pursuant to ' The Dominion Controverted Elections Act,' certificates and reports relating to the elections

For the electoral district of the North Riding of the county of Ontario ; and

For the electoral district of the North Riding of the county of Grey.

hy which the said election petitions were dismissed.

Mr. SPEAKER.

I have the honour to inform the House that when the House did attend His Excellency the Governor General this day in the Senate Chamber, His Excellency was pleased to make a speech to both Houses of parliament, a copy of which is as follows :-

Honourable Gentlemen of the Senate:

Gentlemen of the House of Commons :

In again meeting you in parliament, it is our first duty to express our heartfelt thanks to a beneficent Providence for the abundant harvest with which the country has been fovoured during the past year, and for the general prosperity that prevails in all parts of the Dominion.

It is very gratifying to note that the yearly increasing trade of Canada.which has been so marked a feature of the past six years, gives no indication of any abatement, -while the number of settlers seeking homes in Manitoba and the Territories is without a parallel in the history of the country. These two very important facts lead irresistibly to the conclusion that long before the Transcontinental Railway, authorized by parliament at its last session, can possibly be completed, its urgent necessity as a medium for canj ing the products of the west to our own Atlantic ports will have become apparent, independently of the mauy benefits that will follow from the opening up for colonization and for various enterprises of the northern parts of Quebec and Ontario.

The agreement made with the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway Company regarding a new transcontinental railway, contained certain stipulations which in effect required the Grand Trunk' Railway Company of Canada to become a party to that agreement and to assume heavy obligations in respect thereof.

Further consideration of the agreement by the representatives of the Grand Trunk Railway Company and my government has resulted in showing the desirability of certain amendments to the contract which, having been approved by my government and subsequently by the ,board of directors and the shareholders of the Grand Trunk Railway Company, will be submitted to you for ratification.

The sum of $5,000,000 in cash has been deposited in the Bank of Montreal in accordance with the provisions contained in the original and supplemental agreements with the company.

A Militia Bill will be introduced containing several important amendments to the present law rendered necessary by the growth of the force and calculated to promote its efficiency.

A co"y of the award defining the boundary between the Dominion and Alaska, and other papers connected with the controversy, will be laid before you.

In view of the widely exetended settlements now forming in the Territories, it will become necessirv to increase the strength of the Northwest Mounted Police Force, and authority will be asked for that purpose.

Gentle//ten of the House of Commons:

The accounts of the past year will he laid before you. I am glad to say that the revenue

will exceed the expenditure, leaving a balance to be applied in reduction of the public debt.

The estimates for the coming year will be laid before jou at an early date.

Honourable Gentlemen of the Senate :

Gentlemen of the House of Commons :

After the long protracted session of the last year, when so many important matters were dealt with, it is not probable that your duties will involve your being detained on the present occasion for any lengthened period. X commend, however, to your best consideration the subjects to which I have referred, and I invoke the Divine Blessing on your deliberations

Armstrong, Esq., member for the electoral district of the East Riding of the county of Lambton, introduced by Mr. R. L. Borden and Mr. Clancy.

Donnelly, Esq., member for the electoral district of the East Riding of the county of Bruce, introduced by Mr. R. L. Borden and Mr. Clarke.

John Waterhouse Daniel, Esq., member for the electoral district of St. John city, introduced by Mr. R. L. Borden and Mr. Lefurgey.

That the speech of His Excellency the Governor General to both Houses of Parliament of the Dominion of Canada, be taken into consideration on Monday next.

Mr. R. L. BORDEN (Halifax).

Before the motion is adopted I would like to bring to the attention of the right hon. gentleman (Rt. Hon. Sir Wilfrid Laurier) the fact that reference is made in the speech to an agreement between the government and the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway Company, or gentlemen representing that company ; and I would like to know if it is the intention of the government to place that agreement upon the Table of the House before the address is taken into consideration ? As this is a subject of considerable importance, I should think it only right that the House should have the advantage of perusing the agreement before we enter into consideration of the speech from the Throne.

Sir WILFRID LAURIER.

I may inform my hon. friend (Mr. Borden, Halifax) that Mr. SPEAKER.

the message he refers to will be laid on the Table before the end of this sitting.

Sir WILFRID LAURIER (Prime Minister) moved :

That Select Standing Committees of this House for th-, present session be appointed for the following purposes 1. On Privileges and Elections. 2. On Expiring Laws. 3. On Railways, Canals and Telegraph Lines. 4. On Miscellaneous Private Bills. 5. On Standing Orders.

6. On Printing. 7. On Public Accounts. 8. On Banking and Commerce. 9. On Agriculture and Colonization-which sai_d committees shall severally be empowered to examine and inquire into all such matters and things as may be referred to them by the House ; and to report from time to time their observations and opinions thereon, with power to send for persons, papers and records.