Mr. SPEAKER:

Ie this not a matter

about which the hon. member could procure information in the ordinary course by placing a question on the Order Paper?

Mr. POWER:

I rather douibt it. It is

a matter oif considerable urgency.

Mr. SPEAKER:

I must say to the House at this early stage in the session, that the asking otf questions on the Orders of the Day being called must be used most sparingly and only in cases of peculiar urgency. Hon. gentlemen have the privilege of having questions answered by placing them upon the Order Paper.

Mr. POWER:

In this case, it is a question of peculiar urgency, because it refers to the return oif soldiers from 'the front, and I understand that within the next month or so some 15,000 or 20,000 'soldiers will return from England to Canada. In. the Ottawa Evening Journal there is a despatch from Montreal, dated March 19, which gives the statement of a certain sergeant who returned on a boat which recently arrived on this side:

On' our boat they had 103 third cabin berths empty, absolutely empty, while wounded men and furlough men of the first contingent were confined below. They might at least have given these vacant berths to the cripples in the party. There was plenty of -room on the boat, but the sleeping accommodation was disgraceful. For men who have seen active service for three and a halt years to be kept under deck like that by officers who have never seen the front is a trifle hard to put up with, said the sergeant. You will hear more of it.

I simply desire to ask the Government if it is their intention to take immediate steps to remedy this evil if it exists. [DOT]

Major-General MEWBURN: This is the

first intimation I have had of the article which my hon. friend has read. As regards returned soldiers coming home on transports, the berthing and other arrangements are made entirely overseas, and we, on this side, cannot claim responsibility for such arrangements. Some three or four weeks ago an officer was sent overseas from Canada to take up with the overseas authorities proper berthing accommodation for the

troops coming back. The article referred to is evidently an anonymous one. It does not mention' the sergeant's name. If there are any complaints to be made so far as my department is- concerned, those complaints should foe made in the regular way, and my hon. friend can rest assured they will be thoroughly investigated.

If in the administration of the department I had to stop and pay attention to anomy-mous letters and anomymous correspondence in the newspapers, no work would ever be accomplished. There is already going on an investigation regarding transports, and a very minute investigation of another subject. As far as this particular article is concerned, I shall be very glad if my hon. friend would have the sergeant he refers to send in his complaint in writing to be investigated.

Rt. Hon. Sir ROBERT BORDEN (Prime Minister):

The thirteenth rule of the House provides that a Chairman of Committees of the House shall be elected at the commencement of every Parliament as soon as an Address has been agreed to in answer to His Excellency's speech, and the second paragraph of that rule provides that the member elected to serve as Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees shall be required to possess a full and practical knowledge of the language which is not that of the Speaker for the the time being. Now your -language, Mr. Speaker, is English, although occasionally you make successful excursions into the French language. Unfortunately, we are not blessed on this side of the House with a very large number of gentlemen who fulfil the qualifications required by the second paragraph of the rule which I have just quoted. The junior member for Ottawa (Mr. Chabot) does undoubtedly possess those qualifications, but he finds himself unable to undertake the duties. Possibly, there are one or two other members on this side of the House who might be considered as possessing the knowledge alluded to. However, it has always been the custom in this House that when the Chair is filled by a Speaker of British descent, the Deputy Speaker shall he one who traces his origin to the other great pioneer race in this country. It seems to me inadvisable that we should depart from that practice at the present time. I have spoken to my right hon. friend the leader of the Opposition on

the subject, as I would not care to make a motion of this kind with regard to an hon. gentleman on the other side of the House without conferring with him. The hon. member for Shefford (Mr. Boivin) has had an experience in this House of some six or seven years. He is eminently qualified by ability and by temperament to undertake the dirties which would devolve upon the Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees. Moreover, he has shown a careful study and an intimate knowledge of the rules1, as has been demon' strated on more than one occasion when questions of order were discussed in the late Parliament. I have, therefore, great pleasure in moving, seconded toy Sir George Foster:

That George Henry Boivin, Esquire, member for the electoral district of Shefford, be appointed Chairman bf the Committees of the Whole House.

Rt. Hon. Sir WILFRID LAURIER:

Mr. Speaker, my right hon. friend has stated the rules of the House correctly, and I hope the spirit in which he makes his motion, of recognizing the different elements which [DOT]compose our population, will prevail at all times. The rule iwith regard to the election of a Deputy Speaker has worked satisfactorily in the past, and I am sure I hope it will continue to work so in the .future. My right hon, friend * has stated that, unfortunately .for the Government, it is not Messed with many supporters speaking the language which ought to be spoken toy the Chairman of Committees. I regret that as much as he does, tout it is his own fault and not the fault of the people to whom he al-/ luded, and when he mends his ways he may be sure of (having better support.

For the moment I have to .say to my right hon. friend that it is not in accordance with the practice in Great Britain that the presiding officer of the House should necessarily be a follower of the Government; my right :hoin. friend knows that as well as I do. In Great Britain it has happened over and over again that the leader of the House h.as recommended the appointment, not of one of his own- followers, tout of a member of the opposite party, for the Speakership. I think my right hon. friend (has stated in the House that it would toe preferable if we followed the practice that has prevailed in Great Britain, that the presiding officer should not toe appointed on account of his politics, but quite independently of his politics, and I am of the same opinion also. That practice, however, has never been followed in this country, and I do not know

that it will ever be possible to come to it, but at all events its merits are undoubted. The presiding officer of the House is really a judge between all sides. He is there in the Chair to mete out justice to all and in proper manner, and in this respect the duties of the Deputy Speaker are the same. Mr. Boivin, the gentleman whom my right hon. friend has selected, as I think everybody who has sat in the late Parliament will agree, is well qualified for the office. He is fair and impartial in character, and I believe that when in that Chair he will, as will he his duty, forget that he belongs to a party, and will he there simnly to do justice to both sides. It is not a political office; it is essentially a judicial office. When my hon. friend the member for Shefford (Mr. Boivin) first saw his name mentioned in the newspapers as the possible choice of the House, with a very great sense of delicacy, with which I think I ought to acquaint the House, he was not quite sure whether he could accept. He consulted me about it, and I told him, without any hesitation, that if the choice fell upon him he should unhesitatingly accept the appointment, because it could not be considered a political gift. It is not the gift of the Government, but the gift of the House of Commons and of the people of Canada; or rather, it is a recognition by the House of Commons of the qualities which fit him for the position which he is now entrusted with, and for which I, for my part, am very happy to rejoice.

Sir ROBERT BORDEN:

Mr. Speaker, I entirely agree with the right hon. gentleman that it would he most desirable if we could adopt in this country the practice which has prevailed in Great Britain. That practice has sometimes in Great Britain been obliged to withstand pretty severe shocks. In 1895, I recollect, there was a very grave question as to whether a Speaker of one party who had been elected about a year before should be continued as Speaker by the other party; but fortunately, the wise counsel prevailed and he was re-elected, and he served with great acceptance and great distinction- Possibly, the course which is being taken to-day may prove to be a step towards the consummation of the ideal, as to the wisdom of which I certainly agree with the right hon. gentleman.

Mr. J. A. CURRIE (Simcoe). Mr. Speaker

Mr. SPEAKER:

Does the hon. gentleman wish to discuss the motion?

Mr. CURRIE:

Yes.

Mr. SPEAKER:

The Prime Minister

exercised his right of reply in closing the [DOT]debate; perhaps I was remiss in not so advising the House.

Mr. CURRIE:

According to the rules of the House, I understand that every member is supposed to be heard, even though the person who made the motion has been heard the second time. Unfortunately, I did not catch your eye, Mr. Speaker.

I have no desire to make any lengthy remarks on this subject, but I wish to state my oejection to the motion, if no one else will oppose it except myself. It is true that it has been the custom to appoint a member from Quebec to the position either of Speaker or of Deputy Speaker, but there are other members in the House outside the province of Quebec who have a knowledge of the French language, and I think that some steps should have been taken to appoint one of those members. Moreover, if the province of Quebec is desirous of being represented in the person of the Deputy Speaker, the constitutional practice should have been followed, one of the members of the Opposition should have resigned and allowed a supporter of this Government to take his seat and the DepiUy Speakership. That is customary and the constitutional usage; the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the House are chosen by the majority in the House. They represent the views of the majority of the House and have done so from the time of Onslow. The constitutional practice followed in England whereby occasionally a Speaker is chosen without regard to politics has not been followed in this Parliament. I sat in the House during the last session and I have not forgotten the opposition of the hon. member for Shefford (Mr. Boivin) to the Military Service Act and to the attempts on the part of members on this side of the House to send aid to the soldiers in the trenches. After listening to the addresses of the leader of the Opposition so far this session, I cannot help thinking that, like the Bourbons, he never forgets and he never forgives. He 'had to bring in a lot of talk about reciprocity and that sort of thing. He has forgotten that when he was the leader of the Government this country was known to the outside world as a few acres of snow. To-day 'Canada has a place in the sun, and that place in the sun has (been given to us by those men who have so nobly fought for Canada and the Empire in the trenches. What will the whole world say if this House appoints this man as

Deputy Speaker-'which no doubt, has been arranged to foe done?

Order.

Mr. SPEAKER:

I must ask the hon. gentleman in referring to another member to refer to him as an "hon. member."

Mr. CURRIE:

All right, I will refer to the hon. member for Shefford. ilf this House elects him Deputy Speaker, we shall be electing a man who represents all that a majority of the people of this country voted against during the last election. I feel deeply on this question. I would, almost say that it was a slap in the face for the soldiers in the trenches and of the electors who voted for this Government to appoint a member of this House to the position of Deputy Speaker who has opposed everything that the soldiers voted for and that this Government represents'-that is all.