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March 26, 1918

ENEMY VIOLATION OF RED CROSS RULES. HEROISM OF CANADIAN NURSES.

On the Orders of the Day:
UNION

Robert Laird Borden (Prime Minister; Secretary of State for External Affairs)

Unionist
Member File Biography @ PARLINFO

Sir ROBERT BORDEN:

Mr. Speaker, I have received a telegram with regard to the great offensive now being carried on on the Western front by the enemy, but it contains nothing, I think, of importance beyond what has already been communicated to hon. members and to the public generally through the press. I have, however, a telegram from Sir Edward Kemp, which I should like to read. It is prefaced by a statement that it embodies a message which was received from Mr. Rowland Hill. It has been submitted to the Censor, and is, therefore, proper for publication. It is dated March 25th:

Premier,

Ottawa.

London, March 25 th, 1918.

War Correspondents' headquarters, France, March 21st.

"Deliberate violation of Red Cross rules marked the opening of the Huns' much advertised great western offensive. Long range guns of the Germans have searched out hospitals which have been established over two years. Two Canadian casualty clearing stations, which have worked unceasingly through battle storm and lull of more peaceful times, were among the sufferers. The railway siding on which they were situated was considered out of the zone of ordinary shell fire. It was known to the Huns as a hospital centre, for, in one of his communications, he mentioned the fact that he had bombarded it "as reprisal" for alleged dropping of bombs on one of his hospitals.

"Day by day wounded have been gathered into these four hospitals-two British units adjoined Canadians-there to be patched up and rested until fit for comparatively comfortable trip south in well-fitted ambulance trains which regularly loaded at siding. When terrors [DOT]of attack and counter attack at Passchaendaele were raging seven or eight miles away it was these hospitals that bore the brunt. One of the Canadian units has a record of over three thousand cases "cleared" in one day.

"Work went on without cessation-Australians, Imperials, Canadians, Germans, too, salved from the human wreckage on the ridge. It is hard to make an operating hut light-proof. It is impossible to operate on a wounded man 3n the dark, so the Hun bombers night after

night in those busy days forgot immunity of Red Cross and dropped their bombs around hospitals. Plucky Canadian and British nurses stuck it through the great battle which ended with our troops taking Passchaendaele, although some of these brave, devoted women, finally had to be sent south to where there was rest haven for nurses. They left their bright home in Flanders, in which they took so much pride, in as short a time as possible. It had become an oasis in this almost deserted part of Belgium. Friends in the Canadian Railway troops who worked in the sector had built them fireplaces in their huts and fitted other little touches of home, and they themselves had put the care and labour of months into making them comfortable. The luxury of arm chairs, damask curtains, polished brass, even cut glass and original oil paintings, helped these nurses from overseas to remember there were such things back in that world they had left across the Atlantic when they volunteered for duty. Their environment kept them gentle, womanly, Canadian, among all the flotsam of war, and it was reflected to the thousands of shrapnel-torn, mangled patients they helped on the first stage of the road to recovery. Then came the eruption. In the middle of the night two big high explosive shells (their bases showed they were from a German twelve-^inch naval gun) landed twenty yards from the Nursing Sisters' quarters. Steel splinters tore through the sides of their huts as though they were paper. Fortunately not a sister was wounded and, as the Canadian girls assembled at emergency call, two more shells hit almost in the centre of the hospital camp. Officers and sisters and staff worked heroically to clear out patients during the dismal rainy night. There were many delicate cases to be handled where [DOT]sudden jars ^perhaps meant death, but all through the night, punctuated by the devilishly regular explosion of other shells, wounded were loaded on hospital train and sent to safety. Only then did nurses seek shelter in another Canadian hospital out of line of fire.

"With daylight, news arrived that the storm had broken on another part of the line. ' Have surgical teams ready proceed on duty immediately '-the message from headquarters. That meant Canadian surgeons ready to go anywhere, and those steel-nerved girls from the Dominion who deftly act as surgeons' extra right hand here in these operating theatres along the front, where a second lost means the difference between life and death, to go with them. There they are to-day, working bravely and stoically, though in the spare moments they occasionally have their thoughts must go back to that home they so suddenly left-that little home in the west up in Flanders they had become so attached to. It is not always in the fighting line you feel the hardships of war."

Kemp.

Topic:   THE WAR.
Subtopic:   ENEMY VIOLATION OF RED CROSS RULES. HEROISM OF CANADIAN NURSES.
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DAYLIGHT SAVING.

Rt. Hon. Sir GEORGE FOSTER (Minister of Trade and Commerce), moved the second reading of Bill No. 4, to provide for the time in Canada being in advance of the solar mean time during the summer months. He said: Mr. Speaker, last year, in introducing this Bill on the 23rd of July, I gave a short resume of the history of daylightsaving legislation. I do not intend to repeat

that history to-day, hut as there are a large number of new members in this House, hon. gentlemen will probably bear with me while I make a very short summary of what I stated last year, following it up with a statement of what has occurred since 'that time along this same line. Daylight saving legislation has not been many years in force in any country. It is an example, probably, of one of the most rapid changes from a merely academic question to great practical use and benefit, through enactments in the law and practice of the countries in which it has been adopted. Without going into' the history of the agitation before the early enactments, it is sufficient to isay that the . first daylight saving legislation was passed in iGermany about the year 1914, the year of the beginning of the war. In 1916 it was adopted as an experiment in Great Britain, and put into operation for a period of between four and five months. After that experiment, a committee was formed to make a thorough examination of the effects. In France, in Austria, in Holland, and in about ten other European countries bordering on those communities, daylight saving legislation was put into force in 1915 and 1916. The British Parliamentary Committee formed to make an investigation, not only took cognizance of the effects in Great Britain, but continued and extended their investigations to these other European countries as well. Therefore their report covered the whole area of practical daylight service in 'legislation and in practice. That report was handed in during the late fall of 1916 or winter of 1917. It is now to be found in the records of this Parliament and can be referred to by any person. The report was an exhaustive one; questionnaires were sent out to all possible sources of authoritative information, embracing all classes of business and of general activities. The investigation was not confined to the economic effects of the measure, but also went into the effects of daylight saving upon the public health and public morals, its effects upon the schools, and generally almost every activity of life. After saying that the report of that committee -was entirely favourable to the reenactment of daylight saving legislation in Great Britain, I think it would be well to give two or three quotations from their report with reference to special phases of it, and I will trouble the House to that extent. In respect to public health the delivery of the committee was in one section as follows: We have devoted particular attention to the question of the effect of "summer time" on the health of children, and we have been glad to find that, in spite of certain statements which have been made to the contrary, the bulk of the evidence favours the conclusion that in the case of children also "summer time" has proved a success. The committee made investigation with reference to public health and morals, and their conclusion is favourable along that line as well. As to the general workers interested, this is their statement: The general view of employers, as expressed in the replies to the questiondires, was that their employees had taken full advantage of the extra hour's daylight; and while the majority were not in a position, with so short a period of observation, to state positively whether or not an improvement in health had resulted, a number had noticed increased vitality in their workers, and in some cases an improvement in the standard of the work. Only one or two employers recorded the appearance of any ill effects in the shape of tiredness and irregular time keeping. We have had evidence from all sources of the value of the extra daylight to the very large number of workers who cultivate gardens and allotments. They conclude: * Taking the whole of the evidence, we are satisfied that the great bulk of the working classes are favourable to summer time, and we are convinced that they stand to profit by it as much as, and in many cases more than, any other section of the community. Such real inconveniences as have been experienced will, we believe, be remedied with a little more experience of summer time conditions. With regard to children's sleep, this is their utterance: We are glad to be able to report, as a result of all the evidence which we have received, that while in a certain number of districts a tendency to shortened sleeping hours has been noticed, the fears which were entertained in the matter have not in the main been justified. As to trade, industry and commerce, they conclude: The comprehensive inquiries which we have described in paragraph 9 above, show beyond ail question that the opinion of employers in every trade, industry, and business throughout the country, is overwhelmingly in favour of summer time. Economies in artificial light and fuel are thoroughly satisfactory. Coming to agriculture, in regard to which more objections have been raised than with reference to any other branch of activity, they say: - In spite of such difficulties as have been recorded, a very large majority of farmers and war agriculture committees are in favour of the renewal of the Act, and the majority even of those who are of opinion that it was not advantageous to agriculture consider that it should be renewed, as they recognize its great benefits to the community at large. As to foreign countries, the committee reports upon France, Germany and Austria, and in the main, come to about the same conclusions as they arrived at from their investigation of conditions and effects in Great Britain. Summing up I will read the paragraph in which they conclude their report. Taking the evidence we have received as a whole, we can unhesitatingly say that the vast preponderance of opinion throughout Great Britain is enthusiastically in favour of summer time and of its renewal, not only as a war measure, but as a permanent institution. As we have already pointed out, some difficulties have undoubtedly been experienced, but not to anything like the extent predicted by the critics of the scheme, and we have not heard of any that could not be overcome with good-will and organization. Indeed, the experience of summer time !in 1916 has converted many of its former opponents into hearty supporters. Moreover, as we have pointed out elsewhere, many of those who still hold the view that summer time may he prejudicial to their own interests admit that the general public advantages arising from it more than outweigh any inconveniences that may be caused in particular cases. In a few years we believe that what opposition still remains to summer time will have completely disappeared, and that the whole nation will regard it as a wholly beneficent measure. We recommend, therefore, that summer time should be reintroduced in 1917 and in subsequent years. It was reintroduced in 1917 in Great Britain, and Great Britain had an additional summer experience of its workings. It worked so well last year in Great Britain that this year they have put it into operation again, hut with an extension of the period, thus bearing testimony to their view of its advantages. On 24th March the clock was set forward one hour in Great Britain, and will remain set forward until 29th September, when it will revert again to the old position. That shows? then, the progress as resulting from experiment, then examination and report, and then another year of . experiment, insofar as Great Britain is concerned. Coming to the United States, last year the Senate made a very thorough investigation into the whole question, taking in all activities, all associations, all societies, all forms of work in the United States. The Senate carried on that investigation for a number of weeks, and it was participated in by those who might be counted as speaking for the intelligent, forward-looking and enterprising people of the country generally. As a result of that investigation, the Senate not only recommended, but passed a Daylight Saving Bill. But it was in late June, 1917, when they passed it, and they came to the conclusion that at that late period of the year it would .be better not to put it into force, and so they transmitted their Bill to the House of Representatives. In the House of Representatives the Bill came up early in the year. It is worthy of special note that whilst the measure was under discussion in the House of Representatives two gentlemen appeared there in support of the measure, and even in favour of an extension of the time set in the Senate Bill toy adding a month at each end of the period. Mr. Garfield, Chairman of the Fuel Committee of the United States, and Mr. Hoover, Chairman and Director of food production and regulation in the United States, -were the gentlemen who appeared and made those pleas, one representing fuel conservation, the other food production generally. As a result, the Bill passed in the House of Representatives toy a large' majority; I think the vote was 252 to 40- you might almost say it passed unanimously. This was the decision after thorough examination of the subject and after hearing representative delegations from every industry and activity in all parts of the United States. If there is one thing more than another pressed forward in Great Britain to-day, it is production, and especially food production. The Daylight Saving law has been in force during two summer seasons and has now been placed a third time in operation. In the United States the two great questions are fuel conservation and food production. After full examination and after the results of that examination had been allowed to be canvassed for more than six months the House of Representatives, as I have said, made its own investigation and then gave the measure practically unanimous approval. The inference from these instances is plain, and I know it will commend itself to this House and to the Canadian people as well. Probably it would be a good thing to read briefly from the report of the Interstate Commerce Committee which took the matter up first in the routine order in. the House of Representatives, examined it, and passed on their report to the House. First, I would refer to the general industries of the country. The United States chamber of commerce has a membership of about 450,000, has its affiliations all over the United States, and is probably the foremost and most representative business body or association of business men in the world. The chamber of commerce took this up before the agitation reached the Senate, and, through their organizations, obtained expressions of opinion from all the wide area

that they represented. Their chairman, in making his report, says: We have acted' favourably on this question. Our committee have presented a report. Some of the members of the committee are here. It was passed unanimously by that body, meaning that the manufacturers, mercantile houses, and business establishments throughout the country, real estate interests, banking interests, and others that you might call general business interests, are in favour of the proposition. That expresses broadly the sentiment of the business interests of the United States, as represented through these chambers of commerce. With reference to the federation of labour, it is well to put on Hansard, I think, the resolution of the American federation of labour. It reads: That we urge the inauguration of the daylight saving project for the conservation of time and opportunity for greater leisure and open-air exercise for the masses of the people, and we insist that in order that the change may be beneficial it must have its general application throughout the whole United States. We will gratefully receive from and actively give to any groups the fullest support in the attainment of the daylight saving project, so long as it shall be utilized for -the purposes herein declared. I may say, incidentally, that President Gompers is entirely in favour of the daylight saving measure, and used his very great and widely extended influence towards its passage, through the Senate and House of Representatives. The latter part of the report of the interstate commerce committee of the House of Representatives, has this to say: The hearings contain information as to the result of similar legislation in foreign countries. It is believed by the committee that the possible benefits to be derived from such a measure are more than sufficient to offset the objections which have been presented. It is recognized that these objections are not without some foundation and force. In view, however, of the increased food production which will be brought about under the Bill, the comfort and convenience which it will bring to labourers and the public generally, and the saving of expenses, especially relating to light and fuel, it is believed by our committee that the measure should be enacted. It was upon that representation, with others, that the Bill was passed by the majority which I have already stated. So far as Canada is concerned, hon. gentlemen probably know as much about the question as I do. There have been attempts for restricted operation of daylight saving in municipalities, towns and cities in various parts of our country. It has always, however, been felt that the localizing of daylight saving is a handicap, because you get out of touch with general time and with all the activities and operations that are carried out under general time. In some cities which tried daylight saving, they had one, two, or three different kinds of time, and that, of course, caused confusion. Notwithstanding all that, the testimony from the towns that have tried it is, in the main, very favourable to its operation and results, and quite a number of cities in Canada retain it until this day. It has, however, always been felt in Canada that there were two objections to daylight saving: first, that to be effective it should he nation-wide, and secondly, that in our peculiar apposition to the United States of America along such a long border line, it would conduce to the smooth and efficient working out of the system if the two countries acted on a parity in this matter. The present Bill tends to meet both those objections. If it is adopted, we shall have nation-wide daylight saving operating in the Dominion of Canada, and we shall have also coterminous with us the operation of the daylight system in the whole of the United States of America. The Act which was passed and which received the President's signature a few weeks ago is of a double nature. In the first place, it establishes a standard time with zone6 over which this time is operative. In the second place, it fixes the daylight saving period from the 31st day of March to the 31st day of October, making it a seven months' period, or two months longer than that provided for in the Bill first passed by the United States Senate. Therefore, at two o'clock in the morning on the 1st day of April, United States' clocks will be set one hour ahead, and from that date until the 31st of October time will be operated on that basis. It was probably'possible for the Dominion Government to have put daylight saving into operation under the War Measures Act, but some of our critics have incidentally mentioned the fact that the War Measures Act appears to have been pretty hard-worked during the last year or so, and as Parliament was on the point of being assembled, it was thought better that we should bring this measure before Parliament, even at the risk, if it were favourably received, that we should, not be able to begin its operation eotermiuously with the United States. The Bill provides that it shall come into operation on proclamation by the Governor in Council, so that it may be brought into operation at any time it is considered most advantageous. Bearing in mind, then, the fact that these two objections which have hitherto had a good deal of weight will, by this measure and by the legislative action of the United States of America, be done away with, the problem is a plain and easy one for us to make up our minds upon. I think I can state, without going beyond what is actually the fact, that all interests, certainly all the important interests, in the Dominion of Canada are, under the circumstances, strongly in favour of following the lead of the United States and the other great and progressive countries of the world by establishing a daylight saving system in Canada. I think that is true of all the business interests, without any exception. I have here a large number of recommendations which I do not intend to read to the House. They will toe placed upon the Table so that those who wish to consult them may do so. Almost the only objections that come are *from rural communities, on behalf of the productive interests as carried out by general farming operations. Insofar as small-lot production, adjacent to towns, cities and villages, is concerned, there is no doubt at all that the daylight saving, giving the extra hour at the end of the day, will very greatly tend to increase that kind of production, but the farmer in a larger way is a little bit suspicious as to how it will work in reference to his operations. I want to put before that class, and the gentlemen who represent that class, the consideration to which I adverted a moment ago. Surely the result of examination and actual experiment on the part of ten ox twelve great countries of the world for three or four years, and particularly of countries in which agricultural development is a great activity, should hold jgood also for the farming communities of Canada. In Great Britain, the United States of America, Denmark, Holland, Sweden1-all very largeV agricultural countries-we find the consensus of opinion overwhelmingly in favour of the continuation of the system after an experiment of >a year or two years, or after thorough inquiry, as in the United States. Granted all the uncertainty as to how a new measure may work out, and still the weight of argument seems to toe favourable to the belief that our fears or suspicions in this case are not very well grounded. Anyway, co-operation and goodwill, as the committee report, will go a long way towards remedying those difficulties which at first will occur. In Great Britain even though agriculturists in certain sections felt that the scheme had been productive

of difficulties in their case, yet the large majority felt otherwise, and even the minority felt that if it was for the general interest then the general interest should rule. I think analysis and a little thought will convince one that the measure would not be a menace or danger to the general farming interests. This legislation does not make any man get up an hour earlier or eat his dinner at a different time unless he chooses to do as other® do. Sometimes it is almost borne in on one that the backbone of the opposition to this scheme with some persons is that it is interfering with Providence; that .as Providence placed the sun in the heavens as the basis for our time, we should therefore not interfere with Providence; it is almost an act of impiety, they think, to put on the dock for an hour. Now I do not think we need push our theology that far, as a moment's consideration will show. We do not go by the sun now; we go by the clock; and the clock is a convention, which is kept up in order to avoid the innumerable difficulties which would be_encountered if every man on every meridian went by solar time. But the clock is not our only convention. After we have had that for a great many years, the general business interests of the country, particularly the transport interests, come along and say that we must have another convention in addition to the clock, and so they arrange zones within which the time will be the same; that is simply an artificial contrivance the purpose of which is to enable communities to act together, where keeping to the solar time, or even to the Clock, would cause great inconvenience. You will excuse me, Mr. Speaker, for turning my back on you, but I had to do that, relying on old friendship, or else be "hollered" at toy the gentlemen at the back who cannot hear me speak when I address the Chair; so I acted on the principle of the greatest good for the greatest number. I think I have said all that is necessary in putting this matter before the House, and I wifi leave it to the sense of the House to take the measure up and push it through. Some one told me to-day that I was trying to knock daylight out of people, that is not quite correct. I am on neutral ground; if I knock one hour of daylight out of people at one end of the day, I knock another hour into them at the other end of the day.
UNION

Robert Lorne Richardson

Unionist
Member File Biography @ PARLINFO

Mr. R. L. RICHARDSON (Springfield):

If this legislation is put through I presume

the railways will be compelled to conform to it.

Topic:   DAYLIGHT SAVING.
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CON
UNION

Robert Lorne Richardson

Unionist
Member File Biography @ PARLINFO

Mr. RICHARDSON:

That was the rock on which we split in Winnipeg. We adopted daylight saving there two years ago, but were obliged to discontiue it because the railways had a different time.

Topic:   DAYLIGHT SAVING.
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CON

George Green Foster

Conservative (1867-1942)
Member File Biography @ PARLINFO

Sir GEORGE FOSTER:

When my right hon. friend (Sir Wilfrid Laurier) asked a similar question last year, I think I mentioned the view of the railways and read a communication from Sir George Bury, in which he set all fears on that score at rest. Only to-day I received communications from the railways wanting to know whether it could not be arranged to have the measure go into operation simultaneously with the American measure.

Topic:   DAYLIGHT SAVING.
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L LIB

Archibald Blake McCoig

Laurier Liberal
Member File Biography @ PARLINFO

Mr. A. B. McCOIG (Kent):

Mr. Speaker, this being the first opportunity I have had of speaking since the new Parliament assembled, let me join with your former colleagues and other hon. gentlemen in extending to you my hearty congratulations on again being elected as the Presiding Officer of this House.. With regard to this Bill, I was elected as an independent Liberal, with dull authority to support any measure the Government brought forward which I thought would be in the best interests of the prosecution of the war. I regret that on tire first occasion I rise in this House, it is to oppose the legislation just brought down by tihe Minister of Trade andl Commerce and which he has so ably explained in his address. I regret that in bringing forward this Bill he has not given to the labouring people and the producers of this country the attention they deserve. I represent a rural constituency and urban, perhaps the largest constituency in this house, and since this Bill has been on the Order Paper I have taken every opportunity of ascertaining the views of the labouring people in my home city and in other large towns, and I say without hesitation that in interviewing these people I have received no demand or request of any sort for such a change as is now proposed. The measure has no support whatever in the rural sections. Every agriculturist whom I have come in contact with is absolutely opposed to changing the time. One gentleman said to me: " It will mean a great decrease in production if the measure is put into force." 'It means that the farmers will

have to wait one hour more in the morning before going on their land.

Topic:   DAYLIGHT SAVING.
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CON
UNION

Thomas Hay

Unionist
Member File Biography @ PARLINFO

Mr. THOMAS HAY (Selkirk):

I have listened with interest to the remarks of my hon. friend from Kent (Mr. MeCodg), and I am. very much in accord with his views. I think production in Canada will be lessened by the passing of this measure. My hon. friend has stated the facts .correctly with reference to the hay crop and the harvesting of grain. Very often we have to wait for an hour in the morning., and sometimes two. hours, until the sun is sufficiently strong to dry the grain. From, the standpoint of the working people also, I am opposed to this legislation. I aim .satisfied that in western Canada, at all events, with our long period of daylight, this measure would mean, the taking off of one hour from the working classes in the morning, which could not foe made up to them at night. By this legislation they will be compelled to get up and go. to work an. hour earlier, but certainly they will not go to bed an hour

earlier, for people will not go- to toed as long as daylight is over the land; so these people will not get the extra hour's rest in the evening. Daylight saving is largely an experiment.

While it seems to have worked all right in European countries, and while we have certain reports to that effect from those countries, I am satisfied that it is still in the experimental stage. Brandon and Winnipeg tried it m 1916 and they have discontinued it since. That does not say much for the Bill. The only real, good argument that could be advanced for the adoption of this Bill at this time would he the fact that the United States are adopting the same system. With reference to the school chil dron, if the schools were all opened and closed according to the time proposed by *this Bill, it would not be in the interest of the health of the children. The Minister of Trade and Commerce (Sir George Foster) *says that according to reports the health of the children has not been impaired in the older countries, but I do not see how it can work out in this country if the working men and the school children are compelled to get up an hour earlier and lose an hour's rest in the evening. That certainly would not be in the interest of the children. I cannot see how production would be increased by the adoption of the Bill. Personally, I feel satisfied that production would not he increased. If the farmers and the farmers' wives were compelled to observe the time prescribed by this Bill, it would mean that they would have to rise an hour earlier. The hired help would quit an hour earlier in the evening. That, in my opinion would not increase production. My right hon. friend said that the most important industries of the country were unanimous in asking that this Bill be adopted. I have not heard any request from any of the organized bodies of farmers for a change of this kind. I do not think they have made such a request and I do not think it is their intention to do so. The great problem before Canada to-day is that of the production of more food and I am satisfied that food would not be produced as largely if this Bill were adopted as it would under the old time.

Topic:   DAYLIGHT SAVING.
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UNION

Francis Henry Keefer

Unionist
Member File Biography @ PARLINFO

Mr. F. H. KEEFER (Port Arthur and Kenora):

Mr. Speaker, I do not know

whether I shall he able to throw any' light, whether daylight or otherwise, on this Bill, but I would like to say as one of the members from the western part of Canada, where they have long daylight, or rather twilight-and I do not know whether they have it any longer than any other place of

the same latitude-that we have tried this daylight system municipally for years past and we have found it a thorough success. We would not under any circumstances go back to the old system. The reason for adopting this system was to give artisans one more hour of daylight in the summer months. I have seen, prior to the war, men from stores, shops and factories down in the Current River park playing their full game of baseball after their evening meal. Surely that is beneficial to them. I know of no objection to this Bill. Certainly there is none with regard to the school children. We have tried that out also and it has been successful. At first the mothers had some difficulty in the summer months, in getting the children to go to bed a little earlier than they were accustomed to before, but the experience in that part of Canada has proved that daylight saving is practical and beneficial.

I do admit that in so far as the agricultural labouring classes are concerned there may be something to be said on the other side, but I would point out, as the right hon. Minister of Trade and Commerce has said, that there is nothing in this Bill to tell the man to go to work before the dew is off the grass or compel him to stop work whilst there is time for him to work. If it is necessary in the interest of production, he will continue to work especially if the farmer sees fit to give him extra pay for overtime as he ought to. I am one of those who believe that the farm labourer should receive his overtime just the same as the worker in the manufacturing industries. If there be any hardship caused by the adoption of this system, it can he compensated for by extra pay.

As to increased production, I think a little consideration will show that it will be decidedly helped by the adoption of this measure. Take, for example, what occurred in the cities at the head of the lakes. Last year, by the cultivation of gardens and vacant lots, they produced about $100,000 of increased value; Fort William about $50,000, and Port Arthur about the same amount. That was done by men after hours, chiefly. I have had communications from there already asking that the shops and stores be ordered closed at five o'clock to allow them to get on the land and to do their work. The people of these cities are greatly interested in the increased production of food in order to help our allies across the seas. I have been connected with the food control work since last October and I know something of what this garden work means and the extent to which it has been carried on all

ever Canada. My firm conviction is that, while we may lose the work of five agricultural labourers, we will gain that of more than a hundred industrial labourers within the cities and towns. I urge the adoption of this Bill strongly in behalf of increased production.

Topic:   DAYLIGHT SAVING.
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UNION

Robert James Manion

Unionist
Member File Biography @ PARLINFO

Mr. R. J. MANION (Port William and Rainy River):

Mr. Speaker, it is with a great deal of diffidence that I, as a new meimlber, rise in tlhis House to voice imy opinions, but I have risen for the same reason that my hon. friend from Port Arthur (Mr. Keefer) has addressed the House. I did not know that my hon. friend from Port Arthur was going to speak on the Bill, or probably I would have advised >hitm to handle it entirely from the standpoint of a city where this method of advancing the time has been in force for a number of years. Just as my hon. friend from Port Arthur has stated, at the head of the lakes, at Fort William and Port Arthur, this method of saving daylight has been in force for many years, and there has never been any complaint from any group of people or any class with regard to the conditions caused by it. On the contrary, the great consensus of opinion is that it is conducive to health and advantageous in all manner of works. Besides representing the city, both the member for Port Arthur and myself represent rural constituencies. My constituents knew that 'this Bill was coming before the House, and although I have had a great many letters from them on different matters pertaining to my work here, no one has mentioned any opposition to the Daylight Saving Bill.

There are many reasons why this Bill should toe adopted. First, let us consider it from the medical standpoint. I have been practising for fourteen or fifteen years, and I think I can speak with some authority on the medical sido of the question. In what I say from this standpoint I toelieve that I am voicing the opinion of a number of medical men in this House. And just here, in passing, let me say that I am very much pleased that there are so many medica' men in the House. A good deal of opposition is manifested in the press at times to so many lawyers being in the House, but I can assure you, Mr. Speaker, that the medical men who have come here in such large numbers will endeavour to counteract any evil influence of the lawyers.

Coming to medical reasons, I believe, as every one who looks into hygienic questions believes, that sunlight is necessary for health. Every little boy who has ever gone

fishing knows that if he picks up a hoard to look for worms he will find the grass underneath the board white and anaemic, because the sunlight has been excluded. The same thing applies to human life. I know of quite a little experiment which, no doubt, all of the medical men in this House have read of, in regard to an infection of tuberculosis, which was experimented with on rats .some years ago, and the same thing applies to human life just as it does to any other form of life. A dozen rats were infected with tubercle bacilli. Six of them were put in the cellar of a house *where the surroundings were unsanitary, and where the sunlight was excluded. The other six rats were allowed to run about in the fresh air and sunlight. I remember distinctly that the six rats which were kept in the cellar of the house and prevented from taking in the proper amount of fresh air and sunlight died as a result of the small degree of inoculation which they had received. The other six lived because of the counteracting effect of the fresh air and sunlight. That is a little point, in passing, from the medical standpoint, but I toelieve it an important one.

Then, there is the economic standpoint, which is of great importance at the present time. The Minister of Trade and Commerce has very ably dealt with that side, and probably I should not presume to mention it. But there is the point of the saving in coal which will result from the lack of necessity of generating so much electricity for the house to ' use. There would also he a saving of oil, where oil lamps are used in the country where electricity is not available. This will result in a saving of fuel, and we all know that the fuel situation is a difficult one to handle. As a consequence there will be a saving of transportation. Honourable gentlemen from the West know that the transportation question is also a very difficult one to handle, particularly at the time of the year when the great crops of the West are coming East. They know that a saving in transportation at that time will be an advantage to the country. So that these two questions, coal and electricity, fuel (and transportation, will be helped.

I have heard a number of hon. members object on the ground of loss of production. I was going to mention the same fact that the hon. member for Port Arthur (Mr. Keefer) referred to in' connection with the head of the lakes. We have had this daylight saving rule in operation for some years, and whatever action may be taken here, we have no intention of going back.

At the head of the lakes, production has been marvellously increased, particularly in the yacant lot gardens, to the extent, as the hon. member said, of $100,000, at the cost of a few hundred dollars for minor clerical work. I believe that all over this country you will find that a greater production will result, particularly of the garden variety. I do not doubt that hon. members from more rural constituencies than mine know whereof they speak, and that there will be some disadvantages. The greatest objection is due to the fact of the misconception that we will be getting up earlier in the morning. Except for the one night, when the hands of the clock are shoved one hour ahead, and you do miss one hour's sleep, there is absolutely no difference. I venture to say when one travels to Port Arthur or to Fort William-which use eastern time, hut which should use western time-if he did not change his watch he would notice no difference.

Then, there is one point that has not been mentioned, and in these days of moral uplift it may be worth mentioning, that is the effect of daylight saving on the morals of the people. It has been claimed that morals have been greatly elevated ag a result of this measure. I know very little of the actions, or of the methods of acting, of the Devil, but some of my friends who claim they do, tell me that he prefers to act in the dark. I believe we may even raise the morals of this country slightly in this matter. %

Then, there is another little point, affecting the returned soldier. Hundreds and thousands of soldiers are coming back here, maimed and broken. If they are given longer hours of daylight it will make it easier for these men to get around. Some will think this suggestion far fetched, but it is a fact that it will foe much more difficult for a man using crutches-and we shall have many of them in this country-to get around in the dark than in the day. I wish to support very strongly the passing of this Bill. I think it will be a good thing in peace times, and 1 consider it is a much better thing in war times.

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UNION

George Boyce

Unionist
Member File Biography @ PARLINFO

Mr. GEORGE BOYCE (Carleton):

Mr. Speaker, I have listened very carefully to the arguments in this debate, and while I am unprepared, owing to not knowing that this Bill would come up to-day, I must give you the views of a farmer. I have .been a farmer all my life, and if this Bill passes I think it (will do a very great deal of harm to the farming industry of this country. There is no question that, if it went to a

vote, ninety per cent of the farmers would vote against the proposal. I was rather amused to hear an hon. member say, in effect: Make it a law, and you farmers can break that law. Now, farmers are not lawbreakers; we want a law made that will give us justice. It has been advocated by medical men who do not know very much about it, but I, who, have practised farming all imy life, say it will be a very great 'handicap, in the time of harvest especially. For one, I would not say to the business men of the cities, towns and villages that this law should not be passed. But do not at the same time bind the farmers hand and foot to lose the best part of the day for us, which is in the evening. In the morning we have to wait until the dew dries. We cannot handle our hay, or our grain in the early morning, because if you bind it up wet it will rot; you have to wait until about eight o'clock.

Then the hired help has heen mentioned. The hired help will work according to the whistle of the city. This is war time, and the farmers are interested in the welfare of the country and are trying to produce all they possibly can. If you handicap ns so that we cannot work there is going to be a very serious loss. I trust that hon. gentlemen will eliminate that part of the measure which has anything to do with the farming community, and let farmers use their judgment as they see fit. We are told that daylight saving has been adopted in the United States, and in other countries, but (I want to ask hon. gentlemen what has been done by the board of trade of the city of Hamilton? They are up right straight against this plan being adopted. I have many letters from my constituents, which I did not bring to-day, stating that a petition could be circulated and that they could bring down one thousand farmers from the county of Carleton to protest against this measure in the interest of the agriculturist.

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UNION

Horatio Clarence Hocken

Unionist
Member File Biography @ PARLINFO

Mr. H. C. HOOKEN (Toronto West):

Mr. Speaker, from the standpoint of a real city, I would like to express my approval of the Bill. As a matter of increased production, allow me to point out that it has been, estimated -that in the cultivation of the back yards in the city of Toronto a million dollars worth of produce can be grown annually. During the past two or three years -a large quantity of produce has been secured from back-yard gardens. It has had a most important and elevating effect upon the whole population'. There is no doubt at all that engaging in gardening

operations has an uplifting moral effect, and if there is one thing that is necessary-in a large city like Toronto or Montreal it is that -anything that conduces to that uplift should be adapted.

Now, -under the present hours, if we can produce a million dollars worth of garden truck in the city of Toronto* with an extra hour of daylight in the evening that production could be very greatly increased in Toronto and elsewhere. As you know, Sir, in our city nearly every house is a self-contained home. Our people all have pieces of garden land, and if we could get them to undertake this production, and we are succeeding in doing to a very satisfactory degree, it would mean a great deal for the city of Toronto.

I submit for the consideration of the farmer members of the House that it is the duty of Parliament to consider with some care the situation in a big city. The people who reside in the rural districts live under the very best conditions that human nature can enjoy. Those who live in the cities, in surroundings more or less congested, merit some special consideration from the law-making power; and anything that will conduce to their welfare is well worthy of the careful and thoughtful attention of the House and of the farming community as well. I think it will be found that the urban population in Ontario is-about as large as the rural population if not larger, and bearing in mind the possibilities of increased production in all the towns .and cities of the country; that means a very great deal in the way of increased production. Take cities like Woodstock, Guelph, St. Thomas and Galt, where the workmen employed in the factories live in houses with an acre or so of land attached, the extra hour possible under this Bill will enable those men to cultivate their lands, with very much better results than can possibly he achieved under existing conditions. The farmer's business is to cultivate the land. If the dew did not rise until twelve o'clock he would have to gather in his grain or his hay after that time, and it would be just as easy for him to engage in some other occupation in the meantime, and to garner bis crops later in the day. I quite concede that those who have to employ labour to work their farms might have some difficulties with individuals, but it -seems to me that is a matter which can be easily arranged between the employer and the employee. No hardship would be involved in asking the employee to work the statutory hours fixed under this Bill, instead of those which prevail at the present time. I think

those who speak for the farmer Eire .anticipating a difficulty which is not likely to arise to any great degree. In my opinion .a little suavity and kindness, as well as consideration in the dealings of the farmers .with those who work for them, would overcome any difficulties that are likely to exist. I feel satisfied, Mr. Speaker, that .a year's experiment with daylight saving would result in the conviction in. the farming as well as the urban communities that this legislation is something that should be permanently adopted.

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UNION

Walter Davy Cowan

Unionist
Member File Biography @ PARLINFO

Mr. W. D. COWAN (Regina):

matter of vacant-lot- gardening. In this *we have really set the pace, and-our city in the summer time, by reason of the fact, is well worth seeing. If such is the case it is because we have had daylight saving in operation for the past four years. Under all the circumstances, I most heartily support the Minister of Trade and Commerce in the Bill which he has submitted to the House.

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March 26, 1918