1. (a) Yes; (b) $20.3.83.

2. Alfred .Carroll.

3. Work was inspected by Mr. Wm. Bishop, public works inspector of Dominion buildings, Nova Scotia.

4. $142.82.

5. No paymaster.

6. (a) $25; (b) 1,492 feet.

7. (a) Yes, for the old staging that was standing, the sum of $9 was deducted from the account of Lewis Hart & Go.; (b) No. information as to quantity in staging.

8. (a) 40 tons; (b) $430; (c) Yes.

9. Lewis Hart & Co.

1. Did the Civil Service Commission advertise for applications for the positions of executive head and four assistants in connection with the war loans in the Department of Finance? If so, when and how many applications were received?

2. Did the Finance Department subsequently request the Civil Service Commission to make no appointments to these positions? If so, when was such request made and why?

3. Have appointments to any or all of the above positions been made? If so, when, by

whom, and what are the names of the persons appointed ?

4. Were any of the applicants for the above positions or any of the appointees returned soldiers?

1. Yes; August 8th, 1918; for executive head, 81; for four assistants, 232.

2 and 3. On 30th July, 1918, the department, in order to build up an organization to carry on the Victory Loan campaign, 1918, without having to lean too heavily on the department proper, wrote the Civil Service Commission to secure the services of a first class executive head and four or five accountants. The department emphasized the necessity of the immediate employment of these officials, because they must obtain a working knowledge of the arrangements to be made for the flotation of the loan.

The 1918 Victory Loan was to be issued on a very different basis from previous issues. The bonds were to be printed and furnished to all branches of the various banks before the campaign opened so that immediately on full payment of subscriptions the coupon bonds could be handed out at once to the subscribers and the fully registered bonds as soon as the required registration could be made in the books of the Finance Department.

The Civil Service Commission advertised for applications for above mentioned positions in the Canada Gazette of August 8, 1918, calling for the filing of applications not later than September 12 next but extending the time for one week for candidates from British Columbia, thus fixing the date for closing the lists as September 19. 1918. _

It became necessary for the department to take very prompt action in the direction of making all preparations for the issue of a very extensive loan, the plans of the Dominion Executive Committee being so far advanced as to require a conference arranged for the 20th August between the subcommittee and officers of the department to effect final arrangements of all details. As the commission was not in a position, until after the 19th of September, to furnish officials required for this work the services of the officers of the department who directed the work of previous loans wrere utilized. It was eventually deemed more advisable to delegate one of these officials to take complete charge of the carrying out of such arrangements rather than rely at such a late date on the services of a new and untried appointee. To assist him in this work, the department availed themselves of the services of four expert men loaned by the Victory Loan organizations in Toronto and

Montreal to, as it were, represent them in the work. These officers, whose names are as follows, were loaned to us from the organizations from the dates mentioned: Arthur Paterson, October 16, 1918; Thomas Holloway, October 16, 1918; James R.

Adams, October 16, 1918; George E. Elliott, October 24, 1918.

Their services will be required until the final adjustment of the loan. They receive remuneration from the department at the rate of $2,500 per annum each, being the amount of remuneration offered for assistants in the advertisement of the Civil Service Commission.

On the 5th December, 1918, the Deputy Minister of Finance wrote the Civil Service Commission in connection with the employment of the above and asked for certificates for such employment which were issued by the commission and forwarded to the department.

4. Answered by No. 3.

SOLDIERS' SETTLEMENT BOARD LOANS__________

1. How many loans have been made in Nova Scotia under the provisions of the Soldiers' Settlement Board?

2. How much money has been advanced ?

3. How many applications have been rejected?

4. How many applications have not yet been dealt with ?

1. Seven.

2. $12,900.

3. Two.

4. An accurate report on the number of cases pending cannot be arrived at owing to the difficulty in making inspections during the winter season.

1. Were the bonuses, recently given to the mail carriers of the Dominion, all of the same amount, or were said bonuses of a higher amount for the mail carriers of the western provinces than those paid to the mail carriers of the Province of Quebec?

2. If so, what were the amounts of the bonuses paid to the mail carriers of the western provinces, and of the Province of Quebec, respectively ?

3. Why were the amounts less in-the case of the Province of Quebec mail carriers than those of the western provinces?

1. How many acres of land have been set aside by the Federal Government for school purposes in each of the provinces of Canada?

2. What were the conditions under which the land was set aside?

3. What is the amount to the credit of each province on account of school lands with the Federal Government?

4. What amount has been paid by the Federal Government to each of the provinces to date -on account of school lands?

5. What is the average amount received per acre in each province on account of school lands?

G. What is the approximate value of the school lands unsold in each province?

Hon. Mr. MEIGHEN:

n

1. Manitoba, including unsurveyied territory, approximately 7,993,600 acres; Saskatchewan, including unsurveyed territory, approximately 8,421,000 -acres; Alberta, including unsurveyed territory, approximately 7,798,600 acijes.

2. Undter provisions of chapter 23 section 22 of the Dominion Lands Act of 1872, which reads as follows:

" And whereas it is *expedient to make provision in aid of education in Manitoba, and the Northwest Territories, therefone sections eleven -and twenty-ninie in each and every survieyed township throughout the extjent of the Dominion lands, shall be and are hereby set apart as an endowment for purposes of education.

"1. The sections so dedictated shall be thereafter dealt with in such a manner as may be prescribed by law, and the same are hereby- withdrawn from the operation of the clauses in this Act relating to purchase by private entry, and to homestead right, and it is hereby declared that no such right of purchase by private entry or homestead right shall be recognized in connection with the said sections or any parts or parts thereof:

"2. Provided, that on a township being surveyed should such sections, or either of them, or any part of either,be found to have been settled on

and improved, then and in such case the occupant or occupants, conforming to the requirements of this Act shall be confirmed in such possession, and the Secretary of State shall select a quantity equal to that found to have been so settled on

from the unclaimed lands in such township, and shall withdraw the land so selected from sale and settlement, and shall set apart and publish the same as school lands, by notice in the Canada Gazette.

The Act has been amended from time to time to meet existing conditions, and these lands are now administered as provided for in sections 39, 40, 41 and 42 of the Act as amended in 1918.

3. To 1st March, 1919.

Manitoba $4,786,982.40

Saskatchewan .. .. 7,478,298.49

Alberta 4,732,052.72

4. To 31st March, 1918.

Manitoba $2,576,568.52

Saskatchewan .. .. 2,397,978.45

Alberta 2,108,440.35

5.

Manitoba $ 9.72

Saskatchewan... 69,672,000

Alberta 13.54

6. Including the unsurveyed territory and estimated at $7 per acre in Manitoba, $10 in Saskatchewan, and $9 in Alberta, which is considered a fair valuation, the approximate value of unsold school lands in each province is as follows:

Manitoba $49,778,000

Saskatchewan .. .. 09,672,000

Alberta 55,408,000

1. Is the Government aware that, at this very time, soldiers of the Canadian Expeditionary Force are being made use of for police duty in Ireland with a view to preventing a Sinn Fein-ers' insurrection?

2. If so, is it the intention of the Government to recall these troops from Ireland and to repatriate them as soon as possible?

Hon. Mr. MEWBURN:

1 and 2. This information is not available in Canada, but a cable has been sent overseas for the desired information.