Mr. REID (Grenville):
An officer of the department has a full record of what was
there at the time and what has been disposed of since, and he should be able to put his hand on it in five minutes.
Mr. SINCLAIR (Guysborough):
Will the minister give that information to the House when his Estimates are taken up again?
Mr. REID (Grenville):
Yes.
Mr. McKENZIE:
There is, in my part of the country, a general impression that liquor was put into those bonded warehouses for a purpose. Notice was given by the Government that on a certain date a certain Order in Council would be passed, and there was a most desperate rush to get hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of liquor into those bonded warehouses in Nova Scotia, although the people who shipped it in had a full knowledge that the Order in Council would be in force on a certain date. The impression is that, by some influence or another brought to bear upon the department, those licenses were either renewed or permitted to exist under those circumstances after those places were filled to the rafters improperly and illegally, and with the full knowledge that the Order in Council was to be passed. There is a feeling abroad amongst the temperance people in that part of the country that is not at all amicable to the department, because the officials of the department are blamed, justly or not, with being in league with those parties and helping them to move their liquor into those places from which it is being doled out. It cannot get out except when an officer is there. All those people who have those licenses are old-time rum sellers, and it is the most extraordinary thing that only such people have those licenses, when for the last ten years, indeed, for the last twenty years there has been no permission to sell liquor in that province. We had the Scott Act in 1910, and the minister knows how old the Scott Act is. For the last thirty years,
I might say, there have been no means of selling liquor in the county of Cape Breton except illegally.
Mr. REID (Grenville):
I am glad of the discussion this evening. I am satisfied, from what the assistant commissioner tells me, that everything has been done to prevent illegalities in all the provinces. The prohibition order came into force about the middle of March last year, and I have no doubt that large quantities were shipped in immediately prior to that. People would import it in the hope of selling it to the local governments for medicinal purposes,
for instance. Of course, attempts are made in different parts of Canada to violate the law. The result of this discussion to-night will be vigorous efforts on the part of officers of the department to ascertain just what is going on and to take greater precautions, if that be possible. When the stocks in these bonded warehouses are disposed of, the licenses will be cancelled, and no more will be issued.
Mr. READ (Prince, P.E.I.):
How many of these bonded warehouses are there in Prince Edward Island, and what are the names of the parties controlling them?
Mr. REID (Grenville):
There are none in Prince Edward Island for liquor; only for tobacco.
Mr. SINCLAIR (Guysborough):
I suppose these licenses and the renewals are in writing? When the minister brings down the information that has been asked for, I should also like to know what was the quantity of liquor stored in these warehouses at the time the licenses were issued, also the quantity on hand at the present time; and the form of license, so that we can see the conditions under which the sales are to be made.
Mr. REID (Grenville):
I will bring down that information, and will also give it personally to my hon. friend and to the leader of the Opposition, because it is in that part of the country where a large number of these warehouses are. If we ascertain the quantity on hand when prohibition came into effect, and the quantity now on hand, we shall be able to find out whether there has been any collusion or not, so far as those figures will show; but it must be remembered that if there has been collusion the parties would probably try to cover it up. At all events, I shall bring down the information.
Excise-Travelling expenses, rent, fuel, stationery, etc., $100,000.
Mr. LEMIEUX:
What accounts for this increase?
Mr. REID (Grenville):
It is on account of the extra expense in travelling, hotel bills and so forth.
Excise-Stamps for imported and Canadian tobacco, $125,000.
Mr. SINCLAIR (Guysborough):
What does this item for stamps mean?
Mr. REID (Grenville):
It is for printing.
Mr. LEMIEUX:
Is not all the printing done under contract with the Finance Department?
Mr. REID (Grenville):
The Finance Department have a contract with the American Bank Note Company, but this department pays for its share of the stamps.
Mr. SINCLAIR (Guysborough):
Has a settlement ever been made with the merchants in connection with the stamps on matches? There was a good deal of confusion in connection with the new law. It was not clearly understood when it was coming into effect, and the dealers were instructed to stamp all the matches they had in stock at a certain date. Some of them did so, at a considerable expense. Then they discovered that the Act was not to come into force until some weeks later, and that they had spent their money needlessly.
I understood that a refund was to be made. Has the department ever settled with these people?
Mt. REID (Grenville):
The Assistant Commissioner tells me that all these cases have been settled satisfactorily.
Excise-Preventive service-Salaries, $110,-
000.
Mr. LEMIEUX:
How does the minister account for this decrease?
Mr. REID (Grenville):
Distilleries have been closed up, and not so many officers are employed.
Mr. DUFF:
Have many seizures of illicit stills been made by the department?