Mr. G. G. COOTE (Macleod):

Mr. Speaker, I would ask that the petition of Philip Big Swan and others in the Peigan reserve be read.

The Clerk Assistant thereupon read the petition as follows:

Petition to the hon. House of Commons assembled _

The petition of the undersigned humbly sheweth:

That a portion of the Peigan Indian reserve has been leased to the Hon. A. J. McLean, although a large majority of the Indians voted against the lease;

That the Indians were assured by Commissioner Laird, who negotiated the treaty with them in 1877, that their reserves could not be occupied without their consent;

Therefore we the undersigned members of the Peigan band pray that the said lease to Hon. A. J. McLean should be cancelled and the land restored to the Peigan band.

And your petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray.

Mr. COOTE:

Mr. Speaker, I desire to discuss this petition, but I have had some conversation with the Superintendent General of Indian Affairs (Mr. Stewart), and I understand he would prefer that the discussion should take place on the Indian estimates and that he will arrange that these estimates be discussed at an early date, preferably in the afternoon. If the minister will give me that assurance now, I shall be quite willing to forego discussion of the petition at the present time.

Hon. CHARLES STEWART (Superintendent General of Indian Affairs):

Yes, Mr. Speaker, I shall be very glad to give the hon. gentleman an opportunity of having the matter fully ventilated at a reasonable hour, preferably in the afternoon, when the estimates of the Department of Indian Affairs are before the House.

Sir HENRY DRAYTON (West York):

Mr. Speaker, I would point out to my hon. friend that we have a lot of committees still sitting, and I do not see how the work can very well be advanced if we take up the whole day, unless hon. gentlemen |are to absent themselves from perhaps the more important sphere of their labours. Anyhow,

I would suggest that we should not commence morning sittings until Wednesday. I know we have some very important business to look after to-morrow morning, and I would ask my hon. friend to consent to the motion being so amended.

Mr. CRERAR:

The day after to-morrow? Sir HENRY DRAYTON: Yes.

Mr. CRERAR:

We might as well start

to-morrow.

Sir HENRY DRAYTON:

It gives us one day's grace.

Let us get through.

Mr. W. C. GOOD (Brant):

Mr. Speaker, an important committee meeting has been called for Wednesday morning, and I think other meetings are in contemplation. It seems to me that it will very seriously interfere with the work of the committees if this motion is put into effect.

Mr. ROBERT FORKE (Brandon):

Mr. Speaker, I rather agree with the remarks made by the hon. member for Brant (Mr. Good). There are several very important committees still sitting, and it seems to me that a great deal of work will not get the attention it should get if we start morning sittings tomorrow, or even on Wednesday. I think the motion should be further postponed.

Mr. GRAHAM:

Mr. Speaker, the government has no desire to prevent the House of Commons doing its work but is trying to accelerate progress. Some of the committees referred to are sitting while the House is in session; the fact of the House sitting in the forenoon would not make any difference in that respect. However, if Wednesday could be agreed upon it would be perfectly satisfactory to the government. If not, we will let the motion stand until to-morrow.

Prisons Act

Wednesday.

Thursday.

Mr. GRAHAM:

What do we say?

Hon. T. A. CRERAR (Marquette):

Mr. Speaker, there are several important committees at work, the committee on Agriculture, for instance, that is dealing with the Grain Act. I do not anticipate that they will be through for two or three days yet at any rate, and they were sitting two or three times a day last week. There is also an important measure before the Banking and Commerce committee, and there are other committees still busy. I would suggest that the government might wait two or three days to see how this committee work progresses, and if it is pretty effectively cleaned up we' might start morning sittings Thursday.

Mr. GRAHAM:

We will let the motion

stand until to-morrow.