. Hon. Mr. BLAKE-There has been some correspondence on the subject, which, however, is incomplete, and not in a condition to be presented to the House. If the hon. member will withdraw his motion for the present, I will give him private notice when the correspondence is in such shape as to be brought down, and of course we will assent to a renewal of the motion. a fact which came out in the evidence | ceive some assurance from the Govern-of the case now under examination. ment that this long delayed matter Where cases of this kind arise it is the will be attended to. duty of the Government to make a stringent enquiry into the facts, and an example of any ship-owners or agents of ships who deliberately violate laws established for the purpose of saving life and property, and which to some extent justifies legislation which we looked forward to as Canadians with some apprehension, on the ground that the Imperial Parliament should not by its measures interfere with our shipping. I make this motion purely för the purpose of drawing attention to the matter in order that some decided steps shall be taken in regard thereto. I should like to know what correspondence, if any, has been presented to the Department of Marine and Fisheries. Hon. Mr. SMITH-I am very glad that the hon. gentleman has called attention to this matter. There was some correspondence with regard to those violations of the laws. The motion was carried. INLAND WATERS OF CANADA. dress to His Excellency the Governor if Mr. KIRKPATRICK-Of course, the correspondence is incomplete, I shall withdraw the motion. I hope, however, that other two years will not pass before the matter is settled. THE BAIE VERTE CANAL. Mr. BURPEE (Sunbury), enquired: whether a minority report of one or more of the Commissioners appointed by the Government to report upon and investigate the nature and extent of the commercial advantages to be de rived from the construction of the proposed Bay Verte Canal has not been made; if so, whether it will be printed and circulated for the information of the country? Hon. Mr. MACKENZIE-In reply to my hon. friend, I may say that no such report has been made to the Government. I was informed however, by the Chairman of the Commission that one of the Commissioners proposed to make a minority report, and Ireceived yesterday a copy of a printed pamphlet purporting to be such report, but no communication has been received from Mr. Lawrence to identify that pamphlet as his production. The presumption is that it is the minority report. The pamphlet is printed in a shape not suited for our journals. Such as it is, the pamphlet, of which there are a number of copies, will be: distributed among the members. PURLIC ACCOUNTS. Hon. Mr. CARTWRIGHT laid the Public Accounts on the Table. The House adjourned at 3:50 p.m. HOUSE OF COMMONS. TUESDAY, Feb. 15, 1876. The SPEAKER took the Chair at Three o'clock. REPORTS OF COMMITTEES. Hon. Mr. MACKENZIE presented the Report of the Select Committee appointed to prepare lists of members to compose the Standing Committees. Hon. Mr. CAUCHON presented the first report of the Committee on Reporting and Printing of Debates. Hon. Mr. MACKENZIE moved that the name of Hon. Mr. Blanchet be substituted for that of Hon. Mr. Holton on the Library Committee.-Carried. Hon. Mr. MACKENZIE moved the concurrence of the House in the report of the Committee appointed to prepare a list of members for the Standing Committees, so far as regards the Committee on Standing Orders. He said this was the only Committee that required. to go to work immediately. The motion was carried. THE VETERANS OF 1812-15. Mr. DELORME moved an Address to His Excellency the Governor General, praying for a Return shewing the names, age and residence of the Veterans of 1812-15 who have applied for and who have received a gratuity from the Federal Government of Canada, the number of those Militiamen having commissions as officers, and how many such applications have been made by persons living out of Canada. Hon. Mr. VAIL-I have to some extent anticipated the desire of my hon. friend. The papers have been in the hands of the printer some weeks. I hope in the course of eight or ten days to be able to lay on the Table of the House the fullest information on the subject. Copies of all correspondence in rela tion to the appointment of the said Damase Hudon, Esq.; 3rd. Copies of the Order in Council or other document fixing the salary of the said Damase Hudon, Esq.; 4th. A statement shewing the several amounts collected by the said Damase Hudon, Esq., in his said capacity, from the 1st May, 1875, to the 1st November, 1875, and the amounts paid by him in consequence. Hon. Mr. BURPEE-With regard to the first and second parts of the resolution, I think there has been no commission issued to the officer, nor has there been any correspondence on the subject. The information asked for in the third and fourth parts will be furnished as soon as possible. Sir JOHN MACDONALD suggested that the first and second parts be struck out. The suggestion was adopted, and the motion as amended was carried. MINISTERIAL CHANGES. Sir JOHN MACDONALD-Before proceeding to the orders of the day, I think it would be gratifying to the House if my hon. friend would give some explanations with respect to the reconstruction of the Government by the addition to it of the Minister of Justice and the President of the Council. Hon. Mr. MACKENZIE—The House is entitled to explanations regarding the introduction of new Ministers into the Cabinet, especially where there may have been a divergence of opinion between any of those introduced into the Government and those who previously constituted it. My hon. friend the Minister of Justice, it is well known, took a different ground from the Administration in reference to one measure last Session--the Bill relating to the construction of the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway. The ground upon which that difficulty arose was plainly stated in the House, and fully understood by myself prior to and after the introduction and passage of the Bill. Mr. CIMON moved an Address to His The defeat of that Bill in the other Excellency the Governor General for- branch of the Legislature rendered 1st. Copies of the commission of it necessary for the Government to Damase Hudon, Esq., as Deputy Col- adopt some other policy with regard lector of Customs at Chicoutimi; 2nd. | to that particular part of the arrange The motion was carried. THE DEPUTY COLLECTOR OF CUSTOMS AT within the recollection of every member of this House, that when the miotion for the passage of the Bill was made, the hon. gentleman who sits near me, with the Hon. the Minister of. Justice, felt they could not vote with the Government of the day and withdrew from the House. Hon. Mr. BLAKE-Nɔ, Sir, I did not. I voted. Oh! I beg pardon, it was telegraph question my hon. friend withdrew. He was at variance with the It would be satisfactory to know head of the Government on that point, whether it has been agreed between my Sir JOHN A. MACDONALDon the hon. friends that in future this House of ment made upon the recommendation of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Lord Carnarvon. That policy will be developed in the papers to be brought down, and is, I may say, practically known already to the public, although not formally before the House at this time. Upon no other point was there a divergence of opinion between my hon. friend and myself, and this matter being arranged he accepted the offer I made him of the portfolio of the Department of Justice. Upon the resignation of the late Postmaster General, the former Minister of Justice, now a Judge, took his place, and the Hon. Mr. Blake was appointed in accordance with my offer as Minister of Justice. At a later period, when the late Postmaster Parliament has the right to have a voice General was appointed one of the Judges of the Supreme Court a vacancy in the approval and submission of conthereby occurred in the Cabinet, and I ed and ratified beyond recall. With tracts before they are finally considermade an offer of that office to my hon. regard to the telegraph question, friend beside me (Mr. Huntington), should like to know-I suppose we Mr. Cauchon assuming the portfolio of will know during the SessionPresident of the Council. I have noth-whether the contracts are going on noting to say with regard to that, as there is no explanation necessary, such as I have made with reference to the Minister of Justice. These two appoint ments are, therefore, made upon the grounds I have stated-the one by an agreement on all matters of policy of the Administration, and in the other there was no divergence of opinion requiring explanations to the House. Sir JOHN A. MACDONALD—If I may be allowed to make a few remarks, as is usual in such cases, if not | according to parliamentary rules, at least in accordance with parliamentary practice, I will thank my hon. friend for the explanation which he has given, but must say that perhaps it is not very accurate. It is, however, pretty much what we looked for. I don't think he was strictly accurate in stating that there had only been a divergence between himself and the Hon. the Minister of Justice on the Nanaimo Railway. If I remember rightly, there was another point which is of much more importance than that measure. It was as to the duty of the Administration to lay before Parliament contracts of considerable size and importance made on such public works as the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway. I think it is I withstanding that the line has not friend, the President of the Council, it been located. With respect to my hon. is true, as the First Minister said, that we were not aware of any divergence between them. My hon. friend has of opinion during the last Session acceded to the position of Messrs. Dorion and Fournier. Their mantles have fallen on his shoulders, and no doubt he will fill the representative position of leader of the French Liberal, or Rouge party, in this House as ably as the present Chief Justice and Mr. Justice Fournier did. However, Mr. Speaker, it is my recollection that my hon. friend, the President of the Council, has been a life-long Conservativethat he was a member of a Conservative Administration and elected to a high position, and for all I know he is a strong Conservative yet. Now, one of three things must have happened. Either my hon. friend has become, if I may use the familiar phrase, a Rouge, or represents that party, or the Rouge party has become Conservative; or if he is not a Rouge, we have a coalition, declared to be immoral and corrupt by the united voice of the whole Liberal party in Lower Canada. I think, under such circumstances, we ought to have an explanation on this point; and I have no doubt the President of the Council | clear conclusion. I may add, however, will eagerly seize an opportunity to with reference to that and other mat give such explanation. ters, that I do not understand it is the duty of every person invited to join the Government to arrive at a theoretical agreement as to past transactions so that something of the same nature may not occur in the future. In such a case, however, one may honestly accept the position if he conceives such past acts to be errors in judgment. Under the circumstances, it is not for my at once. I Họn. Mr. BLAKE-The right hon. gentleman has not accurately remembered the discussion with reference to the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway. I think I am able correctly to state the course I pursued in connection with that question. I pointed out that those persons who held that it was essential to observe to the full the arrangement which Lord Carnarvon suggested to the Government of this country, were, in my opinion, logically bound to support the motion of the First Minister for the second reading of the Bill containing, as it did, a provision that the contracts should not be proceeded with There was no difference of opinion at any time that I was aware of upon the general policy of the submission of such contracts; in point of fact, in the Pacific Bill of 1874 the submission of contracts was provided for. It was justifiable for all those prepared to accept the Carnarvon terms to support the measure, which passed with a clause reserving the contracts for the approval of Parliament. explained this to those who called upon me for advice, and it upon that view I voted with the hon. member for Cumberland, and at the same time stated that those who sustained Lord Carnarvon's terms were logically bound to vote for the measure. Had that Bill been carried-had it be come an Act of Parliament-other considerations would have arisen as to my duty in accepting the offer of my hon. friend on my right. But, as he says, the Bill was lost, and the consideration arose what should then be then be the policy of the Government, That policy is before the public and practically before the House already. With regard to the telegraph contracts, it is perfectly true that I abstained from voting on that question, because I did not comprehend thoroughly the observations made on this side of the House, or in point of fact what had been done in reference to those contracts. I would have voted according to my judgment if I had had information which would have enabled me to arrive at a was hon. friend to complain because I have joined the Administration after what has been already said upon the subject by the press of his own party. Hon. Mr. CAUCHON--I can give a satisfactory answer in a very few words to the question put by the right hon. gentleman. I have been acting for about four years with the party on this side of the House; and during that period I did all in my power to break down the late Adminis tration; hence I do not think it at all strange that I should have come into the Government. At the same time I think that it would be very interesting to learn what the right hon. gentleman understands by the words Conservative and Liberal. I remember when I was a Ministerial colleague of the right hon. gentleman-and that was long ago; that was a Conservative Administration, but today, a head or a tail-you may regard it either way—has been pre-fixed or added to the title, and the party is known under the name of Liberal Conservative or Conservative-Liberal. There When is another fact I recollect. the right hon. gentleman attempted to introduce into his Cabinet the gentleman who at present fills the position of Chief Justice of Lower Canada, I may ask, did he then desire that gentleman to abandon his principles as a Liberal, or did he intend to abandon his own principles as a Conservative? And in another instance, at the very same time, the right hon. member for Kingston endeavoured to prevail upon the present Premier to enter his Were his intentions Administration. similar? Did he purpose persuading the present First Minister to forsake his political principles, or to renounce his own? I thank the right hon. gentleman for the kind manner in which he put his question. Hon. Mr. TUPPER-If I might be permitted to make a few observations, I would address the House upon this most important question-than which I contend, Sir, there is no matter of greater moment that can come under the consideration of Parliament, or one in which the whole country is more deeply interested; namely, the reconstruction of the Government. I think that the hon. gentleman who has just taken his seat misunderstood the remarks of the right hon. gentleman who preceded him. He did not attack my hon. friend the President of the Council for having taken the course he did. It was quite right I contend, Sir, for the Hon. President of the Council to take the course he has; but one of the great questions in controversy from the first moment I had the honour of taking a seat on that side of the House-one of the leading questions forced upon the attention of Parliament by the hon. gentlemen opposite, was the difference in opinion which existed in relation to coalitions. My right honourable friend never claimed that there was anything wrong in the mere fact of joining coalitions-such coalitions being a combination of gentlemen of different political opinions in order to carry on the Administration of the country-provided they could agree with respect to questions of general interest that came under the consideration of the Government. And holding these views, he did not attack my hon. friend the President of the Council for going into the Government. It was quite in accordance with the views and sentiments he and his party had held, and it was for the hon. gentleman who leads the Government to explain to this House and to the people of this country, why it was that when he sat on this side of the House he contented that coalitions were vicious and corrupting; yet, when he changed his place, his doctrines were just the reverse; and that he found such a coalition offered quite sufficient ground for him to call upon this House to drive the Conservative party out of office. We have been in this House too long, Sir, not to know that the Hon. the Premier and the IIon. the Minister of Justice have urged upon Parliament the corruptness of the action of the Administration upon that occasion, and that coalitions were denounced by them in this House and out of it in the strongest possible terms. They said that parties who came into the Government for the mere purpose of governing the country compromised themselves. But, Sir, I do not complain particularly of the accession of the President of the Council, although the necessity for it is one of the strangest instances that could be given of the inconvenience of coalitions under certain circumstances. There is, perhaps, no means by which the leader of the Government could say to this House and to the country, so clearly that he has entirely abandoned all past principles, and that all he has stated on the subject of coalition was stated, not because that was a principle of which he honestly disapproved, but was a means by which he hoped the Government might be displaced. Now, Sir, the hon. gentleman, if he had searched all over Canada for the express purpose of giving to this House and the people of this country evidence that he had entirely abandoned his views and principles on that question, could not have done so more effectively than by taking into his Government the Hon. President of the Council. He (Mr. Cauchon) and the Leader of the Government in respect to their political views-at least, so far as they are known--are as wide as the poles asunder; and the fact that my hon. friend the Prime Minister availed himself of the aid of the Hon. the President of the Council on a certain occasion, is not a sufficient reason why a cardinal and anti-coalition principle which the Leader of the Government has impressed upon this House should not be observed. I say that the presence of the Minister of Justice in this Government is not only an illustration of a coalition Governinent; but, I contend that tried by the principles which these hon. gentlemen have professed, and by the doctrine they for so many long years have endeavoured to force on the attention of this country, it is an extremely vicious combination. The hon. gentleman will |