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This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est film6 au taux de reduction indiquA ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 26X 30X 1 y 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X ails du >difier une nage The copy ffilmad hare hat baan raproducad thanks to tha ganarosity of: Library of the Public Archives of Canada Tha images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specifications. L'axemplaira film* fut reproduit grAce A la gAnirositi da: La bibliothAque des Archives publiques du Canada Las images suivantas ont AtA reproduites avac la plus grand soin. compte tenu de la condition at da la nettetA de I'exemplaire film*, et en conformity avac las conditions du contrat de filmaga. Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. 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Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure jre filmed beginning in the upper left hend corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre film6s A des taux de reduction diff Arents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul cllchA, il est filmA A partir da I'angle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droits, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthode. rrata to pelure, n d n 32X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 A ^ I A Little Inside History OF HOW THE GOVERNMENT TREATED THE BANK NOTE CONTRACT, ..I "f. AND THE ENCOURAGEMENT GIVEN TO CANADIAN INVESTMENT TOOETHES WITH THE HANSARD BEPOBI ON THE SUBJECT BT HON. MR. FOSTER, SIR CHARLES TUPPER, MR. CRAIG, M.P. and SIR HIBBERT TUPPER ^ ' L-^^ ' V .--Si ^ I* " A STATEMENT OF THE TREATMENT ACCORDED TO THE BRITISH AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY BY THE MINISTER OF FINANCE. HON. W. S. FIELDING. I \ JHK history of the first large contract entered into by Hon. W. S. Fielding after his translation fronj the Provincial to the Federal Cabinet, that by which is given to aliens instead of to Canadians the delicate and responsible duty of producing Canada's currency, is not only instructive, but is of interest to all classes of the com- munity. Nothing can be of greater importance to the Capitalist, the Hanker and the Merchant, than that the current money of the country should be undoubtedly genuine, and that there should l)e no possibility of counterfeiting. It is of vital importance to the Cdiitracior that the secrecy of a tender submitted by him, under seal, to a Minister of the Crown, should be most strictly observed ; but should the course which has been followed by Hon. Mr. Kielding in this case be generally adopted, contractors will find that the results of their labor in jireparing tenders are merely supplying Ministers gratuitously with data on which to negotiate with outside parties for a lower price. To the skilled artisan it is necessary that as much high-class, and therefore well paid, work as possible should be produced in Canada, but the result of this contract will be to allow all the government engraving and skilled labor to be done at Canada's expense, in the neighboring Republic. To every Canadian, it must be clear that our pu'«lic men, especially those in positions of trust, should, like Caesar's wife, be above suspicion ; that their every act should be capable of bearing the clqsest inspection ; that those who have to repose trust in them, should in every case find that trust sacredly kept, and that Canadian interests of Capital and Labor, whether public or private, should be defended in every way possible. Unhappily, Hon. W. S. Fielding has not taken this view of the rase in the matter of the Hank Note Contract. To show how this has been done, it is necessary to give a r^sum^ of the facts since the accession of the Liberal Clovernment to power in July, 1896. When Mr. Fielding became Minister of Finance, he found existing a contract between the Crown, represented by his Dei)artment, and the British American liank Note Company, (of which Mr. (1. B. Hurland is the president) for the printing of the Dominion bills, stamps, etc. This particular contract had been in force for some years, and was the last of a series of contracts for this class of work extending over a period of 35 yeans. During all this time the Company have the satisfaction of stating that no accident or error of any kind has occurred, and the work has always been done at least 30 per cent, less than current American prices. One clause in the contract stipulated that it could be terminated by giving six months' notice ; and on September 26th, 1896, Hon. W. S. Fielding gave legal notice to the British American Bank Note Company of the closing of their contract at the expiration of the six months' term. This notice was duly followed by an advertisement inviting tenders for November 23rd, 1896. — 3 — Three or four Canadian Syndicates examined the specifications and the nature of the work to be done, hut owing to the fact that the Government would not allow it to be done in Montreal or Toronto, and fmding the capital required under such circumstances too large, the responsibility involved too heavy, and the risk attendant on it so great, they all but one declined to submit tenders. In this way the Minister succeeded in putting a veto on the aspirations of Canadian capitalists, but it is now apparent that he was quite willing to allow the engraving to be done in New York by his American friends and, according to the Toronto "Globe,' promised them the privilege of a second term, if they desired it. I'he result of this discrimination is made manifest by the fact that it is stated that on\y out Canadian Tendet was submitted ; as a consequence, when November 23rd was past, only one tender had been sent in, that of the British American Bank Note Company. Was this tender opened, and was it at this stage the American Bank Note Company of New York were invited to tender ? At any rate, as a result the American Company, we are informed, were allowed to change the specifications and duly sent in a tender to suit their own wants. No further action was taken by the Canadian Company till one of two things should happen, either they would be notified of the acceptance of their tender, or if it were not satisfactory, new tenders would be asked for. This, of course, is the procedure always followed in bona fide tendering. No communication of any kind was had by the Government with the Canadian Company until two days after the Minister had the Order-in-Council passed on the 6th January, 1897, with only four meml)ers present, and in great haste had it signed by the Governor General ; then on the 8th of January, he was magnanimous enough to send the following letter to the (Company: — Sir, Ottawa, January 8th. 1897. Referring to your letter of the 21st November last, submitting a tender for engraving and a cheque for $5,0i»0, as a deposit, in compliance with the terms and conditions set forih in Circular dated 19th October, T896, I have the honor to state that I regret that I am unable to accept the offer made in such tender, as the Government have a much more advantageous offer from another Company. I have accordingly given instructions to have the amount of your deposit returned to you. I have the honor to be, sir, Your obedient servant, G. B. RuRi.ANi), Es«., yV«7. (Signed) VV. S. FIELDING. B. A. Bk. Note Co. Minister of Finance. The cheque, however, was not returned till the i8th of January. After receiving the notice above referred to, and the returned chccjue, the President of the Canadian firm waited on the Deputy Minister of Finance, and re(jucsted an interview with the Minister to discuss the matter, and see if some arrangement could be made. At that time, Mr. Burland was ignorant of the fact that the American Company's tender had been received, or that the Minister had adopted a course the effect of which would jeopardise the capital of the British American Bank Note Company. Hon. W. S. Fielding was out of town, but an interview was arranged for the following week. Before this interview was had, however, Mr. Burland was surprised to find in the " Globe " and in a New York paper, the statement that the contract had been given to the American Bank Note Company. By this action, 1 — 4 — By this action, the most glaring injustice was done the Canadian firm by the Minister, as can be seen from the fact, that from the time of the tender, November 23rd to January 8th, no communication of any kind was held with them on the matter of the tender, although constant communication and correspondence were maintained with the New York firm, for the purpose q{ changing the specifications^ and making special conditions and terms by which they could do the work, and allowing some of the items to be omitted from the specifications altogether, in spite of the fact that the specification contained a proviso to the effect that the lowest or any tender was not necessarily accepted, under which the Minister had power to enquire of Mr. Burland, if there were any error in his tender, any mistake in calculation or addition, as might easily be the case. No interview was had with the Canadian Company whatever until January 23rd, after their cheque on deposit was returned, accompanied by a merely formal notice that there was a lower tender, giving no opportunity to the Company to make any correction for the sake of maintaining their capital, and retaining their staff of Canadian labor, in face of the alien lalxjr law of the United States. (See letter, page 9.) This narrative clearly proves that Mr. Burland's Company was not fairly treated, and that there was no desire on the part of the Minister to do him an act oi simple Justice. Were more proof needed, plenty is forthcoming. 'I'he actions of Mr. Fielding would indicate that he had determined to di.scourage Canadian investment, with the evident motive of favoring American. At the above interview Mr. Fielding expressed the idea that faith was to be kept with the lowest tenderer. Was it not equally necessary to keep faith with invested capital ? Such faith was not kept when he allowed the specifications to be changed in favor of a foreign corporation without calling for new tenders upon the altered specifications. Was this action not dishonourable in a Minister of the Crown ? Tenders were to be in by noon of Novemlier 23rd, and it was stated by more than one Minister that only the British American Bank Note Company had tendered. This being so, the statement made in the notice returning the deposit chetjue that "there was a lower tender " was, to say the least, misleading. If the tender submitted at that date did not meet the Finance Minister's views, it was his plain duty, in justice to all parties, to call for fresh tenders, when he allowed the specifications to be changed, and not to open private negotiations with any third party, on condition that they would make terms satisfactory to him. At what precise time the negotiations with the American Company were opened, remains to be ascertained, but it is probable that they were opened from Ottawa. Be that as it may, by the New Year matters were well under weigh, though not sufficiently settled for the American firm to have definitely tendered, but on January 6ih, at a Council Meeting, at which only four Ministers, being a bare quorum, were present, the Minister had an Order-in-Council passed. It is now worth while following the steps by which Mr. Fielding proceeded : On the 7 th of January a report was submitted to the Committee of the Privy ('ouncil, and approved of by His Excellency in due course, from which the following is an extract : — "On a report dated 6th January, 1897, the Minister of Finance stated that under authority of an Order-in-Council of 14th September, 1896, notice was given on 26th September, 1896, that the present contract between the British American Bank Note Company and the (lovernment for the engraving, etc., of Dominion J* *'.s. Postal and — 5 — Inland Revenue Stamps, will be terminated and put an end to at the expiry of the fixed period of five years therein mentioned, the contract having gone into force on the 23rd of April, 189a, and by the terms thereof was to continue for a fixed period of five years from that date." The Minister further states that under the above cited Order-in-Council, he called for tenders for engraving, printing, furnishing and delivering to the Government of Dominion Notes, Postage Stamps, Inland and Revenue Stamps, etc. Such tenders to be received by the Minister of Finance, at the Department of F"inance, Ottawa, up to 12 noon, Monday, 23rd November, 1896. In the terms and conditions of the tender asked it was specified that the contract to be entered into was for a fixed period of five years and three months, dating from July ist, 1897, and in his communication he, the Minister, recommended that the Order-in- Council of 14th September, 1896, be amended so as to authorize him to call for tenders for a term not exceeding the said five years and three months, instead of five years men- tioned in Order. The three months were no doubt intended to be from April to July, as the Canadian Company's contract expired on the former date ; and they then became stuck on the tail end of a contract to make up for the blunder of the Minister. The Minister further stated that in response to such call three tenders were sub- mitted, but one of such tenders did not conform with the part of the terms and condi- tions which required a deposit of $5,000 with tender, and consequently this tender was not taken into consideration ; the other tenderers, the British American Bank Note Company and the American Bank Note Company made the necessary deposit, and on examination and extension of the prices it was found that the tender of the American Bank Note Company was the lowest tender, the specifications having been changed by the American Company to enable them to make such a low tender, which change the Minister subsequently accepted without any notice to the Canadian Company, or any opportunity being afforded them to tender under the same conditions. It was, however, pointed out to the Minister that the stamped envelopes might be withdrawn from the new contract, and the Minister found on enquiring of the Queen's Printer that the Government could do the work themselves. What a pity he did not ask if he could do the Post Cards ! The reason will be found further on. The tender of the American Company asked to change the specifications, and made the following condition : — "The American Bank Note Company understands and makes it a part of this tender that it be not required by the specification hereto attached to manufacture bank note and other papers, steel rolls, steel plates, the dies and other tools of the trade, inks, colors, etc., in the City of Ottawa, but that such supplies necessary to the faithful fulfill- ment of the contract may be obtained elsewhere." Correspondence being had with the American Company, the Company consented to the withdrawal of the stamped envelopes from the contract. " The Company also sub- mitted rates for the stamps in question, if required in large quantities, and explanations were made in reference to the condition above quoted, which are satisfactory to the Minister of Finance, in view of the large saving effected if the oflTer of the Company is accepted." 9mm II "The Minister therefore recommends, in view of such saving, that he be authorized to accept the tender of the American Company, provided that the DETAILS of the contract can be arranged ivith the Company to his SATISFACTION." The Order-in-Council quoted from will repay analysis ; it continues to rehearse the Finance Minister's Report, stating that three tenders had been sent in, one of which was irregular and therefore out of account. A second, the British American Bank Note Company's tender ; and the third, that of the American Bank Note Company, the last named being the lowest. It is remarkable that while the Minister implies in his Report that all these tenders were in his Department by noon of 23rd November last, he does not say so, and it is stated on very excellent authority, that there was only one tender, that of Mr. Hurland's Company, in the Department. Having stated that the acceptance of the American Bank Note Company's tender would effect a saving to the country, Mr. Fielding's Report continues: "It was, how- ever, pointed out to the Minister that the stamped envelopes might be withdrawn from the contract, and the Minister found on enquiry of the Queen's Printer that the (Jovern- ment could do the work themselves." Further on this Report says : " Correspondence being had wiih the American Coinpany, the Company consented to the withdrawal of the stamped envelopes from the contract ; " but the Canadian Company was not honored with any correspondence on the subject. Stamped envelopes were taken out of the contract because they were the least profit- able items in it, involving as the work would, the purchase of special machinery by the American Company to the amount of $5,000 or $6,000. The profit on the work done, after paying the wages and material according to the quantity used for ten years past, would not pay for the machines in a hundred years. The saving therefore effected for the American Company by this concession on the part of our astute Minister of Finance is evident, and the Department of Public Printing has ordered the machinery to be paid for by the country, at full price, although the Canadian Company would have been pleased to sell the necessary machines for the purpose at twenty-five cents on the dollar, having no further use for them. Does this look like an endeavor to serve the country, or does it look like " business is business?" Is it any wonder that the contract was to be awarded on condition that the details be arranged to the satisfaction of the Minister of Finance ! Take next the case of Postal Cards : If the Minister desired mere economy, or if he desired to have the Queen's Printer do any part of the work, for economy's sake, this was the work to be given to him. When wages and material were provided for, and engraving to the amount of $100 done, no further cost would be entailed to the Queen's Printer. The Queen's Printer had all the machinery required, and could adequately do that part of the work, and being under no expense for rent, interest, management or machinery, if it were economy the Minister had in view, here was an opportunity for a saving of $100,000 during the term of contract. There is no doubt about these facts. But " Economy to the winds" Business was Business, when the Finance Minister could favor his American friends and destroy an Institution established by Canadian enterprise and capital, and having the full confidence of the Banking Institutions of the country and the Government for over 35 years. — 7 — No ! No ! Economy was not his object, or such a glaring bhinder could not have been made ; and the same plea of " Business is Husiness," if persisted in by our Dominion Finance Minister, will bring Mr. Lauricr's (lovcrnment to the same fate accorded Mr. Mercier's Government in the Province of Quebec by an outraged people. The Report adniits : *'// was pointed out to the Minister.'' Then he says that "after correspondence the Company consent«;d to the withdrawal of the stamped envelopes from the contract." Who was it pointed out that the stamped envelopes might be withdrawn from the contract, and not the Post Cards, the simplest part of the contract? 'I'he only persons sufficiently interested to do so were the .American Company. It was not likely that any employee of the Finance Department would do such a thing, besides only the chief confidential employees of the Department knew the terms and conditions. Clearly the Com|)any or its Agent made the suggestion, and the Minister was pleased to accept it to show his desire to economise ! ! The gravest part of the business is to come. 'I'he last two paragraphs are as foHow : "The .American Bank Note Company understands and makes it a part of this tender that it is not required by the specification hereto attached, to manufacture Bank Note or other papers, steel rolls, steel plates, the dies and other tools of the trade, inks, colors, etc., in the City of Ottawa, but that such supplies necessary to the faithful fulfill- ment of the contract may be obtained elsewhere." "The Minister therefore recommended, in view of such saving, that he be authorized to accept the tender of the American Bank Note Company, proinded that the details of the contract can be arrani^ed ivith the Company to his satis/action.'' Hitherto it has been the theory that the details of a contract were to be found in the Schedule of terms and conditions supplied each tenderer. Hon. VV. S. Fielding desires to make an innovation as far as contracts with the Dominion (iovernment are concerned. Henceforth, the invitation will be, "Tenderers submit your price, the details of the contract can be arranged to the mutual satisfaction of the Minister and yourselves afterwards" Not only is the action recommended a public disgtace, but it is dishonorable, unjust and dangerous. It is disgraceful, i)ecause the words "Bank Note or other papers, inks, colors, etc., etc.," are merely a blind intended to cover the permission given aliens to engrave steel plates of Canada's paper money, make the steel rolls on which the impres- sions are taken, and engrave the steel dies in a foreign country, by which (Canada's paper mint is relegated to the mercy of a foreign syndicate on a foreign soil, although the Cana- dian syndicates who desired to lender were denied the right to do the work either in Montreal or Toronto. Not only has Mr. Fielding's action sold Canada's birthright, recklessly injured a large home industry, thrown loo Canadian artizans out of employment, destroyed a large amount of Canadian capital — but is against the spirit, if not the letter of the law. // has violated the essential elements of all fair tendering, and is on that account disgraceful. It was decided by the Canadian Government, much more than a quarter of a cen- tury ago, as a question of principle, that the engraving and printing of Government Notes and Stamps should be no longer given out to a contractor in a foreign country, but done in Canada, under immediate departmental supervision and control. — 8 I ■ i 1 i i '! i It must be considered that the making of (Government Notes and Stamps, with all that pertains to it, is unhke anything e) e, except dies for the coinage of the gold and silver money of the country. The dies or plates from which the notes or stamps are produced are very small things, and can be easily duplicated and carried anywhere with the greatest ease. Think of the Government of England, or the Bank of England, or the United States Government giving a contract for the engraving of their Notes, Dies and Stamps to a foreign contractor, to be done out of the country, for the reason of APPARENTLY lower priccs — and these prices on paper only ! ! The main consideration is not so much a saving in the art of making, but obtaining the most absolute protection possible. If the Canadian Government were not satisfied with the present or any Canadian contract, it was the duty of the Finance Minister to have had all the other work done at the Government Bureau, as well as the stamped envelopes, instead of accepting the tender of a foreign company to do merely the print- ing, or least expensive part of the work, in Canada. While the Minister was carrying on a correspondence with the American firm, and receiving pointers as to the alteration of the terms and conditions, so as to make them more favorable to the foreign contractors, the scant courlesy of merely a notice by letter and one short interview, in which the Minister had nothing to consider but the lowest tender, were all that were accorded the Canadian firm during the two months. (See letter after interview, page 9.) // was vain for the latter to ask another intennew ; it was vain for them to write; it was vain for them even to offer to do this ivork for the lowest figures of the American tender. It ivas nothing to the Honorable the Minister that half a million of Canadian capital 7vas being destroyed in order to give a contract to a syndicate, containing not one Canadian subject, otvning not one square yard of Canadian soil, with not one cent of Cana- dian capital, and no property in Canada to be security for their bona fides. It was nothing to him that 100 Canadian artizans would be thrown out of work. B USINESS WAS BUSINESS ! and the Canadian company was not in it — their tender was too high. From November 23rd. to January 8th., not one word was vouchsafed the Canadian firm, though on January 6th., the Finance Minister reported to the Council that he had been in correspondence with the American firm. On January 7th., " Mr. Fielding received His Excellency's licenpe " to arrange the details of the contract to his satisfaction, and then it was safe to let Mr. Burland, as President of the British American Bank Note Company know. Accordingly, on January 8th., a letter was sent acknowledging the receipt of the Canadian tender and saying, "I have the honor to state that I regret that I am unable to accept the offer made in such tender, as the Government have received a much more advantageous offer from another Company." This Order-in-Council was passed at a meeting where there were only four members present, three of whom doubtless were not particularly interested and simply adopted the Minister's recommendation "in view of the saving" in figures only, without considering the injurious nature of their action, or the far-reaching responsibilities which it involved. Hon. Wilfrid Laurier, the Prime Minister, the President of the Council, the man above all others concerned, and chiefly responsible, stated that Mr. Fielding had not — 9 — spoken to him on the subject, and pledged himself that all the work would be done in the Dominion. Hon. Sir Richard Cartwright, although a member of the Treasury Board, stated that lie had not been consulted, nor had the subject been submitted to the Treasury Board. Sir Richard was not consulted, yet of all the Ministers he is the one in whose shrewd- ness as a financier, in whose integrity as a man of business, the Canadian public would have most faith. In order to remedy this state of affairs and to supply the Ministers with full in- formation upon which they could reconsider the hasty Order-in-Council, Mr. Burland sent the petition appended hereto. (Page 1 1.) The following letter was sent Mr. Fielding and other members, after the notice in the Globe : — Hon. Mr. Fielding. Montrkai., Janjr. 23rd, 1897. De&r Sir :— In reference to the tender of the British American Bank Note Company, we would ask your kind attention to the injustice that would be done to the capital invested in the country, if the work of the country is given to foreii;nerK. and we ask that now tenders be taken for the foUowinK reasons :— Ist.— That ample capital has been invested at the request of the Government to satisfactorily prepare all the work required by the Government. 2nd.— That contract is about to be awarded in violation of the terms and conditions of the speoifl* cation. ;■ OP HON. GEORGE E. FOSTER, MP. HON. SIR CHARLES TUPPER, M.P. AND T. DIXON CRAIG, M.P. ON THE BRITISH AMERICAN BANK NOTE CONTRACT OTTAWA, THURSDAY, 20th MAY, 1897. ue time he us to make en he made y are wrong ; the balance bilee stamps ■ars work in ' we have a dr. Mulock's Mr. FOSTER. Before the House goes into Committee of Supply, I wish to call the attention of the members present to some circumstances in connection with the gi'anting of the contract for printing the bank notes, the inland revenue stamps, postal cards, stamps, &c., for the use of the Government. There are certain things in connection with this which I think merit the attention of all the members of this House, and it shall be my endeavour to put the facts of the case in as short and lucid a statement as possibly can. It is a pro- per ambition, I think, for every country to be the maker of its own currency so far as that can possibly be done, and the mere accident or incident of more or less relative cheapness is not to be taken into account very largely in carrying out what Is, on the whole and in principle, laudable md correct. On this assumption, at least, the Dominion of Canada has gone from the time that it was a Dominion ; and at the time of con- federation when, by the constitution, thin power came to it, it took up the old line of policy of preparing the paper currency, stamps and the like for the service of the Government, in Canada itself. Prom 18l?6 this has been done, and been done, I be- lieve, by one firm, and from 18(i8 when the Dominion came to take this matter in charge^ It has been consecutively carried out on the same line and under the same manage- ment, but -with certain changes .and grada- tions, of course, which were incident to the changed conditions from one quinquennial period to another, for a period of five yearn has generally been the term of the contract The notes— to confine myself to that— be- cause where notes are made the other sup- plies are made, and by the same person- the notes at first were made in the city of ■ it t I H- Montreal, and as well supervised as the Department of Finance couM do, which was the responsible head In the matter. But It was early felt that ns soon as possible the work of the preparation of these notes and stamps should be as close as possible to the supervising power ; so that this con- tract, and the work under the contract, which went on In the city of Montreal In 1868 and from that time forward, gradually was brought Into closer supervision by the Finance Dopartmeut. and at the time of the granting of the contract in 18S1, an option was introduced into the contract, by which the Minister of Finance could compel tho contractors to do this work in the city of Ottawa. That option, however, was not put into force, it was put in as a principle Into the contract, but the option was not exercised. At that time, in 1881. a step was taken in cheai>enlng the cost of notes and such supplies to the Dominion, not so much In the actual rates which ruled before In the case of bank notes, ns to the number of Im- pressions which were to be taken from each plate, which, of cour.se. operates in the way of cheapening the product. The number of impressions whicli were to be taken under that contract of 1881. was raistnl from 2,1,000 and 15.000 respectively, to 30.000 impres.sions from the first plate, and 25,000 from the plate retouched, that is, giving 55.000 im- pressions In all. That contract term ran out in 1886, and another contract was en- tered into. Under this contract there were absolute reductions in the rates to a vei-y large extent, running, if we speak in the gross, up to about 15 per cent of the work so far as bank notes and Inland revenue stamps were concerned, and a reduction of about 30 per cent in postal stamps and supplies. In that year, 1886, the option was exercised, and the condition was made ab- solute that the contractor should provide a suitable home for this work in the city of Ottawa, and that the work should there- after be carried on in the city of Ottawa close to the supervising department. In 1892 came the period of another renewal of tho contract. Tenders were asked for, the whole matter was gone into exhaustively in the department, and as a result, the work- was given to the British American Bank Note Company, the same concern which had done the work for all these past vears of ■which I have been speaking. In 1892 great reductions also were made in the rates which were paid for the work, and to estab- lish tlie point which I have been makiug that these reductions went on from time to time as circumstances permitted, I desire to state from a report by the Deputy Min- ister of Finance, what were tho principal reductions made in the contract of 1S92 : In the case of the notes suppUed to this de- partment, the cost of the $1 notes was reduced from $104 a thousand to $91.31 ; the cost of the $2 notes, from $126.50 to $109.04, and of the $4 notes, from $113.75 to $97.54. Similar large re- ductlona were made In the cost of the postal and inland revenue auppUei. Thus, postage Btamps were reduced from 20 cents to 13 cents per thou- sand ; registration stamps, from 40 cents to 28 cents ; post cards, from $1 to 80 cents or 90 cents, dependent upon whether Canadian or Im- ported stock was useii . reply cards, from $3.25 to $2.75 or $1.50, depeu lent on the quality of the card. In law stamps, in post bands, in gai> and weights and measure stamps. In t(d>acco stamps, and all other stamps for the Inland Ilevenue Department, a large and substan- tial reduction was ni.ide. Improvements were made in the metiiods of manufacture, improvements in price- were made, and these improvements foil » wing In direct line with cheapening of manufacture meant that substantial reductions wen- elTecte*!. So much then for the liistory of the bank note work from the time of confederation up to tlie present with respect to those two lines : (1). The plan upon which the Goveniraent acted of having the work done in Canaila and by Canadians, and of drawing It con- tinually closer and closer imder the super- vision of the Department of Finance ; and (2) the gradual and substantial reductions which took place in connection with the price for the work. This work of printing the bank notes and other like kinds of work has been always carried on under very definite and plain con- ditions, and I wish to indicate some of the principal conditions of tiie contract which expired by notice given on 23rd April of this year, these conditions being found on page 3 of the blue-book brought down. In the first place, it was a condition of the tender, and of the specification assented to, for the contract Is based upon the specifica- tion, that the contractor was to engrave, print, furnish and deliver all the Dominion notes, postage stainps and revenue stamps ; the Government of Canada, on its part, agreeing to employ the company to perform all the work which the said Government may require during the period covered by the agreement ; and that the work to be done— the engraving, printing and delivery —should be done at Ottawa, in such build- ing as should be approved by the Govern- ment of Canada— fire-proof building, all safeguards considered necessary being ap- plied. The conditions of the work are out- lined with definiteuess and clearness, and a general supervisory power is given to the Minister of Finance, to the Postmaster Gen- eral and to the Controller of Inland Re- venue In each case to see that the supplies are up to the requirements In quality and in every other respect, each of these Min- isters having arbitrary power to reject sup- plies which did not come up to the standard of quality or in other respects as required. Those conditions have been very well un- derstood: that the whole of the work should be done at Ottawa, that the Government should give all Its work to that contractor, and that there should be this supervisory Dower and general power to a certain ex- much a pledge between the parties as they tent on the part of the Ministers so that would be between man and man, and which the grade and quality should be Icept up to ! should be thoroughly, absolutely and de- the speclflcatious and terms of the contract, finitely observed ; or, If they are not de- That brings us to the consideration of the finite, and at any stage of the progress of nresent case. The contract entered into in . negotiations the contracting i)ower finds It 189'' was made for five years, and the period j is in the Interest of the Government to expired on 23rd April, 1897. The contract ' uinlie a change in the specifications, then was to expire at that time if six months' it is the absolute duty of the contracting notice were given by the Minister of Fl- : power to give the same iuformatlon to nance If six months' notice had not been ; every one of the tenderers as he does to any given in advance, then the contract would lone of ihe ti'iidfci-ers. What were the f^peci- explre on six months' notice having been i ficatlons ? The specifications stated what given either by the Minister of Finance or j was to be tendered for, as followH :- by the contractor, each in his several in- 1 Engraving, printing, furnlahlng and delivering terest. The notice was given on 2bth Sep- k, th^ Qove tember, 1890, by the Finance Minister, and the British American Bauli Note Company received notification that on 23rd April next the contract would expire. Just about that time the British American Bank Note Com- pany, through the president of the com- pany. Invited the Finance Minister, who, presumably, had ihe larger interest lu this matter and who was the person who liad under his charge tne arrangement of the contract, to ^o down to the place of the manufacture of the l>anl£ notes and stamps and look at the establishment, as he might wish to see something of the method and manner In which this work was executed. ; Dominion's work, had the least doubt but This wos almost a necessary condition, be- \ that these words meant exactly what they cause no Finance Minister or any other slated, and what they Included, namely, Minister possesses the least knowledge of ; that the work, and all of the work, should the technique of this branch of the busl- be done in the city of Ottawa. That was ness, and unless he makes himself acquaint- 1 an essential basis In the calling of the ten- ed with It in a practical way by actually | ders. The usual five years' term was fixed visiting the establishment and seeing Just I as the period during which this contract how the work is can-led on, it is impossible J was to continue. Section 7 goes on to state : for any man I do not care how inteiligeut | ^„ ^„^^ ^^^^^ ^j^^ ^^^^^^^^ he may be, to approach the subject from ' the point of sufficient Information. So the i That Is the engraving, and printing, and president of the British American Bank i delivering, and so forth. Note Company courteously Invited the Min- | ^ll work under the contract shall be done at Ister of Finance to visit and Inspect the ; the city of Ottawa in such building or buildings establishment. The invitation was ac- as are approved of by the Government of Canada. 1 Government of Canada, as and when re- quired during the period and on the terms and conditions hereinafter set forth : A. Dominion notes ; B. Postage stamps, stamped envelopes, post and letter cards and post bands ; C. Inland revenue stamps. That was the work to be done, and the House will see that it takes In all the work, exactly on the lines which have been fol- lowed up since confederation, exactly on the line of previous tenders, exactly on the line of previous contracts, and no person who had had any knowledge of the previous his- tory of tendering for this branch of the knowledged by the Finance Minister, as the [papers show, but, so far as I know, he No contract shall be entered Into with any tenderer until he has satisfied the said tract, a proper building or buildings in Ottawa In which to carry on the work under the contract. never put his head inside the doors of the ! Government of Canada that he has. or will have iestabllshment. This Invitation was i^iyen:^l}^l'}^Zl.'t\^,1F^^.lt\r^^^^^^^ )y the British American Bank Note Com- Jpany on 10th October. On 19th Ooctober (the Finance Minister called for tenders, get- i The usual precautionary clauses are put in jting an Order in Council on his report au- ; the specifications, and they agree very Ithorizing him to give notice for the termlna- nearly Avith the specifications of the preced- jtlon of the ol(^ contract and to call for iug tender, and terms of the preceding con- Itenders for a n^iw contract. Tenders were , ti'act. Section 22 declares : That there jcalled for on lOth October, and the specifl- \ should be a deposit for bona fides of $5,- Icatlon will be found on page 15 of the blue- ' 000, and a deposit of $50,000 to remain In ■book, and it would be well that hon. mem- ; the hands of the Government at interest |bers should pay attention to the specifica- i for the due execution of the work. There tions, because they are the basis of the whole ■ was also the usual clause 23 ; That the )usiness, they are the pledge of good faith j Government of Canada does not bind Itself jetween the power asking for the contract < to accept the lowest or any tender ; leaving ind the parties who r..re tendering for the Itself entirely free at any stage of the ne- Bontract ; and when these specifications are iefinltely stated It is a rule, and I think a Iwholesome rule, that these specifications, ?hlch are the basis of the contract, are as IVa Rotlatlons to act as it considered In the best interests of the country. So much then for the specifications upon wlilch the present tenders were called. ijjypii' p ' Now, I do not know exactly for what pur- poBe or with what aim, but the fact 1b, that when thene tenders were asked for the area of the call was made very wide Indeed, and these specifleations were sent to Great Britain, to the United 8tates, and to Canada. At pages 20 and 21 of the papers brought down will be found a list of the firms and companies to wliom these si)ecitlcations were sent, ostensibly with the view of giv- ing them information so that they might tender for this work on the basis as set out in the specifications. Numbers of these were sent to London, and the letter of the Minister of Finance accompanying them is as follows :— Finance Department, Ottawa, 22nd October, 1896. J. O. Colmer, Esq., Canadian Oovernment Offlces, 17 Victoria Street. London. Dear Mr. Colmer, — I send you a dozen copies ot a circular In relation to our new contract for engraving and p/intlng the Dominion notes, post- age and Inland revenue stamps. I think it Is hardly probable that we shall have any tenders from parties in England, but I am desirous of having the contract made known as widely as possible to parties in the trade. 1 shall, there- fore, be obliged If you will cause these circulars to be sent immediately to the leading houses in England In that line of business. Yours faithfully, (Sgd.) W. S. FIHLDINO. Minister of Finance. Mr. Colmer followed out the instructions to the letter, and in a communication to Mr. Fielding he details the corporations, and firms, and parties to whom he sent the cir- culars. Immediately following upon that came Inquiry from some of the firms, as to whether or not the stipulation in clause 7 : that the work shall be done In Ottawa ; was to be firmly adhered to, and, in fur- therance of that inquiry, Mr. Colmer sent the following telegram to the Finance De- partment : Tenders for engraving. Firms point restric- tions clause seven manufacture Canada. Also state tenders impossible without specimens men- tioned clause fourteen. The specimens referred to were specimens of stamps and the like of that. To that the Minister of Finance replied : Tenders for engraving. Cannot abandon condi- tion requiring manufacture at Ottawa. If re- sponsible parties wish to tender, we will send specimens. The answer of the Finance Minister to the English inquirers is firm and decided, that this work must be done at Ottawa. That, as Mr. Colmer says a little later on, cut out all the English firms from attempting to tender. They had not their engravers and their machinery over here, and they had no buildings to carry on this work in the city of Ottawa. There was also a tender received from a firm In Toronto, Barber & Ellis, and that firm also made Inquiry as to whether any of the conditions In the specifications would likely be relax- or He BlilH tender ; why ? The Barber & Elliti Company were willing to do all the woric in Ottawa, willing to put up their building, willing to do everything except put up this deposit of $;»0,000 in cash, instead of whicli they wishe { tice, is the essential thing in the work. I But that, say this company, is only a tool, I like the engraver's tool. The dies and I other tools are to be got in New York or j wherever else they can be got most cheaply. I When that casuist sentence came before ' the Finance Minister, he was a little trou- I bled in ids conscience. He took the precau- I tion of having a report upon these tenders from the Deputy Minister, who. from the time he has been in ollice in this country, has been contemporaneous with this work. i and has known everytldng in connection I with it. Now, I want the House to attend to the report of the Deputy Minister of j Finance, who with the officers of his de- [ partment-good officers who are used to j making that kind of calculations— moneyed I out, as it were, the teuder. On tiie face of ' it the report of tiicse officers is this : that i tlie old contract totalled up to ?12:i,000 ; 1 that tiie present contractor's figures amount I to $128,843, about $5,843 more, while the ' American Bank Note Company quoted prices \ equivalent to $99,(M0, a difference of more [ than 20 per cent in favour of their offer. Tiiat struck the Deputy Minister as being peculiar. If the Deputy Minister had been j.s new a comer in that department as the ' Finance Minister, It would not have struck I lUm as being peculiar, But it so happened I tliat when the contract of 1892 was being made, the Deputy Minister had to make certain calculations and researches, and he made them. Wlien he finds tliat ifOU.iUQ ' is the tender of the American Bank Note I Company, he feels moved in spirit to com- I meut upon those figures, which he does as I follows :— I i This difference is so great that the undersigned deems it advisable to make Bcme remarks there- on, and while he Is unable fully to understand the reasons for it, he considers it might arise from various causes. In the first place, the new tenderers — the American Bank Note Company — may possibly think that they would be able to make up the difference by ihe increased rates at wlilch they tender for supplies that are not gen- erally in demand. If the coatract is awarded to them, this feature should be kept in mind and carefully guarded against. That is a very wise suggestion. It is what would Immediately strike a professional I man who was looking Into tills matter and I trying to get at the bottom of it. He then ' goes on to say : Further, a very great difference between theirs and the tender of the British American Bank Note Company arises in the prices given for printing notes. *mm^- iFi i-M ■ Now, mind, not for engraving the plates but lor printiiig the notes. Seeing there Is such a manifest difference be- tween the two tenderers on this item, the under- signed thlnlis some inquiries should be made through some expert, and he would suggest that the matter be submitted to the Queen's Printer, In order to ascertain whether the tender of the American Bank Note Company is one that can be carried out successfully, seeing they may have tendered at the unremuneratlve price in order to secure a foothold in the country. Now, that is a very pregnant remark, ami why Is it made. It is jnade from previous knowledge. The Deputy Minister goes ou to say : In connection with the foregoing the under- signed begs to point out that at the time the present contract was entered into, full and ex- plicit inquiries w6re made as to the rates of the American Banlc Note Company, and also as to the charges made by the British American Bank Note Company to the chief monetary institutions in Canada ; and in one case the department was allowed access to the bills rendered for printing rotes for the institution ir question by the Bri- tish American Company. The result of the in- quiries proved that the rates charged to the Gov- ernment for this class of work were in no sense larger than for the institution in question, and were not then higher than the rates quoted by the America^ Bank Note Company. The account rendered to the institution in question is now in the possession of this department. It can hardly be possible that since the present contract was entered into prices for the work have fallen to such an extent as the rates oflfered by the Ameri- can Bank Note Company would lead one to be- lieve. Indeed, from the tender of the present contractors, it would appear that it was found necessary to raise the rates in some lines in the offer now submitted. Accordingly, it would ap- pear that other reasons exist than those pointed out inducing the American Bank Note Company to tender at rates so much lower than now paid. Before entering Into a contract with this com- pany, if it be intended to Jo so, the undersigned respectfully suggests that lare should be taken, and a distinct understanding arrived at, that no safeguard observed by the present contractors in conducting the business should be omitted in ex- ecuting the work under the new contract. In this regard the undersigned may state that very great care is taken by the British American Bank Note Company for the custody and safe-lceeping of our notes when in course of preparation. He goes on to state wiiat jjreparatious arc taken, and then adds : Should the Government decide to enter into an agreement with the American Bank Note Com- pany, it would appear to be desirable to bear in mind also that the institution is an alien corpor- ation, and the officers who would in all probabil- ity conduct the business with the Government and ca.'-ry out the orders, would probably come here from New York. In this connection the undersigned has to call attention to the condi- tion appended to their tender that they are not to be required to manufacture bank note and other papers, steel rolls, steel plates, the dies and other tools of their trade. Inks, colours, &c., at Ottawa, but may obtain elsewhere such supplies necessary to a faithful fulfilment of their contract. This would appear to allow them to do a large portion of their work In New York, and Is a fea- ture of the offer which seems to require very careful consideration, and while nothing Is stat- ed dellnitely on the point, the undersigned pre- sumes the company took Into consideration that they would have to pay customs duties on all dutiable articles brought into Canada. And lastly, and most important for the House to boar In mind, he says : The undersigned would further add that a con- tract with a new company would necessarily en- tall an immediate outlay for designs, rolls and dies Not tools— the Deputy Minister did not think they were tools — necessary in the preparation of the new plates required. It would, in fact, entail all the ex- pense attaching to the preparation of new notes and stamps. This of course would be unneces- sary if the work remained in the hands of the present contractors, and this extra expense has not been talcen into consideration in comparing the tenders. Undoubtedly, it would seem that even with this taken into consideration the ten- der of the American Bank Note Company is much lower than that of the British American Banl; Note Company. That I consider to be a very fair, a very judicious and a very pregnant report. Well, the hon. Finance Minister read that report, and what did he do ? Here Avas a company— and I believe my statement will be acceded to by every unprejudiced gentleman who reads it or wlio hears it— here was a com- pany, one of the tenderers, which wished to have its tender accepted, although it had specifically ignored the basic consideration of the tender, namely, that the work of en- graving and the preparation of these plates should be done in the city of Ottawa. The l^on. Minister could not accept the Barber & Ellis tender because the .$.50,000 were not deposited, although personal security, un- doubtedly satisfactory, would be given. On that ground lie ruled it out. He could not allow the London men the tender because the work must be done in Ottawa ; but when he has got tlio tenders before him, and he finds that this American Bank Note Company had put in a tender ignoring the specific and most important clause in the i^pecification, what does he do ? Does he call for new tenders ? Not at all. Does he call the three tenderers together and enter into communication with tliem and give tliem all an equal chance ? No. he studiously ignores the British American Bank Note Company, one of the tenderers, whose ten- der Avas perfect in every respect, whose tender complied in every respect Avith the specifications, Avho had deposited the $5,000 and had agreed to put up the .^p.'JO.OOO Avith the Keceiver General. He passes over that, he ignores the other two tenderers entirely, and he enters Into communication with the American Bank Note Company. The British American Bank Note Company Avere with- in the sound of his whistle ; the American Bank Note Company were in New York and an alien corporation. He will not have it for the d not think a word to say to the Canadian organization ' when the essential basis of the couti-act is ignored entirely by the American company, but enters into communication with the lat- ter. He goes on to state in a letter written immediately, the 14th of December, to Mr. Freeland, the secretary of the American Banli Note Company ; Dear Sir,— Referring to your compauy'a tender for engraving and printing the Canadian Govern- ment notes and stamps, there are one or two points upon which we require some additional In- formation. 1. In conversation with you, I understood you to say that your company would be as well pleased If the stamped envelopes were withdrawn from the proposed contract. I shall be glad to have from you a confirmation of this statement. Now, Sir, the very moment that it was mooted that these tenders were called for, i that very moment constant and continuous j personal communication was had between; the American Banli Note Company and the| Minister of Finance (Mr. Fielding) here in Ottawa and In New Yorlj ; but not one word, not one item of interview or conversation could the British American Banli Note con- tractor have with the Minister of Finance. Will the House please note what this clause that I have just read means ? When all the other contractors from confederation up, ; when the other two tenderers in this case, ; gave in their tenders upon remunerative and unremunerative.worii equally aud submitted i the whole tender, why Avas it that the Mln-' ister of Finance was forward to intimate to the American Banli Note (Company that tlie j one nnremimerative part of tlieir tender mig;ht be dropped, and they not called upon : to carry out ? Stamped envelopes have not • gained great currency in this country on account, I suppose, of their lack of cheap- ness. The machine to make stamped en-i velopes will cost from $5,000 to $7,000. The profit in making stamped envelopes that are used from year to year in this country will not more than pay the interest on the cost of the plant, and so that is not a remunera- tive part of the contract. The Finance Min- ister su.u^Gsts tliat tins may bo droi)ped out of the American Bank Note Company's contract, and that the Queen's Printer may do this work. If tlie Queen's Printer \s to do it, the Government must supply the Queen's Printer with $0,000 worth of ma-' chinery, which will be left for all time to come I'utirely ; unriMnunora.live. It is ai most singular thing that they should be; dropped out, and that this intimation should come from the Minister of Finance. But it did. 2. In stamps I Should think they were abnormally high In the offer of the American Bank Noie Company— sometimes ten times as large as the tender of the British American Bank Note Company. Chewing tobacco stamps are $100 per thousand ; snuCf, under 40 the case of a number of Inland revenue the prices are abnormally high. per cent, $57.06 per thousand ; law stamps, $72.34 per thousand. And the Minister says these prices are abnormally high. He said : I And, however, that the quantities of these stamps hitherto used and consequently made the basis of our estimates as given in the speclflca- tlons, have been quite small. I can understand that If only these quantities are required, the price on which you tender must be made high enough to Include the cost of engraving. This price, while it might be reasonable as applied to a small quantity, would be excessive in the event of a large quantity being required. But, by the Minister's own admission, a large quantity is not required. It is possible that, owing \o the changes in our revenue laws, some of these stamps may be used in larger quantities. And he asks him to amend his tender with reference to these Items for larger quanti- ties if iliey should be necessary. But now follows the important point. 3. I desire to call your attention to the follow- ing paragraph In your tender : — " The American Bank Note Company under- stands and makes It a part of this tender that it is not required by the specifications hereto at- tached to manufacture bank note and other papers, steel rolls, steel plates, the dies and other tools of the trade, Inks, colours, &c.. In the city of Ottawa, but that such supplies necessary to a faithful fulfilment of the contract may be obtain- ed elsewhere." I think it would be well How mildly the hon. Minister corresponds with tills favoured company. I think it would be well for you to offer some explanation of this clause. Our specifications were not Intended to prevent the importation of paper, ink, colours, &c., &c., or the ordinary That Is a good word. — ordinary tools of the engraving trade. Nor were they intended to prevent the importation of steel rolls or steel plates where such rolls or plates are of a plain character, without any engraving, Im- pression or other such work. The only point la which your condition seems to conflict He does not like to put it too rawly or too roughly by saying that they do conflict— — witli tlie terms of our specifications Is in re- spect of the dies. If you attach Importance to the making of these outside of the Dominion of Canada, I shall be obliged if you will furnish me with fuller information on the subject. Our chief purpose in requiring the work of this con- tract to be done in Ottawa is that It may be per- formed by workmen in an establishment coming' immediately under the supervision of this de- partment, with a view to the greatest possible security against loss or fraud. I shall be pleased to receive any information you may be able to furnish as to the circumstances which In your judgment require these dies to be made abroad. Yours very truly, W. S. FIELDING, Minister of Finance. Now, I take it that that letter is an In- vitation, couched in the most alluring terms, to Mr. Freeland to make good his case, and mmm^ 8 an invi cation that if done in a plausible way, it would be admitted. Mr. Freeland is ready for the occasion, and he does not allow many hours to pass until he indites a letter and sends it bacli saying : First. That we conflrm your understanding that the company would be as well pleased if the stamped envelopes were withdrawn from the proposed contract. Why shouldn't they ? There Is nothing in it for tliem. New machinery would have to be brought and liept, and the best they could get out of it would be the interest on the cost of it— nothing to be made. Yes, tliey say. we would be pleased if you would just withdraw that from the contract. Second. In compliance with your request that we furnish a statement of the terms on which we will supply certain inland revenue stamps In larger quantities, If required, we would say that, over and above the quantities of same In the printed specifications, and multiplied by 5, on which, on November 23rd, 1896, Is based, we will supply from the same plates at the following rates per 1,000 stamps for the term of the con- tract. And they give a schedule of prices. I will not go Into that. Third. This is the important point. Third. We are pleased to know that our un- derstanding of the printed specifications is cor- rect, as to obtaining elsewh3re papers, inks, col- ours, or the ordinary tools of the engraving trade, steel rolls and steel plates ; as the lan- guage of the specifications is such that a different construction might have been intended ; and stating also that the only point in which our conditions seem to conflict with the terms of the specifications is in respect to the dies, and ask- ing, If we attach any ininortance to the making of these outside of Canada, to give fuller infor- mation on the subject. Then follows the information. But, Sir, one of the aims of this present Government from 1878 up, and of the old Government preceding it. was to cultivate and establish here in the Dominion of Can- ada a force of nien of sufficient sliiU and sufficient worlcing power to malie for us our currency in the engraving and in the mechanical execution as well. The mechani- cal execution, wlien you have the ma- chine and the machlne-lilie men, is nothing compared with that skilful and ingenious and unfrequent talent of doing the nice work of the engraver, of being able to design for yourself, transfer that design to the steel and make the dies. What follows after that is all medhanical. If the Minister of Finance does not know that, five minutes spent in the establishment will tell him that the work after the design is on the steel, is mechanical. The die is, if hon. gentlemen know it, and most of them do. I suppose— I am sorry that I have not one here— the die is the first pi'oduct of the engraver's skill. He makes his de- sign, be it a beautiful maiden, or a ship at sea, or some pregnant ideal. The en- graver goes to work with his plates, his steel, and the tools of his trade, and he transfers that image or design, by ftatienl work, taking from two to eight weeks to perform it properly, and at a cost which will run from $150 to $1,000 for rhe skilled work alone of transferring that to the Kteel, which is the die. After that all you have to do is to harden the die, transfer it to the soft steel roll, and transfer that again, by the same mechanical process to the plate, and then print off your stamps, bills or whatever they are. The essential work Is done by tlie engraver,, but this product of the engraver is simply a tool of the trade, according to the argument of Mr. Freeland, which has been admitted by my hon. friend the Minister of Finance. But, Sir, from the moment that the New York concern got the Minister's consent to have that work done in New York, from that very moment there is no heart or soul in that business in Canada, there is simply the work of a machine which turns off from the die, whi?h is the product of the engraver's skill, simply the mechanical product. Well, they go on to argue that out. I could follow their argument, but I will not. It is appa- rent to every member of this House that a die is not a tool of the trade, and does not belong to that category. What do they say ? Enough to make the Finance Minister's blood boil, or ought to have made it boil, at least : It being this company's intention to prepare the work in the highest style of the art, the lim- itation of the use of such talent as is procurable within the Dominion, would be detrimental to our intention. Such talent is not resident in Canada, nor obtainable in the market, while the portrait, vignette and lathe work engravers of the parent establishment could be employed here with much greater efficiency, each in their several branches, in executing the original and preparatory work, immediately under the personal supervision of the officers of the company ; nor would it be wise to dismount and move to'Ottawa the extremely deli- cate machinery which we propose to use, for the short term of five or six months required to pro- duce all the original dies and matrices for the entire contract term of five years. I ask the members of this House to ex- amine the work of their Dominion bills, to examine the work of the bank bills of this country, to go down to that establishment and examine the dies and tlie prints from them, and to say whetlier there is talent in Canada, and resident to-day in Ottawa, which is able to do fine work. I say tliat the Finance Department liad found no fault, I say that the style of tlie art is good, equally as good in quality, it is well ex- ecuted, and thei'e are native Canadians to- day doing that work in thajt establislimont, and who can successfully compete with the men in the parent establishment in the city of New York. But. Sir, it is not for the Finance Minister of this country, when he Is engaged in the Important work of seeing hovr the money currency of this country should be made and where, to be swift to depreciate the talent of his own country. and to make a conti'act which eats out all the ambition, all the heart, and the whole kernel of the work, so far as skill and artistic ability are concerned, and leave the mechanical shell for Canada and for Ottawa. Then he says : It might be well to state the company's inten- tion more in detail, with the paragraph in ques- tion made a part of the proposed contract. I want you to note that, becasise when you come to the contract, you. will lind it is not in it. It is our Intention to submit a model, or mod- els, of each instrument, note, stamp or card, ex- hibiting the same just as it will appear when printed from the engraved plate, for the approval of the Government, and, dpon approval of the same, to engrave In the parent establishment ■ That is in New York. — the original dies of portraits, vignettes, lathe work, borders, &c., with which the matrix die of each note or stamp will be partially prepared, carrying same to Ottawa for finishing. What flaishing ? Simply assembling or putting together, and then letteriu,? in tlit name of the bank, or the name of tlie note, that is all. The whole of the important work has been done before they ai'e as- sembled together. All the transferring Simply the mechanical operation. Here is your round roll of soft steel, here is your die, and you put it in place, apply the pres- sure, roll it two or three times, and you have a transfer from the die to the roll. There is the work, but it is simply mechanical. We might add, that no Canadian labour would be displaced by our so doiag, as the labour em- ployed heretofore in making such original en- gravings, In our opinion, has been largely that of nou-resideuts. Now, that is an imputation which is not true. In the early history of ougraving, outside labour had to be -jbta'aod ; but lu the course of the "Work our own Canadian people have come to learu it, and \o be- come adepts In it; and it is an imputatiou which I, for one, am not going to take from Mr. Frceland or any other alien wlio wants to get a contract. But he puts in another memorandum, and he goes into it still more [ closely, and he says now : But, desirous of meeting your wishes, we modi- Ify the seemingly objectionable paragraph so that (it may read, " partially enjTraved dies." And to [prevent misunderstanding as to the meaning of the word " partially," we will prepare here the [different pieces composing the details of the differ- ent dies, transfer them to what we may term the matrix dies — those from which the rolls are taken that make the plates — put In such work as may Interlace with the several pieces, but always leave some portion of these matrix dies unen- graved, and transporting thO'm to Ottawa, flniah and harden them there, and dt> all the balance of the work In Ottawa. Which means, when translated Into Eng- lish, that nine hundred and ninety-nine thousandths of the work is done in New York, and that simply the asse'ubling of the parts and some little lettering have to be done after they are put Into the plate In Canada. He says here : At our Interview on Monday it was stated that the present contractor intended to purchase $20,- 000 worth of machinery. That sentence just opens the light upon —what ? Upon the fact that not only was the Finance Minister willing to interview, md to talk, and converse with the American Bank Note Company, and be willing to use the correspondence of the British American Bank Note Company In his conversation, but he was not willing to ask Mr. Burland, who is president of the American Bank Note Company, if that Bank Note Company nad any other proposition to make. Now, they say : But, desirous to meet your wishes, we modify the seemingly objectionable paragraph so that It may read, " partially engraved dies." Let us go to the contract ; the contract reads this way : That the original dies of portraits, vignettes, lathe work, borders and other patterns or de- signs, and the matrix dies used in connection with any work under this agreement, may be engraved at the establishmant of the contractors in the city of New York, in the State of New York, one of the United States of America. No partially engraved dies in the contract. Willing to meet their wishes in a letter, out wlieu it comes to the contract, the contract is absolute aud gives them the whole power, the word " partially " being left entirely out. Now, I think I have made it pretty plain as regards the conditions aud : pecill- catious. What happened after that ? Well, Sir, on the 5th of January, directly after tliis correspondence, the Minister is con- vinced by that letter and memorandum, aud he telegraphs to the American Bank Note Company that he is willing to roconunend the acceptance of their tender, provided the details can be arranged to his satisfaction. The hou. gentleman then goes to Council and reports, and on the 7th of the month he gets an Order in Council passed, on his report, authorizing him to do that, If the details are arranged to tlie satisfaction of the Finance Minister. Until he obtained that authority, he never opened his lips, nor had the department any communica- tion with the British American Bank Note Company. After he had committed himself thoroughly to the American company, after this correspondence aiid after the hon. gen- tleman had I'eceived the power, then he wrote a letter to the British American Bank Company returning the $5,000 deposit and stating, we have had a better offer and we 'i 10 return your deposit. I say what sbould have been done by the hon. gentleman, as hon. gentlemen opposite are anxious that Canadian labour, enterprise and slilll shall be assisted in this country, was when the essential conditions of the specifications were ignored by the American Company, to have asljed the British American Bimk Note Company and the Barber-Ellis Com- pany whether they had any propositions to make. The hon. gentleman did not do it. He simj)ly cavalierly ignored the establish- ment which has done wovlc since 1868 to the satisfaction of the Dominion, and he never opened communication with that company until he had received and accept- ed an irregular tender and had committed himself to the American Company. When that occurred Mr. Burland, as president of the British Bank Note Company, wrote to the Minister and asked for an interview, at the ~ame time asking whether a plan he was ^n'epared to submit could not be ad- mitted ; and stating that rather than the work should go out of Canada, he would be prepared to do it in his own establish- ment at the same rates as those offered by the American Bank Note Company. This was on 15th January, and at that time there was no Order iu Council passed, and there was no contract entered into, tlierc was no purcliase l)y the new company, there was nothing to prevent tlie Finance Min- ister at that period of the negotiations ac- cepting the offer of the British American Bank Note Company at the reduced rates, thus allowing the work to be done here in Canada. My hon. friend the Finance Min- ister will ar^jfue : I could not lionoiu-ably do that. Wiiy not ? If tlie Barber-Elli.« tender was ruled out for informality, mucli more should he iiave ruled out the American Eanit Note Company's tender for inform- ality. The only formal temper was tluit of tlie British Amc'cau Bank Note Company. Tlie hon. gentleman ignoi-od that, and en- tered into communications with the otiier company. The contract was not autliorized to be executed by Council until April 5th, and the contract was not indentured until March 0th. whilst on .lanuary 15th Mr. Burland's offer on behalf of tlie Brit- ish American Bank Note Company, was before the Mini.ster, offering to do tlie work at the same rate as tliose offered l>y the American Bank Note Com- pany. There is another phase of tlie ques- tion. WJiat is that ? Wli.at Mas mentioned by the Deputy Minister of Finance. It is true th.at on the fact of it tlie tender for the woiiv was .$128,000 by the British Am- erican Bank Note Company, and $99,900 odd by the American Bank Note Company, but that does not take into account tlie chai'ge for engraving. What is meant bv that ? Simply this. If the British Ameri- can Bank Note Company's tender had been accepted, every die whicli was necessary for the printing of the bank notes of the re- venue stamps and postage stamps, having been made and stoi'ed, and being to-day lin store in that establishment, would not have cost the Government a single cent. When the old company is thrown aside and the new company comes in, the latter has to recoup itself for the engraving of every bank note and revenue and postage stamp, and so they have to be paid at high rates for engraving the dies and making plates. What does that amount to ? It reaches a large sum. Let me point out this fact. The Americau Bank Note Company has obtain- ed this contract on the ground of paying a less amount for workmanship. Let us see how the figures stand. Here is a statement showing the difference in cost of engraving between the American Company and British American Bank Note Company : American Brit. Am. Prices. Prices. U Notes- Face plate $ 250 00 Back 125 00 Retouching, one-half price 187 50 Tint plates for patent greou 687 50 300 00 100 00 200 00 412 50 $1,250 00 $1,012 50 Difference in cost of engraving 9 sets of plates, per annum, $2,137.50. Difference in cost of engraving five and one- quarter years' supply, $11,221.38. The MINISTER OF FINANCE. Take the engraving and printing together. Mr. FOSTER. I am dealing with the mat- ter iu Tiiy own way, and I leave it to the I House to say whether I am treating it fair- ' ly or not. What does tlie hon. Minister of I Finance consider unfair ? I The MINISTER OF FINANCE. I do not 1 complain ; but the hon. gentleman is talcing ' one part of the work, which h.appens to be at low prices and makes a comparison Avith higher prices for that particular class of ' work. He should take all branches of the work togetlier, and give the House the total i sum. That is what we have to deal with. Mr. FOSTER. Does the hon. gentleman : object to my taking a different course ? I The MINISTER OF FINANCE. The hon. i gentleman does not take the total. I Mr. FOSTER. I ask my hon. friend if he j will allow his hon. friend to finish ?iis f^tate- I ment. I propose to do this in my own way, : for the sake of conciseness. I am only ' afraid I will not be able to bring out every- '< thing. The MINISTER OF FINANCE, afraid you will not. I am Mr. FOSTER. Then as regards $2 and $4 notes, the following are the figures — 11 five and one- on. gentleman at course ? A.NOB. I aia American Brit. Am. Prices. Prices. $2 and $4 Notes- Face plate $ 250 00 $ 300 00 Back plate 125 00 75 00 B. Back, or seal 125 00 75 00 Retouching, half price 250 00 225 00 Tint plates for patent green 687 50 412 50 $1,437 50 n,087 50 Difference In cost of engraving 3 sets plates, per annum, $1,050. Difference in cost of engraving five and one- Quarter years' supply, $5,512.50. American Brit. Am. Prices. Prices. Large Notes (2 notes to plate) — Face plate $ 250 00 $150 00 Back plate 125 00 55 00 Retouching, half price 187 50 102 50 Tint plates for patent green 687 50 220 00 $1,250 00 $527 50 Difference in cost of engraving 1 set plates, $722.50. .American Brit. Am. Prices. Prices. Single Notes (1 note to plate) — Face plate $ 250 00 $ 80 00 Back plate 125 00 40 00 Retouching, half price 187 50 60 00 Tint plates for patent green 687 50 110 00 $1,250 00 $290 00 Difference in cost of engraving 1 set plates, $960. Total difference of engraving for five and one- quarter years, $18,416.88. Now. if you come to the Inland Revenue stamps, you will find tbat the same differ- ence exists, only accentuated, because llie prices of the American company for en- graving are still higher in comparison. Lot me give the difference in favour of the Cana- dian company for the five and one-quarter years' supplies of Inland Eeve.iue stamps, in the matter of engraving alone. The sav- ing is, as compared with the American com- pany, $.5,397.97, so that there is altogether about $24,000, in which, on the matter of tlie engraving alone, he tender of the British American Company is lower than the tender of the American company. Now, the point I wish to make, and the reason I take these separately, is this : I make a distinction between the skilled work and the mechani- cal work. I say that the skilled worlc is the heart and soul of this business, and on the skilled work or engraving, the Britisli American company is $24,000 less for the five and one-quarter years' term of the con- ti'act. than the American company. What did the Deputy Minister say In his report ? He intimated that they got this contract by making a cut i*ate on the mechanical work. Now, you take the printing, and there is where the American company got in their work. They are lower on the printing, on the simple mechanical work, and lower by a great deal ; but there are some things to be considered in that as well. There are the qualities, and the costs of paper to be con- sidered, and whether the American com-' pany will give and can be got to give the same quality and price of paper, that the Canadian company has given, upon which it tendered. There is this other considera- tion : The bank note printing of this coun- try has always been done by hand. The banli note printing In Washington was done by hand, but machine work was afterwards substituted, and the machine work was all sent out, and it is now again done by band work. Every man knows that hand work is much more costly than machine work. Are they going to do then* bank note print- ing by machine or by hand ? The British American Company tendered on the ground of doing it by hand work, as they had al- ways done it, and the least that could have been done in the course of these negotia- tions, when the formal tenders were be- fore the Minister would be, to take both in- to his confidence and find out in refei-ence to those matters, and whether the cost would be reduced by the British Am- erican Company, in the line of printing, and of cost of paper and the ]'ke of that. What does my hon. friend (Mr. Fielding) find fault with ? I read the totals for en- graving and printing, and showed that the American company was cheaper by 20 per cent. But, I have made this point, and it Is a point which sliould have been made; That on the life and soul and essence of the work, the engraving, the Canadian company, made up of Canadian citizens, Canadian stockholders and Canadian workmen, ten- dered .$24,000 lower for the five and one- quarter years than did the American com- pany. Now, Sir, I do not intend to go vary much further with reference to this. My view has been to make a statement, what I think is a fair and adequate statement— maybe not adequate — but a fair and honest statement of tlie facts as they are here. Let them be t faced. If this Parliament is willing to I hand over this work to an alien corporation I which has no entity in this country, and which has to get an entity by forcing a Bill through this Parliament in order to give it the same rights as it has in the city of New York, a company in which there is not a single Canadian, in which the capital is alien j and tlie labour alien, if this Parliament is ' willing to face that condition of things and j to close up one of our Canadian Industries, j which has done tlie work to the satlsfac- i tion of the department, and the coimtry, let j them face the whole facts of the case, and j let them vote upon it with the facts before them. To my mind, Sir, certain things are patent in this whole matter. The Minister of Finance, from the very beginning ignor- ed the Canadian company. He treated them with scant courtesy. He did not deign to visit the establishment and make himself acquainted with the technique of the work, which would have been of great advanl- ■W^pfps*"" 12 age to him. He handed down his specifica- tions, and proclaimed in London and in Toronto and in Ottawa that the conditions could not be departed from, and that the worl£ had to be done in Ottawa. He re- ceived only one formal and complete tender ; that of the British American Company. He received two informal ten- ders, one without the deposit of $50,- 000, the other with a rider that all engrav- ing that should have been done in Ottawa be cut out and sent to New Yorli. He Ignored the formal and perfect tender and he did not even communicate with that tenderer, but undertooli to communicate with the American and alien company to the end, that he gives way to every one of their contentions and is to-day, or will be, the possessor of an establishment in this city where the simple mechanical work, and that only, is done ; and the heart and soul and essence of the business is to be done in the city of New York and by an alien corporation. Well, Sir, why should we Ignore a Canadian Industry ? Will any man take the history of that work in Canada, where art was small in the beginning, where skill gave place to brawn and naked strength, and where all this nicety and ; beauty of detail and of conception had to be | a gradual process, a fruition worked out ( through the hard struggles and stages of successive years. Will the hon. gentleman ; remember that the Canadian Government has, to a certain extent, fostered that talent and brought it out until it has made an acci'etion of it which has done honour to Canada. Our present Finance Minister has the doubtful honour of entirely passing by. Ignoring, setting back all of that, leaving it houseless and homeless, so far as the pat- ronage of the Goverament is concerned, and of transferring it all to a large and alien corporation. It is a distinction which I do not c"vet ; it is a distinction which I think my hon. friend (Mr. Fielding) should not covet. And for what i*eason ? There is no rea- son that he dare to give this House but one ; that is, that he declares he has got it done a litt'e cheaper. But how much cheaper ? Wb^n Ivd takes into consideration the mat- ter of engraving, he has got to meet ^ the .vhole bill for the engraving of every die thu/!- i«( r(»r:essary for tht- making of all the ^-cry. . > ,; .si-nips and which he would nrt ,■■1) .■: o me' "^ if the old company had' u ;'. (?lv»ri tJi? contract. And if it comes! to ^ r-i, '-hat -s the saving, anyway ? There Is a;-' .vctnal ior-s to: the company which has, v.i. to i"? r. '''ut, been doing the work, ; offered, on the 15th day of January, to do | It at the same price as the American com- j pany, and the Minister of Finance would i have escaped all the extra cost of engrav- i ing, because these dies are In the possession I of the present contractor. Dies never wear ' out when they are made. When your effl- j clent skilful man put in his two months of ' labour, and the portrait or vignette is fin- i ished, that is hardened and remains there for ever. All that you have to do is to , transfer it at any time to a new roll, and I make from that a new plate, and you have I everything. These are two simple me- I chanical processes. All of that accretion of I skill Is contained there in that building which i we forced them to come to Ottawa to build, ' and to put their brains and money in, i and he has only tihe petty excuse that his hon- ' our would not allow him, after he had com- i mitted himself to the other company, to ; accept the Burland Company's offer, and I give the work at the same rate to the Cana- ; dian company. I think that Is worthy of { note ; and If the hon. gentleman attempts i to argue that the engraving was not the ' essential feature of the whole work, he will have a hard row to hoe. That is undoubt- I edly tie essence of the whole thing, and It i was that which the present contractors had : to cope with, and for which they had to i incur heavy expense in a small field, bring j their men to a high condition of skill, and i keep them employed, though for months of the year they were paid when there was not work to be done. They were kept there, and were a source of expense to the establlsh- : ment, and added to the cost of the work I in the establishment ; yet even with all j that, the company would have done the work in the end just as cheaply as the American company, and this would have saved money to the country. My hon. friend took the stamped envelopes out, and actually increased the expense of the Government In so doing. Did he do that for the sake of economy ? Was he in for saving ? If so, I could have given him a suggestion as to how 'he could have saved probably $100,- 000, and saved it easily. He could have had the Queen's Printer print ar. the postal cards for the use of this Dominion. That is a simple process mechaaically. All you have to do is to have one or two little dies engraved, Which are very simple and very easy to he made. Once the engraving Is done at a cost of probably not more than $100, and the plate is fixed, the work re- solves itself into the purchase of paper, and the mechanical work of passing it through the press, cutting and trimming It, and .sending the cards to the Post Office De- partment. The POSTMASTER GENERAL. Did you do It ? Mr. FOSTER. These gentlemen seem not to ihave one positive quality. When you point out one single thing to them, their only defence is, " Why didn't you do it ?" The Minister of Finance was going on this, his only plea, that he wanted to save. You have a printing establishment and a staff of men ; you have the capital and main- tenance already provided for ; and In order to print the postal cards, all you would have to do would be to pay a hundred dollars or two for the engraving and get one or two inexpensive machines. 13 AL. Did you The POSTMASTER GENERAL. Why did you not do It ? Mr. FOSTER. If my hon. friend has not any positive quality In himself, if he -will always shirk behind what he thinks to be somebody else's failing, he. will never go to heaven. The POSTMASTER GENERAL. Then ^hy did you not do it ? Mr. FOSTER. It is not with that nega tive sort of virtue that people ever do any thing or ever come to anything in this coun try. The POSTMASTER GENERAL. If it was such a good thing for us to do, why did you not do It ? Mr. FOSTER. Why do you not follow us in everything else ? Why make any changes ? Just as the hon. gentleman will take one part of the census which shows that the population has decreased, and will hold that to be as true as the New Testament and will take another part which shows that the industries of the country have increased and will hold that that is as false as any thing his Satanic majesty can invent ; so when he does one little thing that is posi tive, he boasts that he is doing better than we did, while when he is brought up with something he did not do, his only answer is : " You did not do that either." Now, what my hon, friend has done has been to destroy a native industry and introduce an alien company into this country. On the simple ground of saving, I ask him why he did not print the postal cards also ? The POSTMASTER GENERAL (Mr. Mu- lock). Will the hen. gentleman allow me to put a question to him ? He has stated that at a trifling expense of about $100, the necessary plates could be obtained for printing these postal cards, and that as we have all the mac'hlnery and appliances and staff of the Queen's Printer, the whole of that work could be very well done In our own printing department. The hon. gen- tleman was Finance Minister and had the giving out of this very work for a great many years ; and to test his sincerity, if that is the proper place in which to do that work, I would like him to say why ihe did not have the postal cards printed in the way he says it should be done. Mr. FOSTER. If my hon. friend will give me time, I will answer all that. It is the privilege of some people to answer a question by asking another, and I will [PUt a question to my hon. friend. Mine was a negative fault ; I did not do a cer- tain thing. My hon. friend, when in Op- ; position, was very positive on one thing ; he was positive that the GJovernor General's salary ought to be reduced. Why, may I ask my hon, friend, now that he has posses- sion of the power and Is autocratic, does he not caiTy out his positive assertion of a few years ago ? Now, I will proceed to number two. In the first place, my hon. friend does not seem to be able to state fairly a position which I took two mo- ments before. I did not state that the Queen's Printer's department had all the mat'hinery that was necessary ; I did not state that at an expense of $100 the printing could be gone on with. I said that the die w,1ures his allegiance, tlie hon. gentleman is so far imbued with that very Christian spirit that he turns both cheeks to be smited and brings an alien corporation to this country to take the em- ployment from our own people and take the bread out of our children's mouths. I think that this year, more than all others, It Jili M ^^y-nn^Se rgW side ««, ^i'^^ro^r own ?jrcommon slnse by | ^^fve to give. ?eopfe the employment ^^ ^^^ ««"'" Shas Sened to the e eai, s^^^^^^^, r/ a;^^ fe^--n 'lea KaS ?„"St and ttat my l^o^ ,^,^^ «,„M mtvip came, to uctyc mnch tor iu*= ?o open competition. So ^7^te^ by the r.ha?Ee again and again xeiter ^^^^ent hon gentleman, that the late ^^^^ ^^y to treated this contract as a Company wSch the Burland Bant '^^tleman says ^as entitled. The hon g ^^^ extended thts Government gave ^'".^ go to Eng- Sices. He asus -^^[.f ^^^^^fed Wej I fe^tiarfuw^j-^^^^^ hon. gentleman had Cerlcan company m give the work to an ^v ^^^ j^^^^ ne the city of New ^P^"^' ^ povering such a Ponld possibly devise, of cover J^,. .^ ^^^ S gn ^vas to make the pieten.^^.^^^.^g 2e rlgavded as nothing else^^.^ Snders"'caUenor l^.^^^^as^ asked Sow? that tl- t^^ThU sp'eciflcations T^ZZXj^ ^^^^^ tS s?s^ only answer l^e could give- ^^^^ ^ ^^^ce Jem of inviting tenders is to ^^^^^^^^^ and _,vas that there could be n ^^ ^^^^ tZt everyone ^Jj^.^^^^f '^^e speciflcat ous to the exact terms o^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^„t did That was a propei y" +rw It ? I main- the hon. gentleman adhere to H ^^^ . *v.ot hp had no tenaei »^'."'",, xtq one tain that he naa „y at all._^^^^o \ 1 1 1 1 t t t t( il h o It P h ic ol oi c! la ^•"f thflt he had no tender iroi" ^"-j^" S„° Siu^'oJe Co-pan^a^^^^^^^^^ ,^ who knows anything of the^n^^ ^^^^^ ^^ enders -an Pretend for ajn\ ^ ^^^te hon gentleman had an honest ^^^^ ^,^^. SAe^r f.^m the Ame^^^tS tender wa. Sracco^& to «Pf,^-;rhe^gtve%he Sad given V^^^l^JfX wished to tender^ T?Ti,THsh contractois wuu . , made in namely, that no diange could be the specification, that t was ^.^^^^ ^^^^ m-ltense to put for^va^d ^Peci ^^^^^^ ?ien allow anyone to semi^ in ^ ^^^^^^ that tirely at variance with tnem ^^.^ ^^^ t enier, we YOudYt,7 American Bank Note this contract with ^J^,i^ legitimate tender Company. Th« ,^Seman had in his pos- which the IV^^-.^^^Mr Burland, represent- Tession was that of Mr. Bin ^^^^ ^ Ing the British American i> ^^^ ^^. oany. m every particulai, as ^^ ^^^ Teman himself admits t^iete exactly to specifications were compUeQ,^^^^ ^^ ^^ the letter by Mr. Bml^jJ^i' ^^xyy the Ameri- contrary, t^,? *f grmplny was^ne he was can Bank Note '-'^f^l;'; viecause it contaln- Snd to reject ent.rely^ Slantial change ed a most material and su ^^^^^^^ ^^ ^e- bv stipulating that tlie ^';'''cifl cations re- ufg done in Ottawa, as the sP^c ^^^ nuired, should be done in New ^^^ .^ would not undertake to do tne ^^^ S?tawa, l>«t i^f'\*l;?hat the hon. gentle- York. Therefoi^e,IsayTna ^.^^^^^^t the man stands l^ere ^o nign ^^^^ ^ ^hadow of foundation tor tne cia ^^ fcceptld the lowest ffe^^er to [[^fept. The fact, he had no lowest tenue ^^^ ^^^ hc^: gentleman was imab^e to ^ variation to suit t^ .^^^^ Bank Note ers, but to ^*^^f,.g^e latitude to vary company he ,eo"^^ J^^^conditions, accord- the specifications ana t^^ ^^ ^.^Us ^g to their o-^J P^^X'was not the ten- *^^^^' XI Barber Eiur company considered der of the Baroer r^i gentleman ? i as a tender by the hon g^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^ agree that it ^^s not a ^^ ^^^^ ^p^^jfl did not coinply with the tei ^^^^^^ ^^ j^ cations, wli^^^^\^i?" Government as security be put up with the ^oveiu ^^^y ?ov^he earxTlng otit of the w^ ^^^^^^ did not put "Pf^'^^^'^^'JIntleman personal to give to the l^^f- ^^em satisfaction, secifrlty, to his own complete ^ one-than the tender ^lehaa ^^^p^^y, , from the A^'^'^^wh? f ace of that tender, i WHO told ^i^^' «" t nrepSed to accept h s t^^* l^%ir I deny Urnt he gave this; Siacf to the lowfst'tenderer, simply be- 15 •1 maln- le Amerl- No one ter of the I that the legitimate stole Com- .urter wat» and If be gave the to tender, e made In t dishonest •atlons and tender en- accept that more about Bank Note late tender in his pos- d, represent- : Note Com- be hon. gen- :^rms of the th exactly to ;ereas, on the V the Amerl- , one he was ise It contaln- antlal change Instead of he- ^clflcatlons re- ;^ York. They ■tiie work m ng it m New he hon. gentle- without the ; claim that he As a matter of to accept. The to make any bgllsh tender- n Bank Note titude to vaij ditlons, accord- Yet he calls yas not the ten- pany considered gentleman i t nder because It ms of his specifl- tt $50,000 should 'ment as security rhe work, in^^ but they offered itleman personal | nlete satisfaction. Sft'o the $50,000 invest m the city arry out the con- n knows that that aearly to a legiti" admlt It was not bad m his hands dt Note Company, ice of that tender, .ared to accept hsj that he gave this- enderer, simply be- cause he had no lowest tenderer. But that ts not all. The hou. gentleman wants to know why the Government should have sent for Mr. Burland. I will tell him why. In- stead of such a course being a scandal, as lie has described It, let me tell him that the records of his own department, the records of every department In the public service, under all governments, will prove that again and again the various departments of tlie Govei'nment have done precisely what the lion, gentleman would have done if he liad sent for Mr. Burland and discussed this matter with him. Why did he not do so ? The lion, gentleman had no other tender. Burland's was the only legitimate one, the only one in conformity with the specifica- tions. Why. then, did he not send for Mr. Burland and saj, we cannot accept your tender unless you make a large redaction. Tliat lias been done scores of times by the Government of the day, by the Liberal Government when it was in power just as well as by Conservative Governments, gain and again, when tenders were higher nd there were objections to lower tender- rs. the highest tenderer has leen sent foi% nd the question put to him : Will you ndertalve to do this work for such a sura ? nd again and again it has been complied ith, and the contracts have been entered Into on conditions of that kind. Where, ir, would be the scandal ? He asks why le should send for Mr. Burland. I will tell ira— not only because Mr. Burland was the west tenderer (for he was the only ten- [erer) but because he was a man of the high- t character and standing and because he d for thirty-five years performed this ser- ce for the Government, first of old Canada d then of the Dominion in a manner liich the hon. gentleman himself admits ire to-niglit was in every way admirable, d gave the utmost satisfaction to the de- rtment. Was that not a reason, particu- ly when Mr. Burland was a representa- e of llie British American Bank Note mpany which had invested about half a lion dollars in this enterprise, which Ita? would be swept away by the action the hon. gentleman. These are reasons y he should have given Mr. Burland an ortunity of si'ving the capital whicli the gentleman, by a stroke of the pen, by unfair and unjust strolie of the pen, was ing to sweep away. Such an act strikes tlie very foundation of the system of (H" and contract. He says it was too when Mr. Burland made the offer which did make, that he would perform this k on the terms that the Government was ared to give to the American Bank Company. Does the hon. gentleman what Mr. Burland alleges— that again again Mr. Burland sought an inter- with the hon, gentleman and was re- ! desire to answer It. I have no recollection of Mr. Burland having been refused an in- j terview with me. I Sir CHARLES TUPPER. I can only say I that my information is that he again and ; again begged an interview, and that he j begged the hou. gentleman to go and see his \ establishment. But not only that, but I tliinlc he went from colleague to colleague ; of the hon. gentleman and met with a great : deal of sympathy and many expressions of { regret for the position in which he was. The MINISTER OF FINANCE. Will the hon. gentleman allow me ? Mr. Burland came to me ; I had an interview with him. He saw nearly all my colleagues. What I deny is that Mr. Burland was I'efused an interview with me. Sir CHARLES TUPPER. What I have stated is on the authority of Mr. Burland, and everything goes to prove the accuracy of ills statement. And. having a capital of half a million dollars which was going to be sunk and destroyed by the injustice the hon. gentleman was attempting to perpe- trate, why did he not give Mr. Burland an opportunity ■ Tlie MINISTER OF FINANCE. I am sure the hon. gentleman must have misun- derstood Mr. Burland. I did see Mr. Bur- land and discussed the matter with him. I did not I'efuse to have intei-views with him. Sir CHARLES TUPPER. I can only say — • MINISTER OF FINANCE. The [gentleman asks me a question, and I Mr. SPEAKER. Of course the hon. gen- tleman (Sir Charles Tupper) will accept Sir CHARLES TUPPER. Of course I accept the hon. gentleman's statement at once, and 'have no doubt that that is the Im- pression that rests upon his mind. But !I think he will find that Mr. Burland was not afforded the opportunities he desired. We have his own declaration of his inability to obtain the consideration of this question at the hands of the hon. Minister of Finance. Now, why was that ? Why is it that a Canadian, a man of such high standing and a man who for so long had been a public contractor, and had given complete satisfac- tion, was not deemed worthy of the con- sideration of the hon. Minister of Finance ? When that hon. gentleman found himself In a position where he miglit not only correct- ly and properly but where It was made his duty to give consideration to this man, why should he turn his back upon him and re- fuse consideration, while he could hie him- self away to New York and put himself in personal communication with these Ameri- can capitalists for whom he appears to have entertained such affection. Sir, nobody de- nies that people from the United States,'com- ing into our country are allowed to compete for public work. But, if ever there was a time in the history of Canada when we should not treat that country with undue favour ■^W^wmp 16 It Is at the present moment when the humb- lest workman In Canada Is prevented from crossiup the boundary to do a day's work In the United States. Is this a time when a prominent man in our country, a con- tractor who has done his work faithfully, should be treated with injustice and a mem- ber of our Government should cross our Lorder and seek in the United States, parties, not to receive the tender by open, fair, pub- lic competition, but to be treated with a consideration that has invariably l)oen de- nied to any Canadian contractor. Whenever any Canadian contractor, I care not In what part of Cnnndn he is, sends in a tender that does not comply with the speciflcations, it Is the invariable practice to treat that ten- der as waste paper. You may use it to say to another contractor, will you do the woi-k on the same terms as this tenderer offers to do it on ? That is the only legitimate way in which such an offer could be used. Why, Sir, the Order in Council that was passed is of a most extraordinary character. Here are tenders invited by the Minister of Fi- nance for a most important and delicate public work. And what happened ? Why, instead of the hon. gentleman being able to go down to his colleagues, the members of the Government of Canada and say : Here is the lowest tender, am I authorized to ac- cept it ? He could not say that, because It was not true. What he did get was con- tained in this sentence : The Minister, therefore, recommends, in view of such saving, that he be authorized to accept the tender of the Amerian Dank Note Company, provided that the details of the contract can be arranged with the company to his satisfaction. Not, provided that the specifications that were offered alike for the consideration of the Burland Company and the English tenderers and everybody else were complied with, but that he alight have permission to go and negotiate a new contract that was not provided for in the specifications. The hon. gentleman ta'ks of the employment that has been given to the citizens of Ottawa in the erection of this new building. Does he plume himself upon that when he sees the capital destroyed in the building that has been erected by the citizens of Ot- tawa, standing alongside of it, half a mil- lion of money sunk by a Canadian contractor in faithfully discharging his duty to the Government ? Why, Sir, on these very dies, the hon. gentleman knows that Mr. Burland was in a position, if he had treated Mr. Bur- land with that justice to which every man in his position is entitled, to have saved to the Government of Canada a very large sum of money. Mr. Burland found that he was in a position where his property was likely to be destroyed, and he concluded to per- form those services not only upon the same terms that are contained in the Ameri- can Bank Note Company's tender, but to comply to the letter with, the specifications. and to save to the Government of Canada all this money that is to be paid for the manufacture of those dies and plates and other things that are now permitted to be manufactured in the city of New Yor*. I do not believe that such a thing would be entertained by any Government anywhere, as to go to a foreign country to get work of that kind executed, when one of the citi- zens of their own country was ;'ble, and had shown himself qualified, to perform t'hat work in a most eflScient manner. I do not believe you can find any other Govern- ment that would go into a foreign country and entrust to foreigners their dies and plates. I do not mean to say that the work could not be so guarded as to pro- tect the country from loss, but I say it opens a field for fraud upon Canada that will be appreciated by any person who knows the character of such work, and the means and I the opportunities that will be opened for the I contractor to be imposed upon by his own ; employees, with the result of setting on foot a fraudulent currency in Canada. Now, the hon. gentleman talks a'lout stamped en- velopes. Why, Sir, it strikes one as a most extraordinary thing after reading those papers. Where did the hon. gentleman get this hint about stamped envelopes ? Why was it that the suggestion came fx'om him ? It is a curious thing that the hon. gentleman should go out of his way to suggest an alteration in the contract which was going to take $5,000 or $(5,000 of public money out of the trea- sury of Canada, which would be required to obtain plant for the Queen's Printer to do that very work. The hon. gentleman has Riven us no explanation of that. Why is it that the suggestion coming from the hon. gentleman to his A.merlcan friend, to this foreign contractor, was so quickly seized upon if that work was to be a profit to him ? Why, Sir, it was known at once, and the eagerness with which this American contractor closed upon the Finance Minis- ter's proposition to eliminate that part of the work, shows that importance was attach- ed by the contractor to having tlfat feature of his contract eliminated. Now, Sir, I am astoundetl wfheoi the horn gentleman tells this House that the Deputy Minister approved of this transaction. Why, there j is no man who can read English but will j say that the Deputy Minister, a man of great ability, a man of great experience, as every member of this House knows, a man understanding this subject Infinitely better than it was possible for the Finance Minister to understand it— I say it is im- possible to read Mr. Courtney's letter with- out finding in it the most e>nphatie condem- nation of the course pursue 7)y the Minister of Finance that it is possi Jle to put Intu the English language, especially when we look at the relative position of the Deputy Minister of Finance and his chief, of the 1 ';ter that Mr. Courtney addressed to the s ^ssm^mutL L.- 17 T head of the department Why, In every line of that he points out the* danger, he points out the suspicious character of this tender, he does everything that a man can do to show that he disapproved profoundly of the change that was about to be made. 1 say that a graver act of injustice, not only to the British American Bank Note Company, but to the Canadian people. In my judgment, the hon. gentleman could not have perpe- trated in connection with the mode, the Illegal mode. In which he has dealt with this subject of tender and of contract, than is disclosed by the statements which have been placed before the House and by those papers which he himself has laid on the Table. I say that If the hon. gentleman had wished to destroy the whole system of tender and of contract, to destroy its sacred- ness, to prevent its being regarded as a safety to the people ; If the hon. gentleman had wished to sweep away all the safe- guards that surround that most important question of tender and of contract, he could not have adopted any means more thorough than those he has adopted in the treat- ment of this question. The hon. gentle- man, instead of having accepted the low- est tender, had no lowest tender. If Mr. Burland could have obtained access to him, I say an offer would have been made long before in order to save his property from destiniction and confiscation at the hands of the hon. gentleman, and to protect himself from the injustice which was about to be done him, and by this offer he would not only have saved a large amount of public money, but he would have preserved invio- llate that system of tender ajid of contract [which, for a country like Canada, with its 'enormous public works and its enormous [transactions, is of the most vital import- lance to the people of Canada. Mr. CRAIG. I do not flatter myself that 1 1 can say anything new on this question, [as the ground has been covered so fully |by the previous speakers, especially by the BX-Minister of Finance. But there are one >r two points to which I wish to direct the ittention of the House, and which seem to me of some little importance. I shall Inot go over the facts stated by the ex- iMiaister of Finance about the contract held BO long by the British American Bank lote Company, and executed by them to the satisfaction of the Government, and I |hink to the satisfaction of the country. I Ind that previous to 1886 the work was lone in the city of Montreal, but In that rear a new contract -was entered Into, the |rovisions of which compelled the contractor have the Work done in Ottawa. Of neces- Ity he had to "-rect (here a building and |ring machinerj aere, necessitating a large lenditure on Ma part. That Is a point rhich I think we should bear In mind. The British American Bank Note Com- pany bad to go to a considerable expense In 2 1886, not so very long ago, in erecting thia I fine building In the city of Ottawa. We are I told that there is a capital of S400,000 Invest- I ed in that business. I want to say that pro- I vision was made that all the work pertain- i ing to that contract had to be done In the I city of Ottawa ; there was no exception, none of the work was allowed to be done in the city of Montreal at all. Previous j to that the work had been done there, but ; now the contractor Las to do all the work { in the city of Ottawa. Now, this con- tractor. In order to do all this/ work in the I city of Ottawa, had not only to erect a I substantial building costing a large amount I of money, had not only to purchase and put into that building fine machinery, but [ he had to get skilled workmen, he had to 1 bring them to the city of Ottawa, and no I doubt at great expense. He had not only I to bring them here, but he had to train other ■ men in this city to take their places and I to do part of this work. Well, this con- tract lasted for five years, and in 1892 an- other contract was entered into. We find j that this second contract was taken at a i considerable reduction in price compared I with the previous contract, that additional security was given for safety, and for taking J care of and guarding the work that was i done, for the safety of the plates, &c., and ; this contract was In force until April 23ra, j 1897. I We are told that in April. 1896, the British I American Bank Note Company applied to j the late Government, and said they wished to add some more machinery and make im- provements In their building, and before doing so they waated to ascertain whether they would obtain a renewal of the contract for a further term, of five years after the contract bod expired. I was a little sur- pi-ised at the Fin.ince Minister speaking of this company as he did, and talking about them as if they thought they had a mono- poly of this contract, and as if under the old Government they had such a monopoly. What do we find ? Instead of the old Gov- ernment entertaining that proposition for a renewal of the contract, they declared, after considering the matter, that they were not prepared to consider any renewal of the contract until its expiration in April, 1897. So the late Government is not open to the charge of favouring the British American Company. If they were open to such a charge and desired to favour that company, that was the time to have done it ; but they absolutely refused to do so and allowed the contract to run to its expiration, and at that time the Government had changed. The Finance Minister gave six months' notice to the British American Company, which was necessary under the contract, and called for tenders. Particular attention should be given to the terms of the new tenders. It is all very well to argue that words do not mean what they apparently express ; but In looking over the conditions of the tenders ^HWM 18 I'll ■ -i It is diBtlnctly stated that all the work must be done lu Ottawa, and no exception what- ever l8 made. I think even a lawyer, and memlHjrH of that profession can twist the raeauiiiK of words pretty well, would hold the opinion that word " all " means all, tiiat It means every particle of the work shall be done lu Ottawa. There was good reason for lusertlug such a condllion. It was that the Government wished to retain constant BUpervlslou over tlie work, that the (iovern- meut should jit any time send au oltlcer to Inspect the work, and they should safeguard the country from any possible loss through carelessness. This point should be fully considered lu this discussion, and I repeat this as l)elug the most important point in '■ the contract, that the work was to be done j in the city of Ottawa. Circulars were sent - to the Canadian agent in Loudon enclosing forms of tender, and these wore sent to a j great many English Arms. Those tlrms re- ! fused to consider the matter at all. Why V j Doubtless because all the work had to be done in Ottawa. That stipulation ruled ' them out, and they said, we cannot com- j pete with that condition in the contract, j But if those tlrms had known that a great ■ part of the work could have been done in j England, the making of the dies and the j engraving work could been executed there by skilled workmen, they might have put In tenders for the work. They said, we do not tender because there is the stipulation that all the work has to be done at OttaAva. When they ask If that was coustdered an important condition, the reply they received was that no deviation could be made lu that respect, and that all the work must be done In Ottawa, It appears that only two ten- ders were received. The hou. member for York (Mr. Foster) said *that only one w^as received ; but I will admit, for the purpose of my argument, that the tender of the American Note Company was a proper one, I ask, and I wish the careful attention of the House to this point, why were only two tenders received ? Why was only one ten- der received from the United States ? It was because there is only one company there possessing the necessary facilities for doing the work. How did they acquire those facilities ? Because the company gradually acquired capital from doing gov- ernment and other work, purchased plant and l)uilt up a large establishment and se- cured skilled workmen, and now they have facilities which enable them to tender for work of this class. But tliere is only one company in the whole of the United States willing to tender for this work. We find also that only one company in Canada ten- dered for the work. It is said that the Brit- ish American Bank Note Company thought they had a monopoly. It seems that they had practically a monopoly in Canada, be- cause no other company was willing to ten- der. When other companies were asked to tender, they declined to do so. I will read an extract from a letter from a Canadian company, in which they gave as a reason for not tendering not only that they were unwilling to put $50,000 as a cash deposit, but tliey gave other reasons as well. Mr. John 11. Barber, writing on November 4, ISIKI (at page 25 of the blue-book) says : A new contractor would have to provide a suit- able Ore-proof building, a plant coating at least $r>0,000 and put up a deposit of $50,000, all for a business of about $100,000 per annum. This would be all right if we ^ould be assured of a fow years' business at currvjnt prices, but If the Government Is to get fair budlnesa rates for their work, no contractor can afford to comply with the above conditions. That is e, very strong statement, and It beare out the fact, which I sliall sfiow more clearly later on, that the British American Bank Note Company had not been paid more than fair prices for their work. The Barber & Ellis Company knew what the British Ame- rican Company had been receiving, and yet they were afraid to tender. They stated that unless they were guaranteed the con- tract for a few years— evidently more than the Ave years for which the contract would run— there would not be money in it to in- duce them to make the investment. The British Bank Note Company had incurred this expense ; they had erected a building here, put in machinery, trained workmen, and because they had this building, expen- sive plant and large capital invested they were able to make a tender at fair prices. So, as I have said, there were only two ten- ders received, and of thoso the tender of the British American Company was the only tender in strict accordance with the stipu- lated conditioifs. I mention this because the tender of the American Bank Note Com- pany was not in strict accordance with the conditions set out ; they made a special stipulation that they should not be required i to manufacture the dies in Ottawa. I now wish to call attention to the memorandum of the Deputy Finance Minister respecting these tenders. It is a most important docu- ment. Mr. Courtney, in his memorandun', shows the difference in prices. No doubt those differences are large, amounting to I .1!30.000 a year ; and Mr. Courtney points out I some reasons which may account for thisj great difference In prices. What does he| say ? He says : In the first place, the new tenderers — the Ameri- can Bank Note Company— may possibly thlnkl that they would be nble to make up the dlffer-f ence by the increased rates at which they tender) for supplies that are not generally in demand. To my mind that shows, and I shall prove! it very soon, that Mr. Courtney did notl think that the prices given by the Brltlshj American Company were excessive. ButI he pointed out some reason why the prices! in the tender of the American Bank Note] Company were jo small, and his Idea is, that! they thought they would be able to makel 19 I Canadian LS a reason they were xsh deposit, well. Mr. loveniber 4, :) says : irovlde a sult- stlng at least ,000, all for a anum. Thia assured ot a ;ea. but if the rates for their I comply with , and It bears more clearly lerlcan Bank Lid more than he Barber & British Ame- vlng, and yet They stated iteed the con- tly more than ontract would ^y In it to In- stment. The had incurred ted a building ned workmen, ullding, expen- luvested they at fair prices. J only two ten- le tender of the was the only with the stlpu- n this because $ank Note Com- •dance with the nade a special i not be required ! Ottawa. I now le memorandum lister respecting Important docu- [s memorandun'J ices. No douDt ;, amounting to I irtney points out! account for thlsl What does hej iderers— the Amerl- lay possibly think oake up the dlffer- ■ which they tender srally In demand, md I shall prove! Courtney did noti m by the British! ' excessive. But! )n why the pricesl ^rlcan Bank Note! nd his idea is, that! be able to makel some of It up on account of other supplies | that are not generally In demand. Me sujr- gests another reason In these words : Whether the tender of the American Dank Note Company is one that could be carried out success- fully, seeing that they may have tendered at un- romunoratlve prices In order to secure a foothold In the country. I have no doubt that they did tender at low prices In order to secure a foothold in the country, and that was a very natural thing for them to do. They have a large establishment in New York, they are doing a very largo business there, and they have specilied in tlieir tender that they shall make all their dies and their tools in their factory at New York, and that they shall bring to Ottawa a great many of the sup- plies which they are using in their ordi- nary business. I re])eat, that I have no doubt they tendered at a very low ratt? in order to get a foothold in this country, and I am very sorry to say they have sucoeetl- ,ed. NoAV, It is a serious matter for us to [notice, that the important part of this wori< Us to be done at New York. I was very [mvK'li impressed with the remark of the Fi- jnauco Minister when he said, that only 1 [per cent of this work was to be done in [New York and 99 per cent was to be done [in Ottawa with Canadian labour. If that lis the case it is a very strong point, but I Icannot reconcile that with the statement in the memorandum of the Deputy Finance Minister. Listen to what he says : In this connection the undersigned has to call ittentlon to the condition appended to their ten- ler, that they are not to be required to manufac- |ture bank note and other papers, steel rolls, steel Jlates, the dies and other tools of their trade, ^nk, colours, &c., at Ottawa, but may obtain elsewhere such supplies necessary to a faithful lulfilment of their contract. Kothirg could be more plain and emphatic plan that, and If It is a fact as stated by lie Minister of Finance that only 1 per cent If tlie work is to be done at New York, [nd tliat 99 per cent is to be done at Ot- iwa by Canadian labour, then 1 cannot Inderstand the following statement by tlie )eputy Finance Minister :— This would appear to allow them to do a large jrHon of their work at New York, and is a fea- ire of the offer which seems to require very ireful consideration. ^ell, it ought to have our careful consider- tion, and I have no doubt in my mind ^at the Deputy Finance Minister is cor- 2t and that they will be allowed to do a rge portion of thei" work in New York. lat, Sir, is the objectionable part of this itract. Not only is a large portion of the )rk to be done In New York, but it is It very portion which we would like to |ve done in this country, namely, the Jlled labour. An establishment like the Mtish American Bank Note Company ; a inadian institution, was a school for young men who might learn to engrave and perfect themselves in this business. What are our young men going to say when they find that the skilled labour is carried from our coiintry to the United States ; and that the tine work Is to be done in New York and the ordinary work Is to be done In C'nnada. That would seem to Imply that we have not the skilled workmen here, and that we have not the young men wlio will learn this, even in the course of years. It Is now proposed that we should go to the States to get men to do this work, instead of teaching our young Canadians to do it. Another question that arises Is this : Were the British American Bank Note Com- pany charging too much ? That is a point also for our consideration. I shall read from page 39 of the blue-book, a statement whlcli will answer that question complete- ly. Mr. Courtney was unable to account for the low prices at which the American Bank Note Company tendered, and so he suggested reasons for it. It seemed to be a point which Impressed him very much, because he tried to find out reasons why I they tendered so low, and on that subject, I he says : I In connection with the foregoing the under- : signer? begs to point out that at the time the pre- ' stmt contract was entered into, full and explicit 1 inquiries were made as to rates of the American Bank Note Company, and also as to the charges !:!ade by the British American Bank Note Com- ; pany to the chief monetary institutions in Can- , ada ;' and in one case the department was al- : lowed access to the bills rendered for printing notes for the institution in question by the Bri- tish American Company. The result of the in- : quiry proved that the rates charged to the Gov- ; ernment for this class of work wore in no sense larger than for the institution in question, and were not then higher than the rates quoted by the American Bank Note Company. The account rendered to the institution in question is now in , the possession of vnls department. It can hardly be possible that since the present contract was entered into prices for the work have fallen to such an extent as the rates offered by the Amerl- . can Bank Note Company would lead one to be- lieve. It woidd seem from this that in 1892, be- fore the Government entered into the con- tract with the British American Bank Note Company, they wanted to find out whether the prices were fair, and they dis- I covered on inquiry and from seeing actual I invoices, that the prices of the British Am- ! erican Company were not higher than the i prices at that time charged by the American Bank Note Company. That bears out the assertion I made, that the American Com- pany has tendered low in this contract in order to get a foothold in this country. They knew the prices charged previously, and they were determined to come In, and as is done very often by business men, they made a very low oflfer. I venture to say <'or myself, that I regret very much that the Government has seen fit to go out of the country to get this work done. The 20 speech of the Minister of Finance was In great part, not an argument, but a mere statement of facts which nobody denies, and as his great reason for giving this con- tract to the American Company he said, there were 153 thousand reasons. If it is a fact that the prices tendered for and charged previously by the British American Company were fair prices, were not higher in 1892 than the prices charged to our banlis by the American Banli Note Com- pany ; is it not a fair inference that the American Company's tender was a cut-rate and he will not say so If called before the committee. Mr. CRAIG. I did not say that the Deputy Minister suggested there would be no saving. I merely said that no doubt the American Company might be able to mal^e up the difference, which Is just what the Deputy Finance Minister said. I do not iiuow whether they will or not, but it is very liliely they will in the course of five years. They have talten this worli at a low rate, and the Deputy Finance Minister thinljs they may malie up the difference. tender, put in, in order to be sure of getting „ „„^_ fnrtbpr • the contract and with a hope that on some j "*" '"^^'* iuiiu«i . extra worli they might be able to malje up i Seeing there is such a manifest difference be- for these loy prices. I have very little ' tween the two tenderers on this item, the under- doubt, Sir, i^.at they will do it before their signed thinks some inquiries should be made five years term is up. through some expert, and he would suggest that the matter be submitted to the Queen's Printer Mr. McGregor. Would you be in favour j 'P- ^^^^'' to ascertain whether the tender of the of ffivinfr thP British Amprifan Cnmnflnv American Bank Note Company Ira one that could 2?^^ 3.?^ Jirmsn Aineiican L;ompany j,g carried out successfully, seeing they may $153,000 more than the other company ? i jjave tendered at unremunerative prices In order Tir /in A Ti^ T 1 4. J.1- 4. 1 to secure a foothold In the country, Mr. CRAIG. I was going on to say, that ' I had no doubt that in the crau-se of five I mention this to show and I tliinlc it shows years the American Banli Note Company | conclusively that the Deputy Minister, who will have an opportunity of malsing a good i has had a large experience, thought these deal on extra work. j prices were extremely low. He knew the ! prices of the British American Bank Note Mr. TALBOT. That is a supposition. , Company were fair prices, and he thought Mr. CRAIG. Certainly it is a supposition, ' «ie matter should be referred to an expert and it is a supposition not of mine but of like the Queen's Printer to see whether the the Deputy Minister of Finance himself. ■ ^ork could be done at those rates. Now, I He gave that as one of the reasons why the r*^ffi'et that the Government have gone out American tender was so low, and I think ■ o^ ^^^ country to get this work done. In he is perfectly right. doing so I think they have made a mistake. I thouglit so at the time, before I had ex- The MINISTER OF FINANCE. The ! amined the matter at all, and I think Deputy Minister of Finance has expressed so still, I think this business sliould be con- no such opinion, and does not hold such an fined to Canadians. Canada is well able to opinion, but fully recognizes the fact that print its own bank notes, postage stamps there is a saving of $153,000 on the trans- ] and inland revenue stamps. It seems to action. i me it is rather humiliating to say that we Mr. CRAIG. Perhaps I might read for Y^^ ,*" ^° *° "'^ ^.°'**^'^ ^*^*^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^ the benefit of the Finance Minister what i ^^'"erican company to come here and do this I read a little while ago. The Denutv FI- ^°i''^ ^''^' "^V ^^^^^^^ ^'^ ''^^ °ot able to do nance Minister Is writing about the differ- i '* ^^^ ourselves ; and that is especially the ence in the two prices, and In trying to ''*'^*^ Y\^u ^^/'ead the remark made in account for it savs this ' ' ""^ ^^ *^^ letters of the American Bank ' ■ Note Company. What do they say ? They In the first place, the new tenderers, the Ameri- say that we have not skilled workmen in can Bank Note Company, may possibly think that this country capable of doing this work. tL^IrcSsed ra?e,%\°Xnh T ^\^ -Jifference at The ex-Finance Minister was perfectly right XThTa?eno\%eLTa'^^y^?7er^^^^^ ^^ '^l^ ^^y, ^^^^"^"^6 Minister ^ uemana. i gjjould resent such an imputation on the I think that bears out entirely what I say. ! People of this country. The work has been I did not wish to misrepresent the Deputy ! ^^'^^^ ^'^^ ^n tlie past. We have skilled Minister. I workmen In Canada able to do thly work The MINISTER OF fttcwtpf tut^ »,^« \^,^ ^'^" ^^ '* ^^^ ^^ ^^^^ '° New York, and friend said it was not rllnr J^^ftw^ bon, , therefore there was no reason on that ac- Minister said that the previous Government ners to tender for public fd zr^^7aid*^i.ar;? rtt'i^^T^- ' ^^ -= to izTZni '""v^r/a^i ??»„™-„A .«?"^ that^r.-s not fair to the , Minister said that the previous Government I foreigners to tender for public repoii suggesting that certaYnflgures"^;qulr"i a «,\pp.„i t.nH^^^''^^ *?^^ ^""""V' *\".^.*^'^ *' ed exnlnnntlnn hilt ha ZX ^r!t ^*^^Y.^\ la special kind of work, a work wh ch must Deputy Minister of Finance, who had not badTl^wJ^^C J suggested anything of the sort. He made a works " repoii suggesting that certain figures requlr- 1 a snephi .w!^£^.P.^*l??' '^"^ ?« ^'^^..^ot «ay that I be done 21 could not Imagine the Government of the United States giving a contract for the printing of their banlc notes, postage stamps and Inland revenue stamps to a Canadian firm. They would scout and laugh at such an idea. They would say, " Do you mean to say that we have to go to Canada to find a firm to do worlj of this ; kind for the Government of the United , States ?" Any Congressman who proposed ' to do that would hever be elected again. There is no question that would touch the pride of the American people so quicli- ly. If any Congress voted to do such a thing as we are voting to do to-day the men composing it would not have a chance to sit in Congress again. The American peo- ple would thinli it an outrage on their sense of propriety and on their national pride to suggest that they should go to Canada and get Canadian corporations to go into the States to print their banlj notes and post- age stamps with pictures of George Wash- ington and Abraham Lincoln on them ; and I think they are right. I think sometimes that the American people have a little too much braggadocio ; their children are taught in their histories and geographies that the United States is the only country in the world. But I think Canadians have too little of that sort of thing, and the present Government have even less than the people of Canada. I think the people of Canada would rather pay a little more for work of this kind in order to have it done by a Canadian company, which has done it well and at fair prices in the past, than to have it said that we have to go to the United States to get it done. We must always re- member that this work has always been well done ; no complaint had been heard about it, and it had been done by Canadian work- men. I must confess, notwithstanding the statement of the Finance Minister, ' that : in reading over the blue-book it did appear [ to me that he had favoured the American Bank Note Company a little, because I find : that after the tender of the British Ameri- can Bank Note Company had been sent In, that was the end of it so far as they wei'e concerned ; but when the American Com- ; pany wanted to make certain changes In their tender if they accepted the work, the \ Finance Minister was willing to talk to them I about it. He discussed these changes. He did \ not say this condition throws you out and we j must give the contract to your rivals. He; did not tell the British American Bank Note Company anything about this, but discussed; the matter with the American Bank Note; Company just as if it was an ordinary mat- ' ter of bargain and not of tender at all. The i British American Company had complied with every condition of the specification.; They made no stipulations, they did not ask i to be exempted from any conditions, but! these other parties did. The hon. Finance! Minister, however, discussed the matter with , the American Company, wrote them letters, saw them personally, and after a while agreed to accept their conditions, and In this I think he favoured the American Company. I do not say that he did so intentionally, but none the less he did so. 1 am satisfied In my own mind that the Canadian people would rather pay a little more for work of this kind to a Canadian company and have the work done entirely in Canada, than give it to a foreign corporation and go to the United States to have it done. I am very much mistaken in my estimate of the temper of the Canadian people -If that be not their opinion. While the price of the Canadian Company was rather higher, yet we have, at the same time, the evi- dence of the Deputy Minister of Finance that In 1892 these were fair prices. Does the Government want to have things done for less than their worth ? The hon. Finance Minister boasted a great deal of having saved the people $153,000. Well, apparently he has effected a saving, but we are not through with the contract yet. If the hon. gentleman should ask my opinion, I could have told him how he might have saved the Canadian people a great deal of money In other ways. He could, for instance, adniit coal oil free. If he wished to save the Cana- dian people money, there are many other ways in which he could do it without giv- ing important contracts to a foreign cor- poration. There is a principle at stake In this connection, and in my opinion Parlia- ment should lay down the rule that, In matters of this kind, only Canadians should be allowed to tender. That would be an encouragement for Canadians to equip them- selves to do work of this kind. What will be the result of this contract ? It will throw us ijack for years. Our young men will have no encouragement to learn engraving, because the hon. Finance Minister has clos^ the principal field open to them in this country. The hon. gentleman has admitted the statement of the American Bank Note Company that we have no skilled workmen in Canada who could do this work as well as it can be done in New York. For my parr, I dissent from that statement. It Is not a true statement, but the hon. Finance Minister accepts it as if it were gospel. Under this contract there will be no encourage- ment for our young men to practice engrav- ing, because only the ordinary mechanical work will be done in Ottawa, and the skilled Avork, the engi'aving. will be done in New York. I think it would have been better if this Government, before closing the con- tract with anybody, had asked the British American Company to make a reduction In their prices ; and if they had done so, we might now have had the satisfaction of knowing that the work of printing our bank notes and postage stamps and inland re- venue stamps and work of that kind was not being done by an American corporation. #ii; con )bj( 3Kciu$^ 0f Commons Bedat^s SECOND SESSION-EIGHTH PARLIAMENT SHBECHES A \? OF HON. SIR CHAI^LES HIBBERT TUPPER MP. ON THE BANK NOTE CONTRACT OTTAWA, FRIDAY, 28th MAY. 1897 Sir CHARLES HIBBERT TUPrER. Before that Bill is read the third time. I desire to discuss the nature of it and the proposition it represents. It seems to me that this company, which it is proposed to bring into Canada, is the creature of tho Government, and that the circumstances at- tending its proposed introduction into this country are such as to merit considerable attention. The proposition practically to subsidize this foreign company in connection with a business which has already assumed [very great importance in Canada, is inter- [esting at this particular time, because, un- jless I am altogether wrong In my informa- tion, it would be absolutely Impossible for [such a state of things to happen acioso the [border. None of the citizens of this coun- Itry, even were the Government of the tJni- Ited States favourably inclined, could hope Ito enjoy such favours and such aid in the [carrying on of a business by Canadian capital in that country as by this Bill it is proposed to concede to this United States corporation. The Intention of this company Is not merely to execute In the city of Ot- tawa the contract which it has tlie good fortune to have been given by the special favour of the Government of this country, )ut to feel£ general powers to carry on Its )usiness of general engraving, printing and lithographing In all its departments, «&c., in Jttawa and elsewhere In Canada. No one sbjects, of course, to the Introduction of foreign capital Into this country ; no one jtbjects to treating in the most generous ray capitalists from any part of the world who are ready to embark in enterprises here ; but the objection to the proposal be- fore this House— 'and it seems to me a forci- ble and serious objection— is that it is pro- posed to encourage the Introduction of this business and this capital Into this counti-y at the cost and to the detriment of Canadian capital, Canadian interests and Canadian labour. The POSTMASTER GENERAL (Mr. Mulock). Does the Bill say that ? Sir CHARLES HIBBERT TUPPER. The Bill does not say that, but the Government says that. The Bill represents here the policy of the Government. Without this Bill being adopted, the unfortunate and mistaken policy of the Government could not very well be carried out ; and this is an opportunity afforded to the House , to con- sider whether we should act under the cir- cumstances In such a spirit towards this foreign corporation. The circumstances have been already mentioned to the House, but they are to some extent so Involved, they cover such an amount of correspondence and so many transactions and Incidents, that it is Impossible for me, without refer- ring at some length to the correspondence and to the facts that have led up to the introduction of this Bill, to put properly before the House my Idea of the mistaken and very detrimental policy the Government have adopted In thJs matter. We know that the British American Bank Note Com- pany, which we may distinguish as the Burland Company, had heretofore enjoyed the business of this character required by the Government. It is not necessary for me to go into all the facts and figures to show the expenditures that became neces- sary on the pai't of that company to put themselves into a i>osition to carry out a contract which had been entered into with them by the Canadian Government. Suffice it for me to say that in addition to their car- rying out, and from all the Government say, satisfactorily carrying out a very hea>.^u into this question. The opportunities for counter- feiting, and tlie extraordinary feats of connterfeltlng, a practice it has been found utterly impossible to stamp out, make it most necessary that the Government, in order to protect the currency, to prot?;'t the notes of the country, shall ha^^ -.^ .,. vv,^jj. immediate supervision the pei -..rn^aL''^ of the work from its beginning to Its u "; -^rJ. And the old company, in that cnnec .10.1, had to £fo to very great expense in inti'od^T Ing that expert labour, v iilch, b: th/, way, I find that their competlto;s, thei ouc 'ess- ful competitors under this Government v, ove wholly ignorant of and which they venture-l to deny In an official communication to the Minister of Finance. It is in connection with that clause in the contract, the neces- sity for which is evidenced by all the con- tracts with the Government from the be- ginning down to the present, that the ex- traordinary phase of this question becomes apparent. Take, for instance, a few other references in that connection, as given to us In explaining this matter. I turn to page 14 of the blue-book, and, in connection with the "terms and conditions of tenders for engraving, &c.. Dominion notes, postal and inland revenue supplies," it seems clear that when the Minister of Finance started the work for new tenders, he recognized what 1 venture to say the business men of the country recognize, the gravity of that clause and the importance of that condition to the Government. Condition 7 of the specifica- tion reads : All work under the contract " All work," Mr. Speaker. —shall be done at the city of Ottawa, in such building or buildings as are approved of by the Government of Canada, such building or build- ings to be fire-proof and to pontain all necessary fire-proof vaults to ensure the safety of the work, and the contractor shall rot do or permit to be done in such building or buildings any work other than the work under the contract, except the work of engraving and preparing bank notes for the several chartered banks of Canada. No contract shall be entered Into with any tenderer until he has satisfied the said Government of Canada that he has, or will have by the time he begins work under the contract, a proper build- ing or buildings In Ottawa in which to carry on the work under the contract. Clause 15 of the specifications taken in this connection reads : No plates, I have already called attention to the woi*ds " All work " in the section I have just read, and this is as if to make it impossible that there shall be any uncertainty. This clause says : No plates, rolls or dies shall be used in connec- tion with the work to be done under the contract, or any part thereof, unless approved of on behalf of Her Majesty by the Minister at the head of the department by which such work Is ordered, and all plates, dies and rolls not so approved of shall be destroyed or dealt with by the contractor in such manner as such Minister shall direct. Let me just interject here that it is quite clear that such a supervision as is contem- plated by the two clauses I have read, can- not be exercised when the dies are in the city of New York, cannot be exercised when the Important part of the work is being managed or handled not only outside of the jit7 of Ottawa, but In a foreign country, iar.d beyond the jurisdiction of the Govern- I raent of Canada. 'nie POSTMASTER GENERAL. Do not , ■ r of the leading banks of Canada get £-' ■• Lvink bills printed there ? Sir oVliLES HIBBBRT TUPPER. I am not dealing with that. The hon. gentle- man may use as an argument against me, the contract of some bank, some leading bank. I am saying that the policy of this country, which has obtained from 1867 to 1897, has been to regard it as of the most vital importance to the conditions connect- ed with the making of the bank notes of the Dominion must be such as to allow of additional precautions being taken, precau- tions not taken elsewhere. But, adverting for a moment to the Interruption of the Postmaster General, let me remind him that, whether this was a wise precaution or not, whether it was a precaution taken by the banks of Canada or not, that in no way con- cerns the point of my argument, because, as I shall develop it, it will be made clear that this, whether an important point or not, was a clause in the specifications, was a clause in all the old contracts, and that every tenderer was led to believe, that as the British American Bank Note Company was bound to believe, that it would be in- sisted upon to the letter ; and there can be no doubt that that belief affected their cal- culation as to the figures they should offer for doing the work on these terms. And, Mr. Speaker, there Is another clause bear- ing upon this, clause 16, which reads as follows :— All plates, dies and rolls specially used in con- nection with the said work, or any part thereof, and which are paid for by the Government of Canada, shall be reserved for the exclusive use of the said Government of Canada, as well as all plates from which the said work or any part thereof shall be printed, and shall be the property of the said Government, and the contractor shall, on demand, deliver to the Minister of Finance of Canada for the time being, or as he may direct. l\ all said plates, dies and rolls, the contractor hold- ing them after they have been prepared and paid for as aforesaid merely as the bailee of the Gov- ernment of Canada, and the contractor shall agree that all designs or patterns made for the use of the Government in respect of the Govern- ment work shall not be used or duplicated by him for any one but the Government. In this, also, It is apparent that the Govern- ment deem it necessary to talie every pos- sible precaution for the purpose I have men- tioned ; and I have yet to learn that the Government of any country of importance in the world allows or would for a moment tolerate that a part of the machinery in connection with the manufacture of its notes and bills should be out of the juris- diction, and, of course, beyond the super- vision of the Government. For this clause, as you will see, contemplates that the Gov- ernment, at a moment's notice— even witli- out a moment's notice— can go into the building of the banli note company and lay its hands upon all the dies, acting in this matter promptly and Immediately. That, under conceivable circumstances, is a most important and valuable privilege to be en- joyed by the Government. It is wholly denied them here, it is wholly lost sight of as the sequence will show. Then there is clause 19 : The contractor shall take all possible measures of precaution, to the satisfaction of the Minister of Finance, for the protection of the work and the security of the Government In the premises, and to ensure the safety of the plates, dies and rolls, and all impressions taken therefrom, and all paper and other material used in connection therewith, whether in a complete or Incomplete state. To that clause the observations that I have made in connection with clause 16, equally apply. Now, I have referred to some of [the documents in their sequence, not in the [order of the paging in this booli, but I [think that the order in which I am taking (these references will make the matter as iclear as it possibly can be made from the [references before me. That was on page 15. 1 1 turn now to page 22 to show the manner I in whicli the possible competitors in the [United Kingdom were advised in connec- ttiou with this contract. They had read [these specifications, they understood how (the tender contemplated a complete and ibsolute transference of the whole busi- tness. from beginning to end, to the city of JOttaM^a. They had no reason to expect that my of these clauses would be departed from, and as business men in putting In |their tenders, they expected to be fairly ind justly dealt with, and they of course rt'ould have to be prepared for that clause md the different clauses to which I have referred. On page 22 we find from the ligh Commissioner's office a letter from Mr, :Jolmer explaining to the Minister of Fi- aance how this matter was affecting firms ^n England capable of tendering. He cabled : Tenders for engraving. Firms point restrictions clause 7 manufacture Canada. Also state tenders Impossible without specimens mentioned clause 14. I now beg to acknowledge your reply of the 7th instant, for which I was muph obliged : " Tenders for engraving. Canada cannot aban- don condition requiring manufacture at Ottawa. If responsible parties wish to tender, we will send specimens." There was a proper tender, and it was maintained consistently with all the tend- erers on the part of the Finance Depart- ment on the 11th of November, 1896. There was a reference to these conclusions that is easily understood, and there is an an- swer : You will be held to every clause, every line of the clause, and every letter in the clause ; the manufacture at Ottawa, that is all the work, would be insisted upon by the Government. Consequently the English tenderers, or those in a position to tender, were out of the way. Now, there is another reference to this that I wish to advert to. I find, for instance, that Mr. Freeland, representing the United States compahy, was specially favoured in many things. There is evidence of courtesy, to say the least, on the part of the Minister of Finance with Mr. Freeland that is want- ing between Mr. Burland and the Minister of Finance. That may have been explain- ed, the reason for it is not apparent on the face of these papers. Mr. Freeland and the Minister of Finance apparently were in verbal communication as well as in immedi- ate correspondence, letters were addre«!sed to him and not to tie deputy, although the deputy appears on the scene after Mr. Freeland has secured his concessions. There is in that matter a departure from the rules of departmental correspondence not explained so far as I know. But dur- ing all this critical time, all this time when Mr. Freeland was free, and when the Fi- nance Minister was free, there are com- munications, both verbal and in writing, going on between those two parties. After Mr. Preeland's rights are secured, formal correspondence is carried on by direction with the Deputy Minister of Finance, and as I say all that cordial relation explain- able in itself, becomes remarkable when we find it was entirely denied to the fellow- eitizeus of the Minister of Finance, to the old and faithful contractor. On page 45, the Minister of Finance writes to the re- presentative of Mr. Freeland on the 14th of December, 1896, referring in the first place to a conversation which he had. From another telegram it appears that the Minister of Finance was in New York on the 0th of November, and on the 14th of December, while these matters were still under consideration, the Minister of Fi- nance refers to the conversation and what he understood him to say. Then he goes on, and this Is the beginning of the extra- ordinary actions of the Government in re- lation to this foreign tender. The Minister of Finance, recognizing, I have no doubt at 6 the time, the Importance of the provisions to which I have referred, and that are found in all the contracts on this subject and are contained in the specification, he calls Mr. Freeland's attention in the follow- ing manner to the paragraph. First of all. he takes from the tender of the American Bank Note Company a clause that vitiated that tender as a reijular tender, destroyed Its character as a tender, and In that clause there was a complete and radical departure from the terms of the speclfloa- tlons. So that it cannot be fairly argued that Mr. Burland was brushed aside, or that no con-espondence or friendly relations were had with him by way of discussion because his tender was not satisfactory, when we find, as the history will show, that correspondence went on and cordial relations went on with one of the parties who had put in an incomplete and a Irre- gular tender. This is the first friendly ad- vice to this gentleman at a time when the only regular tender in the possession of the Government was from the British North America Bank Note Company : I desire to call your attention to the following paragraph In your tender : — " The American Bank Note Company under- stands, and makes it part of this tender, that it is not required by the speeiflcatlons hereto at- tached to manufacture bank-note and other papers, steel rolls, steel plates, the dies and other tools of the trade, inks, colours, &c., in the city of Ottawa, but that such supplies necessary to a faithful fulfilment of the contract may be ob- tained elsewhere. There can be no doubt about the correct- ness of my position that this destroyed that document as a tender. The Minister of Fi- nance was of that opinion, so far as this correspondence goes he is of that opinion still, because, as references will show, the future transactions simply ended in a vari- ation of the specimens, a variation and a change of the conditions, and a variation acceptable to the successful tendered ; while all that time the Burland Company was denied any of the information that was being given, was not allowed to be privy to any of these negotiations, and never had the slightest reason to assume for a moment that they might have put in a tender such as this. The American Com- pany assume to be entitled to special favours and to receive the special atten- tion of the responsible Minister after send- ing in such tender. The Minister of Fi- nance, after quoting this paragraph, from the tender, said : I think it would be well for you to offer some explanation of this clause. Our specifications were not Intended to prevent the importation of paper, ink, colours, orted statement : It being this company's intention to prepare the work In the highest style of the art, the limi- tation to the use of such talent as Is procurable within the Dominion, would be detrimental to our intention. Such talent is not resident in Can- ada, nor obtainable in the market, while the por- trait, vignette and lathe-work engravers of the parent establishment could be employed here with much greater efficiency, each in their several branches. Ignoring the whole fact that there was in existence a British institution in this coun- try, in this very city, under the shadow of Parliament itself, where such talent had been obtained and such experience gained as resulted in work that had elicited the statement from the Finance Minister him- self, I believe, that there was no dissatis- faction with the work of the old contrac- tors. I have already referred to the state- ment of the Deputy Minister of Finance detailing the steady reduction that had been made in prices during the time that the old coutractoi-s had been charged with carry- ing on that work. At page 54 there is a communication from Mr. Burland that I think should have the fullest publicity. In a letter dated January 13th, 1897, address- ed to the Minister of Finance, Mr. Burland says : 1st. That ample capital has been Invested at the request of the Government, to satisfactorily pre- pare all the work required by the Government. 2nd. That the contract has been awarded in vio- lation of the terms and conditions of the speci- fication. 3rd. That no notice was given that foreign ten- ders would have privileges not embodied in the specification. 4th. That the terms of the specification would be violated by giving the privilege to foreign competitors for a double period without equa' rights to the local company. 5th. That the greatest Injustice would be done local capital by allowing free duty to such for- eign competitors without any allowance, in lieu thereof, to the local company. 6th. That all persons tendering against Invest- ed, capital should show their ability by having suitable premises and machinery with which to do the work, the tenders of all parties would then be on equal terms. I call attention to a letter from the Finance Minister to Mr. Burland, dated 15th .(anu- i, a wholly against Invest- )illty by having ■ with which to parties would ary, 1897, where the hon. gentleman deals with Mr. Burland in this spirit : You had an ample opportunity of tendering, and you did tender. If your tender had been the lowest, you would have received the contract, but unfortunately your tender was an excessively high one, the acceptance of which would have been a grave injustice to the public Interests. The Government deemed it to be their duty to accept the lowest tender coming from capable and responsible parties. Acting upon this view, they have awarded the contract to parties whose tender was very much lower than yours. I call attention to the fact that the Min- ister of Finance In that letter seems to have Ignored altogether special coualdar.atl.ins and special facts brought to his attention by the Deputy Minister of Finance, und to have utterly ignored and overlook-jd the fact that in the case of what he calls the excessively high tender, there was a rftrlct and accurate compliance with the specifica- tion, and in connection with the foreign tender, to which he has been so indulgent, and in connection wifh whlcli he has gone so far out of the way to meet tlie views of the foreign tenderer, that that Mas an ir- regular tender and was not in compliance with the speeifleation but departed from the specification in most important particulars. In the petition to His Excellency the Gov- ernor General, the representative of the old company, the Canadian institution, makes the following, among other representations, ;and as some of the points that have struck i me as important are perhaps more concisely [than I have expressed them, I will read [some iMiragraphs from that specification :— 4. That the notice for such tenders was a print- led one, and comprised the specifications and the I essential terms and conditions of the proposed icontract which any tenderer would have to exe- [cute If his tender was accepted by the said Gov- lernment. 8. That all your petitioners' work is done here it the said city of Ottawa, by Canadian artists bid artisans employed here, In a special building erected here for that specific purpose and con- ptructed to the satlsfacticm of the Government of Canada. 11. That your petitioners are also Informed that ||t Is contemplated to allow the dies, rolls and plates used in connection with this work to be brought into Canada free of duty. The value of Jhe dies, rolls and plates belonging to your petl- loners and used by them In carrying out the |>resent contract, exceeds the sum of |50,000. 12. That, if the American Bank Note Company awarded the new contract, and If it uses the iks for printing bank notes and the post card iper which it usually uses for like work In the ^nlted States, the differtmce in the price of ma- )rial now supplied by your petitioners and what juld be supplied by the American Bank Note jmpany, would be as follows : — fhe figures are given, making a total lount of $15,495, or amounting in the five jears to $77,475. The petitioner goes on and ives further analyses in the same direction, [will not trouble the House with reading ^rther from the blue-book, for I have re- red to those portions which fully bear Sir C H T-2 out the points I have proved from the de- partmental reports and departmental stata- nients. Leaving the blue-book, I think the refer- ences I have given establish beyond ques- tion tliat in connection with this whole busi- ness of letting a contract in regard to this imporUmt national work, the British Ameri- can Bank Note Company, the Canadian com- IKiny. complied with all the conditions re- ciulred ; that the American Bank Note Com- pany, a foreign company, did not ; that other Canadian companies did not, and that tlie Eni^llsh companies were ruled oiit at the very outset by having put before them the fact that the condition as to manufacture of the dies, and so forth, in Ottawa, would be insisted upon ; and that, aftei-^^'ards and Kubsequeutly, they having been ruled out, that condition was not insisted on, but a private arrangement was made with a for- eign corporation, and to their satisfaction, that operated to the detriment .jf the home company. It follows from what I have said and what I know that we liave given to aliens, to an alien corporation, privileges which were not extended either to English people or to Canadians or to the subjects of the Qiieen ; and now we are face lo face with this Bill and we are asked to consent to its being read the third time. Wliat do we see in that Bill, and what does the Bill represent? It asks this House to endorse in blank all the privileges enjoyed by this foreign corporation and to exercise them in the Dominion of Canada, and this House is not made aware in any shape or form as to what those privileges are. This House is not made aware of what the New York leg- islature tliought, in the exercise of its dis- cretion, proper to confer in the way of au- thority, power and privilege upon this cor- poration ; nevertheless, though their policy may possibly have no connection with these matters as regards the practice of our com- mittees, we are asked, blindly and in the absence of the information needed, none of which appears on the face of the Bill itself, to say that the whole of the privileges and rights which this corporation was granted by the legislature of New York, shall extend to the boundaries of the Dominion and that this company shall enjoy those rights. That is a practice wholly at variance with the practice of this Parliament In regard to other corporation charters either in the mother country or in any of the provinces of this Dominion. When a company comes from any of the provinces to this Parlia- ment it has always been the practice of our committees to investigate the powirs con- ferred on it, and the practice of late has been to compel provincial companies, or companies holding charters obtained out- side of this Parliament to ask practically for the re-enaetment of all . privileges they de- sire, and set them out on the face of the charter this Parliament Is asked to grant There Is wisdom and common sense in that course, because the House is thus able to 10 see exactly what Is being done and what rights tho company la seeking to nc(iulro. But in this case, all those wound principles have been departed from, and rnrlhuiient l.s simply asked to conflrni claused of an Act that liiis met with the approval of the leg- islature of New York. We coidd not obtain any such legislation in any state of the union, we could not get any such legislation in any colony of the Em- pire, and it goes without saying that we could not get such legislation in the Parlia- ment of the mother country. What kind of organization has this company ? Are we to depend on the preamble of the Bill for the statement ? The Bill is an absolute blank regarding its or.:janization ; regarding the condition of its finances, and regarding the security that creditors in this country may have who in the future deal with that company. We are left in absolute ignorance as to its or- ganization, as to its corporate powers, and I may say that it is not right that this Par- liament sliould sanction such a thing as that. I have in my mind a few charters that were gi'anted after some discussion, and after objections to them by a very lead- ing authority at that time in this House. For instance, English corporations knocked at the doors of this Parliament and asked for recognition by Parliament of their cor- porate privileges, l^ut in tliose cases very good care was taken tliat a copy of the articles of association of those English companies should be filed with the Secretary of State for Canada. No such provision is in th's Bill and no fuch care lias been taken in regard to it. Now, to strengthen the objections I luive b<>en making, I would call attention to a Bill that came before this House, and which unfortunately was not very fully consideroil. except by the leader of the Opposition at that time. Mr. Edward Blake. I find that among other objection he made to the gift of these corporate powers to a foreign cor- poration—irrespective wholly of the provi- sion that sucli powers as they enjoyed in the foreign country should be known to this Parliament before action was taken— I find the following observations of Mr. Blake \u 1882, in regard to the New York and Ontai-io Furnace Company :— There is no information as to the character of thia company, the nature of its organization, what its corporate powers are, or who the Incorpora- tors are. And again he eays : Now, it seems to me, first of all, that unless there is some overruling clause to the contrary, our legislation ought to be in the direction of creating ourselves the corporation to which we give the power. Hon. gentlemen will see. that I have been endeavouring to argue from that point of view, and I venture to say without fear of successful contradiction, that as a rule that has been the policy of our committees, and that they generally InHlst upon imttlng in an Act of Incorporation, the powers of com- panies, whetlier foreign or from a provin- cial legislature, when they come to the federal authorities. Again, Mr. Blake said : That Is a good reason, from my point of view, for our incorporating the entity which wo have Just recognized, with the power of landing Ita cable on the slioros, with certain other powers whlcli It was necessary for them to have, and which they could only get by the Joint legislative authority of two legislatures of Independent Juris- diction. He Was dealing with that class of cases, In which as he points out, you must have re- ciprocal action by two legislative bodies in order that a common object should be effected. Mr. Blake said further : That reasoning does not apply to this case at all. All that is wanting to be done by the New York and Ontario Furnace Company could be done by a corporation composed, if you will, of the same proprietors as the company In this coun- try. They could buy, as they could acquire, per- sonal property ; they could mine and carry on business, and there Is no difficulty In their com- pleting the whole of their operations by virtue of a provincial or Canadian Incorporation, as the case may be. That Is the first difficulty I had in acceding to the third reading of this BUI, that, withoTit a clause which would Justify a course r.bvlously inconvenient, we are simply recogniz- ing a foreign entity and giving it powers. Mr. Blake goes on to argue somewhat ou the line which I have argued, but I find unfortunately, that that discussion was not prolonged, and that the Bill Avas read a tliird time without the objections which Mr. Blaiie urged liaving been answered by the leader of the other side of the House. Never- tlieless, it seems to be an important con- sideration. Now, this foreign corporation, this American Banlv Note Company, of j whose directors tliis Parliament knows no- thing ; if they are not prepared to come | before Parliament, as other foreign cor- porations do, and asl< for full consideration I and re-enactment of all the powers they] require outside of our general Act ; they of j course, under the comity of nations would [ have, if we did not pass this Bill, certain! rights and be permitted to carry on certain! transactions in this country. If they wislil to go further than the principle of the eoniityj of nations permits them, it seems to me that! they should comply with the practice thail has prevailed in I'egard to corporations com-r posed of British subjects, whether in Can-I ada or in the mother country. I have inl my hand (I don't propose to read from themj very fully) two cases on somewhat similail lines, relating to Acts passed in 1891-92. Inj the case of British corporations when theyl pame asking for recognition liere, ParliaT ment insisted on having the articles of theitj association, and the fullest information puf within reach of the people of this country. There has been no reason urged so far iB the discussion of this Bill for extending 11 these special favoars and adopting this ex- ceptional legislation in favour of this coni- pauy. In order to show the peculiar favour extended to this company, I may point out that all the books of this foreign corpor- ation—not such booiis as they iceei' iu Can- ada and are in this building to be erected, in Ottawa— but that in connection with any litigation that may arise in our courts, all their books are to be made a prima facie evidence on the part of tliat company. It seems to me there has not been that care given, or that it was intended, not to too closely observe these provisions which the mpany was asking from this Parliament. I am convinced, Mr. Speaker, from all the reasons that I have put before the House, that the third reading of this Bill should not be approved by Parliament under ex- isting circumstances. The reason for the Bill is one distasteful for mo as a Canadian. The favours granted to this foreign corpor- ation at the expense of our own (Canadian industries, calls, I thtnk, for our disapproval, and the exceptional legislation that is pro- posed—even If the company liad merit out- side of that— is contrary to tlie practice of this Parliament, and is establishing a dan- gerous precedent in connection with private Bill legislation. BritisI? /^merieai? Bapl^ j\(ote Qo, ENGRAVERS AND PRINTERS, OTTAWA AND MONTREAL. _«*J*»_ INCORPORATED 1866. CAPITAL. $200,000. Site The Company have much pleasure in thanking their friends and customers for the patronage extended to them during the past 35 YEARS, and beg to state that their business ■will be carried on -with rene-wed vigour and energy for the future. ' > ♦ < ' Bank Notes, Certificates of Stock, Debentures, Bonds, Bills of Exchange, AND HIGH-CLASS COMMERCIAL WORK AT GREATLY REDUCED PRICES, IN BEST QUALITY OF STEEL PLATE WORK. Please send for SAMPLES and TERMS before ordering elsewhere. ALL ORDERS PROMPTLY ATTENDED TO.