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Tous les autres axamplaires originaux sont filmAs en commenpant par la pramiAre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la darniAre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la derniAre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole -^> signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole V signifie "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tabiaeux, etc., peuvent Atre filmAs A des taux de rMuction diff Arents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul cliche, II est film* A partir de I'angle supArleur gauche, de gauche A droite. et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nAcesssire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m^thode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 'V! ------- ^ !Oii • » ,#■ ♦••.•, ♦, • '• ♦ .♦ ♦._♦ I Royal Commission ■I. :< ;v V; -AND- FULL INFORMATION REGARDING THE 4. Nakusp pf Slogan li I* * Si I I). 4 i^i 101 RAILWAY. Victoria, U. C. ' Thi-: Colonist" Stkam Prhsshs, 1894. V s 1^ • ♦•*••• T THI I I BRAKY WW UM\T:KMI vol- BKlllsH COLUMBIA NAKUSP AND SLOGAN PAPERS. FULL TEXT OF THE R0YAL GonynissiON Shewing the Exhaustive Scope of the Enquiry. [L. .S.j Thkodore Davik, >•:. DEWDNEV. At/onuy- Gt-itaal. VICTORIA, by the (Jrace of (lod, uf the United Kinfjiioin of Great Britain and Ireland, and ot the Colonies and I )e)iendencies thereof. Queen, Defender of the Faith, iVc, &c. , &c. To the Honourable .Si K Maitiiew Uaii.lik Bkc.kih,, Knitjhl, Chief Justice of 15ritish Colunihia, and the Honourable Georce WnEKLOCK lk'KHii)(;E, judge of the Exchequer Court of Canada, Greeting : It harini; been resolved amongst the ])ro- ceedings of the Leijislative A.ssenil)ly of the Province of IJritisli Columbia at Us last .Session : " That whereas, acting under the advice of the Executive Council, His Honor the Lieu- lenant-Ciovernof has been pleased to give a Provincial guarantee of interest upon the bonds of the Nakusp and Slocan Railway Company, to the extent of 4 ])er cent, per annum on $25,000 per mile lor twenly-tive years, and by the like advice, has in the agreement for the guarantee of interest, reserved the right to substitute l)onds guaranteeing ])rincipal at the rate of $17,500 per mile, together with inter- est at a rate per annum sutticient to enable the Company to realize par, but in no case to ex- ceed 4 per cent, per annum. ".And whereas, by .Message fr the country of immediate consfructiOn ot the road, to preserve the Kooienay trade, which otherwise would be diverted to the south, and lost to British Columbia. The projected road would give access to one of the greatest mining regions of the world, the trade of which, without the road, would be drained into the adjoining republic. The Nelson & Fort .Sheppard road, built by American capi- tal, was then nearing completion and has since been completed, connecting the country tribu- tary to Kootenay Lake with the railway systems of the United States. The Slocan country is situated from twenty to thirty miles to the westward of the Kootenay Luke, mid- way between Kaslo and Nakusp, and at the present time the ore being taken out of the Slocan is carried to Kaslo and shipped over tne Nelson & Fort .Sheppard. The owners of this road seemed fully alive to the immen.se trade which was o])ening up. To show the marvellous nature of some of the mines to be servei. by the Nakusp and Slocan Railway, he read several extracts from the press of the mining districts, as follows : " From a gentlemari who recently spen: ten days in the vicinity of the Slocan Star mine, we learn the following particulars : A tunnel 500 feet long with an average depth of 150 feet has been driven in, exposing a solid lx)dy of ore 12 feet in thickness. The amount of ore in sight in the drifts openings and tunnel has been computed by actual measurement to be 75,000 tons. These figures seem almost incre(lil)le, ami take one's breath away, l)iit ne%ertheless, this is a hard, dry fact. At present iher-j are ahoiit twenty men employed ta'nin^; out aliimt 13 ton. per ilay, actual value l)einj; $200 a ton net. Clrts from the Slocan are all so encouraging. "l»lake'' Wilson came down from Three I''orks last night and says that tiines were never so good as now, and the in- dications are that 4,000 Ions of ore will be shipi)ed this winter. The banks also rejiort the outlook for next year as promising." These quotations gave some idea of the nature of the discoveries in the country to be tapped by this railroad. 1 he ore being taken out by Kootenay Lake during the winter was rawhided down the mountains and carried in sleighs to Kaslo, a distance of from twenty to thirty miles and still ]iaid largely when trans- ferred to .San Francisco, Tacoma and else- where. When it paiil to do this, anyone could .see how a railroad must pay, directly connect- ing the mines with the (,". I*. U. The desirability of prompt construction and a commencement made at once, beinn estab- lished -the cpie^tion arose how to 1 egin .' What was the cost of the road and how was the money to be fountl ? Fortunately, he had valuable aid at hand to v)lve both cpiestions. I'rom a gentleman who happened to be travel- ling in Kootena;-, connecteil with one of the strongest financial houses in London, he be- came convinced of the undesirability of issuing interest guaranteeany were to be at liberty to draw to the extent of 90 per cent, of certificates of work done. As well as the C. I'. R. engineer the government had an engineer also. The cost of building the road at $17, 500 per mile, was $647,500. But from this has to he deducted $118,400- the cash found and .- same basis — then 5 per cent, bonds having sold at 90 or 95 — it would be seen h")w much better off inc city anil pro- vince Would have boen at the end of 25 years had they found (jrincipal as well as interest. Those l)onds neitod at)out $270,000, which money the city (.ould have borrowed for 4 per cent., all charges paid, and the interest would have amounte.l to $10,800 per annum, or $4,200 less than is now being paid. .-Vt the end i)f 25 years, without compf)un(iing at all, this $4,200 would amount to $105,000, and compounded, it would come to more than the cost of the road. To return, however, to the Nakusp & Slocan road, for which, as shown, there would have to b>.' raised $31,746 per annum to pay interest and sinking fund — that this will be more than recouped is proved from the volume of trade, lie wished to draw at- tention to the provision which it would be noticed had been inserted in the agreement. Il had been stated the other day that one rea- son why earnings of the Shuswap & Okanngan Railway are small is because the C. P. R. had been restric'.ed in their charges to an amount not in excess of the local rules on contiguous sections of the C. V. R. But in the agreement with the Nakusp iV Slocan Railway there is, besides a provision that the rates shall not be higher without the consent of the government, the additional provision that neither shall the rates charged be less than those on the con- tiguous lines of the C. P. R. without the con- sent of the government, thus leaving it to be determined hereafter, whether in the interests of the miner, but at the expense of the pro- vince, a low rate shall be charged — or for the benefit of the province the rate shall be higher. As stated already, against the $31,000 a year to be provided by the government there will be 40 per cent, of the gross earnings, and that these gross earnings will be considerable troni the outset seems quite evident. The Nelson Tribune, for instance, in a recent issue said : " From and after January I the output of the mines in .Southern Kootenay will amount in value to $15,000 a day, of which fully a half will be marketed without delay. By the time the Nakusp iS: Slocan is ready to take ore, the output of the mines in Slcjcan district will alone be of a^value far exceeding the sum alM)ve mentioned, and it is within rea-^on t estimate the total output of the mines in .Southern Kootenay for the year 1894, at $10,000,000.'' lie (Mr. Davie) had read in a local paper recently that in one week of January there had been shipped 922 tons of silver lead ore from Kaslo to the smelters at Tacom.'', Portland, San Francisco and other places, all going out over the newly opened Nelson and Fort Shep pard Railway, and from the fourteen Kaslo- iSlocan mines then ship|)ing ore, the monthly output till the close of the sleighing season, was exjiected to be between 900 and I.OOO tons. There are, hfiwever, about 27 locu.ionst at (.resent under development, l)esides a great many other claims of perhaps ecpial value which will be developed with the advent of capital, besides the further import- ant discoveries of minerals which will annjally be made. Kstimating, however, on an output of only 40 tons per day, the earnings from this source will be $64,800 per annum ; the earn- ings from merchandise, live stock, etc., ac- cort ing to a moderate estimate, will be $31,- 000 ; and from passengers, mails and express $24,000. making a t'>tal of $119,800. The estimated earnings on ordinary traffic are placed much lower than those on the Colum- bia and Kootenay and the Shuswap and Okanagan Railways. Out of these estimated gross earnings of $119,000 per annum the province would be entitled to $48,000 as 40 per cent, of the gross revenue, according to the agreement with the C. P. R. Thi.< amount, il wonld be seen, is for in excess of interest and sinking fund. ite had heard all kinds of foolish rumors about the cost of the road and the cias.-i of work and i.iaterial emjiloyed, that it was a cheaply constructed, ill conditione:erous points." Another charge is that the company is using old rails. The life of a rail is 25 or 30 years. There are points on the C.l'. K. where, on the steep grades it is necessary to rejilace existing rails with the heavier ones, and it is the rails which for this purpose are taken out as good or nearly as gotMJ ;ts new— that are to be used on this line. Therr. i» no good reason why they should not be used, anidy, to fw received from the Dominion, :md before this option expire far is g.->ing to operate, before granting any exten- sive aid of tliis character. For this reason he could not encourage the hope of any legisLj. ture assistance this session in the matter of the Nicola iV .Spence's Hridge Railway, which h' would gltidly aid, for it is to go through whai is believed, : v! has been partly proved to be, a valuable mineral and coal as well as an agri- cultural country. The authority had been taken last year to subsidize it, but the Cana- dian Pa : Railway had not yet completed their explorations, so as to undertake to oper- ate the road. Under these circumsl.inces, al'hough at one time the government had thought they could deal with the road the same as the Nakusp \ Slocan, the matt..f would have to remain over. Respecting the Chilliwack road, he would have something to say later. It must be rememl)ered th.it public assistance cannot be altogether continehould be |)repared to employ it He felt that the bill now before the house is one which the government can safely commend, and with that assurance he now moved -Is second reading. (.Applau-se. ) COST OF CONSTRUCTION As Sworn to by Engineers — ANU- I COMPARED WITH THAT OF OTHER RAILWAYS. A Return brought down to the House on the 27th of March, 1894, in reference to the construction of the Nakusp & Siocan Railway, contained the sworn statements of those im- mediately connected with the enterprise. TKNDERS. In speaking of the tenders recei'ed, Mr. A. J. Weaver- Bridgman, Secretary-Treasurer of the Nakusp Hi Siocan Railway C C ; ^ ojl 1/3 "3 iic.Si 3-s v. u !SS-5:-S ^"JtSs 1.2 fj_o5 j;j=.g O *u - 3 — O*:^ ft. a, 0073 735 ( OST OF THE world's RAILWAYS. Mulhall's Diciionarv of Statistics gives the total mileage and cost of ctmstruction for Europe and the world, at various dates, as follows : KIROPE. THE WORLD. Cost per Cost per Miles. Mile. Miles. Mile. '^40 1.679 -C30.000 4.515 ^15,800 '°M> 14.465 ^7,800 .f,?..5S5 19,800 '''60 .11.88.'. 25,000 66,290 16,300 '^70 63.300 ■'3..100 1^8,235 16,400 ■°°o 101,720 23,700 228,440 17,200 '°°° 130,000 23,300 3.54.310 16,10c The same .luthority for a period between 1887 and 1888 gives the average cost of con- struction per mile for the United States .-it £12,500; for Australia, f9,300; and for South Africa, £8,900. The above figures wil! give a good general idea of the cost of railway construction, and readers can come to a conclusion as to the legitimate cost of construction in a mountain- ous country like British Columbia. ^n Opposition Organ's View in '92, The following is a copy of an editorial in the " News- Advertiser,^' November 2n(l, 1892, on the necessity of communication being opened into the Slocan country via Nakusp : — " We are glati to see that the Vancouver Board of Trade is at length bestirring itself to do something towards making the important and rich district of West Kootenay accessible. Within the last few months there have ap- peared in our columns letters frc ^ some of the people of that district, pointing ut the im- mense mineral resources which t ; prospect- ing of the last few months has sho n to exist there, in addition to the ore deposits which were formerly known. Anyone who has ever been in a mining camp, and especially one newly opened and in a district with which the means of communication are either difficult or entirely wanting (and this from the character of the country where mineral.s are found is generally so in the case of new discoveries), can understand the anxiety, if not the impa- tience, with which the miners and prospectors regard the deliberate ni. nner in which cutsid- ers proceed about the work of constructing roads or rnilways. To the man who knows that he has ore which only requires to be hauled and delivered at a smeller to yield him thousands, and perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars, the hesitancy and d liberation dis- played by a government or capitalists in mak- ing the most minute inquiries before they will ejmend a dollar in buikling roads or railways, wnhout which the wealth cannot be realized, is exasperating, although doubtless from one point of view very pri'per and very reasonable. Such has to a very great extent been the ca.,e in regard to the events in r nnection with West Kootenay and the result has been that another winter has come upon us without any progress having been made during the past sea.son in making some of the richest mineral sections of this continent accessible to the outer world. Vet during that ])eriod r.ny doubts which existed as to the magnitude or richness of the mineral deposits have been re- moved, and the reality shown to be greater than the most sanguine supposed. Now, however, there is reason to believe that some practical eflorts will be made to overcome the drawback:, under which West Kooten." ,'hors in regard to railway com- munication. Those who have had the oppor- tunity of knowing the facts in the two cases will not dispute the assertion that the proba- bilities for trafific for a railway that will tap the products of tho mineral districts in the neigh- borhood of the Slocan, Arrow and Kootenay Lakes are ',s good, and we consider really bet- ter than were those which the discovery of carbonates in California Ciulch in 1877 dis- closed. Yet the latter quickly induced two railway companies to head towards the site of what is now Leadville, and th : ditiiculties of the route did not deter them from expending large sums of money to reach a mining camp, the continuance of which, beyond a compara- tively brief period, there was no certainty, al- though the character of the ore then being mined was such as to build up colossal for- tunes in a short time, and bring into existence a town of 30,000 people. Whatever may have been the reason for the delay in opening communication between the southern portion of West Kootenav and the Canadian Pacific Railway, it is certain that the people of the Province will not be inclined to tolerate .any longer inaction which is caus- ing serious injury to the commercial and in- dustrial interests of British Columbia. The ore is there, and the question now to be settled is the best way to bring it out and take in the supplies necessary for the sustenance of the considerable population which will be engaged in the inining industry. In many quarters there is a strong feeling that the Provincial Government has been strongly remiss in con- nection with the matter, and that matters would be a good deal further advanced in the desired direction than they are now had the Executive displayed more energy or ability in regard to ihem. We do not propose, how- ever, to condemn the Government in regard to this until it has an o-pportunity of making its defence. Then again, there are many wiio consider the timidity with which the Canadian Pacific Railway Company has approached the matte; .is had much to do with the slow de- velopment cf the country. They admit thai the amount of ore carried over the Columbia and Kootenay Railway is not such as to give muce encouragement for the expenditure of large sums of money in railway construction. Dut, on the 'ither hand, it must not be forgot 12 ten that there were many who criticised the expenditiH f money on a line from "nowhere to nowhere, " and who then urged the con- struction of a line from Kevelstoke, which, in whatever location the richest deposits of ore might be found, would have given the Pro- vince and the Kailwny Company a line in the direction in which, sooner or later, the main artery of traffic must be found. Now that piece of road is a necessity, and if ihe Railway Company is informed of what is transpiring in the VVest Kootenay District it will not, we be- lieve, on business grounds alon-;, lose any more time than can lie avoided in commencing construction. The Hoards of Trade of the principal cities of the Province should take united action in regard to this matter. The people of British Columbia, whether on the f 'oasr or in the West Kootenay District, de- mand that the advantages to be derived from the development of a rich mining region lik" that of .Slocan should not be retarded because any railway company, however powerful, hesi- tates to make the expenditure requisite to open up a country as to the future of which there can no longer be any doubt. For one-fifth of what it cost some Denvtr capitalist to reach Leadville, the whole of this rich country can bs tapped. If by the time the Legislature meets some assurance is not forthcoming that the Canadian Pacific R. '.vay Company in- tends to occupy the field, and that without further delay, some other method must be adopted to open up the country. We are told that British Columbia has within its bor- ders one of the richest mineral districts on this continent, and that being the case the peoole naturally demand that they shall secure the advantages that will accrue to all parts of the Province by its developtient." The above editorial was based on a resolu- tion of the Vancouver Board of Trade which held a meeting the previous evening, at which meeting, alter a long discussion, the following resolution was moved and carried unanimous- ly :- After some further discussion, th-; following resolution was passed • — It was moved by Capt. Tatlow, seconded by Mr. Cotton, "That this Board, feeling the urgency of taking immediate steps to secure to the Province the trade of the mining districts of the interior, and the Slocan in particular, would urge upon the Provincial (jovernment and the Canadian Pacific Railway the neces- sity- of giving that district better means of communication by means of a waggon road from Slocan to Arrow Lakes, until such time as a railway can be constructed, and that the President be requested to communicate with the Provincial Government and the President of the C. P. R. to this effect, and that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to Mr. Davie, the Premier, at Ottawa, ar .1 Mr. Van Home." Moved by Mr. Cotton, seconded by Mr. McLagan, " That the Jioardsof Trade of Hnu Westminster, Nanaimo and Victoria be asked to unite with this Board in carrying out the foregoing resolution." THE PREMIER'S SPEECH DURING THE DEBATE ON THE MOTION TO APPOINT A ROYAL COMMISSION. Hon. Mr. D.^vik — Hon. gentlemen oppo- site have made a sorry spectacle of themselves to night. They have been saying that the gov- yernment proposes to make a farce of this investigation ; and yet, sir. what do they them- selves propose but to make it a screaming farce. They pro])o,ie that the governnieut being upon its trial for corrujition, shall themselves appoint a counsel to j.rosecute them. Well, sir, was absurdity like that ever uttered before ? They have been comparing the government in this matter to criminals. Well, acccjiting ihat com- parison. Did you ever hear of ;\ case where a criminal in the dock had the right first of all to select his own counsel to defend him, and then without reference to anybiwly else, to select a prosecutor or attorney-general to prose- cute him ? .\nd that is exactly what the hon. members opposite propose for the government to do ! Now, if the government were to do anything of that kmd, would the country then not denounce the thing as a frai'd, an effort of the government to whitewash theaiselves at the expense of the country, and would ask • " To whom does this lawyer owe his allegi- ance but to the men thr-t employed him ?" I say that is a thing too absurd to be thought of for one moment. And it shows to what lengths hon. gentlemep have to go to get out of the very awkward position in which they are placed. V\ hy, their object to-day all the way fhrough is to shuffle out of the charges they have made against the government. First of all they do not propose to have any enquiry of any kind themselves, and when the inquiry is forced upon them they try to escape by raising false issues and side tracking the main one. Well, now, as to the course to be adopted in a case of this kind, happily we .?re not without precedent, twenty years ago this house was engaged in a similar matter. The parties were not the same as now, but there is a remnant of the party here, the hon. the leader of the op- position. Sir, what has he told us? He has told us that it is perfectly absurd for the gov- ernment to select the charges upon which they will be tried, you never heard a prisoner selecting the charges he will be tried upon ; the prosecution docs that. Cut what did he do then, sir ? Now, I will show you. It is just as well to refei to precedents, and I will show you exactly what the course of proceed- in;; was. On the 2oth February, 1874, Mr. Kobson, moved, seconded by Mr. .Smithe : ''Whereas, certain statements have appear- ed in the puiilic n<.wsi)apers connecting the names of niemi)ers of tne late trovernment and of the present government, with proceedings of a questionalile character in relation to Texada Island, in the Straits of Georgia : and whereas, transactions are alleged to have taken place in respect to said island of a nature pre- judicial to the public interest ; be it therefore resoivtd : That a respectful address be pre- sented to His Honor the Lieutenant-C-overnor praying that he will cause a r'^yal commission to be appointed, with full power to take evi- dence under oath, and send for |iersons and papers, for the purpose of inquiring into the whole matter, and reporting thereon to this house at its next session." Now, sir, at that time Mr. Rob.«on was in opi-osition, and a prominent member of the oppositit>n ; the hon. leader of the opposition here was then a member of the government, he was not the leader, Mr. Walkem was tl..' leader. Mr. Se.mmn^No; .Mr. DeCosmos wa.s leader. Hon. .Mr. DAViE— Mr. Walkem was a member of the government at all events ; I may be wrong in saying that he was leader. However, you have heard Mr. Robscn's mo- tion. There was no point of order rai.sed against .Mr. Kobson's motion such as the op- position would now lead the house to believe would have jirevented his moving for a com- mission in this matter. Now, Mr. Kobson's 14 motion did not suit his opponents, so it was defeated, whereupon the standing orders were suspended, and Hon. Mr. VValkem moved, seconded by the Hon. Mr. Heaven : " Whereas, the hon. the member for Nanai- mo has stated in his place in this house, that he was credibly informed that proniinenl mem- bers of the late and ])resent government were in a ring to acquire possession of Texada Island, in a manner prejudicial to the intererts of the public, be it therefore resolved : "That a respectf .1 address be presentei to His Jlonor the Lieutenant Governor, praying that he will cause a royal commission to be appointed, with full power to take evidence under oath, and send for persons and papers, for the purpose of inquiring into the whole matter and reporting thereon to His Honor the Lieutenant-Governor for publication." Now, sir, there is a precedent set by the hon. the leader of the opposition for the way these things shall pi.jceed, by which you will observe that the hon. gentlemnn war, not con- tent to go to trial upon the charge formulated by Mr. Robson, but distinctly formulated the charge himself upon which he was to be tried Mr. Brave.n— Amplified it. F^ON. Mr. UAViii — No, sir, ne particular- ized !t; and he selected the charge upon which he was to be tried. Now, that case, sir, will also serve to show what was done on the commission. Hon. gentlemen opposite ask who is to prosecute it. Why, sir, those who bring the charges. Klse, why do they bring them ? The hon. leader of the opposition should know that, he has had experience enough in 'his line for upwards of twenty years ; he has had experience enough to come out in a courageous manner and con- duct "lis prosecution as Mr. Robson did then. And the hon. member from New Westminster and the hon. member from Nanaimo District, and any other members on the other side who made these charges, should come forward and conduct their own prosecution, and without a lawyer also. The hon. leader of the opposi- tion, as I have had occasion to remark before, is excelled by few legal men as a constitutional lawyer, he ooes not need any la-vyer. And we will see that it is a non-polilicial tribunal. And similarly, other hon. members opposite, can act without a lawyer. Who prosecuted in the Texada case ? Did the government employ a lawyer to prosecute themselves, as suggested, by hon. (gentlemen opposite that they should do? No, Mr. Robson, with a courage equal to his ability, appeared before the commission and prosecuted. Here is what the report of the Royal Com- mission says referring to the sittings of the commission : " That, at such sittings, the three Commis- sioners were all present, except on one occa- sion, viz., the 20th day of August, at Victoria, when an enquiry was held before the Honor- ables Messrs. Crease and Gray, as to the mode of examination, by interrogatories of Mr. Ue- Cosmos, a witness then absent at Ottawa, the Chief Justice on that occasion not being pre- sent, owing to his having gone to Cassiar on circuit. '•That at these various sittings, of which public notice was always given in the news- papers in Victoria, the honorable member for Nanaimo, Mr. Kobson, was always present, aiui v-as afforded every opportunity, by exam- ination and cross-examination of the witnesses, and by suggestion and argument, to promote the enquiiy and establish the charge." Now, then, there is an example for hon. gentlemen opposite to follow, that of c man who was always honorable in his method.* in political matters, and was courageous and straightforward in his actions. They do not want a lawyer at the expense of the province. .So now having told the hon. members of their privileges, I shall hope they will avail them- selves of them. Now, let us look at some of the objections raised. I shall take up the remark of my friend, Mr Stoddart. I think that hon. gentleman has exercised an independence in this matter for which he is to be complimented. Although I think if he had had the opportun- ity of seeing this amendment in print, and considering at greater length the resolution that I proposed and the amendment of the hon. the Chief Commissioner, he would not have had occasion to express himself as he did. Now, sir, the hon. gentleman says that he is quite sure that there are more members of the Na- kusp & Slocan Railway Company and of the Construction Company than have been stated by these papers already brought down. Well, sir,i that is so, and there is any suspicion that c.ibinet ministers are members of either the Nak p Company or the Construction Compa' , the amendment of the Chief Com- missioner gives exhaustive power of enquiry. Here is his amendment : " And whether any of His Honor's ministers have or had any interest, directly or indirectly, in the Nakusp & Slocan Railway Company, or in any of the contracts of the company, or in the Con.struc- tion Company, either in furnishing maierial or supplies, or in a;iy way whatsoever." Why, sir, the original resolution was comprehensive enough to cover all that, and it was intended to be so. " Whether corrupt motives of any kind existed with or influenced His Honor's ministers in the advice tendered by them to His Honor the Lieutenant-i Governor in rela- tion to the Nakusp & Slocan Railway Com- pany." Could language be more comprehen- sive than that ? We want to tind out whether there was any species of corruption at all. Now, if the members of the government had any interest in it, directly or indirectly, there would be corruption. .So that tlie resolution was proposed in the most comprehensive way. Now, the hon. member, .Mr. Forster, has said that the report of hi^ remarks in the op- position organ, the Time!: is not correct. Well, we have struck out the part he objects to although I am satisfied he used them. And then Mr. Brown quibbles about the wording of the resolution, he says the wording of the resolution is to limit the question to the first guarantee. And in order to make that clear we have struck that part out also. And as to their burning with the desire to move for a Royal Comm'ssion and could not do it be- cause of the point of order, I venture to say that rule 45 has nothing whatever to do with it. That rule merely prevents anybody mov- ing for an expression of opinion, an abstract expression of opinion which would involve the expenditure of money. And this is an en- tirely diflFerent thing. And in 1874, there was no objection made to Mr. Robson moving the same resolution. .So it is just as compe- tent for an hon. member on the opposite side to move this thing as members of the govern- ment and, if there was any sincerity about hon. members opposite, and they had wanted a Royal Commission, they would have risked the point of order, and have got themselves on record ; and what better thing would thej' have wanted than for the government to have de- feated their motion for i Royal Commission by raising a point of order? Fault was found with me because I said on a previous occasion I did not know who were the members of the Construction Company. What I .^.lid was strictly correct. Until the information had been obtained for this house I had not taken the tiodble to find out who were the members of the company or the Constru tion Company. I was dealing with the company and I knew that it was registered under Act of Parliament and it was merely a matter of idle curiosity to know who were the members of the company. I knew the gentlemen I was dealing with, and having found out that the company was in a position to put up $118,000, it was no part of my business to be prying into the question of their membership. I can assure hon. gentle- men that my time is too much occupied —and I think they will believe it when I say it — with matters of importance, to be employed in prying into other people's business, even if I were so disposed. And I did not concern myself as to who was going to make what pro- '5 fit there was ii. this contract, or who were the members of the rompany or the Construction Company I was content with ascertaining from reliable sources what the road would cost, and then entering into an agreement with a company of sufficient means, as evidenced by the deposit of $118,000 to build it. And then, sir, we are told that the resolution is not wide enough ; it leaves out the crux of the whole thing. But the crux of this thing is corruption. That is what we want to find out about ; the other questions which the hon. gentlemen opposite want to interpose are mere matters of politics. But this is the red herring which they want to drag across the scrn', which they hope will side track the whole object of the inquiry. They want the com- mission to inquire whether the government ex- ceeded their authoiity under the Railway Act, 1893. t)o they want a Royal Commission for that purpose? That is a question for this legislature to say, and not a Royal Commis- sion. If this house had said that they exceeded their authority, or if the house did think the government had exceeded their authority they would not have passed the bill, or if the house passed the bill, although of the opinion that the government had exceeded their authority, that is a ratification of what the government has done, and in either case the matter is end- ed, and, such being ihe case, can you tell me what earthly reason there is for a R.jyal Com- mission to sit and re-open the question, which has been settled by the legislature? Even assuming that the government have exceeded their authority, what is that, sir, in comparison with the tjross charge of theft and corruption made against us ? The hon. leader of the op- position proposes to mix up two things which are wide apart, then go before the commission, abandon the theft and corruption, and try to get a verdict in his favor on a wholly immater- ial issue. Why, the question of excess of authority does not weigh in the scale one feather's weight in comparison with the cor- ruption charges that have been made. You cannot but see the utter insincerity of the gentlemen of the opposition when they put two such different matters in the balance together. " And that the commissioners be also empow- ered to investigate, ascertain and report what person:, have been or are, either directly or Indirectly, interested in .ne land known as the Townsite of Three F"orks, or in any of the proceeds of the land known as lot 210," etc. Has it ever been suggested in this house before now or is it even now charged that any member of the govern- ment had anything to do with Three Forks? Has any one of the opposition pretended for a moment to say that there has been anything i6 wrong about that so far as the inemberN of the Hovtrnment are concernc