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b°VC wilalt ne thought was the Gov-- ernment's reason for putting forward such disappointing legislation things began to get lively. He declared the Prime Minister and the Government would never have consented, after making the great ado about the great temperance advance they were going to make, if the liquor party had not come down and said, "If you do that, woe unto you,'" "and I tell»--you," add-- ed --Mr. Davidson, "they had not the courage of their convictions." .. Hon. Mr. Hanna--I want to tell N. K. H. McElroy (Carleton) claimed that the Conservatives' tem-- perance legislation had been progres-- sive, and during their ten years in power every promise which had been made with reference to license admin-- Istration had been faithfully kept. Hampering the Commission. Mr. T. S. Davidson (North Brant), in an effective speech, declared _ all the temperance legislation they had heard about had not come from the Conservative party to any great ex-- tent. These good, grand men refer-- red to who would compose the Com-- mission would find themselves ham-- pered with a two--inch rope _ round their necks, that they could not make & move without coming to the Teu-- tenant--Governor in Council and get-- ting sanction as to whether _ their ideas would be carried out or not. Puts Spurs Into Government. When Mr. Davidson give what he thought ernment's reason for ; such disapovointing le« ", ~"viat ssecretary wanted the law changed. "It is all very well," asserted the speaker, '"to say no Government would hand over its rights to the enforcement of a law of this kind to any board that has the absolute con-- trol of it. If you are going to appoint a board which will be of any value, a board having the power which you in-- tend to give it, a board having the control which you irtend to give it, then you must appoint that board un-- controlled by any order in Council or by any right of the Ministry to inter-- fere with the doings of that board." Defended the Past. IP E scolile es . o omm eoney o dn n y ie 3 CaE K why he cortinued to keep those local boards throughout the _ Province when it was clear, according to the statement of the Provincial Secre-- tary, that they were not satisfactory, and this was during the time that the Provincial Secretary wanted the la w changed. Alluding to the proposed Commis-- sion, Mr. Proudfoot said he had heard on various occasions for the last num-- ber of years that the hon. gentleman intended to introduce such legislation as this, and it seemed somewhat strange that the late Prime Mirister, who, as the gentleman who had just spoken said was so strongly in favor of advancing the cause of temper-- ance, had not taken up this question dt:'rlng the years he was in power, and us by the party who '@y they are the temperance party of the Province." How far does this legislation -- they have brought forward bear out the position they took? asked the speak -- er. Qutside of the Central Commis-- sion and the three or four minor clauses there was nothing in the bill at all. Commission Idea is Old. Mr. Proudfoot (Centre Huron) de-- clared that in the election of 1914 the' question of abolish the bar was before the people, and the Conserva-- tives from one end of the Province to the other said that although they were not in favor of abolish the bar they were the temperance party of the Province, and the policy which they advocated went a great deal farther than that of abolishing the bar. The electors said: "It is true that we are not at the present time in favor of abolishing the bar, but we are in favor of that advanced leg-- islation that is going to be given to Mr. Hugh Munro-- (Glengarry) doubted the statements of the Gov-- ernment speakers that it had done everything to aid temperance. The Government by its restrictions had hampered -- temperance -- reform _ at every turn. There was no doubt the Government had the support of the liquor interests. There was not a li-- cense in Glengarry county to--day, and he knew the great results that had followed from the abolition of the bars and shops there. Government Has Retrogressed. Hampered Temperance. 'people who ion and the Scott act. He be-- the Cominission was a move in ht direction. who supported the Liberal | had all worked against lo-- Davidsor? proceeded to 1e power which you in-- t, a board having the you irtend to give it, appoint that board un-- y well," asserted the Ly no Government er its rights to the a law of this kind to The 'Provincial Secretary _ became righteously indignant because, -- he said, the Opposition had declared the Government was ailied with the li-- quor traffic, and that was untrue. Mr. Rowell said he was not going to dis-- cuss that. "But what I am going to say is this: that if they were allies they tould not have acted more in the interests of the traffic than they have, and if the liquor interests -- of this'Province can be as well served by men who are not their allies, then might this Province be safe from men' who come no nearer in their actual performance than the present Government has done." A Pitiable Performance. '\The DiHL WAS & nitishle ) harfrarm: The Provincial Secretary had told them a week ago that the situation was such as demanded legislation in order that the men wearing -- the Aing's uniform should not be served. in the licensed places of this Pro-- vince. If it was necessary for the | soldier, argued Mr. Rowell, it was | equally necessary for the civilian. That one provision in the first bill. was the best proof that the Opposi-- / tion amendment was justified. The | admission was made that the war did | create a new situation and that the | war demanded drastic legis]ation.' Why had not the Government the courage and the patriotism to ex--| press that in the bill now before the | House ? ' Mr. Rowell rose at 11 o'clock be-- fore a large representation in the galleries, and delivered a masterly and eloquent speech of three--quar-- ters of an hour's duration. He de-- clared the Provincial Secretary had said the bill was going to work such a wonderful improvement. We were gqing to have a new era, a kind of mxl}ennium in licensing administration in this Province. If such. blessings were to come to the people why did not the hon. memher intraduaa awan in ims Province. If such blessings were to come to the people why did not the hon. member introduce such a bill long ago? Why for Soldiers Only? Mr. W. H. Price (Parkdale), in his maiden speech in the House, criticiz-- ed Mr. Rowell's position as a sup-- porter of the old TLiberal Government, who was willing to go hand in glove with that party when for twenty years it had trifled with the liquor question. He pointed out that un-- der the old Government only 228 bars had been closed in the Prov-- ince, while under the Whitney enact-- ments about 1,100 liquor places had been wiped out. One of the first moves taken by the Whitney Admin-- istration was to prohibit children go-- ing into bars for liquor. It was not Hon. Mr. Hanna----I am not bully-- ing across the floor of the House. We have stood all that kind of thing as no human being is asked to submit to. We are going to tolerate no more of it. No bullying about that. Mr. Davidson--I1 am willing to withdraw if I have broken the rules of the House. I am not going to go any farther than that, as far as I understand the English language. T have just as good a right to say cer-- tain things as the hon. gentlemen have to say things about us. Mr., Price's Maiden Speech, a case of "Is that you, daddy?" said he, referring to the election poster, but "Here's your whiskey, daddy." the hon. gentleman that I nave for-- lowed him very closely for the last two minutes, and what he says is ab-- solutely false. It is untrue. It is outside of the rules of this House. T gemand that he retract it. TL will give as much license as any man, particu-- larly to a new member, but T will not glve license to a statement like that. It is false and untrue. The Provincial Secretary continued vehemently to demand an unreserved withdrawal, and impressed on Mr. Davidson that it was a serious state-- ment. This brought Mr. Rowell to his feet with the remark: "The hon. member cannot stand up and threaten another member of this House and shake his fist and bully across thse floor of the House." -- Mr. Davidson--If T have transgres--| sed the rules of the House T will take | it back. I will accept the Provincial Becretary's statement if he is not bound that way. | Hon. Mr. Hanna----It is the Provin-- clal Secretary and the leader of this House also. Bullying in the House. Masterly Address a pitiable perform-- by Liberal Leader