The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

in has contentions as to power price, a nd the low rate ot $18 given to the company, then nepveaemed by A. L. Muted. According to the Premier's in- formation, E. W. Backus, of English River timberl- limit fame, has ac- quired the Great Lake- Pulp and Paper Company, and "the Premier':, .n-timation to the Legriltlture was that Mr. Backus had dhraroetly kept in the luckgmmmd during negotia- rioms between former Premier Drury, tKremer Atltorttey-Gettert1 Raney and the company. As a re- "alt of those negotiations. he said, Fir Adam Beck. Chairman of the Hydro Commission. was overridden in tme course of his announoe- mean. however, the Premier vltptyr- ously assailed the old Government for what he declared to be an arbi- wary and unwarranted course in forcing the Provincial Hydro Com- misdon through its appointees. George Ramsden and Hon. Dougal Carmichael, the former of whom he :eferred to as a "ertool-pueron," to accept a contract which would have mat the Province mom '4,600,ty00 to $5,000,000 in the term of the con- tract. The Premtier described an "damn- ttble" the course owed by the Deury Government in proceeding, through the Gregory Commission lubCOmmdttee finding, and its major- 'ty against Sir Adam Beck on the Hydro Commimi-on. to force 9. mice which it knew, he said. would coat ' whet mundcdwldttéea. on the Thunder Bay system unmade 'of dollars. Leading up to the announcement of tlhe Fenguaom Government's com- pulsion exercised upon the Cheat rakes Pulp and Paper Own- puny to sign auney gonna-ct, Mr. Prim Forced Through '.' Ferguson described the con-tract which it found to be in existence as "a. contract which no Government would permit; that was against submit: palm: that was a fraud upon the whole hydro developrtiesnt scheme: that was iniquitious; and that was to cost the _rttsurtietrmui'tiee, Anetoun.eament by Premier Fens-u- son of the revision by his Govern- ment of the Drury Government's ' 18 -pe r-trarnsepower contract wlith the Great Lakes Pulp and Paper c'ormsany at Fort William preoipr. tatod a brief th-sums in the Legisla- ture yesterday. A new contract. has been signed by which the company is to my $21, comparable, it was mated; to Port Arthur and Nsitrigon prices. Blames Drury Regime. that was to cost are munxcmpalmes involved at been. $60,909} year for a 1Mrty-twow period." Prmafer Ferguson aroused the ire of former Attorney-General Raney by referring to the "devious" methods employed tsy the late Gov- ernment to give the Great Lakes people , rate o.t,t,1A,ttr2ere.trprtr, COT LIMITS. ALSO AT SONG, HE SAYS T'irti." Tinner-ren the House' atrdui these deviouhItetttodtr. Alleges English River Tim. ber Magnate Has Ab sorbed Fort William Pulp and. Paper Concern That Secured Power From Drury at Loss to Ontario of Nearly $5,000,000 BA ttlieth: MAN BEHIND ; GREAT" LAKES FIRM, FERG USON DECLARES /gtulresclay, Witch i r " . - 2ygtiitd-sot---- c But Mr. Haney stated that all he was interested in at the moment was the Premier's charges as to "devious methods." Perhaps the old Government was right and per- haps it was wnong in its finding for 818 power for the Great Mes, but it had been a straightforward busi- ness proposition, having had due consideration by eminent engineers. and there were, he said, no devious methods about it. - Mr. Carmityhael-But you were there when it was decided. But I am not going to wrangle about it, which did. not require them to take. Hydro power, and which did not compel them to commence construc- tion until Hydro power was brought to their d'oqr. In eromrf1oor question and answer the Premier maintained that the Drury Government had found Mr. Alerted in default, and had not utilized that advantage to straightan out d,iffieu1tiem. Mr. Carmicth disputed a state- ment of the Premier that the cone tract was put through during the absence of Sir Adam Beck. Sir Adanr--a was not there when you executed that, eoIrtrtret. Mr. Carmichael also questioned a statement of the Premier as to his having taken the. say-so of the late Government in his consideration of power matters, stating that he was not accustomed to that kind ot pro- eedurtt.. He rot him Advice from Sir Adam Beek--yes, and I can vouch tor having heard Mm say so. Resuming the floor, however, the Premder declared: "George Ramsden was put on the Power Commission for no other purpose than to force this contract through. 1Vhat was his statement? 'I am going to carry out the orders of the Government. I am going to carry out the orders of the people who put me here." " Sir Adam Ignored in Deal. Mr. Ittbney----Wtlere did my hon. friend find that? To "Go After" Backus, When Government members ap- plnuded wildly. Mr. Raney broke in with: "Again the end man has given the high sign." to jump this contract through in- stead of allowing the Hydro Com- mission to negotiate it. The corre- spondence shows that the negotia- z.ons were largely carried on 'by the inte Prime Minister and the late AtrtorneuraGerietra.1. You submitited' that contract to the Gregory Com- mission-appointed, as I said, for the purpose of annihilating the Hydro ComnviaMon----and the Hydro comm,imiort, at public expense, had to be represented there by counsel endeavoring to save the pu'blic from being forced into assuming this Treat liability. The Gregory Com- mission retvised and drafted a new contract., of which you approved. Mr. Rartey--What of it? Mr. Ferguson-l say it was the most damnabie thing that could be :magined. Mr. Ferguson-My hon. friend looks abroad for a, high Sign. but he doesn't see any high sign these days. Proceeding. Mr. Ferguson said :hat tth'uy was not the only thing that he was going to "pick off" before he sot through. and he proposed to see that MrnBackus gave "back to the people portions of their domain or size gave proper consideration for them. Hon. Mr. Raney replied to the Premier's grtatements, repeating the charges of previous sessions that the old Government had permitted the r-ompany to get away with a contract Mr. Ferguson-yes. I will. And I will tell the House. too, that you were largely responsible. Don't get c-xcited. It in not the first time you have 'been found out, and it is not the last time you have been found out. The devious methods were. first, the appoimting of Mr. Ramsden on the Hydro CommiaBion ht Public Expense. " . -- "er --..-- _ experts, the "my" had all "HE? in the controversy, and acted on his best Judgment. Mr: Ferguson main- tained that the late Government sent a letter down to,lthe Hydro, in- str'ucting that the augment. he ran. fled, and Mr. Raney chimengga him to produce it. Mr. Ferguson' qttid that he could, and that there were other days coming. "Bac1cus'n Benediction." Hon. Manning Doherty made ton; mal protest to the Speaker wh N Premier Ferguson, referring to Molt? Backus" connection with the pro-g ceedings, stated that he we» curt! his honorable friends had the bone- fit of Mr. Backus's "benedictton, if not his benefaction." But Mr. Fon- guson countered with the rem that he had said he was our. the old Government had Backul's bani. dictions; he was not sure it had it? benefactlons. Mr. Doherty said" i that was the standard that the Prime Minister wished to set for the House, he had nothing'xnore to any. and Mr. Ferguson said he was not taking lessons from Mr. Ddherty on etiquette. Again Mr. Haney demanded to be uhmnun tho "dPVi'Ous" methods re- Again Mr. Haney demanaeu- TO on shown the "devious" methods re- ftrrred to by the Premier, and Mr. Ferguson said that he was sorry Mr. Haney had not appreciated those already outlined. Longlac Concession. "Mr. Backus," he said, "knew he had an undue advantage. and he knew this Government would not permit it to continua and without any great dM1oulty he aasmned the obligation of $21 power. "Why was he BO Willing? Be- cause he knew You gave him the bangles pulp comma which you sold in a mung market. when prices were at bottom, at anywhere from 20 to 47 cents a. cord, when it was worth six months before $2.15. according to your own records, and you sold when the bottom went out of the market. ' He can well afford to pay $21 and have an advantage over almost every pulp and paper company in the district." Sir Adam Beck is to make 'a gen- eral survey of conditions next week. when the main estimates came "The Ottawa one, perhaps, books the easiest of the lot, so far as get- ting at the operation is concerned. although the supply return will not be as large, or so nearly meet our requirxrmeeits as the St. Lawrence." Before the discussion on Great Lakes Pulp and Paper oo. mttuttert--. which arose during consideration of supplem enrtary Hydro etytirtta,tegr-, the Premier briefly dealt with the power situation in Eastern Ontario, which he described as seri- ous. In almost every section, ht said, than was such a. shortage of power that even the options on fu- ture power developments had been portioned out. Must Get More Power. "There are only three alternatives," he said. "There is a new diversion of water at Niagara, development of the St. Lawrence, and, lastly, taking hold of the Ottawa. River situation. And we are determined that one or' other of these shall be undertaken.