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The insidious propaganda supposed. to be conducted by United States inter-- | ests in the hope of uprooting the Hydra | structure would stop, if the Govern-- ment had +o order the Commission to | expropriate and put their plants ou PRIVATE COMP ANIES WANTS CANADIAN SEAWAY Expropriation Will Follow "Insidious Propaganda," He Tells Legislature Announcement of a Hydro policy and Hydro service for Northern Ontario; warning of "Hands Off!" to all private power interests, American-- controlled or otherwise, who may be seeking to undermine and destroy the great Hydro enterprise; and a declaration-- if merely a reiteration, as he terms it--of his policy on the matter of St. Lawrence water-- ways, came from Premier Fer-- guson in the Legislature yes-- terday with a suddenness that fairly electrified the slim House. Hydro for the North. "These acts Introduced today are iU~ tended to place the exemptions of vNC Registrars of Deeds, the Local ReSg!S~ trars, the clerks and Sheriffs all 04 the same basis, namely, $3,000. At the present time the Sheriff has a s&lary supplemented up to $1,800, whether the fees of the officc amount to that C" ncot, while all the other officers in the sorvice were not placed in that 305. tion. These bills provide that the sal!-- ary of all these other officers shall be supplemented up to $1,800. It has for a long time been an anomaly that ths Province was often paying a first--class clerk or clerk--stenographer more than these responsible officials, who must use their own discretion. The levelling up of the exemptions and the raising of the minimum salary should remove this inecquality. y m o us Mr. Ferguson minced no words on any one of the three points. Through the linking up of a number of private powers, all recently acquired by the Government, Hydro, he announced, would socn be able to give the North the same advantage and benefits as enjoyed by Southern Ontario. MUST "KEEP QUIET," FERGUSON WARNS "Crown Attorneys could have their fees commuted and accept a salary based on the average of five years' nct income, but this applied only to citie: of 30,000 and over. The pr,?pcsc(. amendments to the act make R °D plicable to other places. Unifermily of Fers. There was very littiile uniformity in the fees charged under the Summa.~ Convictions Act and in the Coun'y Judges' Criminal Court. This act pro-- poses to make these various fees un:-- form in the courts named." s Asked by T. K. Slack, Progressi\e member for Dufferin, if any provision had been made for Police Magistrates the Attorney--General stated that he had had their case under consideration for some time, and that, while they were in a different position than the other officials--some being pald by the Province, some by the municipality and some by the county--he hoped to work «amething out at an early datce. for the St. Lawrence project, d not, he argued, put it. ues J a/ * F'-é/ -- L'( a : '/ 2 (/'7;({..*%%*'.;_,.' Pesoven m I lfim as $ A0% T 22%+ efrptndininirtar i us strtint> uts tcorlits ce hcchaistreca Wt *A s if we are waiting for leadership, it is for leadership from the point whence it should come. Let the Federal Gov-- ernment give us leadership if you will. Let them announce their policy and see if th'ek people approve it. I venture to say that if I defined a policy for the 72 w6 it on our own side of the boun-- dary. That's why I take issue with some people. "I am just as anxious as any one to P'etter our transportation system. But way, ut it seems they haven't. "The St. Lawrence development." ho continued, "is primarily a Dominion matter. I think we are all in favor of a development, but it comes down to a question of ways and means." Reviewing the situation and refer-- ring to the development of canals in Carada, then he went on: "I'm not inclined to the view that we should become minority shareholders in the, grt:jatest enterprise this country ever| a .fl ' '"Why do you say minority share-- | holders?" Mr. Slack inquired. | "I assums my friend has studied all | the plans." said Mr. Ferguson. f "Yes," Mr. Slack replied. ""Then the honrable membear knows the situation when you get down to| Cornwall," Myr, Ferguson 'continued., There, he said, the construction was to' be carried some twenty miles on the United States side of the boundary. "And," he declared, "I'm opposed to that. If you want to dig a canal, let ° us dig it .on our own side af tha waiinm.~ 1 Mr. Slack wanted to tell the House that he was an enthusiastic supporter |of public ownership and Hydro and he wanted to defend Hydro. He char-- l acterized the activity of other power 'concerns. and particularly that in the | Bruce Peninsula, as "dipping in," and ]he felt that the private operations in Bruce were simply "bait to get the lProvmce in wrong." Also, he felt that |the private company in Bruce was 'creating what is termed a "nuisance value," or, as he said. ""making certain offers so that they will compel Hydro to buy them out." He went on to say that the Progreos-- sive group stood solidly behind Hydro, and was continuing in this vein when the Speaker ruled that he was out of order, in that he had exceeded the ton-- minute period allowed, and in that he was not speaking to a question of privi-- lege. » _ _Mr. Slack apologized readily -- and hoped that at a later date he would have the opportunity -- of completing MIS FEORMMEIEE | ¥¥emuccuccc t 2. Bsoe ipolicy ¢*" ~'HA boh\;vea tlrk 'ter should bs discussed th i'Support Public Ownership evesacg y h n P EUE EECAL Y I thought everybody had heard it. I thought The Globs had heard it, any-- way, but it seems thev haven't 1 5e s o & Cill iC u1118 his remarks. However, he concluded. he would like the Prime Minister to "clear up" his position and answer the query of where he was going. Mr. Ferguson's Reply. "My attitud: in the St. Lawrence do-- velopment and on Hydro has been re-- iterated so frequently and so distinetly T FMMINEGItE mureter ce 5 . n oR i stockholder" in "the grea e 6+ j the country ever had." h Mr. Ferguson's statements followed | / the request of Thomas K. Slack (Pro-- '4 gressive, Dufferin), that he declare his, / stand on the Hydro and St. Lawrence waterways question. ; Quotes Editorial in The Globe t ~au inc €divorial, he told the t in the d*ep waterways ntario expected leadership Ferguson, believed that the discussed tiibx'c;li.gvlaly s e whols mat-- , C227 CURRRARRLDURE ioh t & 2 845420405441 TV 28 4 ~liked it or not, they would ask _ Hon. Harry C. Nixon (Progressive, | Brant) pointd out that any mem-- | ber wanting a Hydro discussion could ' occasion it by a resolution on the order paper. "Let it be understood," the Premier concluded, "this Government believes the people of the Province are behind the Hydro organization, and this Gov-- ernment is standing behind it to give it all the support and the leadership and financial assistance it may require to carxt'y 'on as successfully as it has in the past." Mr. Ferguson observed that the con-- sideration of the Hydro estimates pro-- vided such a time. Mr. Slack suggested that the Premier set aside an hour or two in the House to have a more extended discussion of Hydro. * But I want to say to this House, to the press, aye to the Province, that if they persist in what looks to the Gov-- ernment like an effort on their part to undermine this great Hydro enterprise, they will find that we will instruct the Hydro Commission to go in and ex-- vropriate them, and put them out of business, paying them what is fair. This Gcovernment believes that the people of this Province are standing behind Uydro, and the Government intends to stand behind it with all the support, financial and otherwise, they can give it to carry it on as successfully as it has been carried in the past." | __fIt is known that five or six years | ago the Government, through its Com--| | mission, filed plans for development of | the St. Lawrence, and this Government passed an Order--in--Council and sub-- mitted it to the Ottawa Government, lasking them to concede and recog--| ;nize our rights, and to take the proper position to protect navigation. And we have been rapping on the doors ever since to get the Dominion | Government to concede that right." ; i _In his most withering tone, © the |\ Prime Minister ridiculed the suggestion that Hydro was "slowing down" in the | Provincs, stating in denial that during | the past few months the Government. | through the Commission, had pur-- | chased a half dozen private plants, and only last week had taken up an option | on the controlling interest in the | Wahnipitae development at Sudbury. Policy for the North. "Hydro, with the approval of the CGovernment," said Myr. Ferguson, "is launching out into a great Hydro policy for Northern Ontario. A new era in Hydro policy and a new expansion in Hydro development in the North is be-- ing made in the general policy of Hydro distribution in the future. Up to the present time there have been a great number of difficulties. Hydro is based on the principle of municipal owner-- ship, and because of the limited number of municipalities and the long distances of carrying it has not been economical to introduce it into some districts. But we have reached the stage where, by taking in certain power interests and linking them up, we are going to deal in power in Northern Ontario and the people there will have the same advan-- tages and benefits as are enjoyed by the pople in Southern Ontario. Thrermtens Expropriation. '"There are constant remarks being heard," he continued on a fresh tack, "that insidious attacks are being made upon Hydro; that the great power in-- terests of the United States are seek-- Ing ts fasten their tentacles on power in this Province with the object of de-- stroying Hydro. Up to date, Hydro has never resorted to the extreme move of expropriaticn. We have always been able to negotiate for the purchase of plants--all friendly negotiations. It was a good thing, observed the Prime Minister, that members of the House from time to time brought such points up. The Government, he stated, vas s» busy with administering the people's affairs that it forgot to ad-- vertise. "I am astounded that my honorable friend has the temerity to stand up here and say that this Government has in the slightest degree slackened its ef-- forts for advancement, . improvement and development of this great public ownership enterprise. Ifthe has follow-- ed the question he will know that one of the great difficulties has been the attitude taken by the Ottawa Govern-- ment. 'That Government has taken a different attitude than any other Gov-- ernment did there in respect to power when it says that the power that be-- longs to this Province does not belong to it, but belongs to the Dominion Government. Ownership of Power.