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111$er at: ,xtttmtttRrTrre contents: r,, 'afl','l'l Victor (Commissioner) WW . liams's letter ot June, 1998, to Brien, asking him what he was some to 50. "about his Brookville indebtedness. le raid that he had asked Brien 'atyo.ut the miner. and the law" had told him ne would get some money and straight- en up the debt. A few days later Brien had reported that he had squared things away. The Inspector claimed that Brien had had ample warning to pay his debts, before friction and trouble zarose. Brien. he stated. drove a. car-- a purchase he considered in the light of a luxury. "Did you have knowledge that Brown was a bootlegger?" asked Mr. Finlay- son. "Yes," was the reply. i "I made some inquiries, and found out ;it was a house party. Schneider, I iknew, was above suspicion of bootleg- ging or trtuticking in liquor, or any- thing like that. The permit was held a couple of weeks. and I satisfied my- self that no charge could be laid. Brien agreed. And I sent the permit back with a county constable from St. Jacob's." "Was it known all around town?"" asked Mr. Miller. East Elgin. A.--Yes. The first he knew of Brian's part in the Conestoga incident. was when the ofticer had brought in Schneider's fpermit next morning. "Brien explained ilv_hat he had done to me," said witness. Witness recalled that he had not' known of Brien's dealings with Brown until the former had been brought be- fore General Williams. He had not; known that Brien had taken Brown's! roll. "Was there a docket list of sus-; pected bootleggers in the Kitchener. ode,?" asked Mr. Morrison, East Ham-i on. "Yes," was the witness's answer. l, Q.---Do you know whether Brown's name was on it when you came to Kit-f chener? A.--a don't know that. ta.----)' open, anyway. for all eon- stobles to see? A.---Yes. [ Inspector Rae next told the commit- itee of the incident in General gWilliams's office at Queen's Park Twhen Brien had resigned. Pres.. (ent on the occasion were the Com- lmissioner Alfred Cuddy. Deputy Commissioner: Inspector Prank E. El- liott, Brien and himself. The Commis- sioner had said: "I guess you know, Brien. what you're down here for?" And Brien replied: " guess it's about the Conestoga and Blair affairs." Mr. 'Cnddv had said' "We've no fault to find with you there-you did perfectly t"ttht." The. Commrzsioner had then mentioned Brien's debt to Brown, and had pointed out that only a few days before he had dismissed a Provincial ',ottieer up North for indebtedness. Mr. :Cuddy had suggested that Brien's af- ', fair with Brown was not "the action of any police, officer." and had asked hitn er. Miller-Did the Magistrate know 1 . 1i2.---Was there anv possi " . . . ' . iblc grot ttti for prosecution in tl 'il ' P. . " w cas ? - l . c A. Not The witness claimed that Brit-11's duty was to have arrested the people he found on the road. but that, according to the report Brien had given him, there was not much evidence of drunk- enness. "You never saw Schneider?" asked Mr. Finlayson. "I dont know him yet," was the reply. Q.---Was there any interference with you in your duty? A.--Not the slight- A.--a'm not sure about that. Unaware of Dealings. Although witness did not know Mr. Schneider personally. he had learned that he was one of the wealthiest men in the district, and practically "mmed" Conestoga and St. Jacob's. "His dismissal had nothing to do with the Conestoga or Blair incidents?" "Nptp thing." "Did Brien say anything or go away mad?" "No. He shook hands with Inspector Elliott. and mysclf." if he could get another job. He had then suggested that Brien he permitted to resign. rather than be dismissed. for It would make it easier for him to get new employment. Brien had agreed: the resignation had been typed out, and Brien had §igned it. .. "Just a m sal?" "Yes." Shook "and: "No persuasion. force or threats. or anything of that sort used on him?" asked Mr. Finlayson. "No," replied witness. a math 'Sits-lv/r', Al of 'scupm (lirmi 3"?"er Local mm}? -' _ ._. , "It was purely a. local " "i"'; _ Inspector Rae. "t never t','e,t,ttti,gterii,; lt to Toronto. I dealt with it on my! own responsibility, and to the best of, lttty judgment. and I still think I did' 'iwhot is right." : Inspector Rae told the committee that' ihe had been requested to send om- ic.ers io the Blair Street dance. He had :detalled Brien and a couple ot other (t?lricer.ty Next morning Brien had told thim that he had made a seizure of some beer. Without gixing him fur- "hen. facts, he, Brien, had gone and '. laid an information against Harry Prong, the license-holder of the car in which the beer was discovered. : "Was it the usual thing to do what 'Brien (lid in this case?" asked Mr. Finlayson. . '-- g.rrTt,e, m"Anna" L'Cln. F l Some time during the day he had a l telephone message from Inspector 3 Elliott at Toronto asking him if astreet .danco had been held, and it any ar- trcsts had been made. " told him," !said witness. "that some beer had been Erscizcd. that I would get the facts. and {that I would report. to him." The tole- l, phone inquiry that Inspector Elliott had 'mode was. he stated, a common prac- I that I I phone t mode ' than. I "R!" l? Allin-J nu." . "No," was the reply. "The praetiee is for all officers to talk thin'zs over with their Inspectors first, That is, i "No (it-d"? frcm Elliott to hold cff on t:,wcccecutirm?" asked Mr. Finlayson. "No l in :'rfcrmcs?' ', "No." 1 "Was Prong's name mentioned?" "I didn't even know Prong's name at, the time." No Suspicion of TratRekt"ng. unless the rigid. no suspicion of any liquor trai- licking on his part. "I asked Brien," said witness. "it he could identify any of the men who ran away from the. car. He said mo,' so I didn't think it safe to go ahead with a prosecution. The matter hung fire for several weeks, while I investi- |gated it. I then reported to 'Toronto:--, ta report with which Brien did not dis-t I agree." i l Inspector Ree felt that Brien should" 1 have stood by and observed the car for 'some time. That being impossible. he' (should have seized the machine, as the (lay allows. l, I "Then," said Mr. Finlayson. "he' ' Would have had am 1e 5 bringing a prosecution?" rea ons tor "Q1 fii) was the answer. ' ' .-- heir he let all the men et tinny and didn't seize the machine. W, 'lil', all chance to get evidence? A.--. .'S. Witness stated he had inquired into the Prong case and had found Prong to be not a. bootlogger, but "a very te- amenable lad. working with the County Roads Department." Thee was; he 1 Mr. Finlayson-As a matter of fact ,m-ithcr was there. But that makes no idiiTercnce to Brien or the Star. grind Liquor Legally. In explanation of the Exchange Hotel incident and the finding of Free- born's permit in Peter Wagner's room, Inspector Rae said that Wagner had a perfect right to keep liquor there under d, regular permit from the Liquor Board. It was his own room. and came under the residence classification. The per- mit had fallen out of Freeborn's pocket in a liquor store, had been picked up, and had been forwarded to Wagner. issuer of permits, to return to Freeborn. At first there had been some suspicion of forgery in connection with the permit signatures. but investigation revealed that Freeborn could neither read nor write. and that on occasions his brother got liquor for him. The arrangement may have been "slack," but investiga- tion disclosed that there was "no im- proper usc of the permit" under the Liquor Control Act. Any charge laid would have had to be laid under the Code, but this under the circumstances Was considered unnecessary. He (In- Q,--i"icn and the Star have some may that you were pulled oft the case. Was there ever any suspicion that timer Mr. Homuth or Mr. Weichel had anything to do with the case? N-l didn't know either ot the gentlemen at the time. Inspector Rae revealed to the com- mittee the fact that he liked Brien personally; that he had been sorry to lose him: and that in June, when the Commissioner had wanted to dismiss him for his debts, he had interested, and had got him another chance. spector Rae) had talked with Inspector Elliott on the matter. and they had joi_nt1y 1eeidyl to drop the matter. cases are emergency mat- There wa.c, he any liquor traf- FEDERAL PENSIONS. MAY BE ULTRA VIRES, AFFECTING ONTARIO Price Comments on Possibil- ity of Ctmfliot With B.N.A. hot MANY COUNSEL CONCUR While there is no chance of the On- tario Government altering its plan at bringing in an old-age pensions scheme this year, it is understood, nevertheless, that the Province feels it is sort of "taking a chance" on the question, be- cause of the possibility ot the Fedeni Pensions Act being in conflict with the British North America Act. Many eminent counsel have concurred in. the belief that the Dominion law is ultra vires, and t,hat some amendment "or it will have to be made to bring it Into line with the British North America Commenting on the situation yester- day, Attorney-General William H. Price said: "The Dominion Government would have power to make a grant to any Province ot the Dominion for the pur- pose of carrying out any line ot policy or supplementary work that was being done by the Province. In the Old-e Ago Pensions Act, however, the Do- minion Government has passed an act. which regulates the amount of pension, the persons to whom it must be paid, the method of administration and a great many other details. This is prac- tically making this act the law of every Province in Canada. What may be suit- able for one Province may not suit another at all. The result of this is that instead of creating a system ap- plicable to special needs ot each Prov- intro, the Federal authorities have an- tually legislated for the Province. It is probable. that this is ultra vires at the Dominion and that such legislation te open to_atlaek. Act. Price's Comments. Sasru.,ve-tirr: 24,176 LU. Arrests "In other words, the Provinces are reduced to administering the Old-Age Pensions Act under regulations passed- by Order-in-Council of the Dominion Government. This, surely, was not the intention of the British North America ~AcL." "In the Provinces of Manitoba and British Columbia." continued the Attor- ney-General. "where an old-age pen- sions act. has been introduced. they find that their legislation is subject to regu- lations passed by the Federal authorities and that they must go continually to Ottawa to settle every little detail ot administration. Under Federal Control.' Hon. John S. Martin, Minister of Agriculture, informed tht, House that 1,881 students had been registered at the Ontario' Agricultural College in 1928, or which Tl students only had come/ from outside the Province. and) only 36 from outside Canada. - In the Legislature yesterday. afternoon several important ques- tions were answered by members of the Government. In answer to one question, Attorney-Gen- eral Price admitted that there had been 24,176 arrests made under the Liquor Control Act for the year ending Oct. 31, 1928. There had been 892 convictions.