The Ontario Scrapbook Hansard

Ontario Scrapbook Hansard, 20 Mar 1937, p. 2

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Robert Allen (Lib., Riverdale), to whom Premier Hepburn said he had referred the Osbornes, told the House that all his participation in the matter amounted to was an en-- deavor to get for the Osbornes 'That's what they are," declared Mr. Glass. He admitted that he had charged certain proper legal fees for his services, but he had demandt-- ed no such payments as they had claimed. Liquor Commissioner Odette had subsequently sent for them, said Mr Glass, and the upshot of revelations there made, was that Mr. Odette 'told the Osbornes to get oul of his office. Ready for Inquiry, As a solicitor, said Mr. Glass, he sold service, Dennis had come to him in his office with Osborne, said Nr. Glass, representing that every copper they owed, $3,000, was tied up in the nroperty. They had shown him a letter, said he, giving him the impression that if certain altera-- tions were made the Liquor Board would grant a license. They had asked him to help them get things straightened out. Acting simply as a solicitor, he had consented. "But this talk that I wanted some $700 or other large sum from them is a downright falsehood from be-- ginning to end," declared Mr. Class. Number of Complaints. Mr. Glass said that on investigat-- ing he found that there had been a number of complaints from var. lous quarters against the granting of a license, and he had spent con-- siderable time in convincing the au-- thorities no nuisance would develop, because Dennis was a thoroughly respectable man and capable of running the place as it should be run. Osborne had told him he had all his money tied up in it, but he learned he hadn't a cent in-- volved. "A pair of blackmailers," inter-- jected Premier Hepburn. _ _ "As far as I'm personally con-- cerned," said Mr. Glass, "I am pre-- pared to have this matter investi-- gated by any committee that may be named. I think the whole thing was brought into the House to be-- smirch the honesty and character of an honorable member. The mem-- ber for East York (Mr. Henry) should be thoroughly ashamed of himself." "What they told me," he said, "was a downright falsehood from start to finish--" In defending himself against the charges embodied in the affidavits, Mr. Glass expressed the opinion that as a matter of common cour-- tesy the Opposition Leader should have first advised him of the in-- formation he had and given him a chance to say whether it was true or notl. "But." said he, "he preferred to renand these charges against the Prime Minister and myself, with-- out giving either of us a chance to explain. It certainly does not do him any credit to act as he has done." "Now, what charges are you making?" demanded Mr. Hepburn of Mr. Henry. * "None," replied Mr. Henry. "Then you ought to be thorough-- ly ashamed of yourself," interject-- ed Hon. H. C. Nixon. Glass in Rebuttal, "They are nothing but black. matlers," declared the Prime Min-- ister. "When Mr. Odette phoned me and advised me about the Os-- bornes coming to see him and he had listened to what they had to say, and was about to throw them out of his office, I told him to go right ahead; that he would be doing exactly what 1 would do in his place. "I never at any time in-- structed Mr. Odetie to issue a 1i« cense to any person. The contents of the affidavits are false." ME s LiX s n w to myself. 1 told them to go where ; they damn well pleased. Osborne had told Dennis they would use in thtence with me to get the beer authority cancelted. I told them I would not interfere." A Called Blackmailers. MYy secretary that unless I went . over Mr. Odette's head, they would . £0 to the Leader of the Opposition ;3 imd glw: him information damaging ' they claimed to be entitled "That's pretty cheap stuff," Attor-- 'ney--General Roebuck called to Mr. Henry. 5 u. '"He made a lot of po'itical speeches," said Mr. Henry. "Most of them were untrue, whether he knew it or not." Mr. Henry claimed there was no longer any '"control" in Ontario's liquor law administration, and that any one could buy all the liquor he wanted on a 25--cent individual per-- mit, The Government, in report-- }ing its $7,000,000 surplus, had got a great deal of revenue from the Highways Department, but had paid little or no attention to roads maine« tenance during the three years they !had been in office. Throughout the T. and N.O. country, he said, no 'work had been done at all, and | complaints against the condition of !thr highways were very general. Mr, Hepburn recalled that, in the 1934 election, Mr. Slaght had consid-- erable toa do with the position in Opposition in which Mr. Henry finds himself today. "You'd spend more time in your office than you do, if you signed them all," Mr. Henry shot back. The early part of Mr. Henry's con-- tribution to the Budget debate was pretty much of a wrangling nature, with he and Hon. Duncan Marshall, Minister of Agriculture, furnishing most of the cross--chamber argu-- ment. The two of them went to such lengths in debating the Min-- Ister's judgment in the purchase and showing of an O.A.C.'s prize bull, that the Prime Minister in-- terrupted at one juncture with: WMr. Henry and Mr. Hepburn had one heated exchange when the for-- mer referred to Arthur Slaght, K.C., as "a political trickster," who had "misled" the Judges sitting in the Royal Commission inquiry into the Ontario Power Service Corpora-- tion purchase. e "And he'll pull the hide off you when he gets back here," added Mr. Hepburn. "He's at the Privy Coun-- cil now, but when he returns he cer-- tainly will take your hide." "I made the same statement two years ago." biandly declarea Mr. Henry. "He's been a long time starting anything." £ "I thought we were debating my Budget, and not Duncan Marshall's bull." "Every one of them," Mr. Hep.' burn returned. "And it would have been a good thing for this Provy-- ince if you had done so. Signinz orders--in--council without _ know-- ing what they contained, is colos-- sal stupidity, Every order that comes before me, let me repeat, I read before I sign." R "Do you as Prime Minister read every order before you sign it?" asked Mr. Henry. "I wasn't 'Treasurer, then," said Mr. Henryv. "But you were Prime Minister," Mr. Hepburn shot back. '"You haven't," snapped the Prime Minister, and produced such an option dated in 1932. "There is no limit to this option," said he, "and yet, the Leader of the Oppo-- sition says he never did such a thing." The former Premier attackea the Government for placing loans on option, claiming that as far as he recalled he had never been guilty of such practice. to. Outside of that, he knew ing of '\ypat had gone on. Division on Budget Is Delayed To Monday as Nixon Indisposed The Budget debate division will lake place in the Ontario Legisla-- ture on Monday, as a result of an arrangement between Premier Hepburn and Opposition Leader Henry. Mr. Henry concluded his contri-- bution to the debate at 6.30 o'clock last night, but Provincial Secre-- March 20 Mr. Nixon has been indisposed for a couple of days, and that is believed to be responsible for the adjournment of his address until Monday. tary Nixon, who is to wind up for the Government, asked and ob-- tained an adjournment, although original plans had been for him to speak. * my friends get into office again they can investigate all they want "Nobody who investigates that 'ompany," he told the House. "can find anything to my discredit, and. on the other hand, they may find something to my credit, I for one am not afraid of anything that mary be revealed, and if and when During the many interchanges,' between the Opposition and the | Government, Mr. Roebuck an-- nounced that many investigations would be held undor the new authority which the bill provided; | Mr. Hepburn confirmed his inten-- tion to probe the operation of the Meighen companies and a number of pulpwood operations under for-- mer Tory administrations; and Mr.| Roebuck, nettled by interrogatlons( of Mr. Macaulay, expressed himself as ready to have the Diversified Investments Trust Company, of | which he once was President, thor-- oughly inquired into by the Opposi-- tion, if and when opportunity pre-- sented itselt to them. 'MANY PROBES _ ARE PROMISED Opposition Leader Henry pleaded with Premier Hepburn to defer the debate on the measure until Mon-- day in order that thorough consid-- eration might be given it when it was called. Still flushed from nis argument over the Osborne ailfi-- davits incident, the Prime Minister refused to listen to Mr. Henry's re-- quests, shouting across the floor: '"We're going on tonight, and that settles it." Hailed by Attorney--General Roe-- buck as "a long needed searchliight" that would expose many nefarious company operations, and labelled by Hon. Leopold Macaulay (Cons,, South York), as "star chamber court methods" that were aimed at "get-- ting" Right Hon. Arthur Meighen, after two previous actions against him had failed, the Hepburn Gov-- ernment's bill to provide the Securi-- ties Commission with much wider powers of retroactive investigation was given second reading in the Legislature last night. HEPBURN IS A D A M AN T Securities Commission Bill Advanced in Legislature After Hot Debate

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