1
THE LEADER.
REGINA, N.W.T., THURSDAY MORNING, APRIL 10, 1902.
AUTONOMY REFUSED
Dominion Government Declines to
Accede to Territorial Request
PAPERS BROUGHT DOWN.
Summary of Demands Made by the
Territorial Government Mr. Sifton's Reply Mr. Haultian Introduces a Resolution Expressing
Regret at the Action of the Federal
Authorities.
THURSDAY, April 3.
The legislature re-assembled to-day
after the Easter recess. The Speaker
took the chair at 2.30 p.m. Mr. Villeneuve (St Albert) asked: (1) Has the
Government since the last session of
this Assembly considered the question
of extending the boundaries of License
District No. 8 so as to comprise Athabasca Landing in St. Albert Electoral
District? (2) If so, what action does
the Governinent intend to take in
reference to this question?
In reply Mr. Haultain said: (1) Yes.
(2) The matter is still under consideration.
Dr. Patrick (Yorkton) moved for a
return showing (1) Copies of all correspondence between the Department of
Public Works and Frederick J. Bull of
Yorkton relative to the amount of
compensation to be paid by the Government for a right of way surveyed
through section 7, township 26, range
3 west of the second meridian. (2)
Copies of all correspondence between
the said Department, and any and all
other persons relative to the amount
of the said compensation. Dr. Patrick
said he thought this correspondence
would show that before the Ordinance
was passed last session a definite promise was made to Mr. Bull that his
case would be taken to the courts to
determine what amount should be paid
him. Since then an arbitary amount
had been fixed by the commissioner
and offered him, and was refused.
While the Ordinance has been passed
giving the commissioner power to fix
the compensation it would be, said Dr.
Patrick, a difficult, thing to say that
such coupensation shall be accepted.
The motion was agreed to.
Dr. Patrick also moved for copies of
all correspondence between Jas. H.
Nelson of Yorkton, and any and all
other persons and the Department of
Public Works relative to the amount
of compensation to be paid to the said
Nelson for a right of way surveyed
through his lands adjacent to the right
of way of the Manitoba and North Western Railway and within the limits
of the municipality of the town of
Yorkton. His reason for asking for
this return was that the House might
get an idea of the opinions of some of
the men whose property was affected.
Mr. Sifton agreed to the motion saying
he had no fear of the opinions of the
members of the House when the papers
were brought down.
Dr. Patrick further moved for (1)
Copies of all correspondence between
Sam. Goodacre, secretary-treasurer
of the Pebble Lake School District No.
316, and the Secretary of the Council
of Public Instruction and the Deputy
Commissioner of Education relative to
the omission from the area of the
said District of section 36, township 25,
range 4 west of the second meridian,
and (2) relative to an alteration of the
boundaries of the said District to include the said section therein, and (3)
relative to the claim made by the said
District by reason of omission of the
said section from the area thereof. Dr.
Patrick said that this school district
was organised about 1894, and the
usual steps were taken by the people
of the locality, a petition being sent in
which was approved by the Council of
Public Instruction, and subsequently by
a meeting of ratepayers. A proclamation was inserted in the Gazette but
through an error one section was omitted. This error was not discovered for
some years until the people were assessed, the lands were sold and purchased by a
man who thought everything was all right. The result was he
lost his money paid in connection with
this matter and the school district
found itself under the necessity of refunding the money that had been paid.
The ratepayers felt that the people of
the Territories as a whole should pay
for the mistakes made by the Government. They, therefore, made application for a special
grant nearly a year
ago, but the matter had apparently
not been dealt with up to a recent date.
He did not know whether the correspondence would show negligence on
the part of the Commissioner of Edution or inability to make up his mind
to grant it.
Mr. Haultain in reply said that this
motion was, he presumed, one of those
whose main object was to allow the
mover to indulge in certain speculations which were not warranted and
make a speech. A mistake was made
in the office and the Gazette carried it
on and one section out of a large number was omitted. The trustees had
acted on a letter from the office and
not on the Gazette. They sold the
land for taxes and the school district
did suffer a certain amount of damage
through the mistake of the department. A claim was made for a special
grant and the reason it had not been
made was because they could not
arrive at a satisfactory amount. The
school district claimed compensation
for the taxes they might have levied
and other items which could never be
reasonably considered. The whole
case was how much is the school district entitled to, which was not a very
serious matter. There was one reason
why he was willing to allow the notion
to pass and that was to show how inaccurate the hon. gentleman's statements were.
Mr. G. W. Brown (North Regina) introduced a Bill to amend Chapter 54 of
the Consolidated Ordinances 1898 intituled "An Ordinance respecting
Chemists and Druggists." The Bill
was read a first time and put down
for its second reading on Monday.
Mr. Haultain moved that the House
adjourn, whereupon Dr. Patrick asked
when the public accounts would be
brought down. In reply Mr. Sifton
said they expected to have them ready
on Monday. Mr. Sifton then laid the
report of the Public Works Department for 1901 on the table and Mr.
Haultain the report of the Attorney
General's department as required by
the Liquor License Ordinance. The
House then adjourned.
LIQUOR LICENSE REPORT.
The liquor license report showed that
121 applications had been received for
hotel licenses: of this number 107 were
granted, 7 refused and 7 withdrawn.
Applications for wholesale licenses
numbered 39, of which 35 were granted,
1 refused and 3 withdrawn. Two
wholesale and 28 hotel licenses were
transferred. During the year 29 persons were interdicted by magistrates
and 44 by license inspectors, a total of
73. The total amount of fines inflicted
and collected for offences under the
Liquor License Ordinance was $1,770.50.
