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

Mr. Hardy would have been glad had his hon. friend discussed a little and expressed his pleasure at the decision in connection with the constable vote. He had apprehended that he would either have con-futed the decision or ex- pressed acquiescence in it and his plea- sure at the result. The Government side of the House might at all events congratulate itself that the Court of Appeal was unanimous in upholding the views which were expressed by every speaker on the Government side of the House during the summer ses- sion. (Applause.) The Government had been right in its politics, in its policy, as welt as in its law. Mr. Hardy pointed out that the decision was unanimous. The Conservative ar- gument that_the summer session had been unnecessary in view of. the de- cision would do for the country, but it could not be truthfully made 'n the floor of the House. The summer ses- sion brought about decision, paved the way for it. It was from the sum- mer ses ion the court received the nu Nt- tlons and undertook to" answer them, and had it not been for the summer session and the action taken there he ventured to believe they would not have had any decision from the Court of Appeal at all for the various rea- sons given by the hon. learned Judges when the application was ttvat made. The court would, instead. have had a. variety of cases on the same point and would to-day have been struggling with several appeals. and instead of hon. members having passed through the bye-elections and meeting at the present session in almost solid phalanx. the court would to-day tuurlirGii wrestling with a nuptrer of appeals. It was worth a summer swasion as a legislator, as, one accustomed to debate and familiar1wittt public ques- tions, and his high character and gen- eral Intellectual power: would add cre- dit to my Administration. Even his hon. friend. Mr. Whitney, paid a rest- scnable tribute to the new Minister's character and talentl, although he had to run counter to the press of his party in doing so. He was pleased to note that his hon. friend had not, like the Conservative press; taken the ground that the Government had done wrong in adding the htm. 'member for West Huron to the Government. The party press which previously complained that there were too few members in the Cabinet now complained that thure were too many. son of the hon. memtiirr for West Hu- ron. He did not hesitate to say that the gentleman would be a distinct no- quisltion to any'Cabinct which could be formed in the Province ot Ontario. (Applause.) His ability as a. lawyer, that it about! be its 'till Jtt.idfe9trttrlte a. it It had. een the one amt: or the Fear. , Mr. Hdrdy..then ruck-nod to the contenttonl of thi, ortyisistttofi at' the August desslon in resrerd'fo vncant Ministerial seats, pointing out amid up- plause that the Government had ful- ttlied its promise that when the House met attain the Opposition would have the pleasure of looking upon the faces of both the Minister of _ Atrlc'ulturv and the Commissioner pf Crbwn Lands. In addltlon to that they had. added a member to the Government In the per- i The Constable Vote. -..u..-\,.... .. '"'.""c"- ed with the idea that nu bye-elections could be held during . session of the House. Before leaving the matter Mr. Hardy averred that in proroguing the House they had only carried out the real desire. and the acknowledged in- tention of the House. and he was qlad his hon. friend did not challenge at all the constitutionality. the legality or the policy of prorogatlon. Mr. Hardy then referred to the complaint that the session had been called too early. How dltticult it was to satisfy an Oppotri- tion. If they had met late he would have been censured for not having met early. but he was BatiMed that he had met the House at the most convenient time for all concerned. The hon. gentleman had scouted the mathematics of his hon. friend from West Lambton. and seriously assured the House that two and two did not make six. Perhaps not, but in this case it made tive-tloud laughter)--- which split the difference, and was a. good deal better arithmetic, and might for taught he knew be a good deal better mathematics than the statements of his hon. friend opposite and the Opposition press throughout the country, that a: minority of night made a majority of the Rouse. (Gov- ernment cheers.) Mr. Whitney here insisted that Mr. Foy had discovered the error, hut had not written the letter. After some fur- ther jocular reference to the Wonder- ful legal ability ' Hardy acknowledged that his attention had first been drawn to the matter by the letter. but asserted that it would have been well if Mr. Foy had told the House about it before they adjourn- ed. But no amount of assertions, no vows would make him believe that any member of the Opposition had made the discovery before the adjournment of the House and had failed to impart his knowledge to the Government. Therefore he thought his hon. friends were open to the accusation. which Mr. Whitney had tried to meet and failed. of having sat there through the whole of the debate when the bill was be- fore the house. when the bill was in committee and when the bill was up for the third reading without having made thnt little discovery of a very plain and simple thitut which was over- looked by the House and by himself and by those who Grated the bill. Mr; Hardy further intimated that because of the letter of "Lex" a great rrany people had become erroneously impress- Mr, Hardy then dealt at some length with the prorogatton of the House after the summer session, referring particularly to the letter m" "Lex." He referred in a tettttt'aeterotit?, vein to the vast fund of legal knowledge evident.. ly enjoyed by that gentleman, "nd ask- ed why he hadn't deluged the Gov- ernment with it and illuminated their dark course, before the House arose. He should have been very glad had he done so. He was glad to learn that the hon. member for South Toronto (Mr. .Foy) wrote the letter signed "r n- twice over, am self on this kifittisTeiriiirt gums passed during that pi .use.) The Prorogatlon. am} _ he 11