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ROVINCIAL POLICE ARE BALKY _ . REGARDING O.T.A. ENFORCEMENT, _ -- DECLARES RANEY BEFORE HOUSE Supt. Rogers Distinctly Op-- posed to Co--ordinating Criminal Law and O.T. on the part of the Provincial Po-- lice, he would not say to eva@de, but to avoid having anything to.do with the enforcement of the Ontario Tem-- perance Act. Under tze,' bill .pro-- posed every officer in the Province, excepting one or two -- especially charged with investigating a . par-- ticular crime, would have upon him< self the added duty of enfnrcing the O.T.A. It meant the abolition of the In opening the discussion Mr. Dewart asked if it were not a very extraordinary thing that Provincial Police officers who had been over 30 years in the service. and re-- celving only $3,000 a year should not find "that favored children of fortune under the auspices of the Attorney-- General" should be thriist in aver them at much larger salaries. "This bill," he said, "is an appeal for the centralization of power in the At~ torney--CGeneral, one of the many bills he has introduced to centralize power in one man, and I object to every measure that has that tendency. Balk at O.T.A. Enforcement. In reply, Attorney--General' Raney decl;u_red there had been a disposition Both Opposition Leaders protested at the lack of information provided members of the Legislature as to the exact purport of the bill;: whether it was the intention to-- supersede Superintendent Joseph . E. Rogers, and who it was intended to make Provincial Commissioner of Police. Pr'emier Drury supported the bill. The principal objectors to the measure were H. H. Dewart, Liberal Leader; R. L. Brackin, Liberal mem-- beyr for West Kent; Ji--C. Tolmie, Liberal member for Windsor, and Hon. G. H. Ferguson. --Mr. Dewart said it was but a conjinuance of the policy to co--ordinate all power and authority in the Province under the Attorney--General; R,. L. Brackin and J. C. Tolmie predicted a weakening of law administration in both de-- partments; Hon. G. H. Ferguson de-- clared the proposed step had not been given sufficient consideration. -- Not Very Informative. « <7"° > C Attorney--General Raney withdrew sections of the bill which provided for the appointment of a special chief officer in each county to whom all county constables would be amenable. The debate proceeded during the day with all the vigor characteristic of O.T.A. discussions and ran --on at length despite obvious efforts of the Government to curtail discussion. On one occasion Mr. Dewart curtly informed the Premier he could not interrupt him during his remarks and a moment later Premier Drury returned the compliment. For seven solid hours yesterday the Ontario Legislature in commit-- tee debated Attorney--General Ran-- ey's bill to co--ordinmate criminal law and O.T.A. enforcement under a Provincial Commissione> of Polige. At near the midnight hour the com-- mittee defeated the motion of H. H. Dewart that the bill be not re-- ported, and amidst thunderous ap-- plause from U. F. O. benches the measure was sent on for third read-- ing. PASSES COMMITTEE -- FOR THIRD READING A. Work -- Brackin Doesn't Blame .. Him -- Provision -- for© Police Chief in Each County Withdrawn Any official who was not prepared to: enforce the O. T. A., said R. M. Warren, North Renfrew, should not be retained, inasmuch as the act was'law, quite as much as any other on the statute book. Other members who took part in the committee discusstons' were: Charles McCrea, Conservative mem-- ber for Sudbury; J. W. Curry, Lib-- eral, S.E. Toronto; Alex. Lewis, N.E. Toronto; J. M. Webster, U.F.O. mem-- ber for Lambton; Hon. Geo. Ross, Kingston; Geo. G. Halcrow, E. Ham-- ilton. control of the License Board, though not necessarily of the' board it-- self, although it was problematical whether, in the event of the heralded resignation of the Chairman, the vacancy would again be filled. Among those promising support of the measure was Z. Mageau, Lib-- eral. In passing, he paid a tribute to the capabilities of the present Superintendent of Provincial Police, Joseph Rogers. He had known him many years ago, he said, when Mr. Rogers was working on matters very similar to those facing law officers at the present day, in so far as en-- forcement of liquor laws was con-- cerned. In those days, as now, of-- ficers had to "do some shooting"' now and again. "Under the act," he said, '"if the referendum carries there will be a new condition of things. At the present time the O.T.A. is full of dead wood. If the referendum car-- ries, .or perhaps even if it does not carry, the O.T.A. ought to be revised at the next session of the Ontario TLegislature. In this bill there is no studied appeal to supersede any-- body. Tam not prepared to give any Ipledge as to who the new commis sioner will be." Do Away With Spotters. ""We are going to get better con-- ditions by this consolidation," he said. '"We are going to avoid over-- lapping. I am willing to risk the reputation of my opinion on the matter that we will get better law enforcement of the O.T.A. and gen-- eral law enforcement.'" It was because he disapproved -- of whiskey spotters and stool--pigeons, he said, that he was supporting a co--ordination move. of the O.T.A. Mr. Tolmie pointed out that the carrying into effect of the principle proposed had already resulted in the loss of two very ef-- ficient officers in the 'Windsor dis-- trict. In Mr. Tolmie's opinion there was a distinct difference, which ought to be regarded, of en-- forcement of laws -- against serious crime and the O.T.A. R. L. Brackin (Liberal member for" West Kent), 'whose connection with the Spracklin trial and wide criminal . legal experience caused members to give attentive hearing to his views, declared: '"There is a vast difference between the en-- forcement of .the O.T.A., the me-- thods that have got to be adopted in enforcing that act, and in other kinds of law enforcement.'" He said one could not blame a Provincial police officer of long criminal ex-- perience for objecting when he was asked to do "some of the things that have'to be done in the enfore-- ing of the Ontario Temperance' ACt," fremier Drury declared one did not need to make O.T.A. enforce-- ment dlp'erent from any other law. Asked by J. E. Thompson (North-- east Toronto) if Assistant Deputy Robert Geddes of the Toronto Po-- lice Forco had been approached in connection with the commissioner-- ship, the Attorney--General denied it. Mr. Rogers Opposes Idea. J. C. Tolmie (Windsor) looked upon the bill as proposing a very serious step. Had the Attorney-- General asked the opinion of the HSuperintendent of Provincial Po-- lice? Hon. Mr. Raney said he had, and that the Superintendent was distinctly opposed to 'co--ordinating criminal law enforcement with that