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\ithe Premier, in a speech ton, took occasion to demonslru.u:' his attitude toward the great schem$ | of public development, and Parfic"l' larly his opinion of the man n. charge of the work, and he left no iIncertainty as to what his opinion | was. The Premier said then, wen on Mr. Ferguson, that he proposed to have the situation investigated by' a committee of the House. Then, when the House met, the ! Leader of the Liberal party, We!l-- lington Hay, had himself made the same suggestion. All remembered the Premier accepted then the sug-- gestion of the Liberal Leader. Later came the time of the vote of the $3,500,000 for Chippawa, and Hon. D. Carmichael had made a state-- ment in the House, placing his resig--| nation in the hands of the Premier. "At that time the Prime Minister in ihls place approved everything the Minister without portfolio said," said Mr. Ferguson, and again he had favored a thorough investigation, and ' by a committee of the House. "'The Prime Minister was very strongly of that view, and appar-- ently nothing was going to shake him from that view, but the Prime Minister did not count upon the in-- fiuence of his friends," said Mr. Ferguson. His friends surrounded him and he saw the light. Pro-- ceeding, Mr. Ferguson said the Gov-- ernment reached the point where it actually named the: committee; the Prime Minister had called him up and scarcely gave him time to select his names, said Mr. Ferguson. Why Change Names? |\ Mr. Drury asked him why he did not tell that he had changed some of the names suggested. Mr. Fer-- guson retorted that the names had been submitted to a meeting of all the members of his party, and the selection made. "When it comes to action the home of autocracy is to be found on the Treasury benches, and the only democratic action ever taken in this House is taken by the two old par-- ties," he observed, much to the amusement of the Premier and the Attorney--General. The House Committee, proceeded the Conservative Leader, had been named by the Premier, and a resolu-- tion put on the order paper. Then, time was of great importance, but, apparently, time was no longer the essence of the resolution. 'The im-- portant feature apparently was to disturb and undermine public con-- fidence in the biggest public owner-- ship enterprise in the world. _ Mr. Ferguson said he would like | the Premier to tell the people if it was not a fact the caucus had been given an opportunity of deciding this thing, and it was largely, a farce for the Premier to come into the House and say that the House refused a committee, because. the House was '"loaded" against it. "I have no doubt that my honorable friend's followers over there are go-- ing to stand by" him and.carry out the compact made with "him when There were only special reasons for a Royal Commission, said Mr. Ferguson--to narrow the scope of the inquiry, and not to examine into the soundness and accuracy of the estimates, but to strike a blow at the foundation of the project and try to introduce scientific controversy. Too Much Attorney--General? . 1\ With a House Committee, every line of evidence would be available to every member of the House. With a commission, the only man who received a copy of the evidence would be the Attorney--General, the only iman briefed would be the Attorney--General, and he was in-- variably briefed in a way that suited his own views. The average mem-- ber would never see a single word of the evidence. Even when the re-- port did come in, not 10 per cent. of the members of the House would avail themselves of the opportunity of wading through a long, and maybe technical, finding. The normal method would be to have the House make the in-- quiry. It was the duty of the Pre-- mier to show why he departed from that method. No doubt the new scheme had been submitted to ap-- proval by caucus? "I will answer that when the honorable member tells me the secrets of his own caucus," retorted the Premier. Mr. Ferguson said that he would venture a statement that it had been submitted to caucus. The Premier said he would not ven-- ture to say whether the statement was correct or not. Drury's Translation. yeech at Hamil-- to demonstrate he great scheme nt, and particu--} of the man in , and he left no! hat his opinion | said then, went hat he proposed n investigated by. "It is beyond my belief," H(m'. Manning Doherty, Mi:izf:.?:rz(% Agrieculture, in taking up the debate. "that there is a man who desires to | see this grand public ownershipi scheme succeed who will for a min--} ute consent to have the affairs of| this project investigated by a com-- mittee of the House, and run the danger of having this great enter-- prise thrown into the arena of poli-- tics." ' Reason for Investigation. In clogsing, Mr. Ferguson said the Premier should tell of the influences that had caused him to change his mind on the subject of the probe. He thought the House was entitled to know why the Premier had so sud-- denly and completely changed his mind. '"Whatever influence it was, it was not a friend of Hydro." "XYenture to say," he added, '"that when the facts are disclosed it will hbe that this influence is at-- tempting to strike a deadly blow at the whole scheme of public owner-- ship in this Province." Mr: Ferguson took strong objec-- tion to Mr. Drury's statement that the personnel of the commission was not to be mauled. "I will be quite prepared to express my views of their personality and their quali-- fications for the work," he said. Persons being tried had the right to change of venue or the right of challenging the jurors. "But the oracle of Crown Hill says, 'That day is past, and you are not to discuss the names I select.'" Disclose Influences. he was a,sked' tq trgnslate himself to a higher place. I mean not but East." It was well known to every citizen of the Province, the Minister pro-- ceeded, why the Government intend. ed taking investigating action. Esti-- mates had been mounting up year by year, '"until there was growing up throughout the Province a spirit of want of confidence. It is the desire on the part of the Government to re--establish in the opinions of the people of this Province a confidence in this great project, in which this Government has full confidence." Questions to be decided by the in-- vestigating body, Hon. Mr. Doherty said, would be of a technical charac-- ter; questions such as final cost, ulti-- mate capacity of the project, and at what price Ontario would be able to sell power. "It is almost out of the question to think," he added, "that the members of this House can pos-- sibly give the time to hear the evi-- dence, go into these matters, weigh the evidence, and bring back a re-- port.'"' | Cabinet Behind Hydro. Hon. Mr. Doherty credited the Conservative Leader with consider-- able versatility in his dealings with Hydro.. In spite _ of Conservative protestations of Hydro love, how-- ever, the Minister of Agriculture would tell Hon. Mr. Ferguson "that the Hydro project in this Province never had behind it such a solid support as it has today in the Gov-- ernment of the day. _ "The U. F. O. and Labor parties," he said, "have it in both their plat-- forms, that they stand pledged to support public ownership, and this Government today stands ready to support public ownership, and it is our desire that public ownership shall be so constructed and so con-- ducted that it shall be safe, that it shall be permanent, and shall suc-- ceed." The Minister disagreed with the Conservative Leader also upon the point of a Royal Commission cir-- cumscribing the limit of the inquiry. A Royal Commission of qualified and fair men, '"men who have at heart the success of this great project," could understand what was required by the Government and the people, and bring in their report, which would be a conclusive document, and not a majority and minority report. Moves Vote of Confidence. Hon. Mr. Doherty then moved his amendment: "This House has confidence that the Government will take the necessary proper steps to provide for a full and impartial and expert investigation into the esti-- mates and expenditures _of the Hydro--electric Power Commis-- sion; and, further, is of the opinion that when such investigation has been completed, the facts and find-- ings should be submitted to this Legislative Assembly." nc juUurors, CBut the wn Hill says, 'That day you are not to discuss select.' * up,