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R. I. Brackin, Liberal, West Kent, characterized the address of Mr. Lewis as one which proved his un-- | fitness to sit upon an investigating ' committee. Mr. Brackin said that he, too, was a Hydro supporter and an admirer of Sir Adam Beck, only he did not go around boasting about it, "and I don't get into Parliament because I can mouth the name of Sir Adam Beck," he declared. Friend of Sir Adam Beck. "I am not an enemy of public ownership,'" he proceeded. "I am a friend of Hydro and of Sir Adam Beck. I don't believe, if you inves-- | tigate until Kingdom Come, that any | tribunal would b@able to--find that < Sir Adam has improperly profited to | the extent of a five--cent piece." _ What confidence could the people: have, demanded Mr. Brackin, when a . House Committee, as it would likely | do, brought in a majority report and| a minority report on Chippawa, one| | contradicting the other? Mr. Brack.} ' in confessed that, as a politician, he did not feel he could do fair justice| to the subject as a committee mem-- ber, and he doubted if any other member of the House could; upon which point, however, W. H. Cassel-- man ventured to dis@agree from across the House. The Minister moved the amend-- ment, saying it was seconded by '"Hon. Mr. Raney," but was met» with Mr. Dewart's prompt protest at the amendment being seconded "by a gentleman who does not thlnk' enough of the House to stay in his seat. The Attorney--General is not here.'" The difficulty _ was _ got over, however, by the Prime Min--| ister seconding it. ' A. C. Lewis, Conservative member for Northeast Toronto, followed with a lengthy resume of Chippawa history, pointing out that, when the great work was eventually com-- menced, it was done upon urgent request of Federal and Provincial Governments in view of war em-- ergencies and with practically _no new estimates made or at hand be-- yond the pre--war figures. Has Faith in H.--E. P. C. Mr. Lewis dwelt upoh some of the difficulties which had been encoun-- tered, including the unexpected change in rock formation, of steam and electrical shovel difficulties, some of which had been experienced as a result of following the advice of Engineer Cooper, whom the Gov-- ernment and the commission hired. Mr. Lewis expressed himself well satisfied with the work of the com-- mission. ; Want Judicial Verdict. After discussing the increase in the estimates for the Chippawa de-- velopment, Mr. Watson said that, as '"*No man can look into the eyes of Sir Adam Beck," proceeded Mr. Brackin, "and say Beck could do one thing that is not correct in any shape or form." Mr. Brackin, proceeding with cus-- tomary vigor, declared that his Hy-- dro interest would not permit him} to vote for investigation by a House' Committee, upon which the Govern-- ment would have a majority which might desire to make a finding which would justify the attitude taken by the Government. | W. H. Casselmian (U.F.O., Dundas) --Let the investigation show that. The issue, as defined by Mr. Brackin, was whether Ontario was to have a disinterested commission or a political commission. Contradictory Reports. Edagar Watson, U.F.O. member for North Victoria, resented, he said, the various statements made that the Government and the Pre-- mier were anti--HydJro. He -- had always been a public--ownership man, and no one had ever ap-- proached him to try to win him over to any other position. a representative of the people, he re-- fused to accept the increases with-- out an impartial investigation. They did not want a political answer to the question; they wanted a judicial answer. & "I want to say here and now," he declared -- vehemently, "that the statements (about the Government being anti--Hydro) made . up and down this country by those honor-- able members opposing the amend--| ment to this resolution are absolute-- ly and unqualifiedly untrue, and, furthermore, that they know theyi are untrue." | W. H. Casselman, U.F.O. member for Dundas, said that the amend-- ment moved by the Minister of Agri-- culture gave a neat turn to the situa-- tion, and placed persons of an inde-- pendent mind on his side of the House in perhaps an awkward posi-- F. We'llington Hay, Liberal Leader, thought the seriousness of the situa-- tion had been somewhat magnified by all previous speakers. He did not wish to be accused of being friendly or unfriendly to Hydro by his remark on the subject under debate, which, as he understood it, was merely as to whether there had been reasonable honest and fair expenditure of public money and whether the estimates had 'been 'honestly and fairly sub-- mitted. Mr. Tolmie took issue with the statement of the Minister of Agri-- culture, which would brand as anti~ Hydro all members voting for a House Committee investigation. The member for Windsor declared him-- self to be a Hydro supporter, and desirous of committee investigation. In his opinion the House would be honored by having selected from its members a committee to conduct the investigation. Not for one moment would he concur in the suggestion of those supporting Royal Commission investigation that honorable mem-- bers were not politically fit or intel-- lectually capable of listening to the facts and passing opinion. J. C. Tolmie, Liberal, Windsor, traced for the House the varying attitudes of the Premier upon the issue, pointing out his original acceptance of the House Committee proposal. In view of the Premier's earlier position, he said, it was dis-- tinctly unfair of him now to put his followers in the position of either voting against a committee proposal or voting want of confidence in the Government. Brand Them Anti--Hydro. The combined efforts of R. L |[Brackin (West Kent) and k. C. 'Lewis (Northeast Toronto), one [ speaking against, and the other for, the motion, apparently had the effect of winning R. K. Hall --of Parry Sound over to the anti--House Committee point of view. Spsaking of Mr. Brackin's speech, Mr. Hall amused the House by telling the members that, "while he was speak-- ing I was thinking.'"' After hearing what he had heard that afternoon 1h9 concluded it was impossible for him to go any further and vote for the committee. "Passing the Buck," Says MacBride. The South Brant member read ex-- tensively from Premier Drury's past utterances on Hydro, and found in previous speeches a practical en-- dorsement of the Hydro project and the Hydro Commission. On _ the other hand, he said, he encountered at all times a certain insidious anti-- Hydro propaganda emanating from the Government. He was charitable enough, he said, to admit the possi-- bility of this being an unconscious propaganda. F M. M. MacBride, Labor member for South Brantford, held forth dur-- ing a stormy hour, and accused the Government of seeking '"to pass the buck" to another Royal Commission. As Mr. MacBride conceived the situ-- ation, the Government was absolutely responsible for _ expenditures on Hydro, through its commission, to which it had within recent months named two of its own appointees. "I believe this," said Mr. Cassel-- man as a final shot, "that there is more of real politics in the idea of a Royal Commission than there is in the idea of a committee of this House." Because the Prime Minister changed his mind it was expected that his followers, like sheep, were to follow him through the gap. It was an insult to that Assembly to say that there were not enough men there capable of giving a fair judg-- ment on this question. He said he thought the proposal that came originally from the Leader of the Liberal group, and accepted by the Premier, was well considered, and was not a matter of impulse. and, apparently, every member of the Legislature had fallen in line with the idea. "Follow My Leader." tion, '"but it does not change my attitude toward the question in the least. I think I could have support-- ed the resolution of the honorable member for Grenville with a better grace had it not named the members of the committee. Even that, while it places me in a delicate position, does not place me in the position of refraining from speaking my mind."