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'y J... 9 -'" ' -- - - jig'fikhit,i-,'ii-ial( ' ()BSE)RN/ER,_,iv-ii,-ij," -YN---t.-s "A "1*;- - fs7iir/,,5,ii, Hon. Mr. Ferguson. in voicing the vigorous opposition of his party. told the House that it was common knowledge that at the caucus an election was staged to illustrate how P.R. worked, and the Premier and members got so muddled in the mazes that they failed to elect a candidate. Premier Drury laughed heartily at this reported confusion in a secret meeting, but he would neither deny nor confirm it when directly asked by the Conservative Leader. U.F.O. platform. "Ot course. this is in our platform, but it does not state the day nor the hour when these things are to come to pass, The platform does not say that par- ties cannot change their opinions," confessed Mr. Hicks. Having taken his fling at P.R. and the platform, the tt.F.O. Whip bluntly concluded that there was no demand for P.R. from the people he represented. " the subsequent vote showed, he voiced the opinion of about nine- tenths of his party. But the voice of rural Ontario was not backward in asserting dt- self. Andrew Hicks, U.F.O. Whip, unfolded his long form and gave the bill a few sentences ot denuncia- tion. He at)mitusdl._R. was in the 7 it now seems fairly well cstab~ llished that the 1210.0. members in f the Legislature hold widely diverg- i 0m. opinions regarding Proportional ( Representation. Yesterday Karl ; Homuth'e bill to give municipalities ! the privilege of having P.R. in local 'contests came up for second read- ;ing, and was killed. Only eleven [members in the whole House voted ifor the bill, while on the standing Evote the majority favoring the l, slaughter was so apparent no per- ison took the trouble to count it. Only tour Ministers were in their seats tor the -verdict. these being the Premier, Mr. Raney. Mr. Dober- ty and Mr. Mills, and they all voted for the bill, but their votes can hardly be taken as an indication ot the Government's mind. On all the Opposition benches: the bill found but one supporter, H. P. Hill, Conservative, West Ottawa, who, by the way, was Chairman ot the House committee a few years ago on the RR. idea. Do Not Understand It. Last week the U.P.O. held a cau- cus on ER. as applied to Provincial elections. At the time it was rumored that the meeting broke up without any approach to a decision. It is reported now that many mem- bers confess they do not understand the principles of P.R. was clenched to acf'ii'TVIeeler" to show how the Lexi-lawn would receive a. Government measure in- troducing the system to the Pro- VIncial sphere. The guess was re. peated by Hartley Dewart. ICC., who declared thet the Government should have sponsored the 'tyyy"y?'.: "V'llu luvv wrv-u-v- v- --_- --- Tttia mutation the member for South Waterloo inditrturntly denied, stating that he consulted no one, and introduced what bills he pleased. Run Counter to Law Society. Prior to the "P. R." debate the! members talked for an hour or more on the advisability of giving second reading to a bill to admit Daniel Solomon Denbers. a Russian Jew, to practice at the Ontario Bar.' The applicant had been rejected by the Manitoba Bar, on the ground that he had not offered himself for im'igeitary service duning the war. iT Ontario Benchere had refused ite, act contrary to the decision reached in Manitoba. with the re- sult that J. McNamara (Indepen- dent Soidier-Labor. Riverdale) in- troduced a bill .to override the de- |cision of the Ontario Law Society. Despite objections from many of 'the lawyer members. the measure secured division. 2edGd reading without The House gave second reading to a private bill authorizing Daniel Solomon Denberg to practice law in Ontario. In itself the procedure was not ot political significance. but in view ot the tact that a bill Igiving the same privilege to Hon. . P. Blondin, formerly a Federal Cabinet Minister. was thrown out Jtagt 68881011. the present legislation P.R., the Government benches were silent. Premier Drury smiling and busying himself with his corre- spondence. Mr. Marshall feared that some readers might draw the conclusion that this was a reflection on his Leader, Mr. Hay, and he said Mr. Hay would continue as Leader until the Liberals in convention chose another Leader. Naturally the rumors of a working alliance be- tween the Liberals and the U.P.O. contained no reflection on Mr. Hay, who seems to have fewer enemies than any other member of the Legislature. It was pointed out in the lobbies afterward that Mr. Marshall made no denial ot the political gossip in- this column of gator-day. As was the case with ' hers put more study on tho prob ,lem. Thomas Marshall, Liberal Whip, opened yesterday's proceedings by taking as his text a sentence or so of an interview with a Legislature member which appeared in these columns on Saturday, to the effect that it was not out ot the bounds ot possibility to see a majority of the present Liberal members accept Drury as Leader and raise the Pro- gressive-Liberal flag. Incidentally, when Rt. Hon. Mac- kenzie King, Premier of Canada, argued that party platforms were merely charts setting the general direction of policies he gave a con- venient excuse which doubtless will be dragged out again and again. in this, of course, the Conservative party does not count, that party not being handicapped with an official platform, About an Alliance. . Gordon Waldron, K.C.. well-l known UD.O. lawyer. may have, spoken the mind of a big wing oti the party when he denounced P.R.; before a Toronto audience some days ago, notwithstanding the fact that Premier Drury afterward said: he disagreed with him. , Platforms as Charts. ' a Lawyer. miitt9ut swam _ l . ,1th Thompson; Consensual Whip, charged that Mr. Homut'h was just throwing out n feeler Fin the Ministry in introducing the bill. The same sentiment was more deli- cately aired by Mr. Devsrt. who asserted Mr. Homuth was allowing himself to exploit certain ideas which the Government did not care to exploit itself. These aspereions. Mr. Homuth claimed. were Without fact or foundation. He maintained the bill would do a lot ot good in teaching the people the benefits of P.R. incidentally, Mr. Hill put. up an elaborate defense for the bill, I voted against his party on the issue. land then went. down between Ititri il1'r1itf' Whip and Col. Price, Conv' iservative, Park-dale, to show there', lwere no hard feelings. J. W. 1Curry. Liberal. Southeast Toronto, 1 felt that there was no demand from Ithe municipalities for P.R., but he lintima-ted he would like to see an ic-xperiment in the principle in the "eneral elections. Mr. Hay, Lib- leral Loader, was also against the' linensure. and he. pointed out that} l" the municipalities demanded P.R..; when the Government should itself) lintroduce such legislation. Mr.' l Don-art pressed for the Government b attitude. and again was rewarded with silence. Apparently" no person , is going to get. any information from the Government on P.R. or A redistribution until the Premier snakes his Budget speech. In the pneantime there does not seem to he the slightest chance of an early agreement among the U.F.O. re- garding Proportional Representa- ' - ' "A; "no" the mam- "bin. ai least 'ii/ft-until the mem- "It was not an epithet. It was a title." returned Mr. Dewart. Mr. Marshall. as a layman. also opposed the bill, hut when the Speaker asked the question the cries of "Lost" were quite weak when compared with those of "Carried." And.so Mr. Denberg becomes a lawyer. assumes some magnitude. Den- [ berg came to Canada from Russia . shortly before war broke out, going " to Winnipeg. No one questions his _ educational qualifications. but he gcannot obtain his lawyer's certifi- cate in Manitoba because of a Bench- _ers' regulation that all applicants must at least have offered them.. selves for military service. Then ;he came to Toronto, entering the office of Mills, Raney & Dewar. J. W. Curry, in opposing the bill, first drew attention to the compari- son between the Blondin case and this one, saying that Mr. Blondin's war record had more than atoned for any rash expressions he may have used in the past. This re- ferred to the alleged utterance about shooting holes in the British flag. Mr. Dewart made a refer- ence to the fact that Denberg was; :working in the office of Mills, iRaney & Dewar, which brought ithe usual indignant retort from the Attorney-General that he had now no connection with the firm. Then. a little later. Mr. Dewart referred to the "Pooh-hah" of the present Government. Again the ,Attorney-General was on his feet, and, looking at the Speaker. ap- peared to ask for a withdrawal. Hurriedly Mr. Dewart interrupted to show that the word was used in some modern literature in no dis- reputable sense. Mr. Raney was appeased to some extent. adding; 'trider no circumstances do. ll object to any epithet the member: for Southwest Toronto may care to use toward me." l