statute book. Thus it will be seen that I am not endeavouring, absolutely speaking, to add to the law, but to provide for its more severe enforcement and make it impossible for yellow journalism to prevail in this country, poisoning the morals of the people; and in my efforts I am backed as proven above-by proprietors of respectable and reputable newspapers, and respectable book dealers of the country. I do not hesitate to say that the owner of a newspaper, in attacking this Bill, manifests the commercial side of his character that outweighs any regard for a moral duty, and his arguments should not in the least prevail. We make laws to punish the guilty and imprison the malefactor. Our jails and penitentiaries are becoming alarmingly crowded, our hospitals fill with unclean men and women, and society is in danger of becoming impregnated with vile contact, unless we rise to the occasion and make more severe laws that will arrest and stamp out the evil. And who are responsible for the greater part; the proprietors of yellow papers, by the publication of pictures and photographs of criminals. My hon. friend spoke of the commercial injury that this Bill was calculated to work against the interests of the newspapers of the country. This Bill is not I wish now to put forward another line promoted to injure or help in any way the of argument which I think worthy of con- liberties of respectable newspapers pubsideration. I refer to the hygienic laws lished in the Dominion of Canada. In no framed to safeguard the public from con- sense does it interfere with their rights. tagious diseases. These laws point to the But I admit it will interfere with the infected people; we must divide them from proprietors of yellow journals which the others to prevent by contact the circula- general public wish to see penalized, should tion of sickness that is a menace to the they continue in their work of lowering public health and lives of the people; and instead of elevating the morals of the in order to carry out hygienic laws, we country. Now let me say in conclusion: have established isolation hospitals and I remember having read somewhere that quarantine stations, where the infected souls are lyres which resound together-must be isolated and guarded against con- that fear, joy, unhappiness are communictact with the more healthy ones, by keep-able, and it is the same thing of malice, ing the public away as a prevention against deception and crime. If you add to all the spread of the disease. Are not these that the unfortunate natural inclination hygenic laws an infringement on the lib-which we all have, you will have the proberty of these people who are, in a sense, lem of seeing men, first good then turning imprisoned during the pleasure of medical bad, for all the above reasons, and this restraint? Are they not unduly deprived will lead them to the penitentiary or to of their liberty, in line with the argument the scaffold. made by the honourable member for Hali- You see men, women, and especially fax in his defence of the yellow journal? children, taking pleasure in looking over Therefore I claim, that the present Bill is pictures of criminals, in reading accounts justifiable and right to help to stop yellow of their misdeeds. It is because these picjournalism in its endeavour to propagate tures and misdeeds give them emotions, and the devil's work by exciting the curiosity these repeated emotions create passion. The of young and innocent readers, that emotions act on their system like waters gradually leads to a degeneration of the that break dams, and passions are like torpresent and future population of Can-rents which are deepening more and more ada. We make laws to punish the crim- profoundly the beds of the river. inal class, and why should. we not make The conditions of a place where a man laws to obviate the possibility of a criminal is living are favourable to the development class, by preventing the circulation not of these morbid sicknesses, and imitation only of obscene literature, and pictures, and suggestions are doing the rest; so we but also of undesirable photographs. This can judge what effect these divers inBill does not aim to prevent publication of fluences must have on the minds of childpictures of art, or photographs of worthy ren who have an exaggerated sensibility citizens and heroes. It does, however, aim or undisclosed sickness, when their exalted to prevent the reproduction of the pictures emotions or romantic mind sharpen their of vice, figures in sensationalism, and pho- appetites and give them the ambition to be tographs of the criminal class, that excites great men, even by becoming criminals. the curiosity of innocent people, and teach A moralist has written that it does not them a life of crime which it would be to depend on us not to have passions, but their advantage to ignore. it seems to me that it depends on US REVISED EDITION legislators to reduce the occasions of passions. In France and here it is forbidden to the public to assist in the execution of criminals. Why? There is no harm to see a criminal pay the penalty of his crime; it ought to be a good thing, it may be a very important lesson. However, the nations have condemned it and declared that no good can come from these terrible spectacles; of course it is fortunately known by experience that these spectacles of execution, hanging or guillotine, with its lugubres decors, does not repulse the mind, but seems to attract and suggest. So it is with pictures of criminals. Though we have in our minds that we are looking at criminals, however far from repulsive, we are carried away with sympathy for them, and there are some who would enjoy the notoriety of their position, and be glad, I repeat, to be great men, even by becoming criminals, and so have their picture in the newspapers and be talked of. If some of the facts and thoughts I have endeavoured to put before the House today had been presented when the Bill was first submitted to the Senate, I am sure they would have been appreciated even by my hon. friend from Halifax. I did not then think it necessary to give those thoughts and reasons in support of it, because it seemed to me that the Bill was so simple it would be really insulting the intelligence of the House to offer a detailed explanation of the purpose in view; but after the lecture delivered by the hon. gen tleman from Halifax in defence of his own business and of his own paper, I thought I would try to convert him and bring him to a better frame of mind by showing him the evil he is doing; I hope now to convince him to support this Bill, or at least let it be read the second time and referred to a committee. Then after looking over these reasons and with the perusal of letters and clippings from newspapers that I have read to the House, I believe we will make the Bill still better than it is, and not only prevent the publicution of pictures of criminals, but also the reports of criminal matters, and also put in the amendment my hon. friend will probably offer about indecent dances and dresses; then the Bill will be perfect, and every one of us will feel happy over the good work we have done. Hon. Mr. COFFEY moved that the debate be adjourned until to-morrow. The motion was agreed to. Bill (T), An Act respecting The Sterling Life Assurance Company of Canada.-Hon. Mr. Talbot. Bill (U), An Act respecting The W. C. Edwards Company, Limited.--Hon. Mr. Béique. Bill (57), An Act respecting the British Trust Company.-Hon. Mr. Derbyshire. Bill (C-2), An Act for the relief of Johann Andreas Horn.-Hon. Mr. Talbot. WEIGHTS AND MEASURES INSPEC TION ACT AMENDMENT BILL. REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE, The House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on Bill (96), An Act to amend the Weights and Measures Act. (In the Committee.) On clause 1: 1. Section 38 of The Weights and Measures Act, chapter 52 of the Revised Statutes, 1906, is repealed and the following is substituted therefor : 38. The basic units of the metric system shall be the International Metre and the Inter national Kilogramme confirmed in the year 1889 by the first International Conference of Weights and Measures and deposited at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures. 2. The minister shall obtain a copy of the metre and a copy of the kilogram certified by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, and the said copies, when authorized by Order in Council shall be the legal standards of the metre and kilogram in Canada. 3. The minister may cause to be compared and verified with the said standards all the metric weights and measures which are submitted to him for that purpose, and which are of such shape and construction, as are, from time to time, directed under any Order in Council in that behalf, and which the minister is satisfied are intended to be used for the purpose of science or of manufacture, or for any lawful purpose within the meaning of this Act.' On clause 2-the new schedule. Hon. Mr. BOYER-Are we adopting only the weights and not the distance ? have it here: You tion until 1916, so as to give ample time to industries in this particular line of business to make preparation to abolish the use of this particular article. It is in the interests of health and life that this be done. Hon. Mr. ROCHE-What is the difference between white phosphorus and the other kind now used? Hon. Mr. LOUGHEED-I could not tell that to my hon. friend. I understand that white phosphorus has been generally used in the manufacture of matches. There is now a substance known as sesquisulphide of phosphorus which is replacing it in all This has practically civilized countries. been adopted in most civilized countries. Hon. Mr. DERBYSHIRE-It does not have the same offensive smell. Hon. Mr. LOUGHEED-No, it does not have the same bad effect on employees working upon the article such as white phosphorus does. Hon. Mr. CASGRAIN-What is the objection to the importation of this substance? Hon. Mr. LOUGHEED-This matter came The basic units of the metric system shall be up a couple of sessions ago, and it was the international metre and the international kilogram. Hon. Mr. LOUGHEED-Yes. I pointed out to my hon. friend that the measure heretofore adopted as the metric system, was not an international system. It is now to be superseded by the standard of the international metre and international kilogram confirmed in the year 1899 by the first International Conference of Weights and Measures, and deposited in the International Bureau in Paris. It does not change the law in any sense, except as to adopting a better standard for metric measures. The clause was adopted. Hon. Mr. MASON, from the committee, reported the. Bill without amendment. WHITE PHOSPHORUS MATCHES BILL. SECOND READING. Hon. Mr. LOUGHEED moved: Bill (103), An Act to prohibit the manufacture and importation of matches made with white phosphorus.-Hon. Mr. Lougheed. He said: The object of this Bill is to prohibit the use of white phosphorus in match-making establishments. It is proposed that the Bill shall not go into opera proposed simply to prohibit the manufacture and importation into Canada, but this Bill is of a more comprehensive character and prohibits the manufacture and importation and sale of that class of match. Hon. Mr. CLORAN-Can matches already prepared be brought in ? Hon. Mr. LOUGHEED-No. Hon. Mr. CLORAN-Not matches already prepared? Hon. Mr. LOUGHEED-No; matches made of white phosphorus will be prohibited from importation into Canada. Hon. Mr. CLORAN-I know, but they will not endanger the health of the people here, once they are manufactured abroad. Hon. Mr. LOUGHEED-Yes, they will; that is one of the difficulties. It has been established in courts of law that this article has not only jeopardized the health of match employees, but has been used as a cheap poison. Hon. Mr. CASGRAIN-That is right. Hon. Mr. LOUGHEED-It has been used for suicidal and homicidal purposes, and the intention is to abolish its use in every conceivable way. Hon. Mr. BOSTOCK-I do not rise for the purpose of opposing this Bill, but I should like to know why this has not been gone on with before. If my information is correct, a Bill almost identically the same as this Bill, was introduced by the late Government in 1911 and was objected to at that time by a member of the Conservative party in another place, because it was not constitutional. The result of that objection-if I am rightly informedwas that the Bill was held up for that session and nothing more could be done in connection with it. The measure is one that is most desirable in the interest of the health of the people of this country. As has been stated by the leader of the Government, it is desirable to prevent, not only the manufacture of this class of matches, but also the sale of the same on account of the cases that have occurred, in which people have used them as a cheap form of poison. I only regret that this legislation has not been on the statute book sooner, because I think at the present time Canada is behind the other countries of the world in this matter. All other countries have adopted similar legislation, which has proved very beneficial to the general health of the people. I have only one objection to this measure, and that is that it is not to come into force until the year 1916. Inasmuch as this legislation was introduced, first of all in the House of Commons in 1911, we may take it that the manufacturers of these matches and the public generally have had notice that it is desirable to place legislation of this kind on the statute book. Notice was given some three years ago and therefore the manufacturers should have had time to make the necessary preparations, and to adjust their business to this class of legislation. The leader of the Government should have introduced this Bill the first session of the present Parliament, when he was in a position to handle the legislation of the country. There might have been some excuse for deferring the time when this Bill should go into force; but as this question has been before the country now for so many years, I shall ask the leader of the Government to agree to an amendment allowing the Bill to go into effect at once, instead of deferring its action until 1916. Hon. Mr. POWER-The 1st of January, 1915, would be better. We must make allowance for those who have stocks on hand. Hon. Mr. BOYER-As the hon. member from Vancouver has stated, a similar measure was introduced in the House of Com'mons on the 9th of January, 1911, by the then Minister of Labour, the Hon. Mackenzie King. On that occasion, an inquiry was made by Mr. Daniel, then a member of that House, as to the necessity of such a Bill and how many people throughout the Dominion would be affected by it. The questions put then were: How many employees are there, and how many match factories are there throughout the Dominion.' The answer was: There are three match factories in the Dominion of Canada, one in Halifax called the Eureka Match Factory, one in Hampton, N.B., and the Eddy Match Factory in Ottawa.' The total number of employees was given as 278 by the census of 1900, but the labour census made the number of employees 230, making forty-eight less employed in all the match factories of the Dominion of Canada. There were 200 in the Eddy match factory, fourteen in the Eureka match factory of Halifax, and thirteen in the Hampton match factory of New Brunswick. The question then arose whether it was worth while having such legislation for so few. But the statistics given of the dire effects of the fumes, caused in the different factories by the use of white sulphur, were so appalling that the Government at the time thought it only right to introduce this measure. In 1906 a convention took place in Berne, composed of the different Governments of Europe, having for its object similar legislation to that introduced today by the Government. At this convention statistics were given proving throughout the world dire effects followed the use of phosphorus in the manufacture of matches. aloof; Sweden, which is to-day the largest At that time England stood match manufacturer in the world, also stood aloof; Japan also would not come into the convention. The reason assigned by England for not signing the convention of Berne was that they thought they had proper regulations that would effectually govern the manufacture of phosphorus matches in England. After having tried these regulations for two years, they were found so defective that in 1908 the British Government adhered to the Berne convention and decided to prohibit the manufacture of phosphorus matches in England. It was mentioned in the Berne conference that the mother countries had the right to invite the colonies to join this convention so as to prohibit the manufacture of these the question as to whether the Parliament matches. A despatch was sent from the of Canada had the right to pass such a Foreign Office in London to the then Gov- measure, whether this measure which afernor of Canada, Earl Grey, who drew the fected the health of the people did not attention of the Government to this con- pertain to local legislatures; and whether vention. The Government immediately the federal authorities had a right to legiscaused inquiries to be made throughout the late on the question. The matter was Dominion of Canada to find out whether thoroughly threshed out. It was merely such a law would have beneficial effects, or what legal gentlemen call a legal squabble. whether the manufacture of phosphorus Still the opposition was trying to make as matches affected a large part of the popu- strong a case as possible against the then lation of Canada. After a thorough inquiry Minister of Labour and Mr. Doherty, toit was found that from fifteen to twenty day Minister of Justice in the present Govcases had been treated throughout the ernment, was not quite sure in his mind Dominion for phosphorus poisoning. We whether we were not trespassing on the all know the dire effects of phosphorus local prerogative, because as he stated in poisoning. Particles of phosphorus in the his speech, the local Governments have factory inspectors, and surely they manufacture of matches will fly into the could pass laws mouths of employees, and if a tooth happens and by-laws strong to enough the protect health to be decayed, the phosphorus will immediately settle in there, and eventually the people over whom they are appointed The point was considered, not cause the loss not only of the tooth, but to watch. even of the jaw bone. Several of such cases only from a legal point of view, but as afwere mentioned in evidence throughout fecting the rights of the provinces. The the Dominion of Canada, and acting on this evidence the Government in 1911 introduced a measure based on identically the same lines as the measure the British Government introduced. It appears that, whether purposely, or whether they thought the measure answered all points, it was mentioned in the Act that it was prohibited to manufacture matches made out of white phosphorus, but provisions as to the sale of it were entirely forgotten. The Canadian Government on the 19th day of Bill was allowed to be introduced, but never went any further; the Bill we are asked to consider to-day is identically the same Bill that was introduced in 1911, except that it goes a step further; it prohibits the sale of such matches. If we are not allowed to manufacture I do not see why we should be allowed to sell, so that is one improvement in to-day's Bill, as compared with the Bill of 1911. I would very much like that the question, which at the time was considered legal opinion-I would like to know to-day a great bugaboo, which was backed by of January, 1911, introduced this measure. Information was given, as I have just days is the same to-day. if the legal opinion of the officers of those If we have a stated, and one of the reasons given against the passage of this Bill was that the then right to-day to pass this Bill, why was it Minister of Labour was in league with, or opposed in 1911? Why have we allowed this dire disease, as they call it, to prevail was a paid official of the Diamond amongst us, and to endanger the lives of Match Company. This was actually hinted at. It was stated in the press, and 230 people who are employed in match facthe next day, acting on this information, should we wait two years longer, so that a tories throughout the Dominion? the Minister of Labour discussed the case Why of the Diamond Match Company, which few more may be afflicted? That is what I am at a loss to understand. If such had control of patents allowing the manufacture of matches other than with white legislation is worth passing, if the life of phosphorus, and he read affidavits, deeds and convention, by which the Diamond Match Company allowed every company throughout the Dominion of Canada, throughout the British throughout the world, to use its patents on the same terms as the company was using them itself. This settled the question of the Minister of Labour being in the service of the Diamond Match Company. Another objection was then raised to the passing of the Bill. Mr. Northrup, M.P., raised Empire, and a man employed in a factory is worth look- |