Legislative Assembly

million dollars if it should cost that. I would sooner go along with the two men on this side of the House that said, that isn’t the case.

In my time, we are taxed an awful lot of money to kill people, to fight wars, and for the sake of some money that might be lost in the prestige of a gov- ernment being lowered a bit, are afraid to do something for the future of the young people. Tomorrow, I suppose, if we are called on again, we would send our young people at terrific cost to be killed but We do not seem to want to do any- thing to help them live. (Applause)

But we will get down to young people, we will still continue in respect to the Election Act and one or two other things. I don’t propose to go into that at the present time, but I know that the age limit is going to be lowered and I am not altogether sure this is a good thing. I think it is just a little political thought, much the same as free school books, pensions to the old age people, and I think it is time in this Province that we forget to try and get into power on the backs of the old and the young and do something for the people in the middle bracket of the economy of this Province. We are not offering them anything but a right to vote, we are not lowering the age when they can administer property in their own way or many other phases, but I don’t intend to go into this at the present time, but speak again on the same Election Act. I do not think there was too much wrong with the last Election Act if it had been entered into in good faith, by men of good faith, but I have seen, even down in our own dstrict, and I find it very hard to assess the blame on the people who have committed the indiscretion or avoided the responsibility such as they did.

I saw old men just on a mere technicality sworn to their vote, just on mere technicality. I think these people were forced to do that for the sake of what they might have been offered to have done it, I don’t know, but it is an unfortunate thing to stoop to some of the practices that took place in the last Provincial election. I want to say this and I don’t put the blame too much more one one side of politics than the other, I want to say this, that if the last election is any indica- tion of what future elections are going to be, despite increase in sessional indemnity, despite a change in the Election Act, that men of good faith can not go out on an honest difference of opinion, an honest difference in respect to their policies, and there is room for that. If they cannot do that, you are not going to have the type of people interested in public life, interested in getting involved in public life, that you should have and you may only have men such as would promote this kind of junk. (Applause)

Now, before I close I want to say just one thing or two about the Souris election from the standpoint of an observer more so than of a participant. And first I want to say this, that I don’t think the Province has eVer had four better can- didates offering for an election in any part, or at any time, than the four that offered for election in the Souris District. But what to my mind happened, from the standpoint of an observer, they were just pawns in the game of power politics, and it is no credit to either party, I don’t think, in respect to some of the things that happened down there. However, that is past and gone. The Premier was elected that night and I wasn’t unhappy to see this young man become Premier and I am not too unhappy yet. He may have something to offer this Province, but rather in condemnation of some of those practices down there that night on the streets of Souris he said that those things happened in the past, and would quite likely happen again or words to that effect. Something in that context Sir. But now, I want to see, and hope, and believe that things like that will never happen again Sir. We can no longer hide our heads in the sand.

Honourable Alexander B. Campbell: Mr. Speaker, if I am to be quoted on that context, I made no such statement. My statement was, that it was regrettable that some of the things happened, and that it would be in the interest of my Govern- ment to cure the Act so that it would not happen again. That is the content of the amendment to the Election Act, to cure it, Sir.

J. Walter Dingwell: Well, I hope you are successful in that Sir, I certain- ly do, and if I quoted you out of context, it was because of the fault of my ears that I heard it in a different manner, I thought I heard it in a different manner.

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