The report revealed a di Florable state of affairs in the Customs service, where both corruption and inefficiency have combined during the past few years to seriously undermine this branch of the government service. The report seriously condemned the 'Minister of Customs in the King! cabinet, and many other high off-but Mr. King did not demer the resignation of his minister. It is doubtful whether the immediate resignation of the Minister of Customs would have saved the King' ministry, but when the crisis oceurred in parliament Mr. King asked the Governor-General to dissolve the House, This Lord Byng refused to do, and the government was subs quently defeated in the House, whereupon Mr. King tendered resi nation, and the Governor-Gen-asked the Conservative leader, Mr. Arthur Meighen, to form a goernment. As it is' necessary for Prime Minister to be re-elected before assuming office, Mr. Meighen was represented in the House of Commons by Sir Henry Drayton, who acted as head of the Government. During the next few days routine: business was proceeded and after the voting of supply, Mr. Meighen asked the Governor-General to dissolve parliament and to call for a general election at the earliest possible moment, Lord Byng ceded to Mr. Meighen's request. and this of course raised a great how! in the Liberal camp, for the Grits say that His Excellency broke the usual precedent when' he refused to grant dissolution at the request, of Mr. King but granted it to Mr. Meighen, a few days later. is probable that this stitutional question will play an' important part in the coming election, although most authorities "declare that the Governor-General acted entirely in conformity with the requirements of the. ease. The fact remains, however, that Frenchmen in the streets of Montreal are saying that Lord Byng did for Mr. Meighen what he would not do for Mr. King and there is good deal of ill-feeling among the Liberals because the coming lection will be held under Conser tive auspices. But party feeling ways runs high at such a time as the present, and the French Quebec are for Laurier and_ his: Successors, right or wrong. It. difficult to say at this time what, part the Progressive party will play. in the coming election.
The New Cabinet Mr. Meighen's new cabinet is composed, for the most part, of number of old standby, but the Province of Quebec has been given five portfolios. This has been done of course, in the hope of securing some support from Quebec in the election, but it will be a great surprise if Meighen wins more than three seats in Quebec. It is commonly said that feeling is so strong against the Prime Minister in Quebec. that it is not wise for him to appear in public within its borders.
As far as I have been able to make out from inquiries in the! various parts of the country that one expects a [very decided victory for either side, which is rot a very hopeful outlook. But perhaps the results of the voting on September 14 may prove the wrongness of advance guesses.
Montreal has recently been visit-fed by Lord Clarendon, Under-Secret. tary of State for Dominion Affairs, who is on his way to the West to investigate the conditions under which new settlers, sent out by the [Overseas Settlement Board, are living. He received cordial welcome in the city and has left for the West to carry out his work on the spot. Another important recent visitor was Mr. Charles E. Mitchell, thead of the National City Bank of New York, one of the largest financial concerns in the United States. He, with a party from New 'York, is in' Montreal to investigate the possibility of investing largely in the pulp and paper industry or jin hydro development. There continues to be a large flow of Ameri-jean capital into Canada which is [gulared to some extent by the tar force at various times. One won-
Jders sometimes what would have been the present economic relationship between the United States and Ganada had Sir Wilfrid Laurier won the Reciprocity election of 1911.
There is an ever-increasing number of large apartment houses being Jerected in this city. They are now being built in almost all parts of the residential sections and some of the largest ones are near the shopping centre of the city. A number of these now under construction will be ready for occupation in the fall, and it almost seems if eventually everybody is going to move into apartments.
Although statistics for the euro rent season are not yet available, there seems to be a steady stream lof ocean traffic, both freight and passenger, going through this port, and improvements are continually being made by the very efficient hi [sour commission. The treatment of subject in any adequate way requires considerable space.and 1 will write more fully about it in a short time,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.