§ MR. H. D. GREENE (Shrewsbury)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention has been called to Petitions addressed by the Winnipeg Waterworks Company and by the bondholders of the same company to His Excellency the Governor General of Canada, stating the circumstances in which the Corporation of Winnipeg procured the passing, just before the close of the last Session of the Parliament of the Province of Manitoba, of an Act by which a Statute dated 1880, under which the bondholders advanced £100,000 or thereabouts, is in part nullified to the serious prejudice of their securities; whether the provisions .of the recent Act had previously been disapproved by the Committee of Law; whether the Act has been assented to by the Lieutenant Governor of the Province; whether the Governor General has expressed any intention of disallowing the Said Act in accordance with the prayer of the Petitions; and whether he is aware if the 290 bonds were issued in London and are largely held by investors in England?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIESI have received copies of the Petitions referred to. I have no information on the subject beyond what is contained in the Petitions. It is stated in the Petition of the company that the provision of the Act to which they take exception had been previously rejected by the Committee of Law, and that the Act has been assented to by the Lieutenant Governor of the Province. I have not received any communication from the Governor General on the subject. Yes, I believe the facts to be as stated in the Question.