In  June  it  was  announced  that  the  Government  had  filled  3,686
vacancies  in  the  public  service  of  18  Departments  with  returned
soldiers  while  9  Postmasterships  were  being  held  vacant  for  return-
ing men.  On  Sept.  2  a  telegraphic  leased  wire  service,  operating
day  and  night  and  linking  up  for  the  first  time  the  daily  newspapers
of  Canada,  East  and  West,  was  inaugurated  as  the  result  of  united
action  by  the  Borden  Government  and  Canadian  publishers.  The
Service  covered  6,000  miles  of  wire  and  was  to  be  operated  by  The
Canadian  Press,  Ltd.,  of  which  the  Head  Office  was  in  Toronto
with  C.  O.  Knowles  as  General  Manager,  various  News  Bureaux
at  Winnipeg,  Montreal,  Halifax  and  Vancouver  and  a  strong  inter-
Provincial  Directorate.  To  E.  F.  Slack,  President  at  Montreal,
came  congratulations  from  the  Premier  in  which  he  said:  "It  should
be  the  means  of  bringing  into  closer  touch  widely-separated  communi-
ties; make  their  people  more  familiar  with  the  ideals  and  aims  of
other  provinces  or  districts;  assist  in  bringing  mutual  understanding
to  all,  and  thus  aid  in  the  growth  of  a  national  consciousness  and
a  truly  national  spiril  .'*

The  Government  completed  the  Quebec  Bridge  during  this  year
at  an  estimated  cost  of  $17,000,000  or  a  total — with  that  of  the
disasters  which  came  to  this  great  undertaking — of  about  $35,000,000.
