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Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to oottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre film6s A des taux de rMuction diff6rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour §tre reproduit en un seul cliche, il est filmd & partir de I'angle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droits, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m6thode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ma^mmmmmmmmmm PROVINCIAL POLITICS. 1890. REPORT OF THE SPEECHES DELIVERED BY HON. MR. MOWAT, HON. GEO. W. ROSS, MR. EVANTUREL, M.P.P. " IN THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEJWBLY. APRII^ 3rci, 1890. ON THE Proposed iiiK^ndmoiits to I he School AH |n relation to the iteo «ft' the rr«>nt'h Laiigua«fe iu the Public idchouls. Copies of this ^-pfech. mn be.had b^^ adJrtaidng^ B^.T.lJt '■f'-reoton Secrelart^ l^ivvincial lietomi Aseo^Aation, Torovto. • • • . Kl ®orotit«> : |i PRINTED BY HUxNTER, R03E & CO. ISIM). • •»^ « •-, •■■•, ' ».».♦» FRENCH SCHOOLS. sp^eech: DELIVKUKD BY THE HON. GEO. -W. ROSS, m THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY, APRIL 3rd, 1800, IN REPLY TO AfRT.D. CRAIG, MEMBER FOR EAST DURHAM. The MiniateV of Eshire, JSew York, North ' Carolina, Oregon, Rhode IdancJ, and Vermont. The law expressly requires that the schools be taught in the Bnglish language in California, Colorado, Indiana, and Kansas. Several States have special provisions, viz. : Indiana. — German shnU be introduced as a course of study In any schools where tlio parents of 25 or more pupils demand it. Euutuoky. — In any district wnere one-third of the pupils are children of other than English-speaking parents, their respective lurfguages may be added to the course oF study. Maryland. — VVhore there is a conf-iderable German population, school oom- missioiiers may cauRC German to be taught. Ohio. — The School Hi>Rrd of any district shall cause the German language to be taught when a demand is made in writing by 75 resident freeholders representing -10 pupils. With your permission I will add here the substance of a letter which I wrote on January 3rd to Mr. H. E. Clark, a member of your Legislature, in reference to permitting instruction in a foreign language in the Public Schools. I said : *' It u a snbjuot on which I have decided convictions and much expedi- ence. It ia the question of assimilating in the best manner a foreign elemefft found in the community, either as the remnant of a once conquered people, Uke your Canadian French, or the residuum of a wave of immigration like tho German population in our ^Northwestern States. " I am decidedly in favor of a plan that has proved equal to the emer- gency in our Northvvoat. I inaugurated it in St. Louis, Mo. I gave instruc- tion in the writing and speaking m ihe German language one lesson a day to all German pupils and to all Antrlo-American pupils who desired to learn German. This provision was carried out in all schools where there were enough pupils to w.-\rrant the appointment of a teacher for a half or for a whole day. (By the word 'school.' as technicilly understood by ns, is meant an organization under one head teacher assisted by from one to thirty assistant teachers, and having from one hundred to fifteen hundred pupils or more.) The result in St. Louis was to bring all German children into the Public Schools, and to break up entirely the private schools which had ex- isted before. M my Anj/lo-American children availed themselves of the opportunity to learn Gorman. A great advantage was found in thia in the FRENCH 8CH001-S. 9 fact tiiat tho foiling of caste was rapidly obliterated by tho niiituaJ reapoct vn^eiidorod amonK the pupils by uarncKt ctt'urts to Kiarn coch the other's native laii(;uage. *' I have no qiinstioti that this is a policy that vrould have tbe same results ill the Ficnch proviuoe in Canada. Tench them good Parisun French, and at the earuu tiuiu f' qinro thoin to learn the majority of their luasons in Kiw* linli, and the results would be ioon to have an entire population of Hu^luk- ape u king people. *' Very rtispeotfuUy, your obedient servant, " W. T. liAnKlM, CummUsiomr," This is tho experienco of one of the l)e«t edurntora in the I7nit<'d Statt'H and who was Hclected by Fiesidcr '-farrison for the highest educational position in the gift in tlie /Veruraent. TUK UKllMAM LANtJUAOiil. On the s£. fv ;ubject Dr. Peaslee, late superinU-ndo- of Public Schools in Cincinnati ia answer to liie objection Ji.x the stud/ of Genuan should nc i be allowed, savs : '* But,'* It Is said, " this is America, and therefore, ihe Eiiglish langu /<* only should be taught in tho Public Schools ; teaching the (lornian la'iL'Uage tendA to make our citizens Ifsn patriotic, less American. ' " Are," 1 atk. *'Gea- Curl ScliufB, Gen. Frank Si^el, and the tens of thousiiiids of other Cnore time is (liven to English than that prescribed ia the circular; in (> '.he time preacribul is given, and in 28 less th m the time prescribed is given. VI. That in very few schools has sufF.clent attention been given to collo- quial exercises. MISTATEMKNT COKllECTED. The hon. gentleman argues on the assumption that he (Mr. Ro&«i) had sail that every pupil was learning English and learil- m 12 FREN'CH SCHOOLS. ing it thorouglily. He never made such a statement. He wn-»j aware that English was not tauo;ht to every pupil. He was not aware noi* had he assumed that English was well taught in every] instance. The words he used on that occasion were : — "It is not to bo assumed that English is aa well taaght in the BchoyiB of] Eastern Ontario aa in some of the older counties. Due allowance must U- made for local conditions in considering a matter of this kind. Jn fact, in a Province extondiug over an area so great, no fair comparison can be madt I at least between counties remote from each other.- There are poor school: fven in i!;g <)lder counties; there are poor schools in the northern parts (<) the counties of Frontenac, Hastings, Haliburton, &c,, etc., and to say thin some of the schools in Prescott and Rus'^ell are in a backward condition is! merely to assert what perhaps may be said of many schools iu the county O" York, or Miidleaex, or O-^iford." It had become the practice of hon. gentlemen on the opposit.. side of the House to quote very largely from newspapers. Theiv were a great many reports last year as to the condition of thf schools in Prescott and Russell. They had reports from the Mail and the Telegravn,, and there was some uncertainty as to the true condition of affairs, and he felt it was desirable, in the lace ot so many conflicting statements, that he should know authorita tively how matters stood. The hon. gentleman said they were compelled to appoint a Commission to inquire into the condition of the Prescott and Russell schools. The hon. gentleman never nude a greater mistai:o. They were compelled by their sense o! dut}^ by their desire to ascertain the truth, just as they had ap- pointed Commissioners to inquire .into other matters. They wer*. anxious that there should be no doubt as to the true facts in the case and the Commission was appointed accordingly. HIGH CHABACTEll OF COMMISSION. The Commission consisted of Rev. Prof. Reynar, of Victoria College ; the Rev. D. D. McLeod, of Barrie, and Mr. J. J, Tiiiey, men of the highest standing in their various walks in life — and men who could not be approached with a view to induencin«^ their judgment and he ventured to say they had not prepared u partial or »mesided report. The hon. gentleinan ssays — reiteral ing a statement made by the Leader of the Opposition in his Lon don speech, — th-t the Commissioners were very anxious to shield the Minister of Education. What right has the hon. gentleman to impugn the character ol these Commissioners ? Two of them are leading men in their respective denominations, one a Methodist and one"a Presbyterian. iil FRENCH SCHOOLS. 13 He wtJ I« was not it in every 10 flchugis of I !co iniiHt be u fact, in aj n be mail( I>oor schools ern parts of I to say thai j condition is le county o opposite ra. Thei. ion of th. the Mail o the tru< ;he face oi aiUborita ttiey weit i conditio!) mnn nevci ir sense o( jy lud ap- rhey wer x lets in tho Vietorit; J. Tiliey, life — and iHuendn*; prepared m — reiterat a his Lon » to shield [They were selected because of their experience, education and [their high standing as citizens. Bepause tliey did their duty, [because their report contained the facts as they found tliem and because these facts did not serve the purpose of the hon. gentie- itleraan, he is unkind enough to intimate that they were partial I jind unfair and tried to sliield the Minister of Education. The ! opinion which he seems to have formed of their report is at vari- fance with the one formed by competent judges elsewhere. For instance : The Ca)wdian Baptint said "This evidently impartial report, while it does not perhaps add largely to the infonuaiion already p )38e88od by those who havo followed up tho discussiou in the Legislature and in the press, will be of great service as tjivinc;, in cmcise form, a reliable basis for iufereuoe and uotion. Most unprejudiced persons will, we think, agree that the recom- niendationa of the couiinissiun are mninently judicious. They include about all the action timi< seems neot^'saary and desirable." The Caiiuduin Prenhyleriau said, " As was to be expected from men of their churaoter and standing, they did their work with diligdiico, th' rough- ness aud impartiality. Their report has just been issued and it is strictly correct to say that it ia untin^ed by political coloring. Tne report is valu- [.uble because it presents a clear and unbiu8.std Btatement of the actual state of ait'airs iu iheae schools domiuaied, as ilioy largely an-, by French Roman Oatuolic influences ; i^. will aho, doubtless, lead to tho adaption of thw cor- rections ueoessary to preserve the integrity and usefulness of the Public Scho'il system in Ontario." 77<« trti>b[iier'\an htxitw said, "With the refort we are much pleased. It is full, onrelul'y prepitred and clear. '1 he CininiiPBioners have den** their woik well, Hud we are happy to a^ree to the recoiiiinendatious they make." Thi-, I hruttian Ouarduin said, " As fur as wo can jtidue, the Oommissioners have dont* their work with great thorcut:} ntes and fuirnese " The I'vrinito Mail said, •' On tiie wholo the Corjimihsioners appear to "have d<»ne their work thornuyhly and conscientiously." , T/ie o^^awa C'i/ia^n (Tory) said, "It was hinted in some quarters that the '* lep- rt ot the Ctiniuiissioiitrs aj'poiiited by the OntaTio Depariment of Ed- " n Cation to investigate the condition of the Public Schools of the Province ''in Connies wheie the Freiich-Cnnadian itfiulation ia ntimerous would i'l)r'>ve a nhitewatihinu one, and that the oljtot aimed at wouhi not be '.'attained; but a careful eX>imiiiation of the report, biitfly summarized .' in ye8terda>'8 Citiztn, shows that the C 'mmiseioiiera performed th© duty • 'a-ioigutd to them in a most caieful and thorough manner." The hon. gentleman claimed that a Conservative should have been on the Coininis-^ion. Why ? Did the hon. gentleman serious- ly CDiitetid that the truth was only to bo obtaineil from Conserva- tives ? (Uear, hear.) FKFNCH AND GEllMAN SCHOOLS. aractof ol BTho hon. gentleman bronoht him to ti«k for havinir said in his in their Hiipuecli iu i'orouto la^t June, that the German schools were pre- Jbyterian, ^ 14 FRENCU SCHOOLS. oiaely in the same condition as the French schools, and in answer to this invention of his own brain, ho quotes from the report of the Oommifisi'oners to show that there was no similarity in the condition of the two schools. What led him to this con- cJu.'ion no one could tell. The words used by him (Mr. iloss; on that occasion were — •'I come next to consider that most disturbing of all questions — Frencl* "and (lerman schools — and I bracket these two because every oLjectiou "that applies to one applies to tlje other. From an Anglo-Saxon sland- " point they ire both foreign lan|(uages, and national charucteriativ:^ have "very little to do with the question." lie was then discussing the French and Geitnan schools from a racial stauJpoint. He argued that if French was a foreign lan- guage so was German, ana that Anglo-Saxonizing was as much a necessity in the one case as the other. He was discussing the question whether under certain circumstances it was not desir- able and proper that French should be used as a language of in- struction in addition to English, so as to teach the French chil- dren English through French, just as German children would be taught English through German. From a national standpoint they were in the same position. It was natural that the French child who learned French should bo taught English through the medium of that language, just as a German or Gaelic child should 1)0 taught English through the instrumentality of hist native language. MK. CRAIG'S plagiarism. He came now particularly to the Bill introduced by the hon. gentleman, and first he would mentiim that every clause in it which IS of any value Wfis stolen fiom the regulations of the Education Department, and those that were not so stolen were worse than useless. By the first section of his Bill he declares tliat Engli.'^h shall be the language of e\(iry Public and Separate School in tliis Province. Where did he get this section? As everybody knows, he got this from the Regulations ot August, 1885, amplified by the Jlogulations of the 10th of February last as follows : — ■*(I'^) It shall be the duty of the teacher to conduct evrcry exercise and recitation 'rum tlje ti By (jec. 3 of his bill he provides that no teacher is to be employed permitted to teach unless he is capable of speaking the Eng- , hianguago. Another case of petty larceny, as the following Bgulation of the Education Department passed in l^h5 provided an examination in English and covers the same ground. |155. In addition to the examination conducted in the French or the Qer- 111 language, ever]^ candidate for a teacher's certificate bhall be required to hs such examinations in English grammar and in translattoa from French. [German into English, as may be prescribed by the Ri)ard of Examiners. By sec. 4 of his bill the teacher may use any language under- )od by the pupils in imparting instruction in all cases where pupils do not understand English. This section was also i]en from the Regulations of the Department, and is strangely [variance with the statement made by the hou. gentleman last ir. )n the 9th of March, 1889, as reported by the Empire, he [r. Craig) said : — I* Ho had shown that the situation was a very serious one. Were they wil- ig to have two languai^es in this Province ? In the Public Schools of )ntario, if such were not the desire of the people, the Englinh lant,'uage hj should be taught." ***** "He did not wish to speak a roid against the French language, bat as this was essentially an Ensclish Deaking Province, they could ojily have one languaije in their Publio jhools. That was the great proposition whioii he wished to l«y down." mt has become of the GREAT proposition laid down by the hon. itleman last year ? It. has vanished into thin air, 5y sec. 6, the teacher who violated the provisions of the hon. itienian's bill, should it become law, is to be dismissed appar- ^ly without .]^<^gf<^ or jury. This clause was not stolen from the hilationsof the Department. By sec. 7 the use of French is to |allowed for one hour per day until Parliament enacts other- ^0, So we are going to postpone the great panacea of the hou. ^tleman for making us a united people until Parliament gets (ly. Why such procrastination. By sec. 8 the privilege of using French language in the instruction of pupils who know no Eng- i.H to be withdrawn absolutely, in case the provisions of the gentleman's bill are wilfully violated. If a teacher violated section the children would be deprived of instruction in Inch altogether, and consequently would not be taught at all. would visit upon the heads of the children, not the sins of ir fathers — that would bo according to Scripture — but the sins ihe Board of Trustees. 8uch a measure could not be passed rzmimamBm 1« FRBKCH SCHOOLS. through any legislative body anywhere, not even in Japan. (Ap. plause.) One serious omission in the bill, in spite of all the stolen sectionij it contained, was that it made no provi«ioa for the training of teachers in English. This omission he reQfarJed nsj fundamental. The Commissioners stron'jly rec<»m mended the establishment of a training school for French tejichers. Howl were we to introduce English into the schools, except through th« medium of teachers qualified to use it properly in the school- room ? BILL MUST BE REJECTED. He asked the House to reject, the second reading of the Bill, and i\» so doing he hoped that the la^t had l)t.en ho»iid of this question. It' they were going to keep before their minds the purpose of those who founded ConCederatioM, it I would not do to have the public agitated by discus-inns that f( stered a cleavage between French and English. The French had been as loyal to Canada as any other pni t.oii of tho population. They hud defended it against attack frtj i within and without, and we had a right to respect their language and even their prejudices, for were they not our own kith and kin? If they would build up here a great nation they must look be- yond the narrow horizon of a school secunn, or of a few counties, or even be^'on 1 the horizcm of the Dommion itself, and the further I they looked the more thiy found the policy of the Government sustained by the great countries of the woild. It was that policy which had helped to make England the mistress of the seas, which had enabled Switzorhind for centuries Lo maintain hLT>elt' in her Alpine retreat, and which had helped Germany and Austria, I ra spite of internal strife and conflicts with other nations, to bo-| come- two of the great Powers of Europe. Such a p"licy, too. would lielp to build up a great nation in Ontario and in Canada. ] (Applause.) Ak'. Meredith replied to the Minister of Education and was| follo^ved by the Attorney-General : — TUE ATTORNEV-GENERAL The Attorney-Gonrral, on ruins? shoitly before two o'oloclc, yrxt ^(Sfh*d\ urUh louii cheers. He said that at that lute hour it wonld not b« beooiui i J on his part to occupy the attention of the D[i»UBe very long, nor did thtif Bpeech of hia hon. friend, heated although it was and excited, aitd iajpas-' sioned aa its delivery no doubt was, contain much that r» quired an answer, , It was absurd for the leader of the Opposition to say that the G iveru'iient did not desire the French population to learn English. If his hon. trienJ FRENCH SCHOOLS. m. (Ap. ihe sullen , for the GfarJed as I iided the ra. How j roufjh tho be bcliool- g of the •en hoard I fore their ratioM, itl ii.scua-ir»ns ish. The ou of tho i 1 within ,aago and and kin I b look be- T coun'.ios, I ,he f lU'r.her )vernm(!nt hat policy the aeas, i lin hLTnoll I ui Austria, ons, to bc- edicy, too. .a Canada. I and waal bo btsuoiui ii{| nor did the] and ioipas- 1 Hii answtr, G ivern'iiedll I hoD. iriunJ really aeriously meant any luob statement as that he muat be pretty nearly lij'proaching abaolute idiocy. (Oheers and laughter.) Hifl hon. friend waa not in that poaition — he knew very well bow the matter roally waa, but he thought just now it waj in the interest of hia party to represent things as being difl'erent to what they were. The Government were as anxioua as he was to see their French fellow-snbjocts speak the English language; but the difficulty was how to bring about that result. The plan propos. u by his hon. • friend waa a very bad one, and if carried into efl'ect, not more EngUsh would be loamed, but less. The Government wanted English to be learned by the Fnnch portion of the population, but they wanted them also to be friends. Nothing could be gained by proscribing the French language in the achoola, but a great deal waa to be gained if they recognised to a certain extent the use ol' that language in the schools. The French population contributed to tho support of the schools, and the object sought could be secured a thona- and times more effectually by respecting their prejudices, by respecting their love for their language^ by respecting their desire that their children should bo tAu^'ht their own tongue, than by adopting a coercive policy. (Cheers.) He wanted the French children to learn their langutige, to study their lan- guage, to read books in their language, and he wanted them all to study the lati^;uage and literature of England. Ilis hon. friend had said that ho could not imagine what the policy of the Government was, and challenged him (the Attorney- General) to tell him their policy. The hon. gentleman couli be , very obtuse when he wanted to be obtuse. The Minister of Education had I already appealed to the '* Instructions for Teachers " for the purpose of show- ling what their policy was. The member for London had read those instruc- [ tiuna, and after reading them it vi as absurd for him to pretend that he did not know what the policy of tho Government was. The hon. the Attorney- Guneral then went through the instructions seriatim as regards the use of I French in the schools and the directions for the teaching of Eaglish, point- ling out that the French children were not to study French only but to study [English also. The policy of the Government was to have English taught in [the schools, and to adopt the best methods of teaching it and the best n)et}iods of educationists elsewhere had been adopted. There no doubt was [in some counties a scarcity of teachers qualiBed to teach English, and the Government wanted to remove that state of things as speedily as possible. Tho Government recogni8«d the necessit^y for doing something, and were Itaking steps to provide teachers where that scarcity existed. The Govern- ^neut were anxious to have children thoroughly trained in English, and with that object in view they were adopting the methods that experience had :'roved to be the best. The object aimed at could never be accomplished by exhibiting s. spirit of hostility tc the French population— certainly nqt by jrosoribing the use of French in the schooh. The Attorney-General quoted from correspondence previously used by him in his recent speech at Wood- Itock to show that Dr. Ryerson and the whole Council of Public Instruc- lion had regarded the use of French in tho French Schools in the East much U they regarded the use of English in the English Public iSchoola, and Ihowed how this condition had. gradually changed until the recent regula- |ions of the Education Department had been issued, by which English was be thoroughly taught and teachers thoroughly trained in English in every 'lool in those counties. (Loud applause.) « Mr. Evanturel. It was nearly half-past two o'clock when the Attorney-General ceased leaking. Mr. Evanturel rose for a moment and expressed his regret that 'Tm 18 FRENCTH SCHOOLS, the lateness of the hour precluded his continuing the debate, and correcting the nuDierous InaocuraoieB nrhicb, he caid, the speeches of Mr. Meredith and Mr. Oraig contained. He felt bound, however, to jxiint out to the hon. gen- tlemen thai thui " sjllabaire," which he and Mr. Oraig had condemned aa vehemently on account of its alleged Roman Catholic teaching and prayers, did not contain one single Roman Catholic prayer or doctrine. If the hou. gentlemen had been able to read French they would have seen this, and the fact that such a circumstance had esonped the attention of two Toronto Uni' versity gr:u)uate8 who had examined the little volume lowered his estimate of the Provincial University by fifty per cent. He would have bet^n happy to translate the whole contents of the volume for the benefit of the House if the hour had been earlier. (Oheers.) ■i! FRENCH SCHOOLS. 19 M EMOR ANDTJM. Since the delivery of Mr. Ross' speech the Empire has publish- ed what appears to be an official report of what Mr. Craig said m the debate on French Schools. In order that all matteiB in dispute might be fully covered, the following auppleinen- tary observations are aj)pended. Mr. Craig made a special effort to fasten upon Mr. Ro.ss the charge of misrepresentation if not falsi- fication in connection with the French Schools. The tirst state- ment made by Mr. Ross in his speech last year ^hich Mr. Craig challenged was as follows : Ho (Mr. Robb) denied that the acboois of Eastern Ontario were inferior in the seiide dijscribod by the iiieaiber for East Darham. The reports of the in- spectors go to show that these schools are doing excellent work, even French pupiU beating English pupils at departmental examinations. The member for East Durham should have informed himself on the condition of the schoola of PJastern Ontario before making a charge that they wer'i not in an elUciont condition. Ill L'Orignal English is taught, and there oould not beany complaint with respect to the teaching of English in the schools in the extreme eastern part of the province, Anmver. Tlie information on which this statement was based is contain- ed in Mr. Summerby's report (Sessional Paper, No. 48, 1887) and is as follows : , To give you an idea of the character of work done in English, in some of our French Schools, I may here draw vour attention to the fact that I men- tioned to you when I was iu Toroni" Ijttt month. Four pupils from one of these schools passed the Entrance examination to the High Sctiool during the year 1886, one in July and three in December. All four of these pupils speak and write both languages ; two of them are the children of French speaking parents ; two of them English-speaking parents, and one of them is but eleven years of age. One of the French pupils made a perfect paper in dictation, spelling every word correctly and beating all the EngliBh-speaking pupils. in the western part of the inspectorate there are no High Schools, and ad- vanced work must be done in the Public Schools, or pupils wishing to go forward in their studies have to leave home to attend school. Some of our pupils attend Hir counties, and as in some of these schoola medals and scholarships are awarded pupils taking the highest marks at the Entrance examination, we have thus a means of comparing our work with that done in neighboring counties. Several times of late years jur pu- pils have taken gold and silver medals at the Kemptville High School, and tii(7 have also taken Bcholarships at Ottawa Collegiate Institute. ilHMl m 20 FBENCH SCnOOLS. In iome of our Public Schools pnpils are prepared for the tetieher** exRm- inations. During the past two years several have paused district examina- tions ; three the third claas examination, and one the second cUbh exam- ination. The secoii,! clans candidate was but fourteen years of age and had passed the third class examination the previous year. All of which is respectfully submitted. (Signed) W. J. SUMMERBY. "School luHrjBCTOu's Offiok, "January 4th, 1888. Sir, — At the beginning of last year T asked my assistant, Mr. Dufort, to pay special attention to this subject (English) when makin;^ his inspectoral visita. The result is that we have reduced the number of purely French departments from twenty-seven to six, and T hope to be able to report, at the end of the present term, that these six have fallen into line. At last summer's exami- nation for teachers for our French schools, all candidates totally ignorant of English were rejected. I do not wish it to be thought that I am satistied with our present attainments in this respect. As 1 have said in previous reports, our weak point is a staff of teachers having an imperfect acquain- tance with the English tongue. But I think we are going forward as rapidly as can be expected under tlie circumsbances, " Yours truly, "W. J. SUMMERBY. "Russell, 23rd February, 1889. " Dear Sir, — Last year I had to report that we had six schools in whioh English was not taught. Mr. Dufort has made a verbal report to rae that these six fell into line during 1888, so that we can now say that English is taught ia every Public School in the counties. " Yours truly, "W. J. SUMMERBY. " CuRRAy, 25th February, 1889. " Sir,— Last year according as I made my first visits I in8i8tement forming part of this report, in which the Enjy^iish language is largely used in the work of the school. This is the case more particularly in the counties of Essex and Kent." Unauthorized Text Books. Mr. Craig states that Mr. Ross denies that unauthorized books were used in the schools in Eastern Ontario. Mr Ross never made such a denial, on the contrary, as reported in the Mail, ho made the following admission : — ''There was a certain violation of the Regulations of the Department in the French Schools in Eastern Ontario in that they used French text -books not authorized but books authorized for mixed schools in Quebec. Ho bad ob- tHined in the French language those used in the Maritime Provinces and had sont them to the Central Committee for repoi*t. The prospect was, therefore, that in a short time they would have French text-books as undenominational as were tho books used in the Pnblic Schools." From beginning to end the reports of the speech show that what Mr. Ross said was true and is true, and that nothing has been disclosed by the Commissioners, or by any other evidence submitted so far, to show that his statements were inaccurate. REGULATIONS OF THE EDUCATION DEPART- MENT. EESPECTING FRENCH AND GERMAN SCHOOLS. Approved, February IQth, 1890. (1) In school sections where the French or German language prevails, the trustees, with the approval of the Inspector, may, in addition to the course of study prescribed for Public Schools, require instruction to be given in reading, grammar and ocmposition to such pupils as are directed by their parents or guardians to study either of these langaages, and in all such cases the authorized text-books in French or German sbaO be used. A 22 FBENCH SCHOOLS. (2) Tt Rhall be the diily of the te»cher to conduct every eteroiM and reoiU. tion from the text books yirusuribed for Tublii; iSchouls, in the Kugliih language, and all ooinmnnioations between teacher and pupil in regsrd to matten of discipline and in the management of the school ahxll be iii Eng- lish, except »<) far as this is iinpracticttble by reason of the pupil not under* standing English. Recitations in ; French or GermaTt may be conducted in the language of the text book. (3) It shall be tho duty of the Intpeolor to examine carefully in English every j "pil accoiding to the cotirse of stud'es prescribed for Publi« ScKodIs ; but lie stiall be at liberty to use his own discreiiun m to what explanations he will give in any other language that appears to be better known by the gupil. Tho standard of efliciency rooognia»d in Public Schools where the Inglish language only is taught shall be the standard for French and Ger- man schools, reasonable allowance being made for pupils whose mother tongue is French or German. Tho Inspector shall report at once to the Education Department any scliool in which the regulations respecting the study and use of English are disregarded by the te&cher or trustees. (4) In C(juuticB where ihore is a soiircity of teachers qualified to toach Eng- lish, the Board of Examiners for the county, with the approval of the Edu- cation Department, may establish a Model School for the special training of French or German teachers. S\ich schoojs sliall hold two sessions each year, and shall, in addition t'tthe ordinary professional course required for County Model Schools, give a full literary course in Eugliah in all the subjects pre- scribed for Third Class Teachers' Certihcates, or for District Certiticates, as the Board may direct. The final examination for certifi-ates to teach, shall be conducted in the English language. There shall also be a final examin- ation in the French or German language, in reading, grammar and composi- tion. Boards of Examiners shall possess all the powers with respect to such schools as they now possess with respect to County Model Schools. The Regulations governing the inspection of County Model Schools by the County and Depirtmental Inspector shall apply to these schools. (6) Emblems of a denominational character shall not be exhibited in a public school during regular school hours. vy 1