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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 bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmis d des taux de reduction diff6renis. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6, il est filmd d partir de Tangle supdrieur gauche, de gauche h droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant te nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ^' iwiJ" ( OEFARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, ONTARIO. A.CTB .?-. OF THE CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT '--■ \it>f, ■■- EXPLAINED AND VINDICATED. " Error may travel far, while truth is putting on its boots." -^n eminent SUite»>nan. " It is individual character that constitutes progrea8.— Wegtininster Jievieto. " It is Ki^atness of floul alone that never grows old ; nor is it wealth that delights in the latter Rtagc of life, as some give out, so much as honour."— Peric/cs' Funeral Oration, &c. t ■ '*-'^^ PRINTKI) HV HUNTER, ROSK & CO.. 86 lal^G ST. WEST 1868. ji-^' ^^'■.^- :./ c ! 4 '■^m ./tu^/^ c DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, ONTA?JO. ■y-.^^ ^OTS OF THE CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT EXPLAINED AND VINDICATED. " Error may travel far, while truth is putting on its boots."— jln emi'Mnt Stateiman. " It is individual character that constitutes profpress. -TFe«£nttnster Reviexe. " It is greatness of Boul alone that never grows old ; nor is it wealth that delights in tho latter stojto of life, as some give out, so much as honour."— Pericfej' Funeral Oration, die. :> PRINTED BY HUNTER, ROSE & CO., 86 KING ST. WEST. 1869. •i f PREFATORY NOTE. To THE Members of the Honourable the Legislative Assem- bly OF Oni'ARIO : — Gentlemen, Preparing to resign the administration of the Education Department into other hands, I desire to lay before you, for your individual perusal and satisfaction, a full account of those ap- pointments in the Department and of my official acts which have been animadverted upon in discussions in your Honourable House, and to vindicate myself from the censures of certain Members and of a portion of the public press, The following pages will, I trust, show that I have paid due respect to the Government, while I have sought to act in accordance with the wishes of the Representatives of the People, and to promote most economically and efficiently, to the best of my humble ability, the educational interests of my native country, of which you are now the chosen guardians, I have the honour to be. Gentlemen, Your most obedient, humble servant, E. RYERSON. Department op Public Insteuotion, Toronto, 30th December, 1868. I ^ i « ■* CONTENTS. Page. 1. UnfaimeBS of tho attacks upon the Department— Reasons against them * 2. Correspondence with the Government on the Appointment and Salaries of Officers of the Department, from 1855 to 1858 8 3. Unjust and unreasonable policy towai-ds Subordinate Officers in the Education Department— Renewed application on their behalf in 1859-1861 ■ 1^ 4. Continued injustice to the Education Officers compared with those in other Public Departments— Their Zeal and Fidelity unimpaired. 16 5. Cause of misapprehension, and illustrations of the Injustice done to the Education Department, compared with others 17 6. Correspondence with the Ontario Government on the new scale of Salaries to Officers of the Education Department 18 7. Salaries Recommended — Reasons for the Recommendation — Illustration 22 8. Objections Answered— Ten Meteorological Observers' Returns- The School Manuals and the Journal of 'Educatioiir—Re^^ly to Mr. Blake's objections 2* 9. Objections to the Jovrnal of Education answered— Complimentary References to it — Intercommunications in it 28 10. Reply to the Globe's attacks and objections— its Twenty-four years' attacks recapitulated 30 11. The Globe of 1859 on Dr. Ryerson's "dotage," vs. The Globe of 1868 on his " full possession of his faculties !" 32 12. The Globe's misrepresentation in regard to a Pension— His Sup- pression of the letter of resignation to correct it 33 13. Pension to Ex-Chancellor Blake— It a Solitary case— The Globe sees no objection to it— The Vote in 1850, which caused the Hon. Robert Baldwin's Retirement from Public Life 33 14. Mr. Blake's twelve and a half years' Service— His Pension of 13,333.33 per annum since 1862 33 15. The Globe's misrepresentations of my retirement— What those rea- sons are 34 16. Proposed labour after retirement 35 17. Chief Superintendent's Letter of Recommendation and Resignation. , . 37 MEMOKANDUM By the Chief Superintendent of Education in Ontario^ on the Salaries of Officers in the Department of Public Instruction, for the consideration of the Members of the Legislature. Unfairness of the Attack on the Department — Reasons. During the sitting of the Legislative Assembly on Friday, the 18th of December, fault was found with certain of my official acts, and I was censured, or rather attacked, by some Members in severe terms. I feel i it therefore due to the Department over which I have so long pre- sided, as well as to myself and all parties concerned, to offer the fol- lowing public explanation and vindication of my proceedings in the matters referred to. I think I have just reason to complain of the unfairness of the censure cast upon me under the circumstances. The House had appointed a Committee on Public Accounts. I had requested of the Chairman of that Committee, when the accounts of the Education Department were under consideration, to be permitted to go before that Committee to answer any questions, and give any explanations which might be re- quired. But before any such opportunity has been afforded me, I have been censured in the House of Assembly in respect to those very ac- counts ! Furthermore, previously to the commencement of the Session, I had requested the appointment, by the House, of a Special Committee to examine into the state and working of the Education Department, thus courting and challenging enquiry. Such a Committee had been ap- pointed ; yet before it makes and reports the result of the enquiry pre- scribed and requested, I am blamed, in no measured terms in the House, in regard to the working of the Department. I may regard the House of Assembly as the Judge and Jury to dev.de upon my official acts; but I submit to any member of that HoKse, whether it is consonant with law or justice for a man to be condemned by any Judge or Juryman, not only without a trial, but without en- quiry ? When I have done what no head of a Department ever before did in Upper Canada — asked for a Parliamentary enquiry into everything per- taining to my office — I submit that I had, at least, a right, as a matter of common justice between man and man, to the suspension of any cen- sure in Parliamont until the completion of that enquiry. 8 Before noticing the matters of imputation in the Legislative A.rssembly, I may remark that while the Education Department has been subject to the same responsibility and severe scrutiny as other Public Departments, it has been denied the poijttion, and its subordinate officers have been denied the advantages enjoyed by the subordinate officers, of other Public Departments. Ccrrespondence with the Government on the Appointment and Salaries of Officers of the Department from 1855 to 1858. I think it therefore best, in viev of my proposed retirement from the Department, to present the whole case of its present officers from the beginning. I will first insert the letter of the Provincial Secretary, communicating the Governor's approval oi certain appointments which I had temporarily made in tlie Department. " Secretary's Office, " Quebec, ith July, 1855. "Eeverend Sir, — His Excellency the Governor General has had under his consideration your letter of the 25th ultimo, submitting, for the approval of His Excellency, certain appointments in the Depart- ment of Public Instruction for Upper Canada, viz.: — John George Hod- gins, Esquiie, to be Deputy-Superintendent of Schools for Upper Cana- da ; Mr. Alexander Joh.istone Williamson to be Clerk of Correspon- dence; Mr. Alexander Marling to be Clerk of Accounts; Messrs. Samuel P. May, Thomas C. Scoble, and Louis Gauthey, Clerks in the Map and Book Depositories ; Patrick O'Neil to be Messenger. " I an' directed by His Excellency to acquaint you that His Excel- lency has been pleased to approve of the appointment of the above- named gentlemen, as recommended by you, " His Excellency has been pleased, in terms of your suggestion, to direct that the appointment of Mr. Hodgins, as Deputy-Supeiintendent of Schools for Upper Canada, be published in the Canada GazJte. " I ha;e, &c., (Signed) " Geo. Et. Cartier, '^ Secretaiy. •' The Reverend Dr. Ryerson, &c., &c." Mr. Thomas Hodgins had been previously appointed Senior Clerk, and his name does not therefore appear in the preceding appointments. A.fter the passing of the Civil Service Act, in 1857, I sought its application to the subordinate officers of the Educational Department equally with those of other Public Departments. My salary, being regulated by law, was not at that time equal to the salaries of other heads of Public Departments. ! said nothing about that, but urged the claims of my assistants in the followhig letter : — I ^! I "Education Office, Toi-onto, 22nd July, 1867. '* Sip, —I have the honour to submit to the favourable consideration of His Excellency tlie Administrator of tlie Government in Council, the following statement and recommendations in regard to the officers and clerks of this Department. " The Act passed during the last Session of Parliament for improving the organization, and increasing the salaries of the officers and clerks connected with the political departments of the Government, provides, among other things, that the head of each Department shall, within thirty days, 'cause to be transmitted, to the office of the Executive Council, a return of the persons composing the staff of such Depart- ment, dividing them into classes, as hereinbefore provided, having re- spect to their relative ability and length of service.' "It is true this is not a political department of the Government; but I sul)mit, that in justice to the officers and clerks employed in it, they ought not, on that account, to be deprived of remuneration which has been considered by both the Government and Parliament to be but just to the subordinate officers of other public Departments, especially as the subordinate officers connected with this Department are not second to those of any other public Department in literary qualifications, or industry, or labour, and as the Department itself (though not political) is one of the most extensive, important and responsible in the counLiy. " But in addition to this general ground, I beg to offer some special reasons in support of the principal recommendations I have the honour to submit. "In regard to the Deputy-Superintendent, {J. George Hodgins, Esq., M.A.,) he has been connected with this office since October of 1864, nearly thirteen years. I selected and nominated him for what I believed to be his aptitude and qualifications for an assistant in the work I had undertaken ; and after he had given satisfactory proof of such aptitude and qualifications, he, on my recommendation, relinquished his salary for one year, went home to Dublin at his own expense, and de- voted a year to a careful study of the whole mode of conducting the system of education in Ireland, in all the details of each of the seven branches of the great Education Office in Dublin, and returned to Ca- nada with tlie highest testimonials of the Irish National Board of Edu- cation. And it is to Mr. Hodgnis' talents as a departmental officer, his thorough business habits, great industry, and cordial co-operation that the country is in no small degree indebted for the completeness and perfection of detail that I liave been enabled to introduce into every branch of this complicated Department. Mr. Hodgins has also had charge of the Department during my absences (sometimes protracted), has done so very efficiently, but has never received any remunerat'on 2 10 •^ ^ ! for such additional labour and responsibility. I submit, therefore, that his qualifications, duties, long and faithful services, entitle him to equal remuneration with the deputies of other departments — that is, to an increase of his salary from £450 to £600. "The first Clerk, Thomas Hodgins, A.B., has been in the office since 1848, and has evinced talents of a high order, especially in the branch in which he is employed, examining all financial and statistical returns, and pieparing my statistical reports, together with the entry and sum- mary record of all letters, &c. His legal knowledge (he being nearly eligible for admission as barrister-at-law) is a great convenience, and very useful to me. His present salary is £280 ; under the new Civil Service Act, he would be entitled to £400. " Mr. A. Marling has, during the last thr»3e years, been Accountant and Book-keeper, and discharged his duties most faithfully, and with singular ability — the accounts amounting in the aggregate to nearly £100,000 per annum, and embracing a variety of separate branches, and sums from a few pence up to hundreds of pounds. The salary of the Book-keeper or Accountant in each of the other Departments is £400. Mr. Marling's salary has been but £200. I submit that his salary should at least be £300, with the rank of a clerk of the first-class. " Mr. A. J. Williamson, an elderly gentleman, a most expert and accurate clerk of correspondence (with other duties), is proposed to rank as clerk of the second class, his present salary of £175 to be made £225. Mr. S. P. May, a Naturalist, having prepared and arranged the speci- mens of Natural History in this Department, as he did two or three years since for the Natural History Society of Quebec — a most excellent Clerk of the Libraries, and a very useful man in the Department. Tt is proposed that he shall rank as a Clerk of the second class, and that his present salary of £200 shall be £225. " It is also proposed that Mr. F. J. Taylor, Assistant Clerk of Statis- tics, shall rank as Clerk of the third class, with his present salary of £150 ; and that Mr. H. Butterworth, Map and Apparatus Depository Clerk, rank as Clerk of the fourth class — his present salary of £75 to be made £125. [Mr. Butterworth died four years subsequently, in December, 18611. '* I beg to add, that not one of the officers or clerks above named has been r.ppointed without a trial of six months, and without exhibiting peculiar qualifications and fitness for the work assigned him. ** In no branch of the public service is diligence and fidelity of more direct importance to the country than in this Department ; and in order to that, it is of the utmost consequence that the officers and clerks employed in it should feel that their services are not less considered and remunerated than officers and clerks of the same standing in other departments. " The aggregate increase in the salaries of the whole seven officers and clerks in the Department above mentioned is only £495— a small I $ n 11 sfore, that 1 to equal is, to an iffice since [16 branch il returns, and Burn- ing nearly ience, and new Civil ccountant and with to nearly branches, salary of traents is t that his first-class. spert and ed to rank ade £225. the speci- or three excellent ment. Tt and that of Statis- salary of )epository )f £75 to lently, in amed has sxhibiting of more 1 in order ad clerks lered and in other n officers ^a small sum for the country at large, but a matter of very serious importance to a clasfe of meritorious public servants. ** I have, &c., (Signed) " E. Eyerson. " The Hon. T. Lee Terrill, M. P., Secretary of the Province." To the foregoing letter I received the following reply : — "Secretary's Office, "Toi'onto, ISth October, 1857. " Eeverend Sir, — 1 have the honour to inform you that His Excel- lency the Administrator of the Government has had under his consider- ation in Council your letter of the 24tli July last, recommending certain increases to the salaries of the various employes in the office of the Chief Superintendent of Education for Upper Canada. " His Excellency having given full consideration to the reasons set forth by you, in favour of the recommendations submitted in your com- munication, is of opinion that, inasmuch as the Civil Seri'ice Bill (the principles of which you invoke) applies only to the Executive Depart- ments of the Government, enumerated in the schedules appended thereto, the scale of salaries fixed by that Bill may, by analogy only, but not otherwise, furnish a rule whereby to regulate the salaries of certain of the Clerks of your Department. " In considering, therefore, the addition proposed by you to be made to the salary of the Deputy Superintendent, His Excellency, having in view the fact that you, as Head of the Department of Education, do not, either in position or salary, occupy the same status as the political heads of the various political offices, cannot recognize any claim on the part of the Deputy Superintendent to hold the same position as the Assistants of those officers. " His Excellency has, however, been pleased to direct that the salary of the Deputy Superintendent of Education for Upper Canada be fixed at £500 per annum ; and that the salaries of the Clerks in the Depart- ment of Education be fixed at the following rates, which are within the limits assigned by the Civil Service Act to those of the same grades in the branches of the Civil Service to which the Act applies : — " Chief Clerk (Thomas Hodgins) £300 per annum. ■ Accountant (A. Marling) 250 " Clerk of Correspondence (A. J. Williamson) 225 " Clerk of Libraries (S. P. May) 225 " Assistant Clerk of Statistic? (F. J. Taylor)... 150 " Clerk (H. Butterworth) 125 '• " The above rates are to take effect from the 1st July last. " His Excellency has further been pleased to direct that Mr. J. G. 12 ■■ i i I Hodgins, the present Deputy Superintendent of Education, be allowed from the let July last, in addition to his salary of £500, the sum of £50 per annum, during his tenure of that office, in consideration of his long and laborious services, connected with the establishment of a new Department. "I have, etc., (Signed) "E. A. Meredith, ** Assistant Secretary. " The Eev. Dr. Ryerson, &c." In 1868, Mr. Thomas Ilodgins tendered his resignation, and the fol- lowing letter, with the reply thereto, shews the terms in which that resignation was accepted, and Mr. T. Hodgins' place supplied, without the appointment of any additional clerk — Mr. Marling retaining his place, and succeeding to that of Mr. T. Hodgins — certain other clerks being advanced a step, but no new clerk appointed — thus saving the salary of one clerk. "Education Office, " Toronto, June 1st, 1858. " SiP,- lency the I have the honour to state for the information of His Excel- Governor in Council, that Thomas Hodgins, Esq., LL.B., Barrister-at-Law, has resigned his office of Senior Clerk in this Depart- ment, with the intention of devoting himself to the profession of the law. I hereto append a copy of Mr. T. Hodgins' letter of resignation, and recommend its acceptance, to take effect the 30th instant. " It will be seen that Mr. Hodgins has been in this Department ten years, during which time he has distinguished himself no less by his urbanity and diligence and ability in the discharge of his official duties, than by his industry and success in his private studies. I have no doubt an honourable and successful professional career awaits him, if his life be spared. Considering Mr. T. Hodgins' long, diligent and most efficient services in this department, and his great merits as a young man just entering upon a new career of life, without any means but his energy and talents, I would respectfully recommend to the favourable consideration of His Excellency in Council, that he be granted the sura of fifty pounds on his retirement from office. " In consequence of the retirement of Mr. Thomas Hodgins I propose the following appointments in the Department, viz. : — " Alexander Marling, Esq., (Clerk of Accounts) to be Senior Clerk and Accountant. " F. J. Taylor, Esq., (now Assistant Clerk of Statistics) to be Clerk of Statistics. "Mr. Herbert Buttei-worth, (now a Clerk in the Map and Book Depository) to be Assistant Clerk of Statistics. " I do not propo?e at present to recommend any appointment in the 13 allowed of £50 I his long a new Secretary. the fol- lich that without [ning his er clerks ving the 1858. is Excel- , LL.B., 3 Depart- n of the jignation, ment ten is by his al duties, have no ;s him, if md most a young s but his vourablo the sum propose 3r Clerk be Clerk id Book it in the place of Mr. Butterworth, but intend to try a young lad who has been in the Depository in a subordinate capacity. "I have, &c., (Signed) " E. Ryerson. " Hon. T. J. J. Loranger, ivI.P.P., Provincial Secietary." The following answer was received to the foregoing letter : — " Seceetary's Office, TorontOy 2nd July, 1858. *' Sir, — I have the honour to inform you, with reference to my letter [of acknowledgment only] of th^- 4th ultimo, that His Excellency the Governor General has had under his consideration in Council, your communication of the 1st June, announcing the resignation by Mr. Thomas Hodgins of his situation as Senior Clerk in the Education Office, and recommending that in consideration of the length and efficiency of that gentleman's services he be allowed a gratuity of £50. His Excellency has been pleased to approve of your recommendation, and to authorize you to pay Mr. Hodgins the sum in question out of the Education Fund for Upper Canada. " His Excellency has further been pleased to approve of the appoint- ments which you propose to make in the Department in consequence of Mr. Hodgins' retirement. "I have, ■ In the P«.V/(' JFoj'A'i' i)tp«?'',;tC/<<, 2 extra clerks loceived 300 6. In C'roivn Law Department West, 2 extra clorki and a messenger 1,300 ','. In the Department of A'jricultarc, 8 extra clerks received 4,500 And one as Acting Deputy at the rate of $2iJ0 83 8. In the Grown Lands Department, 10 extra clerks received 2,100 And 9 clerks on the stalf received for special service's 1,300 It further ajtpears that the Assistant Provincial Secretary received [and liad received for years] $1,000 as Prison Inspector, and a clerk in the Secretary's Office at a salarj' of $1,400, received $400 aa clerk to the Prison Inspectors, and S200 as clerk to the Civil Service Examiners. \\ 17 associated with me in the Department and its Schools as a father and friend, as well as director, they hav(! laboured with me, not as hireling* or eye-servants, but as atfeotionate and faithful S( ns, having a personal and patriotic interest in the work, and a common credit for its success. From 1857 to 1864, the work of tlie Education Office proper greatly increased, and that of the Depository Department, in its three branches, especially the apparatus and prize book branches, more than doubled — thus causing a vast increase of labour in correspondence, procuring, getting manufactured, selecting and despatching l)ooks and various articles of school apparatus, receiving and making payments, keeping accounts, &c., &c., &c., in connexion with the Depository, apart from the Education Office itself It is needless to say how the oversight of this work and the accounts of it added to the duties . eretc re dis- charged by the Deputy Superintendent and Accountant, apart from the increase of labour on the part of those who assisted them. When at the end of 1863 (several years after its establishment), I found that the Depository Department of the establishment, having succeeded beyond my most sanguine expectations, was net only self-sustaining (and therefore not costing the public revenue or sclool fund a sixpence be- yond the apportionment of one hundred per cent, to the municipal and school authorities on the purchases made by them), but that a suf- ficient surplus had accrued on the small percentage added to the original cost of the articles to cover the expenses of trans- portation, exchange and management, I felt that those whose labours had most contributed to such a result were justly entitled to some com- pensation ; I therefore determined to allow Mr. Hodgins and Mr. Mar- ling £100 each, and Mr. Taylor £f)0, making his salary £300. For these additional allowances to the salaries heretofore i)aid I gave cheques, upon the condition that if they were disallowed by the Government, they should be refunded. I sent my accounts, including these payments (with the proper explanations), to the Audit Office at Ottawa, and never heard a word of objection to them until the last session of the Legisla- tive Assembly at Toronto. Cause of Misapprehensions and lUustrations of the Injustice done to the Edu- cation Department Compared with otlters. I believe the misapprehensions and imputations upon me in respect to those payments have arisen, in i)avt at least, from the manner in which the public accounts have been published in past years at Ottawa. In those accounts will be seen the details of the expenditures of all the Public Departments, except the Education Department of Upper Canada. Any extra allowance or sum, even the smallest, which was paid to any clerk or servant in any other Public Department, will be found in the printed public accounts ; but under the head of the Educa- 3 18 tion Department of Upper Canada, the original salaries of its oflScers are stated, and then, instead of giving the details of contingent expendi- tures, as in the case of other Departments, the names and details, as I had transmitted them, were withheld, and the whole was given in one sum. Correspondence ivith the Ontario Government on, the New Scale of Salaries to Officers of the Education Department, Down to the end of 1867, I had only to do with the Government at Ottawa in my receipts, payments and accounts. The 15th of Jaruary of the present year, I received from the Provincial Treasurer the note, of which the following is a copy : — ** Treasury Department, Ontario, ^^ Toronto, January \bth, 1868, " Sir, — I have the honor to inform you that in future the salaries of your Department will be paid monthly, by pay-lists as formerly. But instead of sending them to the Bank you will please transmit them to this Department, where a cheque will be issued for the amount. " I have, etc., (Signed) " E. B. Wood, " Treo^surer, "Rev. Dr. Ryerson, Chief Supt. Education." On the 27th of the same month I transmitted the following reply : — "Education Office, " Toronto, 21th January, 1868. " Sir, — I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 15th January, and now enclose pay-list for the current month, duly signed. " If not inconvenient to your Department, you would oblige by issuing the monthly cheque a day or two before the close of the month, so that the salaries may be available on the last day. "I append a detailed statement of the estimate of $14,700, salaries and contingencies of the Department for 1868, which was sent in to you on the 15th of January. The total estimate is the same as in 1866-7 ; but the amount set down for office contingencies has been reduced, part of the sums formerly placed under that head being now more properly charged to the Depository Branch, and a propor- tionate amount chargeable for salaries against the contingencies and Depository, being now more properly added to the monthly pay-list. 19 "Detailed Statement of the Estimate for $14,700, Salaries and Con- tingencies, Department of Public Instruction for Ontario, 1868 : — Chief Superintendent $4000 00 Deputy •' 2600 00 Chief Clerk and Accountant 1800 00 Clerk of Statistics 1200 00 Clerk of Correspondence 900 00 Assistant Clerk of Statistics 800 00 Assistant Clerk of Correspondence 500 00 Office Messenger and Caretaker 420 00 Office Contingencies 2480 00 Total (as in 1866-7) $14,700 00 " Say, fourteen thousand, seren hundred dollars. **I have, etc., (Signed) " E. Ryerson. "The Honourable E. B. Wood, M.P.P., "Secretary of the Province." Two days afterwards, I received the following answer to the foregoing letter : — " Treasury Department, Ontario, " Toronto, January 29th, 1868. " Sir, — I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 27th instant, enclosing the pay-list of your Department for the month of January. "I have passed the pay-list and seni for warrant. As soon as I receive it a cheque will issue and you will be notified. I have, etc., (Signed) "E. B. Wood, " Treasurer. " Rev. E. Ryerson, D.D., LL.D., " Chief Superintendent." It will be seen by my preceding letter of the 27th January, that so far from practising any " deception," — as one member of the House is reported to have charged me — I informed the Provincial Treasurer in my first communication to him on the subject, that I had paid the salaries in question from different sources, but that I proposed, under the new system, to put down the salary of each ofiicer in one sum, and pay it from one source. I supposed from the answer received that my recommendation had been adopted, and knew not otherAvise until I read the reports of the deljate in the Legislative Assembly, on the 18th February. I immediately Avrote the following letter to the Attorney Q«neral, which he read to the House of Assembly : — 11 20 "Education Office, " Toronto, Fehrmry Idth, 1868. " Sir, — I ol)servo hy this morning's papers that exception was taken last ni};ht in tho Legislative AHsenii)ly to the estimate for the Educa- tional Department. " I beg to say that the explanation of the reasons of any change in the Estimates from fo'iuer years was transmitted -with the Estimates. But I desire here to give a more full exjdanation, which 1 hope you will have the kijuhiess to ha\e r»;ad to the House, as I think it is due to ono of the largest iwA most diilicult dt^paitmonts of the jjublic service, and as 1 have had the chav;,o of it nearly a (piarter of a century. "1. Though tlu! vhole estimate for (iramrnar and Common School Education is statcfl at $301,500, the whole of that sum is provided by statutes, exce])t 8'-r',377 — which requires tlu^ vote of the House. " 2. The contiii;;t'at expenses of this I)ei)artment !iave undergone no increase during the last ten years, though the work has greatly increased. But, improved moiles and facilities of doing the work have been devised, so as to ])r('vent iuiy increase in the average; contingent expenses of the department. Some variations have arisen from having to make consid- erable repairs in the buildings, and print large editions of School Regis- ters, Acts, etc. While there has ])een a large increase in the expenses of every other public department, there lias been no increase in this department. The estimate of the salaries and expenses for the current year is some three hundred dollars less than in 1857 ; and tho contingent expenses, apart from salaries, are more than one-half less than they were in any one year from 1853 to 1857 inclusive, and less than they have been any year from that time to this. And iiny increase which has been made in clerks* salaries has been saved by a reduction of con- tingencies, so that the aggregate expenses of the Department have not been increased during the last ten years. " 3. I may also observe that the Depository Branch of the Depart- ment is not a fai clrng's charge to the public revenue or school fund, the whole expenf"^ ' '»f it being included in the cost of apparatus and books supphed. " 4. T^ • •-! . the salaries of certain officers of this Department, as estimate ■■■ year, not agreeing with those stated in the Trea- surer's accoui the last half of 18G7, was pointed out in the letter transmitting tiic esl imate, and is as follows : — The account in question does not include that portion of the salaries paid in i)ast years out of the Depository Fund and office contingencies, according to the work done in each branch of the office. In making the estimate under the new sys- tem, I thought it best to place these items, paid from different sources, in one sum, so that the salaries of the respective officers should be fully exhibited. In doing so, no increase to the sum expended last and pre- vious years has been asked, as the account for contingencies has been 81 proportionably reduced, and the total vote for salaries and contingencies iR the same as in 1866-7. 1 know not how I can manage the Depart- ment more economically than I have done. « r» 5. The Halaries are the same in amount as formerly, with the ex- ception of two junior clerks. Mr. Atkinson, the Assistant Clerk of Correspondence (an excellent penman), hitherto paid out of the contin- gencies at $380, and having served five years, is placed on tho pennan- ent staff at $500. Mr. John T. K. Stinson, Assistant Clerk of Statistics, after an apprenticeship and nine years' efficient service in the office, in- stead of $500, is placed at $800. I think it but duo to Mr. Stinson to say that he has fully earned this consideration ; for besides serving faithfully and efficiently in the office, he was Licsutenant in the 7th Company of the " Queen's Own," and commanded it at tho battle of Ridgway (accompanied by eight other employes of the Department, one of whom was killed), and ho has since been appointed Captain for his gallant conduct and ability. " 6. It may be mentioned that one of the two senior officers in this Department has served upwards of twenty-three years ; that the next three senior officers have served IG, 14, and 12 years, and that in tho estimate, no increase of their salaries is j)roposed. ** 7. It is perhaps just for me to adu that the last published accounts show that the Lower Canada Department of Education expended for salaries and contingencies $10,113 with 3826 schools, while my estimate is $14,700 with 4457 schools, and other agencies for the diffusion of useful knowledge which do not exist in connection with the Department of Public Instruction in Lower Canada. " 8. I should be thankful if any members of the Government and of the Legislature would visit the Department, when every account, work, and mode of procedure will be shown and fully explained to them ; nor do I desire to retain a single feature of the Department, or incur a single expenditure which shall not be deemed useful and necessary, after the most careful enquiry, by the representatives of the people. "I have, etc., (Signed) •* E. Ryerson. " The Honourable J. S. Macdonald, " Attorney-General." I supposed from the reading of the preceding letter in the House, and t\\6 expressions of ai)prol)ation Avitii which parts of it were received, and the absence of one Avord of objection, that my recommendations and explanations were considered satisfactory ; and I knew not to the con- trary until a few days afterwards, when I saw the printed Supply Bill, and subsequently received a letter from the Provincial Treasurer, dated 2nd March, directing a revision of the pay-list, as I had communicated it in my letter of the 27th January, and a return to the old method of 22 payment. In my reply, dated the 7th March, I transmitted a revised monthly pay-list of salaries as desired, and appended a memorandum of the payments wliich Avould l)e required under the head of contingencies, " till another Order in Council is paF d,' among the items of which are those remarked upon in the House oi Assembly, and which I hare paid monthly during the past year, as I had done the three preceding years, transmitting each month the ])roper vouchers, and not receiving a word of objection. I am sure the Premier will bear me witness that I have, since the last Session of the Legislature, repeatedly solicited of him an appointment to meet the Honourable jVIeml)ers of the Executive Council to settle the question of salaries of subordinate officers of ray Depart- ment, in order that I might pay the salary of each of tliem in one sum and from one source, and not in different sums and from different sources as I was doing. But the matter was deferred from time to time from various circumstano-^ ', until since the commencement of the present Session, when I was given to understand that the question of Mr. Hod- gins' salary would be satisfactorily arranged ; the day after Avhich I informed the Premier that, alter what he had intimated to me the day before, I now felt free to submit to him what I had long revolved in my own mind, but had hinted to no one — namely, the creation of the Edu- cational Department into a Ministry of Public Instruction, under the control of a responsible Minister of the Crown, and my own retirement from its administration. I have thus given a succinct and documentary history of the appoint- ments, salaries, and allowances of subordinate officers of my Department since 1855. Salaries Recommended — Reasons for the Recommendation — Illustrations. I Avill next state the salaries which I have recommended, on which I have so long insisted, and the grounds of my recommendation. The only two public Departments now existing in this Province which can be compared witli eacli other in duration and magnitude, are the Crown Lands and Education Departments. 1 believe the Deputies of these two Departments have been in the public service longer than any other two officers of the [)ub]ic Departments. Mr. Hodgins has been in the office upwards of /'^/v??///-/^^;- i/rars. Mr. Russell, the excellent Deputy of the Crown Laiuis Departnieiit, has been in the office as long, and perhaps longer, as he is an older man. JVly proposal is, that the Deputies and Accountants, or Book-keepers of the Education and Crown Lands Departments shall have the same salaries— it being assumed that their qualifications, duties and responsil)ilities are equal. I believe there is no dispute or ditference as to what shall be allowed to the other suliordinate officers of the Education Department. The whole of the discussion has arisen as to the salaries and allowances paid to I I '■\ 23 the Deputy Superintendent and the Senior Clerk and Accountant of the Education Department. Tliey are both graduates in the Law Faculty of the University, are both nieml)ers of the Law Society, are both eligible for examination and admission as Barristers- at- Law, and both, I have reason to believe, would have been in the profession of the law ere this had I not advised them otherwise, and urged their continued connection with the Education Department, with the expressed assurance, on my part, that justice would yet be done them, and they would yet be placed in the same position as corresponding officers of other public departments. The salaries of the Deputies of all the Departinents of the Civil Service, except the Education Department, have been from $2,600 to $2,840 per annum, besides other appointments and allowances to some of them of several hundred dollars a year. The Chief or Senior Clerks, from $1,800 to $2,000; First-class Clerks, from $1,000 to $2,000; Book-keepers, from $1,600 to $2,000; second-class clerks, from $900 to $1,240 ; third class clerks, from $600 to $1)60. (See Fuhlic Accounts for 1867.) Take as a further illustration the Ontario Crown Lauds Department alone. Apart from the Deputy, it appears tliat in that department persons who were in the service in 1857-8 — the time when the salaries of officers in the Education Office were fixed — have received a progres- sive rate of increase with length of service. It thus appears from the Public Accountr:-, that individual salaries have l)een raised during that period from $800 to $1,280 in one instance ; in other instances, from $600 to $900, and from $800 to $1,600 ; in two cases, A'om $900 to $1,200; one from $1,080 to $1,240; in five cases, from $1,200 to $1,400, two from $1,610 to $1,800, two from $1,200 and $1,500 to $l,e00, &c., &c., &c. It appears also that some twelve persons who were not in the service at all in 1857-8, received in 1867 salaries at from $730 to $1,240. I am quiie willing that the qualifications and work of the officers employed in the Education Department should be compared with those of any Department of the Civil Service, though the former have not been permitted to enjoy the advantages of the Civil Service Act, notAvithstauding their length of service and greatly increased duties. The only exceptions are those in which, out of the Educa- tional Depository I applied, in a liuiited degree, to certain officers of the Educational Department the " analogy " admitted in the official letter communicating to me the Order in Council fixing the salaries in 1857. Some years ago, the late Hon. D'Arcy McGee introduced a bill into the Canadian Parliament to define tlie (qualifications, and prescribe exa- minations for admissions to employnieut in the Civil Service. He elo- quently advocated the employment of Avell qualified and efficient officers in the Public Departments, with good salaries, and the exclusion of in- efficient and useless ones. The Globs newspaper strongly advocated the 24 same views. I suggested to Mr. McGee an amendment to his bill, re- marking that I had not only acted on the principle of his bill in pre-.-i- ous years, by employing no person in the Education Department with- out his giving satisiaction as to his qualifications for the situati(m va- cant, but also on the further ccmdition of a six months' trial as to his industry, faithfulness, and practical al)ility to do the work assigned him. It is in this way that the Department and its attendant sciiools have been supplied with well qualified, faithful, and able officers. Upon every ground, therefore, whether of long service, or personal qualifications, or efficiency, or increased work, or " analogy." or com- parison with the officers of other Departments of the Civil Service — apart from the increased expense of living — I maintain that the salaries of the subordinate officers of the Education Department should be equal to those of the corresponding officers in the Ci'own Lands Department. Nor do I see ciny reason Avliy officers in the Civil Service at Toronto should not have equal salaries with corresponding officers in the public departments at Ottawa — certainly with no higher qualifications, nor more onerous duties. Objections answered. — Ten Meteorological Observers' Rcttirns — The School Manuals and the Journal of Education. — Reply to Mr. Blake's Ob- jections. But it has been objected in the House that Messrs. Hodgins and Marling have received extras besides their salaries. The salary of the former s:nce 18G4 has been considered as 82600, and that of the latter $1000, but to eacli two additional items have been paid, but not to either fcjr their originally prescribed work as officers of the Dejiai'tment. In ISGo, the Grammar School Amendment Law was passed, requiring meteorological observations lo be taken at ten places in Upper Canada, and to be paid for by lUe upon the condition that their monthly returns were satisfactory. It ])ecame necessary to examine these returns ; to reduce the observations contained in them ; to report the results, so as to show the temperature, state of the atmosphere, wind, etc., as noted three times each day of the year by the observers at each of the ten stations — two returns being re- quired every month from each station, or 2'10 returns during the year. Comparatively few are competent to })erform this Avork ; but Mr. Mar- ling prepared himself ff illness, to discharge the duties of the office until the 18th of March, 1802, when he was allowed to resign on the ground of ill-health, after twelve and a half-year's service, upon a pension of $3333.33 per annum — a pension which ho still enjoys, resi- ding latterly in Euroi)e. I (juestion not tlus wisdom and righteousness of this pr(»ceeding, and I l)oar willing homage to the great ability and merits of the Honourable Chancellor Blaku ; but I submit to the Hon- ourable ]\Iember for South Bruce, who has thought proper to attack me during both the last and present Session of the Legislature, and I put it to the editor of the Globe, Avho has assailed me for the last twenty-tive years, whether the Department of Public Instruction has not been of as much service to th;- country as the Court (»f Chancery, and whether my nearly twenty-five years of puljlic service- would not give me as strong a claim, in any court of equity, to a pension, as twelve and a half years does the ex-Chancellor t If it be said that Mr. Blake prepared himself by previous study, &c., for the Chancellorshii) ; I admit it, and in a })rofessional career very pro- fitable to liimself But 1 maintain that in a profession of little profit to myself, I did not the less prepare for my work of the last quarter of a century for my native country, having, during the twenty years of ray previous public life, taught in scliofd aiul college, edited a paper nine years — then the most witlely circulated paper in the Province — in which 1 discussed all those fundamental principles of civil polity which Ave now boast of as lying at the foundation of our freedom and government' ; and during which, I wrote essa^ a and pamphlets on educational and other public questions, which, when since collected and got bound by a friend, form four ordinary volumes. This Avork was done before 1844, in anything but a profitable profession, and may be considered, I think, as some preparation for the work in Avhich I have since been engaged, and for Avhich I think, Avithout presumjition, I might present some claim for public consideration, at least equal to that Avhich Avas granted to the late Chancellor for tAvelve and a half year's service. The '• Globe's" misrcincsentations af my reasons for rfiirt'nrnt. — fVhat those reasons arc. (• But, in the third place, the Editor of the Globe assumes that I am weary of my present duties and contemplate an inactive retirement, Avith the hope of a pension for life, and in opposition, affirms my A'igour to work, the need of my doing so ; and is horrified that I or any of my friends should think of such a thing as my being pen-sioned for life. Now, if after 44 years of hard public labour, and often much exposure, more than one-half of Avhich has been devoted to the one work of per- fecting our Educati«.'.al system, I should, at the age of nearly sixty-six years, desire retirement and rest, and some provision during the short remains of a far-spent life, Avhat heart in Upper Canada, except the heart of tho Editor of the Globe, would begrudge mo tlie gratification of that wish 1 But had tho Editor of the Globe not refused to insert my oflRcial letter of resignation, his readers would have seen that I have not proposed to retire from oftice on the ground of liealth, or ag*;, or weariness of my work (tliough I have often been weary in it), or with a view to inactive seclusion, but wholly upon public grounds, to secure more intimate rela- tions of the Department to the (Jovernment and Legislature, arising out of the varied developments and vast dimensions of tho Scho(d sys- tem, and in order to bring all the public educaticnal estal^lishments of the country under governmental inspection and authority. The plain object of my recommendation and proposal was to give an additional impulse to the whole educational interests of the country. The Editor of the Globe could, or would not admit of such a ccjnception ; judging me, of course, by him.self, he could not conceive of my being influenced by any other than considerations of personal convenience and interest, and therefore could only so represent me as acting. It was the old Greek maxim, that *' Change of employment is rest." I look for no other rest in regard to labour in this life; ; but so far from being weary of the chief work of my life, I say now, that if the Government and Legislature, having my recommendations before them, and knowing my personal wishes, think that the time has not yet arrived for acting on my recom- mendations, and f'or permitting my nttirement from the Department of Public Instruction, I hold myself still, as in times past, the servant of my country, in serving my God ; and will, if desired and spared, do the various work required to give effect to the pending School Bills, and complete at least my twenty-five years of public service. Proposed Labmr after Retirement. But in my proposed and desired immediate retirement, I contem- plated anything but the inactivity insinuated by the Globe, as my letter sug- gesting it shows. There are things which my experience and know- ledge of the country would enable me to do, that others, if competent, are not likely to do ; while a Minister of the Crown, with the aid of the able and experienced men in it, might well administer the Edu- cation Department. There is wanting a book on the Elements of Civil Government and Political Economy, suited to the institutions of our coun- try, and adapted to youth and the schools ; a book provided in the United States, and strongly recommended l^y tho Eoyal Educational Commissioners for Schools in England. On this important subject — the foundation of correct views and of varied duties of citizenship in a free country — we have nothing for the education of the popular mind but newspaper effusions. Then every farmer's son ought to know something of the soil he cultivates and its aliments, the plants and grains he grows and the animals he raises, and hence a hook on the Elements of Agricul- 36 ture, including the simple teachings of science and experience on these subjects, would be a valuable gift to the agricultural youth and many- rural schools of this Province. Again, a book on Moral Duties — neither a Catechism on the one hand, nor a Theological or Moral Philosophy Treatise on the other — entrenching on no denominational peculiarity, but presenting with simple attractiveness the elements and precepts of moral relations and duties, such as form the basis and cement of society and government — would supply a desideratum in our books of youthful study and in our system of public instruction. Furthermore, a properly compiled or prepared book on the Applications of Science to the Produc- tions, Mamifactures, Mechanics or Machinery of the Counky, might con- tribute much to instruction and entertainment; and to increase our country's industrial power and resources. A first Canadian contribution on any or all of these subjects, with all the aid of counsel and research, might be very imperfect, but the way once marked out, and the foundation once laid, greater ability, skill and learning would soon be developed to advance and complete the work.* Then again, a country owes sonietliing to its ancestry, as well as to itself. Lower Canada, the States of Nev/ England, and Nevr York, have nobly discharged this filial duty. They Iiave spared neither labour nor money in collecting, transcribing, and printing the letters, journals, memorials and documents found in the family and public archives of their earliest settlers, and throwing the faintest light upon their character and circumstances ; while tiiere is scarcely any end to the chronicles, civil, religious, and constitutional histories of their gTowth, institutions, government and civilization. In these respects Upper Canada has thus far been unfilial, niggardly and negligent. Little or no aid or encour- agement has been given to collect the precious materials of our ancestral history, in this and the Maritime Provinces, — so largely, and with us primarily, peopled by martyr exiles to convictions of principle and duty. I believe materials exist, though now scattered far and wide, and mouldering among the still surviving relics of two past generations, which, if collected, would present an ancestral liistoiy of Avhich Canadians might well be proud. The Editor of the Globe vaguely asks how I could employ myself, if relieved of office. The preceding paragraphs may suggest to him a field of useful labour for greater powers and a longer life than mine, irrespective of any strictly religious or denominational duties. But, apart from all other considerations, I may remark, and conclude with the remark, that the Editor of the Globe's present protest against my retirement from oflfice, and demand for my continuance at the head of the Education Department — though done in a hostile spirit — is a * Any hook, however, introduced into the Schools, by whomsoever prepared, must be submitted to and sanctioned by the Council of Public Instruction, and the copyngbt of it vested in the Head of the Department, subject to the direction of the Council of Public Instniction. 37 practical refutation of all the calumnies which he has heaped upon me for the last tw^enty years and more, and a proof demonstrative that he does not believe one word of them himself. E. RYERSON. Toronto, December 30th; 1868. Copy of Ldter of Recommendation and JResignaiion oftlu Revermd Dr. Ryer- 8on, refused msertion in the Globe. — Seepages 31, 32. At a meeting of the Educational Committee of the House of Assembly, on Wednesday, the 16th December, Dr. Ryerson addressed the Com- mittee about an hour and a half, and at its conclusion, by the permission of the Attorney-General and the Provincial Secretary, he read to the Committee the following copy of a letter which he had addressed to the Government, in regard to the Department of Public Instruction, and his retirement from it : — "Education Office, "Toronto, 7th Dec, 1868. " Sir. — I have the honour to submit to the favourable consideration of His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor in Council, what, some three weeks since, I submitted to individual members of the government, namely, that — * The Department of Public Instruction shall be under the management of a member of the Executive Council, to be designated ' Minister of Public Instruction,' who shall be ex-officio member of the Toronto Uni- versity, and of the Council of Public Instruction, and who, in addition to the powers and functions vested in the Chief Superintendent of Education, shall have the oversight of all educational institutions which are, or may be, aided by public endowment or legislative grant, to in- spect and examine, from time to time, personally or through any person appointed by him, into the character and working of such institutions ; and by him shall all public moneys be paid in support or aid of such institutions, and to him they shall report at such times and such man- ner as he shall direct.' " With a view of giving eflFect to the foregoing recommendation, I hereby resign into the hands of His Excellency my office as Chief Superintendent of Education, an office which I have filled upwards of twenty four years, during which I have employed my best years and utmost efforts to devise and develop our present system of public instruction, and have been favoured with the cordial support of succes- sive governments and parliaments, and with the liberal co-operation of the people of Upper Canada at large. I shall not dwell upon the developments or characteristics of that system ; but I feel thankful that they are such as have received the highest approval, both at home and abroad. 38 " Our system of public instruction has acquired such gigantic dimen- sions, and the net-work of its operations so pervades every municipality of the land, and is so interwoven with our municipal and judicial sys- tems of government, that I think its administration should now be vested in a responsible minister of the Grown, with a seat in parliament, and that I should not stand in the way of the application to our varied edu- cational interests of that ministerial responsibility which is sound in principle and wise in policy. During the past year I have presented a report on the school systems of other countries with a view of improving our own; and the Legislative Assembly has appointed a Select Committee for the same purpose. I have, therefore, thought this was the proper time to suggest ^he modification and extension of the Department of Public Instruction. " I beg to append a summary printed statement of the creation and progress of the system during my administration of it, and also a statis- tical summary of my last year's report. " In regard to myself, as to both the past and the future, I beg to make the following statement. '* While in addition to the duties imposed upon me by law as Chief Superintendent of Education, I have voluntarily established a system of providing the municipal and school authorities with libraries, text books, and every description of school furniture and school apparatus — devising and developing their domestic manufacture, and have thus saved the country very many thousands of dollars in the prices as well as quality of the books, maps, &c., &c., I can truly say that I have not derived one farth- ing's advantage from any of these arrangements beyond the consciousness of conferring material, intellectual, and social benefits upon the country. When I accepted office, I made no stipulation as to salary, which was subsequently fixed by statute not to exceed that of the Superintendent of Education for Lower Canada, and to bear the same proportion to his salary as the share of Upper Canada to the population division of the legislative school grant bore to the share of Lower Canada. At that time the population of Upper Canada was reported in the census as less than that of Lower Canada. My salary has, therefore, been regulated by act of parliament, and not by the favor of any government. Beyond the economical current expenses of my family, and the purchase of my dwelling, I had, until within four years, distributed my salary in aid of benevolent and public objects. During the last four years I had accumulated and invasted two thousand dollars ; but recently the claims of two objects seemed to be so strong (the one the purchase of McGill square, for benevolent purposes, the other, the endowment of Victoria College,) that I divided the two thousand dollars between them. With the exception, therefore, of the house I occupy, I have no more material wealth than I had twenty-five years ago. " But in regard to the future I stipulate or solicit nothing. In view of my labours during the last twenty-four years and upwards, my age of 39 nearly sixty-six years, and my voluntary retirement from my position, I believe the Government and Legislature of the country will do what is just and honorable, and I ask no more. I am still willing to do what I can to advance the chief work of my life, and if it is thought I may be useful in connection with the Council of Public Instruction, I will be happy to do what I can in that capacity, as also (released from the cares and duties of ofl&ce) to contribute to the school and other litera- ture of the country, and to aid, if desired, the proposed minister of public instruction, with any counsel my experience may enable me to give. " As to the time and manner of giving effect to the foregomg sugges- tions in regard to the department or my own resignation, I defer entirely to the convenience of the Government and the judgment of the Governor in Council. *' I have the honour to be, &c., (Signed,) "E. RYEESON. "Th Hon. M. C. Cameron, M.P.P., ' Secretary of the Province, Toronto." ■II