^0^^ -.%. «-^^ -^^ ^o. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // ^/ A C/j 1.0 !f:i^ IIM — == .r 112 muno I.I 1.25 *** 140 1.4 2.2 1.6 V] <^ /} 7 'c^# ^^^' #/ ^^/ c%v i> ^v o 7 /A CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques 1980 Techiiical Notos / Notes techniques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Physical features of this copy which may alter any of the images in the reproduction are checked below. D Coloured covers/ Couvertures de couleur L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu il lui a dtd possible de se procurer. Certains d6fauts susceptibles de nuire d la quality de la reproduction sont not^s ci-dessous. 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Les images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de !a condition et de la nettetd de I'exemplaire film6, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de fi'mage. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol —*> (meaning CONTINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever applies. Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la der- nidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — *► signifie "A SUIVRE". le symbole V signifie "FIN". The original copy was borrowed from, and filmed with, the kind consent of the following institution: Library of Parliament L'exemplaire film6 fut reproduit grdce d la gdndrositd de I'^tablissement prdteur suivant : Bibliotheque du Parlement Maps or plates 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 follov>.'ing diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes ou les planches trop grandes pour §tre reproduites en un seul clichd sont film^es d partir de Tangle supdrieure gauche, de gaurhe d droite et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n^cessaire. Le diagramme suivant illustre la mdthode : 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 he / HON. MR. MERCIER AT COATICOOK, he Conversion of the Dabt and the Jesuits' Bill Defended and Explained. From (he Shcrbrooke "Rvaminer," Aug. 24, 1888 tlicrc, niiti] U])01l the fo iiiuutii lliat ]\ Ho fir eoiLstil that if poscci Sj)Gaki re marl Wiien iiistitu to be a and Ell 'I'lwn t ii FreiK luo.st g( votoil a HON. MR MERCIER ^T OOA.TIOOOK:. TJiE coNvi-:i:.si()x or tiik DKirr and the jesuits' lill DEI'ENIJED AND EXPLAINED. From the ^^hcvhrookc "Kmmiuer," Avgvst 24, 1888. The rroviiicial rreiuier went to Coaticook, on Wednesday, to open i\\(\ Fair tliore, but owing to tlio very rainy weatlier the forniiil opening was postponed until tlie following day. He addressed a very large audience at Slnntleffs hall in the evening in English u])on the question., now agitating the Province, viz., the conversion of the debt, the formation of the National party, and the Jesuits' estates settlement. The meeting was compof m1 of members of l)oth political parties, and we are informed that Mr. Mercier's explanations were very satisfactory and were warmly received. He first touclied upon the revolt in the North-West, claiming that according to constitutional rule the responsibility for it rested on the Government of t^.T day and that if the Ottawa Crovernment had rendered justice to the Metis, who v,-.'rc com- posed of French, Scotch and English half-breeds, there would have been uu revolt, Speaking of the cry that he was opposed to fair play to the Protestants, he remarked : "I have done everything to render justice to the minority in this Pi-ovince. When Protestants in Montreal asked mo to give public money for on( of their ])ublic institutions, I did it. And when I asked the Eastern Townships to send on*.' man to be a Minister of the Province for my Govermnent — who refused it ? The Protestant and English electo-rs of the Eastern Townships. And as a matter of fact M'ho put •lown the Joly Government? Tt was not the Catholics. Joly was a Protestant, ii French Protestant. Ho became Prime Ministcn* and received our suppr»rt in the most generous way. He did not lose a single French Liberal vote. And who Voted against him ? The Protestants of the Eastern Townships. Who made the motion tu dul'egt/ the Joly Govcvnm'vnt i Mr. Lyiicli. i\ repreHeiitativt EiskTii TowiLships iind u rrutostaut. We, tliu Frendi Lil)L'nils, sustuiii'jtl a French Trotostant and tlio EnLjlish members of tlu; Houso voted against him. Therefore, how have we prejudices against the English and th(; Protestants ? I will go a little further. Wlienever a question was brouglit into the House during the last session and the session before, who stood uji for the rights of the minority ? We, the members of the National vartv. And who accused us of sustaining' the Pro- tiistants ? The Freneh Tories; and we were not sustained by the English Tories ; on the contrary they did everything to prevent us from rendering justice to the minority in this Province, And to-day, sir, if there is no i)ortfolio in tlu; hands of iiu English-3])eaking Protestant ]\Iinister, whose fault is it? (Jeorgo Wasliington ►Stephens is a ]uan of wealtli and of irreproachalde jjuldic character, and he was defeated by v\'hum ? Jly the ]\Iontrea.l Gazdlc, by the Tories of Montreal. Ami it was ]»(!rfe(;tly known that this gentleman was t(j become one of the .\Iinistry. You had in >Areuantic one of the best Scotch Protestants that we ever had in the House, dohn Whyte. It was known tliat tliis gentleman had good chances of liaving a port- folio in my (.Jovernment, and by whom was he defeated ? ])y tiie English r'rotestani Tories. And they were not satisfied to have defeated him at the polls ; they dis- (jualified him because they knew I was about to ask him to become a Minister. And the Protestants will come and say "The National Party h".s been formed against the Protestants and English-sjieaking pojjulation ;" no, it is not so. and there is not an honest man here or (dsewhere in the Province who believes thid nssei- tion. It is false, and they know that if I was weak in the Pi'uvince two years ago it was Iteeause I wanted justice for all and wanted to render justice to the minority in tliis Province ; and I hope it will be understood by the Protestants here that I am their friend, that I am disposed to render justice to them as 1 want justice myself. And, sir, I am so dis])osed to do justice that I ask justice for myself, and [ will never submit to any authority here or elsewhere that would commit an injustice. CONVEIlSrOX OF TIIE PROVINCIAL DEBT. The second question is the conversion of the debt : Of course, gentlemen, nothing good can be done by me. It is ])crfectly undir- stood, if you believe the Montreal Gazette and the other Tory } tapers in IMontrcal and Quebec, that I can do nothing good. I thought one ilay, after a trip to Euro]H', that it would l)e a good stroke of business to eli'ect what is called a conversion of the debt. Seeing the state of the money market, I said : I may obtain a reduc- tion in the interest of our debt of twenty-two million dollars, which is partly due in Paris and partly in London, the greater jtart in London. I saw that some, of the colonies had converted their debts by exchanging their debentures beaming live per cent for debentures bearing four per cent; I said I will try and do tlie] same, Thoii I con.sulted soniu very iinportiint Knancial fiviK.s in London and Taris and I tli()U<,dit T f'ould carry out the operation. My sclienu! ^va.s very simple : borrow twenty million dollars at tJiret; and a half or perhaps thnte ])er cent, and exchange those luiw deljentures for the old ones bearing five percent, if the hondholders were disposed to accejjt ; if not, pny them cash, if possible. They have given ns S'JO for 1?100 debentures. I will go to them and say "vou refuse those bonds ofi?100 at three or three and a half i)vv cent instead of the ones bearing five ]ier cent, but you ought not to refuse the money : ycni have given us $00, here are !i>100 for your l)onds." AVhat was the answer ? "you are going to rob the English bondholders." Itob them, how ? "they have given me 5?1)0, I give them 8100." "Yes," they say, "but there is a con- tract by Mhich it issiiid that you will not be able to redeem your debentures befoio a certain date." Tliat is not a fact; it is a lie ; there is no such contract. The obliga- tion consist < of a promissory note, which we call a debenture. It is a jromise to pay in the year 11)04 8100 at five i)er cent interest. Does that take away the law which says that a d(;btor is at liberty to pay before maturity unless there is a special condition to the contrary ? You lend me $500 dollars at five per cent for one year: I give vou mv i^romissory note. In three months I have nionev, I go to you ; I sa}', "here are S500. You cannot refuse it unless there is a stipuliition to the contrary." 'J'liis is the whole question. lUit you know, it is not the English bondholders who have made all this noise and fuss ; it is Sir John Macdonaldand the ]\Iontreal Gazette. It is a terrible thing to allow ]\Ir, JNIercier, to allow this abomin- able National (Jovernment, to save 8225,000 a year in interest ! How can Sir John, how can the Montreal Gazdtc, allow this abominable Government to save 8225,000 a yenr and expend this saving for agricultural purposes, for colonization ])urposes and for ])ublic instruction (laughter and cheers). Instead of sending >5225,000 over to England, I said, I Mill divide it into three shares: one-th'd will go to cncouragi3 agriculture; books will be furnished, new districts openeu, agricultural shows encouraged, prizes established for cheese and butter. This one-third in.-.tead of being sent to England will go to our farmers, the sons of the land, to improve one of the best and most fertile lands in the world. They say cverywdiere, in every county, there is not enough money to make good roads. Poor settlers in the back- woods cannot get communication with the great centres, they cannot sell their cord- wood, they cannot bring their i^roduce to market. "\Ve take one third and give it to stimulate the growth and development of our owji country. And as to the other third we will say to the school municipalities, who have poor school houses, not fit to be school houses : "Y^'ou are poor, we will help you to build a nice com- fortable school house : the Government will jiay a quarter or a half of its cost. Y''ou do not pay enough to your "teacheis : 800 or 870 a year is not sulUcient remuneration ; we will raise the standard of the teachers by giving them better remuneration, and we will pay them 8200 a year. We will pay one third of this salary to lielp your ^choola to give a good, practical and Christiau education to your G cliildr.'ii." liiif, i^f.Mitlonifjii, Wi^liivi: ud vi^lil t xl > Ihat l)ecau.S'! this (iovcvnmuut cannot tuIl' this ri'Dviiicc ; this rr.)viii",'i must siihinit to th(! rule ol' Sir.Iohii IMiicdoiiiJil. "If you (liiv, Mr. ^I'l'ri'r, t)L!;i» oii N^'ilh that liw, it will !»■ vt't')C(l hy tlio exo(3utivo autlioritios. W\\ canu'it jnit you out, y lu aivi in ])()\vrr to stiiy, hut wo c.iu auuihihit!! your laws auil ])iv'vent you iYoui makinif l;'.)oiI laws for tliu people who su])])ort you." Well, sii-, let theiu Iry it ! (Ajiplau;"'.) I will not .^ay anylliiii;,; inoi'i'. on this ])oint ; hut if (lod l';i\i's me hciilth, sli\'n'.;lh ami cncruy I will crh'c; the conversion <»!' the delit. 1 will ]iut the lavj^c. amount of luoU'-y that ]ii.i\' he \v,ixvd hv the <:onvcrsi(>n sehenn; into agriculture, eolmii/ation and puhlic instruction; and it tluj ])'M)ple of this ciumtry arc dis[)oscd to htlp m ; we "will '^D on to'^ether to }!iake a .'^reat country oC th" Province ot (^uc])ec ; we will dovcld]! its n;;tui'.d resources, fiive a jj,'o('(l, sonnd, pr, tical and Christian educa.ti(ju to your cln'ldron, we will ^i,dvc J'air salaries to teachers, and place oui' Trovinte in the nohli' position it has a right to aspire to. TIIK .IHSUiT.s' KSTVTKS. Tl'e other schenio is the nujst ahominalde of all : the scttlenuuit of the Jesuits' estates. At ilie he<^innin^i(, when the French comnienccd to settb this country, they sent the Jesuits here. Those .Icsuiis came hcn^ioor. They wcuit through the forests, passed over the ]nountaius and weiv the first everywhere, with tlu!(ios])(d in th.cir hands, ti'ving to make Christians of the Indians. It wns ])erfectly known that the Jesuits were always ahead of tlui French soldiers, it was perfectly known that in nuuiy and many cases .French soldiers who Avere taken prisoners hy the Indians were delivered by those mi'^sionaries, those Jesuits, who were living witli the Indians. One day tiie kings of France desired to give thejn some propei'ty in order that they might build some sclutols and colleges. They gave them oiu; of the finest properties in the city of Quebec, now calletl the "J>arracks property." They gave them soma ether property around ((Quebec, around Three liivers and around Montreal. The Jesuits l)ought some other properties later on as they needed them and tluiy received donations from generous citizens in this country. It was so, gentlejnen, when FngLind took Canada in 1759. The Jesuits were then incorporated under the French law. There was nothing in the law ol Fug- land, nothing in the i:)roclamatioiis, nothing in the laws of Canada, that prevented those Jesuits from l)eing incorporated ; there was nothing in the laws or ])r(^clania- tions th:it]trevented those Jesuits from kecjiiuglhos ; estates. It went on in that wny until ]77;'>, when the Fopc; (Jlemont XIV ahohshed the order all thi'ough Chi'isten- dom. 'J'he matter stood that way until ISOO, iluit is to say, very nc^arly lifty years after the conquest and twcuity-five years after the abolition of the order by the l\)py, Uudei the reign of George lU, a wurr.uit was iijoucd fjtatiiig tliut, by vciiwou v, tlicy J) rests, I tlu'ir II that till' ("hurcli, and tlu'y ought t'^ he ntr.rndto the Church, because, aceoiding to tlie modern laws, there is no i'onliseuli(.n of jirivate property by riulit of eon(|Uest. This is elear, and the statenu nt tliat these pro[)erties were coiiliseated is not only against hiw but against the treaty of Taris by which the cession of Canada was made. Now, gentlenu'U, let us not judge the merits of the ([uesti(Ui at present, but remember that from 1800 to 1807 i)rotests were reci'ived every three or four years from the Catholic religious authorities, from the ro])e and from the bishops, and that at the time the settlement was so dillicult that tlu! authorities did not know what to do. In 1807 Confederation took place. In 1874 and 187o the greater ])art of the i»roperty was returned to the Trovince ofi,)iii'b( e, (^xc(]t the ("hnU') de ^lars in Montreal, Mhicli w;;s ke])t by the Federal autliorities and is still k 'pt li\ lli;':ii , via;';' 1807. I m.iy say nearly every year the Catholics have asked thes.' estate;; for school purpose's, Whatd.o I lind in 1870? A formal i)rom;se by the (lovenimeiit of the time to s(,'ttle this (juestion. The promise is registered at liome, the ])ronuse is registered here, and when 1 came into power 1 was placed face to face with the dilUculty, and in such a position, .-^ir, that 1 had either to nd'use to fullill the promise of my ja'cdecessors or forfeit it. 1 thought, sir, that honor was the best policy, and that even upon such a delicate (lueslion I was obliged to effect a settlement in order to extiicate the TroNince from i;(, great a dilliculty, and wIilmi I went to IJome I asked the Tope what lie was inclined to do { Well, of course, he asked ior the \\ stitution of the jiroperty. 1 said I could not do that, but, 1 sai.i, we are liNiiig in a mixed community; 1 am ready to submit a seheme to the House' by whieii we can ])ay so mueli to Protestants and so mueh to Catliolics in ordi'r to liavi- a hnal settlement of the (juestion, and it wouUl be on these conditions: that we would give a pai't to the Protes- tants to be distributed iiy themselves for their r.ehouls, the other part to the Catholics to be distributed by you, lo be used in the Province I'or educational pur- ].oses; that we will have from you ii iiiial cession of all the rights that the Church or the Jesuits may chum upon tiiis jirojitrty ; and we will have a final settlement and will never le'ar any more of the dillieulty." Of course, this was bold. I am at- tacked. Why ? r.eeause, they say, we had no business to settle this dillieulty with the Pope. ]>ut if 1 had no iJUsinesL to deal with the matter why did my predecessors make proposals to settle it ? Do you think it was my duty to fuihll the engagement ot 8 mat^r, wo o wo justice to poor missionaries; we should fulfill the promises they made to poor priests as well as the promises made to rich banks. Is this all ? Wt'll, no ; when 1 \)rou^'lit tho mnasuro boforo the House you may flui)p()S(', gi'iitlemdu, Ijiut, liearing wliiit had been stated by tlio Montrua) GuzeUi-, tliero was a l)attle tliere. Still the vote was unanimous ; l)oth ])arti('H agreed to acknowledge their satisfaction willi the settlement, and if I um i'uilty, all the Tories in tlie House are guilty (applause), and if tlie Trotestanls a. j not satisfied witli my party, why should tliey ba satisfied witli th(iir friends in tlie House who voted with us ? No, I diil well ; it is perfectly well known that 1 have settlc'l a great and dilUcult (luestion with the consent of both parties in the House. ]»ut, gentlemen, don't forget that I have no right to do anything good ; that is not niy business ! The Tories claim I have been placed there to do nuschief. If I do anythiug good they will go for me, because they don't want me to receive a backing in the Trovince of Queltec. The Na* 'onal party must be crushed because it is opposed by Sir John Macdonald ! Let aim crush it if he can ! In the meantime I have settled that question and, tliank (Jod, it is settled foniver. lUit we are told that the law states that the sanction of the representative of Her Majesty will not be snihcient to put it into force, but that it must also receive the sanction of the ro])e. That is nonsense, there is nothing of the kind. Those who say that know they say a lie. The truth is this ; according to the Catholic doctrine, the ownership of all religious properties is vested in the Church at large and, dcsning to make a iinal settlement, I had to make it with the Tope, who is the recognized Head of the Church, The roi)e, being unable to deal Mith me in i:erson, a] ])ointed a s])eciid attorney. After the jiapers were signed by the attorney, I thought ])rudent to have them ratified 1>y the ])rincipal, the l*o])e. That is all ! Where is the harm ? Where is the insult done to the Queen or her representative ? (Apjdause.) In answer to some ([ueries of some Protestant gentlemen as to the disposal- of the i?60,()00 allotted to the Protestants, the Premier gave the following exjjlanation : In the law, of course, we ])laced a clause that the Protestants M'ere entitled to •SOO.OOO for their share to lie used for educational purposes; and the clause says that the money will be given over to the I'rotestant Committee of the Council of Public Instruction to be distributed according to the wishes of the Protestants. We liave nothing to do with it ; we have but to hand it to the Committee and they will divide the money as they like for the benefit of their educational institutions. And we liavc been