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 WITH THE COMPLIMENTS OF Mr. 
 
 Mouse of €^ntmnnn9 Btliatts 
 
 FOURTH SESSION-SIXTH PARLIAMENT. 
 
 
 ';4; 
 
 t^fM' 
 
 SPEECH OF MR. DALTON MCCARTHY, M.P., 
 
 ON THE 
 
 FRICE lANBUABE IN THE MTH-Wra 
 
 TUESDAY, 18th FEBEUAEY, 1890. 
 
 Mr. McCarthy. I think it is not unreason- 
 able that, at this hour, I should claim the indul- 
 gence of the House. The debate has lasted over 
 five days, or nearly so, and during that time I 
 have been subjected to as much abuse certainly as 
 the rules of Parliament permit, and perhaps a 
 little more than the rules would warrant. I look 
 at my friends who are opposite to me and I find 
 no sympathetic sli^nces, and I have no reason to 
 expeek tnem. I look to the band of Nationalists 
 who tfnnk I am assailing their race and nationa- 
 lity and language, and I do not find any and I do 
 not ipvpect any. And even when I look amongst 
 ttuMe on this side who were once my friends and 
 alUes, I find, perhaps, more hostile glances than I 
 do elsewhere. I am standing here ah>ne, or almost 
 aloQS^ doing what I believe to be my duty, and, 
 notwithstanding the sneers, and the taunts, and the 
 insinuations that have been made, I propose to do 
 my duty to the end, if I stand alone, or almost 
 alone, on the floor of this House in the vote 
 which is shortly to be taken. The hon. gen- 
 tleman who has last spoken (Sir Richard Cart- 
 wright) has made no disguise of his feelings or 
 h:s principles. Hu speaks not from the principle 
 or statesmanship but from a purely partisan or 
 party point of view. He argues with his 
 friends behind hint and his friends before him 
 on that ground, and he appeals to them not to 
 fall into the trap which I am accused of having 
 laid and which some of those friends, he thinks, 
 have already fallen into, but to reject the Bill 
 which I have had the honor to introduce. Ho 
 makes this appeal without one word of argument 
 upon the merits of the Bill, without a word as '^~ 
 wnether it is right or wrong in the interests of 
 people of the North-West, for whom we areJnro 
 to judge and to legislate upon this questicm^ 
 simply with a view to the elhMt it may haVe eijii 
 the \abta of the people whom he thinks he leads 
 from the Province of Ontario. He warns them as 
 to the results. He knows well enough that they 
 have gone tway from him never to return, but he 
 tells them that they will have lost all if they 
 
 support such a measure as this and had better 
 return to their allegiance. I looked for better 
 things from that hon. gentleman, but have looked 
 in vain. His speech was a purely partisan speech, 
 without one reaeeming feature, without one thing 
 to raise it above the level of the mere party 
 machine. I welcome his statement even from 
 a party point of view if from no other, because 
 it leaves that hon. gentleman without a shred 
 of reputation as a statesman, which he once 
 pret«nded to be. But I have to address myself 
 not only to the hon. gentleman from South Oxford 
 (Sir Richard Cartwright). I have to speak of the 
 attack which has been made upon the measure 
 from other sources, and to endeavor to clear up. if 
 I can, the accusations which have been made. 
 The hon. members who have supported me are 
 small in number, though they are as true as steel. 
 They have been overborne in this debate by the 
 power of numbers — nq|; of argument ; and I will 
 endeavor to show that, amid the tissue of mis- 
 representation whi(.n has been poured out upon 
 our devoted hefids, hon. members will find tnat 
 there has been no warrant for any part of it. I 
 am accused of having got up this agitation, of 
 having originated it not only on matters of race, 
 but on matters of religion, and I am accused of 
 doing that for selfish purposes and ends. I would 
 like to know what end I had to serve in SHvering 
 myself from the gentleman I have hitherto sup- 
 ported, and from those hon. gentlemen behind me, 
 who, I have reason to believe, would not have 
 be^QjHMIUIing to see me advanced in the ranks of 
 _ hat could have led me to teUm this 
 
 '^'fiff'^"; has been untruly represented to the 
 through the House to the country ? 
 ,db course in regard to this matter did 
 pot origiliitie last July in my address to my 
 Constituents. But on the flodr of this chamber, in 
 the presence of hon. members who hear me now, 
 I stated that I had discovered — as, I am ashamed 
 to say, I discovered for the first time — that the dptt! 
 language clause was in the North-West Act. W« 
 then talked it over, and I appeal to the hon. mjonlMlr 
 
 ^27;i^ /I 
 
 ,.,"»' 
 
 • ^n 
 
 PROPERTY 
 OF 
 
 '-AKpEAD 
 
 j,^ 
 
 
for West Aasiniboia (Mr. Davin) if we did not call 
 him acro88 the floor and ask him how it was, as our 
 attention had been called to the subject by a speech 
 having been delivered by a Lieutenant Governor of 
 the North-West Territories, for the first time, in 
 French, in the preceding session. That is what 
 aroused our atteiition to tiiis fact, and, if I am not 
 misinformed, that is what first drew attention to 
 the fact in the North-West — that a French Gover- 
 nor who was sent up there to govern what was 
 practically an English speaking people — true. Sir, 
 to the policy of his race, true to the object which 
 my hon. friends from Quebec have had in view 
 from the very first day tliat this country was ceded 
 to Great Britain, namely, to perpetuate their race ; 
 and they know full ■well, if other hon. members 
 choose to disregard it, that the perpetuation of 
 that race can only be by the perpetuation of their 
 language — I say, knowing that the Lieutenant 
 Governor of the Tvorth-West delivered there his 
 speech in French and 'English, and imported into 
 that Territory a secretary, in order that the laws 
 might be translated into French and published in 
 that language. This, Sir, it was, if I am not 
 grossly misinformed, which raised the indignation 
 of the members of the Legislative Assembly of the 
 North-West so much that they threatened, if that 
 occurred again, they would withdraw in a body. 
 Well, Sir, whether that be so or not, so far as I 
 am concerned it was as I hav-^ stated. I con- 
 sulted some of the hon. gentlemen who are 
 sitting about me and we agreed — some of these 
 hon. gentlemen have been true to their pledges, 
 but the voices of some others have lieen stifled 
 because they feared to hurt their party — ^we then 
 and there pledged ourselves that we would, at the 
 earliest opportunity, bring to the notice of this 
 House the iniquitous legislation which the hon. 
 member for Bothwell (Mr. Mills) had fathered, 
 which he pretended he had acquiesced in reluc- 
 tantly, but, as it now appears, he had deliberately 
 connived at its introduction into the Act of th 
 North- West Territories in the year 1878. That 
 was the beginning of it, and I notified my leader 
 at an early day that I would take this course. I 
 had nothing to do with the agitation in connection 
 with it. The agitation whif h has been spoken of 
 with regard to the Equal Rights Association got 
 no strength from my connection with it. I had 
 never even attendee! the convention which assem- 
 bled at Toronto ; all I had to do with it was to send 
 a telegram of regret that I was unable to attend, 
 being otherwise engaged in professional duties, 
 and that I sympathised with the motives and the 
 objects which had brought together the great band 
 of people from all parts of Ontario to take such 
 measures that for the future, at all events, their 
 voice should l)e heard on the floor of this Parlia- 
 ment. When it became my duty to visit my 
 constituents, as I did upon the 12th July — the 
 first time, I may state, that I ever addressed a 
 body of my constituents on that day, or made any 
 political utterance on the 12th July- -I then an- 
 nounced publicly, that I would take the earliest 
 opportunity of asking thb Parliament to undo 
 what, according to the records — I will not use the 
 wnfA " surreptitiously "—but what, according to 
 
 word 
 
 the records, had been stolen through in the dying 
 hours of the Session of 1878, un<ler the charge of 
 the hon. member for Bothwell. Was that an agita- 
 tion of which any man need 1)e ashamed ? Was 
 
 that pandering to )the already aroused passions ? 
 What followed ? It is said that I have undertaken 
 to act for the people of the North-West Territories ; 
 that no mission has been given me so to act for 
 them, and that I am an intruder. Sir, when it 
 became known that I puiposed to take my holidays 
 in the North-West, I was invited to address 
 meetings throughout the Province of Manitoba. 
 I had to decline to do so, except at one place, 
 which, ultimately, was fixed for me, at Portage la 
 Prairie. 
 
 Mr. WATSON. A Conservative centre. 
 
 Mr. McCarthy, when I got to Portage la 
 Prairie, and was on my way up to the North- 
 West, it was not that I was seeking to intrude 
 myself upon the domain of the North-West, 
 but my difficulty was to deny myself to 
 those who desired that I should address them 
 and in the end I merely addressed one meeting, 
 and that was at Calgary. I refused to make ad- 
 dresses in British Cmumbia, only to find on the 
 next morning that the newspapers abused me for 
 passing them by. I refused to address a meeting 
 at Winnipeg, only to find that I was subject to 
 castigation lor passing by the important centre of 
 that Province. The Ron. member says I spoke at 
 a (conservative centre. He knows pretty well, I 
 think, he will be honest enough to admit, that 
 tlie choice of place for holdingtne meeting, which 
 happened to be at Portages la Prairie, was not my 
 choice ; but when I stated, as I did state, that I 
 would only deliver one address in the North- 
 West, and those who invited me fixed on Portage 
 la Prairie as the place of the meeting, and I had 
 no choice in the matter, one way or the other. 
 I know the charge was made that it was chosen, 
 because it was in a constituencv represented by the 
 hon. member who has just made the interruption, 
 but I think that hon. member will do me the 
 justice to say that, at all events, that charge was 
 not founded so far as I am concerned. The charge 
 has also been made that I was playing the game 
 of the First Minister, that I was a mere tool in 
 his hands, that I was going through this country 
 without being sincere m my pledges, that in what 
 I stated I was carrving on an agitation in collusion 
 with him. Sir, I do not think that charge was 
 even worthy of contradiction, as it ought to be 
 denounced, but it is a charge which I now take 
 the opportunity, in the presence of the First Min- 
 ister, to say, as every hon. member on the floor of 
 this House must realise, was certainly wanting in 
 a tittle of foundation. I did what I thought was 
 honorable and fair by this hon. gentleman whom I 
 have hitherto followed. I have been careful to 
 hold no intercourse with my former leader, my 
 still leader in all questions affecting the general 
 policy of the country. 
 
 Some hon. MEMBERS. Oh, Oh. Hear, hear. 
 
 Mr. McCarthy. Yes ; I am not ashamed to 
 announce this fact. There is no reason why I 
 should cross the floor of this House, for there is, 
 in mv judgment, on that side an inability and an 
 unwillingness to grapple with the questions which 
 are looming up, and which call for settlement, 
 and I find a bigotry still more profound upon the 
 other side, a still greater truckling to that which, 
 as every man from the Province of Ontario knows, 
 I propose to devote the rest of my political life to 
 
 Mr. M 
 was tenij 
 these vie 
 ever I sp 
 on the fl( 
 language 
 
 ■'V. 
 
8 
 
 't 
 i(i- 
 
 lusion 
 was 
 to be 
 take 
 Min- 
 oor of 
 ing ill 
 was 
 horn I 
 ful to 
 r, my 
 ineral 
 
 I 
 
 ere 18, 
 [Will ail 
 which 
 enient, 
 lon the 
 which, 
 nows, 
 life to 
 
 denounce, and, ii possible, to overturn. There- 
 fore, why should I cross the floor of the House and 
 follow the banner of hon. gentlemen opposite? 
 I took an opportunity long ago of stating exactly 
 where I stood; I spbke in the Opera House in this 
 city — I do not know whether the First Minister 
 took the trouble of reading it, but it was there for 
 him to read — I stated then exactly where I stood. 
 I stated that when these questions came up, if my 
 party dififered from the view whicli ought to be 
 taken, I must stand alone, and I must follow these 
 questions to their end. On other questions I 
 stated there, as I have stated elsewhere, that aa I 
 was elected a supporter of the general policy of 
 the Oovernment, I was still a supporter of, and 
 still a lieliever in that policy. If my connec- 
 tion with the party that I have hitherto sup- 
 ported is an injury to that party, as I think 
 perhaps it is, if the gentlemen who sit behind 
 ine CIO not want me liere, I am willing 
 to go here or there, I care not where. I think I 
 can (uid a seat in this House, and I can still voice 
 the opinions of my own constituency, and a large 
 proportion of the people of Ontario, whether I 
 am turned out of this party or not, and whether 
 I am accepted in that party or not. Such has been 
 my course, and I am not ashamed of it. I de- 
 nounce that man as a traitor to his country, I care 
 not who he may be, who endeavors to arouse 
 political passions and race passions by misrepre- 
 senting my views ; he is the man who is doing the 
 wrong, he is the man who is endeavoring in this 
 Parliament and in this country to set race against 
 race and religion against religion, because u my 
 views are fairly looked at, if my statements are 
 fairly examined, if my speeches are fairly read, I 
 think no taint of bitterness will be found, because 
 no taint of bitterness exists, towards my French 
 Canadian fellow-citizens. 
 
 An hon, MEMBER. Oh, oh. 
 
 Mr. McCarthy. The hon. gentleman may 
 laugh, but he must know that I have a perfect 
 right to the opinion which I entertain, that the 
 best interests of this country are to be subserved 
 by a unity of language, that the future of this 
 great Dominion, with which this Parliament is 
 charged, will be best worked out by the people of 
 this country coming together and speaking the 
 language of the majority, the tongue that ulti- 
 mately must be spoken on all this continent of 
 North America. And, if I am right in that, I do 
 no injustice to my Canadian fellow-subjects ; I do 
 only what is my right and my duty, if among 
 those hon. gentlemen and their constituents I 
 endeavor to propagate my views and to support 
 those views by arguments. I frankly admit, I do 
 not deny it, that to many of these hon. gentlemen 
 these are unpalatable views ; but is tliat any good 
 reason why, if I do think, and there are many who 
 think with me, I should hesitate upon the floor of 
 Parliament in temperate language, and my lan- 
 guage was temperate, to express these views. 
 
 Some hon. MEMBERS. Hear, hear. 
 
 Mr. McCarthy. Mv language, I re-assert, 
 was temperate, and I will refer to it to support 
 these views. My language was temperate wner- 
 ever I spoke, ancl it was more especially temperate 
 on the floor of Parliament, as an hon. gentleman's 
 language ought to be temperate here. No such 
 
 words escaped my lips as those which the Secre- 
 tary of State used towards me heijf to-day ; no 
 language of that kind has ever escaped my lips in 
 this debate, and I trust, notwithstanding the pro- 
 vocation of the Minister of Public Works, notwith- 
 standing the provocation I received from the 
 Secretary of State, who denounced me in laueuage 
 not fit for this Assembly, I trust no word will 
 escape my lips which will resemble those used in 
 the course tney have pursued towards me. My 
 arguments may tend to a certain conclusion, but 
 my tone was temperate, and I venture to say that 
 my argument was fairly drawn. Now, what was it ? 
 I ventured, in the first place, to give a short ac- 
 count of the history of this legislation. I ventured, 
 in the second place, to demonstrate, what I am 
 glad to know I did succeed in demonstrating be- 
 yond the region of contradiction, that the French 
 language was not, according to any treaty rights, to 
 be given, if you choose to call it so, to be made a part 
 of the system in the North- West Territory. For 
 that purpose it was necessary that I should trace 
 the history of the cession. I was sorry I intro- 
 duced even the word conquest, if it was offensive 
 to any hon. gentleman, and I am quite willing 
 to put the fact in any words, although most men 
 will admit that the words make very little diffe- 
 rence when the history is known to us all. I said, 
 ti'acing that history step by step from the cession 
 of 1763 to the passage of the British North Ame- 
 rica Act in 1867, that no word was to be found in 
 all that history to show why that Act was passed, 
 for which the hon. member for BothweU ( Mr. 
 Mills) is responsible, which was represented in 
 that day to the House, but which I am sorry to 
 say was not fairly or correctly represented to the 
 House at that time, by the hon. gentleman, 
 as a piece of legislation warranted upon a ground 
 of that kind. My next argument, and I think it 
 was a not unreasonable one, was this. 
 
 Mr. MILLS (Bothwell). The hon. gentleman 
 was himself a member of the House. 
 
 Mr. McCarthy. I am not at all unaware of 
 that fact. What I repeat is, that the matter was 
 misrepresented to this House. 
 
 Mr. MILLS (Bothwell). In what way? 
 
 Mr. McCarthy. By the hon. member for 
 Bothwell. 
 
 Mr. MILLS (Bothwell). I deny it. 
 
 Mr. McCarthy. I win tell the hon. gentle- 
 man in what way. That legislation was introduced 
 into the Senate upon the suggestion of Mr. 
 Girard, the Senator for Manitoba, but it was 
 placed there by the member of the Government 
 leading the Senate, Hon. Mr. Scott. 
 
 Mr. MILLS (Bothwell). I do not believe it, 
 
 Mr. McCarthy. I have better information 
 than the hon. gentleman, and, therefore, I shall 
 not withdraw my statement. I speak by the book ; 
 I speak on the authority of a gentleman who was 
 present ; I speak in a way I can prove. I can prove 
 that Senator Girard merely asked that some pro- 
 vision should be made by which the French half- 
 breeds would have the right to speak in their own 
 language in the courts ; and the matter was taken 
 into condideration by Hon. Mr. Scott. 
 
 Mr. CHAPLEAU. That is not the only thing 
 that was asked. 
 
Mr. McCarthy. Tliat is correct according 
 to my information, and it is probably quite as good 
 as that possessed by the Secretary of State. 
 
 Some hon. MEMBERS. Oh, oh. 
 
 Mr. McCarthy. I have sat for five days in 
 this House listening to this debate. I have been 
 abused by almost every hon. gentleman who has 
 spoken, but I have made no interruption. It is 
 strange that if with ten to one against me they 
 cannot give mo even free speech. 
 
 Mr. CHAPLEAU. You stated as a fact that 
 which was not correct 
 
 Mr. McCarthy, whether correct or not, the 
 hon. gentleman knows the rules of debate. Sir, I 
 am speaking by the book of what I know from infor- 
 mation on the very highest authority. The lea<ler of 
 the Senate then stateuthatduring the recesshe would 
 consult his colleagues, and after recess he came down 
 and put the clause, which is now clause 110, into the 
 hands of Mr. Oirard, who moved it, and it was 
 carried in the Senate. If that be so — and we had no 
 clear explanation about it, although I threw out the 
 challenge in my opening remarks — then the reMp<m- 
 sibility for this trouble rests not upon my shoul- 
 ders but upon the shoulders of the hon. member 
 for Both well and his friends in the Government at 
 that time. Those are the men who ar^ responsible 
 for the trouble, and it l)ecame my duty to oring it 
 forward. 1 do not say I have not failed i.i my duty 
 heretofore ; I failed in my duty probably in not being 
 present when that was <lone, bv 1 1 do Tiot suppose 
 that a young memb<3r, for I w^.a tl-.en only in my 
 second yeor of my parliamentary life, would have 
 ventured to interpose at that stage of the Session. 
 That I have failed in my duty since I do not 
 
 fretend to deny, but when I did ascertain the facts 
 would have been wanting in my duty, feeling and 
 believing as I do feel and oeliove with respect to 
 this matter, if I had not brought it to the attention 
 of the country in the first place, and, in the second 
 place, to the attention of this House. With respect 
 to other matters on which I desire to speak before 
 I deal with the question itself : It is true I ad- 
 dressed a meeting in Montreal ; it is true I addressed 
 a meeting in this city of Ottawa, but those who 
 know the facts must know that those meetings 
 which I have ha^) the honor to address were not of 
 my seeking. I have a list of places and a bundle of 
 papers which would satisfy hon. gentlemen that 
 I, at all events, was not seeking to force myself upon 
 the public, but my attendance was demanded by the 
 great city of Montreal and by the city of Ottawa, 
 and it was otdy in answer to repeated calls that I 
 went to those different cities. So much with 
 respect to what has been said in regard to this 
 agitation. If hon. gentlemen will deal with the 
 matter fairly, they will see that there was no other 
 course open to me, feeling as I feel, and realising 
 my responsibility as a member of this House, but 
 to take the action I have pursued. But exception 
 has been taken to some of my language. I had the 
 misfortune to miss the speech of the hon. leader 
 of the Opposition, and I have not yet had time, 
 having only received Hannard this evening, to 
 •rPeruse his speech throughout ; but I am told the 
 non. gentleman assaile<l my speech on the ground 
 that -X had used harsh expressions with regard 
 to his nationality. If the non. gentleman under- 
 stood my remarks were with respect to his 
 nationality and his race, then I do not wonder 
 
 at the hon. gentleman's indignation. If the hon. 
 ^{entlemun supposes that I was oupablu of apeak - 
 ing of any people of this Dominion, or any sec 
 tion of the people of this Dominion in these 
 terms, he was perfectly within his duty in calling 
 attention to the language and denouncing it in the 
 most vigorous terms. But that was not the moan- 
 ing of my words, and I think my hon. friend, a 
 master as he is of our own tongue, perfectly well 
 realised that was not the meaning. I spoke of the 
 national cry and the national party that he among 
 others has been establishing and fomenting in one 
 of the Provinces of this Dominion, and I denounced 
 that nationality, or rather that pretending nation- 
 ality as a bastard nationality. I again denounce 
 it here on the floor of Parliament as such. I say 
 that the legitimate nationality, and there is but 
 one, is the nationality common to us all, the 
 nationality that spreads from ocean to ocean and 
 embraces all races and peoples within this great 
 Dominion. I stiy that ii any one in any poi-tion or 
 comer of this Dominion gathers a party together, 
 whether English, Irish, Scotch or French, and en- 
 deavors to rise a cry on the nationality of that 
 particular race, there is no word that describes it 
 other than the word that I used, and to which the 
 hon. gentleman called attention. Although the 
 hon. gentleman thought I dare not, I have no 
 hesitation of repeating that statement on the floor 
 of this House, and there is no hon. member under- 
 standing the sense in which I stated it before, and 
 in whicn I repeat it now, who can deny that the 
 expression used was applicable. 
 
 Mr. LAURIER. The expression was unfortu- 
 nate. 
 
 Mr. McCarthy. The hon. gentleman may 
 say so, but I do not know how else he could put it. 
 In justice to him I will say that he quoted my 
 words fairly, or otherwise I woidd have quoted 
 them myself. There is but one nationality that I, 
 at all events, am willing to recognise in this coun- 
 try. I do not speak of our loyalty to the Throne ; 
 I do not speak of our allegiance to the mother 
 country ; I speak of that higher nationality of Can- 
 adians to Canada. I speak not of one nationality, 
 not of one race, but of all Canada and all Canadians 
 joined together as we should be joined and proud 
 to acknowledge our allegiance. I regret that so 
 much time has been taken up by a somewhat per- 
 sonal explanation, but, perhaps, if I was to do the 
 subject justice with which I propose to deal, it was 
 necessary that I should clear away from the dis- 
 cussion those extraneous matters which those 
 opposed to me have thought well to introduce. We 
 perfectly well understand the arts of the politician. 
 \Ve do not always spread it so exactly or plainly 
 to the public as the innocent member for South 
 Oxford (Sir Richanl Cartwright) j we do not 
 always exactly announce that we arc givingparty 
 instructions when we speak on the floor of Parlia- 
 ment as tliat hon. gentleman has thought fit to do, 
 but it has been perfectly plain and perfectly clear 
 to the vision of tne most uninitiated among, us that 
 the object here hn - been not to discuss this matter 
 on its merits, not lo deal with this question, as it 
 ought to l)e dealt with, as to wether it should or 
 not become law, but uy abusing the plaintiffs attor- 
 ney — the unfortunate promoter of the Bill — and by 
 raising clouds of race prejudices and religious 
 prejudices as well, to have this Bill rejected because 
 
 •" \ 
 
) hon. 
 ;puak- 
 y sec 
 
 tlieae 
 filing 
 in the 
 inean- 
 enil, a 
 ly well 
 ) cf the 
 among 
 in one 
 lounced 
 nation- 
 snounce 
 I say 
 
 is but 
 
 all, the 
 ean and 
 is great 
 31-tion or 
 jogether, 
 
 ami en- 
 
 of that 
 icribes it 
 vhich the 
 ough the 
 
 have no 
 
 the floor 
 (er under- 
 efore, and 
 r that the 
 
 a nnfortu- 
 
 Bman may 
 uld put it. 
 luoted my 
 kve quoted 
 lity that I, 
 this coun- 
 le Throne ; 
 ;he mother 
 ity of Can- 
 lationality, 
 Canadians 
 and proud 
 •et that so 
 iewhat per- 
 ils to do the 
 deal, it was 
 im the dis- 
 hich those 
 Iroduce. We 
 le politician. 
 ly or plainly 
 kr for South 
 we do not 
 ;ivingparty 
 ir of Parlia- 
 jht fit to do, 
 [rfectly clear 
 long, us that 
 1 this matter 
 lestion, as it 
 it should or 
 fintiff 8 attor- 
 Bill— and by 
 Ind religious 
 Tected because 
 
 of matters which ought not to have lieen mentioned 
 in connection with it. What is the proposition we 
 are dealing with here ? It is a simple one. It is 
 said that it is the onterina of the thin end of 
 the wedge ; it is said that I have commenced a 
 crusade, and that this is the first thing I have 
 attempted and that my success in this will mean 
 success later on in other matters. Even if that wore 
 so, and if the continuance of the present condition 
 of things is an injury to the people of the North- 
 West — if this in calculated to do that great portion 
 of our Dominion an injustice, aie the people of the 
 North-West to suffer under this grievance because 
 of the imfortunate language — if it be unfortunate — 
 because of the unfortunate terms — if they be 
 unfortunate — in which the Bill was presented to 
 the House of Commons. I do not think the prac- 
 tical people of this country will accept any such 
 excuse. I will just add as a rider to the advice of the 
 hon. member tor South Oxford (Sir Richard Cart- 
 wright): " Do not I beseech you hon. members who 
 sit beliind him allow yourselves to be carried away 
 with such ill advice as that." This Bill and this 
 only must be dealt with on its merits. It is not 
 for the speech of the member who introduced it 
 you are going to vote, it is not for his speech in 
 the Opera House at Ottawa you are going to vote, 
 but you must vote " yea " or " nay " upon the Bill 
 itself which is now before you. If that Bill is one 
 which in the interests of our common country should 
 be passed, I do not think that excuses such as are 
 presented Iiere will save hon. gentlemen fiom the 
 just indignation of their constituents. Again, 
 there has oeen a very great misrepresentation of 
 what I stated in my speeclt. Mv argument upon 
 the question of language is to lie found in these 
 words : 
 
 "Now I venture to think I hovo to advance 3ome 
 explanation of the proposition whiuii I nm dealing with— 
 that is, that language ib of grnat importance, that it is of 
 vital oonsoauence to the nation, that the Ivnguage spoken 
 by its poonio should be common to them all, and that 
 they should not at all events be encouraged and trained 
 in speaking different languages." 
 
 Is there anything revolutionary in that ? Is this 
 the language of the incendiary ? Is there anything 
 here that ouglit not to have been uttered on the 
 floor of Parliament, ^ou can look throughout tlie 
 speech and you will find nothing more radical than 
 that. I gave my reasons and I cited what my 
 hon. friend from West Assiniboia (Mr. Davin) was 
 good enough to sneer at as my "authorities." We 
 are not all, like the hon. member for Assiniboia, 
 versed in literature, history, philology, ethnology 
 and in all the other subjects he is so well acquainted 
 with, nor is the country so learned as that hon. gen- 
 tleman ; and I thought in justice to my position that 
 I should quote my authorities. This subject is a 
 comparatively new one to most of us, anil I do not 
 repent of it in the sliglitest degree that in tlie 
 introduction of this Bill I stated my reasons and 
 gave my authorities, which have been open to the 
 criticisms of hon. members who did me the honor 
 to listen to my address or who read my observa- 
 tions. After all the impassioned language we have 
 heard, after all the abuse that has been heaped 
 upon my devoted head, I ask : Do not those words of 
 mine stand unref uted and incapable of refutation t 
 The hon. member for Bothwell (Mr. Mills) and 
 the hon. member for North York (Mr. Mulock) — 
 the loyal embryo knight from that constituency — 
 have first set up a man of straw and then 
 
 attacked him. The hon. member for Bothwell 
 contended that I had not gone far enough — that 
 I ought to liave struck at the language here in 
 this chamber and in the Province of Quebeo — 
 that I ought to have prevented its use in the pulpit, 
 on the platform, in the schools, and so on. Why, Sir, 
 we have nothing to do with these matters ; we have 
 no call to meddle with them ; butlamglad to be able 
 to inform the hon. gentleman that the North-West 
 Legislative Assembly are themselves dealing with 
 this matter of the schools, which is, ]ierhaps, the 
 most imi)ortant of all. They, discovering as they 
 did lately, just as we have cfiscovered lately, what 
 was going on in the so-called Separate schools in 
 the French settlements, have already, in advance 
 of the Province of Ontario, put an end to that, and 
 the teaching is now in the English tongue. What 
 I have Boiight for here is that which is in our 
 power. We have this enormous territory yet to 
 oe peopled by millions, and do we want to have 
 repeated there the spectacle which is presented on 
 the floor of this House, or the spectacle, still more 
 deplorable from a ymtriotic point of view, which is 
 depicted in the Legislative Chamber of the Pro- 
 vince of Quebec? Do you want that, Sir? It 
 would be biBtter that we all spoke French than 
 that half of us should speak French and half of us 
 English. 
 
 Mr. CHAPLEAU. Hear, hear. 
 
 Mr. McCarthy. The hon. gentleman says 
 " hear, hear," and he is (juite right. I do not pre- 
 tend to know the glories of the French language, nut 
 I do know enough from what I have been told to 
 believe that it is a beautiful tongue. But that is 
 not the question we are dealing with. We know 
 that the French language is not and never can be 
 the language of British North America and we 
 ought to realise — more especially ought the French 
 Canadians of tliis country to realise — that their true 
 interest, as our true interest, is at as early a day 
 as possible to have but the one language spoken in 
 this country. Well, of course, I do not expect, 
 and it would be hardly reasonable to expect, that 
 those hon. gentlemen wlio agree with me that we 
 should all l>e better speaking French will go the 
 other step with me and agree that we should be 
 all the better speaking English, though the hon. 
 leader of tlie Opposition I am told^for I had not 
 the honor of hearing him — rather leaned to that 
 view. Now, I am not going to follow the hon. gentle- 
 me.i on the other side of the House in theirexcursions 
 into Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Cape Colony, 
 Mauritius, and other places which have been 
 brought to our notice. I have stated before, and 
 I repeat, tliat these cases are not the rule, but 
 the exception ; and while I quite admit that the 
 Province of Quebec is also an exceptional case, 
 the legislation proposed here has no reference to 
 that Province ; it has no reference even to this 
 Parliament : it is with regard to the great terri- 
 tories of the North-West, which have always be- 
 longed to the Crown of England, which never be- 
 longed to the French in any sense, notwithstanding 
 the statement of the bishop which is in our Votes 
 and Proceedings. History tells us that north 
 the Height of Land and n'om there to the Pac 
 Ocean the Frenchman, although he went^^j" 
 went there as a trespasser, and was ®9>'V that 
 trespasser. I see a smile on the iacfi-^^°^'^ 
 sopher f rom Bothwell, who endea^^ 
 

 I 
 
 the French territory extended as far aa the Rooky 
 Mountains. 
 
 Mr. MIILL8 (Bothwell). So it did. 
 
 Mr. McCarthy. But that was settled by the 
 boundary decision. Those who represented the 
 Province of Ontario in that (lispute, before tlie 
 Privy Council, put forward that pretension, and 
 the hon. aentleman sat there with liis wig on his 
 head ready to argue, if he were only allowed, in 
 favor of it, but it was better argued by his seniors. 
 But the Privy Council rejected liis contention, and 
 the boundary was placed where we now have it. 
 
 Mr. MILLS (Bothwell). Not at all ; it was on 
 the ground of acquiescence tha.) they decided. 
 
 Mr. McCarthy. The hon. gentleman is, of 
 course, wiser than the rest of us. As the Privy 
 Council gave no reason for their judtfineut, but 
 simply reported to Her Majesty where the bound- 
 ary was, 1 do not know where he got that infor- 
 mation. 
 
 Mr. MILLS (Bothwell). During the argument. 
 
 Mr. McCarthy. There was not one word 
 during the argument, which I took part in, which 
 wouUl lead to that conclusion. At all events, the 
 observation of a judge durir.g an argument is not 
 a decision. 
 
 Mr. MILLS (Bothwell.) The observation of Lord 
 Selborne 
 
 Mr. McCarthy, if the hon, gentleman will 
 keep his soul in patience we shall get on more 
 easily with this debate. That being so, on what 
 pretense, I want to know, did that lion, gentle- 
 man's Government introduce this clause into the 
 North- West Territories Act ? 1 am not now dis- 
 cussine the Province of Manitoba ; but with regard 
 to the North- West Territories, is there a shadow of 
 reason for this provision ? If so, it has not yet Iteen 
 given to show why the dual language should be 
 imposed on the people of the North-West Terri- 
 tories. If there ue no answer, as no answer there 
 can be, then I want to know what is the duty of 
 this Parliament V Is the duty of this Parliament to 
 leave it there ? In that respect I understand that 
 the politician of the party, the hon. mem))er for 
 South Oxford (Sir Richard Cartwright) differs from 
 the hon. member for West Durham, and he is wise 
 to differ with him and withdraw himself from his 
 protection. The proposition of the hon. member 
 for West Durham, the most monstrous ever sub- 
 mitted to any assembly, is to keep the language 
 as an encouragement to the French to emiirrate to 
 the Noith-West, and to settle this tjuestion, Ly-and- 
 bye, after they get there. If they go in masses, 
 says the hon. member, I shall much regret it ; but 
 if they do go there in masses — and we perfectly 
 well know that they do not ao in any other way — 
 then, he said, something will have to be done. If 
 I might appeal to the reason of the House without 
 prejudice, I would say, let us look at the position 
 of the North-West to-day. We are told, and the 
 census confirms it, that in 1885 there were but 
 1,500 French Canadians in the North-West. If you 
 add the numberof the half-breeds of French descent, 
 the number will still be less than 5,000. I have 
 'ot the exact figures here. We know that at the 
 
 . i" to which I refer, there were in the three dis- 
 
 * ■'*• ?85 English-speaking people ; I am leaving 
 
 out of consideration. The ratio is 
 
 therefore 83 to 17 per cent., and if our records are 
 correct that disproportion has been vastly increased, 
 and it is not too much to say tiiat there are not to- 
 day in the North-West one-tenth of the people who 
 speak the French language to the nine-tenths who 
 speak the Knglish language. And moreover, when 
 we look ut the record we find that these French 
 are scattered. 
 
 Mr. MILLS (Bothwell). 
 the mass ? 
 
 Then they are not in 
 
 Mr. McCarthy. " Then they are not in the 
 mass " is the very erudite observation made by the 
 hon. member for Bothwell (Mr. Mills). They are 
 here, there and everywhere, in small bands and 
 surrounded by a lurgtf population of English - 
 speaking people That being so, can there l>e any 
 l«ttei time for scttliiiK this ([uestion than the 
 present ? Sliould there be an immigration in the 
 North- West, in the near future, of the French Cana- 
 dians, should they go in there induced by the speech 
 of the hon. memlnirfor West Durham (Mr. Blake), 
 or should this House l)e insane enough to adopt 
 the proposed resolution of thiit hon. gentleman, I 
 do not know, in common justice, how it wouhl be 
 possible to 8<vy, by-and-bve, to those who had immi- 
 grated upon the faith of such resolution, that this 
 dual language should be done away with. There- 
 fore, tliis is the time to deal with the question, and 
 I venture to say that this is the place. The hon. 
 member for South Oxford threw another insinua- 
 tion, and it certainly would be more satisfactory, 
 if instead of insinuating, he would make his state- 
 ments so clear that they could be understood. He 
 said that the North-West Council had been moved 
 to present the petition I sjioke of by some outside 
 influence, about which he indicated I knew some- 
 thing. What did the hon. gentleman mean ? Has 
 the hon. gentleman ever lieen in the North-West ? 
 Has he ever seen the members of the Council or of 
 the Assembly ? Does he know the character of 
 the men there ? My wliole connection with the 
 North-West Assembly commenced with stopping 
 over at Calgary and then passing on ; and I had only 
 one communication with one of the members of that 
 Council ofter this matter was dealt with by the 
 Council, and that was with reference to the form in 
 which the petition ought to l)e present' I to this 
 House, But to suppose that the North-West 
 Council, composed of 22 members, representing 
 three districts, whicli are in a much less degree 
 represented in this House, were not competent to 
 deal with this question ; to suppose tliat their 
 opinion is to have no weight with us, but it is to 
 be set at naught ; to suppose that the great doc- 
 trine of provincial right? in the case of tlic North- 
 West Council is not to have even the support of 
 hon. gentlemen oppositv;, is a very extraordinary 
 conclusion to arrive at. Now, what is the posi- 
 tion ■; The North-We&t Council, by a petition 
 which is practically unanimous — carried by 20 
 to 2 — and wliich lias been laid on the Table, asks 
 for the passage of a measure such as the one I have 
 introduced. Hearing that petitions were being 
 presented here from certain settlements, tliere was 
 at once— and without the slightest communication, 
 so far as I know, with any member of this House ; 
 without any communication at all events with me 
 — a burst of indignation at what appeared to these 
 men to be the imposition which was being prac- 
 tised upon this House, The petitions which the 
 
 
 m- 
 
 \ i 
 
 \ 
 
are not in 
 
 hon. inemberR presented, and which aroused this 
 indignation, were couched as follows : — 
 
 " The petition of the undenigned humbly expoae that at 
 a nubllo incetln| of the ratepayers of Lethbridke, District 
 of Alberta, N. W. T., held this second day or January, 
 A. D, 1890, they have been respectively appointed chair- 
 man and neoretary, and tlint the following resolution has 
 been unanimously adopted : 
 
 " WharoBR, the French language Is, under the conKtitu- 
 tion and the lawn, one of the two official languages of the 
 Doruinion ; and 
 
 " Whereas, under the ' North-West Territories Act ' 
 the French In, equally with the Bnglish.an official lan- 
 guage, the suppression of Its use, as such, in Iho North- 
 west Territories, would be a fliigrant injustice towards 
 the settlors of French origin, who were the pioneers of 
 this country, and towards those of the same raci- who, 
 upon the faith of the constitution and existing lawf ime 
 and estiihlislioil theuisulvos in the North- West, aiul have 
 oontribiitud, with otlxT citizens of other nationalities, to 
 the dcvelopmunt of the rusourcog of the country ; 
 
 " Ue it resolved ; 
 
 " That a petition containing the resolution that has Just 
 been paiinod be signed by the chairman and the secretary 
 of this ineuMnfr, and bo addressed to the House of Com- 
 mons, asking that no law be passed alTccting the rights 
 of the population with regard to the official use of the 
 French laiiguagu, as guaranteed by the constitution and 
 the ' North-Wpst Turritories Act.' '' 
 
 No sooner did tlie news reach the North-West 
 than petitions suuli as this were l)einK circulated ; 
 than an indignation meeting was called at Leth- 
 bridge. What was the resiut of that meeting t I 
 have a telegram which was sent to me, and which 
 reads as follows : — 
 
 " At a meeting of the Board of Trade of Tjethbridge, 
 thirly-flve members present, the following resolution was 
 passed : — 
 
 " ' Moved by .T. D. Hlgginbotham, seconded by C. C. 
 McCaul, that whereas it appears from reports in the 
 public press that a petition purporting to be from the 
 ratepayers of Lethbridge, against the proposal to abolish 
 the dual language system, has boon presented to Parlia- 
 ment, this Uoard of Trade emphatically protest against 
 such petition being accepted as the /lews of the rate- 
 
 f layers or inhabitants of Letbbridge, because no such pub- 
 ic mooting was over held in Lethbridge, and the said 
 petition was secretly prepared and forwarded, and the 
 ratepayers of Lethbridge never had any opportunity of 
 voting thereon, and that a copy of this resolution bo tele- 
 graphed to Mr. Dalton McCarthy, and a copy forwarded 
 Dv mail to the public press. Please let I). W. Davis, 
 M.P., have copy of this telegram. 
 
 " W. A. GALLIHER, 
 
 " Secretary Board of Trade," 
 
 Mr. CHAPLKAU. And the Privy Council has 
 a coniimmication which shows what the meeting 
 was and the number of people present, and which 
 exposes the falsity of that telegram. 
 
 Mr. McCarthy. I am very sorry the hon. 
 
 fantleman did not think lit to lay it upon the 
 able. 
 
 Mr. CHAPLE:AU. It is before the I'rivy 
 Council, and the names can be given and the 
 papers produced at any time my hon. friend wants 
 tliem. 
 
 Mr. McCarthy. I do not think any staite- 
 ment of that kind wouhl convince me, and 1 will 
 tell the hon. gentleman the reason why. I have 
 a letter from a gentleman, who has given me the 
 liberty to read it — a gentleman well known to tlie 
 right hon. the First Minister, and who is as in- 
 capable of telling an untruth as is the hon. the 
 Provincial Secretary himself. 
 
 " February 5th, 1890. 
 " Dear Mb. McCahthy,— The Empire publishes certain 
 resolutions in regard to the dual lan^uagr question, pur- 
 porting to have been passed at a publio meeting of rate- 
 
 Kayers at Lethbridge. The ' publio meeting ' must bar* 
 eon very privately called, as none of the rntepayeri to 
 the publio school ever heard of it. It was in fact a meet* 
 ing of the Roman Cathollo supporters of the separate 
 ■onool, a very small minority— and they wera very care- 
 ful not to let the general publio get any inkling of their 
 proceedings, 
 
 " You can rely on it that the general feeling of Leth- 
 bridge and this dlitriot, is entirely in favor of your 
 motion, 
 
 " Yours faithfully, 
 
 •' C. C. McOAUL. 
 "You are at liberty to make any use of this letter that 
 you see fit." 
 
 That is not the only communication I got. I got a 
 letter from Banif from a gentleman perfectly well 
 known to the right hon. the First Minister, Mr. 
 Frederick J. Boswell : 
 
 " My Drar McCarthy.— I noticed in the Toronto Globe 
 the announcement that Davis, M. P. for Alberta, has pre- 
 sented to the House of Commons from Banff, Anthracite, 
 Canmore, ,&c., a resolution askingthe Parliament not 
 to do away with the French language in the Territories ; " 
 that the said resolutions wore passed at publio meeting 
 held in the above named places ; I can most positively 
 assure you that no such meetings were held either at 
 Banff, Anthracite or Canmore, the only meetings that 
 have been held were two, in reference to the regulations 
 and leases in the townsite of Banff. 
 
 " I think it right to let you know this, as I am with you 
 in re your dual la'jgnage Bill and am at work getting a 
 petition signed by all inhabitants of this place backing 
 you up. Dr. Brett, ourmemboroftheLogislative Assem- 
 bly, is strongly in your favor, and you mav depend that if 
 it is referred to the Assembly he will do his utmost to 
 
 carry it. 
 
 " I think it very unjust of Davis to misrepresent us. 
 " Wishing you and your Bill every success. 
 "I remain, 
 
 " Yours very sincerely, 
 
 "FRKDJ. BOSWELL." 
 
 I have also a telegram, which I believe was also 
 sent to the hon. memljer who represents Alberta in 
 this House (Mr. Davis), in these words : 
 
 "At a mass meeting in Calgary to-night. Mayor Lafferty, 
 chairman, the following resolutions passed by 2r)0 to 7 : — 
 
 " ' No. 1. That the use of a dual language in official pro- 
 ceedings in the North-W'ist Territories is uiinucessary, 
 expensive and calculated to prevent the complete union 
 of the several nationalities who reside in the Territories, 
 and that to brin|; about a united Canadian people in this 
 part of the Dominion, the Kngllsh language alone should 
 be legalised in the proceedings of the Legislative Assem- 
 bly, tne courts, and all other official bodies. 
 
 '' ' No. 2. That this meeting heartily endorses the action 
 of the Legislative Assembly at Kcgina, in reference to tlie 
 dual language, and requests that the petition presented 
 to the Dominion Government in pursuance of such action 
 be granted. 
 
 * No. 3. That a copy of the above resolutions be for- 
 D. W. Davis, M.P.. D'Alton . McCartliy, M.P., 
 
 warded to 
 
 the Hon. James Louj^hvcd, and the Dominion Parliament, 
 and thatD. W. Davis, M.P., be requested to forward in 
 every way the movement for the abolition of French as 
 an official language in the Territories.' " 
 
 Now, let us see where we stand in regard to this 
 question, considered as a local one. Tlie memliers 
 of the North-West Council were elected two years 
 ago, if my memory serves me, since the members 
 of this House who sit for that district were elected. 
 They are twenty-two in number. They are spread, 
 of course, and come much more in contact with 
 the people of their respective territories than do 
 the members who sit here, whose districts are so 
 much larger. They have unanimously, or with 
 practical unanitiiity, petitioned this House to 
 abolish this clause in the North-West Territories 
 Act. On the motion being made here, and the 
 matter, being brought before Parliajueiit, and it 
 appearing that certain cut-and-dried petitions were 
 presented here from certain places in that Terri- 
 tory, the people there at once set about getting up 
 
 
 f 
 
I i 
 
 oounter-p«titiniiN which I have had the honor to 
 prMwnt to the Huum. Thov arc not fwtition* pur- I 
 portinu to li« jigiiwl by the chairnieii and Hevrutariee ! 
 of public meeting!, which may conceal the fact that 
 no «uch meeting! wore lield, but they are signed i 
 by the leailing men in the ulaces from which they | 
 come. For inatance, in ('algiirv, the petition was I 
 signed by the mayor at the lioacf, by two ux-niayort I 
 and over MM) others ; and, in anotlivr place, the |)eti- I 
 tion is Bigne<l l)y a French Catholic gentleman, who, | 
 I think must Ik; the gentleman who grows coA'')e, to 
 whom tho meinlwr for West Assiniboia (Mr. I)a>-in) 
 referred to the other night, though of that I ara 
 not iiuite sure. Tlien we have a public meeting at 
 whicii a vote of 2!)*) to 7 was lecorded in favor of 
 this change ; and vet we are told that we do not 
 know what the feelings of the pe'>(>lo of the North- 
 West arc in regard to this quent Kin, and titat we 
 ought to give them time for couKi'lcrution, ami to 
 allow the memliers of the Asseiiilily there another 
 opportunity of appealing to their constituents. 
 Ttiere are many other questions which conieljcfore 
 this House with which, if that argument is to pre- 
 vtiil, we would find it difficult to <lortl at all. But 
 I do not conceal the fact that I do not look upon 
 this matter as a hntal ({uestion. When I a<ldre88ed 
 the people of Calgary, and they were good enough 
 to say tliat they understcMxl I was to take a part 
 in the movement to abolish the aepamte school 
 system and the dual langua(;e in the North- West, 
 I said, as to the dual language I shall move in Par- 
 liament, whether you petition or not ; I look upon 
 that (juestion as a matter of national importance, 
 OS a matter affecting the whole Dominion, as a 
 matter which is proper to lie dealt with in 
 Parliament and not by a Local Legislature. 
 I found at the same time, in the organ of 
 the hon. gentleman which is published in the city 
 of Toronto, a statement that if the people in the 
 North -West signified their desire to aixilish the 
 use of that language officially, effect would be 
 given to their wish. When the Assembly met, al- 
 most tlieir earliest act — and I think not their least 
 important act — was to adopt this petition, which 
 placed on two grounds their desire to abolish the 
 use of that language : one, that it was not required 
 in the interest of tlie country ; and the other, that 
 it was contrary to sound public policy that two 
 lanuuageH should prevail. Follow that up by the 
 petitions I have hud tlie lionor to present, and by 
 the report which I have read from my place in 
 Parliament, and then, if the House is not seized of 
 the opinions of tlie North- West in regard to this 
 matter, I fail to see how we will ever be able to 
 obtain the views of that people on the subject. Do 
 not let us exaggerate, I have no desire at all to ex- 
 aggerate tlie importance of tliis question of 
 language. I udiiiit as freely as it can be admitted 
 that there are cases— ami the case of Switzerland 
 is one — where, under peculiar circumstances, people 
 speaking different languages, those languages 
 being officially there three instead of two, have 
 enjoyed a certain amount of prosperity, or 
 very great prosperity if you like. But do hon. 
 gentlemen see any analogy lietween Switzer- 
 land and Canada? The cantons of Switzer- 
 land came together us independent bodies under 
 bargains and terms and conditions to whicli every- 
 one of them had to agree, and that possesses nothing 
 of an analogy to the case of our own North-West. 
 But, if we look at the history of the Swiss Con- 
 
 federation, what do we find ? I Iwrdly expected 
 from the historian of tlie House, the hou. memlter 
 for West AssinilNlia ( Mr. Davin), that so much stress 
 would lie laid up<m the caae of Switi«rlan«l. I^t 
 us look at this case of Switzerland for a few mo- 
 ments, while I give a sliort statement of its history. 
 It is quite true that Switzerland is oomposeil of 22 
 cantons, it is (|uite true that there are three otticial 
 languages there, it is equally true that there is a 
 fourth language which is not recognisetl. But the 
 history of the Swiss constitution may briefly lie 
 summarised thus : Between 1291 and IH74, tho 
 oonfedorution has passe<l throuuh no less than seven 
 {riiases, of which, since 179H, there have lieen four 
 — one in I79N, one in 180.3, another in IHI.I, another 
 1848, and a revision in 1874. Is that the evi<luice 
 of a stable constitution t Is that tho kind of con- 
 stitution that the hon. member would like to have 
 fastened upon the people of his beloved North- 
 West ? Just let us see : 
 
 " The third phase lasted till 17gS " 
 
 I am reading f^om the best work, I believe, on 
 the snbjec*. the work of Sir F. O. Adams— 
 
 — " without modification, and wsa marked by intornal 
 diioord, religious wars, and rerolti of peaiunts." 
 
 That is the first beautiful picture we have of the 
 Confederation of Switzerland. This phase lasted 
 from 1815 to 1848 : 
 
 " Then oame an epoch of agitation and of discord. 
 
 " The Confederation suffered from a fundamental vice, 
 i, e., tho powerleggness of the central authority. The 
 Cantons had become too independent, and (tavu to their 
 deputiee initruotions differing widely from each other." 
 
 Now, here is what we find happening in 1847 : 
 
 " On the 4th November. 1847, after the deputies of the 
 Sonderbond had left tho Diet, this league was declared to 
 be di88olved,and hostilities broke out between the two con- 
 tending parties. A short and dooisivo oamnaign of t wenty- 
 flvo dayn ensued ; Freiburg whs tiikon by the Federal 
 troopii under Ucneral Dufour, later Lusom opened its 
 gates, ihe small cantons and the Vslais capitulated, and 
 the strife oame to an end." 
 
 Now, let me give you a comment upon this from 
 a paper which, perhaps, will not command the 
 attention of the members of this House, the 'Edin- 
 burgh Review, which, so late, as the month of 
 •January last, spoke of the Swiss Executive in 
 these words : 
 
 " It (the Swiss Executive) guides the policy of a state 
 eternally menaced by foreign complications ; it preserves 
 harmony throughout a confederacy made upoi twcnty- 
 twu cantons, each jealous of one another and sympathis- 
 ing only in common jealousy of tho Federal power." 
 
 I do not think that any of us would like to plant 
 in the virgin soil of the North-West, a constitution 
 such as the Swiss constitution, with tiie results 
 which have attended its use, and, therefore, the 
 illustration is very far fetched. Take another 
 illustration which we have had, take ('ape (^'olony ; 
 I dare say some hon. gentleman know more about 
 Cape Colony than I do, possibly some members of 
 this House may have visited it ; but is it not a fact 
 that the Dutch Boers, as they are called, have 
 rebelled and have left the English colony and have 
 formed an independent repuolic on its Iwrders? 
 Have not, within recent times, the British arms 
 suffered a defeat at their hands, and to-day is 
 there not very great trouble between the Dutch 
 who remain in the English colony ' Certainly, it 
 is the last example I would expect to be given by 
 any persons, cognisant with the facts in support of 
 a duality of language in any country. But need we 
 
 f 
 
 m 
 
 go so fai 
 
 wwirihiH 
 
 forliear < 
 
 of B<jhei 
 
 by two I 
 
 ■peaking 
 
 tempt wi 
 
 these lai 
 
 arrived u 
 
 tion ? I 
 
 Joseph, 
 
 has great 
 
 to settle t 
 
 the Diet 
 
 ('ermuii i 
 
 together, 
 
 a separat* 
 
 solution " 
 
 found in 
 
 resort to 
 
 from Hyi 
 
 necessary 
 
 from dest 
 
 position . 
 
 nirtlier th 
 
 not design 
 
 ing up th 
 
 leader of t 
 
 Canadian 
 
 •or to say t 
 
 Mr. LA 
 
 Mr. Mc{ 
 
 Mr. LAI 
 
 Mr. Mel 
 
 say that th 
 
 gentleman 
 
 Ml. LAI 
 
 ality ? 
 
 Mr. MoC 
 
 but the fon 
 
 continent. 
 
 Mr. LAU 
 
 Mr. MoC 
 
 result of tl 
 
 regard to t 
 
 Dominion ? 
 
 one which it 
 
 the I'rovinci 
 
 outcome of 
 
 freely by Lr. 
 
 when I had t 
 
 no other. Bu 
 
 this House tf 
 
 liank, as thi 
 
 (Mr. Davin) 
 
 of the Provi 
 
 mine. I difl 
 
 possible to d 
 
 nave too gre 
 
 fellow-subjec 
 
 the language 
 
 their cause oi 
 
 recognise in 
 
 Tbe, one of tli 
 
 Tias produced 
 
 It may suit th 
 
 jtion to say ^h 
 
 Sspiratioiis, li 
 
 nee of Queb 
 
g(i Ro fur afield ? Let nio give une tiiDi'e iMtance, 
 weHriboine oa these iiiHtanvea inay Im. I cannot 
 forlioMr (luotiuu to the Hoiiae the itrikiiiu oxiunple 
 of lioheiiiia. Boheiiiia, we all know, in inhnhiteil 
 by two nationalities, the < ierman*, and the Zecha, 
 apeak ing eauh their language. We know an at- 
 tempt waa made, not long ago, to put down one of 
 theae languaueH, and how haa a aettleniont lieen 
 arrivo(l at t What haa l>een the only piasilile anlu- 
 tion ? Under the intluence of the Kniperor Franuia 
 Joaeph, who ia beloved by hia aubjecta, and who 
 haa great influence among them, thev have reaolved 
 to aettle tiie ditiiuultv in ttiia extraordinarv faahion : 
 the Diet ia informally divided into tw<» Curiu-, one 
 C-'ernibn and the other Zouh, which sit and delwte 
 together, although each poaHeaaes the full power of 
 a aeparate and co-ordinate Houae. That ia the only 
 solution for a <luality of language which could Ite 
 found in liohemia, and it was found neuesaarv to 
 resort to that in order to prevent tliese people 
 from tlying at one anfither'a throats, it was found 
 necuHsury to resort to that to prevent the Oermana 
 from deserting to Bisnutrk. Now, what ia the 
 poaition here? — l)ecauae, it ia uaeless for us to go 
 lurtlier than our own country. If tliis language is 
 not dusigncdly perpetuated with the view of keep- 
 ing up the h renoli nationality — which the hon. 
 leader of the Opposition has l>een the only French 
 Canadian on the fl<M>r of Parliament to denounce, 
 -or to say that he does not sympathise with it. 
 
 Mr. LAURIER. What ? 
 
 Mr. McCarthy, a Frencli nationality. 
 
 Mr. LAURIER. What did you say 1 
 
 Mr. MciCARTHY. I sivy you denounced it ; I 
 .saj' that the leader of the Opposition is the only 
 gentleman of that imtionality who denounced it. 
 
 Mr. LAURIER. Denounce what, my nation- 
 ality ? 
 
 Mr. M(!CARTHY. No, not your nationality; 
 but the formation of a French nation upon this 
 continent. 
 
 Mr. LAURIER. No. 
 
 Mr. McCarthy. I ask, what is the ultimate 
 result of the system that is being pursued in 
 regard to the French language throughout this 
 Dominion ? Is there any other result, except the 
 one which is pointed out to us in newspapers in 
 the Province of Qucl>ec ? Is that not tlie logical 
 outcome of the views whicii were enunciated so 
 freely by La VMt4 which I read to this House 
 when I had tlie honor to introduce this Bill ? I know 
 no other. But I deny the right of any gentleman in 
 this House to repudiate the language of the mounte- 
 bank, as the hon. member for West Assiniboia 
 <Mr. Davin) calls him, the " mountebank Prenuer " 
 of the Province of Quebec. The language is not 
 mine. I differ from Mr. Mei-cier as mucTi as it is 
 possible to <lifFei' from any public man, but yet I 
 nave too great a respect for my French Canadian 
 , fellow-subjects to speak of tlmir First Minister in 
 I the language which was used by the champion of 
 their cause on the floor of this Parliament ; for I 
 [recognise in him, whatever his other faults may 
 [be, one of the greatest men which his nationality 
 pas produced in Canada. We know that although 
 It may suit the purposes cf the leader of the Opposi- 
 tion to say ^hat he does not sympi.i,in8e with these 
 spirations, his words are not uttered in the Prov- 
 ice of Quebec. We know that the hon. gentle- 
 
 man ia going hand in han<l with the Premier of the 
 Province of Quelle in all hia local conteata, in all 
 hia endeavora to faaten what he calla the Nation- 
 aliat Party upon that Province, and in which, up 
 to ^hia time, he haa Iwen aucceaaful. We know, >Sir, 
 t' .t the hon. gentleman waa preaent at a great 
 public meeting at which the I'remier of Queliou 
 announced the aapirationa of the French Canadian 
 people to l>e the formation of a great French nation- 
 ality, not under tlie ^lorioua Uiuon Jack, of which 
 we hear ao much in tha House from aome hon. gentle- 
 men who do not aay ao much al)out it in the Province 
 of Queliec, but under the Tricolor, and he adviaed 
 the meml>cr8 of lM)th parties to join under the 
 Tricolor of France, the flag of France, not that 
 tiicy wished to unite with France ; I quite agree 
 that it. not th ir aspiration ; the Republic of 
 France does not suit the French Canadians of that 
 view in the Province of Quel>ec ; but that they <lid 
 announce that their nationality was typified by 
 the French flag, the Tricolor of France. That 
 that language was uttered at a great meeting of 
 their fellow-countrymen, that that language waa 
 uttered by the Premier of Q\iebec in the presence 
 of the loader of the Oppoaition in thia House, 
 withcmt demur, without contratliction, without 
 remonstrance, a^id without reproach, goes without 
 saying 
 
 Mr. LAURIKR. Would the hon. gentleman 
 permit me to interrupt him ? On the occasion to 
 which he alluiles I spoke after Mr. Mercier, and I 
 spoke afterwards in Toronto, quoting word for word 
 the language I had used in Queliec. 
 
 Mr. McCarthy. The hon. gentleman ia 
 perfectly right, and yet my statement remains 
 uncontradicted. The hon. gentleman did speak 
 in honeyed words, first of nis love for his own 
 nationality, and secondly of his love for the other 
 nationalities of the I)omini<iii. What I am cotn- 
 plainiiig of is this : if that was not the view of the 
 hon. gentleman, then and tliere, liefore the thou 
 sands who were assembled, liefore the great liotly 
 of his fellow II iiiiitrymen, was the time for prompt 
 repudiation ami not here. But no repudiation 
 came. Is it possible under these conditions for us 
 to stand still 'i Have we no other evidence of the 
 a.spiration8 of the hon. gentleman's party, because 
 lie is reaping the lienefit of that party, that party 
 which is his strength in the Province of Quebec ? 
 It is only a few days ago, certainly only a few 
 weeks ago, since the hon. gentleman wrote an 
 open letter calling upon his people, notwitlistond- 
 ing ie rebellion of the old Liberal Party of which 
 lie was at one time a memlier, when they rebelled 
 against this new proposed national cry of the Pre- 
 mier of the Province of Quebec ; the lion, gentle- 
 man instead of joining with his own confrtNres, 
 wrote to the constituency or a prominent member 
 in it, urging their support to the new party formed 
 by the Premier of Quebec. 
 
 Mr. LAURIER. Against the Tories. 
 
 Mr. McCarthy. He had been a Tory or a 
 Bleu, and he became a convert to the Nationalist 
 cry and went over to the Nationalist Party against 
 the remonstrances of the old Liberal Party of the 
 Province. The hon. gentleman thought tit to 
 interpose and interfere. Is that all ? When the 
 hon. gentleman joined in the agitation with res- 
 pect to Riel, I wonder did he ever think that he 
 
10 
 
 would be denouncing a member of t' lis House for 
 incendiarism? I wonder did he ever think he 
 would be denouncing a brother member for raising 
 a cry and appealing to the passions of the people ? 
 Does the hon. gentleman remember his course 
 upon that occasion ? Sir, does he remember that 
 when Riel, after a fair trial, after being ably 
 defended and impartially tried, was justly uxe- 
 cuted. 
 
 Some hon. MEMBERS. Oh, Oh. 
 
 Mr. McCarthy justly executed—yes. At a 
 meeting in Montreal, led bv the lieutenant of the 
 hon. member for West Durliani (Mr. Blake) who 
 sits here for ■western Ontario — influenced by 
 purely patriotic considerations for the good of the 
 country — this extraordinary language was used by 
 the present leader of the Opposition at that excited 
 time, when a statesman would have naturally used a 
 language tending to quiet and subdue the disturbed 
 passions of the multitude. And what were the 
 words ? 
 
 " If he (Laurier) had been on the bankr of the Sasknt- 
 ohewan when the rebellion broke out, he would have 
 taken up arms nccainst the Govemmeni.." 
 
 He further said : 
 
 " It must be well understood by all that this wa!i not. a 
 war of races, but rather a vindication of the rights of one 
 race that claimed for the French tbnt which is granted to 
 all otbernationahties. The crime of Hcsina would still be 
 avenged, not only by the French, but bv nl\ other races. 
 They were asking for no favor, but tney only wanted 
 oommon justice pure and simple. They 'were as iealons 
 of the liberties of others as of their own ; and if injustice 
 was done one class, injustice might be done to others." 
 
 He further said : 
 
 "They cannot bring Riel back to life, but by patrio- 
 tically uniting together they can drive from power the 
 wretcnes who had 30 pitilessly put him to death." • • 
 
 "Sir John had not had the courage of dealing leniently 
 by a man who represented a cause which he had not 
 treated fairly and justly." * • • 
 
 " This was a free country and not even the Government 
 had the right of committing judicial murder." 
 
 This was the language of the hon. gentleman, who 
 has had the hardihood to speak of my moderate 
 terms as being calculated to arouse angry passions, 
 race difficulties and troubles. Does the hon. gen- 
 tleman repent of those words ? No. Hib benches 
 are filled by his fellew-countrymen by reason of 
 those words, and although some of them sit there 
 to-day not following or supporting him, it is simply 
 by reason of the accident that he did not secure a 
 majority. The hon. gentleman profits by that 
 language, and he has no reason to regret it. We 
 recognize that by means of this cry the then 
 (iovernmeut of the Pi'ovinee of Quebec, the best 
 (iovernnient the Province has had since Confeder- 
 ation was ejected from office. Why ? Because they 
 declined to vote censure upon the Administration 
 at Ottawa. Mr. Mercier, taking advantage of the 
 excited feeling of the Province, gathered together 
 the Nationalist Party, nationalist in the narrow 
 sense to which I have referred, and, joining hands 
 with the hon. gentleman hce, brought about a 
 result which deprived this House of many suppor- 
 ters from the French Province for hon. gentlemen 
 ' on this side of the House, and brought strength to 
 hon. gentlemen opposite. People might not con- 
 sider the words of politicians of such serious 
 moment, but we cannot disregard what we see 
 going on before our eyes. The othev <''iy a yoimg 
 lady. Miss Mayliee, was sent down to the Post 
 Office Department in Quebec. She had the misfor- 
 
 tune to speak English and to come from Ontario ; 
 and will it be believed, and yet we know it perfectly 
 well to be the case, that those supporting the hon. 
 gentlemaa opposite at once denounced the Govern- 
 ment and the Postmaster General for making the 
 appointment. 
 
 Mr. LAURIER. And tho Ministerial papers, 
 too. 
 
 Mr. McCarthy. I am astounded at it. I 
 did not think that matters had gone to that length ; 
 I have not seen the references, and I will be 
 delighted if the hon. gentleman will furnish then* 
 to me. So it now happens, if the hon. gentleman's 
 statement is correct, and he would not make a 
 statement if it was not correct, that both French 
 parties in Quebec object to an English speaking 
 lady. 
 
 Some hon. MEMBERS. No, no. 
 
 Mr. McCarthy. The hon. gentleman admits 
 it. I repeat that they object to an English lady 
 being sent down there. I have the words in some 
 of the newspapers if the hon. gentleman wishes 
 them. The howl was raised, and it was successful 
 I am sorry to say. I am sorry to know that the 
 old politeness of the French race seems to have 
 departed, for I thought a young lady would have 
 been favorably received ; but objection was made 
 by L' Elt.rtf.ivr and another paper. Here are the 
 words : 
 
 " "L' Ev^nement ]oms us in protesting against the nomi- 
 nation of Miss Maybee to the Post Office Inspector's Office. 
 The rumor going round, according to what VEvinfment 
 says, is that we are going to give employment in the Civil 
 Service at Quebec to a lady of Ontario. As the occupa- 
 tion of this lady would simply be to run a typewriter in 
 the post office, we don't see whv we should go so far to get 
 a typewriter that we could find so easily at nome. 
 
 It is not in oar knowledge, and it is not in the know- 
 ledge, of any person, that they would think for a moment 
 of bringing a French Canadian girl from Quebec or Mon- 
 treal to occupy a position of any kind of employment in 
 Ontario. Are we supposed to be more generous, more 
 agreable, than our neighbors, especially when we have 
 persons who are qualified to do the work in question ? " 
 
 I can assure the hon. gentleman that if a 
 young lady is sent to Ontario or Toronto she will 
 not l>e denounced in the public press, but she will 
 be received with kinilness, courtesy and considera- 
 tion. Another article follows, which I need not 
 trouble the House by reading. That is another 
 result of these race troubles and race <lifficulties. 
 But it is not the most serious in my humble judg- 
 ment that m liavi! to deal with. I find in a Frencii 
 Eublication of recent date, M. Tarilivel, under the 
 eading "Anglicism — Behold the Enemy," writes : 
 
 " Reflecting a little upon the situation I saw a great 
 danger for the future of the French Canadian race. 
 Language is the soul of a nation. If the Basques have 
 been able so long to preserve intact their ancient institu- 
 tions amidst the revolutions and the wars which have 
 oonvuliiod France and Si>ain ; if the Bretons and the 
 Welsh have remained distinct from the races which sur- 
 round them, they have their lanffuage to thank for it. If 
 Ireland struggles in v.iin to regain her independence, it 
 is because she no longer speaks the language of her olil 
 kings. Do you wish to cause a people to disappear? 
 Destroy its language. It is because the^ comprehend 
 this truth that Russia shows herself so inexorable to- 
 wards the Polish language, and that Germany socksitu 
 proscribe the French language of Alsace-Lorraine, jit 
 is then important for a people, especially a conquered 
 people, to preserve its language." 
 
 The same writer again says : 
 
 " I stop here. I make no claim to have axhausted the 
 subject, far from it. I have simply desirea to utter thi« 
 note of alarm ; ' Fight the anglifloation of the French 
 language, ' and at the same time to give some proofs thiit 
 
 I tliink 
 
 VMtd. 
 
 these are 
 
 this is th« 
 
 if these 
 
 meetings 
 
 enough to 
 
 what DOS 
 
 natural o 
 
 floor of 
 
 me I thinl 
 
 speak of 
 
 that his 
 
 all that 
 
11 
 
 im Ontario ; 
 ir it perfectly 
 ing the hon. 
 the Govern- 
 making the 
 
 Btial papers, 
 
 led at it. I 
 J that length; 
 id I will be 
 furnish them 
 1. gentleman's 
 [ not make a 
 , both French 
 jlish speaking 
 
 tleman admits 
 I English lady 
 
 words in some 
 itleman wishes 
 ; was successful 
 know that the 
 
 seems to have 
 
 dy would have 
 
 ction was made 
 
 Here are the 
 
 against the nomi- 
 1 Inspector's Otnoe. 
 what i:£«£"''K"| 
 )vinent in the Own 
 10. Astheoqcupa- 
 run a typewnterin 
 luld go 80 far to got 
 y at home. 
 L not in theknow- 
 hink for a moment 
 ,m Quebec or Mon- 
 of employment in 
 re generous, more 
 lly %hon we have 
 rk in question ( 
 
 man that if a 
 Toronto she wiU 
 iress, but she will 
 sy and considera- 
 hich I need not 
 That is another 
 - race difficulties, 
 my humble judg- 
 I find in a French 
 irdivel, under the 
 Enemy," writes : 
 tiou I saw a great 
 oh Canadian race, 
 f the Basques have 
 ■heir ancient mstitu- 
 S wars which have 
 ,e Bretons and the 
 the races which sur- 
 re to thank for It. It 
 er independence. It 
 language ot her old 
 eople to disappear f 
 ge they comprehend 
 .,lf so inexorable to- . 
 it Germany scekslto 
 Alsace-Lorraine. «lt ■ 
 >eoiaUy a conquered 
 
 o have fxhausted the 
 desired to utter thi? 
 ation of the Jrench 
 give some proots tniii 
 
 this enemy is rosily to be feared. Let others with more 
 authority than I posieis continue the combat ; and if one 
 day those who love the French language decide to make a 
 grand awault, all along the line, be assured that I shall 
 not fail to respond to the appeal," 
 
 Mr. LAURIER. What paper is tUat from ? 
 
 Mr. McCarthy, it is not a paper at all. 
 
 Mr. GIROUARD. Surely we are entitled to 
 know what the hon. gentleman is reading from. 
 
 Mr. FISET. May I <isk the hon. gentleman from 
 what journal he is rea ling ? I do not understand 
 that he has told us fro n what paper he is quoting. 
 
 Mr. McCarthy, it ib a pamphlet by Tardivel. 
 Then another writer, Mr. Manseau, in a book pub- 
 lished in 1881, writes : 
 
 " The dictionary gives the technical definition of 
 Analicimii. Hero follows, in our opinion, a definition 
 from the heart. It is a spot of blood that shows us through 
 what place the claws of the British lion have passed; and 
 these claws (who is there that knows it not) torture and 
 flag our language until they kill it." 
 
 I will not trouble the House witli more extracts 
 of this description, but I will di aw the attention 
 of my hon. friends on both sides to the instruction 
 given in the French schools, and if there is then an 
 Hon. member who thinks that children so taught 
 or instructed with regard to this history of our 
 country can grow up as British citizens, or British 
 subjects, or as loyal except to their own French 
 Canadian nationality, or that anything can be 
 expected from them except the language of La 
 Vdritd and the language of the Premier of the 
 Province of Quebec ; then I think that hon. 
 gentlemen will be incapable of reasoning. In this 
 history I find the following : 
 
 " VTJi. England, fearful of losing Canada, in view of the 
 menaciiig attitude of the United States, made haste to 
 grant anew constitution more favorable to the Catholics." 
 
 Mr. AMYOT. Hear, hear. 
 
 Mr: McCarthy. The hon. gentleman says 
 "Hear, hear." There is not a shadow of doubt 
 that this is the teachings in the schools. Every 
 concession that has been obtained is always pic- 
 tured to the people of the Province of Quebec as 
 having been wrung from tyrants and despots and 
 not granted by the free-will of the people. 
 
 Mr. AMYOT. You are a tyrant to us. 
 Some lion. MEMBERS. Order. 
 
 Mr. McCarthy. I quote also another selec 
 tioii from one of these histories : 
 
 " The material forces of New France bad to succumb in 
 the end, but the providential forces still do their work in 
 the colony, which is jirobably destined to play on this 
 continent the part which old France has played on the 
 Continent of Europe." 
 
 I think I have read of similar language in La 
 Viriti. If this is the tetvching of the schools, if 
 these are the writings of the different writers, if 
 this is the language of the Premier of the Province, 
 if these are the utterances at the great public 
 meetings held in that Province (and no man is bold 
 enough to assert a single word of dissent to them) 
 what possible outcome can there be except the 
 natural outcome which is here announced on the 
 floor of Parliament. If my ears did not deceive 
 me I think I heard the Minister of Public Works 
 speak of the autonomy of his race, and state 
 that his nation would live in spite of 
 all that miglit be done against it. We must 
 
 remember that this has been a British colony for 
 over a century and a quarter, and that within a,, 
 very short period after the cession — I was nearly 
 usine the unfortunate word conquest — a distini- 
 guished French traveller passing through here was 
 able to announce that the French Canadians were 
 better treated under the English than they were un- 
 der their own Kings. We must remember that from 
 that time to this they have enjoyed a liberty which 
 they could not possibly have enjoyed under the 
 Crown of France yet ; notwithstanding this, they 
 are endeavoring to perpetuate this race and nation 
 cry mainly by their language, which is the soul of 
 the nation, as this writer says. If the language Wv.s- 
 permitted to die out, as it would naturally do, all 
 this ambition, which must end in delusion, which 
 can never end in anything but delusion and which 
 can never lead to any accomplished fact, would soon 
 disappear. We have no jealousy of the Germans, 
 we have no jealousy of any other nationality .because- 
 we know that while they speak in their own tongue, 
 and for years after they come here are not able to- 
 speak any other tongue, yet they do not propose to 
 divide the people of this country by their race crie» 
 and race feelings. Now these are the problems we 
 have to deal with. There is no use our going ta 
 Switzerland or to Austro-Hungary for examples. 
 We have to deal with the question we have here at 
 home ; and the practical question is, whether, under 
 these circumstances, we should permit this kind of 
 thing to go on. Whatever I might do bye-and- 
 by, no man is responsible for my acts. The 
 gentlemen who vote with me now, and the 
 gentlemen who disagree with me, are not respon- 
 sible for what I may do bye-and-by. I may state — 
 as these hon. gentlemen who have done me the 
 honor of following my utterances with so much 
 care know well — that I have never pretended to 
 believe or to say that it was possible to deal witk 
 the dual language in the Province of Quebec. 1 
 realise that that is beyond the hope of being dealt 
 with by any possible legislation. I realise that 
 that has been allowed to grow into such monstrous- 
 proportions that we can never hope to cope with it, 
 except by natural ways and by natural causes 
 which possibly may work a cure. Not in our day, but 
 within perhaps a time that one can imagine, it may 
 work out its own cure. I look forward to the 
 assimilation that is going on by reason of the 
 travelling backwards and forwards between the 
 French Canadians of Quebec and the Eastern 
 States of the Union. Do what you will, the people 
 do go and will go to the Eastern States. Do what 
 you will, they will more or less imbibe the language 
 of that great country and disseminate it amongst 
 those whom th«y have left behind. From this 
 sitle we are taking care that the Province of 
 Ontario will maintain its character as an Eng- 
 lish speaking Province. This process is going on,. 
 I have great hope, and it is a hope which 
 does no injustice to my French Canadian fellow 
 citizens, that bye-and-by the difficulty even 
 in the Province of Quebec may vanish. So 
 that I have never had the ambition, I have never 
 dreamed of interfering. I do not say, Sir, that the 
 time may not come when it will be proper to move- 
 though in that I do not find much sympathy in this 
 House — to do away with the dual language in this 
 Chamber. The time has not come yet, tliat is quite 
 certain. What we are dealing with now is this 
 question in the North -West, ana do not let. us mix 
 
12 
 
 up questions that have nothing at all to do with it. 
 One hon. gentleman said I had introduced even a 
 Teligious cry. Why, Sir, is freedom of speech so 
 gone in this country that I cannot express my dissent 
 From the system of separate schools which exists in 
 my own Province without being told that I am 
 raising a religious cry ? Is that a question of reli- 
 gion ? Is not that a question of great state policy 
 «8 to how our children shall be educated ? And I 
 do hope that before very long the delegation from 
 the Province of Ontario will call on this House for 
 its ai < 1 to blot out the Separate School clause from the 
 Briti . I North America Act, which limits and fetters 
 the people of that Province. That clause was carried 
 'by a majority of French Canadians, ani was imposed 
 upon the people of Ontario against their will ; and 
 I am sorry to differ from my hon. leader on that 
 'question. He tells us — and I never feel more 
 humiliated than when I hear him speak on that 
 subject — that he participated in imposing that 
 .Separate School system upon us. But is it 
 possible that the free people of Ontario are not to be 
 placed in the same position as the people by the 
 sea on both sides of them, in the Maritime Pro- 
 vinces and in British Columbia? If they could 
 not ask this Parliament to aid in freeing them from 
 the restrictions imposed upon them I would despair 
 of the freedom of this country. But that has no- 
 thing to do with this question. All these are aside 
 from it, and will be properly dealt with when they 
 'Come up and not before. What we are dealing 
 with now is the question whether this Bill for the 
 repeal of the dual language in the North-West should 
 or should not become law ; that and that only is the 
 •question before us. I am sorry, Sir, that the hon. 
 member for West Durham (Mr. Blake) has been 
 compelled by the unfortunate event to which he 
 .alluded to absent himself from this discussion. It 
 is not pleasant to speak of an hon. gentleman be- 
 hind his back, for I cannot quite accept the theory 
 put forward by the hon. member for East Simcoe 
 (Mr. Cook), that that gives one a better privilege 
 to abuse a man ; but, perhaps, I may be allowed to 
 ^flay a few words about that hon. gentleman's pro- 
 positiim. You will remember. Sir, that he read 
 us a lecture : he told us how we were not to dis- 
 turb the harmony that at present existed ; how we 
 were to l>e careful of raising race cries ; how he 
 recognised tliat there was a mass of ignorance, 
 prejudice and bigotry which only required the 
 hand of an incendiary to inflame it, and he rather 
 intimated that the hand of the incendiary had 
 already been laid to that mass ; and then he 
 wouncl up with a fervent appeal that we sliould 
 ■never interfere with the covenant, as he called it, 
 made at the time of Confederation. I felt that if 
 that hon. gentleman had not already surrendered 
 to French influences of the Province of Quebec 
 he made his capitulation the other night. But his 
 most extraordinary statement was tliat we were not 
 informed of tlie opinion of the people of the North- 
 West, that their i-epresentatives had no mandate 
 from them to take up and deal with this question. 
 Did that lion, gentleman remember that when in the 
 Province of Ontario he agitated the country from end 
 to end with regard to rt>e murder of poor Thomas 
 Scott, he sat in the Legislature of Ontario, whe-e 
 he had no mandate to deal with that question ? 
 Did the hon. gentleman remember that on o.ie 
 •occasion he himself lirought into this House a re- 
 '- solution which was offensive to a great many of us 
 
 with regard to the Irish question, in order that he 
 might secure the Irish section of our population 
 and draw them to his atandard, althoiurh he had 
 no mandate, and although this House had no 
 authority to speak with regard to Imperial con- 
 cerns ? Did that hon. gentleman remember that 
 on another occasion he voted for, if he did not 
 move, a resolution on the subject of the dis- 
 establishment of the Trish Church ? And yet 
 he undertook to as.- that the Legislature of 
 the North-West had nu right to petition this Par- 
 liament. We had a right to pass offensive resolu- 
 tions and send them home to England, notwith- 
 standing the rebuff we met with from the Imperial 
 authorities ; but the hon. gentleman ventured to 
 assert that the representatives of the North-West 
 hadnorightto petition or toexpresstheir wishes that 
 this clause should be stricken out of the North-West 
 Territories Act. I will say no more in the absence 
 of that hon. gentleman. I now desire, before 
 closing, to say a word or two on the merits of the 
 various motions before the Chair. The amendment 
 of the hon. member for Berthier ( Mr. Beausoleil) 
 has received but little favor from any of the 
 English-speaking members. Itisone,Ith'nk, impos- 
 sible of acceptance. It announces that if we repeal 
 a clause in the North-West Act, put in under the 
 extraordinary circumstances to which reference 
 has been made, and allowed to remain because 
 attention has not been drawn to it, we shall be 
 shaking the stability of our institutions and des- 
 troying the peace and progress of the North-West. 
 The mere recital of that resolution carries its 
 condemnation with it. The other amendment with 
 which wc havQ to deal, and which seems to find a 
 good deal of favor, is the amendment of my hon. 
 friend the member for West Assiniboia (Mr. Davin) ; 
 and before I deal with that I have somewhat of an 
 apology to make to that hon. gentleman and 
 to this House. I am accused of interfering 
 with the prerogatives of the members from 
 the North-West. Surely, said the hon. Minister 
 of Public Works, echoed by the hon. Secretary of 
 State, there were members in this House repre- 
 senting the North-West whose duty it was to 
 bring this question to the attention of this 
 chamber, and there was rather an insinuation 
 thrown out by tlie hon. member for Assiniboia 
 himself in his very opening words that my action 
 was an intrusion on his domain ; and, if you will 
 pardon me saying so, the bitterness — but that is 
 too strong a word, for he could not be bitter if he 
 tried, but the appearonee of bitterness — which 
 characterised his observation I tliought had its 
 origin somewhat in pique, that anyone except that 
 hon. gentleman himself should venture to deal 
 with questions affecting the people of the North- 
 West. He and he alone is the guardian of their 
 interests, the only member who has a right to 
 speak on their behalf, and any one else wlio at- 
 tempts to do so must expect to meet with the 
 castigation administered to me in the opening of 
 this debate. 
 
 Mr. DAVIN. I said you had a right. 
 
 Mr. McCarthy. Yes ; but the very observa- 
 tion rather suggested an apology from me. This 
 is my excuse, and the only excuse I give— I am 
 reading from the Qu'Appelle Projiress of 7th Feb- 
 I ruary inst. : — 
 
!» 
 
 ■ 
 
 I 
 
 ibserva- 
 This 
 -I am 
 th Feb- 
 
 " Dalton McCarthy introduced into the Dominion Par- 
 liament his Bill to abolish the official use of the French 
 language in the North-West. He delivered a very tem- 
 perate and dispassionate speech, f^U of facts and ar^- 
 ments." 
 
 That is not the way my feeble efiPorts were charac- 
 terised in this House ; but that seems to be the 
 opinion of the outside world, at all events. 
 
 " The second reading is to take place on Wednesday 
 next, when it is expected there will be a big flght. We 
 are informed on good authority that all the North-West 
 representatives will vote against it. If they do so, their 
 constituents should call upon them to resign forthwith. 
 We are also informed that Mr. N. F. Davin will speak 
 against it. West Assiniboia is about the best mis-repre- 
 sented constituency in the North-West, This country is 
 almost unanimous in favor of Mr. McCarthy's Bill, but its 
 representatives all belong to the party machine and must 
 represent the machine in preference to the country." 
 
 That, Mr. Speaker, is my apology for venturing to 
 introduce this point to the notice of the House. 
 Now, with regard to the amendment of that hon. 
 gentleman : what is it ">. My motion is that the Bill 
 be read the second time. Great fault is found with 
 the preamble. The preamble is worse than the 
 enacting clause ; the enacting clause is harmless 
 and the preamble is something fearful. Well, to 
 the laymen of the House, perhaps, explanations are 
 necessary about the preamble. To the lawyers of 
 the House an explanation is not called for. It is 
 quite certain, as every lawyer in this House knows, 
 that tlie preamble neither adds to nor takes from 
 the effect of the enacting clause. The preamble, in 
 this case, I quite admit, was unnecessary. While I 
 do not at all withdraw from the sentiment con- 
 tained in that preamble, yet as an efifective piece of 
 legislation I am free to admit the Bill would be 
 perfectly as good without as with the pi'eamble. 
 Now, if the hon. gentlemen in this House are 
 sincere, and I am bound to believe in their 
 sincerity ; if they desire that ti.'s dual clause 
 should be expunged or repealed — the hon. member 
 for West Durham thought "expunge" was a very 
 improper word to use ; one has to be very careful 
 of his language and must not use words, no matter 
 how plain they may be, except with the greatest 
 care — well, I will call it repeal, or anything you 
 will. But, I say, if hon. gentlemen are sincere in 
 their desire to repeal this clause, the way to do 
 that is to pass the Bill to the second reading, and 
 those who are opposed to the preamble can tlien 
 have it struck out. The preamble of a private Bill 
 is the all-essential portion ; if the preamble be not 
 carried, the Bill does not pass. Tlie preamble of a 
 public Bill is wholly unessential ; its only possible 
 use can be to make an ambiguous portion of the 
 enacting clause plain, if ambiguity there l)e ; and I 
 say liere that while I do not withdraw from that 
 preamble, while I think the statement in it is per- 
 fectly true, namely : 
 
 " Whereas it is expedient in the interest of the national 
 unity of the Dominion that there should be community 
 of language among the people of Canada." 
 
 Who will say nay to that ? It may not be abso- 
 lutelj' essential ; that is not tlie proposition. I 
 say, it is expedient, and every gentleman who has 
 spoken on this question has admitted its expedi- 
 ency. Even the hon. member for West Durham 
 said that if we were all of one race and one 
 nationality, speaking one tongue, the task before 
 us would be simpler and easier, and, therefore, the 
 proposition before us is not incorrect and un- 
 founded. But to any hon. gentleman who objects 
 to it, all I can say is, when the Bill goes to Com- 
 
 mittee, should it pass the second reading, let him 
 object to the preamble, and I shall be the first to 
 withdraw it. I want the body of the Bill, and do 
 not care for the preamble, and if there lie a member 
 of this Hou»; who desires the Bill and objects to the 
 preamble, there s'lall be no opposition, as far as I 
 am concerned, to this preamble being obliterated, 
 or expunged, to use any term you please. I will 
 say more. I did not iii the least dream that the 
 words should bo taken up in an offensive sense, 
 and I can only most heartily express my regret 
 that any of my French Canadian friends should be 
 offended by this clause in the Bill, or that I should 
 have hurt the sentiments of French sjjeaking mem- 
 bers of this House, or the French Canadians 
 throughout the country — for such was far from my 
 intention. But what was the proposition of the 
 hon. member for West Assiniboia (Mr. Davin) ? 
 It was that the Bill be not now read a second 
 time. That is, he does not want the dual language 
 expunged, nor does he want to give the power to 
 the North-West Territories to expunge it. 
 
 Mr. DAVIN. I do. 
 
 Mr. McCarthy. Then the hon. gentleman 
 has not taken the proper course. If he wanted 
 that, his proper course was to let the Bill be 
 read a second time, and to move into Committee 
 that clause 1 be struck out and the words of liis 
 amendment inserted in its stead : 
 
 " That the said Bill be not now read a second time, but 
 that it be resolved,— That it is expedient that the Legisla- 
 tive Assembly of the North-West Territories be authorised 
 to deal with the subject-matter of this Bill by Ordinance 
 or enactment after the next general election for the said 
 Territories." 
 
 But the effect of the hon. gentleman's amendment 
 is to kill the Bill. Make no mistake about it. If 
 the Bill is not read a second time, there it stops. 
 Then what takes place ? Hon. gentlemen say they 
 want to repeal the dual language clause, but they 
 want to do that with as much gentleness and con- 
 sideration for the feelings and susceptibilities of 
 the French-speaking people as possible. Then, the 
 way to do that is to pass the Bill, rejecting the 
 preamble, and inserting the -ilause of the hon. 
 member for West Assiniboia as the substantial 
 part of the Bill. But if you say that the Bill do 
 not pass, but that it be resolved, &c. , and make that 
 resolution as long as you please, what follows? 
 Who is to move ? The Government cannot move, for 
 they are at sixes and sevens on this subject. There 
 is the resolution. I certainly would not move it, 
 as I do not approve of it. The hon. member for 
 Assiniboia would not move it, because he would 
 o.. d the powers that be. 
 
 Mr. DAVIN. I would move it if necessary. 
 Mr. McCarthy. Does the liou. gentleman 
 doubt the necessity ? 
 Mr. DAVIN. No. 
 
 Mr. McCarthy. Then I think the hon. gen- 
 tleman would have to move, and instead of being 
 the admired of all his surroun<liiigs, he will oc- 
 cupy the position I do. He will be belated and 
 berated, and will fall from the highest stage or 
 pinnacle of greatness whicli he lias occupied for 
 the last few days. Do not now rush in where angels 
 fear to tread ; and I do not think the hon. gentlenum 
 will make any such mistake. Wliy, let us not 
 deal with this subject in a simple way. Punish 
 me if you will ; expel nie if you please ; because I 
 
14 
 
 venture to put in this preamble, and to apeak at 
 the Opera Houae, and Mcauae I ventured to claim 
 that tne Engliah language ahould rule in thia coun- 
 try, but paas the BiU. The way to paas the Bill 
 ia to go to a aecond reading and then to expunge 
 what ia in the preamble. Do not paa the Bill, if it 
 -auita your pleasure, but vote the amendment of the 
 hon. member for Berthier. That ia honeat and 
 atraightforward, and that, at all eventa, we can 
 understand. We can underatand the views and 
 the policy of the hon. gentlemen who are abaolutoly 
 oppoaed to any change. But hon. gentlemen who 
 wiah to get rid of thia queation by a side iaaue, who 
 try to do and not to do it, will not, although they 
 may deceive this comttrv. That they may depend 
 upon. I listened to the argument of the hon. 
 member for Kent (Mr. Landry), and I listened to 
 the argument of my hon. friend from Rouville (Mr. 
 Oieault), and no moie atraightforward or honor- 
 able statement of the case was given on that side of 
 the House. It contrasted greatly with the state- 
 ment from the Treoaury benchea of its compatriots 
 from Quebec ; it was arguments, not abuse. It 
 was a reason for us to pause in our course, and 
 was not simply denunciation of those who differ 
 from the views which those hon. gentlemen both 
 take. But I say their view is the correct view. It 
 is this Parliament, and it is this Parliament alone, 
 which has the power to deal with this queation. It 
 ia thia Parliament which put that clauae in, imin- 
 vited. It ia this Parliament which has the 
 authority to take that clause out. Why should 
 we abnegate our duties or our functions on 
 the ground of expediency or to get rid of a tempor- 
 ary difiBculty ? Will we, in the interest of our 
 country, be doing a service ? Will we not be 
 keeping open <'hat runni'ig sore of which the 
 hon. gentleman from South Oxford (Sir Richard 
 Cartwright) spoke ? We put the trouble on the 
 people of the North- West, out, although we should 
 denude ournelvea of our authority and endeavor to 
 get rid of thia queation for the moment, it will 
 remain a burning question in old Canada and in the 
 new Provinces, more especially, if you postpone 
 the decision of this question until after the next 
 general elections. I am commissioned to read the 
 opinion of a senator who once occupied a seat in 
 this Houae, and whose voice is now unable to be 
 heard here. 
 
 Mr. DAVIN. Name. 
 
 Mr. McCarthy. Senator Perley. His obser- 
 vations ought to have weight. Writing to me on 
 the 12th February, he say a : 
 
 " My Dkar Sir,— Stand firm for yoar resolution re dual 
 language in tbo North-West Territories. The North- West 
 is with you. I get letters by every mail stronxly urginct 
 me to help you in this matter. Davin's amendment ir 
 carried might lead to eerious results in some of the oonsti- 
 tuencicfi, only paralleled by the Hull affair of last night. 
 Partioulary might thia be the case in those constituencies 
 where it was stated by Mr. Bits, member of the Legis- 
 lative Assembly, that so few of the people could read in 
 any lane;uage and their prejudices so easily excited. I 
 contend it is wrong to submit a question of such a cha- 
 racter to the vote of the ^eop'e. Discussion and election- 
 eering talk on such an issue would tend to disturb the 
 harmony and good-feeling that is fast being obtained 
 between the people of different nationalities and creeds 
 in the North-WostTorritories. I write this advisedly and 
 with the full knowledge of the responsibility of a repre- 
 sentative of the people in the North-West Territories 
 from end to end. 
 
 " Tours, &e.j 
 
 " W. D. PBBLEY." 
 
 Ia not that reaaonable ? Ia it reasonable, when we 
 have thia matter before us now — a matter which 
 haa excited, we are told, a ^reat deal of feeling in 
 thia chamber, a matter which haa excited a good 
 deal of feeling out of doora, having opiniona fonned 
 one way or the other about it, having a means of 
 knowledge denied to the representatives of the 
 North-West Territories, we, who have this great 
 duty thrown upon ua here, ahould refuae to dis- 
 charge it and ask the unfortunate people of the 
 North-West to have this bone of contention thrown 
 upon them. That may be ri^ht from a party point 
 of view ; I venture to say it is not right from a 
 atateaman'a point of view. Thia Bill may ue wrong, 
 it may be that the Bill ought to be rejected, but 
 there can be no juatification for aending it to the 
 people of the North-West to be dealt with. I deny 
 that I have gone back upon any viewa that I have 
 advocated in regard to provincial righta. If the 
 people cf the North- West did not wiah to have 
 this measure passed, we might postpone it at the 
 present time, but the people nave shown that they 
 are in favor of it, and every newspaper in the 
 North-West — excepting always the Regina Leader 
 — haa spoken in favor of the abolition of the dual 
 language. I cannot look upon the Regina Leader 
 as an authoritative repreaentative of public opinion 
 in the Xorth-West. We know that the Reeina 
 Leader occupies a peculiar poaition in regard to 
 the exiating state of affaira in the North-Weat. I 
 am told — I may be wrong — I do not connect it 
 with any hon. member of thia House, but I 
 am told that it was owing to the fact that the 
 Lieutenant Governor of the North-West insisted 
 upon giving to the Resina Leader the printius of 
 that Government at a nigher rate than it could be 
 done for elsewhere, that the deadlock waa brought 
 about in the North-West Council, that the Lieu- 
 tenant Governor's advisers refused to agree to 
 that, and then resigned. Of course, the longer the 
 dual language is preserved, the better it is tor the 
 publisher of the Regina Leader, and, therefore, I do 
 not think that the Regina Leader ia to be quoted 
 as an authority on this question. Putting the 
 Regina Leader aside, we have the unanimous opin- 
 ion of the press of the North-West, as we have the 
 opinion of the people of the North-West, that they 
 do not want the dual language. Why should we 
 
 ftuae ? Why ahould we heaitate ? I have done, 
 have endeavored to make my case as plain as I 
 poaaibly can. I have endeavored to show why this 
 question should be dealt with at the earliest pos- 
 sible moment. I have endeavored to show that it 
 ought to be dealt with here. I have endeavored 
 to show that, if this resolution which haa 
 been moved by the hon. member for Weat 
 Aaainiboia (Mr. Davin) is passed, that is the end of 
 the Bill, but the end is nc'^ r..ocompli8hed. I have 
 stated that I am prepared, if any hon. gentleman 
 objects to the recital in this Bill, that it shall be 
 stricken out, and every hon. gentleman in this 
 House knows that, when the Bill reaches committee, 
 it can then be debated whether it is for us here or 
 for the North-West to deal with this question ; but, 
 if the amendment of the hon. gentleman ia carried, 
 it is a way to do this little Billto death, instead of 
 ite becoming the law of the land, which is the 
 desire of the people in the North-West who have 
 taken an interest in this matter, and I am sure is 
 the desire of the great majority of the people of the 
 country. The sooner this question is set at rest, 
 
16 
 
 the better. It is a question which is calculated to 
 disturb us on a question of race cleavage. That 
 alone should be a reason for dealing with the 
 matter now. Do^s the House suppose that, if the 
 Bill is defeated, whether upon the amendment of 
 the hon. member for West Assiniboia (Mr. 
 Davin) or upon the amendment of the hon. mem- 
 ber for Berthier (Mr. Beausoleil), that would in 
 any way end the question ? Can any one imagine 
 that, if I stand alone with my seconder in voting for 
 this Bill, the same difficulties and troubles which 
 certain hon. gentlemen profess to lament will not be 
 brought up again ? Is it not in the interest of the 
 harmony and the good-will of the people of differ- 
 ent nationalities that we should deal with this ques- 
 tion here, this question which is now before us, 
 and do they not suppose that we can deal with it 
 in such a manner as to be as satisfactory to the 
 people as if it were dealt with by the Council of 
 the North- West ? For myself, I may say that my 
 political extinction has been prophesied by hon. 
 gentlemen on both sides of the House. If that be 
 my fate, in doing what I consider to be my duty, 
 I shall cheerfully submit to it. I am acting simply 
 according to my convictions, and not only as one 
 hon. gentleman has suggested, because of the 
 debate of the Jesuits' Estotes Act. I wonder that 
 that hon. gentleman should not have had better 
 judgment than to introduce that question into 
 
 this debate. I have nothing to be ashamed of, I 
 have nothing to lament in regard to the vote 
 which I gave on the Jesuits' Estates Act. I did 
 n . prosecute any agitation on that subject after- 
 wards, because I realised that the vote of this 
 House in regard to it was conclusive ; but it is not 
 conducive to harmony in the party to which I did 
 belong and to which, to a certain ext«nt, I still 
 belona, that an hon. gentleman should taunt me 
 for the fiasco which he says was the end of 
 that matter. I have been taunted with the 
 statement that I objected to the preamble of 
 the Jesuits' Estates Act, and yet I was 
 making nothing of the preamble to this Bill. 
 There again the two matters are wholly and ab- 
 solutely separate. In the Jesuits' Estates Act we 
 had to take the Bill as it was, we had no power of 
 amendment. It came to this House and it had 
 either to be vetoed as it was, or allowed to go into 
 operation as it was ; whereas a Bill introduced in- 
 to this House has to undergo the gauntlet of the 
 first, second and third readings, of a consideration 
 in committee, to be amended and improved to suit 
 the opinions of the majority of the House. There- 
 fore, there is nothing in common between the two 
 cases. But, as I said before, those who voted with 
 me on that question had nothing to regret, and I 
 can only say tliat if a similar occasion arose again, 
 I should not hesitate to repeat my vote. 
 
 Ottawa :— Printed by Bkown GhAMBSRUN, Printer to the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty.