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THE 
 
 Mennonites in 
 Manitoba 
 
 )875-J9CI0. 
 
 A Review of their Coadngf their Progress, and 
 their present Prosperity, 
 
 - BY- 
 
 y. K GALBRAITH, 
 An old Neighbor, and a Pioneer when all were Pioneers. 
 
 1900. 
 
 THE CHRONICLE PRESSES. 
 
 MORDEN, MAN. 
 
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NOTE. 
 
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 It is not conteiiiplated to present in the ensuing pages a history 
 of the Mennonites during their residence in Manitoba. Owing to 
 the peculiar institutions of these people, which were in full operation 
 for several years after they came to this country, and which are 
 still in partial operation, a real history of their settlement, hopes, 
 as[)irations and subsetiuent modification, must be written, if it ever 
 IS written, by one of their own community. It is, however, con- 
 templated to sulMuit in these i)ages, a sketch of these deserving 
 people that will, to some extent, correct mistaken opinions too 
 generally held among outsiders, and to present the Mennonites to 
 the public as a body of desirable immigrants who have been of 
 incalculable benefit in the settlement of interior Canada. I.ong 
 residence on the border of the reserve, and some direct acquaint- 
 ance with the people as printer for the munici[)ality in the early 
 years, encouraL;ed me to attempt this sketch, but put to the test my 
 fund of information for such a purpose proved very limited indeed. 
 Happily, 1 was able to obtain assistance. I am greatly indebted 
 to Mr. las. Hooper, Provincial (Jueen's Printer, for unfailing 
 courtesy in supplying me with Legislative documents and records 
 that I found myself much in need of, and I am also under obliga- 
 tions to Mr. !•'. F. Siemens, of Altona, Clerk of Rhineland, for 
 freely permitting me to search the records of his office, and for 
 much valuable aid in other directions. The illustrations are from 
 photographs taken on 26th October, by Mr. T. C. Hirnie, photo- 
 
^rapher, of Morden. It was not advisal)le to take the views 
 earlier, as the villages are now in the midst of little forests, the 
 trees of which were set out by the inhabitants in 1876 and following 
 years. When these trees are in leaf, they almost completely hide 
 the buildings, and even as late as the date above mentioned it was 
 found impossible for that reason to obtain a recognizable photo, 
 of Schanzenfeld, and for the same reason the plates taken of the 
 big village ol Rhineland proved valueless when developed, and 
 could not be utilized, the long rows of buildings being entirely 
 hidden by the lealless trees. The plates taken of Hochfeld and 
 Blumenfeld were more successful, and though the views are only 
 sectional, they were considered worthy of being transferred to these 
 pages. In summer the Mennonite villages are gems of sylvan 
 beauty, but their beauty cannot be recorded by the camera in a 
 comprehensive way. 
 
 » « 
 
 Morden, Dec. i, 1900. 
 
 J. F. GALBRAITH. 
 
 D'igj©) 
 
i * 
 
 .4 
 
 The Mennonitcs in Manitoba* 
 
 A LITTLE INTRODUCTION. 
 
 |;i/rHOL:GH MANITOHA, as a Province of 
 Canada, was opened for settlement in the 
 year 1870, under very liberal homestead 
 regulations, it was three or four years later 
 before the How of immigration began to reach 
 in that direction to any considerable extent. 
 The writer of this review arrived in the 
 country in the spring of 1873, and like all 
 other immigrants of that early time, went 
 immediately to Winnipeg, at the confluence of 
 the Assiniboine and Red Rivers. The present handsome city of 
 50,000 inhabitants was. then a little hamlet of scattered wooden 
 buildings, but the location had been for a century and a half a 
 centre of the northern fur trade, and for many years had been the 
 chief trading point of the whole vast country. All trails led to 
 Winnipeg, for which reason the little town was familiarly known to 
 new settlers as the " Hub." 
 
 For two years I remained in Winnipeg, and then considered 
 it time to look about for a suitable homestead location. There 
 were at that time great tracts of magnificent prairie lands open to 
 settlement within convenient distance of the embryo city, but these 
 lands were not in favor with the arriving immigrants, who were at 
 first mainly from ithe sister Province of Ontario, and being there 
 accustomed to an abundance of timber for all purposes, did not 
 believe it practicable to settle on the open prairie, miles away from 
 wood for fuel, fencing and buildings. Hence, there was a constant 
 
The Mt HHonili's 
 
 pushing; f)ut lo where streams or the eon formation of the land 
 favored timber growth. I sliared in the general fallac y, and ii- the 
 spring of 1875 my prospecting carried me out to the then Itrand 
 new settlement of Temliina Mountain now the nourishing district 
 of Morden), some eighty miles from Winnipeg, where I took a 
 homestead of jiart bush land anil lo<ated to follow the prospective 
 industry of the new country, agriculture. 
 
 The settlement was very new, comprising eight houses, three 
 of which were the ho.ues of young unmarried men. Neighbors 
 were far a|)art, and the life was lonesome enough, though relieved 
 by plenty of work to do and the elation of new enterprise. 
 The I'embina Mountain country proper was and is to a consider- 
 able extent a park district, beauliiul groves of oak running [)arallel 
 with the hill, and here and there rea<hing well out into the prairie 
 along the banks of the several creeks. livery house was built in 
 the timber, and no settler of that day would have thought of taking 
 land not more or less wooded. Afterwards, e\i)erience taught that 
 the advantage of the timber was more than counterbalanced by 
 the low-lying land often acc()m[)anying it, and the waste of land 
 by a growth of oak scrub very difficult to clear. It was not long 
 till it became recognized that the best and most profitable farm is 
 in the open prairie, where a plow may be started at one corner and 
 turn a continuous furrow to the other, half-a-nule or a mile away. 
 
 But before this experience was gained, the imagined im[)rac- 
 ticability of an open prairie location somewhat troubled the few 
 settlers, who conceived themselves to be isolated by the unknown 
 wilderness of the West, and the great expanse of desolate, shrub- 
 less prairie reaching fifty miles away to the Red River in the east. 
 It was not a pleasing contemplation, but remedy was close at hand, 
 and all unexi)ectedly demonstration was about to be given that the 
 rich, rolling lands of the desolate-looking [irairie were (juite as 
 available for home-building as the favored bush lands of the 
 pioneer settlers. 
 
 All in a day, as it might be, the Mennonites appeared on the 
 scene, and a great belt of bald prairie, fifteen miles wide from the 
 boundary line, and reaching away from the bounds of the little 
 
 A • 
 
 • » 
 
in }fii iiifoha. 
 
 7 
 
 A • 
 
 settlcmont eastward nearly to the Ked Riser, hi-ranu' t«'i'miiin 
 with liutuan life ami artivity. This was iti the siiinnuT of 1H75. 
 
 In a (lfsrri|ttivi.' sketch of the ciuintry, entitlrd, " I'.oth Sides 
 of Manitoba, " piililishod in 1S80, tins luisodi' of the iiK oinini; of 
 the Mennonites is referred to in this way ; 
 
 " 'I'his vast ])lain to which 1 have referred, cxtendinn from the 
 lioundary line to the l>oyne, ami from I'enihina Mountain to Ked 
 River, comprises some of the best land in the North West, ;nid is 
 the largest section of contiguous j^ood land in the Province. In 
 '75 the few settlers at I'enihina Mountain fondly hoped that in the 
 course of fifteen or twenty years this |»lain wnuhl liecome settled 
 notwithstanding the absence of timber. IJefore the summer was 
 over, a long line of camp fires, extending for nules and miles, 
 announced one evening to the lonely settlers that six thousand 
 Mennonites had located on si venteen townships. ii is ';(; now, 
 and farms on that plain are as har*.! to L:et, and are as valu.ible. as 
 our much vaunted timber claims alon- the Mountain, and west a 
 hundred miles to Turtle Mountain rolls the tide of imiiiiL'ration." 
 
 THE MENNONITES OF 1875. 
 
 Ml'-NNONITH is not a racial term, but the designation of a 
 religious sect that originated in .Swit/erhitid about the 
 middle of the fifteenth century. In the early part cf the next 
 century, the peculiar tenets of the sect were adopt-d by Menno 
 Simons, a former (!atholi(' priest, whose exhortations and writiiiL;s, 
 extending over a Ion ; period of years, greatly increased the luiie! ir 
 of the adherents ol the new creed, especially in Holland . ;,J 
 ( Germany, and in affection for his memory the new clmrih took 
 his name. Without going into details, it is enough to say that the 
 Mennonite doctrine is much the same as that of the English 
 (^)uakers. The Mennonites constitute a brotherhood of peace, 
 who abjure war. The church discipline, however, is rigorous, 
 and the bisho[)s exercise the power of excommunication with 
 
8 
 
 The Mew on if eft 
 
 severe effect. In (lermany the followers of Menno were harshly 
 persecuted in a persecuting age, aiid thus it came about that, in 1783, 
 a large body of the German brethren removed to Southern Russia, 
 under the protection of the I'^.mpress ("atherine. 
 
 In 1 87 1, the Czar Alexander II, in pursuance of a settled 
 military policy, notified his Mennonite subjects that they would no 
 longer be absolved from military service, but at the same time gave 
 them permission to dispose of their property and remove elsewhere 
 if they chose. The decision of the Russian Emperor gave these 
 peace-loving people the hard option of abandoning either their 
 conscientious convictions or the pleasant homes that they and their 
 fathers had occupied for nearly a hundred years. They decided 
 upon the latter, and sent delegations to America to interview the 
 (iovernments of Canada and the United States, and find if possible 
 a suitable new location under the desired condition of exemption 
 from service in war. 
 
 Both delegations were successful, and the Cierman Mennonites 
 of Russia nt, once commenced to prepare for emigration, part to 
 locate in Kansas and part to make new homes on the fertile prairies 
 of interior Canada. I>y arrangement, the Canadian Government 
 set aside two reserves for these prospective settlers, who, after their 
 custom, desire to locate in communities. The largest reserve was 
 the 15-mile belt of open prairie facing the international boundary 
 line above referred to, and comprised seventeen townships. The 
 Other was on the east side of the Red River, and was very much 
 smaller. It is with the extensive western reserve, however, that 
 this review purposes to deal, the other being too circumscribed to 
 need special reference. 
 
 As has already l)een stated, the Mennonites took possession 
 of their new lands during the latter part of the summer of 1875. 
 The lands were undoubtedly of the choicest (}uality, though little 
 valued by the people then in this country on account of the 
 absence of timber. The Mennonites, possibly profiting by ex- 
 perience gained in Russia, manifested better judgment, and in 
 successfully occupying the lands, greatly forwarded the settlement 
 of similar lands by our own people, thus incidentally rendering a 
 very substantial service to the whole country. Except one little 
 
 ! 1 
 
in Manitoba. 
 
 bluff of oak on Plum Coulee, afterwards the location of the village 
 of Schanzenfeld, the reserve was absolutely treeless. To remedy 
 this defect, for a modicum of timber is an essential of settlement* 
 the Mennonites arranged for the temporary reserve of Township 
 I, in Range 6, six miles distant from the western boundary of the 
 reserve proper. This township is broken by the valley of the 
 Pembina River, and was at that time pretty fairly wooded with 
 poplar, since to a large extent cut down and teamed twenty, thirty, 
 and even forty miles out into the prairie. Two years ago, the 
 purpose of the temporary reserve having been served, the township 
 was thrown open for homesteading, and is now settled 
 by a mixed population of Mennonites, Icelanders, Norwegians, and 
 English-speaking people. 
 
 The Mennonites accommodated themselves to the scarcity of 
 timber, their mode of settlement greatly aiding them in doing so- 
 The first winter, indeed, they provided for themselves as best they 
 could, some crowding into houses built of prairie sods, and others 
 existing in some shape in excavations dug out of the sides of 
 elevated ridges. But the summer of 1876 allowed for the providing 
 of better housing and, with surprising rapidity, approaching the 
 wonders of the Arabian Tale of Aladdin, (juaint, home-like little 
 villages were dotted over the reserve. The buildings were one- 
 storied, roofed with thatch-grass, plastered outside and in with clay 
 and with sanded floors, all tending to the least possible use of wood. 
 The barns were of thatch and {)oles, and in many instances consist- 
 ed only of a high-pitched, thatched roof resting on the ground. 
 Though little wood was used, the houses were warmly built, and to 
 economize fuel large brick or stone furnaces, plastered inside and 
 out with clay, were built into the central partitions of the larger res- 
 idences, thoroughly heating all parts of the building, so that it was 
 commonly said by persons travelling through the reserve in winter, 
 and who often put ud over night at the villages, that "the Mennon- 
 ite houses are like ovens." Fences were not needed as the cattle 
 were herded by the juniors, though a little later fencesof one heavy 
 pole set on posts were constructed on each side of the single street 
 of the villages, and similar fences served to divide the individual 
 village holdings. 
 
10 
 
 The MennoniteH 
 
 The Mennonites came to this country poor, having no doubt 
 experienced severe losses in the forced sale of their properties in 
 Russia. There were a few among them who were fairly well-to-do, 
 but as a community they were poor. In the negotiations with the 
 Canadian ("lOvernment for the lands of the reserve, other negotia- 
 tions were also entered into looking to financial aid to help the peo- 
 ple to emigrate and procure necessaries until they could provide for 
 themselves. The Government of the tlay had the sound judgment 
 to appreciate the settlers that were coming to the country, and did 
 not hesitate in providing the needed fund by way of loan. All of 
 that loan, together with the stipulated interest, has long since been 
 repaid, for these thrifty and industrious people prospered from the 
 start. And in the same way that they met their public oMigation, 
 they have always manifested a desire to meet their private obliga- 
 tions. It has become a saying that "a Mennonite is a a safe debt- 
 or," because he is certain to pay his debt if he can command the 
 money. In all other resjjects, the Mennonites, during their twenty- 
 five years' residence in Manitoba, have shown themselves to be a 
 people of sound morals, peaceable, law-abiding, and hospitable. 
 
 In accordance with their fixed policy, the Mennonites settled the 
 reserve on the communal principle. They divided the land into 
 village communes, regardless of the fact that it was held from the 
 government as individual homesteads. In the village each head of 
 a family possessed a building plot, and in like manner each posses- 
 sed for culiivation a long, narrow strip of land butting up against 
 the village. Hut the cpmmunal {)rinciple extended to the occupa- 
 tion of the land only, the product of the holding and all other pos- 
 sessions being individual properly. The largest village was Rhine- 
 land, its two long rows of buildings presenting ciuite a town-like ap- 
 pearance ; the handsomest village in early days was Schazenfeld, 
 located on the south bank of ih>i sluggish I'lum Coulee, beside the 
 only little grove of trees originally on the reserve, afterwards cut 
 down and utilized for village purposes. 
 
 During the first several years of their residence in Manitoba, 
 the Mennonites maintained themselves as a decidedly close commun- 
 ity, thatbeingaconsetiuence of their church discipline This deliber- 
 ate isolation of the new settlers, together with their foreign tongue 
 
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 ^ 
 2 
 
in Manitobn. 
 
 '3 
 
 and manners, their communal system, and their practice of l)uild- 
 ing their hams abutting the renr end of their houses, so that one 
 stepped through a door from the dwelling to the odorous stable, 
 did not favorably impress the people of the adjoining settlement, 
 now rapidly filling up. There was for a long time a disposition on 
 the part of the latter to unjustly estimate the Mennonite, in his 
 unpretentious Russian clothing and sheepskin overcoat with the 
 wooly side in. IJut time is the great corrector of prejudices, and 
 while the Mennonite himself has been modified by its inlluence, 
 his English-speaking neighbor has learned to recognize in the peo- 
 ple of the reserve, a body of settlers who have been of great service 
 to this country, and whose substantial merits entitle them to high 
 esteem. 
 
 The foregoing is probably all that there is any need of saying 
 in regard to the Mennonites and their circumstances at the time of 
 their settling in Manitoba, over twenty-five years ago. 
 
 THE OPERATION OF THE MUNICIPAL ACT. 
 
 ■* I ^HE Legislature of Manitoba at its session of 1879, passed a 
 1 measure that, without having any special reference to the 
 Mennonites, exercised a very important influence upon that people, 
 affecting their church and communal system, lightly at first, but 
 with steadily increasing force. This was the Municipal Act. The 
 complete inability of the settlers in general, now widely scattered 
 over the Province, to help themselves in the matter of sorely need- 
 ed roads and bridges, had impressed itself upon the Provincial au- 
 thorities. Up to this time, only absolutely necessary bridges had 
 been built, sometimes by the Government and sometimes by the 
 settlers concerned voluntarily uniting for the purpose. The roads, 
 or rather trails, angled every way over the country to avo'd the bad 
 places, but there were innumerable small streams, sloughs and 
 ravines in every direction that could not be avoided and had to be 
 crossed without bridges. Some of these were desperate places at 
 all seasons, others passable enough in summer and winter, but de- 
 
•4 
 
 Tlif Mennoiiites 
 
 pressing obstacles to traffic in spring and after heavy rains. The 
 Mennonites were the first settlers to deal with this difficulty seri- 
 ously. They bridged the streams, constructed dams, wide enough 
 on top to serve as roadways, across the principal sloughs and ra- 
 vines, and greatly improveil the bad places along the main roads 
 of the reserve. 
 
 About 1876, the new town of Emerson, close to the boundary 
 line on the east side of the Red River, had l)ecomethe supply point 
 of the Mennonites and of the Pembina Mountain settlers also. The 
 roads taken by the latter all ran through the reserve, and at first 
 v»ere bad enough in places, but the progressive spirit of the Men- 
 nonites soon largely remedied these defects, as stated above, and 
 the fact was duly appreciated, as well as the further fact that in the 
 long journey of forty or fifty miles, often with oxen, the hospitable 
 houses of the people of the reserve were always available in case of 
 accident or stress of weather. 
 
 However, to return to the Municipal Act. The need of au- 
 thoritative organization of the settlements was recognized by every 
 member of the Legislature, it being clear that only by the united 
 action of those concerned could the necessary improvements be 
 accomplished. The Government introduced and passed a Muni- 
 cipal measure, based upon that of Ontario, under which the whole 
 settled portion of the Province was divided into municipalities, and 
 the election of the respective municipal councils was made com- 
 pulsory — that is to say, if the people of the municipality neglected 
 to elect a council at the time stated in the Act, the (government 
 took power to appouit a coum.il for such municipality. The Act 
 went into force in 1S80. 
 
 For nmnicipal purposes, the Mennonite reserve was divided 
 into two sections, 'ihe eastern part was named Douglas, and in- 
 cluded a number of English-speaking {jenple on its eastern side who 
 helped to organize the municipality. The western part was named 
 Rhineland, and, on its western side, it also included a number of 
 English-speakmg settlers. It was a wise provision of the (Govern- 
 ment of the day, to so form the two Mennonite municipalities that 
 each might have the aid of English-speaking settlers accustomed to 
 municipal institutions. In 1S90, the municipalities were re-arrang- 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
in Manitoba. 
 
 »5 
 
 
 ed l)y Act of the r.e:slature, and Douglas was absorbed in Rhine- 
 land, the territory on the east and west containing English-speaking 
 settlers, being at the same time withdrawn and included in other 
 municipalities. Practically the municipality of Rhineland now con- 
 stitutes the Menn^nite reserve, though the actual reserve, as form- 
 erly set apart, overlaps the municipality both east and west. The 
 full records of both the original municipalities ought now to be in 
 possession of the Rhineland officials, but unfortunately a search of 
 the municipal office at Altona a few weeks ago, made it manifest 
 that most of the earlier records are lost, while those available bearing 
 upon the period prior to the reconstruction of the municipalities 
 are not complete enough to be of much service in a sketch of the 
 nmnicipal history. The substantial facts, however, are known to- 
 most of the early settlers. 
 
 k 
 
 r.efore proceeding, it is advisable that something further 
 should be said of the Mennonite church doctrine and discipline. 
 The Mennonite organization is purely religious, and their social 
 customs are intimately associated with their religious views. It is of 
 the essence of a doctrine with them, that civil government is irre- 
 ligious, and being irreligious, that it is sinful for any of the faithful 
 to take part in such government. Hence the scheme of isolated 
 communities, in an attempt to shut themselves in from the irrelig- 
 ion of the State organization. To enforce the isolation, the bish- 
 ops are empowered to impose the penalty of excommunication up- 
 on all members who venture in any way to assist in the civil gov- 
 ernment of the country. In the early years of the Manitoba set- 
 tlement, this power of excommunication was a frightful weapon in 
 the hands of the bishop — quite as terrible in its scope as was the 
 more far-reaching excommunication of the popes in the dark ages. 
 The action was the some, but the application was necessarily lim- 
 ited. It would be wrong, of course, to imagine that the Mennon- 
 ites had sat in Russia for ninety years without responding to some 
 extent to the growing )il)eral views around them, for during the 
 last century Russia made prodigious progress. Tlie people were 
 no more persecuted in Russia than in Canada, though they were 
 necessarily at a greater distance from the autocratic government 
 of the Czar, than they found themselves to be from the democratic 
 
 I 
 
1 6 
 
 The MennonitcH 
 
 government of the Canadian Dominion. liOng before 1875, the 
 broadening spirit of liberality had taken root in ihe Mennonite 
 communities, and the primary organization was already broken into 
 diverging sects when the order of the Emperor caused them to seek 
 new homes in America. The great emigration, however, more or 
 less harmonized them again, and the largo body that located the 
 Manitol)a reserve maintained itself for a f --w years as rigorously iso- 
 lated as ever was the case in Russia. Hence the first Mennonites 
 of the reserve who, inspired by liberal sentiments, dared to oppose 
 the discipline of the church, were at once placed in most pitial)le 
 position by the excommunicatory power of the bishop, which was 
 exercised with severity. All social relations with the cxcommuni 
 cated were at once suspended, and life became a burden and a 
 distress to the offender, who was debarred from his own people, 
 and as a result of the system under which he lived was shut out 
 from association with the surrounding English-speaking people. It 
 was a crushing penalty, and those were brave hearts that had cour- 
 age to invite and to withstand it. 
 
 To the orthodox Mennonite, municipal government is as es- 
 sentially irreligious as state government. Hence, when the Mani- 
 toba Municipal Act was put m force in 1880, the church was no 
 doubt much concerned, knowing the spirit of liberalism that was 
 abroad among its members. Proceedings were watched with inter- 
 est by the people neighboring the reserve, many of whom believed 
 that the Mennonites would refuse to nominate municipal officers, 
 and that the Government would be called upon to exercise the 
 powers taken in the Act. Hut there were not lacking a few people 
 in the close community, who aspired to sharing with their English- 
 speaking neighbors in the responsibilities and honors of municipal 
 office when offered to them on exactly ecjual terms. Natural am- 
 bitiori came to the top when the critical time arrived, and five coun- 
 cillors were put in nomination in Rhineland. If there was voting 
 in any of the wards, there is now no record of it, and it is certain 
 that in four of them the elections were by acclamation. No Men- 
 nonite offered for the reeveship, and the responsibility of being first 
 reeve of Rhineland fell to one of the English-speaking settlers in 
 the western range of the municipality, Mr. Jarvis Mott, of section 
 
 ■i 
 
 
 1 I » 
 
 f 
 
ill Manitoba 
 
 1 ' « 
 
 i 
 
 t I 
 
 I 
 
 «7 
 
 '■3' 35. The first councillors were : Jacob Nickic, of the village 
 of lUirwalde ; Henry Reiiiier, of Schoendorf ; Wilhelm Rempel, 
 Rhineland ; David Reddikopp, Schanzenfeld, and John Dyck, Os- 
 terwick. Mr. Rcniple suhseciucntly resigned to take the office of 
 Sec. -treasurer of the nmnicipality, which he held for several yvjars. 
 John Dyck, finding himself in antngonisni with the church, refused 
 to ai-t, and the council, being empowered l)y law, appointed a re- 
 presentative for the ward in his stead. A civil prosecution was en- 
 tered against Mr. Dyck for refusing to act as councillor, and he 
 was fined $40, which the church agreed to refund, but, it is said, 
 failed to do so. Of the proceedings in Douglas on this occasion 
 no records are availal)le. The number of Mennonite votes, if any, 
 that were cast at these first municipal elections cannot now be learn- 
 ed, nor is there any record of votes cast at immediately subsequent 
 elections. 
 
 Under the management of Reeve Mott, Rhineland made excel- 
 lent progress in municipal government. A complete assessment 
 was m..de, and a moderate tax was levied and collected, which was 
 ecjuitably expended in all parts of the municipality upon needed 
 roads and bridges. At the municipal eleetion of 1881, Jacob 
 (liesbrecht, of the village of Rhineland, was elected reeve, and from 
 that time onward the Mennonites took the affairs of the municipal- 
 ity into their own hands, with a steadily increasing vote each year, 
 in defiance of church doctrine and discipline. 
 
 The question of schools also came in to hasten the break-up 
 of antiquated and outgrown usages. Indeed the school question 
 was nearly as potent a disintegrator as the question of municipal 
 government. The Mennonites are still very conservative in their 
 school affairs, but differ strongly within limits and maintain their 
 differences with some acrmiony, a section being still opposed to the 
 teaching of the English language, or indeed to any change in the 
 system as practiced m Russia. 
 
 In this little review there is no call to deal at length with] the 
 steady advance of liberal ideas, even if the material was available, 
 which it is not. The general results tell the tale. At the munici- 
 pal election of the current year, 1900, the record shows that 427 
 
i8 
 
 The MeunonitvH 
 
 votes were cast, nearly all by Mennonites, and the present propor- 
 tion of voters to non-voters in the reserve is placed at two-thirds. 
 Necessarily, the steady increase of voters and civic office-holders, 
 atul the constjiit excoiiiniuniration in connection therewith — a 
 process which is still going on - soon led to the growth of a con- 
 siderable body of Mennonites outside the pale of the church. The 
 reorganization of this body of dissenters was only a (juestion of 
 time, and the time came in 1891, when the New Mrnnonite church 
 was founded in contradistinction to the Old Mennonite church. 
 In the main the doctrines are the same, except that the New church 
 is broader in its view of civil government. Members are encour- 
 aged to vote and take part in the government of the country, and 
 the whole tenor is in the direction of placing the church more in 
 accordance with modern views, though the objection to military 
 service is still adhered to. But the sentiment is weakening, and 
 a general call to arms would not be without attraction even now to 
 many of the younger men. besides the New Mennonite church, 
 the FvUtherans, Baptists, Adventists, and other denominations have 
 now adherents among the dissenters of the reserve. At the same 
 time the public schools are growing in popularity, as will presently 
 be shown. 
 
 The break-up of the villages here, commenced in 1890, but 
 there had already been action of that kind in Russia. \Vhen the 
 communal system was at its best in the Manitoba reserve, the 
 number of villages was 62. The number of complete villages now 
 is 18, and there ^.re four partly broken up, so that 40 have com- 
 pletely disappeared except for the trees that frequently mark the 
 sites. The first village to break up was Schoendorf, and it was 
 speedily followed by others. As the Mennonites did not hold the 
 land in common, but each held in conformity with the Dominion 
 Homestead Act, it follows that the villages were necessarily built on 
 individual property. Many of the villages were extensive, with com- 
 modious houses, barns, and out-buildings, representing large expen- 
 diture of labor and considerable outlay of money, and it is of com- 
 mendable credit to the Mennonites that the legal owners of the vil- 
 lage lands, and consequently of the buildings, permitted the peace- 
 able removal of the latter without let or hindrance. These build- 
 
c 
 v. 
 
 V. 
 
 s 
 b 
 
/// ]f)l iiltnhil. 
 
 31 
 
 ini^s are now tlistriluitcil o. er ihr nsi rvc, mm iIr- iiidivulual farms of 
 tlu'ir owtHTS, exri'pt in tlu' lu.uiy i nses where new and suhstanlial, 
 and often h.uidsoiue, modern Ijiiildinj^s have lieen erected in their 
 stead. 
 
 The New Mennonites reeoj^ni/e that tliey have ureatly hencf.i- 
 ted hytheir withdrawal from the old ori^anization, as indeed is '[nite 
 ai)|)arent tn any ohservir. They are New Mennonites in fact — 
 new in their hnes of thought, tlieir customs, tlieir ener:4y, and ihi-ir 
 aspirations. 'I'he Old church cannot long maintain itself beside the 
 New, and whatever respect we m:iy have for an institution founded, 
 adhered to, and administered upon conscientious convictions, nil 
 liberal niindeil |)eople will none the less contemplate its final col 
 lapse without regret, looking' upon it as a mere incident, now some 
 centuries behind the age, of the I'rotestanl revolution. 
 
 PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 
 
 THK succeeding ministries in control of the government ol Man- 
 itoba have always been exceedingly liberal in granting aiil to 
 the educational institutions of the Province. The revenues of the 
 government have never been equal to the legitimate demands upon 
 it in the administration of an extensive but thinly settled territory, 
 and it is safe to say that ofthose limited reveiuies the public schools 
 have continually received more than a liberal proportion. Up to 
 i8co the school law provided for separate schools (Protestant and 
 Roman Catholic) but since that date the law recognizes non sec- 
 tarian schools only. One condition, however, has constantly been 
 imposed ui)on all schools receiving public aid, which is, that the 
 Iviglish language must be taught, though the right of local school 
 boards to provide for the teaching of any other language as well as 
 English has never l)ee?i objected to. The reader who has follow- 
 ed me so far w;ll readily understand that State schools could not 
 be accepted by the Old Mennonite clmrch. Hut even among the 
 liberalized dissenters there was, and continues to i)e, a pronounced 
 conservatism in school matters. The teaching of English was ob- 
 jected to as an influence likely to un (lermanise the people, and 
 
22 
 
 The }feiino)iitc.s 
 
 lead to their losing themselves in tlie general population. 'I'his feel- 
 hig was Eo strong that up to 1891, only four imhlic schools under 
 the Manitoba law were in operation in the Rhineland reserve. At 
 that date, however, the broader dis[)osition that had been slowly 
 growing, was beginning to make itself manifest, and was encouraged 
 by the action of the government in providing a grant for a Normal 
 school at (Iretna for the training of teachers, and in appointing as 
 Inspector of schools of the reserve, Mr. II. H. Kwert, who con- 
 ducts an important private Mennonite school at ( Iretna, and who 
 was also placed in charge of the Normal school at that point. 
 While the objection to State aided schools hns n')t yet ceased, 
 the sentiment has greatly weakened, and of the New Mennonites 
 those opposed to them are largely outnumbered by those who re- 
 cognize and advocate their advantages, as may be judged from the 
 fact that there are now in the reserve 34 schools regularly organiz- 
 ed under the Manitoba school law. There was a difficulty at first 
 in procuring teachers sufficiently proficient in both the Clerman and 
 English languages, but this ditficulty has been largely overcome, 
 and the public schools of the reserve are now being very satisfac- 
 torily conducted. Many of them are largely tatended, and excel 
 lent work is being done. In evidence of the substantial progress 
 that has been made I cannot do l)etter than sul)mit Inspector 
 Ewert's first official report (1892) and his latest (1899). They are 
 as follows : 
 
 Report of 1892. 
 
 The undersigned begs permission to respectfully submit the 
 Annual Report as Inspector of Schools. 
 
 'i'he Inspectoral Division assigned to me comprises the District 
 Schools within the Mennonite settlements of this Province. I took 
 charge of my office September 1st, 1 89 1. There having been no 
 immediate predecessor in this office, I found no statistics, reports 
 or any papers of information regarding the condition of schools in 
 the Mennonite settUmenls, except what was furnished me by the 
 Department of Education. To get a pro[)er insight into the condi- 
 tion of education in my District, I made an extended trip through 
 the Mennonite settlements, endeavoring' to come into personal con- 
 tact with teachers and officers of District Schools, I found that 
 there had been ei.ght District Schools in operation during the pre 
 vious years — four in the settlements east and four in the settlements 
 
in Manitoba. 
 
 as 
 
 west of the Red River — and that these schools had given good sat- 
 isfaction to the people, and were considered by most of them an 
 improvement on the private schoo's still maintained by the vast 
 majority of Mennonites. All teachers expressed themselves very 
 much pleased with the prospect of havin;^ Normal Sessions provid- 
 ed for them, some only regretting that they were not able at the 
 present to spare time and money for attending the same, as they 
 were obliged to sap[)lement their iecome from their professional 
 work by outside earnings m order to support their families. 
 
 The schools, owing to the protracted harvest labors, opened 
 rather late in the season, so that there has been only a compara- 
 tively short time during which I could ins[)ect schools in operation. 
 I have visited all iJistrict Schools of my Inspectoral Division on this 
 side of the Red River, and my Report on them I present in a tab- 
 ulated form on an accompanying sheet. 
 
 There are several localities in my Inspectoral Division where 
 no schools of any kind are maintained. The cause of this seems 
 to be a disagreement of the j)eo[jle as to what kind of schools to 
 establish, some favoring District schools, others private schools. In 
 some localities, even where they would all prefer a private school, 
 they disagree as to which church organization should have control 
 of it. It affords me pleasure to observe though, that in someciuar- 
 ters the propriety of establishing District Schools is being actively 
 discussed, and that in one instance at least, preliminary steps are 
 being taken towards organizing a District School. 
 
 Besides inspecting schools I am commsssioned by the Depart- 
 ment of Education to make arrangements for the training of teach- 
 ers. To carry out this provision, I assumed charge of the (iretna 
 Normal School, an institution built and supported by an Associa- 
 tion of Mennonites. I opened a five weeks' Normal Session on 
 2 1 St of September, which was attended by twelve students, three of 
 whom received permits from the Department of Education to teach 
 in Mennonite Schools. After one week's vacation, another Session 
 was opened for less advanced students. The enrollment at present 
 has reached twenty four with prospects of an increase after New 
 Years. It is proposed that another Session of three months be 
 opened about the fifteenth of April for the benefit of those now en- 
 gaged in teaching. 
 
 H. H. EWERT. 
 
24 
 
 The Men lion it es 
 
 Rki'ort ok 1899. 
 
 The following is respectfully presented as my report for 
 1899 :— 
 
 There are now thirty-four schools with forty one teachers in 
 my district, two new schools having been organized and their 
 school opened during the past year. In twenty-three districts the 
 population is all (rerman ; in the rest there is a larger or smaller 
 sprinkling of English residents. I am pleased to ot)serve that in 
 the districts of mixed [)opulation there seems to he no friction on 
 account of national prejudices. 'I'he English appreciate the 
 opportunity their children have for acijuiring some knowledge of 
 the (lerman lan'j;uage and the Germans see the importance of 
 letting their children learn English. One reason why the work in 
 these districts goes on so harmoniously, no doubt, lies in the fact 
 that it is made a special point to employ only thoroughly com- 
 petent teachers in these schools. 
 
 The school boards, almost without exception, take great [)ride 
 in the appearance and condition of school houses. They are 
 usually painted inside and outside and not a few have even the 
 floor painted, or oiled, in order to add to the neatness of the 
 appearance and facilitate the cleaning of the room. A very fine 
 school house h.is just been erected at Altona. It is a four-room 
 building which combines all good features of modern school 
 architecture. 
 
 The teaching force has again sustained some loss through the 
 retirement of some of the best teachers from the profession. 
 This is very deiilorable, as it tends to neutralize the gain made 
 otherwise iii the advancement and elevati;)n of the whole body of 
 teachers, and delays the period when the services of the poorer 
 (jualified teachers could be altogether dis[)ensed with. Six of the 
 teachers hold regular certificates, the rest teach on interim certifi- 
 cates. The standing of about twelve of these is such that with a 
 three to six months' special preparation they might pass the Non- 
 Professional third-class teachers' exami lation. Seven teachers 
 pursued Professional and eleven others Non-Professional studies 
 at the last Normal Session held at Gretna. 
 
 There is a steady improvement noti^'.eable in the methods of 
 teaching used. The strong anti[)athy of a few years ago against 
 new methods or certain branches, like geology or history, has 
 well nigh disappeared altogether. In about one-half of the schools 
 English receives full attention and is used as the medium of 
 instruction. In the others German predominates to a greater or 
 
ill Man Hoi HI. 
 
 25 
 
 less extent, yet there is tio school in wliich there is not some 
 En,u;lish tauu,ht. The achievements of the diUVrent schools are 
 Very various, soiue havini; classis in the seventh or eighth grade, 
 others not having advanced bejiuid the fourtli gmde. Tliis difler- 
 t^nre in the progress may be accounted for partly by the difference 
 in the skill and devotion of the teachers in charge, but more 
 largely also by the fact that some schools have existed longer than 
 others and that the school population in one district is more 
 progressive than in another. 
 
 Comparing the state of education among the Mennoiutes 
 to (lay with that f)f about eight years ago, when special steps were 
 taken to mduce theivi to adojit the public school s\stem and 
 improve their schools, it is gratifyuig to observe that great progress 
 has been made. 'I'he numoer of schools that have come under 
 (lovernment control has more than trebled ; the standard of 
 teachers has been immensely raised : the schools are much farther 
 advanced ; very mu( h of the prejudice against the English 
 language has disappeared, and a large number of people entertain 
 much more liberal views in regard to education. \Vith these gains, 
 which mean so much of an increase of the forces making ior pro- 
 gress, it may be reasonably exp'.n-t.d that the movement will con- 
 tinue to spread, and progress m the future be even mf)re rji)id and 
 satisfactory. 
 
 H H. EWKRT. 
 
 PROGRESS AND PROSPERITY. 
 
 THE Mennonites may be said to have fairly obtained their feet, 
 financially, about the year 1880. by that time every village 
 had its fine herd of cattle, the ox was being rapidly displaced by 
 the horse, and the area of cultivated land had been largely extend" 
 ed. There was a prosperous look about the reserve, and a person 
 passing through it in any direction could not but be impressed with 
 the tokens of progress. Though the village buildings were of the 
 cheapest possible construction, they looked cozy and comfortable 
 with their little gardens and shrubbery of newly planted native trees. 
 Between villages was the open prairie, and here the growing herds 
 of cattle were pastured, being looked after by small boys and girls. 
 So numerous and considerable were these hertls, that they invari- 
 ably called to mind the days of the now extinct buffalo, when droves 
 of those animals were scattered all over the western prairie. 
 
2 6 
 
 Ilw Mrniionites 
 
 An item of the farm not usually taken much account of, wab 
 made a source of consideral)le revenue by the Mennonites. That 
 is i)Oultry. The plan of huiUling hams adjoining the houses, and 
 the village system, alike tended to make poultry a very profitable 
 investment. The heat of the stable in one case tended to the pro- 
 duction of eg^s early in the season, while the village was protection 
 against the raids of hawks, wolves and foxes. The Mennonite re- 
 serve continues to be the great egg producing district of the west, 
 as it is also of poultry for market. The [)oultry product amounts 
 now to a large sum annually, and in the early years of settlement 
 it must have been of substantial service. 
 
 In 18S3, the Canandian Pacific Railway Co. constructed the 
 first hundred miles of the Pembina Branch of their S)stem. This 
 line of railway, running south from Winnipeg, taps the reserve at 
 Rosen feld, and from thence turns west and passes through the 
 whole length of the reserve. A spur runs south from Rosenfeld 
 through the eastern partofthe reserve, and connects with the Amer- 
 ican Railway System at (iretna, close to the international boundary 
 on the Canadian side. The Meimonites were thus amply provided 
 with railway facilities. Within the reserve there are five flourishing 
 little railway towns, namely : Winkler, Plum Coulee, Rosenfeld, 
 Altona, and Gretna. These towns are all abundantly supplied with 
 grain elevators for convenience m the marketing of grain, and with 
 stores and all the usual business places for the sale of merchandise, 
 implements, building material, and such other articles as the needs 
 of the people may call for. Heing within the reserve, they provide 
 every settler with a convenient marketing place, and as the trade is 
 almost entirely from the reserve, the de\lers cater to that trade, 
 and carry stocks accordingly. These towns are inhabited by mixed 
 populations, and no doubt have had a modifying effect upon the 
 Mennonite people, while they have undoul)tedly been of great ben- 
 efit, both in the way of convenience and as a progressive stimulant. 
 
 Formerly the furnishings of even the best Mennonite houses 
 were of the simplest kind, and usually of home make. A couple 
 of years ago, a business call I had occasion to make upon some 
 Mennonites. revealed a radical change in this direction. A home 
 visited at Schanzenfeld, a few miles south of Winkler, was as well 
 
in Manitoba. 
 
 27 
 
 and tastily furnished as any of the better class nf farm houses in the 
 Province, and the Schanzenfeld house was hy no means an exce{)- 
 tion. Interc:()urse with the town resident is doubtless responsible 
 to the Mennonites for a mild indulgence in luxury in home furnish- 
 ings, in<:luding the occasional introduction of expensive musical in- 
 struments. However the making of home pleasant by the reason- 
 able luxuries of ordinary modern life is to be commended in those 
 who con readily afford the expenditure. 
 
 In this booklet will l)e found illustrations of two 
 Mennonite homes, characteristic of the new ideas and aspirations 
 that have been modifying the people during the last fifteen or 
 twenty years, and are bringing them intf) line with the English- 
 speaking people around them. Oneofth liustrations shows the 
 premises of Mr. Gerhard Uraun, six miles north east of Morden. 
 He is a man of push and energy, and tells his story in few words. 
 He says he came from Russia with his parents in 1S75, |was old 
 enough to take a homestead in the reserve in 1879, commenced to 
 work his own farm in 1S80 with a capital of $75.00 invested in a 
 pair of two year old steers, and from thence onward steadily added 
 to his resources. He now owns ten (|uarter-sections of land — 
 1,600 acres. Eight quarters are in the reserve and two are in the 
 municipality of Stanley. He cultivates 640 acres, but is ambitious 
 to get all his l.md under cro[), and has eight quarter-sections fenced. 
 Mr. Uraun has lately been directing considerable attention to horse 
 and cattle breeding. He has 24 horses, including a thorougbred 
 Clydesdale stallion, and 20 well bred cows with two thoroughbred 
 bulls, one Shorthorn a!id the other Holstein. His stock-buildings 
 are outfitted with all modern improvements, including wind-mills 
 for pumping water and chopping grain. Mr. Piraun says he con- 
 siders himself worth $30,000. He belongs to the New Mennonite 
 church, which he says is more liberal than the Old, and encourages 
 its members to take part in the government of the country, vote at 
 elections and accept public office as a duty to the State. The vil- 
 lage of Karwalde, where the Hrauns first located, no longer exists, 
 the people having scattered to their individual homes, though the 
 locality still goes under the name of Burwalde. 
 
 The other illustration is of the farm residence and buildings of 
 
28 
 
 The MennoniteH 
 
 Mr. Peter I'eters, about a mile anda-half north-east of the 
 railway town of Winkler. Mr Peters came to Manitoba from Rus- 
 sia in 1877, ''^"^1 immediately settled in the village of Roscngart, 
 proceeding at once with farming operations. Some years afterwards 
 he removed tf) his present location. He was one of the better-off 
 Mennonites, having a capital of $3,000 to 0|)erate with. He is a 
 modest man and places his [)resent wealth at $25,000, but he is 
 undoubtedly worth double that amount. His buildings alone, 
 modern in every way and 8up[)lied with every convenience, are worth 
 $15,000, and he owns 8 (juarter-sections of land, all in the reserve, 
 worth at a very moderate estimate $20,000, while his stables con- 
 tain 25 horses and 18 head of cattle, and his farm is stocked with 
 several thousand dollars worth of farm machinery ; Mr, Peters 
 keei)S a supply of cash in the bank, and believes in purchasing for 
 cash. A cou[)le of years ago he bought a magnificent steam thresh- 
 ing outfit, the best made in America, paung for it the spot cash 
 price of $3,300. He is a pleasant an 1 cheerful man, and rides a 
 bicycle for convenience. He also is of the New Mennonite faith. 
 
 Many illustrations of like kind might be given, but these are 
 sufficient for the present pur[)Ose, as showing the disposition of the 
 New Mennonites to adopt the methods and manners of their neigh- 
 bors outside of the reserve, and progress with them along all lines 
 of advancement. Probably a majority of the more elderly people 
 of the reserve cannot yet speak any language but their native Ger- 
 man. It is different, however, with the younger generation. The 
 boys and young luen took kindly to the English tongue, and obtain- 
 ed a moderate accjuaintance with it with astonishing facility, consid- 
 ering their op[)ortunities. F.ater the public schools of the country 
 were introiluced, wherein English is necessarily taught, and as a 
 result all the young Mennonites speak that language fairly well, 
 while many of them speak and write it excellently. Here it may be 
 observed that the somewhat uncouth clothing that the emigrants 
 brought with them from Russia, having in due course been out- 
 worn, the people long since began to appear clothed after the mode 
 of the country, lieing of the same family of nations as ourselves, 
 it follows that a young Mennonite wearing good Canadian clothing 
 and speaking good English readily, is, in person, no way distinctive 
 from his fellow of British heritaire. This is as it should be. 
 
hi Manitoba, 
 
 2'> 
 
 It may mow be desirable to present some aiithorit''tivt' figures 
 bearing u()on the subject l)eing treated of. Early municipal records 
 not being available, the population, assessed value, stock, culti\ated 
 area, etc., of the reserve for 1880 and several siil)se(]uent years can- 
 not now be learned, but there is no doubt that about 1885 the 
 Mennonite"_community began to show up as one of the wealthiest 
 in the Province, and continued to hold a leading position from that 
 time forward. The increase in population and wealth has been 
 substantial notwithstanding the annual migration since 1891 of a 
 considerable number of the peo[)le to the new reserves of Rosthern 
 and Hague, in the.Territory of Assitiiboia. The Act of the f-egis- 
 lature remodelling the municipalities of the province was passed in 
 1890, and came into effect in 1891. by this measure the munici- 
 pality of Rhineland was made practically co-extensive with the 
 Mennonite settlement, and from this time on the municipal records 
 are complete, so that exact figuxes can be submitted for the ensuing 
 years. The following statement is compiled from the several assess- 
 ment rolls : 
 
 Year. 
 1891 
 
 Population 
 6693 
 
 Acres 
 ruder Ciiltv. 
 
 90,858 
 
 Horses 
 4265 
 
 Cattle 
 6005 
 
 Total 
 Assosment 
 
 $1,255,694 
 
 1892 
 
 7192 
 
 101,297 
 
 419I 
 
 6579 
 
 1,252,054 
 
 1893 
 
 6777 
 
 114,677 
 
 4729 
 
 5252 
 
 1,282,163 
 
 1894 
 
 1895 
 1896 
 
 .897 
 
 6990 
 
 7785 
 7778 
 
 7748 
 
 115,114 
 126,871 
 133.063 
 178,746 
 
 5617 
 5976 
 6149 
 
 5612 
 
 5325 
 6609 
 
 6100 
 
 6038 
 
 1,345,919 
 1,355,556 
 1,174,692 
 1,171,229 
 
 1898 
 1899 
 1900 
 
 7758 
 7806 
 
 7764 
 
 133,400 
 139,060 
 
 145,807 
 
 5934 
 5561 
 5596 
 
 5537 
 5980 
 6605 
 
 1,251,501 
 1,580,564 
 
 1,563,505 
 
 In considering the above figures, it must be remembered that 
 the number of Mennonites who moved from the reserve to Assini- 
 boia during the ten years quoted, was sufficient to thickly settle the 
 eciuivalent of three townships of land, notwithstanding which, the 
 population was more than one thousand greater in 1900 than in 
 1891, while the assessed value had in the same period increased by 
 $308,000. In 1 89 1 the council levied a tax of 7 mills on the dol- 
 lar, and in the way of progress in the construction of roads and 
 
y^ 
 
 The Mcnnonites 
 
 bridges, etc., the levy was gradually increased till in 1900 it reached 
 20 mills on the dollar, the greatly enlarged number of schools no 
 doubt materially adding to the sum recjuired. The 20 mills levy, 
 however, is not as large as it appears, for the reason that the assess- 
 ment value is unusually low, being figured on a basis of 25 per cent, 
 of current value, which is much lower than the prevailing assess- 
 ment rate of Manitoba municipalities. Nevertheless, the 1900 levy 
 realized the large sum of $31,270, and as Rhineland has never had 
 any debenture debt or other fixed charges, it will be admitted that 
 the people are very generous in providing money for municipal 
 re(iuirements. 
 
 It may be worth while to note that a 25 per cent, assessment 
 value amounting to $1,563,505, is equivalent to an actual value of 
 $6,254,020, and that sum therefore represents the assumed real 
 value of the assessable property of the municipality. 
 
 At this date Rhineland contains 52 bridges, substantially built, 
 and 235 miles of the public roads have been graded. 
 
 An endeavor to learn the probable value of Mennonite pro- 
 duce of the farm in any given year was not successful, no record 
 having been kept. In the way of dairy products there is a current 
 estimate of 100 pounds of butter marketed per family; besides a 
 quantity of cheese for which no figures could be obtained. As al- 
 ready stated, the poultry item amounts to a large sum, as also does 
 the Item of flax seed, while the income from beei'^ pork and mutton 
 mus* be considerable. In 1898 the Winnipeg Tribune [)ublished 
 a statement of the wheat marketed at the various shipping points m 
 the Province, and from this it appears that in that year 2,150,000 
 bushels of wheat were marketed at the Mennonite towns of Winkler, 
 Plum Coulee, Rosenfeld, Altona and (Iretna. 
 
 In estimating the progress made by these thrifty people, it 
 should not be forgotten that they came to Manitoba under a debt 
 of $90,000, advanced to them by the Dominion Government to aid 
 them in emigrating from Russia. This debt was paid off at the 
 end of twelve years, by which time, with interest added, it repre- 
 sented the large sum of $140,000. It is proper, however, to state 
 that the Dominion Government of the da.y, in view of the fact that 
 

 
 
 
 
 
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 the loan was heinj; c.xrrieil entirely by ihf poorer part of the com 
 inanity, generously rebated $24,000 of the interest. 
 
 The fij^ures quoted above from the Rhineland assessment roll 
 are absolute, but in order to realize the astotiishin^ progress of the 
 Meiinonites in material |)rospi'rity, a comi)arative statement is neces- 
 sary. Hapi)ily, this is available, the Provincial Municipal Commis- 
 sioner having during the p.ist three years submitted with his annual 
 re[)ort a document showing the relative positions of the municipali 
 ties of the Province. The latest of these valuable jjapers is for the 
 year 1899, and it is presented h^re to complete the record of 
 Mennonite progress and prnsi)erity. It is as follows : 
 
 MuicipHiity 
 
 o 
 
 p 
 
 Argyle :-(2iiii 
 
 Archie 18n 
 
 Arthur l(t'25 
 
 Asssinihoia hi i 
 
 Birtle 12(H) 
 
 Blanohard I7i) 
 
 Koultoii ... 217 
 
 CamiTon {i;<7 
 
 (■lanwilliani 872 
 
 ('oruvvailis l(i!i| 
 
 Cypress North 2(t81 
 
 Cyure.ss South 2(tir) 
 
 Daly 8;is 
 
 Desalalierry l,^7!t 
 
 Uaupliiu 221ii 
 
 Dufl'eriu 8s lit 
 
 Elton 141 1 
 
 Kllice Id.") 
 
 P'rankliu . . . . 271)1 
 
 (Tlenwood ... iHlii 
 
 (j-imli l!)(« 
 
 Hamiora IHoii 
 
 Hanover 28i)7 
 
 Harrison 286 
 
 Kildonan 82H 
 
 La Hro(|uerie 2:>o(i 
 
 fjangford liiU7 
 
 Lansdowne .... .... l.o8ti 
 
 Lome 21 1:5 
 
 >l 
 
 
 
 
 
 4» 
 
 t > 
 
 yi5 
 
 
 
 • 
 90 
 
 <"z 
 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 **-* -' 
 
 ^*-* . 
 
 •«-i 
 
 .^ ^ 
 
 ''-, 
 
 « z 
 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 .^'S 
 
 6 
 
 d 
 
 ^,.■2 
 
 y. z 
 
 y. 
 
 y 
 
 2l(;,4()8 
 
 loo.uoo 
 
 8000 
 
 llOOU 
 
 i:58,2l<i 
 
 
 2581 
 
 2983 
 
 .").J2.!M)i» 
 
 l2o,H50 
 
 8.58 
 
 81() 
 
 •>o.h;<i 
 
 7,2itr) 
 
 57(5 
 
 1481 
 
 i7:<,oii() 
 
 I8,82!l 
 
 927 
 
 3H5I 
 
 ii7.:!:w 
 
 ltl.747 
 
 807 
 
 2152 
 
 21,|H7 
 
 2,228 
 
 184 
 
 ft55 
 
 181.:!2n 
 
 (Ui.OJit 
 
 20(i<i 
 
 2.581 
 
 
 f».8[!t 
 
 720 
 
 25( »8 
 
 il.^,t)4;'. 
 
 71.705 
 
 1 5( M i 
 
 1792 
 
 27' i. 08(1 
 
 l(i2,000 
 
 248 (i 
 
 4152 
 
 27H.12,') 
 
 122, ()()(» 
 
 25( M ) 
 
 1900 
 
 12(),(»27 
 
 42,881 
 
 117(i 
 
 1708 
 
 I.")!). ;{:)(; 
 
 10,890 
 
 !t88 
 
 890(5 
 
 18),(Hi2 
 
 14.701 
 
 1201 
 
 2.5' )9 
 
 1 14, Odd 
 
 8;5,7.")0 
 
 8 1 78 
 
 48f»8 
 
 lH8,24i) 
 
 188,210 
 
 1(594 
 
 8087 
 
 Sl.(ilr) 
 
 ."),()( 11 
 
 H17 
 
 loll 
 
 2.i(J.28l 
 
 88.870 
 
 1751 
 
 3368 
 
 1:5.'). i 108 
 
 r)8,917 
 
 1489 
 
 772 
 
 'u .h\)'^ 
 
 2,(;02 
 
 114 
 
 8819 
 
 1H8,'J40 
 
 22,004 
 
 182 ) 
 
 22( 10 
 
 104 811* 
 
 I8,(i!»8 
 
 1467 
 
 5211 
 
 188,240 
 
 H,8(i9 
 
 648 
 
 (509 
 
 17.424 
 
 2,31i; 
 
 435 
 
 73H 
 
 !)i;.8,^!i 
 
 4,282 
 
 1151 
 
 4018 
 
 10f),P"M 
 
 l(i.O0(.l 
 
 11(54 
 
 2270 
 
 8m.H8(l 
 
 25. !)<»(; 
 
 1407 
 
 4349 
 
 1SI,(I40 
 
 I8,(i04 
 
 1280 
 
 2681 
 
34 
 
 The Mennoiiih'H 
 
 Munir.ipality 
 
 Louise ;U'_'."> 
 
 Mac(lonaltl Hi;! 
 
 Miiiiota 1 1 Is 
 
 Moni.s lull 
 
 Morton icon 
 
 Montciilni JlilT 
 
 Norfolk Xoitli .T)!") 
 
 Norfolk Soiitli ll.')? 
 
 Oak Lands Umib 
 
 Oilaiiftli HitiH 
 
 l'i|it'Stoiit' 7!t;i 
 
 Ht'inl)ina JnlT 
 
 F'ortajjt' la I'rairio iV'jHH 
 
 PoHcn '.'Ht 
 
 lios<"<lale 2:f87 
 
 Rock wood •lih\H 
 
 Rhineland Tsut; 
 
 Richot ... 117") 
 
 Ri vtM'sidt' 1017 
 
 RoHsburn lii") 
 
 Rus.sell !I2'2 
 
 Rosser liM 
 
 Siftou 1212 
 
 Saskatchewan .S2i) 
 
 Silver Creek 51 I 
 
 Shoal Lake lOiio 
 
 Shell River I(i2 
 
 SpriiiKlield IHiit 
 
 Stanley H<UO 
 
 Strathclair (ill 
 
 St. Andrews 1521 
 
 St. Boniface 101 
 
 St. Clements 12Ho 
 
 St. Francois Xavier 17t)l 
 
 St. Laurent <i4!i 
 
 St. Paul ir)8 
 
 Tache 1075 
 
 Turtle Mountain 2:U(7 
 
 Westbourne l!i;i") 
 
 Wincliester H(i75 
 
 Wliitehead IHl:^ 
 
 Whitewater Hlo 
 
 Wood worth 1717 
 
 Woodlands Hiis 
 
 Wallace S7(; 
 
 ^ 
 
 r 
 
 
 
 y T 
 
 < 3 
 
 o 
 
 s 
 
 5 
 
 
 — ? 
 
 tM 
 
 •m 
 
 ^.^ 
 
 ® I 
 
 
 
 O 
 
 O „ 
 
 * a 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 'aB. 
 
 y. s 
 
 'A 
 
 » 
 
 •x\H,m) 
 
 OLOlo 
 
 2:M6 
 
 60o<; 
 
 2llH,Hi;H 
 
 22,544 
 
 OiiO 
 
 2:<52 
 
 llO.tiHIl 
 
 ;U,(;4H 
 
 110(1 
 
 HloO 
 
 2111,517 
 
 ;io,(i;<:< 
 
 i:»(io 
 
 1714 
 
 1 51 >. 1 5:» 
 
 5i.i:i(i 
 
 25( i( 1 
 
 IlKIO 
 
 11)7. (;i!i 
 
 Il,s74 
 
 l.'.HO 
 
 20 1:? 
 
 171,715 
 
 l!l,(i5(i 
 
 2io:i 
 
 X\ 1 1 
 
 ;!'i5,()i)ii 
 
 78, ,500 
 
 27 v^ 
 
 41.5(1 
 
 i:<7.HH(i 
 
 7:i,7:v2 
 
 IKK) 
 
 2(i7(i 
 
 IHH,'.'|0 
 
 2! 1,(150 
 
 1(181 
 
 2Ki 12 
 
 27ii,-tHO 
 
 :<( 1.00(1 
 
 ao.57 
 
 76:!4 
 
 201,1127 
 
 (;il,!»05 
 
 2748 
 
 5714 
 
 i:is.2l'i 
 
 20,(1.57 
 
 4HH 
 
 2760 
 
 .")<;, HI 2 
 
 2SH 
 
 (il5 
 
 1221 
 
 :{;»2,5i;': 
 
 i<5,882 
 
 16(11 
 
 ;i(;:;:i 
 
 :{|5.()()o 
 
 28,261 
 
 106:'. 
 
 0651 
 
 255.22! t 
 
 IHO.OOO 
 
 .55(i| 
 
 50KO 
 
 75,:<fS7 
 
 5.HH(( 
 
 777 
 
 26K5 
 
 112,577 
 
 75,(;8o 
 
 706 
 
 1460 
 
 ILKI7 
 
 4.(i,5o 
 
 (il5 
 
 2610 
 
 !l!i,:V12 
 
 0,0(18 
 
 641 
 
 1050 
 
 101,851 
 
 8.257 
 
 504 
 
 1 578 
 
 172,7(10 
 
 25.000 
 
 1212 
 
 2555 
 
 1H8,240 
 
 21,000 
 
 015 
 
 :'.5()o 
 
 80,2Mo 
 
 11,101 
 
 671 
 
 2.S02 
 
 IBU,7HH 
 
 11,142 
 
 06:i 
 
 :u»io 
 
 68, .^ai 
 
 1,201 
 
 170 
 
 22K5 
 
 285,20(1 
 
 17,610 
 
 1514 
 
 6067 
 
 252.750 
 
 120,450 
 
 :-^4oi 
 
 4610 
 
 100,215 
 
 1(),000 
 
 860 
 
 ;-iloo 
 
 !t)0.25!» 
 
 l,48H 
 
 875 
 
 :V24s 
 
 I8,f)():< 
 
 844 
 
 222 
 
 159 
 
 155,122 
 
 7,825 
 
 407 
 
 167:5 
 
 l.:U4 
 
 (),78(i 
 
 1127 
 
 4553 
 
 05,803 
 
 1 ,2H8 
 
 200 
 
 io:-5o 
 
 :<o,7(W 
 
 2.478 
 
 200 
 
 806 
 
 120. ,575 
 
 7,io:^ 
 
 58( I 
 
 3070 
 
 l'.W,77!t 
 
 72,245 
 
 2001 
 
 4320 
 
 ()8l,l<)(» 
 
 26.8.50 
 
 1612 
 
 4K63 
 
 i<.58.li:{ 
 
 fi6,8I8 
 
 ;-iiii 
 
 3!t2(i 
 
 1:50,700 
 
 82,040 
 
 1718 
 
 2024 
 
 l;-58,24o 
 
 iiO.OOO 
 
 L5.50 
 
 1250 
 
 175,571 
 
 87,408 
 
 288() 
 
 377(i 
 
 1 ('.7,564 
 
 10,512 
 
 80(J 
 
 4148 
 
 70,108 
 
 H.5,7(i5 
 
 73 
 
 
ill .\f(initoh(i. 
 
 35 
 
 !ii 
 
 It will 1)0 seen from the al)nve tliat, although exceeded in 
 territory l>y 14 other iminii ipalities, Khiiielard nevertlieUss takes 
 first place for population, secotul for acreage under cultivation, first 
 for number of horses, and fifth for number of catile. It may be 
 added that Rhineland also ranks first for number of pigs and 
 seventh for number of sheep, though the figures do not appear in 
 the above table. Rhineland, in fact, leads in material uealth the 
 74 municipalities of the Province. 
 
 From the foregoing a clear conception is [)resented to the mind, 
 of the splendid prosperity reached by the Mennonites since that 
 summer of 1875, when, strangers to the country and poor in world- 
 ly goods, they located the forlorn, treeless prairie of the reserve. 
 The record is a glowing tribute to the fertility of the Manitoba soil, 
 as well as to the thrift, industry and enterprise of the men who 
 cultivated it. 'I'he Mennonitc reserve is now a great garden-farm. 
 You can stand on a rising ground in .August and where, 25 years 
 ago, nothing was in sight but waving grass, the view now com[)rises 
 many ha[)[)y farm homes and miles and miles of yellow waving grain 
 without an apparent break, though in fact there are broad roadways 
 at every mile. 
 
 A person traveling through the reserve on the railway, would 
 fail to recognize it from the description given elsewhere in this book- 
 let. He would say, "Where is the great treeless prairie ? 1 fail to 
 see it ?'" .And he would be right, for the treeless prairie has ceased 
 to e.xist. The Mennonites at the commencement realized the bald- 
 ness of their new home, and they started at once to remedy the 
 fault by setting out groves of native maple, poplar, and balm-of-gil- 
 ead, and through the years these groves have been reaching up. 
 What the traveller would see would be one of the loveliest grove- 
 dotted prairies that can be imagined. He would see scattered 
 farm houses with their beautifying and sheltering bluffs of trees, and 
 of the several villages forrherly in sight he would see but two, with 
 their thatched roofs to remind him of the original settlement. 
 Truly the reserve has progresssed in other ways than in wealth. 
 The landscape is a view of rural loveliness. 
 
36 
 
 The Mennonites 
 
 VARIOUS OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 WHEN the Mennonites first came to Manitoba, the unusual 
 number of children accompanying them was a matter of 
 common remark. They are, in fact, a very fecund people, the 
 direct result, no doubt, of their outdoor employment and simple 
 though abundant manner of living. They also marry young as a 
 rule, and are encouraged to do so by their elders. When they 
 first settled in the reserve they did not occupy the whole of it, 
 some vacant lands remaining for the young men approaching 
 manhood. It was not long, however, till all these lands were taken 
 possession of, and in due course, there was a demand for land that 
 the reserve could not supply. The unsupplied then began to seek 
 for other lands to colonize. Delegates went to California, Oregon, 
 and Washington Territory, since become a State of the American 
 Union. Their reports were not encouraging, and it must be 
 gratifying to all Canadians that after full inquiry, these shrewd 
 agriculturists decided upon the Canadian territory of Assiniboia as 
 the most desirable location for the overflow of the population of 
 the original Mennonite settlement. They secured from the 
 Government two reserves of one township each, which they named 
 Rosthern and Hague respectively. The former is now fully 
 occupied by a progressive, thrifty and industrious population* 
 composed mostly of young men of energy thoroughly accjuainted 
 with the ways of the country, and a number of them Canadians by 
 birth. The Hague reserve is not yet full. The migration, 
 however, continues to Rosthern, the new settlers taking up land in 
 the regular way as near that colony as they can find suitable 
 locations. The first migration was in 1891, when about twenty 
 families removed to Rosthern. Every year since then, a C.P.R. 
 train carrying twenty-five or thirty families and their belongings 
 pulls out from the towns of Winkler and Plum Coulee for the new 
 field of enterprise. For the most part these western settlers leave 
 Manitoba none too well supplied with worldly goods, but their 
 industry and fruf^ality soon remedies this. The earlier settlers in 
 Assiniboia are now in prosperous condition, and all who have 
 removed to the further west are well satisfied with their new lands 
 and surroundings. In the natural course there will in due time be 
 
in Manitoba 
 
 37 
 
 an overflow of population from these new settlements, and then 
 there will he another reaching o.it for vacant territory. Undoubt- 
 edly, the Mennonites are the best foreign colonizers that ever came 
 to Canada. Drawing away from old ideas, they have to a lari^e 
 extent becomj Canadianized, and in the future, even more than in 
 the past, they will figure in the progress of this country. 
 
 The Mennonites are not " rustlers "' in the ordinary sense of 
 that term. They take life moderately, and do not permit them- 
 selves to be unduly hurried. Nor are they at all averse to taking 
 an occasional holiday, and enjoying it in their own way. In the 
 eighties, before the railway towns were built in the reserve, their 
 marketing places were Morden and Gretna. The Mennonite trade 
 of ^[orden at one time amounted to a very large figure. All 
 through the season of wheat marketing, scores of Mennonite 
 teams, the loads of grain having been delivered at the elevators, 
 would be lined up on the principal street of the town and remain 
 there till towards evening, while their owners, often accompanied 
 by their women folk, would entertain themselves shopping and 
 gossiping. No doubt this simple entertainment is still in vogue at 
 the new points of trade. The Mennonite's mode of progress is 
 not swift, but it is sure. He holds whatever advance he makes, 
 and the conspicuous prosperity of the community is not the 
 consecjuence of unceasing expenditure of energy, but of 
 persevering industry within the limits of reasonable labor. In 
 substantial progress the reserve has never gone backw^'d ; the 
 movement has always been forward, notwithstanding the disposition 
 of the people to avoid rush and to progress leisurely. When the 
 head of a family feels himself advancing in years and considers 
 that he has done his share of active work, he passes the farm 
 management over to his son or sons, and for the remainder of his 
 life takes his ease, being assured that his modest needs will be well 
 attended to. It is, no doubt, a pleasant prospect to look forward 
 
 to, when a man passes his prime and feels the years growing upon 
 him. 
 
 The orthodox Mennonite church is exceedingly rigorous in the 
 matter of marriage. An adherent may not marry outside the church, 
 nor may a marriage be effected between an adherent of the church 
 
38 
 
 The Mennonifes 
 
 and a member of an excommunicated family. A little while ago, 
 a young Mennonite in good standing wished to espouse a German 
 lass whom he had met at Morden. The couple went to the Men 
 nonite bishop to have the ceremony performed, but that dignitary 
 peremptorily forbade the marriage. The young couple, however, 
 were not to be deterred, and proceeded at once to Morden, where 
 they were united by the German Baptist Minister. This little story 
 is told as showing the weakening power of the Old church over its 
 adherents. It must be admitted, however, that none of the Men- 
 nonites, dissenters or otherwise, have yet displayed any disposition 
 to encourage intennarriage with the people outside of their own 
 community. In the early days, when the people were poor, and 
 when female help was in great demand in Winnipeg at high wages, 
 the Mennonites resolutely retained their girls at home, and could 
 not be induced to permit any of them to go out to service. This of 
 course was in line with the religious principles of their church, and 
 the forbidding of intermarriage, having been long persisted in and 
 religiously taught, may be expected to be slow in yielding to broad- 
 ening influences. The fact, however, that through the reserve 
 there are occasional families bearing distinctly Slavonic names, is 
 unmistakable evidence that the Mennonites were not able to absolutely 
 restrain intermarriage in Russia, and the growing closer relations 
 of the people with their neighbors of other races cannot fail in 
 having alike effect in Manitoba. 
 
 When the Mennonites first commenced to exercise the privi- 
 lege of the franchise in Provincial and Dominion elections, they 
 manifested a disposition to vote one-sided. This was quite to be 
 expected of a people in their peculiar position, and whose training 
 had not permitted them to make themselves acquainted with the 
 political issues of the country in which they lived. But the exercise 
 of the franchise was itself the beginning of a political education, and 
 in recurring elections the Mennonites have shown an increasing 
 broadness in their political views. In recent contests they have 
 manifested decided individual opinion, and displayed a measurable 
 acquaintance with the problems of state that divide the people of 
 the country at large. They are disposed to liberal views, notwith- 
 standing the rigid conservatism of old Mennonite institutions ; but 
 
ill Manitoba. 
 
 39 
 
 they appreciate political freedom, and except a natural preference 
 for men of their own nationality, exhibit neither prejudice nor nar- 
 rowness, a fact that has increased the appreciation in which they 
 are held by the people of the country in general. The idea former- 
 ly held that the reserve was a sort of a political pocket borough can 
 no longer be entertained. 
 
 A quaint institution of the Mennonites when they first came to 
 Manitoba, was their flour mills These were of ancient pattern, 
 the buildings being of octagonal construction and pyramidal in 
 design, and a good deal more capacious than they appeared to be 
 at first sight. They had a height of about 30 feet. The grinding 
 power was derived from the wind, and the great arms and huge 
 sails of the motor looked decidedly pretentious from underneath. 
 Several of these mills are still standing, and are a novel sight in this 
 country. They are now used for crushing grain for feeding stock, 
 while at Winkler, Plum Coulee and (Iretna extensive flouring mills 
 of modern design have been erected, and are operated on the roller 
 l)rinciple, being equipped with all the latest machinery. The Men- 
 nonites brought with them from Russia their own millwrights, 
 blacksmiths and carpenters, and these mechanics are perfectly 
 competent in their respective lines. The people, indeed, appear 
 to be naturally inclined to machinery and took quite kindly to the 
 steam engine, threshing machines, etc. 
 
 At the start many of the implements used by the Mennonites 
 were exceedingly crude. It was not long, however, before this 
 drawback was remedied. They manifested immediate appreciation 
 of reapers, mowers, binders, horse-rakes, seeders, and such like, 
 and have always been heavy purchasers of latest improved farm 
 machinery. Indeed, in this matter, many of them were a little too 
 ready to purchase on the credit terms freely offered to them, and 
 it came about that in this way many of the poorer members of the 
 community put themselves in financial stress from which it took 
 them years to recover. They also manifested the same weakness 
 in the purchase of h )rses, and were often scandalously imposed 
 upon by unprincipled dealers. The guileless people of the 
 reserve were for a time an easy prey for sharpers, but they learned 
 by sad experience, and with the surety of a day of reckoning 
 
in Mttnltoba. 
 
 4» 
 
 coining, inviting terms and long credit lost their attraction, and it 
 ceased to be easy to " do " the Mennonites. 
 
 In the early days, and even yet, few of the Pembina Mountain 
 settlers cared to take the trouble to beautify their homes with 
 llowers. It was different with the Mennonites, who brought with 
 them from their old European home a vaiiety of flower seeds and 
 a number of flowering plants. As soon as their villages were 
 established they set these out, and in a year or two their homes 
 were beautiful in summer with gardens of bright flowers. They 
 were the first to introduce the dahlia, and the women added some- 
 thing to the family income by the sale to townspeople of Morden 
 of ever-blooming roses in pots, which they cultivated in their houses. 
 That the people have a natural love of flowers is manifested from 
 the names given to many of the villages such as Rosenfeld (field of 
 roses), Rosenthal (dale of roses), Hlumenort (place of flowers), 
 Blumengart (flower garden), etc. The Mennonites also mtroduced 
 the mulberry tree and it has c-^dapted itself to the Manitoba climate, 
 though it has not flourished. 
 
 The Mennonites were the first to introduce flax growing in this 
 country. They brought the seed with them from Russia. It is 
 now grown more or less over the Province, but the Mennonites 
 continue to be the chief producers. It is grown for the seed only, 
 and no use has yet been attempted of the fibre. While the main 
 crop of the reserve, as elsewhere in this Province, is wheat, nearly 
 every Mennonite farm has its field of five to twenty acres of flax. 
 Last year there was a good demand for flax seed, and the price 
 was high. Uy reason of this, a great many Mennonites were able 
 to hold their entire wheat crop over for an anticipated rise in price 
 in the spring, bemg able to meet all their requirements in the 
 meantime from the sale of the product of their flax fields. The 
 growing of flax fibre for manufacturing purposes does not yet appear 
 to have been seriously considered. 
 
 The plum grows wild in many parts of Manitoba, and in favor- 
 able seasons is very plentiful on the borders of the wooded lands of 
 Pembina Mountain. The fruit is usually indifferent, but many 
 native varieties are fairly good. The Mennonites lost no time in 
 
4a 
 
 The MennoixUes 
 
 selecting the better trees and transplanting them in th*":. /illage 
 gardens, thus securing for themselves an abundant supply of very 
 acceptable fruit. They did the same with the native high bush 
 cranberry and the black currant. The cranberry is a splendid 
 fruit, agreeable to the taste, and an excellent tonic. By being per- 
 mitted to freeze, it keeps in good condition all winter. As a rule, 
 the English-speaking settlers entirely neglected these valuable 
 native fruits, taking chances of obtaining supplies in their wild state. 
 
 Any one who has perused the preceding pages will not need to 
 lie told that the Mennonites, as a community, are now highly 
 prosperous. A great many of them are rich, as that term may be 
 interpreted in a farming community, ar-d not a few of them may be 
 accounted rich absolutely. They are gradually extending their 
 original limits by the purchase of lands adjoining the reserve when 
 opportunity offers, and it is a noticeable fact that, notwithstanding 
 their ordinary economy, Mennonites will frequently pay a higher 
 price for land than other people are willing to venture. This, no 
 doubt, is because they have a better appreciation of the actual 
 producing value of the land. 
 
 In 1896, the Provincial (iovernment, having in view the 
 dairying interests of the Province, established what is called the 
 Dairy School. The annual session is held during three months, 
 January to March, and is conducted by Mr. C. C. Macdonald, 
 Dairy Superintendent. During the session of 1897, of twenty-six 
 students who took professional courses, four were Mennonites, and 
 of twelve students who passed successful examinations in cheese- 
 making and milk-testing, three were Mennonites. This is 
 mentioned as showing the disposition of the people of the reserve 
 to keep abreast of the times. The attendance of the Mennonites 
 was relatively larger than that of English-speaking farmers. 
 
 The municipality c* Rhineland is one of the best conducted 
 in the Province. Th^ rate of taxation is moderate, and while a 
 proper economy is 'jracticed, no needed improvement is neglected, 
 and the work is always done thoroughly. The bridges are notice- 
 ably of better and more substantial construction than in any of 
 the neighboring municipalities. Rhineland at the present time has 
 
/// Manllofxt. 
 
 4;^ 
 
 52 bridges, and 235 miles of graded roadway. Bicycles are in 
 common use, and buggies, carriages and fine driving horses are as 
 numerous as in any other part of the country. The municipality 
 has no permanent debt, and never issued any debentures. 
 
 For many years the Mennonites did not manifest any interest 
 in the local agricultural societies and the annual exhibitions in con- 
 nection therewith. During the last few years they are showing a 
 growing interest ii ihese exhibitions. Many of the women are 
 proficient in fancy needle-work, which they exhibited successfully, 
 winning a number of the prizes offered. The law empowers the 
 Mennonites to form an agricultural society of their own, and in due 
 time they will no doubt avail themselves of the [irivilege. 'I'he Ciov- 
 evnment grants financial aid. 
 
 A FEW CLOSING WORDS. 
 
 IT seems to me that in the foregoing pages I have submitted about 
 all that an outsider may fairly be expected to submit in regard 
 to the Mennonite people during their residence in Manitoba. 1 
 might indeed have enlarged upon details, or I might perhaps have 
 made the sketch more entertaining by introducing a vein of humor, 
 for in the early years of the settlement especially, the humorous 
 side was not lacking. But the purpose I had in hand was not so 
 much entertainment for the reader, as a plain statement of plain 
 facts according to my view. It may easily be that in referring to 
 the peculiarities of the people, my insight may have been faulty, but 
 I trust that I have guarded myself against any serious error. Many 
 people, even in Manitoba, have a very wrong impression of the 
 Mennonites, and have not yet learned that they are a progressive 
 people who have been of inestimable service in the settlement of 
 this country. I hope that the circulation of this little booklet will 
 place these thrifty, intelligent, and industrious farmers where they 
 justly belong in the economy of western Canada, and I hope also 
 that the recital of the incoming, progress and prosperity of the 
 Mennonites, joined with the equitable treatment extended to them 
 
44 
 
 riw MennonitPH 
 
 by the people and by the laws of this country, will be of some 
 service in inducing other desirable i)eople to come to us and join in 
 redeeming from the wilderness the still immense tracts of fertile 
 prairie in central Canada that are awaiting settlement. 
 
 I am of the opinion that the AFennonites cannot long endure 
 in this country as a separate community. As already narrated, old 
 customs and prejudices, social and religious, have already been dis 
 carded to a very large extent, and the disintegrating influences are 
 m steady and increasing action. It is conceivable that in 
 military (lermany or autocratic Russia such a community as the 
 Mennonites might have maintained itself closely for an indefin-te 
 period, strengthened by persecution or the fear of persecution. Hut 
 in free Canada, where the law makes all men equal, and where 
 public sentiment would not tolerate a shadow of persecution, the 
 mcitement to maintaining a close community is lost. The elders 
 of the Mennonites will doubtless largely continue to hold the opin- 
 ions in which they were trained, but the generation of younger men 
 appear on the scene as reformers, and, as I see it, the rising gener- 
 ation will be less Mennonite than it will be Canadian. 
 
 I have thought it desirable to append a few letters written by 
 Mennonites, referring to the country and its advantages as mani- 
 fested in their own experiences. These letters contain the spon- 
 taneous sentiments of the writers, and arc therefore a valuable 
 testimony to the merits of ttie Canadian west as a field for settle- 
 ment. 
 
 I. F. Cx. 
 
in Manitoba. ^g 
 
 MENNONITE OPINION OF THE COUNTRY. 
 
 ^T'HE KOr, [.OWING letters are replies to a general letter of 
 1. inquiry mailed to a number of representative Mennonites in 
 different parts of the reserve. They speak for themselves:— 
 
 UosKNKKLi), Man., Nov. 28, 190(). 
 Dkar Sir,— 1 live on section .{(), township 2, ranfje 1 west. I 
 came to Manitoba twenty-five years ago. from Russia. In Russia, 
 after ten years, I saved by hard work $l,ou(). which I had when I 
 came here with my family of five. I did not take any assistance from 
 the Government. Now I have four hundred acres of land, ten horses 
 and fifteen head of cattle. Altogether, J think I am worth 850,000. 
 I don't want to go hack to Russia, because 1 am v\ a country of free 
 religion and free .schools. All my neighbors are prosperous. " 
 
 Yours tndy. 
 
 JACOB SIEMENS. 
 
 Ai.TONA, Manitoba, Nov. 27, moo. 
 
 Deak Sir, — Replying to your letter. I came to Manitoba twenty- 
 six years ago. with my wife and one child. Now I have four children. 
 Brought $200, and took no Government aid. I have four hundred 
 acres of land ; three hundred and twenty-five acres cultivated, and 
 grow twenty-five bushels of wheat on an acre. 1 value my lajid and 
 stock at .$2(1,111)0 In Russia, I could not make that in a hundred years. 
 Have seven horses, three oxen, four cows and seven young cuttle. 
 I like this country, for i am well off. and I like the climate, too ; also, 
 I like the liberty and the just laws upheld so well. There are a good 
 many more men like me, and we have made all our money by our 
 hands. We are all contented and happy and glad we cHme. Th^re 
 are a good many yet who would like to come, and whose time is 
 nearly up to decide if they w.ill go in the army or leave Bussia. 
 
 BERNHARDT WIEBE. 
 
 RosENFELi), Manitoba. Nov. 28. I9ii(). 
 
 Dear Sik.— I reply to you by saying that I came to .Manitoba 
 when I was eight years of age, and began to work for myself nine 
 years ago. I have now 480 acres of land, l(i horses and ti head of 
 cattle, and would not want to sell for Si."!,!")!). I like the country, 
 sure. A man can make money and it is free. My father made and 
 
4^' 
 
 The MennoifcH 
 
 saved *l,i«i() by hard work in Russia in ten years. Here money i« 
 made much iiuic.kcr, and it is free and no one is interfered with. I 
 would not no anywhere else, and am well satislied in every way with 
 Manitoba. I am married and have five chihlren. I may add that we 
 lend our surplus mon.-y to each other, or buy land with it. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 EDWARD SIP:MENS. 
 
 I 
 
 OsTKRwicK, Man., Nov. HO, liUiu. 
 
 Dkak Sir,— 1 came to this country from Ru.ssia witli my parents 
 in 1H7.T. We located at and helped to build the village of Ostcrwick. 
 1 was only 17 years old. When I was 2.5 years old, i took a home- 
 stead of one-quarter .section next to 0.sterwick. 1 had no money to 
 go on with, so I went to WinnipcK and worked there at 
 whatever I could ^et to do till I had saved SiOO, and then I came back 
 and commencsed to work on my land. My people were not well off, 
 and had to go in debt at first, but in three years it was all paid. I 
 think this is the best country in the world for freedom in religion and 
 other ways. 1 have now a half section of land, with 15() acres culti- 
 vated. I have s hor.ses and H cattle, and everytiiing needed on a 
 farm. 1 am worth about >'K,oi>n. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 ISAAC FEHR. 
 Nov. 28. 19()(). 
 
 Dkar Sir,—! came to Manito!)a in ISTti, when 1 was twenty 
 years old. Brought nothing with me. Located at Osterwick, but 
 now live on my own land, sec. '22, 2-5. I have 35:i acres of land 
 without any debt, and I value my belongings at >?10,000, including 
 horses and cattle. 1 am married and have nine children. It is a 
 good country for children, and for making money. J 11 ketlie freedom 
 in schools and religion. The climate suits me all right It is nearly 
 like Russia, but colder, a:id there is not so much sickness. We use 
 our surplus money to help poorer men, and to buy land. 
 
 .lOHANN HEPPNER. 
 
 IVRONSFELD. Nov. BO, 1900. 
 
 Dkar Sir, -I will tell you that i came to this country in 1879, 
 and had very little money, barely enough to buy a team. [ first 
 lived in Kronsfeld, and moved on my own land 12 years .'igo. I have 
 family of 4. I like farming, and I like the countrj'. W :> are free to 
 choose our own religion. I have 4i quarter sections of lend, that is 
 720 acres. Alwaj's have good crops. 1 have at present 9 horses and 
 

 ill Manilohn. 
 
 19 cattle. Wouldn't think of loavinp: this country. I think I am 
 wortli not less than *2o.()((i). \Vh«n I havt* surplus money. 1 buy 
 land for homes for family. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 HERN HA HI) KIIOHN. 
 
 PiimwAI.DK, Nov. JH, l!l{((). 
 
 Dkak Sik. -I am tlie Rrandson of Peter Kempd tin* blind man. 
 I came to Manitoba in IH7<) witli notiiin}^, married in IH7!i, and have 
 Hve children. I like the country and the freedom of the laws. I like 
 the schools, also, and 1 am one of the trustees for Kurwalde school. 
 I have ISO acres of lanil, and 1 crop 250 acres. I consider myself 
 worth 825,0(10. Ke»;p H cow.s and 12 hor.ses. In this country it is 
 horses that do the work, more than men. The climate is colder here 
 than where we live<l in Russia, but it is a Rood clinuite. and 1 have 
 no fault to find with it. 1 would not leave Manitoba, and I do not 
 tliink there is any better place for people to conu> to who ar leaving 
 p]urope, These are brief answers to your ijuestions. and I hope this 
 letter will serve your purpose. 
 
 Yo\irs truli', 
 
 PETER REM PEL. 
 WiNKi.KK, Man., Nov. :5it, nmo. 
 
 Dear Sir, -1 canu' to Manitoba in 1890 from South Russia. J 
 was a practical miller there. Brought about !?l,20o with nie. 1 
 worked as miller in Manitoba for t years, and 2 years in Oregon, on 
 the Pacific coast. Then 1 came back to this country and worked in 
 Peters & Dyck's {{rist mill here for 1 years, and then I bought a half 
 interest in the mill. I like this country and am well satisfied, 1 have 
 a farm of 160 acres, but 1 do not work it, 1 rent it out. I have in- 
 crea.sed my capital five times more than it used to be. .V man can do 
 well in Manitoba if he keeps his eyes open, and tends to business. 
 l'\)r farmers, carpenters and stonemasons it is the best country I hare 
 found yet. Besides. 1 think freedom in religion is a great point, and 
 this is a free country. The grain grown here is better than any place 
 where 1 have been, and 1 have been all over half of the world. Jjand 
 is now too dear in tlui reserve for stock-raising, but it is all right for 
 mixed fanning. 
 
 Yours truly. 
 . J. A. BORM. 
 
 Winkler, Man.. Nov. 28th, 1900. 
 
 Dear Sir, -I left Russia in 1875, and went to Newton, Kansas, 
 with ten Russian cents. I lost all 1 made there, by failure of the 
 
4S 
 
 'I'lic McHnoitt's 
 
 rrops, mill in lssr> I fHint^ to Manitoba with nothing. Now I luivt* a 
 boimtifiil liDiiit*. with ItiM inrcs of Itiinl, after >;iviiiK my son h>o acrt'S. 
 1 am cunifortalily ulT and am well ph'jistMl witli t)ie contlitions here. 
 Th*) n>lin;iou.s freedom here i« watiHfaftory to nm. 'I'liis is it yood 
 (.oiiiitry for ii poor man to comt" to. 
 
 Vour« truly. 
 
 " ABKAM K. THIK.SON. 
 
 UoSKNUAtll, Nov, 2!', I'liin. 
 Dkak Sik. I caiiH' to Manitolia in IH7i> with my family. Had 
 threti childn-n 'I'hey an' all married now and havo familie^ of theii' 
 own. and are piosporin^j:. Amon^^t us we hiive."ii) horses and "•n head 
 of (Mittlc, and wo have HiJit acres of land. We own three fiiriii.'' in tlie 
 North-west 'IVn itories, ami consider oinselve.-' worth in all ahout 
 ^l.").tiiiii, 'JMie freedom we have in scdiools and reiit;ion could nor he 
 better. Miinitoi)ii and the Nortii-west are j;ood place.s for people to 
 come to. becati.se they can piosper. 1 am .")!» years old, and 1 like the 
 country. It is u little colder than southern liussia. liut it is dry ami 
 the cold is not i'elr miudi. It is a very healthy climate here. 
 
 IS.AAC WIK.N.S. 
 
 WiNKMou. .Man.. Nov. -it;, iimii. 
 |)K.\|{ Sik. I am well satistied with this country, and I think 
 any one will n<'t aloiij;: well who i.^ willing; to work. I came here in 
 IHT'.t, and had *'2,i"mi. I farmed near (Jretna 1 I years and now I have 
 accumulated •'r'l'J,iii"i. I have land at iJosthern. Assiniboia. and I 
 have a u;iist mill at ( 'arman. Manitoba. 1 like the freedom of the 
 sidiouis here, anil the assistance j;i\eii to rlie schools l»y the (ioveni- 
 ment of Manitoba in grants of money. J would be willin;.; fo advise 
 any one looking; for a new home, to ('ome to this country. I was in 
 iiussia ten years apjo on a visit, and I will ^o ayain in a few years 
 more. When I was tliere t)efore a great many iieople were eiiquirint; 
 aliout this country, and wanted to know all ui)out it. .\ll m\ old 
 friends who saw me after 1" years said I looked healthy and as if 
 this coiuitry had been \iviOi\ to me. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 W. PETKKS. 
 
 ScilANZKNTKLl). Nov. Hti. l^ltU. 
 
 Dkak Sik, In Ih75 1 came to Manitoba with my family All I 
 had was $75. ui). I have no land now. as I sold it in 1HH7 to eo into 
 business in aKrici.ltural implements and farmers' supplies, and also a 
 lumber yard. I consider myself now worth Sin.ooii. I iind the farm- 
 ers generally prosperous, and they pay their bills promptly. Manito- 
 ba is a good I'ountry for people to come to. 
 
 Yours truly. 
 
 ' JACOB B. DY(JK.