FAMILIES OF TWENTY

Evening Star, Issue 15394, 19 January 1914, Page 7

FAMILIES OF TWENTY

: TRAITS OF FRENCH-CANADIANS. THEY DONT WANT TO FIGHT. ROMAN* CATHOLIC QUEBEC. [By Chas. E. Sugo, formerly of the Toronto ' Daily Star;*] - NoTTv. . When you approach a. man whose name ./ou know to De Donald M Thereon, and aek'him tc have a drink, and he replies "J«M comprend pa*," you have grounds for astonishment. This" happens in the Quebec province of Canada. Many -moo. with Highland names and still typically Scotch in appearance speak neither Gaelic nor English, only French. The AngloSaxon population of Canada has long ago gi\en up all-idea of absorbing the French, and whatever absorption is going on » at the expense of the English. It is rather wonderful when vou think it out. In 1763 there were 69'000 French in Canada ; in 1911 there were 1,605,339 in Quebec province alone, and almost that number has gone to the United States and Ontario. This enormous increase has been shown practically without the aid of immigration, and. in spite of the influx to Canada of a vast non-French population. It i» doe 6olely to the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, and a high birthrate.. Families of 2C have been common in {Juebec, and though overcrowding and insanitary conditions in parts resulted in a. high infantile mortality, and made the women of Quebec very "prone to consumption, the French have accomplished their desire to possess at least one province of the Dominion as their own. In the decade 1901-11 the British population of Canada, fed .by continuous immigration From the States and the United Kingdom, increased bv 27.22 per cent. In the same period the "French population, fed by no tributary, increased by 24.59 per cent. Whole townships in the eastern part of Quebec, which used to be English, have become French, and Catholic schools have displaced Protestant. Even Ontario, which prides, itself on being more British than London, has felt the French invasion. There is no menace in this segregation and increase of French-Canadian?. They are a source of strength tc Canada, and to the Empire. They are not disloyal, though thev have often had to submit to t'le taunt. " If vou wish to realise the essential features'of the British Empire, go to the noble Parliament Buildings in Quebec, note the French heroes whose fame is perpetuated in the niches—Champlain, Montcalm. Maisonneuve. Montmorency, Laval, and a. host of others whose names are probably unknown to you—and the Union Jack spread to the breeze above ►hem; and reflect that in Quebec, where "relish is practically a foreign language, :hat Flag is held in the same reverence »nd affection as in London. Then turn I -o the eouth of the famous Chateau Fron- j ienac, observe the simple granite shaft which commemorates Wolfe and Montcalm, and read the inscription: "Valor gave them a common death, History a common fame, and Posterity a common monument." To do this is to realise that the chief glery of the British Empire J* Jhat it respects the consciences and rights pi minorities. French-Canadians are not militarists rhe Nationalist movement, which aims to keep Canada out of the general wars of the Empire, originated amongst them. This is not disloyalty. It is the prejudice -obsession, if you will—of an agrarian aeopte. French-Canadians are farmers, ind their forefathers were Normandy Deaeants. They are an isolated iommunitv, susceptible tc few outside iuflnenoes,' and with little idea oi.world oolitks. They have no history. They do W, want to fight, and they think they lave no enemies. Therefore they do not irant to spend any of their hard-won surplus on armaments. But if ever ?rench-Canadians realise the danger of mother flag floating over the citadel of Quebec the Nationalist movement wiJJ collapse like a pricked bubble, and they will rush to arms. That is what they did when the Americans invaded Canada. French-Canadians would, perhaps, prefer independence to the British connection, but they infinitely prefer the British connection to the rule of any other power. Thev know that their separate schools would not continue under the Star 3 and Stripes, and that their religious privileges would be curtailed. The domination of Germany would be intolerable, and the tricolor of Republican and secular France would be more irksome than the Union Jack. Quebec owes allegiance to Rome, and after that to King George. "Let as be French as the Americans »re English," says M. Bourassa, the isaiiooalist leader, and in so saying he jnerely reiterates the determination of to preserve their language. They have done this so well that If you stroll into one of the unpretentious,

but excellent, restaurants —restaurants that abound in the east end of Montreal—you will probably have to talk French or order by dumb show. There have been i few ifi-timed attempts to make English the language of Quebec, but it is now agreed that Quebec must fcr ever be a bilingual province, with French the predominant tongue. It would be strange, indeed, if this were not so, for anyone who reads history without bias must acknowledge that in the discovery and settlement of Quebec, and Canada generally, the French played a far more Important part than the English. Their heroic priests carried the cross and the flag "Tar inland in the face of privation and - peril. Wolfe's military genius changed the destiny of Canada, yet it . did not ' altogether wipe out history. If time has dealt kindly with FrenchCanadian ambition to possess Quebec it has blurred, some wilder dreams. One of these was that the sacrifices of French mothers might people Canada. The high birth rate of Quebec has been the expression of a political hope which the Church I encouraged. At' one time the Provincial Government used to give land grants to large families, and but for the enormous immigration into Canada the dream might have come near realisation. Even now the Church has a tender regard for its adherents outside Quebec. In it* French population Canada has an Isset of tremendous valuer—an asset which is best rppreciated after' a visit to the prairies. The besetting sin of the West is Materialism. If Quebec has any fault it Is other-wordlincss. West of 'Winnipeg nothing counts but the dollar. There is little leisure, little Teverence, little contemplation; no time for day-dreams. In Quebec pixmncetheChurchifistilleuprenie. Literature flourishes at* nowhere else in Canada ; the priest passes contemplatively, the habitant tills his ancestral farm, aiid j the Bosy world Tushes by unheeded. For the_ effects of Roman Catholicism as a political system I h*ve no admiration, but Nraen compels me to admit that thfl Church has saved Quebec from the materialism which threatens to strangle the rest of Canada. The French-Canadian'is therefore a valuable factor in the national )uake-up, whatever his intrinsic weaknesses Jnay be. Quebec is even more Roman Catholic )han French.- for there "aro some Irish tetfclemente. The Chnrch really has the privileges of a State Church, but is independent of the State. Tho cure Teceives {-26 th of the cereak produced by his parisldcnere, and tiixes are levied by the Church for the erection and maintenance of buildings. These taxes are enforced Vf the Civil Courts. Schools and teachers we -under the direct control of the Chirr ?h, which was formerly wont to exercise a direct ooatrol over the political machinery oi the province. In recent years the Church, though it has continued to exercise » large influence, direct and indirect, on politics, has interfered less ostentatiously. The rebuke of the Church is still dreaded in Quebec. In former years it has silenced newspapers, closed theatres, and .altered the amusements of the people. The province has a famous shrine, St. Anne de Beaupre's, which is said to rival Lourdes in Franee lor k« number of miraculous cores. Hundreds of pilgrims visit it every jeu. The Tesults of Roman Catholic dominatitti in* Quebec province are to be judged :rf two ways, visit the country and you tmd *< contented, industrious peasantry. * yMk Montreal and jou find a city two-.

thirds French, -with. two-fchiwlß of - the wealth and industry in English hands. Probably French enterprise has crippled* by lack of capital, but there is no reason to doubt that the ascendency of Protestants in business is due to 'their superior education. The teaching imparted at Roman Catholic schools has been utterly inadequate and little suited for commercial purposes. A chango is at hand { the Provincial Government now showing admirable enthusiasm for an allround improvement in educational facilities. Not only is the primary course being made more thorough, but great attention is being paid to technical and agricultural education. With this improvement in French schools and a more generous supply of capital from Paris it is probable that British commercial supremacy at Montreal will be more severly tested in the future than in the past. " ' I hope the spread of education in Quebec province will not lead to an encroachment of that materialism which is blighting Western life. If it does, there will be a net loss, but there is no reason why it should. Were that quiet, old-world corner to become just like the rest of .North America it would be a tragedy.