MENNONITES IN MANITOBA.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXIV, Issue 4871, 24 January 1903, Page 3 (Supplement)

MENNONITES IN MANITOBA.

EXILES FROM RUSSIA. The failure of the Uoukhobors in Canada to assimilate New World customs and manners, and the disorder pre\ ailing iu their A-iuibota settlements ovrms. to j me religious mnaLicisiii which luu uu- j pciled them to irco their hordes and cattle j and to leave their crops unharvested, are j iu .startling contrast to Die success and | prosperity achieved by the Mennonites, j also exiles from Russia, and regarded as i the queerest people who ever entered this country (writes the Winnipeg correspondent of tho New fork ‘‘iribunq ;. in their religious views and iu their social customs they aro oven more eccentric than the D.iukhobors, but unlike, toe latter they have displayed an innate common sense that has lilted them from a pitiable condition of peasant ignorance to the level of the Canadian settlers themselves. Like the Doukhobors the Mennonites were driven ont of Russia by the exactions of the government cl the Czar. They came originally from Switzerland, whence they emigrated to Germany, where they sustained religious persecutions that ultimately drove them to Southern Russia, under the protection of tho Empress Catherine. This was near the end of the eighteenth century, and in Russia they lived for well upon 100 years, when the Czar then reigning informed lliom that they would have to abandon 0110 of the leading tenets of their faith—non-partici-pation in military service l —or else move ou,l of Russian territory. Although emigration meant the loss of all the property they had acquired in their century of residence in Russia, they promptly decided to stand by their religious convictions, and at once sent delegations to seek homes for them in Canada and the' "United States. Doth deputations were successful in their mission, and as a result thousands

of Mennonites emigrated to America. Some settled in Kansas, but the great majority came to Manitoba where they took up homesteads under liberal terms from the Canadian authorities. By arrangement they were enabled to secure contiguous holdings, so that they could live in communities as was their custom. Over twenty townships were occupied by them and the land was undoubtedly of the choicest in the province, though little valued then on account of the absence of timber. The Mennonites were not warmly greeted by their Canadian neighbours. Apart from tho belief that it was sinful

to bear arms, they were also firmly convinced. that any kind of civil government was sinful and that religious government alone was to be tolerated. ‘Accordingly they lived under a communal system, with bishops at the head of the community’s affairs. All this would not have brotight them into disfavour had it not been for the fact that with a lack of civil government there, was a correlating disregard for such things as public safety and sanitary precautions. Their houses were for the most part built of clay, onestoried, and roofed with thatched grass. To economise fuel large brick or stone furnaces, plastered inside and out with clay, were built into the central parts of the houses, making the buildings so many ovens. Moreover, in many instances, the stables and barns abutted directly on the living quarters, so that one stepped through a door from the dwelling into the odorous stable. Their deliberate isolation from outsiders, their foreign tongue and manners, and their communal system also helped at first to create 'a great prejudice against them. The gravest crisis in the history of their settlement in Canada came when the Manitoba Municipality Act was passed. The object of this measure was to organise the many settlements then springing up all over the province, so that matters affecting the welfare of the various commnuities might be officiallv uassed upon. This measure, although it had no special significance to the Mennonites from a Canadian point of view, had

a far reaching influence upon their; church, their customs, and their pro-: gross". . According to the Mennonite system of: government the bishops were the sole ai biters of disputes, were the judges and the rulers of the people. In them lay the power of excommunication, a power at times wielded more relentlessly than | by the Popes or the Middle Ages; and an j excommunicated Mennonite led an ex- | trnnifdy unpleasant life, for be was • shunned like poison by his fellows. Ail I social communication with him wns sus-■ I pended, and the system under which he r lived shut him cut from intercourse with the English-speaking neighbours. ; Now, since municipal government was a form of civil, it was in the eyes of the Mennonites. fully as sinful as Slate government, and a great hullabaloo was raised when the settlers wore informed that |n accordance with the terms of tho Act they would bo required to elect a loeva and councillors to manage their affairs. The bishops at once threatened and cajoled their people against acceding to such a demand, but luckily for the future of tho Mennonites there were enough public-spirited men among thorn who, anxious to attain the level of tho Canadians, were willing to assume the responsibilities and the honours of municipal office. ‘Five councillors were put in nomination, but no Mennonite offered himself for reeve, and this post fell to an Englishman residing in the district. Whether a regular election was held it is impossible to say, for there are no records to that effect; but the nominees got into office somehow, and thereafter the power of the bishops was to a certain degree broken. The question of schools also came in to hasten the downfall of antiquated and obsolete usages, and was almost, as potent a disintegrator as the Municipal Act; but in somo districts Mennonites • are to be found, to-day who aro still conservative in their views of school affairs, and who combat tho leaching of English or any other subject not taught in tho

. schools they maintained in Unssia. Still, t the advance in liberal ideas has been r rapid, and with this advance increasing i prosperity has come to' the people. J When they arrived in Canada the Men- ' nonitcs were as poor as the proverbial church mouse. »Indued, -had not the Goveminent rendered them substantial tinf ancial aid it is to be doubted whether , they could have survived. As it was they t - were compelled for the first year after their advent to huddle together in rude huts of mud and turf, or to seek refuge r in caves and holes in the ground. Their : clothing was of the rudest, being as a rule * made of sheepskin with the woolly side [ in. They were simple tp an extreme de- ' gree, and in the first few years of their ; settlement many lust to horse dealers and bunco men all they had earned; but they > plodded on with a 'single purpose—to ‘ build themselves homes in the New \ World, and the farms, live stock, and ' costly buildings they own to-day attest 1 their success. ’ What helped even more than the Municipal Act and the school question, to 5 bring about this success was a split in the church. Necessarily the steady in- * crease in voters and office-holders and ; the constant excommunication coincident ? therewith—a process which is still going ; on—led to the growth of a large body of , Mennouites outside the pale. These after ; n time reorganised into a separate church ! known as the New Mennonites. In the main the doctrines of the two denbmina- * tions are alike, except that the New Mennonites. of course, held more libera] I views than the old regarding civic government. Members are encouraged to ■ take part in the affairs of the State, and the general trend is to get in touch with * modern ideas. For instance, a Mennonite i was formerly. deemed lost by marrying . outside the faith, but such marriages are ■ now by no means uncommon. The objoc- ■ tion to military service is still adhered : to, but the chances are that in the event ' of Canada being attacked by an invading army many a young Mennonite would : rally to the support of his country.* The Mennonites increase at a rapid rate, the direct result, probably, of their

; outdoor employment and their simple : though abundant manner of living. They also marry young as a rule. They are : not “hustlers’'’ in the ordinary sense of ■ the word, taking life quietly and never allowing themselves to be hurried. hen the head of a family feels himself advancing in years he passes the farm management over to his sons, and by them is supported until the end of his days. ’ilie land on which they settled when they hist came to Canada was prairie, with hardly a stick of timber to be found. To-day their villages are hidden in trees, which thev planted as soon as they ar- . rived. They brought from their itussian ' homos flower secus also, for they are passionately iond of flowers. From Russia, too, they brought flaxseed, and were the hist to introduce flax growing into Canada. Thev still cultivate flax extensively on their farms and find it a profitable industry. When such a people, under the conditions that confronted them on their arrival could go to work and in a few short years reach the civilisation of those among whom they settled, it seems all the more remarkable that the Doukhobors, with a far more favourable environment, should have made such a signal failure. The Government is still hopeful that order will bo restored out of the chaos now prevailing, and the recent confiscation and sale of their animals for the benefit of the atics will prove, it is. thought, a step in the direction of bringing them . to their senses. Hut if ignorance in an individual is difficult to overcome, it is doubly so ill a peoule, as the authorities will probably find in their future dealings with , the' Doukhobors.