Charlottetown, July 24, 1876,

WIiGHLY IMPORTANT.

Ir is understood by electors in this wn that Mr. Louis H. Davies and his new party ” will, it triamphant in the uing struggle, repeal the clause in our itional Act permitting the reading We Will

ea ‘ the Bible in our public schools.

x Mr. Mr. Davies Pre

: ae i Davies, is this correct!

We put

Davies:

ints of this Isl ind ? Mr. Louis |

‘ Cc t! ju tion to

if of the electors of this Provinee,

Avra Ye.

reverse the united action of}

PROTESTANT POINT OF VIEW.

| rere is uo doubt that, in the minds

l7uE SCHOOL QUESTION FROM\ WHAT

The Gxamuter. iat

| of many Protestants, the question of aid |

lto denominational schools is not looked |

‘upon as the real one at issue in the pre- sent contest; or, at most, it is a question ' which—of comparatively secondary 1m-

stances to be, as it were, a symbol of very much more than itself. They think they see signs of what they eall a great Romish | Aeeression; and, in acting 28 they do about the school question, they think | they are preparing to resist some unknown

‘future danger. We are going to-day to

7 lerant them, for the sake of argument, er. that this is so. ‘True, we might rather *-=—ece-* —_—— i : : : : ( NEW PARTY express our surprise at this not very gen- « ase a ‘ ° : si : | orous feeling towards our Roman ( atholie © A Political Party isa number of men | fojJow-countrymen. We might remem- t ! to carry t certain mea- |, ee 2 ! " \ ' » be t ui ber that we have lived peacefully re W evi ( i t ial ow certain principles which | together for many years, and have as yet fy | to? trimental tothe wi >} : cae ta ie S * Haviland.” | seen no sign of this imagined conspiracy; . jg that a man | we might say that in the various ways In : - . ji that the Party 0) which we have been brought into contact ‘means well to the | luge : ‘mie a ti re substantial good will | with our Roman ¢ atholic fellow~citize 8, we to the nation from its coming into] we have scen them ¢o be as earnest for ! es 38 any other : li ~ oo ons t all ‘wit in the welfare of our common country as we nen whose success is at all hi h ‘co sibility.—Lord Jeffrey. | are ourselves, As business men, as pub- Se . | lie men, they have nothing to be ashamed ew Party is in course of forma- we ike a tp dese \arsesiomsenttt : : of. In social life, we get as honest and . T “tu te oe OW ye giorious : F ie ee ee 'manly a smile and as hearty a shake of

distinetion. Its work is to rejuvenate the |

Vrovince ‘by means of a free, unsectarian system of education. The party is to be led | by men, some of whom hope to live and die __others of whom hold firmly by the inherent rights of property and bel in the Divine rights of Kings.

« radicals | eve Yet we know nothing whatever respect- ine the measure —the platform — upon which these gentlemen prepose to unite, We have not yet heard whether they intend to maintain “ non-sectarian religious edu- cation ’* or non-sectarian secular education —whether they think with Dr. Murray that wnsectarian religious insiruction is | absolutely necessary ; whether they think teaching of

harm”;

with the Argus that the much

Cutechisms “‘is not whether they believe with the Patriot that to su} pple ment secular instruction by SOs called religious teaching is rather hurtful than be. |

lieve with Mr. Laird, that those who build

schools for themselves should be relic ved o}

Lenefcial’ ’—— or whether they

« payment of taxes and be permitted to ain 1 wiffected by the Free Non-sectas System of the State. The funda- | mental principle of the measure upon | which this curious and wonderful party is | to be formed is yet undefined, unexplained | and unknown to the electors of this | Province.

We have no information whatever re- | garding the of the “ new party ’’ with respect Charlottetown. We, the electors of Char- lottetown—called upon by the leaders of | the ‘* new party ” to vote for Davies and | DeBlois—are absolutely in the dark as to whether or not Davies and DeBlois will or will not, if elected, make any change in the Common Schools of this city— whether we are to continue paying our taxes to no purpose, or whether schools to

intentions to the schools of |

which we can send our children are to be erected and maintained. Assuming that an improvement isto be made, we do not know whether the expense is to be defray- ed out of the general revenue or whether the funds required are to be raised by

jocal assessment. We are entirely in the

dark. The leaders of this “new party” | have the impertinance to ask us to vote— for a

not for men whom we know—but

® | measure which we know not. Again we | warn our Protestant fellow-~citizens to beware of a trap. We exhort them to|

7

look before they leap. We counsel them

—-before they promise their votes to Davies and De Blois—to demand of Davies and DeBlois explicit answers to the fol- |

lowing questions :—

i

|

1. Will Mr. Davies permit the public |

s s of Charlottetown to remain as they |

~a disgrace to the community ? |

t. Will Mr. Davies build public schools |

n Charlottetown, Summerside and Souris or |

‘ rgetown ? |

ifso) Will Mr, Davies tax the citizens |

id townspeople, or will he tax the people |

of the country al large, to defray the cost of |

building, etc. ?

i. Will Mr. Davies make attendance at lar schools compulsory ?

Will Mr. Davies, if pressed to do so,

y Dr

rf { ' diif

Pope and Brecken —the leaders of the good, old Liberal Conservative Party —

ay’s scheme to all or any of

ic? Is

Muri . he

bot so reticient as the leaders of this ’ Theirs is not merely a They tell us positive- They tell us that they will preserve and improve our They tell us that, to restore peace and harmony—and for the

ure "new party. policy of negztion.

ly what they mean to do. free school system.

sake of economy—they will utilize the denominational schools of Charlottetown, and render them to all intents and pur- poses free schools—free to every child in the community—open to Government in- spection. They tell us that they will not pay one cent to any of those sehools unless it can be shown that a good seeular educa_ tion is imparted in them. Tere is some- thing tangible. Llere is a platform which may be Here are tried and proved men endeavoring by every means in their power to allay agitation and re- store peace and harmony, to replenish our vacant schools, to give us good, free schools for the towns, to save the public money,to prevent additional taxation. The ‘party ’’ led by these men may be termed the “ Party of Utility.” The “new party’ led by Davies and DeBlois—men

critized.

who have never yet done one great thing for the community—men who are trying to form a party without a measure—men with not one political principle in com- mon to hold them together—nothing but the bubble of non-sectarian schools to attract—nothing but the cohesive force of public plunder to bind them into a work- able administration—the “ new party ”’ to be led by these men gs, tes it can be formed, be termed the “Party of Im- practicability.”

If Senator Haviland’s definition of a party be correct, then this Party of Tm- practicability have no right whatever to the support of electors; for there is not even the skeleton of a measure upon which tounite. And if the great Lord Jeffrey’s dcfinition be correct, and if Liberal Con- servatives believe that the -meu who ob- tained $500,000 with which to make our tenants frecholders,and gained the “ Better Perms,” and gave usthe Railway, are still true to general interests of the country, are still men of judgment and partiotism, they will, under the old flag, follow the old Jeaders on to vietory.

r

| with scholars.

| the hand from one of them as from any

one else. Remembering all this, we might express some wonder at this threatened conspiracy, and at last com- fort ourselves with the reflection that after all there has never been given any proof of it, but merely there have been the inferences of opponents from views with which they do not sympatiize, But we will not, to day, take this line ; we will rather, endeavor so to exercise our im agination as to suppose ourselves believing the worst about them, and try and see how such views would affect our action on the school question.

Certainly, it does seem to us that if we were about to engage in a life-and-death struggle with some opponent, our first care should be to see that our own cause was 2 just one,

‘* Thrice is he armed who hath his quarre]

*,

just.

If we expect to have to resist some un- righteous demands, we should be scrup- ulously careful to see that every righteous one is granted. We should deem it a sorry policy to prepare to resist injustice by ourselves perpetrating an act of injus- tice. The best thing to strengthen an opponent is to give him a real grievance ; the surest way to weaken our own hands would be to perpetrate a wrong. If, then, we believe, this great aggression to be coming (and know that it is by moral force that the battle will have to be fought) do not let us make our prepara- tioa by doing an act of injustice, thinking thus to strengthen our position,

Now let us see how the Roman Catholic ean, in this case, present his claim—let us try and put ourselves, for the moment, in his place, and enter into his feelings. lie might speak somewhat as follows :—

“ True, we have ever been reproached by you Protestants as being indifferent or opposed to education, our church reviled as the great hindrance to it. You never seemed weary of boasting of your superior intelligence, your love of education, your efforts to advance it. We never argued the point with you; but while you were busy We built,

thus talking, we were at work.

| out of our poverty, schools for rich and

poor, equipped them, furnished them with excellent teachers, and crowded The public schools were a disgrace to a civilized community, and

them

| when a stranger asked to see your educa- | tional establishments, you were glad to | point to ours or to some other denominas

tional schools, lest you should be put to the blush by showing your own. Thus for some years past have we poor benight- ed, unprogressive, ignogant Roman Cath- olics worked for the cause of education, and now .you, too, are waking up to see that something must be done. We are glad of it. We have been trying for years —not by blatant words, but by real work— to teach you what schools should be, and you are learning the lesson. But do we hear aftght ? Are you saying that you will compel us—who have already taxed ourseives for schools which we can use, in which at least one-fourth of the community can be educated as they wish-—to pay taxes again to help you to build schools which none but yourselves can use? Are twice or three times the number of re- quired schools to be built in Charlotte- town, and we be forced to pay for them, that we may be “ taught our place,’”’ and not allowed to beaggressive ? And when we remonstrate, are we to be threatened with the brute-force of a majority, and told that as a minority we have no right

to resist the will of those more numerous than ourselves ?” ”

liow can any Protestant believe that he is strengthening his cause, preparing to resist aggression, maintaining the consti- tution by perpetrating such an act of ine justice? It just amounts to this: The Roman Catholic has built himself a good school; the Protestant, being stronger, comes and takes him by the throat and says, “‘now pay a tax to help me build miuve.”” So surely as there is a just Ged in Heaven, so surely will the party that goes into the battle laden with the burden of such a crime find the very stars in their courses fighting against it.

The honor of Protestantism is, to a great extent, to-day, in the hands of the people of Charlottetown. It is in the townas—the centres of business and of ins telligence—that we look for that broader, more generous spirit that loves to do jus~ tice even to an opponent. We look there for that higher policy which sees that the surest ways to guard its own rights is to respect the rights of others. There are, we believe, in Charlottetown, Protestants who would resist to the death any inva- sion of their liberties—who would oppose the slightest aggression, Roman or other —who are prepared to be firm as a rock and brave as a lion, to resist any forcign interference whatever—but who, because they jee] that they may one day have to contend in a sacred cause, will not dis. _ honor that cause by trying to strengthen it by an act of injustice. And there are others who (it may be mistakenly) do not distrust their Roman Catholie fellow—citizens at all, and will gladly stand by their side to prevent, if they can, their being wronged in the name of justice, ov being oppressed because they are few. There are enough of these men in Char- lottetown to save Protestantism from the disgrace which threatens it, and to prevent a great wrong being done under the guise of religious zeal,

|

: | fighting. | portance itself—has come from circum- |

POIRIER ART 1 5k SEATS 1BOUT THAT MEASULE = |

j

i

Tux Patriot of Saturday evening has a petty, pitiful little attack upon a gentle | man whom it is pleased to call ‘ Donald Ferzuson, the Unsound.’? We might easily respond with such appropritte RICK: | names as “ Louis Keep-dark ”? or * Harry |

the Artful Dodger.’”? But we prefer fair | Intrenched behind its masked | battery, the “ new party” have surely no | need to resort to such petty little devices | as nicknames, lies and misrepreseat itions.

We~— knowin that we have the best cause

i

and the best men to fight for—disdatn |

such trickery. Why, we 2 sk, does Mr. | Davies keep 80 dark? Why has he | selected the most indefinite words in the language to define his position ? Why does he not explain what he means by

|

, ”? ee ws , 29 “unsectarian education, or purity ’” |

| words |

and “ integrity 2”? Kach of the e,

is, Mr. Davies knows, susceptible of vary- |

i ‘of ; » believe

ing shades of meaning. And, we believe | } lal} rath

he has selected them with a deliberate |

intention to get rid, after his election, |

of a difficulty which he knows he cannot

surmount. His ‘little game’? is similar |

to that of Hans Breitman’s politiclan : |

Who keepedt himself ungomnmon shtill ven oders gome to plows ;

Und if.any ax how ‘lvas vriends vould vink so loose,

Und visper ash dey dapped deir nose: soundl oopon de coose !

he shoodt, his

Ho's

‘He's O. K. oopon de soobject: shoots pet your pile on dal:

On dis bartik’ler quesdion coot it fat’.

The intelligent Protestant clectors of Charlottetown will hardly, we fancy, let him

he indends to

“cot elegtded pefore de beople foundt a On vilch site of der coose it vas he shtick so awful soundt.”

> ee

THE MEETING ON FRIDAY NIGUT.

Mr. DeBeots, Mr. L. IT. Davies, and Senator HAVILAND addressed the meet- ing in Market Hall on Friday evening. But they spoke no word about the dis- content of thousands, or the hundreds of vacant schools throughout the Island; and they hardly touched upon the para- lysis of legislation, or the burning ques- tion, ‘ where is the money to come from ?’ There was a good deal of political rant about free unsectarian education; but not a word as to whether Dr. Murray’s scheme, or any other scheme for teaching “unsectarian religion” would or would not be adopted. There were eloquent paragraphs on “ purity”? and “ integrity,” but not a word as to whether—should parents prefer keeping their children home and illiterate to sending them to secular or unsectarian free schools—a compulsory measure would be passed. The policy of “keep dark? was well maintained. There were plenty of words ;

but none to the point. — > ieee

“THE STRONG MAN.”

AT the meeting in Market Hall; ‘on Friday evening, Mr. Millner said: “ The Hon. J. U. Pope is a very strong man, It will be hard to beat him. He reminds me of a man I once saw in New York. who could bear 1600 pounds upon his back. This man said that he could hold on to the round of a ladder, end four horses could not drag him off. The ex- periment was tried—and the man held

on.”’

Just so. Mr. Pope is 2 strong man ; and strengthened by the consciousness that he has a good cause, and is sympa- thised with and supported by lovers of justice and peace and good government, of all denominations and classes, he will hold on,

THE CENTENNIAL.

MOWING MACHINE TRIAL,

On the 27ih of June, under the auspices of | the Agriculiural Department of the Centen- nial Exposition, the manufacturers and ex- hibitors of mowing and reaping machinery held a competitive field exhibition of thgir

various harvesting implements, on the farm ofC. S. Vandergrift, near Eddington, Bucks County, Pa.

The test was under the immediate super- vision of the Committee selected by the Agri- cultural Board,and Mr. Colemanja prominent and practical agriculturist of England, was chosen Chairman of the Committee. All the celebrated Machines of the country were entered for competition, and the trial was made very thorough and complete. Each machine was submitted to the most diflicult tests, such as they are subject to when used for their ordinary purposes,

CHAMPION MOWER AND REAPLR,

This implement is considered the leading machine of the country, and came off vic- torious in thiscontest. The machine known as the Champion Light mower, which was

tested in this trial,drew the remarkably light draft of one hundred and thirty-one pounds, making the lightest draft on record,

This machine is the invention ot Mr. W. N. Whiteley, of Springfield, O.. and dates its origin back to 1852, at which time Mr. Whit- ley received his first patent on harvesting machinary.

From that time forward the popularity of this machine has been unequated, and they are now sold in all the civilized countries on the globe. The Champion is manufactured at Springfield, O., by whatis known as the ‘Champion Interest,’ comprising the mam- moth factories of Warder,Mitcheil & Co., and Whiteley, Fassier & Kelly.

These three concerns produce nearly 40,090 Champions for the Centennial Year, or about one-half of the product of this continent. Their factories cover an area of thirteen acres, and give employment to twenty five hundred operatives, constituling them the largest producers of reapers and mowers in the world,

Among the severe tests imposed on each machine at the exhibition was that of cutting rolied grass, and but few machines ac- complished the work satisfactorily,the Cham- pion being the only mower that could suc- cessfully cut the rolled grass after the heavy rain-storm of the previous week. This famous harvester is capable of cutting from fifteen to twenty acres of grain per day.

AN EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLAR MOWER.

In Agricultural Hall the Champion Com- panies have on exibition a mowiag machine which in finish and beauty rivals any other piece of mechanism at the Centennial. The Cincinnati Enquirer of April 29th, speaking of the mower says: “ It commands not only the admiration of disinterested specta- tors, but the prominent manufacturers of of other harvesters concede the honor to this mower as being the finest and most expens- ive farm implement ever produced. It con- sists of but three materials—gold, silver, and rosewood, The effect of these rich and dazzling ingredients can be much better imagined than described. The object ap- pears at first sight a glittering mass of pre- cious metals and polished wood.’—Frank Leshe's Illustrated Newspaper, July 22.

Dr. Arison, Principal of Sackville Acad- emy, had never seen it necesssary to piace a ban on the word of God ian Public free scaools. Ie was pleased to see in Philadel- phia the other day in the magnilicent Ex- h:hition—intended to shew the workiag of the system of that State—the words ‘Every teacher in the State of Pennsylvania js par- ticularly requested to attend to the moral and religious education. of his pupils,’ dis- played in various places on the sides of the Exhibition building. Dr. A. held thul un- der our circumstances there can be no better provision made for those who desive a libers al education than by providing [or the de- nominalional institutions under the care of

SARE AAT T LT PS, TTT

G

| graceful that we

AFEL |

THE GITY $

REAT HEBTING OF EE CTORS

THE ATHENRUW PACKED. SPEECHES BY BREGKEN & POPE.

(3 Remarkable avd ee LO |

o- . pant 7 nthusiasm | bwin eabde wed bawdwiis wail

“> ale Unanimity J ddvenh shana ¥ 6

POPE & BRECKEN NOMINATED |

Tne Atheneum was literally packed on Wednesday evening inst.

tion of our most intelligent citizens were

A large propor.

present, and hundreds were unable to obs The speeches of Brecken the point—were heard with enthusiastic aps

tain admittance.

and Pope— clear, practical, and to

plause, On motion of Daniel McKinnon, Esq., Dr. Jenkins was selected Chairmin; W. W. Stumbles, W, L, Cotton was appointed Secretary,

and on motion of Mr.

lion. I. BRECKEN on coming forward was He said: Mr. Chairman and gentlemen electors, I do not intend to make anything like a speech. You are aware that | have been absent from the Province, I knew nothing whatever re- specting the excitemeut existing here until my return, @ little more than a week ago, The day foilowing my arrival | met a num- ber of Protestant gentlemen, who proposed that I should contest this election in com- pany with Louis H. Davies, I declined the offer. In 1863 it was my fortune to be ® member of a purely Protestant Governs ment. There was then not a Cathoiic in the admunistration, nor a Catholic official under it, I never wish to be in a similar position, I never again wish to see Pros testants and Catholics divided—aud one set against another—as they must be if a Pyro. testant Government is formed and _ this School Question is left unsettled. Theres fore I declined to come out as a Protestant in Opposition to Catholics, In this little Island there are, out of a total population of less than 100,000, about 47,000 Catholics, I say, sir, that the man who would raise a religious howl, and set Catholics against Protestants, and Protestants against Catho» lics, ought to ke driven out of the Country. Without harmony and peace we can have no true happiness, no real prosperity: This is my conviction. I said to the committee who waited upon me—ani by whom I was very courteously treated—that if a dis vision of Protestants and Catholics was to take place, I would decline to take part in the contest. But I said I will reserve to myself the right of acting freely. “1 will wait for further developments.”

heartily cheered.

this contest is to be between Protestants and Catholics, | wish to have nothing what» ever to do with it. But if, on the other

me in the endeavor to solve the difficulty staring us in the face, | care not though I should be certain of defeat, I will stand. Cheers.) Now I will briefly give my views on the question which is agitating this Pros vince. For many years my opinion has been that something should be done for the echools in town. Iam not ag advocate for sectarian schools throughout the country, because I believe that in a mixed and spar- sely settled community they are unsuitable. But in towns my opinion is that schools ess tablished by denominations might be uti- lized under certain regulations—to carry out the object of the State—to impart secux lar instruction to the youth of the Province.

And has this object been attained in Char-

lottetown? Look at the Free Schools of the City as portrayed by the School Visitor. Is not their condition so dis-

should blash with shame at the bare mention of them? We must do away with those dirty dens. We must have respectable buildings in which to edu- cate our children—such buildings as have been erected by the denominations—such schools as the Wesleyan School, St. Patrick’s School, and St. Peter’s School. We must wipe out the schools which are our disgrace, and replace them by something better. To do this we will have to submit to taxation, and as we cannot draw any further upon our ggperal revenue the taxes will have to be raised by land assessment. Catholics and Protestants—those who have a'ready, at great sacrifice to themselves, erected good schoolhouses and are now taxed beyond their means to support these schools—will have to submit to additional levies upon their resources in order that respectable buildings may be raised and efficient schools maintained. Then why not, if possible, utilize those fine schools—the ornaments to our city—which have been erected. The Catholies of this town have already as much as they can do to maintain their schools. Is it night that more money should be wrung but of them to erect and maintain other schools—schools from which they can receive no advantage whatever? The Meth-~ odists have already expended large sums of money in building and maintaining their excellent school. Would it be proper to bring additional taxation upon them, A few of them might, perhaps, endure the visit of the assessor fora year or so—just to keep up their character for consistency— but they would soon weary of this unjust exaction, Utilize the Denominational schools—if the denominations to which they belong submit to certain regulations of the State, and the difficulty is solved. Utilize them as they are utilized in England. The cost cannot possibly be quarter as great as if new schools are erected and maintained and the additional expense to which we will be put to erect schools to take the place of the ones now in use, may fairly be borne by all denominations in the community. (Ap+ plause.) I should notlike to be the tax gatherer who would go to the Catholic citizens of Charlottetown, and demand from them a heavy assessment to erect new and expensive schoolhouses, the state having refused to give them any assistance, and they being at the same time compelled, un- aided, to maintain their own schools, | should not like to see the scenes witnessed

@ year or twoago in St. John re.enacted

here. (Cheers.) Our opponents may be divided into two classes. One is com.

posed of conscientious men who may

be called “ religious politicians.” For pers sons of this class I have the highest respect. Those who belong to the other class are the most numerous. They may be called “po. litical religionists.’’ They raise a great outs

cry. They pretend that our loyalty will be

undermined; that our institutions are in

danger. Yhey are selfish, hollow and in-

sincere. Shortly before we entered Con-

federation a great furore was raised lest we

should do any act which should fasten Dew

nominational schools upon this Island, I

ran for the House ef Commons of the Dos minion, and was defeated, Shortly after-

responsible bodies.”

And now, I say to you, gentlemen, that if

hand, 1 see that Protestants will unite with |

— ee

S39) a

4 * cC SHIVQYY

Le ERE Ee FSS PL sentation of Charlottetown. John A. Mc-

Donald, Esq., was my @pponent. The very same men who raised the out-cry against Sectarian schools voted in favor of Mr. John \. McDonald—who would, if he could, have introduced Sectarian schools throughout the length and breadth of the Island. These are the ‘political religionists’ who are now making capital out of the scruples of the people. A year or two ago the Dos minion Parliament unconstitutionally—as was Clearly shown by Lord Carnarvon— petitioned the Queen to interfere, on this question in behalf of the Catholics of New Brunswick; and the Minister of the Interior (Mr. David Laird) voted for the resolution, Yet I have heard Mr, Laird say in his place

| in the House of A sembly, ‘ might his right

hand forget its cunning and his tongue cleave to the roof of his mouth’ if he ever sanctioned the demands of ‘the Catholics, for religious schools. ‘T'wo years ago the Dominion House of Commons gaye to the

| people of the Northwest—a great country | destined to be peopled by hundreds of

thousands of all denominations—separate schools, Where were the Liberal Protest. ants then? Had Pope and Brecken acted as Laird and his colleagues—the represetaa tives of the people of this Island acted then —they would have been hounded down as traitors to Protestantism. But these ‘Liberal Protestants’ were as dumb as mutes, They had axes to grind and offices to get; and in their selfishness they forgot their Protestantism. What guarantee have I that they are one bit more sincere to-day than they were then? Yet these men were supported by Mr. Louis H. Davies and his ‘fellow religionists’ who are now raising the Protestant cry throughout the length and breadth of ihe Island.—Cheers, When in Philadelphia a few weeks ago I had the honor of dining with the ‘ Associ ated Press of Canada,’ At table I met a leading journalist of Ontario with whom I had some conversation. He asked if we had not a school difficulty on the Island, I told him how we were situated—that we had free scoools, nearly half of which were vacant—that the cost of maintaining the schools were wholly defrayed out of the public revenue—the school houses only being erected by means of local assessment —and that the results were not coms mensurate with the cost. He appeared to be somewhat amused at the idea of sup-~ porting schools entirely out of the public treasury, and very much astonished at the rampant bigotry existing on the Island. I said to him, ‘you come from Protestant Ontario, You have I understand made some concessions to Catholics. Do you wish to withdraw those concessions ?’ He said ‘No’ The result of the con- cessions was peace and harmony, and there was no general desire fora change.

Now, Gentlemen, I will be frank with you. Iam opposed to separate schools. I opposed the petition of Catholics asking for separate schools when it was before the House of Assembly two years ago. I would oppose a similar petition if it were before the house, and I were there, now. Owing to the wide difference of opinion and doc- trine existing between the various Protest~ ant denominations, separate schools would in this mixed community be impracticable} | But I will, if elected, and there is any poss sibility of carrying the point, vote for util- ‘izing the denominational schools in the towns. For the sake of peace and to pro- mote harmony and good fellowship in the community, and to save the great expense which must be incurred in the erection of new schools I will go so far, but no further, This is my ticket, gentlemen, on this plat» form, and I will fight it out. If nominated by you, | shalirun. If elected I shall be true to your interests. (Great applause.)

Hon, J. C. Porg was enthusiastically re« ceived, Hesaid that after the able and eloquent speech of his friend Mr. Brecken, he feared anything he might say would have little eflect. He was greatly pleased to see such a large meeting of intelligent |} an influential electors. It seemed to him | that they would accomplish the work they lad taken in hand. It had been said that | he (Mr. Pope) had left Summerside because | he was afraid to contest the election there. This, he need hardly say, was not the fact. Ile had previous to confederation represent- ed Charlottetown. He had only gone to Summerside to fill up a vacancy; and he felt that he should return to Charlottes town again. Personally he had no de- sire to resenter the arena of local polities. But there was one question which he should like to see settled before he retired from the field—one question which for the sake of peace and good feeling and prosperity, and in justice to Catholics and Protestants, should be settled on a fair basis. We have had Free Schools for 25 years, When the Free Education Act was passed it was, probably as weil suited as possible to the country at that time. But the country has out-grown the Act, and for many years past the results, as all would agree, had not heen commensurate with the expense. Nearly half the schools are now vacant. The majority of the teachers now engaged are boys and girls of about sixteen. The edu-~ cation imparted is consequently inferior. This state of things is, Dr. Murray says, owing to the religious differences of the people; and, for this reason, as Dr. Mur- ray said, politicians generally would as soon look their grandmother in the face,as touch the school question. He, Mr. Pope, was not, however, afraid to grapple with it, and with the assistance of his Protestant and Catholic fellow countreymen, he felt that the question could be settled, each member of the community being just as safe from Catholic domination as they are now. To recognize denominational schools through« out the country whe:e the popalation is comparatively scarce and where the de nominations are mixed up, would, Mr. Pope thought, be inadvisable because not prac~ ticable, But in town there were several very fine denominational schools -which might be utilized. The Wesleyans had a

very fine school, and the Catholics had

schools— which are now practically doing the work of the State—training hundreds of youths to be good citizens, able to fill any situation in life—able successfully to face the world’s difliculties—some of whom might, had these schools not been erected and maintained, have turned out ruffians, vagabonds and jail birds, at once the terror and disgrace of the community. The Wes- leyans, and Catholics, and Episcopalians have, in great part, relieved the Govern- ment of teaching; and why should they not receive some consideration from the Government which taxes all alike, and pays money out of the general treasury to educate the children of the Province. it is said by some we do not want to teach religion. It religion is allowed in schools, Catholics will swamp Protestants. Well, the Catholic religion will be taught im any case. But I would not have the Govern- ment interfere with religion nor pay for it. In a school in which good secular education is given I would pay the same amount, per pupil, as if the same secular education had been taught in purely secular schools. I would not recognize the religion at all. If parents (in towns where it is practicable) desire religion along with their secular edu- cation, in the name of Heaven what harm

wards I contested an election for the repre-

can come of it? Surely it will not swamp

Protestantism, In other parts of the world where religion is permitted to be taught in the public schools, they do not think Pro- estantism is in danger. The leading men of Ontario, where separate religious schools are permitted, do not think Protestant Ons tario in any danger. The Grand Master of the Orangemen of Canada voted for separate schools in the North-west. Dr. Allison, a gcod sound Presbyterian, a very clever man,the Principal of the Sackville Academy “held that under our circumstances there can be no better provision made for those who desire a liberal education than by pro~ viding for the denominational institutions under the care of responsible bodies,” Dr, Murray, of this Island, thinks St. Patrick’s School might receive Government aid for the sake of peace. In his evidence be, fore the Parliamentary Committee last pring, he said :—‘ The difficulty as to St. Patrick’s School is that you allow a sectarian institution to be the means of imparting secular instruction, and I would oppose it but for the sake of peace [ would let i; pass in this case.” So the Rev; Isaac Mur- ray would let St. Patrick’s school pass for the sake of peace! I have for the sake of peace been conscientiously endeavoring to settle this school difficulty as well as it is practicable to do so, and I am abused all round. They have brought out against me a gentleman for whom personally I have the highest respect—Mr. DeBlois. Well, Mr. DeBlois went all the way to Summers side and voted for me on my * Summerside Card.” Hon. Mr. Haviland went to Sum.~ merside and voted for me at the same time and here is the letter he wrote when he re- turned :—

Stx,—In a leading article published in Saturday's Patriot and headed “ The Tri- umph of Principle,” I am 71 to task for having supported Mr, Ja Pope, at the Summerside election. I my vote in favor of Mr. Pope in the first p!ace, on the ground of his being a Consersative; and, in the seco ecause I have come to the con- clusion tat according to every principle of common justice, the Roman Catholic schools which are situated in the principal towns of the Island, are entitled to aid from the State provided they submit to Government inspec- tion, and Protestant children are allowed to enter them without being subject to any religious test. In pursuance of this principle I have advocated and carried grants through the Legislature for many years towards the maintenance of the Georgetown Infant School, and the Charlottetown Bog School, both of which Institutions are in connexion with the Church of England. By carrying out this principle there is no occasion to in- terfere with the common gchool system which is now in operation throughout the Colony. In the Provinces of Upper Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, grants are annually made by the several Legislatures thereof in aid of the Roman Catholic edu. caticnal institutions, without its being con- sidered as dangerous to Protestantism. Not long ago, the Roman Cathelic Priesthood were charged with neglecting the education of tneir people, and willfully keeping them in ignorance. Now, when they rival us in the cause of education, and their colleges and schools are crowded with the children of influential Protestants who prefer them to the Prince of Wales College and other kin- dred schools, we are afraid, and refuse as- sistance to them out of the common public purse. This is not justice but proscription,