Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from The Separate School Question, And, the French Language in the Public Schools: Report of the Speech Delivered by Hon. Geo. W. Ross, Minister of Education, on the Occasion of the Annual Demonstration of the Toronto-Reform Association, June 29th, 1889
We will not allow our opponents to assume that all this zeal for one national language is the outcome of patriotic enthusiasm for the unification of the country and the perpetuation of civil liberty. I think it requires but little penetration to see through the thin veil of hypocrisy under which all their pretentions are concealed. A few years ago Prescott, Russell and Essex were represented in the Local Legislature by Conservatives. There was no cry then Of French aggression and French invasion. In nearly half these schools at that time no English was taught and few of the authe rized text books were used. The teachers were not as capable of teaching English as they are now. A greater number of them came from Quebec then than now. Where were these guardians of the liberties of Ontario in those days In 1883, when Tory members, by virtue of the votes of the Frenchmen in these coun ties, sat in the Legislative Assembly, were they the champions of English schools they pretend to be, tea-day When; the Govern ment submitted to the regulations of 1885, by which substantial progress has been made for securing the introduction of English into every school, did Mr. Robillard, the Tory member for Prescott, or Mr. Sol White, the Tory member for Essex, say a word in support of the policy then instituted N ot a word. The oracles of to day were all silent then. Even the son of Ontario. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
