The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

that followed in the Public Schools. ~Ihos8, mattéers were all within the legislative llj'urhq: diction of the Province of Ontario, and should be deait with by the Housc. Ho had hoped that the Hon. the Minister of Education would have taken higher ground upon the question ; there was a strong feeling througzuout the length and breadih of the country on tho question, a feoling that was not to -- be -- trifiea with. 'The _ Opposition, so far from promoting bigotry and intolerance, were bent upon avoiding race and sectional cries. But it was not in the interosis of the country that there should not be an open, manly defence of the sights of the majority. There should be no yiciding to the unjusi claims of a iminority. lHe would take ngain the position he tock in 188, that the Separato Schools of the country could not be done away with. The only reason why they should ac any time be abolished was, if they were in-- tended, and if, instead of recognising the rizhts of the individuals, the Government should recognise the right of a Ghurch to «overn and control the Senarate Schools. | ut | HOW THEY DROVE IT FROM THEM. The hon. gentleman followed close upou Mr. Meredith, and was received with hearty applause as he rose. Nir. Meredith, he said, had started out alright apparently, but hac not gouse far bofore it was manifest that, whatever his intention was, he was going to make an appoal to & certain class in this Province which might possibly tide him over to the Government side of the House. Mr. Meredith asked what could be the motives which would induce him to take this position. _ Why, even the page behind him could tell him, it was so self--evident. He (Mr. EFrazer) had boped that Mr. Merecith wonld confiue bimself to a dis-- cussion of the biil hbefore the House, but he had taken the House very far afield, dealing with the whole question of Separate Schoois, _ and, therefore, he (Mr. Fraser) would also have to go further afield than he had intended to. It would be necessary, it seemed to him, to clear up @ little as he went along. _ He| was not at presout going to follow his hon. friend. J. was not, for instance, at pre-- rizhts of the individuals, the Government should recognise the right of a Ghurch to govern and control the Separate Schools. | ut not only in regard to this issue did hLhonorable gentlemen blame the Opposition for bizoury, 1t was stated that they sought to raise race cries in the Province of Ontario, -- Me denied the chargo and hurled back the No--Popery cry in the faces of honorable gentlemen opposite who raised it because the Opposition honestly advocated changes in the school laws, it mat-- toered mnot what might bo said, ho and his friends in the House would hold by the course they had undertaken, _ He had no sinister mo-- tiveo in raising such a cry, and could point to the record of his whole public life as against the charge, What had he to gain by raising such a ery ? Persovally he had no de-- sire to change from his side of the Mouse to the Government benches, and if he had a land-- able ambition for advancement in another di-- rection the position now taken by him would be against him. in closing, he said on the ground laiddown the Opposition were prepared to stand in the House and in the appeal to the country that was at hand. Amid appliause Mr. Moredith sat down shortiy after nine o'cloeky having spoken for an hour and a MINORITY RIGHTS. Following is a report of the speech de-- livered Tuesday evening in the Legislature by Hon. C. F. Fraser, Commissiouner ot Public Works. quarter. NeE At the close of Mr. Moredith's speech Hon. Mr. Fraser, amid hearty applause, rose to reply, and for closo upon throe nours discussed the question, HMe concluded about fifteen min-- utes after midnight, and the House imimedi-- ately adjourned. UNRESTRICTED RECIPROCITY. Mr. Graham gives notice of the following motion :--"That in the opinion of this HMouse it is desirable thuat closer relations should exist bet ween the United States of America and the Dominion of Carada, and that the House do humbly potition the Logislature of the Domin-- ion of Canada to take such steps as they may deem expedient to bring about Unrestricted Reciprocvity between the United States of America and the Dominion of Canada," The Grand Lodge Government 1 Meredith Wounlid Have to Form if Ha Were Returued, and What the Minority Might Expect From it. ON THE SEPARATE SCHKOOL QUESTION, The Conservative Party and the Roman Catholic Vote. Hon. C. F. Fraser's Brilliant Spsech PIRST GUN IN THE ChuUSsADE which was interded to accomplish the abolition of Separate Schools. So they had better see now where they wore, what the the terin Separate Schools: meant, what priucipic was involvod in it, how its sup-- porters might or might ne: be concerned, and how the school law might be enforced, The general impression seemed to be that when a man became a supporter of a Puaslic Rchool or of a Separate Schooi, w hat was meant by that was tihat he was compelled to send hbis children to a Public or Sepa-- rate School as the case imnight be. He did not read the iaw as mean-- ing anything of _ the _ kind. W hen they talked of a Public School supporter it meant no more thau this, that be was pay-- ing a certain amount to the support of a Public School to which he need uoct send his l children at all. -- As a matter of fact, so ftar us this law of the Provinco of Ontario was | concerned every Separate School supporter | coulsd, though he were required to pay | taxes to a Public School, still send hts | children to a Separate School. The public miud must bo cisabused of the idea that he ! couid not do this, because the public mind ! was greatly mistaken on that point. 'There was no law to compel a mun to seud his child to any particuiar echool, and there #as no such law in any land on this Contineut, or in any civilised land in the world. -- All the hoa, gentioman would anc-- ; ceed in doing if he did succeed in abolish. | ing Separate Schools would be to compel | thoso of the Roman Catholic religion--just I as they woere being compelled across the j lines--to pay for the support of a Public | Bchool to which they could not conscien-- tiously send their children, and to carry on besidea -- schools which to all in« tents und purposes . would be the samse as the Neparate Schools of to--day. He told the hou,. gentleinan, witii respect to the 300,000 ratepayers of this Province forming its religious minority, who were dealing with this question of Separate Schoo s from the standpoint of their relig-- ion, and to whom it was a matler of cou-- science--who, when they taiked of sup:» porting Neparate Schools talked of support: img them because their faith anad religions beiiei required them to do so--he told him that shouid they over repeal these provis-- ' ions, sou that there should not be any Separ-- ate School law at all, there was not a -- single Koman Catholic Separate School that would the day theratter be closed, and they could not be closed under tue law, Now, he wouid point out where the cardinal point of the whole school law in this country was to be found. It was found in a couple of sections of the Public Schools Act, 'They were usually known as the compulsory ucl.iu*a. Rections 209 and ; 210 were the only sections in which, by any | law of this Province hitherto passed or now ' in operation, any parent or guardian of a child was compelied to send the child to school at all. They could take the parent's or guardians notes, and compel them, whether poor er rich, to pay towards the support of a aschooi, but under those two sections, which formed the corner--stone of the whole system, and which directed | 'whelhcr & parent or guaardian might orl might not educate the child, there was noth« i ing to compol him to send the child to any . particular school. _ Section 209 said :-- **'The purens or gnardiau of every chiid not less thun seven years nor mure than thir-- teen years of ago is requred to canse such child to attend _ a _ Public Behool, _ or _ any other _ school _ in which elementary instruction is given, for the period of _ 100 _ days in each Public School year, uuless there be some reasonable excuse for non--attend-- ance." Bo that the parent or guardian was that the scoring which Archbishop Cleary had recently given him accounted for m good deat of the spirit of the -- attack of the hon. _ gentleman, (Applause.) Nor was he going to foliow him through other matters with which he concerned the House respecting the hier-- archy, unless at a later moment he should thiuk it of any consequence so to do. It appeared to him from the Loadon speech of the hon, gontleinan, and still more clearly from his speech to--night--because in bis London speech he did not go quite so far as he did to--night--together with what the member for Toronto, his first lieutemaot, who occupied a seat beside him on the plat-- form on the occasion of his spaech at Lon-- don, had to say--and together with the spesch of the member for Muskoka aud the resolutions passed at West Torouto Junc-- tion, the Convontion at which Mr. Cleuden-- ning was nominated ouly very recently-- taking these thiugs all together, it was tolerably clear they had -- heard the ¥I/ in nuanert C dr C o ues C1 ue mh say about the hierarchy of the Church, nor what he had especialiy to say about Archbishop Cleary. _ His candid opinion was, as between the hon. gentieman and Archbishop Cleary, the latter was able to take care of himself, and his impression 10) CL