The sun., 1889-12-13
Sensational News from Canada.

Sensational News from Canada.
A despatch from ottawa, printed in The
BUN of yesterday, announces that there Is
strong reason for believing that the appeals
for protection the French Canadians have
made to France have determined the French
Government to look fully into the question
as to how far the terms on which Canada
was ceded to Great Britain by France have
been carried out, and whether there has
been any infringement upon the concessions
made to the French-speaking population OF
Canada at the time the treaty was signed"
The despatch goes on to speak OF tho pos
sible Intervention OF France" and the
complications between that republic and
Great Britain which would ensue.
Serious international complications, In
deed, would be the result IL France, after one
hundred and twenty-six years, should inter-
fere In the affairs Of Canada on the ground
that the provisions of the treaty Of 1868 had
not been observed by Great Britain. Never
theless, we prefer to await intelligence from
Paris before accepting unreservedly this
statement from Ottawa, place which per-
haps has no rival on the face Of the globe as
a source Of highly sensational and wildly
inaccurate mlSln1ormatl0n.
By the treaty OF pacifcation after tho
Seven Years war. New France was wiped
out Of existence. The maps and the destiny
OF the North American continent were
changed as never maps and destiny were
changed before by a single political event.
Before 1868 the French power and French
territory on this continent vastly exceeded
the English, and to degree which few people
nowadays take the trouble to understand.
The Anglo-Saxon race held q little strip
along the Atlantic east Of the Appalachian
range while the outposts and possibilities
OF French dominion surrounded this insig-
nincant piece OF America, stretching north,
west, and south to the indefinite limits OF
future empire. The settlement Of 1853 left
France without square foot Of territory on
the continent.
Let us see what basis there is in the terms
Of the Treaty OF Paris of 1763 for interference
by France after century and quarter, on
tho ground alleged by the Ottawa despatch.
namely, that there has possibly been in
fringement upon the concessions made to
the French-speaking population Of Canada
at the time the treaty was signed" What
were those concessions
/, LOUIS XIV. ceded and transferred to the
British Grown, without reserve, all sover-
eighty, property, possession, and right In
what now forms the Canadian Dominion,
and this surrender was made "in the man
per and form most ample, without restric-
ton. and without the right to revoke the
cession and guaranty upon any pretext, or
to molest Great Britain In the possessions
In question"
q On his side. the British King agreed to
accord to the inhabitants Of Canada liberty in
the Catholic religion. He agreed to "give
the most precise and effective orders that his
new subjects Of the Roman Catholic faith
should be allowed to pursue the worship Of
their religion according to the ritual Of the
Church Of Rome, to the extent that the laws
Of Great Britain permitted"
8. Beyond this, the British King agreed
that the French inhabitants Of Canada and
others who had been French subjects
should be allowed to withdraw from the
territory, in safety and liberty, and to go
where it seemed good to them; that they
should be allowed to sell their property, pro-
vlded they sold to British subjects, and to
transport their effects and their persons out
Of Canada without hindrance on any ground
save responsibility for debts or criminal pro-
cess. The limit for such unrestricted emf
grafton was placed at eighteen months from
the date of the ratification OF the treaty.
4. The Treaty Of Paris left to French sub
jects those fishing rights on part of the
coasts Of Newfoundland which they had
gained by the Treaty of Utrecht. except as
concerned Cape Breton. and 1t allowed them
to fish in the Gulf Of st. Lawrence, three
leagues from British shore In general, but
fifteen leagues from the shore Of Cape Bre-
ton. 1t gave France the little islands of st.
Pierre and MiQuelon. not to be fortified.
Where does any ground or pretext appear
In these concessions for any possible inter-
ference on the part Of the French republic
Of 1889 In behalf OF the descendants of the
French subjects Of 1763?
A study Of the text OF the Treaty Of 1853
opens a question of great interest and OF
possible future Importance affecting Canada,
but it is not question as between France
and Great Britain. 1t is a question between
Great Britain and the United States.
In the march OF events on this continent
during the next quarter of century, the
interference Of France In the affairs Of the
French-speaking habitans OF Canada is not
Oonceivably to be factor.