Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1890-07-10
THE FRENCH IN CANADA.
Their Influence Vastly Enhanced by
the Victory of Premier MERCER
of Quebec.
The Ayenger of His Brother" Rie |,
Returned to Power with a
Big Majority.

canoe. Premier MERCER, the apostle of the
Ultramontane branch of the Roman
Catholic church, and the hope of the
French race. has been returned to power
with an overwhelming majority.
Five years ago MERCER led a crusade of
vengeance for the execution of his broth
er, Riel, who rebelled against the federal
government and headed the northwest re-
belllon. The then existing government
was defeated by majority of seven. Be-
fore the dissolution of Parliament MERCER
had nineteen members of a plurality over
all other combined factors Conservative,
Independent, Liberals, and Independents.
At that time the political war-cry was ven
geance for an insult to the race, and by it
the electorate was headed and driven to
success. Now, nationalism means some
thing more
M. Mercier acknowledges that it was
called into existence by the readiness of
the French to gather round the Symbol of
their unity. the Riel flag; but to-day it
lives to forward French supremacy in
Quebec and French aggression in Canada.
through the alliance of the church with
the state. 1t is able to attain this end by
appealing to the vanity of an impression
able people, and revsving in them the old
dream OF
NEW FRCNCE
on the shores of the St. Lawrence, infiu-
enclng the developments of New England.
and controlling the destinies of the West
-''our country" as Bishop Grandin
styles it. The propagation of the Nation
alist idea is by far the most important fac
tor affecting the future of this country. 1t
has brought to the surface all the danger
Gus elements of the political life, and the
province that was content to exercise its ex-
elusive privileges in apparent quietness is
no longer willing to remain a peaceful
member of the Confederation.
The success that has attended these ap-
peals to National pride and religious pas
sion has emboldened the politicians to re-
vlve old schems of aggrandizement and to
PROFOUND new adventures by continuing to
initiate the popular mind and impressing
upon the people the destiny that Heaven
has in store for them In his election ad-
dress M. MERCER says:
my Government Is Catholic govern
ment. Since | visited Rome His Holiness
| Leo XIII. has conferred upon me the high
est dignity the church has bestowed upon
layman In our country. | went to
France and the President of the Republic
conferred upon me tie decoration of the
Legion of Honor. No one can say, there
fore, that | am Objectionable on re-
| hgious or national grounds"
Herein are the
PRINCIPLES OF NATIONALISM
| represented In their country, a compound
of Rome and France, out of which an in
dependent Quebec may arise
This was no mere election avowal-it
has been carried out to the letter. The
Jesuits, an order hateful to the church
itself, have been endowed with 100000
from the public funds, the Pope and
Bishops have been introduced into the
legislation, and to obtain the papal assent
to a measure has been to insure its adop-
ton. M. MERCER has at once become the
defender of the faith and the embodiment
of the aspirations of Quebec after a ma
tional existence and it is his boast that the
Nationalist party is first Catholic and then
French, but Canadian in no degree at all,
in the sense In which the other races in
habiting this country understand that
term. Previous governments were too
Protestant and too British, and inclined to
neglect the incontestable rights of the
church.
The process by which the foundations
of the aspiring nationality are being laid
is a matter of easy recognition. Extra
ordinary efforts are being made to swell
the French population. Emissaries are
in every New England town and wherever
there is a French Catholic Canadian pop
ulatlon, endeavorlng to persuade SO many
of their expatriated countrymen as are
not necessary to retain the foothold they
have already gained to return and
OCCUPY THE LANDS.
which the State, with the advice and con-
sent of the church, is ready to bestow upon
them. Those In possession already are
encouraged to cultivate their natural
fecundity. Earl y marriages areGinsisted
upon, and families of eighteen and twenty
children are by no means rare. One hun
dred acres of land for every twelfth child
is the bonus offered to every married couple
in the Province, as if French Canadians
required any incentive to multiply and re-
plenish that portion of the earth lying on
both sides of the st. Lawrence. Monsignor
Labelle has been dispatched to France to
promote immigration, for as that assid-
uous colonizer has explained in his official
report. 1.-The 3uccess'of our policy depends
upon our success in strengthening the
French rance
While in France he is also instructed
to have an eye to the spread of influence
in the Northwest. Those old emigrants
from Old France who are unwilling to set
tie In the New France or on the banks of
the st. Lawrence, are to be induced to join
those patrols who in the West are counter
acting what is called in Quebec foreign
influence, and building up an extension of
of French denomination on the pralrles.
supporting the colonization and con-
solidating schemes stands the church.
ready to grant indulgences to those who
are willing to.
SHARE IN THE COLONIsTS' HARDSHIPs.
while upon it all his holiness, the pope,
has breathed blessing and manfests his
satisfaction at the progress Of affairs by
awarding to the chief of the national
! cause 1.-The highest dignity the church
has bestowed upon a layman IN our coun-
try. Natlonallsm was at one time an
idea, now 1t has grown into liked pur-
pose, and has received new impulse from
NJ. MERCER S victory in the elections that
have just been held. Its aim is fixed and
definite, to cement firmly the bonds that
unite church and state, to destroy Eng
lish influence, to define more clearly the
| line of demarkation between the French
race and the other races that go to make
up this dominion short to realize the
dream which L5ntemplates the reversal of
the decision arrived at on the plains of
Abraham. Any hope for Quebec itself has,
of course, long ago been abandoned; but IN
I this programme of propagandlzement
there is d MANAGE to the other members of
the partnership known as the Confedera-
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