The daily critic., 1890-10-06
CANADA'S SHAME.
A PRIESTS ACCUSATION OF IMMORAL
ITY AGAINST his PEOPLE.
To Points to tho Failure Of tho crops
IN tho Province OF Quebec
aa ChastIsemept from
Heaven

i LHfNfI AfI'N.ta'N'. To N'la .Nr'. n ~ n ..'..H
The Rev. Father De Cary, cure of
The French Canadian Parish Of ST.
Henri, near Montreal, has created a
genuine sensation throughout the
province by his exposure Of the alleged
immortality of its people. a newspa-
/ per, a politician, or a lecturer who
would have dared to launch the nc
cusalions against the Canadian people
/ that have been publis he'd from the pull
/ pit Of the church at St. Henri would
/ have been branded as public traduCer.
/ But Father De Cary's calling, the 10.
/ terest that the priest must naturally
/ take in vindicating, rather than un-
/ Justly assailing, the character of his
/ flock and the facilities possessed by
/ him for becoming acquainted with the
| inner life Of his people, all forbid the
assumption that bis charges are not
/ founded upon facts and warranted by
the results Of personal observation. It
was In the course Of an eloquent en-
| deavor to arouse his flock TO
A SENSE OF SHAME
at the alleged condition Of national i'm.
! morality and debauchery that the cure
/ instanced the partial failure Of the crops
| throughout the province, as q Justly
merited chastlsement Of the Almighty,
TO be put down 10 the sins Of the peo-
| pie He. dwelt particularly upon
| blaspbemy, intomperance, eXtravagance
/ In dress and caInal lusts as among the
| most baneful sins Of the period which
he said were calling down the wrath of
\ God upon the people Of this province
1 4.
said, In that parish, In which at that
very moment fathers Of families and
| young men were assembled together,
reveling in blasphemy. profane songs
and even worse disorders, which had
now attained the dimensions OF public
scandals, responsibility for and conse-
quences Of which rested upon the
| whole community. The most casual
observer cannot fail 10 be struck with
THE INCREASING 1,fNoRALITY
/ in the province of Quebec, much of
| which may be traced to the effects Of
| carly intemperauce. This vice is as
noticeable among English speaking as
| among French speaking Canadians. A
/ recent writer complains OF "the IN.
activity Of the Y NJ. G. A. In Quebec
where you meet almost every day the
withered hand Of beggary and the
white lips of famine, where crime
misery and want stalk through the land,
and our brightest boys and manifest
men are damned forever, and our
| vCmOnhood degraded and our girls de
bauched by the curse Of intcmperance.
In the city Of Montreal alone there are
over zoo licensed taverns, besides any
number.of unlicensed Groggeries aud
GILDED PALACES OF SIN.
The difficulty In reduclng the number of
/ licenses Is the fact that the Government
Of the province depends largely upon
| licenses as a source Of revenue, as the
provincial treasurer pointed out on
/ Wednesday last 10 the mayor Of the
/ city and other members Of a deputatiou
| that waited upon him TO ask for re-
| ductlon in their number.
In the French. Canadian country
| parishes, where the spihmous liquor
| most extensively used Is whisky
blanc" or high wines slightly reduced
| by water, drunkenness prevails 10 an
alarming extent, even among young men
still In their teens. An immense amount
Of villainously bad liquor, illIcItly dis.
| TILED In concealed shanties In the back
woods despite the precautions Of the
officials Of the Inland Revenue Depart
7ment, IS constantly upon.the market,
and the customs authorities are unable
10 exercise sufficient vigilance TO prevent
the smuggling ashore upon the banks
OF the St. LSWronce of large quantities
OF foreign liquors brought from New
foundland aud the French islands OF ST.
Pierre andhiiduefoh
BLAsPHElY
goes hand IN hand with intemperance,
but Is more marked among French than
English Canadians. French oaths, that
translated into, English would not be
tolerated in any decent society, are
/ freely used by both men and women
In the highest social circles Of French
| Canada.
ExtTavaqanee in dress and luxurious
living beyond their means are marked
| characteristics of the people Of Quebec,
| and the fruitful cause. Of many excesses
/ and crimes. BE other causes what
| they may, the last report Of the Minister
| Of Justice shows a startling increase
| In the census Of the criminal classes,
/ and the warden Of the provincial peui-
Tertiary Al ST. Vincent de Paul reports
/ that the
STEADY PROGRESSION OF CRIME
observed for many years past has re-
| ceived no abatement during last year,
/ In spite Of the severity displayed By
| the Judicial authorities in sentencing
| criminals, and that the total number
Of prisoners received In the peniLentiaTy
/ for the year 1889 was 134, showing an
/ increase Of twenty six over the number
/ received for the preceding year
I NfafLEr HAL n.HN...HFs. .E.s
| lain In the same institution. enlarges in
his report upon the number of cases Of
/ insanity that have occurred among the
conyicts, "caused by former disorders
and shameful eXCesses.
In no other country Of the world.
perhaps. save IN France. are such dis
orders and eXcesses practiced aud toll
Grated as In The province Of Quebec.
The extent Of the nations immortality
cannot IN anyWise be measured by the
number Of Tie frequenters of dis0rd-
| eTiy houses. The many wing IN hos
| pitfalls and inslilu tiOns for the TeCep-
lion Of
ILLEGITMATE CHILDREN
| tell but a portion of the story One
maternity hospital In Montreal had be-
| tween 800 aud 400 patients last year, and
the hospital Of the Sacre Cgur az ST.
Sauyeur, near Quebec, which is In
| charge Of nuns, has recently had TO be
enlarged though a large fye-story in
stitution. ID Is a home for fOundlings,
who are received nightly in a basket
placed al the door, where those who
bring them deposit them without fear
OF discovery and leave them 70 The care
of The Sisters, after ringing a bell %
announce the advent Of q new arrival.