Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1890-01-15
QUEER QIfEREC. 1.

Large Families to BE substantially En-
couraged by the Province.
The joke of the season in the provincial
parliament of Quebec Is the ministerial
measure toreshadowed in the speech from
the throne for giving n free homestead of
100 acres to every living family of twelve
children of tho same father and mother
Families of twelve and over are by no
means scarce among the French Canadian
population of Canada, especially in the
rural districts. The bill has not, MS yet, been
discussed, except In general way, but
when brought down Ia detail its provisions
will doubtless hA-snhIocted tna-,4afe or
less humorous criticism. one honorable
gentleman complained of its insuiliciency.
A hundred acres of land, often worth but
thirty cents am acre, is not, in the opinion
of some Canadian legislators n sufficient
inducement. Mr.. Tailion, chief of the OPP
position, suggested that IA proportionato
fraction of the grant should be given for
every child over twelve in the same family.
and 1t is understood that tho government
Will take the proposal into serious con
| sideration. There would appear To he
some force in the proposition that If fruit
| fulness and multiplication of this kind Is
to receive state recognition mt all, IL is not
reasonable that the grant TO families of say
| thirty to forty children should be the same
| as that given to comparatively small ii,m-
| lies of twelve or thirteen children.
| The Hon. Jean Blnnchet, eN-Secrotary of
| the province, informs me that there are
| at least two hundred snch cases i'm his own
| county. Beauce and the province contain
| siNty-fivo counties. A well known states
I,aa suggested that tan thett-us4f+++ st,+h eases
| could be found. Paul De Cases. Premier
| Mercier's brother-in-law, and famous as n
| staiician, considers this statement rs twice
| too high.
| To what extent Canadians are fruitful
and multiply and replenish the earth may
| be CLEANED from the fact that whom Canada
\ was ceded To Britain in l1G0 the French
| Canadian population in America numbered
| but 60,O00. In l3O years this comparative
handful of people has increased to 100000
| without any aid from foreign immigration.
A few illustrations of individual obedi-
| ence in Canada to the divine command to
| Noah will serve 10 indicate how this gi-
| gantic result has been attained. The Hon.
Gedeon Ouimet eN-prme minister of the
| province of Quebec and now superintend-
| ent of public instruction, is the twenty
seventh child of the Same father and
| mother. That this is not "A phenomenal
instance of proificacy in Canada is shown
| by the existence of a well defined rule in
the French Canadian parishes that the
| twenty-siSth child in Il family is adopted
and brought up by the parish priest. one
| twenty y-sixth is the proportion OF the 1.-THE
! to the church, and the cure takes the
| twenty-siXth child as well as the twenty
| sixth lamb and twenty-siNth ton OF hay
| and bushel of oats and potatoes.
The wife of Dir. Larocque, the sergeant
| alarms of the Parliament House, has had
| eighteen children, although only ten are
| now living. His mother, his married Sis
| ters and all his brothers wives have each
| seen fourteen olive branches round about
| the house at one and tho same time The
| family of f. Y. LemieuX, NJ. 7. for Lewis,
| includes thirteen children that of Coroner
| Belleau, twelve that of the Chevalier Mar
| tineau, fourteen that of Il. y. Letour-
neau, tinsmith, thirteen; that of 4. l..
Letourneau, st. Pierre, Montmagny,
| twenty. There are twenty-siN living
| children in the family of Charles
| Lauriu, proprietor of the City hotel. Mon
| treal and woman residing at Lake st.
John, whose name my informant has for
| gotten, has family ofthrty-two. Ebyear
| Hardy, hardware merchant of this city,
has been blessed with fourteen children In
| thirteen years of married life, and none of
| them We're twins. while the thirty-four-
| year old wife of Thomas Layallee hotel
keeper, is the mother of eleven children.
| A half-breed named Lafrance, residing AT
| Charlesbourg, has q family of twenty
ssyen, but has been three times married.
| That some of the fathers of the city are
| really so in double capacity is shown by
the fact that Mayor Lee, of the parish, Is
the father OF a family Of twelve, while City
Councillor Duqnets quiver contains fifteen
arrows and City Councillor Nincenrs $
| twelve.
The government reply to the complaint
that the proposed grant is not sufficiently
large will likely be that, considering that
the number Of eligible claimants is so
heavy, the burden created by the bill is as
large as the province can we'll afford to
| bear.