The Irish standard., 1897-04-10
I Conservative leader, made measures for
enc ro1iof nf tha Catholics of Manitoba


Conservative leader, made measures for
the relief Of the Catholics Of Manitoba
and the establishment Of the separate
schools one Of the chief issues of the
campaign, on the ground that the privy
council had ordered it. Wilfred Laurier,
the leader OF the Liberals, denied this,
and promised to settle the question by
compromise if his party should be put
In power.
:" The clergy of Quebec and Manitoba
took most active part in the campaign.
They fought Laurier in the pulpit and
out. When the election took place the
Liberals won an overwhelming victory
in Quebec and Manitoba, but in Ontario,
the Protestant province, the ConserEa-
tives managed to hold their own fairly
WE'LL
After the election, Mr.. Laurier, the
new premier of the whole dominion, ell
tered into negotiations with Premier
Greenway, Of Manitoba, which ended i'll
a compromise by which the Manitoba
government passed an act placing in che
schools Of districts where the Catholic
population was sufficiently large Cath
Ollie teacher who, for certain time after
regular school hours, could teach the
catechism and give other religious in
structions This measure, instead OF
allaying the bitterness, served only to
increase it. Mgr. Langevfn, the archbis-
hop of Winnipeg, came east and preach
ed sermons against the government, and
in bye election for a seat in the do
minion parliament the whole power and
influence of the church was brought to
bear OH every Catholic elector to make
him vote for the Conservative candidate.
L'Electeur, the Liberal organ in Quebec,
was put under the ban, and its readers
and all who were connected with the
paper were declared ipso facto excom-
municated.
Premier Laurier, Catholic himself,
was greatly hampered by the hostility
Of the clergy at what he thought their
unwarranied interference in politics,
and he sent, as an individual, Chevalier
Drolet to ask the pope to send an able
gate to Canada and settle the trouble.
Mr.. Fitzpatrick, solicitor-general of the
province, followed shortly after, and the
clergy sent Mgr. Begin, of Quebec, to
oppose the request Of the premier The
result of the mission was in doubt for
long time, but Lord Russell, of Killo-
wen, sent his son to plead the cause of
the premier, and Cardinal Vaughan
added his influence, with the result that
Mgr. Del Val was appointed.
He comes. it is said, with full power
to investigate the grievances of the pre-
mier against the clergy and to settle
them. Mgr. Del Val will be limited in
time, as he must return to England in
June, but, as two bye-elections are to
be held in Quebec next month, he will
have good opportunity to study the
merits Of both sides of the controversy.
It is not expected that any announce
ment of his views will be made until
after his return to Rome.
A Montreal dispatch of March 80 said:
Pope Leo's' delegate, Mgr. Merry Del
Val, arrived here this morning, and was
Immediately surrounded by press repre-
sentativcs. Though columns have been
written and published in the Canadian
and American newspapers regarding the
delegates proposed mode of procedure
while Investigating the Manitoba school
case, there was really little or nothing
contained in the interviews, for the rea-
son that the visitor, while extremely
courteous, is carefully guarding his ans
wers to those questioners who are
representing what he terms modern
Journalism. However, the essence of the
delegates remarks are contained in the
following paragraphs:
Interviewer-May I ask what is the
exact scope of your mission in this coun-
try? What do you hope to accom-
plish?
Delegate-My mission is one of peace.
/ come to bring peace, I hope. AS to
the character of my work, how shall
60 about it, what sort of evidence shall
be adduced, and what will be the out
comet is too early to speak of these
matters. I will see all parties; I will
hear all sides; all will have easy access.
Interviewer-Dces your mission look
to political action at all, if that should
be found necessary?
Delegate emphatically say there is
one word-peace. Il keep saying it;
say it to you; it covers everything.
That is my mission-peace.
The above questions and answers puts
the whole case in a nutshell. Archbis-
hop Langevin will Immediately lay his
side of the case before the delegate a
Winnipeg dispatch says that Premier
Greenway will also put the position of
Manitoba in respect to Catholic schools
before Mgr Merry Del Val.
THE JUMPING OFF PLACE
of the United States in Northwestern
Washington is region of unusual
grandeur.
81, .