New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-08-08
Quebec and the Church
Some Circumstances Accounting fol-
the Anti Consumption Agitation

/
/ To the Editor Of The Tribune.
Sir: was very much amused at Mr.. A.
l. J. Laliberte's article "The Truth About
Quebec" in your issue Of Tuesday, July "a.
Nothing could be further from the truth than
his conclusions, which ne foolishly supposes
to be general among The people Of the Do
minion. | have lived thrty-four years in the
province of Quebec, took high school and
university education there, have mingled
with French Canadians Of all shades Of
opinion, and have thus been able to form a
fairly accurate idea as to the cause Of
| Quebec's disappointing attitude toward the
war and cGnscription.
When Quebec was conquered by Wolfe in
1859 and formally coded to Britain in 1863
the French Canadians were allowed to retain
their old institutions and religious systems,
which they had brought from France Though
there was much that was medieval in these
institutions, they were firmly established
among the people, and Britain chivalrously
allowed them to be retained. The clergy
held supreme power over the people. They
could be taxed by law to build churches,
schools, etc. They could be systematically
! tthed to support these. No French Catholic
could be successful physician, lawyer, no.
tary or schoolmaster without being loyal
son of the Church. and no editor could pub
fish articles in his paper which did not bear
the approval of the hierarchy. Elections de-
pended entirely on the clergy. who set up one
and put down another at their own caprice.
! France overthrow this ecclesiastical servi-
! tude incurrip0 tha 81
Vatican, and the indifference of French Cath
Ollie Quebec to-day reflects this enmity and
its cause. France broke forever from her
ecclesiastical chains and elected to allow the
people to rule the state while the Vatican
ruled the Church French Canada was docile
and continued to submit quietly to ecclesi-
astical domination, until to-day "the Church
of Rome is more firmly established on the
banks of the St. Lawrence than on the banks
of the Tiber.r
French Canadians are the most loyal sub.
jects of the Church of Rome to be found
anywhere. and their development along polit-
ical and economic lines has ever been the
leading policy of the Church. II Protestant
sells farm in Quebec it is invariably bought
by French Catholic, to whom, if he have
not the wherewithal to purchase il, the
Church will lend the money at nominal in
terest. In this way Quebec is slowly but
surely losing its Protestant population and
the French Canadians are performing a
peaceful conquest. This conquest is slowly
but surely spreading to other provinces, with
the result that the whole Dominion is be-
coming honeycombed with an influence hos
tile to any control or government except that
of the Church.
This accounts for the attitude Of the
French Canadian toward CONSUMPTION. The
war brought to the Church of Rome her OPP
portunity Every English-speaking man who
enlisted left vacancy prominent more or
less) to be filled by a French Canadian and
made conditions more favorable for the
Church to carry out her active and aggressive
policy Of development. The Church is not
pro- German. She believes Germany can be
defeated without sacrificing French Cana
dams and that these should be exempt from
military service and thus enable her to &C
celerate her own plans.
! This is why Quebec opposes CONSUMPTION SO
bitterly The opposition is far from being
general throughout the Dominion, as Mr.
Laliberte would have US believe. On the
contrary, my honest opinion is that when the
elections are held the few pariamen tarians
who opposed the measure will, outside the
province of Quebec, be hopelessly showed
under A MONTREALER.
Montreal, Cansds, Aug. I. 1911.