Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-05-01
ssCANADA'S LANGUAGEPROBLEM

problem with which Canada Ii finding it 80 Diff.
ficplt TO deal In the province o. Quebec is largely a Ian
suASes problem. 1t u true that more than language is
involved: Theirs are the elennents Of rae ana Of national
ancestry; aid, by no means least important, the element
Of religion But whatever problems have grown out Of
these Other elements, the language sisation ateravAtes
them All. IS
What ~ now the province o. Quebec was settlsd "
French adventurers. It passed to Great Britain ny con.
quest. and many Of THO colohists who later laid the toun-
dations 81 the American republic did valiant service for
the empire Of which their colonies were then parts in
clinchins the hold Of Britain on the French settlements
to the north.
When the revolutionary movement was under way.the
effort was made to include in it all Of the British posses.
sions on the continent, The British were anxious, even ii
control Of all tho colonies could not be- retained, to hold
the northern section With the great waterway that gave
access to it. In order to make sure Of retaining the allie.
glance Of the French colontsts the British government
made overtures to thern. and guaranteed to them in per-
petuity the retention Of their own laws and customs. full
religious liberty, and the recognition Of their language on
an equal basis with the English tongue. For nearly $50
years that compact has been kept, and through a process
Of expansion the conditions which were in the beginning
expected to apply only to Quebec have been extended to
all Of British America. While the Dominion of Canada is
usually considered English speaking, and while English
is the language Of the vast majority Of its Inhabitants, the
French language is the official language Of the country
equally with English. Speeches are made in the Donnin-
ion parliament in either language that the speaker pre-
fers. Official records are published in both languages
from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
The use of the French language has had little intlu-
ence except in the province Of quebec, where that Ian
guage is the mother tongue Of the people. There the use
Of a language peculiar to them has resulted in a persist
ence among the people Of a spirit Of provincial isolation
and race solidarity which could have been kept alive so
long by no other influence. without that separation in
the matter Of language the. habitants would long since
have been merged in the general population, for they
would have been brought to appreciate the identity of
their interests with those Of the rest Of the country Of
which they were Inhabitants 3- .~
AS it is, they have been and are a people apart. They
have long since lost touch with the country Of their ractAl
origin. In sentiment and ideals they have nothing in COM
mon with the France of today. And, while they have lost
touch with the France from which they sprang, they have
not acquired q sympathetic interest in the Canada of
which they are a part. Barriers Of language shut them
out from contact with all other peoples. and the prevail
ing sentiment among them is that of Indifference to the
affairs of the world, and an incredible lack of apprecia-
ton Of any community Of interest with the people Of the
world at large. In a manner exhibited by no other people
in the world today except the Russian Bolsheviki, they are
giving evidence Of the feeling that the affairs Of the world
pected to play their part as citizens Of the world.