Daily Kennebec journal., 1925-03-25
STEAOGRAPHIC PROCEEDINGS
Continued from Page Eiaht)

does not go far enough. Il believe
that the doctrine of not using public
| money, that public money should
not be used for private pur-
poses-to which the gentle
nan from Portland, (Mr. Hale)
referred as originally suggested by
Governor Baxter, is the proper doc
trine. ] shall support and have al
eady signed, the majority report
which will come before the House
later, in favor of the Massachusetts
amendment. or the bill adopted on
the same principle as the Massachu-
; sets amendment. l believe that an
amendment should be sent to the
people for their vote. either to ac-
cept or reject. l believe it will do
away with i'll feeling. and L believe
the Massachusetts amendment can
be discussed without raising any re-
ligious question. and l believe it will
be for the best interests of the State
| of Maine If it is submitted to the
people, and for that reason l shall
vote for that bill and not for the
present one.
Mr.. BRAGDON of Perham: Mr..
Speaker and members: This ques-
ton has been discussed SO far large
ly on theoretical lines. | would like
to have the members come down,
briefly, to solid earth. and see wheth-
er such an amendment as proposed
would bring about the results con-
templated OF exactly the opposite re-
suits.
There is no doubt In the minds of
any of those here that the last cam
paign was;~fought out largely upon
this issue, and when anyone out in
this ft of ho tn}o ,el,n
where this trouble existed that was
causing SO much commotion, they al
ways pointed their finger toward the
st. John Valley. That was where
the great trouble existed that has
got to be overcome that has got to
be overcome by constitutional
amendment.
Now, l live nearer to the st. John
Valley than any of the others who
have addressed the House on this
matter. and feel that l understand
conditions there as well as almost
anyone in this House. / live on the
border, where the two races come
together, and l have observed. with
great deal of pride, the progress
that has been made in that county
under our present system.
You realize that the people of the
st. John Valley were unjustly driven
from their homes by our British an
ceStors, and sought refuge up there
in the woods where they hoped that
never again would they hear
the hated English tongue spoken.
and Of course such a feeling as that
retarded development to a consider
able extent. But that feeling is be-
ing overcome, and 1t is education
that is overcoming it. Up to a few
years ago the English language, in
that community, was only spoken by
a few men who went down to work
in the lumber woods or the potato
fields, and who picked up a little
English, but when they went back
home they had no occasion for using
it. Their wives could not speak a
work of it. Consequently, the chill
dren never heard the English Ian
guage. But when our Committee Wis
tied the normal school at Presque
Isle a short time ago, twenty-eight
girls in that institution stood up and
said they came from the st. John
Valley. from the Madawaska Train
ing School. and they could speak the
English language as well as l can.
and probably a good deal better, and
that is only fraction of those who
are learning EnSllSh under the SyS-
tenn that we are teaching those chill
dren today. 1 want to call attention.
too, to the fact that in the nxet gen
Grafton those young ladies who are
there at the normal school-and 9TH
ers who have been there in the past
will be the mothers Of families. and
then the English language will be
the language of the st. John Valley.
Take the case of st. Mary's col
lege at Van Buren,. that school was
established and run for years as a
Catholic school. And then it was
discovered there were Protestants
along the river who wanted to send
their children 70 high school. and
st. Mary's was the only high school
i'm existence. and so an arrangement
was made whereby the State appro.