1
THE NEWFOUNDLANDER.
St. John's, Thursday, February 9, 1865.
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY.
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 1.
The House met at 3 o'clock.
Mr. KAVANAGH presented a petition from F. Fitzgerald
and others, of Forbay, which was received and read,
praying for a grant to make a road from thence to
Beaullen.
Ordered that the petition lie on the table.
Mr. WYATT presented a petition, from Thomas Fish
Parker and others, of Middle Bill Cove, which was
received and read, praying for a grant to build a bridge
over the river at Anthony's Gut.
Mr. WYATT, in moving that, the petition lie on the
table, would observe that the bridge has been down for
some time, which orcasioned great inconvenience to the
people in the heighbourhood, and especially to ths
children in attending school.
Ordered that the petition lie on the table.
Mr. WYATT gave notice, that on to-morrow, he would
ask the hon Acting Colonial Secretary for a return
showing the number of voyages made by the steamer
Ariel, to the Westward and Northward, during the year
1864, dates of departure from St. John's, and dates of
return; also particulars of ports called at, and time of
arrival and departure from these ports.
Mr. LEAMON presented a petition from John Harley
and others of Cap in Cove, South Side of Port-de Grave,
which was received and read, praying for a grant to
make a road to that settlement.
Ordered that the petition lie on the table.
Mr. KENT presented a petition from Michael Wade,
of Fiat Rock, which was received and read, praying for
a grant to open a road from the main road to his farm.
Mr. KENT, in moving that the petition lie on the
table, would observe that it referred to a matter of very
great importance, to the progress of agriculture in the
Colony. His Excellency the Governor, had urged upon
their attention the importance of the road service, as
well as the encouragement of agriculture, Agriculture
could not progress without roads, and if they desired to
see a prosperous agricultural population, it was essential
that they should be provided with the means of access
to their land, and of bringing their produce to market.
It was admited on both sides that the fisheries alone
were not sufficient to sustain our increasing population,
therefore it became their imperative duty to give every
facility to those who directed their attention, to other
industrial pursuits, The petitioner had peculiar claims
which ought not to be overlooked.
Mr. PARSONS had much pleasure in supporting the
prayer of that petition. He had long been the advocate
of agricultural improvement. This country had great
agricultural capabilities, which had hitherto been very
much neglected. No person who had witnessed the
exhibition of agricultural produce in the front of the
building in the month of October could have any doubt
on the subject. We had extensive tracts, of most fertile
land in the interior, which had not yet been rendered
accessible for cultivation. He need only refer to the
narrative of Mr. Cormack of his journey across the
island. He passed over fine plains with grass five or
six feet high, on which numerous herds of deer found
pasturage. In addition to our prolific fisheries, which
for a few seasons had partially failed, and our valuable
mineral resources, we had tracts of land which could not
be surpassed in fertility, and which required only the
fostering hand of a paternal government to give due encouragement and assistance for
their cultivation, when
they would be occupied by a hardy and industrious population. It was not the miserable
and degrading dole of
the pauper that our people required to sustain them.
Give them aid to cultivate the soil, and roads to render
their lands accessible, and the able bodied would maintain themselves in comfort.
Mr. MARCH concurred in the views of the hon member who had just sat down respecting the importance
of
agriculture. He never was so convinced on the subject
as last summer. He touched in at one settlement on the
French shore, where one man had 50 sheep, and another
had 11 milch cows, and these persons had no complaint
of poverty. And it was well known that the land on the
French shore was comparatively barren compared with
the other parts of Newfoundland. On his return from
the Labrador he met with that eminent statesman Mr.
Howe, who had done so much to promote the progress of
Nova Scotia. That gentleman spoke in the highest
terms of the fine land which he had seen up the Bays,
and along the streams flowing into them. Nearly the
whole of that land was unoccupied. The people had
settled on the head-lands, for the convenience of
prosecuting the fishery in punts, and were located in
the vicinity of the poorest land for cultivation. Yet,
we saw that excellent vegetables were raised here.
Mr. Howe saw at once the mistake which had been
committed. He said if the people went up into these
Bays, where there was fine land and fine timber they
might have large craft, and come down to follow the fishery wherever the fish were
to be found, and have their
firms at home, to fall back upon, where they could raise
much of the produce necessary for our consumption. In
place of importing cattle from Prince Edward Island and
Nova Scotia, they might have thousands of cattle in these
Bays, which would find a ready market in St. John's,
with millions of sheep, which would furnish them with
both food and clothing. He (Mr. March) had hope for
this country yet, He did not despair of seeing it raise
again to prosperity. If we have a good seal fishery thin
spring, and he did, hope providence would again smile
upon us, we would ston, see industry revive, and the
merchants would give out supplies with their accustomed
liberality, as no other merchants in the world would do.
There were one spring, no fewer than 680,000 seals
brought in, an i with favourable winds, there was reason
to anticipate a good fishery this spring, for but few seals
had been taken last year. He would not put it at the
highest rate; but assuming that there would be 400,000
seals taken; at 10s each, they would be worth £200,000
If we had a fair cod-fishery we might calculate on a million quintals. There had been
considerably more in
some seasons. Fish would be worth a pound a quintal.
It was now worth 26s., and there would be none in the
market when the new fish came in. This exclusive of
the cod oil, the salmon and the herrings, gave us £1,-
200,000 for a population of 130,000, besides the produce
of Agriculture; and if our people were assisted by the
government and by the merchants to go up into these
fine Bays, we would soon have a prosperous agricultural
population. There was Mr. Tilly, who was so comfortable with his family in Hants'
Harbor. That venerable
and respected gentleman was far seeing. He saw that
in fishery would be liable to failures, and as population
was increasing, that some other means of support would
become necessary; and he went up into Random Sound
at the head of Trinity Bay, where here was as fine a
soil as in the land of Goshen. He and his sons had cultivated a fine tract of land
there, where they raised
abundance of produce, while they attended to the fishery
in the height of the season. One year lately they raised
sufficient wheat to make 35 barrels of flour, and this
year Mr. Tilly had such fine turnips that one of them
could not be put into a flour barrel. Several other families had been induced to follow
Mr. Tilly's example,
and with the same industry would soon be comfortable.
Now with all this we had our minerals, There was no country that possessed more valuable
resource than this island,
and though we had for some years severe distres amongst
our people, yet when it, passed away it would be, the
means of doing us good; and after all, if Providence
afflicted us with a failure of the fisheries, we were exempt
from the scourge of war, which was desolating the United
States, our government had met the crisis with much
energy and judgment, and no person was allowed to
person of want; and with the protection of the noble
2
THE NEWFOUNDLANDER.
British government we would yet see brighter days. He
felt proud of being a British subject, and desired no other
connection. It was not the rule of a race of French and
Dutch Canadians that he would substitute for the liberty
we now enjoyed under the best government in the world.
He (Mr. March) had every confidence in the leader of
the present government, but he wished more had been
done to settle the people in those fine Bays where the
land was so productive, and where there was abundance
of manure from the sea weed that washed up on the
beaches, and grass grew higher than a man's head. It
was only now that we were coming to know the capabilities of our country, and he hoped
that the hardships we
had gone through would render our people more careful
to husband their means when prosperity returns, and to
invest them in those agricultural improvements which
would be an inheritance to their children.
Ordered that the petition lie on the table.
On motion of
Mr. Wyatt, pursuant to order of the day,
the House resolved itself into Committee of the whole on
the addrass in reply to his Excellency's speech,
Mr.
KNIGHT in the chair.
On motion of
Mr. Wyatt, the next section of the address in reference to education, was read.
Mr. TALBOT —The Governor in his speech had referred to Education and to the necessity of establishing
a
training school. There were already two or three such
schools in existence here, and it was very remarkable
that his Excellency the Governor was not aware of it.
Why did not his constitutional advisers inform him of
it? He (Mr. Talbot) was aware of their existence, and
they were provided according to the principle of the Education Act, on the denominational
basis—The Roman
Catholics had one and the Protestants had two or three,
and he (Mr. Talbot) had yet to learn that they were not
satisfactory, or that they did not fully answer the purpose
for which they were established. He could positively
assert that the Roman Catholic one was as good and
efficient as it was possible to establish. It was in connection with St. Bonaventure
College, and was placed in
charge of a teacher eminently fitted by the excellent
training he had himself received at the Dublin training
Institution, to train young men for teachers.—There
were always from six to nine pupils under a course
of training in this college, and he (Mr. Talbot) presumed that it was the same with
the Protestant institutions; and that the most satisfactory results were attained.
And was it proposed now to establish another
school, in the place of one which could not possibly be
excelled? What, therefore, could be the motive for
suggesting the establishment of a Normal School? If
it was intended that a central training School for all
religious denominations should be established, it would
be necessary that a school-house should be built for
the purpose, and a staff of teachers employod; and
thus a very large amount of unnecessary expense would
be incurred, thus reducing the general grant now given
for Educational purposes.—The only thing which he (Mr.
Talbot) saw that would be beneficial was to increase
the grant, so as to provide adequate salaries for the
teachers. The great eivil in this country was that the
teachers did not receive that compensation for their services to which they were entitled,
or which would render them satisfied with their position. It was
not worth training them, if they only received a paltry
£25 a year. Let hon members just reflect for one
moment on that subject. You give a liberal education
to these young men who are designed for teaching in the
outports. You raise them intellectually and morally,
instil into their minds a laudable ambition, and then you
send them to the Outports on the pitiful stipend of £25
a year. Under this system the great difficulty was in
retaining the services of these teachers. In the outports they found young men in
mercantile establishments,
intellectually far their inferiors, and yet receiving
salaries double the amount they received. Hence they
become dissatisfied with their position, and on the first
opportunity they give it up and seek for employment in
which they may receive adequate return for their services.
The least salary such men should get was he (Mr. Talbot)
would say, £80 a year, with whateyer else they were able
to make. That would render them satisfied with their
positions; and being satisfied, they would remain and
do their work well. Unless this change was effected, it
would be useless to incur expense in further training
teachers, for the better educated our young men became,
the less inclined would they be settler permanently in the
outports on such starving salaries as they at present
received. The second point which he (Mr.Talbot) would
refer to, was the proposition to compel the people to
contribute to the support of their schools. The principle
was a sound and unexceptionable one; but he was satisfied it would not work well.
It was notorious that in
some of the Outports the people were so indifferent to
education, that they would do without a school forever
rather than contribute one penny to its support. The
Inspectors had loudly complained of the indifference of
the parents, who in many instances did not send their
children to school at all; while others only sent them
when they could not employ them at home. But surely
if the people were unwilling to contribute to the support
of their schools, you would not, on that account, take
away from them the blessings of education altogether.
Aid Education as much as you can, foster it, improve it,
but do not strike at the root of the present system, and
sweep it away altogether. He (Mr. Talbot) felt it necessary to make these observations,
in anticipation of any
Bill that might be introduced on the subject.
Mr. KENT was perfectly satisfied the leader of the
government would do nothing to disturb the denominational arrangements which we all
knew tended very
much to allay the sectarian feeling with at one time
ran so high in the country,and under which education
has made some progress. The duty of the government consisted in supplying the nueans
for the purpose of education, and exercising a severe surveillance
over its expenditure, but to leave the carrying it out,
especially as respected the religious feelings of the
people, to parents aud pastors; and if they had the
means to increase the grant, parents and all who were
interested in education would not object. He knew
nothing else that was required. As to the government setting up a normal school for
the training of
teachers for all denominations in the colony, he did not
believe it would be attempted. He agreed entirely
with the hon. member, Mr. Talbot, that unless sufficient emolument were provided for
the teachers, any
improvement would prove nugatory, as the teachers
would be dissatisfied when they saw others, perhaps
inferior to them in attainments, in the enjoyment of
much more ample salaries.
The hon. ATTRRNAY GENERAL was satisfied that
when the measure proposed to be introduced by the
government was submitted to hon members, it would
prove satisfactory to both sides of the House. With
Reference to the expense of the proposed formal school,
he did not think any additional expenditure would result from its establishment. There
could be no doubt
whatever that a normal school was one of the first necessities of an educational system
for the training of
those who were to teach the people. Teachers who
were uneducated could not instruct others. The reports
of the Inspectors and of the Boards of Education
showed the necessity of a better instructed class of
teachers than many of those now employed, and the
experience of all who were acquainted with the state
of our elementary schools sustained that view. The
hon. member opposite objected to any interference
with the existing arrangements for the training of
Roman Catholic teachers. He said they had a training
school already. The hon gentleman also objected to
the salaries provided for the teachers. But still he
admitted that notwithstanding the inadequate salaries,
young men came to be trained, and the Boards commanded the services of parties, after
being trained,
although their emoluments were certainly much les
than it was desirable they snould be. This showed
that it was not necessary to inerease the grants to enable the Boards to secure the
services of efficient teachers. The hon member was mistaken when he said we
had training schools already. The hon member referred to the arrangements for training
Roman Catholic teachers in St. Bonaventure College. The Education Act provided for
the training there, and in several Protestant institutions. But it was found that
the
teachers trained in these institutions were inefficient,
and it was thought expedient to have a normal school,
in which the training of the teachers might be conducted. Last summer circulars were
sent to the several outports, and to the head of the Colonial and Continental Church
Society, and important information
had thus been obtained which would be laid before
the House. It was not a training school only that
was required. Several of the Boards were in the habit
of keeping large sums of money unemployed. Reform
was necessary in that respect. The limits of the Education districts were not found
so convenient as was
desirable. There were also some other improvements
required, and an arrangement had been entered into
by the Government for the supply of a uniform set of
school books at a cheaper rate than they could be procured by depending on the book-sellers
for their importation. That should be provided for by law. With
respect to the normal school, there was an appropriation under the existing Act for
the training of teachers at the several Protestant institutions. It was
thought that the training could be made more efficient
by combining the money thus expended in one sum;
and that it would be sufficiant for the maintenance of
a normal school. They did not propose to interfere
with the existing denominational arrangements. From
the opinions expressed by those who might be considered as expressing Roman Catholic
opinion, they
appeared to be satisfied with the system of training
which they had already at St. Bonaventure College,
and they would not be interfered with, and the appropriations for training Protestant
teachers would be
combined for the support of a Protestant normal school.
Mr. KENT—Would any portion of the Roman Catholic grant be touched?
Mr. KENT—They might do what they pleased with
their own.
The motion that the section be adopted was then
put and carried.
The several sections of the address down to that in
reference to the currency were read seriatim and
adopted.
The section respecting the currency having been read,
Mr. GLEN said the measure introduced by the Government, and passed the session before last,
was undoubtedly a good one. But in order to perfect the
arrangements it should be made compulsory on the
merchants and all engaged in the trade of the country
to keep their accounts in dollars and cents. At present there was a good deal of misunderstanding
and
discontent among poor people relative to the copper
currency, as they were under the impression that they
lost two pence on every shilling. It was absolutely
necessary that it should be made incumbent on the
trade to keep their accounts in accordance with the
provisions of the Act, otherwise we would have to
go back to the old system of pounds, shillings and
pence.
Hon. Attorney GENERAL –The observations of
the hon memner were well worthy of the attention and
serious consideration of the Government and the
Legislature. The law, however, had only been a few
weeks in operation.
The motion was then put and carried.
Some othar sections, down to the 11th, on the subject of confederation, were read
seriatim and adopted.
The Committee then rose, and the Chairman reported progress.—To sit again to-morrow.
Mr. RENOUF gave notice that on to-morrow he
would ask the Acting Colonial Secretary to lay on the
table of the House a copy of tenders, notice and
agreement, for the hire of the vessel to carry the
Commissioner of Fisheries, Judge, and Collector of
Revenue to the coast of Labrador in 1864.
The house then adjourned until Thursday at three
o'clock.
This individual participated in:
