The Ontario Scrapbook Hansard

Ontario Scrapbook Hansard, 30 Nov 1869, p. 3

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it on . n- pl lot " all tat he on " ad 'OI' at as at at Je lent to ma; usually locked attention of t hole. wrong]; from this to: on to v: te for the more", and under these cir- cumstawu it was prosecuted. But here the Legislature was called on to appropriate trot ey tor which tlutdid not ketr the " jut-a work was to be accomplished, not , through the agency of the municipal authori. l ties. not through the most economical mode, but by the extravagant and unsatisfactory l mode which usually accompanied Govern- mental action in such cases. The municipal 1.ffieets were placed in the position of tax gathercrs. He believed the municipalities should be allowed to carry on such works themselves They would then be conducted more economically, and the more speedily, would abuses in the management be detected and remedied. Except in isolated 0 mos, where the work was beyond the power of the municipalities, this Was the true theory. In such isolated cases a municipality ooUd pass a bylaw, if satisfied that the work was re- quired, and then they could apply to Govern. ment for assistance to carry out the work. That would be the best way to avoid ans excuses for a failureto repay the money. 'l hey could not object to repaying the morsey-a very different thing from the measure before the House. The hair leader _ of the Government endeavoured to place it O'o 1 the character of the Government. That pro- posution was utterly subversive of his opinion of Responsible Government. The measure was not to be based on the character of the Government Any Government, no matter how bad it might be, so long " it had control of the affairs of the country. had the conti- denco oi the House. (Hear. hear ) Us Was [ prepared to give them all the power and in i Hui-nee that they ought constitutionally to have. Atty.-Gen. MACDONALD --You can't' help it. (Laughter) Mr. BLAKE laid whether he could help it or not, he we: willing to do so; but he Was not prepared, to give them more than thew were entitled oonititutionaile to have Our rules were founded not on one Government; having more confidence than another, but on the. opposition that all governments had a certain degree of eoMdence. The hon. gen- tltmen oppoeite naked too much ttonlidettms when they asked the House to give them power to contract for works whenever they liked, because, fortrooth, they were an econ- omical Government. while they had a block of a monument of their economy in the Gov- emor's residence. (Laughter.) He did not believe the question of economy or extrem- gnnce had anything to do with the matter. The question was, what was the rule the m use ought to follow? He believed it whculd 1e to give as little Government work as pos- siblo wherelceal organizations could be found to undertake it. He believed the scheme of the ism Atty.-G'etc, ii carried out, would melt in extravagance and bungling on the san- of the Government, and in disaatisfuc' bor. and repudiation of the loan on the part of Jas municipalities (Applause ) Atty-Gen. MACDONALD said it was not l the intention of the Government to lay out . any portion of this money where the districts l, could afford it themselves. They would give what they believed Was needed in order to carry out these works, and the value of the lands would be vastly ineressed by this meas- ure. In proof of this he would read some , statistics with rrforence to the subject. He tuned that in the county of Kent the swamps I were 45,100 acres, which now were estimated to crst (340. per sore, but; the value of which would be increased to $5 by the proposed works ; in Lambton, 20,000 acres, worth now $1 10lcu, would be increased in value to $5 ; I in Perth, 14,500, acres worth now, $1 50,usti. l mend Value, tri; in Bruce l3 200 acres, worth i new sy, 32, estimated value, 85; in Sirocco ! and Victorian 2 600 acres, worth now, We , eittitvat ed value, 35 ; in Carllslo and Russell, Ill'. 003 acres, worth now $1.35, estimated value, $4 The Government would take 3.5M d care that loowliti-es who do not want increy wool". not have it forced upon them He thovght that they would be trusted to do what he had proposed as an experiment, and he thought that as they had acted with all CC( horny, that they couldbe trusted with , $250,040. and next year they would be able l to sse if the trust was misapplied Any- thing that was brought forward by tho Gov. cram nt Wt uld. he know, he orieeed to by tl 0 hon. men bar for South Ihuge (Hear, leer.) It WM imp asibte to say, starting on a new exrerimrsv.t, that some catifrieatso should not bep1acediouer4nverntuisnt Thcy , irihld be grown-6 to make a report to the I House and follow out the judgment it might i make on their act; They had given every work to the lowest contractor. and should alwa5 e do so There was not $100 extras in any of the D1sptrtPettu., and therefore he did not think that 'hey should be required to meet a series of chancel-y obj; ctions on every "heme they might submit. These were the ,rlewtt he. had to express t they could not Pm Eiouhr Z3 any more. Gentlemen on the other side knew that the country was in - of the scheme; but they wished to malre . show of opposition feeling in en- -duvouriryr to prevetst anything that might - to trench upon the Constitution. The , i'iii"ieyg,yt,d, 'yhav,.ottriii to improve the _ swoon thatmiidtt ttttie. it after at: atter l1Ti't"l'lllr. no Rough 'irdi E; must u mistaken in his {million of the Pre..'.'. - W -.q...a=%r0. - -.- e '"--""" -"- -7, if they did not grant the Government this sumtm order to deftsy necessary improve' men a. Hon. Mr. hit-MURRICH said surely the a l Attorney-Ger er 1 might give them some far. l ther information. That gentleman. he to l numbered, when he was in opposition, had I asked in many cases for information of a sim- 1 ilar nature. Surely they might be treated I witha little less tyrranv in these matters by l the Government. He did not refuse to trust l the Government mph this money; but he I wished to know something more about the 1 way in which it was to be expended. ' Mr. FERGUSON contended that the 1 House had r.sfrveierti; information at its dis. [ posal. The distribution of the money was i quite public, and was not yet determined. , In his opinion there would be too great a mun. l her trying to obtain assistance from this fund. ; The Government said that they did not inn i tend to enforce it upon any locality, and the . House had no right to suppose that they ', would do so. He thought that the Govern- ment had given all the information that could be reasonably expected. Be did not l know that any gentleman, couid do more than had been done. How l members opposite had been fighting l straws in their speeches, and as to copying 1 everything that had been done in England, l he thought that they had done very well in Canada, and should be content to do that which was timely and necessary in their own Province without being in such a hurry to copy everything from England. With refer- : l ence to the Parliament House, he would say ' that the amount paid was the lowest amount that had ever been paid for abuilding of that _ kiud--in fact, it was the cheapest house in l Toronto. It was a long shot when that was i brought forward, The present state of the l ' timmeetr had not been known in other Parlia- " ments in the whole world, and the Govern- _ went were to he complimented on it. i The House then resumed the resolutions on ' the motion of the kttornesr4amtsral, to be l reported to the llouse to-morrow. i THE COMMON SCHOOL BILL. l , Hon. Mr. CAMERON moved tho second reading of a lill " to amend the Common School Acts of Upper Canada (new thr tario.") In doing so he said that he would brie tly explain the various alterations which he proposed '.-- In the font place, they desired to abolish the otiice of Local Superin- tendents, substituting in their place, County Superintendents, appointed by the County oiuusiu. Wherever there were, however, Ul uuvuu. WV ..-i.' v _ ___ --- _ more than GO schools, the Ccunty Council would have the option of appointing two ', uyerintex dents, and an additional one for 1 every fifty schools over the finst hundred. I Provision u as made for the payment of the l Superintendent, the County providing at the rate ot $5 a. school, and the Government pro- l vidmg $5 also, making $10 for each school. Then, provision is made for the oxaminataon of tea-hen The quahaatio? oi the County 8uperirerulav); is to he provided for by the , (Journal of Public Instruction, and no peraon would be eligible to be s County Superinten- dent unless he had that qatiitioation. He , would u ention, since there might be a wrong I impreszionyith regard to the position oi 501:0 gentlemen who hold that otfiee now, that care would be taken in framing those nice so that persons holding the poeition of County superintendent, who should have shown themselves capable of discharging the duties of the oiiice would not be removed from oliice. He thought, ho never, that there were only some seven or eight Uounty superintendents at present who would be affected by this. Then an important change had been made in the Bill as to what might be said to be the only compulsory pro- vision so far as the law relating to Common Schools was concerned, and that was the provision requiring the attendance of the children between the age of seven and twelve years to attend summer school. The other matters in the Bill were principally matters of detail. The change in principle is that of which he had spoken, the doing away with local superintendents, and the substitution of county ones, and also this inn. portant change with regard to the attendance of children. In order to make those clauses as little objectionable as potusibhs--in orderto show that what was called the liberty of the subject was not much entrenched upon here, he would only rtfer the House to the fact that there should be no unnecessary refine, ment in connection with this question, and they had already interfered with the tiber. ties of the subject in putting restrictions on taverns and saloons, he, This was adopted bicauee it was found to be for the public- good it was conceded that all the class.:s of the people should be educated, and there was no doubt that that was the way to rau- I der the other restrictions he had referrel to _, "WWWBMY. If they educated the penis i ptoiier1y, they would do more to tne s), . zan'clrlmint of the morality of the people than 5111' t e restrictive laws they could pass l "? "f"? 313980th changes prepose iiui/ae 'tTae,', which disputes between trust me and "a? "9 View ' to Ass. settled. The present _ one of arbituarion ttt found to be mor . . this and inwnvenient, than a tenderly; it?) ,11'llt.eoiic'e,'ti,tes to a constituted tribunal J , i y. e, the Division Courts had been St lected m lieu of a reference to ar' [t f" Ihe prreetst sygtem w'an t t f l ra Ion a deevion Could be bl . o ea is scary, and , l. 0 tamed throw n such unstruted tribun l . . , 4 1 a . ' a as the Divisional Lourts 'lift/tthate, with lest, expense. With t o servations he would be mete the second reading of the Bill. g to Mr. BOYD agreed with much that had mum item the hon. member, and should cor many Nippon the principle of the Ball ; but he thonght some consideration would have to be given to some of the alterations proposed. W ith regud to the mm clause, as to the oppoinUrg Power of County Councils, it hart [an made a question of mixed prerogative m t'OLhe'ImWU o,; the Limb-Governor having 3 ctttonuritrg poxs or over the appointrmsni It had been men " an argument to favour of t! is that l tLe Government 1rontributcdtothe oyyotts Ot thue County Superintendent" they ought Wham the power of removing them l but thi, mgunnent would alao apply to tetchtris. The clause might also operate mjm iomdy to tL, intimate of the l 1runty Su- JityIttefttst,autidi'i,%' up ' --'m.%. we rhéy ought to have 1 them l tan this "gil to teachers. The ela injmiouuly to the int _U.ILn.tty2.t)3ytauiw"ii,",' "ttr i Ep phi "eei -- "f" ' 'h','S21yreriaiatni "rule, a ban upon the rtsifiise It had been urge that fixing the {mn'mum y1ilue at any me- chandize or a fixing the minimum value of a day's wage was quite " much the duty of a Government as to fix the minimum salary of a teacher's. The amount might b, left to the mph. With roger-d to compulsory e.dmsation, he knew thatit would be an apartment. In many countries of Eulope. and in Massachusetts, the principle had been applied with benefit, but he did not think that it would equally apply here. In the ecutuud (llama-ta tt; was hard to see how it would Work with "vantage. It might work well in towns and villages, and, be thrught, they ought to limit the area over whtoh the. p opossd compulsory atteud- 1 ' we should be the rule Beotion 21, he also or jutt d to. for he thought tut they" should l 111:6 give the book to poor parents at hnlf l pare. than make a rise of 50 per cent in the [ pricein 'u't"requeuce of thew default His or jectiox a new " to tratteta of detail, and I he cad get, on": to the principles oi the pro. I i posed Bill, but should offer some amendments in suite. Mr. WILSON opposed the Bill in foto. and hoped it would be dropped. Mr. CLEMENS Mid it poor schools wore to be established under the old system, he $110036 be decidediy opposed to aha chat»: in the Bill with reference to it, but it wat, not to. He thought that the County Superin- temdent exercising control over the towns and cities would bo objectionable, and, he thought, that tho towns and cities should bedistinct. The Billwaa too arbitrary MI many of its provisions. My. PERRY Lind My. CALVEN was by gether, and the former giving way, Mr. CALVIN said he, objected to the, whole Bsll, and thought that, they should not be prepared to adopt ever; nostrum bran-ht over from the (limpet: of Europa by an tdiieial they had sent over. Mr. PERRY said the present was not tho time to bring in arsusmieicrenta but some were I eeded in order tn render the Bill effteet.ixre He believed that County cotuwila had the y-ower of appointing C cunt; SuperirtttrndePiis, With regud to the convictions held by Pt liynson he did not think that they were tsir exhibitions of the opinions of the Det??, i Mr. FERRY resumed the dcbate,and com- l l. merited on the various clauses. l'no 12rk i I l clause he thought objecvioniy'io1eo and thhre- f, I lettuce to the lush clause, he thought that "i i l the matter should bo left in the hands of l! 1 those who now had the control of it. Be , found from recent returns that tho number lg of Ftee Schools had rapidly increased, and ': he thought in that matter they were perfect- l ly mic in leaving people to bo the judges of 1. what was bcat for themselves. Hts did not , think that the pimple Wa'ultl agree to the whole of the omwrwin1ct'rs.. and would prefer l tones: the wlmlo matter resolved into onel Consolidated A ct. The secoud great, polo: l l ji., lhc Act Wire, to swore greater rcznuuera- l {Jim to trackers, but he did not believe, that l ' the llith clause would have that effect. ll ' hty should endeavor to raise the qaalidea tins of teachers, uhich would provide a n midy of itself so long as Schools were well ' maintained by the, free action of the people; he was not in favor of compulsory education He did not think that when the Government withdrew their grants. as had been threaten l (d, that the School system of tho country V would fall, for the people would always pay V ' fer the education of their children. (Hear l hear). Mr. FERRlER also criticised some oi the I details of the Mill in a {notable spirit. ' Mr. BA XTER was not tsatitsiiod that the abolishing Local Superintendents and placing County Superintendents in their place would work well; and the sum of $12 for the ex- amination of each school was a great dear he much. Local Superintendents had been gl used lately. but he thought that they Were quite as well qualitied in fulfilling the duties r', quired as those proposed. The clause fix- mg the salary of teachers also he thought would be prejudicial, and would bring down the character of the teachers. With regard to the compulsory attendance, he thought it would be a dead letter. He thought that ,. the Common School law should be left as it . L is, since it was working well. They might be so in refegence mar Schools, but it was ddfer of the, Common Schools. Ho objection to the 1st tit. ugbt that the peopl had so advanccd in the the country that they might , the matter in their hand a. F to the clause fisir.g the sss1aro Mr. LAUDER said it was admitted that the present law was popular, but when they t that experienced teachers were of opinion that there were some alterations re- quired, they should not allow the opinion of remote constituencies to weigh upon their decision. He was fully in support of the change from arbitration tothe Division Courts for a decision as to points of dispute between trustees and teachers The people required to be led in this matter. He believed tint the grouping system would work better than the town superintendent system now did, He would like to see some of the amend- ments proposed adopted and they might then have a con3clidatioa of the Acts next ses- non. Mr. COYNE believed that the question l should not be looked at from a party point of l viow, but with a view to the general wel. fare. lie oelieved that it would be wise and proper to refer it to a committee of the whole House. Referring to the Conventions that had been held by Dr. Ryerson, he thought that they were not to be considered in the light which the hon. memberfor North Oxf01d(Mr. Perry) seemed to entertain for them. The power conferred upon county Superintendents was not greater than that exucieed by thorn in England or Switzer- lsno, or in the State of New York. They ought tolmow something about the health of the children, and it was intended that they should have the power of determining the coat ot the school houses. In his own county, the general opinion was in favour of the appointment of three County Superin- tendent". and in mm "at?! 9? the Province l " heliy.reli khipe I chenge was required in thepouticn of lccal superintendents. He Ideeired that the ponition of the teacher AFTER RECESS. D way "0'.-- _ ICCd in 'iii/, education of at they might Very well have their hand a. He aim objected king the salary of teacherd. 56 1st 01.9.1159. til the people themaclva amuuut mgght b, With regard to he knew that it would 11 many countries of aid he i. ', Bom Mr. MCMURRICII said he had been should t t a School Trustee for many years, and 'rsry m _ although his experience had been tyontitted to l 1 the city oi Toronto, yet he believed that the l __ _ 1 1,. , l 1 system was a good one for the country. lie U0uc, J.' l g was hap , to say that his views of the School I f Bills ens the opinions of his constituents to tly,' l, were similar. Be wished to seeeome unend- should l ments made in the proposed Bill, but he noatr um i would never be a party to voting "093 by egoinet it on its second reading. The powers of the County Superintendent ' not tho heeded defining. Whatever was iar me were l precticable in the Bills might not be allowed eifrtetive, 1 to pass The addition of 5tt per cent was a had the l small point, and he did not think it advise- tendents. / ble. The other question wee with reference 1 by Dr ' to the compulsory attendance, and although were fair some moditieation might be required in this e.Doople matter in the country, he thought that it he Gram- would operate most rsertefieially in the city 1 the 033" In the ciy of Toronto it had been long de- a decided sired; but, it would be necessary to have so. fb, separate schools for them, l'hey might; have Liemeclvan small schools for ttem, and at a. certain stage sxtion of of their education they might be tramp. well hwe' lured to the other schools. With the tow oobjettted ' "yeratiotis he had rel--rred to, he thought osol1era, ', it u Bill could not fail to give satisfaction to the country. Shand coin- Mr, CODE would desire to see , consoli- 53615110 piég'u'dm a 7---. WlUlUu "*" " ~Judd not Be done by Act of Ariii'2'2l',' and would always teat wuth the people them. .elves. HeAtlierved that a certain amount of -retspomybilit.y rested upon every indivi- dual 1m mber In this question, and consi- deration should not be given to it from a were local point of view. Dr. McGlLL said it had been contended that; the amendments asked for in the Bill had not been. demanded by the people, but while it might be so in some particular 1 places, he was of opinion thst the peo- ble of Ontario was as a whole in favour of some amendments being made in the Common School Act as new constituted. He believed that the feeling of the majority of tire people were in favour of, theappomtment of County Superintendents: The mcde of settling disputed proposed by the Bill was sufficient in his opinion to coin mend the Bill to the favour of the House ; the old. by stem was very expensive and ia. convenient. and the proposed reference of these dispute» to the decision of the Judges at the Divisional Courts wculd obviate many of the objections that; told as;aiust ar'oitra- tion. With tegardto Flee Schools, he. would decide, if he had the power, that there be no I Free Schools, but he would have them all l uniform, either tree or charging a small fee. lHe hoped there would be no objection to ' sending the Bill to a committee. e Mr. MKKELLAK 82.1.11 murawas very mum _ to be mum ta "has had alrcisdy been said; but it Was right that each member should "press an opinion mm res-peat to me Bill. It Was to be approached in no party spirit, and Wa8 to be considered only on its merits. Ho should refer to but one or two features of the BM. He believed that the 'rppoiairT. at of County tiuperinttndea.Pr "as decxdcdly bemsfiuias, 'or he thought it would be a great dean cutie: to ficd a man who would be able to attend to the whole schools of a oouaty,with credit. than to attwd to those of a towa. bhip merely. The-y ccu.'d get a better clsse " men, for they wv.uld he able tomake a rrofotion of it. In his own county they bud, an" mum changes, at'tmted it, midi-1r the past fifieen years it but, women wen He tin ught the number of sobouls to be at. tended to by a 'ilopterinbciw.ety might be well incuasod to a higher number than sixty. He was glad to hear from the Provincial ' Secretary an expiaration an to the position of those gentieu-en who now held the oifie,e of County saperitttertderots They wore. Iva, urdnetmd, to cnntimm to hold their pout tors, if the County C.mncs'ts were rave-ur- abie to their reelection (Hear, how) With regard to compulsory education, they mutt, of m Ivwe.ity, foilow the experience oi i other countries. lie was prepared to give the idea a fair trial, and if it did not succeeii l it might be altered. Ilhere was another thing he Would like to see. and that was tint the position of tiiCi,iiliimoo1beimptoytd He hoped that. name inducements would be held out. to teachers that they might by suc- _ can in their art hope to hold the ntfieo of Superintendent of thcir district. He might move an amendment to this "ffeet in Com- mittee, but he would on promise. With a ' Vary few amrmdmeattt, he thought the orc- pnud measure might be made a good Bill. They had a 53 stem of education which won, i, he tht tight, one oi the moat oucceaafnl sys- ', 3 term in the wor'ld, and which was as parties M r. Mi KELLAR as it was [you (than, ma: l the details of the Bill. Be believed that the memory of Dr. Ryerson would long b, n n- ourcd by the people of Ontario for the school as an m which he had brought forward and perfected. - - Mr. MCCALL having made tb few remarks in favour of. the Bill, Mr. RYKERT said he thought that the. people were considerably mytrtitied ab vat the, law, and he found there were no less th Atl IN decisions given in their courts whioheontlictod with decisions already given. In ordsr to remedy this, he thought they should corsoli date the law. But he would not oppose amendments which, he holieved. would be acceptable to his constituents, because tie Act did not propose consolidation. It we: unfortunate that the feeling throughout the country should be that the Doctor wished to to thrust his system down people's throats without giving them an opportunity for dis- cuteion. The County Superintendents were not at present of the highest class. and ho thought that that clause would meet with the favourable consideration ot the House. He was not in favour of compulsory edaov. tion, though he was tree to admit that the opinion of his constituents was of an oppo- site chsracter. As regarded free schools,some gentlemen preferred a Rate Bill, but they had great arguments in favour of them; can sidersble diggence exuted with reference to Mr. "ai: also offered somqremstkn all w"! "'t. crux- .. _"-'"'- - oesiblu for any human work to be. 'tttet Jystition, Eu: , mes, wnrpted it, ind in 318 it bud worked well Seer oi Brahmas to be at id thuro was very libtlp rout tt yi1rt", .-..'- bM"iNk." Ci

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