The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

W' C e o se CR "gislature '%been completely block-- 'ed by a m ty of the committee. : Further evidence of the lack of courage and sincerity on the part of ' 'the Government was supplied in the fact that while Dr. Merchant nad com-- | pleted his report as originally . con-- template& in the summer of 1911, the report was not presented until after the election had taken place. Dr. Merchant had found the situation so serious that in September he had an interview with the Minister, and it was decided that the investigation should be continued, so as to cover more schools. Government Was Afraid. * "If there was ever any doubt in the minds of the electors why the Pro-- vincial elections were hurried on be-- fore the time, this statement given by Dr. Merchant before the Public Accounts Committee should _ remove it. The Government was afraid to have its record in this respect brought before the public, or to take any de-- :inite stand on this important mat-- er. '"The public, however, were not sat-- isfied with this attitude on the part of the Government, and pledges were | demanded from the Conservative can-- | didates throughout the country on, this question." Mr. Rowell then quot--| ed the conflicting statements made | before the elections by several mem-: bers of the Government. The mem-- bers of the Government made one statement in one part of the Province to suit one class of the electors, and another statement in another part of the Province to suit another class. Riding Two Horses. "The Government have in recent years been trying to ride two horses which run in opposite directions, while the real needs and interests of the schools and children attending them _ have been grievously and | shamefully neglected. What confl-l dence can the public have in eit'her| their courage or sincerity in dealing | with the question in future? Their | shifty policy has been found out, and henceforth their professions will count for nothing. "The publia will judge by results, t and thoe test of their sincerity will not be their professions, but the re-- . sults which they actually produce in the schools of this Province. They 'have the responsibility for the nexi |four years of adminjstering the edu-- | cational system of this Province. They | have the opportunity and responsi-- | bility of atoning in some measure for | their past neglects and misfeasances. Will they do it? We must wait and see. ' "But of one thing they and we all may rest assured. The public opinion {in this Province will hold them _ to strict account. They must deal fairly with the children of our French Can« adian fellow--citizens. They must pro-- vide adequate means whereby these children may obtain a good Englis} education in the public and separat« schools of the Province. "Such a policy, if patiently, faith fully, and persistently carried out * should change the whole characte: of our English--French schools from inefficiency to efficiency; should in-- sure that every child leaving . our public schools would have a . good knowledge of English, and should tend to draw closely together and bind into one united people the dif-- ' ferent races and creeds that now gco 'to make up the population of this Province of Ontario." Sifttitsiereele letieee en fereeerieirieermecens a