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"It Is My Duty To Forestall Religious War" Charges Rowe and Drew Already Threatened "Bloodshed" in Has-- APPLIES CLOSURE Legisl ature, With Crowded Benches and Galleries, in Unpar-- alleled Uproar at Mo-- mentous Session By a division of 80 to 0 on second reading, the Gov-- ernment and Opposition joined forces in the Legis-- lature last night to repeal the schools tax law amend-- ments of last session. This restored Section 65 of the original Assessment Act to exactly where it was in The vote came after Pre-- mier Mitchell H epburn, taking his political life in his hands, had bluntly and courageously announced to the House that he would repeal his amendments. Admitting that the law was unworkable under pres-- ent--day conditions -- that it was "a failure"--that it had failed to bring to the minor-- ity group in this Province the equity of justice which had been done to the minor-- ity groups in two other Provinces of Canada, the Prime Minister, speaking in soberly serious tones, and not unmindful of the course of action he was pursuing, told Hon. George S. Henry, Leader of the Opposition, that he was prepared to ac-- cept his motion for repeal. The Conservatives banged their desks for a solid min-- ute over the Prime Min-- ister's admission, but were halted in short order when the latter rebuked them sharply for their part in the recent East Hastings by-- election, where he charged they had "opened up religi-- ous and racial sores which will not heal in the lifetime of this country." tings Campaign --Premier Hepburn 2.9% '"the extraordinary financial strue-- | ture of the present time." |\ _In delivering his one--10ur, care-- [ fully prepared enunciation of new 'Government policy Mr. Hepburn ' carefully reviewed the many angles 'of the controversial question, and laid particular stress on the East Hastings campaign, where he ac-- cused Hon. Earl Rowe, Conserva-- tive Provincial Leader, and his chief organizer, Colonel G. A. Drew, of insulting the intelligence of the people, and "of not only threaten-- ing bloodshed, but complete elimi-- natior of the separate school sys-- tem itself." * "No Religious Bias." "It seems to be my unfortunate' lot on many occasions to be in a' position not envied by any one,". said Mr. Hepburn at the outset. "It| is with a certain amount of trepi--' "After the 1934 general election, two dolegations waited upon me. The first represented themselves as spokesmen for the public schools of the Province. They took the posi-- tion of wanting to hold on to every-- thing they had. The second delega-- tion -- represented the separate schools. They put their claims be--' fore us and to me, they seemed to: "I have no religious bias in my soul," declared Mr. Hepburn amid the plandits of his supporters, "and consequently I lack the political sagacity which would permit me to view thi question in the eyos of a religious bigot." "I want to state that I have not caucused the members of my party or asked any member to follow me with regard to the bill of my hon-- orable friend the Leader of the Op-- position," continued the Prime Min-- ister, "I feel obligated to. discuss some of the events leading up to what has become a bitter religious controversy. Mr. Hepburn said that former Pre-- mier Ferguson of Ontario had shown sympathy toward the minority cause and har plainly intimated during the 1929 Provincial election that something would be done subse-- quently to provide a greater meas-- use of equality for separate schools than had obtained up to that time. But Mr. Ferguson's appointment as High Commissioner to Britain had intervened, and under the reign of his successor in office, Mr. Henry, nothing had come of the original plan, although Mr. Henry, on the eve of the 1934 election, had an-- nounced his intention to submit the whole question to the Privy Council for decision. dation, tempered with regret that I do so. It is my concern that I am unable to discuss purely eco-- nomic problems because of the fact that the Opposition, through the press and on the platform, have decided to make of it a religious controversy. He commended to Conservative House Leader Hon. George S. Henry Sir Wilfrid Laurier's refusal to seek to open the door to office with the "bloody key" of religious animosity, and accused Hon. Earl Rowe, Con-- servative chieftain, 'and Colonel George A. Drew of "threatening bloodshed" over the issue in the Hastings campaign, M¥ C sECE e c o Cmm B 01 c as 12 2 Commends Lavrier's "I say, Mr. Speaker," continued the Prime Minister, in tones which fairly electrified the crowded gal-- leries, "that it is my responsibility now to forestall at whatever cost, the possibility of a religious war in this Province. I am man enough to stand up in this Legislature and swallow what is a very bitter pill. W iC c ce se s save! . . Faulty drafting, as Mr. Henry implied, said the Premier, may have had something to do with the bill's inability to function as an-- ticipated, but the real reason why it had not "remedied the griey-- ances" that had been set for it was 1 want in this respect to commend the Toronto Star for its fairness. At least it has been manifestly fair, and I think I should even go out of my way to commend The Globe and Mail for pointing out the dan-- gers of religious warfare In On-- tario." uo anu T0 INC, UiItTYy eCCHIWH OM reasonable. One point wh1ch|