ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN SCHOOLS

It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont •'

Section 1. The English language shall be used exchisively in the instruction of childi'en and for the piu"poses of adminis-t i ation in ail pubhc or private schools in the State, but the requirement of such exclusive use shall not be construed as prohibiting the conduct of devotional exercises in a language other than EngUsh nor as prohibiting the teaching of a foreign language in accordance with a course of study outlined or approved by the State board of éducation under the provisions of section 1237 of the General Laws.

Sec. 2. This act shall take effect July first nineteen hundred and nineteen.

* * * Honorable Ira LaFleur,

State House,

Montpelier, Vt.

Dear Senator LaFleur : —

I am at a loss to know what possible good could foUow the passage of Senate Bill-84; practically the only class of people affected by it are the French Canadians.

To outward appcarances this Bill S.84is apatriotic measurebut we know fully well that evcrything labcled patriotic is not necessarily patriotic; S.-84 is a measurc dictated neither bj* éducation nor patriotistn, l)Ut by sociali.sm; it dénies to a father his essential rights in cducating his child and it arrogates to the State the right which the Creator bas made inhérent in parenthood itself ; doubtless you arc aware, dear Senator, that niany of the cducators in the United States hâve for years been trained direct ly or indirect!}' by socialistic German prof essors, hence, it is not surprising that they sbould attempt to foist their pernicious doctrines on the community. After having conquered Gcrmany by

force of arms we are now to be conquered by German socialism unless we call a hait on the apostles of German socialism masquerading as American Educators.

S-84 seems to cast a slur on the patriotism of the graduâtes of the French schools of Vermont, yet can the proponents of this Bill instance any cases in which the graduâtes of the French schools of Vermont, did not measure up to the loftiest standards of patriotism during this last war?

The French schools of Vermont are and hâve been a priceless asset to the welfare of our country; day after day as I scanned the casualty lists I noticed the honorable and conspicuous place occupied bj- graduâtes of French schools and 1 hâve heard army oflBcers say how priceless and indispensible were their services as interpreters in France.

We ail know what a dismal failure our English speaking schools hâve made of the teaching of foreign languages; our State pays annually thousands upon thousands of dollars to teach French in oiu: high schools but without very noticeable results.

Our State seems to recognize by its attempt to teach French that it is a very désirable and usef ul thing for the State to hâve a goodly number of its citizens capable of speaking the French language; why then enact a law which will prevent the children of French parents from acquiring a knowledge of French ?

The French schools hâve not cost the State of Vermont one permy and thej' hâve been eminently successful in teaching their pupils a knowledge of both French and English, whereas the teaching of French in the high schooLs of the State has already cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and it has been a decided failure.

The interpreters in the American army, the thousands of téléphone operators who volunteered for service, were almost without exception graduâtes of French schools. The essential quaUfications of thèse interpreters and téléphone operators was a perfect speaking knowledge of French and English : now how many of our high school graduâtes or collège graduâtes could measure up to that requirement? Very, very few ! The army was obUged to dépend almost entirely and exclusively on the graduâtes of the schools that Senate Bill-S4 is aimed at.

It seems singularly inconsistent to attempt to prevent the teaching of French in the only practicable way in which it can be learned, i.e., by young children in French schools which cost the State nothing and then turn around and waste hundreds of thousands of dollars of tax

238 L ACTION FRANÇArSE

payers' money in a futile effort to teach young men and young women the French language.

I am not of French extraction but I hâve spent many happy years of my hfe in a close intimacj' vnth. the Canadian people; I know them thoroughl}', therefore I love and admire them for feheir sterling qualities and in the name of true Americanism and honest patriotism I raise my voice to protest against this short-sighted and ungrateful treatment of the loyal French Canadians of Vermont.

Yours very respectfully,

Joseph J. Ri CE, April 7, 1919. Bishop of Burlington

Ce projet de loi n'a pas été adopté.