I have said to Mr. Galt that I thought Mr. Langton had only to do with my accounting for Public Moneys placed under my control, but that he had nothing to do with any Legislation, or Measures, affecting the School System, or my administration of it; and that I hoped neither he, nor his Colleagues, would allow themselves to be committed to the adoption, or sanction, of any views on these subjects without my having an opportunity of being heard;—that I had agreed to the disposal of balances of School Moneys by Orders-in-Council for Grammar and Common School purposes, but not for other educational purposes,-I ought, however, to have excepted the School of Art and Design, but the expenses of that School is already covered by an Order-inCouncil. I stated to Mr. Galt, that you were authorized to confer and arrange with him in regard to the whole question, and hoped he would confer with you in the same manner that he would with me in regard to it. I enclose you a copy of my Letter to Mr. Langton; also his reply, which I have not answered. I have stated to him that I would defer, until your return, an official answer to his Letters. TORONTO, September 20th, 1864. EGERTON RYERSON. 8. LETTER FROM J. GEORGE HODGINS TO DOCTOR RYERSON. 1. After I had sent you the Telegram yesterday, I had the good fortune to see Mr. Galt. Of course, it was only for a short time, so that I could not go into details; but I told him, in brief, how matters stood, and how I had come to a satisfactory arrangement with Mr. Langton on the subject. 2. Before leaving Montreal for Quebec, I saw the Honourable John A. Macdonald, and told him the particulars of the case. He was very friendly, and said he would aid me, if I desired it. I also saw Mr. G. E. Cartier on the Steamer, when going down to Quebec. As I had learned from Mr. Macdonald that I could not see Mr. Galt, until after the meeting of the Confederation Delegates, 1 thought it better, on the whole, to go down and see what I could do with Mr. Langton. If he should be disposed to meet our views, well and good; if not, I could then see Mr. Macdonald, or ultimately, Mr. Galt, if necessary. I found Mr. Langton quite friendly; and, after a little conversation, I went over his proposed Report sentence by sentence. After about two hours' conversation with him he agreed to modify all the expressions to which I had made objection, and to leave out that paragraph, in which he speaks of the expediency of doing away with our Library System, etcetera. He made notes, as we went along, and I have no doubt the Report will now be unobjectionable. I dwelt particularly upon his way of putting the "over-expenditure" of the Common School Grant, which I held was not correct in fact. He maintained that it was, as the Governor-in-Council had not yet sanctioned the transfer of unexpended balances to that Fund. I also got him to alter the words "educational purposes," to "Common School purposes," in the passage where he recommends that the Executive should have power to expend all balances for these purposes. 3. I explained to him pretty fully our policy and plans, in regard to the husbanding of our resources, and the administration of all our funds. He seemed to be interested and pleased, so that I think the interview will be of essential service, in preventing disputes and misunderstandings for the future. 4. I met the Reverend Doctor Snodgrass, the new President of Queen's College, a short time ago, and had quite an interesting conversation with him on the College and Separate School Questions. He quite agrees with you on the subject. I have also seen Mr. William Lunn, your old friend, several times, and have sought, through him, to modify the ill feeling between the Protestant Committee on Schools and the Honourable Mr. Chauveau. They feel very strongly against him and, although, I do not think his policy and mode of dealing with the difficulty is wise, or judicious, in all respects, yet, as I have told both him and them that I could do, or say, nothing which would either compromise our position in Upper Canada, or our friendly relations with Mr. Chauveau. I expect to be home on Friday, or Monday. I hope you will not be inconvenienced by my delay. The Ministers are sanguine of their being able to carry out the Federation Scheme. Mr. Macdonald says that Mr. Brown has given up the petty scheme of "Canadian" federation alone, and that he is now so good that it is difficult to know who is at present "the lion, and who is the lamb." MONTREAL, 8th of October, 1864. J. GEORGE HODGING. CHAPTER XXVII. APPORTIONMENT OF THE LEGISLATIVE SCHOOL GRANT OF 1864. CIRCULAR TO THE CLERK OF EACH COUNTY, CITY, TOWN AND VILLAGE MUNICIPALITY IN UPPER CANADA. I have the honour to transmit herewith a copy of the Apportionment for the current year, of the Legislative School Grant to each City, Town, Village, and Township, in Upper Canada. Although I have not yet received from the Government the usual intimation of the issue of the customary Warrant, I presume that the Apportionment will be payable at this Office, to the Agent of the Treasurer of your Municipality, on the 1st of July, provided that the School Accounts have been duly audited, and they, together with the Auditors' and Local Superintendents' Reports, have been duly transmitted to this Department. The basis of Apportionment to the several Counties, Cities, Towns, Villages, and Townships for this year, is the Population, as reported in the Census of 1861, which was also adopted last year, and I have no more generally accurate statistics of a later date. Where Separate Schools exist, the sum apportioned to the Municipality has been divided among the Common and Roman Catholic Separate Schools therein, according to the average attendance of pupils at both classes of Schools during last year, as eported by the Trustees. The gross sum apportioned to all the Schools this year is about $6,000 more than that apportioned last year. It is particularly desirable that the amounts apportioned should be applied for not later than the third week in July, as it is inconvenient to delay the payment. There are, however, a number of Municipalities which have not yet sent in their Accounts of School Moneys, now several months over due, and, in these cases, the payment must necessarily be deferred until the law has been complied with by them. I trust that the liberality of your Council will be increased in proportion to the growing necessity and importance of providing for the sound anu thorough education of all the youth of the land. TORONTO, 16th June, 1864. EGERTON RYERSON. |