The government's course in regard to Riel was a defeat for the French Canadian bishops who had long played an active part in political life. They claimed that even in secular affairs the authority of the bishops was final and that when they spoke the laity were bound to obey. If the Church chose to indicate her desires in regard to the merits of candidates seeking elec tion, it was the duty of the voter to heed the voice of his spiritual directors. Some of the bishops claimed the right to use spiritual cen sures to influence electors. Newspapers which opposed the wishes of the hierarchy must not be read by the faithful, and when L'Electeur, a daily newspaper in Quebec, opposed the bishops' Mandements in 1896 it was denounced from the altar, and under penalty of grievous sin and the refusal of the sacraments all the bishops for bade formally anyone to read it, to subscribe or contribute to it, to sell it or in any manner whatever to encourage it. The denunciation commanded obedience and made the continued existence of the paper under its existing name impossible. It promptly became Le Soleil, and seemed to suffer little real injury, but the inci dent showed the authority claimed and exer cised by the bishops.
With this attitude on their part occasions of strife were not likely to be wanting. In 1890 the Manitoba government passed an act estab lishing a non-sectarian system of education. Owing to the peculiar conditions of older Can ada the Protestant minority in the province of Quebec had secured the constitutional right to devote the taxes paid by them for education in support of their own schools. In Ontario the Roman Catholic minority possessed a similar privilege. For some time Manitoba had fol lowed the example of Ontario, but, impressed by the obvious advantages of a uniform system, the legislature passed the Act of 1890 which de prived Roman Catholics of former privileges. At once a vehement agitation broke out. The Federal government possesses, within certain limits, the right of disallowing statutes enacted in the provinces and urgent demand was made upon the government of Sir John Macdonald to disallow the Manitoba School Bill. This, on the ground that Manitoba was acting within its constitutional rights, the government refused to do. Appeal was then made to the courts to determine i the authority of the respective gov ernments n the matter and the case was finally carried to the Privy Council in London, which decided that the Federal government possessed the right of intervention in regard to the Mani toba schools.
Extraordinary pressure was then brought to bear upon the Federal government. The hier
archy of the province of Quebec took up the question with much heat, while the Protestant province of Ontario was also aroused in sup ort of the opposite side. In 1891, when Sir John Macdonald died, his successors were left with the legacy of the Manitoba school ques tion. The agitation dragged on for five or six years. Retreat from their position the Mani toba government would not, and finally, in 1896, the Federal government endeavored to put through Parliament a remedial bill for re storing to the Roman Catholics of Manitoba the privileges which had been taken away.
It was this question that brought the down fall of the Conservative party so long dominant in Canada, a process accelerated by evidence ad duced in 1891 of a share by responsible leaders in the province of Quebec in the misuse of public funds. In 1896 Sir Charles Tupper (q.v.) became Prime Minister and in a general election appealed to the country to do justice to the minority in Manitoba. On this question many of his Conservative allies broke away from him and he fought a stern but losing contest. The Liberals too were in a difficult position. When Sir John Macdonald's old rival, Mr. Alexander MacKenzie, retired from the leadership of the party in 1880 he was succeeded by Mr. Edward Blake, who, in turn, proved unable to overthrow the Conservative chieftain. In 1887 Mr. Blake retired and was succeeded by Mr., afterward Sir Wilf rid, Laurier. In personal charm and tact the new leader was not unlike his formid able rival, and he had, besides, remarkable gifts as an orator. French Canadian by birth and also a Roman Catholic, it was not easy for him to lead the Liberal party, which was committed unreservedly against interfering in Manitoba. In Mr. Laurier s own province of Quebec the hierarchy were still unanimous in demanding intervention to re-establish the Roman Catholic schools. The election of 1896, fought chiefly on this issue, resulted in a conspicuous Liberal triumph and it was in Quebec that Mr. Laurier found his most striking support. Either the issue in regard to Manitoba had been obscured or the °habitant)) wished to assert his right to pass judgment for himself in political matters independent of the views of the hierarchy. At any rate Mr. Laurier became Prime Minister of Canada. The Manitoba government made some minor concessions and the matter passed out of view, but an important warning against inter fering with the authority of the province had been given to the Federal government.