In addition a general committee was appointed for the association of the following: Joseph Bourret, C.S. Cherrier, B.H. LeMoyne, A.M. Deslisle, Jacques Viger, P. Beaubien, C.S. Rodier, G.E. Cartier, J.D. Bernard, John Jordan, P. Lacombe, François Perrin, O. Berthelet, J.G. Barthe, A. Laframboise, John McDonnell, Louis Comte, J.A. Berthelet, N. Dumas, J.A. Labadie, P. Jodoin, R. Trudeau, J.L. Beaudry, Hubert Lepage.
THE OLD BANK OF MONTREAL. AFTERWARDS THE BANQUE DU PEUPLE.
The above picture was taken in 1872 by W. Raphael and represents a St. Jean Baptiste procession. The “Flaxman” bas reliefs on the exterior are now inserted in the portion of the present General Post Office, which marks the old site of the above bank.
On the 24th of June of the following year, 1844, the feast of St. Jean Baptiste, the national fête, was celebrated in the manner now customary, a solemn high mass at Notre Dame Parish Church was followed by an imposing procession and succeeded by patriotic discourses on love of country and brotherhood. The association has continued with success to the present day.[1]
Some of the developments of the association may be recorded.
In 1873 Mr. L.O. David took the lead in inviting the French National Societies of Canada and the United States to join that of the St. Jean Baptiste Society at Montreal on the 24th of June of 1874 in a striking demonstration. This was realized. It was the occasion of many fruitful ideas for further development which were to bear fruit in time. Thus when there was question in 1884 of celebrating the fiftieth anniversary, Mr. L.O. David proposed the foundation of a national headquarters for French-Canadians. As a result land was bought for the purpose at the corner of Craig and Gosford streets, and the celebration of the 24th of June, 1884, included the laying of a foundation stone of the new building. Financial difficulties delayed further progress, but in 1886 Dr. E.P. Lachapelle, the president, took up the project anew. In the following year Mr. L.O. David, who was a member of the legislative assembly at Quebec, obtained a new charter and prevailed upon the Mercier government to give $10,000 for the construction of the building. Further money was raised by bazaars, concerts and by shares, till the money reached the round sum of $50,000. In 1890 the land on the present site of the “Monument National” was purchased on St. Lawrence Main Street. The foundations of the edifice were laid in the spring of 1901 and the work was completed in 1903. The name desired by its founders was the “Académie Nationale,” but popular desire centered on “Monument National” as the name which best expressed the demonstration of the sentiment of French-Canadian patriotism underlying the movement. Before completion, the cost of the building, apart from the purchase money for the site, rose to $200,000. The resources of the financial committee and of the two treasurers of the association, MM. A.S. Hamelin and J.C. Beauchamp, were highly taxed for a long period. It will be seen that in the early conception of the functions of the association popular education held a foremost part, hence the constitutions provided for “Precépteurs.” The first move, therefore, was to establish the public free courses in instruction which are maintained today with such efficiency of development.
The following courses were first instituted: Mines and metallurgy; industrial mechanics; architecture and building; electricity; universal history; commerce; elocution; agriculture and colonization; and Grammaire Parlée. A dramatic section to promote a taste for the purity of French was early added and under the name of “Soirée de famille” represented most of the masterpieces of the French drama. These are now discontinued, the movement being taken up elsewhere, but the courses have been continually improved and modernized to meet the requirements of the hour. The association has pioneered many progressive educational movements.
At present it is concentrating its attention on the amelioration of the social conditions of the French-Canadian population. In 1912 it played a leading part in the organization of the very successful Child Welfare exhibition, the first of its kind in Canada. The seal of the association “Rendre le peuple meilleur” indicates its national scope. The chief philanthropic work of a national description, founded by the association about 1899, has been the “Caisse Nationale d’Economie,” by which, through the means of an annual subscription and slight monthly payments, a system of old-age pensions or funds to meet emergencies of disablement has been elaborated and has proved wonderfully successful under the management of Mr. Arthur Gagnon.
Outside the material and intellectual functions indicated, the aim of the association has always been the preservation of the French-Canadian spirit. An extract from a speech delivered on the occasion of a St. Jean Baptiste day celebration about 1901, by the Hon. Israël Tarte, then minister of public works, will indicate this: “This manifestation,” he said, “of our patriotism cannot surely cause umbrage to our fellow citizens of diverse national origin surrounding us. Moreover our enemies are becoming scarcer. Today the assimilation of races is out of the question. No one any longer dreams of it, for the assimilation would deprive the country of a stimulus of the first importance, an interesting characteristic. It would cause the healthy (bien entendu) rivalry to disappear between the two races in the domain of study, the arts, commerce, industry and all that appertains to the intellectual and material advancement of our beautiful country. I am a partisan of the union of hearts and minds for the development of our Canadian, fatherland. Whatever the language we speak, whatever the altar we kneel at in prayer and adoration to God, we ought all to practice the cult of country. The English represent the genius of commerce, the art of making a fortune, the distinctive characteristics of the Anglo-Saxon race. We, on this continent, represent some of the virtues which have distinguished the French race from all time, generosity, the love of belles lettres and of good taste and Gallic gaiety and enthusiasm which are the heritage of France and have been the inspiring cause of so many noble actions inscribed in the annals of history.” In conclusion he said: “I know no country more beautiful than our own; I know no happier people in the world than the French-Canadians: remain such! Let us proclaim it on high, for our race is the equal of any at present existing under the sun. There is my last word.”