MONTREAL 



3936 



MONTREAL 



Montreal is favorably situated for cheap 

 power and for obtaining raw materials, and the 

 city is naturally an important manufacturing 

 center. The annual output of the manufac- 

 tories of the city and its suburbs is about $200,- 

 000,000. The leading products include textiles, 

 leather and leather goods, tobacco and tobacco 

 products, iron and steel products, paper and 

 printing, and flour, Montreal having the largest 

 flour mill in Canada. 



Montreal is a strong financial center, and 

 ranks sixth among the cities of the United 

 States and Canada in its bank clearings. 



The People. Montreal was founded by the 

 French, and for many years it was wholly a 

 French city, but as the city gained in commer- 

 cial importance the English and Scotch entered. 

 Of recent years there has been a very large 

 immigration from Europe, which has made 

 Montreal one of the most cosmopolitan of 

 cities. The Jews (largely Russian and Polish) 

 now number over 50,000, and there are large 

 colonies of Italians, Ruthenians and Russians, 

 with considerable representation of many other 

 races of Southeastern Europe, and a number of 

 Syrians and other Asiatics, including a small 

 colony of Chinese. The French constitute more 

 than half of the total population. Both lan- 

 guages are spoken throughout the city, though 

 French predominates in the east and English 

 in the west. The Jews (speaking mostly Yid- 

 dish, but rapidly learning English) have pushed 

 northward from the center of the city; their 

 children practically fill the Protestant schools 

 in this section the law regards them as Prot- 

 estants for educational purposes. The bulk of 

 the Ruthenian and allied populations is to be 

 found in the northeast and in Point Saint 

 Charles, westward along the river front. The 

 newer immigrants, especially those of Slavic 

 race, are following northward from the river 

 in the tracks of the Jews. All the immigrants 

 as they mix with the older element become 

 English-speaking; meanwhile a great variety of 

 languages is always heard, and there is a great 

 field for the interpreter. Newspapers are is- 

 sued in several languages; naturally the ma- 

 jority are in French and English. 



History. Referring to Montreal's growth and 

 modern development, a recent writer says: 



The metamorphosis of Montreal is, perhaps, 



after all the chief miracle of Canada It 



is as if Rome were to clothe herself in the gar- 

 ments of Chicago. 



The site of Montreal was first brought to the 

 attention of white men in 1535, when Jacques 



Cartier (which see) sailed up the Saint Law- 

 rence and discovered the Indian town of Hoche- 

 laga at the foot of the mountain. Cartier never 

 returned and the next white visitor was Samuel 

 Champlain (which see), in 1611. Champlain at 

 once recognized the advantage of the place for 

 a trading post and the site of a future city. He 

 named the island in front of the present city 

 Saint Helen's, in honor of his wife, who was 

 the first French woman to come to America. 



MONTREAL IN 1760 



Two years later he again visited the place to 

 establish a trading post, but his plan was not 

 carried out. The city was founded in 1642 by 

 Paul de Chomedy, Sieur de Maisonneuve, who 

 with Father Viinont and about sixty followers 

 landed on May 18, where the customhouse now 

 stands. An altar was erected and mass was 

 said, during which Father Vimont addressed his 

 little band with these prophetic words: 



You are a grain of mustard seed that shall rise 

 and grow till its branches overshadow the earth. 

 You are few, but your work is the work of God. 

 His smile is upon you and your children shall fill 

 the land. 



The settlement was named Ville Marie. The 

 pioneers were exposed to great danger from the 

 Iroquois, and actual colonization did not begin 

 until 1653. Four years later the seminary of 

 Saint Sulspice was founded, and within a few 

 years the Sulpicians became owners of the en- 

 tire island. The settlement soon became an 

 important post for trading with the Indians. In 

 1762 the city was laid out, and a few years 

 later the town was surrounded by a palisade. 

 In less than fifty years after the landing of 

 Maisonneuve, Ville Marie had a population of 

 over 2,000 and was an important factor in the 

 affairs of New France. For the next century 

 the growth was slow. By the Treaty of 1763 

 all Canada passed to the British government. 

 During the war of the Revolution Montreal 

 was visited by commissioners from the colonies, 

 who tried to influence Canada to join them in 

 throwing off British control. Benjamin Frank- 



