174 LABRADOR 
whose sole and special executive duty would be to study all 
the questions in connection with that country. It may be 
stated here at once that the proper development of the 
Labrador coast cannot take place unless one or other of 
the above suggestions is adopted, or some other more or 
less similar arrangement is provided, such as an annual 
visit to the coast of a Minister of the Crown.” 
Only one such has ever visited Labrador, and that one, 
the Honourable Minister of Fisheries, accompanied Sir 
Wiliam MacGregor on his trip in 1906. 
Education in both Newfoundland and Labrador is an- 
other very difficult problem. It is rendered almost im- 
possible to solve, owing to the denominational system of 
schools. A recent visitor, writing in an American paper, 
expressed himself as follows, and his view I entirely agree 
with : — 
“Tf any one desires to study the working out of an ex- 
clusively denominational education to its logical result, a 
visit to Newfoundland will supply the materials. The 
island is a poor and sparsely settled country; yet its edu- 
cation is completely in the hands of the churches, the 
only uniformity attempted being the preparation of exam- 
ination papers by a central board. In the smaller settle- 
ments there may be a Methodist, an Anglican, a Roman 
Catholic, and even a Salvation Army separate school, and 
each denomination, except the Congregationalist, has its 
own college in St. John’s, not one of which has yet got 
beyond the point of secondary education. This is the 
logical outcome of the denominational idea. It results 
in the maintenance of separate camps in every village, 
and bids fair to postpone forever any real unification and 
assimilation of the people.” 
