Successful Initiatives 223 
     
    
   
   
    
     . proved business considerably for the fishermen’s unions. The fortunate 
     
    
   
   
    
     turn in the economy strengthened the fishermen’s confidence in the 
     
     merits of co-operation. 
     
    
   
   
    
     FRENCH CULTURE: A DIFFICULT STRUGGLE 
     
    
   
   
    
     Over the years it became increasingly difficult for French culture 
     
     to survive and flourish on Prince Edward Island. It is true that between 
     
     1890 and 1910, the Acadian community seemed to be under full sail 
     
     as it tried to regain the ground that had been lost in the past. During 
     
     that time various institutions appeared, such as L’Impartial, the Aca- 
     
     dian Teachers’ Association and branches of the Mutual Assumption 
     
     Society. In addition, the government agreed to appoint a francophone 
     
     inspector for Acadian schools. None of these measures succeeded in 
     
     stopping the anglicization already under way. Nevertheless, the tide 
     
     was stemmed somewhat. When Senator Pascal Poirier spoke to the 
     
     annual convention of Acadian teachers on the Island in 1909, he 
     
     recalled for his audience the pessimistic outlook he had had around 
     
     1880 with regard to the survival of French on the Island. However, 
     
     he stated that he was “happy to observe that it did not prove to be 
     
     valid and that today French is loved and spoken more than ever 
     
     (TR)'**”. Just the same, as Senator Poirier knew well, anglicization had 
     
     not disappeared. On another occasion (1907), he declared: “In no 
     
     other place in Acadia is the French feeling more alive than on Prince 
     
     Edward Island; but, at the same time, in no other place is English 
     
     more universally spoken in the home, and there lies a great national 
     
     danger (TR)'*®”. 
     
    

    
     It was not long before statistics proved Pascal Poirier’s concern 
     
     to be well-founded. According to the 1921 census, French was no 
     
     longer the mother tongue of about seventeen percent of the approx- 
     
     imately twelve thousand Islanders of Acadian origin'’’®. Twenty years 
     
     later, the figure had risen to twenty-eight percent’’. 
     
    

    
     There were numerous causes for this situation. One of the most 
     
     important that should be mentioned is the matter of French education. 
     
     While it is true that the Department of Education granted the Acadians 
     
     definite privileges allowing them to include a little more French in 
     
     the curriculum, in the final analysis the concessions made by the