Moniteur acadien, February 4, 1875
(Catholic allegiance)

In previous issues we expressed the firm conviction that the insults that the Government press heaped on our Caraquet compatriots existed only in the diseased and fanatical minds of writers who are always ready to slander and revile all that is French and Catholic. This conviction was based on the past record of those people who surround the the President of the Council and on the well-known peaceful nature of the Acadians and their utter distaste for trouble and violence, qualities that have often been used against them, as several English-language newspapers have noted. However, candor forces us to admit that our conviction was terribly shaken when, last Thursday, after our issue went to press, the Télégraphe apprised us, with its usual bias, that an officer of the peace had been killed in the line of duty while attempting to make an arrest.

The details we have since learned have erased the poor opinion we had of them with the news of this barbaric act; and while sincerely regretting the bloodshed incurred, we cannot in all good conscience and after careful consideration, hold them morally responsible. And no right-thinking, well-intentioned man free of preconceptions would arrive at any other conclusion, given the circumstances leading up to and surrounding the fateful day of January 27, and the shameful and provocative behaviour of Mr. Robert Young's brainwashed clique.

To fully and clearly understand the troubles at Caraquet, one must look back to the past and review a few facts that deserve consideration.

We have said enough to clearly show that moral responsibility for this double murder lies with the authors of all of the Caraquet problems, and we believe that the facts that will come out in time will confirm what we have said about these deplorable events.