{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_18378/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_18378","id":"gutenberg_18378","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/18378","summary":null,"tags":["Canada","Category: History - Other","Category: History - Religious","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Catholic Church -- Canada","Christianity"],"text":"Produced by Al Haines\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCatholic Problems\n\nin\n\nWestern Canada\n\n\n\nBy\n\nGeorge Thomas Daly, C.SS.R.\n\n\n\n\n_With preface by the Most Reverend O. E. Mathieu,\n  Archbishop of Regina_\n\n\n\n\nTORONTO: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY OF\n  CANADA, LTD., AT ST. MARTIN'S HOUSE\n\n\n\n\nPermissu Superiorum\n\nARTHUR T. COUGHLAN, C.SS.R., Provincial.\n\n\n\n\nImprimatur\n\nEDWARD ALFRED LEBLANC, Bishop of St. John, N.B.\n\n\n\nSt. John, N.B., December 8th, 1920.\n\n\n\n\nCopyright, Canada, 1921\n\nBY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY OF CANADA, LIMITED\n\nTORONTO\n\n\n\n\nRESPECTFULLY DEDICATED\n\nTO\n\nTHE CATHOLIC HIERARCHY\n\nOF CANADA.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\n\nPART 1.--RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS\n\nCHAPTER 1.--THIS CALL OF THE WEST\n\nA Call from the West--The Call of the Catholic Church in the West--The\nResponse of the East--The Specific Object of the Catholic Church\nExtension Society.\n\n\nCHAPTER 2.--BRIDGING THE CHASM\n\nThe Catholic Church Extension Society in Canada--Its Principles and\nPolicy.\n\n\nCHAPTER 3.--PRO ARIS ET FOCIS\n\nThe Ruthenian Problem--A Religious and National Problem--Its\nPhases--Its Solution.\n\n\nCHAPTER 4.--WHY?  WHAT?  WHO?\n\nThe necessity of a Field Secretary for the Organization of our\nMissionary Activities.\n\n\nCHAPTER 5.--PLOUGHING THE SANDS\n\nThe Church Union Movement; its Causes and Various Manifestations--The\nProtestant and Catholic View-point.\n\n\nCHAPTER 6.--\"THEM ALSO I MUST BRING\" (Jo, v, 16)\n\nThe Apostolate to non-Catholics; its Obligation--What have we\nDone?--What Can we Do?\n\n\nCHAPTER 7.--PROS AND CONS\n\nObstacles that Impede. . . . Circumstances that Help the Work of the\nChurch in Western Canada.\n\n\n\nPART 2.--EDUCATIONAL PROBLEMS\n\nCHAPTER 8.--WHY SEPARATE?\n\nA Moral Reason--A Social Reason--A Political Reason--A National\nReason--A British Reason--A Religious Reason . . . for our \"Separate\nSchools.\"\n\n\nCHAPTER 9.--A WINDOW IN THE WEST\n\nA Crusade for Better Schools in Saskatchewan: Its History--Its\nLessons--An Invitation and a Warning.\n\n\nCHAPTER 10.--UNICUIQUE SUUM\n\nPrinciple on which should be Based the Division of Company-taxes\nbetween Public and Separate Schools.\n\n\nCHAPTER 11.--DREAM OF REALITY\n\nHigher Education in Western Canada--Duty of the Hour--University\nTraining, Condition of Genuine leadership--For Catholics Higher\nEducation means Higher Catholic Education--The Concerted Action of all\nCatholics in Western Canada can make a Western Catholic University a\nReality.\n\n\n\nPART 3--SOCIAL PROBLEMS\n\n\nCHAPTER 12.--BEYOND BERLIN\n\nAfter-war Problems from a Catholic view-point--Reconstruction--The Duty\nof the Hour.\n\n\nCHAPTER 13.--\"WHOM DO MEN SAY THAT THE SON OF MAN IS?\" (Matt. xvi, 13)\n\nPublic Opinion and the Catholic Church--What is Public Opinion--Its\nPower--How it is Formed--The Catholic Church in its Relation to Public\nOpinion--Our Duties to Public Opinion.\n\n\nCHAPTER 14.--\"TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE\" (Jo. viii, 32)\n\nFacts--Principles--Policy of the Catholic Truth Society--Its Value for\nthe Church in Western Canada.\n\n\nCHAPTER 15.--A SUGGESTION\n\nImportance of the Catholic Press--Requisites for its Success in the\nWest.\n\n\nCHAPTER 16.--THE NEW CANADIAN\n\nImmigration--Are we Ready for it?--Outline of a Plan of Action.\n\n\nCHAPTER 17--\"UT SINT UNUM\"\n\nA Catholic Congress of the Western Provinces, the Ultimate Solution of\nall their Problems--What is a Congress?--Its Utility--Its\nNecessity--Tentative Programme of a General Congress.\n\n\nCHAPTER 18.--\"ULTIMA VERBA\"\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX\n\n\nI.--AMERICANIZATION\n\nA Thought-compelling and Illuminating Article, by L. P. Edwards, in\n\"New York Times,\" on Problems that Confront Canada also.\n\n\nII.--THE FAD OF AMERICANIZATION\n\nBy Glenn Frank in the \"Century,\" June, 1920.\n\n\nIII.--AMERICANIZATION WORK MUST PROCEED SLOWLY\n\nBy Rev. D. P. Tighe, \"Detroit News,\" Aug. 24, 1919.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n_Letter of the Most Reverend O. E. Mathieu,\n  Archbishop of Regina, to the Author_\n\nREVEREND G. DALY, C.SS.R.,\n  St. John, N.B.\n\nDear Father,--\n\nQuebec Province claims you as her son.  There you lived for many years;\nthere you learned to admire the peaceful life and to appreciate the\ngenuine happiness of our patriarchal families; there you were an\neyewitness of the \"bonne entente\" and noble rivalry which exist between\nthe ethnical groups that go to make up its population.\n\nAt various times your sacred ministry has brought you in touch with the\nother Eastern Provinces of our broad Dominion.  A keen observer, you\nreadily grasped existing conditions and the mentality of the various\nelements of our Canadian Population.\n\nThe year 1917 found you laboring in our beloved Province of\nSaskatchewan, as Rector of our Cathedral.  For three years you lived\nwith us.  The possibilities of our great West soon appealed to your\nenthusiastic heart.  The various problems which here engage the\nattention of the Church fired your soul with noble ambition.  I shall\nnever forget the good you have done in the parish committed to your\ncare.  I shall be ever grateful for the zeal with which you devoted\nyourself, heart and soul, to the guidance of those under your charge.\nYou found your happiness in making others happy, remembering that\nkindly actions alone give to our days their real value.  Your priestly\nheart understood that when one is in God's service he must not be\ncontent with doing things in a half-hearted way or without willing\nsacrifice.\n\nBut the voice of your Superiors called you to another field of action,\nand with ready obedience you hastened to the Eastern extremity of the\nDominion.  I can assure you, dear Father, that, though absent, your\nmemory is still fresh among us.  Your old parishioners of Holy Rosary\nCathedral, and others with whom you came in contact through missions\nand other work throughout the Province, have kept a fond and faithful\nremembrance of your Reverence.  The citizens of Regina who are not of\nour Faith still remember the noble efforts you always put forth to\npromote good will and concord in the community at large.  Your charity\nproved to them that we were not born to hate but to love one another.\nIt affords me great pleasure to see that since you left the West you\nhave continued to have its welfare at heart, its problems ever present\nin your thought.  For you tell me that you are just about to publish a\nbook on \"Catholic problems in Western Canada.\"\n\nThe West, you have known, studied and loved.  The tremendous obstacles,\nas well as the great possibilities which there face the Church at this\ncritical hour of our history, have left on your mind a lasting\nimpression.  You fully realize, dear Father, that our Western problems\nare not sufficiently known by the Catholics of the East.  Were the\nimportance of these issues fully appreciated by all, a greater interest\nwould be taken in regard to their immediate solution.  Catholics\nthroughout the Country, you rightly state, are obliged to further the\ninfluence of Holy Mother Church in our Western Provinces, which will\ncertainly be called upon within a very near future to play a most\nimportant part in our Dominion.\n\nTo draw the attention of Catholics to the critical issues which\nconditions, during the last decade or so, have created in our great\nWest, and to offer solutions which will be beneficial to the Church,\nare the noble motives that have prompted your important work and guided\nyou on to its completion.\n\nEven though some may not fully share your views, or see eye to eye with\nyou on the means of action you suggest, you will have nevertheless\nattained your object.  You will have, I am confident, awakened interest\nin our Western problems which, I repeat, are unfortunately not known,\nor at least, are not fully appreciated by too many of our own.\n\nThere is a saying that the heart has reasons which the mind does not\nfully grasp.  I feel sure that the many hours you have spent in the\ncomposition of your book, coupled with the strenuous work of the\nmissions, to which you have consecrated yourself with unrelenting zeal\nsince your departure from our midst, have been calculated to weaken\nyour health.  But your heart, unmindful of self, did not consider time\nand fatigue so long as your fellow-man was being benefited.  Your love\nfor God and His Church induced you to undertake this work and carry it\nthrough to completion.  Your book, I am sure, is destined to produce\nhappy results.  This will be your consolation and your reward.  Asking\nGod to bless your work and wishing you to accept this expression of my\nconstant gratitude and sincere friendship, I remain as ever,\n\nDevotedly yours,\n\nOLIVIER ELZEAR MATHIEU,\n\n_Archbishop of Regina._\n\n\nARCHBISHOP'S HOUSE,\n\nREGINA, November 21st, 1920.\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\nPraesentia tangens. . . . .\n  Futura prospiciens.\n\nProblems characterize every age, sum up the complex life of nations and\ngive them their distinctive features.  They form that moral atmosphere\nwhich makes one period of history responsible and tributary to another.\nAnd indeed, in every human problem there is an ethical element.  This\nimponderable factor, which often baffles our calculations, always\nremains the true, permanent driving force.  For in the last analysis of\nhuman things, morality is what reachest furthest and matters most.\n\nProblems may vary with the times and the countries, and yet, the moral\nissues involved never change; for, right is eternal.  To detect this\nethical element amid the ever restless waves of human activities has\never been the noble and constant effort of true leaders.  Like the\npilot they are ever watching for the lighted buoy on the tossing waves.\n\nThis moral element underlying all our national problems is what affects\nCatholics as such, or rather the medium through which Catholics are\ncalled to affect them.  No period should prove more interesting to\nCatholics than our own, for the very principles of Christian Ethics are\nnow being questioned and vindicated in the lives of nations, either by\nthe benefits accruing from their application, or by the evils\nconsequent upon their neglect.\n\nOur neo-pagan world is learning by a cruel and sad experience that\nReligion is the foundation of morality, and morality that of true\nlegality.  \"For unless certain things antecedent to conscience be\ngranted and firmly held, 'conscience' becomes synonymous with\n'sentiment.'\"\n\nMr. Lloyd George himself, addressing a religious gathering in Wales on\nJune 9, 1920, recognized Religion as the only bulwark able to resist\nthe rising tide of anarchy.  \"Bolshevism is spreading throughout the\nworld,\" said the British Premier, \"and the churches can alone save the\npeople from the disaster which will ensue, if this anarchy of will and\naim continues to spread.\"  The task of the churches, he continued, was\ngreater than that which came within the compass of any political party.\nPolitical parties might provide the lamps, lay the wires and turn the\ncurrent on to certain machinery, but the churches must be the power\nstations.  If the generating stations were destroyed, whatever the\narrangements and plans of the political parties might be, it would not\nbe long before the light was cut off from the homes of the people.  The\ndoctrines taught by the churches are the _only_ security against the\ntriumph of human selfishness, and human selfishness unchecked will\ndestroy any plans, however perfect, which politicians may devise.\n\nThis period of history, to quote Gladstone, is \"an agitated and\nexpectant age.\"  The world is travelling fast into a new era.  The\nmodern social fabric, built on the shifting sands of selfishness and\ninjustice is rocking on its foundations.  Amid accumulated ruins\nnations are searching for the basic principles of true Reconstruction.\nThis period of unrest is in itself a challenge to Christianity, to the\nChurch.  But the vitalizing force of Christianity can solve these\nproblems of a decrepit civilization just as it solved the problem of\ntottering Rome.  Problems therefore must be faced and solved.  Every\nCatholic has his place in this world-wide work.  If our religion does\nnot make its influence felt in every phase of our life's activities, it\nis--as far as our life and its influence on others is concerned--a\ngigantic fraud.  Bishop Kettler understood this pressing obligation\nwhen, breaking away from a too conservative programme of action, he was\nthe first in the Church to give an impetus to the study of the modern\nsocial problem.  His policy and action were said to have prompted the\ncelebrated letter of Leo III, _Rerum Novarum_.  The words of this great\ndemocratic Bishop still bear his timely message to Catholics of to-day,\n\"To save the souls of countless workmen entrusted to her by Christ, the\nChurch must enter the field of Social reform, armed with extraordinary\nremedies.  She must exert herself to the utmost to rescue the workmen\nfrom a situation which constitutes a real proximate occasion of sin for\nthem, a situation which makes it morally impossible for them to fulfill\ntheir duties as Christians.\"\n\n\"The Church is bound to interfere '_ex caritate_,'\" as these workmen\nare in extreme need and cannot help themselves.  Otherwise, the\nunbelieving workingman will say to her: \"Of what use are your fine\nteachings to me?  What is the use of your referring me, by way of\nconsolation, to the next world, if in this world you let me and my wife\nand my children perish with hunger?  You are not seeking my welfare,\nyou are looking for something else.\"\n\nOur fair and broad Dominion has not escaped from that spirit of unrest.\nSpasmodic eruptions in the East and in the West indicate the same\ncentral fires of the universal volcano upon which the world now sleeps\nuneasily.  Yet, various reasons have urged us to limit our\ninvestigation and reflections to Western Canada.  The predominating\ninterests of the West have of late become more and more evident in the\neconomic and political life of our country.  Lord Salisbury, when\ntrouble was brewing on the far-flung border of India, gave to the\npeople the famous warning \"Look at big maps.\"  To get a just\nappreciation of our mighty West we may well follow that same advice and\n\"look at big maps.\"  The sudden and rapid growth of our Prairie\nProvinces particularly, the unlimited and perennial resources of their\nfertile soil, the progressive spirit of the population have made of the\nWest the land of great possibilities and mighty problems.  The future\nof our Country, the peace and prosperity of the nation depend to a\ngreat extent on the reasonable and just exploitation of these resources\nand on the adequate solution to these problems.\n\nThere is no place in Canada where problems develop more rapidly and\nmeet with more radical solutions than in Western Canada.  This is the\ncase in every young and prosperous country.  No dead are behind the\nliving, to link the past to the future with the steadying influence of\ntradition.  Who has not heard of \"The Spirit of the West?\"  Broad in\nits vision, sympathetic and ambitious in its plans, over-confident in\nits powers and most aggressive in its policies, that spirit grips you\nas you pass beyond the Great Lakes into the unlimited horizons of the\nrolling prairies.  Those who have never experienced its secret\ninfluence, will never fully understand its tremendous power.  J. W.\nDafoe, of the Manitoba Free Press, welcoming to the West the Members of\nthe Imperial Press Conference (1920), assured them that they would\nobserve in the West evidence \"of a newer Canadianism, the Canadianism\nof to-morrow; not hostile to the East, but, we think, a little better.\"\n\nAs the West has forced itself on the attention of our economic and\npolitical world, so also have its Religious problems loomed up many and\ngreat on the horizon of the Church.  The Catholic Church, there, as in\nmany mission countries, is in process of formation: immense fields\nawait the scythe of belated reapers.  Yet, notwithstanding this state\nof imperfect organization, the Church stands out as one of the great\nmoral factors which outsiders are the first to respect, and politicians\ntoo willing at times to exploit.  Through her teachings and her\nchildren, she is bound to make the beneficial influence of her presence\nfelt, even by her enemies.  Her teachings indeed create for her loyal\nchildren issues which have to be faced squarely and unflinchingly.  The\ninfluence of the Church on Society depends on the manner Catholics\nunderstand their social responsibilities and translate into action her\ndoctrine.  We may well apply to the life of the Church in a country\nthis biological truism: \"life consists in adaptation to environment.\"\nFrom a Catholic viewpoint Our West will be vitalized only in as much as\nthe Catholics in Western Canada, thoroughly patriotic in their\naspirations and thoroughly Catholic in their ideas and feelings, will\nbring their influence to bear on our national life.  Their example and\ntheir influence will lead to the silent and \"pacific penetration\" of\nthe Society in which they live.  And the Catholics throughout Canada\ncannot stand aloof, disinterested in the upbuilding of the Western\nProvinces, where the Canada of to-morrow is being created.  There\nindeed the clash of ideals is more marked, the fermentation of thought\nis stronger, issues are more vital.  Our national life, to a great\nextent, will depend on how these conflicting elements are absorbed into\nthe blood and sinews of the Country.\n\nThe problems on which we dwell are, in our humble estimation, of\nparamount importance and should arrest the attention and elicit the\nco-operation of every Catholic alive to their seriousness.  No doubt we\nhave been sleeping at our posts.  Red lights spot the darkness of the\nfuture and speak of danger ahead if the problems upon which we dwell\nare not pressed home with constancy and energy, if some concerted\naction is not agreed upon.  Behind these problems lurk mighty issues.\nThey strike at the very foundations of Christianity and Christian\ncivilization, and cannot be disposed of by Parliament-Laws or\nOrders-in-Council.\n\nWe are a minority, some may say, and without influence.  Yes, we are a\nminority, but were we a militant minority, our ideas would make their\nway.  \"Small as the Catholic body was in England,\" said H. Belloc, \"it\nknew what it thought; it had a determined position.  That was of\nenormous importance.  A minority which was logical, reasonable, and\nunited was a very much stronger thing than its mere numbers would\nsuggest.\"  Did not the ideas of a few Oxford men revolutionize the\nChurch of England and bring on a movement the results of which we still\nwitness throughout the English-speaking world.  The men who see clear\nand far, who feel keenly and deeply will necessarily be leaders.  The\nhand that leads is always governed by a warm heart and a clear eye.\n\"Devotion is the child of conviction,\" said Lord Haldane.\n\nThe non-Catholic may be inclined to look upon our exposition of these\nWestern Problems as a merely sectarian viewpoint, and therefore, of no\nvalue to him.  He may even look upon our work as an open challenge.  I\nwould answer in Newman's words: \"_Our motive for writing has been the\nsight of the truth and the desire to show it to others._\"\n\nThe serious minded non-Catholic, whose soul has not been wholly warped\nby prejudice, will at least consider the Catholic Church as one of the\ngreat moral factors in the nation.  He will naturally wish to know the\nmind of the Church and the reasons for its stand in many problems\ncommon to all Canadians.  Our candid explanation will help to give him\na better understanding of facts and a better appreciation of our\nposition on issues to be faced by us all.  We are prompted by a sincere\nlove for our Country in offering these solutions for the various issues\nwith which we are confronted.  \"Preconceived opinions and inherited\nprejudices, particularly in religious matters tend to make men either\nblind or indifferent to the merits of systems other than their own.\"\nWe do not expect our non-Catholic readers to see eye to eye with us in\nthe discussion of the various problems under examination.  Our\nviewpoint is naturally the Catholic one.  But we do believe that the\nbroad-minded Westerner is open to conviction and willing to take an\nargument on its face value.  'Give us a hearing' . . . . this is the\nburden of our message to our non-Catholic countrymen.  This book is not\nwritten in a spirit of controversy.  Were some to see it in this light,\nthen I would claim for the author what Birrell said of Newman: \"He\ncontrived to instil into his very controversy more of the spirit of\nChrist than most men can find room for in their prayers.\"  Moreover; we\nare persuaded that the great war has mellowed the minds of men and made\nthem more receptive.  The contact with other countries has softened the\ncontours of certain controversies and given to all a broader outlook.\n\nHowever, should our arguments fail to prove satisfactory or should they\ngive rise to contradiction, we would repeat here what Newman wrote in\nhis Preface to \"Difficulties of Anglicans,\" \"It has not been our\npractice to engage in controversy with those who felt it their duty to\ncriticise what at any time we have written; but that will not preclude\nus under present circumstances, from elucidating what is deficient in\nthem by further observations, should questions be asked, which, either\nfrom the quarter whence they proceed, or from their intrinsic weight,\nhave, according to our judgment, a claim upon our attention.\"\n\nThe problems we touch upon are of a general character.  They are not\nnew, but the war and the loose and hysterical thinking which has\naccompanied and followed it, have forced them into startling\nprominence.  We have grouped them under three headings: _religious_,\n_educational_, and _social_.  We do not pretend to present an\nexhaustive treatment of the matter.  To do so, would be on our part a\nstroke of temerity and for the reader, an assured deception.  Human\nproblems are ever the same.  The surface may be somewhat changed, the\nhandling a little different, but the principles upon which depends\ntheir solution do not change.  Our effort is to throw a new light on\nold subjects.\n\nTo be of service to the Church, and, through Her to our Country, is the\nsole ambition we have had before us in gathering together in book-form\nstray sheaves of thought, published here and there, during the course\nof the last few years.  We are quite convinced that a clear vision of\nthe problems facing the Church in Western Canada will awaken a sense of\nthe responsibility which they entail for every Catholic in the land.\n\nOur views and suggestions in the matter are but those of a humble\nsoldier who belongs to the rank and file of the great Catholic army.\nBut often a private in the firing line can suggest a plan of action\nwhich, when corrected or modified at headquarters, proves to be of some\nbenefit to his battalion.  This explains the dedication of our humble\neffort to the Hierarchy of Canada.  For in problems which affect the\nChurch, we would not lose sight of this supreme truth: \"The Holy Ghost\nhas placed the Bishops to rule the Church of God, which He has\npurchased with His own blood.\"--\n\n(Act XX, 28)\n\nST. PETERS RECTORY,\n  ST. JOHN, N.B.\n\nOn the Feast of the \"Immaculate Conception,\" December 8th, 1920.\n\n\n\n\nPART I\n\nRELIGIOUS PROBLEMS\n\n\"It is surprising how at the bottom of every political problem we\nalways find some theology involved.\"\n\n  --(Proudhom)\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER 1\n\nTHE CALL OF THE WEST[1]\n\n_A Call from the West_\n\nWho has not heard the call of the West?  Like the blast of the hunter's\nhorn in the silent forest, its thrilling and inviting sound has\nawakened the echoes throughout the land.  Springing from the granite\nheart of our mighty Rockies, that call comes through their valleys, is\nheard over the \"Great Divide\" and whispers its way to the foothills.\nSoft as the evening breeze, strong as the howling blizzard, we hear it\nacross the prairie, gathering as it were, on its triumphal march to the\nEast, something of the immensity of the plains and freshness of the\nlakes.\n\nIn the din of our manufacturing cities, in the quietness of our towns\nand villages, by the rivers and winding bays of our Maritime Provinces,\nalong the peaceful shores of the St. Lawrence, the call of the West has\nbeen heard.\n\nIts alluring sound has cast a spell upon our youth, the hope of the\ncountry.  Faces flushed with the bright hues of life's dawn, eyes\nsparkling with the fires of early youth, instinctively turn to the\nWest.  From all points of Eastern Canada young men and young women are\nleaving for that mysterious land of brilliant promise and great\npossibilities.\n\nThe Call of the West!  All Canada is eager to hear its message.  Has\nnot the merchant his ear to the ground, listening to the throbbing of\nthe growing harvest on our Western prairies?  He knows that in the\nfurrows of that rich loam lie the wealth and prosperity of the country\nat large.  The Eastern manufacturer anxiously scans the daily paper to\nbe posted on crop conditions in the West.  They regulate to a great\nextent the activities and output of his plant.  And when college and\nuniversity days are over, where does the young professional man turn\nhis eyes?  To the West.  Westward, with the sun, he travels; its fiery\ncourse is an invitation to and a harbinger of his bright career.\n\nThe Call of the West!  Across the ocean it has gone and awakened the\ndormant energies of old European nations.  Settlers of every race and\ncreed have rushed to our shores, like the waves of \"the heaving and\nhurrying tide.\"\n\nThe attraction of the Canadian West has become general, at home and\nabroad.  Nothing can stop this onward march to the land of promise.  A\nnew Canada is being created beyond the Great Lakes.\n\nA very small fraction of the Western fertile soil is under cultivation\nand already the phenomenal yield has prompted the nations at large to\ncall the Prairie Provinces \"the granary of the world.\"  Already in\nCanada the industrial, commercial, and to a great extent, the political\nworld hinges on the Western crop.  It is the great source of Canada's\nnational wealth.  For, the prodigious resources of our mines and\nforests, and the annual yield of our harvest are the two poles upon\nwhich revolves the credit of our country abroad.  But the growing value\nof the West to the economic and national life of Canada is a mere\nshadow of its increasing importance in the religious world.  Above the\nhum of the binders and loud clatter of the threshing machines, above\nthe sharp voice of the shrieking steel rail, counting, as it were, one\nby one, the freighted cars on their way to the Eastern ports, above the\nclamor of commerce and industry, ring out the voices of immortal souls.\nThe West, for the Church of God also is the land of great possibilities\nand brilliant promise.  The waving sea of its wheat fields calls to\nmind the words of the Master: \"Lift up your eyes and see the countries\nready for the harvest. . . .  The harvest is great indeed but the\nlabourers are few. . . .\"\n\nOn his return from a visit to our Canadian West Cardinal Bourne, in the\ncourse of conversation, spoke of Canada with almost exclusive reference\nto the Western Provinces.  Some one remarked to him, \"Your Grace is\nreferring to conditions in the West?\"  \"Yes, the West, the West is\nCanada!\" he replied.\n\nNo one can over-estimate the importance of the West from a Catholic\nstandpoint.  It is a new empire that is being formed beyond the Lakes,\nan empire with tremendous and perennial resources, with ambitious\nideals and progressive policies, with forward-looking people and\nyouthful leaders.  There the ultra-conservatism of the East has been\nbrushed aside and space made for a new democracy.  The question of\nparamount importance for us is: \"What will be the condition of the\nChurch in that coming part of Canada?  What share will She have in the\nsolving of the social, educational and economic problems of that new\ndomain?\"\n\nEvery Catholic should be interested in this vital issue.  The call of\nthe West for a Catholic is the call of the Church, the call of a Mother\nto a loyal son.  She has a right to a hearty response from every\nCatholic throughout our broad Dominion.  It is, therefore, a duty of\nconscience for every son of the Church in Canada to come to the\nassistance of his mother, to take her honor to heart.  At the present\nhour this duty is most imperative, this obligation most pressing.\nThere is nothing in the wide sphere of our Catholic social duties so\nimmediate in its urgency or so far reaching in its consequences.  The\nChurch depends on the loyalty of her children.\n\nTo bring this call of our Western missions to the attention of every\nindividual Catholic, to make every soul a co-operator in the extension\nof God's kingdom in Canada, to develop that sense of responsibility\nwhich makes one consider the Church's business his own business, to\nrally our disbanded forces, to unite our sporadic efforts around the\ngreat work of the \"Catholic Church Extension Society of Canada\"--such\nis the object of these few pages.  To place facts before the reader,\nand suggest remedies; to sound the call of the West, loud and sonorous\nas the bugle pealing a great \"_reveille_,\" strong and clear as the\ntrumpet blast that stirs the blood; to prompt a timely and generous\nresponse in the East, by uniting the Church of Canada in a crusade of\nprayers and sacrifices for our Western Missions: this is our aim and\nhopeful ambition.\n\n\n_The Call of the Catholic Church in the West_\n\nThe call of the Church in the West is a cry for help.  Great indeed are\nthe pressing needs of the Western Church, for numerous and various are\nthe difficulties with which Catholics have to contend on the prairie\nand in the small towns.\n\nThe first barrier to surmount is _distance_.  The very layout of the\ncountry is to a great extent a hindrance to the efficient working of a\nparish.  The survey of the land has been made from a strictly economic\npoint of view.  Large farms,--vast wheat fields--were the final object\nof the survey.  The social, educational, and religious phases of the\nsituation are in the background.  This renders church and school\nproblems particularly difficult to solve, as was outlined in Dr.\nFoght's report of the educational survey in the Province of\nSaskatchewan (1918).  This difficulty--let us not forget--will persist\nfor years to come in Western Canada.  According to competent\nauthorities wheat growing, being essentially a large unit undertaking,\ndemands extensive farming.  This statement is very important, for its\nconsequences in Church organization are far-reaching.\n\nThe planless settling of the Catholic homesteaders here and there on\nthe prairie, has also created for the Church one of its greatest\ndifficulties.  Living often 30, 40 and 50 miles from a Catholic chapel,\nthese settlers drift away from the authority, teaching and sacraments\nof the Church.  To form self-supporting parishes in the sparsely\nsettled districts is often an impossibility.\n\nTo this barrier of immense distances are added for long months,\n_unfavourable climatic conditions_.  The very severe cold, the high\nwinds which have such a sweep on the boundless prairies, the terrific\nblizzards of the long winter months, will always remain great obstacles\nto an intense Catholic life in rural parishes.  Many Sundays, from\nDecember to March, it is a real impossibility for those who live at any\ndistance to go to Church.\n\nAnd who are those who have settled on our Western plains?  This is not\nthe place to discuss the immigration policies of the past.  We are\ndealing with facts.  We have the _most cosmopolitan population_ one\ncould imagine.  The most divergent factors go to make up the racial\ncomposition of our western population.  We know of a city parish that\ncounted 16 different nationalities within its boundaries.  During the\nfirst and second generation, during what we would call the period of\nCanadianization of these various national elements, the Church has to\nface a most difficult and complex situation.\n\nDiversity of nations means _variety of ideals, differences of customs\nand traditions_.  The disassociation from former relations and the\nsudden transfer to new conditions of life, have proved to be such a\nshock to many settlers that they fail to readjust their lives to the\narising needs.  \"Separated from the influences of his early life the\nimmigrant is apt to suffer from disintegrating reaction amid the\nperplexing distractions, difficulties and dangers of his new\nenvironment.  Frequently it happens that old associations are destroyed\nand there is no substitution of the best standards in the new\nenvironment.  A vacuum is created which invites the inrush of\ndestructive influences.\"  How many foreigners have been lost to the\nChurch because the teachings of their Faith were no longer handed down\nto them, wrapped up, we would say, in the folds of their national\ncustoms and celebrations!  The oriental and southern mind is more\nparticularly susceptible to the influence of this national tinge with\nwhich religion itself comes to them.\n\nThe fusion of so many ethnical groups and their adaptation to new\nsurroundings are the result of a very delicate and slow process,\nespecially in rural communities.  \"You cannot play with human chemicals\nany more than with real ones.  You have to know something of\nchemistry,\" said Winston Churchill.  Thousands of foreigners have been\nlost to the faith because many of our own, clergy and laity, did not\nknow the first elements of \"human chemistry.\"  The great leakage from\nthe Church in the West is among Catholic immigrants.  Unscrupulous\nproselytisers on the specious plea of \"Canadianization\" have weaned\nthem from the faith of their fathers.  This nefarious process is still\nat work, especially in the Ruthenian settlements.\n\n_The number of languages_ complicates still more this ethnical problem.\nNot hearing the Catholic doctrine in his own language and crippled by\nthat instinctive shyness and extreme reserve which seem to grasp him as\nhe steps on our shores, the foreigner often loses contact with the\nChurch.  Like a transplanted shrub in an uncongenial soil, he\nlanguishes for years in his faith and its practices.\n\n_The very atmosphere_ of the West is another great cause of defections\namong the faithful.  You must live for some years \"out West\" to\nappreciate the full meaning of this statement.\n\nMoral atmosphere is to the soul what air is to the lungs; it is health\nand life.  Two elements constitute that factor which plays such a vital\npart in our religious life--tradition and environment.  _Tradition_\nlinks the past to the present and gives to the soul a certain stability\namidst the fluctuations of life.  It is made up of details if you wish,\nbut, like the tossing buoy, these details betray where the anchor is\nhidden.  This absence of the past has a great influence on our Western\nChurch.  People hailing from all points of Eastern Canada, of the\nUnited States and of Europe, have not yet formed religious traditions\nwhich are to the Catholic life of the family and of the parish what\nroots are to a tree.\n\nAnd what _environments_ surround our scattered settlers on the prairie?\nOnly those who have come in close relation with the lonely homesteader\ncan understand how much he is debarred from the influence of Catholic\nlife.  Very often not even a chapel is to be found for miles and miles.\nA chapel, no matter how humble it may be, is in the religious world of\na community like the mother-cell; in it life is concentrated; from it\nemanates activity.  Mass is now often said in a private house, a public\nhall or a school house.  Children who have not known the beauty and the\nwarmth of Catholic worship will hardly appreciate its lessons.\n\nMoreover, _social relations_ often bring our Western Catholics in very\nfrequent contact with the different Protestant churches and their\ntremendous activities.  _Mixed marriages_ are the outcome of these\ncircumstances.  God alone knows how many of our Catholic boys and girls\nhave been lost to the faith through \"mixed marriages\" and marriages\noutside of the Church.\n\n      *      *      *      *      *      *\n\nThese various obstacles, _geographical_ (distance and climate),\n_ethnical_ (race and language), _religious_ (absence of Catholic\ntradition and surroundings), are the ever open crevices through which a\ntremendous leakage has been draining the vitality of the Church in\nWestern Canada.  So the call of the West is like the frantic S.O.S. on\nthe high seas, that snaps from the masts of a ship in danger.  It is\nthe cry of thousands of Catholics sinking into the sea of unbelief and\nirreligion.  In the wreckage there is still a gleam of hope.  Great\nnumbers yet cling to a remnant of the old faith of their fathers; it\nwill keep them afloat until helping hands come to their rescue.\n\nThe Call of the Church in the West is a call of distress.  Has the\nChurch in the East heard it?  What is its response?\n\n\n_The Response of the East_\n\nHas the Church at large in the East heard the call of the West?  Has\nthat cry of distress gone through the ranks of our Catholics like the\nshrill blast of the bugle call?  Has it awakened our Catholics from\ntheir torpid lethargy and quickened their sense of responsibility?  Has\nthe call been answered, or has it gone out like a cry in the\nwilderness, lost in the noise of our busy world, stifled by the clamour\nof other voices, smothered under other diocesan and parochial claims?\n\nIn the Church of Canada there have always been generous and noble souls\nfor whom the missions of the West have had a mysterious attraction.\nWho can read without emotion of the heroic deeds of the first Jesuits\nwho followed the explorers and _courreurs-des-bois_ in their perilous\nadventures?  What tribute of admiration and gratitude do we not owe to\nthe Oblate missionaries who lived and died with the wandering children\nof the plains, who have kept the fires of Faith burning, from the banks\nof the Red River to the Pacific Coast, from the winding shores of the\nMissouri and Mississippi to the everlasting snows of the Arctic.  Their\nlives of heroism furnish a bright splash on the rather drab and bleak\nlandscape of what was known as the Northwest Territories.  The Church\nof Canada will ever remain indebted to these noble pioneers of the\ncross, apostolic bishops and priests of the first hour; their saintly\nlives are forever emblazoned on the pages of Canadian history; the\nwestern trails murmur their names in gratitude and the children of the\nprairie still bless their memory by the dying fires of their camps.\n\nIndeed the Province of Quebec for years sent her money to help the\nstruggling schools of Manitoba.  The Catholic Church of Canada has\npledged itself in the Plenary Council of Quebec to help the Ruthenian\ncause; the Catholic Church Extension Society of late years is enlisting\nthe sympathies of Eastern Catholics for our Western missions.  With the\nhelp of their motherhouses our various sisterhoods have dotted the West\nwith convents, schools, hospitals and charitable institutions.  We all\nrecognize the beauty and the heroism of their Catholic charity and\napostolic zeal.  Notwithstanding these noble efforts, can we safely\nstate that the Church of Eastern Canada, as a whole, is deeply\ninterested in the Catholic welfare of the West?  Have we kept pace with\nthe changing conditions the last decade has brought throughout our\nWestern Canada?  _No_.  _And this is our national sin_.  The Church as\na whole, has not awakened to its responsibility.  As individuals, as\nparishes, as dioceses, Catholics here and there have nobly done their\nduty.  As a body, as a living Church of Canada, we have failed to help\nthe struggling West as we should have done.  We have not thrown all the\nenergies of our great living, organizing Church into this missionary\nwork.  The Catholics of our Eastern Provinces are not yet united in one\ngreat, generous effort to protect and spread the Kingdom of God in\ntheir own fair Dominion.  The call of the Church in the West has not\nbeen heard.\n\nNever has the importance of the West loomed up before the public mind\nas it has since the beginning of the war.  To realize this you have\nonly to remark its growing influence in our political life.  It cannot\nbe otherwise; the possibilities of the West are so great and so\nnumerous.  Immense virgin prairies are still waiting for the plough.\nAfter the war, during the period of reconstruction, necessarily so\npregnant of great events, the producing powers of our agricultural West\nwill be tremendous.  This is, therefore, a trying period for the Church\nin the West.  Beyond the waving wheat of the prairie we should\ncontemplate the ripening harvest of souls.  Like a growing youth, the\nChurch in Western Canada needs more than ever, help and support from\nthe Mother Church of the East.  This assistance in the present stage of\nthe Western Church is a pressing duty of conscience, not only for the\nindividual Catholic, but particularly for the Church as a whole, in\nEastern Canada.\n\nThis duty is a duty of the hour, a duty most serious, most imperative.\nHow can it be accomplished?  By the united action of the Eastern\ndioceses of Canada.\n\nEach diocese is a constituted unity in itself, but not for itself\nalone.  Like each particular organism in the human system, it exists\nfor the benefit of the whole.  The Catholicity of the Church implies\nthis idea of solidarity whereby the strong help the weak and the rich\ncome to the rescue of the poor.  Never, perhaps, has the Church\nsuffered so much from the wasting of energies.  The torrent, if not\ndirected, spends its energy on itself; turned into the mill race, every\ndrop counts.\n\nOne of the great lessons the war has given to the world is the absolute\nnecessity of centralized effort and the advisability of central\norganization rather than multiplying organizations.  We are living in\nan age of _efficiency_ through _co-operation_.\n\n_Fas est ab hoste doceri_.--The lesson coming from our separated\nbrethren should strike home.  One has to go West to see the feverish\nactivities of the different denominations in that new field.  Ask the\nmission organizers of the various non-Catholic bodies how much money\ncomes from the East to support the struggling Protestant churches of\nthe West; visit their immense printing establishments which are\nproducing and distributing the literature you will find on the table of\nthe lonely Western settler; study these organizations which are\nsupplying field secretaries, teachers, social workers to our foreign\nCatholic settlements, then you will begin to understand this word of\nPius X.: \"The strength of the enemy lies in the apathy of the good.\"\nThe mass of evidence, which can be had by the simple reading of the\nnon-Catholic missionary reports, as to their activities in Western\nCanada, is nothing short of staggering.  What examples!  What lessons!\nShould they not turn our apathetic Catholics into enthusiastic\napostles, stir them into watchfulness and action?  And what could we\nnot do _with more unity of action_?\n\nTwo conditions make united action possible--_uniform plan_ and\n_authoritative leadership_.  It would be rather preposterous on our\npart to attempt to formulate what we could call a plan of campaign for\nour Western apostles.  We wish only to submit a few suggestions which\nmay help to group our scattered energies and bring rescue to the\nChurch, particularly in the unorganized districts of Western Canada.\n\nTo readjust our methods to conditions as we find them _means efficiency\nwith the least waste of energy_.  Therefore, we claim that a \"survey\"\nof membership and conditions of the Catholic Church in unorganized\ndistricts is an absolute necessity.  It is the only _logical basis_ for\ntrue _knowledge of conditions_ and for development.  This \"survey\" will\nbring us into immediate contact with the fallen-away Catholics.  As it\nis now, are we not too often _waiting_ for the fallen-away to come to\nus?  If the survey has proved essential in the solving of educational\nand social problems, why should it not commend itself in religious\nmatters?  Proselytizers--especially the English Biblical Society, with\nheadquarters at Toronto and Winnipeg, have the survey of the West down\nto a science.  Their map room in the Bible House of Winnipeg is a\nperfect religious topography of Western Canada.  We are firm believers\nin what we would call the \"Catholicization\" of modern methods that have\nproved beneficial to any cause.  \"Without this survey and the grasp\nwhich it yields of the relative proportion of things, a vast waste of\nmatter and energy alike is inevitable.\"\n\nThis Catholic survey of unorganized districts may appear to some as \"a\ndream,\" a desk-policy of apostleship--as too modern, etc.[2]  The only\nanswer I can give are the facts and figures of the American Catholic\nChurch Extension, whose work along similar lines proves their\nefficiency and high value.\n\nThe specific and ultimate object of the survey would be to keep\nCatholics who live out of the radius of parish life, in constant touch\nwith the Church, its teaching, its sacraments and its authority.  The\nmailing of Catholic literature pamphlets, devotional and controversial,\nand newspapers, the teaching of catechism by correspondence, as is\npractised in certain districts of Minnesota, the selection of teachers\nfor foreign districts and of boys for higher education, the\nestablishment of a central Catholic Bureau of information in each\nProvince, which could serve as a clearing house and centre of Catholic\nactivities, and other means of apostleship, these would be the natural\nconsequences of the survey.  Who cannot see what a help this would be\nto our scattered Catholics?  A great help to keep the faith among the\nscattered home-steaders.\n\nThe service of an _auto-chapel_ would bring them also, at least once a\nyear, the benefit of the sacraments and the blessing of the priests'\nvisit.  For, let us not forget it, one family now lost to the Church\nmeans several families in the coming generation.  This absence of\ncontact with the Church has been for our scattered English-speaking\nCatholics especially, one of the great causes of the loss of faith.\n\nAnd what about our mission to non-Catholics?  We have the truth; are we\ndoing enough, not only to keep it among our own, but to spread it among\nothers?  Are we aggressive enough?  And still I hear the Master say:\n\"And other sheep I have that are not of this fold; them also _I must\nbring_ and they shall hear my voice and there shall be one fold and\nshepherd\" (Jo. X, 16).  _We must bring_ them back; they _shall hear our\nvoice_. . . .  On the strength of that command and of that promise\nshould our policy not be more saintly aggressive?  What an immense\nfield awaits the zeal of true apostles!  Nowhere more than in the West\nhas absolute disintegration set in among the different denominations.\nThe universal desire for Church Union is, in our mind, the best proof\nof our statement.  The most elementary principles of Christianity, of a\nsupernatural religion, have lost their grasp on the mind of the average\nProtestant Westerner.  Nominally, he belongs to a denomination, in\nreality he belongs to none.  And what are we doing to give them the\nfaith?\n\nA uniform plan of action, once adopted, requires for execution, _an\nauthoritative leadership_, if desired results are expected.  In the\nChurch of God the Bishops are our authoritative leaders--_Posuit\nEpiscopos regere Ecclesiam Dei_.  In the ordinary life of the Church\nthis authority in matters spiritual is delegated to and operates\nthrough the parish priests.  The parish is with the diocese, the\nestablished unit of religious organization.  For the work in\nunorganized districts, which is here the special subject of our\nattention, could there not be in each Province or in each diocese, four\nor five \"Free Lances?\" [3]  Let them be diocesan missionaries, priests\nchosen by the Bishops because of their special fitness for this great\nwork.  They would be to the Church what the R.N.W. Mounted Police have\nbeen to the Northwest Territories, or what the itinerant preachers are\nto certain denominations in sparsely settled districts.  Their mission\nwould be to visit, preach, baptize, say Mass in the distant districts\nnot visited by a parish priest.  They would be the advance-guard of the\nChurch throughout the land.  During the winter months they could\ncontinue their work by attending to districts within reach of a\nrailway.  The religious Orders,--and they alone can more easily supply\nreserves and train subjects for this special work--the religious Orders\nsurely will be able to enter into this field of missionary activity, at\nthe same time protecting their subjects with the safeguards of the Rule\nas also of paternal vigilance and guidance.  An itinerant \"regional\nclergy\" radiating from a centre where they are fortified by the\nadvantages of common life, is one of the Bishop of Northampton's\nremedial suggestions among possible \"new methods devised to meet new\nneeds.\"  This suggestion is to be found in his Lenten Pastoral of 1920.\n\nThe Church in the East, through the Catholic Church Extension Society,\nwould gladly, if well informed on the matter, furnish the financial aid\nfor the support of these \"free lances\"--and their apostolic activities.\nThe Catholic Truth Society would gladly, contribute all the literature\nneeded to spread the truth and to keep the fires of faith burning on\nour prairies.  Grouping forces, co-ordination of efforts, is what we\nneed most in Canada.  In the rank and file of the Catholic laity\ntreasures of enthusiasm, latent powers of energy go to waste because\nthere is no leader to awaken and direct them.  The policy of the\n_Catholic Church Extension_ is to act on these long unspoken desires,\nto loosen the pent-up energies of the Catholic heart throughout the\nland.\n\n\n_The Specific Object of the Catholic Church Extension Society_\n\nThrough its press, literature, auxiliary societies and various other\nactivities, this apostolic society is ever trying to quicken among\nCatholics a profound sense of responsibility to the Church Universal.\nThe welfare of our Western missions depends on how the Church in the\nEast understands and shoulders its obligation.\n\nBy financial aid we do not only mean donations and contributions, here\nand there, from wealthy Catholics.  What we have in view is the\nfinancial assistance of the Church in the East, as a whole, as a\ncorporate body.  Every Catholic in Canada must become more or less\ninterested in \"Home Missions\" and be willing to do \"his little bit.\"\nAs the small fibrous roots are the feeders and strength of the tree, so\nalso the small and continued donations of all Catholics in the East\nwill be the support of our missions in the West.  In the various\nProtestant denominations, for every dollar given to support of the\nlocal church another dollar goes to the \"Home Mission Fund.\"  At the\nlast general Methodist Conference (Hamilton, 1918) that Church pledged\n_eight million dollars_ ($8,000,000.00) for their missions in the next\nfive years.  With the enormous sums these various religious bodies\nreceive from the East they support the non-Catholic institutions of\nhigher education to be found in all cities of Western Canada, they\ndistribute free of charge tons of literature throughout the prairie,\nthey defray the expenses of their social workers, field secretaries,\netc.  Among the Catholics of hundreds of parishes does not the\nprevailing policy seem to be: \"Charity begins at home\"--and we may add,\noften ends there.  When one has paid his pew-rent and his dues, bought\na few tickets for a sacred concert or bazaar, thrown on the collection\nplate each Sunday a few coppers or a small piece of silver, he thinks\nhe has accomplished all his duty to the Church.  The vision of too many\nCatholics does not go beyond the boundaries of their parish or their\ndiocese.  Circumscribed in their views, they remain illiberal in their\nsympathies.\n\nFloyd Keeler, a neo-convert to the Catholic Faith, made recently this\nmost instructive statement.  \"Perhaps the greatest problem which the\nconvert is the most surprised to find existing in the Catholic Church,\nis the problem why the average American Catholic is so supremely\nselfsatisfied and seems to have so little thought for the propagation\nof the Faith which he professes.  Coming from a body which has had for\nmany years a well-organized system of missionary propaganda and which,\nin spite of its many and grave doctrinal difficulties, is fairly well\npermeated with missionary spirit, _it is a shock_ to find that within\nthe Fold so little attention is paid to what really ought to be the\nvery breath of life to its people, the Extension of the Kingdom of God\non earth, the carrying out of our \"Lord's Last Will and Testament.\"  To\nfind Catholics whose ideals are bound up within their own parishes, who\npossess no sort of vision of the world beyond, still lying \"in darkness\nand in the shadow of death\" and no concern over its redemption, is a\nphenomenon which is hard to explain.\"\n\n\"It distresses us more than we can tell to find those who are nourished\nat the breasts of the Bride of Christ, callous to Her charms, unmindful\nof Her privileges, thoughtlessly and grudgingly rendering their minimum\nof service, for we realize how Christ is thus being 'wounded in the\nhouse of His friends' and His Bride made to lose Her comeliness in the\nsight of men.  But the Catholic press and the Catholic pulpit, fired\nwith the zeal of this new apostolate can, and we believe will solve the\nproblem.\"--(\"America,\" March 13, 1920.)\n\nOur parishes and dioceses will never suffer from an increased zeal in\nthe broader interests of the Universal Church.[4]  There can be no\nconflict of interests in the Church of God, if seen from the proper\npoint of view,--the glory of God and the salvation of souls.  \"It is\nbecause we have need of men and means at home that I am convinced we\nought to send both men and means abroad.  In exact proportion as we\nfreely give what we have freely received will our works at home prosper\nand the zeal and number of our priests be multiplied.  This is the test\nand the measure of Catholic life among us.  The missionary spirit is\nthe condition of the growth, and, if Faith is to extend at home it must\nbe by our aiding to carry it abroad\" (Card. Manning).  Was it not while\nhe was building the Cathedral of Westminster, that Card. Vaughn founded\nthe \"Mission Society?\"\n\nThis missionary spirit has also a bearing on the spiritual welfare of\nthe flock in which it is fostered.  For those who would object that\ngiving money to our Western Church is \"carrying coals to Newcastle,\" we\nwould state that the West now needs more the help of the East than at\nany other time.  The organized parishes are indeed beginning to be\nself-supporting; but the work we have outlined in these pages, if it is\nto be done, has to be supported by the Catholics of Canada at large.\n\nThe spiritual aids will be the prayers, Masses, sacrifices of all kind\noffered for our Home Missions.  Nothing strengthens faith and\nstimulates genuine piety, as prayers and sacrifices for the great cause\nof our missions.  They are so disinterested, they reveal true love for\nour Blessed Lord.\n\nOnly a chosen few are called to go into the field at home and afar and\nreap the ripening harvest.  But all are commanded by the Master to pray\nthe Father for harvesters.  This sublime apostleship of prayer is the\nprivilege and duty of every Christian.  Is there anything more\ninstructive and more pathetic than the invitation of the Saviour to\nco-operate with Him in this great work of the Redemption.  \"And seeing\nthe multitudes he had compassion on them: because they were distressed\nand lying like sheep that have no shepherd.  Then He said to His\ndisciples: the harvest indeed is great but the labourers are few.  Pray\nye therefore the Lord of the harvest that he send labourers into the\nharvest.\" (Math. IX, 36, 37, 38.)\n\nThe Divine Master cannot but hear the prayer asking Him to send\n\"labourers to the ripening harvest.\"  And could we give better proof of\ndevotion to Church and Country?\n\nGreat is the seriousness of the present hour, tremendous the task that\nconfronts us after the war.  Never has any generation in history been\nso freighted with the responsibilities of the future as ours is,\nmarching home from the battlefields of Europe.  We are living in\nstirring and changeful times.  Nowhere in the Dominion of Canada will\nthe period of reconstruction have more far-reaching effects than in the\nWest.  The after-war problems will meet there with rapid and very often\nradical solutions.  To understand this issue that faces our country, to\ngrasp it in all its breadth and fulness, should we not broaden our\nvision, readjust it, we would say, to the new scale of changing\nconditions?  Only then will we be able to marshal our forces and throw\nthe weight of Catholic principles into the solving of the social,\neconomic and religious problems of the hour.  \"The Church cannot remain\nan isolated factor in the nation.  The Catholic Church possesses\nspiritual and moral resources which are at the command of the nation in\nevery great crisis.  The message to the nation to forget local\nboundaries and provincialism is a message likewise to the Catholic\nChurch.  Parochial, diocesan and provincial limits must be forgotten in\nthe face of the greater tasks which burden our collective religious\nresources.\" (Card. Gibbons.)  Let us give to the people that broad,\nCatholic vision of our present duty to our country and to our Church.\nThe broader the outlook, the deeper the insight.  The measure of their\nvision will be the measure of their action.  No leader can meet with\nsuccess without a certain receptivity to work upon.  This receptivity\nis formed by spreading ideas, by an educational propaganda.\n\nIt may take time before the vision struggles into consciousness and\nwins its way to the dominance of the mind.  What we need is a\nsystematized, continuous effort that will gradually crystalize that\nvision into a definite workable project.  A flourish of trumpets and\nblaze of Catholic zeal, as we are accustomed to witness on the occasion\nof some special sermon and appeal by a missionary, will only prompt an\nact of passing generosity.\n\nThe special object of the _Catholic Church Extension Society_ is to\nawaken the collective consciousness of the Catholic population and to\ngive to Catholics that vision of their social responsibility and\nreligious solidarity and to keep it, by its organization, in a healthy\ncondition.  It realizes that co-operation from the Church at large will\nexist and maintain itself only if preceded, accompanied and upheld by a\nstrong and vigilant Catholic public opinion.  In return public opinion,\nonce created in the ranks of our Catholic laity, will make the\n_Extension Society_ a live-wire, a dynamic force of the Church in\nCanada.  Let us not forget, vision--and public opinion is the vision of\nthe multitude--is the first and primary of constructive forces.\n\nTo have Catholic action we must first create a Catholic mind.\n\nA publicity campaign, followed by a dominion-wide drive for funds,\nwould be now in order.  The spirit of giving and of giving for great\ncauses is in the air.  A campaign of that nature--we have seen it often\nduring the war,--is in itself an education.  It spreads information and\narouses the sense of duty.\n\nFrom the clearness, breadth and depth of that vision will spring the\nconquering spirit of united action.  Forgetting then our lingual and\nracial differences that have created in the past among us so many\nunfortunate misunderstandings and have weakened our forces before the\nenemy, we will rise to the level of our faith, to the creative powers\nof true Catholicity.\n\nThe \"Call of the West\" has been heard.  It comes to you with the\n_burning problems_ of the _present_ . . . _praesentia tangens_ . . .\nand the _vision of brilliant promises and heavy responsibilities_ of\nthe future . . . _furtra prospiciens_.\n\nWHAT IS YOUR ANSWER?\n\n\n\n[1] This Chapter formed the matter of a series of articles published in\nthe \"Catholic Register\" of Toronto.  The Catholic Church Extension\nSociety republished them in pamphlet form with the following\nintroduction by Archbishop McNeil.\n\n\"The author of this pamphlet has lived in the West and has felt--I was\ngoing to say--the need of Catholic co-operation, but that falls short\nof the reality.  Co-operation among Catholics is more than a means to a\nmissionary end.  It is an essential part of Catholic life.  Boundaries\nof jurisdiction are conveniences and means to an end.  In the first\ncenturies of the Christian era it was centres rather than\ncircumferences that marked divisions of work and of jurisdiction; but,\nin any case, administrative divisions were never intended to be\ndivisions of brotherhood.  In places where we are well established we\nare inclined to look upon Christian brotherhood in an abstract way.  In\nthe West they feel it as a necessity of Catholic life, not only as a\nsource of financial help, but as brotherhood in sympathy, interest, and\nmutual helpfulness.  The West can help the East by its growing\ninfluence, and Catholics in the West can do their part in defence of\nCatholic ideals and Catholic institutions.  The more we do for them the\nmore they can do for us.  Father Daly describes the Call of the West,\nand it is fittingly through Catholic Extension that the call is now\nmade and will be answered.\"\n\n[2] \"The Universe\" the great Catholic Weekly of England, had in its\neditorial notes the following remarks on this suggestion of ours:\n\nA \"DESK-POLICY\" OF APOSTLESHIP\n\nThe Catholic Church in Canada possesses a Home Missionary problem of\nthe extent of which we can scarcely form an idea.  In making his appeal\nfrom the West to the East of the vast Dominion, Father Daly, C.S.S.R.,\nwho has just issued a pamphlet on the subject through the Church\nExtension Press, Toronto, brings out some salient truths on the subject\nof co-operation and organization which Catholics all the world over can\nwell take to heart and apply to themselves.  \"Two conditions (he says)\nmade united action possible--uniform plan and authoritative leadership.\nTo readjust our methods to conditions as we find them means efficiency\nwith the least waste of energy, and acting on this principle Father\nDaly advocates a 'survey' of membership and conditions of the Catholic\nChurch in unorganized districts as the one means of getting at lapsed\nCatholics.  'Too often,' he observes, 'we are waiting for the fallen\naway to come to us.'  This is true indeed.  Protestant proselytizers in\nthe west of Canada have the whole 'survey' scheme worked out on a\nscientific basis.  Father Daly is more willing to learn from them.  \"I\nam a firm believer,\" he writes, \"in what I would call the\nCatholicization of modern methods that have proved beneficial in any\ncause.\"  The problem of unorganized districts and of a scattered\nCatholic population in our own case is, of course, minute compared with\nthat of Canada; but it is there, and sufficiently in evidence to\njustify the Redemptorist Father's \"desk-policy of apostleship.\"  There\nis no reason, in short, why the interorganization of the members of the\nmost perfect organization in the world should be committed to a kind of\nspiritual rule of thumb.\"\n\n[3] The following letter prompted by the reading of this very article\nwas received by the President of the Church Extension, dated, March 14,\n1919, at a point of Saskatchewan we know quite well; it is illustrative\nof conditions prevailing in many districts of our Great West:\n\nVery Reverend and dear Father,--\n\nI have just read your article in the Febr., 15 issue and I am so\npleased with your suggestion for relieving the situation for scattered\nCatholics throughout the West that I must write my appreciation.  I am\nsure that very few people in the East realize what a veritable\nnecessity those _Free Lances_ you spoke of are to so many Western\npeople, or what a God-send those _auto-chapels_ would be.  Western\nhomesteaders do not stray far from home for two very good reasons, lack\nof transportation facilities and lack of funds.\n\nWe live 12 miles from the church, that is my own family.  The others\nlive thirty-five and fifty miles away and up to this year we have had\nnothing but a waggon to travel in, and now those that live farthest\naway have still only a waggon.  So you will understand that we have not\nmade more than necessary trips or not many more.  And I wonder if my\nbrothers would make those, were it not for my mothers insistence.  They\nare surrounded by such bad influences.  It's not that it is a sectarian\ninfluence, but rather a total lack of religion altogether.  The only\nthings that matter greatly are the material things of this world.  To\nconfess yourself religious, especially Catholic, is to confess yourself\nold fashioned and to cause people to smile.  You know that is harder to\ncombat than bigoted opposition.  Your plan to send out pamphlets would\nbe appreciated by many--But above all we need the personal touch of a\npriest.  We need it as our crops need rain, etc. . . .\n\n[4] As an illustration of what in a simple and unostentatious way can\nbe done by any parish in the mission cause the editor of the Annals of\nthe Propagation of the Faith (N.Y.) refers to an invitation extended to\nhim to attend a Christmas sale.  It took place in a parish of the\nBrooklyn diocese on Dec. 3, 1919, the feast of St. Francis Xavier,\npatron of the mission cause.  Thanks mainly to the efforts of an\nenergetic lady, but with the consent and patronage of the pastor, a\nXavirian Mission Circle had been formed.  Within eighteen months after\nits organization the newly found circle had paid off a $500.00 mortgage\nfor a heavily burdened priest in the South, had adopted eight abandoned\nchildren of the Chinese Missions, had sent 1,000 Mass intentions, was\nsupporting seven catechists in Africa, India, and China, was educating\na Chinese seminarian, had given 150 volumes to the parochial library of\na bigoted section in the South, and was able then to place upon\nexhibition a number of sacred vessels that were to be forwarded as\ngifts to poor priests.  \"And did all these activities not interfere\nwith your parochial work?\" Mgr. Freri asked the pastor.  \"Not in the\nleast\"--was the answer--\"My collections have never been larger.\"  \"EVEN\nPROTESTANTISM FINDS THAT HOME COLLECTIONS ARE IN DIRECT PROPORTION TO\nTHE MISSION GIFTS.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nBRIDGING THE CHASM[1]\n\nMost touching in its divine simplicity, most sublime in its inspired\nlessons was the invitation of the Master to His Apostles: \"Behold I say\nto you lift up your eyes and see the countries, for they are white,\nalready to harvest,\" (John IV, 35)--As He stood by the well of Jacob,\nfacing the slopes of the hills of Samaria, He pointed out to them the\ncrowds that were hastening to listen to His Message and believe in His\ndivine mission.  The fields around lay desolate and lifeless, for it\nwas then winter.  \"Do you not say,\" asks Jesus, \"there are yet four\nmonths and then the harvest cometh?  Behold I say to you lift up your\neyes and see the countries for they are white already to harvest.\"\nThis human harvest, of which the Master speaks, is but the prelude of\nthat immense harvest of souls ever ripening under the rays of God's\ndivine grace in the great field of this world.  The Church, like\nChrist, also invites us to contemplate that waving harvest and to pray\nthe Lord to send labourers into the field.\n\nThis divine invitation, the Catholic Church Extension Society makes its\nown, to plead the cause of our Home Missions.  Pointing to our Western\nProvinces, to that great Dominion beyond the Lakes, that missionary\norganization says to every Catholic in the land: \"The harvest is great,\nbut the labourers are few.  Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest\nthat he send labourers into the harvest.\"\n\nThe Catholic Church Extension Society has been founded in Canada, for\nthe conservation and propagation of the Catholic Faith in our mission\ndistricts.  Its very name, as we readily see, shows forth its object\nand explains its existence.  Canada, as we all know, possesses vast\nareas, in her Western Provinces particularly, where the Church has not\nyet established the influence of her permanent organization.  There,\nher children suffer from the prolonged absence of her teaching, of her\nsacraments, of her authority, and are struggling against the abiding\npresence of numerous, rich, aggressive, and unscrupulous proselytizers.\nYet, on the vast stretches of prairie, where the lonely homesteader has\njust broken the virgin soil, amid the snows of the bleak North, by the\nrushing waters of the Fraser, the Mackenzie, the Peace, and the\nSaskatchewan Rivers, in the far distant valleys of the Rockies--the\nwords of the Master are still a living reality. . . .  \"The fields are\nready for the harvest and the workers are few.\"  The Extension Society\nhas been established in Canada to point out to our Catholic laity these\nfields where the harvest is waiting and to help to send labourers into\nthem.  Its sublime mission is to _bridge the chasm_ which separates the\nEast from the West.  It is the binding and living link between the\norganized Church and the mission field.  This sublime object of the\nSociety makes it most worthy of our commendation and of your loyal and\ngenerous support.\n\nPrinciple and policy are the basic ideas of organized action.  If the\nprinciples upon which an organization rests are true and elevating, if\nthe policy it advocates and which governs its activities is practical,\neasy, and attractive, the organization itself is bound to meet in time\nwith an unlimited success.  The higher the principles, the more\ninviting the policy, the more living and telling will be the resultant\naction.  Therefore, to place before our readers the principles and\npolicy of the Catholic Extension Society will no doubt help them to\nunderstand better its claims and respond more generously to its appeal.\n\n\n_I.--Principles_\n\nThe Kingdom of God comes upon earth through the Apostolate of the\nChurch.  \"As the Father sent me, I also send you,\" said Christ to His\nApostles, and to all who were to take their place in succeeding\ngenerations.  For, these words of Christ created the Catholic\nApostolate and maintain it.  His words, indeed, are words of life.\n\nThe Apostolate of the Church is an absolute necessity, the very\ncondition of Her existence and progress.  The Catholic Church Extension\nis one of the most beautiful expressions of that Apostolate, for its\nobject is, as we stated, the conservation and propagation of the Faith\nin the Mission districts of Canada.\n\nThe principles upon which the activities of this Society are based may\nbe reduced to two: the _doctrinal_ and the _historic_:\n\n1. _Doctrinal Principle_.--All appeals for sympathy and help in the\ngreat cause of Catholic Missions rest on one of the most fundamental\ndoctrines of our Faith, the Catholicity of the Church.  \"The Church\nCatholic,\" says the great theologian Suarez, \"means the Church\nUniversal--_Ecclesiam esse catholicam, idem est ac esse universalem_\"\n(Disput. de Ecclesia IX., sect. VIII., No. 5).  This universality of\nChrist's Church implies the idea of solidarity, whereby in her living\nand indivisible unity She is always and everywhere the same.  The\nChurch, like a perfect vital organism, is a divine organic whole,\nsolidly constituted, identical to itself, and in all its parts,\nthroughout time and space.  The whole is reflected or rather found in\neach part, and each part reflects and possesses the whole.  The\nCatholicity of the Church is but the expansion of its Unity.  It stands\ntherefore as its permanent and outward manifestation.  Should we now\nwonder why the Church of Christ is called Catholic?  We name things and\npersons by that characteristic feature which conveys to our mind the\nmost accurate concept of them.  The very name of the Church is, as you\nsee, an ever living proof of her divinity.  And of that name, we may\nwell say what is said of the name of Jesus . . . _signum cui\ncontradicetur_ . . . it will be forever \"a sign of contradiction.\"\n\nThe moral aspect of this solidarity of the Church is responsibility.\nThe Church at large is responsible for each particular diocese and\nparish, and each individual diocese and parish is in return responsible\nfor the Church universal.  This responsibility is to be shared by every\nCatholic.  And as by its Catholicity the Church overcomes the two great\nbarriers to all human power, time and space, so also should every\nCatholic manifest in the affairs of the Church universal an interest\nequally as great as that he shares in his own particular parish.\n\"Co-operation among Catholics,\" as Archbishop McNeil justly remarked,\n\"is more than a means to a missionary end.  It is an essential part of\nCatholic life.  Boundaries of jurisdiction are conveniences and means\nto an end.  In the first century of the Christian era, it was centres\nrather than circumferences that marked divisions of work and\njurisdiction; but in any case administrative divisions were never\nintended to be divisions of brotherhood.  The divisions of the Church\ninto dioceses and parishes are to further increase, and not to weaken\nor destroy its Catholicity.\"\n\nAnd what we say of these divisions of space, may also be said of those\nof time.  As the glorious memories of the divine history of the Church\nbelong to each individual Catholic, so also should the possibilities of\nher future destinies in our country and throughout the world, preoccupy\nhis thoughts and affections in the present.\n\nThis is one of the most comprehensive and most pregnant aspects of the\nChurch.  It throws open the whole world to the zeal of every individual\nCatholic.  Wherever the tents of Israel are, there he finds his home,\nbe it in the wilds of Africa, or on the islands of Oceanica, under the\nscorching sun of the tropics or in the snows of the lonely North.  But\nas we are more closely united with those among whom Divine Providence\nhas cast our lot in this world, our home-missions have the first claim\non our zeal and generosity.  For, according to St. Thomas Acquinas, the\nmore or less close relationship with our neighbor is the measure of the\n_intensity_ of our love and devotedness.\n\nWe now understand what the Church Extensions' claim means for the\nmissions of Canada.  The intention of the Society, as we may readily\nsee, is not to limit our zeal to any national issue, but rather, to\ndevelop more easily the missionary spirit and direct its first effort\nto the welfare of our own countrymen by the consideration of our own\nwants.\n\n2. _Historic Principle_.--The lesson of facts is very often more\nstriking than that of doctrine.  They are here the concrete expression,\nin the various nations, and through the course of centuries, of those\nfundamental principles we have just considered.  It is indeed a law of\nCatholic History, that the more Catholic a nation is, the more\napostolic, the more missionary it will prove itself to be.  The\nmissionary spirit is the test of Catholicity, the abiding proof of its\nsolidarity.\n\nThe history of Catholic nations justifies this statement; their zeal\nfor the propagation of the faith will explain their rise and downfall\nin the eyes of the Church.  Ireland is a classical illustration of this\npoint.  Poor, persecuted, downtrodden, the land of the Gael still\nremains the seminary of the world's apostles.  The foreign missions\nalways appealed to the Irish people and \"the limits of the earth have\nheard the voice\" of its zealous missionaries.  Does not France,\nnotwithstanding the persecution of the Church by its government, still\nremain the great missionary country of the world?  She sends more\nmissionaries and gives more monetary aid to the \"Propagation of the\nFaith\" than any other Catholic nation.  England's return to Catholicism\nis most promising, for her converts of yesterday are already in the\nfield afar.  The awakening of that same apostolic spirit in the Church\nof the United States is the most convincing sign of the great strides\nCatholicity is making in that land of Liberty.\n\nThis unwritten law which prevails throughout the history of Catholic\nnations and expresses so forcibly and so persistently the doctrinal\nprinciple of which we spoke, justifies the claims of the Catholic\nExtension and gives strength to its appeal.\n\nSuch are the two principles upon which rest the Extension\nSociety--_dogma_ and _history_.  They strike the very bed-rock of our\nFaith.  But if its _principles_ are sublime and inspiring--its _policy_\nis simple and effective.\n\n\n_II.--Policy_\n\nThe policy of an organization is the direction of its activities, the\nplan of campaign for the furtherance of its principles, the line of\naction in the realization of its ideal.  _The Policy of the Church\nExtension is twofold: education and action_.  To give to all the\nCatholics of our country, an accurate knowledge of conditions in our\nvarious mission fields, to develop in them the true missionary spirit,\nto make them think in terms of the Church Universal . . . this is its\n_educational policy_.  To organize in every parish a branch of the\nSociety and through it to enlist the sympathy and receive the spiritual\nand financial assistance of every member, to develop, co-ordinate and\ndirect the missionary activities of all our dioceses in favor of our\nhome missions; in other words, to promote efficiency through\norganization, centralization of efforts with the least waste of energy\n. . . this is its _policy of action_.\n\n1. _Policy of Education_.--The acuteness of our sense of duty depends\nlargely on the breadth and depth of our vision.  This principle\nexplains the importance of the Catholic Extension educational policy.\nThrough its official organ, \"The Catholic Register,\" by means of\npamphlets, leaflets, and lectures and sermons, the Society is most\nintent on giving to the Catholics of Canada, first hand knowledge of\nconditions in our mission districts.  We are perfectly convinced that\nwhen all our Catholics will have fully realized the truth of these\nconditions, they will immediately understand their responsibilities and\nfulfill generously their duty.  But what is that \"call of the West\"\nwhich the Catholic Church Extension is sounding like a cry of alarm\nthrough the country?  You all know, what I would call, \"the Romance of\nthe West.\"\n\nA few decades ago Western Canada was but a bleak, lifeless plain,\nextending from the Great Lakes to the foothills of the Rockies, dotted\nhere and there with the Indian wigwam, the roving herds of buffaloes,\nthe solitary chapel of the Catholic missionary, and the lonely posts of\nthe Hudson Bay fur-traders.  Suddenly under the magic steel of the\nplough, that immense waste of land woke up from its age-long slumber.\nThe desolate prairie became within a few years the greatest granary of\nthe world.  The Indian trail gave place to transcontinental highways,\nto those \"long, long, and winding,\" steel trails that have led the\nyouth of our Country and the exiles of Europe \"into the lands of their\ndreams.\"  These trans-Canada roads have conquered distances and linked\nthe Atlantic to the Pacific.  They may well be considered as the\narteries of our Dominion; through them indeed flows rapid and warm the\nblood of our national life and in them one can hear, as it were, the\npulsations of its great and noble heart.  The transcontinental lines\nare responsible for the birth and phenomenal growth of our Prairie\nProvinces.\n\nWhat are the conditions of the Church in these new and promising\nProvinces?  It is not the time, nor is it the place to discuss errors\nor absence of policy that have crippled the Church's work and growth in\nthat period of rapid transformation.  We take facts as they are now.\nThe Church in Western Canada to hold its ground, to extend its work and\ndevelop its institutions, has an absolute need of the help of the East.\nThe barrier of immense distances to which are added, for long months,\nunfavorable climatic conditions; diversity of nationality, variety of\nracial ideals, differences of language, customs and traditions; absence\nof Catholic traditions and a prevailing atmosphere of unbelief and\nirreligion; such are, in a few words, the tremendous obstacles against\nwhich the Western Church in its infancy has to contend.\n\nThis vision of distress, the Extension wishes to place before every\nCatholic in Canada; this call for help, it wishes him to hear.\n\nBut particularly the _future_ of the Church in these Provinces forms\nthe subject of the Extension's preoccupations.  We all realize the vast\npossibilities of our Western Provinces, and the important part they\nmust of necessity play in the future affairs of our Dominion.  The\nChurch's influence then will be what we make it by our efforts now, and\nits progress will be in exact proportion to the amount of our foresight.\n\nThis responsibility of the _present_ and the _future_, the Church\nExtension preaches to all in season and out of season.  Like the beacon\nby the sea, it is ever turning its revolving lights over the immense\nuncharted ocean of our Western missions and hopes that with time, every\nCatholic in Canada will take his course on them.  For, let us not\nforget it, if we do not take care of our mission districts, others\nwill, and that to the detriment and loss of the Church.--_Fas est ab\nhoste doceri_!  It is permissible, says the proverb, to receive a\nlesson from an enemy.  Only those who have worked out West on the\nmissions know to what extent unscrupulous and most aggressive\nproselytizers are always on the ground, ever at work among our people.\nThey are digging broad and deep trenches around the settlements of our\nCatholic foreigners, particularly Ruthenians, draining to their profit\nthe dormant energies of the new Canadian.  The invasion is slow but\nsure, the leakage, great and continual.  This lesson that comes from\nthe tremendous activities of the various Protestant denominations\nshould strike home more forcibly.  The more stinging the lash, the more\nsudden the rebound.\n\nThis educational policy of the Church Extension appeals to the Catholic\nmind and tells it something it desires to know.  It awakens that latent\nCatholicity which Baptism has given us and on which the narrow\nlimitations of time and space have no claim.  This education of our\nCatholic laity in the value and necessity of the missionary spirit, in\nthe perfect knowledge and true appreciation of its character in the\nChurch of God, is the end and result of the Extension policy.  To make\nthat spirit the inspiring, guiding and testing power of Catholic life,\nis the definite aim of its educational work, of its publicity campaign.\nWhen our laity will have absorbed the lesson, it will be ready for\naction.  This knowledge will awaken our sense of responsibility and\nprompt our sympathetic support.  This leads us to say a word on the\nSociety's policy of action.\n\n2. _Policy of Action_.--Vision resolves itself into action.  When the\nmind sees deep and clear, the heart feels warm and generous, the will\nacts promptly and decisively.  As the spark leaps bright and sharp from\nthe silent battery, ignites the fuel and drives the piston, so will a\nbroad vision give a generous impulse to action.  You readily see the\nvalue of an educational policy, and its intimate connection with that\nof action.\n\nAction to be efficient and lasting must be organized.  Grouping of\nforces, co-ordination of efforts, are what we need most in the Church\nof Canada.  In the rank and file of the laity, hidden treasures of\nenthusiasm, latent powers of energy go to waste, because there is no\nleader to awaken them, or if aroused, no organization to direct them.\nThe policy of the Catholic Extension is to bring to vigorous activity\nthese long slumbering desires, to give an effective vent to the pent up\nenergies of the Catholic heart, to group all Catholic missionary work\nfor the conservation and propagation of the Faith in our mission\ndistricts.\n\nHave we not been working too much as separate units?  Has not our zeal\nbeen limited by the boundaries of our parishes and dioceses?  What\nactivities have been absorbed by side-issues, while the great cause of\nthe Church at large should have occupied our attention!  We were\ndeliberating . . . and the West was being lost to us!  The time has\ncome to rally around the Church in our mission fields and prove\nourselves worthy of our name--\"Christian\" and our surname--\"Catholic.\"\nThe policy, therefore, of the Extension is to enlist the organized\neffort of every parish, of every diocese in a great missionary\nmovement, and to throw the weight of the Catholic influence of the East\ninto the immense field of our Western missions.  It is not for the\npromotion of any project, for the benefit of any particular section of\nthe Church in Canada, that the Extension Society exists.  True genuine\nCatholicity is the only inspiration of its activities.\n\nThis united action will manifest itself first and above all in\n_prayer_.  The preservation of the Faith, and the conversion of souls\nare supernatural works depending primarily and in the final analysis on\nthe grace of God.  Never has it been more necessary to emphasize this\ntrait of the Catholic Aspostolate.  Confronted with elaborate schemes\nof finance and the co-operative action of various denominations, we may\ntake lessons from them, but should never forget that there is something\nmore fundamental; we mean, the grace of God.  Our prayer--the prayer of\nevery child, the prayer of every man and woman within the fold, the\nprayer of every nun and priest, should be the prayer of the Master to\nthe Heavenly Father: \"Send harvesters into the fields!\"  How powerful\nshould not that prayer be!  How strong a binding link between the East\nand the West!\n\nBut prayer, like faith, without works is dead.  The Extension,\ntherefore, not only solicits our prayers, but also our help to meet the\nneeds of our home-missions--_Men and money_, financial aid and\napostolic vocations, these are the needs of the hour.  Money to build\nchapels, schools, orphanages, hospitals; money to help the Catholic\npress, the spreading of Catholic Literature; money to forward the great\nand vital cause of higher education.  This organized financial\nassistance of the Church in the East, as a whole, as a corporate body,\nis the best expression of the reality and sincerity of Catholic\nsolidarity.  To boast of our beautiful churches and sumptuous\ncathedrals in the East and to leave our priests in the West without a\ndecent chapel to say Mass denote either painful ignorance of actual\nfacts or the fallacy of our Catholicity.\n\nGreat is the need of money, but greater still the need of men.  The\nprincipal work of the Extension is to foster, develop and bring to\nfruition missionary vocations for the West.  Burses are founded to\nassist young men in their studies, and in a few years, it is the hope\nof the Extension to be able to send to every diocese of the West\nzealous harvesters for the harvest that is awaiting them beyond the\nLakes.  Could we be invited to share a more noble task than to\ncontribute to the education of the heralds of the Gospel, of the\nambassadors of Christ to that Western Kingdom of ours?\n\nLet us conclude.\n\nThese are the _principles_ on which rests the Church Extension Society;\nthis is the _policy_ it pursues.  The adoption of these principles and\nthe furtherance of this policy will, we are confident, develop the true\ntype of the Catholic Laity.  The parish, its works, its pastor, will be\nthe first to benefit by this missionary spirit of the laity.  Long\nenough has the priest, the missionary, laboured alone in the harvest\nfield and borne the heats of the day; long enough have but a few loyal\nand generous souls shouldered the burden of the missionary work in\nCanada; long enough have our Catholics limited their zealous efforts to\nthe confines of their parish or their diocese.  The time has come for\nevery Catholic in Canada to answer the call of the Master, to take his\nplace in the harvest field, to share the responsibilities of the\npresent and prepare a glorious future for the Church in our great and\nprosperous Dominion.\n\nThe appeal that comes to the Church of Canada from the Catholic\nExtension is straightforward.  It needs no apology.  It stands its\nground on its own merits.  It is not--let us never forget it--an appeal\nto our charity.  It is a pressing call to accomplish a sacred duty, a\ntimely warning not to neglect it.  And indeed, active co-operation in\nthe work of Extension is, we repeat, an unfaltering belief in the\nreality of our Catholicism.  It knits our soul to the very soul of the\nChurch, our heart to Her heart.\n\nStrengthened by these highest motives of Catholic Solidarity and\nChristian Charity we should give joyfully and generously.  Let us levy\na tax on our income, no matter how small it may be, remembering the\nfiduciary character of our earthly possessions.  Let us give our time\nand our services to this noble Cause.  Let us give lovingly and\nwillingly our children to the great harvest, if it be God's will to\ncall them to His service.  But above all let us pray that the Kingdom\nof Jesus Christ may come in our beloved Country through the Extension\nof His divine Church.\n\n\n[1] This chapter formed the substance of a Sermon preached on\n\"Extension Sunday\" in St. Finnan's Cathedral, Alexandria, Ont.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nPRO ARIS ET FOCIS[1]\n\nMilitancy is the characteristic feature of God's Church on earth.  New\ndangers, fresh struggles await Her at every turn of the road in Her\nonward march to eternity.  Assailed from within by her own children,\nattacked from without by bitter enemies, she is ever working out\nthrough the frailties of human nature her sublime destiny.  Not of this\nworld, but passing through it, She has necessarily to suffer from the\ninherent weakness of her children.  It is the human side of the divine\nChurch.  Those who would be scandalized at this ever renascent warfare\nagainst the Catholic Church, in all times and in all countries, should\nremember that this hall-mark of true Christianity is the fulfillment of\nChrist's promise and the realization of his prophecy.\n\nIn this great firing line of the Church militant every Catholic has his\nplace.  His marked duty is to make the divine triumph over the human in\nhis individual life and through it--no matter how limited his circle of\ninfluence may be--in the great life of the Church and in society at\nlarge.  He should make his own the various problems confronting the\nChurch in his country and help, within the sphere of his activities, to\noffer a happy solution.\n\nTwo great problems now face the Church in Canada, and tax to the utmost\nthe wisdom of its leaders: The race problem and the Ruthenian problem.\nIn many centres the former has weakened the principle of authority and\nparalyzed our efforts of co-operation; the latter means a tremendous\nleakage through which the Church, particularly in Western Canada, is\nlosing every day an important and vital factor.\n\nThe race problem has always existed and will always exist in the Church\nof God.  This problem is imbedded in human nature.  It plunges its\nroots into the very depths of the human heart.  Language is the\ntap-root which gives life and vigor to its various manifestations.\nLanguage is indeed the best expression and highest manifestation of the\nrace.  The race problem therefore is generally complicated with the\nlanguage problem.\n\nThe Catholic Church has always respected the racial feelings and the\nlanguage of nations, for they are based on natural law, and natural law\nis nothing else but the expression of the fundamental relations\nconstituted by God.  Yet history can tell what the Church had to suffer\nfrom racial and language differences.  We all agree on principles, but\noften differ on policies.  The angle of vision varies; facts are\nmisrepresented; ideals misinterpreted; feeling and not judgment is\nappealed to, in these racial conflicts.  But it is not our intention to\ndeal with this great problem.  Only let us ever remember the words of\nBenedict XV. in his letter \"_Comisso Divinitus_\" to the Catholics of\nCanada.   He sees in our divisions a source of weakness for the Church,\na subject of scandal for our separated brethren and a cause for him of\nsadness and anxiety.  Let us therefore hope that the wishes of the\nCommon Father of Catholicity will soon be realized and that the Church\nin Canada will see the clouds of misunderstanding lift and a brighter\nday break on the horizon.\n\nThe problem to which I would draw again the attention of our Catholics\nthroughout the land is one that has been frequently of late placed\nbefore the Catholic public.  But as its aspects are ever changing and\nits importance growing, I would wish to throw light on some new factors\nat play in this momentous issue.\n\n      *      *      *      *      *      *\n\nImmigration has brought to the Church of Canada many serious and knotty\nproblems.  Among these stands first and foremost the Ruthenian\nquestion.  Only those who have followed the various developments of\nthis perplexing problem and are fully aware of the unceasing activities\nof the various Protestant denominations among Catholic foreigners,\ngrasp their meaning and understand their importance to the Church.  The\naverage Catholic, we are sorry to say, is not awakened to the reality\nof this live issue and fails therefore to meet his responsibilities.\n\nOver 250,000 Catholic Ruthenians, of the Greek rite, have settled in\nCanada within the past decade or so.  They are scattered throughout the\nlength and breadth of our immense Dominion.  You will find them in the\nvery heart of our large industrial centres, from Sydney to Vancouver,\nand in compact groups on our Western prairies.  The vast majority of\nthese Ruthenians belong to the Catholic Church and are our brethren in\nthe Faith.  To protect them against unscrupulous proselytizers, to help\nthem to keep the faith in the trying period of their acclimatization to\nour Canadian national life, in a word, to make the Church of Canada\nassume the proper responsibility which Catholic solidarity imposes on\nall her children in regard to this new factor of Catholicity in our\ncountry, . . . this is the Ruthenian problem as it presents itself to\nus with its various aspects and critical issues.  Problems of the moral\nand religious order are of a very complex nature.  Principles remain\nbut circumstances change with the fancies of imagination, the impulse\nof passion, the whims of the will.  This explains how, in the great and\neverlasting war between right and wrong, truth and error, the line of\nbattle is ever shifting, the methods of attack ever changing.  Various\ntherefore have been the phases of the problem under discussion.  But,\nwe presume, they may all be related to two periods: the period of\nsettlement and the period of assimilation.\n\n\n_The Period of Settlement_\n\nWhen a few years ago our shores were heavily invaded by the rising tide\nof an intense immigration from the British Isles and Continental\nEurope, the Church had to face conditions heretofore unknown.  Without\ndoubt, the most complex in its elements, the most serious in its\nconsequences, was the Ruthenian issue.  It was a case of providing for\nthe spiritual wants of over a quarter of a million souls.  The dearth\nof priests, the difference of rite, the difficulty of language, and the\ngreat number of Ruthenians, created for the Church an almost\ninsurmountable barrier which nothing short of a miracle could\notherthrow [Transcriber's note: overthrow?].  This sudden and large\ninflux of Catholics belonging to the Greek rite, into a Country where\nthe Latin Church alone prevailed, constitutes a fact that has never\nbeen seen before in the history of the Church.  Thousands and thousands\nof these Greek Catholics were scattered through the prairies; roaming\nflocks without shepherds, a prey to ravening wolves.  Heresy, schism,\natheism, socialism and anarchy openly joined hands to rob these poor\npeople of the only treasure they had brought with them from the\nold-land,--their Catholic Faith.  Presbyterian ministers were seen to\ncelebrate among them \"bogus masses\"; schismatic emissaries tried to\nbribe them with \"Moscovite money\"; fake bishops were imposing\nsacrilegious hands on out-laws and perverts; traitors from among their\nranks, like Judas, bartered away their faith for a few pieces of\nsilver; a subsidized press,--\"The Canadian Farmer\" and \"The Ranok\"--was\never at work, playing on their patriotism and exploiting their racial\nfeelings, to cover with ridicule their faith and pious traditions.  The\npublic school became in the hands of the enemy the most powerful\nweapon.  Government itself, through its various officials, often went\nout of its way to thwart the efforts of our missionaries.\n\nIt is not without poignant emotion that we have followed, at close\nrange, this struggle for the mastery of the Ruthenian soul.  We hardly\nknow which we should admire the more, the faithfulness of the\nsimple-minded Ruthenian, or the devotedness of the few missionaries\nwho, for the last fifteen years, have lived, worked and died among\nthem.  We all remember that cry of distress, that demand for help which\ncame from Archbishop Langevin in favor of his Ruthenian children.  It\nbroke upon the land as a clarion call and its voice was heard in the\nfirst Plenary Council of Quebec.  The Oblates of Mary Immaculate--the\npioneer missionaries of the West, the Basilians, the Redemptorists, and\na few French-Canadian secular priests, were the first to answer the\ncall.  They divided among themselves that immense field of labour.  God\nalone knows what sacrifices, what heart-burnings, what hours of\ndiscouragement and loneliness, were theirs in that strenuous period of\nsettlement when the wilderness began to blossom, when homesteads were\nseen to spring up on the bare soil.  We have a faint idea of these\ndifficulties when we read the \"_Memoir: 'Tentative de Schisme et\nd'heresie au milieu des Ruthenes de l'Ouest Canadien_,\" of Father\nDelaere, C.SS.R., (1908), and Father Sabourin's pamphlet, \"_Les\nRuthenes Catholiques_\" (1909).\n\nLet us hope that the Church in Canada will keep sacred the memory of\nthese harvesters of the first hour.  The Catholics owe them a debt of\ngratitude.  We sincerely hope that the history of their heroic efforts\nwill not be lost and that the first to appreciate them will be the\ncoming Ruthenian generation.  Father Delaere, C.SS.R.--who has laboured\namong the Ruthenians in Western Canada for the last twenty years will\none day give us, we sincerely hope, the history of the settlement and\nstruggles of his adopted people.\n\nLittle by little the Ruthenian Church in Canada is emerging from its\nfirst chaotic state.  The visit of Mgr. Septeski to Canada, the\nappointment of the Very Reverend N. Budka as Bishop of all the\nRuthenians in Canada, marked a turning-point in their history.\nAuthority is, in the Church of God, the only great vital centre from\nwhich proceed true order and permanent development.  The war, it is\ntrue, complicated the Ruthenian issue.  We all know what difficulties\nthe Ruthenian Bishop had to face during this trying period, under what\ndark clouds of ungrounded suspicion he lived.  But the most painful\nfeature of this long and cruel ordeal was the absence of sympathy and\nthe lack of co-operation in those from whom, as a Catholic Bishop, he\nhad a right to expect them.\n\n\n_The Period of Assimilation_\n\nThe period of settlement has passed, and already a young \"CANADIAN\"\ngeneration has sprung up sturdy, thrifty, progressive from the\ntransplanted Ruthenian stock.  The numerous children of that prolific\nrace are gradually passing from the home into the schools and from the\nschools into the community life of the country.  This Slavic race is\nstriking deep roots in Canadian soil, particularly in our Western\nProvinces.  The loss of faith has been heavy, we believe, especially in\nour large cities.  Naturally, allowance must be made for the drift-wood\nwhich always follows the tide of immigration.  In our rural centres, be\nit said to the praise of that simple-minded people, and to the\nconfusion of the enemies of their faith, the great majority have kept\ntheir allegiance to the Church of their baptism.  But, where the \"bogus\nmass,\" the false priests and \"Moscovite money\" have failed, the\nneutralizing process of a so-called \"Canadianization\" may succeed.  The\nflank envelopment has often a greater success than the frontal attack.\nThis leads us to dwell on another phase of the Ruthenian problem.\n\nIn the history of the human race there is nothing more complicated than\nethnic assimilation.  It is a slow, delicate and, in many cases, very\ndangerous process.  In the laboratory of the world many explosions are\ndue to the ignorance of what we would call \"human chemistry.\"  \"One\ncannot play with human chemicals any more than with real ones.  We know\nby experience that at times they are _fulginous_ and ready to break\ninto open flames.\"  But there are two elements which have to be treated\nwith the greatest care: Religion and Race.  They are the two _foci_ of\nthe ellipse in which moves history; the two shores between which\noscillates the tossing tide of humanity.  Lord Morley calls them \"the\ntwo incendiary forces of history, ever shooting jets of flame from\nundying embers.\"  This explains why the soil of history is so volcanic,\nso filled with burning lava which time itself has not cooled.\n\n_The racial element_ in ethnical assimilation is gradually modified by\nthe imperative adjustment of the immigrant to his new conditions of\nlife.  For the observer and student of history there is nothing more\ninstructive and, at times, more pathetic than that borderland which\nlies between what has been and what is to be in the life of the\nimmigrant.  This violent breaking away from the past and gradual\nassimilation with the present has its dangers.  Unknown and occult\nfactors are at work with the blood of several generations, pulsating in\nthe veins of the new Canadian.  Whilst beckoning hands stretch out to\nreceive him on our shores and initiate him into our national life,\nother hands, the hands of the dead, stretch out through several\ngenerations to lay claim on him.  Like everything in nature this change\nor rather this transformation should be imperceptible.  Mutual\ntoleration is the factor of a healthy assimilation.  This has given to\nthe United States a greater solvent power than has been shown by any\nother nation, ancient or modern.  Coercive assimilation arouses\nnational feelings, alien elements, and racial self-assertion.  The\nworst enemy of Canada is the political power which, to please a\nblatant, ultra-loyal faction, pursues the policy of crushing into\nuniformity the heterogeneous elements invited to the country and\nallured to our shores with the bait of liberty.  This patriotism may be\nwell called the last refuge of scoundrels; it is nothing but\nPrussianism wrapped up in the very folds of the Union-Jack.  Therefore,\nwhen in the great work of Canadianization this law of social psychology\nis not observed, we not only prevent assimilation, but we deprive the\nnation of the fertilizing contact and invigorating contrast of various\nethnical elements and ferment future conflict.\n\n_The religious element_ belongs to a higher plane.   Although\nindependent in its nature of any particular racial feature, yet it\nco-exists with the love of country, giving to our patriotism something\nof its sanctity and durability.  But the point at issue here is: Can\nthe religious element prevent racial assimilation?  In the eyes of many\nCanadians the Ruthenian's religion is looked upon as one of the\ngreatest obstacles to his Canadianization.  Under the cover of that\nspecious plea, many agents are at work in our Ruthenian settlements.\nWith the preconceived idea that their religion with its ritual,\nlanguage and traditions, is the greatest obstacle to their\nnationalization and to its inherent benefits, these agents are\nmultiplying their efforts to wean new Canadians from the faith of their\nfathers.   The last report of the Methodist Missionary Society--1918,\nopenly states the designs of this Church in the matter.  \"_Many of\nthese Ruthenian people are ignorant and degraded; and under the\nsinister leadership of their priests are resolved to resist all\nCanadianizing influences. . . .  For the Christian Church to act at\nonce is the need of the present hour, if the foreign peoples are to be\nmade Christian citizens of the great West._\".  This statement is\nsymptomatic of the curious Christianity that now prevails among the\nvarious non-Catholic denominations.  With them Christianity is nothing\nmore than social welfare inspired by a vague philanthropy.  Differences\nof creed are being cast to the winds, and _Social Service is the basic\nidea of their forward movement_, around which they are trying to rally\ntheir dwindling forces.  It is then but consequent to have the burden\nof their message and the policy of their apostolate bear on\nCitizenship.  The inevitable and perfidious neutrality of state\nofficialdom unconsciously seconds their efforts in this direction.  But\nthe most efficient co-operators in this nefarious work are the\nfallen-away Ruthenians.  They have a smattering of education which\nmakes them the more dangerous among their own.\n\nThis organized opinion and co-ordinated action of the \"churches\"\nagainst the CHURCH should give to all Catholics food for thought.  To\nbe indifferent would be criminal.  We can say with Augustine Birrell:\n\"It is obviously not a wise policy to be totally indifferent to what\nother people are thinking about--simply because our own thoughts are\nrunning in another direction.\"\n\n      *      *      *      *      *      *\n\nThis diagnosis of the Ruthenian problem should suggest practical lines\nfor individual and group action.  It would be preposterous on our part\nwere we to assume an attitude of destructive criticism without having a\nremedy to propose.  But what we have in mind is to suggest means\nwhereby the Church as a whole, and the laity in particular, will come\nto the help of a few heroic, struggling missionaries and to the rescue\nof their Ruthenian flock.\n\nThe Ruthenian people in Canada are now going through their assimilation\nperiod.  In another generation or so they will be, at least they should\nbe, all full-fledged Canadian citizens.  This \"land of opportunity\"\nthat has adopted them has a right to see them all become good citizens,\nas ready to shoulder their share of the common burden as they were to\nreceive the benefits of our liberties.\n\nIn our large industrial centres their transformation is rapid.  The\nstranger is swallowed up in the vortical suction of the city and is\nsoon carried away in the maelstrom of its strenuous life.  He rapidly\nloses his identity; only the strong individual will survive, bearing\nthe features of his race.  In our rural settlements where the foreigner\nhas established colonies, the assimilation is slow and gradual.  The\nchange affects the community and, through it, the individual.  But in\nall cases this transformation is a necessity, and necessity should be a\ndeciding factor.\n\nIf this process of assimilation, we contend, is not surrounded with\nCatholic influence, if it is not carried on by Catholic agents--and is\nleft only to those who see in the faith of the Ruthenian, a \"relic of\nthe Middle-Ages,\" an obstacle to Canadian citizenship--the danger to\nthe faith of our Ruthenian people is greater than in the days of open\nattack.  This method of neutral proselytism is more insidious, and in\nthe long run, more telling.  We know perfectly well that if the\nCanadian Ruthenian is \"to give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar\" he\nmust first \"give to God what belongs to God.\"\n\nIt is therefore our bounden duty to help our Ruthenian brethren to\nswing into the main stream of our national existence; and there is no\nreason why our religious duties and patriotic endeavors should work at\ncross purposes.  In fact, if in the present crisis, the two are not\nmerged into one, there will be a distinct loss to the Catholic Church\nin Canada.  Have we not waited long enough for the immigrants to come\nto us?  We contented ourselves with giving them as often as possible a\npriest of their language; and have left to others, to neutral and, most\noften, openly anti-Catholic agencies the duty of initiating them to\nCanadian life.  The American Bishops have understood this necessity,\nand with what marvellous foresight and wonderful organization have they\nthrown into the work of reconstruction the whole weight of the Catholic\nChurch!  Their joint letter--the most timely and most luminous\npronouncement on the labour problem,--their general meeting in\nWashington, the constitutions of the Catholic National Board with its\nvarious departments, all go to prove that they grasped the signs of the\ntimes and have readjusted the sails of the Ship of Peter in America to\nthe new winds that are sweeping over the world.  We should never forget\nindeed that the Church of God is not of this world but is in this\nworld.  To strip ourselves of crippling \"formalism\" and to bring the\nChurch nearer the realities of the times, is, in Byron's words, making\n\"realities real.\"  Is it not indeed time to broaden our apostolate and\ngive more scope to the laity?  If the non-Catholic denominations are\nable to find young men and women who consent to live among our\nforeigners as teachers, social workers, field secretaries, lay\nmissionaries and catechists, surely we should be able to find the same\namong our own to protect the faithful against apostasy.  We must\nremember that the Ruthenians who have come to this country belong,\ngenerally speaking, to that class for whom even existence was a problem\nin their native land.  They are the very ones who have been protected\nin their faith by language, tradition, customs and all that goes to\nmake up the mental atmosphere of the uneducated mass.  When that\natmosphere disappears these poor people are exposed to all pernicious\ninfluences.  We are therefore responsible to the Church to build around\nthem the protective wall of Catholic life.  The initiation to their\nCanadian life should not be at the price of their Catholic life.\n\nThis is the situation.  What can be done?  Naturally, to quote Lord\nMorley: \"A settlement of foolscap sheet, independent of facts, of local\ncircumstances and feeling, and passion, and finance, and other\nappurtenances of human nature\" . . . will lead nowhere.  To do\neffective work along the lines suggested in this chapter we must take\nfacts and circumstances as they are, and work into them the idea, and\nthen work the idea into the people.  The LANGUAGE, the SCHOOL, the\nCOMMUNITY LIFE are the THREE GREAT FACTORS that the enemies of the\nRuthenian's faith unscrupulously exploit in their nefarious work.  We\nmust meet the enemy on this common ground and beat him with his own\nweapons.\n\n_Language_.--The right of a man to his language is an incontestable\nright; the free use of it is a primary human liberty.  The Church has\nalways respected this right as one of the most elementary laws of\nnature.  In the evangelization of nations She has always accommodated\nHerself to the ways and language of the people.  In this, She is\nfaithful to the illuminating lesson the Master gave to Her on Her\nbirthday, Pentecost Sunday, when the Apostles were heard each speaking\nhis own language.  \"They began to speak with divers tongues according\nas the Holy Ghost gave them to speak . . .  _Every man heard them speak\nin his own tongue_.\"  Since that day the true Apostle of Christ has\nrespected the language of the people he evangelized.\n\nThe theory of compelling a nation to learn a certain language as if it\nwere the only vehicle of the \"Great Message of Christ\" or of waiting\nuntil the people know the missionary's own language . . . is not\nCatholic.  The Church of Christ is not a nationalistic Church.  No one\nhas to deny his race nor to give up his language to become or to remain\nHer faithful child.\n\nBut, facts are facts and one must face them and take from them one's\nbearings.  They stand as the tossing buoy on the drifting waters of our\nordinary life.  To ignore them often spells disaster.  Now, the fact of\nparamount importance is that the English language is fast gaining\nground among the Ruthenians.  The recent school laws (we do not discuss\nhere their wisdom)[2], the anti-foreign feeling that has held the\ncountry in its grip during the war, the violent campaign of a certain\nelement, the general drift of the various annual conventions, the\nstudied plan of action of Provincial Governments, the eagerness of the\nRuthenian rising generation to know English[3], and above all the\nunbounded zeal of non-Catholic denominations who make the learning of\nEnglish the trump card of their game, these are facts, and have to be\nreckoned with.  The sooner our Ruthenians are made to grasp these\nconditions, the better will they be equipped for the struggle of\nCanadian life and for the preservation of their Catholic faith.  Is it\nnot time, therefore, for some English-speaking priests to go out among\nthe Ruthenians and share the work with those valiant missionaries who,\nthe great majority at least, are strangers to our country, and who have\nlearned the language, embraced the rite and for the last twenty years\nhave been doing our work for us?  Their presence is a stimulating\nlesson and an abiding reproach.  A dozen or so of young\nEnglish-speaking priests would be a great boon to the Ruthenian\nmission, particularly in the West with its present mentality.\n\nThe _School_ is the great melting pot.  One has to read \"The New\nCanadian,\" by Dr. Anderson, to understand the full meaning of this\nstatement in its relation to the Ruthenian problem.  The schools among\nthe Ruthenians in the Western Provinces are practically all public\nschools.  The number of Catholic teachers is exceedingly small and yet,\nwere they available, the Ruthenian trustees would be at liberty and\nglad to give them the preference.  Only those who know the influence\nthe teacher wields in a Ruthenian settlement will fully appreciate the\npresence of a Catholic teacher.  Were a good Catholic teacher to give\nto this cause a year or two of her teaching life she would be doing a\ngreat missionary work.  If the Baptists, Presbyterians and Methodists\ncan get girls and young men to go, surely we could also, were we to\norganize and try it.  This is the reason why the foundation, in\nYorkton, of the English speaking Brothers of Toronto, is one of the\nwisest moves in the right direction.  The idea is to prepare teachers\nfor the Ruthenian settlements by giving them the benefit of a higher\neducation under Catholic influences.  The Governments of the various\nWestern Provinces made several attempts to equip the Ruthenian schools\nwith Ruthenian teachers.  With a few exceptions, these embryo teachers\nproved to be a failure and from a Catholic view-point a real calamity.\nWe remember personally how in a certain normal school the special\nRuthenian class was nothing but a hot-bed of infidelity and anarchy.\nThe students were collaborating with the worst subversive elements in\nthe country.  Therefore, our practical suggestion would be to encourage\nthe recent foundation of the Christian Brothers by contributing\nliberally to its support and to the extension of the work of which it\nwill become a natural centre.  Could there not be a bureau in the East\nfor the recruiting of teachers?  A campaign of education to this\neffect, in the Catholic press, would be in season.\n\n_Community work_ is without doubt a deciding factor in our civic life.\nConsidered from a Christian angle it is nothing else but the practice\nof charity.  When animated by mere philanthropy it may play havoc with\nsouls, particularly among our foreign element.  The Church in the\nUnited States has realized its importance and has outlined a social\nservice programme for Catholic agencies.  They have field-secretaries\nand instructors--often Knights of Columbus--throughout the country,\ncarrying on this welfare work.  I would refer the reader to the monthly\nBulletin of the National Catholic Welfare Council for an idea of the\nextensive work of their Catholic social activities.  It is simply\nwonderful.  As times change our activities also have to be modified.\nNew questions call for new treatment.  The initiation of the Ruthenian\npeople to Canadian life should be our work.  Being Catholics they are\nour wards in this new country and it is our sacred duty to see that\nthey receive true ideals of Canadian citizenship without losing the\nhigher ideal of their Catholic life.  At times Canadian liberty has\nproved to be to some extent too strong a tonic.  It is through a sound,\nintelligent, local government exercised in the school district and our\nmunicipal life that the new Canadians can learn best to play their part\nin the greater life of Provincial and Federal politics.  If any one\ndesires more details on this subject we refer him to the National\nCatholic Welfare Council's Reconstruction pamphlets No. 5 and 7.\n\nWho has not followed with pride the launching of the great educational\nprogramme of the Knights of Columbus, particularly their nation-wide\nscheme of supplementary schools for the explanation of the \"American\nConstitution\" to foreigners?  It is an open challenge to radicalism.\nTo educate a citizen in the chart that governs his country, in the\nright use of his franchise, is an act of real patriotism and real\nCatholicism.  Picture to yourself the results of the Ruthenian vote on\nan issue in which the Church is involved.  Eventually time will bring\nsuch issues.\n\nWe would say to our laity what the editor of the 'Columbiad' wrote in\nthe October number: \"The vista of the glory of service that opens\nbefore the mind musing on the power for good within our grip is\nsublime.  To each the image rises.  An army, a host of faces keen with\nknowledge, calm with contentment, eager with honest ambition looks up.\nMen, women, boys, girls--humanity gazes at the beholder.  The eye does\nnot glimpse the last face, far out beyond the faint horizon of the\npanorama. . . .  The vista is unending.\"\n\nYes, the apostolate among the Ruthenians is, we claim, a necessity of\nthe hour; its possibilities are beyond realization.  Procrastination in\nthis matter is nothing short of treason and will prove a disaster to\nthe Ruthenians, and to the Church.  Turning to the Knights of Columbus\nin Canada and pointing to the feverish and unceasing activities of\nother agents among this our people I say: _Go and do likewise_.\n\n      *      *      *      *      *      *\n\nOur conclusion is obvious.  The Ruthenian Question stands to-day as a\nreligious problem to solve and a national duty to fulfill.  Church and\nCountry present a united and pressing claim for our co-operation.  This\nappeal to the two strongest feelings of the human heart should awaken\npatriotic sympathies and quicken Catholic conscience into action.  The\nissue is serious and far reaching in its consequences.  Only organized\nopinion with united and determined action can successfully meet it.\n\n\n\n[1] This chapter was the matter of a series of articles in the \"North\nWest Review,\" of Winnipeg.  The Editor prefaced them with the following\nremarks, to give emphasis to the importance of this Problem:\n\n\"We wish to draw the attention of our readers to a series of\nauthoritative articles now appearing in the Northwest Review on 'The\nRuthenian Problem.'\n\n\"The writer is one of our foremost educationalists and knows his\nsubject thoroughly.  Furthermore his manuscript has passed through the\nhands of Bishop Budka and other members of the Hierarchy of the West\nwho have given it their warm approval.\n\n\"It is, we think, very essential that the Catholics of this country\nshould thoroughly understand the problem before them, so that when\ncalled upon to perform their duty in the matter they may be able to act\npromptly, wholeheartedly and with conviction.\n\n\"Our thanks are due to the author, 'Miles Christi' for having put\nbefore us such a clear presentation of the problem which sooner or\nlater we shall be called upon to solve.\n\n\"The matter is one that to a very large extent concerns the laity and\nwe think it should be thoroughly discussed in every council of Knights\nof Columbus throughout Canada.  In districts where this society is not\norganized, any other existing Catholic societies might very\nappropriately co-ordinate in this good work.\n\n\"The question is also one of national as well as Catholic moment and so\nentitled to its due share of any 'forward movements' now anticipated.\"\n\n[2] Judge Buffington, of Pennsylvania, gave a lecture lately on\n\"Americanization.\"  From it we cull the following paragraph on the\nforeign language question:--\n\n\"The solution is not in the abolition of foreign languages in this\ncountry.  I have heard loyal patriots who found English twisting their\ntongues, and Bolshevism has come from the lips of those of New England\nculture like Foster.  This country has not only been remiss in failing\nto teach the foreigner but in teaching the native.  I believe in the\nEnglish tongue and in the amalgamation resulting from common speech,\nbut we do not accomplish our aims by destroying other languages.\"\n\n[3] In a recent report of the Department of Education of the Province\nof Saskatchewan, of 177 schools in Ruthenian settlements only 28 have\nengaged teachers holding provisional certificates or permits; all the\nothers are fully normal-trained and perfectly qualified.  In many\nschool districts salaries range between $1,000 and $1,500.  The\nRuthenians are among those who pay the best salaries to teachers.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nWHY?  WHAT?  WHO?\n\n_The Necessity of a Field-Secretary for the Organization of our\nMissionary Activities_\n\n\nNo one can read the Encyclical letter which His Holiness has recently\naddressed to the Catholic Church on the Propagation of the Faith\nthroughout the world, without being deeply moved by the yearnings of\nthe apostolic heart of our Common Father, and vividly impressed by the\nlessons that come from his inspired and timely message to each and\nevery one of us.\n\nWithout doubt our own dear country is witnessing that movement which,\ninspired by the Holy Ghost, is being felt throughout the Catholic world\nin favour of home and foreign missions.  The growing interest of our\npeople in the Catholic Church Extension Society; the enthusiasm with\nwhich the great and noble work of Father Fraser, for Chinese Missions,\nwas greeted everywhere; the recent foundation and marvellous\ndevelopment of the community of the \"Missionary Sisters of the\nImmaculate Conception\" in Montreal, for service among the lepers of\nChina; the wonderful response which the call of Africa met with among\nthe college and convent youths of the Province of Quebec; the\nincreasing number of vocations to the missionary orders, both for men\nand women,--to mention only a few outstanding and significant\nfacts,--are evident signs of the \"_stirring of the waters_\" in the\nChurch in Canada.\n\nTo help to promote and develop fully this providential movement in the\nChurch of God, we beg to submit a few suggestions which may be of some\nuse in the great cause of _Home_ and _Foreign Missions_.\n\n\n_I--Why?_\n\nThe continued progress and abiding success of a movement depend on its\norganization.  For, to realize its proposed aim and accepted plan of\naction, organization alone can enlist and keep secure the sympathies of\npatrons and members, co-ordinate the various forces, and call into\nplay, when necessary, new and fresh energies.  The greater the number\nto be reached by the society or societies which embody this movement,\nthe more efficient should be the organizing power.\n\nExperience and reason prove that an organization destined to affect the\nmasses and hold its grip on them, will not live and thrive only on an\noccasional appeal or a printed message.  These are indeed of great\nvalue, particularly the insistently repeated message in print.  We are\ngreat believers in the force of a persistent, regular and frequent\ncircularization.  But, in our humble estimation, there is something\nmore essential in the matter under consideration, and that is the human\ncontact and continued influence of a \"field-organizer.\"  An extensive\norganization without this factor will not be efficient, will not last.\nAs Floyd Keeler wrote in \"America\" (July 10, 1920): \"It is the personal\nequation between the organizer and the various units of the Society\nthat counts. . . .  The masses are accustomed to think in concrete\nterms. . . .  Long distance appeals and those made to total strangers\ndo not produce permanent results.\"  This influence of the\nfield-organizer is so great that we may safely state that the life of a\nsociety fluctuates with the various impulses it receives from him.  He\nis the very heart which gives health and vigor to its organism.\n\nHere lies the secret of the mission-organizations in the Protestant\nChurches, to which, of late, we have referred so frequently in our\nCatholic papers, under the heading of: \"_Fas est ab hoste\ndoceri_.\" . . .  Every denomination has its field-organizers entirely\nconsecrated to mission activities among its people.  Financial results\ntell to what extent they are effective in their work.\n\nWe have also among our own missionary societies, examples that\nillustrate the point we wish to emphasize.  Since when has the Society\nof the Propagation of the Faith, in the dioceses of New York and\nBoston, leaped into prominence, and headed by generous contributions\nthe list of the whole world?  How did that change come about?  Where is\nthe secret of this success?  The establishment of permanent diocesan\norganizers is the answer.  What they have done, why could we not do?\n\"_Quod isti--cur non et nos_?\"\n\nNever, we claim, will the missionary potentialities that lie dormant in\nCanadian Catholicism, be actuated to bear its message of spiritual\nlight, heat and power to the Church at large, until we establish in the\nfield at various points, secretaries or organizers, whose life-work\nwill be to call into play, to systematize the mission forces of the\nChurch in Canada.  If on the contrary, as in the past, we content\nourselves with an occasional appeal for missions, a collection now and\nthen, a spasmodic effort here and there, a subscription to a Catholic\npaper or missionary magazine, the work for Home and Foreign missions\nwill remain exterior to the corporate life of the Church, will not be\nwoven into its very fibre to permeate its activities.  As shadows on\nthe wall, they will suggest rather than reveal the possibilities of our\nmissionary effort.  The great and pressing call of the White Shepherd\nof the Vatican will go unheard.  If there is a response that comes from\nCanada, it will not be from the Church at large.\n\n\n_II.--What?_\n\nThe \"_raison d'etre_,\" the definite function of a field-secretary is\norganization.  This work implies the double duty to spread, by an\nintelligent and well thought-out propaganda, the knowledge of the Home\nand Foreign Missions and of the responsibility it entails, and to found\nand maintain efficient the various societies established to promote and\nhelp their great work.\n\n1. _Vision_.  The effective presentation of the case of Catholic\nMissions, both to the clergy and to the laity, is the field-secretary's\nfirst and important duty.  Nothing indeed can be hoped for, nothing can\nbe accomplished until the Catholic people fully grasp and intensely\nfeel what their help and co-operation--however little it may be--mean\nto the Church, to the salvation of souls, to the honour of our Blessed\nLord, to the glory of God.  _Fac ut videant_!  The clear, broad and\ndeep vision of these great possibilities in the mission fields will\nalone overcome selfishness and apathy, awaken interest, stimulate\nenergy.\n\nThe field-secretary is the official expert in mission-matters.  He will\nbe able to accumulate strong evidence, sum up striking statistics and\ndraw burning comparisons for the effective presentation of his case.\nAn enthusiastic advocate, he will plead with thrilling appeals, the\ngreat cause placed in his hands.\n\nDuring his absence from the field of action, the vision he pointed to,\nwill be kept bright by the recurrence, at stated intervals, of the\nprinted message.  Missionary literature receives its life, vigour and\nimpulse from the field-organizer and continues his work in his absence.\n\n2. _Action_.  To realize that vision and incarnate it in work for the\nHome and Foreign Missions, the Field-secretary will take the diocese as\na unit of his organization.  In each diocese, with the permission,\nauthority, and co-operation of the Ordinary, he will establish the\nSocieties recommended by our Holy Father in his Apostolic Letter, and\nothers that have been created to meet the specific needs of the country\nor to favour certain particular missionary work.  Therefore:--\n\n(a) _Among the Clergy_ will be founded \"_The Missionary Union of the\nClergy_\", which our Holy Father desires to see established in every\ndiocese.  For loving sons and faithful priests of the Church of God the\ndesire of the Sovereign Pontiff is a command.  This, we think, could be\neasily done by the field-organizer when he visits each parish for the\npurpose of organizing missionary parochial units, as we shall see later.\n\nThe beautiful programme of action which is so easily combined with the\nordinary work of the priest in the parish, the facility of his moral\nand material co-operation in this great work of missions, the spiritual\nfavours and wonderful privileges which the \"Union\" grants to its\nmembers, together with the explicit desire of the Holy See, these are\nso many motives and incentives, which should induce all the members of\nthe clergy to enter the ranks of the \"Missionary Union\" and assure to\nthe Church their co-operation in the great mission work, both at Home\nand in the Field-Afar.\n\n(b) _Among the laity_ of each parish will be founded:\n\nThe \"_Propagation of the Faith_\"--for Foreign Missions;\n\nThe \"_Church Extension_\"--for Home Missions.\n\nThe permanent success of these societies, once established by the\nfield-organizer, will wholly depend on the selection and appointment of\ntrustworthy _promoters_, who will distribute the missionary literature,\nand collect from their respective circles of 10 or 20 members the\nmonthly fee, stipulated for each society.  This monthly collection\ncomes as a reminder and is more effective, both morally and\nfinancially, than an annual collection taken up in the Church, as is\nnow the prevailing custom in several dioceses.  The monthly call of the\npromoter is a fresh awakening of the missionary spirit in the home, and\nstands as the continued call of the Master of the harvest.  It keeps\nthe interest alive and awakens anew the sympathy for the missions.\n\n(c) _Among the Children_ of our Separate Schools and Sunday-Schools,\ncan be established, with great profit, The \"_Holy Childhood Society_.\"\nIt is wonderful what interest the kind and sympathetic hearts of\nchildren will take in missionary work.  The results obtained by the\ndistribution of mite boxes are marvellous.  To quote an example given\nto us by the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States, we would\nsay that through their Sunday-School classes, they raise annually the\nsum of $200,000.00.\n\nBut above all, the great asset to be considered in this educational\nwork, is the broad Catholic spirit we create and maintain in the soul\nof the child.  This is far more important than his actual financial\ncontribution, and at the same time it prepares him to be, in later\nyears, a generous contributor.  Without any doubt, the Protestants can\nteach us here a lesson of organization.\n\n(d) In _Colleges, Boarding-Schools, Convents and Universities_ why\nshould we not have branches of the \"_Catholic Students Mission\nCrusade_?\"  This organization is doing wonderful work in the United\nStates, and will prove soon to be a potent factor in the Missionary\nactivities of the Church across the boundary.  250 delegates from\nvarious institutions of higher learning, throughout the country,\ngathered in Washington, last August (1920), for the second annual\nConvention.  Among the delegates, we are proud to note, were a few\nCanadians.\n\n(e) The \"_follow up_\" work is what counts in the long run, in a\nmovement of this kind.  If we do not wish to see all this beautiful\nzeal for missions burn away in a passing blaze, we must have a _Central\nBureau_, which will keep in touch with the promoters, and act as the\ncentre of Missionary activities, in the diocese.  There all lines will\nconverge, gathering information, bringing results; from there, as from\nthe power-station, will go out to the workers in the field, enthusiasm\nand energy.  \"Unity,\" says F. Kinsman, \"cannot be created by agitated\nfragments of a circumference; it must issue from a central force and be\nsustained by a centripetal instinct.\"  The Central Bureau, or Clearing\nHouse could be confided to a trustworthy person, who would willingly\ngive his spare hours to this great Catholic work, until it would grow\nto the point of necessitating a permanent and salaried secretary.\n\nIt is useless, we believe, to state that a _crusade of prayers_ would\nbe the sustaining force of this movement.  We all know that the\nsalvation of souls is above all a supernatural process.  We may sow,\nanother may water the seed,--but it is for God to give the\ngrowth,--_Deus autem incrementum dat_.\n\nThe _development and fostering of \"missionary vocations\"_ would be the\nnatural sequel to this movement at large, in the Church of Canada.  How\nmany young men and women could not the field-secretary find here and\nthere, and direct to the mission fields where the harvest is plentiful\nand the harvesters few.\n\n\n_III.--Who?_\n\nThe function of a field-secretary or organizer is a delicate one, we\nfully understand.  But we are firmly convinced that priests can be\nfound, who, with tact, intelligence and enthusiasm for the great Cause\nof Missions, and backed with the authority and sympathy of the\nOrdinary, are bound to make this work a success.  There is a wave of\nthe missionary spirit passing over the Church of God.  The clergy and\nthe people are eager to help missions at Home and Abroad.  But they\ndesire a concrete, workable plan to pin their activities to; they are\nwaiting for something definite to act upon, and a responsible\nrepresentative of the cause to work with.\n\nUntil the development of the organization would call for a diocesan\norganizer, _one priest_ could act for a _Province_ or _Region_ of the\nCountry.  The ordinary objection which our proposal here would meet\nwith, would be the lack of personnel.  There is, we know, a shortage of\npriests everywhere.  But would not the Church, as a whole, in Canada\nand throughout the world, receive more benefit from the life of a\npriest entirely dedicated to this work of Missions, than if it were\ngiven to a specific parish or diocese.  Even were a parish or small\ncountry mission to be deprived for the time being of a resident pastor,\nshould not that sacrifice be made, generously and cheerfully, for the\nsake of a greater cause.  It is assuredly a short-sighted policy to\nsacrifice hundreds of thousands of souls for the care of a few, to\nprefer the welfare of a parish to that of the Church at large.  This\nreasoning and its disastrous consequences are surely not Catholic.\n\nWe emphasise the necessity for the organizer to _consecrate his life\nsolely to this proposed work_.  At this price alone will he make it a\nsuccess.  Without doubt, it is the work of a man, the work of a life.\n\nGod grant that we may see the day when all the latent Missionary forces\nof the Church of Canada will be awakened and united in one great\ngigantic effort of apostolate!  These forces form an invisible army of\nreserves on which the Church is to draw, to fill, as it were, the\ndepleted ranks of Her Missionary units throughout the world.  The lack\nof organization is the weakness of our strength.  Let the leaders come\nforward, and we ourselves shall be astonished at the latent powers of\nFaith in the Church of Canada.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nPLOUGHING THE SANDS\n\n_The Church-Union Movement: its Causes and Various Manifestations.  The\nProtestant and Catholic View-Point._\n\n\nChurch-union is to-day the outstanding feature of the Protestant world.\nThe possibilities and promises, the necessity and advantages of this\nmovement are widely discussed in the press and magazine, in the pulpit\nand on the platform, in Church conferences and synods.  Denominational\nbarriers are being swept away; creed lines lowered; inevitably great\nchanges are impending.  This universal unrest is assuredly symptomatic of\na chaotic Christendom outside of the true Church.  The peace and\nself-confidence of the Catholic Church pursuing the even tenor of Her\nlife is indeed in striking contrast.\n\nNo serious-minded Christian can be disinterested in this supreme effort\nof the various Christian denominations for unity.  We are not allowed to\ndoubt the good intentions that animate and direct the promoters of this\ninter-church movement.  For, as Lord Morley said, \"in the heat of the\nbattle it often happens that men manifest towards the _heretic_ feeling\nwhich should be exclusively reserved for the _heresy_.\"  Yet we believe\nthat the explanation of _our_ attitude, so much misunderstood and\nmisinterpreted, cannot but help to hasten the day of the true and\neverlasting union, when in accord with the great desire of the Master,\nthere will be but \"One Fold and One Pastor.\"  Gladstone said: \"Any man\nwho advances one step the cause of Christian unity in his life may well\nlie down to die content that he had a life well lived.\"\n\nWe said advisedly \"_our_\" attitude, for it is a vastly interesting point\nto note with Hilaire Belloc: \"The Catholic understands his opponent,\nwhereas that opponent does not understand him.  A similar contrast\nexisted once before in the History of Western mankind, to wit, in the\nlatter days of the Roman Empire.  The Catholic understood the Pagan; the\nPagan did not understand the Catholic.\"\n\nChurch-union was always more or less an ideal in the various non-Catholic\ndenominations.  Periodically efforts were made to realize this ideal; but\nthey always failed in the presence of the bitter antagonism that existed\nbetween the leading factions.  The Church-union movement manifested\nitself, timidly at first, in the interchange of pulpits, the united\nservices and inter-communion of several denominations.  This exchange in\nthe ministerial field now prevails among the Nonconformists and has also\naffected to a large extent the Anglican communion.  But the multiplied\ndivisions and multiplying sub-divisions among the conflicting creeds, a\nwasteful overlapping and disastrous competition in the mission field, the\nenlightening experience of the great war, have forced an issue upon the\nChurches.\n\nIn Scotland the \"Old Kirk\" is trying to bridge the chasm that has\nseparated it from the \"Free Church\" in the past years.  In England, under\nthe leadership of Mr. Shakespeare, the Nonconformists are fusing their\ndifferences and presenting a united front to the Established Church.\nOnly last year, (1919) in Kingswall Hall, did not the Bishop of London\nmake most remarkable overtures to the Wesleyans and propose to them a\nscheme of union!  By the introduction of Evangelical methods and\nparticularly by the association with Nonconformists on doctrinal grounds,\nor in services in which doctrines are involved, the Anglican Church has\nbeen engaged--to speak with Newman--\"in diluting its high orthodoxy.\"\n\nLast August, 1920, Geneva was the meeting place of \"The World Christian\nCongress.\"  The Congress adopted a resolution to form a \"League of\nChurches\" whose object is to put an end to proselytizing between\nChristian churches and promote mutual understanding between them for\nChristian missions among non-Christian peoples; secondly, to promote an\nassociation and collaboration of Churches to establish Christian\nprinciples; thirdly, to help the Churches to become acquainted with one\nanother; fourthly, to bring together smaller Christian communities, and\nunite all Churches on questions of faith and order.\n\nBut it was reserved for America, the land of daring schemes and audacious\nplans, to formulate the most chimerical project of all.\n\nThe Episcopalian Church has promoted \"_The World Congress on Faith and\nOrder_.\"  Bishop Weller, of Fond-du-Lac, Wisc., is directing this\ngigantic movement.  A committee of bishops has already called on the\nvarious heads of Christian Churches, and we all know of their visit to\nthe Vatican and of the refusal of the Holy See to participate in the\nPan-Christian Congress.\n\nSponsored by the Presbyterian Church of America, \"The United Churches of\nChrist\" were formed some months ago, with a complete organic union of the\nProtestant Churches of America in view.  This is . . . \"an advance of the\npresent existing organization of the Federal Council of the Churches of\nChrist in America, as it opens the way for consolidation of\nadministration agencies and the carrying forward of the general work of\nthe Churches through the council of the United Church.\"\n\nBut the most ambitious scheme is that of the \"_Inter Church World\nMovement_.\"  It has been called into existence (1918) for the purpose of\ndeveloping a plan whereby the Evangelical Churches of North America may\nco-operate in carrying out their educational, missionary and benevolent\nprogramme at home and abroad.  To discover and group the facts concerning\nthe world's needs; to build a programme of inspiration and education\nbased on these facts; to develop spiritual power adequate for the task;\nto secure enough lives and money to meet the needs: such is the\ntremendous task the \"Inter Church World Movement\" has set itself.  At a\nmeeting in Atlantic City it was voted to raise the stupendous sum of\n$1,300,000,000 to meet the requirements of this Pan-Protestant project.\nTwo thousand men and women are now (Feb.  1920,) busy at the head-office,\nin New York, preparing the world-wide survey and financial campaign.[1]\n\nThe Protestant Churches in Canada are also falling in line in this\nuniversal movement for unity.  \"_The United National Campaign_\" which\nmarked 1919 with thirteen national conventions, represented the\nco-operative feature of various churches in a general \"_Forward\nMovement_.\"  The war, we all know, has impeded the projected union\nbetween the Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregationalist denominations.\nThere is hardly any doubt that this union will be effected in the near\nfuture.  But as usual, while the East was deliberating, the forward and\naggressive West was acting.  Church-Union is an accomplished fact in many\ncentres, particularly in the Province of Saskatchewan.  Last October the\n\"Union Church of Western Canada\" held a convention in Regina and reported\nprogress.  Conditions in the West, especially in the rural districts,\nnaturally favour this movement.  The strong denominational feeling is\nbecoming more and more a thing of the past.  The identity of churches is\nbeing absorbed in \"social service\" work, and sectarian peculiarities\nconsidered \"obsolete impertinences.\"\n\nThese are the various manifestations of the \"Church-Union Movement.\"\nAlthough loose thinking and indefiniteness of purpose characterize most\nof these various moves, a close analysis reveals two different underlying\nprinciples which support and explain them.  As an Anglican clergyman\nstated: \"There are two courses open, uniting on points of agreement and\nallowing the differences to settle themselves, or facing differences with\na view of settling them.\"  The first course promotes a \"_co-operative\nunion_\" in social and Christian work.  This union does not interfere with\nmatters of belief, but aims solely at the co-operation and co-ordination\nof all services which the Churches can render in the missionary,\neducational and social fields.  It means a League or Federation of\nChurches, with a view to \"greater efficiency.\"\n\nThe other course goes deeper into the problem under discussion, for it\nhas as object an \"_organic union_.\"  This union means the fusing of all\ndenominational creeds and forms of worship, or, at least, the acceptance\nby all of a certain doctrinal minimum as a basis of the _entente\ncordiale_.  The Anglicans in the Conference of Lambeth, 1888, formulated\nthe famous \"Quadrilateral\" whereby the Scriptures as Rule of Faith, the\nApostles' and Nicene Creeds, the two sacraments of Baptism and of\nEucharist, and the Episcopacy or apostolic succession, are \"as the\nirreducible minimum on which they would open negotiations for reunion.\"\n[2]\n\n\nII.\n\nThe Protestant Inter-Church Movement is a fact; we know its causes, its\nvarious manifestations, its ultimate aim.  To what extent this universal\nmovement reflects the general, deep and conscientious convictions of the\nmasses, it would be hard to say.  The prevalent indifference and profound\nignorance as regards the specific tenets of each denomination would lead\nus to believe that this movement does not spring from the very\nsoul-depths of the masses.  Yet the fact is there, and assuredly of\nimportance in the religious realm.  What is the meaning of this fact?\nWhat is its message?  For, every universal fact of that kind reveals and\ninterprets an ideal.\n\nNaturally the view point of the Protestant will be different from that of\nthe Catholic.  The explanation of the attitude of both, as we stated,\ncannot but help to hasten the coming of true union in Christendom.  The\nnon-Catholic mind sees in this Inter-Church Movement the ultimate triumph\nof Protestantism, the vindication of the leading principles of the\nReformation.  The Anglican Archbishop DuVernet wrote in the \"Montreal\nStar,\" May 10th, 1919: \"Reviewing the movement towards Christian Union in\nCanada, a very natural evolutionary order is at once detected, which\ngives us the assurance that a spiritual cosmic urge is at work behind\nthis united action of the Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist and\nCongregationalist Churches of Canada, _the great evolutionary movement\ntowards the comprehensive Church of the Future_.\"\n\nWe all know of the sensation created in Anglican circles by the extreme\nviews of the Bishop of Carlisle.  In a recent article on the \"Nineteenth\nCentury and After\"--entitled \"Monopoly of Religion,\" he protests against\nthe claims of right and the privilege of monopoly in Religion, either in\ndoctrine or in form of government.  He says that the Free Churches have\nbeen right in resisting unto death the doctrines of religious monopoly.\n\nRobert H. Gardner, in the \"The Churchman,\" (_Episcopal_), acknowledges\nthat \"The unanimous recognition of the plans (Interchurch World Movement)\nis only a beginning; the hope of all that it will lead to a more perfect\nunion, and the evident anxiety to leave the Catholic (?) churches free to\nmaintain their principle without compromise or surrender, have converted\nhim to the belief that God the Holy Ghost is guiding this movement, and,\ntherefore, that it is truly Catholic (?).\"\n\nIf such are the views of the Anglican Church, which, among other\ndenominations, has always been considered as most conservative, what may\nwe not expect from the other Churches?  And indeed, the reading of\naddresses made at their different Conferences and General Assemblies, the\nresolutions passed, and the very atmosphere of these meetings tend to\nuphold the Church-Union Movement as the realization of unity in\nChristendom.  \"The Christian Century\" (organ of the Disciples of Christ)\nsays: \"It marks out the best path yet that has been described for the\nattainment of unity.  It outlines the goal and bravely takes the first\nstep towards its realization.\"  The New York \"Christian Advocate\"\n(_Methodist_) thinks: \"It will mark a definite step toward that fusing of\nProtestant forces whose absence hitherto, is responsible in large part\nfor the failure of Christianity to make powerful headway among men.\"  As\nthe Presbyterians were the originators of the movement, \"The Continent\"\ntakes a justifiable pride, in quoting from a contemporary, that: \"They\nare perfectly ready to contemplate a Christian unity that involves the\npassing away of this particular organism called the Presbyterian Church,\nfinely wrought though it be,\" and exhorts: \"Presbyterians, this sort of\nreputation is a lot to live up to.  But we must not fall from it.\"\n\nThe principles of evolution--principles which we find underlying modern\nthought--are freely called upon to explain this movement and justify its\nconsequences.  Our millennial-minded doctors and preachers are\ncelebrating already the apotheosis of the Universal Church of the future.\n\nAnd what does the Catholic Church think of Church-Union?  What is its\npoint of view on this \"Movement\" which has now such hold on the\nProtestant denominations?  As the Catholic Church is in itself the\nlargest Christian body, it is but natural to presume that all Christians\nwill be interested in knowing Her views on this vital subject.  For is\nShe not that Church which Gladstone himself calls, \"the most famous of\nChristian communions, and the one within which the largest numbers of\nChristian souls find their spiritual food!\" (Gladstone to Acton, Nov.,\n1869.)\n\nThe Catholic Church sees in this movement of Church-Union the complete\ndisintegration of Protestantism and the open condemnation of its\nfundamental principles.  Those who are not of the \"Fold\" will perhaps\nresent, but not be astonished at this sweeping statement.  We would only\nask them to follow our argument and then judge for themselves.\n\n_Union--and therefore unity--will not and cannot be the result of the\npresent Inter-Church Movement_.  This statement involves a question of\nfact and of right.  _In facto_.--Let us examine first the question of\nfact.  Union, as now promoted, is either \"_co-operative_\" or \"_organic_.\"\n_Co-operative union ignores differences of creed or form of worship;\norganic union suppresses them or merges them into a neutral mixture_.\n\nCo-operative Union,--as a basis of religious unity affecting the religion\nof the individual, can be at once dismissed.  For, what _religious_\naction,--_i.e._, action prompted and guided by a principle, a religious\ndoctrine,--is possible without that principle, that doctrine?  Moral\naction,--and Religion is at the same time the foundation and the highest\nexpression of the moral order,--pre-supposes immutable and recognized\nprinciples.  \"The mental attitude defined on paper as 'undenominational,'\nMiss M. Fletcher says rightly, has no existence in the human mind.  Below\nall sustained enthusiasms lie strong convictions.\"--Therefore to ignore\nthe directing principles of their various denominations in a common\nreligious action, and yet to pretend to keep their denominational\nidentity, involves, on the part of the Churches, an absolute\nimpossibility.  Because doctrine is the very foundation, the \"_raison\nd'etre_\" of intelligent Christian action.  Diversity of opinion is bound\nto bring, in religious matters, diversity of action; for, to be\nconsequent one must act according to his belief.  Baptism, for instance,\nis necessary or not necessary for salvation.  On this doctrinal point\nwill necessarily hinge a diversity of action in the mission field alloted\nto this or to that denomination.  The position is quite different when\ncommon action is confined to merely social work.  But \"social service,\"\nstripped of all its Christian principles and reduced to pure\nphilanthropy, is not Christianity; it is mere naturalism or neo-paganism.\n\nThe great majority of those for whom Christianity is yet a _living\nreality_ understand the nefarious consequences of _\"co-operative-union_.\"\nTo protect themselves against this scheme of a perfidious neutrality,\nthey advocate an \"_organic union_.\"  This even is to the fore in the\nPhiladelphia plan of the \"Inter-Church World Movement.\"  \"The plan of\nfederal union will have this result, that after it shall have been in\noperation for a term of years, the importance of _divisive_ names and\ncreeds and methods will pass more and more into the dim background of the\npast and acquire, even in the particular denomination itself, a merely\nhistorical value, and the churches then will be ready for, and will\ndemand, a more complete union; so that what was the 'United Churches of\nChrist in America' can become the 'United Church of Christ in America,'\nand a real ecclesiastical power, holding and administering ecclesiastical\nproperty and funds of such united church.\"\n\nThe promoters of \"_organic union_\" do not ignore the differences between\ncreeds, but they are trying to reduce them.  This union strikes at the\nvery bed rock of Divine Revelation.  For, the suppression of differences,\nor their limitation to a certain doctrinal minimum, implies a compromise,\nand a compromise, in matters of truth, is unacceptable.  Truth is eternal\nand therefore does not change.  If the Westminister and Augsburg\nConfessions were true yesterday, why should they not be also true to-day?\nIf the 39 Articles were the rule of Faith for the Anglican Church in the\npast, why should they be to-day but \"definitions of theological opinions\nof the time of the Reformation,\" as Anglican Bishop Farthing, of\nMontreal, recently stated.--\"You change . . . therefore you are not\ntrue,\" we may say, with Bossuet, to those Churches.\n\n_In jure_.--This universal readiness to compromise should not astonish us\nwhen we know that the very fundamental principle of the Reformation is\n\"_private judgment_\" in matters of Faith.  The divine message of\nRevelation is to be interpreted as each one sees best.  This principle\nmakes, \"_de jure_,\" every Protestant independent in his religious belief,\nand opens the door to the most conflicting interpretations of the Divine\nMessage.  \"The High Church clergyman to-day,\" writes A.  Birrell, \"is no\ntheologian, he is an opportunist.\"  Dogma degenerates into religious\nemotionalism.  Doctrine becomes nothing but a \"_scheme of theological\nimpressions_.\"  To tolerate every doctrine is, for a Church, to teach\nnone.  Doctrinal chaos, such as we now see outside of the Catholic\nChurch, is the inevitable result of compromise.  Winston Churchill's\nfamous novel, \"Inside of the Cup,\" is nothing but the diagnosis of this\ndisintegration which Protestant Churches are now witnessing.\n\nThe history of Protestantism is but the history of its changes of\nreligious belief.  For \"between authority and impressionism in matters of\nRevelation, there is no alternative.\"  As Christianity is not the product\nof the human mind, but a Revelation from God, authority,--a divinely\nconstituted infallible and living authority--is a necessity, and the only\npossible bond of unity.\n\nThis disintegrating principle of \"private judgment\" in matters of Divine\nRevelation has been at work since the inception of Protestantism.  By the\nvery force of its dissolving power the primary elements of a supernatural\nreligion have fast disappeared from the various creeds.  One by one the\ndifferent Churches have drifted away from their Christian moorings and\ntaken to the high seas of Rationalism.  Assailed by the storms of\nunbelief they are breaking on the rocks of religious indifference.  Empty\nchurches are the natural outcome of empty creeds.  \"The dominant\ntendencies are indeed increasingly identified with those currents of\nthought which are making way from the definiteness of the ancient Faith,\ntoward Unitarian vagueness.\"  If Bishop Kinsman, Anglican Bishop of\nDelaware, a recent convert to the Catholic Faith, gave this statement as\none of the reasons for leaving the Anglican Creed, with how much more\ntruth could it not be made of the kaleidoscopic tenets of other\ndenominations?\n\nThis process of dissolution of doctrinal grounds is bound to continue.\nThe fluid condition of the various churches testifies to the uncertainty\nof their actual position and forces them to seek the lowest doctrinal\nlevel.  \"Their standard is determined by the minimum, rather than by the\nmaximum view tolerated, since their official position must be gauged, not\nby the most they allow, but by the least they insist on.\" (F. Kinsman.)\nThe remnants of Christianity that were still to be found in their\nteachings are now looked upon as \"obsolete dogmas\" and, as such,\nobstacles to unity.  The very fundamental mysteries of the Incarnation\nand the Redemption are fast growing dim in the minds and hearts of men.[3]\n\nThe Protestant Churches will never come back to their former position.\nIn this Church-union movement they are burning their bridges behind them.\nThe gospel of pure \"humanitarianism,\" which is the absolute negation of a\nsupernatural religion, will eventually be the last result of this present\nunity.\n\nDestructive criticism, to be profitable, should be followed by\nconstructive suggestions.\n\n\"_That they may be all one!_\"  This ideal of the Master, this supreme\nwish of His last hours, remains the ideal, the wish of His Church.  But\nits realization cannot be at the expense of truth.  Cardinal Gasparri\noutlined to the promoters of the \"World Congress on Faith and Order\" the\nview and position of the Catholic Church in this most important issue.\n\"The Holy See has decided not to participate in the Pan-Christian\nCongress which it is proposed to hold shortly, _as the Catholic Church\nconsidering her dogmatic character, cannot join on an equal footing with\nthe other Churches_.  The feeling at the Vatican is that all other\nChristian denominations have seceded from the Church of Rome, which\ndescends directly from Christ.  Rome cannot go to them; _it is for them\nto return to her bosom_.[4]  The Pope is ready to receive the\nrepresentatives of the dissenting churches with open arms, since the\nRoman Church has always longed for the _unification of all Religious\nChristians_.  Pope Leo XIII. was deeply interested in this question and\nwrote two famous encyclicals on the subject of the _unification of the\nChristian Churches_.\"\n\nThe divine Founder of Christendom did not leave to several Churches the\nconservation and propagation of His doctrine.  He founded only one Church\nand gave \"unity\" itself, as the supreme test of its divinity.  Therefore\nthe Church, that has remained \"one\" through time and space, and has\nconquered those two great enemies of unity, bears the birth-mark of its\ndivine origin.  The Catholic Church alone makes that specific claim.\nHistory is there to substantiate it.  Matthew Arnold himself could not\nhelp acknowledging this universal fact.  \"Catholicism is that form of\nChristianity which is the oldest, the largest, and most popular.  It has\nbeen the great popular religion of Christendom.  Who has seen the poor in\nother churches as they are seen in Catholic Churches?  Catholicism\nenvelopes human life, and Catholics in general feel themselves to have\ndrawn not only their religion from their Church, but they feel themselves\nto have drawn from her, too, their art, poetry and culture.  _And if\nthere is a thing specially alien to religion, it is division.  If there\nis a thing specially native to religion it is peace and union.  Hence the\noriginal attraction towards unity in Rome, and hence the great charm when\nthat unity is once attained_.\"  The sharp contrast between the actual\nrestlessness and uncertainty of the dissident Churches, and the calm\nassurance and self-possession of the Catholic Church, is not that an\nabiding proof of the security of the Catholic position?\n\nFather Palmieri, O.S.A., Ph.D., D.D., who has made the problem of\nChristian Unity a life-study, made, in a recent article, these pertinent\nremarks: \"The reunion of Christianity in the Catholic sense is not a\nBabel-like confusion of different sects which oppose creed to creed,\nwhich proclaim their absolute indifference in the doctrinal field, which\ntake the individual reason as a judge of Christian revelation or\nChristian discipline.  It would be an absurdity to suppose for a moment\nthat Catholicism or Catholic Theology would propose this hybrid confusion\nof concepts and human caprices under the name of unity.  For Catholicism\nand Catholic Theology, the reunion of Christianity is the return of\ndissident Churches and of the non-Catholic sects to Christian unity, to\nthe one Church of Jesus Christ, which not only teaches this unity\ntheoretically but also puts it into practice, in its doctrine, in its\ngovernment, in its dogmatic and moral teaching, in its principles of\nauthority.  By logical sequence the Church of Jesus is one.  This unity\nis not broken by political barriers, by ethnic divisions, by opposing\nnational aspirations.  To tend therefore toward Christian unity signifies\nto tend toward the only Church of Jesus Christ, and to effect this unity\nis the same as to adhere to it.\"\n\nFather Palmieri concludes his study with these words: \"An impartial study\nof many years' duration has fully convinced us that the union of the\ndissident churches can be brought about only under the leadership of the\nCatholic Church.  Outside of Rome there is a principle of dissolution\nwhich breaks up and disintegrates the most solid organisms and which will\ncause the breaking up even of the Orthodox Churches.  It is therefore in\nthe supreme interest of Christianity that the Catholic Church addresses\nits appeals for union to the dissident Churches, and it will never cease\nto exercise this, its noble mission.  Its efforts have been crowned with\nsuccess several times, and I am convinced that that day will come in\nwhich by means of prayer and action the aspiration of Christ's Vicar for\nunion will be realized.\"\n\nOur non-Catholic reader may say that the position we take tends to\nstrengthen that exclusiveness, that narrowness, that aloofness with which\nhe has always charged the Church of Rome.  But we would ask our\ndissenting brethren, can it be otherwise?  Truth is indivisible and\nunchangeable.  Were the unity of the Church Universal to exist only in\nthe Church of the future we would have to conclude that there was a time\nwhen the Church of Christ did not exist on earth.  This would be absurd\nand would destroy Christianity in its very foundation.  The true Church\nof Christ has a right to claim the monopoly of Christianity.  The Church\nwhich, through a so-called spirit of broad-mindedness, accepts the\nconflicting claims of the various dissident bodies, and is ready to merge\nits entity with other denominations, immediately, _de facto_, invalidates\nits claim to be \"The Church of Christ.\"  For, its position involves a\ncontradiction and is in itself a self-condemnation.\n\nYet, the Catholic Church cannot feel indifferent toward this general and\nsupreme effort of the various fragments of Christendom towards unity.\nConfidently she waits for the hour when all will return to her as to the\nonly centre and source of permanent unity.  Yet, we would say with the\nBishop of Northampton, \"If we may not compromise the very object of this\nremarkable movement towards unity by accepting the pressing invitations\nof our separated brethren to make common cause with them, neither can we\nrest content to be mere spectators of their perplexities like those who\nwatch from the shore the efforts of distressed seamen to make their\nport.\"  Let us hope that Divine Providence, always gentle and strong in\nits dealings with human liberty, will hasten the day when there will be\nbut \"One Fold and One Pastor.\"  In the meantime the efforts made to\nconstitute unity of Christianity outside of its true centre will prove as\nfutile as _ploughing the sands of the desert_.\n\n\n\n[1] The withdrawal of the Northern Presbyterian and Northern Baptists and\nthe failure of the financial drive have imperilled the existence of this\nambitious project.  Is it not a case of repeating with the Psalmist:\n\"Unless the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build\nit?\"--Ps. 126.\n\n[2] In the last Lambeth Conference--1920--the Church of England has again\nreduced this minimum by implicitly recognizing the Nonconformist ministry\nand abandoning its claim to reunion through the absorption of all sects\nin the Anglican communion.  It has so shifted from its former position\nthat it has openly expressed in the Bishops' manifesto the desire to\nplace itself on some \"no man's land\" where all the dissident Churches may\nsafely meet and unite.\n\n[3] Canon E. W. Barnes, of Westminster Abbey, in a sermon to the members\nof the British Association, at their meeting at Cardiff, Aug.  29, 1920,\ndeclared that, to harmonize Christian Doctrine with modern science,\nparticularly with the theory of evolution, he found it necessary to\nabandon the doctrine of the Fall of Man and arguments deduced from it by\ntheologians, from St. Paul onward.\n\n[4] Father Leslie Walker, S.J., in a recent work on \"The Problem of\nReunion,\" suggests we should enquire rather how we came to differ than\nwhat we differ about.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\n\"THEM ALSO I MUST BRING\"\n\n(Jo. X, 16)\n\n_The Apostolate to Non-Catholics--Its Obligation.\n  What have we done?  What can we do?_\n\n\nThe spiritual influence of a Christian is commensurate with his\nappreciation of responsibility.  The breadth and depth of vision give\nto this moral feeling its field of action.  The circle of our influence\nceases with the limits of our spiritual outlook.  The boundless and\nclear visions of all the Great Apostles in the Church of God give us\nthe key to the generosity and artfulness of their zeal.  Just as the\nnarrowness of our views explains the restrictiveness of our charity and\nthe limitations of its activities.  This is particularly noticeable in\nour dealings with the spiritual needs of those outside the Fold.  The\nclaims of our non-Catholic brethren to our charity do not seem to\naffect us, because our spiritual outlook has not the proportions of\nthat of the Master.  With Him we do not stand on those heights from\nwhich we could see beyond our own green pastures, \"Other sheep that are\nnot of His Fold and which we must also bring.\"  This explains how the\nclaim--\"_Oportet_\" . . .  \"_We must bring_\"--awakens in us no sense of\nresponsibility and meets with no answer in the ordinary activities of\nour life.  Every one seems more or less contented with the lines of\ndenominational demarcation as he finds them around him in the\ncommunity.  Not to discuss religion, not to busy oneself with the other\nman's belief, to be very frequently rather reticent about our own, is a\npolicy generally accepted in the West.  This habit of evasiveness is\nnot Christian and often leads to the sacrifice of Catholic principles.\nFar from us be the idea of advocating rash obtrusiveness, of untimely\naggressive and inconsiderate zeal.  But between this excess and that of\na \"_laissez faire_\" policy there is a golden mean.  What is then wrong,\nour method or our zeal?\n\nA right understanding and a deep conviction of our duties in the matter\nunder consideration are of the greatest value for the Church in Western\nCanada.  May we preface our chapter by asking the reader to keep before\nhis mind the illuminating distinction of St. Augustine between the Body\nand Soul of the Church.  Many souls outside of the visible Body of the\nChurch are nevertheless within the beneficial influence of her\ninvisible pale.  This is a commonplace of theology, we all know, but\nevidently, very often forgotten.\n\nAre we in conscience bound to spread the true faith among our\nnon-Catholic brethren?  Most undoubtedly we are.  The examples and\nprecepts of the Master, the canons of the Church, the love of God and\nour neighbour, are among the pressing motives which should appeal to a\ntrue Catholic and make him zealous within the sphere of his influence.\n\n\"Thy Kingdom Come!\"  That prayer of the Lord, which has become our\nmorning and evening prayer, is vain, if in the ordinary course of life\nwe do not try to extend the boundaries of that spiritual kingdom in the\nvery souls of those with whom we come in daily contact.  Is not the\nlight of our life to shine out so that it may serve as a beacon to\nthose outside the Fold?  But nothing is more striking than the words of\nthe Good Shepherd: \"And other sheep I have that are not of this Fold;\nthem also I must bring and they shall hear My voice\" (Jo. X., 16).  Who\ncould explain the profound yearnings of the Divine Master's heart and\nthe deep feeling of obligation that are summed up in these words: \"Them\nalso I must bring.\"  The Divine Shepherd finds Himself responsible for\nthe sheep that are not of His own Fold and His only ambition is to\nbring them in.\n\nThis recommendation of Our Lord, His Church understood when in her\nCanon-law She makes it a duty for all bishops and priests to look upon\nthe non-Catholics residing within the boundaries of their jurisdiction\nas recommended to them by the Lord and placed in their charge. (Canon\n1350, No. 1.)\n\nThe Plenary Council of Quebec, the authoritative voice of the Church in\nCanada, is most emphatic in its recommendation of our separated\nbrethren to the zeal of all Catholics. (No. 331)\n\nThe obligation of conscience to come to the help of our non-Catholic\nneighbour is moreover founded on the precepts of Christian charity.  If\nChrist will condemn to Hell those who did not give Him to eat and to\ndrink in the person of the needy, what will He not say to those who\nneglect the spiritual works of mercy.  The activities of Christian\nzeal, to one who rightly understands the spirit of the gospel and the\neconomy of the redemption, have the same binding force as alms-giving,\nand fulfill in the spiritual world the part charity has to play in the\nscheme of Christian economics.\n\nThe obligation of alms-giving is complementary to the right of\nproperty.  For, as St. Thomas says, \"It is one thing to have a right to\npossess money and another to have a right to use money as one pleases.\"\n(II. _a_, II. _ae_, Q. XXXII., art. 5, ad 2.)  This duty when\nconscientiously performed re-establishes that economic and social\nequilibrium which strict justice alone is not able to create.  For, the\ninequitable distribution of wealth greatly depends on the inequality of\npower of production.  This inequality of natural gifts in man remains\nan unchangeable fact which faith alone in a Divine Providence can\nexplain, an ever renascent problem which Christian charity only can\nsolve.\n\nThis mystery of Christian solidarity reveals itself also in the\nspiritual world.  We may say of each Catholic what St. Ambrose said of\nthe priesthood: \"_Nemo Catholicus sibi_,\"--no one is a Catholic for\nhimself alone.  By a mysterious law of Divine Providence the\nconservation and propagation of the faith are, after Divine Grace,\nlargely dependent on the influence of man on man.  We are all verily\n\"Our brothers' keepers.\"  We are commissioned by Christ not only to\nkeep the faith but also to hand it down to others, not only to keep its\nfire burning in our hearts but to spread it, and to fan it into a\nconflagration.  The gift of faith implies the charitable obligation of\nweaving our belief into our every day life and, through that life and\nits influence, into the lives of others.  The plenitude of some make up\nfor the penury of others.  If St. John, to urge the precept of\nalms-giving, said: \"He that hath the substance of this world and shall\nsee his brother in need, and shall shut up his bowels from him: how\ndoth the charity of God abide in him?\" (I. Jo. III, 17), with how much\nmore truth cannot the condemnation of the Beloved Apostle be applied to\none who, rich in Faith--\"that substance of things unseen,\" makes no\neffort to help his brother who is deprived of it?  Therefore charity,\nthrough its spiritual works of mercy, re-establishes the equilibrium in\nthe spiritual realm and stands out as a vital factor in the economy of\nour religion.  To understand rightly this principle and to reduce it to\naction, is to be a true and ardent apostle.  Then, and then only, are\nwe able to say in truth, with the martyr, St. Pacien, \"Christian is my\nname, but Catholic is my surname.\"\n\nHow pressing is this obligation to be an apostle, to be truly Catholic,\namong our non-Catholic brethren?  Why should we particularly turn the\nenergies of our zeal to the conversion of non-Catholics?  What special\nclaim have they to our prayers?\n\nThe supernatural element of Faith, often the fruit of a valid baptism,\nwhich still lingers in the souls of many non-Catholics; the fact that\nnumbers of them, because they are in good faith, belong thereby to the\n\"Soul of the Church;\" the rising tide of indifference and unbelief\nwhich is now burying under its water the last remnants of Christianity\nto be found among the conflicting creeds: these are the predominant\nmotives which, according to the principles of St. Thomas Aquinas,\nshould attract the preference of our zeal.  For the order of the\ncharity, says the Holy Doctor,[1] depends on the _relations_ of those\nwe love, to God and to ourselves, and on the _urgency_ of their\nspiritual needs.  By this doctrine, among those outside of the Church,\nthose professing Christianity have the first claim to our apostleship.\nTherefore missions to non-Catholics, _caeteris paribus_, take\nprecedence over foreign missions.\n\nWe all recognize the reality of this obligation and understand, vaguely\nperhaps, the burden of its responsibility.  We all indeed, at times,\nsay with the Divine Master: \"There are other sheep that are not of this\nFold; them also I must bring.\"--But, what have we done to bring them?\n\nOutside of a few casual cases of conversion prompted often by marriage,\nand of some spasmodic efforts during a mission, are we not bound to\nadmit that our policy in our relation with non-Catholics has been one\nof aloofness and waiting.  This attitude of aloofness may be traced to\nmany causes.  The certainty of his faith gives to the Catholic an\nassurance which he carries with him into his every day life.  A sense\nof superiority is its natural result.  It gives him that\nself-confidence in religious matters which our separated brethren are\nso prone to call \"Roman Pride.\"\n\nThere exists in the Catholic soul that feeling we might name \"The\ntimidity of faith.\"  This sensitiveness is but the instinct of\npreservation.  We have been impressed from our youth that faith is the\ngreatest heirloom of our Christian heritage.  To protect it against any\ninfluence that would endanger it, is always considered a sacred duty.\nThis is particularly remarked among the masses, whose chances of\neducation finished with the grammar schools, and in countries or\nlocalities where Catholics are the minority.\n\nThe natural result of this attitude and feeling is an estrangement from\nthose of another faith, a bashful reluctance to meet them and to\nco-operate with them in social or civic matters, an unconscious\ntendency to see motives that do not exist and, at times, to refrain\nfrom the most elementary acts of charity and courtesy.  \"It often\nhappens that we manifest towards the heretic the feeling which should\nbe exclusively reserved for heresy.\" (Lord Morley.)  That this is\nprecisely the frame of mind of the ordinary non-Catholic in his\ndealings with us, is by no way an excuse for our own unkindness.\nRetaliation is not Christ-like.  Does not our aloofness confirm our\nseparated brethren in their false ideas, wrong impressions and bitter\nprejudices.  We must not forget that centuries of strife and untold\nantagonism of misunderstandings and ignorance, stand as a granite wall\nbetween their souls and ours.  The teachings and influence of their\nhome, of their school, and of their church lie in their minds, strata\nupon strata, as the silent and lasting mementoes of the great religious\nupheaval of the Reformation.  Only the influence of a genuine, frank,\nCatholic life, seen and felt in daily intercourse will gradually wear\nthe barrier away.  It is a long and slow process, we know, but one\nworth trying.  Like the ever returning tide it eats its way into the\nmost solid rock of prejudice and bigotry.\n\nThat this aloofness carries with it for the unguarded soul and\nuntrained mind a great protection, is made evident by the too many\nexamples of lukewarm Catholics, who by their continued association with\nthose outside of the Fold have lost the right appreciation of their\nfaith and are open to compromise.  Principles in their lives often\nyield to a policy of so called broadmindedness and alleged charity.\nBut those we have in mind, are the leaders, among the clergy and the\nlaity.  They are grounded in their belief, know its principles and\nshould be prepared to throw off that aloofness which shades the light\nof their faith and prevents it from being seen by those who are bound\nto them, in the everyday life, by national, social, commercial, and\noften by family ties.\n\nThis _quasi_ universal attitude of aloofness has developed among us\nwhat we might call \"The policy of waiting.\"  The festive board of\nChrist's faith is ready, but the guests from another fold are wanting.\nHave we gone \"by the highways and byways\" and forced ourselves upon\ntheir attention by our pressing invitations . . . \"_compelle intrare_?\"\nNo, we stand at the door of the Banquet Hall, receiving politely and\nwith joy, it is true, those who ask to come in; and there, for the most\npart, ends our apostolate.  This naturally leads us to say frankly what\nwe think could be done.  For we believe that our methods of apostolate\ncall for revision, need readjustment.  The way to become like St. Paul,\n\"All things to all men, that we may save them all,\" (I. Cor. I., 22)\nchanges with the times.\n\nIn the great drama of life the stage-settings are ever shifting and the\n_dramatis personae_, changing.  The success of the actor is to fit in\nas the play goes on.  This he does by adopting ways and methods most\nappropriate to his surroundings.  The problems we face are always the\nsame, but to be efficient our methods of handling them must evolve and\nadjust themselves to the temper of the age.  What should be then the\ncharacteristic features of our apostleship among non-Catholics?  The\nneglect of readjustment of our methods in dealing with our separated\nbrethren is the avowed cause of the tremendous waste of energy and the\nexplanation of meagre results.  \"An enormous amount of energy,\" said\nFather Benson,--and he had the experience,--\"has been expended\nuselessly in the past, assaulting positions that are no longer held,\nand by lack of appreciation of present conditions.\"  In this age of\nloose thinking and of rapid dissemination of ideas, _aggressiveness_,\nsupported by active propaganda, characterizes every world-wide movement\nin government, industry, science and religion.  Every doctrine, every\ntheory comes into the open and makes a strong bid for our hearing, for\nour following.  Why should not the true doctrine of Christ assume this\nnew shining armour of sane aggressiveness, come more into the open, and\nthrow down the gauntlet to unbelief and indifference everywhere rampant\nand openly defiant?  For, if conviction is the father of devotion, if\nour belief in the mastery of ideas is genuine, we cannot help but be\naggressive.  Needless to say we are not asking for vulgar\naggressiveness, we are not asking for cheap sneers and attacks on the\nignorance and the illogical position of others.  By aggressiveness, we\nmean coming out in defence of truth which it is our privilege and\nresponsibility to possess.  Never have times been more inviting for an\naggressive Catholicism.  The great war has been for Protestantism the\nacid test.  The result is for the Anglican and Evangelical Churches a\ncomplete failure,[2] and, as the soldiers said \"a wash-out.\"  They have\nlost their grip on the masses who are rapidly slipping into a religious\nchaos.  The universal disintegration of creeds, strangely combined with\na secret thirst for truth and unity now sweeps the English-speaking\nworld.  Are not these portentous events that manifest, as \"The stirring\nof the waters,\" the movement of the Holy Spirit.\n\nOur policy of aggressiveness, if it be true and resolute, will find\nexpression in an intelligent, active and persevering propaganda.\nPropaganda is the dissemination of ideas, with the view of giving them\na strong foothold in the mind.  The gradual development of the message\nit carries and the recurrence of its lessons at stated intervals are\nthe principal factors of this great force.  To be efficient and\nsuccessful our propaganda among our non-Catholic brethren will assume\ntwo distinct forms: The open and the silent form.\n\nThe _silent propaganda_ is the spreading of Catholic ideas through the\ncontact of our every day life with those who are not of our own Faith.\nWillingly or unwillingly we are bound to leave an impression of our\nbelief in the business and social circles into which our life is cast.\nOur silence and abstention alone often militate against the Church.\nLet then the purity and spirituality of our lives, the honesty of our\ncommercial relations, the sanctity of our home, bear witness to the\nsacredness of our religion and to the seriousness of its teachings.\n\nA true Catholic life is in itself a living antithesis of the prevalent\nneo-pagan ideals, and stands as the best proof of our Faith's sincerity\nand of the depth of its conviction.  \"If life is the test of thought\nrather than thought the test of life,\" wrote Van Dyke, \"we should be\nable to get light on the real worth of a man's ideals by looking at the\nshape they would give to human existence if they were faithfully\napplied.\"  For, as Cromwell said, \"The mind is the man.\"\n\nThe participation in civic, social and national activities will afford\nthe occasion of meeting our non-Catholic neighbours.  This personal and\nrepeated contact, particularly with the leaders of the community, on\noccasions when the best brains can concentrate together without clash\nof principle, is, in our humble estimation, of the greatest value.  The\nparticipation of the Knights of Columbus in war activities and\nreconstruction work is a striking illustration of this point.  Nothing\nhas more helped the Church in the American Republic, in breaking down\nthe barrier of anti-Catholic prejudice, than the stand its Catholic\nlaity took during and after the Great War.  Have we not in Western\nCanada been rather remiss in our participation in public activities?\nIf we have not had our share in public life, it has often been, we must\nconfess, our own fault.\n\nThe strength of the silent propaganda lies in its _persistency_ and\n_consistency_.  A silent continuous and intelligent activity, and not a\nmere passivity, on the part of Catholics, is what characterizes this\ntremendous force.  Like the tide, it creeps from pebble to pebble, from\nrock to rock, submerging every thing under its conquering waters.\n\nThe logic of Catholic life lends its consistency to this silent force.\nOur life is indeed the best proof of our principles.  No one on the\ncontrary does more harm to the Church than a Catholic whose life is not\nin harmony with his belief.  The non-Catholic points to his life, with\na sneer, and says: \"See, he is no better than others!\"  This reasoning,\nwe know is false, but for the unthinking masses, very often conclusive.\n\nThis silent drive is the necessary background of the _open propaganda_\nof which we would now say a few words.\n\nThe sincerely aggressive Catholicism of the laity cannot confine its\nactivities to the home and narrow circle of friends, no more than that\nof the clergy can find its limit in the pulpit and the confessional.\nLet us go into the open.  The sun of liberty is blazing bright for us\nall, under the blue skies of Canada.  To witness at times, our cringing\nspirit, our childlike timidity, our cowardice, one would think that we\nwere still under the penal laws and legal disabilities known by our\nfathers and forefathers.  \"What is there to check our dash forward?\" we\nwould ask with Father Vaughan.  \"Absolutely nothing, but ourselves,\nnothing but what we term prudence.\"  Prudence! thin veneer, hardly able\nto conceal our apathy and unwarranted timidity.\n\nHas not the time come to throw off this false timidity and \"To go out\ninto the highways and hedges and compel our separated brethren to come\nin, that the Master's house may be filled.\" (Luke Ch. 14).  Long enough\nhave we waited for them to come to us.  An intelligent Methodist was\nrecently asked the question: \"What do you think is the greatest\nobstacle to the spread of the Catholic Faith?\"  And he answered:\n\"Ignorance,--because Protestants do not understand what Catholic\nteaching is, and if your people have the courage of their convictions\nand claim that they know the truth, why do they not come out like the\nSocialists, Radicalists, Salvation Army, and other bodies who have come\nout, and explain to the public what they believe and why.\"\n\nDid not Cardinal Newman in the conclusion of his lecture: \"The Position\nof Catholics,\" make similar statements?  \"Protestantism,\" he says, \"is\nfierce because it does not know you; ignorance is its strength; error\nis its life.  Therefore bring yourselves before it, press yourselves\nupon it, force yourselves into notice against its will. . . .  Oblige\nmen to know you. . . .  Politicians and Philosophers would be against\nyou, but not the people, if it knew you.\"\n\nYes, we willingly endorse what the English Dominican, Father Hugh Pope,\nadvocated in his article, \"The Modern Apostolate,\" in the August issue,\n1919, \"The Ecclesiastical Review,\" and in several other English\nnewspapers and magazines.  Has not indeed the time come when we should\nrevolutionize all our methods, when we should apply to Home Missions\nsomething of the methods which now we have fancied pertained solely to\nthe Foreign Missions.  Some we know will criticize this forward policy\nas bold, open to ridicule, an innovation, an undignified intrusion, a\nBilly-Sunday method, etc.--\"On analysis what does all this opposition\ncome to, but that we are afraid.\"  \"Afraid!\" our critics will exclaim,\n\"of what? I should like to know?\"  Is not the answer: \"Yes, afraid of\nwhat the people will say\" (Father Pope, O.P.).  Anchored in the past\nthey will continue to spend their energies in giving what we would call\n\"spiritual delicacies\" to the few good souls around them, while at\ntheir very doors crowds are dying of spiritual hunger for want of\nbread.  And in all tranquillity of conscience they will raise their\neyes to Heaven and thank the Lord that they are not like them.  If\nindeed we wait until the non-Catholics come to our churches and to our\nrectories and ask to be received into the Church, we shall wait until\nDoomsday.  After all, what we here advocate, is nothing new.  Is it not\nthe modern interpretation, suited to our times, of the \"_Omnia\nOmnibus_\"--\"All things to all men,\" of St. Paul?\n\nAlong what definite lines should this aggressiveness be developed?\nZeal, we know, is very ingenious in its ways and means, and has in\ntheir use the freedom of the spirit of God.  Yet, there are certain\nmethods, certain activities, which have proved successful and could be\nadopted to suit the circumstances of each community.  Missions to\nnon-Catholics and lectures in public halls, if well and intelligently\nadvertised, will always draw an audience.  Nothing appeals more to the\nmind of the inquirer than a lucid and simple exposition of the Faith.\nControversy beclouds the issue.  Were there any particular doubt in\nmind, the Question-box affords an opportunity to elucidate it.  The\ndistribution of literature will confirm the message of the spoken word\nand continue to carry on its work, helping the seed to germinate in\nGod's own time.  Inquiry classes and information bureaus are of a great\nhelp to those who are reluctant yet to meet a priest, or to be known as\nwavering in their faith.\n\nThe great error in connection with this matter is to expect immediate\nresults from such work.  Truth and Divine Grace work slowly.  To\nmeasure the success of a lecture or a mission to non-Catholics by the\nnumber of immediate converts is completely unfair and against reason.\nThe main and direct object of these lectures is to combat the three\nobstacles in the way of conversion, indifference, ignorance, and\nprejudice, and to prepare the soil for the Great Sower.  The important\npoint we should not forget is that, as in all propaganda, the\n\"_systematic follow-up work_\" counts.  The persistency and recurrence\nof the message give it its strength and influence.\n\nIn all we have said and suggested it must not be supposed that we\nforget Faith to be a gift of God . . . _Donum Dei_.  The salvation and\nsanctification of a soul are essentially a supernatural process.  We\ncan no more trace the ways of God than we can forecast the ways of the\nwind.  Therefore the greater our activities are, the greater should be\nthe supernatural force behind them.  Prayer, constant and fervent\nprayer, for the conversion of our separated brethren should be ever on\nour lips and in our hearts.  Yet, strange thing!  We hardly ever hear\nof public prayers and masses said for this great work.  If our desires\nwere more real, should they not find expression here and there in some\npublic form of prayer.\n\nWe should close this chapter with the instructive and inviting example\nthat comes to us from our Catholic brethren in Protestant England.  A\nwonderful Catholic campaign is now on through Scotland and England.\nVarious societies have grouped the active Catholic laity into various\nunits, with the one great object in view, to give back to England the\nfaith she has been robbed of centuries ago.\n\nThe \"Catholic Truth Society\" stands in the background as the heavy\nartillery that has been firing at long range at positions the enemies\nare gradually leaving.  For the last thirty years it has been breaking\nthe way to victory.  \"The Catholic Evidence Guild\" and \"Social Guild,\"\nlike the light cavalry are reconnoitering the lines and positions.  The\n\"Motor Chapel\" and \"The Bexhill Library\"--that Catholic Post-Library,\nwith its 16,000 volumes--are what we call the flying corps of this\ngreat Catholic army.  And while the various militant units are pushing\nforward their lines, the members of \"Our Lady of Ransom's League\" are\npraying on the mountain with up-lifted hands for the conversion of\ntheir Country.\n\nThe Catholics of the United States are following suit.  The Paulist\nFathers with their missions to non-Catholics, their press and \"Catholic\nMissionary Union,\" devoted to the conversion of America, have\nundoubtedly done splendid work.  The Catholic laity have also been most\nactive under the auspices of the Knights of Columbus.  MM. Goldstein\nand Peter Collins, Dr. Walsh and Mrs. Avery are lecturing through the\ncountry and have met with great success.  This awakening of the\nmissionary spirit is one of the most healthy signs of the Catholicity\nof the Church across the border.  It is with reason that the Holy See\nlooks to America for the future wants of the Mission Field.\n\nThese examples of an apostolic awakening that come to us from countries\nwhere religious conditions are very much the same as those that prevail\nin Western Canada, are most illuminating.  They sound to us like the\nMaster's voice: \"_Why stand idle all day . . . go you also into my\nvineyard_.\"\n\n\n\n[1] Since the principle of charity is God and the person who loves, it\nmust needs be that the affection of love increases in proportion to the\nnearness to one another of these principles.  For wherever we find a\nprinciple order depends on relation to that principle.  (Summa. II, II\nQu. 26 art. 7.)\n\n[2] Cfr. \"Army and Religion.\"--Book written by Protestant Army\nChaplains.  It is a candid record of the failure of the Churches,\nAnglican and Evangelical, at the front, during the great war.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nPROS AND CONS\n\n_Obstacles that impede. . . .  Circumstances that help the work of the\nChurch in Western Canada._\n\n\nThe opening of the North West Territories to immigration, and their\ncreation into distinct Provinces of the Dominion stand as land marks of\nportentous meaning in the History of Canada.  The settlement and\ndevelopment of these immense fertile prairies of the West were bound to\nreact on the economic powers and political outlook of our Country.  By\nthe sheer weight of their economic value these new Provinces have\nleaped into prominence and forced themselves upon the attention of the\nCountry at large.  The Western issues are now so weighty that only the\ngreatest prudence and wisest statesmanship will maintain the\nequilibrium between the conflicting forces of the East and the West of\nour broad Dominion.  Canada now stands at the parting of the ways in\nits home and foreign policy.  Every true and patriotic Canadian is\nproud of the progressiveness of these new Provinces beyond our great\nLakes and anxious to see them bring their contributions to the\nCommonwealth by sharing in the direction of its government.  Their\npresence around the family table is not that of strangers or intruders,\nbut of young, stalwart and rightly ambitious sons.\n\nYet, as Religion is the necessary factor of true prosperity, the\nreligious outlook in these young Provinces is what naturally appeals to\nthe Catholic mind.  What are then the prospects for the Church in\nWestern Canada?  A rapid survey of conditions will enable us to take\nour bearings and impress upon our minds the value of our co-operation\nat this juncture of our History.  The Church in the West is in its\nmaking and we cannot over-emphasize the responsibility of every\nCatholic in the matter.  The knowledge of existing conditions will be\nto us what the topography of the country under survey is to the\nengineer.  It helps to adjust the vision, to give the sense of\nproportion and to suggest the easiest grades.\n\nTo know well an obstacle is often the best means to overcome it, just\nas in modern warfare to locate the enemies' batteries is to silence\nthem.  In our Chapter, \"The Call of the West,\" we have explained the\nobstacles with which Catholics have to contend on the prairie and in\nsmall towns.  We pointed out those obstacles, _geographical_ (distance\nand climate), _ethnical_ (race and language), _religious_ (absence of\ncatholic traditions and surroundings), and marked how they were as wide\ncrevices through which vitality is being lost to the Church in Western\nCanada.  It is our intention here to dwell only on difficulties of a\ngeneral character, inherent to the state of this new country and\neffecting the Church in its corporate existence.\n\n_The materialistic spirit_, in all its forms, characterizes the West.\nThe youth of our Eastern Provinces and foreigners from every shore\nflocked to this Eldorado by the thousands and hundreds of thousands\nwith the one particular aim in view, to better their material\ncondition.  Their success has been so great that we may well say that\nthe very atmosphere of the West is surcharged with commercialism.  The\n\"crop\" is the ever-recurring factor and eternal topic of Western life.\nNo better picture reflects this attitude than that which is offered to\nthe traveller as his train goes rolling on through the even prairie.\nEver emerging on the horizon and dotting the landscape of the bald\nplain the _grain elevator_ stands indeed as the most conspicuous land\nmark of our Western towns.  The elevators are in our prairie landscapes\nwhat the church spires are in the Quebec villages, along the shores of\nthe St. Lawrence.  Here and there they stand as symbols; they interpret\nan ideal.  Naturally a population so immersed in material pursuits and\nfrequently, not to say always, separated by the very force of\ncircumstances from the vitalizing contact of spiritual influence,\nrapidly loses grasp of the supernatural and becomes refractory to the\ndoctrines and practices of the Church.  Nothing is more adverse to the\ninfluence of Christianity than material prosperity combined with the\nabsolute ignorance of its divine teachings.  The wealthy and prosperous\nfarmer out West is inclined to look down on the Church and consider Her\n\"out of date.\" [1]\n\nThis materialistic atmosphere and the absence of catholic traditions\nand associations act also as a corrosive on the faith of Catholics,\nparticularly of our young people.  Like a strong acid it eats away the\nteachings of good Christian parents and the impressions of a Catholic\nhome.  Only those who have seen at close range these sad soul\ntransformations can believe in their painful reality and explain their\nfrequency.\n\nThe _activities of non-Catholic bodies among the foreign element_ are\nanother obstacle to the work of the Church.  Like the locusts of Egypt\na cloud of proselytizers have alighted on those parts of the Provinces\nwhere the new Canadian is in the making.  We have seen in another\nchapter (_Pro aris, et focis_--or, the Ruthenian Problem) how under the\ncover of Canadianization, the foreigner is being weaned away from the\nFaith of his Fathers and what menace this is for the Church.\n\nThis systematic effort of the various denominations is being supported\nby the combined action of their clergy and laity in the East.  Men and\nmoney are flowing into the West to Christianize (_sic_!) our Catholic\nforeigners.  The final result of this proselytizing effort is not a\npermanent increased membership for these churches, but rather\nindifference and irreligion among our foreign element.  Facts and\nfigures prove it.  And to re-establish these souls in the Faith of\ntheir Baptism is no easy task, we all know.  It is far easier to tear\ndown than to rebuild.\n\nThis united action of the different Churches stands out in sharp\ncontrast with the _lack of co-operation_ among Catholics throughout\nCanada.  The absence of co-operation of the East with the West affects\nvery seriously the welfare of the Church in the new Provinces.  We all\nwillingly and gratefully acknowledge the contributions in men and money\nthat have come from the East through the channels of the Religious\nOrders, of the Catholic Church Extension and from other sources.  But\nabsorbed by parochial and diocesan interests the Catholic Church in\nEastern Canada has not as yet fully realized the seriousness of our\nWestern problems.  With its co-operation only can the weight of the\nChurch as a whole be brought to bear in their solution.\n\nThis policy of unity of action is also most urgent for the Catholics of\nthe Western Provinces.  We are a minority in each Province; concerted\naction can alone press our legitimate claims and bring to us success in\nthese activities which necessarily overlap the boundaries of dioceses\nand provinces, as is the case with the Catholic Press and Higher\nEducation.  Diocesan isolation, if we are not careful, can become the\nweakness of our strength, in these critical stages of rapid\ndevelopment.  Yet, there are no Provinces in the Dominion where the\nChurch faces so many identical problems under identical conditions as\nin the Western Provinces.  Should not this alone suggest to our leaders\na unity of plan and realize among our Western Catholics concerted\naction?\n\n      *      *      *      *      *      *\n\nAs there is a silver lining to the darkest cloud, there is a bright\nside for the Church in conditions out West.\n\nThe striking feature of the Canadian West is the _newness of the\ncountry_.  Youth is stamped everywhere clear and bold; the dash and\nbuoyancy of the people reflect it faithfully.  Optimism is the\npredominant note in that land of immensities and great possibilities.\nUntrammelled by set traditions and cast-iron customs, every one is\nthere to start a new life.  The past does not seem to exist for the\nWesterner; the future is his sole concern.\n\nThis newness of the country and the optimistic mood which it creates\ncan be called into the service of the Church.  They form an atmosphere\nof tolerance which proves most helpful for the preaching of Her\ndoctrine and the maintenance of Her institutions.\n\nThe youthfulness of the country has left its mark on the _character of\nthe Westerner_.  There is something of the vastness of the prairie in\nhis mind.  He is generally broad, and boasts of it most willingly.\nThis trait is very noticeable in his passion to revaluate theories, to\nredefine notions brought from the East.  The great success with which\nhe has met in various co-operative schemes has also developed in him a\nhigh sense of self-reliance.  The only danger is that he carries that\nsame self-assurance into domains where he often over-reaches himself.\nThis fact is very noticeable in the various annual Conventions.\nUnconsciously, in matters beyond his grasp, he is at the mercy of a few\nleaders.  Resolutions are passed, legislation is suggested, without\nrealization of their consequences.\n\nThe rapid _disintegration of Protestantism_ is another factor with\nwhich the Church can count.  Church union is in many places an\naccomplished fact.  This alone is a convincing proof of the want of\ngrasp, of definiteness that exists in religious matters.  We would\nrefer our reader to the Chapter \"Ploughing the Sands.\"  To what extent\nthis rather negative disposition will hasten the spreading of the true\nFaith, is difficult to state.  Will it, as is evident in England,\npromote a movement of return to the Church or accentuate, as in the\nUnited States, indifference and unbelief, the future alone can tell.\nBut, is it not our duty in the meantime to make use of every tide and\nwind to bring the ship to port?  The tide, as it is now running, shall\nbring to the Church many a shipwrecked soul.\n\nThis is our firm belief.\n\nThis rapid survey of Western conditions in their relation with the\nChurch, without being a searching examination, outlines, as it were,\nthe actual religious topography of our new Provinces.  Our sole\nambition is to help to wipe away, in our work, useless curves, make\neasier the grades and map out the straightest and most direct route to\nsuccess.  With the knowledge of conditions, less energy will be lost\nand more time will be gained.  Time and energy are the necessary\nfactors of true and permanent progress.\n\n\n\n[1] \"Catholics to a certain extent will remain an alien body.  We\ndiffer from those around us in a profound fashion, not in matters of\ndirect doctrine, for which the modern world has largely ceased to care,\nbut in the effects of that doctrine.  The Catholic's whole conception\nof man and of the fundamentals of human life is a different thing from\nthat held by those about us.\"--H. Belloc.\n\n\n\n\nPART II\n\nEDUCATIONAL PROBLEMS\n\n\"To-day's boy is to-morrow's man.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\nWHY SEPARATE?[1]\n\n_A Moral Reason--A Social Reason--A Political Reason--A National\nReason--A British Reason--A Historical Reason--A Religious Reason--For\n\"Separate Schools.\"_\n\nThe West is without a doubt the classical land of the \"School problem\nin Canada.\"  The Prairie Provinces will remember the struggles that\nhave marked their birth in the Dominion.  The words, \"_separate\nschools_,\" rang loud and angry over the cradle of these youngest\npartners in our Confederation.  The conflict has not subsided with\nyears.  Although the rights of the minority, at least in Saskatchewan\nand Alberta, are partially recognized by law, there are yet some who\nseem to have a mission to reopen the conflict by ever dragging the\nproblem into the open arena of our political life.  Under the specious\npretext of national welfare they would foist upon the Canadian Public\nopinions and measures opposed to our existing system and to the broad\nspirit of liberty that inspires and maintains it.  But we all know that\nin this persistent and methodical opposition to our separate schools\nthe fundamental issue is a religious one.  Life, after all, is a\nspiritual value.  The school is the great loom on which the rising\nyouth weaves its thread into the great and amazing tapestry of the\nnation.  Who has the mastery of the school, has in the making that\nmysterious tapestry of human life.\n\nThis problem is but an aspect of the eternal struggle between the\nChristian and the Pagan ideal.  The pagan ideal of civilization is the\nabsorption of the individual by the State, the confiscation of liberty\nby the political monopoly of the nation.\n\nThe Christian ideal is the State at the service and for the protection\nof the individual and of the family.  \"To Caesar what belongs to\nCaesar; to God what belongs to God.\"  Before the ever recrudescent\nforces of neo-paganisim it is most useful, we contend, to reassert in\nplain, terse language the principles, the reasons that explain and\njustify our persistent attitude on the school problem.  They will be\nour answer to the question which is ever thrown at Catholics in Western\nCanada:\n\n\"_Why separate_?\"  We have placed the discussion of this problem on the\nhigher plain of the unchangeable and unchanging principles of truth and\njustice, for, we are firm believers in the pacific penetration of ideas\nand in their conquering power.  In truth alone, the Master stated, is\ntrue and abiding liberty: \"You will know truth, and truth will make you\nfree.\"  Every true Canadian readily grasps the transcendent importance\nof the problem under examination and should bring to its discussion\nopen-mindedness and sincerity.\n\n\n_I.--A Moral Reason_\n\nIt is the right and duty of the parent to educate his child.  This\nright is founded on nature.  The child is the offspring of the parents,\nthe continuation as it were of their own life.  They are therefore the\nnatural educators of their children.  When they commit them to the care\nof others for instruction it is their right to have them educated as\nthey wish.  As by the supreme and sacred right of conscience man is\nfree to give to his life its moral direction, so also does the same\nprinciple apply to the education of a child for whose conscience, as\nfor whose life, the parent is responsible.  The moral right of the\nparent, which is one with that of the child in that period of life, is\nfundamental.  It constitutes the bed-rock on which rest all other\nrights in matters of education.  To deny that principle, to deflect it\nfrom its proper meaning, to recognize it only partially, is to blast\nthe very foundation of human nature.  No reason of common good, of\ncitizenship, can overthrow this right; on the contrary, it presupposes\nit; for, the State can only interfere to protect and help this right.\nIt can never suppress it, and only supplement it when the parents are\ndeficient and fall short of this sacred duty they owe their offspring.\n\n\n_II.--A Social Reason_\n\nSociety is made up of various units, lending to one another support by\nthe mutual participation in the activities of life.  The family--the\nfirst in order of time and dignity--is beyond doubt the principal and\ncentral unit.  The other social factors presuppose it and exist for its\nprotection.  Is it not the source from which springs the very life of\nthe individual and wherein society replenishes its forces?  The placing\nof the individual as the specific social unit of our modern democracy\nis a pernicious error.  This fallacy has destroyed Society by upsetting\nthe essential order of its units and has robbed the individual of his\nmost elementary rights.\n\nThe substitution of the State for the family is most detrimental in any\nsphere of life.  In matters of education it is nothing short of a\ndisaster.  The \"State School Teacher\" is an anomaly.  It is the\nsubversion of true social order for it constitutes \"an unwarranted\ninterference of the State in a function preeminently social.  Education\nis a social function and cannot be converted into a governmental charge\nwithout violence to it.\"  What Treitsche said of the Judiciary Power in\na country may well be applied to education.  \"We find the first and\nfundamental principle of jurisprudence to be that no one should be\nwithdrawn from the jurisdiction of his natural judge.\"  The natural\nschool of the child is the family; the common school should be nothing\nbut an extension of the home.  The mission of the school is to\nsupplement the home and not to supplant it.  The child and the parent\ntherefore are entitled to have the same atmosphere pervade both school\nand home.  Everything that is relevant to education belongs to the\nfamily.  A policy that favours intrusion of an undue influence of the\nState in the school and destroys home authority and parental influence\nis unnatural and therefore anti-social.  The State is not the natural\nteacher of the child.\n\nThis fusion of the political and social orders--which in reality means\nthe suppression of the latter to the profit of the former--is the fatal\nerror of the day and producive [Transcriber's note: productive?] of\ngreat evils.  An Educational Department is the open door through which\nany Government may force its particular views on the growing\ngeneration.  The monopoly of State education is nothing else but the\nconscription of the minds, an \"intellectual militarism,\" which\neventually leads to the absorption of the individual and the family and\nto greater disasters than war.  Under the cover of citizenship it will\nlegalize a country into servitude.  The school ambitions of Prussia\nprepared the catastrophe the world has just witnessed.  Always and\neverywhere the same cause will produce the same effects.\n\n\n_III.--A Political Reason_\n\nAuthority and liberty are the two poles on which revolves Society.  The\nperfect equilibrium of these two contending forces, one centripetal,\nthe other centrifugal, make for its safety and welfare.  The\nencroachment of one upon the other displaces the social axis and throws\na nation out of its natural orbit.  Political Society then oscillates\nbetween autocracy and anarchy.  The infringement of this supreme law of\nmoral gravitation has strewn the paths of history with the ruins of\nkingdoms and empires.  The violation of a natural law bears always with\nitself its own punishment.  For, society is not the conventional\ncreation of man; it is governed by laws that man does not make, but,\nwhich his reason and experience discover and to which he must submit.\n\nThis perfect equilibrium of authority and liberty is perfectly\nexpressed in Lincoln's famous definition: \"A sane democracy is one of\nthe people, by the people and for the people.\"  The reason of this law\nof the political order is that liberty is previous to authority, for\nauthority only exists to protect liberty against tyranny and to\nsafeguard it against its own excesses.  He is best governed who is\nleast governed.  LePlay, the celebrated French economist, made this\njust and pertinent remark: \"The truly free nations are those who,\nwithout compromising this prosperity, extend the benefices of private\nlife at the expense of public life.\"  (Reforme Sociale II, page 92.)\n\nTherefore the ideal State exists when all civil or social rights--which\nstand for the _public enjoyment_ of all natural rights--are fully\nprotected by political rights.  These political liberties moreover\nclaim not only the negative protection or non-interference of\nauthority, but also its positive financial help.  For political liberty\nexists for the protection of civil liberty, and not _vice versa_.  The\ncollective forces of a society are for the benefit of the individual\nand not the individual for them.  A State is an institution for the\nprotection of rights inherent to a free people.\n\nThe negation of this principle leads to the State paternalism which\nstands for the interference of State in matters which by right belong\nto the individual and the family.  Never has State interference and\nState protection been more exaggerated than they are nowadays.  The\npassing and pressing emergencies of the great war have accentuated\nthese tendencies.  The nations have kept the habit of being governed by\norders-in-council, by arbitrary censorship and dictatorial methods.\n\"The Executive has usurped the functions that rightly belong to the\nlegislative assembly, with a virtual dictatorship as the inevitable\nresult.\"  The consequence of State Paternalism is the death of\nindividual liberty either through socialism or autocracy.  Man becomes\nthe chattel of a bureaucratic government.\n\nOf all civil liberties there is none more sacred, more fundamental than\nthat of education.  The freedom of education means the right of a\nparent to give to his offspring an education in harmony with his\nconcept of life, with the dictates of his conscience.  As education is\nnothing but a preparation for life, its theory goes hand in hand with\nthe theory of life.  To this liberty of the parent should correspond in\nsociety a political right.  To deprive a free citizen of this right is\nto penalize him and oblige him--as is the case in Manitoba--to buy\ntwice over a right of conscience.  This condition wherever it exists is\na flagrant abuse of political authority and consequently a social\ndisorder.\n\nSome may object to our argumentation and answer that in a modern\ndemocracy the majority rules, and the majority in the West are against\n\"separate schools.\"  The political right of the majority cannot cancel\na moral right of the minority.  It is a case here of repeating the\nstatement of Burke: \"The tyranny of a democracy is the most dangerous\nof all tyrannies because it allows no appeal against itself.\"  This\nautocracy of numbers is often more dangerous and more brutal than that\nof a caste, of a czar, or of a king.  Russia is giving us an\nillustration of this autocracy of number.  Did not Germany use the same\nargument to crush Belgium and to try to dominate the World?  Our sons\nhave fought and died in this war against Prussianism and yet some of\nour Canadians--not worthy of the name--would willingly vote drastic\nmeasures of governmental repression which would make the Kaiser smile\nand the Czar Nicholas turn in his grave.  The velvet glove may cover\nthe mail-fist, but the blow is the same.\n\nOthers may claim that the State has a right to \"Uniformity in the\neducation of its citizens.\"  This is the pretension of those who now\nare advocating so strongly and so widely the \"federalization of our\nschools.\"  We will not discuss the value of this plea for uniformity.\nIt would open a very interesting pedagogical debate and we are inclined\nto believe that the \"anti-uniformists\" would carry away the honors.  We\ndo not pretend that the State has no rights in matters of education.\nBut its interference should be consistent with the prior and more\nfundamental rights of the individual and the family and not become a\nusurpation or abrogation of them.  Otherwise it would be the wrong way\nof doing the right thing.\n\n\n_IV.--A National Reason_\n\nThe Constitution of a country has as its specific object the\nmaintenance of the perfect equilibrium between authority and liberty.\n\"It is the charter of a people's liberties, the shield of the\nindividual against the possible tyranny of government, the effective\ncheck upon the ambition of every government to extend the sphere of its\ndelegated powers.  Unlike the law, its primary purpose is to restrain\nthe Government, not the citizen. . . .\"  (P. Blakely, S.J.) America,\nSept. 18, 1920.\n\nThe greatest liberty for the individual, combined with the greatest\ngood of the commonwealth, has always been the ideal aimed at by the\nFathers of a democratic country.  To tamper with the Constitution on\nvital issues, to conceive it as an experiment, to ignore its\nspirit,--that obvious intention of its framers--is always eventually\nfatal to the peace and welfare of the nation.  No one lays hands with\nimpunity on that Ark of the Covenant.  The essential changes in the\nConstitution of a country act as a time-fuse.  An explosion necessarily\nfollows, although it may take years and generations for a faulty\nlegislation to disclose its real consequences.  This is particularly\ntrue in matters of education.  Laws of the educational departments may\nchange to become more efficient in their administration but should\nnever touch the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution.\n\nIn Canada the protection of the minority rights is a principle embodied\nin our Constitution, in the Imperial Statute of the British North\nAmerica.  Act.  Even where the letter of the Provincial Law has\nestablished the \"public school,\"--as is the case in the Maritime\nProvinces--the spirit of the law is generally observed, and by a\ncompromise and tacit agreement the rights of the minority are to a\ngreat extent recognized.\n\nIn the West, Manitoba stands out in Canadian History as the battlefield\nof educational rights.  Although the British North America Act,\n1867,--that intangible charter of Canadian liberties--stipulates,\nsection 93, that in the carving out of new Provinces in the vast\ndomains of the North West Territories the existing educational rights\nguaranteed to the minority should be respected, yet, the Manitoba\nLegislative Assembly has broken away from the letter and spirit of the\nConstitution and constituted a grievance which demands rectification.\n\nThe Federal Parliament partially recognized the principle of Separate\nSchools in the formation of the Provinces of Saskatchewan and of\nAlberta, by introducing, in section 17 of the Autonomy Bills of 1905,\nthe section 93 of the B.N.A. Act, and by reasserting the existing\nrights granted by the N.W.T. School Ordinances of 1901.  We say\n\"partially,\" for it is not the right of collecting separate taxes and\nteaching Religion during the last half hour of the school-day that\nconstitutes a really Catholic school.\n\nThe \"Separate schools\" in Saskatchewan and Alberta stand on the solid\ngranite of our Constitution.  The highest tribunals of the land and the\nEmpire have implicitly recognized the principle of the minority-schools\nin many of their decisions.  Moreover, let us not forget it! the\nseparate school system in Canada is \"_protestant_\" in its origin.  It\nwas to protect the protestant minority of Lower Canada that this\nsystem, Catholic in Ontario, Protestant in Quebec, was adopted on\nSeptember 18th, 1841.  In the West the minority school-law was also\nenacted to protect the protestant minority of the Territories.  Our\nNon-Catholic opponents should not forget this origin of our separate\nschools.  What their fathers appreciated then for their children, we\nappreciate now for ours.  The principle remains unchanged.\n\nSome may be surprised at our contention to make an argument in favour\nof separate schools out of the very point on which rests the\nscaffolding of those who oppose them.  They claim that the minority\nschool principle is the greatest enemy of Canadian Unity.  What we\nneed, they say, is to standardize our schools, and bring all Canadian\nchildren under one system.  No genuine \"Canadianization\" is possible\nwithout this unity of education.  The advocates of these ideas are now\nat work promoting through the country the \"nationalization of schools.\"\nThe Conference of Winnipeg, 1919, was the first tangible result of this\nmovement.  A National Bureau of Education--a non-government\ninstitution, at least for the time being; a survey of school text-books\nthroughout the Provinces, a study of matters affecting the status of\nthe teaching profession--such are the duties that this National Council\nof Education has assumed at its first gathering.\n\nThis movement towards Federal control of schools involves the denial\nand the eventual suppression of the minority-principle in our system of\nEducation.  This nationalization of Education, we claim, is erroneous\nin its principle, anti-constitutional in its operation, and dangerous\nin its consequences.  Uniformity in education, as a source of\nefficiency, is one of the fallacies of our materialistic age.  Schools\nto be successful have not to be submitted to the same laws of a\ncommercial or industrial combine.  Ethnical and moral values do not\nfollow the laws of the mart and the stock exchange.  If in our\nextensive Dominion even a unity of tariff, readily acceptable to the\nEast and to the West, is Utopian, how much more so would be the unity\nof the school system?  Education, to be effective, must take the colour\nof the environments to meet the needs of the community.  The levelling\nprocess would be most detrimental, for uniformity in education is the\nseed of decay.\n\nAnd it is on the plea of making better Canadians that the promoters of\n\"national schools\" are drifting from the very basic principle of our\neducational system, from the law and spirit of our Constitution.  Our\nform of Government, as we all know, is dual.  Matters of education are\nrelevant to the Province.  The more the Province will abdicate its\nclaims, and submit to the growing influence of the Federal powers, the\ngreater will be the danger of losing the political equilibrium of\nConfederation.  Unstable equilibrium, once disturbed, is hardly ever\nre-established.  The centrifugal forces of the Province protect our\nliberties against the possible excesses of the centripetal forces of\nthe Federal Government.  Any movement that tends to break the harmony\nof these forces is, we claim, anti-Canadian.  The Premier of Quebec\nspeaking to the Deputy Ministers of Education and Superintendents of\nPublic Instruction, at an inter-provincial Conference sounded this note\nof warning: \"The absolute control by each Province of its educational\nsystem is the keystone of our Confederation; and the whole structure of\nCanada would crumble away if any attempt were made at suppressing that\nwhich holds its several parts together.\" (Nov. 4, 1921.)  Quebec is\nblamed for being the great obstacle to the realization of the dreams of\nour nationalizers.  Quebec, we maintain, is the most sane Province of\nthe Dominion, and the greatest help to the maintenance of\nConfederation.  This is now an admitted fact by every serious and broad\nminded Canadian.  Its conservatism acts, we would say, as the governor\non the complicated machine of Canadian political life.  It regulates\nits speed and keeps it within the limits of safety.  Moreover, we ask,\nhow could a system which would deny the principles and rights of over\nforty per cent. of the population be rightly and justly named\n\"national\"?  No one has the right to assume the monopoly of\n\"nationalism.\"\n\n\"The self-appointed or State-appointed nationalizer, we would say with\nFather Millar, S.J., ignorant of our real history or its true meaning,\nis fast becoming a menace to the sanity of our laws and to the supreme\nwisdom of a traditional national policy.\" [2]\n\nAnd what will be the consequences of this levelling uniformity that\ncrushes parental right and fuses the powers of Provinces into a Federal\nunit?  The Prussian ideal is the answer.  We all know what that means\nand where it leads.  Its principles are the solvents of what remains of\nChristianity--unconscious to many, it is true--in the political life of\nour country.  The armies that our boys fought on the fields of Flanders\nwere formed and trained in the national schools of Germany.\n\n\n_V.--A British Reason_\n\nThe great misfortune of many who clamour against our separate schools\nis their total ignorance of our history and of the spirit that the\nliberty-loving Fathers of the Confederation have breathed into our\nlaws.  To them \"national reasons\" may not appeal.  This is very often\nthe case of the average Westerner.  The West is in its making and has\nno past behind it.  This fact alone can explain how easy the Western\nmind is open to influences opposed to the spirit of our Canadian\ninstitutions.  It has no traditions, and traditions are the hidden\nroots that plunge down into the soil of history, into the hearts of\npast generations, and give to a people, its real national life.\nTherefore, a \"British reason,\" a reason founded on British traditions,\non the British way of doing things in the Colonies, may make a stronger\nappeal to our Western mentality.\n\nFreedom and fair play for every citizen within the Empire, the\nrecognition of racial and religious rights, have been the strength and\nsuccess of the British Government in its Colonial policy.  (We\nunderline \"colonial policy\" for, we cannot say the same of England's\npolicy with Ireland--)  We would quote here what a well known Western\npublic man wrote some years ago when, under the pen-name of \"Daylight\"\nhe discussed the \"Separate School problem\" in the columns of \"The\nRegina Leader,\" January 3rd, 1916.\n\n\n\"In conclusion there are one or two general remarks I should like to\nmake.  It has always appeared to me that there is among our\nEnglish-speaking people of Canada a section of the community that holds\nextreme views on all matters pertaining to nationality and religion.\nThis section holds and advocates the idea, that there must be no\ncompromise in dealing with matters pertaining to race and religion.  In\na word, they would set about at once to \"Prussianize\" our complex\npopulation.  They forget, or entirely ignore, the fact that this is not\nthe British plan.  If the British Empire is the glorious Empire it is\nto-day is it not because of the fact that long ago the British\nstatesman and the British citizen have learned the lesson of tolerance?\nTo-day, Great Britain with its forty-five millions of people rules over\nhundreds of millions of people of diverse nationalities and religious\nfaiths, and throughout the whole scheme of government and constitution\nruns the idea of reasonable and just tolerance and compromise.  Were\nthis not so the British Empire would quickly fall to pieces.  Why then\nshould we not have more of this spirit in Canada, and particularly in\nWestern Canada?  Some people are mightily concerned about our\nforeign-born population.  They imagine that the process of assimilation\ncan and should be accomplished in a day.  Nothing is further from the\ntruth.  The process is necessarily a slow one.  It is bound to take two\nor three, and in some cases, more generations.  In the meantime we\nshould strive to make these people feel that they are welcome to our\nbroad open plains and to our citizenship.  As to the final outcome no\none need have any doubt.\"\n\n\nThe principle that has created the British Empire is the only principle\nthat will keep it on the map of the world.  This is history,\nphilosophy, and common sense.\n\nAnd when we see England recognizing the Catholic elementary schools and\nsubsidizing to a certain extent our secondary schools, when Scotland\nhas just brought the Catholic schools of several cities into its\nsystem, is it not painful, to say the least, to hear our\nultra-loyalists ever up in arms against our separate schools?  To them\nwe feel like saying, \"Go back to England and Scotland, from whence you\nor your forefathers came and learn from the Home Country the lesson of\ntolerance, of sane political government.\"\n\n\n_VI.--A Historical Reason_\n\nIn the discussion of many problems we are liable, particularly in the\nWest, to limit our vision to conditions as they present themselves to\nthe observer.  This is more noticeable in the educational field.  This\nframe of mind may be traced to various causes.  But there is one cause\nwhich, we believe, is more responsible than others.\n\nUnconsciously our age is \"_evolutionist_.\"  \"The intellectual movement\nof 'evolution,'\" said Glenn Frank, \"was not the private plaything of\nbiologists in sequestered laboratories, but a force that altered men's\nconceptions in every field of affairs.\" (\"Century,\" Sept., 1920.)  The\ntheory of evolution has such a grasp on the modern mind that its\nconcepts of government, of economics, of education are looked upon as\nthe last and improved effort of man in his eternal struggle to express\nan unknown and always receding ideal.  This has accustomed the mind to\nlook upon the past but as a rudiment, an outline, a preparation of the\nfuture.\n\nWithout entering into the discussion of the objective evidence of the\ntheory of evolution we may say that as far as education is concerned\nits premises are false.  The human soul remains substantially the same\nand the process of its education has not varied very much with\ncenturies.  Those therefore who look upon our modern Educational system\nas the apex, the summing up of all past phases, are greatly mistaken.\n\"The lessons of past history,\" writes Dr. Walsh, \"are extremely\nprecious not only because they show us where others made mistakes but\nalso because they show us the successes of the past.  The better we\nknow these, the deeper our admiration for them, the better the outlook\nfor ourselves and our accomplishment.\"\n\nThe State-school is an institution comparatively of very recent date\nand has no right to be heralded as the final expression of an\neducational system in a democracy.  The history of education shows a\nlineage of men who can be more than favorably compared with the sons of\nour common schools.  The mass of the people have indeed more\ninstruction but, at times, we doubt if they are better educated.\nResults are the best judges of educational values.  History and\nexperience prove that success in education depends more on the sense of\nresponsibility in the parents and of duty in the children, than on\npalatial school-houses and elaborate programme of studies.  This sense\nof duty and the feeling of responsibility are not a necessary\nconsequence of state schools.  On the contrary they are more liable to\nbe found in independent institutions.  For, as we have seen, when the\nState substitutes itself for the family, the first consequence is the\nunchallenged yield of parental rights.\n\nThose who would make an excursion into history and compare our modern\neducational systems with those of the past will find illuminating\npoints of comparison and instructive conclusions.  We would advise them\nto take Dr. Walsh, M.D., Ph.D., Litt.D., as guide.  His books:\n\"Education, how Old the New\"--\"The Thirteenth Century\"--will prove most\ninteresting reading.\n\nAlready a reactionary policy is being enacted in several countries\nwhere for years the State-School was the only one to share in the\npublic treasury.  In Holland, the Parliament of June, 1920, by a vote\nof 72 against 3, passed a new school-law which recognizes and\nsubsidizes all separate primary, high and normal schools.  In Italy,\nthe Minister of Education, Benedetto Croce, in a speech on the\n\"reorganization of education,\" stated publicly that the neutral school\nwas theoretically absurd and practically impossible.  In Spain,[3] by a\nBill of May, 1919, the State universities have passed out of the hands\nof the Government.  France, Portugal, Argentine Republic are fighting\nfor the same freedom.  In Poland's new charter of liberties, granted by\nthe Treaty of Versailles, the rights of the minority in school matters\nare guaranteed.  Our Canadian representatives signed this document.  We\nwere granting then to the new Republic a sacred right which we still\nrefuse to our own at home, in the Province of Manitoba!\n\n\n_VII.--A Religious Reason_\n\nThe creation of the state-school, necessarily undenominational in\ncharacter, has made the \"separate school\" an absolute necessity.  If\nreligion has any meaning in life this reason of our separation should\nbe most convincing.\n\nIn education one cannot separate the utilitarian side,--the fitting of\nthe child for the struggle of life,--from its main purpose,--the\ndevelopment of moral character.  The moral aspect alone gives to human\nlife its true character, its real value.  As there is no morality\nwithout religion, the system of education that would debar this\nessential feature falls short of its full meaning.  With this principle\nin view any fair-minded man will understand how true Christian parents\ndemand a school where their children will receive religious education.\nThey are in conscience bound to exact for their offspring such\neducation, and, where the State refuses them their own money to support\ntheir \"separate schools\" they willingly penalize themselves to give\nthem this benefit.  The child's eternal welfare is not to be sacrificed\nto a school system that has not even accomplished the purpose for which\nit was established.  For, as we shall see, a neutral school is a\npractical impossibility.\n\nThose who fail to understand the pressing force of this viewpoint have\nin our opinion lost the sense and sacredness of religion.  They are\nastonished at the bitterness that characterizes at times the conflict.\nAre not religious and racial issues so intimately united with the very\nconception of life that they hold to the most intimate fibres of the\nhuman heart?  For a Catholic, Religion is life itself in its most\nsacred aspect.\n\nBut, our opponents will argue, in a country like Canada, where\n\"organized\" religion--to speak their language--is so denominational,\nreligion in school is an impossibility.  Is it because other\ndenominations cannot agree as to their religious tenets that we, who\ncount over one-third of the total population and who stand united in\nour faith, are to surrender what we consider most essential in\neducation and--lest we forget it--most protective to the best interests\nof our Country?\n\nWhat does the State give us to replace the \"separate school\"?  A\nneutral, undenominational, irreligious school.  This neutrality we\nclaim, is erroneous in theory and impossible in practice.  The theory\nof the neutral school is erroneous because it is against the teaching\nof sound psychology and true pedagogy.\n\nThe soul of the child cannot be, as it were, divided into watertight\ncompartments so as to segregate religious influence from its daily\ntraining.  As Cardinal O'Connell stated, \"We Catholics believe that as\ncharacter is by far the most important product of education, the\ntraining of the will, the moulding of the heart, the grounding of the\nintellect in clear notions of right and wrong, obligation and duty,\nshould not be left to haphazard or squeezed as an afterthought into an\nhour on Sunday.  The moral and spiritual growth of the child ought\nnormally to keep pace with his mental growth and the Church is\nconvinced that taking human nature as it is, the result cannot be\nobtained effectively without including a judicious mixture of religious\ntraining with the daily routine of the school.\"\n\nIn fact a neutral school is an impossibility.  We will simply ask our\nreaders a few questions and rely on their fairmindedness to formulate\nthe answers.  Can the teaching of history be neutral?  The Catholic\nChurch and the Reformation are historical facts: how are they to be\njudged?  How are ethics to be treated, without reference to God, to\nJesus Christ, to an eternal sanction?  Can a teacher divest himself of\nhis mental attitude in the teaching of these subjects and answering the\nquestions of the pupils?\n\nWere the teaching really neutral, the very atmosphere of the\nschool-room is what counts.  This atmosphere is indefinable and yet\neverywhere felt.  It is made of trifles, but of trifles that count at\nthat receptive age of childhood.  As a subtle perfume it impregnates\nthe soul of the child with ideas and impressions which it will carry\nthrough life.  Therefore the atmosphere of the class-room, we claim,\nshould be as near as possible, that of the home.  The parents have a\nright to see that it should be so.  Is this possible in a neutral\nschool?  Its very negative character impregnates the class-rooms with\nan irreligious feeling which the impressionable mind of the child\ncannot but notice.  How is the child to grow up with the feeling of\nReligion's importance in life if the ban is placed upon Religion the\nmoment he passes the threshold of the school-room?  \"What we most\ndread,\" said Bishop McQuaid, \"is not the direct teaching of the\nState-school, it is the indirect teaching which is most insidious and\nmost dangerous.  It is the moral atmosphere, the tone of thought\npermeating these schools that give cause for alarm.  It is the\nindifferentism with regard to all religious belief we most of all fear.\nThis is the dominant heresy that, imbibed in youth, can scarcely ever\nbe eradicated.  It is one that already has in our large towns and\ncities decimated Protestant Churches.\"\n\nEven the provision of optional religious instruction at the dying hour\nof the class-day cannot redeem the neutral school.  In fact the Survey\nof School conditions in Saskatchewan conducted by Dr. Foght, in 1918,\nrevealed there a state of things which in our mind is an eye-opener in\nthe matter under examination.  Out of over 4,000 schools not more than\n212 reported as availing themselves of the law on religious\ninstruction.  We leave to the reader to draw the conclusion these\nrecent statistics suggest.\n\nTo conclude this already too lengthy argument, facts are vindicating in\nevery country the saneness of the Catholic view-point on religious\ninstruction and atmosphere in the school.  The alarming increase of\nreligious indifference, the rising tide of anarchy, the universal\nfeeling of unrest, have prompted the unequivocal admissions of leaders\nof thought as to the moral failure of the neutral school.\n\nMr. William Jennings Bryan, in an address before the constitutional\nconvention of Nebraska, a few years ago, brought this striking\nindictment against the State educational system of the United States.\n\"The greatest menace to the public school system of to-day is, in my\njudgment, its Godlessness.  We have allowed the moral influence to be\ncrowded out.  When I say moral, I mean morality based upon religion.\nWe cannot build a system of morality on any other than a religious\nbasis.  We have gone too far in allowing religion to be eliminated from\nour schools.  I would not have religion taught by public school\nteachers, but all sects and creeds should have equal opportunity to\nfurnish at their own expense to students whose parents desire it, such\ninstruction not to interfere with the hours of school.  Our people will\nbe better citizens and stronger for their work if along with the\ntrained mind there is also an awakened moral sense.\"\n\nIn a recent report of the Interchurch Movement, based on a survey of\nAmerican Education, prevailing conditions that now threaten the safety\nof State and Church are openly imputed to the neglect of religious\ntraining of childhood and youth in the schools.  This deficiency in\nreligious education on the part of the Evangelical sects is called by\nthe authors of the report \"Protestantism's weakest spot.\"  Emphatic\nendorsement is given to the \"denominational school\" and full credit is\nnot denied to the emphasis placed upon religious teaching in schools by\nthe Catholic Church.\n\n\"It would be absolute madness,\" said Cardinal Bourne, at an Educational\nmeeting in Edinburgh, \"on the part of any civil authority at the\npresent day to spurn and reject the educational assistance and\neducational power the Catholic Church was willing and ready to place at\ntheir disposal.\"\n\nIn our own country, the urgent necessity of introducing religion in our\npublic school is now for every serious-minded Canadian an agonizing\nproblem.  How many attempts have been made to solve it?  Was it not the\nprincipal topic discussed at the Educational Conference of Winnipeg\n(1919)?\n\nThe neutral school, we conclude, has been weighed and found wanting.\nThe hand-writing is on the wall of every country where the experiment\nhas been made and tells the same tale.  _Facts_ and _principles_ give\nreason to our \"Separate Schools.\"\n\n      *      *      *      *      *      *\n\n_Why \"Separate Schools?_\"--Because it is our right and our duty to have\nthem.--This is our simple and straightforward answer to the ever\nrenascent objection of those who are not of our opinion.  That _right_\nrests on the solid rock of Justice, of History and of Religion; that\n_duty_ we owe to our children, to ourselves, to our Church, and to our\ncountry.\n\n\n\n[1] This chapter formed a series of articles in the North West Review\nof Winnipeg.  The following editorial comment accompanied our\nconcluding article.\n\n\"This week we publish the last of the series of articles by Father\nDaly, C.SS.R., dealing with the separate school question.\n\n\"We consider his contribution on this ever topical and historic problem\none of the best reasoned and for the average man the most concise and\nuseful yet published.  It might well be issued in pamphlet form and\nkept for reference in every Catholic home in Western Canada, because\nthe subject is one likely to be controversial for an indefinite period.\nSometimes one finds Catholics who are not as well acquainted with the\nfact as they should be that the question of Catholic education can\nnever be compromised.  A solid and reasoned knowledge of this fact is\nin some respects as essential as if it were an article of faith,\nespecially in Western Canada, which, as Father Daly points out, is the\nclassic land of the school problem.\n\n\"Doubtless attempts will be made in the future to bring elementary\neducation through the pretext of Canadianization, under the \"invisible\nhead\" of this country.  Or as in the United States segregated attempts\nmay be made to abolish parochial schools altogether.\n\n\"Where there are so many probabilities and so much at stake it might be\nwell for the average Catholic to be in a position to give a good\naccount of himself by showing a thorough understanding of the question.\n\n\"If the present civilization succeeds, it will do so by adopting the\nmethods of some, if not all, of our big corporations of to-day, and\nthus make of nations, huge Trust socialisms where the individual will\nhunger no more for freedom because of his having never tasted it.  The\none great desideratum to this end is the absolute control of\neducation--an end that will never be reached so long as the Catholic\nChurch continues to save Christian civilization through its religious\nschools.\n\n\"Would that our fellow citizens of other faiths knew the ruin that they\ncourt by relinquishing to a material power control over the minds and\nhearts of their children.\n\n\"In every country the public school is bringing young minds under the\nspell of worldliness.  The result is selfishness, jingoism, narrow\nnationalism--an unthinking, a gullible generation to become the easy\nprey of exploiters and the docile slaves of commerce.\n\n\"No man who has drunk into his heart and mind in youth the truths of\nreligious education can readily become the willing dupe of a\nmaterialistic state.\n\n\"Commerce to-day is the God of nations.  It makes wars, compels peace\nand tramples upon morality and justice.  Surely then Catholics should\nstudy in a particular way the only safeguard left them against such a\nfate--the sound philosophy of a religious education.\"\n\n[2] America, Aug. 21, 1920.\n\n[3] Cfr. Article by Father Vaughan, S.J., on this subject--America,\nFeb. 21, 1920.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nA WINDOW IN THE WEST[1]\n\n_A Crusade for Better Schools in Saskatchewan--Its Lessons: an\nInvitation and a Warning._\n\n\n\"A Window in the West!\"--This was the suggestive title given to a\ncourse of pedagogical studies instituted in a Folk High-School of\nDenmark.  The object of this course was to promote the study of these\nEnglish and American educational ideals which Denmark may assimilate\nwith profit.  They looked to the West for light!\n\nMay we be allowed also to open here, in this Educational\nConference. . . .  \"A Window in the West.\"  Through that window will\ncome to you the bright vision of the educational activities of our\nWestern Provinces, and, with that vision, I hope, the sunny and breezy\natmosphere of new and progressive ideas.  I will limit my present\nremarks to a brief sketch of what was known in Saskatchewan as the\n\"_Better School Movement_.\"  This educational movement has an\ninteresting history and carries with it a very profitable lesson.  As\nthe object of this Conference is to forward the cause of education in\nthis part of our great Dominion, we thought it would be both\ninteresting and instructive to hear that history and learn that lesson\nthat comes to us from beyond the Great Lakes.\n\nThe West, we know too well, has many things yet to learn from the East;\nbut good old Mother East should at times forget \"what has been\"--and\nconsider more \"what is to be.\"  In many points her growing western\ndaughters can give her helpful suggestions.  Moreover this exchange of\nideas in an immense Dominion like ours is, we claim, absolutely\nnecessary to keep the mental equilibrium between East and West.  There\nare let us not forget it, many other problems beside the tariff problem\nwhich are widening the breach, deepening the chasm between these two\nsections of our Country.  True patriotism demands co-operation, and not\nantagonism, between these two main sectors of that immense firing line,\nwhich is flung between the Atlantic and the Pacific.\n\n1. _History_.--The history of the \"Better School Movement\" in\nSaskatchewan is not very old, but, like the vegetation on the western\nprairies had a rapid and healthy growth.  It crowded into a few years a\nwhole epoch of the educational life of the Province.  On June 22, 1915,\nthe Hon. W. Scott, then Premier and Minister of Education, made his\nepochal speech which launched the idea of a reform movement.  The\nobject of this movement was the re-adjustment of the school system, of\nits curriculum and administration, to conditions existing throughout\nthe Province.  The people of Saskatchewan were invited to constitute\nthemselves a grand committee of the whole on education, to study facts\nand to suggest means.  This invitation of the keen-sighted Premier was\naccepted by the people without any distinction of race, creed or\nlanguage.  The leader of the Opposition indorsed the idea and pledged\nthe support of his party.  This non-partisan movement crystallized\nitself in the \"Saskatchewan Public Education League\" which was formed\nat the general meeting of delegates from all over the Province, held in\nRegina, in Sept., 1916.  The league became a forum for the expression\nof public opinion.  The newspapers of the Province gave wide publicity\nto the new movement and threw open their columns to a public\ndiscussion.  Teachers' associations, inspectors' conventions, church\nsynods, grain growers' meetings, labour unions, medical councils,\ntrustees' conventions particularly, made school improvements a fruitful\ntopic at all their meetings of the year.  Educational problems and\nreforms were in the air: never have we better understood the\neducational value of a publicity campaign; never have we seen it\ncrowned with such a success.  The climax of this campaign was a public\nholiday, June 30th, 1916; meetings were held in all the school\ndistricts of the Province, speeches were made, resolutions passed.\nPublic opinion had been moulded and was ready for a \"Survey\" and\nLegislation.\n\nBy order in Council, June 7th, 1917, Premier Martin, successor to Hon.\nW. Scott, whom ill-health had forced to retire--made definite provision\nfor an educational Survey.  \"This survey is in no sense of the word an\ninvestigation; for investigations are necessarily based on assumption\nof some sort of misfeasance or malfeasance.  It is instead a\nsympathetic inquiry into the schools of the people as the schools\nactually exist.  Suggestions for enlargement and re-direction are made\nthroughout.\"\n\nThese are the very terms of Dr. Foght's report to the Government.  This\nspecialist in rural school practice, of the Bureau of Education,\nWashington, was engaged in this survey from August to November, 1917.\nHis report was dated Jan. 20, 1918.  At the session of that year it was\nsubmitted to Parliament and served as the basis of new legislation.\nIts reading will prove most interesting to friends of education, and\nmost suggestive in the outlining of new policies of administration and\nin the remodelling of the curriculum.\n\nII. _Lesson_.--This Saskatchewan Crusade for better schools carries\nwith it a pointed lesson.  In our humble estimation and from our\nview-point this lesson is a call for action; at the same time it sounds\na warning.\n\n1. _An Invitation_.--There is nothing, we believe, nothing more\ninviting than the readiness of our Western Provinces in dealing with\nproblems.  Here we have a beautiful example of that boldness of western\nyouth, so confident in its resources, so optimistic in its views.\n\nLike the West, let us diagnose our educational problems; a survey of\nprevailing conditions will show facts and figures.  Let us see and\nadmit the truth; camouflage is a poor policy in matters of such\nimportance.\n\nThis diagnosis will naturally suggest remedies.  Although there are\ncertain standards in education, which are as stable as human nature\nitself, nevertheless, we must not forget that the human mind is a\nliving thing--ever re-adjusting itself to environments that various\nfactors have created.  This readjustment of our methods in teaching and\nof our policies in administration, we know, is a very delicate process.\nBut it has to be done and done rightly if education is not to be a\nmisnomer.\n\nThis re-adjustment will demand the co-operation of the educational\nexpert and the masses.  The expert has his ear to the ground, his hand\non the pulse to grasp the trend of human thought.  He walks ahead to\nblaze the way.  To find or, at least, to train specialists to direct\nthe forward march is the easiest part of the problem.  The greatest\ndifficulty in all great movements is to overcome the profound and\nwidespread indifference of the masses.  Yet through this co-operation\nof the people will come the only valuable and permanent reforms.\nWithout it our experts will court failure.\n\nTwo initial tasks impose themselves if we wish to enlist in this great\neducational movement the sympathies of the people: 1. To arouse\ninterest in local communities.  2. To organize individual and group\naction.\n\nA wide publicity campaign (in the papers, by means of lectures,\ndistribution of literature, in season and out of season) is the only\nmeans of arousing the people from their apathy.  It takes time to see\nthe ideas of leaders and experts filter down into the lower strata of\nsociety.  Yet we should always have faith in the mastery of ideas, in\nthe ultimate triumph of truth and right.\n\nThe organization of units for a concerted action is a work of time and\npatience.  Like the incoming tide it creeps in.  This will suppose, to\nbe efficient, a recognized leader and an established and well\nthought-out plan.  This should be the definite result of this\nconference.\n\n2. _Warning_.--But all is not gold in the El Dorado of the West.  Many\nschemes and laws have its lustre; but they have the brassy sound of the\nneo-pagan state-monopoly ideal.  This thought of the supremacy of State\nin matters of education permeates Dr. Foght's report from cover to\ncover.  In general, legislation is looked upon in our new Provinces as\nthe universal panacea for all evils.  The West is the land of\nexperimental legislation.  In this we should not imitate our younger\nsisters.  Let us beware of fads!  Let us never forget that legislation,\nto be just and beneficial, should but help the individual and the\nfamily in the forwarding of their true interest and in the protection\nof their inalienable rights.\n\nThis extent of State Monopoly is noticeable in two of the most\nimportant recommendations of Dr. Foght's report.  They are the\nenlargement of school districts, so that the limits of the district\nwill coincide with those of the municipality, and the consolidation of\nrural schools.  Reasons of better administration and great efficiency,\nno doubt, militate in favour of this change.  Particularly\n\"Consolidation\" is on a working basis in many Provinces.  But the great\ndanger we see in this change is the placing of primary schools further\naway from the influence of the parents.  The school ceases, to a great\nextent, to be \"the extension of the home.\"  The control of the parents\nis less direct.  The doors are wide open to State interference.\n\nThese are the lessons we may take from the \"Better School Movement\" in\nSaskatchewan.  Let us accept the invitation and heed the warning.\n\n      *      *      *      *      *      *\n\nOne parting word.--Let the people of Nova Scotia be up and doing!  The\nWest is draining the East to its advantage.  Your sons and daughters\nare doing the thinking for those new Provinces and creating another\nDominion beyond our Lakes.  If conditions are not changed, the\nProvinces \"down by the sea\" will lose their influence and cease to play\ntheir part around the family table of our vast Dominion.  \"Light comes\nfrom the East\"--our Maritime people will proudly claim.  \"Yes! . . .\nand it travels westward!\" . . . answers the Westerner.\n\n\n[1] This chapter is the substance of a lecture given in Antigonish,\nN.S., at the Educational Conference, Aug. 11, 1919.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\nUNICUIQUE SUUM[1]\n\n_Principle on which should be Based the Division of Company-Taxes\nbetween Public and Separate Schools._\n\n\nWhen a point of law is ever before the courts it is an evident sign\nthat the legislation governing that issue has been either defective in\nits basic principle or deficient in its proper application.  Such has\nbeen the case of the \"Company-School-taxes\" in the Provinces of\nSaskatchewan and Alberta.  Every court in the land has had to deal with\nthis problem, and if legislation is not changed and placed upon a more\njust and solid basis, it will ever be a source of trouble for the\ncommunity.\n\nBefore dealing with the merit of this school question, we beg to state\nthat the time for co-operation in educational matters has come.  The\nday of wrangling and narrow conceptions has passed, we hope.  If there\nis a sacred liberty ever protected by the British flag it is surely\nthat of education.--The recognition and protection of ethical and\nreligious ideals are the most potent factors of the British Empire.  He\nis a true lover of British ideals who places himself upon that higher\nlevel to judge the rights of minorities and the duties of majorities.\nIf our Province of Saskatchewan has not known the sterile struggles of\na sister Province it is because this principle has been respected and\nprotected by our legislation.  In suggesting a remedy to our laws\ngoverning Company-school-taxes, I appeal to that broad and fair minded\nspirit which seems to characterize our banner Province of the West.\nThe solution we propose would give more satisfaction to the interested\nparties and relieve the problem of its acrimony.\n\n      *      *      *      *      *      *\n\nIn the Provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta the separate schools are\nan integral part of the public primary educational system.  They are\nnot parochial nor private schools, but public separate schools.  Their\nexistence is not a favour conceded to the Protestant or Catholic\nminority, but rather, the acknowledgement of a natural and\nconstitutional right.  Therefore the separate schools come under the\ncommon law.  With the purely public schools, our separate public\nschools share equal obligations and equal rights.  The same official\ninspection, the same qualifications for teachers, the same curriculum\nof studies, the same school text-books are required in both cases by\nthe Department of Education.  Equal right to public money is recognized\nin the indiscriminate distribution of Government-grants.  So both\nschools stand side by side with equal duties and equal rights.  If this\npoint of law had been kept in view no painful issue would ever be\nraised; co-operation, and not antagonism, would be the aim of the\ncommunity at large in the great and sublime work of education.  Hard\nand bitter things have been said in the press, on the platform and even\nin the pulpit: but they do not change a right.  Might itself cannot\nstamp out RIGHT.\n\n      *      *      *      *      *      *\n\nPublic service is the principle of taxation.  In return for the benefit\nwhich a business corporation derives from dealings with the public,\ndistributive justice demands that part of the profits made, return to\nthe community under the form of taxes.  This feature of a business\ncorporation makes it, I would say, _soulless_.  One goes into business\nnot to make a profession of faith, but to make money.  He deals with\nevery one indifferently.  The dollar of a Christian or of a heathen has\nthe same value as the dollar of a Jew.  Were a company to discriminate\nwith the public on lines of creed the public would be justified in\nretaliating.\n\nPublic utility, in matters of Company-taxes, is the basic principle of\nassessment; it should also be the reason of their equitable\ndistribution.  As the money of the public goes to Companies,\nirrespective of creed, so also should the taxes of these Companies come\nback to the community, irrespective of creed.  As Companies are\nassessed in school matters for the _benefit of the children_ of the\ncommunity, the proceeds of the assessment should be therefore\ndivided--_not according to the faith of the shareholders of the\ncompany, but according to the number of children in each school\ndistrict_.  And as the majority rules, the school district in the\nmajority should strike the rate of taxation for both districts.\n\n      *      *      *      *      *      *\n\nThe division of Company-taxes according to the faith of the\nshareholders is _neither just, nor practical_.  It is not _just_ for\nthe reason we have brought forward.  The principle involved in the\npresent law is _just when the individual is concerned_, especially when\nthe individual is the father of a family.  As such, one has a right to\nsupport the school which his conscience obliges him to support.  This\nnatural right, our present law recognizes.  _But in the case of a\ncompany the principle of public utility and not the test of faith\nshould be invoked, we believe_.\n\nThis present law governing Company-taxes is not _practical_.  The onus\nis on the Separate School-Board to enlist each year the sympathies of\nthe companies.  Before how many Boards of Directors is the matter\nbrought up?  The local manager is the one who deals with the problem,\nand he often is a stranger to the laws of the Province, with no\nsympathy for separate schools.  Facts, stubborn facts, are there to\nprove our contention.  In no city of the Province of Saskatchewan is\nthe Separate School Board getting its part of Company-taxes.  This is\none of the reasons why our rate is often so high when compared with the\nPublic School rate, and why our Boards are crippled in their finances.\n\n      *      *      *      *      *      *\n\nThis simple reasoning should appeal to every fair-minded man.  This\nchange of legislation we advocate in the matter of Company-taxes, is\nnot a favour we beg--but the mere recognition of a principle of\ndistributive justice we ask.\n\n\nNOTE. 1.  The argument as presented herein is still stronger when\napplied to Companies of public utilities such as tramways, express\ncompanies, etc., for their nature and profits depend absolutely on the\npublic.\n\nNOTE. 2.  SCHOOL LAW OF QUEBEC PROVINCE IN THE MATTER.  No. 2892.\n\n\"When immovable property of such corporations and companies is within a\nterritory, placed under the administration of two corporations of\nschool commissioners of different religious beliefs, established in\nvirtue of Article 2590, the corporation which comprises the greatest\nnumber of rate-payers entered on the valuation roll, shall be bound to\nlevy the taxes affecting such property and to divide the same\nproportionately to the number of children from five to sixteen years of\nage residing in each municipality.\"--62 V. c. 28, s. 399.\n\n\n[1] This memoir was presented to the Premier of Saskatchewan at a time\nwhen this problem was widely discussed in the Press.  As the\nlegislation, then enacted, did not bring a satisfactory solution we\nthought that the argument as presented would be of service for a future\ndate.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\nDREAM OR REALITY[1]\n\n_Higher Education in Western Canada--Duty of the Hour--University\nTraining Condition of Genuine Leadership--For Catholics Higher Education\nmeans Higher Catholic Education--The Concerted Action of all Catholics in\nWestern Canada can make a Western Catholic University a Reality._\n\n\nNever has the world manifested a keener and more general interest in\nhigher education.  The facilities which Governments offer to place within\nthe reach of the mass of the people; the benefits of university\neducation; the enormous sums left by wealthy individuals for the\nendowment of chairs and the foundation of scholarships; the eagerness\nwith which these offers are grasped by men of all classes; the\nextraordinary success of the Overseas University in the American Army,\nwhich had a student body of 10,000--these are, without doubt, manifest\nsigns of public opinion on the matter of higher education.  The\nworld-struggle, we all feel, has shifted to another battlefield, and the\nfuture in every realm of human activity rests on the mastery of ideas.\nIn that intellectual conflict, the primary school rooms are the trenches\non the first line of defence; the college and university lecture halls\nstand out as the strategic heights from which the heavy artillery of\nideas smashes the way to victory.  Hold the college and university\nheights to-day, and the hinterland of industry, commerce, science, art\nand politics will be yours to-morrow.\n\nCatholics throughout our Dominion begin to realize that higher education\nis the price of leadership.  \"Of the many points of contact between the\nChurch and the modern world, education is the point where Catholicism has\nmost to gain by energetic thought and action, and most to lose by an\natmosphere of indifference.\"  We are waking up from our deep lethargy and\nbeginning to understand that we shall not have our share in the shaping\nof the destinies of our own Country until our leaders, particularly among\nthe laity, impose themselves upon the nation by their number and their\nvalue.  The magnificent campaign of the \"Antigonish Casket\" in favour of\nhigher education and the exchange of views this point at issue brought\nfrom various correspondents, the successful drive in favour of Loyola\nCollege of Montreal, the growing influence of the Catholic student bodies\nin the various universities, the creation of Laval, in Montreal, as a\ndistinct unit from Quebec; the tremendous success this newly born\norganization met with in its drive for $5,000,000; all these facts\nindicate concentration of forces in the direction of higher education.\nThe national Catholic conscience is awakened into action.  \"One of the\nmost pressing needs of the Church at the present time, is to have a\nwell-connected body of university-trained Catholics.\"  This statement of\nFather Plater, S.J., is true also for Canada and more particularly for\nWestern Canada.  And indeed, this pressing need of higher education has\ncome home of late to our western Catholics as is evidenced by the great\nefforts made to establish colleges in the various Provinces.  As this\nmove is of the greatest importance for the welfare of the Church in that\npromising part of our country, we thought to be of some service to the\nWestern Church in drawing the attention of Catholics to this important\nissue and bringing to a focus certain indefinite, hazy views on the\nsubject.\n\n\n_Higher Education--Duty of the Hour for Western Catholics._\n\n\"When a reflective man of middle life walks along the embowered paths of\nOxford and Cambridge or through their quadrangles whose walls have echoed\nto the footsteps of so many brainy men of England, he realizes what these\ninstitutions have been and still are to Great Britain and the Empire.\"\nFrom the lecture halls of these seats of learning have gone, generation\nafter generation, the men who framed and directed the course of studies\nof other universities, the legislators and statesmen that have shaped the\ndestinies of the British Empire.  \"There is not a feature or a point in\nthe national character which has made England great among the nations of\nthe world, that is not strongly developed and plainly traceable in our\nuniversities.  For eight hundred or a thousand years they have been\nintimately associated with everything that has concerned the highest\ninterest of the country.\" (W. E.  Gladstone.)  This example of the power\nof Oxford and Cambridge is so typical that one immediately grasps its\nmeaning and appreciates its full value.  On that immense background of\nthe Empire they stand out indeed in bold relief as the embodiment of\nhigher education, as the great portals that open on the highway of true\nleadership.  Is not the affiliation, that subtle intellectual bond which\nunits our universities of Canada to those two great seats of learning, a\npermanent and living proof of this fact?\n\nA university is the vital centre of a nation's life.  Around it, by a\ngradual process of elimination and a natural force of gravitation, centre\nthe master minds; from it, as from a fountain-head, flow with true\nleadership in every branch of human society, progress, wealth and\nprosperity.  On the force of this _centripetal_ and _centrifugal_\nmovement of a university depends its value in the community.  \"The\nincrease in number and efficiency of universities,\" said Bishop Spalding,\n\"is the healthy proof of the vitality and energy of a nation.\"\n\nIn the educational system of a country the university stands out as the\napex, the culminating and crowning point of its intellectual life.  For,\nas the college course develops the studious and acquisitive powers of the\nmind, the university course has in view its creative and formative\npowers.  \"Glorious to most are the days of life in a great school,\" says\nMorley, \"but it is at college that aspiring talents enter into their own\ninheritance.\"  \"It is the function of education in the highest sense, to\nteach man that there are latent in him possibilities beyond what he has\ndreamed of, and to develop in him capacities of which without contact\nwith the highest learning, he had never become aware.\" (Haldane.)  We may\nwell call the university \"the brains of a nation.\"  It equips the student\nwith standards and tests of objective truth. . . .  It makes him dig down\nto the bed-rock on which truth in its various manifestations rests. . . .\nUniversities are indeed the nurseries of the higher life, the living\nsources from which knowledge and culture flow in abundant streams.  They\ndo the thinking for the teeming masses who have neither the leisure nor\nthe opportunity to think for themselves and who live on that mental\natmosphere we call \"public opinion.\"  From the heights of our\nuniversities, ideas and principles gradually filter down into the lower\nstrata of the nation.  The novel, the Sunday supplement, the stage, the\ncinema screen--these post-graduate courses of the working man--are\npopularizing to-day the theories and ideals that were yesterday honoured\nin our secular institutions of higher education.  It may take time,\nperhaps centuries, for this process of intellectual filtration; but\nideas, like the stream, are bound to follow the incline of the water-shed.\n\nIf the change that takes place in the mind and conscience of the\nindividual is a slow and subtle process, what should we not expect when\nthere is question of a nation?  Yes, the process is slow but it is sure.\nThe permeation of evolutionism into every domain of human thought is a\nrecent and most striking illustration of it.  This fact stands out\nconspicuously on the pages of history.  \"Lord Acton's view of history,\"\nsaid Shane Leslie, \"was that ideas, not men or events, made the\ndifferences between one era and the next.\"  The mind is always the storm\ncentre of revolutions, the breeding ground of the most conflicting\ntheories.  The great storms that sweep over humanity always gather on the\nhigh summits of religion and philosophy, blackening the mental horizon;\nsooner or later, they break out on the lower plains of the economic\nsocial and political world, spreading everywhere revolution and\ndestruction.  The blasphemous Proudhon gave utterance to a great truth\nwhen he wrote: \"It is surprising how at the bottom of every political\nproblem we always find some theology involved.\"  We lay stress upon this\naspect of universities, for, in our mind, from a catholic view-point, it\nis of the greatest importance in the discussion of the present issue.\n\nThe university is not only the focus of the intellectual life of a\ncountry; by its research work, by its applied science it becomes also the\nvery fountain head of all national progress and prosperity.  The natural\nresources lie dormant, the soil--that perennial source of wealth, is\nstagnant, the export-trade of manufactured goods and agricultural\nproducts is at its lowest ebb, until touched by the magic wand of the\nuniversity expert.  It is he who discovers, develops and shows how to\nmake use of with profit, the hidden wealth of the land.  The research\nbureaus instituted by the Government of Canada and the United States,\nco-operating with the various universities, are now considered as the\nmost important factors of national prosperity.  The Reclamation Service\nof the U.S. by irrigation, drainage and the pulling of stumps will\nreclaim nearly 300 million acres for colonization.  To bring the economic\nvalue of a university nearer home to us, who does not know the beneficial\ninfluences of Saskatoon University on the agricultural pursuits of\nSaskatchewan?  This relation of the university and the material\nprosperity of a country is so marked that the Mosely Educational\nCommission sent by England to the United States, most strongly emphasized\nthat living connection and necessary correlation between the universities\nand the industrial and manufacturing prosperity of the United States.\n\nA university is therefore not a mere luxury, but rather a necessary asset\nin a nation's life.  \"The development of the true spirit of the\nUniversity among a people is a good measure of the development of its\nsoul, and consequently of its civilization\" (Haldane).  \"No country,\" we\nwill conclude with \"Catholic\" in the Antigonish Casket, \"ever attained to\nany degree of political influence, nor have any people ever risen from a\nlower to a higher level of intellectual and social culture, without the\nlight and inspiration that flow from a genuine university.\"  This vision\nwas before the eyes of Cecil Rhodes who founded scholarships throughout\nthe British Empire.  These scholarships glean every year in the wide\nfields of the Empire the brightest minds and throw them as a beautiful\nsheaf at the foot of the great English Alma Mater, Oxford.  Millions and\nmillions have been left for the same purpose to the American Universities.\n\nThe university may well then be called the Alma Mater--the nursing\nmother, of the leaders of a nation.  From its halls \"emerge those who\nhave that power of command which is born of penetrating insight.  Such a\npower generally carries in its train the gift of organization, and\norganization is one of the foundations of national strength.\" (Lord\nHaldane.)  The belief that the self-made men were the real successful men\nis a thing of the past.  A careful investigation has proved that ninety\nper cent of the men who stood at the head of large financial, political,\nphilanthropic, economic, industrial and commercial institutions of the\nworld were graduates of universities.[2]  The self-made man as a leader\nis the exception and has necessarily his limitations which he is the\nfirst to feel and acknowledge.  Munsterberg in his book \"The Americans\"\nhas a page which is very much to the point.  \"The most important factor\nof the aristocratic differentiation of America is higher Education and\nculture and this becomes more important every day.  The social importance\nascribed to a college graduate is all the time growing.  It was kept back\nfor a long time by unfortunate prejudices.  Because other than\nintellectual forces had made the nation strong, and everywhere in the\nforeground of public activity there were vigorous and influential men who\nhad not continued their education beyond the public grammar school, so\nthe masses instinctively believed that insight, real energy and\nenterprise were better developed in the school of life than in the world\nof books.  The college student was thought a weakling, in a way, who\nmight have fine theories, but who would never help to solve the great\nnational problems--a sort of academic \"mug-wump,\" but not a leader.  The\nbanking house, factory, farm, the mine, law office and the political\nposition were thought better places for the young (American) man than the\ncollege lecture halls. . . .  This has profoundly changed now, and\nchanges more, with every year. . . .  The change has taken place in\nregard to what is expected of the college student; distrust has vanished\nand people realize that the _intellectual discipline_ which he has had\nuntil his twenty-second year in the artificial and ideal world is after\nall the best training, less by its subject-matter than by its methods, is\nthe best possible preparation for practical activity. . . .  The leading\npositions are almost entirely in the hands of men of academic training\nand the mistrust of the theorizing college spirit has given place to a\nsituation in which university presidents and professors have much to say\non all practical questions of public life, and the college graduates are\nthe real supporters of every movement toward reform and civilization.\"\n(Munsterberg--\"The Americans\" 600-602.)\n\nThe true _leaders_ in society are like the snow-capped heights of a\nmountain range: they are the first that the new light of a breaking dawn,\nof a coming period, is wont to strike with its rays, to be then reflected\non the silent and sleeping valleys.  The men who hold to-day the pen or\ndraughting pencil in the university are the men who will handle the\nlevers of the world's intricate machinery.  There they grapple with the\nvarious problems of the scientifical, economic and political world and\ntheir views, later on, will gradually influence the whole mental attitude\nof the masses, who, in their daily life, are confronted with these same\nproblems.\n\nThis leadership of _thought_ and _action_ is no more the privilege of a\nfew; in our democratic country every one can aspire to it.  The days when\nprimary education was for the masses, secondary or college education for\nthe middle classes and university training for \"the quality,\" have passed\naway and gradually the benefits of higher education are being extended to\nall.  The _equality of opportunity_, not that of wealth and position, is\n_the test of true democracy_.  This condition has created the aristocracy\nof brains and character before which the aristocracy of wealth, of blood\nand lineage fade into insignificance.\n\nThe predominance of the \"vocational feature\" over the \"cultural\" in the\nscope of our modern universities, the vast \"extension work\" [3] carried\non in the various fields, the multiplicity of \"free scholarships\" open to\nthe competition of the brainy and ambitious boy, are other proofs of this\ndemocratic trait of our modern higher education.\n\n      *      *      *      *      *      *\n\nSince higher education is the stepping stone to leadership, the question\nmost vital to Catholics in this particular and most momentous period of\nour history is: \"What share have we in the college and university life of\nthe country?\"  \"The progress of the Church in any country is attributable\nto the _indwelling Spirit_ which guides the Church.--Next, to the piety,\nzeal and education of its _priesthood_,--and lastly, though in no mean\ndegree, to the devotion, activity and education of the _laity_.  Where\nthese three features combine, then the Church is writing the brightest\npages of Her history.\" (Archbishop Glennon.)\n\nI will not repeat here what \"Catholic\" in the Antigonish Casket, and\nHenry Somerville in his pamphlet, \"Higher education and Catholic\nLeadership in Canada\"--have been writing on for the past year or so.\nWith them we conclude that outside of the Province of Quebec, the\nCatholics of the Dominion have not the influence they should wield.\nNaturally there are many reasons to explain this fact.  But we will say\nwith the Editor of the North West Review, \"facts cannot be ignored with\nimpunity, the sooner they are admitted and faced with courage the more\nreadily shall difficulties be overcome.  And the necessity for an\nawakening to the demand for higher education is very real.\"\n\nIn the firing line of the world's gigantic struggle we shall never hold\nthe strategic points to which our number gives us a right in our Canadian\nDemocracy, unless our leaders are strong in number, and in power.\nCatholic leadership will give us the occasion to present, explain and\npromote \"our solution\" to various problems confronting the world.  During\nthis period of universal upheaval and momentous crisis, when all the\ningredients, we would say of the social and economic fabric are in a\nstate of flux,--like bronze in fusion,--Catholic leaders should be to the\nfront to supply the casts of Christian civilization.  If in the public\npress, the legislative assemblies, the labor meetings, public gatherings,\nwhere mind meets mind, ideal clashes with ideal, knowledge with\nknowledge, where facts are being examined and weighed, where ideas are\nthrown into the melting pot of public debate, if then and there, there is\nno one to stand for Catholic views in the various matters under\ndiscussion, can we be astonished that we are absolutely ignored, and our\nviews not considered?  \"We believe that an attitude of merely destructive\ncriticism, of aloofness, scepticism, pessimism, is a deplorable mistake.\nIt is not by standing aloof from the movements of our day, but by going\nfearlessly into them with the message of truth entrusted to our charge,\nshall we best fulfil our high mission towards our fellow countrymen.  We\nmust seize these opportunities in the spirit of high confidence and\ndauntless zeal which befits those who have the Truth, know they have the\nTruth, and are assured that the Truth is great and shall prevail.\"\n(Universe--June 13, 1919.)\n\nNever has a greater opportunity challenged the Church and her leaders\nthan at this great turning of the tide in the history of the world.\nCanada itself is on the threshold of the most eventful and decisive\nperiod of her national life.  \"The war has brought our country into the\nbroad stream of internationalism . . . and a new _national consciousness_\nis being born and is sweeping over the land.\"  In the future, as in the\npast, our Dominion will remain divided by race and creed.  But let us not\nforget that the various religious and ethnical groups will have only the\ninfluence that gives true leadership.  The value and the measure of\nhigher education among Catholics will therefore give the value and the\nmeasure of their participation in the remodelling of their great country.\n\nIf such is the case of Catholics throughout Canada, what would we not say\nof Catholics in our Western Provinces.  In this reconstruction of our\nDominion the prairie Provinces are without doubt to play a preponderant\npart.  One has only to open his eyes to see the trend of our national\npolicies, and immediately grasp the growing importance of our Western\nProvinces.  The West is gradually passing from the pioneer conditions and\nbecoming conscious of its importance.  With the beautiful qualities and\nunlimited resources of youth, it has also its dangerous shortcomings.\nDaring, venturous, over confident, the western mind is easily and\nfrequently hasty and radical in its conclusions.  Intoxicated with wealth\nand success, inspired and aroused by the great possibilities of his new\nhome, the Westerner is ever tempted to experiment in legislation, make\nextreme views prevail and believe the newest is always the best.  He will\nboast of broadmindedness, of love of freedom and at the same time will,\nunder the deceiving tyranny of number, suppress the most sacred rights.\nNowhere we claim in our Dominion, is Catholic leadership and therefore\nhigher education, more needed at the present hour than in the West.  Our\nCatholics there need indeed higher education, for, at this hour\nparticularly, the nation's business is our business; they cannot remain\nan isolated factor in presence of the tremendous issues that stare the\nworld and our country in the face.  But if we wish to make our influence\nas Catholics felt, let our leadership come from \"_Higher Catholic\nEducation_\" as from its fountain head.\n\n\n_Higher Catholic Education for Catholics in Western Canada._\n\nThere is a decided distinction between higher education for Catholics and\nhigher Catholic education.  This leads us to place before the reader the\nprinciples upon which rests the catholic ideal in matters of higher\neducation and to suggest means of its speedy realization in Western\nCanada.  A friendly exchange of ideas on this most important and very\ninteresting topic will be profitable to all at this juncture, and help,\nwe hope, to clear up hazy notions and cloudy conceptions which some may\nentertain on the subject.\n\n      *      *      *      *      *      *\n\nIn matters of Catholic education, the most weighty argument is that of\nthe authority of the Church.  Her views and practices, particularly on\nquestions of education, should be the views and practices of every good\nCatholic.  In the New Canon-Law, in the Councils and Letters of the\nPopes, is to be found the only authoritative direction in this momentous\nproblem.  The Church is most emphatic and most precise in its\npronouncements on the matter of higher education.  The Canon 1379,\nparagraph 2, of the new Canon-Law, is very explicit on the subject.  \"If\nthe public universities are not imbued with Catholic doctrine and\nsurrounded with a Catholic atmosphere, it is most desirable to found in\nthat country or region a Catholic University.\"  The Plenary Councils of\nBaltimore and of Quebec (Tit, VI-C, VII) command in the most pressing\nmanner the Catholic youth to frequent only Catholic universities.  When\ncircumstances necessitate attendance at non-Catholic universities,\nsafeguards are exacted to minimize the danger.  These recent dispositions\nof the Church's legislation reflect the stand the Church has always taken\non this ground of higher education.  Is She not \"_Mater universitatum_?\"\nModern civilization owes its universities to the Catholic Church, as the\nvery stones of Cambridge and Oxford still proclaim . . . _lapides\nclamabunt_!  And in these days of religious indifference, after heroic\nefforts and great sacrifices, in spite of the allurement of our wealthy\nstate and independent institutions, the Church counts in every country\nseats of higher learning, where her children may receive the benefit of\nuniversity training without danger for their conscience or their faith.\n\nThis stand of the Church in primary, secondary and higher education is\nthe logical conclusion of her doctrine.  \"The theory of life,\" said\nFather Little, S.J., \"and the theory of education go hand in hand.\"  As\nthe Church has a definite teaching on life, its value and its purpose,\nShe has necessarily fundamental principles upon which education must rest\nif it wishes to be in harmony with Christian life and Catholic belief.\nIn her eyes education, in all its degrees, must be primarily and\nprofoundly religious.  \"If indeed, the Catholic Faith which makes such\ntremendous and such confident statements about God and His ways with men,\nis true, then obviously it takes the central place in human knowledge,\nand all other knowledge groups itself round and is coloured by Faith.\"\nTherefore, the principle, \"every Catholic boy and girl in a Catholic\ncollege or university\" should be to us as sacred as is \"every Catholic\nchild in a Catholic school.\"  One is the consequence of the other; both\nare the practical conclusions of our faith.  This close connection\nbetween theories of education and the attitude towards problem of life is\nevident in history.\n\nThe Pope, Benedict XV, in his recent letter to the American Hierarchy\n(March, 1919), writes: \"The future of the Church and State absolutely\ndepends on the condition and organization of the schools; there will be\nno other Christians than those whom you will have formed by instruction\nand education. . . .  We have followed with joy,\" he adds, \"_the\nmarvellous progress of the Catholic University at Washington, progress so\nclosely united to the highest hopes of your churches_.  We have no doubt\nthat henceforth you will continue even more actively, to support an\ninstitution of such great usefulness and promise as is the University.\"\n\nThe Most Reverend Dr. O'Dwyer, Bishop of Limerick, in 1904, vindicated\nfor the Irish people not the privilege, but the right to a Catholic\nUniversity.  \"For us Catholics,\" he wrote, \"the Gospel as taught by our\nHoly Church, is our philosophy of life and we hold that any attempt to\neducate a youth in what we call secularism is a retrogression to a lower\nlevel than that of pre-Christian culture.  For this reason we have\nwithstood every attempt to force _secularism_ on this country and we\nshall resist it to the last.  We have equally withstood _mixed\neducation_, which, false as it is in itself and pernicious, is in this\ncountry a specious pretext for Protestant educational ascendancy.\"\n(University education in Ireland.)\n\nIf such is the case with Catholic Ireland, what should we not conclude as\nregards our Western Provinces?  Here, more than anywhere else in Canada,\ndoes the Church need staunch, genuine, Catholic leadership.  In it the\nfuture of Catholicity beyond the Great Lakes is involved.  Reason and\nexperience prove that the training which makes for genuine Catholic\ninfluence is plainly out of question unless it be received in a college\nand university whose atmosphere, teachings, aspirations and ideals are\nthoroughly Catholic.  The recent foundations of a Catholic University in\nMilan and in Nimeguen, Holland, justify this claim.\n\n      *      *      *      *      *      *\n\nConditions existing in our modern neutral universities vindicate our\nstand and strengthen our position.  The tendency in these universities\nis, without doubt, towards infidelity or to say the least, towards\ndiluted Christianity.--\"The transformation from the old denominational\neducation to the new undenominational education was in point of\nfact due to an antitheological--and even in some of its\nmanifestations--anti-religious movement.  If it included a sense of the\njustice of equal treatment for all creeds and a sense of the liberty\nnecessary for science, it also included some of the anti-Christian spirit\nof Continental liberalism.  The undenominational movement was the\npractical expression of the liberal and scientific movement.\" (Life of\nNewman--L 306.)\n\nA few years ago there appeared in the \"Cosmopolitan Review,\" under the\nglaring title \"Blasting at the Rock of Ages,\" an article which startled\nthe intellectual world.  It was a crude and biting exposure of the\nintellectual license and unhealthy moral atmosphere of the great American\nuniversities.  To follow the author of this powerful indictment in the\nproof of his facts and statements would be beyond the scope of this\npaper.  Only we would advise some of our near-sighted Catholics who\nthrough that snobbishness which money often gives them, have a sort of\nworship for non-Catholic universities, to read this indictment.  In\ngiving them a glance of the \"inside of the cup\" it may change their\nopinion.\n\nDr. James Henry Leuba, professor of psychology at the Bryn Mawr College,\nPennsylvania, gave out to the public the answers he received from\nsociologists, biologists, psychologists and teachers of universities and\nother institutions in the United States, as regards their belief in the\nexistence of God.  More than fifty per cent.  admitted that they had no\nbelief whatever in the existence of God; forty per cent. denied the\nimmortality of the soul.  The great majority, said Dr. Leuba, were\nuniversity teachers and none could compare with them in influence over\nthe rising generation. (Cfr.  Archeological Report 1917--published by\nOntario Government.)\n\nWhen subversive theories based on an absolute materialistic conception of\nlife, and from which God, Divine Providence, Christ, Christianity are\nsystematically excluded and ridiculed as myths of by-gone days; when, we\nsay, such theories are rampant in the halls of our modern universities,\nshould we be astonished to see outright infidelity, political socialism,\nreligious anarchy, stalk the length and breadth of the land?  \"Impurity,\nobscenity, moral corruption in many forms, with the ever consequent\ncynicism and pessimism, forerunners of moral decadence, destruction of\nthe original, creative, shaping, joyous, confident energies of society,\ncome daily more boldly to the front of the stage and defy criticism or\nmock at the archaic sanctions of yesterday.  One does not need to peruse\nthe great modern historians of Roman morals to foresee the results of\nsuch an educational debauch, when allowed time enough and the working of\nits own, unholy but intimate and inexorable logic.\" (Mgr. Shahan--at the\nCatholic Educational Convention, U.S., 1919.)  Sow the wind, you will\nreap the whirlwind.\n\nShould not such atmosphere of infidelity or diluted Christianity in\nnon-Catholic universities be for Catholic students a source of danger to\nthe vigour and even to the integrity of their faith, to their constancy,\nin the full and faithful observance of their practical religious duties?\nFamiliarity with error, at the age of youth principally, breeds contempt\nof truth and jeopardizes faith.  The suppression of truth in its various\nforms, the concealment of religious profession and observance,\nnecessarily lead to religious indifference.  How many sad examples could\nwe not give to back this statement?  This danger which Catholic youth\nmeets with in the very atmosphere of our neutral universities is still\ngreater when we consider the method of teaching now in honour in these\nschools of higher learning.  The tutorial method, still in vogue at\nOxford, has given place to the _professorial_.  The systematic lecture\nhas replaced the exposition of texts.  The professor, with his frame of\nmind, his views on facts and ideas, is the living book from which our\nyouth read their daily lesson.  His personality dominates the mind of the\npupil.  We all know what fascination the science, reputation and\neloquence of a professor have on the unarmed and impressionable minds of\nyouth.  The \"_Magister dixit_\" is very often the supreme law, the last\ncriterion of truth.  President Garfield's ideal of a college, \"Mark\nHopkins on the other end of the log,\" recognizes the educative value of\nthe contact with a master-mind.\n\nAuthority and reason militate in favor of higher Catholic education for\nCatholics in Western Canada, this is the logical conclusion of our\nstatements.\n\n      *      *      *      *      *      *\n\nYes, nice theories, some may say; but we are facing facts.  How are we to\ncontend with these well equipped, richly endowed, neutral institutions of\nhigher education?  Where shall we find the resources to pay efficient\nteachers, to establish the various faculties that go to form a university\nworthy of its name?  Have we not a state-university marvellously well\nequipped and for which our Provinces are yearly spending fabulous sums?\nWhy not take advantage of our own money that goes in taxes for the\nsupport of these institutions?\n\nTo argue along these lines is to concede to our enemies our position on\nthe Separate School question.  All these objections have been met with in\nother countries and other provinces, and the answer to them was the\ncreation of Catholic colleges and universities.\n\nThe great fallacy of the age, and particularly in this part of the\ncountry, is State Monopoly in educational matters.  This is looked upon\nas the great triumph of modern democracy and the palladium of liberty.\nThe monopoly over the human mind by this monopoly of education is the\nmost dangerous of all state-monopolies.  It is the resurrection of the\npagan ideal, the magnification of the state to the detriment and\nabsorption of the individual and the family.  Germany has given us an\nexample of where \"the standardization of thought and outlook\" by the\nState education leads to.  The Prussian ideal, in its last analysis, is\nnothing else but the pagan ideal.\n\nBut no country in the British Empire has pushed the policy of\nmonopolisation of education so far as our Western Provinces.  Under the\nspecious plea of efficiency and absurd reason of uniformity, they will\nnot even grant charters to independent institutions of higher learning.\nThis policy surely does not reflect true statesmanship and makes British\nliberty a misnomer on the lips of many of our ultra-loyal Westerners.  We\nwould ask our Western Governments to take lessons in this matter from\nEngland.  When some few years ago the question of converting the\nuniversity colleges into Universities was before the English public there\nwas much talk of the danger of Lilliputian universities and of low\nstandards of teaching and examination.  But this question was brought to\ntrial by the State before a high tribunal and a firm decision was given\nin favour of the principle.  A special committee of the Privy Council\nconducted a semi-judicial enquiry and gave sentence on Febr., 1903.  The\nresult of this decision was that the colleges of Liverpool, Manchester,\nLeeds, Sheffield, Birmingham, Bristol, Durham, blossomed out into\nteaching universities.  This is the real British way of doing things.\n\nThe United States[4] have granted university charters to the various\nCatholic institutions of higher learning which dot that land of Liberty\nfrom coast to coast.  And let us not forget,--facts and figures will bear\nus out,--the independent universities in the United States, in England\nand in Belgium, only to mention some, have been in many Faculties more\nefficient and more successful than the state institutions.  The\nremarkable record of St. Louis University, a Jesuit institution, is\nillustrative of this point.  A comparison of the respective medical and\ndental records of this institution with perhaps two of the greatest\nprofessional schools of the United States, John Hopkins and Harvard,\ngives proof of higher efficiency to St. Louis University.  The official\nbulletins of the Medical Dental Associations give the statistics.\n\nThe right of Catholics to their own schools--primary, secondary,\nuniversity, is a birthright we must always fight for.  It is the\nelementary right of a civilized people to educate her sons as she sees\nfit.  In the battle for this right the best strategy is to offer the\naccomplished fact of a college and a university which by their\nefficiency, their intellectual and moral value, impose themselves upon\nthe community and win their way to acceptance.  Let us blaze the trail\nand to-morrow, it will be the great highway of Catholic education for the\ncoming generation in Western Canada.\n\nBut instead of this policy of \"_isolation_\" which in school matters is\nthe ordinary policy of the Church, some Catholics, in view of\ncircumstances, rather advocate that of \"_permeation_.\"  The presence of\nCatholics in State Universities will, they claim, create a better\natmosphere, abate or soften prejudice, beget a better feeling among the\nfuture leaders of the community.  In England, it is true, Catholics are\nallowed to attend Oxford and Cambridge; in Germany, they attend State\nUniversities.  The Catholics of Australia have since 1916 also a College\nin conjunction with the Melbourne State University.  Student societies\nhave been formed, Catholic halls opened, courses of apologetics are given\nto help the Catholic youth in the \"steady daily pressure working against\nthem in a non-Catholic university,\" and to influence religious thought in\nthose centres of higher learning.\n\nHas this \"_modus vivendi_\" brought about by various circumstances which\nit would be too long to analyze here, produced the desired results?  In\nGermany it has not created a Catholic atmosphere in one single\nuniversity.  Have not, on the contrary, the German universities been the\nhot-beds of Modernism and many a young cleric has come from their halls\ninoculated with this virus.\n\nAs for Oxford and Cambridge, we all know the controversy which divided\nthe Catholics for so many years.  As Catholics have been allowed to\nfollow the courses there for only a few decades, we are not yet, we\nbelieve, in a position to judge of the influence of these universities on\nthe Catholic body of England as a whole.  Time only will tell.  But one\nthing is certain, no comparison can be established between our state\nuniversities and these colleges.  Although in the halls of Oxford,\nChristianity \"is often attuned to the outlook and temper of the age\" as\nthe book \"Foundations\" (a statement of Christian belief in terms of\nmodern thought, by seven Oxford men) sadly reveals it, nevertheless,\nthere is not to be found in the English Colleges that atmosphere which\nthe absence of religion has created in our state universities.  The\npresence of various denominational colleges on the grounds of our\nProvincial Universities only gives them a tint of Christianity.  The\nteaching of history and philosophy will tell the tale.  \"It must be\nremembered that an Oxford scheme was never Newman's ideal.  It was a\nconcession to necessities of the hour.  His ideal scheme, alike for\neducation of the young and for the necessary intellectual defence of\nChristianity, had consistently been the erection of a large Catholic\nUniversity like Louvain.  This he had tried to set up in Ireland.  In\nsuch an institution, _research and discussion of the questions of the day\nwould be combined_ as in the middle ages with a Catholic atmosphere, the\npersonal ascendancy of able _Christian professors_ and directly\n_religious influence_ for the young men.\" (Life of Newman)--by Ward.\n\nWere there question only of postgraduate work, of some special course in\nagriculture, domestic science, there would be no difficulty, we believe,\nto see Catholic students take advantage of the marvellous facilities our\nstate universities offer.  The matter, the short term of these courses or\nthe advanced age of the pupil would be in themselves sufficient\nguarantee.  _But what we strongly object to is the Arts Course, and\nparticularly undergraduate work_, even were the contentious subjects,\nsuch as philosophy and history, be given by Catholic teachers to Catholic\nstudents separately.  The Arts Course, we must remember, is the real\ndominating factor in higher education.  For we maintain with Cardinal\nNewman that a University is a place of teaching universal knowledge and\nthat its object is primarily intellectual.  It has in view the diffusion\nand extension of knowledge, rather than its advancement, which is\nreserved to Academies.  It is the Arts Course of a University,\nparticularly its Philosophy, that gives this general knowledge and\nenlargement of the mind.  Its influence is most telling in the various\nFaculties where students specialize for their future career.  For\nPhilosophy plays such a large part in _human life, the movement of\nopinions and the direction of minds_.  The Catholic student in those most\nplastic years, in that critical period of receptivity, wherein ideas are\nanalyzed and synthesized for life time, cannot help but imbibe ideas and\ndoctrines opposed to his belief.  The elite alone, we believe, can resist\nin the long run the influence of that indefinable quality called\natmosphere, and maintain among so many cross-currents, the right course.\nThe ordinary and inexperienced mind will be, if not contaminated, at\nleast weakened and this alone is disastrous in a leader.  Many changes,\nmany transformations, we know, take place in the mind of youth as it\nemerges \"from collegiate visions into the rough path of real life.\"  As\nMorley wrote, \"We know after the event, the tremendous changes of thought\n. . . of conception of life, that coming years and new historic forces\nwere waiting to unfold before the undergraduate when he had once floated\nout beyond the college bar.\" Yet, the solid teachings of Catholic\nPhilosophy will remain to him as the charter and compass when his ship\nhas taken to the high sea.  This is the principal reason why we vindicate\nthe right to our own higher education.  To push the argument further, we\nwould ask why should we be obliged to pay taxes to have doctrines opposed\nto our conscience propounded from the professorial chairs of our State\nUniversity?  The granting of a Charter by the State is but the minimum of\nour rights.\n\n\n_Dream or Reality?_\n\nA Catholic University for Western Canada!  Is this but the dream of a far\noff future or can it be a reality within a few years?--There is the\nproblem which now faces the Catholic Church of our Western Provinces and\nupon which, in our estimation, rests the influence the Church is to have\nin the formation of the new and most promising part of our Dominion\nbeyond the Great Lakes.  A high conception of the duty of the present\nhour and the whole-hearted co-operation of every Catholic unit in the\nWest, will without doubt bring its happy solution and make our dream a\nreality.  To act on ideal principles with little or no attempt to\nforecast accurately what is practicable would be to court failure.  We\nare gradually passing the mile-stone of pioneer life in the West, and the\nChurch is slowly but surely being organized and entering into full\npossession of her normal life.  The duties which Catholic solidarity\nimposes upon us as regards the Church and the community at large are\ngrowing apace with the status of the Church in these new Provinces.\nAmong these duties none, we believe, are more important than that we owe\nto the cause of Catholic education.  Naturally, the burden of the\nresponsibility falls here upon parents whose bounden duty it is to see\nthat the school, college, university, be, as much as possible but the\nextension of their Catholic home.  _The rising generation in the West has\na right to the benefits of a higher education; to this right corresponds\nin the community a duty imposed upon its members by Catholic solidarity_.\nFor in the growing youth we see the Country and the Church, with whose\nfuture welfare it is necessarily united.  A true Catholic must have his\nvision of what the Church ought to be in his Country and must work to\nmake that vision come true.\n\nThrough a Catholic University, and through it only, will the Church give\nits full _contribution to the national life of Western Canada_ by\ncreating as we said, Catholic leadership.  We have as Catholics, ideas to\ngive to the nation, to its up-building, and to its prosperity.  The sun\nof Canadian liberty is shining for our doctrines as it does for other\nideals.  And, strange to say, the most subversive theories seem to take\nthe greatest and most frequent advantage of this freedom.  We have no\napology to make for our ideas.  They stand on their own merit and have\nbeen vindicated by the acid-test of time.  To bring our message to the\ncountry, to spread its beneficial influence is the mission of our\nCatholic leaders.  Only a large number of truly educated Catholic men are\nable to make their influence felt on the life and thought of a country.\n\nThis identification of a Catholic university with our Western Provinces\nwill be an asset to our public life and beneficial to the people at\nlarge, notwithstanding their aloofness and unreasoned opposition to our\nprinciples and methods.  The evils of the times are the direct result of\nthe secularization of education.  Catholic higher education is the only\nantidote and remedy to this evil.  Its principles are a vigorous protest\nagainst materialistic philosophy.  We believe in the mastery of ideas and\nin the final victory of truth.\n\n_The Church also for her own benefit needs true Catholic leaders_.\nLeaders in a Catholic Community, who are not thoroughly Catholic in their\ntraining, who have false notions, warped views, biassed conceptions of\nvital questions, are most detrimental to the cause of Catholicity.\nDistorted and confused ideas, in religious matters particularly, always\nlead to a compromise.  After school days they fail to find their Catholic\nfaith correlated with the _problems_ and _experiences_ which never\ntroubled them before, and which now, lack of higher education will not\nallow them to solve and to face.  Have we not indeed in Western Canada to\nguard ourselves against latitudinarianism in our Catholic life?  Material\nprosperity, success in business or in farming, associations with men and\nwomen who have practically no belief whatever, erroneous conceptions of\nbroadmindedness in religious matters, absence of traditions, lack of\nCatholic education, all these causes and many others have created\nespecially in our cities, where such a large floating population is to be\nfound, and in our country places where there is no resident priest, a\ncompromising Catholicism, apologetic Catholics.  How many Catholics in\nthe West are always ready to cringe in presence of those who are not of\nour belief and to apologize for their faith.  To react against this\nabiding danger we need all through the country well instructed and\nthoroughly educated Catholic leaders who will be in our world of\nagnosticism and irreligion, the protagonists and apologists of\nCatholicism.  The fearless proclamation of the truth combined with a good\nmoral public life is in itself a tremendous power.  Indeed, we need in\nall the avenues of life men whose university training will give them\ninfluence in public life.  But let it never be forgotten those captains\nof industry, those brilliant and successful professional men, those\nprogressive farmers--valuable as they all may be--must count more as\nleaders of Catholic thought than as money-makers.  If not, they will be\nfound wanting when the Church needs them the most.  We emphasize this\npoint, for in the plea for higher education very often our attention\nseems to be more on the successful business man than on the Catholic\nthinker.\n\nLove of Church and country will therefore inspire us with a high sense of\nduty in relation to the establishment of a seat of higher education in\nthis promising part of our great Dominion.  And this duty, let us not\nforget it, _is urgent_.  Every decade means a new generation that should\nhave passed from the halls of our university to the commanding heights of\nthe country's leadership.  Our hesitancy means a further postponement of\nthe triumph of the Catholic Cause.\n\nThis high conception of an urgent duty gives the vision.  From the\nclearness, breadth and depth of that vision will spring the conquering\nspirit of co-operation.  Co-operation to be efficient and persevering\ndemands a united plan of action and an authoritative leadership.\n\nThe Catholic population of Western Canada is yet very limited.  We cannot\nafford to scatter our forces and multiply our institutions.  One\nuniversity for all Western Canada would be sufficient to meet the present\nrequirements.  The multiplication of inefficient universities is a\ncalamity for genuine higher education.  This has been the contention of\n\"Catholic\" in a recent series of brilliant articles in the \"Casket.\"  The\npolicy would therefore be for all to agree on one college as the\nnon-Catholics have done in the different Western Provinces.  This\nnaturally requires the sacrifice of parochialism and provincialism.  But\nif the Methodists, Presbyterians and Baptists have each agreed on the\nestablishment of one educational centre for their students, surely the\nCatholics can also sacrifice local interests to the welfare of the cause.\nHow many efforts our bigoted provincialism has neutralized in the past!\n\nAuthoritative leadership only can unite our efforts on this unity of plan\nof action.  Nothing in this matter can be done without the direction and\nsupport of the Hierarchy of the West.  The division among Bishops was,\naccording to Newman, one of the main causes that made the Dublin Catholic\nUniversity scheme a failure.  Naturally this problem of higher education\nis one that overflows diocesan boundaries and remains common to all.\n\"Boundaries of jurisdiction, as wrote so advisedly, Archbishop McNeil, of\nToronto, are conveniences and means to an end.\" Beyond the\nresponsibilities of each separate diocese there are other\nresponsibilities which affect the Church of Canada as a whole.  Let one\nman with vision, judgment, energy, and action, make the creation of the\nCatholic University in the West the work and ambition of his life, let\nhim have the sincere approbation and efficient co-operation of all the\nHierarchy . . . that man, we claim, will rally the Catholic forces around\nhim and will give to the West and its rising generation the blessing so\nmuch needed of Catholic university training.  Newman was fond of\nrepeating that it is only _individuals_ who do great things.\n\nAnd what will, this Catholic university mean to Catholic life in Western\nCanada?  Well established upon the highest academic level by its success\nin the competitive field of learning, it will stand out as the embodiment\nof Catholic intellectual life and the centre of Catholic activities.  It\nwill be the counter-ideal to the ideal of agnosticism and materialism so\nfostered and so prevalent in our neutral universities.  Just as the\ncathedrals are the expression of the Catholic faith in Christ's abiding\npresence in the Sacrament of His love, so is a Catholic university the\nembodiment and accomplishment of the Church's ideal in education.  By its\nextension work, summer courses, circulating libraries, correspondence\ncourses, lectures, etc., the university would unite our activities,\neliminate waste of energy and direct our combined efforts.  Cardinal\nNewman believed that a Catholic university was essential for thorough\nhealth and efficiency in the Catholic body at large.  To realize all that\na Catholic university would mean one has only to know what Washington\nstands for in the life of the Church in the United States.  In his\nbeautiful letter to the American Hierarchy, Benedict XV said of it: \"The\nUniversity, we trust, will be the _attractive centre_ about which will\ngather all who love the teachings of Catholicism.\"\n\n\n_What is the Conclusion?_\n\nWe may summarize our argumentation in favour of our contention in the\nfollowing statements:\n\n1.--THE INTERESTS OF CHURCH AND COUNTRY, PARTICULARLY IN THE WEST, DEMAND\nCATHOLIC LEADERSHIP;\n\n2.--NO GENUINE LEADERSHIP WITHOUT UNIVERSITY TRAINING;\n\n3.--FOR CATHOLICS HIGHER EDUCATION MEANS HIGHER CATHOLIC EDUCATION.\n\nNow, Patient reader, allow us to conclude these already too lengthy\npages, by this pointed question: \"_Is a Catholic university for Western\nCanada within the possibilities of the near future?_\"\n\nOur answer will be simple, direct, conclusive, and, we hope, convincing.\nIf all Catholics in the Western Provinces, under the direction and with\nthe continued support of the Hierarchy, unite in one sublime and\npersistent effort, we have the utmost confidence in its immediate\nrealization.  Some Catholics, we know, will distrust its expediency,\ndespair of its success or even feel an obligation to oppose it.\nDifficulties, most undoubtedly, we will have numerous and great.  With\ntime, patience, perseverance and self-sacrifice we will overcome them.\nNothing succeeds like success.  The establishment of a work of that kind\nis the work of years and even of centuries.  There must be some day a\nstart, a foundation to build on.  The policy of nihilism leads nowhere.\nThe frequentation of our State universities would indefinitely postpone\nall efforts for the Catholic ideal, and be a surrender of the whole\nsituation.  But let us not be carried away with the modern fallacy of\nmaterialistic grandeur.  Spacious and beautiful buildings, nice grounds\nand attractive surroundings are not to be despised when the finances are\ngood.  But all these things are secondary; they do not give the intrinsic\nvalue to a university, they are not \"the pulse of the machine.\"  The\ngreat business of a university is to teach; the highest academic level\nshould be its worthy ambition.  The teachers are the real makers of a\nseat of higher learning, they pitch high or low the standard of learning.\n\nThis great work will demand from every Catholic a continued effort of\nloyal and generous support.  The Canon-law, the Councils, the\nexhortations of the Pope insists on this support of Catholic\nuniversities.  Particularly those who are blessed with the goods of this\nworld and to whom Providence has been generous, should remember that\n\"their wealth has a fiduciary character; a character that entails duties\ntowards the Catholic community at large, none less obligatory because\nthey are rooted in the virtue of _charity_, instead of the virtue of\n_justice_.\"\n\nBut experience tells us that our Catholic institutions are founded and\nsupported more by the \"widow's mite\" than by the millionaires' donations.\nThe support will come from the Catholic communities of Western Canada; it\nwill indeed come with most gratifying results _if the appeal is lofty in\nits motive and proposal, concerted and systematic in its action_.\n\nWe are not to go to the Catholics of the West with an appeal in one hand\nand an apology in the other.  A straightforward, self-respecting\npresentation of our cause will bring a no less straightforward and\nself-respecting response.  To make this appeal an unqualified success\nthere must be also concerted action.  Intensive efforts alone bring\nresults.  This means the canvass of the West for this single purpose, at\na stated time.  But any canvass of this kind, to be effective, must be\nprepared by an educational campaign.  Give the Catholics, we maintain,\nthe vision of their duty, sound the call . . . and they will respond.\nFor indifference, profound and widespread,--fruit of ignorance more than\nof ill-will,--would be the greatest obstacle to overcome.  Arousing\ninterest will be the initial task.  In Australia, Archbishop Mannix\norganized a campaign, in co-operation with his suffragan bishops, for the\npurpose of the Catholic College of Melbourne and from June to December,\n1916, half a million of dollars was collected.  The Catholics of Western\nCanada are just as ready, we claim, to furnish such annual payment as\nwould be wanted: if only they are properly called upon.  But this proper\ncalling involves first a systematic and periodical recommendation of its\nclaims by the clergy and influential laymen.\n\nSystem will avoid a conflict of claims for other great causes equally\nworthy of our generous support.  The war has in this matter taught us at\nhome a great lesson.  There were appeals for the Patriotic Fund, the Red\nCross, the Belgium Relief, the French Aid, etc., etc.  They all came to\nus in rotation.  No apology was made, every one felt in duty and honor\nbound, and the money was always there with an extraordinary readiness.\nOrganization is the first element of success.\n\n      *      *      *      *      *      *\n\nWho will be the promoters of this great work?  Naturally the Hierarchy of\nthe West will be its inspiring and moving spirit.  But, should not the\nKnights of Columbus, that body-guard of Catholic laity, be called to the\nhonour of \"seeing it through.\"  This great undertaking would be a most\nappropriate background for all the activities of our valiant Knights in\nWestern Canada.\n\nA society, Catholic in principle and membership, must, to last, and be an\nasset to the Church, have a definite programme of action in harmony with\nits aim and constitution.   If it keeps its energies pent up behind the\nwalls of the council-chambers and only finds them an outlet in social\nfunctions and friendly gatherings, it will soon go to seed or die of dry\nrot.  When on the contrary an organization, such as the Knights of\nColumbus, throws the full weight of its energies in the forwarding of a\ngreat cause, the possibilities of its influence are limitless.  The war\nactivities of the Knights and their splendid results for the Church and\nthe nation are a tangible proof of it.\n\nCould there be a work more in harmony with the aims of the great Catholic\norganization than that of higher education.  At the national convention\nof 1912, held at Colorado Springs, the committee on Catholic Higher\nEducation ends its report by saying: \"In the newer impetus that will come\nto Catholic education as the result of better understanding (its\nnecessity and value), the Knights of Columbus must make themselves an\nimportant factor.  We owe it to ourselves and to that special loyalty to\nboth Church and State which we pride to claim as the special note of the\norder.  It is often asked what are the Knights of Columbus doing that\nthey should be so proud of their organization, and the best possible\nanswer would be for all of us to be able to point to benefits that were\nconferred by Knights individually and in bodies upon our Catholic\neducation.  There can be no mistake about the benefit to be conferred on\nChurch and State by progress in Catholic education.\"\n\nThe active and persevering co-operation of the Knights in the forwarding\nof the great cause of a Catholic University for Western Canada, would be\ntheir contribution to the great period of reconstruction which the world\nis now facing.\n\n      *      *      *      *      *      *\n\nOn one of those beautiful mellow autumn evenings, of which the Prairie\nalone has the secret, the traveller, as his train steams into one of our\nWestern Cities, will behold a stately cupola tipped with a golden\ncross.--\"What is that new building, yonder on the outskirts of the city?\"\nwill he inquire.  The answer will be: \"_That is the Catholic University\nof Western Canada_.\"\n\n\n\n[1] This chapter appeared as a series of articles, in the North West\nReview of Winnipeg,--under the signature of \"Miles Christi.\"\n\n[2] \"Less than one per cent. of American men are college graduates Yet\nthis one per cent. of college graduates has furnished: 55% of our\nPresidents, 36% of our Members of Congress, 47% of the Speakers of the\nHouse, 54% of our Vice-Presidents, 62% of our Secretaries of State, 50%\nof the Secretaries of the Treasury, 67% of the Attorney Generals, 69% of\nthe Justices of the Supreme Court.\"--Dr. Jones, of the University of\nMissouri.\n\n[3] Lord Haldane addressing the Co-operative Educational Association\n(May, 1920) made this statement:  \"The universities of England must be\nmade able, as national institutions, with a larger range of activity than\nat present, to undertake extra-mural work on a scale so great that it\nwill be of general application throughout the land, and they must be put\nin a position to be fitted to bring this about.\"\n\n[4] Speaking of Publicly and privately supported institutions of learning\nin the U.S., Dr. Cappen, assistant commissioner of the United States\nBureau of Education stated that there are 93 of the former in the U.S.\nand 477 of the latter.  About 62 per cent. of the college students in the\ncountry attend voluntarily supported colleges, and the private schools\nhave about 68 per cent. of the educational funds of the country at their\ndisposal.  This includes of course such very wealthy endowed institutions\nas Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Cornell and Stanford.\n\n\n\n\nPART III\n\nSOCIAL PROBLEMS\n\n\"The political and economic struggles of society are in the last\nanalysis religious struggles; their sole solution, the teaching of\nJesus Christ.\"--(John Stuart Mill.)\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\nBEYOND BERLIN[1]\n\n_After-War Problems from a Catholic View-Point--Reconstruction, the\nDuty of the Hour._\n\n\nThe heavy clouds of war and the bloody mist of battles are lifting;\nonce more the sun of peace bursts forth triumphant over a sad and weary\nworld.  The storm has wasted its fury.  The landscape is washed clear\nand bright, the atmosphere is glowing and transparent; destruction and\nruins everywhere stand out in sharp and ghastly relief.  On the distant\nhorizon, beyond the Rhine, the dark clouds drag their tattered shreds;\nthe angry lightning still flashes and thunder yet rumbles yonder--on\nGerman and Russian soil.\n\nThe war is over.  The muddy trench, the deadly shrapnel, the perfidious\ngas, the roaring cannon, the forced marches on the slimy roads of\nFlanders, the heroic dashes and agonizing retreats of struggling\narmies, the lurking submarines, the treacherous, owlish zeppelins, the\nlong-protracted vigil on the deep--all these grim realities of four,\nlong, endless years have melted away in the blaze of a glorious\nvictory.  Now the German Armada rides at anchor, prisoner, in British\nwaters, the armies of the Allies bivouac on the banks of the Rhine, and\nour Canadian boys, flushed with victory, come marching home.\n\nThe day of the German surrender, Clemenceau, Premier of France, made\nthis significant statement: \"Great have been the problems of the war,\nbut greater will be the problems of peace.\"  Nations, indeed, now face\none of the most momentous periods of history.  The world has struck its\ntents and is once more on the march.  Never, we believe, have such\ntremendous responsibilities weighed upon a passing generation.  The\nfuture will be greatly imperilled if at this critical juncture great\nquestions are fought out between ignorant desire for change and\nignorant opposition to change.  The handwriting is on the wall, and our\neconomic and social life, foreign to Christian morality, has been found\nwanting.  Will a new and better social order rise from the ashes of\nthis world-conflagration?  There is the searching problem which presses\nitself upon the mind of every thinking man.  \"On every side,\" writes\nFather Plater, S.J., \"there is talk of reconstruction, economic,\npolitical, social, educational.  Government departments are hard at\nwork gathering information, elaborating schemes.  Numerous organized\nbodies, such as the Labor party, are putting forward their programmes.\nConferences and lectures on reconstruction are multiplied and\nliterature on the subject pours from the press.\"\n\n\"Great ideas,\" said Wilson, \"at last have captured the hearts of the\ncommon people and directed into positive channels and constructive\nprogrammes the very energies which otherwise may have spent themselves\nin the acts of retributive destruction.\"  Reconstruction!  This is now\nthe world's watch-word.  It sums up the various problems with which\nnations will have to grapple in every realm of human activity.  It\nspeaks of conditions that are no more and suggests new outlines of the\nsocial order.  Our present and pressing duty then is to weigh the\nanchor, to swing out into the middle stream and take our course on the\npermanent principles of Catholic Truth.  These principles stand on the\nshores of History as the great revolving lights that sweep the high\nseas in the darkness of night.\n\nCanada, after having bravely and generously solved the problems of war,\nis now also facing \"the greater problems of peace.\"  This period of\nreconstruction, more than that of the war, will test our national\nfibre.  The strain will be greater for the conflict is being lifted to\na higher plane, that of ideas.  But nowhere in Canada will this vast\nwork of readjustment be more tangible than in our Great West.  The\nyouth of that part of the country, and the dominating factors of the\nnational problem will, we believe, make the West the classical land of\nreconstruction.  A gradual evolution will bring our Eastern Provinces\nto readjust themselves to the changing conditions of political and\neconomic life.  The West, on the contrary, has in such matters the\nbeautiful qualities, the unlimited resources of youth, but also its\ndangerous shortcomings.  Daring, venturous, over-confident in\ndemocracy, the Western mind is frequently most hasty and radical in its\nconclusions.  It has not been matured by time, that great teacher of\npatience and moderation; experience has not, as yet, tempered that\nfeverish and progressive youthfulness, so prone to speedy and often\ndrastic legislation.  The heat of fever is often mistaken for the glow\nof health.  And as legislation is in the minds of the Western people\nthe panacea of all evils in society, will not the common tendency be to\ncarry on the work of reconstruction by parliament bills and\norders-in-council?  Is there not here a great danger?  \"The danger of\npremature commitment is much greater than that of more cautious policy,\nproving a stumbling block in the way of future progress.\"\n\nMoreover, the most vital factors of reconstruction in Canada will\naffect more particularly the Prairie Provinces.  The back-to-the-land\nmovement, demobilization, settlement of returned soldiers on the farm,\nintensive immigration policy, extensive agricultural production are\nindeed Western problems.\n\nThe choice of the Hon. J. A. Calder of Saskatchewan, as chairman of the\nReconstruction Committee in the Federal Cabinet; the prominent part\ngiven to him and to the Hon. Mr. Meighen of Manitoba, in the formation\nand discussion of plans at the recent meeting of the Premiers of the\nProvinces; these are in themselves striking illustrations of our\ncontention in the matter.\n\nAlthough the West will, in the period of reconstruction command the\nattention of the country at large, there are, nevertheless, problems,\nparticularly those affecting our social and economic life, which will\nweigh heavily on our Eastern Provinces.  So reconstruction will be a\nnation-wide work.\n\n\n_The Duty of Catholics_\n\nWhat is, therefore, the duty of Catholics, at the present hour?  Are we\nto fold our arms and let others rebuild the very framework of society\naccording to plans which our faith, reason, and history disapprove of,\nand very often condemn?  Our ideas in the matter may not prevail, but\nhow would we be justified in deploring the consequences of a\nlegislation which we did not even try, by our influence, to suppress or\nmodify?  To abstain as Catholics from this great work of reconstruction\nis profoundly un-Catholic.  It is the act of a traitor to the Church\nand country.  As Burke so gloriously said: he was aware that the age is\nnot all we wish, but he was sure that the only means to check its\ndegeneracy was heartily to concur in whatever is best in our time.\n\nThe Church depends upon her children to spread the beneficial influence\nof her social doctrines.  \"The great work of the Catholics, after the\nwar, will be,\" said Father McNabb, O.P., \"to bring the vision of the\nBride of Christ, the Catholic Church, before the millions of our\ncountrymen.\"  \"These countrymen of ours are blind and often bigoted,\"\nadds Henry Somerville.\n\nThere are Catholics who make this blindness and consequent bigotry an\nexcuse for their own narrowness and selfishness, for their neglect to\nshare in the nation's work, for their refusal to co-operate in\npatriotic, civic and social undertakings as if they were none of our\nbusiness.  The nation's business is our business.  If we serve the\nnation efficiently, we serve the Church.  We take then the best means\nto open the eyes of our fellow-countrymen to the fact that Catholicism\nis not uncivic.  If we make ourselves valued, anti-Catholic prejudice\nwill be dispelled.\n\nCardinal Bourne in his letter on \"Social Reform\" speaks very pointedly\nof the duty of every Catholic in this matter.  His pronouncement and\nthat of the American Hierarchy are the most notable declarations from\nCatholic sources on \"Social Re-construction.\"  \"It is admitted on all\nhands,\" says the English Primate, \"that a new order of things, new\nsocial conditions between the different sections in which Society is\ndivided will arise as a consequence of the destruction of the formerly\nexisting conditions.\n\n\"The very foundations of political and social life, of our economic\nsystem, of morals, of religion are being sharply scrutinized, and this,\nnot only by a few writers and speakers, but by a very large number of\npeople in every class of life, especially among the workers.\"\n\nThe nation's business is our business.  The true love of country\ndemands from Catholics at this critical stage of our history to throw\nall their energies into the various social activities.  Society\nthroughout the world is shaken in its very foundations.  This universal\nunrest in the political, social and economic spheres is a decided mark\nof the birth-throes of a new social order.  Therefore, we will conclude\nwith Cardinal Gibbons; \"The Church cannot remain an isolated factor in\nthe nation.  The Catholic Church possesses spiritual and moral\nresources which are at the command of the nation in every crisis.\"\n\nThe reform or remodelling of the social fabric, if it is to be\neffective and abiding, must ultimately rest on the definite and\nunchanging principles of morality.  These principles constitute the\nmoral law, as physical principles are the basis of the physical law.\nErnest Fayle, in a very instructive article on \"Reconstruction,\" in the\nOctober number of the \"_London Quarterly Review_,\" makes a statement\nvery pertinent to this matter; \"The economic, political and social\nfactors in human life are so inextricably entangled that if we accept\nquality of life and not mere power or wealth as the touchstone of\nnational success we dare not, even in the consideration of economic or\npolitical questions, lose sight of the moral issues.\"\n\nThe Catholic Church has always been the teacher and guardian of that\nnatural moral law which stands as the foundation and buttress of the\nsocial edifice.  Her plans of Reconstruction rest on the eternal\nprinciples of equity which God has engraved on the human conscience and\nwhich the teachings of Christ have sanctioned and perfected.  In the\nlight of Catholic doctrine moral laws are definite and unchanging, for\nthey are the deliberate expression of the necessary and fundamental\nrelations upon which rests human nature.  They are the living, free\nexpression of man's place in creation.  The most elaborate schemes and\npowerful organizations are soulless without these basic principles of\nmorality and have but an ephemeral existence.\n\nIs it not, therefore, a great act of patriotism to try to throw into\nthe scales of the nation's destinies the mighty weight of\nindestructible and tried principles?  A growing respect is to be found\nfor the soundness, the wisdom and the justice of Catholic social\nprinciples, even in circles where our beliefs have not yet found\nacceptance.  True statesmen have always recognized the influence of the\nCatholic Church's doctrine in social matters, although they may not\nbelieve in the truth of her teachings.  They always looked upon her\nprinciples of social life as the ballast that steadies the ship on\nheaving seas.  To make the Church a spiritual ally, to recognize her\nmoral power and her far-reaching influence has always been considered\ngood diplomacy and clear-sighted statesmanship.\n\n\n_Catholic's Patriotism in Public Life_\n\nReconstruction is the great work of the hour; co-operation is a duty\nevery Catholic owes to Church and country.  What definite and concrete\nform of co-operation will that responsibility assume?  There is the\nproblem.  Our first duty, in the matter, lies, we believe, in a greater\nparticipation in public life.  Too long have we stood aloof from\nmovements that aim at the social welfare of the community.  A false\ntimidity and an erroneous conception of our responsibilities have\nestranged us, to a great extent, from the various activities of\nnational life.  This isolation has been most prejudicial to our\nCatholic laity, for it has fostered in their ranks disinterestedness\nand often apathy.  \"With regard to the necessity of Catholics to obtain\npositions on public bodies, Cardinal Bourne stated that very often\nCatholics were urged to take part in public affairs, by becoming\nelected to public bodies in order that they might safeguard Catholic\nprinciples.  That was a great good--a very laudable object--but it was\nnot the highest object.  The great object was that out of the fulness\nof their Faith they might give to their fellow-countrymen the\nprinciples that flowed from that Faith, so that little by little there\nmight be built up in the consciousness of the nation that belief in and\nuse of those sound principles of the Catholic Faith which contained the\nonly solution of the difficulties with which they were faced.\"\n\n\"Too long have Catholics lived in isolation, allowing others to think\nand act for them.  It is indeed, high time that they felt the pulse of\nlife that beats in the real statesman, as distinct from mere\npolitician.  Duty demands that Catholics add their power of intellect\nand will to the similar power of other citizens anxious to help the\ncommonwealth.  We are not aliens in this land, not aliens by birth or\nprinciple.  As to the latter, I may say with all truth, that no one has\ngiven clearer expression to the basic principles of democracy than the\nCatholic theologians, Suarez and Bellarmine.\" [2]\n\nThis attitude of aloofness, during the coming period of reconstruction\nespecially, would be profoundly un-Catholic.  Our active participation\nin public life will give us occasion to dispel prejudice, to offset\nsubversive doctrines, to advocate in spite of failures and bigotry the\nprinciples of Christian sociology.  We are firm believers in the\nprevailing strength of ideas.  They are indestructible; they rule\nsooner or later.  They may take time to crystalize into convictions,\nbut the force of mental gravitation must ultimately prevail.  And after\nall, Reconstruction, as Dr. J. J. Walsh stated, is more a question of\nremaking the map of man's mind than that of remodelling the map of\nEurope.\n\nThe Catholics of England give us, in this matter as in many others, a\nbeautiful example to follow.  During the war they formed a \"British\nCatholic Information Society,\" having at its service \"the Catholic War\nNews Office.\"  The result of their aggressive policy is the public\nrecognition of the value of the Catholic Church by the English people\nin the national work of Reconstruction.  We would here refer the reader\nto Father Plater's letter on \"Catholics and Reconstruction\" for further\ndetails in this interesting matter.  Like our Catholic brothers of\nEngland, let us also take our place boldly in the broad daylight of\npublic life.  We have ideas to give to the Nation, let us give them.\nCanadian liberty, without doubt, exists for our doctrines as it does\nfor the subversive theories of State-Socialism.  We have no apology to\nmake for our ideas.  They stand on their own merits and have been\nvindicated by the great acid test of time.  Yes, we possess the great\ncurative and creative forces for social Reconstruction; We have only to\ncall them into play.\n\n\n_The Catholic Solution_\n\nIn season and out of season, in the press and on the platform, in\nprivate gatherings and public meetings, through every medium of social\ncontrol, let the people hear the Catholic solution of the problems now\nfacing the nations of the world.  We have a message to deliver.  That\nmessage, if it comes to the people shining like a steel blade, sounding\nlike the blare of a trumpet, if it wells up from a fiery heart and\ndrops from burning lips--that message will be heard.  In this period of\nstrain and suffering the public mind is keyed to its highest pitch,\nready to snap at any moment.  Strong feeling has generated in many\nminds intellectual hysteria.  \"In war time,\" says E. H. Griggs, \"there\nis a curious paradox of widening radicalism of thought, with constantly\ndecreasing freedom of action and expression.  When the discrepancy\nbecomes too great, you have the explosion,--a revolution.\"  Therefore\nin this time of intellectual ferment, the continued affirmation of\ntruth, and the persistent statement of principles are in themselves a\nhighly valuable service, which we are bound to give to the world.  The\nthought of the human mind, like rays of sun-light, focused on one\npoint, acquires the burning power of conviction.\n\nParticipation in public life develops conviction; conviction repeatedly\nasserts itself; continued assertion creates opinion; and public opinion\nis without doubt one of the most universal powers at work in the world.\nIn every sphere of life you can feel the constant pressure of this\ntremendous influence.  It may well be named the \"current\" of public\nopinion.  Draining to its profit the latent and loitering powers of the\nindividual thinker, silently, irresistibly it moves on; checked, it\nbecomes an angry whirlpool of confused and gyrating waters; harnessed\nto the wheels of national life, it will transform its energies into\nlight, heat and power.\n\nThe creation and the spreading of Catholic opinion in social matters\nshould be in our mind, the ultimate goal of our activities, for it is\nthe greatest asset we can contribute to the vast work of\nReconstruction.  As Lord Morley said, \"great economic and social forces\nflow with tidal sweep over communities half conscious of that which is\nbefalling them.  Wise statesmen are those who foresee what time is\nbringing and try to shape institutions and to mould men's thought and\npurpose in accordance with the change that is silently surrounding\nthem.\"\n\nTime, you readily understand, will not allow us to dwell upon the\nvarious problems which Reconstruction will bring before the country.\nOur aim, now, is rather to awaken the sense of responsibility, stir the\nsleeping conscience into watchfulness, and give to our Catholic men and\nwomen the stimulating thought of co-operation.  Our country is being\nre-created in its political, social and economic life; to be a living\nfactor in that \"re-creation\" is the duty of the hour.\n\nBefore bringing these remarks of a rather general character to a close\nallow us to mark for your attention the leading problems.  They will be\nas landmarks planted to guide you on the way.  In the international\norder, the problem of resetting nations on a new basis by a \"just and\ndurable peace\" now faces the world.  Racial and language problems\ncommand our attention in the national order.  In the political world\nideas are to be readjusted as to the nature, powers and obligations of\nthe State.  Of late, the monopoly of the State has been asserting\nitself so strongly that one is led to believe the old pagan principle\nof the supremacy of the State will once more reign supreme.  When\nnations have ceased to give to God what belongs to God, they give to\nCaesar alone what belongs to Caesar and what belongs to God.\n\nThe social order will witness demobilization and immigration.  Who\ncannot grasp the importance of these great problems with their various\nand intricate issues?  The greatest transformations are, perhaps,\nreserved for the economic order; capital and labor, efficient and\ngreater production of industry and agriculture, the living wage, and\nuplifting of the workman's status, etc.  In the educational order the\nbattle will be greater, for there is a great tendency to centralize, to\nfederalize education, under the plea of \"national schools.\"\n\nThe religious order will see tremendous efforts for union among the\nvarious non-Catholic denominations; \"social service\" will be their\ncenter of unity, the common field of action.\n\nVarious and important, as you see, are the problems that confront us in\nthe realms of human activity.  Now, bear in mind, the Catholic doctrine\nhas a solution for each problem and it is your duty to give it.\nKnights of Columbus, as you helped the Church to solve the problems of\nthe war, so will you also help to solve the greater problems of peace.\nIf you wish to be the body-guard of the Church, your mission is to lend\nyour noble and generous efforts to your spiritual leaders in this great\nwork of reconstruction.  For, of this reconstructive period and its\ngreat opportunities for militant and active Catholics, we may say what\nCarlysle said of the period that followed the French Revolution; \"Joy\nwas it, in that age, to be living--and to be young, was very heaven.\"\nThe task indeed is enormous, but the incentive most inspiring.\n\nWe are bound to meet with the fluctuations and uncertainties of the\nhuman mind, particularly in such times of readjustment and intellectual\nunrest.  Let us then never forget that since the coming of Christ and\nthe establishment of His Church on earth the principles of His teaching\nare for all nations.  The sun of truth has its meridian in Rome, on the\nrock of Peter.  There it stands at its zenith, in the permanent blaze\nof a perennial mid-day; there it sets the time for the Catholic world\namid the ever-changing and conflicting problems of human history.\n_Stat Crux dum volvitur orbis_.\n\n\n\n[1] A speech delivered in the Assembly Hall of the Knights of Columbus,\nSt. John, N.B., December 22, 1918.  \"The Catholic Mind\" of New York\nreproduced it in one of its issues.\n\n[2] R. H. Tierney, S.J., Editor of America, at the Catholic Federation\nmeeting, Brooklyn, September 15, 1918.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\nWHOM DO MEN SAY THAT THE SON OF MAN IS?  (MATH. XVI.-13.)--PUBLIC\nOPINION AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH\n\n_What is Public Opinion--Its Power--How is it Formed--Public Opinion\nand the Catholic Church--Our Duties to Public Opinion._\n\n\nNumerous and strong are the influences at play in human life.  Acting\nand reacting on the free will of man they are ever at work moulding his\ncharacter and shaping his destiny.  Like the waves of an incoming tide\nthey are beating the shores of our heart; their triumph is to carry\naway our liberty on their receding waters.\n\nSurrounding influences for good or for evil are indeed, to a great\nextent, the determining factors of our moral life.  Day by day they\nwrite our history and with it the history of the world; for, the life\nof every man is but a line on the great page of his nation's history\nand the history of a nation, but a chapter in that of humanity.\n\nOf all the influences underlying human activities in the moral, social,\neconomic, and political world, one of the most universal and most\neffective is beyond doubt, nowadays, _Public Opinion_.  We may well\nname it the \"_current_\" of Public Opinion.  In every sphere of life one\ncan indeed feel the constant pressure of its tremendous power.  Like\nthe waters of a mill-race constantly and irresistibly the stream of\nPublic Opinion sweeps on.  It is very difficult to determine exactly\nwhere lies its strength; it is nowhere and everywhere.  Unconscious of\nits swollen powers it spends its energies for the welfare of the\ncommunity, or, unfortunately too often, loses itself in an angry\ntorrent of destruction.\n\nYou thwart its onward march: it will bury your barrier under its\nlaughing waters or . . . sweep it away.  You ride with it: it will\ngladly carry you.  You check it: its troubled waves will rise angry\naround you and engulf you.\n\nSuch is the \"_current_\" of Public Opinion.  To direct this great power,\nto harness its tremendous forces, to convert them into light, heat, and\nenergy and set the wheels of moral, social, and political life running\nwith greater smoothness, rapidity, and strength, should be the noble\neffort and the great task of every serious-minded man.\n\nBy no idle whim or sheer literary piquancy have we coupled _Public\nOpinion and the Catholic Church_.  The inevitable relations that exist\nbetween Public Opinion and the various predominating factors of a\nnation should necessarily interest every true Canadian.  Among these\nfactors the Catholic Church stands pre-eminent.  Her beneficial\ninfluences and her ready solutions to the various social and moral\nproblems that confront the world, cannot, even to the most prejudiced,\nbe passed unnoticed.  So no matter what our spiritual allegiance may\nbe, the relation of Public Opinion to the Catholic Church should be of\nthe greatest interest to any one who has at heart the common welfare.\nIn Western Canada particularly, where Public Opinion has such a sway,\nthis subject, we presume, must be of service both to those of the\nCatholic Faith and to those of a different persuasion.\n\n      *      *      *      *      *      *\n\n_What is Public Opinion--Its Power--How is it Formed?_\n\n1. _What is Public Opinion_?\n\nIdeas rule the world, but various are the effects ideas have on the\nminds of men.  On some minds they exercise only a passing influence;\nthey are then what we call \"_Impressions_\"; variable as lights and\nshadows over a summer lake they come and go.  Impressions are indeed\nonly on the surface of the mind, like foot-prints on the sand washed\naway by the next tide.\n\nWhen ideas take a stronger footing in our intelligence and are accepted\nwith a certain confidence, on their face-value or on the authority of\nsome leader, they become \"_Opinions_.\"  Loosely entertained and readily\nexchanged, opinions are the ordinary mental pabulum of the masses.\n\nFew minds see their ideas crystallized into \"_Convictions_.\"\nConvictions are permanent, unchangeable ideas: based on facts and\nsupported by satisfactory evidence, they rest on the bed-rock of truth.\nFew minds indeed, particularly on the larger and fundamental issues,\ncan claim the right to convictions.  For, convictions demand a breadth\nof vision and grasp of detail which are given but to few souls.  These\nminds, few in number, are the minds of leaders.  Their noble duty and\ngreat responsibility is to _Awaken_, _Stimulate_, and _Organize_ the\nthinking of the people.  Their thoughts, their ideas, are on the\nunchartered sea of truth as the tossing buoy or lighted beacon from\nwhich the unthinking masses take their course.  Rather than go to the\npains of thinking for themselves the crowds leave this task to a few\nand content themselves with ready-made opinions, as these float by with\nthe tide of the hour.  Few make up their minds; they are made up for\nthem.\n\nThe common opinion which reflects the mind of the great majority,\nembodies the prevailing idea, the universal sentiment, and directs the\ncommon action is called. . . _Public Opinion_.\n\n\n2. _Power of Public Opinion_.\n\nYou readily see, by its very nature, the tremendous power of Public\nOpinion.  It is the \"reason why,\" the basis of appreciation, the norm\nof conduct of the great mass of the people.  As we stated before,\nPublic Opinion is like the stream that drains to its profit the\nloitering energies of the individual mind, and makes them tributaries\nthat swell its volume and compress its course.  Who can analyze the\npowers of this \"_Organized Thinking_\" of the people in a democracy?\nWho can measure the force of these sweeping currents, of these tidal\nwaves of Public Opinion?\n\nIn fact, Public Opinion may be considered in our modern societies as\nthe greatest driving power.  For, Public Opinion is the vision of the\nunthinking multitude, and vision is the first and foremost of\nconstructive or destructive forces.  It lights the way and invites\naction accordingly.  Marvellous indeed is the sweep of the tide of\nPublic Opinion in various realms of human activities.  Its ebb and\nflow--although frequently beyond analysis, are felt on every shore.\n\nIn the world of finance,--and this is the lowest in the scale of real\nvalues,--is not that fragile but mighty factor we call credit based on\nPublic Opinion?  For, credit is but the general opinion of the\ncommunity on the possibilities of the industry or undertaking in which\nits capital is involved, and on the honesty and ability of the\nmanagement.\n\nWhat has weakened the moral fibre of our modern society so much that at\ntimes one wonders if we are living in the Christian era?  If the home\nis now so often desecrated by theories of free love and trial\nmarriages, if the cradles are empty, if the very sense of shame is a\nthing of the past, if the most elementary principles of morality are\nquestioned, is it not because the public conscience is being warped,\nchloroformed, deadened by a frenzied propaganda of a corrupted Public\nOpinion?\n\nHas not the politician and the legislator the ear to the wind, the eye\non the running tides and cross currents of thought, to know and sound\nPublic Opinion?  Like the skilful and watchful pilot, he counts with\nthe set of the tide and catches it at its crest.  He knows the exact\nheight of the rising tide that will float him and his cargo over the\nbar . . . of a coming election--.  This tide of public feeling has\ncarried some to the high seas of success but left many stranded on the\ndesert shores.  Many public men indeed have set out on its angry waters\nto brave its fury . . . and have never returned.  \"In our times of\nDemocracy when the \"competitive\" principle has replaced the\n\"hereditary,\" not the kings, princes and nobles, but bankers,\nmerchants, railroad magnates, capitalists, politicians, editors,\neducators, writers and artists occupy the high seats, hold the baton\nand beat the time for the great social orchestra.\"  (Ross-Social\nPsychology.)  \"Power and influence,\" said Morley, \"no longer reside in\nthe Crown but in the strong, subtle forces called Public Opinion: and\nthat Public Opinion is apt to involve fatal contentment with simple\nanswers to complex questions.\"\n\nIn the great international life of nations Public Opinion also holds\nthe reins.  This power manifests itself particularly at the great\nturning points of History, such as we are now witnessing.  There is\nalways then resistance between conflicting forces; and resistance, we\nknow, strengthens the current.  What power was at work for the last\nfifty years and marshalled, on that fatal August day of 1914, the\nformidable army that swept over Belgium, France and Russia?  Public\nOpinion created by the military caste in Germany!  What secret and\ngrowing force made of the Allies' contemptible army of yesterday the\ncrushing victorious army of to-day?--The invincible power of Public\nOpinion!--It leaped from the very depths of the wounded heart and\noutraged conscience of nations, and created in a few months that\nunconquerable army of inexhaustible reserves upon which the Allies\nrelied until their final triumph.  It fired the morale of our armies\nand smashed the way to victory.  For those who could not go to the\nbattle-field, it kept the homefires burning and fringed with the silver\nlining of radiant hope the dark clouds that hung over our horizon for\nfour long, dragging, weary years.\n\n\n3. _How Public Opinion is Formed_.\n\nYou may ask how are the thoughts of the multitude so marshalled as to\nmake the unit of Public Opinion.  As we already remarked, the thinking\npower of the ordinary man does not go _far_, _wide_, nor _deep_.  His\nfacility of absorbing ideas is far greater than his power of valuating\nthem.  He generally accepts as real value any thing that bears the\nstamp of current opinion.  His belief in the value and weight of number\nis without recall; his absolute trust in what Bryce calls \"the fatalism\nof multitude\" is beyond appeal.  He lives and thrives on the\n_surrounding mental atmosphere_.\n\nHow is this atmosphere created?  By the continued, persevering\nrepetition of the same ideas; by the vesting of these same ideas in the\nattractive garb of self-interest, passion, fancy and vogue.  On this\nprocess, we all know by experience, is based the ever youthful power of\n_Advertisement_ . . . and of _Fashion_.\n\nAdvertisement!  Modern business is built to a great extent on the\nmysterious allurement, the attractive invitation and innocent\ncamouflage of the advertisement that you find sparkling everywhere, on\nthe flashy poster, in the show-window, in the magazine, in the daily\npaper.  Without willingness to admit our weakness, we fall victims to\nthis wizard that we despised yesterday and court to-day, and line up at\nthe counter . . . for a _Special Sale_, an _Astonishing Bargain_.  \"We\nare so thoroughly accustomed to the exploits of the advertiser that we\ntake them as a matter of course, rarely pausing to appreciate the art,\nor at least, the artfulness with which we have been lured into the\nacceptance of his ideas.\"\n\n_Fashion_!  Who can analyze this power so great, so universal?  Who can\nexplain the psychology of this fact?  Every spring and fall of the year\nDame Fashion has an opening-ball--Paris plays the tune, New York wields\nthe baton, the ladies of the world . . . keep time . . . and the\ngentlemen pay the piper.\n\nWe mention these facts of every day life to illustrate the permeating\nand driving force of an idea, when constantly kept before the mind.\nAnd what advertisement and fashion are in the commercial and social\nlife, _Propaganda_ and _Publicity_ are in the world of thought.  The\npolicy of propaganda is to enlist the active co-operation of every\nvehicle of thought for the furtherance of an idea and to keep that idea\never before the public.  One readily sees the tremendous\nresponsibilities, and understands the flagrant abuses of those called\nto create and direct Public Opinion.  \"The supremacy of ideas,\" it was\nstated, \"gives the greatest places of opportunity to those who awaken,\nstimulate and organize the thinking of the people and especially the\nthinking of a people in a democracy.  The teacher's desk, the\npreacher's pulpit, the orator's platform, the writer and editor's\nsanctum--these are the places of true leadership, the thrones of real\npower.\"\n\nThis analysis of Public Opinion, of its power, of its formation will\nnow make us better understand its relations with the Catholic Church.\n\n\n_Public Opinion and the Catholic Church_.\n\nNowadays the relation of Public Opinion to the Catholic Church is,\ngenerally speaking, one of suspicion, frequently of silent contempt and\nvery often of open hostility.  This statement of fact may appear to\nmany too sweeping; its broadness may trouble the peaceful faith of\nothers.  Yet, history and every day experience prove the truth of our\nassertion.  We go further and claim that for the Church this condition\nwill, and must exist.  The Church, like Christ, her Founder and Master,\nis to be a \"_Sign of Contradiction_.\"  Her very name \"Catholic\" is a\nperennial witness to her sublime and admirable Catholicity, and thereby\nan abiding proof of her Divinity.  A Church that modifies her tenets\nand adjusts her moral standards to accommodate herself to the\nconveniences and fancies of the world is not, and cannot be the Church\nof Christ.  Now, as in the times of the Apostles, the Church \"_Is a\nSect that is everywhere spoken against_\"--\"_If ye were of the world_?\"\nsaid the Saviour, \"_the world would love his own; but ye are not of\nthis world, therefore the world hateth you_.\"  Yes, suspicion, contempt\nand hostility are the hall-marks of historic Christianity, for they are\nthe realization of Christ's promises to His Church, the fulfilment of\nHis prophesies.  This fact for a Christian who has eyes to see, and\nears to hear, is particularly noticeable when periodically a tidal wave\nof bigotry or open persecution strikes the Catholic Church, lashes\nitself into fury, washes the Rock of Peter with ugly foam . . . and\ndies away, ashamed of its own powerlessness and unfairness.\n\nViewing this relation of Public Opinion to the Catholic Church--not as\nan evidence of that spiritual conflict, often unconscious but ever\nreal--but as a fact, a historic reality, some may ask the proof of our\nrather bold statement.  Even those who are not of our Faith, and yet\nalways wish to be fair and broad in their dealings with the Catholic\nChurch, may question it.\n\nThe proof is very simple to give.  Public Opinion is against the\nCatholic Church, because the powers that create and maintain Public\nOpinion are against the Catholic Church.  Facts here speak for\nthemselves.\n\nThe Press--the Novel--the Periodical Literature--the Cinema--the\nStage--the Public School--the Academy and University Halls--the\nLegislative Assemblies . . . are without doubt the high voltage-wires\nthat receive, carry and distribute the current of Public Opinion.  Or\nrather, like the wireless stations they gather those invisible and\nimponderable waves of thought and feeling that are ever flashing\nthrough the intellectual and moral atmosphere of nations, and translate\ntheir message to the masses.  Between these powers and Public Opinion\nthere is a continuous action and reaction.  They are at the same time\nthe _moulders_ and _mirrors_ of Public Opinion.  They are its\n_masters_, but with the condition of being first its _servants_.\n\nOf all these creative forces none is greater and more universal than\nthe _Press_.  If Public Opinion is the king and master of the modern\nworld, the Press is assuredly his faithful and most active Prime\nMinister.  This chief executive has extended the kingdom of his master\nto the very confines of the civilized world.  Nothing has contributed\nmore to the rule of Public Opinion than the Press.  With it ideas and\nopinions run through the public mind as rapidly as the dispatches that\ncarry them.  \"Mental touch is no longer bound up with physical\nproximity.  With the telegraph to collect and transmit the expressions\nand signs of the ruling mood, and the fast mail to hurry to the eager\nclutch of waiting thousands the still damp sheets of the morning daily,\nremote people are brought as it were into one another's presence.\"\n(Ross-Social Psychology.)\n\nThe ordinary man now sees the world through his newspaper.  He absorbs\nfacts and principles with the shades and variations the daily paper\ngives them.  Reports of events and announcements of policies are\ncolored to suit the aims and opinions of the editors and proprietors.\nWindy platitudes--at least for those who know facts and have studied\nprinciples--become gospel truth for the unthinking mass.  Public\nOpinion is thus conscripted by an \"irresponsible power.\"  This\nirresponsibility of the Press is without doubt the greatest menace of\nthe day.  For, the opinions,--we mean to say--the propelling forces of\nthe silent millions are at its mercy. . . .  And these silent millions\nmake and unmake the world.\n\nThis great power of the Press is inimical to the Catholic Church.  By\npress, you will readily understand, we do not mean any particular\npaper, or a certain group of papers, but rather that formidable\nensemble of tremendous financial backing, of world-wide\ninformation-services, of chains of papers that encircle the globe, of\nthese various agencies that tap the telegraphic wires of every country\nand keep the cables hot.  The Hearst papers alone reach simultaneously\nfour or five million readers daily.  From New York to San Francisco one\nman is leading the minds of these millions \"to conclusions that he\nwants them to arrive at\"--What Hearst is for the United States, Lord\nNorthcliffe is for England.\n\nThis great press is against the Catholic Church.  The total suppression\nof truths and of facts; the conspiracy of silence--often more dangerous\nthan an open attack; the coloring of news with shades of thought suited\nto a definite purpose; the partial admission of truth and the maimed\nrelation of facts; the bold assertion of deliberate falsehoods; the\ndeceptive headlines--and the people live on headlines; the insinuating\ntitle which is often in flagrant contradiction to the dispatch it\nunderlines:--these are a few of its various strategies of attack.  \"The\nPope and the War,\" \"Quebec and the War,\" \"The Guelph Novitiate\nIncident,\" are recent instances of what we refer to.\n\nSome may object that the Catholics are of a rather susceptible nature\nand always expect \"privileges\"--No, we only want the privileges of\ntruth, we mean fair play, equality, and justice.\n\nWhat we say of the Press can also be said of periodical literature and\nmodern fiction.  \"The very nature of periodical literature,\" says\nCardinal Newman, \"broken into small wholes and demanded punctually to\nan hour involves the habit of extempore philosophy . . . and that\nphilosophy, we know is not Christian philosophy.  The writers can give\nno better guarantee for the philosophical truth of their principles\nthan their popularity at the moment and their happy conformity in\nethical character to the age which admires them.\"\n\nAny one who has kept in touch with the stream of modern fiction is well\naware to what extent its waters are polluted and have contaminated the\nmind and heart of our present generation.  When the world has been\nslaking its literary thirst at sources such as H. G. Wells, Galsworthy,\nIbanez--only to mention a few--should we be astonished that public\nopinion is drifting to paganism?  If theories of \"Free Love\" and\nDivorce are rampant in our society, the responsibility to a great\nextent lies with our modern novel.  The novels that are written and\nread, indicate the mind and morals of a people.\n\nWhat could we not write of the _Moving-Picture_ and the _Stage_?\nSuffice it to state with Rev.  R. A. Knox--then an anglican minister,\nand now a catholic priest: \"When a nation has lost its hold of first\ntruths and its love for clear issues, which has had its morality sapped\nby sentiment, thinks of Christian marriage in the light of the\nproblem-play . . . the moral fibre of that nation is gone.\"  For, the\nvision of life and the interpretation of its pleasures and sorrows,\nthat come from the glare of the foot-lights, or the dimness of the\nMovie-Screen, are surely not that given by the Catholic Church.  Over\nthe screen of the movies and the proscenium of the stage could we not\nvery often write what the author of the play \"Enjoy Life,\" Max Hermann\nNeisse, said lately to a Berlin sensation-seeking audience that was\nunderlying with frantic applause the unsavory remarks and filthy\ninuendos of the closing act: \"Pardon me, I did not write this act.--You\ndictated it to me.\"\n\nIn pandering to the morbid curiosity and lustful passions of a\npleasure-mad world, the stage, the moving-picture, the novel, the\nillustrated weekly are leading Public Opinion to depths before unknown.\nThe abyss calls to the abyss.  Ways of living always follow ways of\nthinking.  Should we then be astonished that crime-wave after\ncrime-wave is sweeping the shores of every country.\n\nExisting conditions in our universities, public academies and schools\nare not of a nature to conciliate Public Opinion with the Catholic\nChurch.  We know perfectly well that in our seats of higher-learning\nthe Church is looked upon as an effete Institution, as something of the\npast that has kept a certain air of respectability.  Her teachings and\nher history are there viewed in the light of the \"evolution theory.\"\nWho has not read, a few years ago, that terrible indictment against the\nantichristian education of the American Universities, as it appeared in\na celebrated article, under the title: \"Blasting at the Rock of Ages?\"\n\nIn our legislative assemblies, here and abroad, do we not find the\neducational problem the burning problem for Church and State?  Over the\nhead of the child swords clash, for the child of to-day is the man of\nto-morrow.  The stand the Catholic Church takes on the educational\nproblem--from which She never deviates--has always stirred Public\nOpinion against her in political and social circles.  We have only to\nmention \"separate schools\" to awaken the memories of a long and bitter\nstruggle.\n\nThe same inimical relations dominate the International Order.  Rome and\nits world-wide moral influence have been deliberately ostracized in the\nrecent and unhappy attempt to form a League of Nations.\n\nSo the tide of Public Opinion sweeps upon tide.  Everywhere its heavy\nwaves break into a foamy froth on the Rock of Peter.  We conclude:\n_Public Opinion is against the Catholic Church_.\n\n\n_Our Duties to Public Opinion_.\n\nThe antagonism against the Catholic Church is an overt fact.  What are\nthe causes?  _A distorted vision_, born of misrepresentation of facts\nand misrepresentation of doctrine and practice; the _blind prejudice_\nagainst which our refutation of facts and explanation of principles are\nof little avail: _these are the two main causes to which can be traced\nthis universal opposition_.  And indeed no one will tax us with\nexaggeration were we to repeat here what Tertullian wrote in his\n\"Defence of the Church,\" a hundred years after St. John's death: \"_They\nthink the Catholics to be the cause of every public calamity, of every\nnational ill_.\"  Have we not in our own country, organizations that\nlive and thrive only on enmity to the Church of Rome?  They cannot meet\nwithout passing resolutions of condemnation of the Church, of the Pope,\nof separate schools, etc.  We all know how often Public Opinion, in our\ncountry, has been inflamed by prejudiced appeals to racial and\nreligious feelings.  Racial antagonism itself is only a cover for\nanti-Catholic fanaticism.\n\nLet us, by clear and sound thinking, by definite and bold expression\n_enlighten Public Opinion_.  To-day Public Opinion is shifting as the\nwinds, swinging like a boat with the ebb and flow of the tide.  These\nare days of loose thought, wild words, catchy phrases, especially in\nsocial and religious matters.  Words and phrases are passed off as\nideas, and fragments of an idea as the whole idea.  Let ideas always be\nclear-cut, with a sharp, definite relief.  Hazy notions are of no\nconstructive value, and always full of danger, particularly in times of\nintellectual ferment, such as we are now going through.  They are on\nthe great sea of Truth as the smoke-screens, behind which lurk the\ndestroyers of error.\n\nCardinal Newman concludes one of his letters on \"The Position of\nCatholics\"--which bears on the subject of Catholics making themselves\nknown: \"Protestantism is fierce because it does not know you; ignorance\nis its strength; error is its life; therefore bring yourselves before\nit, press yourselves upon it, force yourselves into notice against its\nwill.  Oblige men to know you.  Politicians and philosophers would be\nagainst you, but not the people, if they knew you.\"\n\n_Create Public Opinion_ by _individual and concerted action_, that is\nour next duty.  Truth spreads, not like the devastating torrent, but\nlike the tide.  From individual to individual as from pebble to pebble\nit slowly creeps in and spreads the silent power of its rising waters.\n\"No one ever talks freely about anything without contributing\nsomething, let it be ever so little, to the unseen forces which carry\nthe race on to its final destiny.  Even if he does not make a positive\nimpression he counteracts or modifies some other impression, or sets in\nmotion some train of ideas in some one else, which helps to change the\nface of the world.\"  Godkin \"Problems of Modern Democracy.\" 221-224.\n\nBy the continued repetition of truth and the persevering refutation of\nfalsehood we will help to create around us, in our limited sphere of\naction, a sane Public Opinion.  But it is above all by the radiance of\nour moral life that truth, particularly religious truth, will spread.\nReligion, as we know, is of the moral order; its dogmas, precepts and\nsacraments reach out into that domain.  Paul Bourget, the celebrated\nFrench writer sums up one of his most striking novels in this phrase:\n\"_At Forty-three_\" which he calls the noon hour of life--\"_man must\nlive what he believes or he will eventually believe as he lives_.\"  To\nlive up to our principles is always the best proof of our belief in\nthem.\n\n_Concerted action_ will extend the benefits of this individual action\nto the creation of Public Opinion in the Community, in Society at\nlarge.  As all great powers, Public Opinion is courted; this courtship\nis \"_Propaganda_.\"  Truth requires propaganda as life needs\ntransmission.  An efficient propaganda takes myriad forms but its\npurpose is always the same, i.e., give to others our ideas and through\nthem organize the public mind.  Distribution of literature, lectures,\nthe press, the novel, the cinema, bureaus of information, active\nparticipation in public life are vital factors of an efficiently\norganized propaganda.  The recent Northcliffe propaganda, followed by\nthe Hearst propaganda are typical illustrations of how the public mind\nof a Country was swayed from a pro-British to an Anti-English attitude.\n\n_The Direction of Public Opinion_ is the ultimate triumph of\npropaganda.  This is obtained when our principles pass into the warp\nand woof of the social textures which are always in the making on the\ngreat loom of our nation's life.  Ideas have their full value when they\nare extended to social and political issues.  It is only then that they\ninfluence a nation as such.  For our lives are knitted with the lives\nof others, and their action and reaction upon them form our public\nlife.  \"In the formation and guidance of the public opinion which\nultimately determines public action, Catholics bear responsibility and\nmust take their part.\"  (Cardinal Bourne, at the Catholic Congress of\nEngland, 1920.)\n\nAs Catholics we have a contribution to make to the great upbuilding of\nour Country.  There is in every problem an ethical side, an unchanging\nand unchangeable principle, the bedrock on which it rests.   This\nprinciple, the Catholic doctrine possesses; we know it, we are sure of\nit.  Why not then have that aggressiveness of militant Catholics who\ntake advantage of every opportunity, without being obtrusive?  Are we\nnot too apologetic in our Public life?  We would not suggest in the\nleast to be discourteously aggressive, although at times we are tempted\nto do so and seem justified in our retaliation.  But there is no reason\nwhy we should apologize for our principles, for the solutions we have\nto offer.  The sun of Canadian liberty shines also for us and for what\nwe stand; we have our place under the shade of the \"Maple Leaf.\"\n\nMay we add a word for our non-Catholic friends.  They also have duties\ntowards Public Opinion in its relation with the Catholic Church.\n\n_Receptiveness of mind_ is, in our estimation, the first and most\nimportant duty of the non-Catholic.  Open-mindedness was named by\nConfucius \"mental hospitality.\"  It opens the door to truth by allowing\nourselves to be convinced by the strength of argument and the weight of\nevidence.  This state of receptivity permits the mind to correct its\ndistorted vision, and to see facts and principles as they really are.\nFreedom of mind enables those who possess it to see things in their\ntrue proportions.\n\n_Fair-mindedness_ will overcome prejudice, the great obstacle in\nmatters of Religion.  Prejudice is made of a coarse and impenetrable\nfibre, of a close woven texture; it is the product of numerous and\nvarious influences.  The ordinary causes of this pre-judgment or mental\ntorsion are an habitual intellectual outlook resulting from education\nand surrounding influences, and a mental laziness which fails to\nquestion its own attitude and to pursue principles to their logical\nconclusions, and problems to their solution.  This explains how\nreluctantly the mind, in religious matters particularly, will accept\nviews contrary to those with which it has been familiar since early\nyouth and which time and surroundings have but strengthened.  A\nstraight-forward appeal to _fairmindedness_ is alone able to break down\nthis barrier.\n\nDuties are in proportion to the responsibilities they entail.  Public\nOpinion, as we have seen, is a tremendous power but it is the power of\na high explosive which misdirected and ill-used will spread disaster.\nLeadership is the spark that ignites the charge, is responsible for its\ndriving force.  In the days of real intellectual leadership the mastery\nof ideas prevailed and Public Opinion was considered as the triumph of\nan idea.  But in our days of so called democratic equality the centre\nof gravity of this power has shifted from the leader to the multitude.\nDe Tocqueville in his book \"Democracy in America\" [1] has a remarkable\npage, illustrating this point.  \"The nearer the people,\" he writes,\n\"are drawn to a common level of an equal and similar condition the less\nprone each man becomes to place implicit faith in a certain man or\ncertain classes of men.  But his readiness to believe the multitude\nincreases and opinion is more than ever the mistress of the world.  Not\nonly is common opinion the only guide which private judgment retains\namong democratic people, but amongst such a people it possesses a power\ninfinitely beyond what it has elsewhere.  At periods of equality men\nhave no faith in one another by reason of their common resemblance; but\nthis very resemblance gives them almost unbounded confidence in the\njudgment of the public; for it would not seem probable, as they are all\nendowed with equal means of judging, but that the greater truth should\ngo with the greater number.  The public has therefore among a\ndemocratic people a singular power which aristocratic nations cannot\nconceive of; for it does not persuade to certain opinions, but it\nimpresses them and infuses them in the intellect by a sort of enormous\npressure of the minds of all upon the reason of each.\"\n\nTo this prestige of vast numbers Bryce has given a name.  \"Out of the\nmingled feelings that the multitude will prevail and that the\nmultitude, because it will prevail, must be right, there grows a\nself-distrust, a despondency, a disposition to fall into line, to\nacquiesce in the dominant opinion, to submit thought as well as action\nto the encompassing powers of numbers.\"\n\n\"This tendency to acquiescence and submission, this sense of\ninsignificance of individual effort, this belief that the affairs of\nmen are swayed by large forces whose movements may be studied but\ncannot be turned, I have ventured to call it \"_The Fatalism of the\nMultitude_.\"  It is often confounded with the tyranny of the majority,\nbut is at the bottom different though, of course, its existence makes\ntyranny by the majority easier and more complete. . . .  In the\nfatalism of the multitude there is neither _legal_ nor _moral_\ncompulsion; there is merely a loss of _resisting power_, a diminished\nsense of personal responsibility of the duty to battle for one's own\nopinion, such as has been bred in some people, by the belief of an over\nmastering fate.\" [2]\n\nOne can readily grasp the dangers of Public Opinion at the mercy of\nblatant agitators and unscrupulous leaders.  They have no idea to\npromote, but only a feeling to exploit.  They flatter Public Opinion to\ngain it.  They appear to consult it when in reality they are creating\nand directing it.  They catch the restless and undirecting currents of\npopular feeling when they are seeking an outlet and swing them slowly\nat first but with a growing impetus in the channels of their own\ninterest or of the party they represent.  The people are deluded into\nthinking that they are their own leaders and masters.  The feeling of\nunrest that now prevails is due to this abuse of Public Opinion.  Like\nchildren the leaders of nations have been playing with this wire of\nhigh voltage.  Should we be surprised to see the world suffer deadly\nshocks from whence it should receive light and power?\n\nWe are now at one of the most momentous periods of history.   Never\nhave clear thinking, earnest expression and concerted action been more\nneeded than now.  The world is ringing with wild words and dying from\nloose thinking.  \"The persistent statement of principles and the union\nof all true conservative forces are absolutely necessary, if we wish to\nbring the nation safe through this agonizing period and make the world\nsafe for democracy,\" as President Wilson said.\n\nTherefore we claim that it is for the greatest benefit of the community\nat large to have Public Opinion enlightened as to the value of the\nChurch as a reconstructive factor.\n\n\"_Great have been the Problems of War_!\"  But, with Clemenceau, we also\nare realizing--and some countries, with bitter deception and depressing\nsorrow, \"_That greater still are the Problems of Peace_.\"\n\n\n\n[1] Vol. II., Chap. II.\n\n[2] Bryce--\"The American Commonwealth,\" Vol. II., Chap. 84.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\nTRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE[1]\n\n(Jo. VIII, 32)\n\n_Facts--Principles--Policy of the Catholic Truth Society--Its value for\nthe Church in Western Canada._\n\n\nTruth and liberty, error and license are inseparable partners.  The\nmeasure of truth gives the measure of true liberty, just as the degree of\nerror tells the degree of bondage.  This is a logical necessity, a\nnatural consequence.  The Master emphasized it when He said: \"And you\nshall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free.\"  These pregnant\nwords of Christ are the charter of Christian civilisation and mark the\npassing of expediency as the supreme rule of human liberty.\n\nThis explicit confidence in the abiding power of Truth and in its\nnecessary relation with our moral and religious life has prompted the\ncreation of the Catholic Truth Society and inspired its policy.  Never\nwas any Society more useful nor so well adapted to the conditions of\npresent times.\n\nThe world nowadays is fast drifting from its Christian moorings and\ntaking to the high seas of modern paganism.  The outlook on human life is\nas in the days of Greece and Rome.  The old cry: _panem et\ncirceuses_!--is to be found on the lips of our multitudes and reflects\nthe aspirations of their life.  In the social realm, State-monopoly is\nfast absorbing the individual and the family, and is heralded as the\nsupreme ideal of human society.  A speedy and complete return to\nChristian principles will alone re-establish the world on its proper\naxis.  Christian Truth shall again make the world free and save it from\nthe bondage of neo-paganism.  For, history and experience prove that\nthere is nothing more tyrannical than that bondage--let it be the bondage\nof Czardom or Bolshevism--which comes to man under the cover and name of\nliberty.  In the present universal unrest, so widely and so emphatically\nvoiced throughout the world, the mission of the Catholic Truth Society\nappears as most providential.  The spreading of Catholic Truth will help\nthe world to reconquer its liberties and, with them, true civilization.\n\nTo state facts, discuss principles and advocate policies, in connection\nwith the Catholic Truth Society of Canada, particularly in the West, is\nthe object of this chapter.\n\n\n_Facts._\n\nThe Catholic Truth Society was born in England; November 5th, 1884, was\nits birthday; Mr. Britten,[2] its honored and devoted parent.  The\nactivities of the Anglican Church inspired this great Catholic layman to\ncounteract the influence of its propaganda.  Tract for tract, pamphlet\nfor pamphlet, lecture for lecture, advertisement for advertisement was\nthe plan of campaign of our new militant leader.  To marshal all the\ntremendous forces of the \"printed word\" for the service and defence of\nMother Church was his noble ambition.  He had implicit faith in the\neverlasting vitality which lies concealed in the divine seed of the Word\nof God.  He knew that by spreading it broadcast, it would necessarily\nfall on prepared and expectant soil, germinate and produce a hundred\nfold.  With the approbation of the Hierarchy and the generous support of\na few intelligent associates, the Society issued devotional,\ncontroversial, historical and dogmatic pamphlets.  Small in form, compact\nin doctrine, living in expression, these messengers of Truth winged their\nway through the world.  Little by little the Society's influence has\nspread everywhere and proved beyond doubt to be a great factor of\nCatholic apostolate in our time.\n\nFor twenty-one years (1888-1909) the annual meeting of the Catholic Truth\nSociety was the outstanding event of Catholic life in England.  It became\nthe field on which Catholic forces--clergy and laity--met yearly to\nexchange ideas, formulate plans, co-ordinate purpose and concentrate\nactivity.  This gathering gave rise to the \"National Catholic\nCongress\"--which now stands out as the annual review, the\n\"mass-manoeuvre,\" of the Church militant in England.  These meetings have\nmade of a handful of Catholics, many but neo-converts of yesterday, the\naggressive body we all admire, and from which we, in Canada, have many\nthings to learn.\n\nThe Editor of the \"Universe\" in his issue of Sept. 22, 1919, on the\noccasion of the C.T.S. Conference in Nottingham, paid a beautiful tribute\nto the Society.  \"This summing up of its activities is in itself an\ninspiration and incentive.  We are reminded by this Conference of the\ndebt and duty we owe to the society under whose auspices it meets.  The\ndebt is all-pervading.  How many Catholics in this country are there,\nteachers or taught, who have not profited directly and personally by the\nlabour and enterprise, freely given, of the comparatively few who, since\nthat memorable day of its foundation, November 5, 1884, have maintained,\nwritten for, and contributed to the expenses of the Catholic Truth\nSociety?  It has provided the apologist with an armoury and the teacher\nwith material; it has saved the scholarly many an hour of troublesome\nresearch; it has given the unlearned instruction suited to their needs;\nit has given the masses of our people the popular Catholic literature\nthey want; it has been a veritable sleuth-hound on the track of traducers\nof the Church; it has explained and commended her cause to even greater\nnumbers outside her pale who were simply ill-informed; it has helped more\nsouls than anyone will ever be able to count, into the Fold.  Moreover,\nit has been the fruitful parent of progeny (not always filially grateful)\nwhich extends to-day to the uttermost parts of the earth.  And always it\nhas maintained a standard--which, in fact, it created amongst us--of\nmaterial high quality, of intellectual respectability and of religious\nsolidity, the more worthy of grateful appreciation because not everywhere\nfully appreciated.  Nor can we forget that the Society is in a real sense\n\"the work of one man,\" though never has it been that very different\nthing, a \"one-man work.\"  No one layman (and very few ecclesiastics) has\ndone a larger definite and objective work for the Catholic Church in our\ntime than Mr. Britten.\"\n\nSuch a record should shame the faint-hearts among us who seem to think\nthat no corporate efforts are of any use in the world now rushing on to\nits own destruction.  That it should shame those who take no interest at\nall in the progress of their religion, would be too much to hope.\n\nThe mustard seed has become now a great tree; branches have been detached\nfrom the main trunk and transplanted in the various parts of the world.\nIreland, Australia,[3] India,[4] America, Canada, each now has its own\nCatholic Truth Society.\n\nIn 1887, six years after the foundation of the parent Society in England,\nCanada had a first branch in Toronto.  Halifax,[5] Montreal, Winnipeg,\nRegina, Saskatoon, Vancouver soon followed suit.  Silent and powerful as\nthe incoming tide, the Society in Canada is working its way into every\ndiocese and parish of the land.  The Society is now incorporated by act\nof Federal Parliament, with Head-Office in Toronto, 67 Bond St.  Its\nnoble and just ambition is to weld into one great efficient organization\nthe various other branches that are in operation here and there\nthroughout the Dominion.  Organization means efficiency, strength and\nsuccess.\n\nThe time has come for the Catholic Truth Society in Canada, to create its\nown literature, to issue its own pamphlets dealing with the needs and\nproblems of our own Country.  We have been importing from other countries\nand have lived until now on their mental activity.  But this move demands\nunity of purpose and concentration of effort.  Moreover, should not this\nDominion-wide organization serve marvellously to rally our dispersed and\ndisunited forces?  There is indeed a sad need of unity in our ranks\nto-day.\n\n\n_Principles._\n\nThe assured possession of truth and the pressing obligation for Catholics\nto spread it: these are the two main principles upon which is founded and\nexists the Catholic Truth Society.  As Catholics, we are absolutely sure\nthat we have the Truth; as Catholics worthy of the name, we feel in\nconscience bound to give it to others.\n\nThe Catholic Church, like Christ, stands at the cross-roads of humanity\nand cries out to the passing generations as they come tramping down the\navenues of time: \"_Ego sum Veritas, Via et Vita_--I am the Truth, the\nWay, the Life.\"  Her kingdom is that very same Kingdom of Truth of which\nthe Master spoke to Pilate when the latter had asked Him so insolently:\n\"What is Truth?\"  Faith gives to everyone of Her children the right to\nall the wealth of that Kingdom.\n\nThe self-assurance of the Catholic mind in matters of Religion is a noted\nand universal fact which implies necessarily the tranquil possession of\nTruth.  This certainly is not a blind adherence dictated by fear or\nfatalism as some would lead the unwary to believe; but rather, as St.\nPaul states, the reasonable subjugation of the mind . . . \"_Rationabile\nabsequium_.\"  The universal unrest and chaotic condition of Christendom\noutside of the Catholic Church are in sharp contrast with the unity and\ntranquillity of the Catholic mind.  This is not the place to prove for\nour own pleasure and benefit the security of our position.  Christian\nApologetics have vindicated it.\n\nThis security of the Catholic mind extends beyond the sacred domain of\nReligion.  Catholic philosophy has been justly named the \"scientific\njustification of common sense.\"  Its principles do not rest on the\ncapricious fancies of the versatile human mind, as is the case with the\nphilosophy of the dreamer of Koenigsberg.  We only mention here Kant, for\nhis influence has in our days been tremendous and far reaching.  In\nCatholic philosophy the mind indeed reflects the objective order of\nthings and from that order evolves universal laws.  This basic truth of\nour mental attitude is still more evident when considered in the moral\norder.  For, when God becomes but a \"pure abstraction,\" and the moral law\nsolely dependent on the human will, one readily sees where such\nphilosophy may lead.  This \"_ego-centric philosophy_\" is responsible for\nthe frame of mind which gifted the world with German \"Kultur.\"  Nietzche\ntaught Germany how to think, and Germany had set out to teach the world\nthe lessons she had received.  As some author remarked, Kant and Nietzche\nare responsible for the firing of the Krupp guns.  Thus the war has shown\nthe fallacies of anti-Catholic philosophy.\n\nFrom these serene heights of Philosophy, Catholic Truth flows into the\npolitical, social and economic fields of human life.  Our principles on\nAuthority and Liberty, on Capital and Labor, on Family and State, on\nMarriage and Education are as solid as the rock, and are recognized as\nsuch, even by leaders who have a different religious persuasion.\n\nYes, religious, philosophical, social, political, economic truth we do\npossess.  But of what use to the world, to the laborer, to the patriot,\nto the inquirer, is this truth and the solutions to problems it offers,\nif they are not known?  If we have the light we cannot hide it under the\nbushel.  We must place it where it can be seen, where its beneficial rays\ncan light up the way for those who are \"sitting in darkness, in the\nshadow of death.\"\n\nNo Catholic is a Catholic for himself only.  Christian Charity imposes\nupon us the duty to help our brother.  The spreading of Catholic Truth is\none of the great works of Mercy and is as binding as alms-giving for the\nrelief of temporal want.  The love of God and of our neighbour is the\nfoundation of this obligation.  This consciousness of Christian\nsolidarity whereby the rich come to the rescue of the poor, the learned\nhelp the ignorant, is the driving force behind the Catholic Truth Society.\n\nWith the vision of the Truth and the conscientious impulse to spread it,\nthe Society is bound to grow in a genuine Catholic soil.  We say it\nfrankly, there is something wanting in a parish where the Catholic Truth\nSociety meets with no response, creates no interest.  The sense of real\nCatholicism and the consciousness of the duties it implies are\nconspicuous by their absence.  There, Christianity does not run deep\nenough.  This also stands true where the Catholic Church Extension or\nother organization of its kind, has no hold.  The same principle is at\nstake; in both cases deficiency reveals a negative, rather than a\nmilitant Christianity.\n\n\n_Policy._\n\nThe world nowadays, like Pilate, asks the Church: \"What is Truth?\"  But\nlike Pilate also, proud of its power, its wealth, and success, it will\nnot wait for the answer.  Yet the Church's mission is to give to the\nworld that truth after which humanity thirsts.  Her mode of dispensation\nwill vary from age to age.  New times, new duties.  Her policy is often\nsuggested by the change of front in the line of the enemy.\n\nAs the \"printed word\" is now the great vehicle of propaganda, the great\nmessage of Catholic Truth will be given more by print than by speech.\nThis new apostleship has opened the doors to Catholic lay activity.  The\nCatholic Truth Society is one of its many forms and should, to be\nfaithful to its origin, remain a specifically Catholic laymen's movement.\n\nThe policy of the Catholic Truth Society is very broad and embraces a\ngreat variety of activities which all tend to the propagation and defense\nof Catholic Truth.\n\n_Pamphlets_.--The printing and diffusion of pamphlets are characteristic\nfeatures of the Society.  These winged booklets have come to be most\nfruitful transmitters of Catholic Truth.  Silent Messengers of truth,\nthey steal their way into homes and circles where the priest, and even at\ntimes the catholic layman cannot penetrate.  Eloquent Preachers, their\nvoice is heard to the extremities of the earth.  Perpetual Missionaries,\nthey continue the work when the apostle has passed to another field.\nThey keep the light of faith burning bright in many a lonely\nhomesteader's cabin on the Prairies of our Great West.  How often have we\nnot seen farmers coming into the Regina Cathedral to fill their pockets\nwith pamphlets from the book-rack before they returned to their farms\noften situated at thirty or forty miles from a Church!  Silent\nControversionalists, they give Catholic information and drive the\nargument home without offence to the pride of the reader, for, the\npersonal element of the controversy is eliminated.  Their unobtrusiveness\nis what the inquirer appreciates in matters of religious research\nparticularly.\n\nThe _Circulation of Catholic Papers_ and their _remailing_ to those who\nlive far from large centres and are out of touch with the Church are\nother forms of the Apostolate of the Catholic Truth Society.  By these\nmeans Catholic printed matter is capital, bearing compound interest and\nmore.\n\nFree distribution of leaflets; the Mass register in the hotels and public\nplaces; the information bureau; the bill-board; information about\nCatholic Faith given by a Correspondence Guild; circulating libraries;\nreading and study circles; reference library; the introduction of\nCatholic literature into Public Libraries by creating the demand for\nit, . . . these are some of the means through which the Society pursues\nits policy.  To every wind, we may say, it sows the good seed of truth.\n\nTo fully understand the principles and forward with energy and\nperseverance the policy of the Catholic Truth Society, demands an\nenthusiastic love of the Church and an abiding confidence in the\nconquering power of Truth and in its ultimate triumph.  Only a zealous\nand aggressive Catholic can grasp this vision and walk in its light.  But\nthe example of the enemy's activities alone should be sufficient to give\nus that zeal and aggressiveness.  The Dominion is flooded with the\nliterature of the Methodist Social Service, of the Bible Society, of the\nChristian Science, of the Rationalistic Press Association.  Their\nactivities should act on our apathetic Catholics as the gust of wind that\nscatters the ashes and fans the smouldering embers to a flame.\n\nGenerous are the hopes founded on the future of the Catholic Truth\nSociety of Canada.  With its far-flung line, from coast to coast, great\nare the services it can render to the Church.  But there is no field with\ngreater possibilities for this apostolate of the \"printed word\" than our\nWestern Provinces.  There the pastors are yet few and the flock very\nscattered.  The little pamphlet, the Catholic paper will keep the watch\naround the lonely settler's faith until the living contact with the\nChurch's authority and sacraments be renewed.  And in the great battle\nagainst religious indifference and profound materialism which are rapidly\nspreading over our West, the Catholic Truth Society will make us realize\nthe saving power of Christianity. . . .  \"_And you shall see Truth and\nTruth shall make you free_.\"\n\n\n\n[1] This Chapter was published in pamphlet form by the Catholic Truth\nSociety of Canada.\n\n[2] Cardinal Vaughan and Lady Herbert are the real Founders of the C.T.S.\nBut Mr. Britten carried out the idea.--It was to be essentially a\nlay-movement.\n\n[3] Australian Catholic Truth Society.--At the annual meeting of the\nAustralian Catholic Truth Society the report stated that during the year\n1919 152,309 pamphlets had been put into circulation, while the total\nnumber published since the foundation of the Society was 1,837,947.  The\nexecutive had decided to publish in future 36 penny pamphlets each year,\ninstead of 24, and trusted that their enterprise would be rewarded with a\nsubstantial increase in the number of subscribers.\n\n[4] The headquarters of the C.T.S. of India are in Trichinopoly.  They\nhave already their own publications.\n\n[5] Although the Halifax branch of the C.T.S. does not form a unit of the\nC.T.S. of Canada yet it is one of the most active branches in our Country.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\nA SUGGESTION[1]\n\n_Importance of the Catholic Press--Requisites for its Success in the\nWest._\n\n\nNowadays the Press is assuredly the greatest factor of the public mind.\nFor, if public opinion is \"King\" and \"Master\" of the modern world, the\n\"Press\" is his \"Prime Minister.\"  Between these two great forces there\nis a continuous action and reaction; the Press is at the same time the\nmoulder and mirror of public opinion.\n\nWe all know how the world has turned this mighty weapon against the\nCatholic Church.  To create an anti-Catholic opinion, to surround the\nChurch--its authority, its practices--with an atmosphere of prejudice\nand antagonism has always been the aim of the non-Catholic press.  Of\nlate this campaign has become so universal and so violent \"that were\nSt. Paul to live among us, he would become a journalist,\" said\nArchbishop Ireland.  Repeatedly the Pontiffs of Rome have urged the\nfaithful to contribute to the support of the Catholic Press.  \"In vain\nyou will build churches,\" said Pius X, \"give missions, found schools;\nall your works, all your efforts will be destroyed if you are not able\nto wield the defensive and offensive weapon of a loyal and sincere\nCatholic Press.\"\n\nThe Catholics of Western Canada should have these words of the beloved\nPontiff continually before their minds.  There is no place in Canada\nwhere this vital factor, the Catholic Press, is of such an absolute\nnecessity.  In our sparsely settled Provinces the Catholic paper is the\ngreatest help of the priest.  It prepares, keeps, and perfects his work\nand very often is the only silent messenger of the Church's teachings\non the lonely prairie.  Isolation from all Catholic life, from its\nteachings, its authority, its sacraments, has created through Western\nCanada a tremendous leakage in the Church.  This leakage can be stopped\nto a certain extent by the active service of a good Press.  The\nCatholic paper, indeed, reacts as an antitoxin against the virus of\nunbelief and indifferentism which a non-Catholic atmosphere is bound to\nspread.  In its columns we find the answers to the misrepresentations\nand slanders which bigotry is ever throwing at the Church.  But above\nall it is through the medium of the Catholic paper that the lonely\nWestern settler enters into what we would call the larger life of the\nChurch.  We are too prone to think of and judge the Church by what we\nsee of Her in our own nearest surroundings.  We lose sight of Her\nCatholicity and forget that greater life which is ever pulsating\nthroughout the world.  The reading of the Catholic paper breaks down\nthe narrow walls of parochialism, provincialism and nationalism, and\nintroduces its readers into the more serene and more spacious regions\nof Catholic life.  This is, in our opinion, the greatest benefit one\ncan derive from the assiduous and intelligent reading of a good,\nactive, Catholic paper.\n\nAustralia and New Zealand have understood the imperative necessity, the\nparamount importance of a Catholic Press.  \"The Freeman's Journal,\"\n\"The Southern Cross,\" \"The Catholic Press,\" \"The New Zealand Tablet,\"\nare widely circulated weekly papers that keep Catholic life so intense\nin those distant colonies.  What the Catholics of Australia have done,\nwhy can we not, in Western Canada, do likewise?\n\nOne cannot, indeed, over-estimate the value of a Catholic paper,\nespecially in a sparsely settled country where the Church has yet but\nmissions, where the visits of the priest and the teachings of the\nGospel are intermittent, where the Catholics are lost among people of\ndifferent faith and often of hostile feeling.  But, if we wish our\nCatholic Press to fulfil its noble mission, it must be received as an\nexpected and welcomed friend, and not, as often is the case, as an\nintruder, a sickly visitor who imposes himself more or less on our\nfaith and generous nature.\n\nWhat then are the conditions of genuine success for a Catholic paper?\n_Vigour in policy, extensiveness in circulation_: these are the two\nessential conditions of success.  The Catholic paper in a community\nmust be a live-wire of high voltage, carrying light, heat, and power,\nand not a mere telegraphic-cable repeating what others have already\nsaid, or serving as a safety valve for the overflow of local gossip.\nThe news and issues of general interest should be so combined with\nlocal topics as to awaken and keep the attention of the reader.\n\nCirculation is also fundamental in journalism as well as in the human\nsystem.  It carries life into the whole organism and is the warrant of\nsuccess.  The moment circulation becomes stagnant and loses hold of the\npeople, the paper is but a ghost.  Poor circulation is what gives to so\nmany Catholic papers such languid existence.\n\nHow can we create these conditions of success for the Catholic Press in\nWestern Canada, where its need is so deeply felt?  There is the crux of\nthe present situation.  Our scattered and comparatively small\npopulation, even in our cities, the extreme difficulty of securing and\nkeeping managers and editors suited for this work, the indifference and\nspirit of commercialism which characterize Western Canada: all these\nfactors tend to render precarious the life of a Catholic paper.  And\nstill the crying need is there; how are we to meet it?\n\nThis leads us to make a suggestion which would help to solve the\nproblem of the Catholic Press in the West.  The beautiful work of the\nCatholic Press in France has prompted it.\n\nThe society of \"La Bonne Presse\" issues a weekly paper, \"La Croix.\"\nThis paper has different issues for the different parts of France.  At\nthe central office, in Paris, exists a well organized \"boiler-plate\"\nservice for general Catholic news and opinions.  These \"boiler-plates\"\nare shipped to all the sub-stations, where, during the week are\ncomposed the pages of local news, editorials, advertisements, etc.\nThis is the most economical and most efficient modern method of\npublishing several papers or different issues of the one paper.\n\nOur circulation in Western Canada would not perhaps yet warrant such an\norganization.  But working along the same lines, could we not have _one\npaper_, with _different issues_ for the different Prairie Provinces?\nThis would necessitate a chief editor for the editorials of general\ncharacter, common to all--and a sub-editor in each Province who could\nalso act as manager in his section of the country.  To write editorials\nadapted to the ever-changing needs of his Province, answer those who\nattack the Church in our local papers, guide our Catholics in the\nvarious issues which are discussed in the Province, and control the\ncorrespondence for the different news centres, would be the duties of\nthis sub-editor.\n\nOne central printing plant would be sufficient.  Being a weekly paper,\nthe printing and mailing do not matter much, provided the plant were\nnot too far from the extreme points of circulation.  With the exception\nof the composition of the specific pages of each issue, according to\nProvinces, the general overhead expenses of printing and remailing\nwould be the same, and yet we would have a _local Catholic paper_.\nThis plan of unification would allow us, without heavy expenses, to\nanswer efficiently the local needs of each diocese and each Province.\n\nWe have the \"Northwest Review.\"  It possesses a splendid equipment and\ncould easily duplicate its actual out-put.  Why could we not take that\npaper, and have a Manitoba, a Saskatchewan, and an Alberta edition?\nThe plant is there, and why could not all Catholics take full advantage\nof it, at a price with which no local or provincial Catholic paper\ncould compete, at least in the present circumstances.  It would require\n\"a subeditor-manager\" in each Province to direct the provincial policy\nof his specific edition and manage its circulation in every Catholic\ncommunity.  This plan would be workable until the time when success\nwould warrant in each Province a local printing plant, having at its\nservice a \"boiler plate\" supply from the main office.\n\nThe possibilities and opportunities for the Catholic Press have never\nbeen greater than they are now.  Never and nowhere has its need been\nmore commanding than it is now in Western Canada.  In this period of\nsocial reconstruction, efficient organization and combination of all\nenergies are necessary.  Organization implies leadership, and able\nleadership needs the support of publicity to create sane opinions, to\nspread and defend them.\n\n\n\n[1] This Chapter was published as an article in the \"North West\nReview,\" Winnipeg, June 1st, 1918, under the following caption--\"Timely\nSuggestions on needs of Catholic Press in West--Constructive attempt to\nsolve problem which has engaged attention for many years.\"\n\nThe following editorial remarks accompanied its publication.  \"We are\nindebted to Rev. Father Daly, C.SS.R., of Regina, for a thoughtful\ncontribution on the needs of the Catholic Press in Western Canada.\nThis subject is by no means new.  Most people have had a fling at it\none time or another, and those have been most insistent as a rule who\nhave known least about it.  The article under consideration, however,\nwhich may be found upon another page, besides pointing out the\ndifficulties which must be encountered and overcome, outlines a\nconstructive policy which should engage the earnest attention of the\nCatholic public.  A scheme of development is there in broad outline and\nit is with particular pleasure that we call our readers' attention to\nit.  We would ask them to study it--particularly those who have had\nsome practical experience in newspaper work--and to give us the benefit\nof their thought and experience.  A special invitation is extended to\nour staff of faithful correspondents and contributors who have stuck to\ntheir posts through fair weather and foul at considerable expense and\ninconvenience to themselves.  They are in a position to realize in a\nvery special manner the difficulties of the situation and their\nsuggestions should prove invaluable.  If everyone interested would\nexpend a fraction of the energy wasted in destructive criticism in\nworking out a scheme of practical operation along constructive lines\nmuch good would result therefrom.  Suggestions need not necessarily be\nfor publication.  Any communication marked \"not for publication\" shall\nbe, needless to state, regarded as private and confidential.  But let\nall help.  An old newspaper maxim is to the effect that the printer's\ndevil has ideas that the editor or business manager would pay good\nmoney for.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\nTHE NEW CANADIAN\n\n_Immigration!--Are We ready for It?_\n\n\nDemobilization is over.  Canada has settled down to the work of\n\"Reconstruction.\"  Already the eyes of every serious minded Canadian\nscan the horizon, wondering if these transatlantic liners now bound for\nour ports carry in their dark hulls hosts of new settlers.  Immigration\nis the topic of the hour.  Confronted as we are by a fabulous national\ndebt, GREATER PRODUCTION is the only solution.  This intense and\nextensive development of agriculture and industry necessarily involves\nimmigration.--Immigration is therefore an economic necessity.\n\nWar-wearied nations of Europe are just waking up to the realities of\nconditions.  The dark cloud has lifted only to show everywhere silent\nindustries and desolate fields.  Thousands and hundreds of thousands\nare turning their eyes to the \"New World\"--as to the \"_Land of\nOpportunity_.\"  They need Canada to break away from a gloomy past, just\nas Canada needs them to build a bright and prosperous future.\n\nOpinions may vary as to the time when immigration will be once more at\nits height, but all seem to agree on the certainty of the fact.[1]\nProbably the British Isles will open the march in the onward rush to\nCanada; Continental Europe will follow in their wake.  Already the\nvarious philanthropic and religious organizations are preparing to\nwelcome the new-comer to our Shores.\n\nMisdirected and unsupervised immigration has been for the Church in the\npast a great source of leakage.  Here and there noble and zealous\nefforts have been made to prevent these losses; but they were local and\nspasmodic.  It was only a few years previous to the outbreak of the war\nthat a Catholic Immigration Society for the Dominion was formed.  The\nReverend Abbe Casgrain was its Founder and Director.  Homes and\nagencies were opened in every large city.  Let us hope that this\nDominion-wide organization will once more soon become a reality.  A\npriest in full charge of its organization and responsible for its\nefficiency is, we believe, the main condition of success.  And indeed\nimmigration is in Canada one of those problems that over-lap the\nboundaries of dioceses and provinces and call for the co-operation and\nco-ordination of all forces.  A leader, with the sanction and backing\nof the Hierarchy, will be the binding link between the various helping\nfactors and will prevent immigration becoming \"nobody's business\" just\nbecause \"it is everybody's business.\"  This method of an organized and\nresponsible unity will alone straighten out our line of defence from\nHalifax to Vancouver, and pinch out the various salients of enemy\nforces that are always and everywhere at work.\n\nBut who will carry out this leader's policy, once thought out and\napproved of?  As our Catholic Immigration Society is about to\nreorganize its forces to meet new conditions, may we be allowed to\noffer a suggestion?  The Knights of Columbus have just finished the\ngreat work of their \"Army Huts.\"  During the war and particularly\nduring the demobilization, they had trained secretaries, hotels,\nrecreation rooms, for the welfare of our soldiers.  This work has\nplaced them in the field of \"Social Service\" and given them a standing\nin the community at large.  Now why could not that organization be\nmaintained and serve the purpose of Catholic Immigration?\n\nThe Knights of Columbus are indeed ready for the task.  Their chain of\nhuts from coast to coast link together our main centres; their trained\nsecretaries who have enlisted the sympathetic co-operation of devoted\nladies; the very nature of the Order, Dominion-wide in its organization\nand spreading beyond the boundaries of any particular Province,\neverything seems now to invite them to turn their efforts to the great\nCause of Immigration.  During the war they worked side-by-side with the\nRed Triangle (Y.M.C.A.) and the Red Shield (S.A.).  As these\norganizations are now intensely taking up what they call\n\"Canadianization\" work in its various aspects, is it befitting, would\nyou think, for our Knights to drop out of the field?  Should they not,\non the contrary, prepare to \"carry on\"--as their brother Knights are\ndoing across the border?  The example they are giving there to the\nCatholic laity is simply wonderful.  It is an object lesson that has\nawakened the tremendous energies that lie dormant in the ranks of the\nCatholic laymen and only want the spark of \"leadership\" to ignite them.\nAnd indeed no work should appeal more to the Knights, for it places\nthem in their true sphere of action.  It opens up long vistas of\n\"Social religious work,\" by giving them the consciousness of the\nreligious solidarity and the feeling of their social and national\nresponsibilities.  With that vision, under that impulse, they walk from\ntheir Council Chambers into the very life of the Church and of the\nNation.  They assume in all reality their office of a _Loyal\nBody-guard_.  For, in this matter, our contention is that where the\nKnights of Columbus' Order is not wedded to some definite programme of\naction, in harmony with its aim and constitution, it ceases to be an\nasset and will soon go to seed, or die of dry rot.\n\n      *      *      *      *      *      *\n\nThe following would be a summary of activities to be undertaken in\nconnection with Immigration work.  This is merely an outline that may\nhelp in drawing up a more exhaustive plan of action.\n\n1. _Permanent Secretaries_.--In our estimation, a permanent, trained\nand well-paid secretary is the condition of genuine success.  The time\nhas passed to have to depend on voluntary and untrained service.  Times\nhave changed and methods also.  The permanency of a secretary gives to\nour work stability and promise of intense life.  This has been the\nsecret of the success of other organizations that we could afford to\nimitate.\n\nMoreover this secretaryship can become the mother-cell of various\nactivities which eventually will branch off--_i.e._, Welfare Bureau,\nInformation Bureau, etc., etc.  This therefore should be our first\npreoccupation, for on it depend the life and prosperity of our\nImmigration Work.\n\n2. _Ladies' Auxiliary_.--Local Women's organization can be called upon\nto bring their sympathetic support to the carrying out of this work of\nCatholic Immigration.  Generous and devoted women are always to be\nfound to whom this work will appeal.  Their natural sympathy and their\ngreat faith make them always the \"Real Workers.\"  The very same ladies\nwho helped so wonderfully in our patriotic work could continue to place\ntheir kindness and devotedness at the Service of this great Catholic\nCause.  We only need, we are sure, to call on them, and organize their\nvarious forces.  Why should not \"The Catholic Women's League\" have its\nbranch from coast to coast and take up everything of interest to the\nCatholic Womanhood of Canada, and thereby, to the Church also?\n\nThis would have a great bearing on various issues and offer a great\nmedium for organized opinion and co-ordinated action.  Has not the time\ncome when our women forces have to organize and unite into one great\nCanadian Catholic Body?\n\n3. _Literature, Publicity_.--We are living in an age when literature\nand publicity are the great vehicles of public opinion.  We need, to\ncarry on the work successfully, plenty of good literature and\nefficient, sane publicity.  The hour has come to walk right out in the\nopen and nail our sign to the post at every cross-way.  Our Catholic\nImmigrants are entitled to this service which will offset the\ninfluences of dangerous agencies that meet them too often as they set\nfoot on our shores.\n\nA new map of Western Canada with designations of Churches and Missions,\nwith resident or non-resident priests is needed.  The map published\nbefore the war would have to be revised, for the growth of the Church\nhas been wonderful--in certain dioceses particularly.  Attractive\nbooklets giving useful information and warning the incoming immigrants\nagainst the specific dangers he is liable to meet with; folders and\ncards with addresses of the nearest Catholic churches and rectories,\nwith 'phone number of the Catholic Bureau, should be ready on hand.  A\nlist of the various offices of the Society and of other Catholic Social\nCentres should also be now prepared.  This, we may remark, is very\nimportant and demands careful study and experience.  A short snappy\nleaflet very often goes further than a diluted booklet.  What others\nhave done or are doing in this line will be of great help.  Before the\nwar the Catholic Immigration Society of Canada had such literature.\nThe Catholic Truth Society of Canada could co-operate in this matter.\n\nTo reach the Catholic immigrant and emigrant is very often a problem of\n_publicity_.  Posters on the docks, in the railroad stations and other\nprominent places, cards, notices on the bulletin-boards of the steamers\nand hotels, distribution of leaflets on boats and trains, copies of\ncurrent activities in the newspapers, advertising in our papers and\npapers abroad, listing of the Catholic Bureau with other similar work\nin the city, are some of the means to keep our work before the public.\nLet us not be afraid to place our name where it can be seen.  We cannot\nafford to hide our light under the bushel.  Let it burn bright, to\nattract and guide our Catholic brother as he comes to our shores and\ngoes through our country.\n\n4. _Co-operation_.--Co-operation of all our bureaus with our Catholic\nSocieties of Emigration of England, Ireland, etc., with Canadian\nGovernment bureaus, Federal and Provincial and various other benevolent\norganizations in Canada, as Traveller's Aid, etc., will be a marked and\nappreciated aid to our work.  And when others will see us at \"Our\nFather's work,\" they will refer our own to us.  This is the ordinary\nexperience of all engaged in Social Service activities.\n\nThe Catholic Emigration Society of England has been recently formed and\nis preparing for the exodus that will follow the inauguration of the\nGovernment schemes for assisting ex-Service men.  This Society will\nwork on national lines with international co-operation.  The \"Universe\"\nof Sept. 26, 1919, gives us an account of the first meeting.  The\nmovement is endorsed by the Hierarchy and representatives of Catholic\nlife in the British Isles, Canada, Australia and South-Africa.\n\n5. _Finance_.--Naturally this work will demand funds.  Catholic Charity\nwill come to our rescue as this is certainly a work of preservation\nwhich should appeal to any zealous Catholic.  And what others have been\nable to do, why could we not find means to do?\n\nBut in this work the Canadian Government will give a helping hand.  The\nauthorities in Ottawa will be the first to appreciate what we will do\nfor our new Canadians.  In a recent memoir submitted to the Premiers of\nour various Provinces the social welfare of the immigrants was one of\nthe topics to which particular attention was given.  We can see that\nthe Government will be ready to subsidize social work in Immigration,\nprovided there is no over-lapping.  There will be subsidies for our\nwork, if we are organized and ask for them.  When looking over the\namounts distributed to various Immigrations Societies, we see, for\ninstance, in 1913-1914 the Salvation Army receiving a subsidy of over\n$22,000, while all the Catholic Immigration Societies received only\nabout $6,000.  We conclude that it is simply because we did not ask for\nour \"Pound of Flesh.\"\n\n      *      *      *      *      *      *\n\nShould not, therefore, the work of Catholic Immigration with all its\nwonderful possibilities for the welfare of Church and Country, appeal\nto our Canadian Knights of Columbus?  Many and many a settler has been\nlost to the Church--he, his children and future generations--because\nperhaps no one was there to receive him on his arrival in his new\nCountry, to help him to settle where there was a church, a priest, and\na Catholic school.  No one needs more the help of his Catholic brother\nthan the immigrant, who has just broken away with a past made up of\ncustoms, friendships, racial feelings, of all that is dear to man's\nheart, and faces an enigmatic future.\n\nThe long procession which we have seen in the years of intense\nimmigration, winding its way through our cities and losing itself on\nthe plains of the West, is about to start again.  Shall we be there to\nwelcome and direct it?\n\n_Knights of Columbus, what is your answer_?\n\n\n\n[1] 200,000 are expected to come to Canada in 1921 from the British\nIsles alone.  Hon. J. H. Calder, Minister of Immigration, made this\nstatement.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\nUT SINT UNUM\n\n_A Catholic Congress of the Western Provinces, the Ultimate Solution of\nTheir Problems--What is a Congress?--Its Utility--Its Necessity--A\nTentative Programme._\n\n\nTo know a problem, to probe its nature, and to analyze its various\nfactors frequently lead to an easy and happy solution.  But as Church\nproblems are mostly of a complex nature and cover a wide range, they\nnecessarily depend for their solution on the co-operation of the\nvarious component units.  This explains why we would now appeal to the\nChurch of the West as a whole, for the solving of the problems dealt\nwith in this book.  Of their nature they out-distance the boundaries of\nparish and diocese, for they affect the Church as a whole.  Without\nwishing to disparage the value of parochial and diocesan activities, we\nclaim that the issues we have placed before our readers are not\nconfined within the imaginary lines of the parochial unit or the\nboundaries of jurisdiction.  They will not be met with rightly and\nsuccessfully, if the Church as a unit does not agree on a uniform plan\nof action.  For, to prevent a deplorable waste of potential powers, of\nmisdirected energies and of overlapping work, to forward the great\ncause of the Church and realize its Catholic aspirations, to present a\nunited front to common dangers, the union and co-operation of all the\nparishes and all the dioceses are an absolute necessity.\n\nNever has the Church in Canada felt so keenly the necessity of this\nunion and co-operation.  An acute sense of uneasiness has spread, far\nand broad, apathy and lethargy.  Instinctively eyes turn to the heights\nfrom whence they have a right to expect direction and help.  The\nnecessity of some INTER-DIOCESAN ORGANIZATION, along the lines of the\nNational Catholic Welfare Council of the United States, is the\noutspoken conviction of many and the unexpressed desire of all.  We are\nweak in our divided strength.  The criticism of both clergy and laity\nin this matter is widespread and very often justifiable.  We could\nwillingly endorse what Cardinal Newman wrote to a friend: \"Instead of\naiming at being a world-wide power, we are shrinking into ourselves,\nnarrowing the lines of communion, trembling at freedom of thought, and\nusing the language of dismay and despair at the prospect before us,\ninstead of the high spirit of the warrior going out conquering and to\nconquer.\"--(Life, by Ward II, p. 127.)\n\n\"_Ut sint unum!_\"  \"That they may be one!\"  This is the supreme\nsolution of the weighty problems now facing the Church at this crucial\nperiod of readjustment and reconstruction.  A general Congress would\ncrystallize, we believe, our desires for unity into a concrete fact.\nIt would help to group the various thoughts and workable schemes around\na definite plan and stimulate activities in view of its realization.\nSome may find it rather presumptuous on our part to formulate such a\nproposal.  Our sincerity and loyalty to the great Cause in view is our\nonly excuse.\n\n\n_What is a Catholic Congress_?\n\nA Catholic Congress--be it provincial, regional, national or simply\ndiocesan--is the meeting of Catholic clergy and laity under the\nguidance of the Hierarchy, for the _study_ of various problems, the\n_development and coordination of energies_, the _unification and\nconcentration_ of purpose.\n\nThe members of the Congress are delegates from the various parishes,\nfrom social, mutual and diocesan organizations.  It is of absolute\nnecessity that the laity be well represented, for the Congress is the\ngreat school of \"social action,\" the great medium of educating the\nCatholic body and developing the sense of Catholic social\nresponsibility.\n\nThe guidance of our Fathers in Christ, the Hierarchy, ensures to the\nCongress its value, its authority--_Posuit Episcopos regere Ecclesiam\nDei_.\n\nThe object of the meeting is to give to Catholic life, by the perfect\norganization and coordination of all its moral, social and religious\nactivities, its maximum of efficiency.  This necessitates the _study of\nthe problems of the day_ in their relation with Catholic principles.\nTherefore the Congress is a readjustment of our vision to the\neverchanging conditions of society; desuete methods are dropped and\nmethods more in harmony with the necessities of the times are examined,\napproved of and adopted.  It affords an opportunity to discuss public\nquestions, to educate and crystallize public opinion on the Catholic\nview-point of pending problems.  This readjustment is, in our\nestimation, one of the greatest benefits of a Congress, for without it\nthere is waste of energies and danger of compromise on the part of the\nmost zealous.\n\nThe _development_ and _co-ordination of energies_ will be the natural\nsequel of this general exchange of ideas, of this universal\nconsultation of the Catholic body.  When we shall have counted our\nresources we shall then easily marshal existing forces, create new\nbattalions for the defence and peaceful promotion of Catholic doctrine,\nliberties, and influence.\n\n_To give unity of purpose_ to the various Catholic organizations, to\ndirect the loyal active co-operation of every unit towards the greatest\nwelfare of the Church, in one word, to create Catholic solidarity, is\nthe ultimate aim and supreme triumph of a Catholic Congress.\n\nThis congress therefore, stands for the mobilization of the Catholic\narmy for manoeuvres, and does not mean a mere pageant, a complacent\nexhibition of our numbers, the platonic rehearsal of our past glories\nand great achievements.  \"We are here to do a work, and not to make a\nshow,\" should we say with Cardinal Manning.\n\nThe _Golden Rule_ that presides over, and directs this exchange of\nthoughts, this study of problems, this marshalling of our forces, has\nalways been: _In necessariis unitas, in dubiis, libertas, in omnibus\ncharitas--Unity in essentials; liberty in non-essentials; charity in\nall things_.  There is no reason whatever why a Congress should be ever\naggressive.  Destructive criticism leads nowhere.  But there is every\nreason why a Congress should be perpetually active and \"destructively\nconstructive.\"\n\n\n_Should We have a Catholic Congress of the Western Provinces_?\n\nThe utility and necessity of a Catholic Congress will be an adequate\nanswer to this question--\n\n_Utility of Catholic Congresses_.\n\n\nBenedict XV in his letter to the American Hierarchy, March, 1919,\nunderlines very strongly the utility of these Catholic Meetings, \"We\nlearn,\" says the Holy Father, \"that you have unanimously resolved that\na yearly meeting of all the Bishops shall be held at an appointed place\nin order to adapt means most suitable of promoting the interest and\nwelfare of the Catholic Church and that you appointed from among the\nBishops two commissions, one of which to deal with _social questions_,\nwhile the other will study _educational problems_, and both will report\nto their Episcopal brethren.  This is truly a worthy resolve and with\nthe utmost satisfaction We bestow upon it our approval.\"\n\n\"It is indeed wonderful how greatly the progress of Catholicism is\nfavored by those frequent assemblies of the Bishops, which our\nPredecessors have more than once approved.  When the knowledge and the\nexperience of each are communicated to all the Bishops, it will be\neasily seen what errors are secretly spreading and how they can be\nextirpated; what threatens to weaken discipline among clergy and people\nand how best the remedy can be applied; what movements if any, either\nlocal or nation wide, are afoot for the control or judicious restraint\nof which the wise direction of the Bishop may be most helpful.\"\n\n\"It is not enough however, to cast out evil; good work must at once\ntake its place and so these men are incited by mutual example.  Once\nadmitted that the _harvest depends upon the method and the means_, it\nfollows easily, that the assembled Bishops returning to their\nrespective dioceses, will rival one another in reproducing those works,\nwhich they have seen elsewhere in operation to the distinct advantage\nof the Faithful.\"\n\nGreat indeed are the advantages that accrue to the Church, in its\nsocial influence particularly, from a Congress.  And indeed, since on\nCatholic principles alone depend the solution of the social problem,\nthe welfare of Church and State alike requires that Catholics in every\ncondition of life should co-operate in the application of those\nprinciples.  The influence of the Church in these matters depends not\nonly on her official teaching, but greatly on the social activities of\nHer children.  These activities translate into tangible facts Her\ndoctrines on justice and charity, and thus spread the beneficial\ninfluence of Her teachings.\n\nThe specific end of the Congress is to develop, co-ordinate, and direct\nthese social activities of Catholics and bring their influence to bear\nupon the community at large.  _Instaurare omnia in Christo_ . . . is\nthe programme of such gatherings.\n\nThe Congress (1) establishes a Catholic platform and rallies our forces\naround it, by creating a social solidarity, (2) enables our existing\ninstitutions and societies to extend their activities by the\nco-ordination of efforts; (3) facilitates the creation of new\norganizations to meet specific needs.  \"We cannot,\" writes Father\nPlater, S.J., \"stand aloof from secular movements, neither may we\nwholly surrender ourselves to them.  We must by common study bring them\nto the test of Catholic principles and we must by common action bend\nthem to the great issues of which the world is losing sight.\"\n\nMoreover, once the Catholic laity has been lured into taking active\npart in social work, once it feels that it is no more a dead unit but a\nliving factor, the Congress becomes a necessity, for it then serves as\nthe mental background that throws its work in relief and keeps the\nfires of enthusiasm burning.\n\n\n_Necessity of a Catholic Congress at the Present Time_.\n\nThe absolute _absence of unity and cohesion_ in our various social\nactivities; the momentous _period of reconstruction_ with its\nfar-reaching consequences in our national, political, social and\neconomic life; the _examples_ given to us by other _Catholic countries_\nand by our own enemies; these three and potent reasons urge, in our\nestimation, the calling of a Congress to get our bearings and to\ndiscuss ways and means of action.\n\nThe deplorable lack of unity in the Church of Canada is obvious and can\nbe traced to many causes.  Racial and language conflicts particularly,\nhave divided our forces, absorbed our activities, narrowed our views\nand made us forget the Catholic view-point of greater problems.  But\ntimes and ideas are changing.  Never, we believe has the feeling of our\ndivisions and dissensions been so acute; never has the demand for\nunited action been so imperative as now.  The distressing times through\nwhich the world is passing have forced upon us issues which will\nrequire the united strength of Catholic forces.\n\nUnited action, so much desired and so desperately needed, requires a\n_uniform plan_ and an _authoritative leadership_.  A Congress will give\nus these two elements of a much desired unity.\n\nToo long, we believe, have Catholic social activities been directed\nalong purely parochial and diocesan lines.  The isolated action of\nparishes, especially in our cities, is no longer able to grapple with\nand solve our modern complex problems.  Parochialism is conducive to\nthe enjoyment of the Church's beneficial influences, but often leads us\nto forget our responsibilities to the Church Universal.  \"Parochialism\nis the clog on the wheel of united Catholic Action in Canada.\"\n(Canadian Freeman, Nov. 13, 1919.) And even on a broader field have we\nnot seen conflicting directions and abstinence of necessary\ninterference, precisely because the issues were seen in different\nquarters from different angles.  So, a united plan of action which is\nso absolutely necessary for efficient work cannot be obtained without\nconsultation and exchange of ideas.\n\nThis unity of plan will bring the Catholic consciousness to a focus.\nIt will create an intelligent interest in Catholic social work, and\nlead to the gradual formation of various specific social organizations.\nWhen luminous rays are brought to a focus their light and heat are most\nintense.\n\nThe best concerted plans, the greatest enthusiasm to execute them, will\nbe of no avail without leadership.  For the secret of the success and\nusefulness of an organization is to be found in the ability, character\nand ideals of its leader.  Never perhaps in Canada, has the absence of\nauthoritative leadership, especially among the Catholic laity, been\nfelt so keenly as at the present trying period.  Let us hear an\nauthoritative writer on the matter:\n\n\"When the great buzz and stir of rebuilding comes and the interchange\nand counterchange of ideas begin, the newly awakened folk will begin to\nenquire what the Church has to say and to suggest on every ethical and\nreligious problem that comes up in the course of planning and\ndiscussion.  But they will wish to know, not in the terms in which\ngreat minds of the past have formulated Catholic teaching, but in the\nspeech and with the illustrations of contemporary life.  What we need\nis Catholic intellectual leadership to interpret in a way they can\nunderstand, the deep ethical truths of Catholic ethics, dogmas, which\nare a guide to the reconstructive activities of all time.  Without\nchanging a jot of the unchangeable truth, new series of interpretations\ncan be given to Catholic dogma, morals, ethics, with explanations that\nwill catch the ear of the intelligent non-Catholic, give him in his own\nidiom the solid gist of Catholic Doctrine and appeal to him with the\nsimple eloquence that Truth always has, when presented in the proper\nway.\" (Father Garesche, S.J., America, Dec. 28.)  For, as the Editor of\nthe Universe said, commenting on the death of Sir Mark Sykes, \"The\nsecret of ideal Catholic leadership lies in a passionate desire for the\nCatholic good inseparable from the common good, combined with a\ncomplete aloofness from any sectional interest.\"\n\nNow, we may ask, what has given to Catholic France, Catholic Belgium,\nCatholic England, these eminent leaders who in public and social life,\nare by their fearless courage and ceaseless action, the very\npersonification of Catholicism?  It is without doubt their Catholic\nCongresses.  There, the contact with the great problems of the day gave\nthem the vision of things before unseen, made them emerge from the\ncommon mass, and marked them as leaders.  There, they learned to think\njust, broad and deep.  The great Congresses of Catholic Germany brought\nWindthorst to the foreground and made him the leader of the greatest\nCatholic organization.  What the Congresses have done for Catholic\nGermany, Belgium, France and England, they will also do for Canada.\nThey will give us true leaders, men of clear vision, of indomitable and\nfearless will, of patient and persevering action.  For _mistaken\nleadership is still a greater calamity than the absence of it_.  The\nPlenary Council of Quebec urges the Catholics of Canada to meet in\nCongress: \"_Qui quidem in talium caetuum frequentia liberius poterunt\net validius sui nominis professionem sustinere, hostiles impetus\npropulsare_.\"  In the mind of the great Pope Leo XIII, whose words are\nhere quoted, \"a Congress is the most powerful offensive and defensive\nweapon.\" Quebec Plenary Council--No. 441, d.\n\n      *      *      *      *      *      *\n\nWe may then conclude with a French writer: \"_A Congress is a sacrament\nof unity_.\"  It will visualize to the modern pagan for whom unity of\ndoctrine means nothing, the tremendous powers, the living influences\nthat flow from that same unity on the world.  And for the Catholics at\nlarge it will now answer to a widespread, deep-seated longing for a\nmore effective national Catholic unity of action.\n\nYes, at all times, a Congress is a necessity for united action; but in\nthe troubled periods we now face, after the war, it becomes a factor of\nsupreme interest and of the most vital importance.\n\n      *      *      *      *      *      *\n\n_Reconstruction_ is the world's watch-word as nations rise from the\nruins a long protracted and universal war has accumulated around them.\n\nThe period of reconstruction, more than that of the war, will test our\nnational fibre.  The problems we face are in extent, in character, in\ncomplexity greater than at any other period of history.  The strain\nwill be greater, for the conflict is being lifted to a higher plane,\nthat of ideas.  And ideas are the supreme realities, the dynamic forces\nthat rule the world, the fulcrum that shifts the axis of the world's\ncivilization.\n\nIn these momentous times, the isolation of Catholics would be a\n_calamity_; their participation, a _blessing_, for Church and country.\nTo stand aloof from the solution of the problems that stare us in the\nface and insistently demand attention and solution, to confine our\nefforts solely to parochial institutions and not enter into the broader\nfield of public life is for Catholics, at this hour, nothing short of a\ncalamity.  The consequences of this abstention will be to limit our\naction to mere protestation and often useless defence, when our\nprinciples are assailed and our positions in danger, when a leakage,\nthrough the social activities of others, is but too manifest.  Let us\non the contrary, turn the energies we lose in mere defence to\nconstructive work, and our positions will be safer, and our principles\nbetter appreciated.  \"_Our liberties are best defended when Catholics\nthrow themselves into the stream of public life_.\"\n\nAnd does not Catholic doctrine stand essentially for constructive\nforces in the social, political and economic life of a country?  We\npossess the foundation, the plans, the material of all true and lasting\nsocial reconstruction.  The Gospel and the natural law form the\nrock-bottom foundation; the definite and unchanging principles of\nmorality are its structural lines; justice is as the steel girders and\ncharity the fast-binding cement.\n\n\"At the present day,\" wrote Professor G. Toniolo, the eminent Catholic\nItalian economist, \"the great Encyclicals of Leo XIII, which, sustained\nby the common light of the Evangelical teachings of Christian\nphilosophy and Revelation, have illuminated all the phases of social,\ncivil and political knowledge in harmonious, logical connections.  At\nthe present day we possess a unified complex of sociological teachings,\nbrought together in a system, which rests against the supernatural,\nwhich measures up to the problems of our age, which, absorbing\neverything, takes unto itself all that is true in modern science and is\nproven by experience, and thus is prepared to oppose successfully a\npositivistic, materialistic and anti-Christian sociology.\"\n\nYes, we possess the true solution of modern problems and . . . what are\nwe doing to give it to the world, to the community in which we live?\nWhy, the very fabric of social order is questioned, our working men are\nabsorbing everywhere the most subversive doctrines; the relations\nbetween capital and labor are strained to a breaking-point; our\nindustrial system is controlled by economic theories divorced from\nethics, whereby the worker is a mere producer; the State-monopoly is\ngradually spreading its influences as huge tentacles, around our most\nsacred liberties; the equilibrium between liberty and authority--these\ntwo poles of Christian civilization--is being displaced; . . . and what\nare the activities of the Catholic body, as a whole, in Canada, to stem\nthe rising tide?  A sermon, now and then, on Socialism or on the rights\nand duties of labour, will not solve the problems and extinguish the\nvolcano upon which we are peacefully living.  In our cities, the\nhousing problem, which involves to a great extent, the moral life of\nthe masses, is acute; the white slave traffic has established its\nhaunts and commercialized vice; the moving picture-show has become\neverywhere the most popular educational factor: at its school the young\ngeneration, eyes riveted on the flickering screen, is drinking in the\nalluring lessons of free love, divorce and every anti-Christian\ndoctrine; our ports will soon see a new tide of immigration invade our\nshores; the non-catholic denominations are crumbling away under the\nvery weight of their destructive and disintegrating principle of\nprivate judgment; we are surrounded with pagans to whom the\nsupernatural religion of Christianity is but a name or a memory; from\nour great West comes the urgent cry for help, for men and money; the\nChurch Extension, as the watchman in the night is crying out to our\nuninterested Catholics--\"the day is coming, the night is\ncoming\"--meaning that the faint streak on the eastern horizon may be\nthe last rays of a dying day or the first blush of a new dawn; . . .\nand what are we doing?  Here and there, a spasmodic effort, a generous\noutburst of zeal--the work of some society, parish or diocese.  While,\nwhat we need now is the combined effort of all the Catholics.  This\nwill only be obtained through a Congress.  What we need is _organized\nopinion_.  The modern world is very sensitive to _organized\nopinion_.--Let us get together!  We only need leaders to see our\nopinion become \"_articulate and authoritative_\" and make its weight\nfelt in public life.  Never has a Congress been more necessary than\nnow.  Without it, Catholics will not take part in reconstruction, for a\nCongress alone can unite us and give us the guarantee that our energies\nwill not be \"frittered away by overlapping and friction.\"\n\nThere is a great moral tide now running in the world, said President\nWilson in his toast to the King of England . . . and that tide is the\ngreat opportunity for Catholic social principles to take the high sea\nof public life.  Let us therefore, like the skilful mariner, count with\nthis set of the tide and catch it at its crest.  \"There is a tide in\nthe affairs of nations like that of men, which when taken at the flood\nleads on to glory.  If we do not direct the ideas that are awork in the\nseething mind of the world, they will spend their energies in\nretributive destruction,\" wrote the Philosopher President of the United\nStates.\n\n\"The thrilling opportunities of the time, we will say with Father\nGaresche, S.J., should stir us to the depths of our souls' capacity\nwith enthusiasm, energy and sacrifice. . . .  Our realization of the\nneeds and chances of the Church and the world, should stir us to the\nutmost of personal effort.\"\n\n      *      *      *      *      *      *\n\n_Exempla Trahunt_.--The great benefits that have ensued from a general\nconsultation or meeting of the _body Catholic in various countries_\nform the best standing proof of their value.  In England the annual\nconference of the Catholic Truth Society and other federated Societies,\nis the leading event of Catholic life.  It has developed among the\nEnglish Catholic laity, a militant, virile Catholicism, most remarkable\nfor its aggressive policy and wonderful for its array of social\norganizations, as one may readily learn from the \"Hand-book of Catholic\nCharitable and Social work\" published by the C. T. Society of London.\nWho does not know the wonderful results of the yearly Catholic\nCongresses of Germany before the war?  We would refer the reader to the\nwonderful book of Father Plater, S.J., \"Catholic Social Work in\nGermany.\"  To the same source may be traced the great social activities\nof Catholics in France and Belgium.  In 1919 the Catholics of Holland\nmet at Utrecht, and in a national general convention, discussed the\nCatholic view-point of burning questions--political, social and\nspiritual.  The results of their united efforts are already tangible.\nLegislation favourable to Catholic Schools has been enacted; a Catholic\nUniversity is being founded; the Catholic press is a power; sane social\nlegislation has been adopted.\n\nAn example that may strike home better, is one that comes from our\nbrethren in the United States.  Federation has already accomplished\nwonders among our American Catholics and is welding into one great unit\nthe various societies of the Church in that immense country.  This\nfederation is only in its infancy and already its action has created a\nmental attitude which makes united action, in various spheres, a\nreality.  The annual meetings of the Catholic Education Association, of\nthe Catholic Hospitals, of Catholic Charities, of Catholic Press make\ngood our statement.  These gatherings have broadened the outlook and\nsympathies of the American Catholics in general, and created the\nvision, the sterling Catholicism, the fearless energy and the fervent\nenthusiasm that characterize leaders.  Has not the general meeting of\nthe American Catholic Hierarchy opened a new era for the Church in the\nUnited States?  Five Boards have been formed: Education, Social Work,\nPress and Literature, Lay Societies, Home and Foreign Missions.\nThrough these channels the American Episcopacy will know the doings,\nthe needs and the possibilities of the Church as a whole, and be able\nat any time, to throw, on a given point, on a new issue, the full\nweight of united forces.\n\n\"The Welfare Council begins its second year of life and activity.  It\nhas already, in a remarkable and effective way, shown the wonderful\nwealth of Catholic activity, and Catholic Service throughout the\ncountry; it has unified our Catholic organizations, leaving to all\ntheir autonomy; it has made Catholic faith a greater factor in American\nlife; and under its leaders it will, without doubt, be a further source\nof strength, of help and co-operation to the entire Catholic body of\nthe Country.  It is the Catholic body expressing itself with one voice\nand one heart in the work and in the interests common to us all as\nCatholics.\"--The N.C.W.C. Bulletin, Oct., 1920.\n\n_Fas est ab hoste doceri_. . . .  Powerful is the example of a brother,\nbut often, stronger and more pungent is the example that comes from an\nenemy.  There are times indeed, when shame and honour are stronger than\nlove.  This brings us to speak of the tremendous activities of our\nseparated brethren.  Never have their efforts in view of organizing\ntheir social service departments been so persistent and so manifest,\nparticularly in the mission field.  Doctrinal lines are being lowered\nand various denominations absorbed gradually into a \"Church-union\"\nscheme from coast to coast.  A \"_social service programme_\" is the only\nbinding element which is giving to them a fictitious unity.  Fabulous\nsums are placed at the disposal of these bodies for home and foreign\nmission work.  The Methodist Conference of Canada (1918--Hamilton) has\npledged itself to levy $8,000,000 in the next four years for mission\nwork.  In our own country, in our Western Provinces, the field\nsecretaries are most active among our Catholic foreigners.  On the\nlanding stage of our docks they are found to welcome the immigrants to\nour shores.  And what could we not say of their \"press activities!\"\n\nThis movement for co-operation has, since the end of the war, taken\ntremendous proportions.  Here is a fact which speaks volumes. . . .\n\"The fight between Protestants and Catholics,\" said a German Protestant\nminister, \"will forthwith subside in the domain of dogma, but it will\nrise in the domain of social problems.  No doubt truth in the social\norder will prevail as it has prevailed in the field of religious dogma.\nBut we have to change our strategy, study new tactics, and in our plan\nof campaign turn from the defensive to the offensive.\"  Never should\nthe Catholics of Canada present a more united front.  To sneer and snap\nour fingers at the energies and organizing powers of others is often\nbut a poor excuse for our own inertia.  It is certainly no argument.\n_Fas est ab hoste doceri_.  The lesson has often a sting, but it is a\nlesson. . . .  We need organization! . . .  The Congress is the great\nmedium of organization.  What are we going to do?  Changing a little\nthe wording of one of Cicero's famous sentences, in his orations\nagainst Catiline, the arch-enemy of Rome, we shall say: \"_The enemy is\nat our doors! . . . and we are not even deliberating_!\"\n\n      *      *      *      *      *      *\n\nBefore giving a suggestive programme for a Congress may we answer some\nobjections.\n\n\"The need for co-operation and co-ordination is indeed _admitted on all\nhands_; it is its _feasibility_ that is doubted by so many good\nCatholics.  It is admitted to be an ideal; the question that is raised\nis whether the difficulties are not too great to be surmounted\notherwise than by a very slow and lengthy process of evolution.  That\nsuch a gradual evolution would be in accordance with both nature and\nhistory we should be the first to admit.  But, after all, there is such\na thing as retarding or assisting the process of evolution.  The\nvaluable maxim that 'things are what they are and their consequences\nwill be what they will be,' is after all but half the truth.  No\nCatholic believes that we are carried helpless along a stream of\ncircumstances.  He believes that man is man, a free being whose free\naction can within limits mould circumstance; and he believes that God\nis God, the one free Being Who can and does overrule circumstance, and\nWho, when and where He pleases, gives efficacy to the endeavour of His\nfree creatures to do the same.\" (Universe, Aug. 15th, 1919.)\n\nSome may say that by coming together we shall awaken susceptibilities,\nour motives will be suspected . . . and the final result will be more\nprejudice, more bigotry. . . .\n\nThere is no reason why a Congress should be of an unfriendly\naggressiveness.  We have ideas to advocate, they stand on their own\nmerit.  They are in our belief, the only key of salvation; let us then\nget together and bring them by organization and team work, into the\ndomain of realities.  Moreover, our enemies are not so very particular\nin dealing with us and with our principles.  The best policy is to meet\nin the open, as our Catholics are doing in England and stand on the\nvalue of our doctrine and our works--\"_Ex fructibus cognescetis illos_.\"\n\n\"What about the autonomy of parish and diocesan units?  Are they not\nsupreme?  Will not what we advocate interfere with these organizations?\nWill it not destroy the work of our parochial societies, etc., etc.?\"\n\n\"Organization which would attempt to meddle with local autonomy would\nnot only defeat its purpose, but would be chiselling its own epitaph.\"\n. . .  The parish and diocesan units are and must ever remain supreme,\neach in its own sphere.  We could never get a better working basis;\nmore genuine Christian charity and self sacrifice could not be met with\noutside of our acting brotherhoods and charitable organizations. . . .\nBut, what we need more is _co-operation_ between these various units in\nview of solving the complex social problems, especially in our cities.\nThis suppresses neglect and over-lapping, gives efficiency with the\nleast waste of energies.  \"Blend organization and co-ordination with\nthe greatest amount of local autonomy and individual initiative\": this\nis the sole aim a Congress has in view.  There, and there alone, lies\nthe solution of our problems.\n\n      *      *      *      *      *      *\n\n\n_Tentative Programme of Congress_.\n\nI--_Preparation_.\n\nThe remote preparation for such a great and important undertaking,\nwould consist in what we would term \"an educational campaign.\"  The\ninitial difficulty, the greatest obstacle would be to overcome the\ngeneral apathy, the want of interest, _vis inertiae_.  This could be\ndone by the Catholic press, lectures, sermons, etc.  It may take time\nto wake up our people from their slumber, but the faith is there with\nits latent energies, and we can count on them.  The forces are there;\nthey only need an occasion to call them into play.\n\n      *      *      *      *      *      *\n\nThe _immediate preparation_ would consist in the appointment of a\n_small but strong organizing committee_.  Agitation without\norganization is useless.  On the choice and activities of this\ncommittee depends the entire success of the congress.\n\nThe various activities of this committee would be:\n\n1. _Decide on Name_.--Congress, . . .  Conference, . . .  Catholic\nSocial Service Meeting, etc. . . .  This seems of no importance; but,\nin fact, it often goes a long way in interesting the public and warding\noff prejudice.\n\n2. _Decide on\nPlace_.--Winnipeg--Regina--Edmonton--Calgary--Saskatoon--Vancouver.\n\n3. _Decide on Delegates_.--Mode of selection,--clerical,--lay.  It is\nvery essential that a meeting of that kind should be thoroughly\n_popular_ and _representative_.\n\n4. _Decide on Speakers, Language_.--(One or several sections.)\n\n5. _Decide on Programme_.--This is really the essential work of the\norganizing committee.  In drawing the agenda, emphasis is to be laid\nupon problems of immediate necessity:\n\n_Defence_ and _construction_; defence against the enemies' activities;\n_strong constructive policy_ with a wide scope for all energies: these\nare the two poles on which revolve a good programme.\n\nRacial--Language--Political issues are to be absolutely barred from the\nprogramme.\n\n6. _Decide on Committees_.--Their _number_ and _matters to be trusted\nto them_.\n\n7. _Sub-committees_ can be appointed for _publicity_, _information_,\n_reception_ (ceremonies), _invitations_, _billeting_.\n\n8. _Appointment_ of Permanent Secretary. . . .\n\nN.B.--In a work of this nature it is the quiet, silent,\nwell-thought-out preparatory work that counts.  The distribution of the\nwork (papers--speakers--leaders) is the secret of genuine success.\n\nTherefore, to make a Congress a success, we need:\n\n1. _Clearly defined programme_.--(What do we want to do?)\n\n2. Compact and efficient organization.--(How is it going to be done?)\n\n3. _Competent and reliable leaders_.--(Who is going to do it?)\n\n_Foresight_, _energy_, _decision_--should mark out the leaders;\n\n_Foresight_ will give the _vision_.\n\n_Energy_ will give the _will_.\n\n_Decision_ will push to _action_.\n\nII--_Suggestive Programme_.\n\n1. Committee on \"Education\":\n\n   1. _Our Primary Schools_.--Their legal status--their efficiency?\n      Our teaching staff?  Bureau for Catholic teachers.\n\n   2. _Higher Education_.--Catholic Colleges: their standing--Catholic\n      University--Affiliation to State Universities?\n\n   3. _Sunday School_.--Teaching of Catechism--in our separate\n      schools--in sparsely settled countries?  Lay Cathechists?\n\n\n2. Committee on \"Catholic Missions.\"\n\n   1. _Home Missions_.--Church Extension.--What co-operation are we\n      giving?  Needs of the West: Men and money.\n\n   2. _Foreign Missions_.--Propagation of Faith.--Holy Childhood.\n\n   3. _What are we doing for non-Catholics_?\n\n   4. _The Missions_ (parochial).\n\n   5. _Priestly and religious vocations_.\n\n\n3. Committee on \"Press and Catholic Literature.\"\n\n   1. _Catholic Newspapers_.--(Their policy.--Their circulation.)\n      _Vigour in policy_ and _extensiveness in circulation_: two\n      essential conditions for success.\n\n   2. _Work and establishment of Catholic Truth Society_.\n\n   3. _Catholic circulating libraries_ for cities, countries.  (Example\n      of same, under care of Saskatchewan Government.)\n\n\n4. Committee on \"Public Morality.\"\n\n   1. _Divorce--Race-suicide_.\n\n   2. _Theatres--Moving pictures_.--(More severe censorship.)\n\n   3. _Eugenics_?\n\n   4. _Venereal diseases_?\n\n\n5. Committee on \"Social Action.\"\n\n   1. _Immigration--Reception and direction_ of Catholic Immigrants at\n      ports of St. John and Halifax and intermediate points.  Care of\n      foreigners (leakage).\n\n   2. _Colonization_?\n\n   3. _Young Men's Association_--on Y.M.C.A. lines.  Young Girls'\n      Association--on Y.W.C.A. lines--Girls' homes.\n\n\n6. Committee on \"Public Charities.\"\n\n_Children's Aid--Orphanages--Free\nKindergartens--Day-nurseries--Juvenile Courts--Preventive and curative\nwork_.\n\n\n7. Committee on \"Labour Problem.\"\n\n_Labour Unions--Living wage--Child labour--Care of girl-workers, etc_.\n\nN.B.--The great point to elucidate in these matters is: _Must we, and\nhow far can we, co-operate with non-Catholic bodies_?  This is a very\nimportant point, far reaching in its consequences.\n\n\n8. Committee on \"Resolutions.\"\n\n\"The resolutions are to embody the fruit of the collective experience\nand deliberations of the Congress.  They will remain then as the\nprofession of Catholic conviction and go far to create public opinion\non the questions of the day.\" (Fr. Plater.)\n\nAnd indeed, public discussion awakens new thoughts, gives various views\nof a topic, suggests practical conclusions, expedient measures.  It is\nthe crystallizing process of all the activities of the Congress.\n\n\nIII--_After the Congress_.\n\nThe good results of a Congress are made permanent by the establishment\nof:\n\n1. _A permanent Committee of Clergy and laity_--who meet occasionally\nto stimulate or check activities of the body at large.\n\n2. _A Vigilance Committee_:\n\n(a) _On legislation_.--To watch and initiate legislation--for different\nProvinces.\n\n(b) _On press_.\n\n(c) _On social work_.\n\n3. _Bureau_.--Clearing house--where \"expert knowledge and effective\npresentation\" are to be found.  To this bureau should be attached a\npriest who would specialize in social work.  He could be helped by an\nefficient secretary.  His would be the energy that would carry to the\nvarious organizations life and power.  The \"Volksverein\" in Catholic\nGermany was a model in this line of work.\n\n      *      *      *      *      *      *\n\n\"_Praesentia tangens . . . futura prospiciens_\" is a motto which\ntranslates well the lofty ideal Catholics should have before their eyes\nat this turning point of history.  Although we stand amid the ruins\naccumulated during four long years of war and are confronted by\ndistressing after-war problems in every order of human activity, still\nwe raise our heads in hope and look beyond the crude realities of the\npresent to a brighter day breaking on the horizon of time, a day tinted\nwith the rising sun of Christian doctrine. . . .\n\n_Instaurare omnia in Christo_ . . . to re-establish all things in\nChrist, is the only reconstruction that will last.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\n\nULTIMA VERBA\n\nThe Canadian West offers to one who has never gone beyond the Great\nLakes but a misty vision of boundless prairies that stretch over three\nimmense Provinces and lose themselves in the foothills of the\nsnow-capped Rockies.  Conflicting are the impressions that assail the\ntraveller's mind, various the feelings that crowd around his heart when\nleaving behind him the East, he faces, for the first time, the \"great\nlone land\" of the West.  From the immensities of the fertile prairie\ncomes to him an invigorating air of optimism which fires him with\nenthusiasm and confidence in the possibilities of the country and gives\nhim the assurance of its future.  From the vast horizon that melts away\ninto the distant blue skies \"he seems to hear the footsteps of Freedom\ntreading towards him.\"  This mysterious attractiveness of the boundless\ndesert that the plough has just turned into restful and fertile meadows\nhas at all times a peculiar fascination.  But it is at harvest season\nthat our glorious West it at its best.  Then under the deep blue\nfirmament, in the glorious sunlight and exhilarating atmosphere of the\nrolling prairie one can hear, as it were, \"the song of the land.\"  With\nthe hum of the binder, it comes to him froth the long rows of golden\nsheaves, it rises from the fields where yet waves the ripening harvest.\n\nNature indeed is then most beautiful in the West.  But for the\nChristian soul to whom Faith \"is the evidence of things unseen and the\nsubstances of things we hope for,\" the visible harvest leads to the\nthought of that spiritual harvest to which the Master so often points\nin the Gospel.  Under all the feverish activities which characterize\nour Western communities lie deep in the consciences of men those unseen\nrealities, those spiritual values and eternal issues which constitute\nthe religious world.  In the mysterious furrows of the human heart is\nripening the harvest of eternity.\n\nThe Church of God ever stands as Christ by the mysterious well of\nJacob, at the intersection of the highways of History.  Now, as in the\ndays of the Saviour, winter has set in; a cold blast of indifference\nand unbelief sweeps over the land.  Yet with the Master's vision and\nboundless confidence, the Church, pointing to the Western plains,\nrepeats to us all the divine challenge.  \"Do not you say there are yet\nfour months and then the harvest cometh?  Behold I say to you lift up\nyour eyes and see the countries for they are white already to the\nharvest.\"  (Jo. iv, 35.)\n\nBefore parting with you, kind reader, may we make ours this pressing\ninvitation of the Master.  Yes, the immense West is \"white already to\nthe harvest.\"  There stand as immense fields of ripening wheat, the\nCatholic youth of Eastern Canada, the sturdy and thrifty Catholic\nsettlers of the British Isles and continental Europe.  There the rising\ngeneration of Catholic children, like the tender green blades of the\nfuture harvest, is springing into manhood.  Staring us in the face,\ntheir eyes in our eyes, the children of foreign parentage wonder what\naccount we will make of their faith, what protection we will offer it.\nThey are the new Canadians, the nation of to-morrow.\n\nTo focus the Catholic mind of the nation on the great problems which\nthe West with its scattered population has forced upon our attention,\nhas been the object we have consistently pursued through the pages of\nthis book.  _For it is a fact of every day experience that problems are\nonly solved by those who know them, who understand their full meaning,\nand grasp their vital importance_.\n\nOur sole endeavour has been to point out the controlling forces, the\nspiritual issues that lurk behind these problems.  In debatable matters\nwe always have tried to find that higher level which lies undisturbed\nby the cross-currents of opinions.  Naturally there are conclusions we\ndraw or forms of action we propose which may not find favour with\neveryone.  There are so many angles of vision from which moral problems\ncan be viewed.  But we will say with Cardinal Newman \"nothing would be\ndone at all if a man waited until he could do it so well that no one\ncould find fault with it.\"  Were we, in our insistency on certain\ntopics and suggestions, accused of undue repetition, the importance of\nthe subject and our eager desire of immediate action would be our only\nexcuse and defence.\n\nThe Western spiritual harvest is indeed great and now ready for the\nreapers.  Never in our mind has a period in the history of the Church\nin Canada been more fraught with greater problems than the present one\nwhich the sudden increase of the West has created.  The vastness of\ntheir proportion and their far-reaching consequences involve to a great\nextent the future of the Church in these new Provinces and,\nconsequently, in the Dominion at large.  Moreover this immense harvest\nis now white and calls for the reapers.  To-morrow will be too late,\nfor, there comes a critical stage in the maturing harvest, when the\nlabours of past months and the most bright prospects melt away in an\nhour.  If therefore action is not immediate, irreparable, we contend,\nwill be the loss to the Church in the West.  Only by a prompt and\nunited action will the stern and burning realities of the present be\nconverted into the bright visions that our Faith has a right to expect.\n\nThe harvesters are few.  But were the Church at this critical hour able\nto count on all the spiritual forces that lie dormant in the souls of\nher children in Canada, the history of the future in the West would be\ndifferent from that of the past.  As in times of emergency, the\nconscription of Catholic forces is the supreme duty of the hour.  It is\nthe duty of our leaders to affect by a definite policy the\n\"indeterminate masses,\" just as it is the duty of each individual of\nthe masses to shoulder his share of responsibility by an active\nco-operation.  _Without a definite workable policy of united action,\nand the awakened consciousness of the Catholic masses at large,\nthroughout the Dominion, the Catholic problems in Western Canada will\nnot be solved_.\n\nThe Church in Canada, we maintain, stands at one of those critical\nperiods when the sweeping current of events give a decided bend to the\ncourse of History.  The hour is serious, for never was the future so\ngreatly involved in the present as it is now.  All depends, to a very\nlarge extent, on how, within the next decade or so, the Catholics will\nconsolidate their forces and extend their energies to meet the\nreligious issues of the West.  Were we to fail at this momentous\nperiod, our inactivity and want of co-operation will be charged against\nus, and in the eyes of the Church we shall be marked as felons and\ntraitors to her great cause.  The chapter of our times in the history\nof the Church would then be fittingly headed with this accusing\ncaption: \"_What should have been_!\"  For, we are the makers of History;\nwe prepare its verdicts.\n\nOne last word before parting with you, gentle reader.  If you have\nfollowed us through the various problems to which we have given our\nattention in this book you will have remarked that there is one idea\nwhich permeates, we would say, every page of it.  It is the key-note of\nour work.  This idea is that of \"_responsibility_,\" which a genuine and\nactive Catholicism necessarily implies.  This thought of Catholic\nsolidarity has inspired our humble effort; in it we place the hopes of\nthe future.  There lies in one word the burden of our message.\n\nTHE CHURCH OF THE WEST IS IN OUR HANDS--ITS FUTURE WILL BE WHAT WE\nSHALL MAKE IT--THAT FUTURE, WHAT SHALL IT BE?--THE DIVINE MASTER, HIS\nCHURCH, AND CATHOLIC POSTERITY, AWAIT OUR ANSWER.\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX\n\nWe thought it would be a benefit to our Canadian reader to republish\nhere three thought-compelling and illuminating articles that appeared,\nthe first in the \"New York Times,\" the second in the \"Century Magazine\"\nand the third in the \"Detroit News.\"  As they deal with a similar\nproblem that confronts Canada also, they will corroborate views we have\nexpressed here and there in our book.  Let the reader substitute\n\"Canadianization\" for \"Americanization\" and he will find that the\nstatements made can be well applied to existing conditions in our own\nCountry.\n\n\nI. AMERICANIZATION\n\n_By L. P. Edwards in N.Y. Times_.\n\nThe United States is suffering from one of its periodic attacks of Know\nNothingism.  It is seriously maintained in the public prints that our\nrecent Eastern European, and particularly our Russian, immigration\ncontains enormous numbers of murderers, thieves, counterfeiters,\ndynamiters, arsonists and other criminals of the most atrocious\ncharacter.  It is alleged that the lives and property of all of us are\nin imminent danger from these incredibly numerous blackguards, and that\nthe only salvation lies in what is called the Americanization of the\nforeigner.\n\nNow, it is known to every respectable sociologist in America that our\nrecent Eastern European immigrants, including the Russians, are just as\npeaceable and law-abiding people as native Americans or native American\nancestry.  This is a fact about which there is not the slightest doubt\nin the mind of any competently informed person.  It has been repeatedly\nestablished by careful studies made by the United States Bureau of the\nCensus; by various State boards and by highly qualified private\nfoundations.\n\nFurthermore, the most honest, thrifty, industrious, upright,\nGod-fearing and conservative portion of our foreign population is\nprecisely that portion which has clung most stubbornly to its native\nways of life and has been least influenced by American customs.  Our\nimmigrants upon changing their foreign languages, customs, beliefs and\nideals upon becoming \"Americanized,\" deteriorate profoundly in moral\ncharacter; deteriorate to a degree that shows itself in the criminal\nstatistics.\n\nIt is very fortunate for the moral welfare of millions of our foreign\npopulation that the present furore for \"Americanization\" is destined to\nfail in its object.  Its failure is in its own nature.  The fundamental\nsocial virtues, honesty, industry, thrift, truthfulness and the rest,\nare the same for all societies on the same general level of\ndevelopment.  They are not promoted by the custom of saluting any\nparticular flag nor advanced by the ability to read any particular\nConstitution.\n\nThe very complete and profound change of character implied by the\nphrase: \"The Americanization of the Foreigner\" can be wisely and safely\naccomplished only if spread out over at least three generations, while\nfour or five would be better.  Every year less than three generations,\nthat the progress is hastened, means moral and spiritual breakdown for\nthousands--means domestic tragedy and congested criminal calendars.\nThere is only one foreigner who is really a menace to American society.\nHe is the foreigner who is in rapid process of \"Americanization.\"  The\ndanger point is the foreign-born child and the American-born child of\nforeign parents.\n\nThe danger from these classes is real and serious, perhaps the most\nserious presented in the whole range of immigration questions.  Here\nagain we have very reliable statistics which leave no room for\nreasonable doubt.  America needs protection, needs it urgently, against\nthe foreigner of the second generation, particularly against the\nyouthful foreigner who goes through our Public school system.  The\nfather who stubbornly refuses to learn English or to adopt American\nways is commonly a man of admirable moral character.  The son, often\nquite as American as young men of our old stock, is equally commonly a\nyouth of vicious and unprincipled character.\n\nPublic opinion in this matter is grievously at fault.  There is danger\nto American institutions, and that danger is real, but it is just the\nopposite of what is popularly feared.  The danger lies precisely in the\nprocess of Americanization itself, particularly in the endeavor to\nhasten that process.  If, as is commonly maintained, the present need\nin America is peace and safety, security and conservatism, then the\nAmericanization of the foreigner should be slowed down in every way\npossible.  No encouragement should at this time be offered to the\nforeigner to abandon his native language or religion or to change his\nethical or cultural standards.\n\nOn the other hand, every possible assistance should be given to Roman\nand Greek Catholic priests, Orthodox rabbis and other such leaders in\nmaintaining and strengthening the traditional loyalties of their\nvarious groups.  Our Mohammedans--no negligible element in recent\nimmigration--should be encouraged to build mosques, to read the Koran\nand to obey the various other requirements of their faith.  Our public\nlibraries should provide themselves more liberally with books in\nforeign languages.  Foreign language lectures and speakers of all sorts\nshould be much encouraged.  By such means and only by such means can\nthe spirit of unrest and disquiet be stilled and the spirit of\nconservatism and contentment with the status quo be developed among our\nforeign population.\n\nIt is a most curious popular misconception that peace and quietness and\nrespect for law and order can be developed in the foreigner by suddenly\nand violently disturbing his mental life.  Changing a man's language,\nupsetting his moral and social conventions, altering his inherited\ntraditions of conduct, unsettling his ancestral faith--these are the\nvery best means possible for making him a disbeliever in all\nestablished institutions, including those of the United States.  Yet\nthis is precisely what \"Americanization\" aims to do with the best\nintentions.\n\nLet us take a specific illustration.  It may perhaps be theoretically\ndesirable to bring our new immigrant to a realization of the crudity\nand superstition of his Eastern Orthodox faith, and to be a lively\nrecognition of the superiority of American Protestantism.  Practically,\nit can be seldom done and the reason is simple.  When a person has been\nbrought to realize the faults, imperfections, and limitations of a\ntraditional system of belief in religion, government or what not, he\ninevitably applies his new critical attitude towards whatever system of\nbelief is offered to him as a substitute for the one he has been\nencouraged to cast aside.\n\nMost commonly the alternative system, being human, has serious faults,\nimperfections and limitations of its own, which are easily enough\ndiscoverable.  The net result of very much conscientious missionary\nwork in America is that the foreigner ceases to believe his traditional\nfaith, refuses allegiance to any American substitute and becomes an\ninfidel agnostic or atheist.  The same thing is just as common in the\nrealms of social, ethical and political faith as in that of religious\nbelief.\n\nRespect for Government and law is not a natural instinct.  It is an\nartificial attitude slowly built up in the individual by all sorts of\ndirect and indirect social pressure.  The breakdown of old habits of\nthought in any one of the great departments of social activity very\nrapidly affects the other phases of conduct.  The whole moral life of\nthe individual tends to become unsettled.  Nothing is held firmly\nexcept the selfish determination to obtain material wealth.  Ideas and\nideals which stand in the way of this are cast aside.  The Americanized\nforeigner possesses all the native Americans' ruthless greed without\npossessing his social, ethical, religious, or political idealism.\n\nNo man can learn a language perfectly who learns it deliberately, and\nsocial ideals are harder to learn than language.  They can never be\nlearned naturally and completely except when they are learned so\ngradually and imperceptibly that the process is unrecognized and\nlargely unconscious.  This can never be possible in the case of the\nforeign born, and is only very partially attainable in the case of the\nchildren foreign born.  Its complete realization is possible only in\nthe case of children born and reared in an entirely American\nenvironment.  That is to say it cannot be accomplished before the third\ngeneration at the earliest, and often not then.\n\n\nII. THE FAD OF AMERICANIZATION\n\n_By Glenn Frank in the \"Century Magazine,\" June, 1920_.\n\nWe are a nation of confirmed uplifters.  We are never happy except when\nwe are reforming something or saving somebody.  It doesn't matter\ngreatly whom we are saving or what we are reforming; the game is the\nthing.  This uplift urge expresses itself in the \"movement\" mania, the\nendemic home of which is United States.  The American cannot live by\nbread alone; he must have committees, clubs, constitutions, by-laws,\nplatforms, and resolutions.  These things, the machinery of uplift are\nhis meat and wine.  The American society women takes to \"social\nservice\" and the American business man to \"public work\" as a bird takes\nto the air or a hound to the trail.  It is in the blood.\n\nJust now the most popular social sport is \"Americanization.\"  It is in\nmany ways an ideal movement.  It fully satisfies the passion of the\ncomfortable classes for uplift, and is a Godsend to the candidate who\nwants something to grow fervent about in lieu of a frank facing of\nfundamental issues of politics and industry.  Above all,\nAmericanization work gives one the righteous feeling of a defender of\nthe faith.  The epidemic faddist character of much Americanization work\nwas pointedly stated in a recent article by Simon J. Lubin and\nChristina Krysto in \"The Survey.\"  They said:\n\n\"Every social organization, every religious society, every large\nindustry, every woman's club has been busy for months mapping out its\nown particular program.  The study of Americanization has been used to\nstimulate interest in organizations which were dying a natural death;\nAmericanization has been used as a pretext for sudden improvements in\nindustrial management when the attitude of labor has made sudden\nimprovements imperative; Americanization has been used to give\nemployment to social workers out of jobs.\"\n\nThis article further points out the inevitability of innumerable\nperversions of Americanization in such an orgy of organization.  The\narticle says on this point:\n\n\"Every political party has its hangers-on who, consciously or\nunconsciously, discredit the fine principles of that party by their\nerroneous expounding of these.  Every new phase in industrial progress\nhas its profiteers--men who capitalize the advanced ideas of their\nfield for their own interest, regardless of the harm which they bring\nto the whole by their methods.  Every scientific discovery has its\ncharlatans who mix enough of the truth with their lies to undermine the\nwhole truth when their lies become known.  Every religion has its false\nmessiahs, and many a man has been made an unbeliever because he has\nfollowed these too easily and been disappointed too grievously.\"\n\nIt should be said that the profiteers, charlatans, and false messiahs\nof Americanization are not, in the main, men and women of bad\nintentions so much as they are men and women of half-ideas of\nfractional and incomplete conceptions of Americanization.  The title of\nfalse messiahs fits them better than either profiteers or charlatans,\nfor false messiahs are usually profoundly sincere, although profoundly\nmisguided.\n\nNo straight-thinking person disputes the need of a fundamentally sound\nprogram of Americanization, a vast collective effort toward the\nstimulation and spread of sane principles of national life among all\nsorts and conditions of men and women who make up our population.  But\nanything and everything that goes by the name of Americanization is not\nnecessarily an effective move in that direction.  There is slowly\ngrowing up a body of incisive criticism dealing with the current\nepidemic of Americanization work that is sweeping the country on the\nwings of clever catch-words and generous emotions.  It may be of\ninterest and value to attempt an analysis and statement of the main\npoints of that body of criticism.  Here are a few plainly valid\ncriticisms.\n\nFirst, it is psychologically bad to approach Americanization work\nthrough a _super-organized and much-trumpeted movement, because such a\npolicy warns the foreigner in advance that a crowd of superior_ persons\nhave set out to improve him.  That is generally resented.  The fact is\nthat hardly a thing has been proposed as desirable in an\nAmericanization program that is not the duty or function of some\nexisting institution of our country, the church, the school, the\nindustry, the press.  Education, hygiene, and a decent inter-class\ncourtesy are necessary features of any sound Americanization program,\nbut they can be more effectively applied by calling them what they are\nand promoting them in normal ways than by branding them Americanization\nand cursing them with the blight of paternalistic uplift.\n\nBut it is probably useless to quarrel with a long established national\nhabit.  It is a habit of ours to create a new organization for every\nnew task.  Not only does that practice have the drawbacks just\nmentioned, but it robs our established institutions of the habit of\ndoing creative work, leaves our established institutions as homes of\nthe routine and the regular.  There is a fundamental difference between\nEngland and the United States in this matter.  In England the few men\nwho have caught an idea or envisioned a need, do not, as a regular\npractice, create a new propagandist organization instanter, but in most\ncases set quietly to work to get the machinery of established\ninstitutions going on the task.  An increasing number of clear-minded\nfolk are becoming convinced that Americanization would proceed much\nfaster and more soundly through the increase efficiency of the existing\nmachinery of school and church and press and industry, without any\nfanfare of trumpets, than through any propagandist \"drive\" for\nuplifting the foreigner.\n\nSecond, it is a _fallacy_ to suppose that Americanization _is a process\nneeded by the foreigners only_.  Much Americanization work proceeds\nupon the assumption that what is needed is to make the foreigner \"like\nus.\"  The fact is that Americanization is sorely needed by many of\n\"us,\" Americanization does not mean merely getting an immigrant ready\nfor his citizenship-papers.  It means the continuous fostering of the\nAmerican spirit of liberty, justice, and equality of opportunity in\nevery man and woman and institution and policy.  Americanization should\nbe looked upon as the inspiring goal of both native born and foreign\nborn, not as a missionary enterprise among the foreign born alone.  To\nsingle out the foreign born as the exclusive objects of an\nAmericanization effort is organized tactlessness.  If, on the other\nhand, the foreign born feel that they are being invited to join with\nthe native born in a vast collective effort to build a better nation in\nwhich liberty, justice, and equality of opportunity shall increasingly\nprevail, they will go out of their way to acquire the English language,\na knowledge of our institutions and ways, and all the instruments\nnecessary to the task of collaborating with us in the improvement of\nthe republic.\n\nThird, serious danger lies in the _over-simplification of the_ problem\nof Americanization by propagandist organizations.  We are in constant\ndanger from too simple analysis of problems and too simple as the\nepigrams that grow up about it.  Panaceas usually touch only a part of\na problem.  It is interesting to watch various types of minds approach\nthe problems of Americanization in committee discussion.  Here are a\nfew simple solutions that the writer has heard from time to time:\n\nTeach the foreigner to stick to the job and produce.  We need to teach\nthe foreigner that Americanism means patriotic production for the\nrelief of the world's present peace-time plight, just as it meant\npatriotic production for the necessities of war-time.  A great drive\nfor industrial patriotism is the supreme need.\n\nTeach the foreigner to respect our forms of government.  Make the\nforeigner understand that we have settled the question of government\nforms and that criticism is disloyalty.  We must discourage the\npractice of biting the hand that feeds.\n\nTeach the foreigner the English language.  There is no room in this\ncountry for more than one language.  Alien intrigue could be killed if\nwe turned the United States into a country of one language.\n\nMake every foreigner take out citizenship-papers within a specified\ntime or deport him.\n\nNow, it is inevitable that when Americanization is made a popular\n\"drive\" by a vast propagandist organization that the army of men and\nwomen of one idea, apostles of simplicist solutions, will flock into\nthe ranks of the propagandists.  Even when the official program of the\norganization is well rounded, the army of simple-solutionists will do\nirreparable damage in their work as servants of the movement.\n\nThe problem cannot be dismissed by preaching to the foreigner that he\nshould stick to the job and produce.  The problem of maximum production\nhas a thousand ramifications that run throughout the whole industrial\nproblem.  The preaching of industrial patriotism is a waste of breath\nunless it goes hand in hand with a far-reaching liberal program of\nindustrial justice and efficiency.  The industrial program is more\nimportant than the industrial preaching.  Put the program into effect\nand the preaching of loyalty to the job may be unnecessary.\n\nFar from being Americanism, it is fundamentally anti-American to urge\nan uncritical deification of any form of government.  Americanism\ninvolves an invitation to continuous constructive criticism in behalf\nof a bettering of our machinery of government.  It is no solution of\nthe foreign-born problem to preach loyalty to the _status quo_.  We\nshall get further by saying to the foreigner, \"We are engaged in a\ngreat democratic experiment on this continent.  We have settled a few\nprinciples in our minds.  We believe in popular rule through political\naction, but as to details we are on a search for improvement.  We ask\nyou to learn our language and our institutions and then give us the\nbenefit of your best thought on ways and means for the improvement of\nour machinery for democratic government.  The bars are down for the\nfrankest criticism from men and women who have the democratic patience\nto trust their proposals to peaceful procedure.\"\n\nLearning the English language is only a means to an end.  It is too\nfrequently made an end in itself.  There is no more virtue in talking\nEnglish than in talking Hottentot.  We shall not get far by the mere\nexaltation of a language.  The only lasting results we shall achieve\nwill be through the making of participation in this national democratic\nexperiment of ours so attractive to the foreigner that he will burn\nwith the desire to master our tongue, that he may better play his part\nand appreciate his privilege.  A man can plot the downfall of the\nrepublic in English as easily as in an alien tongue.\n\nNor is there magic in the legal assumption of citizenship.  It is the\nman behind the papers that counts.  If anything, we have made\ncitizenship too easy a privilege in the past.\n\nNow, all this is said not to suggest that there is no room or need for\nspecial consideration of the Americanization problem by groups of\npublic minded citizens.  It is not intended to suggest that\nAmericanization may not properly be made the subject of considerable\npropaganda.  This comment has indulged in rather severe and unqualified\nstrictures upon the Americanization \"drive\" in the hope of capturing\nattention for three manifest dangers that may prove the undoing of the\nreal Americanization work that cries aloud for administration.  These\nthree dangers are; first, the danger of making the Americanization\nmovement so plainly a conventional uplift movement that the foreigner\nwill resent what he might, with a more tactful approach, request;\nsecond, the danger that, by thinking of Americanization as something\nneeded by the foreigner alone, we shall miss the opportunity of making\nAmericanization a vast national effort of self-education in the nature\nand application of the principles of liberty justice, and equality of\nopportunity that, theoretically at least, comprise the American idea;\nand third, the danger that the propagandist's passion for simple\nsolutions will further postpone the day of a broad and well-balanced\nprogram of national development.\n\nWe do not want \"Americanism\" to degenerate into a mere \"protective\ncoloration\" for politicians who want to hide their reaction and their\nlack of ideas.\n\n\nIII. AMERICANIZATION WORK MUST PROCEED SLOWLY\n\n_By Rev. D. P. Tighe, \"Detroit News,\" Aug.  23, 1919_.\n\nThere are two methods of Americanizing the immigrant, says Fr. D. P.\nTighe in the August number of the Catholic Light.  One of them is\n_revolutionary_, the other _evolutionary_.  To Americanize means to\ntake the immigrant and remake him.  Teaching him to write and speak the\nlanguage of the country is a mere detail of the process.  One cannot be\nawake to the industrial and social needs of the country without\nco-operating in every movement calculated to discourage the diversity\nof language, and to give to the foreigner every facility for the quick\nand easy mastery of English.  But Americanization is a different\nproposition.  Trotzky, when he lived in East New York, could speak and\nwrite English fluently, but he was not an American.  He had neither\nunderstanding of, nor sympathy with American institutions; and, so,\ninstead of setting himself to remedy the abuses in our industrial and\npolitical life as a good American citizen would remedy them he became\nan anarchist and envisioned to himself a millennium of destruction that\ninvolved the good as well as the evil.\n\n\"Americanization is more than a mere matter of language.  It involves\nstripping the immigrant of much of what he has inherited from the\ncenturies.  He is the finished product of those centuries.  His speech,\nhis manner, his dress, his ideas along social and political and\nindustrial lines have been fashioned upon the distaff of time.  He\nlands upon American soil and at once there is a strangeness in the\natmosphere that awes him, it is a new world in truth and the newness of\nit repels him and drives him back upon himself.  The faintest link\nbetween the new world and the old is a Godsend to him.  It gives him\ncourage, it robs him of that feeling of aloneness.  It tells him that\nafter all, maybe he is wanted.  In other words it creates an atmosphere\nof sympathy and understanding.  Now any educator can tell you that this\nvery atmosphere of sympathy is of the very essence of the class room,\nit's a condition of education, and Americanization is an education in\nnationalism.\n\n\"And here is where the revolutionary idea of Americanization falls\ndown.  Are you going to prove to the immigrant in one lesson that he is\nall wrong?  Are you going to undo with a single jerk what it has taken\ncenturies to do?  Are you going to take this man and by a sort of\npatronizing coercion, yank him out himself and leave him, high and\ndry--nowhere?  Or are you going to give him a reasonable time to learn\nthe things of the new world, time to be influenced by the new\nenvironment?  It took centuries to make him just what he is.  Can't you\nspare him one generation to shed the crust of those centuries?  Can't\nyou be satisfied with making him the solid groundwork of the\ncitizenship of his children?\n\n\"_Do we favor Americanization_?  By _revolution, no_; by _evolution,\nyes_.  The lasting kind of Americanization comes, not through a quick\njerk, but through a long pull.  First make the immigrant feel at home.\nLet him get his feet on the ground.  Let him get rid of his suspicions\nand his distrust and his shyness by finding out the links that bind the\nnew order with the old, the things that make for the broader kind of\nbrotherhood.  Don't rush him; lay emphasis upon the things that are\ncommon; from them he'll learn confidence, and confidence is a great big\nstep in the transforming of an European immigrant into an American\ncitizen.\"","title":"Catholic Problems in Western Canada","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":79957}