Catholic Problems in Western Canada Part 8

[1] This chapter formed a series of articles in the North West Review of Winnipeg. The following editorial comment accompanied our concluding article.

"This week we publish the last of the series of articles by Father Daly, C.SS.R., dealing with the separate school question.

"We consider his contribution on this ever topical and historic problem one of the best reasoned and for the average man the most concise and useful yet published. It might well be issued in pamphlet form and kept for reference in every Catholic home in Western Canada, because the subject is one likely to be controversial for an indefinite period. Sometimes one finds Catholics who are not as well acquainted with the fact as they should be that the question of Catholic education can never be compromised. A solid and reasoned knowledge of this fact is in some respects as essential as if it were an article of faith, especially in Western Canada, which, as Father Daly points out, is the cla.s.sic land of the school problem.

"Doubtless attempts will be made in the future to bring elementary education through the pretext of Canadianization, under the "invisible head" of this country. Or as in the United States segregated attempts may be made to abolish parochial schools altogether.

"Where there are so many probabilities and so much at stake it might be well for the average Catholic to be in a position to give a good account of himself by showing a thorough understanding of the question.

"If the present civilization succeeds, it will do so by adopting the methods of some, if not all, of our big corporations of to-day, and thus make of nations, huge Trust socialisms where the individual will hunger no more for freedom because of his having never tasted it. The one great desideratum to this end is the absolute control of education-an end that will never be reached so long as the Catholic Church continues to save Christian civilization through its religious schools.

"Would that our fellow citizens of other faiths knew the ruin that they court by relinquis.h.i.+ng to a material power control over the minds and hearts of their children.

"In every country the public school is bringing young minds under the spell of worldliness. The result is selfishness, jingoism, narrow nationalism-an unthinking, a gullible generation to become the easy prey of exploiters and the docile slaves of commerce.

"No man who has drunk into his heart and mind in youth the truths of religious education can readily become the willing dupe of a materialistic state.

"Commerce to-day is the G.o.d of nations. It makes wars, compels peace and tramples upon morality and justice. Surely then Catholics should study in a particular way the only safeguard left them against such a fate-the sound philosophy of a religious education."

[2] America, Aug. 21, 1920.

[3] Cfr. Article by Father Vaughan, S.J., on this subject-America, Feb. 21, 1920.

CHAPTER IX.

A WINDOW IN THE WEST[1]

A Crusade for Better Schools in Saskatchewan-Its Lessons: an Invitation and a Warning.

"A Window in the West!"-This was the suggestive t.i.tle given to a course of pedagogical studies inst.i.tuted in a Folk High-School of Denmark. The object of this course was to promote the study of these English and American educational ideals which Denmark may a.s.similate with profit. They looked to the West for light!

May we be allowed also to open here, in this Educational Conference... . "A Window in the West." Through that window will come to you the bright vision of the educational activities of our Western Provinces, and, with that vision, I hope, the sunny and breezy atmosphere of new and progressive ideas. I will limit my present remarks to a brief sketch of what was known in Saskatchewan as the "Better School Movement." This educational movement has an interesting history and carries with it a very profitable lesson. As the object of this Conference is to forward the cause of education in this part of our great Dominion, we thought it would be both interesting and instructive to hear that history and learn that lesson that comes to us from beyond the Great Lakes.

The West, we know too well, has many things yet to learn from the East; but good old Mother East should at times forget "what has been"-and consider more "what is to be." In many points her growing western daughters can give her helpful suggestions. Moreover this exchange of ideas in an immense Dominion like ours is, we claim, absolutely necessary to keep the mental equilibrium between East and West. There are let us not forget it, many other problems beside the tariff problem which are widening the breach, deepening the chasm between these two sections of our Country. True patriotism demands co-operation, and not antagonism, between these two main sectors of that immense firing line, which is flung between the Atlantic and the Pacific.

1. History.-The history of the "Better School Movement" in Saskatchewan is not very old, but, like the vegetation on the western prairies had a rapid and healthy growth. It crowded into a few years a whole epoch of the educational life of the Province. On June 22, 1915, the Hon. W. Scott, then Premier and Minister of Education, made his epochal speech which launched the idea of a reform movement. The object of this movement was the re-adjustment of the school system, of its curriculum and administration, to conditions existing throughout the Province. The people of Saskatchewan were invited to const.i.tute themselves a grand committee of the whole on education, to study facts and to suggest means. This invitation of the keen-sighted Premier was accepted by the people without any distinction of race, creed or language. The leader of the Opposition indorsed the idea and pledged the support of his party. This non-partisan movement crystallized itself in the "Saskatchewan Public Education League" which was formed at the general meeting of delegates from all over the Province, held in Regina, in Sept., 1916. The league became a forum for the expression of public opinion. The newspapers of the Province gave wide publicity to the new movement and threw open their columns to a public discussion. Teachers' a.s.sociations, inspectors' conventions, church synods, grain growers' meetings, labour unions, medical councils, trustees' conventions particularly, made school improvements a fruitful topic at all their meetings of the year. Educational problems and reforms were in the air: never have we better understood the educational value of a publicity campaign; never have we seen it crowned with such a success. The climax of this campaign was a public holiday, June 30th, 1916; meetings were held in all the school districts of the Province, speeches were made, resolutions pa.s.sed. Public opinion had been moulded and was ready for a "Survey" and Legislation.

By order in Council, June 7th, 1917, Premier Martin, successor to Hon. W. Scott, whom ill-health had forced to retire-made definite provision for an educational Survey. "This survey is in no sense of the word an investigation; for investigations are necessarily based on a.s.sumption of some sort of misfeasance or malfeasance. It is instead a sympathetic inquiry into the schools of the people as the schools actually exist. Suggestions for enlargement and re-direction are made throughout."

These are the very terms of Dr. Foght's report to the Government. This specialist in rural school practice, of the Bureau of Education, Was.h.i.+ngton, was engaged in this survey from August to November, 1917. His report was dated Jan. 20, 1918. At the session of that year it was submitted to Parliament and served as the basis of new legislation. Its reading will prove most interesting to friends of education, and most suggestive in the outlining of new policies of administration and in the remodelling of the curriculum.

II. Lesson.-This Saskatchewan Crusade for better schools carries with it a pointed lesson. In our humble estimation and from our view-point this lesson is a call for action; at the same time it sounds a warning.

1. An Invitation.-There is nothing, we believe, nothing more inviting than the readiness of our Western Provinces in dealing with problems. Here we have a beautiful example of that boldness of western youth, so confident in its resources, so optimistic in its views.

Like the West, let us diagnose our educational problems; a survey of prevailing conditions will show facts and figures. Let us see and admit the truth; camouflage is a poor policy in matters of such importance.

This diagnosis will naturally suggest remedies. Although there are certain standards in education, which are as stable as human nature itself, nevertheless, we must not forget that the human mind is a living thing-ever re-adjusting itself to environments that various factors have created. This readjustment of our methods in teaching and of our policies in administration, we know, is a very delicate process. But it has to be done and done rightly if education is not to be a misnomer.

This re-adjustment will demand the co-operation of the educational expert and the ma.s.ses. The expert has his ear to the ground, his hand on the pulse to grasp the trend of human thought. He walks ahead to blaze the way. To find or, at least, to train specialists to direct the forward march is the easiest part of the problem. The greatest difficulty in all great movements is to overcome the profound and widespread indifference of the ma.s.ses. Yet through this co-operation of the people will come the only valuable and permanent reforms. Without it our experts will court failure.

Two initial tasks impose themselves if we wish to enlist in this great educational movement the sympathies of the people: 1. To arouse interest in local communities. 2. To organize individual and group action.

A wide publicity campaign (in the papers, by means of lectures, distribution of literature, in season and out of season) is the only means of arousing the people from their apathy. It takes time to see the ideas of leaders and experts filter down into the lower strata of society. Yet we should always have faith in the mastery of ideas, in the ultimate triumph of truth and right.

The organization of units for a concerted action is a work of time and patience. Like the incoming tide it creeps in. This will suppose, to be efficient, a recognized leader and an established and well thought-out plan. This should be the definite result of this conference.

2. Warning.-But all is not gold in the El Dorado of the West. Many schemes and laws have its l.u.s.tre; but they have the bra.s.sy sound of the neo-pagan state-monopoly ideal. This thought of the supremacy of State in matters of education permeates Dr. Foght's report from cover to cover. In general, legislation is looked upon in our new Provinces as the universal panacea for all evils. The West is the land of experimental legislation. In this we should not imitate our younger sisters. Let us beware of fads! Let us never forget that legislation, to be just and beneficial, should but help the individual and the family in the forwarding of their true interest and in the protection of their inalienable rights.

This extent of State Monopoly is noticeable in two of the most important recommendations of Dr. Foght's report. They are the enlargement of school districts, so that the limits of the district will coincide with those of the munic.i.p.ality, and the consolidation of rural schools. Reasons of better administration and great efficiency, no doubt, militate in favour of this change. Particularly "Consolidation" is on a working basis in many Provinces. But the great danger we see in this change is the placing of primary schools further away from the influence of the parents. The school ceases, to a great extent, to be "the extension of the home." The control of the parents is less direct. The doors are wide open to State interference.

These are the lessons we may take from the "Better School Movement" in Saskatchewan. Let us accept the invitation and heed the warning.

One parting word.-Let the people of Nova Scotia be up and doing! The West is draining the East to its advantage. Your sons and daughters are doing the thinking for those new Provinces and creating another Dominion beyond our Lakes. If conditions are not changed, the Provinces "down by the sea" will lose their influence and cease to play their part around the family table of our vast Dominion. "Light comes from the East"-our Maritime people will proudly claim. "Yes! ... and it travels westward!" ... answers the Westerner.

[1] This chapter is the substance of a lecture given in Antigonish, N.S., at the Educational Conference, Aug. 11, 1919.

CHAPTER X.

UNICUIQUE SUUM[1]

Principle on which should be Based the Division of Company-Taxes between Public and Separate Schools.

When a point of law is ever before the courts it is an evident sign that the legislation governing that issue has been either defective in its basic principle or deficient in its proper application. Such has been the case of the "Company-School-taxes" in the Provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta. Every court in the land has had to deal with this problem, and if legislation is not changed and placed upon a more just and solid basis, it will ever be a source of trouble for the community.

Before dealing with the merit of this school question, we beg to state that the time for co-operation in educational matters has come. The day of wrangling and narrow conceptions has pa.s.sed, we hope. If there is a sacred liberty ever protected by the British flag it is surely that of education.-The recognition and protection of ethical and religious ideals are the most potent factors of the British Empire. He is a true lover of British ideals who places himself upon that higher level to judge the rights of minorities and the duties of majorities. If our Province of Saskatchewan has not known the sterile struggles of a sister Province it is because this principle has been respected and protected by our legislation. In suggesting a remedy to our laws governing Company-school-taxes, I appeal to that broad and fair minded spirit which seems to characterize our banner Province of the West. The solution we propose would give more satisfaction to the interested parties and relieve the problem of its acrimony.

In the Provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta the separate schools are an integral part of the public primary educational system. They are not parochial nor private schools, but public separate schools. Their existence is not a favour conceded to the Protestant or Catholic minority, but rather, the acknowledgement of a natural and const.i.tutional right. Therefore the separate schools come under the common law. With the purely public schools, our separate public schools share equal obligations and equal rights. The same official inspection, the same qualifications for teachers, the same curriculum of studies, the same school text-books are required in both cases by the Department of Education. Equal right to public money is recognized in the indiscriminate distribution of Government-grants. So both schools stand side by side with equal duties and equal rights. If this point of law had been kept in view no painful issue would ever be raised; co-operation, and not antagonism, would be the aim of the community at large in the great and sublime work of education. Hard and bitter things have been said in the press, on the platform and even in the pulpit: but they do not change a right. Might itself cannot stamp out RIGHT.

Public service is the principle of taxation. In return for the benefit which a business corporation derives from dealings with the public, distributive justice demands that part of the profits made, return to the community under the form of taxes. This feature of a business corporation makes it, I would say, soulless. One goes into business not to make a profession of faith, but to make money. He deals with every one indifferently. The dollar of a Christian or of a heathen has the same value as the dollar of a Jew. Were a company to discriminate with the public on lines of creed the public would be justified in retaliating.

Public utility, in matters of Company-taxes, is the basic principle of a.s.sessment; it should also be the reason of their equitable distribution. As the money of the public goes to Companies, irrespective of creed, so also should the taxes of these Companies come back to the community, irrespective of creed. As Companies are a.s.sessed in school matters for the benefit of the children of the community, the proceeds of the a.s.sessment should be therefore divided-not according to the faith of the shareholders of the company, but according to the number of children in each school district. And as the majority rules, the school district in the majority should strike the rate of taxation for both districts.

The division of Company-taxes according to the faith of the shareholders is neither just, nor practical. It is not just for the reason we have brought forward. The principle involved in the present law is just when the individual is concerned, especially when the individual is the father of a family. As such, one has a right to support the school which his conscience obliges him to support. This natural right, our present law recognizes. But in the case of a company the principle of public utility and not the test of faith should be invoked, we believe.

This present law governing Company-taxes is not practical. The onus is on the Separate School-Board to enlist each year the sympathies of the companies. Before how many Boards of Directors is the matter brought up? The local manager is the one who deals with the problem, and he often is a stranger to the laws of the Province, with no sympathy for separate schools. Facts, stubborn facts, are there to prove our contention. In no city of the Province of Saskatchewan is the Separate School Board getting its part of Company-taxes. This is one of the reasons why our rate is often so high when compared with the Public School rate, and why our Boards are crippled in their finances.

This simple reasoning should appeal to every fair-minded man. This change of legislation we advocate in the matter of Company-taxes, is not a favour we beg-but the mere recognition of a principle of distributive justice we ask.

NOTE. 1. The argument as presented herein is still stronger when applied to Companies of public utilities such as tramways, express companies, etc., for their nature and profits depend absolutely on the public.