Catholic Problems in Western Canada | Page 3

"Bolshevism is spreading throughout the world," said the British Premier, "and the churches can alone save the people from the disaster which will ensue, if this anarchy of will and aim continues to spread." The task of the churches, he continued, was greater than that which came within the compass of any political party. Political parties might provide the lamps, lay the wires and turn the current on to certain machinery, but the churches must be the power stations. If the generating stations were destroyed, whatever the arrangements and plans of the political parties might be, it would not be long before the light was cut off from the homes of the people. The doctrines taught by the churches are the only security against the triumph of human selfishness, and human selfishness unchecked will destroy any plans, however perfect, which politicians may devise.
This period of history, to quote Gladstone, is "an agitated and expectant age." The world is travelling fast into a new era. The modern social fabric, built on the shifting sands of selfishness and injustice is rocking on its foundations. Amid accumulated ruins nations are searching for the basic principles of true Reconstruction. This period of unrest is in itself a challenge to Christianity, to the Church. But the vitalizing force of Christianity can solve these problems of a decrepit civilization just as it solved the problem of tottering Rome. Problems therefore must be faced and solved. Every Catholic has his place in this world-wide work. If our religion does not make its influence felt in every phase of our life's activities, it is--as far as our life and its influence on others is concerned--a gigantic fraud. Bishop Kettler understood this pressing obligation when, breaking away from a too conservative programme of action, he was the first in the Church to give an impetus to the study of the modern social problem. His policy and action were said to have prompted the celebrated letter of Leo III, Rerum Novarum. The words of this great democratic Bishop still bear his timely message to Catholics of to-day, "To save the souls of countless workmen entrusted to her by Christ, the Church must enter the field of Social reform, armed with extraordinary remedies. She must exert herself to the utmost to rescue the workmen from a situation which constitutes a real proximate occasion of sin for them, a situation which makes it morally impossible for them to fulfill their duties as Christians."
"The Church is bound to interfere 'ex caritate,'" as these workmen are in extreme need and cannot help themselves. Otherwise, the unbelieving workingman will say to her: "Of what use are your fine teachings to me? What is the use of your referring me, by way of consolation, to the next world, if in this world you let me and my wife and my children perish with hunger? You are not seeking my welfare, you are looking for something else."
Our fair and broad Dominion has not escaped from that spirit of unrest. Spasmodic eruptions in the East and in the West indicate the same central fires of the universal volcano upon which the world now sleeps uneasily. Yet, various reasons have urged us to limit our investigation and reflections to Western Canada. The predominating interests of the West have of late become more and more evident in the economic and political life of our country. Lord Salisbury, when trouble was brewing on the far-flung border of India, gave to the people the famous warning "Look at big maps." To get a just appreciation of our mighty West we may well follow that same advice and "look at big maps." The sudden and rapid growth of our Prairie Provinces particularly, the unlimited and perennial resources of their fertile soil, the progressive spirit of the population have made of the West the land of great possibilities and mighty problems. The future of our Country, the peace and prosperity of the nation depend to a great extent on the reasonable and just exploitation of these resources and on the adequate solution to these problems.
There is no place in Canada where problems develop more rapidly and meet with more radical solutions than in Western Canada. This is the case in every young and prosperous country. No dead are behind the living, to link the past to the future with the steadying influence of tradition. Who has not heard of "The Spirit of the West?" Broad in its vision, sympathetic and ambitious in its plans, over-confident in its powers and most aggressive in its policies, that spirit grips you as you pass beyond the Great Lakes into the unlimited horizons of the rolling prairies. Those who have never experienced its secret influence, will never fully understand its tremendous power. J. W. Dafoe, of the Manitoba