A Catholic Congress of the Western Provinces, the Ultimate Solution of Their Problems—What is a Congress?—Its Utility—Its Necessity—A Tentative Programme.
To know a problem, to probe its nature, and to analyze its various factors frequently lead to an easy and happy solution. But as Church problems are mostly of a complex nature and cover a wide range, they necessarily depend for their solution on the co-operation of the various component units. This explains why we would now appeal to the Church of the West as a whole, for the solving of the problems dealt with in this book. Of their nature they out-distance the boundaries of parish and diocese, for they affect the Church as a whole. Without wishing to disparage the value of parochial and diocesan activities, we claim that the issues we have placed before our readers are not confined within the imaginary lines of the parochial unit or the boundaries of jurisdiction. They will not be met with rightly and successfully, if the Church as a unit does not agree on a uniform plan of action. For, to prevent a deplorable waste of potential powers, of misdirected energies and of overlapping work, to forward the great cause of the Church and realize its Catholic aspirations, to present a united front to common dangers, the union and co-operation of all the parishes and all the dioceses are an absolute necessity.
Never has the Church in Canada felt so keenly the necessity of this union and co-operation. An acute sense of uneasiness has spread, far and broad, apathy and lethargy. Instinctively eyes turn to the heights from whence they have a right to expect direction and help. The necessity of some INTER-DIOCESAN ORGANIZATION, along the lines of the National Catholic Welfare Council of the United States, is the outspoken conviction of many and the unexpressed desire of all. We are weak in our divided strength. The criticism of both clergy and laity in this matter is widespread and very often justifiable. We could willingly endorse what Cardinal Newman wrote to a friend: "Instead of aiming at being a world-wide power, we are shrinking into ourselves, narrowing the lines of communion, trembling at freedom of thought, and using the language of dismay and despair at the prospect before us, instead of the high spirit of the warrior going out conquering and to conquer."—(Life, by Ward II, p. 127.)
"Ut sint unum!" "That they may be one!" This is the supreme solution of the weighty problems now facing the Church at this crucial period of readjustment and reconstruction. A general Congress would crystallize, we believe, our desires for unity into a concrete fact. It would help to group the various thoughts and workable schemes around a definite plan and stimulate activities in view of its realization. Some may find it rather presumptuous on our part to formulate such a proposal. Our sincerity and loyalty to the great Cause in view is our only excuse.
What is a Catholic Congress?
A Catholic Congress—be it provincial, regional, national or simply diocesan—is the meeting of Catholic clergy and laity under the guidance of the Hierarchy, for thestudyof various problems, thedevelopment and coordination of energies, theunification and concentrationof purpose.
The members of the Congress are delegates from the various parishes, from social, mutual and diocesan organizations. It is of absolute necessity that the laity be well represented, for the Congress is the great school of "social action," the great medium of educating the Catholic body and developing the sense of Catholic social responsibility.
The guidance of our Fathers in Christ, the Hierarchy, ensures to theCongress its value, its authority—Posuit Episcopos regere EcclesiamDei.
The object of the meeting is to give to Catholic life, by the perfect organization and coordination of all its moral, social and religious activities, its maximum of efficiency. This necessitates thestudy of the problems of the dayin their relation with Catholic principles. Therefore the Congress is a readjustment of our vision to the everchanging conditions of society; desuete methods are dropped and methods more in harmony with the necessities of the times are examined, approved of and adopted. It affords an opportunity to discuss public questions, to educate and crystallize public opinion on the Catholic view-point of pending problems. This readjustment is, in our estimation, one of the greatest benefits of a Congress, for without it there is waste of energies and danger of compromise on the part of the most zealous.
Thedevelopmentandco-ordination of energieswill be the natural sequel of this general exchange of ideas, of this universal consultation of the Catholic body. When we shall have counted our resources we shall then easily marshal existing forces, create new battalions for the defence and peaceful promotion of Catholic doctrine, liberties, and influence.
To give unity of purposeto the various Catholic organizations, to direct the loyal active co-operation of every unit towards the greatest welfare of the Church, in one word, to create Catholic solidarity, is the ultimate aim and supreme triumph of a Catholic Congress.
This congress therefore, stands for the mobilization of the Catholic army for manoeuvres, and does not mean a mere pageant, a complacent exhibition of our numbers, the platonic rehearsal of our past glories and great achievements. "We are here to do a work, and not to make a show," should we say with Cardinal Manning.
TheGolden Rulethat presides over, and directs this exchange of thoughts, this study of problems, this marshalling of our forces, has always been:In necessariis unitas, in dubiis, libertas, in omnibus charitas—Unity in essentials; liberty in non-essentials; charity in all things. There is no reason whatever why a Congress should be ever aggressive. Destructive criticism leads nowhere. But there is every reason why a Congress should be perpetually active and "destructively constructive."
Should We have a Catholic Congress of the Western Provinces?
The utility and necessity of a Catholic Congress will be an adequate answer to this question—
Utility of Catholic Congresses.
Benedict XV in his letter to the American Hierarchy, March, 1919, underlines very strongly the utility of these Catholic Meetings, "We learn," says the Holy Father, "that you have unanimously resolved that a yearly meeting of all the Bishops shall be held at an appointed place in order to adapt means most suitable of promoting the interest and welfare of the Catholic Church and that you appointed from among the Bishops two commissions, one of which to deal withsocial questions, while the other will studyeducational problems, and both will report to their Episcopal brethren. This is truly a worthy resolve and with the utmost satisfaction We bestow upon it our approval."
"It is indeed wonderful how greatly the progress of Catholicism is favored by those frequent assemblies of the Bishops, which our Predecessors have more than once approved. When the knowledge and the experience of each are communicated to all the Bishops, it will be easily seen what errors are secretly spreading and how they can be extirpated; what threatens to weaken discipline among clergy and people and how best the remedy can be applied; what movements if any, either local or nation wide, are afoot for the control or judicious restraint of which the wise direction of the Bishop may be most helpful."
"It is not enough however, to cast out evil; good work must at once take its place and so these men are incited by mutual example. Once admitted that theharvest depends upon the method and the means, it follows easily, that the assembled Bishops returning to their respective dioceses, will rival one another in reproducing those works, which they have seen elsewhere in operation to the distinct advantage of the Faithful."
Great indeed are the advantages that accrue to the Church, in its social influence particularly, from a Congress. And indeed, since on Catholic principles alone depend the solution of the social problem, the welfare of Church and State alike requires that Catholics in every condition of life should co-operate in the application of those principles. The influence of the Church in these matters depends not only on her official teaching, but greatly on the social activities of Her children. These activities translate into tangible facts Her doctrines on justice and charity, and thus spread the beneficial influence of Her teachings.
The specific end of the Congress is to develop, co-ordinate, and direct these social activities of Catholics and bring their influence to bear upon the community at large.Instaurare omnia in Christo. . . is the programme of such gatherings.
The Congress (1) establishes a Catholic platform and rallies our forces around it, by creating a social solidarity, (2) enables our existing institutions and societies to extend their activities by the co-ordination of efforts; (3) facilitates the creation of new organizations to meet specific needs. "We cannot," writes Father Plater, S.J., "stand aloof from secular movements, neither may we wholly surrender ourselves to them. We must by common study bring them to the test of Catholic principles and we must by common action bend them to the great issues of which the world is losing sight."
Moreover, once the Catholic laity has been lured into taking active part in social work, once it feels that it is no more a dead unit but a living factor, the Congress becomes a necessity, for it then serves as the mental background that throws its work in relief and keeps the fires of enthusiasm burning.
Necessity of a Catholic Congress at the Present Time.
The absoluteabsence of unity and cohesionin our various social activities; the momentousperiod of reconstructionwith its far-reaching consequences in our national, political, social and economic life; theexamplesgiven to us by otherCatholic countriesand by our own enemies; these three and potent reasons urge, in our estimation, the calling of a Congress to get our bearings and to discuss ways and means of action.
The deplorable lack of unity in the Church of Canada is obvious and can be traced to many causes. Racial and language conflicts particularly, have divided our forces, absorbed our activities, narrowed our views and made us forget the Catholic view-point of greater problems. But times and ideas are changing. Never, we believe has the feeling of our divisions and dissensions been so acute; never has the demand for united action been so imperative as now. The distressing times through which the world is passing have forced upon us issues which will require the united strength of Catholic forces.
United action, so much desired and so desperately needed, requires auniform planand anauthoritative leadership. A Congress will give us these two elements of a much desired unity.
Too long, we believe, have Catholic social activities been directed along purely parochial and diocesan lines. The isolated action of parishes, especially in our cities, is no longer able to grapple with and solve our modern complex problems. Parochialism is conducive to the enjoyment of the Church's beneficial influences, but often leads us to forget our responsibilities to the Church Universal. "Parochialism is the clog on the wheel of united Catholic Action in Canada." (Canadian Freeman, Nov. 13, 1919.) And even on a broader field have we not seen conflicting directions and abstinence of necessary interference, precisely because the issues were seen in different quarters from different angles. So, a united plan of action which is so absolutely necessary for efficient work cannot be obtained without consultation and exchange of ideas.
This unity of plan will bring the Catholic consciousness to a focus. It will create an intelligent interest in Catholic social work, and lead to the gradual formation of various specific social organizations. When luminous rays are brought to a focus their light and heat are most intense.
The best concerted plans, the greatest enthusiasm to execute them, will be of no avail without leadership. For the secret of the success and usefulness of an organization is to be found in the ability, character and ideals of its leader. Never perhaps in Canada, has the absence of authoritative leadership, especially among the Catholic laity, been felt so keenly as at the present trying period. Let us hear an authoritative writer on the matter:
"When the great buzz and stir of rebuilding comes and the interchange and counterchange of ideas begin, the newly awakened folk will begin to enquire what the Church has to say and to suggest on every ethical and religious problem that comes up in the course of planning and discussion. But they will wish to know, not in the terms in which great minds of the past have formulated Catholic teaching, but in the speech and with the illustrations of contemporary life. What we need is Catholic intellectual leadership to interpret in a way they can understand, the deep ethical truths of Catholic ethics, dogmas, which are a guide to the reconstructive activities of all time. Without changing a jot of the unchangeable truth, new series of interpretations can be given to Catholic dogma, morals, ethics, with explanations that will catch the ear of the intelligent non-Catholic, give him in his own idiom the solid gist of Catholic Doctrine and appeal to him with the simple eloquence that Truth always has, when presented in the proper way." (Father Garesche, S.J., America, Dec. 28.) For, as the Editor of the Universe said, commenting on the death of Sir Mark Sykes, "The secret of ideal Catholic leadership lies in a passionate desire for the Catholic good inseparable from the common good, combined with a complete aloofness from any sectional interest."
Now, we may ask, what has given to Catholic France, Catholic Belgium, Catholic England, these eminent leaders who in public and social life, are by their fearless courage and ceaseless action, the very personification of Catholicism? It is without doubt their Catholic Congresses. There, the contact with the great problems of the day gave them the vision of things before unseen, made them emerge from the common mass, and marked them as leaders. There, they learned to think just, broad and deep. The great Congresses of Catholic Germany brought Windthorst to the foreground and made him the leader of the greatest Catholic organization. What the Congresses have done for Catholic Germany, Belgium, France and England, they will also do for Canada. They will give us true leaders, men of clear vision, of indomitable and fearless will, of patient and persevering action. Formistaken leadership is still a greater calamity than the absence of it. The Plenary Council of Quebec urges the Catholics of Canada to meet in Congress: "Qui quidem in talium caetuum frequentia liberius poterunt et validius sui nominis professionem sustinere, hostiles impetus propulsare." In the mind of the great Pope Leo XIII, whose words are here quoted, "a Congress is the most powerful offensive and defensive weapon." Quebec Plenary Council—No. 441, d.
* * * * * *
We may then conclude with a French writer: "A Congress is a sacrament of unity." It will visualize to the modern pagan for whom unity of doctrine means nothing, the tremendous powers, the living influences that flow from that same unity on the world. And for the Catholics at large it will now answer to a widespread, deep-seated longing for a more effective national Catholic unity of action.
Yes, at all times, a Congress is a necessity for united action; but in the troubled periods we now face, after the war, it becomes a factor of supreme interest and of the most vital importance.
* * * * * *
Reconstructionis the world's watch-word as nations rise from the ruins a long protracted and universal war has accumulated around them.
The period of reconstruction, more than that of the war, will test our national fibre. The problems we face are in extent, in character, in complexity greater than at any other period of history. The strain will be greater, for the conflict is being lifted to a higher plane, that of ideas. And ideas are the supreme realities, the dynamic forces that rule the world, the fulcrum that shifts the axis of the world's civilization.
In these momentous times, the isolation of Catholics would be acalamity; their participation, ablessing, for Church and country. To stand aloof from the solution of the problems that stare us in the face and insistently demand attention and solution, to confine our efforts solely to parochial institutions and not enter into the broader field of public life is for Catholics, at this hour, nothing short of a calamity. The consequences of this abstention will be to limit our action to mere protestation and often useless defence, when our principles are assailed and our positions in danger, when a leakage, through the social activities of others, is but too manifest. Let us on the contrary, turn the energies we lose in mere defence to constructive work, and our positions will be safer, and our principles better appreciated. "Our liberties are best defended when Catholics throw themselves into the stream of public life."
And does not Catholic doctrine stand essentially for constructive forces in the social, political and economic life of a country? We possess the foundation, the plans, the material of all true and lasting social reconstruction. The Gospel and the natural law form the rock-bottom foundation; the definite and unchanging principles of morality are its structural lines; justice is as the steel girders and charity the fast-binding cement.
"At the present day," wrote Professor G. Toniolo, the eminent Catholic Italian economist, "the great Encyclicals of Leo XIII, which, sustained by the common light of the Evangelical teachings of Christian philosophy and Revelation, have illuminated all the phases of social, civil and political knowledge in harmonious, logical connections. At the present day we possess a unified complex of sociological teachings, brought together in a system, which rests against the supernatural, which measures up to the problems of our age, which, absorbing everything, takes unto itself all that is true in modern science and is proven by experience, and thus is prepared to oppose successfully a positivistic, materialistic and anti-Christian sociology."
Yes, we possess the true solution of modern problems and . . . what are we doing to give it to the world, to the community in which we live? Why, the very fabric of social order is questioned, our working men are absorbing everywhere the most subversive doctrines; the relations between capital and labor are strained to a breaking-point; our industrial system is controlled by economic theories divorced from ethics, whereby the worker is a mere producer; the State-monopoly is gradually spreading its influences as huge tentacles, around our most sacred liberties; the equilibrium between liberty and authority—these two poles of Christian civilization—is being displaced; . . . and what are the activities of the Catholic body, as a whole, in Canada, to stem the rising tide? A sermon, now and then, on Socialism or on the rights and duties of labour, will not solve the problems and extinguish the volcano upon which we are peacefully living. In our cities, the housing problem, which involves to a great extent, the moral life of the masses, is acute; the white slave traffic has established its haunts and commercialized vice; the moving picture-show has become everywhere the most popular educational factor: at its school the young generation, eyes riveted on the flickering screen, is drinking in the alluring lessons of free love, divorce and every anti-Christian doctrine; our ports will soon see a new tide of immigration invade our shores; the non-catholic denominations are crumbling away under the very weight of their destructive and disintegrating principle of private judgment; we are surrounded with pagans to whom the supernatural religion of Christianity is but a name or a memory; from our great West comes the urgent cry for help, for men and money; the Church Extension, as the watchman in the night is crying out to our uninterested Catholics—"the day is coming, the night is coming"—meaning that the faint streak on the eastern horizon may be the last rays of a dying day or the first blush of a new dawn; . . . and what are we doing? Here and there, a spasmodic effort, a generous outburst of zeal—the work of some society, parish or diocese. While, what we need now is the combined effort of all the Catholics. This will only be obtained through a Congress. What we need isorganized opinion. The modern world is very sensitive toorganized opinion.—Let us get together! We only need leaders to see our opinion become "articulate and authoritative" and make its weight felt in public life. Never has a Congress been more necessary than now. Without it, Catholics will not take part in reconstruction, for a Congress alone can unite us and give us the guarantee that our energies will not be "frittered away by overlapping and friction."
There is a great moral tide now running in the world, said President Wilson in his toast to the King of England . . . and that tide is the great opportunity for Catholic social principles to take the high sea of public life. Let us therefore, like the skilful mariner, count with this set of the tide and catch it at its crest. "There is a tide in the affairs of nations like that of men, which when taken at the flood leads on to glory. If we do not direct the ideas that are awork in the seething mind of the world, they will spend their energies in retributive destruction," wrote the Philosopher President of the United States.
"The thrilling opportunities of the time, we will say with Father Garesche, S.J., should stir us to the depths of our souls' capacity with enthusiasm, energy and sacrifice. . . . Our realization of the needs and chances of the Church and the world, should stir us to the utmost of personal effort."
* * * * * *
Exempla Trahunt.—The great benefits that have ensued from a general consultation or meeting of thebody Catholic in various countriesform the best standing proof of their value. In England the annual conference of the Catholic Truth Society and other federated Societies, is the leading event of Catholic life. It has developed among the English Catholic laity, a militant, virile Catholicism, most remarkable for its aggressive policy and wonderful for its array of social organizations, as one may readily learn from the "Hand-book of Catholic Charitable and Social work" published by the C. T. Society of London. Who does not know the wonderful results of the yearly Catholic Congresses of Germany before the war? We would refer the reader to the wonderful book of Father Plater, S.J., "Catholic Social Work in Germany." To the same source may be traced the great social activities of Catholics in France and Belgium. In 1919 the Catholics of Holland met at Utrecht, and in a national general convention, discussed the Catholic view-point of burning questions—political, social and spiritual. The results of their united efforts are already tangible. Legislation favourable to Catholic Schools has been enacted; a Catholic University is being founded; the Catholic press is a power; sane social legislation has been adopted.
An example that may strike home better, is one that comes from our brethren in the United States. Federation has already accomplished wonders among our American Catholics and is welding into one great unit the various societies of the Church in that immense country. This federation is only in its infancy and already its action has created a mental attitude which makes united action, in various spheres, a reality. The annual meetings of the Catholic Education Association, of the Catholic Hospitals, of Catholic Charities, of Catholic Press make good our statement. These gatherings have broadened the outlook and sympathies of the American Catholics in general, and created the vision, the sterling Catholicism, the fearless energy and the fervent enthusiasm that characterize leaders. Has not the general meeting of the American Catholic Hierarchy opened a new era for the Church in the United States? Five Boards have been formed: Education, Social Work, Press and Literature, Lay Societies, Home and Foreign Missions. Through these channels the American Episcopacy will know the doings, the needs and the possibilities of the Church as a whole, and be able at any time, to throw, on a given point, on a new issue, the full weight of united forces.
"The Welfare Council begins its second year of life and activity. It has already, in a remarkable and effective way, shown the wonderful wealth of Catholic activity, and Catholic Service throughout the country; it has unified our Catholic organizations, leaving to all their autonomy; it has made Catholic faith a greater factor in American life; and under its leaders it will, without doubt, be a further source of strength, of help and co-operation to the entire Catholic body of the Country. It is the Catholic body expressing itself with one voice and one heart in the work and in the interests common to us all as Catholics."—The N.C.W.C. Bulletin, Oct., 1920.
Fas est ab hoste doceri. . . . Powerful is the example of a brother, but often, stronger and more pungent is the example that comes from an enemy. There are times indeed, when shame and honour are stronger than love. This brings us to speak of the tremendous activities of our separated brethren. Never have their efforts in view of organizing their social service departments been so persistent and so manifest, particularly in the mission field. Doctrinal lines are being lowered and various denominations absorbed gradually into a "Church-union" scheme from coast to coast. A "social service programme" is the only binding element which is giving to them a fictitious unity. Fabulous sums are placed at the disposal of these bodies for home and foreign mission work. The Methodist Conference of Canada (1918—Hamilton) has pledged itself to levy $8,000,000 in the next four years for mission work. In our own country, in our Western Provinces, the field secretaries are most active among our Catholic foreigners. On the landing stage of our docks they are found to welcome the immigrants to our shores. And what could we not say of their "press activities!"
This movement for co-operation has, since the end of the war, taken tremendous proportions. Here is a fact which speaks volumes. . . . "The fight between Protestants and Catholics," said a German Protestant minister, "will forthwith subside in the domain of dogma, but it will rise in the domain of social problems. No doubt truth in the social order will prevail as it has prevailed in the field of religious dogma. But we have to change our strategy, study new tactics, and in our plan of campaign turn from the defensive to the offensive." Never should the Catholics of Canada present a more united front. To sneer and snap our fingers at the energies and organizing powers of others is often but a poor excuse for our own inertia. It is certainly no argument.Fas est ab hoste doceri. The lesson has often a sting, but it is a lesson. . . . We need organization! . . . The Congress is the great medium of organization. What are we going to do? Changing a little the wording of one of Cicero's famous sentences, in his orations against Catiline, the arch-enemy of Rome, we shall say: "The enemy is at our doors! . . . and we are not even deliberating!"
* * * * * *
Before giving a suggestive programme for a Congress may we answer some objections.
"The need for co-operation and co-ordination is indeedadmitted on all hands; it is itsfeasibilitythat is doubted by so many good Catholics. It is admitted to be an ideal; the question that is raised is whether the difficulties are not too great to be surmounted otherwise than by a very slow and lengthy process of evolution. That such a gradual evolution would be in accordance with both nature and history we should be the first to admit. But, after all, there is such a thing as retarding or assisting the process of evolution. The valuable maxim that 'things are what they are and their consequences will be what they will be,' is after all but half the truth. No Catholic believes that we are carried helpless along a stream of circumstances. He believes that man is man, a free being whose free action can within limits mould circumstance; and he believes that God is God, the one free Being Who can and does overrule circumstance, and Who, when and where He pleases, gives efficacy to the endeavour of His free creatures to do the same." (Universe, Aug. 15th, 1919.)
Some may say that by coming together we shall awaken susceptibilities, our motives will be suspected . . . and the final result will be more prejudice, more bigotry. . . .
There is no reason why a Congress should be of an unfriendly aggressiveness. We have ideas to advocate, they stand on their own merit. They are in our belief, the only key of salvation; let us then get together and bring them by organization and team work, into the domain of realities. Moreover, our enemies are not so very particular in dealing with us and with our principles. The best policy is to meet in the open, as our Catholics are doing in England and stand on the value of our doctrine and our works—"Ex fructibus cognescetis illos."
"What about the autonomy of parish and diocesan units? Are they not supreme? Will not what we advocate interfere with these organizations? Will it not destroy the work of our parochial societies, etc., etc.?"
"Organization which would attempt to meddle with local autonomy would not only defeat its purpose, but would be chiselling its own epitaph." . . . The parish and diocesan units are and must ever remain supreme, each in its own sphere. We could never get a better working basis; more genuine Christian charity and self sacrifice could not be met with outside of our acting brotherhoods and charitable organizations. . . . But, what we need more isco-operationbetween these various units in view of solving the complex social problems, especially in our cities. This suppresses neglect and over-lapping, gives efficiency with the least waste of energies. "Blend organization and co-ordination with the greatest amount of local autonomy and individual initiative": this is the sole aim a Congress has in view. There, and there alone, lies the solution of our problems.
* * * * * *
Tentative Programme of Congress.
I—Preparation.
The remote preparation for such a great and important undertaking, would consist in what we would term "an educational campaign." The initial difficulty, the greatest obstacle would be to overcome the general apathy, the want of interest,vis inertiae. This could be done by the Catholic press, lectures, sermons, etc. It may take time to wake up our people from their slumber, but the faith is there with its latent energies, and we can count on them. The forces are there; they only need an occasion to call them into play.
* * * * * *
Theimmediate preparationwould consist in the appointment of asmall but strong organizing committee. Agitation without organization is useless. On the choice and activities of this committee depends the entire success of the congress.
The various activities of this committee would be:
1.Decide on Name.—Congress, . . . Conference, . . . Catholic Social Service Meeting, etc. . . . This seems of no importance; but, in fact, it often goes a long way in interesting the public and warding off prejudice.
2.Decide on Place.—Winnipeg—Regina—Edmonton—Calgary—Saskatoon—Vancouver.
3.Decide on Delegates.—Mode of selection,—clerical,—lay. It is very essential that a meeting of that kind should be thoroughlypopularandrepresentative.
4.Decide on Speakers, Language.—(One or several sections.)
5.Decide on Programme.—This is really the essential work of the organizing committee. In drawing the agenda, emphasis is to be laid upon problems of immediate necessity:
Defenceandconstruction; defence against the enemies' activities;strong constructive policywith a wide scope for all energies: these are the two poles on which revolve a good programme.
Racial—Language—Political issues are to be absolutely barred from the programme.
6.Decide on Committees.—Theirnumberandmatters to be trusted to them.
7.Sub-committeescan be appointed forpublicity,information,reception(ceremonies),invitations,billeting.
8.Appointmentof Permanent Secretary. . . .
N.B.—In a work of this nature it is the quiet, silent, well-thought-out preparatory work that counts. The distribution of the work (papers—speakers—leaders) is the secret of genuine success.
Therefore, to make a Congress a success, we need:
1.Clearly defined programme.—(What do we want to do?)
2. Compact and efficient organization.—(How is it going to be done?)
3.Competent and reliable leaders.—(Who is going to do it?)
Foresight,energy,decision—should mark out the leaders;
Foresightwill give thevision.
Energywill give thewill.
Decisionwill push toaction.
II—Suggestive Programme.
1. Committee on "Education":
1.Our Primary Schools.—Their legal status—their efficiency?Our teaching staff? Bureau for Catholic teachers.
2.Higher Education.—Catholic Colleges: their standing—CatholicUniversity—Affiliation to State Universities?
3.Sunday School.—Teaching of Catechism—in our separateschools—in sparsely settled countries? Lay Cathechists?
2. Committee on "Catholic Missions."
1.Home Missions.—Church Extension.—What co-operation are we giving? Needs of the West: Men and money.
2.Foreign Missions.—Propagation of Faith.—Holy Childhood.
3.What are we doing for non-Catholics?
4.The Missions(parochial).
5.Priestly and religious vocations.
3. Committee on "Press and Catholic Literature."
1.Catholic Newspapers.—(Their policy.—Their circulation.)Vigour in policyandextensiveness in circulation: two essential conditions for success.
2.Work and establishment of Catholic Truth Society.
3.Catholic circulating librariesfor cities, countries. (Example of same, under care of Saskatchewan Government.)
4. Committee on "Public Morality."
1.Divorce—Race-suicide.
2.Theatres—Moving pictures.—(More severe censorship.)
3.Eugenics?
4.Venereal diseases?
5. Committee on "Social Action."
1.Immigration—Reception and directionof Catholic Immigrants at ports of St. John and Halifax and intermediate points. Care of foreigners (leakage).
2.Colonization?
3.Young Men's Association—on Y.M.C.A. lines. Young Girls' Association—on Y.W.C.A. lines—Girls' homes.
6. Committee on "Public Charities."
Children's Aid—Orphanages—Free Kindergartens—Day-nurseries—Juvenile Courts—Preventive and curative work.
7. Committee on "Labour Problem."
Labour Unions—Living wage—Child labour—Care of girl-workers, etc.
N.B.—The great point to elucidate in these matters is:Must we, and how far can we, co-operate with non-Catholic bodies? This is a very important point, far reaching in its consequences.
8. Committee on "Resolutions."
"The resolutions are to embody the fruit of the collective experience and deliberations of the Congress. They will remain then as the profession of Catholic conviction and go far to create public opinion on the questions of the day." (Fr. Plater.)
And indeed, public discussion awakens new thoughts, gives various views of a topic, suggests practical conclusions, expedient measures. It is the crystallizing process of all the activities of the Congress.
III—After the Congress.
The good results of a Congress are made permanent by the establishment of:
1.A permanent Committee of Clergy and laity—who meet occasionally to stimulate or check activities of the body at large.
2.A Vigilance Committee:
(a)On legislation.—To watch and initiate legislation—for different Provinces.
(b)On press.
(c)On social work.
3.Bureau.—Clearing house—where "expert knowledge and effective presentation" are to be found. To this bureau should be attached a priest who would specialize in social work. He could be helped by an efficient secretary. His would be the energy that would carry to the various organizations life and power. The "Volksverein" in Catholic Germany was a model in this line of work.
* * * * * *
"Praesentia tangens . . . futura prospiciens" is a motto which translates well the lofty ideal Catholics should have before their eyes at this turning point of history. Although we stand amid the ruins accumulated during four long years of war and are confronted by distressing after-war problems in every order of human activity, still we raise our heads in hope and look beyond the crude realities of the present to a brighter day breaking on the horizon of time, a day tinted with the rising sun of Christian doctrine. . . .
Instaurare omnia in Christo. . . to re-establish all things in Christ, is the only reconstruction that will last.
The Canadian West offers to one who has never gone beyond the Great Lakes but a misty vision of boundless prairies that stretch over three immense Provinces and lose themselves in the foothills of the snow-capped Rockies. Conflicting are the impressions that assail the traveller's mind, various the feelings that crowd around his heart when leaving behind him the East, he faces, for the first time, the "great lone land" of the West. From the immensities of the fertile prairie comes to him an invigorating air of optimism which fires him with enthusiasm and confidence in the possibilities of the country and gives him the assurance of its future. From the vast horizon that melts away into the distant blue skies "he seems to hear the footsteps of Freedom treading towards him." This mysterious attractiveness of the boundless desert that the plough has just turned into restful and fertile meadows has at all times a peculiar fascination. But it is at harvest season that our glorious West it at its best. Then under the deep blue firmament, in the glorious sunlight and exhilarating atmosphere of the rolling prairie one can hear, as it were, "the song of the land." With the hum of the binder, it comes to him froth the long rows of golden sheaves, it rises from the fields where yet waves the ripening harvest.
Nature indeed is then most beautiful in the West. But for the Christian soul to whom Faith "is the evidence of things unseen and the substances of things we hope for," the visible harvest leads to the thought of that spiritual harvest to which the Master so often points in the Gospel. Under all the feverish activities which characterize our Western communities lie deep in the consciences of men those unseen realities, those spiritual values and eternal issues which constitute the religious world. In the mysterious furrows of the human heart is ripening the harvest of eternity.
The Church of God ever stands as Christ by the mysterious well of Jacob, at the intersection of the highways of History. Now, as in the days of the Saviour, winter has set in; a cold blast of indifference and unbelief sweeps over the land. Yet with the Master's vision and boundless confidence, the Church, pointing to the Western plains, repeats to us all the divine challenge. "Do not you say there are yet four months and then the harvest cometh? Behold I say to you lift up your eyes and see the countries for they are white already to the harvest." (Jo. iv, 35.)
Before parting with you, kind reader, may we make ours this pressing invitation of the Master. Yes, the immense West is "white already to the harvest." There stand as immense fields of ripening wheat, the Catholic youth of Eastern Canada, the sturdy and thrifty Catholic settlers of the British Isles and continental Europe. There the rising generation of Catholic children, like the tender green blades of the future harvest, is springing into manhood. Staring us in the face, their eyes in our eyes, the children of foreign parentage wonder what account we will make of their faith, what protection we will offer it. They are the new Canadians, the nation of to-morrow.
To focus the Catholic mind of the nation on the great problems which the West with its scattered population has forced upon our attention, has been the object we have consistently pursued through the pages of this book.For it is a fact of every day experience that problems are only solved by those who know them, who understand their full meaning, and grasp their vital importance.
Our sole endeavour has been to point out the controlling forces, the spiritual issues that lurk behind these problems. In debatable matters we always have tried to find that higher level which lies undisturbed by the cross-currents of opinions. Naturally there are conclusions we draw or forms of action we propose which may not find favour with everyone. There are so many angles of vision from which moral problems can be viewed. But we will say with Cardinal Newman "nothing would be done at all if a man waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault with it." Were we, in our insistency on certain topics and suggestions, accused of undue repetition, the importance of the subject and our eager desire of immediate action would be our only excuse and defence.
The Western spiritual harvest is indeed great and now ready for the reapers. Never in our mind has a period in the history of the Church in Canada been more fraught with greater problems than the present one which the sudden increase of the West has created. The vastness of their proportion and their far-reaching consequences involve to a great extent the future of the Church in these new Provinces and, consequently, in the Dominion at large. Moreover this immense harvest is now white and calls for the reapers. To-morrow will be too late, for, there comes a critical stage in the maturing harvest, when the labours of past months and the most bright prospects melt away in an hour. If therefore action is not immediate, irreparable, we contend, will be the loss to the Church in the West. Only by a prompt and united action will the stern and burning realities of the present be converted into the bright visions that our Faith has a right to expect.
The harvesters are few. But were the Church at this critical hour able to count on all the spiritual forces that lie dormant in the souls of her children in Canada, the history of the future in the West would be different from that of the past. As in times of emergency, the conscription of Catholic forces is the supreme duty of the hour. It is the duty of our leaders to affect by a definite policy the "indeterminate masses," just as it is the duty of each individual of the masses to shoulder his share of responsibility by an active co-operation.Without a definite workable policy of united action, and the awakened consciousness of the Catholic masses at large, throughout the Dominion, the Catholic problems in Western Canada will not be solved.
The Church in Canada, we maintain, stands at one of those critical periods when the sweeping current of events give a decided bend to the course of History. The hour is serious, for never was the future so greatly involved in the present as it is now. All depends, to a very large extent, on how, within the next decade or so, the Catholics will consolidate their forces and extend their energies to meet the religious issues of the West. Were we to fail at this momentous period, our inactivity and want of co-operation will be charged against us, and in the eyes of the Church we shall be marked as felons and traitors to her great cause. The chapter of our times in the history of the Church would then be fittingly headed with this accusing caption: "What should have been!" For, we are the makers of History; we prepare its verdicts.
One last word before parting with you, gentle reader. If you have followed us through the various problems to which we have given our attention in this book you will have remarked that there is one idea which permeates, we would say, every page of it. It is the key-note of our work. This idea is that of "responsibility," which a genuine and active Catholicism necessarily implies. This thought of Catholic solidarity has inspired our humble effort; in it we place the hopes of the future. There lies in one word the burden of our message.
We thought it would be a benefit to our Canadian reader to republish here three thought-compelling and illuminating articles that appeared, the first in the "New York Times," the second in the "Century Magazine" and the third in the "Detroit News." As they deal with a similar problem that confronts Canada also, they will corroborate views we have expressed here and there in our book. Let the reader substitute "Canadianization" for "Americanization" and he will find that the statements made can be well applied to existing conditions in our own Country.
By L. P. Edwards in N.Y. Times.
The United States is suffering from one of its periodic attacks of Know Nothingism. It is seriously maintained in the public prints that our recent Eastern European, and particularly our Russian, immigration contains enormous numbers of murderers, thieves, counterfeiters, dynamiters, arsonists and other criminals of the most atrocious character. It is alleged that the lives and property of all of us are in imminent danger from these incredibly numerous blackguards, and that the only salvation lies in what is called the Americanization of the foreigner.
Now, it is known to every respectable sociologist in America that our recent Eastern European immigrants, including the Russians, are just as peaceable and law-abiding people as native Americans or native American ancestry. This is a fact about which there is not the slightest doubt in the mind of any competently informed person. It has been repeatedly established by careful studies made by the United States Bureau of the Census; by various State boards and by highly qualified private foundations.
Furthermore, the most honest, thrifty, industrious, upright, God-fearing and conservative portion of our foreign population is precisely that portion which has clung most stubbornly to its native ways of life and has been least influenced by American customs. Our immigrants upon changing their foreign languages, customs, beliefs and ideals upon becoming "Americanized," deteriorate profoundly in moral character; deteriorate to a degree that shows itself in the criminal statistics.
It is very fortunate for the moral welfare of millions of our foreign population that the present furore for "Americanization" is destined to fail in its object. Its failure is in its own nature. The fundamental social virtues, honesty, industry, thrift, truthfulness and the rest, are the same for all societies on the same general level of development. They are not promoted by the custom of saluting any particular flag nor advanced by the ability to read any particular Constitution.
The very complete and profound change of character implied by the phrase: "The Americanization of the Foreigner" can be wisely and safely accomplished only if spread out over at least three generations, while four or five would be better. Every year less than three generations, that the progress is hastened, means moral and spiritual breakdown for thousands—means domestic tragedy and congested criminal calendars. There is only one foreigner who is really a menace to American society. He is the foreigner who is in rapid process of "Americanization." The danger point is the foreign-born child and the American-born child of foreign parents.
The danger from these classes is real and serious, perhaps the most serious presented in the whole range of immigration questions. Here again we have very reliable statistics which leave no room for reasonable doubt. America needs protection, needs it urgently, against the foreigner of the second generation, particularly against the youthful foreigner who goes through our Public school system. The father who stubbornly refuses to learn English or to adopt American ways is commonly a man of admirable moral character. The son, often quite as American as young men of our old stock, is equally commonly a youth of vicious and unprincipled character.
Public opinion in this matter is grievously at fault. There is danger to American institutions, and that danger is real, but it is just the opposite of what is popularly feared. The danger lies precisely in the process of Americanization itself, particularly in the endeavor to hasten that process. If, as is commonly maintained, the present need in America is peace and safety, security and conservatism, then the Americanization of the foreigner should be slowed down in every way possible. No encouragement should at this time be offered to the foreigner to abandon his native language or religion or to change his ethical or cultural standards.
On the other hand, every possible assistance should be given to Roman and Greek Catholic priests, Orthodox rabbis and other such leaders in maintaining and strengthening the traditional loyalties of their various groups. Our Mohammedans—no negligible element in recent immigration—should be encouraged to build mosques, to read the Koran and to obey the various other requirements of their faith. Our public libraries should provide themselves more liberally with books in foreign languages. Foreign language lectures and speakers of all sorts should be much encouraged. By such means and only by such means can the spirit of unrest and disquiet be stilled and the spirit of conservatism and contentment with the status quo be developed among our foreign population.
It is a most curious popular misconception that peace and quietness and respect for law and order can be developed in the foreigner by suddenly and violently disturbing his mental life. Changing a man's language, upsetting his moral and social conventions, altering his inherited traditions of conduct, unsettling his ancestral faith—these are the very best means possible for making him a disbeliever in all established institutions, including those of the United States. Yet this is precisely what "Americanization" aims to do with the best intentions.
Let us take a specific illustration. It may perhaps be theoretically desirable to bring our new immigrant to a realization of the crudity and superstition of his Eastern Orthodox faith, and to be a lively recognition of the superiority of American Protestantism. Practically, it can be seldom done and the reason is simple. When a person has been brought to realize the faults, imperfections, and limitations of a traditional system of belief in religion, government or what not, he inevitably applies his new critical attitude towards whatever system of belief is offered to him as a substitute for the one he has been encouraged to cast aside.
Most commonly the alternative system, being human, has serious faults, imperfections and limitations of its own, which are easily enough discoverable. The net result of very much conscientious missionary work in America is that the foreigner ceases to believe his traditional faith, refuses allegiance to any American substitute and becomes an infidel agnostic or atheist. The same thing is just as common in the realms of social, ethical and political faith as in that of religious belief.
Respect for Government and law is not a natural instinct. It is an artificial attitude slowly built up in the individual by all sorts of direct and indirect social pressure. The breakdown of old habits of thought in any one of the great departments of social activity very rapidly affects the other phases of conduct. The whole moral life of the individual tends to become unsettled. Nothing is held firmly except the selfish determination to obtain material wealth. Ideas and ideals which stand in the way of this are cast aside. The Americanized foreigner possesses all the native Americans' ruthless greed without possessing his social, ethical, religious, or political idealism.
No man can learn a language perfectly who learns it deliberately, and social ideals are harder to learn than language. They can never be learned naturally and completely except when they are learned so gradually and imperceptibly that the process is unrecognized and largely unconscious. This can never be possible in the case of the foreign born, and is only very partially attainable in the case of the children foreign born. Its complete realization is possible only in the case of children born and reared in an entirely American environment. That is to say it cannot be accomplished before the third generation at the earliest, and often not then.
By Glenn Frank in the "Century Magazine," June, 1920.
We are a nation of confirmed uplifters. We are never happy except when we are reforming something or saving somebody. It doesn't matter greatly whom we are saving or what we are reforming; the game is the thing. This uplift urge expresses itself in the "movement" mania, the endemic home of which is United States. The American cannot live by bread alone; he must have committees, clubs, constitutions, by-laws, platforms, and resolutions. These things, the machinery of uplift are his meat and wine. The American society women takes to "social service" and the American business man to "public work" as a bird takes to the air or a hound to the trail. It is in the blood.
Just now the most popular social sport is "Americanization." It is in many ways an ideal movement. It fully satisfies the passion of the comfortable classes for uplift, and is a Godsend to the candidate who wants something to grow fervent about in lieu of a frank facing of fundamental issues of politics and industry. Above all, Americanization work gives one the righteous feeling of a defender of the faith. The epidemic faddist character of much Americanization work was pointedly stated in a recent article by Simon J. Lubin and Christina Krysto in "The Survey." They said:
"Every social organization, every religious society, every large industry, every woman's club has been busy for months mapping out its own particular program. The study of Americanization has been used to stimulate interest in organizations which were dying a natural death; Americanization has been used as a pretext for sudden improvements in industrial management when the attitude of labor has made sudden improvements imperative; Americanization has been used to give employment to social workers out of jobs."
This article further points out the inevitability of innumerable perversions of Americanization in such an orgy of organization. The article says on this point:
"Every political party has its hangers-on who, consciously or unconsciously, discredit the fine principles of that party by their erroneous expounding of these. Every new phase in industrial progress has its profiteers—men who capitalize the advanced ideas of their field for their own interest, regardless of the harm which they bring to the whole by their methods. Every scientific discovery has its charlatans who mix enough of the truth with their lies to undermine the whole truth when their lies become known. Every religion has its false messiahs, and many a man has been made an unbeliever because he has followed these too easily and been disappointed too grievously."
It should be said that the profiteers, charlatans, and false messiahs of Americanization are not, in the main, men and women of bad intentions so much as they are men and women of half-ideas of fractional and incomplete conceptions of Americanization. The title of false messiahs fits them better than either profiteers or charlatans, for false messiahs are usually profoundly sincere, although profoundly misguided.
No straight-thinking person disputes the need of a fundamentally sound program of Americanization, a vast collective effort toward the stimulation and spread of sane principles of national life among all sorts and conditions of men and women who make up our population. But anything and everything that goes by the name of Americanization is not necessarily an effective move in that direction. There is slowly growing up a body of incisive criticism dealing with the current epidemic of Americanization work that is sweeping the country on the wings of clever catch-words and generous emotions. It may be of interest and value to attempt an analysis and statement of the main points of that body of criticism. Here are a few plainly valid criticisms.
First, it is psychologically bad to approach Americanization work through asuper-organized and much-trumpeted movement, because such a policy warns the foreigner in advance that a crowd of superiorpersons have set out to improve him. That is generally resented. The fact is that hardly a thing has been proposed as desirable in an Americanization program that is not the duty or function of some existing institution of our country, the church, the school, the industry, the press. Education, hygiene, and a decent inter-class courtesy are necessary features of any sound Americanization program, but they can be more effectively applied by calling them what they are and promoting them in normal ways than by branding them Americanization and cursing them with the blight of paternalistic uplift.
But it is probably useless to quarrel with a long established national habit. It is a habit of ours to create a new organization for every new task. Not only does that practice have the drawbacks just mentioned, but it robs our established institutions of the habit of doing creative work, leaves our established institutions as homes of the routine and the regular. There is a fundamental difference between England and the United States in this matter. In England the few men who have caught an idea or envisioned a need, do not, as a regular practice, create a new propagandist organization instanter, but in most cases set quietly to work to get the machinery of established institutions going on the task. An increasing number of clear-minded folk are becoming convinced that Americanization would proceed much faster and more soundly through the increase efficiency of the existing machinery of school and church and press and industry, without any fanfare of trumpets, than through any propagandist "drive" for uplifting the foreigner.
Second, it is afallacyto suppose that Americanizationis a process needed by the foreigners only. Much Americanization work proceeds upon the assumption that what is needed is to make the foreigner "like us." The fact is that Americanization is sorely needed by many of "us," Americanization does not mean merely getting an immigrant ready for his citizenship-papers. It means the continuous fostering of the American spirit of liberty, justice, and equality of opportunity in every man and woman and institution and policy. Americanization should be looked upon as the inspiring goal of both native born and foreign born, not as a missionary enterprise among the foreign born alone. To single out the foreign born as the exclusive objects of an Americanization effort is organized tactlessness. If, on the other hand, the foreign born feel that they are being invited to join with the native born in a vast collective effort to build a better nation in which liberty, justice, and equality of opportunity shall increasingly prevail, they will go out of their way to acquire the English language, a knowledge of our institutions and ways, and all the instruments necessary to the task of collaborating with us in the improvement of the republic.
Third, serious danger lies in theover-simplification of theproblem of Americanization by propagandist organizations. We are in constant danger from too simple analysis of problems and too simple as the epigrams that grow up about it. Panaceas usually touch only a part of a problem. It is interesting to watch various types of minds approach the problems of Americanization in committee discussion. Here are a few simple solutions that the writer has heard from time to time:
Teach the foreigner to stick to the job and produce. We need to teach the foreigner that Americanism means patriotic production for the relief of the world's present peace-time plight, just as it meant patriotic production for the necessities of war-time. A great drive for industrial patriotism is the supreme need.
Teach the foreigner to respect our forms of government. Make the foreigner understand that we have settled the question of government forms and that criticism is disloyalty. We must discourage the practice of biting the hand that feeds.
Teach the foreigner the English language. There is no room in this country for more than one language. Alien intrigue could be killed if we turned the United States into a country of one language.
Make every foreigner take out citizenship-papers within a specified time or deport him.
Now, it is inevitable that when Americanization is made a popular "drive" by a vast propagandist organization that the army of men and women of one idea, apostles of simplicist solutions, will flock into the ranks of the propagandists. Even when the official program of the organization is well rounded, the army of simple-solutionists will do irreparable damage in their work as servants of the movement.
The problem cannot be dismissed by preaching to the foreigner that he should stick to the job and produce. The problem of maximum production has a thousand ramifications that run throughout the whole industrial problem. The preaching of industrial patriotism is a waste of breath unless it goes hand in hand with a far-reaching liberal program of industrial justice and efficiency. The industrial program is more important than the industrial preaching. Put the program into effect and the preaching of loyalty to the job may be unnecessary.
Far from being Americanism, it is fundamentally anti-American to urge an uncritical deification of any form of government. Americanism involves an invitation to continuous constructive criticism in behalf of a bettering of our machinery of government. It is no solution of the foreign-born problem to preach loyalty to thestatus quo. We shall get further by saying to the foreigner, "We are engaged in a great democratic experiment on this continent. We have settled a few principles in our minds. We believe in popular rule through political action, but as to details we are on a search for improvement. We ask you to learn our language and our institutions and then give us the benefit of your best thought on ways and means for the improvement of our machinery for democratic government. The bars are down for the frankest criticism from men and women who have the democratic patience to trust their proposals to peaceful procedure."
Learning the English language is only a means to an end. It is too frequently made an end in itself. There is no more virtue in talking English than in talking Hottentot. We shall not get far by the mere exaltation of a language. The only lasting results we shall achieve will be through the making of participation in this national democratic experiment of ours so attractive to the foreigner that he will burn with the desire to master our tongue, that he may better play his part and appreciate his privilege. A man can plot the downfall of the republic in English as easily as in an alien tongue.
Nor is there magic in the legal assumption of citizenship. It is the man behind the papers that counts. If anything, we have made citizenship too easy a privilege in the past.
Now, all this is said not to suggest that there is no room or need for special consideration of the Americanization problem by groups of public minded citizens. It is not intended to suggest that Americanization may not properly be made the subject of considerable propaganda. This comment has indulged in rather severe and unqualified strictures upon the Americanization "drive" in the hope of capturing attention for three manifest dangers that may prove the undoing of the real Americanization work that cries aloud for administration. These three dangers are; first, the danger of making the Americanization movement so plainly a conventional uplift movement that the foreigner will resent what he might, with a more tactful approach, request; second, the danger that, by thinking of Americanization as something needed by the foreigner alone, we shall miss the opportunity of making Americanization a vast national effort of self-education in the nature and application of the principles of liberty justice, and equality of opportunity that, theoretically at least, comprise the American idea; and third, the danger that the propagandist's passion for simple solutions will further postpone the day of a broad and well-balanced program of national development.
We do not want "Americanism" to degenerate into a mere "protective coloration" for politicians who want to hide their reaction and their lack of ideas.
By Rev. D. P. Tighe, "Detroit News," Aug. 23, 1919.
There are two methods of Americanizing the immigrant, says Fr. D. P. Tighe in the August number of the Catholic Light. One of them isrevolutionary, the otherevolutionary. To Americanize means to take the immigrant and remake him. Teaching him to write and speak the language of the country is a mere detail of the process. One cannot be awake to the industrial and social needs of the country without co-operating in every movement calculated to discourage the diversity of language, and to give to the foreigner every facility for the quick and easy mastery of English. But Americanization is a different proposition. Trotzky, when he lived in East New York, could speak and write English fluently, but he was not an American. He had neither understanding of, nor sympathy with American institutions; and, so, instead of setting himself to remedy the abuses in our industrial and political life as a good American citizen would remedy them he became an anarchist and envisioned to himself a millennium of destruction that involved the good as well as the evil.
"Americanization is more than a mere matter of language. It involves stripping the immigrant of much of what he has inherited from the centuries. He is the finished product of those centuries. His speech, his manner, his dress, his ideas along social and political and industrial lines have been fashioned upon the distaff of time. He lands upon American soil and at once there is a strangeness in the atmosphere that awes him, it is a new world in truth and the newness of it repels him and drives him back upon himself. The faintest link between the new world and the old is a Godsend to him. It gives him courage, it robs him of that feeling of aloneness. It tells him that after all, maybe he is wanted. In other words it creates an atmosphere of sympathy and understanding. Now any educator can tell you that this very atmosphere of sympathy is of the very essence of the class room, it's a condition of education, and Americanization is an education in nationalism.
"And here is where the revolutionary idea of Americanization falls down. Are you going to prove to the immigrant in one lesson that he is all wrong? Are you going to undo with a single jerk what it has taken centuries to do? Are you going to take this man and by a sort of patronizing coercion, yank him out himself and leave him, high and dry—nowhere? Or are you going to give him a reasonable time to learn the things of the new world, time to be influenced by the new environment? It took centuries to make him just what he is. Can't you spare him one generation to shed the crust of those centuries? Can't you be satisfied with making him the solid groundwork of the citizenship of his children?
"Do we favor Americanization? Byrevolution, no; byevolution, yes. The lasting kind of Americanization comes, not through a quick jerk, but through a long pull. First make the immigrant feel at home. Let him get his feet on the ground. Let him get rid of his suspicions and his distrust and his shyness by finding out the links that bind the new order with the old, the things that make for the broader kind of brotherhood. Don't rush him; lay emphasis upon the things that are common; from them he'll learn confidence, and confidence is a great big step in the transforming of an European immigrant into an American citizen."