e not
new, but the war and the loose and hysterical thinking which has
accompanied and followed it, have forced them into startling
prominence. We have grouped them under three headings: _religious_,
_educational_, and _social_. We do not pretend to present an
exhaustive treatment of the matter. To do so, would be on our part a
stroke of temerity and for the reader, an assured deception. Human
problems are ever the same. The surface may be somewhat changed, the
handling a little different, but the principles upon which depends
their solution do not change. Our effort is to throw a new light on
old subjects.

To be of service to the Church, and, through Her to our Country, is the
sole ambition we have had before us in gathering together in book-form
stray sheaves of thought, published here and there, during the course
of the last few years. We are quite convinced that a clear vision of
the problems facing the Church in Western Canada will awaken a sense of
the responsibility which they entail for every Catholic in the land.

Our views and suggestions in the matter are but those of a humble
soldier who belongs to the rank and file of the great Catholic army.
But often a private in the firing line can suggest a plan of action
which, when corrected or modified at headquarters, proves to be of some
benefit to his battalion. This explains the dedication of our humble
effort to the Hierarchy of Canada. For in problems which affect the
Church, we would not lose sight of this supreme truth: "The Holy Ghost
has placed the Bishops to rule the Church of God, which He has
purchased with His own blood."--

(Act XX, 28)

ST. PETERS RECTORY,
ST. JOHN, N.B.

On the Feast of the "Immaculate Conception," December 8th, 1920.

PART I

RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS

"It is surprising how at the bottom of every political problem we
always find some theology involved."

--(Proudhom)

CHAPTER 1

THE CALL OF THE WEST[1]

_A Call from the West_

Who has not heard the call of the West? Like the blast of the hunter's
horn in the silent forest, its thrilling and inviting sound has
awakened the echoes throughout the land. Springing from the granite
heart of our mighty Rockies, that call comes through their valleys, is
heard over the "Great Divide" and whispers its way to the foothills.
Soft as the evening breeze, strong as the howling blizzard, we hear it
across the prairie, gathering as it were, on its triumphal m