on the
high summits of religion and philosophy, blackening the mental horizon;
sooner or later, they break out on the lower plains of the economic
social and political world, spreading everywhere revolution and
destruction. The blasphemous Proudhon gave utterance to a great truth
when he wrote: "It is surprising how at the bottom of every political
problem we always find some theology involved." We lay stress upon this
aspect of universities, for, in our mind, from a catholic view-point, it
is of the greatest importance in the discussion of the present issue.

The university is not only the focus of the intellectual life of a
country; by its research work, by its applied science it becomes also the
very fountain head of all national progress and prosperity. The natural
resources lie dormant, the soil--that perennial source of wealth, is
stagnant, the export-trade of manufactured goods and agricultural
products is at its lowest ebb, until touched by the magic wand of the
university expert. It is he who discovers, develops and shows how to
make use of with profit, the hidden wealth of the land. The research
bureaus instituted by the Government of Canada and the United States,
co-operating with the various universities, are now considered as the
most important factors of national prosperity. The Reclamation Service
of the U.S. by irrigation, drainage and the pulling of stumps will
reclaim nearly 300 million acres for colonization. To bring the economic
value of a university nearer home to us, who does not know the beneficial
influences of Saskatoon University on the agricultural pursuits of
Saskatchewan? This relation of the university and the material
prosperity of a country is so marked that the Mosely Educational
Commission sent by England to the United States, most strongly emphasized
that living connection and necessary correlation between the universities
and the industrial and manufacturing prosperity of the United States.

A university is therefore not a mere luxury, but rather a necessary asset
in a nation's life. "The development of the true spirit of the
University among a people is a good measure of the development of its
soul, and consequently of its civilization" (Haldane). "No country," we
will conclude with "Catholic" in the Antigonish Casket, "ever attained to
any degree of political influence, nor have any people ever risen from a
lower to a higher level of intellectual and social culture, with