ldn't. It was
heredity--or something.

"Anyway, Dr. McLean said teachers were people who got special training
for their work, and it was up to them to work at it, in school and
out. He said that when we went out to teach, we could be a sort of
social cement, binding together all the different units into one
coherent community, for that's what was needed in Canada, with its
varied population. One third of the people in Canada do not speak
English, and that's a bad barrier--and can only be overcome by
kindness. We must make our foreign people want to learn our language,
and they won't want to, unless they like us.

"He said Canada was like a great sand-pile, each little grain of sand,
beautiful in its own way, but needing cement to bind it to other
grains and it was for us to say whether we would be content to be only
a sand pile, or would we make ourselves a beautiful temple.

"I wish I could give it all to you--it was great to hear him. He said
no matter how fine we were as individuals, or how well we did our
work, unless we had it in our hearts to work with others, and for
others--it was no good. If we lacked social consciousness, our work
would not amount to much. I thought of our old crumply horn cow. She
always gave a big pail of milk--but if she was in bad humor, she would
quite likely kick it over, just as the pail was full. I used to think
maybe a fly had stung her, but I guess what was really wrong was
that she lacked social consciousness. She did not see that we were
depending on her.

"That's why the liquor traffic is such a bad thing, and should be
outlawed. Individuals may be able to drink, and get away with it, but
some go under, some homes are made very unhappy over it. If we have
this social consciousness, we will see very clearly that the liquor
traffic must go! No matter how much some people will miss it. If it
isn't safe for everybody, it isn't safe for anybody. I used to wish
Dr. McLean could talk to the members of Parliament.

"He told us one of the reasons that the world had so many sore spots in
it was because women had kept too close at home, they were beginning
to see that in order to keep their houses clean, they would have to
clean up the streets, and it was this social consciousness working in
them, that made them ask for the vote. They want to do their share,
outside as well as in.

"There was a woman who came and talked to us one day at the Normal. She
is the editor of the Women's se