ments and the apparent advantages which the secular colleges offer, are sometimes captivating to many Catholic parents, and especially those whose material prosperity and weak character lead them to look for social advantages which they vainly think to find in the non-Catholic and secular colleges. Again, many Catholic families have not as yet learned to appreciate the value of a college education, so that considerable propaganda will be necessary before our people will be willing to bring the necessary sacrifice which a college education for their sons entails. Taking these arguments together, it is quite obvious that it will require an heroic effort to overcome them and to bring to the support of the college department in our system of education that influence, moral and mental support, which are necessary for its proper maintenance and future prosperity. That will not be accomplished by the fragmentary, single-handed and feeble effort which the individual ordinarily can give. Nothing less than an organized cooperation will do it.

Addressing as I do those whose vocation and whole life are intimately interwoven with the life of the Church, I can wellspare myself any effort to convince them of the utility and the indispensability of the cooperation which comes through organized methods, in other words through societies. From the very beginning, the Church in her experience and wisdom, saw the necessity of having the various societies cooperate with her in the propagation of faith as well as in the establishment of order and the spread of civilization. And as we all know, the glory of the Middle Ages, amongst many other achievements, was the various societies that sprang up on all sides for various purposes, and the great results which crowned their efforts. In a word, the conclusion that can be drawn from all that has been said is that an organized effort must be made, and an organized effort must come to the rescue of the system of Catholic education in the United States if we are to accomplish the purpose set before us, and if we are to continue successfully and prosperously to gather the youth into our institutions of learning.

The wisdom of organized effort in behalf of any great cause, has been tested by experience and sanctioned by reason, and is just as tenable and practicable in modern times as it was during

the Middle Ages. True it is that in those ages these organizations were largely aided by the ardor and faith of their members and strongly entrenched by the social and political position which the Church then occupied. As against the loss of those advantages, we have in our own age innumerable other facilities and elements of strength, easy means of communication, and last but not least, the additional experience which humanity has gained in the last five centuries. In a word, organized effort will prove itself just as efficacious and just as rich in results in our days as it did in the days of old, provided that we are able to give organized effort a great ideal to fight for and great leaders to carry on the fight. And now we approach the very heart of the whole question. The organization of societies to cooperate with the Annual Conference, especially in relation to the College Department, is not a great undertaking.

It could easily be carried out and planned, but to make these societies fruitful in their labor, we must give them a great ideal to fight for, to be interested in and enthusiastic about.

I do not mean to say or in any way to intimate that there is no ideal back of our system of education, or that we are hard driven to create an ideal artificially, but whether this ideal has ever been plainly formulated and clearly stated so that it may be presentable to those to whom it is addressed and whose sympathies and cooperation we desire to enlist, is very questionable in my mind. Personally I make bold to state that thus far we have dealt more or less in generalities, and whatever noble ideals there may be back of these generalities, we have given no expression to them in such clarified tones as to stir the enthusiasm of those whose cooperation is indispensable to our success, and whom we desire to interest in the undertaking of this conference. Before we proceed with any definite plans toward the establishment of societies, let us state our case clearly and unfold the ideal of our system of education before our people, before the students and the various alumni, individually and collectively, so that when organizations come into being through the spontaneous and natural outgrowth of a great ideal for which men are willing to bring sacrifices, the case may be thoroughly understood.

This having been done, we can proceed to the formation of societies dividing them into college organizations, state organizations and provincial organizations. I would respectfully recommend that before this conference closes its deliberations, a committee be appointed that will take charge of the formation of all societies, and in whose hands will be lodged the direction of the affairs of these future organizations, and that that general committee select from among its own members another body to be known as the executive committee that will draft by-laws and make plans to be submitted to the general committee for future operations.

To sum up, the following propositions are herewith respectfully submitted for your consideration:

1. That the whole system of Catholic education is facing a crisis everywhere, and a big crisis in the United States of

America.

2. That if our system of education is to come out victorious in this first struggle, it must have the best and ablest organized effort to come to its rescue.

3. Organized effort to be efficacious in its operations must have a great ideal to be inspired by and to fight for, and this body must provide a working force for the promulgation of that ideal and the formation of plans for future organizations.

DISCUSSION.

REV. JAMES. J. DEAN, O. S. A.: There are many so-called representative men who not only do not encourage, but actually discourage attendance at our Catholic colleges. In Philadelphia we had, a short time ago, a serious discussion regarding scholarships at the University of Pennsylvania. This university was in need of territory for expansion and applied to the city government for the land required, offering in return seventy-five free scholarships to be distributed among the youth of Philadelphia in whatsoever manner the law might require. Immediately the cry arose that such scholarships should be given only to the graduates of the public high schools, as the public schools alone are recognized by the State. The mayor of the city, not a Catholic but an honest, well-meaning man, publicly declared that these scholarships should be open to the children of the taxpayers of Philadelphia irrespective of creed or color, no matter in what schools they may have received their preliminary education. Now the question arises as to whether it is advisable for the Catholic pastor to

recommend the graduates of his school to try for such scholarships, especially when we remember that they are not in the professional schools but in the undergraduate or college department only. The only argument advancd in favor of such a course is that it would be a good thing to instill a leaven of Catholicity into the non-sectarian colleges and universities. Following out this line of reasoning to its logical conclusion, what is the need of our Catholic colleges at all? If it be good to inject a little leaven, why not a great deal? Why not make all these schools Catholic by sheer weight of numbers? Are our Catholic professors, then, of no use to the community or to the cause? It seems to me that even the best of our high school graduates are hardly sufficiently well-equipped to cope with the brilliant sophistry and the literary pyrotechnics of the socialistic teachers, so common in our big universities. We need to impress upon our people, both lay and clerical, that they are bound in conscience to send their Catholic youth to Catholic institutions when these offer at least the equivalent in scholarship to what is found in so-called non-sectarian schools.

VERY REV. J. P. O'MAHONEY, C. S. V.: I believe that Dr. Delurey's paper is a timely one, and what has been said since his paper was read has surely convinced us of the need of local organization. These general assertions in regard to conditions will not remedy the general evils. We have to attack them where they are the most evident, and I think that the local organization is much better qualified to do this work than a national organization. The excellent spirit which has been evinced by the Catholic Educational Association should be propagated in the different states of the Union, and it should find an embodiment in at least the state organization of Catholic institutions. Surely we can present for these organizations the ideal which Dr. Delurey so well says is absolutely necessary for the birth and life of such organizations, and since this unfortunate state of affairs exists on the part of the men who should give us encouragement, surely this in itself is a sufficient reason for this organization to voice its sentiments in favor of local organizations. To-day, as Dr. Delurey proposed, let us appoint a committee to take up this matter judiciously.

LATIN SECTION

PROCEEDINGS

It

A meeting of the Latin Section was held at 4 p. m., on Tuesday, July 5. A paper was read by Rev. John C. Stuart, on "College Preparation for the Seminary." Discussion followed. was decided to change the name of the Section to "The Latin and Greek Section." The following officers were chosen for the year: Rev. P. F. O'Brien, M. A., St. Paul, Minn., chairman; Very Rev. Alcuin Deutsch, O. S. B., Collegeville, Minn.; Very Rev. J. P. O'Mahoney, C. S. V., Bourbonnais, Ill.

PAPERS

COLLEGE PREPARATION FOR THE SEMINARY

REV. JOHN C. STUART, ST. JOSEPH'S COLLEGE, DUBUQUE, IOWA.

In our last meeting the lamented Dr. McSweeney presented a paper on "The Coordination of the College to the Seminary," in which he urged that aspirants to the priesthood be obliged to complete the entire college course, thus obtaining the culture that is necessary in order that the priest be "all things to all men." The present writer believes that the colleges are in hearty accord with this demand We cannot make our institutions preparatory seminaries nor mere preparatory schools for the learned professions. The college course of four years is a precious inheritance which we are loath to modify. Its value has been demonstrated by experience. By fidelity to it and thoroughness in our work the future priest will be in sympathy with all classes of men, while the professional man trained by us will be truly Catholic.