The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1911-08-12
CATHOLIC HIGHER EDUCATION

4 SOAI VI hAOWAOu5O Lu0I0 Is duu Tie
more their professors think of them,
the greater is the danger. This is
particularly true for young women.
For most of the graduates of these
institutions, there remains during the
rest of life barrier between them
and the faith that young men and
young women of their class who have
gone to the Catholic institutions pos
sess.
The Endowment of Catholic Education.
A Protestant educator who had in
vestigated school conditions asked
how were Catholics able to maintain
their school system. Their people far
from being the richest in the land,
on the average are poorer than the.
members of most other Churches.
Outside of the Church, Protestants
succeed in maintaining colleges and
universities, but only with consider
able difficulty and because of large
endowments given by wealthy men.
1t is quite impossible to support
| higher education by means of fees
alone. How, then, can Catholics sup
port not only primary schools but also
university and college education, out
of their slender resources? Many
Catholics do not appreciate all that
is thus accomplished nor how impos-
sible it seems to those outside of the
Church who have experience with the
| financing of educational institutions.
There is, however, a complete an
swer to it that deserves to be widely
known. Our schools from the lowest
to the highest are mainly taught by
religious, or by clergymen who devote
themselves to this great cause for it's
own sake and for the good to be ac-
complished and not for hire. We
have in this country about $4,000
religious. OF these over 10000 are
exclusively occupied with education.
If to this be added the number of
parish and assistant priests who give
their time in services as practically
the superintendents of schools, the
figures, far from being exaggerated,
are rather an under estimation. All
of these teachers get nothing out of
it except their board and clothes. It
would not be too much to say that
the average salary that should be
paid them ought to be not less than
$3.50 year according to present
standards in teachers salaries Re-
member that among these are the
presidents, deans, administrative Off
; GERS and professors of universities,
and of colleges, the principals and
superintendents of schools and special
teachers of art, literature and music
whose salaries usually are in the
thousands. If you multiply 10000 by
$3.50 the result is $30,000,000 A sum
very nearly as large as this is what
the religious and the clergy of this
country give to Catholic education
every year in giving themselves to it..
If you capitalize s3O,000,OO0 a year at
five per cent interest the sum required
to produce it is 100000, 900. This
represents what the religious have
given to Catholic education in giving
| themselves to this great cause This
: is the endowment of Catholic educa-
ton. There is no tainted money
: about it. Calculated in monetary
value it is larger in amount by far
than all the endowments of all the
colleges and universities of the coun-
try. Besides this you have the build
ings and property. On a conservative
estimate they represent $500, ,000, 900
or more. This constitutes the accum-
ulation of the living endowment of
past years when those who are now
dead worked in the same way and
left the fruit of their labors forfeiture
generations.
, The Work of Religious Teachers.
There is nothing in the history of
education in this country or in any
other that is so glorious tribute to
unself1sh devotion to education as
this. We Catholics, we mean now the
laity, are prone to think that great
credit is due us for maintaining our
systems of education. Undoubtedly
. that is true. But when we compare
:. for moment what is due to the laity
. with what is due to the religious then
!, the lay contributions, great as they
are, sink into insignifcance. OF
course, the religious are just our own
people, our sisters and cousins and
: aunts and brothers and uncles, but
!. let us give them the credit of having
: done one of the greatest things that
has ever been done in the history OF
: the world in education. We have
!. only calculated the money value
They would be themselves the first
! to object that the money value means
: little. It is as nothing compared to
the wonderful spirit with which the
: work is done and to the ethical value
of it which is beyond all computation
! Dare we recall for moment then
2 that when foreign government wants
to make its hardest blow at the
Church it begins with the religious
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