The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-07-03
THE PASTOR AND EDUCATION

nual expense account or $b6,b4S,T
64S.00. Now, this is what it would
be, if there were not very ims
portant qualification to be made owing
to the devotion of our religious teach
ers. The fact is that in our schools,
instead of the per capita expenditure
being $3055, the average of the couns
try, it is only about $1,000, or about
one-third. In other words, the re-
ligious reduce the item of teaching
about two-thirds. To make this per-
fectly clear, let us suppose that a
school in a given number of years
would have required to meet its teach-
ing account at the average of the
country, $1,OOO,OOOO0; it would have
required with us only $335,OOO.OO, the
religious saving two-thirds or $685.
100000 to. the Catholic body. 1t is
certainly a good thing for us that our
religious teachers have not been at
fected by the labor agitation and that
they have not joined the "Union.Y
They have been shamefully underpaid
if salaries are to be measured by dol
lars and cents. However, they have
been satisfied to know that they were
helping along the cause of Catholic
education, that without them it would
have been impossible to conduct our
schools, and that they were laying up
for themselves treasures in Heaven
which the moth and the rust shall
not consume.
Has the Catholic school justified the
trouble and expense? This question
can no longer be asked. 1t might
have been fairly asked whilst we were
in the midst of our early struggles,
whilst the results were still expert
mental, or whilst we were complaining
of the great drain it was supposed
the school was upon our financial re-
sources. But now, that the question
has been threshed out and that the
happy results are SO plain, only some
one who had wandered into the noun
tains and had been wrapped in ga
Rip-Van-Winkie slumber would eyer
dream Of it. Consider that we pos
sess to foster contentment. A select
corps of teachers with whom our chill
dren feel at home, giving their lives
to the work and diffusing refining
influence more precious than can be
measured by any standard of money
value. Then we have the dignity OF
independence. We are paying for
what we get. We are the aristocrats
in education. Suppose We were to
change our position and depend upon
the public largess, would we not feel
somewhat Inundated? We have the
additional satisfaction, indeed 1t is
fundamental, of teaching religion to
our youth, thereby educating the
whole man., whilst We maintain a
standard of secular and general in
struction meriting universal approval.
Some day, people as a whole will
come to see the wisdom of our posi-
ton. They will understand that the
interests of our beloved country
be more surely consulted and con
served by a. system of9education, IA
which mans spiritual claims as well
as his intellectual are recognized
We shall the more willingly be listen
ed to, and we shall the more readily
succeed in imparting this lesson by
refraining from disputation and by
resting calmly in the contentment that
is ours in our fortunate solution OF
1.-THE educational problem.
AS to financing our school system
this need no longer give us, anxiety
| ,,nrISS 49, nj
the struggle Whilst our people were
poor and were trying to provide them
selves a home and to erect church
the stress was hard enough. But we
have come on from that. We are com
paratively prosperous; at any rate
over great portion of the country we
have gotten our buildings and we car
see the way to further progress. We
have become convinced that even in
the matter of dollars and ceTts44oul
schools are not such a burden as we
used to think they were. OF course
we are .doubly taxed in the erection
and maintenance of buildings There
is no getting away from that. But 1t is
many years since it seemed clear that
with the devotion of our religious as
an asset, we are at little financial loss
if any at all in the support of &oul
schools. To illustrate. It costs annu
Tally $30.55 per capita in the average
school, while in our schools it costs
ionly about one-third of that sum OF
$1,000. In the cities at least, we are
lone-third of the population. Now
suppose we did not have our owl
schools. In city where the ed1fca
itional cost would be, let us say $500,
900 our share of expense would be
100000. With our own schools, We
still have to pay one-third of $20l.0o(
or $66,6662s for schools we do no
tuse; but in our own schools. Oul
children are costing only $SS.3S3 V /. I
Twill be seen that we are paying alto
gether 100000, just as would be tht
lease If we had not taken over oul
own children. This should give III
great complacency with our situati0r
from the financial standpoint. Is there
anyone, who under the circumstance
cares to make claim for state support
lit would be entirely proper and onl.
lust to exempt us for the work W.
are doing, but for my own part,
should be quite unwilling to take state
isupport and forfeit the independence
land comfort that are possessed D
present. Let us remember France aHC
be thankful in the support of a@loya