The great misfortune of many who clamour against our separate schools is their total ignorance of our history and of the spirit that the liberty-loving Fathers of the Confederation have breathed into our laws.  To them “national reasons” may not appeal.  This is very often the case of the average Westerner.  The West is in its making and has no past behind it.  This fact alone can explain how easy the Western mind is open to influences opposed to the spirit of our Canadian institutions.  It has no traditions, and traditions are the hidden roots that plunge down into the soil of history, into the hearts of past generations, and give to a people, its real national life.  Therefore, a “British reason,” a reason founded on British traditions, on the British way of doing things in the Colonies, may make a stronger appeal to our Western mentality.

Freedom and fair play for every citizen within the Empire, the recognition of racial and religious rights, have been the strength and success of the British Government in its Colonial policy. (We underline “colonial policy” for, we cannot say the same of England’s policy with Ireland—­) We would quote here what a well known Western public man wrote some years ago when, under the pen-name of “Daylight” he discussed the “Separate School problem” in the columns of “The Regina Leader,” January 3rd, 1916.

“In conclusion there are one or two general remarks I should like to make.  It has always appeared to me that there is among our English-speaking people of Canada a section of the community that holds extreme views on all matters pertaining to nationality and religion.  This section holds and advocates the idea, that there must be no compromise in dealing with matters pertaining to race and religion.  In a word, they would set about at once to “Prussianize” our complex population.  They forget, or entirely ignore, the fact that this is not the British plan.  If the British Empire is the glorious Empire it is to-day is it not because of the fact that long ago the British statesman and the British citizen have learned the lesson of tolerance?  To-day, Great Britain with its forty-five millions of people rules over hundreds of millions of people of diverse nationalities and religious faiths, and throughout the whole scheme of government and constitution runs the idea of reasonable and just tolerance and compromise.  Were this not so the British Empire would quickly fall to pieces.  Why then should we not have more of this spirit in Canada, and particularly in Western Canada?  Some people are mightily concerned about our foreign-born population.  They imagine that the process of assimilation can and should be accomplished in a day.  Nothing is further from the truth.  The process is necessarily a slow one.  It is bound to take two or three, and in some cases, more generations.  In the meantime we should strive to make these people feel that they are welcome to our broad open plains and to our citizenship.  As to the final outcome no one need have any doubt.”