f a czar, or of a king. Russia is giving us an
illustration of this autocracy of number. Did not Germany use the same
argument to crush Belgium and to try to dominate the World? Our sons
have fought and died in this war against Prussianism and yet some of
our Canadians--not worthy of the name--would willingly vote drastic
measures of governmental repression which would make the Kaiser smile
and the Czar Nicholas turn in his grave. The velvet glove may cover
the mail-fist, but the blow is the same.

Others may claim that the State has a right to "Uniformity in the
education of its citizens." This is the pretension of those who now
are advocating so strongly and so widely the "federalization of our
schools." We will not discuss the value of this plea for uniformity.
It would open a very interesting pedagogical debate and we are inclined
to believe that the "anti-uniformists" would carry away the honors. We
do not pretend that the State has no rights in matters of education.
But its interference should be consistent with the prior and more
fundamental rights of the individual and the family and not become a
usurpation or abrogation of them. Otherwise it would be the wrong way
of doing the right thing.

_IV.--A National Reason_

The Constitution of a country has as its specific object the
maintenance of the perfect equilibrium between authority and liberty.
"It is the charter of a people's liberties, the shield of the
individual against the possible tyranny of government, the effective
check upon the ambition of every government to extend the sphere of its
delegated powers. Unlike the law, its primary purpose is to restrain
the Government, not the citizen. . . ." (P. Blakely, S.J.) America,
Sept. 18, 1920.

The greatest liberty for the individual, combined with the greatest
good of the commonwealth, has always been the ideal aimed at by the
Fathers of a democratic country. To tamper with the Constitution on
vital issues, to conceive it as an experiment, to ignore its
spirit,--that obvious intention of its framers--is always eventually
fatal to the peace and welfare of the nation. No one lays hands with
impunity on that Ark of the Covenant. The essential changes in the
Constitution of a country act as a time-fuse. An explosion necessarily
follows, although it may take years and generations for a faulty
legislation to disclose its real consequences. This is particularly
true in matters of education. Law