Above the
hum of the binders and loud clatter of the threshing machines, above
the sharp voice of the shrieking steel rail, counting, as it were, one
by one, the freighted cars on their way to the Eastern ports, above the
clamor of commerce and industry, ring out the voices of immortal souls.
The West, for the Church of God also is the land of great possibilities
and brilliant promise. The waving sea of its wheat fields calls to
mind the words of the Master: "Lift up your eyes and see the countries
ready for the harvest. . . . The harvest is great indeed but the
labourers are few. . . ."

On his return from a visit to our Canadian West Cardinal Bourne, in the
course of conversation, spoke of Canada with almost exclusive reference
to the Western Provinces. Some one remarked to him, "Your Grace is
referring to conditions in the West?" "Yes, the West, the West is
Canada!" he replied.

No one can over-estimate the importance of the West from a Catholic
standpoint. It is a new empire that is being formed beyond the Lakes,
an empire with tremendous and perennial resources, with ambitious
ideals and progressive policies, with forward-looking people and
youthful leaders. There the ultra-conservatism of the East has been
brushed aside and space made for a new democracy. The question of
paramount importance for us is: "What will be the condition of the
Church in that coming part of Canada? What share will She have in the
solving of the social, educational and economic problems of that new
domain?"

Every Catholic should be interested in this vital issue. The call of
the West for a Catholic is the call of the Church, the call of a Mother
to a loyal son. She has a right to a hearty response from every
Catholic throughout our broad Dominion. It is, therefore, a duty of
conscience for every son of the Church in Canada to come to the
assistance of his mother, to take her honor to heart. At the present
hour this duty is most imperative, this obligation most pressing.
There is nothing in the wide sphere of our Catholic social duties so
immediate in its urgency or so far reaching in its consequences. The
Church depends on the loyalty of her children.

To bring this call of our Western missions to the attention of every
individual Catholic, to make every soul a co-operator in the extension
of God's kingdom in Canada, to develop that sense of responsibility
which makes one consider the Church's business his own business,