120 A Baccalaureate Discourse
It would not be safe to leave to political men alone the
care of explaining and defending our national status. Too
many strange influences blow in political spheres. These all-
important questions must be studied and defined in the serene
atmosphere of our universities which will thus become the
strongholds of our national aspirations.
There too, particularly in our faculty of law, our inter-
national politics should be elaborated by men who are ex-
perts in the matter and whose disinterestedness is a guaran-
tee of freedom. I will further say that many aspects of our
political, economic, and educational life appearing on the
program of our School of Social Science, are well protected
against the interference of party spirit. All those who con-
template doing their share in social service, those who are
attracted by journalism as a career or those whose ambition
urges them to the mayoralty or deputation, should matricu-
late in our School. It is recognized that excellent laws, re-
cently voted, have been inspired and even drafted by our
professors.
* * *
Of course, Ladies and Gentlemen, the French Universities
of Quebec and Montreal, like others of the same universal
type, have had from the beginning their faculties of law
and medicine. Ours are more than sixty years old. To these
were added in the course of time, arts, letters, pharmacy,
dental surgery, engineering, commerce, and natural sciences.
All these branches of learning are necessary to our growing
youth and are taught nowhere else, in their mother-tongue,
except in France. We were compelled to organize such
schools and we do not regret having done so.
But it is obvious today that universities must specialize,