The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. SATURDAY, AUGUST 25, 1888. NOTES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1928, 25 August 1888, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. SATURDAY, AUGUST 25, 1888. NOTES.

Regarding the opinions of foreign > countries on the question of Bible Readi ing m Schools, Dr Laishley m his report i on State education gives the following information about the matter. In England, it "rests entirely with the Boards and managers to order and regulate, or j prohibit, religious teaching." In p France, " Education m all the national . educational establishments is exclusively secular." In Switzerland, "Religion must be admitted as the basis of education, but consideration must be shown I for the religious feelings of all." [In a i note," ... is not obligatory for [ all."] In Italy, "Its religious feature ! consists m the lay headmasters conductr ing once a week, on (Saturdays, a religious exercise m the great majority of schools. . . . Religious instruction is only given to those children whose parents wish for it" In Germany, " Religious instruction is given m secondary as well 1 as primary schools. . . . Such instruction is given as the local managers of a school (who represent the inhabi tants of a district or parish) decide/ whether they be Protestant or Roman Catholic, with liberty for those non--1 concurring to retain their children from school during the period of religious instruction." In Belgium, " The law as regards State schools still remains intact m respect of the provisions for religious teachings ; but the main amendment promotes the support of schools where such religious doctriens and formularies, be they Roman Catholic or otherwise, as the managers of the schools think proper, form a portion of the ordinary plan of study." In the United States of America, public education depends upor the action taken by several States. " Seotarian instruction is not given m the public schools. It is quite a common practice to open or close the public schools with Bible reading and prayer. Singing of religious hymns by the entire school is still more common." The world wide opinion therefore seems m favor of religious instruction m public pchools. During the debate m the Council on the Customs Duties Bill the Hon J. H. Miller urged that the only way to check the present extravagant expenditure was to bring the people face to face with direct taxation. He said there were only 27,000 persons out of the whole population of the colony paying direct taxation to the Government, and there were 50,000 owners of property who do not pay property-tax. By reducing the exemption to £100 the revenue of the country would be increased, although more than two- thirds of the increase would be contributed by the present taxJ payers Mr Miller combats the arguments that the £25,000 that would be paid by these additional 50,000 taxpayers would not be worth troubling the people about, by saying, " That is the very reason why I should like to see it done because you would add these 50,000 to the 26,000 who already pay ■ the property-tax, and by that means you would get that increased number on your side and obtain their support m restraining extravagance. If you extend the operations of direct taxation you have the best guarantee that you can get against a repetition of past folly— the best guarantee that you will not put it m the power of political adventurers to come here m the future, careless of the welfare of the colony as long as they ride triumphant on the wave of extravagance." It might be harsh treatment but sometimes it would be seem as if the bulk of the electors were careless of anything respecting their Government. At the Industrial Banquet m Welling ton, Sir Maurice O'Rorke, resppnding to the toast of " The Parliament," said m the course of his speech, that if twelve months ago anyone had said to him that the colony would see such a repreBentative gathering as the present he would have told them that they would have to wait some years, and until there was a difference m the government of the country. He had been present m the House of Representatives when this most important question of Protection had been debated, and he could pay the ' debafo ha 4 been conducted jn. % c »l m

temperate, and friendly spirit ; and while regretting the Freetrade party had declined the invitation to he present that evening, he felt that it was not intended m any way to deaden the feelings of < those who had attended. He was acquainted with gentlemen who. although they had Freetrade opinions, had the interests of the colony at heart, and there would be no one more glad than those gentlemen when the tide of prosperity returned to New Zealand. It was the duty of everyone m the colony to endeavor to bring about some remedy. There were many people who would like to embark m a Freetrade system such as England had indulged m for the last 40 years, bat he would ask, was there any country who had so jealously guarded her industries ? So long as these flou rished she was protected. It was that protection that enabled England to stand alone m arms against the whole world, and she must have fallen m her great struggles if it had not been for these industries. England would assist her colonies to foster the tree which had now taken root. If they had not industries, a foreign monoply would exist, and by establishing industries they would assist and benefit all classes. Young colonists were growing up, and it was to their future the present age must look and thiß was only to be accomplished by farthering the industries of the o6antry and thus providing employment. Only the other day some genius of a Press Association agent at Napier Btarted on its rounds m the New Zealand Press a ridiculous message about the life insurance policy of a certain deceased Percival Bear. Coming from such an authoritative source sub-editors plunged the message into their columns without thinking, as they do with all the twaddle that is wired from one end of the colony to the other under the sign and seal of the Press Association. Of course the telegram was a fable. No one on a moment's reflection but must have felt that the'message was wrong m some particular, In any Life Assurance office proof of death and identity of the deceased with the person assured is always required. Well, this deceased Percival Bear, as he was commonly known, had been inßUred m this name, bat m making application for the amount of the. policy his full name, James Percival Bear, was given. The Insurance authorities then had to be satisfied that the person who m one name was assured with them was the same person on whose behalf claim was made for the amount of the policy. All that was necessary to be done was for the widow to make a declaration that James Percival Bear and Percival Bear were one and the same person, and the money would be paid m due coarse. The Napier press agent, m his ignorance of this .fact, or m his anxiety to work off an item of what he thought news must needs flood the papers with this " rot." The late Mr Percival Bear may have been an estimable gentleman, but he was unknown m the higher walks of science learning, or politics. Anyhow, if the message had been correct it was surely too much to bother Southerners with the facts. The agent may take credit, however, for causing a deal of fuss by his message. Not only did Insurance agents m every town make capital out of it, and flood papers with letters contradicting the information, but the climax was reached when the matter was brought m all seriousness before the Honse. This was rather too much for ordinary natures to stand, for what with the message and the contradictions, and the subsequent references to the matter the Telegraph Department must have drawn a nice penny out of the colonial press, and all tor nothing. Eccentricity m the pulpit is evidently on the increase. It is not long ago since Ashburton witnessed the play of " Hans the Boatman." It was a very good play of its sort but not the thing which might be accepted as the basis of a sermon on the Sabbath following. A rev gentleman m the Wanganui quarter however thought differently. The play seemed to turn tho heads of the people there and the parson went with the current of general feeling. The Napier " Daily Telegraph " says of the matter : — " Napier enjoys an unenviable reputation for sensationalism m the pulpit, and newspapers elsewhere are constantly commenting on the subject. Wanganui apparently is determined to rivel us, for last Sunday the Wesleyan minister preached thereon " Hans the Boatman," which resulted m filling the church. The rev gentlemen, though he had not seen the play himself, for the benefit of those who did not see the preformance at the Theatre during the previous week, commenced by giving a resume of the piece. He pointed out that Hans was a simple-minded, not a double-minded man that he had a true heart, and that his love to the woman Gladys was strong and true. He did not give her up as he might have done when she left him, but remained true to her till they were reconciled to one another. After this good begining, it reads rather strangely that the preacher condemned theatregoing, and followed this up by showing where the apostle John and Hans corresponded !" In our opinion the hero was a useless halfwitted mortal who had no trait of manliness m his character worth admiring, but apparently the North Island clergyman knows all about it. The quality of our cable news more than the quantity is what is most to be desired, but when quantity and quality are alike lacking there is cause for complaint and it is with some feeling of sympathy m a common cause which impels us to reproduce the remarks of a contemporary on the subject of cable newß : — Judging from our cablegrams, it may well be supposed that there is nothing stirring m England, Ireland, Scotland, or on the continent of Europe. Everything must be quiet, sleepy, basking m the hot sunshine of the month of August. No politics, no law courts, no crimes to agitate the public mind, no miesionnary meetings to urge the cause of the heathen, no newspapers to worry tip the news of the day, Ths very traffic of the streets of London must be hushed, and the church bells muffled, so as not to disturb the peaceful slumber of the Press Association agent. He hears, nothing, Boes ■ nothing, reads nothing. Somebody tells him about a game of cricket Australians v Kent, or England v Australians, and he wires out to the colonies. He ought to be made to take the place of the wicljets and to stand up, unprotected by a bat, against the demon bowlers of the world for so libelling the intelligence of Auitruli^ s» to luppoie

that the only thing cared for m these southern seas is a boy's game which has degenerated into a trade for idle men. If this is all that New Zealand newspapers are to get under the new arrange ment the sooner they go back to Reuter and general news the better.