PRESS OPINIONS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 32, 1 November 1907, Page 5

PRESS OPINIONS.

BIBLE IN SCHOOLS.

The deputation that waited on the Premier and the Minister of' Education yesterday to discuss: the Bible-in-Schools question obtained a very clear and emphatic statement of the Government's attitude. The deputar tion itself was by no means unanimous on the question, and the Bible-in-Schools League can hardly congratulate itself on the success of its organisation. Mr. James Allen and Sir William Steward, both of whom supported the plea for the reading of ■ the Bible in- State schools, supplied, perhaps, the most potont of al largumeiits against tho. change fronl tho secular system, because they urgedthat if the request of' (he League were granted, the State would have to srubsidiso the Roman Catholic schools:. That is a perfectly logical demand, but its logical sequence would bo denominationalistn, pure and simple . v - . . . However, tho deputation received no sort of encouragement from the Government, Mr. Fowlds objected, very reasonably, that tho ■introduction of any religious element into the teaching would inevitably lead to tho imposition of religious* tests on teachers. We know ■that now, when a community is strongly Wosleyan or Presbyterian or Episcopalian, tbo church influence is pronounced in the solection of school teachers, and it is perfectly certain, at least as certain as things may bo in this world, that if Bible-reading were part of the' curiculum the religious factor would come at once into play, first in the election of,school committees'and then in the appointment of teachers: ■'■ The very fervour which makes people demand Bible-reading aud religious teaching in State'schools would prove the curse of vlie system. ' Heligious teaching is desirable iii itself, but it v must bo carried on in its proper place. We have yet to discover a sound reason for grafting it on to a system of purely secular instruction. Tho State already provides facilities for religious teaching, and eiiorgetiic clergymen and others have taken advantago of ttiem. . ..,',.'..

After many hopeless efforts to come to some common understanding they have got down to' this::-that the' Bible should be' read_ as a classic,' presumably in. the same fashion as any secular liteifaturo, but the very fact that it had to be read at stated times, and apparently as a preliminary to tho day's .work, shows that the-.whole'idea of the "Bible as a classic" is a subterfuge and a dcVico to conceal the ulterior object of the Bible-in-Schoolp party. If ministers of religion were actuated by any genuine , desire lo got hold of tho children in the day schools and impart 1 to them a knowledge of the principles of Christinity there is nothing to prevent them doing so, and most school- committees and teachers would gladly •co-operate by encouraging the children to come, half an hour .earlier for the purposo, but-tho.. Bible-ih-Schools advocate rarely betrays .ariy. desire to. add to his duties; he would .rather thrust them on, to the shoulders of the .•unfortunate school teacher, who has plenty to 'do. already- for the inadequate pay that.is the reward of his services.. —Christchurclr,'!Truth," „ ... ■ • ' , BEN TILLETT'S SOCIALISM. '" We confess we find it rather difficult to tairo, our.visitor vbry seriously in most of'his utter-' nnccs. Though nominally speaking last evoiiing on Socialism' and' Government, he mainly concerned himself in denouncing tho capital list freebooter in a manner more forcible than reasonable. But" those who aro likely to find most, joy in,'th'ese vehement socialistic doc-" trines are nbt-'Jikely to be tliose most keen to, detect tho fallacy of the reasoning set'before them; It may' tickle their ears to be told that only foolsyand rogues criticise Socialism,: but thore the jtidtter really ends. They , may applaud.Mr. .Tillettwhen he tells them how; tired ho is of- the smug content of the New. Zealand workman, and that 95 per cent, of workmen are'badly housed, fed, and-taught, but they cannot come away with much more than the speaker's 'woras for these' things. They may be shocked to loam that in Australia most of .the so-called "Labour men": are really anti-Socialists, and disclose tho fact as soon as place or- power come their way.? but if. they have the faintest knowledge of human nature they must be aware of the fict that,; according to' tl)e | .yory 'doctrine, pi, Socialism, itself, every human being' who h'as the desire of .possession in his. heart is at heart of capitalistic leanings. The. creation-of discontent, and what the Socialist calls the revolutionary spirit in the individual, frill,not, any more than' the, abolition of the .capitalist] hurry on a day .when "the cbmmonilbt" will, be an expression applicable 'in a literal senso,, as the Socialist would have it, to the earthly pilgrimage of ninn. That man is. purely the croature of his environment,' practically without responsibility, is a doctrine by no means tabe unconditionally accepted. • '.-■ •:• DECLINING BIRTH RATE. / Tho decline.of. tho birth-rate, ♦,7iich has been. ; such ; . a remarkable feature in social life for the .past'--generation, has. been tho object of study and investigation by numbers' of; able sociologists. Its effects are so farreaching as to make it a matter of great national importance, all the jnorj) because the results aro cumulative and are not, in somo vital respects, immodia.tely.-.diEcerniblo bythe.superficial'dnquirer.' Qne'of the most valuable of recent- contributions: to this subject is the paper, published- in this issue, which was ;read, beforo the' • Physiologicnl Society of London' by a young Now Zeaiander, , Mr. T. D. Ji: 'Stout, son of.the. Chief Justice. . ... Jlr.'Stout points out that during the. last thirty 'years'' tho birth-rate, has declined in all civilised countries, but most markedly in ".Australasia, .the fall in New South Wales b'oifng-.practically one-third and in New Zealand one-fourth between the years ISSO and 1900. Taken as a whole, with the single, exception,;bf Franco, tho British Empire has been-most.seriously affected by tho 'decline.. , To"sbnie oxtont, no. doubt', tlw .decline may be traced to the greater, avcrago age at. which womo'rt now marry, but for roasons'.which Miv Stout explains, this tendency has really'a very slight effect upon tho birth-rate. The,:decline has boon so.great as to! put out' of ; the. question . entirely tbo theory that it may be due to any physiological causo,'such'as loss of vitality in tho race. The cause riiiisa bo looked for in other directions, and'sohip'of these arc indicated in Mr. Stout's paper: . .' Of'tho moans by which this is brought about it is unnecessary '■to'say anything: 'But we may.'draw, attention to Mr. Stout's' emphatic expression of opinion as to tub physical,.to say nothing of the moral, effect of'the'artificial limitation of families. The■ result upon the -.rum must in tho end bo disastrous. , . . ■ . Wo are threatened with the "survival of tho inferior," instead-of the "survival of the fit.test." Tho position is all tho more serious when we. roinomlJcr that them is no birth-' rate problem in Russia or the Far East, ami that Germany ..knows much less, of it -.than docs the United Kingdom. Our standing us a nation, no less than our physical and moral health as a race, 1 , is endangered by the tendency to which Mr. Stout so earnestly calls attention.—Ciiristchu'rch. "Press."

JIEIKLE'ACQUITTAL BILL. .. The Government':; proposal is that, in terms of the; Bilb which, was read a second time'on Tuesday afternoon; the judgment of , the Supreme Court whbroby Meiklc was convicted should. bo =.reversed,' and that every record of the. judgment and conviction should l>o doomed to lie -expunged. It seems doubtful whether this is a procedure that is more worthy of adoption than the judges' suggestion that the conviction should bo formally quashed in the Supreme. Court. The latter plan contomplates that the tribunal that committed — honestly in this case -7- the error should itself be the channel through, which acknowledgment of tho errorVshould be made. This would bo in accordance, moreover, with the ordinary practice under which the remedy for mistakes on tho part of the judiciary is sought by appeal to tho judiciary itself. ' And it would avoid the establishment'of what may conceivably be tho dangerous precedent of instituting Parliament as' a court of appeal against tho judgments of the Supreme Court: But no objection has been taken, in Parliament upon the score of the particular form in which the Government proposes that amends should be made to jMoiklo

As to this question.of compensation, it may ■bo well that some emphasis should bo laid upon certain considerations' to which the judges directed attention in their report. . . . . We have no desire to oppose the payment of any moderate sum by way of compensation to Mcikle, whoso case is'~uudoubtodly exceptional; but it is clearly necessary that' Parliament' should realise that the. acknowledgment of Meiklo's claim may open the,gate's to a [flood'of.application's for relief in the future.—Otago " Doilv Times."