WHERE IS THEIR CONSISTENCY?

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1626, 18 December 1912, Page 8

WHERE IS THEIR CONSISTENCY?

Sir,—l am exceedingly sorry to trouble you again, but the Bishop of Auckland's (T)r/- Cleary) lecture last night in the Town Hall against Scripture lessons in the State schools, and delivered under the auspices of the so-called "National Schools' Defence League," reminds me so forcibly of the old fable .'of the monkey, the cat,, and the chestnuts in the fire that I would like to point out to your readers the fact, that some thousands of visits are paid during the year by Roman Catholic priests to- the Siate schools of New South Wales, for the purpose of giving religious instruction to their children attending these schools. Thus they practically and officially endorse the very practice that Dr. Cleary so eloquently t'enouncpd in New Zealand on Friday night. Under -the old system of education in New South Wales, tho ' Roman Catholic Church-enjoyed a very heavy subsidy from tho Government, but when the present Act came into force they lost it, and how to get these lost chestnuts out of the fire l)as been troubling the' Church authorities ever since,- and, their - greatest hope is that by forming a sort of' an alliance, and making themselves politically indispensable to the party represented on the platform last night, they may at- some future time be. rewarded by a substantial yearly grant from the State Treasury. There is only one clause of six lines required to give authority for Scripture lessons in State schools of NewSouth Wales', and to listen to the men on the platform one would think to insert it in tho New Zealand Act would smash up ■tho whole of our education system.—-I am, . J. E. COLLIER.Northland, December 14, 1912.