BIBLE IN SCHOOLS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1680, 21 February 1913, Page 3

BIBLE IN SCHOOLS.

A QUEENSLAND OPINION. /The Hon. A. H. Barlow,'who was six years Minister for Education .in Queensland, was asked to give, his, views'on, this subject, as'likely to interest people,in the Dominion. Mr; Barlow said "there .was a great dtal of discussion about the merits of the ease, and wo had a very stormy time in Parliament getting the .Bill through, as I remember very well, having been the; Minister in charge of the-Bill in tho Upper House. The opposition was very determined from • a 'certain quarter, but the Act finally .passed-with <i two to ono majority. This was in 1910." What has been the result since? "So far as.l, know, no trouble .has arisen in connection, with religious instruction.' I havo heard no agitation against it, and no complaints as to its working, which runs smoothly. There does not seem, to havo been any friction; of course, it., took a little timo . getting into working order, but there has now been, ample time to judge, as I have stated. Ono of the reasons why it works so smoothly is that there is no compulsion about it, the conscience clause making' tho leisons. entirely optional; yet there are very few withdrawals, so far as I know, by the Roman Catholics in large centres. In small places, where they have no schools of 'their own, tho conscience clause seems to satisfy them. There was no attempt in the subsequent sessions of Parliament to create any agitation to repeal the Act." What about the State aid aspect? ' "Religious instruction in State schools is not regarded as State aid to religion, but as lifting tho barrier from the free exercise of religious liberty. There has been no increase in our educational votes in Parliament in consequence of the Religious Instruction Act. Tho expense of providing the reading books has been comparatively trifling. The definite; religious teaching given by the ministers of religion or their substitutes is paid for by their Churches, and the official .'instruction given by the'teachers from tho reading 'books is of a character which cannot bo reasonably objected to by any person who professes even the faintest form of Christianity. All the State has to do is to open' the door'to these accredited teachers (some of whom' are laymen and women). My own opinion is that this Act has made State aid to denominational schools l more unlikely than ever." ' ■■.-• But is there no claim foT endowment? "Of oourse thero is, the Roman. Catholics, as always hitherto, pressing for that, but this is nothing new. They were doing that during the 33, years wo were without religious teaching in the schools. On the ground that the schools had no religion, they now object because the schools have religion." What is tho teachers' point of view? • "As a member of the Cabinet, I should have been suro to have heard if there had been any serious objection on the part of tho teachers. I never officially heard a single complaint, neither do I believo thero has been ono from a solitary teacher in the whole of Queensland; nor in their conferences and association meetings has any hostile .resolution been passed. The parents, even when not themselves religiously inclined, do not evincb any disapproval of their children having religious'instruction, excepting in the case of tlios few persons who hold eecularistio views."