A CRITIC ASTRAY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1751, 16 May 1913, Page 3

A CRITIC ASTRAY.

(To the Editor.) Sir,—There are certain statements mado by Mr. Robert Leo in his letter in Friday morning's Dominion' which ought not to go unchallenged. As chairman of tho Education Board he must surely havo taken tho pains to inform himself of the chief facts connected with the Bible-in-Schools League. And yet ho speaks of "a missioner brought from New .South Wales, the organiser of tho introduction of religious teaching in that colony." Canon Garland does not come from New South where the religious teaching in public schools was introduced in 186 G. Then again, there has never, so far as I am aware, been any question of putting "the Bible as a whole into tho hands of the- children in the State schools. Mr.'Leo has apparently not seen the following on all the blue cards issued by the league: "Lessons read in school hours by the children themselves from Scripture books provided by the Education Department, State school teachers supervising tho reading, but not giving sectarian or dogmatic, instruction." ' As to most if not all of the theoretical difficulties suggested by those opposed to tho Bible in State schools, to judge by the numerous and uncontradicted testimony of numerous Australian school teachers, educational authorities, etc., they simply do not exist. A Quaker, 011 being asked, "What might your name be?" replied "Friend, it might be Beelzebub, but it .is not." Another mistake on Mr. Leo's part is with regard to the mode of circulating tho electoral cards. No case of persons being asked to sign without knowing fully what they were doing has, I believe, vet come to the knowledge of the League Committee in Wellington. The usual procedure in tho case of those who are in doubt and wish to be more fully informed is to leave the cards and to call for them, or havo them sentN shortly afterwards. If by "education" is meant the developing and perfecting of mail's whole powers, physical, intellectual,- and moral, then education is eminently the work of tho State. To cultivate the intellectual powers to the exclusion of the moral and suiritual. and? as has been well eaid, "You create a monster," and leave as the chief motives for behaving ourselves decently (except with a few rare natures) self-interest, fear of God, or any other cowardly motive." In so grave a question as this it is surely an ill tiling for cither side to stoop to anything approaching misrepresentation or discourtesy.—l am, etc., CITIZEN.