BIBLE IN SCHOOLS.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1878, 11 October 1913, Page 13

BIBLE IN SCHOOLS.

DUNEDm WOMEN'S RALLY,

At the women's rally in tho Burns Hall, Dunedin, this week, Mrs. Driver stated that she waß not present as a vice-president of tho Women's Christian Temperance Union, but tlio idea that tho W.O.T.U. was opposed to the Bible-in-schools movement was not correct. It had always stood for the Bible in schools. 1 Mrs. Driver quoted Frances Willard ( the founder of the union, an educationist of tho first rank, in support of her remarks. As a Baptist, Mrs. Driver regretted that tho Baptist Church in New Zealand had not oomo into lino with other churches; but that was not tho caso in Australia, where loaders of tho Baptist Church wore amongst tho strongest advocates of tho league] s proposal. Mrs. Harrison Leo Oowio described her reoont experiences in Australia, where she had boon visiting four schools a day inquiring into tho working of tho system. Tho first thing with which she was impressed was the marvellous unanimity of all Protestant ministers. She found that instead of making sectarian strife, the system broko down all these differences in a beautiful way. Ministers of all denominations met together regularly to draw up syllabuses, in accordance with which they each took clmree in different schools of the children of several denominations. She gave tho names of inspectors and Protestant and Roman Catliolic teachers with whom anyone could oommunicate and ascertain from them tlioir opinion of tho system. She had never heard ono solitary advert opinion She pointed out that it was not necessary to take ovei the Australian regulations of the details of tho system in their entirety; but that they could bo modified to meet New Zealand conditions..