BIBLE IN SCHOOLS.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1966, 24 January 1914, Page 10

BIBLE IN SCHOOLS.

Sir—Having been-away from homel nave only lately soon a challenge to me from your correspondent "Union •Jack," which challenge appeared in your columns a week ago. I Wo not Vis-, count Bryce's lilterances before me, but' I will assume that "Union Jack">is correct in saying that that gentleman lias lately said that the neglect of 'Bible-' teaching would be a groat disaster: Vour_ correspondent goes on io tell us. of crime, vice, commercial immorality.* the use of bad language, etc.. the .re-" suit, in his opinion, of the neglect of Bible-teaching. Then, he asks, am I stili of the same opinion as.to the advisableness of Bible-teaching in our State schools as 1 v.'u:i before. ■ !■ confess :that 1 am. In the ■ first place, I do not think that' the.individual opinion of even so. eminent a man'as. Viscount Bryee is si'fiieient to settle the ipies-' tion, especially as we know.that, though' he is eminent as a statesman, he is not an expert id the. education of children.. Iti the next _pla£e. while I lament'as much as docs "union Jack'' the evils, of which lie speakers, I have yet ■ to l#arn that they are to bo cured'by. theadoption of the scheme proposed by t Rihle-in-Schools League. One might suppose fiYmi';'the tenor of this letter that he'imagines.that in those counfnes'where t.liey nave religious inr.(j'notion ill. St.ato rphools these evils are 1 reduced to a minimum. But.what are the faelsP Go to. New South .Wales—'

moralists complain of the same things there. 'Go to England, where there, is far more religious teaching, in the.: schools supported bv the State' than is ' contemplated by our liilile-m-So"imc>!s' League—-there aro the same complaint:;' about vice, crime, love of pleasure, and' the want of any earnestness on the p:»t i'il" the. young people. And must I again refer to our statistics? ft cannot, I think, be too strongly urged that a,s regards those evils which appear in statistical tables, those tablos'shmv that the evil is very appreciably less hero than in New South Wales or in Eng-' land, that is. we have less drunkennessand crime than have.either oi' those■ eountrios. I apprehend' that facts' aro more to the point than the- opinions of even eminent men. I appreciate that sentiment of your correspondent, his saying that this is a time of. a general banding toeether of all that, are on the side, of righteousness'. • Some of us havo banded together to form the National Schools Defence League to prevent an unrighteous .thing from being doi&. For while'many of its have been engaged for years in spreading a knowledge* of.the Bible, we linlcl.it. an mi-' i righteous . thing to compel Catholics,, and others who do not approve of it; to' pav lor the spreading of. this Bible, knowledge.—l . am. ote., ... , CHAS: J. COOKE. Member of' Executive of National Schools Defence League. Kelburne, .Tamiarv 22, 1014. '■-V.THE TOTALISATOR Sir, —Lliaye been a keen student .of. the great game of hors" racing tor .over, forty years, in Croat. Britain. Aus*ra-'. lia. and. Ibis Dor.'imou. nml fey crooked rnnninc New-Zealand "takes the cake.'" You will hear lots of ocoplo say that the totalizator is conducive to truer running than if the bookmakers are, allowed to plv their calling. Slv experience is 'he other wav about. In Australia the. sport.iS far cleaner than it is here, as re-' emit happenings to New Zealanders show. People will tell vOU that the ma-' chine does not bin- the owners. No, but the owners buy Ihe machine. Nov:, sir. if.l had .been one of the stewards, I should have asked a couple of the owners a few nuo.stions yesterday Two ot the horses, f whoso names are mentioned by our correspondent]-could not have wgn the first day, but they both could have been far closer at-the finish. Ami in justice tp the racing public, who findthe sinews of war that keep the..'galnegoing, they 'should receive, some-con-!side*ation. -.or, -e'se they may vote the totalisator out of existence. —T am. otc., J. DAVIDSON. ■•Wellington, January 23,. .191-1.