NATION BUILDING

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2955, 19 December 1916, Page 6

NATION BUILDING

THE PART OP THE CHURCH

FATHER LOCKINGTON'S LECTURE

t There was a good attendance at tho Town Hall last oveniog, when Very Bov. Father Lockington lectured on "Tho Church and Nation Building." Mr. J. Burke presided, and ' among those on tho platform was His Grace Archbishop O'Shea. The chairman, introducing Father Lockington, said that the lecturer was a native of tho West Coast of Now Zealand, who had gained fame in other countries as a lecturer.

Father Lockington said tho strongest force on the face of God's earth was the Roman Catholic faith. It was the essence of liberty and progress, and thoro would be no liberty and no progress without it. The Catbojio Church was doing a groat work in New Zealand, a work that would make for the good morality of the land and build up good citizenship. He claimed that tho only education worthy of the namo was that given by the Catholic Church, and that that Church was the only body that had always stood by tho working man. They did not want- to injure the public education system, but wanted to infuse religion into it. Somo people, in defending tho public school system of to-day, asked if tho advocates of Catholic schools wanted to go back to the muddlement of fifty years ago. "Well, there was muddlement fifty years ago—but were tho objectors just? Did they cavil at tho methods of the plucky pioneer? No; justly they admired him. Why not also bo just to tho pioneers of education, who did the best with their means then at their disposal; everything had to _ have its experimental stage. Education that was not connected with religion was no education. Tho Catholic Church had been the guardian of education right down through, tho ages. When the Church came to power, education was a thing for tho upper classes; the Church made it a thing for all. If a man was not taught religion, the best part of him was neglected; to neglect to teach religion was to fill tho world with ghosts. Through all ages the Churches had conserved education always, and in the ajjes of light which some called darkness there were 37,000 schools of learning in Europe. On the point of tho efficiency of- the Catholic schools, Father Lockington stated that only tho otiter day the boys and the giris of the Catholic schools in Victoria came out in open competition and took 90 per. cent. of_ the scholarships. The lecturer said he would prove his statements with non-Catholic testimony, and he quoted a number of authorities to this purpose. He said that, if many larger nations could do justice to denominational systems of education, it was merely reasonable that New Zealand; (with only a, million of people) could do so. It was ridiculous for tho State to object to a system that gave pupils an adequate secular eiducation with the religion added. Take the case of France, whose public man Viviani said that they had "put out the lights of Heaven." Today tho "lights of, Heaven" were shining from thousands of altars. And was it the Viviani type they sent for when the country was in the throes of war? No, many of France's best men had to be brought back from exile. The men at the head of the French forces —Joff re, Castlenau, Foch, Pan—all were practising Catholics. What were the nations fighting for to-day? For liberty 1 Where was the flag of liberty planted? in the soil of Englandl And who drew up the Magna Charta, from which England drew its liberties? The Catholic Bishops of England! who forced the pen intft the hand of the reluctant King who signed it? The Catholic Bishops, backed hy Catholic soldiers. ' Archbishop O'Shca, who said that Father Lockington's lecture should do a great deal of good, moved a vote of thanks. This was carried with acclamation,

On the motion of Mr. M. J. Keardon, it was unanimously resolved: "That a system o£ education under which one-seventh of the taxpayers are oxcluded_ from participating in the benefits is neither a just nor' a national system, and this meeting expresses the hope that the Government will take into consideration the desirableness of making the New Zealand education system a truly national one, by recognising and incorporating within it all registered schools certified by the State inspectors as efficient, as has been done already in England, Canada, and other parts of the British Empire." Mr. Sieyers moved, and the meeting resolved: "That this meeting.protests against the injustice inflicted upon Catholio children by their . exclusion from the full benefits of scholarships, free places, medical inspection, free swimming tuition, etc., benefits of which Catholio parents as taxpayers contribute their full quota, and calls upon the Department to iqmove this peculiarly unjust discrimination." During the evening the Schools Choir sang the National Anthem, "The Harp that Once." "God Defend New Zealand," and "Erin, Beautiful Erin." Mr. G. O'Meegan presided ;,t tlio organ. The proceedings concluded with thanks to the chairman and cheers for Father Lockington.