The Globe. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1874.

Globe, Volume II, Issue 123, 22 October 1874, Page 2

The Globe. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1874.

The statement made by the Rev. H. J. Edwards, Incumbent of St Michael's last evening, in the Synod, is of much importance, as connected with the working of the educational system of the province, that we are at a loss to understand why no notice—officially that is—has been taken of it. It amounts, in plain words, to a direct charge of proselytism against one of the teachers in the West Christchurch District School, which, we should have thought, would have been brought im-

mediately under the notice of the committee, and by them laid before the Board of Education. So far as can be learned, this has not been done ; at least no public notification has been made in the ordinary cnurae of business transacted by the Board of Education, hence it must be taken for granted that no such complaint has been made. As stated by Mr Edwards, the facts of the case are that some of the children belonging to this church, and who were in the habit of attending the Sunday-school, also went to the West Christchurch District School. For some time they were absent from the Sunday-school, and Mr Edwards, on making inquiries into the cause, was informed that the teacher had told them not to go to the Church of England Sunday-school, but to go somewhere else. Now we feel certain that neither the Board nor the local committee would allow for one moment such conduct as this to pass unnoticed, and therefore we are rather at a loss to understand what steps Mr Edwards has taken to have the matter investigated. Either of two things are certain, first, that Mr Edwards has not taken the proper course of laying the matter before the committee; or that, having done so, that body has neglected to bring it under the notice of the Board of Education. In any case, it is imperative in the interests of the cause of education, and more particularly the maintenance of the purely secular character of the system which is its essence and root, that some investigation should at ouce lake place, and that a distinct and positive assurance should be given to the province by those charged with the administration of tho scheme that no such tampering with the religious belief or attempt to bias the minds of the children, will in any case be allowed. Unless this is done —and in as full and public a manner as possible —the confidence of the people in the non-sectarian character of the education system will be destroyed, and as a natural consequence its extension and progress will be checked. Parents will hesitate to send their children to the District Schools, fearing that the teachers will, instead of carrying out their legitimate functions of imparting knowledge, simply be what we may call recruiting officers for the particular denomination to which they may happen to belong. During the some debate —that on Archdeacon Harper’s resolution respecting tiie religious education of the young —several allusions were made to by rev. gentlemen to the effect that it was notorious that in district schools subtle influences vvereatwork to proselylise thechildren. Be this as it may, the Board of Education have at least here one tangible case to go upon in the remarks of the Kev Mr Edwards, and they will be wanting in their duty alike to the public and the Council by whom the carrying out of the details has been entrusted to them if they do not at cnce make a full, searching, and public investigation into the circumstances of the case and prevent its recurrence in future.