SECULAR V. DENOMINATIONAL EDUCATION.

Inangahua Times, Volume V, Issue 26, 28 January 1878, Page 2

SECULAR V. DENOMINATIONAL EDUCATION.

TO THB EDITOR Off TIIK TIMKS. Sir,— Your contemporary tho Herald has within tho last week in two loadjnß articles insinuated vory plainly his desire to boo thp proaohfc syßtora of ed(rtoatiort abolished, nnd tho pure seoulai? ndoptod. May I thereforo lay boforo the parents [of tho district tho following criticisms of 1 throe Protestant papers on tho result pf tho sco.ulnr By«tom on tho morals of tho youths of both hojccs in America and Vlon toria, and as human natur© has tho samo propensities in all countries, thoro is no reason to lio.po tha^ tho boys and ftirlfl of Novr'Zonland would not hooomo domorali«od whon tho nnmo godloss system of education will bo introduced among thorn, Tho Sprinftold Republican dofinos tho hoodlum thus ? — " Ho is simply tho child of the people, sont to tho publjo schools long onoiißh to gain a fitnattoripg knowJodgo and a dialasto for work, and with, out a parjiolo of moral booking a,l; home tocroato character,, inspiro flolf-rcspoot, or turn to industry./ Tlio following is from tho Boston Baity Jtorald which shows in the pjcarost light, nnd languago that perhaps m,ay bo thought too plain tho result of the system which hn^ had, a fair trial' in Amorioa :—•' Year Iftur tho Qhiof. of P v oliao publishes hi<j nfcntistics of;, in^ the city, b^t bow few o^, tbo cUizons bestow moro than a paso'ing thought upon tho misory thfljt lh.oy rcprosont. Although Ihoso figures are lavgo enough to make evory loyor of hutnauity hand, hia bond with feelings of V "111 ■■'«. , HI ■! •'■* i ' '♦ •'I I * "; I ./I

sorrow and shamp ftt tho picturo, wo aro assured that thoy reprosont but a Jittlo, as it wore,' $(.$0 aotual licentiousnoss that prevailtiimong all olassos of socioly. Withiqi oiPeW ityontjiSi a gentleman whoso floientif)lo attainments have made his namo a household Word' in nil lands (Professor Agaaste), has personally invoHtigatod tho BUbjeof, and tho result hns filled him with dismay, \yhon ho poos tho depths of degradation to which mon and women hayp fallen ho has almost lost faith in tbo boasted civilisation of tho nineteenth century, In tho pourso of his research ho hM visitod both tho well known "houses of pleasure" and " privato Qstablishmonts" spattered oyor tho city. Ho slates that ho has hi list of both, with tho streets and number of inmates, and many othor faots that would perfectly astonish tho pcoplo jf mado public. Ho frooly cpnvorsod with the inmates, and tho Hfo*historios ),hat wero royelrled tfbro sad indeed. Tq [iis utter surpriso, a largo proportion of tho" soiled dotres " traced thoir fall to fitflumoos that met them in tho pnhUc schools, and, although Boston is justly proud of its sohools,.it would soom from his Btory that thoy need a thorough puri« fjcatien. In too many of them tho most obsoono and soul-polluting books and pioturpß oirculato among both soxes. The vory secrecy with which it is done throws an almost irrpstiblo charm about it , and to supb an ojttenfc has the evil grown that wo fear a large proportion of both boys and girls' pdsaoss some of tho articles whioh they kindly (?) lend to"each other. Tho natural results follow, and frequently tho most revolting praotioos nro indulgod in. And tho evil is not oonfinod to Bos* ton alone. Otlior cities suffor in tho same way. It is but a few years since tho sooond oity of tho Commonwealth was stirred almost to its foundations by tho disoovery of an association of boys and girls who were wont to indulge thoir passions in one of tho sckoolhouses of tho oity ; and not long ago another similar affair was discovorod by the authorities, but hushed up for fear of depopulating Iho sohools ;" and now wo find tho Daily Telegraph writes as follows :—" Considering the lnrgo amount of money whioh tho country has Invested in State schools, it is incumbent on tho department 'to take special care of tho morals of the children who attend them. It cannot bo denied however, that thoro is an uneasy fooling springing up in various parts of the oolduy respecting tho indiscriminate, mixing of the sexes in the schools, nnd also with rospeot to the system of male tonohors boing placed over ; gir}s whoso egos go to show tho impropriety of such an nvrnngn* monk. Wo havo received and published a number of letters on tho subject, aiid the fact that they oom« fiom difterontnml wido-apart portions of tho colony is an -indication that tho dissatisfaction is widesproful, nnd rests on a moro substantial foundation than a propensity to grumble on tho pnrt of ty few residents in any par* tiouW locality. A few days sinoo ono of ouri'oorrosp^ndonts voluntoorod to give Homo ftpeoifio information, but as nothing has boon hqftrd from the department, it may ho prdsumod that tho ofTor has es« coped tho notice of the Ministor of Kdu« cation, or that ho doos not oonsidor tho mutter of fiuflicient importance to justify any apjeoial inquiries. Thoro is reason to apprehend, however, that if the preliminary information and remonstrances which aro forthcoming now are treated with contempt, the subject will bo foroed upon the attention of the Minister nnd tho departmont boforo very long, perhaps in a much moro unpleasant way. If inquiries wore instituted, say in tho metropolitan district, m|iny instunoos would bo found of parents rofusing to allow their daughtors to accompany thoir sons to State sohools, tho roaspns boing .that tho schools "aro not fit places for girls to go to/ Wo havo no dosiro to attach any Htigma to the groat national educational Hystom. which has boon established, nnd in again culling attention' to tho aubjoot, we aro only notu» J stod by tho deaifo to liitvo an ovil grappled jwith in itsflfsfc stage." I ,t .loav.e your contemporary and your Irdaders gonorally' to "'hiark loam and inwardly digo("t" these romarks boforo 'Lhoy /all head. iui4 ears io love with n systorn fraught with such terrible ovils, nndcon* tainiiig tfirt gorm of fruitful immorality for the rl»mg , goneratiop, which bodes diaaatrou* oonuequonees to society. * ■ lam,&c,, j; ; . J.J. CROFTS. : Catholic Toaohor.