CORRESPONDENCE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 182, 3 August 1877, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE.

To the Editor op the 'Evening Mail.' Sin,— Father Garin has delivered himself on the Education Bill. Such an utterance must surely be a consolation to the Executive. It is an assurance that the Catholic Church accepts the Bill, aud for the nonce " the Lion will lie dowu with the Lamb." But still the cloven foot may be concealed in some seemingly innocent and simple phrase; possibly through the force of educacation or the habit of thought, the good old gentleman sees the grave possibility of some terrible tyranny, and monstrous injustice, being perpetrated against Catholic teachers, in offering up the Lord's prayer in Protestant phraseology. The reverend Father is doubtless very properly jealous over the conscience of Catholic teachers. The Catholic conscience is a wonderful pschylogical study, as contrasted with a Protestant conscience by a Catholic. I was curious to learn the difference between fche Lord's prayer in the Douay version and the Protestant, and I find there is this vital and essential difference. The Catholic version prays for 'supersubstantiul bread,' and the Protestant for that very common and material thing called "daily bread." It is not for au unsympathetic and cruel Protestant to determine the amount of persecution that is involved in requiring a devout Catholic teacher to pray for daily and not supermbstantial bread. But I think the moral of the whole.i£tha / t the Catholic Church accepts the Bill; and I recommend this fact to the friends of secular education. As it will be the silliest affectation to suppose that she would accept it unless she saw that it could beSvbrked in iutereats of "Mother Church," Father Garin and the authorities of his ..Church I opine are not prepared to.give any assurance that their religious teaching shall be confined . to the simple provision of the Bill. The difficulty does not lie with Catholic teachers. I have known them accept positions in schools where the very wicked secular system in its purity is in operation. They, poor innocents, are only the peg on which Mother Church is able in this particular to air her grievauce.— l am, &c, Secular Teaching. Nelson, August 2, 1877. It is stated that the Government intend to propose a vote for the Four-mile Water-race, Charleston District. A Dunedin telegram to a Wellington contemporary says:— The principles of the Education Bill arc generally approved of. The Sl'ir objects strongly to the appropriation of the rent aud profits of reserves to the general revenue. Things political (says the Post) are still "flat, stale and unprofitable." The intended Opposition meeting or "caucus" did not eventuate to-day, but there is talk now of a meeting to be held ou Wednesday, of a new political sect, called "The Middle Party." What their creed is has not yet been i positively determined. A cardinal article of it is, that they mean to turn the present Goverumentjout if they can. There rea certain Canterbury members in this party, and some other sympathisers representing the North and South. "The Middle Party," or embryo "new Opposition" hope to receive the aid of the "old Opposition," and with combiued forces to make au onslaught on the Treasury Benches. But whether they will receive the aid or not yet remaius to be seea. A common pohttal platform has yet to be agreed upon, and to arrive at such agreement appears to be no easy task. The meeting to come off on Wednesday will possibly develop a new phase of the situation, as before it takes place the Fiuancial Statement will have been made, and hon. members will thus be in possession of accurate information as to the real position of the colony. At the present , moment everything is stagnant, and what has been termed " the noble science of politics" < is almost altogether devoid of stirrim? * interest. •**• .

i •„"! e f°rmo«s pig, weighing Bl7lbs, was i killed at Macetown. If fattened it would have weighed a couple of hundredweight I more. ° The Patea Mail says:— We are indebted to the Rev Father Perfcuis for the following telegram, which speaks for itself •— " Hawera, July 13.— A brilliant young comet is now in sight. Pail expected daily. -Ptolemaicus E. Pertuis." We (.News Letter) understand that a young man, who has worked aa a journeyman blacksmith at Masterton of late, haa come iv for a slice of good luck, the sum of £2000 having come into his possession through the death ot a relative afc home. The Manawatu Times of the 21st inst. says tbafc a petition is in course of signature for presentation to Parliament urging upon the House "that in any Education Bill which may be under consideration the fullest provision be made for the daily reading of the Bible as the first part of the ordinary school course of instruction, even if auch reading be given without note or comment." The Cambridge (Waikato) Farmers Club have adopted a resolution, asking the member for the district to bring forward a motion in the House in favour of offering a bonus of £1000 for the first 1000 tons of salt manufactured m fche Colony at 5s per ton under fche pnee ruling during the six months previous. Ihe quantity of coal, coke, and bricks exported from Greymouth during the quarter ended June 30, was.— Coal, 6131 tons; coke, 24 tons: fire-bricks, 1 1,000. During tho corresponding quarter of last year there were 3553 tons of coal exported, bufc no coke or fire-bricks. A Working Men's Club has been recently established in Wellington, the success of which, says the Post, appears now to be established beyond the shadow of a doubt, the present list of members plainly evidencing the fact, so that the institution may therefore be considered as au un fait accompli. lhe roll comprises nearly 120 members, sixty of whom are honorary, and in the establishment now opened by the club in Dixonstreet comfort and couveuience appear to be alike studied, so that the club should prove what it is intended to be-a real boon to the working men. The Post thus summarises the Charitable Institutions Bill.— The preamble sets forth thafc^ whereas there are hospitals and charitable institutions, established in certain towns and districts in the colony, which are maintained partly by aid from public funds: and whereas other similar institutions may hereafter be established, it is proposed that both such should, in the future, be maintained by the following plan. AU such institutions supported in whole or parfc by the voluntary contributions of nofc less than fifty persons, each of whom shall have paid not less thau £1 per annum, or £10 in one donation, can be incorporated. When this has been done in any case, the management of the institution shall vest in a committee of nine members, to be elected from amongst the contributors. One-third of the managers so elected retire annually, and the vacancies are tilled up by fresh elections. The whole control of the institution would bo in the hands of those managers, who would appoint permanent officers, vote salaries, and make such bye-laws as were necessary. Provision is made, by which the governor may contribute money, voted by Parliament, for the erection or enlargement of buildings for such institutions. The revenue of the institutions to consist of whatever is raised by voluntary subscription, supplemented by a sum of equal amouut from the consolidated revenue. Ihat is to say, if an institution received £500 a year in the shape of donations, the Government would contribute another £500. Ifc is further provided that the maximum sum to ba thus paid from the consolidated fund is in no case to exceed so much per head—the amount is left blank in the draft bill— for each lumate of such institution, or each person in receipt of out-door relief from such institution. The remaining provisions of the bill are to the effect that near relatives of people in charitable institutions will be compelled to contribute to their support, aud tnat destitute or neglected children are to be sent to industrial schools.