BRITISH EDUCATION BILL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 284, 25 November 1908, Page 3

BRITISH EDUCATION BILL.

HOW IT IS REGARDED. London, November 23. The Bishop of Manchester insists that the Nonconformists have gained every principle which -they coutended for under the education compromise. There has, he says, been no such malversation of Church property since the Reformation. The Bill will cause bitter atfa protracted war in the villages, and it is probable that some of tlu schools will not be transferred to the public authorities without physical force. The net result is the Church's profound humiliation. Sir J. H. Keiinaway, Conservative M.P., states that nine-tenths of the Anglican laity is strongly in support of the Archbishop of Canterbury and Mr Runciman in their desire to effect this compromise on the education qucv tion. The Rev. Dr. Clifford, the Nonconformist leader, says the Bill will give a solid gain to the educational work of the nation. 1

The Rev. J. S. Lidgett, President of the Wesleyan Conference, declares that so long as the right of entry and th: right of assistant teachers to give denominational instruction is safeguarded by adequate regulations, the settlement of the education question is not possible without any breach of Nonconformist principles. The Chronicle says the Bill ensures that five-sixths of the cost of maintenance of Catholic schools will be derived from public fund 3. Regarding the protest of the Catholic teachers against the "contracting out" provision, the Chronicle remarks: "They view with natural bitterness the prospect of their schools being driven out of the national system; but this is not the desire of the Liberals; it is the penalty of the Catholic hierarchy's refusal to accept public control." Father Vaughan strenuously condemns the Bill. Archbishop Bourne expresses the hope that the Bill will be found to b the basis of a peaceful settlement of the problem.