The Waikato Times. TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 1877.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 739, 13 March 1877, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 1877.

Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political # # # * # [lore shall the Pi-cst ths People's right maintain, Una wed by influence and unhribed by gain.'

The question of religious instruction m our public schools has been raised by certain of the clergy m a petition to the Central Board of Education. The question is one of very great importance, and we are therefore not surprised to find that the Board declined to give an immediate deci-' sion m the matter, It is the vexata quotstio of legislation m educational matters, and it is with some feeling of regret we see it raised at the present moment- ' The secular system of education, which, of the very nature of things, is the only one that has a claim for State aid m a democratic colony such as this, has not inaptly been called a " godless system." Yet much as those who advocate and support it could wish it were otherwise, they cannot see their way clear to make it so. They see and acknowledge the evil results of the working of the system m both France and America ; they see the irreligious character of the one nation, and the utter want of reverence that is shown towards everything that commands the veneration and respect of the average Englishman m the other, till American wit has become the mere irreverent travesty of things serious ; yet they can profit nothing by the experience. The jealousy of conflicting denominations prevents the possibility of anything like religious instruction being imparted to the children, as m the public schools m England, where there is a State church and these schools' 1 are State endowments. Here we have* no State church, no religious de- 1 nomination claiming precedence or consideration over another, and the schools, unlike those at home, are, being created by the united efforts of men of all creeds and persuasions for a joint use. Now, if the opinion of the colonists were taken individually, there would be an almost unanimous vote m favour of imparting a religious education to the children. The Bible, apart from its being the cradle of Christian and Jewish faith, and the history of the; world, stands unequalled m the grandeur of its conceptions, the sublimity of its poetic inspirations, the purity of its moral teachings. There is no other standard by which a man would rather that his children were trained. But, with the same fervour that we all unite m regard for the religion of the Bible, m the abstract, do we all differ, m its application, and it is impossible to devise a; scheme of religious instruction founded on Bible teachings acceptable to Jew and Christian or to the conflicting parties of the various denominations of the latter faith* The consequence of this has been, m all these colonies, the substitution of the secular for the denominational system. The latter is simply too costly to be worked. Gnce admit the principle, and State aid must be granted to every separate denomination. To take an example of its working, if fairly carried out, we should have not one public school m Hamilton, bub half-a-dozen — carried on, if with equal efficiency, at six times the cost. Catholics and Presbyterians, Church people and Wesleyans, Congregationalis ts and Baptists would each be entitled to a school of their own, and we should have six half-starved ill conducted schools where one well appointed establishment could do the whole work, or, if we avoided that dilemma, we must go to six times the present cost, to make each school as efficient as the one. It has become, therefore, with the Government, simply a question of secular education, or none at all, and while ths Education Act under which our local schools are worked distinctly affirms that no religious instruction shall be given during school hotus, it gives to the clergy of any denomination the use of the school house, out of school hour.", for the purpose of jligious teaching.

This, ib seems, is nob enough. Certain of the clergy ask that the cluJdtaßii. shall not.be dispersed after ft^rscliool coarse is finished, and before the classes for receiving religious inslrucf.ions are formed. "If thc-dbildren are once dispersed, they canpot, ' they say,' be got together agaiii? for voluutary. sLudy." It may be so, but it is better that the clergy should be put to a little more trouble m getting their classes together, than that the spirit of the Act should, m this respect, be infringed upon, even m the slightest degree. Were it otherwise, the parents and the public would have no guarantee against proselytism. Imagine a clergyman rising when the school- , master ceased his duties and the school was undispersed or even 'undismissed, and calling on the " children to attend to him. Natural timidity, common politeness, for m such matters children are often far more polite than their elders, and a respect for j the authority t bf the cloth, whatever its Colour or cut, would prevent many from leaving. It would be too much to expect of a child that it should haye the moral courage to do so even when it ought. Yet this is -'just* the. state of things tlie seven ( of : tne clergy, and as many of the laity, who have addressed the Central ■Board of Education, m Auckland, on this matter, desire to see brought about. By the public it will be looked upon with suspicion and dis'trustj, as the introduction of the thin end of the wedge of religious teachings by any one and every one m our public schools. But the mischief does not end here. Every thinking' man has been looking forward with expectation to the time 'when these provincial systems of > education would, m New Zealand, be merged into one general national education scheme tinder the control of the Colonial Government. Session after Session of the General Assembly saw the attempt made, but m vain. There was a powerful influence whioh rightly or wrongly jealous of any such, scheme prevented practical legislation upon it, and nowhere more than m this province unless, perhaps, m that of Ofcago was this opposition so pronounced. Here, the working of the present Act had done much, to allay this feeling. Jealousy and suspicion were dying out, and the opponents of a national scheme of education were beginning to feel that after all there was more of seeming than of reality in* the cause for alarm to religious prejudice* We very much fear, however, that the illadvised step of the petitioners will have caused a reactionary feeling, and are very certain that if their petition were acceeded to we might say good bye for many a long year to come to a national system of education for New Zealand.