New Zealand Tablet. Fiat Justitia. SATURDAY, AUGUST 9, 1873. THE COLONIAL EDUCATION BILL AND IMMIGRATION.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume I, Issue 15, 9 August 1873, Page 5

New Zealand Tablet. Fiat Justitia. SATURDAY, AUGUST 9, 1873. THE COLONIAL EDUCATION BILL AND IMMIGRATION.

The n«nv Education Bill of the G-enerai Government does not call for much remark. Of its intrinsic merits little can be said, and that little is not of a satisfactory kind. On tha only point which' concerns Catholics much, it is eminently unsatisfactory. No provision is made* for Catholic schools, and this omission renders it' obnoxious ta them. The provision which enables Education Eoards to aid other schools, besides those of the several Boards, is a farce, and with the experience of the last two years cannot be regarded by us iv any other light than that of an insult. Education Boards aro'* not at* a loss for excuses to refuse aid to Catholic school*. Wellington affords an instance in point. In the second place the Bill is purely permissive. Provincial Councils may avail themselves of its provisions, or net,- as it may seem well to them. ThiSTfeature renders th«Bill still more ludicrous, and compels men to ask themselves ' what can have been the object of its' introduction. It 'settle* nothing, clears up no doubts, does not advance education a

single step, helps in no way to remove the dissatisfaction and I discontent of a large portion of the community. The injustice and tyranny of rampant majorities, for example, in Otago and Canterbury, are permitted to continue to reign and rule unchecked ; and as to the other provinces, the majority is left at liberty to imitate their brethren in the South. In fact, the minority is handed over, bound hand and foot, to a majority without conscience, decency, or the least care for the rights and duties of others. Further, there is no provision in this Bill calculated fco prevent a repetition of the scandalous inefficiency of Government schools, as lately revealed in the case of the Dunediu High School. It is clear, from the fact of the introduction of this Bill, that Government is convinced the education systems of the rarious Provinces are not satisfactory. But it is equally certain that the General Government is afraid of the Otago and Canterbury vote. All things considered, it would have been better, however, had the Bill never been introduced. It is a compromise between duty and fear, and consequently of the character of such compromises— weak, lame, illogical, giving satisfaction to no one. Our object in noticing it at all is to poiDt it out to the attention of Catholic voters. A general election cannot be far off, and Catholics ought to be put in possession of such facts as this, that at the proper time they may be enabled to treat the enemies of justice and fair-play as they deserve. The policy Catholic voters ought to follow during the elections, which cannot be far off, is to vote against every candidate who, either in the Provincial or General Assemblies, has voted against aid to their schools, or in favor of Bonrds witli merely discretionary power, no matter whether their opponents be, equally with them, our enemies or not. Our principle should be to punish the men who have denied us justice. In the next elections, such a line of policy may be made to tell to some purpose ; but it is not quite so certain that after the next general elections it will ever again be in our power to give even a kick. Politicians of all grades, and Executives, whether Provincial or General, seem determined that if they can help it, no more Catholics shall come to this country. We say it advisedly, that the immigration scheme, though fair on paper, has been purposely administered in such a way a& to shut out Catholic immigrants, particularly from Ireland. Of this there can be no doubt whatever. This, we know, will be denied, but only fools can be deceived by such denial. Dozens of vessels with immigrants have been sent here from England and Scotland. Has even one been sent from Ireland.? Has any honest bona fide effort been made to find emigrants in Ireland 1 Not one ship has been despatched from any Irish port, xio honest effort has been made to find emigrants in Ireland ; and Irishmen and Catholics are as efficaciously excluded from all participation in the grants for immigration as 'if 'direct and positive instructions had been given to exclude them. There is a vulgar saying, which we venture to give here, because it is expressive—" There are many ways of killing a dog without hanging him ;" and our General and Provincial Executives, ably aided by the General and Provincial Agents at Home, have killed Irish and C?tholic immigration 'without any positive enactment to that effect. Catholics, then, may have one chance of showing they are men, by justly punishing the astute and cowardly enemies of their religion and race, but it wi.l be their only chance. It has been arranged that immigration shall be so conducted as to reduce their influence to next to nothing in the country ; and that godless education shall destroy the remnant of faith which, may be found anvmgst us. The policy pursued in this Colony in reference to these measures is not only unjust, but it is insultingly and monstrously unjust.