CANTERBURY PUBLIC SCHOOLS—THE SORT OF VISITORS ADMITTED.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume I, Issue 19, 6 September 1873, Page 11

CANTERBURY PUBLIC SCHOOLS— THE SORT OF VISITORS ADMITTED.

The following letter -was read at a meeting of the Canterbury Education Board on the 25th ultimo. " Timaru, August 19, 1873. " To the Chairman of the Board of Education. " Sir, — Being in Temuka on last Saturday for divine service in the Catholic Church on Sunday following, I met at the hotel one Mr Graham, the editor of • Gkahnm's Eeview ' (Dunedin) going about giving lectures oa " Spiritism, inspiration of Scriptures, prophecies phrenology, and on what to him is, the truth in religion." " In my opiriion, he talks a good deal of truth, with here and there not a few disfigured religious truths. That people should go and give their shillings to hear him in rooms for the purpose is no business for me that I may interfere with. "But Mr Graham is admitted in national schools, and there even at school hours addresses the children, and giveß them stances in table rapping and phrenology. And he gives prizes for good behaviour. Now, that man is a preacher in his way, and he carries about his ' Review,' which has some very offensive articles on my religion. "Now, I have Catholic children in those schools (I name, Waimate and Temuka), and such visitors are a scandal to their faith. I will now ask one question : Are schoolmasters under the Educational Ordinance allowed to open their schools to such teachers and waste the time of their pupils on perhaps worse than nonsense ? " Hoping you will not find fault with me for drawing your atten* tion to what I think to be a disorder, and in my opinion a nuisance, " I have the honor, sir, to be your very respectful servant, "Ohataighter, Catholic Priest." [The Lyttelton • Times ' from which we extract this letter makes acknowledgement of an erratum therein in a subsequent issue. It says that the word " truth " in the second paragraph should have been trash.] The Secretary was instructed to reply to Father Chatnignier, that the attention of the committees of the sohools named by him will be at once called to the complaint made in his letter, and that the Board will allow no infraction of clause 61 of the Education Ordinanoe. The Secretary was also instructed to forward copies of Father Chdtaignier's letter to the committees of the Arrowhenua and Waimate schools, and request an explanation of the circumstances mentioned therein. The Inspector said apropos of this he would like to ask by what authority persons could visit sohools during the school hours, as he noticed that, at some schools, visitors had been invited to attend by the teachers. The Board replied that no person can visit a district school during school hours, except by authority of the School Committee or the Board.