The New Zealand THURSDAY, APRIL 8, 1909. A WRONG THAT RAMIFIES

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXVII, Issue 14, 8 April 1909, Page 541

The New Zealand THURSDAY, APRIL 8, 1909. A WRONG THAT RAMIFIES

♦ ATHOLICS in these countries have, happily for themselves, inherited from their fathers "~ the results of a long training in the ar.ts of patience. They, of all others in the community, ' Know how sublime a thing it is, To suffer and be strong.' In these countries the lesson is still ' rubbed in,' partly by the ding-dong of attack from sundry quarters, that is not limited to the spasms and jumps and paroxysms of mid- July, but in some shape or other runs on from New Year's Day to St. Sylvester's; but chiefly by the unjust forms of denominationalism in public instruction, posing as ' neutral ' and ' undenominational,' for which Catholics are compelled to pay, and of which, on sheer grounds of conscience they cannot take advantage, except as the alternative to what Carlyle calls ' the tragedy of ignorance.' To Catholics, education, of its, natxire, necessarily implies the development of the child's whoio nature — physical, intellectual, moral, religious. It implies something more than mere secular instruction (such as reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, etc.) — for thes-J are not education ; they are at best the mere communication of worldly knowledge or of the means for acquiring knowledge. No a^mount of mere instruction 1 constitutes .education — apart from the moulding and training of the heart and will and moral conscience of the child, and apart from reference to its true nature and destiny. Wo have already pointed out, in our last issue, the essentially dogmatic and narrow denominational character of the system of hard secularism which legally holds sway in om public school system and which banishes religion — as if it were a. fo\il and evil thing — as if religion and the.Stato were enemies to each other; .we have shown how those parents who accept this form of secularism are rewarded with the free instruction of their children; and, on the

other hand, how those who cannot in conscience accept it must eitheT smother their conscientious convictions in return for the valued boon of such free instruction, oi (as an alternative) pay a double and continuing tax or fine — one for the education which they cannot in conscience accept, the other for the education which they can.

But this injustice is not all. It has numerous ramifications, ami time and again it sneaks along like a pickpocket in a crowd and ' lifts ' other coins from the unwilling' pockets of Catholics. The greater wrings are not necessarily those that create the greatest resentment and disgust. People ar« often more intimately afflicted and embittered by the little meannesses and the petty blisters of life than by -its greater tribulations. And one can readily, in the circVimstances, understand the feeling of strong indignation wibli which the Catholics of Oamaru have viewed the latest penalty imposed upon them for their conscientious and practical belief in Christ as tho grand Model and Exemplar to keep ever before the minds of the little men and maids at school. Catholic ratepayers in- the 'White City' contributed their proper quota towards the erection of the local Municipal Swimming Baths; they, too, contribute their due proportion towards the cost of an instructor, and towards the capitation grant allowed by the Education Department in respect of -children trained in the useful art of swimming and of lifesaving. We let an Oamaru contemporary tell th<3 remainder of the tale: —

' Recently applications were made by the heads of the Catholic schools in Oamaru to the Borough Connqil for the use of the Municipal Swimming Baths on the same terms as "those enjoyed l)y the public schools. On receipt of the applications, the Town Clerk wrote to the Otago Education Board asking if Catholic schools were eligible to receive the capitation grant of 2s 6d paid in respect' of every child attending twenty swimming lessons in any given school year, and received a reply that, pupils attend r ing Catholic schools were not eligible to attend' swimming classes in respect of which such capitation grant was paid! On receipt of the intimation the Town CJerk addressed tho following letter to the Hon. the Minister for Education : "lam instructed by h£s~ Worship the Mayor to point out that the art of swimming and life-savins is an

accomplishment altogether outside of the ordinary school work, which should be learned by ali, and every facility afforded to those wishing to learn. The ability- to save life from drowning is a matter of national importance, in which the question* of creed can in no ,way enter, and I am instructed to request that yon 'will take into serious consideration the question of making the capitation apply to all schools complying with the regulations now governing public schools, and so abolish the disability under which the Catholic schools of the Dominion now suffer in this respect. In Oama.ru the baths and ,a competent instructor are provided by the Municipality, and what is now asked is, jthat the boys and girls should have an equal' opportunity of qualifying for capitation, irrespective of what school they happen to attend. lam directed to express the hope that the above suggestion may commend itself to you and that you will see your way to grant to the Catholic scholars an opportunity of learning the art of swimming equal to that now enjoyed by the scholars at the schools maintained by the Government." '

The letter just quoted is a credit to the mind' and heart of all concerned in its writing. It is the very meanness and pettiness- of the . wrong here protested against that hurts most.'^ Catholics ask in this matter, as in, the matter of— a capitation grant for the secular instruction imparted in their schools, an extension, to them, of theprinciple adopted by the Government in regard to tho erring children of a larger growth committed to thf Salvation Army's Home for Inebriates on Pakatoa Island.