A CENTURY OF PROGRESS

New Zealand Tablet, 11 May 1911, Page 849

A CENTURY OF PROGRESS

A REVIEW BY CARDINAL MORAN At the laying of the foundation stone of a new presbytery at Fern Hill on Sunday, April 23, his Eminence Cardinal Moran referred to the evidences of material progress seen everywhere in the Commonwealth, and quoted from an article in the Sydney Morning Herald, entitled ‘A Decade of Progress,’ in which the writer dealt with the remarkable prosperity enjoyed by the various States of Australasia, and concluded by saying: —Federation has us to think as a continent. It has broadened our old provincial views, and, though these die hard, especially with the older generations, there is growing up a distinctly Australian sentiment in place of the former colonial view.’ With that sentiment of the editor, said his Eminence, I am glad to find you all agree, as I certainly do in the fullest way. Then the editorial continues;—‘. . . There is the matter of defence. Federation has had the effect of co-ordinating the old State land defence systems, some of which were childish in their impotency, and of giving us a nucleus of a fleet in place of the Cerberus, the Gayundah, and the Protector. . . We feel as we never felt before, that the day has passed in which we should be everlastingly and entirely dependent on the homeland for our local defence. Our desire for greater independence has taken other forms as well. The policy of giving the State greater powers than in most other countries in the way of controlling activities has involved the expenditure "of borrowed money. This money used to be almost entirely raised in London, where certain criticisms were indulged in as to our socialistic tendencies.- Since Federation we have added 47 millions to our public debt; but .whereas in 1900 only 14 per cent, of our loans had been raised in Australia, last year the percentage had increased to 24.’ * All Christendom Prosperous. ‘ The same prosperity that smiles on Australia smiles on the various countries of Christendom,’ his Eminence went on. ‘ The last century has been justly called the century of progress; it claims as its own the development of steam and electricity, and the advantages that followed in their train would suffice to characterise it as a century of singular prosperity and advancement. As a result of its developments the various countries of Christendom have been brought into a state of union that hitherto had not prevailed, and this union has in a great measure put an end to the wars that ravaged so many lands for such a long time. I hope that the arrangement made by England and the United States of America to refer all matters of dispute to arbitration is the beginning of the abolition of recourse to arms, with the passing of which Christendom will attain its glorious and final triumphs. The Church’s Remarkable Advance in America. ‘Considering the progress made in many lands ■during the last century, we may look to the U.S.A. A hundred years ago the Republic of the West was the Cinderella of the nations, whereas to-day, with 100 million inhabitants, it is not only foremost amongst the world powers, but its voice, whether for peace or war, is heard in all the countries of Europe, and is most important in guiding the counsels of other peoples. lam glad to say that religion

has kept pace with the material development of the States. In 1833 some anti-Catholic papers in Connecticut - wrote protesting against the progress of “Romanism” as being most- alarming, numbering 2 500,000 in the United States. At the present day there are nearly 15,000,000 Catholics in the United States, and if we add those in their dependenciesthe Philippines, Porto Rico, and the Hawaiian Islands—the grand total of Catholics under the Stars and Stripes is nearly 23,000,000. The consecration of St. Patrick’s; Cathedral, New York, a few months ago, recalled the fact that at the laying of its foundations 100 years ago the whole Catholic population of the State of New York was not more than 3000, and the priests numbered two, the - one who blessed the foundations and his assistant. In October' last there assembled for the consecration ceremony three Cardinals, 70 Archbishops and Bishops, and 1000 priests; and To-day in the city of New York alone the Catholic citizens number no fewer than 1.300.000, while 75,000 children are receiving education in religious schools, and 25,000 in orphanages or institutions of benevolence. 1 The same healthy condition of things holds good in regard to the other cities . of the U.S. Chicago is an exaipple. As late as 1835 its entire Catholic population was 100, visitel. occasionally by a priest. To-day it totals 1.000. and during , the past fifty vears 188 Catholic churches have been built, also 143 religious'schools, ill which there are at present 81,680 pupils. All this,’ added his Eminence, bespeaks progress, which is certainly unsurpassed in the history of the world. The One Great Failure. ‘ The one great general failure of the century just closed is that of what we call secularism in education. This system has been tried in a marvellous way in many countries, blit nowadays the cry is that failure characterises the experiment. Poor France, perhaps, has suffered more than any other land from the effects of the secular school, and has fallen into a sad condition. However, I am confident that through the zeal of the Bishops, The devotedness of the clergy, and the enthusiasm of many faithful souls religion will triumph once more, and France will be lifted out of the terrible ■ abyss into which she has fallen. Price Collier, a Protestant writer, in a recent number of Scribner’s Magazine;' speaks thus of France and the effects of the secular system of education; “ The world wonders at the decadence of school-beridden France, where the boys are effeminatised, the youths secularised, and the men sterilised, morally and patriotically. France with its police without power, its army without patriotism, and its

people without influence; disorderly ot home, and cringing abroad; a nation owing its autonomy, even to the fact that it is serviceable as a buffer-State. When I write l disorderly at home,' it is not the off-hand rhetoric of the hasty, writer. . . lam unorthodox, I might even be dubbed a heretic by the narrow, but I am bound to confess if ever a nation r; suffered from physical and moral dry-rot, as a direct result of secular education, .it is France. . . In Franco vreverence has been, knocked on the head, and faith smothered sin ridicule, and she has produced a ; school-bred Hooligan, in Paris, at any rate, whose lack of "the human traits decency, honesty, gentleness, and manliness are unequalled outside a menagerie, » 4?^i Education * without moral training is simply a diabolical misfortune. But the fallacy remains, and with it a # terrible waste of human material, and an increase' of that unhappiness, which is the curse" of modern society." "'% ."- ' That certainly is strong evidence of the decadence of secular education in France and the United States, where men boast of the great improvements effected by the secular schools. But, listen,' said his Eminence, 'to the criticism of a learned Jew, the Rabbi : Hirsch, and see the delusion melting away. Says the Rabbi: " The greatest failure of the nineteenth century has been the failure of education. The eighteenth century closed with a belief in the efficiency of'education, and the best minds of the day seemed to have dreams of universal education,/and, called it a panacea for the social ills. We have largely realised those dreams, and have also discovered that an education of the head alone has not kept the promises which the philosophers of the 18th century believed it would keep. Education has not decreased the criminal classes, but has made them more dangerous. Our public, schools may give an idiot mind, but they do hoti give him character: They give him the power to do harm without the moral force and will to restrain him from using that power. In educating the head, and not the heart and soul, the public schools are failing at a crucial point.' /