EDUCATION PROBLEM.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 230, 22 June 1908, Page 8

EDUCATION PROBLEM.

THE.PROPOSED SETTLEMENT. A NON-CONFORMIST'S VIEWS. 67 TELEQItAPn—rBESS ASSOCUTIOJJ—COFTKIGHT, London, June 19.

Tho Rov. Hirst Hollo.well (Baptist) who bas-taken a prominent part in the education controversy, commenting 011 tho ' result of the Bishop of Manchester's Education Conference, considers that the proposed settlement would leave things in a worse and more-confused state than at present.

LIBERALISM AND THE CHURCH. It is strange that so far we have received no. information by cablo as to tho nature of tne agreement arrived at by the recent conference' under the presidency of the Bishop of Manchester, though we have been told that two such stalwart Nonconformists as Dr. Clifford • and tho Eev. Hirst Bollowell are dissatisfied with it.; From this it may be assumed that it is more favourable to the Anglicans and Roman Catholics than could '.■.have been expected a few months ago. A "Candid .Radical Member, 1 * writing ,on •"Liberalism and'the Church" in the "Guardian" of Hay' 6, states: "I may bo in ciror as to the omens, but I will hazard, nevertheless, the suggestion, based upon many hints and impressions, that there is a change in the attitude of 'Parliamentary Liberalism to- . wards the Church. • It is not the formation of.- a,new Government that has made the difference, but. that logic .of events which asserts ' itself impalpably, like the atmosphere. There " used to bo days when the Church, was accused of thwarting' the progress of Social ■ Beform a' term which I daro not venture to define'. In certain quarters the tradition still survives, ineradicable and hostile to 'the . Establishment/' .but,. speaking more generally, the ,old allegations' havo been replaced by phrases of a very different character. The Bishops are ;welcomed as comrades, in tho popular cause, and from the lips of Mr. LloydGeorge there , rises- a paeah of thankfulness that Providence : has 1 preserved the Episcopal bench. The Primate and: his colleagues have' recently thrown tactics to the winds. The ' alliance' between Bishops and Brewers, so frequently ■ described upon the hustings, in leaflets, and through cartoons, .has been not . only broken, but disproved. At this supromo ■ crisis in the history of the Temperance, movement the Church has , declared itself as decisively as the leaders of Nonconformity could desire,: and this* in the teeth, the very sharp teeth; of the .' Education Bill. In tho light * j these, considerations it is, perhaps, no wonder ; that a compromise- should be 'afoot as regards: the schools.; Of that compromise Mr. M'Kenna was at first suspicious, even to' the point of irritation, but lie has since laboured for. peace with all tho ardour of a LloydGeorge or a Winston Churchill. It is no secret that the, Government lias reason to thank m c 0 1?,■ representative leaders :than tho. Bishop of. St. Asaph for the progress' of the efforts ■ towards '; conciliation, in which 'the Primate himself and Lord Eosebery have "played a striking part. The appointment of Mr. Runciman to.succeed Mr. M'Kenna at the Board of. Education will make no difference to the paci- , poire.y v/lucii 'the''Cabinet has adopted, doubtless ■ with' the ( full ■ knowledge of Nonconformist spokesmen, of unofficial and therefore independent rank. Moreover, Mr. M'KinBon/Wood,, who takes the position vacated by Dr. Macnamara, is cordially opposed on municipal grounds, to-the idea of contracting out, and anxious, therefore, to discover a basis upon which the national system may continue without; 'so 'grievous a rent. Probably the X 1 res 4 Chuiclies would agree to concessions, as part -of a'-treaty of peace, which they: would indignantly reject if' battle were, still raging. I hear, it stated that - it might be possible, even in single-school areas, for denominational instruction of a definite kind to be given by ■willing teachers/ without protest arising from .Nonconformist quarters. ■ Yet there i 5 another side.to the prospect. The compromise is fankfv- a recognition of Cowper-Temple 'Chris--t/anitv .as the ' favourite 'religion' of the btate. - , . . 1