BIBLE IN SCHOOLS TO THE EDITOR.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 71, 25 March 1914, Page 2

BIBLE IN SCHOOLS TO THE EDITOR.

frir,— ln reference to your leader in to day's issue on the above, may I ask you a few questions :—(1): — (1) How can the schoolmaster more powerfully iufiuencp character for good than through lpligton '! (2) Has not the State seized upon ninctenths of the child's seiious energies, and accidentally uxtrudud religion? (3) Does any organisation, outside the churches, exist for the propagation of religion' (4) Is "inhuman bitterness" a fair desciiptiun of the relations exist inj; between ths churches which support the Diblc-in-Schools League? (5) Should the followers of G. J. Holyoake tyrannise over all other " sects v> ? (6) Are we to throw away the child (religion) with the basket (denominationalism) '! (?) If the Bible and the clergyman are accepted_ in New South Wales schools and no friction has arisen in fifty yeais, is the peace of New Zealand schools likely to be endangered by the same system? — I am, etc.. O. W. WILLIAMS. Wellington, 23rd March. to m editor. Sir,— -Having read the report of the meeting of the Wellington branch of the National Defence League, and your leader in to-night's issue on the same, I find myself asking, "What is it all about?" Evidently the bogey is "sectarianism." Now, sir, may I point out, as a New South Welshman, that this is really a "bogey," and nothing to be afraid of. The system advocated by the Bible-in-Schools League has been in operation in Auetralia for years, and no one ever hears of it resulting in sectarianism. In a letter from Sydney by the last mail, the writer mentions the large number of children to whom it is his pleasure to give religious instruction in the public schools ; children representing practically all denominations. I doubt whether you would find any more sectarianism in Sydney as a result of the system than is to be found in Wellington at the present moment. A great deal is said about the Nelso* system. Now, Nelson is a very small place, and Australia is a very large one, and yet evidence abounds on every_ hand that the Bible-in-Schools system is giving satisfaction to several millions of people, while the Nelson system, aftei' ( all, has not had a very extensive trial. Your sneer, sir, at the clergy is unwarranted. I hold no brief for the clergy, but have they not every right, nay, is it not their duty, to place before the people that which they believe will be in the best interests of the people of the Dominion ? After all, the question is one which concerns the people, and they alone should be allowed to settle it. . If the Defence League is so certain that the bulk of the people is with them, why need they fear the referendum? All the Bible-in-Schools League is asking for is that the matter should be _ submitted to the people of the Dominion for their yea or nay. It puzzles me why, in a democratic country like this, there should be any opposition to such a proposal.— l am, etc., W. E. COCKS, Missions to Seamen, Wellington. Wellington, 23rd March, TO THE EDITOH. Sir,— ln order to recommend the programme of the Bible-in-Schools- League, some of its supporters are taking every opportunity of getting men from the various States of Australia to tell ue that their system of religious instruction works without any friction. New, we have been told in a very emphatic manner by Bishop Cleary that, as regards Catholics in New South Wales, thei-e 'is intense ' dissatisfaction with the teaching of the Protestant religion in the State schools there, and what we know of the feelings of men of other forms of religious belief' makes Us feel sure that dissatisfaction ¦is not by any means confined to Catholics. Apparently, then^ because Australian people are law-abiding, in spite of regulations they dislike, because they do not seek to burn down buildings like militant Suffragettes, nor organise armed resistance to the authorities like the men of Ulster, it is to be held that these people quite acquiesce in having this one form of the Protestant religion taught at the expense of the whole community. What is implied by this mode of reasoning is calculated to have dangerous consequences. At the present time we know that many working men are far from satisfied with the conditions prevailing in the labour market. What construction are they likely to put upon these arguments of Bible-in-Schools advocates ? They must conclude that unless they resort to violence and disorder, it will be told abroad that they _ are thoroughly satisfied with everything. Thus such arguments are really a commendation of lawlessness and mob violence.— l am, etc., CHAS. J. COOKE. Kelburne, 24th March, 1914. [Persistently the opponents of the present State system of undenominational education ask the same old questions, and cite "democracy" for their purpose — "bare-majority" rule on religious questions. If the referendum is to be employed (a counting of heads—quantity, not quality, 1 to determine the religious issue) the advocates ma.y live to rue the day when they established such a perilous procedure. What if the very existence of the churches themselves has to be put, some day, to the popular vote, in accordance with unholy precedent? Unquestionably, if the Govern ment agrees to a referendum on the question whether the public schools are to be exposed to the infection of sectarianism, it will commit il&olf to the general manciple of unrt'presentativo government — that is "direct action" government, by counting heads, 011 any question of national importance. The next referendum would have to be on the totalisator, and other demands would soon come. How could the Government logically resist a straight-out referendum on "Protection or Free Trade?" and on proposalo of taxation guaranteed to .slacken the grip of land monopoly? We do nob see any merit whatever in the vague allegations of Bible promoters about the- state of affaire in New South Wales. The only reason why New Zealand should copy the example of New South Wales is in a.n expectation that some advantage would be gained. Where is the ovidence to support any such assumption ? Is the morality of New South Wales better than the morality ot New Zealand? Are the people happier? Are they better in any manner? It is the firm belief (based cm official statistics) of the Chief Justice, Sir Robert Stout, that the proportion of criminals among people born aud reared in New Zealand is lower than iv Ihe Australian States or other countries where religious instruction is given in the schools. Visitors, too, remark on the general well-being and brightness of the poopln, by comparison with the residents of other couutnes. Why, then, the cry for the Bible in schools? The people do know that the present system does not encouraa;* sectarianism. Why have a doubtful experiment? Why not leave woll alone? Why the parading of New South Wales? The Post has not sneered at the clergy, j but The Post has believed it to be a public duty to oppose the trespassing of the clergy on the secular State schools.]