TAKING THE OATH

Greymouth Evening Star, 28 June 1921, Page 3

TAKING THE OATH

MINISTER’S STATEMENT. BISHOP BRODIE’S COMMENTS. (Special to the Star.) WELLINGTON, June 25.—The Minister of Education, Mr Parr, says that school committees have been suggesting to him that employees in the Education Department, teachers, and others, should take the oath of allegiance. The Minister said that he was inclined to think this would be a good idea, especially in these days when mere was so much propaganda that was deliberately antiBritish and disolyal. It might be well to see that all connected with education were loyal citizens. He intended, he said ,to submit the suggestion of these school committees to the Cabinet. He also expressed the opinion that lor the future one of the conditions of receiving a teacher’s certificate shoud be that the recipient should take the oath of allegiance. CHRISTCHURCH, June 27. When th© Hon. C. J. Parr, Minister of Education, was asked n lie knew of any anti-British or disloyal propaganda in schools which should be checked by means of insisting on teachers taking the oath of allegiance to the Empire, the Minister said: — Complaints have been made to me by parents that m sonic schools the teacher has voiced anti-british sentiments and that iiis attitude was not loyal to Empire and his country Happily there are very few ul these caws, and a warning to the teacher complained of has in each case, 1 think, been sufficient. 1 find, however, that there is a tendency for mischievous propaganda from which this country is by no means exempt at the present time, to affect even some of our young teachers. He should take the oatli of allegiance to the State whose service he is in. It has been suggested that the test should be applied periodically. It may become necessary even to do this

but for the present 1 am averse, once a man has taken the oath of allegiance, to impute a breach of his obligations. I think the teaching body is sufficiently sound, and that once its young devotees have given their pledge they will keep it. “Should the test of loyalty by means of the oath be applied to all public servants?” the Minister was asked. “Yes 1 think so. Any man drawing public money ought to be a loyal servant of the State,” replied Mr. Parr. Speaking at the laying of the foundation stone of a new Catholic church, Bishop Brodie said that just now the authorities of the various religious denominations had reason for considerable thought and anxiety. Recently they had noticed that a Minister of

the Government had stated that a test of loyalty was to be applied to teachers of their schools, as it was at piesent being applied to anyone entering the Dominion. This test of loyalty was io take the form of the oath of allegiance. They all knew an oath was the calling upon God to witness the truth of what they were asserting, and consequently it presumed a belief in God, yet the State system of education made no provision tor inculcating a knowledge of God or of religion, but what was worse the State practically adopted an attitude of hostility to those schools in which religion was taught. Thus by recent legislation it had been declared that denominational secondary schools were not fit and proper places for tenure of scholarships granted by the State. Here we had the State imposing a test of loyalty pre-suppesing a knowledge . f God and at the rrtine time penalising those schools which installed ’nto the mind of youth the necessary knowledge that would help them to be good citizens. “The question of sacredness of an oath,” said his Lordship, “is very far reaching, and the time has come, when from practical viewpoint, an oath has practically lost its significance as guarantee of the truth, because many people taking an oath nowadays do not speak the truth so much as what is expedient for them to say to safeguard their own interests. Thoughtful and observant magistrates have been forced to admit their experience justifies them in stating a large section of the community has no longer any idea of the sacredness attached to the taking of an oath.