MR ATHELSTAN RILEY AND THE LONDON SCHOOL BOARD ELECTION.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXIX, Issue 18, 22 January 1895, Page 4

MR ATHELSTAN RILEY AND THE LONDON SCHOOL BOARD ELECTION.

Mr Athelstan Riley, the hero of the great educational struggle which has just ended in a complete victory for the cause of religious education, the cause -which he championed, is the subject of Mr Stead's character sketch -in the December number of the JSeview of Reviews, wherein he— an out and out .Nonconformist— credits Mr Kiley with being a public benefactor of the first magnitude, and why ? because, says he " We owe it to the young, energetic, and uncompromising member for Chelsea that the Nonconformists on the one side and the Anglicans and Sectarians on the other have been forced to take an interest in chool Board affairs, with the result that while at the previous election only from 20 to 25 per cent of the electors voted ; this time more than double that number went to the poll, " and this great gain we owe almost entirely to Mr Athelstan Kiley," who, he says, -'is one of the most prominent and interesting figures in London politics." He is the son of a barrister, and was born in 1858, so that he is not yet forty ; in fact he is one of the youngest men on the Board. He is an M.A of Pembroke College, Oxford, and since taking his degree he has travelled to some purpose and set his mark upon the history of the world. He is well off, and has built for himself a lordly pleasure house at Kensington, in which he dwells at ease. He is a kind hearted man, and pleasant to speak to. A f ter a great many complimentary and otherr emarks, which no doubt are intended as curses, bu t result as blessings, coming from such a source. Mr Stead lets Mr j iley speak for himself through the medium of >his address, thus: — "Wo believe that it is necessary .for the welfare, both •of the individual and the State, that religion should not be banished from our national education, more especially as the conscience clause enables a parent to obtain a purely secular education for his, child if he so wishes. We believe that, a parent who is compelled by law to scud his child to a public elementary school has the right to know distinctly What religion he will be taught. We maintain, moreover, that a parent has the right to have his child brought up in sympathy with his own religious convictions, and not with the religious or'irroligious convictions of somebody else. These are the main principles which have guided our astion in the past, and will continue to do so in the future. The immediate cause of the controversy now submitted to the judgment of the electors was the conspiracy on the part of the progressives to interpret the compromise in a non- Christian "sense. This we have resolutely opposed because we maintain that the original compromise was. that Christian children should receive/Christian, though not denominational, instruction from the Bible. Whilst maintaining the liberties of Christian, parents, we maintain as as; strenuously the liberties of others, and we have resolutely resisted the attempt to destroy the freedom, of religious teaching hithorto enjoyed by our Jewish fellow citizens. We trust that our action in defence of the principle of religious liberty and toleration will be endorsed dy our constituents." In reply to the question "What is the result of the elections?" he stated to a representative of the St James Gazette : —We have a solid party of twenty eight Moderates and oar Independent Moderate who is with us on tho religious question. The Progressives have twenty five members and one Independent ; thus we have a majority of three. On the other baud Mr Lyulph Stanley, the leader of the Progressives when asked by a representative of tho Daily Chronicle "what about the genera] position " said among other things. * * * We shall be in a minority nominally, a minority which is the direct result of the. cumulative vote, the gigantic elective 'areas, and tbo parochial organisation that the Established Church with its visitors and its charities can command. * * The Church limes in commenting on the result of the elections says : — To Churchmen we would say that the struggle just over is only chapter one of the contest which must not be given up until Denominational Education, ior all who wish it, is once more the rule throughout England. We are told that the religious difficulty in education can only be sullied by making all schools secular. The elections in London and the north have proved beyond all possible doubt that secular education will not be accepted by the English nation. We may, therefore, treat the secular threat with contempt and make boldly for what alone will be satisfactory to all parties Denominational teaching. We aek all churchmen to give the forward policy their deepest consideration and above all to take courage from the fact that in an election in which every possible foe (including tho "no poppiy'' cry) had to be faced they have maintained their position.