THE SCHOOL VACATIONS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10239, 22 December 1894, Page 7

THE SCHOOL VACATIONS.

CHRISTIAN BROTHERS' SCHOOL,

The annual distribution of prizes to the pupils of the Christian Brothers' School and the formal breaking-un of the school for the Christmas holidays took place yesterday afternoon in the schoolroom, Rattray street.

The Bishop, the Most Rby. Dr Horan, presided, and a considerable number of visitors were present. There was a capital mnstcal and elocutionary programme, Uiu part siaging by the school choir being remarkably good, but the musical ? -m was a solo, " Angelus," by Master Ward, of Port Chalmers. A piano solo wa.s well played by Master F. Stokes, and Masters J. Wel.'h and G. Cotter gave a duet from the j "Bohemian Girl" on violin and piano. The ! elocutionary contest was highly creditable to all the competitors and thoroughly entertaining to the audience. Messrs Burton, Whitoon, and Hnnlon, of the Duuediu Shakespeare Club, acted as judges, and awarded the prize to D. O'Neill, and J. B. Callsa was placed second. The other competitors, who also showed the result of careful tuition, nate E. Bush, G-. Cotter. N. Rjan, W. Miller, and B. Foppelwell. Mr Burtok, before announcing the decision of the judges, offered hearty congratulations to the bishop on being able to preside, and said that in bo doing, though they could not clz.(n}, j to be representative men, he had no doubt he .. was uttering the feelings of the whole community.—(Applause.) ADDRESSES. Brother O'Donoghue, the principal of the school, said : My Lord,—Bsforo reading a short report of our school, I have first, on behalf of j the brothers and boys, to congratulate you on j your recant recovery, to thank you for your kind services in the past, and to hope that you may be spaced to us many years to cheer us on by your encouraging words and your presence from time to time. What will give your Lordship most satisfaction to-day is to hear that the conduct of our boys has been most exemplary during the. year. As you mt.y perceive,

I am extremely gratified to be able to be present here to-day in the presence of such a tine body ot boya and 'to leara that ths studies of this year have linen most successful, and that the conduct of all in this school has given entire satisfaction. Ou many previous occasions I availed myself of the opportunity the distribution _of I prizes in this hall afforded me to give expression 'to my indisnaut protest against the injustice obstinately aud heartlessly inrtintad on tho Catholic body in refusing to it its fair share in the expenditure of the public education grant. I must confess that I did not think a community of British subjects could be found anywhere so mean and so selfish as to appropriate to one portion of its members the entire amount of the funds pet | aside for educational purposes aud ostensibly tor | the equal advantage of al!. A long experience has cha«»uil my views ou this point. I have learned from the bitter past that whilst in the other British communities, such, for example, as the Capo of Good Hope and Canada and the Crown colonies, an effort has been, made, and successfully made, to do even-handed justice to all her Majesty's subjects, the Catholics of New Zealand an>l nearly all the Australian colonies, are still in this matter the victims of tyranny, oppression, and plunder. Here in New Zealand, for instance, Catholics are refused the inspection of thenschools by inspectors to whose salary they are forced to contribute, and Catholic candidates for the teaching staff of public schools are rejected on the sole ground of their Catholicity. Nevertheless, we have our consolation. Notwithstanding' that the Government pays the entire cost of the public schools of the country, Catholic schools entirely supported by Catholics, are no leas efficient than the pampered, extravagantlyconducted State schools. Let no. man dare to say this ia not so. We have courted and sought for public examination by board school inspector, and have been refused again and again. Recently the bishops in New Zaaland have unanimously called upon the various boards in the colony to obey the law and send their, examiners to. examine the Catholic primary schools. We shall soon know the result of this demand. Meantime, let us pursue the course we have hitherto pursued, which has given to our children a h'gh class education, free from danger* to their faith and t»int to their morals. Lst us never forget to show forth our fortitude to the good teachers who have laboured so energetically and so successfully : to impart to the rising generation amongst us a truly Christian education.—(Loud applause).

1 Mr J. B. Callan delivered a short address expressing on hentlf of C'ltholic layrosn joy