THE EDUCATION BILL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14380, 25 November 1908, Page 7

THE EDUCATION BILL

. CONFLICTING OPINIONS. Pr«is Aseoeiatioii-By Xelegtapb-Copyiieht. LONDON, November 23. ]>r Clifford soys that the bill is n solid gain to the educational work of the nation. The Rev. J. C. Li'dgett, president or the Weslcyan Conference, says that so long as the light of entry and the. right Of the assistant teachers to give denominational instruction are safeguarded by adequate regulations, the settlement of the education question is not impossible. He is Aot certain, however, whether these concessions are not a breach of Noncontormist principles. Dr Knox/. Bishop of Manchester, insists that unltler the bill the Nonconformists have gained every principle for which they had contended under the' education compromise. There had .been no such suggested ■malversation, of- Church pr% perty since the Reformation. The bill would cause' a bitter and protracted war. in the villages, and it was probable that some of their schools would not be transferred without.physical force. The net result to the Church is our of profound! humiliation. '.Sir J. H. Kennawoy, M.P., says that nine-tenths-of the Anglican ' laity will Strongly support the Archbishop of Canterbury and Mr Runciman. Archbishop Bourne (Roman Catholic) expresses the hope that Catholics will find in the bill the foundation of a peaceful settlement. Father Vaughan strenuously condemns the bill. The Daily Chronicle says that the bill ensures five-sixths of the cost of maintenance o t f Catholic schools being derived from public funds. Regarding the protest of Catholic teachers against the con-. tractin,g-out, proposal, the paper remarks that- they view with natural bitterness the prospect of their schools being driven out of the national system. This, however, is not the 'desire of the Liberals; it is the penalty, attached to the CatWic hierarchy's'refusal to accept public control.