SECULAR EDUCATION IN VICTORIA.

Otago Witness, Issue 1230, 17 July 1875, Page 19

SECULAR EDUCATION IN VICTORIA.

"When the Roman Catholic priesthood announced a crusade against the Education Act some little time ago, they little thought the response which their action would evoke. The formation of education leagues at so many widely scattered parts of the country is evidence of the popularity of the act which it is proposed to abolish in the interests of a few priests and fanatics. Indeed, whenever opportunity is offered to the people to express their sentiments with regard to the system, it is very distinctly shown that it is one that is highly valued, and that its working is the better appreciated the more it is known. It is pretty clear that the demand made in certain suspicious quarters for the enforcement of the compulsory clauses, without reference to the question of the degree of accommodation at the disposal of the department, is merely a political one raised for political objects, and is not shared by the general public. The public is content to wait till the achool accommodation of the country is equal to all requirements before it would wish to see strained to their full force the powers of an act that is already effecting so much good. — Australasian.