THE NEW EDUCATION BILL.

Otago Witness, Issue 1342, 18 August 1877, Page 15

THE NEW EDUCATION BILL.

MEETING- OF CATHOLICS IN THE TEMPEBANOE HALL. A public meeting of Catholics was held in the Temperance Hall on Wednesday night, for the pnrpose of discussing the rew Education Bill now before Parliament. There were about 800 people present. The Most Eev. Dr Moran was in the chair, and on the platform we noticed Messrs Callan, Sinnot, T. J. Leary, Perrin, T. Bracken, Dr Murphy, 3?. Meenan, T. Reynolds, J. Connor, Spring, M. Fleming, Dungau, J. P. Armstrong, and Moloney. The hall waa crowded in every part, and the audience comprised a very large number of ladies.

The Most Rev. Chairman: You are all aware of the object of this meeting. It has been called, as the advertisement expresses it, to protest against the new Education Bill which has been recently introduced into the Colonial Legislature. It is unnecessary for me to speak in reference to this matter, inasmuch as I have spoken on it at length very recently, and you know about everything I have said has become well known to the public generally. In addition to this, I have to act the part of chairman, and it would be rather out of place for me to occupy your time by drawing attention to the points which will be discussed by the gentlemen who have been kind enough to agree to moVe and second the resolutions. However, if it should be necessary for me to make any remarksl can have my say at the end of the meeting ; but Ido not anticipate that that will be at all necessary. I am glad to see such a large meeting here, because it evidences the intelligent interest you take in this question, which affects your interests — your dearest interests I may say — so intimately. lam also glad to see so many ladies here to nigh l :. In fact the enly good thing in the new Bill is that it proposes to give a vote to the ladies, and to allow them to be put on School Committees and Boards. _ I have no doubt whatever that when the ladie3 are granted the privilege proposed to be conferred upon them they will know how to use it, and will use it bravely.— (Cheers.) I have only now to say— though it is quite unnecessary for me to do so — that I hope order will be kept, and that an attentive and respectful hearing will be given to the several speakers. I have to call upon Mr Petre to propose the first resolution.

Mr F. W. Pbtke: My Lord, ladies, and gentlemen — The first motion which is to be proposed reads as follows :—: —

Tta^-iq^the opinion of '.his meeting, the Bill introducec*fnto Parliament <iy the Minister for Eflucition ia a gt^s insult and a fl. grant injustice to the whole Catholij community, seeking, as ie does, the compulsory support of a j-ystem of education which in in direct antagonism to the faith they profess, and an outrageous violation of both civil and religious liberty. Th*t it ia, further, a gross injustice to Catholic teaeners. wh>> would thereby be debarred fromtakir.sr charge ot schoola toward the mppjrt of which iheir coreligionists had been forced to contribute. It will be unnecessary for me to enter at any great length into any arguments in order to support what is asserted in this motion. I think it will occur to you at once, after considering what has been read, that what is there set down ig but the truth. The truth is put as strongly as the case warrants. There is no doubt, and there can be no doubt, not only amongst ourselves, but amongst people outside, that to form a system of education and to support tbat syetem of education by general taxation of tin whole community, and at the same time introduce into and make as an important part of that system religious matter, which, cannot in any way be borae out by such a large section of the community as the Roman Catholic body, is unfair and unjust. (Applause.) Another phas9 of the matter which will strike you is that which is 3tated in the latter part of the resolution, viz.: — That by introducing any matters of religiun, either doctrine or forms of worship, into the school system, teachers of the Catholic religion are really debarred from practising their profession amongst the Government schools of the Colony. Therefore, that is another injustice that will strike you when considering this matter and when entering your protest against the passiu" of this Bill. This point, that the Catholic te&chers will be debarred from entering into Government schools and practising their profession, is an important one, and I think it will

carry its weight with the Assembly when the Bill comes before them. Referring back aaain to the matter, and more particularly to~tae injustice of the Bill, it must really strike anyone that to inaugurate ** system of education and then to tack on to that system a species of prohibitory clauses — for such are the clauses the Minister of Education proposes — viz., for the introduction of cercain prayers and reading of the Bible — into the School system, must have the effect of debarring a great number of Catholic children from availing themselves of the benefits of the public education, which, is supported to a great extent by the contributions in the shape of taxation of their parents. — (Applause.) Therefore, in laying before you the injustice of this Bill, I need only sfc>te, as I have before stated, that what is laid down in this resolu tion must bring the matter forcibly before you, and very little argument is necessary, I am sure, to convince anyone of two points raised in this motion, Therefore I have great pleasure in laying this motion before you for your consideration. — (Applause. ) Mr 3?. Meenan . I have very much pleasure in seconding this resolution, and I am sure it is unnecessary for me to make a speech, as Mr Petre has almost exhausted the subjf cfc. I may as well say that in my opinion ths Legislature ignores us altogether in the Bill. They do not recognise us as part of the community. I think v.-c -should, take the matter up strongly, and urge upon the Legislature by all the constitutional means in our power to try and upset the Bill. It is a very hard case if we are called upon to support such a system of education, as they know very well we cannot support it— our consciences will not allow us to support it. I think that those gentlemen who brought forward such a measure deserve strong condemnation at the hands of Catholics.— (Cheers. ) It is unnecessary that 1 should say auything more upon the subject, as I am sure the resolution, when it is put before you, will be carried by acclamation. With these few remarks, I have to second the resolution,

The resolution w.13 then put and carried by acclamation, only half a dozen Noes being heard.

Mr J. B. Callan : The resolution I have been asked to propose is as follows :—: —

Thifc a arreat wrons: is offered to the Catholics of New Zealand by those clauses of the Bill in question, which relate to certificates of exemption, because such clauses, if carried into 1 w, would result in the abolishment of onr Catholi-j Schools, and the forcinjr of C-tholic children into Government Schools in violent opposition to the conscientious convictions of their parents. As a Roman Catholic layman, I am glad of the opportunity of entering my protest against this Bill — (applause) — beeausa its provisions are of such a nature that we Catholics cannot conscientiously accept them as they now stand. We Catholics, while wishing that our children should receive all the advantages tbat can possibly be obtained fr?m secuLr instruction, so as to fit them for the battle of life, maintain, with all right minded men, that that is only a secondary object ; that the first great aim with, and grave responsibility 1 hat devolves upon, parents ia to make their children pure, good, and moral, and this, we maintain, can be most efficiently attained — I may say, can only be attained in the majority of cases — by mingling the everyday teaching with religious instruction.—(Cheer*.) We maintain that religious practices should form part, and a considerable part, of the ordinary day's teaching.— (Cheers.) "We have bee a so taught ourselves, and we flatter ourselves ifc has not made us bad citizens. — (Applause.) Our fathers before us have been taught in this fashion, «»nd vre desire to hand down that system of education to our children — (cheers) — and we believe tbat it will not prevent them from growing up to be a credit to the State, whilst, at the same time, we are firmly convinced that it is absolutely and vitally necessary for their welfare hereafter.—(Applause.) These views of tlio Catholic body, whir-h I do not think have by any means been concealed— are utterly ignored by this Bill. It certainly cannot be attempted to explain that, by saying that these protests of ours are all idle talk, and that they would end in nothing, because you have given most convincing proof of the sincerity of our prof essions, for in thi3 go-a-head Colony, where the race for wealth is so keen, and you by no means form the wealthy portion of the community, you have put your hands into your pockets and made large contributions to establish and support schuois where the principles we maintain are necessary for our children's welfare are actually inculcated.— (Cheers.) Notwithstanding this, this Bill not merely affords you no aid in supporting these schools, but it actually threatens theai with extinction, for under this Bill no person can send his child to a private school vithoui he has first obtained the permission of a committee cf his fellowcitizens. You cannot indulge ia such a luxury without obtaining the permission of the com mittee, which, under this Bill, may consist of men who know as much about education as I 3o of Hindostanee.— (Cheers and laughter.) Without what is called a certificate of exemption, every parent must send his children of a certain age if he should reside withiu two miles of a Government school, to such school. If he fails to do so. and if he have any dear frieud upon the committee, and that frieud wishes to do him a kindness, that frieud can simply serve upon the parent notice in writing, calling upon him to send his children to the school against which his conscience Tebels. - (Applause.) If, in his obstinacy, the parent is insansible to such kindness, well, trie gentleman his friend, can bring the matter before two Justices of the Peace, who may order the parent to scud his children to the school. If the parent neglects to do so, if his conscience still persists in dictating to him tkH he should nolj send his children to such a school, then he will simply have to pay for having a conscience, because the refusal to obey the order of the justices will subject him to 'a penalty of 40s per week for six months in each year. —(Applause.) I cannot help thinking that it must have dawned upon the framer of this Bill when he came so far that a man who had to go through all that would get rather "riled," because with a delightful consciousness ot the situation we find him iv the next clause of the Bill coming down with a penalty of 40s upon any person -who makes a disturbance in or near a school. I think a person subject to that penalty, as anyone who reads the Bill will find out, would be very apt to make a little noise.—(Laughter.). To put it shortly, under this Bill the road to the public school is made easy, along which the Catholic child objects to travel, whilst that to the private school to which the Catholic parent wishes to send his child is blocked with obstructions of a most annoying and irritating character. — (Cheers.) The Catholic parent is placed in this peculiar position, either he must fall back upon the public, to sending his children, to which he has conscientious objections, or if he wishe3 his children to advance in life he must go to a great deal, to considerable, aunoyauce and humiliation, in fact, in order to get them to a private school. I thiok, tinder all these circumstances, that the resolution which. I have just read for you is borne out by the clauses ot the BUl.— (Loud cheers.) Mr John Carboll : My lord, ladies, and gentlemen : I have very great pleasure in se-

eondnig the motion, which, together with the rnncipl clauses of the Bill and its effect upon has been so ably put before you by Mr Callan. When I look upon the general principle contained in the Bill, I cannot for the life of me see why we deserve to be so treated, or why we are to be placed end-r a IT' a^TCOheera.) I should have thought the General Government, when introducing such a Bill, would have recognised the great sacrifices we have made. Instead of that they add insult to injury by introducing a measure so irritating, offensive, and annoying to us as this Bill is, by making us go before a teacher for a certificate of exemption, before we can send our children to schools where they will receive moral as well as secular education I consider that the framers of this Bill are guilty of gross sins of omission, because we deserve much better treatment at their hands It is very hard, in our present state of enli°-ht" enment, to make out why this BUI was intooauced. In a new country one would have thought we would all have been put on a fair footing xhe i Bill reminds one of the old system 60 or 70 years ago in my country, introGe \;T th th . e , in tention of proselytising the children. _I do not know what motives actuated che trainers of this Bill, but I am certain they will fail to carry out their views, so far as the Catholic body is concerned.— (Cheers.) lam very pleased to see such a unanimous leelmg pervading the meeting, because tie imputation has often been thrown in our taces that we have no opinion of our own, and that we are led by our clergy. I consider that this meeting to night gives the lie to any statement of thatfanAHCheew.) T do not think the Government have treated us as we deserve to he treated. We have our religious opinions, and desire their transmission to our children, and we hold thah no Government or body of men has the right tj interfere with that.-(Appkuse.) Ey your attendance to-nifht, and the expression you have given in support of the solutions, ifc wi ll go forth, to the Government before tne next stage of the Bill has been entered upon, that we speak with no uncertain sound : that we are not led by our clergy, and that we have an cpfcionupon thfe question. The clauses cf the Bill that have been poxnW out to you are most unjust, inciting and unfair to us, and I have every faith that ; too Legislature will so amend the thing that these clauses will be taken out. I will go further than that. We have established our own schools, and hitherto made great sacrifices to maintain them. I hold that in all justice we are entitled to be assisted in maintaining them out of our own money, so as the standard of secular education tau&t in our schools is to the satisfaction of the Government Ins P ector.-(Cheers.) Instead of that, every obstacle is placed m the way of our educating ?obe eduS We C ° n3ider brought

The resolution was then put, and was also carried by acclamation, there being only two disaentieut Noes. * DrMuKPHY: My lord, ladies, and gentlemen, I have much pleasure in reading for you See?'- reSolution " lf is t0 tke blowing That it is most newaaary that a'l legitimate steps be at on. c taken to prevent the perpetration of a grievous wrong, by the carrying ot such ,m iniquitous measure! and therefore that circulars be adfresied to thoCatho1 eyn every co, stituency, und-.* the.,, to clwifi from their tepr. spntauves a pledge to vote a^inst the raeiMiro ; a. d further, thnt the division list -n the Bill be wrefuliy recorded m the columns of tha Tablet , r om wees to w.efc, so as to toe » srreeu in he nifmory «f OatiiohcsiJHwe whose aid was given to tho perpetration of such a flagrant wrong. I do not think that it is necessary for me to say much after all you have heard upon the subject, wlivch is of first and gravest importance to each Catholic here-as men, as Catholics, and, above all, as Roman Catholics. -(Applause.) lhe Government of New Zealand has recently been pleased to introduce a Bill into Parliament which, if carried into operation, is calculated to rob us of our dearest and most cherished rights— namely, to control the moral and religious education of our children.— (Cheers ) Why such a measure should have been th"u->ht of or adopted by any honourable men, or°by any men possessing a sense of justice, I cannot conceive. Unless i!; is that whoever introduced it has been recently reacting over the past history of our native land and ha^ thereby perhaps been prompted to seek to bring us back to the persecution and curse of the penal laws, under which our fathers and country so long have suffered.— (Cheers ) I ask each of you as men if anything or any punishment could be inflicted upon you so insiilting, so humiliating, and so degrading as thai, to which the Government of New Zealand now proposes and is endeavouring to force upon you. It is monscrous that such atf tint>- should be dove. We have ample schools of our own, and we Lave teachers as efficient a<s any in the Colony.— (Hear, hear.) Theu why not leave us in »cape and contentment, when we are satis nod with our schools, with our te.ichers, and with our position as Catholics ? Why does our Government presume to take from us our rights as British subjects, and our rights and equality as men? We, gentlemen, as Catholics and men, indignantly protest against such treatment.— (Hear, 1 hem-.) I will only siy to each of you now, as fathers cf families, I sincerely trust and hope that you will practically carry out your protest. The best way to do that is, no matter what Bill may be passed in the New Zealand Parliament, to keep your children to yourselves, and stick tenaciously to the grand old faith of your fathers, iv which you were brought up. — (Cheers.)

Mr Sinnot : I have much pleasure in seconding the resolution proposed by Dr Murphy, I have not got anything to say upon the subject, beyond that I hope that you will all practically endorse what has been said in regard to it.

motion was then put and carried unanimously.

Mr Pekrijt : My lord, ladies, and gentlemen, the following is the resolution which has been put into my hands : —

That, in the event of the Bill being passed, a pslition be drawn up, prating His Excellency tho Oovernor to reserve It for the conbide-sxtion of Her Majesty the Queen, since it is not to be regarded as ti mere provision for the education of the children ot the Colony, but dlso as an attempt to revive the pen»l laws abolished by Act of Pirliament in Her Majestj's dominions. I find that the resolution which has been assigned to me has placed me in the position of the leader of a, forlorn hope, for until this Bill be actually passed, we may reasonably hope that the Legislature of the Colony will not be so thoroughly dead to shame as to permit it io pas*. However, as a Mid is try has been found sufficiently unscrupulous to introduce such a measure, there may be also found in the House a majority wlio are disposed to follow the evil example of those petty tyrants, whose design ifc is to crawl in the footsteps of Biamarclr.— (Cheers.) But a short period of time has elapsed since there was held in this city a demonstration in honour of the memory of O'ConneiL That demonstration was observed in this -very city, rot by Catholics only, but by liberal and great-minaed men of ?U shades of opinion.— (Applause.) They felt that the Constitution of the country was disgraced so long as any man in it was obliged to suffer for conscience sake. For that reason they united

in celebrating the memory of him who had been justly named ' the Liberator," because he successfully fought^ the battle of the Catholics, and freed them from the injustice to which pre yiously the profession of zheir faith had subjected them. Now we find a measure introduced into the Parliament of New Zealand, by which it is proposed to shackle us with a chain far heavier than those which O'Connell opposed, _To attempt to revive such struggles in this virgin lana must be looked upon as doubly criminal- The penal laws in Ireland prevented the education of Catholics, but they did not drive Catholi': chiHren into Protestant schools. Catholic children were forced to grow up untaught ; but no positive enactment was passed that they should be subjected to a course of treatment wbicli would rob them of the faith of their fathers, the same as it is designed to do here. — (Applause. ) To deny w% our own money is unjust ; to weight our schools so that a heavy tax is imposed upon us in their mainten ance i 3 Uagrantly unjust : but to plot against our rights, not only as citizens, but as human beings, by endeavouring to enact a law by which our children will be forced from our protection, and educated in a system which we abhor, aud instead of being our stay and comfort, as we have a right to expect, turned into a reproach and a heartscald to us, is enough, if we are not the veriest cravens who ever crouched beneath the rod of a tyrant, to cause vs to resist to the utmost. — (Applause.)

Mr Connor : I have much pleasure in seconding the motion which has been proposed by Mr Perrin. No doubt many of us will say that it will be very little use to petition His Excellency the Governor to do as the resolu tion requires of him to do. But we will all agree that no evil which ever existed of a similar character has been redressed without a great deal of trouble and agitation. Every Irishman knows the value of persistent agitation, and the presenting of such a petition is certainly a means of agitation which we are bound to avail ourselves of. I have not prepared * Bpeech for this evening, and I will conclude by simply seconding the motion which has been proposed by Mr Perrin.

The motion was carried unanimously.

The Chairman: I have to throw myself upon your indulgence, as I wish to speak a few •words, •and they shall be very few, for I promise net to delay you very long. If you give me permission I shall feel gratified to you. One speaker mentioned a matter of some importance frein a public point of view. He stated that this was a meeting of the laity, and this very numerous and very enthusiastic meet ing will give a decisive answer to the calumny which has been so often repeated that the Catholic body is led by the nose by their clergy. Nov.' those wha give expression to this calumny know very little of Catholics or thenindependence of spirit, nor do they know how little they are led by the clergy in any matters such as this, or to give expression to that which they know to be untrue. As far as this meeting is concerned, it may be important for me to state that I have had nothing to do with getting it up, never even auggested it, nor have I had anything to do with the framing of tbe resolutions. All these things were done by the laity themselves, and when they made their arrangements, they asked me to ba kind enough to take the chair, which, of course, I could not refuse. — (Cheers.) It would have given me great pleasure indeed had they passed me by, and got one of themselves to preside. They could have easily done that, and have got a President- much more efficient than L — (No, no.) At all events, had they done so, it would bave given me great pleasure. Any man who fancies that the matter of Catholic education and the erection and support of Catholic schools arises from the clergy is under a grievous mistake. I may state to you solemnly that if the Ca f holic clergy of New Zealand did not endeavour to provide Catholic schools for the laity the laity would desert them. Again, they give strong proof of the sincerity of their determination when they put their hands into their pockets, and contribute to the support of these schools, not only generously, but munificently, and not only generously and munificently, but also at n great sacrifice of their comforts and necessaries, in order that they may give a Catholic education to the children of this community. Speaking from personal experience in this diocese, I can say that I know men who are por — men whose means are limited — men who are depending upon their daily hire, and that not always very remunerative, and who have no money in the Bank, but who are so thoroughly convinced of the necessity of supporting these schools, and, though they have no families of then" own, contribute a large sum annnally —such a sum, indeed, as a merchant of this town would not be ashamed to put his name down for — (cheers)— and I may ctate this further fact, which is perhans not known to the Catholics of Dunedin, that in the remote country districts, where every inducement is held out to Catholics -£o send their children to Government schools, *the Catholics support schools of their own though there are not more than 14, 15, or 20 children attending them, and they pay large salaries to their" teachers. Now, if such statements as these do not answer that calumny, nothing can answer it, and men who repeat it cannot be excused from repeating that which they know to be un true. It gives me great pleasure to find that so many have come here this evening, and who have come at considerable inconvenience to themselves, and from a considerable distance. It is not to be presumed that they came here out of fun ; it is a serious matter, and nothing but a sense of duty could have brought them here this evening. — (Applause.) We have couie here to protest that theGovernznent of the country is treating ua injuriously and cruelly; and I would say of that Government, that it appears to be devoid of intelligence, and to be utterly ignorant of the requirements and feelings of the people. The speakers to-night have been milder and better in their language than I thought they would be. No doubt the clauses that are so objectionable will be eliminated and expurgated alto gether. Probably the Government, if hard pressed, will consent to remove them, because it strikes me that the present Government has with all Bills this principle, to stick to their places and pension.— (Cheers.) Judaing from the course things have taken since Parliament was opened, no man can came to any other conclusion than that the present Government is prepared to abandon any measure and a very clause rather than losa its place.— (Cheers.) I am not particularly in favour of any set of gentlemen sitting; on the Government benches. They are quite indifferent to me. But when I find gentlemen who have responsible Ministerial power, deliberately, and after consultation in Cabinet, as we are bound to believe, sanction such a measure, and present it to Parliament, all I can say is that they intended to make this clause law if they could, and, intending to do .that, they intended to inflict a grievous wronjj upon the Catholic body. Ido maintain fearlessly, and without the least hesitation or doubt whatever, that the essential intentof the Bill is to destroy the faith of the Catboiic childien, and to drive them, nolens volens, into the Government schools, and thus inflict pains and penalties for conscience sake upon the Catholic body.— (Cheers ) Are we going to 6ubmit to this?— (Cries of "No, n-j.")

I will not mention names in regard to those who compoje the Ministry. It might be invidious fcr me to do so. You know them and their history, and I ask you what right has any man sitting upon the Government benches to put himself forward as the advocate of education. I ask you hew many of them are really educated men? — V (A Voice: Not masy.) I ask you how many of them show their fitness for legislating in the matter of education of Catholic people ? I ask you how many of them are in possession of Christian principles ? — (A Voice: Noue of them.) I do not know about ''none of them," as I think some of them are Christians, but I have strong reasons for believing that there are some of them who are not. Now again I ask you thia question : What has any one of them done for education personally ? Has any one of those gentlemen founded a school, or endowed a Chair ; has any one of them founded a bursary? These are the men who come forward and tell us equivalently — " You Catholics, who put your hands in your pockets like men, and support your schools, must abandon then) at our bidding, who never did anything for education." — (Cheers.) Now one thing is clear, th?t ws ought not to submit to be ruled and trampled upon by such roeu as these. I am deceived in you, if I may not say, with truth, that "we will not."— {Applause.) The Government may pass that BilL I cannot say whether they will or hot ; but as sure as they do pass it, we will disobey it.— (Loud cheers.) Ladies and gentlemen, we are the sons and daughters of men who sacrificed their property, their characters, and lives, and gave up education itself for their faith.— (Applause.) If they think— if the Government and Legislature of New Zealand fancy for a moment that their law is going to cause us to abandon our faith, they are mistaken. — (Cheers.) I am glad you are here in such numbers, and with such enthusiasm, in order that it may be made plain to the people of New Zealand that the several meetings lately held her 9 do not- express the unanimous opinion of this city.— (Chsers.) At a meeting of clergymen lately held in thia city, they adopted" all of this Bill. Tney hud not one amendment to propose — it was all perfect. Then there was a meeting of school-masters recently. They accepted it, and thanked the Government for it. They proposed an amendment, but it was to make the compulsory clauses more stringent. One of them, after he had carried a motion that a radius should be extended so as to include a, greater number who should pay fees to the school, proposed that the salaries of the present teachers should not be les3 under ths new Bill than they were at present That was not carri Q d. The majority of them had a little shame and a little intelligence, and they did not pacs that. I find at that meeting the confession was made by one of the speakers, a member of this Educational Institute, that he had taken upon himself to telegraph to Mr Bowen, " God speed your Bill."— (Laughter.) Thus the name of the Great Eternal Being was profaned in askirg blessing upon injustice, upon tyranny, and upon hypocrisy.— (Cheers.) Upon the subject of the tyranny and injustice of this Bill I spoke before, and need not repeat what I then said. I have now added hypocrisy. This hypocritical Bill speaks of other schools betides public schools, but in its lan guage publiu schools are Government schools, and it enacts clauses which can have no other effect than to close all schools other than Government schools, while at the same time it professes to recognise the existence of others. Is not that hypocrisy? Now, I have read that Bill very attentively, and I have read something of the history of the world, past and present, and I say without the least hesitation that a more atrociously unjust and tyrannical Bill I never read. Even in Germany and Russia there is nothing worse— as far as education is concerned. I will tell you what the Russians are doing in Poland. They are driving the Catholics of Ihe Greek rite into the schismatical Churches at the point of the bayonet. They take the poor people and drive them into Church, and there they hold open their mouths with their bayonets, and force the blessed sacrament into their montb.3. Then they register them as belonging to the Greek Schismatica} Church, and accuse them of apostacy if they leave it. That i 3 hypocrisy, and that is brutality. What does this Bill propose to do 1 [A Voice : The same.] ' Not the same, but an equivalent to it. It says to the Catholics of this country — " Here are schools, and if you live within two miles of these schools you must send your children to these schools ; and unless you send with them a written document stating they are not to be taught religion— that i 3, not to have the Lord's Prayer and Bible read to them— they will be compelled to learn these." Is not that opening their mouths with the bayonet ?— (Applause.) Is not that opening their mouths with the bayonet, and forcing them in a brutal manner ? There is but little difference between the conduct of the Russians and this Bill. I find that until the Tablet— and you ought to be glad that you have the Tablet — made clear what the provisions of the Bill were, net a voice in Otago had been raised against it, or against the iniquities which it contained. Not a member of the Press raised a voice against it, except one papar, which declared the religious clauses were unfair and unjust ; but even it took no notice of the other clauses to which I have referred. It became necessary, though I did not propose it, — but lam glad it ia being done— that the Catholic i should meet in public assembly and raise their voice in protest against this measure, so as to make it clear that these public meetings and the voice of the Press did not represent us at least. Now, lam very much obliged to you for the patient hearing you have given me, and I trust you will separate in an orderly and peaceful manner. He then resumed his seat amidst loud applause. Mr Molonet thought it was necessary that the resolutions passed should be forwarded to their members, and also to the members of the Government. He thought that the Government, after having strangled Provincialism, were liko a man who had committed some great crime. He was sure that their Protestant fellow colonists would protest against such a measure as this Education Bill, and he believed that if he went round with a petition against it that he would get as many Protestaut as Catholic signatures to it. H* had always found the Protestants most liberal in regard to Catholic matters. He concluded by proposing that the resolutions should be transmitted as suggested by him.

Mr Leary seconded the motion, which was agreed to.

A vote of thanks to the Bishop for presiding, followed by three hearty cheers for the Queen, brought the proceedings to a close.