BIBLE IN SCHOOLS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXX, Issue 13102, 16 June 1913, Page 4

BIBLE IN SCHOOLS.

MEETING AT OPERA HOUSE

. A mass meeting was held at the Opera House last evening, at the conclusion of it_he. usual church services, having been arranged by the Bible .m States Schools League. The meeting was presided •over by the Yen. Archdeacon Williams, and was attended by over 200 people.

■The Rev.'. W. Grant, m the course of a brief .outline of- the aims and objects of the League, explained < that some were under • the misapprehension that they wieije asking for the New South Wales system. ' The object of the movement was-to secure a relerendum of the people on the .question whether Bible lessons should or should not be read m the State schools. In reply to Bishop Cleary,. he. pointed out that the Governpaept w ere the people, and the people had every right to! make whatever laws they considered just and right 'for the welfare of the country generally. .The Rev. Mr Clarkson, vicar of Taihape, m -replying at length to the seven knotty poipts raised by Bishop Cleary m opposition to the Bible m State Schools League, explained that whilst they appeared at first sight apparently , difficult to answer, on more mature consideration it would be seen these same knotty points were based entirely on misconceptions. The League's system did not enunciate the principle of teachers ■ teaching religion m the State schools, and he would publish this to the electors, .of the Dominion m the largest and blankest type available. All that ' was suggested was that the tea*chers should supervise the lessons to be read by • the children. Bishop Cleary had asked, "By what moral right could the. Government of New Zealand set up, by law, a teacher of religion?" Never ior one moment had the League suggest,ed that the Government should teach Teligion, and this, the first question, must fall to the ground. The League '■■ wiis . only asking the people to sign a .card requesting that a referendum on the question be taken. Bishop Cleary had' also asked, "By what moral right would the New Zealand Government force by law upon the public schools, as part of the regular ctess-work, an ex- . elusive scheme oi Biblical and general religious teaching, admittedly suited for only one grou|> oi consciences, ahd admittedly at : variance with all other groups of -consciences?" The secular system bf instruction adopted m New Zealand had .been bemoaned by the' c 'opponents '7to the League for the' last' 36 -years. The opponents had.j&ot-. aiyayed .'themselves m direct opposition* because, they did not see eye io eye with the League. The Bible m : State*Sc£<_ol_. L&igiie, the rev. gentleman emphasised, was m no 'way bound , .to the Queensland' text book, or to any , other v *uch text book. If the League succeeded, it would then "be for the Goverhmtiht bf New Zealand to introduce . the '-host system— the one most suited for the schools and people of this country, .fle, denied that the League's system violated the conscience of anyone, and pointed out that. a. child, through it* parents, had the light to absent itself irom the reading of the simple lessons laid down. .The State would simply continue to provide, as it did at present, books for the children. The Rev.' Mr Clarkson went on to point out that the last School Journal contained ,a> religious lesson on "Ancient Egypt," b^it no objection liad been raised to this. Replyiiig further to Bishop deary's ".knotty points," the speaker explained : that the New South Wales .system ■ had! worked harmoniously for .Jialf a century, and no less ' than '32,000 Roman Catholic children heid attended -these lessons without any apparent violation of conscience ; m fact, • objectors m a school of 1000 could be counted on the fingers of the hand^, whilst for the . whole .of New South • Wales they were exceedingly small m numbers. The .present system- had been . obtained by majority rule, and it should be reformed m the same manner. Bishop Cleary had asked whether the '.League was prepared to follow the majority rule of conscience to its logical conclusion.. Ne\jsr Zealand was a democratic country, and the Bible m States Schools League was prepared to abide by democratic rule. • As to the Bishop's points, these might well be left until the referendum asked for had been taken, and-which he feit~sure, would result m an overwhelming vote m favor of the introduction of Bible lessons m schools. In conclusion, the rev. gentleman assured 'his hearers that the League was perfectly honest m the matter, and hail adopted no "hole-in-comer" methods. They simply wanted the people themselves to consent to a vote being taken on the issue, which he trusted all electors -. w^juld consider entirely on its merits. The. Rev. Archdeacon Williams said it was" not generally understood how our edcuatipn'syste,m came to be, secular. He explained that tlie Bill originally contained, a clause to give what , the League was now asking for, but tliis had been struck out m spmmittee. The opinion, was held by some that the Nelson system was superior, but the Rev. F. W. Chatterton) one of the originators of the Nelson systems had authorised -him to say that .what; the 'League was asking for was spperipr to the Nelson system. The League,' he emphasised, were only asking the people to say whether they -wished the* question referred to a referendum- • On the motion of ,}lv -T. .Jex-Blake, secqnclecl by Mrs A. Graham, the, following resolution was adopted, with five dissentients". "That this meeting approves of the .platform of the Bible m Schools ' League, and urges the electors of Gisborne r U> support the, demand for a referendum upon the. stibject." The Rev. SlTr'Clark'son preached at both the morning- and evening services » at Holy Trinity Church, yesterday, and injjj^ao ..afternoon ,- at Ormond, -where a strong [committee . was. formed af,ter the service. He addresses a public meeting at. the Makauri sohoolho'use at 7.30 this evening, and ati.Matawhero: Presbyterian Church to-morrow evening