THE CANDIDATES ON EDUCATION.

Colonist, Volume VIII, Issue 769, 7 March 1865, Page 2

THE CANDIDATES ON EDUCATION.

To the Editor of Tho Colonist,

SlE —The letter signed " A Victimised Catholic," and which appeared in The Colonist of Friday, has prompted from the candidates for the Superintendency remarks which were received with signs of great approbation. This feeling, publicly manifested, is sufficient to show the justice of the claims which we Catholics, as a religious body, have constantly made for a better partition of the public funds and rates towards Education.

The Catholic school, since its establishment, seems to have retained the confidence of the public. Past experience, since the establishment of Government schools, also shows that the present system works to the satisfaction of all other denominations, and, as it has been well expressed by one of the Candidates that " ho did not see why the religious convictions of five men should not be considered as well as those of fifty," it appears evident to any well-meaning citizen that something should be done for the children of the Catholics of this community. We may be referred to the 38th clause of the Education Act as a measure providing for our purpose ; but I beg to remark that we consider this clause insufficient, as it does not secure us what we consider the most important point viz. : the right of selecting our books and our teachers. For my own part I do not wish to elude that point of the act requiring parents to pay for the education of their children; but I wish that the amount subscribed by the Catholics should, together with the Government grant, be refunded them for the maintenance of their own schools, in order that the children of that body should be allowed the privilege of " Free Education," in common with the children of other denominations, which is at present denied them.

Consequently, Catholics ask that an amendment should be made in the Education Act by which the Catholic Schools, provided they offer a fair amount of secular instruction, should be allowed the privileges above enumerated : That the Catholic Pastor, with selected members of his congregation should have the management of the said schools : That the Catholics should have the right of selecting their books and appointing their teachers, as they have done ever since the establishment of their schools: And should they subsequently deem it advisable, from sufficiency of Catholic pupils, to establish their own principles in entirety, that they might be allowed to follow that course without any interference with their religious views. By inserting the above you will oblige Yours faithfully, A. M. GARIN. Nelson, March 6,1865. !

[We refer our Catholic readers to Mr. Saunders' speech, correctly reported in our columns, for the full and exact tenor of his opinions on this subject. We may add that the anxiety of Mr. Saunders, to protect the conscientious religious convictions of each individual in the community, is best shown, not by any professions he may make on the eve of his election, but by the fact that we are indebted to him for the provision which regulates the time that any religious instruction may be given in our schools. On sth March 1858, Mr. Saunders proposed in the Provincial Council " that no religious instruction shall be given, except at stated hours, of which the parents of every child shall have been duly informed, so as to give them an opportunity to withdraw any child from such, religious teaching".—Ed.]