The Timaru Herald. FRIDAY, JUNE 29, 1906. A CONTENTIOUS CLAUSE.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 13014, 29 June 1906, Page 4

The Timaru Herald. FRIDAY, JUNE 29, 1906. A CONTENTIOUS CLAUSE.

Clause 4 in tbe 'Educatior. Bill is ca.u.- ing as great acommlsion in the House Of .Commons as Clause 9 in Mr Licensing, Bill excited in the New Zealand House of Representatives. But- in spite of the storm of unpopularity which is raging .round it, the British Cabinet, unlike the colo.nial Ministry, is not running away from, its clause. The Prime Minister has: just given: an assurance that the Govern--ment mean to to it, and although the Liberals have to some extent been divided over the clause, there is .little doubt .that the Government will be able to: bold together an ample majority • to carry - it through. The clause, Sir Heury Campbell-Bannerman explains, was" : to' conciliate the Catholics, but it is evident 'from the tone of the speechaj made by the Irish members that it has failed in its object. It seems to. us, however, that Sir Henry was right in his warning that, the Catholics (and also the Anglicans for whom Mr Balfour is fighting so strenuously and in such a bitter spirit) might go further and. fare worse. The clause practically, .provides- for denominational schools in urban areas populated . by adherents »f a particular creed. Tie . Bill ! proposes to withdraw all grants of public money from any . elementary school which, does not.become "a provided school," that is,, whiqh does l not come under full public control, provision being made for undenominational "religious instruction, attendance at winch is not compulsory. As we know: from.; the" experience -of this religious teaching of this- character is opposed to.the Catholic conscience, and it would appear at first sight from ■ the resistance the Anglican bishops. and theirparliamentarians aie offering to the Bill, that it is equally repugpant to members of the Church of England. Mr Balfour, with . a heat which seems strangely out of place in a discussion on a sacred question, denounces any attempt to arrive -a£ a form of religious instruction which shall not be incompatible with the elements common to the various sects, as arrogant and absurd. In this die is only following the lead of the Anglican authorities. Lord Halifax, the President of the: English Church Union, in an article contributed to the last "Nineteenth Century," decHnes. Amy dealings .with what 'he calls mutilated Christianity.". " Fundamental Christianity," he says, " has as little existence as a fundamental mammal, and we. refuse to be deceived by it." New Zealand, despairing,, of .the possibility of : reconciling these, warring" sects, has cut the Gordian knot by excluding religious teachr ing from the Schools, but ..Mr Birrell, in Clause 4, made, an honest atteimpfc to meet the wishes .of Churchmen whose numbers in a particular locality make, it i possible to provide denominational ■ teachr ing .without inflicting injury on the coinsciences: of others. The clause-empowers the local authority to grant " extended facilities" for such instruction in -any transferred voluntary school, 'providing the parents of four-fifths of the children attending the school it, and:-providing ; there is Accommodation -in some convenient school for the. remaining minority who do not desire it.:. Jn his latest: amendment , iMiaßirrell mad© provision for ascertaining tjie' wishes ."of the parents by ballot. In the unlikely event of the local authority refusing to accede to'ithe wish- of a/ftror-

fifths majority,. the . Board of Education ' ibay order extended facilities to be granted, v.;,-,: These provisions; for'-piirely denominational teaching can, of course, only apply where the residents of a district are unanimous in their town religious beliefs, and it seeaoas to us that- the Government liave gone as far as is possible in combining religious and secular education. As far as the : Anglicans are concerned, It is interesting to learn on the authority of Mr Lethbuiy, for many years the editor of the great Anglican organ, the "Guardian," that churchmen are not "nearly so wedded to denominational schools, as Mr Balfour's speech would lead one to suppose. " There are," Mr Lethbury says, " nearly as many: children belonging tie Church in: provided (that is, public) schools as in CburcH. schools, and into th,ese provided schools the clergy as a body have made rib attempt to gain an entrance." ' ft would thus appear that the Anglican. Church ' would net retain the education of its children even if it succeeded in the struggle to retain its schools.