WELLINGTON EDUCATION BOARD.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume I, Issue 10, 5 July 1873, Page 6

WELLINGTON EDUCATION BOARD.

At the meeting of this Board on the 18th ultimo, the following resolutions were passed :— " That with reference to Roman Catholic schools, the present salaries of masters be paid from the Ist May till further notice ; that in the opinion of this Board it is advisable to amalgamate the two male schools as soon as pos-ible; that as regards the Convent school, known as ' St. Phibmena s Girls' School,' the Board considering the constitution of that school and it 3 strictly denominational character, which it must always possess, feel that they are unable to take over the management and control of it ; that the Board regret that they are unable to contribute towards the building contemplated to be erected hy the Key. Father Cummins."

Let us place the facts of this case clearly before our readers. The Catholics of Wellington have provided four good schools at their own sole expense. Between three and four hundred children out of a population of about twelve hundred Catholics attend these schools. It is evident, therefore, the Catholics of Wellington have done tlieir duty to their children and their fellow citizens. If education be neglected in this city, no blame can be attached to the Catholic portion of thn community. The Catholics therefore have earned and are entitled to sympathy and aid. This is one side of the picture ; let us see the other.

There is a Sectarian Education Board in the Province of Wellington— that is, a Board charged to carry out a, system of education on the principles of the Sect known as Uudenominationalists, with power, however, to aid denominational schools. The law empowers this Board to aid denominational schools, and, by empowering it, charges it to do so. When there is a denominational school deserving of support, the Board is criminal in refusing it aid, merely because 'it is denominational ? Yet this is the very thing that the Board has done in reference to St. Philomena's Girls' School : " That as regards the Convent school, known as • St. Philomena's Girls' School,' the Board, considering the constitution of that school and its strictly denominational character, feel that they are unable to take over the management and control of it." The Board, therefore, refuses to do the very thing it is authorised and bound to do, precisely because it is authorised and bound to do it. This is the state of the case 30 far.

But there are other points for consideration. The Catholics are taxed for education ; the Board clutches the money and spends it, not on the schools of the people, except to a very limited extent, who pay it, but on schools for those who have neglected and who neglect their children, and on schools of other denominations, particularly sucb as belong to the Godless school Sect. Meantime the Catholics have themselves to maintain thoir own schools. From these facts, therefore, it appears the Godless school Sect, which is at pn-sent in the ascendent, compels the .Catholics to pay double taxes. Is not this ij)onstrous?

Well, tliuu, what does justice demand 1 And Catholics ask no more than justice. It demands that the money paid by them for educational purposes shall be handed over to them

for the niainteiience of their own schools. If they hud no schools, or not enough— if they were like so many othere, utterly indifferent as to the education of their children— -tlie case would be different. But as things are, Catholics are severely punished— heavily fined for having done their duty nobly in raising up good schools, which afford ample means of education for their chil-iren at the present time. A mow monstrous injustice than this has never been heard of since men were compelled to forfeit their lives and properties in order to preserve their faith for themselves and their children