A SUGGESTED FORWARD MOVEMENT ON THE EDUCATION QUESTION

New Zealand Tablet, 18 October 1906, Page 11

A SUGGESTED FORWARD MOVEMENT ON THE EDUCATION QUESTION

To the- Editor.

Sir,— This is the day of ' forward movements,' and it has occurred . to me that a suggestion in the dir rection of a forward movement on the question which most vitally affects " Catholic interests in this Colony might not " be inopportune. _ I offer , the suggestion with the greatest diifidenec, and "would hesitate to face the criticism, and possibly ridicule, -with which my proposal may be received, did I not feel that if it served no^ other purpose the suggestion would at least promote discussion and help to make the* education question, a _ Jive one for our people. My suggestion is that it would be a step in the right direction and might help to clear the way for a settlement of this great question if our . Church authorities would consider, the advisableness of approaching the official representatives of all the . other religious -denominations who are seeking some measure of religious education, with a view to 'the setting up of a representative Religious Education Committee. It would be the work of this Committee to hold conferences, thresh out the whole situation, and in due time, bring- down a report on the possibility or otherwise -„ of. a mutual understanding being arrived at, and some measure of common action agreed upon. To show that the * proposal, whether it be advisable;: or. not, is at least entirely feasible and practicable, let me outline the, details' of 'a possible method of procedure :-r . " " . - - ■ Two representatives of the Catholic Churoh— from the members oi the clergy— might be appointed*

either in each of' the lour centres -by l the -respective Bishops, or. two might., be- appointed- -foL\> the, - whole Colony, - and these, would .act , as , a deputation to wait on the' annual general Synods of (say) 'the Anglican'; Presbyterian, Lesley an, aiid Baptist Churches.' They : would: Jay the. whole pase before these dwelling especially on the urgency.. ..ot . the » , nffcd for : religious education to stem the .growing-" tide, .of Rationalism : and. agnosticism—and would "ask ' each Synod to-* appoint (say) four representatives- on "the Religious -Education' Committee., The Catholic body wouldvalso bey repie-* - sen ted on this Committee -by , four^members— say two Bishops and two priests— and meetings -would- be held :at a time and '* place agreed /-upon. Two/ or' three meetings =■ would " be" sufficient to show whether there was any- prospect of .an? agreement -being arrived «at, and half a dozen would be^aH'.thatv-would be required to elaborate any scheme 4.hat*:niigKt, be agreed upon. The members would then "report to 4 "their respective Synods, and if any ag'reernent" were arrived "at; ' the committee might be reappbinted -as "a-* permanent 'body for the purpose .qf. devising, means -for, promoting the cause of " religious" education,, suchoas-lectures,-,distri-bution of literature, holding religious education demonstrations, etc. Of course it is understood "that ihe foregoing -details might be "modified to any extent, and are only put forward as illustrations for y the*pur pose" of showing at least one -way. in which, my suggestion may be given effect ib. -'.j.' The first impulse of most of your readers will • be, to - dismiss the proposal at once as visionary- and useless, if not actually ridiculous. I would -plead with such to give the matter a second thought and to ask themselves in all seriousness whether, some movement of the- kind might not, after all, " be an' improvement on the- existing condition of things."-' Kor* myself, I have long held the --fixed conviction that we will never - make- any r t eal headway r on the Education^ Question until we'- gain the' ear of the non-Catholic public and make recruits from outside our own 'ranks. "I can quite understand how, after, their experience of the past, even t those who are perfectly, friendly' -to my suggestion Imay turn reluctantly -away... with a r '-Cvi bono ' — what will be the good of., it all? . I reply^ that, at. the very wojst— assuming" that" the proposed - Committee is unable to arrive at any measure -MiSSfe agreement whatever— the fact that our WlpP to approach the various Synods, . the speeches made*By them, and ' the subsequent discussions, will all bex; reported in full, arid' the result will be that ' the Education Question will receive an" immediate access of interest and vitality. In these days, at a" time when the question seems almost moribund, that is itself- no small gain. . . . - I may be. asked : What could there.be for^ such.a Committee to discuss so far as the Catholic position is. concerned — in what respect could there beany give-and-take under that head ? 1- quite - recognise, • of course, that there could be no -compromise whatever on the essential principles governing , the Catholic position, but yet I believe there might 'be .found,, ample matter for discussion. It would be premature at this stage to give all the details which occur to one's mind, but " I may say that— speaking simply * for myself —I bclieye.-it .would be well worth , the .phurch's. while to make •doneessions on the lines of Mi\ Bailouts Bill of (1 think) 1902, if by so doing the' question could be settled rand the Government capitation obtained. My idea regarding the procedure of the suggested is ,this : that each of the -bodies represented should submit a written statement of its <demands ; that the others should- say "what they accept, what they cannot - accept, and what they can accept conditionally ; and that all the delegates should then earnestly consider how far they can comply with the conditions required by the others. The two outstanding facts of , the present situation are: first, that nonC|itholics cannot obtain what they want- without 'the aid of Catholics, because, the -public .conscience - would . never consent to grant demands which,- if - Catholic claims were . ignored, woujd ' aggravate "to an r outragepus; degree the injustice inflicted on the Catholic " body; and second, that Catholics - clearly* cannot hopf to secure redress without the aid of non-Catholics/ These two facts would be kept, steadily jn view by the respective parties in trying 16 arrive at a ' modus ' Vivendi.' So far as Catholics are concerned whatever v they may personally think of 'the various- non-Cafh- " olic- programmes, they have no interest in opposing" ' them so long as iustice is^ done, to /ttiemselves, .and tliey could with perfect consistency. and sincerity- offer to! support 1 other bodies in their demand for a measure of religious instruction on condition that the ' other bodies included., in any proposed. Bill- provision* ' for satisfying the Catholic claims. . *„'-_. . - Whatever may. be thought of the probable uselessness of my proposal, at least it can be said for' it that it is simple, definite, feasible— that it cannot • , .. _ —r ~ '~~ ,~ i x.%**2- -' c.-'*, - '- i -

do any harm, must do some good (in keeping the question alive) and may do a great deal. It is aggressive without being ' combative. Instead ot keeping ° Ur n sr i? i ?n eadl °) hei :' s throats, as Catholics and non-Catholics seem to have been, doing more or > less for a quarter of a century, it holds out ' a sort of eirenicon, and I claim that the most ardent lover of peace can throw the weight 'of his :. influence in support of this proposal/ . Leaving details . aside, the issue I desire to raise is simply this : Are ' Catholics to con-, rr e of£7 er . their policy of < splendid isolation \ with ' its attendant discomforts and sacrifices, or are they to get into touch with non-Catholics anU make reUIS J r % they J? se 1 k t0 m^ e allie * and friends, or aie they fco continue to plough" their furrow, alone I , kn ,°w well the feeling of .suspicion and distrust with which any such proposal as I have outlined would at first be received byvour non-Catholic friends. Their feeling, I know, would be that of 1 Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes,' as Virgil- has^ it , and they wouia be asking themselves what could be the meaning of this latest move of the arch-plotter, Kome '. 1 know, however, that none of . the bodies mentioned would be so utterly discourteous as to refuse to receive a deputation, and I know too that the existing feeling of suspicion and distrust will ( btf forever perpetuated unless one body or the other makes an effort towards rapprochement. It may be that even with all our efforts we shall not be able to gain a single friend. If that be so, we shall at • least have demonstrated 1-hat our isolation is not of ' our own choosing, and our position will be' all the stronger for any attempt we may have made As I have already indicated, the details of the ' proposed scheme are quite unimportant. The one point which I would like to see discussed— and which I. think will be well worth discussing-is the desirableness o i some sort of Round Table Conference on this question It is scarcely necessary for me to say that I am alon/e responsible for the ideas herein- expressed and I have deliberate y refrained from discussing them directly or indirectly, with any one, lest I should be discouraged from doing what my own judgment told me strongly I ought to do. I earnestly hope that your readers will not be content with private discussion or mere arm-chair criticism regarding them but will say their say, as they ou|ht to do in the pages of the 'Tablet. It will be very easy and perhaps very tempting, to make a jest of what has been put forward. And yet we all know in our hearts that the question ougTrt not to be pooh-poohed and ought not to be put aside. I take the liberty if T£ al + ,7, 7 - £ p P, eahn S to my friends among the clergy -if they think this matter worth discussing-to overcome their modesty in the matter of letter-writing and give expression to their views, if it be only ?5 the extent of a dozen lines, in the columns of their own .paper. Tt is a miserable thing to look $> a <& tneu necks. It is little use to bewail the failure of f£ure aS a L and t *S lamCnfc ?e? e ° minOUS outlook io * «» «« i-ff -' lie same time ** u nwiHing to so much SL,,V a P?n 1U an eflolt ' howe ver humble, to SriSS So? s&rsM&pi&t, crrSsS dehght the prospect of some advance being made • there is not a priest who does not know that 'iStSn go forward is necessarily t 0 g0 ba ck *™ am , et^ October 12. J ' A * SCOTT '