The New Zealand Tablet THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1907. THE BETTER WAY

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 47, 21 November 1907, Page 21

The New Zealand Tablet THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1907. THE BETTER WAY

have before. us the, report of .the Bible-in-schools Committee thau was presented W/«C, last week at the Presbyterian General J&jtjrffi Assembly in Wellington. The report itY2a3*|§i^3 self, and the discussion which it evoked, B^Sw^ make, on the - whole, pleasant reading. The Committee still cling to the idea of having the^ Protestant .version of the Bible, or the Protestant. version of the Bibie ' with note and comment ',or \-a suitable text-book ' drawn up by a Protestant commission, read or taught -at the public expense, as. part of the State curriculum of education. " For- those who _cannot~ realise, their, ideal, it is tometimes both good sense and good policy to idealise their real. And this is, in substance, the .wise, -resolve- that has been taken by our Presbyterian friends. In both ' report - and discussion we' -have .at- last been . happily spared the empty bluff' about HHe 'overwhelming majorities ' that were so long averred to stand enthusiastic' around the platform of the various and often dissonant Bible-in-schools organisations: Such "a claim may have served the same purpose- as whistling served -the yokelpassing through the Haunted — to keep -waning courage up. - But it-impressed rfew, deceived -none, and moved the ridicule of "many. • The facts* of the situation are now at- length being squarely and manfully faced. The Committee frankly recognise ' the failure of all past attempts to have the Education Act so altered,, as to allow of the Bible being read within school hours '. And the general *tf6ne of the gathering seemed (so. far. as the newspaper report goes) -to indicate a sense of the. " hopelessness of ' sectarianising 'the State ' schools in the present state of public feeling.- ... ".. ]£ _.» . t The truth underlying the fable , of .the lark and her young -lias at length -found, an -application in, the report of the Bible-in-schools .Committee. 'Let us ', it. says, ' employ to the full extent of our power the facilitiesalready accorded by- the Act- for, the religious instruction of our children '. 'In .tfie present .state of public opinion', said one speaker, ' this was the proper system -to develop 0 . And the ■ Assembly unanimously adopted .a ' deliverance which runs in part as follows :—: — - - / Record our appreciation of the effarts of those ministers of .various, denominations who are trying to" supply, at least ih part, what is lacking ill. our edu'ca-" 'tionai; system. - . and -urge, upon all ministers of the .Assembly, to take this whole matter into their serious' consideration, . and, where possible,- establish, classes for, : Bible-reading on- the lines suggested in the report. Also, instruct the committee to. issue a circular on the subject, the same to be considered in Presbyteries and Kirk sessions at an early date.'

« \ . < ■ ■ ■' pood is never done ','- says -Newman, •' except, at the expense of those who do it . And it is pleasant to ■ read, in the Committee's report, ,the evidence that the beginnings of sacrifice and- of- serious effort are> at length' being , made to' impart some measure of religious instruction 7 to the children in the .public schools., Up to three years ago (according to the. report) there were only thirty-five classes for' religious instruction in .the pullic schools under -the aegis- of the PresbyterianChurch" in New Zealand. It. must be confessed to be rather a poor showing" for a large and wealthy organisation ; but efforts in this direction seem to have been crippled by the throwing of all surplus energy into a political campaign to force State employees to take up the church work which the 'clergy "had abdicated. And thus the ■ precious years passed, and the body of the Bible-in-schools were satisfied to ' Live the life of going to do, ~~ And die with nothing done '..- The realisation of the hopelessness, of capturing the public schools "for sectarian purposes has, however,- had these good results : that during the past two or three years, • twenty-two additional classes ' have been formed for the imparting of religious instruction outside working hours in the public schools ; during the present year, fifty-three classes ; while .seventeen others are in course of formation ; and the aggregate attendance -is 9500. T>he half-hour or so per week devoted to these classes, and the lack of the religious atmosphere so essential to successful work, represent a small thing indeed compared with what Catholics have done ",for the cause of religious education in New Zealand. But it is a beginning. And if— as we hope — it. gathers in force and volume as it goes, it may yet move others out of their lethargy, and emerge in conditions favorable to the settlement of the education problem on equitable and permanent lines.