Catholic Education in U.S.A.

New Zealand Tablet, 15 October 1908, Page 10

Catholic Education in U.S.A.

Bishop McFaul, of Trenton, has been hitting the bull's-eye with some pretty hard facts in connection with Catholic education in the United States. The scoring was done at the' recent Convention of the. American Federation of Catholic Societies. ' Taking the report of the United States Commissioner of Education for the year ending June, 1904, as the basis of his statistics, the Bishop finds (says our esteemed contemporary the New York Freeman's Journal) that the cost of the tuition of each pupil of. the 11,318,-456 who attend the public schools is 19.77 dollars. The cost of the education plant, sites, building, etc., is J. 50 dollars per pupih yrom these figures it will be seen that the 1,066,207 parish school pupils in the United " States save the nation 21,078,912 dollars per annum. To this we must add the saving in cost of education plants, which amounts to 159,931,050 dollars, which will make the giand total of 181,009,962 dollars (.£36,201,992) which is saved to the nation by Catholics voluntarily taxing themselves in the interest of a system of education which thoughtful nonCatholics are beginning to recognise as necessary' to stem the moral evils which loom up so ominously. * Bishop McFaul outlines as follows a scheme by which Catholics would be relieved of the double burden of taxation and-at the same time mould the hearts and wills of their childten to virtue as well as equip their minds with secular knowledge : ' (1) Let our schools remain as they are. . (2) Let no compensation be made for religious instruction. We don't want it. We have seen what has happened in countries where the clergy are the hirelings of the State. Our principle is, let the pastor take care of the flock, and live by the flock. (3) Let our children be examined by a State or municipal board, and if bur schools furnish the secular education required, if we furnish the goods, let the State put down the cash. Mind, we do not ask anybody else's money. All we want is our own money, for the education of our own children. Is not that fair? Yeß, and Americans are being gradually educated up to the justice of our position. Suppose that in some large city this system could be initiated, so that non-Catholics might see that it is not inimical to the existence of the present public school system, it would not be long until we would have our rights.' •