The Express.
London, England, 1851-08-30 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, SATURDAY EVENING, AUGUST 30, 1851

AT I apos the word " amble' Beier mew b, that the not
only do not combine the two. boillmtillay only undertake to
teach one. lam quite awaillitelk Ihe sgpty is read that
' the prospectus contemplates** ds Si the schools at
stated tunes, to afford opportunliee for the inculcation of
doctrinal religion; and right glade* I to find that the prin-
ciple which we maintain -is Ow acknowledged to be
indispensable and true. Bias I contend that no
association is justified in gashing a demand for
power to levy money upon the public, unless they
undertake to perform completely the task which
on their own showing will be but half accomplished by
their means. They necessarily deprive others of
the power of fulfilling those all-important duties which
they refuse to discharge. The local measure, which
is now submitted to the consideration of the inha-
bitants of these two boroughs, contains the details of a plan
for promoting education by means of a rote upon property (us
proposed by the National l'ublic Schools Association), and
thereby offering to every child within the two boroughs all
the advantage% which have ever been contemplated by any
measure combining religious with secular instruction, with-
, out being open to the same objections on the score of reli-
gious differ •nee of opinion. It remains for us to consider
how far this bill, which has met with the cordial ,concur-
rence of many influential persons connected with nearly all
the religious bodies in the district, has succeded in steering
' a middle course between the insufficiency in practice of
the voluntary system on the one hand, and the de-
• feet in:principle of the secular plan on the other. By adopt-
ing the proposal fur an educational rate, the bill recognises
as a public duty the obligation of providing for the intellec-
tual improvement of the people, in the some manner as is
I proposed by the scheme of the National Public Schools As-,
seciation, while by its provisions fur absorbing and render- I
tug more efficient all those schools which have originated
end are connected with the various religious congregations, 1
without any interference with their peculiar systems of,
management or discipline beyond that moderate degree of
superintendence which is requisite in all eases over the ad-1
ministratien of :bads derive . from the public, it mainsails',
unimpaired the connexion between the religious organien-
Lion of the nation and the education of its members—that
connexion which it is the glory of the Voluntary system to
have estabiished, and which, us experience has shown, can-
not be endangered without awakening the spirit of
vigorous and universal reprobation throughout the land.
The leading principle of the alauchester and Salford Educa.
boo Bill is similar to that adopted with acknowledged suc-
cess by the educational committee of l'rivy Council, in
their application of the annual parliamentary grant, viz.,
to allow the distribution of the public fund to be regulated
by the voluntary act of the people themselves, avoiding all
unnecessary interference with the details of the system pur-
sued in each school. As the parliamentary grant is applied
in proportion to the amount of voluntary subscriptions and!
dm ations fur building and maintaining schools, or in other
words, in proportion to the amount raised by voluntary
effort in aid of such schools as come within the description
laid down by the minutes of the committee of privy council,
so now it is proposed to appropriate the money to be raised
by a public rate towards the continued support of all exist-
ing schools answering the same description, in exact propor-
tion to the wants of the people, as shown by their voluntary
attendance at any of the schools to which the rate will be-
come payable. Neither one nor the other seek to originate
any new system, or to bring any external influence to bear
upon the founders of schools or the pupils attending them,
but prefer to take the Lets as they find them, as an evi-
dence of the feelings, ooinions, and wants of the public,
and to aid in the promotion of a scheme of education which
is the real result of the purely voluntary principle.
Bat there are two points on which it is believed
that the parliamentary grant lint failed to answer
its complete object, for the attainment of which
the present measure, or one of a similar character, seems
absulutly necessary. First, it is evident that the appropri-
ation of public money in proportion to donations or sub-
scriptions fur building wheel., must tend to allot the
greatest share of aid to those who stand least in need of it.
It helps the exertions of the wealthy, but leaves unaided
the necessities of the indigent districts. And, secondly, it
provides fur the erection of buildings, but not for their con-
tinued support, at least not to the extent required for their
maintenance in vigour and efficiency ; for the grants in aid
of the saiories of certificated teachers, for pupil teachers, and
for inspection, though extremely valuable adjuncts to the
present system, arc nut of themselves adequate to secure
competent persons in sufficient numbers for the work to be
done, even with the present number of children frequenting
their schools. Arid it has always beta a common com-
plaint that it is much easier to provide the means fur esta-
blishing than for maintaining an institution of public utility.
The appointment of a committee containing represents-1
titres of all the different classes of schools admitted
into union becomes requisite to insure the fair registration
of the pupils at the schools of their own selection, as also
the inspection of each school by proper persons, to provide
for the due observance of the conditions on which toe pay-
ment of the rate depends, and the management of the funds'
by the representatives of ratepayers, a committee of the
municipal council, in order to guarantee the payment of
sue: amount only us shall be properly certified as being
claimed in strict accordance with the provisions of the act.
Besides the various clauses—too many for description in de-
tail—for effectually carrying out the general principle, teen
are two other important questions involved in the bill, to
which we will proceed to give our attention. These ore,
first the character or description of schools entitled to
be admitted into union, and to partake of tho public
rate; and secondly, the means proposed to supply
any deficiency of school accommodation, if it should
he found either that school accommodation should be-
come at any time inadequate, or that the existing schools
should refuse to place themselves voluntarily within the
terms prescribed by the bill. The former of these is a
matter on which no slight misapprehension appears to have
existed, and may probably still exist, among persons im-
perfectly acquainted with the intentions of the promoters,
or the effect of their proposed stipulations. Those schools
are first declared to be absolutely entitled to partake of the
benefits of the rote, which at the time of the poising of the
bill shall be actually partaking of the parliamentary grant,
or whose constitution and management are such as to come
within the existing regulations of the committee of l'rivy'
Council, although they may either have refused to apply
fur aid, or to admit such iuspection as is (keened a necessary
condition of receiving a share of the public mono To all
such schools the bill gives a putative title to e of the
rate, subject to conditions for inspection, c., similar to
those laid down by the minutes of the Privy Council com-
mittee. But the bill does not require any schools which
have hitherto, from whatever Cagle, declined to place them-
selves in connexion with the committee of Privy Council,
to submit to an authority or control hitherto resolutely re-
jected. On the contrary, while it assumes as already set-
tled t!lef which !!!! bait seionip:l:hi:d :::7!ht cloomi:Zeo of
Privy Council, so far as the description of the schools
to which their aid is applicable, it expreeely provides for
the admission of all such as come within that description,
whether their claim to public support has been hitherto
admitted or not. It is the constitution of the school, and
its connexion with some recognised religious body, which
is to be thus ascertained, in the saute manner as
if the existing minutes of the committee of Privy
Council hail been actually incorporated into the bill,
and enforced not by a central authority competent to relax
or modify them, but "stereotyped" in their existing form 1
in and by the bill itself. Further than this, it is provided
that a mere technical objection, such as the fact that a
school is built under or as a part of some ecclesiastical
foundation, shall not operate to its exclusion from union.
Such an exclusion is perfectly justifiable in the case of the
parliamentary grant, which being applicable towards the 1
building itself, would thereby become appropriated to the
foundation of an ecclesiastical establishment; but has not
been held to apply with equal force to a payment out of the
rate for the education of pupils in a school conducted in
other respects in accordance with the conditions of the
Lill. Aid the same principle has been carried out
by a clause declaring that any other schools (if such
there should be) not coming within the description laid
down by the minutes, but adopting and regularly using
the Holy Scriptures as the foundation of their religious in-
struction, should Oise be entitled to be admitted to partake
in the rate on the same terms as those qualified under the
minutes of the committee of l'rivy Council. This is under-
stood to be the same lc-ailing principle as that which has
guided the committee of Privy Council, and it may possibly
be asked, " Why, then, should we encumber our measure
with a double enactment of the same condition, especially
when the condition laid down in express and stringent
terms is open to some objection on the part SI those who do
out desire to use the scriptures as a test which may either
be evaded or actually perverted to a pulsese diametrically
ed oppos to the intentions of the bill? It is extremely
desirable that the' port of the bill should be well under-
stood, and a few words may perhaps be allowed in explana-
tion. The object of the framers of this =ensure is identical
with that of the committee of l'rivy Council. as above as-
sanatel—viz., to declare all schools admissible where the Holy
aleriptures are taken and regularly used as the foundation
Sid rale of religious faith. But in the case of the distribu-
dsa of the parliamentary grant there exists a discretionary
power with the committee of Privy Council, which ex-
empts them from the necessity of laying down strict terms
partaking of the nature of a test, fur they can by the mere
sizenhe of their plenary power, put a veto upon any grant
111 a school which does not substantially comply with their
I intentions; whereas in a local measure, it seems
ible to constitute any such power without placing the
whale administration of the fund entirely at the mercy of i
shies' board, liable to be influenced by many considerations, 1
rma:al or political, at utter variance with the objects of
Os bill itself: unless, indeed, recourse should be
taken to the same committee of Privy Council as a
court of final appeal; a plan that would leave the dis-
tribution of the rate subject to continual changes, and might
eventually, under the pressure of popular opinions, hand it
over entirely to schools disconnected with any religious body,
and disavowing any religious creed. Be this as it may, the
decision of the
_promoters of this bill was to take their
stand upon the Holy Scriptures, as the sole ground on
which the representatives of so many different religious ,
persuasions could meet and unite in concord. While, there- !
fore, they were compelled to declare their intentions in plain I
and caress terms, keying no discretionary pnw, r of adnii-
nistrabon to those who will be entrusted wita the control of 1
the funds, it became requisite for them to consider in what !
manner a clause so framed would operate to admit or ex-'
elude sehoole which might in fact comply with the spirit,
but which might refuse to be bound by the letter of
such an enactment. The case of the Roman catholic
schools was clearly ono which could not be met by any
modification of the terms of the clause, providing for their
use of their own version, for they object as much to any stipu-
lation for its use, as ter the use of the authorised version,
In truth, their objection is one which may appear unrea-
sonable, inasmuch u they do really comply in practice with