The Portland daily press., 1871-10-19
41AILY PRESS.
PORTLAND
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 1871.
s,.,. Ala 10 o.nomina.ionaI Schools.


STATE Aid 10 DenoniHat'"nai sch""s.
, Elsewhere will be found two artleies Oh Ihe
subject OF State aid to denomnationa Schools
One is from Rev. Z. A. HelmeTshausen, a DIS
tihgulshed member Of the Methodist denom-
nation, and the other is anonymous. Ihele
are omitted from Mr.. Helmershausens note
certain personal illusions which would I'M
oaestioaably be as obscure to the pubic as they
are to u.s. In other respects both iet'ers are eA-
cellent both in spirit and IN substance, ana
We heartily endorse all that Is SAID Dy either.
Ii is fortunate that criticism of the proceed
ines of the Convention lately held in this
city has elected from influential members of
one of our largest aAd most powerful religious
bodies the expression of opinions so sound
and healthfu. Substantially the position of
both Mr. Hemershausen and the anonymous
correspondent is this: "If aid is to be given
to schools established by religious bodies, the
Methodist institutions are entitled to the
same consideration as the rest; but the Meth
odiSts will gladly give their assent to the doc
trine that the practice of substituting &C.
noninalionai schools should be at once and
forever abandoned"
This is precisely the theory always held in
these columns. Last winter the Legislature
of Maine clearly indicated by its action that
it regarded as inexpedent the granting OF
further aid 10 academies, seminaries or other
educational institutions except the public
Schools. The Convention of which Mr.. Hell
mershausen was a member seemed to ignore
that historical fact, and to shape its action on
the false hypothesis that the State was TO GO
on giving little to Universalist school here,
Methodist school there, and to Congrega.
" tioualist school yonder on the ground that the
two rival sects had been provided for. 1t was
for this cause alone that we entered or pro-
test. The time for encouraging the rivalry OF
religious denominations in the education of
youth is past, and the time has come when
the st tie should put forth all its energies in
Strengthening, enlarging and bringing within
the reach of all uninstructed persons of
whatever age its main pillar, its great protec
tion from all dangers, its main stay the COM
mon school system.
Web I'VE from time to time protested with all
the vigor we could command against the grant
ing OF special privileges to Catholic schools
Now whatever may be our preiudices in favor
OF Professionalism, those prejudices were not the
inspiration of our protest. AS a political pa
per the PRESS can take no note of denomi
national differences. In opposing State ait
to denominational schools it does so Oh
= strictly political grounds 1t believes most
profoundly that secular instruction is the
function of civil and not of religious author
tiles. In giving effect to any other notion
not only il the common school, the founda-
ton stone Of the Republic. weakened, but IN
profitable rivalrles and contentious are the
main result. 1t is an absolute impossbility
So to apportion the bounty of the State as to
content alike The Unitarians and the Bdp
lists, the Melhodists and the Spiritualists, the
the Swedenborgians and the Episcopalians,
the reeationalists and the Quakers. In
deed, if there were not other and more
important reasons for establishing the rule
that no State aid shall be given to private
schools, the scandal created every year by a
religious lobby log rolling and disputng in the
State House, and inclined to 'cal Names" as
we fear one of onr correspondents is in his
letter, would be sufficient to justify it,
"Churches and state" is an idea almost as
repugnant to the genius of our institutions as
'church and state" Where the state suo-
ports schools exclusively of one denomna-
ton, as in England, the result is gigantic
wrong, but the schools are good. Here the
state, by the infinite subdivision of its re.
sources, fails to build up good school,
while it does not, after all, escape the
imputation of allying itself with religious
p denominations and discriminating in favor 0
some to the neglect of others.