The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1875-01-24
The Public sahoois ana Caaholiss.

From recent letter by Bishop McQuaii
to the Cleveland Leader we take the follow.
ing extract:
When Archbishop Hughes, in 1910, made
compromise on the school question, &C.
cepting eystem of school education with.
out religions exercises Of any description
he and others with him did so in good faith
hoping that snch schools would not prove
detrimental to the faith and morals of
Catholic children freauenting them. Ex.
perience taught him long before his death
that he had made a sad mistake and he set
to work with all the means in his power to
repair it, by doing for his poor people what
rich Evangelicals are every day doing for
their children. He built school houses and
put in them Catholic teachers to impart o
Catholic education to Catholic children.
Eventually we shall be all obliged to
study and discuss this question without
giving way to feeling or prejudice, and set
tie 1t on basis satisfactory to all good,
well-meaning citizens. 1t concerns rights
and justice, and no mans prejqdices ought
deny that We Catholics have just as much
right to say our children ought to be edu-
Gated In schools under Catholic influences
az You have to say that we ought to be sat-
isded to have them educated In schools
with NO religion, or with o modified form
Of ss %s a. D1 myo
arrange system of education for yonr own
children we ask in return that We shall be
equally free to arrange q system for our
children. This, in my Judgment, is sound,
democratic republican doctrine.
The next question is one of taxation.
says word so long as we build eour own
school houses, pay our own teachers, and
never complain about the taxation paid into
the common fund. Others throw in our faces
the small percentage of taxes which CathO-
lies pay. We are not disposed to dispute
the correctness and propriety of this point.
Nor do we seek to escape being taxed for
educational purposes. We only ask that
the taxes levied on Catholics for schools,
email and Insignificant as our nom Catholic
friends tell Us they are, shall be paid to
those schools to which the payers of the
taxes request them to be paid. If the do
ing of this should be the breaking down of
the public school system, then the confession
is made that although Catholics educate
one half the children of the city, the
other half having the wealth and bulk of
property on their side, can not educate
their children without the enforced legal
assistance of their poor Irish and German |
citizens. By letting these poor people pay |
their school tax to the school to which they |
send their children, We shall not receive |
one cent from our Evangelical, Jewish, |
Old Catholic, Mormon and InfideI friends,
but only our money collected by the State
for school purposes. And if our children |
do not learn the secular branches of
education required by the State to compete
with the best public schools of the State,
even if we do teach them the catchecsm,
We agree not to take our own money. By |
some such plan as this, which is daily |
making its way among the people, we
shall get back to the good Republican
principle that tax payers shall be taxgain- |
ers. Very respectfully,
B. j. McQUAID,
: Bishop of Rochester.