The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1875-12-01
Wednesday. December ! 1876.
Opinions ON the School Question.

Opinions on the School Question.
The Clinton, Iowa, Herald, hits its party
in the face by saying:
Northern Democrats as party have never
rayed themselves against the school system
The remarks of Rev. Clement Butler,
ID. d., of Philadelphia, at the recent
church congress of the Protestant Eris-
copal church, on the public school question,
laid down these positions:
1, The perfunctory reading of the bible in the
schools by anybody who may happen to be the
teacher, farce and Dissertation, and Christians
3 Only by making the pubic schools purely Sc
cular can we place them on foundation where We
can defend them and take away all plausibiliy
from the claims for the public money for Roman
and other sectarian schools.
B. This would maze the churches feel anew and
OF the children. He said that thousands OF Chris
tans feel that this is the right thing 10 do but are
unwilling to concede II, because 1t would seem
like q concession TO Roman dictation.
Prof David Swing, of Chicago, gives this
opinion of the use of the bible in the pub
lie schools
The government has no more right to
teach the bible than it has to teach the
Koran. My idea is that the government
did, in its earlier life, run according to a
sort Of Christian common law, but now the
number of Jews Catholics and infdels has
become so greatly increased, the govern
ment has to base itself squarely upon its
constitutional ideas; that all men are re-
Ggiously equal. Even if the genius of the
country permitted the teachings of the
bible in the schools, [ should doubt the
propriety of continuing the custom, be
cause no valuable moral results can ever
come from reading few verses hurriedly
in a school house, and social strifes will
continually spring up out of the practice.
U. s. Senator Herman, of New York, a
Catholic gentleman, in speech at Buffalo,
just before the late election in that state
said
Il have been grieved in crisis like this
to see the press and even public speakers
seeking to turn aside and trying to stir up
that worse than all passions in any land,
religious strife. Now, my fellow citizens
the public schools of this state are planted
beyond the power of any legislature by the
constitution of the state; it declares in un-
mistakable language that the common
school fund shall be applied only to the
support of common schools. The highest
court OF your state more than 3 years ago
declared that the common schools spoken
Of in tn, constitution were the public
schools, and that no legislature could allow
a dollar of that money to go to the support
of a UNCONVENTIONAL or sectarian school.
And the constitution also declares that no
public money shall be distributed to any
sectarian or private institution. | would
appeal to you as earnestly as [ would ap-
peal to my best friend if l thought dan
ger was hanging over us. Do not allow
yourselves to be turned aside by this feeling;
let us always remember that the man who
worships his Creator honestly according to
his convictions is the real Christian, before
God and before man. No, the common
schools are in your constitution, and should
be maintained as public schools, and will
have to be; and rightfully too. Wherever
all the children Of the state can go and
get secular education, the schools should
be maintained so that the feeling of nc
parent or child, no matter what their re-
ligion may be, should be wounded in that
school, grieve to see that our oppo
nents-i trust not many of them seem
ing to feel weak on the subject of reform
are seeking to get up religions antipathies
appeal to every man to vote according
10 his Judgment on the practical question
before him, and remember that he is no
responsible for his neighbours belief, ant
remembering that under our glorious con
stitution lis the right as we'll as the duty O
every man to worship his God accordin
to the honest convictions Of duty, an
that as he judges here he surely will b
judged hereafter,