Arizona weekly miner., 1875-06-11


 opinion is that he was then the friend of popular education, and that his surround l ings since his arrival in Arizona have been such as to poison bis mind against system that he once loved and that like all new con- 1 verts to strange faith he becomes more | fanaticaI, radical and unreasonable than those who have pursued an even course and kept one faith from their youth up.
 The req ,er will understand that in speak | ing of faith in this connection we have alu- sion only to the doctrine involved in the school system, and have no reference to the faith of any church or society of worshsPers | We believe that Christianity is destined to live for all time, and that each Church has perfect right, nay-that it is its duty evenr at the option of the parents or guardians ol children, 10 give them religious instructIoh, but that it is tho duty also of the Govern ment to see to it that no complications shall gain foothold in this country whereby any church or sect shall have control of even the least of our public institutions and espe- cialy those that are to fit and prepare com 1 ing generations for the duties of citizenship
 The Pope, in 1864, declared the doctrine laid down in our American Constitution "tbat it is the right of every one to worship God according to the dictates of his or her concience" heresy, and that it was simply right to go to hell his or her own way and a right which it is the duty of the Church to restrain the people from and it may be that this movement against public schools is part of scheme having its foundation in that inciclical letter 10 restrain the people from acting or thinking without the sane tion of the Church, by beginning with them in infancy and not allowing them to learn anything outside of Sectarianism. An ex- ample of this class of tuition can be found in 1 our sister republic of Mexico where the schools have always been under Priestly sur veilance. The consequence has been that land, rich in all the elements that go to make country great and prosperous, older than the United States and with superior soil and climate, kept down in poverty and the people in constant turmoil and revolu- ton on account of their defective system of education which keeps them in ignorance of every useful science and art, and addresses itself entirely to matters which belong alone of right to the churches Mexico, however, is opening her eyes to the situation, and in auguratng system of free schools similar to ours, which in spite of Priest1y dictation is gaining ground and win no doubt in time produce an enlightened public sentiment there that will strike off the shackles of ig norance and raise the people to the condi- tion of men and women worthy to bear the name. ---
 Go into our public schools and some of the brightest pupils arc of Mexican parent age, demonstrating their aptness for acquir- ing an education and proving beyond contra dction that the reason their parents are iliterate is because of a want of opportunity | in their own country wben they were of proper age to learn. Their education has been chiefly confined to Church Catechisrns and learning the names of the Saints, and the poor were afforded no opportunities to learn anything useful in this life. Those of the wealthier classes who sent their chil- dren away or employed teachers at home made men and women of them of equal in- telligenco with those of other enlightened nations and all such, who have the ordinary intellect of their race and are not priest rid den, are to-day the earnest friends of popu- lar education separate and apart from all church influences. We will take for exam pie Mir. Oclioa, Mayor of Tucson, whom we met here few months since and whom every good man in the Territory is proud of and anxious to number among his friends. We understand Mir. Ochua to be consistent ! believer in the doctrines of the Catholic Church, and yet We read in the local paper and receive by telegraph the news that he is not only the devoted friend of common schools but that he Is proving his faith by building in Tucson by all odds the finest and { best school house Tn the Territory, not for the use of a sectarian or corporate school in which to teach theology, but free com mon school, in which the children of the rich and poor alike may be educated and 1 fitted to assume the duties of citizenship and become useful members of society, when he and those he represents in this good work shall have passed away. That tJudge Dunne, of all others, should have espoused. tbe cause of tho priests as. against the more en- lightened sentiment of the better and more liberal class of Catholics on the qu estion of popular education involves mystery that we shall probably never be able to solve. FRIGHrrrL ExAMPLE.-Our Yuma contem- porary, discoursing on the evils of intemper- ance, says:
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