The Arizona sentinel., 1876-01-08

I am free to say that the public schools of America are very eX- cellent institutions-for nOn-Ca- thOlics; and I believe it to be true that Catholics have no thought or concern to overthrow them. But let them be supported and main' tafaa- t,v those who use them. line Catholic stza3s virtually up- gu the old continental platform {: 'tNO taxation without representa- tion."
 It is no argument to say that : rav reason a= q Catholic for not ava-liag af5ne public schools are i auouI,., ....,. .uy .oarS and dlStruSt only chimerical. It is from no idle phantansy that bishops and priests engage in the Herculean works of building up and support ing educational institutions for Catholics. Why would Catholics subject themselves to this enormous and oppressive burden, were 1t not from the most solid conviction of the duty and obligation of doing so? You may laugh at the delu- sion, but you cannot doubt the sincerity of the motive, nor the strength of the animating princi. pie.
 Catholics, as body, desire no less eagerly than the others the advantages of education, aud the sacrifices they make in it's cause, attest the sincerity of this desire. But. you say, once admit the justice of the Cath olic claim, and the public-SchOol system disap- pears. l believe the inference to be unfounded; at all events, it is no argument against the CathO- lies views.
 Let the State, if you please, im- pose the obligation of education upon all, and require, Iby strin- gent laws, that every child of the proper age shall attend at suitable seasons some school; and if Ca tholics will not educate their children, punish them for the omission. What more is re- quired? Surely it will not be ob- jected that education in Catholic schools is less complete and use- ful because the teachings of faith are united with the requirements of secular knowledge! To be @ good citizen one must not neces- Sarily be a bad Catholic. Even ultra PrOiestants are now aWak- ening to the belief that the Catho- lies are, after all, right on this school question. So long as the Protestant bible was read, PrOtes- tant psalms sung, and textbooks hostile to the Catholic Church employed in the schools all was lovely.
 Now, when all recognition of God is flung out from them at the back of infdels, they begin to re- aIize the force and justice of the Catholic position. This question, so far as Illinois is concerned, IS not and cannot become a practi. cal issue in our politics. No Ca- tholic is insane enough to believe that the present system can or will be changed for many years to come. The present state con. stitutiOn places it beyond recall until changed, and this now seems a remote contingency. Ca- thoIics will, therefore, continue to multiply tn cir own schools throu ghout the State, and pay for them and their support, in addi: ton to the share of public school taxes from which there is no es' cape. It is ridiculous to suppose that the Catholics alone can change this state of affairs; and 1t is still more absurd to fancy that it will be effected by any agency of the Democratic party, here or elsewhere. I presume that the Democratic party is just as inhex- ibly opposed to the Catholic views of the question as is the Republl- can party; and it should be drag ged in as an issue in any future canvass, it will only be as scare crow. I look for no change or re- form in this public school question growing out of this action of poll, tical parties. If change comes at all, it will be from the breaking down of the public school system itself. It will fall by reason Of it's own weight. The enormous dis proportion existing between the cost of the public school system, entrusted with that of denOmina- tional and private schools, is be- coming yearly more and more apparent; while the corruption and abuses existing in the system itself elicit an outcry, not loud, but deep and significant, from some of the most eminet organs of public opinion in the United States.
 It is proposed that convention be held to elicit a formal and au- thoritative expression of Catholic opinion on this school question. The Catholic who would offer this