Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1891-05-05
FREE SCHOOLS ENEMIES.
Salt Lake Tribune.

VIII the Jesuits Of the Church oil
Rome never cease their warfare on
the public schools of the United
States? An Associated Press repor-
ter reports an interview with a high
ecclesiastical parsonage in Rome,
who gives the papal view on the
school question in the United States.
il reported correctly he says: "The
Catholics of America should have pa
rochial schools in all parishes where
it is possible, and where there are suf-
hcient means to render them equal
to the public schools. Whore this
cannot be done schools should be es.
tablished in which the cateohism may
be taught, or the State should be
persuaded to permit instruction in
the oatechsm outside of the hours
regularly appointed for school sub
Jects And he concludes that ''one
thing is absolutely necessary. That
is, to found no parochial schools I'M
less they can be put on level with
those of the State;" and that "the
Vatican has confidence in the yea
and tactics of the hierarchy in Amer
ica."
Will they never understand that
the public schools of the United
States were organized for the single
purpose of giving the children of the
country, regardless of creeds, a
grounding in the elementary branch.
es OF education? That the object
was to have system of schools where
Jew and Catholic and PRESBYTERIAN
and Methodist parents, and parents
who profess no religious belief, could
all send their children, and, without
question, receive the same education
And there is no more reason why the
Catholic catechism should be taught
in American free schools than that
the Methodist catechsm should be
taught, or the Buddhist or the Mo
hammedan, or the Mormon catechism
should be taught? Under our sys-
tenn such progress has been made as
to perfectly yindicate the wisdom of
the originators of the system. And
when this high ecclesiastic says that
the "Catholics in the United States
cannot rival the State Schools" he
tells the truth, and they never can.
No school, where the overruling
thought is to instill into the children
the principles ofany particular creed,
can begin to compare with the pub
lie schools of our country, because so
sure as those schools go on they will
be taught by priests, or devotees Of
that creed, and they will get in lit
tie while in the same fix that the
schools in this Territory were not
long ago, where those in charge
would employ incompetent teachers
so that they belonged to the creed,
rather than competent ones who did
not. The public schools of the Unit
ed States are something that Ameri-
cans will fight for, and no matter how
insidious and how persevering the at
tempt may be to transfer a part of
the school fund to ed schools, it
will not carry in this country. The
people will not have it. Not long
ago a priest in Boston dared to
threaten woman with excommuni-
cation if she sent her children to the
public schools, and that pltrky wo-
man, good Catholic that she was, in
stituted suit against that priest, and
fought it out on that line and won.
1t will be SO every time. The school
is not the place to teach the catechism.
That is the parents duty; and the
parent that is not true enough to the
creed which he processes to see that
the children are taught the catechism,
s not parent that is going to make
/ struggle to have that taught in the
schools. The American people say
o all creeds alike: "Keep your
lsnds off our public schools, for wei