The record-union., 1893-12-20

maintaining or aiding, by appropriation,
payment Tor services, expenses, or 9TH
erwIse. any church, religious denomlna-
ton or religious society, or any lnstltu-
ton, society, or undertaking, which is
| wholly, or in part, under sectarian or &C.
clesiastical CONTROL"
The officers of this institution are
William II. Parsons, President; James
NJ. King, General Secretary; William
Fellowes Morgan. Treasurer; John Nc
Lellan, Office Secretary; William Allen
! Butler, Dorman b. Eaton, Cephas Brain
erd, Henry E. Howland, Law Commit
tee. Directors-General S. Baker, Cen
eral L. Batch, II. h. Carroll, G. II. Cut
! ting, Peter Donald, ID. b. Eaton, w. w.
Hoppin, John Jay, James NJ. King, James
Mckeen, George ID. Mackay, Thomas j.
Morgan, William Fellowes Morgan, VIM.
II. Parsons, John Sinclair, John d. Slay-
back, Josiah Strong, Peter a. WEIGH.
These citizens have issued the following
address to the public:
The practice of nations in the support
OF schools where the union OF Church and
State prevails furnishes no precedent tor
the United States. We are not looking
to monarchies for instruction concerning
. the best training of youth to fit them for
citizenship IN this republic.
Popular suffrage here rests for its safe
exercise upon the character and lnteln-
gence OF all classes Of the people. The
repub bile for its own preservation has es
tabIished and must insist upon maintain
| ing tree common school system OF edu-
cation.
1t must be maintained without compro-
mise. 1t is the only institution capable
OF converting the dangerously heteroge-
neous elements Of our population into
safely homogeneous citizenship.
The tax for the maintenance of public
schools levied upon all citizens, whether
they have children to educate or not, is
for the public good and not for private
benefit.
The State opens its schools with equal
| advantage to the children OF all Its citi-
ZenS. Its laws make no distinction as 10
the creed OF the individual in the choice
of It's teachers. In the State of New \ HOrk
no compulsory law exists requiring the
attendance OF children upon the common
! schools OF the State.
The State does not deny the right to
parents, organizations, or churches, to
establish and maintain private or pa
/ rochial schools at their own expense.
/ A movement, however, with audaclOus
demands and specious claims has been
initiated in the State OF New York for the
division OF the public school funds on
/ Sectarian lines, and 1t is announced that
! the same programme IS proposed for ali
/ the States.
| That this has mainly in view selfish
and not public ends is shown by the fact,
! that the movement is being pushed al
most exclusively by a single religious de-
nomination, which. for many years, by
its chief authorities, has been assaulting
the public school system. a few OF its
more liberal representatives have tOlera-
ted the system, and have sought III many
ways TO control it, Every compromise,
| however, between Sectarian and public
schools which has previously been tried
! has invariably resulted III the humiliat
/ ing surrender Of some vital principle Of
| public school education.
| 1t is undoubtedly true that a majority
| OF the citizens of even the denomination
making these demands, prefer the public
schools for their children and patrOniZe
! them whenever free to do so. It is un-
/ questionably that full proportion of the
! teachers in these public schools are at
/ tached to the church which, by many of
| its officials, antagoniZes this common
school system.
1t is auspicious for the republic that the
/ demands made are now plainly set forth
and clearly defined.
! There is now no opportunity for the
! compromising citizen or politician to
! eYade responsibility.
The question is not are these common
| schools capable of improvement.
The questions presented by the pro-
/ posed bill, and which now demand an
answer are:
l. Shall the whole principle on which
the common schools rest, i. g., the right
and duty of the State to educate impair
tally its own children for intelligent citi-
zenship be surrendered to its enemies?
2. Shall the common schools be disin-
| tegrated and destroyed by the dispersion
and use of their funds for sectarian
ends?
! 8. Are our citizens in favor of the union
/ of Church and State in the most danger
/ Gus possible features of such union, viz,
/ in the fundamental and elementary edu-
cation of future citizens?
/ These questions now demand an an
| sWer and must be permanently settled for
veal or woe. We believe they will be
settled in the interests of the whole peo-
/ pie. and not in the interests of any one
! class OF our citizens, however specious
! their claims or urgent their demands.
/ The National League for the Protection
! of American Institutions whose objects
are stated in Article II. Of its ConsUitu-
! ton:
1.-THE objects of the League are to secure
constitutional and legislative safeguards
for the protection of the common school
| system and other American institutions,
and to promote public instruction in har
mony with such institutions, and to pre-
vent all scctarian or denominational ap-
preparations of public funds.''
This organization, unsectarian and nom
partisan in character, with constituency
of hundreds of thousands in all the States
of the Union, composed OF the formers of
public opinion in their respective States
and communities, and with the various
| American patriotic orders representing
| over two millions Of voters, and patriotic
| Americans, native and naturalized, of all
parties cooperating with ii, proposes to
contest vigorously in all the States and
in the National Congress this organized
assault upon our cherished American in
StitutiOns.
! We have been seeking, thus far with
good success, and propose to continue to
! seek the amendment of defective State
| Constitutions, to bring them into har
mony with the principles involved IN the
proposed NVI. Amendment to the United
/ States Constitution, which the National
/ League has formulated and is advocat-
! ing, as follows:
INC State shall pass any law respecting
an establishment ofreligion, or prohibiting
/ the free exercise thereof, or use its prop
| erty or credit, or any money raised by
! taxation, or authorize either to be used,
! for the purpose OF founding, maintaining
or aiding. by appropriation, payment for
services, expenses, or otherwise, any
! church, religious denomination or religi-
/ Gus society, or any institution, society.
or undertaking which is wholly, or in
part. under sectarian or ecclesiastical
control"
We believe that these principles, in
corporated In the organic law of the Ma
! ton and of the States viii produce the
/ following results:
! /. Preserve the integrity of the funds,
and the fair and impartial character of
the American free public school sys-
/ tenn.
] D Elir,,inate relirinr1s cnn trnvarsv from