The herald., 1895-03-31
religion AND THE SCHOOLS
The Bible the Subject of a
Warm Discussion
THE TEACHERS ASSOCIATION
Editor Holmes Holds That Newspapers
Are The Best Educators
Edward Hutchison Argues Against the Use
OF the Bible In the Class Rooms
Papers and Addresses
THE TEACHERS ASSOCIATION

The Southern California Teachers As
socaton completed its labors at noon
esterday.
1t was the most numerously attended.
and one of the most interesting sessions
ever held by an educational association in
this state. Some of it's sessions were quite
stormy. Not day passed on which
something in the way of great educa-
tional change was not proposed. The
session of Friday morning was considered
quite stormy, but when the cyclone broke
loose yesterday. it became apparent that
the breeze of Friday was in the nature of
gentle California zephyr.
The first paper on yesterday mornings
programme was read by Hon. e. w.
Holmes OF the Riverside school board.
His subject was The Relation of the Press
to Education. He showed very clearly
that the press is the greatest factor in the
education of today. People are prone to
blame the press for it's shortcomings. The
real trouble lay with the public itself.
Whatever the public wanted was regularly
given by the press in the best manner
that it could use in the delivery. AS a
mat er of fact the public schools are very
poor. They fall far short of the work
they should do for the, children. A
is very poor return for all the money
used and the ten or fifteen years Of the
life of every child. Radical changes are
imperatively demanded. We may expect
very little in the way of improvement
until the public in general becomes wide
enforced. They will never be enforced
until the public knows what it wants.
Professor Earl Barnes Of Stanford spoke
on Religious Education in the Public
Schools. He said that during the early
ages the schools, like the State Govern
and that they had remained in the care
of the church until very recent times /;
that now in France and the United
States-the two great republics of the
world--the schools were absolutely free
from church influence. 1t seemed to him
that we should make the study of re-
lgion a part of our common school cur
riculum. We can teach the religion of Con-
fucius. Buddha and others in the schools;
why should we not teach the sublime
principles of Christianity. He was in q
college lately where the classes studied all
except the Bible OF Christianity. He
asked why it was that the Bible. or some
parts of it, could not find a place in the
work. He received no satisfactory an
swer, and had asked the same question
many times since and always with the
sdIHe result. we TcCOSHlIc the prlHCl pies
of Christianity in our laws in general;
on our coins. In our state legislatures and
prisons and in thousand other places,
and under almost every possible form Of
recognition. This is question of alb
sorbing interest to everybody. California
is now the place of trial and experiment
tation for many new things in the way of
education; why should we not try to
solve the problem of religious education
in the public schools.
The discussion of the religious question
was opened by Miss Florence A. Dunham
of the faculty of the Los Angeles High
School. She wanted the Bible to be used
as a text book in our public schools. FShe
had found that her pupilsswere in the
main, densely ignorant Of the cateebism,
the doctrine of transubstantiatioff, x41si.of
biblical history and of religious doctrines
in general. She thought that if parents
neglected to teach their children these
things they should be taught by the
teachers of the public schools. yss~,