The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1895-03-28

Tho Catholic Proposition paclarGa TO DO .
violation of ome Of the Foundation rrin-
y cipiss of state Organization --' Ehe State
Shall Not support Religion"
~ WINNIPEG, Man, March % Tho reno
dial order on separate schools Hoes not
come up in the legislature until toni ght,
but ID Is nevertheless thg one topic of tho
day here Both tine gpvyrn,nent and oppo
sition are holding frequent cuneIls meet
tnss, and what the urtr1me Will be Is diff
flouit to predict. Oap ding is certain, that
che Manitoba government Will riSent in
Serference by Ottawa on ohucatiunnl mat.
ters. There Ia every indication that the
policy of the opposition in the legislature
will be to advocate some notifications OF
she school law-in other words, sdine sort
of compromise The opposition Of Pre-
xnier Greenw.ty and tho government is
clearly outlined The newspaper rorgan OF
the government has this official statement,
under the heading "Manitobas Answer"
"rhe remedial order has been read In
She legislature. We are asked tp restore
the school system that was in operation
previous to 1880 Lot Quebec and Ottawa
rest assured that the restoration will mover
be made. Manitoba has too keen sense
OF Justice, too much regard for truth and
equity, to recognize as u religious aristoo-
racy an element to its population by no
means the most worthy. As a civilized
people, attempting 80 realize In a measure
the idols Of thu nineteenth century, Mani
tobans will moi ,licntly submit to the pre-
posterous demand that shs shoule turn
back the wheels of progress 300 years. She
will stubbOunly refuse TO supplaht mod
orn civilization by medinvaism.
EfIhfu xp1,nln I'd mot N mr.
between Manitoba and the Dominion. 1t
Ia not evon II quarrel between rabes and
creeds; IL is a struggle t!s to whether tho
ideas of the nineteenth century or the
ideas of the dark ages shall prevail. The
act of 1899 WAS Designed to givs every
church in the land the benefits OF common
school education 1t recognized neither
class nor creed, hat placed all on tIe same
level of common citizenship. 1t aimed at
development in this noble country unity
of sentiment, u strong feeling Of brother
hood, and 1t sought to SINK all prtjudices
and class distinction through making all
equal in the sght of thu law.
Gould anything be more wiser Could
anything be ,uora justY Yet what was
tho attitude of the Roman Catholic
church, Standing inside wrapped up in
its black mantle Of arrogance, ii demanded
shat 1t should be considered religious
aristocracy. IL refused to have the chill.
dren Of its mHnihers receive instructions
side by side with tho children OF those who
are their supcsiors IN Intelligence und wis.
dom And on what ground4Y 1t said
Catholics were promised different treat
ment from others by tho act that called
the province into existcnce.
"Then when shown that even IL this
were true, which it is not, no Just citizen
would claim fuiilnent of the promise,
Rince 1t would yiolGte ona Of the lounda.
tion principles of state organization equal
rights to all lit gave second reasbn that
tho public schools are Protestant, II the
refusal OF Roman Catholic to act us n
member Of the department of education,
and of the agcb bishop to act rs member
OF the advisory bonrd, could make the
schools Protestant, then they are so other
wise, not u shallow OF proof has bten aa-
Sanced in support of this claim.
"MldiiGyalism cannot or Will not coal.
esoe with modern Thought. In place of the
act Of lS01 what "A substitute is offered?
We arc asked to set orcOd against creed
and race against race; to break Ip tho
unity than should exist; to mutually sup.
port each lthor in wrong doing; to make
She state tho ;on,hpr OF religious truth.
Any ono who has the lenIt sense Of jus.
Slte any uhe Who ~ patriotic IN uheRlighU'
ost degree, any Que who believes that all
oiiiIuns arc equal in the sight of the law,
aud what Is good enough for ono ID good
enough for all. must stand by the act OF
lSg0.
'And this Is our answer to Quehep We
shall not allow the state to support rc
ligion. We shall not allow the church tc
control the state We shall not return tG
the civilization Of The dark ages, WI shall
mot recognize Rome as better or in any
way different from others. We shall hold
70 the principle Of equal rights for ;ll and
shat principle shall be dearer to uA than
not ftipratlon itsnlf -