New-York tribune., 1907-12-27

NEW.
be reconciled to the arbitrary diversion Of their
investment, long afterwards, TO another purpose
between 1869 and 1876 houses for over mllion
school children We're erected by denonlnauonaI
agencies, and the total OF voluntary suDscrlp-
lions i0r that purpose in that time was over
&5,0o0.00G. Besides the claim il equity whlch on
the basis Of sucl facts the churcnes assert II Is
probably true that the majority Of the Engnsh
people, however much they may diner as 10
oetalis, and TO whatever rival sect they belong,
"ould De Stlll more dlscontented IL All reiisiouS
LttacliIg were 10 disappear IRON their ScAoNiS
Ihere Is increasing inpatience. no doubt, WitH
the conflicting demands and disputes or the
churches, growing tendency to say "a plague
on both your houses; let the taX-pald educatioh
be purely secular; but in spite OF Such outoursts
1 believe the decided majority OF the TAX
payers still think religious instruction neees-
slty for the rising generation, and do n9t thlIik
they would nave adequate security lor SetrtliSS
II, IL II We're excluded from the taN-SuppoI tIu
schools Until 1870 the daily reading OF the
Bible was an essential condition OF getting any
Government aid for elementary school, ana
it is still habtually read in most of the scaools,
even where not required by any authority
The leading English lines CT thought on tne
subject finally found expression in TWO orSam-
cations which have conJended for many years
The Birmingham League, made notable 10 US
by the Flce-Chairmanshlp OF Mr.: Joseph Si"t ~ NJ
beraln, II not also by the SecretafySnlp ol MI:
Jesse Ceilings, advocated a National system Ol
education be compulsory on all free to all
and unsectarian. but not TO exclude undenonl-
national religious instruction. The National
Education Union represented the established
church and was organized TO oppose tHe
efforts Of the Birmingham Union, ana heId
on to the Church hymns and the Cnurcn Cel
Catechisnl. To this day the contest RACES,
The most hotly fought measure OF the the
present Liberal Government was MI. ~ flli eII
bin Cpassed after long debate in the commons
and thrown out by the Lords) which attempted
a considerable advance towards the ioeaIS %
the Birmingham League The way III Whici
the other side regarded il was hinted IN lhe
epithet by which many of the London neWs- T
papers had the habit of describlng "'-hii
religion
SOME ERRORS CORRECTED
During the popular debates over this meas
,,re | received a letter from the Editor OF Inc
Salisbury Times" besides several from pIlfaee
sources all calling my attention to startllhs
statement made in speech on the supJect al
nollticai meeting in Salisbury, by a WeH-khoWl
and perfectly reputable conservative caiioiN0o'
TO this effect: ,, as
abolished in the day schools crime has lncreaseu
10 per cent. In the United States IN Ios'o tiieLe
was one crime to every 3.422 OF the popuIat.aon' .
bur TODAY there is one criminal for every oUo'
In Denver out Of 10000 boys, 2oOU o. u-Glll
have been in Jail. Now, we do not want t"e
same thing 10 happen in Great Britain
l was asked if these statements were hot ms ms
leading and l prepared such reply as caretuI
inquiry seemed to show that the Iacls Nat ,
ranted But there at the moment no such
storm-centre in British politics as TINS reilSous
phase of the educational question; ana on sec
ond thoughts IL appeared wiser lof olpIoIit ;S ~
obey the old rule about rigorous care to aVolG
getting in any way involved in the domestic de-
bates of the country TO which he was accreolted,
even If it should be at the temporary coSl ot
not promptly correcting misapprehenslons ABOUT
his country.
Now, il would have been easy, first. to call at
tention to the curious fact that the statements
were strikingly like some unwise stories pup
lished from time to time some only few years
earlier in American reviews OF hlsh stanoine'
concerning an alleged increase OF juvenile CRIME
in London, following the extension there or the
free school system. Next, as TO the alIeSatlohs
concerning the United States, it might nave peeh
said at that they were lneXact' ahu thdt'
even if they had been accurate, they would nave
needed to be made more complete TO aNold CIV
ing an inaccurate impression.
They were inexact because the latest census
statistics available. those furnished by the Cen
sus Office in 1904 show that instead OF one Grim
inal to every three hundred OF population there
is only one to every $780, also that there has
been a reduction between 1890 and 19V4, not
merely in the proportion OF CRIMINALS 10 lolat
population. but also in the actual nuhper OF
criminals in spite of the increase OF popuiaaon;
and finally that the Census Office believes that
its own returns of criminals before 1850 were
imperfect making the number previous 20 that
date too small, and consequently exaggeratns
the increase in the next decades.
Then, even il these allegations had been exact,
they would still have given an inaccurate i'm
preston anyway. II is obviously misleading TO
point TO the number OF criminals and say tnat IS
the work of your educational system, without
showing whether these criminals have ever been
under the system. Plainly you must know what
proportion of the whole population has not been
taught at all in our schools, and next what pro-
portion Of the criminals that llfterate part fur-
nishes. Thus in the largest states, New York
and Pennsylvania, the wholly illiterate are only
4 per cent Of the population yet they furnlsn
80 per cent of the prisoners. If you add 10 the
wholly iliterate In those states the othgrs .ir
enumerated as very deficient, you find that the
two classes furnish 90 per cent of the prisoners.
Again, il is obviously misleading to use sta
tistics Of crime as evidence of a bad effect OF
the educational system. without mentioning
that, while the educational system has been
steadily extending, the number Of CRIMINALS IN
the same period has been shrinking-havinS
been in the whole United States l 32 TO the 100
coo of population in 1880, and only 101 in 1S94
And again. it is obviously misleading TO hold
the educational system responsible for an in
crease of prisoners clearly caused by changes
in the laws. Thus, in the State of Massachu-
setts, in period Of thirty-five years, (between
1850 and 1850 commitments by the courts in
creased, yet crimes against persons and prop
erty rapidly decreased and al crimes except
ing intemperance decreased. Now. more rigid
laws against DRUM enness and the more fre-
ouent arrests that followed hardly with
fairness be charged to the growth of the edu-
cational system.
AS to the Denver case know less. but from
the report of the Juvenile Court of Denver for
1904 it appears, not that one boy in live was
sent to jail each year but that in the six years
previous the establishment OF the court
about one boy in seven out of the total popula-
tion of boys between ten and sixteen years or
age had been as the court said, under the old
system thrust into jail In the two years
after the establishment Of the court it tried but
719 cases and committed only "A.
Whether religious instruction should be en-
forced upon everybody in English schools Is
purely a question for English people. We have
no right and no disposition 10 meddle with It;
and venture to think the facts just cited
prove that there is nothing in either our edu-
cational or o. criminal record to make II
needful for any of them to import US into it.
SUGGESTIVE FACTS FOR AMERICANS.
And yet / cannot help feeling that on the
general subject might proftably take hint
from the old country. Whatever else we may
say about the English schools they do turn out