The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1911-04-29
NON RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION
SHOULD IT BE- CONTINUED IN OUR
PUBLIC SCHOOLS?
DR.. Walsh Discusses the Need o
Religious Education.

Religious EDUCATION.
About century and half ago, de-
clares DR.. ]. J. Walsh in the
"Columbiad," the French encycloped-
lists insisted that education would
prove the panacea for human ills and
human failings. When men only knew
enough, they asserted, they would not
commit crime, and the disappearance
of ignorance would take away with it
infractions of law and of course infrac-
tions of morality. Since then we have
had great development of popular
education. 1t is supposed that this is
the first time in the worlds history
that there has been such a marvellous
development of popular education.
Nearly everywhere now in our west
ern civilization the proportion of those
who cannot read and write in practi-
cally all of the civilized countries is
very small
Nearly everywhere now not only is
there education in the elements, how
ever, but great many people are TAX
| ing advantage of the opportunity for
high school or secondary education.
Besides this very large number are
securing the opportunity for university
education. There are those who think
that there was never time in the
worlds history when there was so
much higher education, but as the au-
thorities in educational history show
us very clearly in the early days of the
universities, in the thirteenth and
fourteenth centuries, when Bologna
had nearly 10000 students, Paris more
than 10000 and Cambridge and Ok
ford from 5000 to 10000, it is probable
that in proportion to the population
there we're more people receiving the
higher education than at the present
time. There is no doubt, however,
that there are many great develop
Iments of the opportunities and facili-
ties for education and that an increas
ingly large number of people are tax.
ing advantage of them, since the time
when the French encyclopedias in.
sisted that education would mean SO
much to prevent crime among man.
kind. Let us see then what has been
the result and whether it has come up
to the expectations of these supposed
authorities.
Popular Education and Crime.
Have the nations of Europe been
able to shut up their jails and limit
their court facilities just in proportion
to the extent to which they have de-
veloped popular education? Is it the
best educated countries that have the
least crime? We in the United States
have perhaps the most widely diffused
system of popular education anywhere
in the world. 1t is obligatory and
probably therefore fewer escape it's in
f1uence than in any country. Have
we found ourselves with useless jails
and prisons on our hands? AS our
system of education has developed and
affected more and more of people have
we been under the agreeable necessity
of turning prison yards into pleasant
parks for the innocent people that
have been created by this system ot
education? Far from it. Our jails are
increasing in the need of accommoda.
tions faster than our population. Be
sides this, our lawyers and judges
complain that there is a miscarriage
of justice because many criminals are
not convicted. Our convictions fol-
crime by violence particularly are en-
tirely too few. 1t is evident that the
promise of the encyclopedias has not
been fulfilled. Education, or at least
; the imparting of information to people
does not help them to repress evil in
clinations nor such selfishness as
makes them attempt to do injustice tc
others, nor does it lessen any of the
other infractions of law and of morals
1t has been said that education sure
ly lessons crime, though perhaps il
may fail to lessen crimes by fraud
This is, as it were, an extenuation
People who have evil inclinations and
who are educated will of course be
just that much better fitted by theil
education to use whatever intellectual
capacity they have for evil purposes
We have had abundant examples ot
that. The honest tradesman or farm
ers son who obtains a smattering oi
education becomes a promoter and
succeeds by clever advertising meth
DDS in cheating the poor out of theil
money. The bright young fellow
whose folks thought he had brilliant
, future before him proves very soon tc
| have the brilliancy Of his career be
, hind him because he has been caugh'
| at some scheme for making m oney
J through the very cleverness that was
! increased for him by the imparting o
, lot of information It has been EN-
phasized, however, that in spite of thi.
unfortunate evil affect of education i
; is sure to have good effect ovel
! crime by violence. Wherever mer
are educated there are less murders
less burglaries, less holdups, and les.