The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-07-10
Continued from page ID
WHAT CATHOLIC EDUCATION
SAVES TO THE STATE.

SAVES TO THE STATE.
ment Of religion, or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof" then were ii
demonstrations to sanction one form
of belief rather than another, and espe.
cially so when there is question of inn
posing this exclusive form upon free
citizens who resent and reject it.
Nor does the law quoted by the pa
per we have heard contradict this
statement. In that paper we heard
that the national government laid
down the principle, in 1887, that, RE
ligion, morality and knowledge being
necessary to good government and the
happiness of mankind, s1.eools and the
means of education shall be forever
encouraged"
That the meaning of this statute
could not be taken in the limited
sense as understood by Protestants is
apparent from the First Amendment
just mentioned. Even if such an in
depreciation should be read into the
context of the law of 1887, the declara-
ton clear and explicit of the Amend
ment would forever brush aside any
partisan understanding of real demo
cratic principles.
Catholics agree, nay, they maintain
that education should be religious as
well as secular: but they are unalter.
ably opposed to admitting one form OF
belief rather than another in the
schools which public taxation sup
ports. AS an able author has remarked
They are as much opposed to
divorce between science and religion
in the school, as to divorce between
husband and wife in the family
=
I should like to call attention to- one
point which the distinguished educator
from Philadelphia has placed before
us. 1t is with regard to the paternalis
tic policy which seems to be spreading
in the relations between State and
child. Mention was made of the
various functions social, medical
hygienic, etc.-which have been taker
over from the family and espoused by
the State.
1t might appear narrow or preju
diced to hold that the State is acting
on a wrong principle in this new atti
tude. Doubtless, there are many rea
sons which initiate in favor of this
patronizing conduct on the part Of the
| State. But Gas Mgr. McDevitt has
pointed OUT there are those who fee
that such paternalism on the part o.
| the State may possibly lead to a weak
ening on the part Of the family. There
can be no reasonable doubt that these
various functions are productive Of
good to the recipients. Many families
many parents are unable financially OF
intelligently to attend to the wants anC
the urgent needs of their children. The
State by taking over functions foreign
to the former strict scholastic pro
gram, has perhaps not introduced &
custom alien to real education in its
broadcast sense. But does not all this
SAVIOR too much of the Big Brother
idea carried to extremes? Is it not
conceivable that the real substantial in
education may be subordinated to
mere accidentals, that culture and
mental growth may be thereby re
tarded, that the elimination of the
three RS, or at least their relegation
to an inferior post, may prove detri
mental to solid, lasting intellectual
strength?
1t may be objected that tenacious
ness with regard to the three RS is
obsolete conservatism, that it is based
on the fallacy that we must ever
cling to that which is old, that new
conditions require new remedies, etc
To all this it may be answered that
there is false and a true conserva
tism. If. the municipality of Venice a
few years ago had allowed the famous
Campanile to lie PROSTATE where il
fell, those men would have been
falsely conservative. Instead of this
they at once set about to repair the
injury to the beautiful tower, and thus
they preserved the essentials without
harm or detriment.
Again, if the State takes over sc
many of the duties that formerly were
thought to belong to the home, is il
not possible that the home may there
by suffer, inasmuch as the influence
of the home is proportionately
lessened in those very things in which
the home itself should be preeminent:
The innate trouble with paternalism is
that in the long run it tends to awaken
resentment in many quarters. In this
case it seeks to remedy a sporadic
defect in the home by encouraging a
like apathy in other homes. The Big
Brother idea is all right in it's place;
but in the matter of State supervision
over certain phases of the educational
process, as at present constituted, il
is apt to be overdone.
They who advocate State supervi
sion in such matters are led to believe
that in this way the rising generation
of men and women will be better
trained than their parents, and be
better able to take. care of their chill
dren in all those things which the
State now feels obliged to promote
and to attend to. To many thinkers
however, there is a pet fallacy here
For if the present generation is accus.
toned to such extra care and attention
on the part of the State there is good
reason to believe that the next genera.