The Welsh Coast Pioneer and Review for North Cambria

Religious Persecution in Merionethshire. By the Vicar of Conway. THAT the unjust action of the Merionethshire County Council in1, refusing to supply even fire to p Church schools amounts to' a, religious persecu- tion of those -who claim Liberiv to teach the verities of the Christian faith to their own chil- dren, in their own schools, and at their own expense, must be obvious to anybody who looks a' the facts of the case. What, are the facts? I.Defiance of the Law of the Land. By trying to destroy ;che Voluntary Schools the County Council are acting in flagrant defiance, not only of the Act of 1902, but also of the Act of 1S70, passed by a Liberal Government expressly, not to supplant, but to supplement Voluntary schools. Mr W. E. Forster, who was respon- sible for the 1870 Act, said "There must be the utmost endeavour not. to injure existing and efficient schools. Our object as 'to com- pldte the' Voluntary system." Mr Mu.nd.ella, another Liberal Education Minister, said of Voluntary schools., "They hadi done a noble work, which, Parliament had 'neglected to do." "So -Statesman, could diminish their utility, or EWe'ep themi away." And so Mr Asquith says .to-day, "Voluntary schools must be helped. They aire an integral and indispensable part of our national system." Liberals who agree with the Act of 1870 ought, like Sir Ed- ward Gray, to "have no quarrel with the prin- ciple of the 'Bill" of 1902. The principle of both Acts is the same. It is to supplement, and not supplant, Voluntary schools. It is to assist, and not destroy, "existing and efficient schools." The Merionethshire County Council, therefore, by their policy of supplanting, instead of sup- plementing, Voluntary schools, ar.e actually sub- verting the law of the .land, as -expressed in the Acts of 1870 ,and 1902. And yet this body of gentlemen include a dozen Nonconformist magi- strates who have taken, we presume, an oath of allegiance to the King, and to the statutes of his realm! 2.—Unjust to Ratepayers. (i.) The Voluntary schools have saved the rates in the past. A system, which since 1870 has raised over 30 million pounds .in voluntary conribu- t'ions, providing exceHenteducation without re- ceiving a penny from the rafces, -and supplying buildings, without support either from rates or grants, has necessarily put into the pockets of Merionethshire ratepayers many thousands of pounds. (ii.) The Voluntary schools will save the rales ill the future. It is h ue that infer the new Act a concession has been made Ita those who have been demanding rate-provided education in order that they may have more voice1 in the management of schools provided -by the Church. The rate, however, under this Act as -.Diily, toward's a portion of one of the many litems of school expenditure—"maintenance." Ail the other items-andl they are amongst the heaviest in all School lB4oardl accounts-sites, buildings, extensions, structural repairs, pay- ment of-interest on loan, etc., must be, provided by the denomination owning the- school. The action of the County Council in trying to force on the rates all the heavy expenditure which, under -the Act, is to be provided; by Voluntary contributions, deserves the serious attention of •Merionethshire ratepayers. To replace the pre- sent 'Church school's-with new buildings, say, for 2,000 places at £15 per child, which is less than the average cost of School Board buildings, would cost the ratepayers £ 30,000. Probably, expen:sie, would be less, but if you addiedi the interest on loans, the total burden on the rates could nc-,ic possibly be under £ 30,000. If ths Council bought, extended, and-repaired the pre- sent schools, the expense could not be much IS S3'. (iii.) The new, Act saves ths rates in School Board areas by (a) giving to Board schools an additional grant of about Ss per -child, which, "Ler deducting grants under Agricultural Ra'c-es A, t, withdrawn, would relieve the ratepayers by about £1,800 every year. (b) Spread- ing the edu'-cation rata over the Voiuri- tary school area as' well as over the School Board area. 3.—Nonconformist Grievances Reduced to Less than one-fifth. S In Merionethshire there are 7,452 children in average attendance in the Elementary schools. Of this .number, only 1,464 are in Church schools. So- that the Act, which the County Council are actively resisting, secures for four- fifths of the children in the county all that the Nonconformists ask for, without calling upon them to contribute one penny qua Nonconform- ists, while Churchpeople, who, hesidles provid- ing sites, buildings, extensions, and structural repairs, etc., pay, we understand, half the rates the county, ane not allowed: by the authorities to have out of the ,education rate of 8% d in the even. the, IUd in the £ which has bean. gained by the attendance and efficiency of their schools This is surely not only illegal, but un- just and immoral. 4.—Unreasonable Attitude. The County Council are unjust because they demand the full control of schools which they have not provided. The motto, "No control, no. cash," is excellent. So, also, is i'ts correla- tive, "N0 cash, no control." For if Church schools receive no share of the rat-es tOo which Churchpeople so largely contribute, the Mar.a- gers can justly say to the County Council, "'Hands off from any interference We pay the rates, we save, the rates, and we get nothing from ;,he .rates. No cash, -no control!" But what says the Act? Concerning pro- vided 'schools, it says: "Full pay, fullcontrol." Concerning nan-provided schools it ema-clts as, justly: "Part pay, part control. TheCoun ty Council shews its unreasonableness in demanding the same control over 'schools which it has provided, and schools which it has not provided. 5.-N(:i Ground for Grievance Left. We have shown that four-fifths of the children j, of the county are in schools managed absolutely by the public authorities. With regard to the remaining schools, teaching less than one-fifth of the children, we can say without fear of ccn- rAd,ic,tio,n- (i ) Nonconformists will not be asked to support tv"ll ne secular /'flucation- iit Ch-litcli. schcols. The proportion. which Churchpe-cple ednkribute in rates. is more than enough to pay twice over fcr keeping every- Church school in Merionetb- I shire in thei highest state of efficiency, without asking a penny from Nonconformist ratepayers. (ii.) Nonconformists will still less be asked to contribute towards Church tcacJÛllg in Church schools. His Honour fudge Bompas, a prominent Nonconformisic, has stated that in non-provided schools the cost of religious instruction is more than d,efraye,d by the use rent free of the school- rooms provided by voluntary contributions. (iii.) Strict public control over Church schools. Every Church school in the county is under the strict control of the a. Board of Education. b. Inspector. c. County Council Education Committee. d. County Council Local Management Com- mittee, and e. The School Managers, fouir df whom are appointed in. accordance with the Trust Deeds, and two by the Public Authori- ties. Anybody who reads the Act, or knows anything of schools, knows that the real control is vested in the public auithoni-ti-eiS', the: School, 'Managers being now m.ore than ever a:n executive body to carry out instructions received from higher au- thority. To say, therefore, that the Act gives no public control over Church schoollsl is to say that black is white, and no honest man will say it. Church Schools iiiitlci- ivoiicoiiforiiiist control. On the Merioneth Education Committee we under- stand there are 24 Nonconformists, and! two Churchmen, and on the Festiniog, Barmouth, and Harlech Local .Mana.gem!e!n!t Committees the County and Local Councils have used their majority to. elect Nonconformists only! Conse- quently, far from being under no public con- trol, Church schools in Merionethshire are ac- tually under Nonconformist control! 6.—Provision for Vduntary Schools, because there was no Mandate for Universal Boat-ti Schools The stipulation that the.r.e should be a major- ity of foundation managers o.n every Voluntary school, whether it be Church, Wesleyan, Brit- ish, Roman Catholic, or Jewish, is. Ichie only ■guarantee under the Act that the religious teach- ing shall be in accordance with the trust deed-s of the school. This stipulshio,n, which is so distasteful to' many, was absolutely necessary. The only alternative was to pass a measure for universal 'Board schools, for which there was certainly Homandlate, from the country. 7.-Denomiiiatit:nal Schools Above Guaramee Religious Education. From what we know of Merionethshire schools, it is obvious that the Church schools alone can secure Christian, instruction for the child according to the- wishes of the parent. (I) In Church schools the 'Nonconformist parent can choose either to withdraw his children from part or from the whol.e. of the, syllabus of reli- gious instruction. There- is no forcing of even the Lord's Prayer on any Nonconfomist child. Nay, the undisputed fact that Nonconformist parents have rarely withdrawn their children, as they might have easily- done, proves that the teaching given in Church schools has been wel- comed, because! it has been undenominational in the best sense of 'che word. In Church schools religious insllructlon :s not watered down into "the lowest common denominator" of the Meri- onethshire iSchool Boards, which give Bible reading for a few minutes "withou'c comment." ,O,n the contrary, it teaches the p-ain elementary principles of Christian teaching, and Uaristian- practice, which are embodied as much in the Catechisms of khe Wesleyan..and Calvin.istic Methodists, as they are in the- Catechism of the Church.. (2) On, the other handi, in Merionethshire Board schools a Church parent, a short time- ago at any raILe, could not g-cit Christian teach- ing for his child, however much he might be convinced that Biblel truth was a Christian child's birthright, and ou-gbt to be given aJUn as his "daily bread." For from Blue Büok, 1895, the last official return on religious teach- ing in Board) schools, we gather the following facts concerning Merionethshire schools — School Boar, Where Bible teaching is given. 1 Where the Bible is read with few comments or questions 6 Where only Scripture repetition is required 1 Where the Bible is read without comment.. 7 Where the Bible knowledge is tested by examination 0 Wiiere Lhe ijibltsia not even read 6 21 In 20 out of 21 School Boards there- is no systematic Christian instruction for children. In. 13 there is not even a comtnenic allowed on Christ's attitude towards little- children. (3) A large number of Nonconformists are of opinion that religious' eduication, though so vital to the child and to the .nation, should be left to voluntary agencies, and are, therefore, in favour of a purely secular education, or, in olcher words, of shutting out the Bible' from the' syllabus of the schools. At a cb.nfe-re,i-ice, of North Wales" Nonconformists .held last year at Llandudno, a resolution was actually pass-ed, in, favour of secular education. (4) Nonconformists have pledged 'themselves to abolish "tests." To. abolish tests as to the, qualifications of a teacher to give' Christian teaching with due -rev.erencie: and ability is to make the religious teaching worthless, or at best, uncertain. It surely follows that Churchmen, in fighting for the retention of itheir own schools -are only fighting for thelelementary right of ci;tiz-e,nship- the right to secure a. Christian educationi to their children m. their own schools and at their own -expense. If this bare jusiilce is-now to be denied them. we have come indeed to the days of religious persecution. 8.iteligious f quality Under the Acl. The Act of 1902 gives, nothing to the Church, which it does not offer on the isam-e terms to every .sect in the land. The Church gai'ns nothing under khe Act except equal financial n support in return for equal secular efficiency, even here the' Noncan.form.iat children at- tending Church Schools receive the full benefit of the increased ,e;fficiency. 9.-Retigious Inequality Under the Act. As a matter of fact, from the foregoing state- ments it must be clear that under the Act the Church loses a great deal, and the 'Nonconfor- mists gain a great deal. Churchmen who have in the past spernt millions of money, and who, under this Act, are called upon to provid-e sites, buildings, extensions, repairs, etc., rent free to the education authority, have lost all their con- trol over the secular education. They cannot now even choose a reading book, fix the holli- .days, or order a slate pencil, while Nonconfor- mists, w.ithoutt contributing one penny qua Non- conformists not only have their own way with four-fifths of the children, but also1 have a voice ,on the management of the schools which; Church- men have built at their own. expense. If any- body has a right to complain of religious: in- equality undler the Acit it is the Churchman. 10.—Tearing Up Trust Deeds. Churchmen built their schools, as Noniccnfor- r mists built their chapels, on the faith that their, truislt d'eeds would be respected. The Morion- ethshire County Council wish to coerce Church- men to give up' the.ir schools on conditions which t'eaJ1 up their t'rust deeds. In honour and con- science Ohurchpeople cannot accept such terms. If.-Who is to be Blamed? It is nothing less than a ndtion,aldiisa,siter that Welshmen cannot unite to adopt a truly national system, of education based o.n the Word of God. The two best educatedl countries in Europe'— Scotland and (leriiiany-h,a,v,e, established theja national system many years ago on the broad basis of efficiency in religious and secular edu- cation. Who is responsible for the continued delay in settling this question in England and 11 z;1 Wales? While Mr W. E. Forster, Mr Glad- stone, Mr E. Mi-all, and! Mr Mundella have testi- fied that the clergy of the church have been "the best friends of education," we have testimonies of unprejudiced authorities that Nonconformists are not free from serious responsibility in thtig matter. Mr Lloydi George, M.P., though ne objects apparently to "putting Christianity o,n the rates," maintains that the policy -of ex- cluding the Bible from the schools has failed. "That position," he says, "was taken up in Wales thirty or forty years ago., andi no attitude adopted by Nonconformity had done more than that to reltar.dl the true solution of the .education probliera. ("Manchester Guardian," September 215th). The.late Dean Howell wrote (June 14th, 1895) "I will give way to 'no man in my respect for Welsh Nonconformists, but I do not the less deplore their attitude oil the subject of element- ary education." Under these circumstances, the action of ^-3 Merionethshire! County Coullcilis unjustifiable, and amounts to a religious persecution of those who, in the past at any rate, are admitted to have been "the best friend's of education." J. P. LEWIS. ell

Mr fioweil Mris on Welsh Music. Its Elevating Influences. MR. T. HOWELL Imus, the selected Liberal can- didate. for the Flinit Boroughs, addressed a meet- ing promoted- by local Congregaticnalists at Ilold on New Year's Eve. He said that music was the naltlicmal recreation of the Welsh people— a higher form of recreation than that of any other nation in the: world. In four out, of the five continents he had: met Welshmen, but he never yet met with a Welshman who had lost his love for his nation or his race. It was a delight to hear national melodies, but when once he he,ar,d, the strains of "The March of the Men of Harlech" burst out in the silence of the night, in the course of a journey through, Egypt he was enchanted, andl his mind: flew back to his native country. tie afterwards learned that the singers were a party of American-Welsh people- who still retained their love o-f the Welsh nationality. Music, as they knew, had a very elevating in- fluence. The most- holy and the best use of music was in the devout worship of God. He was gladl to see that the, Pope 'was instituting improvemenitS' in congregational singing in Catholic Churches. He hoped the Pope had in his mind some of the Welsh.congregational sing- ing, because, he' (the speaker) knew there was no other congreigational singing to equal that in Wales. Why was -it the Principality was so pre- eminently musical? He was inclined to think -that much might be du,e to race and tradition, but he thought it was mostly due to the variety and beauity of the scenery of their native land. They owed much to music in the- past, and they hoped for much from it in' the future; and he trusted they would' all do their utmcslt to sup- port this national institution, and makes- Wales more and more what it had been so often de- scribed. "A land1 of song." (Applause.) » —

Why have Bile Beans Succeeded ? SIMPLY because of their unequalled curative properties. People always prefer the best—you do yourself. A few years ago Chas. Fo-rde's bile beans were stocked only by a few of the leading and most far seeing English chemists. j To-day every medicine vendor of note in the British Isles, and in fact the whole world over, stocks them, and they are the most widely used fami'y medicine. Their origin and their increase is most inter- esting. Some years ago, Chas. Ford.e, an eminent Australian scientist, discovered a pure- ly vegetable substance which has the peculiar property of acting on the human system in ex- actly the same way as nature's animal substance, bile. After much careful study he combined this substance with some eight other vegetable ingredients, and then concentrated the product so obtained until a suitable dose could be com- pressed into' the space: offered- by a small bean. This medicine made up in the form of a "I>ean for the bile," soc% became known as "Bile Beans." Their use simply revolutionised the old methodl of pepsin, bismuth, or mercury dos- ing, and of starving sufferers from liver trouble and indigestion by placin'g them on liquid diet. Bile beans do not give temporary relief only, andi leave the patient weakened, like the out-of- date, so-called remedies of forty or fifty years ago, containing probably aloes, mercury, and other 'harmful drugs. Bile beans without the slightest discomfort, promptt, the liver and digestive organs to act in nature's normal waiy, leaving those organs strengthened and stimulated. They produce a gentle action on the bowels, ,curing or preventing constipation, cleansing the stomach, and ridding the system of all im- purities. Do not be misledi by claims of half a hundred pills in the box, where probably four to six constitute a dose, and1- the doses cannot be discontinued. One bile bean is one dose. They can be discontinued after the cure is effected; they are purely vegetable they do not contain any harmful drugs, and they are the safest family medicine. Of all medicine vendors at is iyd. or 2S gd. per family box (2s gd contains three times i s i Y,- d). Post free uponl receipt of price from the Bile Bean Co., Red Cross-street, Lon- don, E.C.

—— Constlable- Wilson, of the Royal Irish Con- stabulary, shot himself through the head 011 Sunday ,al¡ Saintfield, co. Dawn. Fir,e broke out, on Monday, at Hudson's Soap Works, Liverpool. Tlbe brigade turned! out in full strength, and scon ,extinguished the flames. Wililiam 'Beeches-tone, a West Bronfwich safe-maker, cut his throat w'hh a razor. He then walked, to 'the canal and threw himseM in.

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