Bishops Offer Two Alternative Education Plans

To The Government
Bishop of Leeds' Speech at Catholic Teachers' Federation
The Bishops who met on June 24 at Archbishop's House, Westminster, have submitted to the Government two alternative schemes in regard to Catholic educational claims.
This was disclosed by Mgr. Poskitt, Bishop of Leeds, in an address at a special conference o f the Catholic Teachers' Federation held in Leeds last Saturday.
Bishop Poskitt did not state the terms of the two. schemes. Their drift, however, may be deduced from the Bishop's words: "If the dual system is to continue, then the State must provide means for future developments that are necessary. If the system is to be unified, then the State must guarantee that there shall be schools f o r Catholic children with Catholic teachers in charge."
1 he Bishop also declared that the Charter of Catholic Education was to he found in the seven points of the Declaration made by the Archbishops and Bishops in 1929.
trout Our Own Correspondent.
LEEDS.
The Catholic Teachers' Conference, held in this city on Saturday, made it quite clear that Catholic teachers as a body are not only alert and vigilant with regard to,the momentous changes which are impending. hut are eager and determined to uphold Catholic tights acid prineipiet
A note of quiet fervour, cool reason, earnest conviction and steadfast purpose dominated the speeches, and one could not resist the impression that if an attempt is unhappily made to force an unjust settlement on the schools tl.c Catholic teachers will be in the forefront of the light.
The resolutions adopted demand (in brief) " erection and full maintenance of all schools front public funds": erection of new denominational schools where required; repair, alteration, improvement and reconstruction (if necessary) of existing non-provided schools; all such schools to be held, ntaintained and managed by the local education authorities on condition that religious instruction is given by approved teachers, and equality of opportunity for all children. Consultative status was also demanded in discussions relating to the new Bill.
SCOTTISH SETTLEMENT It was generally agreed that the Scottish system was the ideal to aim at.
One speaker suggested that the reason why so little had been heard of it in recent talks was due to the fear that Catholics for the first time since 1870 would share in the privileges which other sections of the community enjoy.
Several delegates, however, shied at handing over management of the schools. It was pointed out, on behalf of the Executive. that this was conceded in Scotland and nothing vital had been surrendered.
There was a tendency to criticise the N.U.T. on the ground that they had compromised the Catholic position, and one delegate, a member of the NUT.. urged Catholics to withdraw from that body.
His contentions were brushed aside, however, by other speakers, also in the NUT.. who declared that it was the duty of Catholics to join that organisation in greater numbers, and thus bring to bear greater influence on its policy.
BISHOP POSKITT ON PRINCIPLES Pointing out that in these days there is a great lack of principle, the Bishop of Leeds said: " I maintain that before you do anything or formulate any sort of policy you must have some definite first principles which will be your guide. I believe that the great ignorance of those principles is due to the secularisation of education in this country, by which children arc being brought up without any knowledge of God.
" In these days there has been a great movement by the State to control everything. Fascism, Nazism, Communism and Totalitarianism all believe in the same principle—that the State is supreme in every department of life. Everybody must knuckle under. There are no such things as rights and freedom of the individual.
" We have got to stand up against that sort of thing. In war-time this tendency of the State to over-rule everybody shows itself more and more.
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