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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN'S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
CATHOLICS AND EDUCATION; A DEBATE
Note: An incident of the recent political cam
paign in Georgia, about which we can now talk with
out being accused of “being in politics,” was the use
of an article that appeared originally in The Chris
tian Index, a religious organ published in Atlanta,
and which arraigned the Catholics as being opposed
to education. As soon as the article appeared it
was answered by the publicity department, and it
was believed the matter was closed, even though the
editors of The Index never printed the reply nor
even acknowledged receiving it. However, a candi
date for congress in one of the superheated districts
saw fit to have The Index article reprinted in various
papers. Thereupon our reply was printed in such
papers, as paid advertising. It attracted much atten
tion and is reprinted below because it is considered a
fair statement of the Catholic attitude toward the
Smith-Towner bill and education generally. Readers
of The Bulletin are asked to familiarize themselves
with the article, as this question is a live one. The
reprint is taken from The Augusta Herald, one of
the papers in which the candidate had The Index
article published. The headlines are as printed in
The Herald:
(From Augusta, Ga., Herald, August 21, 1920.)
THE CHRISTIAN INDEX INDORSES NATIONAL
AID FOR COMMON SCHOOLS.
In Its Issue of Augusta, 12, 1920, The Christian Index
Has the Following as Its Leading Editorial.
ROMAN CATHOLICS AND PUBLIC EDUCATION.
The opposition of the Roman Catholic Church to a
bill now pending before the American congress, and
the attitude of the leaders of this Church towards all
questions affecting the attitude of our people in their
support of our public school system, is momentous.
This attitude of the Catholics is illustrated in cer
tain recent developments which our people will do
well to study. /
It will be remembered that there is now a bill pend
ing which proposes certain federal aid for our public
school systems throughout the nation. This bill sets
forth the basis of this distribution of national funds
as follows: That a fund of one hundred million dol
lars be appropriated for the support of our public
schools. Fifty million to be used in providing an
equalization basis for every State; by this is meant
the guarantee of the children of those States which
have a low scale of funds for education the same priv
ileges as the children of the States which already af
ford a high basis of school privileges; seven and a half
million for the removal of illiteracy; fifteen million
for the preparation of teachers; twenty million for
physical education and seven and a half million for
Americanization. Of this total fund it is provided
that Georgia would receive $775,000 for work among
our illiterates; $1,438,000 in providing a basis of
equalization of school privileges; $567,000 for phys
ical education; $8,589 for Americanization; $362,000
for the preparation of our teachers. Georgia would
receive a total allotment of $3,152,525.
Very well, some details of this bill have been given
in order that we might be understood in what is to
follow.
Is federal aid for public education desirable? On
the first blush, the average man will want to think
a moment to see what is meant by the proposal. The
first thing to remember is the fact that we already
have federal aid for agricultural colleges, and have
had it for several years. Georgia, and every other
State in the nation, enjoys this aid. A second thought
would cause us to desire to know what our school
people think of federal aid. They are in the business.
They have to study the problem. They naturally take
a position which they believe is for the weal of the
people. What do they say? The National Education
Association has voted with enthusiasm and insistence
that such a bill be enacted. The Georgia Education
Association, at its session in Macon this spring, unani
mously voted for the passage of such a law. Our
superintendent of schools in Georgia, Mr. M. L.
Brittain, has given his hearty indorsement to the ef
fort to secure federal aid and is lending his thought
and time in working for its enactment. Our leading
statesmen are giving closest attention to the ques
tion and many of them have declared their belief that
it is the one solution of our great educational problem.
Is there opposition to the bill? Yes. Where does
it come from? The Roman Catholics. The Cath
olics give two reasons in their opposition to the bill,
or to any such bill. It is widely published from their
leaders that one basis of opposition is the fact that
the Catholic Church stands for State’s Rights and
that federal aid for our public schools would mean
federal control of our public schools. Cardinal Gib
bons has had much to say about this particular phase
of the question. Of all people who might be certain
to believe in States’ Rights, as an abstract principle,
certainly Baptists, Southern Baptists, would be the
first to come into one’s mind. But is the question of
States’ Rights relevant? We have federal aid for our
agricultural schools at this time. It has been opera
tive for some time. Has any one heard of the fed
eral government taking any hand in the control of
our schools that in any way weakens the rights of
the separate States in the administration of the funds?
At this point we desire to quote from the proposed
bill: “All educational facilities encouraged by the
provisions of this Act and accepted by a State shall
be organized, supervised and administered exclu
sively by the legally constituted State and local edu
cational authorities of said State, and the secretary
of education shall exercise no authority in relation
thereto except as herein provided to insure that all
funds apportioned to said State shall be used for the
purposes for which they are appropriated, and in ac-