On Friday week an important and interesting debate began in
the French Chamber of Deputies on the schools question. For some time many of the Bishops have been complaining that the ecoles laiques—that is, the "provided" or "neutral" schools—are not really neutral. The debate was opened by M. Dessoye, the president of the Ligne de l'Enseignement, the well-known society which supports the principle of religious neutralitY. His speech was an indictment of Roman Catholics for carrying on a regular campaign against the neutral schools, and he demanded that the State should obtain more control over the &des fibres, or "free " schools, which are maintained chiefly by the Ron: an Catholic Church. He revealed the extraordinary difficulties cf the situation, as it is evident that there is no accepted definition of the meaning of the word neutrality. Jules Ferry used to say that it ought to mean neutrality in religious teaching and in nothing else ; but according to M. Dessoye, the Bishops pretend that any state- ment, perhaps only remotely or not at all concerned with religion, is a violation of neutrality if it runs counter to the general teaching of the Roman Catholic Church.
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