On Monday the House of Commons completed the discussion of
Clause I. of the Education Bill. Its first business was to vote on Mr. Maddison's secularist amendment. Mr. Birrell declared that the Government intended to maintain the Cowper-Temple teaching, and pointed out that such main- tenance was not in any way hostile to the fuller treatment of religion at the hands of clergymen and others. He asserted that Mr. Maddison's amendment would deal a heavy blow at the religious instruction of the children. After a critical speech from Mr. Balfour, who declared that the speech of the President of the Board of Education showed that the Govern- ment had set themselves to find out what kind of religion the majority of Englishmen favoured, and then to endow it, and some hostile comments from Mr. Keir Hardie, the Closure was agreed to, and the Committee divided on Mr. Chamber- lain's amendment, which was rejected by a majority of 195 (367 to 172). Mr. Maddison's amendment was then voted on, and was negatived by the immense majority of 414 (477 to 63). As we have pointed out elsewhere, this potent condenniation of the proposal to secularise the schools must be regarded as eminently satisfactory by all who consider that the spiritual welfare of the nation is a concern of the State. But though the general result was so gratifying, we cannot feel that it is satisfactory that the leader of the Conservative Party should have actually voted with Mr. Chamberlain in favour of a system which in effect declares that the State should have no direct concern with religious education. Those who adopt such an attitude will some day find it very difficult to justify without inconsistency their objection to Disestablisment.
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