bring itself to put its fears into legislative en-
actments, and it could have well afforded to
have used greater tact and less haste in en-
forcing the lawsit passed. It hasmetintol-
erance with intolerance. It hascome dan-
gerously near violating fundamental rights
and liberties in its struggle to subdue the
orders which it declared were the particular
enemies of those veryrights and liberties. It
has outraged the sentiments of a mostimpor-
tant minority and has earned by its methods
some of the epithets it has hurled so vigor-
ously at its adversaries. Still it must be
remembered that the Republicans have had
to engage in this struggle against a most
powerful antagonist, one with wealth, or-
ganization, time-established position, and
with the great advantage of religious bul-
warks behind which to fight. It has been
war; and war in politics, as between armies,
is not the place to look for fine ethical dis-
tinctions.
The avowed aim of the Combes ministry
to create a ‘lay’ state so far as the schools
are concerned, to have a complete monopoly
by the state of education, is now a prac-
tically accomplished fact. Butinsetting up
in the businesses of education, as in setting
up in other businesses, there are attendant
expenses. The Government has at once
been placed under the necessity of greatly
extending the national school system. Thou-
sands of new schools must be provided.
The expenditure of sixty million francs is
at once required for building new school-
houses. Then there is an added annual
charge of many million francs on national
and local budgets to provide for the salaries
of the great corps of teachers. Not only
were the teaching orders affected, but the
nursing orders were suppressed too. Nearly
all the hospitals had been economically
managed by the nuns; the nuns were re-
placed by lay workers, and the increased ex-
penditures on that account have been great.
The French budget is one which has
tested the keenest ingenuity of each suc-
ceeding Finance Minister to reach a sat-
isfactory balance, and all these increased
expenditures are bringing forward practi-
cal questions of revenue and taxation
which are not always relished by even the
most zealous supporters of the policy of
suppression. |
~The point in all this that seems specially
Interesting to Americans is the nature of the
17
controversy and the happy absence in our
own political system of the elements that
would make such a controversy possible.
Here we see the political forces of a great
nation absorbed for years in a struggle so
bitter as to provoke scenes of the most vio-
lent disorder in the Chamber; and in the
communes riots, active resistance to law,
military suppression, and bloodshed. We
observe a struggle in which are brought into
fiercest play not only the ordinary political
passions, but one in which bigotry, pious
prejudice, and exasperated religious sensi-
bilities are met by political intolerance. We
see arbitrary power justifying in the name
of liberty the invasion of fundamental rights.
We note an enactment of harsh and unjust
laws which their sponsors believe neces-
sary to preserve the life of the republic.
Can we not, in the face of all that, listen
with some complaisance to the imputation
that we are a nation of dollar worshippers
and that we concern ourselves with no
questions of politics that do not affect our
pocketbooks ?
In spite of all the political energy that has
for several years gone into the discussion of
the French schools, ithas not, unfortunately,
led directly toward any effort to improve
the existing school system. No party has
given serious consideration to a plan insur-
ing better educational preparation for the
French youth. No party has made the de-
velopment of a system of technical schools
or the introduction of commercial training
an important part of its programme.
The political life of the French nation has
for several years centred exclusively about
the school system, but there has been no
awakening there to the need of advanced
methods nor the advantage of new courses
such as have been adopted with such ad-
mirable results in Germany. That was of
course, impossible, considering the nature of
the controversy. It will be hardly possible
forsome yearsto come. Thenational school
system must now be organized and devel-
oped, and for a long time there will be work
enough to do to get it in smooth running
order, leaving little room to expect radical
improvement in methods or extension of
scope. What has been going on in France
is a fundamental struggle between the
Church and State. Ultimately education
will probably be benefited, but those on
Political Problems of Europe
17
