Technical Education.

Manawatu Herald, 8 April 1899, Page 2

Technical Education.

Mr Balfour opened a new hall in connection with the Battersea Polytechnic on the 3rd February, and made an important speech on technical education. He assured his hearers that he is watching with deep interest the first efforts ot the various polytechnic institutions in London, for he thoroughly realised the importance of the work. On the Continent, especially in Germany and Switzerland, as well as in the United States, science and industry have been in partnership tor some time; in England the necessity for the union is only now beginning to be admitted. All classes are, however, anxious that no further time should be lost. In many branches of industrial production we are unable to obtain thoroughly trained craftsmen, while in Germany they are turned out in sufficient numbers. This result arises from the prejudice in this country in favour df purely literary instruction. A few far-sighted thinkers detected the fallacy, but their warnings were unheeded, and it is only recently that any strenuous effort has been made to repair the error. At the same time we must be careful not to run to the opposite extreme, and Mr Balfour's philosophical definition of ob- . jects and means deserves to be carefully studied.