The Nelson Evening Mail WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1871.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 241, 11 October 1871, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1871.

With reference to the proposed extension of compulsory education iv England, the memorandum, from which we quoted yesterday, contains a large amouut of evidence given by a number of public men in England. On tbe whole, they appear fo be in favor of it, although they suggest different forms for carrying it into execution, and some are of opinion that however desirable such a system might be, it would be found unworkable in practice. The Rev. G-. French, Inspector of schools, sa y S : — « The greatest difficulty in tbe way of education in the agricultural districts is the apathy aud carlessuess of the parents. If the children are to be educated at all costs, and if the difficulties that will be met with are to be overcome, I see no other remedy than some sort of compulsory ' attendance at schools up to a certain age." Another Inspector, the Rev. M. Mitchell, denies the necessity of any compulsory Act, but proceeds to say that "an Act which only applies to the base *will be disapproved of only by the base, the number of whom the Act will tend continuously to diminish." The Rev. Dr. Rigg, Principal of the Wesleyan Training College, Westminister, expresses the following opinion : — "Ido not believe that it is practicable to pass into law, or to apply and enforce, an honest and thorough, an important and equitable measure of direct compulsory education." Mr. Buxton, M.P. thinks that it would be sufficient to give the local authorities power to deal with vagabond children in the streets, and forbid the employment of any child under thirteen without a certificate of education. At a meeting of the National Education League, tbe Rev. Rowland Williams proposed that field or stable labor should be forbidden to children under ten, and that, between ten and twelve, children should not be employed without producing a certificate of instruction. Alderman Romney quoted Mr. Redgrave, a Factory Inspector, to the effect that no child under sixteen should be employed without a certificate of attainments, mere attendance at school not being sufficient. Mr. Paget, an employer of agricultural labor, stated that he found that employing boys alternate days, and sending them to school the other days, paid, and that the boys who had schooling every other day quite equalled in knowledge those who professedly attended constantly. At a meeting of the Society for the promotion of Social Science in 1868, Canon Kiogsley, in inaugurating tbe discussions on education, advocated in forcible language the necessity of secular and compulsory education. Referring to the inadequacy of the voluntary system, he said, *' The only way of making the poorer classes understand that educating their children is an indefeasible duty, is for them to be taxed by the State itself, aDd for the State to say, ' There is your moneys worth in the school. We ask no more of you ; but your children shall go to school or you shall go to gaol.'" We shall conclude our quotations from the paper before us with an extract from Mr. Forster's speech in Parliament in moving the first reading of the new Education Bill. He said : — "Upon the speedy provision of elementary instruction depends our industrial prosperity. It is of no use giving technical instruction to our artizans without elementary education; and many of our laborers are extremely uneducated, and, for the most part, unskilled. If we leave them any longer unskilled, notwithstanding their strong sinews and determined energy, they will be overmatched iv the competition of the world. Upon this most speedy provision depends also, I fully believe, the safe working of our constitutional system. Now that we have given the people' political power, we must no longer delay to give them education. There are questions demanding answers, and problems awaiting solution ; and can ignorant constituencies answer and solve them ? Upon the speedy provision of education depends also oar national power. * * * * "We all know from unhappy experience, that knowledge is not virtue, much less is elementary education ; but though knowledge is not virtue, want of education is

weakness, and weakness generally means misfortune, and misfortune often leads to vice. Let us all think of the villages in which we live, and the towns it is our lot to visit, and which of us does not know child after child growing up to probable crime, and still more probable misery, caused by its being untaught, or taugTit amiss ? " After having taken into their careful consideration the various systems prevailing in the older countries, and the opinions expressed by eminent men at home, the Victorian Board recommends the following conclusions as worthy of attention : — That compulsory education need not of necessity be gratuitous; that compulsory education does not necessarily imply a denominational, nor on the other hand does it demand an exclusively secular, system; that penalties should be recovered by local authorities; that where attendance is compulsory a considerable portion of the school fund should be raised by local taxes or contributions, and every township or district must provide a school. The report concludes with a recommendation that if compulsion is employed, it should be on the registration system which prevails in Germany and Switzerland.