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teach craftsmanship, adaptability, self-reliance. They would teach the science of many of the things the boys deal with in their daily work. But such schools ought not to be confined to technical training only. They ought to develop a boy's general education. Physical training should form part of the curriculum. " With all boys under eighteen compelled to spend half the day at school, and all boys under seventeen totally excluded from street trading, there would be fewer youths drifting into unemployment. More adults would also be kept at work. With the specialisation of industries going on to-day it is becoming increasingly easy to substitute boy-labour for that of men. So intensified is this tendency becoming that lads may be employed at work from which their own fathers have been dismissed. But, once it became general that boys up to eighteen had to spend half their time at school, this tendency would be checked. You would be saving the adults from losing their work, and so training the boys that when they became men they would be better fitted than they are to-day to keep work and to get work. "The Poor-law Commission advise the setting-up of labour exchanges. The establishment of a'national system of Children's Employment Committees has also been urged. These Committees could work in association with the proposed labour exchanges, and also in close connection with the elementary schools of each district. It is the absence of some such organization linking the school with the industrial world that causes many of the evils of boy-labour that remain a national menace to-day." The following remarks have reference to the work of the technical schools as a whole during 1908:— Alt. —With few exceptions the work of the art classes has reached a very much highei place than in former years. This is most apparent in those schools where a day course in art subjects for holders of free places has been arranged.* These young pupils attend for about twenty-five hours a week and take a systematic course of study. Many of the pupils show signs of special aptitude in particular directions, and the progress made appears generally to be most satisfactory. It may be expected that many of OUT future art-Craft instructors will be drawn from the ranks of those who are now holding free places in our art schools. William Morris, one of the greatest of modern art craftsmen, once said, " What I mean by ' art' is some creation of man which appeals to his emotions and his intellect by means of his senses." Probably not the least of the deprivations which the art workers and young students of this Dominion suffer is the lack of examples of those " creations " of which Morris speaks. They have few standards by which their work can be tried. Very little work of a high order is available at which to look and from which to derive inspiration and direction, and form ideals of what may be regarded as really good work and therefore great work. It is to be hoped that in the near future the equipment of our art schools will include a collection of selected examples of art-craft work by the best workers. Failing that, a set of suitable examples might be obtained for circulation among the schools providing courses in applied art. One or two typical examples of the different methods of art enamelling, a few specimens of artistic beaten work in gold and silver ; art forging and metalwork ; modern pottery-work, in the white and painted; stained-glass work; modern bookbinding, Ac, would, it is considered, do much to elevate art-workers' ideals and provide a goal toward which they could work. There is reason to believe that the sets of casts illustrating various styles of woodcarving which were distributed to the art classes during the year have not only been appreciated by instructors and pupils, but will also assist in raising the standard of work in the carving classes. In this connection it may be pointed out that in many of the classes in wood-carving the tendency of instructors is to give the pupils too much practical assistance in their work. Many of them, in addition to providing the designs, do so much of the finishing that this part of the work cannot with truth be regarded as the student's own. The difficulty of course lies in the fact that so many of the students have had no preliminary training in freehand drawing, elementary design, and modelling. It is suggested that students before being admitted to wood-carving classes should first produce evidence of an elementary knowledge of drawing, design, and modelling. The attendance at the classes would probably fall, but it would be better in every way to have a few students working on sound lines than many students working as at present. It is a matter for regret that the carving classes are attended by so few trade students. [£•' Architecture and Building-construction. —The courses of instruction and the attendance of students at these classes are most satisfactory and except in a comparatively few instances an advance in the character of the work is noticeable. There appears to be less drawing from flat copies, more drawing to scale of typical examples and of parts of buildings from models and from rough sketches previously made by the students. In some of the classes an attempt has been made to discover why certain parts of given structures are invariably shaped according to a standard pattern, and whether in the light of modern requirements and of present-day knowledge the shapes could not be improved. Many of the designs of domestic buildings prepared by students in the advanced classes are not without evidences of originality and good taste, and the attempts made in the way of departure from the prevailing style of colonial domestic architecture have been most successful. It is considered, however, that more might be done in the direction of giving students some systematic instruction in principles. It is contended that this is impossible until properly equipped mechanics' laboratories are provided for the schools, but the opinion is expressed that a large amount of valuable instruction could be imparted in the rooms at present available and with a very simple equipment of models and apparatus for carrying out the necessary experiments. Probably under present conditions, such as lack of previous training on the part of students, irregular attendance, &c, a large amount of such work cannot be expected, but surely a beginning might be made. Quantity surveying might well form part of the instruction in all advanced classes. It is gratifying to note that some of our architectural students also attend classes in the principles of design and modelling and in some branch of applied art. Such branches of study appear to be eminently suitable to the architect, as modern requirements make it necessary