Assistant Masters' Executive authorized the sending of a letter on the subject to the N.U.T. Possibly as a result of this the N.U.T. annual conference in 1925 instructed its Executive to initiate negotiations for a scheme of federation. Later it was agreed to set up a Joint Committee representing the N.U.T., the four secondary associations, and the A.T.T.I., and the first meeting was held in October, 1925. The question of the possibility of making a definite reduction of subscription for dual members was first considered, but it soon became evident that this would have to form part of a larger scheme if it were to come into operation, and therefore for more than a year the Joint Six has been discussing various aspects of the federation question. The main difficulties have been that every association is naturally anxious to retain the greatest possible measure of autonomy consistent with membership of a federation, that the smaller associations feel there is danger of their being greatly outnumbered on a mere counting of heads, and that a fairly strong section of the N.U.T. has not yet relinquished the idea that the Union itself may succeed in becoming" one big union," inclusive of all teachers.

WHILE we do not for a moment wish to minimize

these difficulties, we are surprised to note that the Executive of the N.U.T. has decided to ask Conference to release it from the obligation The Present Position. imposed upon it in 1925. This would seem to imply that the N.U.T. representatives on the Joint Six are convinced that no further progress can be made. Indeed, the word "breakdown has been used, and it is added that this is purely one of mechanical difficulty and does not arise from lack of goodwill. This action of the N.U.T. must, we think, be regarded as unfortunate and precipitate. It has been suggested that the crux of the situation is that no federation embodying the "one big union" idea is acceptable to the secondary associations, and that the

but the Commissioners were authorized by the Act to introduce any " modifications which may appear to them to be expedient." Thus the creation of the Council to control the finances of the University is now accepted as settled policy, even by those who at an earlier stage of the discussions were strongly opposed to this innovation. There remain, however, many contentious questions, either left open by the Departmental Committee, such as the appointed area for the University, or susceptible of modification; and on these questions the opportunity afforded by the Act for representations to the Commissioners has not been neglected by the bodies and persons interested.

CONVOCATION of the University, composed of the graduates, by adopting, in May, 1926, three resolutions antagonistic to the main principles of the reconstitution, prejudiced its influence Convocation: in making representations to the Com

Attitude of

missioners. At this time-soon after the publication of the Report of the Departmental Committee-no one foresaw that the Government would act so promptly and effectively in implementing the recommendations of the Committee. Dr. Graham Little, the M.P. of the University, championed vigorously in the House of Commons the views of the malcontent graduates, but, owing to the fact that the Labour Party, in opposition in 1926, had appointed the Departmental Committee when in office in 1924, opposition to the Bill was foredoomed to failure. When the draft statutes were produced, the Standing Committee of Convocation was disposed to allow them to pass through Convocation without serious comment. After lively discussion at the October meeting, this policy was reversed, and we understand that important suggestions for the modification of the Statutes will be brought before Convocation at the meeting to be held on the 17th of this month.

who would find a more natural home in one or other of the secondary associations. Even so, it seems early to abandon such a promising movement. The profession as a whole would gain enormously if it could speak with a united voice, and hence any association which gives up efforts to bring this about must lay itself open to the charge of unstatesmanlike conduct. We find the phrase "mechanical difficulty" a curious one in the circumstances. Given that certain ends are to be accomplished, machinery for their accomplishment can always be devised. It is a different matter, of course, if a scheme to effect federation is being discussed by persons, some of whom are innately hostile to the very idea. We incline to the view that the N.U.T. Executive has made a mistake, and we venture to hope that Conference will not accept its proposal.

at the suggestion of the Departmental Committee -is to give the Senate the power to deprive a graduate of his degree for immoral, scandalous, Deprivation of or disgraceful conduct. Fortunately,

Degrees.

the occasion for any such action on the part of the University seldom arises, and the University has survived for nearly a century without this power. If a degree is regarded merely as a certificate of intellectual attainment, deprivation on moral grounds may be regarded as illogical. But if a degree is the passport to membership of a honourable society, with a share in its government, a different view may be taken. We do not think that the Senate will act in an arbitrary way in exercising this new power, or will take an extreme view in the case of offences of a political character. Public opinion on moral questions changes so rapidly that the University will probably show no desire to pronounce ex cathedra on some classes of offence. But the Englishman's right to be heard in his own defence before sentence is pronounced ought surely to be safeguarded, and we cannot doubt

that as the result of discussion in Convocation and elsewhere the drafting of the Statute will be improved.

BEYOND an announcement that the Local Authorities

concerned are dealing sympathetically with questions of the closing and widening of roads on the Bloomsbury site acquired by the University of London, no information is at present available as to the general

lines of development.

The Bloomsbury Site.

Pending the reconstitution of the University, it is undesirable that binding decisions should be taken. But the whole question is open for discussion, and Prof. A. E. Richardson's contribution at a meeting of the University Union Society deserves more than a passing reference. This distinguished architect pleaded for an external as well as an internal "shape.' On the question of an architectural feature, he expressed a dislike for domes as useless and wasteful. But the last word has not been said on this question. The Vice-Chancellor's plea for a "skyline" demands more than a plain façade. Would not Prof. Richardson admit that with modern building resources an architectural feature could be designed, both useful and beautiful? A great responsibility rests on the University to its own members, to its benefactors, to its future neighbours, including the British Museum, and to London itself, to make the best use of this important site.

A CHAMPION for examinations has come forward in the person of Sir Josiah Stamp, and the occasion was an address at the City of London College. One must, of course, discount to some extent Examinations. what is said on this subject at a distribution of prizes and certificates. Sir Josiah Stamp was, however, explicit. Examinations had their limitations," he said, "but they were an extraordinarily important feature in modern life, and he knew of no substitute for them." He argued that examinations demand systematized knowledge, as contrasted with the "sloppiness" of thought, which is so common. That dictum, we would suggest, is more true of some subjects than of others. The criticism which teachers direct towards the general system of examinations are practical rather than theoretical, and relate to standards, choice of subjects, types of questions in relation to the ages of the candidates, control by external authorities, and relation of examinations to teaching. On these vexed questions, Sir Josiah Stamp's general benediction throws no light, but may serve as an encouragement to those who are endeavouring to improve the system.

DEAN

EAN INGE, in his Norman Lockyer Lecture to the British Science Guild on "Scientific Ethics,' maintained his usual high standard of bold and provocative thought. This subject is not Scientific directly educational, but some of the Ethics. questions discussed have an educational bearing; for example, the old question between aristocracy and democracy, the question which Nietzsche raised with scorn and fury, "whether we ought not to aim at the perfection of the élite at the cost of sacrificing the mass who are incapable of being elevated." Under the Christian dispensation, the world has accepted the intrinsic value of every human soul. That conception has reacted on slavery, charity, and education. On this occasion, the Dean approached the issue from a scientific standpoint. He is not prepared to vote for either the aristocratic or the democratic view without qualification. "But since," he says, " aristocracies always tend to die out, I think the wise eugenist will aim at raising the intrinsic value of the whole population, whether or not it may seem desirable to segregate an Ar class by more careful selection." This conclusion fortunately accords with our educational practice and theory.

LORD EUSTACE PERCY, in an important address

Educational Expenditure.

"The Problem of Economy in a Spending Department," appeared to be well satisfied with a ten per cent reduction in the cost of central educational administration in recent years, He explained that £38.000.000 goes as grants-in-aid to the Local Authorities, and a further £28,000,000 is provided by the rates. Of this vast total, £13,000,000 is spent in overhead charges. It is astonishing to learn that fuel, light, and cleaning cost 13s. 6d. per child-nearly as much as the whole cost of elementary education in earlier days. Eight shillings is spent on repairs, 10s. on rates, and Ios. on administration; but only 5s. or 7s. on books, furniture, and equipment. "A great deal of money was wasted in the provision of cheap text-books because they were cheap. As a result the text-books had often to be changed." On the question of higher education, he made the important announcement that he saw the prospect of getting a scheme for grammar schools which would provide places for about one in five of the children reaching the age of 11 in the elementary schools.

THE story told of some visitors to Oxford who were enabled to see Dr. Jowett, the famous Master of Balliol, by the simple expedient of throwing stones at his study window, is possibly apocryExpenses at phal. London had the privilege of Oxford. seeing his successor, Mr. A. D. Lindsay, under pleasanter conditions, for he gave an address to the Parents' Association on "The Parent and the University," full of wisdom and sound advice. He said that out of the conditions of freedom and liberty which Oxford offered to youth, most of them were able to produce something perfectly wonderful. Many, he admitted, suffered from that uncommon disease, a plethora of money. Anybody ought to manage at Oxford on £250 a year. He regarded £300 as an outside figure, and if a student had more, the parents were asking for trouble. The age of seventeen was too young for the commencement of the University course, but more students were coming up at eighteen than used to be the case. The Master made a kindly reference to the position of boys who were eighteen at the time of the Armistice. Undoubtedly they suffered a great nervous and physical strain.

MR.

Health of

R. L. R. LEMPRIERE, medical officer of Haileybury College, gave an interesting lecture at the Royal Institute of Public Health, on "The Health of the Public School Boy." He denounced Public Schools. the popular notion that health in schools was largely a question of infectious diseases. Weights should be taken twice a term so that special observation may be directed on boys who show loss of weight not to be accounted for by ordinary causes. More weaklings enter public schools nowadays than formerly, and this lowers the averages. There was not much improvement to record in guarding schools against infections; but if the total number of epidemics increased, he was sure there would not be a greater number of cases, and in measles, at any rate, severity would be lessened. The suggestion that boys and girls should be asked not to attend parties one week before returning to school, he regarded as futile. Operations for appendicitis were the most common at schools. Pneumonia was rarely dangerous to boys, and the

importance of heart disabilities has been much exaggerated, many cases righting themselves after puberty. The nervous type of disease was not on the increase, as some thought. He emphasized the importance of nasal breathing and the necessity of examining boys' eyesight every two years.

WE

WE referred briefly, in our issue for November, to the progressive and effective policy of the Administration in the mandated territory of Western Samoa in regard to educational matters. Education in Incidentally we mentioned the fact Western Samoa. that a Royal Commission had been appointed to inquire into the pros and cons of the political agitation which had been going on in the mandated area. We have now seen a copy of a cabled summary of the report of this Royal Commission, and we are glad to note-for the sake of the good name of the British Empire, which was involved in the complaints broadcast throughout the world-that the Administration is entirely exonerated from the charges of extravagance and dictatorship and interference with native customs which had been levelled against it. Particularly in regard to the charges of extravagance in public expenditure, the Royal Commission not only found wholly in favour of the Administration, but commented severely on the inexcusable carelessness and gross recklessness of the statements made by some at least of those responsible for the really dangerous agitation among the islanders-an agitation which involved, the Royal Commissioners suggest," an organized and deliberate attempt to frustrate and render abortive the activities of the Administration." We hope the Administrator will be encouraged by this verdict to carry on" with the educational and other reforms with which he is seeking to make the Samoan, not a bad copy of a European, but a better Samoan.

IN

N these impoverished days, with agriculture in a state of despair, it is refreshing to read of an agri- | cultural county establishing a village college. Cambridgeshire has that distinction, and the A Village village selected is Sawston. We hasten College. of the Carnegie Trustrees and of private benefactorsincluding Messrs. Spicer, the owners of a paper-mill in the village-the scheme could not have been brought to fruition. The College is to be the centre for a graded system of schools and is to provide for the cultural and social needs of adolescents and adults. The grant of £5,500 of the Carnegie Trustees is to be used as a contribution to the cost of a hall, library, rooms for adult and agricultural education and a Warden's house; and the total estimated cost of the college is £14,000. A domestic science centre is to be provided. The experiment will be watched with interest by all concerned with education and should help to dispel the feeling that our rural communities have not had a fair share of the educational benefits so freely dispensed in recent years.

to add that without the benevolence

constituting a serious menace to the interests of Scottish teachers: (1) The methods pursued by the Scottish Education Department in connection with, and prior to, the issue of the new draft minute affecting salaries; (2) the provisions of the new draft minute which fail to meet the reasonable claims of non-graduate teachers, and which withdraw from certain other categories of teachers the protection which they have previously enjoyed; (3) the implication of the language employed in the Scottish Education Department's Circular 76."

Department's Action:

THE teachers' complaint is that the procedure of the Education Department reduced to a farce the consultation with authorities and teachers which the Act of 1918 prescribes as an essential The Education preliminary for the issue of scales by the Department. The Department laid down the condition that no change made in the salary scales should involve any increase in the financial obligations of the Education Authorities. That put a veto on any change in the position of the non-graduates, and made it impossible to alter the famous (or as some of the teachers would say, the infamous) footnote which left the raising of non-graduates to the graduate level at the option of the Authorities. (It seems that the teachers' representatives sought to obviate this by generously suggesting the betterment of the non-graduates at the expense of the higher grades, but the Department ignored the offer.) Not only so, but the Department anticipated the discussion of the position by teachers and authorities by putting before them at the very beginning of their negotiations its own proposals for salary scales: really an extraordinary method of "consulting" the parties concerned. Then, adding insult to injury, it entirely disregarded the joint findings of the teachers and Authorities, and yet justified its high-handed methods by saying that these two parties had failed to come to any agreement regarding the scales for secondary school teachers.

scales, and the accompanying Circular 76, by the Scottish Education Department, meetings of protest have

standard, and that is being construed as a departure from the idea of "minimum" scales involving a menace to all teachers. The teachers may be reading more into the terms than is intended. So far as the uncertainty is one of words, it ought to be removed before the new scales come into operation.

IN

University Development

in Scotland.

years of distinguished service, gave an account of life and work in that University at the time he began teaching. In summing up his impressions, he raised the question of future developments. The number of students, he pointed out, had been steadily increasing. There were 700 at the beginning of the nineteenth century and 2,000 at the end. The The numbers had doubled in the last quarter century, and Glasgow, with 4,781 students, was now one of the largest British Universities. If the rate of growth were maintained, there would be 10,000 students in 1950 and 40,000 in A.D. 2000. Apart from that problematic increase, the number was already so great as to create serious difficulties for teaching and research. Prof. Bower's suggestion was that if the public demand for university education were extended it might best be met by the foundation of universities in other centres, or of university colleges in or around Glasgow to relieve the university of the weight of elementary teaching. In point of fact, the beginnings of some such system as this are already evident in the various central institutions, some of which (like the Technical College) are affiliated with the University and others of which (like the Training College for teachers) might well be affiliated. So far as the arts classes are concerned, the solution of the problem is likely

The Welsh Language Report:

in Wales, issued in 1920, of which, after a series of public conferences, very little was heard, though the proposal to set up a National Advisory Council for Education may be said to have arisen from the recommendations of the Report that a National Council for Education in Wales be set up. The Honourable Society of Cymrodorion, a body which has its headquarters in London and publishes a literary and archaeological quarterly called the Cymrodor, states in its annual report, in reply to a passage in the Report which stated that This Society appears to be more concerned with the skulls of dead Welshmen than with the brains of the living," that the Report, whilst it is not lacking in appreciation of the work done by the society generally, appears to overlook the fact that the society has a limited function, namely, the encouragement of literature, art, and science, as connected with Wales. To the criticism that "The Cymrodorion Society included among its members many persons who could not speak the Welsh language and who, therefore, found in its antiquarian side sufficient to satisfy all the demands made upon them by their country," they reply that the society was one of the first to take practical steps for the recognition and utilization of the language in elementary education in Wales.

THE

The National Museum of Wales.

HE celebration of the diamond jubilee of the Cardiff Naturalists' Society recalls the important part played by that Society in paving the way for the establishment of the National Museum. Valuable purchases of pictures, including some of the paintings of Richard Wilson, and of statuary, presented by Sir Goscombe John, were announced. The Director pointed out how important these were to an institution which arranges its collections in order to teach the history of art. Public interest in the activities of the Museum is maintained by means of public lectures in all parts of Wales by experts on the staff. Dr. North has continued his geological publications by a monograph on "Limestone," following his monographs on "Coal" and "Slate." These monographs have already proved of great interest and value to the industries concerned, and to students preparing for mining appointments. A new group illustrating wild life in ancient Wales has been prepared by the keeper of zoology and his assistants. In the words of the report, "This exhibit represents the highwater mark of achievement in this field of museum technique and is proving a great attraction. Its dramatic and vigorous quality is manifest, but it has an importance far beyond accuracy of delineation. It illustrates the exceptional advantages which this institution possesses of linking up for the benefit of the student and visitor the various branches of knowledge. Those who have spent some time in the Department of Archaeology studying the remains of early man can turn to this exhibit and see vividly brought before them the environment in which his culture was developed."

Welsh Board.

half-yearly meeting to a discussion of the Report. The result was an instruction to its Executive to consider and report on the advisability And the Central of asking the University of Wales, for purposes of matriculation, to make Welsh an alternative to Greek, Latin, and Mathematics, and a decision to join with other national bodies in setting up a committee to implement the Welsh Language Report. Prof. Gruffydd, a signatory to the Report, said that the secondary schools of Wales had made much more progress in the teaching of Welsh than the elementary schools. He thought the teaching of Welsh in schools was an emotional and sentimental question, as well as an educational one. Two papers were set in Welsh in the examinations of the Central Welsh Board. One paper was set on the assumption that the pupil had a native knowledge of Welsh; the other was one that might be taken by a pupil who had started Welsh late in life. He regretted to find schools in North Wales taking the easier paper for the sole reason that they might give more time to English. Pupils should be given a choice as to whether they took English or Welsh as the language on which they wished to be examined on the native language basis. At a very representative meeting of all Welsh Local Education Authorities, convened at Cardiff under the Federation of Education Committees of Wales and Monmouthshire, it was decided to set up a National Committee consisting of representatives of the Federation, the Central Welsh Board, the Welsh County Schools Association, the Welsh University Council, Associations of Assistant Teachers, the National Union of Welsh Societies, the Theological Faculty, and the Training Colleges.

UNEMPLOYMENT of teachers has now reached a

point in Wales when it is beginning to affect the policy of authorities in the matter of the appointment and conditions of service of teachers. So many ex-pupils of

Conditions of Appointment of Teachers

in Wales.

secondary schools wish to obtain appointment as student teachers and as uncertificated teachers, that the Monmouthshire Authority has decided to allow a number of suitably qualified persons to gain experience by observation in its elementary schools for a term or two without payment. This may be thought likely to ease the position in Monmouthshire for the time being, but it will intensify the difficulty there, and in other areas, when these persons become applicants for posts as uncertificated teachers. The Rhondda and Mountain Ash Authorities have decided that

teachers must retire from their service at 60. Deputations to the Rhondda Authority pointed out that substantial losses to teachers in the amount of superannuation would result, and that the system of promotion by seniority to headships combined with the very great excess of certificated teachers over vacancies to headteacherships was resulting in the promotion age being pushed higher and higher, so that, in course of time, the period of effective service as head would become so small that such heads could not bring to bear the full influence of their experience on the organization of their schools. It will be remembered that, about a year ago, this Authority passed a resolution to the effect that all its teachers must become members of a Union. It will be of interest to observe what emerges from the conflict of these resolutions. Some years ago this Authority made an attempt at amelioration of the pressure of unemployment amongst teachers by terminating the services of its married women teachers; an important law case resulted which the Authority, won on appeal. It has just been successful in an action at Assizes against a person seeking to bribe one of its members to vote for a candidate seeking an appointment in its service. The Cardiff Authority seeks to prevent application by head teachers of schools threatened with "downgrading," except where such head teachers have held their existing appointments for a reasonable period.

Queen's University, Belfast.

IT is interesting to watch the progress of the comparatively new Queen's University in Belfast. The Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Livingstone, believes in publicity, and from year to year makes a detailed statement of its affairs. This is a policy which might perhaps be advantageously followed by the other Irish universities. The number of full-time students this year is 1,176 as compared with 1,145 last year, there being 410 in arts, 132 in science, and 348 in medicine. The financial condition has improved, but is not yet satisfactory. Its income for 1926-7, the latest available, was £76,988, or £66 per full-time student. In Bristol the corresponding figure is £154, in Birmingham £120, and in Aberystwyth £115. The increased income has, however, enabled the Senate to revise the salaries of assistants, and to create lectureships in medieval French, medieval history, geography, dairy bacteriology, and fine arts: and assistantships in Spanish, agriculture, botany, and agricultural chemistry. An honours course in Celtic and a theological faculty have been instituted. Equipment and athletic grounds have been improved, but a considerable number of the University activities are being carried on in wooden huts, which do not last for ever. Dr. Livingstone made an interesting comparison between British and American universities. In education

America has nothing to teach us, its public schools in fact being markedly inferior. But in two respects we may learn from America. First, the attitude of business to the university is strikingly in advance of ours. At Harvard for example, the graduates School of Business can place all its students before they are trained and at excellent salaries. And, secondly, every visitor to America is impressed by the superb equipment of the universities and by the public spirit which has munificently endowed them.

Universities and Secondary Schools.

MR GWYNN, the new Provost of Trinity College, Dublin, has addressed a number of public meetings this autumn, and a good impression has been created by the interest which he is taking in the secondary schools. Speaking recently at a prize distribution, he entered a strong and eloquent plea for the retention of Latin as an essential subject in the Irish Free State secondary schools where, owing to recent changes, it has been seriously threatened. The so-called practical man sometimes said he saw no use for Latin. It was not a vocational subject. But how could he tell at an early age what a child's vocation was to be? It might turn out that Latin would be just the best vocational subject a boy could have for his calling in life, nor had any subject been found in which experience had discovered a better method of teaching or obtained better results in the general training of the young mind. He had a further criticism to make of secondary school teaching. From an experience of thirty years as a university lecturer he found the chief weakness in the boys sent to Trinity College was a deficiency in powers of expression. This was a fault which he thought teachers should seriously consider and try to remedy. Clear ideas clearly expressed in good English was the greatest gift a school could confer on a would-be undergraduate or indeed on any pupil, and it was more than ever necessary at the present time of loose thought and slovenly speech.

IT.

Criticism of the Secondary School Curriculum

T so happens that towards the end of the autumn term school functions, such as prize distributions and old boys' reunions, are more frequent than at any other time of the year in Dublin, and criticisms find expression on educational topics. This year there is a consensus of opinion among representatives of both Catholic and Protestant schools that the secondary curriculum is too narrow and there is need of greater freedom. One of the mildest of the critics said that whatever happened he would always maintain the teaching of French in his school Another critic pointed out that the new secondary system had now been running for over three years, and it was possible to take stock and to determine its direction. It was perfectly plain that certain subjects which used to be regarded as essential in a secondary school received no encouragement from the Ministry, and were therefore being discouraged in practice. If this tendency continued, they having become optional subjects would fall more and more into the background, and would eventually disappear from many schools. The question is whether this was advisable. When the subjects are Latin, to say nothing of Greek, and French, to say nothing of

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