311.11 
 U tA 
 
 THE 
 
 HALF-TIME SYSTEM 
 
 IN EDUCATION. 
 
 By D. F. LINCOLN, M.D., 
 
 Secretary of the Department of Health, American Social 
 Science Association. 
 
 The present paper is based on one which was read before 
 the Department of Health, at the general meeting of the 
 Social Science Association, in September, 1877. As now 
 given, it' is reprinted from the Report for 1878, of the Massa- 
 chusetts Bureau of Statistics of Labor. It had received 
 careful revision in the meantime, with some additions. It 
 may be proper to state that for the positions taken, the 
 author is to be held responsible. 
 
 The discussion to which the present paper is devoted is 
 based on personal inquiry and observation, largely aided by 
 correspondence. All letters used were written within seven 
 months of the date of this publication. An attempt has also 
 been made to obtain some data for establishing a physiological 
 basis for the argument respecting the length of hours of study. 
 
 The appended notes contain such accounts of half-time 
 schools in America as have been received, with some remarks 
 on the German system. 
 
 Definition. 
 
 The expression “ half-time system ” is employed to desig- 
 nate a plan for educating children of the laboring classes by 
 
 ^•29 48 
 
4 
 
 sending them to school for three hours each day, or there- 
 abouts, and employing them in factories, in shops, or on 
 farms, for the rest of the working hours. The plan is modi- 
 fied, in a few cases, by allowing them to attend school for the 
 full time, and to work on full time on alternate days ; but in 
 most cases the former method has been adopted, by which 
 half a day’s schooling and half or three-quarters of a day’s 
 work are had each day,* with a half holiday on Saturday 
 afternoon. The system has been most fully carried out in 
 England. 
 
 The English half-time schools had their origin in enact- 
 ments of the years 1883 and 1844, and subsequently; in ac- 
 cordance with which, a great many sorts of manufacturing 
 establishments are forbidden to employ children under eight 
 years of age ; while children from eight to thirteen are 
 allowed to work only six and one-half hours a day, and must 
 attend school at least three hours a day, or five hours on 
 alternate days, at any school the parents may select. A full 
 account of the history of these schools is given in the Sixth 
 Annual Report (1875) of this bureau. The system has been 
 in existence for over forty years in England ; and at present 
 100,000 children are taught by its methods. These facts 
 justify our careful examination of the grounds for adopting 
 a system, which, at the outset, was as much an innovation 
 upon English usages as it would be now upon our own. 
 
 It is remarkable that in America we have very few schools, 
 if indeed there be any, of this sort. Exception should here 
 be made of public semi-correctional or charitable institutions ; 
 and also, of schools which keep but half a day, without 
 provision for manual employment, — a plan which has been 
 adopted in quite a number of cases. The definition we have 
 given requires half a day’s work with half a day’s schooling, 
 every working day in the year, excepting holidays. This 
 excludes even the one at Salem, 1 where the children attend 
 only half a year, returning to full-time work for the remain- 
 ing half year ; this school, however, comes nearer tb a half- 
 time school than any of which the writer has information. 
 
 A similar school (called the Indian Orchard School 2 from 
 
 1 The Naumkeag: see Report of this Bureau for 1875, p. 28; also Note A of 
 
 this Report. 4 
 
 2 See Note B. 
 
5 
 
 the name of the mill) flourished a few years ago in the 
 neighborhood of Springfield, but for extrinsic reasons was 
 given up. 
 
 As regards the other States, I have received information 
 from the Superintendents of Education in Maine, New Hamp- 
 shire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, and 
 New Jersey ; and the answer in each case has been that they 
 are not aware of the existence of such schools in their States. 
 
 The explanation of this absence is not far to seek. We 
 have developed in America a carefully graded system of 
 schools, which differ very little in the various cities of the 
 Northern States, owing, doubtless, to their common origin. 
 Such has been our pride in these schools, and such the real 
 democratic feeling in regard to them, that all classes have 
 readily sent their children ; and all are therefore interested 
 in having the schools well kept. Whether well or ill, they 
 are at all events a representative American institution, and 
 their existence is of itself an adequate reason for the non- 
 existence of other systems. 
 
 England, on the contrary, was compelled in the earliest 
 years of this century to limit by legislative action the exces- 
 sive tasks then laid on great numbers of children in factories. 
 She found, before long, that the surest way to defend them 
 from the cruelties of their taskmasters was to insist on their 
 attendance at school during the ordinary period of a single 
 session every day ; and it was this measure, taken at first 
 quite as much from a feeling of humanity as from a sense of 
 the need of popular education, that formed a first step in the 
 great national reform, which, within a few years, has assumed 
 universal extension. The history of factories in America 
 has been very different from this ; and the change in our 
 population, which has flooded us with foreign illiteracy, has 
 been comparatively recent. 
 
 The enormous difficulty of securing concerted action from 
 different States is, no doubt, another reason why no half-time 
 system has been introduced. Of the 13,000 children in 
 Massachusetts factories, only 4,575 had received during the 
 year the legal amount of schooling (three months) in 1875. 
 If such indifference is felt toward the interests of this unfor- 
 tunate class in individual States, what is likely to be the 
 joint action of several States in a matter where the profits of 
 
6 
 
 principals and the wages of laborers are directly dependent 
 on their success in diminishing the requirement of schools,. — 
 where, in fact, State is in closest rivalry with State for com- 
 mercial advantage ? 
 
 Limits op Mental Application. 
 
 It seemed to the author that the principles of “ half-time ” 
 study could be better understood if a previous statement 
 were made of the amount of school work that experience 
 has showli to be desirable for children of different ages. The 
 attempt will therefore be made to answer the following pre- 
 liminary question : — 
 
 “ How many hours ought scholars to devote to school work 
 in order to gain the best results, excluding manual labor from 
 the problem ? ” 
 
 The capacity for mental labor differs very widely in indi- 
 viduals, and at different ages. The young adult of average 
 power, of the age of 20 or near that, may devote 8 or 9 hours 
 to close mental work ; the youth in high schools, 5 or 6 ; the 
 younger child, from 24 to 44. No greater amount can be 
 exacted of the average without doing harm. The following 
 expressions of opinion will be of interest. 
 
 In regard to young men in college, a gentleman of great 
 experience and judgment as a tutor writes as follows: “I 
 should be inclined to say that no young man could study 
 effectively (as our young men are now) day in and day out, 
 more than 6 hours a day, exclusive of recitations ; with three 
 recitations per diem , I should say he could work in all 9 
 hours per day. If you get up to four recitations or lectures, 
 I should be inclined to knock off one hour of study, putting 
 9 hours in work as the maximum. I think one would find 
 any increase of that of no real service.” 
 
 A distinguished graduate of Harvard College, who worked 
 faithfully 12 hours a day during his freshman year, and from 
 8 to 9 the rest of the time, gives me his opinion, that the 
 average working power (though not the actual amount of 
 work) of the students is measured by the latter figures, — 8 
 or 9 hours. 
 
 Professors Crowell, Tyler, and Hitchcock, of Amherst, con- 
 sider that the happiest results are produced by a weekly 
 
( 
 
 amount of 48 hours of work, or 8 hours a day, divided between 
 recitation and study in the proportions of 16 and 32 hours. 
 
 Professor Goodell of the Massachusetts Agricultural Col- 
 lege places it, after having tried both ways, at 18 and 36 
 hours respectively, or one hour more per day. The actual 
 work amounts to about 194 and 39 hours, or nearly 10 hours 
 daily, besides 64 of drill and farm work weekly. The results 
 seem, however, to be quite favorable, as far as the actual 
 health of the young men is concerned. 
 
 At the West Point Military Academy the daily time 
 assigned by the printed table to study and recitations is 
 about 10 hours a day during the six cold months. The 
 exceptional circumstances of the cadet’s life, his entire exclu- 
 sion from the distractions of society and the dangers of in- 
 dulged appetite, and the large amount of active bodily work 
 done by him, enable him to reach the maximum of mental 
 application consistent with perfect health. 
 
 The great number of hours which may be studied by the 
 young adult is the result of two circumstances : first, he is 
 no longer obliged to devote a great part of his physical 
 energies to the mere act of growing ; second, he is a speci- 
 men of a select class of society, capable both by birth and 
 by long habit of an amount of labor which is impossible to 
 the untrained of any age. At the period of pubert}^ or 
 from 12 to 17 years, there is a prevalent opinion, in which 
 I coincide, that not more than 5 or 6 hours should be re- 
 quired. In a set of replies to inquiries instituted by me two 
 years ago, there are communications from the principals of 
 12 high schools. The usual attendance per week in these 
 schools was 25 hours, three exceeding and one falling below 
 this. All required home study : two, 1 hour ; seven, from 1 
 to 2 hours ; three, from 2 to 3 hours daily. On the average, 
 35 hours a week is the usual total requirement, but 3 schools 
 required from 41 to 45. One correspondent said he was ac- 
 customed to see pupils worked 60 hours a week, and repro- 
 bated the practice severely. 
 
 We hear much of the German capacity for study; but it 
 is doubtful if there be much difference between their abilities 
 in this direction and our own. They work the boys in their 
 gymnasia almost to death. What must be the rigor of a sys- 
 tem which so fills the whole life, that boys of 17, on their 
 
8 
 
 afternoon walks, talk of nothing but their Greek and Latin 
 classics ! I have recently conversed with two gentlemen, 
 graduates of the gymnasia at Frankfort-on-the-Oder and 
 Halle. The former gave an estimate of 9 or 10 hours of daily 
 work : while the latter, a physician, who stood at the head • 
 of his class in the school, named 8 or 9, and declared 6 to 
 be enough ; he added, however, that only one of his class 
 died directly from the effects of application. 
 
 As regards girls, the Prussian Government has lately* 
 taken official steps to ascertain the fact in question. The 
 conference upon superior schools for girls, held August, 1878, 
 in the Department of Public Education, reported in favor of 
 restricting girls from 10 to 16 years of age to a maximum 
 of 30 hours of school attendance per week; the younger 
 ones, 'down to the age of 6, were to be limited to 22 or 24 
 hours. Home studies were to be restricted to one hour for 
 the youngest, two for the oldest, and one and one-half for 
 those between. It should be said that the declared object of 
 such schools is a liberal one, namely, to enable the pupils 
 “ to participate in the intellectual life of the nation ; ” which 
 implies a select class of pupils, inasmuch as the avowed 
 object of the ordinary German school (Volksschule) is to fit 
 common people for a commonplace life. 
 
 Our own practice is to keep children of all ages, from six up 
 to 16, in both primary and grammar schools, the same num- 
 ber of hours in school ; namely, 26. In Boston this is now 
 reduced to 25, and home study is seldom permitted. There 
 is some ground for supposing that this state of things — this 
 placing scholars of six on an equal footing with those of 16 — 
 is the result of oversight rather than of plan. The State 
 Superintendent of Maine, Hon. William G. Corthell, declares 
 that from five to seven years of age, 2 or 3 hours a day of 
 earnest study are enough; for those from seven to ten, 3 or 3J ; 
 from ten to twelve, 4 hours ; for all older pupils, not over 5 
 hours, or, if they do not study under pressure, 6. The Super- 
 intendent in Providence, Rev. Daniel Leach, considers the 
 primary school hours too long ; and the State Superintendent 
 of New York, Hon. William Wood, would not object to limit- 
 ing the time of the schools generally to 2 hours in the fore- 
 noon and 2 in the afternoon ; State Superintendent Downs of 
 New Hampshire says that from four to ten years it is best not 
 
9 
 
 to be in school, in full intellectual employment, more than 
 3 hours a day. The Medico-Legal Society of New York 
 recommends that the maximum of schooling for children 
 under eight be 8 hours a day. 
 
 Finally, children in kindergartens are allowed the greatest 
 reasonable freedom, have their employment changed con- 
 stantly, play active games, and sing in concert, and their 
 operations are regularly broken by a lunch ; and the period of 
 time which children of from 4 to 7 can be kept at this sort 
 of employment is held to be about 3 hours, from 9.30 to 
 12.30 ; they are not allowed a second session in the day. 
 
 An effort to obtain from experienced teachers some kind of 
 a law of mental capacity was made in 1860 by Edwin Chad- 
 wick, C.B., well known for his efforts in connection with the 
 English half-time system. The results as published nearly 
 agree with each other. One teacher replied that the length 
 of time children could attend closely and voluntarily to a 
 single lesson was, from 5 to 7 years, about 15 minutes ; from 
 7 to 10 years, about 20 minutes ; from 10 to 12 years, about 
 25 minutes ; from 12 to 16 or 18 years, about 30 minutes. 
 Relief is obtained, and fresh interest and power called out, 
 by judicious changes of subject and intermissions ; under 
 which conditions he found that children of the four groups 
 of ages above named could profitably labor mentally not over 
 the respective periods of 3, 3|, 4, and 4| hours a day. 
 
 This statement is cited simply as the most elaborate, arid 
 as representing the general tenor of a good many. In view 
 of th e^ other opinions I have cited, it is impossible to call it 
 extreme ; and the care with which the circumstances are 
 stated gives it a distinct scientific value. 
 
 The following quotation is from the pen of the late Miss 
 Mary Carpenter of London, well known for her thorough and 
 practical devotion to the welfare of the poorer classes : — 
 
 “ My experience has been both among the children of the educated 
 classes of society and those of the working and lower classes. The con- 
 dition and wants of the two classes are very different, and therefore the 
 same general principles of education must be modified to the circum- 
 stances and wants of each. ... A day school is intended to supply such 
 parts of the education as can not be conducted in the home. The nature 
 of the day school must be modified to be truly supplementary to the 
 home. My experience respecting the education of the superior classes 
 is based on a much esteemed boarding school for young gentlemen, 
 2 
 
10 
 
 conducted for about thirty years by my late father, Rev. Dr. Lane Car- 
 penter, in which I received my own education, and latterly gave some 
 assistance; and a boarding school for young ladies subsequently conducted 
 by myself and family for above fifteen years. I have always paid great 
 attention to the education of the working classes, and during the last 
 thirteen years to that of the ‘ perishing and dangerous classes. ’ 
 
 “1. In the higher or more cultivated classes, where the organization is 
 more adapted to mental exercise, and the culture of the intellectual powers 
 is essential to after-life, I do not think eight hours per diem too much 
 to be employed in direct instruction, if the time is judiciously divided 
 and the teaching good, and so varied in subject as to prevent at any 
 time an undue strain on the mind. Of this time at least two hours for 
 boys and three hours for girls should be occupied with lighter pursuits, 
 not requiring much mental effort in the rudimentary processes, such as 
 penmanship, drawing, needle- work, and music; nine hours should be 
 allowed for sleep. Regular walks off the premises daily are important, 
 and varied muscular exercises on them. . . . 
 
 “2. I believe three hours per diem of good scholastic instruction would 
 be amply sufficient for the children of the working classes, and of the 
 neglected classes, if I may so call that class below them; but this must 
 be supplemented in the case of boys by two or three hours of manual 
 occupations, involving skill, exactness, manual aptitude; and, in that of 
 girls, needle-work and other domestic occupations. This education 
 should be continued at least until twelve years of age, if possible until 
 fourteen, w T hen boys are apprenticed, and should be supplemented with 
 all by one and a half or two hours’ instruction in an evening school. The 
 study of languages and other branches of knowledge which require great 
 length of time is not necessary for this class; and I believe, from obser- 
 vation, that this time well employed is amply sufficient. It is exceeded 
 at present in common day schools for girls, who quite equal the boys who 
 have had two hours longer.” . . . 
 
 Such opinions as the foregoing have a weight proportioned 
 to the intelligence and experience of their authors. Their 
 general tenor seems to indicate that children under 12 are 
 capable of far less mental work than adults, — probably not 
 exceeding three or four hours a day. Or in other words, no 
 labor in excess of this limit increases the mental result of a 
 day’s work : it rather injures the quality of the result. 
 
 For an illustration of the mental and moral gain resulting 
 from cutting down the hours of study in a primary school 
 from six to three hours daily, the reader is referred to notes 
 C and G, at the close. There is strong evidence (notes G, I, 
 J) tending to show that such a simple reduction of hours 
 is likely to be extremely unpopular with parents ; a state of 
 things much to be regretted, but necessary to be taken into 
 account. 
 
11 
 
 Study combined with Wobk. 
 
 In the case of children at work, the question assumes a 
 different form. Their occupation protects them from the 
 perils of idleness, thus removing one chief objection to short 
 sessions. And, more than this, there seems to be a special 
 mutual influence between the school and the factory, which 
 improves the quality of the work done in each. 
 
 It is a remarkable fact that, in a great many instances, the 
 half-time children working in the same schools with full-timers 
 are known to accomplish as much work and make as much 
 progress. This may be seen in the Report for 1871 of the 
 Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics of Labor, and in the original 
 report by Mr. Chadwick. As regards the standard of attain- 
 ments, one of his correspondents stated that a class of children, 
 say of seven years, taken from an infant school, could in three 
 years, under the half-time system, be brought (with full con- 
 trol of the means) to “reading intelligently, writing fairly, 
 and spelling correctly; and carried in arithmetic as far as 
 decimals, exclusive of problems.” Another says that, of 21 
 boys and girls taken direct from the infant school, in three years 
 16 had reached the following point : writing a fair hand, spell- 
 ing well, reading correctly and with considerable attention to 
 the meaning, working sums in decimal fractions with ease, 
 showing a fair knowledge of the general geography of the 
 world and the particular geography of Great Britain, a fair 
 knowledge of the great leading events in the history of 
 Great Britain, parsing and analyzing ordinary simple sentences. 
 
 Another says, “ The question between the half-time and 
 full-time system, educationally and practically, is a question 
 between habits of concentrated attention during a short 
 time, and habits of more or less diffused attention during a 
 longer time.” 
 
 Another: u I attribute the equality of the half-timers to the 
 full-timers, chiefly to the habits of industrial occupations, to 
 their better attention to what they set about. They certainty 
 come to their school work with better habits of attention than 
 the day scholars.” 
 
 Another: “ I have a decided opinion that the admixture of 
 industrial occupation tends to make the scholars industrious 
 in the school. The half-timers do not trifle or waste their 
 
12 
 
 time so much as the day scholars. The half-timers set to 
 their writing or their lessons with great earnestness, and with 
 more business-like qualities.” 
 
 The positive advantage of combining useful labor with 
 study is manifold. Long before boys understand the meaning 
 of democracy, they know the difference between industry 
 and idleness, productive and unproductive employment, and 
 feel the strongest impulses to practical and useful activity. 
 The mind must be taught economy, industry, punctuality, 
 attention ; the hand, skill and strength ; the instinctive feel- 
 ings must be trained to a respect for labor wherever this is 
 possible. It is undeniable that our schools are defective in 
 this respect. They tend to teach the boys to live by their 
 wits rather than their hands. In the case of girls, the culmin- 
 ation of their results is the production of teachers, — girls who 
 leave school at 18, with their heads full of various knowledge 
 crammed in by force, but unable to set their hands to a single 
 thing : the only thing they are good for is to make others like 
 themselves. Surely the whole blame is not in the schools, but 
 largely with the public. Nevertheless the schools must set the 
 public an example of use as well as of culture : it will be fol- 
 lowed. 
 
 Conclusions. 
 
 The definition with which this paper begins renders it 
 unnecessary to discuss the condition of children in places 
 where there are no manufactures. For us the questions to be 
 solved are these : — 
 
 1. Will the 12,000 factory children and the unnumbered 
 children in other light employments in Massachusetts be best 
 off in schools kept five months of each year for six hours a 
 day, or in schools which are kept ten months for three hours 
 a day? 
 
 In the opinion of the writer and of most professional 
 teachers whom he has consulted, the latter alternative is very 
 far to be preferred, as respects the child’s progress in study. 
 The law requires factory children to attend for 20 weeks in 
 a year, i.e., five months ; which leaves an interval of seven 
 months to forget what they have already learned. It is true 
 that the country population of New England was brought 
 up on 18 weeks of schooling a year ; but the circumstances 
 
13 
 
 of their life, and the universal spirit of free thought, active 
 intelligence, and enterprise, prevailing among this class forty 
 years ago, made the result of this scanty provision a very 
 different one from that which is to be expected among the 
 rough, unintelligent children, living in illiterate homes, who 
 are found in such numbers in our factories. A vacation 
 of one or two days leaves children’s minds in a demoralized 
 condition ; a three-months’ summer vacation, among children 
 of the most intelligent class, is thought a very great draw- 
 back to their progress in study : seven months of illiteracy 
 can not but seriously injure the progress of children who are 
 destitute of other mental stimulus than that afforded by the 
 schools. Either, therefore, the children should be sent for 
 half a day all the year round to the ordinary town schools 
 (which is not at all impracticable), or else special half-time 
 schools should be established. The writer would recom- 
 mend that such schools should be established in a limited 
 number, say 6 or 12, of the great manufacturing centres of 
 the State ; and that care should be taken to place the experi- 
 ment in the hands of a person or persons practically ac- 
 quainted with the system, and desirous of its success. 
 
 That the interests of mill owners would suffer by the ex- 
 periment, does not seem probable. A certain amount of 
 attention to details of certificates will be necessary some 
 annoyance, but scarcely loss, may result from the new 
 arrangement. 
 
 2. Ought the State to forbid the labor of children uncler 
 12 or under 15 ? 
 
 In strictness, the writer is not bound to answer this ques- 
 tion. Nevertheless, as it is clear that an affirmative answer 
 would destroy the ground for establishing half-time schools, 
 the following is offered in reply. Our State occupies a 
 nearly medium or neutral position, forbidding labor in facto- 
 ries before the age of 10, while in England it is allowed 
 (half-time) at 8, and in Prussia not before 12. The op- 
 tion between full-time schools for 20 weeks, and half-time 
 schools for the whole period of labor, is also allowed in 
 Massachusetts. Hence it would seem that the conflict lies 
 between those who assert the injurious effect of manufactur- 
 ing labor upon the health and growth of children, and those 
 who claim that the withdrawal of a considerable amount of 
 
14 
 
 young labor will injure the resources of working families and 
 the labor supply of some branches of manufacture. The 
 writer declines to offer a decision ; both as being, at pres- 
 ent, unconvinced that factory labor is severe or injurious ^ 
 
 to any considerable extent to children over 10 years of age 
 working on half-time, and from an unwillingness to assume 
 the presentation of arguments relating to the exigencies of * 
 
 trade, manufactures, or domestic economy among the poor in 
 this and adjacent States. Such arguments should be sought 
 from political economists. 
 
 The injury supposed to result to the health of children is 
 by no means fully proved. Statistics are wanting ; and to 
 obtain a proper amount would require a minute and system- 
 atic examination of large masses of children in factory dis- 
 tricts and country districts. And it is here recommended 
 that such examinations be authorized and paid for by the 
 State, with a view to establishing a basis for future legisla- 
 tion. 
 
 It is perhaps not out of place to add one further recom- . 
 mendation ; namely, that the laws intended to compel the 
 attendance at school of all children from 8 to 14 years of age 
 should be enforced by the authority of the State, and by 
 truant officers of its own, instead of being left to the discre- 
 tion of each town and city. 
 
 A certain prejudice exists against the establishment of 
 schools for distinct classes of the population. The impor- 
 tance of maintaining the self-respect of all classes is obvious ; 
 but the discussion of the principle is here omitted, a quota- 
 tion being simply made from the Report of the Fall River 
 School Committee for 1876-7. 1 
 
 “The committee desired to abolish factory schools because 
 the reasons for their establishment were sometimes miscon- \ 
 
 strued, and a consequent prejudice excited against them, by 
 parents who were expected to send their children to them. 
 
 It was feared their tendency was to impart the feeling, that 
 the children who work in our mills are expected to obtain 
 only the minimum amount of instruction, and that to be 
 acquired in separate schools; and that by this process of 
 isolation and restricted opportunities, — deprived of the 
 usual methods of mingling with the mass of the pupils of 
 
 1 See Note E. 
 
the city on equal terms and under similar educational condi- 
 tions, — they would eventually regard themselves as a separate 
 class in the community, occupying a relatively low position 
 in society, and not equally responsible with its more favored 
 members for good order and prosperity.” 
 
 NOTE A. 
 
 The Naumkeag half-time school was visited by the writer in the after- 
 noon of Jan. 11, 1878. The hours are from nine to half-past eleven, 
 a.m., and from one to half-past three, p.m. 
 
 The whole number belonging to the school is 66, of whom 59 are half- 
 time children from the Naumkeag Mills ; all under one teacher. Most of 
 the children are of French Canadian parentage, and have to be taught 
 English in the school. Three were from a German family, recent 
 immigrants, not operatives, but attending the school in order to learn 
 English before entering the common schools. The ages range from ten 
 to fifteen, and the previous attainments of the children vary at least as 
 much as their ages. The division into morning and afternoon sections is 
 not made in conformity with age, but to suit the demands of their occu- 
 pation. The exercises are so ordered as to have as few as possible unem- 
 ployed, and much tact is used in overcoming the essential difficulties of 
 teaching such a class. These difficulties are much increased by the fact 
 that the scholars do not attend continuously, but only for six months at a 
 time, alternating with six months of mill work on full time. This does 
 not constitute a compliance with the statute of 1876, ch. 52, § 2, which 
 provides that ‘ ‘ a regular attendance during the continuance of such em- 
 ployment [i.e., work in factories] . . . may be accepted by said school 
 committee as a substitute for the attendance herein required.” The 
 question being put to those present, some were found to have attended 
 the school previous to the present half-year, of whom two were in their 
 third and two in their fourth term.. It seems to the writer impossible to 
 draw conclusions respecting the value of half-time schools from so small 
 a number of scholars in an ungraded school, under such peculiar circum- 
 stances as to language, and coming as they do but half the year. 
 
 NOTE B. 
 
 The Indian Orchard school was supported from the school fund as 
 appropriated by the city; it had about 40 scholars, 20 at each session, 
 aged from thirteen to fifteen years ; 26 boys and 14 girls of French and 
 Irish parentage. None were entirely ignorant of English, but very few 
 knew the alphabet.* C. J. Goodwin, Superintendent of the Indian Or- 
 chard Mills, writes as follows: — 
 
 “We found it better to employ two sets of children in the mills, em- 
 ploying them half a day each, and half a day at school. They were 
 desirous to learn, made rapid progress, were punctual and well-behaved. 
 They made more progress than children of similar ages in full-time 
 schools. Reading, writing, and arithmetic were the studies pursued. I 
 
16 
 
 think scholars of these ages, and no farther advanced in their studies, 
 learn as rapidly with three hours’ instruction each day as they would 
 with more. It is a disadvantage to be out of school six months at a 
 time, for those who are just commencing their studies. The scholars 
 who are more advanced do not suffer so much from the loss. 
 
 “Our half-time school was a success; but a reduction of wages was 
 necessary, to conform to the decrease in working hours from eleven to 
 ten [by the ten-hour law], and the parents of the children could not 
 support them if allowed to work but half a day. So the school was 
 abandoned.” 
 
 NOTE C. 
 
 [From Rev. J. H. Bradford, Superintendent Massachusetts State Primary 
 
 School.] 
 
 “You ask for facts on the half-time system. I believe in it strongly, 
 having introduced it where it has succeeded for seven years. The school 
 hours were from two till five, p.m. All the morning was occupied with 
 manual labor, every child, however small, being responsible for some- 
 thing ; and this individual responsibility was transferred to the school- 
 room, and commendable progress was made. I have not tried the same 
 child first with one system and then with the other, nor am I able to say 
 positively in all cases that children will learn as much with three hours’ 
 school as with six; but I am so far convinced I was right in the matter, 
 that I should not wish to exchange, even if school was the sole result 
 desired. When, however, the fact of learning how to work is added, the 
 result is very much more favorable. It is not how long , but how they study, 
 that decides the result. . . . These children finished all their tasks at 
 half-past one, p.m., washing, ironing, housework, cooking, and every sort 
 of manual labor; nothing more was done at it until next morning, except 
 to get the simple supper, and wash up the dishes. The evenings were 
 spent in exercise and reading, and I have never seen children of a pri- 
 vate family, or of any other school, accomplish so much. They did not 
 weary of work or school. 
 
 “ The plan pursued here is essentially the same. The division work- 
 ing in the morning attend school in the afternoon, and vice versa . The 
 hours from two till five I consider best for school. Children feel more 
 like study then, and are more ready to work in the morning.” 
 
 NOTE D. 
 
 [From Hon. H. F. Hakrington, Superintendent of Schools, New Bedford.] 
 
 “ The present agents of our mills are as earnest as any can be to have 
 the statutes obeyed for the education of the children they employ. We 
 have, therefore, had a mill school in highly successful operation for 
 between three and four years. The children who attend are sent out of 
 the mills when due at school, and received again when their term of 
 schooling is over. They carry from us certificates stating when they will 
 be due at school again, which are recorded on the mill books, and hon- 
 ored accordingly. 
 
17 
 
 “ We have, every year, a class of half-time schools in this way, — that 
 schoolrooms will sometimes be so over-crowded that the only resource is 
 to ‘ride and tie,’ — take half the scholars into school one half the day, 
 and the rest of them the other half.’ The result is loss, appreciable loss, 
 proportioned to the difference in the amount of schooling. This is true, 
 no matter what grade of scholars may be in question, from the youngest 
 primarians upward. 
 
 “ Our mill scholars do not forget every thing they have learned at one 
 term of schooling during the succeeding interval — not by any means; but 
 we have a strong-minded, suggestive woman for their teacher, who 
 stimulates their mental curiosity, and thus makes strong impressions on 
 their minds. She tells me that something is forgotten, but the more 
 prominent and material facts are not.” 
 
 NOTE E. 
 
 [From N. T. Davis, M.D., Fall River.] 
 
 “We have had no factory schools since September, 1876. While in 
 existence, they were kept without vacation through the year. The chil- 
 dren were divided into sections, each section attending thirteen weeks. 
 There is little if any complaint of attempts on the part of mill managers 
 to evade the law. Attempted evasion on the part of parents is common.” 
 
 NOTE F. 
 
 [From James J. Hanson, Principal of Woburn High School.] 
 
 “ The system you speak of has been practised in Woburn some twelve 
 years, to the general satisfaction of the citizens. The advantages are 
 many, and, to my mind, completely outweigh any disadvantages that 
 might arise.” 
 
 In a school report for 1875-76, he further says, — 
 
 “ The scholars are benefited in a sanitary point of view, as they are 
 subjected to the necessary restraint of the schoolroom, and to the ill 
 effects of air more or less impure, a less number of hours per day. They 
 have also the privilege of preparing their lessons at home [in fact, they 
 are obliged to do so], and thus are freed from doing the same work amid 
 the disturbing influences of the classroom. The teachers are also re- 
 lieved from the double care of conducting recitations, and watching those 
 who are studying in their seats. The general police work of the teachers 
 is considerably less, and thus more time is given for thorough teaching. 
 ... A more cheerful obedience in the pupils is thereby secured ; and, as 
 it keeps them continually reciting, many temptations to wrong-doing are 
 removed, which would otherwise present themselves, and the good effects 
 are seen in a healthier moral # tone in the school. The school is more 
 extensively patronized, especially by boys, many of whom can and do 
 work a part of the time out of school, and assist themselves pecuniarily, 
 and still have ample time to learn their lessons, which they could not do 
 under the long-session system, and so would be compelled to stay away 
 altogether.” 
 
 3 
 
18 
 
 NOTE G. 
 
 [From A. H. Lewis, formerly Principal of Grammar School No. 5, Elmira, 
 N.Y., and William C. Wey, M.D., of the same city.] 
 
 Dr. Wey writes, “During the time of my connection with the Board 
 of Education in this city, the half-time plan was adopted in the primary 
 department of one of the schools. The working of the system was so 
 gratifying to the members of the Board who gave the subject attention, 
 and to the principal of the school, that its continuance was regarded 
 as desirable ; but the ignorant prejudices of the parents of the children 
 taught in that way, who imagined themselves cheated out of half the 
 advantages their progeny had a right to obtain from the school authori- 
 ties, caused so much dissatisfaction in the district, that the plan was 
 abandoned, and the former all-day time restored. 
 
 ‘ ‘ I watched the plan pursued by Mr. Lewis from beginning to end ; 
 and to say that I was captivated by it is a feeble expression of my esti- 
 mate of its moral, physical, and intellectual success.” 
 
 From Mr. Lewis’s statements the following is extracted : — 
 
 “ The experiment extended to the entire number (over 120) of pupils 
 registered in the two ‘ C primary ’ rooms, with two teachers. These 
 pupils were divided into nearly equal portions, — one attending in the 
 morning, the other in the afternoon. Each portion was again subdivided 
 into three divisions, — one of which received literary instruction in Room 
 No. 1, while the other two occupied Room No. 2 for rest and exercise. 
 The teacher in Room No. 1 had charge of but one division, consisting of 
 from 15 to 30 pupils at a time ; and the teacher in Room No. 2 had charge 
 of two divisions all the time. One division passed into, and another out 
 of, each room every fifteen minutes. 
 
 “ Each teacher attended two sessions of school, of three hours each, 
 daily. Under the old way, the ‘ C primaries ’ are dismissed half an hour 
 before the regular close of each school session. But our teachers pre- 
 ferred full-time sessions, with half the number of pupils. The labor of 
 teaching- a class is incomparably less than that of teaching the same class, 
 and at the same time governing two others. More time is spent in the 
 schoolroom, but the drudgery of the service is gone. 
 
 “ As regards results, one hundred pupils were promoted during the 
 year, of whom 41 would not have been promoted till a year later if 
 taught under the old plan, thus effecting a saving of forty-one years of 
 school life. In consequence of the large promotion, the department was 
 so much relieved, that it became possible to return to the all-day or full- 
 time practice of the other schools; and in deference to the expressed 
 wishes of the Superintendent and District Commissioner, who were 
 anxious to pacify a few grumblers, the backward step was taken at the 
 commencement of the next school year. It was painfully interesting to 
 me to note the resulting changes, to which I called the attention of the 
 Board in a brief report, from which I now quote : — 
 
 “ ‘ 1. It is not possible to maintain as perfect order and discipline this 
 term as it was either of the three preceding terms, even with much 
 greater effort on the part of teachers. 
 
19 
 
 “ ‘ 2. It is not possible to secure such perfect attention either in the 
 physical or intellectual exercises ; and, as a consequence, less satisfactory 
 results are obtained in both rooms. 
 
 “‘3. There has been observed more quarrelling among these small 
 children on their way to and from school than in a whole year before. ’ 
 
 “ 1 can not, therefore, avoid the conclusion, that in every way, physi- 
 cally, intellectually, and morally, half-day sessions for such pupils are far 
 preferable to all-day sessions.” 
 
 NOTE II. 
 
 [From J. M. Gregory, LL.D. President Illinois Industrial University.] 
 
 “ The replies received by me some years ago, from school superin- 
 tendents and teachers, in response to a circular asking information on 
 the half-time school, are no longer in my possession ; but I remember the 
 unanimity with which the testimony came from all who had tried the 
 experiment, that the children taught in the half-time schools made as 
 good progress as those in full time. The best and fullest trial was made 
 in some of the ward schools of Detroit, Mich., where the comparison was 
 made between schools taught under the same Board and regulations, and 
 under a common superintendent. I think that I had testimony from 
 twenty or more places where the experiment had been tried, and with the 
 same result in every case. It was not stated how the children were em- 
 ployed the other part of the day.” 
 
 NOTE I. 
 
 [From Hon. William Wood, President of the Board of Education, New- 
 
 York City.] 
 
 “ Allow me to say generally that the dicta you lay down are more 
 adapted to the condition of Boston and to other New-England manu- 
 facturing towns than to this city. Here we have no cotton mills, no 
 power-loom factories. We have manufactories of various sorts, — brew- 
 eries, distilleries, carriage factories, boiler factories, etc. ; but I don’t 
 think that there is that kind of demand for boy and girl operatives which 
 there is in cotton mills, weaving factories, calico print works, etc. . . . 
 Again: on principle, I am opposed to any legislation which would facili- 
 tate the employment of children under fourteen in factories of any 
 kind. . . . 
 
 “ So far as my own opinion goes, I would be better pleased with two 
 sessions of two hours each in our common schools than with one of three, 
 and another of two, as at present; but this would by no means meet the 
 views of the large body of our poorer citizens, who in reality use our 
 schools, especially our primary schools and departments, as quasi nurse- 
 ries. They, both father and mother, have to work for a living; and it is, 
 they think, a great blessing to have their children well cared for during 
 five working hours at least. 
 
 “ Our school system is devised for the wants of our enormous popula- 
 tion as it exists, and it would derange it greatly to have half-time day 
 schools. The place of such schools is, to a certain extent, supplied by 
 our common evening schools, which are carried on from the first Monday 
 in October to the end of February.” 
 
20 
 
 NOTE J. 
 
 [From Hon. J. L. Pickard, lately Superintendent of Schools, Chicago.] 
 
 “ In reply to your query regarding half-day sessions in Chicago schools, j 
 
 I must say that they have not, in the main, proved successful. In certain 
 neighborhoods of an intelligent constituency, the result of the experiment 
 was for a time gratifying. Since, however, the establishment of these 
 half-day schools was the result of insufficient accommodations, and since 
 the excess of population was greatest in the poorer districts, where home- 
 training is almost entirely neglected, the average result of the experiment 
 has not encouraged its extension, or warranted its continuance. For the 
 child restricted to a half-day’s instruction, there seemed to be nothing 
 left for the other half-day but the lessons of the street. Many children 
 have been found at the end of a year but little wiser, and often less stu- 
 dious, than at the beginning. . . . 
 
 “ We have had no experience in schools for manufactory children, 
 except in evening school work, which has always proved beneficial as 
 well as beneficent. 
 
 “ An experiment is just now being tried with schools for any who 
 can not be bound by the ordinary rules of attendance, and with promise 
 of success. These schools are ungraded, and admit — for such hours as 
 pupils can come — those who are kept from full-time schools. The 
 instruction is individual.” 
 
 NOTE K. 
 
 [From Hon. W. T. Harris, Superintendent of Schools, St. Louis.] 
 
 “ To some extent, we have tried it in the primary grades (first year’s 
 work) for three years. Teachers, for the most part, think that pupils learn 
 about as much the first year in half-time schools as in whole time. One 
 set of pupils comes in the morning, and another in the afternoon.” — See 
 Keport for 1874-75, p. 23. 
 
 The report referred to contains the following statements : — 
 
 “ The policy of half-time schools is under trial at present in a few 
 schools whose accommodations are inadequate to the wants of their dis- 
 tricts. This is tried only in the first year of the primary school. One 
 set of pupils comes in the morning, and another one in the afternoon. In 
 this way the capacity of the school is greatly increased without much 
 additional expense to the Board. An extra teacher is employed to assist 
 the regular ones in instructing the new classes formed. The observation 
 made in Chicago, that the progress of the pupils in their studies is 
 reported to be nearly as rapid as by the whole-time plan, is generally 
 indorsed by our own teachers.” — Page 23. 
 
 NOTE L. f 
 
 [From an address delivered by Edwin Chadwick, before the British Social r 
 
 Science Association, 1877.] 
 
 “ Certain large institutions for the care of destitute orphan children in / 
 
 England have had their death rates steadily reduced to about three in 
 
21 
 
 one thousand, which is nearly one-fourth of the rate of mortality for 
 school ages. 
 
 “ The schools are on the half-time principle, which we introduced 
 with the factory acts, as preventive of the physical injury done by over- 
 sedentary work in the long-time schools; and I may add, that by a better 
 adjustment of the book teaching to the children’s mental powers of 
 receptivity, and by the freshening up of the faculties by brisk bodily 
 exercises in the voluntary drill, these children, though naturally of an 
 inferior mental type, are got well through the three R’s in less than 
 four years as against seven in the common elementary schools, and at 
 one-half the cost for teaching power, and with the economical outcome , 
 that the efficiency of three is imparted to two for industrial occupations.” 
 
 NOTE M. 
 
 [From M. F., 1 Inspector of Volksschulen; dated Karlsruhe, Nov. 30, 1877.] 
 
 “ The elementary school called Volksschule is in the Duchy of Baden, 
 regularly or legally a half-day school. A completely normal Volksschule 
 in Baden would be arranged as follows : — 
 
 “1. The obligatory age for attending school being fixed at from the 
 seventh to the fourteenth year inclusive, there will be eight classes, each 
 receiving entirely distinct instruction. 
 
 “2. To every teacher are given two classes, to one of which he gives 
 instruction in the forenoon , to the other in the afternoon ; to each sixteen 
 hours a week. The school time is fixed to the hours of seven to ten and 
 one to four o’clock (or twelve to three) ; in winter time from eight to 
 eleven instead of seven to ten. To such a school four teachers are 
 assigned ; and one of this class will be erected in any place where four 
 hundred scholars, or thereabouts, are ready for this kind of instruction. 
 In most villages this plan will naturally be modified. Where there is 
 only one teacher (i.e., where there are 120 scholars, or less), he instructs 
 in the forenoon the scholars of the five upper or elder years together ; in 
 most subjects in two or three divisions. In the afternoon come the three 
 lower classes in two divisions. 
 
 “Where there are two teachers, one takes as first class the youngest 
 year, as second class the second and third years : the other teacher takes 
 as third class the fourth and fifth years, and as fourth class the three eld- 
 est years. 
 
 “Where there are three teachers (360 scholars or less), one has the 
 first year as Class 1, and the second as Class 2; the second teacher has the 
 third year as Class 3, and the fourth and fifth as Class 4; the third teacher 
 has the sixth year as Class 5, and the seventh and eighth years as Class 6. 
 Each teacher instructs in the morning his older scholars, and the younger 
 in the afternoon. 
 
 “An experience of many years has produced the general conviction 
 among school authorities and teachers, that, instead of instructing too 
 many or too different grades of scholars together for twenty-six or thirty 
 hours a week, it is better to divide them, and to give only sixteen hours 
 
 1 For this and the following communication, I am indebted to the kindness 
 of Dr. George Yarrentrapp of Frankfort-on-the-Main. 
 
to each. In this respect, we go so far, that where, for instance, in a 
 school with three teachers, the fourth class has upwards of 60 scholars, 
 this class will again be divided in two divisions or years, and each divis- 
 ion receive instruction for only two hours a day. In such a case, the 
 teacher has to instruct, in one day, three classes, one after the other. 
 Even this arrangement is judged a good shift where there is a deficiency 
 of teachers. It is a principle to give to the teacher in one class as few 
 different grades of age as may be; if possible, only one. If the necessary 
 number of teachers exists 5 , each child shall receive sixteen hours of in- 
 struction a week. Besides this, boys have from their ninth year two 
 hours of gymnastics, and girls from their tenth year four hours of needle- 
 work, a week. 
 
 “ All these arrangements refer in general to villages and cities. The 
 local authorities are legally obliged to have at least one teacher for 120 
 scholars. If the authorities of a place appoint more than one teacher, 
 they obtain the right of presentation, or nomination, and transform the 
 school to an enlarged Volksschule. In the latter, the teacher has gen- 
 erally only one class, the scholars of the same age. These classes are 
 instructed during the whole day, making twenty-six to thirty-six hours a 
 week. The results of such schools are naturally far higher than in the 
 simple Volksschule. 
 
 “In Karlsruhe there is, besides the enlarged Volksschule , a simple 
 one, with half-day school time, and with a peculiar arrangement, permit- 
 ting the scholars to study their home lessons for an hour a day in the 
 schoolrooms, under the supervision of the teacher: this is for the benefit 
 of those who have no place, nor light, nor time, for study at home. The 
 teachers receive a special compensation for this service. This practice is 
 new, but seems to be good. . . . 
 
 “The vacations of the Volksschule must not exceed eight weeks a 
 year. Exceptionally, a prolongation, not exceeding two weeks, may be 
 allowed for the three oldest years by the District School Board, for 
 attending to agricultural labor: this is not allowed in industrial dis- 
 tricts.” 
 
 NOTE N. 
 
 [From E. H., dated Cassel, Nov. 16, 1877.] 
 
 ‘ ‘ You are quite right in supposing that the arrangements mentioned 
 by Dr. Lincoln [half-time schools] do not generally exist in Prussia, or 
 at least only by way of exception. I add, — 
 
 “1. The general regulation of Oct. 15, 1872, established by the De- 
 partment of Public Worship and Education, relating to the arrange- 
 ment, task, and aim of the Prussian Volksschule , permits (No. 3) the 
 half-day school ‘in cases where the number of children in one school 
 does not exceed 80, or where the schoolroom is not sufficient for even a 
 smaller number, and the conditions do not permit the appointment of a 
 second teacher,’ etc. In such a school one teacher has to instruct all 
 the scholars in two classes, one after the other, thirty- two hours a week, 
 of which twenty are given to the upper class, and twelve to the lower. 
 
 “2. In accordance with the regulation (dated March 9, 1839) concerning 
 
23 
 
 occupations of young persons employed in manufactures, the law of 
 May 16, 1853, by which said regulation was amended, and the instruc- 
 tion of the Ministers of Commerce, of Education, and of the Interior, 
 dated Aug. 18, 1853, relating to the execution of this Act, juvenile 
 workmen employed in manufactures, beginning with the age of twelve 
 years, must receive school instruction for three hours daily. 
 
 “3. In a few districts the absence of schoolchildren may be sanc- 
 tioned during the summer months, for tending the cattle, for agricultural 
 work, etc. , provided that their parents can not dispense with their assist- 
 ance, that the children are older than eleven years, that they have attended 
 school regularly till that time, and that the results of their instruction 
 are at least of average excellence: but in any case, with the restriction 
 that they must attend school twelve hours a week, which will be fixed 
 (absolutely required) . 
 
 “4. In summer, unbroken vacations of more than four to six weeks 
 are not allowed.” 
 
 NOTE O. 
 
 Rev. G. F. Siegmund of New York states that he was well acquainted 
 with a half-time school at Celle, in Prussia, where his father was in- 
 spector of schools. The scholars were children of agricultural laborers; 
 they attended school from seven to ten a.m., and were therefore able to 
 work three-quarters of a day, for which they received five sgr., or half 
 a man’s wages. There were fifty children and one master. The results 
 were extremely good, and the children learned as much as those in the 
 Volksschulen. At Annaberg there was a regularly formed four-class 
 half-time school, with which he was personally acquainted: the results 
 were equal to those of whole-time schools “ because they had an excellent 
 master.” 
 
 NOTE P. 
 
 [From Augustus D. Small, Superintendent of Schools, Salem, Mass.] 
 
 “ You ask concerning the compliance of our school with the statute 
 (chap. 52, Acts 1876). You will find that attendance at a half-time 
 school for twenty weeks is all that the law, at the option of the qommit- 
 tee, requires. If the committee should not allow this plan of half-day at- 
 tendance, they would thereby oblige every child (conditions specified) to 
 attend all day for twenty weeks. The committee took the easiest course, 
 I think, in the establishment of the half-time school. Had a more"' rigid 
 course been attempted, the distress produced and the ill-feeling en- 
 gendered would probably soon have overthrown what was accomplished. 
 I feel less concern about the half-timers than about the no-timers. I 
 feel sure that there are from fifty to a hundred children, that are grow- 
 ing up in ignorance here, who do not attend school for one or two years 
 4f at a time. The law (chap. 52) is favorable to the would-be evader, and 
 
 very hard to enforce. The onus probandi is thrown upon the complainant, 
 t He must be able to prove his allegation. 
 
 ^ “ The law should be so constructed that the defendant must be able to 
 
 prove his school attendance. A child moving here from another place 
 
24 
 
 \ 
 
 \ 
 
 may or not have attended school there. He can not be identified with- 
 out great cost, if at all; and his record can not, therefore, be questioned 
 for a year. At the end of that time, he moves on to some other locality 
 to evade the law again. If, when challenged, he had to produce testi- 
 mony of school attendance, the case would be much easier for us to 
 handle. 
 
 “ Then I think that provision should be made for the temporary relief 
 of those kept by family want from school, and that, without holding 
 out incentives to the lazy to become objects of charity. The whole ques- 
 tion is a difficult one, I know; but until the law is improved,, at these 
 points at least, it will be inoperative in those very cases where it should 
 be most effective.” 
 
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