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 ATIONAL EDUCATION UN 
 
 PAPER ON EDUCATION 
 
 BY 
 
 EDWARD BAINE8, ESQ., M.P, 
 
 RF.AT) AT THE 
 
 SOCIAL SCIENCE CONGRESS, 
 
 HELD AT LEEDS, OCTOBER 7tti, 1871 
 
 Offices : 
 
 Manchester — The City Buildings, Corporation Street. 
 
 London— 18, Parliament Street, S.W. 
 
 'No. O 127 i 
 
 y
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION UNION. 
 
 pApee on education, 
 
 BY 
 
 EDWAED BAINES, ESQ., M.P. 
 
 I accept this liononrable position with much diffi- 
 dence, for of ah the departments of Social Science 
 none surpasses, or perhaps equals, that of Education, 
 either in importance or difficulty; and there are 
 several gentlemen present whose opinions on the 
 subject are entitled to much greater weight than 
 mine. Giant steps have lately been taken in every 
 branch of National Education, and I believe them 
 to have been essentially right and wise. But each 
 advance reveals more clearly the greatness of the 
 work that was to be done, the extent of the deficiencies 
 to be supplied, and the difficulties of various kinds 
 to be encountered, before we can regard the education 
 of the people as satisfactory. We are like builders, 
 who have prepared plans and raised a scaffolding, 
 but whose structure has scarcely risen above its 
 foundations. The nation may be said to have re- 
 quired its legislature and government to undertake 
 this all - important work. And these authorities 
 having obeyed the call, they now in their turn appeal 
 to the people to give effect to the laws which have 
 been passed. For, however needful may be the 
 action of Government, to organise, inspect, and en- 
 force, the moving and sustaining power can only be 
 found in public opinion. To this supreme force the 
 legislature itself has committed the execution of the 
 new laws. Without public approbation, neither the 
 pecuniary means nor the moral power would be found 
 for the performance of the task. 
 
 '■^ Reprinted by permission.
 
 THE GROWTH OF EDUCATION. 
 
 We shall be the more convinced of this truth when 
 we remember that in England education has been 
 the offspring, not of a paternal government, but of 
 political freedom. In some comitries education 
 seems to have been the parent of liberty ; but in 
 ours liberty has been the parent of education. We 
 had magnificent universities, the elder of which 
 dated from our great Alfred; and every successive 
 reign witnessed the endowment of valuable grammar 
 schools by public and private benefactors ; but not- 
 withstanding the proud results of these seats of 
 learning, in a race of statesmen^ philosophers, poets, 
 and divines, which the world has rarely equalled^ 
 nothing that deserved to be called popular or national 
 education existed in this country, till it originated, 
 a self-sown institution, at the commencement of the 
 present century. It had then to encounter the nip- 
 ping blasts of prejudice, which could not comprehend 
 the right of the labouring millions to the cultivation 
 of their understandings, or the true wisdom of basing 
 the social fabric on sound and general instruction. 
 The first attempts to give to popular education the 
 sanction and help of Government were as timid as 
 they were late. When they became bolder, they met 
 with opposition from various quarters and on various 
 grounds, not merely from the opponents but from the 
 zealous friends of education. Happily in these later 
 days the common sense of the working classes led 
 them to appreciate the advantages of education, and 
 to claim them as a right. And when Parliament 
 accidentally stumbled into the almost desperate 
 measure of household suft'rage, the first use which 
 the householders made of their suffrage was to demand 
 that the entire nation should be educated. Under 
 the new political circumstances, universal education 
 for the first time became possible, just, and necessary ; 
 and many earnest friends both of education and 
 enfranchisement, who had trembled at the enfran- 
 chising of a comparatively uneducated people, learned
 
 to rejoice at the accomplishment of both those* great 
 results, though hy means and in an order which they 
 had not foreseen. 
 
 It has been tlie practice of many, who saw truly 
 the inadequacy of the Yoluntary system to give a 
 complete education to the people, to speak of it 
 as an entire failure. But this judgment would 
 neither be correct as to the past nor safe for the 
 future. In the past we owe more to voluntary zeal 
 than to Government action. It was that zeal which 
 overcame the prejudices of the higher classes, and 
 the contented ignorance of the lower. "Nor was it 
 slow in putting forth its powers. That at least must 
 be the impression of your Chairman, who has him- 
 self witnessed the origin of nearly every agency for 
 popular education in the kingdom, with all the cheap 
 and valuable literature that has sprung up by their 
 side. If these things have come under the personal 
 observation of one man, and if the result of the 
 whole has been to raise the proportion of scholars 
 within fifty years from one in seventeen of the popu- 
 lation to about one in seven, they deserve to be 
 recorded in our educational history, and put to the 
 credit of the public spirit and educational zeal of 
 Englishmen. Especially is it desirable not to dis- 
 parage voluntary efforts on behalf of education, when 
 a very large proportion of the schools for the work- 
 ing classes still depend in a great degree on those 
 efforts both for their support and management, and 
 are likely so to continue. In the year 1870, the 
 children present at examination, in schools receiving 
 annual grants and under inspection, in England and 
 "Wales, numbered 1,551,806; and it was estimated 
 by Mr. Forster, in his speech on the Education 
 Estimates, that the number of scholars in those 
 schools would during the year 1871 increase by 
 300,000, which would make an estimated total in 
 Government inspected schools actually present at 
 examination during this year of 1,850,000 scholars. 
 
 * utuc Z.
 
 THE ELEMENTARY EDUCATION ACT. 
 
 The Elementary Education Act of 1870 was a 
 measure invohing the most important consequences 
 to the social and political condition of England. 
 Those consequences will require much time to 
 develop, and it may be that the law will undergo 
 moditication. Its first exposition in the House 
 of Commons was receiyed with general fixvour, as 
 evincing at once a strong grasp of principles and a 
 shrewTl estimate of the social circumstances to which 
 they were to be applied. Discussion revealed serious 
 differences as to the principles and probable woridng 
 of the Bill ; and Mr. Forster's firmness and patient 
 ingenuity were alike taxed severely to carry it 
 through the Lower House. It passed by very large 
 majorities, but leaving a very considera])le numl^er 
 of objectors in the country. The School Board 
 elections, which have taken place in boroughs and 
 districts comprising an aggregate population of 
 8,111,971, out of a population of 20,000,000, accord- 
 ing to the census of 1861, must be reo-arded as 
 havmg given a powerful sanction to the new lav/, 
 and created a machinery by which it will be carried 
 out. In most places earnest friends of popular 
 education have been chosen, including those who 
 have had practical experience in the work, with 
 many wdio are zealous for all educational extension 
 and improvement. As a rule, all parties and sects 
 are fairly represented. 
 
 PAYMENT OF FEES IN DENOMINATIONAL SCHOOLS. 
 
 It must not be concealed that at least one question 
 of great difficulty remains, on which a difference of 
 opinion and of action has been shown by the Scliool 
 Boards, — on which the very meaning of the Ele- 
 mentary Education Act is disputed, — and on which 
 the Committee of Council, after requesting some of 
 the Boards to re-consider their decision, have ulti- 
 mately left the Boards to interpret the Act for them- 
 selves, but pointed out a serious consequence that 
 may result. The question refers to the payment hj
 
 6 
 
 School Boards of the school-fees for the children of 
 parents who are unable to pay them, in denomina- 
 tional schools. As the point will inevitably lead to 
 much discussion, it may be right to give the words 
 of the 25th section, on which mainly the dispute 
 turns. They are as follow : — 
 
 ^* Section 25. The School Board may, if they think 
 fit, for a renewable period not exceeding six months, 
 pay the whole or any part of the school fees payable 
 at any public elementary school by any child resident 
 in their district whose parent is, in their opinion, 
 unable from poverty to pay the same ; hut no such 
 payment shall be made or refused on condition of the child 
 attending any public elementary school other than such as 
 may be selected by the parent; and such payment shall 
 not be deemed to be parochial relief given to such 
 parent." 
 
 No question arises as to the legality and propriety 
 of remitting the fees for these poor children in the 
 rate schools under the School Boards. But the 
 serious difference is as to the legality and propriety 
 of refusing to pay the fees for these children in the 
 denominational schools. The Liverpool, Bootle, and 
 Stockport School Boards have enacted bye -laws 
 which allow them not only to remit the fees in the 
 rate schools, but also to pay them in ''any other 
 school," including of course denominational schools; 
 and the avowed intention is to give the selection of 
 the school to the parent. These bye -laws have 
 received the official sanction of Her Majesty in 
 Council, and have therefore the force of law. But 
 the Portsmouth, Southampton, Wednesbury, and 
 other School Boards, have taken an opposite view of 
 their duty, and have passed bye -laws which would 
 remit the fees for poor children in rate schools, but 
 would not allow of paying the fees in denominational 
 or any other schools. When these bye-laws were 
 laid before the Education Department, they were in 
 some instances sent back for re-consideration. In 
 the case of Wednesbury, which is one of the latest,
 
 the correspondence lias been published by the De- 
 partment. In this case the Department stated that 
 they were prepared to allow the bye -law, but inti- 
 mated that "in the opinion of my Lords it would 
 not be just to deprive a parent of his right to choose 
 the particular public elementary school to which he 
 will send his child, because while he is compelled 
 by these bye-laws to send his child to school, he is 
 unable, from poverty, to pay his school fee ; but my 
 Lords cannot doubt that the School Board will see 
 the justice of making use of the power they possess 
 under section 25 in favour of any such parent." 
 The Wednesbury School Board, however, in reply, 
 declined to accept the recommendation of the De- 
 partment, assigning the following reasons : '' The 
 form of the bye-law in question was not hastily 
 settled. It was decided by a majority of the Board 
 after local agitation, and after prolonged and anxious 
 discussions. The majority of the Board appeared to 
 consider that it would not be more unjust to require 
 the few poor parents interested to surrender their 
 own preference for a particular school, and send their 
 children to efficient schools established by the Board, 
 than it would be to require ratepayers of all classes 
 to assist particular denominations in their educational 
 arrangements by the payment of fees to sectarian 
 schools." The Department allowed the bye-law, but 
 in rejoinder ''thought it right to call the attention 
 of the Board to the power given them, independently 
 of any bye -law, by section 25 of the Elementary 
 Education Act, by which power they will be relieved 
 from the necessitij of euforcinf/ penalties cujainst a parent 
 who, though unable from poverty to pay a school fee, 
 prefers that his child should attend a public elemen- 
 tary school selected by himself." It is obvious that 
 the question in dispute is felt to be one of serious 
 magnitude, which will engage the attention not only 
 of School Boards, but of the public, the Govern- 
 ment, and the Legislature. It is, whether payments 
 out of rates shall be made to denominational schools.
 
 8 
 
 It is a question involving the rights of conscience, 
 the power of compulsion in education, the efficacy of 
 the late Act to its proposed end, and the working 
 of the School Boards. It appears likely to draw 
 religious and political parties into a new and grave 
 controversy. I believe I cannot, in consistency with 
 my duty in this chair, avoid presenting the views 
 by which the two sides support their respective posi- 
 tions. 
 
 ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE PAYMENT. 
 
 The great objection of the o|)ponents of paying 
 fees in denominational schools is, that it will work 
 almost exclusively in favour of the schools belonging 
 to the Established Church and the Koman Catholics, 
 and therefore in a certain sense adversely to the cause 
 of Nonconformity. The following paragraph fi*om a 
 Paper recently addressed to Mr. Gladstone by the 
 Central Nonconformist Committee of Birmingham 
 thus states the case : — 
 
 *'3. This large proportion of the rate will be 
 devoted almost exclusively to Koman Catholic and 
 Church of England schools, it being the intention 
 of several Nonconformist communities to close their 
 schools, or to offer them to the School Board, in 
 order that, as far as their influence extends, the 
 children of the poor may no longer receive their 
 elementary education under the influence of particu- 
 lar religious denominations, but in schools founded 
 and maintained by all the ratepayers in the borough. 
 The intention of Nonconformists to abstain from 
 future denominational action in education is wit- 
 nessed by the small number of new building grants 
 applied for by them. The result will therefore be, 
 that in the course of a very few years, almost the 
 only denominational schools which will continue to 
 exist will be connected either with the Church of 
 England or Roman Catholic Church, and these will 
 be supported by the rates in direct rivalry with the 
 ratepayers' own schools."
 
 9 
 
 It is added, as an estimate founded on the expe- 
 rience of the Birmingham Education Aid Society, 
 that " probably 10,000 children in that borough will 
 be able to claim from the Board free education on 
 the ground of poverty ; and if 8,000 of these were 
 received into denominational schools, the Board 
 would be required to pay in school fees nearly i'4,500 
 per annum." The Birmingham Paper adds that the 
 deputation which waited upon Mr. Gladstone, toge- 
 ther with ''Nonconformists in every part of the 
 kingdom," entertain " a firm and ineradicable hostility 
 to this new application of public money for purposes 
 of religious teaching;" that the measure is "creating 
 bitter sectarian animosity;" and that "the objections 
 which were felt to the Church Piate are felt to the 
 application of the Education Bate to the maintenance 
 of denominational schools." In some other towns 
 a refusal to pay the rate has been threatened, and 
 even Ministers of religion have said they would p'o 
 to prison rather than pay it. 
 
 REPLIES IN FAVOUR -OF THE PAYMENT. 
 
 To these objections it is rephed, in behah' of pay- 
 ing the fees, — 1st, that the Elementary Education 
 Act expressly allows School Boards to pay the fees 
 for poor children in any public elementary school, 
 including the denomhiational schools : 2nd, that the 
 payment of fees for children unable to pay was not 
 intended as a subsidy to any school, denominational 
 or otherwise ; but simply as a relief to the impove- 
 rished parent, without any reference whatever to the 
 kind of school that might ])e selected : if benefit 
 accrued to the school, it Y\^as incidental and not de- 
 signed, and it was a benefit open alike to schools of 
 every kind: 3rd, that if it is o])jectionable to con- 
 tribute thus incidentally to denominational schools 
 from the rates, it must be far more objectionable to 
 contribute systematicaUy to those schools from the 
 general taxation of the country; to wdiich, however, 
 the faith of the Government and Parliament is pledged' 
 and which cannot be withdrawn without lettino- (k)^\n
 
 10' 
 
 almost all the existing elementary education of the 
 comitry : 4tli, that the Act recognises the right of 
 the parent to select the school for his child, and that 
 this is a right of conscience as clear as the right to 
 avail himself of the conscience clause : 5th, that the 
 denial of that right would be regarded as a violation 
 of the religious liberty of the parent, and would in- 
 terpose a formidable obstacle in the way of educating 
 the whole people, especially the poor and neglected 
 children, many of whose parents are Eoman Catho- 
 lics, who attach a special importance to religious 
 education : 6th, that nearly the same classes of 
 children, namely, the children of in-door and out- 
 of-doors paupers, whether Catholic or Protestant, are 
 now, and have been for years, as a matter of acknow- 
 ledged justice and necessity, paid for out of the 
 public rates in denominational schools, and that 
 there is not the least probability of Parliament tak- 
 ing away that right : 7th, that the law, when it gives 
 to the parent the right of selecting the school, obvi- 
 ously removes from the School Board the moral respon- 
 sibility for the choice : 8th, that the denominational 
 schools, moreover, are no longer connected with the 
 State as religious institutions ; they were so from 
 the year 1846 to the year 1870, during which period 
 grants were made to no school but such as gave 
 religious instruction; but at the latter date, with the 
 consent of both parties in the State, that require- 
 ment was formally withdrawn ; and it is enacted, in 
 Section 97 of the Elementary Education Act, that 
 in future '' such grant shall not be made in respect 
 of any instruction in religious subjects,'' and that 
 *'such conditions shall not require that the school 
 shall be in connection with a religious denomination ; 
 or that religious instruction shall be given in the 
 school:" a conscience clause is also required in every 
 such school, enabling the parent to withdraw his 
 child from the religious instruction : 9th, that the 
 State noAV makes all its grants solely in consideration 
 of secular instruction, and as freely to schools which
 
 11 
 
 are purely secular as to those which are religious ; 
 the cost of the religious teaching is more than 
 covered by the voluntary contributions of the sup- 
 porters of the schools : not one farthing more would 
 be paid for any child in a denominational school than 
 in an undenominational or purely secular school : 
 10th, that therefore in the eye of the law the denom- 
 inational schools are acknowledged as purely secular 
 schools, for which the nation at large has no respon- 
 sibility, except as schools giving a good secular 
 education, and that- neither grants nor rates paid to 
 them can be justly considered as an endowment of 
 religion : 11th, that there is no analogy between a 
 church rate and the education rate ; the object of 
 the church rate having been purely religious and for 
 one sect alone, whereas the object of the education 
 rate is for all sects and schools alike, without refer- 
 ence to the religious teaching. 
 
 Such are the replies given in favour of the pay- 
 ment of fees in denominational schools ; and whilst 
 I feel that the state of things is not agreeable to 
 Nonconformists, I confess my judgment regards the 
 replies as unanswerable, and approves of the deci- 
 sions of the first class of School Boards which have 
 been mentioned as more correct than those of the 
 second. It is for statesmen to consider whether the 
 law can justly and wisely be modified ; but I do not 
 believe it is morally or politically possible (even if 
 it be legal) to punish a poor man for declining to 
 send his child to a school of which he conscien- 
 tiously disapproves ; and if it is not possible to 
 punish, the power of compulsory education is lost 
 for that very class of children for which it was 
 thought most necessary. 
 
 POSSIBLE EERORS OF SCHOOL BOARBS. 
 
 Whilst I thus avow^ my honest judgment, I must 
 remark that the School Boards, like every other in- 
 stitution in a free country, hold their power on the 
 condition of its fair, just, and impartial exercise. It 
 is possible to conceive of various modes of abusing
 
 12 
 
 tlieir power, wliicli would make them odious, and 
 destroy all hope of the peaceful working of the Act. 
 For example, if a School Board should administer 
 the rates in such a manner as purposely and as tlieir 
 obvious motive to fill the existing schools and 
 strengthen particular denominations, it would he a 
 real grievance to the ratepayers. If it exercised any 
 influence whatever upon the poor parents, to induce 
 them to prefer one school to another;— if for the 
 sake of filling particular schools, it should pay fees 
 for children whose parents could afford to pay 
 them ; — above all, if it endeavoured to prevent the 
 creation of a rate -school where, from the religious or 
 secular views of a considerable number of rate- 
 payers, such schools were required ; — in any of these 
 cases, the conduct of the School Board would be 
 dishonourable, oppressive, and a real breach of trust, 
 whilst a multiplicity of such cases would endanger 
 the continued existence of local and representative 
 management. It is true the ratepayers have the 
 power of dismissing the members at the next elec- 
 tion ; but in the meantime local and national resent- 
 ments might be provoked, which might lead to 
 serious consequences. On the other hand, it would 
 be clearly wrong to squander public money in build- 
 ing schools which would not be used, and which 
 there is no ratepaying element to manage. Such 
 conduct would make the new law odious in another 
 direction. 
 
 THE EXTENSION OF EDUCATION. 
 
 I beg now to invite the earnest attention of the 
 Association to the practical means by which . the 
 education of the people may be made what it should 
 be. I would ask all men and women who feel for 
 the honour and interests of the country, and who 
 know how truly our interests are wrapt up in cul- 
 tivating the faculties of the people, and in expelling 
 the ignorance, intemperance, and vice by which 
 those faculties are so often obscured, to give their 
 cordial help in filling the land with good schools.
 
 o 
 
 It would 1)6 the crown of Social Science to create an 
 intellectual and virtuous nation. It cannot be done 
 without more schools and higher teaching ; and 
 these cannot be had without a liberal expenditure, 
 and the personal efforts of the friends of knowledge 
 and truth. At no time have we been in so favourable 
 a position for arraying the true strength of the 
 country on this behalf. The people are self-har- 
 nessed to the car of progress. It is themselves and 
 their children who are to be benefited ; and happily 
 they know it. 
 
 Where School Boards have l)een elected, it is 
 obvious that with them will rest mainly the power 
 and the responsibility of working the new system. 
 A mighty engine is put into their hands ; and 
 almost everything depends upon the zeal, the 
 prudence, the skill, the perseverance, and the im- 
 partiality with wdiich they direct its operations. So 
 numerous and important will be their duties, that 
 to fulfil them well will be a title to public grati- 
 tude and honour. We cannot review^ those in- 
 dispensable duties without feeling that tl>e School 
 Boards will have a claim, in one respect on our 
 envv, in another on our commiseration, and in everv 
 respect on our heartiest support. It is a matter of 
 congratulation that the Education Committee of the 
 Privy Council, iii their Pieport for 1870-71, "express 
 their satisfaction with the character of the represen- 
 tative bodies who have been elected." 
 
 I believe I cannot render a better service to the 
 School Boards throughout the country than by 
 presenting to them the decisions arrived at oil 
 all the great points of principle and practice by 
 the School Board for London. That Board, as 
 is known, comprises men of the greatest ability 
 and experience in education — eminent scholars 
 and men of science, head-masters of training and 
 other colleges, authors of distinction. Members of 
 both Houses of Parliament, and — not of inferior 
 importance — ladies who have acquired just reputa-
 
 14 
 
 tion by asserting the claim of women to their due 
 share of all our educational advantages. At the head 
 of the Board is Lord Lawrence, whose statesmanlike 
 wisdom and energy raised him to the position of 
 Governor of the Punjaub and Governor- General 
 of India, and who was hardly more distinguished 
 as one of the saviours of India during the great 
 Mutiny than by his constant attention to the 
 creation of schools for the natives. Not a few mem- 
 bers of the Board have spent their' lives in the midst 
 of the dense population of the metropolis, where they 
 have encountered every difficulty that can present 
 itself in our great towns to the educationist and 
 philanthropist. They belong to almost every sect 
 and section of thought; and their characters and 
 position have commanded the confidence of the first 
 city in the world. Such is the Board who have been 
 sitting as a Board and in Committees, from January 
 to September, maturely deliberating upon all the 
 departments of their great work, and who have just 
 condensed the results of their deliberations into a 
 Paper entitled — 
 
 REGULATIONS OF THE SCHOOL BOARD OF LONDON, 
 FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF ITS SCHOOLS. 
 
 I. — General Regulations. 
 
 1. Infant schools shall'be mixed. 
 
 2. Senior schools shall be separate. 
 
 3. Large schools shall be provided wherever it is practicable to 
 
 do so. 
 
 4. As a general rule, female teachers only shall be employed m 
 infant and girls' schools. 
 
 5. The period during v/hich the children are under actual instruc- 
 tion in school shall be five hours daily for five days in the week. 
 
 6. During the time of rehgious teaching or religious observance, 
 any children withdrawn from such teaching or observance shall 
 receive separate instruction in secular subjects. 
 
 7. Every occurrence of corporal punishment shall be formally 
 recorded in a book kept for the purpose. Pupil teachers are 
 absolutely prohibited from inflicting such punishment. The head 
 teacher shall be held directly responsible for every punishment of 
 the kind.
 
 15 
 
 8. Music and drill shall bo taught in every school during part 
 of the time devoted to actual instruction. 
 
 9. In all day schools provision shall be made for giving eftect 
 to the following Resolution of the Board, passed on the 8th March, 
 1871 :— 
 
 " That in the schools provided liy the Board the Bible shall be 
 read, and there shall be given such explanations and such instruc- 
 tion therefrom in the principles of morality and religion, as are 
 suited to the capacities of children : provided always — 
 
 "1. That in such explanations and instruction the provisions of 
 the Act in Sections VII. and XIV. be strictly observed, both 
 in letter and spirit, and that no attempt be made in any such 
 schools to attach children to any particular denomination. 
 " 2. That in regard of any particular school, the Board shall 
 consider and determine upon any application by managers, 
 parents, or ratepayers of the district, who may show special 
 cause for exception of the school from the operation of this 
 Resolution, in whole or in part." 
 
 10. In all schools provision may be made for giving effect to 
 the following Resolution of the Board passed on July 2Gth, 1871 : 
 
 "1. That in accordance with the general practice of existing 
 elementary schools, provision may be made for offering prayer 
 and using hymns in schools provided by the Board at the 
 ' time or times' when, according to Section VII., Sub-section 
 II., of the Elementary Education Act, ' Religiojis observ- 
 ances' may be 'practised.' 
 
 " 2. That the arrangements for such 'Religious observances' 
 be left to the discretion of the teacher and managers of each 
 school, with the right of appeal to the Board by teacher, 
 managers, parents, or ratepayers of the district : 
 
 " Provided always — 
 
 " That in the offering of any prayers, and in the use of unj 
 hjmms, the provisions of the Act in Sections VII. and XIV. be 
 strictly observed, both in letter and spirit, and that no attempt 
 be made to attach children to any particular denomination." 
 
 11. All the children in any one infant, junior, or senior school 
 shall pay the same weekly fees. 
 
 12. The minimum weekly fee in infant, junior, and senior 
 school shall be one penny, and the maximum fee ninepence. 
 
 18. The half-timers attending any school shall pay half the 
 weekly fees chargeable in that school, provided that such half-fees 
 be not less than one penny. 
 
 14. The fees payable in evening schools shall be left to the dis- 
 cretion of the managers, subject to the approval of the Board. 
 
 15. If exceptional circumstances should appear to render the 
 estabhshment of a free school, in any locality, expedient, the 
 facts shall be brought before the Board, and its decision taken 
 upon the special case,
 
 16 
 
 It 
 
 II. — Regulations for Infant Bchoolh. 
 
 10. Ill infant scliools instruction shall be given in the following 
 snhjectf; : — 
 
 ftf J The Bible and the principles of religion and morality, in 
 
 accordance with the terms of the resolution of the Board 
 
 passed on the 8th March, 1871. 
 fJ)j Beading, writing, and arithmetic. 
 (cj Object lessons of a simple character, with some such 
 
 exereise of the hands and eyes as is given in the 
 
 " Kinder-Garten" system. 
 /'V/j Music and drill. 
 
 III. — Regulations for Junior and Senior Schools. 
 
 17. In junior and senior schools certain kinds of instruction shall 
 form an essential part of the teaching of every school ; but others 
 may or may not be added to them, at the discretion of the managers 
 of individual schools, or by the special direction of the Board. The 
 instruction in discretionary subjects shall not interfere with the 
 efficiency of the teaching of the essential subjects. 
 
 18. The following subjects shall be essential; — 
 
 [a) The Bible, and the principles of religion and moralitj^ in 
 accordance with the terms of the resolution of the Board, 
 passed on the 8th March, 1871. 
 
 [})) Reading, writing, and arithmetic, English grammar and 
 composition, and the principles of book-keeping in senior 
 schools ; with mensuration in senior boys' schools. 
 
 (r) Systematised object lessons, embracing in the six school 
 years a course of elementarj^ instruction in physical science, 
 and serving as an introduction to the science examinations 
 which are conducted by the Science and Art Department. 
 
 (fZ) The History of England. 
 
 (e) Elementary Geography. 
 
 (/) Elementary Social Econoln3^ 
 
 (g) Elementary Drawing. 
 
 (h ) Music and Drill. 
 
 (i) In girls' schools, plain needle-work, and cutting-out. 
 
 19. The following subjects shall be discretionary: — 
 (a) Domestic Economy, (/;) Algebra, (r) Geometry. 
 
 20. Subject to the approbation of the Board, any extra subjects 
 recognised by the New Code (1871) shall be considered to be dis- 
 cretionary subjects. 
 
 Note. — T^ie remaining portion of Mr. Baines's paper does not bear 
 upon the objects of the Union, but refers to improved education 
 . in England and Switzerland; the study of Science and Art; 
 Mechanics' Institutions, and school furniture.
 
 
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