Private day-schools involve a much smaller risk, and in these large numbers of well-educated women are now at work. In a place too small to support a high school, schools of this kind often supply all needs; but, oddly enough, they seem to flourish best where they exist side by side with good public schools. Bedford is an instance of a town well supplied with both. Sometimes the head-mistress takes a few boarders, and is thus enabled to provide better premises. The fees range from about £12 to £30 per annum, and the curriculum is not unlike that of a high school, though the more expensive subjects, such as certain branches of science, are often omitted. The Junior and Senior Local Examinations and those of the College of Preceptors are a good deal used by these schools, and help to keep up a standard, where a regular external examination is not practicable. Small, cheap day-schools still abound, though happily in nothing like the old numbers. Even these have undergone some improvement, though rumour maintains that Mangnall’s Questions and Child’s Guide may still be found here, if we only dig deep enough. The lowest class of private school is attended by children who ought to be in the public elementary schools. The extinction of these, which is rapidly proceeding, can only be hailed with general satisfaction.

Much has been said of late about the necessity of finding a place in any general system of education for private schools, but surely their proper function is so clearly defined that there is no fear of a day dawning when they are no longer needed. A further increase in cheap public day-schools may lessen the numbers, and it is hardly to be expected that in ten years’ time the present conditions, under which 70 per cent. of our girls who are receiving secondary education are in private schools, shall still prevail. The true function of the private school is to offer an educational luxury to those who can pay for it, and on these lines, without coming into competition with public school work, it is likely to develop. The more public schools are established in a district, the greater becomes the field for first-grade private schools. This is well illustrated by the case of the United States, where the universal diffusion of the public schools seems to favour the growth of private ones. They can charge high fees, because the public schools are always available for those who cannot afford these. They can try experiments and adopt new methods, because they are not subject to the rigid direction and supervision to which public schools are liable. A great deal of the preparation for college falls to them, and they enjoy a very different reputation and position from the Prussian private schools, which are obliged to adopt the same ‘code’ as the public. Cheap schools, to be efficient, must receive help with their finances; such help can hardly be given to private schools while they retain the freedom which is one source of their strength. It is probable, therefore, that they will more and more become schools for the well-to-do classes only. There must be some suffering involved in the changes which the near future is likely to bring, even if local educational authorities do all in their power to minimise this, and eventually the lower class of private school will probably go to the wall. But not till the Anglo-Saxon nature has undergone a complete transformation will there cease to be a place in England for private enterprise; and private schools, even though they may be deemed a luxury, will still rank among us as a necessity.

CHAPTER IX
THE TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION ACTS

On June 24, 1890, a curious scene took place in the House of Commons. The Customs and Excise Bill had been dragging its weary way in committee, and making very small progress. The question under debate was the disposal of a residue of £350,000, available from the new duty on beer and spirits. This Mr. Goschen proposed to apply to compensating publicans whose licenses should be refused, but the Government did not care to press the point in face of opposition in the country and small majorities in the House. Mr. Goschen therefore proposed to shelve the matter till the next session, merely ‘ear-marking’ the money for the purpose indicated. Thereupon Mr. Healy got up on a legal point, and reminded the House that the Budget Bill, which had already become law, expressly stated that the duties in question were to be dealt with in a particular way, and that the proceeds were to be appropriated ‘as Parliament may hereafter direct by any Act passed in the present session.’ Under these circumstances, he asked, had they power to postpone that appropriation? The Speaker thought they had not, and his ruling prevailed. The result was the acceptance, on August 1, of Mr. Acland’s proposal to apply the money in England ‘for the purposes of agricultural, commercial, and technical instruction, as defined in Clause 8 of the Technical Instruction Act, 1889,’ and in Wales either for technical instruction or for purposes defined by the Welsh Intermediate Education Act.

This sudden turn of affairs took the country by surprise. The county councils, to whom this money was assigned, were now expected to devote to educational purposes the money and energy which were to have gone to the extinction of licenses. From these events date the educational functions of the county councils. It was this ‘whisky-money’ which gave the impetus to technical education, a term which had been defined by the Act of 1889. Prolonged agitation throughout the country, due to the fear of foreign competition and the rumours of superior education given to the mechanics of other countries, had led to the appointment in 1884 of a Commission to consider the question, and to their report the Technical Instruction Act of 1889, and the amending Act of 1891, were due.

Among the recommendations of the Commissioners were the following:—

1. That steps be taken to accelerate the application of ancient endowments, under amended schemes, to secondary and technical instruction.

2. Provision by the Charity Commissioners for establishing in suitable localities, schools or departments of schools, in which the study of natural science, drawing, mathematics, and modern languages, should take the place of Latin and Greek.

3. Giving power to local authorities to establish, maintain, or contribute to the establishment of secondary and technical schools and colleges.

Following these lines, the Act defined technical instruction as ‘instruction in the principles of Science and Art, applicable to industries, and in the application of special branches of Science and Art to specific industries or employments.’ It was not to include teaching the practice of any trade or industry, but it might include any branch of instruction (including modern languages, and commercial and agricultural subjects), which were at any time sanctioned by the Science and Art department of South Kensington. The means of doing all this was a penny rate which local authorities were permitted to raise. Unaided this could not have done much, and very few places took advantage of this power, until the Local Taxation Act of the following year changed the whole aspect of affairs.