2. Study the various forms of government in the order of their growth. 3. Develop clearly the three departments of government the legislative, the judicial, and the executive. 4. 5. 6. Show how the nature of a government must be determined Make the description of political divisions a means of train- 7. Note especially the advantages and disadvantages affecting 9. FOREIGN NOTES. Secondary Education in Great Britain. - The absorbing educational question of Great Britain at the present moment is that of secondary education. A bill for the organization of the various agencies devoted to this grade of scholastic work in England has been drafted and will it is confidently predicted be passed in the Parliamentary session of 1894. If the present party continues to hold the reins of government, Mr. Acland the active head of the Education Department and chief promoter of the bill will leave nothing undone for its success. As a preliminary measure, Mr. Acland has appointed a departmental committee, on which the three government offices dealing with education Whitehall, South Kensington, and the Charity Commission are for the first time brought together. The primary object of this committee, is declared to be, to make these three departments better acquainted with one another's functions, to remove the serious friction which exists, and to coördinate, as far as possible, their operations. But from the official announcement, it is also certain, that the committee is appointed to consider the organization of secondary education. Alarm was manifested because teachers have no representation on the committee, but Mr. Acland has quieted the feeling by the proposal that representatives of all the chief institutions interested in the question, i. e., the Headmaster's Association, the Girls' Public Day School Company, The Teachers' Guild, the College of Preceptors, and the National Union of Teachers should meet in conference at Whitehall to discuss the supply and regulation of secondary education in reference to the state. The private school teachers who have the training of about 600,000 young people are watching the government movements with keen and jealous interest. Scotland which has all the conditions in hand for an organized system of secondary schools is agitating also for a bill to this effect. Here, under the Education Act of 1872, the school boards can create high schools, and under the Act of 1878 can levy local taxes for their support. With this power and $300,000 per annum, which has been recently allocated to Scotland from the public treasury for secondary education, the financial provision is secure. In both England and Scotland technical education is discussed in its relations to secondary, and the surplus from the duties on spirits turned over to the county councils, as recently noted in EDUCATION, is largely applied to the promotion of secondary courses in science. Under the stimulus of this money technical schools are multiplying, the latest reported being the Olymouth Municipal School. The school was planned in 1887 as a memorial of the Queen's Jubilee. The building and equipments have been provided by subscriptions amounting to $50,000, and the proceeds of the county fund from the Excise Act, go to the support of the school. The movements relating to secondary education are accelerated by the influence of local colleges and their adaptation to local needs as recently noted in this journal. Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Bristol, Birmingham, Nottingham, and Sheffield have colleges of varying pattern and justly rejoice in their want of uniformity. The magnificent group of buildings which are to form the home of the Durham college of science constitute another local memorial of the Queen's Jubilee. The college campus comprises six and one-quarter acres, from which about 10,000 square yards have been marked off for the main building not yet commenced. The block which is about completed is designed for the departments of chemistry and physics. Its cost with fittings reaches $120,000. The engineering department will require $100,000 for the building and about $60,000 for equipment. It is expected that the new buildings will be formally opened next October, although the main edifice will require much more time for completion. Labor Bureaus in Europe. - In the establishment of a labor bureau England is avowedly following the precedent of the United States. The bureau is an expansion of the labor section of the Board of Trade of which Mr. Mundella is the head. In his plans for the new work Mr. Mundella has followed much the same lines as those pursued by the Massachusetts bureau, and later by the Federal bureau whose reports excite great attention in Europe. France has a permanent labor council, whose members, forty-five in number, consisting of employers, workmen, deputies, and others, are nominated by the Minister of Commerce, and undertake the duty of advising the Cabinet (Conseil d'Etat), in matters affecting the interests of the French working classes. The further institution of a labor bureau has not been a conspicuous success, owing to the tendency of those concerned to mix themselves up too much with politics; but, on the other hand, some excellent work has been done in the way of increasing the general knowledge on industrial questions by means of personal inquiries by competent agents, on somewhat similar lines to those followed in our own country. In Switzerland, owing to a movement set on foot by the Grütli (a labor association representing over 300 local sections and 15,000 members in all parts of the country), there was brought into existence in 1886, the office of Swiss Workmen's Secretary. This official works under the supreme control of a federation representing all Swiss workmen's associations in proportion to their numerical strength, the Federal council also being represented at the sittings. The Federal council gave a subvention of $1,000 for the first year towards the secretary's expenses; but since then a second secretary has been appointed and the subvention increased to $4,000. The principal duties which the secretary has to perform are to make inquiries respecting the condition of the Swiss working class, to study questions of social economy, and draw up reports on these subjects, and to report annually on the administration of his office. Among the subjects dealt with in the reports already issued are a general and obligatory insurance against accidents and illnesses, supplemented by statistics of labor accidents, and the working of institutions at Paris for the protection of the working classes. ITALY. Measure Relating to Italian Universities. - The proposal of the Italian Minister of Education, Signor Martini, to suppress a certain number of the Italian universities has raised an opposition which may possibly lead to the overthrow of the ministry. Italy possesses seventeen state and four private universities, three university courses annexed to secondary schools, eleven higher institutes and eleven special schools of high grade, in all, forty-six establishments for higher education. A few statistics will show how desirable Signor Martini's consolidating scheme is. Piedmont, with a population of three millions, has one university, that of Turin. The University of Genoa supplies the higher educational needs of the million inhabitants of Liguria. Lombardy, with a population of four millions, has its University of Pavia: Venetia, with three millions, the famous old University of Padua. The territory of the former Neapolitan Kingdom, with a population of eight millions, has one university; that of Naples, and Latium, with a million inhabitants, has the University of Rome. These six universities it seems might suffice not only for the twenty millions in their own provinces but for the remaining six millions. For this remainder, however, there are no fewer than fifteen universities; five of these are located in the adjacent islands. Sicily, with three millions of inhabitants, boasts three universities, those of Palermo, Catania, and Messina; whilst the Island of Sardinia with about six hundred thousand inhabitants supports two universities, these of Sassari and Cagliari. The ten universities still unaccounted for are all on the mainland, and are thus distributed. Emilia, with a population of two millions-and-a-half, has four universities, those of Parma, Modena, Bologna, and Ferrara. The Marches and Umbria, with about two millions of people, have also four universities, Camerino, Macerata, Urbino, and Perugia. Tuscany, with two millions of inhabitants, has the two Universities of Siena and Pisa. The consolidation proposed by the Minister is really the only means of maintaining a due proportion of institutions with the equipment required for modern studies, but in the present state of things it is not likely to be accepted. The Prussian budget for public instruction for 1893-94 amounts to $18,586,848, distributed as follows: Universities, $1,928,752; secondary schools, $1,871,632; primary, $14,786,464. From the "University Statistics" published in January, it appears there were 27,593 students in German universities as against 27,840 in the previous winter session. The attendance in the summer session of 1892 was 28,053 as against 28,625 in the previous summer. The decrease is considered as a favorable indication. A. T. S. AMONG THE BOOKS. To accommodate readers who may wish it, the Publishers of EDUCATION will send, post-paid, on receipt of price, any book reviewed in these columns. CIVILIZATION'S INFERNO is an exceedingly interesting series of "Studies in the Social Cellar," by B. O. Flower, editor of the Arena. Under such headings as Society's Exiles, The Democracy of Darkness, The Froth and the Dregs, and What of the Morrow! Mr. Flower vividly portrays the wretchedness of those who swarm in the cellars and garrets of the disreputable parts of a great city. It makes one shudder to think how many are driven into these dens by sickness, infirmities and misfortunes, as well as by sin, crime, laziness or lust. Mr. Flower castigates the cruel and selfish landlords who oppress these dregs of humanity. Arena Publishing Company: Paper covers, 50 cents. The second volume in the Epochs of American History is by the editor of the series, Prof. Albert Bushnell Hart, and is entitled FORMATION of the UNION. The time, 1750-1829, comprises the most serious and critical period of our history as a nation, and calls for mature judgment and critical acumen in its treatment. Professor Hart graphically and succinctly traces the causes which led up to the separation of the colonies from Great Britain, describes the slow and half willing union of the colonies in that contest, shows the weakness of the national government before the adoption of the Constitution, sketches the rise and development of political parties, tells the story of the War of 1812, and finally closes with an account of the economic transformation of the years 1815 to 1824. The author writes history by the light of philosophy, seeking causes and effects, omitting descriptions of campaigns and battles. The facts are carefully arranged, the deductions from them logical and lucidly put, the style easy and graphic, and the book is a most valuable aid to the student, teacher and general reader. New York: Longmans, Green & Co. ROUSSEAU'S EMILE, OR TREATISE ON EDUCATION constitutes the twentieth volume of the International Education Series, edited by Wm. T. Harris, LL.D., and published by D. Appleton & Co., New York City. This entire series cannot be commended too highly to teachers, covering as it does the entire range of educational history and theory. The particular volume under review is "abridged, translated and annotated" by Wm. H. Payne, Ph. D., LL. D., of the University of Nashville and Peabody Normal College. His work has been skilfully done. Rousseau was a critic of the most radical stamp but the services of such men are needed by almost every cause and their efforts are of value in awakening thought and securing advances along all legitimate lines of reform. This was an "epoch-making" book with which all teachers who wish their calling to become a profession should be familiar. We are sure that a great service is being rendered to the entire educational world by the publication of these books and by the organization of the Teachers' International Reading Circle, by the Messrs. D. Appleton & Co., to guide and help teachers in reading them. THE MOUND-BUILDERS; THEIR WORKS AND RELICS, by Rev. Stephen D. Peet, Ph. D., editor of the American Antiquarian, is a book of great research and value to all who are interested in the prehistoric condition of America. This book of 370 large pages is the winnowed grain of many years of close study and wide and thorough investigations. Doctor Peet declares that "The Mound-builders inhabited the Mississippi valley during the same time that the Cliff-dwellers and Pueblos did the great plateaux, and the civilized races did the Central provinces, and constituted a cultus which differed essentially from any other now known to history." The region of these investigations covers the country from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, Ohio being the most prolific territory. The Mound-builders were contemporaneous with the Mastodon. What our author has to say about their migrations, village life, defensive and religious works, symbolism and civilization is wonderfully interesting. They have left their memorials in sacred enclosures, burial mounds, watch towers, pyramids, stone forts, inscribed tablets, carved pipes, pottery and ornaments, and tools of gold, silver, copper, lead and iron. Especially will the judiciously arranged matter in this volume appeal to ethnologists and archæologists. The subject is one which will grow more interesting as time passes by. Increased value is given to the work by above 240 illustrations and nine maps. Published at the office of the American Antiquarian, Chicago. |