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statutory offences according to an arbitrary definition. They create and, as it were, authorize a recognized minimum of attendance. The Birmingham board have no minimum named, and are therefore much in the same position as the Glasgow board. Their bye-laws require perfectly regular attendance, and they enforce them at their discretion. Perhaps the Glasgow board and the other Scotch boards could not if they had wished have prosecuted as frequently as their neighbours in England. Mr. Mitchell thinks so, and believes that a very great deal of the greater leniency and the smaller amount of prosecution in Scotland is due to the more lenient spirit of the framers of the Scotch act. He is most probably right; and one of the main points to which I hope that this discussion may direct the attention of school boards is the policy or impolicy of very numerous and stringent bye-laws. But I must again disclaim any wish to assign credit to individual boards, or to seem to sit in judgment on their conduct.

I think that my figures conclusively prove that the best results, both in increased quantity and regularity of attendance, are not necessarily connected with the strictest working of the compulsory law. Manchester, which seems at present to le strictest, and Liverpool, which is third on the list, are lowest in both respects. Bimingham, which is second in strictness, is highest in increased quantity as well as in actual amount of education, and third in respect of regularity of attendance, which has risen there in a remarkable degree. London, which seems most lenient of the four great English cities, has increased education much more rapidly than Manchester or Liverpool, though it seems to have now reached very much the same level in respect of quantity. It has a more regular attendance than either of these cities or than Birmingham. Glasgow, which in respect of compulsory action by legal process is almost ludicrously lenient in comparison with the other cities, stands highest in respect of the regularity of attendance obtained, and second in respect of the increased quantity of education. Of course neither Glasgow nor any other board can reap where it has not sowed, and the paucity of legal processes is no sign that the Glasgow board did not spend an indefinite amount of labour in securing the results it has obtained. I am speaking only of the last resort to the pains and penalties of law, and I think I can scarcely be mistaken in saying that my figures almost disprove the theory that the tighter the screw is pressed down in the way of actual punishment the more effective must the pressure become.

I do not care to press the inferences that the facts I have collated seem to me to establish any further than these conclusions :—

1. That the need of the country for compulsory education was a crying need in 1870.

2. That the success of the experiment which has now been tried in Scotland and in nearly half of England justifies the modest advances that have been made by the government in the bill of the present year.

3. That compulsion has been carried out in one great city with perfect efficiency, and with a very trifling amount of legal process.

4. That no connexion between stringent legal compulsory action and great educational result is indicated by the figures. It is almost needless to say that I do not suppose that a school board can safely leave the matter to take care of itself.

The Valuation of Property in Ireland. By HENRY JEPHSON.

An increasing desire has latterly been evinced for the assimilation of the laws of England and Ireland. Amongst those which should be assimilated are the laws on the valuation of property. In England and Scotland the valuation is based upon the rent, in Ireland it is based on the prices of agricultural produce. Very strong reasons can be adduced for the revaluation of Ireland. The present valuation has practically not been revised since it was made, about twenty-five years ago; the value of property has, however, changed considerably, and great inequalities exist as to the incidence of taxation. A revaluation being therefore necessary, it is recommended that the English and Scotch system be adopted, for not alone is that system more correct, but by adopting it the principle of valuation of property would be made similar throughout the United Kingdom. By acting on this recommenda

tion we should remove the inequalities in the incidence of local taxation; we should also remove the necessity for a large amount of separate legislation for Ireland, which is entailed by a different valuation, and we should make another and a great stride towards an object, on many grounds most eminently desirable, namely, the assimilation of the laws of the two countries.

On Physical Education and Hygiene in Schools. By W. JOLLY.

On the Organization of Original Research. By Rev. Dr. M'CANN.

On Spanish Mining. By Don ARTURO DE MARCOARTU.

On the Depreciation of Silver and a Gold Standard for India.
By STEPHEN MASON.

The author proposed, as a simple and effectual remedy, the altering of the standard of value from silver to gold. The substitution of the one standard for the other might be carried into effect by the following method:-Let the Indian government adopt a gold standard as a measure of value as soon as practicable, and without delay fix a date when all transactions shall be paid or settled upon a sterling basis for all sums exceeding ten rupees. This plan did not involve the necessity of altering the currency of India-a very delicate and difficult operation, as Germany has found to her cost. The substitution of a gold for a silver currency in India would require at least £100,000,000 of gold, and entail a loss upon the Indian government of not less than £20,000,000 sterling, possibly much more, besides dislocating the whole money markets of the world, and in all probability lead to a great financial crisis in this country. This policy should at once be dismissed as impolitic and unwise.

On the Silver Dilemma. By J. MATHESON, Junr.

The well-ascertained facts affecting the question were:-1st, that the price of bar silver, which for many years previous to 1873 had been sustained with little fluctuation, the average being almost 60 d. per oz., had since that period steadily declined (the drop as regarded the present year especially being unequalled), viz. from 56d. in January to 47d. in July; 2nd, that the downward movement was influenced by a variety of causes, of which the principal were the increased production of silver, and the falling off or a blank in some sources of demand; and 3rd, that the extra vield was entirely accounted for by the increase of the production of the American silver-mines from £5,750,000 in 1874 to £7,400,000 in 1875, with the prospect of a further increase in the present year.

With respect to the various schemes put forth for a reform of the Indian currency he described as errors the idea of supposing that the value of the rupee could be raised by legislative measures otherwise than locally, temporarily, and with gross injustice towards one section of the community, or that a double standard might be adjusted and sustained with impunity, or that the mercantile public of India could be forced to import gold for the currency purposes of the country, without being the victims of a one-sided policy. If a gold currency were desirable for India the government alone, following the example of Germany, might fittingly provide it.

The general conclusion was that there was nothing in the existing crisis to warrant the demonetization of silver; and further, that the principal silver-valuing countries, even if they desired to do so, were not possessed of such wealth as might render the attempt practicable. The question was essentially fraught with uncertainty. He could not but think, however, that the more thoroughly we grasped it the more clearly did we perceive the all-dominating power of those great natural

laws, any interference with which would produce confusion worse confounded, and on the operation of which we might reasonably rely for relief from the present emergency if we would only let them alone.

On Overcrowding in Liverpool. By R. W. PITCHER.

On the Educational Value of their Native Language to the Gaelic-speaking Population of Scotland. By Rev. W. Ross.

The author stated that his experience, which was fortified by that of the government inspectors, of Sheriff Cleghorn, Sheriff Nicholson, Bishop Eden, and others, was that the effect of banishing the use of Gaelic from the classes in English or Highland schools was that children were taught to read English fluently enough without understanding the meaning of what they read. During the past ten years he had examined ten thousand Highland children, and he was convinced that satisfactory educational results were to be obtained only by pursuing a different method from that of excluding Gaelic translation which had hitherto been followed. To ignore or exclude the native language from the school was to prolong the use of the Gaelic language (a prolongation against which he did not personally object), and to do so at the expense of intelligence, education, and culture. The only way to obtain an intelligent acquaintance with English in a large section of the country was to make use of the native tongue in explaining the meaning of English terms; and the admitted failures in the past were in his opinion to be traced to the irrational method so long and extensively practised.

Sheriff Courts and Relative Judicial Statistics.

By F. RUSSELL, Sheriff-Substitute of Roxburgh.

The author gave an historical sketch of the Sheriff Courts, which took their present form after the rebellion of 1745. At present the Sheriffs appointed their own substitutes, and the aggregate salaries of these judges were nearly £40,000 per annum. The jurisdiction of the courts extended to all criminal offences except the four pleas of the Crown; and during the last three years the number of people tried in the Court of Justiciary annually was 507, and in Sheriff Courts 2012, besides what were known as summary trials. After the establishment of the Court of Session in 1532, the jurisdiction of the Sheriffs in civil matters was limited, though still extensive. The average annual number of final judgments during the five years from 1870 to 1874 in the Court of Session was 1280; and in the Sheriff Courts during the same period were-ordinary court 5476, debts recovery court 2559, and small debt court 38,458. The appeals to Sheriffs during the last three years had averaged 527, of which 341 were sustained, 180 received, and 106 mixed.

The Civilization of South-Eastern Africa. By JAMES STEPHENSON.

On the Theory and Practice of Accident Insurance by Sea and Land.
By P. M. TAIT.

Commencing by about thirty definitions of the word "accident" according to various authorities (very useful information for insurance companies), the paper treats separately in great detail of ocean accidents, railway accidents, and general accidents.

As to ocean accidents one curious fact was brought out, that these vary with the age of the captains commanding the vessels, there being apparently a certain epoch in the life of a master mariner when danger of disaster is reduced to a minimum. Other things being equal, passengers are safer to sail under a cap

tain of about 50 than under one of an earlier or more advanced age. The entire premium to cover increased risk of master mariners is from 30s. to 40s. per cent. per annum; that is to say, if a clergyman or barrister can obtain insurance on his life for £100 at a premium of £4, the premium required to insure a master mariner of the same age would be from £5 10s. to £6. This is the ratio all round, but captains of Cunard's and other first-rate lines would of course be insured for less.

As to railway accidents the facts were not brought up to the latest dates. But it comes out very clearly that the risk to railway officials actually employed on the line is excessive. Nearly all railway accidents are remediable, and the chance of disaster could be still vastly reduced by a universal adoption of the block and interlocking system, the use of perfect brakes, and other improvements long ago suggested.

The mortality from accidents generally is a very important and interesting department of vital statistics. The number of accidents occurring in England and Wales is reproduced from year to year with extraordinary regularity, indicating the operation of a fixed law. Excessive division of labour has a tendency to increase accidents by the introduction of new machinery, at first often imperfectly understood. The introduction of rinks and bicycles has led to a wholly new class of accidents requiring special medical treatment.

Insurance offices charge the same premiums against an unforseen casualty from the ages 15 to 60. But from very recent data wholly reliable it was very clearly shown in the paper that the mortality from accidents increases greatly at the more advanced ages, and that consequently some difference should be made in the premiums applicable to those ages. It is not that there are a greater number of accidents at those ages, but that there is less power of rallying from the effects of an accident.

The paper concludes with specimen policies of the different companies, showing the risk covered and the general conditions of the accident insurance contract.

On the Boarding-out of Pauper Children in England. By WM. TULLACK.

The author said that the system had been adopted for five years in England, but in consequence of want of information, and an unfounded confusion in the public mind of the system with the obnoxious and wholesale farming out of children with which so many evils and cruelties were associated, it had not made the progress which might have been anticipated. He warmly advocated the system, more especially for girls. In contrasting it with the workhouse plan, he drew a vivid picture of the evils attending the association of children with adult paupers who were often vicious, and with other children, many of whom had been swept from the streets. In the system of district schools he recognized a great improvement, but he did not think it was equal, especially in the case of girls, to a system of boarding them out singly in carefully supervised cottage homes. But the district school system was also objectionable on the score of cost. A sort of institution mania had taken possession of many minds. It seemed to be assumed that both adults and children should be gathered in masses and lodged in palatial abodes at the public expense; and parents were tempted, he believed, to suffer their children to go into these places where they could get an excellent education with all the advantages of a costly middle-class school at the public expense. The Scotch people, with proverbial natural shrewdness, had perceived and warded off this danger which was burdening England. Poor persons in Scotland were not tempted to throw their children on the rates by providing them with these palatial edifices. Whereas many such children in England cost from £20 to £30 per annum, the offspring of destitute Scotch poor were as well or better cared for as a body for £10 each, being trained under careful supervision in healthy and well-selected houses amongst the labouring classes, where they were never subject to the influence of the workhouse, but were gradually and naturally introduced into the wholesome conditions of family and industrial life. This wise system of supervised boarding-out was being gradually adopted in England, and it was to be hoped that in a few years it might become the general rule at any rate for pauper girls. There were altogether 573

poor-law unions in England, of which 127 had adopted the boarding-out system in greater or less degree for some of their pauper children. There were, in addition, forty-seven Welsh unions, of which thirty had adopted the system. The number of children boarded out was in England 1500, and in Wales 900. In nearly all the cases where the system had been applied it had been found very successful; and the writer of the paper supplied a large number of extracts from reports from Birmingham, Clifton (Bristol), Chorlton (Manchester), the Cumberland Unions, and the agricultural districts in Kent, showing that where the system was applied children were cared for at the rate of from £10 to £12 a year, that the children boarded out were improved in health, and had been readily drafted off into situations. The only cases in which the system had failed in accomplishing these blessed results was where there had been a neglect of supervision. He therefore advocated the formation of ladies' visiting committees in connexion with the unions. At present the number of district and separate schools was very small as compared with the number of pauper children. The erection of many such costly institutes was attended with pecuniary difficulty and was of questionable expediency. On the other hand, sound economy and efficient results were combined in the application of the system of boarding-out, especially for children; but the system should be applied in its completeness and entirety, and with frequent oversight by judicious visitors, and provision for the religious and moral education of every child.

The Prevention of the Pollution of Rivers. By the Rev. R. THOMSON.

By the Rev. F. S. TURNER.

The Statistics of the Indian Opium Revenue. The last debate on the Indian Budget in the House of Commons demonstrated the vital importance of the opium revenue; it is therefore important to inquire into the probable stability of this revenue. At first sight an inspection of the returns from 1792 to 1872 is highly encouraging. During this long term of years we mark an increase, steady on the whole, though with minor fluctuations, from £292,751 to £8,600,000. Not so satisfactory is the increasing relative importance of the opium revenue, which from being in 1792 one thirteenth of the land revenue, and one twenty-eighth of the total revenue, has now risen to the serious proportions of more than one third of the land-revenue, and more than one sixth of the total revenue. These figures refer to the gross revenue, and have to be slightly diminished for the net revenue. Making the necessary deduction, opium has in eighty-three years yielded the total net profit of £184,000,000, which may be taken as a partial set-off against the sum which British rule has cost India during the same period.

High authorities have warned us that we ought not to rely upon the continuance of this income; among others, Sir Charles Wingfield, six years ago, in the House of Commons; and this year, Sir George Campbell in the 'Fortnightly Review.'

Our lucrative monopoly of the China market is threatened by the competition of the Chinese themselves. This competition has been held in check by their own government, which, however, has gradually relaxed its opposition, and now threatens to abandon it altogether. The poppy has spread enormously in China since 1863. For the last four years there has been a diminution of our opium revenue, which may be the beginning of a continuous decline. Some recent items of news from China show that there is still some uncertainty about the direction Chinese policy will take. J. S. Mill has pronounced against interference with the opium trade; but, according to his own principles, an argument may be advanced in defence of the Chinese prohibitory legislation. Great difficulties are thrown in the way of this legislation in China by the political action of Great Britain. Thus opium may perhaps still continue to bolster up Indian finance until moral laws work out some unexpected, but not undeserved, retribution.

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