forth the general purpose and method of their investigation, together with an extensive syllabus of physical exercises which they offer as capable of adaptation to schools of various classes. The introduction to this syllabus has a universal value because of its lucid and discriminating discussion of the purpose and essential features of a system of physical training adapted to the use of school children.

The report of the Scottish commission on physical training which was published in March, 1903, excited widespread attention and was one of the causes that led to the appointment, in September, 1903, of an interdepartmental committee to inquire into the causes of the alleged deterioration of certain classes of the population in England, “as shown by the large percentage of rejections for physical causes of recruits for the army and by other evidence, especially the report of the royal commission on physical training (Scotland), and to consider in what manner the medical profession can best be consulted on the subject with a view to the appointment of a royal commission, and the terms of reference to such a commission if appointed.”

The committee was instructed to determine the steps that should be taken to furnish the Government and the nation at large with periodical data for a comparative estimate of the health and physique of the people; to indicate the causes of such physical deterioration as does exist in certain classes, and to point out the means by which it can be most effectually diminished.

The investigations of this committee had a much wider range than the conditions of school life. They endeavored, indeed, to probe all the influences that tend to degeneracy in any one of its various forms. The public health, as is shown by the investigation, is open to many influences, but by no channel can it be approached so readily or with such wide-reaching effects as by that of the school, and by no other means can the causes of decadence be so successfully attacked. To quote the report: a “In a country without compulsory military service the period of school life offers the State its only opportunity for taking stock of the physique of the whole population and securing to its profit the conditions most favorable to healthy development. It has been shown in the first part of this report how the occasion may be utilized in furtherance of the objects of an anthropometric survey, and it remains to be considered what are the conditions of school life adverse to physical well-being, and how the opportunities which it presents can be made to realize the best results for the rising generation at, perhaps, the most sensitive period of its growth."

The committee were agreed that the general effects of school life are not prejudicial to health. They cite in this connection the testimony of competent witnesses, in particular Doctors Eicholz and Niven as to the civilizing influence exercised by the school during the last thirty years. The untamed savagery characteristic of certain types has disappeared," they say, "but popular opinion required educating on such elementary though important points as the seating of children, the arrangement of light, and the supply of fresh air. Evidence was given of children being kept too long at desks which do not fit them, in an attitude of strained attention, either writing or with their cyes concentrated on a blackboard, which, if the class happens to be a large one, perforce occupies a position in which some have a difficulty in seeing it. Very young children are sometimes observed sleeping in postures calculated to develop curvature, and infant occupations are criticised as often much too fine for their eyesight. It was also alleged that the eyes of scholars often suffered from the effects of a strong cross light and that defective ventilation counted for a great deal among the unfavorable circumstances with which children had to cope."

Report of the interdepartmental committee on physical deterioration, 1904, p. 9.

With respect to the schools for children of tender years the committee express the opinion that "infant schools as conducted in urban districts can no doubt be worked to the great physical advantage of the children attending them, but there is evidence that a handful of small children in a rural school necessarily suffer a good deal from neglect or are taught under conditions from which no advantage can be derived." Several witnesses were quoted as opposing the admission to school of children under 7 years of age. In particular, Sir John Gorst, former chief of the education department, expressed the opinion that this should be the rule for all country children, and he supported his opinion by the example of Switzerland, which is, he said, "perhaps almost the best educated country in the world. They do not let their children come to school till they are 7. They run about in the villages and mountain sides, and they are often employed in looking after cattle, goats, and so on. They do not go into school at all till they are 7 years old, and therefore when they do go to school they are sturdy and strong and their observation is awakened."

The various schemes proposed for promoting the physical well-being of school children all emphasize the need of medical inspection for schools. On this point the committee consider “that a systematized medical inspection of school children should be imposed as a public duty on every school authority, and they agree with the recommendation of the royal commission on physical training (Scotland) that a contribution toward the cost should be made out of the parliamentary vote." The question of the feeding of school children was thoroughly canvassed by the committee, who present the evidence relating to this subject under the following heads:

"(a) The extent to which underfeeding prevails at present. "(b) Existing voluntary methods of providing food.

"(c) Proposals in regard to the more systematic feeding of school children." As regards the first point, the committee were convinced that a large number of children habitually attend school ill fed.

The alleviation of this evil has been left thus far to private efforts, confined for the most part to the larger cities. On the part of the persons engaged in this work "there was," says the report, " a general consensus of opinion that the time has come when the State should realize the necessity of insuring adequate nourishment to children in attendance at school; it was said to be the height of cruelty to subject half-starved children to the processes of education, besides being a short-sighted policy, in that the progress of such children is inadequate and disappointing; and it was, further, the subject of general agreement that, as a rule, no purely voluntary association could successfully cope with the full extent of the evil. Even those witnesses who were inclined to think that its magnitude had been much exaggerated did not question the advisability of feeding, by some means or other, those children who are underfed, provided it could be done quietly and without impairing parental responsibility. The only witness who appeared absolutely to dissent from that view was the Bishop of Ross, who, while admitting an enormous number of underfed children in Ireland, deprecated that it would weaken the sense of self-respect and self-reliance both of parent and child."

The following citation from the report summarizes the information presented before the committee as to the existing agencies for supplying food to underfed school children:

"Eristing voluntary methods of providing food.-There has not been a great amount of definite evidence on the voluntary agencies in existence. As regards London, Doctor Eicholz mentioned the following agencies which spend about £6,100 per annum collectively: London Schools Dinner Association, Mr. G. R. Sims, Referee Fund, Destitute Children's Dinner Society, East Lambeth

Teachers' School Dinner Association, Southwark Children's Free Meals Fund. The work of these agencies has been coordinated, so far as the board schools are concerned, by the joint committee on underfed children, which has worked under the aegis of the school board."

The committee express the opinion that:

340. In regard to the sum contributed by the parents, Doctor Eichholz said that it amounted to 5 per cent in the case of the London Schools Dinner Association, and 25 per cent in the case of the Destitute Children's Dinner Society.

341. Mr. Libby, who is secretary to the East Lambeth Teachers' Schools Dinner Association, gave a description of the working of the free-meal fund in connection with the association. The fund has been running about twelve years, and is conducted on business lines; it is worked by the teachers through the attendance officers, and careful inquiries are made as to the circumstances of each family before a child is given a meal. There are breakfast centers and dinner centers. A child can be given a pint of vegetable soup and a piece of brown bread and a piece of cake at the cost of 1d. About 2 per cent of the children pay the full 1d., some pay part of the cost, and the rest nothing; not more than 7 or 8 per cent pay anything at all; but Mr. Libby thought this small percentage was due to the thing not being sufficiently worked. In spite of the fund there are still many underfed children, because there is not sufficient organization; it is difficult to get sufficient organization by voluntary methods. 342. Mr. J. B. Atkins, the London editor of the Manchester Guardian, gave a description of the free feeding system in Manchester. There the funds are derived entirely from voluntary sources; but the school board recognized the charity and the teachers helped in distributing the food, etc. The movement has grown steadily, and in 1902, 139,000 free dinners were given, at the cost of a little over £400. In this case also the circumstances of the family are carefully investigated by the attendance officers, but no attempt is made to recover payment from the parents.

343. In Glasgow Doctor Chalmers said there is an institution called the "Poor Children's Dinner Table," by means of which the condition of every child is inquired into, and meals are given to the underfed; the system is very comprehensive apparently, so that "no child in Glasgow ought ever to go to school starving." but no detailed account was given to the committee. Sir Frederick Maurice, however, referred to the Glasgow system and stated that the difficulty as to parental responsibility had there been solved by means of a very thorough system of investigation, and that the applications for gratuitous food have diminished rather than increased.

344. Free meals are given in Edinburgh to about 2,000 children, but the evidence given by Doctor and Mrs. Mackenzie makes it doubtful whether this number by any means exhausts the number of children who are underfed.

345. The most complete scheme described was started by the late Mr. George Dixon, and has now been in operation for twenty years in Birmingham, with Doctor Airy, H. M. I., as chairman of the organization. In considering the principles on which they would act it was decided in the first place that only those should be helped who could expect practically nothing if it was not given to them; and secondly, that only such a meal should be given as would not compete in any way with the meal which could be provided even in a very poor home. It was next decided that cases for help should be selected with the greatest care. This is done by three different people-by the head teacher of the school, by the class teacher in whose class the boy or girl is, and by the visiting officer. The cooperation of these three, Doctor Airy states, has been so successful that he does not believe there has been 5 per cent or anything like it of abuse. The number of children fed in normal times is 2,500 and the plan pursued is thus described:

"We began with ten centers. We had large coppers for soup at ten centers, to which the children came from all outlying schools. The school board allowed us in each of those centers to canvas off some 20 or 30 yards of playground, perhaps 5 yards wide, and the cooking was done at one end. There the soup, a good lentil soup with some animal stock, and the bread and jam, were prepared. The process was simply this. We had to do everything to simplify matters. It had to be a rough business, but it was an effective one. The children come, and form file, and then they walk up, and as they walk up they take a spoon out of a basket and go up to where the voluntary helpers are distributing the soup. They take their bowl of soup and go on to benches on the other side of the canvassed shed and sit down and eat their soup. The moment they have done

they put their basin and spoon into another basket, and as they go out they take a large slab of bread and jam, and eat that in the street. The school board allowed us to do this without any rent, and they gave us the gas. Then the cooking of those meals is done by paid labor, but the distribution is done by the voluntary help of ladies at each center. There is a rota at each center and there are two ladies who attend each day. Our manager I will refer to directlyhe is a most capable, suggestive man. We were very much distressed at the fact that the children would come a mile or a mile and half to eat this poor dinner, and they would come through slush and snow and wet, and we wanted to prevent that. A system of baskets was invented. There is a system of baskets at present in use by which the soup can be kept absolutely hot for more than an hour. I have tried it at both ends, and I find it is almost as hot as when it comes out of the copper. We reduced the number of centers to four or five, and now all the outlying schools send their baskets with a paper saying how many dinners they want. Those dinners are put into the baskets at a quarter to 12 or 12 o'clock, and then the staff of the school help in distributing the meals at that school."

346. The committee have thought it worth while to print this part of Doctor Airy's evidence in the body of the report because of the remarkable economic fact with which he concludes:

"We give that dinner, a large bowl of soup-in fact, they have two or three bowls if they like-and a large slab of bread and jam, for less than a halfpenny, and in that expense is included £150 or £100 a year to the manager."

347. He attributed this result (1) to the concentration of the population that has to be helped, (2) to the good will and assistance of the local authority, and (3) to the organizing skill of "a heaven-born manager," a retired naval officer, and to the cooperation of volunteers. In addition to those dinners, which provide for some 24 per cent of the children of school age, breakfasts, consisting of cocoa, milk, and bread, are supplied by the bounty of a private individual to the necessitous children in about 20 schools in Birmingham, as Doctor Airy believed. under similar conditions. The testimony of the teachers is unanimous that the system pursued enables the children to do the ordinary school work, and they report that the difference is perfectly extraordinary.

The committee express the opinion that—

in a large number of cases voluntary organizations with the support and oversight of the local authority are sufficient for the purpose, and as long as this is so the committee would strongly deprecate recourse being had to direct municipal assistance.

360. Circumstances, however, do arise which call for more immediate aid, and in which the school authority, taking into account the difficulty in the way of home provision of suitable food and the number of children who attend school Labitually underfed, are willing to provide regular and sufficient meals, and in such cases the committee agree with the opinion of the royal commission on physical training (Scotland), that the preparation and cooking of these meals, where it is found necessary to provide them, ought to be regarded as one of the charges incident to school management."

361. By a differentiation of function on these terms-the school authority to supply and organize the machinery, the benevolent to furnish the material— a working adjustment between the privileges of charity and the obligations of the community might be reached.

362. In some districts it still may be the case that such an arrangement would prove inadequate; the extent or the concentration of poverty might be too great for the resources of local charity, and in these, subject to the consent of the board of education, it might be expedient to permit the application of municipal aid on a larger scale. As a corollary to the exercise of such powers-which should be by scheme sanctioned by the board-the law would have to be altered so as to furnish means, as was suggested in evidence, to compel the neglectful parent to take his full share of responsibility, and the committee are sanguine that a few prosecutions to this end would have a most salutary and stimulating effect.

CHAPTER XIII.

HIGHER EDUCATION IN ENGLAND AS AFFECTED BY THE LAW OF 1902.a

TOPICAL OUTLINE.

The law of 1902 in its relation to "higher education.-Present status of secondary schools in England.-Regulations for secondary schools issued by the board of education for 1905.-Statistics of higher" (i. e., secondary, technical, and evening) schools. Action of local authorities in respect to 'higher' education. Provision for secondary education in Sheffield and in Liverpool as set forth in reports by Mr. Michael Sadler.--Secondary education in London as disclosed by special investiga tions in 1892 and by Mr. Sidney Webb in 1903.--Chronological epitome of move ment in England for organizing secondary education.

THE LAW OF 1902 IN ITS RELATION TO HIGHER EDUCATION.

The education law of 1902 marks an important stage in the development of the English system of public education. As regards elementary education, the provisions of the law and its operations for the two years that have elapsed since it took effect have been considered in the preceding chapter. The law, however, reaches much further than this limited field. It recognizes the public responsibility in respect to the provision of schools of a higher grade than the elementary and places upon local authorities definite obligations in this matter. Hence, with the exception only of the education law of 1870, it is the most important measure ever adopted by the Government in the interests of public education.

The term "higher education" as used in the law of 1902 corresponds in part to the term "secondary" as used in this country; but under the heading, "Higher education," the English law contemplates a variety of institutions, namely, secondary schools distinctively recognized as such, science and art schools receiving Government grants, and evening schools, covering collectively a wider range than the secondary schools of the United States.

The local authorities for higher education are the same as for the elementary schools-i. e., county and borough councils, a provision which makes it possible to correlate and equalize the educational provision in each administrative

area.

As stated in the brief epitome of the law already given," the councils are authorized to supply or aid the supply of education ether than elementary. For this purpose they have at their disposal two sources of revenue, namely, (1) the surplus of the liquor duties as provided by a law of 1890, (2) revenues from

For previous articles on the higher (i. e., secondary and technical) schools of England see index on p. 799.

For full provision respecting the powers conferred upon the local authorities with respect to higher education see Parts II and IV, law of 1902, published in the Commissioner's Report for 1902, pp. 1018, 1024, 1025; for epitome of these provisions see p. 803 of the present Report.

ED 1904 M-53

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