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 J!nLJIi^JfllLtJIm,ILilcJlu 
 
 X 
 
 ON THE SUBJECT OF THE SCHOOL LAWS OF UPPER CANADA, 
 
 From the Uathurnt Disincl Council io the Honorable the Legislative Assev^blt/ of 
 
 Canada in Parliament .^»semblcd. 
 
 Tlie remarkaWe liilTercnce of opinion respeclinc the Machirery and operation of 
 the Common Scliool system ofi'us Section of Canada, which certain Circulars from 
 oertain District Councils, an(.' the articles contained tn the first niuuher of*' The Jour- 
 nal of Education for Upper Canada" exhibit, demonstrate the truth of D;-. Ryerson's 
 saying, in one of those articles, that " On iro subject is it more easy to speculate, and 
 on no subject is it more dilficult to legislate, than on that of Common Schools." Ne- 
 vertheless, the District Council of the tJathurst District are persuadecf, that an cxprcs- 
 «ion of opinion on the subject, by all who have giverf to it considerable a tontion,. will 
 (however much the expressions may conHict) prejtly assist to throw light on it, — and 
 light loo that will sugjrest how the system may beameeded and be made to work satis- 
 factorily and efficiently. 
 
 If legislation lor purposes of education, is to have an object beyond the mere pass- 
 ing of what is designated, "a School Law,^'' or that will be worthy of the approval of 
 the country, — that object, (the Bathurst District Councr' are of opinion,) imist be ike 
 putting oj the means of education within the reach of every class in, comviuniUj . The 
 poor, and those who, because of their being too few, are unable to support Schools in 
 their neif;aborhoods, should, before all other classes, be those <or v.hom the Legislature 
 ought to provide means of education. The overlooking of t s seems to have been the 
 principal cause why the School Law; which have been iu operation in Upper Canada, 
 bave all failed to effect any considerable improvement in the state of education, except- 
 ing among the inhabitants of a very few places more enterprizing than others, and great- 
 ly in advance of the legislation against wb'::h they have had to contend. The truth is, 
 liad the rule been, " Whosoever hath, io him shall be given, and he shall have more 
 abundance ; but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he 
 hath,,''^ laws could not have been made that would have more certainly ext-ludeil from 
 the possibility of availing themselves of the means of education, the classes who most 
 
 needed them. . t • i • 
 
 A glance at the principles on which, under our various school laws, the Legislative 
 Grants for purposes ot olucalion have been distributed, will show how ill calculated the 
 various provisions of Ln w tor the promotion of education, have been to effect the object 
 for which thev were enacted. 
 
 Under the School Law which a Memorial addressed to your Honorable Body, by 
 the Gore District Council, says " operated more efficiently and gave more general sat- 
 tajaction than any since substituted,''^ — the provision was, that no school could share in 
 tlic public appropriation for the maintenance of schools, unless ttie Trustees of it had 
 certified, that \he average number of Scholars which had, during six months, attended 
 it, exceeded twenty. In two ways that provision operated against the promotion of 
 the object which it was enacted to promote. First, it prevented persons who really 
 needed assistance to support a school from sharing in the public appropriation ; becauso 
 there were tlien, as there are now, (and, as in new countries, there will ever be,) ma- 
 ny places in which half the average attendance required could not be secured ; and in 
 •ucli places, education, was altogether neglected — nevertheless, such places were then, 
 
\ 
 
 \ 
 
 (2.) 
 
 «nJ still art, the placas tnoat fining the legislalure to provide for them the means of 
 eui;cation. 
 
 The other vray in which the provision hindered the promotion of education ix 
 tJiat It allovved every one to share in the appropriation, who chose to call himself i 
 ^Schoolmaster, and procured three persons to be hts Trustees nnd to certify, that he had 
 during a period of six months taught a school" in their neighbourhood, "demeaned 
 himself to Meir salisfaciion," and " (hat the average number ol his scholars had exceed- 
 ejl twenty. By such means the thinly inhabited portions of the Province were pre- 
 cluded from having schools j while, in ihickly populated neighbourhoods, several schools 
 w«re generally m operation where one only should have been tolerated. 
 
 It IS true that there was " general satisfaction j" but the satisfaction was not caus- 
 ed by the people s knowing that their children xvere u-e/Z-instructed ; but by their beinir 
 permitted to have more Schools than men who have studied the economy of education 
 know will ever improve any peoples' social condition, or their intelligence, or their fit- 
 ness o be intru.ted with the exercise of such rights and the discharge of such duties a, 
 BOW belongs lo the people of Canada. 
 
 «... 'i' '^''^^ ^0'n»''«--^i<H'er Act," so called, similarly precluded the inhabitants of thinly 
 •ettled neighbourhoods from the jjossibility of availing themselves of the benefit to bo 
 derived Irom legislative grants for the support of schools : and the law which followed. 
 ?T T*1'T u'^ ""f ""'^ "!^!^^ "•" provision for that class's bein^ enabled to establish 
 Schools but 1 heavily taxed them, and took the tax and gave it to the thickly popula- 
 ted neighbourhoods, ni which Schools might have been well supported bv the ample 
 weans which the usual fees for Scholars would have produced ! ' 
 
 The present School Law similarly (but in sfreater degree than any of its prede- 
 censors) hinders the promotion of what ought to be the object of legislation for School 
 purposes; because it robs those who, /ro^ very poverty, have, at no time, been able 
 to support Schools in their neighbourhood, and hands over what is taken from them lo 
 mamtain schools tor ihose who, without any assistance, and without any interference 
 of government in their School affairs would be prompted, by a desire to emulate each 
 other, to support bettor Schools than at this time exist any where in Canada. 
 
 lo understauu rightly thegreat injustice which it does to many Sections of the 
 eountry and thejjreat exlentto which the interests of education are being injured, your 
 Honorable Body wiH refer to clause Firsi, Section second of the School Law 9th Vic- 
 toria, cap. 20, and to c ause.9tconc/of the thirteenth Section of the same,— where vou 
 will see, that the distribution of moneys for the support of Schools, must, in all cases 
 be not according to people s need of assistance,~f which is the <Hrue principle" of dis- 
 tr.buuon of whatever is called " assistance;^ but is do. .uted according to population 
 —just as If provision for public instruction must necessarily be furnished to comrauni- 
 uea on the same principle that we would furnish food or clothing for an army. 
 
 Ihe injustice of the provision just referred to, is very clearly established by a re- 
 port made to the Bathurst District Council, at its present Session, by the District Su- 
 perintendent by which appears that the Legislative grant to the township of West- 
 meath for 184.7, was £o IsO^d, and the amount assessed on that township je32 3s 8d. 
 Supposing that the Distiict Fund be distributed, (as it evidently must be) according to 
 the ratio of distribucion which gave £5 Is O'd, against je32 3s 8d, Westmeath, which 
 o t f "^ 'ojj'wsA'i'r-Mzn/y settted,-and consequently, hardly able to maintain 
 
 5cAoo/^,-w,ll be robbed of upwards of;e20; for supposing the ass'essment to be not 
 more ifian the Legislative Grant, the sum which it will receive will be only £10 23 Id 
 proving Its loss, under the operation of our School System, to be just je22 is 7d " I ' 
 Similar result* are presented as regards other new townships; and, great as the en- 
 
 J- 
 
(3.) 
 
 urmily so presented is,, a still greater is often presented in tlic sni)di^<ll•iln^lion to School 
 Sections. To make thij plain, we w^ll suppose that VVeslineaili is divided into two 
 School Sections,— we will not say that itdoes not comprise tnorc,— and we will sup- 
 pose, that one of these pays je20, as its share of nn assessment of jG30, and that th« 
 other Section pays, £10 of it. The cause of this ditlercm-e we know to he, that lUa 
 one extends over a larger number of lots than the other, or has within it a lorger 
 amount of rateable property. But in the one which pays the larger sum, there oru 
 but 20 children that are over five and under 16 years of age, while in the one which 
 pays the smaller sum, there are 30. The School Fund returned to the lownship will 
 be.according to the ratio of the above mentioned loss which we have shewn to be caused 
 by constituting a "District Fund, say je 10 of this sum,consequently, ihe Section which 
 pays twenty jwunds assessment will receivejust four pojinds from the Distrid^Fund,''' 
 —which is only one fifth of the means which it would have had, had its inhjhitanf* 
 but known enough not to come under the provision of the School Lnw ! ! ! 
 
 On the principle that distribution according to population is correct, — which for 
 the sake of exposition only is (o be admitted, — the injustice done m thickly populated 
 neighbourhoods, is not less striking. For instance, there were in School Section No, 3 
 of the township of Drummond, in a certain year, 98 children, each, of course, entitlinjf 
 the Section to one share ofthe township fund, fn another there were f)9 chiUlren, 
 e«ch likewise entitling its Section to receive one share. In the former section 3i4 
 children attended school; in the latter 41. Now granting the principle to be correct, 
 that the teacher should have been paid according to the numbers which they resp»-c- 
 fively taught which we assume for the present pnrpose ofexnosi lion— Reason' was, that 
 the School which the 4-1 had attended, should have received the larger share of the 
 School fund; but the School law provided, that the one which the 38 attended should 
 receive the larger share, because there were in the Section in which it was located, the 
 larger number of resident children. Now had the larger number all attended the 
 School, and paid but the same fees that are usually paid at our Common Schools, h 
 School could have been maintained in ibis larger Section without the necessity of ap- 
 portioning any of the Legislative grant for its maintenance ; and thu sum paid to if, 
 which was ;€25 9i lOd, might have been apportioned among sections which really 
 ■ceded assistance. 
 
 A still more glaring contrast is presented toil:*, when wo compare, not only the 
 amounts paid, together with the numbers that atten..e(i Schr »ls, but compare them lo- 
 fBlher with the period during wriich the Schools were in epilation. For instance, in 
 the township last aboVe alluded to, there were, in one School Section, 65 children at- 
 tending a School which was kept open /M.Wre months, and received £19 is ll^d : 
 whereas the School above mentioned which received Je25 9s lOd, and in which 38 
 flhiidren only were taught, was kept open only eAght months. State therefore th* 
 «?uestion so that it snail be, " If a teacher for instructing 38 scholars during a perio<J of 
 8 months receive je25 9s lOd, what ought another teacher to receive who has taught 
 er) scholars during a period of 12 months?— and the injustice (i. e. assuming the prtn- 
 niple ofdistributing the fund according to numbers to he correct) ii truly monstrous. 
 
 We n^ust obseive, however, that, according to right principles of economy, lbs 
 principle which we, in detecting such enormity, assume to be correct, is not the •< trv* 
 and only principle of providing for the education of the entire population of a country," 
 — «nd we might advert to several other principles of distribution which, by the advo- 
 cates of them, are said to be the best, that would operaie quite as unjustly and injuri- 
 ously as those to which we have adverted,— but time, at this late period of our Sessioo. 
 w^rnnU not Uiat we say more on this bead, excepting that it does appear to u*, tJ^at 
 
tin monn-' \Noiilin)e >'o olTificnf, nsfhaf whicli n'oiild csfJil)!!.^!! Scliools at convRnirnt - 
 ilistances tliroiiirli'nil llie PrDvinre, do awny with vnto-[)ny'\n'^, and leave tj every man 
 fo ihnnsc t/c school to vhirh he Xifould send his chililren to be. taught. 
 
 One lliini; very oljvioin is, that the pari of our Sfhool synfLMn which confines peo- 
 ple within thft limits (if certain h»'H, iloes not give satisfaction ; anil experience scem^ 
 i»nt to estahlish the more, thalHatirtlaction it never will give: hecaiise, establish hoiin' 
 tliiricrt as we may, there w!'I against a system which limits one's freedom always be a 
 sonacthirrt,' which wd! not he satisfied till full (roedom he attained. Therefore, the Ba- 
 thiirsf Dislricl Coiincil are of opinion that the School Section system should ho discon- 
 tinued. Rut, if it is to be continued, their opinion is, ihat Municipal Councils ought to 
 he empiHvered not only to fix, or alter, or amend the honndarics ofSchool Sections, luU 
 alsv> to fix orchang.?the locations of Schools and School Houses, as they shall deem ex- 
 pedient; and lo authorize the sale of School pro[)erly in cases wherein the changing of 
 the location of schools shall become necessary; otherwise the system will continue to - 
 be unjust and oppressive, and i^really injurious to cjood neighbourhood, the promotion 
 of education, and the best interests in general of community. 
 
 As lacts illustrative of the meaningof what is before your Honorable Body, will 
 best shew the injustice, oppressiveness, arid injuriousness of the system, wo 
 5ubmi!, that, when power was given to District Councils lo unite portions of the 
 adjoining t()wiishij)s, for the purpose of lorming convenient Schoool Sections, a portion 
 of the township ofDrumniond was, at the recpiest of the inhabitants of it, attached lo 
 a School Section in the township of BatliurU, the trustees of vvhich had pledged them- 
 selves to build a new School house in a central and convenient position for the ac- 
 conimodatioii of the inlialniants of both Sections. Notwithstanding this, the trustees did 
 not reiiio vo the School to tl'.e position they had agreed to remove it, — the District Coun- 
 cil had not power to compel them to remove it, — and the consequence was, that 
 thotigh not a scholar j'rom Drummofid attended the School, the teacher of theBathurst 
 Section legally claimed, and was paid, /b?- the Drvmmond Section, £5 -l-s 0.'jd ! 
 
 So was it as regards another portion of J)iummond that wass attached to Lanark. 
 OutofSf) children residinij in Drummond, only 3 attended the School, which was in 
 linnark, and theoth M" children (32 in number) were without means of education. 
 Ncvertbelesss, in this case, as in thea')ove, the full apportionment of School moneys 
 lor the IVrnmniond Section, viz. JG9 2s Id, was paid to the teacher of the Lanark School. 
 Such instances ol wrong imperatively call upon your Honerabie Body to amend the 
 system ; and gross as the wrong set fordi in the above must Oj>pear, grcriter instances of 
 wrong would, we are persuadeil, be found to exist bad we means o( knowing to its 
 full extent, how much is lost to the people of Sections in whii li the School \i> located 
 at the tnrther end of the Sections, — or in townships in which but one or at most two 
 Schools are in operation, coinpelling people to piy for the support of Schools to 
 vrhich they do not (n7id nevff can) sf^nd a child. 
 
 The Ball'.urst District Council are ofo])iiiion, tlialthe v.liole details of the system 
 Hhould be in the hanu.iof the District Councils, under some provision of the Legislature 
 which would constitute District Councils IJoanls of Education for their District, with 
 power to trans.".'! for their District (under certain .csponsibilities fo the Executive and 
 Legislature.) all that is now }ron,-<acted at an enormous expense, and most inetFiciently 
 and unsatisfactorily, by the B>)ard of Education and the Education Office at Toronto. 
 
 The Bathurst District Council are, nevertheless, not of opinion, that (as prayed 
 for in the Memorial of the fJore District Council.) the ''transformjngof the duties per- 
 formed by Distrsct Superintendents to District Clerks," would improve the system; 
 for it does not appear to us that any system will worlj out aiiv doirable resuitu unlrst it 
 
 I 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
(5.) 
 
 I 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 6e under a complete and ejficieni supervtston. Not a supervitiion enthroned aToroit^ 
 to, isguini; its bulletin lespecting what it can have no proper under..ianirmg, and crea- 
 ting dissatisfaction, strife and disatlection in neighbourhoods which forrnerlywere re- 
 inarkahiy united and peaceable — but a local, tlinerant supervisiion that hould ex- 
 tend to every school section, and to portions of our country tliat are without schools and 
 U'ithoutany means of educalior., and that would labour to dissipate the stolid indiflbrcncr 
 which paralyzes our community, arousing, enlightening and enlisting public sentiment in 
 the work of elementry insruction, by systematic and periodical appeals to the inhabitants 
 of each seclion,in the form oflectures,addre9sos," — nye, and visits to their firstdes,vfhcn 
 public visits will have failed to brine up the inhabitants lo hear and be instructed, and 
 he made workers in this glorious and ull important enterprise j and the Baihurst District 
 Council are persuaded, that it is because the defective provisiouH of our school laws havo 
 prevented District Councils from exacting of District Superintendents such supervision 
 OS is implied in the above, that the several Districts of the Province have received not 
 adequate benefit from the services of Superintendents. 
 
 Let the office b3 not what it has been, a Sham — but cause it to produce as it does in 
 the State of N.York,**a thorough supervision ofourschools.as well in reference to their I'n- 
 iernnl management, as to their ca'/fr?!^/ f/f/«i7s; cause it to unite all our schools into 
 one system and to lurnish each with the means of attaining the highest standard of 
 practical excellence, by communicating to each, every improvcmen* discovered or sug- 
 gested in every one or any of the otiiers, so making the advancement of each the am- 
 bition of all," — and let no man be appointed to boa Superintendent who shall not be 
 properly qualified tor the discharge of the duties of the function, — but let the Superin- 
 tendent possess competent knowledge,be familiary acquainted with the modern improve- 
 ments in elementary inslruclion , and be known to be earnestly intent on elevating thr 
 condition of our coininori sciiools, and the olHce of District Superintendant will most 
 assuredly be found to b(; equal to any means — aye, equal to all other means putto- 
 igether, in proinotingt ht: educational interests of our country, such it has bc^n found lo 
 be in the neighbouring stale of Now York, and such, under similar provisions of 
 Jaw, and under tlis Jirection and control of District Councils, when constituted Local 
 Boards of Educaiioii, it ntay be made in Canada. 
 
 A principal reason why District Councils ought lo be constituted Boards of Edu- 
 cation, is, tliiitrhe same provisions of law invariably produce opposite effects, in thinly 
 • ^mpulated neigl!liourhoo..ls,to what they produce in thickly populatad neighboiirhoods; 
 »vhich we linve uttorn[)teil to exhibit in the remarks inlroiluctory to the subject of thin 
 address. DiiVeient |)r')\'isions of law therefore^ must, be inade for each class of Dis- 
 tricts ; and the Batliiirst District Council are of opinion that District Councils, re- 
 presenting as liiey do the several sections of their districts, and familiary acquainted 
 as they may be supposed to be with the circumstances of every section, — are unquestion- 
 ably bodies competent to best legislate for the carrying out the details of any system 
 <»f JEdiiration vvliich your Honorable Body may establish. 
 
 Tlio B;itlniist District Council heartily concur in almost every line and -word of 
 the Address of tbe Homo District Council to your Honorable Body ; and would add that 
 not only dennminalional schools, as respects! cities and incorporatetl Towns, i^hould be 
 dissallowtxi, but the pi()vi.si(Mi which autliorises tlie establishing ofseperate schools t^n- 
 iler any circumstances be expunged from our school law ; for all such provisions are 
 truely inimical to the best inttiresls of of the country, being calculated to foster a spirit 
 «f sectarian animi).'^ity,v;[iicli we cannot but deprecate, and which we earnestly pray 
 your Honoraliie Body by wise means to discountenance and suppress. 
 
 The Bathurst District Council are of opinion that the duties of TruKteea under tii« 
 
(6.) 
 
 proaent school Inw, ore for toocotnplirnted, and llie re.iponaibilities, Iiobiliiies,nnd want 
 ofudcqiialc protection involved in the di)ichnr|y[ing of those duties, fnr too great. A 
 provision aitnply conxtituting the ollico and empowering District Councils ft) determine 
 iho details, would, for the reason already assigned in this Rlemorial.hp more cllicionl for 
 the promotion of education than any other ^ for, in tliisway,the oflice would be mode 
 responaible to UieCouncils, and whatever in the regulations which the Council would ia- 
 8ue, would be fount! not to answer the purpiwe of promoting Education could (and, no 
 doubt, would,) be certainly and readily detected and amended. 
 
 Whatever provisions your Honorable Body will enact the Balhurst District Council 
 trust they will be ^^simple''* and such as will "remedy the existing evils," secure the 
 hearty co-operation of the people, the lilessings of education to the rising generatiuo^ 
 and some degree of stability in the Educational institutlions of the Country." 
 
 I 
 
 .Address 1o the Legislature Reported ajid Adopted by the Education Committee of tht 
 
 Home District Council. 
 
 The District Council ofthe Home District, beg respectfully to R'bmit to your 
 Honoral.ic House the views which they entertain respecting some of ihe defects of tho 
 Common Sr-hool Law; now in operation, and to suggest what appears to them the best 
 means of remedying those defects. That the present Common School Act has failed, 
 and from its character must fail, to give satisfaction to the inhabitants of this Province, 
 and that something must yet be done to render it more perfect, and promote the object 
 for which it was intended, isdeej)ly felt and generally admitted. 
 
 The Home District Council cannot but regret that such repeated legislation should 
 De required to frame a proper school law, atid are averse to frequent chonges in the 
 educational institutions of the country, but they have also to regret the necessity that 
 demands those clianges, and that measures have not been adopted by tho Legislature 
 of such a character, in their principles and details, as to meet with general approbation 
 and promote an eflicient, well organized system of Common School Education. 
 
 The Home District Council especially object to that prominent feature in the ex- 
 isting School Act which runs throughout the whole — the concentration oi so much 
 power upon on-^ individual — the Cljief Superintendent of Schools, that officer being 
 the nonr.inee of the Governor, and in no way responsible to the people. They submit 
 ihat any enactment which places so much power in the hands of ^n officer over whom 
 the people have no conlroul directly, or indirectly, either in makmg the appointment, 
 or with regard to the manner in which that power is exercised, and the duties of the 
 office discharged, is not congenial to the feeling of a free people, nor compatible with 
 the Institutions of a free country. They cannot but observe that whilst a " Board ol' 
 Education" has been formed forthe purpose of giving advice upon School atlairs, their 
 power is placed in abject subordination to the " Chief Superintemlent of Schools," that 
 it is left discretionary with him, by the Act of Parliament, lo consult them or not upoo 
 any Educational question, as his inclination or caprice may dictate, and be guided, or 
 not, in his decisions, by their advice. They have the power, it is true, of regulating 
 the Normal School, and selecting the books to be used in Schools, but here^heir author- 
 ity ends. The Home Di«trict Council express it as their decided opinion that a pr»- 
 ■/>erly constituted Brntrd of Education should be the hitthest power in the adnriinistratio« 
 of School affairs, as it is in all countries where such a Board exists, and should not ti-« 
 |)]aced in the humiliating position in which the mexnberj) fif tho Canadian Board atxni 
 
I 
 
 (7.) 
 
 feel themselves to be placed : and the Council would respectfully suggest to your hon- 
 Trv l!r'''^°''r""^'''r '•'7"K^''^^'"^'h are Imperatively /ailed for by the Coul 
 vhoTZthr/n 7''' '^"? "'S ''Pl^'""^'"«"» «''" '^""•Petent Bo.rd ol Education, 
 novv d.i' . T"'^'r'«,2'^' ^'"■"'r>' " "^^•^'''""•y. transact the business wh.ch 
 rhL. o? h. T" ?• ^'"« Supermtendar.t of Schooln: thus securing the eflicicnt di». 
 charge o( the dut.es o the office, ellccting a conm.lerable saving to the Country, and 
 
 ible wi E' '■ v"''"r"^ r" '""""?'" "'"'^'^ ^^h^' ^ct, so' as to render ?/ompa. 
 lible with the condition of a free people. * 
 
 The Home District Council aiv of opinion that in remodelinjt the School Act the 
 arrangement which combines the disbursement of monies to such a large ^xtent and 
 
 c" ■^hS::";;!"'?'^'""';' " '" '"'" "'''^ ^'^'"'^' Supenntendan! ^^.ould be 'void^ 
 ^er"Di.S/J ^"^ "• " ^""'"^ r''"" '"^^'"PO'ihle '" their nature ami, in thelar- 
 
 perl to ,1 M-harge them all. And the inconvc.ience experienced by Teachers who 
 reside at the distance of fifty o.sixty miles is under the present system, so groat' a to 
 
 n v^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^''""'^"'' «''""'J ho alliwed tJ 
 
 KLsn l^T '"''?''''■■'' ^^^^ ^^'hool fund among 
 
 LsP „T.'. "^ porlormance of what oti-er dutie. that body might see fit to itn: 
 
 pose, aslhe exigences ol the public service mi^ht fn.m time to time require. 
 
 nature of ^rZ -" ^^V""^'?"'/''" ■'"?''"" "' y^""" Hon. House Jo the defective 
 nature of the provisions made in the law lor fixing and arranging the School Sections 
 m the several townships. By the present law, that duty is placed in th^D strict Cou" 
 oils, u, Council assemble.!. The Hon.e District Council have found it ubso utlly ne- 
 
 st^tr'won'n n^ ' •'"' 'T'' ' "*'""^' ^"'^ '''''' «'■ ''"^' "'«' '^>'« provisionlf "he 
 nil l.r "'■ ""t '" "''"/" ""'"'y ""' '^^ "hj««^ "-"J intention of the Act, to 
 
 oeb^ate their powers ,n this particular, to the Councii:orH residing in the respect ve 
 townships, a proceedmg the legality of which has been questioned ; and they' are of 
 opinion that this and similar duties should rather be performed by some ofrcerVsidinr 
 
 Act Ire'i^!'to"';l:«!!""T'-''^ ,T"?ll!' '^^P«."«"«^ «<'the working ofthe present School 
 iionnfS ? ^«"^;^"^'on that the provision made in the law for the local super- 
 
 %.sion ol Scht through the agency of " Boards of Visitors," composed of Clergymen 
 of all denominations, Justices of the Peace of all sects, and Disrlict CounciHors ^001 
 nSf^r r'^^"^"?'f ^"P«" the condition of Sci;ools,or meet the oS^tc^ tern- 
 p ated by the franr.ers of the Actj and when the powers conferred upon these Boa -^^f 
 V isitors are cons.dered-that of granting certificates of qualification o TeacW and 
 of giving ad vice authoritatively upon educational maUers-the Council is of opinion 
 
 ofl^ Jali TrrT '?r'''''"^"r"x? ^''«" ^ cumbersome and uselei'; ece 
 ZtfiTin boards of Visitors m the Home District, feeling convinced that the 
 
 schools will be managed quite as well without their interference, have not generally ex! 
 erased their privileges, and left the schools to take care of themselves. ^ 
 
 ,ho, ^.rr*" •'''""''', ''^^?'P^''^^"''y^^P"'"to"twhatappears a great defect in 
 hat part of the existing aw which furnishes Trustees with thi power of raising means 
 for repairing and furnishing School Houses &c. The law authorises the pa^ntf ohK 
 children only who are actually attending school to be rated for these purpose ; so that 
 |t may, and of^ten does happen that a small portion of the inhabitants d I School See- 
 In o'f fhi^r^ '''T ^": '^' ^'."f'' °^ "!'' ^''^'^-^ 8"«^«"^« ^-hich ought in he ot 
 inion ol this Council to be speedily remedied. '^ 
 
^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 (8.) 
 
 'J'lic IIi)ino nir-lrlel Council cannot but c.\•pro<i^ tlic opinion t!iot the recent legi's- 
 'ation iiptti tho «uI)je(U of Common Scliool etJucnl' ii lias n tendenry to open up the way 
 I'vir the iittroJ notion and CHtahlislmu.nt ofHOctinnoi d: (lcnoniin'>.tionnl scIkmjIs. Thin \h 
 \"ery ck'ur'.y inanifoMtod in tlie !egi.-tlativ« onncliiient for Uie rogulalion of Education in 
 <'ilic9 and incorpn-atod Towns, ntid the (Council raiinot help expresding llio Ntrungciit 
 ^ii.snpprovai ol'any mciiHuren uliicli niay aulhoriHo or unnclion tho oslablislinienl of 
 Schools, supported hy tho puhhr liinds, intended for tiny one denomination to the ex- 
 clusion of oilier.-'. The flome Dimricl Council '.vwuld regard fucli icjiirilntion as inimical 
 to tho hest interests of the country. l/«'iiiir calculated to foster in Canada that spirit of 
 hpctarion animosity and dirfconl wliiidi unhappily prcvuiJH in oifnT parM nl' (lie world, 
 Hnd would hunihly suui^cdt that every wi.se means should be ailuptud to prevent the pott- 
 sihilitv ol Hiieh n result. 
 
 The Home District Council is of opinion that every law that ha.s yet been enacted 
 ^11 this country upon the subject otKducation has been ton complicated in its machin- 
 ery, and tha» any law to work well must be harmonious in all its parts, and simple iu 
 fill its detail.s. and thcytrtist ttiat such means may bo taken to remedy exiuiing evils, 
 und improve til e law as will Hecure the lioany co-operation of tho people, the blessinga 
 of a good education to the rising generation, and some degree of ulability in the Educa- 
 tional Institutions of the Country. 
 
 icz:>