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' i"^^-''-' ' '.':^'i - '■ .- V, ■>'t.'M i !"-"■■-- ^Wll'r. i'r 7-^i:s^''37f*;^fi i^::>i:;^''i^ii J-yV.f/ %- |*ubli$Hrd by the ^$$odation far f romotittd Univn^ity TECHNICAL EDUCATION ABROAD AND AT HOME. BY PROFESSOR J. G. MACGREGOR, Dalhousie College. "What is put into the schools of a country comes out afterwards in the manhood of the nation." STEIN. HALIFAX, N. S. ; PRINTED BY THE HERALD PUBLISHING COMPANY, 1882. Mi^fer^'t , 590(,O PREFACE. 4 >•- This pamphlet is a reprint of a sliort series of letters contributed during the past winter to the Morning Herald. I have j]fiven them this more permanent form at the request of friends of University Consolidation, and of men who feel our need of Technical Edftcation. My facts I have drawn from a great variety of sources. I may mention : Rapport mir V organisation de Venscignenunt industriel en Allemagne ct en Suisse, published in 18G4, by the French Government ; Russell's Systematic Technical Education, 18C0 ; Matthew Arnold's Report to the British Government on the Schools of France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, 18G8; Preussens land- fvirthschaftiiche Verwaltung, lii7o-7 ; L'cnseignement agricole en France, by H. Johanet, 1882 ; Technical Education in a Saxon Town, by Felkin, 1881 ; Agricultural Education, by Prof. W. Johnston, 1881 ; Liversidge's Report to the Govern- ment of New South Wales, on Museums and Scientific and Technical Instruction in Great Britain, and on the Continent of Europe, 1880; the Report of the Quebec Commissioner of Public Works and Agriculture, 1880 ; Report of the United States Commissioner of Education, for 1879 ; Discussions on Technical Education, published by the American Institute of Mining Engineers, 1876; Apprenticeship Schools in France, and other pamphlets, by Ptof. S. P. Thompson, Bristol ; The Future of Mechanics' Institutions, by Prof. W. E. Ayrton, London ; Report to the Japanese Government on the En- gineering College, Tokio, 1878 ; papers in the Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, 1875-81 ; various Circulars of Information issued by the U. S. Bureau of Education ; the Education Reports of the Provinces of Canada ,' and circulars, prospectuses, and calendars of Univer- sities, Colleges, and Technical Schools. J. G. M. Haufax, May 10th, 1882. TECHNICAL EDUCATION ABROAD AND AT HOME. In tlio following jxiges I wish to consider how Nova Scotift cora- [tarcs with otlier civilized countries in the matter of technical t'diiciition. By teclinic.il education, I mean those forms of education which nsKist the people of a country in the development of its natural rosojirces. I shall, therefore, have nothing to say of legal, medical, or theological education, or of that form of school and university training whose object is culture. Not that in these de- partments we have attained or are already perfect. We are in them also far behind the rest of mankind. But their effect on the development of the resources of the country, though of the greatest im))ortance, is indirect. The effect of technical education would be direct ; and yet the most of us are quite uiconscious of the great gulf which in this matter .separates us from tie rest of civilization. To make this gulf aj); irent, I shall first give a short sketch of the facilities for technical education which are supplied by other countries to their jieople, and compare with them those which Nova Scotia atlbrds her sons. I .shall then bring facts to show the value of this kind of education, and point out what forms of it Nova Scotia ought to have if she wishes to compete with other countries or even only with the other Provinces of Canada. Finally I shall consider the best means of establishing the necessary schools, and endeavour to make some estimate of their cost. The best systems of technical education are to be found in Europe. In the short space at my disposal, however, it would be impossible to describe the systems of all the European nations. Let me there- fore select one for somewhat detailed description. In the case of the others it will be sufficient to point out only those of their features which are of special interest to us. I select for detailed descrip- tion the Swiss canton of Zurich, not because in respect of technical education it is foremost among the European nations, but because it has a population of only about 300,000, and can therefore readily be compared with Nova Scotia. In the Swiss republic, as in the various States of (Jermany, prim- ary education is compulsory. The period of compulsion extends over nine years. The first six are spent in the primary school, where the pupilH ai*e taught lunong other mibJectH, imtuiiil hintoiy aikI thawing'. The last three may )>c H)tent in vaiiouH ways If the pupil n the huh of [)oor parentH, and must work for hi» living, he utteniU the Fort- hildunga Schule, or school for the continuation of eart- inentH, thoHe, viz., of chenuHtry, mechanics, and commerce. The doiwrtment which a pupil takes is determined of course by his pro- spective employment. Besides the Industrial Schools, the canton of Zurich possesses thi-ee s])ecial technical schools — the Veterinary School, the Agricul- tural School, and the Poly>^,echnic School. The Veterinary School provides a coui'se of instruction extending over three years, and embracing all the branches of pure and applied science necessary for the successful breeding and training of domestic animals, and for the cure of their diseases. The school possesses a liOHpitrtl, a dissecting room, a smithy, and a museum. The Agri- cultural School is intended to turn out farmers, well equipped with scientific knowledge, and well trained in practical work. It has a farm which is worked by the students. The school has the use of the Cantonal Library, a museum, a collection of agricultural implements, and a botenzell, a Weaving School. All the schools to which I have referred are cantonal. The Poly- technicum, however, is federal. It belongs to Switzerland rather than to Zurich. I quote from J. Scott Russell, F. R. S., an eminent English engineer, a sketch of its foundation. The quotation is long, but it has a good moral. " Switzerland," ho says, •' is, like our- selves, a free country, a religious countiy, and consequently em- barrassed in action and organisation by the desire to abstain from interference with personal liberty of action, and liberty of enterprise. It is encumbered also in its initiative by the same sectarian hatred which sets Catholic Christians against Protestant Christians, High- churchmen against Low-churchmen, and orthodox folk against heretics of all sorts. These ])rejudices or principles, equally in Switzerland as in England, made men jealous — especially church- men — of all other education than that bestowed by the Univei'sities of the Chui'ch, and offered a dogged resistance to the establishment of universities which were designed to fit men rather for their des- tinies in this world than in the next. These prejudices in which we share, caused Switzerland to remain in arrear of educated Germany in this matter of technical education of the highest sort. . . It hapi^enefl, however, about fifteen years ago (1854) that the govern- ment of Zurich was in the hands of wise, educated, and patriotic statesmen. These men clearly foresaw the enormous material bene- fit which would accrue to Switzerland, and especially to Zurich, from the training of the more highly educated youth to the practical business of life, by means of a university, in which eveiything that 8 was most valuable in the sciences, arts, and manufactures of all other countries, should be taught by the most distinguished men imported from all nations for that purpose, in the best manner which their wisdom could organise, and with all the practical means of learning placed at their disposal which could be invented or bought. Switzerland accordingly, and Zurich especially, set about this task with a zeal and self-sacrifice well worthy of our imitation, even if quite beyond all hope of our rivalry. The city and the state coni- I)eted with each other to tax themselves, in order to endow worthily this new university of the nation. The Swiss are true j)atriots ; and having once ascertained that their national system of eilucation was defective in the great element of modern practical scieuce, they de- termined to do, in the most thorough, systematic, and comprehensive way, that which they felt they had been wrong in so long neglecting The founders of thass a special entrance examination which is dif- ferent for the (lifl'erent departments of study. These departments are six : (1) tlie fchool of architecture; (2) the school of civil en- gineering ; (3) the school of mechanical engineering ; (4) the school of industrial chemistry and pharmacy ; {^) the school of agriculture and forestry ; (0) the higher scientitic school of the natural and mathematical sciences, of the literary sciences, and of the moral and political sciences, intemhMl to train men who are to devote them- selves to Hcientitic research, or to teaching in the higher schools, especially the industrial schools. (There is a Normal School for ti'aining teachers of the lower grades.) In all the first five depart- ments which are altogether technical, the actual practice of profes- sional work is comliined with the thorough study of its scientific basis. It is impossible for me to give here a list of the ditFerent subjects in which instruction is given in these six departments. There are about 190 ditferent cla.sses. The teaching stall" numbers !>0 Professors and 14 Assistants. The school has fine collections of drawings for educational purposes, of models of machines, of Zoological, Botanical, Mineralogical, and Palajontological sjjeci- mens. It has a rich library, and laboratories which the French Commission of i864 descril)ed to the French Government as being models for their imitation. Zurich then jtrovides for her youth, from her own resources, prim- ary schools in which subjects are taught which are valuable both from the point of view of culture and of j)ractical utility, evening .schools for those who at an early age must enter upon the battle of life, industrial .schools in which the pupils are prepared for commer- cial life and tauglit the applications of science to the lower depart- ments of industry, and special technical schools for educating men for certain trades who cannot aflbrd a prolonged course of stuily ; while, by combining her resources with those of other cantons, she provides for them also a Polytechnic School for giving the highest possible preparatory training for all the more important industries of the State. The organisation of industrial education in most of the European States is very much the same as in Zurich. The chief differences are to be fonnd in the higher departments, the development of the various branches of which depends in each state npon its natural resources and its prevalent industries. Thus, in one town in Saxony, Chemnitz, whose schools are described by H. M. Felkin, in a most interesting little book, " Technical Education in a Saxon Town," we find, })esides splendidly equipped schools corresponding to the gym nasia and industrial schools of Zurich, four Royal State Technical Institutions, viz: The Higher Technical School, (with mechanical, 2 10 chemical, and architectural departments), The Royal Builders' School, The Royal Foremen's School, and the Royal Technical Drawing School, having in all a teaching staff of 39 ; also a Weaving School, a Hosiery School, and evening schools foi- Hand Weavers and Tailors, When we rememlu'r that in Dresden, the capital of Saxony, there is a Polytechnic School, with a department for mechanical engineers, a second for civil engineers, a third for chemical industries, a fourth for drawing and modelling, and a fifth for training teachers of tech- nology ; and that in Leipzig, another Saxon town, there is a Univer- sity with a staff of about 150 teachers, our Nova Scotian souls are simply lost in wonder and amazement. But Switzerland and Saxony are not in this respect unitpie among European States. Prussia, Austria, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, have all technical educational systems, more or less complete and efficient. To describe them is needless. For we cannot compare oin- Province with these pojmlous states. In the snialler states, however, we find the same eager endeavor to educate. At ifanuver, at Bruns- wick, at Carlsruhe, at Stuttgart, at Munich, at Nurenil>erg, at Aix- la-Chapelle, at Liege, we hear of large and well-<^quipj)t'd Polytechnic Schools, and I should exhaust the reader's patience were I even only to name the special trade .schools and .schools of less im])ort- ance. I must restrict my.self to a short .statement of the more interesting peculiarities of tho.se of the European States, whose prevalent industries more or less i'esen)l)le ours. In the Polytechnic ot Berlin we find a def)artinent of naval con- struction. There was no such department in that of Zurich, for Switzerland is an inland country. But Prussia is a maritime state, has shipbuildei's among her people, and, therefore, provides facilities for training men in naval architecture. In lierlin, in this depart- ment, students are trained in mathematical and physical science, the designing and the construction of ships, the theory of sailing-ships and of steam8hij)S, the construction of wooden and of iron ships, and the making of J)lan8 and estimates of ships. — Sweden has a school of naval architecture, a ship-building institution, and a department of naval construction in the industrial school at Gothenburg ; and the principles of the construction of ships are taught also in the higher departments of her nine special schools of navigation. — England and France have also their schools of naval architecture. The English school at South Kensington is intended to instruct not only officers of the navy, but also naval architects, and shipbuilders in wood and iron, marine engineers, foremen of works, shipwrights, etc. Besides the purely scientific subjects, instruction is given in ship drawing, designing of ships, practical shipbuilding and laying off, engine drawing, designing of engines marine engineering, steam and the steam engine, strength of materials, etc. The course lasts three years. The summers are spent in practical work in dock- yards or marine engineering establishments, public or private. Thi» 11 school encourages the study of the same subjects in mechanics' and other institutes, by holding examinations and gi-anting certificates without demanding attendance on the London classes. In some states more largely "igricultural than the canton of Zurich, the schools in this department are developed on a larger scale. Wurteinburg has at Hohenheim, one of the most complete agricul- tural colleges in Europe. It has three regular divisions, — the higher and lower schools of agriculture, and the school of horticulture, — and several special divisions. In the higher school of agriculture alone there are fifteen professors, with many teachers of special subjects. The lists of subjects taught oven in this one division is far too long to give here, and including the special courses tor shepherds, fruit growers, vine growers, bee keepers, etc., it reaches an almost incred- ible length. The farm consists of 780 acres ; the forest of 4,800 acres. There are gardens, nurseries, orchards, green-houses, and hot- houses in abundance. Besides the ordinaiy farm buildings, there are a beet sugar factory, a vinegar factory, distilleries, a brewery, a malt house, a starch tactoiy, a fruit drying and canning estab- lish.ment, flax and silk-worm industry buildings, and wagon- makers' and other shop.^ ; — in fact, enough model factories to fit out a manufacturing town. The college has a library of 10,000 volumes, and fine laboratories, museums, and collections of models. Elementary agricultural education in this state is car- ried on by five agricultural academies, five winter schools for farmers, and 851 evening schools with 17,844 pupils. Baden, Bavaria, all the German states are, if not etpially well, at any rate, well provided with agricultural schools and colleges. Of Hol- l:ind and Belgium the same may be said. Denmark has at Copen- hagen, the Royal Agricultural and Veterinary College, which, in some ot its departments, is among the most celebrated in Europe. Den- mark has also about 100 more elementary schools of agriculture with a short course. The more populous countries do not despi.se the methods which the weaker states adopt. In Sweden, for example, we find two agri- cultural colleges and twenty-seven agricultural schools. The course of study in these schools is eminently practical. It embraces the principles of agriculture and horticulture ; agricultural chemistry, botany, zoology, and geology ; veterinary science, the cai'e of domes- tic animals, and the improvement of breeds ; drawing, surveying, and drainage ; smith work and the construction of farm buildings, fences, and walls ; meteorology ; forestry. There are dairy depai-t- ments connected with them, where young women learn to make but- ter and cheese. Instruction in these schools is free ; but the students give their labour. — Austria has her Royal Agricultural College at Vienna, 69 schools of agriculture, all having farms attached, and 174 evening schools of agriculture. This subject is taught also in 2,128 of the public schools ; arboriculture in 4,034 ; bee culture in 1,496 ; It and silk culture in 862. — In 187G Prussia hail 6 agricultural colleges, with 44 professors ; 46 agricultural schools with 277 teachers ; 29 schools of arboriculture and viniculture, with 71 teachers; and 6 schools of forestry, with 27 teachei-s. Altogether Germany and the German parts of Austria have loS academies and schools of agricul- ture, with farms, gardens, etc. attached, for practical work. — France has primary schools with teachers trained in agriculture in the Nor- mal schools. She has 24 farm schools, 6 practical schools of agri- culture, 3 national agricultural schools, a national school of horticulture, an institute for higher agricultural education, 3 veterinary schools, a school of forestry, 3 secondary schools of forestry, 2 schools for shepherds, a practical school of irrigation and drainage, and a school of horse breeding. Spain, Italy, all the larger European States have their agricultural schools. But I dare not enumerate them. Those of your readers who would like more information on this subject should procure a coj)y of Prof W. Johnston's pamphlet on Agricultural Education, published by C. Blackett Robinson, Toronto. They will find that wherever in Europe farming is done, there men are taught to farm in colleges and schools. Zurich has no school of mines. In those states, however, in which mining is an important industiy, education in this department is by no means neglected. Prussia has an Academy of Mines at Berlin, giving instruction in the working of mines and of salt works, metallurgy, the metallurgy of iron, mechanics, machines, the surveying of mines, drawing, mineralogy, geology, mathematics, chemical anal3'sis, and assaying. The coui-se extends over four years at least, of which one must be spent in practical mining. The academy is splendidly fur- nished with museums, laboratories, and libraries. Prussia has also the famous mining school of Clausthal. — Saxony lias a thoioughly equipped school of mines at Frieberg, which aims at giving a com- plete education in mining and metallurgical science. Its staff con- sists of a director, 14 professors, a teacher of drawing, and two laboratory assistants. Durmg the year classes are formed in about sixty different subjects. I need not give the list. — France has a School of Mines, a School for Miners, and two Schools for Foremen Miners. The School of Mines at Paris, trains mining engineers for the service of the State. It gives its students the highest training, and fits them to become Directors of Mines and of Metallurgical factories. It has a three years curriculum, the subjects of which I need not enumerate. The School for Miners at St. Etienne is of a lower grade. It trains directors of works, however, as well as mining overseers. The course is one of two year s. The Schools for Foremen Miners at Alais and Douai, are intended for woiking miners. The pupils spend six months in the schools, and six in the mines. The • course is one of two years, at the end of which time deserving .students graduate as Foremen Miners, — Austria has three academies 11 of mines at Schemnitz, Leoben and Pibram. In 1864, the teaching staff in all three, numbered twenty-three professors, and thei ' were 235 students. — Brunswick has a mining department in hrr Poly- technic school. Sweden has mining schools at Falun and Filipstad. Belgium has one at Hainault. Norway has one at Kongsberg. In short, in those countries in which minerals are a source of wealth, there we find facilities provided for educating young men in mining and metallurgy. The United Kingdom is far behind the rest of Europe in respect to technical education. But for some years a conviction of its necessity has been forcing itself upon her, and in some departments progress has been made. Since 1851, the Department of Science and Art has been fostering the study of artistic and scientific sub- jects among the artisans. The number of art schools of all kinds has largely increased. There are now about 20,000 artisan pupils receiving instruction in Geometrical Drawing, nearly as many in Mathematics and Physics, and encouragingly large numbers in other subjects. For the training of normal school ami high school teachers, the National Art Training School in London was founded, and to-day there is scarcely a National School Teacher in the United Kingdom who cannot draw and teach drawing. Engineering School-* exist generally as departments of Univer- sities or Colleges. There are about fifteen of them. Mining Schools are also generally dep:irtments of colleges. The Roy^d School of Mines, which is a department of the Normal School of Science, is the best equipped. It has Professorships of Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Geology and Physiography, Mechanics and Mathematics, Mining and Metallurgy, and possesses fine laboratories, museums and lib- raries. The higher departments of chemical manufactures, and of a few othei's, are taught in several of the colleges ; but there are few facilities for the education of the foremen and workmen of factories. England is being driven in this direction now, however. Colleges are starting up in various towns, which are offering instruction in pure science and technical applications in both day and evening classes ; and the city and guilds of London have lately founded a college in the metro- polis, which is intended to furnish training in ajiplied science to managers of manufacturing establishments and technical instructors, while they are also establishing District Technical Colleges for the training of artisans. Agi'icultural education is represented in Great Britain by two colleges, and by departments in the University of Edinburgh and in the Normal School of Science. The Science and Art Department, and the Agricultural Societies encourage the study of this subject in schools aud private classes, by holding examinations and offering prizes, both to teachers ani to meritorious students ; and consequently agriculture is taught in about 25 of the public schools. Ireland, 14 however, has a complete system of agricultural schools. The National Schools use an agricultural text book, and 115 of them have special teachoi-s of this subject, and small farms. There are more- over 16 Model Agricultural Schools with farms, and lastly, there is the Albert Institute as Glasnevin, designed to .'•upply in- struction in the science and practice of agriculture to the sons of farmers and to agricultural teachers. How it is that England is so far behind, and why it is that she is waking up, we shall see farther on. Europe is far away, and the state of technical education among European States may seem to be of little consequence to us. Whether of direct consequence or not, we may learn a gi-eat deal from a study of the means which these nations take to maintain pros- perity in the face of the comj)etition of their neighbours. What les- sons we may draw from their uniform policy, we shall see faither on. Meantime, I shall come nearer home, and sk(;tch tlie technical education of the United States, a country with which, in many de- partments of industry, we come into very direct competition. Technical Education in the United States is of comparatively recent growth. In 1870 there were about 17 Colleges of Applied Science, with 144 instructors and 1,413 students. In 1871) there were 81 Colleges, with 884 instructors and 10,1)19 students. This rapid development has been due to a great extent to the action of Congress in 1862, in passing an Act called The Land Scrip Act, " do- nating land to the several States and Territories wliich may ])rovide colleges for the benefit of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts." The Act has resulted in the endowment of 47 Schools of Science, either having an independent existence or being departments of Universities, and affonling instruction not only in purely scientific subjects, but also in one or more of the departments of Agriculture, Civil and Mechanical Engineering, Mining, Metallurgy, and Technical Chem- istry. Besides these 47 schools, there arc 34 other Colleges of Science, or scientific departments of Universities, deriving their revenues from various sources, and offering instruction in technical subjects. It is not necessary for me to describe all these various schools. Some are too poorly equipped to be worthy of description. For education in the United States is hampered as it is in Nova Scotia by the existence of many small colleges, which waste educa- tional funds in /ain i-epetitions. Many of these Schools of Science, however, are well equipped and thoroughly efficient. With few ex- ceptions they have chemical and physical laboratories ; many have museums of technology and natural history ; about half have experi- mental farms and gardens, and ten have practical workshops. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has a faculty consisting of a President and 15 Professors, with 18 additional Professors, Lecturers, and Assistants. Its grounds, buildings, and apparatus, are valued at $300,000, and it has an income of about $53,000, 15 Instruction is given by lectures and by practical exercise in the fields the laboratories, and the drawing rooms. The Institute offers ten regular courses of which five are of a distinctly technical character. It has a School of Mechanical Arts, in wliich sjiecial prominence is givv^n to manual instruction, and which is intended for those who are to enter upon industrial pursuits, rather than to become scien- tific engineers. The shoj) work is conducted upon the plan adopted at the Imperial Technical School of Moscow, Russia, and includes carpenti-y and joinery, wood turning, ])attern making, foundry work, iron forging, vice work and machine tool work. The Shetiield Scientific School of Yale College provides instruction in chemistjy, civil engineering, dynamic engineering, natural his- tory, biology, metallurgy, and mining. It has a teaching staff' of •28. Its buildings are valued at $100,950. The Illinois Industrial University j)rovides for the youth of that State, courses of instruction in agriculture, horticulture, civil and mechanical engineering, mining, architecture, chemistry, natural history, and "domestic science." Ample material is provided for the illustration of the various branches. There is a stock farm of 410 acres, and one of 180 acres for agricultural experiments. Both are well furnished with apparatus. It has 27 instructors and 343 students, a library of over 12,000 volumes, and grounds, buildings, and apparatus valued at $470,000. The Iowa State Agricultural College has throe departments, — agriculture, engineering, and " general science lor women." These subjects are taught by 24 instructors to 297 students. Its grounds, buildings, and apjiaratus are valued at $498,000, and its income is $41,000. The University of Missouri has an Agricultmal College and a School of Mines and Metallurgy, witli a combined staff' of 15. The former provides a four years' course in agriculture and allied sub- jects, and a course of two years in horticulture, to which women are admitted. The latter has three departments, civil and mining en- gineering, and metallurgy. In both schools there are about 200 students. The real property of these schools has the value of about « 150,000, One of the best Agricultural Colleges of the United States is that of Michigan at Lansing. It provides instruction in surveying, levelling, laying out of grounds, mechanics as applied to implements, building, stock breeding, agricultural chemistry, horticulture and such practical applications of science as are useful to the farmer. Each student is required to work three liours a day on the farm or in the garden. The labour is in part educational, and is varied for the illustration of the principles of science. The farm comprises 676 acres, of which 1 90 are in a systematic rotation of crops. Besides the barns, stock, and other material for illustrating agriculture, the col- lege is supplied with chemical laboratories, a museum of mechanical wm 16 given. which I have well equipped as the return of the so lO to I illl of the know details Colleges are not inventions, a general museum, a laboratory and a reading room. There is a staff of 12 instructors and the college* has about 190 students. Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, has in its technical de- partments 17 instructors. These de[)artment8 are agricidture, archi- tectuia, civil and mechanical engineering, and chemistry and physics. It is thoroughly equipped with farms, workshojjs, laboratories, lib- rary and museums, and practical work in those departments in which it is possible, forms always a part of the regular couisc. The School of Mines of Columbia College, New York, oilers to students the means of accpiiring a thorough knowhsdge of branches of science which have a direct bearing upon the resources of the country. It provides five separate courses: (1) civil engineering, (2) mining engineering, (3) metallurgy, (4) geology and ])ala'ontology, (5) analytical and apjdied chemistry. It has a staff of 27 instructors and its students number about 290. The above are details of a few of the technical schools United States. I have chosen them, not because I them to be the best, but because I have at hand the Many of the American those I have described. But according Commissioner of Education, which gives 1879, 884 instructors in 81 different institutions, we have average teacliing staff of about 11. This number includes of course teachors of pure science as well as technical api)lications ; but even a staff of 11 scientific and technical instructors can do a large amount of excellent educational work. It may be instructive, in the case of one State at least of the neighbouring Republic, to give a sketch of th(3 whole educa- tional system so far as it bears select the State of Massachusetts, embrace common schools, evening nical Colleges, and Universities. schools from our point of view, is the great importance attached to drawing among the subjects taught. In 1870, an act was passed by the Legislature, providing for the teaching of drawing in the public •schools. The chief difficulty in the execution of this law was found to be a lack of teachers; and in 1873 a Normal Art School was founded to train them. The consequence is, according to Prof. W. Smith, State Director of Art Education, that for some years, " all teachers, male and female, have been able to give the first instruction in Drawing in daily classes to all their scholars, and that Drawing is taught thoroughly through all the schools of this state." Of Tech- nical Schools there is no lack. They are the Agricultural College, Amherst, the Institute of Technology at Boston, the Lawrence Scien- tific School and Bussey Institution of Haivard College, the Worcester County Free Institute of Industrial Science, and the Engineering training. upon technical Its educational institutions schools, high schools, tech- Thej chief peculiaiity of the 17 department of Tufts' College. The Agricultural College trains young men for the practical pursuits of life in Agriculture and Hor- ticulture, in Civil Engineering, and in Chemistry. It hns a staff of eight instructors. The Institute of Technology I have referred to above. The Worcester Institute teaches, besides modern languages, Drawing, Mechanical, and Civil Engineering, Physics, and C-hem- istry. It has a staff of eleven instructors. Tlie Lawrence Scientific School has a staff of twentysi.x instructoi-s in the departments of Civil Engineering, Chemistry, Natural History and Mathematics, the first thrwi of which are all more or less technicfil in character. The Hu.ssey Institution, with a teaching staff of seven, trains students in Theory of Farming, Agricultural Chemistry, Applied Zoology, Hor- ticulture, Botany, Entomology, and Chemical Analysis. Tufts' College ofi'ers a three years' course in Engineering, but what it amounts to I do not know. While, therefore, Ma.ssachusetts is behind the Euiopean States in the educational preparation of the people for their daily work, it is certainly working on the .same lines, and has made great progress in the same direction. Other States are perhaps on the whole not quit** so far advanced, tliough several offer, in some de}>artment or other, better facilities than Massachusetts does. But all the States are perceiving more and more the immense utility of technical education, and are making both individual and concerted efforts to provide it. Between 1870 and 1879 the number of technical colleges, we have seen, increased nearly five-fold, the number of instructors, six-fold, and the number of pupils, about seven- fold. So satisfied are our neighbours of the immense value of the work which is being done by the schools of technology, founded by the Land Scrip Act, that they are going even farther. For the E,000. This CoUoge is deficient in many of the appliances for teaching, far behind nmny of the institutions we have described in equipniotit, and inferioi- to the most of them in the number of its teachers, but its progress is gratifying, and the excellence of its work is recognised not only by the farmers of Ontario, but also by the Agrictiltural educators of Etirope. Ontario, therefore, is training her boys in the schools in subjects which will make thetn good artisans. She is encouraging and helping her artisans to continue their education in their leisure time, and she is providing higher education in pure and applied science Tor men who can afford to prepare themselves for engineer- ing, for manufacturing, for mining, and for farming. The schools of the Province of Quebec are not in so satisfactory a state as those of Ontario. Hence the Council of Arts and Manu- factures, wisely holding that a complete system of industrial education " would give a stimulating im|)etu8 to our manufactures by producing skilled workmen," has taken the first step towards the establishment of such a system by founding schods of Art and Design. Under its control are 12 of these schools, in which in struction is given in evening classes to artisans. They are situated in Montreal, Quel)ec, and other important towns. The number in attendance in 1879-80 was 1183. The subjects taught are Free- hand, Mechanical and Architectural Drawing and Modelling. In some cases lectures bearing on Industrial Education have also been given. The council, moreover, is urging the government to qualify teachers for imparting instruction in industrial drawing and to introduce that subject into the primary and higher schools. In higher departments of technology, Quebec has the Faculty of Applied Science of McGill College, Montreal, with the four depart- ments of Civil, Mechanical and Mining Engineering and Practical Chemistry. The work of these departments is conducted by In- structors, of whom three have technical subjects, viz : Assaying and Mining, Civil and Mechanical Engineering, and (jreometrical Drawing. In the department of Agriculture, Quebec has three Schools ; at L'Assomption, St. Francis, and Ste. Anne La Pocatiere. They are small schools with four Instructors each, and 15, 16 and 19 pupils respectively. All three have farms attached, worked by the students. There is, moreover, in Montreal a Veterinary College, offering to French and English students instruction in veterinary science. It has five English and five French Lecturers on special subjects, and in purely scientific subjects the students attend the English classes of McGill College and the French classes of the Victoria College. Quebec, therefore, behind Ontario in some reH|)ectH, before her iri othorH, ifi alive to the value of education, and otfein her youth very conHiderable faciliticH for gaining thoroughly practical training. Passing next to the Maritime Provinces wo senm to have got beyond the Iwtuuls of civilizn^'ion. For these frovincics are almost entirely " unsj)ottcd from the world " so far un t«^chnical education is concerned. They hav(! known nothing of the great educational movements of the world ; or knowing, they have (h^spised them, having no confidence in schools as a means of giving practical training for the work of evcjryday life. In New lirunswick, drawing is being introduced into the schools and teachers are trained in it in the Normal School. Scientific subjects are prescriljcd as subjects to be taught in the schools, but no erticient instruction is j)rovided whereby teachei-s of the higher grades may be ])repared to teach them. This Piovince has lately leased a stock farm, but whether or not it is to be useil for educational purfJOseB [ do not know. Prince Edward Island is, in one respect, ahead of New Brunswick. It does not i)rofe.ss to teach agriculture, but do(!H provide a model farm. The farm is worked by young men, who give their time and labour in exchange for their board and the privilege of working under the exj)erienced men whom the government have appointed managers. So fai' there are no lectures ; but in time the model farm may develoj) into an agricultural school. When we tui-n to Nova Scotia we find in the department of ■ technology ])ractically no facilities of education offered to our youth. [n some of the coi"^.try schools indu.strial drawing is t(|^ight. In the Normal School a teacuer of this .subject has lately been provided. But as the work of the Normal School is and ought to be chiefly d 'voted to the training ot teachei's of the lower classes, and as the universities are unable to provide such teaching, our higher cla.ss teachei's, who are usually and ought to be university men, have had no chance of getting a proper training in this important depai'tment. Evening schools for the teaching of drawing and other subjects useful to artisans are unknown. Mechanics' Institutes do not exist. We have five so-called universities, of which perhaps four do more or less of real university work. But in all of these the work done is almost altogether in the depart- ments of literature, philosophy and pure science, and only one offers anything like adequate training in pure science. King's College advertises a school of civil and mining engineering ; but all the technical work of this school and the mathematical and scientiflc work of the arts faculty are done by two men, one of whom professes mathematics, natural philosophy and engineering ; the other, chemistry, geology and mining. I assume that the governors have been able to secure the services of men fitted to «u,_™ give Uiorough training in theso variouH (lopRi-tniontH ; but those who ani ac(iuiiinted with the amount of work which iiniHt ho (U>ne in a th(>rouj,'h school of Knginncring m\(\ Mining,' will know that th(! t'xj'cution of this work must Imj inipoHHiblc for two men, however varied their intellectual gifts. In the technical curri- culum of King's Collegia twenty-two difTeiont classes are advertised. Many of these would require at least three or four hours a week, some of them more, and it iu evident that the time and energy of two men nnist be utterly ina(le(|uate to the task imposed upon tluun. Tiuj School of Civil and Mining Engineering of King's may be taken conserpiently as evidence of the belief on the part of the Governors that technical education is desirable ; but it cannot bo regarded as a means of supplying it in anything like an adequate manner. In agriculture Nova Scotia has neither School nor model farm. A text book on this subject is recommended for iise in the Schools, but no provinion is made for the tmining of teachera. The pul)lic spirit of certain professional men in Halifax started, a few years ago, the Technological Institute. As it had no funds, however, to p,iy Lecturers, the statf had no p«!riiuinent organisation, and no course could bo ort'eied in any department sutKcient to attract students from a distance Such l(;ctiu-es as were provided (in Chemistry, Mathematics, Engineering, Drawing, &c.) were well attende, though, as we have seen, already well supplied, have watchful commissions which enquire into the pi-ojects of foreigners, and are continually suggesting improvements and ex- tensions. Great Britain, convinced that she must arm herself with modern means of gaining technical knowledge and skill, is calling to her aid the Schoolmaster and the College Pjofessor. The United States, notwithstanding their vast stores of raw materials of all kinds, recognise the necessity of training, and are making great progress in supplying it. The Uppei" Provinces of Canada have caught the .spirit of the time, and have made considerable advance. Even the neighbouring Maritime Provinces have begun to move. And the verdict of all nations is that without Technical Schools no nation can maintain an advantageous position in the face of modern competition. Nova Scotia alone, among all the countries on the surface of the globe,, slumbers and sleeps. Yet it can hardly be maintained that our people need education less than others. If any one entei tains that notion he should travel. Let him visit the ordinary Nova Scotia farm, and he will find it badly and wastefully worked, yielding only a fraction of the profit which the experience of edu- cated farmers shows to be possible. Let him visit Nova Scotian mines, and he will find everywhere traces of needlessly wasted labour, ^ 'isted material, and defective work. Let him visit our factories, and he will find them mn by imported skill. Managers, foremen, even skilled workmen, are usually either foreigners or have been educated abroad. The hewers of wood and drawers of water are home-educated Nova Scotians. These statements I do not make of my own experience alone. I have heard them made by so many knowing people that I cannot doubt their substantial accuracy. If they are, even only in a general way, correct, then something is wanting ; and that something, in the judgment of the world, is technical education in schools. 27 There are those I know among us, so fai* behintT are we even um our elementary generalisations, who hold that we have already too • much schooling in Nova Scotia, and that the consequence of it is the prevalence of discontent and of a desire on the part of our young men to abandon the honourable employment of their fathei-s on the farm or in the workshop. Tliere is some foundation for this opinion. Our boys who have gone through the High School, and our young men who have gone through College, are usually unwilling to do manual work and eager to live by their brains alone even in the most humble and unambitious manner. Young men who might make good farmers or artisans crowd into the professions, become teachers, start in business, become clerks in mercantile aouses, or worry n^embers of Parliament for ap{)ointnients iti public offices. Some of MS wonder at tliis, and conclude that education does not improve Nova Scotian chax-acter ! To me it seems that, with our present education, nothing else is to be expected. So long as we restrict our ambitious young men who seek an education to a kind of education which fits only for a narrow range of work, it must result that those forms of work are overcrowded, and that others are left to the unambitious or stupid, who seek no higher level of intellectual development than the Common School attbrds. Anf^ consequently this rush into clerkships, public .offices, and jirofes- sions cannot be taken as an indication that we are educating too much, but is rather to be interpreted as an indication that we are educating in too uniform a mould. We may assume, then, that there is nothing in the intellectual or moral character of the Nova Scotian to })revont his being made a more successful worker by education, if only he is furnished with education of the proper kind. We may also assume that the kind of education he I'equires is that which all the rest of the world finds requisite, and that his chance of prosperity would be very greatly increased by technical training. It only remains to ask what forms of technical training we require, and how we can get them. What amount and what forms of Technical Education Nova Scotia ought to provide for her sons in order to put them on a level with their competitors, depends upon what education can do for her more important industries. These are farming, lumbering, fishing, mining, commerce, civil and mechanical engineering, manufactures, and various mechanical ai'ts, including house and shipbuilding. The educntion of all who ai-e to be engaged in these pursuits begins in the common schools. They cannot therefore be made moans of special training. The interests of general education and of practical utility, however, may both be served by the teaching of such subjects as geometry, industrial drawing, physical and juatural science. That these subjects may be taught in our common schools, it is necessary to teach the teachers ; and the one thing which Nova Scotia has done for technical education is the provision 28 of Normal School training for common school teachers in these subjects. In special districts, however, our common schools might perlia|)H advantageously teach special subjects. In farming districts, for example, the elements of agriculture. I say, i)erhaps. For while in some coimtries this is done, in one at least, viz., Prussia, the experiment has been tried and has failed. We might try the experiment for ourselves. For the amount that could be taught would be small, and the Normal School lecturer on Science could readily give the teachers a sufficient training in the application of science to agriculture. For the benefit of boys unable to continue their education beyond the common school, it would in many cases be advisable to form evening schools, especially for teaching geometry, arithmetic, physical and natural science, and drawing, as well as the elements of agri- ■ culture, etc. ; not necessarily all in any one school, but as many as there might be demand for. Teachers might be encouraged to form such schools by special legislative grants. The training of the Normal School would be a sufficient preparation for them. In the more populous districts, where manufactures are generally carried on, these evening schools might be developed into Mechanics' Institutes, providing scientific libraries, rending rooms, educational classes, and coursosj of lectures. They migiit be encouraged by grants of money from the public Exchequer, as they are in Ontario. If such grants led to the establishment of working Institutes, the Province would get back more than its money's worth. For special trade-schools our manufactures are not yet ready. Our factoi'ies of any one kind are too few and too scattered, and such schools can exist only when some one form of manufacture is largely developed. Even then it is held by many educators to be more advantageous to provide apprentices with facilities for acquiring a knowledge of the scientific principles which underlie their trades, and to leave the workshop to develop manual skill, than to take the education of apprentices entirely out of the hands of the em])loyer. Our High Schools should of course teach mathematical, physical and natural science and drawing among their general subjects. As those of their pupils who are to receive no higher education are chiefly to be engaged in farming, commerce, and navigation, the .:;;^- :.m' technical subjects should be agriculture, navigation, and ■>• -k-^^.epping and other commercial subjects. These subjects are »u"*aay included in the courses of some of our High Schools. But no '/I'ovision is made for the trainmg of High School teachers in 'bft" Such teachers ought to have a much more profound know- ledge ox science and drawing than common school teachers. If our Normal School is to train them, it must undertake university work in addition to the school work, which it must do to educate common school teachers. These forma of work are however better kept 29 Bepaiate, as for instance we have seen them to be at Zurich, and in Ontario. Hence our High School teachers should l>e university men, and the University or Universities, if we are to have more than Olio, in which teachers of high rank are trained, ought to have the means of giving thorough training in the subjects we have mentioned. Among the employments which I have enumerated above, there are several which demand for those who are to follow them witli the greatest success, in some cases to follow them at all, a higher education than the High School can afford. These are farming and lumbei'iiig, ndning, civil and mechanical engin«!ering, manufactures, and some forms of mechanic arts, as liouse and ship building. For the education of the men who ai-e to be engaged in the higher de])ai'tments of these industries or i)rofessions we ought to have a technical college with schools of agriculture and foresti-y, mining and metallurgy, civil and mechanical engineering, aichitecture, naval architecture and manufactures. Tlie eilucationrd equipment such schools would require dejiends u])on the number of subjects whicli shoidd be taught in them. Let us take first the school of agriculture and foresti-y. Farmers should understand the nature of soils and manures, the structure and food of certain j)lants and animals, the breeding and the treat- ment of iho ordinary diseases of those animals, the laying out, draining, and irrigating of farms, the consti-uction of gates, fences, frame buildings, ploughs, wagons, even nowadays steam (>ngin(^s and machinery, and, as our farmers are fruit growers and lumberers as well, the growing of foi-est and fruit trees. We therefore lequire instruction in chemistry, agriculture and foiestry, biology, veteri- nary science, })ortions of civil and mechanical engineering, and drawing ; and to understand these subjects a student must have had a suflicient training in mathematics and physics. Hence our first school r<^quires instruction in eight subjects. Science, however, cannot be learned from books or teachers alone, but by actual experience as well. Hence our agricultural .school nnist be provided with a farm on which the students can woi'k ; and this farm shoidd be woi-ked actually by the students, a given amount of manual labour 1)eing required as part of the curriculum of the school. A niiner should know how to distinguish minerals, how to determine where they are, how to get at the!?i, how to plan, suivey, ventilate and work his mine, how to separati; and reduce oivh and perhM]>s how to refine metals. Hence our school of mining and metallurgy should j)rovide insti-uction in mineralogy, gi-ology, mining, engineering, drawing, assaying and metallurgy. The courses of study, through which civil and mechanical en- gineers, architects, and ship-builders should be led, have many subjects in conunon. They should include the pure sciences of mathematics, physics, chemistry and geology, all the branches of Ill 30 the applied sciences of civil and mechanical engineering, architec- ture and naval architecture, and the art of drawing. The knowledge required hy manufacturers is of so varied a char- acter, depending as it of course does upon the kind of manufw tures in which they are engaged, that it is difficult to name -iny scries of suhjects which they should study, or to devise any curriculum through which they shotdd he led. It is of great in)portance, how- ever, that they shoukl have the means of accpiiring a knowledge of I'aw materials, of the sources of motive power, of mills and ma- cliinerv, of mechanical manufacturing methods, of the apj)Ii{'ation of chemistry to manufactures, as in tanning, dyeing, ete., of th(^ appli- cation of physics to manufactures, as in electro-plating, etc., and of drawing and d«'signing. That being so, our school of manufactures should provide instruction in chemistry, jdjysics, dc|)ai"tments of mechanical engineering, chenrtcal, ])hysical and mechanical tech- nology and drawing ; and the study of some of these subjects would be impossil)le without mathematics. As the same subjects are in many cases common to diift'rent dej)artments of technology, there can be no doubt as to the propriety of making the above scliools departments of one Technical College. If that were done, one Professor of any gi^en subject would be sufficient, and the subjects in which instruction would be necessary for all the above scliools would be the following : — Mathematics, Physics and Physical Technology, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, jNIetallurgy and Assaying, Biology, Agricultur(;, and Forestry, Veterinary Science, Civil and Mechanical Engineering and Mechanical Technology, Architecture and Naval Architecture, Drawing, Geology and Mineralogy, and Mining Kngincering. I have grouped the subjects in the above list so as to indicate the number of Professors that would be lequired if the scliools were in full working order. At starting, the grou|)s of subjects might be made larger and less numeious, for classes would not probably be icquired in all fur some time. They nnist not, however, be made so large as to render the schools inefficient In the abovt! list are eleven groups. We might start in all the schools I have mentioned with ten or nine Professors. If we should start with a smaller number of schools, we would of course reipiiie a smaller number of Pi-ofessors. The Professorships which I have just enumerated include all those which we have found to be necessary for the training of our High School teachers. Hence, with our present statf in the Normal School, and with these Profes.sors in one University, we would be able both to introduce the necessary technical subjf^cls into our Common and High Schools and to establish all the hiulier tiaiiiing in technology which the Province at present needs. It would be possible of course, at the outset, to restrict ourselves •to the provision of an elementary education in the higher depart- 81 ments of technology. That would ])erhai)8 meet the wants of the majority of the students whom we would attract. Kannors' sons would |)erhaj)s for the inost juirt be able to spend but a short time at the College. Miners mi'dit wish to be educated i\>r sul)ordinate |>ositions only. Manufacturers might wish l>ut a tew courses of lectures. If we did restrict ourselves to the (dements, we could reduce the number of Professors. For each would be uble to take a larger number of subjects. I have no means of knowing what ■cla.ss of students such a College would draw. Ihit even if the large iniijoritj were men wishing only a partial training, there would ineverthele.ss undoubtedly be sonje demand for comp'ete ti-aining. For we now inipoi't civil, nu^chanical, and juiniug cM,u,:neerH, archi- tects and nmnufactuier.s ; and our young men are to l»f! found at Ouelph and at various engineering .schools. Even if the demand were nt first small, it would la; well for uniny reasons to supply it First — The services of home educated men can be secured usually at less exj)ense than those of imported men, while their knowledge of the countrv and its customs will in general make them Itetter business niauiiger.s. The supply of such men would therefore give a con- .sidorable imjietus to the development of our re.scnirces. Secondly — The restriction of our College to elementary work would not reduce to any very great extent the neces.sary staff. In a technical college especially, the teaching of even elements must be up to date, exact and thorough ; and the power to teach elements well re(|uires a .knowledge of the deeper \)ixrts of a subject. Hence it would be a mistake to give a Professor a large number of subjticts. Wo would risk the etiicieney of even hivS elementjiry teachin/jj. Thirdly— If our Professors had a large numl>er of sul)jects to lecture on their whole time would be taken up with preparation, and the Province would lose one great advantage of possessing a staff of technical teachers, viz., their original work. Our Professor of Agriculture might be expected, for example, not only to teach his subject, but to •study the application of its principles to Nova Scotiau conditions as well. It would be his duty to conduct (!X{)erimeutK on agricultural jH'oblems, and thus to advance the science in a way that would be directly beneticial to our farming. A vast amount of work of this kind has been done by Agiicultural Professors in Europe and America. They are very often supplied by their Colleges or l)y Government with s[)ecial farms for conducting exporiments. In 1857 there werii in Europe 11 such experimental stations. In liS77 there were 80. In the United States there are experimental stations in connection with almost all the Agricultural Colleges — an-:s to the community, be omitted, shoidd the cost of the whole )n"ove too gieat for our ])resent resources. To nw it seems most important of all that we should have science and drawing well taught in our }ligh Schcols, and that because an elementai-y knowledge of these subjects is, from the points of view of l)otli cultui'e and ability, of great importance lo all our boys, whattn-er the employment in which they are to be engaged, tui 1 because; it lays a foundation on which the energetic uiies jimong them can build for thcmselvc.'s. Many men would stuily the application of science to their daily work, if only they had made the start at school. The tirst stej)s are the most ditlicult. For this purpose the Univeisity instruction ]>rovided by the Province should be Kutlicient to give a thorough education in the necessary subjects to our High ISchool teachers. The necessary subjects will require the Services of ibur or five Professors. Of all the departments of higher training enumerated above, that of agriculture is i)iobably the one from the lack of which we sutler and are likely to suffer most. Whatever may be the truth as to the exodus from ^ova Scotia to the United States, there can be no douht as to the exodiis from our Province to the North West. The North West is drawing away our poi)ulation because of the attraction of its rich virgin soil. Our Province is old. The virgin freshness of our soil has passed away. Agriculture in Nova Scotia can be made remunei'ative only by those who know how, by the trained. Agriculture in Manitoba is possible for the novice. The inference is plain. It must tend to keep our farmers at home if we teach them how to make farming remunerative here. A good agri- cultural .school will go far towards stop])ing the exodus. But a good school will do more than that. There is a class of immigrants who would prefer settling in an old country like Nova Scotia, to becoming pioneers of civilization on the })i!iirie, experienced farm rs, who have some little capital, but not sutticient to keep their farms in Great Britain. If they could get farms at low jjrices in Nova Scotia, and if tl.ey saw that we were making strenuous efforts to de- velop our agriculture, and would provide their sons with educa- tion which would make them successful farmers, they might be drawn hither. If so, the very exodus, by carrying away the most m \wards of £12,000,000 stg. in buying butter. Yet lack of training effectually prevents our farmers from conq)eting for a share of this sum with Denmark, Holland and the United States. The establishment of a proi)er agricidtural school, with nuMlel (hiiry, would enable our farmers to make our export of daiiy produce equal in valtu; to that of any one of our present exports. For all these reasons it is especially desirable that we should secure at once educational facilities for our farmers. It won't do to trust to their going a1)road, to Ontario or to the States, xi'^y will go only in small numbers, ami we want them educated in large num- bers. The oidy way to grr the tbiii^' done is to establish a school at once. And hence 1 hold that next in im[)ortance to the introduction of thorough science teaching into ouv Schools, is the founding of an Agricultural College. Next in ])ossible, if not in actual, iuiportance among our industries is mining. But though our mineral resources are rich, they have so far not done what they might to enrich the Province. And ont* reason is that we are unable to develop them ourselves. Too many of our mines are owned and worked by non-resident foreigners. Such mines-' have to all intents and purj>oses been added to the re- sources of other countries. Nova Scotia is but little the better of Ill 'I'l; their possession, though tlioy miglit have been sourcos of ^Toat woaltli, had w«< uiidci'takiMi to work thtMii oiii'selveH. Our capitalists han<^ back iM'caiiso ininiiij^ has not been found sd profitable in tlmir exp(.'rieMC'«( as other less natural industiit'S. Without doul)t that is to a great «!xtent due to the fact that niinin;^ here is carried on at a great eclueational disadvantage. TIki necessary skilled labuui' has to be intportcMl, and that costs. A lai'g*; salaiy for a thoroughly train(!d mining engineer is a large item in the expensi^s of a small mining company. The tendeuoy thnt in \\ww\ alKo. Wo aro now able to make sonn! estimate of tli« oxitcndituro nocifssary foi tlio estalilislnncnt of such a colle/[(o as that skctchocl above, and to discuss the West mode of estahlishiii",' it. Let us suj)i>ose lirst that the teehnical eoliej^fc! is started imh-pend- ently of ail existing coUeges. In that case a huihling would have to bo provided, with hiboratories and apjiaratus, a fnrin. and instructors. The aveiagt! sahiry for instructois may l»e taken at $ir)OI>. Some would have to be liigher to attiaet sulllciciitly i^ood men, Otheis might be smaller, in cases in whieli the services of men engagtMJ in |)rofe.ssional work couUl be secured. The t'aim Nvonid yield an incoiiu? ; but, as its educational work would necessi- tate a larger stall' than an ordinaiy farm, and as e.\|ierimental woi'k is not reuninerative, we m:iy jait its expenses at §2,000. The initial outlay of cajjital nuiy be estimated as follows : Building' .?4(>,000 Lahoiatoty tMiuipnicMt luul apparatus .^),000 Farm ami farm hnildings lf»,(>00 $(50,000 Wo may thei-efoi-e estimate the annual expen-^es of such a college as follows : Proftssors' salaries %\ .^.,000 Farm exj^nsfs 'J, 000 Incidental college expenses l,nH(i lntere.st on capital at 5 per cent 15, uo') $2], 86 :lif To meec this ex])endituve, the farm was expected to bring in $4,500; and fees, $1,000. Tlie balance, which had to be met by Government grant, was therefore $10,450. This sum does not include inteiest on the outlay on buildings, etc., wliich lins amounted now to $200,000. If, by starting very modestly, we manage 1 to make our annual expenditure, say, $2,000 less than that of (inelph, an Agi-icnltui'al School might be brought within the bounds of possi- bility. We may conclude, then, that if the Technical College should be founded independently of existing colleges it could have but one department, and that only moderately equij)ped. It would be possible, however, to utilise the Science Professorships existing in some one of our colleges, by establishing these sciiools in connection with it. This course could with greatest advantage be })ursue(l in connection wilh Dalhousie College. Its governors are ajtpointed by Government ; it has three endowed scientific chairs — a greater number than any of the other colleges ; and being in the metropolis, its students enjoy the tuition which the Provincial Geologist voluntarily otters to the public. If, then, the Technical College were founded in connection with Dalliousie College, ])rovision would require to be made for only G or 7 Professors A com]tara- tively small expenditure on the building would make it sufficiently large, and its apparatus, library and laboratories, and the Provincial libiury and museum would be available. The original expenditure would therefoie be reduced to the following :-- Enlargement of building, (say) §10,000 Apparatus i,000 Farm and farm buildings 1 5,000 §•27.000 The annual ex])enses would therefoi'e be : — Professors' salaries $1 o, 500 Farm expenses 2,000 Incidental college expenses 500 Interest on capital at 5 p. c 1 ,.350 $14,350 — an amount which is still ))robably too great for the public funds to su})ply. Jiestriction of tho technical work to agriculture and mining would restrict this amount by about 83,000. The balance. $11,350, may be regarded as within the bounds of ])ossil)le expendi- ture ; so that, by \itilising the scientific chairs of Dalhousie College, it would be possible for the Province to establish efficient Schools of Agriculture and Mining, and to ])rovide facilities for the thorough education of High School teachers in subjects bearing on technology. If so much would be gained by \itilising the scientific chairs of Dalhousie College, there woidd be much greater advantage in utilising the same chairs iu all our colleges. At present we have r three scientific cliairs in Halifax, two at Windsor, two at WoltVille, and two at Sackville, all I believe endowed. The occupants of these chairs can do nothing towards tlie formation of an eflicient Technical School, because of the impossibility of co-operation and division of labour. Put them all in one place, that they may divide up the work between them, and a great deal may be done. Let us sup()ose these four colleges to adopt the policy of consolidation ; and King's, Acadia, and Mt. Allison to contribute to the central college four chairs. Our Technical College would in that case require only three others. As, liowevei-, the endowments of the chairs in the denom- inational colleges yield, I believe, only about -SI, 000 a year, it might be necessary to bring their salaries up to the average. The initial outlay of capital would be the same as if the technical schools were founded in connection with Dalhousie ; unless indeed the lands which the Province granted in the {)ast to King's College should furnish a farm, in which case it could be less. The annual expenditure for our Technical College would then be as follows : — Three professors' salaries $4, 500 Partial pnj'raeut of four professors' salaries 2,000 Farm expenses 2, 000 Incidental college expenses 500 Interest 1 ,350 $10,350 Thus, if the colleges .should adopt the policy of consolidation, and if the Technical College should be established in connection with the united college, all the departments of technical educ:ition wliich we have found to be necessary in the present state of the Piovince, could be equii)])ed in sulhcient strength for less than half the annual expenditure which would be necessary, if the Government founded an iude[)endent School of Technology. §10,300 a year is a sum which I think i may as.sume the Province able to \niy for so important an object. It is $4,850 le.ss than was paid for the Higher Education between 1870 and 1881, and only $l,!)r)0 more than the House of Assembly agreed last session to distribute annu- ally among the colleges. §8,400 would have been a large amount to pay for the small educational benefit which that sum would have produced when distributed among six colleges; but §10, 350 would be a small amount to pay for the immense Vjenetit which a T(>chuical College would confer upon the Province. Although, therefore, the Legislature was unwilling to vote the former, they might readily be expected to vote the latter. Con.se(j[uently the question, "Are we to have all these Technical Schools 1" — depends upon a prior (piestion, "Are we to have Consolidation V Consolidation would render jwssible not only the imnu^diate foundation of these schools, but also their future development into higher stages of efficiency. Even if the Legislature could found a 38 i School of Technology, the strengthening of the departments it might start with, and the addition of new departments which the growth of the country might render necessary, would be matters of very great difficulty, if the Province at the same time had to keep six Arts Colleges up to the times. The progress of oixr people in appreciation of sound and thorough education may be ho{)ed to be such as to render it necessary in a short time for all our Arts Col- leges to make great additions to their equipment. To equip one college in such a manner as to place our educational facilities on a level with those of Ontario, Quebec, and the United States, would necessitate a large expenditure. When the Province has done that six times over, little available capital will be left to develop our Technical School. If, however, we sho;ild undertake the possible task of maintaining only one college, we could well afford at the same time to make to the strength of our technical schools such additions as the growth of the Province would render advisable. We have seen that consolidation of our colleges would render possible the immediate establishment of a complete school of tech- nology, if King's, Acadia, and Mount Allison between them could hand over to the united college an endowment to tho extent of $4,000 a year. It may be, as some say, that in the event of con- solidation they would require all their funds for founding theological colleges and building Halls of Residence in the University town. If that be so, it would at least be possible for the Legislature to found at once, by utilising the endowments of Dalhousie College, schools of agriculture and mining ; and consolidation, which in that case woidd refer to endowments which are to be raised rather than to those which exist, would by concentrating the interest of the whole community on the united college, very soon enable us to add the schools which at present we would have to omit. The moral is plain. We ought certainly to consolidate our Universities, unless it can be shewn that consolidation would bring with it evils so great as to outweigh the benefits which I have indicated. But that cannot be shewn. On the contrary it has been clearly demonstrated that the efficiency of our higher education in all its departments, whether literary, philosophical, scientific, or theological, would be greatly increased by consolidation, and that the religious training which some of our colleges endeavour to secure, by providing their students with Halls of Residence, subjecting them to collegiate discipline, and bringing them into daily contact with men of acknowledged piety, could be secured as truly and in as large measure in connection with a large university as in connection with a small one. In view of these conclusions, which, I think, may be considered firmly established, the opponents of consolidation take upon themselves a serious responsibility. They follow a course which the world's experience shows is likely to be disastrous for the Province, for the sake of maintaining a number of colleges for It 39 ki- lt wliich the most they seem to be able to say is that they exist, that they have done good work, and that their su})porters are attached to them. This attachment we all both understand and share. It has been born of sacrifices made in the cause of education and religious equality. ]}ut since in the matter of our educational policy, reason and sentiment point in opposite directions, it belioves us to consider carefully, whether we are to allow ourselves to be carried away by feeling on a course which leads to stagnation, or guided by intelligence towards progress and prosperity. But the mental inertia of conservative instinct is hard to over- come, sectarian })rejudice is strong, and the wrongs which denomina- tion has done to denomination in our j)ast history are not yet altogether forgotten. Time may therefore be necessary to convince the people of the Province both that better educational means than we now possess are a neces.sary condition of progress either in culture or in wealth, and that our churches may, and m\ist, beat their spears into pruning-hooks and unite their educational forces with those of the State, in order to obtain them. That time may not be long. While, however, public opinion on this matter is gradually being matured we dare not remain inactive. The Up|>er Provinces, already far ahead of us, ai-e advancing rapidly. Even the other Maritime Provinces have nmde a start. If we stand still, we shall soon find ourselves hopelessly behind. If, then, we cannot have University Consolidation now, we ought at any rate to take the next best coiu'se, and make temporary provision for the more important technical departments by utilising the scientific chairs in the Provin- cial colleges. We have seen that such provision would not involve any too heavy drain upon the Provincial exchequer. It may seem insulting to the intelligence of Nova Scotia to assume the possibility of opi)osition to so reasonable a scheme. But there can be little doubt that even this jn-oposal would not meet with universal favor. It may be hoped that the o})j)ositiou would be weak. But should it be sutHciently strong to clo.se even this door of hope, the Legislature can at least make provision for the estab- lishment of a modest agricultural school, cither independently of all other educational institutions or in connection with the Normal School. And we might hope that the founding of such a .school would be but the first step in a course of development which before a very long time would provide for the young men of Nova Scotia, what the young men of other countries now enjoy, viz., the means of obtaining thorough education in those departments of knowledge, which would enable them to utilise the natural resources of their native land.