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1W
SECOND REPORT
01-‘ THE
ROYAL COMMISSIONERS
ON
TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION.
Vol. I.

-.___ ~ __... ‘”~~_w_w—4——W*—.~ .___._.__
Brumtth to but!) Quaint at iBarIiammt hp Giummanb of im- ﬁamtp.

_.H~_


L O N D O N :
PRINTED BY EYRE AND SPOTTISWOODE.

To be purchased, either directly or through any Bookseller, from any of the following
Agents, viz.,
Messrs. HANSARD and SON, 13, Great Queen Street, W.C., and 32, Abingdon Street,
Westminster;
Messrs. Erma and Srorrxswoona, East Harding Street, Fleet Street, and
Sale Oﬂlce, House of Lords;
Messrs. ADAM and Gamma BLACK, of Edinburgh;
Messrs. Amxmmm T50! and 00., or Messrs. Honors, FIGGIS, and (30., of Dublin.
T.

ﬁnger? "
SECOND REPORT
OF THE
fell, Emil, ROYAL COMMISSIONERS
ON
TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION.
VOL. I.

iﬁrzﬂeuteh tu Imﬂ) 19mm; uf ﬁarliamznt 119 @Jnmmauh at 39,“ ﬁlaizstg.


LONDON: '
PRINTED BY EYRE AND SPOTTISWOODE.

To be purchased, either directly or through any Bookseller, from any of the following Agents, viz.,-
Messrs. HANSARD 8c SON, 13, Great Queen Street, W.C., and 32, Abingdon Street, Westminster;
Messrs. Erma 8c Srorrrswoonn, East Harding Street, Fleet Street, and Sale Ofﬁce, House of Lords;
Messrs. ADAM 8c Cnmms BLACK, of Edinburgh ;
Messrs. ALEXANDER THOM & 00., or Messrs. Honons, Freers, 8: 00., of Dublin.

1884.
38! 2d.
Kl'l’) '37 )y;%;/
CONTENTS.

COMMISSION To mourns INTO TECHNICAL INsTnUCTIoN - -
INTRODUCTION - - - - - . . ..
Countries visited on the Continent
in the United Kingdom - - ~ -
,9 ”

Agricultural education, by Mr. Jenkins (see Vol. II.) . -
America and Canada, by Mr. Mather (see Vol. II.) - - -
Report and Appendix include conversations with, and evidence of
experts - - - - - . - -
Divisions of the Report - - - - - -
PART I.
TECHNICAL EDUCATION ON THE GONTINENT.
Introductory Account of Primary and Secondary Schools in—
1. France - - - - .. - . -
:2. Switzerland—Zurich Town and Canton - - -
3. Germany - - - . - - . _
4'. Austria - - . - - . ..
5. Belgium - - . . . . .. -
6. Holland - - - - . . .
‘7. Italy - - - . - - . .
SPECIAL TRADE AND TECHNICAL SCHOOLS ABROAD - - -
Approximate divisions of the subject - - i -
I.-—Evening schools available for artizans - - -
1. Evening instruction in France - - - -
The Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers - -
Public free lectures in France - - - -
Evening instruction in the provinces - - -
Evening classes under Industrial Society of Rheims -
Evening classes in Lyons - ~ - -
Evening commercial instruction in Paris - - -
Evening art classes in France - - - -
Ecole Nationale des Arts Decoratifs, Paris - -
Municipal Art School, Paris - - - -
,, ,, classes ,, - - - ~
Ecole des Beaux Arts of Lyons - - -
v ,, ,, Toulouse - - . -
PAGE
18
19
21
23
24
26
27
28
3,
29
)S
31
,3
32
33
34
35
36
5!
d ,, Nationale d’Art decoratif of Limoges - -
:2. Evening instruction in Switzerland - - — -
3- n ~ ,, Germany - - - -
Berlin Handwerker Verein - - - - .
Association for the Diffusion of Popular Education .
Berlin Handwerker Schule - - - - -
Ri 1726. Wt. 16150.
n
e)
39
40
411
42
as
~#
4 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION;
4. Evening instruction in Austria - - - -
The Turners’ School, Vienna - . . .
Each-Schule for jewellers and goldsmiths, Vienna s -
5. Evening class instruction in Belgium - - -
Art School at Molenbeek, Brussels - - -
a, of St. Josse ,, - - i . -
,, ,, Ixelles ,, - . .
6. Evening instruction in Holland ~ - - -
7' n ,, - . _ _
General review of Continental evening schools for artizans -
II.--Artizans’ general technical schools and apprenticeship schools
1. Apprenticeship schools in France - - - -
School of the Rue Tournefort, Paris - . .
,, ,, Boulevard de la Villette, Paris - -
Havre Apprenticeship School - - . .
Watchmakers’ School, Paris - - - - .
2. Apprenticeship schools in Switzerland - - .
3- a! ,, Germany - . . -
Royal Each Schule of Iserlohn - - - .
Trade school at Remscheid - - - . .
Pottery school at Hiihr-Grenzhausen - - .
Gewerbliche Fach Schule of Cologne - . .
Schools for teaching industries in the Black Forest -
Clock-making school at Furtwangen - - -
Bavarian industrial schools - - .. .
Thuringian home industries - - - - -
4!. Apprenticeship schools in Austria - - . »--
Joiners’ School, Vienna - - - . -
School for wood working, Riva, Tyrol - . -
5. Apprenticeship and artizan schools in Belgium - .
Ecole industrielle of Brussels . - - - .
,, ,, ,, Antwerp - - . .
,, ,, ,, Ghent - - - .
,, , , ,, Liége - - . .
Ateliers d’apprentissage of Flanders - . .
6. Apprenticeship schools in Holland - - - _
Ambachts School, Amsterdam - - . .
,, ,, Rotterdam - - - .
7. Apprenticeship schools in Italy - - - .
Conversations on artizans’ schools - .. . _
III.--Intermediate technical schools for foremen and technical
managers - - - - - .. .
Division into (1) general technical schools, (2) weaving schools,
and (3) industrial art schools - - . - -
(1.) General technical schools further subdivided into-_-A. Higher
elementary technical schools, B. Secondary technical schools,
and C. Building, engineering, and mining schools - -
more
453
9,
45
416
47'
48
,9
49
,7
50
9,
51
52
54
,9
55
3,
56
57
58
59
62
63
64
65
66
69
'70
CONTENTS. ‘
\11
A. Higher elementary technical schools - - - -
(ca) Higher elementary technical schools in France - -
Martiniere School at Lyons - - - . .
n ,, for girls - . . , _
Ecole Professionnelle Municipale of Rheims - -
,, Municipale of Rouen - - ~ -
,, Superienre du commerce et de l’industrie, Rouen -
,, Primaire superieure, Amiens - - -
,, Professionnelle, Mulhouse - - - -
(b.) Higher elementary technical schools in Germany - -
(0') a a : a n , , Austria - -
General review of continental higher elementary technical schools
B. Secondary technical schools - - - - .
(m) France, Ecole Centrale of L yons_ - - - -
,, Institut Industrial (111 N 0rd, Lille - - .
(b.) Switzerland, Technicum of Winterthnr - - - . .
(0.) Germany, Higher Trade Institute of Chemnitz, Saxon -
Higher Technical School - - - - .
Royal School for Foremen - - - .
Royal Building School - - - - .
Royal Drawing School - - . .
Industrie Schule, Munich - - - .
a: ,, Nuremberg - . _ _
((1) Italy, Technical Institute of Milan - - .
a a a a a 5 Como ’ ' - "
,, ,, ,, Udine - - -
General Review of secondary technical schools - - -
C. Building, engineering, and mining schools - . ..
Build/ling Trades Schools - - .. . -
((1.) Germany, Building Trade School at Stuttgart - -
M n ,, ,, Dresden - - .
(12.) Austria, Building Trade School, Vienna - - .
Mechanical Engineering Schools - - - .
(on) France, Ecole des Arts et Métiers, Chalons - ..
(72.) Austria, Royal Mechanical School of Komotau - .
(0.) Holland, Training School for Marine Engineers, Amsterdam
Secondary schools for mining and metallurgy - ' - .
((0.) France, Ecole des Mines, St. Etienne - . -
,, ,, ,, Maitres Mineurs, Douai - . .
(b.) Prussia, Bergschule, Bochum - - . .
Rheinisch Westfalische IIiittenschule, Bochum - -
(2.) Weaving schools - - - - - - . .
(en) France, Ecole commercials, Lyons - - - .
,, Popular lectures on weaving, Lyons - .
,, Weaving School, St. Etienne - - .
(b) Belgium,~ Industrial School, Ghent - - . .
,, Professional School, Verviers - l .
PAGE
70
5,
74
75
'79
80
81
82
83
85
86
89
90
91
92
93
94
97
98
99
100
102
103
104
105
107
111
112
114
,5
115
117
119
122
123
124
125
126
6 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION :
((3) Switzerland, Weaving School, Zurich - - -
(d) Germany, School for spinning and weaving, Mulhouse
,, Weaving and dyeing school, Grefeld -
,, Higher weaving school, Ohemnitz - s
,, School for hand loom weavers, Ohemnitz -
(e) Austria, school for textiles and dyeing, Vienna -
(f) Italy, school of the Industrial Society, Milan ~
Technical Institute, Como - - -
Professional school, Biella - ' -
General Review of Continental Weaving Schools - -
(3.) Industrial Art Schools (Kwcstgewerbeschulen) - -
Industrial Art School, Munich - - -
,, ,, Nuremberg - ¢ -
,, ,, Dresden - - -
,, ,, Berlin - - -
,, ,, Vienna - - -
General Review of Continental Industrial Art Schools -
IV.-—Women’s trade and professional schools - -
(0,.) France, Municipal Housekeeping School, Paris -
Schools for the professional instruction of women
Ecole commerciale pour les jeunes ﬁlles, Paris -
,, Professionnelle des jeunes ﬁlles, Rouen -
(12.) Germany, Women’s work school, Reutlingen -
,, ,, Munich - -
(0.) Austria, School for Art Embroidery, Vienna -
((1.) Belgium, Professional School for Girls, Brussels -
(9,) Holland, Girls’ Industrial School, Amsterdam -
(f) Italy, Female Professional School, Milan - -
General review of Continental Industrial Art Schools
V.--Higher technical instruction for employers, managers, &0.
Ecole Oentrale des Arts et Manufactures, Paris -
,, Polytechnique, Paris ~ - . -
,, des Mines, Paris - - . _
,, des Ponts et Ghaussées - . .
Other higher schools of France - - -
Polytechnic schools or technical universities of Germany and
Switzerland - .
Polytechnic School, Zurich - . .
Technical High School, Munich - - .
u ,, Vienna - - .
Polytechnic School, Stuttgart . - .
,, ,, Dresden - - .
,, Hanover - - - .-
,, ,, Carlsruhe - . .
,, ,, Aachen - - -
Technical High School, Berlin - . . .
Polytechnic School, Delft, Holland . . .
3’
PAGE
126
127
133
1411
1414;
14:5
154:
155
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
166
167
168
169
170
171
v’:
x‘ f ‘ " i ' CONTENTS.
Imperial Technical School, Moscow . - - -
Mining School of Freiberg, Saxony ' - - - -
General remarks on Polytechnic Schools - * - - -
German Gymnasia and Universities - - - -
Bernonllianum, Basle, Switzerland - - - -
Ecole Normale Supérieure de Travail Manuel - - -
Inﬂuence upon industry of institutions for scientiﬁc research :
Ecole Pratique des Hautes'Etudes - - - - 4-
Inﬁuence of technical instruction on certain branches of chemical
‘industry:

Chemical colour industry of Germany and Switzerland - -
Manufacture” of beetroot sugar - - - - -
Alkali manufacture - - . . . .
ART SCIIooLs, GALLERIES, AND Museums ~ - - -
French provincial museums - - - -
Limoges and Nantes art schools andumuseums ~ -
Germanjndustrial museums - . . .
Museums of Berlin, Vienna, Dresden, Nuremberg, and
Zurich - - - - - .
GermannGewerbe Hallen - - . . .
Loan collections in connection with South Kensington -
Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, and Edinburgh
' museums - - - - .
Assistance to provincial museums - - - -
Conversations on" artistic and technical instruction,-
A Bavaria - . . .
,, ,, with Professor Graﬁ‘, Dresden -
" ,," I ,, ,, Ewald, Berlin -
,, ,, with M. Siissmann Heilbron,
» Berlin - - .
,,. ,, with Professors Belf, Herdtle,
a _ Storck, Klotz, &c., Vienna -
Opinions respecting art teaching in Belgium . . .
PART II.
,VIsITs To INDUSTRIAL EsTABLIsnMDNTs ON THE CONTINENT.
FRANCE:
Cotton spinning and weaving - - - -
Wool industry - - - - .
Conditioning house, Roubaix 1 - - -
Wool combing establishment of Messrs. I. Holden and Sons -
Silk industry, Lyons - - - - .
Engineering works of Messrs. Schneider 8: Co., Le Creuzot -
SWITZERLAND:
Cotton spinning, Herr Kunz’s works
Cotton factories at Nieder Toess - . .
PAGE
204
206
207
214
215
216
219
223'
227
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
240
242
243
244
245
249
252
257
259
261
266
268
276
8
ROYAL COMMISSION .ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
.n-
Calico-printing, Zurich -
Silk weaving, Basle -
Silk dyeing, Zurich -
Engineering and machine-making _
Machine and turbine making works of Messrs. Rieter & Co.,
Winterthur - -
Earthenware factory, Zurich
Paper mills on the Sihl -
Town water wheels of Zurich
Education of artizans in Switzerland
GERMANY:
Cotton spinning and weaving, Rhine Provinces
Calico-printing, Alsace
Hosiery and glove trades, Saxony
WVooll‘industry, Rhine Provinces and Westphalia
Angola, woollen, and shoddy yarns
Cloth manufacture -
Worsted manufacturing; Elberfeld
Braid factory, Barmen -
Worsted spinning, &c., Alsace
Silk industry, Crefeld -
Textile manufactures, Chemnitz
Designing for textile industries and calico-printing
Technical education amongst the Alsace printers
Engineering and machine making,
,3 9!
Q
Alsace
Prussia
J
Electrical engineering works of Messrs. Siemens and Halske,
Berlin - -
Engineering and mechanical industries, Bavaria -
Messrs. Hartmann’s works, Saxony
Iron industries of Westphalia
Workpeople’s societies and factory regulations
Industrial society of Mulhouse -
Workmen’s city - -
Museum of textiles - -
BELGIUM:
Cotton spinning and weaving
Woollen ,, ,,
Worsted ,, ,,
ITALY :
Société Cockerill, Seraing
Vieille Montague Zinc Works -
Engineering works of Van der Kerchove,
Verviers
Loth -
.
Woollen spinning and weaving, Biella
Silk factories, Northern Italy
Silk dyeing establishment, Como
Machine making, Biella’
Ghent
PAGE
2'77
279
280
281
286
288
i!
289
294
296
300
305
306
308
310
311
312
316
318
324!
326
327
329
332
33¢
339
343
347
349
352
353
354
358
365
370
377
380
383
385
391
3 92
* CONTENTS. 9
PART III.
Visrrs ro vanrous INSTITUTIONS m run UNITED KINGDOM.
LONDON: “ ' PAGE
Science teaching under the School Board - ~ - 393
University College - ~ - - - - 395
King’s College - - - - - - 396
Normal School of Science and Royal School of Mines - 397
Museum of Practical Geology - - - 398
National Art Training School - - - - 399
Science and Art Department Examinations - - 400'
City and Guilds of London Institute - - - 401
Grants to Provincial Technical Institutions - - ,,
Classes and Examinations in Technology - - - 402
Central Institution - - - s - 404
Finsbury Technical College - s ' - - - 405
Technical Art School, Kennington Park Road - - 409
Polytechnic Young Men’s Christian Institute - _ 411
Royal Indian Engineering College, Cooper’s Hill - - 413
Royal Naval College, Greenwich - - - - 415
Crystal Palace School of Practical Engineering ' - 417
Oxronn: ’ “
University Museum - - - - - 418
Chemical Laboratories - - - - - 419
Art Galleries and School of Art - o - - ,,
CAMBRIDGE:
Cavendish Laboratory - - - - - - 420
Biological Department - - - - - 421
Chemical ,, - - . - . ”
Geological Museum ~ - - - - ,,
Mechanical Workshops of Professor Stuart - - - 422
Fitzwilliam Museum - - - - - 423
Scientiﬁc Instrument Company - - - - ,,
MANCHESTER:
Elementary instruction under School Board - - - 424
Central Board Schools - - - - 425
Evening classes in connection with School Board - - 427
Handicraft work ,, , ,, ,, - ‘- 428
Messrs. Mather & Platt’s Workshop School ‘ - - 429
Manchester and Salford Building Trade’s Institute - - 430
Technical School ~ - - - - 432
Grammar School - - - - . . 4,34,
Owens College, Victoria University - . - 435
Engineering Department - - - - - 4,38
Geology and Mining - ~ - - - . 4.4.0
Evening Class on Application of Electricity - - - 441
Chemical Laboratories - - - - - ,,
Public Art Gallery - _ - . .. 443
School of Art - - - . - 444
‘9],,
‘ in,
10 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
LIVERPOOL:
School Board Science Teaching ~ - - -
Evening Science Classes ~ - . .
School of Science - - . .. .
Institute - - . . . .
School of Art - - . .. .
University College - . .. . .
OLDHAM School of Science and Art - - - -
Bmow m Funnnss Schools, &c. - - . .
BIRMINGHAM:
Science teaching under School Board - - -
King Edward’s Grammar School - - . .
Grammar School, Five Ways - - . .
Edgbaston High School for Girls - - .
Mason College - - - - , . .
Birmingham and Midland Institute - - - -
Society of Arts and School of Art - - -
LEEDS. The Yorkshire College - - . ' .
SHEFFIELD Central Board School - . -
Description of Firth College School of Art, 800., and Sheffield
Evidence in Appendix - - - . . ..
Baanronn:
Technical College - - - . . ..
,, ,, Day School - . . _
KEIGHLEY:
Board School 6 - - - - . .
Mechanics’ Institute and School of Science and Art .
SALTAIRE: ,
Model Village - - - . .
Club and Institute - - . . .
Board Schoolso - - ~ . . g
NOTTINGHAM : '
‘ People’s College — ~ - . - . _
University College - - - .. .
School of Art - - - . -
Art Museum - - - .. .. -
BRISTOL:
Trade and ‘Mining School - - - - .
University College - - - - . .
BEDFOBD Grammar School and Modern School - - - -
KENDAL Schools, 850. - - . . ,
Gmseow: '
Board Schools - ~» - - .. . _
Evening classes under School Board - . -
High School ,, ,, . .. -
School of Art and Haldane Academy - - -
Science and Art classes - - - .. ..
Allan Glen’s Institution ~ - . - ..
College of Science and Art - - .. ..
PAGE
444
447
3!
450
451
455
457
458
459
460
463
464
465
467
468
469
470
471
4'73
474
4'75
7,
476
4'78
479
480
481
482
484
3,
486
487
488
489
CONTENTS. 11

PAGE
Anderson’s College - - ~ - - - 489
Weaving School - , - - - - - 490
' University - - - - - - - 491
Conversations with manufacturers - - - 492
EDINBURGH:
University - - - - - - - 493
Watt Institute and School of Art - - - - ,,
Science and Art Museum - - ~ - ,,
IRELAND:
“ Replies received to circulars and given in Appendix - 494
Evidence of witnesses in Appendix - - - 495
Dublin, decline of cabinet making - - - - ,,
Cork Industrial Exhibition - - - - 496
Belfast, linen industries - - - - - ,,
i ,, educational facilities - - - - ,,
,, ﬂax cultivation - - ~ - - 497
,, ,Messrs. Marcus Ward’s Works - - - ,,
,, “School of Art and applied design - - - 498
,, shipbuilding and engineering industry - - ,,
Domestic industries - - - - - ,,
Fishing net making - - - - ,,
Elementary education - - - - 499
Number of children under instruction - - - ,,
Industrial education under National Board - - 500
Education carried on by various Religious Orders - _ 501
Reformatory and Industrial Schools - - - ,,
Cost of management of ditto - - - - 502
Need of night classes - - - - - 503
Intermediate Bgard of Education - - . ,,
Higher education - - - - ~ ,,
h PART IV.
CoNoLUsIoNs.
Progress of manufactures abroad - - - - - 505
Our own relative position - - - — - 506
Adoption of English models on the continent - - - 507
Art manufactures at home and abroad - s - - ,,
Origin of modern industrial system - - . - ,,
,, “ Technical schools - — - - - ,,
Higher technical instruction - - - - - - 508
Technical schools for foremen abroad - - ~ - ,,
French schools - - - - - ' 509
Weaving schools - ~ .. . - . a’
12
ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Technical instruction for workmen
Instruction in drawing for workmen
applied art ,,
Sunday lectures and classes abroad
3’
Mr. Mather’s conclusion as to the United States
Need of technical instruction acknowledged in England
Inﬂuence of schools on industries
Continental
cation - - -
-
Funds for technical instruction, how to be supplied »
Technical instruction for proprietors and managers at home
Existing colleges suffer from want of funds
Technical instruction for our foremen and workmen
Higher elementary schools required
Training of science and technical teachers
Art schools for artizans -
D
O
practices not to be adopted in England without modiﬁ-
Drawing should be made compulsory in elementary schools -
Grants for applied art work -
Value of local industrial art museums
Grants of objects to provincial museums
School Boards should establish Art and Science classes
Technical instruction by “ tradesmen ” teachers
Workshop instruction in elementary schools
Grants for manual work ,,
Attendance at elementary schools
3’
Value of existing colleges and their teaching
Weaving
9 9
Establishment of technical workshops
Schools and mechanical laboratories
Science and Art instruction in training colleges
Day training colleges - -
City and Guilds of London Institute
Central Institution and Finsbury College
South London Metropolitan Art School
Technological classes - -.
Funds of the institute - -
IRELAND ;
Home industries - -
Royal College of Science, Dublin
b
.
Grants to teachers and appointment of travelling teachers -
Instruction in the use of tools in Irish schools -
Compulsory attendance in Irish primary schools
AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION:
Mr. Jenkins’ opinion respecting inﬂuence of schools on agri.
culture
Higher agricultural schools
Secondary agricultural schools
.I'
CONTENTS.

Agricultural classes under Science and Art Department -
Instruction in agriculture in rural elementary schools -
Agricultural education in Ireland - - - -
Glasnevin, Munster Dairy School, training of teachers -
Irish workhouse schools - - - -
Flax culture - - - . . .
REcoMMENEATIons :
Public elementary schools - - - -
Classes under Science and Art Department - -
Training colleges for elementary teachers - -
Secondary and technical instruction - - -
Public libraries and museums - - . .
Special recommendations in regard to Ireland - -
General recommendations and suggestions - -
APPENDIX I.
REPORT on Schools for TEAcEuIe DOMESTIC TRADES in Scorn GERMANY
and the AUSTRIAN PROVINCES.
Visit of the Commissioners to thevBlack Forest - - -
Clockmaking, straw plaiting, wood carving, tobacco manu-
facture, cardboard-box making, weaving, and pottery making.
Visit to the Nuremberg Exhibition - - - -
Bavarian weaving schools, wood carving schools, basket
making schools, pottery school, and violin making school.
Visit to Thuringia - - - - . - .
Straw plaiting, toy manufacture, slate pencil making, glass
blowing and pottery works.
Austrian schools a visit to Carinthia and the Austrian Ty rol -
Joiners work and wood carving school, Villach.
Schools at Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Wood working and inlaying school at Riva.
.. .. ., .. Arco.
Factory for olive wood at Arco.
Gewerbe school at Innsbruck.
,, ,, Salzburg.
Time table of Gewerbe school at Innsbruck - -
541.
546
548
549
556
N eta—Vol. I. contains the general report, Vol. II. the reports of Messrs.
Jenkins and Mather, and Vols. 111., IV., and V. the Evidence and the
remaining Appendices.
COMMISSION TO INQUIRE INTO TECHNICAL
INSTRUCTION.

VICTORIA R.
VICTORIA, by the Grace of 1 God of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, Queen, Defender of the Faith; To Our Trusty
and Well-beloved Bernhard Samuelson, Esquire, Fellow of the
Royal Society; Henry Enﬁeld Roscoe, Esquire, Doctor of Laws,
Fellow of the Royal Society ; Philip Magnus, Esquire, Bachelor of
Arts, Bachelor of Science; John Slagg, Esquire; Swire Smith,
Esquire; and William Woodall, Esquire, Greeting !
WHEREAS We have deemed it expedient that a Commission should
forthwith issue to inquire into the Instruction of the Industrial Classes
of certain Foreign Countries in technical and other subjects, for the
purpose of comparison with that of the corresponding classes in this
Country; and into the inﬂuence of such Instruction on manufacturing
and other Industries at home and abroad.
Now KNOW YE, that We, reposing great Trust and Conﬁdence in your
knowledge and ability, have authorised and appointed, and do by these
Presents authorise and appoint you, the said Bernhard Samuelson,
Henry Enﬁeld Roscoe, Philip Magnus, John Slagg, Swire Smith, and
William Woodall, to be Our Commissioners for the purposes aforesaid.
And for the better effecting the purposes of this Our Commission, We
do by these Presents give and grant unto you, or any three or more of
you, in case you shall think ﬁt so to do, full power and authority to call
before you such persons as you shall judge likely to afford you any
information on the subject of this Our Commission.
And We do by these Presents will and Ordain that this Our Cpmmis-
sion shall continue in full force and virtue, and that you, Our said
Commissioners, or any three or more of you, may from time to time
proceed in the execution thereof, and of every matter and thing therein
contained, although the same be not continued from time to time by
adjournment.
And We further Ordain that you, or any three or more of you, may
have liberty to report your proceedings under this Our Commission, from
time to time if you shall judge it expedient so to do.
And Our further Will and Pleasure is that you do, with as little delay
as possible, report to Us under your hands and seals, or under the hands
and seals of any three or more of you, your opinion upon the several
matters herein submitted for your consideration.
And for your assistance in the execution of these Presents We have
made choice of Our Trusty and Well-beloved Gilbert Redgrave, Esquire,
to be Secretary to this Our Commission.
Given at Our Court at Saint J ames’s, the Twenty-ﬁfth day of
August, One thousand eight hundred and eighty-one, in the
forty-ﬁfth year of Our reign.
By Her Maj esty’s Command,
(Signed) W. V. HARCOURT.

ROYAL COMMISSION
ON
* TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION.

SECOND REPORT.
MAY IT PLEASE YOUR MAJESTY,
WE, your Commissioners, in the course of our inquiry
into the “ Instruction of the industrial classes in technical and
other subjects,” have visited France, Switzerland, Germany,
Austria, Belgium, Holland, and Italy, and have examined the
schools and educational institutions in Paris, Rheims, Chalons,
Amiens, Rouen, Lyons, St. Etienne, Nismes, Toulouse, Limoges,
Lille, Roubaix, Croix, Douai, Basle, Winterthur, Zurich, Mul-
house, Guebwiller, Strassburg, Heidelberg, Reutlingen, Stuttgart,
Munich, Vienna, Nuremberg, Chemnitz, Freiberg, Dresden,
Meissen, Berlin, Diisseldorf, Elberfeld, Gladbach, Remscheid,
Barmen, Crefeld, Bochum, Iserlohn, Cologne, Bonn, Hiihr Cob-
lentz, Aachen, Sarreguemines, Hanover, Milan, Como, Biella,
Turin, Udine, Venice, Brussels, Liege, Maestricht, Verviers,
Louvain, Antwerp, Ghent, Rotterdam, The Hague, Delft, and
Amsterdam. We also appointed a committee of our members
to visit the Black Forest, Thiiringen, and the Tyrol, to inquire
into the teaching of home industries.
In Great Britain we visited some of the educational establish-
ments of London, Oxford, Cambridge, Manchester, Liverpool,
Oldham, Barrow, Birmingham, Leeds, Sheﬁield, Bradford,
Keighley, Saltaire, Macclesﬁeld, Burslem, Nottingham, Bristol,
Bedford, Kendal, Edinburgh, and Glasgow. We also visited
Ireland and received evidence on the state of elementary
education in that country, and on the existing facilities for
technical instruction, especially with reference to agriculture,
and we inspected educational establishments in Dublin, Belfast,
Cork, and other towns.
Foreign
countries
visited.
Visit to Black
Forest, 8:0.
Plac es visited
in England,
Scotland, and
Ireland.
16 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Yisits to Both during our visits to the Continent and in our own
lg‘tigllffi‘gagoms country, we availed ourselves of such opportunities as presented
“ ‘ ' 'themselves of inspecting industrial works and of conversing
with the leading manufacturers respecting the educational
facilities afforded to them and to their workpeople, and of
inquiring into the inﬂuence of education upon the development
of manufactures.
Special Report In our inquiry into agricultural education, we secured
0“ Technmal the services of Mr. H. M. Jenkins, the Secretary of the
Instruction . . . .
as affecting Royal Agricultural Society of England, as a sub-commissioner,
Aglgullililreﬁ and instructed him to furnish us with a report on the teaching
321mg " ' of agriculture in France, Germany, Denmark, Holland, and
the United Kingdom.
$633113?“ Information of great value on the condition of general and
on the United
States of technical education, and on the industries of the United States,
America. also on primary education in Canada, has been kindly furnished
to us in a report by Mr. William Mather, Mechanical Engineer
of Salford, who visited those countries for the purpose of
making the inquiry. Your Commissioners also obtained informa-
tion on the same subject from several American gentlemen of
eminence during their visits to Europe.
Evidence Besides the conversations already mentioned, we also took
taken‘ more formal evidence in this country and on the Continent from
persons qualiﬁed to give us information on the subject of
primary, technical, scientiﬁc, and artistic education, and on
manufactures and commerce as affected by education.
This evidence is supplemented by written statements fur-
nished by various Government oﬂicers, by organizations of
working men, and by other persons whose opinions we considered
to be of value.
inquiry in- Inasmuch as the general education of the various countries
eludes Schools has important bearings upon technical instruction, and also
of all classes directly upon industry, it became necessary for us to take it into
account. Accordingly in the First Part of our general Report
First Part contained in this volume we give, by way of introduction to its
Introduction main subject (the account of foreign technical schoolsl, a brief out-
on general , _ o . ,
education llne of the general education in each country, available for work-
abroad- people, foremen and proprietors and managers of industrial works.
Foreign tech- This part of the Report next proceeds to give an account of visits
meal schools‘ paid to special trade and technical schools on the Continent, which
have for their object the training of the various classes engaged in
Similar Schools industrial pursuits. With a view of comparing similar schools in
kePt under. the different countries we have, as far as possible, arranged institutions
same heading. . . . . ~ . . .
° of the same type, and having similar objects, in distinct
groups :--Thus, general technical schools, industrial-art schools,
weaving schools, and Polytechnic Schools, are dealt with in
separate groups. This part of the Report also contains a brief
account of some typical industrial museums.
ﬁfl‘lngilt’grt The Second Part of our Report contains notices of visits to
( r , . .
important manufacturing establishments abroad, and treats of
REPORT. ‘ 17
. . . manufacturing
the inﬂuence which technical schools have exerted upon the establishments.
industries which they are designed to promote. It includes
accounts of industrial societies established by manufacturers and
others on the continent for the development of their industries,
for the improvement of the workpeople by means of education,
and for various social objects.
In the two foregoing portions of the Report will also be found glﬁligtgiff'
the opinions given to us on various points connected with Forggm
technical instruction by experienced persons. authorities.
The Third Part contains descriptions of our visits to various Third part
educational and other establishments in the United Kingdom, rsfe'is ‘3 will‘
and, more especially, information on technical instruction at ﬁcgnglafiwn
home.
The Fourth and last Part contains the Conclusions at which we have arrived on the subject referred to us by Your Majesty, (,lusions and
and the Recommendations with respect thereto, which we feel recommenda-
justiﬁed in making. “ons'
Our General Report is contained in Volume I. Volume II. gt‘flfl‘gdﬁg‘éjifn
contains the Report of Mr. Jenkins on Agricultural Education, volumes.
and Mr. Mather’s account of his visit to America. A valuable
Report by Mr. Thos. Wardle on the Silk Industry, and Prof.
Sullivan’s Scheme of Technical Education for Ireland, together
with the Evidence and the various Appendices, with the exception
of the Report of our visit to the Black Forest, the Tyrol, and
Thiiringen (which we have placed in Vol. I.) will be found in
Volumes III., IV. and V. The Appendices consist of written
statements from various parties relating to our Inquiry, of pro-
grammes of schools, General Statistics, 850.

Rl 1726. B
18 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION 2
PART 1.
General scheme
of education in
each country.
‘ Primary educa-
tion in France.
Secondary
schools.
Higher elemen—
tary schools.
PART I.
ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION ABROAD, WITH INTRO-
DUCTORY REMARKS ON PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS.
As an introduction to our Report on Technical Instruction
abroad, we have brought together a few of the principal facts
relating to the general scheme of education in each of the
diiferent countries we have visited. It is necessary, in order to
understand the position of the purely technical schools, of which
we shall have to treat subsequently, that an outline should be
given of the system that has been adopted for the general
education of young people of both sexes, from the commence-
ment of the school age onwards, and it is also expedient for
another reason, viz., that in the case of the Working population
of some’ countries, the elementary instruction which they receive
is their only educational training. '
(1.) FRANCE.
We gave an account of the primary instruction of France in
our First Report, and we have only to add to it that, as we an-
ticipated, attendance at school has since been made compulsory;
that gratuitous higher elementary, which includes technical, in-
struction, is being extended in many of the large towns, and that
the sums devoted in the State and Communal Budgets to the
creation and maintenance of schools have increased enormously.
Instruction in the use of tools is now very general in the primary
schools of Paris.
The secondary schools of France, the Lycées and Colleges,
some of which we visited, have been so often described, and in
order to do justice to the subject, would require to betreated of at
such length by us, that we merely name them as being the schools
which prepare‘the students for the higher technical institutions,
such as the Ecole Polytechnique, and the Ecole Centrale des
Arts et Manufactures, which we describe in the following pages.
The instruction given in the secondary schools is almost invari-
ably on the old classical lines, the only departure being that in
some of the Lycées additional time is given to mathematics, in
the last two years, by boys who intend to enter the higher
technical schools.
A relatively small number of youths are also prepared for these
latter in schools of the highest type of so-called higher elemen-
tary, but really secondary schools, like the Ecole Chaptal. In
these, considerable time is given to the physical sciences,
especially to chemistry, and some of them are furnished with
REPORT. 19
_ practical life.
excellent laboratories. Speaking generally, we are of opinion
that the ordinary schools of France excel ours as a preparation
for the technical school :-~
(1.) As to the primary schools, in the greater attention given
both to geometrical and freehand drawing, the latter
almost entirely from models, to the excellent provision
of these models, and, in so far as it has gone, in
teaching the use of tools ; and
(2.) As to the secondary schools, in giving more time to
mathematics, especially in the upper classes of the
Lycées. -
(2.) SWITZERLAND.
The division of Switzerland into cantons, each of which has
its own laws and administration, renders any general description
of the scheme of instruction for the whole country impossible,
and we therefore selected the canton of Zurich, which has long
been regarded as the foremost in matters of education, and
devoted special attention to its schools of all classes, more
particularly in the town of Zurich, though we likewise visited
Winterthur, situated in the same canton.
ZURICH (TowN AND CANTCN).
The ‘elementary and secondary* education here, as in all other
parts of Switzerland, is gratuitous, and as to elementary in-
struction, compulsory. The system of instruction embraces the
following schools :-~
A. Primary schools.
B. Secondary
C. Evening
D. High ,,
All children between 6’[ and 14 years of age must attend
school, and must remain in the primary school until the age
of 12.
On leaving the primary school at the age of 12, the children
can either attend the secondary school, or they may, subject to
the prescribed attendance at a supplementary school, enter into
The school course in secondary schools extends
over four years, and those entering such schools and remaining
in them for two years (until 14 years old) are absolved from
further school attendance.
Those who do not enter the secondary school are obliged to
attend for four years at a supplementary school (Ergaenzungs-
schule). This school is held on two half-days a week, and its
11
7)
Zurich as a
type of
Switzerland.
Zurich school
system .
Primary
education.
* The Secundarschulen of Switzerland correspond most nearly very our higher
elementary or “ graded ” schools.
1' From 4 to 5 years of age the Swiss children usually attend the Kindergarten
schools, conducted according to the system of Froebel. The attendance at these
schools is optional, and they have no State endowment.
Ergaenzungs-
schulen.
32
20 ROYAL coiiuissiou 0N, TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Proposed
change.
Zurich elemen-
tary school.
School
museum.
Higher schools
of Zurich.
The Gymna-
sium and
Industrie
Schule.
Gymnasium.
Industrie-
schule.
chief aim is to enable the scholars to retain what they have
learnt in the primary schools, and, if possible, to develops it
somewhat further. Although primary instruction in private
establishments is permitted, about 97'5 per cent 0f the Children
of all classes attend the public primary schools.
The above plan of supplementary schools is, however, found to
be unsatisfactory, and a law is about to be passed extending the
compulsory attendance at the ordinary elementary school up to
the age of 141. Even now no child is allowed to enter a factory
until the completion of the 141th year.
One of the best elementary Swiss schools visited by the Com-
missioners is that on the Lindescher Platz in Zurich. The cost
of building this school was 4:3,000L, which amounts to 66L per
head. Irregularity of attendance is practically unknown; all
the children learn one foreign language ; moreover they are all
taught drawing, and have object lessons in natural history. In
the higher classes they are instructed in the rudiments of cheni-
istry and physics, great pains being taken to place before the
children well-arranged specimens, which are contained in a school
museum. These museums form very noteworthy features of
the Zurich schools. Among the objects we found there were
simple chemical and physical apparatus, chemical specimens,
geographical relief-maps, showing the Alps and their glaciers,
typical collections of commonly occurring and useful rocks and
minerals, excellent botanical models, as well as collections of
insects carefully labelled, a complete herbarium, zoological and
anatomical specimens and models; the collection, in fact, serving
as a type of what such a school museum should be. Many of
the specimens were collected and arranged by the teachers.
All the school subjects were taught intelligently and well ; we
were specially struck with the clean and tidy appearance of the
boys, and there was a difficulty in realising that the school con-
sisted mainly of children of the lower classes of the population.
The higher schools for boys in the Canton of Zurich consist
of the Gymnasium or classical school, preparing for the
University or the Polytechnic, and the Trade School (Industrie-
schule), which prepares for the Polytechnic, or for direct
entrance into trade ; both of these former schools being included
under the term Cantonal School (Canton Schule).
The Gymnasium is entered at 12 years of age, after an
examination, and consists of six classes, corresponding to one
year each, so that the pupils leaving at 18 or 19, would pass
from the 6th class with the leaving “ certiﬁcate,” enabling
them to enter any university or polytechnic school without an
entrance examination.
The Industrieschule is entered at the age of 1A, and consists
of four classes extending over 3;}? years, the ﬁrst class being a
preparatory one. From the second class onwards the school
separates into two divisions :—
- (a) A technical section ;
(1).) A commercial
H ‘i
REPORT. 21
the former again dividing in the 3rd and 4th years into a
mathematical and a natural science section. The commercial
section ends with the third year.
We visited the Cantonal School of the town of Zurich, con-
sisting of a Gymnasium and an Industrieschule under the
same roof. It contains about 500 pupils and 44 teachers. The
class-rooms are exceedingly large and airy, each ﬁtted with
desks for about 40 students, but capable of accommodating many
more. In the Industrie school there is a well-arranged chemical
laboratory in which the students have six hours’ practical work
per week in the preparation of simple chemical compounds.
There is a good collection of physical apparatus, common to the
two schools. The lectures on physics are abundantly illustrated
by excellent experiments, but the pupils themselves do no
practical work in this subject. The teaching of the highest class
is in advance of that usually found in similar schools in England.
In connection with the physical collections was a small workshop
containing a water-motor for working the dynamo, and used for
the repair of apparatus, 810., but only by the teacher and his
assistants. Drawing forms an important feature of the instruc-
tion in this school, an average of six hours per week being
devoted to this subject. In Appendix No. 2. Vol. V. is the
programme of instruction in the two schools, (cc) Gymnasium,
and (b.) Industrieschule. The inﬂuence of such schools on the
industrial condition of Switzerland is very conspicuous.
The secondary schools for girls are analogous to the Industrie—
schulen for boys. One of these well-conducted institutions was
visited by us. It is attended by girls between the ages of
12 and 16, of all classes, irrespective of social position. The
class-rooms are all large, and remarkably well furnished, as
is the case in the boys’ school previously described. With the
exception of needlework and English, all the subjects were
taught by male teachers. Among the remarkable features of
this school was the excellent museum.
A school has been established for the higher training of girls,
for which these secondary schools prepare them.
It will be seen from the budget of the Canton of Zurich,
in Appendix 3, Vol. V., that the Educational Vote absorbs nearly
one third of the total expenses of the Canton.
(3.) GERMANY.
Although the system of education is not exactly the same in
all parts of Germany, there are certain general features which
are common to the different States. As in Switzerland, education
is compulsory, and with the exception of those children who
are preparing for the higher secondary schools, all classes of the
population are educated in the public elementary schools or
“ Volksschulen.” The children enter the primary schools at the
age of six, and remain until the age of 14. Most of those,
however, who intend to pursue their educatior in secondary
Cantonal
School.
Germany.
Primary or
Volksschuleu.
22 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION 2
GERMANY.
Secondary
schools.
Science
instruction.
3
,-
schools enter a preparatoryfischool*‘~ ‘in; ‘ place!“ of an“ ‘elementary
' “school, and generally-‘leave that school ‘at the'age of nine or ten.
In nearly all parts of Germany the secondary schools consist of
higher elementary and secondary schools proper. In North
Germany generally there are three kinds of secondary schools ; the
Gymnasium or classical school, the Real Gymnasium in which Latin
is taught, but not Greek, additional‘ time being given to Science and
Mathematics, and the Ober Real school in which a still greater
amount of attention is devoted to drawing’ and science, but in
which neither Latin nor Greek is taught, the modern languages
being substituted. The complete course of instruction in any
one of these schools occupies 10 years. Pupils from the Gym-
nasium, who have obtained the leaving certiﬁcate, are entitled to
enter any of the faculties of the University or the Polytechnic
School. Those leaving the Real Gymnasium with a'certiﬁcate
can only enter the Polytechnic School and the philosophical
faculty of the University, whilst those leaving the Ober Real
school are‘ only qualiﬁed for entrance into‘ the Polytechnic
School. In Bavaria the Real school, in which Latin is not
taught, is of a lower grade than the Real school above referred
to, and corresponds more nearly with what is generally known
as the higher elementary school. Pupils are received into this
class of school from the elementary schools at the age of 12, and
the course lasts four years. Similar schools are found in North
Germany under various designations ; they were formerly
called Gewerbe schools, but are now more generally classiﬁed as
Unter-Real schools. ~
Although modern languages, mathematics, and science form
the main subjects of instruction in the higher Real schools of
North Germany, very few of these schools are ﬁtted with labora-
tories. n which the pupils have an opportunity of studying
science practically, whereas in the lower grade Real schools of
Bavaria (an excellent example of which was visited by your
Commissioners in Munich) laboratory instruction forms an im-
portant feature of the education. The curriculum of each of
these types of schools will be found in the Appendix, by
reference to which it will be seen that the hours of instruction
vary from 30 to 36 per week.* ’
The secondary as well as the elementary schools of Germany
are under State supervision, and the system of instruction is
practically the same in all schools of the same grade in the same
State. The primary schools are supported entirely by the Com-
mune or municipality in which they are situated, except in the
case of the very poorest Communes which receive some assist-
ance from .the State or province. With regard to the cost of
maintenance of the secondary schools there is no ﬁxed rule, but

Schools all
supported by
public funds.
i An idea of the co-relation of the educational establishments in Bavaria from the
primary school up to the Polytechnic and University is clearly shown in the Diagram,
Appendix 4, Vol. V., prepared for the Commission by Director von Bauernfeind of
the Munich Polytechnic School.
REPORT. 23
most of them are supported by the Communes. In some cases
the Communes furnish the buildings, and the current expenses
are defrayed wholly or partly by the State; in others a portion
of the cost is borne by the province; some few, however, are
supported wholly or partly from ancient endowments. In many
of the large cities, primary education is entirely gratuitious; in
nearly all primary schools the fees are extremely low, and the
children of necessitous parents can in all cases obtain free
instruction. The fees in the secondary schools likewise are
extremely low.
These schools, unlike most of those in our own country, are, Extent of
with scarcely any exception, day schools, and it may be said 53001111217 in
that throughout Germany secondary private adventure schools 3532,21):
for German boys are practically unknown?‘ It follows that U
secondary instruction of a superior and systematic kind is placed
within the reach of the children of parents of limited means, to
an extent of which we can form no conception in this country.
In some States, as for instance in Saxony, children who have
not made satisfactory progress in the elementary school at the
age of 14, when they have to go to work, are obliged to attend
a. continuation school, held in the evenings and on Sundays, for Continuation
two years longer. The instruction in these schools is simply Schools-
elementary, with the addition of such subjects as book-keeping,
rudimentary mathematics, &0. There are similar schools in
other parts of Germany at which the attendance is not com-
pulsory. To give an idea of the German School system, we have
selected the statistics relating to Saxony, which will be found in
Appendix 5, Vol. V.
(4.) AUSTRIA.
The public elementary schools of Austria may be divided into public
two classes, the primary schools (elementary and advanced), and elementary
the burgher schools. With these are included also all the infant Schools‘
schools, orphan and convent schools, special schools for the blind,
deaf and dumb, and seminaries for teachers.
The middle schools, as in Germany, comprise the Real Schools, Middle schools.
Real Gymnasla, and Gymnasia proper.
The high schools include the Universities and Polytechnic High schools.
Schools.
Infant schools exist in all the principal towns, and are sup- Infant school.
ported partly by the communes, partly by private associations
and societies, by manufacturers, and proprietors of industrial
establishments. They are under State supervision, though they
do not receive Government grants.

* There are, as is well known, many private adventure secondary schools for
foreigners.
24 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Grades. The primary schools receive children from the 6th to the 15th
year of their age; they may be either public or private, the
former being the State schools, the latter due to private enter-
prise. The primary schools are of two grades: lower elementary
schools, with three classes, chieﬂy in villages ; higher elementary
schools, with four classes. The burgher schools have six or
seven classes. The lower elementary instruction is compulsory,
but compulsion does not exist except as hereafter stated with
respect to attendance at the higher elementary and higher
schools.
Continuation Every higher elementary school has connected with it a con-
Sch°°ls~ tinuation school at which attendance is compulsory for those
children who do not attend a school of higher grade, from the
time they leave the primary school, until they attain the age of
15. Poor children have their school fees remitted. For those
who can pay, the fees vary from ls. Set. to 68. 8d. per annum.
The Continuation schools are maintained partly by the State,
partly by the Commune. The Government supports also a number
of higher elementary and burgher schools and all the schools for
the blind, deaf and dumb. It has under its charge the seminaries
for teachers, and bears the expense of numerous technical, or
trade schools. The children who intend to carry their education
further, leave the primary school at 12, and enter the fourth
class of the higher elementary school from which they may pass to
the Gymnasium, the Real school, or one of the special schools of
a professional character.
Intermediate The secondary schools of Austria are similar to those of
schools. Germany, and call for no special description. We learned that
the Real Gymnasium in which Latin is taught but not Greek,
as a type of school, is not considered satisfactory, neither
affording the best preparation for the Polytechnic nor for the
University. Some of the schools of Vienna visited by the Com-
mission were carried on in magnificent and well-appointed
buildings, with excellent teaching apparatus, and well-equipped
laboratories. The Gymnasia are either public or private insti-
tutions, the Real schools are often partly supported by the State,
and partly by the Commune.
(5.) BELGIUM.
Primary Primary instruction—A ttendance at school is not compulsory
Gammon‘ in Belgium, but in each Commune there must be at least one
public (government) school. Parents can demand gratuitous
instruction, and some communes make their schools free to all.
There is great opposition on the part of the clergy to the govern-
ment schools, and they endeavour to dissuade the parents from
sending their children to these schools. It is stated on authority
that about 60 per cent. of the children of school age (6—14) in
Belgium are in the government schools, about 25 per cent. in
clerical or private schools, and 15 per cent. do not attend school
REPORT. 25
at all. These statistics are however, not admitted by the clergy,
who state that they have 40 per cent. of the children in their
schools. The government schools are inspected by government
oﬁicials, who have no right to enter clerical or private schools. Statistics of
The principle of freedom of instruction is carried so far that it illiterates‘
is open to all to establish schools of every type, without control
of any kind whatever. Thirty per cent. of the total adult
population of Belgium, at the age of conscription can neither
read nor write. The percentage varies considerably in different
parts; thus in Luxembourg, although the conditions of life are
very hard, and many have diﬂiculty in ﬁnding a livelihood, the
percentage of illiterates is not more than 5 ; and in the industrial
provinces of Liége and Hainault, it is not higher than 12,
although children are there employed at an early age in works
and mines. In Flanders, on the contrary, the percentage is very
high.
There are no factory laws in Belgium, so that children may be Absence of
employed at any age, but public opinion has very generally
restricted the employment of children to the age of 12, and
proprietors of factories frequently establish half- time schools.
Women work in the coal pits of the Charleroi district, but in
that of Liége only on the bank.
There are evening schools for primary instruction, but their Evening
number is decreasing in consequence of the increase in the classes‘
number of good day schools.
The cost of public primary education is defrayed in about the
following proportions 2-—
By the Commune — - 33 per cent.
,, Province - - 1'7 ,,
,, State - - - 50 ,,
Secondary education—The Government intermediate schools Secondary
in Belgium consist of two classes. educatwn'
1. Higher elementary or middle class (moyennes inferieures)
schools, the minimum number of which is 100 for boys
and 50 for girls as ﬁxed by law of June 15, 1881. The
fee is 2l. 88. per annum.
2. Secondary schools or Athenées, the minimum number of
which as ﬁxed by the same law is 19, and the fee is 4l.
per annum.
The towns usually give the building, and the State makes up
the difference between the fees and cost of tuition.
factory laws.
Many scholarships exist from the primary to the middle class Scholarships-
schools, and the latter often have preparatory schools attached.
Middle class children usually complete their education in the
higher middle school, which is entered at nine, and they leave at
14 to 16 years of age.
5’- The preparation for the Athenée is usually in private schools, Preparatory
or byﬂhome teaching. There is an entrance examination; the “110°15-
26 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION: I
Belgian
Athenées.
Clergy schools.
Primary
education,
Holland.
usual age of admission is 11, and the courseis completedzat 18.
The instruction is divided into two branches : (0a) Literary;
(5.) Scientiﬁc or professional; in each of these there are seven
classes. N 0 ‘Latin is taught on the professional side.
The government Athenées are day schools, but boarding
houses are attached to them in some large towns. There are
460 students on the professional side, and 440 on the literary
side, in the Brussels Athenée. The professors are paid“ ﬁxed
salaries, the highest being 2801. per annum.
Parallel with the government education in secondary as in
primary schools, are the schools of the clergy. These are more
numerous than the government schools. For example, there are
in Brussels two clerical Athenées, St. Louis and St. Michel, each
with 1,200 pupils. It is generally stated as to education given
in the two sets of schools, that for classics and modern languages
the government schools are best, whilst for mathematics the
clerical instruction is superior. In science both are about on a
level. In the clerical Athenées, a much higher salary is paid to
the professors than in the State institutions, and consequently
some of the best teachers in Belgium are found in the clerical
schools.
There are normal government schools, one for classics, at
Liége, and one for science, at Ghent.
There is for the government secondary schools one lchief
inspector, having under him one sub-inspector for classics, one
for science, and one for modern languages. The higher technical
education in Belgium is carried on in the four Universities. No
Polytechnic Schools exist in that country.
(6.) HOLLAND.
In Holland the law requires that there shall be everywhere
suflicient schools to afford primary instruction to all children;
any competent person of good moral character may establish,
or give instruction in, a primary or secondary school. The
communes are responsible for providing an adequate supply of
schools for primary instruction, to the maintenance of which the
Government is liable to contribute 30 per cent. of the total cost.
The public elementary schools are neutral in regard to religious
instruction, and grants may be made to private schools on con—
dition of their observing similar neutrality. The elementary
schools are divided into ordinary and superior. Attendance at
school is not compulsory; one half of all children attending
school pay no fees. The total cost of primary instruction in
Holland in 1880 was 800,000l. for a population of about four
millions. Of this cost only about 100,000Z. was derived from
fees. The school attendance in the same year was about 540,000,
of whom 400,000 were in public schools. The number of
primary school teachers was about 14,000.
a
REPORT. 27
There were in Holland in 1880, 156 secondary schools, con- Secondary
taining about 15,000 pupils. The greater number of these educatwn'
‘schools are of the grade of superior intermediate schools, some-
what similar to the German Real-schools ; they are non-classical
and prepare for trade, for University faculties of Medicine and
Philosophy, and also for the only Dutch Polytechnic School at
Delft and for higher technical academies. The other secondary
schools are 244 Gymnasia and ﬁve Pro-Gymnasia, corresponding
with schools of a similar kind in Germany. The total cost of
education in Holland for 1883 was estimated at 1,250,000L, of
which the central government provides 375,000l.
(7) ITALY.
Primary education in Italy is free, and compulsory* wherever Primary
a sufficient number of efficient schools has been provided’r ig‘llcahon
The children attend one year at the infant school, from which a’ 37'
they pass to the elementary school, which, when ‘complete, has
four classes, each class representing a year.
On leaving the elementary school, the children may either Secondary
enter the gymnasium found in cities only) if they are preparing sch‘mls'
for a classical education, or into the technical school if they are
intended for a commercial or industrial career. The gymnasium
has ﬁve classes ; the students of the ﬁfth class may graduate as
licentiates and pass to the lyceum, which is a higher school
found only in a few of the chief cities. The lyceum has three
classes, the highest of which leads to the University.
The technical schools, which correspond on the industrial side Technical
to the Gymnasium on the classical side, have three classes of one schools-
year each; their chief object is to prepare for trade, but they
are also attended by those are to continue their studies at the
Technical Institutes or at the Professional Schools. The
Technical Institutes, which we shall describe in their proper
place, exist only in the capitals of the provinces.
Besides these schools there are three Higher Technical Insti-
tutes, which correspond very nearlyr with the Polytechnic
Schools of Germany.
In addition to the State free schools in Italy, there are many
others, among which may be mentioned the Kindergarten schools,
some of which are excellent and well conducted. A large number
of private schools, both for boys and girls, are under the direction
of the clergy.

* It will be seen from our Report on manufactures in the North of Italy, that the
law as to compulsion is, in many parts of the country. a dead letter up to the present
time.
1‘ Parents, may, however, present a certiﬁcate to the syndic or mayor, certifying
that they are giving to their children the necessary instruction at their own homes. ..

28 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Special
Technical
Schools abroad.
Technical edu-
cation for
workmen.
Artizans’
evening
schools.
SPECIAL TRADE AND TECHNICAL SCHOOLS ABROAD.
After the preceding brief review of general education on the
Continent, we proceed to give a description, as also a comparison,
of the schools of the different countries which we visited, for
the technical training of the three classes into which we divided
the persons engaged in industrial pursuits : namely—the work~
men, the foremen, and the masters or managers.
In order to facilitate reference to our descriptions of these various
schools, we have arranged them under the following heads, although
the classiﬁcation we have been compelled to adopt is somewhat
arbitrary. The various grades of industrial schools have been
dealt with as follows :—
I. Evening technical schools available for Artizans, p. 28 to
p. 418. .
II. Artizans’ general technical and apprenticeship schools, p. 458
to p. 69.
III. Intermediate technical schools for foremen and depart—
mental managers, p. 69 to p. 166.
IV. Trade and professional schools for women, p. 166 to 176.
V. Higher technical instruction for employers and managers,
p. 176 to p. 216.
In each of these ﬁve divisions we have arranged the schools of
the different countries in the order observed in our short pre-
liminary review of primary education on the Continent.
I.——EVENIN G SCHOOLS AVAILABLE FOR ARTIZANS.
We commence with a description of the special institutions exist-
ing in foreign countries for the instruction of apprentices and others
during and after the period of their apprenticeship, and for adult
workmen, who are occupied during the day time in their ordinary
work. These schools must necessarily be either evening or
Sunday schools, or, as we shall point out in the cases of industries
which can only be practised during certain seasons of the year,
schools carried on during certain months only. In schools of this
kind the instruction consists to a large extent of drawing and
modelling, frequently in direct application to special trades, and
in some cases supplemented by the execution of practical work
in the materials of the trade to which the education refers. In
addition to the regular school work, courses of lectures are some-
times given on artistic and scientiﬁc subjects, having special
relation to various industries, supplemented occasionally by
evening class instruction in workshop practice. Such lectures
are frequently given under the auspices of the municipal or
local authorities, or by the various trade societies of masters, or
workmen, or both. Some of these lectures are numerously
REPORT. 29
attended by workmen and apprentices. The admission is in
most cases free, or a nominal fee only is demanded. An account
of some of the lectures at which the Commissioners were present
will be found in the following pages.
EVENING INSTRUCTION IN FRANCE.
The system of evening instruction is one of’ the most striking
features of the present condition of educational effort in France.
The walls of the public buildings of Paris, as well as those of
every French town which the Commissioners visited, were largely
placarded with the announcements of evening lectures and classes,
both for men and women. The subjects of instruction are of the
most varied character, including modern languages, social science,
physical science, biology, mathematics, applied science, astronomy,
&c.
These lectures and classes are carried on at_ the expense-—
(1.) Of the State,
(2.) Of the Municipalities, and
(3.) Of associations or private individuals, or jointly by
these bodies.
In Paris itself‘, under the ﬁrst head comes the instruction at the
Conservatoire and at the Ecole des Beaux Arts; that by the
municipality is given in various schools and localities throughout
the city.
Nor is this instruction conﬁned to the Government or to non-
sectarian bodies, for the Institut Catholique de Paris has established
an Ecole Libre, consisting of both day and evening classes in
algebra and higher mathematics, physics, mineralogy, geology, and
chemistry, including laboratory practice.
The Conservatoire National des Arts at Zlle'tiers is the most
important institution in France for encouraging scientiﬁc tastes
amongst the people by popular courses of theoretical and technical
science, and also by the well known museum containing models,
instruments, &c.
The Commissioners were received on the occasion of their visit
by the Sub Director, M. le Colonel Laussedat. This institution
is under the government of the Minister of Agriculture and
Commerce, and is especially renowned for its magniﬁcent museum
of models ‘and apparatus both of historical interest and of
recent date. An important feature of this institution is the
Portefeuz'lle Industriel. In this Department the registers of all
the patents and all the trade-marks in France are kept; and, in
addition to this, carefully made drawings of the various patented
and other inventions and machines, not patented, are preserved.
These drawings are of a most elaborate character, made to scale.
Like all other institutions of the kind in France, the Conserva-
toire is open gratuitously to the public. The drawings of appa-
ratus, instruments, and machines date from very early times up to
the present, and considerable trouble is taken to obtain information
Evening in-
struction in
France.
Conserva t oi re
National des
Arts et Métiers.
Portefeuil le
Industriel.
30 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Scientiﬁc
library of the
Conservatoire.
Instruction in
the Conser-
vatoire.
Lectures on
chemistry .
of the newest and best forms of apparatus in the various depart—
ments of manufacturing industry.
modern designs inspected by the Commissioners were found to be
drawings of English machinery, especially in textile manufactures
and engineering work.
Another important department of the Conservatoire is the
library of scientiﬁc reference, open day and evening gratuitously.
The instruction which is given in the Conservatoire is conﬁned
to free popular lectures. A large number of distinguished men
of science are appointed as professors in the Conservatoire, and
deliver popular courses of lectures during the evening. There is,
however, no practical laboratory instruction in science.
The following courses were being given at the time of the visit
of the Commissioners :—
M. Laussedat.
M. de la Gournerie.
M. Tresca.
M. E. Trélat.
M. E. Becquerel.
M. Peligot.
M. Girard.
M. de Luynes.
M. Boussingault.
Applied geometry - -
Descriptive geometry - -
Applied mechanics - -
Building construction - -
Applied physics - -
General chemistry with its appli-
cation to industry - -
Industrial chemistry - -
Applied chemistry - -
Agricultural and analytical
chemistry - - -
Course on agriculture - - Professor not named.
Rural economy - - - M. Mangon.
Spinning and weaving - - M. Imbs.
Political economy and industria 1(M L
legislation _ _ _J . eVaSSCuI'.
Industrial economy and statistics M. J. Burat.
Commercial law ‘ s M. Malapert.
The Commissioners attended one of the evening lectures on
chemistry given by M. Peligot in a large theatre, where an audience
of from four to ﬁve hundred, consisting of all classes, but chieﬂy
of poor persons, was extremely attentive.
M. de Luynes, the professor of technical chemistry, was lecturing
on glass manufacture, pottery, and dyeing, and he informed the
Commissioners that in his opinion the value of these Con-
servatoire lectures was considerable, as interesting the masses of
the people in scientiﬁc subjects. In his lectures he made use as
much as possible of practical illustrations. He exhibited the
potter’s wheel at work, and had glass-blowers from various
works to illustrate the mode of blowing glass ; for the lectures
in dyeing several ﬁrms lent workmen to show the practical
processes. In the previous year a course of lectures had been given
on “wine,” beginning with the growth of the grape, treating of
the diseases to which it is subject (a matter now naturally exciting
much interest in France), the modes of combating the spread
of phylloxera, the methods of wine-making, the chemistry of
Many of the best and most‘
nnronr. . 31
fermentation, the processes involved in the preparation of various
kinds of wine, the modes of testing wine, and, in short, the whole
of its chemical history. These lectures were much appreciated,
and were attended by wine-dealers and others. This description
_ will serve to furnish a specimen of the kind of instruction which
is being given at the Conservatoire.
'Publz'c Free Lectures in Franca—There are two great societies
with complete organizations for elementary instruction, by means '
of lectures and courses, in Paris and the provinces. The older Qther erenigls
society was founded in 1830 by ex-pupils of the Polytechnic gist-mm” m
School. It consisted originally of some 500 members, and took '
for its motto the device of the school, “ Tout pour la patrie, Polytechni? and
Zes sciences et la gloz're.” It was termed the Polytechnic Associa-
tion. In addition to lectures in nearly every quarter of Paris, given
by upwards of 150 professors, courses were delivered in several
important provincial towns. Owing to dissensions with respect
to the internal administration of its affairs, a large number of the
members, chieﬂy those who had not been trained at the Polytechnic
School, left the society in 1848, and founded a similar organization
named the Philotechnic Association. Among the subjects included
in the course of the Polytechnic Association are arithmetic,
geometry, physics, chemistry, machine-construction, drawing of
all kinds, bookkeeping, geography, natural history, elementary
astronomy, grammar, hygiene and singing. In addition to similar
courses the Philotechnic Association provides instruction in English
and German. Prizes and certiﬁcates are awarded to the students.
The lectures are usually given on a Sunday from April to J ulyfl'F
Evening Instruction in the Provinces.—As a type of what is Amiens-
being done in the provinces the programme of the Amiens’j' Société,
Industrial Society may in the ﬁrst place be quoted. This society occupies large and convenient new premises in the Rue de Noyon,
which were visited by the Commissioners. Day and evening
classes are held, both for men and women, on week days and on
Sundays. These comprise a variety of subjects, including modern
languages, drawing, chemistry applied to dyeing, weaving, &c.
The Industrial Society of Amiens closely resembles the
Industrial Society of Mulhouse hereafter referred to,i not only
giving instruction, but also holding public meetings at which
subjects of interest are discussed. Thus, for example, a general
monthly meeting was held on the day that the Commissioners
were present, at which a paper was read by M. Roger on the
application of art to mural decoration, and subsequently a visit
was paid by the members of the society to the artist’s studio in
which this application was illustrated.

* A full description of the aims and objects of these societies will be found on
p. 249 of a Report of the French Minister of Agriculture, Commerce and Public
Works, appointed in June, 1863, and translated for the English Government and
presented to Parliament, 1869.
1' Sec Commissioners’ First Report, for Statistics of Population, Sac.
I See Part. II. of Report, p. 349.
32 ‘i
. ROYAL COMMISSION ON- TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION?‘ : ~
' Other evening
classes in
Amieiis.
Société In-
dustrielle de
Rheims.
Lyons Sunday
lectures.
, silk ‘was also fully described.
Société
D’Enseiguc-
ment Pro-
fessionnel du
Rhone.
Evening
classes, Lyons.
Subj ects
taught.
.As in other provincial towns in France, evening -_ classessare; ;. "
carried on in Amiens under .theCommune. . Thus,a notice Lin-the '
paper of the day stated. that on Friday .the 25th Novemberothle. _ '
tenth lesson would be. given in the communal course on Chemistry. ‘
" by M. Dubois; the programme for that evening being thehroxides
of nitrogen and nitric acid. _ . . . ,
The Industrial Society of Rheims is a similar institution ‘pro-
viding evening lectures for operatives and artizans. _ It possesses
a good building with well arranged class rooms and lecturetlieatre.
The Commissioners, on the occasion of theirvisit, foundaularge
class of youths learning English, another class upstairs were attending.
a lecture on the theory of weaving ; in the drawing schooltwoclasses
were engaged, the one learning freehand drawing from’ copies and
casts, the other geometry, projection, and mechanical and archi-
tectural drawing.
fourteen subjects taught.
lectures on chemistry and physics are given by M. Leblanc,
under the auspices of the Municipal Council, three times a week
during the winter in the large lecture theatre of the Professional
School. See p. 75. ' '
At Lyons the Commissioners attended a lecture on Weaving,
one of a course given by M. Loir (the Professor of’ Weaving‘ in,
the Commercial School, see p. 122) on Sunday mornings in the.
rooms of the Ecole des Beaux Arts, to workmen and‘ others
interested in the subject.
practical character, and about 150 persons were present. -The
lecturer ﬁrst described the methods by which‘ theweight of ' silk
in a piece of the woven fabric of given size, can be estimated, and
afterwards explained the principle of weaving. This was done
by blackboard illustrations, without ﬁnished diagrams or models, _
and was evidently comprehended by the audience,v who were
familiar with the manufacture. The process of conditioning
Such lectures are of evident
value to the workmen engaged in the trade, giving them a clear
conception of the rationale of the various processes. . ’
One of the most important series of provincial classes is that
conducted in Lyons by the Socie'te' d’Enseignement Professionnel Rhone. This society, which was. founded in 1864., carried on
during the year 1881 no fewer than 131 distinct classes attended
by 7 ,640 students.
The budget of the society for the year 1881 amounted to 3,07 5L
The director of the Society is M. Lang, the energetic head of the’
Ecole Martiniere ; the director of studies is M. Girardon, and the
honorary president M. Galline, the President of the Chamber of
Commerce of Lyons.
The classes are held, some in communal schools, and others in
special rooms hired by the society. The following gives an idea
of the extensive range of the subjects taught : reading and writing,
grammar, arithmetic and elementary mathematics, applied mathe-
The classes were well attended, and from the .
printed list handed in, it appears that there are no less than.
In addition to these courses, free public"
The lecture was’ of an eminently,
, .
REPORT. 33
'matics, applied geometry, ornamental design, ﬁgure drawing, linear
drawing, machine drawing, drawing applied to carpentry, industrial
chemistry, elementary mechanics, general physics, applied physics,
economic botany, theory of weaving, stone-cutting, book-keeping,
commercial law, English, German, Italian, Spanish, history and
geography, hygiene, and gymnastics. '
One third of the funds for its maintenance is voted in common Funds.
by the Municipal Council of Lyons, the Council General of the
Rhone, and the Chamber of Commerce of Lyons. Other sources
of revenue are private donations, annual subscriptions, payments by
the pupils, and interest on the reserve fund. The payment by each
pupil is three francs for the half year.
The lectures take place from 8 to 10 in the evening on week
days and on Sunday mornings, and there are two or three lessons
upon each subject per week; the winter session lasts from October
to April. Each course consists of from 50 to 7 5 lessons, varying
from one to two hours in length. If the students desire it, a
certain number of these classes are continued during the summer.
Classes for women are held under lady teachers, whilst the Classes for
classes for botany and hygiene are attended by both men and women-
women.
The Commissioners were informed by M. Lang that the inﬂuence ()Pinion of
of these classes on the people of Lyons had been of a most beneﬁcial M- Lans-
character, and that the classes were very popular, as instanced by
their rapid growth since their foundation in 1864, the attendance
having increased from 1359 in that year to 7,640 in 188].
The society prints each year a programme of the courses, giving Programme of
a full analysis of the subjects taught, of which the following courses-
syllabus of the course of instruction on fuel and the steam engine
may serve as an example :—
Special properties of the different fuels: wood, charcoal, turf,
lignite, coal, coke, anthracite coal; Volume of air necessary for
combustion; Heat absorbed by smoke; Construction of ﬁnes;
Furnaces of ordinary construction; Smoke—consuming furnaces;
Gas furnaces; Factory chimneys; Production and properties of
steam; Comparison of the various forms of boilers; Boiler trials ;
Comparison of arr.ngements for ensuring safety of boilers;
Incrustation; Expansion; Testing boilers: Theory of the steam
engine; High pressure and low pressure, condensing and non-
condensing engines ; Calculations of the dimensions of an engine;
Theory of the parts of an engine: piston, cylinder, valves, 8m. ;
Different kinds of valves ; Experiments with brake and indicator;
Gas engines.
The Commissioners have not met with any other system of
popular science classes so extensive as this, either in France, or
in any other of the continental countries which they visited.
Evening Commercial Instruction in Paris—Besides the technical E"en_ing com‘
classes of which we have spoken, there are many other evening mercml chsses'
schools which are of special importance to those engaged in
commercial pursuits. These classes are supported by the munici-
Ri 1726. C
34¢ ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Classes for
young women
in Paris.
Art night
schools for
artizans.
Paris.
Ecole des Arts
Decoratifs.
palities, and in Paris they are both numerous and largely attended,
being conducted in eight of the communal schools. They are
intended for young people who, having ﬁnished their primary
education, desire to supplement it by acquiring the special
knowledge which may be serviceable to them in trade or
business. The course is divided into two stages, each of which
lasts two years, and \ amongst the subjects taught, are book-
keeping, commercial geography, industrial and commercial.
technology, civil and commercial law, political economy and
modern languages, business correspondence, and commercial com-
position. Each pupil is expected to devote 12 hours a week to
instruction. Certiﬁcates are given at the end of the stage on the
results of written and oral examinations.
Corresponding courses of instruction exist in Paris for young
women, intended to ﬁt them for entrance into business houses.
These courses in the preliminary stage occupy ten hours per week,
and in the advanced eight hours. They are held in eight com-
munal schools.
Institutions of the same kind exist in many other towns.
Evening Art Classes in F rance.
We now pass on to the consideration of the French Evening
Art Schools for the special instruction of Artizans, commencing
with those of Paris. These schools are of the highest possible
importance, and exert a great inﬂuence on the development of the
art industries of France. They are largely subventioned by the
Miunicipality and are all gratuitous. Cl’ the purely Municipal
evening art classes, there are no less in the City of Paris than 65,
in which a total of 3,334 students are regularly under instruction.
33 of these classes attended by 2,488 students are for ornamental
drawing, and 22 classes attended by 846 students, are for
geometrical drawing. Five of the former are called “advanced
art classes,” and in these, instruction is given in drawing from
the life, anatomy, and artistic composition. Modelling is taught
in almost all the classes. These schools are open on week day
evenings from 7 to 9, and on Sunday mornings from 9 to 12. The
Commissioners found that in none of these schools was much
attention paid to the application of art to industry, the tuition
being mainly in pure art.
The Ecole Nationale des Arts Decoratgfs, under the direction of
M. de Lajolais is one of the most important of the Paris schools
available for evening instruction in drawing. It was founded by
M. Bachelier in 1765 for the teaching of artizans, and was shortly
after taken over by the Government.
title it received its present name in 1877. At that date, certain
courses were opened during the daytime, and since the re—
constitution of the school On its present basis in 1880, instruction
After several changes of‘
REPORT. 35
is given both in the daytime and during _the evening. Some 16
professors share with M. de Lajolais the tuition of’ the 800 pupils.
The instruction is gratuitous and includes mathematics, geometry,
architectural construction, freehand drawing and ornament,
modelling, drawing from the antique and from life, history of
ornament, and decoration. Public lectures on art subjects are
given on every Sunday throughout the year.
The budget of the school is 4,236L, towards which the Ministry Budget;
of Fine Arts contributes 3,7 962. and the City of Paris 2402., the nmgbezof
balance being derived from sundry legacies. There are a con- Btu en 3'
siderable number of bursaries. Day scholars, who must be able
to read, write, and cypher, are admitted at 10 years of age.
Evening students must be not less than 14 years old. During the
year 1881-82 the ages of the pupils were as follows :—
Between 10 and 14 years old - - 39
,, 14 ,, 20 ,, - - 4.52
:9 .9: 3) "‘ " Above 30 - - - — 27
Total - — 799

All students before taking their place in any class must prove ‘Systein‘et'
that they are able to proﬁt by the instruction given therein. mslmcmn'
The system is one of constant competitions, which take place
monthly and quarterly. The boys learn linear drawing, drawing
from models, and composition or designing. But though designs
are made for decorating all kinds of materials, and for every
variety of art manufacture, the question of the possibility of the
actual execution of such designs, or of their applicability to the
material for which they are intended, does not come into con-
sideration. There is a special atelier Jfor the study of industrial
designing under these conditions, and some excellent drawings
and models executed by the senior students were shown to us.
A small school museum contains examples of some of the best of
the works done in the periodical competitions. The reputation
of this school under successive teachers has become ﬁrmly estab-
lished, and many of the best artists and designers in France owe
to it their early training. The Commissioners are indebted to
M. de Lajolais for ample opportunities for examining the work
in progress.
Another important school is the municipal school, under the Paris mu'icir‘h
care of M. Levasseur, situated at the corner of Rue Ste. Elisabeth, School Of an‘
and Rue Turbigo, which has by special decree been constituted
one of the new industrial art schools. Here 300 pupils receive
instruction every evening throughout the year, except during the
busy seasons ol‘ the workshops about Christmas when the numbers
are somewhat smaller. The director informed us that in this, as
in all the other similar schools of design in Paris, drawing is taught
from the purely artistic point of view, this method is thought
02
OJ 01'‘
ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL IN STRUCTIQN i
Municipal
drawing
schools.
Jewellers’ Art
school. ~
to be the only one by which the original power of the pupils‘ can
be encouraged and developed. In this particular school about
40 men, consisting of engravers, stuff designers, decorators, 830.,
were employed in drawing from the nude, whilst 15 were engaged
in modelling from the life. In another class, a smaller number of
men were occupied in drawing from the antique. The walls were
covered with good plaster casts from which another class were
modelling in clay. Upstairs there was a large class engaged in
mechanical draw ng under the charge of‘ a separate professor, and
here the pupils have the opportunity, after having passed through
the general course of preliminary art instruction, of specialising
their drawing according to their various occupations. The pupils
were stone-masons, mechanics, joiuers, smiths, watch-makers; in
short, all the mechanical trades of Paris were represented.
In addition to this, there was a room containing about 100 boys
who were employed in elementary drawing from the ﬂat. The spirit
of work and attention which animated these students was most
remarkable, and any» inattention or negligence is punished by
expulsion from the school; there being no difficulty in ﬁlling up
the places, as there are many more desirous of attending than can
be accommodated in the rooms.
A third type of Paris art schools consists of classes largely carried
on in the communal school under the direction of the municipal
authorities of the City of Paris. These are simple drawing schools
in which the instruction is of a less advanced character than that
provided in the special evening schools we have already described.
The students attend each evening in the week, but the instruction
is only from casts; the collections of casts in the schools visited
by the Commissioners were very complete. Of this description of
art schools there are as already stated, 65 in Paris.
The Commissioners found that the opinions expressed by
M. de Lajolais and M. Levasseur as to the inadvisability of giving
specialized art instruction was shared by all the other teachers of
drawing with whom they had an opportunity of conversing. It
was stated, indeed, to one of the Commissioners by Mr. Hervé
Mangon that a school of design for special trade purposes would
be found in connection with the Syndicate of Jewellery, of
which the President is Mr. Ernest Vever, jeweller, of 19, Rue
de la Paix. This gentleman, when called upon, expressed his
willingness to allow the Commissioners to inspect the school,
which is supported by the syndicate at an annual cost of 8001.
He, however, stated that the system of teaching adopted in
the syndical school (which is an evening one) is not different
in any way from that generally adopted in all the schools of art
in Paris, the apprentices attending the school being instructed in
ordinary drawing, and not in special designing for their own
trade. He mentioned, however, that the Syndicate had instituted
certain annual prizes for designs of articles of jewellery, for com-
petition amongst the apprcntices, and that the Syndicate likewise
institutes practical examinations in jeweller’s work, for which prizes
REPORT. 37
are given. For’ this purpose, two consecutive SundaysXfrom 8 in
the morning to 6 in the evening) are set apart, and the material
for the manufacture of any given article, say a bracelet, is placed
before the candidate. He is then required, by means of the
necessary tools, to make up the metal furnished to him into
the manufactured article, the design for which is given. The
work is ﬁnished on the second Sunday, and the prize is awarded
by an independent examiner, who has not seen the work carried
out, and has no knowledge of the candidates.
It appears from the Commissioners’ inquiries, therefore, that in Scg’igisafm'w
no school in Paris is drawing at present taught solely in its appli- 05,0, ofpp
cation to special trades?‘ It is important, however, to notice that, drawing do
by decree, dated December 20, 1882, the school of the Rue Ste. D“ emst'
Elisabeth, and that of Rue des Petite HCtQlS, both of which schools
were visited by the Commission, have been reconstituted and
created Ecoles d’application des BeauX—Arts a l’Industrie, and
thus it would appear an attempt is about to be made to give a
more technical character to some of the art teaching in Paris.
Schools of Art of a similar kind to those described for Paris 1131122310?
exist in nearly every provincial town in France. The Commis- Schools.
sioners visited Art Schools in Lyons, Rheims, Amiens, Toulouse,
Lille, Roubaix, and Limoges. Of these the most interesting,
perhaps, are those of Lyons, Toulouse. and Limoges.
The Ecole des Beanzr Arts of Lyons is more essentially a day giglonsl A"
school than one for evening students. It is situated in excellent "c 00 '
buildings in the centre of the town, and though it receives a small
annual subsidy from the Ministry of Fine Arts it is in the main
a communal institution. Drawing is taught in all its branches,
and great attention is paid to designing for various art manufac-
tures. The grant by the City of Lyons for the purpose of this
school is 2,2 80!. per annum, and for ﬁve municipal drawing schools
in various quarters of the town an additional sum of 1,3262. was
voted during the year of our visit.
Ecole des Beam- Arts et des Sciences Industrielles of T oulouse.- Ecole des
This school is well known as being one in which, by its special gemfg‘lf‘rts at
system of instruction, a knowledge of drawing is very rapidly on he‘
acquired, and some of the most eminent artists of France owe to
it their early training. Among others, M. J. P. Laurens, is
a past student of the school. It is absolutely free in all its
departments. It receives boys at 10 or 11 years of age. The
plan of teaching is as followsz—Classes of seven sit round a
black-board on which the monitor makes a sketch, which is copied
on slates by the lads forming the class. There is a special
class for monitors,—--7 or 8 in number. At the time of our visit
the boys were drawing geometrical forms on squared slates; from
this room they pass onwards into the next class, in which they
begin to draw on sugar paper with charcoal. Here they draw solid

* For the opinions of Messrs. Armstrong and Bowler, who were specially deputed
to visit and report on the French Schools for the South Kensington Museum,
See Report XXX. of the Department of Science and Art.
38 ROYAL COMMISSION oN TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Ecole des
Beaux Arts,
Limoges.
t‘
forms (what we should call model drawing), Only, in lieu of being
freehand work, they are supplied with rulers and encouraged to
rule all the straight lines. As the professor told us, the aim
in this class is to teach the pupils to gain a correct appreciation
of form, and not so much to learn drawing. They begin with
squares, cubes, prisms, and solid rectilinear ﬁgures, and pass on
to spherical forms and architectural details. \’Vhen proﬁcient in
these exercises, they learn copying from the ﬂat, and then pass into
the ornament room, where they make careful studies from litho-
graphed copies of ornament, but some go to the model-drawing
room and make shaded studies from solids. They can then begin
to draw from the cast (ronde bosse), and after a course of frag-
ments, hands, and feet, they begin to draw from the antique. Here
the classes are divided, those intending to become painters and
those studying as sculptors having each a separate course. The
painters draw or paint from the life every day from 8 to 12.
The model sits during each hour for three-quarters of an hour
and rests a quarter of an hour. There were about 20 pupils ,in
the life class. There is a separate lite class for sculptors, sitting
on alternate weeks, the pupils working one week in the antique,
and one week in the life class. The students have frequent
competitions, and an annual competition for three exhibitions of
601. each, to complete their studies in Paris.
Elementary classes meet from 6 to 8 on winter evenings, and
from 6 to 8 on summer mornings. These are mainly attended
by apprentices, and between 1,000 and 1,100 pupils make use of
the classes. There are 25 teachers or assistant teachers, and
the salary of a teacher is 48!. A good library is attached to the
school. Classes in mechanical drawing and projection are largely
attended.
Ecole llfum'cz‘y'oale des Beam: Arts de Limoges.-—This school
was established for instruction in art bearing on the ceramic
manufactures, for which Limoges has been long famous, and
has been recently placed upon an entirely new footing by the
decree dated November 5, 1881. It is henceforth to be called
L’Ecole Nationale d’Art Decoratg'f de Limoges. The decree lays
down the plan of teaching, the staff, the meetings and deliberations
of the professors, the juries for the award of prizes, the competi-
tions and exhibitions, the award of “ scholarships,” the order and
discipline, and the punishments to be administered. M. L. de
Lajolais the Director of the Ecole N ationale des Arts Décoratifs,
at Paris, is also the director of this school.
The Commissioners, on the occasion of their visit, ﬁrst inspected
a ladies’ class for painting on china, attended by about 25 students.
The students ﬁrst make a careful study on paper of what they
propose to do, this study being either of ﬂowers or foliage from
nature, or an arrangement from a copy or engraving; they then
paint the design on the plate or vase. They have a small kiln
at the school, but it is not used at present; the work being
ﬁred at a pottery in the town. Upstairs there was a selection
of the works of the pupils laid out for our inspection. These
REPORT. 39
were drawings from nature, clever studies in water colour from
natural foliage (mostly time studies), some good chalk drawings
of heads, and from the antique; also crayon drawings from the
life. There is a modelling class largely attended, and instruction
is given in modelling suited to ceramic work. A class which has
produced favourable results is that for the study of etching. The
Commissioners were shown some very good etchings produced by
students, and some excellent arrangements of ﬂowers and sprays
for transfers used for the decoration of china.
One of the difficulties spoken of by M. de Lajolais, as impeding
the development of the school, is that the artists trained there have
no scope for their abilities in the local factories.
(2.) EVENING INSTRUCTION IN SWITZERLAND.
The continuation schools (Ergaenzungsschulen) of Switzerland, Evening
which are numerous and important, supplement the teaching of milmctlim f“
the primary school, and even carry intelligent pupils a Few steps g'ivifﬁﬁd,
onwards and instruct them in the best methods of applying the , ,
knowledge gained during childhood to the practical duties of life. 5333111; anon
In these schools drawing is specially attended to, and in those for
girls, needlework. Both sexes also learn singing. The attendance
at these schools, or at schools of a somewhat similar rank con-
ducted by local industrial societies, is compulsory for all young
persons leaving the primary school at the age of 12 who do not
enter a secondary school. As an example of this kind of school,
the Commissioners attended at Zurich some of the classes of the
local industrial society, (Gewerbe Schulen Verein). The seclasses
are numerously frequented by young people of both sexes. They
are held in several different localities on week day evenings and
Sunday mornings. The following are among the subjects taught :--
freehand drawing, four hours per week 3 linear drawing, three
hours ; applied drawing for the following trades, each three hours
per Week, masons, carpenters, joiners, cabinet-makers, mechanics,
locksmiths, and whitesmiths; arithmetic, two hours per week ;
geometry, two hours ; writing, four hours; book—keeping for arti-
zans, two hours ; mercantile book-keeping, two hours; German
language or spelling, two hours; French, three hours; English,
two hours; and geometry, two hours per week. The conditions
for admission to these classes are that the student must be 16 years
of age at least, and must show that he possesses suﬂicient previous
knowledge to proﬁt by the instruction. All fees must be paid
in advance, but poor students on making application to the proper
authorities can obtain partial or total exemption from payment.
The number of students varies from 300 to 650 according to the
season, the larger attendance being during the winter months.
The fee is from 2 to It francs for the entire course, according to
the subjects chosen. An exhibition of schcol work takes place
at the termination of each course, twice yearly. Some of the
subjects extend over four sessions. The students make an annual
summer excursion to some place of interest. The society numbers
about 600 members.
40 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Evening
intrnction in
Germany.
BerlinArtizans’
Society.
(3.) EVENING- Ins'rnucrron IN GERMANY.
In forming any estimate of the school system of Germany the
Commissioners believe that great importance must be attached to'
the inﬂuence of the evening and Sunday schools, which in many
States train large numbers of young persons leaving the primary
school at 13, for an additional period of from three to four years.
Drawing, together with the ordinary elementary school subjects, is'
mainly taught, and great care is taken to make the instruction of a
kind suitable for the young workman. In South Germany the
continuation schools are sometimes simply drawing schools with
special application to various handicrafts. In some parts of’
Germany attendance at these schools is compulsory. In addition
to the State schools, there are schools provided by powerful
associations of workmen, in which instruction is given on week-
day evenings and on Sundays, including literature, drawing,
and elementary science. As examples of the latter organisa-
tions, we give an outline of the Berlin Artisans’ Society (Hand-
werker Verein) and a short account of the German Association
for the Diffusion of Popular Education, which has its head-
quarters in Berlin, but possesses branches in all parts of
Germany.
The Berlin Handwcrker Verez'n was founded in 1859, in order
to encourage among its members general culture, sound knowledge
of their callings, and good manners (guteSz'tten). For this purpose
lectures, conferences, a library and reading room, classes for the
promotion of general and technical instruction, as also for gymnastics
and for singing, together with amusements in which all members
together with their families can participate, are provided. Any
youth may on attaining the age of 17 become a member if he
presents testimonials of good character, and is duly introduced by
a member. The number of ordinary members was, in 1882,
2,246. During the year 137 lectures were given by 54 lecturers,
who are members of the society, on the following subjects :—
Technology, trade, commerce, and political
economy - - - - 25
Literature and art - - - ‘ - 21
History and geography — - - 20
Natural history - - - - 19
Hygiene — - - - 17
Popular education - ~ - - 15
Jurisprudence — - - 11
History of civilisation - - - 9
There are also classes in book-keeping by single and double
entry, mercantile arithmetic, English, French, drawing, singing,
and shorthand writing. Adults pay 4d. per month for instruction,
and youths and apprentices 3d. The instructors mostly give their
services gratuitously.
There are three evenings devoted to declamations, in which
regular parts are assumed. Many meetings are set apart for
free discussions on social questions. At the close of all lectures
the audience are invited to ask questions on any points not clear
REPORT. 411
to them. Frequently on Saturday evenings there are social
gatherings of the members and their families, in which the band
and the choir take part.
The public lectures of the Handwerker Verein, are delivered
by men of the highest eminence in literature and social science,
and form one of the striking features of interest in the Berlin
winter season. The addresses of the late Dr. Lasker were attended
by all the most remarkable persons of Berlin society. Grants to
the society’s funds were received from the municipal authorities
and from the Education Minister of 501. and 251. respectively.
Summer excursions, visits to places of public entertainment at
reduced charges, childrens’ gatherings, and opportunities for
recreation as Well as instruction for the members, are largely
provided. '
There is an important Building Trades’ School connected with guigliggs h 1
the society. It is purely a Winter school. The instruction com- m es 0 0°‘
mences on 31st October, and ends on the 29th March following.
There were in all 7 9‘ students who were distributed over the full
course of three winter semesters as follows :——40 of the ﬁrst year,
28 of the second, and 11 of the third year.
To the cost of the Building Trades’ School the Minister of
Public Instruction contributed 2551., the municipality 1251., and
501. were received from the Weber bequest; the school fees and
entrance money amounted to 4031.
Among the members of this ﬂourishing society were 148 car-
penters, 131 tailors, 95 locksmiths, 82 masons, 75 bookbinders,
and 681 commercial and other clerks. The total expenditure for
1881-82 was about 1,5001.
The Association for the Dg'ﬁusion of Popular Education. Assoqiatiqn for
The aims of this society are to encourage the discussion of questions gfpgllgulsggiof
relating to free popular education at public meetings conducted cation,
by the society, to aid the formation and support of societies having
similar aims, to assist in the creation of continuation schools,
libraries, reading rooms, 810., to aid in obtaining teachers and in
providing lectures ; the issue of a journal and of publications bearing
on public instruction ;..the employment of travelling instructors, &;c.
The report of the society for the year 1882 shows that there were
in all 4,749 members, among them being 717 aﬁiliated societies.
There were 14 branch societies, and 9 provincial associations in
Prussia. Its receipts from subscriptions and donations were
2,0441. The branch societies in connection with it appear
to do much excellent work : thus, the Frankfort-on-the-Main Frankfort
association states in its eighth report for 1881, that the branch
continuation school for the summer of 1881 had 440 scholars, and
for the winter 1881—82, 515 scholars. The classes comprised
German, English, French, arithmetic and bookkeeping, writing,
and drawing, the average attendance at each course being 32. In
some subjects owing to the number of pupils there were as many
as seven parallel classes. Diplomas were awarded to 15 of the
most diligent pupils. The total receipts of the branch were 8971.,
and 6211. were expended on instruction and lectures.
412 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION 2
Artizan
evening schools
in Berlin.
Sunday classes.
Absence of
evening
science classes
in Germany.
The Handwerker Schule of Berlin is an interesting example
of a purely technical evening drawing school for artizans, which
was visited by the Commissioners who ‘were received by the
Director, Dr. J essen. This is a Government school. The fees
are six shillings the half year, for eight hours instruction per week.
The school is attended by 470 apprentices and 190 journeymen,
who are in all cases recommended and introduced by their ‘em-
ployers. In addition, there are special classes for teachers in
elementary schools; 70 teachers coming twice a week for instruc-
tion from 5 pm. to 7 pm.
There are 25 masters employed in this school. The students
begin by making outlines from small wooden hand models,
a system which has proved very successful in Hamburg under
Dr. J essen, who taught there for over 15 years. In addition tOIthe
Ordinary teaching of drawing, there is special instruction for each
trade by teachers who are practically acquainted with that trade.
The instruction is individual, as opposed to class teaching, and
nearly all the pupils take up geometrical drawing. Artizans learn
projection, from models. After drawing from wooden models
they pass on to plaster casts. The complete course consists of three
semesters. Tidiness and cleanliness in drawing are accounted of
the highest importance. There are in all ten series of classes.
For cabinet-makers, exercises in the’ preparation of full-sized
working drawings are given. They ﬁrst make a sketch, and then
draw the details on a large scale, showing the joints, 850., and so
for other trades.
Connected with this school are 16 Sunday classes conducted in
seven different buildings in the town. There are 12 different trades,
each represented by special classes. Thus, for example, there
were 100 students in the joiners’ class alone.
The budget of the school for evening and Sunday instruction
is as follows,—
58 -
Students’ Fees - - 378
State Subvention - - 1,182
Town ,, - ~ 1,318
Total - £2,87 8
Neither in Prussia however, nor in other parts of Germany, have
the Commissioners found any system of evening scientiﬁc ‘or tech-
nical instruction supported by the State or by municipalities to
be compared with that existing in France and Belgium, or
with that of our own country, though a large number of con-
tinuation schools (Fortbildungsschulen) exist in which the
ordinary school training is carried on. This absence of evening
science classes may partly be acccounted for by the fact that the
primary and intermediate education is more advanced than it has
been up to the present time in other countries, but the Want of
this instruction is much felt by the Germans themselves, who
contemplate the organisation of a system of technical instruction
for artizans, to which a reference will be_found in the Appendix.
REPORT. 43
(4.) EVENING INsTRUeTroN IN AUSTRIA.
The evening class instruction for artizans in Austria is not as a Austrian
rule supported, as in France and Belgium, by the Municipalities, but gvenniigzschools
mainly by the trade societies, of which a large number exist. or at ans’
Many of these schools will be reported upon under the heading of
“ Apprenticeship Schools,” whilst here those only will be mentioned
in which evening instruction is given. They are founded with a
view to provide, for apprentices, instruction in the scientiﬁc branches
of their different trades. The instruction comprises a course
extending over several years. The schools are generally managed
by the societies of the masters following each special trade, and
in many of these it is stipulated as a condition of apprenticeship
that the apprentices should attend the school.
Amongst the best of these schools are the Jewellers’ School Guild schools
and the Turners’ School in Vienna; and the Building Trades’ 1“ Vlenna'
School of that city, which will be found described under that
section.
The Turners’ School, or F ach-Schule DrechsZer-Arbez't, Timelrs’
is essentially a school for‘apprentices and has 170 pupils who so 00'
are divided into two sections, the one principally theoretical and
the other practical. It is supported mainly by the trade society,
which is a very inﬂuential one, numbering some 1,500 members
who pay ls. 8d. per annum for the privilege of membership.
The State grants 50L per annum, and there is likewise a yearly
subvention from the Chamber of Commerce. For the ﬁtting up of
the school, in the ﬁrst instance, a State grant of 2001. was received.
The membership of the Turners’ society is compulsory on T‘nfnfrsi
all master turners, and the apprentices are bound to attend some y'
the school. The term of indentures in this trade varies from
three to ﬁve years, and the school course extends over
two years, but it is proposed to add one additional year.
The instruction is gratuitous. It is given on Sundays from
8 to 12 am, and also on two evenings in the week, Monday and
Tuesday, from 6 to 9 pm. The school budget amounts to 250Z. Budget of
The school had been established about eight years at the time of our school‘
visit. The students go through a rigidly prescribed course of instruc—
tion. It is usual, after leaving the primary school at 13 or 14, to go
into practical work for a twelvemonth, in order to obtain some
power of practical manipulation, and then to enter these classes.
During the ﬁrst year the pupils learn drawing, arithmetic, elementary Course,
physics, book-keeping, and the technology of their trade, raw ﬁrst year-
materials, 850., the teaching being wholly theoretical. In the Second year.
second year they learn modelling, carving, and all the different
kinds of turning. For these purposes the school is provided with
a variety of lathes and accommodation for 20 students engaged
in practical work at one 2‘time. One of the lathes had round it
a raised bank of seats, capable of receiving 50 or 60 students
to watch the practical demonstrations, and to receive explanations
from the master workman. Some excellent specimens of work done
414 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Value of the
school.
watchmakers’
school.
Jewellers’
school.
Evening art
instruction for
artizans in
Brussels.
Molenbeek
school.
in the school were shown to us. The director informed us that
it was impossible to estimate the effect of the practical teaching
here given upon the trade, as this part of the teaching had only
been introduced about two years. The reason assigned for the
necessity of this instruction is that in the workshop the pupils are
continually occupied with one kind of work, and thus never gain
a general knowledge of the entire trade. The turners of Vienna
are largely employed in fancy articles, and the tobacco pipe manu-
facture in meerschaum constitutes a very important industry
in the neighbourhood. The school is managed by a committee
of employers and officers of the trade society.
The watchmakers of Vienna have established a similar school.
Fetch-Schule for Jewellers and Goldsmiths at Vienna.——This
school is in every way similar to the one previously described.
It is managed and mainly supported by the Goldsmiths’ Trade
Society, and is conducted on Sunday mornings and on certain
evenings of the week ; the use of the rooms being granted free of
charge by the municipal authorities. There are 150 students, and
the instruction is gratuitous. The school had been open at the time
of our visit about three years, and is said to be doing good work.'
The chief feature of the school is the careful and systematic
teaching of drawing. One room ﬁtted up for drawing from models
had 56 working places. The copies and examples seemed well
chosen as respects their bearing on the distinctivework of the
school. There is a special teacher for the metal—chasing depart~
ment, who showed us some admirable work in silver, brass, &c.
Chemistry is taught in its relation to metal working, and there
is a furnace with crucibles for practical metallurgy. Valuable
prizes are competed for by the students, and the Archduke Carl
Ludwig contributes liberally to the prize fund, and takes a great
interest in the school. In the class-room for metal-chasing and
engraving were shaped working tables precisely similar to those
in engravers’ shops.
(5.) EVENING CLAss INSTRUCTION 1N BELGIUM.
In Brussels alone there are four important art schools, the
average attendance of students being a little short of 1,200. The
largest and most important of these schools is that of the Royal
Academy of Fine ‘Arts, which being an art school proper does not
belong to this section.
The following are the other schools, which are situated in the
various faubourgs—
(1.) Molenbeek-St.-Jean.
(2.) St. J osse-ten-N oode.
' (3.) Ixelles.
The Molenbeek Drawing School was originally founded in 1865
and is now held in a building erected four years ago by the
Commune of Molenbeek in a very poor neighbourhood in the
workmen’s quarter of the city. The building is large and com-
REPORT. 415
modious, and contains, in addition to the school of art, a secondary
school for girls. There are ﬁrst-rate class-rooms, and the system
of lighting is excellent. There are 300 students, who come every
evening in the week, except Sunday, during the winter months.
The school was overcrowded, and there were large numbers of
boys waiting for admission.
In this school, as in all the Belgian schools, a system of teaching Methed of
is prevalent which differs from that adopted in France. This Serz‘ivhfglggin the
system may be shortly described as follows: The boys begin Belgianschoolc
by drawing geometrical forms with chalk on black-boards
which surround the walls of the room. After becoming proﬁcient
with the chalk, they pass on to drawing similar forms with
charcoal on sugar paper, outline drawing being ﬁrst practised, and
subsequently shading from the cast, and thus in the third year
they are led to drawing from the life. This produces great
rapidity and boldness of work without aiming at high ﬁnish.
The quality of drawing seems to be one eminently suited for
artizans. Owing to the rapid way in which their work is performed,
they acquire sufﬁcient power of drawing for their purposes in a
far shorter time than is possible under the school of art system
prevalent in England.
An interesting fact connected with the school at Molenbeek is Cost of the
that, although the neighbourhood is extremely poor, no less a sum schoolbu‘ldmg‘
than 12,000l. was raised by the commune for the purpose of
building the school, this being the entire cost of the building; an
annual grant for maintenance being allowed by the city of
Brussels. The total annual expenditure is 1,280l.
The School of St. Josse has been in operation for 19 years. It The St- Jesse
contains 400 pupils, and many of them come from the elementary chool'
schools, entering at as early an age as eight, and therefore being
still occupied during the whole of the day in the elementary
school. The teaching does not consist simply of practical work, Lectures.
but lectures are also given on the elements of geometry and the
theory of perspective, and these are illustrated by explanations
on the black-board which are copied by the class. The best. Diplomas-
students receive diplomas at the end of the course, which are said
to be of considerable value to them in their subsequent career.
The School of ladies much resembles those already described. The Ixelle~
It occupies, jointly with the communal elementary school, a ﬁne School‘
building, erected at a cost of 12,0001. There are 230 pupils. The
annual budget is 680l. The students work every evening from
7 to 9, and the advanced classes are taught on Sunday mornings.
This school was founded in 1863.
At some of‘ these schools, examinations take place every three Examinations
months in which small prizes are offered, and these appear greatly are held every
to stimulate the students in their work. The pupils pay three months‘
no fees, but, owing to the very small salaries of teachers, the
cost of these schools is relatively small. Thus, at the school
of St. Josse the payment to the nine teachers amounted to only
46 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Linear draw-
ing.
Evening art
schools in
Holland.
The Hague.
School is over‘
crowded.
Fees.
160i. per annum, the total budget of the school being 7601. for the
tuition every evening in the week and on Sunday mornings of
400 pupils.
Mechanical and architectural drawing are also carefully taught,
the students beginning these in the second year, it being a rule
that each student must draw well in outline before being permitted
to commence drawing with instruments. Special divisions of the
school are Set apart for constructive drawing for trade purposes.
Thus, architects, builders, stonemasons, carpenters, joiners, &c.
have special teaching suited to their respective trades, and draw
from examples likely to be of service to them in their everyday
work. In the third year original designs are carried out by, the
students, some of which are of a very elaborate character.
The students living in the respective communes obtain in-
struction gratuitously, but those not resident in the district can
only be received on payment of from 18s. to II. 16s. per head
per annum by the authorities of the communes to which the
students belong. The students provide their own materials.
A description of the industrial schools of Belgium, which
include both evening and day schools for artizans, will be found
on p. 57.
(6.) EVENING INSTRUCTION IN HOLLAND.
The evening art schools for artizans in Holland are generally
similar to those in Belgium already described. Such schools are
numerous, and of these the Commissioners visited the evening art
school at the Hague, of which the director is M. Koelman. It
is a day as well as an evening school, and is attended by
330 regular and 100 occasional students.
The school receives an annual Subvention of 833i. from the
the Municipality of the Hague.
The demand for art instruction in the Hague (though not a
manufacturing town) appears to be so great that the classes have
to be divided. Instruction is given to the juniors and seniors on
alternate nights in the week. The classes are held from 7.30 to
9.30 in the evening. In the advanced class attention is paid to the
applications of drawing to the special industries on which the pupils
are engaged. There are excellent classes for architectural drawing,
including details of construction, staircases, windows, 810., and a
class for mechanical draughtsmen. In addition to these subjects,
classes are also held for instruction in arithmetic, algebra, practical
geometry, and projection, and the pupils are required to go
through these preliminary subjects before they can passon to
the advanced courses of drawing. .
The advanced pupils also attend lectures on the history of
ornament, anatomy, perspective, and the history of art.
A noteworthy difference, however, between the schools in
Holland and those in France and Belgium, is that in the former
country the instruction is not gratuitous, each pupil paying
eight florins (13s. 4d.) per semester, it being the Opinion of the
authorities that the pupils place a greater value on the instruction
for which they have to pay. ‘
EEPoRT. 47
(7.) EVENING INsTRUcTIoN IN ITALY.
In most of the towns of Italy evening classes are held for
workmen, similar to those described as existing in other
countries. In Udine, a small manufacturing town of 30,000
inhabitants, evening instruction is given in elementary mathe—
matics, mechanics, and technology, together with drawing and
modelling. The courses last four years, and in the third year the
drawing lessons are specialised according to the trade of the
student. The school has been founded only three years. It is
supported from various sources. The Government contributes
1201. annually, the town 1201., and the province 201. The Society
of Workmen gives 601., and the Chamber of Commerce 201. At
the time of the Commissioners’ visit 350 male and 110 female
students were inscribed in the school register. The school
is open 2%,- hours every evening, and 3 hours on Sundays and
holidays.
GENERAL REVIEW or CONTINENTAL EVENING ScHooLs FOR
ARTIzANs.
In reviewing the schools above described, we are struck by their
great variety and by the difference in the nature of the instruction
they impart. Foremost in importance may be noted the con-
tinuation schools, which exist in nearly all towns of Germany
and Switzerland. In Bavaria, Baden, and elsewhere, pupils
leaving the primary schools at the age of 13 are compelled
to continue their studies in the evening schools till the age of 16,
and too much stress cannot be laid upon the value of this
regulation.
These evening schools help to sustain a boy’s interest in
study at a time when he is likely to forget what he has acquired
in the ordinary primary school. For the want of them, apprentices
or young workmen frequently ﬁnd themselves too ignorant to
avail themselves of the special technical instruction which they
have the opportunities of obtaining; and on this account, and
also because they serve to give the youth a taste for study at the
time when he begins to appreciate the value of instruction,
these schools have proved to be most serviceable to German and
Swiss artizans in quickening their intelligence and in affording
them useful information bearing upon their trades. At the same
time, as primary education advances, and the age at which the
children of the working classes leave school is postponed, these
continuation schools become less necessary, and technical instruc-
tion proper becomes more serviceable.
Another noteworthy feature in this foreign evening instruction
is the very great extension of drawing schools, in which in the
same building is taught ﬁne art as well as geometrical and
machine drawing, in some instances with special reference to the
occupations of the students. As will have been seen, classes in which
this instruction is given abound in most of the countries visited
by the Commissioners, especially in France, Belgium, and Holland,
Evening
instruction in
Italy.
General review
of evening
schools abroad.
Continuation
schools of
Germany.
Iunﬁence of
these schools
on artizans.
Evening draw=
ing schools.
l8 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Evening
science classes.
Systematic
mstruction.
Apprenticeship
schools.
School of the
Rue Tourne-
fort.
and the students in attendance are not only very numerous as
compared with the populations of the towns, but they are of all
ages, representing all kinds of trades; and , side by side with the
workman, is often found a boy of 12 or 13 years of age, who
is supplementing in these evening classes the insufficient art
instruction which is given at the ordinary primary school.
As regards evening science teaching, there seems to be nowhere
in Europe any organization for systematic evening instruction
comparable, as regards the number of subjects taught and the
facilities afforded for the establishment of classes and for the
examination of the students’ work, with that undertaken by the
Science and Art Department in this country, and recently supple-
mented, in the application of science to special industries, by the
City and Guilds of London Institute.
At the same time, it must be borne in mind that in many
towns visited by the Commissioners, the evening science teaching
was conducted by professors of higher standing than, and of superior
scientiﬁc attainments to, the ordinary science teachers who conduct
courses in some of the largest and most important of the manu-
facturing centre of this country. In the case of machine con-
struction, the models and materials for instruction were superior
to those found in similar schools at home.
Another feature of many of these foreign schools deserves also
to be noted, namely that the instruction is systematic, occupying
not only several evenings per week, but covering a period of two,
three, or even more years.
II. ARTIZANS’ GENERAL TECHNICAL SCHOOLS
AND APPRENTICESHIP SCHOOLS.
The next class of schools to which we have referred in our
general classiﬁcation, are ﬁrstly those intended to supersede
apprenticeship wholly or partially by a progressive system of
workshop instruction in the school itself, these being the true
apprenticeship schools, and secondly, trade schools for apprenj
tices and journeymen employed in workshops. In our First
Report we dealt with certain schools of this kind existing in
France, such as the Communal School of the Boulevard de la
Villette, at Paris, and the schools at Havre and other places. We
append a short abstract of the accounts therein given of these
schools, and would refer to the Report itself for fuller information.
(1.) APPRENTICESHIP ScHooLs IN FRANCE.
The School of the Rue Tournefo'rt, Paris.-—This school,
which will be found more fully described on page 14 of the
First Report, is the only primary school in France, so far as
the Commissioners are aware, in which rudimentary trade
teaching is combined with ordinary elementary instruction. From
the ages of 6 to 10 the children have three hourly lessons per
week in manual work; boys of 10 and 11 are taught drawing,
modelling, carving, joiner’s work, and smith’s and ﬁtter’s work,
REPORT. 49
whilst in their 12th year of age the instruction is specialized, some
taking, as their principal study, modelling and carving, others
joiner’s work and cabinet making, others again forging and ﬁtting,
but all have to devote a certain portion of time each week to the
other subjects comprised in the complete course of manual work.
The school hours are from eight in the morning to six at night,
and lin the highest class 18 hours per week are given to manual
wor .
The School of the Boulevard cle la Villette, Paris, is a $911001 of L85
municipal apprenticeship school for workers in wood and iron, Vlnette’ Pam’
and was established in 1872. The boys are admitted on
presentation of the “ certiﬁcat d’études” of the primary school,
or on passing an equivalent examination. The instruction
is free, and comprises a general literary and scientiﬁc
education, in continuation of that of the primary school, and
a special technical training. This latter is given by theoretical
instruction on the nature of the tools, materials and processes of
the workshop, and by practical manual work in the shops. The
manual work is divided into two courses; in the ﬁrst year the
pupil spends six hours in the shops daily, and is taught the
nature and conversion of materials; in the second and third years \
he spends respectively six and eight hours per day in the shop,
and is engaged in actual construction in connection with the
special trade which he adopts. The school hours are from 7 am.
to 7 pm. with two hours of interval for meals, recreation, &c.
Visits are paid by the students to industrial establishments, and of
these, written accounts have to be given. This school will be
found more fully described on pp. 17—20 of our First Report.
A large proportion of the boys become engine-ﬁtters or pattern
makers, and are said to earn wages varying from 2s. (id. to 58.
per day on leaving the school.
On the school buildings 49,000l. have been expended, and the
annual budget amounts to somewhat less than 3,000l. ,' that is
rather under l2l. per head for the 250 pupils of the school.
The Havre Apprenticeship School, which is of the same type as Apprentice-
that of the Boulevard de la Villette, will be found more fully if? school“
. . .. <vre.
described on pp. 21-2 of the F irst Report. 51x hours per day
are spent in the shops, during the entire course of three years.
The theoretical instruction is of a more elementary character
than at the Villette school, and no certiﬁcate is required on
gptirapfce. The programme of this school is given in Appendix 6,
o. .
The Watchmalcers’ School, Paris, situated in the Faubourg Watehmﬂkftrs’
du Temple, is the only apprenticeship school proper, founded s°h°°l’ Pans’
by the Paris syndicate or guilds. Other schools exist under
the direction of the various guilds, but these are principally
drawing schools in which no special trade instruction is
given. The Watchmakers’ school contains 25 pupils, and
the course extends over four years. Students must be 1d
years of age on admission, and the school hours are from
8 am. to 7 pm. in winter, and from 7 am. to 7 pm. in
Ri 1726. D
50 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION t
Switzerland.
Royal Trade
School,
Iserlohn.
Course for
metal workers.
summer, with an interval from 12.0 to 1.30 for meals and
recreation. The theoretical instruction comprises French, the
elements of mathematics, geometry, and machine construction in
their application to watch and clockmaking, the theory of the
construction of watches, algebra and trigonometry, physics and
chemistry, cosmography, book-keeping, and linear and industrial
drawing. The practical instruction consists in the ﬁrst year of
the use of tools and roughing out work, in the second year
ﬁnishing, in the third year escapements, and in the fourth year
regulating and repairs. The pupils pay 12L per annum, and
ﬁnd their own small tools. For the support of the school, the
syndicate of watchmakers annually contributes 560Z., the Govern-
ment 80L, and the City of Paris 410$. Further particulars
respecting this school will be found on pp. 22-3 of the First
Report.
(2.) APPRENTICESHIP SCHOOLS IN SWITZERLAND.
NO school of this character came under our notice in Switzer»
land, though we believe that in the watchmaking industry several
small schools exist.
(3.) APPRENTICESHIP SCHOOLS IN GERMANY.
In most of the apprenticeship schools of Germany, that is, schools
for the training of workmen or foremen, instruction in pure and
applied art combined with practical work in the shops forms an
important feature of the curriculum. The earliest attempt to
introduce schools of a technical character into Germany was due,
as is well known, to the initiative of Dr. Von Steinbeis, after the
Great Exhibition of 1851. They have since spread over Southern.
Germany and Austria, and have recently been introduced into
Prussia. Of these latter one of the best arranged is the Royal
Fach Schale 0f Iserlohn, in Westphalia, a district abounding in
ironworks and collieries, this being the ﬁrst school of the kind
established in Prussia. It is a school in which industrial art adapted
to metal work is combined with handicraft teaching. The Com-
missioners visited this school under the guidance of Dr. Renter, who
was formerly director of the engineering school at Komotau (see
p. 111), and it was in consequence of the success of this and of the
other trade schools in Austria that similar schools have begun to
be established in Prussia. The school owes its origin to the
want experienced by the manufacturers of the district of better
preparatory instruction of the pupils who enter their works. It
has been established only four years. The pupils of this school
go through a three years’ course, and are trained as designers,
modellers, wood carvers, moulders, founders, turners and pressers,
chasers, engravers, gilders, and etchers. The drawing copies for
ornament are published by Veith of Carlsruhe. The subjects of
instruction are in part theoretical and in part practical. The theo~
retical instruction comprises drawing in all its branches, modelling
in wax and clay, the elements of chemical and physical science,
REPoRT. 51
mathematics, German language, history of art metal work, and tech—
nology. The practical instruction includes lessons in the different Workshop
departments of work which the pupil is likely to follow, each pupil instruction.
being required to state on entry in which particular branch of the
industry he is desirous of receiving special training. The hours of
instruction are, in the morning, from 8 to 12 in the winter, and
from 7 to 11 in the summer, and in the afternoon from 2 to 6. In
this, as in other technical schools, it may be noticed that the hours
of instruction are much longer than in schools in which there is
little or no practical work, the alternation of mental and bodily
exercise enabling the pupil to apply himself to school work without
fatigue for a greater number of hours than is possible where the
instruction is theoretical only.
An opportunity was offered of inspecting the work done in this Specimens (>5
school, through the courtesy of the director, who, at the request of School work’
the Commissioners kindly forwarded to London an exhibition
of the school work, and this was on View for a few weeks at
the Gresham College. The collection comprised specimens of
modelling from sketches and photographs (some of which were
executed by boys of 14 and 15 years of age) as well as specimens
of wood-carving, wood-turning and metal work.
The school is well ﬁtted with workshops, having the necessary W'orkshop
appliances, including a six-horse power gas engine, hydraulic press, ﬁttings‘
a planing machine, a shaping machine from Chemnitz, as well as
elaborate lathes for wood-turning and metal-turning, made in
Vienna, England, Scotland, and America.
The curriculum of the school instruction, which will be found in
Appendix 7, Vol. V., is interesting as indicating the general
scientiﬁc and artistic teaching which all the pupils undergo before
devoting themselves more particularly to any branch of special
practical work.
Besides the day school, in which the pupils are engaged from Evening
8 to 10 hours, there is an evening school in which a course of school’
instruction occupying three hours is given, comprising model and
ornamental drawing, German, physics, and arithmetic. The
instruction in the evening school is intended for the workpeople
in the numerous manufactories of the district, and is almost wholly
theoretical. 5001. was subscribed for apparatus, &c. by the
leading manufacturers of the district. The school budget is 8501.
Trade School at Remschez'd.——In Remscheid, a straggling town Remscheid
of about 30,000 inhabitants, 18 miles distant from Dusseldorf, a trade Schooh
trade school has very recently been established for the instruction
of apprentices in the construction of edge tools and other imple-
ments manufactured in the district, in which it competes with
Sheﬂield and Birmingham. From this town, which a few years
ago was a mere village, but is now growing and prospering in a
high degree, an important trade is carried on, including some with
our own colonies. The business is one conducted to a great extent
in small shops, in the same way as the nailor’s trade in the
black country and the cutlery trade of Sheffield. In these
D 2
52 ROYAL COMMISSION ON T EOHNICAL INSTRUCTION?
Subjects
taught.
Drawing made
essential.
“Objects of the
school.
Htihr-
Grenzhausen
Pottery School.
School founded
to assist a small
local industry.
separate shops sometimes as few only as two or three men are
employed. These factories extend for miles into the country, and "
in them men are found at work making hand-vices, pliers, nippers,
shovels, and other varieties of small hardware and cutlery.
The school established for the promotion of this industry
occupies very ﬁne new premises, which have been erected at a
cost of 10,000]. At the date ot the Commissioners’ visit the
school had only been in operation for ten days. There were
present 18 pupils , some of whom were engaged in practical work
in a smithy containing anvils and smiths’ ﬁres, whilst others were
occupied in ﬁling and chipping. All the pupils are taught
drawing and design in its applicatinnrto iron-work, and they are
made familiar with the different kinds of iron-work that can be’
done by hand in small shops at their own homes. They are
further instructed in the uses of the tools they make, and they
learn something of the markets where they are sold, and of the
methods by which similar articles are manufactured in other
towns and countries. The students have the opportunity of
studying in the school all the leading trade catalogues of’ the
principal ﬁrms of their own and of other countries, and of thus
familiarizing themselves with the drawings and descriptions of
different kinds of tools. The main object of this school seems to
be to impart to each student such an education as shall give him, '
on leaving it, an intelligent knowledge of the principles of his
craft, a general acquaintance with the commercial requirements
of the trade, and such skill in practice as may assist him on.
leaving school to at once earn his living.
The morning hours are devoted to instruction in the ordinary
school subjects, including the elementary principles of science, as
well as drawing and design in application to the requirements of
the trade, and the afternoon from 2 till 7 to practice in the
shops. The fees paid by the students amount to 41. per
annum.
Pottery Trade School, Ho'lzr-Grenzhausen.——Another school of
a somewhat similar type, which has been very recently established l
by the Prussian Government, is the Trade School for Pottery at
H'cihr, a small village about six miles from Coblentz. The village
contains about 3,000 inhabitants, and its principal trade, as well
as that of the neighbouring village of Grenzhausen, is the making
of stoneware decorative pottery, in imitation of the old German
stoneware, which was originally made in this district, and the art
of making which was lost some centuries ago. The manufacture
carried on in these villages is thus a revival of an ancient art. The
clay is principally found in the district; indeed quantities of this _
clay are still exported to other parts of Germany, to Holland, and
other countries.
The school at Hohr has been founded for the advancement of
this industry, and has been in existence about three years. The
director, a native of the place, has studied in Frankfort and also
in the Kunstgewerbe Schule of Vienna. The school is badly
REPoRT. 53
housed in an old building, but plans have been prepared for
.the erection of a new and commodious structure. At present the
school consists of a day school and an evening school. The day
school is principally attended by sons of the small manufacturers,
of whom there are many in the district. The evening school is
attended by men and Women of various ages, who are engaged
during the day-time in the manufacture. At present there are
15 day students, and 16 evening male students, and 32 girl
students, who attend also on Sundays.
The boys have already had some instruction in drawing in the
primary schools, and many have also attended the F ortbildung or
continuation schools, where they have increased their facility in
drawing. The subjects taught in the school are drawing, Subjects
designing, modelling in clay and wax, and working out new forms of taught-
vessels with original ornamentation, as well as painting, designing,
and other branches of decorative art. There is also a general course
of instruction on the manufacture of earthenware. Any new model
completed by a pupil becomes the property of his father or of the
manufacturer who places him at the school ; but two copies of such
model are given to the school. Plaster models are made from
sketches supplied by the master, and the details are worked out in
wax models, cast, and afterwards applied to the body of the article.
Generally the modelling is taught in three stages. The pupil ﬁrst
models from a plaster cast, then from a drawing, and lastly from
a rough sketch or idea. The lessons in modelling are given
simultaneously with those in drawing. There are also lectures on
the history of style, and of pottery, and the theory of colours-
The school contains a carefully assorted collection of different
kinds of stoneware and porcelain, including some of the original
old German ware. Examples of Wedgwood and of other English
wares are also present. The assortment of models in wood and
plaster is good and varied.
The school course occupies three years, and is given daily,
Saturdays excepted. The pupils of Grenzhausen and Ho'hr pay
20 shillings a year for the day school, in which 30 hours’ instruc—
‘tion are given per weekyand 4 shillings for the evening school,
which meets four times a week for two hours. Pupils from other
localities pay 30 shillings for the day school.
From information obtained from one of the resident manufac—
‘ turers, whose works the Commissioners visited, it seems probable
that this school is likely to be of considerable beneﬁt to the industry
of the district. The Commissioners observed that although the
school had been in existence only a very short time, some of the
new patterns which were being manufactured in the neighbourhood
had been originally designed and modelled in the school.
An interesting fact bearing upon the pottery industry of Appreciation
-<G'rermany was observed at the large manufactory at Poppelsdorf by manufac-
’ turers of
near Bonn, where a number of boys of about 14 years of age were drawing
employed in drawing and painting rough designs on cheap earthen-
ware and porcelain.‘ These boys, who had received no other
.instruction in drawing than that which they had gained at the
54 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Eﬁect of the
teaching of
drawing on
the pottery
industry of
Germany.
Trade school
of Cologne.
Apprenticeship
and trade
schools in the
Black Forest.
Clock-making
school at
Furtwangen.
primary schools which they had previously attended, had there
obtained suﬁicient facility in drawing to enable them at once
to earn about three shillings a week as working apprentices.
The director of the painting shop spoke in the highest terms of the
advantage which the boys derive from the instruction in drawing
which they obtain in the primary schools, and of the skill which
they bring with them to the works. N o apprentices are received
into this department of the works unless they present a certiﬁcate
of eﬁiciency in drawing from the master of the school which they
have previously attended. Of these boys, those who exhibit artistic
power are subsequently trained by the artist employed in the works,
and are then employed on designs of a higher character. These
facts are mentioned to show the advantage which the pupils in
Germany derive from the excellent drawing instruction which is
given in the primary school; for there can be little doubt that
the common class of goods manufactured at these works and
largely exported to England were made more cheaply than
they could be made in this country, because of the artistic skill
of young apprentices, who had obtained their art instruction in
the primary schools, and were employed at very low wages in
decorating them.
The Gewerblz'che Fach Schule of Cologne is a school for the
sons of tradesmen and superior artizans, and is of a somewhat
special character. It is divided into three departments,
engineering and architectural drawing, modelling, and decoration,
including house painting. There is a summer session and a
winter session, the latter being the better attended, as some of the
young men go into practical work during the summer months.
The course of instruction is specialised for certain trades.
In many of the other German States, schools of a similar
character to the foregoing were visited by the Commissioners.
We may mention the following, of which a more detailed account
appears in the Appendix.
Schools for teaching Industries in the Black Forest—The
district of the Black Forest, situated in the Grand Duchy of
Baden, is well known as being the seat of a large number of
home industries, and as containing schools for the instruction of
apprentices and workmen in these various trad‘es.
Amongst the schools of this kind visited by the Commissioners
the more important are those for clock-making, carving, and straw—
plaiting. A special report on the schools and industries of this
district will be found in Appendix 1, Vol. I., from which the
following abstract has been prepared.
The Clock-making School at Furtwangen— This school is
intended for the technical instruction of clock-makers, an industry
for which the district has long been famous, no less than 13,500
people, amongst the population of upwards of 90 parishes, being
employed in this work. A Government grant of 660l. was made
for building the school, and the local trade society is about to
erect an extension at a cost of about 1,500l. There are 18 pupils,
nearly all of whom are admitted free, some being supported
REPORT. 55
by exhibitions subscribed for by the neighbouring towns. The
course, which extends over one year, consists of the ordinary
theoretical subjects, together with drawing and the technology of
watch and clock-making, supplemented by 30 hours per week of
practical work in the shops.
Another industry of the neighbourhood is that of straw plaiting
for hats, baskets, &c., and at Furtwangen a special government
school has been established, while, in addition to this, similar
instruction is given in straw-plaiting in many village schools during
the winter months. Samples of work done in the school are
exhibited in the Gewerbe Halle of Furtwangen.
A third important industry carried on in this district is that of
wood-carving, for which a school exists in the above town, contain-
ing about 30 pupils, who go through a regular course of drawing,
modelling, and wood-carving. The local authorities provide the
premises, and the State pays the teachers and furnishes models,
examples, and plant. The boys, in addition, attend the classes of
the trade school (Gewerbe schule) for theoretical studies. There
is in addition, at Furtwangen, a joiners’ school for training cabinet
makers, to which the pupils of the carving school are sent
one day per week to learn the general principles of furniture
construction.
Bavarian Industrial SchooZs.---Village industrial schools similar
to those described for Baden exist throughout Bavaria, and these,
like the former, are destined to assist and promote local industries.
They may be classiﬁed under the following heads :—
1. Weaving schools.
2. Wood-carving ,,
3. Basket-making ,,
4. Pottery ,,
5. Violin-making ,,
A description of the Work done in these schools, which was
inspected by the Commissioners at the Nuremberg Exhibition,
will also be found in Appendix 1, Vol. I.
Thurz'ng'ian Home Industries—The district of Thiiringen in
Saxony contains more varied industries than the Black Forest, but
the number of special schools is smaller than either in Baden or
Bavaria. In Sonneberg, which is the centre of the toy manufac—
turing district, specialised instruction is given to the work-people
in the trade continuation school (Fortbildunyssc/zule), especially
in drawing, modelling, and carving, the classes being held from
6 to 8 in the morning.
(4..) APPRENTIOESHIP ScHooLs IN AUSTRIA
In Austria an extensive movement has been recently set on foot
by the Government to establish apprenticeship schools, and
the latest reports show that there are now in Austria 84: trade
schools (Fachschulen) for the teaching of various industries.
These schools are chieﬂy situated in small provincial towns.
remote from the capital. Many have been founded by the
Straw plaiting.
Wood—carving
Joiners’ school.
Industrial
schools in
Bavaria.
Home in
dustries in
Thuringen.
Austrian ap—
prenticeship
schools.
56 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION t i
Joiners school,
Vienna.
Trade school
at Riva.
various trade societies (Gewerbevereine), of which there are
upwards of ﬁfty in Austria.
These schools may be divided into ﬁve classes :--1. Schools
for textile manufactures; 2. for wood and stone trades; 3. for
ceramic and glass trades; 4. metal industries; 5. for toys and
various small industries. A description of a few of these schools
will indicate their general aims. The schools of this class
belonging to the Lower Austrian Trade Society (one of the
largest and most inﬂuential of the trade associations above
referred to, which has its oﬁces and headquarters in Vienna)
are two in number; namely, a school for carpenters, and one
for weaving and dyeing?‘ the latter will be described in detail
when we come to treat specially of this class of schools. A
third school, for mechanics, is about to be established by the
Society on the model of the one in the Boulevard de la Villette
at Paris.
The J miners’ School, Vie/rma.——The school'forjoiners and wood-
carvers, is mainly a winter school. It is organized and controlled
by the Trade Society but receives a grant of 500l. a year from
the Government. The school building belongs to the city and is
granted to the Society at a low rental. This is not a free school,
the fee being 168. 8d. per month. The full course of studies
lasts 3%- years; after the expiration of which time the students
are supposed to be ﬁtted for the position either of skilled work-
men, foremen, or teachers. As in all the other schools, drawing
is the chief subject, and is taught _both during the day and in
the evening. Practical work of a high character is carried on in
a fully equipped cabinet maker’s shop, where at the time of our
visit, the students, 20 in number, were engaged in working at
the bench.
School for Wood Working at Rica, TyroL—Of the provincial
wood carving schools, we may select that at Riva as one
of the best examples. It aims not only at giving an industrial
training, but also a general education; the boys spending the
morning in the class-room, and taking industrial ‘work in the
afternoon. As in other schools, drawing is made a most important
feature, and modelling is also taught to all the students, the
director being strongly of opinion that mere workshop schools,
without the necessary provision for theoretical instruction, are
useless.
Dr. Exner, the Secretary of the Lower Austrian Trade
Association (to whom we are indebted for many acts of kindness),
and who is the Government Inspector of the Fachsohulen for
woodwork, and a member of the Austrian Parliament, gave us
many very interesting particulars concerning the beneﬁcial effect
of the schools in various parts of Austria. He stated that in
some cases new industries had been created by the action of such
schools. For instance, at Arco, near the lake of Garda, in the
Tyrol, he found that olive wood was being used as fuel; a small

Beneﬁcial in-
ﬂuence of
apprenticeship
schools in
Austria.
* The report on the weaving school will be found on p. 145.
1 REPORT. 57
school was established with ﬁve lathes ; an instructor was pro-
- vided, and the children were taught drawing and modelling as
well as practical work. This instruction had resulted in the
erection of two factories, all the workmen in which were trained
in the school, and the place is now the seat of a small but
ﬂourishing trade.
The Commissioners on visiting the school at Arco found the
above statements were fully borne out. A detailed account of
the interesting work carried on at Arco will be found in
Appendix 1, Vol. I. Schools of a somewhat similar character
have been visited by the Commissioners at Villach, Cortina,
Innsbruck, and Salzburg (for a detailed description see the above
Appendix).
F achschulen have been created to remedy the acknowledged
defects of the apprenticeship system, and Dr. Exner thinks
that, apart from the introduction of new handicrafts, their effect
has been to develope industry to a great extent in Austria.
They have in some instances served as models for the very recent
establishment of similar schools in Prussia.
(5.) APPRENTIGESHIP AND ARTIZAN SoHooLs IN BELGIUM.
The aim of these schools,as explained to us by the Minister of the
Interior, is to give to the workman a scientiﬁc instruction which
he is unable to obtain in the workshop; to procure for him the
means of improving his material condition and of developing his
intelligence; to lead him gradually away from the tyranny of
routine; and to increase the economic value of his labour, and
thus to put him in a position to contribute to increased production
to his own and to the national beneﬁt.
These schools are carried on every evening in the week,
generally from 7 to 9.30, and for three hours on Sunday mornings.
They are free, and are mainly supported by Government and
municipal grants.
From 1840-1844 the number of communal industrial schools
subsidised by the State was only ﬁve, whereas in 1881 there
existed 34 of these schools, not counting the Provincial Industrial
School of Hainault, established at Mons, and the Superior
Commercial Institute of Antwerp.
There is no prescribed course or uniformity in the programmes
of these schools. The instruction varies greatly in the different
schools, being developed in accordance with the requirements
of local industries. The general course comprises the French or
Flemish language, according to the geographical position of the
school, arithmetic, commercial arithmetic, geometry, elementary
notions of technology, physics, chemistry, mechanics, the laws
of health, and industrial economy. Together with these are
certain special classes calculated to enable the workmen to obtain
certiﬁcates for competency in various branches of industry.
Drawing is the basis of all the instruction, and is regarded as
the universal language. The lessons in this subject follow a
graduated course, and are founded on drawing from the round.
Trade school
at Arco.
Belgian Indus-
trial Schools.
Course of in-
struction.
Drawing the
basis of all in-
struction.
58 ROYAL COMMISSION‘ ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Belgian system
of teaching
drawing.
Number of
scholars.
ﬁrussels In-
dustrial School.
Antwerp In-
.lastrial School.
The following extract, for which we are indebted to M. Rombauts
Report, will give an idea of the peculiar method of teaching
drawing adopted almost universally throughout the Belgian
evening schools?!‘ When the workman arrives at the school, his
hands having been rendered clumsy by the coarse work which has
occupied him during the day, it is necessary ﬁrst to lead him to
obtain delicacy of touch, while at the same time giving him exact
ideas of dimensions. In order to do this, black-boards are in each
class room ﬁxed against the walls, each pupil having placed before
him a square metre of black-board surface. The teacher shows him
how to draw with chalk, without the aid of any instrument, various
forms of lines, straight, inclined, curved, and their various com-
binations. It is only when the workman has thoroughly acquainted
himself with the idea of these lines by the use of chalk that he
begins to draw with charcoal on paper. This instruction lasts
about a year, being carried on every evening of the week, after
which the pupil passes on to the study of projection and ornament.
This leads him up to industrial drawing bearing on his special
trade, as also to original designing and drawing to scale. The
instruction is given at night after the termination of the day’s
work. The duration of each lesson is one hour, two hours being
employed each evening, one hour of oral instruction always
preceding the drawing lesson. The course lasts from three to
ﬁve years, according to the locality and the importance of the
subject. On Sundays the instruction is given throughout the
morning. The last hour is generally devoted to a lecture given
in the form of a discussion, which is open to the public. These‘
lectures include industrial economy, constitutional law, and
hygiene.
The total numbers of scholars in these schools in the year 1878
(the last in which complete returns have been made up) will be
seen from the table in Appendix 9, Vol. V. to have been 8,387, out
of a population of 5% millions.
The Ecole Industrielle of Brussels is housed in the basement and
ground ﬂoor of the Royal Industrial Museum. In this school not
only is evening instruction given, but there are also day classes for
architects and mechanical draughtsmen. The school contains
chemical and physical laboratories, and is especially characterised
by its valuable‘ industrial library, which is open to the public. The
building is wholly inadequate for the purposes of the school, the
collections being mainly arranged in damp cellars, and the class-
rooms being insufficient for the accommodation of the pupils; and
hence the school is not altogether so successful as might he
wished.
The Ecole I ndustrz'elle d’Anvers (Nij erheid—sehool van Antwerpen
voor Werk en Ambaehtslieden) is an evening school for work-
men, who go through a deﬁnite course of instruction, having
lessons in geometry, elementary science, and in drawing in its

"‘ See Report by M. Rombaut, Inspecteur de l’Enseignment Technique, on
Industrial and Professional education in Belgium.
REPORT. 59
special application to various trades. The teaching is free, and
is given in the Flemish language. In addition to the general
course of instruction, which all the students of this school, as of
other similar schools in Belgium, are expected to follow, the Com-
missioners found classes in which workmen are taught various
special trades, such as wood-graining and painting in imitation of
marble; these being industries carried on in the city of Antwerp.
27 pupils were at work in this class. The school contains 150 Number of
pupils in ﬁve classes. They enter at the age of 14 and upwards, PuPlls'
and remain four or ﬁve years. By a special ministerial decree,
children from the primary schools, who can satisfy the conditions
of entrance, are admitted at the early age of 12 years. Most of
the pupils, however, have already spent more or less time in the
workshop, and have therefore gained some familiarity with the
practical details of their trade. The lessons take place between
the hours of 6 and 9 every evening. The present building is
very antiquated, and the school has been in existence for 18 years. ' '
A new building is about to be erected. Here, as in almost all Ne‘? btmédmg
other schools in Belgium which the Commissioners visited, special Pm'lec e ‘
attention is paid to drawing, the system being similar to the one
already described.
It is worthy of notice in connection with this school, as well as Pupils follow a
with other schools in Belgium, that the pupils are expected to go °°mPlete
through a complete course of instruction as laid down in the Course'
programme for each year, and do not select such subjects as they
themselves may consider to be more especially applicable to their
own Work. There is a preparatory course for young men who
are not sufficiently advanced to enter the school. The annual
cost of the establishment is 9001., part of which is contributed
by the town and part by the province and by the state.
The Ecole Industrielle of Ghent, also visited by the Commis- GhentIndus-
sioners, may be taken as a type of others of a similar class mal School‘
inspected by them, amongst which was that at Verviers. The
school is housed in a ﬁne and commodious building, which has
recently been erected. Classes are held in this school, both in
the day and in the evening. The school is divided into four
sections. Certain classes, among which is one for practical
chemistry, meeting every Sunday morning from 11 to l, and
language classes, especially English and German, held in the
evenings from 8 to 9, are common to all the sections.
The ﬁrst section is especially designed for workmen. The Wofkmen’s
course in this section is given on Sunday morning, and on Monday 860mm‘
after 5 o’clock; most of the works at Ghent closing at half-past 4
on Mondays for the purpose of enabling the young work~
men to attend the school. The lessons in this section are given
altogether in Flemish, and include book—keeping, arithmetic, the
elements of algebra, plane and descriptive geometry, land—
surveying and levelling, physics, chemistry, mechanics, steam,
linear drawing and its applications to machine drawing and
building construction. The drawing classes, however, are given
60 ROYAL COMMISSION on TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Sunday draw-
ing classes.
Foremen’s
section.
“leaving
school.
Industrial art
school.
. commerce, &c.
not only on Sunday morning, but also on four evenings’of the
week from 6 to 8, and they are common to the four sectionsof
the school.
The second section is intended for foremen, clerks, employés,
managers’ sons, &c., that is to say, for young persons who have
received a middle-class education, and are employed in industry,
The instruction is a stage higher than in the
ﬁrst section, and the courses are given in French, on every
evening in the week from 6 to 9. The subjects include book-
keeping, physics, chemistry, technological chemistry, mechanics,
machine drawing and construction, drawing, and industrial
economy.
A third section is the weaving school, forming one of the
Atelz'ers d’Apprentz'sagc, the reason for the existence of this
special school being that Ghent is the centre of the two great
textile industries of cotton and ﬂax, the course here having
special reference to these manufactures. The pupils in this
section attend lectures on weaving, and work practically at
the loom. The workshop contains a considerable variety of
looms, of which four or ﬁve are power-looms driven by a steam
engine. The pupils are expected to attend the weaving school
every day from 9 to 12 and from 2 ‘to 5. At least three
afternoons per week are devoted to ornamental designing and to
putting the design on the loom. In the evening the pupils follow
the various courses of the second section. The weaving course is a
three years’ one. The ﬁrst two years are devoted principally to
mathematics, the elements of physics and chemistry, mechanical
drawing, andthe principles of weaving, and the third year to the
more special application of these subjects, and includes instruc-
tion in chemical technology, spinning, and practical work in the
sheds.
For various reasons, including, among others, the inability of
many of the pupils to devote two or three years to the study,
without bursaries (which are not yet forthcoming, but which it is
hoped will be shortly established), this department of the school
is not well attended, and does not altogether satisfy the expectations
of its founders. The Atelier d’Apprentisage at Thielt, ‘however,
a school of a somewhat similar character, is in a very flourishing
and active state.
The fourth section is the special industrial art school. The
object of this school is to train (1) designers for textile fabrics of
all kinds, for lace—making and embroidery, and for furniture,
bronze, and goldsmiths’ work; (2) ornamental modellers for house
decoration; and (3) decorative painters. The pupils of this
section attend the schools of drawing, painting, and modelling,
during the day, from 9 to 12 and from 2 to 5 ; they also visit the
evening courses on weaving, and they may likewise have instruc-
tion in book-keeping, English, and German. The course lasts
from three to four years, according to the aptitude of the pupils.
and their knowledge of drawing.
REPORT. 61
An interesting department of the institution is the school of School of
photography, to which an addition has recently been made in the Photograph)’-
form of a photographic studio, having especial reference to the
applications of photography to art industry. The pupils attending
this department are usually engaged in some branch of the printing
trade. In the winter a “course of lectures is given on the
principles of photography, and in the summer the class practises
the various operations connected with photo—lithography and
otheilapplications of' photography to printing purposes.
Other special coursesmof lectures are given in this school; one Lsilctul’es {111
of’ these being on the industrial applications of electricity, a subject 0t er sublects'
which is now attracting much attention. Another, which, it is
claimed, was the ﬁrst of its kind in Europe, is one on Heat for
steam-boiler stokers.
The Commissioners attended a lecture on elementary chemistry,
by one of the Professors of the University of Ghent, and they
were struck with the excellence of the teaching.
It is a condition of admission that the pupils must be
14 years of age, unless under special license from the director.
They are all externes, and all the courses are gratuitous.
We append tables showing (1) the ages of the pupils, and
(2) their several occupations, for the year 1881-82.
I
From 14 to 17 years of age - - - 502 Ages of pupils..
,, 18 ,, 2O ,, - - - 253
,, 21 ,, 23 ,, - - - 117
,, 24 ,, 26 ,, - - - 51
,, 27 ,, 30 ,, - - - 30
Above 30 years of age - - - 26
Female students - - - — - 10
Total - - 989
II.
Manufacturers’ clerks - - - - 138 Occupation of
Mechanical draughtsmen - - - 11 Pupils-
Painters, decorators, and carvers — - - 90 ‘
Teachers - ~ ~ - - 18
Students and schoo boys - - - - 168
Stokers - - - - — 13
Fitters and engineers - - — - 45
Smiths and locksmiths - - - 74
Iron turners - - - - - - 32
Carpenters, cabinet-makers, &c. — 118
Soldiers — - - - - - 23
62 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION I
Liege Indus-
trial School.
Diplomas.
New school in
course of
erection.
A model
building for
industrial
school.
Occupations of
the students.
Dyers and spinners ~ - - 33
Printers - ~ - - - - - 14
Stone and marble masons - - 8
Employed in chemical works » - - 15
Various professions - - - 144
Mechanics of no speciﬁed trade - - - 35
Female students - - - - 10
Total ~ - - 989
,__-__-_
The total annual expenditure is 2,_()10l., of which 1,534l. is
spent in salaries of staff.
In a similar school, the Ei'cole Indnstrz'elle at Liége, also visited
by the Commissioners, very great attention was devoted to
the teaching of mechanical drawing, particularly in its applica~
tions to the special trades in which the students are engaged.
Many of the teachers have been draughtsmen in architects’ or
engineers’ ofﬁces, and in all cases they were practically acquainted
from personal experience with the details of the industry in
connection with which the drawing instruction was being given.
Special attention is likewise paid to the elements of industrial
chemistry and metallurgy, applied mechanics, building con-
struction, and mathematics.
The school gives three special diplomas to the ﬁrst student
of each of these three latter sections.
The Commissioners found the school accommodated in a very
poor and inadequate structure, and the utter insuﬁiciency of the
accommodation, which was eloquently complained of in the Report
on the condition of Industrial and Professional Education in
Belgium, presented to the Legislative Chamber in 1879 by the
Minister of the Interior, resulted in the determination of the
municipality to erect a commodious building capable of providing
for the greatly increasing number of applicants desirous of
profiting by the special technical instruction. The new building
which the Commissioners visited, and which has since been
opened, has been erected at a cost of about 20,000l. It contains
very large chemical and physical laboratories and lecture rooms;
numerous spacious drawing-rooms for freehand, linear, and
architectural and machine drawing; a museum for collections for
purposes of instruction, a library, rooms for teachers and director,
and, in fact, may serve in :every way as a model building for an
evening industrial school. We were so satisﬁed with this building
that we thought it might be serviceable to append drawings of
it, which are contained in the Appendix, Vol. V.
The Commissioners were so much struck with the excellence
of the drawing carried on in the school, especially in the
elementary stage of freehand drawing, that they requested the
professor, M. Thomas, to furnish them with a statement of
the occupations of the students (numbering 121) at work on the
ruzron'r. 63
occasion of their visit. From this information, which has been
supplied through the kindness of M. Magis, the alderman in
charge of instruction in the city, the following list has been
compiled: moulders, 9; strikers, 2; mechanics, ﬁtters, &c., 14;
engineers, 8; armourers, 7 ; telephone ﬁtter, 1; locksmiths, 7;
wheelwright, 1 ; tinsmith, 1 ; carriage ﬁtters, 2; wood turners,4= ;
joiners and cabinet makers, 21 ; masons, 7; painters and
stainers, 3; tracers, 5; modellers, 4; shoemaker, 1; baker, 1;
cigar maker, 1; merchant, 1; shop assistants, 8; farmer, 1;
gardener, 1 ; soldiers, 2 ; students and schoolboys, 9.
The Eeole Industrielle, Louvain, At Louvain, a town of 35,000 Lpuvain Indus-
inhabitants, there is an interesting school of the same kind. The ma‘ School-
teachers of the school thoroughly understand the kind of
instruction which is required for workmen, and by omitting the
dry details of a purely scientiﬁc education, are able from the
very commencement to engage and retain the attention of their
numerous students.
' The Commissioners were introduced by M. de Taeye, the
Government inspector of these schools, (who has devoted much
attention to the methods of teaching drawing, and whose system
is about to be adopted throughout Belgium),* and had the
opportunity of making a close inspection of this establishment.
This school was founded in the year 1876; it is located in
the same building as the Academy of Fine Arts, and the two
establishments are placed under the same direction.
A remarkable feature of this school is the excellence of the Excellence 0.?
drawing, which comprises freehand drawing, study from the cast, drawing
sketches of large models, ornamental ﬁgures, and drawings of the
elements of machines as well as of the machines themselves. The
drawing is carried on in large and commodious rooms formerly
belonging to one of the old colleges of the University. The school
also contains a large and excellent collection of machine models
manufactured by Schroeder of Darmstadt.
The Commissioners noted that in none of the above-mentioned Absence of
schools, which are specially designed for workmen who are ,manual “'Ol-Ik
. . . . . . . 1n the Belgian
engaged during the daytime in their various handicrafts, 1s manual trade schotélg
instruction given in mechanical work. They learned from the
Director for Agriculture and Commerce that at the Industrial
School at Tournai such instruction is given, but that the success
which has attended it has not been suﬁicient to justify the
extension of this system to other evening industrial schools.
The Atelz'ers d’Apprentz'ssage.——-A class of schools, principally Belgian
day-schools, for the technical instruction of artisans, are the so- weaviqs
called Ateliers d’Apprentz'sage of Belgium, of which there are school‘l'
at present 58. These schools were founded about 1847 to 1850
when the flax industry in Flanders and other parts of Belgium,

* See Traité General de I’Enseignement des Arts du Dessin par Louis de Taeye.
64! ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION {
Dutch artizans’
or Ambachts
schools.
Former middle-
0 ass schools
were not well
supported.
owing to the introduction of power looms, was in a very critical
state. They have now served their purpose, and are carried on
at the present time, with few exceptions; as ordinary weaving
sheds, employed by contractors.
the chapter on Weaving Schools, p. 125. '
(6.) Arrnnn'rrcnsnrr ScHooLs in HOLLAND.
The artizans’ or Ambachts schools of Holland, which2 have been
established by private elfort for the-training ot‘worknrem'date back
about 20 years.*
their maintenance, to a certain extent, on local subscriptions. The
chief of these schools are at Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague,
and Arnheim. There are about 8 or 10 of them in all, and we
were informed by Dr. Steyn Parvé that they were doing excellent
work, and were in a ﬂourishing condition; we visited two of
them, those of Amsterdam and Rotterdam.
It was found that the lower middle class schools, contemplated
by the law of 1863, in which only a purely literary instruction was
to be provided, were not by any means heartily supported, and,
owing to the decay of apprenticeship, it was felt that‘ some
proper training should be provided for the children of those
parents who could afford to maintain them for a few years after
the completion of their elementary education, during which they
might receive better instruction than could be gained in the
ordinary workshop. As soon as local effort had supplied this
want, the Government authorities permitted these new 'schools
to take the place of the middle class schools, the foundation of
which was made obligatory by the recent law. Following the
example of Amsterdam, the town of Rotterdam opened a school
of this kind,‘ and the success there obtained encouraged other
localities to found schools of this type. The school of The
Hague was opened in 1873, that of Arnheim in 1874. At
Amsterdam and The Hague professional schools have also been
established for girls.
The Ambachts School, Amsterdam.—-This school, which was
visited by the Commissioners, was founded by private initiative in
1861, for the purpose of teaching the handicrafts required in house
and ship building. Candidates for admission must be at least 13
years old, must produce a certiﬁcate of good conduct, and must have
received a satisfactory elementary education. The students are
admitted by patronage, or by an annual payment of 248. In this trade
school, as in that of Rotterdam, the general education is continued,
and special instruction is given in algebra, geometry, mechanics,

Ambachts
school,
Amsterdam.
* The ﬁrst school of this type in Holland was founded in Amsterdam by the
Working Men’s Association (Maatschappgj van den wcrkenden stand) in 1860.
It was subsidised by the town and, in addition to giving a literaryinstruction, possessed
workshops for teaching carpentry, joiners’ work, smiths’ work, painting, 8“).
We allude to them further in
They all receive Government aid, but depend for ‘
REPORT.
physics, and the use of machines, tools, and building materials.
Instruction in drawing forms an important portion of the curri-
culum, and includes lineal, ornamental, and decorative drawing,
drawing from nature, and architectural drawing. The students
work in the shop, 16 hours weekly, at carpentry, forging, turning,
and carving. The course of instruction extends over three years.
Of the 160 pupils in attendance at the school, 108 are in training
to become carpenters, 36 smiths, 9 cabinet makers, 3 sculptors, 2
turners, 1 house painter, and 1 engraver.
Students who distinguish themselves by their diligence, good
behaviour, and special progress, receive certiﬁcates of recommen-
dation by which they are particularly brought under the notice of
masters of workshops and other employers of labour.
The annual expenses of the school amount to 1,6001. Towards
this the city contributes 800l., the province 480i ; private sub—
scribers, 1601., and the remaining expense is borne by the society
which founded the school.
The Ambachts School, Rotterdam—This school was established
in 1869 by the Rotterdam branch of the Netherlands Architec-
tural Society, in order to train skilled artizans, and thus to remedy
the acknowledged defects in the system of apprenticeship. It
receives an annual grant from the Town Council, on condition that
the programme includes all the branches of theoretical instruction
recognised in the three years’ course of public middle class schools.
rl‘he funds necessary for the foundation of the school were subscribed
voluntarily; a building was purchased, and the institution was
inaugurated on April 1st, 1869. The main building contains
the various class-rooms; the director’s residence and the work-
shops have been constructed round a small open court in the
rear. As the object is to train workmen well versed in the
practice of the various trades, the boys are as far as possible
engaged on useful work, capable of being sold or employed in the
school.
As soon as the boys have learnt- the use of the various tools,
they begin to make small articles which have a marketable value,
and thus realise that they are working with a view to the com-
mercial results of their labour. It has been found, from experience,
that his being engaged on a bona-ﬁde piece of workmanship serves
as a powerful stimulus to the pupil. The workshops are as
far as possible kept up to the level of modern requirements, and
have frequently been extended to accommodate the increasing
number of students. They comprise shops for carpenters, black-
smiths, metal workers, ﬁtters and turners, cabinet-makers, masons,
and stone-carvers.
The articles made in the school are sold to dealers, and orders
are also executed for the municipal authorities. At the time
of our visit, the carpenters were engaged in carrying out a large
order for the desks of a primary school. Many doors, window
frames and ﬁttings are made for builders. The metal workers were
making locks, hinges, shovels, hooks, smiths’ tongs; also stoves
R1 1726. E
Ambachts
school,
Rotterdam.
System of
workshop
training.
66 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION!
Workshop
schools in
Bavaria.
and coal scut-tles. The lads in the shops work under the direc-
tion of practical foremen. The school hours in summer are from
8 a.m. to 7 p.m., or till 6 on Saturdays, and in winter tSeptember
1st to March 31st) from 8 am. to 5.30 pm. The mornings are
spent in the class-rooms, and the afternoons in the shops. The time
table of this school is given in Appendix 10, Vol. V. The general
instruction is in continuation of the ordinary teaching of the
elementary school 3 the teachers bear in mind that the boys are to
become artisans, and the examples are therefore taken as much
as possible from their future profession. Drawing is carefully
taught and is made thoroughly practical. The boys begin with
copying rectilinear and curved ﬁgures and simple ornament from.
casts. In the architectural course, as soon as they have acquired
suﬂicient skill, they draw details of construction, and make
measured drawings from actual work. In the advanced class
they learn mechanical projection and simple perspective as
applied to architectural details and parts of houses. The staff
comprises Mr. D. de Vries and 20 masters and assistants. There
are over 280 boys, who pay 88. 4d. per annum for instruction,
and the fees are readily remitted to poor parents. The full
course lasts 3 years. Boys from 12 to 15 years of age, who have
completed their education at the primary school, are eligible for
admission, and when they have completed their full course of three
years they are under the patronage of the school committee,
who ﬁnd them situations for ﬁve years longer. It has been found
that these lads, on leaving the school, readily earn good wages and
are paid more than apprentices who have been trained in the
usual way. The school is maintained partly by subscription and
partly by grant from the town of Rotterdam, the province, and
the State. The school budget is about 2,500l, the Government.
grant being 1,7501. and that of the province 1661.
(7.) Arrnnu'rrcnsnrr ScHooLs IN ITALY.
Some of the technical institutes most nearly resemble the schools
of this type, but of apprenticeship schools proper we found no
examples in Italy.
CONVERSATIONS on An'rizANs’ ScnooLs.
In bringing the portion of our report concerning artizan’s;
technical schools to a conclusion, we may here insert the substance
of conversations which the Commissioners held with various
competent persons, on the question of the technical instruction of
the foreign artizan. We were informed by Mr. Fenton, the First
Secretary of the Legation at the Hague, that he was Secretary of
the Legation at Munich at the time of the building of the great
Polytechnic School of that city, and on three occasions he reported
on technical education in Bavaria. Some few years ago there
was no workshop teaching in any of the schools of that country.
It was then considered that it was no business of the school to
trench upon the province of the workshop. He believed that
the views of many German educationists were becoming some-
REPORT. s7
what modiﬁed on this question, and that they were ﬁnding that
the workshop could help the school just as the school could help
the workshop. Just in the same way as the laboratory illustrates
the principles of chemistry, so the actual machine or mechanical
operation often illustrates the principles of mechanics, and in
each case the student without practical illustrations would less
rapidly acquire the knowledge which he seeks.
With regard to the comparison between English and foreign
workmen, Mr. Fenton stated that, after a long experience of the
Continent and close observation in several countries, he has
found no workmen comparable with the English, and if the
English workman with his physical strength and force of
character will cultivate his intelligence, he will still further
distance the foreigner. I
We met Mr. Diefenbach at the opening of the Exhibition at
Nuremberg, to which he had been invited as repiesenting the
Education Department of Wurtemberg.
He informed us that there me no workshop schools in 'Wur-
temberg like the apprenticeship schools of Paris or the industrial
schools of Bavaria. The authorities have held that the best
place for teaching a trade, or manual labour in any form, is the
workshop. But they believe, as ardently as any of the promoters
of technical education, that science and art are subjects requiring
to be taught to the workman, and that a knowledge of theory
should, as far as possible, go hand in hand with practice. The
all-important problem with them has been (1) how to give a
sound education to all the young artizans as they grow up,
and (2) to do so without interfering with their daily labour.
They are attempting to solve this problem by the establishment
of evening and Sunday schools, and by insuring the attendance
of artizans at these schools. The evening schools are similar in
many respects to the Fortbildung schools of other German states,
and are established everywhere in VVurtemberg. The curriculum
is arranged to suit the wants of the apprentices and workmen in
each locality. In Wurtemberg a boy leaves school at 14:, and
becomes an apprentice till 18. l: lthough this is the usual term,
Mr. Diefenbach considers it is much too short for learning a
trade.) During his apprenticeship he attends the Fortbildung
school, which supplements his earlier education in ordinary
literary subjects, and teaches him the sciences bearing upon his
trade, and drawing. The more advanced students pursue
methods very similar to those of the Science and Art Department
in England, with which Mr. Diefenbach is familiar. The
backward students, who cannot take up science without some
preparation, begin their evening instruction at the beginning;
the ultimate aim of the schools is to teach that which will
best help the student in his daily life and labour.
In \Vurtemberg, whilst the day schools are organised and
controlled by local school boards, the Fortbildung schools are
managed by a Commision, composed of members of the town
Conversation
with Mr. J. Die '
fenbach, Re-
gzerungsrath.
Stuttgart.
No workshop
schools in
Wurtemberg.
Existence of
local school
boards in
Wurtemberg.
E2
68 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION I
Government
inspection and
examination.
Science
teachers not
paid by results,
but by ﬁxed
stipends.
Evening
schools :
co-operation
of employers
and parents.
Trade Societies
inWurtembcrg.
council and the local Gewerbevereine, and are maintained, half
by the town, and half by the State, and are free to the students.
There are yearly examinations, theoretical and practical, which
are publicly advertised, and any persons can sit, whether they
have attended the public schools or not. The theoretical
examination is held in the school, in the presence of the Commis-
sion. The practical examination is held in some workshop,
under a Government inspector thoroughly conversant with
practical work. On the udgment of the examiners in practice
and theory, diplomas are granted to which great value is attached
by the students, as they help them in obtaining situations.
The science and art teachers are not paid by results, as under
the South Kensington system. Mr. Diefenbach considers this an“
advantage, as the teacher is relieved from the anxiety of trusting
to the whims of careless students in order to obtain a precarious
income. The pay of the teacher is usually 28. per hour for
evening work, be his students many or few.
Employers take an interest in the night schools, and note the
attendance of their apprentices by the registers which are sent
to them. In cases of absence without justiﬁcation the employers
of the apprentices are duly informed. There is no compulsion to
attend night schools as in some other parts of Germany, but
attendance of apprentices is, in a great degree, assured by the
cordial co-operation of employers and parents. The latter are
fully conscious of the importance of having their children
educated, while the former give preference to those who are
1egular and painstaking in their school work. We were assured
that, as in England, there is an indisposition on the part of
employers to interfere with their workpeople after work hours;
in fact, unless judiciously managed, such interference would be
resented, but the question of school attendance is managed with
sufficient delicacy to disarm all opposition.
As an organiser of evening schools, Mr. Diefenbach does not
favour direct compulsory attendance; from a teacher’s point of
view, in particular, compulsion is not desirable. Pupils anxious
to get on area delight to the teacher, but idle and unwilling
pupils are a nuisance, and keep bu ck a whole school.
On the question of industrial associations (Gewerbevereine),
his information was interesting and important. They are
voluntary institutions, and in Germany there is scarcely a town
without them. They aim at promoting the spread of knowledge
and culture in the several localities, and in this respect resemble
the Mechanics’ Institutes of England. They also interest them—
selves, like Chambers of Commerce, in increasing facilities for
trading, improving communication between different towns,
giving protection to inventions, &c. They raise funds for ex-
hibitions, entertainments, excursions for worn-out or disabled
workmen, and take the initiative in any movement for improving
or amusing the people.
REPORT. 69
The members pay a small subscription ; in some towns as
much as 208. to 308. a year, in others as many pence. They
often meet in taverns when they have no rooms or clubs of
their own. Many foremen and workmen are members, on terms
of equality with their employers.
Mr. Diefeubach summed up by saying that his Government Education of
is of opinion that, for securing the permanent prosperity of the the artizanﬁnd
State, the most important education is that of the artizan. The Qﬁfﬁssgiﬁty
work of the world is done by him. and that nation which connected.
educates the artisan will excel in industry and manufactures.
Is it not true that in nine cases out of ten the great inventions
and improvements in machinery come either from the workers
themselves or from those who have gone through the artizan’s
training ? Yet the artizan of all men has the least choice as to
his own education or that of his child. The rich man can send
his child to any town or country, and can select the school most
suitable for his wants. The artizan’s poverty precludes choice,
the school must be near his home. It is, therefore, all the more
important that it should be a good school, not for the sake of
the individual only, but for the sake of the community. it is
in accordance with these views that the education of Wurtemberg
is framed and administered.
lIL- -IN TERMEDIATE TECH N [CAL SCHOOLS
FOR FOREMEN AND DEPARTMENTAL MANAGERS.
Having considered the means of instruction available in Education of
the countries we visited for the education of those intended to foremen
become workmen or to occupy the lower grades in industrial abroad‘
establishments, we now pass on to our next subdivision, which
includes schools of a higher grade, in which technical instruction is
imparted either as a sequel to, or in conjunction with, a secondary
or even superior education. This section comprises a very numerous
series of differently constituted institutions, varying widely in
their aim, and diﬁicult of classiﬁcation in groups. They afford
education in many cases, not only to the most promising pupils
of the elementary schools, destined to enter life as workmen, but
also to the children of foremen, tradesmen, and small manu-
facturers. Their object is. in most instances, to prepare young
men for intermediate posts in industrial occupations. For the Grouping of
sake of clearness we propose to treat of these schools under the intemerﬁate
following heads, selected with reference, as far as possible, to technical
the main objects such schools are intended to serve, namely,_— schwl"
I. General technical schools, together with those in which
the instruction is specialized for building, mechanical
engineering, and mining ;
II. Weaving schools;
III. Industrial Art schools.
70 ROYAL COMMISSIGN ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION;
General
technical
schools
abroad.
French Higher
Elementary
Technical
Schools.
La Martiniere
School, Lyons.
I. GENERAL TECHNICAL ScHooLs.
In the ﬁrst of these divisions we include a number of schools
difficult of independent classiﬁcation, which are intended to give
an education embracing a rather Wide range of subjects, in which
technical and secondary education are combined with reference to
one or more industries. Most of these schools are of a general
character, and they are of different grades, some of them affording
education to boys of from 10 to 15 years of age, and others to
youths of from 15 to 20. The character of the technical in-
struction they impart is determined to a great extent by the
requirements of the district in which the schools are situated.
A large number of such schools are divided into three depart-
ments, two of which, the mechanical and chemical, are common
to most ‘of them, and the third is either for building trades,
commercial, textile, agricultural, or nautical students, according
to circumstances.
This classiﬁcation cannot, moreover, be understood as being by
any means very rigid; it has been adopted for convenience of
description and comparison. Many of these schools contain
departments which would fall more properly under some of the
special classes into which we have divided this group of institu-
tions. In some of them weaving, dyeing, and other trades are
practically taught. In our detailed examination of these schools
We have endeavoured to class them according to their grade,
rising from the more elementary to those more advanced. We
may proceed to deal with them under the three following
heads :-~
A. Higher Elementary Technical Schools;
B. Secondary Technical Schools; and
C. Building, Engineering, and Mining Schools.
A. HIGHER ELEMENTARY TECHNICAL SoHooLs.
(1.) IN FRANCE.
The desire in France to associate instruction in manual or
handicraft work with primary education has already been referred
to in our ﬁrst Report, and the causes which have led to this
movement have operated in a similar way in French schools of
a higher grade, in many of which manual work has been intro‘
duced with considerable success.
The M ct'rt'im'ére School at Ly0ns.——Of higher elementary schools,
which are specially adapted to give a sound practical training to
those who are to enter industrial or commercial life at a com-
paratively early age, the well known school of La Martini‘ere,
at Lyons, furnishes a typical example. We visited this school
on the 19th, 20th, and 22nd of November 1881, and were present
REPORT. 71
.during the teaching of several of the classes, and carefully
examined the workshops, laboratories, and collections under the
courteous guidance of M. Lang, the director.
This school was founded 50 years ago by a bequest from Major-
General Martin, who left Lyons a poor boy, fought against the
English under Tippoo Sahib, and entered the service of the East
India Company after Seringapatam had fallen. More than 20
years elapsed before the City of Lyons could recover his legacy
from the Indian courts, and the school was at length established
in 1830, on the remnant saved from the lawyers. The school was
intended to give to the poorer classes of Lyons an education
which should enable them to improve their position in after life.
M. A. Monmartin thus sets forth the object which the founders
of the Martiniere had in View in creating this industrial school.
“ The intention of this school is to instruct the son of the Work—
“ man, of the artizan, of the small manufacturer, or the tradesmen
of Lyons graiutz'ously in the sciences and arts applied to
industry; to develops in him on the sole condition that he is
intelligent, moral, and industrious, those aptitudes which will
most surely conduct him to well—being, if not to fortune, and to
create new elements of productive force, and of future prosperity
to the country.”*
The school is housed in a large, but somewhat antiquated
building (formerly an old convent of the Augustines) adapted and
furnished at a cost of 40,000Z. It contains good class-rooms,
each capable of accommodating 80 pupils, a very large drawing
room, in which all the pupils of the different divisions can work
at once, workshops, laboratory, museum, library, council-room,
‘(
‘6
Foundation.
Objects.
Buildings.
director’s oﬂice, &c., together with several dwelling-houses for the \
head master and other officials.
The school is presided over by an administrative commission,
composed of seven members, who are nominated by the Minister
of Agriculture and Commerce on the recommendation of the
Municipality. The appointment is for seven years, and one
member retires annually, but is eligible for re—election. The
Mayor of Lyons is the ex-oﬂicio President of the Commission,
and the trustee of the fund under the will of Major-General
Martin, is the Vice- President. This committee appoints and
dismisses the teachers, selecting them as far as possible from the
old students of the school, but they must have completed their
instruction as masters, and have obtained the diplomas of‘
secondary teachers, and, for employment in some branches, of
superior teachers.
A principal, a vice-principal, and ﬁve superintendents form the
administrative staff, and the instruction is carried on under the
care of 40 masters and 10 assistant teachers. These latter con—
stitute a division of masters in training, and form an integral part
of the organisation for teaching, as well as for disciplinary
purposes. There is also a registrar and a chemical assistant.

* l’recis sur l’Ecole Martiniere par- A. Monmartin, Lyons, 1862 (p. 6).
Administrative
Commission.
Staff.
72 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION I
Conditions of
admission.
The course of
Instruction.
Methods of
teaching.
Teaching of
drawing.
The children are admitted to the school between the ages of i3
and 15, and in the month of October only, the preference being
given to ‘the sons of poor parents. The instruction is wholly
gratuitous, no charge even being made for materials; the aim is
kept in view of completing the course at an age at which the lads
are still pliant and can readily adapt themselves to the
special trade to which they may be apprenticed. The workshop
instruction therefore is only carried to a point at which it is
preparatory to after workshop training, thus permitting time for
a more complete development of the theoretical studies of the
pupils.
The number of boys is about 500. At the time of the
Commissioners visit, these were divided as follows :—-
1st year - - 273
2nd year — 164
3rd year - 62
499
The instruction comprises writing, arithmetic, algebra, geometry,
kinematics, mechanics, book-keeping, commerical arithmetic,
history and geography, study of the German and English
languages, physics and chemistry, architectural and industrial
drawing, and religion; the staple subjects being mathematics,
physics, chemistry, and drawing. Under the present director
attention has been given to the French language and literature,
and an attempt has been made to establish a better balance
between the literary and the scientiﬁc training. The course is
one of three years.
The system of instruction is peculiar, having a character of
semi-military drill. Large classes of 7 O or 80 boys are conducted
by one teacher with the help of an assistant. The method has
some resemblance to the mode of teaching mental arithmetic in this
country. Questions are put to the class and answers are taken
either orally from such scholars as the teacher may ﬁx upon, or
collectively on small slates or blackboards with which the scholars
are provided, and on which the answers are written. These are
collected by the assistant and quickly passed in review before the
eyes of the teacher, who readily detects any errors which the boys
may have made. In the teaching of arithmetic and algebra, a series of
questions are given out on slips of paper, and the work is performed
on one slate whilst the scholar is provided with a second slate on
which he has to transcribe one or more answers arbitrarily chosen
by the teacher ; these “ answering” slates are then collected and
examined. This system certainly renders the boys quick and active‘
minded, but it is doubtful whether a system of >0 mechanical a
character is capable of satisfactory application to any wide range
of subjects.
The method of teaching drawing is not open to this criticism,
and the results obtained in freehand as well as in mechanical
REPORT. 73
drawing in the three years appear to be highly satisfactory. This
instruction is given to all the pupils in one large room about
140 feet X 455 feet, divided into sections by screens. The, boys are
arrangel in circles round the object to be drawn, being seated on
stools or “horses” with a back which can be inclined to any
desired angle to support the slate or drawing board. At ﬁrst the
pupil draws on his slate only, to facilitate correction and avoid
Waste of paper; and the slate draw ings of the pupils were found by
the Commissioners to be excellent. Drawing from solids is insisted
upon. The boys begin by copying from outline ﬁgures, squares, and
circles constructed of stout wire. From this they pass to skeleton
solids, and then to block-models of architecture. They then make
drawings from parts of machines and scientiﬁc instruments; by
this system they get a considerable power of neat and precise
drawing. The Commissioners noticed on the walls of the room
admirable diagrams prepared by the masters to show the way in
which the models are to be drawn.
All the boys are taught modelling in clay, to which they devote Modelling.
two hours per week.
After inspecting the drawing room, the Commissioners visited Workshops.
the workshops, which they found to be indifferently ﬁtted with
apparatus. In one long narrow side-lighted room in which there
were some 28 benches, the boys were engaged in planing boards,
cutting mortices, &c. In a room leading out of this, there were
about 36 lathes, and at these a class was at work turning cylin-
ders, tool-handles, 850. A foreman instructor was in charge of
each shop. All the boys in the school have practical work in the
shop, in the ﬁrst year for two hours per week, and in the second
and third years for three hours per week.
There is a collection of machines which has been bequeathed to Collection.
the school by one of its governors, M. Eynard, and this is
receiving constant additions of models made in the workshops of
the school.
The chemical laboratory seemed poorly ﬁtted considering the Chemical
good results said to be achieved by the school. There are three laboratories‘
masters for chemistry, of whom Professor Loir is the senior. The
boys of the second year are (li\ided into two classes of 70 each.
The lectures are well illustrated by experiments performed by
the professor, and the boys take excellent notes, with descriptive
sketches. Only the third year boys do practical work, for
which they have a laboratory containing 56 places, that is 14
benches with 4 working spaces on each bench. Five hours per
week are devoted to chemistry. Most of the chief chemists ot'
Lyons have received their early education in this school. In the
teaching of chemistry, as indeed in all the other subjects, no text
books are used.
Surveying, including practical ﬁeld work, is taught to all Surveying.
students of the second year.
The students visit factories and large works under the guidance Visits to works,
of the masters, and on their return they have to write out full
745 ROYAL CCMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
School hours.
Examinations
and rewards.
Changes in the
working.
Results.
Evening
classes.
Old Students’
Association.
Girls’ School.
descriptions of their visits. Under M. Lang’s directorship this
department of the school work has been encouraged and con—
siderably extended.
The school hours are from 7 to 1] in the morning and from
1 to 7 in the afternoon. The school session is from October to
June. The annual examinations then take place, and the prizes are
distributed on the lst of August. In addition to ordinary prizes
.the boys obtain money prizes, of amounts varying from 2L to 6L,
in a book, showing that these sums have been placed to
their credit in the local savings bank, 80Z. per annum being set
aside under the will of Gen. Martin for this latter purpose. There
are also about 20 sums of the value of 2t. each, offered by friends
of the school for the same purpose. The ﬁnal examination is
conducted by a competent board composed of engineers, manu-
facturers, &c.
Certain changes in the Working of the school have recently
been instituted, to some of which reference has already been made.
Of others we may mention the rule making the third year
compulsory in order to obtain the leaving-certiﬁcate. The
supplementary courses which occupied the third year and were
formerly optional, and practically useless, have been ~re-organized,
and the whole day occupied with school work. M. Lang has also
consolidated certain of the courses, and has striven to give a
continuity and systematic character to the training which had
hitherto been wanting. ‘ Many pupils still leave at the end of the
second year, but the number of boys staying for a third year is
on the increase. In the ﬁrst year of the experiment there were
49 third-year students, in the second year 49, in the third year
67, and in the fourth year 80.
The Martiniere boys are said usually to succeed well in the
careers which they choose in after life. The principal dyers of
the town are old pupils of the school. From 60 to 75 per cent.
go into commercial houses, making good clerks and business
assistants, and about 25 per cent. take up industrial pursuits.
Some few of the Martiniere pupils go to the Ecole Centrale, Lyons.
In conjunction with the Martinicre school there are also evening
classes, attended by about 250 adults who receive instruction
bearing on the local industries.
There is also an Old Students’ Friendly Association, the aim of
the members being to be mutually helpful to one another, and
to aid their poorer comrades in the acquisition of a higher
education.
The annual budget of the school is upwards of 4,0002.
For the programmes of the classes see Appendix 12, Vol. V.
La Zllartz'nz'ére School for GirZs.~—--In 187 9 a girls’ school was
added to the organization of the Martiniere, its object being to
enable young girls of the working classes to ﬁt themselves to ﬁll
remunerative situations on leaving the school. This forms at the
same time a superior primary and a professional school. The girls
on entry must have completed their 13th year. The school is
REPORT. 75
located at present on the seventh ﬂoor of a separate building, but
at the time of our visit was about to enter newer and more
commodious premises. The duration of study is three years and
the general course embraces mathematics, physics, chemistry,
drawing, grammar, history, geography, writing, and manual work.
This general instruction is obligatory on all the pupils. The
special instruction is given‘in three divisions (1) that of com-
mercial knowledge; (2) that of industrial drawing (with special
reference to designing patterns for lace, silk, and embroidery);
and (3) that of dressmaking and ﬁne needlework; and the girls
may choose which of these sections they will take. The mornings
are devoted to general studies, whilst in the afternoon the special
instruction is given, and a quarter of an hour’s interval for
recreation is given after each lesson. In the drawing classes the
pupils commence at once with drawing from models, and in
addition to this practical instruction they receive lessons in the
principles of ornament and design. When the new buildings are
completed additional sections will be added for instruction in
the making of artiﬁcial ﬂowers and the arrangement of feathers.
There are annual competitive examinations in the different
branches of study, on the results of which prizes and savings-
bank books are awarded. The course of instruction at this school
appeared to the Commissioners to be excellently arranged and
carried out.
In conversation, M. Lang expressed to the Commissioners his ‘M. Lang pn the
views concerning the question of technical education as carried ingégggtlgn Of
out in France, more especially with regard to apprentice schools. work into
He is strongly in favour of the introduction, even into the primary elementary
school, of a certain amount of handicraft work, yet he does not schools‘
think that the establishment of special apprentice schools should
be largely promoted. He conceives that the introduction of such
manual instruction should be made only to the extent of giving
boys a certain amount of readiness and aptitude in using their
hands. He believes that these exercises not only give them this
valuable power, but likewise greatly develope their faculties of
observation. A general increase in this kind of manual instruction
to more than three hours per week, he would deprecate, believing
that the Municipality or the State is not called upon to furnish
such instruction as qualiﬁes for any one particular trade, but
simply to go so far as that the knowledge gained may be applied
to trades generally.
M. Lang is also the director of the Society for Professional
Teaching in the Department of the Rhone, and has done much to
arrange and systematize the evening instruction which is now
largely given in Lyons (see ante p. 32, Evening Instruction).
The Ecole Professionnelle lllzmz‘cz'pale of Rheims is a school of a Professional
somewhat higher type than the foregoing, and is one of the best ‘$11,110.01 ff
of the higher elementary schools which the Commissioners have em"
seen. It was founded on the model of the schools of Mulhouse
and Nantes, and diﬁers from the Martiniere school by the further
development of manual labour in the shops.
76 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION!
Object of the
school.
Classiﬁcation
of pupils.
The school was established in 1875, in order to impart to the
youths of the city of Rheims special practical knowledge of manu-
lactures, and to train them early to satisfy the requirements of her
trade and commerce. A municipal commission composed of city
councillors, leading manufacturers, and tradesmen of the district,
came to the conclusion that professional education ought properly to
be the continuation and the normal development of primary
education, and that such a school as this should draw its pupils
from those children of the elementary schools who had passed a
satisfactory examination.
The school thus established is housed in a handsome modern
building erected at a cost of 24,000L, and admirably adapted in
every way forits intended purpose. In the Appendix, Vol. V., will
be found a series of plans, together with the front elevation of
this building and the programme of the classes. The director of
the school is M. L. Pillods. The instruction, so far as it is not
technical, is about parallel with that of the Ecole Turgot in Paris.
There is an entrance examination for those who do not possess
the leaving certiﬁcate of the primary school. This examination
includes a knowledge of the rules of grammar and their application;
dictation (not more than ﬁve mistakes); arithmetical problems,
including vulgar and decimal fractions and the metric system.
The boys enter the school at about the age of 13, and the course
of study extends over three years. During the ﬁrst two years, all
the pupils pass through the same course of theoretical and
practical instruction, and the course up to this point serves also
as a preparation f or the Ecole des Arts et Métiers at Chalons. Very
few boys leave at the end of the second year. There is an
examination at the end of each year to determine the promotion
to the superior division.
The third year boys are divided into sections according to
the aptitude displayed by them during the initial study period,
and they are classiﬁed according to the different industrial and
commercial pursuits carried on in Rheims and the neighbourhood,
as follows :—
1. Zllanufactures. The woollen manufacture being the chief one,
the various modes of sorting wool, the carding, the spinning, and
the weaving, claim special attention.
2. Mechanics. In every important combing, spinning, or
weaving mill are shops for the repair of the machines and
looms ; without taking into account the many mechanical
engineering establishments of the district.
3. Commerce. The trade in raw materials, manufactured
articles, champagne, &c.. gives rise to a commerce amounting to
several millions of francs annually.
4. Agriculture. The important results recently attained in
agriculture on the poor arenaceous soil of the champagne country,
and the results still to be achieved, gave the idea of adding an
agricultural section to train the young men of Rheims.
In order, moreover, in the brief space of three years to train up
these boys so as to be capable of rendering real service on quitting
REPORT. 77
the school, it has been found necessary to enable them to supplement
their theoretical studies with practical work analogous to that
which they will have to practise in their future profession, and to
place at their disposal a complete and well organized plant for this
purpose. Rheims has spent 16,000l. to 20,000l. on this plant, and
has thus placed her schools in the ﬁrst rank of similar institutions.
The workshops and laboratories are large, airy, and well-
lighted:—
Thc weaving and spinning sheds contain a carding engine,
a drawing frame, a spinning frame with 40 spindles, a warping
machine, nine small pattern weaving looms, four jacquard looms, a
punching and card—cutting machine, and four power looms, each
of a different type, and of the most recent construction. In this
department the student is able practically to apply his theoretical
instruction to the production of the various textile manufactures
of Rheims. He can, in fact, spin and weave the wool he has
himself washed, carded, dyed, and prepared, and can moreover
practise each operation in the school with similar plant to that
which he would ﬁnd in the regular factory. This department is
provided with a large collection of woven fabrics and samples of
raw materials.
The fitting shop is provided with a 10 hp. engine, 4 forges,
three lathes, a screw cutting lathe, a planing machine, a drilling
machine, three slotting machines, and 52 vices. For wood-working,
there are 20 carpenters’ benches, ﬁve lathes, and a band-saw frame.
Drawing is taught by the master who teaches engineering
on a plan which is novel, and. produces very good results. This
instruction is given in the workshops, and will be most conveniently
described here :——The students in the ﬁrst year spend three months
in drawing from sketches on the blackboard; they then proceed to
make freehand sketches of geometrical solids, tools, and parts of
machines. These sketches are afterwards carefully ﬁgured, for
dimensions, and from them accurate drawings to scale are prepared.
Finally, they produce in the same way freehand sketches and ﬁnished
drawings of the objects that they actually make in the workshop.
By this system, the students of the second year become rapid and
ready draughtsmen, having devoted seven hours per week to
drawing, whilst in the workshop they have spent six hours per
week (two hours per alternate day), and have thus learnt the value
of drawing, of mechanics and of geometry, by seeing their applica-
tion at every step. In the third year, the students spend 18 hours
per week in practical shop work.
The two chemical laboratories are excellently planned and ﬁtted.
Que of them has accommodation for 80 students, and here the ﬁrst
and second years’ students go through a course of practical inorganic
chemistry. The ﬁrst year students give only one hour per week to
chemistry, whilst in the second year they have twolessons per week
of one and a half hours each. So well chosen are the experiments,
and so simple is the apparatus, that the whole cost of 200 experiments
Weaving and
spinning.
Engineering
shop.
Mechanical
drawing.
Method of
teaching
drawing.
Chemical
laboratories.
78 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION!
Practical
chemistry.
Physical
laboratory.
School
museum.
Fees, &c.
Number of
pupils.
School budget.
carried on by each student of the ﬁrst and second year does not
exceed a sum of ﬁve francs per head per annum. The third. year
students, who are in training for chemical industries, have a special
laboratory reserved for them with accommodation for 40 pupils.
In this laboratory, attention is devoted to the chemistry of
dyeing. About half the students learn dyeing in the third year.
There is also a good lecture theatre capable of seating 200, and a
room containing a large collection of chemical preparations. The
chemical master, M. Réné Leblanc, showed the Commissioners some
sets of simple apparatus which he had arranged for teaching
chemistry in primary schools; the larger set costing 2l. 8s. (60 francs)
in a box complete, and the smaller set, ll. 49. (30 francs). He
has written also some primers on chemistry and physics for the
illustration of which this apparatus is suitable.*
The physical laboratory is well arranged and complete, and con-
tains numerous instruments and appliances for teaching mechanics,
levelling, surveying, meteorology, and agriculture.
There is also an admirable school museum, containing physical
and other scientiﬁc apparatus, and a collection of the works and
preparations of the pupils.
The school hours are from 7 to 12 in the morning and from 1.30
to 7.30 in the afternoon. The holidays are a fortnight at Easter
and six weeks in the summer.
The pupils pay 10 francs per month (that is 4Z. for the school
year of ten months), a fee which brings the school well within
the means of the lower middle classes. Most of the pupils are,
indeed, sons of foremen and small tradespeople, or people of the
operative classes. There are 160 pupils, of whom 22 hold
municipal exhibitions. There is an unlimited number of free
studentships.
At the time of the Commissioners’ visit there were 37 boarders
lodged in a separate building. These pay 26L per annum, in ad-
dition to the school fee of 4Z. It was stated that the number of
boarders would shortly be doubled.
The school has quadrupled its number of students since its
foundation in 1875, and the number of boarders would be largely
increased if sufficient funds were available to defray the cost of
another boarding-house. This school received the gold medal at
the Exhibition of 1878.
The budget of the school is upwards of 2,400l. per annum, and
the average receipts from fees 560Z. The school has at present no
Government grant, but receives 2401. from the town of Rheims
and 1601. from the Department. The budget details will be found
in Appendix 13, Vol. V.
A fair number of the pupils who have completed their education
here have been drafted off into the industries of the district, and
it is said that on leaving the school they at once earn three to
four pounds per month.

* The apparatus can be bought from M. Laiseu, Rue Fontaine au Roi, 57, Paris.
* nnronr. 79
Since the time of the Commissioners’ visit, and in accordance
with the law on primary and higher elementary education, the
school has been ‘adopted as a National School and it \\ ill be
enlarged and made still more eﬁective. It will also become
gratuitous. The school will in future receive 40 Government
exhibitioners. The changes effected ‘by the new law will, it is
believed by the school authorities, be beneﬁcial ; indeed they were
petitioned for by the town. It is quite understood and agreed
that the school will preserve its autonomy as regards its
programme.
The Ecole Professvlo'nnelle Munic'ipale of Rouen, is another
school, much of the same type as the foregoing, but in which
more attention is paid to mechanical industries. This school,
which was also visited by the Commissioners, was founded in 1853.
The director is M. Delarue. The special object of the instruction
is to prepare youths to enter the Ecoles des Arts et Métiers,
but a certain number of the pupils leave the school to enter at
once into practical work. The bulk of the pupils are the sons of
the small tradespeople of the town; some of them enter with
scholarships given by the Government, or by the municipal
authorities. There are six exhibitions given by the city of
Rouen, 12 by the Department, and four by the State. The
education at this school became gratuitous under the law of
July 1881. The school expenses, hitherto paid by the town,
have amounted to about 1,120Z. annually. The school course,
which combines both theory and practice, extends over three
years, and is conducted in very indifferent premises. The boys
must be at least 12 years old on admission, and must have
the amount of knowledge necessary for the primary school
certiﬁcate. Prizes and medals are given to deserving pupils
at the end of each year. Frequent visits are paid to works and
factories. There is a chemical laboratory, but the instruction in
this subject seems to be inferior to that of the Rheims school. In-
struction in the English language is given to all the pupils. There
are about 1410 students, half of whom are boarders, and there is a
preparatory course for the younger boys. The hours of theoretical
study are from 7 in the morning till 6 at night, with three hours
of recreation, and in the evening two hours of manual work. They
therefore have eight hours of class work and two hours of manual
work per diem. The practical instruction consists of working in
wood and iron. The handicraft work is carried on in a large
room lighted from the top, having desks for drawing down the
centre and working benches against the walls ; all the pupils work
in this room at the same time. The pupils are put through a
graduated series of manipulations; for example, in smiths’ work
and turning of iron, each pupil has to make in succession every
one of the hand-tools mentioned in a list and ﬁgured on a table
hung up in the workshop. The boarders pay from 24L to 26L per
annum. Many of the pupils, after having passed through the
school, ultimately obtain situations as foremen ; otheis enter the
Government schools of Chalons or Angers. At a recent exami-
Rouen profes’
sional school.
Workshop
instruction.
80 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION 2
Object of the
instruction.
Superior pro-
fessional
school, Rouen.
Amiens profes-
sional school.
nation, 10 pupils from this school presented themselves for the
entrance examination for Chalons, and 9 were admitted, being
one—eleventh of the total admissions for the year. This fact was
quoted to prove that the school is a good one.
The director stated that the object of the education was not to
form foremen, but rather to give a general education, calculated
to serve as the basis for many trades. He pointed out a school
museum containing specimens of various products for object
lessons, and stated that similar museums were about to be formed in
all primary and higher elementary schools in France. Amongst the
specimens, the Commissioners noticed a Prussian soldier’s helmet.
On being asked why it was placed there, the director stated that
it was picked up during the German invasion, and added that it
was his custom to point out to his scholars that France lost
her best provinces through the superior education of the invaders,
and the helmet served as a constant warning and stimulus to
the students.
A second and somewhat higher school in Rouen is the Ii’cole
Sape’r/ieare du Commerce et de Z’Indus'trie. This school was
originally founded by a private society established for the
“development of the industries of Normandy,” and has since
been transferred to the municipality. It is divided into a
commercial section, and one for weaving and dyeing. It is
supported partly by the town and partly by the State; the
Chamber of Commerce also contributes towards the expenses.
There are 40 students, none of them being boarders. To show
the extent to which scientiﬁc instruction is applied to the
industries of the district, it may be here remarked that
M. Permethier gives a complete course of instruction on the
microscopic examination of the various textile ﬁbres and tissues,
and that this school obtained a gold medal at the Paris Exhibi-
tion of 1878 for its researches. A notice of the weaving
department of the cole du Commerce will be found among
Section IV.
Ecole Prrlmctt're Swpe’r'ieare, Amiens.—-Another school of a
somewhat similar type visited by the Commissioners is the
Superior Primary School of Amiens. The prineipalris M. Dufrenoy.
This school was established by the Municipality of Amiens
three years ago, and now contains 110 pupils. They are
received at 12 years of age by competitive examination from
the primary schools of the town. The object of this school
is not to form apprentices, though practical work is introduced
to the amount of three hours per week. Drawing is taught
largely, both freehand and mechanical. The course consists
of three years, the ﬁrst year being divided into two groups.
Each pupil pays 10 francs per month, but exhibitions are
given to all who require them. It is the intention of the
municipal council to buy land and build a large school, with
appropriate workshops.
; REPORT. 81
The pupils on leaving the school obtain work on the railways,
in the service of the Ponts et Ghaussées, 820. One pupil sent
to the Chalons school stood ﬁrst in the entrance competitive
examination for that school.
The principal handed in a budget of the city of Amiens, in Educaliion "Ole
which the whole of the expenses of the school, as well as of m Amlens'
the other schools of the city, is contained. He stated that the
town of Amiens, with 66,896 inhabitants, spends probably more
in education than any other town of the same size in France,
the vote amounting to 16,000Z.
M. Dufrenoy was well acquainted with many of the other
schools of a similar kind in France, and. expressed an opinion
adverse to the system of education adopted at the Martiniere at
Lyons, speaking of this as a system‘ of mechanical drill rather
than one of great educational value.
Eoolc Professionnetle, MuZhousa—This school is described here gulf)?“ 1
rather than amongst the German schools, because it was founded Sgﬁo‘ﬁﬁwm
in 1854*, prior to the annexation of Alsace to Germany, and is
similar in constitution to some of the French schools already
described, but of a somewhat higher grade. It is intended for
the training of the sons of small manufacturers and of persons
in easy circumstances. It occupies convenient and well arranged
buildings in the outskirts of the town. The director is Dr. Cher-
buliez. The school contains about 250 pupils. It is principally a
day school, but has a boarding house attached with about 40 boys.
The school fees range from 4st in the four lower classes to 5i. per
annum in the higher and industrial classes. The boarders pay
32?. per annum. For the workshop the boys pay additional
fees, namely, ll. 48. in the joiners’ shop and 2t. in the machine
shop. The ages of the pupils vary from 9 to 18. There are
22 masters, including the instructors in the joiners’ shop and
the machine shop. This school is described as one nearly equal
in rank to the French Lycée, but differing from it in the substi-
tution of English and French for the classical languages. It is
necessary to pass a simple examination on entrance.
The course of instruction is the same for all the pupils until the Course 9f
age of 141 is reached, when a bifurcation takes place: some boys mstmchon'
enter the commercial section, and stay two years; others,
the industrial section, and stay four years. In this latter .
section they are taught history, literature, mathematics, the
physical and mechanical sciences, and drawing, and as special
courses machine construction, textile fabrics, and the chemical
arts. Summer excursions, entirely at the cost of the school, and
frequent visits to manufactories, are important features in this
school. Thus during the year 1879 visits were paid to a carpet
factoiy, a.paper mill, two machine works, two spinning mills, a
dye-Works, and two tool manufactories, and opportunities were
given to the pupils to obtain a full insight into the industries
of the district. The two highest classes work six hours per
week in the shops, the four lower classes four hours. The shops
Rt 1726. F
82 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Practical work.
Results of
workshop
instruction.
Absence of
schools of this
type in certain
countries.
which stand on either side of the open court or playground are
spaclous and well supplied with tools. The joiners’ shop contains
about 30 benches and ﬁve lathes, and the mechanics’ shop has
30 vices. ‘
The practical teaching in this school is said to have been
productive of excellent results. The Commissioners were shown
some ﬁrst-rate models in wood of parts of machinery, pedestals,
brackets, 820., made by the boys, also a large stock of mechanical
work done in the ﬁtters’ shop. The workshop instruction is not
designed to teach trades, but is intended to give the lads a fair
proﬁciency in the use of tools, and a good knowledge of
mechanical operations. The drawings shown to us were very
good, and large, carefully ﬁnished drawings of machinery,
being made from actual measurement. There is a well—ﬁtted
chemical laboratory in which the upper classes do two hours of
practical work per week.

The budget of the school for the year 1877 was as follows :—
£
Receipts——
School fees - - - 2,212
Subventions from State and towns 2,488
Total - — 41,700
i’.
Expenditure——
Salaries - - - 3,038
Boarding house - 1,112
School expenses - - 470
80
£4,700
\3.) HIGHER ELEMENTARY TEcHNIcAL SCHOOLS IN GERMANY.
The Commissioners have not found in Germany any schools
which exactly correspond to the professional schools of France,
already described. There have existed, however, since 1850, a
number of schools known as Gewerbe Schulen (trade schools),
originally intended to impart technical instruction to boys in
training to become masters of small industries, foremen in works,
&c. In these schools primary education is continued, and addi-
tional instruction is given in mathematics, descriptive geometry,
drawing, elementary science, and some modern language. In
none of these schools is any attempt made to give workshop
instruction. In most parts of Germany these schools are now
known as Lower Real-schulen and lead up to the Industrial School
of Bavaria, or the Higher Secondary Real School in other countries.
The Commissioners visited schools of this type at Munich, Stutt-
gart, and Berlin. See Appendix 8, Vol. V.
REPORT.
(4.) HIGHER. ELEMENTARY TECHNICAL ScHooLs IN AUSTRIA.
State Trade School of Reichenbery—h Austria, where, as
we have already shown, there is a movement in favour of teaching
practical work in schools, and of the establishment of Fetch Schulen,
we ﬁnd in the Staotts Gewerbe Sehalen, with workshops attached,
schools of a type somewhat similar to the French schools.
We have selected the school of Reichenberg as a good Higher Trade
illustration of a somewhat numerous class of similar establish- gel??? °€
ments. This school consists of two divisions, (66.) the higher trade em 6“ erg‘
school, and (6.) the foreman’s school. Each of these divisions
has the three departments of building trades, mechanical, and
chemical technology.
(01,.) The higher trade school gives in its ﬁrst department the Diyision for
necessary theoretical and practical instruction for builders, con- bullders'
tractors, carpenters, and persons engaged in other branches of the
building trade. The second department is for the training of those
who are likely to be employed as foremen or superintendents in
workshops and factories of all kinds ; and the third department is
destined to train foremen and others for chemical industries,
sugar works, wax factories, and dye works, a special laboratory
being provided for dyeing. The instruction extends over a
course of four years. The students are admitted on presentation
of the leaving certiﬁcate from the B't'trger Sch/tale or of a cor-
responding class in the Real Soluble, the Real Gymnasium, or the
Gymnast/um, and a knowledge of drawing is indispensable. rI‘he
students pay ll. 3s. 4d. (141 gulden) per annum, and in the
chemical division ll. 13s. 4d. (20 gulden). The ﬁrst year’s
course, embracing German, mathematics, drawing, physics, and
chemistry, is common to all departments. In the second year
certain subjects only have to be taken by the students of all the
divisions, special instruction being given at the same time to
the pupils in the separate departments. The specialisation is
carried out more and more fully as the student advances in the
course. ‘Whilst the instruction is of a practical nature, embracing
laboratory teaching and modelling, there is no obligatory work-
shop instruction proper. Optional instruction is given in stone
cutting and modelling, to students in the building trades’ section.
tb.) The school for foremen is especially arranged for those who Division for
have already become acquainted with the practical details of foremen‘
their trade, and is intended to familiarize them with the theo-
retical parts of their work. This portion of the school is
attended therefore mainly by adults. It is divided into the
same three departments as the higher trade school. The course
extends over four half-years, which is a continuous two years
course for the mechanical and chemical departments, whilst the
instruction in the building trades’ school is only given in the
winter, in order to enable the students to follow their ordinary
occupations in the summer. The conditions of entrance are
r2
I
84+ ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION I
General review
of Higher
Elementary
Technical
Schools.
\
merely that the students shall have passed through the ordinary
elementary school and have occupied two years in practically
working at their special trade. The payment is 168. 8d.
(10 guldens) for the half-year in the chemical department,
and 108. (6 guldens) in each of the two others, but pupils in
poor circumstances can be received without payment. The
subjects of instruction are very similar to those in an ordinary
elementary school, with the addition of chemistry, physics, and
mechanics, taught both theoretically, and in their application
to the special trades.
GENERAL REVIEW OF CONTINENTAL HIGHER ELEMENTARY
TECHNICAL ScHooLs.
The class of schools above described, of which the best examples
are found in France, form a special feature in the system of technical
education abroad. It will be seen from the preceding descrip-
tions, that in these intermediate schools children of artizans and
of small shopkeepers have opportunities of obtaining an education
which is technical, in so far as their studies are specially directed
towards the requirements of commerce, mechanical, or manufac-
turing industry. Mathematics, science, and drawing, constitute the
main subjects of instruction ; and in nearly all the modern French
schools, of which that at Rheims may be taken as the best type,
the laboratories for the teaching of practical chemistry leave
little or nothing to be desired. In these schools the workshop
instruction is carried to a much more advanced stage than is
possible or desirable in the elementary schools, and there are
special departments replete with models, apparatus, and speci-
mens for teaching the technology of the trades which form the
staple industries of the district in which these schools are
situated. The classical languages do not enter also the curri-
culum of any of these schools. The time thus saved is devoted
to mathematics and to modern languages. Schools of this kind
are singularly wanting in our own country. Perhaps the best
example of a school similar in character to the higher elementary
or technical schools of France, is the Allan Glen’s Institution at
Glasgow, a notice of which is found in another part of our
Report.
By the law recently passed in France, education in these
higher grade French schools is rendered gratuitous, and numerous
bursaries are given to select pupils entering them from the
elementary schools. In the German trade schools the fees are
exceedingly low. In the whole system of French instruction
your Commissioners have found nothing, except as respects art
teaching, which seems to them to be so worthy of attention
with a view to their adaptation to the special requirements of
this country as these higher elementary technical schools.
REPORT.
B.-—SEOONDARY TECHNICAL Senoons.
We now pass on to a series of schools of a higher grade
than those we have just been describing, which serve mainly as
ﬁnishing schools for those who are to occupy intermediate posi-
tions in industrial concerns, but from which in many cases the
more promising students proceed to complete their education in
the schools or institutions for higher technical education existing
in the country. Schools of this type are found in most of the
countries visited by us. In some of them, as in Italy, and in
parts of Germany, they occupy a deﬁnite position in the school
system of the country.
In Bavaria, under the name of Industrieschulen, they take a
distinct rank between the Real Schulen and the Polytechnic.
t1.) SECONDARY TECHNICAL SoHooLs IN FRANCE.
Secondary
technical
schools.
The Ecole Centrale of Lyons is a school for the training of Lyons Engi-
mechanical engineers, which may be regarded as one intermediate
in rank between the Ecoles professionnelles and the Ecole Centrale
of Paris, or the Polytechnic Schools of Germany. More time
is devoted to theoretical instruction than in the former schools,
while practical instruction is given here, and not in the Ecole
Centrale OF Paris; and the students leave this school at the age
of 19 or 20, whereas the students leaving the Ecole Centrale of
Paris and the German Polytechnics are invariably considerably
older. The object of the school is to train managers and superior
foremen. The school is mainly supported by the fees of the
students, and scholarships are granted by the Chamber OF Com-
merce and the Municipal Council of Lyons, as well as by the
General Council of the Department. The students are not
boarders; they are not admitted till they are 16 years of age,
nor without having passed a mathematical examination. Many
of them come from the Ecole Martiniere.
The instruction embraces mathematics and physical science,
which are carried up to, but not beyond, the point necessary for
their practical application. Thus, we found certain of the students
working out practical problems on the blackboard, by means of the
differential and integral calculus. In the opinion of the director,
M. G. Fortier, the instruction in this school is of a more useful
character than that at Chalons, see p. 107, or at the Ecole
Centrale at Paris, inasmuch as at Chalons there is too little manual
work to turn out etlicient workmen, and too little instruction in
the principles of science for the training of eﬁieient managers,
Whilst at Paris the reverse is the case; there no instruction in
practical work is given, and consequently the students, on leaving
the school, ﬁnd themselves considerably embarrassed when required
to superintend workmen in a large shop.
neering School.
Nature of the
instruction.
86 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
School of
chemistry :
dyeing.
Mechanical
workshops.
Laboratories .
Number of
students.
Fees, &e.
Institut In-
dustriel of
Lille.
Objects.
m1
Besides the school for mechanical engineering, arrangements
were at the time of our visit approaching completion for estab-
lishing a school of applied chemistry, with special reference to
dyeing, an industry of considerable importance in this district.
The school has a very well ﬁtted workshop, about 40 ft. by
30 ft., containing a steam engine, planing, drilling, and slotting
machines, two lathes, and nine vices; the cost of the machinery
was 8801.; besides this there is a smaller workshop for elemen-
tary work in carpentry, joinery, and turning, principally in wood,
with places for 21 students; there are several good rooms in
which mechanical drawing is taught; the pupils learning to make
drawings to scale, either from models, of which there is a very
good collection in the school, or from sketches. There were
excellent collections of mechanical and physical apparatus, much
of which was made by the students themselves.
The laboratories were not less complete. There was a general
laboratory for ﬁrst year’s students, and a smaller laboratory, specially
ﬁtted up for instruction in dyeing, containing a centrifugal wring-
ing machine (hydro-extractor) and steam pans for dyeing purposes,
steam closets, &c. All students of the third year go through the
d) eing laboratory. The students attend from 8 to 12 and from 2
to 5 every day.
The number of students in this school is, however, but small,
amounting only to 55. The students work 1% hours daily in the
shops under a master workman, and once a fortnight visit factories
in the neighbourhood, in groups of three or four. The fees amount
to 281. per annum. The Chamber of Commerce contributes 601.
per annum, the Municipal Council 1121., and the Department 1121.
There are 12 bursaries to he competed for by the students.
The director informed the Commissioners that the pupils from
this school readily ﬁnd places in industrial works, and obtain posts
worth 801. per year.
The Commissioners are of opinion that schools of this kind,
in which the education is not of too theoretical a character and is
adapted to the special industries of the district, might with
advantage be introduced (with the necessary modiﬁcations) into
many of the large manufacturing towns of this country, or added
as a special department to several of the colleges recently erected,
or now in course of erection, in the United Kingdom.
The Institut Industrial du Nord is housed in a ﬁne new building
in the Rue Jeanne I)’Arc, at Lille. The director is 1V1. Masquelez.
It was founded and is maintained by the Departement du Nord
and the city of Lille, and it also receives a subvention from the
State. It comprises two distinct schools, the Industrial School and
the Agricultural School.
The instruction in the Industrial School has for its object the
formation of managers and directors of works for the chief
industries of the north of France, especially for the sons of persons
engaged in industry; that in the Agricultural School is for the
REPORT. 8'?
Purpose of giving the necessary scientiﬁc knowledge to the sons of
the landed gentry and gentlemen farmers, and includes the so-called
agricultural industries, such as the sugar manufacture and dis-
tilling. The teaching is both theoretical and practical, and
comprises, in addition to lectures and drawing lessons, practical
chemical work, mechanical work in the workshops, and visits on an
extended scale to industrial establishments.
The institution was founded in 187 2, but has since then been Date of gown.
accommodated in the new buildings, which are of a very complete datioﬂ-
and elaborate character, at a cost of 40,000L; these include the
residence of the director, the laboratories, of which there are three
(one for general chemistry, one for analytical chemistry, and one
for industrial chemistry, especially for dyeing), and mechanics’ and
joiners’ shops, which are well furnished with the necessary machines
and materials.
The Industrial School is in two divisions, viz., (a) the technical, Division of
in which the teaching is more especially adapted to foremen, and S°h°°1'
(b) that of civil engineering, the teaching in which is of a higher
grade. The course of each division, as well as in the Agricultural
School, is for three years.
The lower division is again sub-divided into three sections :-——
(1.) Mechanical engineering,
(2.) Textiles,
(3.) Chemical industry ;
whilst the so-called civil engineering school is divided into four
sub-sections :—
(1.) Machine construction,
(2.) Mining and metallurgy,
Textiles,
(4.) Chemical industry.
A detailed syllabus will be found in Appendix
Diplomas are given to students, on examination, at the end of
their third year, after which they are allowed to assume the title
of civil engineer.
The Lille Institute is only a day school, but there is a boarding Fees"
house connected with the establishment for 35 boarders, each of
whom pays 2411. per annum. The fees of the institution are 16/.
and extras amount to about 81. At the time of our visit there
were 115 pupils, of whom the larger proportion were engineering
students. The total annual expenses amounted to 3,280L, made
up as follows :—
s-P
Students fees - - - - 2,080
Subvention from the Department - 840
,, Town - - - ‘.280
,, State - - 80

3,280
88 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION;
Staﬂ.
Equipment of
workshops.
Drawing.
Farm.
Objects and
aims of the
Lille Institute.
“Too much is
being at-
tempted.
For the purpose of teaching the large number of subjects
speciﬁed on the programme, a numerous staff of professors is
requisite. Thus there are 29 professors and 10 foremen and
other assistants, the sum paid to the teachers amounting to
2,300l.
The school is governed by an administrative council, consisting
of four of the Town Councillors, presided over by the Mayor.
There is also a committee of inspection for regulating the courses
of study.
The Commissioners found the workshops supplied with English
and other machinery both for spinning and weaving, which
constitute the main industries of the neighbourhood. There
is also a good machine shop ﬁtted with lathes, vices, forges, Szc.
“Te noticed that the laboratories were in active work, several
students occupying themselves practically with the chemistry of
dyeing. We were much impressed with the system of teaching
drawing. In the ﬁrst year the students work from copies, after
which they make measured drawings of parts of machinery. In
the second year they take up descriptive geometry, projection, and
perspective ; also projection of shadows, ﬁrst of plane ﬁgures and
then of curved and moulded ﬁgures, with the shadow lines carefully
indicated; then machine drawing, gearing, with projection of
shadows of wheels and parts of machinery; then plans and
sections of actual work and of objects they have made in the shop,
with tinting and shading. In the third year they take gearing
and mill work, and kinematics. There is a very complete
architectural course. The collection of models was very good.
An agricultural farm of about 27 acres is attached to the school,
but the number of students in this division is very small,
amounting only to eight. There is a well stocked museum of
agricultural products.
The plans of this school will be found in the Appendix, Vol. V.
The main object of this school is not to form superior workmen or
foremen in mechanical shops, as is the case in the Chalons school
which will be hereafter described, but engineers and works’
managers, and the theoretical instruction is therefore of a higher
character than in workmen’s schools, and less time is devoted to
mechanical work in the shops than would be necessary to turn
out ﬁnished workmen. The director of the school-seemed desirous
to raise the character of the teaching so as to attract the same
class of students who go to the Ecole Centrale of Paris, but who
require a more practical instruction than that school affords. The
opportunities which the school presents for practical chemical
work, especially in its application to dyeing, were excellent, but
the Commissioners were not equally impressed with the value of
the teaching in the textile department, where many of the
machines were of an antiquated type, and were apparently little
used by the students.
On the whole, We thought that the school was aiming at too
much, and that the lower department was being neglected to
neronr. 89
some extent with the view of ﬁlling the classes for higher instruc-
tion. It must be remembered, however, that the establishment
is comparatively new, and that the value of its teaching, as well
as of its inﬂuence on the numerous ﬂourishing industries of the
district, may be better estimated in a Few years hence.
As indicating the importance which the French Government
attaches to technical instruction, it may be well here to mention
that in addition to the foregoing institution it is contemplated
to erect in Lille a fourth school of the type existing at Chalons,
Aix, and Angers, for the complete education of superior workmen
and foremen.
(2.) SECONDARY TECHNICAL SCHOOLS 1N SWITZERLAND.
The Technicum or Technical Institution of Wirztert/zur must also
be placed among schools of the Foregoing category. This school
is unique of its kind, and has for its special object the training of
foremen. Except as to the work done in the chemical laboratory,
the teaching is mainly theoretical; the students being expected
to have passed some time in practical work before coming
to the school.
The school, of which Herr Langsdorf is the director, is housed
in a well constructed and beautiful building which was erected
by the town at a cost of 40,0001. In connection with it, situated
in a building at the rear, is an excellent Industrial Museum, with
good collections of machinery and trade products, consisting of
furnittne, pottery, and local manufactures. The institution receives
a grant from the town of 6001. a year; the fees of the students
amount to 4801., and the Canton of Zurich supplies the annual
deﬁcit by a grant of about 3,2001. The school comprises six
diﬁ‘erent departments, attended by 165 pupils. The following
is a list OF the various divisions :—
1. Mechanical engineering.
2. Building construction.
3. Chemistry.
4. Land surveying and civil engineering.
5. Commerce.
6. Industrial art and decoration.
The school courses underwent considerable modiﬁcations in
1882. As then arranged, in the architectural, the engineering,
and the land surveying divisions, the instruction extends over
ﬁve terms or semesters. In the three remaining departments the
complete course comprises four semesters.
The students pay 21. 8.9. per annum, and those who attend the
chemical laboratory pay an additional fee of 11. 128. The class
rooms are spacious and well furnished. The chemical laboratory
under the direction of Dr. A. Rossel occupies a separate building,
with preparation and lecture rooms, dyeing room, a small room
for photometric experiments, &c.
Additional
school in
contemplation.
Technicum,
Winterthur.
School build-
ing.
School divi-
sions.
Programme.
Fees.
90 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION I
~ Ages of
students.
Chemnitz
Higher Trade
Institute.
"a.
There is a preliminary examination for the new students at the
commencement of each half-year.
Many of the students come here after having been practically
engaged in some industry; the ages therefore vary considerably.
The director prefers to take lads who have left school at 15 and
have subsequently spent two or three years in actual work. The
students must go through the whole of the prescribed curriculum
of any one department. The instruction given in this school is
not very advanced, as will be seen from the programme
(Appendix 14, Vol. V), and it is doubtful whether the experiment
can be considered successful. Too much appears to be attempted
in too short a time.
(3) SECONDARY Tnormrcar. Sonoons IN GERMANY.
Higher Trade Institute of Chemnitz, Swamp—The educational
system of Saxony, especially in its technical bearings, is one of
the most complete and well organised to be found in Germany,
and the Commissioners devoted some considerable time to an
examination of the various schools in the town of Chemnitz,
where we were received by the burgomaster, Dr. Andre, to
whom we are indebted for a large amount of valuable statistical
and other information respecting the education of the town.
Attention has recently been particularly directed to this subject
by a work entitled “ Technical Education in a Saxon Town,” by
Mr. H. M. Felkin, of Ohemnitz, published by Messrs. Kegan,
Paul, & 00., for the City and Guilds of London Institute for the
Advancement of Technical Education. The work contains full
detailed plans and descriptions of all the chief educational estab-
lishments of the town, and amongst others of the one we are now
about to describe. This important institution, which was visited by
the Commissioners, is supported and endowed by the Saxon Gro-
vernment ; it is, strictly speaking, an aggregate of technical schools,
and is one of the largest in Saxony and central Germany. The
schools consist of two massive buildings, each four storeys high, with
two wings running to the back on either side, containing the general
school, with the foremen’s and building schools. The chemical
laboratory, at the back, is also a four-storey building, running
parallel to the main one, and containing the chemical, technological,
and physical departments.
The cost of the building, which was completed in 1877, was as
follows :—
ii
The land — - — 14,700
The main building - - 42,521
The laboratory - - 20,019
The chimney and boilers - 4,703

£81,943

REPORT. 91
The building contains 130 rooms, having an area of 8,890
sq. metres, excluding staircases and passages.
This institution comprises the following four schools :—
(A.) A Higher Technical School with 181 students.*'
(13.) ,, Foremen’s School ,, 152 ,,
(0.) ,, Building School ,, 119 ,,
(D.) ,, Drawing School ,, 129 ,i
581
,3

The staff consists of the director, Professor G. Wunder, 12 pro-
fessors, and 28 teachers in the various departments, besides
laboratory assistants, 12 clerks, &c.
This is not a boarding school; the pupils live at their own
homes, and they are only under the supervision of the director
and masters during school hours.
(A.) The Higher Technical School—According to the calling
that the pupils may have chosen, the instruction is given in
three divisions :~
(1.) The technical-mechanical school for future manufac-
turers and technical managers for the various branches
of the machine-building, spinning. weaving, and other
similar industries.
(2.) The technical—chemical school for the same class of
persons in the various chemical industries.
The architectural school for future architects.
Instruction in general science and languages is given to pupils
of all the three divisions together. On the other hand, in those
subjects which take a particular direction and lead to special
industries, it is given only in that one division. Thus, the
instruction in the ﬁrst course is for all the students, whilst in the
second and third courses the students are divided according to
their future callings. The ﬁrst course of all the three divisions
comprises three half-years, and the second course of all the three
divisions two half-years ; the third course of the two ﬁrst divisions
comprises two half-years, whilst the third course for architects
comprises one half-year.
An important condition for entry into the architectural division
is that the students, after their ﬁrst year, must have spent one
summer half-year in practical work in some building occupation,
and also have done the same for half-a-year before entering.
The whole course for each division, therefore, requires from
312* to 4»;- years. Pupils must be at least 15 years of age, and must
have the sanction of their parents or guardians. It is a general
rule that, if any student, after remaining in any course for twice
the usual time, is still unﬁtted for entering the next higher course,
he must leave the school. The fee in all the divisions and courses
is alike, namely, 3l. the half-year, and the cost of books and

Institute con-
sists of four
divisions.
Staff.
The Higher
Technical
School .
Nature of the
teaching.
Practical work.
* In May 1882.
Duration of
courses; fees
and scholar-
ship.
92 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION 2
Excellence of
the teaching.
Ages of
students.
Royal school
for Formen.
‘Conditions of
admission.
drawing materials amounts to from 2L to 2L 108. per annum.
Deserving pupils, without sufﬁcient means, can obtain a remission of
the fees. In 1881-2, 18 pupils had their fees entirely remitted,
and three students received scholarships from the Minister of the
Interior for the entire year.
The Commissioners were much impressed with the thorough
character of the work done in this school, and with the complete-
ness and extent of the apparatus and models for teaching. The
method adopted by Prof. Weinholdt, whose work on the practical
teaching of physics is well known, appears extremely good, and the
results have been markedly successful.
In the Higher Technical School most of the pupils remain through
the three courses, until they have obtained the certiﬁcate, which
is given after due examination. They do not generally enter the
school till they are 16 to 17 years old, for, until that. age, they
have not ﬁnished at the Gymnasium or Real school, and as they
remain for 3% to 4% years this brings them to about 21; their
military duty has then to be performed, their school certiﬁcate
entitling them to exemption for two out of the three years
obligatory service, and afterwards they enter into active life.
The Architectural division has for its object to educate architects
for ordinary buildings, and not to compete with the Architectural
Academy of Dresden, which is the school for Government
architects, and, generally, those of a higher order.
(13.) The Royal School for Foreman has for its object to give
the opportunity of obtaining the theoretical knowledge required
in their future career to persons about to be machinists, millers,
dyers, bleachers, tanners, brewers, manufacturers of soap, sugar,
chemicals, &c., as well as to young men intending to be foremen
and managers in mills and machine shops. The instruction in
this school is comprised in three continuous courses of half a year
each, making a total of 12,; years, and in this time the pupils are
only able to acquire what is practically necessary for their tech-
nical occupations, and the course has not the object of giving an
extended scientiﬁc culture. There are two divisions; one for
machinists and one for chemical workers; and some general sub-
jects, such as freehand drawing, the German language, and book—
keeping are also taught. The pupils entering must be 16 years
of age, and suﬁiciently educated to read, write, and work out the
four rules of arithmetic. They give theirLwhole time to the school,
and have also work at home. The fees amount to 30s. for
each course, besides 15s. for materials. “ It is a condition that
each pupil shall have worked two years at his occupation before
entering, and this regulation gives the key-note to the idea which
led to its foundation, namely, to give the necessary theoretical
knowledge to capable, industrious young workmen, so as to enable
them to become foremen, and, perhaps, practical managers. It
therefore provides the necessary link, enabling a young man who
has it in him, to raise himself to a higher position, and is intended
REPORT. 93
to keep the industries of the district well supplied with a class OF
men between the common workmen and the masters, a necessity
which is much felt in Saxony, as the workmen there are said to
require much supervision and direction.” The courses of instruc-
tion in.this school are strictly distinct From those in the higher
technical school, being given in separate class-rooms: and the school
has its own collections of machinery and models, scientiﬁc instru-
ments and apparatus. The pupils are, sociallv, of a class quite
different from those attending the higher technical school, and do
not come into contact with them.
The Royal Foremen’s School is divided into—
(a.) The mechanical division, from Michaelmas to Easter ;
(b.) The chemical division, from Michaelmas to Easter;
(0.) The mechanical division from Easter to Michaelmas
and thus, in its two main departments, it is a winter school.
The subjects taught in the three courses consist OF arithmetic,
geometry, physics, geometrical drawing, freehand drawing, Ger
man, general principles of chemistry, mathematics and mechanics,
machinery in general, mechanical technology, machine drawing,
surveying and water measurements, practical chemistry in the
laboratory, technical chemistry, mineralogy, book-keeping, and
architectural drawing. In addition to these subjects, the students
in the second and third courses have the opportunity of attending
special lectures, as for example—on mills, and their construction ;
spinning, with the various materials; weaving, ditto ; waterworks;
tool construction for machinery; brewing ; calico-printing ; paper
manufacture; and ﬁre—extinction apparatus.
In all the divisions, a feature of‘ this school is that visits are paid
by the students to works; permission for which is readily given.
This t'oremen’s school is almost unique of its kind in Germany,
and is of an experimental character; Dr. Andre, the Burgo—
master, with whom the Commissioners had the pleasure of con-
versing, expressed his high opinion of' the beneﬁts exerted by this
school on Saxon industries.
(C) A third division OF this school is the Royal Building
School, forming an adjunct to the State educational institutions, and
affording the means of education to those who wish to prepare
themselves for any branch of the building trade. The pupil must
be 16 years of age, and must have passed certain qualifying school
examinations. He must give his whole time, and must have been
employed in practical building for two halF-yeaisprevious to entry.
The fees are 308. for each course of halt-a-year; the expense of
materials comes to about 258.; and poor students can obtain a
remission of the fees. This school is parallel with the Royal
Foremen’s School above mentioned, and is for young workmen
who have worked manually in their trade, and want to educate
themselves theoretically and systematically. The students are
mainly young stonemasons, house decorators, carpenters and
joiners, and especially those handicraftsmen who intend devoting
themselves to the more ornamental part of their trade.
Foremen’s
school is quite
distinct from
the higher
technical
school.
Mainly a winter
school.
Suhj ects
taught.
Royal Build-
ing School.
94! ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION;
Course of
instruction.
Royal Drawing
School.
Industrie-
schulen of
Bavaria.
State institu-
tions.
Course of
instruction.
The course consists of four half-years, and includes the following
subjects :-——General principles of building, elements of form and
architectural drawing, freehand drawing, mathematics and arith-
metic, geometry, descriptive geometry and perspective, German
language, construction in stone, in wood, and in metal, laws
respecting building, designing plans, physics, preparation of
estimates, history of the art of building, mechanics, heating and
ventilation, land surveying; and bookekeeping.
(D.) The fourth division is the Royal Drawing School—This
is an evening school, for teaching art in its various branches,
and is attended by pupils from the mercantile and other schools in
the town, the pupils, in fact, being drafted from all classes.
Instruction is given on four evenings in the week in freehand
drawing, drawing from casts and models, machine drawing, and
construction and architectural drawing. The fees are low, and
bring the school within the reach of all.

The budget of the school is as follows :~~ £
State subsidy - - - 7,700
Town do. and sundry receipts — 240
Students fees - - — 1,235
Total - 9,175
Plans and elevations of this institution are contained in the
Special Appendix 5, Vol. V.
The Royal Industrie—Sclzule, Manich.—-There are four Bavarian
schools, the so-called “ Industrie—Schulen " of Munich, Augsburg,
Nuremberg, and Kaiserslautern, intended to serve for the training
of those who desire to pass at once into industrial occupations.
The school work done in all of these schools, which was
thoroughly and fully displayed at the Nuremberg Exhibition, was
carefully examined, and two of these schools, that at Munich
and that at Nuremberg, were visited by the Commissioners.
The school at Munich, of which Herr Kleinfeller is the director,
is divided into four departments :—
1. Mechanical Engineering.
2. Chemical.
3. Building Construction.
4. Commercial.
The building, which was erected by the State, cost originally
15,0005, but it has lately been considerably enlarged. There
are 152 pupils, and the annual budget amounts to 2,500Z. All
the expenses of this school are defrayed by the State.
The course extends over two years, and is so arranged as to
furnish an education complete in itself; but it has been found
in practice that a large proportion of the students trained here
pass on subsequently to the Polytechnic School to ﬁnish their
education, and the original aim of these schools has thus been
somewhat modiﬁed. The students are admitted with the leaving
certiﬁcate of the upper class of the Real School, or on showing
that they possess the requisite ability. There are no evening
REPORT. 95
w
classes, and very few pupils come here who have been previously
engaged in practical work.
In the ﬁrst division the subjects taught are distributed over programmes),
the two years as follows :-—- mechanical
engineering.
1815 Year.
Mathematics - - - - -
Descriptive geometry - - - 5
General physics - - - 4
Machine work - - - 2
Machine construction - - - 10
German, French, and English languages - 7
Practical work in the shops - - 5
Total - - - 110 hours.
*
2nd Year.
Hours.
Differential and integral calculus - -
Land surveying (in second term) -
Physics — - - -
Technical mechanics - - - -
Machine work - - -
Machine construction - - - 1
Mechanical technology - - -
German, French, and English languages -
Practical work in shops - - -
Ui‘sTNDNDlQNDr-PNW

Total - - — 39 hours.

In the chemical division instruction is given in mathematics, Course for
physics, theoretical chemistry, mineralogy, machine construction, chemists-
French, German, and English, together with 14: hours per week
of practical work in the laboratory.
In the third division great prominence is given to architecture course for
and drawing, 12 hours weekly being devoted to these subjects in aﬂihitects and
the ﬁrst year, and 21 in the second; languages occupy seven builders‘
hours per week in each year, and there is no practical shop
work.
In the commercial division greater attention is paid to the Commercial
languages and book—keeping, to the former l-t hours per week divisi‘m-
are devoted, and to the latter 4 hours. Technical chemistry and
the quality of produce of various kinds (Waarenkunde) are also
studied.
There were 26 students at the time of our visit in the ﬁrst
division, 18 in the second, and 30 in the third ; the remainder
being in the commercial division. The students pay 48. as
entrance fee, and ll. 168. per annum for the complete course.
,.
96 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION I
Building trades
school.
In connection with this institution is a winter school for those
engaged in the building trades, attended by 103 students. The
course extends over three half-years, and is intended for work-
men and others practically engaged in building operations
during the summer months. The requisite preliminary know-
ledge is only that of the primary school. In the ﬁrst year’s
course there were 4.44., in the second year 32, and in the third
year 27 students. The fees are Is. on entrance and 208. for the
semester. Those unable to pay the fees can obtain exemption.
The courses involve 54: hours of instruction in each Week, as
follows :—
First Course.
Ilours per week.
German - - - - - 4!
Arithmetic - — - - 4
Natural history - - ~ 3
Plane geometry, linear drawing, and the
elements of projection - - 10
Freehand drawing - - - 8
Building construction and architectural
(11 awing - - - - - 18
Modelling - — - — 41
Ornamental writing - - — 3
Second Course.
Hours per week.
German --
Commercial book-keeping
Natural history
Algebra -
Stereometry, with descriptive geometry and
projection of shadows .
Freehand drawing
Building construction, with practical exercises
Masonry, stone joints
Modelling
Writing (ornamental)
‘I I. _
1- In _
PPNDBDI?
1
F-‘FPQCDOOQO
Third Course.
Hours per week.
German
Mathematics
Surveying
Mechanics
Chemistry
F reeband drawing
Perspective
Architectural styles
Masonry, stone joints —
Planning and estimating -
Rudiments of the laws relating to building
I
;=.t
MCXJFP~Q3PP~$EP~$~NDUKNJ
REPORT.
97
The Commissioners were conducted over the school by the
director, and visited the chemical laboratory under the charge of
Dr. Feichtinger. There is a large collection of preparations made
by the pupils. In the model room next visited were specimens
of pumps, valves, gearing, 850. Also sectional working models
and apparatus for teaching mechanics, chieﬂy made in the school.
The drawings shown us were extremely creditable, many of
them being carefully measured from actual machinery. In the art
room were casts of ornament, foliage, &c., but no antique classical
ﬁgures. The room is divided by transverse screens, so arranged
as to shut off the light from more than one window in each bay.
There is a special room for architectural drawing, in which
advanced work was in progress.
The workshops are situated in a separate building behind the
school, which was being extended at the time of our visit. The
power employed to drive the lathes is supplied by a 2-horse
power gas engine and a 6-horse power steam engine and boiler.
There was a good supply of the usual tools in the ﬁtters’ shop.
The joiners’ shop was small, but would be transferred to a larger
room when the alterations were complete. Each student has a
capital chest of tools, ﬁtted with lock and key, for his own
separate use. The minding of the engine and boiler is done by
two of the boys, who each take the duties of driver and stoker
in turn. They have to calculate the speed and power, water
evaporated per kilo. of coal, &c.
The boys make the tools and ﬁttings for the shop ; they also
make tools and models for sale. A foreman engineer has charge
of this instruction, and the boys are said to be very fond of the
work, which they ﬁnd to be of great practical utility when they
leave the school.
The Royal I ndustrte-Sohule, N cwembcrg.—-This was formerly
a Polytechnic School, but was converted some years ago to its
present use, as it was felt that the new Technical High School at
Munich was suﬁicient for the whole of Bavaria. The school has
102 students, 448 of whom learn practical work in the shops.
They spend nine hours per week at industrial work. The course
extends over two years, and the school resembles in all its main
features that at Munich. The chemical section, numbering 18
students, is in charge of Dr. H. Kaemmerer, who showed us his
well arranged laboratory and collection of upwards of 4,000
preparations.
The workshops are lofty and well supplied with tools, in-
cluding numerous lathes, slotting machines, 8w, all made in the
school. There is a foreman instructor and two assistants. N o
steam power. The show of drawings from this school at the
Nuremberg Exhibition was particularly good; also the apparatus
and machinery made by the pupils. The fees are very moderate.
We have not found schools which can be placed in this section
either in Austria or in the Netherlands.
Ri 1726. G
Chemical
laboratory.
Models.
Drawing.
\Vorkshops.
Industrial
School,
Nuremberg.
Vforkshops.
98 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION.’
Technical
Institute of
Milan .
Opinions in
Italy respecting
school work-
shops.
School occu-
pies an old
convent.
Drawing.
Physics.
(7.) SECONDARY TECHNICAL Senoons IN ITALY.
The Technical Institute of Milan—Schools of a similar kind
to those of Bavaria, which likewise form an integral part of the
school system of the country, are the Technical Institutes
existing in Italy. These institutions, of which there exist
over seventy, are very similar in character, and their courses of
instruction are determined for them by the Government Educa-
tional Department. They comprise generally three sections
or divisions,--(1) chemical; (2) physical and mathematical;
and (3) a special section devoted, according to the prevailing
industry of the district, either to agriculture, naval architecture,
or weaving and dyeing. The pupils enter these schools on leaving
the technical schools (scuota tee/mica, see p. 27 ante), the leaving
certiﬁcate being the only requisite qualiﬁcation. In the physico-
mathematical departments of these institutions no workshop
instruction is given, as the Italians do not generally attach
importance to manual work executed in the school. The school
is regarded as a bad substitute for the workshop in industries
in which the machines used and the tools employed are frequently
being changed and modiﬁed. It is looked upon as the place for
instruction in principles and modes of applying them, and
not as a place in which manual dexterity is to be acquired.
Signor Brioschi, the director of the above Technical Institute,
from whom the foregoing opinions were obtained, considers
that it is better to send pupils to the workshop than to bring
the workshop into the school.
The Technical Institute of Milan is situated in the Via San
Marco. Like most of the schools and many of the private
houses of Milan, it was originally a convent. We had the op-
portunity of being present when lessons were being given in the
ordinary subjects of instruction, and likewise of inspecting the
appliances and methods of teaching for the special subjects. In
one room we found a class of boys receiving a lesson in trigo-
nometry, in another the subject was history. The walls of the
rooms were perfectly bare, and no attempt seemed to be made
to illustrate the subject of instruction. The master was lecturing
and the boys were listening.
As in the other Italian schools visited, the appliances here for
teaching drawing were good, and the instruction in this subject
was both general and technical.
Several rooms of the school or college are occupied by physical
apparatus for the instruction of those who enter the physico-
mathematical section. Here we found the ordinary apparatus
used in elementary physical experiments, besides special apparatus
of a more costly kind. No attempt is made at practical physical
work on the part of the pupils. The apparatus is for illustra-
tion and explanation only. The sum of 32Z. is allowed yearly for
the purchase of new physical apparatus.
REPORT. 99
The museum of the department of agriculture contained Agriculture.
models and illustrations of much with which a practical
agriculturist has to be familiar, besides actual specimens of a
great variety of natural products. Here were collected, and well School Mu-
classiﬁed, different kinds of ploughs and other agricultural imple- 5mm‘
ments and machinery; specimens of tools, historically arranged;
collections of herbs, cereals, roots, 85c. ; diagrams of cattle,
indigenous to various countries ; specimens of woods, showing the
vertical, horizontal, and oblique sections, and the polish of which
each kind is susceptible; preparations exhibiting the chemical
constituents of vegetable substances; models of different kinds
of apples, pears, fruits, &c., indicating where they are severally
grown; specimens of the soil taken from different parts of the
valley of the Po; the various kinds of. grapes ; models and
diagrams of the phylloxera, and of its effects on the plant, 850., &c.
The number of students attached to this department is small
in this particular school. At the time of our visit there were 17
only. It was stated that in the South, the agricultural schools
are much better frequented, but in the plains of Lombardy the
richness of the soil was said to render the agriculturist somewhat
indifferent to the advantages of technical training.
A no less interesting department of the school was that devoted Chemistry.
to chemistry. The general laboratory for the students occupies
what was formerly the convent church. It is in the basement
of the building. Several other rooms adjoining it, together with
a small lecture theatre, are also appropriated to chemistry. The
general laboratory aﬁ'ords accommodation for about 60 pupils to
work at the same time. The instruction embraces the metals and
metalloids and qualitative analysis. The apparatus is on an
extensive scale. Three or four rooms are devoted to the use of
the professor, and for various kinds of apparatus. We found here
numerous instruments of an expensive character. One room was
occupied by physico-chemical apparatus, including batteries,
spectroscopes, 850.
The professors of the three divisions into which the teaching
of the school is divided, are each persons of scientiﬁc authority
in their own branch of study.
The Technical Institute of Como was also visited by the Technical
Commissioners. It is divided into three sections, the course 101;???“ 01
extending over four years. I. Physical and mathematical, '
II. Commercial, and III. Industrial, with special reference to
the manufacture of silk. The third department, the silk school
(so/cola. cl'l setiﬁclo), containing a dyeing and weaving school.
The director is Professor L. Ponci. The students enter with the
leaving certiﬁcate or diploma of the technical school, the average
age on admission being '14 years. The entrance takes place in
October.
The fee is 2l. 8s. (60 francs), which may be wholly dispensed Fees.
with in the case of poor students. About half the students at
this school are admitted without payment. The course during
the ﬁrst two years is common to all the students, but in
e 2
100 ROYAL COMMISSION ox TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Technical in--
struction begins
with third year.
Technical
Institute of
Udine.
Chemical
laboratory.
the third and fourth years there are special courses for each
section. The instruction includes French and Italian literature,
geography, history, mathematics, and drawing in the ﬁrst year,
and the same in the second year, with the addition of German.
For the silk school, physics and natural history take the place of
German.
No special technical instruction is given until the commence-
ment of the third year. In the third year, in the commercial
department, the students have the elements of political economy
and civil law, together with book-keeping and accounts. In
their fourth year the students take up chemistry including labora-
tory work, natural history, applied economy, and accounts. The
students in the silk school learn in their third year the elements
of political economy, ‘ applied mechanics, ornamental design as
applied to fabrics, and dyeing of silk. In the fourth year they
take the theory of statistics, applied economy, practical chemistry,
the chemistry of dyeing, applied mechanics, ornamental design,
silk dyeing, practical weaving, computations of fabrics, 850. The
Government pays half the cost of the school and the commune the
remainder. Students pay 16 shillings (20 fr.) per annum for
the dyeing materials, and 20 fr. for the chemical laboratory
expenses. The school is held in an old convent, and is not
well adapted for its present purpose. We were informed that a
new Weaving shed and a new chemical laboratory were about to be
erected. A new drawing school will also be added. The existing
laboratory is poorly ﬁtted for 16 students; the dyeing arrange-
ments are quite unworthy of such an institution. The drawing
school contained some fairly good examples of shaded ornament
.and foliage, the casts were mostly very small: the lighting was
indiﬁ‘erent.
At the Milan Exhibition of 1881 there were some excellent
notebooks from this school. We were accompanied through the
building by the director and Signor Cadenazzi, the teacher of
applied mechanics and machine drawing, who is a civil engineer
in practice in the town. The teacher of German, who was
absent at the time of our visit, is an Englishman.
The Technical Institute of Udine.—This is similar in many
respects to the Institute in Milan already described, and constitutes
one of the seventy institutes of this class in Italy. It is divided into
4! sections ; (1) mathematical—physical ; (2) commercial ; (3) agri-
culture ; (4.4) levelling and surveying (agriminsure). Besides these
four sections, there is a general industrial division for students
who are training for posts in manufacturing concerns. There is an
agricultural station and a farm connected with this school. The
institute is exceedingly well provided with laboratories, collections
of apparatus, and museums, The chemical laboratory has places
for 24 students to work at a time, and the students of all sections
are engaged in laboratory practice for a certain number of hours
per week, which vary according to the importance of this branch
of study to the future work of the student. The laboratory is
REPORT‘. 301
under the direction of Professor Nallino, and the sum of 1201. a
year is allowed for its maintenance. The geological cabinet is
well furnished with models, diagrams, minerals, and fossils, which
serve especially to illustrate the geology of the surrounding
country. There is also a well arranged natural history museum Museum.
occupying a very large room; all the specimens are well
classiﬁed and placed in suitable cases. Besides these collections is
a museum of agriculture, similar to that we have described at
Milan. The cabinet of physics contains a large quantity of good Apparatus,
and useful apparatus, including a Siemen’s dynamo-machine,
different kinds of electric lamps, and various other instruments.
As is the case in most of the Italian technical schools, the Models.
mechanical department contains a great variety of kinematic
models, and also models of machines and of parts of machines of
full size, most of which were made by M. Blotto, at the Palazzo
Valentino, in Turin. These models are used not only for the pur-
pose of illustrating the teaching of mechanics, but also as objects
to be drawn by the students. The drawings were very good. In
the fourth section there is a small museum containing a collection
of theodolites, sextants, levelling and surveying instruments, &c.
On the roof of a portion of the building is a. small observa- Observatory,
tory, with telescope, &c., and containing also meteorological
apparatus, including an anemometer, hygrometers, and apparatus
for determining the electrical condition of the atmosphere. Special
rooms are devoted to art work, and drawing is an obligatory
subject for students of all the different sections.
This short notice of the museums and collections attached to FIwil-itiebin
this technical school in Udine gives some idea of the facilities afforded in the capital of nearly every Italian province for instruction_
practical instruction in different branches of applied science.
The attendance of students is comparatively small, considering Number of
the size of these institutions and the cost of their erection and smde{1f$_an‘l
maintenance. There are I20 students in this college, 17 professors profebbms'
and 3 assistant teachers. The age of the students is from 17 to
19. The director, Professor Misani, stated that the inspection of
these institutes on ~the part of the Central Government is too lax,
and that insufﬁcient opportunity is offered to the professor to
suggest changes in the system of instruction which is determined
by the Education Department for all these institutes.
This institute has been in existence for 17 years, but the farm Experimental
has been established only two years. Experiments are prosecuted farm-
on this farm, and besides the regular students of the institute who
come here for practical lessons in agriculture, the small farmers of
the district attend occasionally to take part in them. Sheep,
oxen, and other animals are reared on the farm, and all the
different kinds of grain adapted to the district are grown. There
is a room especially ﬁtted up for the microscopic examination of
seed with the view of detecting adulteration, &c. The accounts of
the farm are most carefully kept by the students, and during the
ﬁrst year the farm was maintained at the small loss of 19s. 2a’ , sn
nearly did the accounts balance.
102 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
The Commissioners visited a very similar institution at Veniceﬁ“
which contamed very excellent appliances for practical scientiﬁc
teaching.
GENERAL REVIEW OF CONTINENTAL SECONDARY
TECHNICAL SCHOOLS.
General review The secondary technical schools or colleges, referred to under
of Commenml sub-section B, constitute as Important a feature in the educa-
secondary . . . .
technical tional systems of most continental countrles as those described
schools. in group A. In these Institutions the maJOrIty of those who are
to become managers and sub-managers Of industrial works
receive their training.
The theoretical instruction is not carried so far in these
colleges as in the German Polytechnic Schools and in the Ecole
Centrale of Paris, herein-after described, which are available for
the higher education of those who can afford to prolong their
studies to the age of 22 or 23, and who are intended for occupa-
tions in which a very advanced knowledge of mathematics and
of science is required. -
From the character of the instruction which students receive
in these establishments, and from the age (19 or 20) at which
they leave them, it will be seen that these institutions are
oo-ordinate with the technical departments of many of our own
colleges, such as University College, Nottingham, the Firth
College, Sheffield, and others which have been recently established
with nearly similar objects, in our chief manufacturing centres.
In affording an education in which theory is not carried too
far and is duly combined with laboratory practice, and in some
cases with workshop instruction, and in which, moreover, the
scientiﬁc teaching is made to bear upon the principal manufactures
of the districts, these higher technical schools provide the kind of
education that is best adapted to .the various grades of managers of
works.
O.--BUILDING, ENGINEERING, AND MINING SCHOOLS.
Building, In this third sub-division of inter mediate technical schools we have
engineﬁlling, three main groups, which lend themselves well to separate con-
231102;?” sideration, though they necessarily differ greatly among themselves
in the rank of the pupils for which they are intended, We are
therefore compelled to abandon our attempt to conﬁne this group
simply to the class of foremen and those likely to occupy the
lower positions in industrial concerns, and we take here schools of

* The professional school of Biella, described among the weaving schools, p. 155,
also ranks as a Technical Institute. -
REPORT 103
various grades, but giving a specialized instruction suitable for
builders, for engineers, and for miners.
The ﬁrst group, that is, building schools, are found principally in Building trade
Germany and Austria, and do not exist as independent schools in schOOlS-
either France, Belgium, or Italy. They resemble one another very
closely in character and afford little actual trade teaching. Their
chief object is to impart theoretical instruction adapted to the
wants andrequirements of superior workmen and foremen engaged
1n the building trades. Incidentally they serve for the education
of draughtsmen, surveyors, inspectors of works, and occasionally
of a lower grade of architects.
The second group is conspicuously represented on the Continent Mechanical
by the French schools for the training of mechanical engineers, engineering
the Ecoles des Arts et Métiers. A school of a somewhat similar schools‘
type, visited by the Commissioners, in Holland, and the Austrian
school at Komotau, may best be described in this section.
The various schools for miners which exist in all parts of the Miningschools
Continent contain students of every grade. We have dealt in
this third group with all the mining schools, except those of the
highest rank, which come more properly in the section of schools
for superior managers and proprietors of industrial establishments.
BUILDING TRADE SoHooLs IN GERMANY.
The Building Trade School at Stuttgart is one of the most Building trade
important schools of this kind in Germany. The building is a g‘ghft‘ll’it
magniﬁcent modern structure, designed “by Professor Fgle, who is k u (“m ‘
also president of the school. The cost of the building was above
50,000l., and the annual budget for 1880-81 amounted to 7,378Z.,
of which 9731. was contributed by the payments of the pupils,
the remaining sum of 6,4051. being paid by the State. The
school is divided into two mathematical preparatory courses, and
three special science divisions, (1) for those engaged in the
building trade, (2) for land surveyors and land agents, and (3)
for mechanical engineering. There are 28 masters of depart—
ments and 13 assistants. It is important to notice that, unlike
the French, Swiss, and other schools of the same kind, the
higher technical education of Germany is not gratuitous. The
pupils pay 36s. per half-year, no one is admitted under 14
years of age, and many, having been engaged in practical work,
are of mature age. The number of scholars in the winter course
was 448 ; more than half of these belonging to the building trade ;
the average age being 21 years. The summer course was attended
by 133 pupils. The course in each half year is the same. There
are six courses of half a year each, and a considerable proportion
of the students remain for this length of time. As many of those
attending the classes are almost illiterate, preparatory courses of
ordinary study are carried on together with the technical work.
The subjects taught are; mathematics, physics, general geo— ‘Subjects of
metry and statics, freehand and ornamental drawing, geometrical min/‘chom-
104 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION!
Teaching of
drawing.
Building trade
school at
Dresden.
Programme of
each course.
drawing; building construction, consisting of lectures, drawing,
and designing; surveying and mensuration, including lectures and
practical ﬁeld work; machine construction, including lectures,
drawing, and designing ; special drawing for _ioiners ; gymnastics.
The drawing is taught as follows : The student begins with plane
geometrical drawing, and passes on through a series of graduated
examples until he ﬁnally makes complete designs for public
buildings, with the plans, sections, elevations, and perspective
drawings. Professor Egle has a special method of teaching
the projection of shadows, by means of parallel planes arranged to
follow in contours of equal illumination.
The arrangement of the building is very commodious, and much
care and thought have been bestowed on the questions of lighting
and heating, as also on the general ﬁttings of the school. This
institution appeared in every way thoroughly adapted to
workmen, and seemed a typical school for artizans. Drawing in
all its applications to industry was most carefully taught, and
the studies of the pupils evinced a thorough acquaintance with
the subject.
This is in no sense 'an apprenticeship school, as no practical.
work of any kind is attempted. The object of the school is~to
supplement the instruction of those practically engaged in the
various branches of the building trade. With the exception of
modelling from plaster casts, the whole of the teaching is purely
theoretical. Here, again, we see the importance of the principle
insisted upon in Germany of the continuation in the Fortbildungs-
schule of the education begun in the primary school. Only a few
of the best of the pupils in these schools come to them from the
Real schulen.
The Building Trade School at Dresden is very similar to the
above The course consists of four consecutive winter sessions;
it being understood that the pupils are occupied in their various
trades during the intervening summers. On entry the pupil must
be 16 years of age, and must have passed through the elementary
school. The pupils pay 30s. for each course. Like the other
schools of its class, this is entirely a day school.
The ﬁrst course consists of the general principles of architecture,
architectural drawing, freehand drawing, arithmetic, geometry,
projection, and German. The second course consists of the
general principles of architecture, building construction in stone
and wood, the laws relating to building, the elements of archi-
tecttu~al drawing, designing, freehand drawing, mathematics,
physics, perspective, and German. The third course comprises
building construction, structures in stone and wood, plans of
buildings, histor Y of architecture, designing, freehand drawing,
mathematics, physics, mechanics, and German. The fourth course
consists of building construction, including construction in iron
and other metals, modes of warming, heating, and ventilating
buildings, designing, freehand drawing, mechanics, perspective,
surveying, levelling and plotting, and bookkeeping.
RRPoR'r. .l 05
This school may serve as a type of the Saxon building schools,
of which there are four principal ones. All of these schools, being
under the Minister of the Interior, have an identical organisation.
The Building Trade School of Chemnitz forms part of the
Higher Trade School which we have elsewhere described. A
school of a similar character is attached to the Munich Industriel-
Schule, see p. 94, and there is also a Building Trades school in
connection with the Berlin Handwerker Verein, see p. 41.
BUILDING TRADE ScuooLs IN AUSTRIA.
There are two types of Building Trade Schools in Austria, the
one being called the State Trades Schools (Staatsgewerbe Sehulen),
and the other the Foremen’s Schools (Werkmeister Schulen).
The more important of the former class are those of Reichenberg,
Briinn, Graz, Salzburg, Bielitz, Pilzen, Czernowitz, Sac. Many
of these are only winter schools, because the workmen are employed
in their ordinary vocations during the summer months, but,
during the hard continental winters, they are unable to carry them
on. Some of these are only winter building schools, whilst others
embrace a wider range of instruction and more nearly correspond
with the Industrie Schulen of Bavaria (p. 94), serving the pur-
pose of training men generally for intermediate posts in industrial
Works.
Schools of this kind vary considerably according to the require-
ments of the district in which they are situated. Thus, for
example, the school at Gfaz contains two divisions, one for those
in training for, or already engaged in, any one of the different
branches of the building trade, and the other, an applied art
division for the various trades in which art knowledge is
necessary.
To this school is also attached a continuation school (Fortbildungs-
scbule), and an evening and Sunday school for journeymen and
apprentices. These evening schools continue the instruction of
the primary school, with, in addition, suitable lessons in drawing
adapted to the various industries, together with modelling, wood
carving, 320.
All these schools have for their object either to give a special
preliminary training to workmen who are about to enter various
industries, or by means of winter, evening, or Sunday instruction,
to supplement, by theoretical teaching, the education of those who
are already engaged in trade or business as workmen or foremen.
The Commissioners visited the Vienna Building Trade School
during the summer months, when few students were present; also
the schools at Innsbruck and Salzburg (see Special Report on
Domestic Trades, in Appendix). One division of the Beichenberg
Trade School described on p. 83, ante, is a Building Trade school.
Building Trade Schools, Vienna—There are two schools of
this kind in Vienna, the aim of them being to give to apprentices
5
Austrian build—
ing trade
schools.
Vienna build~
mg trade
chools.
106 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
instruction is
theoretical.
Evening school.
Numbers in
each course.
Work of ad-
, vanced
students.
and young men engaged in the building trades a theoretical
knowledge of all the details of their industry.
These schools are Open all the year round, but the summer
courses are thinly attended, because the great majority of students
are employed at their work during the summer, and are saving
money to enable them to attend the schools when building
operations are suspended in the winter.
In the one of these we visited there are 150 pupils in winter,
and 50 in the summer. The fees amount to from ll. 13s. 4a’. to
21. 188. 40?. for the half year.
Boys come to the school at 15, and usually go through a two
years’ course, with half a year for preparation, if not sufficiently
advanced.
The instruction is almost entirely theoretical, but in certain
difﬁcult operations experimental work is done by the classes.
The pupils are mostly sons of builders, contractors, and small
employers. The school has existed since 1868. It is situated in
rather a thickly populated portion of the city, in order to be near
the homes of the students. The hours are from 8 to 12 in the
morning, and from 2 to 6 in the afternoon. The school receives
9171. from Government, and 83L from the town.
In addition to day school work, the rooms are used for evening
and Sunday schools, and attended by from 150 to 200 pupils, who
are required under their conditions of apprenticeship to come for
two nights a week and on Sundays. This department of the
school is largely supported by the Masters’ Association.
The preparatory class contained seven boys, 14 to 15 years old,
who were studying geometry. The papers in geometry and in
perspective were neatly executed. We inspected some of the draws
ings in books, copied from black board drawings, and creditably
done. The freehand, outline drawings, and coloured designs of
ornament were very good. In the ﬁrst course were six boys, 15
to 17 years old, who spend most of their time in drawing and in
studying the sciences bearing on construction. They devote 12
hours a week to perspective, geometry, and lectures, and make
detail drawings of wood joints, scarfed tie beams, &c. The second
course included 15 students, 17 or 18 to 25 years of age. We
saw some clever drawings of details of. architecture and construction,
but the freehand and shading was not good. The third course
comprised 10 students, who were drawing from casts and making
original designs, plans of buildings, ﬁnished drawings, 850., with
elevations and sections. In the fourth course were two students.
It must be seen that these small classes indicate a great waste
of teaching power; but we were informed that everything is as
different as possible in the winter. Most of the students have had
more or less of Workshop experience before they come.
Two free studentships are offered by the Gewerbeverein.
The most advanced students make complete architectural draw-
ings, in addition to which, they calculate all the quantities of
REPORT. 107
material required, prepare speciﬁcations, and work out estimates
in detail, and show, as a contractor would have to do, the cost at
which a building can be erected. They hand in pro formd
“ tenders,” which are examined by the teacher, and the ﬁrst
place is given to the student who is most correct in his calculations,
“planning,” and “setting out,” and who shows correct judgment
of the price of the work to be done. Most of the students become
draughtsmen, builders’ foremen, clerks of works, and some become
architects. There is an annual exhibition of drawings and designs,
and friends are invited to see them.
A large room is ﬁlled with cabinets of building materials and
models of all kinds, chieﬂy examples of building construction.
There are roofs, arches, suspension bridges; in fact, it may be
said that there is not a building difficulty which is not represented
by some model, showing how it may be dealt with. There are
also books of drawings, photographs, and descriptions of buildings,
and information relating to architecture generally.
The aim of the Vienna School is to give intelligence to builders,
and this is the ﬁrst and safest step towards the construction of
good buildings.
The professors spoke with conﬁdence and enthusiasm of the
results of the school.
In considering these schools, among the points to be noted
are, ﬁrst, that the pupils are required to have had a fair
preliminary education before entering them, or to supplement it
in the school itself, Second, the instruction is mainly, if not
exclusively, theoretical. Third, that throughout the entire course
of instruction great attention is paid to freehand and geometrical
drawing; and fourth, nearly all the students are or have been
practically engaged outside the school in the work of their trade.
It seems necessary that we should here draw special attention to
the fact that parents not only make great sacriﬁces for the educa-
tion of their children, but that the young men themselves work
hard during the summer months to save suﬁicient money to pay
their school fees and to support themselves during the winter when
work is slack.
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING SoIIooLs IN FRANCE.
Amongst the continental schools for the practical training of
foremen engineers, the French Ecoles des Arts at Me'tz'ers stand
conspicuous. The Commissioners visited the school at Chalons
sur Marne, one of three of the same rank existing in France, the
other two, on exactly the same pattern, being at Aix for the south
and Angers for the west. There is a ﬁxed geographical limit
for each of the three existing schools. All the pupils at Chalons
come from the NE. of France. A fourth school of this type is
about to be founded in the town of Lille; and a ﬁfth has,
we believe, been commenced at N evers. The Commissioners were
introduced by M. Jacquemart, the Inspector General of Technical
Collection of
models, 8w.
General re-
marks on
building trade
schools.
Mechanical
engineering
school at
Chzilons.
108 ROYAL COMMISSION on TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Object of the
schools.
State subsidy.
Course of
workshop
instruction
Instruction in France, and were received by M. Langonet, the
Director. These schools are State institutions, in which practical
mechanical work in the shops is the main subject, supple-
mented by theoretical studies. The object of the schools is to
train competent foremen and draughtsmen, especially for engineer-
ing works. The pupils spend 62 hours per day in the workshop,
and are occupied for 6 hours in school work. The schools in
question were founded in the year 1803-4 by a decree of Bonaparte
when First Consul. The original organization differed widely
from that which they have at the present time assumed. They
are placed under the direct control of the Minister of Agri-
culture and Commerce, and under the superintendence of the
Préfet of the department in which they are situated. The course
extends over three years. As is the case with many of the French
schools, the students are all boarders. The number of students in
each of these schools must not exceed 300, who are divided into
three sections (corresponding to years) of 100 pupils each. A
large number (about one half) are free students, being admitted
by exhibitions from schools of a lower grade. The scholarships
are awarded by the Minister, by the Departments, and by the
municipalities. The rest of the students pay 241. a year; the cost
per student is, however, 56L, the difference being defrayed by
the State. The total expenditure for the year previous to our
visit would be somewhat in excess of this sum, and would
reach nearly 60]. for each student; the budget being 16,680l.
for the 285 pupils. The State subsidy varies from 14,400l. to
15,000l. per annum. The sum of 2,8001. has just been voted for new
machinery for the workshops, as the existing plant, which has been
mainly constructed by the students, is antiquated and not in accord—
ance with modern requirements; it is estimated that a sum of
not less than 5,600l. will have to be expended for this purpose.
Tools and machines made in the workshops by the students
are sold each year and produce from 1,200l. to 1,4001. The pupils
are admitted on the results of two examinations, a preliminary test
examination which is competitive, and embraces French, arithmetic,
geometry, drawing, and manual work, and a ﬁnal examination at
the school. Many of the large public schools, such as the Paris
Ecoles Turgot and Leon Say, have special preparatory classes
for this institution. There is also a school in Chalons, conducted
by M. Gosserez, which succeeds in passing many pupils into
this school. Out of 60 candidates sent up last time for the
preliminary examination, 53 of M. Gosserez’s boys qualiﬁed for
the second examination, and 35 passed the ﬁnal examination.
The 100 youths who enter each year are separated into two divi-
sions of 50 each, one section going to the ﬁtting shop and the other
to the pattern shop. They pass through the shops in six months
and then change about. In the ﬁtting shop, which is divided into
three sections, one of which corresponds with each year of training,
there is a large stock of plant, an engine and boiler, which the
students manage in turn for a week each, as stoker and driver,
REPORT. 109
and a tool store from which the necessary tools are issued; the
students make squares, compasses, vices, &c. In the second year
they pass on to detached portions of machinery and make small
simple machines. In the third year they are employed in the pro—
duction of machines either for actual use in the school, or for sale
outside. The school, in undertaking contracts for work, will not
bind itself to deliver at a given date, and therefore does not
compete with any manufacturing establishment.
The foundry contains three cupolas, one of which serves for
heavy castings; among the objects cast are headstocks and beds
for lathes, and frames for “spinning machines. At the time of our
visit they were at work on a casting weighing 30 cwt.
The smithy has eight forges. Two students work at each and
take it in turns to act as smith and striker. Among the articles
made are vices, screw presses, copying presses, &c.
The pattern shop has places for 100 students, it is well pro-
vided with tools and admirably arranged. Patterns are made
for lathe-lleadstocks, beds for lathes and planing machines, driving-
pullies, &c.
In all the workshops, in addition to special foremen-instructors,
a few regular mechanics are employed.
The accompanying table shows the shops in which the students
of each year are distributed :--


No. of Students in each 'Workshop.
Divisions of the
School.
Fitters. Founders. Smiths. Pattern Makers.
1st year students - 50 —- — 51
2nd ,, ,, - 31 15 34 15
3rd ” ,, - 69 10 7 8
Totals - 150 25 41 74

The time table of the school is given in Appendix No. 15,
Vol. V.
The bulk of the students in all these schools are found in the
ﬁtters’ shop; indeed, if the students had their own free will, it
would be difﬁcult to ﬁnd recruits for the other trades. The
position in the shops is given in accordance with the results of the
annual examinations, unless a youth voluntarily chooses to work in
one of the less preferred departments. The discipline in these
schools is of the most rigorous character; the students wear a
semi-military uniform, and are closely conﬁned to the school,
which they only leave at rare intervals under the charge of an
instructor. There is a total absence of games and athletic sports.
Foundry.
Smithy.
Pattern shop.
Divisions or
the school.
Students
mostly select
ﬁtters’ shop.
110 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION;
French opinion
respecting
these schools.
Positions taken
by pupils of
the school.
Comparison
between the
students of
these schools
and those of
the Ecole
Centrale.
Defects of
such schools.
Advantages.
On being questioned on this subject the Director said the students
were _too tired when they left the shops to care for further
exercise.
Opinions differ in France respecting the merits of the students
trained at these schools. When they enter active life it is found
that they still require considerable preparation before they are
competent to take charge of work. The defect of the teaching
is mainly its failure to give a sufficient appreciation of the value of
time as an element in practical work, and a tendency to minute
and artiﬁcial ﬁnish.
The Commissioners ascertained the position obtained by the
pupils on leaving this school, and found that they were engaged
in a variety of occupations, among which the following may be
mentioned: draughtsmen in manufactories, chiefs of drawing offices
and directors of works, managers of shops ; a few become teachers
of engineering construction as M. Bocquet, of la Villette school;
many hold posts of various kinds on railways; very few relatively
remain workmen or even simple foremen. They generally enter
works in the ﬁrst instance as simple workmen, but owing to their
superior technical training they rapidly rise to the position of fore-
men.
From the opinions elicited from manufacturers and. managers
of works in France, the Commissioners ascertained that in many
cases the pupils from these schools were found more efﬁcient
subsequently as managers and heads of departments than those
from the Ecole Centrale and the Ecole Polytechnique, inasmuch
as their training had been of a more practical character, and that
they were more ready to adapt themselves to the requirements
of the different kinds of work, and more capable of receiving new
impressions.
One evident disadvantage of any school of this description, which
takes the place entirely of training in a commercial workshop, is
that the machinery must quickly become antiquated, the newest
inventions not being likely to be as speedily introduced
as they would be into a workshop in which machinery is
being manufactured for the market. rI‘his objection indeed was
recognised by the director, who pointed to the fact, already men-
tioned, that a sum of 5,6001. was then required for the purchase of
newer machinery. ()n the other hand, it must be admitted that
the students have the opportunity of learning different processes
more speedily under the direction of foremen who are specially
provided to give instruction, than they would do in an ordinary
workshop in which each man is put to that work which he is
capable of doing most efficiently in the interests of the concern;
always providing that the foremen themselves are competent.
Whilst not advocating the adoption of such schools as this in
England, the Commissioners have no doubt that by combining
in their System of instruction, practice with theory, these schools
have exerted a beneﬁcial inﬂuence on the industries of France,
and that by ‘gathering up, as they do, the selected boys from
schools of a lower grade distributed over a wide area (22 Depart-
REPORT. 111
ments sending their pupils to this one school), they are the means
of training an intelligent and efﬁcient class of persons, capable
of ultimately ﬁlling responsible posts in industrial establishments,
and from the experience which the Commissioners gained in
visiting some of the largest machine works of France they have
found such to be the case.
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING SoHooLs IN AUSTRIA.
The Royal Mechanical School of Komotau in Bohemia—This Mﬁchfnifcal
school is avowedly designed on the model of the Technical School séomtgu.
at Moscow. It was opened on the 26th October 1874. The
director, Professor Beuter, now at the lserlohn School, see p. 50,
having previously inspected the various European methods, gave
the preference to the system adopted at Moscow, and introduced
the Russian plan, with the important modiﬁcation that the
manufacture of articles for sale is here omitted, and the full
course lasts only two years at Komotau instead of three.
The school, of which Professor Riirer is now the director,
Was originally planned for 48 students, but it has recently been
largely extended to accommodate the increasing numbers seeking
admission. The minimum age for admission is 14, but students of
all ages up to 26 are to be found in the school. The students are
under instruction for nine hours daily, from 8 to 12 in the class
rooms for theoretical instruction, and from 1 to 6 in the shops.
The chief attention is paid to the practical shop-work, the literary
instruction being mainly directed to its bearing on the industrial
work of the student, and his needs as a skilled mechanic.
The course of study is as follows :-
1st year’s course in shops—1. Carpentry and joiners’ work, Course ofstudy
30 hours per week for 16 weeks. 2. Wood turning, 30 ﬁrst year.
hours per week for 12 weeks. 3. Hand-tool work in metals,
30 hours per week for 12 weeks. In this course typical
articles to be ﬁtted are employed as models, preparatory
to a course later on, in the second year, on the practical
applications of the same. The student spends four con-
secutive weeks in each shop in turn.
1st year’s course of theoretical instruction.—1. Linear drawing
and the theory of projection, 10 hours per week. 2. Free-
hand drawing, 4 hours per week. 3. Commercial hand-
writing (in winter), 1 hour per week. 4. Arithmetic (in
summer), 2 hours per week, (in winter) 5 hours. 5. Geo-
metry (in summer), 3 hours per week. 6. Physics, 1 hour
per week. 7. Theory of machine construction, 2 hours.
8. Simple book-keeping and commercial practice, 2 hours.
In all the above subjects the teaching, though very simple
and elementary, is thorough and sound.
2nd year’s course in shops.--—1. Forging, 30 hours per week Second year
for 8 weeks. 2. Foundry work, 30 hours per week for
112 ROYAL commission or: TECHNICAL INs'rnUc'rIoN:
\V orkshop
instruction.
Other Austrian
schools.
Engineering
school,
Amsterdam.
8 weeks. 3. Iron turning, 30 hours per week for 12
weeks. 4:. Fitting (applied course), 30 hours per week
for 12 weeks. In addition to the above, the student is at
liberty, after the completion of the prescribed course, to
make some small machine tool, such as a drilling machine,
himself, from his own design, aided simply by the sugges-
tions of the master, with the view of giving him independ—
ence in design and execution.
2nd year’s course of theoretical instructi0n.—-1. Machine draw-
ing, 10 hours per week. 2. Freehand drawing, 4 hours.
3. Arithmetic, 2 hours. 4. Stereometry, 1 hour. 5. Ap—
plications of arithmetic and geometry to calculation of
simple machine work, 3 hours. 6. Handling and protec-
tion of metals, 1 hour. 7. Theory of machine construction,
2 hours. 8. Book-keeping and commercial practice.
Instruction in the workshops is founded, as at Moscow, on a
progressive series of models which have been carefully selected
for this purpose. Each student goes through the set course. The
materials are provided free of charge by the school authorities,
and all ﬁnished work belongs to them. The work of each student
is kept together in a separate case, and any specimens of special
excellence are drafted off to the school collections; the rest are
sold at the expiration of two years. The Austrian Government
has decided that, as far as possible, the new Fachschulen are to
be schools of instruction only, and that manufacturing is to be
avoided. All the practical work done in the shops will have a
purely educational hearing. The schools are in fact to steer
clear of competition with existing industries, and to avoid the
introduction of the commercial element.
A similar school exists at Steyr, provided with the requisite
workshops for teaching all the processes in the working of iron
and steel, such as forging, turning, chipping, ﬁling, boring, scraping,
polishing, burnishing, welding, annealing, gilding, silvering, nickel-
plating, engraving, etching, colouring, &c., including applications
to wood, bone, horn, and ivory. Other schools for metal working
have been established at Klagenfurt and at Ferlach, the latter for
gun-making. We are indebted to Professor Hauffe, the director
of the Technical High School of Vienna, for the prospectuses
of these schools, which were not visited by the Commissioners.
MEcnANmAL ENGINEERING SCHOOLS IN HOLLAND.
Training School for Marine Engineers at Amsterdam.~-——This
school was established by private enterprise, in consequence of
the great need of skilled engineers in the merchant navy. The
owners of steam vessels had to suffer grievous losses, due to
the ignorance and incompetence of the men they engaged to
take charge of the machinery on board ship, and they decided
to found this school in order to train up a staff of men properly
qualiﬁed to undertake these duties. The school is in receipt
of a Government subsidy of 917l. per annum; the province
nnPoRr. 113
gives 1661., and the town provides the school building rent-
free. The director is Mr. J. 'W. Visser. The students’ ages vary
from 15 to 19. There are 92 students, and about 40 of them
are boarded at the sailors’ home, a short distance from the school.
Owing to the want of proper accommodation, the students take it
in turns to spend one day in the workshops and one in the school.
Applications for admission to the school must be made each year
to the director, during the month of June. The entrance exami-
nation is competitive, and takes place in the presence of a com-
mittee selected by the board of managers. The subjects are
reading, writing, the elements of the Dutch, French, and English
languages, the four rules of arithmetic, with vulgar and decimal
fractions, plane geometry, algebra, and simple equations. Students
who ‘have a knowledge of drawing and smiths’ work are preferred.
Students, if necessary, are subjected to medical examination. The
school fees are 81. 6s. 8d. per annum, and for board 16L 13s. 4d.
The course extends over two years. There is an examination
at the end of each year, and a certiﬁcate of proﬁciency is given
to those students who have acquitted themselves satisfactorily at
the school, and subsequently spent one year in practical work on
board ship or at a factory. For this purpose they return for a
ﬁnal examination. Places are found them by the school for the
year of practical duty. No certiﬁcate is given for the school
course alone. The school programme includes elementary
Subjects re-
quired for
entrance
examinatlon.
Fees,
School pro-
geometry, algebra, arithmetic, mechanics and physics, theory of gramme-
the steam engine, the theory of projection and perspective, the
Dutch, French, and English languages, mechanical drawing,
and smiths’ work and ﬁtting.
The school is under the charge of the director, who takes the
instruction in the theory of the steam engine. There are three
other masters 5 a mechanical engineer in charge of the workshops,
a skilled blacksmith, a ﬁtter, and a turner. The students pass
a year in the smithy and a year in the ﬁtters’ shop. They go
through a set course of work in forging, ﬁtting, ﬁling, turning, 810.
They have excellent machinery, including a steam engine,
used solely for dissection as a means of study. The aim of the
teaching, both in the school and the shop, is to give them a
thorough practical acquaintance with the different parts of the
machinery used in steam vessels, and the mode of repairing and
making good accidents and defects. We went through the
class rooms, and were shown some excellent machine drawing;
the young men in the shops who seemed well-built, strong, young
fellows, were working with a will, and the specimens of work we
saw were of high quality, though of the nature of manual exercises
rather than parts of real machines. Dr. Steyn Parvé informed
us that the school had fully answered the expectations of its
founders, and that the Government subsidy had been increased
owing to its successful operation.
The Commissioners were greatly impressed with the value of
the education given in this school, and with the economy with
which the establishment was carried on.
Ri 1726. H
Staff of
teachers.
\Vorkshop
instruction.
1141 ROYAL COMMISSION ON, TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Continental
schools for
mining and
metallurgy
are of three
grades.
French mining
schools of the
second grade.
School of St.
Etienne.
Admission by
competition.
Course of
instruction
Schools of the
lowest grade.
TECHNICAL SCHOOLS FOR MINING AND METALLURGY.
The Continental schools for mining and metallurgy are of
three grades. Of these, the highest, as the Ecole des Mines of
Paris, the Berg-Academic of F reiberg, those of Stockholm, and of
Leoben in Styria, and the Prussian mining academies, rank with
the great Polytechnic schools. Metallurgy is also taught in the
Polytechnic schools. We shall speak of mining schools of the
highest grade, later on, under the head of schools for higher
technical instruction.
MINING SCHOOLS IN FRANCE.
Next in rank to the above are Schools like the Ecole des
Jlft'nes, or, as it was called till quite lately, the Ecole des Min curs,
of St. EtieIme, in the coal basin of the Loire. The change of
name is Signiﬁcant, for it indicates that the students leaving the
school occupy a higher industrial rank than that which appears
to have been contemplated at the outset. The school is proud
of having educated several distinguished engineers and men of
science, M. Boussingault being one of the latter. It is a
Government school under the direction of the Minister of Public
VVOrks, and it furnishes, in the ﬁrst place, the Government sub~
inspectors of mines, who, however, do not rise to the rank of
chief inspectors, and second, sub-managers of mines and metal-
lurgical establishments, some of these latter ultimately becoming
managers of such undertakings.
The age of students on entrance is from 16 to 25 years.
Admission to the school is by competition. There is a prelimi~
nary qualifying examination in each Department of France, and
a subsequent competitive entrance examination of qualiﬁed
candidates at the school itself. The examination includes the
French language, arithmetic and logarithms, algebra, including
the binomial theorem and the theory of logarithms, trigo-
nometry, analytical, plane, solid, and descriptive geometry,
physics, optics, and chemistry, more especially of the metalloids
and metals, besides any other subjects which the candidate may
select.
It will be evident from the subjects of examination that the
school is not intended for working miners.
The instruction is gratuitous. It is given by three professors,
and covers a course of three years, the school year beginning in
October and ending in August. The ﬁrst year’s course com-
prises mathematics to differential calculus, theoretical mecha-
nics and kinematics, physics, chemistry, mineralogy, geometry,
and Surveying. The second and third years’ courses are on
applied mechanics, mining, metallurgy, geology, building and
machine construction, railways, mining legislation, and accounts.
The number of Students varies from 80 to 90. The budget of
the school is 2,000Z.
The schools of the lowest grade are those for overmen and
deputies of mines, of which there are two in France, one at Alais
REPoR'r. 115
in the south, and one quite recently established at Douai, in the
northern coal basin; and a large number in Germany, more
especially in Prussia, the earliest of the German schools dating
back to the last century, and an interesting example being the
one established in 1793 at Steben by Alexander von Humboldt,
then 24 years of age and mining engineer of the Franconian
Principalities. It will be convenient to include under the same
head the metallurgical school established in 1882 for foremen
and leading hands of iron and steel works, and for foremen
engineers, at Bochum, in Westphalia.
The school at Douai (Ecole des Mattrcs Me'neurs), which is a Mining
Government institution, contains 35 pupils (20 in 1883). The 2“
instruction is gratuitous, the cost of each student’s board is 20l. ‘
per annum, and nearly all the students are maintained by
“ Bourses,” or scholarships, of which four are given by the town,
four each by the Départements du Nord and of the Pas de Calais,
and the remainder by the colliery owners of the district. All of
them are working miners, generally selected by the coal pro-
prietors. The instruction, of which we give the programme in the
Appendix, and which is eminently practical, alternates, from
three months to three months, with work in the mines, and
extends over two years. At the time of our visit it had not
been established long enough for any judgment to be formed of
its results. The budget of the school is 946l., of which the
payments to the teaching staff amount to 532l.
MINING SoHooLs IN GERMANY.
In Prussia there are 11 schools for miners, containing §Ilifln1§ .1
altogether between four and ﬁve hundred students. Several of $1,225,}!
them have a group of preparatory schools, in the district of
which they are the centres, aﬁiliated to them.
Thus the Bergsoh'ale of Bocham has 10 preparatory schools, one Pliflmll‘atm‘y
with about 30 students in the town itself, and 9 others in the $1,235.31"
neighbouring towns and pit villages, with about 220 students, all Bochum
of them pitmen, or employed about the pits in some capacity. ‘chool'
The instruction in these preparatory schools is given on the
evenings of four working days, except drawing, which is taught
on Sunday mornings; the course occupies two years; the subjects
are the German language, arithmetic, drawing, elementary
physics, and in the last half year explanations of the rationale
of mine regulations. At these preparatory schools the miners
may acquire sufﬁcient elementary knowledge to be able to proﬁt
by the instruction in the mining school proper.
The regulations of nearly all the German mining schools require that the ‘students shall have been actually employed as Schools new
workmen 1n mlnes before they can enter the school. The have been
Saarbriick school demands the minimum in this respect, namely, actually
. . ~a ed as
a full year’s work as a pItman. The requirements are greatest f,§‘,,g,..§,_
H 2
llii ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Ages of
students.
Mining school
at Bochum.
Upper tl1Vl\lt|1‘l
has tn 0
departments.
t‘oursc ol ir-
stluction in
lou er mining
schools ot
( lermany.
at Bochum. The rule there is that candidates must have
worked four complete years in the pit; they must produce
certiﬁcates that they are industrious and skilful, and that their
conduct is reputable. The minimum age of admission varies
in different schools from 17 to 21. There is no maximum age.
In practice, the students in the schools are generally from 20 to
25 years of age. The candidates have to satisfy the examiners
that they can read fluently, write legibly and correctly, and are
conversant with the four rules of arithmetic. Some of the
schools also require some elementary mathematics and physics,
and more or less of drawing, the minimum being ability to make
an outline drawing of the usual mining tools. The schools are
generally held in Government or municipal buildings, and the
cost of instruction is defrayed out of a general fund sub-
scribed by the mine owners. That of the school at Bochum
is about 1,500l. per annum, and of its preparatory schools
about 600l.
The Bochum school has a lower and an upper division; the
former is a half-time school, the students continuing to work
in the mines half the day. The instruction in this division
occupies two years. It includes mathematics, mining, mechanics,
drawing, and natural science (physics and chemistry).
The upper division occupies one year, and the students do not
work in the mines. It has two departments, one for mine
surveying, the other for mining proper. The subjects taught in
the former are mathematics, surveying, geology, mine accounts,
mining law, and the German language. Those taught in the
latter department are mathematics, mechanics, geology, machine
drawing, surveying, and mining. It may be mentioned that, in
connection with the laboratory of this school, a separate building
has recently been erected for carrying on researches by a Govern-
ment Commission on explosive gases, and the conditions of their
presence and explosion in mines. The Bochum school was not in
operation when we visited it, on account of the Whitsuntidc
holidays, but some notion may be formed of the scope of
the instruction from that given in another mining school,
that of Zwickau, in Saxony, in which German includes
essays on mining operations; mathematics includes quadratic
equations and logarithms, geometry, proportions, and elementary
solid geometry; physics and mechanics include the properties of
liquids and gases, with special practical applications, electricity
and magnetism, and practical exercises in the theory of falling
bodies, the mechanical powers, Sac; mineralogy and chemistry
include crystallography, the minerals found in the coal measures,
and the principal ores of the metals; mining includes faults,
sinking, and boring, all branches of the working, drainage, and
ventilation of mines, and the preparation of minerals at bank,
82c. ; and the instruction in machine construction, drawing, &c., is
of a similar practical kind.
nsronr. 117
About one-ﬁfth of the students of the Bochum Mining School
ultimately rise to the position of mining engineers, or mine
managers, and a few to that of managing directors of mines.
The Rhcintsch~Wcstfdlischc H c'tttcnschulc, Bochum. -- The Rfagilnlsl f0" t
necessity which was felt by the iron and steel manufacturers $1,121?“
of Rhineland and Westphalia that their foremen and leading lurgical school
hands should possess some theoretical knowledge in addition at Bochum'
to their practical workshop experience, and the satisfactory
results of the establishment of mining schools in that district
and elsewhere, have led to the creation at Bochum of a metal-
lurgical school on the lines of the mining school of that town.
with the exception of the mining schools, this is the only
Continental school having a complete course of instruction, to
which only workmen who have already had regular workshop
training are admitted, the candidates being required, as in the
case of the mining school, to have worked at least four years
in iron or mechanical engineering works before they are
admitted. Certiﬁcates of competence and good conduct, and
satisfactory proof of elementary knowledge, including drawing,
are also demanded, as for the mining school. Indeed, the regu-
lations generally resemble those of that school, with the exception
that the whole time is occupied with the work of the school,
employment in the works being, for the time, given up. It is
a municipal school, held in buildings formerly occupied by a
Real—or, as it was called,—a Gewerbeschule. The Government
has undertaken to continue the Subvention of 700i. per annum
which it paid to the former school, the town and the manu-
facturers contribute the rest; the latter body undertaking the
maintenance of all or nearly all of the students. The course Course of
occupies three half-years; the ﬁrst being preparatory and Stud)"
general, the following two special, in two divisions; one for
metallurgy, and the other for machine construction. The teaching
staff consists at present of a director who is a chief engineer of
ironworks, together with a teacher of ma -hine construction and
drawing, one for mathematics and mechanics, one for physics
and chemistry, and an assistant master for the German language
and accounts. No class is to contain more than 40 students;
should this number be exceeded, parallel classes under proper
teachers will be formed. Representatives of the contributing
iron trades take part with those of the Government and the
town in the management of the school.
The time table is as follows :—
In the Preparatory Class :
Drawing - ~ - 6 hours weekly.
Arithmetic and Mathematics - 8 ,, ,,
Physics - - - 5 ,, ,,
Experimental Chemistry - 6 ,, ,,
The General Principles of the
Metallurgy of Iron and Steel
German and Business Accounts 4 ,, ,,
~i
118 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Natul c of the
instruction.
Students.
linpoitancc of
this school
with reference
to the estab-
lishment of
similar schools
in ltlngland.
In the Metallurgical Division :
Drawing ~ - - - 6 hours.
Mathematics - - 4: ,,
Physics - - - A ,,
Chemistry and Laboratory Work — 10 ,,
Special Metallurgy of Iron and Steel - 12 ,,
German, the - - - 2 ,,
in the Division for Machine Construction :
Mathematics — — - 6 hours.
Mechanics - — - ~- 6 ,,
Machine Construction and Drawing - 18 ,,
Physics ~ - s — 4 ,,
German, 820. - - — 2
The teaching is as practical as that of the Mining School.
Vvlithout entering too much into detail, we may state that in
the Metallurgical Division no subject connected with the con-
struction and management of blast furnaces and their appur-
tenances, with the practice of moulding and ironfounding, the
puddling, refining, and ﬁnishing of iron, the production and work-
ing of steel, the analysis of the raw materials, or the testing of the
ﬁnished products, is omitted; and that the course for Machine
Construction includes all, but no more than, the mathematics
which every mechanical engineer should know, and further,
instruction in theoretical and applied mechanics, in the properties
of the materials Ordinarily used in machinery, in the construction
and necessary qualities of the elements of machines, as screws,
rivets, axles, toothed gearing, cylinders, pistons, valves, 85s., and in
the construction of various complete machines, including lifting
tackle of every kind, boilers, steam engines, water and gas
motors, and in the economy of the workshop. Visits are paid
to the Surrounding works,——36 important ironworks, engine
factories, and other works, having been visited by the students
during the 15 months preceding the last, which was also the
first, Report.
The age of the students, of whom there are 56, varied on
entry from 18 to 341 years. They comprise 41 moulders, 1 puddler,
1 steel worker, 3 rollers, 1 erector, 3 smiths, 35 ﬁtters, 3 turners,
1 boiler maker, and 4! pattern makers.
The cost Of instruction is 10s. per term, or 16. 108. for the
entire course.
The laboratories and libraries are fairly complete, and are
daily receiving accessions.
We have thought it desirable to enter into rather more par-
ticulars in regard to this School than in reference to some Others,
as it is the ﬁrst example of its kind, and one the working of
which should be carefully watched by our own metallurgists
and engineers.
REPoRT. 1 1 9
(2.)-——CONTIN EN TAL WEAVING SCHOOLS.
I ntrodttcttlon.-Among the special technical schools having a Introduction
direct bearing upon industry, we found, in every country that we to Costinental
have visited, a number of weaving schools. Some of these are Sclfggllfg
separate and complete institutions for the teaching of spinning, '
designing, weaving, and dyeing, receiving pecuniary assistance from
public and other sources, and controlled in some measure by the
manufacturers of the localities where they are situated, whilst
others are simply departments of general technical schools in
which designing and weaving are taught among other branches
of technical instruction. We have arranged these schools under
the headings of the different countries, and have selected types
of the best schools for special description?‘ We visited one school
only in which spinning was being systematically taught by a
complete set of machines, namely, the School of Spinning and
Weaving at Mulhouse. At the Vienna weaving school we were
shown a plot of land attached to the weaving department, on
which a spinning shed was about to be erected, and we were
informed that complete preparations of machinery both for the
spinning of cotton and wool had been promised by leading
English machine makers.
Before proceeding to describe any of these Continental schools General aim
in detail, it may be desirable to point out their general aims as oflweiilvins
gathered from our visits to the schools, and from conversations 50100 i‘
with their promoters in different countries. They are intended
to teach whatever the master, the foreman, or the designer,
ought to know in connection with his trade; but they propose
further to give a thorough knowledge of textiles and their
construction to merchants, agents, distributors, and shopkeepers.
The schools are not intended to supersede apprenticeship in the Not intended
factory, but rather to convey knowledge which is not to be £0 supersede
obtained in other than very exceptional factories; while to tflccefgiixpmem
merchants and others they supply the practical all-round know-
ledge which otherwise could only be obtained with great
difﬁculty.
As a mere training place for weaving, it is admitted that Advantages of
the factory possesses considerable advantages over any con- factory 0W1‘
ceivable school. It is worked for proﬁt; there must be no
idlers among the responsible oﬁ‘icials or workers; everything
is practical and subjected to the stimulus of lively competition ;
and the man taught there learns real business; nothing con-
jectural, or antiquated, or needlessly reﬁned. On the other

* For readers desiring additional information upon weaving schools, we recom-
mend a perusal of the “ Report to the Worshipful Clothworkers’ Company of London
on the Weaving and other Technical Schools of the Continent,” by Walter S. B.
McLaren, M.A., of Keighley, and John Beaumont, Instructor in the Textile Indus-
tries Department of the Yorkshire College,Leeds. (Publishers, Rivingtons, London,
1877.).
school training.
120 ROYAL COMMIssION ON TECHNICAL INsTnUCTIoN:
Schools val-
uable to future
manufacturers.
Industries
special to par-
ticular places.
hand, the school is apt to be encumbered with old ‘machinery
and old processes; its directors are not likely to have been
lately working for wages, or to have a very keen eye for the
changes of recent date, or as yet only imminent; they may be
more inclined to teach what is easily taught than what is most
useful; forgetting that the subject is so intensely practical that
it must be learned under the most effective conditions if it is
to be learned at all.
A good school, however, in some important respects possesses
advantages over the factory. The instruction of the young appren-
tice in the factory is often of the most routine kind, just enough
to enable him to do the work in hand. Why the loom is made
and worked in a certain way, there is no time to explain, and it is
no one’s duty to conveyr the explanation. It is only in the leisure
of the school that the instructor can deal with such things, and
explain not only what is being done, but why it can be done better
thus than otherwise.
exceedingly valuable, every man is kept to what he knows best.
The weaver changes the shuttle as the spool is emptied,
and watches all day long the loom going through the same
operations thousands of times, doing this not for his own
improvement, but for his wages and his master’s proﬁt.
For the young man who aims at directing weavers, rather than
at becoming a weaver himself, something less than this would
suffice. Competent practical skill for his purpose may be gained
in a short time, and then his attention can be better bestowed
upon new operations. A certain width of range is more impor-
tant to the intended master or foreman than great manual
dexterity, and for this the school is more effective than the
factory. Asingle factory, especially if it be small and remote,
cannot include a whole industry, but merely some small part
of it. Thus, in England, where the organised industries are
looked upon as examples for imitation by the whole world,
a county may have one leading industry; a town its own
special branch of that industry ; and a mill one single operation
of that special branch. The cotton industry of Lancashire is
subdivided to a degree unknown elsewhere; the representatives
of all the departments meeting almost daily in Manchester
for the transaction of business and mutual interchange of ideas.
Yorkshire is concerned with Wool, and hardly meddles with
cotton. Bradford deals mainly with worsted, Leeds with
Woollens. A particular mill in Bradford may be exclusively
engaged in- wool-combing; another in spinning one or two counts
of yarn; a third in weaving one class of goods only. The ap-
prentice may learn all that is to be ‘learned in one of these,
factories, and yet may know little of the worsted manufacture ; he
may even know what is done in them all, and yet have an
experience too narrow for a general knowledge of textiles or
for the direction of a manufacturing establishment. Again,
there are things not taught in ‘ any factory, and hardly to
In the factory or workshop, where time is.
REPORT. 1 21
be acquired by the man who is earning his daily bread, which may
nevertheless be of vital importance to the man of business whose
personal aim it is, not to execute more and more swiftly some
constantly repeated operation, but to ﬁnd out what the world
wants, and how that want can best be met. We know what this
means where an industry has a scientiﬁc basis. The Polytechnic,
and other more purely technical schools visited by the Commis-
sioners, have illustrated to us very distinctly what a knowledge
of chemistry does for the ironmaster or colour manufacturer;
what a scientiﬁc knowledge of electricity does for artiﬁcial
lighting; how the mining engineer and the civil engineer are
assisted by a knowledge of geology, mechanics and hydraulics.
‘Weaving has, it is true, no such scientiﬁc basis, but weaving
( none the less) is all the better for a culture which is not afforded
by any single factory. Fashions can be set, or they may be
followed, and the student will ﬁnd in his industrial experience how
capricious and changeable they are, but experience will also teach
him that whoever can satisfy the prevailing taste is sure of
customers, and excellence in this respect stands on the same
level with good wearing quality and low price. Moreover, this
is the variable element ; the quality with which calculation and
experience of factory management have least to do; the one in
which force and versatility carry all before them.
As is the case in other branches of industry; in pottery and
porcelain, glass, furniture, and metal work, where the higher
qualities of design and artistic workmanship have developed
trade and brought wealth to the producers, so in textile industry
it is the design that sells the cloth. The quality of the fabric may
be hard to tell, but every customer forms his own estimate of the
pattern printed upon it, or woven into it. The wool-comber, the
spinner, the weaver, may each do his part faultlessly, but if the
design is unsatisfactory or inappropriate, or the colour or ﬁnishing
of the piece ineffective, it will be cast aside by the purchaser as
inferior the moment it is displayed on the shop counter against
more effective, even though intrinsically less valuable, goods.
False work, it is true, will not be permanently tolerated even
under the disguise of “ fair seeming,” but it is folly in a manu—
facturer to neglect excellence in that department of his work
where it tells most and costs least.
It is required of the school that it should give a general
acquaintance with various kinds of machinery and with a number
of different processes, of which very few are ever worked
together, but the chief advantage of such a school lies in the
possibility which it affords of artistic training. The design, and
the working out of the design—‘so that what appears on paper
may appear also on the woven fabric—are the chief ends
of the weaving school; in fact, such an institution might
appropriately be called “ a school of art applied to weaving.”
There are some students whose natural gifts incline them
to mechanism, others whose capacities impel them towards art,
but the artists are taught some mechanism, and the mechanics
Design of
goods causes
sale.
122 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
L yonsWeaving
School.
School, how
divided.
No. of students.
Supplied with
good models.
some art. The student of textiles is taught to draw, to combine,
to adapt; he is instructed in harmonious colouring; his
taste is cultivated by choice examples of what is good in ﬁne
art, as well as in industrial art; he learns to translate his
designs into woven fabrics, to become ready with all the calcula-
tions of the loom, and he is made familiar with those mechanical
and commercial considerations which make the manufacturer’s
goods successful when presented to the buyer.
WEAVING SoHooLs OF FRANCE.
The Ecole Commerctale, Lyons is probably the most complete
though not the most numerously attended of the weaving schools
of France. It is situated in the Rue de la Charité, and was visited
by the Commissioners in November 1881. It is a department
of the Commercial school, which was created in 1872 by a joint
committee of Lyons manufacturers, consisting of 300 to 400
members, and including subscribers from St. Etienne and the
surrounding district. The share capital amounts to 441,800L, of
which only three-ﬁfths has been called up.
The school consists of two divisions, a commercial school proper,
the fee for which is 2411. per annum, and aweaving school, the fee
for which is 48L per annum. For 88L and 112i. per annum,
respectively, the students of the two departments are likewise
lodged and boarded. The State, the city of Lyons, and the
Chamber of Commerce, each give a small number (ﬁve or six)
exhibitions for poor students.
In the whole school there are 72 students, 20 being in the
preparatory department; 30 of these are boarders. The number
of students in the weaving school is 12. The term lasts from
the beginning of October to the ﬁrst week in August.
The weaving school alone was visited by the Commissioners.
This was established about ﬁve years ago, and is carried on in
a separate building, three storeys high; there are 14 loo'ms,
capable of doing 23 different kinds of work, as Taffeta, Foulard,
Faconné, &c. There are two expensive tulle looms, not in use at
present, and looms for weaving ribbons and velvets. Most of
these looms have either been given by manufacturers or have
been supplied at a reduced rate. The machinery is driven by a
two horse-power gas engine.
We were shown a portrait of M. Thiers, woven in silk, in one
of the looms, taking 2,000 hooks and 8,000 cards to weave it.
The school is also supplied with good models of spinning
machinery. The professor of weaving is M. Loir, and the students
work under the superinten dence of a practical foreman. They have
four hours’ theoretical teaching and four hours’ practical work
each day. The students here are chieﬂy the sons of manufac~
turers, and included two Englishmen, both of whom expressed
REPORT. 1 23
themselves well satisﬁed with the course of instruction they
were pursuing, and believed that it would be of the greatest
service to them. They expected, at the end of 12 months, to be
able to put on the loom any pattern that might be given them,
and were occupied at the same time with designing on a syste—
matic plan.
The students in this department are able, at the end of three
months, to produce paying work. The weaving department is
worked at an annual loss of 120l. to the school, caused mainly
by the expensive material used in the looms—the total losses, from
the commencement, amounting to 2,440l.
The director of the school, M. Pénot, was formerly the director Director of
of a similar school (including a dyeing school) at Mulhouse. This School-
post he had held for 33 years, but he left in 1872, in consequence
of the results of the war, and was invited by the Chamber of
Commerce to establish a similar school to that of Mulhouse at
Lyons. This gentleman gave the Commissioners a considerable
amount of information respecting the working of this and the
Mulhouse school. He remarked that a systematic microscopic
examination of the silk-worm, and of the eggs, was now being
made by the pupils for the purpose of detecting the disease and
applying the tests prescribed by Pasteur for this purpose. He
also stated that at the dyeing school at Mulhouse all the more
important chemical compounds employed in the trade were
manufactured by the pupils, that commercial samples were
tested for impurities, and that the actual value of the various
colouring matters was determined. By way of illustration, he
described how the students determined the commercial values
of various samples of indigo, by directly comparing their dyeing
power with that of indigo of known purity.
M. Pénot, who is a gentleman 80 years of age, stated it to be
his intention to establish here a school of dyeing similar to that
which he had so long superintended in Mulhouse. He desired,
however, ﬁrst to secure the commercial and weaving schools on a
ﬁrm basis.
‘ The budget of this school will be found in the Appendix, Vol. V.
Popular Lectures on Designing and Weaving—Courses of Free lectures.
free lectures on weaving and designing are given by the professors
of the above school to artisans and others. A Sunday lecture
by M. Loir, the professor of weaving—one of a series extending
through the winter months—Was attended by the Commissioners.
The lecture was of a technical character, thoroughly practical, and
dealing with the problems daily brought before the hand-loom
weaver and loom “ tuner.” The audience consisted of about
100 workmen, most of whom took notes, and copied in their
books the calculations and diagrams, made by the lecturer on the
blackboard, as he proceeded with his lecture.
124! ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Ecole deDes sin.
Designing ;
method of
teaching.
KO. of pupils.
School appre-
ciated by work-
men and
foremen.
Is municipal.
Other schools
visited.
Weaving School, St. Etienne—The Commissioners also visited
at St. Etienne the very important Ecole de Des-sin, to which is
attached a school of weaving and pattern designing. The hours of
instruction are from 1 to =1 in the afternoon and from 8 to 10 in
the evening. The school is ﬁtted with very large drawing-rooms,
in which the pupils were engaged in drawing from the antique.
There are also rooms for drawing from the life, which forms an
important part of the instruction, and good rooms for modelling in
clay and working from the antique. The school has an excellent
winter garden, so that the pupils may have the opportunity of
drawing from living plants throughout the year.
The art instruction is given principally with a view to the
training of practical designers for the silk industry.
In the same building there is a lecture room in which pattern
designing is practically taught. The patterns are exhibited and
illustrated by means of a honey—combed blackboard, into the cells
of which small cubes are ﬁtted, each of the faces being differently
coloured. Attached to this lecture room is a small weaving
shed, in which there are several model hand looms, on which
the patterns exhibited on the blackboard can be produced, and
which are also used for explaining to the pupils the construction
of the machine. No saleable work, however, is produced on these
looms. The professor stated that one of the advantages of having
these looms in the school is that the workmen are able to receive
explanations from himself of any difficulty which may occur to
them in their daily work.
At the time of the Commissioners’ visit there were about
350 pupils in attendance at the evening school of design, of whom
over 40 attended the weaving school.
The advantages of the school are greatly appreciated by the
foremen and workmen of the town, but the director complained
that too little interest was shown in its progress by the
manufacturers of the district. He did not, however, ascribe this
to any want of appreciation of the advantages of such technical
instruction, but rather to political considerations which at that
time were tending to separate somewhat the Workpeople from the
manufacturers.
The school is a municipal one, and M. Peyroy is the Chairman
of the Committee of Fine Arts in the Municipal Council. The
school is supported by an annual vote of 1,200Z. from the Town
Council. The Chamber of Commerce and a few manufacturers
give prizes.
The following weaving schools of France were also visited by
the Commissioners, namely, the weaving departments of the
Professional Schools of Lille, Rheims, and Rouen, the Industrial
School of Rheims, the weaving school at Nismes, and the
weaving and dyeino' school at Roubaix. The latter school is
shortly to be superseded by a new building for designing,
weaving, and dyeing, to be erected at a cost of 80,000Z. There
are no specialities in any of the above schools which are not
included in the schools selected for more detailed description.
REPOJ 1T .
\VEAVING ScHooLs or BELGIUM.
Much has been said about the numerous industrial and weaving
schools of Flanders. These schools were established about the
years 1847—8, when the hand-loom weavers of linens in the
country districts suffered great distress, owing to the introduction
of power looms and the building of factories. The object of the
Government in promoting the schools was to introduce new
fabrics and new designs of too intricate a'character to be woven
at that time on power looms. The schools were useful during
the transition period, and many of them still exist in Flanders,
but on a very small scale. Such fabrics and patterns as were
monopolised by these hand-looms are now produced on power
looms without the aid of these schools, although to some of
them employment is still furnished, as a commercial undertaking,
by small master weavers. At the oiiice of M. Bambaud, the
Minister of Industry and Agriculture, we saw samples of
Weaving, in various styles and materials, from 45 of these
schools. The hand-loom weaving of linen goods is, at the best,
stationary in Belgium, whilst the manufacture of linens by
power is an important and ﬂourishing industry. The more
important weaving schools visited by the Commissioners in
Belgium were those of Ghent and Verviers. _
Industrial School, Ghcnt— Weaving Departmcm‘.--The Indus-
trial School of Ghent, which has been elsewhere described, is
divided into four sections, namely, (1) courses for workmen in
literary and scientiﬁc subjects and drawing, held on Sundays
and on Monday evenings ; (2) higher courses in similar subjects
for foremen, clerks, and sons of employers, 8:0. ; apprenticeshi p
school for weaving, for foremen and directors of weaving fac-
tories of all kinds; (4) special industrial art school for the
application of art to the purposes of industrial design. This
school. is justly considered to be one of the best technical schools
in Belgium. It is attended by over 1,000 students, and all the
departments are free. The expenses are met by grants—two—
thirds from the State, one-third from the town, and a small
extra grant from the province, the total being upwards of 2,000Z.
annually.
The weaving department is conducted in a shed containing
about a dozen hand-looms and about half-a-dozen power looms,
the latter being mostly of English make. We saw winding and
Warping frames and such other machines as are considered useful
for teaching purposes. There are 10 students, the majority of
whom are the sons of local employers. Two were said to be
from Germany and one from Switzerland. As in the Vienna
and Crefeld schools, drawing is taught in the art department.
with special application to textiles of all kinds ; but we did not
ascertain that the study of pure designing forms a portion of the
course for the weaving students, and we did not see among the
many admirable designs submitted to our inspection any intended
for textile purposes.
“'eaving
Schools,
Belgium.
Object of for-
mation.
Other schools
visited.
Ghent Indus-
trial School.
Tlow divided.
N0. of students.
Instruction
gratuitous.
Weax ing de-
partment.
No. ofstudents.
126 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION I
Operatives do
not attend
weaving school.
Professional
School,
Verviers.
Instruction
is free.
New school to
be built.
Weaving de-
partment.
Wipking en,
Zurich. Silk-
weaving school.
Looms run by
water-power.
The instructor of weaving expressed regret that operatives do
not attend his classes. He admitted that it is impossible for them
to do so in the daytime, because they cannot forego their wages.
They are not able to attend night classes until eight o’clock at the
earliest, after working in a factory for 12 hours, and very few
have strength or zeal enough for such sacriﬁces. He is
endeavouring to establish bursaries by which employers or
others will recoup the students for loss of wages while attending
the classes. There appeared to be less spirit and activity dis-
played in this than in most of the other departments of this
useful school.
Professional School, Verv’lers— Weaving and Dyeing Depart—
ments—The weaving and dyeing schools form departments of this
excellent institution, which was built by the town at a cost of
20,000l. The school is maintained, one—third by the town and
two-thirds by the State, the total annual grants amounting to
upwards of 2,645l. There are 300 students in the several
departments, who are admitted to all the privileges gratuitously.
A new school, called l’Ecole Manufacturiere, is to be built for the
further promotion of the textile industries. It will cost from
20,000l. to 24,000l, towards which the employers in Verviers
have promised 6,000l. The projected budget of maintenance
submitted to the Municipality shows an annual expenditure of
1,911l. from public sources for this school alone. It would be
diﬁ‘icult to furnish stronger evidence of popular belief in the
utility of schools of this character than the willingness of
ratepayers and taxpayers to give such generous support. In
the weaving school we counted 12 handlooms with jacquards
and motions for fancy weaving. In one very large jacquard
loom a life-size portrait of the King of the Belgians was being
woven. -
In the chemical laboratory there are places for 24: students,
and in the dyeing school there are 10 students, being the full
number for whom there are places.
WEAVING ScHooL or SWITZERLAND.
Weaving School, Zurich—The only weaving school in Swit-
zerland visited by the Commissioners, and probably the only school
of this kind in the Confederation equipped as a separate institu-
tion, is the silk-Weaving school at 'Wipkingen, Zurich. At the
time of our visit in May 1882, it had only been open about
six months. The school building was originally a large private
house, and, we were informed, was purchased by the town, and
converted to its present use at a cost of 2,600l. Towards this
sum the Silk Industry Society contributed IAOOL, and an
additional 800l. for furniture and machinery.
The room for power looms is about 415 to 50 feet square; the
motive power is supplied from the town turbines situated on the
bank of the river Limmat, near the school. Among the hand-
REPORT. 127
looms are 10 from Lyons, 2 from Zurich, and two jacquards. Other
jacquards had been ordered on the Lyons, Crefeld, and Zurich
systems of silk weaving. A velvet loom is shortly to be added.
The class-rooms are well arranged and substantially furnished
with oak desks and tables. The museum contains six large Museum
exhibition cases, to be ﬁlled with specimen collections of silk
fabrics, cocoons from all parts, and illustrations of silk culture.
There is accommodation for 415 students. At the time of our No. ofstudcnt~
visit, 22 had joined the school. Many come either direct from
the secondary school at the age of 16, or after a few prac-
tical lessons in weaving at a factory or cottage loom. A few
students have been one or two years in business. The fees are,
for cantonal pupils, 81. the ﬁrst year ; 12L the second year; or Fees-
]Gl. for the course of two years. Strangers pay 12L the ﬁrst
and 201. the second year.
The students are taught the distinctive methods of silk Meth9d of
weaving adopted in France, Germany, and Switzerland. The teachmg‘
head-master has gone through the Lyons course, and has worked
in a factory. His method is founded somewhat on that of Lyons.
He has one assistant.
We were informed that the Silk Industry Society, which is Silk_ Industry
the patron of the school, is composed of merchants and manu- Some‘?-
facturers who co-operate in all undertakings that tend to promote
their industry. During recent years this industry has made
rapid advances, and is now nearly equal in importance to that
of cotton, which has long been successfully established in
Switzerland.
WEAVING SoHooLs OF GERMANY.
The weaving schools of Germany are among the best of their Weaving
kind that we have seen. We select for description three which fairly represent the best types of these schools in different “‘
States, and differ from each other in important aspects. The
ﬁrst is the spinning and weaving school of Mulhouse, which
is especially interesting as the best illustration that we have
seen of instruction in cotton spinning, while it is also
complete in appliances for power-loom weaving and possesses
an extensive variety of looms from the best makers in'
competing countries. The second is the higher weaving school
of Chemnitz, which has long enjoyed a favourable reputation
in this country as well as in Saxony, the sons of some of the
largest manufacturers in England having been educated there.
The Chemnitz school is one of the best examples of a school for
teaching the application of designs to the loom, and for varied
instruction in the weaving of many kinds of fabrics by hand and
power looms. The third school, which we would desire particu-
larly to bring under the notice of the textile communities in
England, is the new school for the textile industry at Orefeld,
which has recently been erected at a cost, including land, of
42,5005. Of all schools we visited for teaching designing, the
128 ROYAL oonuIssIoN ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
School for
spinning and
weaving.
Mulhouse.
Museum of
textiles.
School of
chemistry.
“'hen
established.
Built by
shares.
Not a State
Institution.
Management.
Buildings.
Machinery.
= and rooms for the council and headmaster.
application of the design to the loom, the manual operations
of weaving in the best makes of hand and power looms, and the
dyeing and finishing of manufactured goods, this school is the
most complete and the most important.
Schoolfor Spinning and Weaving, Mulhoase~The school at
Mulhouse is favourably situated for meeting the wants of a
wide and important manufacturing district. The population of
the town is upwards of 64,000, engaged in varied textile and
mechanical operations, but there are also many towns and
villages throughout the whole province of Alsace, of which
Mulhouse is the centre, where textile industries are vigorously
conducted. In close proximity are factories and machine
making establishments, and but a short distance from the school
are the museum of textile fabrics and the school of chemistry,
with both of which it is intimately allied through its
dependence upon the Industrial Society of the town. This is
the only school which we saw or heard of, in which spinning
is taught by a complete set of machines.
The weaving department of the school was founded in 1861 ;
that for spinning in 1865, and the two were united in 1869.
The capital was subscribed by the leading manufacturers,
machine makers, and merchants of the neighbourhood, in shares
of 1,000 francs each (410i), making a total of 120,000 francs
(4,80%). These gentlemen, and the council of the Industrial
Society, are responsible for that part of the expenditure which
is not covered by school fees and ordinary Subscriptions.
Unlike all other Continental technical schools that we saw,
neither the State nor the municipality contributes to its
maintenance.
The School is managed by a council of nine members, chosen
by the Subscribers and Shareholders from the leading industrial
and commercial ﬁrms in the province.
The buildings are neat and substantial, the main portion being
two storeys high.
The ground floor contains a large room for mechanical weaving
with power-looms, another large room for design and theor ,
Connected with the
room for power—looms is a shed sufliciently large to contain a
preparation of cotton carding and drawing, some mechanical
models, looms for “ setting up ” and “ taking down,” 85c. ; so that.
students may become familiar with every part of the machine.
Adjoining the shed is a boiler-house and a 12 horse-power con-
densing steam engine. The upper storey of the main building
contains a spinning department with self-acting cotton mules
fully equipped, and a number of rooms for the residence of the
director. The spinning machinery has been supplied by the
principal makers in England and Alsace, and engagements have
been made with machine makers to Supply the school with new
models and copies of the most recent inventions, from time to
arzronr. 129
time, as they are introduced to the trade. There are models of
knitting and other miscellaneous textile machines. In the
weaving department we counted 24.‘ power—looms, . mostly by
English makers.
The director, M. Emil Fries, is in charge of the Whole school,
the departments of which are managed by assistants, each
competent in the theory and practice of his particular branch.
At the time of our visit there were 413 students in the school.
The fees for the theoretical and practical courses, including both
spinning and weaving, are 28L for a year of ten months. For
theoretical instruction only, in the two branches, 18L a year 5
for practical instruction only, 20L a year. Those who have
followed either course can take up the other on apayment of 12L
Foreigners are admitted on the same terms as Alsatians; the
minimum age of entrance is 16. There are no boarders, but the
* prospectus states that suitable lodgings may be obtained'in the
town at 2t. 15s. per month. Examinations are held at the close
of each year, and certiﬁcates of capacity are granted accordin
to degrees of merit. -
The students are almost entirely of the richer classes, sons of
merchants and manufacturers, or, as not unfrequently happens,
the sons of wealthy men from a distance, themselves unconnected
with textile industries, but anxious that their sons should learn
manufacturing. It was frequently represented to us that there
is a great objection among German manufacturers to teaching
their particular trades to the sons of capitalists not in trade.
The bulk of the students come from Alsace and France, and a
fair number from Switzerland. There are very few Germans
who are not Alsatians. Last year there was an English student,
and since the establishment of the school there have been six
from England. Most of the students, on ﬁnishing their instruc-
tion, particularly if they cannot enter a local factory on
favourable terms, come to England for the purpose of completing
their practical education in English factories, or with the hope of
taking situations as designers or clerks.
For cotton spinning a theoretical course is given simultaneously
with the practical. Students are instructed in the cotton plant
and cotton ﬁbre, the conditions of growth, the treatment of
the ﬁbre, and the machinery required for producing various
kinds of yarn. In this department all the calculations relating
to the expenses of spinning are taught ; the cost in coal9
depreciation of machinery, the losses from waste, &c., so that the
student can ascertain the margin between the cost of the raw
cotton and the cost of the ﬁnished yarn.
The course also includes the commercial branches, brokerage,
shipment, the customs of the trade, systems of payment at distant
markets, and the incidence of import and export duties.
For the practical teaching of cotton spinning the department
is furnished with all the appliances of an actual factory. The
Ri 1726. I
Teaching.
Number of
students and
fees.
I
Status of
students and
nationality.
English
students.
Spinning :
Theoretical
course.
Cotton spin-
ning :
130 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Practical
course.
Eﬁect of
instruction.
Electricity
used.
Weaving
department :
Theoretical
course.
cotton is unpacked from the bale and goes through the operations
of cleaning, carding, drawing, roving and spinning, by mode,
ring, and throstle processes. For these purposes the most
modern machines are used, the greater number being of English
make. We saw the machinery at work, and the cotton yarn
being produced. The students were attired in blouses such as
are worn by factory operatives, and under the supervision
of a practical foreman they “ minded” the machines, many
of them showing the greatest dexterity in “piecing ” the ends
or threads and conducting some of the detailed operations.
Each student begins at the beginning, and, following the course
of the raw material, learns the use of every machine and the
calculations required for all necessary changes in the pro—
duction of varied kinds and counts of yarn. The raw cotton is
bought by the council of the school, and includes the recognised
qualities from America, Egypt, India, and other sources of supply,
so that the student may become acquainted with the charac-
teristics of each in the working. The yarn is disposed of by
the council, in the town or neighbourhood.
This .theoretical and practical teaching is supposed to enable a
student to learn all the practical manipulations connected with
cotton spinning without entering a factory, ‘and without the
ordinary apprenticeship in a counting house. After a two
years’ course he enters upon the duties of either with a
general knowledge of the work of both. Whether this be
the case or not, a painstaking and diligent student, by this
method, will make very much better use of his time than the
ordinary apprentice in a factory, and may in effect shorten his
term of apprenticeship by much more than the time occupied by
the school courses. In this school the student ﬁnds a variety of
applications such as can only be seen in the largest and most
complete establishments ; and it must always be remembered
that, in scattered districts and outside England, such factories are
very few. Side by side are English and foreign machines of the
best and newest kinds. The various methods of twisting and
winding, the systems of ring and mule spinning and twisting,
with the most recent improvements, are either taught practically
or explained. We noted, for example, that electrical appliances
for stopping some of the machines were in use, and the principles
of electricity as a controlling power were thus brought under the
notice of the students.
The weaving department of the school, like that of spinning,
is divided into the theoretical and the practical divisions.
The theoretical division embraces the whole theory of manu-
facture, the uses of various materials, the cost of the processes,
the analysis of every kind of cloth and fabric, and the special
study of such tissues as are adapted to the manufactures of the
district. Each student is required to “ decompose” patterns, to
separate the warp and weft; specifying the material, qualities,
counts, 850., all of which are duly entered, and the design is
REPORT. 131
copied on point paper. The speciﬁcations are then worked out,
the calculations made, and the pattern, if necessary, built up
again. The student is also required to devote a portion of his
time to copying designs on paper. The adaptations of pictorial
design to woven patterns are carefully taught, so that the face
of a design may be put upon the cloth with the simplest .
appliances. The theory of the harmony of colour and outline is
taught. As in the course for spinning, the commercial branches
of the textile industries are also taught in class.
The practical division of the weaving department supplies
instruction in the weaving of all kinds of textiles in actual
power-looms. The looms, of which we counted 24: in one room,
represent all the important styles and makes which are in use for
the weaving of silk, wool, cotton, linen, and jute. We saw all these
materials in work, and in some of the looms there were com-
binations of several materials. The great majority of the looms
were English, the makers of Lancashire and Yorkshire being
well represented. The students were attired in blouses as in the
spinning department, and were superintended by a competent
overlooker. He was assisted by a practical weaver, a girl, who
was said to be very useful in repairing serious breakages, and
helping students out of their difﬁculties. It is well understood
that under the control of inexperienced “ hands ” the power-loom
is a machine that is capable of doing considerable mischief.
Asingle false stroke of the shuttle often causes breakages in the
warp which only an experienced weaver can repair.
The student is taught how to manage an ordinary loom,
tying knots in the warp, 850., in a power-loom of a plain and
simplecharacter, minded by a more advanced student. Having
made a design for a fabric, he subsequently prepares the
warp, cuts the cards if it be a fancy cloth, arranges the
jacquards or the harness necessary for weaving the pattern, and
starts the loom. He continues weaving at the loom until he
has produced satisfactory work. He then changes places
with another, who has in a similar way ﬁxed a different design
in another loom. This method is continued throughout the
establishment, and each student has the advantage of learning
to weave not only his own patterns, but also those originated
and placed in the looms by his colleagues.
The system to some extent prevents waste of material, but it
seems rather to encourage the weaving of long webs, and thus
tends to keep the students longer at each pattern than is neces-
sary for the mastery of its details.
The woven fabrics are sold to manufacturers and merchants,
and when the designs are successful commercially, as not unfre-
quently happens, the students are allowed to obtain the
advantages of their success.
There are no evening classes. We were informed that a few
years ago an attempt was made to extend the advantages of
Weaving ;
Practical
course.
Methods of
study.
Woven fabrics ;
how disposed
of
Evening
classes were
not successful.
12
132 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCIION i
Inﬂuence of
the school.
Spinning
school.
Importance of
theoretical
knowledge.
Pictorial
designing.
the school to artizans in daily employment. Many practical
weavers joined the classes, but after a short time neither the. “
attendance nor the Spirit could be kept up. The workmen
alleged that after their days work at the factory (11 hours)
they had neither Strength nor disposition for new work at a
school. The evening classes were therefore given up, and have
not Since been re-opened.
With regard to the inﬂuence of the School, one of the large
local manufacturers, a member of the Council, who conducted us
over the premises, spoke with enthusiasm of the great service
which the School has rendered to the trade of the district. It
was represented that many students are drawn from com-
paratively remote places, possessing neither the variety of
machines nor processes of manufacture, nor, indeed, the same
enterprise that is to be found in the large towns. But in the
school the Son of a country spinner or manufacturer is enabled
to master the practice and learn the theory of his trade, as
well as such Systems of calculation and book-keeping as will be of
future importance. He also sees the newest machines by the
best makers, and obtains a large amount of general information
which it would be impossible for him to acquire in small country
factories. Students on their return home have in many instances
introduced improved systems of working into their factories, and
better methods of ma king calculations and keeping accounts
into their offices. I
The students of the spinning school which is, as already
stated, the only one of its kind which we have Seen, were doing
good practical work, and doubtless their theoretical teaching
would be equally good. It is very likely, taking into account
the condition of the cotton industry in Alsace and in other
parts of Germany and France, that a course of instruction in
spinning at Mulhouse will amply repay the time and cost,
particularly in the case of those who come from remote places.
Whether a spinning school of this character would be of advan-
tage in the centre of the cotton industry in England, say in
Manchester, is a doubtful question, considering the facility with
which efficient factories in Lancashire are open to apprentices.
At the same time, it would tend to the advantage of all young
men destined to hold prominent positions in cotton mills if, by
means of evening classes, they were taught in a systematic
manner the properties of the cotton ﬁbre and the theory of the
cotton industry.
In the weaving department of the school which seemed other-
wise effective, pictorial design of the highest kind was not
attempted ; possibly, to some extent, from the fact that hitherto
Original and elaborate designing has not entered largely into
the cotton and wool textiles of Alsace; the cottons being
woven plain for printing, and the wool goods generally plain for
piece dyeing. The principles of design are, however, taught at
the admirable School of art of the Industrial Society, and the
REPORT. 133
knowledge thus acquired may be applied in the designing room of
this school and carried forward step by step to the loom. Although
we did not observe the connection between the school of art and
the weaving school, on the one hand, and the weaving school and
the dyeing school on the other, it may be taken for granted, as
all the schools are patronised by the Industrial Society, that
they Work in harmony in carrying out the ends which the Society
has in view. In Alsace the best designers ﬁnd work in
calico-printing, which affords greater scope for talent than
textile designing, and opens up better chances of remunera-
tion in the designing ateliers of Paris. We were informed, Good designers
not only in Mulhouse, but also in Paris, that such is the $333301“
repute of the art schools of this locality, and the influence of the '
superb museum of printed and textile designs, that Alsace sends
more designers to Bar is than any other district on the Continent.
It is but fair. to make this statement, in order to justify the
apparent weakness of the department in the weaving school
for designing. A syllabus of this school will be found in
Appendix, Vol V.
The Royal Weaving, Dyeing, and Finishing School, C'refeld. g’fevina d
--Cn the visit of i the Commissioners to Crefeld in June 1882, 1.513181%‘?
we were conducted over the temporary weaving school by the School, a
president of the Chamber of Commerce, Herr Heimendal, the Crefel‘i-
vice-president Herr Carl Konigs, and a number of the leading
manufacturers, who also showed to us the new building in course
of erection for a weaving. dyeing, and ﬁnishing school. We
were greatly impressed by the magnitude of the premises, the
completeness of the scheme of instruction, and the enthusiastic
interest in the movement displayed by’ these Crefeld manu-
facturers.
The new school having been opened in December 1883, a
special visit was made to Crefeld, in February 1884, in order
that it might be carefully inspected and reported upon.
Dr. Grothe in ‘his account of the project states that the
school “is to ser\e as a specimen school for Germany, and is
“ intended to cultivate and to promote to an equal extent all
“ branches of the textile industries.” To effect this object “ no
" expense will be spared either by the Government or the local
“ authorities.”
A government school has been in existence since 1855, but not School has
until 1878 was the movement started which culminated in the ‘iglssfed Sm“
erection of the present building. The Chamber of Commerce 0'
ﬁnding that the silk industry of the town was languishing in
consequence of the superiority of the products of other countries,
particularly France, in designing, dyeing, and ﬁnishing,
petitioned the Prussian Government for an inquiry which
resulted in two State commissioners, and two delegates from the
Crefeld Chamber of Commerce, being sent to the seats of the
textile industries in France in order to study the causes of their
13% ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Cost of
building.
Building.
Class rooms
and collections.
Machinery and
motive power.
.materials belonging to the students.
superiority. The Commissioners reported that the ‘improvement
in French industries had been materially promoted by the
technical schools and schools of design, established in French
manufacturing towns, and recommended that the Crefeld school 3
should be completely reorganised and established in appropriate
buildings.
It was further considered that as the town of Crefeld, during
the preceeding 10 years had spent no less a sum than 215,000l.
in the erection of primary schools, it was worthy of special
assistance in the foundation of the Royal weaving school,
particularly as the textile industry of the whole country would
beneﬁt by the outlay.
The building was erected by contributions from the following

sources :- as’
The municipality gave the land, valued at -» 5,000
Municipal grant to the building fund - - 7,500
State grant to the building fund — - - 27,500
Contributions to dyeing school by manufacturers _ 2,500
Total cost of building - - £42,500
The building is a handsome structure of brick with decorated
stone facings of the style of the Early Renaissance. It is two
storeys high, with a number of extra rooms in the roof lighted
by dormer windows, and used as private ateliers by some of the
students of design. In addition to a main front of 64! yards,
there are two side wings, one of 60 and the other of 88 yards,
while the space between is partially occupied by the weaving
shed containing 910 square yards of ﬂoor space. There are also
a boiler house, and other offices.
The ground ﬂoor contains reading room, lecture rooms, and
class rooms for the weaving students. These are all substantially
furnished, with desks or tables, cabinets of objects, collections of
patterns, lockers and drawers for the books, drawing boards and
In each room there is a
platform for the instructor and black board ruled in squares
for diagrams and designs. The chemical, dyeing, and ﬁnishing
departments, are also on the ground ﬂoor.
On the ﬁrst ﬂoor are the rooms for drawing and designing,
the museum of textile fabrics, and the private rooms for the
director.
The attic floor contains, as previously mentioned, a number of
studios for designers.
The weaving shed, as will be seen from the prospectus in
the Appendix, is supplied with winding, warping, spooling, and
card cutting machines, and a complete equipment of looms for
varied patterns and combinations in all the textile materials,
from silk ribbons and velvets to jute curtains and carpets.
Altogether there are 33 hand looms and 27 power looms. In
REPORT. 135
the shed there are two engines, a 12-horse-power compound steam
engine, and a Z.t-horse gas-engine.
The mechanics’ shop for repairs contains a forge and anvils, Workshops-
a lathe for metal, shaping machine, boring machine, four vices, ‘
two grindstones, emery wheel and saw sharpener, a lathe for
wood, a circular saw, three joiners’ benches, besides a number of
small tools.
The class rooms are lighted by electricity, one of Edison’s-
incandescent lamps being apportioned to each student, while in
the corridors outside the class rooms there are wardrobes under
lock and key.
The electric light is supplied by two dynamo machines, driven
by a 12-horse—power engine in the basement.
The school derives a portion of its annual income from the fees Annual income
of the students, and the deﬁciency is made up by grants from the anfi expendi-
State, the Municipality, and the Chamber of Commerce. During tum‘
the present year (1884:) the deﬁciency is expected to be 3,0001, 1;
which will be raised as follows : - r

£
The State (half the expenses up to a maximum
of 1,5001.) - - ~ - - 1,500
The Town, one-fourth - - - 7 50
The Chamber of Commerce one-fourth (from
the proﬁts of the Silk Conditioning House) - 750
£3,000
__
The teaching staff consists of a general director, Herr Emil Suﬁ-
Lembcke, and a number of specialists who have had experience
as practical designers, draughtsmen, managers of looms, and
Overseers in factories. There is also a master joiner and a master
mechanic. In the dyeing department there is a special director,
‘ Dr. Lange, who is assisted by practical dyers and ﬁnishers of
superior technical knowledge.
Students are admitted to the school at 1% years of age, pro- Age ofstudents
vided they can pass the entrance examination. The complete on *{dmission 5
course of instruction is of two years’ duration, and begins and comes‘ 1
ends at Easter in each year. Special courses of shorter duration
may be arranged with the director.
There is a graduated scale of fees, (a) for Prussians, (b) for all Fees.
Germans other than Prussians, (c) for all foreigners.
For Prussians the fee per half year for the ﬁrst year’s course is
31. ; for the second year’s course 411. 10s, with ‘21. 10s. extra for
the use of a private studio. For all other Germans the fee is 50
per cent. higher, while for foreigners, the fee per half year for the
ﬁrst year’s course is 71. 10s., for the second year’s course 101 ., and
for the use of a private studio 51. per half year extra.
For students of the weaving school, who wish simultaneously
to take part in the classes of the dyeing school, the fee for
Prussians is 51. per half year, for other Germans 71. 10s, and for
foreigners 121. 108. per half year.
1 36 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL IN STRUOTION 2
Patterns are
supplied.
Certiﬁcates.
Scholarships.
Number of
students.
Course of
instruction.
Lectures.
Practical work.
The patterns for decomposition, as well as the necessary
Weaving materials, are furnished by the school free of charge. In
the studios, however, the colours and materials are supplied by
the students themselves.
Certiﬁcates are granted, and in special cases prizes or written
testimonials are given to the students who attend the full
0011] ses.
The prospectus states that suitable lodgings with respectable
families may be procured by non-resident students.
A commendable feature of the school is the provision of
scholarships, by which deserving poor students are admitted to
the advantages of the school free of charge. The fees of from
25 to 30 such students are paid by the Province, and an endow-
ment has been formed of the value of 2,000l., whereby_scholar-
ships have been established admitting 22 artizan students to the
Sunday classes of the school.
Although only formally opened in December 1883, at the time of
our visit in February, the day courses of the school were attended
by 150 students, and the Sunday classes by from 50 to 80
students. A large accession to these numbers is expected at the
commencement of the school year at Easter.
In order to carry out systematically the aim of the school
the course of instruction is divided into two sections, theoretical
and practical. The ﬁrst includes a thorough training in drawing,
and the second, practical instruction on the loom. Drawing and
painting are taught from copies, models, and from natural plants
and ﬂowers, with adaptations to printing, and designs for other
branches of the textile industry. Due prominence is given to
geometrical and machine drawing, particularly of those parts of
the loom which affect the pattern in the woven fabric. As much
care is bestowed on the student with a mechanical turn, as on one
whose talent takes an artistic direction.
There are also lectures on textile ﬁbres, on the elements of
weaving, and on machinery. Fabrics are decomposed and ex-
plained; looms are arranged for Weaving plain goods and for
goods with simple designs in various materials by the students,
while technical calculations and book-keeping are systematically
taught. In the second year the art instruction of the student
is continued until he is able to invent and produce original designs.
Lectures are given on the principles of ornamentation of woven
or printed fabrics, while due advance is made in geometrical
and machine drawing.
When the student shows capacity for higher work, he is
admitted into one of the studies, where, under the special
direction of qualiﬁed designers, he is encouraged to give
play to his own imagination, and to produce new‘ and
original designs in colour or otherwise, which can be woven
by himself or other students on the premises, and submitted to
the trade. In the technical and practical department of the
second year, the student continues his studies in the decomposi~
REPORT. 137
tion of patterns, and in the composing and calculation of designed
materials. He attends lectures on the construction, erection, and
action of different looms, and of other machines used in weaving.
He unmounts the power loom piece by piece and builds it up again.
He works at the forge, and learns the use of the machine and hand
tools in the mechanics’ and joiners’ workshop. He cuts the cards
in accordance with his own designs on the paper prepared by his
own hands ; he ﬁxes the cards in the jacquard machine or engine,
and ﬁnally becomes thoroughly practised in the weaving of the
most complicated and ﬁgured patterns both in hand and power
looms.
In going over the various departments of the building our
attention was directed to the museum of textile fabrics and the
superb collection of textile patterns, which already form a portion
of what is intended to become the most important school
museum of its kind in Europe. In addition to cases of raw
material, and screens of modern silk and other textile designs,
there is a collection of historical patterns containing specimens of
a most varied and valuable character (the “ Krauth ” Collection),
bought by the Government at a cost of 1,5001., and presented to
the school. The arrangement of the patterns is intended as much
as possible to facilitate easy reference by students and designers;
most of them are ﬁxed in glazed frames, so as to protect the
patterns from dust, yet easily removable when close examination
is necessary. Upwards of 5,000 specimens are framed in this
manner, many of which are exposed on a number of screens
arranged in the museum—sheltered by curtains that can easily
be drawn aside, while the others are arranged in cabinets in
their due order as to style, material, and date, from the
10th century to the present time. The Orefeld manufacturers
are especially proud of the museum, as a fountain at which
students, designers, and manufacturers may refresh their faculties
and receive at every visit new ideas and suggestions for their
special industries.
The school library contains already 1,200 Volumes of well
selected art and textile books. The patent records are supplied
by the Government, and the periodical literature includes the
fashion papers from Paris and other centres. The sum of 1,500Z.
has already been set aside for the purchase of books, and the
library and reading room are not intended for the use of teachers
and students only, but on certain days of the week are open to
the public.
Without attempting to give a detailed description of the
contents and general arrangements of the weaving shed, we may
say that the varied and extensive collection of hand and power
looms, the display of complicated and artistic patterns at work
in the looms, and the business-like air of the whole department
impressed us exceedingly. Probably in no single factory in the
world, as in no other existing school, can there be found so many
Museum of
textiles, raw
materials, 850.
Librnr} .
Wearing shed.
138 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Dyeing and
ﬁnishing
department.
Prospectus.
Class rooms
and labora-
tomes.
School course.
examples of modern looms, or so great a variety of textile ﬁbres
and designs, or more effective methods of imparting instruction
in the processes of weaving.
The Dyeing and Finishing School—The dyeing and ﬁnishing
departments of the school are arranged with the same complete»
ness and efficiency as distinguish the designing and weaving
branches, and are under the management of a special director,
Dr. Lange.
The prospectus is important, and we give it in full.
that the aim of the department is :—
1. To give to those who wish to devote their whole time to
the study of chemistry, a complete education in this
science, as well as in its practical applications.
2. To give to dyers, bleachers, calico—printers, and ﬁnishers, a
sound knowledge of the manufacture of dyes and
mordants, to instruct them in the methods of examining
and testing the value of both natural and artiﬁcial dyes,
as well as other chemicals, and further to instruct them
in carrying out these operations themselves. Lastly, by
means of practical work in dyeing, bleaching, printing,
and ﬁnishing, to afford them opportunities for applying
their knowledge to practice.
Besides the necessary class rooms, the department has :-'--
(1) Two chemical laboratories ; (2) one large dyeing laboratory;
(3) a dyeing and ﬁnishing house, furnished with the most recent
and complete machinery.
The two chemical laboratories serve for carrying out qualita~
tive and quantitative analyses, as well as for other practical
work.
In the dyeing laboratory the dye-wares and mordants are
tested, and all the operations of dyeing and printing by hand
are here carried out on a small scale.
In the dyeing and ﬁnishing-house, cotton, wool, silk, linen,
jute, 850., &c., are bleached, dyed, printed, and ﬁnished on a large
scale.
All the laboratories are ﬁtted with the most recent arrange~
ments, steam, water under high and low pressure, gas, electric
light, &0.
During the course, it is expected that visits will be made to
some of the most important industrial establishments in Crefeld
and the neighbouring towns.
The following subjects are taught :-—First year’s course, ﬁrst
half year: (a) lectures on inorganic chemistry (with experi-
ments), physics (with experiments), and qualitative analysis;
(b) practical work in the chemical laboratory, and in the dyeing
and ﬁnishing house ; (c) machinery, drawing, and textile
ﬁbres.
Second half year: (a) lectures on organic chemistry, Physigg
(with experiments), and quantitative analysis; (b) practical work
It states
serum. 139
in the chemical laboratory and in the dyeing and ﬁnishing’
house ; (c) machinery, drawing, and textile ﬁbres.
Second year’s course :—--First half year : (a) lectures on tech-
nical chemistry, including water, fuel, soap, the most important
acids and salts for dyeing and printing, thickeners used in
printing and ﬁnishing, artiﬁcial and natural dye wares, and the
methods employed in testing them; (1)) practical work in the
dyeing laboratory, and in the dyeing and ﬁnishing house;
(0) machinery and drawing.
Second half year: (a) lectures on dyeing, bleaching, calico
printing, and ﬁnishing, chemical technology of woven tissues;
(1)) practical work in the dyeing laboratory, and in the dyeing
and ﬁnishing house ; (c) machinery and drawing.
Students wishing to attend the school must have passed Conditions of
their sixteenth year of age, and must have an elementary admlsslon'
knowledge of chemistry and physics. As a rule no student
is admitted without having passed an entrance examination,
from which, however, he is exempted if he can show by
certiﬁcate that he has obtained the necessary knowledge at a
public school. Those who wish to give their whole time to the
manufacture of dyes, and the processes of dyeing and ﬁnishing,
may make special arrangements with the director, and in such
cases exceptions are made as to the entrance examination and the
time of study. The complete course lasts two years, and begins
every year at Easter. The admission of a student at any time
other than the beginning of a year’s course depends upon the
decision of the director of the school of dyeing.
The fee per half year is—for Prussians, 51.; for all other Fees.
Germans, 71. ; for foreigners, 121.
Important deductions may be made, by means of the scholar-
ship funds, in the case of students of limited means.
For the laboratory the student has the use free of 'charge, of a Laboratory
working desk, fuel, chemicals, and re-agents, with the exception es‘
of silver nitrate, platinum chloride, and gold chloride. Further
by the payment of 11. 108. caution money, as he has the use of
all the apparatus, porcelain, and glass vessels, 820 which he may
need, but for which he is made responsible. Missing, damaged,
or broken apparatus are charged at cost price. Each student is
obliged to bring his own platinum and blow-pipe. The prepara-
tions made from the chemicals of the laboratory, are the property
of the department. The laboratory is open daily, with the
exception of Saturday afternoon from 8 to 12 and from 2 to
6 o’clock.
Students who have frequented the department for one year at Certiﬁcates.
least, obtain a leaving certiﬁcate. After each half year, cer-
tiﬁcates are also issued respecting the diligence, progress,
conduct, and attendence of each student. ln special cases,
students on leaving may receive marks of distinction in the
shape of prizes or written testimonials.
140 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Collections.
Opinions of
Crefeld citizens
respecting the
school.
Besides the utensils and apparatus necessary for teaching, the
department possesses a well-equipped physical cabinet, extensive
collections of chemical preparations and colouring matters, and
a library. In the latter most of the journals relating to dyeing
are taken for the use of the students.
In conversing with some of the leading citizens of Crefeld, the
old school was very favourably spoken of, and strong hopes
were expressed as to the usefulness of the new one. Instances
were given of students at present engaged in the various factories,
who have been able to turn their knowledge obtained at the
school to very valuable account. Employers whose sons had
gone through the course of instruction in the old school were
highly satisﬁed with the thoroughness and efficiency of the
training which they had received, and manufacturers are con-
stantly on the look-out for students who have attended the
classes.
We often heard that to practical Englishmen, it must be self-
evident that a people like the Germans, already taxed to the
utmost to meet their enormous civil and military expenditure,
would not voluntarily increase their public burdens unless they
had overwhelming evidence that compensating good would follow.
In the race for the development of machinery the human machine
was after all the most important, and in the long run paid best
for the efficient labour expended upon it. The silk industry of
Crefeld had grown beyond the most favourable anticipations
of the manufacturers themselves. The increase in power-loom
weaving had been very remarkable, but not more so than the
extension of fancy weaving. Crefeld during recent years, as an
exporter of silk‘ goods, had obtained a ﬁrm foothold in London,
in America, and in the centre of fashion, Paris itself. In every
manufacturers establishment there had been an awakening;
there was more enterprise, a greater desire to strike out new
paths, a keener interest in competing for the best and most
valuable productions. Our informants insisted that the chief
motive power in all this development had been the weaving
school, and that its inﬂuence had been chieflyfelt in two
1mportant branches in which the factory is most liable to fall
behind, via, designing and dyeing. It was shrewdly remarked
by one of the manufacturers “ the day has gone by when I can
“ make money without effort; to exist I must move on; my
“ neighbour compels me.”
On asking why, in a town like Crefeld devoted almost solely
to the manufacture of silk goods, the weaving school should
devote so much attention to other materials, such as wool, cotton,
jute,'&c., we were told that the promoters are in the ﬁrst place
most anxious to introduce other branches of the textile industry
into Crefeld, in order that they may have “ more strings to their
bow," and that in times of depression in the silk industry they
may obtain relief from other branches less depressed. In the
second place, many of the students live in districts where silk
REPORT. 1 ‘l: l
weaving is unknown, and where other ﬁbres only are worked.
Besides, students training to become designers, seek familiarity
with every material and with every process by which the surface
of a woven fabric may be appropriately decorated. Students
expecting to become distributors of goods, seek to know the
make and construction of as many classes of goods as possible.
One of the English students with whom we spoke, was the
son of a loom-maker in Lancashire, and to him the complicated
motions ‘of the various Jacquard looms and the methods of
weaving the several kinds of fabrics were an interesting study.
One of the students in the dyeing department was connected
with the straw plaiting industry, and was devoting himself under
Dr. Lange to the study of straw dyeing. Thus for many purposes
and from many countries, students seek instruction at this school,
and the people of Crefeld cheerfully pay the high rates necessary
for its eﬁicient management, while they point with pride to the
fact that by their sacriﬁces they are ﬁnding out and directing
the talent of rich and poor in the neighbourhood and beneﬁting
the country at large.
WEAVING ScnooLs OF SAXONY.
The Higher Weaving School of Chem/mite was founded in 1856, Chemnitz
and according to Mr. Felkin’s account, which was conﬁrmed by
all the authorities with whom we conversed, “ has been of great
4 beneﬁt to the trade of the town and district.” The example set
in Ghemnitz has been extensively followed; “ similar schools
“ exist in the neighbouring towns of Glauchau and Meerane,
‘ besides schools for a similar object, with a less extended course
“ of instruction in Lossnitz, Oederau, Mittweida, Hainichen, Other 50110015-
“ and Frankenberg, places adjacent to Chemnitz, where the
weaving industry is mainly carried on. The Ohemnitz school
is the largest and most important, and is in many respects
“ considered a model institution.”
The school building is situated in an open space in the centre School
of the town, and was built about thirteen years ago. It is a building-
substantial structure three storeys high. The class rooms are
lofty and well lighted. In the basement is a large room con-
taining sixteen power looms, each of different construction, driven
by a small steam engine. On the ﬁrst and second storeys are
large rooms containing winding and warping machines, and
forty-three hand looms, of variety sufficient for the production of
all kinds of textile fabrics, from the ﬁnest silk handkerchiefs to
the coarsest carpets.
The land on which the school is erected i1 00%‘: and
was granted by the town, and valued at 500 mmtenance‘
The building was paid for by the town, and
cost - _ - - - - 4,000
The looms and other furniture are valued at 1,500
I‘
I
a

Total cost of school and ﬁttings - 6,000
v_______
142 ROYAL COMMISSION on TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Management.
Fees.
Methods,
materials.
Hand loom
Department.
Method of
teaching.
Jacquard
looms.
The State pays the town six per cent. on the cost of this
building ; ﬁve per cent. as interest, and one per cent. for repairs.
“ The town and State each grant 150l. annually to the school.
“ This, and the fees of the pupils, barely meet the expenses of
“ the institution, and the deﬁciency has to be made up either
“ by the town or State from year to year.”
The school is under a committee of four, consisting of two
aldermen or Stadtrathe of the town, the director of the higher
technical school, and a manufacturer in the trade. There are
four teachers, of whom two are for practical weaving. At the
time of our visit there were 52 students of 14: years of age and
upwards. They pay 131. 10s. a year for tuition, with seven weeks
holiday; or for half-a-year 9l., with ll. 108. a year additional for
weaving materials. The hours of study are from 8 to 12 and from
2 to 6. There is no evening instruction. Certiﬁcates of the
diligence, attendance, and progress of the students are granted,
and “the directors reserve to themselves the power, in special
“ cases, to distinguish scholars by premiums or written testi»
“ monials.” For the school curriculum, representing the two
divisions of instruction, each extending over half-a-year, see
Appendix, Vol. V.
In passing from room to room and noting the work of the
students, it was evident that the teaching of practical weaving
was thorough and efficient. In the hand loom department the
warps were nearly all in short lengths for patterns merely; in
carpets there were tapestries, rugs (light and heavy), with woollen
weft; tweed cloth, in woollen; damask table cloths and curtains
in worsted warp and weft, and also in jute ; rough linen towels,
and woven purses. No two looms contained the same material
or design, and each student learns to design and prepare the
cards for every class of pattern in the different materials. All
the warps are put into the looms by the students, and all the
“tuning” of the looms is done by them, under the supervision
of practical teachers. Each student works at every pattern in
each loom till he understands the “weave” and can work it
without assistance. Then he passes on to the next loom, and
his place is ﬁlled by another student. Thus, without unnecessary
waste of material, the students are taught by actual experience
to put many kinds of patterns of different materials into the
looms.
From ordinary pattern and hand looms the students pass
forward to the Jacquard looms, of which there are twenty of the
most important and varied kinds obtainable. Some looms were
weaving ﬁgured Brussels carpets; one was weaving a velvet
pile. The silk looms differed in construction accordingly as they
were intended for ribbons, for brocades with raised patterns
such as are woven in Lyons, or for Swiss brocades such
as are made in St. Gallen. Some students were weaving
monograms and pictures for book-markers, like those of
nsron'r. ' 143
Coventry. Others were showing their ingenuity and mastery
of the J acquards by weaving their names in black silk on a
white ground, so as to appear like visiting cards. There
were fancy patterns in woollen cloths, and mixtures of cotton,
wool, and shoddy, that would almost puzzle an expert to
decompose, while in mixtures of cotton, silk, and worsted, the
varieties were endless. We were told that patterns are often
sold by the students, and occasionally “ commercial successes ”
are produced in the school.
Having become thoroughly conversant with the use of the Power 1001115-
hand looms and of the Jacquard looms, the students are taught to
apply to the power loom the complicated designs and patterns
that have been produced in the hand loom. It has long been
the boast of some makers that they can construct looms adapted
to weave by power anything that can be woven by hand, and
the patterns in some of these looms would almost justify
the statement. The students follow the same courses in power
loom as in hand loom weaving. They design patterns for
the various kinds of looms, and spend at least as much time
over the weaving of each variety as enables them to comprehend
the complete structure of the pattern and the manipulation of
the loom. It was said that the weaving of full length pieces, or
even of long webs, is seldom attempted ; in this respect the plan
adopted is different from that of the Mulhouse School.
Most, of the 100mg were by English machinists , the names of Looms fihieﬁy
Bradford and Keighley makers being conspicuous among the gaggghsh
worsted looms. There were also some excellent looms by Chem-
nitz machinists, held in high esteem by the director ; two makers
especially being well represented. One of the names was
new to us, but we were informed that the ﬁrm represented had
turned out its 20,000th loom about three months before our
visit.
Before considering the inﬂuence of this school upon the Absence of
industries of the district, we wish to draw attention to one weak art teaching‘
pdint, which was admitted by some of its promoters, and, as we
have already remarked, is so common in these weaving schools.
The provision for teaching pure art, and art applied to textile
designs, we found to be very small. The other departments of
so-called designing, seemed to be admirably conducted. Students
are taught to copy patterns, to adapt designs from one material
to another, to vary the colour and form, to invent new combina—
tions, twills, &c., and to work out all these designs on the
cards, and mount them on the jacquard loom. The importance
of this work can hardly be over-estimated, and for one who
is already an artist nothing could be better. But, to the student
ignorant of drawing, those aids to pure design and artistic culture
which we found so amply provided in the art department of the
Vienna weaving school were conspicuous by their absence.
144' ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Inﬂuence of
the Chemnitz
school.
Importance of
knowledge of
technical
designing.
School for
hand weavers.
There was a general concurrence of testimony in favour of the
school on the part of all manufacturers with whom we spoke.
The classes are attended by merchants and distributors of goods
as largely as by the sons of manufacturers. We have elsewhere
stated that we were informed that there is not a manufacturer
in the town whose son, or assistant, or overseer, has not been
through the course. The fame of the school has spread to England,
and among several English students who have attended the
classes during the last few years are the sons of some of the
largest manufacturers and merchants in Yorkshire, who, before
schools of this character were started in England, selected the
one at Chemnitz as supplying the best preparatory training for
the factory. Some of the manufacturers send their overlookers
for a six months’ course. Others attend the school after a
training in art at such schools as the Kunst-Gewerbe School
at Dresden, and engraft designing for the loom upon a knowledge
of art. Others again come from the technical art schools to the
designing room of the factory, furnish the pictures—the original
designs—in colour and form, and pass them forward to the so-called
“ designers ” in the same establishment, who have been trained
in the weaving school.
An artistic and technical knowledge of designing and of
weaving are considered at Chemnitz to be almost as important
for the merchant and distributor of goods as for the manufacturer.
The former can suggest intelligently to the manufacturer the
nature of the popular wants, and how they may be supplied; he
may even furnish the manufacturer with designs, instead of being
compelled to accept such as he knows to be defective, but which
he does not know how to improve. He is also better able than
the untaught buyer to detect faults and imperfections in the
ﬁnished piece, to understand how they occur, and to suggest
remedies. Some manufacturers are jealous of the possession of
this knowledge by merchants and buyers, and in many cases
have opposed the establishment of weaving schools in conse-
quence; but it cannot be denied that, the more a trade is
understood by all the parties connected with it, the higher will
be the general excellence attained.
There is in Chemnitz a school for hand-loom weavers, open
on Sundays and during the evenings of week days, which
must not be confounded with the above. It is intended for
teaching designing, pattern drawing, analysis, book-keeping, and
fancy weaving, to practical weavers anxious for improvement.
The fees are sixpence per month, and admission is free to
exceptionally poor students. The school is mainly supported by
grants from the State and municipality, and by assistance from
the weavers’ guild. Some foremen, piece “ perchers,” under
clerks, and warehousemen, have improved their technical know-
ledge in this school, and some of the managers spoke in praise
REPORT. 1&5
of its usefulness to skilled weavers and foremen who were
unable to take advantage of the higher school. Two of the
Commissioners, however, visited this school and were not
favourably impressed by it.
WEAVING ScHooLs IN AUSTRIA.
There are in Austria 22 weaving schools and two hosiery Weaving
schools, under the control of the Minister of Instruction, dealing $11001? in
. . . . . . ustrla.
with various textile materials, such as silk, wool, cotton,
.ﬁax, &0. Besides the one at Vienna, which we have selected
for description, they are distributed over Bohemia, Silesia, and
Moravia. A paragraph in the introduction to the programme of
the Vienna school states that “ none of these schools could exist
without State aid.” The State grants are however exceedingly
small. Of the hosiery schools the most important receives 208l.
(2,500 gulden) a year ; l3 schools have a State subvention of
83l. (1,000 gulden) and under. The estimate of the total State
aid amounts to 2,500l. (30,000 gulden) ; the communities,
however, contribute considerable sums for premises, fuel, gas, and
other expenses. In the above programme, the State assistance to
the schools is considered “ entirely insufficient,” and a reference is
made to the Crefeld School, where the authorities, after buying
machinery, recently expended 1,500l. on a collection of old designs
alone. Now, it states, they are building at Crefeld a new school,
for which “ the town gives the‘ land and '7,500l., and the State
“ 27,500l. This one school, which will be devoted pre-eminently
“ to the silk industry, will consequently cost more than all the
“ schools in Austria combined.” The Report further states, that
although Austria has maintained her textile industries until now
on a level “ which far surpasses the means of instruction within
“ the reach of their promoters, it would not be advisable to allow
“ such an anomaly to exist much longer. The enormous efforts for
“ improvement that are made by France, Germany, England,
“ Italy, and Russia, and the colossal sums which those countries
“ expend in the establishment and maintenance of technical
“ schools, lead us to foresee with certainty that these efforts will
“ not fail to produce in a short time a fatal effect upon our home
“ market, already the subject of much competition, and upon the
“ selling abilities of our own manufacturers. A further deca-
“ dence, afurther adherence to the past, on the part of our textile
“ industries, would be nothing less than a calamity for
Austria.”
We proceed to describe the Weaving school of Vienna, whose
several departments combine all the features of importance that
are to be found in the other schools of this character in Austria.
School for Textiles and Dyeing, Vie/nnm—With regard to weaving
the suitability of Vienna for a school of this character, the Schootvienna.
prospectus states that Vienna is the centre from which the
designs and orders in textile products emanate to the various
Bi 1726. - K
0‘
h
1416 ROYAL COMMISSION on TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Weaving
school
building.
Maintenance.
Government
of school.
Teaching staff.
Students and
fees.
factories in the provinces of Austria. “ It is the seat of an
“ industry which comprises all the branches of art weaving, and
“ therefore the student who is trained here has an opportunity
“ of intimate contact with the practical processes, as well as with
“ all desirable institutions of culture and education, such
“ as the technological museum; as also for further artistic
" development at the museum for art and industry. He
“ can therefore obtain a more varied education than he could
“ possibly receive elsewhere, even in the manufacturing
“ centres of other countries.” The prospectus, after quoting
statistics and adducing evidence relating to the textile industries
of Austria and other countries, concludes by stating that “ this
“ school is of the most vital importance not only for Vienna,
“ but also for the whole empire.”
The school is a large and handsome building, and was opened
within a year of our visit. It supersedes what was described to
us as “the oldest weaving school in Europe,” and it was the
success of the old school which led to the building of the new one.
The freehold belongs to the municipality, the school having been
built out of the local rates; the furniture and apparatus have
been supplied by the State. The building is not yet completed,
as the scheme of the school embraces the erection of a department
of spinning, and a vacant plot of ground adjoining the. school
was pointed out as the site of this proposed extension. We
were informed that a full equipment of machinery for cotton and
wool spinning has already been promised by English ﬁrms.
.55
The building already erected cost to the
city or commune - - - 6,917
The furniture and apparatus supplied by
the State cost - - - - 1,750
8,667

The school is maintained by the fees of the students, by a grant
from the State, and by contributions from the local rates. We
did not obtain a detailed budget of the expenditure and income,
the school having been too recently established in its present
form to supply reliable statistics. The State grant for the past
year amounted to 1,166l., and the town supplied 60 tons of
coal and wood for heating purposes, and gas to the value of 4_~8l.
The school is governed by a council of eight members, con-
sisting of the mayor for the time being, the director, together
with representatives of the State, of the Gewerbe school, the
Royal Museum, the Silk Industry Society, and of the trade in
textiles.
The teaching staff consists of a director, Professor Ferdinand
Lieb, and professors and instructors in each of the theoretical
and practical departments.
At the time of our visit there were 418 day students, and 250
evening and Sunday students, making a total of about 300. The
nrronr. . 147
day students pay 11. 88. 401. a year of ten months, evening
students are free. The hours of study vary, and will be given
under the different departments. Students may be admitted
after passing their fourteenth birthday. The school course
occupies two years, at the end of which certiﬁcates are given
according to merit.
There are eight scholarships offered, entitling the holders to Scholarships.
free admission, with an extra allowance for maintenance, viz,
two by the town, and two by the Silk Industry Society, of the
value of 81. 68. 8d. each, and three by the State, of the value of
421. each. The latter are granted more especially with the
object of encouraging artists to become designers.
The day students are mostly the sons of provincial manu- social Status
facturers and of merchants. The evening and Sunday students of Students-
are usually factory managers, pattern drawers, or workmen in
manufacturing establishments. A few are old day students, who
take advantage of the school, as opportunities offer, for extending
their knowledge.
The school contams four departments, V'lZ. : Departments
1. Drawing and artistic designing. Of school.
_2. Hand and power loom pattern weaving.
3. Dyeing of fabrics, and printing of calicoes, Ste.
4. Museum of ﬁbres, designs, mechanical models, 8:0.
The textile instruction is divided into two distinct depart-
ments, namely, a school for drawing applied to manufactures,
and a weaving school. Students may attend either or both
departments, and the hours of study are arranged accordingly.
Drawing is taught on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings
from 8 a.m. to 12 am; weaving is taught on Monday, lVednes-
day, and Friday, from 8 a.m. to 12 a.m. In the afternoon the
students work out their problems at home. In some instances
they attend the commercial school, or are employed in some textile
factory. In both departments instruction for assistants and
apprentices is given on Sundays from 8 to 12 a.m., and on
Mondays from 6 to 9 pm.
The drawing and designing department of the school impressed Department for
us very favourably. It seemed here to be recognised, more than designing-
in any other school (Crefeld excepted), that it is necessary, ﬁrst,
to teach original designing, and afterwards the application of
designing to the loom. For this purpose, drawing is taught
thoroughly, and, in the ﬁrst instance, as pure art, but always
bearing in mind its ultimate application to industrial design. _ This
department is a well equipped school of art in itself. A large
collection of the best casts from the sculpture in the Royal Museum,
in Vienna, furnishes models for the students. The room devoted to
model drawing is divided by a number of screens, so arranged that
each student has a compartment to himself, with a separate gas
K 2
1&8 ROYAL commission on TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Use of natural
ﬂowers for
design in the
Vienna
"Weaving
School.
Students pre-
pare their
design for the
loom.
Patterns are
dissected by
students.
pendant that can be raised or lowered so as to give appropriate
lights and shadows. For designing and painting there is a large
room with tables, racks, and stands for the arrangement of copies
and patterns, so that they can be examined and dissected easily,
with ample light for each student. The walls of this room are
covered with drawings and designs of various kinds, some of them
executed by students, all framed and numbered, and, where
necessary, as in the case of historical textile patterns, fully
described. Other drawings and designs of great variety and
value are stored in cabinets, and from time to time these are
displayed and copied. Attached to many of the designs is a
skeleton diagram or key, showing the colours employed, and
indicating each thread of warp and weft as it appears on the
jacquard. We were informed that upwards of one hundred of
the most recent books relating to textiles from different countries
have been cut up, so that the pictures and designs could be
the more conveniently used as copies. For facilitating the work
in this department, there is a library of 106 volumes, more than
90 of which relate to design, and every important new work
that is published is added to the collection. (For particulars of
the course of instruction in drawing and painting, see programme,
Appendix, Vol. V.) The most important feature of the instruction
in the designing department is the adaptation of natural ﬂowers
for textile designs. This course begins on the 15th of May;
flowers are supplied from the public gardens of the city, and are
used as copies, to be treated separately or in groups for textiles
and for calico-prints, in the methods and according to the colours
and materials indicated by qualiﬁed professors. The student is
taught to arrange natural forms and colours in accordance with
good taste, and economical application to the intended material,
and he learns to apply them first to paper, and afterwards to
the point paper ready for the loom, with all the technical and
commercial calculations attached.
We saw a number of advanced students engaged in enlarging
their own original drawings on prepared designing paper, ready
for the card cutting process. Having prepared their designs, they
cut the cards with their own hands, and mount them on the
jacquard. They prepare the warp, carrying the threads through
the healds and reeds, and ﬁnally, placing the weft in the shuttle,
are able with full knowledge of their work to weave the pattern
in the loom.
In another class room we saw a number of students, all of
whom were said to be practically familiar with the loom,
engaged in dissecting patterns of cloth, as a class exercise. A
small pattern had been given to each by the instructor, and the
pupils were required to copy the design, count the picks, dissect
the cloth, thread by thread, so as to ascertain the nature and
quality of the material employed in its construction. They
were to estimate the counts of the warp and weft, calculating
REPORT. 149
the quantity of each required for the weaving of a yard of cloth,
and the cost per yard of the ﬁnished piece.
All kinds of complicated patterns are given to the students,
some containing mixtures of silk, mohair, Wool and cotton, and
elaborately ﬁgured. In some cases the counts of warp, weft, 850.,
of the various ﬁbres are given, with prices of each, per pound or
per gross, and the students are required to calculate the length
and weight of each material and the cost per yard of a ﬁnished
piece of given width and length. All these calculations are
taught by practical men whose experience is founded on the
commercial usages of the foremost manufacturing establishments,
not of Austria only, but also of France and England.
The practical weaving, both by hand and power looms, is
taught in a large airy room, of about 90 feet in length by
4.15 feet wide, lighted by eight large windows on each side. (For
the courses of the two divisions of treadle weaving and jacquard
weaving, see Appendix, Vol. V.)
In the weaving room, besides winding, warping, and dressing
machines, we counted 13 hand looms and about the same number
of power looms. For work of a specially detailed character, or
belonging to other departments of the textile industry, there
were separate rooms. In one of these rooms there were four
hand looms for braids, the work being that used for State carriages,
oﬂicers’ trimmings, &c. The work was very rich and elaborate;
gold and silver thread yarns being profusely mixed with silk;
and, both in design and execution, showed evidence of marked
skill on the part of the students. Another room was devoted to
machine knitting; there were a number of beautiful hand
machines, containing jerseys, Shetland and other fancy shawls,
stockings, &c., in process. There were also lace machines; and
cabinets, with an extensive collection of models of machines, one—
fourth the original size. A room was devoted to the exhibition
and use of card-cutting machines more perfect than those usually
found in manufacturing establishments.
In the hand looms in the general weaving room there seemed
to be almost every kind of material represented. In construction
and arrangement the looms were similar to those of the Ohemnitz
school, containing more or less complicated patterns, from plain
and ﬁgured silks to jute, damasks, and heavy carpets.
Of power looms the school contains the best of their kind that
can be procured. We noted a modern Orefeld velvet loom, a
complicated jacquard loom from Ohemnitz, and ribbon and other
silk looms for weaving on the French, German, and Swiss systems.
A Bradford and a Keighley maker were each represented by a
quick-speeded “pattern loom,” and we were informed that other
looms were ordered or were promised by leading English and
Alsatian makers.
As in the case of the hand looms, no two power looms were
alike, and a glance at their contents showed rich silks, pure and
Students are
exercised with
a great variety
of materials.
Practical
weaving.
Looms and
knitting frames.
Hand looms-
Power looms.
Variety of
looms.
150 ROYAL COMMISSION on TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Dyeing de~
partment of
Weaving
Schooh
Vienna.
Chemical
laboratory.
Cost of ﬁttings.
Department
for practical
dyeing.
Chemistry
taught to all
students.
Students come
from Poly-
technic.
mixed worsted and cotton fabrics for dress goods, worsted and
jute damasks, worsted coatings, heavy woollen cloths, and Brussels
carpets.
Unlike many of the other schools visited by the Commissioners,
the students ‘are here required to pay for the materials which
they use for weaving. Varieties of material, of all kinds, are
stored on the premises, but nothing is given out without pay-
ment. The students have the disposal of their woven products,
and frequently sell the designs and patterns which they make.
The weaving of long webs is not encouraged.
The (lg/eing department is separate from those of designing and
weaving, and students may either enter it without attending
other classes, or they may go through all the departments. The
dyeing school was, originally, a private undertaking under a
committee of manufacturers and others. Considerable difficulty
was experienced in retaining the professors, as employers were
constantly outbidding the committee and taking away the best
men. Since the transference of the school to the State, better
salaries have been paid; a higher social standing has been
acquired by the teachers ; and they do not now so readily leave
to take private situations.
There is a large chemical laboratory, with places for 20 students.
Water, steam, and gas, are laid on for each, and other necessary
appliances are conveniently arranged; the chief professor has
a private laboratory. There are class-rooms, and a lecture
theatre. In the director’s room there is a library of works
on dyeing and calico—printing, a considerable number of which
were in English.
We were informed that the laboratory ﬁttings and other
arrangements cost 1,166l. (141,000 gulden), towards which 500l.
(6,000 gulden) was contributed by the State.
The department for practical dyeing was not completed at the
time of our visit. The furnaces and boilers had been arranged
in accordance with a convenient plan for working, and some
large copper pans and machinery were in their places. Among
the mechanical arrangements was a stand in which 20 small
porcelain pans, provided with wooden handles, were fitted, and
by the turning of a winch 20 patterns or hanks could be lowered
into them simultaneously, and all lifted out at one operation.
The professor of this department Lichte) was trained
at the Polytechnic School of Zurich, and afterwards worked, for
13 years, in chemical and dyeing establishments in Alsace.
All the students learn theoretical chemistry, but only those
intended for the trade of dyeing study practical chemistry, and
they may select their own course of one or two years. A course
of one year is considered sufficient for obtaining the necessary
knowledge of one ﬁbre.
Most of the students have studied chemistry before entering
the school, and are therefore able, with very little preliminary
REPORT. 151
training, to apply themselves to the study of dyeing. We
found ﬁve students in the laboratory who had gone through
Polytechnic Schools. It is not surprising, therefore, that much
of the teaching is of an advanced character, and that the students
are able, after a course of two years, often of one year only, to go
direct to work as qualiﬁed dyers, without apprenticeship.
Connected with the dyeing department, practical instruction Calico-printing,
is given in calico-printing. One room was ﬁtted up for block
printing ; another was prepared for illustrating machine printing
by means of working models of all the processes. These models
had not arrived at the time of our visit, but it happened that
while we were in Mulhouse we were conducted to the establish-
ment of M. Emil Welter, a maker of small machines and
mechanical models, and he showed to us the set of models of
printing machines which he had just completed for the Vienna
school. As an indication of the amount expended on such
machines we may state that the Council of the Vienna Weaving
School had contracted to pay 8001. for these models. It_may be
Worth mentioning incidentally that, when we visited Mr. Welter,
in order to see the machinery preparing for Vienna, we found there
the whole of the advanced class from the Mulhouse Weaving
School, who, with a professor, were examining these models then
just completed.
In addition to the appliances necessary for the complete Museum of
study and practice of designing, hand and power loom weaving, 1113268,, ‘law
dyeing and calico-printing, the school contains a museum for the $531,353,, 860.
collection of examples, artistic productions, raw materials,
mechanical models, and various other objects pertaining to the
textile industries, displayed with great taste and convenience.
As no such museum exists in England, the nature of the
collections may be better imderstood by referring to some of
the exhibits in detail. The cotton industry, for example, is
illustrated by a number of cases divided into sections containing
raw cotton from various countries. The processes of manu-
facture are shown by samples of the result of each successive
operation, the machinery being represented by photographs.
Thus the cotton slubbing is shown, and with it a photograph
of the drawing frame, and so on from stage to stage up to the
spinning, which is not only illustrated by photographs of
the mule jenny, but by actual spindles, ﬁyers, and spools,
ﬁnishing with the cops in the shuttle ready for weaving.
The cotton ﬁbre, (which from time to time is described and
exhibited by microscope and electric light in the lecture room),
is here illustrated by magniﬁed drawings showing the charac—
teristics of the several qualities. In a similar manner other
ﬁbres, such as silk, wool, linen, and jute, are represented by
actual specimens, as they appear in the stages through which
they pass in the processes of manufacture. The shade cards,
showing ranges of coloured yarns, with shades of each colour,
were remarkable for variety and delicacy in the shading. Many
152 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Inﬂuence of
Vienna
Weaving
School.
yarns and woven fabrics are also shown. The collection is
rich in cabinets and cases of patterns of ﬁnished goods in
all the materials, and from all countries. When it is re,
membered that most of the students who attend this school
are not likely to be familiar with more than one branch of
the textile industry, and that many attend the school without
any prior factory experience whatever, the usefulness of these
well arranged cases may be appreciated. In English museums
they would not fail to be useful to all careful observers; how
much more so to students who, like those of Austria, have no
opportunity of seeing the processes of manufacturing under
their most favourable conditions !
We were informed that these original specimens of raw
materials and ﬁnished products have been contributed by manu-
facturers, by English and Continental machine makers, and by
promoters of the school in Austria. Manufacturers send patterns
of their goods, and the Paris collection of patterns is also
purchased for the school, thereby giving the students frequent
opportunities of seeing the most fashionable designs of the day.ii
Manufacturers and others with whom we conversed spoke
with the greatest conﬁdence of the future inﬂuence of the school.
In considering its practical utility, the conditions of the textile
industries in Austria as compared with England must be borne
in mind. As before stated, in England they are localised and
subdivided. In Austria, and in other Continental countries, it is
not uncommon to ﬁnd all the processes, from the sorting of the
raw material to the spinning, weaving, dyeing, and sale of the
ﬁnished piece, carried on in one isolated establishment, differing
materially as to its machiner , processes of manufacture, and in
the training of its workpeople, from other factories in the same
district. Hence the difficulty may be understood of keeping
several departments of an industry up to the mark, when they
have to compete with localities in which every department is
organised as a separate and distinct trade. There is, undoubtedly,
an absolute necessity for technical schools in districts where in
a single factory a master or manager is required to combine the
knowledge of half a dozen experts, but such schools are also
useful, though not to the 'same degree, in localities, such as we
ﬁnd in England, where an industry is so subdivided that an
apprentice may be taught all that is done in one selected factory,
and yet become acquainted with only a small branch of his
trade.
* This Paris collection is formed in a curious way. There are ﬁrms in Paris
whose business it is to procure samples of all the new designs in silk and other
materials as soon as they are offered to the trade. They cut these into small pieces,
and send them to subscribers all over the manufacturing world, at the beginning of
each season’s trade. Large subscriptions are paid for these patterns, and, as an
instance of the uses to which they are devoted, it may be said that outside Lyons,
where most of the best things are woven, they form the basis of inspiration for the
bulk of the fancy dress goods that are produced in Europe and America.
REPORT. 153
The department of design is looked upon as the sheet anchor Designing
of the Vienna school. The promoters insist that the selling department‘
value of a piece of woven fabric, as of a printed cotton, is
represented mainly by the attractiveness of the design which
appears upon its surface, and that, whatever may be the
deﬁciencies of warp, weft, or workmanship, a taking pattern,
even though it may not blind the customer to other inequalities,
tempts him to overlook them. So fully is this recognised by
the State that it encourages this department by annually offering
three scholarships for industrial designing, of the value of 462i.
(500 gulden) each, to be competed for by students from the Royal
Industrial Art School.
With regard to the theory of weaving, the calculations, the Instruction in
analyses of patterns of woven stuffs, the practical weaving of theory of
patterns by hand and power looms and jacquards, the instruc- $331‘? was
tion seemed to be thorough and effective. It was stated that
in general calculations boys fresh from school made more rapid
progress than students who have passed an interval of a few
years in some warehouse or factory. It was also stated that
the processes of arranging the complicated motions of a jacquard,
the gearing of looms, and of the innumerable threads composing
the warp and weft which must be worked with all the exactness
and harmony of a musical instrument, can be taught more easily
to boys in their teens than to men whose ﬁngers have become
stiffened by other work.
This school also offers an advantage to manufacturing students Advantage
in its extensive variety of machinery and branches of work. As of Variety-
we have before stated, many students have to come long distances
from districts where one class of trade only is carried on, in one
material, and by one class of machinery. Such students see the
newest and most approved machinery for their own particular
industry, and have their eyes opened to the possibilities of new
branches. Although few, if any, students would be expected in
after-life to establish factories in which such an extensive variety
of goods should be made as is provided for in the Vienna School,
it is not likely that they would know less, but rather more, say,
of a cotton loom, by being made familiar with silk and woollen
looms; and in the same way their knowledge of one material
surely would not be lessened because of the fact that in their
studies at school they had been brought in contact with many.
A practical acquaintance with the technicalities of a wide range
of textile fabrics must also, as we have stated elsewhere, be of
the greatest use to the important class of distributors. It is
reasonable to suppose that a knowledge of the requirements of
the consumers, and of the best methods of satisfying them, by
those who, as it were, feel their pulse by daily contact, must tend
to promote the extension of the trad e.
The inﬂuence of the department for dyeing and calico-printing, Inﬂuence
like that of the other departments, cannot as yet be measured by Ofldyiins
SC 100 .
1 54' ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Weaving
schools in
Italy.
Weaving
school of
Industrial
Society, Milan.
Technical
Institute,
Como.
results, owing to its recent formation. We were favourably
impressed by all the arrangements, and particularly by the
ﬁtness of most of the students for technical instruction,
before entering this department. As a knowledge of art
forms the basis of instruction for the designer, so a know-
ledge of chemistry is the true groundwork for the student
in dyeing. At many schools the teaching of dyeing must
be superﬁcial, because most of the students know nothing of
chemistry. In too many instances the instruction has largely
consisted in getting up receipts for dyeing certain colours, the
necessary weighing,‘ measuring, and mixing of the ingredients,
and dyeing patterns. In this school the teaching is based on
the principles of chemistry, which the students are required to
understand; and in such preparatory knowledge it would appear
that at present German and Swiss students are in advance of
those of England. This superiority, however, may be expected
to disappear in the centres of industry in England, where Science
Colleges are now in active operation, and where the chemistry
classes under the Science and Art Department are so rapidly
extending among the artisan population.
WEAVING ScHooLs, ITALY.
The Commissioners visited the Exhibition of Italian Industries
and Works of Art at Milan in October 1881, and were favourably
impressed with the section devoted to exhibits from the numerous
technical schools of Italy. In some of the schools there are
weaving and dyeing departments, and we had an opportunity
of seeing the examples of their work, and of comparing one
school with another. The two schools which seemed to be most
eﬁicient, judging from the display of designs, woven patterns,
and samples of dyeing, were those of Como and Biella. We
visited both of these schools, and also the school and museum of
the Industrial Society of Milan, in which there is a department
devoted to textiles.
School and Museum of the Industrial Society, Milan—We
were accompanied in our visit by Mr. Kelly, the British Vice-
Consul, and were taken over the establishment by Signor Carlo
Figini, the successor of Professor L. Bossi, who formerly had the
charge of the silk school and who has written a work on
weaving. There are 45 students in the school (one a female),
and the teaching is gratuitous. The classes are held in the
evenings, and on Sunday mornings from 9 to 11. Instruction is
given in practice as well as in theory, and there is an excellent
model on an enlarged scale to show the working of the Jacquard.
The collection of patterns is extensive and well arranged.
Technical Institute (I stituto Tecnico), Como.-~—The students
are admitted with the diploma of the so-called technical school,
REPORT. -1 5 5
after completing their third year’s course and attaining the
age of fourteen years. The admission fee is 21. 88., which is
wholly dispensed with in the cases of poor students,-—about half
the students pay nothing. There are free Sunday classes, attended
by 60 artisans. The course is for four years: Section I. Physics
and Mathematics, II. Commerce, III. Industry, relating to the
silk manufacture. No technical instruction is given until the
beginning of the third year. Half the expenditure of the school
beyond the fees is defrayed by the Government, and the other
half by the commune. A grant is made by the Chamber of
Commerce of 201. a year for each pupil admitted to the
technical department. The dyeing students pay 168. (20 francs)
a year for materials, and 20 francs for laboratory expenses. An Situated in a
old convent is used for the school. The class-rooms open convent‘
from the cloisters, and the quadrangle serves as a place of
recreation for the students. We were informed that the
designing and dyeing departments of the school have exercised a
very beneﬁcial inﬂuence on the silk industry of the district.
There are 7 6 small silk mills and over 6,000 looms in the
neighbourhood. The population is not less than 26,000. The
production of black silks is the leading textile industry, and till
within a few years plain goods only were made. Since the Inﬂuence of
establishment of the weaving school there has been a marked the 8011001011
extension in the Weaving of fancy and ﬁgured silks. Already manufactures‘
there are 200 looms engaged in this new industry, and we were
informed that the best of the weavers and the overseers in many
of the weaving shops have received instruction in designing and
weaving at the school. The most convincing evidence of their
belief in the success of the textiles department of this institution
was to be found in the sacriﬁces about to be made by the
authorities in providing suitable additional accommodation.
Roomy monasteries and convents are easily obtainable for
scholastic purposes, in all the towns we visited in the north of
Italy. Such accommodation, however, is not accepted as suitable
by progressive Italians, and in Como some important new Additional
extensions were being made (in 1881) and have since been buildings-
completed. They consist of a series of rooms for the teaching
of art and its applications to design. The rooms are arranged
on the best principles, well lighted, and furnished with all the
necessary casts and examples. A weaving room and workshop,
with accommodation for 40 looms, has been added, and a large
chemical laboratory for practical chemistry and dyeing. The
~ Como Technical Institute, thus equipped with all the outward
requirements of success, with eflicient professors, and ample
encouragement from the authorities, may be expected to impart
new spirit to the local industries which, in the face of the
enterprise and ﬁerce competition of other countries, were in
serious danger of being left behind in the race.
Professional School, Bie11a.-—~This important school combines Professioqal
for the small, but prosperous, town of Biella, technical classes S°h°°1> Elena‘
156 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Professional
Schools, Biella
—-contimced.
Number of
students.
Laboratory.
Museum.
Designing
department. ‘
Promoted by
Signor Sella.
with reading-rooms and an extensive library for the free use of
the peoplei
In the industrial department of the day school there are the
following sections :—
1. Weaving.
2. Chemistry and dyeing.
3. Mechanical drawing. m
4.‘. Fine art.
There are also evening lectures and classes for workpeople.
The school occupies the premises of an old convent (rent-free),
the class rooms opening from the cloisters.
The school is maintained, in addition to fees, by grants from
the following sources :—
£
Government - - - 4:80 a year
Town - - — - 360 ,,
Chamber of Commerce of Turin 140 ,,
Province - - - 220 ,,
Students’ fees ~ - - 100 ,,
£1,300
At the time of our visit there were 129 day students, who pay
20 francs a year, and 270 evening students.
In the chemical laboratory there were 26 students who pay
20 francs extra for apparatus and chemicals. In the weaving
department there were 17 students. These two latter depart-
ments were ﬁtted with necessary appliances for practical work ;
and a good collection of dyed products, both of wool, cotton, and
woven patterns, was shown to us. In the weaving room there
were six hand looms, and power looms from Germany and
England were promised. A self-acting mule, from Platt Brothers
of Oldham, was being erected. It is to be run by a gas engine,
which was also to drive some tools in the mechanical workshop.
The museum of raw materials and patterns was extensive,
and a number of mechanical models made in the school, including
a set of kinematic models, were excellent.
The designing department attached to the school of art seemed
to be well managed. The feature of the art school which most
impressed us was the modelling, of which we saw some admirable
time studies. In this subject 81 students had recently been
examined.
A short time previous to our visit, the director of the school
had taken 60 workmen to the Milan Exhibition. They formed
a fund for their expenses, towards which each contributed
half-a'crown (3 francs) per week.
The chief promoter of this school, and of every good work in
Biella, was the late distinguished statesman, Signor Sella, whose
REPORT. 157
factories We describe later on in the report. Signor Sella presented
to the town a library of 18,000 volumes, which is kept in these
premises, and is open to the public free of charge. The reading-
room is also free, and we found in it several English industrial
and scientiﬁc periodicals. The director pointed to the “ Times,”
and showed us a ﬁle of this paper, going back for ten years.
He particularly drew our attention to what he was pleased to
term “the great English motto,”—-“ Time is Money,”--which is
hung up in most of the class-rooms.
GENERAL REVIEW or CONTINENTAL WEAVING SoHooLs.
As to how far the realisation of the considerations, which we
have laid down in the introduction to this chapter of our report,
concerning the nature and extent of the work which should be
carried on in these schools of art applied to weaving, have been
embodied in the teaching of Continental weaving schools, we are
only able to report partial and moderate success.
Most of the schools have departed from the ideal laid down by
their promoters. Qualiﬁed teachers of the highest grade have
been difﬁcult to ﬁnd (there are no colleges for training them) ;
and, where the staff is limited, those departments are neglected in
which the teaching power is weak. In many schools what is
called “designing” is taught, but it is only the copying and
working out of designs from geometrical or other ﬁgures, supplied
by the teacher, and woven by hand looms, whereas drawing as
an art is neglected. In other schools, more important in size
and inﬂuence, we found that instruction was given in drawing
of the character above indicated, but there was no efficient
teaching of artistic designing. In some of these schools may be
found a great variety of hand and power looms, and an elaborate
system for the teaching of weaving. In our opinion, the most
important schools of this type are that of Chemnitz in Saxony
and the spinning and weaving school of Mulhouse. Among
other schools we visited of this kind were the silk weaving school
at Zurich, and the weaving departments of the industriil schools
of Ghent and Verviers, in Belgium, that of the commercial school
of Lyons. the weaving departments of the professional schools of
Lille, Rouen, Rheims, the industrial school of Rheims, and the
weaving and dyeing school at Roubaix, about to be displaced
by one of the most complete schools yet erected, at a cost of
about 80,000Z. Of the schools fulﬁlling the higher object of
teaching design, in which departments of pure art exist, although
in other respects not to be compared with such schools as
the one at Chemnitz, we noted the weaving and dyeing schools
of Biella and Como in Italy, the school of design and weaving
at St. Etienne in France, and, transcending in importance all
these, the weaving and dyeing schools of Vienna and of Crefeld in
Rhenish Prussia. As will have been seen from our description of
Schools have
departed from
original
scheme.
Schools which
teach design.
158 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
French and
German
weaving
schools: what
is taught.
Necessity for
originality in
English textile
designs.
Textile
museums.
Industrial
Art Schools.
the two latter schools, they fulﬁl more than any others, the ideal
aims of the promoters of such schools, and may fairly_bel cited
as good examples for English imitation.
With the exceptions last named, the students in French and
German weaving schools are taught chieﬂy to execute the designs
supplied to them, while many of them are not only ignorant of
the art of designing, but are not even taught to draw. Without
underrating the usefulness of teaching students to overcome the
technical difficulty of applying designs to the loom, we are of
opinion that if we aim at turning out mere adapters of patterns
to new materials, we shall miss the chief purpose of these
institutions and shall ﬁnd ourselves, even though our schools
are multiplied by ten or by a hundred, just as dependent as
ever upon the small knot of Parisian designers who can think
and devise, and guide the public taste.
To raise the position of an industry which has been deﬁcient,
not in the trained skill of its operative Weavers, but in
originality, and in the blending of beauty with utility, it is
clear that primary attention must be given to the application
of the principles of art. If new branches of the textile industries
are to be founded; if England is to take the lead in all classes
of designing and weaving, it must be by the application of art
to weaving. If we are content to copy others, we must be
satisﬁed if we take a secondary place.
Whilst saying this as a review of the description of Con-
tinental weaving schools, we wish to draw special attention 'to
the importance of museums of textiles and models, as aids to the
designer and weaver. For examples, we may refer to the
museum of textiles and printed fabrics at Mulhouse and to the
museums connected with the schools at Crefeld and Vienna.
The account of the school of chemistry and dyeing at Mulhouse
and the departments for dyeing and printing of the weaving
schools of Crefeld and Vienna afford information for those
interested in dyeing schools in England.
(3.)—INDUSTRIAL ART ScHooLs.
In this division are included such of the more important
Continental art schools as have not yet been described.‘ We have
placed under one heading both the schools in which art is taught
in application to a large number of industries and schools of pure
art. The former class of schools, or artistic trade schools (Kwnst-
Gewerbe-Schttlc'n), are largely represented in Germany and
Austria, and even extend to Switzerland ; they are, however,
scarcely known in France, where a different method of teaching
applied art is pursued. .
nnron'r. - 159
We shall ﬁrst shortly describe the Kunst-Gewerloe schools
which we have visited in Munich, Nuremberg, Dresden, Berlin,
and Vienna, and subsequently give the results of conversations
which we have had with the directors of these institutions and
other competent persons.
The M watch Industrial Art School—This important school is Munich Indus-
located in a comparatively new and handsome building, and is triﬂlAﬂschwl-
complete in every particular. It was founded in 1868 as a
private institution, but is now supported and controlled by the
State, and is under the direction of Professor Lange, an enthu-
siastic advocate of industrial art teaching, who is acquainted
with the South Kensington Art Schools and system of instruction,
of which he speaks appreciatively. The students are admitted
by examination, and must be able to draw, as elementary work
is not taught.
In addition to a large theatre for lecture purposes, the school
contains a great number of well—proportioned class-rooms and
studios, as well as work rooms for applied work of various kinds.
We can refer here only to a few of the more important depart-
ments which we visited in this school, but it will be seen from
the programme, Appendix 19, Vol. V., that classes for model
drawing, ﬂower and plant painting, perspective drawing, and
ornamental drawing, both for men and women, are included in
the school curriculum.
In the Ceramic department a number of German potters send Ceramic work.
their apprentices to learn modelling and drawing as also painting
on pottery; there is a furnace in which the students ﬁre the
ware after painting on it, as at Sevres. A son of the largest
manufacturer in Munich was painting a vase at the time of our
visit. About 10 students were working in this department, each
paying a fee of 208. per annum. There were cabinets containing
beautiful examples of pottery Ware as well as designs for vases
and other vessels, drawn by the pupils and the professor.
In the department devoted to designing for textile fabrics, the Textile designs,
pupils execute designs for textiles, on square-ruled paper, which
are sent to the manufacturer. These designers, however, are
unacquainted with the process of weaving, whilst the over-
lookers, who put the designs into the looms, as a rule know
nothing of designing. Professor Lange naturally desires that the
knowledge of these two persons should be united, so that the
designer should be able to put the design into the loom, and that
the weaver, who ﬁxes the- designs, should have it in his power to
draw the pattern; this has been accomplished to some extent,
inasmuch as art students from this school have attended the
weaving schools in Passau and Miinchberg. Amongst the designs
in progress were some elaborate ones for the carpet manufacturers
at Plauen near Dresden, and also for wall papers.
160 norxr. COMMISSION on T'c'cimrcAL INSTRUCTION:
A third department is that of lithography and wood en-
graving; here several young men and women were drawing on
stone and engraving wood blocks.
Another large room was devoted to the instruction of pupils
intending to be house painters and decorators.
A special branch of the school is arranged for teaching the
application of art to metal-work; here we found 20 students
chasing, working-up, ﬁnishing, and preparing castings of art
objects in different metals.
Another important department is that of glass painting, for
which this school has become especially famous, and the students
are in great demand by the glass manufacturers in the neighbour-
hood. Munich is well known for its coloured glass. In this
branch 12 students were working, going through every detail
of this industry, including the designing, the preparation and
mixing of the colours, the ﬁring, and the leading of the quarries
for window glass.
In the wood carving department there were ten students
engaged in very elaborate work.
Architecture is studied by a large number of young men,
many rooms being set apart for this special purpose.
The Commissioners were impressed with the excellence of
much of the work which is being done, and its bearings upon
industry.
The Budget of this school amounts to 1,7101. per annum ; the
total number of students in 1882 was 174.
The Nuremberg Industrial Art SchooL—This large school,
under the direction of Professor Gnauth, is older than the
foregoing; like this it is a State school, and is one which is
said to have exerted a great and beneﬁcial effect upon the
art industries of Bavaria. [Sec French Report on Technical
Instruction, 1863, pp. 163-4.] The tuition in this school,
as seen from the drawings and applied art Work shown in
the Nuremberg Exhibition, is probably second to none on the
Continent. About 150 students attend day classes, in addition
to which there are evening classes largely attended during the
winter, by the artizans of the town, especially house painters,
plasterer‘s, 850., and others who are interested in decorative work.
The fees are low, being 108. a half-year for Bavarians, and 188.
for foreigners. The school premises are not attractive or suitable ;
the building having been formerly a monastery. It contains,
however, a very ﬁne collection of casts, both of classical and
modern works. In the modelling room, with accommodation
for about 20, students were at work on ﬂoral ornament and
classical examples, and this work showed a high state of pro-
ﬁciency on the part of the pupils; better certainly than one.
usually ﬁnds in the Provincial schools of art in England.
The walls of the class rooms were covered with examples
of ornament by the early Italian, Flemish, and Renaissance
Nuremberg
Industrial Art
School.
masters.
REPORT. 161
.As in the Munich school, an important department, that of
architecture, also exists in the Nuremberg school. The course lasts
for four years, in the latter of which the students have to draw
plans and elevations, calculate quantities, prepare speciﬁcations,
and state in detail the cost of a building selected by the Pro-
fessor ; the intention being that the student at the completion of
his course shall be so far acquainted with all the details of this
subject as to be able, without further training, to take up the
profession of an architect; whether the students have oppor-
tunities of making themselves practically acquainted with building
operations does not appear.
Other important features of the school are the large collections
of architectural and ornamental photographs hung on the walls,
whilst an art library with books and periodicals is open to the
students.
The programme of studies is found in Appendix.
The opinions of the directors of the above Bavarian schools
on the subject of art instruction applied to industry will be
found on page 236.
The Dresden Industrial Art SchooL—This is a State insti-
tution, maintained at a cost of 2,800l. per annum. In connection
with it is a museum of textiles and industrial art products,
receiving an annual grant of 2,000t., a library of art works,
for which the grant is 750Z., and for a collection of casts 200i. ;
so that the total yearly cost to the State of the Industrial Art
Establishment in Dresden is not less than 5,750Z. The director,
Professor Carl Graff, considers that the school has exerted a
most important inﬂuence upon Saxon art industries. Under
his care it has “introduced new industries into Dresden, and
“ revived decaying ones. Its work is to be found in every
“ shop of importance in the city, and extends to all the industries
“ in which art is the handmaid of industry.” The Commis—
sioners in their visit to Chemnitz had an opportunity of testing
the accuracy of this statement, so far as design for textiles is
concerned, in the works of one of the largest fancy manufacturers.
In this establishment fancy mixed goods are manufactured, of the
greatest variety of pattern and colour. These are sent largely
to England, the worsted yarn having been bought in Bradford,
and the cotton yarn in Manchester, although these materials
pay a heavy import duty on entering Germany. In these
works we saw the two head designers, and found on inquiry
that they had both been trained at the Dresden Industrial Art
School under Professor Grafl'. The manager informed us
that they Preferred the young Dresden designers to older ones
or to those from Paris, as the former were more original,
thoughtful, and tasteful than the latter. These young men from
Dresden are doing well for the ﬁrm; they had a style of their
own which was not an imitation of Parisian methods, the house
got the advantage of being able to offer novelties and varied
patterns, and hence their business prospered.
Bi 1726. L
Dresden
Industrial
Art School.
Inﬂuence of
this school on
industries.
162 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Number of
pupils in
Dresden Art
School.
Art Library
and Museum
of Textile
Patterns.
Berlin Indus-
trial Art School.
The Dresden Industrial Art School is located in a large
building, formerly the Polytechnic School. The ground ﬂoor is
devoted to the art museum, the class-rooms and studios of the
school being on the upper ﬂoors.
The number of day students in the year of our visit Was 106
in the winter session and 96 in the summer. Of these 16 are
poor students admitted and maintained by bursaries. About
80 pupils attend the evening classes. There are no workshops
or any practical applications of design to industry in the school,
and in this respect the Dresden school differs from those
already described, but designs are extensively made by the
pupils and sold to manufacturers for a variety of purposes.
Thus we saw patterns for lace and textiles, show cards,
ornamental menus, and Christmas cards, designs for porcelain,
bronze, brass, and goldsrniths’ Work, all of which were either
sold or made for sale, and the work of the students, or of
students and teacher combined.
The school is divided into several special departments, thus :
(1) Designing, (2) Architecture, (3) Decorative Painting, (41)
Ornament, (5) Figure Drawing; Art Modelling, (6) Decorative
Painting from the ﬁgure. In addition to studio work there are
courses of lectures on anatomy, history of art, 850.
The Commissioners were struck with the spirit and artistic
power displayed in the works of the pupils of this school.
Many of the cards and smaller works of art were said to be
printed and published in Berlin, and exported in large numbers
to England. Interesting remarks by Professor Graff, as to his
views on the teaching of industrial art, will be found in the
sequel, page 2411.
This school contains one of the most complete and valuable
applied art reference libraries in Germany, including not only
about 2,000 printed books, but not less than 16,000 mounted
art patterns and examples, and 11,000 examples of embroidery
and lace. These are all carefully catalogued under suitable
headings, so that any wished-for example can be readily found.
This reference library is open to the public, and is visited by
10,000 persons annually. In addition to these examples, the
art museum contains a collection of 140,000 patterns of historical
and other textile fabrics of all kinds and of all ages. The value
of such a collection to a manufacturing community cannot be
overrated.
The Berlin Industrial Art School forms a part of the
new “ Victoria Institute and Museum,” which owes its existence
to the interest and care of the Imperial Crown Princess of
Germany, who was desirous of establishing in Berlin an art
museum somewhat on the plan of the South Kensington
Museum, due to the initiative of her illustrious father. The
school was founded by a private society, but it is now a
Government institution. About one-fourth of the expenses
of tuition are supplied by fees, the remainder by the State
REPORT. 163
There are 700 students in attendance, of whom 500 are evening
pupils of the artizan class. About 67 ladies attend the day
classes. The fees are 368. for day classes for three months, of
seven hours per diem, and ls. for the evening class of one hour
per week for three months. Talented poor youths are admitted
by exhibitions, of which 15 are provided by the State, and four
by private subscription; in addition to this, the Committee of
this school recommend certain students for free places. Many
old pupils of the school now occupy important situations as
designers in various trades in Berlin and elsewhere. The
Director of the school (Dr. Ewald), gave the Commissioners his
views on the mode of teaching industrial art, pointing out that,
in countries where art industries are in an advanced state, the
application of art to industry may safely be left to the work-
shop, whereas where taste and art industries need development,
the State should not only teach art, but also its application (see
page 242). The class-rooms are numerous and well designed, and
there is an ample supply of casts and apparatus. Among other _
departments we visited, were the room for drawing from the
antique, the excellent modelling room, and several large painting-
rooms, one being specially devoted to house decorators. In
another class-room we found furniture designers, who were
doing some excellent and original work. Less attention seemed,
however, to be devoted to special applied design, than was the
case in most of the other schools of this type which we visited.
This school, like the one at Dresden, has the advantage of Bellill Art
being annexed to an important industrial art museum, in which Muse‘m"
the students have every facility for study, and which is arranged
with a special view to stimulate the interest of designers.
The Vienna, Industrial Art School in its general character Vienna Indus-
resembles the schools already described. The building is very I‘ialil'tschool-
large and handsome, and like the art schools of Berlin and of
South Kensington, it is connected with an important art museum,
containing a large and varied collection of objects of art. The
school, under the directorship of Dr. R. M. Belf, has been in
existence for 14 years, and is a State institution, costing 41,083l.
per annum. It consists of the following divisions :—
1. Architecture.
2. Sculpture.
3. Drawing and painting.
The latter division is sub-divided into three departments:
(a) ﬂower drawing ; (1)) ﬁgure painting and ornament; (c)
designing. There are also separate departments of the sculpture
division, viz., wood-carving, wood-turning, metal-chasing, and
ceramic art, especially modelling for china. Students on entrance
must pass an examination and must be upwards of 14 years
of age. The fees are 208. per semester for the preparatory
school, which is carried on in another building, and 368. per
semester for the special schools. Many of the students are
teachers in training, and several of them ladies. Much work is
T. 2
264 norm. COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION!“
Revival of an
extinct trade.
Ceramic art
in Vienna.
\Vood-carving
School.
Metal-work.
French
industrial art
schools.
done in furniture designing and in copying old models from the
ﬁne collection in the museum. Other students are occupied in
pattern designing, adapted from old textile fabrics. Many
attend the Vienna Weaving School, and there learn how to put
their designs into the loom. An interesting instance of the
inﬂuence of this school upon industry in reviving an extinct lace
trade in the Erz-Gebirge was related to the Commissioners by
the Director (see p. 244.‘).
In the Ceramic Department the high class porcelain painting,
for which Vienna has long been renowned, is taught. The
course lasts for three years; many pupils come from the potteries
in the neighbourhood to learn designing and painting on china.
In the morning the students design or paint, and in the after-
noon they attend lectures on anatomy, the history of art,
technical drawing, and style. In the third year they are taught
chemistry, and the manufacture and properties of colours, and on
leaving they are expected to be acquainted both with the history
and the practice of the ceramic art.
in this department are females.
The wood carving department was attended by 10 students,
who were at work on diﬁicult subjects, carving heads, hands,
ornamental cabinet work, and ﬁgures. One of the most advanced
students had nearly completed a very well executed copy of
Michael Angelo’s “ Night” from the tomb of the Medicis. The
work done here surpassed anything of the kind which can be
seen in English schools, and all the students were Well qualiﬁed
to raise the standard of taste and execution in the shops in which
they might be employed.
Metal chasing and working in brass and bronze is also carried
on in a separate department. Three years close application is
needed to make a good chaser or ﬁnisher. After having gone
through a three years’ course the pupil is expected to be able
(1) to make a drawing of a design for a model, (2) to make the
model in clay from the drawing, (3) to cast the object in bronze
or brass or other metal, and to chase and ﬁnish it, giving it the
necessary expression for a ﬁnished ﬁgure, and (4:) to draw the
completed ﬁgure, and compare this drawing with the original
design.
GENERAL REVIEW OF CONTINENTAL INDUSTRIAL An'r ScHooLs.
The numerous free communal drawing classes, the drawing
schools connected with the Government, and those conducted by
the municipalities in various parts of France, of which we give
an account under the head of Artizan’s Night Schools, educate a
vast number of youths as draughtsmeu and designers. We cannot
say that the French system, which aims rather at teaching
drawing and the ﬁne arts without special regard to the applica-
tion of the same to industries, tends more than does the method
More than half the pupils‘
REPORT. 165
of training pursued in Germany, and to some extent that in
vogue in this country, to the education of artists as distinguished
from designers. The fact remains pretty much the same in all PM]? and“
countries, that young men who really possess high artistic talent, $554311;
whatever may be the nature of the art instruction they may
receive, will eventually become artists, and that only a relatively
small proportion of young men of ability will enter the ranks
of designers, until they have found that they can only most
laboriously and painfully obtain a living as painters. The really
good artistic designer must, in order to be successful, be equally
talented and just as highly trained as the artist painter, and it
is a mistaken notion to believe that designers are as a rule
failures in art.
The truth being that certain special qualiﬁcations are required
by each, and opinions differ as to whether those powers which
belong to the designer as distinct from the painter can be
evoked by any special teaching. The best training for each,
certainly, during the ﬁrst few years of his career, is drawing,
modelling, and painting. Not until he is thoroughly master of
the various materials and processes by which art is capable of
expression, and of the inﬂ uence of style upon the development of
the ﬁne arts,'can the student do any good by concerning himself
with the varieties of design and the application of the same to
industry. It is at this later period of his training when the
‘designer can be materially beneﬁted by placing before him
well selected illustrations of what the best designers and art
workers of previous periods have achieved; and it is here
where the inﬂuence of industrial museums, collections of patterns,
and drawings and exhibitions of art workmanship may exert a
most powerful inﬂuence for good on the young designer. If at Means of
this same period we can make his work valuable to him by the Zilénélgggg
actual use of what he is doing for the manufacturer or the art ‘’ '
workman, and if we can show him further, how much more
valuable his work may become to him in the future by holding
out to him the hope of a proﬁtable and honourable career, we
shall present the most powerful stimulus to the creation of the
future designer. The real fact is, that the dignity of the
designer’s work and the importance of the position he occupies,
is not sufficiently acknowledged in our own country. We hold Need of public
out by public exhibitions, by galleries of works of art, and by the Recf’gnltwn of
high measure of public approbation which we accord to them, the utmost amount of recognition to the works of the painter and the
sculptor, but we neglect almost entirely the work, however
meritorious it may be, of the art designer. If the value of his
labours were only acknowledged to the extent of some small
fraction of the scale of those of his fellow worker, whom we
dignity with the title of the “ Artist” par excellence, the “ artist
designer” would soon take his proper rank in the country.
In foreign countries the annual exhibitions of the works 'll‘lhiscis £19116 <t>n
of the students in schools of applied art, the “ Goncours,” or t e ‘mmen'
166 ROYAL CoMMIssIoN oN TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Action of City
of London
Livery Com-
panics in
stimulating
design.
\Vomen's
trade schools.
Municipal Pro-
fessional and
Housekeeping
School.
competitions, and the direct patronage by the State of certain
art industries, have doubtless contributed largely to stimulate the
student, and to place before him the solid advantage opened out
to him by the study of design. In the middle ages the various
trade guilds and the master-craftsmen encouraged and rewarded
skill and excellence in designing and the execution of art works ;
the Meisterstiicke, were openly shown and displayed to the
admiring townsmen of the young craftsmen.
A part of the great wealth of the City Livery Companies
could hardly, we think, be better employed than in encouraging
and rewarding talented designers to produce work of the highest
character. The Goldsmiths’ and the Plasterers’ Companies have
already done much good by the prizes they have thus offered for
national competition.
IV.—-WCMEN’S TRADE AND PROFESSIONAL SCHOOLS.
In nearly every country which the Commissioners visited
they found, in most of the large towns, schools established for
the training of girls in various industries, and these schools
closely resembled one another in character. In all of them
the girls are taught every variety of needlework, including plain
sewing, embroidery, the making of linen underclothing, and
dressmaking. The special trades taught in these schools varied
in the different countries. In all of them drawing is Well
taught, and is the principal basis of instruction.
A very extensive series of such schools has sprung up
throughout Germany, on the model of the successful Frauen-
arbeitsschule at Reutlingen, the foundation of which was due
mainly to Dr. v. Steinbeis. These schools in some places serve
as finishing schools in which girls .of the more wealthy classes
acquire a knowledge of housekeeping and domestic economy
after leaving the ordinary school. In Belgium, and more
recently in France, schools have been established for girls, with
the avowed intention of qualifying them to earn their living at
various industrial pursuits. In Paris a school has quite recently
been founded to accomplish for girls what has been done by the
La Villette apprenticeship school for boys.
(1.) WoMEN’s WORK SCHooLs IN FRANCE.
M nnicipoll H ouselceeping School, Paris—This school, known
as the Ecole Professionnelle M e’nagere, is situated in the Rue
Violet, 86, and has been open since the 1st May 1881. Its aim
is to offer to young girls leaving the primary school the
opportunity of learning some useful trade, and of giving
them at the same time experience in domestic duties and
anron'r. 167
household work, thus preparing them to carry on the avocations
of family life. The ordinary subjects of primary education
are taught during the morning. This training serves to keep up
and to strengthen the knowledge of the pupils acquired in the
primary school. The special technical classes comprise a general
course obligatory for all the pupils, and special technical courses
suited to the profession or business which the pupil may have
chosen.
\
The conditions with respect to admission are as follows : Qualiﬁcations
For entering the professional and housekeeping classes the girls for admission’
must be at least 12 years old, and must not exceed the age of
15, and they must hold the certificate of primary instruction.
As a temporary expedient, however, dispensations are granted
to children who are at least 13 years of age, and who know how
to read and write.
The school is under the direction of Madame Lajotte and a Instruction.
staff of teachers for needlework, sempstresses’ work, ﬁne
washing, embroidery on stuffs, artiﬁcial flower-making, and stay-
making. There are also special teachers for the subjects of
primary instruction, for cutting out and making up dresses?‘
as well as for gymnastics, housekeeping, cooking, washing,
ironing, &c. The pupils receive a premium proportionate to the
value of the work done by them, when this work is of such a
nature as to be capable of being used.
Of the trades taught, ordinary dressmaking for the working Dreggmaking
and lower middle classes appears to be the one for which there
is the greatest demand. Next to this, millinery and laundry
work. The least proﬁtable is said to be artiﬁcial ﬂower—
making. All the girls take their turn at household work,
including cooking.
The municipality of Paris propose to extend this school,
which is situated in a quarter of the city inhabited almost
exclusively by the working classes, and to establish other schools
of the same kind in other similar parts of Paris.
Schools of the Society for the Professional Instruction of Essa Lemon-
Women.—-With regard to the schools conducted at Paris by the ﬂier Schools
Society for the Professional Instruction of Women, the so-called
‘5 Elisa Lemonnier Schools,” the following facts were obtained.
These schools are four in number, situated in different parts
of Paris; one in the Rue de Poitou, containing 140 pupils ; a
second in the Rue Duperré, with 220 pupils; a third in the
Rue d’Assas, with 95 pupils; and a fourth in the Rue des
Boulets, with 80 pupils. . '
They are managed by a society, under distinguished patronage,
and are supported to a considerable extent by public sub-

* Madame Scheﬁ‘er, one of the InspectricesIdes Ecoles Communales de Paris, has
prepared a manual of cutting out for schools, whlch was handed to the
Commissioners.
168 ROYAL coMMIssIoN oN TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Course of
instruction ,
in Elisa
Lemonnier
schools.
Certiﬁcates
awarded.
School hours.
Schools con-
ducted by a
company.
Commercial
school for gnls,
Paris.
scription. The annual expenditure on their maintenance
amounts to about 5,000L; this cost being partly borne by
subscriptions, partly by legacies, and partly by contributions
of 24$OZ. from the Minister of Commerce, an equal sum from
the Minister of Public Instruction, and 8001. from the city of
Paris. The private subscriptions amount to about 680Z., and an
annual fancy sale produces about 2,4r00l.
The teaching is specially intended to prepare young girls for
commercial life and for various industries. Day scholars only are
received, who must be at least 12 years of age, and must
pass a preliminary examination. The course extends over three
years, and is divided into general classes and special classes.
The general classes give a sound elementary instruction in the
French language and literature, arithmetic, geometry, history,
geography, natural sciences, and writing. The special classes
are six in number, (1) a commercial class, including book-keeping
and English language; (2) industrial drawing ; dressmaking;
(4*) wood engraving; (5) painting on pottery and porcelain;
and (6) painting on glass. The entrance examination, which
relates only to the general classes, includes a knowledge of the
elements of French grammar and arithmetic.
At the end of each year a committee of examiners undertakes
to inspect the work done and to award certiﬁcates of proﬁciency.
The school is open in the winter from 8.30 am. to 6 pm,
and in summer from 8 am. to 6 pm. The literary instruction
is given from 8 to 11 in the morning; the special classes take
place in the afternoon from 12 to 6. The school fees amount to
12 francs per month (98. 7d), which are payable in advance on
the 1st of each month.
These schools were established under the presidency of
Madame Elisa Lemonnier in 1856, and they appear to have been
attended with very considerable success. The society which
now conducts them was incorporated on the 14th January
1870. It is of the nature of a limited company divided into
shares of 2L each, but there is also a large body of subscribers
paying ll. per annum. The society is under the management of
various committees, and has generally a lady of station as
president, together with vice—presidents, treasurer, secretary, 820.
Ecolc Com'mcrcialc pour Zcs Jeuncs Ftllcs, Paris—This is a
middle class girls’ school, established in 1871, and situated
at 26, Rue Ganneron. It is under the superintendence of
Madame Paulin, and receives a subvention from the City of
Paris. The instruction aims at giving girls a knowledge of some
trade or business, a sound general education being at the same
time imparted. The mornings, from 8.30 to 11.30, are devoted
to general instruction, and the afternoons, from 12.30 to 5.30, to
special (professional) work. The school consists of four divisions,
a preparatory class in two sections, and ﬁrst, second, and third
REPORT. 169
year students. There are 150 pupils, all of whom learn drawing
at least once a week.
The classes having a special professional character are four in PI‘OfeSSiPHaI
number: (1st) a commercial class in three divisions, including mtmemn'
the study of English, and elementary civil and commercial law ;
(2nd) a class of industrial drawing, which includes water-colour,
ﬂat-tinting, painting on porcelain and pottery; (3rd) a class of
millinery (lingerie) and dressmaking; and (at) a class for the
training of governesses preparing for the Hotel de Ville examina-
tion for diploma. From a circular handed to the Commissioners
it appears that the girls from this school have taken a large number
of diplomas, and in four different years a pupil of this school has
taken the prize for having been 'ﬁrst in the annual examination
for the diploma.
There are, under the directress, ﬁve female teachers and six Swif-
masters, counting the teacher of gymnastics. The rudiments of Plan of.
science are taught to some of the pupils. All the girls are taught mstmctmn'
vocal music, and all have 1-15 hours daily of plain needlework.
The time is so sub-divided during the morning lessons that none
of them are over an hour in length. The girls receive good and
bad marks in books supplied them for the purpose, and a weekly
report is made to the parents. The Commissioners were not
favourably impressed by this institution. The school buildings
are ill-adapted for the purpose. The class rooms were badly
ventilated, and the drawing class was doing indifferent work
in a conservatory.
Ecote Professtonnetle C'o'm'mnnale des J ennes Ftttes, Ro'uen— Professional
This is attended by girls from the age of 12 to 15, and the in- i‘g’rhl‘s’ogfggen
struction is designed to qualify them to become useful and D ’ '
efﬁcient wives for men of the working class- On the second ﬂoor
is a laundry where the smaller articles of linen are washed and
got up ; work being taken in from families in the neighbourhood.
On the upper ﬂoor the girls are taught dress-making; in the
ﬁrst year they learn plain sewing, and in the second and third
years cutting-out and making dresses. Embroidery is taught,
and the girls work from sketches made on the blackboard.
Cookery is likewise practically taught. The school is simply a
day-school; it is attended by 89 pupils, and the instruction is
wholly gratuitous.
(2.) WoMEN’s WORK SoHooLs IN GERMANY.
The W oinen’s Work School, Rentltngen, Wnrtemberg.--This Women? Work
school, founded in 1868, was the ﬁrst of its kind in Germany. at Reuﬂmgen'
The Frauenarbeitsschule, an imposing building of four storeys,
occupies an excellent situation on the outskirts of the town,
and has gardens back and front. The class rooms are lofty
and well lighted, and the sanitary arrangements seemed very
good; the present school building was completed in 1877.
The Commissioners, under the guidance of the headmistress,
170 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Women’s
Work School
at Munich.
Madame Bach, ﬁrst visited a museum at the top of the
building, containing a complete collection of the various kinds
of work done in the school, arranged in sequence from the
simplest sewing to needlework of the most ornate character, em-
bracing almost every variety of needlework, lace, and embroidery.
Dressmaking of all kinds appears also to be well taught, and as
many of the girls come here for a year, on leaving the higher
girls’ school, to complete their education as housewives, the classes
for cutting out work and dressmaking are well attended.
Many girls come here also to be educated as teachers of
needlework, and 188 mistresses have already been trained in this
school. The girls who are in training as teachers willingly
accept commissions for various kinds of work through the head-
mistress. Drawing is well taught, and is the foundation of all
the various kinds of work. Each course of work lasts for
11 weeks, but, in order 'to become thoroughly proﬁcient, two
courses, or 22 weeks in each subject, are required. School-
mistresses must remain for two years to learn needlework
thoroughly.
In the machine work department all the girls have their own
sewing machines.
Ironing and clear-starching are practically taught; also,
pleating, 85c. For Programme, see Appendix 11, Vol. V.
This school was well represented at the Stuttgart Exhibition,
and a number of frames hung round the museum gave an
excellent idea of the work of the school. The total number of
students was 238, and there were 21 teachers. The fees are
about 8l. per annum, payable quarterly.
Franenctrbeitsschitle at Munich—The Commissioners also
visited the Women’s Work School at Munich. This school,
opened in 1873, was founded on the model of the school
previously described. The girls, before being admitted, have to
bring their certiﬁcate from the Volksschule, or Primary School.
This school is not a State school, but is supported by private
means. It is organized and managed by a Society for the
Amelioration of the Condition of the Working Classes. It
receives some assistance, by way of grant, from the town. This
school is not exclusively an industrial or professional school,
in which, as in other schools of the same kind, women are trained to
earn their living, as a large number of girls come here who
receive instruction in needlework for domestic purposes only,
and there is a special department for training schoolmistresses.
The pupils of the school are taught freehand, linear, and per-
spective drawing, and also designing for embroidery patterns.
They likewise receive instruction in German, arithmetic, book-
keeping, 850. The only practical instruction, in addition to that in
drawing, is the instruction in needlework, which is taught in all
its branches, and the girls learn every kind of embroidery and
dressmaking. The Commissioners had the opportunity of in-
specting several beautiful pieces of work which were intended
REPORT. 171
for the Nuremberg Exhibition. The school is housed in what
was originally a convent.
The fees are 368. a year for ordinary pupils, and 728. for
mistresses in training. There were 439 of the former, and 39
of the latter, frequenting the school in 1881.
(3.) WoMEN’s WORK ScHooLs IN AUSTRIA.
Royal State School for Art Embroidery at Vienna (Fachschule Embroidery
fiir Kunststickerei).—-This is a State school for girls, many of 575052321;
whom afterwards become teachers, and go to other countries. '
The directress is Frau Emilie Bach, whose books on the subject
of embroidery have become standard works. There are 7 O to
80 pupils, under the charge of seven teachers, and the complete
course extends over ﬁve years. The instruction is free, and
there are also bursaries, which enable the poorer pupils to live
whilst receiving the instruction in this school. Girls seeking
admission must be not less than 145 years of age, and must have
completed their education at the primary school. They must be
able to draw, and have a thorough knowledge of plain needlework.
All the pupils are taught freehand drawing. Lectures are given
by professors, and of these the girls have to prepare written
accounts. The students make designs for needlework, and trace
them on to the material. Every kind of fancy needlework and
designing for needlework is taught. At the end of each year
the girls have to work a sampler or diploma work to show their
proﬁciency. The walls are covered with designs worked by the
pupils. Foreigners pay 25L per annum for the complete course
of instruction, and auditors can be received on payment of 2l. 10s.
per half-year. The single course can be taken in two years.
The instruction here was perhaps the most advanced we met
with in any school of this character. An excellent school of the
same type was likewise visited at Berlin.
(4.) WoMEN’s Wonx SoHooLs IN BELGIUM.
Brussels Professional School for Girls—Schools not materially Girls’ pro-
diifering in character from many of those already described feshsimllal
are the two “ Ecoles Professionnelles pour Jeunes Filles ” $1,213,
at Brussels, one of which is of a somewhat lower grade than
the other. The Commissioners visited the higher grade school,
intended for the education of the daughters of shopkeepers and
parents of the bourgeois class. The waiting room, which was being
used as an examination room, was prettily decorated with panels
and plates painted by the students. The basis of the instruc- Drawing
tion in this school is drawing, which underlies all the special Obhgatmy‘
trade Work which the pupils are taught. The teaching com-
prises a general course, which is obligatory on all the pupils, and
172 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Value of
drawing for
dressmakers.
Artiﬁcial
ﬂower making,
BrusselsSchool.
Large impor-
tation into
England.
special courses in preparation for various trades. The general
courses are intended to carry forward the education received at the
primary schools, and embrace French, arithmetic, history and
geography, the elements of natural science, laws of health and
domestic economy, writing, drawing, singing, and gymnastics.
The trade courses comprise lessons in book-keeping, the appli-
cation of arithmetic to commercial occupations, English or
German language and business correspondence, applied art,
dressmaking, embroidery, &c. The school is for day pupils only,
who are not admitted below the age of 12 years. Pupils who
do not enter the school with bursaries, of which there are a
considerable number, pay 2t. 88. per annum, which is about one
half of the cost of each pupil, the remaining expenses being
defrayed by private donations, the produce of the sale of work
done in the school, and the subventions of the commune and
of the Stated‘
The Commissioners particularly noticed the extent to which
the teaching of drawing is made the basis of instruction in such
subjects as that of dressmaking. In the department of dress-
making the girls were allowed to receive orders from their
friends or others, which they executed in the school. At the
time of the Commissioners’ visit there was a competition in dress
and costume making, on the results of which prizes were
awarded. These competition costumes were inspected by the
Commissioners.
One of the principal trades taught is the making of artiﬁcial
ﬂowers. Formerly, nearly all the artiﬁcial ﬂowers were made
in France, but recently, and mainly owing to the intro-
duction of schools of this kind, not only is a sufficient supply
made in Belgium for home consumption, but likewise to some
extent for export. The girls Were Working in separate divisions,
each representing a year’s work. In the ﬁrst year they learn to
make petals of all kinds ; in the second year, buds ; and in the
third year complete ﬂowers, roses, &c., and competition groups,
for which prizes are awarded. The materials from which the
ﬂowers are fabricated are supplied by a contractor having a shop
in the town, who gives gratuitous instruction and sells for his
own beneﬁt the ﬂowers made by the girls. We may note that,
although the trade is carried on to a large extent in London, our
imports of these articles amounted in 1881 to nearly 500,000Z.
Another interesting department of applied art in this school is
that devoted to technical painting. In a room situated at the
extremity of the building were a number of girls, some of
whom were engaged in painting on china and glass, others on
silk for decorative purposes, and others again were employed in
painting fans.

China
painting, 800.
* See Table of Professional and Industrial Schools in Belgium, Appendix 9,
Vol. V.
REPORT. 173
In this, as in all the similar schools of Belgium, a certain Lace _
number of the pupils are educated to make designs for the deslgmng-
Brussels lace, which is chieﬂy made in convent schools by children
under conditions said by some of the authorities to be prejudicia
to their health and welfare.
On the top ﬂoor of the building was a large and well arranged Art studio.
art studio. '
Six schools on this model exist in Belgium, of which those of other, 59110013
Liege and Antwerp were likewise inspected by the commie-1251,?”
sioners, and found to be equally efﬁcient with that already Belgium,
described. The Commissioners were much impressed with the
excellence of the organisation of these schools. The subject of
the technical and higher instruction of women is now receiving
considerable attention in Belgium, to which full reference is
made in some of the recent writings of M. Trasenster and
M. E. de Laveleye.
(5.) WoMEN’s WORK ScHooLs 1N HOLLAND.
Amsterdam Girls’ Industrial School. [Industrie School voor Amsterdam
Vrouwelijke J eugd.]—~—This institution, founded by the two sec- glﬂs school‘
tions of the Society “ Du bien public,” was established in 1865.
It is under the direction of a committee presided over by
M. W. Van der Vliet, Miss A. Mijné being the directress.
The age for admission is from 12 to 16, and the necessary
qualiﬁcation is the instruction obtained in the primary school.
The subjects taught are Dutch language and history, geography,
writing and arithmetic, geometry, chemistry, and physics. The
students pay 2L 28. per annum. The aims of the institution,
which has lately been housed in a new building, are to train
teachers for infant schools ; to prepare candidates for the Govern-
ment examinations in drawing, plain and fancy needlework, and
the dispensing of drugs ; and to impart a knowledge of art in its
industrial applications, such as leather work, ﬂower making,
wood carving, and lace making.
The teaching is individual, and the ordinary course extends Course of
over three years. Instruction-
The ﬁrst is preparatory; the second includes manual work
and the theory of the arts bearing on particular industries ; the
third, study of the special industrial occupations selected, which
may, if desired, be continued during a fourth year.
The entrance examinations take place in May and November.
The school contains about 158 pupils, 30 of the ﬁrst year, 55 of Number of
the second, and 73 of the third year. There are seven masters 56113111281116
and ﬁve mistresses ; also two assistant teachers, former students “
of the school.
There are 34: hours of instruction given per week, namely,
daily from 9 to 4, with an hour for dinner, from 1 to 2, and
on Saturdays from 9 to 1. The students of the ﬁrst year
174! ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION!
Instruction in
pharmacy.
Female
professional
school, Milan.
Course of
instruction.
Class for
study of
telegraphy.
receive literary instruction with 12 hours of drawing and
12 hours of needlework weekly ; in the second year the course
embraces eight hours of literary instruction, 10 hours of
drawing, and 16 hours of needlework. In the third year
the course varies according to the occupation selected;
there are four hours of literary instruction, except for the
apothecary students, who have eight. The general students have
eight hours of drawing, the apothecaries only two, and from
18 to 20 hours of needlework or industrial work, except for the
.apothecary students, who have but 14! hours of industrial work
and eight hours of pharmacy.
The school budget amounts to about 1,300l. per annum.
The school is supported partly by the above-named society,
partly by a Government grant of 375l., and subsidies from the
town; also by subscriptions and by the fees, which latter,
together with the sale of work, produce about 453l. per annum.
(6.) WoMEN’s WORK SCHooLs IN ITALY.
The Female Professional School, Milan—The Scuola Profes-
sionale Femminile at Milan is an interesting type of schools in
which special instruction in other branches of industry besides
needlework is given, whilst that of the ordinary school subjects,
is further developed. The girls are received into it direct from
the primary schools, and many of them after completing only
the obligatory course of two years. Others have passed through
the entire course of four years.
The school is supported mainly by subscriptions, but the
municipality contributes 120l., the province 200l., and the
Government l20l. annually to its maintenance. It trains about
150 pupils, who pay from 4! f. to 5 f. per month. Special instruc-
tion is given in dressmaking, flower-making, embroidery, china
painting, telegraphy, and typography. The pupils are taught
to use sewing machines of various kinds. All sorts of fancy
work are done by machine. The dressmaking class executes
orders for ladies’ dresses. ln the embroidery class the work is
of a very high order of merit, and the patterns are nearly all
original and designed by the pupils themselves.
A class for teaching telegraphy appeared to be very successful.
The pupils receive instruction in the elementary principles of elec-
tricity and chemistry from a professor of a Technical Institute who
visits the school. An employé from the telegraphic department
gives instruction in the manipulation of the instruments, and a lady
teacher attached to the class superintends the daily practice of
the pupils. In a small room devoted to this purpose was a
working telegraphic instrument, apparatus for simple experi-
ments, and diagrams showing the course of the current and the
systems of notation. The systems of Morse and Hughes are
taught at a later period of this course. The pupils, before being
REPORT. 17 5
employed in the telegraphic department, are sent to an ofﬁce for
further practice. The pupils learn both French and German.
In the china painting class there were eight pupils. Besides Class for
painting on pottery, the girls were employed in painting on glass, Pgtnting 011
to imitate Bohemian glass. In the decoration, china clay was 0 ma’
employed, and the glass was afterwards ﬁred. The ornamentation
was in white, red, and gold. It was said that a course of four or
ﬁve years enabled a girl fresh from the primary school to become
fairly expert as a china painter. The girls drew from nature on
paper, and copied these drawings or paintings on the china.
Another section of the school is devoted to the teaching of Class for
printing in colours. Some trade jealousy exists against those who colour
are learning typography, but in spite of it the girls succeed in Prmtmg‘
obtaining employment ; in this department 18 girls were engaged.
The yearly report of the school is composed and printed by the Printing.
pupils themselves.
The teaching of drawing in this school, under the direction of Teaching of
an art professor, was excellent. The freehand drawing, even in dm‘mg'
its earlier stages, is made to illustrate different styles of art.
There was a collection of outline copies showing examples in
Roman, Greek, Egyptian, Persian; and other styles, some of
which were coloured. The pupils appeared to take great interest
in these lessons. The designs were the work of the professor
and were not for sale.
The girls on leaving the school are said to earn afair amount of
wages. A good embroiderer can earn as much as 3 fcs. a day, and
one who works in colours 4: fcs. a day. Those who paint on china
can gain 4! to 6fcs. a day; florists 2 to 5 fcs. Many of the
girls continue their occupations after marriage, and thereby add
to the family earnings.
Private schools such as this are subject to inspection with
regard to hygienic arrangements only, but not as regards the
character of the instruction given.
GENERAL Rnvrnw or WoMEn’s TRADE ScHooLs.
There are certain features common to nearly all the women’s General
schools described in the preceding sections. They are intended l‘evlew of
women’s trade
generally for the daughters of small shopkeepers and of the upper schools-
class of artizans, and in most of them the primary education
of the children is continued and supplemented by instruction in
one foreign language and in drawing, in addition to the special
technical teaching which they provide. The pupils may be
regarded in a certain sense as half-timers; for the morning hours
are usually devoted to the teaching of ordinary school subjects,
whilst the afternoon is given up to the learning of a trade. The
character of the special technical teaching depends very much
upon the social habits of the people of each- country. Whilst
176 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION I
Ordinary and
technical
instruction are
combined in
foreign schools.
Higher
Technical
Instruction.
needlework and dressmaking form the principal subjects of in-
struction in nearly all these schools, book-keeping, the elements
of law, and commercial correspondence are taught .in many of
the schools in France, where young women are more frequently
employed as accountants and Overseers in commercial houses
than is the case in other countries. In both Germany and
Austria, where women are more commonly employed in domestic
industries, the technical instruction is almost entirely confined to
plain sewing, embroidery, dressmaking, millinery, laundry-work,
and cooking. In Belgium, Holland, and Italy, the education in
women’s trade schools embraces a wider range of subjects, and
includes artiﬁcial ﬂower making, lace designing, painting on fans,
on porcelain, and on glass, typography, telegraphy, and pharmacy.
In all these schools great attention is given to drawing, as
underlying all the industries in which special instruction is
given. Many of the pupils in these schools pay tolerably high
fees for instruction. A few children are admitted by means
of exhibitions from the elementary schools. A careful examina—
tion of these schools‘ shows that the education they afford aims
at and generally succeeds in being very practical, and enables
many young women to ﬁnd suitable and remunerative employ-
ment, which, if it does not serve to entirely maintain them,
enables them, without leaving their homes, to supplement the
family income.
The connection of ordinary with trade instruction is one of the
special characteristics of the education afforded in foreign
technical schools, and this is particularly marked, and is attended
with special advantages, in the case of girls’ schools. In many
of our large towns the experiment of establishing a middle
class or second grade technical school for girls, somewhat on
the lines of the Ecole professionnelle pour jeunes ﬂlles at
Brussels, might be usefully tried. In such a school the morning
hours would be devoted to the study of languages, drawing,
arithmetic, and the elements ’of science, and the afternoons
would be occupied with practical instruction in some industry.
More attention might witlradvantage be given in this country to
instruction in plain and fancy needlework, dressmaking, and
millinery. Abroad, as here, girls have access to the art schools,
although it is doubtful whether these schools on the Continent
are so largely attended by female students as in this country.
V.--HIGHER TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION FOR
EMPLOYERS, MANAGERS, 850.
We now pass on to the last section of this part of the
Report, in which we have described some of the institutions, found
in the several continental countries, for imparting the highest
technical education.
REPORT. 1 77
These schools may be dealt with in the following order :—
I. Ecole Centrale, Paris.
II. Polytechnic School of Paris and the Higher Schools of
France.
III. The Polytechnic Schools of Zurich, Munich, Vienna, Stutt-
gart, Dresden, Hanover, Carlsruhe, Aachen, Berlin,
Delft, and Moscow, and the Mining School of Freiberg
in Saxony.
I. The Ecole Centrale des Arts at Manufactures of Paris.~——This Ecole Centrale
important and Well known institution is designed to prepare ggn‘ﬁgitiies
students for the professions of civil and mechanical engineering, park ’
metallurgy, and manufacturing chemistry. It was founded in the
year 1826, chieﬂy through the interest of M. Dumas, (whose recent
death science has to deplore), and is essentially a private and self-
supporting establishment. not receiving any grant from Government,
and depending entirely on the fees of the pupils, thus standing in
striking contrast to other similar institutions on the continent. It
has, however, lately been attached to the Ministry of Agriculture
and Commerce. The annual receipts amount to 20,6401., and the
disbursements to about 17,8361., the difference being paid over to
the new building fund The school is at present located in an old
building in the Rue des Coutures St. Gervais, totally inadequate to
its needs, but it is shortly to be transferred to splendid premises
about to be built near the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, chieﬂy
at the Government expense, though partly also at that of the
school?‘
There is a very strict entrance examination and great competi-
tion for the vacant places; of the 540 candidates who applied
in the year 1881 only 220 were admitted. None of the students
are boarded in the establishment.
The regular course extends over three years (see Appendix, Course.
No. 16, Vol. V., for prospectus),’r and diplomas are given to the
students at the end of the course, after passing a very severe
examination and working out a thesis. A strict system of con-
tinuous examination and marking is carried out, the work which
each student does being entered carefully by each examiner, and
the results of‘ the whole three years’ work are added up ; the
special grade of the diploma being given according to the result
of this system of marking.
The ﬁrst year’s course consists of instruction in general science,
without much applied science, and is similar to that given in the
Ecole Polytechnique, whilst in the second and third years the
teaching is especially directed to applied science, and is similar to
that given in the Ecole des Mines. The later instruction has special
reference to the practical applications of each subject. The
student who fails to gain his diploma at the end of the third year,

* We have heard lately that these new buildings are not being proceeded with
so rapidly as we were led to expect when we visited the school.
1' A detailed programme of all the courses of the Ecole Centrale is published by
J. Dejey, 18 Rue de la Perle.
Ri 1726. M
178 ROYAL CoMMIssIoN oN TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Fees.
Staff.
Theses at the
Ecole Oentrale.
may pass the examination without re-entering the school, at any
period within six years after leaving the institution.
The peculiarity of the education of this school is, that the
instruction is much the same for all students, and that there is
scarcely any specialization of the studies in accordance with the
proposed career of the student. The difference is mainly shown,
as hereafter explained, in the thesis or “ prqjet ” which the student
prepares during the last year.
Each of the 600 students pays 32l. per year, and the govern-
ing body of the school manages the whole of its ﬁnancial and
other concerns. There are 30 professors attached to the institution,
the chiefs of departments receiving 3001. per annum, the others
41. for each hour of lecture. In addition there are two directors
of studies and 30 tutors and assistant lecturers. The students on
leaving the school, and after having gone through its very severe
discipline, are glad to get situations of 7 21. to 801. per year. The
Director, M. Solignac, (whose salary is 4.001. per annum), furnished
the Commissioners with a list of the present positions of all the
pupils since the beginning of the school.f A large number of
manufacturers send their sons to the Ecole Centrale.
One of the most interesting features in the scheme of education
in the Ecole Centrale is the system of theses, which are written
by the students at the end of their third year. The courses of
instruction on which the theses are founded are divided into
mechanics, metallurgy, technical chemistry, and engineering.
Each student takes up one or other of these subjects for his
thesis, as he deems ﬁt, although the three years’ course of
instruction is not conﬁned to any one of these branches, but
comprises the subjects of all. The Commissioners inspected
several of the theses of the outgoing students of former years, in
each of the above departments, and were much struck with the
detailed character of the work, and especially with the complete—
ness of the drawings. The students are allowed to work at home,
but have to produce the calculations, descriptions, and drawings,
within one month from the time at which the subject is given out,
and the whole work is carefully examined by a council of
professors, the student being examined on the details of his thesis.
One of the metallurgical theses which was examined was a plan
and estimate for a blast-furnace plant. This included the quantity
and composition of the raw material to be treated, the chemical
composition of the charges, the explanation of the changes which
take place in the furnace, the cost per ton of the pig-iron produced,
the price of the raw material being given; then the construction of
the plant, the hydraulic lifts and blowing engines, the reservoirs,
the engine-houses, the hot-blast regenerating stoves, including

* See the Annual of the Friendly Association of Old Students of the School
from 1832-1880, published by the Association at the Ecole Centrale in the
Rue des Coutures St. Gervais, giving an account of the employment and position of
all the old pupils of the school.
‘REPORT. 179
a discussion of the amount of heat generated in the furnace, and
regenerated in the Whitwell stoves.
The Director of the school furnished the Commission with a
copy of a thesis on the “ Manufacture of Sulphuric Acid” by
M. ‘f if if *, one of the outgoing students.
This paper contains full details, both theoretical and practical,
concerning the method of manufacturing sulphuric acid. The
aim of the essay is to lay down the exact conditions under which
the successful manufacture can be carried on, and to show that
the writer has mastered all the minutiae of the processes, as well
as of the construction and arrangement of the necessary plant.
The memoir is accompanied by complete, elaborate, and well
executed detailed drawings of the apparatus, buildings, 8130. of a
sulphuric acid works. During the preparation of these essays the
pupils are permitted to obtain information from books or from
any other source.
The diﬁiculty of giving, in a course of lectures, detailed practical
instruction of a kind to enable a student to write an essay on a
manufacturing subject is so great that it appeared desirable to
obtain the opinion of some well qualiﬁed manufacturer, as to how
far the conditions necessary for a successful practical issue had
been fulﬁlled in the essay itself.
The accompanying extracts from a letter from a well known Opinions on_
English manufacturer, clearly indicate that whilst the essay shows "alue Of them"
a lack of such detailed information as can only be gained by
intimate practical acquaintance with the manufacture itself, yet it
is a very creditable performance, and that a system of instruction
of which this is the outcome, is of great value as a preparation
for the actual work of the manufactory.
“I have carefully perused the manuscript essay by M. i" if and felt very much interested in it. I think I can safely say, it
indicates such knowledge as a course of a few years at the Ecole
Centrale and some select books would supply, supplemented
by visits to chemical works. There is however nothing in the
paper which shows any intimate acquaintance with the manu-
facture. If the author had been thoroughly acquainted with
it, he would have found it necessary, for example, to provide
more than six Glover towers, or more lead pans for concen-
trating his acid. He has entirely overlooked the fact that
he has to use some Glover towers to denitrate his Gay-
Lussac vitriol. His method of placing the boilers and their
foundation would also, I think, he objected to. But all these
things only go to show that the paper is the result of theoretical
studies, and as such it is fairly good. He is a good draughtsman,
knows how tc calculate strength of apparatus, wheels, &c., and
though the paper is full of mistakes, it clearly demonstrates the
value of the system of education, if a man can do these things
after having passed the course of lectures.”
“ I felt, however, a little disappointed with the results of those
portions which are essentially chemical. But, of course, the paper
is a sample of what the school is designed to do, and the system
M2
180 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Teaching of
chemistry at
the Ecole
Centrale.
must not be judged by the mistakes of the thesis of a pupil,
except in so far as they point to the fact that after all a man
cannot be good at everything. This particular pupil seems to
have had a better taste for the mechanical portions of the subject
than for the chemical ones.”
“His analytical chemistry also shows want of judgment. But, as
already stated, the memoir proves that M. ii i“ i‘ it has had a good
education, is ﬁt to enter a works, and make himself useful, and the
paper, I think, indicates, in spite of the many mistakes, that the
system of education is a good one. Though it seems that for a
speciality chemist there has been too much time spent upon
engineering and too little on chemistry. In conclusion I may
repeat my opinion that the essay is the result of theoretical
teaching, not of practical work, and as such is very good.”
’ An investigation of the method of teaching chemistry in the
Ecole Centrale, including an inspection of the laboratories, proved
that the arrangements are at present extremely insuﬁicient for
instruction in the higher branches of either theoretical or applied
chemistry; and an examination of the course which the students
undergo, shows that it can by no means he said to be a high or
extended system of instruction. Hence the students of the
Ecole Centrale, who desire to become chemical manufacturers, or
who wish to continue their studies after leaving the Ecole, pass into
one of the private laboratories of Paris, or into that of M. Fremy,
Present Condi- in the Jardin des Plantes. Indeed, the opinion was expressed to us
tion ofchemical that there is at present no means in Paris by which a ﬁnished
education in
France.
M. Fremy’s
laboratory.
chemical education can be given to a student, as it can be given
to a certain extent in England, and to a much larger extent in
Germany. This opinion is shared by most of the younger
chemists in Paris, as we learned by conversation with them.
We may, however, mention that the inadequacy of the labora-
tory accommodation in Paris will be to some extent remedied
by the erection of the large new Ecole de Médccine which is now
approaching completion, and also by the projected new buildings
of the Ecole Centrale, to which reference has been made. Mention
should also be made of the splendid new Ecole de Pharmacie,
which is certainly the ﬁnest of its kind, and to which we in
England have no corresponding institution.
The Chemical Laboratory of M F remy, situated in the Jardin
des Plantes, in the Rue Buﬂ’on, is among the best of the students’
laboratories at present existing in Paris, accommodation being
provided for 30 to 40 students. Many of his pupils are the sons
of manufacturers, or former students of the Ecole Centrale who
have come to complete their chemical education. The course is
free, and the cost of materials is defrayed by the State. M. Fremy
is an ardent admirer of the system of the Ecole Polytechnique,
which he believes to be the greatest teaching institution in the
whole of France. It does not appear, however, that even in his
laboratory, the students obtain anything more than acomparativcly
elementary knowledge of chemistry, and their instruct-ion does not
seem to go beyond ordinary quantitative analysis.
REPORT. 181
The prejudicial effect which the acknowledged want of a high
and extended system of training in chemistry produces on the
trade of France, is a subject which has attracted much attention,
and which is discussed most clearly in the report of the jury for
Class 47 in the Exhibition of 1878.* M. Lauth, who is now
Director of the Sevres works, points out on page 11, as an
illustration of the injury which this want of chemical training
has done, that the discovery of artiﬁcial alizarine has altogether de-
stroyed the cultivation of the madder-root, and that this is a disaster
for certain of the French departments, and one almost without com-
pensation for France, as the discovery of the artiﬁcial production
of alizarine was made in Germany, and that country remains the
centre of its manufacture. He thinks that the indifference with
which the madder growers regarded the progress of modern
chemistry, and the conservative way in which they followed only
the steps of their fathers, has, at any rate, done much to render
the disaster complete. He shows that whilst in 1872 the amount
of madder grown in France amounted to about 25 millions of
kilograms, it had diminished in 1878—9 to less than half a
million, the price being at the ﬁrst period 70 to 80 fcs. per 100
kilos, and having fallen to 20, and even to 14 fcs., so that the
cultivation becomes ﬁnancially impossible, whilst the actual pro-
duction of artiﬁcial alizarine, on the other hand, corresponds to
30 millions of kilos. of madder-root. Considering, in the same
way, other instances of French chemical industry, he says it would
be puerile to dispute that many of the French industries have
suffered cruelly, and if in former times France has shown an initia-
tive power and a real Sagacity in research, the last decennial period
has been unfavourable to the trade. This falling 0E he attributes
to several causes, some of them purely material, arising from the
excessive taxation to which the country is now subject. Other
deeper-lying causes are to be ascribed to the present actual state
of legislation on patent law, and to the insuﬁicient development
given in France to scientiﬁc studies.
With regard to the question of taxation, he shows that almost the
whole of the raw materials used in chemical industries are heavily
taxed, whilst a number of manufactured products are allowed to
enter France free from such duties. He also points out that the
patent laws in France require remodelling, and he comes to the
conclusion that the only satisfactory condition of things would be
that an international patent law should be established with the
purpose of protecting the inventor. Without such a law,'t or
Without a convention to arrange such matters, the patent which
“ gives up .our discoveries to a stranger, and which gives alms to

* Of this jury one of your Commissioners was Vice-President, and M. Chas.
Lauth, Secretary. _
T It is to be hoped that the resolutions arrived at by the International Congress
on Patent Laws, which are being gradually adopted by the various Industrial States,
will apply a partial remedy for this evil. Several of the principal European States
and Brazil have entered into the Convention, and the entrance of the United,
Kingdom, which the Patent Act of 1883 authorises, will not be long delayed.
M. Lauth’s
published state-
ment on the
insuﬁiciency
of chemical
training in
France.
182 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION :
Opinion of a
French dyer on
the subject.
“ our neighbour, is only a deception.” The last point,- which ‘
concerns this Commission more nearly, is the question of chemical
education in France. M. Lauth feels so strongly on this subject
that he addressed a letter to a late Minister of Agriculture and
Commerce, M. Teisserenc De Bort, which he prints in extenso in
his report. In this letter he points out that although there are at
least 25 chemical laboratories in Paris, and although the Directors
of these laboratories are highly distinguished men, yet hardly any of
these can be said to be institutions for the training of students.
The professors pursue their scientiﬁc discoveries, their demon-
strators assist them in their experiments, they are occupied in
public lectures, and they give the rest of their time to private
research. The students work without any distinct aim; there is
in some laboratories a certain amount of tutorial instruction,
given either by the professor or the chief of the laboratory, but
there the instruction ends. These laboratories are very excellent
for those who are already chemists, but are insufficient for those
who wish to become chemists. Neither the Conservatoire, nor the
Ecole Centrale, accomplishes the end in view. Chemical in~
dustries are assuming more and more a scientiﬁc character; a
chemical works is nothing more than a large laboratory in which
the victory remains to those who are most scientiﬁcally educated,
and he adds that this shows the absolute necessity of the
foundation of a national school of chemistry in France. He
thinks that the course should be one of three years, and that
a competitive examination should confer upon the deserving
student the title to a diploma of chemical engineer. For a
school of 60 students, 20 in each year’s course, he thinks one
professor, one director, and three assistants would be sufficient.
In support of his argument he states that evidence is not wanting
that the chemical industry of France is seriously menaced, and
he instances the ammonia-soda process, which was ﬁrst success-
fully carried out in Belgium, and the regeneration of manganese,
carried out in England by Mr. Weldon, as two discoveries which
have revolutionized the greatest of chemical industries ——that of
the alkali trade. He likewise refers to the fact, already mentioned,
of the ruin of the French maddcr-growing trade from the German
discovery and manufacture of artiﬁcial alizarine, and he states
that the constant progress which foreigners have made in the
preparation of aniline colours, is a daily menace to the few French
houses that carry on that industry. He adds that this state of
things cannot be too strongly recognized, because “patriotism
“ consists, not in concealing faults, but in correcting them,” and all
this he believes is chieﬂy due to one cause, the want of properly
educated chemists.
In corroboration of these opinions of M. Lauth, the following
opinion expressed to the Commissioners by a leading French
dyer, may be quoted. Being asked why new colours are produced
almost exclusively in Germany, he explained that these colours
were ﬁrst manufactured in Lyons and patented. They were
imitated in Germany and in other countries where the invention
REPORT. 183
was not protected by patents, and where they were consequently
made more cheaply. Trade monopoly in France during the
duration of the patent practically prevented any improvement in
France, whereas in other countries where no patent existed,
everyone tried to make improvements, and so other countries got
ahead of France. This, however, he added, would not have been
the case, but that in other countries, more especially in Germany,
there are numerous laboratories in which young chemists are
methodically trained in great numbers, there being, he regretted to
say, nothing of the kind in France; even the Ecole Centrale,
though an excellent school, was not a ﬁrst-rate chemical school,
and indeed he could not point to any school in France in which
a young man could get the same instruction in chemistry which
he would obtain in any of the great University and Polytechnic
laboratories of Germany?‘
II. The Ecole PoZytec/mz'gue of Paris.—--This is a Government Ecole ,
school, with military discipline, designed primarily for the educa- P°lytechmque’
tion of persons to be employed in the service of the State, and '
differing in this respect from the Polytechnic Schools of Germany
and Switzerland. Hence it does not fall so directly within the
scope of the Commission as do the other Paris schools.
But although this school was specially created and is still main-
tained with the object of training engineers and others for the
service of the Government, it is not without inﬂuence on the indus-
tries of France, because a few of the pupils on leaving school at once
enter into private undertakings, whilstmany, who were originally
Government servants, on retirement, enter into manufacturing con-
cerns. Moreover, the inspection of the enormous amount of work
done by private ﬁrms for the Government is performed by these
engineers.
The instruction is of a very advanced character, and it is neces-
sary to have passed through this school before admittance can be
obtained into the practical schools of the Government, such as
those of the Génie, the Artillérie, and the Ponts et Chaussées. The
same applies to students entering the Ecole des Mines, if they wish
to become mining engineers under the Government. The High
School of Telegraphy, recently established, is also partly recruited
from students of the Polytechnic School, and others enter the
Government tobacco manufactory, the dockyards, the marine
artillery, &c., &c.
The numbers have increased very much of late in consequence of
the great extension of Government employment since the Franco-
German war. Before that event the annual admissions were from
130 to 140 ; now they average 220. On completion of their

a‘ This unfavourable estimate of the chemical industries, and more especially as to
the preparation of colouring matters from coal tar in France, is, however, not
universally entertained. We refer on this subject to an interesting article on “La
Houille et les matieres Colorantes” by M. Denys Cochin in the Revue des Dena:
Mondes of February 1884.
1841 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Ecole Poly-
technique, fees.
Course.
Scholarships.
Budget.
course, about 70 pass into the artillery school, 40 into the Ecole
du Genie (engineers), 30 to 32 into the Ecole des Ponts et
Chaussées (railways, roads, bridges, 850.), 4 or 5 into the Ecole
des Mines, and about 10 directly into private industries. The
age of admission is between 16 and 20 years. The course
of instruction extends over two years. The cost, including board,
is 401. per annum, besides 32!. for the two years for’“ outﬁt
(trousseau) and breakages.” There is a preliminary qualifying,
and a subsequent competitive entrance examination. In 1881
there were 1,183 candidates, reduced by the preliminary
examination to 433, of whom 220 were ﬁnally admitted by
competition.
The course (see time table, 850. in Appendix 20, Vol. V.,) com—
prises mathematics, which is the principal subject taught, physics,
chemistry, drawing, military instruction, military exercises, and
riding. The hours of study are 11 daily, those of recreation 3%,-
(the students rise at 6.30 am. and retire at 9.0 p.m.). The library
(containing many rare works, all of which are accessible to the
students) is excellent. The physical apparatus is very complete;
the chemical apparatus fairly good.
Not one in a thousand of the students, except in case of death
or other unavoidable cause, fails to complete his two years’ regular
course. If from some reasonable cause a student is prevented
passing the examination required for entrance on the second
year’s course, a third year is allowed. About one-half of the
students bold scholarships, most of which cover the entire cost
of education and outﬁt. Should a student, owing to family mis-
fortunes, be unable to pay the second year’s fee, there is never
any diﬂiculty in obtaining assistance.
The scholarships (bourses) are supplied chieﬂy by the State ; a
few by endowments, legacies, and by the Departments.
They are generally awarded as follows :— The municipality
presents ; the prefect of the Department conﬁrms; the council of
the school reports to the Minister of War, who decides.
The ordinary budget of the school is-—
ii
For salaries - — - 22,000 per annum.
Other expenses, including board
of students - - - - 38,000

£60,000
which, divided by, say, 480 students, equals about 1401. per
student. This is exclusive of buildings. At the present time
about 96,000]. are being spent on the erection of physical
laboratories’, and large extensions are in contemplation.
REPORT. 18
0
I
The professors are men of high reputation. They receive
salaries of 4001. per annum, and are at liberty to teach elsewhere.
The tutors receive 100l. per annum and their board.*
The Ecole des Mines, Paris, which is a branch of the Ecole
Polytechnique, admits students who are not necessarily destined
for Government service. The Commissioners visited this school
under the guidance of Professor Daubrée, the director of the in-
stitution, and Professor Friedel, who has charge of’ the celebrated
collection of minerals in this school. Two classes of students are
admitted, who may be termed respectively, regular and occasional
students. Practical instruction is given in all the departments
relating to mining ; but especially in metallurgical operations and
chemical analysis. The laboratories, though not very extensive, are
well arranged and well appointed. The Government students are
admitted from the Polytechnic School. External pupils have to
pass a competitive examinationﬂ' and the successful candidates are
trained to become directors of mines and metallurgical works.
The course of study lasts three years, the instruction is gratuitous,
and the curriculum is thoroughly adapted to the object in viewi.
The instruction is of the highest kind, and in some respects it
resembles that of the Royal School of Mines, South Kensington.
Amongst the higher technical schools of Paris, the Ecole des
Ponts et C/zausse’es must be mentioned, which serves for the training
of civil engineers for the service of the State. Its resident students
are supplied by the Polytechnic School, but external pupils,
whether native or foreign, may also be received. The instruction
is gratuitous, and the course lasts from November to June, and
extends over three years.
In the summer the pupils are sent on missions into the depart-
ments, and attached to works in process of construction.
The Higher French Educational Institutes—The higher educa-
tional institutions of Paris, viz., that of the University (Sorbonne),
the College de France, the Ecole de llle'decz'ne, the Ecole de
Pharmacie, and the Ecole de Droz'z‘, as well as the provincial
universities or academies, and the Ecole des Ha'ates Etudes, are
mainly devoted to the training of persons destined for the learned
professions or for special branches which are scarcely cognate to
the inquiry of the Commission. Many of’ these institutions have
been already dealt with by former Commissions. The last men-
tioned, however, will be described in another part of’ the report,
as it is a unique institution, which has for its object the furthering
of original scientiﬁc research in France, the results of which have
already exerted a remarkable inﬂuence on industrial pursuits.

Ecole des
Mines.
School of
Ponts et
Chaussées.
* The course of the Ecole des Mines is three years; of the Ponts et Chaussées,
three years; of the Artillérie, two years ; of the Génie, two years; of the Ecole
Supérieure de Telegraphic, two years. This last named school, which is quite new,
has about 15 students. The course comprises general telegraphy and independent
research. It is recruited, partly (as stated above) direct from the Ecole Polytech-
nique, and partly by competition amongst old polytechnic students and employés of
the telegraphic service, possessing competent theoretical knowledge.
‘I See the Programme d’Admission aux Cours Préparatoires in Appendix 21, Vol. V.
I A complete programme of the courses, printed by the National Printing Press,
and published in 1878, was handed to the Commissioners.
Higher
educational
institutions of
France.
186 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION 1
Origin of
Polytechnic
schools.
List of
principal
Polytechnics.
III. POLYTECHNIC SoHooLs on TECHNICAL Umvnnsrrrns
OF GERMANY, &c.
The great impulse which was given to engineering and manu-
factures some 40 or 50 years ago by the formation of railways
and the establishment of factories throughout Europe, and
the demand which arose for highly skilled assistants, owing
to the widespread introduction of the steam-engine and other
mechanical inventions depending upon it, gave rise in Germany
and Switzerland to the creation of High Schools, in which the
necessary scientiﬁc training with its,practical applications could
be imparted, so that by this means a body _of men might be
educated in such a Way as to make it possible for Continental states
to compete with the work-shop trained engineers of England.
The numerous Universities of Germany did not furnish instruc—
tion of a sufficiently practical character, nor were their authorities
willing to admit within their walls a class of men who would be
likely to devote themselves especially to industrial pursuits: nor,
again, would they lower or alter the standard required from
University students on entrance, as ascertained by the “leaving
examination” of the classical school. Moreover, they did not
care to permit of any system of ﬁxed curricula and examinations
in lieu of their accustomed plan of Lehr and Lern Frez'hez't. It must
also be remembered, moreover, that at this time the practical
teaching, even of the pure physical sciences, was only in its infancy
in the University.
The requirements for instruction adapted to the necessities of
the time became so urgent that each State vied with the others
in the extent and magniﬁcence of its buildings for Polytechnic
Schools, as also in the grants voted for the maintenance of those
institutions.
The following is a list of the principal schools :---
(1.) The Federal Polytechnic School of Zurich.*
The Polytechnic School at Munich.
(3.) The Polytechnic School at Vienna.
(4..) The Polytechnic School at Stuttgart.
(5.) rl‘he Polytechnic School at Dresden.
(6.) The Polytechnic School at Hanover.
(7.) The Polytechnic School at Carlsruhe.
(8.) The Polytechnic School at Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle).
(9.) The Technical High School of Berlin (for which a new
building is now in course of erection at Charlottenburg).
(10.) The Polytechnic School, Delft.
(11.) The Polytechnic School of Moscow.
These schools have been built at a cost of not less than three
millions sterling, and are maintained at an annual cost of over
200,0001.

* Another term for “ Polytechnic ” is Technical High School, which is equivalent
in English to Technical University.
REPORT. 187
. We proceed to give a few particulars respecting these institu—
tions, all of which, with the exception of that at Moscow, have
been visited by the Commissioners.
(1.) The Zurich Polytechnic School—The Federal Polytechnic
School of Zurich, which is one of the largest as well as one of the
most successful of its kind, was established by the Swiss Gon-
f'ederation in 1854:, and the building has since been considerably
enlarged and extended. This noble ediﬁce forms one of the prin-
cipal features of Zurich, standing on a commanding eminence above
the city. The institution comprises seven special schools.
(It) The architectural school, with 3 years’ course.
(2.) The civil engineering school, with 3% years’ course.
(3.) The mechanical engineering school, with 3 years’ course.
(4.) The school of chemical technology (including pharmacy),
with 3 years’ course.
(5.) The school of agriculture and forestry, forming 2 sub-
sections, with a course of 2% years.
(6.) The normal school, destined to educate special teachers
for mathematics and natural science, also forming
2 sub-sections.
(7.) School of philosophical and political science.
In addition to these, there is a preparatory mathematical
course, for those students who are not able to pass the entrance
examination required in this subject, to admit them to any one
of the above courses.
The Commissioners were received by the President, Dr. G.
Kappeler, who explained to them the regulations of entry, the
division of the subjects, the mode of election of the professors,
and the government of the institution. They were then shown
over the building by Director Geiser, the professor of applied
mathematics, and were also conducted over the various departments
by the several directors, amongst whom were Dr. Victor Meyer,
professor of theoretical chemistry and director_of__the theoretical
laboratory, Dr. Lunge, the professor of applied chemistry, and
Dr. Weber, the professor of physics.
To give an idea of the completeness and extent of this insti-
tution, it will be sufficient to state that there are upwards of
200 distinct courses of lectures, given by 45 professors and 13
assistants, not counting the tutors, the curators of the museums,
and the servants employed in the establishment.
Many names, well known in science and literature, have been
in the past, or are at present connected with this great institution.
The budget of the school is as follows :~—-- *
£
Annual federal Subvention - - 13,880
Annual subvention of the canton of Zurich - 640
Subvention of the canton and the town of
Zurich for the purposes of the natural
history collection - - — 176
Fees paid by students - - - 3,7 94

* In 1876.
Zurich Poly.
techmc.
Divisions.
Preparatory
course.
Courses.
Staff.
Budget.
188 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Zurich Poly-
technic, fees.
Civil
engineering.
Entrance
examination
and regulations .
Nature of
instruction.
The total annual expenditure being a little under 20,000l.
In addition to this, a considerable sum has been bequeathed to
the institution, amounting to a total of nearly 20,0001., and within
the last few months, a sum of 50,0001. has been voted by the
Federal Council for the extension of the Chemical Laboratories.
In the Appendix (N o. 17, Vol. V.,) will be found a detailed
programme for the winter semester, 1883-4.
The regular students must have attained the age of 18, and
must either produce certiﬁcates of good conduct, and of having
passed through the necessary preliminary studies, or must undergo
an entrance examination, producing specimens of their own drawing.
There were in the winter semester of the year 1880-81, 488
students and 253 auditors, total, 741 ; and in the year 1881—82
the total number was 685.
For a complete course of instruction in any one department
the fee is 4]. for the semester. The winter semester lasts
from October to March, and the summer semester from April to
August. In addition, 21. is charged for each of the labora-
tories in the winter semester and ll. 168. in the summer. Thus
the total cost to a student in the chemical department, including
laboratory practice, does not exceed 12]. per annum.
The Department of Civil Engineering at the Zurich Polytechnic,
is one of the most important in the school, and was founded in
the year 1855, together with the schools of’ mechanical engineer-
ing and chemistry.
The course of instruction extends over a period of three and a
half years (seven sessions), and begins each year in October.
For admission to this department the candidate has to pass an
examination in mathematics, mechanics, physics, and drawing, or to
show certiﬁcates from a former school that he possesses the required
proﬁciency in these subjects. Intending students may enter either
as regular students (Schiiler) or as auditors (Zuho'rer). The former
are bound to attend all the obligatory courses of lectures, and
pay 41. as the fee for the whole year ; auditors can obtain
permission from the professors to attend the courses they wish,
and pay a fee of four shillings a session for each lecture or hour’s
drawing they attend in a week. The great difference in the
expense makes the number of auditors very small.’
The ﬁrst three sessions are occupied almost entirely with
theoretical subjects, such as pure mathematics (differential and
integral calculus, differential equations, and higher analytical
geometry), descriptive geometry, with drawing, mechanics and
physics treated mathematically. These subjects are attended also
by the students of the Mathematical School, and are, in the
opinion of some, rather too exhaustively'treated for students of
engineering. For instance, the descriptive geometry course
extends over three sessions, with three or four lectures a week,
and includes four hours’ obligatory drawing per week for the ﬁrst
two sessions. The four hours’ drawing per week is insufficient to
REPORT. 189
ﬁnish the problems given, and often 15 to 20 hours in a week
have to be spent in solving problems in descriptive geometry.
The theories expounded in the third session are of a still more
advanced character.
Besides these subjects there are in the ﬁrst three sessions several
short courses on more practical subjects, e.g., elementary architec-
ture, petrology, applied geology, chemistry of building materials,
and surveying and surveying instruments.
In the fourth session the lectures on graphical statics are com-
menccd, a knowledge of which is very important in bridge-
designing. The system of teaching statics mainly by geometrical
construction has hitherto been little employed in England and France
in practical designing, but is well known in Germany and Italy.
The last two years of the course include lectures on various
branches of engineering, tunnels, stone and iron bridges, railways,
canals, roads, geodesy, &c., besides a great amount of drawing and
designing in these subjects. There are also courses of practical
surveying, and astronomy, with observatory practice.
In all the subjects there are from time to time, usually weekly,
short viva voce examinations, and problems are set to be solved
out of hours, so that the system of teaching is very thorough.
Diplomas of proﬁciency are given to students who pass the special
examinations held at the end of the fourth and the seventh
sessions.
The average number of students in civil engineering is about Numbers-
110, and is a great falling-off from the number in the years
1870-77, which averaged about 260. The fact that the number
of non-Swiss students is about 70 per cent. of the whole is a proof
of the wide-spread reputation of the school. The foreigners are
from all parts of Europe, especially Austria and Hungary, as well
as from North and South America (Brazil).
An important feature of the institution is the number and MESH?“ and
variety of the laboratories, libraries, museums, and collections of co ec lons'
apparatus and objects of scientiﬁc and artistic interest, which the
institution possesses, of which the following is a list :—
1. Several libraries—(a) belonging to the school, (1)) to the
canton, and (c) to the town of Zurich. These latter
have been placed at the service of the students.
2. Various collections belonging to the engineering and
architectural divisions, consisting of models, instru-
ments, 820.
3. A collection of plaster casts of architectural ornaments.
4. ,, ,, specimens of construction and of materials
used in building.
5. ,, ,, antique vases.
6. ,, ,, engravings, about 24,000 in number.
7. ,, ,, geometrical instruments.
8- a: 39 models of machinery.
9. ,, ,, tools and models for the section of applied
mechanical technology.
190 ROYAL ooMMIssIoN oN TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
No manual
instruction of a
mechanical
character.
Pure and
applied
chemistry.
Physics.
\
10. A collection of models and raw and ﬁnished products for
the section of chemical technology.
11. ,, ,, mathematical and geometrical models.
12. ,, ,, interesting specimens, tools, &c., relating to
forestry.
13. ,, ,, models, implements, and produce in all
departments of agriculture.
14. Collections of specimens relating to natural history,
zoology, botany, mineralogy, geology, palaeontology, and
entomology.
An archaeological collection.
A workshop for moulding and casting in clay and plaster.
,, ,, metal work.
Laboratories for instruction in theoretical and applied
chemistry.
A special laboratory for agricultural chemistry.
A cabinet of physical apparatus and a physical laboratory.
An institute of vegetable physiology, comprising a room
for microscopic researches, a physiological laboratory,
botanical collections, and hothouses.
A botanical garden, with a museum for the general and
botanical collections.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
In common with the Polytechnic Schools of Germany, there is
no manual instruction in workmanship of a mechanical character.
The practical instruction in each department is of a strictly
scientiﬁc nature. Thus, for example, in chemistry, the in-
struction given in Prof. Victor Meyer’s laboratory is identical
with that given in the University laboratories of Germany. But
after passing through the course of pure chemistry, including both
laboratory practice and lectures, the student may proceed to the
classes and laboratory work of the professor of applied chemistry,
Dr. Lunge; the practical work consisting chieﬂy in the prepara-
tion of chemical products. The laboratories both of physics and
of chemistry are antiquated, and are altogether insuﬂicient for
the present requirements of the students. Large extensions in this
respect are about to be made, the sums voted for this purpose
amounting, as already stated, to 50,0001.
The remark which has been made with regard to chemistry
applies also to the physical teaching, namely, that the instruction
is not specially adapted to any particular industrial work, but is
of a general and purely scientiﬁc character. In some of the
Polytechnic Schools, notably in Munich and in Stuttgart, practical
laboratory instruction in physics has only been recently introduced,
and as yet on a small scale: even in these cases the instruction is
strictly scientiﬁc and is not specially adapted to any branch of
electrical engineering, or to any other industry to which a know-
ledge of physics might be applied. In Dr. Weber’s physical
laboratory at Zurich, it is true, a small number of students receive
practical instruction in exact electrical measurements, in testing
of resistances, &c., but no courses of a technical character have
REPORT. 191
at present been introduced into this department of the Poly-
technic.
This renowned school has
endeavoured to impart the greatest possible extent of scientiﬁc
instruction in each of its departments, and its efforts have
been to direct thought and research of the highest kind in their
applications to industrial pursuits, and thus to bring about the
necessary mutual interchange of ideas between science and
practice; and it has been so far successful that students have
come to it from all parts of the world. The Commissioners
had the opportunity of judging of the advantages which it has
bestowed, not only upon Switzerland, but also upon Germany, by
the number of thoroughly trained scientiﬁc men who have been
educated within its walls and who are now holding important
positions in various industrial establishments which the Commis-
sioners have visited.
(2.) The Technical High School of Munich.~—The Munich
Polytechnic School is housed in magniﬁcent buildings, erected
at a cost of 157,000l., whilst the cost of the various collections
was 36,3902. The annual expense of maintenance, without
reference to interest on the capital account, is 20,000l.
The Commissioners visited this ﬁne institution under the
guidance of Director von Bauernfeind.
The students are divided into two classes, the regular or
matriculated, and the occasional students. The regular students
are admitted only on passing a special examination, or on bringin
a certiﬁcate of having passed through the Industrie Schule, the
Real Gymnasium, or the Gymnasium proper, and must be 17 years
of age. The special examination for those who do not bring a
certiﬁcate from one of the above-mentioned schools, comprises the
German and French languages, mathematics, including the
elements of algebra, geometry, and trigonometry, and drawing,
both freehand and mechanical.
The institution consists of six special schools, as follows :-
(1.) The General School.
(2.) The Civil Engineering School.
(3.) The Building School.
(4.) The Mechanical Engineering School.
(5.) The Industrial Chemical School.
(6.) The Agricultural School.
The instruction consists of lectures, laboratory work, and
drawing, and in its general character resembles that of Zurich.
A special feature of the German Technical High Schools, and
the same of course is the case with the Universities, is the great
sub-division of such general subjects as engineering, architecture,
and chemistry, each special branch of the subject being placed in
the hands of a separate professor. Thus, for example, the
number of distinct courses of lectures, given under the engineer-
ing department at this school, is 45, and the number of professors
giving these is 13 ; and attached to the three engineering depart-
trom its very commencement Inﬂuence
of the Zurich
Polytechnic
School.
Munich
Technical
High School.
Regulations for
entrance.
Divisions
of the school.
Great sub-
division of the
courses in each
subject.
l92 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTIONS
Course for
technical
chemists,
Munich Tech-
nical School.
Practical in-
struction in
physics.
ments, namely, the civil, the mechanical, and the architectural,
are 17 professors. There are in all 179 courses mentioned in
the programme.
This distribution of the teaching amongst professors, each of
whom is specially conversant with the details of some portion of
his subject, is in striking contrast with the English system, in
which the instruction is generally placed under the direction of
one professor as head of the department, assisted by two or three
lecturers or subordinate teachers. The large number of professors
attached to each department is another indication of the ample
supply of highly educated men, available as teachers, always to be
found in Germany.
The chemical school, which was at the time of our visit under
the direction of Prof. Erlenmeyer, is, as in Zuriclna school of
pure chemistry, where the highest branches of inorganic and
organic chemistry are pursued, but at the same time there
is a special course for technical chemists, for details of which see
Appendix,* No. 18, Vol. V.
The great point of distinction between the instruction to chemists,
as given in the Polytechnic, and that given in the German Uni-
versities, is the addition, in the former case, of drawing, and in-
struction in the general principles of mechanism and of mechanical
technology, in addition to the special technical chemical subjects;
and this course is undoubtedly valuable to those about to be
engaged in the application of chemistry to industrial pursuits, and
the advantage of this system to chemical engineering cannot
be overrated.
The remarks already made as regards the physical teaching at
Zurich apply to that in this institution, under the direction of
Professor Beetz. A very good beginning is here being made
towards giving practical laboratory instruction in physics, for
which no accommodation was made in the original construction of
the building. This instruction is consequently carried on in what
was intended for the corridor leading to the physical department.
In this corridor a series of desks are ﬁxed, each mounted with
special apparatus, the student passing from one to the other in
regular course, and performing himself the several experiments
for which each apparatus is designed.
Perhaps the most interesting and important section of this
Polytechnic is the engineering school. This department consists
of numerous rooms for instruction in mechanical drawing, of
large collections of models, and of laboratories for special practical
work. To give an idea of its extent, it may be stated that it
contains six large rooms, used exclusively for machine drawing,
of which one is furnished with 100 tables. The collection includes
kinematic and other mechanical models, models of machines and
parts of machines, and raw and ﬁnished products. There is also
a collection of minerals, &c.

Engineering
school.
* These courses are for students coming from Real Gymnasia or from Upper Real
schools. The course is slightly different in the 1st and 2nd years for students from
Gymnasia.
REPORT. 1 93
The laboratories or mechanical workshops, under the direction
of Prof. Bauschinger, contain a compound steam-engine, having
Co'uplete appliances for registering the various degrees of ex-
pansion and the power developed. Another laboratory is
furnished with a very expensive testing machine, by Ludwig
l/Verder, working up to 100 tons, for determining strains and the
modulus of elasticity of different substances. All experimental
results are carefully tabulated by the students, and recorded in
books. In addition to numerous tests of varieties of wood,
stone, and other building materials, a series of investigations
is made to ascertain constants, to verify formulae, and to test
the strength of metal of various sections, including tests for
torsion, tension, compression, &c. There are also arrange-
ments for obtaining the most delicate micrometric measurements,
and for experiments on long continued concussion as affecting
the ﬁbre of bars of metal. There is a museum of the speci-
mens which have resulted from the foregoing experiments;
and diagrams have been prepared by the students to show in
a graphic form the outcome of the diﬁierent tests. This laboratory
wa= founded in 1868, and was the earliest of its kind on the
Continent, and this was the ﬁrst instance in which practical in—
struction of the above nature was attempted at a Polytechnic
School. The laboratory, besides the valuable instruction it has
aﬁsrded to students at the school, has been largely utilised by
manufacturers and others, both in Bavaria and throughout
Germany, who send materials to be tested.
Both the chemical and physical departments of this school were
found by the Commissioners to be overcrowded, and already too
small for the number of students at present receiving instruction
and desiring admission. The same remark does not apply to the
engineering department, in which provision was originally made
for a very large number of engineers, the demand for whom in
consequence of the approach to completion of the railway system
throughout Europe, is gradually falling off. The cause of this
diminution has attracted a large amount of attention in Germany,
and has been the subject of many pamphlets and discussions, the
fact being that the number of engineers passing out from the
various technical schools far exceeds the present demand for such
persons in after-life, one estimate making the number of students
annually trained to be 1,000 in excess of the demand. The
Commissioners were informed that the manager of a large
engineering works had been so importuned by the constant
application of polytechnic students for employment in his works
that he put up a notice in his window “ No polytechnic students
need apply.”
The re-action from the over supply of engineers has beneﬁted
the Universities, which are consequently more frequented, throw-
ing the young men into the learned professions; but a counter
re-action is expected to follow, and signs of it in Germany are
Iii 1726. N
Mechanical
lab oratory
Diminution of
numbers in
the engineering
department,
and its cause.
Inﬂuence of
this on the
universities.
194s ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION 2
Attendance
in several
departments,
Munich.
Visits to
industrial
establishments.
Fees.
Vienna
Technical
School.
Separate
dyeing school
in Vienna.
The Poly-
technic School
at Stuttgart.
said to exist, there being, according to one estimate, at the present
moment, 4,000 duly qualiﬁed lawyers in Germany, having no
employment whatever.
The total number of students in attendance at the Munich
Polytechnic for the year 1881 was 901 in the winter and 809
in the summer semester, whereas in 1878, there were 1,194 in the
winter and 1,012 in the summer semester, whilst in the engineering
school the numbers were 272 in the winter and 247 in the
summer of the year 1878, as against 118 in the winter and 114
in the summer in the year 1881.
In addition to the 30 different collections existing in this school,
the pupils have the privilege of visiting other valuable collections
and museums in the city. As an important feature of the instruc-
tion here, as in other similar Polytechnics, we may mention the
frequent visits made to the industrial establishments of the
district, in company with, and under the guidance of, the professors
of the several departments.
The entrance fee for each student is 10s., the fee per lecture is
25. 6d. per semester for each hour’s lecture per week, and Is. 6d.
ditto for practical work ; and for attendance and for consumption
of materials in the laboratory ls. extra. The total outlay of the
Munich Polytechnic School for the year 1881—2 was 20,0281.
(3.) The Technical High School of Vz'cnna.—-At the Vienna
Technical High School the Commissioners were received by the
Rector, Ritter von Hauffe. This institution is housed in large
and commodious buildings, and consists of the usual arrangement
of drawing rooms, chemical laboratories, and engineering col-
lections. There is nothing specially to be noticed in this insti-
tution as differing from others. The Rector stated his opinion
that the preliminary education given in the Real Gymnasia of
Austria, as preparatory to the polytechnic training, was not so
satisfactory as that given in the classical Gymnasia, and he
informed the Commissioners that it was the intention of the’
Government to suppress the former of these classes of schools.
As an illustration of the fact that the Polytechnics on the
Continent do not give what is understood in England by an
industrial technical training, it may be mentioned that a separate
school for Dyeing* has just been established by the Nieder-
oesterreichischer Gewerbe~Verein in Vienna, which receives
students after they have completed their course at the Polytechnic
school.
(4.) Polytechnic School at Stuttgart—~This, which is one of
the oldest polytechnic institutions of Germany, was considerably
extended in 1879, as much as 7 5,000l. having been spent on the
addition of two new wings.
Dr. von Fehling, the professor of chemistry, who conducted the
Commissioners over the building, expressed very strongly his
opinion that there was really no distinction to be drawn between
Dr. v. Fehling
on teaching of
technical
chemistry.
* See Weaving School at Vienna, p. 145.
REPORT. 1 95
he teaching of general chemistry, and of what is commonly under-
stood as technical chemistry; that is to say, that the man who is
thoroughly qualiﬁed as a scientiﬁc chemist, and has spent a suffi-
cient time in the study of the subject, having passed through a
complete course of theoretical and practical instruction, is fully
qualiﬁed, when he enters any chemical manufactory, to apply his
knowledge to the special industry in which he may have to be
engaged. On the other hand, Dr. Marks, the professor of chemical Dr. Marks on
technology at the same institution, whilst admitting the great the same‘
necessity to every manufacturing chemist of a thorough knowledge
of the principles of the science, attached considerable value to in—
struction, such as was given in his department, consisting to a great
extent of lectures on the machinery and other appliances used in
special chemical manufactures, and on methods of research in their
application to special branches of chemical industry. He con-
sidered that the manufacturing success of the Germans, both in
chemistry and in other industries, had been almost entirely due to
the high scientiﬁc education which they received, principally at
the polytechnic schools, by means of which they were able
successfully to compete with the English, notwithstanding the
superior advantages which the English people possessed in their
coal and iron ﬁelds.
The physical department of this Polytechnic is under the Physical
direction of Dr. Zeck, who has recently introduced laboratory prac- department‘
tice for students into his teaching. He has drawn up and printed
for their use a series of graduated practical exercises which they
are themselves required to carry out in the laboratory. In con-
sequence of the very recent developments of electricity in its
industrial applications, the number of students in the physical
department of this Polytechnic has lately somewhat increased.
At present this school is very badly supplied with the means of
practical work on a large scale. The school possesses no steam.
engine, and the dynamo, used for experimental purposes in the
physical department, is worked by a small water motor. Indeed
nothing is more remarkable, in passing through the several
departments of such a Polytechnic as that of Stuttgart, than the
complete absence of anything like practical instruction, beyond‘
such as is found in the chemical and to a small extent also in the
physical laboratory. The number of students attending the lectures
on physics is about 200, of whom not more than 30 work in the
laboratory.
In this school there are 26 heads of departments, and 14 swat
assistant teachers, together with 25 assistants, making altogether
a teaching staff of 65.
The number of pupils in this as in other Polytechnics has Attendance.
fallen off in recent years, mainly in consequence, as hasialready been
stated, of the completion of the railway system on the Continent.
An important department of this school is the architectural divi- architectural
sion under Professor Reinhardt. The Commissioners were shown the amswn‘
N2
196 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION;
Attendance at
Stuttgart
Polytechnic.
Polytechnic
School at
Dresden.
Departments.
Professor
Zeuner on
inﬂuence of
Polytechnic
instruction in
engineering.
drawing rooms, which are on a very extensive scale, and there were
120 students going through a course which extends over there
years. A noteworthy feature of the instruction is that an annual
journey is undertaken by the professor with about 20 students,
who go to Italy, or to some distant country, and measure and draw
a series of buildings. The drawings are autographed and are
annually published by a Berlin ﬁrm.
The number of students attending the winter session of 1880-1
was 4:58, of whom 258 belonged to the state of Wurtemberg, and
200 were foreign students. The total expenditure in the year
ending April 1, 1881, was 14,8611., the receipts from .all sources
were 2,0001., and the State subsidy 12,8611.
(5.) Dresden Polytechnic School.-—The Commissioners visited
this school under the guidance of the Rector, Professor Zeuner,
well known for his work on the mechanical theory of heat. This
school is the Technical High School for the Kingdom of Saxony.
It is housed in new and commodious premises, forming one of
the most striking buildings in the town. It was founded in
the year 1851, and the school entered in 1875 into its new
buildings, standing on a square plot fronting the Bismarck Platz,
and having an area of 12,157 square metres. The chief building
contains spacious drawing rooms, physical laboratories, class rooms,
reception rooms, and oﬁ‘ices, whilst the chemical laboratories are
situated in a distinct building, at the back of the square. There
are no less than 95 separate rooms in the three ﬂoors of the main
building, whilst the block devoted to the chemical laboratory
contains 31 rooms of various sizes.
The institution comprises four schools :
(1.) Mechanical engineering.
(2.) Civil engineering.
( Chemical technology.
(4.) Mathematical and physical science.
In addition to the departments above mentioned, a normal
school for teachers is attached to this Polytechnic.
An important division of the Dresden school is the physical
department under Professor Toepler. The laboratory appeared to
the Commissioners to be one of the most complete they had seen,
and was arranged with great care and attention.
The chemical laboratories under Professor Schmitt, who takes
the pure chemistry, and Professor Hempel, who takes the“
technical chemistry, are also well arranged.
The remark which has been made ,with respect to the diminution
of the number of students applies to this as to other Polytechnic
schools.
Professor Zeuner stated that the main object of Polytechnic
instruction in engineering is to make the students acquainted
with the scientiﬁc principles underlying the construction of
machines and engineering works, and to enable them to understand
and appreciate every new invention or discovery when it comes
REPORT. 1 97
' the machinery they use, and even to export some.
before them, and with this object all inventions involving new
principles are brought under the notice of the students and
discussed by the professor.
As regards the inﬂuence of this instruction on the industries
of the country, he considered that the whole mechanical industry
of the Germans was the result of the superior education of the
people; that whereas, formerly, they purchased locomotives from
abroad, they now use exclusively those made in Germany, and
that all their great industrial works were ﬁlled with polytechnic
students occupying posts of manavers, directors, the. For
example, in the works of Krauss, of ﬁunich, who had recently
turned out his 1,000th engine, all the engineers are old students
of Professor Zeuner himself, who was formerly director of the
Munich Polytechnic. So, too, at Kessler’s in Esslingen, all the
heads of departments are former polytechnic students.
Whilst he was unable to cite any case in which the poly-
technic instruction had brought Germany in advance of
England in any one branch of engineering, Professor Zeuner
believed that without the education which these schools provide,
the German engineering industry would be in a very inferior
position to that which it now occupies, and that the Germans
would be unable to produce, as they now can, the greater part of
The Professor,
whilst recognising the ability and skill of German engineers,
freely acknowledged his great indebtedness to the works and
inﬂuence of Rankine, who is regarded as the greatest autho-
rity on mechanical science in all the chief engineering schools
of Germany, and whose books and researches are much used in
Germany.
The number of students in the year 1880-1 was 473.
The annual cost of the school for the year ending December
1880, was 13,457L, of which the State contributed 12,203].
(6.) The Polytechnic School at Hanover. —— The Polytechnic
at Hanover was formerly located in a small building in the town,
but has recently been removed to the magniﬁcent \Nelfensohloss,
which was being erected as a palace for the late King of
Hanover at the time of the Austin-Prussian war. The building
was subsequently altered and adapted to the purposes of a poly-
technic school at a cost of 100,0001., the total cost being 350,000].
It was opened in the year 1879.
The school of mechanical engineering is the most important
department of this Polytechnic, which contains in all 14 lecture
rooms with places for 1551 students, whilst the drawing rooms
are ﬁtted with 673 tables, and can accommodate 896 pupils.
The chemical laboratories are new and very complete as regards
their arrangements, but they are considerably smaller than the
laboratories found in other Polytechnics.
The physicai department is of minor importance, scarcely any
practical work being done by the students.
Zeuner on
Rankine’s
work.
The Poly-
technic School
at Hanover.
Mechanical
engineering
department.
198 ROYAL COMMISSION oN TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Collections.
Engineering
and archi-
tecture.
The Poly-
technic school
at Carlsruhe.
The Poly—
technic school
at Aachen.
The collections of mechanical models, of raw materials, and of
products, are very extensive, and occupy a large part of the
building. These collections have cost 36,0001. and are maintained
at an annual expenditure of 1,250l.
In the department of engineering and architecture, plans of im—
portant buildings constructed in Germany are critically examined
and discussed by the professors, with a view of explaining to the
students the points of merit in these designs, or suggesting their
possible improvement.
(7.) The Polytechnic School at Carlsruhe.—The Carlsruhe
Polytechnic is the Technical High School for the Grand Duchy
of Baden, which has in addition two Universities, those of
Heidelberg and Freiberg. It was founded in 1836, and the
building was much enlarged in 1863. The physical and chemical
laboratories are at the back in a separate building. This is the
oldest of the German Polytechnics. The Black Forest forming
a large portion of the Grand Duchy of Baden, this Polytechnic
has a school of forestry forming the sixth division of the school.
There are 11 collections, including a ﬁne and extensive collection
of forest products. The professors are 41 in number, with 12
assistants, and there are 360 students; the number having very
much diminished in recent years.
The courses of instruction and the various departmental
buildings are of the same character as those already described,
and do not merit special notice.
(8.) The Pole/technic School at Aachen.—-The Polytechnic
of Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle) stands in the same relation to
the University of Bonn as the Polytechnic of Carlsruhe does
to the Heidelberg University. It consists of a very magniﬁ-
cent building, completed and opened in 1870, to which subsequently
in the year 1878 a very important chemical laboratory was
added, standing as a separate building, the cost of which alone
was 45,000l. The number of students in this Polytechnic has
fallen off more than in any of those previously described. A few
years ago there were 500 regular students in attendance, whereas
at the present time there are only about 110. Recently, since the
appointment of the new director, Geheimrath Gieziky, the number
of students has again begun to increase.
At Aachen they are beginning to adopt the system which
prevails at the Universities, of giving more freedom and latitude
to the students in the choice of the subjects of instruction than is
usual in the other Polytechnic schools.
This Polytechnic contains six large lecture halls,besides numerous
class rooms. I t has in all 21 collections, including a museum of
geology and mineralogy, of mechanical technology, and models of
machines and instruments used in the different manufacturing
processes of the neighbourhood. It has, besides this, a large
room devoted to the reception and preservation of speciﬁcations
of patents.
REPORT. 199
The physical department again calls for little comment, not Physics.
being especially remarkable.
The new chemical laboratory was erected a few years since, Chemical
under the direction of Professor Landolt, now of Berlin, in laboratm'y-
consequence of the original laboratory in the old building having,
at that time, become too small for the requirements of the pupils.
It consists of two separate departments, one for organic chemistry,
and one for inorganic chemistry, that for inorganic chemistry
comprising two distinct laboratories, the one devoted to qualitative
and the other to quantitive analysis. These laboratories are most
elaborately ﬁtted, each student’s place being furnished not only
with gas and water, but with an exhaust ﬁlter apparatus, with a
vacuum, with steam, and with an air blast. The number of
students has at present fallen lamentably low.
The courses of chemical technology are especially devoted to Technological
the chemistry of the iron and steel manufacture, with a view of chemIStPY~
preparing students for the mining and iron industries of the YVest~
phalian district. Great importance is attached here, as elsewhere,
to the combination with the teaching of technical chemistry of
instruction in engineering and drawing, and the construction
of the engines and apparatus used in manufacturing processes.
Frequent visits are paid by the professors, in company with the
students, to the numerous and rapidly increasing mining and iron
industries and other manufactures of \Vestphalia.
It was stated by some persons that, whilst the chemists
trained in the Polytechnic generally become industrial chemists,
managers of works, or chemical engineers, those trained in the
University, although very frequently employed in factories, do not,
as a rule, rise beyond the position of analysts or foremen. This is,
however, a statement requiring considerable qualiﬁcation, as will be
seen from our ﬁnal remarks on the schools of this division.
(9.) The Technical High School at Berlin. -- This school, The technical
when it was visited by the Commissioners, was in a somewhat high.S°h°°1 at
transitional state, as magniﬁcent new buildings are in course of mm‘
erection for it at Charlot-tenburg, and the various departments
are now, owing to want of space, rather disconnected and badly
accommodated.
There are ﬁve principal divisions:
. Architecture, presided over by Professor Jacobsthal.
2. Civil engineering, presided over by Professor Schlichting.
3. Mechanical engineering, presided over by Professor
4
Divisions.
H
Meyer.
Chemistry, presided over by Professor Liebermann.
5. Applied sciences, presided over by Professor Paalzow.
The third of these divisions has a sub-section for shipbuilding.
The complete course extends over four years, except in the section
for shipbuilding, which has a three years’ course.
200 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Department for Attached to the school is the Royal Mechanical Testing
practical tests,
Berlin.
Collections.
Workshops.
Woehler
testing
machinery.
New building
at Charlotten—
burg.
Laboratory.
Institution, and the establishment for experiments on building
materials. The former of these departments is in two divisions,
the one for continuous and protracted experiments with the
apparatus of Woehler ; the other to investigate questions of
direct public interest. by experiments for the Government and for
private individuals, on the strength of materials, 850. The latter
branch of the establishment includes, besides the apparatus for
testing metals, devices for conducting tests of the strength and
other properties of all descriptions of artiﬁcial stones, freestones,
cements, limes, &c. To both of these institutions the students
have, as far as possible, every facility of access, in order to
witness and to take part in the experiments.
The Polytechnic possesses numerous ﬁne collections, suitable
for the instruction of the various classes of students ; prominent
among which may be placed the magniﬁcent series of kinematic
models, prepared under the direction of Professor Iteuleaux.
This collection was shown to the Commissioners by the professor,
who explained to them the system upon which the models had
been designed and arranged.
In (30111160tl011 with the mechanical engineering department
are workshops, under the charge of Professor Consentius, in
which the apparatus for the school is prepared, and the students
are afforded an opportunity of becoming practically acquainted
with the use of tools. There is a shop for metal work, another
for wood-work, and a third for the making of diagrams and
models for teaching. The students pay 15 shillings per semester
for the privilege of working in the shops, but it did not appear
that many of the students occupied themselves with practical
work.
The Woehler testing machines are arranged for investigating
the strength of metal bars and rods, subjected during long
periods of time to blows, torsion, and ﬂexure. Each of the
machines has counters attached, and some of the test bars
had already been stretched, bent, or twisted many millions of
times, without apparent injury.
A visit was paid to the new buildings in progress at Char-
lottenburg, a beautiful suburb of Berlin. The new High School,
which was in an advanced stage of progress, will be the largest
establishment of this kind on the continent.
The chemical laboratory is contained in an isolated building.
The cost of the new Polytechnic building is estimated at
450,000L, and when it is remembered that the numbers of
students has been for some years past on the decrease, having
fallen from 1,400 to 800, the object of this vast outlay is
difficult to understand.
REPORT. 201
HOLLAND.
(10.) The Polytechnic School of Delft—The Commissioners
visited the Delft Polytechnic, the only one in the country having
much the character of the schools of the same name in Germany.
It is a State institution, under the direction of M. Bosscha,
the professor of physics. The Commissioners were accompanied
to Delft by Dr. Steyn-Parvé, who introduced them to the
director, and with him they were shown over the various class-
rooms and collections?“ This school, founded in accordance with
the law of 1863, was opened in 1864, at which time it contained
91 pupils. It replaced the former academy, which, at that date,
contained 259 students, many of whom were transferred to Leyden,
to the school established by the Government for the study of the
language, geography, and ethnology of the Dutch colonies in the
East Indies.
The Polytechnic contains, at the present time, 330 pupils,
classiﬁed as follows 2-—
Works managers - — - 7
Civil engineers - — - 138
Architects - - - - 3
Naval engineers - - - 16
Mechanical do. - — - — 33
Mining do. - - - 10
-———- 207
Students in training as inspectors of
weights and measures - - 5
Students training for schoolmasters 39
Attending special courses - - 79
———~ 123
Total - - 330

Special diplomas are given to engineers and architects on the
results of the annual examinations. Some few mining engineers
are in receipt of scholarships, to enable them to visit German and
other mines ; and, after having obtained their diplomas, they are
appointed, under Government, to the various mining establishments
in the Dutch Indies.
The payments made by the students are as follows :—-
£ 8. al.
For the complete course - 16 13 4 per annum.
For each special course-—
Once a week - — 0 l6 8 ,,
Twice a week - — 1 l3 4 ,,
Three times a week - 2 10 0 ,,
Four times or more - 3 6 8
93
-—v—
* The Commissioners have learnt with regret of the loss to his country of this dis-
tinguished savant, to whose courtesy they were much indebted during their visit to
Holland. Those who may desire to obtain information with regard to the educational
system ,of Holland would do well to consult his work entitled “ Organisation de
“ 1’Instruction du Royaume des Pays-Has,” Leyden, 1878.
The Poly-
technic school
of Delft.
Fees.
202 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
System of
instru etion,
Delft.
Diplomas.
Budget.
Staﬁ‘.
The school is situated in a building erected as a private
dwelling-house by one of the directors of the Dutch East India
Company, in the early part of the last century, but considerable
additions have been made in late years. Since 1873 upwards of
50,000]. have been expended on new laboratories for chemistry
and physics, drawing schools, and repairs and other improvements.
The town of Delft has contributed about 4,623l. towards the cost
of new buildings.
The pupils are free to follow any of the courses they may
desire; they are not required to pass any entrance examination,
nor is there any examination at the end of the year to gain admis-
sion to a higher class. The instruction is based on the degree of
knowledge which is acquired in attending a superior intermediate
school (higher burgher school) with a ﬁve years’ course.
The complete engineering course extends over four years, the
ﬁrst two of which are mainly devoted to theoretical studies
(mathematics, physics, chemistry, and drawing), and the two latter
years to technical studies.
There is also a less extended course adapted to the require-
ments of works’ managers, covering a period of three years.
In order to obtain the engineer’s diploma, it is necessary to
pass two examinations, the ﬁrst of which embraces the theoretical
studies of the ﬁrst two years, and the second the technical work of
the last two years of the course. No one is permitted to go up
for the latter examination who has not obtained the certiﬁcate of
the ﬁrst of these examinations, and, in order to obtain the former
certiﬁcate, it is necessary to present a leaving certiﬁcate of
examination from an intermediate school, with a ﬁve years’ course.
The diploma given to works’ managers is awarded on the result
of a similar examination at the termination of that course. The
examining body, on which the teaching staff of the school is
largely represented, is nominated every year by the hlinister of
the Interior. There have been 635 diplomas of engineering
granted since the establishment of the school.
Students have free access to the laboratories and to the school
library.
The budget of the school is as follows :—
.£
Payment of professors, staff, &c. - - 8,758
Maintenance of buildings, collections,
heating, lighting, &c. - - - 2,683
Total - - 11,4141
Deduct receipts from students, &c. 3,916
Annual cost to the State - £7,525
will“
The staff comprises a director, who is also one of the 12 pro-
fessors, 8 occasional professors, and 6 assistant professors. The
REPORT. 203
director’s salary is 3331. per annum and a house; the professors
are paid 300i. a year; and the assistant professors receive from
67L to 167 Z. a year.
The details of the courses of instruction, which are very similar
to those of the German schools, will be found in the Appendix.
It would appear that, in consequence of the severity of the
examination for the diploma, a very considerable number of
students are annually rejected. The average age of the students
on entrance is 18 to 19 years.
The school possesses an excellent library, as also a good phy-
sical collection, and a room containing apparatus, used as a species
of physical laboratory for training Government inspectors of'
Weights and measures. The physical lecture-room is modern,
and well ﬁtted up. In connection with it is a gas-engine
and a small dynamo—machine; also a laboratory and workshop
for repair of physical apparatus. There was a special room
for delicate experiments. Among the apparatus noted was a
balance to weigh 25 kilos, with an error of 2 milligrammes;
Airy’s gas-veriﬁcation apparatus; and a collection of telegraphic
clocks. Experiments were in progress for the veriﬁcation of the
()hm.
There is a large, architectural lecture theatre and drawing
room; a room for advanced architecture, in which students make
original designs for large and important buildings. The collection
of models of building construction is very complete. There is
also a collection of building materials, as well as drawing rooms
for ornament, the antique, 8170.
In the well arranged chemical laboratory of Prof. Oudemans
there were about 30 students. The laboratory, erected at a cost
of 5,000Z., consists of a large central top-lighted hall, round which
are grouped the various departments, balance rooms, combustion
room, engine room, lecture theatres, &c. There is also a large
laboratory for practical chemical work for engineer students,
capable of containing 60 to 7 O. \Ve were informed that this was
the only laboratory in Europe with steam‘ power vacuum and blast
laid on to all parts of the establishment. There is a good col—
lection of chemical preparations. All the departments communi-
cate with a lofty central chimney by means of ﬁnes in which
the draught was stated to be 20 feet per second. The ventilation
is on the plan of General Morin.
The Commissioners were conducted through the Museum of
Mechanical Technology on the ﬁrst ﬂoor, which contains collections
of raw and manufactured products,——pottery, wool, paper, cotton,
linen, metals,—-—and some modelslof' machinery.
On this ﬂoor are the three drawing rooms for engineers, and
collections of models of parts of machines, joints, couplings,
&c., mostly made in the institution. There are about
30 students in the department of mechanical engineering, but
accommodation has been provided for a much larger number.
Physical
laboratory.
Architectural
school.
Chemical
laboratory.
Museum.
Engineering
Department.
20* ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION 1
School of
industrial art.
_,Workshops.
Imperial
Technical
School
at Moscow.
Entrance.
All the rooms seemed ‘large for the number of students
present. There is a collection of minerals, &c., for the
mining engineers, and a small metallurgical laboratory adjoins
their class-room, The department of civil engineering contains
nearly 150 students, and is the largest in the school. The State
provides the means of obtaining a year’s experience of practical
work. Technologists generally spend four years, from the age of
18 to 23 at this school, and have one year at practical work before
entering it. On the principal building an observatory has
been erected, in which astronomical observations are made.
The numerous class-rooms and drawing rooms for engineers,
architects, and naval students were inspected. There is also a
large collection of casts from the antique, from which copies are
supplied by the school to other institutions.
There is a completely ﬁtted art school, and a special feature
of this Polytechnic is the attention paid to the study of practical
decoration; porcelain, furniture, wall paper, and other designing
being taught. Students also learn designing for textile manut'actures.
In the workshops for making models, some 20 of the students
engage in practical manual work; this, too, we did not ﬁnd in
any school of this kind elsewhere. These students belong chieﬂy
to the department of mechanical engineering. There is a
modelling room for copying from ornament and the antique.
The director informed us that many students travel backwards
and forwards each day to the school from the Hague, Rotterdam,
and Schiedam. The Commissioners were much impressed with
the practical yet unostentatious character of this institution, which
appears to be doing excellent work.
RUSSIA.
(11.) The Imperial Technical School of Moscow—This
school, though it was not visited by the Commissioners, may
be brieﬂy noticed in this division, as it occupies a rank some-
what distinct from any of the other institutions in this group.
Its aim is to give a very high-class engineering education, in which
the theoretical studies are largely supplemented by practical work
in the shops; in order, moreover, to give to this practical work the
due amount of thoroughness, and to avoid the error of want of
appreciation of the value of time as an element in mechanical work,
large contracts for actual work for private individuals are taken by
the school, which are carried out partly by hired labour and partly
by the co-operation of the students. The theoretical training is
said to be of a very high order, most nearly resembling that of
the Ecole Centrale of Paris.
Admission to the school can be obtained, either on passing a
qualifying examination, or on presentation of the leaving certiﬁcate
of a Gymnasium or Real school, but there is a preparatory division
to which students are admitted who have not fully completed their
secondary education. All the students wear a semi-military
REPORT. 205
costume, and those who have obtained the full diploma are provided
with posts under Government. The fees are, for boarders 45l. per Fees.
annum, day boarders 15l., and foreign auditors lll. per annum;
the annual receipts, including interest on the endowment fund,
are about 32,000l. and the expenses are 28,000L, leaving an annual
surplus of 4,000lfl“ The staff of professors, tutors, and practical
instructors is very extensive, and the school possesses a ﬁne
library and collections of apparatus, models, and natural history
specimens.
There are two divisions in the school, one general and the Dmswns'
other special: the latter division is sub-divided into three
branches,——for mechanical construction, mechanical engineering,
and engineering technology respectively; each division has a
three years’ course, and the full course extends over six years.
In the general division the subjects taught are as follows :-—
Algebra, practical geometry, differential and integral calculus,
mechanics, machine drawing, free-hand and linear drawing,
descriptive geometry, physics, zoology, botany, mineralogy,
chemistry, geodesy, French, German, and Religion.
0 o 0 o o . g ‘ . “r k h -
In the speclal dlVlSlOIl the subjects of instruction are morganlo or s OPS
and analytical chemistry, metallurgy, applied physics, mechanical
and chemical technology, properties of wood and metals, practical
mechanics, railway construction, engineering, the art of con-
structing, designing, and estimating machinery and mill-work,
factory design, industrial statistics, and book-keeping. All
students spend some hours daily in the shops.
The practical department is in two divisions, namely, the work-
shops, in which actual contract works are executed, and the
practising shops, under the charge of specially trained foremen,
where the students learn ﬁling, turning, pattern—making, joiners’
work, smiths’ work, and moulding. The works are on a,
sufficiently large scale 3 they consist of joiners’ shop, engineering
shop, painters’ shop, an erecting shop, an iron foundry, a brass
foundry, and a smithy. These works have one engine of 30, and
another of 10 horse-power. There is a regular drawing office and
counting-house attached to them, and remunerative work is said to
be carried on to the extent of from 8,000]. to 10,0001. P8,. annum.
The instruction in the practising workshops is compulsory, and all
the students must go through the course, before they can be admitted
to the manufacturing shops. The result of this sub-division is
stated to have produced very satisfactory effects. A Collection of
models has been formed, and a regular course of work in three
stages, each lasting 240 hours, has been devised for each trade,
The staff consists of a director, M. Della-Vos, and 45 professors,
masters, and tutors, ll engineers, assistants and foremen, 15 assis-
tants, &c., 84 non-commissioned officers and soldiers, and 100
workmen in the various shops. There are 100 free students
(boarders), 200 paying boarders, and 282 day students.
C12
taff.
* The school capital is valued at 496.0001.
206 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Admission.
Professor Fuller, of the Worcester Free Institute of Industrial
Science, Massachusetts, who has visited the Moscow schoolsyhas
informed the Commission that owing to the want of sufficient
preliminary training, a large number of students do not rise
beyond the position of superior workmen or foremen, and are not
capable of receiving an education of a higher grade than that
given in the Ecoles des Arts et Métiers of France. Nor do we
hear a very satisfactory account of the value of the instruction as
measured by the number of competent men leaving the school.
THE ROYAL SAxoN MINING 8021001. or FREIBERG.
The Mining School of Fretberg 'l'n, Saxony—Of the numerous
mining schools of Europe probably the Royal Saxon “Berg-
akademie” of Freiberg has trained the largest number of
successful miners and metallurgists, and the title of ME.
(mining engineer) of that school is a guarantee of excellence,
and serves as a recommendation of the greatest value. The
reason of this is obvious when we know that the system of
instruction carried on here is a thoroughly practical one, so
that the students are brought into actual contact with the opera-
tions on a large scale.
The object of this time honoured institution is to give a
complete scientiﬁc education both of a theoretical and practical
character to young men intended for metallurgists or mining
engineers.
Admission to the school for Saxons and Germans, is made
dependent on having passed the Maturitats examination of a
Gymnasium or ﬁrst class Real school, but foreigners are received
without examination, provided they bring certiﬁcates of corn-
petence from some recognised scientiﬁc or educational institution,
and this liberality on the part of the Saxon Government has
been largely availed of by many distinguished English and
American metallurgists and mining engineers.
Regular courses of study are laid down extending over four years
and differing according as the pupil desires to follow the mining or
the metallurgical branch of the profession. Higher mathematics,
descriptive geometry, spherical trigonometry, physics, chemistry,
mineralogy, geology, and mechanical drawing, form the ground-
work of the studies, to which are added, in the second and
succeeding years, the special subjects of mining and metallurgy
and all their allied branches of science, taught by lectures,
laboratory practice, by working and surveying in the mines,
and by practical metallurgical instruction in the smelting
works of the Saxon State.
The collections of mineralogical and geological specimens are
most complete, and with the libraries and museums of mining
machinery, are open to all the students of the school. Many of
the professors have been men of European fame—Werner,
REPORT. 207
Plattner, and now Richter and Weisbach, are names known to
and honoured by all students of science. The lectures of
Richter on the blow-pipe are unique, and those of Professor
Weisbach on mineralogy are most valuable. But the most
important respects in Which Freiberg excels, is the practical
experience which the students can gain in the operations of
smelting conducted on a large scale in the Government smelting
works (the Miildnerhiitte and that at Halsbriicke) as well as in
those of mining by visiting the neighbouring mines belonging to
the Saxon Government. As these mines now yield ore of only
the poorest quality, the operations have to be conducted with
great care, and hence offer, to the student of mining, training of
an exceptional character, while the number of metals present in
the ore (gold, silver, copper, lead, bismuth, arsenic, and antimony)
and worked up at the smelting works, afford a no less valuable
one to the student in many branches of metallurgy.
The cost of living in F reiberg, including the fees payable to
the academy, need not exceed 100i. per annum. The average
number of students in training forthe last 10 years is : Saxons
and Germans, 64: ; foreigners, 58.
F reiberg does not, however, afford practical instruction in The Leoben
iron mining or smelting; the mining school specially adapted igfgngfers
for the study of the metallurgy of iron is that of Leoben in
Styria, under its veteran head, Professor von Tunner.
GENERAL REVIEW OF POLYTECHNIC SCHOOLS.
Having concluded our report on the Polytechnic schools of OPinlOPSﬁll
Germany, we pass to certain important general considerations Sg'éniﬁg
respecting the higher scientiﬁc and technical education in that valiie of,poly-
country. In the ﬁrst place, the question as to the value of the “clinics
training at the Polytechnic school, as compared with that given
at the University, and especially as to how far the division
into purely scientiﬁc subjects as taught in the Universities, and
applied science as taught in the Polytechnic schools of Germany,
is a wise or advisable arrangement, as also of what is the best
preliminary training for polytechnic students, has been the subject
of much discussion, and the Commissioners have been at the
pains of obtaining opinions on this subject from a number of
distinguished men connected with the Universities and also with
the Polytechnics.
It may be mentioned that in the Polytechnics of Germany
there is accommodation for about 6,000 students, whilst the total
attendance is little more than 2,000, and the annual cost to the
State of each student, exclusive of interest on capital, is about
1001. This apparently unnecessary extension of the Polytechnic
schools in that country is partially accounted for by the fact that,
when they were originally erected, Germany consisted of several
independent states which have since been united in the German
empire.
208 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Professor von
Helmholtz on
German
Polytechnics.
Dr. Werner
Siemens.
Professor von
Helmholtz
on the value
of scientiﬁc
knowledge.
Chemical
instruction in
Polytechnics
and Univer-
sities.
In support of this conclusion, Professor von Helmholtz
stated to the Commissioners that whilst he set great value
on the highest technical instruction, as given in Germany, in
aiding the industrial manufacturers of the country, he con-
sidered that the number of Polytechnics or Technical Universities
in Germany was in excess of the present requirements of the
people, and had come to be so in consequence of the altered
political condition of the country, which no longer consisted of
separate states endeavouring to rival one another in the extent
and excellence of their educational institutions.
This opinion was further corroborated by Dr. Werner Siemens,
who went so far as to say that the new and splendid ediﬁce, now
being erected at Charlottenburg, near Berlin, for the purposes
of a Technical University, would be suﬁicient for the whole of
North Germany.
Professor von Helmholtz pointed out to the Commissioners
not only the general advantages, but also the absolute economy,
of employing persons as heads of departments, conversant with the
theory of their work, and able by virtue of their scientiﬁc know-
ledge to anticipate results, and to calculate beforehand the
quantity and quality of material required, as compared with
those who, failing this knowledge, are compelled to adopt, often
at greatly increased cost, the more empirical method of repeated
trial. He further stated that his son, owing mainly to his
knowledge of physics, especially of the mechanical theory of
heat, had risen to a post of considerable importance in the loco—
motive works of Herr Krauss, at Munich, in which he had been
placed.
As regards the chemical instruction given in the Polytechnics
and Universities of Germany, the opinion was very generally
expressed at Berlin that there is no essential distinction between
the methods and the results of the teaching of these two classes of
educational institutions. Indeed, it may be fairly assumed, in
spite of some opinions to the contrary, that in the teaching of
chemistry the aims and objects of the Polytechnic overlap those
of the University ; the advantage of Polytechnic instruction for
those who are to occupy the higher posts of managers in
chemical manufactories, consisting in the opportunities afforded
to the students of obtaining the necessary additional instruction
in machine construction and drawing.
As giving some idea of the number of students who in
Germany are receiving practical chemical instruction of a high
order, Professor Liebermann, Director of the Chemical Depart—
ment of the Technical High School, stated that the total number
of students working in the laboratories of Berlin alone, amounted
to close upon 4:00. And we learn that during the present
winter (1883-41), no less than 50 students are engaged in
original organic research in the laboratory of the University of
Munich, under Professor Baeyer.
REPORT. 209
K
Dr. Martins, a large chemical manufacturer of Berlin, spoke very
strongly concerning the great progress made in manufactures in
Germany during the last 10 years, particularly in the chemical
branches. He himself employs 14 trained chemists, each of
whom has charge of a department, and they supervise
operations with a care and attention which an ordinary
foreman, not equally well trained, is unable to give. Dr. Martins
considered that whilst the English foreman is in many
respects superior to the German foreman, Germans possessed
a distinct advantage, in chemical industries, over the English,
in the number of highly trained scientiﬁc men in Germany
who are always available as foremen or superintendents of
departments of the works. As regards foremen in other
trades, and workmen in general, he did not consider that
the technical education of these classes in Germany was
superior to that of the same classes in England ; and it is with
the view of improving the technical education of foremen and of
superior workmen that Werkmeisterschulen or foremen’s schools
are now being instituted in Germany.
Dr. Werner Siemens inclined to the opinion that the best
foremen and managers of works were those who having had a
good general education, had been employed for some time in
practical work in the shop, and had afterwards spent two or
three semesters in a Werkmeistersc/zule, with a view of supple-
menting their practical experience by theoretical instruction in
the scientiﬁc principles applicable to their trade. He thought it
advisable that of those receiving this kind of training, the ablest
and most highly gifted pupils should pass on to the higher tech-
nical schools. Dr. Siemens added, that he himself was in the
‘habit in some cases of selecting young men of promise and of
paying their expenses and maintenance at the W erlzmez'szferschule,
and, in others, of giving them the opportunity of dividing the
year between work and school, so as to enable them to pay for
themselves. He had established in his own works a complete
physical laboratory in which tests of the greatest delicacy were
continually being carried on. Dr. Frohlich, a distinguished
physicist, was his associate in the business, and superintended
this scientiﬁc laboratory.
With respect to the best preparatory training for polytechnic
instruction, various opinions were expressed. Professor Hofmann
is in favour of the Gymnasium training, preferring it to that of
the ﬁrst grade Real School, notwithstanding the fact that in the
latter the pupils obtain fairly good instruction in natural science,
and scarcely any in the former. But he was bound to admit
that this superiority on the part of the Gymnasium students may
be due, in part to the fact that the pupils are drawn from a class
which for several generations has received superior culture, and
also to some extent to the methods of classical tuition being
more matured than those of science, so far as secondary education
is concerned.
Ri 1726. 0
Dr. Martins on
inﬂuence of
chemical
training in
Germany.
Dr. Siemens on
training of
foremen, Sac,
Profs ssor
Hofmann on
preliminary
training for
polytechnic
instruction.
210 RoYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INsTRUcTIoN:
Mr. Glaser on
inﬂuence of
polytechnic
instruction.
Dr. Victor
Meyer.
Professor
Fick.
Professor
Kiihne.
Professor
Lunge
Herr Glaser, patent agent, and agent for the Bochum Stahl V erein,
furnished the Commissioners with one or two special examples of
the improvements in machinery, &c., which had oﬂicially come
under his notice, and which were in his opinion to a great extent
the result of the, training which the students received in the
Polytechnic. He did not consider, however, that, till recently,
invention had had fair play in Germany, owing to the defective
nature of the old patent law.
As regards the question of Polytechnic as against University
training, Dr. Victor Meyer, the Professor of Chemistry at the‘
Zurich Polytechnic, expresses it as his opinion that so far as
technical chemists are concerned the education would be equally
well given in a University were a technical faculty founded
in addition to the faculties existing for the purely theoretical
sciences. He also supports Professor Hofmann in the view that
the Gymnasium training serves equally as well for the subsequent
studies of the Polytechnic as the instruction of the Real School.
So far as his subject is concerned, he does not recognise any
essential difference in the nature of the studies of the Polytechnic
on the one hand, and of the University on the other,--indeed
the University students of medicine are technical students who '
study applied science. Professor Meyer thinks that the end to
be desired is as complete an amalgamation as possible of the
studies of the University and the Polytechnic.
Dr. Fick, Professor of Physiology at the University of
Wurzburg, formerly a professor in the Zurich Polytechnic,
also supports the view that the union of the University with
the Polytechnic school would be distinctly advisable. He thinks
that by this means much economy in tuition, as also in its
cost, might be effected. He believes that the introduction
into the Universities of the subject of engineering would be a
distinct gain to these institutions, and points out the advantages
enjoyed by the University of Zurich from its proximity to the
ﬂourishing Polytechnic.
The above opinions are also shared by Professor Kiihne of
Heidelberg.
Professor Lunge of Zurich, who was for many years resident in
England, where he was the manager of a large alkali works,
holds, with regard to the preparatory training of technolo-
gists, an opposite view to that of Professor Hofmann which
has been already referred to; and Professor Lunge’s views
are shared by an equally eminent authority, Dr. Wislicenus,
Professor of Chemistry at the University of Wurzburg.
Dr. Lunge holds that the linguistic training of the German
Gymnasium is unsuited as preparatory to a technical career,
inasmuch as the time there devoted to mathematics, drawing, and
modern languages, as well as to the elements of natural science, is
wholly insufficient, and he therefore inclines to the opinion that
the education given in the Prussian Realschulen of the ﬁrst
rank, corresponding to the Bavarian Real-gymnasium, is distinctly
REPORT. 211
preferable to the purely linguistic system of education of the
Gymnasium proper. With respect to the union of the Polytechnic
with the University, he alludes to the diﬂiculties which would
arise from the fusion of these teaching bodies in the case of the large
towns and the capitals of Europe, on account of the inordinate
dimensions these institutions would assume. He thinks that in
smaller institutions such a fusion or partial union would be
productive of excellent results, and he also draws attention to
the value of the addition of an engineering faculty to the
smaller Universities. He points out the great economy which
arises from having the two institutions in the same town, as at
Zurich, and the great saving of teaching power of which this
arrangement is productive.
Dr. Quincke, who has been Professor of Physics at the Berlin Dr- Quincke'
Polytechnic School, and who now is Professor of Physics at the
University of Heidelberg, whilst agreeing in the main with the
foregoing opinions, points out the error made by many in
believing that any Polytechnic course of teaching can by itself
teach a student to erect an engine, work a blast-furnace, or
manufacture sulphuric acid, the real object of the technical
school being to facilitate the transition from pure science to
practice by means of appropriate lectures and laboratory work,
which are obviously insuﬂicient to prepare the student for
carrying on actual work where practical experience is needed.
He likewise points out that the number of scientiﬁcally trained
men sent out from the Polytechnic Schools of Germany, has been
in excess of the number of the existing high class industrial
positions open to them, so that Polytechnic students have been
compelled to take subordinate positions.
As regards preliminary training, Professor Quincke shares Pro-
fessor Hofmann’s views as to the superiority of the Gymnasium
for this purpose over the Real School. He thinks, moreover,
that the addition of technical faculties to the Universities would
not only bring valuable teaching power into these institutions,
but that the existing subjects of mathematics and natural science
would thus be brought nearer to the actual requirements of the
day, so that the “ Universitas Literarum ” would become adapted
to the age of railways, steam engines, and telegraphs ; as centuries
ago, the needs of Church and State added a fourth faculty, that
of “ Philosophy,” to the existing faculties of theology, juris-
prudence, and medicine.
Conflicting as these opinions may seem to be, the Commissioners Polytechnic
cannot help calling attention to the fact that in every country indlllnim'sity
visited, separate institutions have been established for the teaching cexljﬁa
of the higher branches of science, according as the object has been
merely the advancement of knowledge for its own sake, or its
applications to industrial operations. Thus institutions more
or less similar to the Polytechnics of Germany, exist in Switzer-
land, in Holland, in France (in the Ecole Centrale), in Italy, and
0 2
'212
ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNlCAL INSTRUCTION:
Chemistry.
Mathematics.
in Russia; and similar institutions have been very recently
founded in America. Moreover, even now, there is still income
plete and in process of erection by the German Government, on
the one hand the magniﬁcent Technical High School of Berlin,
and on the other the University of Strasburg, by far the grandest
and most elaborately ﬁtted of all the German Universities ; in
which, latter however, no provision is made for the faculty of
engineering, and where the instruction in mathematics and science
will be maintained on the same high level as in other Universities,
and will be in no way fettered by the necessity of keeping in
View the requirements‘of students in their future career, or by
the commercial aspect of the problems under consideration.
Where the instruction of the University and Polytechnic seems
most to overlap, is undoubtedly in the teaching of chemistry.
Although it has been admitted that for the training of an
industrial chemist a knowledge of drawing and of machine con-
struction is almost indispensable ; on the other hand as regards
the remarkable discoveries which have been made by German

chemists who have devoted themselves to research work in the
highest branches of the science, and which have had so great a
commercial value and have pushed forward to so great an extent
the chemical industries of Germany the Universities equally with
the Polytechnics have been the cradle in which technical chemists
have been reared ; and the professor, whether at the University or
at the Polytechnic, who has established the greatest reputation by
virtue of his successful investigations into the highest branches

-of chemistry, has attracted to his classes the largest number of
students. The really all-important factor in the training of an
‘ industrial chemist is the time he can devote to the study‘of this
science ; Professor Baeyer of Munich stated that a course of seven
years’ instruction was needed to make a ﬁrst-class chemist, and
this can, of course, be obtained under a competent teacher either
at the University or at the Polytechnic. In the case, however, of
a student who does not aim at so high a standard of proﬁciency ;
who requires, as speedily as possible, to obtain an insight
into the practical details of the work in which he is to be
engaged, a course of instruction which includes lessons on the
technology of his trade, and research work directed towards the
same end, is undoubtedly serviceable. In either case instruction
in machine drawing and construction should be regarded as an
essential part of the course of training of an industrial chemist
who is not to become a mere analyst. Examples are not wanting
of chemical industries being founded, superintended, and carried
on in this country by Germans who have received their education
in the Polytechnics or Universities abroad, but who ﬁnd in our own
country the necessary capital and labour, the raw material, and
the industrial facilities, which enable them to turn to commercial
purposes their own scientiﬁc knowledge.
But this fact must not cause us to lose sight of the difference
in method in the teaching of other branches of science, when
REPORT. 2 l 3
taught independently of, or as ancillary to, their commercial
applications. In mathematics, for example, the highest uni-
versity teaching, which is of the utmost value to every person
studying the subject for its own sake, or with the view of
teaching it to others, is not equally necessary for persons who
learn mathematics that it may be an instrument in their hands for
the solution of ordinary engineering problems. And equally in
physics, in one branch of which at least the commercial aspect of
the science is coming to the front, the investigations which would
be carried on in a research laboratory, under the direction of a pro-
fessor not necessarily interested in electrical problems, for example,
the solution of which at present have a distinctly economic
value, would not prove as useful or as attractive to a student,
as investigations more immediately connected with the industry
in which he is to be engaged, and towards which he feels that
his studies ought to be directed.
At the same time it is clear that in physics, equally as
in chemistry, the knowledge of the principles of the science
and of the methods of research is the more important part of the
theoretical equipment of the technical student, and provided the
laboratories possess the necessary apparatus, this instruction
can equally well be given in an institution devoted to the
teaching of pure as of applied science.
Amongst the various reasons for conﬁning the teaching of Engineering.
engineering to the Technical Universities, (the Polytechnic
Schools), instead of establishing a separate department in the
Universities proper, for engineers of all kinds, as is done for
medical students, the Germans and other nations have pro-
bably considered that the presence of large numbers of persons
studying science. not so much for the mere advancement of
knowledge, as for the sake of its industrial and commercial
application, might have the tendency to lower in some cases the
character, and in other cases to change the stand-point, of science-
instruction; and although the combination- of University and
Polytechnic in one building might have involved a considerable
saving in teaching power, this economy would have been dearly
purchased, if it had led to any diminution of the zeal with which
purely theoretical studies and scientiﬁc investigations are pursued
at the Universities.
Moreover, it must be admitted that the healthy competition Influence of
that has taken place between the faculties that are common to co‘"“Petition-
both the University and the Polytechnic, has not been without
effect in raising the character of the instruction in both these
classes of institutions, in introducing, especis lly in the teaching
of science, a sound practical method into the University, and in
preventing the Polytechnic from becoming too exclusively a
school of application, to the neglect of that instruction in prin-
ciples which is properly recognised as being indispensable to
the success of every student.
214! ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
General
diffusion of
scientiﬁc
education and
its results.
Need of similar
schools in
England.
Education of
industrial
proprietors at
Gymnasia
and Univer-
sities.
Large number
of Continental
Universities.
‘0
To the multiplication of these Polytechnics and to the small cost
of a higher or University education, may be ascribed the general
diffusion of a high scientiﬁc knowledge in Germany, its apprecia-
tion by all classes of persons, and the adequate supply of men
competent, so far as theory is concerned, to take the place of
managers and superintendents of industrial works, as well as of
teachers in technical and other schools. “
In England, there is still a great want of this last class of
persons 5 and whether schools of practical and applied science be
aﬁiliated to the University, or exist separately and independently
as in other countries, it is very important that facilities should
be offered to such selected pupils from schools of lower grade
as may be competent to proﬁt by it, to receive the highest
scientiﬁc and technical instruction, gratuitously, or at a small
cost, in order that this country may be better supplied than it is
at present with competent instructors. '
As regards the kind of training that will best ﬁt a youth to
become the head of an industrial concern, opinions both here
and abroad differ considerably ; but in the value of the education
given in the German Polytechnics as a part of the training of
engineers, most competent authorities on the Continent appear to
agree.

In dealing with the superior education of those destined to
become employers or proprietors of large industrial concerns in
Germany and Switzerland, We must state in conclusion that the
Gymnasia and Universities in spite of the existence of the numerous
Technical High Schools, still serve to train probably the larger
portion of those who are to take the lead in manufacturing
industries, and that, consequently, the persons so educated cannot
be said to receive any technical training in the school. The
University is the natural termination of the career of the student
entering the Gymnasium, which is par excellence the school of the
higher and the upper middle ranks of society on the Continent;
and, where time and money are of secondary importance, no
education is deemed to have been properly completed without
a few years passed at one or other of the numerous Universities.
There are in all four and twenty Universities in the German
Empire, ﬁve in Switzerland, nine in Austria, and the German
University of Dorpat in Russia, and the total number of students
who are being trained in them is little short of' 35,000. In the
ﬁrst rank, as regards the number of those under instruction, stands
the University of Berlin with the enormous total of 4,995 students,
together with 3,900 non-matriculated auditors. Leipsic comes
second, with a total of 3,166 students, and 3,111 auditors, while
Munich has respectively 2,049 students, and 2,017 auditors
In the next class are the important and ﬂourishing Universities
of Breslau' 1,682 students, Halle 1,414 students, Tiibingen 1,414,
Bonn 1,102, G'cittingen 1,096, and Wiirzburg 1,091, while the
REPORT. 21
0
”
Russian University of Dorpat numbers 1,277 students, and the
Austrian University of Lemberg is returned at 1,011. The
numbers at Vienna and Pesth are not stated, but they probably
considerably exceed those at Lemberg. The staif of professors
for this immense body of students is equally remarkable. Thus
at Vienna, there are in all 272 on the teaching body, including
however 127 honorary academical professors. At Berlin, the
total teaching staff numbers 241, at Leipsic 171, Prague 150,
Pesth 143, Munich 141, Breslau 123, Go'ttingen 119, Bonn 110,
and Heidelberg 109.
To give an idea of the large sums spent by the German
Governments on the scientiﬁc departments of their State Univer-
sities, it may suffice to mention the cost of a few of the departments
of the new University of Strasburg. The total outlay on the
buildings of this University, either now complete, in process of
erection, or planned, is 600,0001. The department of botany
has had a sum of 20,0001. devoted to it; that of physics 30,0001. ;
that of chemistry, including a residence for the director, 35,0001.
These items include the permanent ﬁttings of the various
laboratories, but not the apparatus and collections which have
been partly inherited from former years, and are partly purchased
from the annual allowances of the various departments.
The yearly budget of the chemical department amounts to
1,3351, not including either the salaries of the two professors
(about 8001.) or the cost of heating and lighting, which are
defrayed by the University. It includes the salaries of ﬁve
assistants (2551.) and the wages of four servants (2601.), leaving
a sum of 8201. to meet the general working expenses of the
department, including the purchase of chemicals, apparatus,
specimens, &c. The number of students working in the chemical
laboratories at Strasburg is about 100.
The Swiss Universities, which closely resemble those of Germany
in their constitution, and in the scope of their curricula, though on
a somewhat smaller scale, are, as we have stated, ﬁve in number,
and exist at Berne, Zurich, Basle, Geneva, and Lausaune. A
remarkable institution visited by the Commissioners is the
Bernou11z'anum of Basle, which contains the chemical, physical,
and astronomical departments of the University of Basle. It
was erected by public subscription, as a memorial of Bernoulli,
the celebrated mathematician, at a cost of 18,0001. Bernoulli
was a native of the town, and a professor at the University.
The institution comprises laboratories, class—rooms, and a com-
pletely ﬁtted astronomical observatory. In a large lecture
theatre attached to the building, courses of popular lectures are
delivered by the professors and other eminent men, who give
their services gratuitously. We were conducted through the
premises by Professor Hagenbach-Bischoff, who explained to us
the mode of illustrating the lectures by a magic-lantern connected
with the electric light apparatus, the ﬁttings for which have
Cost of the
new German
University,
Strasburg.
Chemical
Department.
B u oret.
Swiss
Universities.
The Ber-
noullianum
Basle.
216 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Ecole Normale
Supérieure
de Travail
Manuel.
Entrance
examination.
School
buildings.
Number of
students.
been introduced at a cost of 4502. There are, for this purpose, a
gas-engine, dynamo-machine, and lamps; the cost of this installa-
tion was defrayed by public subscription. The lectures are
largely attended. "
The observatory contains a ﬁne 7-inch equatorial, and the usual
recording instruments.
The physical laboratory and lecture theatre are especially well
ﬁtted, having water at a pressure of 4% atmospheres, and an
arrangement for graduated pressures by tanks suspended at various
heights from the ﬂoor. The lecture table is elaborately arranged
with electrical appliances. There is a fair collection of apparatus,
some of which is of historical interest, in a museum at the rear
of the institution. A catalogue of a portion of the collection in
the handwriting of Bernoulli was shown to us.
The chemical department is extensive and well ﬁtted. The
professor, M. Piccard, gave us an interesting disquisition on the
subject of Polytechnic as against University training; his views
coinciding with those of Dr. Fisk, already quoted.
EDUCATION or INDUSTRIAL TEACHERS.
PARIS.
The Ecole Normclle Sape’r'leare cle Travel/ll Manuel, 10, Rue
des U rsulines, Paris, has been created for the training of masters,
who shall instruct the students of the ordinary normal schools of
the country in manual work. It was established and opened
on the 1st December 1882. The course, as at present arranged,
lasts for one year of 10 months. It is, however, contemplated
that it will be necessary to extend it over a second year eventually,
but as the masters are very urgently required, it is necessary to
prepare a certain number in the one year for the present.
The students have to pass a qualifying entrance examination,
which consists of the Brevet de Capacité, usually required for
teachers, and certain extra subjects—chemistry, physics, and
natural history; they do not require to be qualiﬁed in any way
in manual work before their admission. The limit of age is from
20 to 35. Although the Brevet de Capacité will eventually be
indispensable, the regulations have in this ﬁrst year been some-
what relaxed.
The school is held in a former girls’ school, which has been
hastily and temporarily ﬁtted up for its present purpose. It has
a considerable area of land at back and front. There are two
small botanical gardens, and a gravelled court—yard serving for
recreation and gymnastic exercises. It is intended that the
students shall have military training.
There are at present 48 masters in training; this being the
full capacity of the establishment. Thirty of these board in the
house, and the remainder are provided for in the neighbourhood.
REPORT. 217
’ The cost of ﬁtting up the school has been about 2,4001. The Cost of ﬁttings
instruction is gratuitous. In fact, the students receive payment, 3°(1ik51t10g5’
as those who are already teachers of primary schools retain u ge ’ c'
their pay while they remain here, and the others receive the
sum of 5t. per month. There are seven professors forming
the teaching staff, and ten master workmen. The latter are
only employed during certain hours, giving such a portion of
their time as may be needed. All the work done in the work-
shops belongs to the students; nothing made is intended for sale.
The cost of materials used in the workshops is about W. 43.
per month. It is expected that the budget of the school will
amount to 3,6005. for the ﬁrst year of 10 months, equal to about
71. 108. per head per month. All the costs of this school are
borne by the State, but as it is an experiment only, there is no
sum yet taken for it in the budget estimates.
It will be seen from the programme in Appendix 22, that the Programme.
course of instruction is partly theoretical and partly practical.
One-and-a-half hours per day are allotted to theoretical work,
and 4% hours to mechanical work in the shops. There is no
practising school attached to this normal school, as is generally
the case, but demonstrations are given by each student in turn
before the others, in presence of the master. The teaching is
uniform, all going through the same stages.
The mornings are as a rule devoted to working in wood, the Course 9f
afternoons to working in iron. Each student makes a set of msm‘ctmn'
small models for his own use for teaching purposes. Model-
making seems to be a strong feature of the teaching. There is
a special modelling room, in which all are taught modelling in
clay and subsequently the preparation of plaster models of
building construction on a small scale,--masonry joints, stone-
work, Stc; there is a special teacher for this branch of work, and
four hours per week are devoted to it. We were shown some
very neat plaster models of arches, made to a scale of 31,-, full size,
careful drawings of which had ﬁrst been prepared.
The ﬁtting shop contains 24 vices. All the students learn to Workshops.
ﬁle and to chip. There is a regular set course of work lasting
four months. Places are provided in the smithy for six students,
who learn forging and welding, making up bars from faggots
of scraps, making nuts and bolts, &c. Six work simultaneously
at the iron lathes in the turning shop, and 12 at the wood lathes.
There are two foreman-workmen in each of the shops, with the
exception of the turnery, where there are three. The students
pass two months at wood turning and two months at iron
turning. There is no power provided for the lathes, as none
could be obtained in the schools to which the teachers would
eventually be sent.
The natural history teaching is also made a special and promi- Instructiqn in
nent feature in this school. There are two professors in this depart- “amid 1mm "3
ment The professor of botany gives lectures in his subject,
218 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION!
Photographic
laboratory.
Collections,
apparatus, &c.
School
museum ;
chemical
laboratory.
Master work-
'men will‘ be
trained at
other schools.
illustrated partly by the specimens in the botanical garden, and
partly by the excursions, which take place every fortnight.
There is also a physiological laboratory, which contains a large
collection of aquaria, together with toads, and tortoises in tanks:
also many other living animals, rabbits, rats, squirrels, &c. These
are not used for purposes of vivisection, but for simple anatomical
lectures, for stuiﬁng, &c. ‘
There is a well-ﬁtted laboratory, in which all the students
learn photography. They are specially taught how to prepare
negatives suitable for screen projection, as this is regarded as an
important mode of illustrating lectures on natural history.
A geological collection is being formed by the students, who
go out on an excursion in the neighbourhood of Paris once
every fortnight on a weekday during the summer, and also on
Sunday afternoons.
On the upper ﬂoor of the school is a series of rooms, where
the students prepare their studies. Here we were shown a small
collection of woodwork, made in the Swedish Slogd schools, and
collected and presented by the director, M. Salicis. In another
room were hung numerous satchels and tin botanizing boxes,
butterﬂy nets, geological hammers, &c. for the excursions pre~
viously described. This apparatus was all numbered, and is lent
to each student during the time he remains at the school. Here
was also a collection of diagrams of simple dissections used by
the professor of physiology.
On the ﬁrst ﬂoor was a school museum and lecture theatre; on
the ground ﬂoor a refectory, where the students and masters take
their meals together. There is a very cleverly ﬁtted chemical
laboratory; the professor being the former chemistry master at
the Professional School of Rheims. This laboratory, which
occupies an area of only 550 square feet, contains working
places for 48 students. The benches are covered with white
glazed tiles, and provide a metre in length for each student.
The sets of reagent bottles had india-rubber stoppers with
pipettes passing through them, thus enabling the student to use
at will either a very small or a larger quantity of the reagent.
The professor explained his system of chemical work to be one
of regular drill, all the students performing a series of set
experiments simultaneously; he having a raised desk, from
which he could overlook the whole of the work in progress, and
see that each man was carrying out his experiment properly.
The sub-director, M. Merceaux, informed us that it was not
proposed, so far as he knew, to establish schools for training
master-workmen to serve as instructors in primary schools; such
men could, doubtless, be readily obtained from the Arts and
Trades Schools at Aix, Angers, and Chalons. Several of the
masters at this school have come from the lilcole des Arts et
Métiers at Angers.
REPORT. 219
_ x The students, whether living in the house or lodging in the work is Over -
neighbourhood, are all free after 6 o’clock. N o masters have as at 6 o’clqck in
yet issued from the school, as a full year has not yet expired the evenmg'
since its establishment, but M. Merceaux stated that he thought
that some of the men then in training would be perfectly com-
petent to undertake the duties for which they were being
prepared at the expiration of the pre-arranged course. He stated
that there was considerable inducement to masters to exchange a
career of teacher in a primary school for that for which they
were here trained, as the salary of a professor at a normal school
was apprcximatel y double that of an ordinary primary school
teacher.
INFLUENCE UPON INDUSTRY or INSTITUTIONS FOR. SCIENTIFIC
RESEARCH.
Ecole Prat/Lycra des H crates Etudes of France.
In order to indicate the value placed in France upon original
scientiﬁc research, we may mention the Ecole Pratique des
Hautes Etudes of France. This institution deserves a special
notice on account of the opportunities it affords for practical
investigations which have in some instances excited a direct
inﬂuence on the commercial and manufacturing interests of the
country. It consists of a collection of laboratories, in which
original scientiﬁc research is encouraged and carried out.
Founded under the ministry of M. Duruy in 1868, it has been
the means of furthering most important investigations, both of
a purely scientiﬁc nature as well of a practical character, and
in proof of this, it is only necessary to say that the whole of
Pasteur’s work, to which reference is made in the sequel, has been
accomplished by the aid of this institution.
The object of this school, or rather collection of schools, is
stated to be “ de placer a coté de l’enseignement théorique les
“ exercices qui peuvent le fortiﬁer et l’etendre.” The institution
is divided into four sections—-
1. Mathematics.
2. Physics and chemistry.
3. Natural history and physiology.
a. Historical and philological science.
The most eminent men in France are chosen as the directors
of these schools. Students are admitted gratuitously, and there
is no restriction either as to age or to nationality, but candidates
must convince the director of their ability to proﬁt by the
instruction, and of their ﬁtness to conduct research.
The laboratories are attached to several of the higher educa~
tional institutions, such as the Sorbonne, the College de France,
the Museum of Natural History, &c., and they are of two kinds
(1) teaching laboratories, (2) research laboratories. The estab-
lishment of private laboratories for these purposes is also
permitted. The expenses of these laboratories are defrayed by
220 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
the ministry of public instruction, an annual grant of 12,000l.
being made for this purpose, besides which the municipality
of Paris votes the annual sum of 960l. for exhibitions, travelling
rellowships, and prizes of books or instruments.
A commission of ﬁve persons named by the minister from
amongst the directors of the laboratories, is appointed for the
purpose of arranging the studies of the pupils.
The following serves to show the nature of the subjects and
the institutions in which the teaching is conducted :—
1. Mathematics. Committee of studies, MM. Chasles,
Hermite, &c.
2. Physics and chemistry. Committee, M.M. Berthelot, J amin,
VVurtz, 850.
(cu) Laboratory for physical research in the Natural
History Museum.
Director, M. Becquerel.
((9.) Laboratory for teaching physics at the Sorbonne.
Director, M. Desains. »
(0.) Laboratory for physical research at the Sorbonne.
Director, M. Jamin.
((1.) Laboratory for Organic chemistry at the College de
France.
Director, M. Berthelot.
(6.) Laboratory for general chemistry and physiology
at the Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures.
Director, M. Dumas.
( Laboratory for research and teaching practical
chemistry at the Museum of Natural History.
Director, M. Fremy.
(9.) Laboratory of physiological chemistry.
Director, M. Pasteur.
(h.) Chemical laboratory at the Ecole Normale
Supérieure.
Director, M. H. Saints-Claire Deville (lately
deceased).
(t) Chemical laboratory at the Sorbonne.
Directors, MM. Saints-Claire Deville and
Schutzenberger.
(10.) Laboratory for general chemistry at the Col lége
de France.
Director, M. Schutzenberger.
(L) Chemical laboratory at the Faculty of Medicine.
Director, M. Wurtz.
Laboratory for teaching mineralogy.
Director, M. Friedel.
(n) Meteorological research laboratory at ChOisy-le-
Roi.
Director, M. Benon.
(0.) Research laboratory at Caen for agricultural
chemistry.
Director, M. Isidore Pierre.
REPORT. 221
3. Natural history.
Committee, MM. Milne-Edwards, Claude Bernard (lately
deceased).
(00.) Zoological Anatomical and Physiological Labora-
tory at the Museum of Natural History.
Director, M. Milne-Edwards.
(5.) Comparative Anatomy Laboratory at the Museum
of Natural History.
Director, M. Paul-Gervais.
(0.) Laboratory of Experimental Zoology at the
Sorbonne, with Maritime Station at Roscoff.
Director, M. H. De Lacaze-Duthiers.
Histological Laboratory at the College de France.
Director, M. L. Ranvier.
(a) Laboratory of Zoological Histology.
Directors, M. C. Robin, M. G. Pouchet.
( f.) Histological Laboratory of the Faculty of
Medicine.
Directors, M. Robin, and M. Duval.
(9.) Zoological Laboratory of the Lille Faculty of
Sciences, with Maritime Station at Wimereux.
Director, M. A. Giard.
Zoological Laboratory at Marseilles.
Director, M. Marion.
('21.) Physiological (Teaching) Laboratory at the
Sorbonne.
Director, M. Paul Bert.
(k) General Physiological Laboratory at the Museum.
Director, M. Claude Bernard (lately deceased).
(L) Histological Laboratory at the College de France.
Director, M. Claude Bernard (lately deceased).
Anthropological Laboratory.
Director, M. Paul Broca.
(01,.) Pathological Anatomy Laboratory of the Faculty
of Medicine.
Director, M. Charcot.
(0.) Physiological Laboratory of the College de France ’
Director, M. Marey.
(20.) Laboratory of Experimental Pathology.
Director, M- Vulpian.
(9.) Physiological Laboratory of the Montpelier
Medical School.
Director, M. Rouget. -
(72) Botanical Laboratory of the Paris Medical School.
Director, M. Baillon.
(a) Botanical Laboratory at the Museum of Natural
History, Paris.
Director, M. Ed. Bureau.
(15.) Laboratory of Vegetable Micrography and its
applications to Medicine.
Director, M. Chatin.
222 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Note on the
researches of
M. Pasteur.
('a.) Agricultural Laboratory at the Museum.
Director, M. Decaisne.
('0.) Laboratory for teaching Botany at the Sorbonne.
Director, M. Duchartre.
(w) Laboratory of Physical and Chemical Geology at
the College de France.
Director, M. Elie de
deceased).
(an) Geological Laboratory at the Sorbonne.
Director, M. Hebert.
(1y) Geological Laboratory at Lille.
Director, M. Gosselet.
The fourth division consists of institutions for the study of
historical and philological subjects, which are beyond the scope
of this Report.
How far the laboratories in this imposing list are made use of
by French students of science it is difficult to determine, but
the opinions of M. Lauth, quoted in another part of our report,
lead to the conclusion that for chemistry at least, there is much
to be desired in this respect. However this may be, there can be
no doubt that the foundation of these Ecoles by the Government
has been amply repaid, if in no other direction, by the magniﬁcent
series of researches by Pasteur, for which he now receives a Govern-
ment subsidy of 1,0001. per annum. Commencing these most
important researches many years ago with a critical examination
of the phenomena of fermentation, Pasteur extended them to the
investigation of the nature and mode of action of the minute
organisms which cause many varieties of epidemic disease in the
vegetable as well as in the animal world. He taught the brewer
why his beer frequently turns sour, and how to enable him to
keep it good; he showed the wine-grower how to prevent the
fermentations to which wine is subject ; next, turning his
attention to the fatal disease which was killing all the silkworms
in France and Italy, he indicated the cause of the complaint, and
enabled the silk-grower to avoid the evil. Again his powers of
exact observation were called in by the Government to combat
the fatal disease known as anthrax, which was destroying the
cattle and sheep in France to the number of 15 million per
annum. By a happy discovery, Pasteur was able to check if not
altogether to eradicate this pest. He found that by a certain
method of culture, the poisonous character of the minute organism
which is the active cause of the disease, can be so attenuated that
it may be used to inoculate the healthy animal without producing
any evil effects; and the animals thus inoculated are by this
means rendered insusceptible of taking the disease in its aggra-
vated form. By similar means he was likewise able to prevent
the spread of a disease which attacks poultry and is termed
chicken cholera; and at present Pasteur and others, including a
commission of German men of science, under Dr. Koch, of Berlin,
are engaged in an inquiry as to whether Asiatic cholera may not
Beaumont (lately
nnrdnr. 223
{5
yield to a similar treatment. A similar investigation appears
to have led Dr. Friere, of Rio de J aneiro, to the discovery of the
speciﬁc poison of the yellow fever, a discovery which points to a
possible remedy for this virulent disease.

ON THE INFLUENCE OF TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION ON CERTAIN
BRANCHES OF CHEMICAL INDUSTRY.
We have here collected our notes on certain special industries,
viz., 1, chemical colours; 2; beet sugar; and 3, the alkali trade,
upon which the inﬂuence of technical education is plainly
observable.
I.—-Inﬂnence of Technical Training on ‘the Chemical Colour
I ndnstry of Germany and Switzerland.
Among the coal-tar colour works visited by the (Jommis- Colour works-
sioners, were those erected on the banks of the Rhine, at Basle, of: Messrs.
by Messrs. Bindschedler and Busch. These works, though far Blgdgclfegler
less extensive than those of Messrs. Meister, Lucius, and an ‘be '
Briining, at Hiichst, or of the Baden Aniline and Soda Works,
at Ludwigshafen, are carried on in a no less scientiﬁc spirit, and
the general method of working adopted. in all these establish=
ments is identical.
The ﬁrst principle which guides the commercial heads of all Employment
the Continental colour works, is the absolute necessity of having 0f highly
highly-trained scientiﬁc chemists, not only at the head of the 5:13;?“
works, but at the head of every department of the works where
a special manufacture is being carried on. In this respect this
method of working stands in absolute contrast to that too often
adopted in chemical Works in this country, where the control of
the processes is left in the hands of men whose only rule is that
of the thumb, and whose only knowledge is that bequeathed to
them by their fathers.
On entering the works of Messrs. Bindschedler and Busch, Method in
one is struck, in the ﬁrst place, with the adaptation of means which the
to ends, with the substantially~built, well-lighted, well-ventilated worgs 2:1‘;
workshops, and above all, with the all-pervading cleanliness and Con me e '
neatness. But it is not of these things that we now desire to
speak, but rather of the method by which their business is con-
ducted. 1n the ﬁrst place, then, the scientiﬁc director (Dr.
Bindschedler) is a thoroughly-educated chemist, cognisant of,
and able to make use of the discoveries emanating from the
various scientiﬁc laboratories of the world. Under him are
three scientiﬁc chemists, to each of whom is entrusted one of
the three main departments into which the works are divided.
Each of these head chemists, who have in this instance enj oyed Training of
a thorough training in the Zurich Polytechnic, has several heads of
assistant chemists placed under him, and all these are gentlemen departments.
224 ROYAL CoMMIssIoN 0N TECHNICAL INsTRUcTIoN: ,
l‘en chemical
laboratories.
Scientiﬁc
library.
Mode in which
new scientiﬁc
discoveries are
worked out.
p
who have had a theoretical education in either a German
University or in a Polytechnic School. An important part of
the system has now to be noticed, viz., that directly under these
scientiﬁc assistants come the common workmen, who have, of
course, no knowledge whatever of scientiﬁc principles, and who
are, in fact, simple machines, acting under the will of a superior
intelligence. The many and great advantages of this arrange-
ment are patent to all; and the fact of having men of education
and reﬁnement in positions of the kind, renders the foreign manu-
facturer who adopts this system less liable to annoyance and loss
(from sources which we need not more nearly specify) than his
English competitor, who works on a different plan.
So much for the personal of the Works. N ow for the mode
in which they carry on their work. To begin at the beginning,
we ﬁnd no less than ten well-equipped, airy, experimental
laboratories in these works, perfectly distinct from the work-
shops where the manufacturing processes are carried on. In
these ten laboratories, the chief departmental Chemists and their
assistants work out their investigations respecting the produc-
tion of new colouring matters, or the more economic manufacture
of old ones. To assist them in their work, a complete scientiﬁc
library is at hand, containing all the newest researches, for these,
as we have said, form the material out of which the colour-
chemist builds up his manufacture, and no sooner do the results
appear of a perhaps purely scientiﬁc research which may possibly
yield practical issues, than the works-chemist seizes on them and
repeats these experiments, modifying and’ altering them so as
at last to bring them within the charmed circle of ﬁnancial
success.
Thanks to Dr. Bindschedler, we are able to quote a specially
representative case, and a clear description of one such case is
worth a host of generalities. Through the original investiga-
tions of Messrs. Emil and Otto Fischer, the attention of ‘the _
manufacturer was drawn to the leuco or colourless base obtained
by the action of benzaldehyde on dimethylaniline, inasmuch as
they stated that the salts of these colourless bases become green
on exposure to air. Founded on these Observations, an en-
deavour was made to effect the practical manufacture of a green
colouring matter by oxidation of these colourless bodies. In
order to attain the desired end, the following investigations had
to be made by the chemist and his assistants who were to
conduct the operations :— '
(1.) A cheap method had to be found for manufacturing
benzaldehyde.
(2.) A proﬁtable mode of making the leuco-base had to be
worked out.
(3.) The proper oxidising agents and their best method of
application had to be determined.
(41.) The best method of purifying and of crystallizing the
green colouring matter had to be discovered.
REPORT. 225
The laboratory experiments on the above points having proved Lamim'yts
so far successful as to give prospects of good results, operations :2 3113322,,
on a somewhat larger scale were started, and these yielding a by work on_a
satisfactory issue, the manufacture proper of the colouring gz‘ilgfactmng
matter, now well known as malachite green, on the technical '
scale was commenced ; all the operations being watched by, and
constantly being under the control of the chemists. But even
now their scientiﬁc work is by no means ended. Continuous
laboratory experiments go on for the purpose of ﬁnding improve-
ments in the mode of manufacture. Thus, for example, the
improved yield, both as to quality and quantity, of the benzal-
dehyde is a matter of investigation. Again, the synthetic pro-
duction of the pure leuco-base by a more direct process is sought
for, so as to get rid of loss in working, and to obtain a yield as
close as possible to that pointed out by theory. In the same
way improvements in the materials used for oxidation, and in
their application, are made, so as to effect the oxidation quanti-
tatively, without the formation of by-products. Lastly, the
action of various solvents is examined, so as to obtain the best
form of the crystallized colouring matter. As indicating the
value of these improvements made after the colour became a
. marketable article, it is only necessary to state that the price of
the crystallized-oxalate has been reduced from 2t. to ll. 4s. per
kilo.
The foregoing may serve to give a picture of a really scientiﬁ- A111 the g1‘?
cally-conducted works, where each step in advance is made g‘i’v‘g‘inlﬁgyf‘
systematically, as the result of a well-devised plan of operations. ment to
This is, indeed, the only means of progress, and this fact is so ngmefotgs
well recognised in Germany that each of the much larger colour- c emls "
works at Hochst and Ludwigshafen possesses a staff of from 30
to 410 well paid and thoroughly trained chemists to conduct
their operations. But we are, of course, far from believing that
because the methods adopted in these foreign colour-works are
scientiﬁc and productive of good, those made use of in all
English works must therefore be unscientiﬁc and bad. Taking
the whole applications of chemical science we may, no doubt,
with truth say that the English industrial chemists have been
at least as successful commercially, and certainly as productive
in new and important discoveries, as their Continental rivals.
The Germans and Swiss, however, have been and still are dis-
tinctly before us, not only in the facilities which they possess
of obtaining the highest technical training in their numerous
Universities and Polytechnic Schools, but what is even more to
the point, before us in the general recognition of the value and
importance of such training for the successful prosecution of any
branch of applied science.
The following statistics give some idea of the magnitude of gol'ks the colour works of Messrs. Meister, Lucius, &. Co. at Ho'chst, tefssﬁfl'cfuglz
- 9 9
near Frankfort. referred to above, and founded 1n 1862. Co. at Hochst.
R1 1726. 1.
226 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
The establishments occupy an area of 150 acres, of which
20 are covered with buildings. The staff includes 51 scientiﬁc
chemists, 50 foremen, 15 managers and engineers, and 77 clerks
and commercial men, with 1,400 workpeople. The works
possesses its own railways, 41 boilers, with a heating surface of
4,000 square yards, and 71 meters, either steam, water, or gas~
engines. The workmen and officials are domiciled in houses
belonging to the company, and restaurants, baths, sick clubs,
and pension funds have been established for the good of the
employés. There is also a ﬁre-brigade with 5 hand-engines,
and one steam ﬁre-engine. The total supply of water, from
145 ﬁre-cocks, amounts to 30,000 cubic feet per hour.
‘Manufactured In 1882 the products of these works amounted to :—
products in 0 _ .
1882. (1.) 6,600,000 lbs. weight of ahzarme.
(2.) 2,200,000 ,, aniline oil.
(3.) 1,540,000 ,, aniline,resorcin, and napthol.
Colours.
Colours. &c. The following are the separate products classed together under
the last head :—
Aniline and aniline salts.
Fuchsine (no arsenic acid is used in its preparation).
Methyl violet.
Green and blue colours.
Eosin colours.
Napthol colours.
Alizarine and artiﬁcial indigo.
Quinolin derivative (kairin a new substitute for
quinine).
Acids.
Raw Product-q The most important raw materials employed in manufacturing
used‘ the foregoing products are as follows :—
40,000 tons coal.
3,000 ,, tar products.
2,400 ,, caustic soda.
400 ,, potash salts.
2,900 ,, carbonate of soda.
17,400 ,, sulphuric acid.
10,100 ,, various other acids.
1,500 iron borings and ﬁlings.
250 ,, wood spirit and spirits of wine.
1,000 ,, various chemicals.
6,800 ,, common salt.
2,050 ,, carbonate of lime.
\l
\I
' Acids are The whole of the sulphuric, hydrochloric, and nitric acids used,
manufactured is made on the Works,
on works.
From about 70 to 80 per cent. of all the aniline colours manu-
factured are exported, the remainder used in Germany.
nnronr. ' 227
About 90 per cent. of the total make of alizarine is exported Exports-
chieﬂy to England, but considerable quantities ﬁnd their way to
America, Russia, France, Holland, Spain, and Italy.
One of the most recent and most interesting additions to the Manufacture
above list of products is a derivative of quinolin, termed kairin, Olfka 111?:
lately discovered by Emil Fischer. This substance, which is now a a’ 01 '
being made at Hﬁchst at the rate of about 22 lbs. daily, has
been shown to possess important febrifuge properties, even
exceeding quinine in activity, and it is not impossible that this
artiﬁcial product obtained from coal-tar may be the means of
supplanting altogether the natural alkaloid. The importance
of this discovery, should it serve the above purpose, can of course
hardly be overrated, and it will then add another and most
striking example to the numerous ones which already exist, of
the immense importance to the human race of researches in
purely scientiﬁc organic chemistry, which, at one time, appeared
to have no practical value or possible application. It may,
therefore, serve again to point the moral, which cannot be too
strongly insisted upon, that it is only by the highest and most
elaborate achievements of pure scientiﬁc investigation that the
greatest practical advantages to mankind can be secured.
IL—Influcnce of Technical Training on the Beet-sugar
Manufacture.
Probably no more striking illustration of the rise of a success- Manufacture
ful and most important industry depending upon the application ofbeet Sugar‘
of the scientiﬁc principles of engineering and chemistry can be
found than in the Continental beetroot sugar manufacture. The
increase in the consumption of sugar in this country has been
very great. In 1843 it amounted to 200,000 tons; this ﬁgure
was doubled in 1854; in 1874 it reached 850,000 tons, and in
1882 1,000,000 tons of sugar were consumed in the United
Kingdom. Of these quantities in 1870, 165,000 tons consisted
of beetroot sugar, whilst in 1882 the total was over 400,000
tons, valued at 10,000,000l. The whole of this amount is im-
ported from Belgium, France, and Germany, as no beetroot sugar
is manufactured in this country.
To show the extent and growth of the Continental industry growth ofthe
' - . . ontmental
m a small country, we may clte the case of Belgium, with 2. industry
population of 5,600,000. In 1846 the area under cultivation
for beetroot was only 5,421 acres; in 1866 this was increased
to 44,480 acres, and in 1882 to 86,490 acres. The quantities of
raw beet-sugar manufactured in Belgium were in 1880-81
68,000; in 1881-82 73,000; and in 1883 probably 80,000 tons
were manufactured in 156 works; that is, about one ton of B t M.
sugar is obtained from one acre of beetroot crop. In France and 1513313 giggle‘,
Germany the area of beet crop and the consequent production of and Germany.
sugar is very much larger. The processes of extraction and
puriﬁcation of sugar from beet are complicated and delicate,
P2
‘228 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Importance of
systematic
analysis of the
juice.
Employment
of the strontia
process.
Cultivation of
beet root in
the United
Kingdom.
Acreage
needed to grow
the amount of
imported beet
sugar.
requiring both scientiﬁc knowledge and capital, as the plant
necessary for working up the juice into reﬁned sugar is of a very
costly character, and the operations require careful and scientiﬁc
handling in order to ensure success. The juice contains not only
sugar crystallizable and uncrystallizable, but also a consider-
able quantity of inorganic salts and organic substances other
than sugar, and the presence of these latter ingredients prevent
a large portion of the sugar from crystallizing, and therefore
require to be removed. This removal of the injurious con-
stituents can only be effected when an exact analysis of the
juice and of the sugar has been made, and this must be done at
each stage of the operation, so that the mode of working shall
be properly regulated, and such an investigation is a somewhat
complicated process, needing skilled chemical knowledge. The
quantity of sugar which is rendered uncrystallizable by the
presence of inorganic salts or ash is about ﬁve times the weight
of the ash.
In order to obtain the sugar which would otherwise be thus lost,
many processes have been adopted, and of these that involving
the use of strontia is the most recent. This method was
secretly worked for some years in certain works in Germany,
but it has now been generally adopted under the patent of
Dr. Scheibler, chemist to the Beetroot Sugar Institution. By
the use of the strontia process large proﬁts have been made, and
the plan has been successfully introduced into France and
Belgium. The Continental beetroot sugar manufacture, partly
of course in consequence of the Government bounties, has been
a very proﬁtable one; annual dividends as high as 100 per cent.
having been paid by some sugar-mills. It would seem, how-
ever, that owing to the great increase in the number of these
establishments, the trade has seen its best days.
The question of the cultivation of sugar beet in the United
Kingdom, and especially in Ireland, though it has received a
certain amount of attention in various quarters, has not come
to any practical issue. About 1850 Lord Clarendon, then the
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, ordered an official inquiry on the
subject of the growth of beetroot in that country, and the results
of that inquiry, presented to Parliament in 1852, showed that,
78 per cent. of the beets grown in Ireland were rich enough in
sugar to be worked, whilst the corresponding amounts for
England and Belgium were 75 and '70 per cent. respectively,
At that time the West India sugar had the command of the
market; the sugar trade has, however, since that date been
revolutionized, but no step has yet been taken by agrieulturists
and capitalists to commence the growth of sugar beet and the
manufacture of beet sugar in this country. To produce the
400,000 tons of beet sugar now imported from the continent
we should need as many acres, but as the beet crop is taken
only every three years the total acreage required would be
nnronr. 229
1,200,000. A large proportion of this, if not the whole of it, could
be found in Ireland, and there can be no doubt that the intro-
duction of such an industry would do much to improve the
general agriculture of that country.*
[For further information on the Belgian Beet Sugar Industry,
sec paper by M Melin of Wanze, read before the Liege meeting
of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, 1883.]
III.-———I’I’Lﬂ’lb€’l’l06 of Technical Training on the Alkali
Manufacture.
The beneﬁcial action of high scientiﬁc and technical training Continental
upon the chemical colour and beet- sugar industries, having thus and English
been shown, it becomes of interest to examine the effects of alkah works‘
such education on another no less important branch of chemical
manufacture, viz., the alkali trade, and in this instance the
comparison of the relative position of the continental and
English works is by no means all in favour of the former.
In the ﬁrst place, as regards the workmen themselves, it
may be truly said that in no country does any real amount
of scientiﬁc education reach the ordinary workmen in alkali
works who are rather labourers than artizans. Moreover, the Education of
foremen, both in this country and abroad, are almost in- the ordinary
variably men who entered the works either as laboratory workmell'
boys or as ordinary workmen, and who have risen by virtue of
industry and native intelligence, but who have had no scientiﬁc
training beyond that afforded by the occupation in which they
have been engiged. So far, therefore, as the education of the
workmen employed in alkali Works is concerned, the foreigner
‘has no advantage over us, nor have we any over the foreigner.
In the case of the managers and proprietors the matter is, of
course, different. On the Continent nearly every manager of a
soda works is a man of a very high degree of scientiﬁc attain- Education of
ment,-a highly trained engineer, and a highly trained chemist. Eigiiggsrind
An English manager, one at least of the older school, on the
other hand, is scarcely ever a man who has had a similar training
to that of continental managers before they enter upon the
duties of management. The continental alkali makers are men
of wider knowledge and of more extended scientiﬁc attainments
than their English brethren. Thus, whilst probably none of our
English alkali makers could discuss the chemistry of the latest
organic colouring matter, nearly all the continental masters are
able to do so. But in the opinion of those best qualiﬁed to judge,
and speaking of course of the managers of the ﬁrst class works
in each case, there is no doubt that the English alkali makers
are just as well acquainted with the scientiﬁc bearings and

* The sugar factory of Mr. Duncan, established some years ago at Lavenham, and
which was not successful, is about to be reopened. The use of strontia and other
improvements in the manufacture, together with lower railway charges on the roots.
encourage the new proprietors to anticipate better results.
230 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
All the more
prominent
improvements
on the
Leblanc process
have been
discovered
in England.
Foreign alkali
Works do not
owe their
position to
technical
education.
Provincial and
art museums in
this country
still in their
infancy.
relations of their own manufacture as their continental rivals.
Nor is the foreigner a better alkali maker than the Englishman,
for even in cases in which the former obtains better results than
are usual in this country, as regards economy of fuel and raw
material, the cause is to be sought rather in the fact that his
cheaper labour permits him, and his dearer fuel and raw
material compels him, to do what dear labour and cheap fuel
and material absolutely forbid to the English alkali maker, than
in any superiority in scientiﬁc training of the one over the
other. It certainly cannot be said that the English soda industry
suffers in comparison with that of the Continent, owing to
the want of scientiﬁc knowledge on the part of those who
conduct it. Men of the highest talent and most eminent for
their scientiﬁc knowledge are found in all our large alkali
works, and it is a'remarkable fact that with one or two excep-
tions, everything in the way of important improvements in the
alkali manufacture by the Leblanc process, has originated in
England. Hydrochloric acid condensing towers, revolving black
ash furnaces, Glover-towers, mechanical calcining furnaces,
mechanical salt-cake furnaces; plus-press furnaces, and last
but not least, the Weldon plant; each one of these English
improvements marks an era in the alkali manufacture, and has
been at once adopted as a necessity by all manufacturers.
Even the well-known ammonia-soda process, ﬁrst successfully
Worked in Belgium, is chemically an English invention (Dyer
and Hemming), though made industrial by a Belgian (Solvay).
No less remarkable is it that, certainly often in England, and
in some cases'abroad, those men who have made the most
important improvements or discoveries in the alkali manufacture
have been self-taught, proving the truth of the axiom that a‘
scientiﬁc education cannot stand in place of natural sagacity
and workshop training.
It is the opinion of those intimately acquainted with the
present condition and future prospects of the alkali trade, both
at home and abroad, that such differences as exist between the
results obtained on the Continent and at home, are due to dif-
ferences of national character and local circumstances rather
than to a superiority of scientiﬁc education, and it may be
questioned whether many continental alkali works could survive
in face of English competition, if the import duties by which
they are at present protected were abolished.
ART SCHOOLS, GALLERIES, AND MUSEUMS.
The question of providing museums of art and industrial
objects for provincial towns, is still almost in its infancy in this
country.
recently Manchester, have established promising art galleries; and
in other large towns also some interesting collections exist, there
is as yet no provision of this sort at all comparable with the
And though Birmingham, Liverpool, Nottingham, and“
REPORT. 231
amply furnished museums and galleries possessed by many
provincial towns on the Continent, especially in France.
It cannot be disputed that to the inﬂuence of these collections,
and to the direct bearing they have on art and industrial training,
is due much of that abundance of art resource which is so
advantageous to many French industries and manufactures.
Though we can scarcely hope to obtain in our provincial towns
within an early date, such collections of rare pictures as have been
acquired in some foreign towns through the inﬂuence of old tradi-
tions and special causes of distribution, much is possible for us,
in the direction both of augmenting our present resources and of
bringing them to bear with greater effect on our art manu-
factures, and in vastly increasing the artistic power of our skilled
artizans.
In the case of France, which stands at the head of artistically
educated countries, the provincial museums have been largely
assisted by the State, both by money and by contributions of
pictures and other objects. The surplus stores of the Louvre are
freely given to such galleries, and the supply of good copies and
casts for the art schools is administered with a lavish hand.
It would, however, be erroneous to suppose that foreign provincial
galleries lean entirely on the support of the Central Government.
The magniﬁcent gifts and bequests of private individuals to the
galleries of Limoges, Montpellier, Dijon, Nancy, Lille, and other
towns, bear witness to the fact that local effort and enterprise are
by no means exclusively British virtues, and they prove also the
high value which the presence of a local gallery has, in stimulating
the taste and attracting the muniﬁcence of the inhabitants.
At Limoges the splendid collection of enamels and pottery,
nearly all due to private gifts, has a direct and most valuable
bearing on the local porcelain industry. The Art School is under
the same roof as the Museum, and at this school some 1,200
students, chieﬂy of the artizan class, receive gratuitously a sound
technical instruction, not only in the principles of decorative art,
but also in the direct and practical application of art to the chief
manufactures of the town. The same may be said in some
degree of Tours, where the Museum and Picture Gallery are in
direct connection with the Art School, and the teaching is adjusted
to help skilled industry as well as to give a pure art training. The
public art schools of Lyons also, while holding a high position as
centres of pure art teaching, do very much to serve the local
designing; and the collection of artistic fabrics, and of drawings
and designs connected with the silk trade, forcibly illustrates the
value of local effort and management in advancing the interest of
special artistic industries.
The porcelain painting of Nantes, and the glass painting of
Angers, owe very much to the direct teaching of their art schools,
and to the admirable illustrative collections they possess.
It may be broadly asserted that every French provincial capital
possesses not only an efficient school of art, but a picture
Inﬂuence of
similar
museums on
continental
industries.
Provincial
museums in
France.
Limoges Art
School and
Museum .
Art schools and
museums exist
in every
232 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
,x
French gallery and museum, either of industrial or antiquarian interest,
Igfgglfml and also a good library. Nor is, it found that these influences
' tend mainly to the creation of picture painters. “ That depart~
ment of art is not specially encouraged, the main function and
utility of their art teaching being in its application to local trades
and industries.
Control and As the State joins with the local municipal body both in
2311331116“ .01? providing the budget and in supplying the art collections for
cums 111 0 . . " .
France, provincial gallerles and art schools In France, so the control and
management of these institutions are of the same joint character.
The State appoints certain leading oﬂicials and directors, while all
matters of detail are conducted generally by the mayor and a
small committee of management. It seems a very useful and even
high view of the duties of a municipality that its resources and
inﬂuence should be thus applied to the advancement of art; and
so much is this obligation recognised in France that the museum
and gallery are now well established provincial institutions ; some
are of high value, others, perhaps, are of less worth, but all
tend to an elevation of taste and industrial skill.
Libemstate Special notice is due to the abundance and excellence of the
grants made for casts and models in nearly all the French art schools and academics.
gigtfegnd These are freely and gratuitously supplied by the State, and no
' request for them is ever refused by the central authorities. The
prominence given to modelling in all the French State-supported
schools is a feature of marked value, and contrasts forcibly with the
meagre attention bestowed on that essential branch of art teaching
in our own schools. Though the provincial art training of France
is mainly directed to industrial ends, very ample provision is
made in all the chief schools for the transference of promising
pupils to complete their studies at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in
Paris at the public expense.
Cermanartand In many of the principal towns of Germany we found also
excellent and well arranged art museums, some of them occupying
‘ the same buildings as the Schools of Art. This was the case at
Berlin, where, chieﬂy owing to the efforts of the Crown Princess
of Germany, an admirable Museum of Works of Art has been
brought together, on the model of the Museum at South
Kensington, its avowed prototype. This museum contains ﬁne
collections of pottery, porcelain, enamels, metal-work, textiles,
wood carvings, and decorative art workmanship. It has been
arranged with special reference to the use of the art students, but
it is freely opened to the public for study and recreation.
Vienna At Vienna there is likewise a close and intimate connection
Mme‘m" between the school and the museum, and the admirable collections
of ornamental art have been largely acquired with the view of
aiding and supplementing the teaching of the professors in the
art schools, which are conducted in the same building.
Dresden The Museum of Industrial Art at Dresden is a model of the
Museum manner in which collections of art objects may serve to illustrate
REPORT. 233
and bear upon the instruction given in the schools. The collec-
tions occupy the ground ﬂoor of the building, formerly occupied by
the Polytechnic School, and the Art school is carried on in the
rooms above. Under the able direction of Professor Graff, the
students make large use of the ﬁne collections of textile fabrics,
majolica, glass, furniture, and metal work, and in a special room
in the museum has been brought together a most interesting
display of modern furniture, leather work, glass, porcelain, metal
work, textiles, and almost every description of art manufactures,
by workers in Dresden and its vicinity, from designs by the students Dresden in-
and masters of the school. This latter feature is one we did ilusmalart
. . ibrary, and
not notice elsewhere, but which appears to us to be well worthy collections,
of imitation. l/Ye should specially notice the library at this
museum, which contains many- thousands of designs for art work-
manship, mounted on cards and arranged in boxes for facility of
reference, each box consisting of some 60 or 70 sheets of designs
for some special object, thus “ chalices,” “lace,” “ book covers,” 850.
ghis section of the library alone contains above 27,000 sheets of
esigns.
At the admirable Industrial Art Museum at Nuremberg this Nuremberg
plan of arranging designs was, we believe, originated. The collec— 53:23? A“
tions at Nuremberg, though on a smaller scale than those at the '
more important towns we have already named, are very complete
and are extremely well chosen. Some art teaching is carried on
at this museum, though a completely equipped art school does not
form part of the scheme. There is a class for bronze workers
and electrotypers, and excellent practical work is done. Copies
are produced of the art objects in the museum, for distribution to
other parts of Bavaria, and some desirable exchanges have
been made with other museums. As these foreign museums
become more numerous, some larger and more extended system of
international exchanges between England and the Continent than
that already in operation may be introduced with advantage.
The Museum of Industrial Art VVorkmanship at Munich is Munich Indus-
probably the most extensive on the Continent. The collection of trial Art
textiles is very important, and though no school is, we believe, useum'
attached to the Royal Museum, every facility is given to art
students to make large and free use of the collections.
At Zurich the Commissioners found at the Industrial Art Zurich Indus-
School an excellent museum of ornamental art, collected for pur- walla“ School
poses of study. This museum has only been established for a few an useum'
years, but it is already rich in metal work and wood-carving.
In some of the smaller German towns, permanent collections of German
art workmanship are brought together in the Gewerbe Hallen or Ggﬁglbgr
Trade Halls. These are very frequent in Baden and Wurtem- Trade Hans,
berg. Together with the best examples of modern artistic work
we found displays of art-reproductions, collections of textiles, and
frequently special retrospective collections, relating to the chief
industry of the district. In the Central-Stelle at Stuttgart is an
excellent museum somewhat of this character, and in numerous
234 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
/
System of
South Kensing-
ton Loan Col-
lections un-
known on the
Continent.
Liverpool Art
Galleries and
Museums.
Manchester Art
Gallery and
Museum.
, Nottingham.
Edinburgh.
Assistance to
provincial
museums.
small towns of the Black Forest we found ﬂourishing museums,
largely aided by grants and loans from the Government collections
at Carlsruhe.

It is certain that no Continental country can boast of such an
admirable system of loan collections as that supplied by the
Science and Art Department at South Kensington, and it would
be well if even this supply, large as it now is, could be still further
increased, and the collections allowed to remain for longer
periods in the towns to which they are sent. As an example of
what may under existing conditions be achieved in this country
by means of local effort, we cannot do better than point to the’
splendid art gallery and museum at Liverpool, which is almost
entirely due to the muniﬁcence of local benefactors. The
building for the Derby Museum of Natural History, the bequest
of the Earl of Derby, valued at 50,000L, was erected by Sir
W. Brown at a cost of 40,0001, and the museum has been further
enriched by the unique collection of historical art presented by
Mr. Jos. Mayer, F.S.A. We are informed that the museum is
visited by manufacturers and artizans from the Staffordshire
Potteries, for the sake of the valuable collection of ceramic ware
which it contains. Subsequently Sir A. B. Walker erected and
presented the magniﬁcent art gallery at a cost of nearly 40,0001.
In the same group of buildings are the free library and lecture
hall. The cost of the entire block has been little short of a
quarter of a million sterling.
The public art gallery of Manchester has quite recently been
established under the powers of the Manchester Corporation Act,
1882, by which the Corporation became possessed of an old
foundation, the Royal Manchester Institution, in the building of
which the art gallery is now accommodated. The well-known
“ Bock ” collection of ancient textiles has been purchased by the
Corporation as the commencement of an Industrial Art Museum,
especially of service to designers engaged in the staple trades of
the district. We are glad to observe that the Art Gallery and
Industrial Museum are open on Sundays during the winter between
the hours of two and nine p.m., free to the public, and we learn
that they have been visited by crowds of artizans and their families ;
the number of visitors on the four Sunday afternoons ending
January 6, 1884, having been 10,308. Their conduct was without
exception exemplary, great interest being shown by the visitors in
the different works on view, particularly when the subject was
thoroughly explained to them. Nor must we forget to mention in
this connection the conversion of the castle at Nottingham into a
public museum and art gallery, likewise supported by the Corpora-
tion of that town, as well as the valuable Industrial Museum at
Edinburgh connected with the Science and Art Department.
Short of a complete re-organization of the principles on which
our national art institutions are administered, it would be difficult
to suggest a plan by which the right of large provincial centres
of industry to share the advantages of the national art treasures
REPORT. 235
and Imperial support could be fully and practically recognised;
but even under our present disjointed administration, deﬁcient
as it is in parliamentary responsibility, some more liberal
provision might be made, both in money grants and in the
premanent gift of surplus objects and reproductions, for the
endowment of provincial museums and galleries. Such gifts,
and the general character of the collections themselves, should
have special relation to the trades and industries of the various
localities; and an intimate connection should be established
between the metropolis and provincial towns in all art matters.
The small degree in which our art schools, with few exceptions,
are now contributing either to industrial or designing art, is only
too well known, and a marked change in this respect is essential
before our schools can hope to take rank with those of the
Continent in direct commercial utility. And to this aim no more
valuable accessory can he provided than that of museums well
supplied with examples bearing on the trade or industry of the
town or district, and placed, if possible, in the same building with,
or in close proximity to, the School of Art.
Municipal and other local authorities, as well as the ratepayers Municipal
at large, should be induced by every means to acknowledge and
discharge the responsibilities they are under to the community
in this respect ; and by the expansion of their powers under the
Free Libraries Act they should be enabled to make ample pro-
vision for the endowment, maintenance, and management of
museums and galleries, ﬁtted not only to supply the means of
higher artistic study and elevating recreation, but to serve directly
in the improvement and development of existing industries, and
in the acquisition of new branches of trade and employment for
the skilled workmen of our country.
CONVERSATIONS on ARTISTIC AND TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION.
THE Commissioners attended the opening of the Fine Art and
Industrial Exhibition at Nuremberg on the 15th of May 1882,
and had some interesting conversations with some of the leading
educational ofﬁcials who were present at the ceremonial. Among
these were Professor Lange, director of the Kunstgewerbe School
at Munich, and Professor Mayer, of the Kunstgewerbe School of
Nuremberg, each of whom gave important information as to the
working of the art schools of Bavaria, and their effect upon the
industries of the State. The two schools represented by these
professors are among the most important in Germany. The
Munich school (page 159) is one of the most modern in construc-
tion and arrangement, and the Nuremberg school (page 160) was
referred to by the French Commission on Technical Instruction
in 1863 as the school which had “ contributed, more than any
“ other, to the progress of the national industry ” of Germany.
It was explained to us that the entire object of the exhibition
authorities
should provide
museums.
Industrial
Exhibition at
Nuremberg,
1882.
Object of the
was to obtain as complete a picture as possible of the condition of exhibition-
Bavarian industries, and of the work of the schools by which the
‘236 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Inﬂuence of the
art schools
upon manu-
factures.
Drawing a
necessary
groundwork,
’can utilise it to their proﬁt.
industries were being promoted, so that, by comparison with what
had been exhibited in other countries, the Bavarians might see
what could be done for the improvement of their own. .A large
section of the exhibition had, therefore, been devoted exclusively
to the exhibits from technical schools of every kind, and from
all parts of the country (including schools for designing and
needlework for women), and as these exhibits from the different
schools would be examined by the teachers and promoters of
other schools, it was expected that a great stimulus would be
given to technical instruction generally.
The professors stated that the conviction is universal through-
out the country that the various art and technical schools are
exercising a most important inﬂuence upon their manufacturing
industries. In their belief, they can only meet the competition
of their rivals in their own and other countries by training their
workmen in taste and skill, and their industries will prosper in
proportion as they keep up the eﬂiciency of their schools, and
spread their inﬂuence among the workers themselves. On all
hands this movement is progressing, and they are compelled
to strain every nerve in order not to fall behind. And what
is the result? They can see a superior taste in every object
made by hand, as an outcome of these schools; and they can
now almost tell by the work, where the workman or designer
has been trained. Taste has become almost like a man’s hand-
writing, and they can recognise the man, or, at least, his school,
in his work. The great Nuremberg craftsmen of old have not
ceased to inspire their followers with some of their enthusiasm
and noble feeling, although centuries have passed since they lived
and worked in this city. The inhabitants are all proud of the
old couplet—
“ N uremberg’s hand
Goes through every land 3”
and they claim that it is no mere figure of speech. And, if the
artistic supremacy of Nuremberg is not so marked at present as
in olden times, it is because of the spread of art culture in other
communities. Other inﬂuences materially interfere with the locali-
sation of art industries. In these days of quick and easy travelling,
the fame of a school attracts students from a long distance, and
clever students belonging to the town in which a good school
is located, often ﬁnd it advantageous to remove to places less
favoured, and there sell their cultivated talent to capitalists who
Thus, not in Bavaria, or even in
Germany only, but in many other parts of Europe, are designers
and art workmen, who have been trained at the schools of
Nuremberg and Munich, who now enrich the industries of their
new homes.
The Kunstgewerbe schools of Munich and Nuremberg having
been eminently successful in the training of industrial designers
and art workmen, the professors were interrogated as to the
methods adopted in the training of their students. They insisted
REPORT. 237
that the student must ﬁrst be taught to draw thoroughly,
drawing being the language of his profession. “ The groundwork
“ of all design that is worth anything is art. If the student
has any talent or art-feeling within him, his power of drawing
will enable him to give it expression; but, without thought
and imagination, there can be no originality of design. Mere
knowledge of drawing will not make a man a good artist any
more than knowledge of language will make him a poet; but
designer and poet are helpless without the knowledge of the
language by which their art can be expressed to others.
Teachers need to study the peculiarities of their students, for
all cannot be dressed in the same clothes, or combed with
the same comb.”
When asked what were the considerations which usually HOW ‘mists
prompted artists to become designers, the professors were of ‘18'
opinion that the most effective incentive in prompting an artist u
to become an industrial designer is the pressure of necessity. All
art students are ambitious, and some are vain enough to believe that
they possess the genius of a Rubens or a Raphael; it is not the
business of a teacher to dispel these illusions from the minds of
dreamy youths; a little contact with the world does all this for
them. They have an ambition to paint pictures, and they will
paint pictures, and it is only when they ﬁnd that their pictures
cannot be sold that they turn their attention heartily to the
making of designs for furniture, wall-papers, textile fabrics, or
any other objects that come to hand.
The students are drawn from all classes of society, except OccuP
the highest. Many who go through the full three years’ courses Students‘
are the sons of small manufacturers of artistic objects. In
Germany, the proportion of men in small industries, or who have
small workshops in their own homes, is very large, as compared
with England. Many students, especially those connected with
building and out-door trades, only come in the winter, when
out-door work is often suspended. Some intend to become teachers.
and, as there are no normal schools in Bavaria for training
teachers of drawing, these high schools are, to some extent,
utilised by them. Such students are required to go through the
technical courses according to the school programme, and their
numbers—attending the Munich and Nuremberg schools—~are
really decreasing. On being asked if any students besides those
attending only in winter, support themselves while attending
the classes, Professor Lange stated that from seven to eight per
cent. of his students at Munich may be called “half-timers,”-
working outside the school a number of hours daily, often
selling their designs or work in wood carving, modelling,
glass or porcelain painting, &c., executed either in the school
or out of it. At present the number of students of the artisan
class, who have been engaged in practical work before coming to
the schools, or who do practical work out of school hours, is
increasing. Such students, in the opinion of both professors, are
238 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION 1
Bursaries.
Help from
Fortbildung
schools.
* often retained as the property of the school.
generally the most successful. They come, as a rule, after two
or three years’ work, when they have begun to feel their
deﬁciencies, and are really anxious to improve themselves. They
may have, in the ﬁrst instance, less expertness in drawing than
the schoolboy of 16 who has enjoyed continuous instruction from
his childhood, but, having had experience of practical work in
a deﬁnite trade, they know what they want to learn, and they
work with greater care and perseverance. One of the pro-
fessors, in 1876, attended a congress of professors and promoters
of design and art work, and the question was seriously discussed
as to whether, in the ﬁrst place, students should not be required
to work at some trade for about two years before coming to the
Kunstgewerbe school; and, in the second, whether appren-
tices engaged in art work should not be compelled to attend
the school also. The congress was unanimous as to the importance
of the dual principle, that the designer should know something
of practical work, and the practical workman something of design,
but could not see its way to make it compulsory. At the
Nuremberg school there are, in winter, 120 students who
earn their livelihood by day, and study art in the evening.
Some of the most valuable work in the school is executed by
these students.
As a help to the attainment of higher art instruction by poor
artisans, 64 bursaries are given by the State of Bavaria, besides
10 private exhibitions, each of about 18$. annual value, enabling
students to attend the Kunstgewerbe schools. There are also
travelling studentships, the holders of which are required to
make sketches and descriptions of what they see in their travels.
On their return, their notes and sketches are submitted to the
director of the school in which the prize was obtained, and are
We saw some of
the sketches, which were always interesting and sometimes very
clever.
The Kunstgewerbe schools of Bavaria are greatly helped by
the ordinary Fortbildung or night schools, which apprentices are
required to attend during the evenings and on Sundays. These
schools are almost invariably free; they supplement and con-
tinue the education received in the day schools, and are taken
advantage of by mi ddle-aged as well as by young men, desirous of
improvement. They are technical in the truest sense of the
word; science and drawing are taught, in their bearing upon
the industries of the students. The Fortbildung schools are
nurseries which are constantly sending earnest students to
the Kunstgewerbe schools, where their particular tastes are cul-
tivated in the direction in which they can be made most useful.
But for these intermediate schools, some of the cleverest designers
and best art workmen would never have been discovered, for they
would not have been induced to take the ﬁrst steps in art culture,
by which alone their talent was brought to light. The professors
drew our attention to the very excellent examples of modelling,
REPORT. 239
Wood-carving, and smiths’ and mechanics’ Work sent to the Exhi-
bition by several of the Fortbildung schools of Bavaria, work
which, had it been done by any provincial art school in England,
would have materially enhanced its reputation.
Although everything is done to encourage students to enter .I‘Jvgljng ctllassles
the prescribed courses of art instruction in architecture, If; argsacns‘? S
sculpture, designing, and metal and wood work, yet admission to
the schools is freely granted to those who have neither time nor
means for taking up these full courses. Evening work, for
instance, which is usually taken advantage of by artisans, is not
generally specialised so as to ﬁt the exact wants of particular
trades. It would be impossible for a teacher to do justice to a
class if each student took an independent line of his own; one
carving on wood, another lithographing, a third metal-chasing,
and so on. The classes are, therefore, held for the teaching of
art generally, as in the free evening drawing schools of Paris.
One of the professors was familiar with the French method of grelifliland
teaching, and admired it. He considered that the free use of mgfhosds of
charcoal and the stump are effective as encouraging originality, teaching
.boldness, and dexterity, but that there is a danger of precision and dramng
careful ﬁnish being sacriﬁced by this system. The South Ken- compared‘
sington method, which seemed to him to make everything sub-
servient to exact outline and careful shading, is also admirable in
its way, but, just as the French method produces carelessness, the
English method erred on the side of timidity. In Paris the
system of constant competitions, instituted for the purpose of
encouraging the students, is detrimental to the pursuit of the
higher branches of art. They may be important as stimulating
the energy and inventive faculties of slow or dull students, but
they tend to the exhaustion of the ﬁner faculties of many of the
most talented youths. “ Genius in young men ” said our
informant “needs oftener to be restrained than to be pushed
“ forward, and constant competitions encourage some of the
“ most prominent students to rush by leaps and bounds to the
“ higher realms of pictorial representation before they have
“ mastered the elementary rules of drawing and colouring.”
The importance of good examples and casts as copies, was Importance of
insisted upon by the professors. At the Munich school is an iggdcig‘émples
important collection of casts, the work of the students, and l i
used for decorating the central hall and staircase. At Nuremberg
the director was sent on an expedition many years ago to Italy
and France, with a commission to visit the chief galleries and
schools and to buy all the casts that he considered suitable for
the purposes of this school.
011 being asked as to the inﬂuence of picture galleries, the Inﬂuence of
professors considered that picture galleries and museums, fur— félfitélsl'e gal‘
nished with original works or copies from the best masters, are '
as necessary for the cultivation of art as libraries are for the
cultivation of literature. They materially assist in cultivating
24*0 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
and shaping the taste of designers, and elevate the taste of
buyers. Good work is thrown away upon people who cannot
appreciate it, while bad work is offensive to persons of educated
tastes. Picture galleries are therefore useful as well as enjoyable
places of resort to all classes in an industrial community.
Apprenticeship Our informant had a word to say on the apprenticeship system.
System Modern civilization had almost crushed it out. In olden times
every workshop was a school, and the “ werkmeister” was an
artist as well as a handicraftsman. The apprentice went through
his course of seven years’ apprenticeship and learned every detail
of his master’s business. All this has now changed, the work-
man is ceasing to learn his trade. What with the exigencies of
the military system, and the increasing division of labour, the
training of the workman in the old-fashioned way is impossible;
he may learn a part of a trade in the workshop, but he seldom
learns the whole of it. It is therefore all the more important
that the school should step in and supply, as far as possible, the
defects of our industrial system. Each trade has its theoretical
as well as its practical side, and, considering that the workshop
does less for the training of the apprentice than before, it is
necessary that the school should do its part as thoroughly and
systematically as possible. These schools represent the faith
of the people, expressed on all hands, and supported by daily
experience, that taste is one of the most important factors in
industry. From nearly every trade the cry comes for more
taste, more skill. It is not now a mere sentiment, that
prompts governments and municipalities to make great sacriﬁces
for these schools. They feel that the 'prosperity of their in-
dustries depends entirely upon the cheapness and attractiveness
of their productions, and although the workshop may do some-
thing for the former, the latter depends upon the taste and
skill of employer, foreman, or artisan. As practical evidences
of their success, these gentlemen conducted us over some depart-
ments of the Exhibition, in which the inﬂuence of their schools
upon the workmanship of countless objects of manufacture was
unmistakeable.
Umlverslttivn The I Industrial Art School, Dresden—The Director, Professor
3113153552223: Graft‘, only admits advanced students, and declines to teach
Ogthe’ Indus- elementary work, for which there are many other schools in
trialArtSchool, the city. The number of students is therefore comparatively
Dresden small, being 106 in winter and 96 in summer. In addition to
these, there ale from 70 to 80 who attend only in the evenings.
The State provides 16 bursaries for poor students, who have
gratuitous instruction, and grants for maintenance during their
attendance at school.
Training of Professor Graff has had the advantage of a varied literary,
Dil'ectol" scientiﬁc, and artistic training. He attended the University and
the Polytechnic school, and afterwards went through a course
of study in the Academy of Arts of Berlin. He is a professional
REPORT. 241
,designer for metal Work, porcelain, furniture, and cabinet wares,
textlles, wall papers, 810., so that he combines a knowledge of
pure art with its practical applications.
Contrary to many of the authorities with whom we conversed, No trade work
he does not favour the introduction of workshops into the school, fgmzg ‘$111
and we did not see the application of any of the practical e s 0 '
designs to industries in his school, His view is that the school
‘should do its own work, which is to teach design, and should
not trench on the workshop. Once begin to make the object
designed, in the school, and the character of the school is changed.
Certain applied arts, such as goldsmiths’ work, metal chasing,
ivory carving, &c., may be carried on in schools of this character,
but the elaborate execution of textiles, colour printing, furniture,
pottery, cast and wrought-iron, stone work, 820., cannot be
introduced without expensive machinery and extensive space.
\Ve state this opinion without adopting it; the examples of
Nuremberg, Munich, and Vienna, tell altogether on the other
side of the question.
Professor Gratf said that his instruction was not of so circum-
scribed a character as that of some of the best French schools,
where the teaching of design is not carried to the stage to
which it is in the Dresden school; the principles of design only
being taught in the former without reference to the material in
which the designs will have to be executed. He claims that
few, if any, schools in Germany, are supplying to the various
industries so many complete designs for high-class work as that
of Dresden.
In comparing the Kunstgewerbe school of Dresden with those, System of
say, of Munich, Nuremberg, and Vienna, Professor Graft‘ explained teaching-
that, while the latter teach the students to design, and in
several of their departments to work out their designs in
materials ready for the market; in the Dresden schoo, the design
only is made, and the application of the design to the material
in which it is to be executed is left entirely for the workshop
or factory.
New industries have been started entirely through the Foundation
inﬂuence of this school, decaying ones have been revived, his 9f newer‘;
pupils are to be. found in superior positions in many of the Indusmes'
leading works in Saxony. He conducted us to a shop in the
town where we were shown an extensive assortment of brass,
bronze, leather work, and various articles, peculiar, as we had
thought before, to Paris and Vienna, the designs for which had
been supplied by the school. Formerly all the lace designs
used by the large and small manufacturers in Saxony came
from Paris or Belgium. Most of the designs are now, according
to Professor Graff’s account, supplied by this school, or by
students who have gone through its classes. Trimmings for
apparel, 850., are also designed, and a large furniture-making
Ri 1726. Q
2412 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Designs made
for sale.
Conversation
with Professor
E. Ewald, di-
rector of the
Kunstschule,
Berlin.
Berlin and
South Ken~
sington com-
pared.
Professor
Ewald on
methods of
teaching
applied art.
establishment in the town, like some of the other manufactories...
receives its deslgns from the school. .
The pupils are usually able to draw fairly well when they
come to the school, and they take up practical designing as early
as possible, with a view to earningalivelihood. Not unfrequently
as much as M. or 5L is obtained by the pupils for a pattern.
Some of the students take advantage of the assistance of their
teachers in selling the designs they make, rather than accept
situations in which their scope of action would be limited,
and their opportunities of further tuition cut off. The director’s
room was a museum of designs for a great variety of purposes.
He showed us patterns for lace, textiles, pattern cards, orna-
mental Christmas, birthday, and menu cards, designs for porcelain,
bronze, brass, and goldsmiths’ work, all either sold or made
for sale, and either the work of students, or of students and
teachers combined.
Berlin Royal School of Art—Professor Ewald informed the
Commissioners that the Art and Industrial Museum, to which
the school is attached, was founded by a private society, and is
now supported by the State. The institution has been assi-
duously promoted by the Crown Princess of Germany, who
has striven to make it like the museum at South Kensington.
In some departments this museum was fully up to the standard
of South Kensington, both as to quality and quantity, notably in
pottery and glass, and probably also in metal work.
There is one striking difference between this school and that
of South Kensington (which latter Professor Ewald has carefully
studied). The Berlin school has no provincial schools con-
nected with it as South Kensington has. He is of opinion
that the English art system, with its great central school at
South Kensington, training and sending out teachers, examining
works, supplying copies, art examples, and advice, to the
provincial schools, is an admirable organisation, and much before
anything of the kind in Germany. He referred in ﬂattering
terms to the artistic progress made by England since the South
Kensington system has been started ; and, bearing in mind the
low position of industrial art in England 30 years ago, he thinks
that no country in Europe has made such marked advances.
Germany has, in his opinion, much to learn from England.
As to methods of study, his opinion coincided with that
of many other professors. In the training of a designer,
the most important task of the teacher is to ingraft in the
student’s mind a knowledge and love of pure art, which forms
the basis of all applied art. Teach drawing, or art pure and
simple, in the ﬁrst instance, without heeding the predilections of
the student, because, the more thoroughly students are grounded
in the knowledge of form, colour, &c., the more proﬁciently will
_ they be able to turn their knowledge to useful account after-
wards, and the less likely will they be to be led astray when
REPORT. 243
they have to apply artistic principles to industrial purposes.
For workers in, wood, stone, and the decorative arts, it is
impossible to attach too great an importance to modelling. The
school has trained many successful designers, who are distributed
over a number of manufactories in the city and in other places,
and designs made by students attending the school are- 6ften sold
to manufacturers. As to the separation of the school from the Relation of
workshop, Professor Ewald was of opinion that, where art $22,111:);
manufactures are in an advanced state, the application of art training
industry may safely be left to the workshop. Given your §h°¥1d differ
artistic student, whether intended for a designer or a workman, 311111322?“
the workshop will give him all the opportunities necessary for
the exercise of his knowledge, and he will ﬁnd new ideas and
inspiration from sources of his own selection, and apply them in
his own way; but, where taste is low, and manufactures unde-
veleped, he thinks it justiﬁable for the State not only to teach
art, but also its application to manufactures. The ﬁrst object of
all who are interested in the higher culture of Prussia is to
stimulate taste. It needs to be very extensively cultivated, not
by the manufacturers only, but also by the public, and therefore,
although he would prefer to leave the applications of design
and art workmanship to the workshops themselves, he would
for the present adopt a different course, teach drawing in all
schools, carry it forward to as advanced a stage as possible in
the direction of designing, and would then apply it, as at
Munich and Nuremberg, to the actual work to be done.
The professor spoke of art education generally, as having been Art Education
at a low ebb in Berlin. It had not received anything like in Berlin-
due attention in the past. While scientiﬁc and general education
had been extensively and enthusiastically promoted, art educa-
tion had been neglected. The consequence was what might
have been expected. In such works as require artistic design,
the important posts had been held by foreigners, or the industries
had languished. People then began to say that the Prussians
were devoid of artistic sentiment ; they had no taste. His opinion
was that they had not been artistic because they had not studied
art. They had not been charged with being unscientiﬁc, because
such a charge could not be made. And why ? Because they had
studied science. The past neglect of art. instruction in Berlin
had undoubtedly affected adversely the local industries. When
asked, how about calico printing, the professor replied, “ Calico
printing is dead in Berlin. It has gone to Alsace.”
Instruct/ion of the Apprentices at the Royal Porcelain Factory, Mr. Sussmann
Oha'rlottc'nbe'rg, Berlin—In going over the Royal Porcelain Heilbwn-
Factory, the director expressed his views on the teaching of art
to apprentices. The method adopted at the royal porcelain
works at Sevres is to have a school for apprentices within the
works, where the teaching is specialised and made as technical as
possible in its character. The apprentices at Charlottenberg, of
Q2
24345 ROYAL COMMISSION on TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Comparison
of the method
of teaching at
Sevres and at
Berlin.
Kunstgewerbe
School,Vienna.
Conversations
with Professors
R. M. Belf
(director),
Herdtle,
Storck, Klotz,
&c.
Lace designing.
A decaying
lace industry
revived.
whom there are 20, do not receive lessons in drawing in the
works, but attend the classes at the Kunstschule in Berlin. Their
fees are paid out of the funds of the works, and the course of
their instruction is arranged by the director of the works and the
director of the school. They do not all attend at the same time,
some go by day, others in the evening, and some attend the
Sunday classes, the times being arranged so as to suit the
convenience and abilities of the apprentices. It is mainly pure
art that is taught, but also the application of the same to the
modelling and painting of porcelain.
The director considers that the students receive a valuable
training at the school, which materially helps them at their
work. Although apprentices are selected because of their
taste and superior knowledge of drawing and modelling, their
art education only seriously begins when their inventiveness in
design and workmanship is tested by its money value upon the
objects produced. It is then that their faculties and enthusiasm
become quickened, and power and motive are given to their
efforts. If the 20 apprentices were taught at the works, masters
of varied requirements and abilities would be necessary, and
their employment would largely increase the expenditure upon
the works. He therefore considered that school teaching was
much more economical and also much more effective than
teaching within the works. He would prefer to send’his
apprentices to the Kunstschule for their art instruction, rather
than adopt the Sevres method of teaching it within the works.
Industrial Art School, Vtc’mzca—As will be seen from the
description (p. 163), this is one of the most important of the
industrial art schools visited by the Commissioners, and we had
interesting conversations with the professors. The system of
teaching is similar to that of Munich and Nuremberg, the
application of the design to the material being in several
departments practically carried out in the class rooms.
In the department for lace, we found a number of young
women engaged in designing Venetian point lace, taking ideas
from lace patterns and photographs before them, of which the
collection is very extensive. On this question of lace designing
and lace making we received some interesting information.
In some of the remote districts of Austria, in the Erz-Gebirge,
far away from the manufacturing centres, large numbers of \the
population, not less than 20,000 women and girls, obtain their
livelihood by lace-making. At one time the lace made by these
country people was much esteemed; it was considered tasteful
in pattern, well made, and commanded a high price. In course
of time the fashion changed, foreign competitors introduced more
novel or cheaper designs, and undersold the original makers.
The poor peasants were not able to understand the cause of the
decline in their industry, and went on making lace that was
not wanted, until many of them were reduced to positive
nnronr. 245
starvation. The unfortunate condition of these poor starving
peasants seemed to justify State interference. The matter
was investigated, and resulted in the establishment of this lace
department in the Kunstgewerbe School, in which a number of
girls (brought annually from the country districts) are trained
for three months in the art of designing, and also in the most
modern and advanced methods of lace-making. After going
through an efficient course of instruction, they return home, and
teach their neighbours the arts which they have learned at
the Vienna school, with this important result, that there has
been great improvement in lace-designing and in lace making,
with a return of comparative prosperity to the suffering
peasantry.
As to the general success of this art school, we gathered from the Success of
several professors that they are not by any means satisﬁed with “110°1-
the public interest in their work. The school is not supported,
as they think it ought to be, by the manufacturers engaged in
the very industries whose success it has been the main object of
the school to promote. Instead of the attendance of large
numbers of apprentices from manufacturing works in and around
Vienna, very few come to the classes, and the bulk of the
students are being trained, not as designers or art workmen, but
as teachers in other schools, mainly in provincial towns. They
did not consider that the school exerts any really powerful
inﬂuence upon the industries of Austria and Vienna, because the
promoters of the industries do not encourage it in any way. The
Austrians seem to believe that there is no designing like that of
Paris, and the manufacturers spend large sums on French designs,
instead of helping the designing faculties of their own people,
which, in the opinion of the professors, are as strong as those of
the French.
We took note of these opinions rather as the expressions of Activity of
men in great earnest in their work, than as describing the real State faded
condition of the school, which, in every department, impressed Sc 00 8'
us favourably. It is often said that State support tends to
carelessness as to results on the part of the recipients of State
pay. This certainly cannot be said to apply to the professors of
the Industrial Art School of Vienna, nor indeed to any of the
Kunstgewerbe schools which we visited.
Opinions respecting art teaching—Whilst on the Continent, Fqrqign
we heard many ﬂattering opinions as to the vast importance of Oplmons 9n
. . . . art teaching on
certam technical and art schools that we visited. Some of these the Continent
opinions we have inserted in this Report. We also received
opinions and evidence of a more critical character, which we
have no desire to ignore. One gentleman, of large experience
and knowledge, warned the Commissioners against recom-
mending the too extensive establishment of high art schools on
the Continental model. Referring to the Antwerp Academy of
Fine Arts, with which he was very familiar, he said that much
24:6 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Danger of free greater care should be exercised in England than at Antwerp as
State supported
art schools.
to the admission of students. It is quite a mistake to open
the door to all who wish to enter, when no charge is made for
the teaching. These academies are excellent institutions if
kept to their right use; they bring deserving and talented
students to the surface, and beneﬁt the State as well as the
students; but a very careful discrimination should be exercised
over the admission of students, or the public funds may be
wasted upon incompetent and unworthy recipients. Every
sentimental youth believes himself to be a born artist, or, what
is quite as bad, his father and mother think him so, and,
seeing the success of some really talented student, they fondly
hope for and expect the same from their son, and they send
him to an Academy to become a painter. Why should they
not send him? The tuition costs nothing, and it sounds well
to be able to speak of a son who is studying at the Academy, and
it is ﬂattering to hear the high praise of neighbours who are
called in to see and admire the drawings he has sent home. The
youth severely drains the slender resources of his parents while
for three or four years he goes through the courses at the
Academy, and encounters the more serious temptations which
all large towns offer to young men who are removed from
parental control and inﬂuence. The young man may be
destitute of talent, or lacking in the equally important
quality of perseverance, and returns to his home, expecting
the world to bow at his feet, and give him his own price for
the third-rate productions which he has to sell. The self-styled
artist, conceited from the beginning, naturally becomes discon-
tented, and may afterwards be found (as our friend has found
many) with his coat out at elbows, unable to earn a living; a
wretched professional artist, without imagination or designing
faculty, pushing indifferent pictures upon an overstocked market.
When a peasant’s son paints “Andromeda chained to the rock,”
or “ Ajax defying the lightning,” he often assumes airs altogether
imcompatible with his position or his possibilities. Very few
of these free students ever become artists of merit, still fewer
really good industrial designers, but they often get into an
extravagant way of living, without possessing the means to
justify such habits, and they grow up into a class of men of far
less use to the world than if they had remained hewers of wood
and drawers of water in their own villages. Above all, avoid
encouraging the idea that it is the schools which make the artists,
designers, and engineers, and that, giventhe schools, great artists
will spread themselves over the land. There can be no greater
mistake. Belgium and Holland produced their best artists with-
out schools, Holland its best engineers without schools, and what
schools did the great inventors of England attend? The work
of life puts into the shade the teaching of the professors. If you
are too liberal in opening the highest schools to the public, with-
out such safeguard as a proper entrance examination, you draw
REPORT. 2417
mediocrity into them, and run a great risk of wasting your
teaching on students who, whatever other qualities they possess,
were never intended for artists. The free art schools are a con—
stant temptation to the stripling, whose great ambition is to
become a “ Monsieur” without working for the title; he goes
there and fails to produce anything that anybody will buy.
There is no happiness for such a man, he had better have remained
a house painter at home. In studying Continental art schools, it
is desirable to reckon up their cost and compare it with the
results. Education has to be paid for by somebody, and in those
cases in which the payment is made entirely by the public, there
should be a reasonable assurance that the public will be beneﬁted.
The great art schools of France and Belgium are admirable
institutions, but, as examples for England, they present features
to be avoided as well as to be imitated.
One gentleman remarked that, from his large experience of National
foreign nations, he had come, to the conclusion that race and clflsjPctegsties
blood have great influence upon the handicrafts of a nation. 01,311,123? and
The French. are more elegant than the English, altogether apart D
from education. Their climate is milder and more sunny, gaiety
is natural to them, and, living much more in the open air than
the English, their natural tastes are more susceptible of develop
ment. The French designs are characterized by greater elegance.
In Paris the designers are surrounded by examples and aids
to inspiration such as cannot be found elsewhere. Paris, to use
a commercial term, may be called “ the exchange” for designers
from all parts of Europe, and it is the principal market for
designs. The drawing of the Parisians is generally of a decorative
character, and in freedom of outline they excel all other
countries.
On the fancy textiles of England and France, and the aptitude French and
of French workmen, the following is the substance of opinions Enéilfhjllks
expressed. The productions of Lyons are now universally an eslt’ns'
acknowledged to‘ be in advance of those of Coventry and the
other silk manufacturing towns of England. The workman of
Lyons, who, as a matter of fact, lives in the same attic with his
loom, is always making patterns. He spends his days from
childhood to old age over patterns, and the last pattern in the
loom is the household topic till the web is woven. As the loom
is seldom allowed to be idle, both the wife and children are
taught to weave each new pattern as it comes. While the hus-
band eats his dinner, the wife takes her turn at the loom, and the
children take their turns also while the father takes his rest and
the “mother goes about her domestic employment. So all day
long the busy shuttle is kept going, and patterns and designs are
ever before the physical and mental vision of the Lyons weaver.
The day may come when England will overtake Lyons, but how
can she hope, by the establishment of a few schools, to equal
248 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION 1
what natural qualities and constant training have done for the
Frenchman? It is, in the opinion of our informant, no more
reasonable to expect the English to surpass the French in artistic’
work, in designing and decorative operations, than it would be
to expect the French to equal the English in mechanical in-
genuity, and in the great engineering operations which have so
largely contributed to the industrial supremacy of England.

REPORT. 2249
PART II.
VISITS To INDUSTRIAL ESTABLISHMENTS ON THE
CONTINENT AND CONVERSATIONS WITH EMPLOYERS,
MANAGERS, AND WORKPEOPLE.
In addition to the inspection of technical and other educational
institutions, your Commissioners took advantage of every oppor-
tunity of obtaining evidence and information relating to the
practical effect of these institutions upon the industries intended
to be beneﬁted by them. Incidentally we received information
as to rates of wages and hours of labour, the inﬂuence of piece-
work, division of labour, protective duties, the military systems,
and other conditions which, in each Continental State, more or
less affect the cost of production and the quality of the manu-
factures. In every country we were, almost without exception,
courteously admitted to the leading industrial establishments,
and in many instances the fullest opportunities were afforded to
us of inspecting the processes of manufacture in detail. Employers,
managers, and workmen, favoured us with their opinions upon
industrial and educational questions. In the following descriptions,
while on the one hand we have avoided the disclosure of what
may be termed “ trade secrets,” we have on the other endeavoured
to convey a general impression of the leading industries abroad,
and have impartially recorded the opinions of representative men
of all classes, on the various matters of interest to the commercial
and industrial classes of our own and other countries.
CoTToN SPINNING AND WEAvINe, FRANCE.
The Commissioners visited cotton factories at Rouen and
Lille, and had conversations with representative men engaged in
the cotton industry, amongst others with M. Pouyer Quertier,
who was Finance Minister during the presidency of M. Thiers,
and who is the leader of the protectionist party in France. “Te were
informed that since the annexation of Alsace by Germany, nearly
all the cotton machinery used in France has been imported from
England, and is subject to a duty on entering. The French
protectionists, who have laboured strenuously for upholding duties
on all imported cotton yarns and goods, regret that, by the
transference to Germany of Alsace, which was the seat of the
cotton-machine making industry of France, they must now pay
a duty on all Alsatian machinery. England, having been placed
on the same level as Alsace, has undoubtedly proﬁted by this
change.
Cotton factories
in France.
250 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Inﬂuence of
Technical
Schools.
Hours of
labour in
French cotton
factories.
Employment
of children.
As in other countries, we did not receive any evidence that, in
France, technical schools have been of any direct advantage to fore-
men or workmen engaged in spinning and weaving. Many admitted
that a theoretical knowledge of the cotton ﬁbre, its growth
structure, and properties, should he possessed by all engaged in
its manipulation; that the machinery, and all the calculations
connected therewith, should be studied theoretically; and that a
knowledge of design and of the loom should be taught to all
foremen and masters. At present, this teaching is not attempted
in any schools in France; but favourable reports were given of
the spinning department of the weaving school at Mulhouse
(see p. 128), with which some gentlemen with whom we conversed
were acquainted. In general, an opinion was expressed that the
only real education for the cotton spinner is that which he obtains
in the factory. Nevertheless, it was universally thought that
it is different in the case of the calico-printer. Manufacturers of
calicoes for printing can only live by the attractiveness of the
ﬁnished goods. However perfect or cheap, their proﬁtable sale
depends almost entirely upon the skill and taste of the colourist
and printer who ﬁx the designs upon the cloth; and, therefore,
it was argued, the cotton industry depends as much for its
success upon schools of design and practical chemistry as if every
manufacturer had to sell his goods in the ﬁnished state ready
for the shop counter.
We found that the hours worked in French cotton factories are by
no means uniform, as they are in England. In Rouen, which is the
chief seat of the cotton industry of France, the rule is for factories
to run 12 hours per day for six days in the week, but, at one factory
which we visited, the engines were being kept continuously run-
ning for 14 hours each day, with a break of 10 minutes for
oiling, or a total of 83 hours per week. On inquiry, we ascer-
tained that the workpeople at this factory came at ﬁve o’clock in
the morning in summer, and remained on the premises until seven
at night, and in winter from six o’clock until eight at night; but
they did not work more than 12 hours a day each. The work is
so organised that one in six of the hands may be always away at
meals, thus allowing two hours for each during the day. It was
very apparent, however, that most of the meals were taken in the
workrooms, for we saw dining operations of a primitive character
going on behind the machines in nearly every room, and we
met children in the staircases and passages bringing dinners for
the older people. Not a few energetic “ piecers” walked about
the “gates ” with pieces of bread and meat in their hands, which
they placed on the machine or pocketed when both hands were
required for “ piecing.” The question was asked of an employer
whose factory worked till sight at night, “Do your operatives
“ drink much?” He shrugged his shoulders characteristically,
and replied, with a smile, “Ah! no; they do not drink much.
“ You see, they have not time, and they have not money.”
The proportion of children employed in factories in France is
smaller than in England. They are not admitted until the age of
REPORT. 25 1
12, and for three years they are said to attend school two
hours a day. Many of the schools are connected with the fac-
tories, but we were not favourably impressed with the education
and discipline of such as we saw.
Wages are paid fortnightly, and by piece. In the carding and wages,
preparing operations women are paid from ls. 6a’. to 1s. 9d. per
day; children, from 10d. to is. 2d. Spinners (men), from 3s. 9d.
to 415. 9d. per day; piecers, from 2s. 3a’. to 2s. 603.; boys, from
10a’. to Is. 2a’. Throstle spinners (women), about 28. 3d. per day,
maximum. Reelers (by hand) and warpers; about 2s. ; and
weavers, from 2s. to 28. 6d. per day; men earn, in many instances,
a higher sum. Mechanics are paid by day, from 45. to 4s. 6d.
The rates of wages paid, and the earnings, vary considerably
in the different factories. We generally found that the rates per
hour or per piece were lowest, and the earnings highest, in the
most modern factories.
At Rouen, much of the engine-coal comes from Cardiff. In Coal.
one instance an inferior slack was said to cost 148. 6d. per ton
delivered at the boiler; it was raising steam at the rate of
1% kilos. per horse-power.
Without describing in detail any of the factories we visited, we Relianqe 011
may remark that some were furnished with the newest and best Protecnon'
of English machinery, and organised on the pattern of the foremost
mills in Lancashire, while others were evidently relying more
upon protection, coupled with long hours and low wages, than
upon efﬁcient machinery and enterprise.
We noted that the mechanics’ shops of French factories are Mechanics’
invariably larger, in proportion to the machinery employed, than $1101”?
in England. This is not surprising when it is remembered that actones‘
all the important machinery comes from England or from Alsace,
and has to be subjected to the delay of transit and custom~house
interference, so that they are compelled to have many duplicates
or parts of machines always in stock, and, indeed, many small
machines are made on the premises. In one of the factories
that we visited of less than 60,000 spindles, there were about
20 mechanics employed, with a proportionate amount of stores,
and a number of machine tools, more or lezs antiquated. \Ve
ascertained that these mechanics were the highest paid artisans
on the premises. In comparison with this, we may mention a
cotton factory in Oldham of 70,000 spindles, visited by one of
the Commissioners, where not a. single mechanic was employed.
Each overlooker could use hammer and ﬁle and chisel, and, in
small matters, the engineer of the factory acted as a mechanic.
Vvhen repairs were needed, mechanics were at once sent for from
Messrs. Platt’s machine shop in the same town, and, without
loss of time, breakages were made good, or new portions of
machines supplied. In a French factory, the distance from a
machine shop necessitates the employment in the factory of an
ample staff of mechanics, and their wages and the cost of the
material they use must be reckoned in the cost of the yarn
produced, along with the wages of the spinners and carders.
252 ROYAL COMMISSION ox TEZ‘HNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Wool industry,
France.
Professional
School and
classes under
the Industrial
Society,
Rheims.
WooL INDUSTRY, FRANCE.
When considered in relation to its competition with England,
the wool industry of France is specially important. We visited
the growing towns of Rheims and Roubaix, which compete so
largely with the Bradford district in the manufacture of dress
goods for ladies’ wear.
At Rheims, through the kindness of Mr. Jonathan Holden, we
were introduced to the leading manufacturers and merchants of
the town, who generously admitted us to their works, and gave
us the fullest information. Mr. J. Holden also accompanied us in
our tour of the schools, and conducted us over his wool-combing
establishment, a very extensive shed, furnished with splendid
engines and machinery from England.
We have elsewhere described the excellent Professional School
of Rheims, which is one of the most efficient of the Technical
Schools of France, and the evening classes of the Industrial
Society, for instruction in drawing, book-keepin g, literary subjects,
languages, and the theory of weaving, attended mainly by artisans.
At Roubaix we saw the temporary premises of the Weaving and
Dyeing School; and the scheme of the projected new school,
which will shortly be commenced at a cost of over 80,000l., was
described to us. In the town of Lille there is a large and
important school with departments for designing, weaving, and
dyeing, and in the smaller manufacturing centres there are
technical schools specially organised for supplying theoretical
knowledge applicable to the local industries. Of the inﬂuence
of these schools we shall endeavour to give some evidence in
recording our conversations with the industrial representatives
themselves.
In an interesting report on the wool industry of France by
M. Koechlin Schwartz, one of the jurors of the International Exhi-
bition of Paris in 1878, it is stated that in 1851 the number of
spindles in France for combed wool was 850,000, including
Alsace. In 1878 the number reached 2,270,000, not including
200,000 in Alsace.* These spindles are estimated to produce
341,050,000 kilos. (74,910,000 lbs.) of yarn a year. The, value of
the goods from combed wools manufactured in France in 1878
amounted, to 564,075,123 francs (22,563,000l.), upon which the
amount paid in wages is calculated to have been 147,632,134! francs
(5,905,000l.). The report further states that so great have been
the mechanical improvements during recent years, that, since
1867, the cost of wool-combing has fallen 25 per cent. ; that since
1851 the cost of spinning has decreased more than half, while
during the same period the wages of spinners and piecers have

Report by
M. Koechlin
Schwartz in
1878.
* From a Parliamentary Return dated July 187 9 it :appears that the number of
spindles in the worsted factories of the United Kingdom was at that time 2,096,820.
REPORT. 253
increased 410 per cent. The improvement has extended in a
still greater degree to weaving. In 1851 nearly all weaving was
done by hand, and the weaver was paid 175 francs to 2 francs as
wages for a day of 12 hours. In 187 8 there had been an
enormous extension in power-loom weaving, the weaver tending
two looms, at wages averaging from 4 francs to 4125 francs per
day. “In 1851 the goods were irregular and imperfect, while
“in 1878 they have almost attained perfection with half the
“ manipulation and double the wages paid to the workman.”
The remarkable advance here indicated appears to have been
continued from 1878 to 1883, hand-looms have been still further
replaced by power-looms, until there are now comparatively few
hand-looms remaining, and in the meantime the wages have not
diminished.
In Roubaix the wages of ordinary drawers on the “' rubber”
principle are from 128. to 14s. per week of 72 hours, according to
the machinery they mind. The mule spinners (usually by piece)
earn from 228. to 25s. per week, piecers from 158. to 168., boys
from 78. to 128. In some exceptional instances, where cap frames
are employed, the spinners are paid by the day, at the rate of from
128. to 1458. per week, dofi'ers about 78. 6d. a week. Weavers, by
piece, for two looms, earn from 183. to 28s., one-loom weavers
from 138. to 16s. per week of 72 hours.
Wages at
Roubaix.
The division of the hours for the day’s labour will show the Hours at
small amount of leisure enjoyed by the operatives in French
worsted factories as compared with those of England. The hours
are 72 per week, beginning each morning at six, allowing two
* hours for meals, and closing work at 8.30 at night for four nights,
making 12%,; hours per day, so as to allow for stopping work at
6 o’clock on Monday night and at 7.30 on Saturday.
(The hours are 56% per week in English factories, which close
at 5.30 in the evening, excepting on Saturdays, when they cease
working at one o’clock.)
Comparing the worsted industry of France with that of
England, it must be remembered that in the past there has been
no general competition on the same lines between the two
countries. Although there have been manufacturers in Bradford
who have extensively made the same classes of all-wool goods as
their rivals in Rheims and Roubaix, and manufacturers in these
latter towns who have made lustre—and mixed—goods similar to
those of Bradford, yet, broadly speaking, the ﬁne all-wool goods
for a generation past have been a speciality of France, and the
lustre—and mixed—goods have been chieﬂy made in England.
The spinning machinery employed in the two countries has been
entirely different, as we have explained in our notes on Loth,
Belgium, and Alsace. The mule process of spinning has been
adopted on the Continent generally, while in England, for
spinning similar wools, the cap and ﬂyer frames have been
almost universally used. About ﬁfty years ago there was direct
Roubaix.
Comparison
of worsted
industry in
France and
England.
25% ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION 2
Australian
wool.
Cause of the
English de-
pression in the
woollen trade.
competition between Bradford and France in the making of
French merinos and other ﬁne soft dress goods, and mule
spinning at that time was not uncommon in Bradford. But
about the year 1840 the alpacas and bright goods, and the
mixed fabrics with cotton warps, were introduced as a new trade
into Bradford, and the manufacturers took it up with great
enterprise to the neglect of the ﬁner branch of the trade, which
was still continued by a few manufacturers, but in, the great
bulk was given over to the French. ~For many years both
industries in both countries ﬂourished, and, so far as the
outward evidences of prosperity are concerned, the visitor to the
rival towns in France and England would not hesitate in giving
the palm to the latter. It may therefore be concluded that, if
Bradford in some degree deserted the more important branch of
the trade, the result for many years justified the change. It was
seen by many, however, that in the nature of things the manu-
facturers of ﬁne wools were in a more favourable position than
those who depended upon the long lustrous wools grown in our
own country, because the ﬁne wools were not only intrinsically
better, but the prospects of supply were practically unlimited,
while the growth of the lustrous wools was in a great measure
circumscribed within the narrow boundaries of this island. In
1810 the ﬁrst parcel of 167 lbs. of Australian wool was received
in this country; in 1860 the import was 59,000,000 lbs. ; in
1882 it reached $415,000,000 lbs., while during the same year
there was an additional import of 14141,000,000 lbs. from other
sources. The French manufacturers were, by the previous course
of their trade, and especially by the machinery which they
employed, better prepared than those of England for dealing with
this valuable and ever increasing raw material; their acquired
skill in manipulation, their cultivated taste, and their greater
excellence in dyeing, materially assisted them in making the
most of their advantages. The abnormal prosperity of 1871-2,
after the close of the Franco-German war, encouraged a further
development of the manufacture of the lustrous goods in
England, but beginning about 1875, the demand for these
began to decline, and the consequent over-production, together
with bad harvests, hostile tariffs, and the increasing inclination
of fashion in favour of soft all-wool fabrics, brought -about a
great depression in the long-wool industry in England, while
the same change increased the prosperity of the rival manu-
facturers in other countries.
These facts were, however, for some time overlooked, and
the depression in England was attributed to two causes;
viz., the greater cheapness of labour in competing countries, as
represented by longer hours and lower wages, and the superior
technical education of our foreign rivals. As a matter of fact,
the labour question had very little to do with the depression.
There were, however, manufacturers in Bradford who already
made the soft goods, and others who adapted their machinery so '
REPORT. 250
I
as to make them, and, in spite of higher wages and shorter hours,
they managed to keep their machinery running without loss side
by side with their French rivals. On the other hand, the manu-
facturers of lustrous goods in France and other countries, found
it impossible—not simply to make a proﬁt—but to avoid making
a loss in spite of their advantages in labour and wages. In the
manufacture of fancy . goods the French and German manu-
facturers— particularly, the latter—greatly surpassed those of
England, thanks, apparently, to greater technical knowledge, and
especially .of dyeing; the care displayed by the operative dyers
being undoubtedly greater than could be found as a rule among
the representatives and operatives of dyeing establishments in
England.
The Commissioners visited the North of France in 1881 and
State of
woollen trade
1884i, and during the interval the fashions have still favoured in the interval
the ﬁne all-wool goods, but there has been a great development between 1881
in the manufacture of these goods in England. The severe
depression in this country brought with it a necessary lowering
of wages from the inﬂated period of 1872, and also a reduced
expenditure in manufacturing establishments. The adaptation
of machinery to the change in the trade has received the ceaseless
consideration of the most enterprising and practical manufacturers,
supported by the machine makers themselves. Some ﬁrms in
England have adopted the French system of mule spinning, with
all the improvements that could be suggested by mechanical
knowledge and experience, while many others have directed
their attention to the adaptation of the existing principle of
preparing and cap spinning to the requirements of the ﬁnest and
the shortest stapled wool. The dyers have put forth their
energies in the enterprise. The Technical College of Bradford
has been equipped with departments, qualiﬁed professors, and the
best obtainable apparatus and machinery for designing, weaving,
and dyeing. Beyond all these agencies there has been the hearty
co-operation of all classes of artisans and factory workers in the
trade, and their combined effort has had the result that British
all-wool goods of several varieties are taking their stand in our
own and other countries in open competition with those French
and German goods which, but three years ago, seemed to enjoy
almost a monopoly of public favour, so that Bradford manu-
facturers at the present time (March 1884.‘) are as well and as
proﬁtably employed as their rivals in any country.
In conversations with spinners, manufacturers, and merchants,
in Boubaix and Rheims, there was a strong feeling of hopeful-
ness expressed with regard to the future of the French wool
industry. In the beginning of the year 1883 there was a great
falling off in‘orders at a time when it was found that their rivals
in Bradford were exceptionally busy, and it was feared that the
competition of Bradford was becoming more serious than had
been anticipated; but towards the autumn, the trade began to
and 1884.
Hopeful feeling
with reference
to French
woollen trade.
256 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION 2
German com-
petition in the
fancy woollen
trade.
German com-
petition chieﬂy
feared at
Roubaix.
revive again, and the manufacturers entered upon the year 1884!
with fair business and prospects."YE
One of the large merchants of Roubaix, speaking of the fancy
trade, said that it was being ruined by German competition.
The Germans produced more novelties in design, they did better
work, and had taken more pains than the local manufacturers
As to designs, very few were produced at Roubaix, or, if
produced there, were the work of Parisians who after a few
years, were worked out, and needed to go back to Paris
again. “The air and the surroundings of Roubai‘x did not
“ particularly favour artistic sentiment.” Another merchant
conﬁrmed the statement that the fancy trade had gone to
Germany. He said that a few years ago there were 300
manufacturers in the district, and that now there are not more
than 200. The difference arose from the fancy manufacturers,
employing handlooms, having been compelled to give up. This
degeneracy in the fancy trade had roused the authorities into action
with regard to the technical school, and not too soon. ts main
purpose would be to help to bring back the fancy trade. It would
be heartily welcomed by all classes, and the operatives would be
the last to complain of the cost, however much it might be. The
same gentleman was of opinion that the dyeing of all-wool goods in
France has long been superior to that of England, but they are
not by any means satisﬁed with their local dyeing, and goods of
delicate shade are often sent to Paris to be dyed. Some of the
leading dyers have been highly educated in science, but the
workmen, as a rule, have but little, if any, chemical knowledge.
In the dyeing of mixed goods, with cotton warp, the French
merchants are willing to admit the superiority of English
dyers. With an extensive knowledge of the trade both in French
and English markets, he has seen no recent evidence, from such
goods as he has come in contact with, that Roubaix is likely to
be surpassed by Bradford. He expressed himself, however, as
seriously alarmed by the growing competition of Germany.
M. Carlos Delattre is one of the chief promoters of education
in Roubaix, and is also a member of the Commission appointed
by the mayor to report upon the wants of the town in
respect of technical instruction. He conducted us over the
temporary Weaving and dyeing school, which is attended by about
80 students. .[‘he evening classes, for whose accommodation the

M. Delattre.
* The question of the competition between France and England is one of vital
interest to the Yorkshire trade, and therefore the following additional remark on
the subject may not be out of place. It was affirmed by one spinner whose factory
we inspected, and who had imported from England the most recent adaptations of
English short nip drawing and cap frames, and was competin, against mule spinning
in its stronghold, that, from the shortest wool, he could make a yarn which
manufacturers preferred to a yarn from the same wool spun on the mule. In
conversing with this gentleman on the question ‘of cap, yersus mule, spinning, he held
that the difficulty in cap spinning was not in the machinery, but in the organisation
of the labour.
REPORT. 257
new technical school is to Le built, are held in various quarters
of the town, and are attended by a total of 600 students. The
total annual grant for their maintenance is 2,220Z., of which
720i. is contributed by the State.
The plans for the new school are now prepared, and the Projected
excavations will shortly be commenced. The cost will be at 1161;? tfchnical
least 80,000l., towards which 4:8,000l. will be contributed by the ﬁes-gait
Government, through the Department of Fine Arts, and 32,000Z.
by the municipality. It is expected that the annual cost of
maintenance will not be less than 3,200l.
The school will be devoted chieﬂy to pure art and designing, School will
but there will also be departments for mechanics and physics, a be mainly for
lecture hall, public library, and a museum of textiles, which is Pure design‘
in tended to be specially useful as a trade museum. The depart—
ments for weaving and dyeing will be accommodated in a
separate building, and will contain an equipment of looms
and other apparatus fully equal to those of any school yet
established.
Designing will be applied to such articles as wearing apparel, Applied design.
decorative cloths for “ furnitures,” carpets, upholstery, &c.
It is believed that “high design” may be successfully taught at
Roubaix, and that in improving the fancy textiles the inﬂuence
of the “Administration des Beaux Arts” will be as beneﬁcial
there as it has been in the case of the Beauvais and Gobelin
tapestries.
M. Delattre informed us that during the ten years that the Progress made
technical weaving and dyeing school has been in operation, great .1“ gem?“ year‘
progress has been made in the dyeing industry. In every m yemg'
establishment where sons of employers, foremen, and workmen,
have attended the classes, good results have followed. In the
dye-works many of the young men can make their own pre—
parations. There is less need of supervision; economy of pro-
duction has in many instances followed attendance at school;
fewer mistakes have been made, and more reliable and more
etﬁcient work has been done.
CONDITIONING House, ROUBAIX.
The conditioning house of Roubaix, like the similar establish- Conditioning
ments of Lyons and Crefeld, undertakes the testing of all raw 110959» R0“:
materials and manufactured goods, with regard to actual hm‘
weight, measurement, and condition. Certain standards of
condition are recognised in various materials, upon which
allowances are made for the moisture which they contain. For
example, in conditioning raw wool a given weight is placed in a
receiver, through which there passes a current of hot air at a
temperature of from 105° to 115° Centigrade. After remaining
here for about an hour, the wool is carefully weighed, and
Bi 1726. R
258 ROYAL COMMISSION on TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
141 per cent. is added to the weight to allow for its having
been artiﬁcially dried, and to restore it to its natural atmospheric
condition. Upon tops, after being artiﬁcially dried, an allowance
of 18% per cent. is made; upon wool yarns, 17 per cent; cotton
yarns, 8% per cent. ; silk, 11 per cent,
Cost of con- The cost of conditioning tops is reckoned on the bulk from
gﬁqnmg SP‘111 which samples are taken, and is about 10 francs per 1,000
' kilos (about one twenty-third of a penny per pound).
The house was built by the town at a cost of 16,000Z. It
communicates with the railway by a siding, so as to facilitate
the arrival and transport of products to be tested. In 1883 the
proﬁts, after paying expenses, amounted to 8,000Z, which were
entered in the municipal receipts and appropriated to ordinary
municipal objects.
Extent of the A conception of the magnitude of the work carried on may be
“'Ork carried gathered from the following ﬁgures relating to the wool, tops,
on‘ yarn, &c., conditioned :—--
Kilos.
In 1858 - - 841,268
,, 1860 - - 1,998,159
,, 1869 ~ - 11,653,156
,, 1871 - - 14,093,867
,, 1882 - - 19,425,434
Thetestis The conditioning is entirely optional; if buyer and seller
"PtlODﬂL agree to any transaction without submitting to the official test
and the necessary expense, they can do so; but, as almost
invariably happens, either buyer or seller wishes to know
what he buys or sells, the goods are tested, and in case of
dispute both parties are bound to accept the otﬁcial decision.
Importance of In conversing on this subject, complaints were made by
ﬁle/£15”? manufacturers that English yarns when they come to Roubaix
,331 are not conditioned, nor tested as to length, and that the
English spinners will not submit to the Roubaix test. One
gentleman stated that he had been subjected to so much annoy-
ance in consequence of English yarns not coming up to the
standard, that he never buys them when he can get similar
yarns elsewhere. He agreed that everybody took advantage of
yarns that were known not to be certiﬁed. If, for instance, he
sent English yarn to a dyer, and deﬁcient weight was returned,
all the blame was thrown upon the spinner, the dyer knowing
that no certiﬁcate of weight had accompanied the yarn. In
sending English yarn to hand-loom weavers, he calculated the
necessary weight and counts for certain lengths of cloth,
Frequently short lengths were returned, and the weaver would
invariably throw all the responsibility upon the spinner,
knowing there was no proof to the contrary. With French and
German yarns this was impossible, and therefore the manu-
facturer argued that a conditioning and reeling test protected
the seller as much as the buyer, and removed the temptations to
dishonesty which exist under the English system.
nnronr. 259
WOOL-COMBING ESTABLISHMENTS or Mnssns. ISAAC HOLDEN’
AND Sons, IN FRANCE.
Among the most extensive and remarkable of the industrial Wooljwmbiﬂg
establishments of the Continent are the wool-combing works of Sitigfsgmims
Messrs. Isaac Holden and Sons, at Rheims, and at Croix, near Holdensc' '
Roubaix. Similar works belonging to this ﬁrm are situated $0118-
at Bradford in Yorkshire, and the three branches are employed
in the combing of ﬁne merino wools for dress goods and knitting
purposes. They do not purchase or comb any wools on their
own account; they simply comb “on commission,” at speciﬁed
rates, such wools as are sent to them by spinners and top-makers.
Nearly the whole of the wool is grown in the Australian
Colonies; it passes through the London sales, and in many
instances it is sent direct by the purchasers to one of their
establishments either in France or England. Mr. Isaac Holden,
MP, the head of the ﬁrm, is the inventor of the combing machine
which is known by his name, and which, more than any other
invention, has promoted the ﬁne-combed wool industry of France
and England, and developed the wool-growing resources of our
Australian Colonies. While visiting the North of France for
the purposes of this inquiry, we were invited to inspect the
wool-combing works at Croix, and were accompanied through
the various departments by Mr. Holden, and the other members
of the ﬁrm.
All the details of the various processes were shown to us; Processes of
the chemical preparation of the water for washing purposes, the wwbwjshmg
making of the soap, the operations of washing, carding, and comb- 533,21? Olin
ing, and, not the least interesting or important, the extraction waste pro~
from the refuse soapsuds of all the grease, potash, and other d‘lcts-
valuable subtances, contained therein. A few years ago the
whole of the dirty water from the washing-bowls was turned
into the neighbouring stream and became a nuisance to all the
users of the water beyond, but by dint of perseverance and the
employment of a qualiﬁed chemist, the water is now released
from the ﬁltering tanks almost as pure as when it entered the
washing-bowls, leaving behind it the valuable solid matter which
is annually sold for many thousands of pounds sterling. The
heads of departments and foremen are English, and many of
the mechanics in the large repairing and constructing shop
are Englishmen. The ordinary operatives are French, and
their activity at their work, and healthy and cleanly looks,
impressed us favourably. So great is the demand for Holden’s
combing that all the works of the ﬁrm, both in France and
England, run day and night, with two shifts of hands. Con_
nected with the works at Croix and Rheims, where at each place
there is quite a colony of English families, there are English
reading-rooms and libraries well stocked with books and daily
n2
260 ROYAD ooMmssIoN ON TECHNICAL msrnuc'rIoN:
Statistics
relative to
weight of wool
combed by
the ﬁrm.
Relative
capabilities of
of French and
English work-
men, and cost
of production
in the two
countries.
Incidence of
import and
production
duties.
Cost of labour
lower than
in England.
Cost of pro-
duction m
France is
English newspapers; week-day and Sunday schools built and
supported by the ﬁrm 5 and places of worship, with English
pastors and services for the religious Observances of the English
families. The groups of English cottages, with their cultivated
flower gardens attached, and the handsome residence and grounds
of Mr. Crothers, Mr. Helden’s nephew, close to the works at
CroiX, give a favourable and picturesque appearance to the village
not usually observable in the manufacturing districts either of
France or England. The total import of wool from the
Australian Colonies, which passes through the London sales and
is distributed to the manufacturing centres of England and the
Continent, amounted in 1882 to 34:5,000,000 lbs. The wool
combed annually by this ﬁrm represents more than two-ﬁfths
of the entire import,——a striking testimony, we may say in passing,
of the services rendered to our Colonies and to European in-
dustry by Mr. Isaac Holden as an inventor, and as a promoter of
the combed Wool industry,-—hence the very deﬁnite and reliable in-
formation which we were able to obtain from the ﬁrm with regard
to the general capabilities of French and English operatives, and
the relative cost of production in the two countries, is of the
greatest value. The three branches of their works are situated in
the three manufacturing centres of the combed wool industry of
France and England. The premises in each case have been built
and arranged on the same general plan. Advantage has been
taken in each district of the special local resources and economies.
In all the works the same machinery is employed, and in each
case the same classes of wool, bought by customers at the
London sales, are combed, and for the same subsequent uses.
English managers, foremen, engineers, and mechanics, are em-
ployed at all the establishments, but the ordinary operatives are
such as apply for employment in the three districts, and at such
wages as are paid ‘for labour by neighbouring ﬁrms.
All English machinery entering France is subjected to duty
and other expenses, increasing its cost by fully 20 per cent., and
similar increased expenses apply to all dutiable commodities
used in the trade, such as iron and brass castings, leather, and
the many smaller articles required in mill furnishing. Pro-
tective duties also affect to a serious degree some of the most
important products which enter into regular consumption in a
wool-combing establishment, such as soap, oil, and tallow, which
are dearer in France than in England. Coal also, in Roubaix
and Rheims, is on the average fully double the price of similar
coal in England.
In all the departments of the French works, excepting in
those in which directing skill is required, the price paid for
labour is much lower than is paid in England, and on a payment
in wages alone of 2,500Z. per week, the importance of this item
is not likely to be overlooked.
In bringing these comparisons to the ﬁnal test of the cost of
production in each country, by placing all the expenses in the
nsroa'r. ‘261
French works against all the expenses of the English works, and greater than
in each case dividing them by the weight of wool combed, it was in England-
shown to us that, in spite of all the advantages of cheap labour,
the cost of production is greater in France than in England.
If this can be said of commercial establishments in France which
possess all the advantages of the best English machinery, and all
the stimulus of English enterprise, competition, and capital, it is
but reasonable to expect that English works engaged in this
branch of industry will compare favourably as to cost of pro-
duction and efficiency, with the more ordinary rival works in
France, and, perhaps, also in other countries.
SILK INDUSTRY.—-—-LYONS.
Lyons is the chief seat of the silk industry in France, and for Extent of the
the manufacture of the best classes of ﬁgured silk goods is Lyons Silk
acknowledged to be unrivalled in the world. In the city there trade‘
are from 25,000 to 30,000 looms, and, including the outlying
townships, considerably over 100,000. It was stated to us that
in the several branches of the silk industry there are not less
than 100,000 persons employed in Lyons alone.
Thanks to the assistance of Mr. Haden, the British Consul,
we visited, in addition to the more important schools, some of
the leading works, such as dyeworks, the silk conditioning
house, and the weaving shops of some of the best silk weavers.
We were also introduced to several of the chief citizens, who
were greatly interested in our visit, and courteously answered
our inquiries.
All the complicated patterns and most of the plain silks are Hand weaving.
still woven by hand, and attempts to introduce power looms
on an extensive scale have been met by ﬁerce opposition. In
Switzerland, in Germany, and in England, not only plain, but
ﬁgured silks are being extensively woven by power, with the
natural result that these countries are gradually taking the trade
away from Lyons, in goods which are not of the very highest
class. The manufacturers feel that they are at a great dis-
advantage with their antiquated system, as compared with
their enterprising rivals, and they spoke of their future
prospects with great concern. From time immemorial the
weaving has been conducted in the houses of the operatives;
every workman has his own loom--in many instances the one
valuable piece of furniture in his one-roomed attic; and the
great majority seem determined to struggle against their fate
with daily lessening earnings rather than dispense with their
hand-looms, and become mere operatives in factories. The
most recent attempt to win over this great and stubborn popu- Introduetion of
lation of weavers to a better state of things, is shown in the gas engmes'
262 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Visit to Lyons’
weaving shops.
Wages.
Food of
weavers.
action of an influential society formed for supplying to the
weavers small gas engines, which can be ﬁxed in their own
homes. These engines are of several sizes, representing half,
three-quarters, and one horse-power. They take up very little
room, can be easily moved and ﬁtted to the gaspipe in the room,
and they are offered at a small weekly rental, or are sold to the
weavers at cost price, payable in weekly instalments. In many
houses there are two, three, or four looms, and in some even
more, and these occupiers are being tempted, in occasional in-
stances, to try a gas engine. The hand-looms are ﬁtted up so as
to run by power later on; as the weavers become gradually
trained to the use of power, and appreciate its advantage,
modern power looms are put in, and, as is natural, the income
of the weavers is augmented and their physical labour lessened.
The promoters of the movement hope that, by thus putting in
“the thin end of the wedge,” they will convert the weavers
gradually to the appreciation and adoption of the power-loom
system, and thus save them from the ruin that must ultimately
come upon them unless some such change be made.
We visited some cottages into which the gas engines had been
introduced, and found in one instance a winding frame also
running by power. In most of the looms the silks were plain,
but we noted two power-looms with jacquards and ﬁgured
patterns. We were told that the best articles, whether plain or
ﬁgured, cannot be woven by the power-loom. In one of the
ordinary cottages under the old system we found a workman
and his family at work. There were four looms minded by the
father, son, and two daughters, while the mother was cooking
the dinner in a small living room adjoining. In one loom there
was a gorgeous pattern of brocaded velvet, in which the weaver
worked the shuttle by hand, and with each pick a boy drew
out a wire, which raised the pile.
intricate operations, and cut the doubled threads so as to make
the pile as he went along,~—a slow process, requiring the constant
attention of himself and the boy. We were told that the
weaving of half a yard of such a pattern is a good day’s work,
for which the payment would be about 458. 9d., with a deduction
of 10d. for the boy. This was a fair sample of the best weaving
in Lyons. For ordinary weaving 28. 60?. to 33. is considered
good average wages; on the power loom some of the weavers
earn from 48. to 58. a day. The Lyons weavers are not bound
to any ﬁxed hours for working. There are some who scarcely
ever leave the looms, excepting for food and scanty rest, and, on
the other hand, there are many idlers. A practical weaver with
whom we conversed informed us that 11 hours constitute a
recognised day’s work, from 6 am. to 7 p.m., with an interval of
two hours for three meals. The ﬁrst meal, of which we saw a
family partaking (each portion being brought by the mother to the
worker at the loom), consisted of a thin decoction, almost entirely
water, in which there were sops of bread and potatoes; the
The weaver managed the '
REPORT. 263
second meal—dinner—consists of bread, potatoes, and usually a
little meat; while the third is usually a repetition of the ﬁrst.
One of the greatest troubles to be contended with in the melguiarity 0*
Lyons silk trade, is the irregularity of employment. There are emp oyment'
certain dead seasons, when work is not given out, and in many
instances the weavers are not employed more than half their
time. The result is that there is often much suffering and dis-
content, in good times excesses, in bad times penury; and con-
sumption and brain diseases arise from the nature of the
employment and the unhealthy conditions under which many of
the operatives work.
One.of the leading merchants spoke very highly of the Mar- 2233;111:2110 f
tiniere school as having been attended by some of the best master the Martiniére
dyers, and as having laid the foundation of drawing in the school.
case of many students who had afterwards excelled at the School
of Fine Arts.
With regard to the silk trade, he was of opinion that its Superiority
superiority in Lyons had always been due more to the weavers galfréotﬁgn
than the masters. There had not been in the past much masters.
sympathy between the two classes, probably owing in a great
measure to the fact that the employer seldom saw his work-
people, except when they came to his warehouse for material
or for wages; not having a factory and machinery, he was not
under any obligation to ﬁnd regular work for them, or to
improve their machinery so that better work could be done.
The skill of many of the Lyons weavers is simply marvellous,
and families have for generations been distinguished for dexterity
and delicacy of manipulation. From father to son the loom has
been handed down, and the weavers meet together and talk of their
work until technical knowledge has become natural to them, and
skill has been raised to a high degree of excellence. “ They have
“ all, however, both masters and men, fallen behind the times in
“ enterprise, clinging to traditions and old-fashioned methods,
“ while their competitors have been organising factories and
“ teaching their workpeople the use of the power loom.” It was
stated that “ during the last 10 years Lyons has lost very much LOSS ofm'ade-
“ of its trade, and now only takes the lead in specialities which
“ are most subject to the changes of fashion.”
On the question of original designing, it was said that the Original
Lyons designers are not as a rule artists. The talent cultivated des‘gmng'
by them is that of applying designs to the looms, and not so
much of producing the designs themselves. The best designs
come from Paris to Lyons, as from Paris to Manchester, and
although drawing is taught everywhere, in none of the schools
is it applied to the making of designs for textile patterns.
Many of the ordinary weavers, however, can draw and can make
original designs, and some of the leading Parisian designers are
natives of Lyons, who learned all that they know of tedhnical
264d ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Prospects of
English com-
petition in
silk goods.
Superiority in
dyeing.
designing in the schools and weaving shops of this city, but they
remove to Paris as a more favourable market than Lyons for
the disposal of the talent which they have to sell.
As to the prospects of England ever becoming a formidable
competitor in the silk industry, one of the prominent citizens,
who seemed to be very familiar with England, ridiculed the
idea as being chimerical. He said, “ The silk trade can never
“ become important in England, because the English people have
“ no taste. Taste is not natural to the Englishman, and never
“ will be; your sunless climate, your smoky atmosphere, your
“ absence of art associations and surroundings, are all against
“ the inculcation of taste.” “ In France,” he continued, ““ every-
“ thing is different ; taste seems to be inborn in the Frenchman,
“ and it is cultivated at every step. You English are a
“ remarkable people, and you take the lead in many things,
“ but in taste you are far behind, and must be content to
“remain so.” Stress was laid on the fact that in France
all the children learn drawing as a part of their elementary
education, and that the opportunities of continuing their in-
struction in art are inﬁnitely greater and more generally taken
advantage of than in England, and that in one school in Lyons
(the Martiniere) we might have counted a class of over 90 engaged
in modelling. The question was put, “ Suppose the order of things
“ were reversed—that drawing and modelling should be taught
1‘ as meagrely in France as in England,—in effect, that they should
“ be banished from most of the elementary schools; and that
“ their extensive and general study as now found in France
“ should be adopted in England, what would you say of English
“ and French taste then '2 ” Our friend replied that he was not
prepared to say what would happen under improved teaching
of art in England, but to banish such teaching from the ele-
mentary schools of France would be nothing less than a national
calamity.
On being asked how he accounted for the superiority of
the silk dyeing of Lyons, he replied, “ It is the water.” “ But,”
remarked one of the Commissioners, “ if Lyons dyers removed
to England, would they not dye as well ”? “ Impossible ! ” was
the reply, “ you. have not the water.” We record opinions of
this character because we heard them so frequently, and they
show how even among well-informed men there is a tendency
to be lulled into a feeling of false security by the mere
possession of important natural advantages. An English mer-
chant, long resident in Lyons, informed us that when the
Swiss entered seriously into competition with Lyons, they were
unsuccessful at ﬁrst in their dyeing operations, and were com-
pelled to send their yarns and pieces to Lyons to be dyed.
The people at that time, as now, boasted of their incomparable
water 3 but the enterprising Swiss manufacturers were not to be
easily daunted; they engaged some dyers from Lyons, and they
brought to bear upon the question the scientiﬁc knowledge of
REPORT. 265
their polytechnic schools; and now, remarked our informant,
in many respects they surpass Lyons in dyeing, as they do also
in some branches of weaving.
Mr. Haden expressed an opinion that Manchester beats Lyons
in cheap and ordinary fancies, and in good plain silks. In
cravats, fancy handkerchiefs, and some other kinds of specialities,
Macclesﬁeld is at the head, and exports largely to Paris. In
the most costly and elaborate silks, England is out of the
competition.
The relative interchange of English and French manufactured
silks may be understood by reference to the Board of
Trade returns. In 1882 the exports of silk goods from England
to France amounted to 1,0345,4586l., against 618,850Z. in 1878;
the imports of silk goods from France amounted to 7,457,832l.
in 1882, against 8592,7781. in 1878 ; showing an increase in
exports of 410 per cent, and a diminution in imports of 13 per
cent. The total exports of manufactured sillv; and silk yarns from
England in 1882 amounted to 3,517,8417L, against 2,488,2171. in
1878, while the imports amounted to 11,525,8261. in 1882, against
12,805,6245l. in 1878, the increase in exports being 29 per cent,
and the diminution in imports nearly 10 per cent. Considering
that for many years silk has been and still is the weakest of the
English textile industries, these ﬁgures indicate that not only
are we gradually dispossessing the foreigner of his hold
upon our home markets, but that we are also strengthening
our position in the neutral markets of the world. While not
claiming that these results are due to the inﬂuence of improved
technical education in England, it is clear that they are not due
to any advantages which we enjoy over the foreigner in cheapness
of labour, or in obtaining the raw material of manufacture.
In a conversation with the President of the Chamber of Com-
merce, we were informed that the council of the Chamber
consists of 18 members, elected by the holders of trade licenses,
who pay a minimum tax amounting to about 10 francs (88.)
a year on a rental of 1,000 francs (40L). The chief source of
income, however, arises from the proﬁts of the Silk Conditioning
House, which is managed by the Chamber. From this source
alone 5,000Z. a year are realised. In some Chambers, of which
Paris furnishes an example, an income is derived from the
Custom House Agencies. The splendid income of the Lyons
Chamber is disbursed in a remarkable manner for the beneﬁt of
objects of commercial and public usefulness. The Bourse or
Exchange, the Industrial Museum, the Palace of Fine Arts, the
Commercial and Weaving Schools, were built and are chieﬂy
maintained out of these funds. Other useful commercial objects
are promoted, such as the expenses connected with the exhibits
from Lyons at the International Exhibition in Paris. The
Chamber has a Beneﬁt Society which makes grants to decayed
and unfortunate tradesmen, or their widows and families.
English silk
trade.
Exports and
imports.
Chamber of
Commerce,
Lyons.
266 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Silk cpn— The silk-conditioning house is an establishment of great
glotil‘gmgyons. public importance, and is administered, as previously stated, by
’ the Chamber of Commerce. Silk is the most costly of ﬁbres,
and its value is consequently affected more than any other by
moisture and by the introduction of foreign elements. By custom,
between buyer and seller, the condition of the raw material and
of the yarn is tested by this public authority, whose decision in
all matters is ﬁnal.
The magnitude and importance of the establishment may be
estimated from the fact that samples representing 41,000,000
kilos. a year are “ conditioned,” while an enormous number of
reeling tests are made in order to certify regularity and strength
of the yarn.
For testing the condition, the bulk is carted to the warehouse
of the establishment; two samples from each bale are weighed
on a balance of precision by two independent weighers, who
work apart to secure impartiality. A third sample is put aside
to be tested in the event of any discrepancy appearing in the
weight of the two test samples. The samples are hung in a
stove heated to 14.0 degrees, and dried until all moisture has
been expelled. They are then weighed, and if the evaporation
is the same in each the test is considered satisfactory. If not,
the third sample is tested. The dry weight of the entire bulk
of silk in a lot is calculated according to the tested samples
from each bale. An addition of 11 per cent. is added to this
weight by law, to allow for a return from absolute dryness to
natural moisture, and the silk is then invoiced at this weight.
A second test is made in order to ascertain the amount of gum
or foreign matter. A sample is boiled for one hour in soap and
water, and is passed through squeezing rollers so as to remove
every foreign element. A certiﬁcate is then given of the weight
so ascertained, allowing 25 per cent. gum for European and 17
per cent. for Japanese silk.
Uniformity and strength are tested by elaborate machines for
the purpose, which indicate all irregularities. For these purposes
a machine shown to us by the inventor, an American engineer,
appeared to be a marvel of ingenuity and delicacy.
ENGINEERING WonKs or Mnssns. SCHNEIDER & Co.,
LE CaEUzoT, FRANCE.
Messrs. Schnei- These magniﬁcent works have been so frequently described,
der’s Works- and a detailed account of them would occupy so large a space in
this report, that we shall conﬁne ourselves to a very brief state-
ment of the facts bearing in the most direct manner on our
enquiry. It is well known that these works, situated far in the
interior of France, derive a large portion of their supplies of iron
REPORT. 267
ore—for the production of iron and steel of the most varied de-
scription—~from Algeria; brought through Marseilles, from Savoy
and other distant places; and that a considerable part also of the
fuel used has to be brought from the coal basin of St. Etienne.
This is rendered possible by extremely low railway rates—Jess
~ than =3~ths of a penny per mile on iron ores, or less than half of
the average rates charged in the United Kingdom. Most of the
powerful tools used at Le Creuzot in the construction of marine
engines, in boring large guns, and in planing armour plates, were
formerly imported by them from England, but within the last
few years these tools have been supplied by works in the east of
France, and in the French departments now annexed to Germany.
The French engineering tools were formerly ill designed, and
badly proportioned. Now English models are followed, and the
execution leaves nothing to be desired.
A very small number of the heads of departments are former
students of the great Parisian technical schools, several are from
the Ecole des Arts et Métiers, and many, including nearly all the
foremen, have received no other instruction than that of the works
and the exellent elementary schools founded and maintained by
the ﬁrm. The head of the drawing ofﬁce is one of these latter.
The opinion of Mons. Henri Schneider was not favourable to
the very high scientiﬁc courses of the Paris schools, except for men
of remarkable ability, and of the energy and common sense
necessary to acquire workshop practice at a comparatively late
period of life, and to avoid a pedantic application of abstruse
theory to practical work. His estimate of‘ the Ecoles des Arts
et Métiers, on the other hand, was very favourable. In several
cases the ﬁrm had sent promising boys to those schools ; but the
workshop was held to be the true school for foremen.
In the elementary schools connected with the works and carried
on at the expense of the Company, great attention is given to
geometrical drawing, and the work of the boys was surprisingly
good. The elements of chemistry and physics are also taught.
Night classes have been given up, partly because the instruction of
the elementary day school was considered sufficient, and partly in
consequence of difficulties between masters and men during the
times immediately preceding, and succeeding to, the fall of the
empire. The dissension which existed for a few years had, however,
subsided to a great extent; and, although the ﬁrm employ large
numbers of miners near Montceau-les—Mines, where there had
lately been troubles, the Greuzot men had not taken any part in
them.
During the stay of one of the Commissioners at Le Oreuzot,
a large hall, built at the cost of Mons. Henri Schneider, the
managing partner, for theatrical performances, concerts, and other
entertainments, and dedicated to‘ the employés, was opened with a
concert given by the excellent stringed band of‘ which the workmen
and clerks were the executants.
Training of
the heads of
departments,
Subjects of
instruction in
schools at
Le Creuzot.
268 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Education of
managing
partner, Le
Crenzot.
Cotton
spinning near
Zurich.
Mr. Hans
W underly.
His training.
His opinion
of English
workmen.
‘We should add, that Mons. Henri Schneider himself did
not receive a, technical, but a classical education, and one of your
Commissioners well remembers an interesting conversation with
his father, the late Mons. Eugene Schneider, the founder of the
great Creuzot works, in which that gentleman expressed his
strong conviction that for the chief director of a great industrial
enterprise, a good general education, and not a special one in
any direction, was the only proper preparation.
CorroN SPINNING IN SWITZERLAND. FACTORIES or
MM. HEINRICH KUNZ, WINDISCH, NEAR ZURICH.
The Commissioners were indebted to the kindness of Mr. Hans
Wunderly, head of the ﬁrm of M.M. Heinrich Kunz, for much in-
formation respecting the cotton industry of Switzerland. He also
invited us to visit one of the groups of cotton factories belonging
to the ﬁrm, and courteously allowed free use to be made of notes
taken during the inspection.
Mr. Wunderly, like most of the employers whom we met in
Switzerland, possesses a thorough knowledge of his business,
and is well acquainted with England. After completing his
ordinary school education in his own country, and becoming
familiar with the general routine of a cotton factory, he came to
England to study the language and habits of the people, and also
to learn every detail of the cotton industry. For a time he was
in a broker’s ofﬁce in Liverpool, noting and sampling raw cotton
on arrival, mixing with the buyers and sellers “ on change,” and
studying commercial accounts. Then he went through one or
two spinning mills as a working apprentice, keeping mill hours,
associating with the workmen, and even lodging with one of
them. He also worked as a helpmate in the setting up of
machinery in several large factories in Lancashire. Finally
he entered a merchant’s warehouse and ofﬁce, and became
acquainted with all the details of the exportation and distri~
bution of cotton yarns. He afterwards made himself acquainted
with the cotton industry of continental countries. While in
England and in other countries, he constantly communicated to
his ﬁrm such information as he considered would be useful. He
thus became familiar with English machinery and methods of
work, with the habits of the workpeople, and the general customs
of the country, and still, in his frequent visits, he keeps up
his inquiries, compares notes, and modiﬁes or conﬁrms his early
impressions.
He considers that the English are at the head of all the work
men he has ever seen, and he is familiar with those of France,
Switzerland, Germany, and Italy. In practical knowledge of their
work, in mechanical genius, they are better, without technical
instruction, than the continental workmen are with it, while in
REPORT. 269
physical endurance and “ all round ” capacity, they know no rivals.
But English workmen would he better even than they are, with
more education. He always found lack of education to be their
weak point, and elementary schools like those of Switzerland
would do wonders for them in the way of developing their
natural intelligence.
The ﬁrm of which Mr. \Vunderly is the head, is said to be the
largest cotton spinning ﬁrm on the continent of Europe, and until
within a few years the largest in the world. They own eight
groups of cotton factories, situated in or near to the canton
of Zurich, with a total of 243,000 spindles, turned to the
extent of 2,300 horse-power by water, and 200 horse-power by
steam They employ ‘2,700 hands. Their chief departments
are spinning and doubling, and they have also a large mechanics’
shop for the construction of small machines, and for repairs.
The factories selected for our visit were at VVindisch, near to
the railway from Basle to Zurich. We left the railway at
Brugg, where a carriage was in waiting to take us to the
factories. Mr. Wunderly pointed out a large warehouse at the
station, which the ﬁrm use for the storage of raw cotton, much
of which they buy in Egypt or obtain direct from America,
occasionally from Bremen, but mainly from Liverpool. They
prefer to buy in several markets so as to have liberty of ch nice
when prices ﬂuctuate from purely local causes.
The village of Windisch stands on elevated ground near a
sharp bend of the river Reuss, which is crossed by a substantial
bridge. The mills in the hollow are beautifully situated in a
narrow part of the valley, surrounded by cultivated meadows
and wooded slopes, and but a short distance from the meeting
place of three important Swiss rivers, the Beuss, the Limmat,
and the Aar. These rivers form the outlets respectively for the
Lake of Lucerne, the Lake of Zurich, and the Lakes of Thun
and Brienz, with their unfailing supplies of water power.
0n our way to the mills we passed the hospital built by the
ﬁrm ; a pretty building, healthily situated on the hill side, and
surrounded by a flower garden. There is accommodation for
30 beds, but as yet only 16 have been provided. There can be
no better testimony to the healthiness of the neighbourhood
than this, that although the building has been erected since
1873, it has happily never been required. It serves the purpose
of a dispensary, however, and in one of the rooms the doctor of
the district meets the sick of the mills for advice, or for dis-
pensing medicine.
From the hospital the road passes blocks of neat cottages,
occupied by workpeople, and one hundred families are thus
supplied by the ﬁrm with dwellings clustering in convenient
situations, at short distances from the factories. On the right
bank of the river, near the bridge crossing over to the mills,
His cotton
mills, the
largest on the
continent.
Visit to
Windisch.
Situation of
Windisch.
Hospital for
workpeople.
Artizans’
cottages.
270 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION I
Cotton mills,
Windisch.
Water power.
Relative ,
costliness of
water powers,
Machinery.
Mules of
various sizes
employed.
Mode of work-
ing compared
is a ﬂour mill belonging to the ﬁrm, and at this point the Reuss,
whlch 1s a rapid river ﬂowing over a stony bed, is about a
hundred yards wide.
There are three mills, two of which were built nearly ﬁfty
years ago. They are each six storeys high, exclusive of base-
ment and attic. The third is a comparatively new mill, six
storeys high, twenty-two windows long, and six windows wide ;
connected with it is a substantial building used for the mixing
and scutching departments. The two older mills stand in a line,
with a “race ” between, and here originally two undershot
waterwheels were ﬁxed, which ran the two mills. The pic—
turesque waterwheels have, however, disappeared, and the motive
power for the three mills is now supplied by six turbines,
indicating over 1,000 horse power, with an arrangement of
special pumps for forcing water at high pressure over any of the
mills in case of ﬁre. Hose is distributed everywhere, and by
electrical communication from all parts of the works, the
apparatus can be set to work almost instantaneously.
The sight of such a magniﬁcent supply of water, fed by so
inexhaustible a reservoir as the Lake of Lucerne, and brought
under such effective control, suggested to the Commissioners the
possibility of a still greater development of this source of power.
But Mr. Wunderly argued that it is a great mistake to suppose
that water power is cheap. These turbines, made by an eminent
Swiss ﬁrm of engineers, together with the canal, embankment,
weir, and house, cost over 70,000Z., almost as much as the mills
themselves, and the annual cost of maintenance, taking into
account the ravages of ﬂoods, is incomparably greater than that
of engines and boilers. Then it must be further considered that
water power is nearly always, as in this case, inconveniently
situated, far away from the markets for the purchase of the raw
material and for the sale of the manufactured goods.
After inspecting the turbines, Mr. Wunderly conducted us over
the mills, showing us every detail, and freely answering every
question.
We found Swiss, Alsatian, and English machinery working
side by side without any preference being expressed for the
English over the foreign. We were informed that English
machinery costs from 20 to 30 per cent. more to lay down in
Switzerland than in Lancashire, but that it is, if anything, cheaper
than that made either in Switzerland or Germany. At Windisch
they make much of their small machinery themselves, buying
castings for the purpose.
We noticed considerable variety in the length and gauge of
the mules, so as to suit the various counts and qualities spun.
The ﬁrm are fully alive to all improvements, and a large number
of their ﬁ'ames contain upwards of 1,000 spindles each. In
comparing the speed of spindles with those of England, Mr.
withmmhire- Wunderly said that they did not, and could not, if they would,
nnron'r. 271
work at the high speed of Lancashire. It is no part of their
plan to try for a great output. They are far more concerned to
procure excellence than quantity. In the factories of Lancashire
the general aim is to spin one or two counts and turn off as
great a quantity as possible per spindle. Here there is variety
without end. Specialities are made, from 305 to 100$, in single
and two fold yarns, and often considerably higher counts are
spun. They make ﬁne embroidery and glove yarns, warps
for silk ribbon weaving, cotton yarns to mix with silk,
and knittings in all counts, but they do not spin weft for
ordinary calicoes. They trade with many countries, and spin
yarn for many purposes. They have to compete with highly
favoured rivals in France, Germany, and Belgium, but the most
formidable of all their rivals is England, and thus they need to
take inﬁnite pains in all they do, and rather select than avoid
those classes of trade in which special care and skill are
necessary.
These mills contain 80,000 spindles, with all the requisites
for carding, preparing, and reeling. Including mechanics,
masons, joiners, gas makers, and clerks, the operatives at these
mills number 1,080. The hours of labour are not so long in
Switzerland as in France and Germany; the Factory Act
limits the employment to 11 hours per day, and no children
under 14: may be employed. As a matter of fact, the restrictions
against child labour are so severe that none are admitted to
these works until they have passed their 15th birthday. The
total hours are 65 per week, and even in case of making up for
time lost by shortness of water, the permission of Government
must be obtained. Under certain exceptional conditions ma-
chinery may be worked all night, but one set of hands may not
work more than 11 hours. There are cases in which men work
in factories 12 hours a day, but youths under 18 years of age,
never.
Wages are nearly all paid by piece, and Mr. Wunderly is of
opinion that piece-work is most satisfactory, both to employers
and employed. The self-acting mules are minded mostly by men
who earn from 28. 3d. to 28. 9d. per day. The women engaged
in carding, drawing, roving, and reeling, earn from ls. 7d. to
‘28. 2d. per day 3 children from 14: to 17 from 11d. to ls. 2d. per
day. Wages are paid monthly, and one week’s wages are always
kept in hand according to law.
Operatives have always been fairly plentiful. In fact, during
recent years they have almost been too plentiful, and occasionally
there is a diﬁiculty in ﬁnding employment for families for whose
condition the employers felt themselves somewhat responsible.
It is true that, in this respect, they obtain some advantages in
wages, but they are often compelled to employ inefficient hands.
We noticed in the scutching room of one of the mills that three
or four, or perhaps more men, of weak intellect were employed.
These men were aﬂ‘ected with cretinism, but were not absolute
Quality, not
quantity, the
chief aim.
Hours of
labour.
Restrictions.
Wages.
workpeople,
their condition.
272 ROYAL C‘OMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION Z
Foremen are
home-trained.
General
observations
on the works,
Windisch.
Cleanliness.
Public gardens.
idiots. Mr. Wunderly pointed them out as illustrating the
diﬂiculty in a country village, of scrupulously selecting the
hands. He had another reason for employing these half—Witted
men and making the best of them. In all probability, if they
were not here, they would have to be maintained out of the
poor-rate, which the ﬁrm have to pay almost entirely. Work-
people remain with the ﬁrm from generation to generation, and
great kindness is shown to the aged and superannuated. All
the overlookers are trained on the spot, and men from other
places are rarely employed in this capacity. The ﬁrm has
adopted the principle of giving its high positions to its own
deserving people, and aspiring young men are thus encouraged
to look for promotion at home rather than elsewhere. Thus a
feeling of clanship has been established which has kept the
workpeople united, while there have been all sorts of disputes
at other places. Mr. Wunderly was able to justify, with par-
donable pride, the attachment of the workpeople for their em-
ployers, by stating that during his lifetime they have not run
any short time. Even during the late depression they kept
their machinery going, and never stopped their works during the
American war.
The general appearance of the mills was very satisfactory. No
amount of special preparation for our visit could have placed the
rooms in such a trim and tidy condition as that in which we
found them. The machinery was marvellously clear of waste;
the bright parts were polished. In the card rooms were ven-
tilating shafts, carefully contrived, for conveying away the dust.
In some of the spinning rooms pure air from the outside was
distributed by effective mechanical means. The arrangements for
ventilation were better than we usually saw in factories, and the
walls might have been lime-washed but a week before, so clean
and white did they appear.
The appearance of the mills from outside was equally striking.
The walls were beautifully white; not the slightest evidence of
smoke could be seen, and the windows from top to bottom were
polished quite clean. Between the old and new mills was a
meadow of long mowing grass ready for cutting. On each side
were gardens with innumerable fruit trees in full blossom.
The English observer is so accustomed to associate cotton
factories with a smoky atmosphere and cheerless dwellings,
that it is positively refreshing to record, from actual
observation, an instance of busy industrial life amidst rural
beauty. Opening from the office was an extensive garden, with
wide and lofty verandahs, trellised with vines and roses, and
shading a number of seats and tables. Here in summer time the
workpeople sit in the shade and eat their meals, which they
share with many familiar birds; for while we sat, the gold-
ﬁnches, which were exceedingly tame, perched on the chairs and
seats close by, and Mr. Wunderly said that they even ate from
the hands of some of his men. The garden extends to the river,
, arrow. 273
and skirting the bank is a verandah about a hundred yards long,
which, we were told, is literally covered with roses in the summer
time. Along the walks were tubs containing orange trees, large
fuchsias, and plants that can only live outside in the summer
months ; these are kept in winter in a heated room next to the
gasworks. Across the river is a sloping bank, wooded with ﬁne
trees, and laid out in walks. All these gardens are open to the
workpeople, and neither fruit nor ﬂowers are ever disturbed—
not even by the children. Few lessons are more successfully
taught to all classes in Switzerland than that they must keep
their ﬁngers from picking and stealing We noticed frequently
in our visits to works of various kinds, that the roads leading to
them were skirted by unfenced vineyards and orchards, and
yet we were frequently told that the fruit is never disturbed.
The gardens and walks adjacent to the mills at Windisch have Beauty of
about them a beauty of which dwellers in English factory towns gardens’
have no conception, and Mr. Wunderly’s enthusiasm was justiﬁed
as he pointed out that what we saw represented the labour and
thought of three generations, each of which had endeavoured to
do its part in making the place comfortable and pleasant for the
workers employed in it. His children will recognise it as their ﬁrst
‘care to keep the place comfortable and attractive in future.
The ﬁrm has never had a strike at any of its factories; Absence of
but exemption from this unpleasantness was not attributed by Smkes'
Mr. Wunderly to the good management alone; the workpeople
had shown great consideration in times of diﬂiculty.
Time-breaking through drink was an unheard-of trouble of Drimkenness
factory-management ; in fact a drunken man at Windisch is even extremely ‘we’
a rarity at the village feast.
Such is a brief description of the picturesque factories at
vWindisch, but the inspection of the locality did not end here.
We were conducted over the cottages, schools, and hospital by
Mr. J. J. Meyer, an elderly conﬁdential servant, who worked Mr_J_J_Meyer,
under Mr. Wunderly’s father, and had been here from boyhood.
He is a kind of bailiff, looks after the property, superintends
repairs, collects rents, &JC. We were told that such men are to be
found everywhere in the more advanced cantons, and his case is
a good illustration of what is going on in Switzerland. He
could speak a little English, was familiar with English literature,
and had read most of Sir Walter Scott’s novels and poems in
the original and from his own copies. He named a wealthy and
much respected merchant in England, known to the Commis—
sioners, as a playmate of his own. Mr. Meyer had received his
education in the village school. His two sons began their educa—
tion in a similar wav, and had continued it at higher schools.
Next to nothing had been paid for their schooling, and yet one
was now the foreign correspondent of the ﬁrm, and able to write
several languages with ease. The other was holding an im-
portant situation as foreign correspondent and buyer in the
Hi 1726. S
274! ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL IN STRUCTION:
Schools at
Windisch.
Christin as
treat.
Night school
free.
Visit to work—
men’s cottages.
warehouse of an export merchant in England, and receiving a
good salary.
We found at the infant school that the children were being
taught by Kindergarten methods, and had a large collection of
sewing and plaiting patterns on paper, coloured designs, boxes of
toys, Noah’s arks, bricks and sticks, &c., such as we ﬁnd in the
best schools in England. The desks, tables, and ﬂoor were
scrubbed scrupulously clean, and the children were all neatly
dressed and clean. They went through physical exercises, sang,
counted, and gave evidence of being intelligently taught. There
is also a junior elementary school, of which the fees, as of the
infant school, are 1d. per month. Mr. \Vunderly believes that
even a small payment encourages appreciation of the schools, and
tends to foster a spirit of independence among the parents. The
older children attend the Windisch free school at some little
distance from the factories, where they receive a sound primary
education, as good as may be obtained in the larger towns. The
parents and villagers generally are encouraged to‘ take an interest
in these schools by the good example of Mrs. ‘Wunderly, who
actively shares her husband’s interest in the welfare of their
employés. She provides a Christmas tree annually for the school
children, and a little meeting is held at which they sing and
show specimens of their work and scholarship, and here she and
her husband meet the children and their parents, and each child
receives a present from Mrs. Wunderly’s hands.
These acts of consideration are not thrown away, and tend no
less in Switzerland, than has often been found to be the case
in England, to establish good feeling between employers and
employed.
The young people are not neglected after their attendance
at the day school has ceased. There is an excellent night
school in connection with the mills, where several subjects are
taught to the operatives free of charge. The draughtsman of the
ﬁrm teaches mechanical and freehand drawing in the evenings and
on Sundays; in addition to regular classes in literary subjects,
courses of lectures are given during the winter months.
The Commissioners were invited to visit the cottages, and
some of these were inspected from cellar to attic. Unlike
workmen’s cottages in England, they are built in blocks, gene-
rally containing about nine tenements each, and arranged in
ﬂats, a staircase serving for three ﬂats, each with its living
room, kitchen, and two bedrooms. In each kitchen there is a
cooking stove, sufﬁciently large to accommodate three pans boil-
ing at the same time. A pleasing feature of many of these
cottages was the interest taken in the culture of plants and
ﬂowers. The windows being all double, protect the interiors
alike from winter cold and summer heat; boxes of mignonette
and other fragrant ﬂowers bloomed in the spaces between the
outer and inner frames, and pots and bouquets of ﬂowers adorned
the rooms. There seemed to be white curtains to all the win—
REPORT. .6
[\‘J
7
dows, pictures and bookshelves on the walls, and pieces of carpet
on the parlour and bedroom floors; the chairs, table, stove, and
other ﬁttings were all neatly arranged, and in most instances
perfect in cleanliness.
For the use of every two blocks of cottages we noticed a wash-
house, containing a large “ copper,” a number of large tubs, and
laundry table. The washing-day, which is responsible for so
much discomfort in English homes, is deprived of its horrors at
Windisch, by being relegated to this well arranged building.
Surrounding the cottages are the garden allotments, divided
by walks, and displaying all the marvellous results of spade
culture for which Switzerland is famed. Potatoes, and many
other kinds of vegetables, were being grown for domestic use,
and there were also fruit trees in blossom.
It will not be considered that the rent of these cottages is
excessive. The tenants pay less than 45L a year, garden included,
and the ﬁrm make all repairs of freehold, whitewash the houses
inside and outside, and sweep the chimneys. The cottages, we
were informed, do not pay more than one per cent. on the outlay
upon them. Yet in spite of the favourable terms upon which
dwellings may be rented, the ambition to live in one’s own house
is strongly manifested by these village artisans, and although
we did not hear of special facilities for the building of houses,
such as are afforded by the Building Societies of England, yet
half the workmen of Windisch live in their own houses, a
striking illustration of thrift and prosperity. Connected with
every factory belonging to the ﬁrm is a sick club, through which
the advice and help of the village doctor are obtained in case
of sickness. As above-mentioned, the doctor has a dispensary
at the hospital belonging to the works, and to the several sick
clubs the ﬁrm are the principal subscribers.
The co—operative supply movement was early taken up in
Switzerland and vigorously promoted by this ﬁrm in all the little
communities connected with their factories. At Windisch they
started a society, managers were appointed, and the ﬁrm
advanced them money at 41 per cent., for furnishing premises and
buying a stock of goods. The shares are ﬁve francs each, and
are taken up mostly by the workpeople. Food and clothing, and
many of the luxuries as well as the necessaries of life, are
supplied to the inhabitants. The accounts are audited by the
ﬁrm, and of the proﬁts, one third go to the customers in the
form of bonus, one-third to the shareholders, and one-third to
the reserve fund. The society acts also as a bank, and keeps
money on deposit, allowing it to be taken out as required.
The Commissioners were favourably impressed with the
general appearance of the workpeople. They were all very clean,
and well dressed, and though generally short and thick set, and
neither handsome nor pretty, they showed in a high degree the
effects of comfort and civilization. We were assured that, except
those who are physically or mentally incapacitated, not a child or
“rash-house.
Gardens.
Rent.
(Io-operative
societies.
General edu-
cation of the
workpeople.
S 2
2 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION 2
an aged person, within the wide area from which these factories
draw their workpeople, is unable to read and write, and that
- through all ranks and conditions of the population the desire for
education is as universal as the supply is effective and complete.
It has been said by a careful inquirer, that “ for thorough education
the Swiss may be said to entertain a veritable passion,” and
to this generous determination the simple-minded peasants and
factory operatives of the thriving valley of the Reuss are no
exception.
Personal The members of the ﬁrm mix freely with their people, know
‘ .A I o o I g . - .
the their individual circumstances and family connections, and as all
in their are educated, the difference in position is minimised by intel-
Workpeople. lectual sympathy and civil and political equality.
workpeople Considering that, as compared with the English standard, the
Zgtggglgﬁin incomes of these people must be small, it is somewhat remarkable
tively low that the operatives generally present such a well-to-do and
‘Wages comfortable appearance. Besides maintaining. their families and
securing a good education for their children, it is the exception
not to have something laid by for a rainy day, or for old age.
It is contended that the industrial workpeople here and in
other parts of Switzerland, are better off than those of surround-
ing countries. The military service bears so lightly upon the
Swiss workman that it is not looked upon as a serious tax upon
his labour. Compared with all other Continental countries, taxa-
tion falls lightly upon the poor. Hemined in by countries with
hostile tariffs, they buy freely, with merely nominal duties, all
the cheap food, clothing, and raw materials that their neigh-
bours have to sell. rl‘here is scarcely any indirect taxation upon
their food and clothing, and direct taxation is lower than in
France, Germany, or Italy. The purchasing power of their wages
is, therefore, at a maximum, and wise expenditure must be
credited with its share in the exceptional conditions of prosperity
and happiness found among the cotton operatives at Windisch.
CoTroN FACTORIES AT NIEDER ToEss, WINTERTHUR.
‘Jotwn mills of The Commissioners, during their visit to Winterthur, also
Mess“ Rmter' inspected the above factories belonging to Messrs. J. J. Rieter
& Co. The buildings have been erected at different times. The
power is derived from turbines, and is transmitted from one
building to another by means of wire ropes of great length,
running over drums of large diameter.
Conspicupus It is unnecessary to give any detailed description of these
1001' cleanhness' buildings, since with respect to hours, wages, and organization,
they resemble the cotton factories at Windisch. We have
sometimes suspected, that when factories have been visited by
the Commissioners after due notice, a special “cleaning down”
was made for our beneﬁt, and that the trim, neat, and clean
appearance of the rooms were thus to be accounted for.
REPORT. 277
Nothing of the kind could have occurred here, for our visit
was unannounced. The buildings in the works were all spot-
lessly white, as if lime-washed the week before. The passages,
staircases, &0. were faultlesssly clean. In the spinning rooms
there did not seem to he a particle of ﬂy or dust, or even grease
stains on the ﬂoor. In convenient places were casks of water,
with large water taps and buckets attached, for use in case of
ﬁre.
In the spinning there was no attempt at high speed. The High speed not
counts spun 'on the mules were 14108 and 1508, for warps and attempted-
yarns intended for gloves, lace, or for mixing with silk. The
best cotton is used, and the cost of labour on a pound of yarn
is considered unimportant compared with the advantage of
securing excellence, and producing a yarn which pleases
customers. In Italy, Saxony, and Westphalia, we found yarns
from these factories used for mixing with silk, and woven
into ﬁne webs for cotton gloves; thus, in spite of the import
duty, they were competing with home-made yarns in foreign
countries and with English yarns in neutral markets.
Near to the factories, as also to the machine works Cottages for
belonging to this ﬁrm, were blocks of cottages tenanted by workpeople-
their workpeople. Some of these cottages, with two living
rooms, scullery, two bedrooms and attic, were rented at about
St. a year, the garden included. Many of the operatives own
the cottages they live in, or invest their savings in plots of
land, in cultivating which they spend every spare moment. It
was stated to us that this extensive possession of parcels of land
by the masses is considered to be one of the chief safeguards
against socialism in the country.
OALIco~PRINTINe.—-ZURI<JH.
A large calico-printer, in comparing his position with that Relative posi-
of his English rivals, stated that he was compelled to do a “on 0.10 S‘Ylss
. 1. d t d {.11 f d n . . f7 and English
very vane. ra e, u o ‘eta s, so as to satis y many small caliwprintem
customers in many countries. HlS packages contained large
varieties and assorted patterns, and he found it necessary to take
inﬁnite pains to satisfy the small fancies or whims of his cus-
tomers as to making up, packing, labels, and a hundred other
things which English houses ignored.
In a foreign trade many foolish things were required, with Manufacturers
which he complied. The English maker, when a paltry request 111,115‘; comsly
involving trouble was made, would say that the thing was gﬁﬁﬁfﬁ
absurd, and would refuse to do it, and he often compelled theircustomers.
the buyer to adopt the English plan or not get the English
article. This had greatly disgusted foreign merchants, who had
to please small shopkeepers, and these in turn the ignorant
and prejudiced country people, who were often far more exacting
as to the way in which an article was made up than as to the
quality of the article itself.
278 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
English manu—
facturers dis-
regarded these
minute details.
Workpeople
are plentiﬁil
in Switzerland.
Emigrants, are
as a rule, well
educated and
well off.
\
In times when English goods only were offered in foreign
markets, there was no choice for people but to buy goods as
they were presented. N ow-a-days several countries were com-
peting in the same foreign shop for the same customer, and
the humouring of the fancies of ignorant buyers was not the
least important of a manufacturer’s diﬂiculties. It was ready
attention to small things which enabled Swiss manufacturers
to live. His travellers made personal visits to his customers,
and would write letters, ten pages long, about the most trivial
details, but he was willing to follow such instructions. It was
only by care and attention to details that he could face the
competition of England.
We were informed that, generally speaking, there is no scarcity
of workpeople in Switzerland, and as manufacturers do not
readily extend their works, there is no outlet but emigration for
the surplus. This accounts for what may be considered low
wages, but the operatives have some advantages as compared
with their rivals in surrounding countries. They are almost
free from taxes, and they escape the most exacting and serious
of all taxes—the three years’ military service, now almost
universal throughout the continent of Europe. They command
for their children good and free elementary education, and free
evening and Sunday schools after the day’s schooling is
ﬁnished. Employment is remarkably regular, and free institutions
teach them to be proud of their homes and their beautiful
country. In the long winter evenings the girls sew and do
housework, the boys attend the evening schools, and the elders
are generally able to read. The favourite pastimes are inexpen-
sive. Their mode of living must, indeed, be frugal and
singularly moderate, or their small wages would not provide
them, as do they with food and decent clothing, and something
to lay by.
At Basle we saw 80 emigrants starting for America, and
were informed that, in addition to their passage money, every
one would have a surplus with which to begin life on the other
side of the Atlantic. In some cases the stock of money was said
to be small, but in others considerable, amounting to scores of
pounds sterling. All these emigrants had received a sound
education at school, and had occupied much of their leisure
since that time in learning something of the geography, history,
and special wants of the new world they were about to visit.
These young men and young women, by virtue of a better
education, would enter America with chances superior to those
of the ordinary emigrants from England and Ireland, whose
education in their own countries had been less cared for. But
to whatever land the Swiss goes he knows that his good qualities
will make him welcome, and his ambition is to return again to
end his days in affluence among the mountains which he loves,
REPORT. 279
and the free institutions which have given inspiration to his
life.*
SILK WEAVING, BASLE, SWITZERLAND.
The silk industry has for several years past been increasing in
importance in Switzerland. While it has languished in Spital-
ﬁelds, Coventry, and Macclesﬁeld, it has extended in Basle, and
even Lyons has been compelled to acknowledge the formidable
character of its enterprising rival. ,
In one of the large establishments visited by the Commis-
sioners, ribbon weaving by power looms was carried to a high
pitch of excellence. In some of the looms from 8 to 10 ribbons
were woven at once, with as many shuttles. Some of the
designs were very complicated, and required not only great
ability on the part of the “ tuner” to arrange the patterns in
the Jacquard, but also great knowledge of the work and care
in its execution on the part of the weaver.
In the Lyons and St. Etienne districts most of this work is
Swiss silk
industry.
Jacquard
done by hand ; one is therefore not surprised at the remark of power looms
our conductor that Basle is beating Lyons and St. Etienne out
of the market. If, in the one case, hand looms only are used, and
in the other power looms for the same goods, we need not wonder
that the advantage, at least for cheapness of production, will lie
with the power looms.
The weavers are all able to “right ” their own looms, and set
the patterns, but they do not ﬁx the J acquards. This is done
by overlookers, specially trained to arrange the looms in accor-
dance with the ﬁgured design. These men have not had training
in special schools, but they are all men of general intelligence,
and many of them have received a good education in the ordinary
schools. The manager of the works was of opinion that expe-
rience in the factory is the best training for an intelligent man.
He did not pretend that the factory was the best place for
training a designer, but no place could equal it for teaching a
man how to put a design into the loom when the pattern had
been made for him.
All the silk manufacturers employ designers, but only a small
proportion originate new patterns. \Ve saw several designers
at work, but apparently all were engaged in enlarging designs

for ribbon
weaving.
Skilled over-
lookers arrange
the looms.
*Norn—In the silk manufactures of Switzerland 56,285 workpeople were employed
in 1882 ; 40,669 in cotton manufactures ; 39,367 in watch making ; 17,776 in
machine-making. The exports of cotton yarn and thread increased more than six-
fold between 1860 and 1882. The annual value of articles embroidered by machinery
is estimated at 3,200,000]. The wages in cotton spinning factories vary from a
minimum of Is. to a maximum of 3s. 4d. per day. The artizans in the silk factories
of Basle earn from 7s. 3d. to 23 s. 9d. per week; those of Zurich from 11d. to 35. 1d.
per day; workers in wool and worsted from 1s. to 2s. 10d. ; men in linen factories.
2s. lot. to 4s. 10d.; females in the same, 1s. id. to ls. 4d. per day.
Designs for
silk weaving.
.0
280 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION I
Excellence of
dyeing, Basle.
Hours of
labour, wages,
&c.
Inﬂuence of
technical
instruction.
Attention to
details in the
manufacture.
Dye works at
Zurich.
produced elsewhere. We were, informed that drawing is well
taught in Basle, and that original designers are produced and
trained there, but the more important patterns for ribbons and
for other silk products come from Paris, as is also the case in
Lyons. The manufacturers generally receive all the new pat-
terns from an agency in Paris, and they adapt their patterns
from these, or imitate them in a cheap form. This arrange—
ment does not apply in the case of the manufacturers of the best
silks, in which the newest and original designs usually appear-
Much of the work which we saw was evidently of the second
class, from cheaper material, but intended to be as effective as
possible for the price. For instance, the yarns were made mostly
from waste silk and spoiled cocoons from Italy, China, and
India. Many varieties of yarns and thread were being prepared
from dyed silk yarn, which was twisted, singed, and wound
upon small bobbins, then made up in fancy boxes, labelled for
the English market, and called “ Sublime Sewing Silk.”
In dyeing, there are some colours in which they acknowledge
the supremacy of Lyons. but generally they claim to be in
advance of the French. This they attribute to the greater
intelligence and superior chemical knowledge of the Swiss, in
dealing with the new colouring matters which during recent
years have so powerfully inﬂuenced the trade.
The operatives in the silk factories work 11 hours a day, and
are nearly all paid by the piece, fortnightly. Their earnings are
probably a little lower than those of similar operatives in
England, and the power loom weavers are not paid so highly as
the best hand loom weavers of Lyons.
It was not shown to us that the silk industry of Basle, apart
from the dyeing, has been materially inﬂuenced by technical
schools, but the general schools are more scientiﬁc in character
than the schools of England.
The cheap labour of Switzerland is a strong point of advan-
tage in the cost of production, when taken in connection with
the important faculty of taking pains, which is shown both by
the masters and by the workpeople. The high scientiﬁc training
of employers and the heads of manufacturing establishments,
exerts its due inﬂuence upon Swiss industries, while the general
good education of the poorest artisans, enables them to do the
most detailed work with intelligence, and with a sense of
responsibility, knowing the value of the commodity with which
they deal. The great care shown in every process almost in
itself accounts for the growing preference with which certain
Swiss goods are received in many markets.
ZURICH—SILK DYEING.
The Commissioners visited some interesting works near Zurich,
where the operations of silk dyeing were inspected. As in Alsace,
Basle, Lyons, and Crefeld, there is a great subdivision or‘
REroRT. 281
labour in all the processes. If at any place in the world one
might expect to ﬁnd chemists among the ordinary workmen, that
place would be Zurich, where the highest chemical knowledge
may be so cheaply obtained, and where its importance to
industry is so thoroughly understood. Yet in this establishment workmen are
we coald not ascertain that the ordinary workmen had ilr‘gtizeeghmcany
received theoretical training in chemistry. Experience seems to '
show what it is also reasonable to expect, that each of twenty
uneducated men devoting his life to one thing, can do
that thing better than any one man, even with the highest
scientiﬁc training, can do twenty things. Here a man is kept at
dyeing one shade until he can dye it perfectly. Division of work
compensates for the lack of chemical and scientiﬁc knowledge.
The difﬁculty in the case of these practical dyers arises when
they have to deal with new colours or novel processes, and here
their rule-of-thumb knowledge is inapplicable.
But at the head of these dyeing establishments, the Commis- Managers have
sioners almost invariably found, in the persons of managers 2222x5363
and foremen, high scientiﬁc knowledge combined with practical education
training.
The proprietor and director of one such establishment had been
a chemical student at the Polytechnic at Zurich ; he had after-
wards served an apprenticeship at Lyons, because it was under-
stood that silk dyeing had there attained its highest efficiency ;
and had subsequently worked in Paris and Manchester.
This is but one more instance of what was found by the Same fact
Commissioners in France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, observed in,
Belgium, and Holland, namely, that in nearly every factory or at er counmes'
industrial establishment of importance, the directing skill was
supplied by men who had supplemented a scientiﬁc education by
foreign travel. These men generally know what is going on in
the best manufactories in England and other countries. As a
rule, the arrangements of the newest and best of their factories
and work shops, the efficiency of their machinery, and their appli-
ances for economical production, are as good as our own. In
chemical knowledge, the heads of departments in colour—making
and dyeing establishments are ahnost invariably superior to those
of England, where Englishmen educated only in England are
employed.
ENGINEERING AND MACHINE MAKING, SWITZERLAND.
Through the kindness of Oberst P. E. Huber, Riesbach, Zurich, Engineering
the Commissioners were shown over the machine and tool works ‘Z‘miksl at
of Oerlikon, near ZurIch. 11110 i.
The ﬁrm make machine tools of many kinds, such as lathes,
planing, drilling, and shaping machines, machines for working in
282 ROYAL ooMMIssIoN ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
\Vages and
piece-work
Oerlikon.
Hours.
Apprentices.
Opinions
respecting
piece-work.
wood and stone. They also have a speciality for patent ﬂour
mills with porcelain rollers. Their machinery and tools are
mostly exported, and a considerable number of their ﬂour mills
ﬁnd their way to England.
About 440 men are employed, and .no boys are taken under
the age of 14‘.
Wages are paid almost entirely by piece. Apprentices during
their ﬁrst year are paid by the day, but their work is tested in
the same way as that of the piece-workers. After the second
year they are paid by piece, and after three or four years many
execute as much work as journeymen. A good man will earn
up to 58. a day, while labourers who have not been apprenticed
earn from 28. 6d. to 3s. per day.
They work 11 hours a day, excepting on Saturdays, when
they work 10, thus making a total of 65 hours per week. They
have no rule as to what is taught the apprentices. They do not
take what in England are called “ gentlemen apprentices,” who
pay a premium and are supposed to learn everything. There are,
however, many boys whom they put through every department
of their business without premium. But they do this for their
own interest rather than in that of the boys. In a district
where the iron industries are not extensively organised, and in
a growing business, they must ever be on the look out for young
men who may make good foremen, or who may be relied on to
look after their interests in erecting machinery in other coun-
tries. They are therefore always ready to pick out young men
of special intelligence and promise, to whom they give a more
careful training, and whom they put forward in other ways.
Such young men usually appreciate and justify the conﬁdence
placed in them, by efforts at theoretical improvement out of work
hours, and it is quite common for them to learn the English
language and to study English books.
In a conversation on piece-work, our conductor said that the
men do not, as a rule, object to it. ‘He was of opinion that its
advantages are universally recognised. What is objected to with
regard to piece-work is the frequent lowering of the rate as
higher wages are made, and the selfishness of employers as much
as the greed of men, has been the cause of many strikes and
cases of unpleasantness. Employers have encouraged men to
put out their full strength, and ﬁnding that they earned higher
wages than they previously obtained for day-work, have lowered
the rate, thus necessitating still harder work to keep up the
pay. Against this system the men in some works are constantly
ﬁghting. As one of the large machine-makers of Alsace remarked
to the Commissioners, “The men are wise enough not to put out
“ their full strength, for fear that the rate may be lowered.”
On the other hand, it was represented to us that in many
instances, in which, by improved tools or other materials sup-
plied by the employers, the workmen have been able to work
REPORT. 283
more expeditiously, and increase their earnings, they have
refused to submit to a proportionate reduction of the rate, and
thus the unpleasant feeling relating to piece-work has been kept
alive. At these works the men have always been encouraged to
put all their energies into their work without fear of advantage
being taken, because employers and employed have mutually
gained by the maximum of work being done.
As for division of labour, it is as well understood and is as Division Of
much cultivated as in England. Under a system of payment by labour‘
piece the men like it, because they can make most money by it,
and the masters encourage it because it enables them to make
the most perfect and the cheapest machinery.
Payment of wages is made fortnightly. According to the rule, Emrloyel'
supported by law, which We found in operation in most of the $21,113: $065
countries visited, a week’s wages are always held in hand, and ° '
this tends to keep‘ the workmen steady, and checks frivolous
changing from one shop to another.
Ten draughtsmen are employed on the Works, and the drawings Draughtsmen.
are reproduced by the ferro-prussiate process, noW common in
the engineer’s shops of this country and the continent.
Coal costs about 168. a ton. The carriage of goods to London Coal.
is about 4%. a ton.
Although in the selection of heads of departments, other Managers are
qualities besides scholastic knowledge and training have always Scientiﬁcally
been taken into account, nearly all the head men in these works ﬂamed‘
have been through the Polytechnic or the Technicum.
Every Polytechnic student expects to take a position higher Abundance of
than that of the ordinary workman; but in the Swiss machine htlgglyttl'mned
and engineering shops, which are comparatively few in number, S u en 5'
students from the higher schools are so numerous that many of
them necessarily begin as ordinary workmen, and some never
rise beyond this position. With some of these highly educated
youths it is rather a disadvantage to themselves that they should
have remained at school till twenty years of age, because a few
years must elapse before they possess the expertness of ordinary
workmen, Whereas the boys who begin wage-earning at fourteen,
generally receive suﬂicient education in the elementary schools to
enable them to perform intelligently all the work required of them.
As ordinary workmen, assuming that there were no possibilities
of advancement, it was represented to us that the boy coming
to the shop at fourteen becomes, as a rule, a more skilled and
valuable artisan than the highly educated youth coming at
twenty. In actual experience of workshop government it does,
however, generally happen that the highest positions are eventu-
ally secured by youths of superior education and scientiﬁc train-
ing, although in Switzerland the supply is greater than the
demand, and consequently many must remain workmen, or
emigrate to some other country where there is a better ﬁeld
284:‘ ROYAL COMMISSION on TECHNICAL ixs'rnuc'rioiv:
Opinions
respecting the
advantages of
a polytechnic
training.
Education for
foremen.
Education for
employer.
Conversation
with working
engineer.
for their scientiﬁc attainments. To sum up the evidence of
the heads of this ﬁrm on this interesting question, it was held
that if a workman possesses those moral qualities which ﬁt him
for a higher position, such as that of foreman or manager, the
acquisition of scientiﬁc training is of the greatest value to him ;
indeed for the higher posts it is indispensable, whilst for foremen
it is second only to a thorough knowledge of work and the
management of men. There are many workmen and foremen
possessing practical skill and high scientiﬁc knowledge who
have not attended a Polytechnic School, and there are some who
have enjoyed the fullest advantages of the Polytechnic School
who are not only much inferior in practice, but are very deﬁcient
in scientiﬁc knowledge also, to others who have enjoyed fewer
educational advantages.
Mr. Hiiber is of opinion that a workman, by enabling his boy
to remain at school till he is sixteen, so that he may go through
the secondary school course, opens up to him the highest possi-
bilities of future advancement. Such a boy beginning to work
at sixteen, and attending a night school, may with strength,
ability, good conduct, and ambition, qualify himself for any
position which he desires to attain.
A manufacturer’s son, who is intended for an industrial or
commercial career, cannot do better than begin his education at
the elementary school among the children with whom he will be
connected in after life. He will learn to respect and admire the
good qualities of his playmates, he will better understand their
weak points and know how to deal with them. Good fellowship
and sympathy between master and man are qualities that possess
a commercial as well as a moral value. Moreover, in Switzerland
the public free school is the best school for an elementary
education. Mr. Hiiber’s own son attended a primary free school;
after that the Real Gymnasium for a three years’ course; he is
there now, and his father expects him to get a general training
in science and modern languages till he is turned eighteen. He
will then enter the workshop for a year to learn the use of
tools, and to obtain a general knowledge of the terms used in the
shop, the purposes of the machines, &c. From the shop his
father hopes to send him to the Polytechnic School for three
years. By that time he ought to be a thoroughly qualiﬁed
engineer, able to take his place by the side of the capable men of
all countries.
In going over these works, the Commissioners had a conversa-
tion with a very intelligent foreman engineer. After working in
a shop as a boy, he attended the department for engineering in
the Zurich Polytechnic, and having ﬁnished the course, he fulﬁlled
the dream of all ambitious young men by travelling to England.
There he visited some of the engineering works of Yorkshire and
Lancashire; worked in the drawing oﬁice of one of the large
machine makers at Oldham, and was employed in other capacities
at some of the leading establishments in the North of England.
REPoRT. " 285
He greatly respects the Englishman, who has, he thinks, more His opinion of
natural aptitude than any other workman he has seen, and Englllsh
greater physical strength, which he considers may be mainly wor men’
accounted for by the fact that he lives better. There is, how-
ever, a great gap between the best English workmen and the
worst. Nowhere has he seen so much drunkenness and coarse-
ness, amounting almost to brutality, as among the lower orders
of English mechanics with whom he has worked. It was a great
surprise to him when he visited England, to ﬁnd in workshops
where the best work he has ever seen was being done, many
men in such a state of ignorance. He does not think that the
Englishman shines as a workman outside of his own country.
He is apt to be conceited and domineering, and irregular in his
habits. A few years ago English workmen were extensively
employed in Swiss workshops. At present he does not know of
any establishment Where a single English mechanic is employed.
Of English factory women as wives he has not a high opinion. English work-
They are not educated; they work in factories up to the time womenflw
of marriage ; they learn very little of household work, and when housewwes'
they marry and set up house, many of them have no notion how
to make their husbands comfortable, or to make both ends meet.
With large incomes from a Swiss workman’s point of view, they
have not been trained in ideas and habits of economy; they
have to begin to learn household management at a‘time when
they ought already to understand it, and not being able to make
their homes attractive, their husbands escape from the untidiness
and squalor of home, and spend their evenings at the public—
house. The engineer remarked that when he looked on the
brighter side of English social life among workmen and their
homes, he had to acknowledge that he had seen nothing else—
where so favourable. But he was not less impressed by the dis-
comfort caused by lack of education and of knowledge of domestic
economy, which brought wastefulness and drunkenness in their
train. He was of opinion that in education and household
management, the women of Switzerland of his own class are
far in advance of the women of England.
The educational facilities offered to the poor in Switzerland Education of
are beyond all praise, and are highly appreciated by them. Besides the P°°"'
the free day-schools there are the free evening and Sunday schools, _
and in the Canton of Zurich, at least, the apprentices and workmen
have only themselves to blame, if they do not continue their
education in any direction in which they may desire to excel.
He looks upon the free schools of Switzerland as the mainstay of
Swiss independence.
On the inﬂuence of the Swiss military system he gave some Military
interesting information. Military service we need hardly say System-
begins at 20, and the rule is that all men are required to go
through a prescribed service of six weeks a year for eight years.
From 28 to 30 the service is reduced to two weeks or ten days
286 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION Z
Wages of
superior men
are paid while
they are absent
on military
service.
Engineering
works of
Messrs. Rieter.
Arrangement
of works.
Apprentices
and their
training.
a year. From 30 to 440 years of age, eight days’ exercise is
required every two years. It is understood that throughout life
every able-bodied Swiss is required to place his services at the
call of the Republic for the defence of the country.
When on service the soldier gets his military dress and food
from the State, and 10d. to 28. and 2s. 6d. per day. It is the
custom for workmen to assist each other and their familiesduring
absence, out of club funds subscribed partly for this purpose.
In the case of superior men in workshops or factories, par‘
ticularly of those paid by month or quarter, their wages are
generally paid by their employers, as a matter of agreement,
during absence on military service.
Industrially, neither employers nor employed attach much
importance to this periodical absence on military service. It
applies to both masters and men, and as it must be gone through,
they provide for it without appeal or question. The drill goes
on during most of the year, and large ﬁrms divide their men, so
many a month, while the drilling period lasts. It is a healthy
change, is generally enjoyed, and the men come back to their
work as strong as oxen.
MACHINE AND TURBINE MAKING Wonxs or MESSRS. J. J.
RIETER & Co.-- OBER ToEss, WINTERTHUR.
These works are situated at the village of Ober Toess, about
a mile from Winterthur.
In addition to turbine wheels and heavy tools, the ﬁrm make
lace machines and every kind of cotton-spinnin g machinery,
which they export to all manufacturing countries except
England. In the case of turbines they occasionally receive orders
from England. They employ 800 mechanics, and having no
foundry of their own, they are supplied with most of their
castings by Messrs. Sultzer Brothers, Whose extensive foundries
we passed near the station at Winterthur.
The training of mechanics and the arrangements of the shops
generally, are not very different from those of England. The
principle of division of labour is carried on extensively in the
making of such machines as cotton-mules, where the many parts
are duplicated, and machine tools are extensively employed;
but in the turbine department, where two machines are seldom
of the same dimensions, subdivision is less frequently attempted.
Apprentices come at 14:, but if backward in their education,
they are either refused admission until they have reached the
necessary standard, or are required to attend school for two
half-days per Week in addition to the night school. They
are tasked almost at once as if on piece-work, and their work
is inspected so that they may be kept up to the mark with
regard both to quality and quantity, but they are not paid by
REPORT. 287
piece during their term of apprenticeship. They are advanced in
wages from year to year according to rule, and partly according
to proﬁciency. They are often changed from one class of work
to another, smart fellows being picked out for more important
work. Many of these young men are taught turning, ﬁtting,
and engineering, and thus become conversant with the varied
work of the establishment. The ﬁrm have found the importance
of having a number of all-round men, so that in the event of
special men being off their work, or leaving at awkward times,
there may be no serious diﬂiculty in supplying their places.
All the men engaged on turbines, or similar engineering work,
are accustomed to work from drawings ; in fact, most of the men
can make drawings of their own. Nearly 30 draughtsmen are
employed in these Works, of whom the majority were trained at
the Technicum of Winterthur, or in the Zurich or other Poly-
technic school. Some of the draughtsmen assist in the evening
schools. These are held in the village during the winter, and
are free to all comers.
The men work 65 hours per week, as at the mills and work-
shops of Switzerland generally, and their payment is by piece.
Ordinary workmen earn from three to four francs per day, but
some men were receiving very much higher wages. “No rate
of payment for piece-work could be devised,” said Mr. Rieter,
“ that would not give exceptionally high wages to exceptional
“ men.”
On the question of the length of working hours and the rate
of wages, an opinion was expressed, that under piece-work the
number of hours that a man works is not a very serious con-
sideration. When a man works his hardest, he can exhaust his
energy in ten hours almost as completely as in twelve. With
shorter hours he quickens his pace, and the extra two hours of
relaxation at night which the ten hours’ man obtains, bring him
to his work next morning fresher and more vigorous than the
man who habitually works two hours a day more.
These works are driven entirely by water, and the power is
transmitted from one building to another by ropes which
seemed to be very steady and effective. Mr. Rieter, like
Mr. Wunderly, would not admit that there is much economy in
water-power. With the present comparatively cheap supply of
coal, and its economical use in the production of steam, it is
preferable to water-power, except where regularity of water—
supply and immunity from ﬂoods can be secured. The wear-
and-tear of water-power is excessive; deﬁciency in the supply
always comes at busy times, when it is most wanted, or the
ﬂoods come and cause constant anxiety, or even terrible havoc.
Less than ten years ago, a terrible winter ﬂood destroyed all
the weirs, ﬂooded the shops and oﬂices, stopped the works for
a considerable time, threw all the workpeople out of employment,
and did damage to the extent of 16,000Z. There are few people
in Switzerland who use water-power extensively, who do not
suffer these disasters at one time or another.
All the work-
men under-
stand drawing.
Hours and
wages.
Piecework.
Works driven
by water
power.
288 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION 2
Earthenware
factory at
Zurich.
Apprentices
attend draw-
ing schools
Paper mill
at Zurich.
Turbines at
Zurich.
ZURICH—EARTHENWARE FACTORY.
The Commissioners visited an earthenware factory at Zurich,
and saw the manufacture of tiles for wainscoting, and of
the terra-cotta and earthenware stoves so extensively found in
houses throughout Switzerland, Germany, and Northern Europe.
Some of the modelling was very superior, and the glazing of
the pottery was skilfully executed.
All the apprentices at these works attend the Sunday drawing
schools, of which the proprietor informed us that there were six
in Zurich. They also attend the evening drawing classes of the
G8\V81"b6 School—the highest school of drawing open to the
public. Here are classes in ﬁgurendrawing from the life, for
advanced students. The teaching in all these schools and classes
is free. His own apprentices have proﬁted considerably by the
instruction in drawing received in the schools, and he applies
their knowledge to practical designing, which is taught at his
works. He pointed to several castings in terra-cotta which
had been designed and modelled by apprentices, who had
obtained their knowledge of art at the free drawing schools.
PAPER MILL ON THE RIVER SiHL, NEAR ZURICH.
Among the industries of Zurich visited by the Commissioners,
was a large paper mill, employing 300 workpeople, of whom ‘200
were women.
Power is supplied by three turbine wheels with a total of
490 horse-power.
The paper, made from a compound of coarse rags, wood pulp,
and loading materials, and which is used for newspapers and
books, is almost all exported.
The regular hours are It per day, but certain machines which
run day and night are tended by two shifts of men. No women
are allowed to work at night, nor beyond 11 hours a day.
The machinery seemed to be in perfect order an .1 doing
excellent work. The men and women appeared to be intelligent,
well fed, and as quick and strong as English workpeople in like
employment.
TowN WATER-WHEELS, ZURICH.
On the banks of the River Limmat, below the lake of
Zurich, a weir has been constructed, and a large turbine house
erected by the town. The house contains six turbine wheels of
100 horse-power each, and there is room for three or four more.
There is a fall of from 2'60 to 2'80 metres ‘of water to each
wheel.
REPoRr. 289
All the turbines are geared to a long main shaft which runs
the length of the building, and there are indicators on a raised
platform, for registering the pressure of water on the wheels, and
the height of the water in the lake.
The turbines and machinery, which are thoroughly well
ﬁnished, have been constructed by Messrs. Escher, Wyss, 8t 00.,
of Zurich.
The chief use of these wheels is to pump water from the ChieﬂY used ‘10
lake to reservoirs on the hill for the supply of the town; {glv‘ffs‘ga'telr for
but, as there is much more power than is required for this pur- pp y'
pose, the authorities are supplying power to neighbouring fac—
tories, and transmitting it more than half a mile by wire ropes
carried on a lofty scaffolding along the banks of the river. Several
factories and workshops, including the weaving school, obtain
power in this manner.
Land is sold at a set price per yard, which includes a speciﬁed
amount of motive power for machinery ; while, for all indicated
power used in excess of the stipulated quantity, a charge is
made of 15 centimes per horse-power per hour.
Some important experiments in electric lighting have been Experiments in
carried on by means of power supplied by the town turbines. Saleem‘; 11am-
The railway station and the public square adjoining have thus mg
been lighted by electricity, and a project is on foot for lighting
up the whole town by these means. The extensive utilisation of
water-power here indicated, suggests an important future for this
great natural resource, in the hands of so enterprising and
scientiﬁc a people.
CONVERSAT]ONS.——EDUCATION IN SWITZERLAND.
In the towns visited in Switzerland, there was no difference of Cfllllvﬁl'wions
opinion as to the importance attached to education by all classes. ggtnuifgjfrm,
The greatest zeal for education is, undoubtedly, among the poor. and others.
It was stated by a gentleman of position that, in seeking the
support of the people for election to public offices, candidates
were usually profuse in their promises to be economical with the
money of the ratepayers, and to cut down the expenses in all
public departments. But no candidate dared offer to cut down
the expenditure upon schools. The danger in Switzerland was
in the opposite direction, and promises of lavish expenditure
upon schools were always received with favour by the poorest of
the ratepayers.
III the city of Basie we were taken by Dr. Hagenbachs
Bischotf, a professor of the University, over two new schools—-
a secondary school for boys of from 10 to 14:, and a primary Primary
and secondary school for girls. Both were commodious and schools’ Bash"
handsome to a degree not to be found in municipal schools in
England. The boys’ school was for 600, and, without land, was
to cost 20,000Z. The girls’ school was similar in character. The
Ri 1726. T
290 novxr. COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL ms'rnuc'rronz
School expen-
diture is not
opposed by the
poor of Basle.
School attend-
ance, Zurich.
Expenditure
half met by
State grant
in poor
communes.
Opinions of all
classes respect—
ing school
expenditure.
wide and lofty corridors, and the extensive space allowed to eaclr
child in the class-rooms, made it easy to see how so large a sum
as 33L per head had been spent.
The schools in Basle are free.
A large merchant and banker in Basle informed the Commis-
sioners that there is a smallparty in Basie which protests against
unnecessary expenditure upon school buildings. He had never
heard a murmur against the expensiveness of the schools until
recently. The buildings had become more and more costly and
luxurious, at a time when the trade of the city was depressed,
and it was out his accounts only that objections had been raised.
Considering that the education was free and that the entire cost
had to come out of rates, paid mainly by the rich, it might seem '
easy to raise a prejudice against costly buildings. But in reality
it required much courage to oppose the schools. In this free
country, where the power was centred in the democracy, education
was considered by the rich as their safeguard, and by the poor
as their most valuable heritage.
“ The poor are all in favour of good schools ; nay, so eamest are
they upon the question, that they are determined that their
schools shall be the best in the world. It is considered disloyal
to oppose this resolve.”
We were informed by Dr. Zollinger, President of the Council
of Education for the Canton Zurich, that in the elementary
schools of the Canton, 95 per cent. of the children on the
registers are in average attendance. (In England and Wales in
1882 the per—centage was 7 2.) In the class-rooms of Swiss
schools it is the rule to allow three square metres of ﬂoor space
and 27 cubic metres of room capacity to every child.
In order to secure uniform efficiency in school buildings,
half the expenditure is granted by the State in poor districts,
the means of a commune being ascertained by the oﬁicial tax
returns. This provision is taken advantage of to a very small
extent, and in 1881 the total grants to poor districts in the
Canton only amounted to 1,4410l.
Money is lent for school buildings at 44 per cent. per annum,
which covers interest and repayment of the principal in a
speciﬁed term of years.
It is Dr. Zollinger’s experience that there is nothing on which
all classes of Swiss so cheerfully spend their money as upon
schools.
The Commissioners took advantage of all opportunities of
eliciting the opinions of commercial men and capitalists upon the
educational condition of the country, and upon the wisdom of the
large expenditure upon schools. We append some conversations
and opinions from notes taken at the time. A large employer
stated that the primary school gave sound instruction, so far as it
went, and that inspection secured eﬁciency. He was of opinion
that the expenditure upon buildings during recent years had
‘ REPORT. 2 91
,sentative in the National Confederation.
been excessive, but he should not dream of making any public
opposition to it, and he did not know of any rich men who had
either agitated against the expenditure, or were prepared to do
so. When it was suggested that the poor might agitate against
it, he laughed at the idea. “ In Switzerland,” said he, “ the poor
“ are not likely to agitate against a tax of which they get the
“ beneﬁt without having anything to pay.”
In order better to understand the position of the people of
Switzerland with regard to payment for education, a few words
on taxation may be useful.
Taxation in Switzerland is nearly all direct ; the indirect taxes
are few and comparatively unimportant. Property is assessed and
pays an annual tax to the State, and to the town or commune.
Income is also assessed, and upon it is paid an annual tax to the
State, the town, and the Canton.
The rate of taxation increases with the amount of the property
or income taxed, on the principle that the largest proportion of
the tax should be paid by those who are best able to bear it.
Workmen pay taxes upon incomes of 2% a year, but we were
informed that an agitation is on foot for exempting incomes
of not more than 440i. a year. The promoters of this movement
argue that every man should at least be allowed the means of a
bare livelihood before taxation begins, and that to tax incomes
under 40L a year is equivalent to depriving the body of its
necessary sustenance. The opponents of the measure argue that
if any persons are relieved from the obligation of paying taxes,
they should at the same time be deprivtd of the franchise, on
the ground that representation without taxation is dangerous.
In this country of universal suffrage, the payment of a poll-
tax of three francs a year, entitles a man to vote for a repre-
We were informed
that thousands of voters pay this tax and no other. The
labourer without realised property is practically exempt from
taxation in Switzerland, but his vote at an election is equal to
that of the wealthiest landowner.
All property, real and personal, is taxed, even to a pianoforte
or a watch. There are, however, exemptions in the cases of
widows and orphans, whose property under the value of 2001,.
is not taxed.
In conversations with employers and capitalists, complaint was
often made that, although they have to bear almost the entire
burden of taxation, they are altogether out-voted in the spending
of the money which they raise.
At one time we were told that the great body of the ratepayers
are actuated by two motives, in voting for expensive schools
--(1) that their children may obtain a ﬁrst-rate education free ;
(2) that employment may thus be provided for the artizans
themselves, in the erection of the buildings. As this statement
was made by a gentleman of importance, we took pains to obtain
Taxation,
Switzerland.
\Vorkmen also
pay taxes.
Payment of
poll-tax confers
suifra ge.
All property is
taxed.
Reasons for
liberal expen-
diture on
schools.
1“ 2
292 ROYAL COMMISSION 01X TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Expenditure
mainly devoted
to school
building.
Why wealthier
classes
sanction this
expenditure.
Value of cer-
tain technical
schools not so
much recog-
nised.
Such schools
not much
encouraged in
Switzerland.
Inﬂuence of
the Zurich
Polytechnic on
manufactures.
evidence relating to the same question from other sources. We
were unable to ascertain that the great mass of the ratepayers
show class-selﬁshness by conﬁning the expenditure to elementary
schools. The voters are just as lavish in their expenditure on
higher schools, which the poor have not the opportunity of
attending, and which are used mainly by the rich, as upon the
elementary schools attended by their own children. If, therefore,
they dip freely into the pockets of the rich taxpayers, in order
to provide good schools for the poor, they are equally ready,
from the same source, to provide good schools for the rich.
As to expenditure lavished on buildings in order to ﬁnd
employment for the artizans, we did not receive any evidence
with regard to other buildings than schools. We did not hear
of cheap places of amusement, such as theatres, built for the
poor out of the rates. In a very inﬂuential company in Zurich
it was remarked to us that “the people spend so much on
schools that they have nothing left for the theatre.” It may,
therefore, be reasonably assumed that there is no serious ground
for the charge that the poorer people consciously dispense
for their own proﬁt, taxes which come out of the pockets of
others.
The richer classes feel that upon every question they can be
out-voted, and they are therefore anxious for the well-being of
the people by whom they are surrounded, if only to ensure
their own comfort and safety. Nothing so much reconciles
employers and capitalists to the great expenditure upon schools,
as the expectation that in them those who have political power
will learn wisdom and patiiotism. “Let us educate our masters ”
is the motto of many Swiss capitalists.
In conversing with scientiﬁc men and manufactureis in Basle
and Zurich, we did not ﬁnd so strong a belief in the importance
of technical schools for special industries, as in France and in some
parts of Germany.
An opinion was generally expressed that an industry is
best promoted by a separation of theory and practice, the
school for theory, the workshop or factory for practice. Hence,
with few exceptions, purely technical schools with work-
shops have not been established in Switzerland. But it was
claimed that the scientiﬁc teaching of their schools was as good or
better than that of the schools in other countries more fully
organised for special industries, and that in supplying the
basis of all technical education, viz., a thorough general and
scientiﬁc education, no country has made greater sacriﬁces than
Switzerland.
To illustrate the inﬂuence of the Polytechnic at Zurich
upon one branch of chemical manufactures, it was stated by
one of the most eminent and experienced of the professors, a
gentleman thoroughly familiar with England, that the colour
REroRT. 293
manufactures of Switzerland owe their success, if not their
origin, to the Polytechnic School. In support of this assertion,
the following ﬁgures were given as to the value of the coal
tar manufactures of the previous year in various countries :-——
.£
England - - 500,000
France - — - 300,000
Switzerland - - 300,000
Germany - - - 1,600,000
So far as Switzerland is concerned, nearly the whole of the
raw and semi-raw materials for the above products had been
imported, and many of them from England. The products
had been very largely exported to foreign markets. In the
making of these dyes only one ﬁrm in England had succeeded
thoroughly; most of the others had groped in the dark, without
scientific knowledge to guide them. In the German works
were trained chemists as competent to take up new work as
old. Switzerland had taken a lead by means of the higher
chemical knowledge imparted to students in the laboratory, and
she had supplied men for works at home and abroad, who in
the dyeing industry ‘alone had repaid, ten times over, the entire
cost of the Polytechnic.
When there was a movement in the Federal Council for
lessening the grant to the chemical department of the Polytechnic,
it was shown by undoubted evidence that within a few years the
chemical laboratories had been the direct means of bringing capital
to the country to the extent of millions of pounds sterling, and
that their usefulness was crippled for want of better accommo-
dation. The movement for lowering the grant was defeated, and
a proposal was carried for the expenditure of 50,000Z. upon a
new laboratory.
Employers in Switzerland stated that it was only by the
greatest economy, and an attention to detail, which English
manufacturers would not trouble themselves with, that Switzer-
land could face the competition of England and other foreign
countries.
It was aﬁirmed that, whilst the poor are more lightly taxed,
factory occupiers and manufacturers are much more heavily
taxed than in England. With this heavy taxation, and the
physical disadvantages of Switzerland, without a mine, canal,
or navigable river, it was impossible for large fortunes to
be rapidly realised, as had been the case in England. One ﬁrm
of cotton spinners stated that they pay 1d. per lb. more for the
carriage of their raw cotton than their Lancashire rivals, and
have to bear a heavier cost in the transport of their goods to
market.
Swiss have to
import their
raw materials.
Technical edu-
cation the
means of
attracting
capital to the
country.
Taxation bears
heavily on
manufacturers.
294 ROYAL coMMIssIoN oN TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Cotton
spinning and
weaving.
The Rhine
provinces.
English
machinery.
Hours of
labour.
\Vages.
A new factory.
(fo'r'roN SPINNING AND WEAVING.—-THE RHINE PROVINCES.
The cotton factories of the Rhine provinces visited by the
Commissioners, may be taken as fairly representing the better
factories of Germany generally. In the ordinary operations of
cotton spinning and weaving, it was not claimed that any supe-
riority of one factory over another was due to the technical
education“ either of workmen, foremen, or employers. In
ordinary qualities, the conditions relied upon for success are the
same as those of England, viz., good machinery, economy in
management and motive power, and the maximum of production
for the wages paid. In specialities, where the margin is greater,
proportionate attention is given, as in England, to such matters as
inﬂuence the value of the yarn or goods produced.
In one large factory which we visited, containing nearly 70,000
spindles and 800 looms, we were informed that all the spinning
and weaving machinery, and also the engines, were made in
England. The director stated unhesitatingly that he considers
English machinery the best of any that he has seen. All the
appointments of the factory were modern and well arranged,
the machinery seemed to be in good order, and coal is almost as
cheap as in Lancashire.
The working hours of the operatives are 12 per day, beginning
at 6 in the morning and continuing until 7.30 in the evening,
with three breaks for meals, viz., from 8 to 8.15 for breakfast,
12 to 1 for dinner, and from 4 to 4.15 for tea.
At the time of our visit, the “ hands” were taking their after-
noon meal, which consisted mainly of coffee and bread, in some
instances with radishes and spring onions. The coffee was made
on the spot, boiling water (obtained in the workrooms) being
poured upon ground coffee brought by the workpeople.
Wages are paid as in England, mainly by piece. Carders earn
from 1s. 10d. to 28. per day, reclers and warpers about 12.9. per
week. Weavers mind from 1 to 4 looms each, and the best earn
up to 188. per week.
In the same locality we were taken over a cotton spinning factory,
entirely new, and only started a few months before. The pro-
prietor, who spoke English ﬂuently, conducted us over the premises,
and evidently knew his business thoroughly. He informed
us that before ordering new machinery he visited the machine
shops and the new mills in Alsace, and afterwards all the
leading English makers and the best mills in Lancashire, par-
ticularly in the Bolton district. In examining the machinery
of different makers, he selected what he considered best, irre-
spective of price or country, and several makers are represented.
He showed us carding engines and drawing machinery, some
English and some Alsatian, working side by side. He con-
sidered that in many respects Alsatian machinery is as good as
English.
REPORT. 29 5
In striking contrast with most of the cotton factories visited,
all the spinning and twisting were on the ring (Rabbeth) principle
Mules had been entirely dispensed with. The premises through-
out were in ﬁrst rate order; the rooms lofty, well ventilated, and
ﬁre-proof. The upstairs rooms were all elaborately tiled, and the
tiling of the “ gates ” and alleys was done in ornamental variegated
patterns, as handsome as in public buildings in England. Such
instances of ornamentation in mill ﬁttings were rarely observed
by us, but they showed that “ mill pride” is not the monopoly
of the successful Lancashire cotton master.
It is clear that our rivals have possessed themselves outwardly of grotto“ trade of
. ermany and
all the advantages and excellences which have been the growth of Lancashire
English inventiveness and enterprise during the last generation. compared-
To the casual observer strolling from room to room, and watching
the varying processes, from the soft white sliver to the “ built up ”
cop of yarn, there would not appear to be a very appreciable
difference between a German and a Lancashire factory. The raw
material, machinery, and appointments are equal in both cases.
In general appearance the operatives do not compare unfavourably
with those of Lancashire. With 72 hours for work per week, as
against 56%, and with wages considerably lower than in Lan-
cashire, the advantage in cheapness of production seems to be
altogether on the side of the German spinners, and would lead to
the inference that they would keep English yarns out of their
own and undersell them in neutral markets. Such, however, is
not the case. The director of one of these factories accompanied
us to the premises of a neighbouring cotton manufacturer not
more than 50 yards away. At these works there are no spinning
operations carried on, and the proprietor informed us that he
buys all the yarn that he weaves. His leading quality is exten~
sively spun by his friend and neighbour across the way, and by
other local spinners, to whose yarn he always gives the preference,
as against a foreign, one when they can offer it at the same price.
He admitted, however, that he is compelled to buy most of his yarns
from England, because, in spite of the import duty, and the
carriage and packing, the English yarns are cheaper than the
yarns spun by his neighbours, or any of the German spinners.
It is clear from such evidence that low priced labour is not Reasons for
the only important factor in cheap production. Lancashire ‘ih‘IaP P1P‘
operatives have been, as it were, bred to the work, and they
thoroughly understand it. Division of labour in every operation
is carried to the minutest detail; the operatives have been
stimulated by piece-work, by constant competition among thern~
selves, and by the attractions of the “ divi ” or bonus, to bend their
whole energies to the production of the greatest possible quantity
of work in the time allotted, so that they may earn the highest
possible Wages. The voluntary high-pressure exertion of the
operatives is unrivalled elsewhere. Each employer concentrates
his energies on one or two counts or qualities, and some of the
largest factories in Lancashire run from year to year, almost
without changing a machine. In no country on the Gontinent
General
characteristics
of Alsatian
calico-printin g.
Hand—block
printing.
i
x
296 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION;
is there the same concentration and organisation of the cotton
industry, and the same energy on the part of employers and
employed, as there is in Lancashire ; hence its strong position in spite
of apparent disadvantages. The fact, however, cannot be disputed,
that in the Rhine provinces and other parts of Germany the
example of England in organisation as well as in machinery is
being closely followed, with the natural consequence that the
cotton industry is rapidly extending, while there is a growing
increase in the efficiency of the work people.
CALICO-PRINTING. -—ALSACE.
There are certain features of the calico-printing industry of
Alsace, which render comparison with the same industry in
England somewhat diﬂicult. From the earliest introduction of
calico-printing, the Alsatians have been celebrated for the beauty
and permanent character of their colours, and especially for the
artistic taste displayed in their designs. In both of these very
important kinds of excellence the Alsatian calico-printers have
taken a leading position in the world, and they compete success-
fully with their English rivals, not only in neutral markets,
but also in our own. While in England, speaking broadly, the
calico-printers have chieﬂy devoted their attention to the class
of goods suitable for the million, and have organised their
works for the production of large quantities of prints at a
cheap price, the Alsatian manufacturers have given special
attention to the production of more elaborate goods, such as
imitation tapestries, cretonnes, furnitures, and other highly
ﬁnished and costly productions, many of which can, as yet,
only be manufactured by means of block printing. Some of
the wealthiest and most enterprising of the Alsatian calico-
printers, whose works we visited, while developing to the highest
point of efficiency machine printing similar to that of England,
still retain their specialities of hand-block printing. It is main-
tained that, although for the ordinary run of patterns hand
printing has no chance in competition with the machine pro-
ducts, yet for work of complicated design and colour, which
can nevertheless command its price, hand work ﬂourishes in
spite of its greater cost. One of the tapestry designs which
we saw in progiess, required as many as 200 blocks for the
complete display of the design and colouring, and the work-
people engaged in these operations were trained to a high pitch
of precision and delicacy of hand. Among the varied and
beautiful patterns in course of preparation at one of the largest
establishments, were some 1eproductions of pictures of children
from the Christmas books of Kate Greenaway, which were being
printed in fancy colours for dresses to be exported, mainly to
France, England, and America.
REPORT. 297
So far as we could ascertain, the leading designs come from Designs come
Paris, although it is claimed that no district sends so many fmm Paris-
young men to Paris to be trained for designers as Alsace.
Some of the large houses employ designers, who work in Paris;
others buy designs submitted by Paris designers; and again
others employ Parisian designers at their own works. In the
use of Parisian designs the procedure is similar to that of
English printers, but it is said that many more designers are
trained in Alsace than in England, and that the proportion of
designers to the quantity of work done is very much greater
than in England. This must necessarily be the case in a branch
of industry which depends for its success more upon novelty and
originality than upon cheapness and extent of production.
In the Mulhouse print-works the hours of labour are 11 per Labour, fuel,
day, against 10 hours in Lancashire, and the wages in Mulhouse (‘iﬁsigipm'
are lower. It must be remembered, however, that in Alsace the ‘
plain calicoes are not so cheap as in England; coal and machi-
nery are more costly, and in case of shipment, carriage is more
expensive. If the question of competition were considered
merely in relation to hours of labour, wages, and the other
conditions above indicated, the advantage would appear to be
with the Alsatians. As a matter of fact the branch of the trade
which has been so successfully conducted by the Alsatians, is that
in which highly artistic design, skilled labour, and expensive
processes are necessary, whereas in England, with higher wages
and shorter hours, the less complicated branch of the trade has
been most extensively developed. It must not, however, be
assumed that these general characteristics of English and Alsatian
trade prevail universally in each country. There are individual
ﬁrms in Alsace who make the same classes of goods for the
million as are made in England, and there are English firms who,
it is admitted, equal the Alsatians in the best kinds of‘ machine
printing. It may here be stated that one of the largest of these
English ﬁrms, whose prints have attained a high degree of
celebrity, informed the Commissioners that their leading designers
were Frenchmen employed in Paris, and that the head of their
chemical department was also a Frenchman.
It is a noteworthy fact that, in nearly every instance, the Fpremen are
employers and foremen of the establishments we visited, were if??? edu'
men of high attainments. A great proportion of them speak '
English, and, from frequent intercourse with English machine
makers and printers, they are able to obtain accurate information
on all matters relating to the development of their industry.
In every establishment there were trained chemists, some. Trained
of whom were workmen who had gone through courses at the chemitts
School of Chemistry in the town, or were at present attending employed‘
classes during the evening. The employers themselves, who
are practically interested in the school, take the greatest pains
to promote its efficiency, constantly offering suggestions as to
298 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION 2
Opportunities
for instruction
at Mulhouse.
Employers
contribute to
local museums.
Young men
attend drawing
schools.
Engraving
School.
Industrial
partnership.
how the chemical instruction may be made systematic and prac-
tic-a1, so as to be really useful to the industries of the district.
They even open their works to the students of the school, who
come at stated times in company with their professors, and are
shown the manufacturing processes.
The interest of the large employ ers is not, however, by any means
conﬁned to the technical and scientiﬁc acquirements of their
employés, and to the means by which such knowledge may be
obtained. The opportunities afforded for instruction in art have
long been of an extended and praiseworthy character; but not
content with agencies in advance of any that may be found
in any English town of the same population (64,000), the public-
spirited inhabitants of Mulhouse are building, not, as is so usual
on the continent, out of State and municipal funds, but by
private subscription, a new art gallely and museum for the
study of Fine Art and Design, at a cost, we were told, of nearly
20,0002.
Moreover, employers vie with each other in their contributions
to the unrivalled Trade Museum of the town, of designs, pat-
terns, and choice examples of weaving and printing. The
Museum is open to the public, as well as to all connected with
the calico-printing industry, and the benefactions to the Indus-
trial Society are among the most remarkable illustrations of
public spirit that we have witnessed.
Whenever the question was asked, the Commissioners found
that the young men engaged in the various works attended the
Drawing Schools of the town, and it is but reasonable to suppose
that, as they are in constant'f'contact with varied and beautiful
designs, and are daily engaged in manipulating them in the
different stages of their employment, they will bring to their
Art instruction a quick perception of its useful applications,
and will display in their industrial occupation a genuine and
cultivated sense of beauty.
Vile found among the engravers employed in the various
works, notable instances of young men who had received their
entire instruction in the Engraving School, which is under the
patronage and support of the Industrial Society. In fact every
inducement is given to the poorest and humblest of the boy s in
the elementary schools, who show talent or proﬁciency in drawing,
to attend ﬁrst the Drawing School, and afterwards the Engraving
School, where, without any cost to their parents, they are trained
in all the processes of engraving for the calico-printer, and are
afterwards at liberty to sell their highly skilled labour at the
best advantage, either in their own town or elsewhere.
In some of the works the principle of industrial partnerships—
according to which workmen are allowed to participate in the
proﬁts—has been introduced with considerable success. The
Commissioners were furnished with interesting information on this
head, at the dyeing, bleaching, and calico-printing works of
REPORT. 299
Messrs. Schaetfer, Lalance, & (lo, Dornach. The ﬁrm, which now
employs 1,200 operatives, was founded by Mr. Haefi'ely. Very
much is done for the welfare of the men by means of saving’s
banks, sick clubs, co-operative societies, 8m, and each workman
participates in the proﬁts of the concern. The experiment is
said to have been successful ir promoting the general pros-
perity of the ﬁrm, both of employers and employed; workmen
who used to be irregular in their attendance, and gave trouble
by migration, are now ﬁxed to the place; while, owing to the
competition for admission to the works, it has been possible to
raise the general standard of efficiency, with the natural result
of good management and friendly feeling.
In the interviews of the Commissioners with the leading
inhabitants of Mulhouse, there was a general concurrence of
testimony to the effect that Mulhouse owes its commercial
prosperity, ﬁrst, to the commercial and scientiﬁc knowledge and
enterprise of its manufacturers, second, to the absence of trade
jealousies, and, lastly, to the public spirit of the inhabitants in
promoting the general education and the higher civilization of
the town. We have elsewhere p. 3419, described the organisation
and aims of the Industrial Society, which on all hands is claimed
as the chief factor in uniting all classes and parties for the
advancement of the commerce and civilization of the district. For
ﬁfty years past it has brought leading men together for high
patriotic objects, and during all that time it has been the centre
of educational zeal, philanthropy, and enterprise, establishing
schools and circulating scientiﬁc and artistic knowledge through-
out the trade, raising and distributing large sums of money for
objects of public usefulness, and associating all who were anxious
to promote the welfare of others.
It was stated to us that the calico-printers of Mulhouse,
in common with the manufacturers in all the leading industries
of Alsace, had suffered very seriously from the annexation of
their province to Germany. Before the war of 1870, Mulhouse
contributed the chief supply of superior prints to France, and
the famed calicoes exported from Paris to all parts of the world
were very largely the products of Mulhouse. After the German
annexation, all commodities entering France were subjected to
a serious import duty, which, to a great extent, shut out the
Alsatian products. and gave a great impetus to the trade of
Bouen.
There was no corresponding demand in Germany at that time
for the high-class goods which had been made in Alsace, and
consequently many of the printers were compelled to turn their
attention to the German trade in a lower class of goods, thus for
a while lessening the competition in the high-class articles. But
in spite of the import—d uty, and the consequent protection of the
French calico-printers at Rouen and elsewhere, the Mulhouse
printers are now able to overcome the protective duties of France,
Clubs, savings’
banks, 850.
Testimony to
the absence of
trade jealousy.
Alleged
inj ary to the
trade by the
war of 1870.
Trade “ ith
Germany had
to be sought.
300 ROYAL COMMISSION on TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Exports to
other countries
ftom Alsace.
Hosiery and
glove trade of
Saxony.
Development
of hosiery
trade.
Enterprise of
the Chemnitz
manufacturers.
and to compete so- successfully with their French rivals that the
volume of trade with that country is now greater than before
the war. The inﬂuence of these enterprising manufacturers has
been felt in an equal degree in Germany; the annexation
injured the sale of Alsatian goods in French markets, but it
gradually opened up to them new markets in Germany, not
only for the sale of their ﬁnished products, but also for the
advantageous purchase of the colours and other chemicals used
in their manufacture. The result is that many of the German
calico-printers in other parts of the Empire have been compelled
either to increase the efficiency of their establishments or to
succumb to a competition from which there was no escape.
The excellence of Alsatian work may be inferred from the
statement of one of the largest ﬁrms in Mulhouse, that of their
entire products fully 80 per cent. are exported, and that mostly
to France, America, and England.
Hosmav AND GLovn TnADEs—SAxoNY.
The hosiery and glove trades of Saxony are rapidly growing
in extent and importance, and are largely contributing to the
prosperity of the State. The Commissioners visited some of
the more important works and had interviews with the
leading representatives of these industries. We were informed
by Mr. Felkin, the English representative of the Nottingham
Hanufacturing Company, and the author of the interesting work
entitled “Technical Education in a Saxon Town,” that “ in the
“ hosiery trade there are 64: ﬁrms in Chemnitz itself.” “Cf
“ these, 26 are glovemakers, and the remaining 38, hosiery manu-
“ facturers; besides a large number of other ﬁrms in Stollberg,
“ Limbach, Burgstadt, and other towns in the immediate vicinity.”
Mr. Felkin states that “ the development of this industry has
“ been most remarkable, and has taken place almost entirely
“ within the last 30 years, and to such an extent that Chemnitz
“ has proved itself a formidable and successful competitor to
Nottingham, not only in the United States of America, and
all other export markets, but in the English market itself.
The quantities of Saxon goods, both hosiery and gloves, poured
into the London market, would surprise some Nottingham
“ manufacturers, and astonish still more the stocking makers
“ and their leaders.” “The manufacturers are now bestirring
" themselves to obtain a footing in the English colonial market,
“ a trade from which they have hitherto been shut out, except
“ in so far as they have reached it through the large London
“ houses.” As giving a somewhat striking instance of the
enterprise of the manufacturers, and of the activity of the local
Chamber of Commerce in pushing the trade of the town, he states
that a Chemnitz gentleman, formerly resident for some time in
Nottingham, had been sent out by the Chamber of Commerce,
,\ A a a
'\ h I‘ C'\
neeoa'r. 801
ﬁrst to the Sydney Exhibition, and afterwards to the one at
Melbourne, so that he might not only superintend the Saxon
exhibits, but show samples of goods, collect information as to the
wants of the colonists, open accounts, and so lead to a direct
business between Chemni'rz and the Australian Colonies.
The report of the American Consul at Chemnitz, for the year
ending September 30th, 1883, conﬁrms in a remarkable manner the
evidence of the activity of the manufacturers and of the Chamber
of Commerce in pushing their trade in distant markets. The total
trade of manufactured goods exported by this comparatively
small district to America for last year represented a value of
1,773,502L, of which 953,1944l. were for hosiery and 414,-585l.
for gloves, or a total in these two commodities of 1,367 ,779].
As for the glove trade, Mr. Felkin states in the work already
quoted, that “ it may be said to have been transferred from
“ Nottingham to Chemnitz.” “The loss of the glove trade to
“ Nottingham is an example of the way in which England is being
“ robbed in detail of her industrial supremacy,” and he proceeds
to describe the rapid transition in the hosiery trade from being
a small industry, carried on at the houses of the workers upon
Wooden hand frames, to a factory industry with iron frames running
by power, as in our own great factories. The best English ma-
chinery has “gradually spread itself all over the country.” “ The
wooden frames are dying out, and large factories have been built
and ﬁtted with power machinery of different systems and of
the most modern construction. This change has placed the
industry on a par with that of Nottingham, and the establish-
ment at the same time of the Technical School at Limbach, has
enabled a class of young men to be educated for the trade, who
have been made acquainted with modern machinery and
systems of manufacturing, and have been carefully trained for
various situations as foremen, managers, clerks, and takers-in.
Meanwhile, too, the sons of manufacturers have been preparing
themselves to take their fathers’ places. These younger men
now coming into the trade are, thanks to this technical edu-
' cation, of a different stamp from those of 20 years ago, and
are already exercising a marked influence on the development
of the trade.”
The Commissioners found, in the leading hosiery works, the
same class of machinery, the same material, and the same general
organization, as are to be met with in the leading hosiery
factories in England. Full fashioned stockings and socks were
being woven on the newest machinery, and circular goods were
also being knitted in lengths and cut into shape and sewn by
machinery also. The heavy frames are usually minded by men;
the operations of cutting, sewing, shaping, pressing, and making
up, are performed by girls and young women. The operatives
work from 11 to 12 hours a day, including meals, and mostly by
piece.
Transfer of the
glove trade
from Notting-
ham to
Chemnitz.
English
machinery
employed.
Machinery the
same as in the
best English
factories.
302 ROYAL oornvnssron on TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Cotton stocking
making is the
chief industry
of Chemnitz.
Glove factories
are very pros-
perous.
Piece work.
Swiss cotton
yarn preferred.
Workpeople do
not attend
technical
qchools.
Limbach
Hosiery School.
We were informed that the making of cotton stockings largely
predominates over those of Angola, wool, or other material, and
that the cotton yarn, although to a large extent supplied by ﬁrms
in Saxony, is also bought in large quantities from Switzerland.
The import of cotton yarn from England is comparatively small.
We were told that the output of one ﬁrm is 41,000 dozen pairs
of stockings per week, which are chiefly exported to America;
another large ﬁrm informed us that at least half the stockings
they made are exported to England.
In the glove factories which we visited, there were evident
signs of prosperity in the substantial and almost luxurious
character of the buildings and internal arrangements. The gloves
are almost exclusively made of cotton material spun to ﬁne
counts, which, in the ﬁrst instance, is woven into a piece, and is
then stamped or otherwise cut into the required shapes, a con-
siderable number being acted upon at once, by machinery. The
sewing of the gloves is also done by machine, this process, as
are also most of the others, being carried out by girls sitting at
tables to which the machines are ﬁxed.
Most of the work is done by piece, and the best of the women
earn what are considered fair wages for Saxony, namely, an
average of about 9.9. per week.
The proprietor of one of the factories informed us that he
manufactures 5,000 dozen pairs of gloves per week, and that he
buys most of his cotton yarn, which is ﬁne in quality and counts,
and is beautifully managed in the spinning, from Switzerland.
As a matter of fact, we found, in more than one instance, that
these Chemnitz manufacturers were receiving their yarns from
the cotton mills in Switzerland which the Commissioners had
visited.
We did not ascertain, in any of these hosiery or glove factories,
that the workmen or women have attended the technical schools
in any number. The employers and sons of employers, and
many of the foremen, have supplemented a sound general educa-
tion, and in many instances a high scientiﬁc education, by an
apprenticeship in the factory, and, what is equally important, by
frequent visits to other countries, and by inspections of the
newest machinery, in the towns where it is made or worked.
That they have great faith in the importance of special schools
for hosiery is evidenced by the establishment of the school, at
Limbach that has been built mainly by subscriptions, at a cost
of 2,000Z., where a complete course of technical instruction is im-
parted. The enterprising manufacturers see that changes are
imminent. Not only has the hosiery trade advanced within a
recent period from a home to a factory industry (from hand to
power), but it is now turning from a plain trade to a fancy
season one, like that of England. Mr. Felkin, in his book, ex-
pressing the views of the promoters of these undertakings, says,
“ The manufacturer of the future will have to make fancy goods
REPORT. 303
from power machinery, to suit a season’s trade, and to catch
“ the passing fashion of the day. Whoever does this best and
“ cheapest, whether at Nottingham, Chemmitz, or Troyes, will
“ get the trade. Nottingham, which has hitherto had the
supremacy, now complains that Chemnitz is taking the trade
“ away, owing to the cheapness of Saxon labour. This, no
“ doubt, is the main cause, but is it the only one ? Cheap labour
may enable the Chemnitzers to get the trade, but cheap labour
alone, with the existing outlook, will not enable them to keep
it, for without trained intelligence and technical knowledge on
the part of the workmen, and enterprise among the manu-
facturers, it would soon revert to them again.” Mr. Felkin thus
continues, “In future, manufacturers and their responsible men
“ will require a far more extended technical training than in the
“ past, and if labour is cheap in Saxony, and the trade there has
its technical school, educating young men, how necessary it is
that the people of Nottingham, ﬁghting against these odds,
should strain every nerve, and omit no means to hold their
“ own.”
In considering the inﬂuence of hours and wages on the cost of Inﬂuence of
production in the several countries visited by the Commissioners, hows and
the testimon s eakin enerall of ex erienced versons has wages on iost
y> P g g y’ P l ofproducton.
been to the effect that the better and more sustaining food of
English operatives, which their higher wages enable them to
procure, and their larger amount of leisure and rest, arising
from their shorter hours of labour, have so far increased their
physical strength and energy as to enable them, in conjunction
with other advantages, to produce the various kinds of work as
cheaply as their more poorly paid competitors in other countries.
The evidence obtained among the representatives of the hosiery
and glove trades, and our own observations in the factories
generally, hardly bore out this view, so far as Chemnitz is
concerned. The workpeople generally seemed to be in good
circumstances and healthy. The hundreds of girls who tended \Vorkpeople
the machines, or sat at the tables, in the different factories, appeared
doing varied work, were all well-dressed and clean and tidy. Still, comparing them with the same class of girls engaged
in similar work in Nottingham, the palm would be given to
the girls of the English town. With the factory girls of
Yorkshire and Lancashire a comparison is less easily made,
because the hosiery and glove trades are cleaner than those of
wool and cotton; yet, in healthy appearance, and particularly
in dress, the girls of Chemnitz, with 10 to 15 hours per week more
work, and with wages very much lower, were not far behind
those of the two great English counties. It is evident that the
condition of the workpeople in Chemnitz is such as to enable
them to obtain good food and clothing, nor do their hours of
labour overtax their strength so as to materially lessen their
capacity for work.
In judging of the condition of people engaged in any given Employment
industry, it is important to know something of the general fol‘ both Sexes
a
2 A
{C
C‘
a‘
I
304 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION;
is plentiful in sources of income available for families. Cheap production in
Chemnitz. any locality is largely promoted by a diversity of trades, giving
employment to all classes of labour. The most prosperous of
manufacturing towns in all countries are those which secure a
“balance of trades,” adjusted to meet the natural local supply
of “hands.” In such cases it is generally found that a minimum
rate of wages is paid in each industry, with a maximum of
eﬂiciency. It was explained to us that Chemnitz affords a
good illustration of a town favourably organized as to its
balance and diversity of trades. The locomotive engine
works of the State, and the large and small works for engineering
and the building of general machinery, numbering about 60,
provide employment for the skilled male population at fair
wages ; the cotton, woollen, worsted, hosiery, and glove industries,
provide suitable employment for the women and children. In
periods of depression it is seldom that all the industries are slack
at the same time, and thus the family incomes suffer less from
extreme ﬂuctuations than in districts dependent only on one
industry. In ordinary times, although in a family the wages of
each individual may not be high, yet, where there are three
or four workers, the men and boys at the machine shops, the
women and children at the spinning and weaving and hosier ’
factories, the aggregate earnings enable the families to live
respectably, and to put by a fair surplus for a rainy day.
Standard of It must also be borne in mind that the standard of education
educatlmis among the poorest is exceptionally high in Chemnitz, with a
exceptionally _ | - \
high‘ piopoitionate standaid of decency among the same class; and
a as there is very little time wasted through intemperance, even
the poorest attend to their work with greater regularity than
is the case in England, and thus their average of wages, although
apparently at a lower rate per day, may be higher per month
and per year than the wages of the same classes in England.
The nature The nature of the work in these industries not being of an
if ‘L112; York is exhausting character, and the rooms generally being well-
ea 7' ventilated and free from dust, may largely account for the fact
that the women working 1012» hours per day in these industries,
seemed healthier and more robust than the generality of women
in the cotton and woollen factories which we visited in other
parts of Germany and France. Their tidy and respectable
appearance may also be partly due to the inﬂuence of employers,
who doubtless encourage tidiness.
Strong position If, therefore, the hosiery and glove manufacturers of Chemnitz
of the trade?“ are taking a stronger position than that of their English rivals,
due to technical . D b _ , _ _ _ o
education, this appears to be due to the conditions above indicated rather
' than to the special inﬂuence of any technical education which
they receive, admitting at the same time, its great importance as
a factor in the future development of the hosiery industry.
Complaint of One of the large glove manufacturers gave forcible expression
glove maﬂu- to complaints, which English rivals may accept as crumbs of
facturel" consolation, as indicating that all is not plain sailing, even
REPORT. 305
in Saxony. He said that eleven years ago, in 1871, after the
Franco-German war, the trade extended altogether beyond the
legitimate requirements of the markets. Money was made
rapidly, and much of it was spent in building and extending
factories and buying new machinery. The consequence was
that much of this money had been lost. At present there was
more machinery than could ﬁnd employment, and no proﬁt.
He stated that two years ago the demand for America was
unprecedented. Beginning with the autumn of 1879, and
continuing to the spring of 1880, orders without limit were
pressed upon him, and raw material advanced at a surprising
rate. He was compelled to buy yarns to cover contracts made,
when in the spring the demand suddenly stopped, the whole
business seemed to collapse, and enormous orders, particularly
those from America, were cancelled without any compensation
whatever. The result was that he and many others were left
with expensive material upon their hands, and since that time
the glove trade had not been able to make any real headway.
WOOL INDUSTRY.—— THE RHINE Pnovrncns.
The Commissioners, accompanied by Mr. \V. T. Mulvany,
President of the Association of Manufacturers of the Rhine
Provinces and Westphalia, and Herr Bueck, the secretary,
visited the three large and important factories of Messrs. John
Wiilﬁng and Son at Lennep, near Elberfeld. The ﬁrst of these
was a Worsted mill, similar to those of Alsace and Roubaix, for
the combing and spinning of ﬁne wools, which come mainly from
Australia and are bought at the London wool sales.
The regular hours of work are 12 per day, or 72 per week.
When exceptionally busy, they work 13 hours per day, or 78 per
week.
Wages are paid by piece in nearly every department. In the
carding, however, the wages are paid by the day ; they average about
7s. 6d. per week ; but the wool is weighed to all the carders, and the
output is booked. “ Short-timers,” between 12 and 14, work from
6 to 8 hours per day, and are paid up to a maximum of 8s. per
week. Girls and young women engaged in combing and drawing,
earn from 7 s. to 8s. per week. Spinners are paid proportionately
higher. The wool—Sorters were nearly all women, and they are paid
about 8.9. per week.
Heilman’s combs seemed to be universally used, and all the
combing machinery is from Alsace. The “ tops ” are backwashed
and spun without oil.
In the drawing of the tops, preparatory to spinning, the rubbing
process is applied in every operation down to the roving, as we
saw in all the worsted mills for ﬁne wools that we have visited on
the Continent.
The machinery, which seemed to be in excellent condition, is
nearly all from Guebwiller in Alsace. A member of the ﬁrm
Ri1726. U
Wool industry
in the Rhine
Provinces.
Hours of work.
Wages.
Machinery .
306 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Extension
of factory.
\
Cottages.
(Jo-operative
stores.
Woollen
factory,
Dalhausen.
Rapid recon-
struction of
works.
Machinery.
.w
stated that all the Alsatian machine makers may be relied upon
for satisfactory work, judged even by an English standard. English
spinning mules are as cheap as any, and in this factory they have
two of English make ; but, in giving their general order, they wished
to alter certain details which the English makers declined to change,
and therefore they gave their last order to Alsatian machine
makers, who were willing to accommodate them.
The most remarkable evidence of the success of this branch of
the wool industry, is to be found in the fact that the ﬁrm are
about to enlarge this factory to the extent pf three times its
present size and production. At present they run 10,000 spindles
and are extending to 30,000 spindles. None of the yarn which
is spun here is woven on the premises, but is disposed of to various
parts of Germany and to other countries. The ﬁrm expect that
they will be able to open up a connection for its use in England.
The proprietors of the factories are also large owners of cottages,
which are occupied by their workpeople, and usually contain one
living room and two bedrooms each, and a garden. We understood
that the cottages, including garden, are rented at about 4L per
year each.
We also saw a large co-operative store, where the workpeople
are supplied with food and clothing of good quality at cost price,
after allowing for the expense of management.
ANGOLA, WooLLnN, AND Snonnr YARNS.
We were conveyed about three miles across the country to see a
second factory, a large woollen spinning establishment belonging
to the same ﬁrm, employing from 500 to 600 hands, and situated
on the banks of the river VVupper, in a beautiful part of the
country, surrounded by wooded hills and homesteads, and fertile
and well cultivated land. We were informed that from this point
to Barmen, a few miles down the stream, factories are located on
the banks of the stream within ten minutes’ walk of each other.
They seemed almost as numerous as in the manufacturing districts
of Lancashire and Yorkshire.
We had here an opportunity of seeing the effect of a rapid
transition from the use of machinery of average efﬁciency to a full
equipment of the newest and most modern. On the ﬁrst or second
of January of this year (1882) the mill was completely gutted
by ﬁre, the outer walls only being left undestroyed. It was rebuilt,
ﬂoored, roofed, furnished with new engines and new machinery,
and was running before the end of April.
Before renewing their machinery, the heads of the ﬁrm visited
every important competing district on the Continent ‘and in
England. They saw all the newest and most approved machines,
and examined all the improvements that could be found at work
or suggested by machine makers.
REPQRT. 307
For the engines they gave the contract to the Augsburg
Engineering Co., whose engines—double -horizontal--it would
be difﬁcult to surpass either in ﬁnish, steadiness, or economy of
working. The mill was driven by ropes from the ﬂy-wheel,
communicating with the line shaft in each room, and all the
arrangements and connections were working admirably.
It would be improper for us to enter into details as to all the
arrangements of the machinery, from the washing of the wool, the
extraction of the products from the refuse soapsuds, the mixing of
the shoddy, to the carding, spinning, and dyeing of the yarns. We
may indicate some of the advantages of a complete renewal of
machinery, as explained to us, and which were all the more apparent,
because in each instance the space devoted to the machinery was
the same as before the ﬁre. The accommodation was prescribed
by the four walls of the factory, and all that had happened was
the putting in of engines and other machines of the best kind, in
each, instance that could be obtained. The whole transformation
had been carried out as above stated within less than ﬁve months.
It was stated that the machinery destroyed was in good condition,
capable of years of service, and in every way as valuable as that
of their competitors. In one of the most important departments
they were now doing as much work with half the number of
machines as they had done with those destroyed, and the quality
of the work was better. In every other department the increase
of production and the beneﬁt in cheapness had been most marked,
and their present yarns were everywhere received with decided
preference as compared with the old. The new machinery which
had produced this remarkable result was nearly all from
England.
The safeguards against any possible ﬁre in the future were very
elaborate and complete. All the communications from the passages
and staircases were by iron doors. The rooms were supported by
iron pillars, the ceilings were covered with corrugated galvanized
iron, above this a thick concrete, while the ﬂoors themselves were
tiled.
It is reasonable to suppose that, although much of the woollen
machinery at work on the Continent may be somewhat antiquated,
all new machinery started henceforth will be of the best and most
modern character, and all the new mills will be arranged in
accordance with the most approved plans that can be suggested
by English architects or machine makers.’ The enterprising
Continental ﬁrms are becoming rapidly educated by visits to
England and by experience such as the above, and no machinery
is bought until the intending buyer has seen the best of the kind
that he wants in the most modern of English factories. England’s
material advantages have been greatest in machinery, but they
are thus being daily lessened.
Engines.
Improvements.
Safeguards
against ﬁre.
Progress on
the Continent.
l0
308 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Woollen Mill,
Daleraue.
Chemist for
testing dyes.
Designing.
Care in the
processes.
Excellence of
work.
Markets for
goods.
CLOTH MANUFAcTURs.—--SPINNrNe AND WEAVING
on TwEEDs, COATINGS, &c.
We visited a third factory belonging to this enterprising ﬁrm,
at Daleraue, where we found nearly 600 operatives engaged in
the various processes connected with the manufacture of cloth,
from the sorting of the raw material to the ﬁnished “web ” ready
for the shop counter.
A chemist is employed for testing dyes, and assorting the
colours, but the ordinary dyers have not received any scientiﬁc
training.
The Work of analysing the patterns of cloth, &c., and the
sampling of the colours, was being done with great delicacy and
expertness by a female, in a room set apart for the purpose. It
was explained to us that she prepares the “blends” by ﬁrst
matching and then weighing the selected ﬁbres on a delicate
balance, and calculating the proportions required for the various
orders.
The designs on the cloth were more of a geometrical than of
an artistic character. The ﬁgures were twills, checks, stripes, and
“mixtures,” of which many were very effective. One of the
younger members of the ﬁrm supervised the designing depart-
ment. He had attended for some years the weaving school at
Elberfeld, now discontinued. He stated that he learned a few
things there certainly, but he was not impressed by its importance.
His best school had been his father’s mill, and to a young man
in his position a mill must always, in his opinion, be better than
a school.
It was very evident, in walking through the several departments
of the factory, and particularly the weaving and “ taking-in”
rooms, that the greatest care is exercised in every detail of the
business. One of the partners, who takes the general manage—
ment of this mill, informed us that he sees, many times over, every
piece that is woven, and the number of young women employed,
in looking over and touching up the pieces after leaving the
looms, would greatly astonish the majority of manufacturers in
England. ’
As to many of the lighter cloths, which were dyed in colours of
great variety and delicacy, and of worsted coatings for men’s wear,
it would be diﬂicult to speak too highly of their excellence. The
trade mark and initials of the ﬁrm were being stitched on all the
pieces, and also the mark of the “ burler ” through whose hands
they had passed.
We were informed that the ﬁrm send their goods to all parts of
the world, and that they have their own branch houses and agencies
in different countries. They do a large trade direct with South
America. One of the largest contracts at present in hand was for
cloth for the cushions of the carriages of one of the railways of
REPORT. 309
the United States. They had obtained this contract in com-
petition with manufacturers in France and England, and it was
sufficiently large to keep an important portion of their machinery
going for some months.
The complaint has been frequently made in England that to a
large extent we have lost the American trade in cloth goods
because of the high tariﬁ, which doubles the cost of‘ such goods
when they arrive in New York. The tariff, however, applies to
Germany just as it does to England, and, therefore, the ditﬁculty
of entering America is the same in the ease of each country. The
cloth in question was being made from wool that this ﬁrm had
bought at the wool sales in London. It had been shipped to port,
and had made a long railway journey, and had then been carted
three or four miles over a hilly country from the railway to the
works. After the processes of manufacture, mainly upon English
machinery, it was being sent to America, where it had been
accepted in preference to English cloth that had competed against
it. The preference given to the German cloth was clearly not
owing to the tariff, but to the fact that the German material
was either better and cheaper, or that it pleased the eye more,
than the English cloth.
We found this state of things everywhere prevalent, in certain
industries. The French, Alsatians, Swiss, Germans, and Austrians
are, in great var ieties of goods, such as textiles, fancy goods, &e.,
competing with the English in neutral markets and also in England.
There is something besides cheap labour to account for this in some,
at least, of these instances. Our competitors in these commodities
are more successful in pleasing their customers, and that is why
they get the orders. It is no argument that, because we excel
in many things, we have no need to be concerned about those
things in which we are being surpassed.
One of our entertainers, who seemed to he as Familiar with
England as with his own country, described himself as a free-
trader, but was much interested in the discussions on “fair trade ”
in England. His great wish, and that of all Continental manu-
facturers, was that England would put on import duties. If
England would copy the Continental nations in protecting
native industries, his ﬁrm would at once double their mills, for
then England would be less able to undersell them in the neutral
markets. Protection would make everything dearer in England
as it had done in Germany, and the cost of production in England
would be proportionately increased. His ﬁrm do not export to
England, neither do they expect to do so, but unfortunately they
meet England everywhere, in all parts of the world. England
“ possesses ” the neutral markets, and is always their most serious
competitor. “ If England would only protect," said our friend,
“there would be a ﬁne chance for us ;” and he rubbed his hands
with glee at the possibility of a consummation, so devoutly to he
Wished.
Competition
with England.
Fair trade.
310 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Worsted mills,
Elberfeld.
Comparison
with England.
Hours.
Wages.
Products
manufactured.
Home dyeing.
Workpe ople.
Wons'rnn MANUFACTURE.—-—ELBERFELD.
In the towns of Barmen and Elberfeld, and in other parts of
Germany, as we have explained with regard to Saxony, there are
several factories for the making of mixed fabrics similar to those
of Bradford. In most of these the yarn is imported from England,
and woven on English machinery, but we visited one \of the
largest establishments in Elberfeld, in which all the operations of
manufacturing are conducted, from the sorting and combing of
the wool, to the dyeing, ﬁnishing, and making up of the pieces.
In the wool industry we had few opportunities of comparing
foreign factories with those of England, under similar conditions
as to machinery and raw material. In this instance the whole of
the combing, preparing, and spinning machinery had been im-
ported from Keighley, and the looms were from Keighley and
Bradford. The organisation and arrangements of the factory
were similar to the leading worsted manufactories in Bradford, and
had evidently been copied from them.
The operatives work 12 hours a day, and when the ﬁrm are
busy, the works run overtime. They employ children in the
spinning department, between the ages of 12 and 14, but they
must attend school for a speciﬁed number of hours each day.
Contrary to the usual custom in other factories which we
visited, we understood that all the combing, drawing, and spinning
operatives are paid by day, as is the custom in Bradford. The
spinners are paid from 88. to 108. per week, according as they
mind—to use the technical expression—two or three sides. The
spinning frames each contain 144 spindles. Doffers are paid
about 7s. per week. Weavers, by piece, earn from 105. to 20s.
per week.
Most of the looms were weaving what are generally known as
“Bradford goods,” with cotton warps and weft, spun on the ﬁyer
frames on the premises. Some were weaving mule-spun ﬁne
yarns for all-wool goods, similar to those of Rheims and Roubaix.
Most of the weavers tended two looms.
In one respect this factory diifered from those of Bradford. In
the latter town the manufacturer usually sells his pieces to the
merchant, who sends them to a professional dyer, to be dyed and
“ ﬁnished,” and they are afterwards made up by the merchant and
distributed to the shopkeepers, or sold in cases to merchants in
other countries. In this instance all the processes of dyeing and
ﬁnishing are carried out on the premises, and the ﬁrm make up
their goods for the market. They employ travellers who sell
direct to the shopkeepers in Germany and other countries, and
in the American and other foreign trades they do their own
shipping.
From such a superﬁcial impression as could be obtained in
walking rapidly from one department to another of the works,
REPORT. 311
there did not appear to be much difference between the general
appearance of the workpeople and those of Bradford. Indivi—
dually, many of the men and women seemed to be exceptionally
healthy and strong, but there were many who were undoubtedly
below the average of those of competing industries in England.
Complaint was made by the heads of this ﬁrm that trade for Trade _
some 'time past had been unsatisfactory, but they had kept their dePressmn'
machinery employed during the long depression. On being asked
why they did not spin the twofold braid yarns imported in
such large quantities from England to Elberfeld, and for which
their spinning machinery was said to be well adapted, they
replied that it was impossible to make braid yarns for the prices
accepted by Bradford spinners.
BRAID FACTORY, BARMEN.
At Barmen the Commissioners visited a large factory for the Braid factory,
manufacture of braid for trimmings, military uniforms, &c. The Btu-"men-
processes are interesting, and some of the machines are of a
somewhat complex character.
Upwards of 300 hands are employed, of whom none are Hours of work.
children or “short-timers.” They begin work at 6 in the
morning, continuing until 8 in the evening, with two hours’
interval for food, making a total of 12 hours per day.
The ordinary “hands” earn from 88. to 98. per week. The Wages-
best braid weavers, who weave as many as 60 braids at a time in
one loom, earn a maximum of 20s. per week. Young men, for
plain braids, earn about 158. per week. Nearly all the work is
done by piece. Dyers are paid by the day, at 18s. to 20s. per
week.
There are many braid factories in these enterprising towns of The industry
Barmen and Elberfeld, and when braids are in fashion there is an a mompoly'
enormous consumption of worsted, mohair, and alpaca yarns,
nearly the whole of which are spun in Bradford. This important
industry is almost entirely monopolised by these twin towns. We
did not ﬁnd that any scientiﬁc skill or knowledge is required
by either the masters, foremen, or operatives engaged in the trade,
or that it has been inﬂuenced by any special technical schools.
Undoubtedly many of the employers are men of more than
ordinary commercial enterprise, for it is said that they cover
Europe with connections, and are unrivalled by the braid manu-
facturers of any country. We did not hear any substantial
reason assigned as to why this important, but somewhat ﬂuctuating,
industry should have taken such deep root in these towns, while
it is said to have languished in England. The yarn is nearly all Yams come
spun in Bradford, and the import duty and carriage have to be fmm England-
added to its cost on reaching these distant factories. After the
a
e)
12 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION‘.
Braid factory,
Barmen.
Localisation of~
manufactures.
Cotton and
wool spinning
and manufac-
turing form
important
industries in
Alsace.
processes of manufacture, which do not require any serious outlay
of capital, or any highly developed skill unattainable in England,
a considerable proportion of the ﬁnished braids return to England
to be sold either for home use or for transhipment. It might
naturallv be assumed that the chief reasons for this monopoly are
to be found in the lax Factory Acts, the long hours, and the low
wages of Barmen and Elberfeld. But these favourable conditions
of cheap production apply as much to the spinning as to the
weaving of the yarns. For example there are spinners in these
towns who employ women and children at such wages as We have
quoted, and run their factories 12 hours per day, and more when
overtime is proﬁtable, while at the same time the law limits the
working hours of similar operatives in Bradford to 56%, yet one
of the most important of these spinners stated that “it was impos-
“ sible,” even in Elberfeld, “ to make yarns for the prices accepted
“ by Bradford spinners.” So far as We were able to ascertain, it
cannot be shown that these towns possess a single natural advan-
tage over England to account for their monopoly of this industry.
On the other hand, it is equally remarkable that the yarns which
are made and sold in England for braids, should not also
be woven in England. WVe have elsewhere drawn attention, in
relation to the fact that the chief product of the woollen yarns
spun at Verviers is exported to England, that the chief proportion
of the lustre and demi~lustre yarns manufactured in Saxony are
spun in Bradford; and we have this third instance brought before
us of Bradford furnishing the chief supply of yarns for an impor-
tant foreign industry. We allude to these anomalies, not so much
to give any detailed explanation of their causes, as to point
out that manufactures take root in certain localities apart
altogether from those conditions of material resources, situation,
or commercial advantages, which are generally supposed to
determine the success or failure of industrial undertakings.
We should add that the braid factory visited by us was a joint
stock company, and was said by our conductor not to be paying
a dividend.
WORSTED SPINNING AND MANUFACTURING IN ALSACE.
The spinning and manufacturing of cotton and wool are
among the most ﬂourishing of the industries of Alsace, and hold
their own in competition with other parts of Germany, France,
and England. Mulhouse forms a centre of a wide district in
which the cotton, woollen, and worsted industries are pros-
perously conducted, and the evidences of success and development
are as remarkable in many of the thriving villages situated
in the mountain valleys of the Vosges, far away from railway
communication, as in the town of Mulhouse itself. The indus—
trial activity displayed in the manufacturing villages of Alsace
may be compared with that of the villages of Lancashire and
" REPORT. 313
the West Riding of Yorkshire. The Commissioners were not
able to pay special attention to the cotton industries of this
district, but visits were paid to some of the more important of
the Woollen manufactories, and evidence was obtained from some
of the leading proprietors. It is of interest to notice that in
one of the large manufacturing establishments in the neigh-
bourhood of Mulhouse, which we visited, as in many others that
we did not see, nearly the whole of the goods manufactured were
being exported to England and to America, and were superseding
goods of English manufacture. We ascertained that the raw
material was purchased at the London sales, and spun on ma-
ehinery made in England or in Alsace; that the whole of the
looms in the factory were made in Yorkshire, and that their
‘cost was increased by an import duty and other expenses to
the extent of from 20 to 30 per cent. We were further informed
that the coal supplying motive power to the factory was treble
the price of coal in Yorkshire, and yet these goods, produced at
this great extra cost, were being largely sold in England.
There has been much discussion in manufacturing circles in
England, during the last few years, upon the great increase in the
import of worsted fabrics, and many reasons have been given
for the supposed decadence of this branch of English industry.
Without entering closely into the whole question, a few facts may
here be stated.
In the ﬁrst place it may be explained that the English method
of worsted spinning as practised at Bradford, which is the centre
of the English worsted industry, is what is known as the “throstle ”
or the “cap ” process, while the “mule” process is practised in
Alsace and on the Continent generally.
For long-wool fabrics, which have long been a speciality of
Bradford, the throstle principle of spinning has been universally
adopted. For short-wool and all-wool fabrics, which have not
been so extensively made in Bradford, the cap spinning of
Bradford produces the same counts from the same wool as the
mule spinning of the Continent, but the appearance of the yarn
is somewhat different, and for some purposes the Continental
yarn ﬁnds a preference, and for others the Bradford yarn.
Increase in
imports of
worsted fabrics
into this
country.
Methods of
spinning.
Plan adopted
at Bradford.
During recent years, however, the fashions have been in Fashions have
favour of goods made from soft yarns, while the lustrous yarns
from Alpaca and English long-wools have been quite out of
favour. The result has been that the long-wool machinery of
Bradford has not been fully employed, while the machinery of
France and Alsace, and also the short-wool machinery of Brad-
ford, has been in full and proﬁtable operation. The machinery
adapted for alpacas and the long lustrous wools, which have
long been so proﬁtably manipulated in Bradford, cannot, without
important alterations, be utilised for the short and ﬁne wool
which has more recently been in general demand ; hence there
has been depression in Bradford, but activity in Roubaix and
recently
changed .
3141 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
English
methods of
spinning differ
from those on
the Continent.
Factories of
Alsace, well
arranged.
Length of
mules.
All yarn
carefully
“ perched.”
Spinning
machinery
made in
Alsace.
Wages, hours
of labour, cost
of production.
Alsace. English manufacturers, however, spurred on by the
absence of demand for their lustrous and mixed goods, have in
many instances given greater attention to the ﬁne short wools
and the machinery for their production. They have thus gained
some successes in a new ﬁeld, while at the same time they have '
shown great enterprise in developing new combinations in their
own special branches.
Mule spinning has only recently and in but few cases been
introduced into the Bradford trade, and we did not hear of a single
factory in Alsace in which worsted spinning by the English
method is adopted. The preference shown for the goods pro-
duced abroad seems to be due to the different methods of
production, rather than to greater cheapness, or higher quality.
The factories visited by the Commissioners were admirably
arranged, and the machinery was of the most modern character.
The wool is almost invariably spun without oil, and the yarn is
thus prepared for the most delicate colours in the dyeing. The
hours for work are 11 per day, or 66 per week.
The spinning mules vary in length; at one factory of 38,000
spindles, employing 1,600 workpeople, the mules, on an average,
contained about 500 spindles each (in one factory we saw
mules 1,000 spindles long), and the spinners and minders were
men and boys. The combs and carding engines were usually
minded by women and girls. The half-timers, from 12 to 14:,
attend a school connected with the works, during a certain
number of hours per day. In most of the operations the work is
paid for according to the weight turned off, and great care is
shown in the overlooking of the work done. In the above factory,
where it appeared that a large proportion of the yarn was being
reeled, it was all carefully overhauled by girls, who “perched”
the yarn before large windows in a south light, so that every
thread was examined. It was estimated that there were not
less than 80 girls so employed.
From the refuse soapsuds, gas is made, which is used for
lighting the works.
All the spinning machinery is made in Alsace, excepting certain
special machines which had been procured from England for the
purpose of being tested against the Alsatian machinery. The
manager of the factory expressed a preference for local machinery,
not that he considered it cheaper or better in any way than
English, but because the “ hands” are accustomed to it, and the
machine shops being near are readier for duplicates and repairs.
The wages of the operatives are lower than for mule spinning
in England, but there did not seem to be the same activity on
the part of the spinners, that one notices in a Lancashire
factory. We did not obtain any evidence as to the amount of
work done per spindle, or the general cost of production in a
day of 11 hours in Mulhouse compared with a day of 9-;- hours
in England. It was stated to us that the cost of production
REPORT. 315
in Mulhouse in 11 hours a day is less than in Roubaix in
12 hours, but this result may be inﬂuenced by the lower rate
of wages paid in Alsace.
The manager who took us over the largest of the works could
understand English, and was spoken of as a man of considerable
attainments, not only as an engineer, but also as a chemist. He
was educated at the Ecole Centrale in Paris.
We could not ascertain that in actual mechanical operations the
wool spinning establishments of Alsace have received any direct
Manager
highly trained.
Technical
schools do
not appear to
beneﬁt from the technical schools. It was, however, alleged that inﬂuence wool
the general schools had, during recent years, greatly raised the
intelligence of the workpeople, and thus contributed to the
superior character of the productions ; and it was also stated that
in the operations of wool washing, the scouring ingredients are
chemically studied with reference to their effect upon the ﬁbre, and
also with reference to the subsequent dyeing operations. The
great inﬂuence of the School of Chemistry upon the calico-
printing industry is universally acknowledged, and it is also
credited with having materially increased the reputation of the
woollen manufacturers of Alsace, by the improvement it has
effected in their dyeing.
The Commissioners noted the personal appearance of the
workpeople going to and from their meals, and more particularly
at 6 pm, when the factories were closing. The men were
dressed mostly in cloth, and wore ﬂat-topped, silk caps. There
were comparatively few of the blue blouses so general a few
years ago. The women, who were almost invariably short and
stout, had no shawls or bonnets, but wore short loose jackets,
which came to the waist, and covered cotton print dresses or
cotton and wool mixtures. We did not consider that they
compared favourably as to physical strength with the work-
women of Yorkshire and Lancashire.
spinning in
A
There were no unemployed people to be seen in the streets, Absence of
no beggars, nor any evidences of abject poverty.
beggars.
As to drunkenness, which we generally observed to be No drunken-
conspic‘uous by its absence, we saw three or four exhibitions ness
in two of the Alsatian villages, but none in Mulhouse. It was
in Mul-
ouse. Cause
of drunkenness
alleged, however, that drunkenness has increased since the in Alsace.
German annexation. Before that time wine was the general
beverage, and a drunken person was rarely seen. After the
war, the French wines were subjected to a high duty and became
dearer. Spirits, on the other hand, were reduced in price
56 per cent. The consequence has been that people have been
tempted to drink less wine and more spirits. Beer has never
been much drunk in Alsace. 'We give this statement for what
it is worth, bearing in mind the natural tendency on the part
of some of our informants to look unfavourably on the con~
sequences of a change of nationality.
316 ROYAL coMMIssIoN oN TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Visit to
Crefeld.
Silk dyeing.
‘Vol-king
dyers not
scientiﬁcally
educated.
Hours and
SILK I NDUSTRY, CaErELD, RHENIsr-I PRUSSIA.
Your Commissioners visited Crefeld on the 2nd of June 1882,
accompanied by Mr. Bueck and Mr. Mulvany, and were met
at the railway station by the Burgomaster, the President and
several members of the council of the Chamber of Commerce,
and some of the leading silk manufacturers of the town, nearly
all of whom could speak English.
We visited the silk-conditioning house, which it is unneces-
sary to describe, as in its chief features it resembles the estab-
lishment at Lyons. (See p. 266.)
To the important department of dyeing, the silk industry of
Crefeld owes much of its reputation. We did not, however, ﬁnd
that hitherto any special chemical knowledge was possessed by
the workmen or the ordinary foremen. In view, however, of
the competition of other countries, and from the fear that they
may be surpassed in this branch of their trade, one of the most
carefully arranged departments of the new school of textiles has
been equipped as a school for silk dyeing.
One of the proprietors of one of the more important dye-
works, is a chemist of more than ordinary scientiﬁc, and of
superior practical, knowledge. Beginning life as a workman, he
had acquired by private study a thorough knowledge of technical
chemistry, and by his personal attention to details, the works
have attained a position of high repute. The machinery and
appliances are of the most modern type, although probably not
more advanced than those of leading works in England. A total
of about 3,000 lbs. weight of silk is dyed per day, representing
an enormous number of varieties and colours.
We gathered that here, as at Lyons, the splendid dyeing for
which both towns have become famous is due, in the ﬁrst place,
to the choice of proper colours and the adoption of sound
methods of preparation by the directing chemists at the head,
and, in the second, to long practice and care on the part of
the working dyer who knows nothing of chemistry, whose
attention is conﬁned to that one operation which he can do well.
In the ordinary course of trade in a large establishment, it was
maintained that no amount of chemical knowledge among the
dyers would give better results than these; everything depends
upon the efficiency of the men at the head, and, if the working
dyers had more theoretical and less practical knowledge, the
general results would not be so good as they are. If suddenly
these men were all to exchange places, then for a time there
would be bad work and general confusion, but, as such changes
are not likely to happen, the system is the cheapest and most
effective that has yet been devised.
Dyers work 11 hours a day, and are paid ﬁxed wages; from
wages Of(lyers' 17a to 188. per week for ordinary workmen, up to 25s. per week
REPORT. 317
for the best. Overtime is general when the works are busy, and
is paid at an increased rate.
In one of the large factories we saw some superior looms Power loom
weaving velvets by power,-—two pieces in one loom which were velvet Weaving"
being divided as they were woven. Since our visit these
enterprising manufacturers have been able so far to improve
their machinery as to weave four and even six pieces in one
loom. The looms are all home-made, but some warping rollers
from Switzerland were pointed out as of superior construction
At one of the large warehouses of the town, we were Silk warehouse,
shown a magniﬁcent display of silk goods, including velvets, Creff’ld'
brocades, plushes, satins, ribbons, and neckties, 85c. Among the
novelties there were ribbon velvets for Alsatian, Swiss. and
Spanish peasant costumes, and indeed for costume dresses for all
parts of Europe. It is usual to receive large dressed dolls
from customers in different countries, attired in costumes
exactly copying those worn by the people themselves. A
number of these were brought out for our inspection, showing
the make and shape of dresses, and how the fancy ribbons and
trimmings are worn. The trade of this ﬁrm is very like that of
Lyons. They have no factory and no power lcoms, but they
employ 2,600 looms in the town and country districts, and the
weavers have warp and weft weighed out to them, and the
designs and cards for the looms are also supplied by the ﬁrm.
Most of the fancy weavers are also designers in their way, and
have been taught from infancy to weave and to “ tune” the loom.
In many of the cottages the loom is never idle. Whatever may
be the ordinary employment of the several members of a family,
all know how to weave, and when those who have been at work
in the ﬁelds during the day return from their labour, they take
a hand in turns while the regular weaver rests. By continuous
working, say from 10 to 12 hours, a Crefeld silk weaver earns
from 38 to 58. a day.
The change from hand to power loom weaving is rapidly Changefl'om
extending in this district, and there is none of the ﬁerce opposi— $351138? PM“
tion to the alteration that has been so often experienced at
Lyons. Its great economy is manifest. When work is executed
at a distance from the warehouse, the weaver necessarily takes a
\supply of material to last several days. When this applies to
hundreds of weavers, the amount of stock in their hands must
represent a comparatively large capital. The concentration of
labour in a factory enables the manufacturer to exercise more
personal supervision over each loom, to work with less dead stock,
with less likelihood of loss and waste, and to turn over his capital
much more frequently than under the cottage system.
We were informed that the total silk products of Crefeld reach value ofsilk
the annual value of 4,200,000l., of which the overwhelming pro- Pfvdﬂcts of
portion is exported to England and America. It is a fact that orefeld‘
the silk manufactures of this town of 83,000 inhabitants greatly
exceed in value the total exports of silk goods from the United
Kingdom.
318 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION I
f air? 1111 In conversations with the several gentlemen who showed us
832,032,] their schools and factories, we were much impressed by their
Crefeld. enthusiasm for technical instruction, and the hearty interest
which they manifested in their weaving school. The new school,
which we saw in course of erection at the time of our ﬁrst visit,
and which has since been visited by one of our number, is fully
described in another part of our report. In regard to it, one of
the promoters signiﬁcantly remarked, “ It does not follow that
“ the establishment of this school will render us independent of
“ outside sources for designs or new ideas; we do not expect it;
“ but, to say the least, it will raise the tone and knowledge of
“ our rising manufacturers and foremen, and very materially
“ Widen the ﬁeld from which the latter class may be selected,
“ by spreading technical education broadcast among the in~
‘ dustrious and ambitious artizans.”
l\
Knowledge of We were impressed by the familiar acquaintance with England,
England. possessed by these Crefeld manufacturers. As already stated,
with one or two exceptions all could speak English ﬂuently.
They visit England frequently, mainly because their chief trade
is with England. They mostly sell their goods direct to the
large houses in London and other cities, and they ascertain from
their customers what are the probable wants of the public, and
in which directions changes are likely to be required. They see
by these means the productions of their rivals, and quickly
learn what to imitate or avoid.
English @0111- In speaking of the competition of other countries, one of the
Petmon feared‘ largest manufacturers declared that, in watching the recent
development of the silk industry, the best informed and most
enterprising manufacturers were much less afraid of the future
competition of France and Switzerland than of England. In
power-loom weaving in particular, and in improvements in
machinery, one English manufacturer had outstripped all rivals,
and at the present time the honour of possessing the largest
and probably the most successful silk factory in the world
belonged to a Yorkshire manufacturer.
Free trade, All our entertainers declared themselves to be free-traders.
They do not suffer from English competition in Germany, and
they buy large quantities of ﬁne cotton yarns, single and two—
fold, from England. The increased duty on what they buy
increases their costs, and they would like all duties to be
abolished.
TEXTILE MANUFACTURES.—-—CHEMNITZ, SAXONY.
Cotton and In the town of Chemnitz and its immediate neighbourhood
322211511113’ are eighteen factories of various sizes, for the spinning of cotton
" and wool. But of far greater extent and 1mportance is the
REPORT. 319
weaving industry, which is represented by eighty-two estab-
lishments. Within thirty years much of the weaving was
done by hand; the country people coming to the warehouses
in the town for warp and weft, which they carried to their
homes in due time returning the ﬁnished pieces. Factories
with power-looms have superseded the hand-looms, and the
volume of trade has increased in a still greater ratio. Just
as the general trades are varied, so the weaving industries
are remarkable for diversity ; and although probably the manu-
facture of plain goods is still an important branch of industry,
there has been a marked development during recent years of
fancy weaving. In scarcely any instances do the manufacturers
spin their own yarns. They go into the open market for them,
buying endless varieties to suit their requirements, and there
are merchants and agents representing spinners in every
country. In accordance with the fashion of the hour, the fancy
manufacturers buy woollen, worsted, silk, cotton, or jute yarns,
and the prices of the leading export spinners of Bradford and
other towns are daily posted in the Exchange, in the same
manner as the lists of stocks and shares.
The arrangement by which manufacturers, instead of spinning
their own yarns, buy them in the open market, possesses marked
advantages. They are not required to keep varied stocks of wool
or other raw material, nor to ﬁnd an outlet for their yarns ; thus
they need only consider the weaving of goods actually in fashion.
Variety is thereby encouraged, and the overlookers and weavers
are train ed in weaving various classes of goods from different
materials.
Advantages
of purchasing
yarns instead
of spinning
them.
In the factories which we visited, we found a large number of English ma—
looms from Bradford and Keighley, working side by side with
those of Chemnitz. Some were engaged on plain all-wool goods
and cashmeres from French and Alsatian yarns ; others on plain
lustres and other makes from Bradford yarns, and highly ﬁgured
worsted damasks from Bradford material, both warp and weft.
In one of the largest factories nearly all the looms were engaged
upon jute damasks, with a sprinkling of wool damasks of com-
plicated patterns. We were informed that the jute trade has
only been taken up in Chemnitz within recent years. The
fashion for jute curtains and “ furnitures ” came up a few years
ago, and some of the manufacturers who were makers of
worsted damasks—receiving the whole of their supply of yarn
from Bradford—- changed their material from wool to jute, so as
to follow the fashion, and were thereby able to keep their looms
running, although by ceasing to use worsted yarns, they stopped
many spinning frames in Bradford, and contributed to the com-
mercial depression in that town.
The conditions under which we saw the jute-weaving carried
on were unpleasant, if not unhealthy. The rooms in one factory
were crowded with looms, the jacquards reaching to the ceiling ;
chinery and
yarns.
320 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Examination of
pieces,
Chemnitz.
Hours and
wages .
Inﬂuence of
weaving school.
Visit to a
warehouse.
Training of
manufacturer.
the passages were narrow, and the ﬂuff and waste from the ﬁbre
ﬁlled the atmosphere and covered the clothing of the weavers.
This was, of course, owing to the nature of the material, which
completely overtaxed the provision for ventilation.
In every establishment the arrangements for “ perching ” and
“ hurling” the pieces were most elaborate. In a factory of less
than 150 looms, we passed through a room entirely ﬁlled with
tables, on which the woven pieces from the looms were spread
for examination and repairs. In complicated patterns it may
not be usual for weavers to “ pull back ” when threads in the
warp are broken, or it may be considered more economical to
allow a thread to run down rather than stop the loom, but we
were somewhat surprised to ﬁnd about thirty girls looking
very carefully over the pieces and repairing the faults that had
been allowed to pass the weavers. This elaborate perching is
characteristic of all the leading factories on the Continent, and
applies not to weaving only, but to spinning. Every fault is
vigilantly sought out, and, if possible, removed ; yet at the same
time it would seem that the faults must be very many to
furnish labour in this class of goods for upwards of 30 “ restorers ”
in a factory of 150 looms. The system undoubtedly speaks Well
for the determination on the part of manufacturers that their
goods shall be faultless when they are sent to their customers;
but in making a comparison with English operatives we have
fair reason for believing that both yarns and pieces are generally
in a better condition after leaving the spinner and weaver in
England, than in Germany or France. But this superiority in
the original workman ship is no excuse for the English, in allowing
their commodities to be presented to the world less perfect and
attractive than those of their rivals.
The operatives, as in other districts, work 12 hours a day,
and payment is made by piece. We ascertained that generally
the earnings of weavers during a day of 12 hours, including
meals, are not more than those of Bradford in 9;— hours.
In conversations with employers and foremen, the importance
of the weaving school of Chemnitz was everywhere acknowledged.
One of the employers stated that its inﬂuence upon the manu-
facturing industries of Saxony could not be too highly estimated.
We were told that there was not a fancy manufacturer in the
town whose son, assistant, or overseer, had not attended some of
the classes.
We paid an interesting visit to the Warehouse and show rooms
of one of the largest manufacturers in Saxony. The head of the
ﬁrm, who takes the practical management of the business, had
studied designing and weaving in the weaving school at Lyons,
and conspicuous in his office are some remarkable examples of
silk weaving, in which the designing, setting of the cards in the
loom, and the weaving of the fabric, were done by his own
hands. He also studied chemistry at a Polytechnic School, and
REPORT. 321
in his youth visited and worked at some of the chief dyeworks
and factories in England.
On a former visit he showed to one of the Commissioners a Drawings of
large book, containing plans of some of the most modern and English mills
complete mills and dyehouses in Yorkshire, with the arrange-
ments of the shafting, machinery, &c. These details had been
transcribed by him from a small note book, in which the par-
ticulars were entered at the time of his visits. He declared that
his knowledge of drawing, and general mastery of detail, were
due to the technical education which he had received in his
youth.
The products of the ﬁrm were very varied, consisting of Variety of the
dress goods and mantle cloths of great variety; also all kinds fgsé‘liienganu'
of fancy goods for furnitures, hangings, table cloths, 850., in wool, '
cotton, silk, jute, and in combinations of these materials. An
enormous collection of patterns was shown to us, and the mar-
kets were freely mentioned where most of the goods are sold.
Nearly, the whole of the products of the factories are exported to
England and America, and, in passing through one of the pattern
rooms, we saw a large portmanteau which was being packed with
a great variety of patterns, containing hundreds of separate
designs, which one of the travellers of the ﬁrm was preparing to
take with him to the London and Manchester markets.
\Ve were informed that the ﬁrm buy worsted yarns and warps Yarn comes
from Bradford, and cotton yarns from Manchester; they pay from England‘
carriage and an import duty on these yarns entering Germany;
weave them into fancy goods, ﬁnish, make them up, and pay
carriage back to London, Bradford, and Manchester, selling them
in the very centres of competition. A. very large proportion of
the entire products of the establishment, even though the yarn
comes from Bradford, are sold in England.
It was alleged, as one reason why these goods are sold so Finished goods
extensivelybin England, that similar goods are not made in m'fdfixtenmeli'
England. Their manufacture necessitates superior skill in de- §§ng1111,d_
signing and weaving, and a varied and technical knowledge of
dyeing; these requirements, through the influence of technical
schools, have been carefully attended to and mastered in Chemnitz,
but have not received the same attention in competing towns
in England. He feared that England was. awakening, and, if so,
it would be so much the worse for him.
The designing in this establishment is executed by three head Designs.
designers, who originate, and from six to eight assistants, who
enlarge the designs on paper prepared for the purpose, and
arrange them for the cards, which are then passed forward to
the loom.
We saw two head designers at work, men apparently under Designers
twenty—ﬁve, and found, on inquiry, that both had been trained at We” ‘mined
the Industrial Art School at Dresden. In reply to a question as at Dmden
Ri 1726. X
322 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION;
Designers not
acquainted
with misc en
cartc.
Bradford yarn
formerly
used for fancy
goods for the
East.
Bradford yarn
now less
extensive];
employed.
to the inﬂuence of Paris on the trade designs, we were informed
that it did not suit the purpose of this ﬁrm either to send to Paris
for designs or employ designers who had exhausted their
originality at other places. Parisian designers worked in a
particular groove, and Parisian designs were supplied to their
competitors both in Germany, France, and England, with this
result, that the same style pervaded the whole trade. What they
wanted and sought after was originality, combined with good
taste, and these qualities could best be found in talented young
men, full of inspiration and ambition, fresh from the best schools
and teachers. These young men from Dresden were doing excellent
work, and as they had a style of their own, or at least a style
that was not an imitation of Parisian methods, the ﬁrm were
able to offer novelties which attracted customers, and the business
prospered in consequence. We ascertained that the knowledge
of these designers did not go beyond the power of drawing and
painting the designs themselves; the technical part of the work
had to be done by the six or eight assistants who had attended
the Chemnitz \Veaving School. In this instance the Industrial
Art School at Dresden had supplied the artist; the Chemnitz
l/Veaving School the more technical designer, who applied the
work of the artist to the actual capabilities of the loom. Neither
could do the work of the other. Our conductor was of opinion
that, as far as possible, the same training should be gone through
by both. The artist should be taught to transfer his picture
to the loom, and the technical designer to produce a design for
himself. It ought to be the main purpose of the weaving school,
in cariying out its highest functions, to bring the artist to the
loom and the weaver to the studio.
On a previous visit to Chemnitz by one of the Commissioners,
he found one of the largest factories engaged exclusively in the
manufacture of goods from Bradford yarns. A comparatively
new branch of trade had been started, requiring very complicated
designs of foliage and birds in varied colours, a work of great
diﬁiculty both for designer, dyer, overlooker, and weaver. The
question was asked, “ Were these goods sent to England ?” The
reply was, “No; they were being sent to the East, and were
“ there taking the place of goods, less elaborate and pictorial,
“ which up to that time had been exclusively supplied by
“ England.” The manufacturer further remarked that it would
have been impossible to have made these goods so as to surpass
English goods, but for the facilities afforded by the Weaving
School, in teaching designing and jacquard weaving to a member
of the ﬁrm, and to the overlooker entrusted with the practical
management of the looms.
In describing the important industry of the spinning of woollen
yarns in Verviers, Belgium (see p. 358), we comment upon the
large export of that yarn to Glasgow.’ A few years ago the
manufacturers of worsted goods in Saxony were almost equally
REPORT. 323
dependent for their yarns upon Bradford. It was stated that, at
the time of our visit, the import of worsted yarns from Bradford
was very much smaller than a few years ago; but it was not
ascertained that this lessened consumption of Bradford yarns was
due to the competition of Saxon or other spinners, as has often
been alleged, but rather to the fact that fashion has favoured a
class of goods for which Bradford yarns are not suitable. It is
not necessary to describe these changes in detail, but a few facts
by a Chemnitz manufacturer may not be uninteresting. He
stated that when the depression fell upon what were known as
“ Bradford goods,” which were extensively manufactured in
Saxony as well as in Bradford, and for the same markets, he and
others, ﬁnding that these goods were no longer wanted, turned
their attention to other goods from other yarns, and by this
means were able to run their machinery and keep their work-
people employed. Many of these new goods were of a fancy
character, which, within the range of the capacity of their looms,
they were able to make in consequence of the skill in design of
the masters and managers, and the knowledge of fancy weaving
possessed by the operatives. It was represented by the manu-
facturer that his rivals in Bradford had long ago ﬁxed their
sails to the prevailing winds of fashion, and, while the fashion
was with them, they distanced all competitors; but when the
wind changed they were altogether unprepared for altered cir-
cumstances. The Chemnitz manufacturers, with greater range
and adaptability, were better able to alter their sails to the
changing fashion, and thus were fairly employed while Bradford
was suffering from exceptional depression.
The Chemnitz Weaving School is to be credited with much of
the variety and excellence of the textile manufactures of the
district, and with the greater power of adaptation from one
class of goods to another, than is found in similar manufacturing
towns in England, where no such schools exist.
In visiting textile factories in Chemnitz, and coming in contact
with the manufacturers of the town and neighbourhood, the
Commissioners were impressed with the intimate connection
existing between this district and Bradford. Bradford merchants
Depression in
the woollen
trade, how 11: ct
in Chemnitz.
Importance of
the Chemnitz
Weaving
School.
Intimate con-
nection with
Bradford.
are represented by agents, and the names of Bradford spinners ~
are known as familiarly as in their own town. In the spinning
of lustre, demi-lustre, and damask yarns, the manufacturers
admitted that Bradford yarns Were unrivalled, and that there
had been no period of prosperity in Chemnitz equal to that in
' which, a few years before, the Bradford yarns had monopolised
almost every loom.
The employers of Chemnitz spoke with pride of the growth
and rapid prosperity of their town. The population increased
from 54,827 in 1864 to 89,224: in 1879, and no ‘less a sum than
240,0005. has been spent upon schools, of which 95,0005. has
been contributed to the higher schools by the State. The zeal
Grouth of
town and
school ex-
penditure.
x2
324 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Variety of the
industries a
safeguard
against de-
pression in
trade.
Value of the
technical
schools.
Designing for
textiles and
printed fabrics.
Paris (1t signers.
of the inhabitants for technical education may be estimated
when It Is known that the technical schools of this town have
cost 88,000l.
We have previously mentioned the variety of industries, which
give employment to all classes of the inhabitants of Chemnitz,
and act as a natural protection against those periods of depression
which visit with exceptional severity towns which rely largely
upon one branch of industry. In this respect the town of
Bradford (which for substantial development and material
growth puts into the shade any town on the Continent) has
recently appeared at a disadvantage. The commercial depression
in Bradford is said to be passing away, at least for the present,
and will probably not return in the same form. Its leading \
industry, which gave employment to the bulk of its population,
became depressed through a combination of causes,—change of
fashion, over-production, and foreign tariffs. The depression was
more general and more severe than would have been the case in
such a town as Chemnitz. The important inﬂuence in every
direction of the technical and scientiﬁc schools of Chemnitz, in
building up and sustaining the efficiency of the varied industries
of the town being admitted, it would be reasonable to suppose
that, had the buildings and organization for technical instruction
which are now provided in Bradford, been in operation during
the past few years, the educated talent thus brought into the
trade would have helped to produce a greater variety of goods
to meet changing demands.
DESIGNING FOR TEXTILE INDUSTRIES AND CALICO-PRINTING.
The subject of designing for calico printing, as well as for silk
and other textile fabrics, has naturally engaged the attention of
your Commissioners ; and we have had an opportunity of obtaining
the opinions of those practically acquainted with the subject both
at home and abroad. We learnt from those gentlemen that,
whilst patterns and designs suitable for foreign markets such
as India, China, the Levant, and Africa, are as a rule drawn
by English designers at home, the English calico-printers look
to Paris as the source whence must be procured the most
delicate and tasteful designs, suitable for what is termed “ City
taste,” that is, for our home markets and for other highly civilized
communities, where harmonious colouring and artistic design are
essential.
The designers for textiles and printed fabrics in Paris form
a special profession, having their trade organizations, agencies,
their studies, and their system of apprenticeship; by arrange-
ment with the English manufacturers patterns are sent to them
for inspection or choice. Sometimes, an English ﬁrm has even
established an “ atelier” in Paris, so convinced have our calico-
RnPoRT. 325
printers hitherto been that for the highest class of their goods
Parisian taste and skill are essential conditions.
“ A good designer in Paris may earn from 250i. to 30%. a Earnings of
year, and the most distinguished, even considerably more than French ‘16'
this, but, as in other trades, it is often found hard to earn a signers‘
“ living.
a\
r‘
A
A
“ Apprentices are taken by the Paris designers, beginning at Training of
about 58. a week ; they are required to practise model drawing apprentlces'
and are encouraged to attend the evening drawing schools, care
being taken to insist upon their working from natural ob-
jects such as ﬂowers and foliage. Some apprentices have
already been employed in calico print-works, and these are
specially useful, because they comprehend the purpose of the
design; this knowledge is, indeed, essential to a good trade
designer, he must know not only how to make a good and
effective design, but one of which the cost of execution is as
small and the mechanical means as simple as possible.
“ The great secret of the supremacy of the Parisian designers Reasons for
may be said to be “environment.” Their success depends on thQPIICCQSS of
“ their being surrounded by the arbiters of fashion. Good taste Pans designers‘
never changes, but fashion changes constantly, and Paris is the
centre of Sl-Ch change. In practice, the designs in the less
expensive follow those in the more expensive article; thus the
designs of the calico-printer are frequently adaptations of
ﬁgures and patterns employed by the silk weaver. Paris being
the centre to which all the newest and most fashionable goods
gravitate, the designer anxious to obtain ideas has, as we have
been told, simply to take a stroll on the Boulevards and
observe the novelties of various kinds in the different well
arranged shop windows, in order that his ingenuity may
develope What he has seen into a striking and marketable
novelty.
“The true designer is, however, not one of these mere adapters Designers are
of the ideas of others, but a man of original power who creates not mefe
the design, commencing with work suitable to the rich and adapters‘
“ costly fabrics of Lyons. These are then, as we have said,
“ carefully studied and rapidly adapted to the needs of the
calico-printer by the ordinary designer of Paris. But, whilst English de-
the Frenchman is quicker and more supple in following Signﬁzecan
the rapid changes of fashion, the English designer is quite as gattems suited
well or indeed better, adapted to produce patterns to suit for the East.
Eastern taste, as he grasps more thoroughly the peculiar cha-
“ racteristics of Oriental feeling than the Frenchman, who is
often desirous of improving on» the old ideas, and introduces
“ changes and forms which often destroy the value of the design
“ in Eastern eyes.”
The foregoing paragraphs express the opinion of an English
calico-printer, whose ﬁrm print for the Eastern market from
326 ROYAL COMMISSION on TECHNICAL msrnucrron:
Comparison
between the
value of
Frencn and
English de-
signers’ work.
impression
that foreign
calico-printers
ﬁx their colours
better than
English manu-
facturers is
erroneous
Many foreign
markets are
closed to
English calico-
printers.
Technical
education of
the Alsatian
calico-printers.
English designs. Other English printers, it must be noticed,
rely on Parisian designers both for their “ city ” and Eastern
goods.
In discussing the relative value of the so-called French and of
the English design and work in the calico-printing trade, it is
important to distinguish between the printers of Alsace, (now
German) and those of Rouen and the north of France. In har»
mony of colour and delicacy of ﬁnish we are probably still
surpassed by the Alsatians, but certainly not by the printers in
Normandy; indeed it would appear that these latter have not
fully availed themselves of the opportunity to improve their
production since the annexation of Alsace and Lorraine, whilst
the printers of the annexed provinces, with a 20 per cent.
duty against them, still continue to hold the command of the
“ ﬁne or millinery ” trade of France. It is a common, but false,
idea to suppose that the Alsace printers “ ﬁx their colours ” better
than the English ; indeed the reverse may more truly be said to
be the case, for in Alsace certainly beauty of appearance has been
studied before everything else, because the wealthy classes, who
have bought the lVlulhouse goods, seldom wash their print
dresses, whilst in the English home market a printer who de-
livered Fugitive colours would very soon have the goods on his
hands. Of course, as is well known, certain very cheap articles,
termed“ steam prints,” are produced in England, but these goods
make no pretensions to fastness of colour, and in no way deceive
the purchaser. We need scarcely add that England still remains
undoubtedly master of the calico-printing industry in neutral
markets, nor refer to the fact that, owing to foreign tariffs, the
richest and most reﬁned markets, such as those of the United
States, France, Spain, Germany, Austria, and Russia, are practi-
cally closed to us, and that therefore, with the exception of our
own home trade market, the demand for the highest class prints
is, after all, small compared with the immense extent of the trade
in Eastern and other foreign markets. Hence the English printer
who seeks to compete only with the productions of Alsace, would
have to depend rather on the ﬁckle element of fashion than on
the demand in the neutral markets of the world.
TECHNICAL EDUCATION AMONGST THE ALSACE Pnrnrnns.
From our own observation, as well as from the evidence given
before us by Mr. Haeffely, there is no doubt that a greater amount
of scientiﬁc and especially of chemical knowledge exists in foreign
calico-print works than in those of this country (see page 1 of
evidence). The Alsace managers are invariably trained chemists,
and a special profession, that of colourist chemist, exists on the
Continent, which has not yet obtained a ﬁrm footing in our
RnroRr. 327
own country. The necessity for supplanting the rule of thumb
processes and pretended secrets of the old~fashioned colour-
mixer, by scientiﬁc knowledge of the materials with which they
deal and of the reactions which they employ, is now becoming
felt by all the better class of English calico-printers, and in many
of these establishments at the present time technically trained
and competent young men are found. Equal opportunities for
the study of this branch of applied science exist at the present
time in England to those found on the Continent, and there is
no reason why the colourist chemist trained in England should
not become as efficient as the one educated in Alsace, so soon as
the demand for, and the appreciation of, his services is as great
with us as it is abroad.
ENGINEERING AND MACHINE-MAKING VVoRKs, ALSACE.
The making of machinery for the spinning and weaving of
cotton, wool, and silk, engineering, &c., is one of the largest and
most important of the industries of Alsace. Be fore the annexa-
tion, the great bulk of the textile machinery of France was
made in Mulhouse, Guebwiller, and other towns of Alsace, and,
even in spite of protective duties, much of the cotton and wool
machinery now employed in France is imported from Alsace,
no French makers having yet arisen to supersede those of their
lost province. The chief rival of Alsace in France is England,
which has reaped considerable advantage by being placed on the
same footing with Alsace, in the supply of textile machinery to
French manufacturers.
The machine and engineering shops visited by the Commis-
sioners resemble in many respects those of England. In the
shops where spinning and weaving machinery is made, machine
tools (many of English make) are in general use, while the same
subdivision of labour and the same system of piecework prevail
as in the large shops of Lancashire and Yorkshire. Apprentices
are taken without indentures, and employers are under no obliga-
tion to teach them more of the trade than it is to their own
advantage for the apprentice to learn. The consequence is,
that, as in England, a skilled mechanic may be described as a
ﬁtter, or a turner, but not generally as both. Apprentices
are early put to piecework, and, as their wages depend upon the
quantity of work they can get through, they are not anxious to
change from one class of employment to another, since by so
doing their weekly earnings would be lessened. It suits the
purpose of mechanics to work at what brings the‘ highest wages,
and of employers to keep the men at what they can do best, and
thus, as a natural consequence, the bulk of the men learn only to
do one thing, but as they do that one thing well and quickly,
the aggregate result is a good and a cheap machine.
Want of more
scientiﬁc know-
ledge is felt in
this country
by calico-
printers.
Engineering
works 111
Al ~ace-
Shops visited
resemble them.
of England.
3128 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Special system
of apprentice-
ship.
Care taken in
the selection
of apprentices.
Milling tools
largely used.
Application of
electricity to
lighting and
motor purposes.
i
In one of the large engineering works which we visited, the
method of training apprentices was somewhat different from
that described above, because more varied work was required of
them. More than ten per cent. of the employés in this shop were
apprentices, who came for ﬁve years, and obtained a geneial
knowledge of the use of several tools and operations; many of
them spent a year in the drawing oﬂice. This system of train-
ing is necessary, because of the great variety of engines and
tools which they make, which are for export to other countries ; '
they, therefore, require men not simply to set them up', but to
start them, and to teach others how to use them.
The director of the works informed us that they take great
pains to select educated boys as apprentices. Most of them have
gone through the Professional School of Mulhouse, and have
there learned the use of tools, obtaining in many instances an
excellent preliminary training in theoretical engineering. They
give a decided preference to boys from this school. The fore-
man who conducted us over the Works, himself a student from
the Polytechnic at Zurich, conﬁrmed the statement.
A noticeable feature of these works was the very extensive use
of milling tools, which ensure clean cutting, and a true surface.
It was represented to us that no shop in any country is more
advanced in this style of work. There was no minute sub-
division of labour, as was shown by the great variety of
work in hand; working drawings of parts of machines lay on
nearly every bench.
The shop was lighted by incandescent electric lamps, distri-
buted to each bench as numerously and as conveniently as gas—
lights are with us. It was apparent to the Commissioners that
electricity was used with more knowledge and effect than is
common in England. We noticed a novel application of elec-
tricity to mechanical work. In the yard was a cumbrous
casting, like the bedplate of a huge planing machine, in
which some large holes had to be bored. It would have been
very difficult to convey it into the crowded shop, and the boring
was therefore done by electricity. Two small wires, from a dynamo-
machine inside the works, fed a motor in the yard, on which
were ﬁxed a pulley and belt, which drove a small shaft ﬁtted on
ﬁrm iron stands; a belt on a counter shaft drove the boring
machine, which seemed to be doing its work with the greatest
facility and ease. The appliances were superintended by an
ordinary workman. It was explained to us that many of the
workmen had scientiﬁcally studied the applications of this new
force, and that all the apprentices from the Professional School
had studied Electricity as one of the principal branches of their
education.
‘0
REPORT. 329
ENGINEERING AND MACHINE WORKS.—-—PRUSSIA.
Your Commissioners visited several important engineering and Yisitsfo en-
rnachine-making establishments in various parts of Germany, Egzleggiine
and were shown over them with the greatest courtesy. We works in
prefer not to describe any of these establishments in detail, nor Germany-
to give the names of eminent manufacturers and others from
whom information was obtained. When we came in contact
with English foremen and workmen, and these cases were very
exceptional, or with German workmen and foremen who had
been employed in England, we elicited opinions upon educa-
tional and industrial questions, and received very valuable and
practical information from these sources.
In Berlin we visited the engineering works of Messrs. Borsig, Lecgmpﬁw
where 1,400 men are employed, and were shown with the greatest ‘£215,111
liberality over every part of the workshops.
The men work 10 hours a day, and as in other similar shops Hours-
in Germany, they are nearly all paid by piece. We ascertained
that overtime is calculated at the same rate as regular time.
At the date of our visit, such was the pressure of work, that
the men in the engine department were working till 8 pm.
Mechanics, ﬁtters, turners, &c., earn by piece from 218. to 30$. Wages‘
per week; boiler-makers about 218. ; smiths, 850., about 268. by
piece.
The ﬁrm had contracted to make 95 engines during the year, Contracts for
They were turning out two complete locomotives per week, and 95 engmes'
were competing with England in many European markets.
We found that the inflated demand for locomotives which Ei’il effects
followed the war of 1870, and which caused so much abnormal 322133;?”
extension in England, had wrought similar mischief in these and Productions
other works in Germany. Here they had enlarged their pre- after “31' of
mises so as to be able to increase their productipn by from cne Se‘ierely
to three engines per week, but when they were ready for carrying
on this increased business the demand fell off, and it seemed
for a long time as if they would never be able to employ even
half their works again. At least a dozen ﬁrms in Germany had
enlarged their works in this way, and had since been competing ~
against each other, reducing proﬁts, and causing a hard time for
all.
At these works there is no deﬁnite rule as to the taking of Apprentices-
apprentices, and no regulation as to the courses of work which
they are required to go through. Boys are not admitted under
14:, and apprenticeship lasts until the military service begins.
Before service the apprentice is looked upon as a boy ; when he
returns from training, he has become a man.
Military service takes all young men who do not possess Military
exemption certiﬁcates (in which case they serve as volunteers SET‘ 1<>e~
330 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION!
for one year) from 20 to 23, and for eight weeks every two
years for some years after, and they organise their shops accord-
ingly. Contrary to the opinion strongly expressed elsewhere,
one of the foremen did not consider that the three years’ absence
on military service very materially threw back the mechanic or
diminished his skill as a workman.
Military “ Compulsory military service is not disliked in Prussia as it is
bv “ in South Germany, where it has not been so long in operation.
the Prussians‘, “ Fathers have gone through it, and knowing what it has done
“ for the independence and unity of their country, they have
“ taught their sons to accept it as a patriotic duty. The young
“ man coming back to his work at 23, is able very rapidly to pick
“ up what he has lost, and from that time is a better man all
“ round than a man of the same age who has not gone through
“ the service. The military service teaches order, regularity,
“ obedience, and the power of working effectively with others,
“ which in some departments of the works was a distinct advan-
“ tage. It also teaches the men cleanliness, establishes their
“ health, and improves their physique and general manners.”
.Draughtsmen. Fourteen draughtsmen are employed in the works, all of
1“ Bel'hn' whom have had a scientiﬁc education, and most, some experience
in the workshop besides.
Training Of’ On inquiring as to the education and training of the head
11:16:: draughts‘ draughtsman, he informed us that, after a fair scholastic educa-
' tion, and a year’s experience of practical work in an engineering
shop, he entered the Polytechnic at Zurich, and went through
the engineering course. Thence he travelled to England and
took a situation as engineer and draughtsman at a large engine
works in Manchester. He remained here two or three years,
acquiring all the information he could obtain relating to the
science and practice of engineering, and then came to Berlin,
where he readily received an engagement at these important
works. This gentleman was of opinion that the plan which he
had followed had been of advantage to him. He did not believe
that a young engineer could obtain the necessary education
entirely in a school. The Polytechnic School course, although
very thorough in its way, would be most useful to a student
acquainted with practical work. He would recommend a good
general education, to be followed by a year in a workshop,
and afterwards by a Polytechnic school training.
Training For foremen the only true education was that of the shop.
f” foremen‘ The good foremen with whom he had been acquainted, not only
in Germany but also in England, had almost invariably risen
from the ranks. Of necessity they were men of more than
ordinary intelligence and force of character. Some had received
very little education, but by attending night schools, or' by
private study, they had usually improved themselves in the
theory bearing on their daily work. ‘
REPORT. 331
As to capacity for work, it was the opinion of this gentleman Capacity
that the Germans do not get through so much work as English- for Work‘
men. He noticed this particularly on coming from the Manchester
works to those of Berlin. He was unable to give any deﬁnite
reason for this superiority of the Englishman, but undoubtedly
there is not in the German workman the same “go,” persistence
and “staying power” as is to be observed in the Englishman.
He thought it was owing to a combination of race, climate, and
the more competitive spirit of Englishmen. He wished it to be
understood, however, that, in his observations in England, he had
seen quite as much difference between one part of the country and
another as between England and Germany. For instance, he was
of opinion that there was a surprising difference between the spirit
and energy of the mechanics of Manchester as compared with
those in other industrial counties. The Lancashire men, he
affirmed, work harder, and better, and earn more, even than
Yorkshiremen.
He looked upon German workmen as generally more docile, Comparison
intelligent, and trustworthy than the English. They are tem- getween
. . . . . erman and
perate; time breaking through drink is almost unknown; 1n English work-
these works it would not be tolerated for a moment, and all men.
the men know it. There is nothing of the irregularity which
he had often observed, even among really good men in England
Berlin was once a drunken city, but the workmen had abandoned
this vice. He attributed the improvement to the influence of
education. A drunkard was avoided by society as a man wanting
in common decency and self-respect.
In making the tour of the works, we were of opinion that the Workshop
shop arrangements were not inferior to the ﬁrst class locomotive arrangements‘
engine works of England. The engineering tools were of the
best description, and were nearly all by English makers. The
work was being well ﬁnished, and was quite up to the English
standard; but there was nothing, either as to appliances,
arrangements, or results, which would not be at least equalled,
as to quality, in an English locomotive shop.
Our conductor complained that in many important respects Competition
they were severely handicapped in competing with England, with England.
which is always the rival whose cheapness and excellence they
have to fear in every market. Raw material is much more
costly than in England, as a large proportion of their iron comes
from England; their coal is mainly from Silesia.
The arrangements for promoting the comfort of the workmen Dining hall.
during meal hours were much more complete than is usually the
casein England. We were shown a handsome dining room, about
150 feet long by 50 feet wide, supplied with numerous tables
and chairs. At one end we noticed a platform and a small
orchestra, with a number of busts, and a library of books, for the
use of the men; at the other the buffet of a well ordered
restaurant, where the men could buy food and drink, supplied
332 ROYAL coMMIssIoN oN TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Wardrobes
and bath.
Engineering
works of
Messrsslemens
& Halske.
Hours.
Managers
have received
theoretical
training.
Mechanical
appliances very
complete.
at cost price on the co-operative principle. We happened to
visit this room when the works stopped for tea (as we should
call it) at 4.30. Some of the men took tea with bread and
butter, or bread and sausage; others took coffee with bread,
butter, salad and cheese. Sausages, sandwiches, and eggs were
purchased by many. Upon the whole the food appeared quite
as good as would be consumed by a similar class of men in
England. Possibly the substantial provision may be accounted
for by the fact that the engineers, instead of leaving work at 6,
were continuing to work overtime until 8.
Another arrangement was noted, which is not often found in
workshops in England, and which suggested a greater regard for
cleanliness than we usually ﬁnd in our own country. In the
shops each man had a cupboard for his tools and coat, and most
of the men took off their cloth coats and Waistcoats, and pro-
vided themselves with blouses or “ check ” coats, not unlike
those of French workmen. Some put on cotton trousers over
their cloth ones. Attached to the works we were shown a swim-
ming bath, in which, in the summer time, the men bathe and
wash after their work is done, and before going to their homes.
The temperature of the bath can be regulated as desired. About
200 can bathe at one time.
Wonxs or MESSRS. SIEMENS AND HALSKE, ELECTRICAL
ENGINEERS, BERLIN.
At these works from 800 to 900 men are employed, and the
ﬁrm have other works employing 1,600 men, thus making a
total of 2,400.
Electrical machinery of all kinds was being made, and some
very remarkable rotary steam engines for driving the former.
The men work 10 hours a day, and nearly all the work is done
by piece. Most of the heads of departments have received a
theoretical training in schools or classes outside the shop, and the
high and deserved reputation of the ﬁrm, their great success as
electrical engineers, and the liberal wages paid to their workmen
(probably the highest that were being paid in any establishment
that we visited), all testify to the technical eﬁiciency of at least
the superior workmen and foremen, in an industry which neces-
sarily requires high scientiﬁc knowledge.
We were conducted over the works by Dr. Werner Siemens,
brother and partner of the late Sir William Siemens.
There is in the works, which in mechanical arrangements and
appliances are remarkably complete, a large physical laboratory,
where important experiments and tests of the greatest delicacy
are carried on. Dr. Frijhlich, a distinguished physicist, who
is associated with Dr. Siemens in business, is at the head of
REPORT. 333
this department.
The manager of the works was educated
at the University.
In the course of an interesting conversation, Dr. Siemens
favoured the Commissioners with his opinions upon education as
it relates to young men intended for mechanical pursuits. His
own education at school was neither technical nor scientiﬁc. He
joined the Prussian army and became an oﬁicer, but as a military
man he worked at science for amusement, with great energy and
enthusiasm, as also did his brother Sir William Siemens. ‘
He was of opinion that in Germany there are more Polytechnic
Schools than are necessary. Their number was due to the educa-
tional rivalry of the several German states, each of which had
aimed at achieving technical superiority over the rest. The
motive was excellent, but the result had been costly; yet, con-
sidering that the standard of education throughout Germany had
thereby been raised, the people felt that their sacriﬁces had been
more than justiﬁed. The number of Polytechnic Schools might
wisely be reduced, and the money thus saved might be devoted
to the establishment of intermediate schools, which are much
needed.
As to the education of workmen, everything depended upon
the means and natural abilities of the student. He would give,
ﬁrst, a sound elementary education up to 14. At that age it was
natural that the workman’s son should be required to earn wages
and learn a trade, but he ought to attend a night school. After
two or three years he should enter, if he could dispense with
wages, a foremen’s school (like that at Ghemnitz), from which,
by showing remarkable ability, he would be able to pass to the
highest technical schools. If a young man were compelled to
work for wages in order to maintain himself, the above course
would be impossible. The night school, however, was still open to
him, and the highest possibilities were accessible to perseverance
and ability.
In his own works he selected young men of promise, and paid
their expenses at these schools, in some cases dividing the year
between school and work, so as to enable the students to keep
up the connection between the school and the shop. The great
problem with him had been to ﬁnd and train the most promising
youths. Although it too often happened that he lost the services
of the men after they had been improved, yet in the main the
advantages compensated him for the sacriﬁces. Dr. Siemens
said that work'men in other trades very commonly save up their
money in order to have a course of schooling, and attend classes
in the slack times of winter. Many employers assist their young
men in this endeavour to improve themselves, and consider that
the gain in increased efﬁciency is worth the outlay. Dr. Siemens
considers it well worth the while of the State to seek out talent
wherever it can be found, and to develope it for the benefit of the
State as well as of the individual. The'foundation of bursaries
Dr. Werner
Siemens on
on education.
Polytechnic
schools.
Education of
workmen and
foremen.
Promising
youths dii icle
their time
between the
school and the
workshop.
334 ROYAL COMMISSION oN TECHNICAL INsrEUcrIoN:
Education of
employers.
Visits to
engineering
works in
Bavaria.
for this purpose, uniting the shops and the schools, would be very
useful, for it often happens that a young man’s talent is only
brought out by the practical application of scientiﬁc principles
at the bench or forge.
For the sons of employers, and for really clever boys of any
class who could afford the time, he considered that the old
classical education, as a grand and broad foundation, was best
after all as the foundation of subsequent training. But for
ordinary boys, it was a pity to waste time on dead languages
which they seldom mastered. There was no direct good in Latin
and Greek, but there was always direct good in chemistry.
ENGINEERING AND MEcHANIcAL INDUSJTRIES IN BAVARIA.
The Commissioners visited typical works of importance in
Bavaria, and also inspected the various industrial departments
of the Exhibition then being held at Nuremberg, and were able
to note the high degree of excellence attained by several of the
engineering establishments. The work in the shops we visited
appeared to be fully equal in style and quality to the good work
of France, Switzerland, or Belgium, and perhaps not inferior to
that of England. One of the ﬁrms represented at the Nuremberg
Exhibition, exhibited its 1,000th locomotive engine. In various
manufacturing districts of the continent, we saw in some of the
newest factories, stationary steam engines from Bavaria, which
seemed to be perfect in workmanship and in the steadiness with
which they developed enormous power. At some very extensive
railway carriage and Waggon works we were shown elaborate
machines and appliances for the saving of labour, and were
informed that at these works alone (where upwards of 50
draughtsmen are employed), the construction of complete car-
riages and waggons is equal to one per hour during each working
day of 10 hours, and that in time of pressure the output
has been not less than 15 per day. Nearly the whole of these
carriages and waggons are exported to other countries, to Russia,
Italy, and Spainjx‘ which they enter on precisely the same
terms with regard to tariff duties as those of England.
The ordinary working hours in the machine shops of Bavaria,
as in Prussia and Saxony, are 10 per day, and most of the men
work by piece. Irregular work is paid by 'day, but‘ all the
employers with whom we conversed, and the majority of
workmen also, were of opinion that the system' of piecework was
fairest both for employers and employed. ‘

Hours and
wages.
* In Spain there are differential duties in favour of Germany, as against this
country, on some manufactures (including ‘iron and steel). By the Convention
recently signed by the two countries these will be abrogated, if it is conﬁrmed by
the respective legislatures.
REPORT. 335
At one establishment we were informed that labourers earned
about 28. 6d. per day, and skilled men from 38. to 418. per
day. The proportion of mechanics earning 428. per day is not
large.
The arrangement for holding a week’s wages in hand seems
to be general.
In making the tour of one of the large engineering establish-
ments in Bavaria, we were accompanied by an English manager
of great intelligence and experience, who expressed very deﬁnite
opinions on several important matters relating to this inquiry.
He had served an apprenticeship under one of the most eminent
engineering ﬁrms in England, and came to Germany as a young
man, over 30 years ago, to take a good post at high wages. He
and other Englishmen had contributed largely to the. foundation
and extension of engineering and machine shops in Germany,
_ and he has watched with great interest the progress of Germany
as a manufacturing nation. He had made frequent visits to
England for the purpose of collecting information, and had taken
great pains to form correct conclusions as to the best means of
keeping pace with English and other competition. Germany 30
years ago, as compared with England, was simply “nowhere,”
but, placing English and German workshops side by side now, we
should ﬁnd that the progress in the latter had been positively
marvellous. During all these years the Germans had been fol-
lowing the English step by step, importing their machinery
and tools, engaging, when they could, the best men from the best
shops, copying their methods of work, and the organization of
their industries; but, besides this, they had devoted special
attention to a matter which England had almost ignored, the
scientiﬁc or technical instruction of their own people. And what
has been the result of all this? They have reached a point at
which they have but little to learn from the English. He called
our attention to a fact, which had not escaped our observation
before, that, now-a-days, there are scarcely any Englishmen to be
found at the head of German workshops. It no longer pays to
import them. In earlier days the Englishman was completely
master of the situation. Practical knowledge counted for every-
thing, and this was the Englishman’s possession. In theory he
was deﬁcient. During recent years, there has been less and less
demand for English foremen on the continent, where practical
knowledge has increased, and more and more demand for con~
tinental men of science in England. Our guide was of opinion
that, were industrial conditions as favourable for Germany as for
England, we should require to put forth increased energies in
order to maintain our supremacy; but, he also stated that a
military system like that of Germany must leave our rivals at
a permanent disadvantage; and, after all, no amount of teaching
in Polytechnic Schools would wrest from England the mechanical
genius which has, in all ages, distinguished her sons.
Evidenre by
English
manager.
Germans have
been imitating
English manu-
facturers.
English were
formerly
without rivals.
336 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION!
Engineer
apprentices,
Bavaria.
Young men do
not become
really useful
until after they
are 20.
Effects of
military
service.
On the question of the training of apprentices, the English
manager, Mr. A, stated that as a rule, boys are not admitted
to engineering shops under 15, and are not bound as apprentices.
It is considered a point of honour that the boy should be
retained till he is required to join the military service at 20, and
it is very seldom that an apprentice is dismissed from his em:-
ployment or leaves it without permission. The work in large
shops is not so completely organised as in England, and although
they cultivate “division of labour,” there are some departments
in which this division cannot well be carried out, owing to
difficulties unknown in England. Some boys are put to par-
ticular jobs and never leave them, but others are removed from
one class of work to another, not that he may learn a variety of
things and thus become a more valuable man, but because it
cannot be helped. Changes of this character are not popular,
but where a certain number of men leave every year to join
the army, there must necessarily be a “ shuffling ” of places
among those who remain, and this is one of the evils of the
military system.
Mr. A.’s experience shows that up to 20, a youth learns
but little that can be turned to much account either for him-
self or his employer. If he be careless, the foreman or employer
is apt to say, “ I shall get rid of him at 20.” and does
not take serious trouble to make him better. If the youth
has ambition, and the employer sees in him signs of pro-
mise, he is still indifferent about putting him forward,
knowing that at 20 he will lose him. You cannot keep a place
open for the possible return of a promising young man, after
three years’ absence, and should you do so, you are by no means
certain that you will have the same material to deal with, that
you had before dreams of military glory had ﬁred his imagination.
How different, said Mr. A, are the feeling and sentiment in an
English shop; the apprentice seeing his future before him, un-
distracted by ideas of anything beyond the improvement of his
own skill and mechanical knowledge, or advancement in the
shop in which he began, and possibly hopes to end his career.
These are matters which are not understood in a German
workshop, because they have never been experienced, but they
have a very important bearing upon the training of a mechanic.
When a soldier comes back to the shop at 23, he may be
strong, smart, and disciplined, but he has a very indifferent
notion of his work, and he forgets day after day what is told
him. Yet he has arrived at man’s estate, and naturally wants a
man’s pay, although he can only do a boy’s work.‘ It is only by
comparison with a country like England that this great draw-
back is appreciated. Industrially, and speaking as a manager,
responsible for the efficiency of the work done In the shop,
Mr. A. aﬁirmed that the military system is the curse of Germany.
As a rule the mechanics at 25, who expect good wages, and
ought to be at their best, have only half learned their trade, and
REPORT. 337
how can such men be expected to compare in practical skill with
English mechanics who have worked at the bench continuously,
without any break whatever, from about the age of 14 ? There
is this consolation, however, for most of the men, that they do not
marry so early as in England, and if for a time theii' wages are
lower, their expenditure is lower also. The German military
system does not by any means tend to the encouragement of
extravagance; men are taught to cut their coat according to
their cloth, and to make a little go a long way.
There are no trades’ unions among the workmen in Mr. A.’s No trades’
town, and in his time there has been no strike against hours or “mons-
wages, yet the former have lessened and the latter have in-
creased. Undoubtedly German workmen are more obedient to
their superiors, and generally more long—suffering, than English-
men. Insubordination is not in the spirit of the German.
Mr. A. is of opinion that, under the same training and ({Omnarison of
domestic conditions, the English and the German workmen are Iégﬁiiﬁih
very similar. For instance, he has a number of men in his men continued,
department whom he does not think he could match in England ;
they are of his own bringing up, and thoroughly eﬁicient and
trustworthy. On the average the German workman is distinctly
inferior to the Englishman. He has not been trained to work
like the Englishman. He is easy-going and forgetful, has neither
the go, nor the resource of the Englishman, does not work with
the same energy and does not get through the same amount of
work. He does not live so well, and this is a far mcre important
point than we Englishmen are apt to believe. But, with men
under the same conditions of workshop training and food, his
experience leads him to believe that there would be no supe-
riority in the Englishman.
On the question of education, the Englishman is altogether Education of
behind. Mr. A.’s education, which was superior as a youth to workmen‘
that of most English workmen, or he would not have been
appointed to his present position, had been lamentably deﬁcient.
compared with that of young Germans; and his sons, in the
common schools, have received an education which they could
not possibly have obtained in England.
The one point in which Germany is overwhelmingly superior Germany
to England is in schools, and in the education of all classes of Surpasses,
the people. The dense ignorance so common among workmen 1,125,131? 2;“ the
in England is unknown. The Germans can all read, write, education.
cypher, and, as a rule, draw; the young men continue their
education in the Fortbildung and Sunday schools without leaving
home, or. losing time, or spending anything.
He strongly approves of the “ Industrie ” schools (described Industrie
p. 97). Several boys have come from the lndustrie school of the 2211:0023 5m“
town to his department in the works, and he has been delighted appintices'
with. them. Instead of being raw, ignorant lads, unable to drive
a nail or to use a ﬁle, they can begin work at once ; they
Ri 1726. Y
338 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION I
Educational
needs of
England.
German
theoretical
instruction
should be
combined with
English work-r
shop practice.
English com-
petition feared.
Prosperity of
trade after the
war led to
unjustiﬁable
extension of
works.
have been taught to use their hands; and‘ most of them have
excellent ideas about work. How different from English
middle-class boys that he has met with! He gives a decided
preference to boys who have had a little workshop practice at
school. He cannot speak as to their literary attainments; but
they begin their workshop life with pluck and conﬁdence,
knowing the why and wherefore of things, and merit the respect
of the older workmen. He pointed to a youth under him now,
who makes sketches and drawings and calculations for him, and
carries out his instructions like an experienced draughtsman,
and this youth is no exception to the boys from the Industrie
school.
Though living in Germany so long, he has lost none of his
love for his own country. He has long seen England’s deﬁciencies
in the way of education; he has never failed to proclaim them
in numerous visits to England, and is glad that, through the
awakening of the English people on the education question,
there is the possibility of a remedy.
“ Give the English workman the same schooling as the
“ German,” remarked Mr. A., “ which will improve him both as
“ a mechanic and as a man; keep him from soldiering, and
“ teach him to avoid drink, and no workman in the world will
“ have a chance against him.”
The German system of education, in which the sciences under-
lying mechanical industries are taught, combined with the English
system of workshop practice, form his ideal of the training
for an engineer, mechanic, or builder. England must not be
content to rest on her undoubted superiority in workshop appli-
ances and organisation ; she must master the theoretical as well
as the practical. “Keep to your shops,” said Mr. A., over and
over again, “ and follow the Germans in scientiﬁc teaching;
“ English industries will then take a new lease.”
Mr. A. stated that every movement for the improvement of
German industries was influenced mainly by the desire to
strengthen their position with regard to the rivalry of England.
They magnify the industrial advantages of England, and consider
it impossible to compete with the English on equal terms. They
hold to protection in the belief that they are hopelessly handi-
capped against English rivals, and that under a system of free
imports, their markets would be ﬂooded with English goods, and
their own manufacturers and workpeople ruined.
The abnormal prosperity which succeeded the Franco-German
war led, as_ in England, to unjustiﬁable extensions of manufac-
turing works, which increased the intensity of the depression
which followed. Mr. A. stated that when complaints were being
constantly made in English newspapers that trade had left
England and gone to the Continent, the suffering artizans of
Germany could not be made to believe otherwise than that
REPoRT. 389
England had wrested the trade from them, and that their
diﬂiculties were caused in a great measure by English com- . ,....
petition.
ENuINEERING AND MECHANICAL INDUSTRIES, SAxoNY.
Equal, if not superior, in importance to the mechanical indus- Engineering
tries of any other German States, are those of Saxony, and in no l’orksm
country has education, having especial. application to industrial "axony'
operations, been more extensively provided or more effectively
administered. The town of Chemnitz affords ample evidence of
great commercial and educational activity, and all the leading
schools, and several of the more important manufacturing
establishments, were visited by the Commissioners.
The importance of this town as a centre for engineering and Ifnpol-‘tfme 01
machine making, may be ascertained from the fact that there are gigging;
in it 46 concerns for the construction of general machinery, centre,
10 for making looms, and three for hosiery frames, making a
total of 59 establishments for the construction of machinery.
The State railway works of Saxony were removed a few years
ago to Chemnitz, adding 5,000 inhabitants to the population of
the town.
WoRKs 0F MEssRs. HARTMANN 85 Co, LIMITED, CHEMNITZ.
Through the courtesy of the managing directors, the Commis- Engineering
sioners were conducted over the extensive works of Messrs. Works Of
Hartmann 85 Co., Limited, where 2,900 men are employed in the construction of locomotive and stationary engines, as well as at Chemnita,’
of cotton, woollen, and other textile machinery.
The regular hours are 10 per day, but at the time of our visit Hours of work,
the men employed in the engine department were working over-
time till eight at night, such was the demand for locomotives.
‘The wages of mechanics average from 4:8. to 58. per day for Wages of
piece work ; other artIsans are paid 111 proportlon. operatives.
Apprentices begin at 14, and although they are not bound, Training for
and do not go through any prescribed course of training in all aprﬂ‘emicea
or in any of the departments of the works, yet it is under-
stood that they remain till they are called away for military
service. In this sense only, may they be considered as appren-
tices.
From 14: to 16, all these youths attend either the Fortbildung Education oi-
school or the one organised by the Operatives’ Societies, and on “Plummet
two evenings per week they are allowed to leave the works at 4.30
so that they may attend the school at 6 o’clock. In the light
of English customs, this is a great concession, and an illustration
of the advantages expected by this ﬁrm from the theoretical
training of these operatives.
Y2
340 ROYAL COMMISSION on TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Apprentices
compelled
to attend
technical
school.
Machinery,
English tools.
Condition of
employés
in Messrs.
Hartmann‘s
works .
Opinions on
the school~
training of
engineers.
On a previous visit to this establishment 10 years ago, by one
of the Commissioners, he was informed that for many years
previous, it had been a condition of the ﬁrm that apprentices
should attend the classes of the technical school. It appeared
that the custom was not conﬁned to one establishment, as there
were also students in the school from other large machine shops
of Ohemnitz.
Throughout the works, the tools and machinery were of a
high class. Many of the tools were imported from England, and
their superiority over all others was willingly acknowledged.
The workmen generally, seemed to be intelligent and healthy,
but according to evidence which we received from competent
judges, familiar with rival industries in England, most of them
do not get through the quantity of work in a day that an
Englishman can. We heard the same statement almost in-
variably at works of this character, but were unable to submit
it to any fair test. There seemed at times to be a disposition
on the part of foreign employers to account for a cheaper pro-
duct in England by leaping to the conclusion that English
artisans wor ; harder than their own, just as English employers
attribute successful foreign competition to the low wages and
longer hours of foreign workmen, neither party considering how
many conditions besides hours, wages, and hard work, combine
to make a cheap or an attractive product. It was considered
by the manager that the supremacy of English over German
artisans is gradually being overcome. The higher wages now
paid as compared with former times, are expended on better and
more nutritious food, so that the workman is found to possess
more strength, energy, and endurance. In some exceptional
cases, it was said that higher wages have led to excess in
drink, though not nearly to the same degree as in England.
Taking into account the amount of time lost by many English
mechanics through drink and other excesses, and the inﬁnitely
greater steadiness and regularity of the Germans, he was of
opinion that although the wages here are nominally lo wer', yet
they will be found to be, on an average, nearly equal to the
earnings of English mechanics in similar industries.
In Chemnitz, as in other industrial centres, we came in contact
with the leading employers and engineers, who freely gave their
opinions upon questions relating to the education and training
of men of their class. There were differences of opinion in
matters of detail; some gentlemen of high authority and large
experience were in favour of teaching the use of tools in ele-
mentary schools, continuing this workshop practice in more highly
equipped technical schools, and thus preparing the engineer, by
the union of theoretical knowledge with its application at the
bench, for actual practice without apprenticeship. Others were
opposed to the introduction of machinery into schools, beyond
such models as would be useful for the illustration or demonstra-
tion of scientiﬁc principles, and preferred leaving the actual
Rsron'r. 34.1]
teaching of the trade entirely to the workshop. But the
advocates of both systems were agreed as to the great importance
to all young men qualifying as engineers, of attending night
schools, or by other means acquiring a knowledge of mathe-
matics, av plied mechanics, and mechanical drawing, at the same
time that they gained workshop experience.
In an important conversation with one of the chief engineers
of Saxony, some forcible opinions were expressed on the com-
parative merits of the English and German systems of training.
This gentleman, whom we will designate as Mr. B, a German, of
exten~ive experience, having spent many years in England and
America, u as thoroughly conversant with the industrial systems
of those countries, as well as of Germany. He was of opinion
that the English system of training an engineer for the duties
of foreman or manager by leaving him to take his chance in the
workshop, was quite as good as the German school system which
aimed at the same object by more theoretical methods, and
judging from the men trained by each method, he would not
give the preference to the German. The Englishman who had
taken pains to learn his business, was complete master of every
detail of shop work. His daily experience brought him into
contact with all kinds of practical difficulties, which sharpened his
wits and his powers of resource. It must be admitted, however.
that he was generally deﬁcient in the higher scientiﬁc knowledge
of his calling.
rl‘he German school-taught engineer was strong in the know-
ledge of the principles of mechanics and physics, and in mechanical
drawing. He was, however, deﬁcient in workshop practice,
and in the knowledge of men; qualities which could only be
acquired by experience. And since nine out of every ten engine
and machine -shops were engaged upon stereotyped machines
made according to pattern, it was more important to have an
overseer who knew thoroughly how the work in hand should be
done, and how to manage the artisans under him, and who could
thus secure the end that all were striving for, viz., a cheap and
effective machine, rather than to have an overseer who under~
stood principles, which he had no opportunity of carrying into prac-
tice, but was inferior in practice and in the power of getting cheap
and effective work out of his men. Mr. B. was of opinion that
the English system erred in the direction of too little theory 5 the
German system in that of too little practice. Of course, he would
admit that a man could not have too much practical or theoretical
knowledge, if it were possible to combine them, but so long as a
man’s training was limited by its cost in time and money, he
was strongly of opinion that it was not advisable to run the risk
of sacrificing practice to theory. The new schools of engineering
in Germany, and particularly the Higher School at Chemnitz,
were modifying their courses so as to secure adequate theoretical
English and
German en-
gineers com-
pared.
Ger man
engineer
theoretically
trained but
deﬁcient
in practical
knowledge.
3412 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Ideal training
for an engineer.
Course to be
similar where
wages are no
object.
Danger of
theory without
practice.
training, with as little sacriﬁce as possible of that equally
important experience which could only be obtained in the
workshop.
On being asked what education he would recommend for a boy
intended to become an engineer, Mr. B. replied that a workman’s
or foreman’s son should, if possible, attend school until he was
16, and get as good a general education as was attainable
in the time, including drawing and the elements of natural
science. Then he should go to work, and attend evening classes
in drawing, mathematics, applied mechanics, steam, &c. If the
boy had anything in him, with such a preparation, he would
assuredly get promoted, and under any circumstances he would
be qualifying himself for superior work and higher wages, as
was the case with many of the apprentices who were then
going through the machine shops of Chemnitz. The sacriﬁce of
the two years from 1% to 16 was well worth while, because
it gave the boy a grasp of scientiﬁc knowledge, which the boy
who left school at 14:, even with attendance at the Fortbildung
school, had no chance of obtaining.
Even an employer, or a parent not requiring his son’s earnings,
and able to keep him at school, could not do better than begin
on the same lines. Let him enter the workshop at 16, and
attend the night school until he was 18, at which age he would
be ready to take advantage of the full three years’ course of
engineering at one of the higher technical, or Polytechnic,
schools.
A purely theoretical education up to 20 or more, left the youth,
as a rule, too old for anything like hearty or enthusiastic work
at the bench, and educated lads were sensitive about displaying
their ignorance in this respect. Illiterate workmen, who would
always be found in every shop, exulted over the failure or
clumsiness of those who were looked upon as their superiors.
Mr. B. instanced the head draughtsman at the most important
works in Saxony, who had never attended a Polytechnic or
Higher School at all, and yet was one of the cleverest men of
his class in Germany. He had worked in the shop from boy-
hood, but having received a sound elementary education, was able
from books, private tuition, and the daily experience of life, to
master the diﬁiculties of his calling as they presented themselves,
and thus to obtain a superior practical education, and a position
of eminence and responsibility. It is worthy of note at this
point, although mentioned elsewhere in this Report that
the head draughtsman at the great Creuzot works in France
(where 80 draughtsmen are employed by one ﬁrm), presents
another illustration of a similar/training. His only theoretical
instruction was that which he obtained’ at the elementary schools
of the works, provided by the firm ‘for the children of all the
Training of
head draughts-
man.
workmen.
REPORT. 3453
THE IRoN INnUsTRIEs or WESTPHALIA.
The iron industries of Westphalia, based on its magniﬁcent
bituminous coal-ﬁeld (which now produces about 20 million tons
of coal per annum), including the great steel works of Krupp,
have been so frequently described, that we shall conﬁne ourselves
to some details bearing directly on the subject of our inquiry.
One of these is that the Thomas-Gilchrist modiﬁcation of the
Bessemer process for converting crude phosphoretic iron into steel,
has been adopted in Westphalia and other iron districts of
Germany, more generally than in any other part of the world.
Under the able direction of Herr Bueck, the Secretary of the
Association of Manufacturers of the Rhine province and West-
phalia, the Union Works at Dortmund were visited, as an example
of the iron and steel works of Westphalia ; the works of Mr. Krupp,
of Essen, having been seen by members of the Commission on
other occasions.
As in English ironworks, they have no apprentices at the
Union Works, and they prefer not to employ boys till they
are 16 years of age. A boy when he enters is put to the
work that needs “hands,” whatever that work may be, and
as soon as possible he is paid by piece. If he joins a gang, as
generally happens, the directors cease to know what wages he
may be paid ; his share of the earnings is regulated by the men,
according to his age, strength, and their estimate of his value.
In separate work the boy comes under a general rate, and as
soon as he can do a man’s work he gets a man’s pay, however
young he may be.
Great importance is attached to the attendance at evening
schools, of all boys employed in the works. It would be
considered in England that a boy who had gone through
the strain of 12 hours piece-work among the furnaces of an
iron-works, would be entitled to all the relaxation he could
get in the evening. It is not so at Dortmund. The directors
of these works require all boys under 18 to attend the Fort-
bildung schools of the town on two or three evenings a week,
and the boys are required also to attend the Sunday schools.
(As we have already explained, the reader must understand
that the Sunday schools of the Continent, so frequently re-
ferred to in this Report, are not schools for religious teaching,
or connected. with religious organizations in the same way as
those of England. They are invariably public, municipal, trade-
guild, or State schools, intended for supplementing the educa-
tion of the day school. Many are advanced schools, strictly
technical in their aims, giving instruction in science and drawing
bearing upon the local industries). At these works a register is
kept of the attendance of the boys at evening schools, and is
daily examined by an overseer in charge. Parents willingly
Visits to
VVestph alian
ironworks.
Apprentices.
Evening
schools.
344.4 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION;
Training of
heads of de-
partments,
Union Works.
Chemists em-
ploycd.
Schools for
foremen.
Difficulty of
obtaining
properly
qualiﬁed fore-
men.
Comparison
between
systems of
training in
England and
Germany.
co-operate with employers in securing the attendance of appren-
tices at school, and we were told that the boys generally
appreciate the schools, and make substantial progress.
The expenses of the Fortbildung schools are defrayed by the
town. They are held in the municipal day schools building,
and day school teachers conduct the classes.
The managers have received the usual German technical train-
ing, are thoroughly familiar with English works, proﬁcient in the
English language, and constant readers of English engineering
and metallurgical journals.
Two chemists are employed for testing minerals and superinl
tending the charging of the blast furnaces. One of‘ these chemists
is a gentleman of distinguished reputation, and both had been
Polytechnic students. The leading draughtsmen had also been
educated in Polytechnic schools.
Besides a school for mining-deputies at Dortmund, a “ Werk-
meister ” school has been quite recently formed at Bochum for
the special education of foremen in ironworks. It is supported
entirely by the iron manufacturers, who contribute in the ratio
of the number of men whom they employ. N 0 man is admitted
unless he has been four years at work in some branch of the iron
industry, and has shown superior capacity and conduct. The
students go through a course of practical metallurgy and of the
other sciences bearing on their trade. (See p. 117).
One of the directors of the works, who takes great interest in
the school, stated that at present it was exceedingly diﬁ‘icult to
ﬁnd scientiﬁc knowledge and workshop skill and experience,
united in persons of the class of foremen. Trained simply in the
works, they necessarily knew but little of the sciences of metal-
lurgy and chemistry. The Polytechnic students, who had
mastered the sciences were often useless in the works. It was
the intention of the school to engraft some knowledge of principles
on the practical skill of the workmen.
The director expressed a strong opinion that the works-
training in Germany is less thorough than that of England. llf
any country could claim natural aptitude for a particular
industry, England might fairly claim pie-eminence in iron.
Germany cannot look back upon generations of skilled and
practical men; the stimulus of high rewards directing talent to
mechanical pursuits; the boundless capital at command to
develope inventions: and until lately Germany has not been
able to match the men of talent who, from time to time, have
arisen in England to revolutionize the trade. A combination of
circumstances, has long helped to strengthen England in what
had been so long, but was now no longer, her great iron
monopoly. For many years, the best that other countries could
do was to follow ; and, in strengthening their weak places, they
were compelled to look to education their most important
REPORT. 3&5
aid. Let education, said the director, be sound and thorough,
so far as it goes. If a boy must leave school at 14 or 15, in
order to earn his livelihood, there is no good in teaching him a
great variety of subjects. Give him as far as the time will
admit of it, the tools which will enable him, as opportunities
arise, to dig knowledge for himself. A smattering of many
things does not make a boy clever, but often makes him con-
ceited; it persuades him that he is intended for something better
than swinging a hammer or using a tile. H a man must earn
his living by his hands, give him an education that will help
him to do it; teach him drawing, the rudiments of‘ science,
modelling; ground him well in arithmetic. There is no good
in a working boy receiving a “_ fancy ” education at somebody
else’s expense, when that education rather hinders than helps
him in his work. If, on the other hand, a boy has exceptional
talent, by all means cultivate it, and do not grudge the cost in
public money, for the public as well as the boy will reap the
advantage of it.
The director had often visited England, and had had many steadiness of
opportunities of forming an opinion of English workmen. He men-
was not prepared to say that the English workman was superior
to the trained German, in the iron and steel industries. They '
can place the greatest reliance on the attendance at work of
their men. Absences without leave are exceedingly rare. The
workmen, among themselves, insist upon regularity of attendance,
in order to keep up the requirements of the gang. The “ Saint
Mondays” among ironworkers in England are unknown here;
on Monday morning, every man is at his work as punctuully as
on any other morning. The day previous to our visit was Whit-
Monday, a general holiday, and the trains, railway station, and
streets of Dortmund were full of holiday leople. The director
would guarantee that not 12 men out of, the 3,000 employed
at these works were absent to-day (Whit-Tuesday) from causes
that were not fully justifiable. No better testimony could be
given of the discipline and good conduct of the men generally.
Generous testimony was also borne by one of the directors as Rational
to the behaviour of the working population at holiday times. He of
said that all classes are almost passionately fond of music, and holidays, g
thoroughly enjoy a concert. There are some woods belonging to
Dortmund, at a short distance from the town, and steam trams
run between the two all day long. He had taken his family to the
Woods on the previous day, and found many of his own workmen
there, who had taken food and coffee and wine, and were
picnicing with their families. There were two open-air concerts
in the woods during the day, and among the thousands present
there was not the slightest impropriety ; all were enjoying
themselves in a rational manner.
There is very little drunkenness among the men in the works. Drunkenness
Occasionally a man gets “ over the line ” ; but the company will is Very rate-
not employ men who are habitual drunkards. There are
8:’)
Sick Societies.
but no Trades’
Unions,
Dortmund.
Cottages.
(Jo-operative
society.
Gardens.
Military
system.
3446 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
very few men who spend much money in drink; in fact, it is
considered a great disgrace for even the poorest of the men, to
neglect their families.
The men are allowed to drink beer at their work, contrary to
the custom in other works, and it is even sold to them on the
premises by permission of the company. After a Bessemer
blow, quite a rush was made to the small oﬁice where the beer
was served. The beer is light and wholesome, and the directors
did not think that it impeded the work of the men. We have
not heard this opinion of English beer by English employers ; of
course it will be understood that the German beer is altogether a
different beverage from the English.
We did not hear of any Trades’ Unions. There are sick and
beneﬁt societies to whose funds the workmen subscribe largely.
The funds are used for the purpose of subsidising the men in
cases of sickness, but not for what are understood in England as
“trade objects.”*“
The company own a colony of cottages, which they let to the
workmen at low rents —about 68. a nionth it was said, which
covers interest on capital at a low rate. Many of the men dwell
in their own cottages, and a very large proportion have money
laid by in savings banks, or invested in other securities.
There is a large and important co-operative society con-
nected with the works, and managed in a great measure by the
men, but the capital is mainly supplied by the company. Every»
thing in the shape of food and clothing is supplied at cost price,
or at so much more only as covers the cost of management. We
were informed that under this arrangement an enormous saving
is made, as compared with the system of retail buying at the
shops.
Many of the men have garden plots, and they work in them
at night, growing vegetables and ﬂowers. The directors spoke
highly of the good inﬂuence of a small garden. The occupa-
tion makes an agreeable and a healthy change, bringing the
workman into the open air, improving his tastes and habits, and
acting generally as an inducement for keeping him at home in
the evening.
The remarks made to us by one of the directors on the
military system, were especially interesting, because while they
were so much at variance with those of other competent autho—
rities, they Were expressed with equal emphasis. He had not been
through the service, and therefore, as he said, was unprejudiced.
He believed that the advantages of military service altogether
outweighed the drawbacks. For iron - smelters, puddlers,

A law compelling insurance and which comes into operation on thexlst December
1884 and the 1st January 1885, was passed in February 1884.
REPORT. 347
moulders, millmen, and other iron workers, he did not think
that the three years’ military service diminished the powers, or
the manual dexterity of the men.
Of two applicants for employment, in other respects equal,
one of whom had gone through military service and the other
not, he would choose the soldier. He could in going over
the works at once pick out the man who had been a soldier, and
was pretty sure to ﬁnd him a superior man in consequence.
But, he continued, there is all the difference in the world
between citizen soldiers and professional soldiers. His encomiums
related entirely to the former class, in whom service tends to
foster patriotism, and a spirit of self sacriﬁce. It steadies them,
shows them the serious side of life, and both in work and in
social matters increases their esprit dc corps.
It must be remembered in comparing the opinions of this
gentleman and those of, say Mr. A. (page 336), that the experience
of the latter related entirely to the mechanics’ shop, and to men
whose work requires great manual dexterity, whereas the work
of the metallurgical establishments carried on here, involves co-
operation in gangs, which is greatly promoted by the discipline
of military drill. There is necessarily a considerable difference
between the qualities required in the case of a practical working
engineer, and in that of an ironworker.
We have given prominence to both these views, as to the eﬁiecr'
of the military system upon the workmen. It is however only
fair to say that we found no difference of opinion as to the cost
and inconvenience of the compulsory absence of the workman
from his work and his home during these three years of service,
which in England would be considered as among the most im-
portant in a young man’s industrial career.
WoRKPEoPLEs’ SooIErIEs AND FACTORY REGULATIONS.
On the continent it happens more frequently than in England,
that associations exist in the different factories, for conducting not
only sick and beneﬁt societies, as with us, but also for managing
savings banks, co-operative stores, and agencies for the promotion
of education. Employers also oftener exercise paternal control
over their operatives, of whom they require strict adherence to
rules that seem to go beyond the requirements of ordinar I factor '
discipline. In some few instances we found exceptional provision
for the comfort and enjoyment of the workpeople. As an example
we may quote the works of Herr Franz Brandts, of Gladbach,
Ithenish Prussia. F1 om 300 to 400 hands are employed in the
cotton manufacture. Attached to the factory is a beautiful park
and garden, in the centre of which is a handsome chateau, which
Men who have
been in the
army preferred.
Beneﬁt
societies in
connection
with mann-
factories on the
continent.
Manufactory of
Herr Franz
Brandts,
Gladbach.
3&8 ROYAL COMMISSION on TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
St. J osephs-
haus,
Gladbach.
Served as
residence of
proprietor.
Baths and
washhouses.
Moral regu-
1ations.
hick fund.
Mutual beneﬁt
society.
\
is used, for the purposes of infant school for the children of opera-
tives, as dining-rooms, reading room and library, concert-room,
and as a chapel for devotional services. On the basement there
are kitchens where dinners are prepared daily for nearly 100
operatives. The co-operative principle is adopted, and to pro-
mote economy, the workpeople wait upon each other. taking
turns week by week. A substantial dinner of soup, meat, and
vegetables, is served for 3d’. There is music and singing twice a
week, and four times a year there are concerts—in the open air
in the summer time—-which are largely attended. A priest
conducts religious services and gives spiritual advice to the
workpeople before six o’clock every morning.
The upper rooms of the chateau are well furnished, and are
occupied in the summer by the proprietor and his family. It
is in contemplation to provide a number of sleeping-rooms, in
the second storey, for girls employed in the factory who have no
parents or guardians. The gardens attached to the mill are
beautifully laid out, and vines, peaches, strawberries, and cherries,
besides ﬂowers, are extensively and carefully tended by the
operatives. Under the trees and opposite the fountains and
ﬂower beds, there are seats where the people sit during their
mid-day rest. There are baths and washhouses for the use of
the operatives.
Besides educational provision for the children, “ every female
“ under 18 years of age is required to attend the sewing school
" once a week,” one hour and a quarter being allowed from the
factory time for this purpose.
By the printed “ moral regulations,” the Overseers, and all in
authority, are enjoined to set a good example to inferiors,
while the workpeople are admonished to maintain decency in
their outward appearance, and respect towards each other.
“ Unmarried young people who live away from home against the
“ wish of their parents, will be dismissed at once.” Wages are
only paid to minors with the permission of their parents, and even
in the ease of unmarried male and female workpeople who are
of age, the ﬁrm reserves the right to pay the wages to the
parents. Female workers are separated from the male operatives
during work as much as possible, and the two sexes take their
meals separately. Married women, and children under 14: years
of age, are not employed.
All operatives must contribute to the sick fund, which includes
provision for the families; it is managed by a committee of
Workpeople, and the principal subscribes 50 per cent. of the
total contributions. On the birth of a child, an allowance of 108.
is made to the family from the fund. There is a mutual beneﬁt
society, for advancing money for the purchase of food, clothing,
and furniture, &c. [f through illness or misfortune, workpeople
get into difficulties, advances are made from this fund for their
assistance, rather than that they should be required to break into
their savings.
REPORT. . 349
In this factory the total working hours in the week are 62, Workinghours.
and young persons are allowed two half-hours a day for
recreation and open air exercise. Wages are paid by piece. 'Wagcs.
Weavers earning 13s. a week receive a premium of 9d. The
premium ascends according to scale to a maximum of 2.9. per
week to weavers earning 218. or more.
INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY OF MULHoUsE.
Among the voluntary agencies which, in Alsace, have pro- Industrial
moted technical education, stimulated manufacturing industries, gfcllgty of
and united employers and employed in good fellowship, the ‘ u ouse'
Industrial Society of Mulhouse must ever be considered the
' most important. '
It was founded by the manufacturers themselves in 1832, and Fqlmded in
its entire inﬂuence from that time has been exerted for the 1852'
welfare of all classes in the town and neighbourhood. One of
the leading citizens spoke of its influence in terms of the
highest praise. “ [t has supported education, encouraged and
“ protected inventions, provided courses of lectures, founded and
“ erected a museum and galleries of science and art, promoted
“ the efﬁciency of the local manufactures, strengthened the
“ bonds of amity between masters and workmen, and exercised
“ a most benevolent concern over all classes.”
The objects of the society are described in Article I. of its Obiects ofthe
statutes as follows z——“ The Industrial Society aims at the Society‘
“ advancement and the encouragement of industry, by bringing
“ together in a central position a great number of facilities
“ for instruction; by the communication to its members of dis-
“ coveries and remarkable facts; also by the developments to
“ which they have given rise ; and by all the means which can
“ be suggested by the zeal of the members of the association for
“ assuring its success.”
The society has a president, three vice-presidents, a secretary, Oﬁicers.
assistant secretary, steward or manager, and two librarians.
For carrying out its objects, there are committees classiﬁed
under the following heads :—-mechanics, chemistry, natural
history, ﬁne arts, commerce, public utility, history and statistir.
and industrial questions.
There are from 600 to 7 00 members. Annual members pay Mmbers,
21. 8s. (60 francs} a year; life members 40L (1,000 francs).
A remarkable evidence, not only of the popularity, but also of Accumulated
the stability of the society, may be gathered from the fact that f‘m‘ls'
its accumulated funds now amount to 160,000], given and be-
queathed by the inhabitants from time to time, to be approe
priated for the public good. The buildings of the society are Buildings.
350 ROYAL COMMISSION on TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
New museum,
Mulhouse.
Assistance to
inventors.
Educational
work of the
society.
General work
of the society.
Reading room.
situated near the railway station at the entrance of the town.
They comprise offices, library, museum, picture gallery, lecture
hall, and contain a ﬁne collection of engravings, and modern.
pictures, museums of natural history, geology, 850., specimens of
patterns, calico prints, cretonnes, &c., carefully arranged and very
complete. This group of buildings, though extensive, is insuffi—
cient for the purposes of the society, and a large art gallery and
museum, erected at a cost of 16,000l. to 20,000Z. by subscriptions
from the members and townspeople, is shortly to be completed.
The several committees receive memoirs and papers on dis-
coveries and inventions, and report thereon at the general
meetings of the society. A poor inventor can submit an
invention to a qualiﬁed committee, who assist in perfecting it
and in introducing it to the trade, securing due interest and
beneﬁt to the inventor.
The society initiates and patronises undertakings for the
public good, and has raised large sums of money for such
purposes. It has founded, or materially helped, all the institu-
tions for higher education. It fostered the School of Chemistry,
the Spinning and Weaving Schools, the Professional School, the
School of Design, the Engraving School, and the School of Arts
and Trades for Jews, and other institutions of high educational
importance.
There are very few matters of social or industrial interest
that escape the attention of the society. Schemes for improved
dwellings have been considered and carried out on a large
scale, with highly satisfactory results. Discussions on thrift
have led to the provision of savings banks, beneﬁt societies,
and kindred institutions. The food supply has been cheapened
by the establishment of co-operative stores, and rendered more
pure and wholesome by energetic measures against adulteration.
Public morals and health have been beneﬁted by the substitu-
tion of lectures and concerts for less decorous amusements.
The death-rate has been reduced, and pain alleviated by the
care and assistance of indigent women in childbirth._ A special
society has been promoted for the protection of workpeople from
accidents by machinery. Medals and other prizes are given in
recognition of services to the public welfare, and the reports
of the proceedings at periodical meetings are published, with
particulars and drawings of machinery and other objects of
interest to the members.
The reading room is furnished with the leading European
magazines bearing on science, commerce, 850., among which we
saw a greater number of English industrial and scientiﬁc
magazines than are often found in the reading rooms of many
of the larger towns in England. The library is rich in works
of reference relating to the industrial arts, and is supplied with
all important new works as they are published.
iaEPonT. 351
In making a hasty tour of the rooms we were shown a cabinet
of physical apparatus, and an important collection of dye-stutf'sj,
We were greatly impressed by the superb collection of cretonne
patterns and other specimens of calico-printing. A large
number of cases in one room contained the selected examples of
the best makers in all countries. There were also cases and
boxes of smaller patterns, all selected because of some superiority
or novelty of design. A magniﬁcent collection of local prints
was shown to us, prepared in 1876 for an exhibition celebrating
the jubilee year of, a society of calico-printers established in
18.26. In addition to the above, there is in the town a public
museum of prints and textiles, assisted by this society to the
extent of 24106. a year (described, page 353), and containing
probably the most . extensive and valuable collection in the
world.
The picture gallery contains a choice collection of modern
paintings, most of which have been presented by the members.
There is a special collection, less important in itself, but
interesting as being composed entirely of the works of Alsatian
artists. There is a charming collection of etchings presented by
a townsman, M. Engel Dollfus, valued at 80,000Z. One small
etching by Rembrandt, of three trees, is said to be worth ZOOZ.
A donation of 16,000l. in money was made to the society by
Mr. Haeffely.
The museum of animals, birds, insects, &c., and minerals, is
extensive, and there is also a gallery of casts of ancient statues
and other antiquities.
The spacious and handsome Hall for concerts, lectures, con-
versaziones, &c., is largely used by the inhabitants. The
museum and the picture galleries are open free to the public 011
Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays, and on the latter days in
particular they are largely attended. The popularity of the
museum and galleries among the workpeople, has done much
to encourage the building of the new art gallery.
One remarkable feature of this society is the voluntary
character of its work. Mulhouse is the only town which we
visited on the continent, w here such extensive buildings have
been erected for the general good, entirely by local subscriptions.
The society receives no State aid, and does not want any. ‘Ne
were informed by M. Auguste Dollfus that some years ago.
General Morin oii'ered the society a subvention of 200Z. a year,
which the members declined, desiring to preserve their indepen-
dence and to trust to their own public spirit. The society is
very favourably alluded to in the report of the French Commis—
sion on technical instruction of 1864:. Referring to a pro-
posal to re-establish the literary and scientific lectures that
were successfully commenced 30 years before that time, the
report goes on to say7-~“ Then the city of Mulhouse would
Collection of
patterns.
Art collections.
Museum and
gallery of casts.
Concert hall.
Voluntary
character of
the work of
the society.
352 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION!
Workmens’
city, Mulhouse.
Tramway.
Arrangement
of a cottage.
possess a system of educational establishments of every degree;
infant schools, primary schools, adult schools, a school for
drawing, one for weaving, one for spinning, a Hebrew school
of arts and trades, a professional school, a college, an upper
school for the applied sciences, public classes, and a po] ular
library, literary and scientiﬁc lectures, all founded and kept
up on their own resources, without any help from the State
other than a purely moral cooperation.” It is satisfactory to
ﬁnd that the aspirations of 1832, so favourably reported upon in
1864, have for many years been practical realities, and that they
have contributed in no small degree to the elevation of the town
of Mulhouse to a front rank among continental cities, in ever -
thing that concerns the enterprise, public spirit, and prosperity
of its inhabitants. Probably Europe does not present a similar
combination of educational agencies, so complete. in a purely
manufacturing tou n.
A
A
(
I‘
WonKMEN’s CITY, MULHoUsE.
As connected with the labours of the Industrial Society, and
the social life of Mulhouse, we would notice very brieﬂy the
“ Workmens’ City ” which we visited with great interest. This
“ cite’ ” consists of 1,000 or more freehold dwellings belonging to
workmen, who pay ‘for them on a system organised by the
Industrial Society, analogous to that of building societies in
England. The instalments are paid weekly or monthly, and
extend over a period of 15 years. The cottages are built in
groups of two or four, each containing two small rooms down-
stairs, and the same upstairs ; they cost about 160i. each, including
a plot of ganden attached to each dwelling. The society buys
back cottages, when owners wish to dispose of them, as
often happens on removals, &c., and makes repairs at cost
price. In connection with the cottages, a block of wash-houses,
an infant school, a cheap restaurant, and some co-operative food
stores have been erected.
The town tramears run along the main street of this colony,
giving rapid and frequent communication with the centre of
the town and the leading factories.
In one of the ordinary cottages to which we were conducted,
there was a small kitchen or scullery, a small room, used in this
instance as a nu1 sery, and a larger living room. There were
two rooms and an attic upstairs. The cellar was divided into
three rooms for coals, lumber, and pantry. There seemed to be a
tendency in all these dwellings to provide Very inferior bed-
rooms, almost invariably in the roof, with one or two panes of
glass for light. The stairs were little better than a step ladder.
The cooking apparatus in the kitchen seemed to be fairly
REPORT. 353
efficient and convenient, with hot water pan and tap, but no
oven. Economical arrangements for boiling water and ﬁxing
cooking pans seemed to be well understood and appreciated.
Outside many of the rows of cottages, about three feet from
the doors, a stream of water ran along an open gutter, intended,
we presume, to take away the sink and slop drainage. The
water was dirty, and the smell somewhat offensive, but probably
the system is effective as avoiding the serious dangers which
arise from sewer gas. The garden plots in front of the houses
varied very considerably in appearance. Some were highly
cultivated, and showed evidences of future beauty. A profusion
of ﬂowering plants was here and there to be seen about the
windows.
Drainage.
We inspected the infant school, wisely placed in the midst Infant school-
of these workmen’s houses, so that the children can begin their
school discipline at an early age without the danger of traversing
rowded streets. We heard the children sing, saw them march,
and go through kindergarten and gymnastic exercises as well as
in similar schools in England.
MUSEUM or TEXTILE FABRICS air MULHoUsE.
The museum of textile fabrics was ‘founded by a society of
designers in 1858, but since 1873 it has been the property of the
Industrial Society. The great bulk of the collection of patterns
was presented to the society by M. Sch'onhaupt in 1858, and,
as we have said, the society retains in its own central rooms an
important collection of patterns in addition to those exhibited
in the above museum. It contains a complete series of patterns
of calico-printing from the commencement of the trade in this
district in 1746, to the present time. There is a permanent
exhibition of historical specimens of ancient textiles in cotton,
silk, and wool; specimens of tapestry printing have been con-
tributed by Messrs. Thierry, Mieg, and Co. It is intended to
enlarge the museum so as to form a still more important his-
torical collection.
The room is divided by a number of ﬁxed screens, leaving
a passage down the centre, and forming eight large compart-
ments on which the designs are displayed. The framework of
the screens is substantially made, and the historical specimens
and those representing the textile industries of old countries,
such as India, China, 85c, are appropriately mounted and taste-
fully arranged. The new patterns for each year are ﬁxed
against covered screens, and are labelled, with the names of the
producers, from Paris, Germany, England, or elsewhere. Against
the walls of the room are cabinets ﬁlled with designs, and sur-
rounding the room are tables, on which the patterns and books that
Ri 1726. Z
Museum of
textile fabrics
at Mulhouse.
Arrangement
of the museum.
354' ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION.’
Patterns
preserved in
books.
Inﬂuence of
textile
museum
on the local
industry of
Mulhousc.
Cottoi \
spinning and
weaving,
Belgium.
No Factory
Acts.
are stored in drawers and cupboards below, can be conveniently
placed for study and reference.
In due time the designs on the screens are removed in order to
make way for more recent patterns, and are then mounted in
books, catalogued, numbered, and put away in a library. We
were informed that from 1829 to 1858, the patterns considered
worthy of being preserved ﬁll 380 large volumes.
In conversations with some of the leading manufacturers we
were informed that the museum has exerted a most important
and beneﬁcial inﬂuence upon the leading industry of the district.
Some went so far as to say that they could not see how the
trade could in any degree prosper without it. To the
designer it is a constant source of inspiration. The museum is
to him what the well-stored library is to the literary man, or
a collection of the best pictures to the painter. It cultivates
and raises the taste of the ordinary visitor, sharpens the
wits of the manufacturer, and is a constant register of the
relative progress of the competing countries in manufacturing
enterprise. It gives invaluable assistance in suggesting
the adaptation of old or historical styles to current wants.
Taste is constantly changing; fashions come up again after
being long discarded ; the demand may run on Indian, Persian,
Chinese, Italian, Spanish, or the French style of one of the Louis;
but whatever may be wanted, the trade comes most rapidly and
most proﬁtably to those who can adapt or harmonise the ideas,
forms, colours, and conceptions of the past, if the forms of the
past are asked for, with the prevailing wants and notions of the
present. When it is remembered that a taking design not
unfrequently makes the fortune of a ﬁrm, and that the invention
of a new colour, a superior “ﬁnish,” or a better adaptation of
machinery for the production of tasteful fabrics, often raises
the industrial character and increases the wealth of a neighbour-
hood, the value of such a museum can be rightly appreciated.
COTTON SPINNING AND WEAVING, BELGIUM.
The cotton industry of Belgium is conducted under conditions
very similar to those of France and Germany. It was not
admitted anywhere that in the manipulative operations of
spinning and weaving, any technical education byond that of the
factory had ever been sought after. English machinery and
methods are everywhere adopted, and English competition is the
despair of every millowner.
In Belgium there are no Factory Acts; men, women, and
children may “'01 k all night or as many hours in the day as may
be agreed upon between them and their employers, without any
interference on the part of the State. We were, however,
frequently informed that in the cotton industry no children under
12 years of age are employed, and that in connection with many
REPORT. 35 5
of the large factories, are schools in which during mill hours a
certain time every day is devoted to “ continuing the education”
of all boys and girls under 15.
As in France and Germany, the usual working hours are 12 Hours Oiwol'k
per day, and most of the operations are paid for by weight or and Wages‘
piece. Oarders are usually paid by day, and receive about 28.
per day for men. Drawers, mostly women, about 2s. per day, by
weight. Spinners; for one pair of mules there are usually one
man, who earns about 5.9. per day, and three boys, who are paid
about 10d. a day each. Two-loom weavers earn by piece from
25. (id. to 38. a day among the men, while the women earn from
2.9. to 2s. 3d. on an average. Mill mechanics are paid by day,
from 38. to 4s.
During the visit of the Commissioners to Ghent, we were Works of
allowed to visit the factories of Messrs. De Parmentier van geese-PG
Hoegaerden. & (30., by invitation of M. de Parmentier, who came 02182238:
from Brussels on purpose to conduct us over the establishment.
Over 2,000 workpeople are employed by the ﬁrm, and no
children are admitted under the age of 12.
‘The mill buildings are well constructed; the rooms are wide,
lofty, well lighted, and well ventilated; the weaving shed is
of imposing size, and the arrangements generally have been
carried out with prime regard to excellence of workmanship, con’
venience, eﬂiciency, and economy of production. In these respects
the works may be classed with the ﬁrst-class cotton factories in
England.
There are three engines, all made in Ghent, with a total of Engines.
2,800 horse—power. The largest of these, a double beam, of
1,400 indicated horse-power, was doing its work with marvellous
precision and steadiness ; the engine-house is one of the handsomest
that we have seen in any country, and the engineers’ shop
communicating with the engine-house, is a model of convenience,
containing all the necessary tools, tackling, &c., for any diﬁiculties
that may arise. Coal costs about 11s. per ton delivered at the
boilers, and is consumed at the rate of about one kilo. per horse-
power per hour, which is very low, although the coal is decidedly
inferior.
The power is carried from the main engine to the shafting by two
huge leather belts, supplied by an English ﬁrm at a cost of 8001.
The head engineer and director of the mechanics’ shop, which Trainingpt
contains an admirable set of machine tools, and gives employment head engmeer'
to upwards of 4:0 mechanics, had worked in England, and was
familiar with some of the large machine shops and factories of
Lancashire. He received his education in a primary, advancing
to a secondary, school, and, after some practical experience in a
workshop, he went through the courses of the engineering depart-
ment of the University of Ghent. After completing his education
he came over to England, worked as a mechanic in an en-
gineering shop, and spent eight months in the drawing office of
22
ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION!
Machinery
imported from
England.
School on the
premises.
Medical
attendant.
Library in
works.
Good feeling
of workpeople.
Messrs. Platt & Co., Oldham. He returned to Ghent, and, with
two years’ experience in this factory, mostly among the machinery
in the various departments, he learned more of the principles of
the business than, in his opinion, many a foreman learns in a
lifetime. He attributed his superior knowledge, and the rapid
means by which he had acquired it, entirely to his scientiﬁc
education and his large experience in technical machine work.
Except the engines, We understood that the whole of the
machinery, consisting of 150,000 spindles and 1,200 looms, had
been imported from England. With duty, cost of transit, and
extra cost of “ setting up ” added to the English price, the ﬁrm
paid fully 25 per cent. more for it than they would have had to
pay in Lancashire. The mules are from 700 to 900 spindles long,
and the whole of the machines,-——carding, spinning, warping,
reeling,-——and looms, were new and constructed on the most modern
principles.
The work in progress in all the departments seemed to be
thoroughly well managed. We noticed several different counts in
the spinning, and many varieties of goods in the Weaving, and
were greatly impressed by the scrupulous cleanliness of the
whole establishment.
Although the employers are under no obligation with regard to
school provision and attendance, a good school is provided on the
premises, and attended for one hour a day by all young persons
from 12 to 15. The boys and girls (usually separate) come in
batches, as they can be spared from their work, and go through
a course of teaching. There is no rule as to the age when
school attendance shall cease, and, in the case of painstaking and
attentive pupils, it often continues until they are 17 or 18 years
of age.
We noticed placards in different parts of the factory stating
that the medical man would be in attendance at a certain hour,
and in one of the weaving sheds a painted board indicated that
he was on the premises, and could then be seen by any of the
operatives in that room desiring his advice. We were informed
that a ﬁxed salary is paid to the doctor by the ﬁrm, for which he
gives free advice to any of the workpeople, and, in accordance
with his prescriptions, ﬁlled up on printed forms, medicine is
supplied by the apothecaries of the town at a reduction from
the regular price of 25 per cent, the difference being made up
by the ﬁrm.
At the lodge or time—oﬂice at the gates, is a library for the use
of the workpeople, which is extensively used by the young
people. The books have been carefully chosen with the object
of supplying useful information and amusement.
Very favourable reports were given to us of the good feeling
which exists between employers and employed at these works.
The operatives seldom change situations, and many have worked
for the ﬁrm during all their lives. At many of the works which
we visited in Belgium, and, indeed, in all other countries, testimony
REPORT. 357'
was borne to the friendliness and sympathy between masters and
workpeople, but we had no reason to believe that in these respects
either English employers or employed would suffer by comparison.
It was our privilege to come in contact with the best types of
all classes.
When the engines stopped at the dinner-hour, we took the op por- Appearance of
tunity of noticing the appearance of the 2,000 workpeople who workpeople-
passed through the factory gates. Speaking generally, they looked
healthy and well dressed, paying much more regard to outward
appearance than would be found among cotton operatives in a
manufacturing town in England. The men wore cloth coats over
their blouses, and in many instances the blouses or smocks had
been ltft behind in the factory, so that they did not carry many
traces of their work away with them. The women were almost
universally attired in bonnets and hats. They also wore long
black cloaks, some of cloth, and some of serge or other heavy
worsted material, which came to their heels and entirely covered
their dresses. The cloaks were larger and more loose in shape
than English ulsters, and most of them had hoods. The attire of
the women, all in black, seemed somewhat akin to that of the
Sisters of Mercy so frequently met with in Belgian towns, but it
impressed us as being comfortable, cleanly, and serviceable.
In conversations with employers, politicians, and the repre— Conversetiun
sentative men who favoured us with their opinions upon educational ggrggggglgian
and industrial questions, the feeling was general that in view of hours of work,
the competition of England, and her great natural and acquired
advantages, it was hopeless to expect that the hours of labour
in the Belgian cotton industries should be lessened. As an
accompaniment of general prosperity, wages from time to time
may probably be advanced, just as, under influences of depression
they will be reduced; but the margin of proﬁt is always so small
that a reduction of hours would take the trade hopelessly ai ray and
hand it over to English and other rivals. The substance of the
general opinion on this question was, “reduced time means
reduced output and increased cost.” There were, howeier,
exceptional instances of practical and experienced men, who
had usually spent some time in England, and who entertained an
opinion that reduced hours do not necessarily mean reduced work,
even in the minding of a machine, and in touching upon this
branch of our inquiry, it is but fair that such opinions should be
given. One gentleman who had resided several years in Lanca-
shire, and had devoted his life to the practical study of the cotton
industry, expressed his views simply and clea‘ly to this effect.
He did not believe that there was any advantage in 12 hours
as worked on the Continent, over 9% as worked in England.
From his own experience he had found that as much or more
work is done in England in 9% hours as in Belgium in 12. The
English climate and the natural stamina of the Englishman con-
tributed to this result, but he was convinced that if English
factories were to run 12, instead of 10 or 9%,; hours a day, although
for a time there would be an increase of work, yet, in the course of
358 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
a few years, the energy and strength of the Englishman would
diminish, and the quantity of work per hour would lessen. The
English manufacturing population would deteriorate, and in a
generation the cost of production would, in his opinion, be not one
whit less than at present. On the other hand, if in Belgium the
hours were reduced from 12 to 10 per day, a change would
gradually come over the spirit of all their factories. The extra
rest, the Saturday half-holiday, the pure air and change, par~
ticularly if accompanied with better food, would bring sunshine
to the lives of their young people and strengthen the constitutions
of Belgian workmen. Their physique would improve, and as
stronger men they would apply themselves with extra energy
to their work, and thus make up for the shorter hours. The
diﬁerence in the time would be more than compensated by
the increased pace, whilst the days of the Belgian cotton operative
would be lengthened, and his happiness increased.
WooLLnN SPINNING AND WEAVING AT VERVIERS, BELGIUM.
Woollen Probably the most remarkable of the industries of Belgium,
spinning, considered in relation to its influence upon the woollen trade of
Vervlel‘s' England, is the woollen yarn—spinning of Verviers. The Commis—
sioners are indebted to Mr. David Sandeman, a merchant and
yarn agent of large experience in Glasgow, and one of the first to
offer Verviers yarn in this country, for some interesting evidence
with regard to the use of this yarn in Glasgow. Reporting in
1873, he said, “ About 30 years ago the manufacturers of Glasgow
“ were almost wholly supplied with woollen yarn by the spinners
“ of Yorkshire. Now the very reverse is the case, they are
“ mainly dependent for their woollen yarns upon the spinners of
“ Belgium and the Rhenish Provinces. It is difficult to get
“ reliable statistics of the proportion which the English spun yarn
“ bears to the foreign, but I may venture to give an opinion, that
“ not one pound of English yarn is manufactured in Glasgow for
“ every hundred of foreign. The cause of this cannot be attributed
“ to the Belgians and others having greater facilities for procuring
“ the raw material, the wool chieﬂy employed in the production
“ of the yarn being imported from Buenos Ayres, generally in
“ British vessels, and sold by auction at Liverpool, Havre, and
“ Antwerp for British account, so that our spinners can pur-
“ chase it on fully as favourable terms as their competitors.”
Mr. Sande— Mr. Sandeman, in reporting to the Glasgow Chamber of Com-
man’s Report merce on this industry, in 1880, stated that the import of woollen
M1880‘ yarn from Verviers to Great Britain “ has risen from one and a
“ half million pounds in 1862 to fourteen million pounds in 187 9,
“ employing about 50 spinning mills with an average of 10 sets
“ of carding engines in each. The superior ‘treatment of the
“ hurry and ill-conditioned wool, and which for these reasons was
‘ neglected by us, has enabled the Verviers spinners to produce
0
REPORT. 359
“ a suitable yarn at a lower price than we can do ourselves; and
“ their superior skill in the preparation of this wool, has given
‘ them well nigh a monoply in the importation of it from Buenos
“ Ayres, so that it is remarked that manufacturers and dealers
from various countries in Europe come for supplies to Belgium
where no wool is grown.” He states that it possesses no
superiority over English yarn, “its low price is its chief recom-
mendation.” As to the reasons for its cheap production, there are
many, “their superior treatment of the hurry wool, and their long
“' experience at this industry, lower wages, longer hours, in many
“ cases working day and night, and being content with a small
“ proﬁt.” That the proﬁt must have been in many instances
very small, may be gathered from the following conclusion:
“ I must not omit to observe that some of the spinners in Verviers
“ have failed periodically, and it is only the few who have been
“ been able to hold on for better times who have made money.”
The Commissioners visited Verviers at the end of November
1882, and in addition to seeing the schools, inspected some of the
most important factories of the town. We were also favoured by
interviews with the leading industrial representatives, among whom
were M. Charles Mullcndorf, President of the Chamber of Com-
merce, MlVI. Hauzeur, Gerard Fils, and Peltzer, from Whom We
obtained the fullest information as to the educational and industrial
condition of the town. The population of Verviers is 41,692.
We were informed that the hours of labour vary somewhat in
the different factories. A few work 11 and 12 hours per day,
increasing to 13 and 14 in times of exceptional demand, but the
overwhelming proportion of the factories work 22 hours per day,
in two shifts of 11% hours for the day and 10%”; for the night.
They begin work at 6 in the morning and continue till 7 at night,
when the second shift begins, and continues with one quarter of
an hour for rest and food, until 6 a.m. The short shift is on
Saturday night which is 9 hours, as the machinery stops at 4 a.m.
on Sunday, to allow time for the workpeople to rest, and the
engines to cool ready for the start at 6 on Monday morning. It
will thus be seen that the total hours for the week are 130. life
were informed that the "‘ hands” change fortnightly from the day
shift to the night shift, and that the work, which is paid by piece,
is shared by the two sets, who divide the product of the 22 hours.
It appears that night-work is more in favour than day-work,
because it gives an opportunity for those who are supposed to rest
during the day, to work in their gardens and carry on other
operations on their own account
As to the employment of children, there is no factory law, but
by agreement among the employers, children are not generally
admitted to the factory under 12, and the feeling of employers,
we were told, is against child labour. They are of opinion that
very early work tends to check the growth of children, and causes
them to be stunted and weakly through life, and that it is better
that before 12 they should have as much fresh air and schooling
as possible. A few years ago an inquiry was made as to the
A
C‘
‘6
Interviews
with leading
men.
Hours of
labour.
Employment
of children.
360 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
\Vages,
Vcrvier’s.
number of children of tender years that were employed in
factories, and it was discovered that in the whole district only 51
under 12 were employed. Probably the number at present
employed under 12 is smaller. There is no organised short-time
system, and children are employed without any outside restric-
tions, but many employers of their own accord allow children
above 12 to attend school during work hours. From our
inquiries, we gathered that the children take their share with
the men and Women at night work as well as day work.
Wages are paid fortnightly and by piece. The maximum for
men spinners is about 3s. 6d. per day. Women at spinning, about
2s. a day. Carders and drawers, boys and girls at varied occu-
pations, proportionately less. Weavers (men), earn from 25. to
2s. 9d. per day, women from ls. 6a’. to 28. 6d., often as much as
men, the rate being the same. Finishers, &c. (men) from 25. 3d.
» to 28. 6d. per day. We were told that wages do not seriously
Machinery.
Absence of
trades’ unions.
Cloth weaving,
&c.
Care in
removm g
defects.
ﬂuctuate, and that during the last few years the tendency has
been upwards, without any intermediate lowering. Employers
wished us to understand that in periods of temporary depression
they do not low er the wages, and they also admitted that in
ordinary good times they do not advance them ; generally speak-
ing, labour is plentiful. '
There is no speciality in the machinery. Many of the carding
engines are made in Verviers, and some in England, but the
spinning machinery in the best factories has been made in Eng—
land, and is considered superior to any continental woollen
machinery.
There are no trades’ unions either among masters or men, and
in all cases, difﬁculties between employers and employed are
settled without outside dictation or inﬂuence. No employer
knows what wages his neighbour pays, and the workpeople know
very little about the wages paid at the different factories. There
is not much migration among the “hands,” but it is supposed
that the general rate of wages for the same work is fairly uniform
throughout the district. About ﬁfteen years ago there was a
small strike, but it was not general and lasted only a very short.
time.
In one of the large weaving establishments we saw the
weaving and ﬁnishing of cloth made from yarns from Buenos Ayres.
The manufacturer informed us that he sends very little of it to
England, but that it competes with English cloth in all the
markets of the world. Many varieties and colours are made, but
there are no designs of so complicated a character as to 1equire the
employment of high class artists. There were no ﬁgured or floral
patterns, but checks, stripes, twills, and combinations of colour
without end. From Paris all the new patterns in English and
French cloths are regularly obtained, and these are copied or
adapted in a cheap form. He did not pretend to make the best
goods, but imitations of high class goods in a cheap form.
Judging from the amount of “perching,” renovating, and per-
fecting the pieces after they had left the looms, there was a
REPORT. 361
strong desire to turn out superior work. In one room in a
large factory, we counted 65 women engaged in the above opera-
tions, and we heard of many others whom we did not see, who
were similarly employed. We calculated that in this factory each
dozen looms found employment for a couple of “ menders.”
The gentlemen with whom we conversed were very enthusiastic
about education as a help to industry. They spoke of the
Professional School as having been exceedingly u~eful in im-
proving the education of the sons of employers, and many of the
foremen of works. They have been profoundly impressed by the
textile, dyeing, and chemical departments of_ the school, and their
inﬂuence upon their staple industry. Not content, however, with
the Professional School, which cost 20,0002., and is assisted by
an annual grant of 8852., and which has a week day attendance of
348 and on Sundays of 170 students, all free, they have in
projection a special school, called l’Ecole Manufacturiere, for the
promotion of spinning and manufacturing. This school is esti-
mated to cost from 20,0002. to 24,000L, towards which the
employers have promised 6,0001, the rest to be supplied by
the State and municipality. The budget of maintenance sub—
mitted to the municipality shows an annual requirement of 1,9112.
for this school alone, and, coupled with the professional school, of
2,7161. a year. The annual budget for the public instruction of
6,748 pupils is 10,9001.
The President of the Chamber of Commerce remarked to us
that their chief hope in maintaining pre-eminence as spinners and
manufacturers, rested on the superiority, not the cheapness, of
their productions. They \\ ere conscious of their present supe-
riority in woollen spinning, or it would not be possible to send so
large a proportion of their products to England. How to maintain
their position was the constant study of all the employers in the
district. They felt that they could not push cheap production
any further. In excellence and good management thev were
probably unrivalled, but cheap production was as much” within
the reach of their competitors as of themselves. They believed
that educated labour and technical skill, (combined with low
wages), Were the soundest elements to rely upon in the future,
because they promoted excellence, inventiveness, enterprise. and all
the qualities required in a progressive industry.
It appeared to the Commissioners remarkable that a communitv
of woollen spinners and manufacturers, whose industrial success
can scarcely be said to have been inﬂuenced bv education, should
be so zealous in their promotion of special instruction in science
and art A8 to the inﬂuence of the Professional School upon
the local industries, we are not able to give an opinion. It may
be said that the treatment of the hurry wool by Chemical action,
which in the ﬁrst instance gate almost a monopoly of the use of
Buenos Ayres wool to Verviers spinners, was due to the scientiﬁc
knowledge of the pioneers of the trade. Whether this knowledoe
was obtained in schools, or was the outcome of practical experienttie
Belief in
technical
schools.
Views of the
President of
the Chamber _
of Commerce.
Inﬂuence of
Professional
School.
362
ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION 2.
Gharacter of
the Verviers
manufacturers.
The effects of
the Industrial
School.
Long hours
and nightwork
in woollen
trade.
.‘
in works, was not explained to us. Its importance, however, zan-
not be minimised, for it lies at the root of the industrial develop-
ment of Verviers ; but, except in this one particular, it does not seem
that science or art, or general literary culture, has done much for
the local industries.
Docile, industrious, and painstaking labourers,—-working at a
very low rate of wages, unrestricted as to hours, either by factory
acts or considerations of health or comfort,--—seem, at ﬁrst sight, to
account almost entirely for the cheap production of Verviers yarns.
But labour equally cheap may be had in many other towns and
countries in Europe, and therefore, however important cheap
labour may be, it needs to be allied to other important factors in
order to be thoroughly effective.
In this connection we must not overlook the men at the head
of the Verviers industries. Speaking generally, they are men of
education, who have also been thoroughly trained in all the details
of their business. They are intimately acquainted with every-
thing that their rivals in other countries are doing; they buy the
best machinery wherever it may be obtained; they seek out
markets, however distant, for their productions, and appoint enter-
prising agents to push their business. They organise their labour
so as to make it economical and effective, and study the wants of
those to whom they sell.
A Professional School in Verviers, taking into account the
industrial conditions of the town, can only reach a handful of the
population. But, as was observed to us, if this handful represent
the “cream” of the rising generation of employers’ sons, or
ambitious young workmen who know their deﬁciencies, and are
anxiously seeking for improvement, sacriﬁces for its promotion
are more than justified. The inﬂuence of a clever overlooker
pervades a whole factory, and improvements such as thoughtful and
observant men bring about, are often suﬂieient to give one ﬁrm
an advantage over another. It was represented to us that the
Verviers spinners feel all this, and promote the school as one
of the best agencies by which their several industries may be
improved and kept abreast of the times.
In conversations as to the inﬂuence of long hours and night-
and-day-work on the cost of production, conﬂicting opinions were
expressed. The preponderance of opinion was, however, in favour
of the economy of the two-shifts system. The matter was explained
in this fashion. The ﬁxed expenses, rent, rates, taxes, interest, &c.
are the same for 11 hours as for 22. As for extra depreciation, it
is an advantage to wear out machinery rapidly, as the employer is
thereby enabled to improve it by frequent renewals. It was
affirmed by some, that to close the works for 12 hours out of the 24
would be tantamount to closing them altogether, for already the
proﬁts are so small that without night work there would be a positive
and permanent loss. One of the largest employers, not in Verviers
only but in Belgium, informed us that in opposition to the pre-
vailing opinion, he had come to the conclusion that there was no
REPORT. 363
advantage in night work, and had discontinued it in his factories.
No man was more conversant with all the advantages, which,
according to him, were more apparent than real, of night work.
He had tried the 22 hours system as thoroughly as his competitors,
and he had also tried the 11 hours system, with this result, that
upon the whole, he preferred working one shift of 11 or 12 hours
a day with one set of hands, rather than two shifts with two
sets of hands. lVitl. two shifts there is always a difﬁculty about
piece work, in ﬁxing the responsibility between the night hand
and the day hand, and in weaving, the difficulty is increased.
The breakages and faults occur mostly at night; less work is
done at night, and the cost of gas is a serious item. Further,
our informant added, neither men, women, nor children
can keep up their energies in a close, impure, and unchanging
atmosphere; fresh air is as requisite for sustaining active life
under hard work as good food, and the conditions necessarily
accompanying the 22 hours system, tell unfavourably upon the
workers and depreciate the value of the work.
As we have already explained, the enormous output of yarn
in this busy town is nearly all exported. A large quantity is sent
to France and Germany, in spite of the duty and the low price of
labour in those countries, but the major portion, fully 65 per cent.
of the produce of all the spinning mills, is sent to Great Britain,
mainly to Glasgow.
As the “flooding of English markets” by this extensive
production of yarn, valued at not less than 1,000,000l. annually,
has for some time attracted considerable attention, it may
not be out of place to give a few facts relating to it, from
the standpoint of British spinners and manufacturers. On the
visit of the Commissioners to Glasgow in the spring of 1883,
several gentlemen thoroughly conversant with the subject were
consulted, and a visit was paid to Galashiels with a view of
obtaining correct information, and comparing the Scotch and the
Belgian yarns and systems of spinning. It was ascertained, that
what is known as the “B. A.” yarn from Verviers, so largely
imported into the Glasgow district, is not made in the Galashiels
district, or in Glasgow, or, as far as our informants knew, in
England. As before explained, the yarn is made almost entirely
from Buenos Ayres wools of the hurry type. These“ B. A.” wools
at the present time, are mainly sold in Antwerp and Havre, and
English buyers go to Antwerp for them, because they cannot
ﬁnd the same choice in London or Liverpool. Many years ago,
when “ B. A." wools were ﬁrst brought to England, they were
neglected by English spinners. The “burr” kept them out of
use, and no English carders grappled with the difficulty of ex—
tracting it. As the wool was grown, so it was exported and
offered for sale, and although almost given away, it was shunned
by all buyers, while wools of similar quality, but free from the
obnoxious “burr,” fetched high prices. After a time the wool was
experimented upon by the Belgians, who by chemical knowledge,
hit upon a process of extracting the “ burr ;” thus making a
yarn very much cheaper for the quality than any offered by
Yarn nearly
all exported.
Belgian yarn
in Glasgow.
364'! ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Extraction of
the burr.
Belgians have
specially
organised mills
for hurry wool.
Carding pro-
CGSS.
l’roﬁt of
spinning re-
latively small.
English com-
petition with
Belgium not
practicable in
~‘ RA.” yarns.
English or Scotch spinners. There was no British yarn like it,
and for a time it did not ﬁnd favour. But its cheapness made an
opening for it, and gradually it began to take its place among
recognised qualities.
For extracting the burr, the wool is usually put through a
“ burring machine ” which clears away much of the burr and much
of the wool with it. The burry wool is then steeped in a solution
of sulphuric acid, which chars the burr, without destroying the
wool. The wool thus recovered is either used for inferior
spinnings, or is mixed with other wool in small proportions.
Belgian mills and machinery have been organised for dealing
with this wool (which is nearly all spun to one count), and although
for the last 20 years they have had a monopoly of the trade, and
have been able during that time to run their mills night and day,
and procure workpeople at wages very much lower than in
England and Scotland; yet it was stated to be very doubtful,
whether during that time, the Belgian spinners have prospered
more than English and Scotch spinners of woollen yarns.
With regard to the machinery employed, it was stated that the
carding operations are not the same in Verviers as in Galashiels,
and that the machinery employed at either place could not eﬁ'ecticely
make the class of yarn of the other. The temptation to make the
necessary alterations has never yet been so great as to induce any
Galashiels spinners to compete with, and imitate, the “B. A.”
yarns of Verviers. In reality, the two branches of trade are
separate and distinct, and each yarn has its special uses. The
Scotch yarns are used for milled goods, the Belgian yarns for
zmmz'lled goods.
One of our informants had for many years been in the habit of
comparing the margin between the price of Buenos Ayres wool
and Verviers yarn, and the margin between Australian and Cape
wools, and English and Scotch yarn. For some time past he had
noticed that the margin between the price of the raw wool and
the yarn, was relatively smaller in the case of the Belgian than in
the British yarn, and therefore he concluded that the position of
the Belgian spinners was relatively not better than that of the
Scotch spinners.
At the same time, our informants held the opinion, based upon
frequent visits to Belgian factories, that we in this country could
not successfully compete with the Verviers spinners in the pro—
duction of “ B. A.” yarns. The lower wages and longer hours of
labour gave advantages to their rivals which Galashiels spinners
could not expect to overcome. We were informed in Glasgow
of spinners who had been moved, by the enormous import of
Belgian yarn, to master the Belgian processes, and had made
yarns almost the same, but had found the manufacture very
unproﬁtable. They had, therefore, turned their attention to
other wools, making a yarn not exactly like the Belgian, but
similar. The yarn is more costly, but it is more valuable to the
user, and commands a higher price. In some instances it has
supplanted Verviers yarn, and its introduction has compelled the
REPORT. 36
0
.
Verviers spinners to lower their prices. Broadly speaking, how-
ever, the fact remains that, in the spinning of “ B. A.” yarns, the
position of the Verviers spinners is unassailable.
‘While upon this question of Belgian yarn, it may not be
undesirable to record the opinions, which we quote impartially, of
Glasgow merchants and manufacturers, respecting its use in
Glasgow. It was stated to us by one gentleman of large experience,
and conﬁrmed by others, that the introduction of Verviers yarn
had been the salvation of the textile industry of Glasgow.
As to the question of these yarns being made by Glasgow
spinners, it was considered to be rather a good thing that they did
not make them. There is no organised labour in Glasgow so
indifferently paid, as the labour of Verviers. To make these
yarns a number of people, who at present earn more than they
could get for spinning, would require to neglect the better paid
occupations. If the spinners of these yarns in Glasgow were to be
paid at the rate of other employment for which they are qualiﬁed,
unless cheaper methods of production were introduced, the yarns
would be dearer than at present, and Glasgow manufactures
would have less chance of making a proﬁt by them. Probably
the result would be that the Verviers people would turn their
attention more to the conversion of their own yarns into cloth, and
thus compete more successfully with Glasgow in manufacturing
than at present.
Our informants supported their statements by old illustrations,
which may not unﬁttingly be repeated, to the effect that trades be-
come organised and concentrated in certain localities, often through
accidental circumstances. By concentration they secure advantages
which it is diﬂ'icult for new competitors to overcome, even where
material conditions may appear to be more favourable. It is
in this way that Lancashire is at the head of the world in the
cheap production of cotton goods, although wages are higher
than in any part of Europe. In the same way Bradford has
largely monopolised the mixed worsteds, alpacas, &c.; Notting-
ham the lace trade, Galashiels and Hawick the tweed trade, and
Verviers the “B. A.” yarns. The hours and wages in each of
these localities are secondary to other conditions which give pre-
eminence to the particular industries.
Wons'rnn SPINNING AND MANUFACTURING.——LOTH,
BELGIUM.
Through the courtesy of M. Parmentier, of Brussels, who ac-
companied us, we visited, on November 18th, 1882, the large and
important worsted manufaetory of La Société Anonyme de Loth,
built and organised more than 20 years ago as a “Belgian Brad-
ford.” Machinery from that town was imported, English capital
and directing skill were extensively employed, and goods precisely
similar to those of Bradford were manufactured. Labour was
obtained at a price very much lower than was paid in England,
Use of Ver-
viers yarns 1n
Glasgow.
Rather an
advantage than
otherwise that
manufacture is
conﬁned to
Verviers.
Trades become
localised for
varous reasons.
Visit to
worsted manu-
factory at
LOtll.
History of
works.
366 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION;
Articles manu-
factured at
Loth, Belgium.
Machinery.
there were no restrictive Factory Acts or regulations as to the
employment of children, the carriage of raw material was less
from London to Loth than from London to Bradford; the
import duty on English goods acted as a protection, and thus the
general economic advantages seemed to be all in favour of the
proprietors of this factory. Experience has shown, however,
that in the working of the concern, with its many departments,
the favourable calculations of its promoters were not all realised,
and that against certain advantages there were disadvantages
which adversely affected the cost of production.
The ﬁscal modiﬁcations following on the passing of the French
treaty became less prohibitive of English goods entering Belgium
and other Continental markets, while the increased demand for
labour gradually raised its cost, although the wages were always
below those of England. It may, therefore, be stated that, in
spite of all the attractive conditions which outwardly have
favoured these works from the beginning, their prosperity has not
largely exceeded that of rival establishments of the same character
in England. During the last few years a new department,
namely, the spinning of ﬁne yarns on the mule system, has been
added to the factories.
We were met at the railway station, which is close to the
works, by M. Schafer, the director, who conducted us over the
several departments of combing, spinning, weaving, dyeing, and
ﬁnishing, and freely answered alli our inquiries. In this estab-
lishment we had the exceptional opportunity of inspecting the
French and English systems of worsted spinning, side by side
with each other.
The chief products of manufacture are what are known as
Italian cloths, merinos, and other wool and mixed fabrics, and
worsted yarns for weaving, knitting, and hosiery purposes.
There are 44 combing machines, of which 27 are adapted only
for ﬁne short wools. These machines were all made in Alsace on
the Heilman principle. There are also 17 combs for medium and
long wools, all made in England, nine of which are Lister’s “nip
combs,” and eight Noble’s. In the medium and long wools, the
preparing machinery is of Yorkshire make, while that for the
ﬁne Botany wools is on the “rubbing” system, and made in
Alsace. For spinning there are two large factories, the older
one containing 10,000 spindles of cap and ﬂyer from Bradford
and Keighley ; the new mill being ﬁtted with self-acting mules,
numbering 15,000 spindles, on the French system, and made in
Alsace. A handsome shed contains over 1,000 power looms,
most of which have been supplied by a Keighley maker. There
are also the buildings and necessary machinery for dyeing and
ﬁnishing the whole of the production of pieces and yarns manu-
factured on the premises. The motive power is supplied by
three engines ; two, of 200 and 250 horse-power respectively, are
horizontal ; the third, of 800 horse-power, is a magniﬁcent Corliss
REPORT. 367
valve beam engine, made by Van der Kerchove of Ghent; making
a gross total of 1,250 horse-power. Connected with the largest of
these engines is a belt, made by a Yorkshire ﬁrm, which drives
the mill and shed, and is claimed to be the widest in existence,
being 72 inches wide.
In the several departments, 1,4100 workpeople are employed
above the age of 14.
The Company are large owners of cottages, which they let at Cottages for‘
low rentals; 200 are occupied by the ordinary operatives, and workpeople-
about 30, more commodious than the rest, are reserved for
managers, overlookers, clerks, &c.
There are ﬁve schools connected with the works, namely, a Schools.
kindergarten, a superior school for the children of the more
highly paid employés, a mixed school, and two schools for boys
and girls, children of the ordinary workpeople.
For the spiritual care of the community there is a priest Chapel.
attached to the factory, who performs religious services in a
chapel built by the Company.
There is a sick club and beneﬁt society, towards which a Sick club-
deduction of two per cent. is made from the wages of the
operatives. For this consideration, among other advantages,
a medical man attends to the sick without fees.
As in most of the worsted factories in France and Germany, Hours of
the operatives here work 12 hours a day, or 72 per week. They 131mm‘-
begin work at 5.45 am. and continue till 7 p.m., with an interval
of one hour and a quarter for meals.
There are no Factory Acts and no half-timers. There is no
limit to the age at which children can be admitted to the factory,
or as to the hours which they may work. \Ve were informed,
however, that it is quite exceptional to employ children under 14,
and we certainly did not see any that seemed to be below
that age. They consider that children, until that age, are too
young to be really useful.
The wages of carders (girls and women) average from ls. 9d. Wages.
to 28. per day ; strippers (men) from 28. lid. to 28. 861.; preparers
and ﬁnishers (girls and women) 18. 7d. to 28. ; spinners (throstle
and cap) about 18. 7d. per day; doﬂ‘ers, &c., a little less. The
above, who mind the English machines, are paid by day; the
workers in the new mill (mule spinning, &c.) are paid by piece.
For a pair of mules the head spinner earns as much as 5.9. to
58. 6d. a day, and is assisted by four helpers (boys) at from
90?. to 18. 2d. a day each. Weavers earn from 28. to 38. 6d. aday
by piece.
A few years ago all the heads of departments were English ;
at the present time there are no English employed on the premises.
In conversing with the director and other ofﬁcials, some Competition
_ interesting evidence was obtained as to the relative cost of pro- with England’
ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION!
Causes of de-
pression in the
woollen manu-
facture.
Factories
compete with
ﬁeld labour.
duction in the worsted industries in Belgium and in England, with
which latter these gentlemen were familiar. It will be remem—
bered that during the depression which a few years ago visited
with great severity the long wool industry in England, it was
frequently stated that the worsted trade in this country was
being ruined by foreign competition ; that in consequence of the
high wages being paid in Bradford and other towns for 56%;
hours’ work as against lower wages that were being paid for
72 hours’ work of the same kind in other countries, the trade
had simply been transferred from England to the competing
towns on the Continent. Such statements could not easily be
disproved, because, on the one hand, the fact was undisputed that
great depression prevailed in certain branches of the wool trade
in England, and it was also known that certain wool industries
in some districts on the Continent were ﬂourishing
The facts, as elsewhere explained in this report, referred to
two branches of the same industry, which are separate and distinct,
although known by a common name.
The question of cheaper Continental labour had very little to
do with the matter, as may be shown from the experience of
this factory, where they have both these branches, namely, those
of long and short wools, combining the special features of
Bradford on the one hand, and of Roubaix on the other. We
were informed that when the depression fell upon the long
wool industry at Bradford, it fell with equal severity upon
the long wool industry at Loth. In spite of longer hours
and lower wages, they were unable to keep their machinery
going, and their export of lustre and long wool yarns had to be
almost given up. On being asked why certain spinning frames
were standing, the director signiﬁcantly remarked, “ It is im-
“ possible for us to run our machinery at a proﬁt while Bradford
“ is sick.” The opinion was expressed that in spinning on cap
and ﬂyer frames, the Belgians cannot successfully compete with
Bradford in the neutral markets, even with 12 hours a day against
nine and a half. An equally strong opinion was expressed
that under existing conditions it is Well nigh impossible for
Bradford to compete with France and Belgium in mule
spinning, because in the wool spinning districts of France and
Belgium the operatives have been brought up to mule spinning,
just as in Bradford the children are trained to spin at the ﬂyer
or cap frame. To be effectively managed, the mule must be
minded by men and boys, who are stronger, more suitably clad,
and have more “ staying power” than women. In France and
Belgium the factory competes for labour with the ﬁeld, and the
wages paid to men are not materially higher than those paid to
women. In Bradford it is not so. The men work in machine
shops, warehouses, dyehouses, &c., and in such works obtain very
much higher wages, as a rule, than are paid to ordinary factory
operatives. Then, in addition to the question of wages, comes
the question of hours, which Bradford must meet under the
disadvantage of having the mule system to learn, against
REPORT. 369
trained hands elsewhere, employed at much lower wages than
Bradford men are likely to accept.
With regard to weaving, it was stated that the rate paid per Weaving-
LOOU picks is similar to the rate for the same class of goods in
England. One of the oﬂicials, of large experience in England
and other countries, declared that English weavers get through
quite as much work in nine and a half hours as the Loth weavers
in 12.
In the dyeing department we were introduced to the foreman, Dyeing.
a German chemist, who as a youth studied in the Polytechnic
at Dresden. He has worked in some of the dyehouses of Brad-
ford and Halifax. He is of opinion that in routine work, with
which the men are familiar. the English dyers are as good as
any he has seen, but there is a great lack of chemical knowledge “hint of
even among the foremen and managers of English dyehouses, Zhemllidal e in
and thus, even in dealing with new colours and new effects, Egg“?
they are compelled to rely on “ rule of thumb ” experience, which J
is often at fault. In this respect they are far behind the
Germans. He spoke very favourably of the inﬂuence of dyeing
schools organised as schools of applied chemistry. He had
no faith in schools in which the students are not ﬁrst taught
chemistry, which is the groundwork of dyeing. He is convinced
that, with equal advantages in scientiﬁc training, the English
will fully equal the French and the Germans in the practical
application of all dyeing processes. Mr. Schafer acknowledged
the value of dyeing schools, within the same limits as any Value of
other schools. It had, however, been his misfortune to come in Schools‘
contact with several young men who have attended such schools,
whose knowledge has been of no value, because they have not
known how to apply it. “ There is a tendency in school
“ teaching to aim at certain ends, without considerations of
“ economy in the means. A man may dye beautifully, but if
“ he cannot make the dyeing pay, his knowledge possesses no
“ commercial value. In this respect the diploma men are often
“ unsatisfactory.”
In going over these works, and particularly in the weaving Apprarancc 0t
shed, we were struck by the clean, tidy, and healthy looks of WOIkPQOIﬂQ:
the workers. In the combing and long~wool departments the ot 1'
women were mostly barefooted, yet fairly clean, and as heathy
in looks as in an English factory. Generally the men and
women were somewhat stunted in size, and in this respect would
not compare with operatives whom we saw in a similar factory
in Austrla.
In spite of the favourable appearance of the workpeople, we litemperaacc.
were sorry to ascertain that here, as in other parts of Belgium,
the drinking of spirits prevails to a large extent. Any person
may open a drink shop on payment of a small license, and the
increase in the means of obtaining intoxicating liquors has led
to their increased use. Throughout our tour in Belgium we
Ri1726. A A
370 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Visit to the
works of the
Société
Oockerill.
scarcely saw any cases of drunkenness, yet we were frequently
informed that among the unskilled. workpeople the scale of
living is very low, and spirit-drinking prevalent; that there
is dense ignorance among the older people, who in past times
have been greatly neglected; that the reason why drunkenness
is not more common and more visible arises partly from poverty,
and partly from the fact that they have no leisure excepting
on the Sunday, but that in too many instances the Sunday
indulgence unﬁts them for vigorous and sustained work on the
Monday. Education and civilization are so unequal in different
parts of Belgium that we found very variable testimony as to
the moral and social conditions of the people.
THE WoRKs or THE SOCIETE OooKEmLL, SERAING.
The Commissioners visited the works of the Société Cockerill,
at Seraing, near Liege, on November 12, 1882, and, in the
absence of M. Sadoine, the general director, we were most
courteously received and conducted over the various departments
of the works by M. Greiner, director of the steel department.
As is well known, the works were founded by John Gockerill,
a Lancashire man, in 1817. ‘It is said that in the beginning
of his career, Oockerill,—-who, besides possessing indomitable
energy and perseverance, was a thoroughly skilled workman,—~
assisted by his son, did all the forging, turning, and ﬁtting of the
little shop, the son often having to turn by hand the lathe or
drill at which the father worked. At that time the population
of Seraing was under 2,000; it is now 50,000, including the
adjacent villages. As Cockerill prospered, he purchased the old
palace of the Prince-Bishops of Liege, which he transformed into
a workshop, eventually rooﬁng over one of the courtyards, which
now does duty as an erecting shop. The oﬁices for the clerks
and draughtsmen are situated in the original palace, the oﬂice of
the director forming a part of a large quadrangle, which is
ornamented in the centre by an imposing fountain with four
bronze ﬁgures of brawny artisans. We were informed that
the works, including some of the mines, now cover over 250 acres,
and give employment to from 9,000 to 10,000 men, to whom
4100,000l. a year are paid in wages. The company possess 280
stationary engines, with motive-power equal to 12,000 horses,
and they consume 1,000 tons of coal and coke per day. In
addition to steel rails, which they export to all parts of the
world, boiler plates, and other kinds of steel and wrought iron,
I they are able to produce each year 100 locomotives, 70 stationary
and marine engines, 10,000 tons of iron bridges, girders, boilers,
&c., and 14 iron ships, besides general machinery, steel guns,
hydraulic cranes, and many other kinds of ironwork. Excepting,
perhaps, the factory of Le Creuzot, in France, these works are
unrivalled throughout the world for the variety of their produc-
tions.
REPORT. 371
For the purpose of making our tour of the works, we were Special car
conducted by Mr. Greiner to a handsome tramcar, drawn by a and engine-
steam engine, which started at the reception room of the oﬁices.
We skirted the machine works, ascending by an incline a huge
mound of furnace scoria, forming no inconsiderable mountain in
this valley of the Meuse, a monument of the labour, capital, and
material represented in its production. On approaching the top,
we alighted at the collieries, about half-a-mile from the offices.
The coal shafts are about 2,000 feet deep, the cages being
worked by powerful and handsome engines, the whole enclosed
by buildings of a permanent and substantial character. In
these respects the pits’ mouths and banks presented a striking
contrast to those of England, where the gearing and ropes in
their passage from the engine to the pit head are usually in the
open air. The ventilation, as usual in Belgium, is by exhausting
fans, and we noted a large barometer in close proximity to
the indicating clock. which latter shows the speed of the ventila-
ting engine. The barometer is constantly under the eye of the
engineer in charge, and whenever it is depressed, the ,speed of
the ventilating fan is immediately increased, so that the in-
creased development of explosive gas, due to diminished atmos-
pheric pressure, may be as far as possible balanced by increased
ventilation. While we stood near to one of these shafts, two of
the Government inspectors and the underground manager were
brought to the surface. They showed us their safety lamps,
and two of the Commissioners had an interesting conversation
with them on the relative merits of different forms of safety
lamp. Generally these mines have been free from accidents of
a serious character, but two years ago there was a terrible
explosion, when 62 men were killed.
The coal from one of the shafts was landed and delivered to
coke ovens on the same level as the tops of the blast furnaces
adjoining, which they supply, thus avoiding, so far as this portion
of the coke is concerned, any band labour except for moving
the trucks on the level. The coke ovens were of the Coppée
pattern, producing about 75 per cent. of coke from the coal.
The labour of dragging and pushing the coal trucks along the
viaduct from the top of the shaft to the top of the furnace
was performed by women, who seemed robust and healthy.
We were informed that the Seraing Company do not employ
women underground, and that the rough and exhausting work
in which we saw them engaged is voluntarily selected by them.
To debar them from it would deprive many strong and able-
bodied women from a livelihood, and tend to raise the cost of
production by limiting the supply of labourers.
Coal mines.
Coke ovens.
In the Charleroi district little girls go into the pits and take Women em-
their share of the rough work with the boys.
continue employment at collieries through life, but female
labour is becoming less and less common. Although there is no
Many of them P1f>yedin
mmes at
Charleroi.
A A 2
372 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION 2
School for
m1ners,Sera1n g.
Wages.
Blast furnaces.
Men paid by
weight of steel
made.
‘
law against the employment of females underground, the public
sentiment of the country has risen against it in the Liege basin.
They are, however, commonly employed on the banks screening,
dressing, washing, and moving the coal.
There is an evening school for miners connected with the
works, which is attended by about 130 boys, all of whom, in
addition to elementary subjects, are taught the elementary prin-
ciples of mining and the nature of the gases which so constantly
imperil the lives of the pitmen. Three large ﬁrms have started
similar schools, and, so convinced are the rest of the colliery
proprietors of their importance, that schools of the same character
are being established in all the coal districts.
The wages of miners are paid by the ten, and they earn on
an average about 38. per day; banksmen earn about 28. 6d. per
day; women on the banks at tramwork, 8m. earn about 1s. 8d.
per day.
The miners and the men and women on the banks, work
in two shifts of eight hours a day each.
Near the mines are almshouses and an orphanage for widows
and children of miners who have been killed or disabled at their
work. The institutions are maintained by the subscriptions of
the miners and by large subsidies from the company.
From the pit head we were taken in the steam tramcar up a
further incline to the summit of the huge mound of scoriae,
where we found ourselves on a level with the tops of a set of
four new blast furnaces. The ore which was being smelted is
imported from Bilbao, in Spain. The trucks from the railway,
without being unloaded, are brought by locomotives to the top
of the mound, where the contents are ready for being discharged
with the greatest ease and economy of labour, directly into the
furnaces. We descended by an iron staircase to the foot of the
latter, where some of the iron was being run into moulds for pigs,
and the remainder conveyed in a molten state to the Bessemer
converters for steel making. The spectroscope is employed with
great advantage in indicating the precise moment when the con-
version is so far completed that the metal is ready for the
addition of the Spiegel, thus dispensing with the ordinary
practice of arresting the blowing while “proofs” are being
taken. All the work in this department was being carried on
with precision and order, and the arrangements of the casting
pits were very practical and complete.
The men work in gangs, and are paid by weight, according to
scale, each in accordance with the importance and diﬁiculty of
his work. Heaters earn about 58. 6d; rollers, 68. per day;
blowers and pourers of the metal average about 41s.; the
labourers who assist, and remove the ingots, are paid about
28. 6d. per day. The activity of the groups of men clustered at
this point may be inferred from the fact that they make and
nnroar. 373
pass forward to the next department upwards of 350 tons of
steel per day.
The foundry is very large, well lighted and ventilated. A Foundry-
remarkable feature in the foundry was the excellence of the
very large and complicated loam castings. In this department
we were informed that the wages are from 48. 6d. to 58. for the
men, and from 9d. to 18. per day for the boys.
The ﬁtting and turning shop, and the engine-erecting shop Mechanical
are of corresponding proportions to the other branches of the W‘)I'kShOP-
works, and it may be sufficient to say of them that they are
arranged with a view to economy and efficiency, and that
nothing seemed to be wanting in the way of tools and ap-
plicances for doing work on a large scale, and doing it well.
Great cleanliness pervades the whole works. We were informed
that the director complains if a paving—stone be out of its place.
He will walk over the works observing everything, and if a
pane of glass is broken, or a few drops of oil are running from
the neck of a shaft, and dropping on to the ﬂoor, the responsible
person is reminded of these things. In the steel department
alone they spend 1201,. a year on besoms.
The mechanics, all of whom are paid by piece, earn as
follows: boiler makers, about 38. 3d. per day; ﬁtters, 2s. 9d. to 38. ;
smiths, 2s. 3d. to 38. 6d. ; labourers, 28. 6d.
The drawing ofﬁce of an establishment turning out so much Draughtsmen.
‘original, varied, and. complicated work, is necessarily a depart-
ment of importance. Upwards of 100 draughtsmen are em—
ployed, of whom the head is an Austrian, who received the
theoretical training of an engineer in the Polytechnic School
at Vienna. At least 25 of the draughtsmen are Germans,
Swiss, and Austrians, who have gone through Polytechnic or
other technical schools. The rest are nearly all Belgians,
some of whom have attended the University at Liege. One of
the managers stated that when he was a boy, the leading
engineers in iron and machine works everywhere on the con-
tinent were Englishmen. They were engaged at high salaries
because of their practical—knowledge of work and workshop re-
quirements, and it had been a custom to select them from the
works of rival English ﬁrms of eminence, so that they might
learn the secrets of English skill, and copy English methods.
Since that time they have found that the English, though
practical, are not scientiﬁc; they bring with them no advantages
to compensate for the high salaries they require, and they are
now seldom engaged. Although at one time several Englishmen
held leading positions in these works, beginning with the founder,
he was not aware that a single Englishman is at present
employed in the entire works.
The company do not sell much of their produce in England, Competition of
but elsewhere in all tenders for machinery, engines, or raw iron England-
and steel, their chief competitor is England. In everything they
374! ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Principles of
management,
Seraing.
Apprentices.
Division of
labour.
make, they take England as their guide and as their rival, and
they are compelled to ﬁx corresponding prices on all their pro-
ducts. They buy from England every tool that tends to cheapen
production, and they watch the progress of English inventions
and appliances as if England were situated across the river.
We were informed that although all the departments 01 these
vast works are connected with each other under one head, they
are commercially distinct. The colliery manager sells his coal
at the best price he can get for it. If the smelters and steam
users of the establishment will not give as much for it as out—
siders, he passes them over and sells to outsiders. In the same
way, if these coal users can buy cheaper and better coal outside,
they do so, and compel their own coal manager to work “ close
to the nail.” This method keeps all the departments up to the
mark, and prevents them, in times of depression, from blaming
each other for want of success. They all clearly understand,
however, that the interests of the shareholders are best promoted
by the harmonious working of all the departments, and this is
secured by the supervision of the general director.
During our tour of the works we had interesting conversations
with Mr. Greiner and others respecting the training of appren-
tices, the division of labour, the education and general condition
of the operatives, and other questions relating to this inquiry.
As in the other great works visited in continental countries,
boys are not admitted to the works under 141 years of age, and
they are not bound for any period, or for any deﬁnite employ-
ment, or salary. There is no ﬁxed age, when a boy ﬁnishes his
so- called apprenticeship and becomes a journeyman. When a
boy comes to the works he is put to some simple occupation, and
paid by piece. The question of passing a boy forward is settled
in accordance with the simple principles on which the works are
conducted. They endeavour in everything to secure the best
possible results by the most economical and. eﬁicient means.
The dull boy is put to routine work, and kept at it ; the intel-
ligent, quick boy, is put to the work that requires brain-power
and skill. In both cases their plan is mutually satisfactory.
Division of labour is universal. Many men learn to do one
thing and no other. It would not be to their interest to take
a boy or a man from a machine, or from some kind of Work
which he manages well, and to put him to another kind of work
which he would have to learn. Time and money would be lost
during the process of learning, and neither master nor workman
is prepared for the sacriﬁce. Almost universally a man prefers
the work at which he can earn most money; call it a trade or
only the tenth part of a trade, it is all the same to him, and any
change of employment that would lower his wages, would
certainly cause him to complain. Thus the apprenticeship system
of former days no longer exists, and the division of labour,
whatever may be its effect upon the general capacity of in-
REPORT. 375
dividual men, is pushed to quite as great an extreme here as in
the large workshops in England.
On the question of the scientiﬁc and technical instruction of Mental
young men, there were no two opinions among all those with trammg‘
whom we conversed. The managers of all the departments con-
sider that next to the best possible tools and appliances for their
work, the most important factor is the technical knowledge of
their men. In order to promote this knowledge they take great
interest in the schools. Attendance at night schools is not com-
pulsory, and they complained that many youths were apathetic
and lacking in desire for improvement, but there was an un-
doubted superiority on the part of those who applied themselves
to theoretical studies. When asked whether the naturally in-
telligent and studious youths would not surpass the dullards,
even without attendance at night schools, the reply was that
night schools were especially useful in developing and culti-
vating the natural faculties of the more intelligent young men.
It was argued that dull apprentices were improved by education,
but that intelligent apprentices were doubly improved by it, and
that therefore, looking at the question from the point of yiew
of the employers, it was more important to educate the quick
boys than the dull ones.
We have already alluded to the school for miners, attended by School for
180 boys. There is also an industrial school, resembling the Immers-
school at Liege, in which there are 100 students in the pre-
paratory section, and 270 in the industrial school proper.
In addition to the technical and special schools, there are adult Adult night
night schools connected with the works and the town of Seraing, schools‘
which are attended by from 1,800 to 2,000 students, varying
from boys to middle-aged men. Whatever disappointment there
may be that the educational provision is not taken advantage of
as it ought to be, these numbers indicate a considerable desire
for instruction among the men, and reﬂect credit on the heads of
the departments who encourage the young men under them to
attend the night schools. Mr. Greiner strongly urges all young
men in his department (steel) to attend such evening classes as
are suited to their abilities and requirements. A monthly list of
attendances is submitted to him, and in cases of absence he
demands to know the reason why. In instances of wilful neglect
of instruction, and repeated absence, without cause, he has dis-
missed young men from his employment altogether. Happily,
in requiring the attendance of apprentices, he has the co-operation
of parents. The night schools are free.
It was stated, that in pushing education indiscriminately Danger of_a
amongst young men, there is a danger to be guarded against. little 163mm?’
Many who ﬁnd that they know a little more than their com-
panions, become conceited and spoiled. They have an impres-
sion, that because they know something of mathematics and
376 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION I
Societies for
recreation.
Serain g.
Lecture on
electricity.
'I‘ra des‘
unions.
(Jo-operative
stores.
Sobriety.
algebra, and can draw a machine, that therefore they ought'to
have their wages advanced or be promoted to foremen. This
feeling becomes less prevalent year by year, because the, higher
attainments among the young men are becoming more common.
Time and experience correct the ambitious fancies of many of
these young men, and the young fellows who get promotion, or
take higher situations elsewhere, are those who excel in the
class rooms as well as in the workshop.
There are several societies established by the employers,
for the purpose of promoting good fellowship and amusement.
Amongst these are musical societies with brass bands, and
orchestral bands of stringed and reed instruments. The work-
men join in these entertainments. They have, every winter,
weekly lectures in the largest room in the town, given by the
heads of departments in the works, by scientiﬁc and literary
men from the University of Liege, and by popular lecturers from
different parts of Belgium.
Mr. Greiner was advertised to give a lecture in the following
week on the “ Industrial Applications of Electricity,” and he felt
conﬁdent that he would have a large and appreciative audience,
composed chieﬂy of workmen. Twenty-four lectures were to be
given during the winter (1882-3). Musical and literary enter-
tainments, analogous to the penny readings so popular in some
parts of England at one time, have also been introduced. The
music and readings are supplied by the workmen, and the
meetings are often presided over by the departmental directors,
or by leading residents unconnected with the works. There are
also gymnastic clubs, and athletic competitions are periodically
held.
There are no Trades’ Unions, and we did not hear of any
organised methods for the settlement of disputes. Since 1838
there has been a sick club, to which all the workmen contribute.
Until about ten years ago, the club was managed by the
Company in the interest of the men, but the system was abused,
for workmen frequently claimed the beneﬁts of the society on
pretences, whose groundlessness could not always be disproved.
A committee of workmen now manages the society, and in-
vestigates all applications for relief.
Connected with the works are large and important co-
operative stores, managed by the members of the society, in the
same way as in England. Food, clothing, fuel, and other neces—
saries of life, are sold at as near the cost price as possible, and
. the stores are largely patronised.
There was general unanimity among the gentlemen from
whom we inquired, as to the sobriety of the workmen. Not
one of them had any serious fault to ﬁnd with the men on the
score of drunkenness; in fact, it is so rare as almost to be
unknown as a cause of time being lost. When asked if many
REPORT. 377
4-
men absented themselves through drink, after a holiday, the
manager of one of the largest departments answered by an
emphatic “ No.”
We were informed that many of the workmen reside 10 or 15
miles away from the works, and come for the week, bringing
their food with them. This consists of two large loaves, a piece
of bacon, or sausages, and eggs; they buy potatoes, onions, &c.
They get lodgings for 2d. a night. This kind of life is quite
common; small things satisfy these cmmtry people, and they
save every possible farthing of their earnings. Their families
in the meantime cultivate their little plots of land at home,
which in many instances have been owned by the same families
for generations. The workmen from the country with simple
tastes, and habits of thrift, are considered more trustworthy than
natives of the town, some of whom are apt to go off by the tram
cars to Liege, at night, to amuse themselves.
Creches are institutions, which are common in the manu-
Lodgings.
Creches.
facturing districts of France and Belgium, and are also found at ,
‘Seraing. They are nurseries for young children, generally
managed by “ sisters,” who tend and feed the children for anominal
sum while the mothers are at work. The children are taken at
a very early age, in fact often as soon as their mothers are able
to work after their conﬁnement. In many instances a mother
will leave her babe at a creche as early as ﬁve o’clock in the
morning. It will be taken from her arms by one of the sisters,
and the mother will call for it again on her way home from
work in the evening. The creches are furnished with cradles,
small beds, and cots on the ﬂoor, to suit the needs of the children.
The little ones are carefully washed and fed, and the nursing
rooms which we saw were scrupulously clean, and comfortably
warm.
VIEILLE MONTAGNE ZINC Worms.
These extensive works, the largest zinc works in the world,
cannot be omitted in any description of the metallurgical
and manufacturing industries of Belgium. They are situated
at Chénée, a village near to the Cockerill works at Seraing, near
also to the glass works of Val. S. Lambert, and employ 1,800
hands. The industrial importance of the district may be appre-
ciated when we state that for the amoupt of space covered, the
capital invested, and the number of workpeople employed, there
are probably no three works on the Continent, varying in
character, but contiguous to each other, that compare with these
vast establishments in the valley of the Meuse.
The total number of workpeople employed by the Vieille
Montagne company is 7,500, who are distributed over 18 mines
and smelting works in France, Germany, Algeria, Spain, Sardinia,
Visit to the
Vieille
Montague
zinc works.
Number of
workpeopIe.
378 ROYAL OOMMlSSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Processes of
manufacture.
Age of work- ‘
people ad-
mitted.
Hours of
labour, Chenée.
Zinc products,
Zinc products
of Belgium
and other
countries.
and Sweden. Their mines annually supply them with 70,000
tons of minerals of various kinds, besides which they purchase
large quantities. The total indicated horse-power of their engines
is 5,000.
At the central works at Ohenée the processes of smelting
the ore, and rolling and manufacturing the zinc plates are
carried on, and 750 men are employed. The grinding and mixing
of the clay, and the moulding of the crucibles in which the zinc
ore is. smelted, are among the most important operations
performed in the works ; the clay is mixed, pugged, and moulded
into crucibles by self-acting machinery. As an example of the
saving of manual labour caused by the use of improved
machinery, we were informed that three men and three boys
now attend on one machine, which, in a day of 10 hours, makes
110 crucibles, of 4! feet 6 inches in length, by about 8 inches
in diameter, to produce which 40 men .at much higher wages
were formerly required.
There are no children employed, and boys are not admitted
until they are 141 years of age.
The hours of labour vary in the different departments; men
engaged in the ordinary mechanical branches Work 10 hours a
day. The furnaces are kept constantly going, and most of the
men in this department work in shifts of 12 hours each. The
“ overmen,” who are actually responsible for the working of the
furnaces, work in shifts of 24: hours.
These latter are paid jointly by day and by tonnage. Half
the excess of tonnage over day wages is retained, and only paid
at the end of six months, if the men remain to the end of that
time ; the excess over day wages being considered a bonus, a
portion of which may be kept back in case of an earlier termina-
tion of service. The ordinary payment is fortnightly. Zinc
rollers earn about 4.9. a day of 10 hours, and this branch of work
goes on night and day. Makers of “ Lozenges ” (for rooﬁng tiles)
earn from 38. 301. to ‘1'8. per day.
An enormous trade is done in sheet zinc, rolled to suit the
requirements of customers as to size and thickness. They also
have a very large sale of tiles, beads, and guttering for roofs of
churches and houses. These are made of many shapes, and on
the benches in the workshops they have numerous models of
roofs of churches and domestic buildings, showing on a small
scale the shapes of the tiles required for different purposes.
The patterns of ornamental articles of every conceivable kind
to which zinc can be applied, are distributed in books by the
company.
To show the relative importance of these works, compared witl-
those of other countries, the Director, M. Saint Paul de Sincay
REPORT. 379
informed us that the zinc products of the world amount to
236,000 tons annually. These are supplied as follows :—
Tons.
Vieille Monta' e - - 50,000
Other works 111 Belgium - 245000
Silesia - - - - 70,000
Three or four works, Rhine ~ 36,000
England - - - 25,000
France - - - - 12,000
Spain - - - - 41,000
United States - - - 15,000
"nu—~—
236,000 Tons.
The Vieille Montague Company export about—-
Tons.
10,000 annually to England.
20,000 ,, France.
10,000 ,, Germany.
The rest of their product is used mainly in Belgium.
It is very remarkable that this industry, which ﬂourishes in England '
Belgium and Silesia, should be comparatively neglected in dlstance‘iim
England, considering the advantages which we possess in the me WOT S‘
cheap transport of ores from various parts of the world. It is a
remarkable fact that the zinc products of Belgium are three
times greater than those of England, and that the Vieille Mon-
tagne Company alone export to this country 10,000 tons, while
our own total production is only 25,000 tons. It has been said
that in the reduction of the ores in the crucibles, a most delicate
operation, the Belgians and Germans have acquired greater skill
than has hitherto been shown by Englishmen, and that although
foreign workmen have been introduced into England, the result
has not been attended with success. Undoubtedly the palm in
this important industry is borne by foreign producers. It does
not appear that the greater success of our neighbours in this
manufacture is due to technical instruction in schools.
The company employ 200 clerks, but there is not one clerks,
Englishman among them. The chief clerks, and particularly
those who conduct their English correspondence, are Germans
and Swiss.
The chief chemist in the laboratory, &c. is a Swiss. i Swiss chemist.
The director is a great believer in education. He requires all Statements of
the boys, who are admitted to the works at 14.‘, to attend an “(116 dlzectm‘ on
evening School, and also classes either in vocal or instrumental e um Ion‘
music. At their Other establishments they have schools in
connection with the works, but here their young men in the
advanced Subjects attend the evening classes in the town of
‘ 380
ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION
Consersations
with M. Paul
Trasenter and
M. de Singay.
Visit to
engineering
works at
Ghent.
Hours.
Liege. M. de Sincay considers that intelligence is of the highest
importance in every department of the works. He does not lay
down any hard and fast line as to the studies that his workmen
shall engage in. “I am npt prepared to say,” he remarked,
“ that attendance at the night schools makes the youths more
"‘ skilled workmen, but it trains them to habits of thought and
“ reflection; it keeps them from worse places, and tends to make
“ them better men.”
The ordinary workmen have not received any special education
qualifying them for the posts which they occupy. From 12 to 15
of the men attend the School of Mines, and a number of them
attend the evening classes of the University and School of Art
at Liege. The director assured us that mathematigs and mechanical
science are admirably taught at Liege.
While making the tour of the works, we had an interesting
conversation with M. Trasenster, son of the eminent Rector of
the University of Liége, and consulting engineer of these works,
and M. de Sincay, junior, (son of the director) recently a
student in the technical department of the University of Liege.
These gentlemen informed us that the students from the Univer-
sity visit these works frequently, and also all the other important
engineering, mining, and manufacturing works in the neighbour-
hood of Liege. The proprietors and directors of the works are
not in the least afraid that the students may run off with their
secrets. They are all anxious to promote, as far as they can, the
progress in scientiﬁc knowledge of the younger men, to whose
hands the future development of these industries will be entrusted.
As for secrets, they do not, as a rule, possess any. Good machinery
and good management are the conditions relied upon for success.
ENGINEERING WORKS or VAN DER KERCHOVE, GHENT.
Among the purely engineering works visited by the Commis-
sioners, those of Van der Kerchove, at Ghent, were among the
most important, although not by any means the largest.
This ﬁrm is one of the licensees for Corliss’s patent steam engines,
and we were desirous of seeing the works, in consequence of having
been greatly impressed by several engines made by this ﬁrm,
which had been shown to us in Belgium and other countries.
The magniﬁcent engines at the great ﬂax mills in Ghent were
constructed here. They are beam engines, indicating 2,000 horse-
power, with Oorliss’s “ cut-off ” valve, and resemble the engines
made by the same ﬁrm and shown at the Philadelphia Exhibition
in 1876, where they excited very marked attention.
We were informed that the working hours are 10% per day,
and that, contrary to the custom of most of the industrial
establishments which we have visited abroad, the wages are paid
mainly by day. Comparatively few of the men are paid by
nnronr. 3st
piece, and the day system is adopted advisedly, as being more
conducive to the production of ﬁrst-class work than any
other. On being asked for reasons for a method of payment so
unusual on the continent, the director stated that where men
were honest and faithful, the system of day-work was unques-
tionably best, for then there was no temptation on their part to
scamp their work, and throughout the shop, the maxim was,
quality, rather than quantity. Besides, the work was so often
changing, that it was exceedingly difficult to assess its value.
The director stated that they took great pains to engage
trustworthy men; they trained their young men to take a pride
Trustworthy
men only
in their work, and to this they attributed the high standard of engaged‘
excellence attained by their productions.
The ordinary mechanics are paid, on an average, about 38. 6d.
a day. Younger and less skilled menreceive 2s. 661. To their
ﬁrst-class men, of whomthey employ a considerable number, as
much as 415. 9d. per day is paid.
Eight draughtsmen are employed at these Works, of whom the
chief is an Englishman ; some are Germans and some are Swiss,
and most of them have attended the University or Polytechnic
School.
In going over the shops, we found them admirably furnished
with large and small machine tools, for doing with precision the
heaviest as well as the most delicate work. The large tools
were almost exclusively English, and from the most celebrated
makers. Some of the smaller tools, especially “ milling” tools,
were of American manufacture. There are very few engineering
works at home or abroad, where the different parts are to so
great an extent ﬁnished ready for erection, by specially adapted
machine tools. The engines made are mostly for textile factories,
but more recently for rolling mills.
Mr. K., the works manager, is an Englishman, and it is
rather remarkable, that he was the only Englishman in an
important position that we met with in any of the works in
Belgium. He stated to us that the former shop manager here
was an Englishmen, now dead, and that he had greatly contri-
buted by his sound and practical methods, to the thoroughness
which at present characterised the work of every department
of the establishment. He was still often held up as an example.
Mr. K. said that a few years ago, Englishmen were fre—
quently found in leading positions in most of the mechanical
and manufacturing establishments. The proprietors in the mean-
time had trained native foremen, and, as the places fell vacant,
they were ﬁlled by Belgians and Germans, who were frequently
more competent than Englishmen, being more highly educated,
and having in many instances worked in the most advanced
shops in England. His experience has shown that during recent
years it has been much more difficult to ﬁll a situation as
manager or principal draughtsman on the continent than in
Pay of men.
Draughrsmcn.
English
machine tools.
English
Dial-lager.
382 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION 2
Training of
manager
of engineering
works, Ghent.
Continental
training too
theoretical.
Ideal training.
Capacity for
works.
England. Engineering‘ has been made as important a subject
for the class-room as for the workshop, and the more showy
theoretical engineers have appeared to advantage, compared with
uncultured Englishmen, because they were better draughtsmen
and have had more to say for themselves. Mr. K. left
school at 14 in London, and went through his apprenticeship
as a practical workman at Messrs. Simpson’s, the celebrated
waterworks engineers. He studied French, and. afterwards, before
coming to Belgium, took a situation at Messrs. Gouin’s works at
Nantes. He would never have been able to hold his own against
the rival engineers that he has met, had it not been for hard
study out of work hours. Hundreds of times has he got up at
three or four in the morning, to master certain calculations before
beginning the work of the day. Had it not been for this deter-
mination, and possibly for inherent mechanical faculty, he would
have been pushed aside years ago. He has several University
men under him, much younger than himself, and he owns that
his one advantage over them is practical knowledge. The weak
point in the training of foreign managers is that they get too
little practice in the shop. They go to the University or the
Polytechnic, and usually remain there till they are upwards of 20.
It is impossible for them at that age, and without experience in
real work, to compete with practical men, in the internal economy
of the workshop.
The continental system tends rather to a separation between
the practical and the theoretical branches, for, as a rule, the two
necessary factors of an engineer are not found in one person.
In the same way the English system, having left theoretical
instruction to chance, tends to the development of the practical
and to the neglect of theory. Mr. K’s. ideal of the education
for an engineer is that the boy should get a good general
education at school, go to work early, say at 14 or 15, and
continue his theoretical instruction at night. In England his
opportunities for this are very much better than in Belgium,
although even here, with 10% hours work per day, he has more
leisure than the workers in most of the other industries, whose
hours are generally 12 per day. Like Mr. A., the English
manager in Bavaria (page 337), Mr. K. is a great believer in
education, and is of opinion that if English workmen would train
their intelligence, in addition to their hands, they would surpass
all others.
He thinks that good English workmen can do 20 per cent.
more work in the same time than either Frenchmen or Germans.
The English are more energetic and keep up the pace better;
they have greater strength than their continental rivals. The
English atmosphere, take it all the year round, is more bracing
for the workman than that of the continent. Mechanical in-
dustries in England are usually more concentrated; English
workmen have been brought up on a more liberal allowance
REPORT. 383
of animal food than any of their continental rivals. The
Belgians, however, are rapidly improving in stamina. The’
advances in wages during recent years have raised the standard
of living, and in this important respect the difference between the
Belgians and the English is lessening. Labour has been better
paid, but the cost of production has certainly not increased,
because more work has been done, and were wages to rise still
higher, the cost of production would probably remain much the
same as at present.
It may be a good thing industrially that British workmen
eat more than their rivals, but it is a great misfortune that
many of them drink more, thus wasting time, earnings, and
strength, and wilfully throwing away some of their chief
advantages.
In comparing with those of England such works as the above,
in which the best English labotu-saving appliances are fully
utilised, and work of the highest class is produced, the for-
midable character of foreign competition becomes apparent. We
found instances in different industries, which showed that the
foreign competition which presses us most seriously is more
frequently that in which the conditions as to hours and wages
approach nearest to our own, rather than, as might be expected
at first-sight, where the hours of our competitors are longest
and their wages the lowest.
WOOLLEN SPINNING AND WEAVINa—BIELLA, ITALY.
In the mountainous district, of which Biella is the centre,
there are several factories for the weaving and dyeing of cotton,
and for the manufacture of woollen goods. There is but little
cotton spinning in the immediate neighbourhood, but there are
spinning factories in other parts of the north of Italy, and the
competition for the sale of yarns to the local manufacturers is
between Italy, Switzerland, and England. English yarns come by
sea to Genoa, and thence to Biella by rail. The Swiss yarns were
entering Italy by the Simplon and St. Gothard Passes, and were
carted all the way from the Swiss factories. The same import duties
were being levied on English and Swiss yarns, but the latter
were receiving the greater attention by the manufacturers.
Several factories are situated in the picturesque valley of the
Servo, and are run by water-power from the river. Biella, a
town of 15,000 inhabitants, is ﬂatteringly described by some of
its inhabitants as “ the Manchester of Italy.”
Drinking habits
of English
workmen.
\Voollen mill
at Biella.
The Commissioners paid a hurried visit to the woollen Signor seua’s
factories of the late distinguished statesman Signor Sella, who was factor)"-
also a large manufacturer. Signor Sella and his family connections
have long taken a deep interest in everything that concerns
the welfare of the town and the improvement of their work—
384! ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
320 hands
employed in
woollen
factory, Biella.
Hours of work.
\Va gcs.
English
machines.
Designer a
Frenchman.
Foreign
competition.
Savings Bank.
people. The free library of 10,000 volumes was the gift of
Signora Sella, and the professional school, which is acknowledged
to be one of the most useful in the country, owes its success
in a, great measure to the warm interest and assistance of the
family.
At the woollen factory 320 hands are employed, and We were
informed that so extensively is modern machinery in use, and
labour-saving appliances adopted, that it might he said with
conﬁdence that nowhere in Italy is better and cheaper work
done for the number of operatives employed, while at the same
time there are no woollen operatives in Italy in receipt of higher
wages.
The hours of labour are 12%; per day in summer and 11% in
winter 5 beginning in the summer at 5 o’clock in the morning
and continuing till 7 in the evening, with one and a half
hours for meals; and in the winter beginning at 7 o’clock
and continuing till 8 in the evening, with one and a half‘
hours, intermission.
There being no Factory Acts, children begin to work at
eight years of age, and from eight to ten are paid from ad. to 7d.
per day ; card-feeders, women, ls. per day ; dyers, ls. 6d. ;
weavers (by piece) from 901. to ls. 6d. per day; overlookers
from 28. 3d. to 38. 3d. per day; a self-acting mule minder (by
weight) makes from 28. (id. to 48. 6d. per day, and is assisted by
a number of boys, to whom he pays from 5d. to 8d. per day each.
English machinery was generally employed throughout the
works, and all the processes, from the sorting of the wool to
the dyeing, ﬁnishing, and making up of the pieces, were being
efficiently conducted in the establishment. An enormous
variety of goods is made; from common ﬁannels to tweeds and
worsted coatings. The head designer is a Frenchman, and
many of the patterns and combinations were very attractive.
With regard to foreign competition, although protected by a
considerable import duty, they are closely pressed, even in
the Italian markets. In ﬁne goods the competition with France
is severe, and in low goods they have equal difficulty with
England. Even with labour at the prices above quoted, with
long hours, and cheap water-power, they do not dream of the
possibility of competing with England in neutral markets.
Signor Sella adopted many means of promoting thrift among
his workpeople. A branch of the Post Office Savings Bank is
open on the premises, and to any of the workpeople disposed to
open a banking account, the ﬁrm present a bank-book and a
“nest egg” of one franc. Several prizes are also given to those
who make regular monthly deposits. One prize indicates the
passion among Italians of all ages for games of chance, &c. To
those under 18 years of age, who deposit in the Savings Bank one
franc per month, a lottery ticket is given with a chance of the
possessor winning a prize of 100 francs.
REPORT. ' 385
There is no organization in the works for education, although Education of
the ﬁrm are the chief promoters of the Professional School. GPemti'Y'es-
It is impossible, in works which run till 8 o’clock at night,
for the operatives to attend evening classes after work hours,
but many attend the Technical School on the Sunday. Special
arrangements are, however, made in favour of six youths,
who are sent to the evening classes to study engineering.
Three years ago, in this small town, there was enacted one of Resistance to
those struggles—~happily matters of history now, in England- mu‘Pdulction of
which among the uneducated and ill-fed classes in different parts F0“ W 00m‘
of Europe still greatly retard their prosperity. Signor Sella
was anxious to improve his manufactures by changing from
hand-looms to power—looms. This necessary alteration had long
been postponed in consequence of the dread of revolt and
the determined opposition of the workpeople. The step was at
last made, and power-looms were imported and erected in the
factory. A strike took place, and for six months a large detach-
ment of soldiers guarded the premises day and night, to protect
them from incendiaries; 60 soldiers accompanied 30 weavers
to and from their homes night and morning, in order to save
them from the violence of the strikers. In every instance,
we were told, the change had materially beneﬁted those who
had most strenuously opposed it.
We were interested in an experiment made by Signor Sella in Wrolitfmen’s
the formation of a number of model cottages from the rooms of (he hugs‘
a disused mill. The several ﬂats were entered from a staircase
at one end of the building, and railed balconies had been erected
on each storey, giving access from the outside to each tenement.
Some of the dwellings contained a living room and bedroom;
others a living room and two bedrooms. In some there were
small cooking-stoves, with room for one or two pans, but in
many of the rooms there was simply an open hearth, with three
or four loose bricks for conﬁning the handful of ﬁre when
cooking operations are required, or artiﬁcial warmth is indulged
in. In one dwelling of two rooms, a little girl of four or ﬁve
years of age was nestling close to a small ﬁre of sticks, and
tending a cooking pan that was over the ﬁre. The mother was
busily occupied in arranging the room. We were taken into the
bedroom, and our attendant, the woman who acted as caretaker of
the block, pointed, with some enthusiasm, to a baby wrapped in
swaddling clothes on the bed. She told us that it was but three
days Old, and that the busy housewife, whom we had seen at
Work in the next room, was its mother_
SILK FACTORY FOR REELING, THROWING, 8:0.
—-NORTH OF ITALY.
The conditions of factory labour connected with the reeling of ‘Italian silk
511k ﬂew the 0000011 and preparing it for manufacturing, are md‘tsl‘Z"
among the most remarkable that we became acquainted with
Bi 1726. B B
386 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION!
Italian reeling
and throwing
factories
Closed in
summer.
Silk reeling
from cocoons.
,
during our tours of inspection. As is generally known, the
processes connected with the silk culture, the feeding of the silk—
worms, the hatching of the eggs, the production of the cocoons,
&c., are extensively carried on in farms and cottages in the North
of Italy. Mr. Kelly, Her Majesty’s Vice-Consul at Milan, who
has given some attention to the subject, explained to us the
details of this important cottage industry, and the steps taken,
in consequence of the researches of M. Pasteur on the detection
of the diseases of silk-worms, for applying his recommendations
founded thereon.
During the summer months the reeling and throwing factories
are usually closed, and the girls who ﬁnd employment in them
are busily engaged at their own homes and at the many farms,
in rearing and feeding the silk~worms, superintending the
hatching of the eggs and the production of the cocoons. They
also work in the ﬁelds, harvesting the corn, maize, and fruit for
the winter food of the people. Thus from May until September
the girls and young women live mainly in the open air, but
when out-door occupations no longer demand their attention, and
the cocoons have been collected, classiﬁed, and sent to the factories,
a great change takes place in their employment. They migrate
to certain centres for attendance at the factory, and during the
next eight months they are occupied in reeling, throwing, and
preparing the silk for the purposes of manufacture in the form
of yarn. During our visit to the north of Italy, we had the
privilege of inspecting one of these factories. We were admitted
through what in England would be called a “time office,” the
only entrance, into a quadrangle, surrounded by the different
departments of the factory. It was 6 o’clock in the evening
(in November), and the rooms were lighted up. The motive
power was supplied by a small steam engine, and the mechanical
arrangements generally were evidently not of recent date. We
were informed that 250 females ﬁnd employment in the works.
Having mounted a dingy staircase of three storeys, we entered
a large room, crowded with machinery for the operations of silk
reeling from the cocoon. In this room there were upwards of 150
girls and children working at the ﬁrst process called “ tracture.”
Along the sides of the room were benches, and small pans of water
in sets of four, heated by steam to a high temperature, and super-
intended by children, who were required to agitate the cocoons
in the hot water, so as to soften the gummy ﬁbres. The children
stood to their work, barefooted, on the wet tiled ﬂoor, and ran
backwards and forwards to the reelers, conveying to them, in
perforated ladles, the prepared cocoons. The machines for wind
ing were ranged across the room, and the reelers sat in rows,
each facing a pan of hot water, in which the cocoons ﬂoated.
In commencing the process of reeling, the outward covering at the
end of the cocoon has to be dexterously removed, until the ﬁbre
will unwind freely. The reeler thus prepares ﬁve cocoons, the
REPORT. 887
‘seemed to be healthy, active, and cheerful.
ends of which are united and carried through a “ guide wire ”
to a mechanical reel upon which the silk is wound. The cocoons
dance on end in the water, the reeling being conducted with
comparatively few breakages. It can easily be seen when a
ﬁbre has broken, by the ﬂoating away of the cocoon, but without
any stoppage in such cases, the girl is able quickly to ﬁnd the
broken end—as she would ﬁnd the end of a cop of ﬁne cotton—-
and rapidly throwing the gummy ﬁbre into contact with the
running ones, she is able to keep up the ﬁve-fold operation.
Each girl had by her side a weighed quantity of cocoons which
she was expected to reel in the course of the day. The system
can hardly be called piece-work, but the effect of the strict
control exercised, answers the same purpose. The waste is
taken into account as well as the reeled silk, and when more
than the speciﬁed quantity is reeled, a slight bonus is given, but,
if habitually less work is done than ought to be accomplished,
“well,” remarked our conductor with a signiﬁcant shrug, “ she
does not stay long.” -
Hands are plentiful, and, we were told, are fond of the work.
Children begin to work at eight years of age, so as to acquire
early the necessary dexterity, and they work on through the day
with their elders. As may be imagined, with steam and hot
Water everywhere, under the faces of the workers—the ﬂoor being
also constantly wet with hot water—the room was exceedingly
hot, and the atmosphere full of steam and moisture. The tem-
perature, we were told, is seldom lower than 80 degrees, often
higher ; and the smell from the semi-boiled cocoons was, to say
the least, offensive.
The appearance of the operatives impressed us favourably.
The children, although so young as eight in some instances,
The elder girls
and women who sat at their work, although barefooted and
lightly clad, were invariably clean and tidy in appearance.
Their thick black hair was in most cases plaited and arranged
in folds at the back of their heads, being fastened by circular
combs, in many instances remarkable for size and decoration.
Not a few were adorned with large ear-rings, and their print
dresses of variegated patterns gave a picturesque appearance to
the wearers, not often found among factory operatives. In
general appearance the women seemed to be equal in healthiness
and physique to the better specimens of the ordinary peasant
women seen in the north of Italy. As an evidence of their
contentment, they were singing cheerfully as we entered the
room, and although, on seeing such an invasion of strangers, they
subsided into comparative silence and gossip, yet on a hint being
given that we were pleased with their music, and would like it
to be continued, their voices gradually found vent again, and
even some time after, as we left the establishment, we could
hear the distant refrain. It may be partiality, but we did not
think that their voices equalled, in sweetness and purity of
tone, the singing of factory girls in Yorkshire.
A h undance
of labour.
.Apln .uunce oi
operatives.
BB2
358 ROYAL COMMESSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION;
\Vagcs of
rcelers and
throwstew.
North ltri}.
llou rs of
labour.
Food
As to their wages, we were told that the most highly paid
receive about 18. 2d. a day, and that 5d. a day is considered
good pay for the children. It was only, however, as we
inquired point by point, and were led from one department to
another of the factory, that the conditions of work and wages,
and the daily life of these 250 operatives, were gradually
unfolded to us. On our remarking that the wages seemed to be
somewhat low, our conductor informed us that the money
payment by no means represents the substantial advantages
which the operatives receive. Every day at noon, a large basin
of soup and bread is served to each of the hands; the soup
usually being made from about 40 lbs. of meat. In addition to
this mid—day meal, sleeping accommodation is provided for all,
so that from Monday morning till Saturday night, there is no
necessity for any of the people to leave the premises. Many of
the women and children live several miles away, and considering
the value of the material which passes through their fingers,
the employers give as little encouragement as possible to the
operatives, (even though they may live in the immediate neigh~
bourhood), to leave the works during the week days, so that
they need not be tempted to take any cocoons or yarn away
is ith them.
Our impressions as to the healthiness and general condition
of these operatives were formed before the preceding information,
and that which follows, was given to us, or we might otherwise
have been led away somewhat, by our feelings or prejudices, to
form conclusions different from those already noted.
Their hours of labour will remind many factory workers in
England of the condition of things in this country 50 and 60
years ago. And yet we should require. to go further back in
_the industrial annals of our country to ﬁnd a parallel with
what we saw and heard. At 5 o’clock a.m. they begin work;
at 8 they stop 15 minutes for breakfast ; at ]2 dinner is served,
consisting of soup (supplied by the proprietors), with such
additions as the operatives can furnish from their own stores.
At 1 o’clock the engine is again started, and continues running
without a break till 10 pm. The evening meal is taken during
the intervals of work, and, as many were indulging in it during
our tour of the premises, we were able to take note of the
kind of food on which these hearty-looking Italian operatives
manage to thrive. Many were eating what is known as
black bread, without any butter, savoured with garlic, radishes,
a little salt, and small turnips. A popular dish was bread
sopped in warm water, with a pinch of salt. Polenta, a species
of stiff cold pudding made from Indian meal, was being eaten
by many, and some were boiling potatoes, with their jackets
on, in the cocoon water, and eating them. Rye bread and
polcnta, are the staff of life among the Italian peasantry, and
every girl seemed to have a crust before her. We were informed
that delicacies are occasionally indulged in, such as sausages; and
REPORT.
289
in)
Liebig’s extract of meat is often made into soup, with bread, or is
used for sandwiches with bread. Apples, also, and other fruit,
are often brought among the week’s provisions. At 10 pm, as
already stated, the reeling department of the works ceases, and
the labours of the day, for old and young, after continuing for
15 2 hours, exclusive of meal hours, are over. The process is
repeated for six days, making a total of 944:;- hours for the work
of the week, and at 10 o’clock on Saturday night many of the
women -and children wend their way homeward, to prepare for
resumption of work at 5 o’clock on Monday morning. Others,
however, who live 10 and 15 miles away, make their pilgrimage
on the Sunday morning, bearing with them their bundle, and
tired limbs, and wages, and returning from their mountain homes
to the factory at night, in order to be ready for work at 5 o’clock
on Monday morning.
The woman in charge of the dormitories seemed anxious to
show us the sleeping quarters, and we followed her to one of the
rooms containing twenty-ﬁve beds, accommodating ﬁfty of the
operatives, who sleep two in a bed. The beds consisted of
'mattresses, with, in many instances, the straw protruding.
There were no sheets, but for each bed a rug and a quilt. Here
and there was a small box, but there were no tables or chairs.
Washing utensils and looking-glasses were conspicuous by their
absence; nor were there any arrangements for lighting the
apartment. The room was without a ceiling, and the dusty
tiles and slanting rafters came down within a few feet of the
bedsteads. The spare clothes of the girls were hung on cords
which were stretched across the room. Our conductor informed
us that at 10 o’clock at night, when the engine stops, the women
and children without any delay hasten to their beds. They
have no inclination for wasting time over their toilettes. They
throw their tired limbs upon their trestle beds, and, without
undressing, sleep till they are warned, at 4.1.4.45 next morning, that
they must be up again and prepare for their work. If they
desire the luxury of a wash in cold water there is a trough in
.the yard ; and for ordinary ablutions, as their hands are steeped
in warm water from morning till night, they have ample
opportunity of washing their faces also.
It would not be unnatural to expect that the crowding
together of so many operatives, under such defective sanitary
Conditions, Would be attended by great danger to health, and
that diseases must be very prevalent. We were, however,
informed that, as a rule, the health of the women and children
is excellent. There is in this factory a separate dormitory for
the Sick, but it is very seldom occupied; and during the last
eight months’ term of work there was not a single case of sickness
Within the establishment. We were given to understand that
when symptoms of illness present themselves, the girls are
‘allowed to make the best of their way to their homes to he
nursed under parental control. The most troublesome malady
Hooping
apartments m
iuﬂmy.
Health of
operatives-
399 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION 2
Safeguards to
preserve morals
of females in
silk pac’rorios.
N 0 Factor 3
Acts
Education.
Amusements.
Sixty-ﬁve silk
factories in
one district.
from which the young people suffer is the well-known ‘ pellagra,’
a skin disease, caused by mouldy food. The polenta brought by
the girls from their homes is often made from the worst of the
Indian corn, which the farmers arelunable to sell in the markets,
and which is bought by the peasantry at a low price; and their
bread is often so stale and mouldy as to foster the cutaneous
disease here spoken of. We did not observe any sufferers, but
we had no opportunity of ascertaining the numbers sent home.
Although in this establishment 250 operatives are employed,
we were informed that the Working staff of men consists of two
only, the engineer and mechanic, who are known to be thoroughly
respectable. So regardful are the proprietors for the morals of
the women and children, that even the overlookers are women ;
men are not employed in any work which women can do, and
the greatest care is exercised in securing the good behaviour of
the establishment. Some of the girls remain all through the
winter months without going to their homes, allowing their
wages to accumulate in the hands of the proprietors, who pay
them some little interest. Parents come long distances on the
pay-day for the earnings of their children, and bring the little
ones a supply of bread and potatoes, and leave them to continue
their work. As to Factory Acts there are none ; and our
informant assured us that parents would be the ﬁrst to resent
restrictions. When we asked what education the children
receive, we were informed that some of them attend the rural
schools during the summer months when the factories are closed,
and that in some factories, but not in this one, instruction is given
during the dinner-hour. robably one in ten of the operatives
here can read and write a little. Education is not by any means
highly esteemed among the poor, and compulsory education,
when it is enforced, will be very unpopular.
Within the factory boundaries, and shut off from the world
by a high wall, we were shown a small area of green turf and a
few seats. Invariably, when the noontide is sunny, after hastily
swallowing their soup and bread, the girls come out here to
play, and have merry times while the older ones sit and look on.
This one hour in the sunshine of the day (from 12 to 1) is their
own, and we were told that it is a treat to see how thoroughly
they enjoy it. Often the passing organ-grinder is admitted to
the green, and the girls and the younger children dance together
with the greatest delight to the strains of the music.
We were informed that in the district in which we saw this
factory, there are 65 works of a similar character, of which ﬁve,
like the present one, are large and important, while the rest are
much smaller. The system and organization of the work was said
to be the same in all. English tourists, as they wander with so
much pleasure through some of the loveliest districts in the
north of Italy, little suspect that amid so many outward signs
of fruitfulness and plenty, the struggle for existence is only
maintained by such unceasing toil. That the poor toilers succeed
REPoRT. 391
in keeping up their healthy looks is a remarkable testimony to
their general strength, even when it is remembered that they are
able to recruit themselves, after eight months of conﬁnement in
the factory, by four months of occupation in the open air.
SILK DYEING ESTABLISHMENT—COMO.
In the town of Como we visited a large and interesting dyeing
establishment, owned by a limited company, and employing 200
workpeople.
At these works upwards of 100,000 kilos of silk are dyed
per annum, besides a large quantity of cotton warps.
We were courteously received by the director, and conducted
over the several departments by M. Robin, a Frenchman from
Lyons, the head of the dyeing shed, who had received his
chemical instruction at the Martiniere School and the Higher
Technical School of that city. All the processes were freely
shown to us and were fully described ; the cleansing of the gum
from the silk, the manufacture of the soap, the departments
for dyeing with dye woods, with aniline colours, and the black
department, the stores of dyes, the mixing of the colours, the
many processes of dyeing, scouring, stoving, and the reloading of
the silk with prepared matter so as to restore the weight taken
out in the several processes. The machinery was chieﬂy
French, but all modern in plan and construction.
The men are paid mostly by piece, and earn from 48. to 58.
per day of 10 hours; sometimes the best dyers, who are French~
men, are paid as much as 88.1)61‘ day. A few women are employed
in the warehouse in folding the yarns and wrapping up the
pieces, who are paid from 18. 201. to 18. 6d. per day.
Dye-works,
Como.
Manager a
Frenchman.
Wages.
They were using Welsh coal of an inferior quality, which costs Fuel-
about 338. per ton delivered on the premises.
Much of the silk yarn which we saw, is sent to England to be Dyed Yam
woven or made into thread. The bulk of the silk goods here
dyed is ﬁnally disposed of to two great retail establishments in
Paris.
The directors spoke in high praise of the inﬂuence of the
Technical School of Como. It had materially and beneﬁcially
affected the silk industry, by greatly increasing the knowledge
both of masters and foremen. A higher culture in designing had
led to more variety, more enterprise, and increased trade. A
few years ago scarcely anything but the weaving of plain silks
was attempted; now there is a growing fancy trade, whose
inﬂuence is felt in a marked degree at these works, by the
greater demand for varied and delicate colours in the dyeing.
sent to
England.
392 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Machine
factory at
Biella.
Hours.
Military
service.
Value of the
schoo‘.
MACHINE MAKING.-—BIELLA.
We were conducted over the works of a prosperous machine—
maker and millwright, employing 120 men. Thirty years ago
the proprietor had come to Biella as an ordinary working
mechanic. He was now one of the important men of the
town, and had been very successful. He makes varied kinds
of machinery for cotton, wool, and silk, and also supplies mill
gearing.
Work begins at 7.30 am. and continues till 7.30 p.m., with
one and a half hours’ interval for meals, making a total of 10%.
Working hours per day.
We were informed that the military service greatly interferes
with his workmen. The young men leave him at 20, just when
they are beginning to be really useful, and many of them never
return to him. He states, however, that when they come back at
23 years of age, and again get into harness, there is a general
desire, both on his side and theirs, that they should make up
for lost time.
He spoke in the highest praise of the Professional School, and
informed us that 20 young men from his works, most of them:
having already gone through the military service, attend the
evening classes, and that he allows them to leave their work on
the class nights half an hour before stopping time, without any
abatement from their wages.

REPORT.
PART 'III.
VISITS TO VARIOUS INSTITUTIONS IN THE
UNITED KINGDOM.
Your Commissioners having in the previous portion of their Technical in-
Report described the educational and industrial establishments Stl'Qctmn "1 the
-which we visited on the Continent, now proceed to notice some
of the more important kindred institutions which We have
inspected in the United Kingdom.
As
United Kin g-
dom.
most of these are
sufficiently well known, we have dealt brieﬂy with this branch
of our subject.
following is a list of the towns and institutions treated
The
of :—
I
II.
III
IV.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
XI.
. Normal
London Srhool Board.
. University College.
King’s College.
School of
Science, South Ken—
sington, and Royal
School of Mines.
Museum of Practical
Geology.
. National Art Training
School.
Science and Art De-
partment, as to Exa-
minations.
City and Guilds of Lon-
don Institute.
Polytechnic
Men’s
stitute.
Royal Indian Engineer-
ing College.
Young
Christian In-
.Royal Naval College,
Greenwich.
Crystal Palace School of
Engineering.
XII.
XIII
XIV.
XV.
XVI.
XVII
XVIII.
XIX.
XX
XXI.
X XII.
XXIII.
XXIV.
XXV.
XXVI.
XXVII.
XXVIII.
XXIX.
XXX.
LONDON.
London School Board.-—lnstmtction ‘in Elementary Science. seismic tcuclb
Oxford.
Cambridge.
Manchester.
Liverpool.
Oldham.
Barrow-in-Furne ss.
Birmingham.
Leeds.
Shefiield.
Bradford.
Keighley.
Saltaire.
Nottingham.
Bristol.
Bediord.
Kendal.
Glasgow.
Edinburgh.
Ireland.
Dublin.
Cork.
Belfast.
and the West of
Ireland.
* -—-Before passing on to the institutions for scientiﬁc, art, and mg “ml” the
London School
technical instruction, it may be well to state brieﬂy the steps 30am
which have been taken by the School Board for London for
introducing instruction in elementary science into their schools.
In addition to the object lessons given in the infant schools,
the School Management Committee have decided’? that elemen-

* See Circular, October 30, 1882.
394s ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
tary science shall be taught throughout the boys’ and girls’
departments, in place of the object lessons hitherto given, and
their instructions to the teachers, on object lessons, have been
modiﬁed according1y_
Model Scheme The following is suggested by the School Management Depart-
of elementary ment as a model scheme, but teachers have full liberty to vary
science 1nstruc~
tion, London 1t according to their tastes and acqmrements :---

Standard I. Standard II. Standard III. Standard IV.

Extension of the Comparison of dif- Simple principles More complete
object lessons in ferent plants or of classiﬁcation classiﬁcation of


the infant school, animals. of plants and plants and ani-
with simple illus- animals. mals, with typical
trative experi- Ordinary phe- examples.
ments. nomena of the Further phenomena
earth and atmo- of the earth and The three forms of
sphere. atmosphere. matter familiarly
illustrated.
Substances of do- Substances used in
mestic use. the arts and manu-
factures.
Standard V. Standard VI. Standard VII.

((2.) Animal and plant (a.) Animal ‘and plant (a.) Distribution of plants
life, with the most life, with special and animals, and
useful products; reference to the the races of man-
or, laws of health ; kind ;
(1).) More deﬁnite notions or, or,
of matter and force, (1).) The commonest ele- (1).) Light, heat, and
illustrated bysimple ments, and their electricity, and
machinery or appa- compounds. their applications.
ratus.
The mechanical powers.


A more detailed description of the courses on physics,
mechanics, chemistry, and physiology, has also been prepared by
the Board.
Instruction of Moreover, courses of instruction in elementary science, have
pupil teachers- been established by the Board for the central instruction of
pupil teachers.
No graded The School Board for London has not as yet established any
elementary higher elementary or graded schools, such as exist in Man~
231535311] chester, Shefﬁeld, and elsewhere, having laboratories for
the practical teaching of science; nor have they adopted the
excellent system, which the Commissioners found at work in
Birmingham and in Liverpool, of employing a science demon-
strator, who teaches the subjects with practical illustrations in
the various elementary schools.
REPORT. 395
I.--—UN1VEBSITY COLLEGE, LoNnoN.
Although the endowments of this college are insigniﬁcant
compared with those of the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge, and
of many modern institutions, yet University College has always
stood in the front rank with respect to its scientiﬁc teaching,
and the recent erection of extensive and well—ﬁtted chemical,
physiological, and engineering laboratories, shows that the spirit
which has animated the authorities of the college in the past has
not suffered diminution.
The Commissioners ﬁrst inspected the new chemical depart-
ment under the direction of Professor Williamson, F.B.S., where
every convenience for practical work and research is found. The
laboratory contains 415 working places, and the block of new
buildings, including the physiological section, cost 4:0,000l.
The department of applied chemistry under Professor Charles
Graham, is of recent foundation ; lectures are given on the alkali
manufacture, baking, brewing, &c. The practical work in this
laboratory is made as far as possible to bear on the various in-
dustries. The City and Guilds of London Institute contributes
2001. per annum to the maintenance of this department.
The engineering department under the charge of Professor
Kennedy, was next visited. The laboratory contains a large
testing machine, capable of working up to 445 tons. In this
department there are 60 students, and the manual work done
is conﬁned to the preparation of small specimens for mechanical
testing. Professor Kennedy does not attach much value to
teaching young men practical work in the school; he is of
opinion that they should be taught to draw well, and should
be made thoroughly acquainted with the principles of the
machines with which they will hereafter have to work. He
thinks that it would be a great advantage, if all young men
about to become engineers could take part in the practical testing
of the properties and strength of materials.
Professor Kennedy is engaged in private practice as a
consulting engineer, and the students are often employed
on the investigations which he is called upon to perform.
The City and Guilds Institute contributes 2001. annually to this
chair also.
In the physical department under the care of Professor Carey
Foster, F.B..S., the tuition is chieﬂy of a theoretical character,
there being very insufficient means of giving practical laboratory
instruction.
The Slade Art School, under the direction of Professor Legros,
is another department of University College. The building for
this department is complete and commodious, containing studios
for drawing from the life and the antique, as well as lecture
rooms, where lectures on anatomy, the science of perspective,
the chemistry of colours, &c. are delivered. The school is in a
very ﬂourishing state, and is open to female as well as to male
students.
University
College.
Chemical and
other labora-
tories.
Engineering
department.
l‘hysical
department.
Slade School
of Art.
ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION;
University
College School.
King’s College,
London.
Engineering
workshops,
King’s College.
Chemical
laboratories.
W heatstone
phy sical
laboratory.
Mechanical
drawing.
Attached to University College is a very successful high class
modern school, under the head-mastership of Mr. H. Weston Eve,
containing 600 boys. Considerable attention is paid in the school
to the teaching of science, practical laboratory instruction being
given in Chemistry by Mr. Orme, (working places being
provided for 00 boys), and in Physics by Mr. J. J. Walker.
H._--Kme’s COLLEGE, LONDON.
The Commissioners were received by the principal of the
college, the Rev. Canon Barry.
Similar remarks as to the value of the scientiﬁc and technical
instruction, apply to King’s as to University College.
A remarkable feature of this institution are the workshops
connected with the engineering department. In these, the
students go through a series of exercises in mechanical work.
The college course lasts for nine terms, and engineer students
passing through this, are said to shorten their apprenticeship by
two years. The direction of this department is under Professor
Shelley, and the practical. instruction is given by Mr. Walker.
The course of instruction has more of a workshop character
than that at University College. The carpenters’ and mecha-
nical shops and smithy are open under certain regulations to the
boys from the school attached to the college. In the joiners’
shops they learn to make the common joints of carpenter’s work,
and the ﬁtting of doors and windows, whilst in the engineers’
shop they learn wood and metal-turning, chipping, ﬁling, and
surfacing.
The chemical laboratories under Professor Bloxam contain, in
the general division 62 working places, and in the advanced 20.
There is a distinct department for photographic work under
Mr. Thomson.
The Wheatstone Physical Laboratory is a noteworthy feature
of the physical department, under Professor W. G. Adams, F.R.S.
It is large and well arranged for practical work, and a con-
siderable number of students avail themselves of it. A large
collection of physical apparatus and several rooms for special
experiments are also found in this section of the college. The
department of applied ﬁne art is under Professor Delamotte,
and in this an attempt is made to apply art teaching to
industrial purposes, and students are engaged in designing for
china and for woven fabrics.
The mechanical drawing department is under the charge of
Professor Glenny.
anronr. 397
III.-—-NORMAL ScI-IooL OF Scmn'cn AND Born. ScHooL or
MINES, SoUTH KENSINGTON.
The Commissioners visited the Normal School at South Ken- Royal Normal
sington, and were received by the Registrar, General Martin Sch°°1at
, . . ’ South
who accompanied them over the building. Kensington,
This school, which was reorganized in 1881,"‘ gives systematic
instruction in mathematics and mechanics, physics, chemistry,
biology and botany, geology and mineralogy, agriculture, metal-
lurgy and assaying, elements of astronomical physics, practical
geometry, and mechanical and freehand drawing. Mining is taught
at the Museum of Practical Geology in Jermyn Street, but forms
part of the Normal School. The Normal School is primarily
intended for the training of science teachers, and the instruction
of students of the industrial classes, selected by competition in
the annual examinations of the Science and Art Department ;
but other students are admitted on payment of prescribed fees.
The students may be (I) occasional students and regular
students who are preparing for the associateship of the school,
and pass through a prescribed course extending over 3 to 3% Courief 1:01
years. The instruction for the ﬁrst two years for all the associate assocm e“
students is the same, and includes _mechanics and mathematics,
physics, chemistr , elcmentar geology, astronomy, mineralogy,
and drawing. The student then elects to take up one of the
following divisions, to which the remainder of his course is
directed: Viz., for the title of Associate of the Normal School
of Science, I. Mechanics, II. Physics, III. Chemistry, IV.
Biology, V. Geology, or VI. Agriculture; and for title of
Associate of the Royal School of Mines, either VII. Metallurgy,
or VIII. Mining.
There are 12 exhibitions each of the value of 50L per annum Exhibitions.
tenable at this school, and continuing during the course of time
(3 to 3-i- years) necessary for the preparation for the associate—
ship examination. The exhibitioners have also free admission
to the lectures and laboratories. Three or four are vacant each
year, and are competed for at the May examinations of the
Science and Art Department. Six free studentships are also
similarly annually competed for. These correspond to the
exhibitions, except in so far that they carry no money grant.
Free instruction is likewise given to local exhibitioners, who
hold scholarships of the value of 501. per annurn, half of which
sum is subscribed by the locality, and half by the Department.
There are also royal scholarships, four of 155. for ﬁrst year
students, and two of 25L for second year students
About 50 science teachers, or students intending to become Classes for
teachers, also receive free instruction, and in addition are paid science‘
the railway fare to London, and receive a maintenance allowance teacherb'
of 218. a week whilst under instruction.

*For history of the school, see Prof. Huxley‘s evidence (Answer 3070.)
398 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Summer
courses for
science teachers
at South Ken-
sington.
Laboratories.
Biological
section.
Geology.
Physical
instruction.
Metallurgical
laboratory.
School of
Mines, J ermyn
Street.
Geological
collections.
During the summer vacation, short courses of lectures,
extending over three weeks, are given to science teachers, about
200 in number, who are aided by the Department in the
payment of the expenses of the journey to, and residence in,
London during the progress of the course.
Courses of popular evening lectures for working men are also
given by the professors.
The Commissioners ﬁrst visited the Metallurgical Laboratory
which had recently been ﬁtted up in the basement of the
building. The Chemical Laboratories under the charge of
Professor Frankland were inspected, and also the Physical
Laboratory of Professor Guthrie and the Physiological Labora-
tory under Professor Huxley. The Commissioners had conver-
sations with the professors, on the system of science teaching
adopted in the school.
Professor Huxley, the Dean of the School, explained the
* methods of practical and theoretical instruction given under
his guidance in the department of biology, which includes an
important museum and a large collection of preparations and
diagrams arranged for the special purposes of study. Pure and
applied geology under Professor Judd forms an important feature
of the science instruction, and the students are brought into
close contact with the subject by the microscopic preparation
and examination of rock sections and other practical geological
work. Professor Guthrie explained the way in which he had
introduced laboratory work in physics; every student having to
construct certain simple physical apparatus. Professor Chandler
Roberts stated that in his department (that of metallurgy), there
were 30 working places. Since coming to South Kensington he
had had a large addition of students, and there were now 40
under instruction, and it needed much ingenuity to arrange the
places for them. In the chemical department the numbers have
slightly fallen off.
IV.-—MUsEUM or PRACTICAL CEoLocY AND RorAL ScHooL or
MINEs.
On the occasion of their visit to the Museum in Jermyn Street,
the Commissioners were received by Professor Warington Smyth,
F.R.S., and Mr. Rudler, the curator. Since the transfer of the
School of Mines to South Kensington in 1881, the practical
science teaching, except in the case of mining students who take
part of their instruction here, has virtually ceased. Evening
science lectures for working men take place during the session ;
the charge for admission to each course of lectures is Get. There
is a good library, a small chemical laboratory, a lecture theatre,
and the necessary class-rooms.
The geological collection ﬁrst known as the Museum of
Economic Geology, was transferred to J ermyn Street from
Craig’s Court in 1851. The museum was designed to illustrate
REPORT. 399
mainly the geology of Great Britain and Ireland, and to show
the applications of geological science. It contains specimens of
minerals, including the ores of the useful metals, and models
representing metallurgical processes. The various arts connected
with the mineral resources of the country are illustrated by
specimens showing varieties or peculiarities of manufacture. An
excellent historical collection of English pottery and porcelain
has been added, and there is a very complete series of English
building stones.
The collection of models of mines, mining tools, and mining Models, &c.
machinery is very extensive. All the varieties of safety lamps
are shown.
The Mining Record Office, which was formerly situated at
Jermyn Street, was transferred to the Home Oﬁce in 1882.
The Oﬂices of the Geological Survey of Great Britain are also
at the Museum.
V.-—-NA'rIoNAL ART TRAINING 8011001..
The School of Design which, in 1853, was removed to Marl- National Art
borough House from Somerset House, has been established since grimilg
1856-7, at South Kensington, as the National Art Training 0 00'
School.
An important change has taken place in the conduct of the
school since 1871, when, in order to fulﬁl more etﬁciently its
primary object of training teachers, an entrance examination
was imposed. In the year 1880—1 there were 1:28 students (941
males and 344 females) attending the school without paying fees,
417 students were admitted on payment of half—fees, and from
759 students (359 males and 400 females) the sum of 3,02%. was
received in fees. The course of instruction includes 23 stages, in
the highest of which, stages 22 and 23, the student takes
elementary and applied design.
Certiﬁcates of competency to teach the subjects comprised in Certiﬁcates of
these various stages of instruction, are given to candidates who competency‘
pass the necessary examinations. These are—
(a) The preliminary or art teacher’s certiﬁcate.
(6.) Art certiﬁcates of the third grade.
The Commissioners, accompanied by the principal, Mr. Sparkes, Designsfor
inspected the various class-rooms, and examined the work in Industnal Art‘
progress. The more advanced students draw and model from
the antique and from the life. We were present at a lecture
by Mr. Stannus, on decorative art; and, on a subsequent visit,
when we were accompanied by the Director for Art, Mr. T. Arm-
strong, we were shown the designs for industrial purposes made
by the students of the training class, among which were specimens
of designs for metal work, wood carving, goldsmiths’ work, pot-
tery, and the interior decoration of buildings. These designs
are worked out in competition among the students.
e00 ROYAL COMMISSION ox TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Science and
Art Examina-
tions.
Examinations,
in Art.
Examinations
in science.
System
adopted.
Amount of
annual grant.
_.~
VI—EXAMINATIONS UNDER THE ScIENoE AND ART
DEPARTMENT, SOUTH KENSINGTON.
Examinations in art, in connection with the Science and
Art Department, date back to 1853, though the existing com-
prehensive plan of annual examinations was not established
until 1857. In that year, 12,509 students were instructed
in local schools of art, and 396 in the Central Training School,
and through the various agencies connected with the Department,
413,212 children in elementary and other schools were taught
drawing. N 0 general system of examinations in science was
formulated until 1859, when the number of subjects, on which
payment could be obtained, was limited to six. In May 1861,
when the ﬁrst general and simultaneous science examination was
held, there were 38 classes with 1,330 pupils, besides some
800 pupils in classes. not under certiﬁcated teachers.
In the year 1882, there were in all 909,206 persons receiving
art instruction in connection with the Department, and 68,581
students in science, in 1,403 science schools, with 4,881 classes.
The Examinations in Art are of three grades, the ﬁrst grade
being intend ed for children attending the elementary school, the
second grade for the pupils of secondary schools and the students
of art classes and schools of art, and the third grade is applicable
for teachers or art masters.
Science Examinations are held in 25 subjects ; the examinations
take place in May, and are divided into three stages; the
“ elementary,” “advanced,” and “honours.” In each stage there
are two grades of success.
On receipt of proper demands from local authorities, papers,
both for the science and art examinations, are forwarded from
South Kensington to the centres where the examinations are
conducted. The worked papers are scaled up directly after the
examination, and forwarded to London. On the result of these
examinations, prizes and scholarships are awarded to the successful
students, and money payments are made to the local committee,
which vary in accordance with the degree of success attained
by the students, and with the nature of the subject.
The total payments in the year 1882-3, on account of science
schools and classes, grants, prizes, etc, was 415,376]. Os. (id, and
for success in art the amount was 67,35lrl. 108. 6d.
The total expense of the Science and Art Schools is returned at
]55,367l. 58. 4rd. for the year 1882-83, exclusive of the staff of
the department, who received 8,8981. 48. 10d.
aEronT. 401
VIL—THE CITY AND Games on Lonnon INSTITUTE.
This Institute has been established by the City Livery
Companies, for the purpose of providing and encouraging education
adapted to the requirements of all classes of persons engaged, or
preparing to engage, in manufacturing and other industries.
With this object the Institute subsidises existing educational
establishments, which, in the opinion of the Council of the Institu-
tion, are providing sound technical instruction, and which would
possibly languish except for external aid.
It also encourages, in the principal industrial centres of Great
Britain, the formation of evening classes, in which workmen and
foremen, engaged in their several factories during the day, receive
special instruction in the principles of science, in their application
to the processes with the practical details of which they are already
familiar.
It aims at establishing and maintaining in the Metropolis model
technical schools, to serve as types of other schools to be founded
and supported by local efforts in provincial towns ; and, lastly, it
is erecting a Central Institution, corresponding to some extent to
the great Polytechnic Schools of Germany, Switzerland, and Italy,
and to the Ecole Centrale of Paris.
With this varied programme, the City and Guilds of London
Institute is assisting in the professional instruction of all classes of
persons engaged in industrial operations,—-of artizans, apprentices,
foremen, managers of works, manufacturers, and technical
teachers. '
The Council of the Institute have no intention of interfering
with any existing social institution, such as apprenticeship, or any
other relationship between employer and employed, but aim only
at supplying the want of further instruction which is everywhere
felt to exist, by supplementing, and by preparing pupils more
thoroughly to proﬁt by, workshop training.
For the establishment of technical classes in the Metropolis and
in provincial manufacturing towns, the Institute has granted for a
period of years the following annual subventions :—
400 to University College, London.
400 ,, King’s College, London.
350 ,, Horological Institute.
250 ,, School of Art Wood Carving.
300 ,, Firth College, Shefﬁeld.
300 ,, University College, Nottingham.
200 ,, Technical School, Manchester.
In addition to these annual grants, it has given 7001. for the
establishment of a Technical School in Leicester, as well as 2001.
to Nottingham, and 1001. to Manchester for the purchase of
mechanical appliances, besides other smaller grants.
Ri 1726. C C
General
objects.
Subventions
to technical
institutions.
402 ROYAL COMMISSION on TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
‘- W¢~~ w
+~___ /""
Classes in
Technology
of City and
Guilds Insti-
tute. '
6
. \hi't
Technological
Examinations.
In nearly all the large manufacturing towns, evening classes
in Technology, as distinguished from the Government classes 1n
Science and Art, are being assisted by the Institute. The work
done by the students of these classes is inspected and examined by
the‘ Institute, and, on the results of the annual examinations; certiﬁ-
dates and prizes are granted, which are beginning to be regarded
as diplomas of proﬁciency,"and are said to enable operat1ves"to
obtain better employment» and higher .remuneratmn. :‘~:These
evening classes have already become, and are likely: in futureito
become still more; the nucleir of technical colleges, emamly
supported by the towns in which they are situated, but connected
with, and affiliated to, the City and Guilds of London Institute,
by means of its examinations and superintending inﬂuence. .
According to the Programme of Technological Exammatlons for
1883—84, examinations are held in the following subjects :-—
l. Alkali and allied branches.
A. Salt manufacture.
B. Alkali ,,
C. Soap ,,
2. Bread-making.
3. Brewing.
4. Distilling-—
A. Coal tar distilling.
B. Spirit manufacture.
5. Sugar manufacture.
6. Fuel.
7. Oils, colours, and varnishes, manufacture of.
8. Oils and fats, including candle manufacture.
9. Gas manufacture.
Iron and steel manufacture.
. Paper ,,
. Pottery and porcelain ,,
. Glass
. Dyeing——
A. Silk.
B. Wool. .
Bleaching, dyeing, and printing of calico or linen.
Tanning leather.
Photography.
Electro-metallurgy.
Textile fabrics, manufacture of—
A. Cloth.
B. Cotton.
C. Linen.
D. Silk.
E. Jute.
Lace manufacture.
Weaving and pattern designing.
Electrical engineering——
A. Telegraphy.
B. Electric lighting and transmission of power-
C. Electrical instrument making.
)7
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
2,1.
22.
REPORT. 403
23. Metal plate work.
24. Plumbers’ work.
25. Silver-smiths’ work.
26. Watch and clock making.
27. Tools-
. _ A. Wood working.
,_ B. Metal working.
28. Mechanical engineering.
29. Carriage building.
30. Printing.
31. ()res, mechanical preparation of.
32. Mine surveying.
33. Milling (ﬂour manufacture).
34:. Carpentry and joinery.
These examinations were originally established by the Society
of Arts, but were subsequently taken over and considerably
modiﬁed and developed by the City and Guilds of London Insti-
tute. In 1879 the number of candidates was 202, and the
examinations were held in 23 different places. In 1883, 2,397
candidates presented themselves from 154 centres in different
parts of the United Kingdom.
The Finsbury Technical College, which was opened on
19th February 1883, has been erected, at a cost of about 36,000L,
to serve as a model trade school for the instruction of artizans and
of other persons preparing for intermediate posts in industrial
works. It consists of a school of applied science and art. There
is a day and an evening school. The latter provides systematic
instruction for those who are engaged in the staple industries of
the district, including cabinet-making; and in the applications of
chemistry, mechanics, and physics, to special trades, such as spirit
rectiﬁcation, mechanical engineering, electric lighting, 850. An
approach has been made to the establishment ‘of a relationship
between this College and the principal middle class schools of
the Metropolis, by the award to selected pupils from these schools
of exhibitions enabling them, without payment of fees, to receive
in the College scientiﬁc and technical training, ﬁtting them for
various occupations and industries, as well as for higher technical
instruction.
The subjects taught comprise mathematics, pure and applied,
practical mechanics, chemistry, physics, electrical technology,
freehand, model, and machine drawing, workshop practice, French
and German; and in the evening additional classes are held in
carpentry and joinery, metal-plate work, bricklaying, drawing,
painting, modelling, and design.
The South London Technical Art School, situated in the
Kenniugton Park Road, provides instruction for artizans engaged
in various industries in which art aptitude is indispensable to
success. The courses are for evening and for day students, for
men and women. The subjects of instruction include drawing,
modelling and painting from life, wood-engraving, china-painting,
enamelling, and design.
Originally
established by
Society of
Arts.
Finsbury
Technical
College.
South London
Technical Art
SchooL
0 c 2
40% ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION Z
Central
Institution
of City and
Guilds Insti-
tute.
Objects.
Cost.
The Central
Institution,
Exhibition
Road.
Description of
the building.
The Central Institution in the Exhibition Road, now in course
of construction, is intended to give to London a ﬁrst-class college
in which technical teachers for the provincial schools may be
educated, and in which those who are to be engaged in the
superintendence of great industrial works may receive their
preliminary training. The establishment of this Central In-
stitution will, it is hoped, render unnecessary the recourse to
foreign countries (where similar institution salrcady exist) for
the technical instruction of managers of works, engineers, and
industrial chemists, and will be welcomed by manufacturers,
who feel the want in.London of some such institution, in which
their sons who are to succeed them can obtain as good an educa-
tion as at Paris, Zurich, Munich, or Berlin. Just as the Ecole
Centrale at Paris is about to be removed to the immediate neigh-
bourhood of the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers, in order that
the students may be near to the collections of machinery and
other industrial objects which the Conservatoire contains ; so the
Central Institution of London is built near to the Science Schools
and National Museums of South Kensington. Besides giving to
the Metropolis a Technical High School or Technical University
for advanced instruction in the applications of science and of art
to industrial operations, the Central Institution, as a training
school for teachers, as a focus for uniting the diﬁerent technical
schools now in existence, and as a centre for the dissemination of
technical knowledge, is expected to be the means of increasing the
efficiency of every department of the Institute’s work.
It is estimated that the Central Institution, with its ﬁttings, &c.,
will cost about 95,t00l., of which sum the Council of the Institute
have been able to provide about 7 5,0001. by accumulated savings
and by grants from several of the Companies as indicated in the
report. There is a deﬁcit of about 20,0001. now needed for
ﬁttings, furniture, and apparatus, which the Council have at
present no means of supplying.
The Central I nstz'tutz'on.——The foundation column of the Central
Institution was placed by His Royal Highness the Prince of
Wales, President of the Institute, on the 18th July 1881.
The building has a frontage of 300 feet in the Exhibition Road,
on the opposite side to the South Kensington Museum, and closely
adjoining the Natural History Museum, designed by the same
architect, Mr. Alfred Waterhouse, A.R.A., of London. The
exterior is of a semi-classic character, and the arms of the principal
manufacturing towns in the United Kingdom are displayed in
strong relief upon its front.
It is, for the most part, ﬁve stories in height. In the basement
are physical laboratories and mechanical workshops, three very
large shops at the back being top-lighted. The entrance-hall is
in the centre of the building, and leads to the great corridor which
stretches from one end of the building to the other. Mechanical
class-rooms, physical class-rooms, a museum for industrial
apparatus, and a room for the teaching of mathematics are
on three ﬂoors. There are also at the back of the building two
REPORT. - 405
large lecture-theatres, lighted principally from the sides; one
being for chemistry and the other for physics and mechanics.
On the ﬁrst ﬂoor, over the entrance, is a large reading-room
and library, with experiment rooms and class-rooms on each side
of it. The oﬂices for the administration are towards the north end
of the building, terminating in the council-chamber, a handsome
apartment, on the walls of which it is proposed to emblazon the
arms of all the Livery Companies. On the second ﬂoor an art
museum occupies the principal position in the centre of the build-
ing, with class-rooms and lecture-rooms on each hand. On the
third ﬂoor, above the art museum, is a large room, 67 feet by
35 feet, with a ﬁne semi-circular roof, to be used as a museum of
technology. At one extremity of the building is a refreshment-
room for students and others engaged in the building. At the
opposite end is a large special laboratory adjacent to the general
chemical laboratory, underneath which are two additional
laboratories for special purposes.
There is space for an additional wing at the south end of the
building, corresponding to that at the north end, which contains
the chemical department and the lecture theatres.
The scheme for the organization of this institution will be found
in the Appendix, Vol. IV.
The Technical College, Tabernacle Row, Finely/wry, Lonclma— Finsbury
This institution, founded by the City and Guilds of London ge‘lilhmcal
Institute, gives technical instruction, both day and evening, of a O ege'
character suited to the requirements of artizans and others.
Practical laboratory work in the subjects taught, forms a special
feature of the system of instruction.
A complete course of instruction has been drawn up for the Courses of
day students and for those attending the evening classes.
students can enter into any one of the following departments :—
(1.) Mechanical engineering.
(2.) Electrical engineering.
Industries involving applications of chemistry.
(41.) Building trades.
(5.) Applied art industries.
There are at present about 100 students attending the day
school, and upwards of 600 students attending the evening
school. The fees for the complete course of day instruction are
at present as follows :—
Annual payment, 9l. in one sum, or 10l. in three instalments.
For the evening courses the fees range from 58. to 308.
The course extends over two years, and it is proposed to give
certiﬁcates to those students who go through the entire course
satisfactorily.
Evening I nstructlon.~—Tlie Commissioners visited this insti- Evening
The instruction.
tution and the adjoining Middle Class School in Cowper Street instmcﬁ‘m-
on two occasions. They were met by Mr. W. P. Sawyer and
Mr. Owen Roberts, two of the Honorary Secretaries, and some
members of the committee, and inspected, in the ﬁrst instance,
the evening classes of the college. They were introduced to
4:06 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Physical
department,
Finsbury
Technical
College.
Electrical
en gmeerm g .
Lecture
theatres
Professor Ayrton, the teacher of physics and electricity, who
conducted them over the various rooms in his department, eight
of which are devoted to the laboratory work of the students.
One of these contains dynamo-machines, worked either by the
main steam engine of the building or by a gas engine in the
room. There is one large Edison dynamo-machine used for
lighting the building, and students were engaged in making
original experiments on some of the others. The second room
is used for experimenting on accumulators, taking photometric
measurements of electric lamps, &c. The third room is ﬁtted
up for delicate experiments, such as measuring the insulation and
capacity of submarine cables, the instruments standing on pillars
carried up from the basement. These three rooms are all used
by second and third year students of electrical engineering.
The fourth and ﬁfth rooms are ﬁtted up for an organized
series of experiments for ﬁrst year students of electrical engi-
neering; one of the rooms being for experiments in current
electricity, and in static electricity. The peculiarity of the
arrangement adopted is that each experiment has all the appa~
ratus required for performing it ready in position, together with
printed instructions. The students work in groups of three.
This arrangement enables the very large numbers, who only
come to the laboratory for a couple of hours at a time, to work
together, and to complete, or nearly complete, one experiment
during that time, which would be quite impossible if the
students had to search for the necessary apparatus, resistance
coils, batteries, &c., and to ﬁt them up. The instruments needed
for each experiment, completely ﬁtted, are mounted on a board,
which can be taken into the lecture room for use during the
lectures. The sixth room, which is a small one, is ﬁtted up for
plotting curves, recording the results of experiments. The
seventh room is used for experiments on heat, and the eighth
is ﬁtted up as a workshop for the manufacture and repair of
physical apparatus, where a skilled workman is constantly
engaged.
The Commissioners found students working in four of these
rooms, which are more or less completely ﬁtted with apparatus.
The remaining rooms were not occupied, as the apparatus had
not as yet been obtained for furnishing them.
The basement is well lighted, all the walls being lined with
white glazed bricks. The ﬁrst ﬂoor, which is very lofty, contains
two large lecture theatres, each capable of seating 200 students.
They are so arranged that the line of seats rises in the form of
a curve, giving every student a good position for seeing the
experiments of the lecturer. The black-boards behind the lecture
table are so balanced as to be capable of being moved up or down
with the least possible effort. The building and class-rooms
throughout are lighted by means of Edison’s incandescent lamps,
but Siemens’ gas lamps have been provided in some parts of the
building.
Burner. 7
407 ‘
I- The} chemical laboratories are on the second ﬂoor. Here the Com-
missioners were introduced to Professor Armstrong, who explained
the considerations by which- he had been guided in the planning of
. the laboratory. The room is divided into two parts by double glass
screens, between which are the arrangements for the supply of
sulphuretted hydrogen for the use of the students, the elementary
and the advanced. The former contains 413, and the latter 51,
working places, each of which, however, has two drawers and
two cupboards, and is, therefore, available for two students
working at different times‘. The entire benchv is covered with a
hood, at the top of which are openings at intervals communicating
with a chimney in which there is a powerful draught, produced
by means of the waste heat from the boilers, so that all gases and
vapours given off in the experiments are said to be drawn away
. into the chimney, and it is contended that by these means the
laboratory is kept free from smell.
The ﬁues pass downwards
from the benches, and along the ﬂoor.
Besides the Proiessor’s and assistants’ rooms, a class room, a
balance room, two store rooms, the large lecture theatre, and
preparation room, several rooms are provided for the use of more
advanced students, and those engaged upon special work.
Professor Armstrong stated that the practical course is some-
what different from that of most chemical schools, the object in
view being'to teach the main facts and principles of chemistry,
and to lead the students to observe correctly, and to reason from
experiment, rather than to make them highly proﬁcient analysts.
It is thought that this system is best calculated to prepare them
to carry on with intelligence those manufacturing operations
which involve applications of chemical knowledge.» It is in-
tended that students who distinguish themselves during. the two
years" course at the college, and who manifest special aptitude,
shall have the opportunity afforded them at the Central Insti-
tution of prolonging their studies.
The teaching of analysis, in the ordinary sense, is a very
unimportant feature in the earlier part of the course. Instead,
the student has to solve a series of problems, for instance, to
determine the composition of air, of water, and of the gas
obtained on heating salt with sulphuric acid, ﬁrst qualitatively,
then quantitatively. He takes note of, and registers, the results
obtained, and points out their hearing on the problem he is
engaged in solving. He thus learns how to solve practical
problems by experiment. Great diﬂiculty has been experienced
in getting students to properly observe and interpret the results
of their experiments, and-it has been only too'apparent that their
previous education has done little to develope their reasoning
faculties. ‘
Students in the chemical department are required to devote a
considerable amount of time to mechanical drawing and other
mechanical subjects, so that they may become competent to deal
with machinery. '
Chemical“ ‘
department, 7 .
Finsbury ‘ ,
College. I _
408
ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Evening art
classes at the
Technical
College, Fins-
bury.
Day classes
at the Fins-
bury College.
Mechanical
laboratory.
Art Department—The Commissioners next visited the art
classes under the Institute, which are held in the basement of
the middle-class school at Cowper Street, temporarily used for
the technical college. Here Mr. A. Brophy, the head master, has
special classes for cabinet-makers, designers, and others. He
explained his system of teaching to be that each student not
only prepared an outline from a copy, but had subsequently to
ink it in, or complete it in colour, so as to form a simple design
for inlaid work or some other kind of decoration. He tries, as
far as possible, to set before his students copies from the best
work of former days, so as to give them a means of acquiring a
certain amount of the history of art while they are learning
drawing. Thus a number of pupils who were studying drawing
with special reference to lithography, were sketching in pen and
ink from Diirer woodcuts. In a second room practical designing
was being taught, the students being engaged in applications of
design to various materials, pottery, colour printing, 8270.
The room for drawing from the life was occupied both by male
and female students, ‘who were drawing from the draped female
model. In another room students were engaged in modelling
from the life, also from the draped female ﬁgure.
Mr. Brophy stated that he allowed his students to select what
class of drawing or modelling they wished to learn, and to go at
once, if they could draw at all, to that particular work. He
was averse to spending time over carefully ﬁnished drawings,
and preferred that his students should begin at once with some-
thing that interested them, and that they should also, from the
ﬁrst day, practise the use of colour.
Small classes engaged in mechanical drawing, building con-
struction, and practical drawing for carpenters, were also
inspected.
Day School—The Commissioners subsequently visited the
day department at the Technical College. Professor Perry, the
teacher of practical and applied mechanics, showed them the
work carried on in his department. In the mechanical labora-
tory, besides the well-known experiments with the triangle and
polygon of forces and other pieces of apparatus described in
many books on mechanics, a graduated series of experiments is
arranged, by means of which students investigate for themselves
the effect of different loads in various machines, of bands on
pulleys, and so forth.
Among other experiments of the series are those on the energy
of a rotating body; the resistance of wire to extension and
torsion, and of beams loaded and supported in various ways, and
of the vibration of the pendulum, &c.
The apparatus is nearly all of a novel kind, the student
making a complete set of observations of one arranged experi-
ment before he passes on to the next, and the sheets of squared
paper, 810., containing the results of his observations, with short
descriptions of what he has actually done, are retained by the
REPORT. 409
student to help in ﬁxing his position in the class list at the end
of the session. Professor Perry stated that the investigations of
some of the students were of considerable interest and originality.
The Commissioners then saw the workshops. In the carpenters’
shop, ﬁtted with benches and lathes, the students were at the
time of our visit engaged in making freehand sketches from
parts of machinery, which they were subsequently to draw to
scale in the drawing room. In the adjoining shop for metal
work, ﬁtted up with vices, lathes, and some small machine tools,
they were chipping iron. These two workshops are in the
charge of a practical mechanic.
Professor Perry showed the Commissioners the engine and
boiler ﬁtted up under his superintendencc, to drive the dynamo-
machine and to furnish the motive power for the building. This
has been specially arranged for experimental purposes. The
boiler and engine are to be provided with appliances for
measuring evaporation, steam temperatures, ﬂue temperatures,
steam pressure, condenser temperatures, feed-water temperatures,
8.20. The shafting is provided with two dynamometer couplings,
and the engine is capable of being worked either with or
without condensation. A special “ evaporative ” surface-con—
densing apparatus in connection with the engine is ﬁtted up on
the top of the buildings, by which means a considerable vacuum
is obtainable.
The Commissioners then visited the drawing rooms for
mechanical drawing, and the large apparatus room or museum
on the ﬁrst ﬂoor.
Nearly all the students of the day department follow out the
complete course of instruction as laid down in the programm e.
They come at 9.30 in the morning and remain at the College till
5 in the afternoon, a half-hour being allowed in the middle of
the day. All the students undergo a practical course of science
instruction in the chemical, physical, and mechanical laboratories.
They also learn freehand and machine drawing, and one modern
language. Each student spends at least three hours per week in
the workshop. The students are admitted only after passing an
entrance examination in elementary mathematics. The Cloth-
workers’ Company have given two exhibitions of 30l. to the
London School Board; one to be awarded annually, and to be
available for two years, to a selected pupil from the elementary
schools, who, after receiving some preliminary science training,
shall pursue his studies at the Finsbury Technical College. By
means of these exhibitions and of others tenable at the Central
Institution, the Council of the Institute hope to see the way
open to boys of exceptional merit from the primary schools,
enabling them to receive the highest technical instruction.
City and Guilds of London Technical Art School, Ifemzingtorz
Park Road, S.E.—-—The Commissioners visited this school and
were received by Mr. Owen Roberts, one of the honorary
Workshops
Drawing
school and
Museum.
Course of in—
struction.
Technical Art
School,
Kennington.
410 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
School of
wood
engraving,
Kennington.
Elementary
design.
Advanced
design.
Life study.
secretaries of the City and Guilds of London Institute, and ' by
Mr. Sparkes, the superintendent of studies.
This school is carried on in two dwelling-houses which have
been thrown into one for the purpose, and large top-lighted class
rooms have been built in the rear, for drawing from the life, and
for modelling. The department ﬁrst visited was that for Wood
engraving. This class, which meets daily, except Saturdays,
from 10 to 4, and each evening from 6 to 8, is under the care of
Mr. C. Roberts. The students, 11 in number, at the time of our
visit, were engaged in practical work, at circular tables specially
ﬁtted for the purpose. Four students work at each table, which
has an elevated block in the centre for the lamp and glass Water
lenses. The students are required before entrance to have taken
the Second Grade certiﬁcate of the Science and Art Department.
One evening in each week is set apart for drawing on the wood.
In the class for elementary design, under Miss Walford, the
students were all women who were engaged in making designs for
tile, wall paper, and other decorative work; the instruction in-
cludes, (1) drawing ﬂowers, foliage, and natural forms; and
(2) the arrangement of these studies in elementary designs. The
advanced class of design is under the tuition of Mr. Hugh
Stannus, and at the time of our visit, be was lecturing on design
suitable for encaustic and other tiles, to a class of about 15. This
course is adapted to students engaged in. the practice of orna-
mental art, and to lithographers, engravers, house decorators, and
designers for textile fabrics, pottery, and surface decoration.
In the life room, next visited, a large number of students were
making drawings from the nude model; the work, as a rule, was
in charcoal, and the aim seemed rather to produce rapid and effec-
tive sketches than laboriously ﬁnished drawings. The room was
almost inconveniently crowded. Some of the students here seemed
to have scarcely suflicient power of drawing to be working from
the nude. It is a rule in most schools to require that the student,
previous to attempting to study from the life, should have some
considerable skill in drawing.
In the modelling room some good work was being done,
especially from drapery and in bas relief. \Ve were told that a
large number of the students were practically engaged in modelling
during the day time in the Lambeth potteries. A class for china


Modelling
and china
painting.
painting meets here during the daytime twice a week. The
attendance during the past year has been as follows :—
Subject. Males. Females. Total.
Modelling - - - - 48 9 57
Design, elementary - - - 4 28 32
,, advanced - ~ - — 9 10 19
Wood engraving - — - - 4 12 16
Life classes, drawing and painting - - 20 9 29
85 68 153

REPORT. _ 4 1 1
The following have been the occupations of the students recently Occupations
attendnbg the school :-- flflstq‘igggcgf
esigners - - ~ - - 60 Art School. .
Wood engravers - - - - 30
Stone carvers - - - - - 37
Teachers - - - e - 19
China painters - - - - 12
Wood carvers - - - - - 10
Modellers - - - - - 10
Clerks - - - - - - 10
Art students - - - - - 8
Tradesmen - ' — - - — - 8
Draughtsmen - - - — 4
Lithographers - - —- - - 3
VIII—THE POLYTECHNIC YOUNG MEN’s CHRISTIAN INSTITUTE.
REGENT STREET, LONDON.
The Commissioners were received by Mr. Quintin Hogg and Objects and
Mr, Mitchell, the secretary. Mr. Hooper, a member of the com— é’glf'ilau‘i’gghe
mittee, also accompanied them. They were conducted by these i’ '
gentlemen through the various class-rooms, and Mr. Hogg
explained to them brieﬂy the origin of the Institute. The work
was started many years ago as a philanthropic effort, and in its
ﬁrst form took the shape of a ragged school, which ultimately
developed into the Young Men’s Christian Institute, and the
building in which the lectures and classes were now being
carried on had been purchased by Mr. Hogg for the purpose.
The Institute numbers 2,000 members, which is the maximum Number of
number admitted, but there are 1,200 applicants awaiting the members-
opportunity of admission. Youths between the age of 16 and
23 are eligible for election, but as the Institute is principally
intended for apprentices and young artisans, only 20 per cent.
of persons not belonging to the artizan class are admitted at
any one election. The subscription is 38. 6d. per quarter, and
a small fee on joining the various classes. In certain cases
outsiders are admit-ted to the classes on payment of double fee,
but, practically, three-fourths of those attending the classes are
members of the Institute. Special efforts are made by the
Committee to provide the members with the opportunity of
acquiring a sound theoretical and practical knowledge of their
various trades, and care has been taken that the instruction
should not be too difﬁcult to be understood by the average
mechanic. The following is a list of the systematic trade courses Trade courses.
given, with the syllabus of subjects taught, but there are also Courses of
practical class for other trades as will be seen from the account. mslmctlon-
Nearly all these classes are in connection with the City and
Guilds of London Institute, their teachers being registered by
the Institute and receiving payment on results.
4J2 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Classes at the
Polytechnic
Young Men’s
Christian
Institute.
Electric
lighting class.
Photography.
Tailoring.
Printing.
Plumbing.
Bm'cltlag/ingr—Practical, Plane, and Solid Geometry, Building
Construction, Practical Mensuration, Elementary Sanitary
Engineering, Practical Bricklaying.
Metal Plate Work. -—- Freehand and Model Drawing,
Practical, Plane, and Solid Geometry, Theoretical and Applied
Mechanics, Metallurgy, Metal Plate Pattern Cutting, Metal Plate
\Vork.
Electrical Engineering—Geometry, Machine Drawing, Mathe—
matics, Magnetism and Electricity, Applied Mechanics, Acoustics,
Light, and Heat; Telegraphy, Electric Lighting, Electric In-
strument Making.
Engineering—Geometry, Mathematics, Machine Construction,
Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, Pattern Making, Steam,
Mechanical Engineering.
Plumbing—Geometry, Building Construction, Elementary
Chemistry, Sanitary Engineering, Applied Mechanics, Plumbing.
Watch and Clock Making. —— Practical, Plane, and Solid
Geometry, Machine Construction and Drawing, Mathematics,
Theoretical Mechanics, Applied Mechanics, Watch and Clock
Making.
Carriage Building—Freehand and Model Drawing, Practical,
Plane, and Solid Geometry, Mathematics, Theoretical and
Applied Mechanics, Carriage Building.
The Commissioners ﬁrst visited the class, numerously attended,
for electric lighting. We then inspected the class for photo-
graphy, in which practical demonstrations were being given.
We next proceeded to a large class for tailors’ pattern cutting,
the work being done in chalk on cloth strained over tables, and
the out patterns being made in brown paper. The teacher,
Mr. Humphreys, a self trained cutter, stated that he had himself
invented the methods by which he worked, after carefully
studying all the plans adopted in America, Germany, and else-
where. After having been many years practically engaged in
the trade as a foreman cutter, he now entirely devoted himself
to literary work, editing a trade paper with fashion plates
and patterns, which appears monthly, and teaching classes in the
evening. So numerous had been the applications for membership
of this class that upwards of 100 students had to be turned
away. The next class was one for printing. Here the teacher
was explaining the composition of printers’ rollers, and giving
practical instruction for their preparation. Thence a visit was
paid to the class for shorthand writing, and next the workshops
were inspected. The class actually at work at the time of the
visit was that for plumbers’ work, the making of all kinds of
lead joints was in progress, and practical plumbing of every kind
was going on under the teaching of Mr. Davies, the foreman of
a large ﬁrm in the trade. Various other classes for practical
REPORT. 41 3
work are held on different evenings; thus, for instance, metal
turning and Wood turning, cabinet-making, carpentry, &c. In Tinplate
the class for tinplate working, which was next visited, Mr. Millis, “'m'kmg'
the teacher, stated to the Commissioners that his instruction was
chieﬂy theoretical, and that he did not consider it necessary to
include practical work, as is done in the plumbing class. The
drawing and modelling classes, which seemed almost over-
crowded, were next visited. The drawing was chieﬂy outline Drawing and
and shading from casts, but some few of the students were mmiemng-
attempting to apply their knowledge to designing, and work
of a more advanced character. A theoretical class was also Watchmaking.
inspected by the Commissioners, in which instruction was being
given in watchmaking by Mr. Herrmann.
After a brief inspection of the library and reading rooms, the
recreation room, and the arrangements in the basement for
lavatories, cloak rooms, 820., the Commissioners adjourned to the
large hall and witnessed a display of fencing and gymnastics by
some of the more proﬁcient members of the association. Mr. Other Spheres
Hogg explained that one of the great attractions of the Institute 01' useffulﬂéss
was the gymnasium, which was largely patronised, and for which of the mst‘mte'
members paid an additional fee of sixpence per quarter. He
encouraged them to come in their working clothes directly after
leaving work, and to spend the whole of the evening at the
Institute, refreshments being provided at a moderate cost, and
recreation and teaching being jointly cared for. In addition to
the teaching on the week-days. the largest adult Bible class in
the world (Mr. Hogg believed) is held on the Sunday, when
he has an average attendance of 650 young men in one class.
In order to give them a sufficient amount of outdoor exercise,
he had leased a ﬁeld of 13 acres at Barnes, for cricket, lawn
tennis, football, 850., and he made a practice of inviting all the
members of the Institute to stay with him in the country for a
week every summer. He could arrange to receive ﬁfty at a
time.
The. Commissioners understand that Mr. Hogg has expended
80,000l. in the purchase, ﬁtting, and endowment, of the
Institute.
IX.~—R0YAL INDIAN ENGINEERING COLLEGE, (JooPER’s HILL.
The Commissioners visited the Royal Indian Engineering Royal Indian
College, at Cooper’s Hill, near Staines, and were received by glglgllgfsrms
the President, Gen. Sir Alexander Taylor, K.C.B., and Pro- ° '
fessors Reilly and Unwin, who explained the objects of the
institution and the aims and scope of the teaching. It is now
nearly two years since the school was thrown open to students
training for the engineering profession generally, having been
till then specially maintained by the Indian Government for
4 I ‘it ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECH NICAL INSTRUCTION I
\.
Royal Indian
Engineering
College,
Cooper’s Hill.
Subjects of
study.
Laboratories.
Drawing
school.
‘Vorkshops.
Mechanical
laboratory.
Students’
drawings.
{we
the education of engineers for the Public Works Department ‘0&-
that country. It was established in 1871. Formerly students:
were required to submit .to a competitive entrance examination a
and, at the completion of their training, were entitled to demand
employment in India. Now a qualifying examination (has taken~
the place of the competitive one, and while a certain number at‘;
Indian appointments are thrown open annually, students attend ing?)
the college do not bind themselves to enter the Indian Govern-s
ment service. Owing to the doubt which prevailed some years:
ago respecting the continuance of the school, the numbers fell nﬁi
considerably, and at the present time there are only 80 students,“
the college being well adapted for 120. The course extends over’
three years, and the curriculum consists principally of mathe~
matics, physics, and drawing, besides the subjects of a good
general education. 'The distribution of the work will be seen
from the programme in the Appendix.
The Commissioners visited the class rooms, the lecture-room
and drawing-room, and the chemical laboratory. Chemistry
is at present an optional subject, but after this year it is
intended to make it compulsory. The laboratory now contains
only 12 working places, but the buildings needed to double
it in size are in course of erection. A large new physical
laboratory is also about to be built. At present the physical
teaching is all given in class, and no experimental work is
done. A very handsome drawing school is also being con-
structed, and the old drawing school will be partly used as a
physical lecture room. A visit was paid to the workshops
which contain a good collection of lathes and small machine
tools driven by a steam engine. Beyond the engineering workshop
is a small carpenters’ shop, principally used for pattern making.
The workshop instruction is optional, and is taken out of
school-hours. The workshops are under the charge of Professor
Reilly and the work-master, Mr. Hopps, who has given evidence
before the Commissioners. A mechanical laboratory is also in
course of construction, which it is estimated will cost upwards of
2,000l. It will contain a testing machine capable of testing up
to 100 tons, a gas engine, some small shaping machines for
making specimens for testing, 820. This department is in the
charge of Professor Unwin.
A collection of the students’ works was shown to the Commis-
sioners, the drawing being extremely creditable, and showing
that copying from examples is not encouraged, and that a con-
siderable portion of the students’ time is occupied in preparing
designs and independent surveys.
The president stated, in answer to. questions, that so far as
he could judge, the new system of a mere qualifying examina»
tion brought them in a class of men, perhaps not quite so well
prepared in the ﬁrst instance, but that in the long run these men
compared very favourably with those previously selected by
competition.
REPORT. 4115
Each student has a separate bedroom and study. These rooms
occupy a special block of buildings.
The number of appointments offered annually by the Indian
Government is not sufficient for the whole number of students
who are now being educated at the college, and it is supposed
that probably some 30 per cent. of, the students will enter into
private employment.
X.—-ROYAL NAVAL COLLEGE, GREENWICH.
We have been furnished with the following facts with respect Royal Naval
to the course of instruction pursued in the Royal Naval College 3011658’. h
by students of marine engineering and naval architecture. reenwm '
During the ﬁrst session the study of mathematics, pure and Course of
applied, goes on in the mornings. In the afternoons professional study-
subjects, practical physics, and practical chemistry are studied,
and courses of lectures on physics and chemistry are given by
college professors, between the morning and afternoon studies.
The evenings are available for private study and for recreation.
Saturday afternoons are also available for the same purposes
during the whole of the session, and Wednesday afternoon during
about half the session.
The assistant engineers, who remain at the Royal Naval College Course for
for two additional years, and the students of naval architecture, have precisely the same instruction in all matters except such ° “
as are purely professional. Successful efforts have been made to
give each set of students a broad view of the profession studied
by the other set of students, by arranging suitable lectures for
this purpose.
The morning work consists of the more advanced mathematics, Subjects of
solid geometry, theory of equations, differential equations, hydro- instruction’
dynamics, rigid dynamics, strength of materials and of structures,
&c.
The afternoon work consists of more advanced professional
instruction, relating to the design either of a ship or set of
engines, all the calculations relating thereto, and the making of
complete sets of drawings of all the parts, instead of being
conﬁned, as in the ﬁrst; year, to the mere elementary features
of the profession.
The stud}r of chemistry and physics takes place during the
second and third years in the same manner as in the ﬁrst, more
advanced work being taken in hand as the knowledge of the
students increases.
The school has not been so successful in attracting private Private
students, as was anticipated at ﬁrst, although the total number Students‘
being educated there now reaches a considerable ﬁgure, the naval
architects standing at about 30 for foreign students, and 20 for
416 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
British students. Many of the British students, however, being
engaged in private trade, leave at an early period of their studies,
for the purpose of undertaking actual professional work. There
have only been about 16 private students of marine engineering
in the school, eight foreign and eight British.
Inﬂuence of The inﬂuence of the Royal School of Naval Architecture on
Royal School the Mercantile Marine has, however, been more felt through
ffNaf'al Admiralty students leaving the Admiralty service, than by
rehltecture . . .
on the men means of private students. The Admiralty students occupy
cantile marine. much higher positions in private shipbuilding and engineering
ﬁrms than private students of the school have been able to
secure. The Mercantile Marine has gained in many ways by
this introduction of professional men from the Admiralty service.
These men have carried with them the high standard of work-
manship, traditional in Her Majesty’s service,. as well as the
knowledge necessary to apply principles to new conditions and
circumstances.
Lloyd’s Register of Shipping has many surveyors who have
been students in the school.
Foreign The foreign students for the most part, although not eX-
students' clusively, have been sent by their own Governments, and on
the completion of their training have been employed in the
constructive offices in their several countries.
Course for Naval oﬁ‘icers have a very extended course of instruction in
“Val ofﬁcers' marine engineering, both at sea and at the Royal Naval College.
They are instructed when at sea by the chief engineer of the
ship, and when in harbour by officers detailed for that purpose.
This instruction is given~ to all ofﬁcers up to and including
the rank of captain, and in the case of the junior oﬁicers it is
compulsory.
Course for At the Royal Naval College, sub-lieutenants, lieutenants, com-
sllb‘heutenam’ manders, and captains attend lectures on the steam engine, and
lieutenant, . _ . . .
commander, have models of Important parts available for Illustration. The
and captain. source of energy by burning coal In air is Investigated, the most
economical types of engines, causes of breakdown, inefficiency,
850. are explained; the duration of boilers, wear and tear of
engines, most economical speed, 850. are all studied in detail.
Course of naval The course in naval architecture is not so extended at pre-
instruction sent, and is not of such old standing as the course in marine
engineering. Officers are instructed in the leading features of
shipbuilding, the names and uses of the several parts, the con-
struction of turrets, methods of ventilation, drawing, watertight
sub-divisions, means of maintaining and preserving the hull in
a state of eﬁiciency, are dealt with in detail, and some officers
have shown considerable aptitude in these studies. Oﬁicers
are also taught the more elementary scientiﬁc proportions of
naval architecture, viz., the construction of metacentric diagrams,
how to ﬁnd the centre of gravity of a ship either by calculations
REPORT. 4517
or by experiment, how to calculate the stability of a ship, the
arrangements of sail plans, &0.
At the present time there are nine Admiralty students at
the Royal Naval College, undergoing a three years’ course of
instruction in naval architecture; six Admiralty students
(assisting and acting assisting engineers, Royal Navy) under-
going a three years’ course of instruction in marine engineering;
and 39 Admiralty students of the same rank undergoing a nine
months’ course of instruction in marine engineering.
In addition to the professional students of naval architecture
and marine engineering. some of the naval ofﬁcers receive
instruction in naval architecture, and nearly all receive instruc-
tion in marine engineering at the Royal Naval College. The
particulars are given below :—

Number attending.
Number in the g _
College.
Naval Architecture. Marine Engineering.
Captains - - 6 5 5
Commanders - - 9 8 5
Lieutenants - - 1 7 1 l O
Navigating lieutenants 3 2 3
Sub-lieutenants - 66 0 66


These numbers vary from year to year and even from month
to month as appointments are made, especially in the case of the
senior officers, but the above ﬁgures may be looked upon as fair
average numbers.
XI --CRYsTAI. PALACE SoIIooL or PRACTICAL ENGINEERING.
This school, which we did not visit, is in two divisions,
mechanical engineering and civil engineering, under the direction
of Mr. J. W. Wilson. It professes to prepare students for taking
articles under engineers, or in the case of those who are already
articled, it provides systematic practical and scientiﬁc work. An
aim also of the school is to give such practical instruction as
may be valuable to colonists and explorers of new countries.
In the mechanical engineering section. the age on admission
must be not less than 16. There is a preliminary entrance
examination, and for those unable to comply with its conditions,
a preparatory course has been arranged. There are three terms
0t 15 weeks each. Hours 10 to 1 and 2 to 5 each day. One
term is devoted to mechanical drawing, a second to pattern
making, and a third to ﬁtting and smiths’ work. The mechanical
course is comprised in one year. The fee for the year is 50
Number of
students.
Crystal Palace
Engineering
ocnooh
lii 1726. D I)
Mechanical
engineering
course.
418 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION!
Civil engineer-
ing course,
Crystal Palace
School.
Examination.
Oxford
University
Museum.
Clarendon
Laboratory.
guineas, and for additional terms 176.7108. each. Students can;
be received for a single term on payment of 25L
' The civil engineering course also extends over one year, and
is designed as a preparation to articles. There is a preliminary
examination to test the suitability of the student. The ﬁrst
term is devoted to projecting and the practical preparation by
actual surveys and levellingof plans in detail, and plans ,- and
estimates for Parliament. The second term is devoted to .the
preparation of detailed section plans, estimates of the above.
work for the contractor, and the third term is utilized for original
designing of girders, bridge work, &c., and the examination of.
important existing engineering works completed or in progress.
The fees for this section are 60 guineas for the course, or 25
guineas for each single term.
At the end of each term there is an examination by engineers
of eminence, not connected with the school, and certiﬁcates are
given for proﬁciency in lecture subjects and work. in the drawing
office and shops. A colonial section, for the practical and
theoretical instruction of intending colonists, has also been
arranged.
XII—OXFORD.
The Commissioners met at the University Museum, where
they were received by the Curator, Professor H. J. S. Smith,
F.R.S., (whose untimely death, shortly afterwards, Science has had
to deplore), Professor Moseley, F.R.S., Professor Westwood, and
Dr. Acland, FRS. The history of the foundation of the museum
was explained to the Commissioners by Dr. Acland, who pointed
out the principles on which the building was constructed, and upon
which the various departments of zoology, comparative anatomy,
and geology have been arranged, thanks especially to the zeal
and ability of the late Professor Rolleston. Students of science,
who, however, are not numerous, make much use of the museum
for study, and can attend the lectures delivered by the several
professors in the rooms attached to the museum, or work in the
zoological and physiological laboratories. A new set of labo-
ratories is about to be built for Professor Burdon Sanderson,
FPS, in proximity to the museum, which is itself so planned
as to enable extensions to be made at any time. The extensive
entomological collections under the care of Professor Westwood
are also housed in the museum, and the herbarium of the late
Dr. Daubeny will shortly be included amongst the museum col-
lections. Valuable features of this institution are the Radcliffe
and Ashmolean Scientiﬁc Libraries, containing more, than 50,000
works of reference, and a large and complete lending library of
scientiﬁc text books and periodicals.
Attached to the museum are the departments of physics and
chemistry. The former of these is contained in a separate
REPORT. 4.11 9
building adjoining the museum. The Clarendon Physical Labo- Physics at
ratory, under the direction of Professor Clifton, F.R.S., the Oxford-
professor of experimental physics, is one of the most complete in
this country, and was built at a cost of about 12,000l. It
contains a series of rooms clustered round a central hall, ﬁtted
with glass cases for the storage of apparatus, and a roomy and
well arranged lecture theatre, together with workshops and other“
necessary adjuncts The several rooms set apart for the students’
work are designed with special reference to the branch of physics
which the student desires to pursue; thus, certain rooms are
occupied by optical apparatus, and are used solely for experi-
ments on light, others are ﬁtted with the necessary arrangements
for experiments on heat, and so on. The professor only admits
to these practical courses, such graduates or undergraduates as
have sufﬁcient- mathematical knowledge to beneﬁt from his ad-
vanced teaching, and as are capable of handling with the requisite
care the expensive and delicate apparatus with which they have
to work. The large amount of personal attention which the
professor and the university demonstrator are obliged to give to
each student working in this laboratory, prevents the classes from
being numerous; about twelve students work at optics, and about
eight or ten at heat.
The Chemical Laboratories under the direction of Professor Chemical
Odling, F.R.S., have been enlarged since the museum was built, Iabomtomes-
by 64: places, and now give accommodation for 88 students. The
number working at the time of the Commissioners’ visit was 51.
In addition to the University laboratory, Christchurch has a
special chemical laboratory under Mr. Vernon Harcourt, F.R.S.,
and Balliol a smaller one under Mr. Dixon, whilst inter-collegiate
lectures on the various science subjects are given to supplement
‘those of the University professors. Magdalen College has also
instituted a physiological and chemical laboratory.
The arrangements and facilities for the study of medicine and Physiology_
the preliminary science subjects are not so advanced at present
at Cxford as at Cambridge; the appointment of Dr. Sanderson
as the Linacre Professor of Physiology will, it is expected,
greatly promote the study of medical science in the University.
.1’ he Art Galleries and Schools of Art form an important Qxford m
feature in the educational establishments of Oxford. Professor galleries
Ruskin’s school is chiefly devoted to landscape and water-colour and schools of
drawing, and is open to undergraduates and others. A valuable '
collection of works by Turner and other masters has been
presented to the University by Mr. Ruskin, and is much used
for copying.
The Government Art School is situated in the basement of the
Art Galleries, and is insuﬂiciently accommodated. It is attended
by from 50 to 60 students, mostly young, none of whom carry
on designing or advanced work.
1) n 2
4520‘ ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION 2
Cambridge
science
teaching.
Scientiﬁc
institutions
and labora-
tories.
The Cavendish
Laboratory.
XIII—CAMBRIDGE.
The Commissioners were informed, that previous to the year
1871, no practical teaching of science was carried on in the
University, with the exception of chemistry. In that year, the
late Professor Maxwell was appointed professor of physics, and
designed the Cavendish physical laboratory presented to the
University by the Chancellor, the Duke of Devonshire; and
Professor Michael Foster was elected as lecturer on physiology
in Trinity College. From the above year, up to the present time,
science teaching in almost every branch has been instituted, of
at once the most advanced and the most practical character.
Maxwell’s inﬂuence on the examination system of the university,
by introducing physical problems in addition to the more purely
mathematical subjects formerly in vogue, has been of the highest
importance ; and that of Professor Foster equally so in another
direction, viz., that of encouraging and developing the teaching of
the biological sciences, as forming an important part of the scientiﬁc
training for the profession of medicine. Other eminent Cambridge
men, Lord Rayleigh, Professors Stokes, Humphreys, Liveing,
Dewar, Vines, Mr. Coutts-Trotter, and the late Professor Balfour
among the number, have done much to assist in this matter ; and
there is no doubt that the authorities of the University generally,
are at the present time fully alive to the importance of these
practical scientiﬁc studies, and are determined to push forward
and co-ordinate the still somewhat unsystematic efforts which
are being made by the diﬁbrent colleges in this direction. The
energy and activity which is thus being displayed at Cambridge
is very remarkable.
Of the various scientiﬁc institutions and laboratories now existing
at Cambridge, the most important are : (1) the Cavendish Physical
Laboratory under Professor Lord Rayleigh; (2) the Physiological
and Morphological Laboratories, under Professor Foster and
Mr. Sedgwick; the Chemical Department under Professors
Liveing and Dewar; (4!) the Geological Museum under Pre-
fessor Hughes ; (5) the Mineralogical Collection (Professor Lewis) ;
(6) the Mechanical Workshops of Professor James Stuart; (7)
the Fitzwilliam Museum; besides (8) the purely professional
departments of medicine under Professor Humphreys and others.
(1.) The Cavendish Laboratory—This laboratory, which is
one of the most complete of its kind, was designed by Professor
Clerk Maxwell, and since his death the direction has devolved
upon Lord Rayleigh. There are special rooms for optical
research, for exact measurements of different kinds, and for
special physical research in all its branches. The Professor is
assisted by two demonstrators, Messrs. Glazebrook and Shaw,
who undertake the elementary instruction of about 45 students,
carrying on a speciﬁc course of practical work. The demand
for this tuition is steadily increasing, the attendance having
trebled in the last three years. The fee for working in the
laboratory is two guineas per term. There is no endowment in
REPoRr. 421
connection with the department, but a fund amounting to 2,000l.
has been raised at the instigation of Lord Rayleigh, for the
purchase of apparatus. The senior students attend lectures on
advanced electricity, given by Lord Rayleigh, who is himself
engaged in original physical research, and great stimulus is
thus given to the higher work of the students, who assist him.
(2.) The Biological Department at Cambridge has grown from Biological
very small beginnings in 1871 to a very complete and extensive depal'ﬂgeilé
department at the present time, in buildings specially arranged at cm H gig’
for the purpose. In the physiological laboratories, 120 students
are at present receiving instruction under Professor Foster,
assisted by two demonstrators, whilst no less than 80 students
are studying morphology in separate laboratories, (designed by
the late Professor Balfour), under Mr. Adam Sedgwick. Most of
the students are preparing for the medical profession ; the total
number of the medical students of the three years now at
Cambridge amounting to 200. Ladies from Girton and
Newnham also attend these laboratories. The cost of these
buildings was about 11,000l., and a considerable sum for the
maintenance of the department will be set apart, under the new
University scheme, from the funds of the various colleges. In
connection with this department is a valuable museum of
comparative anatomy, under Professor Macalister, and a h erbarium
and botanical laboratory, recently arranged by Professor Vines.
(3.) Chemical Department—This department, so far as build- Cambridge“
ings and accommodation are concerned, is very insuﬂicient. flggglrltclint
A sum of 30,000l. has, however, lately been voted for building a I
complete set of chemical laboratories and lecture rooms. There
are about 185 students of chemistry in the University, of whom
about one- third are medical students. The fee for attending the
chemical laboratory is two guineas per term, with an additional
178. for apparatus.
Owing to a change which has recently taken place in the
statutes, students taking the mathematical degrees are allowed
to study natural science in the latter part of their course. Few
students have time or inclination for original research.
(4.) Geological Masenm.-—This consists of the renowned \Voodwardian
Woodwardian Museum of Geology and of a large number of geological
collections illustrative of economic geology. The museum has museum‘
been raised to its present position by the labours of the late
Prof. Sedgwick, to whom the existing museum buildings,
commenced in 1835, owe their origin. These“ valuable collections
are employed by Prof. T. McK. Hughes in his lectures. A detailed
description of the collection, and of the technical courses which
the Professor would wish to see established in Cambridge, will be
found in the Appendix, Vol. IV.
The mineralogical collection at Cambridge is one of great Mineralogical
value and completeness, having been chieﬂy formed by the colleen“-
late Prof. W. H. Miller. The department is now under the
charge of Prof. Lewis.
422 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Mechanical
workshops of
Prof. Stuart,
Cambridge
University.
Prof. Stuart’s
opinion on
the value of
mechanical
laboratories.
(6.) The Mechanical Workshops of Professor Stuart—An
interesting feature of the present scientiﬁc activity at Cambridge
is the experiment inaugurated by Prof. Stuart about ﬁve years
ago, by the establishment of a department for carrying on
practical work in machine construction. Prof. Stuart‘s intention
in establishing this department is to enable the sons of manu-
facturers and others who are sent to the University, to obtain
instruction of a kind likely to be of immediate practical value
in their subsequent calling. On inspecting the workshops, which
are still unﬁnished and in gradual course of erection, the
Commissioners were impressed with the bona ﬁde character of the
work. The department contains a ﬁtting shop, smithy, a small
erecting shop, and a draughtsman’s oﬁice, together with a cupola
and casting shed. About 412 students were working at the time
of the visit. All the men go through a regularly prescribed
course of work, special attention being paid to the instruction
in mechanical and machine drawing, which is made the
foundation of all the teaching in the shops. The system of
tuition is arranged on the basis of an actual mercantile establish-
ment. The rate of wages fol‘ each student is ﬁxed, the cost
of material and the time employed being accurately noted and
entered in a ledger, so that the cost of every article produced
can be ascertained. An examination of the register of attendance
showed that 20 students had in eight weeks attended 725 times
and worked 2,121 hours, giving an average of 41-;- attendances
of 3 hours’ duration per student per week. For the purpose
of instructing the students, ﬁve or six skilled mechanics are
employed, who are paid the average wages of their class. Of
these, two are former students of the University, who, having
gone through the course, remain as paid workmen. The work in
progress during the Commissioners’ visit was of a most diverse
kind; some of the most advanced students were constructing
dynamo-machines, steam engines, telegraphic and electrical
apparatus, &c.
On inquiring as to the previous training of men coming to the
University from public schools, and attending his workshops,
Prof. Stuart informed the Commissioners that only on one occasion
had he found a man who had any knowledge of linear drawing.
In conversation with the Commissioners, on being asked
whether he considered that practical instruction in a factory
could to any extent be replaced by theoretical work and laboratory
instruction, Professor Stuart said, “ Certainly not.” He would
attach the theoretical work to be done in the evening, to the
practical work they were doing in the daytime in the regular
workshops. If he could work out his plan thoroughly in a
large manufacturing town, such, for instance, as Manchester, he
believed that engineers and large employers would after a time
admit that it would be an advantage to them to have such a
shop as his in the town. At the present time the pupils or
apprentices are either working by themselves or they are not.
If by themselves, they are at some rough work ; if they are not,
nnron'r. 423
practical men have to be paid to look after them. But in most
shops you would be told, "' All we can do is to take young men,
to pick up at best what they can.” He would be happy in such
a shop to take the young engineer when he could be spared
from his other work, in the summer time or at night. If the
employer had thorough conﬁdence in the instruction he was able
to give, he would offer premium prizes to the best apprentices,
and let them pay off their indenture fees by means of prizes
gained at the technical school. By that means it would be
possible to create a most useful class of foremen. He thought it
would not do to send a young man to be trained as a foreman
in a college, after he had been three or four years at the works.
If he were called upon to manage a large engineering concern,
one of the earliest things he would do would be to get a
thoroughly good man to give night school instruction in pure
science and mathematics to the most promising apprentices, and
he would give lads the right of having three or four hours
daily of such instruction in the daytime. He thought that good
steady lads would proﬁt by this teaching so much that he should
be more than repaid its cost.
(7.) The Commissioners visited the Fitzwilliam Museum, under
the guidance of Dr. Porter, the Vice—Chancellor of the University,
and Prof. Sidney Colvin, the Slade Professor of Art. The collec~
tions in the museum consist of ancient and modern pictures, anti-
quities, casts from the antique, and a very ﬁne collection of wood
engravings, and prints from the early masters, and an art library.
The students of the University are allowed to copy the pictures
exhibited in the galleries, and the library is open daily to students,
of whom some few are undergraduates. Prof. Colvin lectures on
various subjects connected with the history of art, and ﬁnds his
lectures well attended; but there is no practical instruction in
drawing or painting given at Cambridge, as is the case with
the Slade schools of London and Oxford.
In addition to the above-mentioned scientiﬁc institutions
immediately connected with the University, there are at Cam-
.bridge not a few laboratories and museums attached to the
various colleges; thus, for example, in Caius College, which is
essentially a medical college, there are 50 men at the present
time studying practical chemistry in a small and very inadequate
laboratory, containing working room for 22 men, under Mr. Pat-
tison Muir. rl‘here is another small laboratory in St. John’s
College. In addition to lectures given by Profs. Liveing and
Dewar, special courses on chemistry are given in the various
colleges by Messrs. Muir, Main, Hicks, and Lewis.
The Cambridge Scientiﬁc Instrument Oo.——As another illus-
tration of the scientiﬁc activity at Cambridge, this institution
must be mentioned. It was founded by two university men,
Messrs. Dew-Smith and Horace Darwin, for the purpose of the
manufacture and sale of scientiﬁc instruments of the highest
and most delicate character. The necessity for those engaged in
Fitzwilliam
Museum.
College
laboratories.
Cambridge
Scientiﬁc
Instrument
Company.
4241 ROYAL CoMMIssIoN ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
General
opinion at
Cambridge
as to science
instruction.
Prof. Foster’s
opinion.
Elementary
instruction of
the Manchester
School Board.
scientific work, of the existence in their neighbourhood of scientiﬁc
instrument makers, has long been acknowledged by the German
universities, where a university mechanic is always to be found.
To supply this want, the above gentlemen undertook the esta-
blishment of the business. The instruments made are especially
for delicate physiological research, and others requiring great
precision. The scientiﬁc knowledge and skill of the promoters
enables them not only to make all the well known instruments
required by men of science, but also to design and construct
new apparatus for special purposes.
In conversation with the University Professors on the subject ,
of scientiﬁc instruction, the Commissioners were told that the
great drawback at present in Cambridge is the want of co-
ordination of the different scientiﬁc studies. This, however,
thanks chieﬂy to the efforts of Mr. Coutts-Trotter, of Trinity
College, is gradually being remedied, so that a student coming
up to Cambridge, and desirous of adopting‘ a scientiﬁc career,
will in future have equal facilities with one who goes in for
purely classical or mathematical studies. The tendency has
hitherto been to make a man feel that a liberal education must
necessarily conduct him to the Church or to the Bar. The
college tutors, whose business it is to advise the freshman, and
inform him of how he is to get his teaching, have, as a rule,
been ignorant of science, and even of the facilities which Cam-
bridge possesses for carrying on a scientiﬁc education; moreover,
the science Professors have more or less been free lanc-es, each
doing the best he could for his own subject. It is intended that
the system of intercollegiate lectures shall bring the subjects
chosen by the several Professors into co-ordination.
Respecting the method of teaching science, Prof. Foster
expressed his opinion that the ﬁrst duty of a good Professor was
to create men who should carry his own work further, and that
the highest work of the head of a department is the education of
a few good men who are to be equal to himself. His plan was,
therefore, to train up his demonstrators so that they could take
the advanced men. He believes that so far as the students are
concerned, the Professor should take the elementary lecture
classes, leaving the advanced lectures to the men he had
trained.
XIV.—~MANOHESTER.
The Commissioners inspected many of the schools under the
direction of the School Board of the city of Manchester. The
average attendance in this city for the quarter ending September
1883, was, voluntary schools, 25,736, and board schools, 19,992,
or 1 every 7'5 of the population, and the cost to the rate-
payers during the last ﬁve years has been 201. in the .-.E. Statistics
REPORT. ' ~ 4025
of the School Board and particulars of the visits paid to the
schools will be found in the Appendix, Vol. IV.
The points of special interest as regards Technical Instruction Manchester -
_‘ are. (1) the foundation by the Board of so-called graded schools, hlisher _
or higher elementary schools, into which the more advanced or 6 mental
. most talented children from the primary school can be drafted,
schools.
' and Where the higher subjects, especially science and drawing,
are taught more satisfactorily and more economically than can
be done in a school containing children of all ages and of all stages
' of progress; (2) the establishment by the Board of a systematic Science
series of Science and Art evening classes, as well as of evening teaching and
_, - - - - - - 1- - evening classes
schools ‘for PI'OVIdIDg mstructlon 1n reading, wilting, and under School) ’
arithmetic, for those who have had no opportunity or learning Board,
. when young; the establishment of classes for instruction in "Manual-work,
the use of tools, in two of the Manchester Board Schools. -
' Of the higher elementary schools two may serve as examples. Central School-
_ The ﬁrst and most remarkable of these is the Central School in
Peter Street, taken over by the Board in 1880, and now trans-
ferred to new and most complete premises in Deansgate. The
results of the science teaching in this school are well worthy of
notice. Out of a total of 320 boys, 276 have passed Standard VI,
and are taught during the day, mathematics, physiology, chemistry
(both practical and theoretical), sound, light and heat, magnetism
and electricity, physical geography, and mechanics. French, too,
is taught throughout the school. A girls’ higher elementary
school forms one-half of the building; of the scholars of which
‘93 are above Standard VI.
During the past year the following science classes have been
formed, and in May 1884: the pupils will be examined :—
Mathematics, Stage IL, A. - -_ - 341
B. - - - — 49
,, ,, I. C. - - - 4:3
' L_D. - - - - 95
Physiology, elementary stage, and Hygiene - 62 each
Chemistry, practical, class A., advanced - - 40
,, ,, ' ,, A., elementary - - 25
:7 n n B- :9 _ ,, ,, ,, C. and D. ,, - - 80
,, theoretical, class A., advanced - - 32
,, ,, ,, A., elementary - 40
n :2 >2 >2 " ‘ " ,, ,, ,, C. and D. ,, - 96
Sound, light, and heat, class A., advanced - - 26
,, ,, ,, A., elementary - 26
:2 n a: B’ M - Magnetism and Electricity, class A., advanced - 4*3
,, ,, ,, A., elementary - 16
a: n a) B —
:2 v a: C.’ D‘ I '
426 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Manchester
Central School.
Results of
science exa-
mmations.
Practical
chemistry.
Scholarships.
Physiography, advanced - - - - 10
Theoretical Mechanics — - - 12
Practical Organic Chemistry, advanced - - 1 1
,, ,, ,, elementary - - 14:
Theoretical ,, ,, advanced - - 11
,, ,, ,, elementary - — 'l 4
The following are the results of the examination held by the


Science and Art Department in May 1883 :—
ADVANCED. ELEMENTARY.
1st Class. 2nd Class. 1st Class. 2nd Class.
Mathematics - - - - 9 10 2 40
Physiology - - - - - - - 6 -_ --
Practical Inorganic Chemistry - - 7 9 29 42
Theoretical Inorganic Chemistry - 8 10 23 40
Acoustics, Light, and Heat - - 4 8 4 63
Magnetism and Electricity - - 2 11 35 7 9
Physiography - - - - — -— '7 2
Theoretical Mechanics - - - - -- 8 2
Practical Organic Chemistry - - - _ 11 8
Theoretical Organic Chemistry - - — —- 17 2
2ND GRADE. 18']? GRADE.
E. G. E. G.
Freehand Drawing - - - — 6 21 69
Geometrical Drawing - - - —— 1 14 34
Model Drawing - - - 1 6 6 34
Perspective Drawing - - - - 1 2 -- —-
Drawing to Scale - - - -- -— 5 13


The total grant from the Science and Art Department earned
by this school in 18828 was 398Z. Practical Chemistry is
extremely well taught ; no less than 163 boys, of whom 28 are
advanced pupils, were engaged in laboratory work in the winter
1883-41, as well as 20 girls, and the new school buildings in
Deansgate contain a laboratory well ﬁtted and arranged for
70 boys working at once, with a lecture room attached seating
100. Every boy in the school learns drawing upon the South
Kensington method.
To the b)ys’ school is attached one for 200 girls, and
20 scholarships exist for necessitous boys and girls from the
primary schools. These are of the greatest service as they form
the ﬁrst step in the ladder by which a talented boy may climb from
the board school to the University. Other scholarships take the
boy from this higher elementary to the Manchester Grammar
School, and others again from that to the University. Several
boys have already accomplished this feat.
REPORT. 427
ri‘he other higher elementary school visited is that in Ducie Dacia Avenue
Avenue.
departments ; it cost, with land, ﬁttings, and chemical laboratory,
about 11,000l. The upper school fee is 90l. per week, the lower
6d. and 4rd. Both boys and girls are taught science, and both
(viz., 69 boys and 416 girls) work in the chemical laboratory,
which is in a separate building, well lighted and ventilated, and
having a special class-room attached; of the boys 136 are in
Standards VI. and VII., or above, and of the girls 96. The
grants earned by this school from the Science and Art Depart-
ment were 112l.; and this, together with the school pence, more
than cover its working expenses.
These two schools may be taken as an example of what can
be accomplished by the School Board in a large city, even with as
low a rate as 2d. in the pound; and although in appliances of
certain kinds these schools are less completely furnished than
many Continental schools, your Commissioners have seen none
which surpassed them in general efficiency, or in the tuition of
any special subject, except in that of drawing. The Appendix
contains further details of these schools.
In addition to the day schools, the Board each winter conducts
elementary evening schools, for providing instruction in reading,
writing, and arithmetic, for such persons as had not the
opportunity of learning when young.
In the year of our visit, 1882, the Board opened 19 such
schools (32 separate departments), and in the second week of
the session no less than 2,690 pupils were present.
The schools meet on three evenings per week, for two hours.
In 1878-79, 37 per cent. of the pupils in attendance were in
the Upper Standards.
70 per cent. were examined by Her Majesty’s
Inspector, in the Upper Standards.’
,, 1880
In addition to the above, the Board have also Science and
Art and other classes as follows :—--
Science and Art ~ 117 classes.
French - - - 14 ,,
German - - - - 5 ,,
Latin - — - 2 ,, ,
Spanish — - - 2 ,,
Shorthand — - — 5 ,,
Singing - - - 6 ,,
The number of pupils at the above classes for the winter
season 1881-82 is shown by the following table :—
This is a new school containing 900 children in four School,
Manchester.
Board school
evening classes.
428
ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Science and
Art classes
under the
Manchester
School Board.
Handicraft
work in
Manchester
Board schools.
TOTAL NUMBER. of Forms attending the SCIENCE AND ART
CLASSES conducted by the Board, 1881—82.


N0. of Subject. Subject. I. Geometry - - _ - - 113
11. Machine construction - - - 87
III, Building construction - - - - 6]
V, Mathematics - - - - 640
VI, Mechanics—Theoretical - - - 17
VII. ,, Applied - - - 27
VIII. Acoustics - - - - _ 472
IX, Magnetism and electricity _ — - 589
X. Chemistry, inorganic - - - 509
Xp. , , , , practical - - 189
XI. ,, organic - - - 32
Xlp. ,. ,, practical - - 14
XIV. Physiology — - 384
XV. Botany - - - — - 47
XVI. and XVII. Biology - - - - - 10
XXII. Steam - - - - 20
XXIII. Physiography ~ — — - 81
XXIV. Agriculture - - - - 25
Drawing, 2nd grade - — - - 392
a) 3rd :7 ' ‘ " 37
,, teachers - - - - 7 6
Total - - - - 3,822


Attendance at other subjects taught in the Board school
evening classes were :-—-
Subject. No. of Pupils.
French - - - 229
German - 413
Latin - - 29
Spanish - - 33
Shorthand - - — 220
Singing - - 254
Exercises in the use of tools have been introduced into two
schools with marked success. The work is superintended by the
School Board carpenter, and the boys are eager to attend the
instruction, which is given before and during the usual school
hours. The rooms in which the work is carried on are distinct
from the schools proper, and are furnished with joiners’ benches,
of the French type, costing ll. 28. each, at which two boys work,
the cost of the set of tools for each boy being ll. 23. 5d.
Each school is also provided with one lathe, procured from
La Villette, at Paris, at the cost of 61. There are 24 boys
engaged in the one school, and 18 in the other. The Manchester
School Board has undertaken this work experimentally, and
has not as yet entered it in the time-table; but an entry has
been made in the log-book indicating this deviation, and Her
Majesty’s Inspector has not raised any objection. The boys
REPORT. 4129
work 1%; hours per day at each school. The carpenter’s wages
are 2Z. 2s. per week, and he devotes about half his time to the
instruction.
The school also contains a large collection of models and other
illustrations bought in Paris by the Board. We were pleased
to ﬁnd that this action of the Manchester School Board, taken
in consequence of the recommendations made in our First
Report, is appreciated, and likely to be followed by others. Of
the advantages of such a training in manual work there can be
no doubt.
M'essrs. M miller and Platt's Workshop School.——This is a private Messrs A/{ather
technical evening school, established and supported by the ﬁrm Lasts
for the beneﬁt of their apprentices. school, Slalford.
Under the guidance of Mr. Mather, we inspected the school
room and examined specimens of the students’ drawings.
Mr. Mather stated that there are 68 scholars in the school,
which is designed to provide science teaching for the apprentices
employed in the works. No strangers are ad mitted for instruction.
The drawings are of work actually in progress in the works.
The teacher lectures upon them, and explains and makes calcu-
lations, and the boys the next day at the Works see the very
thing they have heard about here. They are allowed to go
through the shop in all directions with the teacher from time to
time. Everything required (patterns and models) is brought
here full size. The great feature is that in the workshop they
have the actual things being made under their own observation,
and which have to be sold. The parts upon which they are
working here in detail, they afterwards sec made up as a whole.
In Mr. Mather’s opinion, you must bring the school to the Advantage of
workshop; you cannot bring the workshop to the school. g‘llfkslhoP
Bringing the school to the workshop is simple and inexpensive. c 00 s‘
The teachers here are draughtsmen in the works, and by this
teaching they add to their ordinary income. The teacher
explained that the boys are not allowed to copy drawings;
everything is drawn to a different scale from the ﬂat copy, or
the pupils have to draw from actual patterns or pieces of
machinery used in the shops. Interesting details with respect to
this school are found in the Appendix. ‘
Mr. Mather pointed out that the advantage of the teachers being
persons employed in the works, and being trained in this school,
rather than in science classes, is that he knows what each person
is working at every day, and has the opportunity of pointing
out something connected with the work he is doing. The teaching
has an actual bearing on his every day work. The students are
rewarded not only for proﬁciency in drawing, but for regular
attendance, and actual proﬁciency in their manual work. lt is
also a condition of employment that they should be regular in
their attendance here.
In reply to the question as to the advantage which the works Mr. _Mather‘s
have derived from the establishment of these schools, Mr. Mather oPimons
430 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
on technical
instruction of
artizans.
Manchester
Building
Trades
Institute.
\
replied:—-“ An incalculable advantage. We desire to send out
“ abroad yearly one, two, or more, thoroughly competent men,
“ who shall not be simply mechanics in the ordinary sense of
“ the word, but who shall be able to turn their attention to
“ anything coming under their notice, whether they have done
‘ the thing before, or not (they are sent out simply as mechanics).
“ We had the greatest difficulty in ﬁnding such men, until we
“ began to take them from this school, and since the school has
“ been established we have been able to send boys at 20 to. 21
“ to long distances from England, and to place in their hands
“ work which they have not had much to do with before, and
“ by their own intelligence they have made competent teachers
“ of others, and given the greatest satisfaction. Thus one was
“ sent out only a few years ago not quite out of his apprenticeship,
“ and is now getting Al. per week.”
Again, he stated that most of his mechanics are members of the
Amalgamated Society of Engineers, and this society not only shows
no jealousy in any way of the systems adopted, either of tuition
or of giving early employment to boys when they are ﬁt for
putting on good jobs ; but, on the contrary, they seem to like it,
I\
and are pleased at the lads’ progress; and he can say the same .
with respect to the trades generally that are employed in the
works.
In reply to the question whether the foremen had any jealousy
of the teacher, Mr. Jones, the teacher, replied,——“ There is no
“ jealousy whatever. lThey are always ready to give me assistance
“ as a teacher.”
Mr. Mather is not aware of any other works in the neighbour~
hood of Manchester, or even in Lancashire, where this teaching
method is adopted.
The manager of Messrs. Mather and Platt’s works remarked,
as regards the inﬂuence of the school upon the workshop :—
Instead of requiring draughtsmen to look after every separate
job, the young fellows who are growing up now can make
their own drawings, work to them, and ﬁt the work together
and erect it, where it used to require a separate man for each
department. The men are most intelligent, and understand,
and can execute, their work much better and at a much earlier
age. We form thus our own foremen from the boys who have
been in the school. We do not ﬁnd any dissatisfaction or
awkwardness with the trade union.”
Man chcster and Salforrl Building Trades’ Institute for
Technical Education—The evening classes of this Institute
were inspected by the Commissioners.
The following is a concise statement'of the rise and progress
of the Institute, made by Mr. Parnell (for further details, see
Appendix) :—
“ During the year 1867 Professor Jevons brought forward the
Scheme of Technical Education and laid it before the various
trades of this country.
I‘ a a n A a '\ (\ l\
A A a a q a a ,. A
REPORT. 431
“ It was taken up by the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters Manchester
and Joiners of Great Britain, and in various towns there was a irgﬁglégglmtg
strong movement made to inaugurate classes for teaching the tute. \
technical portion in connection with the various branches of the
building trade.
“ In February 1868 the Executive Council of the Society
decided to lend small sums of money to members, in localities
where a class could be commenced with a probability of success.
“ In October 1869 the Institute became affiliated to the
Lancashire and Cheshire Union of Institutes, which led to the
classes being placed under the inspection of the Science and Art
Department at South Kensington.
“ The students of this Institute have been four times successful
in winning the special prize for building construction, given in
connection with the Union of Institutes (viz., three ﬁrst-class
Advanced and one ﬁrst-class Elementary).
“ The number of students who have joined the classes in each
year are as follows :—
1868-69 - ~ 200 1875-76 — - 76
1869-70 — - 100 1876-77 - - 89
1870-71 - - 80 1877-78 - - 69
1871-72 - - 82 1878-79 - - 59
1872-73 - - 88 1879-80 - - 79
1873-74 - — 107 1880-81 — - 35
1874-75 - - 84 1881-82 - — 40

“ The number of those who have remained in the classes the
whole of the session and were examined, has been on an average
one-third of those who have entered the class each session.
Among many causes operating to effect this diminution of
numbers is the uncertain state of the building trade at Christmas
and New Year; it is also found that the interest in the class
work diminishes after the ﬁrst three months, many do not like
to start at the bottom of the ladder and climb steadily up. The
name of “examination” as the time draws nigh, also frightens
others. This class draws all its members from the building
trade solely, among which many are young men from country
villages, whose education has until recently been of a very poor
kind, many not being able to spell or write properly, so that
it will be seen that it is a heavy up-hill task that this
Institute has been doing with the limited amount of means at
hand.
“For the ﬁrst six years the Master Builders’ Association gave
an annual subscription of 10l., which they then discontinued.
Several other gentlemen gave a guinea a year for the ﬁrst four
years. The Manchester Society of Architects have come forward
and given prizes to be competed for yearly, since the ﬁrst year
of its commencement. Other gentlemen have done likewise, but
have dropped off one by one, and now the Society of Architects
as a body, and two individual members, alone are donors of
prizes.
432 ROYAL CoMMIssIoN 0N TECHNICAL INsTRUCTIoN:
Manchester
Technical
School.
Description of
the school.
“This Institute was the ﬁrst in this district to take up
technical education in its entirety, by having a teacher who was
practically and theoretically qualiﬁed to teach the subject of
building construction. There have been a large number of
students passed from this Institute who have taken up posit-ions
as foremen and clerks of works, and even become master
builders.”
It is thought that the master builders have not sufficiently
encouraged these classes by advising their apprentices to attend
them; an opinion was expressed that such attendance ought to
be made obligatory on all apprentices.
Manchester Tech/nical School.—In the beginning of 1882
deﬁnite efforts were made with the view of utilising the Man-
chester Mechanics’ Institution exclusively as a technical school,
the instruction in which should be especially adapted to the
needs of the local industries.
On the 28th July 1882, a meeting of gentlemen interested in
the subject was held at the house of Mr. Oliver Heywood, at
which Mr. Philip Magnus, the Director and Secretary of the City
and Guilds of London Institute, was present, and announced that
the Institute was willing to give a donation of 100i. and a
contribution of 200i. a year for three years in support of a
suitably equipped technical school. The meeting cordially
approved the idea of adapting the Mechanics’ Institution to the
purposes of technical instruction. Subsequent meetings were
held, and on the 27th December 1882 the Manchester Mechanics’
Institution passed from the control of its former directors into
the hands of a new council composed of representatives of the
Corporations and School Boards of Manchester and Salford, the
Victoria University, the Owens College, the Manchester Chamber
of Commerce, the School of Art, the City and Guilds of London
Institute, together with gentlemen prominently engaged in the
chief staple industries of the district.
The classes for the session 1882—83 being already in active
work, the new Council was chiefly engaged during the spring
and summer in making the extensive structural alterations
required to carry out their plans; in the preparation of a
syllabus, the selection of a suitable teaching staff, and in raising
subscriptions.
During the summer the large room on the ground ﬂoor was
ﬁtted up as a mechanical engineering workshop, and supplied
with 3-,lz-HP. “ Otto ” gas engine, a 6-inch centre lathe, a 6” by
8” slotting machine, one drilling machine, a grindstone, 12 vice
benches, Whitworth screwing tackle, gauges and surface plates,
and with other needful appliances. On the same floor a large
room has been fitted up as a technical museum, in which there
is now placed a collection of large-sized building construction
models designed and made by the teacher, numerous examples
of building timbers, stones and marbles, samples of all kinds of
plumbers’ joints, perfect and defective, dye-stuffs, 8:0. The
REPORT. 433
" ~ upwards of 80 students.
v and Barlow of Bolton.
school contains three’ laboratories, (1.) for pure chemistry;
(2.) for metallurgy, with nine wind furnaces; for dyeing
‘bleaching, and printing; together having accommodation for
Extensive alterations have been made
in the lecture hall, which has been furnished and lighted for the
purposes of instruction in. elementary drawing and design, for
which it is admirably suited. On the upper ﬂoor a large room
has been furnished exclusively for mechanical drawing. The
Walls are ﬁtted with glass cases which contain numerous examples
illustrative of mechanical and geometrical drawing. The room
is specially lighted, and has bench accommodation for 90 students,
who may either sit or stand. All drawing boards, T-squares,
and paper, are provided gratis by the school. Cn this ﬂoor are
two well arranged'lecture rooms with rising seats, each affording
accommodation for 100 students. In addition,~the building
contains numerous class rooms of the ordinary type. One of
the large rooms is about to be ﬁtted with a system of cotton
spinning machinery of the value of 6171., given by Messrs. Dobson
For the department of weaving and
design, as applied to the goods manufactured in this district,
ﬁve looms (three given by Messrs. Atherton of Preston and two
by Messrs. John Dugdale of Blackburn) are being made, together
with other appliances for the full practical illustration of the
subject. '
The syllabus of the school embraces a boys’ day school, in
which instruction in science is one of the most important
features; special day courses in science and technology;
evening commercial classes, Science and Art classes under the
Science and Art Department, technological classes under the
City and Guilds of London Institute, and other independent
technologicalclasses; in all about 70 in number.
The fees in the boys’ day school (in which there are 90 pupils)
are 2i. per term, which includes lessons in practical joinery and
practical chemistry, and various science subjects. The fees in
the evening science classes vary from 23. 6d. per session of two
terms for ordinary subjects of science to 108. (with all re-agents
and apparatus provided) in practical chemistry.
The teaching staff consists of 32 teachers whose salaries (all
being paid ﬁxed sums varying from 51. to 250i. per annum, with no
share in Government grant or fees) amount to about 1,8005.
The total. number of individual evening students is about 1,200.
There are 1410 students in the machine-drawing classes, ‘160
in the classes for geometry, 69 in building construction, 80 in
chemistry, 40 in practical joinery, 40 in letterpress printing,
30 in telegraphy, 24s in electrical instrument making, 90 in
1nc thematics, 36 in bleaching, dyeing, and printing, 61 in cotton
manufacture and weaving and design, 111 in drawing and
design, 36 in carriage building, 820. The total subscriptions
and donations now reach 7,910Z. 28., being 1,801Z. in donations
and upwards of 2,0001}. per annum for three years. The fees
Ri 1726. E E
bis
Manchester
echnical
chool.
Syllabus of
classes.
Fees.
Teaching [it
staff. 2
4.34 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Award of
scholarships.
Manchester
Grammar
School.
received from students from September 30 to December 31 were
about 700l.
The school was formally opened for the session 1883-84: on
Thursday, September 27th, by the Chairman of this Commission.
At the meeting the prizes, exhibitions, and scholarships, gained
by the students of the old Mechanics’ Institution in the session
1882—83, were given. The following summary is interesting as
showing the extent to which the Institution was already
successfully achieving the objects of technological instruction.
The examinations in connection with the session of 1882—83,
which were held in May last, resulted as follows :—
Two Whitworth Scholarships, each of the value of lOOl.
One Whitworth Scholarship, of the value of 100l., to the Local
Exhibitioner at Dublin Royal College of Science.
One Royal Exhibition, value 50l. per annum, for three years,
with free tuition.
One Royal Scholarship, for two years, value 50l. per annum,
with free tuition, to the Local Exhibitioner at Dublin Royal
College of Science.
Three Free Studentships oﬂ'ered, each for three years, at the
Royal School of Mines, London.
The “ Roscoe ” Scholarship of 10l. per annum, for three years,
at the Owens College.
The “ Thomasson ” Scholarship of 10l. per annum, for three
years, at the Owens College.
The “ Mather ” Scholarship of 10l. per annum, for two years,
at the Owens College.
An Evening Exhibition of the Union of Lancashire and
Cheshire Institutes, in dyeing, bleaching, and printing, of
2l. 10s. per annum, for two years.
Three First Prizes in drawing and design, from the Union
of Lancashire and Cheshire Institutes.
Two silver and two bronze medals of the City and Guilds of
London Institute; and 15l. in prizes.
Two bronze medals of the Science and Art Department.
156 Queen’s Science and Art Prizes.
425 Science and Art Certiﬁcates.
65 Technological Certiﬁcates.
139 Commercial Certiﬁcates.
The Allan and Newton (Amalgamated Society of Engineers)
Memorial Prize of 5l. 12s. 80l. in books.
Manchester Gram/mar School—This is one of the largest and
most eﬁicient and ﬂourishing of the modernized grammar schools
existing in the country. It was founded in 1515, but placed on
a new footing in 1867. The number of boys is now over 900,
and more than 80,000l. has been spent on enlarged and most
complete buildings, containing spacious gymnasium, class rooms,
lecture theatre, drawing hall, library, dining rooms, and an admir-
ably ﬁtted chemical laboratory under the direction of Mr. F. Jones,
REPORT. 435
E.C.S. The modern and science sides of the school have been
developed within the last 10 years, and are becoming more and
more popular with the parents. The science teaching is always
combined with a training in languages, either ancient or modern.
The school has been most successful in obtaining a large number
of Advanced and Honours science passes under the Science and
Art Department, and has won the greater distinction of carrying
off many University exhibitions and scholarships in science (to
the success in classics we do not here refer). All the boys learn
drawing. We had the advantage of a conversation with Mr. Dill,
M.A., the High Master (see Appendix), who informed us that the
boys coming up with scholarships from the Board schools, com-
pared very favourably with the other scholars. Several of them
have passed on to Oxford ; of these three had gained University
scholarships, and two had taken ﬁrst classes in the ﬁnal schools,
their parents being in a humble position in life.
Two hundred and ﬁfty of the boys are free or foundation
scholars, the rest pay 12 guineas per annum.
The drawing school is open in the evening, and attended by
from 100 to 120 students, who are chieﬂy artizans, and of these
about 90 per cent. are qualiﬁed to earn a Government grant (see
Appendix).
The Owens College, Victoria University—The Owens College
was established as a private trust in 1851, by a bequest of
100,000l. from John Owens, merchant, of Manchester, to found
a college in which “the subjects usually taught at the English
Universities ” shall be professed. This private trust was recon-
stituted, and the college incorporated by Act of Parliament in
1871, and large additions to the funds of the college have accrued
by donation and bequest.
The Victoria University, with its seat in the city of Man-
chester, and with Owens College as its single college at present,
was founded by Royal Charters in 1880 and 1882. The Victoria
University stands to Owens College, and the other colleges,
which, at a future time, may be incorporated, in the same
position as the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge stand to
the colleges in those Universities. It is therefore not a mere
examining board like the University of London, but a teaching
university, as only those students can be admitted to degrees in
science, arts, or medicine, who have studied under strict regula-
tions at one or other of the colleges of the University. The
government of the University consists of the Duke of Devonshire
as Chancellor, a Vice-Chancellor, the University Court, and the
University Council, whilst the academical arrangements for
examinations, the are placed under the direction of the Board of
Studies of the University, consisting of the examiners and of the
professors and lecturers of the University, the former of whom
are in part external to the teaching staff, the latter being pro~
fessors and lecturers in the Owens College. Although only in
an“
A
Manchester
Grammar
Soho ol.
The Owens
College.
Victoria Uni-
verity.
Its historya
436 norm. COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Victoria Uni_
versity.
The Owens
College
teaching staﬁ.
Laboratories
and museums.
College funds.
Courses of
study and
number of
students.
Evening
classes.
existence for a few years, the Victoria University has already
granted a considerable number of degrees in arts and science,
both in honours and the pass subjects, and the number of
candidates for these degrees, as for the more recently instituted
degrees in medicine and surgery, is now very considerable, and
there can be no doubt that the foundation of a teaching
university in the midst of the densely populated industrial
districts of Lancashire and Yorkshire, will in time do much to
stimulate and extend the higher education of the country.
The Owens College is governed by a President, the Duke of
Devonshire, a court of governors, an executive council, and an
academical senate. This latter body consists of 26 professors,
including the principal, Dr. Greenwood, who occupies the chair of
Greek. The scientiﬁc subjects are very fully represented. Then
there are two professors of chemistry, inorganic and organic,
besides four assistant lecturers and demonstrators; two pro-
fessors of physics, and one assistant lecturer and demonstrator ;
a professor of applied, and one of pure, mathematics, with two
assistant lecturers ; a professor of each of the subjects of botany,
biology, geology, and physiology, with assistant lecturers and
demonstrators in each of these departments; and, in addition,
a complete staff of professors and demonstrators for all the
subjects of medicine and surgery. The laboratories and lecture
rooms for chemistry are, perhaps, the most complete in the
country, and the same may be said for several of the other
scientiﬁc departments. Large biological and geological museums,
with very complete accommodation for teaching these subjects,
are now in course of erection.
The total funds of the college amount to upwards of 4400,000L,
the whole of this sum having been either bequeathed to the
college or raised by public subscription. N o pecuniary aid of
any kind has as yet been given, either to the college or to the
University, by the government or the municipality.
The courses of study are of an extended character, leading up to
the University degrees, and to the college honour certiﬁcates in
the technical branches of engineering, and technological chemistry.
The number of students of arts and science in the day classes
amounts to about 4.400 ; that in the medical department to nearly
300. In addition to the day instruction, which, of course, forms the
chief work of the college, systematic courses of evening lectures and
laboratory practice exist, for the beneﬁt of the large number of
persons who, being occupied in trade or otherwise during the day,
are desirous of continuing their educationl The number of evening
students amounts to about 700 ; the subjects taught are the
same as in the day classes, all the professors and the assistant
lecturers taking part in the tuition, and in many subjects several
courses are given; thus, in chemistry, there are three distinct
courses of lectures, and three courses of laboratory practice, and
REPORT. 437
in Latin ﬁve separate classes; so that persons desirous of carrying
on their education up to a University standard, have the oppor-
tunity of so doing at the low fee of 108. 661. for the course of
20 lectures. These college evening classes serve, in the science
subjects at least, as an excellent supplement to the ordinary
science teaching under the Department of Science and Art, and
to the elementary science instruction given in the board schools,
placing a high standard of instruction within the reach of all
resident in the district.
The Commissioners visited the College, where the Vice-
Chancellor, Principal Greenwood, met us, and made the following
statement with regard to the subject of our inquiry :—
“ The attention of the Council and Senate has been for many
years given to the best way of so directing the strictly scientiﬁc
instruction of the college as, without impairing its thoroughness,
to foster the interests of the great manufacturing industries of
the district.
“ In the year 1868, Dr. Roscoe and I visited, at the request
of our Council, some of the principal technical schools of
Germany and Switzerland, with the view of ascertaining in
what directions the higher education could best promote the
interests I have mentioned, and at the same time of inquiring
into the form of building and the appliances which had been
found most effective.
“ Accordingly, when our new college buildings were erected in
1870, we were able to make very complete provision for the
teaching of chemistry, and less complete, but still considerable,
provision for other branches of technical instruction, and that
without, as We believe, in the least interfering with the prosperity
of the teaching in arts and (pure) science, which is the proper
business of the college.
“ The details of those efforts, as well as of some further exten-
sions which we are now contemplating, will no doubt be supplied
to the Commissioners by my colleagues, the heads of the several
departments concerned. I will only state here that two clear
principles have been kept in view by us all along—(l) that a
sound knowledge of principles ought to precede this practical
application; and (2) that in teaching the applications we shall
not aim at superseding that practical training which can only be
gained in the manufactory or the workshop. We do not see any
reason to doubt the soundness of these principles, and, so far as
our experience goes, no difﬁcnlty need be found in drawing the
line between those applications which may, and those which may
not, be with advantage introduced into our instruction.
“ On the one hand we believe that, so far as the absence of
endowments for this special object has allowed, we have been
able to contribute important services to our district, by way of
sending out a number of well instructed young chemists and
engineers, and on the other hand that we have not suffered from
Visit to
Owens
College.
Dr. Green-
wood’s state»
ment
4538 ROYAL coMIvIIssIoN oN TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Engineering
department,
Owen’s
‘College.
the danger, which was not unreasonably anticipated by many,
that the strictly scientiﬁc character of our teaching in these
branches might be sacriﬁced to the needs, or fancied needs, of
students that came to us to study science with an eye mainly to
its applications. To illustrate my meaning, I will venture to say
that no chemical laboratory in the kingdom has sent out a larger
:number than ours has sent of young chemists, qualiﬁed to take
important posts in factories and chemical works, and yet it will,
I think, be admitted that our laboratory has also not been
unsuccessful in the contributions it has made to the progress of
chemistry as a pure sci ence--contributions, too, made not by the
professor and lecturers only, but by not a few of its students of
chemistry who are under training.
“ In conclusion, I can conﬁdently assure the Commissioners
that the authorities of Owens College are desirous, so far as its
funds allow, of adding to the eﬁiciency of this side of our
operations.”
The several heads of the scientiﬁc departments met the Com-
rnissioners and favoured them with their views on the subject of
the higher technical instruction, and with statements of how they
endeavour to carry these views into practice. The evidence
given by these gentlemen is found in the Appendix; we only
here give a few of the more salient points.
Professor Osborne Reynolds, HRS, made the following state—
ment to us respecting the method of teaching engineering in the
Owens College :—
“ The two courses of study in engineering (day and evening)
are arranged to meet the requirements of two very different types
of students. The day students are for the most part between 18
and 23 years of age, and devote their whole time to the work of
the college.
“ The evening students are generally engaged during the day
in works or drawing offices.
“ The course of study arranged for the day students extends
over three years, and includes engineering and drawing, practical
surveying, mathematics, chemistry, physics, and geology, the
students’ time being divided nearly equally between engineering
with drawing, and the other subjects. On the completion of the
course, certiﬁcates of proﬁciency are given to those students who
have passed an examination in all these subjects.
The number of students attending the day classes in engineer-
ing varies between 35 and 50 ; and about half the number of
those who enter, remain to complete the course.
Many of these students are very clever, and come with a
good preliminary education, and generally some of the engineer—
ing students are amongst the ﬁrst in the mathematical and other
classes.
“Besides these scientiﬁc subjects, the students are encouraged
to, and largely do, avail themselves of the classes in modern
languages.
REPORT. 439
“ The course of study followed in the engineering and drawing
classes, has been determined by experience as that best suited to
the requirements and capacity of the students, a considerable
proportion of these having been in the works before they come,
and the rest intending to serve their time in the works or oﬁ'ices
after they leave. Thus no attempt has been made to provide a
substitute for the workshop, and the course of study in the
drawing-school is intended to ﬁt a student to derive immediate
advantage from the work he sees on entering a drawing-ofﬁce,
and give him a better understanding of the work, rather than to
serve as a substitute for the drawing-office; great care, however,
being taken to keep up the art standard of the work both in
accuracy and style, as in these respects lies most of its educational
value. The course in practical surveying is offered as much from
its advantage as a matter of education as for its technical value,
though one reason for this course is that opportunities of
acquiring this knowledge systematically are very rare even to
the pupils of civil engineers.
“ In the engineering classes a certain amount of technical
information is given, but this is not the primary purpose of these
classes.
“ The principal object is to teach the application of science to
the purposes of engineering, to teach the scientiﬁc method of
dealing with the problems of engineering, much after the manner
of Professor Rankine’s works on surveying, applied mechanics,
and prime movers.
“ The ﬁrst years course is surveying, estimating, the art of
measurement, and descriptive engineering (in earthwork,
masonry, and timber). The second year’s course is applied
mechanics (as far as the theory of simple structures, and strength
of material, and the geometry of machines). The third year’s
Work is dynamics of machinery, and hydraulics, and the steam
engine. In the second and third years’ subjects there is oppor-
tunity of introducing a good deal of descriptive engineering by
way of illustration; but all through the effort is to give the
students a thorough hold of what is brought before them, rather
than to give them an imperfect acquaintance with a great deal.
Thus the examples and illustrations are generally the simplest
which serve. For this, diagrams and illustrative models are
used, but what is mainly depended upon are actual experiments
made before the class. In every case, by some means or another,
the calculations are veriﬁed by actual experiment; for this pur-
pose a considerable number of instruments and testing machines
have been constructed, and use is also made of the engine which
works the ventilator of the college. Visits are also paid to
engineering works. I consider that too much trouble cannot be
taken to familiarise students with the actual circumstances of
the problems, instead of depending mainly on a quantitative
statement.
“The teaching strength of the engineering department has not
as yet been more than sufﬁcient to deal with those branches of
Prof. Reynolds
on the teaching
of engineering.
4A0 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Comparison of
English and
foreign
methods of
teaching
mechanical
engineering.
Owens College.
Engineering
courses.
Geology and
proposed
Mining depart-
ment.
the subject which are important to every engineer, and thuslhas
not admitted of the detailed study of any special branches of
engineering. But plans for extending the course and introducing
more technical lectures on such branches, particularly mining and
metallurgical engineering, have long been under the consideration-
of the Council of the College.
" As compared with the parallel courses given in the polytechnic
schools on the Continent, I consider that our course aims at a
much smaller range of bookwork; that we leave the student to
acquire by observation and experience much which they attempt
to teach him; that our course is rather to teach him to under~
stand what he sees, while theirs is to teach him how to produce
things which he has not seen. This difference arises mainly
from the fact that in England there are much greater facilities
aﬁ’orded for the acquirement of technical knowledge in the works.
Where such facilities exist, the college training should be deter_
mined rather with a view to general education than to the
acquirement of technical knowledge. Although, where the
subjects are of equal educational value, it is clearly best to
choose those which have the closest relation to the professional
work.
“ The educational value of such a subject as applied mechanics,
with the necessary substratum of mathematical and scientiﬁc
knowledge, is as high, if not higher, than that of any scientiﬁc
subject ; so that, whilst the student has acquired a knowledge of
this subject, which will in all probability be highly useful to him
in after-life, he has not in any way sacriﬁced his education in
the acquirement of this knowledge. But the subject is too large
to be mastered in three years, or indeed in any length of time,
except by master-minds; so that the question of pressing this
subject beyond the point which can be attained in the time
which can be spared, for more general education, from professional
or technical training, should be determined by the value of such
teaching as compared with the more direct technical knowledge.
It is true that there are some things for which a high general
scientiﬁc knowledge is necessary; but these things are only to
be accomplished by the master-minds. In an ordinary way,
success in practical life depends on intimate familiarity with
some narrow branch of knowledge; and to spend many of the
years applicable for the acquirement of knowledge, on the
generalities of a very large subject, must prevent or defer to a
late period of life the acquirement of sufficient familiarity with
any branch, in all its details, to be useful in a practical sense.
“ Our course in Owens College is directed rather to the
education of engineers choosing the most useful subjects, having
regard to their educational value, than to the technical instruction
of engineers in all branches of the subject.”
Prof Dot/whine, ER.S., made the following statement on the
projected formation of a M toting School:
“I take it that the Mining School in a place like Manchester
should be for the instruction of the colliery viewers, and also of
REPORT. 441
those who have the charge of the large metal industries in
Lancashire, a metal industry that extends on the one end into
North Wales and on the other into Cumberland and Westmore-
land. My idea is that the class of instruction should be mainly
for the managers, 8m, but also of such an informal nature that
it might be available for the lower people employed in the
mine.”
The physical laboratories, under the direction of Professor Physic, at
Balfour Stewart, F.R.S., are well ﬁtted with apparatus, chieﬂy Qwens
instruments for measuring. From 30 to 410 students go through College’
a systematic course of practical physics, including exact measure-
ments of weight and length, thermometry, and electrical and
magnetic measurements. The advanced students take higher
work of a similar character.
Professor Sch/aster, F.R.S., gave particulars of an evening Evening-clam
practical class on the technical applications of electricity, which fm tltehnfcal f
he has established with the assistance of Mr. Gee. The class is O
intended to give to persons occupied during the daytime, in~
struction in the scientiﬁc principles involved in terrestrial and
submarine telegraphy, telephony, the construction and use of
dynamo-machines, electric-lighting, &c. The instruction is partly
theoretical, but chieﬂy of a practical nature, special stress being
laid on the methods of exact electrical measurement. , Students
entering such classes ought to be acquainted with the elements
of geometry, but a knowledge of the higher branches of mathe-
matics is not absolutely necessary to the understanding of a
large portion of the subject. About 40 students entered this
class in 1882-3.
The chemical laboratories, directed by Professor Roscoe, are Chemical
very complete in their ﬁttings and general arrangements. They labomwms'
accommodate 100 working students, 60 in the junior or qualita- Owens Cmhlﬁ‘
tive, and 4:0 in the senior or quantitative, laboratory. Plans
and description of these are published by M r. Cornish, Piccadilly,
Manchester. The chemical department of the college is one of
its most important features; organic chemistry is professed by
Mr. Schorlemmer, F.R.S., and four demonstrators and assistant
lecturers supplement the instruction given by the Professors.
The aim of the Director has been to impart a sound knowledge
of the theory and practice of chemical science, to ﬁt students
either for a purely professional career, or for the practical require-
ments of the very numerous branches of trade and manufactures
which have their foundation in chemical science. In order to point
out more clearly the course of study which should in the latter case
be pursued, Professor Roscoe has drawn up a systematic course for
technological students, the only course of the kind at present
existing in this country. It is arranged on a liberal basis in
order to secure not only a satisfactory knowledge of chemistry,
but to give suﬁicient training in the allied sciences, in mathe-
matics, physics, mechanical drawing, and the no less important
subject of modern languages (see Appendix).
4:42 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION;
Syllabus of
courses on
technological
chemistry at
Owens
College.
The complete course of instruction extends over four years,
and embraces the following subjects :--
FIRST YEAR—Chemistry Lectures, Junior and Tutorial classes.
Preparatory Chemical Laboratory, two days per week, and
Course. Analytical Chemistry Lectures class.
Mathematics class, Section I.
Experimental Mechanics.
Geology (Stratigraphical).
French or German.
Geometrical Drawing Lectures (Evening class).
Mechanical Drawing, Practical (Evening class).
SECOND YEAR—Chemistry Lectures, Junior, Senior, and
Tutorial classes.
Chemical Laboratory, three days per week.
Technological Chemistry Lectures (First Course).
Experimental Physics or Mineralogy Lectures.
German or French.
Geometrical Drawing Lectures (Evening class).
Mechanical Drawing, Practical (Evening class).
THIRD YEAR—Chemistry Lectures, Senior and Tutorial
classes.
Organic Chemistry Lectures.
Chemical Philosophy.
Chemical Laboratory, three days per week.
Technological Chemistry Lectures (Second
Course).
Physical Laboratory, one day per week, or
Practical Mineralogy and Technological
Mineralogy.
Mechanical Drawing, Practical (Evening class).
FOURTH YEAR—Organic Chemistry Lectures.
Technological Chemistry Lectures
Course).
Chemical Laboratory, four days per week.
Chemistry of Colouring Matters, Dyeing, and
Calico Printing (41th Evening Course).
Mechanical Drawing, Practical (Evening class).
The fees for the above courses amount to about 28l. per
annum.
Certiﬁcates are granted to students on the successful completion
of this course. Attendance on the full course of four years is
expected of candidates for the certiﬁcate, but students may obtain
exemption (on a satisfactory cause being shown) from the ﬁrst
or the ﬁrst and second year’s course. Students so excused will
nevertheless be required to undergo examination in all the
subjects speciﬁed.
The certiﬁcate will state in which’ subjects the candidate has
gained honours, and in which he has merely satisﬁed the
examiners. -
(Third
REPORT. 4143
A syllabus of the courses will be found in the Appendix.
The Lecturer on Technological Chemistry, Mr. Watson Smith,
informed the Commissioners that the above course is almost
identical with that of the Zurich Polytechnic School, and added
that not only is a knowledge of the sciences allied to chemistry
insisted on, but that a modern language and mechanical drawing
are compulsory subjects. He knows of no other college in this
country in which such systematized courses on technological
chemistry are given. -
Manchester Public Art Gallery—The Public Art Gallery of Manchester
Manchester was established little more than a year ago under the gulll’llic A"
powers of the Manchester Corporation Act, 1882 (45 85 416 Vic. a ery'
cap. cciii.). By the terms of this Act the Corporation of M anchester
took over the land, building, and all other property of the Royal
Manchester Institution, a Society established in the year 1832 for
the advancement of “literature, science, and the arts.” It was a
condition of the transfer that the governors of the Royal
Institution should elect from time to time one third of the
managing committee of the Art Gallery. This mixed committee
commenced its work at the beginning of the year 1883, and
proceeded at once to develope a permanent collection, on the one
hand, of original paintings, and, on the other hand, of examples
of industrial art and of reproductions of sculpture and pictures.
In the latter part of the committee’s work much encouragement
and assistance was given by the Science and Art Department,
together with aid from the Government grant applicable to the
purpose. A considerable sum was also subscribed by private per-
sons in Manchester, and the Art Gallery has thus become possessed
of a large and admirable collection of ancient textiles purchased
from Dr. Franz Bock, from whom also the "' Bock ” collec-
tion of ancient textiles at South K ensington was obtained,
and of a considerable number of casts from antique and Renais-
sance sculpture, as also of autotypes, photographs, and engravings
from the drawings and paintings of the old masters. The “ Bock ”
collection is particularly rich in silk fabrics. It contains also a
large number of examples of ancient embroideries and laces,
together with an admirable, but unfortunately relatively small,
collection of old linen and cotton prints. This branch of the
collection will, no doubt, be developed as opportunity may offer ;
and in the meanwhile, by the liberality of the authorities of the
South Kensington Museum, a large and very rich loan collection
of Indian fabrics has been placed in the hands of the Art Gallery
committee, and forms a valuable supplement to their permanent
collections. The collection of textiles is intended to be specially
of service to designers, who have already made some use of it.
Arrangements are about to be made for their greater convenience
in copying. The permanent collections are at all times free to
the public, and the Gallery has recently been open on Sundays
as well as on week days; the number of visitors on the four
4% ROYAL COMMISSION on TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
City of
Liverpool.
Free Library,
Museum, Art
Gallery, 8:0.
Corporation
free science
lectures.
Liverpool
School Board.
System of
science
teaching in
Liverpool
Board Schools.
Sunday afternoons ending January 6th 1884, having been
10,308.
M'omchestc'r School of Art—The Commissioners also visited
the new buildings of the school of art in Cavendish Street.
Particulars of this visit will be found in the Appendix.
XV.-——-LIVEBPOOL.
The Commissioners were received at the Free Library by
the Chairman of the Library Committee, Sir James Pieton,
Mr. Alderman Samuelson, and the officers of the Committee.
The Corporation of the City of Liverpool initiated the Free
Library in 1850, and in the following year an Act was passed
establishing the Free Public Library and the Derby Museum,
and authorising the levy of a rate of lot. in the pound for their
support. Sir William Brown gave a magniﬁcent building for
Library and Museum, costing 4:0,000Z. Since then a new Reading—
Room has been erected by the Corporation at a cost- of 25,000l.
In addition to these, Mr. Joseph Mayer bequeathed to the city
his collections of historical art, no w located in a building adjoining
the Derby Museum; and an Art Gallery was erected by Sir
Andrew Walker at a cost of 36,000L, of which an extension is
now in progress estimated to cost 11,000Z.
Free scientiﬁc lectures are given during each winter in a
large Lecture Hall, also erected by the Corporation, capable of
seating 1,100 persons. The total outlay on these buildings,
which lie close together, has been 230,000l., and the annual
expenditure on the staff, and on books and specimens, is 18,000l.
In addition to this outlay, the Corporation has voted a sum
of 30,000l. for the purchase of land and buildings for the Liver-
pool University College. (See Appendix for Sir James Picton’s
statement, giving details.)
The system of instruction in elementary science introduced by
the Liverpool School Board is similar in kind to that adopted in
Birmingham. The following statement by the Clerk to the
Board, Mr. Hance, explains this system, which we are happy to
endorse as etlicient and economical.
“ With a view to the provision in the curriculum of their
schools, of some subject specially calculated to awaken and
exercise the observing faculties of the children, the Liverpool
School Board, acting on the advice of several eminent scientiﬁc
gentlemen, in March 1877, resolved to introduce the systematic
teaching of elementary science into their schools. The branches
of instruction were selected from the limited number of science
subjects included in the fourth schedule of the New Code of
that date, viz., mechanics (or, the principles of natural philosophy)
for boys, and domestic economy for girls. The instruction given
REPORT. 414:
9
If
is necessarily based on the syllabus of each subject set out in the
schedule, in order to qualify the scholars to earn grants under
the Education Department; but in each case the subject, as
arranged in the code, has been modiﬁed and extended so as
to enable it the more readily to be taught by experimental
demonstration to large classes of children.
“ The method of teaching the subjects, which has been found
by experience to be capable of producing very beneﬁcial results
to the scholars, is to combine ordinary lessons by the teachers of
the school with a system of experimental demonstrations given
by means of specially. appointed demonstrators. The apparatus
required for the demonstrations is kept at a central laboratory,
and is transferred from school to school, as required, by means of
a light hand cart. In this way each demonstrator is able to
give from 18 to 20 demonstrations per week. In order to
simplify the arrangements for the demonstrations as much as
possible, by providing for the same demonstration to be given in
several schools in succession, the Education Department was,
at the commencement of the scheme, requested to provide for
the school-years of the different schools to end as nearly as
possible at the same time ; and this was carried out so far as to
admit of the schools being arranged in two groups, the annual
examinations of which fall in the autumn and spring respectively.
In the case of domestic economy, the demonstrations are given
only every alternate Week, and the same is the case in the
second stage of mechanics (taken by the Fifth Standard), but to
the Fourth Standard, just commencing the subject of mechanics,
one demonstration is given every week. In the intervals between
the demonstrations, the teachers of the respective classes, who
are supposed to be present at the demonstrations, are expected
to go over with the children the subject of the demonstration;
and in many instances their lessons are illustrated by simple
experiments; and in order to enable the teachers (the larger
number of whom have unfortunately had no special training for
the subject) to perform their portion of the work the more
satisfactorily, a simple text book has been specially prepared,
containing reading lessons on the subjects of the demonstrations,
and exercises to be worked by the scholars. The demonstra-
tions have been given in several of the other elementary schools
of the town, not under the Board, on payment by the managers
of the schools, of a proportion of the expenses.
“ At the present time there is one chief demonstrator, who
has also to organise the instruction, and two assistants.
“ The cost of the apparatus used in the school demonstrations
for the ﬁve years during which the scheme has been in operation
amounts to about ' 12OZ., many of the articles having been
provided in duplicate in consequence of the large number of
classes.
“ That the introduction of this additional teaching into the
schools has not, to say the least, been attended with an injurious
Science demon
strator in
elementary
schools in
Liverpool.
Eﬁcct of
science teach-
ing as respects
cther subjects.
1M6 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INsTRucTIoN:
effect on the ordinary subjects of instruction, is shown by the
per-centage of passes in those subjects for the last few years.
“ In 1873-4 the per-centage of passes in reading,
writing, and arithmetic was - 74:11:
n n .9: ' 1 87 5—6 ,, ,, ,, - 74'4:
1876—7 (the year in which class-subjects
were introduced) - - 790
1877—8 (the year in which science instruc-
tion was introduced) - - 8559
1878—9 the per-centage was - - 871
1879-80 ,, ,, - - - 88-41
“ The examinations in these subjects, held by H. M. Inspector,
consist merely in the answering in writing of three or four
questions, and do not, as the inspectors themselves remark,
adequately test the work actually done. This is especially the
case in Standard IV., where the inability of the children to
express themselves satisfactorily in writing, is a great disadvan-
tage to them in these examinations. Notwithstanding, however,
these drawbacks, the per-centage of passes in the last examina-
tion in mechanics was in Standard IV., 586, in Standard V.,
752, and in Standard VI, 763.
Opinion of “ Professor Stuart, of Cambridge, who in December 1879
Prof. Stuart on examined the scholars for the Liverpool Council of Education
th‘? results of Scholarships, remarked in his report :-‘ In two or three of the
Egﬁﬁﬁg in ‘ essays an amount of accurate scientiﬁc knowledge was mani-
Liverpool ‘ fested sufficiently considerable to attract my attention; and on
Board Schools- ‘ further inquiry I found that the boys in question came from
‘ schools in which special scientiﬁc instruction has been given
‘ by the School Board. It seems not only to have been accurate
‘ and useful, but also to have laid hold of the boys’ imaginations
‘ and interested them.’ In 1880, the School Board requested
Professor G. Forbes, of Glasgow, to examine the scholars in
mechanics, with a view to ascertain whether the system of
instruction pursued was producing good results.
Opinion of Professor Forbes, after a very careful examination, reported to
Prof’ G'Fmbw' the Board as follows :—-‘ In all stages a great deal has been done,
‘ and the intelligence of the boys developed by the system pursued.
‘ With some boys I was quite surprised to ﬁnd so much clear
‘ intelligence and comprehension of the subject in boys so
‘ young. i‘ it i‘ I can positively assert, that by the
‘ present system some good results have been obtained, a few
‘ being quite remarkable.’ Of the ﬁrst stage, he says,——‘ The
‘ boys in these classes being very young, and having had little
‘ previous opportunity of educating their faculties, have improved
‘ their minds greatly by the study of mechanics.’ Of three
particular schools, by no means attended by the best class of
children, he says,—-‘ These three schools quite surprised me 5 if
‘ the schools could all be brought to this state of perfection, the
‘ School Board would have very much on which to congratulate
REPORT. 4A7
‘ themselves.’ At the same time, he pointed out several details
needing further attention, and gave many valuable suggestions
as to the mode in which the system might be improved.
“ In addition to the instruction given to the scholars, special Science tuition
science classes in connection with the Science and Art Depart- of Pupil _
ment, have been arranged for the pupil teachers, so as to 5x233?
gradually train them to take an intelligent part in the work in
the schools. About 70 male pupil teachers attend the central
classes in mathematics, acoustics, light and heat, and electricity
and magnetism ; and about 100 female pupil teachers are under
instruction in animal physiology. A short course of lessons in
mechanics is also given each year to the male pupil teachers.”
Much interesting information obtained from the Chairman of
the Board, Mr. S. G. Itathbone, and others, respecting the subject
of science teaching in the Liverpool Board Schools, will be found
in the Appendix.
Mr. Christopher Bushell explained to us the action of the Liverpool
Liverpool Council of Education, a body of which he is the Pre- Council of
sident. The object of the Council is to connect the Elementary Educanon'
Schools in the city with the Secondary Schools. For this purpose
a system of prizes and exhibitions has been established, and
independent examiners report on the quality of the papers
which are set by them, and the Council acts on this report in
their selection of the candidates. From the Secondary Schools
the boys obtain an opportunity of passing to the higher Colleges
or to the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford. (See Appendix.)
Evening Science I nstrncte'on e'n Liverpool—A very import- Liverpool
ant feature in the educational institutions in Liverpool, is e‘iemng
the systematic series of evening science classes. There are
two distinct organizations founded for this purpose, each of
which carries on classes under the Department of Science
and Art, without interfering with the other. They act
as friendly rivals, and the result is that, probably, in no city in
the kingdom are these classes more ﬂourishing or doing better
work than in Liverpool. One of these organizations is termed
the “Liverpool School of Science,” the other “ The Liverpool
“ Science and Art Classes.”
Liverpool School of Science—The following statement of the Liverpo‘ﬂ
- - - - - , - School of
origin and present condition of the evening science classes Science.
connected with the ﬁrst of these, was given to the Commission
by Mr. S. Leigh~Gregson, of whose recent decease we learn with
regret. The second organization is of a somewhat similar kind.
“ The school owes its origin to the Free Public Library and
Museum presented to the town in 1857 by the late Sir Wm.
Brown. A few years later it was found that the building would
not be complete until (to use the words of Sir IV. Brown)
‘ it had attached to it a school of science for the beneﬁt of
‘ all classes, but especially the artizans, in which lectures should
" be delivered and classes held where students could obtain, at a
‘ small charge, scientiﬁc information of the contents of the
‘ museum, and also receive technical instruction respecting the
4418 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Evening science
instruction in
Liverpool.
C
various trades in which they were respectively engaged.’ The
school was formally inaugurated in 1861 by Earl Granville, Lord
President of the Privy Council. The ﬁrst enthusiasm of its
founders gave way in a few years, and at one time it was con-
templated to abandon the scheme; but with the exercise of
patience and toil, the students slowly but gradually increased
until the numbers now reach 8345, and the grant earned from the
Science and Art Department, South Kensington, reached last
year, 704%. for science and 36L ls. 6d. for art; being the largest
grant yet claimed for ‘ payments on results.’

“ The number of students in the several classes and the subjects
of instruction are as follows :
1881. 1882.
Practical, plane, and solid geometry - - 37 26
Do. advanced classes 12 9
Machine construction and drawing - - 79 74
Do. advanced classes 17 15
Building construction - — - 43 60
- Do. advanced class - 10 12
Mathematics—-Stages l to 3 — - 205 246
Do. Stages 4'.‘ and 5 - — 7 10
Theoretical mechanics - - - 22 1 6
Do. advanced class - 9 5
Applied mechanics - - - 67 70
Do. advanced class - 17 25
Sound, light, and heat - - - 56 60
Magnetism and electricity - - 115 183
Do. advanced classes 18 16
Inorganic chemistry - - - 133 180
Do. advanced classes - 40 48
Do. laboratory - - 15 25
Geology - - - - - 19 11
Mineralogy - - - 10 4
Animal physiology - - - 39 7
Do. advanced class - - 6 4
Steam - - - - - 70 745
Do. advanced class - - 18 23
Agriculture — - - - l 1 1 41
Phonography - - - 2% 30
Technical drawing for carpenters and
joiners - - - - - 68 43
Metallurgy - - - —— 8
Alkali manufacture - - - _- 10

-___
1,174: 1,338
-—_--_-~— —-___g
“ Art classes——
Freehand, geometry, perspective, and
model drawing - -
- 486 288
nnronr. 4A9
“ These numbers probably have never been equalled by any Liverpool
other science school in the kingdom, and the foregoing list at School of
once shows the scope and nature of the work undertaken. sc‘ence-
“ The students are drawn from all classes of the community,
and are nearly all engaged in business during the day.
“ Their ages are as follows :-
Under 15 years - 4A
Over 15 and under 18 ,, 192
Admnqed }Over 18 and under 21 ,, - 219
Apprentices.
Over 21 and under 25 ,, - 14:7
Over 25 ,, - 168
Unknown - - - 29
“ There are 721 males and 78 females.
“ A special feature of the system of instruction is that, as far Special features
as possible, the teachers are practical men, drawn from the ranks of ti“? Liver-
of our own students, according as they display special ﬁtness for 2? 2031552111
the work. Another feature is the removal from our prospectus teaching.
of the term “ artizan ” on account of its ascertained unpopularity.
We use, instead, the terms “ Students A.” and “ Students B.”
In former years the opinion prevailed tha “ artizans ” referred
exclusively to_ labouring mechanics of humble origin ; but in the
present day we ﬁnd the youth of the better classes working in
the foundries, workshops, mills, 850., side by side with, in many
cases, their fathers’ workmen; and these better class students
join more readily to an educational institution which appeals to
all classes alike, instead of appealing specially to “ artizans.”
“ Our present system of instruction appears to answer well,
but could be improved by aid of specimens specially prepared for
tests, such as iron or wood for ductility, strains, 85c, compounds
for chemical analysis, 850., and by the erection of a model
workshop, with working models.
“The following facts have come under our notice since the
founding of the School of Science :——
“ (cu) Employers ﬁnd that the apprentices attending at the
science classes comply more faithfully to the terms
of their “ indenture,” and bring greater intelligence
to bear upon their handicraft.
“ Marine and other engineers have adopted the certiﬁcates
of the Somme and Art Department as a standard
of theoretical knowledge for all applicants for
employment.
“ Some employers reduce ‘the term of apprenticeship
for youths possessed of the science certiﬁcates. For
instance, a shipbuilder informed me last week, when
mqulrlng for a lad to enter his drawing-oﬂice, that
for a lad acquainted with mathematics and mechanics
he would take off two years from the usual term.”
Hi 1726. F F
450 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Classes in-
spected by the
Commissioners.
Liverpool
Institute.
l’rincipal‘s
Statement.
Llverpool
School of Art.
Several of these evening classes were inspected by the Com—
missioners. (See Appendix.) The teacher of one of these,
Mr. Sloane, taking practical mechanics and steam, has been good
enough to furnish us with an interesting letter giving his views
on the kind of instruction suitable for mechanical engineers,
pointing out the necessity for furnishing the teachers of the above
subjects with proper models, besides giving a description of the
requisites of a mechanical laboratory. (This will be found in
the Appendix.)
Liverpool Institata—This is one of the largest of the secondary
schools in the city, where much attention is paid to science-
teaching. It is one of the schools into which large numbers of
boys from the Board schools pass with exhibitions, &c. given by
the Council of Education.
The principal, Rev. J. Sephton, M.A., stated that the institution
is divided into a high school and a commercial school. There
are about 800 pupils in the commercial school and 360 in the
high school. Over 200 boys enter the institute every year from
the elementary schools, principally the Board schools, by scholar-
ships from the Council of Education when they have passed the
Sixth Standard. The bulk of them stay from six months to a
year to ﬁnish (as they term it). The institute has no entrance
examinations ; all that is required is that a boy shall be able to
lead and write, and if he can, there is a class suitable for him.
Cnly the two highest forms in the commercial school are taken to
laboratory practice, and this elementary; but the ﬁrst class of the
high school, numbering 12 to 15, have advanced laboratory
practice. There are about 40 pupils from the commercial school
and 30 from the high school who have elementary practice.
Magnetism and electricity are taught as well as chemistry, and
the most successful pupils are sent up for the South Kensington
examinations. The best masters are found to be those who have
been boys educated in the building. The institution was
formerly the Mechanics’ Institute, and a few of the old mechanic
members of that institute still remain, sharing some of the
privileges of the institution. Mr. McAlister, the senior wrangler
in 187 7, was a pupil of the institute. (For further particulars
and opinions, see Appendix.)
Liverpool School of Art.——This is connected with the institute,
and is housed in a new, convenient, and handsome building,
containing studios, art class rooms, and lecture rooms, erected
mainly at the cost of a member of the Committee. The school
has both day and evening classes. The course of instruction is
a severe one, including drawing from models and from life. In
the evening classes about 100 pupils, chiefly artizans, attend, and
most of these are engaged in learning mechanical drawing. Last
year nearly 2,000 drawings, mostly by artizans, were sent up to
South Kensington for adjudication. Mr. Finnie, the master,
favoured us with his views on art teaching as applied to
design, 800. These will be found in the Appendix.
REPORT. 451
U nicersity College, Liverpool—The Commissioners visited the
buildings of the new University College in Ashton Street,
originally occupied by a public institution which has been
removed to other quarters. The buildings, which at the time
of the Commissioners’ "isit were in process of alteration, occupy
a very considerable space of ground, which has been transferred
to the University College by the Corporation of Liverpool, on
exceedingly liberal terms. The Commissioners were received by
Professor Rendall, the Principal of the College, who conducted
them through the various departments.
This institution has been recently founded by benefactions to
the amount of upwards of 105,000l., from some of the wealthy
inhabitants of the city and its neighbourhood, with the view of
providing for a higher scientiﬁc and literary education in the
district than has heretofore existed. The departments of
Chemistry and Physics are well arranged. A new Chemical
Laboratory is about to be built. The system of instruction is
similar to that carried out in Owens College, and in all pro-
bability the Liverpool University College will soon join the
Victoria University as one of its incorporated colleges.
Professor Lodge (Physics) described to us the method of
teaching which he pursues, and pointed out the importance
attaching to courses of Electricity as applied to industrial pur-
poses. The College authorities desire to undertake the work of
the highest science teaching, and do not propose to interfere
with that given in the excellent evening science-classes which
exist in Liverpool, and which prepare for the examinations of
the Science and Art Department.
The Royal Liverpool School of Medicine is now incorporated
with the College as its medical faculty. The results of interesting
conversations held with the Professors will be found in the
Appendix.
XVI .-—-OLDHAM.
Oldham School of Science and Art—This is mainly an evening
school, adapted for the technical instruction of young men
engaged in the various mechanical and textile works in the
neighbourhood. It may, in our opinion, be regarded as an
excellent sample of the kind of school which should exist in
every industrial town in the kingdom; care of course being
taken to arrange the instruction so as to be applicable to the
several requirements of the districts in which they are situated.
Mr. Phythlan (CE. of Glasgow University), head master of
the school, submitted the following statement of its origin and
development :—~
“ As far ‘back as 18410, Science and Art evening classes were
commenced in connection with the Oldham Lyceum, when that
1nst1tut10n was in embryo. Superior workmen, such as draughts‘
men, ‘in the employ of Messrs. Platt, were in the habit of
teaching some science subjects of importance to their trade. As
Liverpool
University
ollege.
Oldham School
of Science
and Art.
Introductory
statement by
head master.
EE2
452 noYaL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Oldhﬁm School a development of these classes, the late Mr. John Platt, MP,
of Science and
Art.
built, at his own cost in 1865. the ﬁrst school of Science and Art,
adjoining the Lyceum. Mr. Platt also provided a ﬁne set of art
casts, and the ﬁrm of which he was the head gratuitously supplied
the internal ﬁttings of the institution. About the same date the
school was incorporated with the Science and Art Department,
South Kensington, funds for its maintenance being provided by
annual subscriptions, class fees, and payments on results from
the Department. In a few years the desire for a. chemical
laboratory having arisen, Mr. Wm. Richardson supplied the
funds for apparatus and chemicals; this was followed by the
furnishing of a physical laboratory for experimental work for
the students, in sound, light, heat, steam, magnetism, and elec-
tricity. The establishment in 1874:, by the Society of Arts, of
technical examinations, was taken up with successful results.
Since then, students of these classes have gained 17 prizes, 4' in
honours with 6 medals, value 85L, and several full technological
certiﬁcates. Five years later, the school was incorporated with
the City and Guilds of London Institute for the advancement of
Technical Education.
“ The growing success of the school encouraged the president,
Mr. S. R. Platt, and other sons of the late Mr. John Platt, to
erect at their own expense the present handsome and commodious
ediﬁce, which contains 9 main rooms, 412 feet by 28 feet, 16 feet
high, chemical and physical laboratories, with masters’ rooms.
The land was given by Mr. Richardson.
“ There are three local exhibitions of 50L per annum, tenable
at the Owens College, Manchester, given by Mrs. Platt and
Mr. Chas. C. Lees.
“ The school has a small library of scientiﬁc books, presented
by various publishers.
“ The gross total of prize money received since 1867 is 6,0665.
This amount, being awarded to the students, forms no part of
the revenue of the school. All grants, fees, and subscriptions
are received by the Committee, who pay the masters ﬁxed
salaries.
“ There are now (1882) in attendance 675 science and 110 art
students, varying from 13, the minimum age of admission, to 40
years ; the average age is about 19. Most of them are young men
in training to ﬁt themselves for their after-career. They are chieﬂy
young mechanics engaged in Messrs. Platt’s and other works in
the district. An effort is made to know the subsequent positions
of the students, and a register is kept. The majority of them
now held responsible positions in the town and elsewhere, and
many join the “Old Students’ Association,” assisting by sub-
scriptions and otherwise towards the support of the school.
In the classes the science subjects are, as far as possible,
treated experimentally by the students, in accordance with
the suggestions made by Dr. Roscoe, Mr. John Platt, MP,
and Mr. Wm. Richardson, as contained in the Report of the
REPORT. 453
Royal Commission on Scientiﬁc Instruction, published 1872.
Literary classes are held in the Lyceum night classes.
The science course is chosen with special reference to the
principal trades of the district, namely, machine making and
cotton manufacture. The subjects are embraced in the prospectus
of Sir Joseph Whitworth’s scholarships for mechanical science,
and are practical geometry, machine drawing, building con-
struction, mathematics, theoretical mechanics, applied mechanics,
sound, light, and heat, magnetism and electricity, inorganic
chemistry, theoretical and practical, geology, steam, free-hand and
model drawing, with technical classes for mechanical engineering,
tools, and cotton manufacture.
“ In 1865 there were 1144 students on the books; in 1881
there were 5419 students, a progressive advance having taken
place during the whole interval.
“ The following is a summary of the successes of the school
since it was opened in 1865 :—
“ 11 of the Whitworth schOlaJ‘ShiPS’ and Total value Of
ll l‘izes ' ' _ Whitworth
8 Whltworth exhibitions, and 2 student— , 4 0601
Ships _ _ _ _ g1 ants, , .
1 Bremner exhibition.
4: gold, 7 silver, and 6 bronze medals; grant of these
medals discontinued since 1876.
10 national medals for honours.
5 medals for technological examinations.”
The school is an evening one, and we inspected the drawing-
rooms, class rooms, and laboratories whilst the classes were in
progress. Mr. Richardson, on being asked whether he was
satisﬁed with the mode in which mechanical drawing is taught
1n this institution, answered by saying that they carry off many
prizes from South Kensington, “ and they say that we excel ; ”
and, when asked if the South Kensington authorities were the
best judges, replied: “ Well, we can make use of the people
“ after they have been here.” The method adopted in teaching
drawing was explained to the Commissioners by the master. It
combines black-board with ordinary free-hand drawing, and
drawing from models, and at the same time machine drawing.
The Commissioners next visited rooms in which elementary
geometrical drawing was being taught by Mr. Armitage, and
solid geometrical drawing by Mr. Philip, M.A., and then inspected
the large class (90 pupils) on cotton spinning, taught by
Mr. Isherwood, Manager of the Tonge Vale Spinning Company;
we were informed that 19 out of every 20 of these pupils
were factory hands, and eight persons present were shareholders
in the limited mills which are common in Oldham. Many of
those in the spinning class attend science classes, especially in
mathematics and theoretical mechanics. Upen being asked what
was in his opinion the value of such technological classes
as that on cotton spinning, Mr. Richardson replied :-—“ The
Success of
Oldham School
of Science and
Art.
Opinion of
Mr. Richardson
as to the value
of the school.
Class on
Cotton Spin—
ning.
454d ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION!
Uldham
Science
School.
Physical Lec-
ture Room and
Laboratory.
Class on
building con-
struction.
Chemical
Laboratory.
Opinions of
leading Oldham
manufacturers
as to inﬂuence
of these classes.
students here give attention to the practical element of
the business followed by them. They have to answer
practical questions. The theoretical instruction they get
in the other classes is developed into practical instruction
in the technological classes. This seems to me to be the great
object of the technological classes, and I believe the object is
attained. They teach a man to understand the nature of the
materials with which he is going to work. For instance, a
man being examined in steel, it makes him study the nature
and qualities of steel. I think it is valuable for the students
to learn more of the nature of the materials with which they
work, than they would do were they only to learn applied
mechanics, engineering, chemistry, mathematics, &c. We may
say that the inﬂuence of the technological classes may be
economical or educational, or both, and in any case useful.”
We next visited the Physical Lecture Room and Laboratory,
which works at physics in connection with the Science and Art
Department. Mr. Phythian explained that two students working
together perform a‘ series of experiments similar to those of the
Department in chemistry. The black-board and students’ note
books are divided into squares as in the other departments, and
thus the quick preparation of correct drawings is facilitated
By means of this system very complicated drawings are readily
copied. The instruction in the practical class is conducted by
means of written sheets describing the details of the experiment,
with drawings of the necessary apparatus; these are copied
by the students and used by them in the practical work. The
same system is carried out in the teaching of practical chemistry.
In the class on building-construction about 50 students were
present; and in the Art School young men and young women
were occupied in free-hand drawing from copies, and in drawing
from the cast.
The Commissioners next inspected the chemical laboratory,
which is excellently ﬁtted. Each student has a swinging seat
and a sliding desk ﬁtted with ink, &c., with cupboards beneath.
There is one gas chamber to every four students, and this has a
Bunsen ﬂame inside. There are about 28 working benches, and
these are used, at different times, by 60 students. All the
students work experimentally in chemistry, going through the
experiments mentioned in the Science and Art Directory. The
more advanced students work at qualitative and quantitative
analysis.
In addition to the practical work, there are chemical lectures,
and the students work out chemical calculations.
In reply to a question respecting the influence of these
Science and Art classes on the industries of the town, Mr. James
Taylor, of the ﬁrm of Buckley and Taylor, Engineers,
replied :--“ Very beneﬁcial, I think. In the case of‘ pattern
“ makers, for inst-ance, they understand their work better than
REPORT. A55
“ they did previously. It has caused the men to be more
“ intelligent workmen and to understand better the instructions
“ given them, and the object had in view in the work
“ performed, and they understand the working better. Our
foreman draughtsmen are now all taken from the institution.
Before the institution existed we used to get Swiss and French
“ and Germans principally. Now there is hardly a foreigner in
“ the town.”
Mr. Richardson added, “ I can conﬁrm this statement. The
working mechanics are much more intelligent. Now, a man
can be sent out to work and can transmit his views to the
ﬁrm in writing, give sketches, and reason about matters;
formerly the man would have had to return to the works
and get personal instructions in all cases of difficulty; the
“ suggestions they make to remedy defects are more practical
“ than before. Every man may now be equal in intelligence
“ to what the master was before the school was established.”
About 25 per cent. of the students are employed in Messrs.
Platt’s works. Almost all the young men of the works attend.
NO special inducements are offered to the young men by the
proprietors of the works, to attend these classes; the only stimulus
being the South Kensington prizes and the Vllhitworth scholar-
ships. No pressure is put on the students; that is, none but a
moral pressure. If a man wants advancement he is asked ques-
tions bearing on his work at the Science School, and the matter
becomes simply one of qualiﬁcation.
Mr. Ernest Raynor (manager at Messrs. J. Braddock’s Globe
Meter works) stated that they had found since the establishment
of the Science School that it was a good deal easier for foremen
to take charge of men than it was formerly. The men could
be more readily trusted with a job, and they understood what
they had to do with less explanation.
((
"C
XVII.——BARROW-IN—FURNESS.
This town was visited by the Commissioners, under the guidance
of Alderman John Fell, Mayor, and Mr. Fillingham, Clerk to the
School Board.
The town of Barrow owes its rise and progress to the rich
deposits of haematite iron ore found in the district of Furness.
Only a few years ago it was a hamlet composed of a few
cottages by the sea shore. So rapid has been its growth, that
in 10 years, between 1861 and 1871, its population increased
six-fold, and between 1871 and 1882, from 18,000 to 417,000.
The energy and zeal of the School Board have been fully
required to keep pace with the educational wants of the town.
Under the Chairmanship of the late Lord F. Cavendish, and
Visit to
Barrowein-
Furnoss.
Elementary
and higher
schools.
456 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSI‘RUCTIONI
Kindergarten
system,
Barrow.
Science classes.
School of Art.
School of
Cookery.
University
extension
lectures.
Working mcn’s
In stitute and
Club.
Visits to works.
Deﬁciency of
means of
scientiﬁc and
artististic
training of
artizans.
more recently of the present May or (Alderman Fell), a number
of elementary schools have been built, supplying efficient
accommodation and effective teaching.
The Kindergarten system of teaching is adopted in some of
the infant schools.
In 1880, on the initiative of Sir James Ramsden, who from
the infancy of the town has w'armly promoted every movement
for its intellectual, social, and material advancement, a higher grade
school was established, and at the time of our visit was about to
be re-organised so as to provide for the secondary education of
all classes, and particularly for the grounding of artizans in the
principles of science and art.
Connected with the higher grade board school, there are
evening classes in chemistry, magnetism and electricity, mathe-
matics, and physiography. 30 students were presented for the
examination in 1881—2.
The school of art was erected at the sole expense of Sir James
Ramsden, and is connected with the Science and Art Department.
There are about 250 students, and instruction is given in
drawing, painting, sculpture, applied mechanics, and archi-
tectural designing.
A school for the teaching of cookery and other household
work was started in 1880. During the past year about 4100
girls from the elementary schools attended the classes in groups
of 20. It is now proposed that all the girls from the elementary
schools of the town shall attend the school.
In connection with, the University extension scheme, courses
of lectures by Professors and Fellows from the University of
Cambridge are given to artizans during the winter months.
The most popular of the educational and social institutions of
Barrow, is the Working Men’s Institute and Club. The premises
were erected by subscription, at a cost of 3,450Z. There are
500 members. On the ground floor is a reading room and
library of 1,500 volumes, billiard and class-rooms, kitchen,
ofﬁces, &30., and on the upper stories a lecture hall and billiard
room. The lecture hall is used by the Barrow Field Naturalists’
Club for lectures, and contains a large number of specimens
of minerals, fossils, ores, birds, and animals, 850., which have
been collected by the members in their excursions in the
neighbourhood.
The Commissioners visited the great industrial works of the
town, and conferred with the proprietors on the subject of the
Commission. '
All the gentlemen with whom We conversed, concurred in the
opinion that in the means for the higher scientiﬁc and artistic
training of artisans, Barrow is seriously deﬁcient. The population
of the town has quite outgrown the educational provision for youths
REPORT. 4157
and apprentices, but we understood that the education question,
particularly in its bearing upon the local industries is receiving
most careful consideration at the hands of those public spirited
and enterprising promoters of the town, to whom all classes of the
population are already so much indebted.
XVlIl.-—BIRMINGHAM.
On the occasion of their visit to Birmingham, the Commissioners Birmingham
met the members of the School Board, and inquired into the schoolBomd’
. . science in-
system of science and art teaching under the Board. Struction,
Boarol School Instruction in Elementary Science—Science
is taught in accordance with the following syllabus: by a
practical demonstrator and assistant (who visit each boys’ and
girls’ department once every fortnight), and by the teacher
of the school.
M cthocl of I nstrnct/lon. —-The science demonstrator for the Board Method of
(or an assistant demonstrator) gives one lesson fortnightly, of about instl'Emtion
40 minutes’ duration, to the boys in the ﬁfth and higher standards m 80161108‘
in each school. These lessons are illustrated experimentally by
specimens and apparatus, carried from school to school in a
hand-cart.
Between the visits of the science demonstrator at least one
lesson is given to the same class by the teachers of the respective
schools (as a rule by a teacher who was present at the
demonstrator’s lesson, and took full notes of it), and a written
examination on the subject matter of the lesson is also held.
The answers are corrected by the class teacher and submitted to
the demonstrator at his next visit to the school. A general
examination in elementary science is held yearly.
Syllabus of Fortnightly Demonstrations for Boys.-—Speci- Science sub-
ﬁcation of a force; nature and action of machines; principle of 56°? taught
work. The mechanical powers; conditions of equilibrium; the to oys'
mechanical advantage; friction. The lever; parts of a lever;
three orders of levers. Practical applications of the lever;
double levers. Weighing machines; the balance; the steel-yard.
The wheel and axle; practical applications of this machine.
The toothed wheel ; clocks and watches. The pulley; ﬁxed and
moveablc pulleys; the three systems of pulleys. The inclined
plane; its principle and applications. The wedge. The screw.
Compound machines. Pressure of liquids; surface of liquids;
liquids under the action of gravity. The hydrostatic press.
The parallelogram of forces. The parallelogram of velocities.
Syllabus of Fortnightly Demonstrations for Girls—Structure _Science sub-
of the human body; names and positions of the various organs; ltgc'glfﬂught
structure of the skin; the teeth. Circulation and respiration; b “
impure air and ventilation. The organs of digestion; the brain
458 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Science
evening classes
under School
Board, Bir-
mingha 111.
King Edward’s
Grammar
School.
and nervous system. Nature of food; necessity for food ; quantity
required; classiﬁcation of food. Preparation of food; meat: its
composition and culinary treatment. Fish, eggs, milk, butter,
cheese: Principles regulating their use and preparation as food.
Flour, pulse, peas, beans: their composition and preparation for
the table. Starch, sugar, fruits, vegetables: their use as food.
Condiments and beverages. Apparatus for cooking: how used.
How to maintain the body in health: 1., Fresh air and pure
water are needful. II. A suitable dwelling, suﬁicient food, and
exercise (work) are also required. The sick room: duties of a
nurse. Contagious diseases: their origin and treatment. How
to prevent them spreading. Diseases of children: how to
help the doctor. Accidents: what to do- in cases of cuts,
burns, &c.
Classes for the evening instruction of pupil teachers are held
at two centres, under the regulations of the Science and Art
Department. Male pupil teachers take chemistry and magnetism
and electricity ; and females, physical geography and magnetism
and electricity. At the examinations in May 1882, 18 ﬁrst class
certiﬁcates and '73 second class certiﬁcates were obtained by the
133 teachers who were examined.
Some of the schools under the Board are used for evening
science classes in connection with the Midland Institute.
The Commissioners visited the Icknield Street Board School,
which has been provided with an excellent laboratory in
accordance with the requirements of the Science Directory. Here
some of the senior boys and the pupil teachers have practical
laboratory instruction in chemistry.
Instruction in handicrafts is not as yet given in any of ‘the
Birmingham Board Schools, but this matter is under the con-
sideration of the Board.*
K ing Eclwclrcl’s Grammar School—The Commissioners visited
the King Edward’s Grammar School, accompanied by the Mayor
and Mr. Alderman Kenrick, where they were met by the head-
master, the Rev. A. It. Vardy, MA. This is an ancient founda-
tion school which has been reconstituted under a new Scheme in
1878. The governing body consists of 22 members. Eight
representative governors are elected by the town council, three
are nominated by the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and
London, and one by the teachers of the schools of the foundation.
Certain governors of the old foundation still remain, but they
will eventually disappear when their terms of office expire. The
schools on this foundation are being entirely remodelled. They

* For the details of a proposed central school in which handicraft instruction would
be given to selected boys of the upper standard, see letter from Mr. Davis, the
Clerk of the Board, in Appendix.
REPORT 459
‘consisted formerly of a high school, a middle school, and
four lower middle schools for boys, and four for girls. It
has been ascertained however, after trial, that there is not
room in Birmingham for three grades of schools above the public
elementary school, and the scheme about to be adopted
distinguishes merely between the high school or central school,
which will have departments both for boys and girls, and the
middle schools which will take the place of the former middle
schools and lower middle schools. The education given at the
high school and at the middle schools differs only in degree, the '
curricula being very similar. The high school course is designed
to educate boys up to the age of 19, whereas the middle
school course terminates at 16, or at about the standard of the
Oxford and Cambridge Junior Local Examinations. The students
for the high school are not generally scholars from the middle
schools, but a good many of the Board school children go into
the middle schools. There are entrance examinations for both
schools; the average age of entrance being 11. In the high
school classical languages form the foundation of the education,
though certain boys who are going in specially for science and
modern languages may be excused Greek.
In the high school the arrangements for teaching science are
antiquated and insufficient, and for some time to come, until it
becomes possible to erect new buildings, the school and the
class-rooms will be crowded, as the high school for girls has to
be accommodated in a portion of the present building.
The science teaching in the high school is under the charge of Scienpe
a master who devotes to it the whole of his time, and there is an teachmg'
assistant master who gives part of his time to these subjects. In
the middle schools the staff will be about the same.
The Grammar School, Five Ways, one of the schools on the Grammar,
same foundation, under the Rev. E. F. MMacCarthy, M.A., as $325.21’ Fm
head-master, was also visited by the Commissioners. The in- '
struction resembles that of the King Edward’s School, but is not
carried so far. The school buildings are modern, and we found
that the foreign system of class-room ﬁttings had been introduced;
thus the rooms were surrounded with blackboards on which the
boys draw simultaneously. There are dual desks, and the
supply of teaching apparatus is good. In connection with a
small lecture theatre are a preparation room and laboratory.
There is a large room in which the boys assemble. The school
contains 270 boys, all of whom, except the two lowest forms,
receive science teaching from Mr. Atkins, the science master, who
devotes the whole of his time to this instruction.
The several schools educate altogether about 850 pupils.
The fee per term in the high school is 3l., there being three
terms to the year. In the middle schools the fee is 2l. per
term, also with three terms per annum. Very few scholarships
are given and therefore the children of poor parents ﬁnd a
460 ROYAL COMMISSION on TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Drawing
teaching.
~ High School
for Girls,
Edgbaston.
The Mason
College,
Birmingham.
Intentions of
the Founder.
, in their place further away from the town.
difficulty in obtaining the beneﬁts of these schools. The
exhibitions, which are three in number, are too small to lead on
to college. There are three exhibitions of 50L per annum to
Oxford and Cambridge, one for classics, one for mathematics,
and one for general proﬁciency. There are 12 scholarships of
30L per annum each in the middle schools.
Three of the lower middle schools buildings are condemned,
and at the present time new school buildings are being erected
The arrangements
in these latter schools are in transition.
Drawing is only taught on half holidays, generally by members
of the staff, on the School of Art basis, and in preparation for
the Government examination.
The Edgbotston High School for Girls was visited by the Com-
missioners. It is under the management of a council of share-
holders, and provides an excellent middle class education for girls
at moderate fees, varying according to age from ﬁve guineas to
eight guineas per term. The head-mistress, Miss Cooper, con-
ducted us over the school.
The Mason College—This institution was founded and en-
dowed by the late Sir Josiah Mason, at a total cost of more than
200,000l. The building designed by Mr. J. A. Cossins, was
erected under the personal supervision of the founder, who
happily lived long enough to see the appointment of the ﬁrst
four professors and the work of teaching begun within the walls
of the college. It was opened on the 1st October 1880.*
The following extracts from the foundation deeds explain
the intentions of the founder in establishing an educational insti-
tution. It will be shown presently to what extent the original
plan has been modiﬁed. Deed, dated 12th December 1870 :—--
“ The Institution to be hereby founded is intended to be called
‘Josiah Mason’s Scientiﬁc College ’ or ‘ Josiah Mason’s College
for the Study of Practical Science ’. . . . and the said
Josiah Mason hereby declares that his intention in founding the
same is to promote thorough systematic education and instruction
specially adapted to the practical, mechanical, and artistic
requirements of the manufactures and industrial pursuits of the
Midland District, and particularly the boroughs of Birmingham
and Kidderminster, to the exclusion of mere literary education
and instruction, and of all teaching of theology and of subjects
purely theological; which limitations the said Josiah Mason
hereby declares to be fundamental.”
And the founder expressly declares the instruction to be given
shall include the following subjects; viz. : “ Mathematics, abstract
“ and applied; physics, both mathematical and experimental;
“ chemistry, theoretical, practical, and applied; the natural

‘t’ A complete description of the building, with plans, will be found in “The
Architect” for January 8th, 1881.
REPORT. 4461
sciences, especially geology and mineralogy, with their appli-
cation to mines and metallurgy; botany and zoology, with
special application to manufactures; and physiology, with
special reference to the laws of health; and the English,
French, and German languages; and may include all such
other subjects of instruction as may be necessary to carry into
effect the intention of the founder to give thorough systematic
scientiﬁc education and instruction specially adapted to the
practical requirements,” &c., “ but excluding mere literary
education and instruction.”
In accordance with these views, the building was designed to
afford accommodation specially for instruction in physics and
chemistry, and very liberal provision was made for the require-
ments of teaching in these departments. The ﬁrst professors
appointed represented the four departments of mathematics,
physics, chemistry, and biology, and they commenced operations
immediately upon the opening of the college in October
1880.
It soon began to be felt, however, that it would be desirable
to extend the scheme so as to provide a complete curriculum, in
science at least, for those students who desired to present them-
selves for the degrees of the University of London. Subsequently
the founder was induced to give his sanction to the admission
of anatomy and the Greek and Latin languages, and to
“ such a course of study as shall qualify for degrees in arts and
science in the Victoria University or the London University,
or any other University of which the institution shall form
part.” (Deed of 23rd February 1881.)
In the same deed the name of the institution is declared to be
‘ The Mason Science College.”
I‘
((
{I
A
In June 1881 Sir Josiah Mason died at an advanced age.
Acting upon the enlarged powers given them by the last deed,
the teachers proceeded to appoint professors of physiology, geology,
botany, engineering, Greek, Latin, and English ; the professor of
chemistry, with the aid of an additional assistant, was requested
to undertake metallurgy; and lecturers were engaged to teach
the French and German languages.
Thus the Mason College, as it is now called, has developed
out of what was essentially a technical school into a university
college, with, however, a distinct leaning to science, notwith-
standing the omission of the word from the title, and with
provision for technical instruction in certain departments.
The teaching of applied science in the college falls under four
heads: First, instruction to the students of the Birmingham
Medical School, in chemistry, physiology, and botany. Secondly,
engineering—a division which is in a fairly prosperous state
considering the short time it has been established, and in which
it' may reasonably be expected that a great increase in the
Mason College,
Birmingham.
Char actcr of
the buildings.
Modiﬁcation
of the course of
instruction.
Additional
professor-ships.
Change from
technical
school into a
university
college.
Applied scierce
teaching.
4162 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION 1
Engineering,
Mason College,
Birmingham.
Metallurgy
and applied
physics.
Classes are open
to both sexes.
Number of
students.
number of students will ensue, when time has been given to
allow of the college becoming better known.
The teaching of engineering is distinctly practical, in the sense
that its results are directly useful in professional and industrial
engineering work; and “there is not the time to wander into
“ matter of merely theoretical interest. There is no endeavour to
“ make the students trained handicraftsmen, that being outside
“ the function of either school or college, and impracticable,
“ except in the regular workshop.” But the pupils have a
laboratory where they experiment on materials and on hand
and machine tools, and on engine and boiler. They have to
shape and temper the tools, and try results by accurate quanti-
tative measurements. They can hardly fail therefore to obtain,
in the Professor’s opinion, so far as the intelligence of each
individual enables him to do so, “ a strong, concrete, and practical
“ idea of the subject they are studying.”
The need of further apparatus for the complete equipment of
the engineering laboratory is much felt.
The engineering department will give a junior and a senior
engineering diploma, at the end of the second and third years
respectively, to those students who have passed through the
prescribed course of study and have gained certain positions in
the periodical college examinations.
In the third division, that of metallurgy, the attendance is
small. The last division is that of physics, which is carried on
by means of a course of special lectures, combined with laboratory
instruction, on the applications of electricity in telegraphy, the
transmission of power, &c.
The classes at the Mason College are open to both sexes on
equal terms, and nearly one-fourth of the students (excluding
medical students) are women. Of the male students the
majority are sons of manufacturers in Birmingham and neigh-
bouring towns, though a few come from London, Leicester, and
other places at a distance.
The number of individual day students registered during the
session ending June 1883, was 366, not including the medical
students from Queen’s College. Some estimate may be formed
of the kind of work done, by reference to the following statement
of the distribution of students in the several departments :-~
SESSION 1882-3.

Registered Day Students.
Mathematics, pure - - - 57
,, applied - - - 2
Physics ~ - - — - 82
Chemistry ~ - - - 12a
Metallurgy - - - - 8
REPORT. 4-63
Registered Day Students . Mason College.

Zoology - - - - 38
Botany - - - ~ - 57
Physiology - ~ - ~ 86
Geology - - - — — 53
Engineering '- - — - 24
Greek - - - - - 35
Latin - - - - - 39
English - - ~ - - 53
French - - - - 42
German - - - ~ - 34
Logic - - - - 4:
Birmingham has long been provided with good and cheap
elementary instruction in science, in the classes at the Midland
Institute, but until the establishment of the Mason College
students desirous of instruction in its higher branches were
obliged to proceed to universities and colleges at a distance from
home.
From the commencement, evening lectures have been given in Evening
most of the departments, but the entries have fallen from 236 lectures‘
to 197 and 172 in successive years. This is probably in the
main to be ascribed to the existence of the classes under the
Science and Art Department, carried on in the Midland Institute
at", fees very much lower than those which are payable in the
college. In the departments of applied science, such as chemistry
and engineering, the attendance is fairly maintained, the decline
being chieﬁy noticeable in the classes for languages and literature.
The next step must be the provision of scholarships or exhi- Exhibitions
bitions for the beneﬁt of deserving students from the elementary “H be needed‘
schools. These the present endowments of the college are
insuﬁicient to provide for. Indeed it is beginning to be strongly
felt that its resources are too small for its present work, for in
spite the greatest economy in the several departments, the
income of the college, including the students’ fees, falls short of
the expenditure by several hundred pounds every year.
The Birmingham and M iollancl I nstitnte. —-This important Birmingham
institution occupies large and commodious buildings in the centre and Midland
of the town. Ever since its establishment, 27 years ago, it has nstltute
gone on increasing in numbers and popularity, and a few years
ago the original building, erected at a cost of 18,000l., on land
given by the town of an estimated value of 10,000l., having
become too small for its requirements, it was decided to extend
it at an estimated outlay of 38,000l. The land needed for
this extension was acquired for the sum of 144,750l., and with
the interest on loans from the bank and necessary expenses, the T ,1 ,
estimated total outlay on land and buildings was stated to the MW bm‘dmgs'
466E ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Midland
Institute,
Birmingham.
Industrial
department.
School of Art,
Birmingham .
Commission at 81,7 50l. A large proportion of the cost has been
raised by public subscription, but 13,200l. are still required to
liquidate the expenditure. - In its general constitution the society
resembles the Mechanics’ Institutes, but it differs from them in
the multitude and importance of its classes, some of which are
held in board schools in different parts of the town.
The ordinary members of the society are about 1,900, and pay
an annual subscription of IL 18., which entitles them to attend
the literary classes, the various lectures, and the conversazione,
and to use the reading and recreation rooms. For the lectures,
special tickets are issued to about 800 subscribers.
Their is a special industrial department which is one of the most
ﬂourishing branches of the Institute, comprising 45143 members
in attendance at the numerous classes.
There are day classes for women. On Saturdays, the science
classes are held from 12.45 pm. to 9 pm, so as to enable
working men to devote their half-holiday to instruction, and
this arrangement has been largely availed of. The classes lead
up to the examinations of the Science and Art Department, of
the Society of Arts, and of the City and Guilds Institute. The
teachers are paid by salary, and have ‘no share in the fees or
grants. Numerous prizes are given by local benefactors of the
school and by the committee of the institute.
Lectures on a variety of subjects are given in the handsome
theatre on Monday evenings, and there is a special course during
the Christmas holidays. Branch classes, nearly all of which are
in the elementary stages of the different science subjects, are held
in eight outlying quarters of the town, and have been found
most invaluable as feeders to the institute. Penny classes are
held in ﬁfteen subjects, some of them in all their stages, and
are extremely popular; as an example, a penny class for
instruction in the violin commenced with 408 persons, and by
the third night the attendance had reached 525. A summer ﬁeld
class in botanyis extremely popular, and there is an archaeological
section with 2344 members.
The gross receipts in the general department in the year 1882
were 3,112l. 138. 6d., and the expenditure 2,734sl. 7s. 2d. In the
industrial department the receipts were 1,761l. 88. 50L, while the
expenditure was 3,137l. 168. 3cl., whereby the institute was
involved in a heavy loss; the balance of the deﬁciency on the
two departments being thus 998l. ls. 6d.
The Commissioners were conducted over the numerous class-
rooms by the ofﬁcers of the society; and they received formal
evidence from Mr. C. J. Woodward, the science master, which
will be found in the Appendix, Vol. III.
Society of Arts and School of Art—~The work of this society
and of the school in connection with the Science and Art
Department, was long carried on in the Midland Institute, but
owing to want of space had to be transferred some years ago to
REPORT. 4165
a separate building. We were met by the head-master,
M r. Taylor, and conducted over the various departments. Both
day and evening classes are held here, and the teaching is strictly
on the lines laid down by .the Art Directory. Numerous local
prizes are competed for annually. Branch classes in connection
with the School of Art are held in several of the Board Schools ;
the instruction in the latter being in all cases conﬁned to the
elementary stages. The annual subscription to the Society of
Arts is one guinea. There is a good art Reference Library,
and lectures on art subjects are delivered during the course of
the session.
The Commissioners, during their stay in Birmingham, inspected Vivitsfo
some of the principal manufactories, and discussed with the ﬂame"
proprietors and managers the facilities provided by the various
science and art classes for the training of their workpeople.
They were informed that no classes exist in the neighbourhood
under the City and Guilds Institute. Formal evidence was Evidence of
taken from some representative working men, respecting the workpeople-
nature of the teaching best adapted to the requirements of their
trades. This will be found in the Appendix, Vol. III.
XIX.—-—LEEDS.
The Yorkshire College—"The Commissioners visited Leeds Yorkshire
principally in order to see the textile and dyeing departments of College,
the college. The buildings for this branch have been specially Lem“-
erected by the Clothworkers’ Company of London at a cost of
15,()O()l., and form a wing of the proposed new Collegiate
buildings at Beech Grove. The Company has also endowed this
department with a grant of 1,25OZ. per annum for ﬁve years,
renewable under certain conditions. The buildings, erected from Bumim\
the designs of Mr. Alfred Waterhouse, are in the Gothic style, “
and are in every way admirably adapted to their purpose. The
cost of the entire college will, it is estimated, be 35,000Z., and
towards this sum,23,8001., had been subscribed at the time of
our visit. \Ve were conducted to the college building by
Mr. F. Lupton, the treasurer, and received there by Sir E. Baines,
the chairman of council, Prof‘. Riicker, the principal, and the
various professors. We discussed with them the present position
of the college, and the system of teaching. Mr. Hummel, the Dyeing school,
teacher of dyeing, and Mr. Beaumont, the instructor in weaving,
accompanied the Commissioners over their respective departments.
The courses of weaving and dyeing extend over two years, and
are so timed that it is difficult for the student to go through
complete courses of both at the same time, but a thorough
knowledge of one branch, and a general acquaintance with the
other, can be obtained during the two years. Mr. Hummel
informed us that he had been trained at Zurich, but he has had
practical experience as a dyer in England. After visiting the
Hi 1726. G G
‘L66
ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Yorkshii c
College
Weaving
School.
Scale of fees.
Dyeing
department.
0
best foreign schools, he had erected the plant of his laboratory
according to plans different from those of any foreign school.
The nature of the instruction in these departments is as follows:
-——In the elementary class-room there are 30 model hand-looms,
counterparts of those in the shed. When the students have been
initiated into the working of the models, they pass forward into
the shed to complete their practical knowledge at the full-sized
looms. In the weaving shed for the advanced class there are seven
jacquard hand-looms, ﬁve hand-looms, three treadle hand-looms,
one 400-hook jacquard power-loom, two 34l-shaft power-looms, one
24r-shaft power-loom, and two tappet power-looms. The power-
looms are driven by a ﬁve-horse power “ Otto” gas engine.
There are also in the shed, card-cutting machines, bobbin-winding
wheels, and other machinery. On these looms the ﬁnest and
choicest fabrics for ladies’ wear and the heaviest goods can be
produced. A certain class of carpets can also be woven. “The
“ object is not to produce a quantity of one material or pattern,
“ but to introduce as many patterns as possible.” The students
are thoroughly taught the mode in which each pattern is woven,
the several parts of which it is composed, and the quantity and
weight of the materials employed. They each receive a set of
sample patterns and a book containing the particulars relating
to them.
The fees in the textile industries department are ten guineas
per session in the ﬁrst year, and eight guineas in the second.
There is also a shorter course with a fee of ﬁve guineas per
session. '
The course in the dyeing department is as follows :—

First Year. Hours per week.
Experimental Physics (ﬁrst year’s lecture course) - 3
Chemistry (two terms) - - - 5
Practical work in chemical, laboratory (three 12
terms) - - - ~ -
Mechanism, machinery and technical drawing - 4
Lectures on colouring matters, mordants, &c. - 3
Practical work in the dyehouse (three terms) - 12
Second Year.

Experimental physics
course) -
Practical work in chemical laboratory - - 12
,, ,, dyehouse - - - 24
The fees in the dyeing department are for one day per Week
ﬁve guineas, two days nine guineas, three days 13 guineas, four
days 16 guineas, six days 21 guineas per session. A considerable
deduction is made in the case of students who do not reside in
Leeds.
(second year’s lecture} 3
REPORT. 467
During the year 1882-83, there were in the college 4M1 day
students, including 185 registered students, 55 medical, and 161
occasional students, and 223 evening students, a total attendance
of 624:. The fees paid by the students amounted to 2,7416l. 118. 6d.
A very successful coal-mining department, endowed b the
Drapers’ Company, and under the charge of Mr. A. Lupton has
been added to the college. The mechanical section under Pro-
fessor Armstrong, and the chemical department under Professor
Thorpe, though at present very ill-provided with class room
accommodation, are very well attended. In fact, Professor
Thorpe experiences great difﬁculty in ﬁnding places for his
students, but in the new buildings, ample and most effective
accommodation for the departments of chemistry and physics
will be found.
XX.-SHEFFIELD.
The Commissioners visited Shefﬁeld and took much valuable
evidence from manufacturers and others interested in the
various educational establishments of the town. The evidence,
which contains a full description of Firth College and its
work, by Professor Viriamu Jones, the late principal, will be
found in the Appendix, Vol. III.
We were much impressed with the excellence of the system
adopted by the School Board, for the management and instruction
at their Central School. In this institution, as in the graded
schools of some other towns, the best scholars from the surrounding
board schools are gathered for more advanced teaching; all the
pupils take the ordinary code subjects, together with some of the
speciﬁc subjects ; both boys and girls throughout the school are
taught German. All the girls learn needlework and practice
cookery ; those in the higher classes take chemistry. Drawing is
thoroughly taught, and is made the foundation for practical
mechanical work, carried on in shops ﬁtted up for the purpose.
This latter comprises the production of simple but perfect, solids
and surfaces in iron and wood, such as the cube, the hexagonal
prism, &c.; also the construction of models in wood, suitable for
use in schools, as examples for model—drawing; and various kinds
of wood joints, model doors, &c.; likewise the construction of
simple apparatus to illustrate by actual experiment the principles
of levers, pulleys, wheel and ‘axle, the crane, strains on beams
with different positions of load, and the mechanics of the roof,
arch, and bridge. The Commissioners were much impressed with
the excellence of the drawing, including that for the industrial
work.
It is greatly to be desired that the Government would support
this practical workshop instruction, without which the con-
tinuance of the scheme is scarcely possible. For a full account
of the work of this school, see letter from Mr. Moss, the Clerk to
the School Board, in Appendix, Vol. III. '
Chemical
department,
Yorkshire
College.
Sheffield.
Central Board
School.
Laboratories
and mechanical
workshops .
Excellent
results of the
Sheﬁeld
Central School.
GG2
468 norm. connissiou on TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Bradford
Technical
College.
Reasons for
erection of
College.
Grant by the
Clothworkers’
Company.
Classrooms
and lecture
hall.
Art Depart-
ment.
Textile De-
partment.
XXI.--Bnaoronn.
The Bradford Technical College—By invitation of the presi-
dent, Mr. Henry Mitchell, the Commissioners visited the Bradford
Technical College on the occasion of the opening of the new
buildings by their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of
\Vales, and on other occasions.
The erection of the College was the result of a prevailing
feeling in the minds of many of the commercial community of_
Bradford, that, in the competition for the world’s industry, it
was becoming more and more needful to develops to the fullest
extent, the technical knowledge of the employers and operatives
in the various industries, on which the prosperity of the district
depends. It was therefore decided that an institution should be
founded, in which instruction should be given in the principles
underlying the various industries of the town and neigh-
bourhood.
A powerful stimulus was given to the movement by the
generous contribution to the building fund of 3,500l., as well as
an annual grant of 500l., by the Worshipful Clothworkers’
Company of London, whose master for the year 1880, Lieutenant
Colonel Britten, laid the corner stone of the new building. -The
outlay upon the building and furniture already exceeds 36,000l.
The college is divided into departments for pure art, designing,
weaving, chemistry and dyeing, mechanical engineering, and the
sciences connected with the building and other mechanical
trades.
In addition to the rooms for art, the chemical and dyeing
laboratories, the weaving sheds, and mechanical workshops, there
is a handsome lecture hall calculated to hold 000 persons, an
extensive museum for textiles, raw materials, natural objects, &c.,
and a large and well furnished reading-room. In the several
departments there are 838 students, of whom 184 are day, and
054: evening students.
The art department embraces courses of instruction both in
pure art and in designing for textiles. This important department
is under the charge of one of the most experienced art masters
in the country, Mr. Walter Smith, who, for the last ten years,
has held the post of art director of the State schools of
Massachusetts in America, and of the Normal Art College at
Boston.
In the textile department instruction is given in the manu-
facture of textile fabrics of every description ; including the
nature and properties of the raw material, and the application of
design to woven fabrics. Mr. J. R. Ashenhurst, the instructor,
has visited, and gained experience in, some of the important
weaving schools in other countries. There are few weaving
schools in any country so thoroughly equipped with all the best
appliances of instruction, or so largely attended. Nearly 300
students attend these classes; the majority of those who come in
REPORT. 469
the evening are over-lookers or aspiring workmen, while the day
classes are attended by the sons of manufacturers.
The chemistry and dyeing departments are under the direction Chemistry
of Dr. Knecht, who was trained under Dr. Victor Meyer as an and climing
assistant in the chemical laboratory of the Polytechnic at Zurich. ﬁgzggzgm’
The students are grounded in the principles of chemistry, which Technica
they apply to the investigation of the properties and uses of the College‘
various dyeing materials, by analysis, and by practical experiments
in dyeing.
1n the engineering and machine-making department, the Engineering
theory of the class-room is united with the practical experience an‘lllifnjchme-
of the bench, lathe, and forge. It is doubtful if there is any $21,113,“,
school workshop in this or any country so well ﬁtted up with
modern mechanical tools and appliances. Mr. Dales, the head of Drawing oﬁice.
the mechanical drawing office, is familiar with the details of
mechanical engineering, having devoted his life to the practice
of the profession. Under a careful scheme of instruction and
under practical workmen, the students become familiar with the
various tools used in working in wood and metals.
In the general science department there are classes in practical, General‘
plane, and solid geometry, mathematics, physics, chemistry, steam, applied mechanics, and machine construction. ‘
A special feature of the college is the day school, under the D11? School-
head-mastership of Mr. James Spencer, B.Sc., in which there are
130 pupils whose ages vary from 12 to 17. This department is
intended to act as a feeder, preparing students for the technical
classes.
The curriculum of the school embraces-—
1. The general course, which includes English, mathematics, Programme
mechanics, chemistry, physics, drawing (freehand, model, “instruction-
geometrical), and machine construction.
2. Technical course; a pupil upon entering may select one
subject from the following: Mechanical engineering, art,
pattern-designing, weaving, dyeing.
3. Languages ; French, German, and Latin.
The pupils who are studying technological subjects, receive
one or two lessons a week from the various specialists, and spend
besides, several hours a week in the weaving sheds, the workshops,
the dye house, or art rooms, as the case may be. The day
students who attend the college for special subjects, such as
weaving, dyeing, and engineering, receive instruction if they
desire it, with the day pupils in mathematics, physics, French,
German, &c.
An important feature in connection with the day school is the Scholarships.
scholarship scheme, whereby, from a fund generously subscribed
by manufacturers, merchants, and others, about 60 boys of the
artizan class from the elementary schools of the town are
admitted by competition, and receive two years’ instruction in
the school, free of charge.
a?‘
Keighley,
Yorkshire.
School Board.
Elementary
education.
4170 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL Insrnuo'rroNz
The head-master expects, from an extensive past experience of
pupils of this character, that not only will they pass the Govern-
ment examinations of the ‘Science and Art Department with
credit before leaving the school, but that when they become
apprentices they will return to the evening classes, and follow
the instruction in the special sciences relating to their daily work,
with far greater zest and proﬁt than those who have not had the
advantage of similar training.
XXII.—-—KEIGHLEY.
The Commissioners visited the town of Keighley, in the West
Riding of Yorkshire, (population 30,000), for the purpose of
inspecting its Elementary and Science and Art Schools, and they
also examined some of its leading industries. The worsted manu-
facture, of which Bradford is the centre, gives employment to
the bulk of the population of the town, but Keighley is likewise
the seat of numerous mechanical and other industries, employ-
ing in the aggregate a large number of workpeople. It is,
perhaps, best known as the chief seat of the manufacture of
long-wool spinning machinery.
In elementary education, Keighley has shown considerable
activity. In consequence of the opinion that the accommodation
was ample, and the instruction efficient, a School Board was not
formed until the year 1875. At that time the number of children
on the registers amounted to 3,749, with an average attendance
of 2,007. In 1888 the number on the registers was 5,829, with
an average attendance of 4,051, or more than double the
attendance in 1875. The percentage of passes, under the new
Code (1883), was 87.
The Commissioners visited one of the large Elementary Board
Schools, with accommodation for 1,000 scholars. This school, like
the others erected under the Board, follows the German plan;
the so-called class-room system being adopted, in which each class
is placed in a room by itself, under a single master ; each class
room thus being in effect a separate school, under a duly qualiﬁed
adult teacher. In the centre of the school is a large central hall
in which all the children can be assembled at once. As tested by
results, the above arrangement is a satisfactory one, for, while
the cost of teaching per head is lower than in the average of the
Board schools of the country, the percentage of passes is higher.
The sexes are taught together, girls sitting on one Side of the
room and boys on the other. The most remarkable fact connected
with these schools is the success of the half-timers. The Keighley
district is essentially a factory district, there being 1,500 factory
half-timers attending the schools. Although these children
receive less than 14. hours of instruction per week, and are
required to attend the factory for 28 hours in addition, their
percentage of passes at the examinations is higher than the
REPORT. 4,71
average of passes of children receiving double the amoun t of
schooling throughout the country.
The M echa'n'ics’ Institute a/nol Schools of Science and Art in Keighley
Keighley represent the modern development of a Society estab- IMe‘t’l‘anics’
lished in the town in 1825. Its formation was actively promoted s’éiéﬁlgeoi-n"
by a number of working men, anxious to carry into effect the Science and
scheme‘ of Dr. Birkbeck and Lord Brougham. After a few All‘
years’ occupation of temporary premises, a Mechanics’ Institute
was erected by public subscription, and for 35 years, by the aid
of its lectures, classes, and library, was the chief instrument in
promoting the literary and scientiﬁc culture of all classes in the
town. It is interesting to record that many of the leading
employers of the past and present generations have gratefully
testified to the fact that to the facilities here afforded they owed
almost their entire education.
The present building, now inadequate for its requirements, New building.
was opened in 1870, and, including furnishing and subsequent
additions, cost nearly 20,000l. A grant of 820Z. was obtained
from the Science and Art Department, on the Science and Art
rooms, but, with this exception, the whole outlay was met by
the voluntary subscriptions of all classes of inhabitants in the
town. In order to obtain experience as to the best methods of
imparting a practical education for an industrial community,
several members of the Council visited the leading schools of
Germany, Switzerland, and Paris, and the information received
was utilised in organising the departments of the Institution
for day and evening instruction.
The Institution contains (1) a series of class rooms for Class rooms
elementary and science teaching; connected with these a chemical éligeiabom‘
laboratory, room for apparatus and models, lecture theatre, '
work room and class rooms; a school of art, with rooms for
elementary drawing, mechanical and architectural drawing,
modelling and designing, a room specially arranged for drawing
from models, casts, and from the life, and a picture gallery for the
periodical exhibition of the works of the students and the loan
collections from South Kensington and other sources; (3) a
department, common also to the students of the above, for the
pursuit of general information and for the recreation and
amusement of members ; comprising lecture hall to accommodate
1,200, library (now containing 7,000 volumes), reference library
for the beneﬁt of the students; newsroom for daily newspapers
and telegrams; reading room for periodicals and magazines;
penny bank; conversation and smoking rooms. A large gymna-
sium was afterwards provided.
In the day school (called the Trade and Grammar School), Trade and
whilst the teaching is so eﬂicient that the leading manufacturers Grammar
of the district send their sons, the fee for artisans is so low so 001'
that a considerable number of that class have been attracted to
the school, and constitute fully two-thirds of the total. students.
Thus the sons of employers sit side by side at their studies
4'72 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Exhibitions.
Keighlej .
Evening
instruction.
Ev cniug Classes
in literary
subjects.
Studentships
under Science
and Art
Department.
with the sons of their workmen, and this result is considered to
be mutually satisfactory.
By the aid of a number of exhibitions from an old grammar
school endowment (the Drake and Tonson Exhibitions), the
cleverest boys in the elementary schools of the town are
yearly admitted by competition into the Trade School; main—
tenance grants from another endowment (the Bocock Fund)
being made to the poorest.
With regard to the thousands of boys in the town who pass
through the elementary schools, and cannot win exhibitions or
enter the school as ordinary students, the Council have provided
means whereby they can go through the Trade School curriculum
in evening classes. At a nominal fee (one penny per night)
students, male and female, may there supplement the instruction
of the elementary day school, under certiﬁcated teachers.
There are also scholarships admitting students from the
elementary classes to the science and art classes.
There are likewise evening classes in French, German, Latin,
shorthand, singing, &c., and in addition, lectures on scientiﬁc
and literary subjects provided by the Council. It may be worth
mentioning that Keighley was one of the ﬁrst towns to take
advantage of the scheme of University Extension instituted by
the Syndicate of Cambridge, and classes were conducted and
lectures given for three sessions.
In addition to the above-mentioned local scholarships and
exhibitions, by means of science “ studentships,” artisan students,
by competition with schools and classes in the United Kingdom,
are admitted to the Normal School of Science, South Kensington,
with their tuition fees paid, and ample allowance made for their
maintenance, while in London, by the Department, and travelling
expenses to and from their homes. (Since 1872 nearly 50 of
such exhibitions have been gained, and two students from
Keighley (one having obtained the Doctor of Science degree, and
having been raised to the dignity of Professor) have been retained
on the teaching staff of the Normal School.)
By means of the “ Devonshire ” and “ Holden” exhibitions,
presented respectively by His Grace the Duke of Devonshire and
Mr. Isaac Holden, M.P., value 50l. each (25l. in each case being
supplied by the Department), two students are annually admitted to
such of the following colleges as they may select, viz., the Yorkshire
College, Leeds, the Royal School of Mines, London, the Royal
College of Chemistry, London, the Royal College of Science,
Dublin. -
The deserving poor boy is admitted from the elementary school
to the Trade School for two years’ tuition, free of cost; he may be
retained in the Trade School for two years after his exhibition
expires, and has the opportunity of winning further exhibitions
to South Kensington, where he receives the highest scientiﬁc
instruction under the most distinguished professors at the Normal
School of Science. These advantages are open to students
REPORT. 473
in evening classes, and in a great number of instances have been
fully enjoyed by them. ‘
A Weaving department has been in operation for four years, Weaving
and has been generously supported by the Worshipful Cloth- “Mol-
workers’ Company of London. There are hand and power looms
for experimental work, and other necessary apparatus for
weaving. The operations of this department are somewhat
cramped for want of space and motive power, but nevertheless a
large class of young men, all connected with the textile industries,
are receiving systematic instruction in designing and weaving,—
in designing a pattern on paper, and working it out in the loom,
-——it being impossible for them to obtain such instruction in the
ordinary factories of the district. Already latent faculties of
artistic power have been aroused, and designs have been exe-
cuted, not only ingenious and original, but of commercial value.
Plans are in course of preparation for extending the building
by the addition of a wing for technical workshops, power-
looms, 8m, and a chemical laboratory and museum. The extension
is estimated to cost 5,000L, towards which the Clothworkers’
Company have generously promised a subscription of 1,000l.
With regard to the number of students attending the schools, Number of
the last report (1883) states that in the day and evening classes students-
there were nearly 1,100, the great majority of whom were
artisans from the machine shops and factories.
The strictly educational department of the Institute is separated Club depart-
from the more social or club department, and a separate regis-
tration of membership is required for each. Only a small '
proportion of the ordinary members of the Institute are also
students of the classes, yet of the latter class the last Report
shows that at present there are over 1,000 persons maintaining
their membership of the Institute. These returns show that
over 2,000 of the 30,000 inhabitants of the district are directly
connected with the Institute.
XXIII.-SALTAIRE.
The Commissioners visited Saltaire on the invitation of Saltaire.
Mr. Titus Salt, and were conducted by him and Mr. Stead over fs‘lﬁllﬁiﬁfglﬂ,
the various departments of the works. Although it is 30 years 1 H '
since these factories were built, and the town and its several
institutions were founded and planned by the late Sir Titus
Salt, yet, whether considered in relation to the arrangements of
the factories, or the extensive provision for the education, health,
and recreation of its people, the town of Saltaire is probably the
most remarkable and most complete industrial colony that has
been founded in any country.
We refrain, as in the case of all other English visits, from
describing the factory, much as we are tempted to do so.
4574 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION 2
Saltaire
cottages.
Baths.
Schools.
Club and
Institute.
Public park.
Dining hall.
Almshouses.
Places of
worship.
Sunday schools.
The town consists of 850 houses and cottages, with a separate
yard to each, let at rentals varying from 28. Gel. to 12s. per
week. There are about 410 shops, and large co-operative stores'
for supplying the population with food, clothing, and other
requirements. There is no public-house in the town.
In a convenient and central situation are the baths and wash-
houses with two plunge baths, 24 slipper baths, and Turkish and
douche baths. The washing department is furnished with steam
tubs, with a plentiful supply of hot and cold water, drying
closets, and all other requisites.
For supplying the educational wants of the neighbourhood,
there are two elementary schools, attended by 850 children each.
The provision for secondary education was made at the sole
'expense of Sir Titus Salt, in the form of “ High Schools” for
boys and girls. The Schools for girls were erected in 1867, at
a cost of 8,000l., and were ﬁrst used as factory schools; the
department for boys is conducted in the rooms of the Saltaire
Institute. These High Schools were incorporated by the Charity
Commissioners in 1877, under the title of “the Governors of the
Salt Schools, Shipley, ‘ Registered.’ ” The numbers, at present
attending, are 68 boys and 160 girls.
The Saltaire Club and Institute was erected by Sir Titus Salt
in 1871, at a cost of 30,000l. In addition to a handsome lecture-
hall, with accommodation for 1,500 persons, there is an extensive
library, a spacious reading room, chemical laboratory, a number
of class-rooms for science, a well equipped school of art, a
gymnasium, and a large billiard room.
In the winter, courses of lectures, concerts, “ social evenings,”
and conversazione are provided for the instruction and amusement
of the public. The institute numbers 800 members.
There is a well kept park of 14 acres, beautifully situated on
the banks of the river Aire, and skirting the woods of Shipley
Glen, one of the most picturesque and favourite resorts in the
district.
A public dining hall has been erected in connection with the
Works, in which 1,000 dinners can be served in a few minutes.
The meals range in price from two-pence upwards.
A group of alms houses, and Sir Titus Salt’s Hospital, have
been erected for the aged and inﬁrm, and for the Sufferers from
accidents. The hospital contains three wards (nine beds) and
an out-patients’ department. The almshouses for the aged poor
have been endowed with 30,000l.
Of places of worship, there are the Saltaire Congregational
Church, erected by Sir Titus Salt at a cost of 15,000l. In a
mausoleum attached to this church, the honoured founder of
this church is buried. The Sunday school connected with this
church cost 10,000l., and has accommodation for 800 children
in 24 class-rooms and a large hall. There is a Wesleyan chapel
erected at a cost of 5,400l, and a Sunday school attached, with
accommodation for 800 children in 20 class-rooms and a large
hall.
REPORT. 47 5
Among the numerous associations are two or three beneﬁt Saltaire. _
societies, a funeral brief, women’s sick relief society, cricket club. 1°ca1 mam“
. . . ' . ' and clubs.
angling association, brass band, string and reed band, choral
society, ﬁre brigade, &c.
Under the guidance of Mr. Titus Salt, we visited the elementary Saltaire Board
schools which are under the Shipley School Board, of which he is schools-
chairman. The Albert Road School is built on the separate class-
room system, with an assembly-room in the centre. The infant
department is in the same form, and all the details of arrangement
and furnishing have been carried out with the greatest care and
forethought by Mr. Salt, who has made the question of school
buildings and furniture a special study, both in this country and
in America. The exceptional feature of these schools is that the
classes are mixed, and all taught by females. The numerous
half-timers are taught in classes apart from the other children,
and were stated to be about two standards behind the children
of the same age who had passed all their time at school. The
rough factory boys attend the school, and yet the discipline is
excellent, while the educational results are satisfactory both as
to half-and full—timers. The infant schools are taught on the Infant schools.
Kindergarten system, by thoroughly efficient and enthusiastic
teachers Some of the modelling in clay by the infants was
excellent, and the plaiting of coloured strips of paper, and the
making of designs on ruled paper with coloured worsted, showed
evidences of more than ordinary ingenuity.
XXIV—N OTTINGHAM.
The Commissioners were met by the Mayor, Mr. Lindley, and Nottingham
the chairman of the School Board, Mr. Alderman Gripper, who “PQOPIBLS
accompanied them to the People’s College. This school was fiilfegfgleﬁm
erected in 1846, by voluntary contributions, for the education of tai’y school.
the working classes. It has now been taken over by the School
Board and extensively remodelled for its present purpose, to serve
as a higher grade board school. The buildings are in two
separate divisions and are intended to accommodate 480 boys
and 300 girls. The fees are 90?. per week, but children leaving
other board schools after having attained the ﬁfth standard, are
admitted for 6d. per week. The cost of the school has been about
10L per child for the 780 children. The class rooms are large
and well arranged, consisting of one long room on each ﬂoor,
divided into separate spaces, each accommodating 60 children, by
glazed sliding screens. The whole school is heated by hot
water. The woodwork is of polished pine and the walls are
coloured French grey; the rooms being surrounded by a buff.
coloured enamelled tile dado.
One of the class rooms is about to be converted into a chemical Chemical
laboratory which will contain 38 working places, two smaller rooms laboratory
476 ROYAL COMMISSION on TECHNICAL msraucrron:
Nottingham ,
Attention paid
to drawing at
People‘s
College.
1 lnntingdon
Street Board
School.
Nottingham
University
College.
being screened off at one end for a balance room and operation
room. The cost of ﬁtting up this laboratory, exclusive “ of
apparatus and re—agents, is estimated at 310i. By means of the
sliding screen the adjoining class room can be used for demon-
strations before a large class.
The head-master of the school, Mr. Edward Francis, informed
the Commissioners that at the present time the fourth standard
is the strongest section. They eventually intend to make ﬁve
classes, equivalent to the fourth, ﬁfth, sixth, seventh, under
the new code, and a so-called eighth standard, the last-named,
however, not being recognised by the code. The boys in this
school would come at 10 or 11 years of age and remain till
15 or 16. ‘
A feature in this school is the large amount of time devoted
to drawing, the whole of Friday afternoon being allotted to this
subject.
The. playground is small, and there is no provision for
gymnastics, which are not appreciated in the town.
The Commissioners next visited the Huntingdon Street Board
School, which has 480 children, under Mr. Edward W. Hemming,
the head-master, six assistant masters, and two ex-pupil teachers.
The pupil teachers in the Nottingham schools are not counted
as teachers until the third or fourth year.
The class-rooms are about 22 feet wide, lighted from the
front and back, and divided off into long rooms by means of
glazed partitions, portions of which are hinged as doors, and
capable of being opened at an angle so as to give uninterrupted
communication from one room into another to the master. The
partitions cost about Zt0l. each.
Some of the Commissioners visited a mixed half-time school.
The Commissioners were informed that the‘ passes in N otting-
ham for half-timers are about 82 per cent. as against 87 per cent.
in whole~time schools. The average attendance in this, which
is a full—time school, would be 85 per cent. of those on the
register, with 96 per cent. of passes.
The class under instruction by the head-master, which
contained two standards mixed, consisted of 80 boys.
Nottingham University C'ollege.-—The college buildings were
erected at a cost of 70,000l., of which 10,0001. were offered by
an anonymous donor on the condition that the buildings to be
provided by the Corporation of Nottingham should include a
lecture room, capable of seating 400 persons. The Town Council
accepted this oﬁer, and it was resolved to erect at once a group
of buildings that should provide for the University Extension,
scientiﬁc, and other higher teaching of the town, and at the same
REPORT. s77
time furnish accommodation for the Free Library and the Natural
History Museum. The 60,0001. granted by the Corporation was
taken from funds they possessed, to be devoted to the general C
welfare of the town~ The college was opened on the 30th June
1881, by H.R.H. the late Duke of Albany. For its maintenance,
the Corporation grants 41,0005. annually, derived from various
sources, whilst the college has a revenue of 3,0001. a year from
charitable bequests, these sums being supplemented by the
students’ fees. There are numerous rooms for the various classes,
an excellent lecture theatre for physics, and another for chemistry,
a physical laboratory and workshops, a large chemical laboratory
with 60 working places, and a public lecture theatre, in which
popular lectures are given each week, the admission to which
is one penny per person. The building is a very handsome
structure, admirably adapted in every way for its intended uses.
There are four professors; viz., of mathematics and physics,
chemistry, natural history, and literature, and they are aided by
science teachers and University Extension lecturers.
The constitution of the college is as follows :——It is governed
by a committee elected annually by the Town Council,
twelve from amongst their own body, and seven members
not councillors. In consequence of the somewhat unwieldy
nature of this committee, it is in contemplation to elect standing
sub-committees to arrange the general business, and to report
to the governing body, who would then meet only at rarer
intervals. The four professors constitute a species of informal
senate, or studies sub-committee, to arange academical work,
and report to the general committee.
Professor Garnett stated that at the time he came to Nottingham,
the college was already at work, the ﬁrst year having been
devoted to subjects of general literature, and the audiences
attracted could not be considered bona ﬁde students. His effort
had been to differentiate more clearly the teaching for artizans
* and the regular university day students’ work. The latter were
going in for the Intermediate BA. degree or the Arts degree
of the London University. In order to attract students, he
had been willing to start classes even for a single individual.
Thus at ﬁrst he had one or two working for the 1st B.Sc.,
one for the Cambridge B.A., &c. His day classes, which repre-
sent his higher teaching, were as follows : —-Electricity, with
about 7 students; mechanics, with 10 students; elementary
mathematics, with 30 students; intermediate arts (London
University), 3 students ; intermediate science, 1 student. There
were also day classes in literature and history, natural science,
and chemistry. Among his evening classes was that of ele-
mentary mathematics, with 10 students, theoretical mechanics,
with 4.‘ students, electricity, with 40 students, and an advanced
lecture class of 15 students. In addition to the classes directly
connected with the college, were those connected with the Science
and Art Department, which were taught by masters certiﬁcated
Nottingham
University
ollege.
Teaching ~tatf.
Gm crlmlent of
the college.
Profes~or
Garnett on the
Nottingham
College.
478 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION 1
Nottingham
University
College.
Nottingham
School of Art.
Income.
by South Kensington, which classes were also under his general
supervision. Some of these classes were in the same subjects
as the college classes, such as magnetism, electricity, &c. Asked
if he could point out the difference between the teaching of
these subjects in these parallel classes, he stated that there was
a great difference in degree between the manner in which a
Cambridge man would teach and the instruction given by an
Ordinary science master. On being pressed to state more clearly
what this difference was, he said that generally in the South
Kensington text books, if the teacher came to a difficulty, it
was shirked or escaped. If a Cambridge lecturer came to a
difficulty, it would be at once pointed out and either solved or
an attempt made to solve it. It would not be set aside. The
conversation turning to the University Extension lectures, he
said that these lectures are undoubtedly supplying an acknow-
ledged want. He might mention as an example that he had
lately before him the work of 150 candidates in electricity and
magnetism, from a group of towns in the north of England, who
had been wonderfully well taught by a college man; the plan
of teaching was by lectures alternating with meetings for the
answering of questions given out at the lectures and prepared
in the interval; this system worked well. He considered the
South Kensington classes were not nearly so well taught as
those under the Extension scheme. Twenty-two papers received
from Middlesborough, chieﬂy by working-men, were excellent.
He admitted that the absence of practical teaching was a defect
in the University Extension classes, and that electricity could
scarcely be taught thoroughly without such practical work,
but pointed out that this defect was shared by the South
Kensington science classes.
Nottingham School of Art.—-A visit was also paid to the
Nottingham School of Art, situated in a ﬁne building in the centre
of the town, and erected by public subscription. The Commis-
sioners were received by Mr. T. J. Birkin, the chairman, and several
members of the committee, who, together with Mr. T. J. Dalgliesh,
the head-master, accompanied them over the school. The income
of the school from the fees in the morning and evening classes
amounts to about 625l. a year, the total number of students on
the books being about 650. An interesting feature is the recent
erection, at a cost of 1,000l., of a large conservatory, or plant-form
studio, covering an area of 2,520 square feet. The art work
of the school has had an important bearing on the trade of
Nottingham, and the designers trained in the school have‘
been largely employed in the leading manufacture of N otting-
ham, that of lace. Considerable success has always been
obtained in the national art competitions, by the students of
the Nottingham School. The Commissioners were present at a
lecture on geometry, which was well attended, and they also
visited the designing class, life class, &c..
neronr. 4,79
. The Commissioners visited the Art Museum, situated in Nottingham
Nottingham Castle, where they were received by Sir J. Old~ A" Museum‘- .1
know, the chairman, and Mr. G. Wallis, the curator. The ruins
of Nottingham Castle were restored, and adapted for the pur-
pose of this museum, at a cost to the Corporation of nearly
30,0001, and the collections were opened by their Royal
I-Iighnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales in July 1878.
The galleries are admirably ﬁtted for their purpose, and contain
very ﬁne collections of pictures and other objects of art, most of
them on loan from their owners in the neighbourhood; a large
number of .objects contributed by the South Kensington Museum ;
and a general collection of specimens of decorative art. The
museum is open to the public on ﬁve days in the week on a
payment of let. on Mondays and Saturdays and Gel. on other
days, whilst one day per week is reserved for students. The
total admissions during the last ﬁnancial year were 223,000
persons, over 121,000 being admitted by single payments, and
101,000 by season ticket, the receipts for the 12 months
amounting to 1,7205. Annual exhibitions of pictures, by local
artists, are held in this-museum. Prizes are offered for freehand
and mechanical drawing. The collections of lace, which are now
being made by the curator, will, it is anticipated, be of great
value to the designers for local manufactures.
Visits to Lace and other Manufactories.—~Visits were paid
to various manufactories of lace, of tools. and of lace-making
machinery, and to extensive hosiery works. The staple trade
of the town was well seen by an inspection, kindly afforded
to the Commissioners, of one of the great warehouses. Here
not only are the laces and curtains passed through the
last stage of their preparation before going to the wholesale
houses in London, but a staff of designers is employed in pro-
ducing original designs for curtains and lace. The proprietor
explained to the Commissioners the way in which these designs
are prepared, and stated that, in his opinion, very many less
lace designs are now being purchased from abroad than was
formerly the case.
XXV.--BRIsToL.
Bristol Trade and Mining SchooL—The Commissioners visited
the Trade School, now known under the name of the Merchant
Venturers’ School. The establishment of this school was mainly
due to the efforts of Canon Mosely, who reorganised a British
school, which had been closed for some years, as a school for teaching
applied science. It has lately been placed under the Merchant
Company of Bristol, who administer the Colston Trust Fund. A
new school building, to accommodate 500 pupils, is being erected
by the Company, and this, when completed, will absorb the
present trade and mining schools, under the title above. The
present building is antiquated, overcrowded, and ill adapted to
its purpose.
Admissions.
Visits to lace
and other
manufactories.
Trade School,
Bristol.
480 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Bristol
Merchant
Venturers’
School.
Mining and
engineering.
Number of
pupils.
Fees.
Laboratory.
University
College.
Laboratory.
The school is practically in four divisions. (A) An elementary
division called the primary department for boys not under nine
years of age; this is merely an ordinary elementary school, in
which, however, the rudiments of French are taught. A
secondary department which receives lads up to 18 years of age.
After the third year the instruction bifurcates into, (C1) a divi-
sion for the study of mathematics and the applied sciences,
intended to prepare boys for a career connected with manufactures
and the constructive arts, and, (C 2) a department for studies
suitable for those to be engaged in commercial life.
There is further a higher grade mining school (D) for the
study of mining and engineering, with a two years’ course.
The energetic master, Mr. Comber, has been most successful
in teaching science subjects under the Science and Art
Department. All the boys learn drawing, and both in this subject
and in science the school earns a high grant. In the lower classes
of the secondary school there is no practical laboratory work, and
in the mining school, which has about 17 students, chemistry
and ﬁeld-work are the only subjects in which practical work is
done. The entire school has 280 pupils. In connection with it
are night classes for drawing and various science subjects, and
also for Latin and French.
The fees in the day school are ll. 68. 8d. per term (three terms
in the year, with an entrance fee of 7s. 6d.). In the mining school
the fees are 5i. 5s. per term, with an entrance fee of 128. 601.
For the night classes the fees are for French and Latin 108. 6d.
the session, and for science subjects 78. (id. for one, 103. (id. for
two, and 7s. Get. for each additional subject.
The school possesses a fairly well equipped laboratory, in which
special students are admitted to work for 21L per annum, and
night students pay a_ fee of ll. ls. per session for laboratory
practice.
University College, Bristol—The college is situated in the
upper part of the town, in new buildings, which are only partially
completed. It was opened in 1876. The total annual expen-
diture is about 4.1,400l. The fees of the students produce 2,l50l.,
subscriptions, local, 1,400l., Clothworkers’ Company, London,
300l., Balliol College, Oxford, 2501]., and miscellaneous receipts
1005., leaving about 2001. unprovided for. We were received by
Professor Ramsay, the principal, who directs the chemical depart-
ment, and were conducted by him over the various class-rooms.
The chemical laboratory is large and well-ﬁtted, and contains
24: working places, but there is room for additional tables. In
order to provide for the present number of students, the places
have to be duplicated. There is a small balance room and a
professor’s private laboratory. Upstairs is a convenient lecture
theatre and preparation room, a store-room for chemical
apparatus, a class-room for physiology, and a small physiological
laboratory. In the engineering drawing room, which is very
REPORT. 481
small, about 16 - students can work at a time. The lecturer on
mechanics‘showed us his workshop, in which only two or three Workshop.
students can attend “at one time. There are a lathe, and a couple
of vices; some brass turning and tool handles were shown to us,
the work of the students. In the lecture room a class of ﬁve
students were taking notes of a problem in geometry which was
being explained by Mr. H. H. Shaw. Professor Sylvanus Physics.
Thompson, who undertakes the physical work, has two labora-
tories, one of which is mainly used for electrical work, and the
other for experiments in light and heat. The sum of 3005. has
just been subscribed for apparatus urgently needed to equip this
department, and some excellent instruments from the Cambridge
Scientiﬁc Company were shown to us. There are in all about
180 day students, among whom are many ladies. The larger
prpiportion of the students are attending the classes in literature
an modern languages. About 70 students are going through
a complete and systematic course suitable for students of applied
science. ’ There is a medical school attached to the college.
XXVI.——BEDFORD.
At the invitation of Mr. James Howard, M.P., the Commis- Bedford
sioners visited Bedford, in order to inspect the Grammar School, Schools-
the Modern School, and the elementary schools. All these
schools are endowed from an ancient foundation, the Harpur
Trust, which has a revenue of about 15,000Z. a-year, arising
from large estates in London.
The ﬁrst visit was to the Grammar School, which may be Grammar
regarded as the classical side of the institution. The two schools “110°1-
are distinct, and are carried on in separate and non-adjacent
buildings. In the Grammar School the commencement of
practical work is made in the shape of small shops for carvers
and ﬁtters, but they do little more than furnish recreation for Practical work.
the boys during a portion of their play time. In the Modern Modem
School practical instruction is given both in chemistry and school.
in physics, and it is in contemplation to erect workshops for
instruction in the use of tools.
A large and handsome school has also been recently built
under this charity as a Girls’ High School.
‘The Grammar School is under the head-mastershi of Mr. J. Stat]? of
P
Surtees Phillpotts, M.A., B.O.L., with a staff of 22 assistants. Grammar
school and
The head-master of the Modern School is the Rev. Robert B. modem 50100;,
Poole“ B.D., and he is assisted by a staff of 25 masters and
instructors.
The fees in the Grammar School are 31. or 4.1. per term (according Fees-
as the scholar is under or above 13), and in the Modern School
1Z.6's.8cZ., 2Z., or 31., as the scholar is under or above 16., or
Ri 1726. H H
4382 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Harpur Trust
Funds,
Bedford.
Visit to
Kendal.
History of
Kendal
Industries.
above 17. There are three terms in the year. There is an
entrance fee of 21. in the Grammar School, and ll. in the Modern
School. The scheme of the charity was settled under date of
the 4th August 1873, and a printed copy of the scheme was
handed to the Commissioners. It provides for the carrying on
of the trust by means of governors, for the management of the
schools for boys, girls, and infants, and of the large charities to
which a considerable portion of the money is devoted.
The Bedford Schools are $5 excellent and the fees are so low
that many people with small means are being attracted to ‘the
town in order to obtain, as residents, the education for their
children supplied by this charity, which embraces free elementary
as well as the above-mentioned higher schools.
The net revenue of the Harpur Trust Funds for the year 1881
consisted of 1437541. Out of this amount fifths were devoted to
the Grammar School (= 41,5991): {Tths to the Modern _School
(=41,599Z.) ; Til-tbs to the Elementary School (: 2,300Z.) ; and ﬁfth
for eleemosynary purposes (= 1,150l.), being a total of 12,648L,
and the balance being absorbed in the general and oﬁice
expenses.
XXVII.—-KENDAL.
The town of Kendal, (population 13,696 in 1881), as being
representative of one of the more ancient seats of industry, was
visited by the Commissioners on the invitation of some of the
leading inhabitants. It is one of the cradles of the English
woollen industry, and was developed as far back as the year
1337, by Flemings, who brought with them from the Low
Countries the skill in weaving and the knowledge of dyeing for
which at that time they Were famous. In those days England
was a pastoral country, and exported large quantities of wool to
Flanders, France, and Germany, where the wool was made into
cloth, of which a fair proportion was exported back to England.
The historian of the time recorded that “ the ribs of people
“ throughout the world are kept warm by the ﬂeeces of English
*“ wool.” On one occasion when the export of wool from
England was prohibited, the effect upon the manufacturing
population of the Low Counties was disastrous, and reduced many
to despair and destitution ; and when England thus lost some
of its markets for W001, the distressed Flemish artizans were
invited to settle here, and as above stated, several found their
way to Kendal. For many generations, Kendal, under the
inﬂuence of the Flemings, became famous for the manufacture of
woollens, and of “ Kendal Green ” buckram. In more modern
days, Kendal, like many other historic towns, has had to bow
REPORT. 483
before the greater enterprise and spirit of younger towns, in
other parts of the country.
The Commissioners visited some important woollen and carpet Kendal
manufactories and works for making “ cards,” “ reeds,” and ggﬁgaiem
“ healds ” for the woollen industry. ”'
At one of the works which we visited, the designer was from
Scotland; at another, a designer from Kidderminster had taken
the place of one educated at South Kensington. The heads of
two of the ﬁrms had studied chemistry, but among the workmen
there is no chemical knowledge. By long experience, excellence
has been attained in dyeing, and in the case of one family,
three, generations, grandfather, father, and son, have been famous
for proﬁciency in a certain colour.
The schools of Kendal are numerous, and education is well S°h°°1$ of
administered. In addition to thirteen elementary denominational Kendal‘
schools and secondary girls’ schools, there is a grammar school '
founded in 1525, attended by from 40 to 50 boys; a Blue Coat
(charity) school, 45 boys; a commercial school, 50 to 60 boys ;
and a Friend’s school, 50 to 60 boys.
The schools of science and art, united in one building, were
visited by the Commissioners. In art there are 50 students, of
whom 14 are females. The science classes are attended by a total
of 130 pupils.
The Kendal Literary and Scientiﬁc Institution is a society of gilfel‘ig’ and
172 members, having its head quarters at the Museum, and through 1,233,162,,’
an educational committee, promoting the education of the town, and
providing lectures of a popular and scientiﬁc character. Last
year there were seven such lectures given, in addition to a course
of Cambridge University lectures on physical geography, attended
by about 140 persons.
The Mechanics’ Institute has 130 members, a reading room, Mecltanics’
and a library of 7,500 volumes. Musical entertainments are Ins“ “te'
given in the winter months, and classes are held in singing and
French. ‘
The Christian and Literary Institute has a reading room and Cllristian and
library, and organises a few lectures in the winter, and a railway excursion in the summer. The classes connected with the Young
Men’s Christian Association are attended by about 60 artizans
in the winter evenings. A Working Men’s Institute has also a Working Men’s
library and reading room well supplied with newspapers and Institute-
periodicals.
We were informed that at present 10 students holding scholar—
ships from Kendal schools are attending the Universities, and
some of the students from the science and art schools are holding
high industrial positions in large towns.
H112
4184: ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION Z
Glasgow
School Board.
Day schools
under the
Board.
Evening
schools.
Passes, and
grant.
Evening
classes under
Board.
XXVIIL—GLASGOW.
Glasgow School Boamcl—The Commissioners visited the offices
of the School Board in Bath Street, and discussed with some of
the leading members, the work bearing on the subject of their
inquiry carried on under the School Board. One of the differences
between the English and Scotch Education Acts is, that in the
case of Scotland the jurisdiction of the Board extends to certain
secondary and higher grade schools. In Glasgow the High
School, which answers to an English Grammar School, is con-
ducted under the Board, though it is not in any way supported
by the rates. Mr. Kennedy, the clerk of the Board, kindly
furnished us with the following particulars :-
N o. of day schools under the Board - 4.49
Total accommodation of schools opened - 38,173
Average number of scholars on roll — 41,362
,, in attendance 33,587
Total number of teachers—Masters, 197; mistresses, 196 ;
ex-pupil teachers, 37; pupil teachers, 238; monitors, 31.
Total, 699.
In 24 evening schools there were 7,850 scholars, taught by
121 masters and 4:2 mistresses.
The average passes in all the Glasgow schools in 1881-2
were,—-reading 95 per cent, writing 94.4'6, arithmetic 916, or a
gross average of 93'7, which is 5 per cent. higher than the average
of Scotch passes. In speciﬁc subjects 10,094: were presented
and 7,984: passed. The grants from the Scotch Education
Department were 188. 3d. per scholar. Drawing is taught in
41 day schools, and 10,852 children were presented for exami-
nation in 1882. The industrial teaching is conﬁned to cookery
and needlework for the girls; courses on cookery were given
in 12 of the day schools.
The School Board rate is ‘legal; a penny rate produces about
10,0001.
The evening classes under the Board are mainly literary.
They are classiﬁed as, ordinary - - 21
advanced - 3
241
Ct the total of 7 ,850 evening scholars, 41,599 were in ordinary
branches, 2,979 in special and advanced classes, and 272 in
science classes. The students were—
Boys - - - - 4,816
Men - - - - - 1,215
Girls - - - - 1,819
7,850
a
REPORT. - ' 485
i The subjects of the advanced classes were as follow :-- Advanced
French - ~ - - 4130 Evening
Mathematics‘ - , - - 4411 Elﬁﬁgt’j
Latin - - - - 100
Greek - -r - - 28
Drawing - - - - 486
English grammar and composition 233
Writing and book-keeping - 331
Elocution - - - 545
Shorthand - - - - 235
German - - - - 103
Music - - - - 88
Cookery - ~ - 4:50
Total - - 2,979 students.

Of the advanced students, 861 youths attended the evening
classes at the High School, 751 at the City School, and 267
young women were instructed at Woodside School.
In Science and Art classes in evening schools there were, in
art subjects, 4186 students in 8 classes ; mathematics, 41411 in
10 classes. Science classes were conducted in seven subjects,
magnetism and electricity, acoustics, physiology, chemistry,
machine construction and drawing, building construction, and
geometry, with a total of 27 2 students.
Drawing classes for pupil teachers, conducted by the Board,
were attended by 85 boys and 24.14: girls.
We visited the Gcmmethtll School, one of the best under the Garnethill
Board, with 1,000 children in attendance. The fees are 4561., 501., B‘m'd S°h°°L
and 7101. per week in the elementary division and ls. 0%a'. in the
secondary school. The classes are mixed—boys on one side and
girls on the other. Many people of the lower middle classes send
their children to the Board Schools. In the highest class about
25 per cent. of the children were over 15, and nearly as many
between 141 and 15 years of age. There were 134.‘ in the sixth
standard, and 230 children above the sixth standard. The cost
pf tgiis school was stated to have been 121. per head, without the
an .
The J oh'n, Street Public Schoo1 was also visited by the Com- ilgglalrdsél'éiitol‘
missioners. It is held in a very handsome building, with
large playground, partly covered. The cost was 101. per head,
without the land. The accommodation, based on 8 square feet
for infants and 10 square feet each for the elder children, is for
1,150. There was a very well conducted infant school with
320 children. The hours of attendance and fees are as follows :—
Fees per quarter.
Infants - - 9.30 to 12.0 and l to 3. 418.
Junior department 9.30 to 12.15 ,, 1 to 4!. - 5s. 85 68.
Intermediate de-
partment - ,, ,, ,, - (is. 85 78.
Senior department ,, ,, ,, - 8s. 8t 9s.
Advanced class - 9.0 to 12.0 ,, ,, - 10$. 85 118.
486 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL msrancrron:
Glasgow High
School.
As an'example of a Higher Class Public School under a School
Board, we inspected the "’ Glasgow High School, one of the
11 schools of this type originally constituted under the Education
Act of 1872. The school is divided into a junior and senior
section; the former adapted for boys under 10 or 11 years of
age, and preparatory for’ the senior section. During the earlier
stages the instruction in the senior section is uniform, but as it
advances the pupils branch off into the classical, or the modern
side. Dr. Paton, the rector, accompanied us over the school,
and we saw the teaching in progress in science and art, the
subjects more particularly of interest to us. The study of
Natural Science forms a part of the course from the ﬁrst to the
third Form of the senior division, and thence throughout the
whole of the modern side of the school. Out of a total number
enrolled of 762, with an average attendance of 710, 323 boys
. learn drawing and 223 science.
Science
teaching in
High School.
Glasgow
School of Art.
Mr. Muir, the science master, furnished us with the following
particulars respecting the science subjects taught and the
numbers under instruction :—
lst form - Physical geography - 1 hour per week - 94 pupils in 2 classes.
2nd ,, - Chemistry - - 2 hours ,, - 7 8 ,, ,,
3rd ,, - Physics - - 2 ,, ,, - 28 ,, a;
4th* ,, - Theoretical mechanics 2 ,, ,, 44 ,, ,,
By this arrangement of the teaching, all the boys passing
through the school obtain instruction in the above subjects in
the order described. In the 3rd form, however, it is only these
boys who take French in stead of Greek who are able to attend
the science class, and even this depends on their proﬁciency
in arithmetic.
Per quarter.
The fees payable in the junior section vary from 158. to 303.
senior lower form ,, 4:58. to 55s.
,, upper ,, ,, 31. to 3t. 10s‘.
7? 7)
The Glasgow School of Art and Haldane Academy—This
school was established as a Government School of Design in
1842, and is in connection with the Science and Art Depart~
ment. During the past year it was attended by 869 students,
of whom over 600 were of the industrial classes. These latter
students pay fees of from 8.9. to 9.9. per quarter. The programme
is in strict accordance with the South Kensington system, and
includes, besides the Art School, science classes in ﬁve subjects.
During the year 1881-2 the amount received in fees was
1,375l. 98. 861., and the grants earned from the Department were
575l. 168. 9d. The school authorities complained greatly of
the action of the School Board, who had established art night
classes at low fees, taught by masters having only second grade

“ The 4th form on the Modern Side.
"" - . nrzronr. ' 418,7
certiﬁcates, and whe were alienating many of the students from
the School of Art. A proposal is under discussion for the erection Proposed
of a Central School of Art, on land in the vicinity, at a cost of “12318011001
' 3Qﬁ091. Under the guidance of Mr. Simmonds, the head-master,
the Commissioners inspected the school and examined the works
of the students.
Science and Art Glasses—The‘ following list shows the Science and
attendance at the various science and art classes in the Glasgow in Gflazsgsgg,
district, as also the subjects taught. Some of these classes are '
conducted under the School Board, and others in connection with
the School of Art :—
Science and Art Classes, 1882.


Number of classes - - - - 35
Number of individual students under instruction :--
Science - - 2,661
Art - - 1,312
3, 973
Number enrolled for examination :~—
Science - - 3,362
Art - - 1AO2
4,7644
Number examined :—
Science - - 2,6 93
Art - - 1,157
3,850
The following are the numbers enrolled for examination in‘.
each subj ect :—
Art. -- 2nd grade - - - - 1,360
Advanced art - - - - 12
Art Class Teachers - ~ - 3O
Science—Practical, Plane, and Solid Geometry 294
Machine Construction and Drawing - 362
Building Construction - - 113
Naval Architecture - - - 30
Mathematics - - ~ 462
Theoretical Mechanics - - - 222
Applied Mechanics - - - 164'
Sound, Light, and Heat - - 142
Magnetism and Electricity - - 41412
Inorganic Chemistry (theoretical) — 3413
,, ,, (practical) - 233
Organic Chemistry (theoretical) - 4.~1
,, ,, (practical) - 16
Biology - - - - 4!
Principles of Mining - - 8
488 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INsTRUCTIoN:
Allen Glen’s
Institution,
Glasgow.
Workshop
instruction,
Glasgow.
Fees.
Practical
chemistry.

Metallurgy (theoreticaly \ ~ ' ‘ - . ' 1x 1
Navigation - ~ —- ‘ i2
Nautical Astronomy - - — 1
Steam - ~ ~ 167
Physiography - - ~ 22
Principles of Agriculture - — 17
Geology - - f - - 69
Mineralogy - ‘ - I. , . - , 1
Animal Physiology - - , - v. 1448
' Elementary Botany —- — 58 ‘
4,764:
The Alla/n Glen/s I nstimtiom—The Commissioners also visited
the Allan Glen’s Institution, which was established in 1853 for
gratuitous elementary education ; but, in 1876, the trustees
obtained a special Act for providing, in addition, a school in which,
at a moderate fee, the beneﬁts of a good secondary and technical
education shall be placed within the reach of middle class boys
intended for industrial, manufacturing, and mercantile pursuits.
In this school little or no Latin is taught, and, in addition to
ordinary literary instruction, lessons are given in theoretical
and practical science.
An especial feature of the school is workshop instruction in
the use of tools. The school is divided into three departments :
1st., the elementary, consisting of three classes ; 2nd, a secondary,
also consisting of three classes, giving both literary and science
training; and 3rd, a technical department, in which the science
subjects in the advanced stage are taken together with practical
exercises in the use of tools. ‘ A period of two years is devoted
to this workshop instruction, and, according to the head-master,
Mr. Dixon, with very satisfactory results. He stated that the
manual instruction is equivalent to that which the boys would
receive in the ﬁrst two years of their apprenticeship to an
engineer ; with the advantage that they also obtain a knowledge
of theoretical principles.
The fees vary according to the department. In the elementary
section about 108. a quarter, in the secondary about £208.; in
the technical department at. 48. per half year. The endowment
is valued at 23,000Z., and there are 100 exhibitions of from 521.
to 10L each. The total number of boys was 371, of whom 42
passed through the technical course, including laboratory and
workshops. The time spent in the workshops varies from four
to ﬁve hours per week. We noticed that the arrangements for
teaching practical chemistry were excellent. The grant earned
from the Science and Art Department in 1881—2 was 640i. 128.,
and the amount received in fees was 658Z., the whole of which
is divided amongst the teachers.
neronr. 489
This, the Commissioners'were informed, is the only day school
in which science teaching was on an altogether satisfactory
footing in Scotland; and we consider that it is one of the very
best examples of a secondary technical school (except as to
the buildings, which are poor) that we have met with in the
course of our investigations.
The Glasgow College of Science anal Art.--This institution is Glasgow
one of the most important of the kind in the country for the gqllece Of
. . . . . . memo and
evening instruction of artizans, fpremen, and others in sc1ence Art,
and applied art. It was founded in 1823, as one of the results
of the movement then inaugurated by Dr. Birkbeck and
Lord Brougham. Up to the year 1880 the original constitution,
which was practically that of a Mechanics’ Institute, remained in
force. At that time a new governing body was formed, and the
institution was placed on its present improved basis' The
building is well adapted to its purpose, and contains numerous
class-rooms, two chemical laboratories, a physical laboratory,
and lecture-room, and a number of rooms for technical workshops,
practical instruction in dyeing, dzc. ; also a large lending library.
Diplomas in engineering, science, and chemistry, are given
to those who pass through a regular course, and a similar
diploma for naval architecture is about to be granted. The
total number of day and evening students was 758* A
prominent feature in this technical college is that all the lecturers
in applied science and technical subjects have served their
apprenticeship to, and been for a considerable time practically
engaged in the trade or profession with which the subject is
most closely connected.
At present there is no ﬁxed endowment ; the income is made
up of a grant from Hutcheson’s Hospital of 6001., annual sub-
scriptions about 4:01., grant from the Science and Art Depart-
ment (1882), 4.1451. 108., from the City and Guilds of London
Institute 511., and the fees. The annual expenditure of the
college is about ‘2,0001. The day classes are almost entirely
attended by engineers.
Anolerson’s College, Glasgow—This institution, which is a Anderson’s
science and technical college, was founded by John Anderson, College’ Glas'
M.A., F.R.S., who died in 1796, and left a small sum for carrying gow'
out the very large scheme devised in his will. Connected with
it is also a medical school. The professor of physics and mathe-
matics, is Mr. J. Blyth, and that of chemistry is Mr. W.
Dittmar, F.B..S.
A chair of technical chemistry was founded in 1876 by Dr. The “Young”
J as. Young, F.B.S. ; the director of this department is Dr. Mills, chair‘
F.B.S. Practical instruction, in theoretical and applied chemistry
and in physics, is given by the professors in the various labora-

* We see by the class lists for November 1883 that these numbers have been
considerably exceeded.
4190 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION;
Course of
instruction,
Anderson’s
Charity.
Research
laboratories.
Glasgow
Weaving
School.
Nature of the
instruction.
Looms, &c.
tories, and some of the analysts and skilled foremen in the im-
portant chemical works in the district have gone through a course
of instruction in this institution.
The technological evening classes form an important feature of
the institution, and include most of the science subjects found in
the syllabus of the Science and Art Department. N 0 less than
1,219 students attended these classes in 1882. It is interesting
to note that the names of Graham and Penny are on the list of
former professors of chemistry in this institution, whilst those
of Livingstone, Young, and Playfair will be found amongst the
former students. ‘
A unique feature of the technological chemistry department is
the existence of several special private laboratories which may
be hired at a low rental by those desirous of conducting original
research.
The total number of students in all the classes is 2,517. In
the Appendix will be found an account of the courses of the
two departments of chemistry.
The Glasgow Weaving School is under the management of
a board of trustees, Mr. D. Sandeman being the convener. The
instructor is Mr. James Macaulay. The teaching is given both
during the day and evening. The fees for the day classes are til. 68.
per annum, and for the evening classes 4sl. 48. There are in all
58 students. The session lasts from 1st September to the 31st of
May. The hours are 10 to 12 am. on three days per week for
the initiatory course, and the advanced course meets on the
afternoons of the same days from 12 to 2 pm. The evening
instruction is given twice a week from 7 to 9 pm.
The instruction is both theoretical and practical. At the time
of our visit a lecture was being given in the theatre upstairs on
the weaving of cloth, with diagrams and blackboard sketches.
In the weaving room are 15 power-looms and 11 hand-looms,
six of the latter being small pattern-looms; also card-cutting
machines, winders, &c. The diploma of the school, woven in
silk and involving the use of 6,000 cards, was handed to us.
The course of practical instruction includes plain and ﬁgured
weaving in its initiatory and advanced stages, on hand and
power looms, drafting, and cording of various fabrics, viz. :—
Plain cloths with single and double twilling, ﬂushing, dicing,
diaper, spotting, &c., double cloths backed with weft, and
also backed with warp and weft, 820.
Cross weaving, comprising half and full gauze, harness gauze,
net and plain, net and gauze, and wheel lappet.
Piled fabrics, viz. :—
Terry velvet, cut velvet, velveteen, corduroy, &c.
Jacquard machine and harness work, in carpet, damask, double
damask, and brocade do., striped all over, and covered, in
shawls, scarfs, cloakings, vestings, &c.
REPORT. 491
a“ Instruction is also given in winding, warping, beaming, and
heddlmg.
Designing forms an important part of the instruction, including Designing,
original patterns on point paper, and coloured to indicate the
woven fabric, in ﬁgured, plain, and twill cloths, &c. '
Various methods of experimenting with hand-looms are taught,
additional apparatus for this purpose having been obtained, and
facilities are provided to enable students to acquire a thorough
knowledge of the construction of power-looms.
The analysis of woven fabrics is likewise taught—the method
of ascertaining warp and weft quantities and grists, the cal-
culation of the cost of goods, &c.
We were informed that a student attending the school for a
two years’ course of instruction would be competent to take a
picture, cut cards for it, put it in the loom, weave it, and
calculate its cost.
Glasgow U adversity—Although passing somewhat beyond the Glasgow
special sphere of our report, we must refer to the University as Universlty"
inﬂuencing in a remarkable degree the higher education of the
west of Scotland. The University of Glasgow is attended
by about 2,300 students. The majority of these, about 1,300,
are students in the arts subjects—Latin, Greek, mathematics,
logic, moral philosophy, English, and natural philosophy
or dynamics and physics. These students attend college
for six months in the year. On an average they attend three
courses of lectures, involving from three to four hours a
day in the lecture-room, and implying a large amount of home
work in exercises and preparation for oral examination, which
is part of the teaching. If they take a complete course
of arts, they spend three, four, or ﬁve winter sessions in these
classes. But many attend for a year or two only, taking
such classes of the course as suit them. Side by side with these
arts classes are classes in engineering and astronomy, in
zoology and geology, in botany and in chemistry. The four
latter subjects appear to be mainly taught in connection with
the curriculum for medical students. The average fee per Fees.
student per class is 3t. 33. per session, so that his average attend-
ance in three classes costs a student altogether about 105. 108.
a session.
There are two striking things in connection with this univer- Inﬂuence of
sity system. The number of students is enormous, and access its teaching
to the courses is cheap and untrammelled, every student going
to such classes as he wants.
The students ﬁnd lodgings suitable to their means in the
city, and many of them, we are told, manage to live through their
winter session and pay for their education on less than 301.
492 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL IN STRUCTION:
Chemistry,
Glasgow
University.
Visits to
Glasgow manu-
factories.
Women tracers.
Absence of
apprentices
in Clyde ship-
building yard.
Young men
and apprentices
attend evening
classes.
The most important section of the University, with reference
to technical instruction, is the physical department under
Prof. Sir William Thomson. About 220 students pass through
his classes, the more advanced of whom work in the physical
laboratory. These have the great advantage of becoming
familiar with the methods of investigation employed in his
important researches, and of using the reﬁned apparatus and
instruments constructed by him. It is. unnecessary to point out
the inestimable value to technical students of intimate inter-
course with such a Master.
The chemical laboratory contained in a building in which
utility has, we fear, been subordinated to architectural design,
is under the charge of Professor Fergusson. It contains a
considerable number of students.
We visited several representative establishments in and near
Glasgow, in the mechanical engineering, textile, chemical, and
shipbuilding industries, and ascertained from the managers and
leading manufacturers the extent to which the existing facilities
for scientiﬁc instruction are utilised by their foremen and work- \
people. Some interesting tables were handed to us showing
the number of chemists, foremen, and others in the employ of
Messrs. Charles Tennant 85 Co., who have attended one or other
of the various institutions we have Lmentioned. They will be
found in the Appendix.
At a large worsted factory at Greenock there is a school in
connection with the works in which the “hands” are trained
from childhood, and the proprietors are satisﬁed that this
training under their own care is amply repaid by the increased
intelligence and aptitude of the scholars.
We had an opportunity of seeing a large engineering establish-
ment in which young women are employed as tracers. They
are very expert at this work, and earn from 1418. to 15s. per
week. Many of the apprentices and young men employed by
this ﬁrm attend evening schools, and the employers do all in
their power, short of compulsion, to encourage such attendance.
In one of the most extensive of the Clyde ship-building yards,
in which 500 youths under 21 are employed, there is no actual
apprenticeship. Few of them have any theoretical instruction
other than they obtain at the night classes. In the drawing ofﬁce,
of the 25 draughtsmen employed, 3 were Germans. In another
ship-building yard many of the youths attended the Andersonian
Institute, the College of Science, and the School of Art.
In the principal chemical works none of the workmen except
those engaged in the laboratory had a practical acquaintance
with chemistry.
The conversations with employers in Glasgow impressed upon
us the belief that a very large proportion of the more intelligent
young men employed in industrial pursuits have attended, and
nnron'r. 493
l
are now present at, the various colleges and evening classes in
the town. The excellence and value of the instruction thus
obtained was freely acknowledged, and we learned that many
young men travel considerable distances from outlying suburbs
to be present at these classes. So far as our enquiries have
enabled ‘us to ascertain the fact, the young men of the Glasgow
district employed in the various works, avail themselves more
generally than those of other cities similarly circumstanced, of
evening instruction in science and in mechanical drawing.
XXIX.——-EDINBURGH.
Our visit to Edinburgh was a hurried one, and we must Edinburgh.
conﬁne our remarks in regard to this important city to those
establishments and departments having a direct bearing on our
inquiry. In the University we visited, the department of University,
mechanical engineering under Prof. Fleeming Jen kin, F.B.S.;
also the department of physics, under Prof. Tait, F.R.S., by whom
the principles of the science are taught without direct technical
application. A certain number of students assist him in the
important work of carrying on original investigation in his
private laboratory. The new chemical laboratory under the
direction of Prof. Crum Brown, F.B..S., in connection with the
new medical buildings, is most complete.
The Watt Institute and School of Art.--This was founded in Watt Institute
1821 by Mr. Leonard Horner. The present building was opened Zlfliichml
in 1873, and cost 12,0001 This is one of the most important '
evening schools in the United Kingdom, and has probably been
as successful in its work as any similar institution in Scotland.
It is admirably conducted, the leading men in Edinburgh taking
great interest in it. In its constitution and sphere of activity
it resembles the Midland Institute at Birmingham, and the
College of Science and Art in Glasgow. The total number of Number of
students in 1882 was 2,871, and the annual receipts from Students-
students’ fees and subscriptions were 1,3021. The institution
requires, however, further funds for duly carrying out its object;
especially for suitable laboratories and for the apparatus requisite
for teaching physics, mechanics, the; expectations are held out
that assistance will be given from Heriot’s Hospital Funds. At
the opening of the session in 1882, Lord Shand delivered an
important address on technical education, and on the future
work of the school.
The Science and Art llIusenna—This museum, originally Sciense and
established in 1812, as the Natural History Museum of ﬁgnltﬁseém“
. _ g .
Edinburgh, was transferred to the Science and Art Department
419% ROYAL cor/[Mission 0N TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
'Edinburgh
Science and
Art Museum.
Testimony
that the
technological
collections are
of public
utility.
Ireland.
Circular of
inquiry .j
in 185%, and reconstructed from the designs of Capt. Fowke, RE.
It was reorganised ‘in 1873, the management of the Natural
History Collections being severed from that of the Industrial
Museum. The industrial section has been under the management
of Prof. Archer since 1860. After the exhibition of 1851, the
authorities acquired a large collection of raw and manufactured
articles, together with models presented by the Highland Society,
which formed the nucleus of the museum. The collections are
being continually increased, and under the energetic management
of Prof, Archer a very complete and instructive series of illus—
trations of the different stages in the manufacture of metal work,
pottery, glass, and of numerous other industrial productions, has
been added to the museum. Many excellent models of machinery
and apparatus used in the various industries have been prepared
under the direction of Prof. Archer, by workmen employed on
the premises. The object aimed at is to give to this museum a
special technological character. There is a good library for the
use of students, and a complete collection of the speciﬁcations of
patents. In addition to the technological specimens, there is a
good general museum of science and art. -
The Commissioners, who‘ were received by Prof. Archer,
inspected the various departments of the museum,‘ and sought
special information respecting the extent to which manufacturers
and others interested in the various processes so ‘excellently
displayed in the galleries, availed themselves of the museum for
the purpose of study. Prof. Archer assured them that he had
received abundant testimony both from manufacturers and work
people that the facilities here afforded had been of service to
them, and in support of his statement, he has forwarded to the
Commissioners some letters bearing upon this question, which
will be found in the Appendix, Vol. III.
XXX.---IRELAND.
The importance of the inquiry, in relation to the special
condition and needs of Ireland, was too obvious to be overlooked.
A preliminary circular of questions, very widely distributed,
elicited much useful information, of which the Commissioners
publish a selection, with tabulated abstract, which will be found
in the Appendix, Vol. IV. ; but considering it expedient to make
personal investigation in the country itself, we held public
inquiry in Dublin, Belfast, and Cork, and visited some other
places in the South and West of Ireland. Great pains have
been taken to obtain the views of representative persons who
have given serious attention to the subject. The opinions thus
expressed, while necessarily coloured by individual predilections,
REPORT. ‘ 4.95
and divergent in many particulars, are not wholly irreconcilable, Ireland:
and they contribute materially to a sound judgment on the
matter.
There will be found in the evidence of these witnesses, a Character of
general agreement in regard to the almost exclusive dependence the magma‘
of the population upon agriculture, and to the want of skill with
which it is carried on. Manufactures, for which certain districts
were at one time famous, have disappeared; some, like the hand-
loom weaving, superseded by the processes of steam power;
others, like the furniture and cabinet making} for which Dublin
was once famous, having declined from causes not so apparent.
On the other hand, the tweed manufactures of County Cork and Manufactures.
the linen and other industries of the North are proofs, if such
were wanted, that enterprise, conﬁdence, and capital will ﬁnd
in the people ingenuity and industry not unlike that shown by
those of the manufacturing districts of Great Britain, where,
indeed, Irish labour is so extensively employed. The deﬁciency Deﬁciency in
in native coal would have to be overcome, in the same way °°al~
as has been done in Switzerland and in other countries
even worse off in that respect than Ireland is. There is
generally abundant turf for fuel, and in many parts of the
country water power abounds, of which little or no use is made.
The minerals are said to be incapable of being worked with Minerals-
proﬁt, but some interesting information has been tendered with
regard to the capabilities of the marbles of Galway and other
parts, of which varied and beautiful examples are exhibited in
the Museum of the Royal College of Science. Valuable granite
and limestone also are worked with a certain degree of energy;
probably with better means of conveyance, such as may be
anticipated under the provisions of the Tramways Act, 1883,
these and other natural products may be more proﬁtably
utilized. Wood, straw, and ﬂax are among the materials relied W095» Sim“?
upon for local industries. In Killarney and some other districts an ax‘
there are produced bracelets and other like ornaments carved in
bog oak, and cabinets, tables, 850., in which oak, arbutus, and
other native woods are inlaid. Much traditional ingenuity is
displayed in the execution of this work. But there is a
lamentable poverty of design which is in remarkable contrast to Porerty of
the excellence attained with like materials in the Black Forest design"
and in the Tyrol, where the village workers have had the
advantage of being educated in the special schools described in
another part of the Report. At Belleek a pottery has been Belleek
established, and its productions have attained a considerable Pmery'
reputation; but the enterprise has not been a commercial
success, and it is said to have been impeded by the diiﬁculty of
retaining the youth of the locality, with whom the allurements
of emigration have outbalanced the advantages of comparatively
good wages in the factory.
Many parts of the country are well adapted for growing osiers, Osiel‘s and__
which it is thought might be extensively and proﬁtably employed basket makmg‘
496 ROYAL CoMMIssIoN ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Ireland.
Wool and
hides exported.
Belfast, the
ﬂax manu-
facture not
ﬂourishing.
Evidence
respecting the
value of
technical
training for
Belfast.
Superior
position of
France and
Belgium.
More attention
devoted to
technical
instruction on
the Continent.
Facilities for
instruction in
science and art
in Belfast.
in basket making; and, While it is said that one public company
alone, in London, consumes weekly 300 tons of the" peat moss
litter, which is so extensively imported from the continent, it
does not appear that any serious quantity of such product is
obtained, as it might be, from the enormous area of bog land in
Ireland. Wool and hides are generally bought up by travelling
merchants, chieﬂy for exportation. There were, however, at the
Cork Industrial Exhibition, many most encouraging signs of
native enterprise. The Commissioners are much indebted to
Dr. Sullivan for the scheme which he has furnished in relation to
industrial education which will be found in the Appendix, Vol. III.
The staple trade of Belfast and the adjacent district, in the
manufacture of ﬂax, is by no means in a ﬂourishing condition,
and though this fact may, to some extent, be attributable to the
substitution of cotton, woollen,and other ﬁbres, in fabrics formerly
made of ﬂax, and, in some degree also, to the extension of the
foreign ﬂax manufactures, it is probable that much can be done
locally to remedy existing defects and to place the trade on a
more advantageous basis.
From the evidence taken in Belfast, it will be seen that in
the training of workmen, foremen, and even masters, a much
larger degree of technical instruction in the arts and sciences
relating to the trade might well be applied, and the advantages
enjoyed by their Continental rivals, in the possession of such
educational facilities, are now generally acknowledged. To meet
this want, a project for establishing a technical school in con-
nection with the Belfast linen trade has recently been set on
foot, the object of which will mainly be to give instruction in
matters that relate to the weaving, bleaching, dyeing, and printing
of linen goods. It is generally admitted that in certain of
these processes the Belfast industry is not so advanced as that of
France or Belgium. Even in the higher class of damasks, the
Irish production is hardly holding its own, while in fancy and
coloured goods, where a knowledge of design and of the
chemistry of dyeing come most into play, the superior attractive—
ness of many Continental productions is placing the Belfast
makers at a serious disadvantage, especially in large markets
like America, where the Irish goods once enjoyed almost a
monopoly.
There can be little doubt that both the workmen and masters
on the Continent have paid more attention to these matters than
has been given to them by the Irish manufacturers, and that, to
meet the requirements of the day, it will be absolutely necessary
to devote more attention to perfection of design and colouring,
which enter now so largely into this trade.
With the exception of some successful classes in chemistry and
mathematics held at the Working Men’s Institute, there seems
but little provision in Belfast for the teaching of those arts and
sciences which are at the present time so important in their
nnronr. 4197
application to the trade of the town. It is probable that the Ireland.
proposed technical school, in association with the existing School
of Art, will tend in a great measure to supply this want.
In addition to certain changes (which we recommend in our con-
clusions) in the books and the ordinary curriculum of the primary
schools in the direction .of artizan training, the establishment
of a larger number of evening classes in science and technical
subjects is highly desirable. The Queen’s College of Belfast, Queen’s
whilst enjoying the services of eminent science professors, is at College-
prcsent doing but little in the way of higher scientiﬁc in~
struction as applied to industry ; indeed, the accommodation for
this branch of study is, at the present time, wholly inadquate,
and may with great advantage be increased; enabling classes in
chemistry and physics, especially in the evening to be provided.
A larger measure of scientiﬁc attention might also with Cultivation of
advantage be bestowed on the cultivation of ﬂax in Ireland, both ﬂax relish-‘e;
in the interest of the agriculturist and the manufacturer. A $525511?“
compared with the cultivation of that ﬁbre in Belgium and
France, the Irish industry is far behind. Insufficient attention
to the processes of cultivation, and want of knowledge and skill
in the manipulation of the ﬁbre, tell with most injurious effect
on the manufacturing value of the commodity. If adequate
pains were taken by the farmer, and if a full measure of
scientiﬁc teaching were brought to bear on the now some-
what antiquated methods of preparation, a substantial advantage
would be gained not only by the agriculturist, but also by
the Irish manufacturer, who now depends far too much for his
supplies of the raw material on foreign countries, which in many
cases, from soils inferior to that of Ireland, contrive to produce
an excellent ﬁbre. The population engaged in the manufacturing
industries in the Belfast district, leave little to be desired as to
their intelligence and general aptitude.
Although we have refrained in our report from speaking of the “forks of
industrial establishments which we have visited, this reticence léessgs-Bllgk Qt
seems unnecessary in regard to the interesting and important at ’ e a“
works (as being unique in Ireland) of Messrs. Marcus Ward, in
whose handsome and commodious premises the processes of
engraving, lithography, and colour printing, are conducted on a
vast scale and in an endless variety of examples. Besides the
ordinary applications of these processes to the manufacture of
tickets, labels, note paper, and other commercial articles, the
designing‘ and printing of the well-known Christmas cards,
almanacks, and other work of a more or less artistic character,
form prominent features in this remarkable establishment.
The designs used in this business are chieﬂy produced by the Firm employ
staff of designers employed on the premises, and they have to be 311631;“?
. _ a, e18.
specially adapted for the particular processes of the ﬁrm. In
their training, the instruction of the Art School has played
a useful part ; many of the persons engaged in the artistic
department having been well grounded in that school.
El 1726. I I
498 ROYAL coMMIssIoN 0N TECHNICAL msrnucrron:
Instruction in
the Belfast
School of Art
not applicable
to training of
linen designers.
Shipbuilding
and engincer~
ing trades
in Belfast.
Domestic
industries.
Industries
which might
be introduced
in Ireland.
Fishing nets.
\
To a limited extent the instruction given in the Art School
has also been of service to the staple linen industry, but its
inﬂuence cannot be great until the student has been taught in
the factory, or in a special school, to apply his knowledge of art
to the requirements of the fabric with which he has to deal.
It is intended to associate the existing Art School with
the proposed technical school in such a way as to make the art
teaching subserve in the largest possible way the industrial
requirements of the town.
The shipbuilding and engineering industry of Belfast has of
late years experienced an enormous development, and probably
8,000 hands are directly engaged in it. This trade seems to be
conducted with great success, and the work produced is of the
best order. With the exception of a few certiﬁcates gained at
the science classes of the Working Men’s Institute, but little
artizan teaching is brought to bear on the shipbuilding and
marine engineering establishments, nor is it thought likely by
the employers that any direct trade instruction can be usefully
applied. There is, however, a prevalent opinion in the trade, in
favour ofkincreased facilities for the instruction of young artizans
in mechanics, elementary mathematics, and in mechanical drawing,
which it is thought would be of great value both in the general
culture and economical value of the men.
It will be observed that in very many parts of the country
there is an active and hopeful spirit in favour of establishing
domestic industries, and it is expedient that local committees,
such as are suggested by several of the witnesses, should
be formed to originate and guide efforts to that desirable
end. Such committees would possess the requisite knowledge
with regard to the materials available in their particular
neighbourhoods, and as to the aptitude of the people, and they
should be alive to the conditions determining the probability
of commercial success. To them, obviously, it must be left to
advise what kind of industry it may be most expedient to give
direct encouragement. to. The methods of instruction may be
varied, and the system under which it is encouraged should be
elastic. In the primary schools under the National Board, in
such District schools as may be established, as well as in night
classes, the teaching may be more or less specialised, and should
be judiciously encouraged by result payments, as well as by
aiding in the training and payment of resident and itinerant
teachers.
Knitting and crochet work, basket-making, wood-carving,
straw-plaiting, and the making of straw-envelopes for bottles, are
among the industries most generally advocated. Lace-making
has a remarkable hold, and should be greatly improved in design
and quality by the circulation of the more perfect examples
which have been sent over from South Kensington.
It appears that the nets used in the lrish ﬁsheries are almost
all imported. Some thirty years ago, earnest efforts were made
REPORT. 499
to establish this industry, by training the young women of the Ireland.
Galway coast in not making, and in spinning the hemp and
flax into twine for the purpose, but there remains no trace of the
manufacture, which seems to have disappeared, like so many of
a similar character, with the decline of the country and the
emigration of the people for whom it had provided partial em-
ployment. Much encouraging testimony is borne in the evidence Fish outing,
with regard to the practicability of a large and lucrative trade
in the development of ﬁsh curing, and especially in the pickling
of pilchards, as also in the preparation of salts and other
products obtainable from kelp.
But after making the fullest allowance for the capabilities of Agriculture
the country in all other directions, agriculture must remain
inﬁnitely the most important interest, and it will be observed
that the Commissioners have devoted to it the attention which
in their judgment the subject deserved.
In their First Report, the Commissioners have stated their Condition of
opinion that eﬁicient elementary education is the essential Palm“?
foundation for subsequent technical training. They have con- 6 Manon’
sequently made it their business to inquire somewhat into the
provision for primary schooling under the National Board of
Education. According to the Report presented to Parliament
last year, it appears that 7,705 National Schools were then in
operation, of which about one—fourth were vested in Trustees, or
in the Board itself. Accommodation was provided for 670,178,
and the average daily attendance is given as Z£69,192. The
majority of the schools are “ mixed,” attended by children in
the proportion of 789 Roman Catholics and 211 Protestants.
It appears, however, that the per-centage of schools exhibiting a
mixed attendance has steadily diminished from 586 in 1874s
to 54:0 in 1882. Among the schools attended exclusively by
Roman Catholics are more than 200 attached to convents, in Roman
which the rules of the Board are carried out, under the direction 911310811‘;
of the members of the various religious orders, and where special be 0 3'
‘ teaching is often given in useful handicrafts. Some of these
convent schools visited by the Commissioners, in the excellence Excellence of
of their buildings, ﬁttings, and appliances, left nothing to be desired. The Sisters take an active part in the conduct of the k '
schools, and their aid is an important element, but they are not
reckoned in calculating the staff of teachers. The rules which
regulate the exhibition of religious emblems are observed in‘
these as in all other National Schools.
It appears from the Census of 1881 that the per-centage of Per-Gentiles of
illiterates in Ireland has diminished in 40 years from 527 to llhtemtes'
25'2- A System of payment on the results of individual exami—
nations has been in operation for 11 years, and the effect has
admittedly been to have improved in a very gratifying manner
the average attendance; and the per-centage of children in
the higher classes. Under it also the teachers’ emoluments—four-
I I 2
500 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INsTaUCTIoN:
Ireland.
Number of
untrained
teachers in
Ireland.
Needlework,
drawing,
agriculture.
Instruction of
teachers in
a gricnlture .
Early attention
to importance
of industrial
. education.
Training was to
be obligatory
on teachers.
ﬁfths of which in Ireland come from the Parliamentary vote——
have been more than doubled.
With regard to the teachers employed, it has been a matter of
general regret that less than one-third have been efficiently
trained ; the untrained teachers, however, had generally served as
monitors in the ordinary and Model schools. A conﬁdent hope
is entertained that under the Minute of last year, by which aid
will be given towards the cost of training in denominational
colleges, this serious defect will be gradually corrected.
It appears that 136,065 pupils were examined in needlework,
of whom 946 per cent. passed ; 23,210 in drawing, of whom 733
per cent. passed, and 44,493 in agriculture, of whom 47 '5 per cent.
passed. The system under which the latter subject is taught
will be found detailed in the report of our Sub—Commissioner,
Mr. H. M. Jenkins, and in the evidence given before the Com-
missioners on the occasion of their visits to Glasnevin and Cork.
We were favourably impressed with the arrangements for the
instruction of the teachers, and with the testimony to the value
of the farms and gardens attached to the rural schools, for
purposes of practical instruction; the desirability of increasing
their number, in view of the altered conditions under which the
land is now cultivated, is indubitable, and the hopeful spirit by
which the small farmers are said to be animated may, we think,
be deemed a satisfactory sign for the future.
As far back as 1837, the importance of providing for industrial,
equally with agricultural, education, was recognised by the
National Board, and the following passages extracted from the
Fourth Annual Report presented to Parliament will be read
with interest, as demonstrating that it is no novel want to
which expression is now so widely given, and indicating a method
which is now in process of being adopted :—
“ We intend ” (say the National Board) “that our normal
establishment, which we hope will be completed in January
next, shall consist of two departments, one for elementary,
the other for scientiﬁc instruction, and that the latter shall
teach, in particular, those branches of science which have a
practical application to husbandry and handicraft. We also
purpose having a school for industry in the immediate
neighbourhood of Dublin, with workrooms, and a farm of
from 40 to 50 acres annexed to it, and that those who
attend it shall be practised at stated times in different
descriptions of manual work, and in the general business
of agriculture.
“ Our object is not to teach trades, but to facilitate a perfect
learning of them by explaining the principles upon which
they depend, and habituating young persons to expertness
in the use of their hands.”
It was further intimated, in the same Report, that the in-
struction thus to be provided was to be obligatory on all
teachers trained in the Normal School, and that similar use
nEroR'r. 501
was to be made of the Model Schools, where the teaching of Ireland,
manual occupations and agriculture was to be equally practical
in character. It will be observed that many of the suggestions
offered in evidence at Dublin and elsewhere are ﬂattering to the
prescience thus manifested.
It will be seen from the ﬁgures previously quoted, that very Wantofin-
little instruction is given in drawing, and this is equally the case in
. . . . g and
as regards physical science. With reference to the value of the in physical
teaching imparted to girls in needlework, the most contradictory science
opinions will be found expressed in evidence. It is probably true Needlework.
that while the requirement of the National Board “ that instruction
shall be given in plain needlework in all schools,” is loyally
observed, the commendable desire for remunerative employment
has, especially in convent \ schools, largely stimulated more
ambitious aims which may not have been always satisfactorily
realised.
While, as has been stated, many of the religious orders avail 30110015
themselves of, and adapt their teaching to, the system of the 5232;222:131); rs
National Board, there are others which prefer to work indepcn- connected with
dently at once of its control and its subventions. Of these the most the National
important is the Order of Christian Brothers, which in Ireland, as Card‘
in France and Belgium, has distinguished itself by the zeal and
skill with which it has carried out the educational mission to
which it has devoted itself, and by its resolute resistance to all
restraint by either civil or ecclesiastical authority. In Ireland
this body is said to have an average of 25,000 children under
instruction. Their remarkable day school at Cork was visited Christian
by the Commissioners, and testimony to its usefulness is borne gﬁgfgst’cork
by the witnesses examined in that city. Similar schools are to be '
found in other parts of the island, some, like the one at Limerick,
attached to the Industrial School there conducted by the
Brotherhood. In the latter schools and in the Reformatories the
Order has no difficulty in accepting the Government grants,
since they do not involve any restraints upon the freedom of
their methods.
It is in these Reformatory and Industrial schools that the most Industi-ia and
notable examples of well adapted industrial instruction are to Ritorﬁatory
be found. Sir John Lentaigne, to whose zealous direction and so 00"
supervision much of their success is owing, in his last report
gives 1,140 as the number of boys and girls in Reformatory, and
6,078 in Industrial schools last year. Of these the Commissioners
personally visited the institutions at Artane and Merrion, near
Dublin; Sunday’s Well and St. Nicholas, Cork City; Upton,
Kinsale, and Clonakilty (County Cork) ; and others at Killarney,
Limerick, Galway, Oughterai'd, Clifden, and Westport. In these
schools, boys are instructed in a great variety of trades, being
trained as weavers, stocking makers, bakers, carpenters, wheel-
wrights, saddlers, tailors, blacksmiths, tinsiniths, and in every de-
partment of farming and gardening. In some cases, as at Artane, Amne school.
502 ROYAL COMMISSION on TECHNICAL msrnucrron:
Ireland.
Galway
industrial
schooL
Girls are taught
domestic work
and various
trades.
Combination
of industrial
schools with
day schools.
Importance of
systematic
examination
and payment on
results.
Expenditure.
Criminal and
neglected
children
enjoy facilities
as respects
industrial
education
denied to
others.
a large staff of instructors is employed under the Brothers, and
goods are manufactured for sale much as in an ordinary factory
In others, as at Galway, the Brothers undertake repairs to carts
and ploughs, aiming at doing their work in the best possible
manner, charging market prices, and getting abundant employment
without exciting the animosity of ordinary tradesmen. Boys trained
in these institutions leave at 16, on the expiration of their term,
much in the position claimed for‘ the pupils of the apprenticeship
schools abroad, getting ready employment at their trades at Wages
varying from 8s. to 15s. a week. The girls receive instruction
in every branch of domestic work, washing, cooking, baking, and
sewing; dairy work also receives attention, though not on the
scientiﬁc methods which are followed at Cork. Lace~making
and needlework, embroidery of vestments and banners, glove-
making, book-binding, and card-painting, are among the trades
pursued with fair commercial success, but the most remunerative,
as well as the most useful, appears to be plain needlework.
In some of these institutions externes are received as day
scholars, admission being accepted by the parents as a privilege.
In other cases Industrial schools and day schools under the
National Board are combined, and so far from the industrial
children being treated as of a lower caste, precautions have to be
taken to prevent their manners being deteriorated by contact
with the ruder children, who have not the constant domestic
supervision of the Sisters. The inmates of nearly one-half of the
Industrial schools are sent for literary instruction to the ordinary
national schools, conducted on the same premises, and although not
paid on the results, are examined and generally pass equally
well with the ordinary pupils. It is suggested with much force
that systematic examination with payment on results, for indus-
trial as well as literary success, would be preferable to the present
system under which a like capitation grant is paid to the worst
as to the best managed institutions. The total expenditure
on all heads on these Industrial (omitting the Beformatory)
schools, with their 6,078 inmates, is given as 14:2,388l. l8s. 2cl.,
including about 20,000l. for new buildings. To this sum the
Government grant of 5s. per week contributes 74,997l. 12s. 110l.,
or about one-half the total cost; local rates about one-sixth;
the remainder being made up by industrial proﬁts, subscriptions,
&c.
At this large cost, criminal and neglected children are rescued
from ignorance and depravity, and made, in an overwhelming pro-
portion, as abundant proofs testify—creditable members of society.
In some rare instances the training of worhhouse children is com-
parable to that which is the happy lot of those just described. But,
in the main, it may be assumed that the practical perfection of
industrial training is assured alone to those who have been
rescued by the police and who have become the children of the
State. The problem is thus how best to devise means by
which other classes of the community can secure like advantages
REPORT. 503
for their children, and to its solution it will be observed that
much of the evidence is addressed.
Many of the witnesses deplored the absence of night classes
for the instruction of those who are inclined to continue the
studies of the day school, or to make good its deﬁciencies. But
it will also be remarked that where such classes are in actual
operation, many who thus desired them were ignorant of their
existence ; as they were also of the inducements offered by the
Science and Art Department and by the City and Guilds of
London Institute, towards their establishment by local com-
mittees in Ireland equally with England and Scotland.
It has been urged with much force that while it may be
possible to give this kind of teaching a more direct bearing upon
local wants, it is expedient rather to extend and amplify the
existing systems than to disturb them for the purpose of sub-
stituting others. There is a general disposition to look to the
Government for the initiative, and a conviction that local efforts
must be sustained by State subsidies. The small extent to
which Boards of Guardians have acted on the powers given them
to aid educational'efforts, is not encouraging. The Free Libraries
Act has only been adopted in Cork, and even in that solitary
instance it is only now being brought into anything like complete
operation. The poverty of the country is naturally pleaded in
explanation, but on the other hand the experience of the Munster
Dairy School justiﬁes the conviction that, with the increasingly
intelligent appreciation of the need for, and of the value of, these
facilities, judicious eifoits on the part of the central authority
will evoke the essential loca1 co-operation.
With regard to the provision for secondary and higher
education, it will sufﬁce here to say that while regret is expressed
that under the system of the Intermediate Board due encourage-
ment is not given to the teaching of practical science, very
gratifying testimony is borne to the improvement in other
respects, effected under its operation, in the colleges and grammar
schools of Ireland, especially in the matter of better appliances.
The work of the Royal College of Science at Dublin, with its
Museum and Department of Manufactures, will be found fully
described in evidence, and certain reforms are recommended which
we believe will, if adopted, have the effect of’ largely increasing
their usefulness. The Commissioners inspected with much interest
the Queen’s Colleges at Belfast and Cork, and are strongly impressed
with the importance of sustaining these institutions and the
kindred college at Galway, which are rendering excellent service
by providing the means of higher scientiﬁc training. We think
it right to mention the muniﬁcence of Mr. W. H. Crawford to the
Cork College. He has contributed 2,000 volumes of books to
the library, has built and furnished the Astronomical Observatory,
has paid over half the cost of the Botanical Houses, and almost
the entire expense of ﬁlling them with their excellent collection of
Ireland.
Absence of
night classes
in Ireland.
Direction in
which improve-
ment should be
attempted.
Secondary an
higher educa-
tion.
Donation by
Mr. Crawford
to Queen’s
College, Cork.
5041 ROYAL ConMIssIoN oN TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Ireland.
Royal
University.
tropical and other plants, has added about seven acres to the-
College grounds, and proposes to build on this site, additional
dwellings for the Professors, and a hall of residence for the
students, at a cost of over 20,0001.
It is early to speak of the work of the Royal University, which
only presented its First Report to Parliament last year, but the
Commissioners sympathise with the feeling, very widely expressed,
that these varied and graduated organisations are capable of '
being expanded and adapted to the wants of the country, and
while they are worthy of the generous support of Parliament,
it is hoped that their funds will be augmented from other sources,
so that they may be enabled to give to Ireland the full educational‘
advantages for which its people display such honourable avidity.

REPORT. 505
PART IV.--CON CLUSION S.

It will have been seen from the preceding pages of this Report
that We have attached considerable relative importance to that
portion of our commission which directed us to inquire into the
condition of industry in foreign countries; and it is our duty to
state that, although the display of Continental manufactures at the
Paris International Exhibition in 1878 had led us to expect great
progress, we were not prepared for so remarkable a development.
of their natural resources, nor for such perfection in their industrial
establishments, as we actually found in France, in Germany, in
Belgium, and in Switzerland. Much machinery of all kinds is now
produced abroad equal in ﬁnish and in efliciency to that of this
country, and we found it in numerous instances applied to
manufactures with as great skill and intelligence as with us.
In some branches of industry, more especially in those requiring
an intimate acquaintance with organic chemistry, as, for instance,
in the preparation of artiﬁcial colours from coal tar, Germany
has unquestionably taken the lead.
The introduction by Solvay, of Brussels, of the ammonia process
for the manufacture of soda, and the German application of strontia
in sugar reﬁning, constitute new departures in those arts. In the
economical production of coke we are now only slowly following
in the footsteps of our Continental neighbours, whilst the experi~
ments which have been carried on for nearly a quarter of a century
in France for recovering the tar and ammonia in this process have
only quite recently engaged our attention.
The ventilation of deep mines by means of exhausting fans was
brought to perfection in Belgium earlier than with us, and, although
our methods of sinking shafts served for many years as models for
other countries, improvements thereon were made abroad which
we are now adopting with advantage.
The abundant water power in Switzerland and in other
mountainous districts is utilized for motive purposes by means of
turbines, perfect in design and execution.
The construction of the dynamo-machine by Grainme gave the
ﬁrst impulse to the general use of electricity for lighting, and to
the various new applications of that force which appear likely to
exercise so great an inﬂuence upon the industry of the world;
and in all these applications, at least as much activity is exhibited
on the Continent as with us.
In the construction of roofs and bridges, more especially in
Germany, accurate mathematical knowledge has been usefully
applied to the attainment of the necessary stability with the least
consumption of materials.
Progress of
manufactures
abroad.
New chemical
processes.
Ventilation of
mines, and
sinking of
shafts.
Turbinc~.
Dynamo-
machines.
Roofs and
bridges.
006 7.4
ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION!
Calico-printing.
\Voollen
fabrics.
Silk.
Woollen yarns.
New textile
industries.
Greater thrift,
&c. of
Continental
manufacturer.
Our own
position in
construction
and manu-
faetures.
New departures
at home.
Certain printed cottons of the highest class, produced at Mulhouse
from Parisian designs, are not excelled, and rarely equalled, in this
or in any other country, although the distance between our general
productions in this department and those of Alsace is no longer so
great as it was ten or twenty years ago. The soft all~wool fabrics
of Rheims and Roubaix are scarcely equalled as yet on the average
by those of Bradford, especially as respects the dyeing.
Silk dyeing and ﬁnishing is still as much the speciality of Lyons
as is the production of the beautiful silk fabrics on its hand-looms,
for which it has so long been pre-eminent.
The export from Verviers to Scotland of woollen yarns, carded
and spun by machinery made in England, from South American
wool formerly purchased in Liverpool and London, but for which
Antwerp is now becoming the chief market, is an instance of an
intelligent, careful, and persevering attention to details having
established a special trade, which the cheaper labour of the Belgian
factories now assists in preserving.
The ribbon trade of Basle, that in velvets and silks of every
kind at Crefeld, and in mixed fabrics at Chemnitz, are examples
of recently established or transformed industries which have rarely
been excelled in boldness of enterprise and in success by anything
of the same kind accomplished in our own country. And it may
not be improper to mention here that, in whatever degree the
technical instruction of our Continental rivals may have trained
them for competition with ourselves, in their own, in neutral, and
to some extent in our home markets, much of their success is due
to more painstaking, more pliancy, and greater thrift; and also to
the general cultivation, the knowledge of modern languages, and
of economic geography usually possessed by Continental manu-
facturers.
But, great as has been the progress of foreign countries, and keen
as is their rivalry with us in many important branches, we have no
hesitation in stating our conviction, which we believe to be shared
by Continental manufacturers themselves, that, taking the state of
the arts of construction and the staple manufactures as a whole, our
people still maintain their position at the head of the industrial
world. Not only has nearly every important machine and process
employed in manufactures been either invented or perfected in
this country in the past, but it is not too much to say that most
of the prominent new industrial departures of modern times are
due to the inventive power and practical skill of our countrymen.
Amongst these are the great invention of Bessemer for the pro-
duction of steel in enormous quantities, by which alone, or with its
modiﬁcation by Thomas and Gilchrist, enabling the commonest
description of iron to be used for the purpose, steel is now obtained
at one-tenth of the price of twenty years ago ; the Weldon,
Hargreaves and Deacon processes, which have revolutionized the
alkali trade; the manufacture of aniline colours by Perkin; the
new processes in the production of silk fabrics by Lister; the
numerous applications of water pressure to industrial purposes by
Armstrong; the Nasmyth steam hammer; the compound steam
REPORT. 507
engine, as a source of great economy of fuel; and the practical
application of electricity to land and submarine telegraphy by
Cooke, 'Wheatstone, Thomson, and others. ,
Machinery made in this country is more extensively exported Adoption of
than at any former period; the best machines constructed abroad English
are, in the main, and with the exceptions which we have named, maels-
made, with slight, if any, modiﬁcations, after English models.
A large proportion of the power looms exhibited and used in the power looms,
Continental weaving-schools has been imported from this country.
In the manufacture of iron and steel we stand pre-eminent, and Iron and 8,861,
we are practically the naval architects of the world. Our technical Ships-
journals, such as those of the Institutes of Civil and Mechanical Technical
Engineers, and of the Iron and Steel Institute, are industriously journals-
searched and their contents assimilated abroad.
In those textile manufactures in which other nations have Improvements
hitherto excelled us, as in soft all-wool goods, we are gaining in English
ground. We saw at Bradford, merinos manufactured and ﬁnished tex es‘
in this country, which would hear comparison in texture and in
colour with the best of those of the French looms and dye-houses,
and in the delicate fabrics of Nottingham and Macclesﬁeld (thanks,
in great measure, to their local Schools of Art) we no longer rely
on France for designs.
In art manufactures proper, notably in porcelain, earthenware, Art mama
and glass, as also in decorative furniture, our productions are of facturcs.
conspicuous excellence. It is possible that this may be due in a
certain degree to the employment, in some branches, of skilled
workers trained in foreign countries, and we cannot do otherwise
than acknowledge the pre-eminence in the main of our French French and
neighbours, in design as applied to decorative work, or disregard Belgian deco-
the efforts which they are making to maintain that pre-eminence, mm‘ ‘Tom
and those made in Belgium and Italy to emulate them.
The beginnings of the modern industrial system are due in the Origin of
main, as we have indicated, to Great Britain. Before factories modemm'
founded on the inventions of Vvatt, of Arkwright, and Crompton,
had time to take root abroad, and whilst our own commerce and
manufactures increased from year to year, the great wars of the
early part of this century absorbed the energies and dissipated the
capital of Continental Europe. For many years after the peace
We retained almost exclusive possession of the improved machinery
employed in the cotton, woollen, and linen manufactures. By
various acts of the last century, which were not repealed till
1825, it was made penal to enlist English artisans for employ-
ment abroad ; the export of spinning machinery to foreign countries
was prohibited until the early years of Your Majesty’s reign.
Thus, when less than half a century ago, Continental countries
began to construct railways and to erect modern mills and mechanical
Workshops, they found themselves face to face with a full-grown
industrial organization in this country, which was almost a sealed
book to those who could not obtain access to our factories.
To meet this state of 'things, foreign countries established Origin of
technical schools like the Ecole Centrale of Paris, and the Poly- $112212“
dustrial system.
508 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Technical
education of
masters and
managers
abroad.
Polytechnic
schools.
Technical
knowledge of
foreign manu—
facturers.
Technical
schools for
foremen
abroad.
technic Schools of Germany and Switzerland, and sent engineers
and men of science to England to prepare themselves for becoming
teachers of technology in those schools.
Technical High Schools now exist in nearly every Continental
State, and are the recognised channel for the instruction of those
who are intended to become the technical directors of industrial
establishments. Many of the technical chemists have, however,
been, and are being, trained in the German Universities. Your
Commissioners believe that the success which has attended the
foundation of extensive manufacturing establishments, engineer-
ing shops, and other works, on the Continent, could not have been
achieved to its full extent in the face of many retarding
inﬂuences, had it not been for the system of high technical
instruction in these schools, for the facilities for carrying on
original scientiﬁc investigation, and for the general appreciation of
the value of that instruction, and of original research, which is felt
in those countries. I
With the exception of the Ecole Centrale of Paris, all these
schools have been created, and are maintained almost entirely, at
the expense of the several States ; the fees of the students being
so low as to constitute only a very small proportion of the total
income. The buildings are palatial, the laboratories and museums
are costly and extensive, and the staff of professors, who are well
paid according to the Continental standard, is so numerous as to
admit of the utmost subdivision of the subjects taught. In Ger-
many, as we have stated in a previous part of our Report, the
attendance at some of the Polytechnic Schools has lately fallen off,
chieﬂy because the supply of technically trained persons is in
excess of the present demand; certainly not because it is held that
the training of the School can be dispensed with. The numerous
young Germans and Swiss who are glad to ﬁnd employment in
our own manufactories, have almost, without exception, been
educated in one or other of the Continental Polytechnic Schools.
Your Commissioners cannot repeat too often that they have
been impressed with the general intelligence and technical know-
ledge of the masters and managers of industrial establishments on
the Continent. They have found that these persons, as a rule,
possess a sound knowledge of the sciences upon which their
industry depends. They are familiar with every new scientiﬁc
discovery of importance, and appreciate its applicability to their
special industry. They adopt not only the inventions and improve-
ments made in their own country, but also those of the world at
large, thanks to their knowledge of foreign languages and of the
conditions of manufacture prevalent elsewhere.
The creation abroad of technical schools for boys intending to
become foremen, is of much more recent date than that of the
Polytechnic Schools. To this statement the foundation during
the First Empire of the three French Ecoles des Arts et Métiers,
at Chalons, Aix, and Angers, is only an apparent exception,
because they simply vegetated until their reorganization within the
last twenty—ﬁve or thirty Years. Mining schools were, however,
p ~
4
v
REPORT. 509
established in Prussia in the last century, and in France about
1817. Among the examples of schools for foremen are those of
Winterthur in Switzerland, Chemnitz in Saxony, and Komotau
in the Austrian dominions, principally for engineers, and the
Ecole des Mines at St. tienne, the latter more especially for
mining and metallurgy. The theoretical instruction in these
schools is similar in character, but inferior in degree, to that
of the great Polytechnic Schools. On the other hand, consider~
able attention is devoted in these schools to practical instruc-
tion in laboratories and workshops, which is not the case in the
Polytechnic Schools. In Prussia, as will be seen from the Minis—
terial report found in the Appendix, a beginning has been made in
‘the establishment of such secondary technical schools, but, in the
words of the report, “ its execution will be tedious and costly.” In
Bavaria the Industrie Schulen, which are technical schools of a
grade inferior to the Polytechnic School, give both theoretical and
practical instruction, the latterin some cases highly specialized, in
preparation either for direct entrance on an industrial career or
for further study in the Polytechnic School.
schools of a somewhat lower type are being established all over
the country. The one at Rheims, described at p. 75, is an excellent
example of these schools. The boys from the Rheims school
either enter the Ecole des Arts et Me'tiers at Chalons, or go into
manufactories or into business ; in each case with a fair knowledge
of theory and manipulation as mechanics or as chemists.
It is important to bear in mind that the French schools of the Intermediate
type of that at Rheims, though virtually advanced schools, now rank
as superior elementary schools, to which the pupils are consequently gmtuitous,
entitled to claim admission without the payment of any fees.
Up to the present time, however, although a few foremen have
received some theoretical instruction in schools of this kind, foreign
foremen have not generally been technically instructed, but, as in
England, are men who, by dint of steadiness, intelligence, and
aptitude for command and organization, have raised themselves
from the position of ordinary workmen.
The Continental weaving schools may on the whole, so far as
their inﬂuence on trade is concerned, be ranked in the ﬁrst and
second categories, that is to say, they are attended by those who
propose to become merchants, manufacturers, managers, or fore-
men. They are held in the highest estimation by some of the
most intelligent and successful Continental manufacturers; of this
there can be no better proof than the erection, in substitution for
the one already existing, of the splendid new weaving schools at
Crefeld, probably the most ﬂourishing centre of the general silk
trade, at the joint expense of the State, the locality, and the
commercial body. Weaving schools for workmen, like the evening
and Sunday school of Chemnitz, which must not be confounded
with the superior weaving school of that town, are poorly attended,
and can have had no sensible inﬂuence on the progress of textile
manufactures. But there are in many places lectures on weaving
and pattern designing largely attended bv workmen.
Prussian
schools.
French
schools
\Veaving
schools.
‘.5
In France technical French schools.
510 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION;
Schools for
miners and
workers in
iron and steel
abroad.
Technical
instruction for
workmen.
Trade and
other societies
as teaching
bodies.
The French and German schools for miners, and the one which
has been quite recently founded in Westphalia for workers in
iron and steel, differ from the preceding schools for foremen, @
inasmuch as they are reserved for the theoretical instruction
of men who, having already worked practically at their trades,
have distinguished themselves by superior intelligence and good
conduct. Most of the German schools of this kind are
founded or maintained by the manufacturers, and will, We feel
conﬁdent, repay the trades, which have had the foresight and
public spirit to create them, by training young men to become
foremen and leading hands, willing and able to carry out with
intelligence the instructions of their superior oﬁicers.
For the technical education of workmen, outside of the work-
shop, the resources of Continental countries have hitherto been,
and are still, very much more limited than has been supposed in
this country to be the case. In several of the more important
industrial centres of the Continent there exist societies, such as the
Sociétés industrielles of Mulhouse, Rheims, Amiens, &c., the Société
d’enseignement professionnel du Rhone, which has its headquarters
at Lyons, and the Niederoesterreichischer Gewerbe-Verein of
Austria ; one of the chief objects of which is the development of
technical education among workmen and other persons engaged in
industry, by means of lectures and by the establishment of schools
and museums of technology. These associations are supported
mainly by the merchants and manufacturers of the district, to
which their operations are restricted. In many cases they are
founded and supported, or are greatly assisted, by Chambers of
Commerce ; these bodies abroad being incorporated and having in
France considerable taxing powers over their members, are generally
wealthier and more influential than those in our own country.
In addition to these sources of income, the associations receive help
from the municipality, and sometimes from the State. In Mulhouse,
besides promoting education, the Society sees to the material
well-being of the workmen by erecting, on a large scale, labourers’
dwellings (la cite ouvriere) and by organising savings banks and
other economic arrangements; undertaking in this respect, on a
smaller scale, what is done in this country by self-sustaining
associations like building and cooperative societies of the workpeople
themselves. The society in Lyons has established numerous
evening classes for elementary and technical instruction, which are
attended chieﬂy by workpeople; and the South Austrian Trade
Society, which has its central oﬁice in Vienna, has organised several
technical day and evening schools for operatives of every grade,
which are now under State control, and receive subventions from
the Government. But although these Societies, under different
names and with varied objects, are very numerous, their sphere of
action is limited, and the facilities they offer for evening instruc-
tion in science and technology are inferior to those which are at
the disposal of our own workmen. No organization like that
of the Science and Art Department or of the City and Guilds
Institute exists in any Continental country, and the absence of
nnron'r. 51 1
such organizations has been lamented by many competent persons
with whom we came in contact abroad.
In two very important respects, however, the education of a cer- Edllcationbof d
tain proportion of persons employed in industry abroad, is superior {9322;211:821 ma
to that of English workmen; ﬁrst, as regards the systematic in- respects draw-
struction in drawing given to adult artizans, more especially in i123" ,
France, Belgium, and Italy; and secondly, as to the general $323311"
diffusion of elementary education in Switzerland and Germany. more generally
In some parts of these latter countries, great attention is paid to giﬁllsedlind
drawing in the elementary schools. In France, too, (where ,ggmﬁfggimy
elementary education has hitherto by no means been so general
as in the two former countries), in the case of those workmen
who have had the beneﬁt of regular elementary school training,
more attention has been paid to elementary drawing than is
the casein this country. There are also in all large towns in Lectures and
France, and to a more limited extent in other countries, numerous Classes on the
evening “conferences” and “cours” on almost every subject of C‘mtmem'
interest in art, science and literature, which workmen have
the opportunity of attending, as they are entirely gratuitous.
Amongst these the most remarkable are the lectures given by
eminent men at the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers of Paris.
Most of these are of the nature of lectures rather than of practical
instruction. There are, however, in many places excellent and
- numerously attended Evening and Sunday technical classes, more
especially in Belgium and Austria,-and there can be no doubt
that the instruction thus given, is already exerting a considerable
inﬂuence on the capacity and intelligence of the workmen, and
that this inﬂuence will be increasingly felt in the future.
In the evening schools of North Germany (Fortbildungs- Fortbildungs-
schulen) the studies of the ordinary elementary school are con- schulen-
tinued, the further instruction being conﬁned mainly to book-
keeping and rudimentary mathematics, with some notions of
natural philosophy. In the evening schools of the same class in
South Germany, the instruction given is of a more technical
character than in the North.
For instruction in drawing, as applied mainly to decorative Artiz‘gm i1}-
work in France, and to both constructive and decorative work in 1“
Belgium, the opportunities are excellent. The crowded schools abroad,
of drawing, modelling, carving, and painting, maintained at the
expense of the municipalities of Paris, Lyons, Brussels, and other
cities-—~~absolutely gratuitous, and open to all comers, well lighted,
furnished with the best models, and under the care of teachers
full of enthusiasm—stimulate those manufactures and crafts in
which the ﬁne arts play a prominent part, to a degree which is
without parallel in this country. Instruction in art applied to ,Instl‘uiitioll
industry and decoration is now pursued with energy in South glfppled
Germany and in several of the northern Italian towns, and the
inﬂuence of this instruction on the employment of the people is
becoming very conspicuous in those countries. The Government
schools of applied art in France, under the Decree of 1881, of which
the Limoges Decorative Arts School is the earliest example, and
ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION! .
Sunday lectures
and classes
abroad.
Home indus -
tries.
Mr. Mather’s
report on the
United States.
which, like the above-mentioned schools are gratuitous, should be
mentioned in this connection. it
The technical lectures and classes to which we have referred
are in nearly all Continental States held not only in the evening,
but also, and in some branches, as in weaving, principally, on
Sundays; and all the great museums and collections are open on
Sundays. No one who has seen the crowds of orderly artizans
with their families visit the splendid collections of the Louvre and
the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers on a Sunday can have failed
to reﬂect on the powerful educational inﬂuence thus brought to
bear on that important class of the population.
Home and village industries have been in some cases initiated,
in others improved and extended, in districts Where, from the
poverty of the population and the scarcity of capital, special aids
were essential, notably in Baden, Bavaria. and the Tyrol. In the
schools established and maintained for this purpose, wood carving,
and inlaying, clock-making, ﬁlagree work, basket-making, and
other simple trades, for which there were local materials and
aptitude, have been taught with considerable success. In some
cases these industries have been so ﬁrmly and permanently
established as to render unnecessary the further maintenance of
the special schools. In the primary schools of the Black Forest,
straw plaiting is taught to girls. Discriminating regard is paid to
the capabilities of each sex. In “lVomen’s Work” schools on
the Reutlingen model, and in the Professional Schools for girls
which have been established in France and the Netherlands, in-
struction is successfully given, qualifying girls for many useful
occupations, though these are scarcely of the kind usually under-
stood under the term of manufactures.
The report of Mr. William Mather to your Commissioners,
on his six months’ tour throughout the United States of America
and Canada, for the purpose of studying the schools and factories
of that continent, deserves the most careful perusal. It will be
seen that Mr. Mather assigns greater inﬂuence on American
manufactures to the general education of the American people
derived from their common schools, than to their technical schools,
the importance of which latter, however, in the training of civil
engineers has been experienced for some years, though it has only
more recently become recognised by those who are engaged in
mechanical engineering and in metallurgical and manufacturing
establishments of various kinds. This recognition is, however,
now becoming universal. A decided preference is being given in
the United States, for the positions of managers and heads of
departments, to persons who have received a scientiﬁc training
in a technical school, and the plan is followed in these schools
of combining instruction in “application” with instruction in
pure science. Although the conditions of American industry
differ in many respects from our own, there can be no doubt
that we may derive great advantage from a careful study of
what is being done in the way of technical instruction in the
United States, as, together with the elementary education of Canada,
REPORT. 513
it is so graphically described by Mr. Mather. \Ve may add that
the accuracy of his statements and conclusions is generally
conﬁrmed by the accounts of technical instruction in America
which we have received from other competent judges.
Not many years have passed since the time when it would still Neg‘lﬂf
‘have been a matter for argument whether, in order to maintain $35,232,,
the high position which this country has attained in the industrial generally
arts, it is incumbent upon us to take care that our managers, our aclinowkdged
foremen, and our workmen, should, in the degrees compatible at mm"
with their circumstances, combine theoretical instruction with
their acknowledged practical skill. No argument of this kind is
needed at the present day. In nearly all the great industrial
centres—in the NIetropolis, in Glasgow, in lVIanchester, Liverpool,
()ldham, Leeds, Bradford, Huddersﬁeld, Keighley, Sheﬂield,
Nottingham, Birmingham, The Potteries, and elsewhere—more
or less ﬂourishing schools of science and art of various grades,
together with numerous art and science classes, exist, and their
inﬂuence may be traced in the productions of the localities in
which they are placed. The schools established by Sir W. Arm- Special schools
strong at Elswick ; by the London and N orth-Western Railway estalzllflshed by
Company at Crewe; and those of Messrs. Mather and Platt of gﬁlaﬁgiureri
‘Salford, in connection with their engineering works, testify to the employers
importance attached by employers to the theoretical training of oflabour-
young mechanics. The efforts of Messrs. Denny, the eminent
shipbuilders of Dumbarton, for encouraging the instruction of their
apprentices and for rewarding their workmen for meritorious
improvements in details applicable to their work, are proofs of this
appreciation. The evidence of Mr. Richardson, of ()ldham, and of
NH. Mather, of Salford, is emphatic as to their experience of
its economical value.
Without more particularly referring to the valuable work in the Meci‘aniﬂis‘
past, accomplished by the numerous Mechanics’ Institutes spread 11,2521‘? are
over the country, many of them of long standing, we may point out organized.
that they are now largely remodelling their constitutions in order
to bring up their teaching to the level of modern requirements, as
regards technical instruction. The example of the Manchester
Mechanics’ Institute may be studied in this connection.
Moreover, as evidencing the desire of the artizans themselves to Classes estab~
obtain facilities for instruction both in science and art, we must lish‘id by
not omit to mention the classes established and maintained by lcf‘ﬁpmﬁam
some of the leading cooperative societies. The Equitable societies.
Pioneers’ Society of Rochdale has led the way in this, as in so many
other social movements. It is much to he wished that the various
trades’ unions would also consider whether it is not incumbent on
them to promote the technical education of their members.
The manufacturers of Nottingham speak with no uncertain Inﬂuence 01
voice of the important inﬂuence of the local school of art iﬁﬁﬂgﬁiggl
on the lace manufacture of that town. Without the Lambeth '
School, the art productions of Messrs. Doulton could scarcely
have come into existence. The linen manufacturers of Belfast
El 1726. K K
5141 ROYAL coMMIssIoN'joN TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
}
Teaching of
natural science.
Desire to
ascertain best
modes of ad-
vancing techni-
cal instruction.
International
Exhibition of
school-work in
l 8 84 .
Foreign system
of technical
instruction not
applicable
without modi~
ﬁcation.
are becoming alive to the necessity of technical instruction
if competition on equal terms with foreign nations in the more
artistic productions, is to be rendered possible. The new generation
of engineers and manufacturers of Glasgow has been trained in
the technical schools of that city. The City and Guilds of London
Institute owes its existence to the conviction of the liverymen
that technical instruction is a necessary condition of the welfare
of our great industries.
Natural science is ﬁnding its way surely, though slowly, into the
curriculum of our older English universities, and of our secondary
schools. It is becoming a prominent feature in the upper divisions
of the elementary board schools in our large towns. There are
scarcely any important metallurgical works in the kingdom without
a chemical laboratory in which the raw materials and products are
daily subjected to careful analysis by trained chemists. The
attainments of the young men who have been trained in the Royal
Naval College at Greenwich recommend them for remunerative
employment by our great shipbuilding ﬁrms.
In our relations with public bodies and individuals in this
country during the progress of our inquiry, the greatest anxiety
has been manifested to obtain our advice as to the mode in which
technical instruction can be best advanced, and we have to acknow- '
ledge the readiness of the Education and Science and Art Depart-
ments to receive and act upon suggestions in matters of detail from
individual members of the Commission, which it would have been
pedantic to delay until the completion of our task. Amongst the
suggestions which have thus been made was that .of an exhibition
of the school—work of all nations, which His Royal Highness
the Prince of Wales has consented to add to the Health Exhibition
of 1884. This exhibition will be an appropriate illustration of the
account of foreign schools contained in the previous parts of this
Report. Your Commissioners, during their continental visits,
received from the authorities of technical schools numerous
assurances of their cordial support and co-operation in such a
display. '
Thus, there is no necessity to “ preach to the converted,” and
we may conﬁne ourselves to such considerations as bear upon the
improvement and more general diffusion of technical education at
home, in accordance with the conditions and needs of our industrial
population.
In dealing with the question of technical instruction in this
country we would, at the outset, state our opinion that it is not
desirable that we should introduce the practice of foreign countries
into England, without considerable modiﬁcation. As to the
higher education, namely, that for those intended to become pro-
prietors or managers of industrial works, we should not wish that
every one of them should continue his theoretical studies till the
age of 22 or 23 years in a Polytechnic School, and so lose the
advantage of practical instruction in our workshops, (which are
really the best technical schools in the World) during the years
from 18 or 19 to 21 or 22, when he is best able to proﬁt by it.
REPORT. 515
We have, also, in the science classes under the Science and Art
Department, to the intelligent and able administration of which it
is our duty to bear testimony, a system of instruction for the great
body of our foremen and workmen, susceptible certainly of improve-
ment, but which, in its main outlines it is not desirable to disturb.
Moreover, in considering by whom the cost of the further
development of technical instruction should be borne, we must
not forget that, if it be true that in foreign countries almost
the entire cost of the highest general and technical instruction
is borne by the State, on the other hand, the higher elementary
and secondary instruction in science falls on the localities to
. a much greater extent than with us; whilst, as to the ordinary
elementary schgols, the cost in Germany and Switzerland is almost
exclusively borne by the localities; and this was also the case in
France and Belgium until the people of those countries became
impatient of the lamentable absence of primary instruction on the
part of vast numbers of the rural, and in some instances, of the
town population; an evil which large State subventions alone
could cure within any reasonable period of time. With the ex-
ception of France, there is no European country of the ﬁrst rank
. that has an Imperial budget for education comparable in amount
with our own. In the United Kingdom at least one-half of the
cost of elementary education is defrayed out of Imperial funds, and
the instruction of artizans in science and art is almost entirely borne
by the State. Hence, it will be necessary to look, in the main, to
local resources for any large addition to the ﬁinds required for the
further development of technical instruction in this country.
In determining what is the best preparation for the industrial
career of those who may expect to occupy the highest positions,
it. is necessary to differentiate between capitalists who will take
the general, as distinguished from the technical, direction of large
establishments ; and those at the head of small undertakings, or the
persons more especially charged with the technical details of either.
For the education of the former, ample time is available, and they
have the choice between several of our modernized grammar
schools, to be followed by attendance at the various colleges in
which science teaching is made an essential feature, or the great
public schools and universities ; provided that, in these latter,
science and modern languages should take a more prominent place.
Either of these methods may furnish an appropriate education for
those persons to whom such general cultivation as will prepare
them to deal with questions of administration is of greater value
than an intimate acquaintance with technical details. It is
different in regard to the smaller manufacturers and to the
practical managers of works. In their case, sound knowledge
of scientiﬁc principles has to be combined with the practical
training of the factory, and, therefore, the time which can be
appropriated to the former, that is, to theoretical instruction, will
generally be more limited.
How this combination is to be carried out will vary with the
trade and with the circumstances of the individual.
Value of
classes under
Science and
Art Depart-
ment.
Funds for
technical
instruction.
how to be
supplied.
Technical
instruction for
proprietors
and managers
How training
In those cases may be
obtained.
KK2
516 ROYAL COMMISSION on TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Colleges suﬂ°er
from want of
funds.
Secondary
schools as a
preparation
for technical
schools.
Many more
required.
Progress
delayed by
abolition of
Endowed
Schools Com-
mission.
in‘ which theoretical knowledge and scientiﬁc training are of pre-
eminent importance, as in the case of the manufacturer of ﬁne
chemicals, or in that of the metallurgical chemist, or the electrical
engineer, the higher technical education may with advantage be
extended to the age of 21 or 22. In the cases, however, of those who
are to be, for example, managers of chemical works in which complex
machinery is used, or managers of rolling mills, or mechanical
engineers, where early and prolonged workshop experience is all-
important, the theoretical training should be completed at not
later than 19 years of age, when the works must be entered, and
the scientific education carried further by private study or
by such other means as do not interfere with the practical work
of their callings. Many colleges of the class to which we have
referred have already arranged their courses to meet these require—
ments, and some of them, as will appear from our reports of
visits, have workshops for the purpose of familiarizing the students
with the use of machine and hand tools.
It is to be regretted that nearly all of these very useful institu-
tions suffer more or less from the want of adequate funds to
enable them to provide for such a staff of professors as is neces-
sary for the proper subdivision of the various subjects taught, and
for the equipment of museums, apparatus, and laboratories of the
various kinds essential to the practical instruction of the student.
In this respect the provision in this country compares most un-
favourably with that in the Universities and Polytechnic Schools
of the Continent, even in spite of recent muniﬁcent enefactions
like those of the late Mr. Charles Beyer of Manchester, the late
‘Sir Josiah Mason of Birmingham, of the Baxter family at Dundee,
the late Mr. Harris of Preston, the liberal gifts of Mr. Crawford
to the Queen’s College at Cork, and others. In speaking of bene-
factions, we do not overlook the noble endowment of Sir Joseph
W'hitworth for the encouragement of engineering by affording
to able and promising young men, especially of the class of artizans,
the means of obtaining theoretical combined with practical training
———the former, in institutions of the kind we have referred to.
The best preparation for technical study is a good modern
secondary school of the types of the Manchester Grammar School,
the Bedford Modern School, and the Allan (ilen’s Institution at
Glasgow. Unfortunately our middle classes are at a great disad—
vantage compared with those of the Continent for want of a sufficient
number of such schools. The transfer of the functions of the
Endowed Schools Commissioners to the Charity Commissioners
has not had the eﬁect of increasing the rate of progress in the
reorganization of our secondary schools. We consider it to be
essential that steps should be taken to ensure that this work shall
be carried on with greater vigour in the future than it has been
hitherto. We learn that thereare still endowments available for
education, amounting to upwards of 200,000Z. per annum, which
have not been dealt with by the Commissioners. In the schemes
for the new schools, the subjects of science and modern languages
should form a very prominent part; and it would be desirable in
REPORT. 51 7
some of these schools, especially in large towns (where classical
schools are not wanting) in order to provide for the fuller
teaching of these subjects, more particularly of mathematics,
that the classical languages should be altogether excluded from
the schemes of instruction. But the existing endowments are
very unevenly distributed over the country ; in many of the large
manufacturing centres no resources of the kind exist; private Necessity for
enterprise is clearly inadequate to do all that is required in leslslation-
establishing such schools, and we must look to some public measure
to supply this, the greatest defect of our educational system.
It is to be desired that in the proposed reorganization of local Localities to
government, power should be given to important local bodies like itffgdpafgegutﬂ
the proposed County Boards and the municipal corporations, to Porttechnicai’
originate and support secondary and technical schools in con- and secondary
formity with the public opinion, for the time being, of their Sch‘mls‘
constituents.
Intelligent youths of the artizan classes should have easy access Scholarships
to secondary and technical schools by numerous scholarships, and from? elemen-
the more promisino~ students of them again to the hicrher technical an schools’
C) D D
colle ‘es.
F51’ the great mass of our working population, who must neces- :I‘echnical
sarily begin to earn their livelihood at an early age, and from for
whom our foremen will be mostly selected, it is essential that '
instruction in the rudiments of the sciences bearing upon industry
should form a part of the curriculum of the elementary schools, Science
and that instruction in drawing, and more especially in drawing teaching in the
with rule and compass, of a character likely to be useful to them elementary
in their future occupations as workmen and artizans, should re- School‘
ccive far greater attention than it does at present. The importance
of the ﬁrst of these subjects has so far been acknowledged by the
Education Department, that in all infant schools, simple lessons
on objects and the more commonly occurring phenomena of Qbjectlessons
nature, have been made obligatory. This system of instruction,
if properly illustrated by the exhibition of the object itself, or of i “
diagrams or models of the same, or by the simplest kinds of
experiments, is an excellent foundation for the subsequent teaching
of elementary science.
When, however, the child enters the elementary school, the Defectsin
teaching of science practically ceases until it reaches the upper Egejgggrfggstem
division, inasmuch as the arrangement of the class subjects in the scienze
lower division is found in practice to exclude science from that teaching-
division; only two subjects being allowed, of which “ English”
must be one, and “ geography ” may be another; this latter being
generally preferred to the alternative subject of “elementary
science.” It appears to us that geography, if properly taught, Geography
is a branch of elementary science which need not be separated should be
from science generally, and can well be taught along with the an"
other branches of science, by means of the object lessons, which science suiiject
are described in the Code. Thus there would be only two class
subjects instead of three, and in this way the connecting link
which is now wanting between science as taught in the infant
518 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Instruction in
science by
special
teachers .
Higher
elementary
schools.
To be suc-
seeded by
science and art
and technical
classes.
Inspection
should be more
frequent.
Higher grades
better remu-
nerated and
practical work
more on-
couragcd.
Proper
apparatus
should be
provided.
Art schools
for artizans.
school and in the higher division "of the elementary school would
be supplied. ' * ~ »
We could hardly overstate our appreciation of the value
of the plan of giving instruction in natural science by special
teachers as'carried out in the board schools of Liverpool and
Birmingham, where the employment of a well-qualiﬁed science
demonstrator ensures the sound character of the instruction,
whilst the repetition of the lesson by the schoolmaster enables him
to improve himself in the methods of science teaching. This
should, however, be supplemented by the establishment of higher
elementary schools like those of Shefﬁeld and Manchester, into
which the more advanced pupils of the primary schools may be
drafted, especially if the parents of those children should be able
to keep them at school up to the age of 14 or 15 unassisted, or, if
they are unable to do so, assisted by scholarships taking the place
of the wages which they would otherwise earn. In these latter
schools it is possible to provide eﬁicient laboratories in which
practical work is performed by the pupils, whilst this cannot
adequately be done for the ordinary primary schools. Youths
having the advantage of such instruction will be well prepared
to avail themselves at a later period of the classes of the Science
and Art Department and of the technical classes under the auspices
of the City and Guilds Institute, which are now so numerous,
and many of which are under excellent teachers.
The evidence given before us leaves no doubt that the directors
of both these institutions use every effort in their power to secure
sound and practical teaching in these classes, so far as that can
be effected by assistance in training the teachers, and by careful
testing in their examinations of the results of the instruction
given. In regard to the ﬁrst, much is to be hoped for from the
increasing number of teachers who are now able to take advantage
of the high scientiﬁc instruction given in the Normal School of
Science at South Kensington, as well as from the pecuniary
assistance offered by the Science and Art Department to science
teachers desirous of attending the courses and laboratories of
various provincial colleges; whilst for teachers of technology a
great step in advance will be made when the Central Institution
of the City Guilds is in operation. As to the latter, that is to say,
the thoroughness of the instruction given in the classes, more close
and frequent inspection than at present is much to be desired ; a
higher payment for the more advanced grades of several subjects
should be made, than is now the case; and practical laboratory
work in the higher grades in science should be more generally ‘
demanded.
An important point to which the attention of the inspectors
should be more particularly directed, is to ascertain that proper
apparatus and appliances are provided for practical work in these
classes.
With reference to the subject of drawing, we cannot too often
call attention to the extraordinary efforts which are being made
abroad for instruction in art, more especially as applied to
anron'r. 519
industrial and decorative purposes, and to the important inﬂuence
of this instruction in furnishing employment for artisans on the
Continent. Without depreciating what has been done in this
direction -by the schools and classes under the auspices of the
Science and Art Department in this countr , and whilst fully
alive to the importance of the organization which tends to the
diffusion of art instruction over a wide area, your Commissioners
cannot conceal from themselves the fact that their inﬂuence on
industrial art in this country is far from being so great as that
of similar schools abroad. This is due, no doubt, to some extent Inadequate
to the want of proper and sufficient preparation on the part of the $515122“
students, owing to the inadequate instruction they have received in drawing
in drawing in the elementary schools. in elemental‘?
Your Commissioners are aware that the number of children who Schools‘
are supposed to learn drawing in elementary schools is considerable,
but it is small compared with the total number in attendance, and
it is, we have reason to believe, diminishing. We have ascer-
tained by inspection that the instruction is in far too many
cases of little value. Instead of a mass of inferior drawings
being sent up once a year to South Kensington for examination
there, it is necessary that the instruction in drawing in elementary
schools should be as carefully supervised on the spot by the Whitehall
Inspectors as is that in other branches of primary education. In Comparison
nearly all the places abroad which your Commissioners have 9* gmwing‘.
yisited they have found that drawing is an obligatory subject of Zl‘jg‘e‘ﬁtﬁm
instruction in the primary school, and that it is regarded as of schools at
equal importance with writing. The number of hours which the home and
children devote to lessons in drawing abroad is frequently as many abroad‘
as three per week, whereas in England the subject is not only
not obligatory, but in about three-fourths of our elementary
schools no instruction whatever is given in this subject, and in
those schools in which drawing is taught, the time devoted to
it rarely exceeds one hour per week, and even that not always
regularly. This want of attention, together with the absence of
competent teachers, proper models and methods, and adequate
inspection, fully accounts for the inferiority to which we have
referred. The training of teachers for the Irish national schools
includes special instruction in drawing, and a grant for drawing
is made to primary schools in Ireland by the Commissioners of
National Education. The drawing in some of the schools of
the Christian Brothers, and in some of those under the Board of
Intermediate Education, is good.
Your Commissioners are of opinion that sound instruction in the Drawing
rudiments of drawing should be incorporated with writing, in all would be made
" t ' h ls both for Girls and b 's b which (Is dine“ compulsory‘
pumaiy so 00 , g o) , y , a o, accor g to
the experience of competent authorities, the writing would be much
improved. Something in this direction has already been done in
many good infant schools, where children of the age of six draw
triangles, squares, oblongs, &c., on their slates. This exercise
is repeated on the day of inspection and is‘ taken into account in
estimating the value attached to “ appropriate occupations.”
520 ROYAL COMMISSION on TECHNICAL msrnuerron:
Importance
of drawing
to scale.
Drawing may
be taught out
of school
hours.
Modelling.
Rapidity and
boldness in
freehand
drawing to be
encouraged,
and modelling
to be at-
tended to.
Teaching of
applied art.
Grants for
applied art
work.
\Ve have observed with satisfaction the recent circular (Art
Form, No. 1194) of August 1883, prescribing the new exercise of
drawing to scale. ‘Ve believe the principle therein laid down to
be excellent, and we trust that the school managers and teachers
will avail themselves of the advantages offered to them in this
alteration in the First Grade work. The permission recently ac-
corded to teachers to give instruction in drawing and modelling
to the children of the elementary schools, out of the ordinary school
hours, is also likely to prove very advantageous.
We are of opinion that more attention than has hitherto been
devoted to it, should be directed to the subject of modelling, in the
elementary school. We notice that by a recent addition to the Art
Directory small classes in modelling may now claim a local examina-
tion ; we believe this to be a most salutary regulation. Modelling
is an exercise of great importance to the future workman, and its
rudiments can well be taken up, as in Continental schools, at the
earliest age.
Assuming such preparation in the infant and elementary
chool as we have here suggested, the progress of subsequent
instruction in art classes would be immeasurably more rapid.
Whether the attendance in any given locality will ever be so great
in this country, where the instruction has to be paid for, as in
France, Belgium, and elsewhere, where it is gratuitous, is a
matter for grave doubt. rIowever this may be, there are two
points in connection with the instruction in art schools and classes
as hearing on industrial pursuits, which require careful attention.
The ﬁrst is one which we are glad to perceive is now fully appre—
ciated by the Science and Art Department, viz., the advantage of
substituting practice in rapid, but correct, execution, in place of the
method of stippling, which was formerly not suﬂiciently dis-
couraged in art schools and classes; greater attention also than
hitherto should be given to modelling. The second point relates
to industrial designing. This, for a variety of reasons, the chief of
which are the want of sufficient knowledge of manufactures on
the part of the art teachers and the absence of sympathy evinced
by the proprietors of industrial works, has, with some notable ex-
ceptions, not received suﬁicient attention in our art schools and
classes. In fact, there has been a great departure in this respect
from the intention with which the “ Schools of Design ” were
originally founded, viz., “ the practical application of (a knowledge
“ of) ornamental art to the improvement of manufactures.” Large
grants of public money for teaching art to artizans in such classes
can scarcely be justiﬁed on any other ground than its industrial
utility.
On the subject of the teaching of industrial design, we are
of opinion that the Science and Art Department may with advan-
tage depart from their principle, as at ﬁrst laid down, of granting
encouragement to design only,-——so far as to award grants for
specimens of applied art-workmanship in the materials themselves,
as a test of the applicability of the design and as a reward for
success in overcoming the technical difiiculties of the manufacture.
REPORT. 5:21
‘illustrated and sold at a cheap rate.
It seems scarcely fair that well executed art-work by a student,
say a richly chased piece of silver plate, should obtain only the
same recompense as the design for the same object on paper. We
are aware that special vigilance would in this case be required in
order to prevent the use of’ such rewards for trade or for other
than educational purposes.
It appears from the evidence, with which we include a remark-
able letter from M. vWillms, the eminent designer of Birmingham, that
it would be well if persons practically acquainted with the appli-
cation of design to industrial manufactures were more extensively
consulted in the award of prizes for industrial design. We are
aware that this is now done in some measure, but, however
eminent may be the gentlemen whom the Department has been
in the habit of consulting, it is unlikely that the small number of
these should be sufficiently familiar with the vast varieties of
“ applications ” to have the special knowledge requisite for judges
in the large number of trades in which design forms an important
element.
Amongst the most important means of stimulating industrial art
education and of spreading a knowledge and appreciation of art
throughout the country, is the foundation of local museums of
applied art of such a character as is best adapted to advance the
industries of the districts in which they are situated.
Stimulated by the advice and influence of the Director of the
South Kensington Museum, and with the liberal aid of private
benefactors, such collections have been provided in the local
art museums at Sheffield, Derby, York, and elsewhere. In
Manchester also, steps have been taken to found an industrial
museum, and the Corporation has acquired the famous Bock col-
lection of textile fabrics for this purpose. The Manchester,
Birmingham, Stoke, and other galleries are open on Sundays, and
are visited by increasing numbers of orderly working people,
It is very desirable that similar facilities should be provided for the
inspection of our metropolitan museums and collections. “7e are
of opinion that the connection between these museums and the local
schools of art should be of an intimate character. Indeed, in
this respect much may be learned from foreign countries where
many such museums exist and exert great inﬂuence on manu-
factures. Further we must express strong approval, in which we
merely repeat the opinion offered by competent witnesses both
at home and abroad, of the system of circulating among the
local museums collections of works of art from the national collec-
tion at South Kensington. The value and utility of these collections
are greatly enhanced by suitable manuals and guide books well
These serve to explain to
visitors of the artizan classes the features most worthy of notice.
Whilst we fully admit the force of the contention that the
contributions of the State to the foundation and maintenance of
museums will be of the greatest service to the country at large,
if applied mainly to central institutions, like those of the metro-
Examination
of applied
art work.
Value of local
industrial art
museums in
stimulating
artistic pro-
gress.
Provincial
industrial art
museums.
Circulating
collections and
manuals .
Grant of objects
to provincial-
museums.
522 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Government
building grants
require revision.
Substitution of
scholarships
for Queen’s
prizes.
Eﬁ‘ect of active ‘ ‘ _ _
interest taken tne 0036013 aimed at.
by employers
n science and
art teaching.
school Boards present on the grants from head-quarters.
polls, of Edinburgh, and of Dublin, we highly approve of the
grants to provincial museums of reproductions, either gratuitously,
or at a very low price. Those grants may even, in the case of
typical museums situated in some of the chief industrial centres,
be extended with advantage to original examples of art, and of
manufactures, calculated to increase the knowledge and improve the
taste of those (more especially of the artizans) engaged therein.
Your Commissioners believe that the grants now made in aid of
the buildings for local schools of science and art and for industrial
museums in connection with them, limited as they are to a
maximum of 5001. for art schools and the same sum for science
schools, coupled also with the requirements that they shall be given
only for buildings under the Free Libraries Act, or in connection
with schools of art, require revision, and tend rather to discourage
local effort than otherwise; inasmuch as they give an erroneous
impression of what is really required in order that suitable
buildings may be provided.
Your Commissioners highly approve of the recent foundation of
scholarships to promising students in the science classes of the
Science and Art Department, enabling them to continue their
education at various higher schools. The limitation of the avail-
able funds appears to have rendered necessary in consequence of this
step, the abolition of the Queen’s Prizes, given for success in the
elementary stages, and the substitution of honorary certiﬁcates in
place of them. We ﬁnd there is an opinion prevalent that these
certiﬁcates will not afford sufficient stimulus to certain students.
It is to be hoped, however, that a small addition to the customary
local prize funds will be readily subscribed to supply this
deﬁciency.
But all these institutions and measures will not alone accomplish
For this the localities must rely far more
than has been the case hitherto on their own exertions. Teachers
should know that they labour under the eye of those who are
interested in the work being thoroughly and conscientiously done.
’ The organization and eﬁiciency of the science schools at Oldham
and Keighley are conspicuous examples of what may be done in
regard to the scientiﬁc and technical instruction of artizans where
local employers take an active and intelligent interest in the
work. The Oldham School of Science and Art may, so far as
science teaching is concerned, be regarded as the type and example
of what evening schools should be; and the existence of similar
- eﬁicient and ﬂourishing schools in all our industrial towns would
greatly contribute to conﬁrm our industrial position. The remu-
neration of teachers should not depend to so great an extent as at
School Boards should
slwuldestablish be authorised to establish and conduct science and art classes for
science and art
classes for
artizans.
Fees to be low.
artizans, and, where no school boards exist, power should. be
given to the local governing bodies to establish or support suclr
schools. If the teaching is not entirely gratuitous (and the regu—
larity of attendance in the art classes in the French and Belgian
cities, and in the science classes in Liege, Seraing, and elsewhere
- REPORT. 523
i
J.
shows that it is a prejudice to suppose that people only appreciate
what they pay for), the fees ought to be on the lowest possible
scale. x ~
Your Commissioners have had before them deputations of “Tradesmen”
. _ . - , - teachers for
representative working men who have expressed then views on workmen‘
the wants of the working classes with respect to the teaching of
science .and art, and who have stated that the assistance afforded
by the Department is not sufficiently directed towards the require-
ments of their several trades. We believe that many work-
men are disposed to attach too little value to the importance
of acquiring a knowledge of the principles of science, because
they do not see their application; we are of opinion that whenever
it is possible persons engaged in the trade taught and having
scientiﬁc knowledge should give instruction to workmen, and we
have ascertained that a large number of such teachers are regis-
tered under the Examination Scheme of the City and Guilds of
London Institute. We visited classes of this character at the
Polytechnic Institution in Regent Street, at the Manchester
Technical School, the Lyceum at Cldham, and at other places,
some of which were excellent.
The City guilds are trying a most important experiment Technical
in their practical classes. If empiricism be avoided, a great teaching-
point will be gained by the attraction to working men and women
of a mode of instruction in which the direct application of scientiﬁc
principles is the means by which a knowledge of those principles
is conveyed to their minds. As to this point, we refer to the
almost unanimous expression of opinion contained in the letters
of eminent manufacturers in reply to our circular asking their
advice as to the best means of promoting technical instruction (see
Appendix, Vol. 111.).
We cannot dismiss this branch of the subject without calling hluseums
attention to the educational value of the museums of natural attached to
objects now found in many of the modern elementary schools of Siiggiﬁaoad'
the Continent. Probably the best examples of such collections
are those of the Normal School of Brussels and of the elementary
schools of Zurich. Collections of natural objects, pictures, and Desirable
diagrams, are‘of the greatest assistance for illustrating object at home.
lessons in rudimentary science to children of the earliest years.*
Many persons who have paid attention to the working of free Schoo
libraries in our large towns are of opinion that the beneﬁt of these libraries.
might be extended to elementary schools, by placing at the disposal
of such schools, books of a character calculated to interest children
of school age. Amongst these books some suitable technical
works, especially illustrated ones, might be included. These
school libraries would be of the nature of the branch libraries which
are now attached to many of the free libraries of our large towns.
Your Commissioners, after having had the opportunity of Workshop
further considering the value of manual work as a part of mstmct‘on-

* A report to the Minister of Public Instruction, just received, proposing the
establishment of art museums in all the public schools of France, will be found in
the Appendix.
ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION Z
Beneﬁcial
effects of
manual work.
Grants for
manual work.
Connection
between
drawing and
manual work.
Attendance at
Elementary
Schools.
Provisions of
Scotch law as
to full-time
employment
Should be made Scotland unless it has Passed the Fifth Standard.
universal.
primary instruction, and after having seen such work introduced
into elementary schools of various grades in other countries besides
France, are able now to express a stronger opinion in its favour
than at the time of their First Report. They do this with greater
conﬁdence because, in consequence partly of the suggestion con-
tained in that report, the experiment of introducing manual work
into primary schools has been successfully eﬁected by at least two
School Boards in this country, viz., those of Manchester and
Sheﬁield. Your Commissioners have had the opportunity of
inspecting the manual work of the pupils both at the Manchester
Board schools and at the Central School in Sheffield, and they are-
satisﬁed that such work is very beneﬁcial as a part of the
preliminary education of boys in this country who are to be
subsequently engaged in industrial pursuits, even though it should
not, as, however, it probably will do, actually shorten the period
of their apprenticeship.
Your Commissioners see no reason why, since grants are made
on needlework in girls’ schools, they should not be made on manual
work in boys’ schools. This instruction may be given so as not
to interfere with the ordinary work of the school. It has been
proved that this can be done, the boys being most eager to return
for handicraft teaching after school hours.
Whenever more attention shall be given to drawing, and espe—
cially to mechanical and geometrical drawing, in the ordinary
and the higher elementary schools, it will be proper and desirable
that the work executed in the shops attached to these schools
should be made from drawings prepared by the children
themselves.
We need scarcely say that the success, not only of technical,
but of the ordinary elementary instruction of our working popula—
tion, depends upon the regular attendance of the children at
school, and upon their remaining there sufficiently long to ensure
that the knowledge acquired shall leave some lasting impression
on their minds. As will have appeared from other parts of this
report, the children of the workpeople of Germany and Switzer-
land, with few exceptions, remain at school till the age of
14 years, and in some of the German States are required to con-
tinue their elementary instruction two years longer, in evening
and Sunday schools, if their examination at 14 has not been
satisfactory. The wages of the parents in these countries are
generally lower, and the sacriﬁce of their children’s earnings is
consequently felt more than with us. The eﬂiciency of the
American workmen is mainly attributed, by all who have inquired-
into the subject, to the primary education acquired by them
during a prolonged attendance at school. In our own country
great diversity prevails as to the standard authorising the em»
ployment of children as full-timers. In Scotland this will be
remedied by the Act of last session. After next year no child,
under the age of 14 years, can be employed on full time in
\Ve have no
doubt that all classes interested in industry will quickly reap the
REPORT. 525
beneﬁt of this amendment of the law, arid we see no reason
why this regulation should not be extended to England and
Wales, so far as it applies to factories and workshops.
We have avoided, in the foregoing statement, making special
observations on the merits or defects of the various scientiﬁc and
technical colleges and schools which are at work or in course of
establishment in this country, but we think it due to those who
have founded and those who are conducting these excellent institu-
tions to state that all of them, in each of the three divisions of the
United Kingdom, are, in spite of limited means, producing good
results. It is most praiseworthy on the part of the professors
and teachers that they devote themselves to the important work
of tuition for salaries so small as those which they as a rule
receive, when many would, by employing their scientiﬁc and
technical knowledge in private enterprise, obtain much larger
pecuniary remuneration. We may remark concerning the colleges
that it is not necessary that all of them should be of the highest
type. To enable the relatively small number of persons capable
of occupying the highest industrial positions to acquire the most
complete education of which modern science admits, only a few
well equipped institutions of high rank are needed. It is, how-
ever, of national importance that these few should be placed
in such a position of efficiency as to enable them to carry out
successfully the highest educational work in the special direction
for which circumstances, particularly of locality, have ﬁtted them ;
your Commissioners believe that no portion of the national
expenditure on education is of greater importance than that
employed in the scientiﬁc culture of the leaders of industry.
Your Commissioners fear that the belief in the efficacy of
training of this highest character, is, in England, at present small
amongst those whom it will ultimately beneﬁt ; and yet there are
few countries in which so many investigations have been made,
the practical bearings of which were not at the outset apparent,
but which have in the end led to the most important practical
results. The discovery by Faraday of magneto—electricity, and
by Joule of the mechanical equivalent of heat, at once occur as
examples. The Englishman is accustomed to seek for an imme-
diate return ; and has yet to learn that an extended and systematic
education up to, and including, the methods of original research, is
now a necessary preliminary to the fullest development of industry.
It is, amongst other elements of progress, to the gradual but sure
growth of public opinion in this direction, that your Commissioners
look for the means of securing to this country in the future, as
in the past, the highest position as an industrial nation.
We desire to express our satisfaction at the recent estab-
lishment of weaving and dyeing schools in the north of
England, and of mechanical laboratories in several localities.
The utility of weaving schools to proprietors and managers
of factories, and to merchants who desire to become acquainted
with the processes of the manufacture of the goods in which
Value of ex-
isting colleges
and their
teaching.
Colleges should
be of various
grades.
Value of
the highest
scientiﬁc train-
ing not yet
sut‘ﬁciently
recognised.
Importance
of original
research.
Weaving
schools and
mechanical
laboratories.
ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Science and
art in Training
Colleges.
School Boards
are making
endeavours to
improve educa-
tion of pupil
teachers.
Day Training
Colleges'
they deal, has been so clearly demonstrated on the Continent,
that we need adduce no further arguments in their favour.
The weaving and dyeing schools of Leeds have been established
and are maintained entirely by the Clothworkers’ Company of
London. We regard this as one of the most useful and appro—
priate purposes to which a portion of their funds could have been
devoted. The mechanical laboratories and mechanical drawing
schools at Nottingham, Shefﬁeld, Huddersﬁeld, and elsewhere,
will be of the greatest service in enlarging the knowledge
and experience of young artisans who are kept continuously at
one branch in their daily work.
The teaching of art and science subjects, in the Training Colleges
of Great Britain for elementary school teachers, is very defective.
The inspection on the part of the Science and Art Department has,
until lately, been greatly neglected," owing to the divided responsi»
bility for the Colleges, of the Education Department and the Ken~
sington authorities. The answers received by the examiners to
such questions as the following——“ Write out the heads of a lecture
“ to an elementary class on the chemical and physical properties of
“ water, mentioning the experiments which you would show, and
“ your object in showing them,” prove conclusively that the
students have no idea as to how such a simple matter ought to be
brought before a class. It would greatly conduce to sound and
eﬁicient training in science, and particularly in the methods of
teaching, if those students in training who have shown an aptitude
for science work could be sent annually to the Normal School of
Science at South Kensington, or to other approved etlicientinstitu—
tions. The provision for art-teaching in most of the Training
Colleges is inferior even to that at present made for science,
and an entire reform in this respect is urgently needed; and
similar measures should be taken for systematic instruction in art
as in science. Considerable attention is, as we have said else-
where, paid to drawing in the Normal School in Dublin, where
it is taught by a competent art-master.
The School Boards of our great cities are fully alive to“ the
defective character of the instruction of pupil-teachers. In
London, Liverpool, and elsewhere, they have endeavoured
to apply a partial remedy by introducing joint instruction,
under special teachers, qualiﬁed in each subject, instead
of having each headmaster to instruct the pupil teachers
of his own school in every subject. The Education Department
has also taken a small step in the right direction, by somewhat
limiting the number of hours that the pupils may be employed in
teaching, so as to give them a little more leisure for learning. No
considerable improvement can, however, be expected until the
great school boards are authorised to establish colleges for'training
teachers. These colleges would be day schools and need not
receive from the State enormous capitation grants like those now
given to the English denominational Training Colleges, but only
small allowances like those granted to the day students in those
of Scotland.
REPORT. 527
In concluding this part of our subject, we deem ourselves City and
justified in giving, at the risk of repeating some of the state- 531151311“
ments we may have made in the earlier parts of our report, a Inslzimw
short review of the work initiated, controlled, and contemplated
by the City and Guilds of London Institute, inasmuch as this im-
portant organization has been created in order to promote the
technical instruction of persons of every grade engaged in industry.
The Institute had not been in existence very long when your
Commissioners were appointed, and consequently they have
scarcely had the opportunity of estimating the value of the work
it is doing in some of its branches. Even now that work is in many
parts of the kingdom unknown, and this is particularly the case in
Ireland. In Dublin, Cork, and in many other Irish towns,
nothing was known at the time of our visit of the encouragement
to technical instruction offered by the Institute’s scheme of tech~
nological examinations, whereas in Belfast advantage has been
taken of it; and the establishment there of a technical school,
for instruction in the weaving and dyeing of linen, and in mecha~
nical engineering, is largely due to its action.
The Central Institution, which is not yet opened, is intended central
by the Institute to fulﬁl functions resembling those of the great Institution--
Polytechnic Schools of the Continent. Your Commissioners have
examined the proposed scheme of instruction embodied in the
Report of the Institute, and they have also inspected the building,
which is nearly complete. They consider that, as the number of
technical classes and technical schools increases, as it is likely to
do, the want of such an institution as that in Exhibition Road for
the training of teachers will be more and more felt. It will be of
great advantage as a technical high school for the metropolis,
which is,' in fact, one of our greatest industrial centres. It is
intended to afford additional facilities for the prosecution of
original research in science. In order, however, that the Institu- Its endowmeht,
tion may effect the purpose for which it is intended, it should be
well endowed, both for the provision of adequate special instruc-
tion, and also for the establishment of exhibitions to defray the
cost of maintenance of poor students whilst pursuing their studies.
Without expressing any positive opinion as to the amount required
for this purpose, your Commissioners fear that the annual sum at
present subscribed by the Livery Companies is inadequate to the
future requirements of the Institution.
As regards the Finsbury ‘Technical College, your Commis= Finsbm.)
sioners believe that the evening classes connected with it are Technical
giving valuable technical instruction, such as is greatly needed by gouege‘
the artizans of the district in which the school is situated. The practical laboratory instruction in the applications of electricity to
trade purposes is worthy of special mention.
The programme of the day school is well devised, and the Day school.
\ offer of scholarships to the principal middle class schools of the
metropolis, which enable select pupils therefrom to continue their
education at the Finsbury College, is a good feature in the
scheme. Considering the want that is generally felt of good trade
528 ROYAL COMMISSION on TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Want of
similar schools
in other parts
of London.
South London
Technical
Art School.
Technological
classes in the
country.
Practical tests.
Rapid increase
in the number
of candidates.
Grants to
technical
schools in the
manufacturing
districts.
schools into which promising pupils from the upper standards of
the public elementary schools may be drafted, your Commissioners
are of opinion that a more intimate connection of the day depart-
ment of the F insbury Technical College with the elementary
schools would also be desirable.
We think that similar trade schools, in which the curriculum
consists mainly of practical science teaching, workshop instruc-
tion, drawing, and modern languages, might with advantage be
established in other parts of London.
Your Commissioners examined with great. interest the work of
the South London Technical Art, School. The teaching of this
school has had a direct bearing upon the important manufacturing
works of Messrs. Doultqn ; and in few cases have we been able
more deﬁnitely to ascertain the extent to which technical instruc-
tion has beneﬁted a local industry. In many other branches
besides that of the manufacture and painting of pottery, the
teaching of design in connection with the material to which it is
to be applied, would be undoubtedlyadvantageous. In this school
practical instruction is also given in wood engraving, and a class
is about to be formed in enamelling; the City and Guilds of
London Institute might usefully extend this kind of teaching in
other directions.
By means of the Institute’s scheme of technological examina-
tions, classes have been formed in all the large manufacturing
towns, in which the instruction is more specialised, according to
the requirements of persons engaged in different industries, than
has been thought desirable in the State-aided classes which are
held under the direction of the Science and Art Department.
It will be seen by the collection of letters from eminent manufac-
turers in the Appendix, that classes of the former kind are greatly
valued and regarded as deserving of continued encouragement.
The regulation of the Institute which restricts the payment
on results to the case of candidates engaged in the industries to
which the examination refers, is a good one ; and the introduction
of practical tests and the importance which the Institute attaches
to preliminary science-knowledge, and to skill in drawing, are to
be commended. From the rapid increase in the number of candi-
dates for these examinations during the last four years (the number
in 1879 having been 202, and in 1883, 2,397), it may be assumed
that, as they become more generally known, that number will still
further increase, and that much larger funds will be required in
payment to teachers on results.
We consider that the Institute has rendered eﬁcient service
to technical education by means of the contributions it has given
to the establishment of technical schools in the great centres of
manufacturing industry, where they are even more necessary than
in the metropolis. The Institute appears to have distributed its
grants with judgment and discretion, and in many cases, notably
in Nottingham, Manchester, Sheffield, and Leicester, its contribu-
tions have had the effect of stimulating local effort in the
establishment of new technical classes.
REPORT. 529
Your Commissioners are able generally to endorse the several Funds should
schemes of technical instruction, now in operation or about to be “3 incl-‘eased
carried on by the City and Guilds of London Institute; and, 3216212231,?
in view of the efficient and permanent working of these schemes, basis.
we should be glad to see the funds of the Institute made fully
adequate to the efficient carrying out of the objects it has in view,
which in our opinion is not yet the case. We think‘it is of
importance that the grants made by the contributing Livery
Companies should be placed upon a permanent basis.
Whilst the preceding remarks apply to the United Kingdom Ireland.
as a whole, including those portions of Ireland, and more especially
(of the province of Ulster, in which the factory system is fully
developed, other portions of the latter country require to be
separately considered. In saying this, we refer more particularly
to the poor and remote districts of the West.
Before proceeding to this part of the subject, however, we would fl‘echniqal ,
refer very shortly to the question of technical instruction suitable for llglsltggimon 1“
foremen and workmen in Dublin. Whilst science and art classes,
many of them very successful, are to be found in several of the
important towns of Ireland, there are scarcely any science classes
at work in Dublin. Various reasons were assigned to us for this
state of things, some of them of a kind into which it is not
expedient that we should enter. At the same time, there is in Reva} College
Dublin the Royal College of Science, with a staff of competent ‘guiiilgnce’
professors, an admirable technical museum, and laboratories fairly '
well equipped for practical work. It appears from the evidence
that of the small number of students who follow a complete
‘course of instructionpin this institution, about one-half are English-
men, holders of the ltoyal Exhibitions of the Science and Art
Department, scarcely any of whom become teachers of science in
Ireland. There are no short summer courses at the College, like
those at the Normal School at South Kensington, for the instruc-
tion of science teachers. There are we are aware some courses
of evening lectures, but although the laboratories of the College
are the only ones in Dublin available for practical evening in-
struction, such instruction in science and in mechanical drawing
forms no part of the arrangements of the college. It appears that Evening
by the rules of the Science and Art Department, the professors of Sammie classes'
the College cannot earn grants on the results of instruction in
science, as would be the case if they were ordinary science
teachers. We are of opinion that so long as the effective work
of the College in preparing associate students, and more particu-
larly Irish students, is so limited in area as at present, evening
classes with practical laboratory work should form a part of the
regular College courses, and that the remuneration of the pro-
fessors should depend in part on the success, or at any rate on the
regular attendance, of students at such classes.
We would also remark that we have received evidence of a Science in
very contradictory nature as to the teaching of science in the £32332‘
Irish Intermediate Schools. We believe, however, that it is i'
R1 1726. L L
530 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
\<
engaging the attention of the Board of Intermediate Education,
and we only deem it necessary to state in reference to this subject,
that. efficient instruction in science will not be possible in those
schools unless they are provided with proper laboratories, which
in most, if not in all of them, are at present entirely wanting.
But the most important part of our task with regard to Ireland,
is to consider the possibility of improving the industrial conditions
of the poor and remote districts of the West, by means of technical
education.
By the courtesy of Sir Patrick Keenan, K.C.M.G., the
3012001; ' Resident Commissioner of National Education 1n Ireland, your
Commissioners have been furnished with what they understood to
be a complete set of the books used in the Irish National Schools.
They ﬁnd that these books are well adapted- for the literary
instruction of the children of various ages in those schools, and
that they contain much interesting information on the natural
These books features and resources of Ireland. But, except as to agriculture,
mid to be the ' do not afford ade uate assistance towards graduated instruc-
revised so as to y q b
afford means tion in industrial processes, or in the rudiments of the sciences on
of instruction which those processes are founded. As the Irish National Edu-
"1 “udlmentary cation Commissioners are by their regulations mainly responsible
Selene?‘ for the selection of the books used in the schools, this defect should
receive their early attention.
Home _ There is a general consensus of opinion on the part of persons
in‘lubmes‘ of all ranks in that country, whatever may be their views on
other subjects, that the prosperity of the poorer districts of Ireland
may be greatly promoted by technical instruction in handicrafts
Manual dex- and in home industries. There is a conviction not less general,
tel‘ity of Irish and it is one which our visits have fully conﬁrmed in our minds,
people‘ that the children and young people of Ireland of the labouring
class possess great manual dexterity and aptitude, which only
requires to be developed in order to be useful to themselves and
to those amongst whom they live. As evidence of this, we need
only refer to the remarkable success of the Christian Brothers, and
to that of the ladies of Religious Orders, in training children and
young persons for handicrafts, in Industrial Schools and Institutions
of a like nature. There appears to be no reason why similar
instruction to that which is given in these schools should not
be given elsewhere, if the necessary funds and teachers are
forthcoming. We have shown that instruction of this kind
given on the Continent to persons in remote districts, who would
otherwise be idle, has added materially to their resources, both
directly, and by training them for employment in larger industrial
concerns, and we have ascertained that no great expenditure of
public money has been required in order to produce these effects.
Not only is instruction of this kind deemed to be desirable, but
we have found that there is a willingness on the part of benevolent
persons in Ireland to assist its promotion by subscriptions and in
Teaching of other ways. It is true that by some it has been proposed that the
homeindustl'iee Government should itself initiate, if it did not entirely charge itself
{3, ll’gciﬁlléledsed with this work, but we were happy to ﬁnd there were others who
REPORT. 531
i would be quite satisﬁed if its utility received the imprimatur of the and aided by
Government, and if the State offered rewards for the ascertained gjngwem'
results of instruction of this kind. We are of opinion that success- '
fni work of this nature, whether it be conducted by individuals or
societies or by religious bodies, deserves the recognition and reward
of the Government. We think it no part of our duty to state which
are the home industries best adapted to the conditions of different
parts of Ireland. Each locality will be able to form its own
judgment in regard to this, and due weight should be given by
the Government to such local expression of opinion; payment in
all cases being dependent upon the results obtained in the schools
or classes. We do not think it would be possible for the Govern- Grants to
ment to train teachers for a variety of home industries, but it gefaﬁlggs
might contribute to the payment of such teachers appointed by industriis.
the localities; and it would be expedient to establish a class of Travelling
itinerant teachers for service in districts where resident instructors teachers.
cannot be maintained.
These suggestions apply even in a greater degree to the
instruction of girls than of boys.
We need scarcely point out that, if it be deemed desirable to Instruction in
introduce manual instruction in the use of tools in elementary the use of tools
schools at all, this would apply in an eminent degree to the lsggggslgpnmmy
primary schools of Ireland. It was stated in evidence before us '
that in some parts of Ireland, ordinary handicrafts, like those of
the mason, have become absolutely extinct. ‘Vhether the children
remain in their own immediate localities or migrate to other parts
of the country, or emigrate to our colonies or to foreign countries,
such instruction leading up to their apprenticeship as skilled
labourers, instead of their fulﬁlling, as is now too much the case,
the part of mere hewers of wood and drawers of Water, would
be of the greatest value to them. We are happy to ﬁnd that the Trainmg of
authorities of the National Board of Education in Ireland appre- teachers for
ciate the importance of introducing instruction in manual work gm PurPOse ‘0
. . . . . e thorough.
into their schools. They have already begun to give instruction of °
this kind to some few of their teachers, with a view to qualify them
for imparting it to the children in the schools 5 but, in order '
that this instruction may be satisfactory, it is important that the
training of the teachers themselves should be systematic and
thorough; and, obvious as this might appear to be, we do not
hesitate to impress it upon the minds of the authorities of the l
National Board. Until the teachers are able themselves to give Artizans mi h,
. . . . . . . . . g
the instruction, it might be given by skilled and intelligent artizans. be employed to
We have reason to believe that, whenever efficient teachers can be teach'
found, the National Board will be prepared to pay for the results
of manual teaching in the primary schools. It is scarcely neces-
sary to say that our statement with regard to drawing, in
reference to schools generally, applies with equal force to the Irish
schools. We may remark that the progress of children in learning
home trades will be much more satisfactory if they have been
trained at school in the use of the ordinary tools for working in
Wood and iron, and in drawing.
LL2
ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION!
Compulsory
attendance in
Irish primary
schools.
Agricultural
education.
Inﬂuence of
schools on
agriculture
on the
Continent.
Our agricul-
ture in a state
of transition.
We shall deal with instruction in agriculture in Ireland in the
succeeding subsection, in which we review the separate report
of Mr. Jenkins, and the evidence which we personally received
in Ireland on that special branch of the subject.
Whilst dealing with Irish education, we cannot refrain from
expressing our satisfaction at having found that public opinion
amongst all classes in Ireland is in favour of some measure for
gradually making primary education in that country compulsory.
The subject is one surrounded with difficulties of a nature which
appear to us to place the discussion of its details beyond the scope
of our commission. “*0 consider, however, that we should not do
our duty if we did not express our decided opinion that no
marked progress in the direction of technical education can be
effected in Ireland, until primary education in that country has been
placed on a proper footing.
AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.
As stated at the commencement of this Report, your Commis-
sioners did not think that an inquiry into the instruction of the
industrial classes would be complete unless it included some
notice of the instruction of the large and important class of
agriculturists.
Vile were unable ourselves to conduct this branch of the
inquiry, except partially in regard to Ireland, but we trust that
those who read the Report on Agricultural Education of our Sub—
Commissioner, Mr. H. M. Jenkins, the Secretary of the Royal
Agricultural Society of England, submitted herewith, will think
that we have been well advised in placing the inquiry in his
hands. As supplementary to his Report, your Commissioners
refer to the Irish evidence in the Appendix, and to the narrative
of their visits to the Royal Albert College at Glasnevin, to the
Munster Dairy School, and to parts of the South and West of
Ireland. We have not inquired into the state of agriculture,
as an art, abroad and at home; to have done this would have
lengthened the inquiry beyond measure, and it was the less
needed, as this branch of the question has been incidentally treated
in the recent Report of the Royal Commission on Agriculture.
It will, however, be seen from the Report of our Sub-
Commissioner that those best able to form an opinion attribute a
great and beneﬁcial influence upon the progress of agriculture to
the agricultural schools of various grades of the Continent, and
more especially to those like Hohenheim and Urrignon, in which
practice is combined with scientiﬁc teaching.
At a time like the present, when cheap railway and water
conveyance of agricultural products from distant countries has
completely changed the economical conditions of successful
agriculture in Great Britain, it is of the greatest importance
that those who are interested in the cultivation of the soil,
whether as proprietors or as farmers, should not simply be
familiar with existing practices at home, important as is such a
REPGR'i‘. familiarity, but that they should understand also the reasons
which have caused these practices to prevail, in order to be able
to decide to what extent they should continue to be pursued.
They should likewise be acquainted with the nature and mode of
cultivation of crops, the rearing and feeding of cattle, and the
dairy practice, of other countries?‘ To impart knowledge of this
description is the proper function of the Agricultural School.
In Great Britain, the Agricultural Department of the Normal
School of South Kensington, the Royal Agricultural College of
Cirencester, and the College of Downton, are the only institu-
tions for higher agricultural education ; the former principally for
training teachers, the two latter for the education of landowners,
land agents, and farmers. The ﬁrst of these has been so short
a time in existence that no deﬁnite judgment of its results can
be formed by the test of practical success or failure. But we
agree with our Sub-Commissioner in thinking that the complete
course of four years at the Normal School is inconvenientiy and
unnecessarily long ; that at least all students who propose to
become associates should on entrance prove that they possess
the amount of practical knowledge of agriculture which can be
acquired by a year’s residence on a farm; and that visits to
farms, and factories connected with agriculture, during the recess,
should be encouraged and rewarded by scholarships to those
who have proﬁted by them. Our Sub-Commissioner considers
that colleges like those of Cirencester and Downton do not require
“ propping ” by the State, but that scholarships tenable at those
colleges might be given by the Government to deserving students
in the agricultural divisions of county schools.
These agricultural divisions, which are intended by our Sub-
Commissioner to provide secondary agricultural instruction,
have still to be created. Mr. Jenkins proposes that farms should
be attached to county schools, in which the pupils in the higher
forms should be taught the principles and practice of farming,
and should take part in farming operations and the management
of stock. The experience of schools of this kind on the Con—
tinent, and of some isolated attempts in this country, shows that
they cannot be self-supporting. He proposes that the locality
(the county) should equip the school and, we suppose, the farm
attached to it; and that the Government should contribute as
liberally to the buildings as to those of schools of science. \Ve
can see no objection to the latter proposal, and we approve of the
suggestion that the governing bodies of counties should have
the power of establishing and maintaining agricultural schools,
or contributing thereto, under proper conditions; we should

* The practice of growing beet-roots for the manufacture of sugar has been
attended with most beneﬁcial changes in Continental agriculture. This cultivation is
carried on in countries varying remarkably in the conditions of climate in regard to
heat and moisture. Should the recovery of ammonia in the manufacture of coke, and
from the raw coal used in the blast furnace, be attended with the success which there
is every reason to anticipate, the cheapening of nitrogenous manures may indicate
some considerable changes in the agricultural practice of our own country.
l
Higher agri-
cultural
schools in this
country.
Scholarships in
the higher
schools.
Secondary
agricultural
schools.
To be sup‘
ported by
counties
5341 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
and by great
agricultural
societies.
Agricultural
classes under
Science and
Art Depart-
ment.
Examination
as to facts.
Farm appren‘
tice schools.
be glad to see this power conferred on them by the proposed
measure for reorganising county government. But it would
also appear to us that an active participation in the encou—
ragement of secondary agricultural schools would be an object
well worthy of our great National Agricultural Societies. Their
funds have hitherto been devoted mainly to the encouragement by
premiums, of improvements in cattle-breeding and in agricultural
machinery. The commercial demand for animals of a high class
and for implements of the best construction is now so great that
any other than an honorary recognition of merit seems to be no
longer required; and if a portion only of the money now dis-
tributed in prizes were offered in aid of local subscriptions for
the addition of an agricultural department to the existing, and
in many cases ﬂourishing, county schools, it is probable that so
desirable an experiment as that proposed by our Sub-Commis-
sioner would very soon be carried into effect.
We are aware that the fact of the number of competitors for
the Royal Agricultural Society’s junior scholarships having been
small may not encourage that great society to increase its efforts
in the direction of agricultural education, but we believe with
Mr. Jenkins that the fault lies in a great measure with the want
of competent teachers, a want which is now in the course of
being supplied by the Normal School of Science and otherwise.
With respect to the classes in the “principles of agriculture ” in
connection with the Science and Art Department, which properly
come under the head of secondary instruction, Mr. Jenkins is of
opinion that “the attempt to teach the principles of a subject
“ without ﬁrst teaching its facts and phenomena is very much
“ like trying to build an actual castle in the air.” We quite
agree in this opinion, and we consider it essential, even if it
should involve some change in the programme of the Depart-
ment, that the examiners should so arrange their questions as
to ascertain as far as possible from his replies that the student is
acquainted with the facts to which the principles are applicable,
just as in chemistry, for instance, the examiner would not be
satisﬁed with a mere knowledge of the laws affecting the com-
binations of chemical elements and compounds, but would expect
the student to be acquainted with the nature and properties of
the substances entering into combination. Unfortunately there
is not the same room for a practical examination in agriculture
as that which is now very prrperly required by the Depart-
ment in other sciences. On the whole it may be expe<ted that
young men, following the profession of farmers, and acquainted
with farming practice, will derive advantage from the classes in
the theory of agrirulture which are held in country towns.
Of our Sub-Commissioner’s suggestions in regard to lower
agricultural education in Great Britain, that which recommends
the apprenticeship of youths to selected farmers is very ‘(im-
portant, if it can be carried out. There can be no doubt that, if
' competent farmers can be foundawilling to receive boys and girls
as apprentices (the girls in the dairy), and to allow a part
REPORT. 535
“of their time to be spentin continuing their school instruction,
as is suggested by Mr. Jenkins, there could be no better training
for the pupils. The French Fermes-écoles and German Ackerbau-
schulen are examples of this kind of training.
His recommendations in reference to elementary schools in rural IHSPI‘IICIiOH in
‘districts are more deﬁnite. We agree with him in thinking that instruction in the theory and practice of agriculture should, in Great mentary
Britain, as it already does in Ireland, after suitable introductory Schools-
cbject lessons, form, in the upper standards, a part of the ordinary
elementary subjects of rural schools, and should not be relegated
to “ class subjects”; and that, if time cannot otherwise be found
for them, which we scarcely anticipate, some of the elementary
subjects, such as the higher branches of arithmetic, should be
transferred from the former to the latter category; and further,
that encouragement should be given, by way of g: ants, to
practical work on plots of land attached to such schools. One
good result of this would probably be that the children, taking a
more intelligent interest in farm work, would be less anxious to
migrate from the country into the larger towns. It is probable
that, if a demand existed for a practical knowledge of agriculture
on the part of teachers in rural schools, some of the farmers’
sons who at present unhealthily increase the competition for
farms would qualify themselves to become elementary teachers.
The subject of agricultural education, which is of national Agricultural
interest in Great Britain, is a question- of life and death for education in
Ireland; We are happy to ﬁnd that this is thoroughly felt both Ireland‘
by the Government and by the people. There is progress in all
directions. The Albert Agricultural Institution at Glasnevin,
near Dublin, no longer conﬁnes itself to the instruction of young
men who intend to become farmers or land agents, but is train-
ing teachers who will disseminate a knowledge of sound theory and
likewise of successful practice throughout Ireland ; for the Clas-
nevin farms, the 6-acre as well as the 100-acre, are pecuniarily suc—
cessful. The Munster Agricultural and Dair y School, especially its Munster Dairy
dairy department, as will appear from the evidence given before School.
us, is ascertained and acknowledged by all classes to be rendering
eminent service to the farmers of the county of Cork. Every Training of
elementary teacher in Ireland'is required to pass an examination teachers in
in agriculture, and the science and practice of agriculture are Ireland-
taught to all boys in the three upper standards (or classes, as ,
they are called in Ireland) of all rural schools. Last year nearly Instruction in\
45,000 boys were examined in this subject. Small farms are agl'icultsrein
Irish primary I:
schools. /
Glasnevin.
attached to some of these schools, and special grants are made
for proﬁciency in practical agriculture, as tested on those
farms. What is most encouraging is that the authorities
of the National Board themselves are not satisﬁed with what
is being done. They are anxious that more encouragement
should be given to the patrons of schools to furnish them
with small example farms; they admit that when this is
done,_ results cannot be effectively gauged by their single
536 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
More agricul-
tural schools
desirable for
Ireland.
Irish work-
house schools.
Flax culture.
Recommenda-
tions.‘
Elemental‘)
schools.
agricultural inspector, Mr. Carroll, in addition to his duties
as head of the Glasnevin Institution. Your Commissioners
believe that the Board would gladly see the successful experi-
ment of the Cork dairy school repeated in other parts of Ireland,
each such school being established, as at Cork, by local eﬁ'ort,
conducted by local managers in accordance with the wants of
the locality, and supported in part by local subscriptions. Your
Commissioners trust that the Treasury would see its way to
encourage and aid Such schools by grants out of Imperial funds.
The evidence shows that the members of some Boards of
Guardians are not satisﬁed with the prevailing absence of agri-
cultural instruction for the children in the Irish workhouses.
They desire that the plots of land attached to the workhouses
should be more generally used, than they now are, for this
instruction.
At the same time the faults of the‘ past are acknowledged.
It was stated in evidence before us that the failure to introduce
the cultivation of ﬂax in the south of Ireland was due in a great
measure to the ignorance of the instructors, and to their having
persuaded the people to grow it on unsuitable land, with the
result of stunted crops, badly prepared, and scarcely ﬁt for the
commonest tissues. That some of the instructors were ignorant,
we cannot doubt; but the example of Flanders and other counl
tries shows that ﬂax can be grown on the poorest soils, provided
that they are liberally manured, and receive such painstaking and
assiduous cultivation as the peasants of those countries bestow
on them. Failures, however, like that of ﬂax culture in the
South of Ireland, will induce the promoters of agricultural
education in that country to proceed with caution, and not to
raise a prejudice against it by schemes for which the teachers are
not qualiﬁed and the learners are not ripe.
RECOMMENDATIONS.
Having carefully considered what is desirable and practicable
in regard to the general and technical instruction of the various
classes engaged in industrial pursuits in this country, we humbly
offer the following recommendations, which require the intervention
of' the Legislature or of public departments :—
I. As to public elementary schools:
That rudimentary drawing be incorporated with writing
as a single elementary subject, and that instruction
in elementary drawing be continued throughout the
standards. That the inspectors of the Education
Department, Whitehall, be responsible for the instruction
in drawing. That drawing from casts and models be
required as part of the work, and that modelling be
encouraged by grant.
(5.) That there be only two class subjects, instead of three. in
the lower division of elementary schools, and that the
object lessons for teaching elementary science shall
include the subject of geography.
REPORT. 537
(0.) That, after reasonable notice, a school shall not be deemed
to be provided with proper ‘f apparatus of elementary
instruction” under Article 115 of the Code, unless it
have a proper supply of’ casts and models for drawing.
((1.) That proﬁciency in the use of tools for working in wood
and iron be paid for as a “speciﬁc subject,” arrange-
ments being made for the work being done, so far as
practicable, out of~ school hours. That special grants be
made to schools in aid of collections of natural objects,
casts, drawings, &c., suitable for school museums. -
(a) That in rural schools instruction in the principles and facts
of agriculture, after suitable introductory object lessons,
shall be made obligatory in the upper standards.
( f.) That the provision at present conﬁned to Scotland, which
prescribes that children under the age of 14 shall not
he allowed to work as full-timers in factories and work-
shops unless they have passed in the Fifth Standard,
be extended to England and Wales.
II. As to classes under the Science and Art Department, and
grants by the Department :
That school boards have power to establish, conduct, and
contribute to the maintenance of classes for young
persons and adults (being artizans) under the Science
and Art Department. That in localities having no
school board the local authority have analogous powers.
(1).) That the Science and Art Department shall arrange that
the instruction in those science subjects which admit of
it, shall be of' a more practical character than it is at
present, especially in the “honours” stage; that pay.
ment on results be increased in the advanced stages of
all subjects, at least to the level of those now made for
practical chemistry and metallurgy, and that greater
encouragement be given to grouping. ‘
(a) That the examinations in agriculture be made to have a
more practical bearing.
That metallurgy, if it be retained, be divided into
groups, as (1) the precious metals, (2) those extracted
from metalliferous mines, as copper, tin, lead, &c., (3)
iron and steel. That mining be similarly divided into
(1) coal and (2) metalliferous mining.
(a) That the inspection of science classes by the Science and
Art Department, with a view to ascertain the eﬂiciency
of the instruction, and of the apparatus and laboratories,
be made more effective, with the assistance, where
necessary, of local sub-inspectors.
( That it shall not be a requirement of the Science and Art
' Department that payment of fees he demanded from
artisans for instruction in the science and art classes.
(9,) That in the awards for industrial design more attention be
paid by the Department, than is the case at present, to
the applicability of the design to the material in which
Classes under
Science and Art
Department.
m
‘1 3 Q
a r "* ’''>“r4"‘/
% . A,‘
" 9
v
538 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION :.
it is to be executed, and that special grants be made for
the actual execution of designs under proper safeguards.
(1a.) That the limits of the Building grants, under the cience
and Art Department, to 500i. each for schools .of Art
and of Science should be abolished, and the conditions
attached to them be revised.
(21) That, in addition to the loan of circulating collections and
the grant of art reproductions at reduced cost, con-
tributions be made to provincial industrial museums of
original examples tending to advance the industries
of the district in which such museums are situated.
Erpliniugf III. Training Colleges for elementary teachers :
o eges or , . . . . .
teachers, (ca) That the teaching of’ science and art in Training Colleges, and
its inspection by the Science and Art Department, be
made eﬁicient, and that arrangements be made for giving
to selected students in those Colleges greater facilities
and inducements for the study of‘ art and science in the
National Art Training School and the Normal School
of Science at South Kensington, the Royal College of
Science for Ireland, and other Institutions of a similar
class approved of by the Government.
4-’\
l
Seceedary and IV. Secondary and technical instruction :
technical 1n-
struction. That steps be taken to aicelerate the applicttion of ancient
endowments, un'ler amended schemes, to se :o'idary and
technical instruction.
(1).) That provision be made by the Charity Commissioners for
the establishment, in suitable localities, of schools, or
departments of schools, in which the study of natural
science, drawing, mathematics, and modern languages,
shall take the place of Latin and Greek.
(0.) That local authorities be empowered, it' they think ﬁt, to
establish, maintain, and contribute to the establishment
and maintenance of seeondtry and technical (including
agricultural) schools and colleges. ’~
0
Public libra- V. Public libraries and museums :
rice and
muqeums‘ That ratepayers have power, by vote, to sanction the
increase of the expenditure,‘ under the Public Libraries
Acts, beyond its present limit, and that the restriction
of the Acts to localities having 5,000 inhabitants and
upwards be repealed.
(6.) That museums of‘ art and science and technological collec-
tions be opened to the public on Sundays.
1relam1_ VI. Special recommendations in regard to Ireland :
(a.) That steps be taken at the earliest possible moment for the
' gradual introduction of compulsory attendance at elemen-
tary schools in Ireland. "2‘
REPORT. 539
(b.) That payments be made by the National Board, under
proper regulations, on the results of the teaching of
home industries to children, young persons, and adults;
. as well as 'in aid of the salaries of industrial teachers.
(0.) That systematic instruction be given to primary school
teachers, qualifying them to teach the use of tools for
Working in wood and iron, in the primary schools.
(d.) That steps be taken by the Commissioners of National
Education in Ireland for the provision of books calcu-
lated to assist the teachers of primary schools in giving
graduated lessons in rudimentary science.
(e.) That grants-in-aid be sanctioned by the Treasury to
approved agricultural schools, and to approved schools
for instruction in local industries.
( f.) That practical evening science classes for artisans form part
of the instruction in the Royal College of Science of
Ireland, in Dublin.
(9.) That the Board of Intermediate Education take steps to
ensure the provision of adequate means For the prac-
tical teaching of science in the schools under their
direction.
In addition to the preceding recommendations which necessitate
action on the part of the Legislature or of the public authorities,
or of both, your Commissioners make the following recommenda—
tions, requiring no such action, by way of suggestions For the
consideration of those in whose power it is to comply with
them:—
I. That it be made a condition by employers of’ young persons,
and by the trade organizations, in the case of industries
for which an acquaintance with science or art is
desirable, that such young persons requiring it, receive
instruction therein either in schools attached to Works
or groups of works, or in such classes as may be avail-
able; the employers and trade organizations, in the
latter case, contributing to the maintenance of such
classes.
II. That the managers and promoters of science and technical
classes should (a) so arrange the emoluments of teachers
as to encourage them to retain their students For the
advanced stages of subjects in which they have passed
the elementary stage, and (b) that they should endeavour
to group the teaching of cognate science subjects, as
recommended by the Royal Commission on the Advance-
ment of Science, and as provided for by the regulations
of the Science and Art Department.
III. That scholarships be more liberally founded, especially
for pupils of higher elementary scliools, enabling them
to proceed to higher technical schools‘and colleges.
General recom-
mendations.
’/
540 ROYAL oonMIssIoN 0N TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION.
IV. That ,the great national agricultural societies give aid
to the establishment in counties of secondary schools or
classes for teaching agriculture.
V. That those responsible for the management of primary
schools in Ireland, in the districts where farming is
defective, attach small example farms to such schools
wherever it is possible; and that boards of guardians
employ the plots of land attached to workhouses for the
agricultural instruction of the children therein.
VI. That the subscriptions given by the liberality of the City
of London and of the different Guilds, to the City and
Guilds Institute, be made adequate to the fulﬁlment of
the work which that Institute has undertaken, including
the equipment and maintenance of its Central Institu-
tion.
In closing our report, we think it right to recall the fact that
the ﬁrst impulse to an inquiry into the subject of technical in"
struction was given by the important letter of Dr., now Sir Lyon
Playfair, K.C.B., of May 15, 1867, to the Chairman of the Schools,
Inquiry Commission, in which he called attention to the great
progress in engineering and manufactures abroad, shown at the
Paris Exhibition of that year. In the course of our inquiry we
have received much guidance from the letter on the subject by
Mr. B. Samuelson, M.P., to the Vice President of the Committee
of Council on Education, dated November 16, 1867; from the
report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons on
Scientiﬁc Instruction, 1868; the Report of the Royal Commission
on the same subject; the papers by Mr. H. M. Felkin on
Chemnitz, by Messrs. McLaren and Beaumont, and various other
publications. _ _
We desire also to express our thanks to the public authorities,
to the owners and managers of industrial works, and to the
numerous other persons, both at home and abroad, to Whom we
had occasion to apply for information, for the frank and
courteous manner in which it was given to us; and also to
acknowledge the prompt and valuable assistance which we
received from the members of our Diplomatic and Consular
services in the prosecution of our inquiry. All of which we
humbly beg leave to submit for Your Majesty’s gracious
consideration.
(Signed) B. SAMUELSON.
H. E. ROSCOE.
PHILIP MAGNUS.
JOHN SLAGG.
SWIRE SMITH.
WM. WOODALL.
GILBERT It. REnenAvn,
Secretary,
April 4, 1884.

ﬁr
541
APPENDIX 1.
Its-roar on SCHOOLS for TEACHING Domns'rrc TRADES in Scorn GERMANY
and the AUSTRIAN Pnovmcus.
‘To the Chairman cmd Members of the Royal Commission on Technical
Instruction.
GENTLIEMEN,
IN compliance with your request, we have travelled through some of
the chief manufacturing districts of the Black Forest, and paid a visit to the
Exhibition of Bavarian school work at Nuremberg, in order to inquire into
the industries carried on by the peasantry in their own homes, and to study
the schools and other means afforded by the Government for the further~
ance and encouragement of domestic trades. Subsequently we examined
a few of the Fachschulen, established by the Austrian Government for
the instruction of the peasantry in various industries. On our ﬁrst
journey, acting on the advice of the Oberbiirgermeister of Baden-Baden,
Herr Gonner, who is the President of the Local School Council, we
went ﬁrst to Carlsruhe, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Baden,
in which the chief portion of the Forest is situated. Here we had
the advantage of meeting Herr Hofrath Wagner, who is the superinten-
dent of the technical schools of the country. He explained to us the
arrangement by which some of these schools are under the Minister of the
Interior and Trade, and some under the Minister of Education and Justice.
He advised us to see the Minister of the Interior, Herr v. Stosser, who
is greatly interested in the promotion of technical education.
In the absence of Herr v. Stosser, we saw his private secretary, Herr
Schenkel, and we had also the advantage of meeting the Chief Factory
Inspector, Herr Worishoﬁ'er. From these gentlemen we obtained a brief
account of the different industries of the Forest, and a statement of what
has been done by the Government for their development. The factory
inspector informed us that the home industries of the country were every-
where on the decline ; the various manufactures having nearly all reached
the stage at which they pass from the hands of individual workmen into the
control of the proprietors of small factories, employing machinery driven
by water or steam power. The owners of such factories, owing to the
greater subdivision of the work, can produce more cheaply than the
peasant engaged in his own home. The conﬂict with the factory is at
present a severe one, and the artizan working at home can earn only the
barest livelihood, being everywhere paid less than the workman in the
factory. He considered that the duty of the Government consisted in placing
new and good designs before the workpeople, in keeping them constantly
acquainted with what was being done by their competitors in other
countries, and in assisting in the maintenance of local schools and exhibi-
tions. He thought that State aid was very dangerously employed in granting
subventions to, or in directly assisting home industries. The principal
domestic industries of the forest are —-
I. Clockmaking, chieﬂy carried on in the districts of rTriberg,
Vill ingen, and Neustadt.
II. Straw-plaiting.-—Triberg, Villingen, and Waldkirch.
III. Wood-carving.-—Furtwangen, Bernau, and St. Blasien.
IV. Tobacco, cigar, and cigarette making.--Durlach, Bruchsal,
Heidelberg, 850.
V. Cardboard box making carried on in Lahr.
VI. Silk weaving (ribbons).— Saeckingen,
VII.
VIII.
Schonau.
Wool and studs—Above districts, and also Schopfheim.
Pottery.-Villingen, Hornberg, &c. '
Schools for teaching watchmaking exist at Furtwangen; for wood
carving at Furtwangen and Hornberg ; and for straw-plait work at Furt-
wangen and at a large number of villages in the country districts.
Permanent local exhibitions, some of them branches of the Trade Hall of
Carlsruhe, exist in several of the smaller towns, as at Triberg and Furt-
Wallshut, and
Visit to the
Black Forest.
Austrian schools.
Proceed to
Carlsruhe.
Interview with
Herren Schenkel
and Worishoﬁ’er.
Conﬂict between
factory and
home industry.
The duty of the
Government in
relation to home
industrles.
Industries of
the Black Forest.
Schools in the
Black Forest.
Exhibitions.
5 42 ROYAL COMMISSION on TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Glockmaking
school at
Furl it angen.
wangen, and an Art and Trade Exhibition of’ the industries of the Black
Forest was held this year at Vohrenbach.
We visited the clockmaking school at Furtwangen, and in the absence
of the teacher we were received by Herr Koch, the principal of the wood-
carving school held in the same building at the Gewerbe Halls. This
school was founded with a Government grant in 1850. By means of2
lotteries and further grants, the Gewerbe Halle was’erected and opened in
1874, and the school was transferred to the new building, and was re-con~
stituted and formally opened in June 1877. The Government grant for
this purpose was 650Z. The school is managed by a local council chosen
from the surrounding districts, and consisting of eight persons. The
annual budget is 3601., of which sum the province of Freiburg contributes
25L, and Villingen 501. The school is held in two small rooms, very ill-
suitcd for the purpose, and a new building is in course of erection by the
local Gewerbe Verein (trade society) at a cost of from 1,2501. to 1,500Z.
There are at present 18 pupils. Most of them are admitted free, and many
are supported by exhibitions which are given by the neighbouring towns,

Clockmalting.
Visit to a
factory.
Export of clocks.
Cottages.
and may amount to 20L per annum. The school fee is 11. per annum. The ‘
students must have been previously engaged for at least two years in practical
clockmaking before they can be admitted. The course lasts one year. In the
morning they have theoretical studies, ‘consisting of geometry, arithmetic,
algebra, physics, mechanics, technology of watch and clock making, geo-
metrical drawing, projection, technical drawing, book-keeping, and com-
mercial arithmetic, together with 30 hours practical work per week in the
shops in the afternoon. The lathes and tools seemed excellent of their
kind, but the accommodation was very cramped.
By far the most important manufacture of the Black Forest is that of
small carved clocks, many of them with musical accompaniments, known
as cuckoo-clocks. In Triberg, and a group of small towns and villages
surrounding it, known as the clock country, 13,500 people, the population
of upwards of 90 parishes, are engaged in clockmaking. We went to
Schonach, a village in the hills above Triberg, where almost every
cottage is the home of a clockmaker. The houses are large and sub-
stantially built. They are generally a considerable distance apart, and
are surrounded with meadow-land and pastures. In addition to the home
workers there are three or four small factories in which the wheels and
other parts of clocks (Uhrenbestandtheile) are made. In one of these,
visited by us, there were about ﬁve or six workmen employed, and an
apprentice. The power was derived from a small overshot wheel. There
was a wire-cutting and straightening machine for preparing the pinions,
a lathe for shculdering and tapering the pinions, some ﬁne drills, a tooth-
cutting machine, and a shaping machine for the wheel teeth, a small
press for driving on the bosses, &c. The machinery was ingenious, and
well adapted for its purpose. The rough castings, made in the village,
were excellent. We were told that the men working piece-work in the
factories could earn from two to three marks* per diem, though a very
small proportion of the workmen earn the latter sum. In a second
factory we visited subsequently, the movements made here were being
ﬁtted together and made into clocks. Carpenters were making the rough
framework to contain the wheels, and others were preparing the varnished
outer cases. The clock passed from hand to hand, one man adding the
winding barrel, another the train of wheels, a third the escapement, and
another placing the works into the case. The clocks were being packed
up for sale in another part of the works. They seemed all pretty much of
one pattern, and of a very common description. The proprietor informed us
that he produced clocks of exactly the same kind as those that were made
in the cottages. They went mainly to various parts of Europe. None now
go to England or to America. The Americans not only supply themselves
with cheap clocks, but they have driven out the Black Forest. maker from
the English markets. The people employed at clockmaklng live, we
were told, very poorly, mainly on potatoes, though we saw soup and
meat in some of the cottages. The cottages are very large ; some of them
* Marks = shillings nearly.
‘ APPENDIX. 543
s,
contain as many as 12 families. Many people have only. one or two rooms
and abit of land, probably about 20 e1 ches, for ‘Wh‘lCh theypay from
r 10 to 14 marks rent per month. An 0 d gentleman, mowing in a very
wet meadow, was pointed out to us as the Biirgermeister of Schonach.
'We went into several of the cottages and saw the people at their work.
The women were polishing the clock cases and the men were making the
wheel-work. We were told here that an industrious worker at home
could earn as much as a good workman in a factory. The water
power is everywhere most ingeniously utilised, and the water itself,
is, as in many parts of England, employed for irrigation on the steep hill-
sides.
Schonach is the seat of a considerable industry in straw plaiting.
Nearly all the women we met were plaiting. _The straw used is rye-
straw, grown in the place. It is sorted according to its thickness into
some eight qualities. Whole straw is used for all except the ﬁnest work.
For this latter, split straw is used. There are several large dealers in
pl ait who supply the peasant women with straw and purchase the ﬁnished
plait. These dealers have pattern cards wlth as many as 250 varieties of
plait. The plait is sewn together by the dealers into hats and bonnets,
and made into baskets.
We visited the manufactory of Messrs Kienzler and Sauter, and there Works otMessrs.
we saw some .30 dilierent kinds of baskets, made in the neighbourhood.
Here women were engaged in sewing the plait into hats with sewing
machines (by Wilcox and Gibbs). The hats are subsequently shaped in
presses. We were shown in the warehouse a large variety of plain and
dyed straw hats. The baskets are made on blocks, in the cottages of the
peasants. The block is given out with a sufficient quantity of plait, and a,
price is ﬁxed for making each basket. The selling price ranges from
40 pfennings* to 2 marks 80 pfennings. Some of the baskets were nicely
lined, and mounted with leather. In making the basket the upright
straws, or warp, are nailed to the block, and the weft is then wound or
woven in and out in one length from end to end. This is essentially a
cottage industry, and could not well be done by machinery, as the shapes
are constantly varying. The ﬁrm employ 300 hands, working in the
surrounding villages. Straw plaiting is taught to all the children in the
village schoolt by the mistress, who is an expert plaiter. They can often
plait at three years old. The pay for the work is very small. A skilful
workwoman onl earns about four marks per week. 5
In various p aces in the Black Forest plaiting is taught in special
schools; thus, at Furtwangen, there is a school held all the year round_
These schools have been established by the Govelnment to promote the
introduction of this industry into districts where it appeared likely to
succeed. The ages of the children under instruction range from 4 to 14.
The instruction is given for three hours in the morning and for three
hours in the afternoon. Some children attend the Volksschule in the
morning and learn plaiting in the afternoon; others come to the straw-
"plait school in the morning, and attend the ordinaly school in the afternoon.
here are about 60 pupils. The name of the teacher is Fraulein Hippach.
Most of the village straw-plait schools are winter schools only.
Herr Definer, an extensive dealer in straw plait, promised to prepare for
us a complete set of samples of all the varieties of plait. His brother is a
dyer, who produces the tints of fancy straw work. We were informed
that only the plainer kinds of plaiting are done in the Forest. The fancy
plaits, trimmings, &c. come from Switzerland and Italy. The women
have a measuring board on which to ascertain the length of the piece.
This board is about 30 inches long, and the plait has to go 20 times round
it to make up a “ piece,” the payment for which varies from 15 to
70 pfennings for labour only. The length of the piece is said to be
32 metres. In the Gewerbe Halle of Furtwangen is an interesting collec-
tion of straw work done in the local school. The instruction seems to be
all in the direction of simple straight plaits, though in elaborate patterns;
and straw ﬂower work, trimmings, and straw mosaic work does not

* 100 ptennings F 1 mark = 1_shilling._ _ _ _
t Special State aid is given to instruction in straw~pla1t1ng in ceitain village schools.
Water pow er.
Straw plaiting.
Klc‘IlZlEI‘ and
Sauter.
Straw baskets.
Straw~plait
schools.
Herr Doﬁ‘ner's
samples.
Straw'mosaic
wor '.
t’lr
5494: ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION :
Straw-hat
factories at
Schramberir.
Panama hats.
'Willow hats.
Wood carving.
Factory of
Messrs. Lehnis.
Wood carving
sc 0 .
School for
carving at
Furtwang'en.
Trade school.
appear to be taught. In the Gewerbe Halls of Triberg we saw, however,
some goodrstraw mosaic work, somewhat like Tunbridge ware. This was
shown by E. Kern, who is the only straw dealer in Triberg. At
Schramberg, on the eastern border of the Forest, in Wurtemberg, round
which there is also a great deal of straw plaiting, are two large straw-hat
manufactories, one of which, that of Messrs. J. P. Haas 81; Co., we visited.
This factory employs 120 hands in the manufacture of straw hats and
baskets, and covers a large extent of ground. In a court-yard we found a
vast number of palm leaves, brought from Cuba, spread out to bleach in
the sun. Many ﬁnished hats were also laid out for this purpose. The
leaves are split up into thin strips, and used for making a special kind of
woven hat made in one piece, by which means the use of “the needle is
avoided. The making of these hats is evidently an important branch of
the trade. Herr Haas, the principal, informed us that little trade was
done with England, except in Panama hats, made here from imported
grass. The English Straw plait is so much better than theirs, that they
cannot compete. The Swiss and local straw, being inferior in colour, is
mostly used for dyed hats. The ﬁrm import largely “ Canton plait”
from China. which is both better and cheaper than that made in the
district. They also make a great many willow hats (mainly for infants
and children). These are made from split shavings of willow, woven
together into large square pieces by the peasants of Bohemia (this being a
home industry). The material appeared to be in pieces about a yard
square. 1n Herr Haass Show rooms we saw an immense collection of hats,
both trimmed and untrimmed. The ﬁrm keep a large stock of unshaped
hats, the shape being given at the last stage of the manufacture, and, as
this depends mainly on fashion, the hats are not blocked until Messrs.
Haas learn the wishes of the foreign merchants.
Another important industry of the Black Forest is wood carving, and
this, strange as it may seem, is now passing into the hands of the owners of
the factories, or large workshops, where from 20 to 30 men are employed.
The wooden clock cases are most of them ﬁnished with a carved oak or
walnut front, and coarse carving of this kind is manufactured in Hornberg
and the neighbourhood. We visited the factory of the Brothers Lehnis.
Here the fronts of clocks were being carved wholesale, chieﬂy in walnut or
in lime-tree wood. Much of the carving was very second rate. Messrs.
Lehnis employ 341 workmen. The pattern was pounced through on to a
board of the requisite size. The outline was then sawn out by means of a
band-saw, and the relief, 850. form was given by the workman. The
machinery was driven by water power.
There is a school for teaching wood carving in the village ; the school
meets on two evenings and on Sundays. There are eight hours of practical
work and two hours of drawing and modelling. There are at present
10 students (apprentices). This school is affiliated to the Art-Traide-School
of Carlsruhe.
The most important wood carving school in the duchy is, however, at
Furtwangen. This school is held on the upper ﬂoor of the Gewerbe-Halle.
The teachers are Herr Koch and Herr Eberhard, by whom we were received
and conducted through the rooms. There are at present about 30 pupils.
They learn drawing, modelling, and wood carving. The lads who enter
the school have no previous practical knowledge of the work, and are often
mere peasant lads. There is no entrance examination. A regular pre-
scribed course of work has to be pursued. They draw and model the
different copies in clay, as well as carve them in wood. All the students
learn drawing, and are competent to make thorough working drawings of
anything they may have to carve. The work they execute belongs to
them on paying for the wood. All the tools are supplied by the school.
The local authorities ﬁnd the premises, and the State pays the teachers
and provides models and examples, as also the plant. The students all
attend the classes of the Trade School* for technical and literary instruc-
tion, and one day in each week they are sent to the joiners’ school to learn
plain cabinet work and the construction of furniture. The students were

* There are-14 trade schools in the Duchyr of Baden.
I
I APPENDIX. 545
. most of them standing at their work. . Some very excellent carving was
being executed. The teacher of modelling and drawing, Herr Eberhard,
had a private studio, and showed us a large collection of working drawings
and details for various works executed from his designs, as album covers,
clock cases, key-boards, frames, &c. in wood, and also objects in brass,
iron, pottery, and enamels. The fact that the teachers are practically
engaged in 'supplying designs for the local industries seems to have an
im ortant bearing upon the work of the school. _
large amount of wood carving is required annually in connection with Carving for
the wooden-faced clocks made in the Forest, and, in addition to the work clock cases‘
done in the small factories we have described, much carving is done by
the workpeople in their own homes.
Though we were informed that the manufacture of tobacco is carried on Tobacco
extensively as a home industry in the north-western districts of the Forest, manufacture-
we did not think that we were warranted in paying any attention to this
industry, as the growth of tobacco’ is prohibited in the United Kingdom.
Coarse tobacco is largely grown in Southern Germany, and doubtless the
preparation of cigars and cigarettes from home-grown tobacco affords
employment, at a very low rate of payment, to a number of young people
and children.
We visited Lahr, a small town north of Freiburg, to inquire into the Cardboard box-l
ﬂourishing home industry which has been established there for nearly making at Lahr-
100 years, namely, the production of small cardboard boxes for chemists,
confectioners, &c. This trade is in the hands of some seven or eight
manufacturers. We visited the works of Herr O. F. Dreyspring, one of the Factory of '
largest in Lahr. He employs about 80 hands in the factory, mostly girls Hen’ Dreysprmg'
about 18 or 20 years of age. There are punching machines for making
the tops and bottoms of the boxes, and cutting knives for preparing the
narrow strips to form the sides of the boxes. Pill boxes and tooth-powder
boxes seem to form the staple trade; but fancy silk and velvet covered
boxes for bonbons, valued at as much as 88. each, are also made here.
The home production is mostly of the cheapest and simplest kinds of boxes ;
the better qualities are made in the works. The Work is evidently mainly
piecework; the girls work together in threes. The boxes are made of
coarse cardboard and covered with various fancy papers. For some
customers the boxes are labelled ready for use, and this used to be done
for English houses, but it is said to be now prohibited by the Gustoms.*
The pocket cases for court-plaister are also made in large numbers, solely
for export to England. Only small boxes are made here, as it would not
pay them to produce the large bulky boxes for haberdashers. There is a
special department in the works at which the materials are prepared for
giving out to the workers employed in their own homes. We were told
that the children can begin work in the cottages at a very early age.
This trade is conﬁned to Lahr itself, scarcely anything being done in the
surrounding villages. As the work requires great skill and manual Trade not
dexterity, it is said not to be of a kind suitable for persons engaged in g‘ﬁ‘fﬁt‘l’gakiy
farming operations during a portion of their time. We were informed labourers.
that, notwithstanding attempts to transplant the industry to other districts,
it has never been successful elsewhere. There are about 2,000 persons
Wholly or partially employed in box-making, the number of factory
hands amounting in busy times to between 700 and 800. Workers in
factories earn more than persons employed at hom e. All the machinists
were men ; most of the box makers were females.
The weavers of the Black Forest are found chieﬂy in the villages in the Weaving 1'11 the
extreme south. They devote themselves principally to the production of Black Forest‘
silk-ﬁgured ribbons and cotton stuffs. The industry is not in any way
aided by schools or Government subventions, and did not appear to us
sufﬁciently important to require special examination.
The only product of the district we have still to mention is that of Pottery making.
pottery, which is produced in small quantities in certain districts where
the works might almost rank as home industries. The Government Art
School at Carlsruhe has done much to provide better models for the
* This canonly be true if‘the names were used to deceive purchasers us to the contents of
the boxes being made by British ﬁrms. They were probably ordered by German houses, with
English names, and contained German goods.
‘Z; Ri1726. M M
w

546 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Potter works potters, and we were recommended by the oﬁicials at Oarlsruhe to visit
of H63; Glam. the works of Herr Grlatz at Vilhngen. These works are on a very small
Scale; the lower ﬂoor of Herr Glatz’s house containing the throwers and
pressers, and serving for the preparation of* the clay, while the oven, the
painting shop, modelling shop, and warehouse 'are contained in a small
shed adjoining. The ware is a species of majolica, with outlined patterns in .
sgrafﬁto, ﬁlled in with variously coloured slips and ﬁnished with a rich
lead glaze. The decorative work is done on the dried clay previous to
biscuiting. After being ﬁred once with coloured slips, the ware is painted
over with, or dipped in, a reddish glaze, producing when ﬁred an agreeable
ﬁuxing of the tints. Many of the objects were designed by the students of
the Art School at Carlsruhe. The Minister of Trade, we were told, takes
much interest in this factory, and has sent specimens and models for
imitation. These works were started in 1876, and employ only seven or
eight hands. At Hornberg* we saw a small cottage factory, where some
excellent stoneware was being produced.
Exhibitions We visited the permanent exhibitions at Furtwangen and Triberg.
These are contained in buildings erected by the local trade societies,
which are affiliated to the trade society’? of Carlsruhe. The exhibition at
Furtwangen, in addition to an excellent display of local manufactures,
contains an historical collection of musical and other clocks, and many
objects collected by the Government to serve as models or examples for
local industries. There is also a good reading-room, with most of the
principal trade and technical journals, and a library.
At Viihrenbach the district exhibition of Black Forest industries is held
in the riﬂe club buildings just outside the town. It is assisted by the
Government, who have sent down a case of specimens from the Gewerbe
Museum at Carlsruhe. The local trade society has promoted the exhibition,
and has ﬁtted up a suite of three rooms with furniture made in the district,
which will serve as the chief prizes in a small lottery connected with the
exhibition. The exhibition is nicely arranged, and contains an interesting
set of specimens of all the different industries practised in the district.
The collections of wood carving were very good. The clocks were better in
design than those shown at Triberg and elsewhere, and showed the inﬂuence
of the Garlsruhe school. This exhibition seemed in every respect an
excellent example of what may be done by a small manufacturing com-
munity, remote from railways and large towns. It must be 15 miles to
the nearest railway station, and 410 miles to any town of importance.
Nunnmnnne ExHIBITION.
Bavarian schools After seeing the industries of the Black Forest in the country itself, we
at the Nm'sm- went to Nuremberg, and spent several days in carefully examining the
berg exhlbmon' Bavarian Exhibition of Art and Industry, more especially those portions
of it bearing upon our inquiry.
In this exhibition the work done in the various trade and industrial
schools has received special attention, and an annexe or pavilion has been
erected for a collective display of the school work of the country. Not
only has the great Technical High School of Munich most carefully illus-
trated all branches of its teaching, both in the form of results of school
work and in the appliances for teaching, but it sends also copious samples
of its teaching apparatus, collections of _ artistic and scientiﬁc specimens,
testing-machinery, &c. The remote village industrial schools, as, for
instance, that for wood carving at Berchtesgaden, and the pottery school
at Landshut, have also sent specimens of the works they have executed,
together with printed or written statements of their progress, &c.
School work Conﬁning our attention to those schools destined to assist small local
at Nuremberg industries, we may class them under the following heads :-- - .
1. Weaving schools.—-Lambrecht, Passau, Miinchberg, &c.
2. Wood-carving schools.-Garmisch, Spessart, Berchtesgaden,
Bischoffsheim.
3. Basket-making schools.—-Schaidt and Winzer.
4.‘. Pottery school at Landshut.
5. Violin-making school at Mittenwald.
" We visited here the important potteries of Messrs. * * * * , who employ 800 hands.
1' The German Gewerbe Vermin is an association, both of employers and gﬁgloyed, tomaintain
the interests of the trade in the town or district, and to encourage t and intellectual
progress.

APPENDIX. 54:7
MWQQwi/ng SchooZs.--The dis lay of fabrics, pattern books, and teaching Weaving schools.
apparatus, from the various avarian weaving schools,_contained no essen-
tial points of diﬁ’erence from the 'obJects shown us in similar and more im-
portant schools in other parts of the Continent. The woven fabrics from
the school at Bambrecht (all said to have been produced in the school)
were ve numerous, and included some specimens of c ets, coatings,
andcwco len fabrics. The specimens from Passau and iinchberg, the
latter' school founded in 1863, included more cotton and linen fabrics.
The class books showed that the teaching at all these schools is theoretical
as well as practical. We were informed that weaving is a home industry
in many parts of Bavaria, and these schools are doubtless intended to train
up skilled workers and designers, and to improve the general character of
the trade.
Wood Gel/roving SohooZs.--The dis lay of work in this section is ex-
ceedingly good. One of the best so ools appears to be that of Garmisch
near Partenkirchen. The course would seem to extend over three years.
There were some good drawings and models in plaster by pupils, in
addition to the practical work. A large number of students’ drawing
books were shown, as also a collection of photographs of carved work done
in the school. Among the objects exhibited was a handsome cradle,
valued at 201., and some well designed small full-length ﬁgures, carved in
oak (probably for church decoration). A notice attached to the display
stated that the school authorities were prepared to undertake work for the
trade. The work was evidently thoroughly practical. Some good enriched
mouldings were shown, which were undoubtedly intended for the cabinet-
maker.
The school at Bischoﬁ’sheim made a good show. This school was founded
at Poppenhausen in 1854:, and transferred to Bischoﬁ‘sheim in 1861. The
aim of the school is declared to be as follows :—~-“ The introduction of wood
“ carving as a house industry into a number of dwellings in the Ronethal,
“ and the reward of meritorious work.” The average number of scholars
in each year during the past ten years has been 10. The school receives
85L a year from the “Kreisfonds.” Some spirited carvings of animals
were shown, and the display was contained in an elaborate carved wood
frame. .
Good collections of local work are shown from the carving schools of
Berchtesgaden in the Salzkammergut, which has 106 pupils, and from the
Spessart school of Lohr-a-Maine. From the latter the bulk of the work is
of a very rude description, consisting mainly of all kinds of wooden
utensils, shovels, spoons, &c.
We could only ﬁnd the work of two basket-making schools ; one of
them, at Schaidt, in the Rhinepfalz, contributes a large collection of
baskets of all kinds, both in plain and dyed wood; also willow furniture,
as chairs, cradles, &c. Some of the baskets were novel in point of design.
Many of them were leather-mounted and some were lined. There was also
a good collection of osier rods of several varieties, cultivated for the
use of the school. Peter Vogel, travelling instructor (W anderlehrer),
states that “ he is willing to supply grafts of Salix Viminalis, Salix
“ Schwurbitziana, or Salix Amygdalina ”; the last, he says, “ is the best
“ for_the basket maker.” Similar exhibits are sent by the school at Winzer,
near Osterhofen, in Bavaria; very complicated basket work, furniture,
woven work in wood strips, as mats, &c.; willow wood frames, and caps
made of the tinder fungus (Schwamm).
The school for violin-making at Mittenwald is on a very humble scale.
There are at present 12 pupils. The total number of pupils since the
foundation of the school in 1858, has been 95. The school course extends
over three years. Alarge collection of partly ﬁnished violins was shown;
also templates, or paper patterns, for cutting out the different parts of the
instrument. The Government grant is said to be 280 marks (14L) and the
school is nearly self-su porting.
The pottery school at andshut sends some rude green-glazed pottery, little
superior to that of the peasant potters and stove makers. A stove ex-
hibited_ by the school bears a label~ describing it as the work of eigh
pupils. The length of time they have each been at the school is stated,
Weaving is
carried on as a
home industry l ‘
Wood carving
schools.
At Garmisch.
Carving school
at Bischoﬁsheim.
School at
Berchtesgade n
Basket making.
Violin-making.
Pottery-school.
MM2
5&8 ROYAL COMMISSION on TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION:
Visit to
Thuringia.
Doll making
at Neustadt.
Cottage
industries.
The people
on d in
ma _ing toys of
papier macho.
Sonneberg the
metropolis of
the toy country.
Warehouse of
Messrs. Dressel.
The school now
converted into
a Real Schule.
Fortbildungs
Schule.
Local museum.
and varies from 1%; to 2 years, the ages of the pupils being given ‘at from
15 to 17. The shapes of some of the vessels showed signs of improved
models, though there seemed to be very little attempt made to introduce
decoration or artistic modelling of ornament.
We had no opportunity of personally examining the work actually being
done in these schools, as in the case of the schools in the Black Forest, but
to judge from the specimens exhibited there must be great similarity
in the modes of teaching and in the general character of the instruction.
THURINGIA.
Before our return to England we spent a couple of days in the district
of Thuringia, which contains more varied industries than the Black
Forest, and where we found much to interest us. Round Lichtenfels to
the extreme south of Thuringia a considerable amount of straw plaiting is
carried on by the villagers. We did not, however, stop in this country,
but aimed ﬁrst for Sonneberg, the seat of the toy manufacture, for which
this part of the Forest is famous. On our way to Sonneberg we passed
through N eustadt, and had the opportunity of seeing in the warehouse of
Herr Dehler a collection of the chief varieties of toys and dolls made in this
village and in the surrounding neighbourhood. The manufacture of dolls
is here almost entirely a home industry, or one carried on in small work-
shops attached to the cottages, in which several men arrange to work
together for the sake of the greater rapidity of work, obtained by division
of labour. Herr Dehler took us to see a cottage workshop, where a man
and his wife were engaged in dressing and arranging dolls’ hair. This is
their sole occupation. The hair is made of long English wool, suitably
dyed and prepared, and it was being arranged in the most artistic fashion
with ﬂowers, in a great many diﬁ'erent styles, on a number of almost life-
sized dolls. The workers inhabited two rooms on the upper ﬂoor of a
cottage, for which we were told they would probably pay 3s. 6d. per week
as rent. They might, if industrious, earn as much as 20 marks per week
between them.* The cottage would contain four families. Most of the
people in the neighbourhood make papier maché toys, squeaking animals,
confectioners’ bon-bon boxes, in the form of animals, birds, &c., and small
mechanical dolls of a very cheap description. Herr Dehler is himself a doll
maker, and employs a large number of people who work at home, but fetch
all their materials from his factory. He stated that there were no schools
for toy making, nor in fact any education bearing specially on the industry.
In driving to Sonneberg we passed numerous small china factories, where
toy-animals, miniature dolls’ services, and tea sets, &0. are produced.
Sonneberg, the principal town in the toy country, is in a very ﬂourishing
condition, and is being rapidly extended; more than 25 per cent. of the
houses have been built during the last few years. Here the toy makers
seem in many cases to have become manufacturers, and to employ
numerous hands in large shops. The making of dolls of all kinds seems
the chief trade here, though in the warehouse of Messrs. C. and O. Dressel
we were shown a vast collection of other toys of every description, all
produced in the surrounding country. Here again were no special schools
for training young people as doll or toy makers. The school intended to
serve for this purpose had been diverted from its original object, and has
been made into a Real Schule capable of granting certiﬁcates to serve one
year only in the army, instead of three. The only school in Sonneberg in
which we could learn that any specialized instruction is given to the
workpeo le is the Gewerbliche Fortbildungs Schule, in which the lads are
taught awing, modelling, and carving. We visited this school, and
found that the master was giving private lessons to two lads in wood-
carving, and to a class of seven or eight in modelling in clay and wax.
The Fortbildung class is held daily from 6 to 8 in the morning. The work
we saw being done was remarkably good, and the master told us that the
boys are very fond of modelling, and possess a considerable amount of
innate skill. The Duke of Saxe Meiningen took great interest in the town
in former times, and presented the authorities with a collection of plaster
casts from the antique. He also caused a room in the Rathhaus to be
* About 8s. 6d. each per week, deducting the rent.
. APPENDIX. 54.19
decorated after his own designs. We went to see the collection and found
it in great disorder. It has been partially dispersed, and the hall was
being used at the time of our visit by the wife of the burgomaster as an
ironing-room !-—the dresses and linen hanging all round the room.
We were informed that the trade is in an extremely ﬂourishing condition,
and that the chief manufacturers can scarcely comply with the demand.
Toys are made by the peasants in all the neighbouring villages, and many
of the workpeople make only some one part of some particular kind of
doll, the complete toy being put together by a toy maker in the town. We
visited a number of the workers in their own homes, and were much
pleased with the clean and comfortable state of the houses.
At Hiittensteinach, a village a few miles north of Sonneberg, we found
the chief home industries to be the making and covering of slate pencils,
and the painting and polishing of china and glass marbles.
At Lauscha, and the villages beyond it as far as Neuhaus, the popula-
tion is extensively engaged in glass-blowing. There is a large gasworks,
from which the mains extend to a distance of four miles. The gas appears
only to be used for the glass workers’ blow-pipes and not for illuminating
purposes. The people we saw were engaged in making pearl and coloured
beads, glass buttons, ornaments for Christmas trees, glass eyes for dolls
and stuffed animals, &c. Glass-blowing is here essentially a home in-
dustry, but we could not learn of any schools connected with this work, or
of any special means of instruction provided for the young people. The
village of Lauscha is very singular in appearance, the houses being crowded
together along a narrow line of steep hilly streets. The trade was said to
have been introduced into the district by two Bohemian workmen, named
Miiller and Eichhorn, nearly 200 years ago, and these seem still to be
among the commonest of the names of the villagers.
If the neighbourhood through which we passed is fairly representative
of the forest country of Thuringia, it is impossible to overrate the impor-
tance, in a material point of view, of these home industries. The cottages
were pretty and well kept ; most of the windows contained ﬂowers, beauti-
fully grown in pots, and many of the houses had gardens attached to
them. The people were well dressed, and had the air of being well fed
and contented. They are evidently a most industrious race, and their
success may depend as much upon their natural disposition and tempera~
ment, as on the fact that they have been trained for generations in these
various occupations. Still, whatever may be the cause of their success in
home industries, we think it is impossible to doubt that the inﬂuence for
good of such work is of vast importance. We found populous and thriving
villages, ﬁlled with busy workers, in districts remote from railways, and
Where carriage and transport must be matters of extreme difficulty, and in
parts of the country, moreover, where agricultural work would in many
cases be wholly insufﬁcient to provide support for more than a small pro-
portion of the present population. It is in such cases as these that the
provision of suitable employment for the masses of the people is so im-
portant, and the question of the mode in which such industries are intro-
duced, and the way in which they are fostered, is surely one which deserves
the most careful attention of the economist.
AUSTRIAN ScHooLs.
On the occasion of our journey to the South Austrian Provinces, we had
ﬁrst to proceed to Villach, in Oarinthia, in order to meet Dr. Exner, one
of the Government inspectors of schools, who had promised to give us all
the necessary information respecting them, and to furnish us with intro~
ductions to the various school directors.
The school at Villach has been established for about four years, and is
mainly for instruction in joiners’ work and wood carving. The schools
under the Austrian Government may be divided into two categories,
namely, 1st, those in which a sound theoretical instruction is imparted,
with a certain number of hours daily, in the workshop, for practical work.
Of these schools there are as yet comparatively few; and 2nd, those where
the greater part of the time is spent in the shops; and the theoretical
work consists mainly of drawing. In schools of the latter kind arrange-
ments are sometimes made for a certain amount of theoretical or literary
Trade is very
prosperous.
Huttensteinach.
Lauscha.
Glass-blowing a,
home industry.
Trade was
introduced by
Bohemians.
People were
well off.
Value of home
industry.
Visit to the
South Austrian
Provinces.
Interview with.
Dr. Exner at
Villach.
550 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION 1
Visit to the
school at Villuch.
Carving‘ class.
Joiners’ Shop.
Course of in-
struction.
School intended
to found an
industry.
Schools at
Cortnia d’Am-
pezzo.
School for wood
Inluying.
Intarsia work.
Course of in-
struction.
teaching in the evening and on Sunday, generally by the master of one of
the primary schools. The school of Villach belongs to the latter category.
At the time of our ﬁrst visit, a number of boys, most of them fresh from
the primary school, were being taught drawing, almost entirel from copies
(chieﬂy outlines of ornament). Two or three lads, who intended to become
carpenters, were making details of wood construction; a more advanced
pupil was preparing a full-size drawing of a lady’s work-table, from
the design of the drawing master, Herr Kastner, which he was about to
make in the shop. In an adjoining room 7 or 8 older boys were carving.
These, we were informed, were students, who had passed through the school,
and were employed as journeymen, at daily wages, to execute work, for
which orders had been obtained by the school. Two younger boys were
engaged in elementary work. The carving class is under the tuition of
the head master, who was absent on account of illness at the time of our
visit. The staff of masters consists of the Director, Herr K. Schellhorn,
a drawing and modelling master, Herr Kastner, and a foreman instructor
of joiners’ work.
On the ground-ﬂoor was a large joiners’ shop, in which, at a second
visit, we found several boys employed ; some furniture of a rather
ambitious character being in course of construction. The masters, who
had but recently been appointed, concurred in describing the boys as dull
and difficult to teach. Some of the carving was excellent, and the
collection of‘ ﬁnished work shown to us was of very good quality, and
superior to the work of similar schools we had seen on former occasions.
The school has 31 pupils. The full course lasts four years for carvers, and
three years for joiners. The instruction is quite gratuitous. All boys
who have gone through the primary school are eligible for admission.
The master of the drawing school told us, however, that several of the
lads who had recently come to the school had to be dismissed, owing to
their gross ignorance. The drawing master, who accompanied us through
the school (and who had just received his congé), took a gloomy view of
its work and prospects. He said the school had not been established long
enough for its inﬂuence on the district to have become manifest. On being
asked whether wood carving was at present practised to any extent in the
town or in the surrounding district, he replied that it was not, but that
during the summer months there were many visitors to the baths and a
considerable quantity of carved work was imported from Salzburg and
the Tyrol, and sold in Villach, and it was hoped that by the foundation of
the school a native industry might be implanted.
We next visited the school of wood inlaying and intarsia work at Cortina
d’Ampezzo, in the Tyrol. This beautifully situated mountain village is
in the heart of the Dolomite country ; it has two schools, the one for wood
industry and the other for silver ﬁligree-work. In the former school are
41 pupils, who were all engaged in the shops at the time of our visit. The
drawing master informed us that he gives 8 hours instruction weekly at
each school. There is a show-room containing the works of the boys,
which meet with a ready sale to summer visitors. They consist of frames,
boxes, ornaments, and trinkets, with inlayed designs in different woods.
Also a special kind of metal intarsia work, like pique work, thin bands of
brass being driven into grooves prepared in hard wood to receive them,
and the ornamental ﬁgures thus produced being Subsequently rubbed to
a smooth surface and polished. The value of goods sold is about 420Z.
yearly. Much of the work was highly artistic, and the school was engaged
in the execution of some special orders for a lady of rank.
The hours of instruction are from '7 to 11 and from 1 to 6 in summer,
and from8 ,,11 ,, ,, 1 ,, 4 ,, winter.
The course lasts four years. N 0 boys can be received before the age of
14 years, and until the completion of their course in elementary schools.
At the expiry of 4 years expert pupils can be retained as journeymen for
a year longer, receiving daily pay, in accordance with their Skill, the
amount ranging from 40 kr. to 1'20 ﬂ. per diem. The average earnings
of a good mechanic appears to be about 1'20 ﬂ. per diem in the village.
Although the pupils were found to be engaged in different kinds of work,
all follow the same course of instruction. In the inlaying shop, table tops
» APPENDIX. 5 51 -
and parts of furniture were being constructed. A certain grp'portion of
those engaged here were journeyman; the numbers being 1 ults, and
23 boys learning the trade.
The pupils draw 2 hours daily, and spend 6 hours daily in the shops.
The school building is provided by the commune, and has been almost School buildings.
doubled in size since the school was founded. It consists of a large
workshop and class room on the upper ﬂoor with a show room and the
oﬁice of the director. On the ground ﬂoor are two more large shops, a
goredfor wood and materials, and closets, &c. The director is Signor
ue ma.
We then visited the ﬁligree school, which is held in the same building Filigree School
as the primary school, occupying two rooms on the up or ﬂoor. The at 0mm"
work includes the entire process of manufacture,--the rawing of the
wire, twisting it, cutting out the small copper moulds for the leaves and
ﬂowers, and the execution of the metal work itself, The workers are of
both sexes. The school has been established for eight years, and on
enquiring what became of the pupils who had been educated here, we
were informed that only seven had ﬁnished their education. The master,
Signor G. Ghedina, assured us that it needed from eight to ten years to
become an expert workman. There is only one other ﬁligree-worker in
Gortina. The master was almost the s61e possessor of the traditional art,
and he had founded the school as a private adventure, and carried it on as
such for several years, until it was taken over by the Government. The
master could not point to anyone who had set up in business as a worker
on leaving the school. Asked if he could supply a teacher able to instruct
a class in a school elsewhere, he replied that he could do so. Part of the
process, namely, the soldering of the twisted wires by means of the
blow pipe involved the use of a material which he informed us was his
own trade secret, but which he taught to his pupils. This work requires
great delicacy of handling, and much artistic taste ; the objects made in
Gortina were said to differ from those made in Northern Italy, chieﬂy in
the excellence of the manner in which the soldering was executed.
The master informed us that since the school had been taken over, few School taken
changes and little that was novel in the matter of examples and appliances ‘3335;; mi}
had been introduced. This school was an interesting example of the way T me '
in which the Government of Austria is willing to assist and develope local
effort in the matter of workshop instruction. The school was evidently
but a very triﬂing grade above what might be found elsewhere, as the
workshop of a private individual. The master of the school was clearly School on a
working with a keen view to proﬁt, and to the sale of the work done by the 0011111161‘0181 basis‘
pupils, who come and work long hours (10 hours daily) for at least three years
in order to learn the business. It may be interesting to indicate the stages of Process of manu-
manufacture as we saw them in progress. A girl was engaged in drawing facture-
silver-wire on a rude hand-wheel, through graduated perforations in a
metal plate ; this wire is subsequently doubled and twisted in lengths of
about 10 feet by a multiplying wheel. The wire
employed is very ﬁne, and when twisted double is
smaller in diameter than a ﬁne lace needle. In making
the trinket the forms of the separate leaves or petals
are out out in thin sheet copper and the wire is then
neatly coiled round the outline, and round and round
until the whole shape is ﬁlled in; by means of gentle
pressure the wire leaves, what may be termed, the mould,
and it is then gently heated and coated with some ﬂux;
The solder, which is in a ﬁnely powdered state, is next
a plied, and is melted by means of the blow pipe. All
t e ap liances in the workshop, from the drawing frame
to the lowpipe lamp seemed to be of the most antiquated
construction. The leaves are bound together with wire
and in some cases again soldered. Some of the work is
gilt, but the bulk of the jewelry was in plain silver ﬁligree. The school
contained 21 pupils, 13 adults and 8 a prentices; eight of the workers were
females. The only other master besides the director is the drawing master


552 ROYAL COMMISSION ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION Z
School for wood
working at Riva.
Course of in-
struction.
New depart-
ments to be
added.
Results of school
teaching of
trades.
Wood inlaying.
Work done in
former school
at Tione.
O
of the other school who gives instruction here also in drawing, in which all
the pupils participate. Of the 28 students who have been educated in the
school, 21 were still there at the date of our visit. /
We next visited the school for wood working and inlaying at Riva,
which is located on the ground ﬂoor and in the basement of the communal
school. This school has only been established here for some ﬁve or six
months, having been removed hither from Tione in October last. The
opening of this school took place on the 2nd November, and most of the
masters and some ﬁve or six pupils were transferred from the former
school. This institution is of a far more pretentious character than any of
those previously described, as it aims at giving a good general education,
concurrently with the industrial training. The lads spend all the
morning in the class rooms and only take up industrial work in the
afternoon. The complete course will extend over three years, but there is
a preparatory class for new comers, and at the time of our visit nearly
all the lads were in this class. Instruction is given in Italian and
German, History, Geography, Algebra, Geometry, Arithmetic, and
Book-keeping. The boys all learn drawing and most of them modelling.
The trades taught are carpenters’ and joiners’ work, turning, carving,
and wood-inlaying. It is intended almost immediately to ﬁt up shops for
metal working, and for masons’ work, as some excellent freestone
exists in the neighbourhood, and a company has been formed to
work it. This company has provided two lads with bursaries to
enable them to study at the school and to acquire the requisite
knowledge of masons’ work; trusting that they may be of use to
them when they leave the school. The master, Signor G. Tamanini, who
was formerly an engineer, and founded the school at Tione, on his own
initiative, spoke strongly against the system of the creation of simple work-
shops, without the necessary provision of theoretical instruction. He
informed us that he was well acquainted with the results of both classes of
schools, and that nothing that was really good andlasting could be accom-
plished by institutions of the above kind. He aimed at making his pupils
thoroughly conversant with the nature and properties of the material with
which they had to deal. They should learn all that could be said of the
growth or formation, construction, and strength, and the history and
various uses of the materials with which they had to work. They should
be able to draw or model accurately whatever they have to make, in any
position, and they should be well acquainted with the most recent mecha-
nical appliances for dealing with, or preparing, the materials for their trade.
He said that only some 7 or 8 of the 100 Fachschulen under the Austrian
Government gave a thorough and systematic training, such as that at
which he aimed. In this school every piece of wood carving executed by a
pupil is ﬁrst drawn and then modelled by him in clay. Some of the pupils
remain in the school for ﬁve years. He has at present two assistant masters
and three workmasters. Some of the work brought from the school at
Tione seemed very good, but the work in course of execution here was all of
the most elementary kind, as the students had only entered at the end of last
year. There is a special room set apart for wood-inlaying, in charge of a
master who was trained at Tione. There are at present only two pupils in
this department. A large stock of native woods, giving 130 distinct shades,
has been collected, and, except for special tints, some 20 or 30 in number,
they will be able to employ the produce of the surrounding neighbourhood.
As examples of the work done at Tione, the director showed us several
drawings of large and complicated pieces of furniture, which had been pro-
duced by the students from his designs, and executed by them under his
directions. In a school so recently established, we could not ask for traces
of its inﬂuence in Riva, but Signor Tamanini assured us that at Tione
they had trained cabinet makers who had obtained excellent positions in
Vienna, and even in America. He stated that the object of the school was
to provide a high class education for the workmen of that province, and to
serve as a nursery for the training of men who might eventually aid in the
promotion of new industries, notably in connection with the excellent
building stone, for which every facility of carriage existed, but which was
now neglected. It was also hoped that skilled workers in olive wood might
APPENDIX. U!
53
be trained who would do for Riva, what had already been accomplished in
Arco.
Our next visit was to the workshop school at Arco, which has frequently
been referred to, as an instance in which a new and successful industry has
been created entirely by the foundation of a Fachschule. We found ample
conﬁrmation of this fact on visiting the manufactory of Signor O. Emert,
the former master of the school, who now employs 30 workpeople and
possesses a ﬂourishing trade in objects‘ made in olive wood. It had been
pointed out to the authorities that, while at Bergamo, and other places in
Italy, this wood is manufactured into numerous useful articles, in the
Southern Tyro], where it abounds, it was considered almost worthless, and
was consumed in large quantities for fuel. A small school was started
some six or seven years ago with workshops for wood turning and wood
inlaying; competent teachers were obtained, and a good stock of the
objects produced from olive wood in other countries was collected. The
manufacture was a very simple matter; certain of the lads soon became
expert workers; orders for work done in the school ﬂowed in apace, and
the master found himself unable to produce fast enough. He, therefore,
took the best of the boys trained in the school, got a few skilled men from
other places, and commenced a small manufactory.
He is now employing about 18 men in the works and nearly as many
more in their own homes, and sending the olive wood of Arco all over the
world—largely to America and even to Italy, which he has deprived to a
great extent of the trade. He told us that a ﬁrm in Boston had given him
an order for 1500 blocks of wood having on them the word “ Jerusalem,”
doubtless in order to sell them as relics from the Holy Land. The work
he was doing seemed excellent, the designs being many of them most
artistic, and the trade is evidently a thriving one. The school consists of
two large well-lighted shops on the upper ﬂoor, one for turners’work and the
other for wood inlaid work—the rooms on the ground ﬂoor serving simply
for storage. It was only removed to this building a few months ago.
There seemed to be but a very small stock of ﬁnished work on hand, and
there are only 18 pupils, 9 in each division. The pupils can earn wages
for work done, and some begin after a few months to earn 2d. or 301. daily.
In the fourth year their earnings may amount to 10d. per diem. This
school is practically one which has done its work, the olive wood industry,
which it was established to promote, has become a ﬂourishing trade, giving
employment to all the skilled workers that can be found, and the business
of the school, considered in the light of an agent for the introduction of a
new manufacture, has vanished. It must be remembered that in founding
schools in various districts the aims of the authorities are not always the
same. Thus in the case of the weaving schools and the pottery schools
in Bohemia the intention was, by the introduction of improved machinery
and the provisions of better models and designs, to give new vigour and
impetus to handicrafts which had existed in the country for many genera-
tions. This has been the consideration which has inﬂuenced the Govern-
ment in the large majority of the schools of this character. Many of the
schools began simply as drawing and modelling schools, in which the
future workmen could obtain a superior artistic training such as could not
be gained in the ordinary workshop. Subsequently workshops for practical
manual work were added to them, and in course of time the original
“ gritwing and modelling school” has developed into a so-called “ Fach-
so u e.
The school at Innsbruck, which was the next town visited, is one which
has passed through these phases. It is a Government Gewerbeschule,
intended principally for the training of architectural workers of various
grades, and of engineers, but workshops for joiners and carvers have been
added to it. The school is conducted in a handsome modern building,
specially erected for the purpose by the municipality, and has only
been opened a few months. The director, Herr Deininger, explained the
nature of the instruction, and the character and aims of the institution. In
the different sections, four in number, there are, in all, nearly 200 students.
The class-rooms for free-hand drawing, geometrical and mechanical
drawing and modelling are well adapted for the purpose. All the students
Visit to the
school at Arco.
Factory at Arco.
School buildings
and object of the
school.
Visit to school
at Innsbruck.
554 ROYAL COMMISSION oN TECHNICAL INsrRUCrIoN:
Architectural
instruction.
Oﬂicial
programme fully
carried out.
School at
Salzburg.
Building Trades
school.
Joiners’ and
Carvers’ shop.
Peasantry are
skilful carvers.
Pottery school.
Department for
Art Repro~
ductions.
Divisions of this
section.
Number of
students.
Inspection and
sale of work.
receive theoretical instruction in addition to the work in the shops. There
is a small physical cabinet and a rudimentary school museum. The
director explained that a feature of the instruction was that visits were
made by the entire architectural class to ancient buildings, which were
carefully measured by them, and that subsequently a complete series of
drawings were prepared to scale. Some of these sets of drawings were
seen. The master of the modelling school, Herr H. Fuss, had designed an
excellent set of examples, 12 in number, suitable for modellers in wax, who
are preparing themselves for metal work—and a similar graduated series
of copies has been designed by the master of the carving shop. The work
done in the carving shop was excellent, and the joiners’ shop was well
supplied with tools and all the necessary appliances. As this is a school
in which the oﬁicial programme, drawn up _by the Minister, is carried
out most fully, we annex a copy of the time table. The course extends
over three years, except in the applied art section, in which the course
is one of four years.
The last of the schools which came under our notice was that of
Salzburg, formerly a drawing and modelling school, but transformed since
1876 into a Government Gewerbe school, with workshops attached. In
many respects this school resembles that at Innsbruck, though the premises
are vastly inferior. It is carried on in a salt warehouse, which has been
ﬁtted up with internal partitions for its reception. In the absence of the
director, Herr C. Sitte, we were received by the architectural master,
Herr Berger, who gave us a brief account of the institution, and conducted
us through the class-rooms. The building trades division is chieﬂy a
winter school, as during the summer months the students are engaged in
practical work. In fact, with the exception of a class for land surveying,
which is held during the ﬁrst month of the summer session, this depart-
ment of the school was empty. In the ﬁrst and second years’ course a
small number of pupils were engaged in mechanical drawing, and the
joiners’ shop contained about a dozen youths who were working at the
bench. The master of the carving shop, Herr Kiebacher, who is also the
instructor in modelling, showed us thelwork being done in his department,
and a large number of photographs of articles made from his designs by
the students. The peasantry in this neighbourhood are, many of them,
skilful carvers, and the trade ﬂourishes traditionally as a home industry.
The fabrication of pottery which was formerly carried on in Salzburg has
become a lost art, and it is intended shortly to establish a class for practical
potters’ work in the hopes of re-establishing the manufacture. For this pur-
pose a room has been ﬁtted up with a wheel and lathe, and two kilns have
been erected. As yet, however, owing to a contemplated change of masters,
little of a practical nature has been accomplished. The department for
reproductive processes of all kinds, in connection with this school, is one of
much interest and importance. The aim of this division is to teach all
the various known processes for the reproduction of works of art, or for
preparing illustrations and copies. For this purpose ateliers have been
ﬁtted up and supplied with all the necessary appliances for (1) photography,
including the retouching of positive and negative proofs, (2) photolitho-
graphy, (3) photozincography, (4!) heliography, (5) galvanoplastics, with
the allied processes, (6) photo-engraving “ Ltchtd/rack.” Lectures are
given on the theory of these processes, and practical work is carried on
under experienced teachers in the laboratories. Students who have made
themselves thoroughly etﬁcient can have situations found for them by the
school authorities. Special arrangements are made for auditors, or
those taking part in a portion only of the teaching. We found among the
students a gentleman practically engaged as a lithographic printer in
America, who had come over to familiarize himself with the most recent
German methods of working, and another student was an Anglo-Indian.
The total number of students in all the divisions amounted to 29-1. in the
winter half year and 163 in the Summer session. There are 12 regular
teachers and 8 occasional teachers. 23 students are in receipt of bursaries
from the State and the town. ,
The intention of the Government in the establishment of these various
schools has been already explained. In order to. secure their eﬁicienc'y,
, ' Arrnnnrx. 555
“ periodical visits are paid to them by a staff of inspectors, ﬁve in number,
who present re orts to the Minister respecting the state of the schools,
the, uality of the instruction, and the changes which appear advisable.
Fart ermore, to provide for the sale of the school work a de ﬁt or show-room
has been opened in Vienna, and there is also a tee ological trade
museum under the direction of Prof. Exner, in which examples are
gathered of all the best work done in the schools, together with collections
of tools and plant, raw products, and models for instruction. A techno-
logical school j ourn a1 is published monthly, under the supervision of the
central authority, and a library is in course of formation.
With regard to the training of teachers for special trade teaching, we
found that the almost invariable custom was to select, in the ﬁrst instance,
a mere artisan of skill and ability, to give the needful practical instruction.
From among the best of the pupils taught by him it becomes possible in
many cases to procure competent young men to give similar instruction in
other’ schools of the same character, and thus a nucleus of a few schools
can soon be made a nursery for a large staff of masters or instructors. The
boys taught are certain to turn their attention to that pursuit which holds
out the best inducement in the shape of pay, and by offering them better
pay as teachers than they could hope to earn in the workshop, a large
proportion of those trained in the school could be secured as instructors.
The system of school workshops inaugurated by the Austrian Govern-
ment is probably the most complete in Europe, and the results, so far,
appear to be most encouraging. Of course, in a country where trade and
manufactures already exist under ﬂourishing circumstances, State aided
instruction, of the nature we have described, is far less needed than in
those countries where the occupations of the population are mainly agri-
cultural, or where industry is in a backward or declining condition. For
districts resembling certain of the Austrian provinces ;—for instance, some
of our English colonies, and even for parts of Ireland—it seems to us that
much may be learnt from what has been accomplished in Austria.
(Signed) ‘PHILIP Macros.
WM. WOODALL.
GILBERT R. Rnnenxvs,
May 1883. Secretary.

Training of
teachers for
trades.
Austrian system
of trade in-
struction is very
complete.
ROYAL COMMISSlON ON TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION
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L99

2nd Course.
WINTER Snmns'rnn.
SUMMER SEMESTER.


Weekly Hours of Study. Weekly Hours of Study.
Department for Department for Department for
Building Trades. Artistic Trade. Artistic Trades.
l
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Cl (5 ,_q o O
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E m *1 O 2 Q U m 2 d’ ‘(B (12
Natural history - - 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 Nat“ '
_ ral histor laws of colour — l -— --
History of style .- - - 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 History of style( - -) 1 1 1 1
Building construction - - 2 2 2 2 —— --- -— -—- History of art — - 1 l 1 l
IFllllements of anatomy (1) - —- —— —— —-~ 2 2 2 2 Encyclopeedia of technical arts 1 l l (5) l
istory of art _ - - 1 1 1 1 l 1 l 1 Technical drawing - - 6 8 12 6
Trade book-keeping - - 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 Freehand drawing - _ 9 (4.) 4 9 4
Theory of proJection (2) - 3 3 3 3 —— 3 3 1 Decorative painting - - - l2 -- -—-
Applied drawing (3) - - 12 12 -- —— 10 12 12 6 Wax modelling - - 4 — 4 —
Freehand drawing - - 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 Modelling - - 10 4 6 4
Modelling - - - 4 4 4 4 9 4 4 4 Elements of anatomy - 2 2 -— 2
Workshops - — — —- — —— —~ —— 24 Workshops ~ - ~ -— -- -- 33
Total number of hours — Total number of h
ours
weekly _ 34 34 34 34 34 a4 34 50 weekly _ a4 34 34 52


REMARKS.
(1) Optional only for”
wood carvers in this
division.
(2) Optional only as
respects the lectures
for carpenters and
turners in this divi-
sion.
(3) For builders, ar-
tistic drawing, and
drawing of styles.
C‘) For this division,
only the chapter
relating to wood
working.
(5) Drawing from the
cast.


01!‘ THE


ROYIIEL COMMISSIONERS’:
ON
1
TECHNICAL’ INSTRUCTION!
Vol. I.

Brzlmtch tn butt mum of ﬁarliamcut 1m Mmmm of In‘ “stain.

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