Robertson stated that Manual Training was now a part of Public School instruction in 16 Canadian towns, and was being taught to 6,000 students. Provision had been made for the training of 600 teachers in the subject.

Amongst the centres, which Sir William McDonald proposed to include in his general scheme of Manual Training Schools, was Toronto, and the Trades and Labour Council of that city held a meeting, on January 10th, to consider the subject. Mr. James L Hughes, Inspector of Public Schools, was present, and, in an address, dealt at length with the matter. The reports of a Commission of Inquiry in England had, he said, shown that Manual Training made the children more alert, increased the intellectual faculties, made dull children bright and gave them a greater zest for their lessons. All countries now recognized the economic importance of the matter. "It made children productive and constructive." Sir William proposed to provide accommodation for sixty boys and to bring three trained teachers from England, and maintain them until the system was thoroughly tested. Messrs. D. J. O'Donoghue, R. Glockling and other Labour advocates opposed the plan on the ground that it practically involved the teaching of trades in schools to the detriment of the free mechanics outside. The members, as a whole, appeared hostile to the principle of introducing any Manual Training in the schools. On the succeeding day, Mr. John Seath, Inspector of High Schools in Ontario, wrote to the Mail and Empire dealing with the question at length. He pointed out the difference between three terms often used synonymously. Manual Training properly meant any instruction in hand-work designed to improve the powers of the mind and including domestic science and art. Technical education meant the same as the other phrase, Industrial education, and in its usual and limited sense involved the teaching of those who were to be engaged in the industries or commercial production in general. "The special object of Technical education is an economic one." Most manufacturers and educationists and thinking men, he thought, favoured the system.

The Toronto Public School Board, on January 15th, decided to accept Sir William McDonald's offer to defray for three years the expense of a system of Manual Training in connection with the Public Schools-including teachers, equipment and material used. Professor Robertson addressed the Board, and declared that the schools of Canada had been made "too bookish." The present proposal was not one for the establishment of either trade schools or workshops. "It was a training of the body by giving work for the hands to do though, of course, the mental results were very valuable." In London, England, there were 300 centres of such training. "General class instruction was given as to the character of the material to be used, whether iron, or cordwood, though in this country wood was the most convenient. Then followed lessons in drawing, and the actual making of something by the pupil. The whole effort was to train to a general control and use to the body. The teacher never made any

part of the boy's model." On January 21st, a new Technical School was opened at Kingston by the Ontario Minister of Education. Mr. Harcourt pointed out how essential Manual Training and Technical instruction were in a land of mines and varied possible industries such as Canada. In England, the expenditure upon this system of education had grown from nothing to £944,000 in eleven years. Education must become more and more practical and industrial, though, at the same time, the culture of past ages must not be forgotten. At Summerside, Prince Edward Island, on January 29th, a McDonald Manual Training School was opened by Mr. R. C. McLeod amid many expressions of thanks to the donor-who was a native of the Province. On the succeeding day, a similar institution, intended by Sir William for the Province of Nova Scotia, was opened at Truro by the Premier, the Hon. G. H. Murray, and addresses were delivered by him and Prof. Robertson. Principal Dummell, the British Columbia Superintendent of the Schools there, stated, on February 10th, that the system tended to create respect for rough kinds of labour, to train to habits of order and exactness, to teach cleanliness and neatness, to develop self-reliance and teach dexterity of hand.

At Winnipeg, a Manual Training School, under the same auspices, was opened on February 21st, an address delivered by Prof. Robertson and earnest thanks tendered to Sir William McDonald. On March 5th, a deputation composed of representatives of some of the principal Boards of Trade in the Dominion and of the Dominion Trades and Labour Council waited upon the Government at Ottawa to present a Memorial asking for the establishment of a national system of Technical education. It was pointed out that the industrial production of the United States per capita was $143, while that of Canada was only $98.50; that the Dominion was paying millions every year to the superior artists and artisans of other countries; that this was as much a matter of Federal concern as experimental farming, mining, dairying or fish-hatching. Resolutions in favour of the proposal were read from the Montreal, Toronto, St. John, Winnipeg, Orillia, New Westminster, Berlin, Sherbrooke and Port Moody Boards of Trade and from many Trades and Labour Councils. A Royal Commission and a Minister of Industrial Education were asked for, and, in his reply, Sir Wilfrid Laurier dealt with the legal difficulties in the way. The Provinces had control of Education under the constitution. If the deputation could give further information as to the meeting of this condition, the Government would consider the matter.

In New Brunswick, a new and elaborately fitted up building was opened at St. John, on March 26th, in connection with the University of New Brunswick and for the purpose of teaching engineering, physics, chemistry and other forms of Technical education. Lieut.Governor McClellan performed the ceremony, and a lengthy address was delivered by President Loudon, of Toronto University, in the course of which he pointed out that the higher technical training given in such an institution as this prepared men for work in the

construction of railways, canals and harbours and in the manufacture of engines, boilers and dynamos, of iron and steel, of chemicals, dyes and sugars. Writing in the Canadian Magazine of April, Professor Robertson described the system so far as it concerned the child. “The systematic training of the senses, of the hands and eyes, and obviously of the mind through them, are some of the objects of practical and manual instruction. Manual Training is a means of developing mental, more than muscular, power; and is not a short cut or a long step towards learning a trade." Another branch of the subject-the domestic training of girls-was treated of at some length in the Toronto Mail and Empire of February 16th, by Mrs. Hoodless, of Hamilton. She pointed out that all Sir William McDonald's gifts had been devoted to the helping of boys, and declared that the other element of Manual Training was just as important. In the best educational and technical institutions of Great Britain and the United States, which she had visited during the past five years, there were thoroughly equipped departments for the training of girls in domestic economy, and she urged that the subject should not be overlooked in Canada. A Technical School at Brantford-built out of local resources--was opened by the Hon. Mr. Harcourt, on May 13th. The same Minister delivered a lecture on the subject of Manual Training at Lindsay, on July 2nd, and this was followed by a local agitation for action along the lines laid down. It may be added here that besides the Manual Training Schools referred to above, Sir W. C. McDonald had previously established similar institutions at Westmount, Montreal, Waterloo, Knowlton and Bedford in Quebec; at Fredericton in New Brunswick; at Regina and Calgary in the NorthWest Territories; and at Victoria and Regina in British Columbia. The question was discussed in a general way in the Report of the Ontario Minister of Education which was issued early in 1901.

Education in Ontario

The Minister of Education, the Hon. Richard Harcourt, M.A., K.C., published his annual Report during February, 1901, with the statistics for 1899. The following summary of conditions may be given:

Teachers who had attended a Normal School.
Teachers who had attended a County Model School....

3,805

1,004

Latin

There was an increase during the year of 67 in the number of Public Schools, a decrease of $23,185 in the amount expended upon them and a decrease of 4,455 in the average attendance. The Roman Catholic Separate Schools showed an increase of seven in number and 129 in average attendance; High Schools showed a decrease of three in the number of teachers and 841 in the attendance. The total receipts for school purposes in 1899 was $5,202,718 and the expenditures $4,372,059. The former included $374,277 from Legislative grants, $3,509,059 from Municipal grants and assessments and $1,319,382 from the Clergy Reserve fund and other sources. In the High Schools and Collegiate Institutes there were some gradual changes noted which have a permanent interest. In 1867, 23 per cent. of the pupils studied commercial subjects and in 1899, 47 per cent. of the whole attendance was engaged in this direction. decreased 5 per cent. in the period and Greek from 15 per cent. of the pupils to 5 per cent. In 1867, 38 per cent. studied French and none German. In 1899, there were 60 per cent. taking French and 25 per cent. studying German. "When High Schools were first established in the Province," observed the Minister, "their primary object was to prepare pupils for the learned professions and especially for the University. Although their original purpose has not been ignored, the course of study has been enlarged so as to meet the aims of pupils who intend to follow the ordinary pursuits of life." The occupations of parents sending pupils to these institutions were given as follows: Agricultural, 7,320; Commercial, 6,493; Mechanical, 6,237; and Professional, 2,410. After giving a variety of other statistics in his annual Report, Mr. Harcourt proceeded to deal in a general way with various phases of the educational position in Ontario and to express his views thereon.

At the annual meeting of the Hamilton Teachers' Institute, on February 22nd, interesting addresses on Education were delivered by Mr. J. H. Long, M.A., Dr. J. A. McLellan and the Hon. Mr. Harcourt. On May 17th, Dr. J. A. McLellan, the veteran Principal of the Ontario Normal College, was presented with an Address by the Class of 1900-01 in which his long services to Education in the Province were extolled. "You have watched the growth of our schools through many years and through your untiring energy and unerring judgment have contributed, we believe, in a very large measure, to the work of improvement and expansion which has raised the school system of our Province to the proud position which it now occupies." A portrait of the Principal was at the same

time presented to the Normal College. Considerable discussion took place in the press of Toronto, during the latter part of the year, as the result of certain charges made and figures abduced by Dr. John Ferguson. He claimed, in a letter to the School Board, read on September 19th, that the city schools were away behind other places in Ontario in the passing of candidates for the High Schools or Collegiate Institutes. The figures were fifty-five per cent. in Toronto; seventy-five per cent. in Hamilton; eighty-one per cent. in Ottawa; eighty-four per cent. in Kingston; eighty-six per cent. in London. Inspector J. L. Hughes replied at length, his main points being the fact that comparatively few Toronto pupils took a High School course; that examinations were not the best test of teaching or training; and that no comparison was possible between schools in this connection unless the same examiners were employed in all of them. Dr. Ferguson replied at length, while the Globe, of September 30th, expressed the opinion that the cause of this smaller percentage in Toronto might be due to the greater opportunities for boys to obtain employment.

The Ontario
Educational

On February 20th the Hon. Richard Harcourt, Minister of Education, introduced three measures in System the Provincial Legislature. The first was an Act to Discussed consolidate and amend the Act respecting the Education Department. It provided for the appointment of a Consultative Council to aid the Minister of Education by advice and experience. The second was an Act respecting High Schools and Collegiate Institutes. In this measure previous Legislative enactments were consolidated. The action of Trustees appointed by County Councils to Boards of Education, where the towns are separated from the counties, was limited to purely High School matters. Boards were allowed to give retiring gratuities and allowances to aged teachers, and to dispose of bequests for educational purposes. High Schools were to be compelled to furnish the County Councils with detailed accounts of revenues and expenditures and, in case of dispute, the County Judge was to act as final arbitrator. The third was an Act respecting Public Schools. It included the revision of 1897 and the amendments of 1899. The most important matters were those relating to superannuation of teachers, the appointment of Assistant Inspectors and the teaching of agriculture in the schools. They all passed the House in due course. In the course of the debate on the BudgetMarch 12th-Mr. Whitney, the Opposition Leader, urged the necessity of change in the educational system of the Province. "The Public School system should be remodelled. The number of examinations, and the expenses of them should be lessened. The curriculum, a scheme of studies, should be so arranged that 95 per cent. of the children in the Province, who go no further than the Public School, shall there receive the best possible education suited to their needs and having regard, especially, to the fact that their education begins and ends in the Public School." Greater care should be taken, he thought, to prevent frequent changes in the text-books. "The High