THE STORY OF ENGLISH EDUCATION. 353 



to the local education authority — and the constitution of education 

 committees of councils having powers under the act are various further 

 salient characteristics of this measure to which it is necessary to draw 

 attention. In the case of the education committees it is to be noticed 

 that the whole educational administrative work will be done by these 

 committees which will possess all the educational powers of the council 

 except that of raising a rate or borrowing money for education purposes. 

 It is perhaps impossible to exaggerate the importance of this act 

 of Parliament. Doubtless it has certain defects, but they are defects 

 inherent in any act that endeavors to reconcile interests that are 

 apparently in conflict. The political dissenters declared themselves 

 wronged because rate-aid was given to the voluntary schools without 

 a corresponding control by the representatives of the rate payers. 

 Only one third of the managers represent the rate payers in the man- 

 aging body of a voluntary school, and the fact that the majority of 

 the managers are still private persons is a source of grievance to a 

 certain class of liberals. On the other hand the owners of voluntary 

 schools think themselves aggrieved in the fact that managers, who may 

 not represent the denomination to which the school belongs, should have 

 any word as to the religious teaching. These owners think that the 

 public have the best of the bargain; the public have gained complete 

 control, through the local education authority, over the secular teaching 

 in these schools, while the views of the owners and managers are con- 

 tinually kept before the public by the representatives of the rate 

 payers or the managing body. All the old privacy is lost. 



On the whole, however, a fair bargain has been struck. The 

 owners of the schools have a guarantee given them that the denomina- 

 tional character of each school shall be preserved, and they in return 

 have for most purposes (other than religious) handed over the school 

 to a body representing the public — the local education authority, i. e., 

 the education committee of a publicly elected body. An effort all 

 through the act is made to do justice to denominational bodies on the 

 one hand and to secure absolutely efficient and coordinated education 

 on the other, and on the whole the measure may be regarded as the 

 great starting point of a new and beneficent educational system. Lon- 

 don does not come within this scheme, but the metropolis is now being 

 dealt with on the same lines by a bill 'to extend and adapt the Educa- 

 tion Act, 1902, to London.' The educational authority for London 

 will be the London County Council represented by an education com- 

 mittee composed of members of the council and representatives of the 

 various London borough councils and of various metropolitan educa- 

 tional interests. This central educational body will exercise control 

 over the metropolitan borough councils in their new capacity as man- 

 agers of all public elementary schools provided by the County Council. 

 VOL. Lxni. — 23. 



