376 THE SCHOOL BOARDS xv 



admissible, except for factions and abusive pur- 

 poses, to assume that any one who endeavours to 

 get at this clear meaning is desirous only of raising 

 quil)blcs and making diiliculties. 



Eeading the Act with this desire to understand 

 it, I find that its provisions may be classified, as 

 might naturally be expected, under two heads: 

 the one set relating to the subject-matter of educa- 

 tion; the other to the establishment, mainten- 

 ance, and administration of the schools in which 

 that education is to be conducted. 



Now it is a most important circumstance, that 

 all the sections of the Act, except four, belong to 

 the latter division; that is, they refer to mere 

 matters of administration. The four sections in 

 question are the seventh, the fourteenth, the 

 sixteenth, and the ninety-seventh. Of these, the 

 seventh, the fourteenth, and the ninety-seventh 

 deal with the subject-matter of education, while 

 the sixteenth defines the nature of the relations 

 which are to exist between the " Education De- 

 partment " (an eu]ihemism for the future ^linister 

 of Education) and the School Boards. It is the 

 sixteenth clause which is the most important, and, 

 in some respects, the most remarkable of all. It 

 runs thus: — 



"If the School Board do, or permit, any act in contra- 

 vention of, or fail to comply with, the ref^iilations. accord- 

 m\z, to which a school provided by them is required by this 

 Act to be conducted, the Education Department may de- 



