424 TECHNICAL p:i)rCATION xvi 



cities and giving them scope. AVhen I was a mem- 

 ber of the London School Board, I said, in the 

 course of a speech, that our business was to provide 

 a hidder, reaching from the gutter to the univer- 

 sity, along which every child in the three kingdoms 

 should have the chance of climbing as far as he 

 was fit to go. This phrase was so much bandied 

 about at the time, that, to say truth, I am rather 

 tired of it; but I know of no other which so fully 

 expresses my belief, not only about education in 

 general, but about technical education in par- 

 ticular. 



The essential foundation of all the organisation 

 needed for the promotion of education among 

 handicraftsmen will, I believe, exist in this coun- 

 try, when every working lad can feel that society 

 has done as much as lies in its power to remove all 

 needless and artificial obstacles from his path; 

 that there is no barrier, except such as exists in 

 the nature of things, between himself and what- 

 ever place in the social organisation he is fitted to 

 fill; and, more than this, that, if he has capacity 

 and industry, a hand is held out to liel]) him 

 along any path which is wisely and honestly 

 chosen. 



I have endeavoured to point out to you that a 

 great deal of such an organisation already exists; 

 and I am glad to be able to add that there is a 

 good prospect that what is wanting will, before 

 long, be supj^lemented. 



