EDITOR'S TABLE. 



697 



the people had nothing to do. They 

 were never offered a chance of ex- 

 pressing their opinion of the repudia- 

 tion of the plan they had formally rati- 

 fied. It was diverted from its objects, 

 without consulting them, by ring-man- 

 agement ; and, as the city had got a col- 

 lege for boys, the cry was raised that 

 there must be another for girls also; 

 and the Normal College was the result. 



There was no mistaking the charac- 

 ter and object of this covertly managed 

 revolution in the policy of popular edu- 

 cation in this city. When the thing was 

 done, all disguise was thrown off'. As 

 we have stated before in these pages, 

 but which may now be pertinently re- 

 called. Judge Larrimore, President of 

 the Board of Education, gave an ad- 

 dress explanatory of the new situation. 

 The school called for by the people was 

 contemptuously repudiated in its theory 

 and object. The new institution was 

 proclaimed as of the old order of col- 

 leges. The speaker went back to the 

 middle ages to get his ideal of a college, 

 and defended classical studies, as en- 

 titled to the leading place, in opposition 

 to the claims of science and modern 

 studies. How far he appreciated the 

 idea which the people had tried to em- 

 body in the Free Academy was shown 

 by the fact that, when an influential 

 work on education, that has been trans- 

 lated into all civilized languages, was 

 quoted, he sneeringly retorted that it 

 was written by an engineer. 



Had the design of the Free Acad- 

 emy been carried out in good faith, its 

 benign results to education in this city 

 and this country would have been great. 

 A generation has passed since the peo- 

 ple pronounced for an advance in in- 

 dustrial education ; and if the plan had 

 not miscarried — if they had not been 

 cheated out of it — the salutary influence 

 upon the lower schools, and the conse- 

 quent benefits to the community, would 

 have been incalculable. But this re- 

 trogressive step has been fatal to our 

 educational progress. The classical col- 



lege at the head of our system has re- 

 acted to obstruct reform in the primary 

 schools. Of the way this influence is 

 exerted we have a fresh illustration. 

 The new President, notwithstanding 

 his solicitude to let things alone, can 

 not refrain from meddling. He was 

 made chairman of the Board of Trustees 

 of the City College, and in his address 

 he said that " the college entrance ex- 

 aminations were not exacting enough." 

 That is, the screws must be put on to 

 the lower schools to force more vig- 

 orous exertion on the part of boys with 

 reference to the system of instruction 

 pursued in the classical institution. 



CONANT ON INTERNATIONAL COPT- 

 RIGUT. 



It is surprising how English ardor on 

 international copyright cools as Amer- 

 icans begin to draw the distinction be- 

 tween the rights of British authors and 

 the claims of British publishers. As 

 long as these were mixed up, the case 

 against us was strong, and we were 

 very frequently reminded of the turpi- 

 tude of our piratical practices. But 

 when it began to be said here, serious- 

 ly. We will yield the English author 

 his just demand, and pay him for his 

 literary property, but his foreign pub- 

 lisher we will not pay because he has 

 no just claims upon us, then we hear a 

 good deal less of foreign denunciation, 

 and international copyright ceases to 

 be urged, or much discussed. 



Mr. S. S. Conant, of New York, was 

 asked to write a paper for " Macmillan's 

 Magazine," giving the American view 

 of the subject. He complied, and fur- 

 nished an able article, moderate but 

 decided, and discussing the question 

 with a view to its practical settlement. 

 He recognized the urgency of the ques- 

 tion, and took the ground that the full 

 rights of English authors should be ac- 

 corded and secured by law, but that we 

 in this country must be permitted to 

 manufacture their books. He showed 



