12 TASMANIAN SCHOOL OF 



its advantages recognised, you could count upon many- 

 strangers, but later on it is more than probable that jou will 

 get a number from the neighbouring States and NeAv Zea- 

 land. There might also be a likelihood in these days of 

 cheap passages, that English parents and guardians would 

 prefer sending their boys to a lovely climate like Tasmania 

 in preference to the Continent, provided they know they 

 could be brought up in a suitable manner to fit them for 

 forest and agricultural work in India, South Africa, and 

 the Colonies, particularly as the training they would receive 

 in Tasmania would be better adapted to prepare them for 

 such a career. 



One of the most important points to settle will be, whether 

 the school is to be a Government one, or solely under the 

 management of a committee chosen from the different per- 

 sons most interested in the scheme. In my opinion, a 

 combination of the two systems might prove beneficial, and 

 give a certain status to the institution w^hich neither, 

 separately, would confer upon it. The Government, which 

 will no doubt be asked, and will consent, to grant a reason- 

 able annual subsidy at least during the first few years of its 

 existence, will naturally and very properly claim the right 

 of having a vote in the proceedings. The very fact of the 

 legislative bodies having a certain control over the organi- 

 sation and expenditure will have an advantageous influence 

 as a safeguard against extravagance on the one hand, and 

 parsimony on the other. The members of the committee 

 will be able to bring forward a detailed scheme as practical 

 men interested in the industries involved, knowing what is 

 actually required and should be done. 



One of the next most serious points you w^ll have to con- 

 sider will be the selection of a proper manager of the school. 

 The importance to be attached to this can scarcely be 

 exaggerated. Upon the choice of a competent person to 

 occupy this position may depend, in all probability, the 

 success or failure of the scheme. He must be a well-educated 

 man, of a certain age and standing, to secure the respect 

 and esteem of the parents and teachers, as well as the 

 deference of the pupils. He must possess both energy and 

 tact, and, indeed, he cannot have too much of each com- 

 bined. He should have, if possible, a good knowledge of 

 French and German, so as to enable him to study the 

 very important works which appear periodically in these 

 languages upon the management of similar schools elsewhere, 

 and to correspond with their managers. With a practical 

 knowledge of both forestry and agriculture, he should be 

 imbued with a firm desire to make the school a credit to 



