106 KEPORT 1853. 



accommodation, only 350 axe provided for in the lower part of the parish or among 

 the perishing masses of the population ! 



In general, the Roman Catholic schools are very well placed ; and the same may 

 be said of those that are of a general character. 



The distribution of school accommodation is exhibited in the following table : — 



Parish. 



To\(Tiship8. Upper Part. Lower Part. Total. 



Church schools 6,380 4,700 5,310 16,390 



Dissenters' schools 1,981 2,538 350 4,869 



Roman Catholic schools . 2,500 2,080 3,613 8,193 



General schools 1,131 850 2,570 4,451 



11,992 10,168 11,843 33,903 



Population (general) 131,228 87,182 180,000 398,410 



Estimated number of poor 52,075 44,591 170,000 266,666 



Ratio of education I ^ .^^, ^ i^ ^ . , .^ ^^ ^ i^ g 



among the poor j 



Thus, if each of the three great divisions of the town be regarded as a separate 

 unit, the school accommodation in the townships and in the upper part of the parish 

 is almost sufficient ; while that in the lower part of the parish is between a third 

 and a fourth of what it ought to be. The better parts of the town, some sections of 

 which do not possess a single poor family of the most destitute class, have educa- 

 tional facilities almost thrust upon the people, until the noble feeling of self-de- 

 pendence is endangered, if not gradually broken down. On the contrary, in that part 

 of the town where the " people are destroyed for lack of knowledge,'' though its 

 necessities amount to two-thirds of the whole, the various religious communitias 

 have provided for it only seven, thirty-two, and forty -four per cent, of the i hotel 



In one of the more respectable portions of the Borough, the township of Everton, 

 there are public institutions capable of accommodating nearly 2000 pupili, independ- 

 ent of about thirty private schools. All these are self-supporting. For the poor there 

 is school accommodation to the extent of 3,350 ; while an increase is in progress, 

 amounting to 1,270. Now, a school accommodation for 4,620 of this class, repre- 

 sents a mixed poor population of 18,480, and a general population in this township 

 of nearly 37,000. It is probable that Everton will not contain this number till 

 about the period of the next census ; so that ivhile the really poor are perishing in 

 ignorance, one of the best parts of the town is over-schooled. Three sets of schools in it, 

 built by Protestant Dissenters, Churchmen, and Roman Catholics respectively, have 

 cost about ^10,000, and afford accommodation for 2,600 pupils; but they lie in a 

 straight line, the entire length of which is 230 yards I 



V. Remedies Suggested. — These followed naturally from the previous statement of 

 facts. They were, (1) that the Church should establish a set of schools in every 

 ecclesiastical district of the town which is not so provided for ; (2) that Protestant 

 Dissenters should combine to establish schools in the most neglected parts of the 

 town, which might be denominational but not congregational ; and (3) that the 

 Roman Catholic schools, and especially those under general management, should be 

 increased in number. Efforts of this kind, if well-sustained, would bring up the 

 supply nearly to an equality with the demand, 



VI. Support. — The irregular distribution of funds in school buildings is more 

 than equalled in this matter ; for as a general fact the merchants do not subscribe 

 to educate those near their offices, but those near their residences. Hence while the ne- 

 cessities of district A are ten times those of district B, the school subscriptions for B 

 are obtained ten, twenty, or thirty times as readily as those for A. In other words, 

 if the two districts are to be brought to the same educational level, the labour in the 

 one case is 200, 300, or 400 times as great as in the other : — that is to say, while 

 something or even much may be done, educational equality is a practical impossibi- 

 lity. This arises from treating parts of a great town, which only ser\'e partial pur- 

 poses, as if they were complete wholes. 



While the voluntary system in education affords a very unequal relief, it imposes 

 a most unequal burden. As the facts now stand, the intelligent and benevolent man 

 is heavily taxed for the possession of virtues that are somewhat rare, while the 



