EVOLUTION OF QUEEXSLAXD TEACHER. 735 



system. At first they battled almost alone. Even as late as 1st 

 January, 1870, when primary education became free (" Report of Board 

 of Education, 1869," p. 10), only one female assistant had as much 

 as ilOO a year, and a good deal more than half of the ijfty-seven 

 n'.ale assistants had just that amount each. Our best public men saw- 

 that the first step was to secure better remuneration, as a preliminary 

 to attracting arid retaining better men and women. In the middle 

 sixties several strong men arrived in Queensland and took work with 

 the Board. M}'. Anderson, Mr. Kerr, Mr. Ewart, and Mr. Piatt were 

 amongst the number, and by voice and pen they battled for better 

 things, and gradually the leading men of Queensland w-ere induced to 

 see the need for more consideration for their teachers. Better 

 salaries, buildings, and residences began to appear. The aristocracy 

 of intellect among the pupils now turned towards teaching as an occu- 

 pation — the aristocracy of money and influence had gone off to the 

 grammar schools, but " scholarships" had not been begun. The 

 board's outlay for prizes and scholarships in 1869 was =£35. 



The pupil-teachers joining about this time proved the best we 

 ever had. Many of them hold leading positions as teachers and 

 inspectors to-day. A most important new' departure was made in the 

 seventies, by which one or more assistants in certain schools were 

 allotted " definite staff' rank " as first, second, etc., assistant, with a 

 share in the capitation allowance. For nearly twenty years this 

 system was in vogue. It placed a premium on loyalty, diligence, tact, 

 and superior skill in teaching, and it bred a class of assistant teachers 

 now almost, if not entirely, extinct. It fostered a spirit and a degree 

 of loyalty and self-sacrifice that united all ranks in the school in the 

 heartiest co-operation for its good, and in pride in its success. It was 

 an excellent preparation for the young man aspiring to the charge of 

 liis own school. But the custom lapsed, and gradually disappeared 

 in the early " nineties," and few, if any, of the present assistants ever 

 •experienced the benefits of it or know anything about it. Then came 

 the system of scholarships : the best blood was drained away to enrich 

 the grammar schools, and almost never found its way back to assist 

 in the work of teaching. This mistake has been persisted in ever 

 since, but at last we are awaking to the fact that our pupil-teachers 

 would be less trouble and be much more valuable if the grammar 

 schools fonned the only door into the education sei-vice. In 1871-2 

 came the pupil-teachers' training class under Mr. J. S. Kerr. For the 

 first time the pupil-teacher got a fair chance to grow into something 

 good. The work was continued by Mr. Piatt for some years, during 

 which he also did a good deal to help many adidt candidates of more 

 or less merit to enter and find a footing in the service, some of them 

 born teachers, and not a few of them successful men and women to- 

 day. The British teachers had begun to drop in in ones and twos 

 and the intellectual and professional stamp of the teachers VN^as rising 

 steadily. At last it was felt that we had enough good teachers to take 

 charge of the work of training " P.T.'s" as we know it, and in 1876 

 the " old training class" was discontinued. On the suggestion of a 

 leading teacher the training fee of £5 per year per pupil-teacher was 

 instituted. I think the gross amount paid in this way to head teachers 

 must by this time be very large, indeed, probably £50,000 has been 



