782 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION J. 



of. Eivery civilised State has recognised the need of popular education, 

 and has undertaken, more or less thoroughly, the task of training its 

 children to be good citizens. The nations which discharge that duty 

 most efficiently gain such advantages in industr}^, in commerce, and 

 other ways, that the rest in sheer self-defence are obliged to improve 

 their educational systems and methods. The pressure of international 

 competition is one of the sources of the interest taken in education, 

 and is a common ground of appeal to popular opinion. That the 

 internal development of a nation, as well as its external status, 

 depends on education, is acknowledged by all. The statesman, the 

 captain of industry, the social reformer, all look to education as the 

 surest instrument with which to accomplish their ends ; and the man 

 of science finds in the growth and workings of the human mind, and 

 the way of acting upon it, a fascinating field for research. Thus a 

 great and ever-increasing number of men are being brought to take 

 an interest in education. The violent educational controversies that 

 have been raging in England, controversies upon which the fate of 

 Ministries depends, serve to show how education has grown in public 

 importance. Who would have imagined fifty years ago that the very 

 existence of the House of Lords might be at stake in its treatment of 

 an Education Bill? 



Though there is no standard by which the growing interest in 

 education can be exactly or approximately measured, yet there are 

 ways of forming a rough and ready estimate. The money test naturally 

 suggests itself as a means of comparing State with State, period with 

 period, or interest in education with other interests. Tlie expenditure 

 on education has every^vhere increased enormously during the last 

 generation, and is still increasing both absolutely and per capita. 

 Australia compares fairly well with the rest of the world in the amount 

 spent on primary education, but not on that spent on secondaiy and 

 higher education. As a comparison of interests it is noteworthy that 

 the nations of Europe spend many times as much on their armies and 

 navies as they do on education. There may be some justification for 

 their doing so, but it nevertheless appears strange that so much 

 more should be devoted to the means of destroying men than to 

 educating them. Whatever may be the sins of Australia, that is not 

 one of them. But what of the following comparison, which is given 

 for what it is worth. In New South Wales £1,000,000 a year is spent 

 on education, and .£4,000,000 on drink; and a similar disproportion 

 holds in the other States. It is also worthy of mention that the 

 comparatively small amount of private benefactions to educational 

 institutions in Australia does not say much for the interest our 

 wealthy citizens take in education. 



Passing from the money test, which is a family one, let us take 

 the Press as an education barometer. This, too, indicates unmistak- 

 able advance. For one book on the theory and practice of education 

 that was published thirty years ago, there are many published now, 

 and the number of readers is probably increasing still more rapidly- 

 The Education Departments in Australia now issue periodically 

 gazettes, which, in addition to official information, contain much 

 valuable matter, and these gazettes are sent to every public school. 

 The volumes of special reports on educational subjects issued by the 



