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the construction of a large ship for service. It is appropriate that this departure should find 

 its home on the Clyde, which 100 years age witnessed the initiation of steam propulsion with 

 the launch of the "Comet," an event which was elaborately celebrated on the Clyde in 1912. 

 While there has been little in the way of railway development, there has been a growing agita- 

 tion for improved communication by water. An ambitious project has been advocated, 

 notably by Sir Charles Campbell, that a ship canal should be constructed, uniting the Forth 

 with the Clyde on the route of the present shallow canal, or by a new route embracing Loch 

 Lomond in its course. From a naval point of view it is urged that such a canal would be an 

 important adjunct to Rosyth dock. So far, the scheme has failed to win much support from 

 the commercial communities, and obviously the sum that would be required for its fulfil- 

 ment is of such magnitude that it could not be ventured upon without Government subsidy. 



Education. The most remarkable feature of recent educational development in 

 Scotland has been the growth of technical education. Technical schools are now 

 established in every important town, and under the auspices of the county council the 

 system has been extended to provide instruction for those in rural districts. The chief 

 centre is naturally Glasgow, whose Royal Technical College (the " Royal " distinction 

 was conferred upon it in 1912) is the largest institution of its kind in the United Kingdom, 

 and among the largest in the world. The work of the College is associated with that of 

 the University, and an endeavour is being made to bring the relationship still closer. 

 The Scotch Universities themselves are proving responsive to the new spirit in education, 

 and although strong as always, in the " Humanities" they are extending their curriculum 

 to include instruction of a more utilitarian sort. This tendency is most marked in 

 Glasgow, whose greatest development has been in the direction of Engineering Science 

 and Chemical Research. St. Andrews, the most ancient seat of Scottish learning, which 

 celebrated its quin-centenary in 1910, on an impressive, if less imposing scale than the 

 sister University of Aberdeen, which celebrated her quatercentenary in 1906, remains 

 largely a centre of pure scholarship, but utilitarian tendencies are evident in the devel- 

 opment of the seats of learning in Edinburgh and Aberdeen. The princely benefaction 

 to the Scottish Universities made by Dr. Andrew Carnegie in 1901, has tended to 

 strengthen the democratic character of Scottish Academic life, which never, indeed, 

 has been so exclusive as in the great English universities. With recent developments 

 in Secondary and Higher Grade Schools, and the elaborate system of Continuation Classes 

 the Scottish educational system may now claim to link in an unbroken chain the Ele- 

 mentary School with the University. 



The most jiotable legislative event of recent years was the Scottish Education Act of 

 1908. It greatly extended the powers of school boards in the direction of feeding necessitous 

 children, the medical inspection of pupils, and the compulsory attendance at continuation 

 classes. It has also, to- some extent, checked the spirit of sectarianism, the great church 

 training colleges being now controlled by representative committees. Sectarianism how- 

 ever has never been a conspicuous blemish in the Scottish educational system, and the great 

 Presbyterian bodies, the Church of Scotland, and the United Free Church, who formerly 

 controlled the Training Colleges, loyally fell in with the new National scheme. The Act has 

 not, however, affected to any appreciable extent the old school board areas, and it retains 

 the system of cumulative voting, which leads to many abnormalities in representation. 



Administration. Scotland has a comprehensive system of county and municipal 

 government, but as regards the country generally there is a lack of co-ordination and 

 greater national control is obviously desirable. . Thus it is still necessary when any 

 great scheme of county or city development is promoted to have it considered by 

 Parliamentary committees in London. The Private Bill Legislation Act, passed some 

 years ago, has mitigated only to a slight extent this old standing grievance. Perhaps, 

 however, it is in educational affairs that. the system of administration proves most irri- 

 tating. The headquarters of the Scotch Education Department are still in London, 

 although much of the clerical work hitherto done there has been transferred to Edinburgh. 

 It is felt that the educational authority should be concentrated in Scotland, and the desir- 

 ability of rearrangement seems obvious from the fact that there are in Scotland, includ- 

 ing Inspectors, 118 officers of the Education Department, and only 50 in London. 



.In the sphere of municipal activity the most notable event has been the extension of 

 Glasgow boundaries. The total area of the city is now 19,082 acres, an addition of 6107, and 

 the population of the city has been increased from 784,456 to 1,010,000. The scheme as 



