376 THE SCHOOL BOARDS yv 



admissible, except for factious and abusive pur- 

 poses, to assume that any one who endeavours to 

 get at this clear meaning is desirous only of raising 

 quibbles and making difficulties. - 



Reading the Act with this desire to understand 

 it, I find that its provisions may be classified, as 

 might naturally be expected, under two heads : 

 the one set relating to the subject-matter of 

 education ; the other to the establishment, main- 

 tenance, and administration of the schools in 

 which that education is to be conducted. 



Now it is a most important circumstance, that 

 all the sections of the Act, except four, belong to 

 the latter division ; that is, they refer to mere 

 matters of administration. The four sections in 

 question are the seventh, the fourteenth, the 

 sixteenth, and the ninety-seventh. Of these, the 

 seventh, the fourteenth, and the ninety-seventh 

 deal with the subject-matter of education, while 

 the sixteenth defines the nature of the relations 

 which are to exist between the " Education 

 Department " (an euphemism for the future 

 Minister of Education) and the School Boards. 

 It is the sixteenth clause which is the most 

 important, and, in some respects, the most remark- 

 able of all. It runs thus : 



" If the School Board do, or permit, any act in contraven- 

 tion of, or fail to comply with, the regulations, according to 

 which a school provided by them is required by this Act to be 

 conducted, the Education Department may declare the School 



