Jan. 1 6, 1890] 



NATURE 



243 



tion differs very materially in plan from that of such an in- 

 stitution as Finsbury College. The educational side of the 

 Polytechnic does not form an organized school course 

 so much as a set of classes among which a student may 

 choose, and the standard aimed at is not so high. But 

 there is this obvious advantage in taking the Polytechnic 

 as a model for similar institutions that the instruction, so 

 far as it goes, is far less costly than at Finsbury, being 

 largely subsidized by science and art grants. 



The example of the Polytechnic has been recently fol- 

 lowed, with a certain amount of success, at the People's 

 Palace in Mile End, where the Drapers' Company have 

 devoted the funds which they have withdrawn from the 

 City and Guilds Institute to building and endpwing a 

 school somewhat on the Polytechnic lines. 



While these institutions have been developing, the 

 Charity Commissioners have been engaged in pursuance 

 of Mr. Bryce's Act of 1883 in framing a scheme for the 

 application of the funds of the City parochial charities 

 for the benefit of the working classes of greater London. 

 The Commissioners came early to the determination 

 to devote a large proportion of the proceeds of the chari- 

 ties to some educational purpose, and decided further that 

 the main direction of the educational institutions thus 

 established should be technical and industrial. 



It is not our purpose to enter at all into the questions 

 that have been raised as to the mode of division of the 

 endowment between secular and ecclesiastical purposes, 

 or the wisdom of tying up the greater part of the dis- 

 posable funds in perpetuity. There are plenty of keen 

 observers who will make their views felt on these questions; 

 and indeed many champions of other schemes, such as 

 the promotion of open spaces, are already in the field. 

 But we must regard the main object to which the funds 

 will be devoted as practically decided. The Charity 

 Commissioners gave notice of it in their last Report, and 

 little exception seemed then to be taken to the project. 

 Since then large sums of money have been raised by 

 local subscriptions on the faith of the proposal. It is too 

 late now to advocate the application of the main part of 

 the fund to any other object than education, and those 

 who are agitating for such a change are, in our opinion, 

 wasting their powder and shot. 



But while the public is easily induced to join in a 

 general outcry which, if it has any justification, certainly 

 comes far too late, it is quite possible that, unless vigilant 

 care is exercised, the final scheme may come into force 

 without those alterations and improvements in detail 

 which seem individually of small importance, but may 

 make all the difference between a good and a bad scheme 

 of technical education for London. The funds handled 

 are far larger than those authorized to be raised for the 

 whole of Wales under the new Intermediate Education 

 Act. It behoves all friends of education to take care 

 that these large endowments are used aright. 



Let us glance, then, at the main outline of the scheme 

 so far as it relates to technical education. The Com- 

 missioners were instructed under the Act to make pro- 

 vision for the " poorer classes." Consequently any 

 technical schools established or aided under the scheme 

 must aim directly at the benefit of the workman rather 

 than that of the manager. 



The Commissioners propose to devote large capital 



grants to the erection of technical and recreative institutes 

 in various parts of London, somewhat on the model of 

 the Regent Street Polytechnic, and to give a permanent 

 endowment to these institutes, as well as to the Poly- 

 technic and the People's Palace already in existence. 

 Each institute is to be governed under a scheme, devised 

 by the Charity Commission, and is to be subject to the 

 general control of a Central Governing Body of Trustees. 



The objects of the institutes are threefold. They are 

 to bs social centres, where concerts and entertainments 

 may be given, and where outside clubs and working men's 

 societies may have an opportunity of meeting ; they are 

 to include young men's and young women's institutes 

 for social and recreative purposes, open to " young 

 persons " between the ages of sixteen and twenty-five ; 

 and lastly, they are to provide for the educational wants of 

 the working classes in the neighbourhood. Libraries, 

 museums, swimming-baths, and gymnasia will form part 

 of the equipment of most of these institutions. 



It is with the educational work of these " Polytechnics " 

 that we are here most directly concerned. But their 

 educational and social sides must be very closely linked • 

 together, and the success of the classes will largely 

 depend on the success of the institute as a whole. En- 

 trance to the clubs may, under the scheme, be made con- 

 tingent on entrance to the classes, as is now the case at the 

 People's Palace, though such a course seems to us to be un- 

 wise. In any case we must not pass over the social side of 

 the institutes without a word. The Young Men's Institute 

 at the Polytechnic has been a great success, but it haS' 

 been a growth of time, and it has grown round the nucleus 

 of the Y.M.C.A. The social Institute at the People's Palace 

 has sprung suddenly into existence, without the pre-existing 

 nucleus ; it is admitted to have been a failure, and is 

 now suppressed. Can the lesson be mistaken t Doubt- 

 less the Charity Commissioners are alive to the difficulty. 

 Their detailed regulations for the management of an insti- 

 tute, of which the draft has been published, are, in the 

 main, carefully drawn. But those who hope that the 

 scheme will result in the growth of a number of Palaces 

 of Delight which will delight Mr. Walter Besant's heart 

 will be doomed to disappointment. There will be no 

 " People's Palaces " — only " Young People's Institutes." 

 The present People's Palace will be constrained to con- 

 fine its membership in future to persons between the 

 ages of sixteen and twenty-five. Why this limita- 

 tion ? We see with pleasure that the Goldsmiths' Com- 

 pany, who are founding an institute at New Cross on 

 somewhat the same model as those proposed by the 

 scheme, have struck out the upper limit. There are far 

 too many of these restrictions in the scheme. For 

 example, smoking and dancing are (the latter with certain 

 specified exceptions) forbidden. Surely details such as 

 these can be left to the by-laws of the several institutes. 

 Here, again, the Goldsmiths' Company have shown them- 

 selves in advance of the Charity Commission. 



We have a similar criticism to make on the whole of 

 the educational scheme. There is too little guidance in 

 matters of principle, too much restriction in matters of 

 detail. 



Perhaps the most important thing to ensure is that the 

 Central Governing Body shall be a strong body, exercising 

 effective supervision over the teaching of the various 



