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NA TURE 



\August 2, 1888 



effete apprenticeship system. This came out very clearly 

 in the late discussion with reference to the introduction of 

 manual training into schools, to which objection was made 

 by many artisans, who urged, among other things, that if 

 such instruction were given it should be imparted by skilled 

 artisans and not by the teachers — entirely failing to realize 

 that it was sought to introduce manual training with an 

 educational object, for the purpose of cultivating a faculty 

 hitherto left untrained, and not for the purpose of teaching 

 a trade. Authorities, however, we believe, are mostly of 

 opinion that to technically educate a youth is to teach 

 him to understand and scientifically follow his business, 

 and they consider that only so much of the actual prac- 

 tice should be learnt by the student who is being technic- 

 ally educated as will suffice to afford the necessary insight 

 into the principles on which the practice is founded. 

 Thus, medical men have long been technically educated : 

 they have not only learnt the practice of their profession, 

 but have also devoted a large amount of time to the study 

 of the facts and scientific principles on which medical 

 practice is based, and the demands upon them in this 

 latter direction have been much increased within recent 

 years. Engineers and architects, on the other hand, 

 hitherto have generally not been technically educated : 

 entering the workshop or office, they have been left to j 

 acquire as they best might a knowledge of the scientific 

 principles underlying their professions, their atten- 

 tion having been almost entirely devoted to acquiring 

 manipulative skill and a knowledge of constructive 

 details. 



It is difficult to understand what meaning Lord Arm- 

 strong attaches to the term technical education. He tells 

 us that the question " What is the use of useful know- 

 ledge?" appears to him to present in a quaint form a 

 theme of a very debatable nature ! He then proceeds to 

 argue that success in the world depends on the pos- 

 session of genius ; knowledge — well, is of no particular 

 consequence ! " Many people imagine that genius is 

 kept down from want of knowledge, and that in many 

 cases it is thus lost to the world. This I entirely dispute. 

 Genius is irrepressible, and revels in overcoming diffi- 

 culties." But even the genius must find his opportunity, 

 and — nowadays at least— must be possessed of sufficient 

 knowledge to be able to take advantage of the oppor- 

 tunity when found. Moreover, as the world progresses, 

 opportunities are not found to be increasingly numerous 

 in proportion to the growth of the population, nor do the 

 problems diminish in difficulty ; and no reliance can be 

 placed upon the supply of genius keeping pace with the 

 demand. 



Lord Armstrong thinks that the well-known dictum 

 that if the Romans had had to learn Latin they never 

 would have conquered the world, is suggestive of what 

 our loss might have been if self-made engineers such 

 as Watt, George Stephenson, Smeaton, Brindley and 

 Telford, had frittered away their energies upon inappro- 

 priate studies forced upon them at. school; and that 

 generals such as Wellington and Marlborough, or naval 

 commanders such as Nelson and Blake, would not have 

 directed the armies and navies of England with more 

 effect if book knowledge had been crammed into them at 

 school. But to argue in this manner is to entirely pervert 

 the theme of technical education : the whole object of its 



advocates being so to improve the entire educational 

 machine that all inappropriate studies may be eliminated 

 from the school course, and every provision made for 

 developing and strengthening the faculties generally ; and 

 even Lord Armstrong admits that as " cheapness of pro- 

 duction and superiority of quality will decide the victory 

 in the race of competition, we shall improve our chance 

 of maintaining a foremost place if by early training 

 we develop the mental and bodily faculties of our 

 people." His subsequent words, however, " but not, I 

 think, by any forced or indiscriminate system of impart- 

 ing knowledge," are simply incomprehensible, as no one 

 has suggested the introduction of any " forced and in- 

 discriminate system " ; in fact, this is only one of the many 

 cases in which Lord Armstrong sets up an image of his 

 own creation, and at once hastily destroys it. When he 

 tells us that he does not "undervalue technical know 

 ledge voluntarily acquired as a means to an end, but it is 

 the brain-workers and not the hand-workers who will 

 seek to attain it and benefit by it," he entirely over- 

 looks the fact that one great object of technical edu- 

 cation is to associate brains with hands and hands 

 with brains. 



We have no space left to discuss Lord Armstrong's 

 extraordinary views with reference to existing facilities for 

 theacquisition of technical knowledge and their sufficiency. 

 But we must call attention to his contention " that when 

 Colleges can be established by public subscription or 

 private munificence, they are worthy of approval and 

 commendation ; but where the State or local governing 

 bodies have to furnish money for education in relation to 

 national industry, they must look to attaining the required 

 results at the least possible expense, and I am inclined to 

 look upon Colleges as luxuries in education rather than 

 necessaries." In marked contrast to this is a statement 

 made by Sir Henry Roscoe in the discussion on Mr. Swire 

 Smith's paper on the Technical Education Bill, read 

 at the Society of Arts in February last. Speaking of what 

 the Swiss were doing, Sir Henry related how, a few 

 years ago, when it was proposed to spend ,£24,000 on the 

 erection of a new chemical department of the Zurich 

 Polytechnicum, some of the Bundesrath were a little 

 startled and rather objected to paying so large a sum, 

 and there was accordingly in Berne some opposition ; but 

 the Minister of Education pointed out that the amount of 

 money which had already been received by Switzerland 

 from the men who had studied in the Polytechnic School al 

 Zurich had amounted to ten times over the sum he was 

 asking for, and he was sure that the money would be welll 

 spent, and in a short time recouped. The Swiss, at ali 

 events — let alone the Germans — therefore do not look 

 upon Colleges as luxuries rather than necessaries ; anc 

 we are assured that if comparison were made of the work 

 done by chemists in Swiss laboratories with that done bj 

 English chemists, the result would not be to the credit 0: 

 our country. We should like Lord Armstrong to tell u.< 

 — is he, or is he not, content to see this country reman- 

 on a lower intellectual footing than Switzerland? 



Great as is Lord Armstrong's reputation as a mech 

 anical engineer, we trust that few will regard him as ar 

 "unimpeachable authority" in the matter of technica 

 education : if the majority remain much longer of hi: 

 opinion, then is the fate of our nation sealed. 





