538 



NATURE 



[January 13, 19 16 



out of six students failed to appear, reopened again 

 later. 



The London County Council has recently tried to 

 centralise its system of teaching, and heads of depart- 

 ments find themselves dispensed with after perhaps 

 eight years' hard work. This is a serious state^ of 

 matters, as it shakes one's confidence in technical 

 teaching as a profession. In many schools there is 

 no pension. 



From the nature of their appointments the teachers 

 are not allowed to do outside work, yet specialists 

 are sometimes engaged to lecture because they have 

 outside experience. If more security was offered to 

 teachers, and if they could keep in touch with the 

 outside world, workpeople would go to their classes. 

 Under the present system large sums have to be spent 

 advertising these schools which should not require it. 

 There has been a great deal too much of the village 

 schoolmaster attitude, and it is surely a mistake to 

 allow technical work to fall into the hands of such 

 people. 



W. H. F. Murdoch. ' 



Westerlea. Millhill. 



WAR ECONOMY AND AGRICULTURAL 

 * EDUCATION. 



THE necessity for economy is having the in- 

 teresting result of showing the relative 

 values attached by county councils to the things 

 over which they have control. When economy 

 becomes necessary one first of all cuts off the 

 things that do not matter, so as to keep hold of 

 those that count. 



The present attitude of the county councils 

 towards agricultural education affords a case in 

 point. Considerable sums of, money, known as 

 the "whis]<y money," have been placed by the 

 Treasury in the hands of the county councils for 

 purposes of technical education. Over the spend- 

 ing 6f the money the taxpayer retained no ade- 

 quate control, so that the county council can, if 

 it likes, simply apply this money to the reduction 

 of the local rates. Most county councils, of 

 course, have not taken this narrow view, but have 

 conscientiously fostered technical education, with 

 the result that a number of good agricultural col- 

 leges and departments of universities are now in 

 existence doing very useful work. But a few have 

 thought of little more than relieving the rates, 

 and, while this course is undoubtedly popular with 

 a certain section of the community, it cannot be 

 described as wise. 



A recent instance is furnished by the action 

 of the East Sussex County Council in closing the 

 Uckfield Agricultural College. By a curious 

 anomaly Sussex is divided for educational pur- 

 poses into two areas, each under wholly distinct 

 administration. East Sussex has tried to run 

 elementary education and higher education on its 

 own account, and has not co-operated with any 

 of its neighbours in the matter. It had an agri- 

 cultural college at Uckfield which admittedly did 

 useful work : the number of students was well 

 maintained, and. grants were earned from the 

 NO. 241 I, VOL. 96] 



Board of Agriculture. As a war economy the 

 college has been closed. There is, we under- 

 stand, no suggestion of inefficiency on the part 

 of the staff : had that existed of course the matter 

 would have been different. Nor was there any 

 widespread demand on the part of East Sussex 

 farmers that their sons should be saved from the 

 possibility of receiving agricultural education. 

 The whole thing appears to have been done by 

 the education committee without reference to 

 anyone, and without any other reason than 

 economy. 



Now this action is very serious, more indeed 

 than appears at first sight. An agricultural col- 

 lege is not simply a building— which is at least 

 permanent; it comprises also fields, crops, live- 

 stock, etc., which are not permanent, and, once 

 sold into other hands, can scarcely be got together 

 again. To restart the college would be a difficult 

 business. The committee, in short, for the sake 

 of a small saving now, is piling up difficulties in 

 the way of any future attempts at agricultural 

 education that may be made by more enlightened 

 successors. If the college had been paid for ex- 

 clusively by the East Sussex ratepayers we might 

 leave the matter in their hands. But it has not : 

 the whole State has paid a good deal. The very 

 important question is raised whether an educa- 

 tion committee of a county council ought to have 

 the power to close an institution subsidised by 

 the State, and whether the State ought not to have 

 the power of veto. 



We believe that East Sussex is the only place 

 wherd an agricultural college has been closed by 

 the county council, but in another instance — again 

 a case where. a county council is split into sections 

 for purposes of education — the expert agricultural 

 organiser has been dismissed on the score, not 

 of inefficiency, which would have been a satis- 

 factory reason had it existed, but of economy. 

 This section of the county will save the organiser's 

 salary — which was not very great — but every 

 agricultural college has mentally noted the fact, 

 and it is scarcely likely that they would recom- 

 mend competent students to enter the service of 

 that particular body in future. Again the State 

 ought to have the power of veto, for here also it 

 has provided part at least of the funds. 



It appears to be only in cases where a county 

 is split up into sections that these unfortunate in- 

 cidents occur. In larger areas larger ideas pre- 

 vail, and the further question arises whether it is 

 right that education, which is essentially a matter 

 for the future— and in which, therefore, the large 

 idea is indispensable — should be in the hands of 

 a small committee ■ representing a small area, and 

 we fear animated by rather small ideas? It would 

 seem that better results could be obtained by 

 working over larger areas, for there alone is the 

 hope of finding enough men with ideas and ideals 

 to serve on the committees, and. to protect 

 the lecturers and organisers who are honestly 

 trying to do their best for the agricultural 

 community. 



