258 



NATURE 



[November 6, 1919 



The International Exhibition of 1862 held in 

 London showed a further striking advance on the 

 part of foreign nations : Switzerland with her 

 aniline colours, Prussia with her ingots of Krupp 

 steel, France with her steam-engines, and the 

 United States with ingenious machinery for 

 economising labour. But it was the Exhibition of 

 1867, held in Paris, which offered conclusive ana 

 disturbing evidence of the successful efforts of 

 foreign nations in the application of organised 

 scientific and technical education to manufactures, 

 especially in the production of well-designed 

 steam-engines, boilers, ships' armour, and 

 artillery. 



In the great ironworks at Creusot, in France, 

 there was established a systematic organisation 

 of technical schools such as could be found no- 

 where in England. It was the considered judg- 

 ment of skilled observers and of representative 

 workmen in various trades who visited the ex- 

 hibition that England no longer held the pre- 

 eminence in industry which was surely hers in 

 1851, due, as was declared, entirely to the absence 

 of sufficient facilities of training in pure and 

 applied science. The Science and Art Depart- 

 ment, founded in its entirety in 1853, had en- 

 couraged the establishment of evening classes in 

 science and art, but they reached only a fraction 

 of the workers, and except in a few instances 

 they had little bearing upon the technology of 

 industry. It may safely be said that in i86g out 

 of 1,250,000 youths engaged in industry not 

 more than 5 per cent, were receiving any training 

 in applied science in the day and evening institu- 

 tions of the kingdom. 



The period of trade depression that followed 

 after the year 1869 and the awakening of the 

 nation to the serious industrial competition 

 of certain foreign nations, largely due to 

 better educational provision, notably of scien- 

 tific education, especially for the leaders of 

 industry, gave rise to earnest efforts to 

 provide the means of scientific and technical 

 training in this country. The Livery Companies 

 of the City of London joined with the City in the 

 creation of the City and Guilds of London In- 

 stitute in 1879, the purpose of which it was to pro- 

 vide a day and evening technical college at Finsbury 

 (opened in 1883) for boys purposing to enter upon 

 industrial pursuits, together with a central college 

 at South Kensington, opened in 1884, for the 

 training of future industrial leaders and teachers 

 of technology. In addition, the aim of the insti- 

 tute was to encourage the establishment of techno- 

 logical classes throughout the kingdom and to set 

 up a system of examinations in the subjects. 

 Large annual sums were subscribed in support of 

 these objects, and certificates, prizes, and medals 

 were awarded to successful students. 



Considerable annual grants were given in aid 

 of the establishment of technical schools in Man- 

 chester, Sheffield, and other places, and the 

 Company of Clothworkers made itself responsible 

 for the establishment and support of a textile 

 department at the Yorkshire College, Leeds, 

 NO. 2610, VOL. 104] 



whilst the Company of Drapers founded and sup- 

 ported the People's Palace, now the East London 

 College. The interest aroused in the subject of 

 technical education and the rising competition of 

 Continental nations led the Government to 

 appoint in July, 1881, a Royal Commission "to 

 inquire into the instruction of the industrial 

 classes of certain foreign countries in technical 

 and other subjects for the purpose of comparison 

 with that of the corresponding classes in this 

 country, and into the influence of such instruc- 

 tion in manufacturing and other industries at 

 home and abroad." The Commission presented 

 in 1884 an exhaustive and highly informing and 

 stimulating report after nearly three years' 

 inquiry not only in Europe, but also in 

 the United States, which had a profound effect 

 upon public opinion, and led to the passing of 

 the Technical Instruction Act of 1889, which em- 

 powered local authorities to rate themselves for 

 the support of technical schools. This was fol- 

 lowed by the Act of 1890, whereby nearly 

 8oo,oooZ. annually derived from the customs and 

 excise duties was placed at the disposal of local 

 authorities for purposes similar to those of the 

 former Act. 



This resulted in the establishment, chiefly by 

 the local authorities, of technical schools and col- 

 leges throughout the kingdom, a few of which 

 were effectively equipped and staffed for the 

 training of qualified day students intended for 

 leading positions in the various industries, and 

 some of these schools, like those of certain Lon- 

 don polytechnics, Manchester, Glasgow, Sheffield, 

 Bristol, and Belfast, came into intimate relations 

 with their respective universities. The Education 

 Act of 1902, which placed all grades of education, 

 exclusive of the university, under the control of 

 the local authority, had a unifying effect which 

 made it possible to correlate the various forms 

 of education and to bring the opportunity of 

 secondary and technical training within reach of 

 the poor but capable scholar. 



Meanwhile, many important industries, notably 

 those producing scientific instruments, chemical 

 ware, fine chemicals, and especially artificial dj-e- 

 stuffs, had passed largely into the hands of 

 German and Swiss firms, as witness their^ ex- 

 hibits in the Paris Exhibition of 1900, due entirely 

 to the command on their part of an effective 

 supply of efficient scientific workers, so that they 

 held the "key" of our textile trades so far as 

 printed and coloured goods were concerned. The 

 course of the great war has made clear, however, 

 the innate capacity and resource of the English 

 manufacturer in these and other products of 

 foreign origin, as well as in the fertility of his 

 invention and in the success with which he has 

 met and solved many technical problems arising 

 during its course. Striking evidence of this was 

 displayed in the exhibitions of British scientific 

 products held in London and Manchester in 1918, 

 and in London in 1919, under the auspices of 

 the British Science Guild — an organisation estab- 

 lished to further the cause of scientific and tech- 



