AGRICULTURAL CHILDREN BILL 309 



The above Bill, introduced by the Right Hon. W. E. Forster, 

 Vice -President of the Committee on Education, received the 

 Royal Assent on 9th August, 1870. It provided that children 

 must attend school between the ages of five and thirteen ; 

 but school authorities were empowered to make by-laws for 

 a shorter attendance than that of the full period. The obtain- 

 ing of a certificate of having " passed " a certain standard 

 allowed for total or partial exemption from attendance 

 between ten and thirteen years of age ; and residence at 

 a distance of three miles from the nearest school (variable by 

 local by-laws) was considered " a reasonable excuse " for 

 non-attendance . 



On 16th April, 1872, on the motion of Mr. Pell, M.P., the 

 Council resolved in favour of limiting the advantages con- 

 nected with endowments applicable to the education of the 

 working classes to the locality intended to be benefited by 

 ,the founder, and declared their opinion that to appropriate 

 to second aiy or middle-class education endowments intended 

 for elementary education would be contrary to the intention 

 of the Endowed Schools Act, 1869. At the same time it was 

 agreed that to remedy the prevalent stagnation appertaining 

 to endowments for secondary education and applicable for 

 providing schools for farmers' sons, a county organisation, as 

 recommended by the Schools Inquiry Commission, was 

 desirable and should be provided for by the Legislature. 



The Agricultural Children's Bill, introduced by Mr. C. S. 

 Read, was unanimously approved by the Council on 8th May, 

 1872, after assurances that the prescribed minimum number 

 of school attendances in a year would be so arranged as to 

 allow every possible facility for juvenile labour in hop -picking, 

 fruit gathering and other exceptional operations of husbandry, 



In 1873 Mr. Read again brought forward his measure, 

 but it was so amended in Committee that the Council con- 

 sidered it at their June meeting. It was then unanimously 

 resolved " that the substitution of thirteen for twelve, as 

 carried in Committee of the House of Commons, was sub- 

 versive of the principles of Mr. Read's Bill. A petition from 

 the Council was presented to the Lords praying their Lord- 



