88 



NATURE 



[May 24, 1894 



discussed ; now the necessity is recognised by everyone, 

 and the suhject under consideration is the best method 

 of carrying on the work. The commercial wotkl has 

 begun to realise the importance of training workmen on 

 scientific lines; it has been led to see that the encourage- 

 ment of science means the advance of industry and increase of 

 trade. These lessons were difficult to leain, and, even at the 

 present time, the connection between science and manufactures 

 is not properly understood. But a beginning has been made. 

 London, the city that prides itself upon being the largest and 

 richest in the world, but which until recently ignored the need 

 for technical instruction, has begun to foster the child it had 

 done its best to kill by neglect. A comparison with the educa- 

 tional work carried on in Polytechnics on the continent has 

 served to accentuate the deficiencies of London, and to create 

 a desire to follow the lead there indicated. The awakening was 

 rather abrupt, and it was thought by some that the time lost 

 could be rapidly made up again. But this mistaken idta has now 

 been given up, and it is seen that the only way to improve our 

 arts and industries is by slowly educating the inind and training 

 the hand of the mechanic. 



Goldsmiths' Institute is speci.illy fortunate in having a very 

 strong Governing Body, containing as it does the names of Sir 

 Frederick Abel, Sir Frederick Bramwell, .Sir Richard Webster, 

 Sir Waller Prideaux, Dr. Anderson, and Mr. G. Malthey. It 

 will be seen from Fig. i, which shows a view of the Institute from 

 the back, that the building covers a considerable area. The struc- 

 ture is the old Royal Naval School building adapted and extended 

 to the requirements of ihe Institute. Some people considered 

 it a disadv.intage to take an insiilute like that of the Gold- 

 smiths' Company into an old building, but, on the whole, there 

 are many atlvantages in so doing. In a new building, the architect 

 provides everything he is told to provide, but he docs not leave 

 room for future exigencies. In an old building, however, there 

 are usually facilities for extensions in Ihe direction which 

 experience shows to be necessary. 



The buildings of the Goldsmiths' Institute are considerably 

 larger than those of any of the other London Polytechnics. A 

 technical museum is now being added, which will be a special 

 fenture of this Institute. 



The Institute differs from most other Polytechnics in the con- 

 ditions of membership. The Batlersea Polytechnic and the 



Flc. «. — The Goldsmiths' institute (from the l).ick) 



It i.s proposed in this article to give an account of three 

 ioitilutes in London which provide evening education and 

 recreation for persons engaged in various trades and industries 

 during the day. The institutes referred to are Ihe Goldsmiths' 

 Instiiulc, the People's Palace, and the Haltersea Polytechnic 

 Institute. Oiher institute;, however, are referred to incidentally. 



To begin with the technical and recreative Institute at New 

 Cross, established and endowed by the Goldsmiths' Company. 

 The expendilure of this Company upon their Institute has 

 amounted to something like /^8o,oco, and they have assigned it 

 an endowment of /f5"0o per annum. Work was commenced 

 in the Institute in October, 1891, Mr. J. S. Reclmaync, of 

 Merlon College, Oxford, the Secretary, having been appointed 

 about eighteen months previously in order to draw up a scheme 

 of work and get together a strong and efficient stalT. His 

 duties are generally lo supervise Ihe slafiT and work, under the 

 direction of the Governor^, and generally act as resident re- 

 pretcnlaiive of the Governors It is hardly necessary lo remark 

 (hat the success of Polytechnic Institutes from an educational 

 point of view depends very largely ujion the fiovernors. The 



NO. I 282, VOL. 50] 



People's Palace exclude from membership of the institute, thai 

 is, from the social and recreative side, all except stutlents. Ai 

 the Regent Street Polytechnic, we believe, the rules are exactly 

 the opposite way ; those who care to pay for enjoying the social 

 side can also, in virtue of so doing, gel their education cheapci, 

 that is lo say, the class fees are reduced to members. We have 

 no hesitation in saying that this plan is very bad. The first 

 object of a Polytechnic should be the advancement of techr 

 nical education. When this purpose is kept more or less in the 

 background, the social and recreative side of the work tends to 

 run rampant. In such cases the " House of Contmons," where 

 persons play at Parliament, is one of the most fltuirishing of thp 

 societies, and the "dreary drip of dilatory declam.'^tion " CoOs 

 stilules the pabulum of a large proportion of the members. The 

 Governors of the Borough Institute have apparently found that 

 loo much attention to clubs and concerts is detrimental to edu- 

 cational work, for they have recently required that all new 

 members should belong lo one or more of the classes, and even 

 now there seems to be room for improvement. 



At ihr Goldsmiths' Instiiule there is one class fee for members 



