3874 REPORT—1904. 
‘(2) That the preparation for outside examinations has a ruinous effect 
on the system of instruction. 
‘ The arguments of its supporters, on the other hand, implied incapacity, 
or slackness, on the part of the school teacher. 
‘In Minnesota the work of inspection is carried out, not by the 
University, but by a State High School Board, of which the University 
president is chairman, and which appoints a High School inspector. 
This system is closely parallel to that of the Central Welsh Board in its 
relation to the Secondary Schools of Wales. The attitude of the private 
schools may be explained by the fact that their pupils are largely the 
sons of rich parents and less prone to exertion, and that outside pressure 
is therefore welcomed as an ally. 
‘At a juncture when new Universities and new Secondary Schools 
are being called into existence in England no feature of American 
education seems to offer more helpful suggestions than the accrediting 
system of the Middle West.’ 
The following statement, taken from the same source, is by Professor 
Gregory Foster :— 
‘It is a fundamental principle in American Universities that the 
man who is fit to teach is also to be trusted to examine his own students. 
The external examiner and the external examination system is practi- 
cally unknown in the United States. The teachers are free, and being 
free they are enabled to give to their courses a breadth and depth that 
would be impossible were they hampered by the knowledge that their 
students were to be tested by examiners who knew little or nothing of 
them. 
‘The tests and examinations for undergraduate students leading to the 
bachelors’ degrees are conducted almost entirely by the individual teachers, 
and with the most satisfactory results. There may be abuses from time 
to time by individual teachers, but, as far as I was able to discover, the 
evils resulting from such occasional abuses are less great and certainly 
less widespread than the evils of the examination systems of the 
British Universities. In the Universities of the States there seemed 
to be an atmosphere of quiet study and scholarly work which is 
apparently continuous throughout the session, and remains undisturbed 
by feverish bursts of cramming that characterise British colleges and 
Universities. 
‘The American system requires elaborate daily care and guiding, 
watching, and recording of students’ progress, but that care probably does 
not involve a greater expenditure of energy than the organisation of the 
unwieldy examination system of this country. Moreover, as it is spread 
over a large period it cannot involve the terrible weariness that is brought 
about by the British system. 
‘ From the point of view of the student, I have no hesitation in saying 
that the result is far better. When the American scheme is well carried 
out it ensures continuous and steady work. It makes “slacking” impossible, 
and thus prevents waste of time during some of the most critical and 
valuable years of a young man’s life. 
‘The influence on the teacher is no less salutary ; the American teacher 
thinks of his functions as a teacher and director of studies, while the 
British teacher is driven by force of circumstances to conceive and direct 
