192 ; REPORT—1874. 
On some Practical Difficulties in Working the Elementary Education Act, 1870. 
By Lyvia E, Brcxer. 
The Elementary Education Act of 1870 contains provisions whereby the com- 
ulsory attendance at school of children between the ages of five and thirteen may 
bs secured. In consequence of the action of school-boards under these provisions 
many thousands ofchildren are now attending school who did not attend previously ; 
but the effect of the compulsory action has not been altogether favourable. In Man- 
chester, while the number of scholars in the district has been increased by 18,000, 
the average attendance at some of the best elementary schools has been lowered 
as a direct consequence of the compulsory action of the Board. The Manchester 
Board practically limited the service of notices to cases where the children had made 
50 per cent. of attendances. The people rapidly discovered that they were not inter- 
fered with if the children had made half the possible attendances; thence arose an 
impression that half-time satisfied the requirements of the Board and of the Act, 
and this caused a lowering of the average attendance in the best schools. Ifa 
minimum rate is fixed on as a concession to the weakness and needs of the very 
poor, that becomes practically the maximum for the whole district, and the general 
rate of attendance is lowered to it. 
One of the greatest practical difficulties, especially with regard to girls, is the 
domestic difficulty. Houses have to be kept in order, babies have to be nursed, 
fathers’ dinners have to be taken, &c. Girls are kept from school to do these things ; 
and when there are no girls, boys are frequently detained for these purposes. It 
one open to grave doubt whether it is really necessary, in order to teach a 
child reading, writing, and arithmetic, to require two school attendances per day. 
It is suggested that, with properly organized schools, children who attdeilel once a 
‘day regularly would be able to pass the Government standards as readily as they 
do now. There is a large proportion of cases where the earnings of the children 
stand between the parents and pauperism ; and the question suggested is, whether it 
is most in accordance with sound economic science to require that the children shall 
be sent to school at the cost of throwing the parents on the parish, or to allow the 
schooling of the children to be sacrificed to the exigencies of the poverty of the 
parents. 
Reform in the Work of the Medical Profession. By Miss Brgvy. 
Workmen’s Dwellings from a Commercial Standpoint. By W. Borty. 
Principles of Penal Legislation. By the Rev. J. T. Burr. 
16 
The elementary principles on which penalties ought to be regulated are not 
generally agreed upon. 
Penalties are, at the present time, regulated upon three different principles. 
i. The principle of retributive justice. This principle is now generally repudi- 
ated in theory; but it is still largely acted upon in the administration of 
punishment. 
ii, The principle of reforming offenders by a course of moral training. This prin- 
ciple is not allowed by practical politicians; but it has influenced modern eines 
iil. The deterrent principle. This principle accords with the true theory of 
punishment, subject to limitations, 
The deterrent force of penalties is limited— 
1, By defective mental capacity in a large portion of the population ; 
2. By excessive pressure of external circumstances, especially by want. 
The attempt to extend the deterrent force of penalties beyond those limits will 
be, to a great extent, futile; and all useless punishment is both inhuman and 
impolitie, 
