TECHNICAL EDUCATION 191 



the struggle, possessed of natural resources to which we can make 

 no pretension, and with every prospect of soon possessing that 

 cheap labour by which they may be effectually utilized. Many 

 circumstances tend to justify the hope that we may hold our own 

 if we are careful to ' organize victory.' But to those who reflect 

 seriously on the prospects of the population of Lancashire and 

 Yorkshire — should the time ever arrive when the goods which are 

 produced by their labour and their skill are to be had cheaper 

 elsewhere — to those who remember the cotton famine and reflect 

 how much worse a customer famine would be, the situation 

 appears very grave." 



An important lecture in the form of an " Address on 

 Behalf of the National Association for the Promotion of 

 Technical Education," was delivered at Manchester on 

 November 29 (Coll. Essays, iii, p. 427). The purpose of 

 the Association is stated as " the development of the 

 industrial productivity of the country to the uttermost 

 limits consistent with social welfare." Elementary 

 education requires modification, for it should include 

 some training of the faculty of observation. Drawing 

 is strongly advocated : — 



" I do not mean artistic drawing ; I mean figuring natural 

 objects : making plans and sections, approaching geometrical 

 rather than artistic drawing. . . . The child who has been 

 taught to make an accurate elevation, plan and section of a pint 

 pot has had an admirable training in accuracy of eye and hand. 

 ... I am glad to say that in Eton, a school of whose governing 

 body I have the honour of being a member, we, some years ago, 

 made drawing imperative on the whole school." 



The question of how best to develop technical skill is 

 considered. The work of the Science and Art Depart- 

 ment is spoken of and defended. Trade schools are too 

 expensive and not accessible to wage-earners. Schools 

 attached to factories are good, but only of partial applica- 

 tion. Evening Classes have a wider scope, and should 



