28 On Technical Education. [January, 
of teaching drawing was far superior to the systems of all 
Europe put together: one of the members of the Technical 
Commission, Dr. Roscoe, has recently stated the very 
reverse ; he says the French system of teaching drawing is 
superior to ours : — “ A little French or German boy out of 
the street is able to draw, and draw accurately, in a way 
which is astounding to an Englishman conversant only with 
the work of the ordinary primary English school.” 
Sir Henry also said that he thought that when South 
Kensington was once provided with permanent and safe 
buildings, the annual Parliamentary grant would not appre- 
ciably increase ; in faCt that was the advantage to be derived 
from the payment by result system. South Kensington has 
been provided with permanent and safe buildings, yet the 
net increase of the grant this year over that of last year is 
£18,369. Sir Henry did not state what he thought would 
be effected by the payment on result system in improving 
the Art and Science education of the country : this is what 
we purpose examining into, but before commencing we must 
bring under the notice of our readers three paragraphs taken 
from the Departments’ Science Directory for 1881 : we shall 
number the paragraphs for convenience of reference. 
1. “The objedl of the grant is to promote instruction in 
Science, especially among the industrial classes, by affording 
a limited and partial aid or stimulus towards the founding 
and maintenance of Science Schools.” 
2. “ The amount is liable to be decreased, and eventually 
withdrawn . Payments to teachers, therefore, must not be looked 
upon as perpetual , or in any way conferring on the teacher a 
claim to any payments beyond those offered from time to time.” 
3. “ All possible care will be taken by the Department that the 
Examination papers shall be forwarded in accordance with the 
applications , and that the resiUts shall be correctly issued. As, 
however , the number of schools is very large, mistakes may occur. 
The Department cannot undertake to rectify them, nor will it be 
responsible for any loss which may thereby occur.” 
It will be seen from par. 3 that if the Examination Papers 
miscarry no examination will be held, and the teacher will 
receive no payment or compensation from the Department : 
he will therefore, as far as the Department is concerned, be 
deprived of a year’s earnings. We learn from par. 2 that a 
Science teacher under the Department has no certainty of 
any payment from the Department beyond the present ; and 
he does not even know what he may receive for his present 
work, for it does not depend on the labour and time he has 
given to his classes. Other teachers who prepare pupils for 
