The Press. — London, England, 1857-06-27 00:00:00

great value to the labour of children, and thus leads (1) to employers of the parents requiring the labour of the children; (2) to dissolute parents living upon the wages of children's labours; (3) to a premature and ruinous independence of life and action among the very young ; all of which causes lead to the withdrawal of the children from the school. 3. That the section cannot express these conclusions without adding that, in its opinion, while some protection of children from too early labour may, in certain cases, become necessary, it is in the improvement of education by moral and religious influences, rather than by legiala• tion, that the greatest remedy for these evils must be found. The right rev. prelate, in referring to the labours of his section, said it bad brought out strongly certain great facts connected with education which could never be too earnestly repeated. It had shown be yond doubt that there was a direct tendency in the Nice of each generation to reproduce itself in still woke forms in the vice and ignorance of another. He th%ught, as far as he could judge from the papers read befor. Section A, that poverty was the chief or almost only cause of the non-attendance of children at the schools. His lordship concluded by pro posing the following resolution That it is the opinion of this Conference that the greater number of the children of the working classes are removed from school at so early an age as seriously to interfere With their education. That while this Conference is pre. eluded from entering on the question of legislative inter ference, it would call the attention of the friends of education to the positive amount of good which may be effected as to increasing the age to which children continue at eel: 00l by the improvement of the schools themselves, and bringing moral and religious influences to bear upon both the parents and children. Sir J. PAaniorox seconded the resolution, which the Marquis of LANSDOWNE supported in a brief speech. It was carried nem. con. The Right Hon. W. COWPER, M.P., read the report from Section B, which was as follows : That it appears that in Germany and Switzerland the regulations in force have produced a very general atten• dance in primary schools on the part of the children of the labouring classes between the ages of five and fourteen, and that the proportion of children in daily attendance at school is one in six of the population of Prussia and some other States of Germany, and one in five in Switzerland. In Holland the attendance at school is estimated at one in eight of the population. In France one in eight of the population are in primary elementary schools, exclusive of infant schools, and the age of leaving school is ordinarily regulated by the age at which the children are admitted. Mr. Cowl , En then moved the following resolu tion : That throughout the north of Europe the children of the working classes are kept for a longer period at school, and to a riper age, than in this country. The resolution was then put and carried nnani• mously. Sir J. K. SEturrLEworrit, the chairman of Section C, then read the report from that meeting, which said : That in carrying into execution the certificate and prize schemes, and others brought under the consideraticat of this section, it is desirable to keep in view the following principles That such schemes should be regarded only as subsidiary to other agencies for acting upon the irregularity and in sufficiency of the time of school attendance. That they should aim at enlisting the co-operation of employers of labour, of the Government in its administra• tion of appointments, and of the trustees of apprenticeship funds. That they should be formed with due regard to character and conduct, as well as intellectual attainment. That the section regards with peculiar interest the applica• tion of prize and certificate schemes to evening schools which educate young persons from thirteen years of age to twenty, and which may thus hope to preserve them from degrading and sensual habits. After reading this report the hon. baronet begged to propose the third resolution : That registration, certificate, and prize schemes have been shown to have been applied in certain localities with advantage, and to be worthy of more extensive trial. Mr. BAINES, of Leeds, seconded and the Rev. Canon GIRDLESTONE supported the resolution, which was put and carried nem. con. The Very Rev. the Dean of SALISBURY submitted the report of Section D, which said : That in the opinion of this section the careful examina tion of the results of instruction in good half-time schools, as compared with the results of instruction forthe ordinary full time in the same or the like schools, is fraught with important results affecting the whole scheme ftz the labouring classes. That in large factories or farms the system of relays is advisable each half-day ; but that, under circumstances of practical difficulty, the alternate day or week would be preferable. That it is expedient to en courage night schools as places of primary or secondary instruction, in which subjects having relation to the specific labour of the locality should be taught by certificated or other competent masters. The section believes that the establishment of evening schools of this class will do much towards remedying the deficient state of education amor.g both the • and adult members of the workingclasses. system is to be worked with success __ first instance, be addressed to em preferewco of imitructiou will, by stamping a both the younger and s That if the voluntary s an appeal must, in the ployers, whose preferel THE PRESS. material value upon education, materially tend to secure the co-operation of parents. The Dean of SALISBURY then proposed That the voluntary half time schemes have been with success adopted in certain localities, and may be recom• mended for further trial. The resolution was carried. The Dean of BRISTOL brought up the report from Section E, which gave an elaborate outline of the papers read. It concluded as follows : That, inasmuch as industrial training is calculated-1. To impart to the children of the working classes habits of industry; 2. To qualify them by manual exercise for manual employments, which are those by which they are aftet wards to live; 3. To enlist the sympathies of the parents by its useful, practical, and remunerative tendency, and thus induce tl em to keep their children longer at school, it is desirable to encourage to the utmost the intro duction of the industrial element in our schools for the working classes. The very rev. gentleman proposed : That this Conference considers the encouragement of industrial education in elementary schools, especially among girls, to be very desirable, and that such instruction is peculiarly important in the reformation of juvenile offenders. Mr. JELLINGER SYMONS briefly supported the re port and resolution, which were put and carried. The Bishop of SODOR and MAN then proposed the adjournment of the meeting, for the preparation of a final report of the prcceedings. The motion was then put, and carried unani mously, after a long and irregular discussion, and the proceedings terminated. lortign pr,orrtsponbenct. FLORENCE, June 18. In a former paper we drew attention to the Tuscan Agricultural Exhibition, lately held in the city of Florence, reviewing cursorily at the same time the present state of the agricultural interest in the Grand Duchy, and traced the depression existing to two causes—viz.. the joint-stook system of farming, as between landlord and tenant, a system injurious to both parties; and the abstraction by the conscrip tion for the army of a vast and increasing proportion of the thews and sinews of the land. We now purpose to draw attention to the financial state of the Grand Duchy, its revenue, its expenditure, and its public debt. It is necessary to premise that the utmost diffi culty exists in arriving at anything like a true state ment, or deducing, on these heads, a satisfactory conclusion. The whole system of public accounts in Tuscany is a huge deceit. Great ingenuity is dis played in concocting annual or quinquennial statistical reports, which, plausible in generalities, and apparently minutely correct in detail, impose upon the unwary ; and to the mere casual observer appear highly satisfactory, and most creditable, alike to the compilers, the Government, and its employes. Very differently, however, are they viewed by those who know the real state of affairs, by those, few, alas, in number, but great in moral influence, who, in dependent and honourable, neither trucklers to those in power, nor ignorant disciples of faction, steer their course true to the compass of patriotism, and exert ail their knowledge and all their skill to save their vessel, the land they dwell in and love so well, from shipwreck and destruction. In these men lies the hope of Tuscany—on them are fixed the eyes of their les; gifted countrymen—and to one of them are we indebted for very much of all that is valuable in the papers we have written, or may write, on Tuscan affairs. In dealing with Tuscan finance, we shall always quote the Tuscan lira, which may be regarded as about 9d. English. The annual revenue of Tuscany is about 38,000,000 lire, which is composed of the customs, the land and property tax, and a poll tax (tassa di famiglia). The custom duty levied is very considerable, but is not onerous. The tax on land and property is very heavy, amounting, in some instances, to as much as thirty and thirty •five per cent. Perhaps the average is between twentytive and thirty. The mode of assessing and levying this tax is very curious and very arbitrary. The Government state that 'they require such and such a sum, which sum must be raised on land and househoid property, allotting certain proportions to certain localities. The different, communes then meet, and in their turn appoint valuers, who compute the burden to be laid on each individual. The property of each person is valued, but that estimated value is not taxed, but a sum under the probable, and in most instances easily and accurately to he ascertained value, lit taxed at the rate, as we have above mentioned, of twenty-five or thirty per cent. Such a levy seems enormous ; and it doubtless is extremely oneroto. it must ; however ? be under- SATURDAY, stood that this one tax comprises everything save the tassa di famiglia. There is no water rate, no paving due, no tax on horses, carriages, armorial bearings, et hoc genus omne. The patient is not cupped, but is lanced ; the instrument goes in deep, and the blood flows freely ; but the vein once closed, the operation is not again had recourse to. This mode of taxation seems to be, and doubtless is, open to much unfairness, partiality, and peculation. There is nothing fixed or determined about it from first to last. The Government demand what they choose, or what the exigencies of the service require. The commune, or corporations, divide the required sum among the different towns, villages, and parishes ; and by these again it is allotted to different indi viduals, according to the assumed value of the property of eaoh ; such assessment being made by valuers chosen year by year. It must be evident that favouritism has here abundant scope, and that strict impartiality is almost impossible. Naturally, grumblers abound, and discontent is rife ; the only satisfaction felt being, that in due course of time the man who feels himself aggrieved and unduly taxed may have his revenge, when, appointed valuer, he in his turn may run a muck through his neigh bour's vineyard and fold, and repay with interest the wrongs he has sustained. The poll tax, or tassa di .famiglia, is also levied in an extremely arbitrary manner. A general view of a man's mode of life is taken, and he is called upon to contribute accordingly. His financial position is guessed at, and the levy is made in a like ratio. Without the intervention of second-sight seers, taxation mediums, it is difficult to imagine that either Government or governed obtain their due. One man is rich, avaricious, and close—another needy, fond of show, and a spendthrift; yet the probability is that the needy man will contribute more than the rich one. One man has a friend in the valuers—the other an enemy. The tax is not individually heavy. Perhaps a man of 0001. a year would be called on to contribute between 31. and 41. The sum is not large, but the modes operandi is bad and unjust. Some time since an attempt was made to impose the tax on foreigners, and in several instances with success. A friend of ours, however, resisted the claim, and fought against it successfully during three years. For each year, notwithstanding decisions in his favour, was the demand made. According to a law passed in 1818, no foreigners, unless settled in Florence in trade, or pursuit ° , a profession for emolument, or naturalised, can be called on to pay the tassa di famiglia. The pass port of each stranger is taken trom him on entering the city gates, and is retained so long as he remains in the Grand Duchy. He is compelled, under fine, to furnish himself with a carta di soggiarno, or per mission to reside, and for this he pays a small sum, such carta di soggiarno being only given for short periods, generally three or six months, at the expira tion of which it must be renewed, and again paid for. Notwithstanding this, so many attempts were made to render foreigners amenable to the tassa difamiglia, that a meeting of foreign represen tatives was held, and an agreement made that all foreigners resident ten years in Tuscany should be liable to the tax. How far this can be legally enforced, so long as the law of 1818 remains unre pealed, is matter for debate, and may, ere long, be called in question. As usual, foreign representatives studied their own convenience and the wishes of the Government to which they were accredited, rather than the fulfilment of the duties intrusted to them and the rights and privileges of those who pay them the liberal salaries they enjoy. These taxes form the main parts of the revenue. Other small tributaries no doubt exist, but the total afforded must be small, as the expenses of collection are considerable. A small tax has lately been im posed on dogs, not with any eye to a financial result. but in order to render less frequent the lamentable cases of hydrophobia, and to diminish the number of ill•fed mangy curs, which heretofore infested the streets of Florence. A very considerable sum might be raised by the imposition of a tax on horses, carriages, and armorial bearings—all luxuries for the rich, and all largely indulged in, indeed to a degree quite in proportkon to the ostensible means of the upper classes in Tuscany. In a subsequent paper on the social state of the country we shall state why we believe this mode, so legitimate, of raising a revenue has not been resorted to. In our next we shall treat of expenditure and public debt. F. W. TnE BELGIAN MAIL STEAMER Constitution, while running up Channel for Southampton last week, when between Beachy Head and Dungeness, came into collision with the Gen oa , b o und for London from Palermo, and did her serious damage. The injury was not, however, sufficient to prevent the Genoa from proceeding on her voyage. The Genoa had previously been in collision with a brig anti got dammed.