The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1870-01-29 00:00:00

WHAT MAY BE DONE BY INTELLIGENCE.

To show how little the raw material of manufacture com-
pares in value with the skill and Intellect applied toll, pro-
duction, I may mention that Switzerland imports cotton
from America, and sends It back again across the ocean In a
manufactured state so as to undersell the products of the
American mills. In like manner she imports t.,bacco from
ilavarinah, and, making it into cigars, undersells the indi-
genous country In the South American markets. What has
enaided this little nation, no remote from the pathway. of
commerce, and so poor in the mineral resources of Industry,
to carry on manufacturing production by the alit of a
prosperons and contented people, white England, washed
by the ocean and abounding In mineral wealth, is but.
dental with on everilricreasing proportion of the un-
productive poor? There Is only one answer, that Switzer-
land hiSS a highly-educated people. Education in that Re-
public, where liiierty ha. long asserted her independence,
Is compubory from live to sixteen years of age. DI oseor two
of the cantons this ie not the case, but even iii these, from
the (AT, of the surroui•iling examples, there is no need of
compulsion. The compulsion Is both direA and indirect—
that is, it extends not only to the parent, but also to the
employer of labour. The Coventry riband trade, which haa
aesertad England, has settled itself in the valleys of Swit-
Zi eland. The rihand trate of Switzerland is prosperous and
Ler...ming. having an annual value of £1 600,000, most of
which In expintrd, whilst the klacclestiel I and Coventry
trade, languishing and pining, has its exports represented
by £61,000. The difference between the Swiss trade and
the Coventry trade is very simple; It Is Involved in the
answer given by Opfe the painter to • youth who asked him how
he mixed his colours: "1 mix them with my brains, Sir !" In
the ne, high science and art superintend evtry nranch of
the industry, and • trained intelligence sits at the loom.
In the other, the first is represented by a practical empiri.
CUM, the latter by Ignorance. As long as this Is the case
no reciprocal treaties which man can devise will raise an
Industry declining from natural causes.
WE MAY BORROW A LESSON FROM TUE ',ETCH,
Taking Holland as his next illustration, lie said,— Holland
sends to this country alone exports of food to the annual
value of five millions of pounds, and manufactured product/
worth six millions more. The secret other prosperity is the
high state of education among the people, though, from vault
of • compulsory law, there is still a residue of ignorant. In
the primary schools of Holland • wide foundation is laid for
practical purposes in the attention gietn to science; and
beyond this primary Instruction there Is a connilete scheme
of is chnicsl education, not only for workmen, but also for
the foremen and manager, of works.

SCOTLAND MUST WARE UP.

- • •
Speaking of education In Scdtlaiod, Dr. Playfair
lie England is about to reform all her educational endow-
ments by throning them into one grand scheme of secondary
education for the whole body of the people, with the agency
of rtspdoisible Commissioners Dominated by the Crown,
Scotland has allowed her endowments to remain under
irresponsible corp..rations, who seem to have no inclination
to give up their patronage and elites privileges for the benefit
of the nation. flow much longer Scotland intends to aleep
on I do not know, but the world at large sees etc trip enough
that the lions passants of England on their four feet are now
making much more way than the lion rampant of Scotland
on Its two hind legs. It was not by dwelling on the past that
John Knox laid the basis of prosperity for his country. Past
glories ought to be honoured; but future gloriosa require to
be achieved

TkIE REMEDY FOR THE ILLS OF IRELAND.
,Lutly, I bring Ireland Intl contrast with the three mum.
tries which I have described in their relations to education
There is nothing inherent in the soil, in the Celtic °dabs of
the people, or in the religion of Ireland that should prevent
it be ...mine an important manufacturing country, for all of
these condition. are represented in other prosperous notions.
The chief difficulty for its development consists t the fact
that England has impreased a character upon the people by
centuries of misrule, and that time is requisim for the change
of character. Ni measure of improvement which stops at
the nog .n that agriculture is sufficient for the people can
make Ireland prosperous. The quickest remedy for the ills
which affiut her will be the secondary education of the
people in practical suhiccts. It is only through such educa-
tion that sou can diminish the craving hunger for land, and
raise • desire for other forms ot Industrial occupations.