The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-08-16 00:00:00

RAGGED SCHOOLS.

SIR JOHN PAKINGTON deserves the best thanks
of the public, and the warmest gratitude of the
poor and friendless youth infesting---all- our great
communities, for the earnest appeal he made to
the Government on Tuesday evening, on behalf
of Industrial and Ragged Schools,;-in making.
which he was ably seconded by a shrewd and
intelligent:Liberal—Mr. BLACK, the member for
Edinburgh: - His object was to obtain some
modification in the regulations under which
assistance is now given to that peculiar and
interesting branch of the education of the lower
classes; and to urge upon the 'Tense of Commons
and the GoVernMent, that- these • schools do not.
- receive from Parliament the degree of aid 'to
which they are fairly and legitimately entitled;
and although- on a division the amendment was
lost, there can be little doubt that the discussion
of the subject *ill yet tend to pc:pat the cause of
'education among the poor.
$' . • •
The young Arabs of the town, or
vagrants, the offspring of, the poverty-stricken,
and of thieves, prostitutes, and prisoners, consti-
tute the great head-fountain of the streani Which
continually flows into and fills our prisons. Our
criminal calendars, as We poirled out yesterday,
testify to the fact that.the vast proportion of the
prisoners brought, before our assize courts, are
'
destitute of the very elements of education. Here
then. we have plainly' before us the great source'
of the vast and ever Vowing mass of crime under
which society groans, if We would check that.
-terrible curse we must at once grapp'e with it in its.
origin,- Prevention is easier and better than 'cure:
What avails it to .seize the: grown-up offenders
and imprison, transport, or execute them while
-
we leave untouched the hotbed in which the
4
reared, and in due. criminal is eng-etic-lered and ,
time sent forth to fill lip every- ,vacancy made by
.the periodical jail deliveries.? It is all very! well
to say that the :legislature gr4nts some eight
hundred thousand a'ycar for educational purpoSes,
but tell • us how much of that' Sum.' renehei the
class which most needs it. Nothing worth merit on-',
-,•••
ing-4or who will say, that five or six thousLd a
year for such a purpose is anything better- than a
mockery. It comes to this, then, that we are
spending eight hundred -theiusq,nd a -year 'in
edupating those who are able to procure education
for themselves, and little or nothing on those:who
are helpless. In an economical point of view this
is the height of folly, the consequence of which
maybe estimated in poundS sterling by casting
up the enormous cost of our crirniiialsysiern.
We find, for instance, from a recentereturnAhat
the annual average cost of transporting convicts
to West Australia is a hundred-and. eighty,.
'nine- thousand pounds, or at the rate of a
hundred and sixty-three poung'iier 'head, in,
addition to the expense of imprisonment and trial
at home. Thus the Goverument, will scarcely

. •
give a; shilling for-Ragged Schools, but is quite
ready to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds in
trying, convicting„ and punishing those neglected
children, whed, as almost inevitably happens, they
have fallen into crime. Setting aside every con-
sideration of charity and, benevolence, and look-
ing at the question as one of mere public policy,
is it not clearly the bounden duty of the Govern-
ment to _reconsider the course it has adopted, and
.
very largely to increase the giants to Raged
Schools as the only instrumentality adapted to
meet the wants of hordes of destitute: and
neglected _children. The rule of the Education
Committee of Council is that the grants shall be
limited to the education of the children of those
who are able to support, themselves by manual
labour. - Below this class, however, there are
hundreds of thousands of. children who are so
steeped.in poverty and wretchedness that unless
some kind hand is stretched out to save them, .
they must sink into degradation and crime. Is it
unreasonable to demand that these unhappy
children, whose sad fate is their misfor--
tune: rather than their fault, and ...who have
to battle with hunger, cold, and nakedness, shall
have their share of the . crumbs that fall
from the sumptuous table of the enormous educa-
tional grant of eight hundred thousand a year.
:Their miserable lot is such that,. if left to them-
selves and unassisted, they can -scarcely- prevent,
themselves from falling into vicious courses.
Moreover, these vagrant and neglected 'ehildren
spread aronnd them the seeds of contamination,
disease, and death„and s inlliet another species
of penalty upon the 'Community that is dea.f.to_
. .
their cries for help.
These, Ragged Schools, it has been well
observed, are not a mere romantic idea, -but a
beneficent fact. The case. of Edinburgh may
serve as an illustration of what has been accom-
plished by these schools wherever instituted, and
serve as an indication of how much more might
he attained by efficient snppert. Twelve ; years
ago the northern capital was notoriously infested
with hosts of juvenile vagrants.' „In spite of
every effort to suppress them by proclarnatiOn,
admonition, and punishment of various degrees;
the evil grew worse and worse, and it was not
until some benevolent persons,—taking the
hint from :Mr. JAMES H. WILSON, of Aber-
deen, the originator of what has attained
universal celebrity ,as Sheriff WATSON'S Rag-
ged School—the very first of the kind—
established a similar institution in Edinburgh,
—immediately after which an -improvement became
visible. The per-centage of juvenile prisoners in
Edinburgh Gaol in 1848 was five; in 1849, the
•
year after the Ragged School was established, it
was reduced td three ; and in 1850 it became, as
it is at present, only one and .a small fraction.
In the same way the number of juvenile prisoners
between fourteen and sixteen years of age was
gradually reduced froM nearly six hundred, in
1848, to little more than a hundred in 1859,.,
Since that institution has- .been .in operation in.
that city,-it ,has preserved from ruin, and sent
out into the world. to earn an honest livelihood,
not less than a thousand children. These facts
are incontrovertible and irresistible,—facts which
we dare- not, ignore or treat indifferently, save at
the peril of our -very. existence as a civilised
people. What has been accomplished in Edin-
burgh and elsewhere may also be overtaken in
Liverpool, than which we know no_ toWn so
much in want .of a greatly more extended
system•of 'ragged tichiiolS.' If is chFring to ob-
serve that the importance of this subject is being
more and more felt and
,given effect to in this
,great town.. Sir ,ToiLN PAKINGTON, in his noble
effort in behalf of these invaluable institutions,
is kent worthily in countenance by his great

political chief, Lord DERBY, who with his usual
kindness and. attention to the peopl6 of Liverpool,
leaves.' London this week for the purpose of
laying, the foundation stone of a new Ragged
School and Church at Kirkdale, in the promotion
of Which he has taken' the liveliest and most
substantial interest. The occasion will no doubt
be a most interesting' one, very 'proper arrano•e
ments having been made for the accommodation of
a large number of spectators, as may be learned'
from another column: The-,movemeAt, however,
Ought not. to be left entirely to individual effort.
Voliintary 'contributions 'lhave been found too
uncertain, and altogether ineffi*t fOr its,
proper maintenance ; and even were it otherwise,
the burthen ought to be mado to fall equally
upon all. Certainly it is not to be tolerated that
while the State -continues to spend so large a
sum
,under the name of cducationi: an adequate
share of the grant shall be withheld froth that
class of schools which has the first and best.
claim ,for• public aid.

FOREIGN. INTELLIGENCE.

FRANCE.
FROM OCR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
WEDNESDAY, August 15.

Theresis now great. reason to believe that the
report that M. de Rechberg has announced to the
Cabinet of Turin that his Government would
consider itself justified in interfering at once, by
sending an armed force into Southern Italy,-pro-
vided -Garibaldi actually landed id Calabria, is
correct. It is further said that Austria is
determined at once to anticipate 'Garibaldi's
threatened attack -on her • Venetian provinces,
and that her preparations for an irlimediate war
with Sardinia are already; made, and. may
be announced at. any moment; also, that these
intentions and preparations have been formally
communicated to the Emperor Napoleon, who'
lost not a moment in sending Colonel Franco-
niere to Turin with an letter to Victor
Emmanuel counselling prudence, and begging
him to, mind,what he .was about,. • .As the report
of the landing of .the Garibaldians in force at
Reggio has been confirmed; it will easily be seen
what a grave position affairs have now assumed..
Victor Emmanuel has unquestiOnably'a most dif-
ficult part to play, and it will require all the
astuteness oftount CavoUr to prevent kmisear- ,
riage of the role which has devolved upon him.:
One of the suggestioneisalid to have heel made by
tiiis able. Minister with this view is, thai the.
King. of Naples should allow his capital to be
occupied by a body of Piedurontese troops, in
order to 'defend it from Garibaldi; but' this is
going rather too far. , The visit of M. Mauna to
this city has probably had something to do, with
the letter which the French *government has sent
to Victor Emmanuel. It is positively stated by a
Tiffin Correspondent that the Cabinet of Turin
was not aware of the departure of M. Maunanntil
after he had left ; nor is it
.known in the latter
city how long M. Winspeare intended to remain.
' One thing, however, is'eertain, that the yied-,
moutese Government fully' expects to be imme-
diately engaged in' another deadly struggle with
The greatest anxiety and the utmost
haste are being displayed in hurrying on the
works for the fortification. of Bologna; and this
circumstance, and the calling out of the second
reser.v.e,llis act failed 'todiciter. public attention
in the most lively
,manner, Another account
froM•Turin suggests that it is in potisequence of
his•having received a hint on the subject of -the
contents. of Count de Rcchberg's warlike commu-
nication, that Bertami has, made a sudden visit to
Sicily, and that the same cause has delayed Gari-
baldi so long :in titcre• • But the Dictator has,
obviously advanced much too far to retreat, and
I doubt whether it would be possible to stop him
even were the Sardinian Government to issue .(as
it is said it intends forthwith to ..do) a formal
disavowal of all connection with his proposed -
expedition; against the mainland.
• The •01-iinion Yationale - States- that it has
received some additional information respecting
the recent alleged ,visit of Garibaldi to Naples:
it even' says that it has reason to' believe that it
:was General Cosenz, and riot the Dictator him-
self,, who was in the vicinity of that pity, . he
-having, gone thither whilst he• was recovering
from a.wound which he had, received at Milazzo;
but that the general had certainly an interview
With the heads of the secret committee.
There has been, it seems, a fresh modification i

of the ministerial arrangements at Palermo: M.
Crispi has been placed at the head of the depart-
ment of the interior and of public safety, the
most important position of all in present circum-
stances; General Paterno goes to the War-office.
But the most gratifying piece of news is, that
M. Depret, the eh it Dictator in the absence of
Garibaldi,' has just proclaimed, amidst the most
enthusiastic rejoicings of the people, the Sar-
dinian constitutional statutes as the fundamentaL
law of Sicily. The new law, however, will not
be put in force until the new regime is thoroughly
consolidated, and the object of the revolution finally
attained; that is to say, until all obstruction& shall
have been removed to its satisfactory operation:
At Naples, the Central Committee which con-
tinues its secret sittings, has secretly circulated a
proclamation, warning the inhabitants against
putting any trust in the new Government. It
thus concludes :—" The only course to follow,
dear fellow-citizens, is to finish matters once for
all, for ever to be done with the dynasty, and to
join heart and hand with the people who wish to
escape, and who will soon escape, from present
uncertainty. General Garibaldi Ilas told you that
you are brave ; he will conduct you to glory, and
assure your condition for the future. Have cou-
rage; and unite yourselves to the people. Let us
destroy these foreigners who are suckirlg out the
best part of our blood, and we shall all become
the free children of this beloved country." The
committee have also denied the reports of dissen-
sion among them, and have entreated all who are
friendly to their cause to abstain, in the mean-
time, from "every demonstration, however inno-
cent and lawful, as they would only lead to pro-

vocation."

The latest advices received here from Syria
report the arrival of the French Consul, M. de
Cha,try Lafosse, at Aleppo, on. the 29th, on his
return from leave of absence. At_ that date
Aleppo was tranquil, but assassinations in that
neighbourhood. had not ceased to be committed
almost every day. The Governor of the city, at
the instance of the Consrls, had written to Fuad
Pasha demanding reinforcements.

General Hautpoul has been promoted to the
rank of General of Division ; M. Borenee, the
French Minister at Athens, is to be the French
Commissioner at Constantinople; M. Norikoff is
to represent Russia, and Lord Dufferin, England.
Austria and Prussia have " not yet made any
nominations. M. de Lesseps has just' arrived
from Egypt.
The rumours as to the unsatisfactory state of
matters in Algeria are revived. Private letters
say that continued fighting goes on on the coast
of Philipville and Constantine, between the
Arabs and the troops under 'the command of
General Desracy.
The Empress is expected this week at St.
Cloud, and the Emperor, I believe, returned to-day.
M. Le Conturier, the writer of the scientific
articles in the'lllanitear and the Pays, is included,
in the new appointments to the Legion of Honour,
as well as M. de Champagnac and M. itronsart,
both connected with the press.
There is a new work published by M. de
Montalembert, in two volumes. It is called the
Monks of the East," and has been announced
for a long time.
The disquieting rumours which agitated the
Bourse on Monday continued yesterday, but their
vagueness and uncertainty had the effect in the
later part of the day of leading to a return of the
paucity of transactions previously experienced.for
some time past. The Threes did not fall. below
68f. ac.