The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-05-22 00:00:00

SIR LYON PLA.YFAIR, M.P., ON
EDUCATION.

On Saturday, Sir Lyon Playfair, Vice-President of
the Council of Eduction, opened a large and com-
modious school at West Green, Tottenham, which had
been erected by the Tottenham School Board at a cost
of over £12,000, and calculated to accommodate 1500
children. The building faces the main road, and
although plain in structure has an imposing appear-
ance and is surrounded by ample playgrounds. There
was a very large attendance, the central ball, where
the proceedings took place, being crowded to its
utmost capacity. Mr. George Gripper, chairman of
the Tottenham School Board, presided, and was
supported on the platform by the members of the
Board, Mr. Howard, M.P., and many other influential
residents.

Sir Lyon Playfsir said he was for the time being,
by virtue of the office be held in the Government, the
head master of all the schools in England. Before
speaking of the advantages which school children
now enjoyed, he wanted to say something of the dis-
advantages to youths when he was young. Upwards
of 40 years ago he begat, to take an interest in the
education of this country, at a time when there was
no system of national education. He must give credit
to the Churches—Chursh of England and Noncon-
formist alike—for they certainly did their duty. They
opened their schools for those attending the church
to which they belonged, and the children of their
congregation were educated. But what of the waifs
and strays ? These went without education at all ;
and it was for this reason—the need that the
nation should educate these children—that the
Education Act was passed. He might give them an
instance of the manner in which education was
carried on in former times. If a man failed in busi-
ness or in every other occupation in life, he set up
as a coal merchant. and when a lady failed to get a
living she put a brass plate on her door, and called
her house an academy for the instruction of young
children, although she had had no education and no
training to enable her to teach. Having given some
amusing incidents which came under his observation
while visiting dame schools in Liverpool, accompanied
by Dr. Duncan, he said in 1870 the State for the first
time began to think that education was the duty of
the natiOn, and an Act of Parliament was passed com-
pelling the nation to form Boards by which all chil-
dren should be educated. This had resulted in the
great educational strides which had been made. He
could not mention that Act without remembering and
alluding to one of his dearest friends who, he was
sure, all present sincerely regretted had recently
passed away—he referred to Mr. William Edward
Forster. The adults knew, but he might inform
the children, that to his friend they were indebted
for the advantages they now enjoyed. Mr. Forster
fought for that measure against opposition which few
. had had to encounter. He was opposed by clergymen of
the Church of England who, of course, were interested
in education and feared that calamities might ensue,
and he was opposed also by Dissenters who had deno-
minational schools; but notwithstanding the opposi-
tion he pressed forward and at last succeeded in
passing his Act. Very recently it was most touching
to see, at the service at Westminster in connection
with the decease of his friend, those who at the time
of the passing of the Act were most opposed to him
coming forward to do honour to his memory, and his
name would be revered so long as England would last.
The right hon. gentleman then proceeded to compare
the system of education in this country with that of
Continental nations, and said that we had hitherto
neglected education. France, Germany, and other
countries spent far larger sums than we did, but there
was this distinction: their money was spent absolutely
on higher education. They expended nothing on
elementary education, but compelled each district and
province to provide facilities for higher education. The
only thing they did in connection with lower education
was to provide inspectors; but even these had to
be paid for by the districts over which they presided.
In this country we had spent nothing on higher
education, but simply on rudimentary education.
Referring to these schools he would say that, although
is might appear a large expenditure, it was not a real
. expenditure, but an investment for the future pros-
perity of the country. Since they had begun this
education it was a notable fact that prisons had be-
come almost emptied of people who could read and
write well—in fact, there was only 3 per cent. now of
these, and young persons in prisons were largely de-
creasing—indeed, the Government had been coins
pelled to sell several large prisons because they had
become useless for the purposes for which they were
originally intended. (Loud cheers.) le went on to
say that although the present system of education was
a vast improvement upon the old one, there was still
too much verbalism. Education was intended to draw
out the natural faculties in a natural way, and press-
ing was an unnatural way; and in giving illus-
trations of this he said it was easy to see
what the natural bent of a child's mind was, there-
fore it ought to be educated accordingly. In
course of further observations' he said that although
national education in England had only existed since
1870, in Scotland—his native land—it had existed
for some hundreds of years. Sir Lyon Playfair then
referred to the incidence of taxation, and said that if
Ireland had not occupied so much of the time of the
Legislature during late years, there might have been
a possibility of dealing with local affairs as regarded
Great Britain. Ireland had, however, fully
monopolized their time, and there had been no
chance of dealing in anything like a comprehensive
manner with local concerns, although he had for a
long time been endeavouring to keep down the Irish
members, but they had beaten him. (" Hear, hear,"
and laughter.) They need not, however, despair, for
the higher education of the country would be taken
into consideration, and, he hoped, within a very short
time. He now formally, as headmaster of the schools
of the United Kingdom, declared this school opened.
Mr. Howard, M.P., and others then addressed the
meeting, and the proceedings closed with the National
Anthem.

"Great men have often risen from small begin-
nings," says some one. Any fool who ever saw a baby
could say that.
The rules of William and Mary College, U.S., in
1776, forbade the student to drink anything except
cider, beer, toddy, and spirits ancl water.
It looks as though woman would succeed in assert-
ing her rights after a while. A Connecticut factory
is turning out four thousand rolling pins a day.