1906. ALL ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS TO BE UNDER PUBLIC MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL. TH HIS Bill, introduced by Mr. Birrell on behalf of the Liberal Government, redeems Liberal pledges by providing that henceforth every public elementary school which is supported by the local education authority is to be under complete popular management and control. This is secured by Clause 1, which says: "On and after the first day of January, 1908, a school shall not be recognised as a public elementary school unless it is a school provided by the local education authority.” To show how reasonable and inevitable this is, it is only necessary to quote the following expression of opinion from newspapers, all of them opposed to the Government. THE TIMES says (April 10, 1906): "The last shreds of denominational or clerical management are thus swept away; and a great step is taken towards the establishment of one uniform national system. With this it is useless to quarrel. It was probably inevitable; and Mr. Birrell was perhaps right in intimating that so long as the dual system remained we could have neither peace nor progress." THE STANDARD says (April 9, 1906): "Unionists must reconcile themselves to two very important and very unfortunate reversals of the existing law. In every school which receives assistance from local taxation it is certain, in the first place, that complete popular control will be established-the foundation managers of the Voluntary schools will be swept away. Secondly, we may be sure that what are called religious tests for teachers will be abolished. It would be useless, in the present state of parties at Westminster, to argue either question. Of nine-tenths of the members of the Liberal majority it may be said that, if their minds were open to conviction on this point, they would have no right to be sitting in the House of Commons.” THE MORNING POST says (April 10, 1906): "The other argument of Mr. Birrell's which must be sorrowfully endorscd is one which has been urged in these columns. It was to the effect that if men can be said to intend the natural consequences of their own action the supporters of the Act of 1902 must be said to have intended the first clause of the Bill of 1906, providing that no school shall be recognised as a public elementary school unless it is a school provided by the local authority." THE BIRMINGHAM POST says (April 9, 1906): "The Government could not by any possibility avoid giving complete public control of all rate-aided elementary schools and throwing the teaching profession open to all, irrespective of religious belief. Their pledges to the electors, and we think the verdict given at the polls, demanded this as a minimum. No one, therefore, can be in the least surprised that the Government have so far modified the Act of 1902 as to bring all non-provided schools under the control of popularly-elected bodies, and have abolished the religious tests or teachers employed in those schools. Nor would it be anything but futile to attempt to upset these provisions of the Bill. Whether they be just or unjust to Anglicans or Roman Catholics, it has to be recognised as an incontrovertible fact that these changes will be made. It is only like beating the wind to protest." THE PALL MALL GAZETTE says (April 10, 1906): "Popular_control of all schools supported by the community has become inevitable whether we like it or not, and it is exceedingly difficult to see how that control could be reconciled with leaving the appointment of teachers to other hands than those of the popular authority. At all events, these are matters of principle as to which the voice of the present overwhelming majority at Westminster is certain, and we must face that fact squarely." SUPPORT A BILL WHICH GIVES US FOR THE FIRST TIME A NATIONAL SYSTEM OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION, IN WHICH WHICH ALL SCHOOLS ARE UNDER PUBLIC MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL, WITH NO RELIGIOUS TESTS FOR TEACHERS. Published by the LIBERAL PUBLICATION DEPARTMENT (in connection with the National Liberal Federation and the Liberal Central Association), 12 Parliament Street, S.W., and Printed by Strangeways & Sons, Tower Street, Cambridge Circus, W.C. LEAFLET NO. 2079.] 18406. [Price 3s. per 1000 "COWPER-TEMPLE TEACHING." What is COWPER-TEMPLE TEACHING ? It is the religious instruction, based on the Bible, which is now being given in nearly every Council School (formerly Board School). No "catechism or religious formulary " must be taught which is distinctive of any particular denomination.' 66 It is objected that this is "Nonconformist religious teaching." This is NOT TRUE. Read what MR. BIRRELL said in introducing the Bill (April 10th): "Some time ago Sir William Portal sent me the following letter: As vice-chairman of the Hampshire County Council, I venture to lay before you the course adopted by us in dealing with the religious question in our provided or council schools. In the year 1904, as for many years previously, we were especially fortunate in having so wise and able an administrator as the late Lord Northbrook as chairman of the county council; and it was my privilege as vice-chairman to be associated with him in the measures that were taken in regard to this matter. A carefully selected special committee was appointed for the purpose of recommending to the education committee a religious syllabus for our council schools. It consisted of seven persons—namely, a member of the county council as chairman, two clergymen of the Church of England, two Nonconformists, a Roman Catholic priest, and a lady who took much interest in the subject. In the opinion of many the prospect of agreement in such a committee was small. The committee, however, was unanimous in approving and recommending (1) regulations as to religious instruction in the council schools; (2) a form of prayer to be used both morning and evening; (3) hymns for daily use. These recommendations were submitted to our education committee, consisting of 50 persons, the large majority of whom were members of the Church of England; and the recommendations were unanimously approved by them before their final submission to the county council. The council was equally unanimous in their approval; and the syllabus was forthwith adopted in the council schools of Hampshire.' Sir William Portal adds: 'You may be pleased to learn how harmoniously and unanimously the question of religious teaching, so far as council schools are concerned, has been dealt with in Hampshire.' What is true of Hampshire is true, I think, of all the syllabuses under all the educational authorities. They are not the work of Nonconformists. They are the work of good and pious men of every creed, who have done their best, and what is more have done it as we have not been able to do in this House-successfully, and have secured, as in Hampshire, harmonious relations throughout the whole country." The humour of the thing is that MR. COWPERTEMPLE was a Churchman, and that the Clause in the Act of 1870 which bears his name was strongly resented and resisted by the Nonconformists at that time. Sir William Anson, the Parliamentary Secretary of the Board of Education in the late Tory Government and a strong Churchman, said that "he cordially admitted his SATISFACTION at the retention in all schools of what was called SIMPLE BIBLE TEACHING." Don't believe anyone who tries to make you believe that the teaching in the Council Schools is correctly described as Nonconformist teaching. Published by the LIBERAL PUBLICATION DEPARTMENT (in connection with the National 18406. THE CASE FOR ONE MAN, ONE VOTE. The mischief in our electoral machinery which Liberals seek to remove by the adoption of the principle of One Man, One Vote is that of plural voting: this mischief the Liberal Government now proposes to get rid of in a Bill introduced by Mr. Harcourt. When at a General Election the electorate of the United Kingdom elect Members who together make up the Commons House of Parliament any one individual may exercise the franchise in any and every constituency in which he is upon the register. He may not vote more than once in any one constituency, but there is no theoretical limit to the number of constituencies in which he may vote. There are tens of thousands of citizens accordingly who have two or more votes, whilst Mr. Chamberlain once referred to a "reverend pluralist" whose name was to be found on twenty-three electoral registers. The Liberal party holds that plural voting is inconsistent with really popular government, and that no one man ought to be allowed to give more than one vote at one election. It will be convenient in the first place to state the law which makes the plural voter a possibility. Broadly speaking, there are two classes who are given a vote by existing laws-(a) the householder, (b) the owner of property. Since there is no difficulty in being a householder in one constituency and owning property |