Technical instruction in relation to industries was the subject of a paper by Canon Arthur Ryan, of Tipperary, who emphasized the fact that what was needed in Ireland was not so much industries as industry. The great purpose of the association, in his judgment, was that of fostering in the rising generation of Irish men and women the spirit of industry, so that "with alert minds and skilled hands they may see and lay hold on the industrial opportunities that lie before them in the land of their birth." In regard to the evidences of a real increase of material prosperity in Ireland as a result largely of the technical instruction act, Canon Ryan gave the following information:

It is important to understand what the actual powers of the department are in regard to industry, and it appears that while they have large powers in regard to technical education and great freedom in regard to home industries, they have no power directly to finance an industry as such. They can educate and train our workers in the scientific and artistic principles underlying industries, but they can not subsidize the industry itself. They must not spoon-feed our industries-they may supply the food, but they must not use the spoon. It is of course quite otherwise in regard to agriculture, which, not being hampered so much by trade rivalries, is free to receive direct and often liberal subsidies from the funds of the department. In regard to industries the department freely use such restricted powers as they have, and one of their first and most successful efforts was to encourage by means of grants the numerous home industries classes in the country. All over Ireland classes in lace, crochet-making, drawn-thread work, embroidery, hemstitching, sprigging, knitting, and other industries have been assisted, and are still assisted, by grants given with a view of improving the character of the products of these industries, which yield a very important supplementary income to many families in rural areas. But home industries have a very difficult struggle as against the product of the machine, which has persistently invaded the domain of the cottage industry. In that struggle our sympathies may go, as mine certainly go, with the human being against the machine and the cottage against factory, with the modest competence of the many against the piled-up fortunes of the few; but it would have been criminal folly to ignore the part that machinery was destined to play in modern industries, and hence efforts were made to direct technical education in very close connection with industries already in existence in Ireland or industries which might be introduced with promise of success.

Among these it is encouraging to note the steady growth of the woolen industry, and the establishment of such mills as those at Galway and Kilkenny. Again, a most valuable illustration of the way in which technical instruction leads up to industries is to be found in the Kilkenny woodworkers' industry, which took its origin in the manual instruction classes held in the rural districts of the county of Kilkenny. A still more interesting example is the introduction of machine embroidery, an industry which has been carried on for so many years in Switzerland. For the last quarter of a century large quantities of Irish linen have been sent to Switzerland to be embroidered, and returned to Ireland. In this connection two schools have been recently established in Ballydougan, near Gilford, in county Down, and at Maghera in county Derry. These schools are aided by liberal grants made by the department in order to provide training for workers in this machine-embroidery industry, which must be regarded as a new one in this country, and it would seem that excellent progress has been made. The revival of the shipbuilding industry in Derry, which I had an opportunity of seeing at the last industrial congress there, gives promise that in this great and important field of enterprise the city on the Foyle may some day become a

rival of the city on the Lagan. The opening to-day at Balmoral of an exhibition of materials and manufactures relating to the dressed-meat trade is another event of the first industrial importance. There will be shown more than 30 distinct products of the scientific handling of offal. The tanning industry alone holds almost incalculable possibilities. And the mere fact that we import every year boots and shoes to the value of nearly two million sterling should set us thinking, seeing that we export yearly hides enough to make all these boots and shoes at home. Time would not permit of the mention of the large number of small industries which have been developed owing, in great part, to local technical training and the habits of industry resulting from it; industries which do not quench the spirits of the young or leave them wrecked in health, but which afford wholesome and artistic and fairly lucrative employment to thousands of Irish workers. We have the carpet-making factories at Killybegs and elsewhere, established by the congested districts board, and later the now flourishing carpet factories at Naas and Abbyleix; while there are the artistic, if smaller, ventures of the Dun Emer Guild, due to the tireless efforts of Miss Evelyn Gleeson; the stained-glass works of Miss Purser in Dublin, the metal-work industry at Fivemiletown, and a large number of others. Of one industry I can speak from close personal knowledge that of glove making in the town of Tipperary and its neighborhood. Of course, this is still a young industry, and Tipperary is a town of less than 7,000 inhabitants; yet it is a great thing for us to have some 70 girls employed in healthy and cheerful surroundings, more than 40 of them doing the firm's work in their own homes, and earning wages which, if not high at first, are sufficient for their support, and are raised according as their proficiency increases. Some six boys are apprenticed to the master cutters, and although the skins used are not yet procurable in Ireland, the thread supplied by Messrs. Fownes is all of Irish manufacture. From the cutting out of the skins to the final finishing of the glove all is done in Tipperary, and last year over 70,000 pairs of these Tipperary gloves were turned out, or about £12,000 worth. I rejoice to add that the cottages in which much of this work is done are the cleaner and the tidier for it; the girls are deeply interested in their work, and not a single tall chimney has been added to blur the view of the Galtee Mountains. A few days ago some visitors to Tipperary saw not far from the town, and seated on a primrose bank, a merry group of girls, working away at their piles of gloves-industrialism al fresco! I may sum up this section of my paper by saying that the effect of all this constructive effort has been an increase in material prosperity, and statistics show a great increase in exports of agricultural produce and of manufactured articles. One of the consequences of these activities has been the establishment of the various industrial development associations, which have done so much good work in protecting Irish industries from fraud, and in directing the attention of the Irish people to the excellence of Irish products. In particular one may point to the establishment of the Irish trade-mark and to the very active campaign carried on by the Irish Industrial Development Association against the fraudulent sales of foreign products under the guise of Irish manufacture. We need not shut our eyes to the compliment implied in this dishonest imitation (what Irishman ever shut his eyes to a compliment?), but our vanity should not make us forget our purses.

Mr. Fletcher, the assistant secretary of the department of agriculture and technical instruction, dwelt upon the importance of education in the domestic arts. He urged two reforms in the present system of education.

First, training for home duties to form part of the education of every girl. Under this head should be included the laws of health, home nursing, and first aid to the injured. Mr. Fletcher noted that the department has already introduced systematic teaching of this

character into its training school, and has also for some years past held summer courses for the supplementary training of teachers at work.

Second, the cultivation of thrift. Under this head he included. detailed study of income and expenditure, since the frequent failure to adjust the two to each other arises "not from the intention to overspend, but from the neglect to keep any sort of accounts, and this inefficiency characterizes many of the well to do, no less than the working classes."

The following problem was suggested for the course in thrift:

Given the household of an artisan living in an urban center in Ireland, consisting of father, mother, and two children (over the age of 10), and with a total income not exceeding 30 shillings per week.-To prepare for a year a detailed family budget showing the expenditure on rent, food, clothing, and other items of expenditure. The cost of articles of food, clothing, etc., must be stated in such a manner as to be capable of verification, and selection of daily menus should be given, with notes on the cost and preparation of the food.

I am of the opinion that an artisan budget would be of greater advantage than that of a family in a rural area—in the first place, at all events. In the country, part of the family income is generally "in kind." Substantial prizes should be offered for the best essays, which should be published. They should, of course, be submitted under a nom de plume, and adjudged by a small committee of experts. The experiment is worth a trial.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

CURRENT EDUCATIONAL MOVEMENTS IN SWEDEN.

By DR. N. G. W. LAGERSTEDT.1

In order that American readers may obtain an accurate idea of the educational movements now going on in Sweden, it is desirable to consider briefly the origin of Swedish education and its characteristic features. The great problems of education of course are the same everywhere, but the order in which they are to be solved and the means of their solution may be quite different in a country such as the United States, where education has been built up from new foundations in comparatively recent time, and in countries of the Old World, where culture and education are of old origin and due consideration must be given to traditional forms of education.

In Sweden, as well as in some other European countries, there were schools for higher education in the earlier part of the Middle Ages, i. e., cathedral schools, convent schools, and city schools. After the introduction of the Lutheran Reformation most of these schools remained, and had reached a comparatively high development as early as the seventeenth century. The secondary schools for boys of the present time are an immediate continuation of these schools.

In the nineteenth century there arose in Sweden general interest in bringing the benefit of education to all members of society, and steps were taken to erect schools for the mass of the people in sufficient number. By the public elementary school statute of 1842 elementary education was made compulsory, and it was prescribed that each parish should have at least one public elementary school. Since then our elementary schools in the main have developed along the lines at first drawn up and may be said to have reached a high level with regard to the general extension of education. In Sweden practically all grown-up people nowadays are able to read and write. The statistics show that the per cent of illiteracy is only 0.1; Sweden, with the other Scandinavian countries and Germany, ranking foremost in this respect of all countries in the world.

Secondary schools for boys and elementary schools are both public schools in the sense that they are maintained at the expense of the State or of the communities. But there are also different kinds of private schools in Sweden, the most important of them being the girls' secondary schools, nearly all of which came into existence in

1 Prepared at the request of the Commissioner of Education.