opened January 19, 1874, in the presence of a large assembly. Within the last decade the seminary has been provided with additional buildings and improved equipment, and is to-day in a flourishing condition. More than a thousand young ladies, descendants of the Dutch, French Huguenot, English, Scotch, etc., settlers, have received the benefits of the school and have gone forth to do excellent work. Many of them are teachers in the colonial schools and not a few are missionaries in the regions beyond,

The Government expenditure for education in 1899 amounted to £270,758 ($1,353,790). Of this amount £225,710 15s. ($1,128,550.75) was for the public or elementary schools.

In summing up the general conditions at the outbreak of the war, the superintendent-general in the report already cited (report for 1899, published in 1900),

says:

All that can be said is that up till the outbreak new schools were being opened and school rolls were being increased at a highly satisfactory rate.

The other noteworthy features are the continued rise in the standard of attainments among the children and the continued improvement in the qualifications of the teachers; and, after all, these are the two most important points of any educational system. The steady rise in the attainments of the pupils is made at once manifest by giving the percentages of children above Standard (grade) IV for the last five consecutive years. These are 5.82, 6.68, 7.04, 7.39, 7.87. The same gradual upward movement is evidenced by the series of percentages of pupils above Standard V in the first-class schools, these percentages for the same five years being 15.0, 18.04, 19.42, 20.32, 20.98. It might reasonably be expected that with the great growth in the number of school children, many of whom entered school for the first time, the tendency would be to lower the average of attainments. The rise of standard in the face of this increase is all the more noteworthy and gratifying. In a postscript on the effect of the war the superintendent-general continues: The first indications of change came from the districts adjacent to the western frontier of the Transvaal, and probably the first school known to the office to be closed was one on the very border, the teacher of which having early information of invasion, locked his school door and went for safety into the land of the enemy. The railway and telegraph lines were, however, soon cut farther south, and large groups of schools were isolated in a moment. One inspector ceased suddenly to send in reports, and it was ascertained some time later that he was shut up in Kimberley. Then the northeastern frontier became affected in the same way. The December examinations were approaching, and the usual preliminary arrangements with the candidates should have been progressing. But letters and parcels of needlework failed to turn up, and one examination center after another dropped out of reach. Another inspector who had stuck doggedly to his work amid excitement and disturbance, ceased to be a correspondent, and was found to be detained in Burghersdorp. A third might have been in Colesberg, but at the time the inspectorship there was vacant.

When the school returns for the December quarter came in and began to be tabulated the loss which had been suffered grew more apparent, and the completed work showed that as many as 215 schools had dropped from the list.

Education in the Transvaal Colony.—Geographically the Transvaal Colony is land-locked with Portuguese East Africa and Cape Colony on the east, Orange River Colony and Bechuanaland on the south and west, and Rhodesia and Natal on the north.

The total area (including Swaziland, 5,560 square miles) amounts to about 120,000 square miles. The population in 1898 was stated by the Government to be over 1,000,000, of whom about 750,000 were natives, and 250,000 whites (males 138,000, females 112,000), and the number of fighting men at the commencement of the war was stated by the Government to be about 30,000. [Whitaker's Almanac, 1902.]

The Transvaal Colony, formerly known as the "South African Republic," or "The Transvaal," was annexed to the British Crown by Royal Proclamation of 25th of October, 1900.

The following survey of educational conditions in the Transvaal previous to the annexation was prepared by Mr. John Robinson, secretary to the director of the council of education, Witwatersrand, and was forwarded to this office by the education department of the colony,

The paper is evidently written from a purely English standpoint, but for this very reason it has a peculiar historic interest as disclosing something of those internal agitations that helped to precipitate the late war. The report is further interesting because it shows among the English settlers in the Transvaal that impulse to concerted civic action characteristic of the race wherever they are found.

Among an agricultural people like the Dutch colonists, the patriarchal order prevails, with little tendency to collective action. The Government of the South African Republic was not indifferent to education, but the system fostered was naturally better suited to a rural people of simple habits and humble ideals than to the more enterprising English of the mining region. The deficiency of educational provision which led to the formation of the Witwatersrand council, as described by Mr. Robinson, appears to have been due rather to the conditions of pioneer life in the particular district than to legislative neglect.

By the Uitlander education law, passed in 1896, the Government of the Republic authorized the establishment of schools in the mining region at the cost of the State with special provision for the children of foreigners. The regulations subsequently issued with respect to these schools appear, however, to have hindered the real purpose of the law; such, at least, is the inference from their tenor and from the report of Dr. Mansfelt, superintendent of schools. The statistics quoted from this report show that two years after the law was passed very few English children were benefiting from its provisions. Later statistics included in the very complete presentation of the educational system of the Republic made at the Paris Exposition (1900) showed that 12 of these special schools were in operation, with 1,500 pupils. Of the 49 teachers employed one-third were English. The Government expenditure per pupil in these schools was a little higher than in the ordinary schools.

It appears also from Mr. Robinson's account that while there was friction between the council formed by private initiative and the education department, the action of the council and its purposes were supported by many burghers who desired better school advantages for their children. A striking evidence of this cooperation is afforded by the memorial "relating to education on the gold fields of the Witwatersrand" presented to the Government by the combined action of the council and certain burghers of Johannesburg.

The memorial preceded the declaration of war by a few months, and naturally, as troubles were thickening, failed of practical results. It has, however, supplied to the present Government a comprehensive survey of the needs of this important region.

SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF EDUCATIONAL WORK IN THE LATE SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC.

EARLY LEGISLATION.

The first education law of the South African Republic was published in 1874 during the presidentship of Mr. Burgers. The law provided for three classes of schools:

1. Wijkscholen. Ward schools (a ward is a field cornet's district) 2. Distriktscholen.

3. Gymnasium (at Pretoria).

The syllabus of instruction for the Wijkscholen corresponded very nearly to that fixed at that time by the English code for elementary schools. The curric

ulum of the district schools was slightly more extended (meer uitgebreid). In the wijk schools the State subsidy was £25 for 12 children, £50 for 25 children, with £2 additional for each child up to 100. In the district schools £300 was paid irrespective of numbers, with an additional £100 when the attendance reached 100. The law provided that: (a) No religious instruction was to be given during school hours; (b) Instruction was to be given in Dutch or English, according to the wishes of the parent or guardian.

The main defect of the law was the arrangement with regard to district schools. The population was small and scattered, and it was common to find a district school with ten or a dozen pupils costing the Government £300. In 1877, the first year of the British occupation, the average number of children in the schools was 306, and the cost to the State was £11 8s. 9d. per head per annum.

In view of the condition of the State exchequer at that time it is not surprising that the authorities took fright, and in 1880 we find the administrator, Sir Owen Lanyon, revoking law No. 4 of 1874 and confirming a new education law dealing mainly with the payment of subsidies. The terms "wijk" and "distrikt" are abolished, and schools are henceforth known as "town" and "country" schools. Schools, again, are divided into three classes, according to the attendance and the qualifications of the teachers. The State subsidies for first, second, and third class schools, respectively, were 7s., 6s., and 4s. per month. Country schools must have at least 12 pupils and town schools 20 before they can earn subsidies. Secular instruction only may be given in schools. This law was in operation until the middle of 1882, in which year there were nine town or village schools and 34 country schools, with an attendance of 872 children.

PERIOD 1882-1892.

In March, 1882, a new education law was published. In this law all local distinctions disappear. There is only one class of school recognized. Lager (lower) and middelbaar (middle) education are recognized, and the scale of subsidies range accordingly. "Lager onderwijs" corresponds roughly to standards I, II, and III in the English code and “middelbaar" corresponds to Standards IV, V, and VI. The State paid £3 for each pupil grouped under "lager" and £5 for each pupil grouped under "middelbaar" per annum. A further subsidy of £3 or £5 per annum was allowed on account of children whose parents were unable to pay fees. The law differed from previous enactments in the following important points: (a) School must be opened and closed by prayer. Bible history to be taught, but doctrinal instruction is to be left to the Kerkraad. (b) Clause 7 stipulates that instruction shall be given through the medium of the Dutch language.

So far as numbers may be taken as a criterion, education made progress under this law. In 1882 the number of children in State schools was 872, with an expenditure of £2,753. In 1891 the number was 8,170, and the cost to the State £43,823 11s. The reports during this period were carelessly compiled, but they afford sufficient data to prove that the attainments of the children were very low. A large substandard, with a few children in Standards I and II, was a common type of school. There was, moreover, no thorough system of inspection. In 1888 only 74 out of 179 schools were inspected. There is, further, evidence to show that the annual inspection when it did take place was of the most casual and superficial character. There were constant complaints in the Volksraad as to the incompetency of teachers.

In his first report to the Volksraad in 1892, Dr. Mansfelt says: “Burghers are paying in the way of fees and subscriptions less than one-half of the amount of the State subsidies. In one school there are 90 out of 100 children being educated entirely at the expense of the State.

"School buildings and furniture are for the most part in a bad state of repair. "Teachers are holding positions owing to personal influence, without regard to their qualifications. There are teachers who are unable to sign their own names properly, who can not spell the words 'Pretoria' or 'Potchefstroom without a mistake, and who do not know the difference between a noun and an adjective. "Out of 538 teachers only 105 have teachers' certificates."

On the other hand Mr. Ode, secretary to the education department, 1890-1892, denounces the inspectors as incompetent and as holding qualifications vastly inferior to those held by many teachers whose schools they were appointed to inspect. "Four out of five of the inspectors," he says, "have not the qualifications that would enable them to take charge of the lowest class of school in Holland."

It is possibly owing to this laxity or leniency of administration that we have to ascribe the fact that up to the year 1892 the various nationalities living within the borders of the Republic were treated exactly alike in respect to education. The discovery of the Witwatersrand gold fields brought thousands of Europeans, mostly English speaking, and had the clause of the law of 1882 which provided that Dutch was to be the medium of instruction been rigidly enforced it would have borne hardly upon the newcomers. It is difficult to determine how far the Volksraad connived at this evasion of their enactment, but the fact remains that there were numbers of schools in Johannesburg, Pretoria, and other centers of population wherein the medium of instruction was almost wholly English, and which were in receipt of State subsidies on equal terms with the purely Dutch schools.

THE HOLLANDER RÉGIME.

* *

*

In June, 1891, Dr. Mansfelt, a Hollander teacher from a school in Stellenbosch, was appointed to the post of superintendent of education. The law 8 of 1892, drafted by Dr. Mansfelt, differs from the law of 1882 principally as follows: (1) Subsidies for "lager onderwijs " are raised from £3 to £5, and for “middelbaar onderwijs" from £5 to £7.

(2) All teachers must be members of a Protestant church.

(3) All lesson books must be written in Dutch. Not more than three hours per week in Standards I-III, and four hours per week in Standards IV-VI may be devoted to instruction in a foreign tongue.

It will be noticed that (2) at once excludes Roman Catholics and Jews from any chance of participation in State subsidies; (3) excludes from State schools all English-speaking children, including many from the Cape Colony, who would find it more difficult to receive instruction through the medium of the Dutch of Holland than through the medium of English.

This clause was much criticised. Many Dutch people complained that for lack of a knowledge of the English language their children would be cut off from opportunities of employment for which they otherwise would be eligible. But Dr. Mansfelt stuck to his guns, and in a subsequent report we find him fulminating against the foolish claim of parents to have their children taught English as being fraught with serious consequences to our "national existence." In explaining a falling off in attendance he has to admit that certain Dutch parents, deeming the time allowed by law for instruction in English too short, have sent their children to schools where they can get "fuller scope for their short-sighted desires."

When the draft of Dr. Mansfelt's law was published there was great consternation among those interested in education in the gold fields. Deputations were sent to Pretoria to see Dr. Mansfelt and members of the Government. This agitation resulted in the passing of a Volksraad resolution in terms of which, subject to conditions, children in schools in which the medium was other than

Dutch might earn a subsidy of £4 per head per annum. The conditions are the interesting feature of this besluit.

1. The clause in law 8 of 1892 still held, which provided that teachers must be members of a Protestant Church, thus excluding Roman Catholics and Jews from any benefits to be derived under the resolution.

2. Children under 6 years of age were ineligible for grants.

3. Children of Dutch-speaking parents were excluded from earning this grant, the Government arguing that their place was in a Dutch school.

4. Children not excluded under 1, 2, and 3 had to satisfy the Dutch inspector in an examination in the Dutch language and Transvaal history. The Dutch teacher had first to be approved by the education department.

As the uitlander schools were mostly small, rarely exceeding 100 children (the attendance in the majority of cases being below 50), it was found that the percentage of children able to satisfy the conditions was so small that the amount of grant earned was insufficient to pay the salary of the Dutch teacher. Only large schools with few young children and with a minimum of the Africander element could hope to earn anything under the besluit. Several schools in endeavoring to earn this grant sustained financial loss. During the eight years the besluit was in operation the average number of children earning grants in accordance with its terms was less than 200.

The effects of the new legislation were observable in other ways. In 1891 there were 99 town schools and 453 ward or country schools with 8,170 children drawing State subsidy. In 1893, after Mr. Mansfelt's law had been in operation for eighteen months, the town schools had been reduced to 59 and the ward schools to 353, while the total number of children was only 5,909. When it is observed that there was a falling off of something like 40 per cent in the town schools, it may easily be inferred (as was the case) that the bulk of the 2,261 children turned out of school or deprived of State subsidy were the English-speaking children living in Johannesburg and around other centers of population. One or two good voluntary schools in Johannesburg absorbed some of these children, whose parents were able to pay the high fees; the private adventure school sprung up for the benefit of others; many were left in the street. This serious condition of things was much aggravated owing to the influx of new population in 1894 and 1895. Public attention was from time to time drawn to the matter by bodies like the Transvaal National Union, but it was not till 1895 that any practical steps were taken.

THE COUNCIL OF EDUCATION.

* *

In April, 1895, Mr. H. S. Caldecott, a leading Johannesburg solicitor, read a paper before a meeting of influential Johannesburgers in which he called attention to the deplorable state of things. * Mr. Caldecott's revelations evoked profound attention, and before the meeting closed considerable funds were subscribed. A number of gentlemen, with the corporate title of "Council of Education, Witwatersrand," were elected to administer these funds in the interest of the neglected children, especially those on the mining areas. The first act of the council was to appoint a director, who entered upon his duties in September, 1895. This gentleman was forthwith instructed to make a survey of the mining area of the Witwatersrand and embody his observations in a report. It was necessary not only to approximately ascertain the number of children not attending school, but also to gauge as nearly as possible the value and extent of the voluntary educational work already being done among uitlander children. The council's report revealed the fact that in the mining arearoughly, 40 square miles-there were some 2,000 English-speaking children of school-going age, while there was not throughout the whole area a single school that might be described as efficient. A common type was a collec