April 26, 1918.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

851

Engineers and Shipbuilders in the Lecture Theatre
of the Literary and Philosophical Society, Westgate-
road, Newcastle, on April 30, commencing at 7 p.m.

A meeting of the Coke Oven Managers’ Associa-
tion (Midland Section) will be held at the Grand
Hotel, Sheffield (not Leeds as scheduled) to-morrow
(Saturday) at 3.30 p.m. Mr. J. D. Hamer will read
a paper on “Notes on Benzol Rectification.”

After a long period of comparative
The Fabian obscurity the Fabian Society is
Society	venturing into the full limelight of

and the present-day politics. One of its
Labour chief protagonists, Mr. Sidney
Programme. Webb, is making a bid for the
representation of the University of
London in Parliament, and, what is still more
significant, arrangements have been made to cultivate
public opinion by lectures and propaganda designed
to take advantage of the situation arising from the
extended franchise afforded by the new Repre-
sentation *of the People Act. At the same time,
with a shrewdness that is scarcely to be called
original, the miners’ organisations are being made a
special object of attention, with the view of
inoculating these bodies with the virus of their
insidious doctrines.

To this end, Mr. Cole, the secretary of the
Research Department of the Fabian Society, on
Saturday last, addressed a meeting of representatives
of the Northumberland Miners’ Association at
Newcastle-upon-Tyne. From the commencement of
his speech it was evident that Mr. Cole chiefly fears
two things. One of these is the continuation of
Government control of industry after the war ; and
the other is the prospect of a reconciliation between
Capital and Labour as a result of the establishment
of Whitley councils. By “ butting in ” at this
particular time, when the more serious of the Labour
party are looking anxiously forward to the period of
reconstruction after the war, the Fabian Society is
disclosing an attitude of direct opposition to the best
interests of the nation. By openly inciting the
miners to make themselves unpleasant all round, to
the employers, the public, and the State, he thinks
that the cause of Guild Socialism, which he
advocates, is likely to be advanced. The sum of
the arguments stated in favour of this object
amounts to this:—Nationalisation of the mines is
to be secured and the mines are to be handed over
to the management of the men without State control
or Government interference. The only part which
the nation is to be allowed to play in this programme
is to pay for the experiment. That is to say, the
present owners are to be bought out by the issue of
five per cent, bonds, and the State, i.e^ the taxpayer,
is to provide the funds not only for paying
the interest on the bonds but also for financing
the working of the pits. It is an insult
to the intelligence of the Northumberland
miners to put such a proposition before them. It is
scarcely necessary to go further into the details of
this scheme, an abstract of which is given in another
column. Mr. Cole’s speech reminds us forcibly of
the counsel which Demosthenes gave to the sausage
seller, when he selected the latter as a fit person to
pose as a demagogue—

Mangle, mince and mash,

Confound and hack, and jumble things together!

And interlard your rhetoric with lumps

Of mawkish sweet, and greasy flattery.

Aristophanes was writing of ancient Athenian
democracy, and Mr. Cole places the modern
Northumbrian miner upon no higher intellectual
level. He makes a profound mistake. It was
exceedingly weak, for example, to refer to that
abortive proposition, the “limitation of the vend”
for the purpose of maintaining prices, as an argu-
ment against the colliery owners. In the first place,
nothing came of this proposal to regulate coal prices;
and in the second place, the miners, paid as they still
are on a sliding scale basis, have as much interest in
the selling price of coal as the owners have. As a
matter of fact, the Fabian Research Department has
itself advocated the maintenance of a fixed uniform
price for household coal. In the elaborate report
prepared by that body, and published in 1916, these
questions were examined in detail; but this was
prior to the existing Government control of coal mines
which Mr. Cole so vehemently condemns. That
report, in fact, advocated no such proposition as that
now advanced on behalf of the Guild Socialists, but
recommended the formation of just such a Govern-
ment Control department as is now temporarily in
operation.

What, then, do the Fabians want ? Is the whole
scheme of their Research Department, deliberately
drawn up two years ago, to be ruthlessly scrapped in
favour of Syndicalism ? Or has the secretary of this
department taken upon himself to reverse that policy
upon his own responsibility? We should like to know
whether the Fabian Research Department is willing
to endorse the opinions of its secretary. Perhaps
Mr. Henderson, Mr. Sidney Webb and Mr. Bernard
Shaw, who, under the auspices of the Fabian
Society, are announced to lecture upon the Labour
Party programme, will throw some light upon the
subject.

The country is not far away from a General Elec-
tion for which, for the first time, a large new electorate
has been called into existence. The nation, after the
war, will need the united effort of every party in the
State for the promotion of a sound policy of recon-
struction. Otherwise, we shall be faced by something
worse even than war, and destructive of the vitality
and powers of recuperation that will, we hope, still
remain to us when the present ordeal has passed.
It is at such a crisis that these mischievous attempts
are being made to capture the organised machinery
of the Miners’ Federation. Fortunately, the miners,
as a class, are far too shrewd to allow themselves to
be exploited for the benefit of such unrepresentative
sections of the community. The late Mr. Keir
Hardie tried that method with very indifferent
success, and the Fabian attack is not likely to meet
with any better reception.

In August 1916 a Committee was
The Place Of appointed by the Prime Minister
Science (Mr. Asquith) to examine the ques-
in tion of the position of natural science
Education. in the educational system of Great
Britain. This Committee is strongly
composed, and its chairman is one of our most
distinguished men of science, Sir J. J. Thomson, the
renowned Professor of Physics in Cambridge
University. Their report has just been presented in
the form of a voluminous document of 84 pages, based
upon a considerable mass of evidence derived both
from witnesses and from the answers to question-
naires addressed to schools, universities and indus-
trial firms.

Before examining the salient features of this report,
attention may be called to the meaning of the term
“ natural science ” as used in the terms of reference.
Natural science, whatever may be its real significance,
has acquired by general usage a somewhat restricted
application. But the scope of the enquiry itself has
very properly embraced the wider field, and covers
the domain of knowledge which would perhaps
generally be termed merely science in ordinary
language. This question of terminology is not
without its importance, because before all things it
is necessary to have a clear perception of what is
really meant by science in education. Thus, mathe-
matics is a science, but it scarcely comes within the
scope of this enquiry. Applied mathematics, again,
embraces physics, which in an ordinary school
curriculum would hardly rank as natural science,
although experimental physics perhaps would do so.
It is not easy therefore to define exactly what was
intended to be included in this enquiry unless we
adopt the view of natural science generally taken by
the universities in classifying educational subjects in
the various faculties. But even this distinction fails
us when applied to current curricula. For both at
Oxford and Cambridge the honours school in arts
embraces a number of subjects which belong more
to science than to the literary branches of knowledge.

The Committee appears to have had a somewhat
similar difficulty, because different meanings seem
to be attached to the expression “educational science ”
according to the character of the schools in which it
is taught. Thus, in the case of public schools, science
seems to be taken as denoting what is usually taught
on the modern side; while in regard to preparatory
schools it is held to mean merely nature study.

One of the best ways to arrive at a solution of the
problem of the place of science in education is to
ascertain from recognised teachers to what extent
pupils are generally found deficient in their prelimin ary
education in regard to their capacity for proceeding to
higher studies. We think there would be no difficulty
in arriving at a conclusion. The things that chiefly
handicap students in the further prosecution of their
studies in universities and technical colleges are an
imperfect knowledge of their own language, incom-
plete training in geometrical and projection drawing,
and deficient acquaintance with mathematical con-
cepts, especially in regard to the geometry of three
dimensions. It is certain that students entering a
secondary school with a perfect training in these
three branches of knowledge would make more rapid
progress’ and would advance farther in their studies
than those who had previously dabbled in science,
whether nature study or any of the introductions to
science usually taught in preparatory schools.

As this report shows, one of the difficulties in
teaching science in elementary schools is the question
of qualified teachers. This leads to the necessity of
handing over the science subjects to be taught, not
by specialists, but as an adjunct to another subject.
It is very questionable whether any real progress
will ever be made upon these lines. A more
promising plan would seem to be to pay, from the
very start, more attention to the task of preparing the
students’ minds—cultivating the ground, so to speak,
before the seed is sown; and there is no better way
of doing this than by teaching him his own language
first, by training his hand and eye by means of
drawing lessons, and by helping him to use his
brains by a sound course of elementary mathematics.
This would place no undue strain upon the teaching
staff, and the course thus simplified would still leave
ample time for whatever other elementary studies
might be deemed advisable. It would also serve to
eliminate the unfit at an early stage of their career,

when it would not be too late to select a more profit-
able course of study. The country wants scientific
men, but these must be of the right type. It would
be worse than folly to flood our universities and
secondary schools with men incapable of profiting by
the teaching which those institutions afford.

As a matter of fact, the place of science in educa-
tion is determined largely by the demand for
scientific training in Government appointments and
industrial careers. Hitherto, this demand has not
been much in evidence. In many cases —such as in
the Army and Civil Services—science has been more
or less discouraged, not so much directly as indirectly.
When once science is placed upon an equality with
classics as an examination subject, a fitting place will
be found for it in educational curricula. The past
tendency has been rather to patronise science than to
admit it as an essential part of a liberal education.

The recommendations contained in this report will
go far to accomplish the desired end. Importance is
attached throughout to the need for more encourage-
ment of science, to a more liberal supply of scholar-
ships, and to better pay and prospects for teachers.
With all these there will be general agreement; but
in regard to scholarships it is necessary to provide
safeguards against the selection of the unfit. Some
types of mind are no more fitted to profit by advanced
teaching in science than they are to shine in the
composition of Latin or Greek verses. The modern
or science side of our public schools has been too
much of a refuge for educational derelicts. We agree
that some place must be found for these outcasts,
and some means must be devised for cultivating what
attainments they may possess. But classical and
literary failures are not a suitable recruiting ground
for those who aspire to a scientific career.

We have touched only one part of this problem —
viz., the provision of scientifically trained men.
There remains a still larger question—the general
education of the people. Upon this subject we
cannot do better than quote a passage from the
report—

Scientific research of industrial problems is of no use
whatever to uneducated trade. Such a trade cannot
state its needs either with definition or accuracy. Nor
can it interpret into practice and utilise the results of
research. Indeed, it does not feel the need of research,
and cannot, therefore, make a demand for it In some
trades it will be necessary to wait for the full develop-
ment of research schemes until we have a generation of
leaders qualified to demand and make use of industrial
research.

This seems to sum up the whole situation so far as
industry is concerned, and the responsibility is not
confined to industrial leaders. It rests also upon our
legislators, and upon the nation as a whole.

THE MINING ASSOCIATION OF
GREAT BRITAIN.

The sixty-fourth annual general meeting of this
association was held at the Savoy Hotel on Thursday,
April 18, being preceded by the usual meeting of the
executive council, at which a number of important
matters came up for consideration.

The president of the association, Mr. Adam Nimmo,
presided at both meetings, which were largely
attended, representatives from- the following districts
being present: —Lanarkshire, Ayrshire, Fife and
Clackmannan, the Lothians, Northumberland and
Durham, Cumberland, South and West Yorkshire,
Lancashire and Cheshire, Derbyshire, Nottingham-
shire, Leicestershire, Warwickshire, Cannock Chase,
North and South Staffordshire, South 'Wales and
Monmouthshire, Somersetshire, Forest of Dean, and
Bristol district.

At the annual meeting, on the motion of Sir John
Harmood Banner, M.P. (Lancashire), seconded by
Mr. W. H. Mewton (South Wales), the report of the
executive council for 1917-18, advance copies of which
had been issued to members, was received and adopted.
The audited balance sheet and accounts of the associa-
tion for the past year, with the hon. treasurer’s report
thereon, were approved and passed.

On the motion of Mr. W. G. Phillips (Warwick-
shire), seconded by Colonel W. C. Blackett (Durham),
Mr. Charles Brooke Crawshaw (West Yorkshire) was
unanimously elected president of the association for
the ensuing year, and Mr. Nimmo, on vacating the
chair, cordially congratulated him on his election.

Mr. Crawshaw, in thanking the members for the
honour conferred upon him, said he would use his
utmost efforts to discharge the onerous duties of the
office to the satisfaction of the members. He moved
a hearty vote of thanks to the retiring president for
his valuable services during the past year. This was
seconded very heartily by Mr. F. J. Jones (South
Yorkshire), and on being put to the meeting, was
carried with acclamation, Mr. Nimmo thanking the
meeting for the resolution.

The executive council for the current year was
appointed, and the amount of call fixed, the best
thanks of the association being accorded to the hon.
treasurer (Sir William Scott Barrett) and the hon.
auditors (Messrs. Reginald Guthrie and R. S. William-
son) for their services.

The Parliamentary and other committees having
been appointed, the unanimous thanks of the associa-
tion were given to the law clerk and secretary for
his services, and the same having been acknowledged
by Sir Thomas Ratcliffe-Ellis, the proceedings
terminated.