THE OTTAWA AGREEMENTS Following the adoption by Great Britain of a general tariff upon foreign goods in 1932, trade agreements were concluded at the Imperial Economic Conference at Ottawa in 1932 between Great Britain and all the Dominions except the Irish Free State and between Great Britain and India and Southern Rhodesia re spectively. These agreements were in the first place for a period of five years, and they guaranteed the entry free of duty into Great Britain of nearly all produce from the Dominions con cerned. The right was, however, retained to impose duties on Dominion eggs, poultry, butter, cheese and other milk products after three years. Certain margins of preference on a number of products of importance to the Dominions were guaranteed. Arrangements were also made for regulating quantitatively the imports of meat from foreign countries into Great Britain. The Dominions on their part gave increased preferential margins to Great Britain over a range of products, and they also undertook that their tariffs "shall be based on the principle that protective duties shall not exceed such a level as will give United Kingdom producers full opportunity of reasonable competition on the basis of the relative cost of economical and efficient production." The agreement also widened the area of preferences accorded by the Dominions to British Colonies.
Although there were indications that at the end of the original currency of the agreements certain modifications would be sought, it can be said that the policy initiated at Ottawa opened a new phase in inter-Imperial economic relations. Other trade treaties, with foreign countries, negotiated subsequently to 1932 were also of importance to empire trade. Amongst these were Great Brit ain's agreements with Argentina, Denmark and other agricultural countries, and agreements between Australia and other Dominions and some European industrial countries.
Canada.—The unit of currency is the Canadian dollar, equiva lent in value to the U.S. dollar at $4.866 to the pound sterling. British sovereigns are legal tender, but in practice never emerge from the banks. The export of gold was restricted during and after the World War, but has been free since June 3o, 1926.
The currency in circulation consists of dominion and bank notes. Dominion notes are based on the following support : $50,000,00o against a 25% gold reserve.
$26,000,000 against securities, including $16,9oo,000 in certain guaranteed railway securities.
Any excess must be mainly against i00% gold reserve, but this provision is modified by the Acts of 1914 and 1923.
The circulation in June 1926 was $175,712,915, or $18.49 per head. Gold reserves amounted to $94,999,481, or 54%, and securi ties to Notes are also issued by the leading Canadian banks, but in "normal times" these are not legal tender. A bank may issue notes equal in amount to its paid-up capital without a gold back ing, and during the period of crop movements may issue "excess" fiduciary circulation to the amount of 15% of its combined capital and rest or reserve fund, but must pay 5% interest on this excess. Any further issue must be backed fully by gold or dominion notes deposited in the central gold reserve. The average circulation for 1926 was $168,885,995, against paid-up capital of $116,638,254, reserves of $125,441,700 and gold and dominion notes amounting to The present banking system originated from the needs of the Montreal traders and has a history of rather more than a century behind it. Unlike the United States, it is based upon the branch banks; the II chartered banks, most of them possessing their head offices in the east, between them cover the country. No attempt is made to segregate the country into districts, as is done by the Federal reserve system in the States. The Canadian banks have been compared, with some justice, to the Scottish banks. Clearings and general supervision are conducted by the Canadian Bankers' Association, which has certain statutory powers. Wheat being the country's most important article of export, the main banking problem is the financing of crop movements during the season and the employment of the surplus funds released during the remainder of the year. As the Canadian money market is relatively small, the bulk of free money is lent on call, not in Toronto or Montreal, but in New York. The ebb and flow of this call money naturally swamps the normal "text-book" influ ences acting upon the rate of exchange.
Geographical influences and the Canadian tariff have led to the investment of large quantities of American capital in Canada, and many industrial undertakings are under American control. The foreign capital invested in Canada in 1926 was estimated to aggre gate over $5,000,000,000, in the ratio of three to two as between the United States and Great Britain, all other countries together representing less than i o% of the total. On the other hand there are considerable Canadian investments abroad, in Newfoundland, the West Indies and in Latin America, the income from foreign investments being estimated at from $30,000,000 to $40,000,000 annually. The total estimated national wealth of the country was estimated by the Dominion Bureau of Statistics at Ottawa at $22,482,841,122 in 1920. The gross national public debt for the year ended March 31, 1926, was $2,821,209,462, without deduc tion of over $440,000,000 represented by active assets, sink ing funds, advances to provinces, investments, etc. The greater part of the Dominion, provincial, and municipal securities is held in the Dominion itself, which, as it develops, also shows an increasing ability to finance its own business itself. The total value of the dominion field crops for 1927 was estimated at over $1,000,000,000 (L200,000,000), the value of other farm products being $700,000,000; the corresponding value of the industrial output was estimated at $3,000,000,000.
The currency is the pound sterling, and sovereigns are coined but not put into circulation. The actual currency in use consists of notes issued by the Commonwealth Bank, which are legally convertible. Normally the currency exchanges at par with Brit ish currency, but when the gold standard was suspended in Britain after the war, the rate of exchange moved away from parity and in accordance with trade demands. In actual prac tice the Commonwealth Bank is the chief buyer and seller of exchange, and so used to fix the rate from time to time. The vari ation from parity was a source of some inconvenience and loss to traders in both countries, and for a time there was a demand for a unified empire currency; but with the restoration of the gold standard in the United Kingdom, the anomaly ceased and the demand fell in abeyance.
The rapid development of Australia, added to its war expendi ture, has necessitated the frequent raising of loans and many of these are obtained in the London market. On June 30, 1927, the aggregate debt of the Commonwealth and Federal States was, according to the Statist, f 1,016,000,000, of which 1518,000,000 had been borrowed internally, /478,000,00o in London and £20,000,000 in New York. Much of this money is represented by remunerative assets, such as railways, harbours and other public works, so that the total debt cannot be called excessive nor can it be compared with the national debts of older countries, which represent mainly past and unremunerative expenditure. Notwithstanding this fact there was during post-war years an impression in London that Australia was over-borrowing. This was largely due to the fact that at that date the Commonwealth and each separate State had independent borrowing powers, with the result that frequently one Australian loan came hard on the heels of the last. The obvious remedy was co-ordination, and in 1927 an important practical step was taken in the creation of a Federal Loan Council for the purpose of financial co-operation. It is the duty of this council to ascertain the needs of the con stituent members and the amount that can be borrowed without undue disturbance; the Commonwealth and the member States will be rationed accordingly. All future loans are to be issued by the Commonwealth Government, except that the Loan Council can sanction State loans, to be issued under the guarantee of the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth has further agreed to take over the State public debts, expected to aggregate £8,635,445 for the financial year 1927. At the end of 1927 the formal adop tion of the scheme still depended upon an amendment to the Constitution.
Australia is in one sense well provided with banks, but in 1927 the demand for accommodation had outstripped the resources available. Hence, in addition to amalgamations, many of the banks were increasing their capital in order to obtain fresh funds to meet the demand for loans. This operation was rendered easy by the high return so obtaining on existing bank shares. There are several large banks in the country, and there is no tendency among them to limit their operations to a single State ; many of the banks, too, have London offices and are firmly established in New Zealand.
The fact that Australian banks operate in New Zealand means that the banking relations between the two countries are very close, and they may be studied together. The banker's problem is that of the banker in every pastoral and agricultural country, namely, how to finance the farmer through the season and how to employ the surplus funds during the rest of the year. In 1926 the Bank of New Zealand was concerning itself with the problem of long-term loans on mortgage to agriculture.
Like the other dominions, New Zealand is a familiar figure in the London loan market. In 1925, her obligations were Li '8,000, 000 borrowed in London and £104,000,000 raised internally. Since that time the national public debt has enlarged somewhat, but as an offset to it the Dominion Government owns revenue-producing assets valued at above £200,000,000.
South Africa.—From the standpoint of pure finance South Africa stands out in sharp distinction from the rest of the empire. From the fact that the bulk of the world's gold is produced here, gold circulates to some extent inside the Union and gold ship ments therefore possess a different significance ; gold, in fact, must be regarded as one of the staple products of the country, and its relation to the money and exchange markets judged accordingly.
Possibly the most important event in South Africa's financial history since the union is the foundation of the South African Reserve Bank which was set up in 1921. It resembles in many respects an American Federal Reserve Bank, is principally a bank of issue and possesses the sole right to issue notes, this right expiring in 1946. It has a capital of f i,000,000, of which £300, 00o is held by other South African banks, each of whom is bound to hold shares to an amount equal to 5% of their own paid-up capital. Its dividends are limited to To%, and any sur plus profits have to be allocated to reserve. When the reserve fund equals the paid-up capital of the bank, all surplus profits go to the State. The board of directors consists of representatives of the Government, and of banking, industry, commerce and agriculture. Its reserve regulations are also modelled on the Fed eral reserve system. The note issue must be covered as to 40% in gold, and as to the remainder in approved "commercial paper" or bills of exchange representing genuine trade transactions. All deposits lodged with a bill payable by the bank must also be covered by 40% in gold. Finally, every South African bank is bound to carry a balance at the reserve bank equivalent to 13% of its own demand deposits and 3% of its time deposits. The Union Government does its own banking business through the reserve bank.
The unit of currency is the pound sterling, and since the resto ration of the gold standard in Great Britain, the exchange has been at par. Even before the foundation of the reserve bank, banking in the Union was well developed. Possibly the leading bank is the Standard Bank of South Africa, whose head office is in London. This was founded in 1862 and now operates all over the Union, and also in east, central and west Africa ; it also has a holding in the Bank of British West Africa.
Like the other colonies South Africa is a well-known borrower in London, where South African loans command a high reputation. At the end of March 1927 the national public debt stood at .1231,476,00o; but of this total 77% may be classed as productive, being investment in State railways and other revenue producing enterprises. Of the total debt £147,810,000 has been raised exter nally (which means almost exclusively in London), leaving nearly £84,000,000 held internally. A different class of security, even more familiar on the London Stock Exchange, are South African mining shares. London stock-brokers are many of them more conversant with labour and other working conditions on the Rand than with similar conditions at home. The gold from the Rand reached a new peak of production in 1927 with 10,130,630 oz.; taking the price of gold at 85s. per oz. this represents a value of India.—Financial conditions in India are governed by several imponderable factors. The first is the fact that India is not one homogeneous nation, but consists of 20 or 3o peoples. Another is that gold and silver are the traditional form of wealth, and their accumulation is stimulated by definite religious beliefs and cere monies; hence the absorption of the precious metals by the Indian population. Superimposed on these is the influence of London as the chief financial and trading link between India and the outer world. Thus in India the modern complexities of trade and ex change exist side by side with the most primitive methods, and the banking, currency and financial system has to take account of both.
The unit of currency is the rupee, consisting of 165 grains of fine silver. Until 1893 its exchange rate was fixed by the price of silver, and in effect it represented nothing more or less than this definite weight of silver. The trend of silver values and other forces led, however, to a gradual but marked modification of the currency system. First the "silver exchange" was replaced by the gold "exchange standard." Silver could no longer be tendered by the public, to be coined into rupees, and the British sovereign and half sovereign were made legal tender at the rate of R.15 to the pound sterling. Also the Government undertook to sell "council drafts," drawn upon its balance in India, at a maximum rate of is. 40. per rupee, and in case of need "reverse councils" drawn on London if and when the exchange rate fell below Is. 3-Rd. Thus by law and practice the rupee was valued at Is. 4d. ; if it began to vary from this point the Government could contract credit by selling "reverse councils" which had to be paid for in rupees, or expand credit by selling "councils" and so releas ing rupees. Furthermore, the Government managed to educate the people to the point where it could get notes into circulation; these notes were convertible and had a definite backing behind them in the "paper currency reserve." The World War upset this system because it temporarily made the bullion value of the rupee greater than is. 4d., and so made it a paying proposition to melt rupees down, and because the Government found they had not enough rupees at their disposal to meet the public demand for councils. After the armistice an attempt was made to fix the rupee at R.1 o to the gold sovereign, but this broke down almost at once owing to world-wide deflation and the temporary dislocation of Indian trade. In 1926, a definite gold standard was adopted. The par of exchange was fixed at Is. 6d. to the rupee, and the Government is bound to buy or sell gold or gold exchange at this rate, save that it cannot be made to deal in less quantities of gold than 1,065 tolas. The present exchange system is much the same as that ruling in England to-day.
Banking in India is also a complicated matter. On the one hand there are many small native banks, often differing very little from the money-lender or money-changer of time im memorial, while on the other hand there are the big exchange and other well-known banks, centred in Bombay, Madras or Calcutta, but by no means confining their activities to those cities. First among these come the Imperial Bank of India, established by law in 1920 to take over the business of the three former Presi dency banks; it has over 150 branches, acts as the banker of the Government, and performs most of the functions of a central bank. In particular its rate of discount sets the financial tone for the whole of India. It has no note issue. In 1927 the suprem acy of the Imperial bank was threatened by the proposal to establish a new reserve bank, to become the official and de facto central bank, and to buy and sell gold and gold exchange in the place of the Government, which now performs this function. The proposal failed to become law.
Dealings in foreign exchange are conducted mainly by the big eastern exchange banks, who virtually form the Bombay, Madras and Calcutta markets. Foreign trade is mainly financed through London, either by sterling bills, or by rupee bills covered by an appropriate purchase or sale of sterling in London. Much of the trade with America is financed by rupee bills, and dollar bills are few and far between. Originally, most of India's capital needs were provided for in London, and Indian Government loans and railway stock still maintains a leading place on the London Stock Exchange, and command a high degree of confidence ; like other empire securities, they also possess special facilities to qualify as "trustee stocks." But with the growth of industry India is now also beginning to provide for her own capital needs. At March 31, 1926, the national public debt was £342,000,000 held in Great Britain and R. internal debt.
As regards currency, too, each unit is independent : Singapore and Hong Kong have each their own dollars; Tanganyika has its shilling, and so on. Kenya, in particular, has had a chequered currency history. Immediately after the war the Indian rupee was in circulation, and so Kenya shared in the attempt to raise the rupee from 15 to the pound to 1 o to the gold sovereign. Next, a florin was introduced, and held at 1 o to the pound even after the new rupee parity had been tacitly abandoned. For a time this gave rise to serious inequities, and it is only with the general currency stabilization of the past few years that an equilibrium has been established.
Most of the Crown colonies are too small to need a central bank of their own, and to a large extent they are served by branches or subsidiaries of banks domiciled in Great Britain or one of the dominions. Instances of this are the Standard Bank of South Africa and the Bank of British West Africa, as cited above; while the Far Eastern colonies, such as Hong Kong and Singapore, are served by the big eastern exchange banks. (N. E. C.) The first line of communication of the empire is by sea. Until the outbreak of the World War the great majority of the ships serving empire ports were owned by companies operating from the British Isles, but during the war and immediate post-war periods, the dominions, notably Canada and Australia, developed mercan tile marines which largely operate on empire routes. About 400, 00o gross tons of shipping engaged in overseas trade were actually owned by these dominion Governments in 1925, but whilst they assisted trade development they were also a cause of substantial losses. The losses have become so serious that efforts are being made in some cases to dispose of the fleets. These government owned fleets had at first an advantage in immunity from taxation, but at the Imperial Conference of 1923 it was agreed that liability to taxation should be the same as for privately owned vessels.
Liner routes steadily increased after r g r o, and in 1926 there were 56o such routes from the British Isles. Not all were empire routes, but there was at least one, and frequently more than one, liner route connecting Great Britain with each of the dominions and colonies, whilst there was a marked development in the organ ization of lines working directly between the overseas dominions. An effect of this was to give greater stability to freight rates, but also to make them less flexible. Sea carriage remained the cheapest form of transport. In 1925 it cost only id. to bring 1 lb. of meat from Australia to Great Britain ; 4d. per quarter for wheat from Canada or 3d. from Australia, and 3/20d. per lb. for rice from Rangoon.
Freights are, however, subject to considerable variation, due to changes in the balance of cargoes on the routes at different times and seasons. The serious drop in coal exports from Great Britain during the post-war period caused British shipping to be less remunerative and kept up freights for the carriage of raw products to Great Britain. The Australian trade is, from a shipping standpoint, unusually well balanced. The worst balanced route is that across the Atlantic to Canada and Newfoundland, for the United Kingdom exports to Canada and Newfoundland mainly manufactured goods, occupying moderate cargo space in relation to their value, and imports grain, timber, pulp, flour, and other comparatively bulky goods. A notable development, particularly after the war, was the growth of direct trade of the dominions or colonies with one another. The Imperial shipping committee, founded in 192o, has materially assisted in the co-ordination and standardization of practice within the empire.
British ships of 8,000 tons and upwards increased from 214 at the end of 1913 to 395 at the end of 1925, whilst the records of 1926 show that 46.9% of the British tonnage consists of such ships. With the growth in the size of ships the need for deep water ports and for dock equipment which would provide for a rapid turn round of the ship was emphasized. The outcome was a marked tendency for the traffic to pass through a limited number of ports. Though the Board of Trade publish returns for over loo ports in Great Britain, the bulk of the traffic passes through 14 or 15 of them, while London and Liverpool together handle over 5o% of the total. Taken as a whole, the Empire is well provided with ports with a depth of water of 35ft. upwards, or with ports which can readily be deepened as soon as the necessity arises. The tendency, however, has been to develop a large number of ports, and this often compels ships to call at several to ensure a full cargo. New Zealand perhaps suffers from this more than any other part of the empire, which accounts for freights being relatively high.
A new development is the institution of "cabin-class" steamers. The White Star Line and the Canadian Pacific are running a number of these steamers. The fares are about the usual first-class fares. Already a large increase in the number of people exchanging visits between Great Britain and Canada has resulted.
The first Conference had 51 members and met for a week ; the second had 62 members and met for a fortnight; the third had 95 members and took three weeks to complete its business. On each occasion there were delegates from the self-governing Dominions, India, the Crown Colonies, Dependencies, etc. In 1927 the Man dated Territories were also represented.
The work of the Conference may be divided into two parts. Firstly the movements of teachers and students about the Empire give rise to a number of rather technical problems best solved after personal discussion between responsible officials. Thus when a teacher migrates it is necessary to determine his professional status, his salary, etc., in his new country. Migrant students bring with them problems as to the equivalence of examinations for the purpose of admission to training colleges, universities and other institutions for higher education. The Conferences have en deavoured to devise principles to be applied in the solution of such problems. Their recommendations have resulted in legislation directed to the facilitation of movement and thus to the promotion of imperial unity.
Secondly, attention is given at each meeting to educational prob lems of the moment on which the experiences of each country are likely to be helpful to all. Thus in 1923 a description of the corre spondence tuition methods by which the Australian education departments reach children in remote homesteads led to the adoption of similar methods in other parts of the Empire. The 1927 Conference discussed the use of wireless broadcasting in education, while in both 1923 and 1927 the educational possibili ties of the cinema were explored.
The 1911 Conference established an Advisory Committee to carry on its work between successive Conferences. It consists of the accredited agents in London of the several Governments con cerned, presided over by the secretary of the Board of Education, and has made the arrangements for the later Conferences and advised on questions referred to it by the education departments at home and overseas. It conducted, for example, certain inquiries into the working of the scheme for the temporary exchange of teaching posts at home and in the Dominions, and investigated the possibility of a common form for the display of the fundamental statistics of public education in all the countries of the Empire.
An official report of the proceedings at each Conference is published by H.M. Stationery Office. (J. H. Bu.) Education in Australia is administered and controlled separately by the six States ; only in the territories of central and northern Australia and in the Federal capital area of Yass-Canberra is the Federal Government responsible. Education in the Northern and Central territory is organized with the help of the Queensland Education Department, whilst New South Wales takes charge of Canberra on behalf of the Federal Government.
In every State one of the foremost problems is that of the "out back" children, the families of settlers in sparsely populated dis tricts living miles from any school or any railway connecting them with a school. Various efforts have been made to meet their needs. Itinerant teachers have been sent out to visit each family four times a year and enable the children to pursue home studies with such help as their families can give. This method, however, is gradually being abandoned as transport facilities improve and State grants enable the children to travel to the nearest school or board in hostels. Further, a successful system of correspondence tuition, even for young children, is developing. Correspondence pupils win scholarships and are able to continue their education beyond the primary course. There are also "provisional schools" with a very small attendance, where the building must be provided locally. Another expedient for the rural child is the "subsidized school" where two or more families join to engage the teacher, and the Government makes a grant of L5 per pupil towards the salary. South Australia takes the palm in the provision for rural needs, for there a school may be established where only six children are gathered together. G. S. Browne (Education in Australia) stresses the value of a highly centralized system of administration in a "young country with a vast hinterland. It ensures that the chil dren of the rural pioneer receive as good an education as the children of the banker or artisan in the city." That is, indeed, hardly possible, but clearly more local autonomy can come only as the population increases and localities become equal to the greater burden.
In New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia and Queens land, education is compulsory between the ages of 6 and 14, in South Australia between 7 and 13, and in Tasmania between 7 and 14. In some cases pupils may leave earlier if they reach the requisite standard. In Victoria children are admitted at four and a half and in Queensland at five. In some infant schools kinder garten (q.v.) and Montessori (q.v.) methods are used. Victoria is the only State using Montessori apparatus for mental defectives. In South Australia the Government makes grants to the free kin dergartens of the Kindergarten Union, which have adopted Mon tessori methods ; there are also Montessori-kindergarten classes in the State schools for children under six. Western Australia has no State infant schools, but there are free kindergartens established by the Free Kindergarten Union. There are also "opportunity classes" for backward children set up jointly by several schools. In all six States school medical and dental services are developing.
All the States maintain high schools; fees have been abolished in New South Wales, South Australia, Queensland and Western Australia. In New South Wales there are "superior public schools" for twenty or more pupils who are prepared to take a two years' post-primary day continuation course. Victoria has supplemen tary courses at primary schools for children from 12 to 15, and in the metropolitan areas central schools with a two years' high school syllabus. There are domestic arts schools for girls from I21 to 14, and junior technical schools admitting to a three years' course at 12. Both continue the general cultural education of the pupils. Some schools have experimented with the Dalton system (q.v.), some with marked success, and with school councils where the children perform certain functions of self-government. Class A schools have been allowed to substitute internal tests (with cer tain safeguards) for the usual external examinations, and these tests are recognized by the university. South Australia has cen tral schools with a domestic, technical and commercial course in addition to continued general education. The more gifted pupils may proceed at 15 or 16 to the upper divisions of the high school. In 1921 higher primary schools were started in the small towns. The secondary course is four years, or five in the largest schools. The Technical Education of Apprentices Act makes three years' attendance at a trade school for half a day and one evening per week compulsory for apprentices in most skilled trades in ''pro claimed areas." Queensland has secondary departments to primary schools, known as "topped schools." The State is in process of taking over the technical colleges and transforming them into technical high schools, where technical and general education are combined. Attendance at technical classes is compulsory for ap prentices. Western Australia has central schools with a two years' course, vocational and cultural. In 1918 post-primary correspond ence classes were started for children "outback." Some schools have adopted the Dalton plan. In Tasmania pupils may pass at 13 from the primary school to a high school or technical school with a four or five years' course, and thence to the university. There are junior technical schools on the Victorian model, and trade technical schools for apprentices with a four years' course.
There is a strong movement towards abolishing the pupil teacher system and making a minimum standard of secondary education the condition of admission to the teachers' training colleges. In Victoria and Western Australia would-be teachers serve as monitors or junior teachers before entering the college in order to test their suitability for the work. The outlying country schools have suffered from insufficiently trained teachers, but some States are making a term of service in the country a condition of promotion in the city schools. The registration of teachers is compulsory in Victoria and Tasmania.
By sec. 93 of the British North America Act (1367), the con trol of education in the Dominion was exclusively entrusted to the provinces and a special safeguard was added that no law passed should prejudicially affect any right or privilege with respect to denominational schools that was legally possessed by any class of persons in the provinces at the time of confederation. The safeguard involved a principle of great importance, for Cana dian educational systems derive from two separate ancestries and there is much opportunity for difference over religious matters. The undenominational system of English-speaking Canada has been founded on English and Scottish precedents modified by American experience, while the system of the Roman Catholic Church, in which religious instruction, according to its tenets, forms a vital part, prevails in French-speaking Quebec.
The beginnings of education in Quebec date back to the efforts of the missionaries under the French regime, when certain religious communities established schools, but there was no definite organ ization, and it was not until 1836 that assistance was first granted by the State. In 184I a Department of Education was set up for I the united provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, and in 1846 an act was passed by the provincial legislature establishing the basis of the modern school system. The supreme education author ity for the province of Quebec is a council of public instruction with two sides supervising the Roman Catholic and Protestant schools respectively. The Catholic committee includes the bishops and vicars apostolic of the province, with 15 laymen nominated by the provincial ministry. The Protestant committee is composed of I5 clergy or laymen who are similarly appointed. Each com mittee has independent jurisdiction over the schools of its own faith, but questions of common interest are decided by the coun cil as a whole. Each committee is assisted by co-opted associate members who are chosen for their special educational experience and represent the interests of the teachers. Subject to the general approval of the provincial Government, each committee makes regulations for the organization, administration and discipline of the schools, their inspection and examination and the training of teachers. The superintendent of public instruction, who is ex officio president of the council, is assisted by two deputy heads, called the French and English secretaries of the department. who are responsible for their respective sides. Save in the cities of Montreal and Quebec the province is divided into school dis tricts in each of which there is a school board elected by the local ratepayers and serving for three years. Where there is a religious minority, they may establish schools of their own governed by elected trustees. The cost of education is defrayed from three sources : provincial grants, local rates assessed on all property within the school district and fees paid by parents having children of school age. In Montreal there are appointed school boards and the rates assessable are fixed by the provincial legislature. In the Protestant and Jewish elementary schools of Montreal there are no fees, but in the Roman Catholic schools, as elsewhere throughout the province, fees are charged and are collected with other school rates. The teaching in the Catholic schools is mostly conducted in French, and the methods differ considerably from those of the Protestant schools, which are similar to those of the English-speaking elementary schools in the rest of Canada. A considerable amount of the teaching in the Catholic schools is entrusted to members of religious communities. and the Church exercises a close control. Most of the teachers in the Protestant schools receive a professional training in normal schools, or in the departments of education at McGill university, or the Anglican Bishops' college at Lennoxville.
Secondary education in the province of Quebec is divided upon even more sharply marked denominational lines than primary. The most distinctive institutions on the French side are the resi dential classical colleges with almost wholly clerical staffs. Boys enter them between 12 and 14 and receive a classical training on traditional lines until they have taken their baccalaureat and pass on to the professional schools at Laval or Montreal university. There are also various "independent schools" for boys and girls, carried on by communities of friars and nuns respectively. but all are subject to inspection by the Catholic committee of the council of public instruction. The number of Roman Catholic non-residential secondary schools provided by local school boards is increasing and they are supported by government grants. local rates and fees in the same way as the primary schools. The most ancient educational institution in the province is Laval university, in the city of Quebec, which has developed from the seminary for education for the priesthood, founded in the middle of the 1 7th century. An affiliated institution has in recent years been well endowed and has become the university of Montreal. In each of these universities the courses are organized on professional lines and the methods of instruction derive from the precedents of the ancient university of Paris.
The educational system of English-speaking Canada finds its fullest development in Ontario, but in its essentials it is the same in all the provinces. In each there is a Department of Education presided over by a provincial minister, but the routine administra tion is in the hands of permanent officials of the civil service. At their head stands a deputy minister or superintendent. who has a large share of responsibility for educational efficiency throughout his province. There are inspectors appointed and paid by the Government, but in Ontario those in charge of the primary or ''public" schools are appointed locally. The settled parts of the provinces are divided into school districts, each with a board of trustees charged with the duty of equipping and maintaining both primary and secondary or "high" schools. The primary schools are mainly undenominational, but in Ontario and Manitoba the Roman Catholic minority is permitted to maintain separate schools. Religious teaching of a simple kind is permitted in the undenominational schools, with the safeguard of a "conscience clause." In the past there has been considerable political difficulty in certain provinces over the questions of religious and language teaching, and on more than one occasion the "schools question" has led to cases before the courts which have been carried to the judicial committee of the privy council, on appeal, for an interpretation of the constitutionality of certain acts passed by the provincial legislature.
The primary schools are organized in "grades" corresponding roughly to English "standards," and education is free and com pulsory for all children between the ages of eight and 14. In Ontario either full or part-time attendance is now required up to 16, and in some cases up to 18, a requirement that has greatly increased the attendance in the secondary schools of the province. Increasing attention is being paid to technical and vocational work for the older pupils who do not pass on to the university. In the larger cities, industrial, technical and art schools have seen a great development in recent years, and everywhere throughout Canada great attention is paid to agricultural education in schools and colleges, ranging upwards from farm schools to elaborately equipped and staffed agricultural colleges with experimental farms attached. Certain of the Canadian agricultural colleges rank among the best in the world. Secondary education in Government aided schools is free throughout English-speaking Canada, but there are, in addition, certain boarding schools of high reputation modelled on the lines of an English public school. Of these the most celebrated is Upper Canada college at Toronto, where generations of those who have proved to be the leaders in Cana dian life have been educated.
In Western Canada an acute and pressing difficulty faces the provincial Governments in providing for the education and assimi lation of the many immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe who have come to settle since the beginning of the 20th century. The problem of providing schools and teachers for these immi grants has been a great burden on the Prairie provinces, and it cannot be said that it has yet been satisfactorily solved.
The universities of Canada have been greatly influenced by the vast developments that have taken place in the universities of the United States within the last 5o years. The two leading insti tutions—Toronto and McGill (Montreal), represent different types in the organization of their finances, the first being sup ported by public funds like the State universities in the republic, and the second depending upon its endowments like the British universities. They differ little, however, in their academic organ ization or curricula. To the first type belong the new universi ties of the West : Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, while in the East most of the universities belong to the second type, the best known of them being Queen's (Kings ton, Ontario), and Dalhousie (Halifax, Nova Scotia). Laval (Quebec) and the University of Montreal have already been men tioned as differing considerably from other Canadian universities in organization and curricula. (See UNIVERSITIES.) For statistical details reference may be made to the official Canada Year Book, published annually (Ottawa) and to the Annual Survey of Education in Canada, prepared in the Education Statistics Branch of the Dominion Bureau of Statistics. Brief accounts of the history of Canadian education may be found in Sixty Years of Canadian Progress (Ottawa, 1928), and A. P. Newton, The Universities and Educational Systems of the Empire (1922). For current information concerning Canadian universities, see The Universities' Year Book, published by the Universities' Bureau of Empire. (A. P. N.) The problems of education in India are immense with the immensity of that vast peninsula. There is, moreover, this per plexity, that, whereas in most countries education is linked con tinuously through all grades and stages, in India a deep rift divides higher education from primary. Higher education uses English as its language-medium : education for cultivators and artisans is necessarily in the mother-tongue, and India's millions speak in many vernaculars. Further, higher education is rela tively widespread and advanced, while something like nine-tenths of the whole population remain illiterate. Yet another difficulty comes from ancient prejudice against the education of women. It is no longer true that figures for female education are negligible, but custom and prejudice still seriously obstruct every effort to advance the education of India's womanhood.
Nevertheless, the sum total of organized education is very considerable. There are now 14 universities in British India, without counting Rangoon, Mysore and Osmania. All aspire to be teaching as well as examining universities : in some there are the promising beginnings of research, the most extensive organization for the purpose being found in Calcutta. Studies have approxi mately the same scope and range as those of European universi ties, but in most cases a faulty examination standard detracts from their efficacy. English is, for the most part, the medium of instruction ; imperfect mastery of this medium is a great stumbling-block. University students in 1926 numbered 87,589, some 1,5oo of these being women.
Secondary education is widely diffused and the demand for it does not slacken: but far too much of this education is narrow in aim, dull and mechanical in method. The true use and value of the school as an institution are imperfectly recognized. Even among High English schools, which lead to the universities, there are few in which school life is as full and vivid as it may be. The school aim has been unduly restricted : these schools do not educate for life, but prepare candidates for university matricula tion. It is, however, fair to recognize that strenuous efforts have been, and are being, made in the right direction. There is also now a tendency towards the substitution of the vernacular for English in teaching. In 1926 the total number of Secondary schools, higher and lower, Vernacular and English, was nearly eleven thousand. The number of pupils was not far short of two millions, all but 174,000 being boys. Pupils in primary schools in 1926 numbered nearly eight millions. Yet this is only about a fifth of the number of children who might have been at school, and there is small ground for contentment with the advance made in recent years, though that has been substantial. This failure does not come from want of recognition of the greatness of the need. It has been affirmed again and again in Government declarations of policy. The hindering causes have been, the absence of any popular demand, scarcity of teachers, want of money, unwillingness to impose special taxation to provide it. These hindrances remain : nevertheless, opinion is moving defi nitely towards making elementary education compulsory, and at the same time free : practical steps in this direction are being taken in many places. Much may be hoped from the delegation of the responsibility for primary education to local authorities— municipalities for towns, and district boards for rural areas.
Technical education is backward, but efforts to make good deficiencies are unremitting, the recent development of training schools for railway employees being one significant advance. Pro fessional education is fairly well developed. For teaching, zealous and successful work is being done in training colleges and normal schools. Law colleges are amply provided. Medical education is increasing, but is still very inadequate to the needs of the com munity; engineering progresses but slowly; notable success attends the School of Forestry at Dehra Dun; veterinary colleges are doing useful work.
The machinery of education is variously controlled. The uni versities are self-governing, but receive some financial help from Government. High school education is at present controlled mainly by the universities, but there is a movement for placing high schools under the control of boards set up for the purpose. Primary and secondary education are both under the supervision of Government inspectors. Schools are staffed and equipped by missionary agency or private enterprise, largely with the help of grants-in-aid. Government also maintains and manages directly a few schools of all types, to set the standard. In every province there has been since 1854 a highly organized education depart ment, the activities of which touch every branch and kind of education.
The total spent on education in 1926 from public sources was over £9,000,000. There is considerable expenditure from mission ary, municipal, and private funds, in addition; and some from endowments.
History.—For about 4o years after Warren Hastings founded the Calcutta Madrasa (1781), British interest in Indian education was confined to the encouragement of the traditional Islamic and Hindu learning, and the funds first assigned to education in were devoted to that purpose. A definite change of policy came in 1835, the date of Lord William Bentinck's "Resolution" and Macaulay's "Minute," which together determined that from that time on the main line of educational advance should be through "English education." But the beginnings of English education go back 20 years earlier, and came, in effect, in answer to a popular demand, and out of the belief that a true revival of learning in India could most effectually be brought about by means of the English language. The Hindu College, Calcutta, was founded in under the inspiration of this belief. In the despatch of Sir Charles Wood formulated a comprehensive scheme of education for all India, the groundwork of the present system. Progress since that time has been continuous. There have been three principal epochs, each following the appointment of an Educational Commission. The first of these was in 1882 and resulted in an immense extension of high school and college education. The second, the Universities Commission of 1902, was occupied with university reform, at that time much needed. The third, in 1917, remembered as the Sadler Commission, dealt exhaustively with the problems of higher education in Bengal, including schools. Its recommendations embody sound educational principles, but, so far, it has only been found possible to apply some of them practically, and these not in Calcutta University. Quite recently (May 1928), an "auxiliary committee" in connec tion with the Simon committee has been appointed to inquire into the growth of education in India.
It is early yet to estimate the effects of this transfer of education to Indian ministers. In their political aspects, these are the sub ject of the enquiry of the auxiliary committee mentioned above. The stumbling block since 1919 has been the financial stringency; but there has been a quickening of public interest in education, which may have far-reaching results. There is, however, the danger that educational interests may suffer eclipse amid the excitements of party politics. This would be a great misfortune, for all who reflect and reason acknowledge that the new political ideals in India depend for their progressive realization on education. (H. R. JA.)