endeavour to collect accurate information on this point, but confined his attention chiefly to the Colleges. He says:-"The efforts made to ascertain the necessary annual expense of each student have not been attended with very satisfactory results. Some colleges giving cost of board, tuition, rent, room, &c., others adding clothing and other items of personal expenditure, always a variable sum. The two highest estimates from the colleges for male students only, are Harvard University and Trinity College, Hartford, each about £50 sterling; and Rochester University, from £40 to £60." He continues"It is not probable, however, that the actual expenditure in the two latter is much, if at all, greater than that of Colleges in cities generally. The estimates in the Eastern Colleges usually range from £26 to £40 sterling per annum; and of the Western, from £18 to £30." In some of the more recent reports of the States, the following percentage of the annual average cost of education at the public schools came out Pennsylvania, 14s. 6d. ; New York, 16s. 8d.; Minnesota, £1 4s. 6d.; Massachusetts, £1 7s. 1d.; New Jersey, £1 14s. 2d. ; and in Boston city the cost was £3 per head, per annum, in 1861. I can find no recent returns of the exact proportion of children educated entirely free in the States. In 1840, it was stated to be rather less than one in five. I anticipate the proportion is very much larger now, as nearly all the common schools are entirely free; and in some cases, the Academies and Colleges too.* As a rule, each grade of education above the common schools has to be paid for in whole or in part by the parents or guardians of the pupils. These higher schools are not generally supported by public taxation; but they have in many cases derived large revenues from private beneficence. The annual cost of the present educational appliances to the respective States is of course affected and moderated by two circumstances first the standard of excellence set up, but more particularly by the amount of the school fund accumulated, or the extent of the income of any special grants. For instance, the actual annual expenditure for education in the State of New York, for the year ending the 1st of October, 1861, was £768,454, or about 16s. 8d. per head. But this State has an accumulated school fund of £525,000-producing an annual revenue of £25,000, and is entitled to the annual revenue of other funds producing £52,000, which takes off about £77,000 or 10 per cent. of the burden, and leaves the taxpayer to contribute the balance of the expenditure only. In some other States, the proportion of the proceeds of the school funds to the entire population is still greater. The Educational Finance of the State of New York is almost startling in its magnitude, as the above figures will indicate, and the expenditure is increasing more rapidly than the population. I have "Journal of the Statistical Society," Vol. 17, p. 331. before me the details of the entire expenditure of the Government of Great Britain, for educational purposes in 1856. It was £423,633, or a very little more than half that of this one State in the year 1861.* STATE EDUCATION FUNDS. The following is a list of the principal States having separate funds specially accumulated for educational purposes: the amounts increase almost yearly. In many cases the annual revenue is not clearly given The value of the 87,302 school houses existing in 1850 alone must form a very large and important item. I have seen it estimated at something very considerable. The following is a very correct description of several that have fallen under my own observation : The school houses in cities and large towns are very imposing buildings. They are often from four to five stories high. They accommodate from 700 to 900 pupils. The rooms are capacious and well ventilated, and every convenience provided for the comfort of the pupils. The basement story consists of play-room under cover, with a paved yard, both set apart for the physical exercise of the pupils. The furnace-room for heating, is on the same floor; the other four floors contain school-rooms and common hall for assembling the pupils on arrival, and at their departure. The buildings are generally of a most substantial character, and as new ones are needed, improvements are constantly occurring, all tending to the comfort and convenience of pupil and teacher. Another writer says: "As a proof how little regard is paid to expense in the fitting up of Encyclopædia Britt. Art. "National Education." these class-rooms when the question of the efficiency of the school is concerned, it may be mentioned that the plan now becoming common, because most approved of, is to give to every child a small desk and a chair to himself, or at most two are placed at one desk, with a chair each." Nearly all the school houses have in conjunction with them school libraries, upon some of which considerable expenditure has been made. The latest school returns indicate that the number of volumes in this class of libraries is not far from 4,000,000. As incidentally bearing upon the cost of education, comes the rate of payment to the teachers. I intend only to select examples relating to the public or common schools, but it is not impossible that some of the higher averages comprise the teachers in the schools of higher grade; it is only on such a supposition that I am enabled to reconcile the following results drawn from recent reports. All the payments are per month, and I give them in dollars and cents for greater exactness: Massachusetts, male teachers 47 dollars (of 4s. 2d.) 71 cents (each cent equal to one half-penny), female teachers dols. 19,95 cents; Connecticut, male, dols. 32, female, dols. 16,14 cents; Maine, male, dols. 28, female, dols. 13; New Hampshire, male, dols. 24,35 cents, female, dols. 14,12 cents; Pennsylvania, male, dols. 25,68 cents, female, dols. 19,71 cents; Delaware, average male and female, dols. 29,41 cents; Ohio, male, dols. 27,81 cents, female, dols. 16,5 cents; Michigan, male, dols. 26,6 cents, female, dols. 13,52 cents.; Indiana, male, dols. 22,60 cents, female, dols. 17,20 cents; Illinois, males, dols. 29,66 cents, female, 19,48 cents; Iowa, male, dols. 24,24 cents, female, 16,20 cents; Wisconsin, male, dols. 23, female dols. 14,62 cents; California, average male and female, dols. 62,35 cents. It will be observed that in the Western States the pay is almost invariably larger than in the Eastern States. In California, there is an obvious reason why the payment is high. I have no exact means of testing these scales with those prevailing in this country, but I have no doubt the advantage would be in favour of the States. There is, however, one peculiarity, and, as I think, one drawback to be noted. The schools in the States are very rarely open more than half the year. I believe this arises in a great degree from the scarcity of labour, and the necessity therefore of having the assistance of the children in agricultural operations. I have found the following to be the average time of keeping schools in the recent Reports: New Jersey, 9 months; Massachusetts and Rhode Island, 8 months; New York and Delaware, 7 months; Vermont, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and California, 6 months; Maine, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, 5 months; Kentucky, Indiana, and Iowa, 4 months. The employment of female teachers is very prevalent throughout * Tremenheere's "Notes on Public Subjects in the United States and Canada.” the States, as our statistics will have shown; indeed the summer schools are to a very considerable extent conducted by females, and in well-appointed schools, such as those of Boston, the primary classes are almost wholly under the care of females. For the other schools, there are generally set apart for each story of the building a master, a sub-master, a head-assistant, with three or four female assistants. In Massachusetts, in 1858, the teachers consisted of 1,691 males, and 5,493 females. The average number of pupils allowed for each teacher is 56, and when this average is exceeded, females are employed to aid the masters. I have no reliable information regarding the average rate of payment to teachers in English schools; or of the rate of payment made by the pupils; the latter however very rarely exceeds 2d. or 3d. per week. The following facts bear upon this point :— In the "Church" schools of England and Wales, under inspection by the Government, it was found, between the year 1860 and 1861, that every £1 of income (exclusive of the Committee of Council's grants on account of pupil-teachers) in the following proportions from the following various sources:-4s. 6d. for Government grants; 5s. 10 d. for school fees paid by the scholars; 5s. 3 d. for subscriptions; 18. 94d. for endowments, and 2s. 52d. for other sources. In the "British" inspected schools, the proportion derived from school fees was 8s. 1d.; and in "British" uninspected, 9s. 1ld. In the inspected schools belonging to the Dissenters, the proportion derived from fees was 9s. 34d., while in the same class of schools which were not inspected, the proportion from fees was 12s. 14d.* The following Table will show the distribution of the educational establishments through the various States and territories in 1850, and may also be useful for reference in relation to other parts of the Paper : *Journal of the Statistical Society," Vol. 24, p. 211. |