contain most frequent allusions to the deep interest displayed by the teachers in this work and to the large numbers attending these meetings.

Principal McIntyre says: "These Institutes are useful in many ways. They assist in making clear to the teachers the aims and methods of education; they settle many of the practical difficulties of the schoolroom; they arouse a fresh enthusiasm for the work of teaching. They bring the Normal School into closer touch with the schools of the country, and thus prevent the training of teachers from becoming too theoretical. They also bring the schools and the people into more friendly relation, as at all gatherings many of the parents of the district attend, and frequently take part in the proceedings."

The teacher is engaged under a written agreement between him and the trustees of the school district in which he intends to serve. Changes from school to school and from district to district are very frequent; the number of teachers who have a recorded service of five years in the same school is small.

No system of graduated salaries exists; the actual amount Salaries. received by the teacher is settled in private agreement between him and the local trustees who are his employers. But it is felt that the trustees are not always the best judges of the interests of the school in this matter.

In 1894 Mr. E. E. Best writes: "The teachers in charge held all grades of certificates and represented all stages of proficiency, from the very highest standard of moral and professional excellence, down to those who had neither training, experience, nor aptitude; the law of uniformity in the teacher's vocation applies only in the case of salaries. Even here, however, there are faint signs of reformation. Formerly the skilful and

cultivated teacher was remunerated on the same basis as the novice, the ubiquitous tramp and adventurer. In some quarters the trustees are beginning to discriminate between the work of an artist and that of an artisan, and it is to be hoped that the near future may witness the grading of teachers' salaries and the proper compensation of those who are our real teachers."

The same hopefulness does not possess Mr. T. M. Maguire, who says in his report for the following year (1895): "It is to be regretted that trustees do not make more distinction in the matter of salary between third and second class teachers. The neophyte who has just passed his examination, or the inexperienced teacher looking for his first school, can usually do as well in the matter of salary as the trained and experienced teacher."

The highest salary paid in 1898 was $1,800; the average salary for the province was $344, in towns and cities $563, in rural schools $397. The highest salary paid in rural schools was $700,

V.-ATTENDANCE.

There is no clause in the Act of 1890 which makes attendance compulsory. The Trustees in rural districts are bound by law to provide school accommodation for two-thirds of the actual

resident children between the ages of five and sixteen; the town authorities for all children between six and sixteen. Any child between these limits of age has a right to free instruction, but persons up to the age of twenty-one may attend school.

The absence of any compulsory regulations makes attendance irregular, but there are few advocates for their introduction. Mr. Rose, an Inspector, writes:-" Attendance should be in a measure at least compulsory. If the education of the child is a subject of such vast importance that every citizen may with justice be required to contribute towards the maintenance of the public school, then the State should have some adequate means of controlling the expenditure of their money. It is probable that if the payment of the various grants were made in some measure proportionate to the attendance, some slight improvement would follow. I visited one school in which there had not been a single pupil for six weeks. The teacher, who was in the habit of visiting the school each morning, was in receipt of a salary of $40 per month." Other inspectors are more disposed to rely rather upon a larger measure of zeal on the part of the teachers and upon the greater interest of parents in the work of education. The necessities of home requirements, it is admitted, account largely for this irregularity, but it is also in no small degree due to the carelessness and indifference of parents and guardians.

VI.-CURRICULUM.

The full programme of studies for the public school is given in Appendix B. Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic, together with "Observation Lessons," are the main subjects in the three lowest grades. The study of Geography is begun in Grade III., and of History in Grade V. With reference to the teaching of this last branch the Superintendent of the Winnipeg Schools, writes:"All classes above five study British and Canadian History. This study is carried on with a view to leading our boys to appreciate their birthright as British subjects and citizens of Canada, to acquaint them with the duties and privileges of the citizenship, and to familiarise them, in an elementary way, with the nature of the problems, which the past presented, thus laying the foundations for intelligent participation in public matters when in mature years the exercise of that citizenship shall fall to them."

Elementary Science replaces the Observation lessons in the Fifth grade, Physiology is added in the Sixth, and Gramınar in the Seventh; Agriculture is also taught in certain schools.

The object of Programme of Studies" is formulated by the Superintendent of the Winnipeg schools as follows:-"No attempt is made to have each pupil master the prescribed allotment of each subject specified in the course. The programme of studies

is used as a guide to the teacher to indicate the material to be employed for the mental and moral development of the pupils. The primary aim is development; the communication of know

ledge is the secondary aim, although the most certain means of reaching the latter object is the faithful pursuit of the former. In determining when pupils are to be promoted, the question asked is not whether all the assigned subjects have been mastered to some specified degree expressed in percentage, but whether the educational progress of the pupils will be best served by advancement to another grade or by retention for a longer time in that in which he has been working."

The religious instruction may be given in school hours, but Religious the Regulations of the Advisory Board with regard to religious Instruction. exercises in the public schools permit the reading, without note or comment, of certain selected passages from the authorised English version or the Douay version of the Bible, and the use of a prescribed form of prayer.

*

VII. INTERMEDIATE AND COLLEGIATE SCHOOLS.

(a.) Intermediate Schools.-Intermediate schools are always combined with ordinary public schools, and it is usually only a small proportion of the pupils that are doing intermediate work. This consists in a more advanced study of the branches of the public school curriculum rather than in the introduction of new subjects. These schools are largely used by intending teachers as places of preparation for the nonprofessional examination for third class certificates.

(b.) Collegiate Schools.-The secondary schools proper of the province are the so-called Collegiate Schools. There are three such schools in Manitoba, situated at Winnipeg, Brandon, and Portage la Prairie. The Advisory Board has authority to regulate the standard of admission to these schools, but it is usual to admit boys after a special examination, a practice frequently criticised as tending to lower the standard of attainment. The number of pupils in attendance at each of these schools in 1898 was 525, 210, 126 respectively. These institutions prepare their pupils for the first class certificates and for the entrance examination of the University of Manitoba. In 1896 a commercial course was started at the Winnipeg Institute, where instruction is given in the following branches: English, Mathematics, History and Geography, Book-keeping, Agriculture, Shorthand. The number of pupils attending this course in 1898

was 43.

VIII. THE UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA.

The University of Manitoba was incorporated by an Act of the Manitoban Legislature in 1877. It was constituted on the model of the old London University, as a purely examining body. But certain teaching institutions are affiliated to the University, and have the right to nominate seven representatives to the University Council. The Collegest thus affiliated at the

* The full text of these Regulations will be found in Appendix C. +Cf. Papers relating to University Education of Roman Catholics in Certain Colonies (Colonial Office Return, Cd. 115, 1900, p. 10.)

present time are the St. Boniface College (Roman Catholic), St. John's College (Episcopalian), Manitoba College (Presbyterian), Wesley College (Methodist), and the Manitoba Medical College. The University has an endowment of 150,000 acres of land, and enjoys an income of $5,500. The number of students is about 135. In the University there are three faculties-Arts, Medicine, and Law, though the Statutes permit, under certain conditions, the establishment of a Faculty of Theology. No such faculty has yet been created. Students may matriculate after passing the Preliminary examination or the Medical Entrance examination. At the end of his first year of study the student may enter for the Previous examination, and subsequently after at least two years' further study he may present himself for the Senior B.A. examination, either in the General B.A. Course or in some special course of study. These special courses are five in number: (i.) Classics, (ii.) Mathematics, (iii.) Modern Languages, (iv.) Natural Science, (v.) Mental and Moral Science. The schedule of the subject matter dealt with in these examinations will be found in the Calendar of the University.

Scholarships are awarded on the results of most of the University examinations, except the final examinations for degrees. Before payment is made a certificate of satisfactory attendance must be returned by the Head of the College to which the student is attached. Catholics and Protestants are both represented on the Board of Studies and on the various examination Committees, and in Mental and Moral Science papers are set both in Latin and English, and in the Preliminary and Previous French and English versions of the questions set are distributed. In 1898 there were admitted to graduation 40 Bachelors of Arts, 11 Masters of Arts, 20 Doctors of Medicine, 11 Masters of Surgery, and 3 Bachelors of Laws; of these graduates 9 were women, who are admitted to the examinations on the same terms as men.

IX. THE NEGLECTED CHILDREN ACT.

The following are the chief provisions of an Act passed in 1898 for the better protection of neglected and dependent children:

The Lieutenant-Governor may appoint an officer, to be known as the Superintendent of Neglected Children. The duties of this officer are (1) to encourage and assist in the organisation and establishment in various parts of the province of societies for the protection of children from neglect or cruelty. He shall exercise, by virtue of his office, the powers conferred on such societies of placing such children in properly selected foster homes. He is to visit all temporary homes and shelters where children are placed, to provide for the visitation of children in foster homes, and to see that a record of all committals is kept by the societies and of all children boarded out.

Children are liable to be apprehended

(1) If they are found begging in any street or place of public

resort.

(2) If they are found wandering about at a late hour or sleeping at night in barns, outhouses, or in the open air.

(3) If they are found dwelling with a thief, drunkard, or vagrant, or from such causes are allowed to grow up without salutary parental control.

(4) If found guilty of petty crimes and likely to develop criminal tendencies if not removed from their surroundings.

The Judge before whom the child is brought may make an order for its delivery to the custody of a society, and may order the municipality to which the child belongs to contribute a reasonable sum, not less than one dollar weekly, towards the expense of supporting the child. The society is empowered to place the child in a foster home, but must always retain the right to terminate the contract if the welfare of the child demand it. The Lieutenant-Governor may discharge any child from the custody of the society.