The average expenditure for schools per capita of the population at the same dates is here presented:

It will be noticed that in Manitoba and British Columbia the per capita expenditure was less in 1896 than in 1893. This is due to the fact that the school provision in these newer Provinces has been brought up to the demand and only the normal increase in population has now to be provided for. This view is confirmed also by the fact that of the remaining Provinces the smallest per capita increase is in Ontario, where the school provision has been practically equal to the demand for the entire period considered.

The systems of public education in the several Provinces perpetuate, in a measure, the national, religious, and political tendencies characteristic of each. Ontario and the maritime Provinces, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, says Goldwin Smith, "are in the main identical in all social and political respects." The difference in crude resources and in commercial politics accounts for the different industrial conditions. In Ontario, farming is the great industry; this is the case also in Prince Edward Island. In Nova Scotia and New Brunswick mining, shipping, and lumbering are of equal importance. The manner of life induced by the prevailing industry, the abil ities which it fosters, and the skill it requires, all in time affect the character and progress of schools, but not necessarily the principles and general character of the system of education.

In their main features the systems established in these four Provinces differ as little as those of different States in our own country. Elementary schools are free and secular, except in Ontario, where provision is made for separate Protestant schools and Roman Catholic schools. Education is compulsory in this Province, although, for reasons similar to those that prevail in the United States, it is difficult to enforce the law in this respect. Quebec reflects clearly in its school system the widely different social, religious, and political influences under which it has developed. The schools are sectarian, supported in part by fees, and there is no compulsory measure. British Columbia and Manitoba exhibit the well-known characteristics of pioneer communities, absence of traditional opinions and customs, and the spirit of enterprise and high aspirations. They have made education compulsory and have

established secular free schools, and support the same with energy and liberality. Even in the unorganized Northwest Territories legal provision is made for the maintenance of schools. The religious problem has been met here, as in Ontario and Quebec, by the provision of separate schools.

The interest that these Provinces excite by their proximity to the United States may justify a further presentation of their theory of popular education as illustrated in their school systems. Brief conspectuses of the several systems are here given, showing the general character of the central and local control of schools, the requirements for teachers, and the sources of school income.

SYSTEM OF EDUCATION IN ONTARIO-HISTORICAL SURVEY.

The history of the organized system of public education in Ontario may be said to date from the passage of the school law of 1843. The practical establishment of the system was the work of Dr. Egerton Ryerson, who was appointed superintendent of education soon after the passage of the law. The services that he rendered, his catholic spirit, his administrative force, his untiring devotion to the cause have long since commanded universal acknowledgment.

The Province has been equally fortunate in the historian of the system, Dr. John George Hodgins, who was associated with Mr. Ryerson in the education office from 1844, and has maintained official relations with it to the present moment.

Dr. Hodgins at first held the position of clerk to the education office. His present official designation is librarian and historiographer. He has enjoyed ample facilities for the work with which he now crowns the service of more than half a century, namely, the Documentary History of Education in Upper Canada, from the passing of the constitutional act of 1791 to a very recent date. This work, of which five volumes are completed, bringing the history to 1846, is invaluable to all students of Canadian history for the light it throws on the various phases of its social and political development, and equally valuable to all students of educational history.

Here are brought to view the private efforts in which the system originated, the discussions, collisions, and legislative action by means of which it was gradually organized and perfected.

It is particularly interesting to American readers to trace in this record the influence of settlers from our own colonies and States upon the educational policies of the Province.

In the preface to the first volume Dr. Hodgins says:

The question naturally arises, What first awakened the desire to establish schools and promote education in this Province? In his address at the opening of King's College (now the University of Toronto) in 1843, the Right Rev. Dr. Strachan, himself a prominent and noted educationist in Upper Canada, answers the question. He says:

"When the independence of the United States of America was recognized by

Great Britain in the peace of 1783 this Province became the asylum of those faithful subjects of the Crown who had, during the Revolutionary war, adhered to their King and the unity of the Empire.' And it is pleasing to remark that in 1789, a little more than five years after their first settlement, they presented a memorial to His Excellency Lord Dorchester (Sir Guy Carleton), then a governor-general of British North America, on the subject of education, in which, after lamenting the state of their children growing up without any instruction, religious or secular, they requested his lordship to establish a respectable seminary at Kingston, which was at that early period the principal town in this division of the colony. To this representation Lord Dorchester paid immediate attention, and gave directions to the surveyor general to set apart eligible portions of land for the future support of schools in all the new settlements."

Animated by the same spirit as possessed these early colonists, the United Empire loyalists established schools of a superior class early in the century in the chief centers of their settlements, such as Kingston, Cornwall, Bath, York, St. Catherines, and afterwards Newburg. Soon a grammar school was established in every district, and ultimately the common school, fashioned by the loyalists on the New England pattern, was put into operation in every settled township of the Province.

It is gratifying to know that the United Empire colonists from New England to Canada in 1783-1788 were true to their early British colonial convictions and instincts as to the necessity of schools for their children. They carried with them that English love for learning for its own sake which characterized the founders of Massachusetts.

The efforts of the New England Company for the education of the Indians who were transferred from New York to Canada upon the close of the Revolutionary war are also noted. Through their agency and that of settlers from our Eastern States, the spirit and purposes that worked so powerfully within our own borders were reproduced in the British Province.

When, in 1830, the subject of a university college was before the house of assembly the example of King's College, New York, was especially urged in support of the measure. The select committee in their report say:

The University of King's College, in New York, now Columbia College, was established in 1754, when the people of the then colony of New York did not much exceed 70,000, or one-fifth of that of Upper Canada; and yet, says Mr. Butler, the present Attorney-General of the United States, the influence of the institution on the literary character of the colony was truly wonderful, for, though the whole number of students educated in the college previous to 1755 was but 100, many of them attained to great distinctions in their respective professions, and in public life distinguished alike by their genius and erudition, and illustrious in the annals of their country for their talents as writers and their services as statesmen.

The school law of 1843 embodied features drawn from the school systems of New England and New York, and it was especially the example of the United States that stimulated efforts in respect to technical education in the early seventies.

But if Ontario owes much to the example of the United States, it offers also to us most instructive lessons with respect to many questions of educational policy and organization.

In particular may be cited the lesson of the separate school policy,

whose history is embodied in these volumes and forms also the subject of a special work by the same author.

General features and central authority.—The Ontario system of public education, which was described in detail in the Commissioner's Report for 1892-93 (Vol. 1, Chapter VI), is justly celebrated for its thorough organization, the admirable balance of central and local control, the correlation of all grades from the kindergarten to the university, and the provision for insuring even in the rural districts the services of trained teachers. Elementary education is compulsory and free in the public schools. Subject to the approval of the provincial government, all regulations for public schools are made by the minister of education. Local control.-The municipal system of Ontario affords a full measure of local self-government. The Province is divided into counties, which are subdivided into minor municipalities, consisting of townships, incorporated villages, towns, and cities. These corporations are given certain powers and have certain responsibilities with respect to education. Through their municipal councils counties are under obligations to make grants of money to high schools, and both counties and townships must contribute certain sums in aid of public schools. Each township is divided into school sections, and each of these sections is provided with a public school. There is a board of trustees for each school section, village, town, and city. The ratepayers (men and women) elect the trustees. These, within the provisions of the provincial statutes or regulations of the education department, appoint the teachers, who must have a Government diploma, and determine the amounts to be expended for buildings, equipments, and salaries.

Sources of income.-The provincial grant for education comprises (1) grants to elementary schools; (2) grants to secondary schools; (3) grants for the training of teachers; (4) grants for technical education. By statute the amount appropriated for public and separate schools is divided on the basis of average attendance in each, respectively.

In 1896 the grant for elementary schools was $310,851. The greater part of the school income is provided by the school section, village, town, or city. From these local sources the total received in 1896 was $4,575,261.

High schools.-Liberal support is given to high schools, and strenuous efforts are made to prevent pupils from dropping out of the schools until the advanced course is completed.

It is clearly recognized that the best means of stimulating the lower grades is to encourage pupils to qualify themselves for entrance upon the higher. The success of these efforts is shown in a comparison of the current statistics with those of earlier date.

The number of high schools in 1882 was 104. In 1896 they had increased to 130. The attendances at the same dates were, respectively, 22,348 and 24,567; the number of teachers, 332 and 574. The amount paid for teachers' salaries, which in 1882 was $253,864, had

more than doubled in 1896, reaching a total of $532,765. The cost per pupil rose from $27.56 in 1882 to $30.53 in 1896. The total expenditure for high schools at the latter date was $749,970. It should be observed that the high schools of Ontario are not free, as in the United States. While the public schools were made free in 1872, the privilege was still continued to the trustees of high schools to impose fees. In the majority of cases boards of trustees have availed themselves of this privilege, so that out of the 130 high schools in the Province there are only 44 in which no fees are charged. The total amount of fees collected from high-school pupils in 1882 was $29,270 and in 1896 $115,783. The fees from pupils and the legislative grant amounted to nearly one-third of the whole cost of maintaining the high schools, the remaining two-thirds being distributed between the ratepayers of the high-school district and county municipalities.

From the study of the classification of high schools and collegiate institutes two or three striking changes in the tendency of higher education are disclosed. In 1867 only 1,283 pupils, or 23 per cent of the whole number, studied commercial subjects, such as bookkeeping. In 1896 this subject was taken by 13,068 pupils, or 53 per cent of the whole attendance. In 1867, 5,171 pupils, or 90 per cent of the whole attendance studied Latin. In 1896 the number of pupils in Latin was 15,526, about 63 per cent of the number in attendance. In 1867, 15 per cent studied Greek; in 1896 only 6 per cent. In 1867, 38 per cent of the pupils studied French and none studied German. In 1896 these numbers had increased to 55 per cent and 18 per cent, respectively. There also has been a large increase in the number studying drawing, the total in 1867 being 676, and in 1896, 13,468.

The greatest progress, however, has been made in the study of English literature, composition, and history. These subjects, including poctical literature, introduced in 1887, are now taken substantially by all the pupils.

The influence of the high schools is greatly extended through the elementary teachers that receive in them their nonprofessional training. They constituted in 1896 nearly 24 per cent of the entire teaching force of the province.

The widespread influence of the high schools is indicated also by the varied classes from which their pupils are drawn. The occupations of parents of high-school pupils as reported in 1896 were as follows:

Historical survey.-The school system of Quebec is much more complicated than that of the other provinces, and bears much less resem blance to those of our own States. The salient feature of the system is