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And yet it does not appear that this very large increase has effected anything more than at most to keep pace with the increase of requirements. The same tendency may be observed as a characteristic feature of every organised system of education. Increase of expenditure from year to year seems to be the certain and inevitable result wherever an attempt is made to maintain the education of the people at a given standard.

In England, for instance, where it must be remembered many of the causes which necessitate an increased expenditure with us are either wanting altogether or operate with much less force, the increase in the expenditure on education during the last few years has been very remarkable. It appears that during the nine years ending 1860 the annual grant for education in England rose from £160,000 to £800,000, or at the rate of upwards of £70,000 per annum. And this increase took place under circumstances much more favorable than our own. In the first place the administration being conducted on so large a scale, greater facilities are afforded for economy in expenditure than can be expected where the machinery is less perfect; and secondly, the increase in the population being less rapid, the necessity for additional appliances to meet its wants is also less rapid.

It is hardly necessary to adduce further examples to prove a fact which probably will not be disputed, namely, that it is one essential condition of a system of education which is to produce any perceptible effects, that a source of income should be created capable of providing a continuous and regularly increasing supply of funds according as new requirements make themselves felt.

At present there are two sources from which the funds available for education are obtained—the fees received from the children, and the Government grant. Though the former of these forms already a very appreciable item in the receipts, yet it is upon the latter that the main dependence must be placed; and indeed, if this were to fall off, the fees themselves, instead of supplying the deficiency, would in all probability be reduced in proportion as the efficiency of the schools was diminished.

A third source of revenue exists in England, and indeed in many colonies, which has almost entirely failed in this province—private contributions. And here perhaps it may not be out of place to notice a difference between the effects produced with regard to funds by the denominational system as it exists in England and as the term is understood here. In England the rights and privileges enjoyed by the denominations are purchased by corresponding duties and liabilities. The promoters of schools, though receiving assistance from the state, undertake themselves the largest share of the burthen. The Government as a general rule only supplementing local contributions. Here on the other hand, the term “denominational system” means something quite different. The state bears all the burthens, and the denominations receive all the funds, and moreover administer them in the least economical manner.

Of the two sources, the fees and Government grant upon which alone dependence can be placed, it will only be necessary to consider the latter, and to enquire in what manner such an amount of state aid shall be secured for the purposes of education as shall permanently meet the wants of the province. There appears to be one fundamental objection to the continuance of the plan of annual votes, and that is, that it is too precarious, that the amount is liable to fluctuate with the fluctuations of the revenue or with the exigencies of other departments of the public service. Should the revenue in any year very seriously fall off, or should some special emergency arise requiring an extraordinary expenditure for a different purpose, the Provincial Legislature would probably find it necessary to withdraw a certain portion, be it large or small, of the accustomed aid. How far such a contingency is probable it is needless to speculate, but it cannot be disputed that circumstances may arise which would justify the withdrawal in some year of the whole or of a part of the grant.

The effects of such a withdrawal or reduction, so far as education is concerned, would be most disastrous, and the injury would be felt in two ways; it would not only affect the operations of the future, but would also have a retrospective influence on the proceedings of the past. In this respect there is an essential distinction to be observed between an educational establishment and an ordinary department of Government. In the case of the latter, the abolition of any office or the reduction of its expenditure, whatever may be the effect, can only reach forward into the future. Whatever advantage may have resulted from its former action still remains, but an educational system cannot be suddenly put a stop to, without rendering valueless much that has been already gained; and this remark is equally true where applied to a whole system or to the case of a particular school, or indeed to an individual scholar. Education being a process of slow growth, an aggregate of acquirements, moral and intellectual, developed from foundations laid uninterruptedly from day to day, requires a certain period of time to produce any results at all. Take for instance the simplest case of a child learning to read. There is a long preliminary work to be gone through before he can enter upon that stage, where the real object of his study begins. By learning the alphabet he has indeed laid the foundation which may enable him to arrive at the desired end, but which on the other hand may be altogether valueless; everything depends upon the manner in which the knowledge previously acquired is turned to account. If the foundation is built upon, the efforts already made have a substantial value; if not built upon, all the time, trouble, and expense that has gone before, is time, trouble, and expense thrown away. It is the way in which these elementary acquirements have been followed up which determines their value. In themselves they are nothing. They are mere preparations for a result, but not a result in themselves. Further exertions may give them a value which they do not inherently possess, but they cannot lie