Practicable Socialism, New SeriesBarnett, S. A. (Samuel Augustus)
Religion
Practicable Socialism, New Series
Barnett, S. A. (Samuel Augustus)
Great Britain -- Social conditions -- 19th century; Social problems; Working class
In the next place its long-established custom, of bringing men into
association in pursuit of knowledge, is one which peculiarly fits it
to help workmen, whose strength lies in that power of association
which has covered some districts of England with a network of
institutions--industrial, social, political, and religious. Men who
have joined in the discussions of the workshop, been members of the
committee of a co-operative store, and acted as officials of a
friendly society, have had in some ways a better preparation for
absorbing the teaching of the University on life, than is given in the
forms and playing field of a public school. The tutor of a class of
thirty-nine working people at N---- who read with him, the regular
session through, a course of Economic History, reports that the work
was excellent, and a visitor from Oxford was impressed “by the high
level of the discussion and the remarkable acumen displayed in asking
questions”.
In the last place, the University has the money. The total net receipts
of the Universities and colleges--apart from a sum of £178,000 collected
from the members of the Universities and colleges--is £265,000. Of this
sum, £50,000 is given in scholarships and exhibitions to boys who for
the most part have been trained in the schools of the richer classes,
and of this sum £34,000 is given yearly without reference to the
financial means of the recipient. The report does not analyse the
expenditure of this large income, except in so far as to suggest that
some of the scholarship and fellowship money might be diverted to the
more direct service of working people’s education. Common sense,
however, suggests that there must be many possible economies in the
management of estates, in the overlapping of lecturers, and in the
expense on buildings. The experience of the Ecclesiastical Commission
has shown how much may be gained if estates are removed from the care of
many amateur corporations, and placed under a centralized and efficient
management. The knowledge, too, that some colleges have ten times the
income of others, without corresponding difference in the educational
output, suggests that money may be saved.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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