hoped that they will be careful not to try! The Education Committee of the County Council ought to be the Cabinet of London's educational empire. What the electors have to do is to see that they elect men to the Council who are-by proved ability and educational experience, by temperament and training, by willingness to labor and freedom from sectarian bigotry-equal to this high task. Literature useful to those who will have to Administer the New Act. [All the following books and reports can be obtained of Bookshops, Limited, 9 Arundel Street, Strand, London, W.C.]. "London Education," by Sidney Webb (Longmans; 1903. 2s. 6d. net).An up-to-date review of the condition of London educational institutions and an outline of the policy to be adopted for their maintenance and development. An invaluable volume for educationalists and politicians. THE LAW. The Education Acts, 1902 and 1903. With hints to Education Committees and Voluntary School Managers, draft schemes for grouping Voluntary Schools, etc. By M. Barlow and H. Macan. Second edition; 1903; 3s. 6d. net. Analysis of Educa tion Act, with full text, by H. B. N. Mothersole; 6d. net. How to Work the Education Act, by Dr. T. J. Macnamara and M. Jackman; Schoolmaster Office, 3 Racquet Court, E.C.; Is. The Education Acts, 1902 and 1903, by E. A. Jelf; Cox; 2s. 6d. net. Everybody's Guide to the Education Act, 1902, by H. B. N. Mothersole; 2s. 6d. net. Wyatt's Companion to the Education Acts, 1870-1902; price 7s. 6d.; Wyatt, 279 Deansgate, Manchester. Education Act, 1902, by W. Casson and G. C. Whiteley; 7s. 6d. The Education Acts, by H. C. Richards and Henry Lynn; 1903; 7s. 6d. net. Education Law (Acts 1870-1902), by T. A. Organ and A. A. Thomas; 12s. 6d. net. net. EDUCATION OTHER THAN ELEMENTARY. No public body has, before the Act of 1902, had legal power to aid secondary or university education other than technical, but the word "technical" has been so widely interpreted by the Board of Education that much valuable experience has been gained. For this purpose the following will be useful :-The Annual Report of the Technical Education Board of the London County Council; price 2s. 4d.; P. S. King and Son. The Record of Technical and Secondary Education; price 2s. 6d., quarterly; Macmillan and Co. The history of the whole question and the principles of reform of secondary education are very extensively dealt with in-The Report of the Royal Commission on Secondary Education, 1893-4; 9 vols.; Eyre and Spottiswoode. With regard to general information, especially outside the United Kingdom, valuable help can be obtained from the eleven volumes of Special Reports on Educational Subjects; published by Eyre and Spottiswoode. Mr. Llewellyn Smith prepared for the London County Council in 1893 an admirable preliminary report on the problem of technical education for London (P. S. King and Son; price 5s.), which might serve as a model for reports prepared by new bodies. Valuable special enquiries have been undertaken by the Technical Education Board in the following subjects:-Building Trades, Commercial Education, Teaching of Chemistry, Relation of Science to Industry, Technical Training of Women; the report in each case contains an elaborate survey of the existing provision, and the problems. The Calendar of the University of London (3 volumes; published annually by the University), contains, not only a complete survey of the university instruction now being given, but also an account of the formation and reconstruction of the university. ELEMENTARY EDUCATION. Elementary schools are carried on under the Government Code of Regulations for Day Schools and the Revised Instructions applicable to the Code; price 4d. each. Eyre and Spottiswoode. The Code of Regulations and Instructions of the School Board for London, price 3s., P. S. King and Son, will be found to contain rules on many points which will necessarily form the basis of the new organization. The relation between technical and literary subjects in the curriculum of elementary schools was discussed at length by a Royal Commission for Ireland, and will be found in the Final Report of the Commissioners on Manual and Practical Instruction under the Board of National Education in Ireland (1898); Eyre and Spottiswoode. School Attendance.-See London School Board Report of a Special Committee on School Attendance (1898); P. S. King and Son. Report of a Special Committee of the London School Board on Administration of the Bye-Laws (1890); P. S. King and Son. Pupil Teachers.--See Report and Evidence of a Departmental Committee on the Pupil Teacher System (1898); price 4s. 11d.; Eyre and Spottiswoode. Domestic Economy.-See London School Board Code of Regulations and Instructions for the Guidance of Teachers of Domestic Subjects; price 3d.; P. S. King and Son. London School Board Syllabus of Instruction in Domestic Economy, combining Cookery, Housewifery, and Laundry Work at Centres; price id.; P. S. King and Son. Blind, Deaf and Dumb, Mentally and Physically Defective and Epileptic Children.See Report of a Royal Commission on the Blind and Deaf (1889); 4 vols.; Eyre and Spottiswoode. Report of a Departmental Committee on Poor Law Schools (1896); 3 vols.; Eyre and Spottiswoode. Report of a Departmental Committee on Defective and Epileptic Children (1898); 2 vols.; Eyre and Spottiswoode. The Mentally Deficient Child, by Dr. Shuttleworth; H. K. Lewis, 136 Gower Street, W.C. Industrial Schools.-Report of a Departmental Committee on Reformatories and Industrial Schools (1896); 2 vols.; Eyre and Spottiswoode. Fabian Tract No. 111, Id. Further Information.-Report with Evidence of a Special Sub-Committee of the School Board for London on the Relation between "Inspection" and Examination; P. S. King and Son. Report on the Existing Supply of Training College Accommodation, by Graham Wallas, Chairman of the School Management Committee, School Board for London. The School Board Gazette, published monthly, price Is., by Bemrose and Sons, 4 Snow Hill, London (now discontinued), was the special organ of the Association of School Boards in England and Wales, and usually contained important information on many subjects, e.g., schools of science, training colleges, registration of teachers, etc., etc. The best detailed account of the state of the law with regard to Education from 1870 to 1902 can be obtained from The Education Acts Manual (Owen); price 21s.; Knight and Co., La Belle Sauvage, Ludgate Hill. The best history of the development of educational legislation up to 1900 is contained in Graham Balfour's Educational Systems of Great Britain and Ireland (1898); Frowde; 7s. 6d. Secretary, at the Fabian Office, 3 Clement's Inn, London, W.C. Tracts, each 16 to 52 pp., price 1d., or 9d. per doz., unless otherwise stated. Leaflets, 4 pp. each, price 1d. for six copies, 1s. per 100, or 8/6 per 1000. The Set of 88, 3s.; post free 3/5. Bound in Buckram, 4/6; post free for 5s. I.-On General Socialism in its various aspects. TRACTS.-113. Communism. By WM. MORRIS. 107. Socialism for Millionaires. By BERNARD SHAW. 79. A Word of Remembrance and Caution to the Rich. By JOHN WOOLMAN. 78. Socialism and the Teaching of Christ. By Dr. JOHN CLIFFORD. 87. The same in Welsh. 42. Christian Socialism. By Rev. S. D. HEADLAM. 75. Labor in the Longest Reign. By SIDNEY WEBB. 72. The Moral Aspects of Socialism. By SIDNEY BALL. 69. Difficulties of Individualism. By SIDNEY WEBB. 51. Socialism: True and False. By S. WEBB. 45. The Impossibilities of Anarchism. By BERNARD SHAW (price 2d.). 15. English Progress towards Social Democracy. By S. WEBB. 7. Capital and Land (6th edn. revised 1904). 5. Facts for Socialists. LEAFLETS-13. What Socialism Is. 1. Why are the Many Poor? 38. The same in Welsh. II. On Application of Socialism to Particular Problems. TRACTS. 115. State Aid to Agriculture: an Example. By T. S. DYMOND. 112. Life in the Laundry. 110. Problems of Indian Poverty. By S. S. THORBURN. 98. State Railways for Ireland. 88. The Growth of Monopoly in English Industry. By H. W. MACROSTY. 86. Municipal Drink Traffic. 85. Liquor Licensing at Home and Abroad. By E. R. PEASE. 84. Economics of Direct Employment. 83. State Arbitration and the Living Wage. 74. The State and its Functions in New Zealand. 73. Case for State Pensions in Old Age. By G. TURNER. 67. Women and the Factory Acts. By Mrs. WEBB. 50. Sweating: its Cause and Remedy. 48. Eight Hours by Law. 23. Case for an Eight Hours Bill. 47. The Unemployed. By J. BURNS, M.P. LEAFLETS.-89. Old Age Pensions at Work. 19. What the Farm Laborer Wants. 104. How Trade Unions benefit Workmen. III.—On Local Government Powers: How to use them. TRACTS.-117. The London Education Act, 1903: how to make the best of it. 114. The Education Act, 1902. III. Reform of Reformatories and Industrial Schools. By H. T. HOLMES. 109. Cottage Plans and Common Sense. By RAYMOND UNWIN. 105. Five Years' Fruits of the Parish Councils Act. 103. Overcrowding in London and its Remedy. By W. C. STEADMAN, L.C.C. 101. The House Famine and How to Relieve it. 52 pp. 76. Houses for the People. 100. Metropolitan Borough Councils: their powers and duties. 99. Local Government in Ireland. 82. Workmen's Compensation Act: what it means and how to make use of it. 77. Municipalization of Tramways. 62. Parish and District Councils. 61. The London County Council. 54. The Humanizing of the Poor Law. By J. F. OAKESHOTT. LEAFLETS.-81. Municipal Water. 68. The Tenant's Sanitary Catechism. 71. Same for London. 63. Parish Council Cottages and how to get them. 58. Allotments and how to get them. FABIAN MUNICIPAL PROGRAM, FIRST SERIES. London's Heritage in the City Guilds. Municipalization of the Gas Supply. Municipal Tramways. The Scandal of London's Markets. A Labor Policy for Public Authorities. SECOND SERIES (Nos. go to 97). Munici palization of the Milk Supply. Municipal Pawnshops. Municipal Slaughterhouses. Women as Councillors. Municipal Bakeries. Municipal Hospitals. Municipal Fire Insurance. Municipal Steamboats. Each Series in a red cover for 1d. (9d. per doz.); separate leaflets, 1/- per 100. IV.-On Books. 29. What to Read on social and economic subjects. 6d. net. V.-On General Politics and Fabian Policy. 116. Fabianism and the Fiscal Question: an alternative policy. 108. Twentieth Century Politics. By SIDNEY WEBB. 70. Report on Fabian Policy. 41. The Fabian Society: its Early History. By BERNARD SHAW. VI.-Question Leaflets, containing Questions for Candidates for the following bodies:-20, Poor Law Guardians. 24, Parliament. 27, Town Councils. 28, County Councils, Rural. 56, Parish Councils. 57, Rural District Councils. 59, Urban District Councils. 102, Metropolitan Borough Councils. BOOK BOXES lent to Societies, Clubs, Trade Unions, for 68 a vear, or 2'6 a quarter Printed by G. Standring, 7 Finsbury St., London, E.C.. and uublished by THE SECRET OF RURAL DEPOPULATION. By LIEUT.-COL. D. C. PEDDER, OF OGBOURNE ST. GEORGE, WILTSHIRE. PUBLISHED AND SOLD BY THE FABIAN SOCIETY. PRICE ONE PENNY. LONDON: THE FABIAN SOCIETY, 3 CLEMENT'S INN, STRAND, W.C. JULY 1904. The Secret of Rural Depopulation. A paper read to the Fabian Society on February 26th, 1904. THE question "Why do I stay where I am?" is one that interests all of us. Its answers range between that of Sterne's starling with the simple "I can't get out" and that of the happy few who can say "It is well for us to be here." But most people who are what in the country we call "fixters" have to confess that they are the prisoners of habit. The more regular our life the harder it is to break away from its rule. Now of all occupations that of the tiller of the soil is perhaps the most regular. He is hitched on to the zodiac. Every action of his working life is as recurrent as the seasons themselves. Ploughing is a step towards ploughing, sowing is a step towards sowing again. And so it goes round. The son of a field laborer, in the ordinary course of things, goes to field work as soon as the school will let him. By the time he is getting "man's money" he has little volition left. Habit has taken its place. The odds would seem to be long in favor of his remaining a field laborer for the term of his natural life. But there is something more than habit to fasten him to the land. By the time he is sixteen he is specialized for field work. That is the only skilled labor for which he will ever be fit. Off the land he is only so much horse-power. He can dig-under direction -in a drain, or he can carry bales at the docks. He is past learning another craft. He is moored head and stern to the land by two hawsers, habit and hopelessness. And yet his breaking away from the land is becoming so common as to constitute a national danger. Why is this? We must go back, I think, to a period before rustic unrest began distinctly to take the form of escape. The Fauna of the Country. Up to some thirty odd years ago agricultural laborers were regarded as a quite permanent factor in the sum of English life. They were part of the fauna of the country-like pheasants and partridges; only there is no getting a good head of game without preserving, and there was no need to preserve country laborers. Sergeant Kite was almost the only poacher to be feared, and the toll he took was trifling. Now and then typhus or an emigration agent would descend upon a village, and a cottage would be empty for a month or so. But that was only a momentary inconvenience to an individual employer. The real difficulty was not how to breed laborers, like pheasants, but how to keep down their numbers, like rabbits. No more cottages were allowed upon an estate than would just supply roofage to the laborers it employed. Increase was not |