Abstract
THE Marquis of Hartington was the chief guest at the anniversary banquet of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers held on Friday, May 4, at the Criterion Restaurant. Mr. Edward H. Carbutt, President of the Institution, occupied the chair. In responding to the toast of “Our Guest,” proposed by the Chairman, Lord Hartington, after speaking of the part which the mechanical engineering profession of this country takes in the maintenance and the extension of our material and industrial supremacy in the world, referred to the vast importance of technical education. He had never professed to be an authority on the subject of technical education—he was no authority on that subject; all he could do in the position he held was to endeavour to arouse such interest as he could in that subject, to enlist in the minds of the ordinary public—the unscientific public of whom he formed a part—an interest in this question, and to listen to the advice and attend to the counsel which were given to the public by those who were authorities on the subject, and to whose advice he held it was most important that attention should be paid. He had been greatly struck by the fact that in every country in Europe which competed with us in industrial or commercial pursuits greater attention had recently been paid to giving a practical direction to the national education than had hitherto been considered necessary in England. We had, like other countries—perhaps somewhat in arrear of them—established a national and tolerably complete instruction; but they, earlier than we, had embraced the idea of making that national instruction not only a literary instruction, but a technical and commercial education. But he could not help thinking that in that respect they had gained some considerable advantages over ourselves. He did not think there was any occasion for us to take a desponding or a pessimistic view of the situation. He had great confidence in the energy, the skill, and the intelligence of our people. But he believed there were facts which it would be madness on our part to ignore. If a new process, a new invention, were discovered in any other country—if a new process of manufacture were discovered greatly superior to that which was in existence among ourselves—we should at once admit that it was necessary for us either to improve that invention or else to resign ourselves to being defeated in the competition for the production of that article. But if it were true, as he believed it was, that the system of national education in other countries was being devoted to purposes which made the manual labour of the working population more intelligent, more skilled, and therefore more valuable, that was a fact which was just as important and which had consequences of exactly the same character as if foreign nations were to discover an invention which was not available for our own use. These facts had been investigated by a Royal Commission, and by a great number of private individuals for their own purposes; and there was no sort of doubt that foreign countries had not only attempted to give, but had to a very considerable extent succeeded in giving, a more practical turn to the education of their people in all branches of industry and commerce where science and art could be usefully and successfully applied. If it were the fact that we had fallen behind in this branch of the instruction of our people, it appeared to him that it would be worse than idle, it would be criminal, on our part if we were for a moment to ignore the consequences of those facts, and the consequences which might result not only to our temporary commercial and manufacturing position in the world, but to the future industrial position of England. He was sure there were none to whose advice great employers and leaders of industry in this country would more cheerfully and more willing listen, none who exercised a greater influence over the public mind of this country, than those whom he had the honour of addressing; and it was a great satisfaction to him to be assured by the words that had fallen from their Chairman that they were giving their earnest and anxious attention to the subject of technical education.
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Lord Hartington on Technical Education . Nature 38, 40–41 (1888). https://doi.org/10.1038/038040b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/038040b0