18 DECEMBER 1886, Page 2

The London School Board has decided wisely in the matter

of flogging. It has not abolished flogging, but has decided by 30 to 15, that the power shall be restricted, as at present, to the head masters. This vote was given upon an amendment proposed by Mrs. Westlake, and couched in the following- terms :—" That the Board adhere to their present regulations, and instruct the School Management Committee to carry them. out in the spirit of the instructions issued to her Majesty's Inspectors by the Education Department, as follow : Yon will not fail, in your intercourse with teachers and managers, to im- press upon them that the more thoroughly a teacher is qualified for his position by skill, character, and personal influence, the less necessary it is for him to resort to corporal punishment at all. When, however, the necessity arises, the punishment should be administered by the head teacher, and an entry of the fact should, in their Lordships' opinion, be made in the log- book.'" We are not quite sure that comparative efficiency can be measured by abstinence from corporal punishment, as that may arise from mere weakness ; but we are quite sure that the- Board is right in adhering to the spirit of that order.