The Endowed Schools' Commissioners have published their first Report, which
is a very important document, not only for the principles which it lays down, but for its delineation of the extra- -ordinary difficulty of their task. They point out that they have had not simply to decide on the reorganization of these schools, but to prepare public opinion in each district by very laborious 'local discussion, for the beneficial changes they have made. The -consequence is that though there are some 3,000 separate endow- ments, and there must be just as many " schemes," only 24 have passed into law, and only about 142 have been really prepared ; while 21.4 more have reached a fair stage of advancement. At this rate, it would take twenty years or more to finish the reorganization, while the Act only contemplated three or four years as the period of reform. But of course the beginning has been much more diffi- cult than any subsequent part of the work ; and of course the needful local discussion will become less laborious as the country comes to hear of what has been done in other places. Still, we should say that the Commission needs still more Assistant-Com- -missioners, especially for the purpose of diffusing the requisite information locally. The Endowed Schools' Act cannot be quickly worked except with the consent of the localities affected, and at present to gain that consent is very slow work indeed.
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