5 OCTOBER 1918, Page 20

The Education of the South African Native. By C. T.

Loram. (Longmans and Co. 6s. 6d.)—This valuable and suggestive book by a Natal school inspector who was born and brought up in the Colony deals very thoroughly with a subject of supreme importance. To the question, "Can we afford to educate the native " the author replies : " Can we afford not to educate him ? " He disposes of the stale argument that the native in becoming educated lobes all sense of morality. It is simply untrue. He describes what has been done in South Africa, by the missionaries and by the State, t o educate natives, and shows, by a series of practical tests, that the average native child is not capable of learning as quickly as the European or Indian. It is useless, he thinks, to expect native youths to take European University courses. The natives must, therefore, have a simpler kind of schooling, under speoially trained teachers. Mr. Loram makes full use of American experience in regard to negro education, and his sympathetic study of the question will apply not only to South Africa but also to many other parts of the Empire.