The House of Commons on Tuesday rejected an appeal on
behalf of some Church-school managers against Clause 22 of the Educa- tion Bill, which will abolish all fees in elementary schools after five years. Mr. Bigland and Mr. Marriott pleaded that some parents liked to pay fees, and that the compromise arranged in 1870 and maintained in 1891 and 1902 aught to be continued. Mr. Fisher in reply said that the schools charging fees were rapidly diminishing in number, and that between 1891 and 1914 the number of children in schools charging over threepence a. week declined from 610,000 to 128,000. For our part, we cannot see that the craze for mi. fortuity need be pushed so far as to abolish fees which the parents are willing, and even anxious, to pay in a few schools. But we feel sure that the Church schools will not suffer in the long run by the loss of the fees.
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