Mr. Forster, Member for Bradford, made his annual address to
his constituents on Monday. We have analyzed his speech on the Irish Church, perhaps the most solid he has ever made, in another place ; but he also explained his views on education, redistribu- tion, and many other points, with great distinctness. He would reform the endowed schools, till they became places where the pick of the National scholars could obtain, through a system of Exhibi- tions, the highest education. He looked to the rates as the great resource for elementary education, but would raise the money in three parts, one to be paid by the parent, one by the ratepayers, and one by the State,—a sound division, with one drawback, that it almost prohibits direct compulsion. If the father is to pay, how can we fine him for not sending his child ? and to the fine we must come at last. Mr. Forster declared his dislike for three-cornered seats and his preference for single-seated districts, and predicted a time when men would ask why a man in Bradford should have two votes, while a man in Huddersfield had only one,—a hint to be remembered.
