CURRENT LITERAT URE.
RECENT BOOKS ON THE EDUCATION ACT.
The Education Acts, 1870-1902. By Sir Hugh Owen, G.C.B Assisted by Charles Knight. Twentieth Edition. (Knight aim Co. • 21s. net.)—All those • who are engaged in educational administrative work will welcome this new edition of Sir Hugh Owen's Education Acts manual, issued in consequence of the vast educational changes brought about by the Education Act of last year. It is in some respects the most detailed of the many books published on the subject; but of course in a book as expensive as this the purchaser expects to find no con- venient reference omitted. We are therefore surprised to find that the circulars of the Board of Education of March 18th (date of payment of annual grants) and March 23rd, 1903 (transfer of cash balances to local education authorities), have not been inserted. The first eighty pages of the book are occupied by a very full, and for the most part lucid, summary of the Educa- tion Acts from 1870 to 1902. This summary is succeeded by the text of the Act of last year, each section being followed by full notes that will be found of the greatest help. It is, however. to be noted that here, as in other books on the subject, the cases explanatory of the phrase "fair wear and tear," which occurs twice in Section 7, are not quoted. This Act is followed by the Elementary Education Acts and certain other Acts relating to education (including the School Sites Acts, 1841-1851), ex- plained in the same elaborate manner as in the case of the Act of 1902. Various important official publications and certain articles from the Code for Day Schools, 1902, are also supplied. The book concludes with a very elaborate index, which will be found invaluable. The value of this book can hardly be over-estimated, though in some places (as in the case of Section 10 of the Act of 1902) fuller exposition of difficulties might have been given.
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