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U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
W. B. W ILSO N, Secretary

B U R E A U

O F

L A B O R

S T A T IS T IC S

E T H EL B ER T STEW ART, Commissioner

BULLETIN OF THE U N ITED STATES \
BUREAU OF L A B O R S T A T IS T IC S /
MIS CELLANEOUS

“

’

• No . 2 7 1

SERIES

A D U L T W O R K I N G -C L A S S E D U C A
T IO N IN G R E A T B R IT A IN A N D
T H E U N IT E D S T A T E S
(A STUDY OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS)

C H A R LES PATRICK SW EEN EY

A U G U S T , 1920

W ASHINGTON
GO VERNM ENT PR INTING O FFIC E
1920

CONTENTS.
Page.

Introduction_______________________________________________________________
5-9
C hapter I.— Education for adult workers________________________________10-40
W orkers’ Educational Association (Great B rita in )__________________ 10-35
Constitution o f the W orkers’ Educational Association__________ 10-13
The tutorial class movement in England________________________ 13-31
The tutorial class movement in other parts o f the British Em pire- 31-35
W orkers’ University (New York C ity )_______________________________30-40
Introduction______________________________________________________
30
How the W orkers’ University is financed________________________
30
W ork o f the educational department_____________________________30,37
Organization and management of the classes___________________
37
Nature o f instruction____________________________________________ 37, 38
Teachers__________________________________________________________
38
Methods for increasing the membership o f classes______________ 38, 39
Other activities o f the educational department_________________
39
Library fa c ilitie s________________________________________________
39
Self-governing groups____________________________________________
39
40
Statistics o f activities, April, 1919_______ i ______________________
United Labor Education Committee_________________________________40-42
Organization__________________________________________________________
41
Educational program_________________________________________________ 41, 42
Boston Trade-Union College__________________________________________ 42-44
O rganization______ ..______________________________________________
42
Adm inistration___________________________________________________
42
Courses, 1919-20__________________________________________________ 43, 44
Forecast___________________________________________________________
44
Trade-Union College o f Washington, D. C___________________________ 44- 40
O rganization_____________________________________________________ 44, 45
Constitution______________________________________________________ 45, 40
C ou rses___________________________________________________________
40
C h ap ter II.— Education for prospective labor leaders___________________ 4.7-62
Rusk in College, O xford________________________________________________ 47 50
Aim and general administration_________________________________47-49
Program o f lectures and classes in 1915________________________ 49, 50
Central Labor College_________________________________________________50-50
Organization, policy, and nature o f w ork________________________ 50-52
Control and management____________________ ____________________52-55
W ork during the w ar____________________________________________ 55, 50
Plebs League___________________________ •
----------------------------------------------50-59
Organization and aim ____________________________________________ 50, 57
Method o f carrying on activities_________________________________ 57, 58
Influence o f class education-------------------------- '___________________ 58, 59
Rand School o f Social Science (New York C ity )------------------------------59-01
H is to r y ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 59,00
Courses o f instruction___________________________________________ 00, (51
Other activities o f the school____________________________________
01

CONTENTS.

C h a p t e r II.— Education for prospective labor leaders— Concluded.

Page.
School for women organizers--------------------------------------------------------------- 61, 62
C h a p t e r III.— C onclusion--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 63-66
A p p e n d ix A.— Students and tutors------------------------------------------------------------- 67-72
A p p e n d ix B.— Interim report on industrial and social conditions in rela
tion to adult education---------------------------------------------------------------------------73-99
A p p e n d ix C.— W hy universities should expand---------------------------------------100,101

BULLETIN OF THE

U. S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
no. 271.

W ASHINGTON.

august, 1920.

ADULT WORKING-CLASS EDUCATION IN GREAT BRITAIN AND THE
UNITED STATES— A STUDY OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS.
INTRODUCTION.
The possibilities o f adult working-class educational efforts are
attracting and holding the active interest o f a rapidly growing
number o f men and women w7ho see in a more widespread diffusion
o f learning a partial solution, at least, o f the complex problems
facing society to-day. The urge o f democracy within the labor
movement itself has created, especially in England, a growing de
mand among the workers for education. As individuals and pro
ducers they want to know what they are doing and why they are
doing it, and as trade-unionists they require knowledge in order to
supply direction to the force o f democracy in industry. Large and
small scale industrial employers, seeking greater efficiency and in
telligence in production, are turning to vocational training and its
many ramifications as a means o f obtaining a better-trained working
force. A nd, generally, there is a growing tendency on the part o f
forw ard-looking persons to realize that only through adult education
o f one form or another can an intellectual and spiritual development
o f wage-workers commensurate with their industrial and social pos
sibilities be attained.

Wherever this endeavor to bring education to the people has mani
fested itself it has had its basis in an abiding faith in the natural
intelligence o f human beings and a firm belief in their desire,
whether expressed or not, for intellectual stimulation. In America,
for instance, an undertaking is now7 in progress to transform
8,500,000 persons, who are either entirely illiterate or can not read
and write the English language, into literate American citizens,
capable o f understanding our institutions and of performing, with
some degree o f intelligence, the functions of citizenship.

ADULT WORKING CLASS EDUCATION.

W hile this vastly important work is being carried on in school
buildings throughout the United States, there is either in formation
or in successful being, in this country and in other countries, a num
ber o f movements which, looking beyond simple literacy, aim at
spreading the higher forms o f learning among the average working
people o f the world, and, wherever they have developed, these efforts
have come to be known as the adult working-class educational
movement.
This report is an attempt to set forth the results achieved by the
more prominently successful o f these efforts in Great Britain and in
America, as well as an endeavor to sketch, for the benefit o f the public
in general and the working class in particular, the range o f expressed
thought and experience on some phases o f the subject o f workingclass education.

The kind o f education with which these movements are concerned
is not to be confused with university extension lectures or corre
spondence schools. They aim at the formation of small classes of
working people for systematic study covering a period of years—
work involving regular attendance at weekly classes and the prepara
tion o f essays at regular intervals, as well as the reading of mam'
books on the subject chosen for study. They seek to stimulate among'
groups of workers a desire for education and to induce the workers
to decide for themselves what they wTant to study. Once the work
ers come to this decision they are provided with the necessary
facilities, a competent tutor, a meeting place, books, and constant
encouragement.
The results of such efforts up to date constitute a refutation
o f the opinion that workers wish to know only such things as
will increase their financial productiveness as wage earners and
justify the faith of the original few in the fundamental desire of
the average working person for understanding and expression be
yond the demands of mere workshop existence. They have proven—
comparatively small though these results are to-day—that the aver
age worker rebels at the thought of a life spent as an ordinary
machine or tool, and that he seeks with the best o f men to under
stand what there is to understand and to enjoy all there is to enjoy.
Probably the outstanding achievement of the working-class edu
cational movement is the Workers’ Educational Association o f Great
Britain. In 1903, the year o f its inception, it was a small group of
trades-unionists and educators searching for a method of affording
university education to the working classes. To-day it is a body
comprising 2,526 organizations, including labor unions, workmen’s
clubs, teachers’ societies, cooperative societies, universities, and
colleges, etc. The labor unions alone number 1,071. Its branches
are located in every section of the British Isles and the Domin-

INTRODUCTION.

ions* Its original difficulties surmounted, it is now affording uni
versity training to thousands o f British workingmen and women,
Its brief history is a stirring story o f the triumph o f an ideal over
opposition and ridicule. Nonpartisan, unsectarian, avoiding every
prejudice and all propaganda, its purpose is simply stated: To afford
to working people every facility and every assistance by which they
may develop to the highest possible degree their own individual un
derstanding and self-expression. Although it is a fact that the
great majority of the worker students pursue the study o f economics
and industrial history, this is only because such is the desire o f the
workers themselves; for it is the cardinal principle of the Workers’
Educational Association that the only justification for* its existence
as a democratic institution is that it should first ascertain what
workers wish to know and then put them in the way of knowing it.
What the workers study matters n ot; it is important only that they
really desire to study. Literature, botany, political science, Plato’s
Republic, the history of Europe, reconstruction, biology—these and
many other subjects are pursued with equal enthusiasm and intelli
gent interest.
In America, the Workers’ Educational Association has a young
but a vigorous counterpart in the Workers’ University, maintained
by the International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union, for its mem
bers, in New York City, with branches in Philadelphia and Bos
ton. In its conception it differs from the Workers’ Educational
Association only in that it is confined to one trade-union and for this
reason falls short in scope and appeal.
Efforts are being made in other cities of the United States‘ to
provide advanced instruction for workers. A trade-union college
established under the auspices of the Boston Central Labor Union
early in 1919 announced an interesting course of lectures to be
given by professors o f Yale and Harvard and other universities, as
well as by equally well-known men and women in other walks of
life. In Baltimore a labor college was organized in April, 1920, by
the trade-unions of the city to give working men and women instruc
tion in subjects suited to their needs. Johns Hopkins University
provides the building and one member of the faculty. People’s
colleges exist at Smithville, Minn., and Fort Scott, Kans. The
United Garment Workers’ Union and other unions have inaugu
rated courses in the Labor Temple in Los Angeles which are
controlled by the board of education. Adult working-class educa
tion is carried on by the People’s Institute in San Francisco, while
Seattle has a labor college under the control o f the central labor
union. The trade-unions in Washington, D. C., gave, during the
summer o f 1919, a labor university lecture course and established reg

ADULT WORKING CLASS EDUCATION.

ular courses in the fall, while the National Women’s Trade-Union
League’s education committee, in cooperation with the schools’ com
mittee o f the Chicago Federation of Labor and the board o f educa
tion, presented, during the early months o f 1919, an educational
program for trade-union men and women. The courses included the
history of trade-unionism, public speaking, political geography,
judicial decisions, decisions affecting labor, practical politics, par
liamentary law, English, and advanced mathematics.
Another form of working-class education, in conflict with the
efforts to provide workers with the means of arriving at their own
conclusions on the mooted problems o f economic and social life
after unbiased study and inquiry, has evoked a remarkable response
in certain industrial sections of the British Isles. This is a form
o f education, or instruction, aiming to focus the interest of workers
upon economic and industrial problems from the single viewpoint
o f Marxian socialism. Its originators and supporters consider work
ing-class education valuable only as the means to an end—the end
being the abolition o f the present social and economic system and the
establishment o f the socialist state. The Central Labor College and
the Plebs League are the principal proponents in England of this
theory of education. Their efforts have had the effect, both of pro
moting a thorough-going revolutionary sentiment in many indus
trial communities and of creating a long and bitter ferment in the
working-class educational movement in England. I f these efforts
run counter to the orderly progress and advancement of society, they
are nevertheless of importance in the consideration of the general
subject o f this report as illustrative of forces which are destructive
rather than constructive.
With special reference to the organized labor movement there is
still another system of working-class education, the particular object
o f which is the development of leadership and organizing ability.
Buskin College, Oxford, is the best known of the schools existing
for this purpose. It is affiliated with the Workers’ Educational
Association, and aims at graduating workingmen who will con
tribute to the general intellectual elevation of the working class.
It is maintained by Oxford University and by various trade-unions
and societies and is strictly for workers who want the educational
advantages they were denied by the circumstances of their youth—a
university training. The Central Labor College, mentioned in a
preceding paragraph, aims, on the other hand, to produce for the
labor movement leaders, organizers, and members to preach the
working class, or Marxian, conception o f economics, industrial his
tory, and the social sciences generally. Both are residential colleges.
The war caused a discontinuance, during the last four years, of the*

IN TR O D U C TIO N .

regular work o f these institutions, but each is now about to resume its
prewar activities.
The Rand School o f Social Science in New Y ork, though offering
to wrorking people the advantages o f a general education, has for its
primary object th§ training o f workers in the labor and socialist
movements, while the W om en’s Trade-Union League o f America con
ducts a school for women organizers in Chicago.
A study o f all these attempts to provide higher education for
adult workers brings home the truth that while there are, on the one
hand, plenty o f colleges for those who can afford to take advantage
o f the training they offer, and, on the other, some institutions o f ad~
vanced education for workers o f radical tendencies, there has been
little provision o f this kind for the great masses o f workers who are
not radical and whom such movements as the trade-union colleges,
cr the W orkers’ Educational Association can reach and furnish with
an opportunity for a college education.

C H A P T E R

I .— E D U C A T I O N

FO R

A D U L T

W O R K E R S.

THE WORKERS5 EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION (GREAT BRITAIN).

The purposes and activities o f the Workers’ Educational Associa
tion, as officially set forth in the last published report o f the asso
ciation, are as follow s: 1
The association coordinates existing agencies and Revises fresh means by
w hich working people o f all degrees may be raised educationally, step by step,
until they are able to take advantage o f the facilities which are and may be
provided by the universities. It is a missionary organization working in c o
operation with education authorities and working-class organizations. It is
definitely unsectarian, nonpolitical, and democratic. It is a federation consist
ing at present o f 2,526 organizations, including 1,071 trade-unions, trades coun
cils, and bran ches; 384 cooperative societies and com m ittees; 199 adult schools,
brotherhoods, e tc .; 8 university b od ies; 35 local education au th orities; 100 w ork
ingmen’s clubs, institutes, e tc .; 176 teachers’ associations; 73 educational and
literary societies; and 328 various societies, mainly o f workpeople. (These
figures are exclusive o f organizations affiliated to the W orkers’ Educational
Association overseas.) It seeks to fulfill its objects in the follow ing principal
w ay s: (a ) By arousing the interest o f the workers in higher education and by
directing their attention to the facilities already existing; (&) by inquiring into
the needs and desires o f the workers in regard to education generally and by
representing them to the board o f education, universities, local education au
thorities, and educational institutions; (c ) by providing, either in conjunction
with the aforementioned bodies or otherwise, facilities for the study of subjects
of interest to the workers for wThich necessity a rises; ( d ) by the publication of
literature and by such other means as from time to time may be considered
expedient.

It will be seen from the above statement that the Workers’ Educa
tional Association has organized into a compact force a great mass
o f human power, and that it has undertaken not alone to stimulate
the interest o f working people in adult education but to influence the
course o f education generally in Great Britain.
CONSTITUTION OP THE WORKERS’ EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION.*

The general objects of the association, its methods o f pursuing
them, and its system of federated operation are defined in the con
stitution, which follows in fu ll:
I.
N a m e . — The association shall be known as the W orkers’ Educational As
sociation. It shall be definitely unsectarian and nonpartisan in politics.
1 W orkers’ E d u ca tio n a l A sso cia tio n . S ix tee n th A nnu al R eport, J u ly 1 , 1 9 1 9 . London,
1 9 1 9 , p. 1.
2 W orkers’ E d u ca tio n a l A sso cia tio n . F o u rtee n th A n n u al R eport. L ondon, 1 6 H arpur
Street, WC 1.
E d it o r 's N o t e .— Where c o n v ersio n s from B r itish to U n ited S ta te s m oney are m ade the
fo llo w in g b a sis is u s e d : £ 1 = $ 4 . 8 6 6 5 ; l s . = 2 4 . 3 cen ts ; l d . = 2 cen ts.
10

W O R K E R S’ ED U CATIO N AL ASSOCIATION

(GREAT B R IT A IN ).

II. O b j e c t s . — Its objects shall be—
(a ) To stimulate and to satisfy tlie demand o f working men and women fo r
education; and
(b ) Generally to assist the development o f a national system o f education
which shall insure to all children, adolescents, and adults such education as is
essential for their complete development as individuals and as citizens.
III. M e t h o d s . — It shall, in its capacity as a coordinating federation o f w ork
ing class and educational interests, exercise the powers necessary to fulfill its
o b je cts:
(a )
By arousing the interest o f the workers in higher education and by
directing their attention to the facilities already existing.
(&) By inquiring into the needs and desires o f the workers in regard to edu
cation generally, and by representing them to the boards o f education, universi
ties, local education authorities, and educational institutions.
(c ) By providing, either in conjunction with the aforementioned bodies or
otherwise, facilities for the study o f subjects o f interest to the workers for
which necessity arises.
(cl) By the publication o f literature and by such other means as from time
to time may be considered expedient.
IV. C o n s t i t u t i o n . — The association shall consist o f individual members and
affiliated societies and shall be administered th rough :
( i) The central authority.
(ii) District authorities.
(iii) Local branches.
It shall not be permissible for the association, any district authority, or any
branch to affiliate with any other organization, but this shall not preclude the
appointment o f representatives upon committees or councils o f other educational
organizations, provided such representation is approved by the central council.
(i)
T h e C e n t r a l A u t h o r i t y shall assist and coordinate the work o f the
whole association. It shall decide the policy o f the association and shall be
the exclusive channel o f communication between the association and bodies
the operations o f which, are not confined to the area of any one district. Nomi
nations to any university committees, whether made by the district authorities
or otherwise, shall not be valid without its confirmation.
Membership.— National movements, institutions, societies, and unions may
become affiliated upon approval by the central council on payment o f a mini
mum annual subscription o f 2 guineas [42s. ($10.22)].
M anagement.— The management shall be vested in a central council, which
shall consist o f six representatives from each district authority, appointed
annually, and one representative o f each affiliated body, appointed annually,
together with the officers o f the association. The secretaries o f district au
thorities shall be summoned to the meetings o f the central council, but they
shall have no power to vote. The central council shall meet at least twice in
each year in such centers as shall from time to time be determined. Special
meetings o f the council shall be convened i f request be made by any 12 mem
bers o f the council. It shall appoint from its members an executive com
mittee which shall consist o f one member representing each district authority
and six representatives o f affiliated societies, together with the president, vice
president, and treasurer. The secretaries o f district authorities shall be sum
moned to the meetings o f the executive committee, but they shall have no power
to vote. The council shall have the power to appoint such other committees
as it finds necessary.
Officers.— The honorary officers shall consist of a president, vice president,
and treasurer. Such officers shall be appointed by the central council at its

CHAP. I— EDUCATION FOR ADULT WORKERS.

annual meeting. The executive committee shall appoint the paid officers o f the
central authority.
Annual meeting of the central council.— The annual meeting o f the central
council shall be held on the second Saturday in July, and on the days imme
diately preceding it if desirable, in such centers as may from time to time be
determined. At this meeting the statement of accounts (including the balance
sheets o f the district authorities) and the annual report (including the reports
o f the district authorities) shall be presented. No resolution may be approved
by the central council or by any other authority in the association which on
the representation o f any affiliated body is shown to be contrary to the pre
viously declared policy o f that body. Such resolution, however, may be ap
p r o v e d if the declared policy o f the affiliated body in. question is contrary to
the objects and methods o f the association.
Annual convention.— The central council shall arrange for a convention to
be held annually in centers to be determined fo r the purpose o f—
1. Receiving the annual address o f the president.
2. Discussing matters o f educational importance.
3. Demonstrating the principles o f the association.
4. Stimulating educational desire both in the specific locality and in the
Nation generally.
Finance.— The central authority shall be financed—
(а ) By contributions from the district authorities, the amount o f which
shall be determined from time to time by the central council.
( б) By contributions from national bodies and from national sources o f
iiicome, also by donations and bequests.
The central council shall have power to receive bequests and donations on
behalf o f the association as a whole.
The central council shall have power to make grants to district authorities.
The central council shall appoint an auditor, or auditors, annually.
(ii)
D i s t r i c t A u t h o r i t i e s . The district authorities shall consist o f branches,
affiliated bodies, and individual members. They shall operate over their re
spective areas, which shall be determined hereafter by the central council
in consultation with the local branches and the existing district authorities.
Their constitution shall be approved by the central council. Subject to the
provisions elsewhere in this constitution, they shall be autonomous. They
shall not approach any bodies operating wholly or in part in the area o f any
other district except through the medium o f the central council. They shall
pay to the central authority such contributions as the central council may
from time to time determine. They shall submit an annual report and bal
ance sheet to the central council, made up to the 31st o f May preceding, not
later than the first Saturday in July o f each year.
Membership.— The district authority shall affiliate societies, institutions, and
movements on payment o f a minimum annual subscription o f 1 guinea [ 21s.
($5.11)3, and admit individuals as members on payment o f a minimum annual
subscription o f 2 shillings and sixpence [$0.61]; including the Highway, 4
shillings [$0.97], The district authority shall have power to affiliate groups o f
bona fide students organized by the association in areas where a local branch
does not exist on payment o f a minimum annual affiliation fee o f 7 shillings and
6 pence [$1.83].
Management.— The district authorities shall be administered through: (a )
The annual m eeting; (&) the district council.
(a )
The annual m eeting shall be held not later than the first Saturday in
July o f each year. To it shall be presented the annual report, balance sheet,
and statement o f accounts made up to the 31st o f May preceding. It shall elect

WORKERS' EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION

(GREAT BR ITA IN ).

the chairman, vice chairman, honorary treasurer, and auditor or auditors. It
shall appoint six representatives to the central council, o f whom two shall be
chosen from the representatives o f branches. To the anuual meeting shall be
summoned representatives o f each affiliated body or approved group o f students,
and o f each local branch in the area o f the district authority, together with the
individual members o f the district.
(b )
The district council.— The district council shall consist o f two repre
sentatives o f each local branch, not more than two representatives from each
affiliated society and one representative from each approved group o f students,
one representative for every 20 (or part thereof) individual members, elected
by and from the individual members o f the district by ballot, together with
tlie president, vice president, and general secretary o f the central council (e x
officio). It shall arrange to hold meetings not less than two weeks prior to the
two stated meetings o f the central council. It shall carry out the instructions
o f the annual meeting and act for the district authority in all matters relating
solely to the district. It shall appoint the district secretary in consultation with
the executive committee o f the central council.
(iii)
L o c a l B r a n c h e s . The local branches shall operate over an area de
termined in consultation with the district council. They shall be autonomous
federations o f individuals and local bodies, with a constitution approved by the
council o f the district authority.
1. They shall pay to the district authority an annual subscription o f not less
than 1 penny in every shilling, or such sums as the annual meeting o f the
district authority may decide, o f the total subscriptions o f individual members
and affiliated societies, together with donations other than those for special pur
poses. They shall submit an annual report and balance sheet to the district
authority.
2. They shall be entitled to send tw o representatives to the district council.
3. They shall refer any resolutions passed by them, other than those dealing
with branch administration, to the district council, and they shall not approach
any bodies affecting the area o f more than one branch, other than in coopera
tion with the district council. They shall not approach national organizations
other than through the medium o f the district and central councils.
V. A l t e r a t i o n o f C o n s t i t u t i o n . — No alteration o f the constitution may be
made except at the annual meeting o f the central council, or at a special meet
ing called for the purpose, and the proposed alteration must first have been
submitted to a special meeting o f each district authority.
THE TUTORIAL CLASS MOVEMENT IN ENGLAND.

While the activities of the various branches of the Workers’ Edu
cational Association are by no means confined to the encouragement
of the tutorial class movement, it is this branch of the association’s
endeavors which gives it distinction as a pioneer in the carrying of
higher education to the working class, and beyond a doubt it is ta
the success which has greeted the tutorial classes that the associa
tion may lay its continued existence and its steady growth. F or
the purposes of this report, therefore, the discussion will be confined
to this part o f the Workers’ Educational Association.
For the past quarter of a century the desire of working men and
women in England to combat intellectual stagnation and dreariness,
as well as economic injustice and social inequality, has found ex-

C H A P . I — EDUCATION FOE AD U LT W G&KEBS.

pression in various ways. Philanthropists have endowed projects
intended to elevate the working class. But courses o f lectures did
not satisfy the demand for knowledge. There is still in existence
the Working Men’s Club and Institute Union, to which His Majesty,
the late K ing Edward, gave his support. Various other organiza
tions offered to the worker the opportunity to come and listen. The
responses to these invitations varied. Unquestionably the motives
behind all such efforts were wholesome, and many clubs and socie
ties aiming at a more widespread education of the workers continue
to exist in England to-day. And unquestionably they have per
formed valuable services in creating the desire for higher learning
that has taken possession o f so many British workers. But up to
1903 the university extension movement was the only method by
which the universities themselves endeavored to afford opportuni
ties for higher learning to persons not members of their respective
student bodies. In the summer o f 1903 a feeling aroused in a group
o f energetic labor leaders and workpeople that a more definite link
ing up of the universities and the organized labor movement was
urgently necessary in order that labor might more adequately ex
press its educational needs and ideals to the universities, culminated
in a conference at Oxford, representative of the various labor and
educational organizations in Great Britain, to consider the formation
o f such a society as the Workers’ Educational Association. This con
ference, largely due to the efforts of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Mansbridge, voted into existence a permanent body—the present W ork
ers’ Educational Association—although the present name of the' or
ganization is a later development. Little was accomplished for two
years, when a similar conference was convened. In 1907 the labor
representatives asked the vice chancellor of the university to ap
point seven representatives of the university to meet and confer
with seven representatives o f labor, and finally to report on the sub
ject o f “ Oxford and Working-Class Education.” The report, issued
under that title, remains to-day one o f the standard documents in
the history o f the movement. Its general conclusions and recom
mendations were as follows :3
I. Teaching beyond the limits o f the university.
W e recommend—
I. That it is desirable to organize systematic teaching in certain selected
centers extending over a period o f not less than two years.
II. That this teaching should take the form ( a ) of lectures (w ith classes),
but more particularly (&) o f class w ork as distinct from lectures, each class
to consist, as a rule, o f not m ore than 30 students.
III. That a special certificate should be awarded under the authority o f the
university extension delegacy on the work, attendance, and proficiency o f the
8 Oxford and Working-Class Education.

Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1&09.

W O R K E R S ' ED UCATIONAL ASSOCIATION

(G REAT B R IT A I N ).

class students, after a report from the teacher and tw o university representa
tives appointed fo r the purpose; and that the students’ capacity should fee
tested mainly by examination o f the essays written by them during the two
years’ course.
IV. That it is desirable that the certificate should be such as would satisfy
the requirements o f the committee fo r economics (or other similar committees)
for the admission o f students not members of the university to diploma courses.
V. That in view o f th e lack o f textbooks suitable for the use o f these classes,
the standing committee recommended below be asked to make arrangements
for the provision and publication o f such textbooks.
II. The admission o f working-class students to Oxford.
I. That it is desirable that in the future qualified students from the tutorial
classes should be enabled regularly and easily to pass into residence at O xford
and to continue their studies there.
II. That in order to make possible the residence o f working-class students in
O xford (a ) colleges be asked to set aside a certain number of scholarships or
exhibitions for th e m ;'(& ) a request be forw arded to the trustees o f the uni
versity appeal fund to set aside a sum fo r the purpose of granting assistance
to working-class students from the tutorial classes.
III. That recommendation for such scholarships, exhibitions, and maintenance
grants be based on a report from a committee o f selection, consisting o f the
class teacher, the two university representatives, a representative o f the
W orkers’ Educational Association, o f the local organization, and of the class.
IV. That it be one o f the duties o f the standing committee, which it is pro
posed to constitute below, to organize funds for the establishment of such
scholarships, exhibitions, or maintenance grants, to be tenable either at a col
lege or hall o f the university, by a noncollegiate student, or at Ruskin College.
III. The position and payment of teachers.
I. That the teachers be paid £80 [$389.32] per unit o f 24 classes, or when in
fu ll work £400 [$1,946.60] per session of 24 weeks, together with traveling
expenses.
II. That the teachers be given an academic status in O xford by being em
ployed regularly as lecturers for a college or for the university.
III. That £40 [$194.66] out o f every £80 [$389.32] paid per course o f classes,
or £200 [$973.30] per annum when the teacher is in fu ll work, be contributed
by Oxford, and that it be the duty o f the standing committee to raise the
necessary money for this purpose, and also for traveling expenses, fees to
examiner, and other incidental university expenses.
IV. That the selection o f teachers be in the hands o f the standing committee,
subject to approval by the university extension delegacy, and by the body,
whether college or university, which makes itself responsible for their part
payment.
IV. The authority for organizing working-class education.
The question o f organization is at present in an experimental stage.
W e recommend for the presen t:
I.
That a standing committee o f the university extension delegacy be con
stituted to deal with the education o f workpeople both in and outside Oxford,
whose duty it shall be to take steps for the carrying out o f the recommenda

C H A P. I— EDUCATION FOR AD U LT W ORKERS.

tions made in this report, and to take all other steps for establishing or
strengthening any connection between O xford and the working classes which
may from time to time appear desirable.
II. That the committee consist o f not less than five nor more than seven
representatives o f the university nominated by the university extension del
egacy and o f an equal number o f representatives o f working-class institutions
and organizations, appointed through the W orkers’ Educational Association.
III. That it should be immediately responsible to the delegacy.
IV. That it should hold a stated meeting each term.
Y. That the committee have its own secretaries, and conduct all correspond
ence between O xford and working-class centers where tutorial classes are
established, or lectures given under its auspices.

As the result of a conference o f universities and workers held at
Oxford in 1907 a committee was appointed to establish and super
vise university tutorial classes. In the autumn o f that year two
tutorial classes were undertaken by the university, one at Rochdale;
the other at London, while another class was started at Battersea
under the auspices of the University of London. In the next two
years six universities became definitely and actively affiliated with
the movement.
In August, 1909, at a conference of the universities convened at
Oxford, a central joint advisory committee on tutorial classes was ap
pointed, as recommended by the Oxford report which had appeared
early in the year. This committee is now representative of every
university in England and Wales, as well as of the labor movement
and the Workers’ Education Association. Its purpose is to assist
universities in the institution of tutorial classes along the lines laid
down by the Oxford report. It seeks to combine the experience of
universities in regard to tutorial classes, approaches, when author
ized to do so, bodies which affect more than one university, and at
the same time it does not, in any sense, limit the right of any uni
versity to take whatever steps it pleases in its own interests, nor can
its decision bind the action o f any joint committee. It maintains
its power by its efficiency in helping to- keep all the details of
the work at the highest possible level and in making such representa
tions on behalf of the movement as will lead to its strengthening.
It deals also with the establishment of tutorial classes. The de
mand for classes is met by the organization of the Workers’ Educa
tional Association through its various branches. The committee is
maintained financially by the contributions of universities and uni
versity colleges.
M ETHOD OF FIN A N C IN G TU TO R IA L CLASSES.

An outstanding duty of the committee is to place the financial
claims o f tutorial classes before the board of education, the Gil
christ Educational Trust, the Carnegie United Kingdom Trustees,
and other possible sources of revenue.

WORKERS* EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION

(GREAT B R IT A IN ).

In July, 1917, the officers of the committee appealed to the board
o f education with a view to obtaining immediate financial aid for
tutorial classes. In response to the deputation the board of educa
tion raised the block grant of £30 ($146) made to each tutorial class
to £45 ($218.99)the increase being retroactive for the year 1916-17.
The meagerness of its financial resources has been a constant
handicap to the expansion of the Workers’ Educational Association
and its work. There are three general sources of income for meet
ing the cost o f the tutorial classes themselves. O f these the grants
by the board of education of £45 ($218.99) to each class of 30
persons pledged to three years’ study “ aiming at reaching, within the
limits o f the subject covered, the standard of university work in
honors,” is the greatest. Next in order of amount are the grants
made by the local education authorities 4 and the universities, which
in neither case are fixed amounts. And these three sums go directly
to the support of a specific class. The fee paid by the students, in no
£ase more than 2s. 6d. ($0.61) per term year, does not greatly augment
the finances of the movement. The Gilchrist Educational Trust has
recognized the movement, last year increasing its grant from £100
($486.65) to £150 ($729.98) to selected classes under universities
other than Oxford, Cambridge, and London. The Carnegie United
Kingdom Trustees have assisted in smaller degree.
Early in the year 1919, however, the association was made the bene
ficiary o f a legacy by Earnest Cassell, which will increase the yearly
income by £2,000 ($9,733) and will help to solve many problems for
the Workers’ Educational Association. The board of education has,
moreover, decided to double its grant for the district one-year classes
so that the. association will be able to double the amount paid for
each lecture.
O R G ANIZATION OF A T U TO R IA L CLASS.

Nothing that could be written here concerning either the character
of the Workers’ Educational Association propaganda or the details
of class organization would be more accurately descriptive of both
than a leaflet5 issued in the fall o f 1918 by the joint committee for
the University of London district, intended to arouse London work
ing people to the opportunities for education afforded them by the
cooperative effort of the Workers’ Educational Association and the
university. The text of the leaflet follow s:
Amongst the adult working class there are many men and women imbued
with an intense desire to serve their fellows, but who feel that more than
*■T hree lo ca l ed u cation a u th o r itie s undertook com plete fin an cial resp o n sib ility for th e
tu to r ia l cla sses in th eir area in 1 9 1 7 - 1 8 , w h ile 5 6 a u th o r itie s contribu ted £ 2 ,2 8 8 1 7s. 6d.
( $ 1 1 , 2 1 7 . 4 0 ) . T he use o f room s, w ith fire, lig h t, and cleaning, is, a lm ost w ith o u t excep
tion , a llo w ed by ed u ca tio n a u th o rities.
B U n iv e r sity T u toria l C lasses fo r W orking People, pu blished by J o in t C om m ittee for th e
P rom otion o f H igh er E d u ca tio n o f W orking P eople o f th e U n iv e r sity o f Lpndon, 1 9 1 8 .

147319°— 20------ 2

C H A P . I— EDUCATION FOR ADULT WORKERS.

moral enthusiasm is needed for the work. Social service demands not only a
moral but also an intellectual equipment that can only be obtained by serious
study. The rapidly increasing responsibilities that are being thrust on the,
working class, as parents and citizens, or as officials andx members o f one or
other o f the great working-class movements, have made it imperative that fu r
ther facilities should be provided for the education o f working men and women
whose highest ambition is to serve their fellows.
The W orkers’ Educational Association exists to meet this need. Its close
and harmonious relation with all the universities in England and W ales has
evolved a system o f university tutorial classes which brings a liberal educa
tion o f a university standard within the reach o f working men and women.
The purpose o f this leaflet is to bring to the notice o f all working people, but
more especially officials and members o f trade-unions, cooperative societies,
etc., the nature o f these classes, which have been established in London under
the auspices o f the joint committee for the promotion o f the higher education
o f working people appointed by the University o f London, and to invite the
active cooperation o f all who are interested in extending the sphere and useful
ness o f the work.
The tutorial-class movement is based on the educational needs o f working
people. In August, 1907, the W orkers’ Educational Association convened a
meeting at O xford, attended by delegates from many labor organizations, at.
which it was decided that a special committee o f seven working people and
seven representatives o f the University o f O xford should be appointed to draft
a detailed scheme. The result o f this committee’s deliberations w ill be found
in O xford and W orking Class Education (Clarendon P ress)— a document of
permanent importance and value in the history o f working-class education.
In 1907-8 only two tutorial classes were in existence in connection with
O xford University. In July, 1909, the University o f London established the
joint committee for the promotion o f the higher education o f working people,
composed o f seven university representatives nominated by university extension
board and seven representatives o f labor organizations nominated by the W ork
ers’ Educational Association. In the same year five classes w ere arranged, in
response to the demand o f working people in London. In the session 1912-13
there were 26 tutorial classes and 2 preparatory classes in London, and in
the session 1913-14, 30 tutorial classes, consisting o f an aggregate number o f
688 students. The sessions o f 1914-15 and 1915-16 had to face the difficulties
created by the war, but, nevertheless, 26 classes completed a session’ s work in
1914-15, and 1915-16, in addition to 21 tutorial classes, there were 3 pre
paratory classes.
The university tutorial class system is democratic in character and is based
upon the folio wing prin cip les:
1. That the join t committee intrusted with the management o f the classes
consist o f an equal number o f university representatives and representatives
o f labor organizations nominated by the W orkers’ Educational Association.
2. Subject to the joint committee, each class shall be self-governing, with the
cooperation o f the W orkers’ Educational Association branch where such exists.
3. That each class may be limited to about 30 students, so that the teaching
may be more personal and tutorial than is possible with large audiences.
4. That the study be continuous over a period o f not less than three years Ih
one subject or group o f related subjects, and that all students undertake to
atteml weekly during three consecutive winters and do written w ork on sub
jects to be set periodically by the tutor.
5. That the subjects studied in the tutorial classes be those in which working
people have a special interest, and for which there is an expressed demand.

W O R K E R S ' EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION

(GREAT B R IT A IN ).

6.
That the tutor meet the class weekly for 24 weeks during the winter
months, each meeting lasting two hours, one hour o f which is devoted to the
exposition o f the subjects, the other hour to questions and' discussion.
W ritten work may possibly give trouble to some students at the beginning,
but as soon as they realize that elaborate essays are not expected from begin
ners, and that the tutor is a friend whose pleasure it is to help them, they gain
confidence, and difficulties as to spelling or grammar are soon overcome.
The members o f the class wTill probably differ widely in their views o f poli
tics, religion, and theories o f social organizations, but they w ill be animated by
the spirit o f comradeship and an earnest desire to expand the bounds of knowl
edge. The effort o f the tutor is to treat disputed questions with calmness o f
tone and impartiality, and to set an example o f real scientific attitude and
method in dealing with problems which, in ordinary discussion, are in danger o f
being confused by rhetoric, prejudice, and interested partisanship.
The tutorial classes are not established to provide technical or commercial
instruction, but to help working people to gain for themselves and their
fellow s such knowledge as w ill throw light upon the dark placed in industrial
and social life. The poorest working man or woman need not be excluded
from these classes by reason o f the cost. The fees are low, usually from
1 shilling [$0.24] to half a crown [2-§s. ($0.61)] for the session. All expensive
books are provided by the join t committee, and the students obtain access
for the purpose o f study to important libraries such as the libraries o f the
University o f London and the Central Library for Students.
The classes are university classes in the fullest sense o f the word. In
selecting tutors the committee has regard both to academic qualifications
and to knowledge o f and sympathy with working people. The movement has
widened the area o f the university and has brought larger numbers o f w ork
ing people within the sphere o f active university teaching.
Members o f workpeople’s organizations largely make up the tutorial classes
now in existence all over the country, and the movement has been designed
to enable working men and women to raise their own educational level and
thereby to influence and help those with whom they come in contact. One
class in London consists very largely o f compositors, linotype operators,
and other workers in the printing industry. Another class is largely com
posed o f railway servants, and meets at special times o f the day in order to
suit the “ shifts ” o f the students’ employment. All kinds o f trades and occu
pations are represented in the classes, including printers, engineers, railwaymen, woodworkers, postal servants, painters, laborers, shop assistants, and
clerks. In nearly all the classes there are women students, and the educa
tional needs o f women equally with those o f men receive a careful considera
tion. Tw o tutorial classes have been started specially for women students.
W hile the normal length o f the course is three years, the join t committee
is gradually extending the scope o f the work. Several classes have under
taken a fourth year o f advanced stu d y ; and a number o f students who have
completed three years’ work have been sent to a college o f the university.
The heed for connecting session with session is r§et by summer schools.
Since the first year, when the classes (w ith one exception) all took up
economic history and economics, the area o f study has widened very con
siderably and the subjects taken by London classes include biology, sociology,
general history, social and economic history, economic theory, political
science, literature, psychology, and problems o f reconstruction.
W herever in London a body o f about 25 or 80 people, belonging to one or
to various organizations or residing in one neighborhood desire to have a
tutorial class formed, they should send in an application fo r the consideration

CHAP. I— EDUCATION POE ADULT WORKERS.

of the joint committee, addressed to the joint honorary secretaries, university
tutorial classes, Workers’ Educational Association, 16 Harpur Street, Theo
balds Road, WC. 1. '

In addition to the three-year classes described above, one-year
classes have also been formed in some centers. Tuition for these
classes is for the most part given by university graduates and teach
ers. But the foregoing leaflet, outlining the work undertaken in
London, is characteristic o f the movement in all of the university
districts.
As for the formation of the individual class, there are, as indicated
before, few rules. When 30 members enroll for membership, the
class meets. It may or it may not have decided upon a subject o f
study. At any rate, that is the first essential. Through the. joint
committee o f the university a tutor is obtained. A comprehensive
study of the subject is then taken up. If, for example, it is econom
ics, the tutor proceeds, not to an exposition of the subject from the
viewpoint o f a single economist, but from the viewpoints of a num
ber o f economists. “ From Marx to Marshall” is a favorite phrase
of Workers’ Educational Association people in describing the range
o f study pursued by a class in economics. The discussion following
the lecture by the tutor is considered as of first importance in the
acquaintance o f the student with the subject, and on a line with it
is the requirement that an essay be written by each student at fort
nightly intervals.
Each class chooses from its members a secretary; in fact, it has
been found that a good secretary always strengthens a weak class
and a bad secretary weakens a strong one. It is the secretary’s
business to keep the class record, compile the class statistics, make
the necessary reports, and be generally responsible for the detail
work. A librarian is also chosen by the class and much labor falls
upon him, inasmuch as it is his function to negotiate with the univer
sity joint committee of the district, and with the local library, as well
as to watch carefully all possible sources of books. He must see that
books,* when received, reach the right students, that they are returned
on time for reissue, and, above all, that the books given to students
p.re correct, both as to their applicability to the particular needs of
Hie student and in their relation to the general fund o f books on the
bubject.
TT JT & ttA L CLASS STATISTICS.®

An examination of the statistics of tutorial classes in the British
Isles reveals many interesting and important facts regarding sub
jects studied, attendance upon classes, causes of absence and occupa
tions o f the workers. These statistics for the year 1916-17 are pre
sented in the two tables immediately follow ing:
6 W orkers’ E d u ca tio n a l A sso cia tio n .
m ittee, pp. 1 2 - 1 8 .

1917.

R eport o f J o in t C en tral A d visory Com

WORKERS ' EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION

(GREAT B R ITA IN ).

STATISTICS OF TUTORIAL CLASSES IN THE U N IT E D KINGDOM, 1916-17, B Y U N IV E R
SITY AND CLASS, A ND SUBJECT.
Number of
students.
Cause of
absence.

E n Origi
rolled. nal.

University and class.

At
tend
ance
per
cent
age.

10
1
CO
C
O
<D 1

Subject.

M
bo

£ §
a is

B
i

tn
Iin S
<D B

-m
t-s
flS>
<
B
to
>

£
&
i
&
0

1
1
I
£

§
B
m

B irm in g h a m .

Social psychology......................
Social psychology......................
Cradley H eath.............. Economic theory........................
English literature......................

2 24 9 9 8
2 24 10 12 6
3 24 14 14 12
1 24 23
23
1 24 17 9 16

’ *8

3 18
5 10

3
4

72 12 65 82
56 22 63 86
60 78 6 8 87
6 6 10 6 8 83
28 77 72 81

12
12
10

16 35 31 83 81
52 : 78 55 66 81

13 30 104 71 85
56 74 75 8 6

16
16

1 53
4 46
63
4 22
2 16

16
16

Cam bridge.

R ugby...........................

Economics..................................
Economic history......................

1 24 18
3 24 18

Industrial history......................
.......do...........................................
European art and culture.........

1 24 21
21
22
1 24 22
3 24 11 'l2 11

D u rh a m .

Bishop Auckland.........
Ouston..........................
West Stanley................
Newcastle Division:
Newcastle...............

Music..........................................

2 24

4 17

5 74 24 114 58

L eed s.

Apperley Bridge........... Social and industrial organiza
tion.
Bradford I I ................... Industrial orgamzation..............
Bradford I II ................. Philosophy.................................
Cleckheaton................... .......do..........................................
H alifax.......................... Biology.......................................
Hebden Bridge............. .......do..........................................
Keighley........................ Economics..................................
Leeds (I), Crossgates... Literature...................................
Leeds (2), Lower Wort- Philosophy.................................
ley.
Leeds (4), University... Biology.......................................
Silaflen........................... Economics..................................
Sowerby Bridge............ .......do...........................................
Todmorden................... ......... d o .......................................................
Wakefield...................... I n d u s t r ia l o r g a n iz a t io n ..................

24 18

24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24

2
2
4
1
1
3

18 7 18 7
11 12 7 9
15 8 12 6
9 4 9 4
14 10 14 10
15 6 14 5
10 10 10 10
5 3
6

3 24 10

2 10
1 16
3 7’
6 10
7 11

2
4
2
1

24
24
24
24

3
4
3
3

24 7 18 3 10
21
24
12
24
14 " 6 9
24 i3 7 6 6

19
15
14
11

6
7

3 52 64 75 81

2 21 19 109
1
C1) 0 )
1 50 38 22
1 9 4 13
5 7 6
10 19 34
32 26 67
14 27 16

77
73
81
90
97
87
74
78

85
84
83
95
97
88
84
82

19
15
18
13
23
19

4 29 54 (2)
15
2 7 37 49
3 16 26 49
2 13 47 36

90
79
78
81
76

90
88
85
85
86

75
57
71
72

71
64
75
79

10
7
11

65 72
74

51
60
85 83
•68 55
70 73

14
13
18
13

L iv er p o o l.
B a r r o w . . . ...........................
B ir k e n h e a d ( w o m e n ) . . .
B l a c k p o o l.............................
C r e w e ......................................

E liz a b e th a n li t e r a t u r e ..................

Shakespeare...............................
Psychology.................................
Literature of the later nine
teenth century.
Haslmgton..................... Industrial history......................
Modern economic thought m
L iv e r p o o l
(a d v a n c e d
cla s s ).
England.
E u r o p e a n h i s t o r y .............................
L iv e r p o o l (w om en)....
L i v e r p o o l .............................
D o ..................................
S o u t h p o r t .............................
W o r k in g t o n ......................

E c o n o m i c s ............................................
I n d u s t r ia l h i s t o r y .............................
E c o n o m i c s ............................................

3 24 19
11
24 (s) '(’3) 11
4 24
19
2 24
(<) ’ ’ 9
1 24 ('1 20 1 3
4 24 9 10 5
3 24 8 9 7

13
2
17
3

8
7
17
3

L ondon.

Battersea...................... Economic history.....................
Bolt Court.................
H i s t o r y o f p o l it i c a l f r e e d o m --Camberwell................. . Economic problems...................
1 Total for all reasons, 136.
2 Total for all reasons, 29

1 24 13
4 24 17
4 24 5
» Total enrolled, 17.
<Total enrolled, 11.

7 13 7
32 64 77 66 56
9
"*7
(5) 49 49
5 3 3
27 3 11 68 47
&Total for all reasons, 660.

11
5

CHAP. I— EDUCATION FOR ADULT WORKERS.

ST A T IS T IC S OP T U T O R IA L C L A SSE S IN T H E U N IT E D KINGDOM , 1 9 1 6 - 1 7 ,
U N IV E R S IT Y A N D CLASS* A N D SU B JE C T — C ontinued.
Number of
students.
Cause of
absence.

En Origi
rolled. nal.

| Other causes.

| Overtime.

1
.1

| Illness.

| Women.

[ Women.

Subject.

Meetings.

University and class.

A t
tend
ance
per
cent
age.

M
f-i
o

3 zA
"o
1
W B
co
1
>
G
O J}
c3 S
a a
O o

1W
C3

£
£
1
b
0

•1
+2
g

'O
£
m

LoTid/on—Concluded.

Economics..................................
Reconstruction after the war...
Croydon I ,..................... History of political freedom___
Croydon II.................... Economic history......................
Imperial and international
government.
Psychology.................................
Sociology....................................
Southall I . ..................... Modern literature......................
The problem of demobilization.
Economic problems...................
Tottenham I ................. After war industrial problems..
Tottenham I I ............... Our bodies and our m inds........
University College........ Modem European history.........
W ealdstone.................. E conomic history......................
W est Ham..................1 Applied biology..........................
W imbledon................... European history......................
Wood G r e e ndevelop
.....
......... British constitutional
ment.
Woolwich....................... After war industrial problems..
Working Men’s College. English literature......................
Preparatory Class for
Women:
Hackney................. Elementarv biology...................

1
1
4
1
4

11 11 10 10
11 13 10 11
12 4 10 3
25 1 24 1
24 6 4 4 3

2 16 21 222
(6) (*)
42 56
i
189
i
83
2

49
67
77
69
65

49
69
74
59
78

10
13
9
29

]
3
1
4
3
4
1
1
1
3
3
4

6 18 6
14 11 6
4 20 4
25 7 9
5 6 4
9 5 6
32
22
' 8 13 8
14 10 13
14 g 9
6 10 3

2 26 15 149
5 (7) (7) (7)
222
8 20
387
96
i *i6
4 ‘40 27
82
98
21
163
(8)
(8)
<3
ioi
2 15
(9) 00 (9)
(10) (10) (10)
148
2

69 69

24
24
24
24

24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24

18
4
19
1
1
2
32
22
13
1
3*
5

6 24 6 18
3 24 15
11
35

65
56
49
57
77
76
65
64
97
79
68

61
54
55
64
77
76
65
64
92
82
64

6
3
7
5
7
17
IS
15
12
12
6

61 59
59 62

22
9

Manchester.

Blackburn 11............
Chorley11......................
Colne..............................
Haslingden 11................
Macclesfield....... ...........
Manchester I .................
Middleton...................
N elson...........................

Psychology.................................
Economic th ought.....................
Psychology.................................
Economic thought.....................
Industrial history......................
.......do..........................................
English history..........................
Economies..................................

12
12
2 24
12
1 24
1 24
3 24
2 24

3 8 3 8
9
9
8 'is 6 is *5 *48
12
12
21 2 19 2 '* 4 34
18 12 18 12 6 12
6 8 4 5 4 20
11 13 11 6 2 43

26 80
24, 75
ie 50 • 78
34 76
54 45 76
14 109 81
19 80 64
16 64 79

89
6
5
93
90
17
79
87
15
87
25
80 * 6
89
17

Nottingham ( Univer
sity College).

Leicester I I I .................. Political philosophjr...................
Nottingham H I............ E thics..........................................

3 24 12
2 24 13

7 11
5 13

5
28 27 21 86 89
5 " i 25 54 52 70 97

12
12

Oxford.

Bournemouth,..............
Burslem........................
Chesterfield....... .
Halifax *2 ......................
Huddersfield.................
Kettering (wom en’s )...
Lincoln.........................
Longton.........................
Stoke................ . . ..........
Tuns ta ll.........................

Political science..........................
Moral and political philosophy.
European history.......................
Political science.........................
Social history of E ngland.........
European history.......................
.......d o ,.........................................
History of France and R ussia..
English literature......................
Problems of reconstruction___

3
4
3
2
3
1
1
3
2
1

24
24
24
12
24
24
24
24
24
24

12 2 9 2
14 5 11 3
13 4 7 3
9 10 8 9
10 11 9 8
23
23
23 4 22 4
16 6 9 4
9 11 7 9
21 5 21 5

2
1
9
4
1
6
4
4
2

23 45
42 7
69 29
8 21
34 31
48 7
56 114
28 43
36 70
25 94

34
47
2
40
66
31
14
24
22
61

69
79
75
62
74
84
69
81
73
69

87
85
93
89
83
90
86
88
84
80

10
13
10
7
12
20
15
20
13
17

Heading ( University
College).

2 24
18
10 6 47 12 110 60 64
9
4 24 ‘ii
1 2 19 29 81. 81:
9
ii
e Total for all reasons, 196 8 Total for all reasons, 181. w Total for all reasons, 223. i- Half session only
1 Total for all reasons, 210. • Total for all reasons, 100. u Advanced classes.

Reading II..................... English literature, 1800-1915___
Reading III................... Modern history..........................

W O R K E R S ' EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION

(G REAT B R IT A IN ).

ST A T IST IC S OF T U T O R IA L C L A SSE S IN T H E U N IT E D KINGDOM , 1 9 1 6 - 1 7 ,
U N IV E R S IT Y A N D C liA &S, A N D SU B JE C T — C oncluded.
Number of
students.
En Origi
rolled. nal.

University and class.

Cause of
absence.

A t
tend
ance
percent-

Subject.

Sheffteld.

Denaby Main................
Doncaster......................
Grimsby........................
Mexborough..................
Rotherham...................
Sheffield IV. Victoria
Hall.
Sheffield V .H eeley.......
Sheffield VI, Attercliffe
Sheffield VII, Univer
sity.
Sheffield V III, Uni
versity.
Sheffield IX , W. E. A.
House.
Slaithw aite...................
Stocksbridge.................

Social problems..
Political science..
Economics..........
----do...................
----do...................
Social problems.«

7
12
16
6
8
7

Economics..
___ do...........
Psychology.

7
10
15

Political philosophy.

Economics.................
.do.,
.do..

B e lfa s t {Q u e e n ’ s U ni
v ersity ).

Belfast I ......................
Belfast I I .....................

History of western civilization
Social problems of the nine
teenth century.

A b er d ee n .

Aberdeen..............

(18) (18) (18) (») 85

Applied economics.

E dinburgh.

Edinburgh I ........
Edinburgh I I I ___
Edinburgh I V ___

Nil.
Nil.
NiL

Economics..
Literature -.
Philosophy.

Cardiff.

University College of
South ' ‘ '

Although it has proved impos
sible this session to conduct
full tutorial classes under this
university college, owing to
the fact th ^t the necessary
conditions can not be fulfilled
under present circumstances,
yet classes have been held
with success on the lines of
tutorial classes.

Total number of students enrolled—British
Isles:
Men............................................................. 1,133
W omen.......................................................
863
Total........................................................ 1,996
13 Totalf or all reasons, 130
1* Total for all reasons, 113.
15 Total for all reasons, 43.
16 Total for all reasons, 318.

Total number of original students—British
Isles:
W omen...................................... ................

898
563

Total........................................................ 1,461

w Total for all reasons, 158.
w Not known.
w Method of Scotch education department.

20 Total for all reasons, 402.
n Total for all reasons, 268.
22 Total for all reasons, 242.

CHAP. I---- EDUCATION FOR ADULT WORKERS.

B irmingham..............
Cambridge
. .. .
D u r h a m ...................
Leeds .. ................
Liverpool . . . . . . . . . .
London
. ......
Manchester
Nottingham
......
O fiord.........
Reading..........
SheTield.....................
Aberdeen
. ... .
Edinburgh................
Rpliacif
Total

3
13

3
5

5
7

10
2
1
3

1
3

1
1

1
2

2
3
2
34

1
2
25

3
2
1
4

2
3

2
1
5
3

3
25

1
1
2

2
25

1
1

1
44

117
44
75
266
178
450
146
34
208
29
241
20
104
62

217

1,974

1
1
1
3

4
4
t>
14
2
3
2
1
1

6
5
5
17
27
87
16
4
14
1
11
4
11
9

Carpenters, join
ers, etc.

Civil servants.

i
2

6
1

'
11

2
10
9

5
2
20

10
1
2
14
1
7

■ Total.
i

Potters.

3
14
3

14
1
3
3

Miscellaneous.1

4
5
4
7
2
4
3

Metalworkers.

Shop assistants.
Insurance agents, etc.

Printers.

Teachers.

10
2
2
11

3
2

Food workers.

Mimicipalemployees.

University.

6
. 17
16
3
1
5
1
3

Laborers.

11
4
11

Building trades.

Tailors, dress
makers, etc.

234

6
9

Bookbinders.

262

1
35

Engineers, me
chanics, etc.

340

Total

2
3

Postmen, tramwaymen, and policemen.

2
3

17
16
2

Railway servants.

21
11

10
2
6
12

4
33
2

Boot and shoe trades
and leather workers.

10
4

2
1

Miners and quar
rymen.

i
6
1
11
1
3
9

Manchester....
Nottingham ...
Oxford............
R eading.........
Sheffield.........
Aberdeen.......
Edinburgh___
Belfast............

Warehousemen.

11
7
10
38
32
28
24
1
24
4
23

; Textile workers.

8
1
8
30
40
96
8
2
17
9
29

Birmingham..
Cambridge....
D u r h a m __
Leeds..............

Factory workers.

Housewives, do
mestics, etc.

22
11
4
39
10
111
26
3
31
3
29
10
25
16

Foremen and mana
gers.

University.

Clerks, telegraph
ists, etc.

A N A L Y S IS OF O C C U PA TIO N S R E P R E S E N T E D IN T H E T U T O R IA L C L A S SE S
T H E U N IT E D KINGDOM , B Y U N IV E R S IT IE S , 1 9 1 6 - 1 7 .

1 Including nurses, caretakers, gardeners, instrument makers, otc.

This analysis of the occupations of 1,974 students of tutorial classes
in 1916-17 shows that the classes are enlisted from virtually every
form of industrial citizenship, although clerks and telegraphists lead
the list with a representation of 340, and, surprising enough, house
wives and domestics take second place with 262. Teachers form
the next category with 234, while the remaining 1,138 comprise fac
tory workers of various sorts, shop assistants, textile workers, miners
and quarrymen, railway men, engineers and mechanics, laborers,
carpenters and joiners, potters, boot ancl shoe workers, postmen,
policemen j tramway men, bookbinders, printers, etc.

WORKERS* EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION

(GREAT B R ITA IN ).

The following statement7 gives the number of 3-year classes and
o f students during the existence of the movement:
Year.
1907-8.........................................
1908-9.........................................
1909-10.......................................
1910-11.......................................
1911-12.......................................
1912-13.......................................

Classes.
2
8
39
72
102
117

Year.

Students.
78
237
1,117
1,829
2,485
3,176

Classes. Students.

1913-14........................................
1914-15.......................................
1915-16.......................................
1916-17.......................................
1917-18........................................
1918-19.......................................

145
155
121
99
121

• 153

3,234
3,110
2,414
1,996
2,860
*3,300

1 E stim a ted .

In 1917-18 there were also 238 one-year classes and study circles o f
which no record has been kept, the number o f students attending
them probably being considerably in excess o f those in the tutorial
classes. The work done in these 1-year classes was good and tended
to stimulate among the students an ambition to enter the 3-year
classes.
A decrease is seen in the number of classes, the number in 1916-17
being 99 as compared with 121 in 1915-16. The decrease is no doubt
entirely due to the war, which was bound to affect detrimentally a
movement basing its appeal to the younger among the wage-earning
population. But the increase to 121 again in 1917-18 is evidence
of the fundamental soundness of the proposition that there is among
the working class a real and deep-seated eagerness for higher educa
tion, that once the country became accustomed to the situation there
was a recurrence to the original enthusiasm and a consequent increase
in the number o f classes. Moreover a still further increase to 153 in
1918-19 indicates that there wili be a large development when condi
tions again become normal.
The war has also affected the relative proportion of men and
women in these classes since 1912-13, as shown in the following
statement: 8
Year.

Men.

1912-13.................................................................................................................
1913-14.................................................................................................................
1914-15............................................................................................ .*..................
1915-16.................................................................................................................
1916-17.................................................................................................................
1917-18.................................................................................................................

Women.

2,626
J2 488
2,338
1,506
1,133
1,681

550
746
772
908
863
1,179

Total.
3,176
3,234
3,110
2,414
1,996
2,860

SU B JE C T S CHOSEN FOR STU D Y .

Economics and industrial and social history have, throughout the
history of the tutorial class movement, led all other subjects chosen
for study by classes of workers. The Fifteenth Annual Report of
7 G reat B rita in . M in istry o f R eco n stru ctio n .
London, 1 9 1 9 , p. 1 9 1 . Cmd. 3 2 .
8 Idem.

A d u lt ed u cation com m ittee.

P in a l report,

CHAP. I---- EDUCATION FOR ADULT WORKERS,

the Central Advisory Committee9 sliows that in 1914 there were
77 classes in these subjects as against 32 classes in modern European
history and history of political freedom, the next, most popular
study. In 1917-18 economics and industrial and social history stil]
predominated with 57 classes, the reduction in the number of classes
being general, as has been explained, because o f the war. But in
the interim between 1914 and 1918 the number o f classes in Euro
pean history and history of political freedom fell to 9. and the
study o f psychology and philosophy took second place with 17
classes. The study of English literature was pursued by 15 classes
in 1914, 17 in 1915, 10 in 1916, and 15 in 1917,* political science
by 6 classes in 1914, 5 the next year, 4 the next year, and 3 in 1918.
Classes in biology and natural history have in the same period in
creased from 4 to 6. Other studies pursued by fewer classes are local
government, sociology, problems o f reconstruction, political institu
tions and history, ethics, studies in social science, history of western
civilization, growth of the English people, unemployment, music, and
Plato’s Republic.
It is noteworthy that science plays so small a part in the sub
jects chosen for study. In commenting upon this fact, a report10
upon natural science in British education says:
It might be thought that the classes o f the W orkers’ Educational Associ
ation, supplemented by the tutorial classes, would afford an excellent means
o f popularizing science, especially among workingmen. As it happens, the
subjects o f study chosen by the workers themselves usually belong to litera
ture, economics, industrial history, or social questions, and citizenship. It
seems to have been forgotten that if the working man is to take his proper
place in industry, if he is to sit on national and district industrial councils
and deal with all the problems affecting British trade, he must study nature
as well as his feUow man, and that the technical training as well as the gen
eral education o f all ranks o f workers, the encouragement o f invention, and
the conduct o f scientific and industrial research are problems all o f which
should come before these councils and to all o f which the trade-union repre
sentatives should be prepared to make their contribution. The proposals o f
the committee respecting the teaching o f science in elementary and secondary
schools, if adopted, will go far toward popularizing science, but they w ill
require time to produce their effect. Meanwhile it is very desirable that pub
lic lectures should be given on science, which should be as attractive as some
o f the lectures recently given in connection with university institutions upon
theological, literary, social, economic, and political subjects. There is a rec
ord o f a W orkers’ Educational Association class on biology at Leeds, com
prising 21 factory workers, which rivals the best results o f the university ex
tension lectures o f 30 years ago.
W orkers’ E d u c a tio n a l A sso cia tio n . F ifte e n th A nnu al R eport o f th e C en tral A dvisory
C om m ittee, 1 0 1 8 . London, 1 9 1 8 , p. 16.
10 G reat B rita in . M in istry o f R econ stru ction . N a tu ra l S c ien ce in B r itis h E d u cation .
(R eco n stru ctio n problem s 2 6 . ) London, 1 9 1 9 , pp. 11, 1 2 .

WORKERS' EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION

(GREAT B R IT A IN ).

V E R D IC T S A N D O P IN IO N S.11

A lay person visiting W orkers’ Educational Association tutorial
classes, especially one with a preconceived faith in the intellectual
possibilities o f the workers, might experience an enthusiasm not
shared by an educational scientist under the same circumstances.
But it has also been the verdict o f professional educators that the
response o f the working people to higher education is both whole
some and encouraging. Virtually every teacher who has inquired
into the W orkers’ Educational Association movement has come away
filled with the spirit o f the thing and eager to cooperate in extending
it. In the course o f a report to the board o f education, after an in
spection o f a large number o f classes, H is Majesty’s inspector, Mr.
Headlam, and P rof. L. T. Hobhouse, while hesitating to compare
the paper work done in tutorial classes with that done by under
graduates in Cambridge and O xford because o f the inequalities o f
previous preparation and o f widely differing conditions, nevertheless
said “ the product is in some respects better.” In others, it was added,
it was not as good, but “ there is more maturity o f mind and more
grip o f reality behind ” the manuscripts written by wage earners in
the night tutorial classes. These inspectors found, with regard to the
teaching o f the classes, that the “ standard was high, the conception
just, and the execution good.” Clearness and simplicity are sought
by the tutors in the earlier stages o f the class history, but later they
do not hesitate to set out arguments that can be followed only by
dint o f the closest attention. Frankness and simplicity mark the
discussions follow ing each lecture and although controversial sub
jects are frequently pursued with considerable vigor and plainness
o f expression, there is a prevailing sense o f fair play for all views.
“ Upon the whole o f the lectures and the teaching generally we have
no hesitation in saying that they conform to the best standards o f
university work.”
Much attention is given to the provision o f books to students in
the tutorial classes, and it is the opinion o f the inspectors that the
books are well-selected, and are generally o f a kind suitable to tlio
early stages o f a university course, and that “ notwithstanding very
serious difficulties many o f the students make every effort to read a
large number o f the books supplied.”
Loyalty o f students to their pledges o f continuous attendance and
study has been an outstanding characteristic o f tutorial classes.
W hile the “ overtim e” evil prevailing in British industry has been
a constant source o f discouragement to students seriously bent upon
their studies, and in spite o f various periods o f unemployment
before the war and the temptations o f largely increased pay en
11 U n i v e r s i t y

T u to r ia l

1913, 463 pp.

C la s s e s ,

A lb e r t M a n s b r id g e .

London, Longm an,

G reen

C o .,

C H A P. I— EDUCATION FOR ADU LT W ORKERS.

velopes for overtime work during the period o f the war, there has
been an average o f 20 out of an original 30 students who have com
pleted their three years’ work in some cases, while the general aver
age has been 15.
Oiie o f the great difficulties encountered by tutors has been to over
come fear on the part o f students of their inability to fulfill the essaywriting feature o f the class requirements. And there is no doubt
that the paper work is the principal stumblingblock, since the diffi
culty many find in setting down their thoughts is a very real one.
They left school at early ages and have had absolutely no training or
practice in writing. False notions regarding the quality of the com
position submitted must also be corrected. In many cases students
feel that essays at the outset should be complete and worthy of pub
lication, rather than merely an attempt to write what they really
know or think at the time in order to enable the tutor to help them
develop in the best possible way.
One man informed us that he had written 15 essays one after another and
torn them up. It was his way o f reaching out to his ideal o f perfection. The
waste was pathetic, for he could have consulted his tutor after each o f the
essays and his rate o f progress would have been thereby quickened. There
lies on our table a letter from a student explaining his inability to write an
essay. It consists o f five closely written pages o f foolscap.
The difficulties o f essay w riting are surmounted when the matter is put
properly before the students by sympathetic tutors, though some tutors still
set their students to write essays in ju st the same way they themselves were
set to write them at the university. Difficulties o f technique are rapidly sur
mounted ; even spelling becomes correct. It has been reported, however, that
men who spell the wTorst seem sometimes to think the best.
Many eulogies have been passed upon tutorial class essays, but perhaps it
is sufficient to say that the level o f essays is astonishingly high ; that in some
universities at least the essays have been copied and given to students reading
fo r the final honors’ schools; that many have been taken back to colonial
universities by visitors to this cou n try; and that many o f them, owing to the
industrial experience o f their writers, have added defin itely'to knowledge. A
volume o f essays on economic subjects by tutorial class students is under
contemplation.

A tutorial class is its own advertisement. Its worth to its own
members has been reflected in almost every case by the development
at its side of a preparatory class, from which men and women are
drawn to fill vacancies as they occur. Advanced students in the
original class frequently rotate in lecturing to the preparatory stu
dents, and often the tutor himself assumes the added responsibility
of teaching those who want systematic education but who can not
enter a regular class.
Mr. Mansbridge holds the tutorial class movement to be one of the
most promising contributions toward a full and complete cooperation
between working men and women, as such, and scholars as such.

WORKERS'- EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION

(GREAT B R IT A IN ).

In an illuminating address to the congress of the universities of the
Empire before the war, he said:
Its essential characteristic is that the students control the class, the justifica
tion for which is that they have devised fo r themselves regulations which are
o f greater severity than any which a university would have dreamed o f asking
them to frame. It is the class o f the students— each student is a teacher, and
each teacher is a student; the humblest is not afraid to teach, and the most
advanced is w illing»to learn. There is a complete absence o f distinctions;
diplomas and degrees are not asked for, consequently there is no competition,
but in actual fact an all pervading comradeship.
The students are almost entirely manual workers, and cover all manual
trades; the textile and engineering industries make a big contribution, while
representatives of less important occupations, such, fo r instance, as peddlers,
are numerous. The ages o f the students range in the main between 25 and 35,
and there are several over 60 years o f age. One man over 70 years o f age has
attracted the special commendation o f Prof. Vinogradoff. The tutorial class
brought such a man for the first time into contact with scholars dealing with
his subjcct.
The classes produce teachers, as well as lecturers, in innumerable British
working-class institutions. It has been reported o f educational movements in
the past that men would go 5 or 6 miles to a lesson. W e are able to report,
in addition to this, that men w ill now go 12 miles to help their fellow w ork
people with their class work. The class at Longton, in the potteries, which has
finished its fifth year’s course, has, by the aid o f its students, maintained edu
cational facilities in 10 mining villages o f North Staffordshire throughout the
winter, and not a penny has been paid to the tutors, who, though poor, have
cheerfully borne their own expense. * * *
The problems gather round the supply o f tutors, finance, and the supply o f
books, which last is largely financial. In regard to the supply o f tutors, the
board o f education has pointed out that one or two weak and tactless teachers
might give a serious setback to the movement. It is true we claim that just
as the tutor educates the student* so the students educate the tutors and it is
interesting to note that we have tried experiments in the education o f tutors,
sometimes successful, sometimes unsuccessful, but an actual university tutor
gains in power almost at once after he has had a little experience in teaching
a tutorial class. Such tutors not only discover facts, but a new spirit. They
take back treasures to their own university. The supply o f tutors has been
more efficient and complete than was anticipated at the outset o f the movement.
With one or two exceptions, all the tutors have succeeded— some wonderfully
so— and, as a direct result o f the demand for tutors, men are being prepared
for the work during their undergraduate or immediately post-graduate course.
Tutors must be paid a wage that will enable them to continue the work with
content, and a larger wage than has often been paid to junior lecturers in
universities. The working people who helped to devise the scheme said that
a man should earn £400 [$1,946.60] per annum if he took five classes, and
Oxford, at least, pays this amount.
The fear of politics is not wholly dissipated, but the students have every
where pursued their studies in the spirit o f education, and have left the ad
vocacy o f their creed or party for other times and other places.
Lord Rosebery s a id : “ W e require honorable, incorruptible, strenuous men.”
W e claim for the tutorial class movement that it creates and reveals such
men, and at the same time gives to ordinary men what is more important—■
the power to select the right men. Lord Curzon bore testimony to the effect

CHAP. I— EDUCATION FOR ADULT WORKERS.

it had upon tutors o f the University o f O xford. The principal o f the University
of London gave as his opinion to the British association that the classes
would affect the teaching o f English in universities; and Prof. Pollard, speak
ing to the historical association, said that working people were forcing his
torians to study the lives o f ordinary people. Workingmen, he said, were
not interested so directly in the literature and art o f Greece, as in how the
common people lived. W e feel, after five years o f the work, that it has
strengthened the teaching o f social science and history, and, to a smaller
degree, o f literature, in the universities o f England.
*

In 1913 the Royal Commission on University Education in London
made a report in which it had the following to say with respect to
the Workers’ Educational Association and the tutorial class move
ment : 12
There is, however, one class o f adult student for whom the university
should, in our opinion, make further provision than that just indicated, though
they will also, no doubt, benefit by some o f the evening courses given in the
day colleges. W e refer to the large and increasing body o f workers whose
needs and desires have found expression through the W orkers’ Educational
Association. W e have been greatly impressed by the remarkable progress
already made by that association under the inspiring guidance o f its general
secretary in arranging classes o f a university standard for working men
and women. W e are even more impressed by the true spirit o f learning, the
earnest desire for knowledge, and the tenacity o f purpose which have been
shown by the students. These men and women desire knowledge, not diplomas
or degrees, and we think that no university, and above all no city university,
would ju stify its existence that did not do its utmost to help and encourage
work o f this kind. Such work is not essential to a university in the narrower
sense o f being a condition o f its existence, but it is essential in the broader
view, which lays upon a great seat o f learning the duty o f using its talents
to the utmost and offering its treasures freely to all who can benefit by them
and sincerely desire to do so. In the branches o f study which have proved
most attractive to these students the benefit is reciprocal. The intimate per
sonal knowledge the workers have o f many important social and economic
problems throws a light upon the history o f industry and on the relation o f
capital to labor, which is o f inestimable value to the teacher and investigator.
Systematic inquiries have been conducted that would have been impossible
without the active and intelligent assistance o f the workers, and we under
stand that some o f the students have made independent investigations them
selves under the guidance o f their tutors.
These classes open out a new and hopeful field fo r the spread o f a pure love
of learning— the main function o f a university. W e have already expressed
our admiration o f the results that have been attained by this association in
cooperation with all the universities, and we have quoted a passage from a
special report made by two inspectors o f the board o f education. That pas
sage, which defines in clear and admirable language the meaning o f university
education, is follow ed by another in which the inspectors say that they have
applied the test to the w ork o f the tutorial classes, and that “ I f * * * the
question be put whether, so far as they go, and within the lim its o f time and
available energy, the classes are conducted in the spirit which we have de
scribed, and tend to accustom the student to the ideal o f work fam iliar at a
12 U n i v e r s i t y

T u to r ia l

1 913, 4 63 pp.

C la s s e s , b y

A lb e r t

M a n s b r id g e .

London, Longm an,

G reen

C o .,

W ORKERS ’ EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION

(GKEAT BEIT A I N ) .

university, we can answer with an unhesitating affirm ative; and, in particular,
the treatment both o f history and economics is scientific and detached in
character. As regards the standard reached, there are students whose essays
compare favorably with the best academic w ork.” This result is due partly no
doubt to the fact that the teachers are nearly all o f them men actually engaged
in university teaching, and not men making their living by conducting tutorial
classes, but quite as much o f it is due to the enthusiasm, the zeal, and the
sincere desire for truth animating the students, who are drawn almost entirely
from the working classes. There is, indeed, another condition making for the
thoroughness o f the teaching, and that is the considerable amount o f financial
aid which is forthcom ing from the board o f education and from the London
County Council. W ithout this aid it would be impossible to keep the classes
as small as Mr. Mansbridge showTs that they are at present. H is evidence also
indicates that the University of London is enabled to exercise a proper control
over the tutorial classes within its area.
A t first, 110 doubt, the classes o f the W orkers’ Educational Association were
devoted to a study o f those sides o f history and theory which seemed to bear
most closely upon the needs and difficulties o f the worker in the modern in
dustrial State. That was right and proper, for men and women o f adult years
no less than younger students will do the best work where their interests lie.
Already, however, a demand is growing up for courses in literature and other
subjects o f value for their time o f leisure, and we believe this demand w ill
grow, until the students o f the W orkers’ Educational Association w ill realize
one o f the greatest truths a university can enforce— the essential unity o f
knowledge. W e think the university should consider the work it is doing for
these men and women one o f the most serious and important o f its services to
the metropolis, and that it ought to provide a well-equipped building in a con
venient situation as the visible center of the movement, where courses o f lec
tures could be given by the best teachers, including from time to time lectures
and addresses by the professors o f the university, where debates could be held,
and the students meet for social intercourse.
THE TUTORIAL CLASS MOVEMENT IN OTHER FARTS OF THE BRITISH
EMPIRE.13
SCOTLAND, IR E L A N D , A N D W A LES.

Tutorial classes now exist in various parts of the British Empire
and under varying conditions. In Scotland the financial respon
sibility for these classes must be assumed by the school board,
which still remains the local authority in school matters. The
classes thus form a part of the continuation-classes scheme. At
Aberdeen a fee of 5s. ($1.22) is paid for a course of 24 lectures.
The fees are paid to the school board and are not returnable. The
university provides a comfortable meeting place and donates £5
($24.33) a year to each class to form a reference library. Control
of the classes is exercised by the joint committee. In Edinburgh
the school board returns to the branch 6d. ($0.12) from each stu
dent’s fee o f 3s. ($0.73) for a course of 24 lectures and the associa
tion makes an annual grant of £1 ($4.87) to assist in forming classes.
18 C om piled from th e W. E. A. E d u ca tio n Yearbook. 1 9 1 8 . L ondon, 1 9 1 8 .
F ifte e n th A nnu al R eport o f th e W orkers’ E d u ca tio n a l A ssociation , 1 9 1 8 .

Also, from the
London, 1 9 1 8 .

CH A P. I — EDUCATION FOE AD U LT W OBKEBS.

The work started in 1913 and 1914 has not progressed so rapidly as
it would have done in normal times, but several classes have sur
vived and there is an active interest in increasing the number and
membership of these classes and in enlisting the cooperation of the
trade-unions in them.
The tutorial class movement began in the Irish universities some
years ago, the first class having been established at Queen’s Uni
versity of Belfast in 1910. Here the classes are conducted by lec
turers in the university as a part of their regular university work.
The subjects follow along the usual economic lines, including also
geography and child study. The classes have an average member
ship of about 20 students and the attendance, though small, is reg
ular. The development of the undertaking in Ireland is somewhat
retarded by the lack of any public body which has the authority to
finance advanced education.
Three universities in Wales have organized classes for workers.
At Aberystwyth they are conducted by the usual committee composed
o f labor and academic representatives. The classes at Bangor are a
part o f the regular activities of the college. In Wales, as in other
parts o f the United Kingdom, the war and lack of finances have made
it impossible to supply the demand for these classes.
AU ST R A LA SIA .

The formation o f tutorial classes in Australasia began in 1913
through the efforts o f Mr. and Mrs. Mansbridge, who, in response
to an invitation from Australian universities, spent several months
establishing classes in the various cities and States of that continent.
The annual report of the New South Wales Workers’ Educational
Association for 1917 reports 51 lectures on social and political prob
lems and child study, 8 study circles, and 32 tutorial classes, as com
pared with 3 classes in 1914, 20 in 1915, and 25 in 1916. These
classes had increased to 37 in 1918 and the lectures to 78. In June,
1917, Queensland set up a joint committee through which its classes,
study circles, and lectures are carried on. Six hundred students
attended the 5 tutorial classes which existed in South Australia dur
ing the same year, while Tasmania reported 5 classes and 13 lec
tures, attended by 1,453 students. A notable feature of the activities
of the Workers’ Educational Association in Victoria has been the
holding o f quarterly conferences on educational methods and ideals,
resulting in the establishment of the National Educational Investiga
tion Committee, whose particular work it should be to report upon
these questions to the council.
%
The development of the-movement in New Zealand, though started
since the war, has surpassed the expectations of its most enthusiastic

W ORKERS* EDUCATIONAL, ASSOCIATION

(A U S T R A L A S IA ).

supporters. The Auckland center conducted 10 classes in 1917, while
the Wellington center increased its classes from 5 to 6 and organized
2 preparatory classes. The Christchurch center held 3 classes, the
Otago center 4 classes, and the Invercargill branch 2 classes. In
addition to the class work, these centers instituted lecture courses
covering science, journalism, citizenship, reconstruction, and public
health, held conferences on education, and formed study circles.
During the summer o f 1919 a Federal Council for Australia was
formed by representatives of the various States in session at A d
elaide. The functions of the council will be mainly administrative,
but it will also serve as an advisory body and will seek to coordinate
the policy o f the various State associations.
In most o f the Australasian States the finances for the classes are
met, in part at least, by Government grants. In 1917 New South
Wales appropriated £3,000 ($14,599.50) to tutorial classes and a di
rect grant £150 ($729.98) to the Workers’ Educational Association
for other expenses. Tasmania made a grant of £675 ($3,284.89);
Victoria of £300 ($1,459.95), with prospects of substantial increase.
In New Zealand the Government grant was suspended, but the uni
versity grant was £1,200 ($5,839.80), and the municipal councils o f
Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch gave £100 ($486.65) each.
Queensland and South Australia received promises of grants of
£1,500 ($7,299.75) and £1,200 ($5,839.80), respectively.
The table following shows the number of tutorial classes in
Australasia in 1917 and the subjects studied.

TUTORIAL CLASSES IN A U STRALASIA, 1917, B Y U N IV E R SIT Y A ND SUBJECT.

Australia:
Sydney................
Melbourne..........
Queensland.........
A delaide.............
Tasmania...........

32
2
2
5
5

16
1
2
2
2

New Zealand:
A uckland...........
W ellington.........
Christchurch__
Otago..................

10
6
3
4

8
4
2
3

Total................

147319°— 20-------3

5
i

1
1

l
l
l
__±__
2
n

Electricity.

Hygiene.

The modern State.

Physiology.

' Principles oi law.

History.

Child study.

Biology.

Sociology and psy
chology.

Literature.

Political science.

Economics, indus
trial history.

University.

Number of classes.

Subject.

1
1

1
1
6

CHAP* I— EDUCATION FOR ADULT WORKERS*
CANADA.

Although Mr. Mansbridge, through whose efforts the Workers’
Educational Association was successfully launched in Australia,
visited Canada on his return to England he did not find conditions
there favorable for the development of working class education.
In the spring of 1918, however, conferences between members of
the staff o f Toronto University, representatives of organized labor in
that city, ajid a few other interested persons resulted in the forma
tion of an association. A provisional executive committee was ap
pointed to draw up a constitution for the classes and other activities
o f the association.
The constitution which was drafted and subsequently adopted b}T
the association as a whole follow s: 14
Name.— The W orkers’ Educational Association o f Toronto and District.
O bject.— The association is established to provide an opportunity for the
workers to obtain the benefit o f university education, and assist them to
acquire the knowledge which is essential to intelligent and effective citizenship.
To that end, political and economic science, history, English literature, and
other subjects may be taught.
Affiliation.— University, trade-union locals and trades councils, educational
bodies- and groups are eligible.
Applications for affiliation must be approved by the executive council of the
association.
Member ship.— There shall be tw o classes o f m em bership: (a ) General mem
bers, who shall be admitted to special lectures and privileges; (b ) students,
who shall form the study groups.
Control.— The control o f the association shall be vested in an executive
council, elected at the annual meeting o f the association. The executive coun
cil shall be composed o f 12 mem bers: A president, a vice president, and a
secretary-treasurer, elected by the annual meeting; together with three mem
bers who shall represent the tracle-unions, one member who shall represent
the trades council, and two members who shall represent the general mem
bership. These nine members shall be elected at the annual meeting by their
respective groups. All members o f the executive council shall hold office for
one year and be eligible for reelection.
Finance.— The funds o f the association shall be under the control o f the
executive council, and shall be provided by all affiliated bodies and individuals
on the foUowing b a sis:
1. University.— By annual grant.
2. Trades council.— By annual grant.
3. Trade-unions.— Local unions affiliated to the association shall pay 5 cents
per annum per member, with a minimum affiliation fee o f $5.
4. Educational bodies and groups affiliated to the association shall pay 5
cents per annum per member, with a minimum affiliation fee o f $5.
5. General membership.— General members shall pay not less than 50 cents
per annum.
14 T h e

Labour

G a ze tte

(C a n a d a ),

F ebruary,

1919,

142.

W ORKERS* EDUCATIO NAL ASSOCIATION

(C A N A D A ).

6.
Subscriptions m a y be received from any person in sympathy with the
objects o f the association.
L ectu rers.— Lecturers shall be appointed by the executive council and shall
be paid for their services.
Education.— The educational work o f the association shall be organized on
the basis o f :
A. Student membership.— (1 ) Lectures, (2) discussion o f lectures, (3)
essays.
B. General membership.— Special popular lectures.
All classes or lectures shall be held during the evening, or such other time
as may be deemed advisable.
Study classes.— All applications for membership in the study classes must be
sent to the secretary o f the association.
When the applicant is a member o f an affiliated union or educational group
his application shall be sent through the secretary o f his organization.

A program was arranged and tutors were chosen largely from
Toronto University. Eight classes were formed to consider the fo l
lowing subjects: Constitutional history, Canadian constitutional
history, economics, banking and public finance, the social and eco
nomic teaching o f Ruskin, political philosophy, English literature,
logic, and psychology. From the subjects chosen it is evident that
in Canada, as in England, the demand was largely for instruction
in economies, history, and political science.
The classes are conducted on the plan followed by the English
tutorial classes, each meeting once a week for two hours, which time
is divided between an inform al lecture upon the subject being con
sidered and a discussion o f it. Meetings have been held in the uni
versity and in one o f the large factories o f the city. The groups have
been small, but characterized by a lively interest in the work, as
indicated by “ animated and prolonged ” discussions.
The necessary funds fo r carrying on the work are contributed in
part by the Trades Council and affiliated trade-unions and in part
by the University o f Toronto. The university authorities entered
heartily into the project and made a grant o f $1,000 for the first
year’s expenditure.
Both men and women are admitted to the classes, the only requisite
being that they are adult workers desiring university education.
The advancement o f higher education among the working classes
is the entire platform and purpose o f the association, and while the
undertaking is still in the experimental stage the interest manifested
in the association in various parts o f the Dominion is encouraging,
and promises a more rapid development o f this attempt to educate
for citizenship in the future.

CHAP. I— EDUCATION FOR ADULT WORKERS.

W O R K E R S ’ U N IV E R S IT Y (N E W Y O R K C IT Y ).19
INTRODUCTION.

The first systematic scheme of education undertaken by organized
workmen in the United fe’tates was put in practice in 1916 by the
International Ladies’ G aLinen t Workers’ Union. So responsive
have the members of this union been to the opportunity for
continued education that up to the spring of 1919 800 of them
had either completed one or more courses or were engaged in
the study of the various subjects included in the curriculum of the
Workers’ University, as this effort in working-class education is
called.
Probably the measure of success attained by the Workers’ Uni
versity in so short a period would not have been so great were
it not for the fact that the majority o f the membership o f the Inter
national Ladies Garment Workers’ Union is concentrated in one
community—New York City. What would be for other unions a
great problem—that o f bridging the distance between groups o f
workers—is for the International Ladies Garment Workers’ Union,
therefore, no problem at all. To achieve the degree of enthusiasm
over the subject o f education that has been created by the Workers’
University movement, it would probably be necessary, in any Ameri
can community except New York or Chicago, to make the appeal to
all workers, as such, and not to the members o f a specific craft group.
HOW THE W O RKERS’ UNIVERSITY IS FINANCED.

For the payment of the current expenses of the University and
for the purpose of stimulating greater desire for education on the
part o f its members the International Ladies Garment Workers’
Union makes an annual appropriation o f $10,000. Inasmuch as
it is from the union dues that this appropriation is made the classes
and all other activities are free to members.
W ORK OF THE EDUCATIONAL DEPARTMENT.

At the time the report w~as made the university was conducting
regular and systematic w^ork by means o f unity centers in four public
schools, viz: Public School 40, 314 East Twentieth Street; Public
School 63, First Avenue and Fourth Street; Public School 54, Inter
vale Avenue and Freeman Street, Bronx; and Public School 84, at
Glenmore and Stone Avenues, Brownsville. Central classes were con
ducted in the Washington Irving High School, Sixteenth Street and
Irving Place, and in one branch of the New York Public Library.
Through such a distribution of centers for its work the university
15 Sum m arized from m a ter ia l fu rn ish ed by Mr. S eb a stian L iberty, e d u cation al director of
th e W orkers’ U n iv e r sity , 1 9 1 8 - 1 9 .

WORKERS’ UNIVERSITY

(N E W YORK C IT Y ).

aims to afford educational opportunities to the union members in the
sections nearest their homes. This use o f public-school buildings in
convenient locations might be adopted by any other community in
the country interested in the provision o f education o f this character.
The follow ing is a statement regarding the classes carried on,

1918-19, in the unity centers:
A c tiv itie s
C la s s e s :

per week.

19 classes in English; three times a week_____________________________
4 health lectures (these lectures are given by prominent physicians and
attended by audiences of from 200 to 500)______ *____________________
3 classes in literature or reading circles________________________________
3 classes in gymnastics__________________________________________________
1 moving-picture center--------------------- ------------------------------------------------ •____
3 public-speaking classes_______________________________________________
1 special class for business agents where public speaking and eco
nomics are taught_____________________________________________________

57
4
3
3
1
3
1
72

In the central classes at the Washington Irving High School
courses were offered in social interpretation of literature, evolution
and the labor movement, problems of reconstruction, sociology and
civilization, labor legislation, social problems, trade-unionism, co
operation, etc. With the exception of a few that consist of from 3
to 6 lectures, each of the above-mentioned courses comprised from
10 to 20 lectures, given weekly.
ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT 0E THE CLASSES.

The university offers to organize a class and to s<upply a tutor upon
the application of 20 or more workers. Each of the classes has a
secretary who reports each meeting to the general office on special
blanks prepared for the purpose, the items of which report include
54attendance, men and women; name of the lecturer; subject treated;
weather; remarks on special occurrences; announcements; requests
or suggestions made by students; new registrations, etc.” Absent
members are at once reminded of their nonattendance, and by means
o f this accurate attendance record a vigorous and systematic gua<rd
against absenteeism is maintained at headquarters.
NATURE OF INSTRUCTION.

An examination of the syllabus of the university discloses quite
as comprehensive and attractive a program as possible after a short
period of development. Use of a section of the New York Pub
lic Library, Epiphany Branch, in East Twenty-third Street, has been
obtained for Friday, between 3 and 6 p. m., for classes for business

CHAP. I— EDUCATION FOE ADULT WORKERS-.

agents o f the unioh. The subjects taught are advanced English,
public speaking, and economics. It is the purpose in this particular
work to develop the leadership of each business agent to the highest
possible degree.
In all classes and branches of the work English is taught by
school-teachers regularly employed by the board of education and
paid extra for night work. The educational department has stressed
the importance o f students being able to read, write, and speak Eng
lish before any other study is undertaken, with the result that the
English classes register a larger attendance than any other except
those in health and hygiene. And this number will undoubtedly be
greatly augmented, since by a recent ruling of the board of education
only English may be spoken in the schools. For lectures given in
other languages private halls must be used. The importance of essay
writing by students has not, however, been emphasized as it has been
in the tutorial classes in England, students in the Workers’ Uni
versity classes being required to write essays in the study of only
two subjects—advanced English and public speaking.
The teaching of English is not confined to members of the union.
Day classes have been formed in order that the wives of members
may also have the opportunity of acquiring familiarity with the
language. These classes are held in schools, union headquarters,
and wherever a building can be obtained for them. Much attention
is also paid to the car§, of the health, and gymnasium classes are an
important feature of the work at the various centers.
TEACHERS.

The teachers, with the exception of those furnished by the board
o f education, are associated as professors or instructors with the uni
versities and colleges in and about New York City, and several of
them are men o f national reputation in educational and labor matters.
METHODS FOR INCREASING THE MEMBERSHIP OF CLASSES.

In a variety o f ways the educational department is pressing for
increased attendance upon present classes and for memberships for
new ones. Speakers visit meetings of local branches of the union to
arouse interest in the movement. Circular letters go frequently to
individual members urging them to investigate for themselves the
advantages of attendance at classes, Posters are placed in branch
headquarters and in other places frequented by workers announcing
particular features of the university work, and the labor and the
JEoreign-language press are also employed in the general effort to

WORKERS* UNIVERSITY

(N E W YORK C IT Y ).

stimulate to the point of activity a desire for knowledge by the
workers.
OTHER ACTIVITIES OF THE EDUCATIONAL DEPARTMENT.

Through arrangements with managers of leading local theaters the
educational department issues passes to the members of the union,
thus enabling them to see good plays at a minimum price, which is
sometimes as low as 20 cents for a dollar ticket. Discussions and lec
tures on the plays are arranged either before or after their presenta
tion. The reduction in price, the department believes, is of minor
importance compared with the opportunity for discussion of the
relative merits of the different plays afforded the various groups who
are able to attend them.
An extension educational service is maintained through which any
local may secure the introduction of desired educational activities.
These usually take the form of lectures on topics of special interest
to the workers, as trade-unionism, history of the labor movement, in
dustrial democracy, political action, piece and time work, shorter
workday, etc. The lectures, which, with a short musical program,,
are usually given at the regular business meetings, help “ to increase
the attendance at the meetings, stimulate interest among the members,
establish a friendly spirit, and strengthen the organization.”
LIBRARY FACILITIES.

Libraries and reading rooms under the charge o f librarians are now
helpful features o f several local headquarters, and plans are in prog
ress to furnish similar facilities at all local meeting places. Workers
will thus be able to secure daily papers in various languages, as well
as magazines and books dealing with labor and other subjects, and
will in addition have places where they may rest and read in comfort
able surroundings. In connection with this scheme a general refer
ence department will be inaugurated to provide any desired infor
mation.
SELF-GOVERNING* GROUPS.

Some of the members maintain their own educational work. The
girls of one local have leased a house, known as Unity House, where
u they have room, board, a library, and social rooms.”
The director
points out that such an arrangement “ not only secures them the
proper [surroundings] and comforts at a low cost,, but also brings
together a social group * * * and [develops] a sense of comrade
ship.” A cooperative grocery is managed by another local. In all
these lines o f work the educational department of the International
Ladies’ Garment Workers* Union is stimulating interest and assist
ing in more material ways when necessary.

CHAP. I— EDUCATION FOR ADULT WORKERS.

STATISTICS OF ACTIVITIES.

Table 4, giving statistics regarding the work o f the winter o f
1918-19, refers only to the systematic and academic instruction and
to the regular courses given at unity centers and in central classes.
T able

4 .—CLASSIFIED LIST OF ACTIVITIES O F THE W O R K ER S’ U N IV E R SIT Y ,
YORK, D U R IN G THE SEASON E N D IN G A PR IL, 1919.

Subject.

Number Number
ses
of courses. of
sions.
4
5

Health and hygiene.........................................................................
Literature and drama.......................................................... ...........
Sociology...........................................................................................
Evolution..........................................................................................
History and biography....................................................................
Cooperation............... ......................................................................
Labor legislation........................ .....................................................
Public speaking................................................................................
Economics.........................................................................................
Mi 3cellaneous....................................................................................
Organization.....................................................................................
A rt.....................................................................................................
Science (visits to museum s)............................................................
Gymnastics.......................................................................................
En rlish..............................................................................................
Concerts and dances.........................................................................
Motion-picture shows.......................................................................
T .eater..............................................................................................
Metropolitan Opera (reduced rate tickets furnished by u s ).......

1
3
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
3
19
1
1
1
1

T otal........................................................................................

NEW

Average
Aggre
attend gate at
ance.
tendance*

70
68
21
20
13
9
3
30
5
5
12
6
2
50
354
12
7

200
60
200
30
35
60
20
27
28
100
50
75
75
50
30
900
400

687

2,340

14,000’
4 ,0 ^0
4,200
600
455
54a
60
810
140500
600
450
150
2,500
10,620
10,800
2,800
1,500
200
55,055

There were connected with the educational work of the university,
for the season ending April, 1919, 44 lecturers, 19 teachers, 88 enter
tainers, 10 volunteers, 10 members o f the staff (supervisors of unity
centers), and 4 office workers, making a total o f 175.
In addition to the local work which the union does to stimulate
educational activity, letters, circulars, and literature in connection
with the New York movement are sent to each local of the Inter
national Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union in the United States
and Canada urging the introduction of educational activities and
offering such services as the New York organization can render.
In Philadelphia a beginning has been made with eight classes in
English of two periods each, conducted by four teachers; a class in
literature and one in economics; a chorus and an orchestra.
U N IT E D L A B O R E D U C A T IO N C O M M IT T E E .

Another significant working-class movement in New York City is
the recently established United Labor Education Committee, which
may be said to have developed from the weaknesses of the educa
tional efforts of individual trade-unions, or rather because of them.
Experimental attempts at providing their members with systematic
classes in economics and social as well as other subjects had been
made by a number o f the unions of the city, but, for various reasons,

UNITED. LABOR EDUCATION COMMITTEE.

not with the same success as attended those of the International
Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union. The results in many instances
were so disappointing and the attendance upon classes so small that
it was finally decided to federate trade union bodies for educational
purposes, and the United Labor Education Committee16 was formed.
This committee in 1919 consisted of about 100 men and women from
the fields o f arts and sciences, with Prof. Charles A. Beard, chairman.
ORGANIZATION.

The executive board o f the committee is made up of representatives
o f the affiliated unions. And in each affiliated union a special com
mittee is delegated to cooperate with the general office o f the United
Labor Education Committee in the arrangement of educational activ
ities for the respective organizations and in the promotion o f general
educational facilities.
The finances are met by contributions from the affiliated labor
organizations, the amount for each organization being based upon its
membership and financial condition.
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM.

It is the aim of the committee to give the worker the fundamentals
o f science and the best in art. Its educational program therefore
covers both the field of science and the field o f art and is conducted
so as to embody recreational as well as educational features. In gen
eral it comprises lectures, classes for officers, classes for the general
membership, concerts, the theater, and opera. To the classes for
officers courses in elementary economics, modern history, including
the history o f the labor movement, methods and purposes o f indus
trial control, and current topics, are offered. The classes which meet
once or twice a week in a two-hour session consist o f a lecture fol
lowed by discussion. Classes for the general membership are o f the
character o f the British tutorial classes. They are formed at the
request of groups of 25 or more persons and are held in districts con
venient to the workers making the request. Each course consists of
10 weekly lectures. The subjects include English and literature,
civics, elementary economics and sociology, history of the labor
movement, and elements o f biology.
The section on the drama aims eventually to provide a theater for
the people, giving productions of modern art at reasonable rates,
while the section on music, in addition to making the best music
available to the membership through arrangements for low rates o f
16 B ud ish , J. M . : T he U n ited Labor E d u cation C om m ittee, Ship B u ild er s’ N ew s, Sept.
1 9 1 9 , pp. 1 0 - 1 2 .

CHAP. I---- EDUCATION FOR ADULT WORKERS.

admission to symphony concerts, plans to provide series o f concerts
and lectures on music which will develop an understanding of music
in general.
It is the aim o f the committee to ultimately become “ the nucleus
out of which the educational branch of the labor movement will
grow.”
B O S T O N T R A D E -U N IO N C O L L E G E .17
O R G A N IZ A T IO N .

The Boston Trade-Union College was organized March 16, 1919,
with the avowed purpose of making “ accessible to workingmen and
working women the study of subjects which will further the progress
of organized labor.” It took for its leading principle the idea that
“ education must not stifle thought and inquiry, but must awTaken the
mind concerning the application of natural laws and to a conception
o f independence and progress.” The college was voted into existence
by the Boston Central Labor Union, which took this action after a
long and apparently futile advocacy of the establishment o f a State
university where all classes o f citizens could obtain advantages now
to be had only in privately managed universities.
ADMINISTRATION.

The college was founded upon a democratic basis, the com
mittee in charge consisting of 11 trade-unionists and 5 instructors.
The latter, declaring for the right o f academic freedom, “ assert that
the function of the instruction in the college is educational and
nothing beyond that.” Each section of the joint committee is re
sponsible to the body by whom it was appointed and to the central
labor union, before which, at open meetings, appeals may be made.
Comfortable, well-equipped quarters were furnished by the Bos
ton school board in one o f the city high-school buildings. The
classes, like those conducted by the Workers’ Educational Associa
tion, meet once a week for two hours. A fee o f $2.50 is charged
for each course. The membership is limited to men and women be
longing to trades unions affiliated with the American Federation of
Labor, about 150 o f whom enrolled for the w7ork in the spring term
o f 1919.
17
The Boston Trade Union College, by W illiam L. Stoddard.
pp. 298-300.

The Nation, Aug. 30, 191£,

BOSTON TRADE-UNION COLLEGE.

COURSES, 1919-20.

The following is an announcement o f the courses o f the Boston
Trade-Union College for 1919-20.
F all

T e r m — O ctober to

D ecem ber.

1. English composition. Sentence and paragraph planning and writing.
2. Practice in discussion. Good form in public speaking.
3. Literature. Masterpieces of the literatures of different nations.
4. Philosophy. The philosophy of the State; the rights of property and labor.
5. History and government. The American Revolution, the Constitution, and
Jeffersonian democracy.
6. Law. Constitutional law. Structure of National and State Governments.
7. Economics. Production and exchange of wealth.
8. Labor. Trade unions: Their origin, growth, and present program.
9. Physical science. The principles of mechanics.
W in t e r

T erm — Jan u ary

M arch.

1. English composition.
Writing of business letters, with emphasis on
the sales letter.
2. Practice in discussion.
Analysis of discussion topics; preparation of
outlines; short speeches.
3. Literature. Greek civilization: Democracy and literature in fifth century
Athens.
4. Philosophy. Ethics: Moral problems involved in politics and industry.
5. History and government.
Theory and practice of democracy in the
modern state.
6. Law. How law courts work.
7. Economies. Distribution and consumption o f wealth.
8. Labor. History of the changes in status of laborers in America.
9. Physical science. Elementary chemistry.
S p r in g

T e r m — A p r il

June.

1. English composition. Essay writing based on models from literature
and current periodicals.
2. Practice in discussion. Speaking on current problems in the labor move
ment.
3. Literature. Landmarks of modern literature.
4. Philosophy. Three American philosophers: Royce, Janies, Dewey.
5. History and government. To be announced later.
6. Law. Labor legislation.
7. Economics. The cooperative movement.
S. Labor.
Collective bargaining through shop committees and joint in
dustrial councils.
9. Physical science.

Food chemistry (elementary chemistry prerequisite).

The registration for these courses naturally varied, English hav
ing the largest. Next came law, government, and science, with
economics and labor organization having the lowest. This order is

CHAP. I— EDUCATION FOR ADULT WORKERS.

in direct contrast to that found in the English tutorial classes, in
which economics usually leads in the number registered.
FORECAST.

Like the effort to establish tutorial classes in Canada, this attempt
on the part o f the Boston Central Labor Union to provide higher
education fo r the adult workers o f Boston is an experiment which is
still on trial. The idea, the methods, subjects, instructions, and
students are all on trial, and in writing o f it Mr. Stoddard says: 18
W hether out o f the college thus begun w ill grow an institution which can
eventually take rank in size anti standing with other educational institutions
in Massachusetts and the United States, it is too early to say. It has set out
well. Its student body is o f the stuff that good colleges are made of— sober,
eager, liberal-minded men and women. It is a college with a definite aim—
labor organization—an aim which to-day is becoming less dreaded and more
and more useful to the community. It is a college which affords an object
lesson in self-determination and democratic government. And it is a type o f
college w7hich, by the very fact o f its origin in a central labor body, is easily
capable o f being duplicated in a hundred or a thousand other cities.

TRADE-UNION COLLEGE OF WASHINGTON, D. C.
ORGANIZATION.

In May, 1919, a group of about 25 men and 3 women met to dis- 1
cuss the advisability of trying to inaugurate some form of college
instruction for the workers of the city of Washington. The group
consisted of representatives of several labor organizations, one
university professor, one newspaper man, and one or two others.
\
The work of the Workers’ Educational Association was outlined,
and a discussion of its adaptability to American institutions, which
followed, displayed an unusual freedom of expression and a real in
terest in the subject. An executive committee was appointed to place
the matter before the various labor organizations for their indorse
ment before further steps he taken. At a resumed meeting held in
June, it was decided to institute a lecture course for the summer
and to organize classes in the fall based upon the plan of the Boston
College. The following series of lectures was given:
“ W hat every citizen ought to know,” by Basil M. Manly, o f the
National W ar Labor Board.
“ W ar, peace, and the high cost o f living,” by W illiam B. Colver,
o f the Federal Trade Commission.
“ H ow shall we pay for the w ar?” by Louis F. Post,.Assistant
Secretary o f the Department o f Labor.
18
T he B o sto n T rade U n io n College, by W illia m L. Stoddard.
pp. 2 9 8 - 3 0 0 .

T he N ation , A ug. 3 0 , 1 9 1 9 ,

TRADE-UNION COLLEGE OF W ASH INGTON, D. C.

‘ Railroads and the Government,” by Glenn E. Plumb, attorney
for the four railroad brotherhoods.
“ The Non-Partisan League: Its history and purpose,” by Hon.
John M. Baer, Congressman from North D iio ta .
“ The new army o f democracy,” by John J. Lenney, ex-soldier and
mill worker.
“ The initiative, referendum, and recall,” by Judson King.
A committee consisting o f nine members, seven o f whom were rep
resentatives o f organized labor and two university men, drafted the
constitution, which follows in fu ll:
CONSTITUTION.
I .---- N A M E AND OBJECT.

1. This organization shall be known as the Trade Union College o f Wash
ington, D. C.
2. The object o f the college shall be to provide educational opportunities
for those who work fo r a livelihood, by establishing lecture and study courses
or by such other methods as may seem practicable.
I I .— MEM BERSHIP

AND

FEE.

1. Active membership shall be confined to local unions which are, either
directly or through a national or international union, affiliated with the
American Federation o f Labor.
2. The membership fee for local unions shall be $10 per year, payable semi
annually.
3. Each local union which is a member o f the organization shall be repre
sented by two delegates to be elected by the membership.
4. Associate members o f the college may be elected by a m ajority vote of.
the college or o f the directors.
5. Associates shall pay an annual membership fee o f $1, and they shall be
allowed to speak but not to vote at the general meetings o f the college.
I I I.---- OFFICERS AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS.

1. The officers o f the college, who shall be elected annually at the October
meeting, shall consist o f a president, a vice president, a secretary, and a
treasurer, all o f whom shall be members o f affiliated local unions.
2. There shall be a board o f directors which shall consist o f 13 members,
comprising the officers o f the college, 7 members elected by the college at the
October meeting, and 2 members elected by the instructors o f the college.
3. At the first election the 7 members o f the board elected by the college
shall be divided into three classes o f 3 and 2 members each, who shall
serve for one, two, and three years, respectively. A s their terms expire,
their successors shall be elected for terms o f three years each. Not more
than 1 member o f each o f these classes may be an associate member o f the
college.
4. The instructors shall elect 2 members o f the board from their own
number to serve one year, at a meeting to be held not less than one week
before the opening o f the college.

CHAP. I— EDUCATION FOR ADULT WORKERS.

5.
The board o f directors shall exercise control o f the work carried on by
the college, and it shall submit a full report to the college at each semi
annual meeting.
IV.— MEETINGS.

1.
Semiannual meetings o f the college shall be held on the first Tuesday in
October and April o f each year.

The constitution was adopted August 12 by delegates from the
various local unions and since that time 19 of these locals have
affiliated with the movement, and 6 have elected their delegates to
the college in accordance with the provision in the constitution for
such representation. Among the unions thus affiliated are the Wash
ington branch of the Women’s Trade Union League, the central
labor union, metal trades council, and building trades council. The
problem of quarters in which to hold these classes was solved by the
members of the Federal Employees’ Local No. 2, who volunteered the
use of their rooms.
COURSES.

The classes are of two hours’ duration, one hour being devoted
to the lecture, and one hour given to discussion of the subject. The
fee for each course is $2.50 for the fall and winter term of 10 weeks
beginning November 10. The following is a preliminary announce
ment of the schedule for the fall and winter term, 1919-1920:
English.— H ow to write and speak correctly. Theory and practice o f com
position and argumentation. Public speaking.
Industrial hygiene, sanitation, and safety.— Proper working conditions and
facilities. Prevention of occupational diseases and accidents. Hours o f labor—
fatigue.
Modern literature.— Modern literature as it reflects the currents o f thought
and motives which underlie the present day movements o f society. Reading and
discussion f essays, novels, poetry, and the drama.
Law.— A course in the relation o f the trade-union movement to the law, in
cluding a discussion o f taxation and the workings and effect o f the initiative
and referendum.
Law.— The history and system o f the common law. Introduction to Ameri
can law.
Industrial developm ent.— The growth o f industries and their effect on society.
Economics.— A brief review o f the principles underlying production and ex
change o f wealth. The relation o f wages and cost o f living. A study o f a
typical large industry.
Political science.— A course in comparative governments. Types o f democ
racy ; their growth and development.
H istory o f the labor movement.— History o f the growth and development o f
the labor movement, both European and American.
Current labor questions.— The labor contract; workmen’s com pensation; in
dustrial housin g; types o f labor organization; workers' edu ca tion ; labor statis
tics ; cooperative m ovem ents; minimum wage.

CHAPTER

II.— EDUCATION FOR PROSPECTIVE
LEADERS.

LABOR

RUSKIN COLLEGE, OXFORD.
AIM AND GENERAL ADMINISTRATION.

The advent of war in 1914 put a temporary end to the activities
of Ruskin College, Oxford, the first residential college for workingclass students in England. It was founded 18 years ago by Mr. and
Mrs. Walter Vrooman, two Americans, and another American^ Prof.
Charles A. Beard, formerly of Columbia University, was also in
cluded among the group of enthusiastic workers in the Ruskin move
ment whose early devotion to the cause of working-class education
is undoubtedly responsible for the continued existence of the college
and its steady progress to its present high place among educational
•institutions.
The aim of the founders of Ruskin College was to establish an in
stitution where workers endeavoring to elevate their class and not to
rise out of it might obtain an education in the social sciences of most
value to the growing democratic working-class movement* “ un
trammeled by the conventional outlook of any one school of thought
or section or party.” It is described by its officials as a “ school of
citizenship and public administration for workingmen, endeavoring
to create in each student a feeling that the education which he
receives is not a means of personal advancement but a trust for the
good of others. The hope of the institution that each man, by rais
ing himself, may help to raise, by influence and precept, the whole
class to which he belongs has been amply fulfilled.
The provisions for residential education at Ruskin College are
intended for workingmen who show special promise and who are
likely to be called upon by their fellow workers to take up positions in
which wise leadership is required; by this means they are enabled to
come to Oxford and study the problems they may have to solve.
By means of a correspondence course, the college reaches a great
number of workers who can not take residence at Oxford, but who,
nevertheless, are interested in the problems of the time and who seek
a wider outlook upon life than has been afforded them by the educa
tion they have been able to secure.

CHAP. II---- EDUCATION FOR PROSPECTIVE LABOR LEADERS.

The follow ing excerpt from the college prospectus gives in detail
the government management and methods o f financing the college: 1
The Ruskin College policy of undertaking purely educational and not propa
gandist work has been maintained to the present day. The colleg£ has no
endowments, and is supported mainly by trade-unions, cooperative societies,
the W orking Men’ s Club and Institute Union, and other working-class organi
zations, and partly by individual subscribers. More than 100 working-class
bodies contribute to the funds, either by providing scholarships or by making
donations toward the maintenance o f the college.
The governing body is the council, which consists of representatives o f work
ing-class associations. Members o f the council are directly appointed by each
society providing scholarships, and the interests o f the numerous societies
which subscribe, to the funds o f the college but can not be directly represented
are in the hands o f members appointed by national bodies— two each by
the parliamentary committee of the Trades Union Congress, the management
committee o f the General Federation o f Trade Unions, the Cooperative Union,
and the W orking Men’s Club and Institute Union. By a provision o f the con
stitution approved at a conference held in 1909 o f working-class associations
affiliated to the college, the council thus formed appoints three additional
members for consultative purposes only. The Right Hon. C. W. Bowerman,
M. P., is the present chairman o f the council.
The m ajority o f the students come to the college by means o f scholarships
provided by the various working-class organizations, usually for a period o f
one or two years. The average number in residence during the three or fo u r'
years previous to the war was 34, but 50 can be com fortably housed. Wellequipped and up-to-date new buildings were opened in 1913, which include a
lecture hall capable o f seating 250 persons, the principal’s residence, and ex
cellent accommodations for the students.
The aim o f the college is to provide a thoroughly broad education in eco
nomics, history, local government, cooperation, and trade-unionism. English
literature and French and German are also studied. During the 18 years o f its
existence some 500 working men have undertaken residential courses, many
o f whom are now active officials o f trade-unions, trade councils, working men’s
clubs, and cooperative societies, or taking part in local government as members
o f county or town councils. During the past few years the scheme o f studies
has been coordinated and much improved.
Before the war the permanent staff consisted o f a principal, vice principal, a
senior tutor, an assistant tutor, and the secretary. These were assisted by
visiting lecturers for the teaching o f special subjects, such as law relating to
trade-unions and English literature. There was also a correspondence depart
ment, teaching by correspondence, having since the foundation o f the college
been an important and very popular feature; more than 10,000 students have
taken one or more o f the courses o f study provided. The low fees— Is. [$0.24]
entrance fee and Is. [$0.24] per month during each course— place these courses
within easy reach o f any working man or woman. When w ar broke out the
council considered it advisable to suspend residential work, owing to the de
mand for young men for service in the forces and in the mines and workshops,
but the correspondence department is, however, still being carried on success
fully.
‘
*

Now that the war is over, Ruskin College will go forward accord
ing to its original program, under the direction o f E. Sanderson Fur1W. E. A. Education Yearbook, 1918, London, 1918, pp. 388, 389.

RUSKIN COLLEGE, OXFORD.

ness, its principal. Numerous trade-unions and cooperative societies
have made levies upon their respective memberships to help the work
o f the college, notable instances being the Amalgamated Society o f
Engineers, the Amalgamated Society o f Railway Servants, the Steel
Smelters and Tinplate W orkers’ Association, the Northern Counties
Amalgamated Associations o f Weavers, the Yorkshire Miners’ Asso
ciation, the West R iding County Council, the Scottish Cooperative
Wholesale Society. It is held by the Ruskin College authorities that
the voluntary taxing o f themselves by such organizations as these
above enumerated indicates a belief on the part o f the organized
working class that the educated-mind w ill serve them better than
undisciplined enthusiasm.
PROGRAM OP LECTURES AND CLASSES IN 1913.2
A.— G e n e r a l S u b j e c t s .
The normal curriculum consists in the main o f courses of instruction in
sociology or social science. The courses are so arranged as (a ) to form con
nected parts o f the study o f society or social life as a w hole; (&) to guide
students in acquiring the knowledge which is essential to intelligent and
effective citizenship.
The subjects fall under the follow ing grou ps:
I. Outlines o f the general theory o f society, with special reference to—
(a ) The nature and conditions o f social evolution, in connection with which
a few lectures w ill also be delivered on general evolution.
(&) The comparative study of social institutions and ideas.
(T w o lectu res or c la sse s a w eek .)

II. The elements o f political science, with special reference to—
(a ) The analysis o f the general conception underlying political society.
(&) The history o f political ideas.
(c ) Modern problems o f political and social ethics.
(O ne or tw o lectu res or cla sse s a w eek du rin g part o f th e year.)

III. The elements o f economics— historical (ou tlin e), theoretical, and de
scriptive— with special reference to—
(a ) The history o f economic and industrial movements.
(&) Contemporary conditions and problems.
(T w o lectu res or c la sse s a w eek.)

IV. The outlines o f English political and constitutional history, with spe
cial reference to—
(a ) Existing political institutions within the British Empire.
(&) Modern problems o f politics and administration (mainly as affecting the
United Kingdom, with its colonies and dependencies).
(T w o lectu res or c la sse s a w eek .)

V. The outlines o f local government and administration, with special refer
ence to—
(a ) Recent developments.
(&) Modern problems.
(O ne lec tu r e or c la ss a w eek during p a rt o f th e y ea r.)
•P r o sp e c tu s o f R uskin C ollege [ 1 9 1 3 ] , Oxford.

147319°— 20------ 4

C H A P. II— EDUCATION FOR PROSPECTIVE LABOR LEADERS.

B.— SUPPLEMENTARY SUBJECTS.
.

In addition to the main curriculum, lectures and classes are arranged in
subjects subsidiary to the general scheme o f education, but o f a
directly
practical character.
I. Logic and rhetoric, including composition and grammar.
(T w o lectu res or c la sse s a w eek du rin g p a rt o f th e y ea r.)

All students must attend classes in grammar till they are proficient.
II. Bookkeeping and accountancy, with special reference to local authorities,
trade-unions, cooperative and friendly societies, etc.
(O ne lectu re or c la ss a w eek du rin g p a rt o f th e y ear.)

III. Arithmetic.
(O ne lectu re or c la ss a w eek a s required.)

CENTRAL LABOR COLLEGE.
ORGANIZATION, POLICY, AND NATURE OF W ORK.

In 1909 there was a 44strike ” of teachers and students at Ruskin
College. The principal of the college, Dr. Dennis Hird, was dis
missed during a controversy between the governing body and staff
of the university and a society that had been formed within the
college over the materialistic philosophy of Dr. Hird. The society
within the college was known at the time as the 44Plebs League.”
It arranged classes of its own, quite outside the official college pro
gram. Members of the 44league ” asserted that they were compelled
to listen to teachings flatly contradicting the basic principles of the
]abor movement, while the governing body of the university held
that the disaffected students sought to use the college for purposes
subversive of its ideals. Dr. Hird took his position with the 44plebs ”
students, and there was little concealment by the governing body of
the fact that it considered his kind of teaching productive only of
cjmical enemies of the existing order. The college authorities, ad
mitting that their business was the preparation of men to work in
the labor movement, nevertheless held that the study of the social
sciences should be tempered by a broad general education and a
spirit of toleration. The 44plebs,” on the other hand, insisted upon a
thorough grounding in the economic principles enunciated by Karl
Marx and for education calculated to develop class consciousness
with a view to the social revolution and the overthrow of the capital
ist regime. The result of the controversy was the establishment of
the Central Labor College, with Dr. Hird as its principal and seces
sionists from Buskin College as its students.
v During the war residential college activities, like those of Ruskin
College, were temporarily discontinued, although its building was the
headquarters for a correspondence school on Marxian economics and
the working class conception of industrial history. An authorized

CBNTKM, LABOR COLLEGE.

description o f the Central Labor College policy and its work, issued
by the college board to a committee o f the Trades Union C o n g r e s s
011
July 27,19*14, follow s:
In these days o f eomfeiim.tion on a large scale o f both employers and w ork
men, w ith the national and international significance o f their osperations, a
study o f the industrial conditions which form the basis and framework o f
their movements is. essential. These studies comprise what are called social
sciences— that is, economics, history, sociology, and philosophic logic.
In a study o f these are found (as in trade-unionism and politics) convict
ing interfceta tions. One interprets industrial operations in a light favorable
to capital; another teaches the identity o f interests o f capital and la bor;
and another views the questions in a light favorable to labor. This* is the
state o f things that confronts the young generation o f the labor movement,
The founders o f the college, being convinced by study and experience, that the
labor interpretation o f social science is the correct one, established the Cen
tral Labor College with the sole object o f teaching this view to. students from
the trade-unions,. and o f examining all other interpretations in the light o f
this knowledge. In other w ords what the trade-unions do w ith regard to
industrial combination, what the political organizations o f labor do with
regard to politics, that the Central Labor College does with regard to workingclass education in social scien ce; that is, to so operate as to secure the utmost
advantage to the labor interests. It aims not so much at culture or at indi
vidual advantage, but at the knowledge necessary for the improvement o f
the whole o f the working d a as. It seeks to equip the trade-unionist with the
weapon o f knowledge in the chief sphere o f his life’ s activities,
The carrying on o f the work o f the labor organizations demands nowadays
not only a knowledge o f local industrial conditions, but also a clear under
standing o f the social relations which determine the particular class position
and activities o f the employers and tho w orkers and the forces which a re
operating constantly and forcefu lly to change them. It means that an active'
trade-unionist can only effectively and economically influence the progressive
development o f his union, and the movement generally, by obtaining an un
derstanding o f the national and international movements o f labor and. cap ital;
o f the conditions o f the labor market and trade generally; and o f the possi
bilities o f promoting and, influencing legislation in the interests o f the organ
ized working class. The aim o f the college is an education which w ill help toelimiuate the present sectional and local narrow ness o f ou tlook ; to coordinate
the sectional and local activities o f the labor organizations with the larger
movements and interests o f the workers.
The college was established in O xford in 1909. The first trade-union to sup
port the college w^ns the Monmouth Western Valley districts o f the South
W ales Miners’ Federation. The members o f that district levied themselves a
penny per member to assist in the equipment o f the institution and provided
the first scholarship and the firsl trade-union representative o f the manage
ment in the person o f Mr. George Barker, their agent. Other districts o f the
South W ales Miners’ Federation quickly follow ed this lead, notably the
Rhondda Nos. 1 and 2, and the anthracite district, by sending students: at
present the Central Labor College is the only educational institution supported
by the South W ales miners.
Members o f the old Amalgamated Society o f R ailw ay Servants advocated
the claims o f the college with great success, and the Amalgamated Society o f

C H A P . II— EDUCATION FOB PROSPECTIVE LABOR LEADERS.

Railw ay Servants established scholarships at the college. Since the fusion o f
forces in the railway world, resulting in the form ation o f the National Union
o f Railwaymen, additional support has been provided, and as a tribute to the
work o f the college the railwaym en’s annual general meeting, recently held
at Swansea, decided to increase the number o f the union scholarships from
two to six and further resolved to approach the South W ales Miners’ Federa
tion with a view to cooperating for the purpose o f removing certain financial
difficulties besetting the college. Happily, success crowned their efforts, and
the outcome o f the National Union o f Railwaymen and the South Wales;
miners’ join t action is that the continuance o f the w ork o f the college is
now definitely assured. From time to time students from other unions have
held scholarships and the board o f management have had many indications
that the work o f the college is gradually being recognized by the labor move
ment. In the development o f the college work many difficulties, internal and
external, have been experienced, but these have been almost entirely due to
financial embarrassment. Side by side with the development o f the work in
the college has grown up a system o f provincial classes with an aggregate
membership approxim ating 1,000. The work also led to the establishment o f
a new activity. Some districts desiring lectures on subjects taught by the
college but unable to entirely maintain a lecturer, caused the college to estab
lish a system o f lecturer-by-post in industrial history, and successful classes
have been held at the follow ing places: Shrewsbury, Wolverhampton, Carlisler
Wellington, Hull, Brighton, Barrow, and other centers.
Another special
feature o f work, combining all the outside educational schemes, is now being^
carried on under the auspices o f the Rhymey Valley District, South W ales
Miners’ Federation.
The correspondence department also caters for a considerable number o f
students and the results are distinctly gratifying. It w ill therefore be realized
that the college cares not only for resident students but for 2,000 workers in
the different industrial cenjters. * * *
CONTROL AND MANAGEMENT.
The supreme control is vested in the board, membership o f which is limited
to labor organizations, which are eligible for affiliation to the labor party r
establishing scholarships at the college. At present the board consists o f fou r
representatives o f the South W ales miners and two from National Union o f
Railwaymen. The board meets every three months. Between board meetings
the college is administered by the staff committee, which comprises the offi
cials and lecturers appointed by the board.
The students in residence do part o f the housework o f the college, and this
part o f the work is usually controlled by them through what is known as the
house meeting. * * *

Since 1914 the South Wales Miners’ Federation and the National
Union of Railwaymen have definitely assumed financial responsi
bility for the Central Labor College and, now that the war is over,,
the institution may be expected to be diverted into a college for the
development of organizers, propagandists, and leaders for these
movements—if, indeed, other unions do not, as they seem likely to,
enlist in the movement and contribute to an enlargement of both the.
personnel and the influence of the college.

CENTRAL LABOR COLLEGE.

53:

U p to tliis time the Central Labor College has been frankly a
Marxian socialist institution. It is definitely allied with the Plebs
League, now a national organization, whose motto is “ I can promise
to be candid, but not impartial.” Follow ing is the prospectus o f the
Central Labor College, issued just prior to the war:
PREAM BLE.
The Central Labor College is based upon a recognition o f the antagonism o f
interest existing between capital and labor.
The Central Labor College recognizes that this antagonism translates itself
into an opposition o f ideas between the owners o f capital and those who own
nothing but the power to labor.
The Central Labor College seeks to make the working class conscious o f this
antagonism for the purpose o f removing it.
The Central Labor College sets out to accomplish this through the teaching
of social science from the point o f view of labor, at the same time making
a critical investigation of theories drawn from the- point o f view o f capital.
The Central Labor College, existing as it does solely for the working class,
is solely controlled by working-class represent fives.
The Central Labor College believes in the independence o f labor— indus
trially, politically, and educationally.
The Central Labor College trains men and women for the industrial, political,
and social work o f the organized labor movement.
The college does not represent any particular party within the labor and
socialist movement. The training it gives is solely concerned with an investi
gation into the principles that determine social evolution— w ith %
the application
o f those principles in any particular way the college is not concerned.
O RG ANIZATIO N
I .

TH E COLLEGE.

CONTROL.

FFrom th e co n stitu tio n o f th e college.]

I.— It shall be governed by a board o f directors composed o f directly elected
representatives o f trade-unions, cooperative societies, and socialist organiza
tions.
II.— (a ) Each labor organization providing a scholarship or scholarships
shall elect a representative or representatives on the board. ( b ) Wherever pos
sible, the representative or representatives shall be elected or reelected an
nually.
III.— An annual meeting o f delegates from contributing organizations and
subscribers shall be held during the first week in August at the college, to
*receive the annual balance sheet and report o f the board.
I I .— TUITION.

A .— Residential classes.
The course o f instruction for the year begins in the middle of September,
but students may enter at any time for a period o f not less than a month.
Each student is expected to work two hours a day at cleaning, etc.’, and to
take his turn as delegate. Each student must send a medical certificate o f

C H A P. II— EDUCATION FOR PROSPECTIVE LABOR LEADERS.

health and fitness. There are no examinations or creed tests o f any kind,
Students are expected to fix the period o f their reside»ce on admission, or at
least to give a month’s notice before leaving.
Some o f the subjects taught are:
Sociology.— The science o f the origin and growth o f societies. It shows
how men came to live in groups and deals with the laws o f development in
groups, i. e., communities.
Evolution.— The science o f the unfolding or development o f all form s known
to man. Organic evolution traces the history o f man through the lower ani
mals and show s how he came from the smallest living things in the sea.
Logic.— This has nothing to do with philosophic logic. This logic is known
as form al logic. It teaches the science and art o f reasoning, to help us to
express ourselves clearly without fallacies and also to detect the fallacies in
the reasoning o f others. W e teach it as an aid to the correct expression o f
thought.
The theory of understanding.— This is sometimes spoken o f as: philosophic
logic. It deals with the constitution o f the faculty o f thinking. W e teach
it as an aid to positive understanding in contradistinction to speculation. The
course includes an application o f the theory o f understanding to morality.
Grammar and rhetoric.—-The art o f composition, style, and oratory. In
other words, they give rules for writing essays and making speeches. Just
as logic is the art o f correctness, rhetoric and grammar are arts o f expres
sion— they should always be together.
Econom ies.— The analysis o f the capitalist mode o f production in relation
to other modes. The wealth o f capitalist society consists o f commodities.
Commodities are useful things produced for exchange. Form er social systems
were based on the production of useful th in gs; exchange wTas only an incident.
It is the work o f the economist to explain the process by which the value o f
commodities is 'determined. The subject is taught from the Marxian point o f
view. Economics from the orthodox point o f view is also studied.
H istory.— Industrial, political, and general.
B.— The correspondence department.
This department offers the follow ing subjects for study: (1 ) Grammar,
analysis; and com position; (2 ) log ic; (3 ) industrial h istory ; (4 ) English litera
ture; (5) economics (M arxian) ; (6 ) evolution. Other subjects w ill be an
nounced from time to time.
.
,
The entrance fee to be paid by a student on joining the correspondence de
partment is Is. [$0.24]. The fee for the correction o f each essay or, in the
case o f grammar and logic, each set o f exercises is Is. [$0.24] a month.
Application wTith respect to the correspondence department must be made to
A. J. Hacking, M. A., Central Labor College.
C.— Lecture classes*
The college also caters for local tutorial classes in some o f the subjects taught
at the college. The college is not yet able to organize these classes directly,
but it provides assistance to workers willing to undertake this w ork in the
shape o f advice and guidance in arranging preliminaries and drawing up sylla
buses for' the classes. These classes must be quite self-supporting so far as
finance is .concerned; that is, they m ust pay the lecturer, provide meeting house,
meet cost o f printing, and meet all other necessary expenditure. The classes

C E jS T R A L L A M )E C O L L E G E

usually extend over a p eriod o f 24 weeks tor eaeh subject. Tl*e college supplies
tbe lecturer for these classes— it being part o f the educational program o f the
college to train its own lecturers. The usual charge to students is Bd. [$0.06]
for each lecture or 5s. [$1.22] the course, payable in advance. This payment in
cludes correction o f essays o f regular students. Occasionally free scholarships
are offered to members o f these classes. The classes already established have a
membership o f about 1,000.
Labor organizations or individuals wishing to start classes should communi
cate with the secretary o f the college.
As soon as funds permit the college w ill publish a general handbook oa
education.
III.

FINANCE.

The cost o f residence at the college, covering board, lodging, and education,
is £52 [$253.06] for the college y e a r ; for a lesser period than one year, £1 5s.
[$6.08] per week, payable to the secretary in advance. There are no extra
charges. Sometimes assistance can be given to those who are unable to pay
the full fees.
We have been able to raise a loan and purchase the 61 years’ lease o f tw#
large and suitable houses, 11 and 13 Penywera Road, w hich comprise 17 bed
rooms, 3 bathrooms, and 6 reception rooms, one o f which w ill seat over 150
people. Electric light is installed throughout. Here is room not only fo r our
requirements but for development.

Under the joint auspices of the Central Labor College and the
Plebs League, classes in economics, industrial history, and related
subjects have increased in number in the industrial sections o f Eng
land, Scotland, and Wales, so that there are now more than 100,
while the object of the movement is already practically justified in
the elevation of many of its early students to places of prominence
and power in the radical wing of the British labor movement. In
South Wales alone the college and the league have increased the
number of classes to more than 50, with a student body of approxi
mately TOO.
WORK DURING THE WAR.

In spite of the fact that for four years the work of the college has
been greatly limited, the efforts to spread education by means of cor
respondence courses have been continued, and more than 500 workers
are now receiving instruction in the various subjects by this means.
Moreover, there is conducted a so-called “ Lectures by post depart
ment” intended to supply a system o f training in given subjects
intermediary between the correspondence method and the provincial
classes operated under the joint supervision of the college and the
Plebs League. These provincial classes take virtually the form of
the Workers’ Educational Association classes. But the lectures by
post system seek to satisfy persons who find that the mere study of
textbooks in a distant place does not provide them with sufficient
clearness of detail for essay writing. In isolated communities, pro
ductive merely of a single class of students and too far distant from

C H A P. II— EDUCATION FOR PROSPECTIVE LABOR LEADERS.

populous centers to make possible the atte»tion o f a tutor, it has
been sought to maintain the class by a course of lectures prepared and
typewritten at the college and dispatched once a fortnight or once a,
month to the secretary of the class. The lecture is then delivered by
some member appointed for that purpose by the class. After the lec
ture discussion follows, and questions are submitted, the questions
being sent to the college immediately, the answers forming the sub
ject matter for study at the next meeting. Until the war only one
course, that in industrial history, had been prepared. The college
is governed by the most rigid discipline.
PLEBS LEAGUE.
ORGANIZATION AND AIM.

The Plebs League is an educational organization for adults and is
composed of ex-students and supporters of the Central Labor Col
lege and seeks to “ propagate the educational principles and
policies upon which the Central Labor College was founded.” As
previously stated, the formation of the league was the outcome o f
the dissatisfaction of those who became its charter members with
the methods and curriculum at Ruskin College in 1908, at which
time its general point of view was expressed as follow s: 3
To the organized labor movement we appeal for support on a question which
lies at the very foundation o f working-class organization. W e do not trust
our economic security to the good intentions o f the possessing class. W e
do not rely upon the politics o f our employers for measures o f progressive
legislation. W e establish our own economic fortifications, we have our own
political weapons, we control our own literature. Why, then, should we not
independently manage our own educational affairs? Even as we have a plat
form o f our own, and a press o f our own, let us have educational institutions
o f our own. * * * The working class must achieve its own salvation. It
must develop its own social intelligence. Our aim is simply “ the education o f
workers in the interest o f the workers.”

This remains as the “ platform ” of the Plebs League, and in an
official elaboration of its general purposes and activities Mr. Horrabin
defines working-class education as education “ designed to assist the
workers in their struggle for social and economic emancipation^
and for this purpose, of course, educational institutions controlled
entirely by working-class organizations are essential.” The league
assumes the ever-present existence of the class struggle, and takes its
stand upon that accepted fact. It accordingly insists that the
education with which the labor movement is concerned must be
based upon a recognition of this antagonism. It urges that this
antagonism o f economic interests is inevitably translated into an
antagonism of ideas, most apparent in those very studies roughly to
* The W . E. A. Education Yearbook, 1918.

London, 1918, p. 390.

PLEBS LEAGUE.

be described as the “ social sciences,” in which labor is primarily
interested.
Impartiality in the teaching or study of such subjects is held by
the Plebs League to be impossible, and the mere attempt to realize
impartiality, it maintains, “ betokens a failure to grasp the root facts,
o f social development; and further, that even were it attainable, it is
obviously not the concern of the working-class movement.”
Thoroughly candid, according to its motto, the Plebs League de
clares that education is necessarily propaganda and that the only
question for the working class to decide is a What kind of propa
ganda?”
Shall it be “ propaganda based upon the ideas o f the ruling class,
taught in the universities, which impresses its class outlook upon so
ciety, or propaganda based upon the point of view of the working
class and designed to equip the workers for their struggle against
capitalism and capitalist idealogy ” ?
METHOD OF CARRYING ON ACTIVITIES.

The Plebs’ League carries on its activities through the formation
o f classes in various localities, those in South Wales, Northumber
land, Durham, the Clyde area, Yorkshire, and other industrial dis
tricts showing a marked increase and development during recent
years. Whenever possible these classes are conducted under the
auspices o f the trade-unions and trade councils. A publishing de
partment is also maintained by the league in which its textbooks,
study courses, pamphlets, and monthly magazine (The Plebs) are
printed.
Indicative o f the influence which the educational theories of the
Central Labor College and the Plebs League have had among groups
o f the workers in the British Isles is a portion of the Report o f the
Commission o f Inquiry into Industrial Unrest,4 appointed by
Premier Lloyd-George in the summer of 1917. The section of that
commission inquiring into conditions in Wales found a threatening
state o f mind on the part of the mass of workers.
The sense o f antagonism between capital and labor has been considerably
deepened during recent years by the propaganda o f a small but earnest group
o f men whose teachings are rapidly permeating the entire trade-union move
ment. Advanced causes feed on discontent, and the indisposition o f employers
to concede the claims o f the workers to a higher standard o f life has pro
vided fuel fo r the propaganda o f the Independent Labor Party, and, more
recently, o f the enthusiasts o f the Central Labor College movement.
The influence o f the “ advanced ” men is growing very rapidly, and there is
ground for belief that under their leadership attempts o f a drastic character will
4
G reat B rita in . C om m ission o f inq uiry in to in d u stria l un rest. No. 7 d ivision . R eport
o f th e com m ission ers fo r W ales, in clu d in g M onm outhshire. London, 1 9 1 7 , Cd. 8 6 6 8 , pp.
2 3 , 2 4.

C H A P. II— EDUCATION FOR PROSPECTIVE LABOR LEADERS.

be made by the working classes as a whole to secure direct control by them
selves o f their particular industries. H ostility to capitalism has now become part
o f the political creed o f the m ajority o f trade-unionists in the mining, i f not in
other industries, and unless the employers are prepared to meet the men part
o f the way disaster must overtake the mining industry in the South W ales
coal field. Nearly all movements initiated by the South Wrales Miners' Federa
tion during recent years, consciously or unconsciously, are directed toward the
overthrow o f the present capitalist system and the establishment o f a control
over their industry and a larger measure o f the produce o f their labor.
Opinions are as yet divided as to whether such overthrow is to be accom
plished by political or industrial action or by both. Until recently the ’ political
method w as most popular, but industrial action is now in the ascendant. This
is possibly due to the fact that the miners have been disillusioned by the failure
o f the Labor Party to bring about a complete change in the industrial fabric
during the past 10 years in which they have held a number o f seats in the
House o f Commons.
INFLUENCE OF CLASS EDUCATION.

In the same report,5 the commission reviews the history o f trade
unionism in relation to working-class education in Wales, showing
the growing influence of adult educational efforts in the coal fields:
The com paratively late development of-industrialism in W ales has hindered
the growth o f such working-class organizations as the cooperative movement,
while university extension lectures, or the teachings o f the younger school o f
O xford democrats, have had no direct appeal to the W elsh workers. In con
tradistinction to the workers o f Durham and Northumberland, or those o f the
‘ potteries, where university work has been carried out with great effect, the
closely packed, easily accessible, valleys o f Glamorgan have been given over to
propagandist work o f a political nature, at first o f somewhat unorganized char
acter. The Independent Labor Party has some scores o f branches in the Welsh
coal field, each branch a center at political educational activity. Lectures are
arranged and classes conducted in political and social subjects, while there is
n large sale o f propagandist literature. To these branches the younger men,
disappointed with the conventions o f church and chapel, have flocked. These,
too, have become the centers o f the labor movement in local government which
is so characteristic o f South Wales.
The Independent Labor Party branches have, however, concerned them&elves
mainly with political work, but the ill-success o f the strike movement, the
menace o f combines o f employers, with the consequent centralization o f capital,
and what an advanced section o f the workers regard as the apparent failure
o f parliamentary representation, have all brought home to the w orker the
imperative need for organization. Organization is, however, impossible to a
community only partially, if at all, educated. Hence the leading spirits in the
trade-unions have o f late years been devoting themselves to an active, if
restricted, form o f educational propaganda. The workingman, it is held, must
organize his own education, train his own teachers, and w ork steadily for
reform within his own union. Thus to-day the South W ales Miners’ Federation
and the National Union o f Railwaymen have jointly assumed financial re
sponsibility for a workingman’s college (the Central Labor C ollege), where
the wrorkers may be taught the social sciences free from the bias and prejudice
5 G reat B rita in C om m ission o f inq uiry in to in d u str ia l u n re st No. 7 d ivision . R eport of
th e com m issioners for W ales, in c lu d in g M onm outhshire. London, 1 9 1 7 , Cd. 8G68.

PLBRS L E A G U E .

5®

o f tke ugpeir-elass conception o f history and economics, In March, 1917, tihe
college conducted; 41 classes, o f which 19. wese io South W ate% 8 being: in the
Rhondda. The number o f students at that time in South W ales would a c t be
less than 500. Since March, 1917, however, the number o f the classes has
largely increased, and steps have been taken, to organise classes in almost every
district o f the South W ales Federation. The subjects taken are almost in
variably confined to economics, industrial history, and the modern workingclass movement.
These classes, then,' together with the transformation o f industry into the
combine on the one hand and the fool-proof machine on the other, have had
their parts in the revolution which has taken place in the minds o f the workers.
W hilst in the old days the road to reform appeared to lie in the direction merely
o f the consolidating and care o f local interests, o f late the workers have both
widened and narrowed their outlook. Improvement o f status, rises in wages,
have a ll proved ineffective against the more obvious pressure of capitalist
economy and the patent gambling in the necessities o f life. This has been taken
advantage o f by teachers and leaders, and out o f it has developed a form o f
class-consciousness increasingly pow erful and deliberate o f purpose.

The committee suggests that, in view of the importance which
the workers of South Wales have recently attached to educational
reconstruction, “ further facilities should therefore he provided for
the spread of education and knowledge—not knowledge in the nar
row,. limited sense of equipment, but knowledge sought in the spirit
of truth and pursued for its own ends.”
R A N D SC H O O L O F S O C IA L SC IE N C E (N E W Y O R K C IT Y ).
HISTORY.

The Rand School of Social Science has for 13 years carried on
an educational campaign among the working people of New York
City, and for about half that time its work has, through its full
time, correspondence, and research departments, been national in
scope.

It is owned and controlled by a membership corporation, known
as the American Socialist Society, and its administration is carried
on by a board of directors, which has the power of electing officers
and heads of departments annually.
The school is, as indicated, an adjunct to the Socialist Party, hav
ing the primary function of “ offering the general public facilities
for the study of socialism and related subjects and giving social
ists instruction and training calculated to make them more efficient
workers for the socialist and labor movement.^ In so far as its
educational work is directed toward political ends rather than
toward the general improvement of the working class, the. Rand
School does not belong in the same category as the other educational
movements under discussion*

C H A P. II— EDUCATION FOR PROSPECTIVE LABOR LEADERS.

Organized in 1906-07 with 250 members, the classes had increased
to 4,000 in 1917-18, the attendance ranging during the six busiest
months of the year from 1,500 to 2,000 per week.
j

COURSES OF INSTRUCTION.

The courses of instruction include the training course, courses
for general classes, and the correspondence course.
T H E T R A IN IN G COURSE.

The training course, as its name suggests, is a “ systematic and
extensive curriculum of instruction and supervised practice, whose
aim is to prepare and equip students for work in the party, the
unions, and other branches of the working-class movement as secre
taries, organizers, propagandists, teachers, etc.” Hitherto, only full
time training for a period o f six months has been available, and
from 1911 to 1918 an aggregate of 125 young men and women
were graduated under this plan. At the beginning of the 1918-19
session, part-time work w7as introduced. The instruction given
under the part-time plan covers practically the same ground as that
o f the full-time classes, but extends over a period of approximately
two years. The tuition fee under the full-time plan is $75 a term,
while that of the part-time plan is $80. In each case the student
receives in addition to instruction and use of the school library
and other equipment, full gymnasium privileges, and a supply of
textbooks which becomes his personal property at the close of the
work. Every student must possess a working knowledge of the
English language, but beyond this requirement no definite entrance
qualifications are demanded, the idea being that experience in the
shop, the union, and elsewhere, may often be as valuable a prepara
tion for the Rand School courses as a thorough academic training.
The training-class instruction includes courses in the following
subjects: Social history and economics, American history and gov
ernment, socialism, trade-unionism, social problems, research meth
ods, organization methods, office methods, English, and public
speaking. These are supplemented by visits to museums, industrial
establishments, public institutions, public hearings, courts and arbi
tration boards, as well as by addresses by union officials, party or
ganizers, and specialists in various lines of the work.
G E N E R A L C L A SS E S .

The subjects pursued by the general classes are practically the
same as those included in the training course, but with the “ addi
tion of general discussion of sociological topics o f vital and cur
rent interest.” Among the subjects thus discussed are reconstruc

RAND SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE

(N E W YORK C I T Y ).

tion problems, cooperation, problems of the Far East, public owner
ship, etc.
The classes vary in size from 20 persons to 500, according to the
nature of the work, each student paying an average fee of from
18 to 20 cents per lesson. Nine-tenths of the students are from
working-class ranks and represent 50 different occupations and pro
fessions. According to a school announcement “ the list of lec
turers and instructors for these classes for the past 12 years would
include almost all of the leading radical men and women in the
labor and academic fields.”
CO R R ESPO N D EN CE CO U RSES.

Correspondence courses in socialism, economics, social history,
labor problems, and other related subjects reach students desiring
instruction along these lines who are unable to take up the work at
the school.
OTHER ACTIVITIES OF THE SCHOOL.

A summer school started as an experiment in 1918 has become a
permanent activity of the school. The department of research has
conducted investigations into labor conditions, has published
pamphlets on various subjects, and brings out annually the Ameri
can Labor Year Book. A large collection of reference material
and edequate library equipment afford excellent facilities for study
and research work along economic and socialistic lines. Social and
cultural features are furnished through an athletic association, a
students’ league, a society for music and drama, and an orchestra.
The school also maintains a bookstore, the profits from which go
far toward making up the deficit incurred in the educational work.
SCHOOL FO R W O M E N O R G A N IZ E R S.8
O r g a n i z a t i o n . — In 1913 as a result of requests from 19 different
States for trained women, the National Women’s Trade Union
League o f America established in Chicago a training school for
women organizers.
C o u r s e o f S t u d y . — The curriculum followed by these students
includes:

ACADEM IC W O RK .
Regular courses in—
1. Industrial history.
2. Study o f the rise o f labor organizations— trade-unionism.
3. Study o f women in industry, with special reference to the organization
movement among women.
6 M onth ly Labor R ev iew o f U n ited S ta te s B ureau o f L abor S ta tis tic s, A pril, 1 9 1 9 , pp.
240, 241.

CHAP.

II—

E D U C A T IO N

F O R P R O S P E C T IV E L A B O R U 5A D E R S .

4. Study and analysis of Judicial decisions affecting labor— specific labor
trials and injunction suits.
5. Effective speaking.
6. English and other elementary subjects.
7. Trade agreements—study o f function, theory, and practical operation.
Special lectures on—
Woman suffrage.
Legislation for women and children.
Socialism, single tax, anarchism, etc.
Present-day labor organizations— men’s and women’s qualities o f leadership.
F IE L D W ORK.
Organization.— Methods in theory and practice.
Office administration, including experience in bookkeeping, filing, and cata
loguing, and fam iliarity w ith the routine o f a large and well-organized office. •
Legislative methods.— Practical experience at Springfield and elsewhere with
lobbying for a bill.
Parliamentary law.— Practical training in presiding at a meeting, writing o f
minutes, general conduct o f public meetings.
GENERAL.
Regular gymnasium.
Regular recreation and play.
Attention to health and dress.

CHAPTER IIL — CONCLUSION.

From the viewpoint of those who see adult education not as the
means o f advancing a particular cause or movement but as the great
instrument of social progress and intelligent industrial and political
citizenship, there is ample proof that the average industrial worker
to-day gets out of life but a small fraction of what life holds for him,
and that, therefore, he does not attain the development of which he
is innately capable. In the United States, for instance, a large pro
portion o f children do not get any full-time education after the age
of 14 years. The others answer the call for service in the struggle to
live. Since it is not claimed that these latter children possess infe
rior mentality, it is held that their enforced leave taking from school
is a mistake which society should undertake to correct in duty both
to itself and to the individual whose development is temporarily or
permanently thwarted.
At the same time, the position is taken that the mere lifting of the
compulsory school age to 15 or 16 years will not suffice. “ We wish
to emphasize our view,” says the British Commission on Industrial
and Social Conditions in Relation to Adult Education, composed of
eminent scholars and representative trade-union leaders, “ that the
development of education among children and adolescents, so far
from superseding the need for educational opportunities for adults,
will lend additional emphasis to it. Those questions in which more
mature minds are particularly interested have little meaning for
young people and can be grasped only after experience in the world.
This experience school pupils do not possess, and school training,
however advanced and however wide in its outlook, though an inval
uable, preparation, is not in any sense a substitute for it. In any ease
education is a continuing process, differing in its forms and methods
with the age and experience of students, but expressing a permanent
human need. Facilities for adult education must therefore be re
garded as permanently essential, whatever developments there may
be in the education o f children and adolescents.” 1
That “ education is the key to national progress” is so trite a
statement that it has almost lost its meaning. But i t continues to be
employed frequently. As late as December 13, 1918, the London
1
G reat B rita in .
M in istry o f R econ struction.
A d u lt ed u cation com m ittee.
Interim
rep ort o a in d u str ia l and so cia l co n d itio n s in r ela tio n to a d u lt ed u cation . London, 1 9 1 S f
p. 4, Cd. 9 1 0 7 .

C H A P . I l l — CON CLU SION .

Times in an article on the relation of adult education and citizenship
said:
Do we realize the extent to which education exercises a decisive influence
upon the race? Practically every adult man and woman has now a definite
voice in deciding the future o f the country. H ow far is the average voter
fitted to decide the problems before us? H ow far is he even interested in
them? H ow far is he possessed o f that breadth o f view, that soundness o f
judgment which are necessary? * * * Either democracy is a sham or it
is not. There are those whose sole interest lies in making it one, whose
only hope o f continued power rests in the perpetuation o f a national igno
rance. On the other hand there are many who hope that the day w ill come
when the men and women o f the country w ill think for themselves and take
a genuine part in the management o f their own affairs. * * * W hat prep
aration for citizenship do our people get? W hat vital questions, such as those
raised at the present election are put before them, to what extent do they make
up their own minds, and to what extent do they submit to having them made
up by others'? There lies the test of the intelligence o f a democracy. * * *
There is a demand for education, but it is infinitesimal compared with what
it would be if the real meaning and implications were made known and i f
facilities o f the right sort were placed within the reach o f men and women
by the million. * * * Men and women w ill not go back to school to learn
advanced forms o f reading, writing, and arithmetic. The things they want to
learn about are the things which most nearly affect their lives. * * * The
success o f the W orkers’ Educational Association in a field in which local
authorities were either too blind or too timid to engage should show us the
way now.

It is education as a means to progressive and- effective industrial
citizenship as well as intelligent political citizenship that is em
phasized in the demand of workers for knowledge, and in this con
nection the subject is of particular interest and importance in
America at this time. Labor won, at least in principle, the right
o f collective bargaining through a large number o f decisions o f the
National War Labor Board. “ Industrial elections” have been held
in many of the great producing centers of the country. Workers
have chosen committees of their own fellows to represent them in all
discussions and settlements with the employers. These committees
are charged with the task of meeting their employers on equal
ground.
A large percentage of American employers welcome the collective
system. But if shop committees and plant committees are to func
tion with full justice to the workers wTho select them they should be
composed of men wTho have not only the same command of the facts and
figures o f the particular industry in question as have the employers,
but an equal familiarity with the principles of economics and the facts
o f economic history and an equal possession o f all relevant knowledge
and information. And the same condition must obtain if the rela
tions of the employer and the workers are to be really cooperative and
not beset by bickerings and suspicion. The highest* production on

EDUCATION FOR ADULT W ORKERS.

the basis o f absolute justice to all hands should be the governing
principle in industry. The extent to which industry can operate on
this principle will be measured precisely by the sum total of en
lightenment and articulation permeating industry. So that it is o f
no less importance to the employer than to the worker that there be a
mutuality of understanding between them.
Employers are aware that workers are suspicious of, if not directly
antagonistic to, courses of training, supplied at the employer’s ex
pense, intended merely to improve the skill of their employees. The
British Commission on Industrial and Social Conditions in relation
to adult education reported to the minister of reconstruction that
among the workers “ technical education is regarded with suspicion—
a suspicion which, indeed, is not altogether unnatural in present
circumstances, but which we hope it will be possible to overcome—
on the ground that the advantages of the economic efficiency which it
promotes accrue mainly to employers of labor.” 2 Technical education
fails to satisfy the claim for recognition of human personality or the
claim for fuller personal development. How far this suspicion o f
the motives behind technical training is justified may be left to its
promoters. Certain it is that no employer or employee will object
to the advancement of his own interests, whether they be expressed
in terms o f money earned or in respect of his fellows.
In the demand of workers for an eight-hour day it is not always
specifically stated that the increase of leisure is desired to afford the
worker a greater opportunity for mental development, but it must
be? admitted that, regardless of his neglect to express this desire, it
constitutes probably the greatest factor of the demand. And it will
be with the increase of leisure time that the workers will profit by
higher education. With the wider diffusion of learning there will
come deeper appreciation of responsibilities of industrial and politi
cal citizenship, a deeper consciousness of the ideals of democracy, and
a stronger and a more intelligent determination to realize them.
A nd on the point of the relation of the conditions under which
men work with their desires for intellectual advancement the British
commission referred to has urged upon the Government in the strong
est possible language the importance of legislation to restrict the
“ overtime ” evil and abolish night work altogether whenever possi
ble in order to enlarge the opportunity of the workers for education.
Wherever there has been a demand for education among the work
ers, the first to respond to it have been those who have had the ad
vantages of a thorough education and wTho are therefore in a position
2 G reat B rita in .
M in istry o f R econ struction.
A d u lt ed u cation com m ittee.
In terim
report on in d u str ia l and so cia l co n d itio n s in rela tio n to adu lt education. London, 1 9 1 &
p. 3 ; A ppendix B. Cd. 9 1 0 7 .

147319°— 20------ 5

C H A P . HI;— C O N C L U S IO N .

to give the assistance necessary to the fulfilling of the demand. Where
such a demand among the workers is lacking, the same class may
perform efficient service in striving to create one. No one familiar
with the attitude o f the mass o f industrial workers to education will
contend that it is on the whole an eager one. Esther it may be
said to be an adverse one. This is due, in fact, to the barriers which
exist between the average person and the university.. Education is
not a mystic rite, as some conceive. Ability to understand what is
taught in universities does not necessarily imply a knowledge of
Greek or even o f algebra. The fact would probably be conceded that
a person with average intelligence who has spent his life, from 14
years o f age until, say, 30 years, in industry has had better prepara
tion for the study of economics, industrial history, or sociology than
a large percentage of the total number of persons graduated yearly
from the universities. And because his theory and his practice
coincide he will learn more and will know more about the subject
when he is through with it.
While there is no organization in America exactly like the W ork
ers’ Educational Association, many facts suggest themselves as offer
ing peculiar advantages for the inauguration of such a system of
classes. Virtually every great industrial community in this coun
try has within its borders one or more universities or colleges. It
also possesses a central labor union headquarters or a number of
local union meeting places, where workers gather from time to time.
It may seem a far cry from the university to a labor union head
quarters, but universities can more perfectly fulfill their mission by
making an effort to span that distance. The use of the public schools
during the evening has been granted for virtually every other pur
pose, and school authorities would doubtless reserve a classroom one
night a week for a class o f workmen or workwomen. Probably be
fore any workmen will want to join a class it will be necessary to
arouse an interest in the subject. Labor unions will always be found
ready to listen to anyone who has something to say, and they will be
found to be most attentive and appreciative listeners. A group of
persons who evince anything like determination to arouse a desire for
education among a group of workers will, if the English experi
ence is any criterion, find that there will be 30 men or women ready
to join a class in a short time. The sympathy, the personality,
the ability of the tutor who undertakes to guide that class then be
comes one of the most important factors in its success or its failure.
And beyond a doubt, one of the most valuable assets a sincere stu
dent o f the social sciences may enjoy in the course o f his academic
education is a relationship with working people such as would be
afforded under the circumstances here described.

A P P E N D IX

A —

ST U D E N T S

A N D

T U T O R S-1

Tutorial class students must o f necessity be forcefu l men and women. It is
hardly probable that individuals w ill join tutorial classes unless they have
either been students for some time, or have been working earnestly for organi
zations which have called forth their best powers. The social practice o f coopera
tive societies, trades-unions, political bodies, and churches operates in much the
same way as a colleg e; for, as it has been well said, the most valuable portion o f
a college career lies in the inform al associations o f student with student. The
politics or creed o f any particular student is a matter o f no concern. All that
is asked o f him is that h e shall be willing to seek understanding in the spirit
o f fellowship. Politicians o f all types and schools rub shoulders in the classes;
men o f no creed, or even men in opposition to creed, sit side by side with de
voted and active church workers. This mixture o f types is one o f the glories o f
the tutorial class system, and there could be no tutorial class if such mixture
were not encouraged. “ The collision o f mind with mind ” is naturally a con
stant happening.
I f a tutorial class is to be in any sense an intellectual center, it must have
the power o f bringing under unprejudiced examination anything which bears
upon the subject o f its study. The pursuit o f knowledge is dependent not
merely upon the acquisition o f facts, but upon the power to consider things
from varying, even opposing, points o f view.
Moreover, it is as necessary for a tutorial class, as fo r a university, that it
should be above bias. The best antidote to bias is freedom o f expression on the
part o f a number o f people o f different experience and different opinions.
The time w ill come when tutorial classes w ill no longer be held to be the
monopoly o f working people, for the method o f study in them is congenial to
the general adult mind. A t present, however, they are the creation o f working
people; and universities and other bodies are drawn to assist them not only by
the fact that the workers have been a disinherited class in education but by the
unfailing instinct that among them are large untapped reservoirs o f knowledge
and capacity.
Some classes have been severely criticized on the ground that they contain
a large proportion o f nonmanual w orkers; especially is this so in the case o f
classes in London and Manchester where there is a large population o f clerks.
The case o f the clerk is not like that o f the teacher, or even o f the leisured
person. H e has often had no opportunity of education, other than that provided
by the somewhat narrow study o f shorthand and bookkeeping. It would be
unfair to regard the clerk as undesirable for tutorial class purposes. He brings
to the work the asset o f a type o f mind different from that o f a manual worker,
yet not so different as would be the case i f his father were not usually a
manual worker.
In most classes there are one or two school-teachers. The presence o f many,
unless they are exceptionally sympathetic, may be dangerous to the class.
Their facility o f expression and technical ability are apt to depress ordinary
students by obscuring true standards from them. A t the same time teachers
iM a n sb r id g e , A lb e r t; U n iv e r sity tu to r ia l c la sses.
1 9 1 3 , 1 9 7 pp.

London, L ongm an s, Green & Co.,

A PPEN D IX A.

who are true students are most helpful, and fortunately those who regard study
solely as an avenue to advancement in the profession are not attracted to a
type o f class which after three years’ w ork allows them no diploma. Much
tribute is due to those teachers who have helped tutorial classes in quiet hu
m ility and w ith infinite devotion through long and unrewarded years. A
class which does not contain one or two o f them is the poorer for their
absence.
A number o f students are engaged in administrative w ork o f a local and
national character. This militates against complete regularity o f attendance,
but their experience is invaluable. The entire representation o f labor on town
councils has sometimes been in the hands o f tutorial-class students. It is
troublesome, though gratifying, when students are elected before their three
years’ course is ended, because they often find it necessary to leave the class.
In towns where labor is not able to call upon many persons eligible for its more
difficult and representative offices, promising tutorial classes have been almost
depleted before the end o f the second year. The establishment o f insurance
committees has, in this way, during the past year been most harmful, but the
chief injury has been caused by the large number o f appointments made as the
result ©f recent Government legislation. The actual number o f students who
have accepted appointments as labor exchange officials or in connection with
the insurance act is not to hand, but the effect is considerable. Several classes
have in this way lost secretaries and replaced them by, to say the least o f it,
less efficient men. This acceptance o f Government positions does not imply
that the students concerned joined the classes for the purpose o f getting on.
It was inevitable that those concerned with securing the ablest officials should
search for them amongst the most educated working men and women, and it is
both unjust and absurd to blame a student who prefers regular employment at
a reasonable wage to irregular w ork at an insufficient one. Some students have
actually secured labor exchange w ork whilst unemployed. At the same time it
is desirable that as few students in tutorial classes as possible should obtain ap
pointments in the public service by virtue o f their having been in such classes.
The real proof which the students give o f their desire to study for self
development rather than for position lies in the absence o f desire for diplomas
or certificates. They finish their course and ask fo r no record o f it. The
University o f O xford actually devised a testamur and then found the classes so
indifferent that they decided not to issue it.
In this lies much hope, for certificates would tend inevitably to attract an
inferior type o f ambitious student— not slow to appreciate the fa ct that the
certificate attached to the highest type o f nontechnical education outside the
universities would stand him in good stead for purposes o f professional ad
vancement. '
The repudiation o f certificates has given great encouragement to those who
believe that true study is its own sufficient reward.
Opportunity is afforded to students who desire written or viva voce ex
amination, but no student has been examined since the first session o f the
first two classes.
This attitude o f the students has been welcomed by educationalists who
believe that compulsory examination disturbs the minds and hinders the de
velopment o f adult students. Be this as it may, it is certain that tutorialclass students have not been trained for examination purposes, and it was
startling to find that the compulsory examination o f two classes yielded results
almost the exact opposite o f those which the real capacity o f the students
would have justified. The less able though more facile students attained the

STUDENTS AND TUTORS.

highest places. There may be some able students who, when trained, shine
both in examinations and out o f them. Such students, however, are not common
in general; in tutorial classes they are rare.
The essays o f students are examined carefully both by the tutors and in
the universities, whilst the inspectors o f the board o f education take away
piles o f them. Thus the class is examined as a whole and the danger o f com
petition for place almost entirely neutralized, although some tutors can not
resist the temptation o f showing that they regard certain students as brilliant.
W ithout examination, untempted by certificates, the classes are in little
danger o f losing their essential freedom, and, indeed, the keenness and high
level of their work is the inevitable outcome o f the spirit which 31 students,
one o f whom is a fine scholar, can not fail, when untrammeled, to generate.
Women students now comprise about 15 per cent o f the entire number, and
in most classes there are two or three. They are sources o f strength, attend
regularly, and are rigid in the fulfillment o f their pledges. The keenness o f
their attendance is illustrated by an incident which happened in connection
with a tutorial class two or three years ago at Colne, in Lancashire. A heavy
snowstorm had fallen upon the town. Trams were stopped, schools were shut,
but the tutorial class opened its doors. The tutor himself managed to attend,
although on that night several tutors were hindered by the storm. Out o f the
30 students on the roll 23 students attended. There were only 6 women on
the roll, and not one o f them w as absent. Women often become the most
determined propagandists o f the Classes. One woman writes in her local
paper a weekly summary o f the work done in the class.
The attendance o f women at the summer classes at Oxford, which w ill be
described in a later chapter, has been greatly facilitated by the form ation
o f a university women’s fund for tutorial classes. This fund has helped many
students and has a library o f some 400 books. The amount o f assistance
w hich these books have given to women students can never be fully estimated.
The fund aided 29 women students at O xford in the summer o f 1912.
The manner in which husbands and wives w ill proceed to study together is
revealed by an interesting incident in connection with a London class. One
o f the newest students at the class was a wife. H er husband had been a
member o f the class in the previous session, and to use. something like her
own w o rd s: “ He w^ould come home every Wednesday evening and tell me
how much he had enjoyed the class. That certainly interested me. But when
he began to talk about things o f which I seemed to know little I feared that
he might one day, by attending the class, obtain such knowledge that I could
not follow him. So I at once decided to join the class myself in order that
our married life might be enriched by common study.” Husband and w ife
are certainly two o f the best students which that particular class possesses.
As the foregoing chapter implies, the previous education o f the students is
not a matter o f supreme importance. The real need is that they shall be men
and women who, while keen to learn, have used their minds in right ways, and
preferably have taken part in the work o f some organization.
There is not likely to be any serious falling-off in the supply o f students.
Proper organization and sympathetic leaders w ill always insure the continued
existence o f a strong class. Sometimes when a class has been proposed ex
perts and people who have experience o f previous educational work declare its
establishment impossible.
For example, those who knew the educational conditions o f an important
southern town held that the men would not join a tutorial class in sufficient
numbers. A simple method o f organization was, however, devised and the
result was that 70 men and women wished to join the class, wThich was re

APPEN D IX A*

stricted to BQ. Tliat class has ju st finished its fourth year, and has asked
the university to allow it a fifth year’s study. It has had a preparatory class
running side by side w ith it all the time. The labor members o f the town
council are ex-tutorial class students. The town council lias come to the lielp
o f the class in a generous manner, and altogether a. new standard o f thought
has been set up.
It is not a normal thing fo r the ordinary working man or woman to join a
tutorial class, but out o f a considerable population there are always enough
who can be sought out and drawn to it.
The occasions upon w hich it has been found im possible to establish a class
are few and far between. Classes which have failed to carry out their three
years’ contract are very few — and the reasons for the failures are to be found
in a combination o f circumstances, chiefly affecting organization and changes
o f tutor.
The supply o f tutors form s a much greater problem than the supply o f
students. It is perhaps well that unlimited finance has not been at the dis
posal o f the movement, because it would have been fatal to its right working
had it been able to establish classes more rapidly than it could obtain suitable
tutors. The report o f the board o f education on the classes calls special at
tention to this da n ger: “ Care must be taken to get the best men for the
work. One or two weak or tactless lecturers might give a serious setback to
the movement.”
Some tutors attempt to dominate their classes more than is wise. Others
obviously need training by the classes. I f a class is started properly, how
ever, it is not at the mercy o f its tutor. It realizes that it has to restrain his
ambitions and make up his defects, although in spite o f this classes are often
too appreciative o f their tutors. “ My class believes what I say,” said one
tutor, “ and that is a fearfu l thing.” Some tutors may have caused setbacks
to classes, but it may be safely assumed that the movement is now too strong
to suffer seriously at the hands even o f an unusually tactless tutor. As a
general rule, tlae tutors have entered the classes in the spirit w hich has en
abled them to throw aside their past knowledge and to build it up again with
the extra materials supplied by the class.
The effect o f the w ork upon the tutors is remarkable. W eak men have been
turned into strong naen. Men with a high opinion o f their own knowledge
and capacity have frequently lowered it in the face o f the wider vistas of
their subject which the class unfolds to them. The number o f tutors could be
counted on one hand who are not anxious for criticism s or glad when they
receive them,, even though the gladness may be shot with pain. A tutor who
can induce his students to tell him exactly how he fails to meet their needs
is in a happy class. Fortunately, many succeed in this, especially those who
are helped by classes which rightly regard the presence o f a tutor in their
midst as a golden opportunity to inform the universities concerning industrial
conditions. The supply o f tutors has grown more rapidly than was expected,
but the fact that at present the employment is not in all cases assured and
settled hinders many who do not hold internal university appointments from
taking up the. work, even when they passionately desire to do so.
It is generally held that a tutor should be engaged in some internal univer
sity w ork, and several universities adhere strictly to that plan, but as the
number o f classes increases it w ill be impossible to find such w ork fo r all
tutors. In spite o f this it would be dangerous to allow tutors to get out of
touch with the university, and various plans must be devised to prevent this.
I f tutors do lose touch w ith the university the advantage o f what they learn
is, unless they publish it, lost to the university, and the spirit they gain has not

STU D EN TS AND TUTORS.

fu ll opportunity to express itself; there is also some risk that they may not
keep up with the development o f their subject. At present, with the exception
o f the University of London, the constitution o f which does not allow the
opportunity, the m ajority are engaged in internal university work, Of the fou r
Cambridge tutors, three are fellow s o f colleges and one is a research scholar
engaged in internal work. It happens sometimes that a tutor is engaged in
internal work in a different university from that which employs him for the
classes. In the future, as, indeed, in the past, there w ill be, roughly, three
types o f tutors. The first, numbering at present 26, w ill consist o f those wTho
are engaged mainly in university work, such as professors, lecturers, or col
lege tutors able to take only one class, but desiring to do so because o f the
interest o f the work and its power o f adding to their experience and knowl
edge. It is, o f course, essential in these cases that the interests o f the class
should be safeguarded, and that they should not be considered as secondary to
university work. In other words, the tutor should be able to keep the time
necessary for the complete work o f his class free from the invasion o f other
interests. The second, numbering at present 21, w ill consist o f persons en
gaged in other occupations or in teaching other than in a university or uni
versity college. This type o f person is common in London. Men o f high
capacity enter the civil service, and in many cases welcome the opportunity of
continuing their studies and making use o f their training. It is eminently
desirable that this class o f man should have opportunity, provided he be o f
the highest type. It seems to us that men holding appointments in the board
o f education would do well to take during the week, for a time at least, some
one class or other. It would have great effect in freshening their official duties,
which, carried on apart from any teaching, may easily tend to become mere
routine. The third, numbering at present 14, w ill consist o f persons employed
directly fo r the work and giving the whole o f their time to the conduct o f
the classes, with the exception o f some piece o f internal w ork carried on,
in the case o f O xford or Cambridge, in the summer term, or, in the case o f the
newer universities,- during the ordinary academic year. It is hoped that the
custom initiated by A ll Souls College, Oxford, o f directly supporting a tutor
will be follow ed by other colleges at O xford and Cambridge. Fellowships for
the purpose o f tutorial class work combined with research would be helpful
and profitable both to the classes an<f to the university. The statutes o f many
colleges allow it.
Since the tutorial classes would fail unless the tutors, who need necessarily
be graduates, were men or women o f high qualifications devoted to the study
o f their subject, and prepared to devote a considerable portion o f their life
to it, it is necessary that no tutor be appointed hurriedly or unadvisedly. It
sometimes happens that a class is waiting and no tutor is obtainable. This con
stitutes a grave difficulty, and ventures o f faith necessarily have to be made.
But, even in such circumstances, no appointment should be made unless it
seems likely that the person appointed is at least potentially desirable. The
magnetism o f some tutors is obvious. Their students become attached to
them and real friendship ensues. It often happens that the tutor becomes
a person o f force in the town, whose opinion is sought, and whose presence
is desired on occasions o f importance. He may take a high position in the
educational councils o f a town. This happens easily when the tutor is o f high
national reputation, or the holder o f the chair in his subject at the university.
It was an early ideal o f the movement that working people themselves
would graduate in the classes and proceed to after-study in order to become
qualified as tutors. In one or two instances ex-tutorial class students have
become qualified to undertake tutorial class teaching. An agricultural worker

APPEN D IX A.

wlio passed through Ruskin College has also received appointment, but, in
addition to obtaining the diploma in economics and political science at Oxford,
he had produced a monograph which was published under the editorship o f
Prof. Yinogradolf in a series o f O xford studies. Another o f the tutors was a
telegraph operator, who proceeded to Ruskin College and obtained the diploma
with distinction.
An interesting argument has, however, been raised by workingmen them
selves against the order o f workmen-tutors. It was held that most o f the mem
bers o f a class have a workingman’s experience. I f the tutor is o f the same
experience he may bring nothing new to the class, whereas, if he has passed
through a public school and university, he brings the experience o f another
side o f life. Perhaps the argument is more interesting as showing the catho
licity o f idea in a class than as guide to the appointment o f tutors. As a
matter o f fact, provided the tutor be a really first-class man possessing sym
pathy and imagination, it matters very little what his past experience has been.
It may not be unfitting to pursue the subject o f the relations o f the tutor
to the class a little further. It has already been implied that any idea o f a
tutor teaching his class in the way undergraduates fresh from school are taught
is unsound. A tutor becomes one with his students. It has been said that in
a class o f 30 students and one tutor, there are 31 students and 31 teachers.
It is, o f courses the function o f the tutor to fetch and carry for the cla«s what
is necessary for its complete mental satisfaction. He imparts his learning and
training to his fellow-students, and in the course o f doing so learns much and
generally admits it with enthusiasm.
A professor o f economics was taking a class in the Midlands, missed his
train, and discovered that he would arrive at the class an hour late. He wired
for instructions. The answer w a s : “ Come on. W e w ill wait.” When he
reached the class he found that all the students were present. He reflected on
the fact that his class of Cambridge undergraduates would have dissolved if he
had been 15 minutes late.
The follow ing instance is interesting in that it reveals the-actual force which
exists in the classes apart from the tutor. A class— it is true that it w as in
the fourth year— was visited by His M ajesty’s inspector who fotand the tutor
absent through illness, but the students hard at work and all the essentials o f
a tutorial class in operation.
Inspectors frequently derive inspiration from the classes. One stumbled
unknowingly across a tutorial class and was astonished to find w ork worthy
o f the most advanced students in a university being carried o n ; after the twohours were up he invited them to stay for another hour, and they stayed. In
spectors join in the discussions as freely as students. The good effect o f such
relations can easily be conceived.
Students, tutors, and inspectors alike thus profit by the classes. The con
tributions to learning made by the tutors are, in these early days, o f importance*
not so much for increase o f knowledge but rather as evidence o f increased
power. Moreover they have been forced to extend the bounds o f their study.
Already proof has been given o f this. The treatment o f subjects in universities
often falls far short o f the bounds within which the minds o f keen adult
students range.
Several tutors have been appointed to chairs and lectureships, some o f them
with little or no other professional experience. Thus the reputation o f the
work of those engaged in it has received indorsement o f indisputable nature,
but the vital force generated by the association in tutorial classes is in the
main intangible and w ill in quiet and unobserved ways stimulate and support
the advance o f national education.

A P P E N D IX
S O C IA L

B .— I N T E R I M
C O N D IT IO N S

R E PO R T

O N

R E L A T IO N

IN D U S T R IA L
TO

A D U L T

A N D

E D U C A

T I O N .1

SCOPE AND PURPOSE OF TH E REPORT.
In view o f the preparations which are being made for industrial and social
reconstruction, we have felt it our duty to set out the conclusions we have
already reached in so far as they bear upon such reconstruction. The terms
o f our reference are—
“ To consider the provision for, and possibilities of, adult education (other
than technical or vocational) in Great Britain, and to make recommendations.”
W e have, however, found it impossible to consider adult education apart
from those social and industrial conditions which determine to a large degree
the educational opportunities, the interests and the general outlook o f men
and women. In the course o f our inquiries it has been forced upon our atten
tion that education is hampered in many directions by economic obstacles, that
industrial and social reform are indispensable, if the just claims o f education
are to be met, and that the full results o f these reform s w ill be reaped only as
education becomes more widespread. The quality o f an educational system
must always depend to a large extent upon the economic fram ework o f the
society in which it is placed. The object o f this Interim Report, therefore, is
to indicate briefly some changes in industrial organization which are desirable
in order that the widening intellectual interests o f a growing number o f our
citizens may obtain fuller opportunities o f development.
NATURE OF TH E DEMAND FOR AD U LT EDUCATION.
2.
W e reserve for a subsequent report a discussion o f the important educa
tional problems raised by our terms o f reference, and we do not desire to
anticipate now what we shall have to say then. But we would point out here
that there is a wide and growing demand among adults for education o f a nonvocational character. It is true, indeed, that among a considerable section o f
the working population, “ technical ” education is regarded with suspicion— a
suspicion which, indeed, is not altogether unnatural in present circumstances
but which we hope it w ill be possible to overcome— on the ground that the
advantages o f the economic efficiency which it promotes accrue mainly to em
ployers o f labor. But the terms o f our reference confine us to “ nonvocational
adult education,” and for such education there is undoubtedly an increasing
desire.
The motive which impels men and women to seek education is partly the
wish for fuller personal development. It arises from the desire for knowledge,
for self-expression, for the satisfaction o f intellectual, aesthetic and spiritual
needs, and for a fuller life. It is based upon a claim for the recognition o f
human personality. This desire is not confined to any class o f society, but is to
be found among people o f every social grade.
The motive is also partly social. Indeed, so far aa the workers are con
cerned, it is, we think, this social purpose which principally inspires the desire
1 T h is app en dix in clu d es th e g rea ter p a rt o f th e In terim R eport of th e com m ittee on
a d u lt ed u ca tio n m ade to th e B r itisli M in istry o f R eco n stru ction , London, 1 9 1 8 . Cd. 9 1 0 7 .

A PP E N D IX B.

for education. They demand opportunities for education in the hope that the
power which it brings w ill enable them to understand and help in the solution
o f the common problems o f human society. In many cases, therefore, their
efforts to obtain education are specifically directed tow ard rendering them
selves better fitted for the responsibilities o f membership in political, social,
and industrial organizations.
The citizens o f the country can not fully contribute their experience or ideals
to its service unless they are articulate, and possess knowledge. In other
words, democracy can only be operative through an educated’ community.
Though we reserve for a. subsequent report a discussion o f the general question
o f adult education, we wish to emphasize our view that the development o f
education among children and adolescents, so far from superseding the need
for educational opportunities for adults, w ill lend additional emphasis to it.
Those questions in which more mature minds are particularly interested have
little meaning for young people, and can be grasped only after experience in
the world. This experience school pupils do not possess, and school training,
however advanced and however wide in its outlook, though an invaluable
preparation,, is not in any sense a substitute for it. In any case education is a
continuing process, differing in its form s and methods wTith the age and ex
perience o f students, but expressing a permanent human need. Facilities for
adult education must therefore be regarded as permanently essential, whatever
developments there may be in the education o f children and adolescents.
That a social purpose should so largely be the force underlying the demand
for adult education is a fact which w ill be regarded, w e think, with general
sympathy and approval. It is evidence o f an appreciation o f the responsibili
ties o f citizenship, o f the existence o f political, social, and industrial ideals,
and o f a growing determination to realize them. It w ill be universally
admitted that the successful working o f a democratic society implies a wide
diffusion o f a sense o f responsibility and the intelligent participation in
public affairs by the rank and file o f the population. In view both o f the
grave problems with which the country will be confronted in the generations
after the war, and o f the ever-increasing complexity o f social organization,
the need for the intelligent interest and the active cooperation o f the mass
o f citizens w ill be greater than ever before. Women as well as men must
make a direct contribution to the solution o f future problems. The extension
o f the franchise to women is a significant expression o f this need.
AD U LT EDUCATION AND IN D U STR IA L AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS.
4.
The standard attained, the character o f the studies pursued, and the
methods adopted in the educational work carried on by adults, vary consid
erably, but on all hands it is agreed that certain industrial and social con
ditions both hamper the fullest use o f existing educational opportunities and
deter or even prevent many people from seeking to take advantage o f these
opportunities. W e have obtained the views o f men and women, both students
and tutors o f long experience in all branches o f non vocational adult educa
tion throughout the country. The evidence w e have obtained shows that pre
vailing industrial and social conditions even before the w ar were only too
often o f such a character as to form in many cases almost insuperable
obstacles to adult education, and so to prevent individual workers from
realizing fully their powers and capacities. Taking all the circumstances
into consideration, we are impressed with the enthusiasm and the strength
o f the desire w hich must animate those who, under such unfavorable condi
tions, pursue courses o f serious study.

IN T E R IM REPORT IN RELATIO N TO AD U LT ED U CATIO N .

( A .) — I n d u s t r i a l C o n d i t i o n s .
HOURS OF LABOR.

5.
Excessive hours o f labor form one o f the greatest obstacles to adult edu
cation. It is true that the State has laid down for some classes o f workers
maximum hours o f employment. So far as men are concerned the only case
o f direct legal limitation o f hours is to be found among the miners.2 The
hours o f labor o f women are regulated by the factory and workshop act and
the shops act. Women and young persons engaged in domestic occupations and
in clerical work, however, enjoy no protection by law in regard to hours.
The hours worked by men are often indirectly limited by the laws regulating
the employment o f women and young persons, though this is by no means
universal. In our judgment the existing legal limitation o f working hours,
confined, as it is, to certain industries, though these are among the more impor
tant, and inadequate [as it is] in the stringency o f its regulations, even In the
case o f those to which it applies, is an obstacle to the pursuit of intellectual and
other interests the seriousness o f which can hardly be exaggerated. It is
pointed out by many o f those whom we have consulted that the absorption o f
so large a part o f each working day in wage-earning employment leaves little
time for the duties o f the home, social intercourse, public duties, and study.
It has been represented to us that “ after 10 or 12 hours o f w ork there is some
excuse if the mind turns to rest or pleasure.” W e have the statement o f a
railw ay drayman that “ long hours o f labor sap vitality more than the is*"
tensity o f work.”
“ My hours of work during the past 10 years,” states a goods checker in the
service o f a Railway company, “ during which time I have been a student o f
nonvocational subjects, have been between 60 and 70 a week. These hours
have hindered study. After 12 hours’ work one can not mentally concentrate
to any extent.”
*

Shop assistants, both male and female, suffer from the disadvantages fo l
lowing from long hours of labor, some o f which are only too often wasted
through an enforced idleness.
Many establishments close at 8 p. m. during normal times, which renders it
quite impossible for those engaged therein to take advantage o f educational
facilities. Even when the time o f closing is 7 p. m. it is rare that an assistant
gets away promptly, it being no unusual thing for him to be at work for half
an hour or an hour after the shop is closed.
The hours o f labor are often, indeed, even longer in reality than they ap
pear to be. A North Staffordshire colliery surface laborer, referring to the
position o f surface workers, s a y s :
They check on at 6 o’clock a. m. and leave at 5 o’clock p. m. You generally
find the collieries are outside the towns and .are miles away from social ac
tivity. This means to the workers that they have to rise at 3 o’clock and they
arrive home between 6 and 7 o ’clock at night.
As to the miners he sa y s:
Two-thirds o f the miners I know at the colliery I w ork at are out o f their
homes 11 to 13 hours per day. They have to rise at 3 o’clock to be at the
pit-head at 5 o’clock, as they have to begin to descend the shaft to work soon
after 5 o’clock. The last man has to be down by 6 o’clock so that the pit can
begin to draw coal. H e begins to come up the shaft at 2 o’clock, and the last
one arrives at the surface at 3 o’clock in the afternoon.
3 8 Edw . V II, c. 5 7. W e are inform ed by a m in ers’ a g e n t th a t sin ce th e p a ssin g o f th e
eight-hou rs a c t m in ers h a v e tak en g rea ter a d v a n ta g e o f te c h n ic a l education .

AIP EN D IX B.

Other classes o f workers dwell considerable distances from their place o f
employment. W orkers on the Clyde, for example, often have to travel many
miles to and from work. The same is true o f many o f the iron wTorkers in
Durham. It is clear, therefore, that in a large number o f cases the time spent
in traveling, added to the hours o f labor, leaves little leisure.
The results o f these long hours naturally render educational work difficult,
i f not impossible, and the effects upon the minds o f men and women must be
detrimental. A university professor w rites:
W hat has struck me most is the “ tired ” nature o f the leisure my W. E. A.
men enjoy.
O VERTIM E.

6. Closely associated w7ith hours o f labor is the evil o f overtime. Overtime,
where it constantly occurs, is for our purpose even worse than long hours o f
labor, because o f its uncertainty. In seasonal trades, where the period o f
pressure happens to be the winter months (when educational facilities are most
readily available), there is an additional hindrance. An employee in a London
white-lead works gives his experience in the follow ing qu otation :
I was employed b y ---------- from 7 a. m. till 7 p. m., with tw o hours overtime
nightly, which I had very little chance o f escaping, making it 9 p. m. before my
w ork was ended. Rising at 6 a. m., returning from w ork at 9.30 p. m., does not
leave me with much strength to study. * * * The only time I found o f value
to read * * * was in the h alf hour allowed for breakfast. Under a dirty
arch, surrounded by empty white-lead casks and near a refuse heap, I managed
to learn something in conjunction with what I learned at the class in three
years.
*

The opinion of tutors o f adult classes is unanimous regarding the effects of
overtime. * * * A London tutor, who declares overtime to be “ a most seri
ous drawback,” makes three points:
(a ) The course o f study is interrupted and the student is apt to grow dis
couraged if he is prevented from attendance.
(b ) I have many cases where, when a worker insisted on leaving w ork early
enough to go to the class, open or veiled threats have been made by the foreman
o f the shop.
(c ) Fatigued students can not profit fully by instructions.
A tutor in W ales w rite s:
I find that several members o f my classes have not been able to attend for
several weeks owing to this cause. It is almost impossible for such students to
maintain interest in the w ork o f the class under such conditions. In addition
to “ overtime ” interfering with attendance at classes, it has the bad psycho
logical reaction o f converting potentially good citizens into mere moneyearners, with no interest outside their special vocation.
T H E S H IF T S Y S T E M , ETC.

7. Another grave difficulty is to be found in irregular hours o f work, the shift
system and “ split turns.” Large groups o f workers are affected by these condi
tions, e. g., railway and tramway workers, postal servants, policemen, miners,
and restaurant and hotel employees, while for domestic servants and house
w ives it is notorious that their “ work is never done.”
*

Tramway employees may be taken as an example o f “ split ” turns. It is
common for them to w ork approximately from 5.30 to 8 a. m., from 12 noon
to 1.30 p. m., and from 4 p. m. to 8.30 p. m. A group o f London students have
clearly expressed the objection to broken periods o f la bor:
Split turns mean little or no actual leisure * * * it is essential that
leisure hours be regular and taken when the m ajority o f workers are at leis-

IN T E R IM REPORT IK RELATION TO ADULT EDUCATION.

lire. To have spare time when the m ajority are at work means no opportunity
for association.
The effects o f split periods o f work are not confined to the workers them
selves, but react upon the conditions o f home life, add immensely to the cares
o f the already overburdened housewife, and make impossible any opportunities
which otherwise she might have had for recreation and education.
The “ shift system ” is far more common than the “ split turn ” system, and
affects in the aggregate a large number o f workers. Certain classes o f rail
way workers are subject to alternations o f turns. A locomotive fireman says :
My principal difficulty is because one week I am on early turn and on the
next week late turn, which means that I can only attend [the class] alternate
weeks.
*

Practically all miners work on the “ shift system.” * * * A miner in
the Durham coal field thus explains the difficulties placed in the way o f wouldbe students by the shift system :
For those who are willing to attend classes difficulties are awaiting in the
shape o f inconvenient shift*. * * * I f the student is a coal hewer, he can
attend two weeks out o f three; the third week he has to be at work during
class hours. * * * For the rest o f the miners anything like regular attend
ance at evening classes is practically an impossibility. The coal hewer’s w ork
ing hours for three working shifts in most collieries in this county (D ur
ham) are generally from 4 a. m. to 10 p. m .; one shift finishes at 11 a. m.,
the second shift at 4 p. m., and the third shift, 10 p. m. Other classes than
the coal hewers work different hours and shifts. * * * The first class who
are prevented from attending regularly are those who do work down the mine
other than coal hewing, a large number o f whom are between the ages o f 14
and 22. There is in every mine a number between 18 and 22 years o f age
who, if they were not prevented by their shift system, would make suitable
students. This class o f labor works under a two-shift system, generally com
mencing about 5.30 a. m. and finishing about 9.30 p. m. The first shift ends
about 2 p. m. and the second shift commences about 1.15 p. m. The result
is that as fortnightly turns are the general practice, attendance at an even
ing class would mean two attendances alternated by two absences. Then
there are the men who always work during the night. F or them attendance
at any class in the evening, except Saturday evening, is im possible; and yet
I know men belonging to both the former and the latter desirous o f attending
classes.3
The position is summarized by a tutorial class organizer as follow s:
It is no exaggeration to say that in any industrial districts hundreds o f
would-be students are prevented from taking up courses o f study owing to the
fact that they work on a shift system, which means generally that they are
only able to attend classes once in two weeks, or once in three weeks, ac
cording as they are employed on the two-shift or three-shift system, and that
therefore they can not secure any continuity o f study. Yet so keen are some
that rather than be shut out altogether they w ill join a class and attend when
they can, which means a ¥ery considerable effort o f will. It is difficult enough
with a two-shift system, but a three-shift system is perfectly demoralizing,
as it leaves a man free first in the morning, then in the afternoon, and then
in the evening, in consecutive w eeks; and this carried on throughout the year
really shuts him out from any continued participation in the higher things
of life. F or many reasons part-time education for those engaged in earning
a livelihood takes place almost invariably in the evening hours, and the writer
has seen groups o f would-be students who have wished to take up serious
study denied the fulfilment o f their desire for a fuller life through education
owing to the conditions o f their daily work.
3 P rev io u s to th e w ar w e un d erstan d about a th ird o f th e co llieries in N orthum berland
and ra th er m ore in D urham w orked th e th ree-sh ift system . M any o f th ese w ere th e
larger collieries, so th a t th e num ber o f m en so affected w ould be greater p rop ortion ally
th a n th e number o f collieries.

APPEN D IX B.

The effect o f the shift system on the domestic life o f the worker, and. there
fore on the opportunities for education o f himself and the other adult mem
bers o f his fam ily, must .also be considered. It is clear that the working of
the household is determined by the conditions governing the employment o f the
male members* There can consequently be no opportunities for leisure for
the women folk to cultivate wider interests. Those domestic conditions, the
outcome o f the shift system, react also upon the men in destroying what op
portunities there otherwise might bo for home study. This vicious circle per
petuates a system within which it is difficult to develop permanent intellectual
and social interests.
N IG H T

WORK.

8. “ Shift work ” means, as a rule, frequent periods o f night work, though
It is well to remember that there are many who regularly w ork during the night.
This is true not merely o f people like night watchmen (w ho are usually elderly
m en ), but o f groups o f workers like night w ool combers. The opinions we
have received on the question o f night work indicate a strong opposition to it.
Perhaps no set o f industrial conditions is so strongly condemned. It is de
scribed with unfailing regularity as “ unnatural.” A member o f the Amalga
mated Society o f Engineers speaks o f the night worker as living under “ the
blackened sky o f everlasting night.” Strong objection is taken to it on the
ground that it requires too great a sacrifice o f individual freedom and the
normal methods o f life to industrial purposes. A railw ay worker expresses
him self as follow s:
T o be engaged upon night w ork is the greatest o f all handicaps to the stu
dent. Most o f the ordinary educational opportunities are closed to him, and
even when chance brings to his door a morning or afternoon lecture, he usually
has to forego sleep to attend. Night workers suffer from an insufficiency o f
sleep in an attempt, which is usually a failure, to live an ordinary life. * * *
The inability to take part in civic and social activities creates a grave griev
ance.
A printer’s manager in a northern town sa ys:
It seems to me a topsy-turvy sort o f w orld that sends one mass o f men to
toil and the rest to bed at the same time. It is possible to devise classes to
fit a shift system, but it strikes me as a ridiculous sort o f proceeding— put
ting the cart before the horse. T o produce a highly-developed personality,
which education really stands for, is more important than producing a night
wool comber, and instead o f making the more important subservient to the less
important, as we have done for so long, we should insist on industrial ar
rangements being made to fit in with our educational requirements.
*

The general evidence shows that nightwork is more exhausting than day
work, that the nightworker requires longer hours o f sleep, that the noise o f
traffic and the perform ance o f domestic duties interfere w ith sleep, and that
nightworkers are either periodically or permanently cut off from the normal
life o f the community and participation in its organized activities. Public
work and education become well nigh impossible. W e are therefore inclined
to agree w ith a Birmingham mechanic who sa y s: “ O f all the evils which in
fest industrial life nightwork is the most damnable.”
R E CO M M EN D A TIO N S REGARDING H O U R S OF LABOR.

9. It is outside the terms o f reference o f the committee to examine in all
their bearings the problems o f industrial reconstruction, but w e wish to draw
attention to the grave educational disability under which so large a propor
tion o f the working population live owing to the conditions and circumstances

IN T E R IM REPORT IN RELATION TO ADULT EDUCATION.

o f industrial life. It is difficult, indeed impossible, and at tlie same time il
logical, to attempt to consider economic conditions purely from tlie point o f
view o f tlieir influence on adult education and apart from the other just claims
o f the individual to opportunities for a full life. W e are aware that many
complicated considerations must b e ta k e n into account, but we are convinced
that long or irregular hours o f labor, nightwork and the “ shift system ” de
prive those who suffer from them o f the freedom that all men prize and the
community o f the full service o f its citizens. The moral loss, both to the in
dividual and society» from conditions which thwart the desire for self-expres
sion and public service, it is impossible to calculate.
( a ) A shorter working day.
From the point o f view o f education and o f participation in public activi
ties (which we regard as one o f the most valuable means o f education), we
are o f opinion that one o f the greatest needs is the provision o f a greater
amount o f leisure tim e; this is the more necessary because o f the increasing
strain o f modern life. The view sometimes held that the community must
necessarily suffer economic loss as a result o f a shortening o f working hours
is not one to which modern economic science lends any confirmation, and has,
indeed, received an impressive practical refutation from the inquiries into
the relation between output and working hours conducted on behalf o f the
ministry o f munitions during the present war. The unduly long hours which
still obtain in many industries are, in fact, but a legacy from the traditions
o f a half ,a century and more ago, and persist in the face o f scientific proof
o f their uneconomical results.
In order, therefore, that people may have better opportunities o f devoting
themselves to the things o f the mind and to interests outside the daily round
o f toil, we recommend a reduction o f the working day. It is obviously impos
sible for the committee to enter here into the many economic questions in
volved, but from the point o f view o f opportunities for education and self
development, it regards a general shortening o f the working day as indispensa
ble in wage-earning occupations in the manufacturing, distributive, and com
mercial employments o f the country. W e think that the maximum legal w ork
ing day should not be more than eight hours if men and women are to take
part in the intellectual and social activities o f the community. W e recognize
the difficulties with regard to agriculture and certain other occupations, where,
though there is need for a considerable reduction o f hours, great elasticity
w ill be required in adopting any general schemes. In certain heavy and ex
hausting kinds o f work, and those accompanied by special disabilities, eight
hours appear to us too long.
(ft) The reduction o f overtim e.
The limitation o f the working day would not in itself yield the desired result
unless at the same time steps were taken to minimize overtime employment
(which, as many point out, is often another name for long h ours). In certain
industries the further limitation o f overtime would be attended by consider
able difficulties, but perhaps the greater part o f the overtime worked in the
past was the result not so much o f inherent conditions as o f a lack o f ade
quate industrial organization. In some trades overtime during certain periods
o f the year has become stereotyped as part o f the normal system, and we can
not but feel that, in some degree at least, it would be possible to spread work
more uniformly throughout the year. It is well known that in the past indus

APPEN D IX B.

try has with considerable success adapted itself to the restrictions imposed
by the State in the interests o f the community. W e see no reason to believe
that a stricter limitation o f overtime would not be followed, in many cases,
by the discovery and adoption o f more effective methods o f regularizing em
ployment. The present factory act, which allows an aggregate number o f days
overtime per year does not, in our judgment, sufficiently safeguard the leisure
o f the workers. As overtime prevents the full participation o f working people
in intellectual and social pursuits, we recommend that, side by side with the
shortening o f the normal working day, overtime should be more closely regu
lated and reduced to a minimum. Otherwise the advantage gained by reduced
hours would be largely neutralized.
W e believe that with the improved industrial organization which is fore
shadowed, the eradication o f chronic overtime does not present insuperable
difficulties, though special arrangements would probably need to be made to
meet sudden emergencies.
(c ) Shorter working w eek for w orkers with irregular hours.
Those workers whuse hours o f labor are irregular need special consideration.
W hile we realize the difficulties in regularizing hours o f employment in all
occupations, it is probable that much might be done to insure much greater
regularity o f hours than now prevails. Where, however, the w ork is o f such
a kind as to seem to render this impossible in the present stage o f industrial
organization, w^e are o f opinion that workers whose hours o f labor are ir
regular should be compensated by a working week less than the normal, which
would allow them two days in seven free from wage-earning employment.
( d ) Short “ shifts.”
The case o f “ shift ” workers presents a somewhat different problem. Where
workers are employed pn continuous processes, and in essential services (e. g.,
railways and postal service), “ s h ift ” working appears to be inevitable. In
these circumstances, the interests o f the community will be best served by a
reduction o f the normal working-day. A good many shift workers, however,
are not engaged upon continuous processes. The choice here appears to lie
between the satisfaction o f the claims o f maximum production and the claims
o f the human being. W e frankly say that if the desire for maximum output
can not be realized without robbing the human being o f his opportunities for
full participation in the organized life o f society and its educational facilities,
we would unhesitatingly give preference to the satisfaction o f the claims of
the human being. It may be argued, indeed,, that the satisfaction o f his
claim depends upon the amount o f production. But, while there is a close
connection between wealth and welfare, we do not regard material wealth as
being so large a factor in welfare as the argument assumes. I f the question
o f production were one o f supplying the elementary needs o f human life, the
argument might be regarded as valid, but the productive capa«ity o f modern
industry has carried us far beyond that stage o f economic development. W hat
we wish to emphasize is the importance o f having regard, in the first place,
to the human factor in industry. W e therefore think that on educational
grounds where “ shift ” working continues, the length o f the shift should be
reduced to less than the normal working-day.
( e)

L i m i t a t i o n of n i g h t w o r k .

W e also recommend that, except where it is absolutely essential, regular
nightwork, whether periodical or continuous, should be prohibited by law.

IN T E R IM REPORT IN RELATION TO AD ULT EDUCATION.
M ON OTONOUS W O R K .

10. W e have also considered how far employment in certain monotonous
industrial processes is a drawback to adult education. There is a large
amount o f repetition work in industry which may take the form either o f semi
automatic hand processes (such as filling, packing, and labeling, in the soap,
chocolate, cocoa, tobacco, and other industries) or o f minding automatic or
semiautomatic machines which in many industries have superseded hand labor.
Tw o theories hold the field. There are those who consider that ^monotonous
form s o f labor which require no intellectual application, leave the mind o f
the worker free and unexhausted by his duties, and that while pursuing his
daily task the intelligent worker browses upon those subjects in which he
is interested. On the other hand, it is held that monotonous work dulls the
mind, destroys initiative, and gradually stifles all intellectual interests, with
the result that educational facilities offer little or no attraction.
*

A Swindon engineer says:
I f work o f a monotonous sort is excessive, it wTill dull the wits o f elderly
men unless the physical motion required becomes purely mechanical and the
brain is trained to be active in another direction * * *. It should be
possible, if education was continued from the elementary school onward, to
make monotonous occupation an educational advantage.
*

An ex-tutorial class student in the Midlands w rites:
There are some industrial processes which are excessively monotonous, and
which make no demand upon the mind or initiative o f the worker, such as,
for instance, the turning o f a wheel, or the treading o f a lathe all day, in
which occupation the worker is nothing more than a mere animal used for his
muscular strength, with the result that all mental activities seem to be dead
ened and almost- paralyzed. The writer has experienced the enormous diffi
culty o f getting persons in such employment to take any interest whatever
in things o f the mind, and has in the cases o f those few who took up courses
o f study seen with what difficulty the mind was awakened. Sitting beside
these workers in a class for several years, and comparing them with the
normal worker, it seemed as if their minds were sunk in a kind o f stupor.
In all other respects the circumstances o f these workers were those o f their
fellow students; sometimes they were brought up in the same hom es; so that
as a result o f a long experience the writer is convinced that these differences
in mental alertness were the result o f the daily occupation. Indeed, to one
who has constantly seen these people at their work, it is clear that in nine
cases out o f ten this must be the effect.
A considerable amount o f scientific research has been made into the various
aspects o f industrial fatigue, and there is now a large body o f evidence with
regard to the relation between monotonous work and fatigue. It has recently
been pointed out that—
Monotonous w ork— and much industrial w ork is monotonous— offers some
special problems. It has been seen that uniform ly repeated acts tend to be
come in a sense “ automatic,” and that the nerve centers concerned become
less liable to fatigue— the time ratio o f necessary rest to action is diminished.
But when monotonous series are repeated, fatigue may appear in what may
fee called the psychical field, and a sense o f monotony may diminish the ca
pacity for work. This is analogous to, if it does not represent, a fatigue
process in unrecognized nerve centers. Conversely, “ interest ” may improve
the working capacity even for a uniform monotonous activity.4
W riting on this subject in her book Fatigue and Efficiency (p. 59), Miss
Goldmark sa ys:
I f concentration and subdivision are part o f the new efficiency, they are
part, too, o f its new strain. So fa r as the workers are concerned,^subdivision
4

G reat B rita in M in istry o f M unitions.

r e p o r t on in d u str ia l efficiency and fa tig u e .

147319°— 20------- 6

H ea lth o f m u n ition w orkers com m ittee in terim
L ondon, 1 9 1 7 [Cd. 8 5 1 1 ], p. 1 1 .

A PPEN D IX B.

and concentration are added hardships o f the long day. For they lead to
that monotony which results from the endless repetition o f the same opera
tions, and against which the human spirit innately revolts. Monotony, indeed,
may make highly taxing to our organism work which is ordinarily considered
light and easy. This may be observed in many different occupations.
From a careful consideration o f the inform ation we have received, we have
arrived at the conclusion that the effects o f monotonous work depend largely
upon the strength o f the intellectual interests o f the worker and upon the
nature o f the worker’s tem perament Something also depends upon the pace
o f working, as where the process is perform ed with great rapidity the effects o f
monotony are intensified. Young workers employed on monotonous processes
easily succumb to the deadening influences o f their daily work. And if they
continue upon work o f this character, the evil results pointed out above
appear almost inevitable. On the other hand, workpeople who already possess
wide interests strongly developed when they enter upon monotonous work,
may, if the hours be not excessive, not only survive the crushing effects o f
their labor, but may find counterbalancing advantages in the opportunity for
reflection. In many cases, as some witnesses explain, people o f sensitive
temperament, however wide their interests— and, indeed, because o f them—
w ill regard regular monotonous labor with the greatest distaste.
Recommendations regarding w orkers engaged on monotonous toorJc.
W e have already recommended the establishment o f a shorter working-day,
w hich w ill go far to relieve the worker from the worst consequences o f
monotonous toil. In addition, we think that alternating form s o f employ
ment should be encouraged, in order to give interest and variety, which
would counteract the depressing effects o f continuous engagement on monoto
nous processes. Opportunities for the exercise o f initiative should also be
looked for. In the establishment o f w orks’ committees in places o f employ
ment we see possibilities o f the creation o f new industrial interests and the
development o f a machinery for a fu ll consideration o f matters affecting work
shop life, among which w e may specify those concerning monotony o f employ
ment. Repetition work is likely to become more and more prevalent, and it
w ill require the best efforts o f those engaged in industry to devise ways by
means o f which its extension shall not be accompanied by a progressive
deterioration in the interests and intellectual quality o f the workers engaged
upon it. The more industry becomes a matter o f machinery, the more neces
sary it becomes to humanize the w orking o f the industrial system.
H E A V Y A N D E X H A U S T IN G W O R K .

11.
In spite o f the development o f mechanical appliances there still remains
in many industries a considerable amount o f w ork o f a very heavy and ex
hausting character. It is not necessary to labor the point that w ork which
requires the constant expenditure o f an excessive amount o f physical and
nervous energy must necessarily deprive the workers o f the vigor w hich might
otherwise be devoted to the pursuit o f personal interests and public affairs.
Clearly none but the strongest spirits can prevail against the effects o f pro
tracted heavy toil. It is not merely a question o f muscular fatigue, but also,
and even more particularly, one o f nervous exhaustion. A s is pointed out by
the health o f munition workers com m ittee: *
The fatigue is fatigue o f the nervous system, though in sensation its effects
may be referred to the muscles themselves. The problems, then, o f industrial
6
G reat B r ita in M in istry o f M unitions. H e a lth o f m u n ition w orkers com m ittee in terim
r ep o rt on in d u s tr ia l efficiency and fa tig u e. London, 1 9 1 7 (Cd. 8 5 1 1 ) , p. 9 .

IN T E R IM REPORT IN RELATION TO AD U LT EDUCATION.

fatigue are principally, and almost wholly, problems o f fatigue in the nervous
system and o f its direct and indirect effects.
Where a workman has completed a day’s w ork o f reasonable length and
not too arduous in character lie may turn with zest and profit to other pur
suits ; but if his hours have been too long or his work too exhausting his fund
o f nervous energy w ill be too depleted for him to engage in any kind o f
serious study. This is borne out by the evidence o f an experienced student
in the potteries, who, having recently undertaken exhausting w ork as a furnace
laborer, has been obliged to give up the greater part o f his studies and intel
lectual interests.
*

A group o f students consulted by a tutor on the question o f exhausting w ork
agreed that on the whole certain groups o f workers rarely show an interest in
education, and this they attribute to the nature o f their employment, e. g . :
Forge men, chemical workers, glass workers, and stokers seldom take up
systematic educational work.
One university lecturer has found that—
excessively arduous tasks, such as steel workers and molders or tin-plate
workers perform, * * * make it difficult, if not well-nigh impossible, for
good work to be done; whereas cobblers, shopkeepers, and quarry men, car
penters, clerks, and farm laborers could benefit considerably and w rote striking
essays.
The evidence is not to be taken as meaning that in the heavier trades the
workers are all too sunk in the torpor o f excessive exhaustion to be alive to
intellectual and other interests, but rather that it is only the exceptional
workers who retain sufficient energy to occupy their minds with intellectual
and similar pursuits.
There can be no doubt that excessive labor regularly pursued degrades
those who follow it. W e do not think that any economic reasons can be urge^
in justification o f its continuance. The sacrifice o f health, o f vigor, or o f
both, and o f opportunities for engaging in the full round o f educational, social,
and political activities to the supposed needs o f industry would not, we are
convinced, be tolerated in this country if the facts were more generally known.
R E CO M M EN D A TIO N S REGARDING H E A V Y FO RM S OF W O R K .

W e recommend that, after inquiry, particularly exhausting occupations
should be scheduled and more closely regulated by law. The hours o f labor
should be shortened to much below the maximum day that we have suggested.
Special regulations are also needed in order to minimize the effects o f arduous
processes and trades. It appears that in the same processes, whilst m achineiy
is used in some places, in others manual workers are still employed to do, the
work. W e strongly urge that wherever possible mechanical devices should be
introduced, so that these heavy, degrading form s o f labor shall be altogether
superseded.
U NEM PLOYM ENT.

12; The evil effects o f unemployment upon both the individual and the com
munity are so obvious and w ell known as to need no elaboration here. It is
clear that a period o f unemployment, especially if prolonged, unfits a man fo r
any participation in educational and intellectual pursuits and in social activi
ties. The urgent need o f finding work, the wearing anxiety as to the present
and future maintenance o f himself and his fam ily, make mental concentration

A P P E N D IX B .

upon anything else than the struggle fo r existence an impossibility. It is the
decent, self-respecting citizen who, finding him self unemployed by no fault
o f his own, but through the exigencies o f industry, suffers m ost; and it is
precisely this kind o f man, because o f his very self-respect, who can not bring
him self to take advantage o f the means ( so often savoring o f “ charity ” and
the poor law ) provided for alleviating distress caused by unemployment. As
all observers are agreed, the result is, save in very exceptional cases, physical
and mental deterioration. Moreover, should unemployment be prolonged be
yond a certain point, it is often found that the process o f deterioration has gone
too far for the victim entirely to retrieve his position, and thus a permanent
loss is inflicted on the nation’s citizens. A ll the statements submitted to the
committee on this point are unanimous in stating that the inevitable result o f
unemployment upon even the keenest student is to cause him to relinquish
his studies and to lose touch with his form er intellectual and social interests.
A class secretary, speaking o f his many years’ experience in a large industrial
town, sa y s:
^
Unemployment, when all the future is uncertain, is even more distressing
and demoralizing. The writer has seen keen, able students suddenly unem
ployed through no fault o f their own steadily deteriorate with the long anxiety
and the daily fruitless search for work— which means a search fo r means o f
subsistence fo r themselves and fam ilies— until they are no longer able to con
tinue or to take pleasure in his stu d ies; and it has been distressing to see such
students who form erly were moved by the strongest educational desire, fall to
pieces as it were, and eventually lose touch with the movement. A class secre
tary in constant touch with his fellow students is made to realize, as very few
others can, the evil effects to the individual and the great moral loss to the
community o f some o f the finest o f its citizens, caused by the workers’ inse
curity o f tenure, giving rise to unemployment.
*

A tutorial-class student, form erly employed as a railw ay porter at Reading,
and now on the railw ay clerical staff, s a y s :
Unemployment and short time are both fatal to non vocational education. A
man’s tim e and thought are spent in seeking w ork so that he can live, for he
must live and have at least the bare necessities o f life secured before he can
devote time to education.
There is, in fact, general agreement among tutors, organizers, and students
that the result o f unemployment is to deplete the membership o f classes in
which students are affected, and to withdraw them entirely from their nor
mal sb dal and educational activities; and a number o f those w ho have sub
mitted evidence point oat that In their experience w orkers engaged in trades
peculiarly liable to periods o f unemployment very seldom undertake any kind
o f education work. Several give it as their opinion that security o f tenure
in employment Is necessary If fu ll opportunities fo r personal development are
to be realized. * * *
The uncertainty o f employment which is so marked a feature o f m odem in
dustry, is by no means confined to workers in the towns. In the rural areas
it is often intensified because so much agricultural employment is dependent
upon climatic conditions and is often dispensed w ith when the weather is not
suitable for outdoor work.
Recom m endations regarding unemployment.

T h is question o f unemployment will, no doubt, be under the consideration o f
the Government in their plans for industrial and social reconstruction, and in
view o f its importance, not only from the point o f view o f the individual but in
the interests o f national welfare, the committee recommend that steps should

IN T E R IM REPORT IN RELATION TO ADULT EDUCATION.

be taken to guarantee to the worker some reasonable security o f livelihood,
either by such a reorganization o f industry as may prevent or minimize fluctu
ations in the volume o f production, or, where that is impossible, by some exten
sion o f the principle o f insurance which would protect the wage earner against
the ruinous effects o f such fluctuations as can not be prevented.
It is not within the committee’s province to suggest in detail the means by
which this should be accomplished, but they believe that recent investigations
have gone to show that unemployment could be largely, if not entirely, eradi
cated by means o f better industrial organization, with results that would be o f
advantage ^o the worker and all others concerned in industry, as well as to
the community at large.
H O L ID A Y S .

18.
In pursuing their inquiries the committee have had brought under their
notice the limitation o f the educational opportunity o f the manual worker
owing to the inadequate provision o f holidays. * * *
At the best the average town worker can only look forw ard to not more
than one week’s leave, and this is often subject to the demands o f industry
permitting, and has almost always to be taken at his own expense. In fact,
it has been pointed out to us that “ the worker, as a general rule, does not
have holidays but periods o f unem ploym ent” That is to say, if he is allowed
to take a holiday he loses his wages for the period, and thus very often is
unable to use a holiday to advantage. During the past few years the facilities
for adult education have been enlarged by the establishment o f summer schools
and vacation courses, held under the auspices o f the universities, the W orkers'
Educational Association, the Cooperative Movement, the Adult School Union,
and other bodies. W hile these schools are well attended by working people
it is usually only the more fortunate who are able to take advantage o f them,
and there is little doubt that the number o f these schools would largely increase
if adequate provision were made for an annual holiday. Many o f those who
do attend at present do so at a sacrifice to themselves and very often to their
families. Indefed, the fact that these sacrifices should be made is one o f the
most convincing pieces o f evidence o f the reality o f the demand for nonvocational education. It means in many cases that the student has to suffer an
economic loss by foregoing his wages, and in practically every case that he
gives up to study his one brief period o f leisure in the year, which he would
otherwise have devoted to a much-needed rest and relaxation from strenuous
pursuits. Referring to the difficulties under which students labor in attend
ing summer courses, a Sheffield railway fireman says:
I attended the O xford Summer School— July, 1917— fo r one week, but was
only able to do so by making a special application for the necessary leave; as
I was only allowed four days’ leave with pay, I actually lost eight working
days, and missed a booked Sunday turn o f duty, and, in wages, including over
time and w ar bonus, lost £1 9s. [$9.49], and that is a serious consideration to
many workers.
A London student says, speaking o f his own ca se :
An annual holiday o f six consecutive days after 15 year’s service certainly
does not allow any margin for attending summer schools * * * Speaking
for myself, I would forego a week’s wages if the State and the employer agreed
upon a fortnight with facilities once a year fo r adult education. The approxi
mate value o f such would be difficult to judge. Adult education, I am sure,
creates a healthy environment, not only in the home circle, but in a healthy
citizenship.
*

A P P E N D IX B*

A Southall workingman engaged in voluntary educational work states that—
Few workers know what a holiday is. Southall is an industrial center, yet
outside the railw ay workers not 5 per cent o f the 5,000 male workers enjoy a
holiday once a yfcar.
The committee’s inquiries show clearly the disabilities under which the aver
age working man and woman suffer either from (1 ) the want o f provision for
an annual holiday o f reasonable length, or (2 ) the economic disability which
accompanies holidays when such are allowed, due to stoppage o f earnings for
the period. In this latter connection many point out that the salaried em
ployee gets usually at least a fortnight’s leave on fu ll pay. TJiis view is
expressed as follow s by a group o f students who have recently been considering
this question :
W e are w illing to accept the view that brain workers are productive workers
as a view wholly and finally reasonable. But we can not see why officials
should receive salaries, through their holiday periods, or long-period salaries
that recognize holiday rights, while workpeople must forego their wages in the
same circumstances. Emphatically, regularly employed workmen should have
a right to— say— two weeks’ or a dozen working days o f holiday on full-time
pay every year.
Recom m endations regarding holidays.

W hile we are primarily concerned with the effect o f the inadequate provision
o f holidays upon opportunities for education, we regard the matter as one o f
general importance and o f much wider application. W e believe that if a rea
sonable holiday without stoppage o f pay were provided it would have a bene
ficial effect upon the national life. Not only would those who had definite
intellectual interests be able in much larger numbers than at present to pursue
them at summer schools, vacation courses, etc., but others would be provided
with increased opportunities for travel and the pursuit o f those things which
make for enlargement o f the mind, while the gain to the public health would
certainly be considerable. It may be that the question o f holidays will, in
the future, be the subject-matter o f agreements between employers and em
ployed,® but in any case we think it important that the present custom among
salaried workers w ith regard to payment during holidays should be extended
to wage earners and incorporated in the factory acts and similar laws. W e are
fully aware o f the great practical difficulties to be overcome in providing a
universal annual holiday, but they do not appear to us to be greater than
those which have already been overcome by factory legislation.
The case o f the agricultural laborer is w orthy o f special consideration. Not
only is the agricultural laborer at present without an annual holiday— in which
respect he is no worse off than many town workers— but he does not even enjoy
the weekly half-holiday. W ith the exception o f special groups o f workers, such
as those engaged in transport work, continuous processes, etc., the weekly
half-holiday is universal in the manufacturing and distributive trades. The
annual week’s holiday is as necessary to the agricultural laborer as to the
town worker. It is equally Important in our view that the weekly half-holiday
should be extended by law to workers engaged in agriculture, and that rural
workers who are engaged regularly on Sunday work should be given a week
day off in compensation.
® W e u n d e r s t a n d t h a t a n a g r e e m e n t h a s r e c e n t ly b e e n a r r iv e d a t In t h e c h e m ic a l in d u s
try

w h ereb y

th e

w ork ers en gaged

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o b ta in

a n n u a l w e e k ’s

h o lid a y

w it h

pay.

IN T E R IM REPORT IN RELATIO N TO AD ULT ED U CATION .

T H E EFFECTS OF T H E IN D U S T R IA L BACKGROU N D.

14.
So far w e have been concerned with specific industrial obstacles to adult
education. But beyond this there is the important question o f the relation o f
the whole industrial organization to the intellectual, aesthetic and spiritual life
o f the nation. It is precisely with these aspects o f the life o f the community
that adult nonvocational educational is primarily concerned. The problem o f
the reaction o f industrial organization upon the character and intelligence o f
the people is, therefore, one o f the utmost importance to the committee.
The modern industrial system has undoubtedly solved the problem^ o f supply
ing the material needs o f the w orld’s population. To that task the energies o f
the past century and a h alf have been largely devoted. It w ill be generally
agreed that this is the primary function o f economic society. The progressive
increase in productivity has not, however, been an unmixed gain. The gross
evils o f a century ago, when large masses o f the working population lived in
abject misery and labored under conditions o f the most revolting and degrad
ing character, have been largely overcome. But there still remain serious evils
which must be eradicated in the interests o f social well-being. Several causes,
the growth o f voluntary combinations, the action o f far-sighted and enlight
ened employers, and the intervention of the State, have already led the way
tow ard vastly Improved industrial conditions. But, largely as the heritage o f
an evil system which was tolerated in the past, evil conditions still, too often,
obtain. The rising standard o f life, the spread o f knowledge, the developing
aspirations o f labor, and the increasing sense o f responsibility among' em
ployers, will most certainly involve a reorganization o f the industrial system.
It would take us far beyond the scope o f our inquiry i f we were to embark
either on a detailed analysis o f the extent and degree to which industrial life
conflicts with the trend o f social and political thought, and with the growing
desire o f men and women for the satisfaction o f other than material needs,
or on speculations as to the precise methods by which the industrial system can
be woven harmoniously into the general design o f our social and political
institutions. The defects o f the industrial organization o f society and the need
for a readaptation to meet the requirements o f a new epoch are now generally
recognized.
'
The reports o f the chief inspector o f factories, the reports o f the health o f
munition workers committee, and the other official documents, together with the
inquiries o f private investigators, are convincing evidence o f the drain on physi
cal health and strength which still continues from day to day in industry.
It has recently been pointed out that “ our national experience in modern
industry is longer than that o f any other people. It has shown clearly enough
that false ideas o f economic gain, blind to physiological law, must lead, as they
led through the nineteenth century, to vast national loss and suffering.” 7
The revulsion against long hours, exhausting form s o f labor and monotonous
employment is fully justified by the results o f scientific research. The fear o f
unemployment which hangs like a heavy cloud over so many breadwinners
brings a sense o f insecurity into the life o f the worker, and deprives him o f all
incentive to take a whole-hearted interest in the various activities which are
a necessary accompaniment o f a complete life. In such circumstances, is it
not surprising that he makes so much response to the appeals o f science, litera
ture, music, art, and the drama, and exerts so much effort to equip him self for
the responsibilities o f citizenship? The same is true o f the worker whose wages
7 Great Britain M inistry o f Munitions. Health o f munition workers committee interim
report on industrial efficiency and fatigue. London, 1917 [Cd. 8511), p. 16.

APPEN D IX B.

are inadequate to supply the necessaries o f life to him self and his dependents,
or at dny rate to enable him to provide the com forts and refinements which
are indispensable to any real participation in the advantages o f membership
o f a civilized society. A s a university lecturer points o u t: “ The workmen
demands (a ) security o f tenure, (&) adequate wages, (c ) freeing from the
limitations which our present specialism imposes upon him. To hand out doses
o f education while these things are ungranted will be to play with the prob
lem. You can not * educate ’ a man whose uppermost thought is the economic
‘ struggle fo r existence.* ”
Nor can a spirit o f intelligent and responsible
citizenship be readily developed in those whose mainspring to activity is a
continual struggle fo r the bare necessaries o f physical existence.
These are not the only defects o f industry which react unfavorably upon the
life o f the community. W hilst the physical conditions which obtain over a
considerable section o f the industrial field are seen to be injurious to both
individual and social well-being, the subtle mental influences o f industrial life
are only too often antisocial in their effects. W e are thinking o f the long
evolution which has subjected man to mechanism. It is true that men control
m achines; but those who control are few as compared with the many who are
controlled. The age o f mechanical development, with its necessary accompani
ment o f the growth o f large firms as units and o f a centrally controlled ad-1
ministration, has effectively degraded the worker until, as the common saying
is, he has become “ a mere cog in the machine.” There can be no doubt that
the degradation o f human beings to the position o f mere “ hands,” and the
treatment o f labor as a commodity to be bought and sold, has created a revolt
in the minds o f a large section o f the community. The conditions o f industrial
life have only too often outraged human personality. Long hours o f labor, it is
true, are economically unjustifiable, but the real objection o f those who suffer
from them is that they are both the cause and the consequence o f conditions
adverse to the realization o f personal freedom. W e have made no specific
investigation into the effects upon character and mentality o f the sacrifice
o f sound workmanship to rapidity o f production, or o f w ork which is manifestly
dishonest. Nevertheless, it seems to us to be undeniable that these conditions
can not exist without reacting upon the minds and characters o f those engaged
in such work.
W hile a very large proportion o f the working population has not clearly
form ulated its fundamental objections to the conditions and circumstances of
industrial life, the articulate minority is placing an increasing emphasis upon
what may be called the moral factors. There is undoubtedly a growing feel
ing o f dissatisfaction on the part o f workpeople with what they regard as
their position o f inferiority. This inferiority, it is urged, is due to a forced
submission to undesirable conditions, to the subjection o f the worker both
to the machine and to the will o f others, who are vested with an authority
in which the workers have no share. The new currents o f thought, which
during the past few years have increasingly agitated labor, are a sign o f a
deep-seated reaction against the dehumanizing influences surrounding indus
trial life. One o f the most insistent demands made by the rising generation
o f workers is for what is called “ industrial control.” The view which they
hold is that the subordination o f the worker to an industrial policy and to
regulations for which they are not themselves directly responsible is unjusti
fiable, because it is inconsistent with the rights and obligations which ought
to be inherent in membership o f any organized group within society. They
believe that industrial democracy is as essential to individual freedom as politi
cal democracy.

IN T E R IM REPORT IN RELATION TO ADU LT ED U CATIO N .

The movement is significant, because it gives evidence o f a growing desire for
new responsibilities. It is true that existing obligations are not by any means
always fulfilled. But that fact, it is argued, is na valid reason for refusing
to recognize the existence o f a demand for new responsibilities. Such con
siderations raise large and difficult problems on which we do not propose
to enter. But it is generally admitted, we think, that from the point o f view
o f both the individual and the community it is desirable that the new claims
should somehow be m e t W e are not concerned with the methods which should
be adopted, but with the problem o f the reaction upon human personality o f
the conditions o f industrial life, and with the fundamental criticism that the
present industrial system offers little opportunity for the satisfaction of* the
intellectual, social, and artistic impulses.
I f that issue be approached from the standpoint suggested by the terms o f
our reference, it is not possible, in our view, to accept the suggestion sometimes
advanced that the exigencies o f industrial efficiency are o f such paramount im
portance that the development o f personality must inevitably and rightly be
subordinated to them. W e do not admit, indeed, that there is any necessary
antithesis between the interest o f the community in industrial efficiency and its
interest in strengthening the character and developing the intelligence o f its
citizens, for it is on their character and intelligence that even its material
wealth ultimately depends. But industry exists for man, not man for industry,
and if it be true, as it is, that modern industrial conditions have often tended
to deprive the worker o f the education which he previously derived from the
intrinsic interest offered by his work, that fact makes it doubly important, we
suggest, to supplement their deficiencies by a humane and generous educational
policy.
Many working people are realizing the need fo r education, and are now
meeting together for this purpose under the auspices o f various organizations.
Evidence was brought before the committee showing that certain employers, who
have themselves enjoyed the benefits o f a wide education, have approached the
question o f nonvocational education in a highly commendable spirit, and have pro
vided for their workpeople facilities for humanistic studies. It is much to be
hoped that the immediate future w ill witness a growth o f this spirit among
employers generally.
Before the rise o f the present industrial system the craftsman had pleasure
in his handiwork. It was, indeed, the main source o f his education. W ith a
simpler economic mechanism, the relation between the producer and the con
sumer was far more intimate than it is to-day. There was, therefore, a closer
connection between the production o f commodities and their use. Society was
but slightly differentiated, and lit tle artificial distinction was drawn between
the economic and other activities o f the community. W hilst modern industry
has multiplied the commodities within the reach o f the consumer, it has un
doubtedly lost many o f the humanizing and educative features which were
characteristic o f the earlier economic organization.
The introduction o f
mechanical power, the rise o f the large factory and the joint-stock company,
the subdivision and specialization o f processes, the development o f foreign
trade and the separation o f the producer o f a commodity from the consumer,
the gradual social differentiation between the employer and his workpeople,
have tended to deprive large numbers o f workers o f living interest in their work.
It is not surprising that workpeople engaged upon a narrow specialized process,
or in the manufacture o f commodities which give little satisfaction in their
production, should find little real interest in their work. They come to regard
industry as being carried on for private gain rather than for the service o f the

A PPEN D IX B .

community. Technical Instruction, therefore, which might seem to offer oppor
tunities for fuller self-expression is, only too often, as we have already pointed
out, deemed to be a device* not so much for the better satisfaction o f the com
munity’s material needs as for the further exploitation o f the worker. It was,
perhaps, inevitable that with the growth o f large-scale industry evils o f this
kind should arise. It is important, however, that the community should realize
that the specialized, mechanical, and monotonous labor, which form s so large
a part o f our industrial activities, has robbed society o f one o f the most power
fu l instruments o f education. W hile it is undoubtedly true that the modern
consumer enjoys products unknown to his forefathers, and that there has been
a considerable rise in the standard o f life in the course o f the last h alf cen
tury, it is nevertheless equally true that the people o f to-day are surrounded by
articles o f use and ornament which have few claims to utility or beauty. Thus
econ©mic activity tends too often to revolve in a vicious circle. On the one
hand, sound and careful handicraft has been superseded in a large degree by
the wholesale production o f things which have degraded public taste; on the
other hand, the public demand continues to support the production o f articles
which add little or nothing to the beauty o f the environment, and which some
times do not even satisfactorily fulfill their purpose. The producer, himself a
member o f the army o f consumers, is thus required to cooperate in the manu
facture o f commodities which make little demand upon his creative powers and
supply little stimulus to good workmanship. The ideal industrial system would,
in a large measure, obliterate the sharp distinction now made between “ techni
cal ” and “ humane ” education, for it would offer means o f self-expression and
development which under the existing industrial organization are too often
lacking, and would recognize the educational value o f manual processes and the
influence o f soundly manufactured commodities upon public taste and social
values. I f such a system seems remote, it is the more important to encourage
through education every development which may tend toward the elevation o f
public taste, the growth o f a new pride in workmanship, and the rise o f a new
spirit o f service in industry.
T H E NEED FOB A N E W IN D U S T R IA L O UTLOOK.

Adult education and, indeed, good citizenship, depend In no small degree,
therefore, upon a new orientation o f our industrial outlook and activities. Im
proved condition^ and the diffusion o f responsibility for the proper conduct
o f industry w ill strengthen the need for educational opportunities. In so far
as that need is fulfilled, industry w ill gain by a more effective “ industrial citi
zen sh ip/’ and w ill itself become more truly educative. Thus increased oppor
tunities for adult education and the stimulus o f a freer and finer industrial
environment are correlative, and help* to develop each other. Education is to
be measured essentially in terms o f intellectual accomplishment, power o f
sesthetic appreciation, and moral character, and these have little or no oppor
tunity for. realization except through a harmonious environment. Nor is the
environment likely to be substantially modified except in response to the higher
ideals o f social life stimulated by a more prolonged and w idely diffused
education.
(B )

S o c ia l C o n d i t i o n s .
H O U S IN G .

15.
Opportunities fo r education depend to a considerable degree upon the char
acter o f the houses in which the people live. The unsatisfactory condition o f

IN T E R IM REPORT IN RELATIO N TO AD U LT EDU CATION .

working-class housing, as regards both quality and quantity, in town and coun
try alike, is now realized on all hands. This problem, though accentuated by
causes arising out o f the war, existed even before the w ar in an acute form.
Nearly half the population o f England and W ales (48.2 per cent) before the
war were living in houses with more than 1 person per room. There were
39.1 per cent o f the population housed in tenements with over 1 but not more
than 2 persons per room, while 1 in 11 o f the population (9.1 per cent) were
crowded more than 2 in a room.
Serious as these figures are, the Scottish returns are even more serious. In
Scotland 43.6 per cent o f the population were in 1911 living more than 2 in a
room, over a fifth (21.1 per cent) were living m ore than 3 in a room, while 1 in
every 12 (8.3 per cent) were living under such conditions o f overcrowding that
there were more than 4 persons per room.
It is clear, therefore, that the m ajority o f the people are badly housed. Eten
the best type o f workman’s dwelling is only too often Inconvenient In its ar
rangement and lacking in reasonable accommodation. In the .older houses,
which so large a proportion o f the working population inhabit, there is little
privacy and comfort. Home life, in consequence, must suffer.
A Birmingham cabinetmaker s a y s:
W e are not housed. There are only sleeping and eating compartments.
Usually everything has to be done in one room, especially In the winter, as the
expense o f keeping more than one room warmed could not be considered.
Such conditions, it is only too obvious, militate against the full use and right
enjoyment of life. It is difficult, often indeed impossible, fo r badly housed men
and women to develop intellectual interests, and where such interests have been
developed, almost insuperable obstacles are offered to their full realization.
The information submitted to the committee on this question is unanimous in
condemning existing housing condition s; and students, teachers, and social w ork
ers are in full agreement as to the very serious handicap imposed on those who
would wish, as one puts it, “ to do more than work, eat, and sleep.” Aji edu-'
cational organizer in an industrial district sa y s:
W retched housing conditions are a great hindrance to students. * * *
Students very rarely come from the more squalid parts o f the district. And no
wonder. The wretched surroundings so damp a man’s aspirations that his whole
outlook is dull and sordid. He becomes attuned to his fate, which is to exist as
well as he can, to indulge in the handiest diversions— and these are not very
intellectual.
A certain amount o f privacy and seclusion are necessary if a student Is to
read, to write essays, and generally to follow up a course o f study or engage
in any intellectual pursuit. In a workman’s cottage, with its one living room,
In which all the domestic activities take place and which is usually the dining
and sitting room as well, such privacy and quiet are impossible until after the
other members o f the household have retired to rest. Many students are so
keen and determined that they strive to overcome the difficulty by sitting up
after the rest o f the fam ily have retired to bed, but this imposes a serious
strain on health, and in many cases ends in a breakdown.
H O U S IN G A N D T H E H O U S E W IF E .

Housing Is essentially a woman’s question. Bad as may be the effects o f
present housing conditions for the man, they are worse for the woman, since
she has to endure them the whole day long. The committee hay© already dealt
w ith the subject o f excessive hours o f labor in some departments o f modern
industry. It is often overlooked that the housewife engaged in domestic duties

A P P E N D IX B .

is in some ways one o f the w orst sufferers from long hours o f work, and is con
sequently largely debarred from participating in educational and social ameni
ties. W ith the extension o f the franchise to some six millions o f women, for
both parliamentary and local government purposes, it is to be expected, and
indeed highly to be desired, that in future women should take a much larger
interest and a more active part in public affairs; and that as a result they
w ill to a much greater extent than in the past turn to the acquisition o f
knowledge to fit themselves for the exercise o f their new responsibilities. For
many women, under present conditions, it w ill not be possible to find time
for these new interests, as even under good conditions, household duties,
especially if there is a fam ily o f young children, are exacting. In some dis
tricts— e. g,, agricultural and certain mining areas— the burden o f the house
w ife is increased by the system under which she is often virtually compelled
or any rate expected, to provide for a lodger or lodgers. W here the shift
system prevails, and to a less degree in the case o f w orkers employed at
irregular hours, the dislocation o f domestic life, the duplication o f meals, etc.,
add to the labors and anxieties o f the housekeeper. W here any o f the members
o f the household are engaged in occupations such as mining, working in clay,
etc., there is more than ordinary need for adequate bathing provision, failing
which the woman o f the house is often put to considerable inconvenience. Her
difficulties are aggravated by the’ present cramped, ill-arranged houses, built
w ithout thought o f convenience, and innocent o f labor-saving devices. For
these reasons, an adequate scheme o f housing reform is o f vital importance to
women, and upon it w ill depend in no sm all measure the extent to which they
will be able to play their part in public affairs, and to develop the intellectual
and social interests which w ill arise therefrom.
TOWN PLANNING.

The question o f housing is intimately concerned with that o f town planning.
The problem is to secure that the whole physical environment shall be healthy
and beautiful. T o build improved dwellings on the old sites in the least
healthy, and the most depressing and crowded quarters o f the town, cheek by
Jowl with the factory and the mine, is to defeat the object in view. W e are,
therefore, strongly o f opinion that in urban districts schemes o f housing
reform should be considered in relation to town planning.
Too little attention has been paid in the past to the reaction o f the physical
environment upon the aesthetic and moral standards o f the people. Contact
with ugly and depressing surroundings tends gradually to dull the finer senses,
and people who, under more favorable circumstances, would shrink from the
drab and sordid environment o f large areas in all our towns, become through
fam iliarity oblivious o f its ugliness. It is as important not to overlook the
subtle degradation o f mean and sordid surroundings as it is to remember
the educational influence, none the less real because unconscious* o f a clean,
healthy, dignified, and beautiful environment.
RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING HOUSING.

W e think it o f the utmost importance, therefore, that the preparation o f
schemes o f housing and town planning should be accelerated and that such
schemes should be drawn up in consultation with the best expert advice avail
able, and in close cooperation with representatives o f the people fo r whom
such schemes are intended. Particularly, we consider it important that repre
sentatives o f women, who are the persons most concerned, should be included

IN T E R IM REPORT IN RELATION TO A D U LT ED UCATIO N.

In the housing and town planning, public health, and other committees deal
ing with this question.
W ith a view to relieving the housewife o f quite unnecessary burdens, and
increasing the com fort o f the home, we recommend that the provision o f ade
quate washing facilities should be required in all places o f employment where
the nature o f the w ork makes it desirable.
T H E BU B AL PROBLEM .

16.
The rural aspect o f social and industrial conditions is one o f consid
erable difficulty and complexity, and needs separate mention. The rural popu
lation is very largely connected with some form o f agriculture.
The social conditions o f country life are so inextricably bound up with the
whole tradition o f rural industry that it is impossible to consider them apart.
W e have urged the need for conditions and opportunities which w ill enable
the individual to develop his interests and his powers through educational
opportunities and social intercourse. From this point o f view the rural popu
lation suffers from special disabilities.
The character o f a great part o f agricultural w ork is such that there is
not that close contact between workers which is possible in factory life, and
which does so much to develop common interests and interchange o f opinion.
The same isolation o f the individual tinges the whole character o f the indus
try, and has always made the organizing o f the rural population for any
purpose exceedingly difficult. Unless the future policy adopted involves either
(a ) an increase in small holdings or (&) the closer grouping o f cottages, this
isolation must to some extent be permanent.
A rural organizer in the W orkers’ Educational Association mentions the
“ little development o f corporate life ” in the villages, and goes on to s a y :
I found, especially in smaller villages with scattered populations, a strong
class prejudice, almost feudal in its intensity. W ithout being able to express
reasons, many were convinced that there was no point o f contact between
landed proprietor, farmer, laborer, and the trades craftsm an o f the urban cities.
A fter long hours o f work in the open air it is only natural that a rural audi
ence tends to be “ i f not downright tired, at all events somewhat sleepy.”
Those workers who tend animals, and who are generally the most active intel
lectually amongst agricultural workers, are especially tied by their duties, and
have to work seven days in the week. In an industry dependent on seasons,
long hours are at times unavoidable, but, generally speaking, these' periods*
o f especial effort are not rewarded by a holiday in slacker times. A Satur
day half-holiday for rural workers is very rare. Indeed, Christmas is generally
the only recognized holiday, except times o f unem ployment
A rural worker w rites:
I have often been told by agricultural workers that they would not know
what to do with a day off if they hadn't got the “ spuds ” to dig, so unused are
they to the idea o f a holiday.
It must be remembered that, though the garden is one o f the countryman’s
chief benefits, he returns home after a full day’s w ork only to prolong that
working day until he can no longer see; so that what would be to the towns
man a relaxation and change o f occupation is really a vital part o f the coun
tryman’s livelihood.
The lack o f organization, coupled with lack o f initiative and movement on
the part o f the rural worker, is largely responsible for the very low rate o f
wages prevalent throughout the industry. In the m ajority o f cases it is true
to say that wages have been so low that the vitality o f the agricultural worker,

A PPEN D IX B.

who is subject to constant muscular strain, has suffered through inadequate
feeding. The rural organizer before quoted sa y s:
Those beyond 25 years o f age were usually so absorbed in making both ends
meet that they had little inclination to take part in w ork o f an educational
character. Villagers below that age did not seem to regard village life as a
permanency.
The development o f continuation schools, properly adapted to the circum
stances o f rural life, would do much to stimulate the rising generation to edu
cational effort, and to take their part in the common activities o f the village.
The rural worker has not "only the ever-present worry o f how to subsist, he
has often the dread o f unemployment in long spells o f wet weather. The result
only too often is general depression and lack o f interest.
“ The rate o f wages in agricultural districts,” says a class tutor from the
eastern counties, “ is so low that individual workers w ill be able to contribute
very little ‘ [tow ard educational d e v e lo p m e n t]” 8
Low wages have accentuated another disability. The housing accommoda
tion in rural areas is very deficient in quantity and very defective in quality,
because the countryman can not afford to pay an economic rent. The lack o f
cottages is very largely resposible for the position o f dependence in which the
country worker finds himself. Country workers can neither form ulate their
demands nor move about freely. The fear o f being without a cottage is always
prevalent in many districts. The over-crowded and insanitary conditions o f
many cottages, not only react on physical well-being, but render impossible
the privacy which at times is a deep human need. This state o f things is also
open to great moral objections. The home-life o f a nation is one o f the most
pow erful factors in determining its social and ethical standards. Rural hous
ing, as evidence undoubtedly shows, must be classed as bad and totally in
adequate.
The housing problem is still further complicated by the prevalence o f the
“ tied ” cottage system. In many parts o f the country it is the policy o f
farm ers to acquire not only cottages near the farm yard fo r their stockmen,
but every available cottage in the neighborhood. This has placed the farm
w orker in a position o f still greater dependence upon his employer, and it
has limited his freedom considerably.
“ Freedom o f speech is an almost unknown thing in most villages o f which
I have any experience,” writes a social w orker in Oxfordshire.
“ In the m ajority o f cases where w e have started rural study groups, the
principal farm er in the neighborhood has attempted to upset it in Ms village
by coming down and protesting in person,” w rites a local rural organizer from
the south.
These conditions apply more particularly In the south, the midlands, and
the west o f England. Even In these districts, where a class o f freeholders
exists, a noticeably independent spirit Is found. In general, the spirit o f in
dependence among the rural workers o f Great Britain •bears a close relation
to their econom ic position, being m ore marked where wages are relatively
high, and less observable where wages are low.
Unless the whole problem of housing in the rural areas is taken in hand,
the rural population and the nation as a whole w ill continue to be srabject
to a steady drain o f part o f its physical, mental and spiritual resources. We
therefore consider it vital that a comprehensive housing program should be
8

T h e e s t a b lis h m e n t o f a m in im u m

w a g e in

a g r ic u lt u r e m u s t

ten d

t o I m p r o v e th e p o s i

t io n o f r u r a l w o r k e r s in m a n y p a r t o f th e c o u n tr y , a n d , i f w e m a y ju d g e b y th e e x p e r ie n c e
o f th e e x is t in g tr a d e b o a r d s , w ill
c h in e r y f o r c o lle c t iv e b a r g a in in g .

in d ir e c tly

a s s is t

th e

g row th

o r g a n iz a t io n

and

m a

IN T E R IM REPORT IN RELATION TO AD ULT EDUCATION.

adopted, which w ill insure to the whole rural population the housing accommo
dation necessary for a free and civilized life.
It is unfortunate that so large a number o f villages are without any meet
ing place under public control. Church and chapel buildings are by no means
always available fo r “ secular ” purposes. Village institutes are few, and
are usually under private control. The schools, which the local managers
largely control, afford a very inadequate meeting place at the best o f times.
*

As to women, it is very rare to find a suitable meeting place provided in the
village except under some form o f patronage.
Religious differences and social cleavages are, on the whole, much more
clearly defined in the villages than in the towns, at any rate in England and
Wales. They have done much to paralyze social effort, and have tended to per
petuate the economic status o f the rural worker. As Mr. Prothero has w rit
ten, “ The sense o f social inferiority has impressed the laborer with the feeling
that he is not regarded as a member o f the community but as its helot.” ® It is
interesting to observe that where educational activities have been recently intro
duced they have generally succeeded in overcoming class prejudices and re
ligious differences, and in improving social relationships.
Good village libraries are few and far between. Indeed, the surroundings o f
the rural worker are notably lacking in any facilities for educational and social
development. The result is that the younger members o f the village and the
more energetic seek their relaxation in the nearest town, which has been made
possible by the advent o f the cheap cycle. They never learn to realize them
selves as an essential part o f their little village community.
W hile the general conditions o f rural life are unfavorable to the development
o f adult education, there are parts o f the-country in which the village is still
a center o f popular culture. In Scotland, the village school has for centuries
been a potent educational influence. In Wales, village life is humanized and
elevated by contact with religious organizations, w hich are in their different
ways democratic, and is rich in literature, in music, and in educational effort.
I f in the villages o f most parts o f England the outward symptoms o f a vig
orous intellectual life are less conspicuous, the difference must not be ascribed
to any inherent incapacity on the part o f English people to respond to the
appeal o f spiritual influences, and to give corporate expression to them in social
institutions. For centuries the village was the center o f English civilization,
and was the home o f popular religion, o f art, and o f a literature and music
w hich are gradually being rediscovered to-day by the researches o f scholars.
W here the social environment o f a peasant civilization survives, the spiritual
expression o f its quality survives with it. The explanation o f the apparent
torpor and stagnation o f many English villages is not any lack o f intelligence
among the villagers, but the series o f social catastrophes which during the past
300 years have turned the peasant into a landless laborer. They have broken
up the communal organization o f village life, and have subordinated the Eng
lish village to an extent unknown in most other parts o f Europe to the econom ic
domination o f the large farm er and the landlord.
It appears to us that the problem o f citizenship and the provision o f oppor
tunities for a fuller life, so far as the population o f the countryside is concerned,
is one which goes to the roots o f rural society. Its solution lies primarily with
the people o f the countryside. W e believe that, given the opportunities, which
they have been for the most denied in the past, they w ill actively seek to im
9
“ English Farm ing, Past and Present,” by R. E. Prothero, p. 413, Longmans & do.,
1912.

A P P E N D IX B .

prove the conditions and’ standards o f rural life. There can be no doubt that
the countrymen now serving with the colors w ill return to the villages with a
w ider outlook, wider interests and a wider experience, and we may reasonably
expect that they will exercise an influence on rural life. They will feel a very
strong need for opportunities for which they did not press in the past. Cer
tain reform s are needed in the immediate future. W e recommend the provision
o f a hall under public control in every village.10 The accommodation would, o f
course, depend on the size o f the village, but even a single room might form the
nucleus o f a new social life in the village. The ideal to be aimed at, however,
as we shall show in a subsequent report, is a village institute with many-sided
activities standing as a center o f the intellectual and social life o f the com
munity for whom it exists. To aid the revival and further development o f
this village community itself is an imperative need.
T H E PROBLEM A S IT AFFE CTS W O M E N .

IT. In the various suggestions we have made we had in our mind both men
and women. The intellectual and spiritual needs o f women are as insistent
as those o f men. The industrial and social conditions which bear heavily on
men are equally injurious to women.
But there are problems specially affecting women. In the past the lot of
domestic servants as a class has been fa r from satisfactory. Their work is
irregular and generally spread over the greater part o f the waking hours?
There is often, therefore, little freedom and leisure in the life o f the domestic
servant, especially where she is alone in a household, and in such cases she
may live in an undesirable isolation. During the war, conditions have im
proved considerably, and it appears certain that the change in conditions will,
in large part, continue after the war. The shortage o f domestic servants, and
new opportunities for women in other walks o f life, offering greater leisure
and independence, are a more reliable road to reform than attempts at legis
lation, the administration o f which offers peculiar difficulties where the private
house is concerned.
Further, a large body o f women w orkers take their part in those domestic
duties from which the male workers are in general relieved. The double
strain o f industrial and domestic work leaves little time for relaxation. It
may be that in the future the tradition that the duties o f the home are exclu
sively women’s duties will pass away. The shorter hours o f labor, which we
have already recommended, w ill diminish the burden upon the women working
outside the home, and the construction o f houses designed with a view to con
venience and fitted with labor-saving devices w ill be a boon to all women.
Housing, it has already been pointed out, is essentially a woman’s question.
Good housing means more for women than it does for men, and more fo r house
wives than fo r female industrial workers. The home is their normal environ
ment. The housewife more than any other member o f the fam ily determines
the nature o f the home. On the other hand, her influence is to a considerable
degree determined by the character o f the house in which she spends so great
a part o f her time. Lack o f sufficient accommodation for the members o f the
fam ily, ill-lighted rooms, the absence o f proper domestic facilities, and so forth,
must necessarily react upon the housekeeper, while the dull and dingy street,
w hich more often than not bounds her horizon, must tend to narrow her vision
10 T h e g e n e r a l q u e s t io n o f a c c o m m o d a t io n f o r e d u c a t i o n a l p u r p o s e s w i l l b e c o n s id e r e d
i n a f u r t h e r r e p o r t , b u t w e r e g a r d a r e fe r e n c e t o t h is q u e s t io n a s n e c e s s a r y i n t h e c a s e o f
ru ra l areas.

—

I N T E R I M R E P O R T I N R E L A T IO N TO A D U L T E D U C A T IO N .

and her interests. The cares and responsibilities o f domestic life, the neverending round o f duties, the cramped environment, have only too frequently
converted the housewife into a drudge and established the tradition that in
terests outside the home are no concern o f the working woman. It is a matter
for satisfaction to find, however, that a growing number o f housewives is tak
ing part in educational, as well as in social and political movements. But, with
the responsibilities o f citizenship, women will, come more definitely to feel the
need for education, and for a w ider experience o f other than domestic affairs.
Such needs can only be met by relieving the women o f some portion o f the heavy
burdens o f domestic responsibility. In this connection a better standard o f
housing is vital. But along with this must go an improvement in the general
environment. W hat proportion o f the scrubbing and cleaning and dusting which
loom so large in the duties o f the housewife could be saved by cleaner surround
ings it is impossible to say, but a smoke-laden atmosphere and dirty streets—
neither o f them necessary accompaniments o f town life— are responsible fo r
much drudgery which might well be eliminated.
While a great deal has been done to save labor in “ productive ” work, the
possibilities o f reducing household labor have not received the same amount
o f attention. Suggestions have been made with regard to cooperative housing,
but while we should gladly welcome the extension o f experiments on these
lines, we do not believe that the time is ripe for embarking on large schemes
in these directions, nor do we regard It as a full solution o f the problem.
Domestic work has been, until late years, unspecialized, but recently the de
velopment o f laundries, window-cleaning establishments, and firms lending out
vacuum cleaners have pointed the way to a specialization o f labor which may
relieve the housewife o f a good deal o f effort as the economic position o f
workers improves. There can be little doubt that as women’s interests widen,
the delegation o f certain duties to specialized workers w ill be carried much
further.
*

SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS.
19.
W e have approached the matters dealt with in our present report from
the human rather than the economic point o f view. I f the individual is to
make the most o f his powers, if the citizen is to be worthy o f the responsi
bilities thrown upon him by the ever-increasing complexity o f life In a m odem
community, in other words, if education in any broad meaning o f the term is
to become a reality, certain definite conditions o f life are indispensable. The
paramount consideration is that o f the individual as a member o f society. Ma
terial progress is o f value only in so fa r as it assists toward the realization o f
human possibilities. Industry and commerce and the social conditions which
are in a large degree dependent upon them must in our opinion be regarded
from this point o f view, and i f they cramp the life o f the individual, no
amount o f economic argument w ill suffice to ju stify them. In considering in
dustrial and social conditions in relation to adult education, we have not
ignored economic considerations, but we have taken our stand on moral
grounds. W e do not think, However, that there is o f necessity a fundamental
antagonism between ethics and economics. Adequate pay, reasonable hours o f
labor, the supersession o f heavy, degrading, and monotonous form s o f manual
labor by machinery and improved processes, the provision o f holida'ys, the
introduction o f human relations and o f the social motive into industry, healthy
homes and a cheerful environment— these are the indispensable conditions *o f
147319°— 20-------7

APPEN D IX B.

economic efficiency; they are also among the elementary rights to which
the citizen, as such, and in virtue of his responsibilities, is entitled.
We have not discussed in detail how these needs and rights are to be satis
fied and safeguarded, for though th.e committee includes members whose in
dustrial knowledge and experience are varied in character, it was not con
stituted primarily with these ends in view. Moreover, some of the points we
have raised call for much fuller discussion than we could give them. We
may, however, summarize the general conclusions we have reached on the
subject of Industrial and social conditions in relation to adult education.
We recommend on educational grounds—
(a) That there should be a general shortening by law of the normal work
ing day, and that, subject to the qualifications already suggested in the case of
certain industries such as agriculture, it should not be more than eight hours.
(Z>) That in heavy and exhausting kinds of work, and work accompanied by
special disabilities, the maximum legal working day should be shorter than the
normal; and that heavy and exhausting occupations should be specially regu
lated, and, wherever possible, mechanical devices introduced.
(c) That overtime should be more closely regulated by law and reduced to a
minimum.
( d) That where “ shift ” work continues, the hours should be reduced below
those of the normal working day; and that, except where it is absolutely essen
tial, regular night; work, whether periodical or continuous, should be prohibited
by law.
( e ) That efforts should be made to meet the evil effects of monotonous labor
by alternating forms of employment, by creating opportunities for the exercise
of initiative, and by establishing works committees for the consideration of mat
ters affecting workshop life.
(f) That steps should be taken to guarantee to the worker some reasonable
security of livelihood, either by such a reorganization of industry as may pre
vent or minimize fluctuations in the volume of production, or, where that is im
possible, by some extension of the principle of insurance, which would protect
the wage earner against the ruinous effects of such fluctuations as can not be
prevented.
(g) That wage earners should be entitled by law to an annual holiday, with
pay; and that the weekly half-holiday should be extended by law to the worker
in agriculture.
(h) That the preparation of schemes of housing and town planning should
be accelerated; that such schemes should be drawn up in consultation with the
best expert advice available, and in cooperation with representatives of the peo
ple for whom such schemes are intended; and that, particularly, representatives
of women, who are the persons most concerned, should be included in the hous
ing and town planning, public health and other committees dealing with this
question.
(i ) That adequate washing facilities should be required to be provided in all
places of employment where the nature of the work makes it desirable.
(j) That special consideration should be given to the peculiar problems of
rural housing.
(k) That a village institute, or at least a hall, should be established in every
village under public control.
CONCLUSION.
20.
Important as are the immediate and urgent economic and social ques
tions, we think that they should be regarded from the wider point of view
which we have suggested, and that they should be solved with reference to the
larger questions of social well being. Few can fail to feel the force of inspira
tion and experience which is being born of the war, or to recognize the strength
of the new hope with which the people are looking forward to the future. The
nation ardently desires to order Its life in accordance with those principles of
freedom and justice which led so many of Its best sons to the field of battle.
The proposals we have made, incomplete and inadequate though they may be,

I N T E R I M R E P O R T I N R E L A T IO N TO A D U L T E D U C A T IO N .

are designed to contribute to this end. W e realize, indeed, that the effects o f
evil industrial and social conditions w ill persist after the conditions themselves
are removed, and that new conditions w ill be reflected but gradually in new
standards o f life and citizenship. But while it can not be expected that a
generation which boldly attacks the defects in its social and industrial struc
ture, and opens up possibilities o f new opportunities, will itself enjoy the full
results o f its labors, nevertheless the work which has been done in the past
justifies the hope that the men and women o f to-day w ill increasingly utilize
the enlarged opportunities for equipping themselves by education for the de
velopment o f life and the duties o f citizenship.
For no one can doubt that we are at a turning point in our national his
tory. A new era has come upon us. W e can not stand still. W e can not
return to the old ways, the old abuses, the old stupidities. As with our
international relations, so with the relations o f classes and individuals, inside
our own Nation, if they do not henceforth get better they must needs get
worse, and that means moving toward an abyss. It is in our power to make
the new era one o f such progress as to repay us even for the immeasurable
cost, the price in lives lost, in manhood crippled, and in homes desolated.
Only by rising to the height o f our enlarged vision o f social duty can we do
justice to the spirit generated in our people by the long effort o f common
aspiration and common suffering. T o allow this spirit to die away unused
would be a waste compared to which the material waste o f the war would be
a little thing; it would be a national sin, unpardonable in the eyes o f our
posterity. W e stand at the bar o f history for judgment, and we shall be judged
by the use we make o f this unique opportunity. It is unique in many ways,
most o f all in the fact that the public not only has its conscience aroused and
its heart stirred, but also has its mind open and receptive o f new ideas to an
unprecedented degree.
It is not the lack o f good w ill that is to be feared. But good w ill without
mental effort, without intelligent provision, is worse than ineffectual; It is a
moral opiate. The real lack in our national history has been the lack o f
bold and clear thinking. W e have been well-meaning, we have had good
prin cip les; where we have failed is in the courage and the foresight to carry
out our principles into our corporate life.
This corporate life itself has only been made visible and real to us (as on
a fiery background) by the glow and illumination o f the war. W e have been
made conscious that we are heirs to a majestic inheritance, and that we have
corresponding obligations. W e have awakened to the splendid qualities that
were latent in our people, the rank and file o f the common people who before
this war were often adjudged to be decadent, to have lost their patriotism,
their religious faith, and their response to leadership; we were even told
they were physically degenerate. Now we see what potentialities lie in this
people, and what a charge lies upon us to give to these powers free play.
There Is stirring through the whole country a sense of the duty w e owe to
our children, and to our grandchildren, to save them not only from the
repetition o f such a w orld w ar and from the burdens o f a crushing militarism,
but to save them also from the obvious peril o f civil dissension at home. W e
owe it also to our own dead that they shall not have died in vain, but that their
sacrifice shall prove to have created a better England fo r the future genera
tion.

AP P E N D IX C.— W H Y UNIVERSITIES SHOULD EXPAN D.
The British Commission o f Inquiry into Industrial Unrest,1 report
ing to the Prime Minister in 1917, laid great stress upon the relation
of education to the maintenance o f peace and justice in industry. Its
recommendations with regard to education are as follow s:
In the past the local authorities have done much good w ork by their various
methods o f evening education fo r the adolescent. But these are open to two
main objections. In the first place, most local authorities have regarded these
schools as ex istin g . almost solely fo r vocational purposes. They have been
required to turn out good clerks, engineers, or draughtsmen, but little attention
has been paid to those broader, more humane subjects which relate to life and
living. In the second place, these schools have been held in the evening when
the students are often too fatigued for proper w ork ; they are voluntary and
tap but a very small percentage o f the workers. Means should be devised foff
remedying these defects and placing continued education on a more satisfactory
basis. The type o f education should not be merely technical, but should lay
stress upon civic and national responsibilities, should have regard for proper
physical development, and should bring the pupils into touch with the great
traditions, both o f their own and o f other races. W here education o f a technical
nature is required, the training should be broad and hum anistic; industry
should be studied in relation to other industries and to the community. The
keynote o f the training should be “ the conception o f the industrial system
e t the handmaid o f society,” and o f w ork as “ a form o f public service.”
AD U LT EDUCATION.
But the field o f adolescent education by no means exhausts the problem.
After 18 the worker is still capable and often desirous o f education. But it
Is o f another type. I f the education he has received has been worthy o f the
name, it w ill have been chiefly form ative in character, developing those qualities
o f initiative, adaptability, and resource upon which industry and life depend.
For the adult worker, however, the problem is somewhat different. Experience
riper than that o f youth has given him opportunities for suggestions, com
parison, and reflection, and it is here that the university should prove of
peculiar value. Not only does the university prepare for the professions, in
stitute and carry out research, it should also be tlie center o f the life o f the
community, gathering to itself its aspirations and hopes, fulfilling its deepest
needs, and ever shaping it to nobler purposes. W e may assume “ that university
teaching is teaching suited to adults; that it is scientific, detached, and im
partial in ch a ra cter; that it aims not so much at filling the mind o f the student
with facts or theories as at calling forth his own individuality and stimu
1 Great Britain. Commission of inquiry into industrial unrest.
No. 7 division.
Re
port of the commissioners for W ales, including Monmouthshire. London, 1917. Cd. 8668.
P. 19.

100

W H Y UNIVERSITIES SHOULD EXPAND.

101

lating him to mental e ffo rt; that it accustoms him to the critical study o f the
leading authorities * * * that it implants in his mind a standard o f thor
oughness and gives him a sense o f the difficulty as well as o f the value p f truth.”
The student so trained learns to distinguish between what may fairly be called
matter o f fact and what is certainly mere matter o f opinion * * *. He
becomes accustomed to distinguish issues and to look at separate questions each
on its own merits and without an eye to their bearing on some cherished
theory. He learns to state fairly and even sympathetically the position o f those
to whose practical conclusions he is most stoutly opposed * * *.
Upon the university then must depend the training o f the adult mind. The
scope and work o f the university colleges should be expanded so that they ma^,
by means o f classes and lectures, supply the demand which is constantly arising.
Already work o f this character has been successfully attempted in England,
where university tutorial classes have for some years been run w ith con
siderable success.
A sufficient number o f these classes have also been established in W ales to
ju stify the belief that university education o f this type may be carried on w ith
benefit to the community. It would also supply a valuable corrective to all
methods o f study o f a purely partisan character undertaken for propagandist
objects. In W ales every industrial center should have its university class
in close contact with the life and culture of the university.

SERIES OF BULLETINS PUBLISHED BY THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
[ The publication of the annual and special reports and of the bimonthly bulletin was
discontinued in July, 1912, and since that time a bulletin has been published at irregular
intervals. Each number contains matter devoted to one of a series of general subjects. These
bulletins are numbered consecutively, beginning with No. 101, and up to No. 236 they also carry
consecutive numbers under each* series. Beginning with No. 237 the serial numbering has been
discontinued. A list of the series is given below. Under each is grouped all the bulletins
which contain material relating to the subject matter of that series. A list of the reports and
bulletins of the Bureau issued prior to July 1, 1912, will be furnished on application.]

Wholesale Prices.
Bul. 114. Wholesale prices, 1890 to 1912.
Bul. 149. Wholesale prices, 1890 to 1913.
Bul. 173. Index numbers of wholesale prices in the
countries.
Bul. 181. Wholesale prices, 1890 to 1914.
Bul. 200. Wholesale prices, 1890 to 1915.
Bul. 226. Wholesale prices, 1890 to 1916.
Bul. 269. Wholesale prices, 1890 to 1919.
[In press.]

United

States

and

foreign

Retail Prices and Cost of Living.
Bul. 105. Retail prices, 1890 to 1 9 1 1 : Part I.
Retail prices, 1890 to 1 9 1 1 : Part II— General tables.
Bul. 106. Retail prices, 1890 to June, 1912 : Part I.
Retail prices, 1890 to June, 1 9 1 2 : Part II— General tables.
Bul. 108. Retail prices, 1890 to August, 1912.
Bul. 110. Retail prices, 1890 to October, 1912.
Bul. 113. Retail prices, 1890 to December, 1912.
Bul. 115. Retail prices, 1890 to February, 1913.
Bul. 121. Sugar prices, from refiner to consumer.
Bul. 125. Retail prices, 1890 to April, 1913.
Bill. 130. W heat and flour prices, from farmer to consume*,
Bul. 132. Retail prices, 1890 to June, 1913.
Bul. 136. Retail prices, 1890 to August, 1913.
Bul. 138. Retail prices, 1890 to October, 1913.
Bul. 140. Retail prices, 1890 to December, 1913.
Bul. 156. Retail prices, 1907 to December, 1914.
Bul. 164. Butter prices, from producer to consumer.
Bul. 170. Foreign food prices as affected by the war.
Bul. 184. Retail prices, 1907 to June, 1915.
Bul. 197. Retail prices, 1907 to December, 1915.
Bul. 228. Retail prices, 1907 to December, 1916.
Bul. 266. A study of family expenditures in the District o f Columbia,
Bul. 270. Retail prices, 1913 to 1919.
[In press.]

tin press.]

Waves and Hours of Labor.
Bul. 116. Hours, earnings, and duration of employment of wage-earning women in
selected industries in the District of Columbia.
Bul. 118. Ten-hour maximum working-day for women and young persons.
Bul. 119. Working hours of women in the pea canneries of Wisconsin.
Bul. 128. W ages and hours of labor in the cotton, woolen, and silk industries, 1890
to 1912.
Bul. 129. Wages and hours of labor in the lumber, millwork, and furniture Indus
tries, 1890 to 1912.
Bul. 131. Union scale of wages and hours of labor, 1907 to 1912.
Bul. 134. W ages and hours of labor in the boot and shoe and hosiery and knit goods
industries, 1890 to 1912.
Bul. 135. W ages and hours of labor in the cigar and clothing industries, 1911 and
1912.
Bul. 137. W ages and hours of labor in the building and repairing of steam railroad
cars, 1890 to 1912.
Bul. 143. Union scale of wages and hours of labor, May 15, 1913.
Bul. 146. Wages and regularity of employment in the dress and waist industry of
New York City.

(I)

Wages and Hours of Labor— C ontinued.
Bul. 147. W ages and regularity of employment In the cloak, suit, and skirt industry*
Bul. 150. W ages and hours of labor in the cotton, woolen, and silk industries, 1907
to 1913.
Bul. 151. W ages and hours of labor in the iron and steel industry in the United
' States, 1907 to 1912.
r Bul. 168. W ages and hours of labor in the lumber, millwork, and furniture indus
tries, 1907 to 1913.
B ol. 164. W ages and hours of labor in the boot and shoe and hosiery and under
wear industries, 1907 to 1913.
B o l. 160. Hours, earnings, and conditions of labor of* women in Indiana mercantile
establishments and garment factories.
Bul. 161. W ages and hours of labor in the clothing and cigar industries, 1911 to
1913.
Bul. 163. W ages and hours of labor in the building and repairing of steam railroad
cars, 1907 to 1913.
Bul. 168. W ages and hours of labor In the iron and steel industry in the United
States, 1907 to 1913.
Bul. 171. Union scale of wages and hours of labor, May 1, 1914.
Bul. 177. W ages and hours of labor in the hosiery and underwear industry, 1907
to 1914.
Bul. 178. W ages and hours of labor in the boot and shoe industry, 1907 to 1914.
Bul. 187. W ages and hours of labor in the men’s clothing industry, 1911 to 1914.
Bul. 190. W ages and hours of labor in the cotton, woolen, and silk industries, 1907
to 1914.
Bul. 194. Union scale of wages and hours of labor, M ay 1, 1916.
Bul. 204. Street railway employment in the United States.
Bul. 214. Union scale of wages and hours of labor, May 15, 1916.
Bul. 218. W ages and hours of labor in the iron and steel industry, 1907 to 1915.
Bul. 225. W ages and hours of labor ia the lumber, millwork, and furniture indus
tries, 1915.
Bul. 232. W ages and hours of labor in the boot and shoe industry, 1907 to 1916.
Bul. 238. W ages and hours of labor in woolen and worsted goods manufacturing,
1916.
Bul. 239. Wages and hours of labor in cotton goods manufacturing and finishing,
1916.
Bul. 245. Union scale of wages and hours of labor, May 15, 1917.
Bul. 252. W ages and hours of labor in slaughtering and meat-packing industry.
Bul. 259. Union scale of wages and hours of labor, May 15, 1918.
Bul. 260. W ages and hours of labor in the boot and shoe industry, 1907 to 1918.
Bul. 261. W ages and hours of labor in woolen and worsted goods manufacturing, 1918.
Bul. 262. W ages and hours of labor in cotton goods manufacturing and finishing,
1918.
Bul. 265. Industrial survey in selected industries in the United States, 1919. Pre
liminary report.
[In press.]

Employment and Unemployment.
BuL 109. Statistics of unemployment and the work of employment offices in the
United States.
Bul. 172. Unemployment in New York City, N. Y.
Bul. 182. Unemployment among women in department and other retail stores of
Boston, Mass.
Bul. 183. Regularity of employment in the women’s ready-to-wear garment industries.
Bul. 192. Proceedings of the American Association of Public Employment Offices.
Bul. 195. Unemployment in the United States.
Bul. 196. Proceedings of the Employment Managers’ Conference held at Minneapolis,
January, 1916.
Bul. 202. Proceedings o f the conference of the Employment Managers* Association of
Boston, Mass., held May 10, 1916.
Bul. 206. The British system of labor exchanges.
Bul. 220. Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Meeting of the American Association of
Public Employment Offices, Buffalo, N. Y ., July 20 and 21, 1916:
Bul. 223. Employment of women and Juveniles in Great Britain during the war.
Bul. 227. Proceedings of the Employment Managers’ Conference, Philadelphia* Pa*
April 2 and 3, 1917.
Bul. 235. Employment system of the Lake Carriers' Association.
Bul. 241. Public employment offices in the United States.
Bul. 247. Proceedings of Employment Managers’ Conference* Rochester, N. Y .,
May 9 -1 1 , 1918. .

(n )

Women in Industry*
Bui. 116. Hours, earnings, and duration of employment of wage-earning women in
selected industries in the District of Columbia.
‘ Bui. 117. Prohibition of night work of young persons.
Bui. 118. Ten-hour maximum working-day for women and young persons.
Bui. 119. W orking hours of women in the pea canneries of Wisconsin.
Bui. 122. Employment of women in power laundries in Milwaukee.
Bui. 160. Hours, earnings, and conditions of labor of women in Indiana mercantile
establishments and garment factories.
Bui. 167. Minimum-wage legislation in the United States and foreign countries.
Bui. 1T5. Summary of the report on condition o f woman and child wage earners in
the United States.
Bui. 176. Effect of minimum wage determinations in Oregon.
•
Bui. 180. The boot and shoe industry in Massachusetts as a vocation for women.
BnL 182. Unemployment among women in department and other retail stores of
Boston, Mass.
Bui. 198. Dressmaking as a trade for women in Massachusetts.
Bui. 216. Industrial experience of trade-school girls in Massachusetts.
Bui. 228. Employment of women and juveniles in Great Britain during the war.
Bui. 258. Women in the lead industry.

Workmen** Insurance and Compensation (including lawe relating thereto).
Bui.
Bui.
Bui.
Bui.
Bui.
Bui.
Bui.
Bui.
Bui.

101.
102.
108.
107.
126.
155.
185
203.
210.

Bui. 212.
Bui. 217.
Bui. 240.
Bui. 243.
Bui. 248.
Bui. 264.

Care of tuberculous wage earners in Germany.
British National Insurance Act, 1911.
Sickness and accident insurance law of Switzerland,
Law relating to insurance of salaried employees in Germany.
Workmen’s compensation laws of the United States and foreign countries.
Compensation for accidents to employees of the United States.
Compensation legislation of 1914 and 1915. •
Workmen’s compensation laws of the United States and foreign countries?
Proceedings of the Third Annual Meeting of the International Association
of Industrial Accident Boards and Commission*.
Proceedings of the conference on social insurance called by the Inter
national Association o f Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions.
Effect of workmen’s compensation laws in diminishing the necessity of
industrial employment of women and children.
Comparison of workmen’ s compensation laws of the United States.
Workmen’ s compensation legislation in the United States and foreign
countries.
Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Meeting of the International Association
of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions.
Proceedings of the F ifth Annual Meeting of the International Association
of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions.

Industrial Accidents and Hygiene.
Bui. 104. Lead p o iso n in g in potteries, tile works, and porcelain enameled sanitary
Bui.
Bui.
Bui.
Bui.
Bui.
Bui.
Bui.

120.
127.
141.
157.
165.
179.
188.

Bui. 201.

Bui.
Bui.
Bui.
Bui.
Bui.
Bui.
Bui.
Bui.
Bui.
Bui.
Bui.
Bui.

205.
207.
209.
216.
219.
221.
230.
231.
234.
236.
251.
256.

Bui. 267.

ware factories.
Hygiene of the painters' trade.
Dangers to workers from dusts and fumes, and methods of protection.
Lead poisoning in the smelting and refining o f lead.
Industrial accident statistics.
Lead poisoning in the manufacture of storage batteries.
Industrial poisons used in the rubber industry.
Report of British departmental committee on danger in the use of lead in
the painting of buildings.
Report of committee on statistics and compensation insurance cost of the
International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commis
sions.
[Limited edition.]
Anthrax as an occupational disease.
Causes of death by occupation.
Hygiene of the printing trades.
Accidents and accident prevention in machine building.
Industrial poisons used or produced in the manufacture of explosives.
Hours, fatigue, and health in British munition factories.
Industrial efficiency and fatigue in British munition factories.
M ortality from respiratory diseases in dusty trades.
Safety movement in the iron and steel industry, 1907 to 1917.
Effect of the air hammer on the hands of stonecutters.
Preventable death in the cotton manufacturing industry.
Accidents and accident prevention in machine building.
Revision of
Bui. 216.
Anthrax as an occupational disease.
(Revised edition.)
[In press.]

(in)

Conciliation and Arbitration (including strikes and lockouts).
Bul. 124. Conciliation and arbitration in the building trades of Greater New York.
Bul. 138. Report of the industrial council of the British Board of Trade on its in
quiry into industrial agreements.
Bul. 139. Michigan copper district strike.
Bul. 144. Industrial court of the cloak, suit, and skirt industry of New York City.
Bul. 145. Conciliation, arbitration, and sanitation in the dress and waist industry of
New York City.
Bul. 191. Collective bargaining in the anthracite coal industry.
Bul. 198. Cfollective agreements in the men’s clothing industry.
Bul. 233. Operation of the Industrial Disputes Investigation Act of Canada.

Labor Laws of the United States (including decisions of courts relating to labor).
Bul.
Bul.
Bul.
Bul.
Bul.
Bul.
Bul.
Bul.
Bul.
Bul.
Bul.
Bul.
Bul.
Bul.
Bul.
Bul.

111.
112.
148.
152.
166.
169.
186.
189.
211.
213.
224.
229.
244.
246.
257.
258.

Labor •legislation of 1912.
Decisions of courts and opinions affecting labor, 1912.
Labor laws of the United States, with decisions of courts relating thereto.
Decisions of courts and opinions affecting labor, 1913.
Labor legislation of 1914.
Decisions of courts affecting labor, 1914.
Labor legislation of 1915.
Decisions of courts affecting labor, 1915.
Labor laws and their administration in the Pacific States.
Labor legislation of 1916.
Decisions o f courts affecting labor, 1916.
Wage-payment legislation in the United States.
Labor legislation of 1917.
Decisions of courts affecting labor, 1917.
Labor legislation of 1918.
Decisions of courts and opinions affecting labor, 1918.

Foreign Labor Laws.
Bul. 142. Administration of labor laws and factory inspection in certain European
countries.

Vocational Education.
Bul. 145. Conciliation, arbitration, and sanitation in the dress and waist industry of
New York City.
Bul. 147. W ages and regularity of employment in the cloak, suit, and skirt industry,
Bul. 159. Short-unit courses for wage earners, and a factory school experiment.
Bul. 162. Vocational education survey of Richmond, Va.
Bul. 199. Vocational education survey of Minneapolis.

Labor as Affected by the War.
Bul.
Bul.
Bul.
Bul.
Bul.
Bul.
Bul.
Bul.

170.
219.
221.
222.
223.
230.
237.
249.

Foreign food prices as affected by the war.
Industrial poisons used or produced in the manufacture of explosives.
Hours, fatigue, and health in British munition factories.
W elfare work in British munition factories.
Employment of women and juveniles in Great Britain during the war.
Industrial efficiency and fatigue in British munition factories.
Industrial unrest in Great Britain.
Industrial health and efficiency. Final report of British Health of Muni
tion Workers Committee.
Bul. 255. Joint standing industrial councils in Great Britain.

Miscellaneous Series.
Bul.
Bul.
Bul.
Bul.

117.
118.
123.
158.

Bul.
Bul.
Bul.
Bul.

159.
167.
170.
174.

Bul.
Bul.
Bul.
Bul.

208.
222.
242.
250.

Bul. 254.
Bul. 263.
Bul. 268.

Prohibition of night work of young persons.
Ten-hour maximum working day for women and young persons.
Employers* welfare work.
Government ai<fc to home owning and housing of working people in foreign
countries.
Short-unit courses for wage earners, and a factory school experiment.
Minimum-wage legislation in the United States and foreign countries.
Foreign food prices as affected by the war.
Subject index of the publications of the United States Bureau of Labor
Statistics up to May 1, 1915.
Profit sharing in the United States.
W elfare work in British munition factories.
Food situation in Central Europe, 1917.
W elfare work for employees in industrial establishments in the United
States.
International8labor legislation and the society of nations.
Housing by employers in the United States.
[In press.]
Historical survey of international action affecting labor.
[In press.]

(IV)

ADDITIONAL COPIES
OF TH IS P U B L IC A T IO N M A Y B E P R O C U R E D F R O M
T H E S U P E R IN T E N D E N T OF D O C U M EN TS
G O V E R N M E N T P R IN T IN G OFFICE
W A S H IN G T O N , D. C.
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Full text of Adult Working-Class Education in Great Britain and the United States: (A Study of Recent Developments) : Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. 271

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