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apply to Government for a grant of £10,000, without which it is thought that no certain improvement could be made. "Schools of Mines, Ballarat and Sandhurst (Bendigo). —I visited both of these schools, and saw Ballarat at work. About fifteen students were attending a chemistry lecture, a few were engaged in laboratory-w rork; there was a small lecture-class on botany (three students), and a full class were engaged in a w 7ell-arranged and ventilated room at mechanical and engineering drawing. Unfortunately, this class was so large that a great number of elementary students had to work their geometry alone instead of being taken in a body at blackboard-work. Sandhurst School was not at work; but I obtained some particulars. Both schools have large incomes. The following is the income of the Ballarat School for 1885 : Government grant, £2,000; public subscriptions, £202 10s. 6d.; fees, £823 6s. 6d. ; sundries—making assays, &c. —£186 6s. 3d. ; endowment fund interest, £25 19s. 6d.: total, £3,238 2s. 9d. Number of students who paid fees, 484; free instruction of State scholars, 596 : total, 1,080. The following is the income of the Sandhurst School for 1885: Government grant, £2,000; Boyal Technological Commissioners, £74 55.; public subscriptions, £15 155.; fees, £520 15s. Bd.; sundries—making assays, &c. — £24 95.; interest, fixed deposits, £111 55.; prize donation, £1 135.; capital absorbed, £1,000: total, £3,748 2s. Bd. Number of students who paid fees, 396; free instruction of State teachers, 54: total, 450. Great facilities are afforded these schools by the railway authorities granting second return-tickets up to twelve miles, at 6d.; up to twenty-fivo miles, at Is.; up to forty-five miles, at Is. 6d.; and up to sixty miles, 2s. These are obtained by the students from the school officials. The schools are thus brought within reach of the really earnest in a population of between 150,000 and 200,000. It struck me that these schools of mines, created to disseminate knowledge of a particular description, and drawing a considerable revenue from the Government for this purpose, are mainly used by students other than mining students. The following figures show this : Ballarat—Mechanical drawing, 194; telegraphy, 92; pharmacy and botany, 34; astronomy, 11; chemistry, 44; metallurgy, 35; natural philosophy, 5 ; mineralogy, 6; surveying, 13; electricity, 9 ; mathematics, 41: total, 484 students. Sandhurst —Mechanical drawing, 79 ; School of Design, 171; telegraphy, 27 ; languages, 17; modelling, 7; astronomy, 7; bookkeeping, 14; chemistry, 16; metallurgy, 5; surveying, 1;' mathematics, 19 ; mechanics, 7 ; mining-management, 6; geology, 20 : total, 396 students. Drawing-students are 40 per cent, at Ballarat, and 60 per cent, at Sandhurst. Students in subjects other than mining are 70 per cent, at Ballarat, and 80 per cent, at Sandhurst, and these last percentages give the schools credit for all the students in chemistry, metallurgy, natural philosophy, mineralogy, surveying, electricity, mathematics, mechanics, mining-management, and geology being mining students; but such is not the case, and the probable percentage of mining students at Ballarat would be 15, and at Sandhurst 10, per cent, of the total number. Further, in the report of examinations held, I find that Ballarat has, since its origin as a School of Mines, certificated 1 captain of shift in 1872, 1873, 1874, and 1882 (4) ; 1 in geology as applied to mining in 1876; 13 underground managers (none since 1884), 26 in assaying, and 29 winding and other engine drivers, up to 1884. And Sandhurst, in 1886, certificated 1 mining-manager. I would point out that there is serious danger in Government granting large annual amounts to any body educational unless some very direct supervision is used. This thought occurred to me at Ballarat; and again at Sandhurst this occurred with much force when I saw new workshops and machinery for working metal, obtained at a cost of £1,200 or £1,400, which had never been used. They were put up twelve months since to supply an apparent want, which, as experience proves, did not exist. .Provision has been made for students who will not pay fees to learn that which they are paid wages to learn in the local shops." 4. School op Painting and Dbawing and Technical Laboeatoby, ah the Public Libeaey. The painting-school under Mr. Follingsby, with whom is associated Mr. McCubbin, is held at the Public Library. The period of studentship is limited to five years, but may be extended in favour of meritorious students. The school has two courses, the one for drawing, the other for painting. The year is divided into two terms of about five months each. Fee for painting-class, £2 per term; and for the drawing-class, £1 per term. Applicants for admission submit specimens of drawing to the director, and upon his recommendation the student is admitted as probationer, and afterwards, should the work continue satisfactory, is admitted as a registered student upon payment of a fee. If at the end of the fourth term the drawings of any student be considered unsatisfactory, he or she ceases to be a student. Before admission to the school of painting, students submit a figure from the antique, a figure from the life, a head from the antique and life, and a perspective drawing. Every third year a gold medal is awarded, carrying with it a travelling scholarship of £150 a year, tenable for three years. The holder shall study painting in one of the great art-schools of Europe, and shall during each of the first two years paint and present to the trustees a copy of some well-known painting by an old master; and during the third year an original picture is to be presented. The technical laboratory, under Mr. Cosmo Newbery, has in connection with it a mechanicaldrawing class and a telegraphy-class. The laboratory and shops are open for a fee of £3 3s. per session to any mechanic or other person who might wish to experiment, make or improve any industrial process, or perfect any inventions. The laboratory is, lam given to understand, used by persons of all classes, and is highly valued as a means of instruction. Experiments were also made here with the various Victorian clays, and as a result a terra-cotta building has now been erected in Collins Street. The Government of Victoria contributed as follows towards art and technical education in 1887 : (1) State schools, drawing, £4,969 17s. 4d.; (2) Boyal Technological Commission, £1,400; (3) schools of mines £4,000, buildings and apparatus £2,000; (4) School of Art, Geelong, £500 ; (5) School of Painting and Design, about £1,400 ; (6) Working-men's College, £2,000 ; (7) laboratory and workshops, not known : total, £16,269 17s. 4d. 3—E. 11.