ESSEX AND THE TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION ACT. 263
needs of their own districts. It is, in fact, an open secret that the
Councils are expected to apply their funds in accordance with the
Acts of Parliament, and the voices of public opinion and of the
framers and supporters of those Acts have frequently been heard to
this effect. The facts and figures which we have from time to time
published in the columns of 'Nature' have helped to keep our
readers alive as to the present state of affairs in the different
counties. The unanimity which prevails, so far as concerns the
general principle of applying the funds to the purposes of technical
instruction, is certainly a most encouraging indication of the
direction in which public opinion is moving. The main difficulties
in the way of apportioning the grants are likely to arise, however,
when the various claims come to be considered by the Councils to
whom they are submitted. This particularly applies to counties like
Essex, where no great manufacturing centres exist, and where the
occupations of the rural population are agricultural or maritime.
It may be difficult at first sight to see clearly how the grants can
be applied in such cases, so as to satisfy the wants of a non-urban
community, and at the same to convey assurance to the Council
that the money has been well spent in accordance with the spirit of
the Acts. It may be pointed out, however, that agriculture clearly
comes within the definition, and is, in fact, recognised as a branch
of technical science, and no County Councillor who has the maritime
interests of his district at heart would grudge the extension of a
similar recognition to the claims of applied marine zoology, of navi-
gation, boat-building, or any of the other industries carried on along
our coasts.
" Essex may be taken as a typical example of a county which is
both maritime and agricultural, and the action taken by its Council
will no doubt be eagerly watched by the Councils of other counties
similarly constituted. As being one of the home counties, moreover,
its case presents particular interest. The total amount at the dis-
posal of the county is about £21,000, of which about £4,000 goes
to West Ham as the county borough, leaving £17,000 for the
urban centres and rural districts of the remainder of the county.
Numerous claims for grants have been sent in, and will receive
attention in due course. Many grants for the carrying on of
scientific and technical instruction in institutions already in existence
in the larger towns will no doubt be justifiably made. But the
means by which the ultra-urban districts can be provided for have