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is now far in excess of any estimate that was ever made as to a
Eate for educational purposes under the Act of 1870.
That your Petitioners believe that the excessive expenditure
arises from an imperfect conception of the Acts of Parliament,
and particularly of the Act of 1847, which provided for Privy
Council grants for the elementary education of the children of
the working classes, whereas the School Board has undertaken
the education of children of all clases of school age, and has
thereby charged upon the Ratepayers the execution of a duty
which was not contemplated when the Elementary Education
Act was passed in 1870.
Your Petitioners therefore humbly pray that your Honorable
House will be pleased to order an enquiry to be made into
the premises either by a Select Committee or by a Royal Commission
appointed in compliance with an Address to the Crown
from your Honorable House.
AND YOUR PETITIONEES WILL EVER PRAY, &C.
The Vestry were subsequently invited, by the Vestryof
St. James, Westminster, to send three delegates to a
Conference to be held on the subject, at the Mansion House,
on the 27th of June, and, in compliance with the invitation
they appointed Messrs. A. Middlemass, J. Sears, and
W. E. Teather. The Members of Parliament for the County
and Borough were also asked to attend the Conference.
The delegates reported that the folloAving resolutions were
passed:—
(i) That in the opinion of this Conference the administration
of the School Board of London has not produced
results commensurate with the vast expenditure of the
Board, and that the present cost of maintenance of
London Board Schools is excessive, whether compared
with the rate of expenditure by the Board in 1873, with
the expenditure of other Boards in England and Wales,
or with the expenditure of the Managers of Voluntary
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