Welsh Journals

a total of E106,000, and form three sides of a quad- rangle. The central portion of the front, i.e., the administrative offices, and conical room, has been omitted for the present. The omission of the central portion of the front deprives the buildings of the most ornamental section, and if funds are available the erection of this and the central hall, with the approaches connecting up the entire buildings, is desirable. This a matter which some wealthy and patriotic Welsh man or woman may take in hand, and thereby earn the admiration and the gratitude of a people who are showing their regard for the national library by their contributions not only to the building fund, but also to the priceless treasures, printed and in manuscript, which the library already contains. The upkeep of the library is provided for by an annual grant from His Majesty's Treasury. The present grant is £ 4000 per annum, a sum which will need to be largely increased in the near future. Towards the cost of the buildings the Lords of the Treasury have promissed £ 50,000, provided an equal sum is forthcoming from other sources. This leaves 156,000 to be raised by subscription. The amounts received and promised to date total about £ 37,500. There remains therefore £ 1 2,500 still to be raised to meet the Treasury condition, and a further £ 6000, making altogether £ 18,500 to complete the contracts in hand. The fund already raised gives many reasons for encouragement. It includes two donations of £ 5000, besides other sums running from four figures down to quite small amounts. The total embraces some thousands of contributors. The quarrymen of Festiniog district to the number of over seven hundred made up a collection of about £ 80 the teachers of Cardiganshire found £ 100 and the workmen in the South Wales coal-fields are making generous contributions through Mr. Lleufer Thomas, the stipendiary magistrate of Pontypridd, who is engaged in a strenuous and so far successful effort to complete the fund. The local governing bodies are also moving. The Aberdare Urban Council has voted L50, the Abercarn District Council £ 5 5s. 5d., and other bodies have the matter under consideration, including the Glamorgan County Council, where a grant of £ 1000 has been recommended by the Education Committee. The Ocean Coal Company has promised to give one thousand guineas, if four other similar companies will do the same. A gentle- man at Cardiff Docks has offered £ 50 if nineteen others will do likewise, and his challenge is in a fair way to being met. There is also an offer of £ 1000 from the Chairman of the Building Committee, if four other sums of like amount or eight of £ 500 each are forthcoming. The time is limited. In two years the contracts will be completed. A portion of the buildings will be ready for occupation towards the end of the present year. This is the moment for generous Welshmen to come forward in support of a nobly-planned national institution. Salaries of The Manchester Guardian has recently Secondary given publicity to correspondence Teachers relating to the salaries of assistant masters in Welsh Intermediate Schools: the rapid migration of the best teachers from Welsh schools makes the question one of great public interest. One fact stands out quite clearly. Although nearly all classes of workers receive in Wales a remuneration equal to that of such workers in England, yet the salaries of assistant masters in Welsh Secondary Schools are far below those paid in English grant-aided schools. The following figures are taken from a White Paper issued by the Board of Education in 1911, concerning salaries in English Grant-aided Secondary Schools Average salary of assistant masters in England in 1911 il68 Percentage of masters receiving less than £ 200 a year 76.7 Percentage of schools in which the highest salary is under £ 220 60.7 The same calculation for Wales a year later :­ Average salary of assistant masters in Wales in 1912 1153 6s. 8d. Percentage of masters receiving less than £ 200 a year 92.6 Percentage of schools in which the highest salary is under £ 220 94.7 Is it any wonder that experienced teachers are leaving Wales for England ? Again, no County Authority in Wales has estab- lished a scale of salaries for secondary teachers, the result being that for the same work men receive different salaries in two adjoining school areas. The following are some of the County Scales now in force in England, and it is worth noticing that every master possessing certain qualifications can obtain the maxi- mum salary. London Maximun £ 300 and in special cases £ 350 Surrey, Middlesex, Essex, Lancashire, Salop: Maximum £ 250. In Wales, only 3 men received £ 250 in 1912, all of course being senior assistants of long standing in the schools. It is idle to plead that Welsh county authorities have no power to establish scales. The London County Council is able to surmount the same obstacle by refusing grants to schools, unless the