Total amount (approximate), available for public school
purposes, in _all_ Canada, since Confederation,
_i.e._ in 12 years $64,000,000


These statistics prove conclusively, that Canada occupies a foremost
position among communities for its zeal in developing the education of
the people, irrespective of class. The progress that has been made
within forty years may be also illustrated by the fact that, in 1839,
there were in all the public and private schools of British North
America only some 92,000 young people, out of a total population of
1,440,000, or about one in fifteen, whilst now the proportion may be
given at one in four, if we include the students in all educational
institutions. But it must be admitted, that it is to Ontario we must
look for illustrations of the most perfect educational system. There,
from the very commencement, the admirable municipal system which was one
of the best results of the Union of 1840, enabled the people to prove
their public spirit by carrying out with great energy the different
measures passed by the Legislature for the promotion of Public Schools.
'By their constitution, the municipal and school corporations are
reflections of the sentiments and feelings of the people within their
respective circles of jurisdiction; their powers are adequate to meet
all the economic exigencies of each municipality, whether of schools or
roads, of the diffusion of knowledge, or the development of wealth.'
[Footnote: Hon. Adam Crooks, Minister of Education, Report on
Educational Institutions of Ontario, for Philadelphia Exhibition, p.
45.] As a result of such public spirit, we find in Ontario the finest
specimens of school architecture, and the most perfect school apparatus
and appliances of every kind, calculated to assist the teacher and