The Modern Regime Volume II Part 23

[Footnote 63104: "Exposition universelle" of 1889. "Rapport general," by M. Alfred Picard, p. 367. At the same date, the number of pupils in the public schools was 4,500,119.--"Journal des Debats," Sep. 12, 1891, Report of the commission of statistics. "From 1878-79 to 1889-90, 5,063 public congregationist schools are transformed into secular schools or suppressed; at the time of their transformation they enumerated in all 648,824 pupils.--Following upon this secularization, 2,839 private congregationist schools are opened as compet.i.tors and count in 1889-90, 354,473 pupils."--In ten years public secular instruction gains 12,229 schools and 973,380 pupils; public congregationist instruction loses 5,218 schools and 550,639 pupils. On the other hand, private congregationist instruction gains 3,790 schools and 413,979 pupils."]

[Footnote 63105: Turlin, ibid, p. 61. (M. Turlin enumerates "104,765 functionaries," to which must be added the teaching, administrative and auxiliary staff of teachers of the 173 normal schools and their 3000 pupils, all gratuitous). (In 1994 there were 247 000 primary school teachers (inst.i.tuteurs) in public schools in France. Taine could not foresee that the French schools and universities should become an enormous industry, the number of teachers and universities multiplied by ten and the number of government functionaries multiplied by 20 and that the annual 50 000 vacancies should find more than a million candidates, the young overeducated persons dreaming of becoming functionaries and hence "safe" for life. (SR.))]

[Footnote 63106: In this respect, very instructive indications may be found in the autobiography of Jules Vales, "l'Enfant," "le Bachelier,"

and "l'Insurge." Since 1871, not only in literature do the successful works of men of talent but, again, the abortive attempts of impotent innovators and blasted half-talents, converge to this point."]