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 have been formed. 6. Mine-surveying. 7. Mining—These, I think, may, in the meantime, be provided for by an arrangement with one or more of the local mining engineers." So much for Dr. Black's admirable syllabus.

Can any one doubt that the systematic carrying out of such a scheme as this would redound immensely to the credit of the Government, and to the welfare and progress of the mining community?

A Technical College has, in Sydney, New South Wales, been in existence for some years, and has of late been launching out upon a wider sea of enterprise, making tentative efforts in directions somewhat similar to the foregoing. Such efforts are a healthy sign of awakening interest in this important work of practical technical education. They are deserving of the warmest sympathy and commendation of every patriotic Australian; and the itinerary of one such lecturer is worth all the twaddle and fustian of all the stump politicians and demagoguic nostrum-mongers who muster thick in Sydney, and who air their incoherent and in many cases antiquated and exploded theories with a vehemence and fervour which, if applied to some honest occupation—say breaking blue metal, for instance—would make even these wind-bags superior to all the frowns of fortune. Your political spouter and conference organizer, however, has a wholesome horror generally of hard work for himself. The golden gift of eloquence, or what he mistakably assumes to be its equivalent,