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* NATIONAL ARTS CLUB. 260 NATIONAL EDUCATION. that of managing director, has been filled since the organization of the club by Mr. Charles de Kay. NATIONAL CHRISTIAN LEAGUE FOR THE PROMOTION OF SOCIAL PURITY. An urganizaticiu with headquarters, in New York City. Its distinctive aim is the prevention of the" extension of vice, (1) by the disscniinivtion of wholesome literature, (2) by the supplying of the physical needs of those who are being rescued from or dangerously exposed to vice, (3) by the establishment of homes for working- girls, and such other means as opj^irl unities ])resent. The work is carried on by special com- mittees. The l.<>ague has estahlisliid a home for self-supporting women, where nominal rates only are charged. The League has, also, a hospital committee, whose duty it is to visit the hos- pitals and assist special cases of charily, and an auxiliary, the Social Culture Club, to improve family life "by reaching young mothers and girls. Annual conventions are held. NATIONAL CIVIC FEDERATION. An oriiaiiizal Inn tnrnied of a ninulicr nf iirominent re])resentatives of capital and labor, the direct outgrowth of conventions held in Chicago and New York in IflOO-Ol. The object of these prelim- inary meetings was to secure the fullest possi- ble infiirmation as to the methods and mcasiues of arlntration in lal)or disputes throughout the world, and to consider the best means of ])romot- ing industrial peace. At the New York con- vention, held Decendjcr IG, 1901, a commission of thirty-six was created to he known as the "Industrial Department of the National Civic Federation," charged with full authority to en- deavor hy timely mediaticm to check labor dis- putes, and as "a last rescu't to end them hy formal arbitration. The commission, represented ccpially the employers, the wage-earners, and the piiblic, and an'iong those selected were ex- President (irover Cleveland, President Eliot of Harvard University, and Archbishop Ireland, representing the puhlic: Jlark Ilanna and .John D. Rockefeller, .Jr., representing employ- ers: and Samuel Gonipers, .John Mitcliell, and Frank P. Sargent, representing the laliorcrs. The objects to be kept in view by the connnission were the adoption of the hest means for the pro- niiilinn (if industrial peace; the establishment and maintenance of proper relations between em- ployers and workers; the prevention of strikes ami lockouts; the settlement of labor disjuites before an acute stage shall have been reached; and, where a rupture has occurred, the applica- tion of the hest means for the restoration of friendly relations between both parties. The department assumes no power of arbitration un- less when such power is conferreil >ipon it by both parties concerned in the dispute. The com- mission was instrvnncntal in settling eleven strikes from the date of its organization to the breaking out of the anthracite coal strike in IfilVi. NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF CHARI- TIES AND CORRECTION. A boily composed of the State boards of ).nblic charities, where they exist; of delegates aopointed by the Oov- ernors of other States; nf eharitv organization societies and associated charities thro>i"hont the country: and of persons connected ofTiclally or unofTtcinlly with charily work. It holds annual meetings in some city determined upon at a preceding meeting of the Conference. It has no fornuil con.^tilutiou. NATIONAL CONVENTION ( in French his- tory;. See Co.wt.Nilu.N, Natio.nal. NATIONAL COVENANT. The league formed by the Scotch Presbyterians in 1038, being one of the famous Covenants (q.v. ). NATIONAL DEBT. S<c DEiir, Pinuc. NATIONAL EDUCATION, Systems of. A system of national education may be said to exist wherever the sovereign authority in a nation takes part in the establishnu'nt, mainte- nance, or to any considerable extent the regula- tion of the agencies for the education of the peo- ple. In ancient times and among the antique civilizations that survive to-day State sy.stems of education are found. Such systems are (1) theocratic, where the priesthood, who form a rul- ing ca.ste or are intimately connected therewith, carry on education; (2) examining, where the State conducts tests for citizenship or ofTicial po- sition, thus indirectly determining the character of the instruction; "or (3) martial, where the State aims to prepare its youth for citizenship which is practically equivalent to membership in its army. The Itoman Government regulated edu- cation to some extent, and the emperors endowed many institutions of learning. With the fall of the Roman Empire and the appearance of the me- diaeval ecclesiastical system, the Church assumed control of education in Europe and resented any encroachment of the State upon its domain. The Reformation, however, by placing wherever it prevailed the control of religion in the hands of the State, transferred to the secular authority the control of education as well. The modern em- phasis of the necessity of educatiim for all, not only in religion, but also in letters, led to a broader popular education than had hitherto ex- isted. The nuiltiplication of sects that was an outcome of the Protestant movement brought about so much warfare regarding religious in- struction that in most of the advanced nations it has largely or entirely disappeared from the curriculum o"f the State "schools. Thus the mod- ern systems, concerned principally with secular instn'iction, and controlled by the State, have come to exist. The development of modern national support and control of education has in general followed this order: first the regulation, then the ])ar- tial support, and fmally the assumjition by the State of almost the entire responsibility for the ediication within its borders. To-day in Prussia !in.."> per cent, of the elementary cducati(m is car- ried on in public schools, and all the secondary and higher institutions are State institutions. Switzerland and Sweden show practically the same conditions. In Italy i)rivate elementary schools do 10 per cent, of the work, and in Spain they are a much more significant factor. In England the law of lim-2 brings most of tfte ele- meiilary schools of the religious societies under Oovernment control and provides for them a con- tribution from public funds as liberal as that given to the schools established by the State. Secondary education is also gradually coming under Slate stipervision and provision is being made for national secondary schools. In France the private secondary- and ejemenlarv schools, the larger tiart of which were under clerical auspices, have been to a great extent suppressed by the en-