NEWS OF THE WEEK.
AJUDGMENT which may fairly rank with that of the House of Lords in the Taff Vale case was delivered on Wednesday by the Court of Appeal. The West Riding of Yorkshire County Council declined to pay the cost of denomi- national religious instruction in certain non-provided schools, and a rule nisi was obtained in the Divisional Court by the Crown for a mandamus to compel such payment. On appeal, the Master of the Rolls and Lord Justice Farwell—Lord Justice Moulton dissenting—held that the Education Act of 1902 imposed no such liability, and allowed the appeaL Unless the House of Lords reverses the decision, the result is that, owing to bad drafting, the Act of 1902 does not fulfil the function for which it was passed, and that after all the voice of the "passive resister" need not have been heard in the land. The decision, if upheld, renders a part of the new Bill unnecessary, since it affirms as the law of the land the principle of popular control in return for State aid. Many legal questions follow, such as whether the local authority has the power, even if it has the will, to make the payments, and whether the sums already paid are recoverable. These and other points are still obscure, but it is clear that the decision materially alters the position of the education controversy, and will necessitate considerable alterations in the Government Bill. There will probably be many advocates of a compromise on the basis of the existing law, with a short amending Act to clear up the disputed points which arise out of it.
