On Monday Lord Rosebery addressed a letter to Lord Monkswell,
the Chairman of the London County Council, making a most important proposal to the Council as the authority for technical education. "The time has come," he says, "for making London, so far at any rate as advanced work in the sphere of technical education is concerned, the educational centre of the Empire." An offer has been made by Messrs. Wernher, Beit, and Co. to place a large sum of money in the hands of trustees to provide the building and equipment of an institution which 'shall be a London parallel to the institution at Charlottenburg. Offers of the same kind have been made by other public-spirited London citizens. Lord Rosebery, there- fore, appeals to the London County Council to make the necessary provision for the maintenance of the educa- tional work of the proposed institution. It would appear that it would cost about 2300,000 to build such an institution, and that some 220,000 a year would be wanted to maintain it. We gather that Messrs. Wernher, Beit, and Co. and the other donors would supply the 2300,000, or the bulk of it, and that a site would be given by the Royal Commissioners of the 1851 Exhibition. All, then, that is required to bring the scheme into operation is the endowment asked from the County Council. The Council are, of course, right to consider the matter carefully ; but we cannot suppose that they will in the end refuse an obligation which falls so legitimately within their powers.
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