Victoria, c. 58), by the 39th section (sub-section 1), it was enacted by Parliament that, in the appointment of Inspectors of mines in Wales and Monmouthshire, among candidates, otherwise equally qualified, persons having a knowledge of Welsh were to be preferred. By the Quarries' Act, 1894 (57-58 Victoria, c. 42, s. 2, ss. 3) and by the Factory Act of 1901 (1 Edward 7, c. 22, s. 118, ss. 2) similar provisions were made for the appointment of Welsh-speaking Inspectors of quarries and factories.
A.D. 1889.—An Act (52-53 Victoria, c. 40) to promote intermediate Education in Wales was passed in 1889. It provided for the intermediate and technical education of the inhabitants of Wales and the county of Monmouth. Like most modern legislation, the Act itself refers to and incorporates many powers contained in other Acts of Parliament. It established joint education committees in every county. These were required to prepare schemes utilizing educational endowments and buildings and, where necessary, establishing new public schools, to be administered by county governing bodies constituted under each scheme. The funds made available for this work are derived from county rates, endowments. Government grants, school fees, and local subscriptions. The Act came into operation on November 1, 1889. It was a permissive Act, enabling the various County Councils to set its machinery in motion, and has since been generally adopted in Wales and Monmouthshire with most valuable results. It was the result of the Welsh national educational movement which owed its chief impetus to the late Sir Hugh Owen. In 1881, a committee had been appointed to inquire into the condition of intermediate and higher education in Wales. This committee reported on August 18, 1881, and since then its recommendations have been adopted in almost every particular both as to higher and intermediate education. In 1885, Mr. Mundella introduced a Bill for Intermediate Education for Wales, in which for the first time the principle of a
