democracy.

Education, which had been to a great extent a class monopoly,
gradually penetrated to all ranks and grades of society. In 1867 the
second Reform Act was passed; a very large proportion of the urban
working classes were given the power of voting, and it was naturally
impossible to entrust such powers for long to an illiterate democracy.
Therefore, in 1870, Mr Forster's Education Act was passed, which
required that in every district where sufficient voluntary schools
did not exist a School Board should be formed to build and maintain
the necessary school accommodation at the cost of the rates. By a
later Act of 1876 school attendance was made compulsory. Every effort
was made in succeeding years to raise the level of intelligence among
present and future citizens. Education became national and
universal.

During the period 1865-85 the population of the kingdom increased,
and the emigration to the British colonial possessions reached its
maximum in the year 1883, when the figures were 183,236.

The rapid rise in population of the large towns drew attention more
and more urgently to the question of public health. Every city and
every town had its own problems to face, and the necessity for solving
these cultivated and strengthened the sense of civic pride and
responsibility. We find during this period an ever-growing interest
throughout the country in the welfare, both moral and mental, of the
great mass of the workers. Municipal life became the training-ground
where many a member of Parliament served his apprenticeship.

Municipalities took charge of baths and washhouses, organized and
built public markets, ensured a cheap and ample supply of pure water,
installed modern systems of drainage, provided housing
accommodation at low rents for the poorer classes, built hospitals
for infectious diseases, and, finally, carried on the great and
important work of educating its citizens.

The power of Labour began, at last, to make itself felt. The first
attempt at co-operation made by the Rochdale Pioneers in 1844
stimulated others to follow their example, and in 1869 the
Co-operative Union was formed. The Trade Unions showed an increased
interest in education, in forming libraries and classes, and in
extending their somewhat narrow policy as their voting power
increased. Out of this movement sprang Working Men's Clubs attached
to the Unions and carrying on all branches of work, educational and
beneficial, among