The  power  of  prosecution  for  breaches  of
the  Education  Act  should  either  be  ex-
tended to  the  general  public,  or  should
be  vested  in  independent  officials  corre-  ,


sponding  to  factory  inspectors,  whose  ap-
pointments are  not  subjected  every  three
years  to  the  exigencies  of  a  popular  elec-
tion.
In  the  United  ^  States  the  law  pro-
hibits the  employment  of  any  child  under
sixteen  in  any  kind  of  public  performance;
but  a  special  licence  enabling  a  particular
child  to  perform  for  a  certain  limited
time  is  issued  upon  application,  if  the
health  and  general  condition  of  the  child
can  be  proved  not  to  be  endangered  by
the  exemption.  A  law  to  a  similar  effect
is  under  the  consideration  of  the  French
Chamber.  The  moral,  physical,  and  edu-
cational results  of  our  own  factory  legis-
lation, so  far  as  it  relates  to  children,
have  been  so  satisfactory  that  it  may  be
hoped  that  similar  protection  will  ere
long  be  extended  to  children  employed
in  theatres  and  other  public  places  of
amusement.
