The rule of our policy is that nothing should be done by the state which can be better or as well done by voluntary effort; and I am not aware that, … - William Ewart Gladstone

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The rule of our policy is that nothing should be done by the state which can be better or as well done by voluntary effort; and I am not aware that, either in its moral or even its literary aspects, the work of the state for education has as yet proved its superiority to the work of the religious bodies or of philanthropic individuals. Even the economical considerations of materially augmented cost do not appear to be wholly trivial.