[2] Alongside Samuelson on the Commission there were H. E. Roscoe, Philip Magnus, John Slagg, Swire Smith and William Woodall.
Volumes III, IV and V contained Thomas Wardle's report on the silk industry, Professor Sullivan's plan for Irish technical education and the minutes of evidence and appendices.
[3] The Commissioners reported on their visit to a Swiss elementary school that they "were especially struck with the clean and tidy appearance of the boys, and there was difficulty in realising that the school consisted mainly of children of the lower classes of the population".
[4] The Commissioners also wrote, [I]t is our duty to state that, although the display of continental manufacturers at the Paris International Exhibition in 1878 had led us to expect great progress, we were not prepared for so remarkable a development of their natural resources, nor for such perfection in their industrial establishments as we actually found.
Your commissioners cannot repeat too often that they have been impressed with the general intelligence and technical knowledge of the masters and managers of industrial establishments on the Continent.