CANTERBURY COLLEGE.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 13747, 31 May 1910, Page 6

CANTERBURY COLLEGE.

At a time when there is apparent a desire in som© quarters to throw the constitution of the Xew Zealand University into the melting-pot, it is satisfactory to learn from the annual statement of the chairman of the Board of Governors of the continued progress of Canterbury College. Last year was a notable one in the annals of the College, for it witnessed the completion of tho new chemical laboiatory, tho necessity for which had become urgent in recent/ years. The importance as an adjunct to tho teaching of chemistry of a convenient and well-equipped laboratory can hardly be over-estimated, and the facilities now provided for practical work in this great science cannot fail to .produce good results. The elevation of the lectureship in physics to the dignity of a Chair is another forward step which shows that tho Board appreciate tho necessity of meeting fully the increasing demands of scientific training, and of maintaining tho reputation that the College has won of producing able .young scientists. In this connection it is pleasant to note that for tho fourth time the College provided the winner of the Exhibition (1851) Science Scholarship, and the year was further madte noteworthy by ihe selection of the first student to leave it for ' Trinity College, Cambridge, under the aa-range-nient negotiated by Professor Haslam. These incidents compensate to seme . extent for the persistent non-success of the Canterbury College candidates for tho Rhodes scholarship, and for the fact that seven year* havo passed since a Canterbury undergraduate won the Tinlino scholarship, upon which Canterbury College at one time had a veritable lion. Success in these affairs is not, of course, purely a matter of scholarship and knowledge, but it is very largely regarded from that point of view by the public, and for the credit and fame of tho College, one would like to see her students figure still more prominently in competition with those of other colleges. The attendance of students at the various lectures last year showed a gratifying increase over tho number in the preceding year, the total being 1677 against 1485. Tho greatest increase was in the number attending the pass lectures in English literature and language, but there was a quite respectable (increase in other directions. If the efforts that are bping made towards the creation of a Chair of Military Science at the College prove successful, and tho suggestion that local bodies in other parts of tho Dominion should establish scholarships to bo held at the School of Engineering is adopted, the influence of Canterbury College will be btill further extended. And that is the aim of all connected with it, and tho desire of e\ -oryone in tho province.