The Dominion. THURSDAY, JANUARY 23, 1908. UNIVERSITY QUESTIONS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 102, 23 January 1908, Page 6

The Dominion. THURSDAY, JANUARY 23, 1908. UNIVERSITY QUESTIONS.

Althougii most of tlie subjects which lie discussed in liis address to the University Senate yesterday are of a technical character, the Chancellor touched upon a few important matters of extra-mural interest. As was to he expected from the admirable article which he contributed to the first issue of The Dominion, Sir Robert Stout seized the opportunity once mpre to press the claims of the University upon the generosity of our wealthy citizens. _ He made a very impressive comparison between the lavish assistance which the American universities receive from the wealthy men of America and the almost entire neglect which the Neiv Zealand University suffers at the hands of the wealthy people of this country. " If our wealthy men;" he says/ "were to givo as frooly of their wealth for tho higher education as tho wealthy TJn'tcd States citizens, we should have • to record benefactions amounting to at least £40,000 a year— that is, on a proportional estimate of the wealth and population of tho respective countries. During the past 37 years we havo not received an aggregate of £40,000 from the wealthy men of New Zealand." The comparison does' not touch the real origin of the contrast between New Zealand and America. In America the bulk of the endowments come, not from the wealthy, but from the enormously wealthy, from the millionaires, to whom such a manifestly wise means of getting rid of some of their burden is not'only "a privilege and a duty," but, probably, a positive relief as well. The "proportional estimate" that should be taken to be quite fair is a comparison, not of the national wealth, but of the number of millionaires. And there have been no millionaires here. It is, nevertheless, a little depressing to read that within the past ten years ■" the estates of 21 deceased persons of a value of over £100,000 each have passed through the Stamp Office, and not one of the deceased left anything to education." We are afraid that Sir Robert Stout's stimulating ideal cannot be realised in a hurry, for New Zealand is still in the growing stage, with small time to absorb the national significance of the University. As the Dominion grows older, and life becomes more deep-rooted in our soil, we may hope the wealthy benefactors will appear in growing numbers; but in the meantime we might well expect more than we have received, and it is good to have the hastening influence of a sturdily persistent Chancellor doing its work. . The question of examinations is of perennial interest. The Chancellor is evidently largely in sympathy witli what we may oail the extreme " modernism ■ Professor Starr Jordaaj

but we note with satisfaction that,he restricts himself to quite moderate suggestions of change. As we have indicated in past discussions of the subject, our inclinations, while far from being rigidly conservative, are all against "democratisation" and experiment in our higher education. Accordingly we are glad that the Chancellor feels that, "after all, examinations jf some kind must be held," and, further, that he is by no means sure that the time has. arrived for dispensing with the English examiners. No alteration that is suggested in the pre-, sent system can;be considered unless it is accompanied by convincing proof that it will actually improve the national influence of the University,and give fuller scope to its existing forces of good. The Senate will be wise in limiting its changes to those suggested by the Chancellor in respcct of the matriculation examination and the compulsory subjects of the ordinary pass degree. For many years it has been urged that the standard of the. entrance examination is too low, and that it fills the four Colleges with students who, instead of beginning to profit at oncej from their studies, must waste their time struggling up to the point which they should, have reached before being admitted to the books of the University. Now that the proposal to raise the matriculation standard is coupled with the suggestion that the examination might serve as the basis for the award of the Junior University Scholarships, something' may be' done. Another practical reform which might well be undertaken is the abolition of at.least mathematics as a compulsory subject for the pass degree.,. To most students it is a hateful'subject,, and to all but a few it is one that ..can-, without loss,_ be as joyfully forgotten/as it usually is. As the Chancellor puts'it, " why should a brilliant literary student be denied a degree unless he or she caii pass in mathematics ? " The syllabus should be as elastic as possible, to give the fullest opportunities for " specialising." The " mental gymnastics" involved in the .mathematical programme for'the B.A. degree >are notoriously of no value : the programme is too low to be useful, and just high enough to be painful for most students. Reform along the line suggested by Sir Robert Stout should make for increased efficiency in the College teaching. The Chancellor's address gives promise of. a session of unusual interest to the University world, and of no little interest to the public. • .