VICTORIA COLLEGE FINANCES.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 537, 18 June 1909, Page 6

VICTORIA COLLEGE FINANCES.

. Oir Wodnesday night the; Council -: of the Victoria Collego appeared oncc more in an old familiar role, that of an impecunious claimant Upon the tonsideration of thb Government. Everybody eon' corned must be heartily tired by now of the chronic financial embarrassment of the Council and its periodical requests for alms. Although it is very young, the College has already done excellent work, and is becoming yearly, more popular. Its students now make itp quite an army, and the process of growth is certain to continue at a rapid rate for years to come. Unfortunately, the resources of the Council have not kept pace with the demands upon them,' and the increasing heed fox 4 extensions of tho Collpremises has proved too much for all the care and economy which the Council has been ablo to bring to its administration.' Over and. oyer again the Government lias been-chtatcd to give to .the'.College the consideration Which is duo to it, but, al-: though 'the Government has done something, it has been a hand-to-mouth kind of "business throughout. Mil. voU HaAst set out a tolling array of figures at Wednesday's meeting in prodf of thb disparity between the treatment accorded to the College and the treatment accorded to Canterbury College. When Mr. von HaAbt showed that, although Canterbury College has a much greater revenue than its Wellington sister, it has received .infinitely; better treatment from various

Governments, he was aiming on\' to raako out a good case for an urgently necessary grant of £400. Ilis figures, however, amount to the strongest of ■ cases for an early settlement of the, finances of the College on a thoroughly sound basis. i does not appear to have occurred to Parliament that there is something indecent in this spectaclo of a University College appearing in' the role of a pertoahent beggar, yet indecent that' spectacle most ccftainly is. We are surprised that at any rate Dri Findlay, who cannot but appreciate the impropriety of it, hhs riot itiduced his colleagues tb eild a State of things that reflects most gravely upon the mental quality 1 of a Parliament that pertoits it. One wouldexpect that it would bfi quite eWdent that, as a iflatter of plain business, a College that is worth commencing is worth, sustaining in an efficient condition. The Government is .certainly not one that leans towards an affection for ,the higher learning, but it might at any rato have treated the College more liberally, It should be the aim of the College Council, not to ask for occasional grants, but to agitate for a permanent settlement of .the finances of the College. No doubt there are those Who will gleefully represent the request for Government aid-aB an example of the dishonesty of those who are advocating economy in the national finances. But if these Boeotian critics are, unable to see any tlifforoiice bfetween national expenditure of a necessary charfiotcr and unnecessary expenditure for vote-catching purposes, that is their own affair. No sensible person will notice their comments except to feol sorry for the dullness that lies behind them.