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Evening Star, Issue 12875, 26 July 1906, Page 4

On two occasions now the citizens of Dunedin have subscribed liberThe Rhodes ally to provide a sum suffiS<h»l«r, cient to tide the Rhodes Schoffir over the first six months at Oxford. The necessity for thja is at once apparent when it is remembered that the first payment is not made npßl the Scholar has been six months in actual residence. It is obvious that a student without means cm which to live for the early part of his course would without speh assistance be unable fit) taka advantage of the scholarship, unless fie borrowed money to see him through. As in the course of years we may look forward to other Erodes Scholars going from this provincial district, it ie well tp consider whether there is no means more suitable than those recently adopted for making the required provision. It is not to he expected, that the public will continue year by year to subscribe aa in the past; nor is it just that they should be repmeiJb 4*. jfa.

burden would fad regularly on very nearly the same individuals every time. When it is considered that the Scholarship is worth £3OO per annum, there appears no reason why this amount should not be amply suilicient to enable the colonial student who gains the Scholarship to meet all his expenses and have a little over. We are assured on the very best authority—that of one who has “ been through the mill ” himself and had a full coarse at Oxford—-that on the sum mentioned a student should have ample to meet all his ordinary expenses at Oxford and have a large margin for Continental travel during the vacation. There is no doubt as to the facts. Students can live (and live well) at Oxford on half the sum provided by Mr Rhodes for their maintenance ; and some of them have, lived and done well oa very much less than half. As an esteemed correspondent expresses it: Amongst students who had to liyc ecopo“mically I was counted a millionaire with “my £l2O a year. Surely the Rhodes Scholar is a billionaire in comparison. ‘ And to add to their resources is to invite “habits of extravagance.” Wc cordially agree with the sentiments expressed, and, without wishipg to urge that a Rhodes Scholar should have to live in a manner more economically than his fellows at Oxford, we may say {.hat we think ample provision has been made in providing £3OO a year. The difficulty, however, that has to bo met is tiding oyer the first six months; and several suggestions have been made by esteemed correspondents in regard to it. The best solution seems to be to raise a fund of about £I,OOO and place it in trust in the hands of the New Zealand University authorities, to be disbursed from time to tirpe for the successive Rhodes Scholars who require it—say £l5O to each, which would be sufficient to pay all initial expenses and leave the Scholar free from any anxiety during the early period of his residence in England. Let this sum be lent, not given, and let it be repayable within, say, five vears, or whatever period is found to be most suitable to the Scholar who requires the aid of the fund. In this way the best help would be given to those needing it, while at the same time their independence would not be interfered with, and they would be compelled to be self-reliant. The money should be lent on a binding promise to repay it by instalments or .otherwise, as the authorities should consider best under the circumstances. A sum of £I,OOO would be amply sufficient for the purpose, as the most that would be required for any one student would be £l5O, while some would probably not require so much, if any at aIL The sum required in five years' could nob exceed £750, by which time the first loan would be repaid and be ready for the succeeding Scholar. The balance of the fund raised for himself, after meeting his own necessities, so generously returned by Mr Farquharson, could form the nucleus of such a fund as we have suggested; and wc have no doubt the New Zealand University Senate might bo induced to • make a contribution, to it, while contributions from the other University centres would easily bring the fund up to the total suggested above. We commend this proposal to the University authorities in the belief that it is undoubtedly the best method of giving the Rhodes Scholars any necessary financial assistance at their start out. The addresses at yesterday s function were eminently practical and satisfying. Professor Benham spoke admirably, the Governor made some trite observations, the Minister of Lands was heard to advantage, while the Rhodes Scholar surprised everybody by his forceful speech, his tactful handling of difficult issues, and his happy references to the real sources of his own success. If Mr Farquharson finds time to improve Ids opportunities at the Oxford Union, he will probably be heard of in even more directions than His Excellency indicated.