ESTABLISHED 1866. The Marlborough Express. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. WEDNESDAY, JULY 12, 1911. VICTORIA COLLEGE.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLV, Issue 159, 12 July 1911, Page 4

ESTABLISHED 1866. The Marlborough Express. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. WEDNESDAY, JULY 12, 1911. VICTORIA COLLEGE.

At the recent capping ceremony held at Wellington in connection wnh the Victoria College, the Chairman of the College Council made. some remarks with regard to that institution. We would remind out readers tl.ut Victoria College is not purely a Wellington institution. The full title is tho Victoria College for the. Middle University District. This district includes Wellington, Hawke's Bay, Taranaki, Marlborough, Nelson and Westland, and it gathers its students from all these Provinces. The prornress made by the institution since its Foundation in' 1898 has been most remarkable. The College this year lias a studtaits' roll numbering 475, a much larger number of students than that which-can be boasted1 by any of th© other three University Colleges affiliated to the New Zealand University. Its portals are open to male and female students from the districts we have named/ at fee& which axe considerably lower than those charged at Auckland, Christchuroh, and Dunedin, and a liberal system of scholarships now renders.-it possible for a- boy or girl from one; of the primary schools to work hisi or.her way up to the possession of a University degree practically free of all cost to his or her parents. Unfortunately, the financial resources of the institution airo in no way commensurate with its requirements. The conditions under which Wellington was settled! were such that no proper provision was made for endowments of land in favor of the great educational institutions which evon then it could be seen were bound to comoL in the, future. Elsewhere, especially in Canterbury and Ot.igo, a' wise, and generous provision w&s made, and the result is to-day fciikt University education in these latter Provinces can be carried oh without any Parliamentary doles. Victoria College, it is true, possesses an endowment, which brings in, we believe, the princely isura of something lika £40 a year', if"sb':much as that. It enjoys a Parliamentary . grant of £4000 a year;, but in -view of the grsatiychanged conditions.—tho students now numbering four times as many as they did when tho College was opened—the governing body of the. institution finds it almost impossible to provide the accommodation and equipment rendered necessary by the ever-increasing attendance. In his address the other day, the Chairman of the Council spoke with a, certain pardonable bitterness as to the lack of sympathy and practical private financial assistance which is exhibited towards the College" by the wealthy people of Wellington. He contrasted th© state of 'affairs in Wellington with that which obtains in'Otago. In Dunedin, when the University, authorities last appoal'od to private generosity to assist ,them in providing new laboratories and class-rooms, the public made a most liberal 'response, over £7000 being collected within «. fortnight. In Wellington) w© believe we are correct ir> sayingj the College appealed some time ago for £2000, upon which the Government was willing to give a £2 for £1 subsidy. The response was almost contemptibly small, amounting to less than £450. It seems to us that the time has come when the College authorities should institute a comprehensive appeal for assistance to the wealthier classes, not only in Wellington, but thjroughout the whole Middle University District. The institution, .as We have pointed out, isi not merely •a WellingtoiK'ono, but one in which several Provinces are interested, and were the claims of the College clearly ■and vigorously put before the.people of the various districts we believe that much' good result might ensue. The institution is distinctly a. people's University, and the more directly tilie people are interested1 in its work the bettor for all concerned.