THE UNIVERSITIES NEW ZEALAND Canterbury College.

New Zealand Illustrated Magazine, Volume V, Issue 1, 1 October 1901, Page 49

THE UNIVERSITIES NEW ZEALAND

Canterbury College.

By J. Higiit, M.A

fi^fe^PlTH regard to opportunities for Wmalk education, Canterbury has llmSlh hitherto been the most, favoured I — clfeN P ai 't °^ a ' am ' plentifully endowed with educational advantages. Her pilgrims set apart one pound of land revenue out of every three for schools and churches ; as the price of land was £3 for each of the two and a-half million acres of the first settlement area — a price higher than that in any previous colonising scheme — this provision alone would have stood a noble monument to the far-seeing minds of those who made it, had it been found possible to adhere to all its details. In Otago, which had been settled only a short time before, and where land was £2 an acre, only one-eighth of the price was set apart for similar objects. Though various causes prevented the fulfilment of the plans of the fouuders of Canterbury, yet these pilgrims, English University and public school men, as many of them were, held such strong opinions upon the importance of educational opportunities as to make very substantial provision for the provincial education system. It is out of an endowment of 100,000 acres set apart by Vol. III.— No. 1.— 4.

the Provincial Government, under tlio superintendency of Mr. Holk'nton, (lint Canterbury College, the coping Ktone of that system, has been chiefly maintained.

The College attained its majority in 1894, having been created in 18753 by an ordinance of the Provincial Council for the purpose of continuing and expanding the work previously carried on by the classes of the Canterbury Collegiate Union. Three years previously the University of Now Zealand had been established with power to grant degrees, and the Otago University had commenced its teaching career. The following year saw the passing of the New Zealand University Act, by which the University was made an examining body only, and the Otago and Canterbury University Colleges were affiliated to it as teaching institutions. The government of the latter was entrusted to a Board of twenty-three Governors appointed for life, vacancies being filled first by the Board itself, and from 1884 till 1896 by the graduates of the College. This Board was thought to be too exclusive, and in 1896 a colonial Act attempted to make \t% personnel more representative of the province. Three

members each are appointed by the Governor, three by the teachers of Canterbury with certificates above E, three by the Canterbury School Committees, three by the Canterbury Members of Parliament, six by the graduates of the College, and O7ie member by the professors and lecturers.

It was in 1875 that the first professors — Professors Bickerton, Brown and Cook — commenced work. Thus the youngest of the provinces celebrated her silver jubilee by founding the second University College in the colony. Besides the work of the professors in chemistry, classics, English, and mathematics, lectures were given in modern languages, biology and jurisprudence. At first two rooms in the Public Library and a neighbouring hall were used as classrooms, but in 1877 the oldest portion of the present handsome block of buildings

was opened, the money for buildings and site being voted by the Provincial Council. Additions were made to this at various times — first the lecture rooms to the left of the main entrance, then the hall, then the classical lecture room, then the School of

CANTERBURY COLLEGE AND SCHOOL OF ART. — ANTIGUA STREET FRONTAGE,

Engineering, then the biological laboratory and telescope tower ; whilst the School of Electrical Engineering is now building at a cost of £5,000. The total cost of the College block was about £50,000.

The extension of staff lias not been less rapid. Beginning with three professors the College has at present seven chairs and six lectureships. The present occupants of these are : — Chairs — Classics, F. W. Haslara, M.A. (Cantab.) ; English Language, Literature and History, A. Wall, M.A. (Loud.), B.A. (Cantab). ; Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, C. H. H. Cook, M.A. (Cantab.) ; Chemistry, A. W. Bickerton, F.C.S ; Engineering and Electricity, R. J. Scott, M.T.M.8., M.1.C.E.; Biology, A. Der.dy, D.Sc. (Viet.) ; Modern Languages, T. Gr. R Blunt, M.A. (Oxon.) Lectureships -Geology, F. W. Hutton, F.R.S., C.M.Z.S.

(also Curator of the Christchuroh Museum) ; Jurisprudence and Law, W. Izard, M.A., LL.M. (Cantab.) ; Sound, Light and Heat, W. P. Evans, M.A. (N.Z.), Ph. D. ; Music, Gr. F. Tendall, Mus. B. (Oxon.) ; Electricity, A. R. Craddock, B.So. in Bngin. (N.Z.) ;

Political Economy and Constitutional History, J. Hight, M.A. (N.Z.)

Two professors died in harness — Sir Julias von Haast, a scientist of more than colonial reputation, who held the chair of Paleontology and Geology from 1877 to 1887, and left behind as a lasting memorial the finest museum in Australasia. W. Michell Clarke, M.A. (Cantab), died at the end of last year after having faithfully served the College for ten years, first as lecturer on, and then as Professor of Modern Languages. Professor J. Macmillan Brown, M.A., who filled the chair of English and Classics from 1874 to 1879, and that of English from the latter date to 1895, when he resigned on account of failing health, did much to shape the educational system of the colony ; his enthusiastic teaching of the English Language and Literature elevated their study to a plane

not reached in many countries older than New Zealand. His services are commemorated in the Macmillau-Brown Memorial Prize for English essay, the fund for which was raised by subscription amongst the students of Canterbury College.

CANTERBURY COLLEGE. — WORCESTER STREET FRONTAGE

Canterbury, as well as Otago, lias ulroudy begun to specialize in her college. Whilst the latter provides a colonial Medical School, the former is winning recognition for her School of Engineering, lOlectriuity and Technical Science, which was established on its present basis in 1890, and is thoroughly equipped for imparting sound instruction in these important branches of knowledge. During the first term of • this year one hundred and seventy-six students attended the classes of tin's school, where provision in made, not only for those working for any of the University degrees in the science) mid art of engineering, whether mechanical, electrical or civil, but also for all engaged in trades in which a knowledge of the subjects taught is a great advantage to the workman. This is not the only direction in which the College seeks to satisfy the pressing needs

of popular scientific instruction ; many of the College classes in science are adapted to suit the purposes of those requiring a general knowledge of the subjects without the passing of University examinations. Quite recently the Board of Governors

sought to extend the sphere of College influence by establishing a University Extension Council to arrange for a series of lectures by professors and other competent persons in centres like Timaru, Ashburton, or Rangiora, and in the city itself. The extension movement, however, has not been urged forward with any enthusiasm by the people whom it was intended to benefit. It was objected to as being too costly ; whilst many are of opinion that the province is not yet ripe for such an ambitious scheme. It is satisfactoi'y to find, however, that the Council does not intend to be killed or even chilled by its first disappointment. The welfare of the College is closely related with that of several other institutions controlled by the same governing body — the Public Library, dating from 1878, the Canterbury Museum (1874), the Girls' High School (1877), the Boys' High School (1881), the School of Art (1882). All of

these are located in handsome buildings within easy distance of the College itself. After thus stating what the College is prepared to do for the province, and even the colony as a whole, and bearing in mind what it has already done, one finds it humiliating to confess that with the exception of the Townsend telescope, not one important private bequest has yet been made to the College. Yet Canterbury is proud of its claim to be the richest district in the colony, spite of its record array of old age pensioners. If there be not lack of money, why is there among our citizens lack of will to endow our higher educational institutions ? It would be absurd to make a comparison with some of the communities in the United States of America, whei'e it is estimated that a sum of no less than twenty-two million pounds has been given or bequeathed by private citizens during recent years for the foundation and maintenance of University

Colleges and Schools of Science. But the Ne w Zealander would like to see his colleges profit as those of Adelaide. Melbourne, and Sydney have profited by the bequests or gifts of men who realise the importance of adequate provision for University education. The standard and scopo of the teaching in the College is determined, iii common with those of the other University Colleges, by the I'equirements of the degrees granted by the University ; these will, no doubt, find a place in the article upon the University itself, whic this series descriptive of

h is to complete our University

system. The College lectures, however, are open to unmatriculated as well as to matriculated students. Last year the attendance of students, omitting the engineering students, was two hundred and eighteen, one hundred and twenty-five matriculated and ninetythree non-matriculated. For the first term of this year the attendance was two hundred and six. The highest attendance within the last decade was three hundred and forty-nine in 1891, when as many as one hundred and seventy-seven nou - matriculated students attended. The music students last year, included in the figures quoted above, numbei'ed sixty-seven. In the Arts course the classes vary considerably in f.ize according to subject ; mathematics, which is a compulsory subject for the pass B.A. degree, being highest in 1900 with forty-one members. Independent of compulsion, English Literature seems the favourite

subject with students. Tho University student in Arts passes three years at tho College, then if he has been successful in all his studies and examinations, he is allowed to sit for the final B.A. degree examination. The higher degree he may take at any time not lens than a year afterwards. In competition with the other Colleges, Canterbury has won fifty of tho ninety-four first-class honours degrees, all the double firsts, eighty-six of the one hundred and sixty scholarships for graduates, and eighteen of the twenty-four Bowen prizes awarded since the foundation of the University. It would be both interesting and profitable to attempt an estimate of the influence tho College has exercised through her graduates upon the life of the community. In this necessarily brief and merely descriptive article, it would be out of place to do more than to draw attention to the following analysis of the occupations of the graduates now upon the College electoral roll. Some

forty are persons (chiefly women) with no avowed occupation, or concerning whom it has been difficult to get reliable information. The figures given are fairly approximate to the truth. By far the greater number are teachers — sixty secondary, thirty primary and five University ; twenty-six are lawyers • nearly twenty clergymen ; six doctors ; six journalists ; four are engaged in scientific work ; only two are serving their country in the Civil Service, whilst amongst the number are an actuary, a soldier, a farmer and a chemist. Of the seventy-two women fifty-one, or seventy-one per cent., are unmarried. One cannot forbear noting the absence of graduates from the ranks of Members of Parliament. Up to the present the College has had no residential department. The students' opportunities for social intercourse, beyond those afforded in the classrooms and the quadrangle, are limited to the College Societies. These are not a few in number. Thei-e is a tennis, a football and an amateur athletic club ; there is the Dialectic Society, a debating club that meets once a fortnight; whilst the Engineei'ing students boast an Engineering Society of similar character. The Students' Association brings out The Canterbury College Bevieio twice a year, manages all College and inter-collegiate social functions, and supports a magazine club. There is a College library founded and maintained by the Board of Governors, and though it is' not as good as that, for example, at Auckland, it is found to be of great service to the student. The greater number of students belong to Canterbury ; though many are drawn from beyond the bounds of the province. The establishment of Victoria College has had an appreciable influence in lessening the numbers of students from a distance.

There is 110 college, or human institution for thafc matter, whose older members do not mourn the degenerate ways of those coming after them. Older graduates remember the young days of the College when the student hastened, often breakfastless, through the half lights of the frosty mornings to the chill lecture rooms, where he yielded himself unconditionally to the somewhat cold charms of Minerva : thence to his school, and a day's hard teaching topped with other lectures (often prolonged to double their statutory length), and a night of close reading. But there is no one so bold as to deny that the same spirit may manifest itself in different ways, and that the comparative luxury of his present conditions has not made the undergraduate one whit less eager and persistent in paying court to knowledge. Love for their college at least is easily perceived to be as keen in the young as in the old, and from LL.D.'s to first year men, all have felt at some time that a very real meaning lies in the wish for the welfare of the College expressed in the College chorus sung on diploma days, and quoted here in full : — Long live Canterbury College, long live College, She has reared and brought us up ; At her fount we've drunk of knowledge, drunk of knowledge, Sipped it from her classic cup. Then long live each professor, the greater and the lesser, Long life and health to all ; And long live all the undergrads, they really are not half so bad as people would them call. Now's the time for mirth and play On our glad Diploma day. Long speeches only bore us, so sing in merry ! chorus, a stave to pass the time ; Our song is done, the festival's begun.