THE OTAGO UNIVERSITY.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume I, Issue 25, 18 October 1873, Page 11

THE OTAGO UNIVERSITY.

(Abridged fiom the ' Lyttelton Times.') Those who h ive <aken ; and— fortunati-iy for the Colony- still take an active interest in the promotion of higher education, must have learned with satisfaction that the so-called University of Otago will in all probability take itsproper status asoneof the Provincial affiliated colleges "On the one hand, ' says the < Daily Times,' " we have the University of New Zealand deliberately dof\ ing t lie law which cave it birth, and conti avenm<j ,ilmo«t .•very regulation of the Act which created it ; on the other the On«o University, without the status it deserves, workin* in unobtrusive quiet, and denied th* few privileges which it requires for its proper eflicienry. It would have been well, in making such a comprehensively sweeping assertion about the University of New Zealand to back that assertion iip by a clpar statement of facts In whit respect is the University of Kew Zealand deliberately defying the law •which gave it birth, and conti«aveni:ij< almost every regulation of the Act which created it ? We are under the impression, and till ample proof to the contrary is adduced must remain so, that the University of fccw Zealand has from the first conducted its affairs in strict accordance with both the letter and the spirit of the Act by which it was constituted When the • Otago Dui'y Times' supports its charge by evidence, the justice of the former can be measured hy the value of the latter In the meantime, the Unive.sity of New Zealand is entitled to claim complete acquittal. Evea the people of Otago wiU return a verdict of " not provt n." What, iv the estimation of the ' Daily Times/ is the status which the University of 9 tago deserves ? This University 13 now in the tlnrd year ot its existence and we are entitled to inquire what has it done? Ihe 'Otago Daily TiM.es* tells us that it has been and is working m< unobhusive quiot." This, we take it, is a close approximation to the truth We have not heard, for instance, that any student of the Otago University has distinguished himself in the exanimations for University scholarships. On the contrary, the class hat of the last examination wjl show that Canterbury and Nelson— though not obtruding their educational establishments on the notice of the Colony-carry away all the honors. Otago is not quite at the ottom of the list, for a lower depth still is found in Auckland— Par

nobilefratrum. The self-complacency of the ' Otago Doily Times 'is amusing in a sad sort of way. The ' Lyttelton Times' then quotes from thb ' Daily Times,' an J continues :—": — " Here we have the admission of, and lament for, Auckland's defection. The combination which w:is so powerful in the oession of 1872 lins been, as already remarked, completely dissolved, and Otago must accept for its University the position of an affiliated college. Instead of talking so very largely) about what the Province has 'to give in any project for union,' and what it ought to receive, the ' Otago Daily Times' would have acted far more judiciously in tho interests of higher education if it had frankly acknowledged the position in which the question has been placed by the good sense and intelligence of the Colony." Referring to the curriculum, the ' Lyttelton Times' says :—": — " It is not probable that the Council of the New Zealand University will alter its regulations to suit the ideas which, if the ' Otfigo Da'ly Times' is to be taken as an index, prevail' in that Province, nor is there any reason why it should. The regulations, bofh as regards scholarships and degrees, have been framed, so far as we can see, with the view of promoting tho highest pos-ible culture in the widest sense of that term."