402 Transactions. — Miscellaneoiis . 



a central authority like the University of New Zealand would 

 be of greater value to the recipients, in the same way as the 

 New Zealand degree would carry with it a higher status than 

 if issued by one of the university colleges, for every increase 

 in the number of degree-conferring authorities diminishes 

 the value of the degree irrespective of scholarship. 



We have seen that the University and the affiliated col- 

 leges, with one exception, are highly endowed ; but the en- 

 dowments differ from those usually held by similar institutions 

 in England. The revenues of the colleges are derived from 

 what in reality are public lands. The colleges, however, are 

 controlled at present by authorities who are not amenable to 

 Government control under any Act. This statement hardly 

 expresses the actual facts, for each year a balance-sheet is 

 published at the instance of the Government, in which the 

 income and expenditure of each college are given, with a brief 

 report of the work done during the year. But the Government 

 has no controlling-power over the expenditure or in the ad- 

 ministrative work of either institution. The annual expen- 

 diture on salaries in the Auckland University College is between 

 £3,000 and £4,000. In Christchurch the salaries amount to 

 about £5,000, and in Dunedin to a little over £6,000. In 

 addition to the fixed salaries, most of the professors receive 

 the fees paid by students for attendance at the college 

 lectures. 



But this is not the only curious thing about the administra- 

 tive work of the university colleges. The lectures have been 

 planned on the lines of the old universities, like Cambridge 

 or Oxford, and they continue for little more than six months 

 out of every twelve. Perhaps the number of lectures delivered 

 is sufficient for the students who attend them, but it can 

 hardly be supposed that twelve months' salary should be paid 

 for six months' work. Under more effective discipline and 

 administration such a state of affairs could hardly exist. As 

 now planned, the professors in each university college are 

 limited in the exercise of their duties to the delivery of lectures 

 in the colleges where they are engaged. A six-months course 

 of lectures may possibly suffice for the undergraduates, but 

 ought this to entitle the professors to a six-months rest? Let 

 it be remembered that the professors are specialists of a special 

 type, and their services ought to be utilised to the fullest 

 extent for the good and general welfare of the colony. 



No doubt the country has received and is receiving many 

 advantages by the establishment of university colleges, but 

 the educational organization of the country is imperfect from 

 whatever practical standpoint it is viewed, whilst the benefits 

 offered by the colleges to districts like Wanganui and Hawke's 

 Bay are of little or no value. The school life of the great 



