NOTES 293 



for the accommodation as at present guaranteed by the Government, and does 

 not comply with the stipulations laid down by the Senate, after full considera- 

 tion of this and other sites, in their resolution of June 17, 1914" ; namely : 



" That the Vice-Chancellor be requested to inform His Majesty's Govern- 

 ment that the Senate, having considered various sites which have been 

 suggested for the Headquarters of the University, are of opinion that it is 

 undesirable to proceed further with such consideration unless and until 

 His Majesty's Treasury intimate their willingness to provide accommodation 

 more suitable in situation, more convenient in character, and on terms not 

 less advantageous as regards tenure, etc., than those attaching to the present 

 occupation at South Kensington." 



The Chancellor of the Exchequer proposes to ask Parliament to increase 

 the Treasury Grant in aid of the Universities from ;^i, 000,000 to /i, 500,000 

 in the Estimates for 1921-22, i.e. to make the extra non-current sum of 

 ;{5oo,ooo given this year recurrent. In addition to this absurdly inadequate 

 provision, we understand that a certain amount of money is to be provided 

 to supplement the pensions of the older teachers who, by reason of their 

 early retirement, can benefit but little from the Universities Superannuation 

 scheme. Nothing, apparently, is to be done to make the pensions received 

 by the teachers as a whole more comparable with those received by school 

 teachers. 



An inevitable result of the depreciation of money and the insuflSciency 

 of Government assistance has been the raising of University fees. The new 

 scales will, in most cases, come into operation next session {i.e. in October). 

 They have been agreed upon after consultation among the Universities 

 themselves and the Board of Education, and show an extremely modest 

 increase, e.g. at the University of Leeds the change is in no case greater than 

 17^ per cent. Necessary as this alteration is from the point of view of the 

 University teacher and administrator, it is to be regretted as a definite 

 retrogression from the democratic ideal — no fees at all, but an entrance 

 examination of high standard and a ruthless weeding out of those who sub- 

 sequently prove themselves unfit for college training. 



Finsbury Technical College is to be closed at the end of the session 

 1920-21. 



The American Presbyterian Board has decided to establish a University 

 at Cairo, and has purchased a site for the building. It will include five 

 faculties: Arts, Oriental Languages, Teachers, Commerce, and Agriculture. 



The Rubber Growers' Association is offering a sum of ;/^5,ooo in prizes for 

 ideas and suggestions for extending the present uses or for encouraging new 

 uses of Rubber. The conditions of the competition (which closes on Decem- 

 ber 31 ) state that special value will be attached to suggestions of a thoroughly 

 practical nature accompanied by working details (including diagrams and 

 designs) which would enable the suggestions to be adopted by a manu- 

 facturer. Further, it is desirable that the ideas should involve the use 

 of large quantities of Rubber. The designs may not be patented in any 

 country, and the Association reserves itself " the right at anytime to publish, 

 test, and otherwise deal " with proposals put forward by any competitor 

 whether he receives a prize or not. Frankly this looks like using a sprat to 

 catch a whale. It is unlikely that anyone, having worked out a really feasible 

 idea, would surrender all rights in it for a reward which presumably would 

 not exceed j^ 1,000, and very possibly might amount to nothing at all. 



The Report of the Advisory Committee on Civil Aviation states that, in 

 the opinion of the Committee, the indirect assistance hitherto given to 

 commercial flying is insufficient, and recommends that a sum not exceeding 

 £250,000 should be given, during the next two years, to aviation companies 

 working on approved routes ; the subsidy awarded being equal to 25 per cent. 



