86 



^NATURE 



[July 21, 1923 



knowledge of facts but wisdom to understand and 

 interpret : 



" Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much ; 

 Wisdom is humble that he knows no more." 



If, as we hope, there is no confusion of ideals in 

 regard to the higher education of the working classes, 

 questions of method and machinery should not 

 present insuperable difficulties. The needs of the 

 adolescent are, in many respects, distinct from those 

 of the adult. Representatives of the Labour Party 

 have often contended that there is at present in the 

 youth of the working classes a great " stream of 

 talent " which is allowed to run to waste. This 

 contention has never been fully proved ; but if it is 

 true, the blame must rest with the Board of Education 

 and the local education authorities for neglecting 

 their statutory duties. As to the adult, the tutorial 

 class and summer course are methods which have 

 stood the test and yielded good results. The Master 

 of Balliol, in a paper read at the conference, said that 

 the summer school required to be better organised 

 and more developed. Sixteen years' experience had 

 shown what potentialities were in that direction. 

 Another possibility was the organisation of one-year 

 courses of intensive study in universities for selected 

 extra-mural students so that adult education might 

 breed its own teachers. Finally, he suggested, there 

 was a need to develop the system of resident tutors 

 in districts — " decentralised university work." 



So much on the question of what the universities 

 can do for Labour. There remains the converse 

 question — what the Labour Party can do for the 

 universities ? — a question which has assumed greater 

 importance since the Labour Party became His 

 Majesty's Opposition. It is gratifying that the Labour 

 Party, alone of the great political parties, has made 

 the question of university education the subject of 

 formal investigation and study. Their memorandum 

 of evidence submitted to the Royal Commission on 

 Oxford and Cambridge Universities, and recently 

 published in the Appendices to the Report, gives 

 proof of an earnest desire to make our ancient uni- 

 versities more efficient in a national sense. The 

 memorandum is unsigned, and it is therefore difficult 

 to determine its final authority. It speaks throughout, 

 somewhat oracularly at times, in the name of the 

 Party. Occasionally, however, the views expressed 

 appear to have a personal character. For example, 

 can it be supposed that the average member of the 

 Labour Party, whether a horny-handed son of toil 

 or one of the so-called " intellectuals," feels with any 

 intensity of conviction that " the old Pass course 

 both at Oxford and Cambridge should be abolished " ? 



NO. 2803, VOL. 112] 



There is much to be said for the view that specialLs; 

 tion has been carried too far in university educatio 

 and that, for teachers particularly, a broader cour 

 of study than is at present offered by the Honoui 

 schools is to be preferred. In the United State 

 the first degree is granted on a general course of trainin: 

 specialisation being postponed to a later age. Proposals 

 to introduce " honours " degrees on the Enghsh pattern 

 have been vigorously resisted in America on the ground 

 that it is undemocratic to label some citizens as 

 intellectually superior to others. Should not these 

 questions of curricula be settled by educational ex- 

 perts rather than by work-a-day politicians ? 



The control of the universities which receive financial 

 aid from the State is on a different footing. The 

 memorandum states that " the Labour Party does 

 not wish to deprive the universities of their independ- 

 ence ; on the contrary, it would encourage their 

 initiative within the national educational system " ; 

 but it goes on to assert that " something of the nature 

 of continuous administrative control by the State 

 must be undertaken," Thus are our universities to 

 be placed on the slippery slope which leads to intel- 

 lectual regimentation. Questions of new developments 

 in literary and scientific research in universities will 

 have to be submitted to Government officials as are, 

 under present arrangements, questions of supplies for 

 elementary schools. 



No doubt co-operation and co-ordination could be 

 carried further in university education, and the Govern- 

 ment might stimulate the self-activity of the universities 

 in these matters. But the doctrine of continuous 

 administrative control is fraught with danger, Mr. 

 Wood, the president of the Board of Education, 

 speaking at the conference, admitted this, " In my 

 judgment," he said, " if the universities are to fulfil 

 their functions and duties, it is vital that they 

 should retain the fullest measure of liberty possible. 

 There is at present no disposition to challenge that 

 principle. So long as the universities can justify the 

 work that they are doing, so long, I think, Parhament 

 will be prepared to trust the universities to do it." 



Psycho-analysis. 



(i) Conditions of Nervous Anxiety and their Treatment. 



By W. Stekel. Authorised translation by Rosalie 



Gabler. Pp. xii + 435. (London : Kegan Paul and 



Co., Ltd. ; New York : Dodd, Mead and Co., 1923.) 



255. net. 

 (2) Some Applications of Psycho- Analysis. By Dr. 



Oskar Pfister. Authorised EngUsh version. Pp. 



352. (London : G. Allen and Unwin, Ltd., 1923.) 



165. net. 



