xii POLITICAL LIFE 299 



grant in accordance with the work done. Hence they 

 first gave a fixed sum to each, together with a grant to 

 each Professor or Head of a department, these two 

 sums together forming a sort of equipment fund ; and 

 they then added a percentage on the ordinary income 

 of the college from students' fees and local subscrip- 

 tions. One excellent result of the scheme was, that 

 colleges wishing for a share would be required to 

 furnish particulars of their income and work, and also 

 to submit to a periodical inspection of their appliances 

 and methods. 



The amount of the grant was fixed for five years, at 

 the expiration of which term the colleges were to be 

 visited and a report sent in to the Government. The 

 amount of the grant has since been frequently increased, 

 until at the present moment (1906) it stands at 

 ^56,000, with a promise from the Treasury that this 

 amount will shortly be doubled. That Government 

 aid to the higher University education in the country 

 is a legitimate action of Parliament, is a most important 

 admission, and in all probability Goverment grants to 

 Universities will be more largely increased in the future 

 as the national importance of the higher education 

 comes to be more generally recognised. 



About this time I took part in a movement for the 

 purpose of starting industrial employments for poor 

 people in the West of Ireland. The " Carna Indus- 

 trial Fund " was commenced in Manchester with the 

 benevolent object of finding work and wages for the 

 inhabitants of one of the bleakest and most sterile 

 regions on the Galway coast, and it produced results of 

 a most gratifying and encouraging kind. Upwards of 

 600 women and girls were engaged in knitting and the 

 men were trained as fishermen. The poor people were 

 exceptionally teachable and eager to help themselves 



