NATURE 



477 



THURSDAY, JUNE 17, 1920. 



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University Stipends and Pensions. 



NO one disputes that "there is no organised 

 intellectual unit higher or more compre- 

 hensive than a University," and few, on reflection, 

 would differ from Sir John Seeley in affirming that 

 the education in England is what the Universities 

 choose to make it. Not only are the Universities 

 and institutions of University rank the highest 

 product of our educational system, but they also 

 have the power of influencing the trend of thought 

 and ideals in education to an incalculable degree. 

 To a large extent, therefore, the advance to a 

 higher plane of civilisation is dependent upon 

 their free and untrammelled development. In 

 pursuit of truth, whether in philosophy, or science, 

 or technology, independent of material considera- 

 tions, they are pioneers of research, blazing the 

 trail for industry, commerce, and those human 

 efforts which add to the sum of life's happiness. 

 Anything which acts as an impediment or hind- 

 rance to this development cannot be viewed simply 

 as an injury to the institutions themselves ; it is 

 an injury to the community, to the nation, and to 

 civilisation. If this be true, one or two facts of 

 capital importance require to be considered in the 

 light of a few principles. For the moment, how- 

 ever, let us examine the broad relations of the 

 State to the University. 



The State can no more dispense with the co- 

 operation of the Universities than the Universities 

 with the co-operation and assistance of the State. 

 Their interests are mutual and their services re- 

 ciprocal. The influence of the University ramifies 

 through the whole of the administration of the 

 country, its great Departments of State and its two 

 legislative Houses, its local governing bodies and 

 its courts of justice. Obviously the State cannot 

 afford to see the Universities or the University 

 colleges wilt under economic pressure. Now this 

 is precisely what will happen if it does not take 

 a clearer view of its responsibilities and their 

 NO. 2642, VOL. 105] 



logical implications. The University grant, 

 demonstrably insufficient in pre-war times, is 

 absurdly inadequate now. Not merely have money 

 values changed to an extraordinary extent, but 

 the demands upon the Universities in regard to 

 accommodation, equipment, and facilities for re- 

 search have increased to an almost equal degree. 

 If to these be added the necessary adjustments in 

 salaries of the staffs, the inadequacy is still more 

 apparent. 



The State will have to recognise these facts 

 and, if for no other reason than that of enlight- 

 ened self-interest, to assume heavier financial re- 

 sponsibilities. As matters stand at present, those 

 borne by the State are altogether dispropor- 

 tionate to the services rendered by the Universities 

 to the nation. In consequence, the statement is 

 as true to-day as it was when made ten years ago 

 that our newer Universities are "a composite 

 figure in which progress and poverty are the pre- 

 vailing hues." But such increased financial re- 

 sponsibility should not absolve the State from pre- 

 serving in its traditional integrity that freedom 

 which is the life-blood of an institution coeval in 

 origin with Parliament itself. It is platitudinous 

 to say that no one wishes to see the Universities, 

 new or old, in any sort of intellectual subjection. 

 Unfortunately, however, intellectual subjection is 

 too often the outcome of material subjection. A 

 wise State will show its wisdom in preserving in 

 all its integrity that from which it derives, in- 

 directly though it be, its vital energy, and through 

 which it renews its spiritual life from generation 

 to generation. 



On broad and general grounds we have argued 

 that the State has responsibilities to the institu- 

 tions of higher learning of which it cannot divest 

 itself, and that these responsibilities are such as 

 can be fulfilled only by much m.ore generous 

 financial support than is given at present. It is 

 necessary, therefore, to indicate how seriously 

 these institutions are affected by the lack of this 

 support. The question of stipends and pensions 

 alone will be considered. Too often a university 

 is conceived in terms of stone and mortar; essen- 

 tially, however, it is a corporation, a society of 

 human beings, a body of teachers and students. 

 To say that an efficient and highly qualified staff 

 is fundamental is simply to express a truism. 

 Such a staff is the product of many years of 

 patient and unremitting study. If by any mis- 

 chance or lack of vision the flow of able and 

 gifted students to this higher teaching is checked, 

 the loss will be irreparable. That such a result 



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