216 APPENDIX A 



nominal purpose reported is not in all cases the real one. 

 It is not a question of principle, whether a flourishing 

 department ought to support one that is not, but of 

 straightforward bookkeeping. Moneys are given to a 

 department A, the effect of which is to transfer the 

 equivalent amount of fees to another department B. A 

 is credited in the annual statements with the receipt of 

 the money, but B gets it. Why is not B given the money 

 directly instead of A, and the transaction recorded in the 

 accounts? The answer is that though A, by the terms 

 of the gift, is necessarily a proper recipient, B may or 

 may not be. 



Whatever may have been the abuses of the regime 

 before the Act of 1889, the fact that such a subject as 

 Chemistry at least would have been better off, if it had 

 been left as it was, in spite of all the wealth from the 

 Government and the Carnegie Trust, which has since 

 come to the coffers of the University, is a sufficient indict- 

 ment of the present system. 



Enough has, perhaps, been said to show that some 

 inquiry not only into the Carnegie Trust, but also 

 into the manner the financial system of the Scottish 

 Universities is operating, is called for. It is not mainly 

 a question of money. Money is merely the measure. 

 Here is a department, original investigation in which, it 

 has been shown, is vital to the future prosperity of the 

 country. It supports itself by hard teaching. It is stated 

 in the published accounts to receive sums which it in fact 

 does not receive, and which if it did receive would enable 

 the teaching staff to be increased and some time allowed 

 for research. It is idle for any public or private benefactor 

 to give money for a specific object, such as the improve- 

 ment and extension of the opportunities of scientific 

 research, until the system is overhauled which makes it 

 possible for moneys so given to be diverted. 



The University fees go almost wholly into the one 

 " General Fund " created by the Act of 1889. The depart- 

 mental expenses are borne by grants from this fund, from 



