4o6 



NA TURE 



[March i, 1694 



and the Association for the interests with which they are 

 specially connected, the relative importance of the re- 

 presentation of the graduates and the Professors has 

 been reduced by the Commissioners. 



The reduction has been about in the proportion of 

 one-third to one-seventh in the case of Convocation, and 

 one-half to one-third in the case of the Teachers. 



We are inclined to think that Convocation is still 

 over- represented, and should have been glad to see the 

 principle admitted that half the entire Senate should 

 consist of Teachers in the University. As far as these 

 numbers are concerned, however, we accept the decision 

 of the Commissioners as that of a body of men who have 

 weighed most carefully the evidence submitted to them, 

 and have evidently tried to do impartial justice. 



A mere numerical comparison, such as the foregoing, 

 does not, however, show all the points of difference 

 between the schemes. The most fundamental divergence 

 is in the proposed relations between the University and 

 the chief Educational Institutions which already exist 

 in London. 



The Revised Scheme contemplated the establishment 

 of Constituent Colleges, that is, institutions which the 

 University recognised as giving teaching of University 

 rank in some or all branches of learning. The Teachers 

 in the Constituent Colleges who were thus recognised 

 by the University were grouped into Faculties, to which 

 bodies certain powers and privileges were given. 



Over and above this the Senate was to have the power 

 of entering into arrangements with any Constituent 

 College by which it approved certain courses of study 

 given in the College, accepted certificates of attendance 

 at such courses, recognised special examinations con- 

 ducted in the College by a College Professor and an 

 adjoint Examiner appointed by the Senate, and gave 

 Degrees to candidates who attended the specified courses 

 and passed the special examinations. A Standing Com- 

 mittee of the Senate was to co-operate with the Con- 

 stituent Colleges in the organisation and improvement 

 of University Teaching in and for London, "including 

 the establishment of Professorships." Inasmuch, how- 

 ever, as the Faculties were to consist of Teachers of the 

 Constituent Colleges only, and no provision was made 

 for the admission to them of University Professors who 

 were not connected with a Constituent College, it 

 would appear that the University itself was not to be a 

 Teaching Body. 



As far as the Colleges are concerned, this was in effect 

 the plan which has worked successfully in the Victoria 

 University. The Colleges were to be independent, to 

 appoint their own Professors^ to find their own funds. If 

 they succeeded they were to be recognised, and to share 

 in the government of the University. Success would de- 

 pend in part on the number of their students. Hence they 

 were to be rivals, but the University would neither help 

 nor hinder them. Equal privileges could be won by all. 

 They would be impartially withdrawn from those v;ho 

 failed. The idea of recognising special examinations to 

 suit special needs was an advance, and a very important 

 advance, on the scheme of the Victoria University. A 

 fundamental difference between the two Universities 

 would, however, have been that, whereas the Victoria 

 University can only give Degrees to candidates who have 

 NO. 1270, VOL. 49] 



passed through a College of the University, the Uni- 

 versity of London would have been able to give Degrees 

 to all-comers, as well as to make special arrangements 

 for students in Constituent Colleges. 



The scheme of Convocation went a step further. It 

 contemplated the possession by the University of inde- 

 pendent laboratories, and therefore of a teaching staff 

 of its own. It also proposed that Professorial Chairs in 

 other Institutions should be endowed by the University 

 on condition " that the appointment to such Chairs 

 whenever a vacancy occurs should pass to the Univer- 

 sity." It was not stated whether the Professor so 

 appointed should be subject to the University only, or 

 whether he should be under the partial or exclusive con- 

 trol of the Governing Body of the College in which he 

 worked. The Professorial Scheme was very similar. 

 Every Professor of the University was to be appointed 

 and paid by the University, and a Statutory Commission 

 was to make arrangements with existing Institutions for 

 complete or partial incorporation. 



The Commissioners propose that certain Institutions, 

 or departments in Institutions, shall be recognised as 

 Schools of the University. The teachers in these 

 Schools must be individually approved to secure 

 a University status. The principle laid down by 

 the Professorial Association, that Teaching Insti- 

 tutions as such are not to be represented on the 

 Senate, is accepted, and thus the Constitution of the 

 University is not in theory federal. On the other hand, 

 places on the Senate are allotted to University College, 

 King's College, the Royal College of Science, and the 

 City and Guilds of London Institute, "regarded as 

 important and wealthy public Corporations, or Societies, 

 having and exercising wide educational aims and powers 

 in connection with University education in London." 

 The distinction is rather a fine one, but we gather that in 

 the Commissioners' opinion King's College ought to have 

 two representatives on the Governing Body, even if some 

 theological difficulty led to its refusing to accept the 

 position of a School of the University. The Commis- 

 sioners decline to accept the idea either of immediate 

 or of ultimate absorption of Educational Institutions 

 as the basis of the University. But even if this 

 is so, we think that they have gone too far in 

 allotting a definite number of representatives to certain 

 Teaching Institutions which happen at the moment to be 

 the most important in London. The very exist- 

 ence of the Royal College of Science depends on the 

 will of a Minister. We suppose that the City and Guilds 

 Institute would collapse if the subventions it receives 

 from the City Companies were withdrawn. The Com- 

 missioners themselves would surely be unwilling to throw 

 any obstacles in the way of the complete absorption of 

 University College by the University if in twenty years 

 time it should itself desire it. Yet as matters stand any 

 such change would involve a change in the Charter. It 

 would surely be better to allot six representatives to the 

 Governing Bodies of important Educational Institutions 

 to be distributed in the first instance as the Commissioners 

 propose, with the condition that the Senate may from 

 time to time revise the list, subject to an appeal to the 

 Privy Council. This at all events would secure greater 

 flexibility. It is also possible that the Senate might 



