242 



NATURE 



[July i6, 1903 



ber, and the administrative work of the colleges now 

 continually intrudes even upon the long vacation. 

 From a general point of view, however, such dis- 

 abilities of members of the staff would be of less con- 

 sequence if the younger members of the colleges, 

 honours students, or graduates of promise could 

 secure more favourable conditions. Unfortunately, it 

 is only too obvious that where a professor's chances of 

 conducting original work are meagre, those of his 

 students will, as a rule, be more meagre still. And 

 in spite of the zeal with which the University of Wales 

 has striven to foster original research, in every sub- 

 ject, in the regulations for its higher degrees, it is 

 clear that unless the colleges can be placed in a 

 better position financially, these efforts are doomed to 

 disappointment. In one of the colleges a recent gift 

 of valuable, if not unique apparatus is Ij'ing unused, 

 and must do, until funds are found to build and main- 

 tain a proper laboratory to contain it. 



Thirdly, and perhaps chiefly, the colleges suffer 

 from their present position on their administrative 

 side. 



Making bricks without straw is not merely a uis- 

 couraging, but an extremely difficult operation, and in 

 any institution which attempts it, in the long run the 

 best wits of its staff will be those that are set to the 

 task. The colleges are finding more and more that 

 even their teaching day is honeycombed with business. 



Nor is this all. Where money is scarce, the spend- 

 ing of it is apt to be attended with an amount of 

 ceremony which is itself a burden. In one college 

 we are told it needs a series of resolutions discussed 

 by four or five bodies before a new charwoman can be 

 engaged. There could not be a better illustration of 

 the waste of time which poverty entails. All the 

 colleges serve some eight or nine masters in the shape 

 of outside public bodies, who maintain different classes 

 of students, and the necessity of explaining and justify- 

 ing points of educational policy to so large a number 

 of different popular authorities is a very serious task. 

 At every turn it is necessary to consider not merely 

 what is the right course, but what is the best form in 

 which to secure its adoption. That under such con- 

 ditions the colleges should have been able to do any- 

 thing at all is satisfactory evidence not only of the 

 keen interest in the university which is taken 

 generally by the public bodies of Wales, but also of 

 the wisdom with which the colleges, especially their 

 principals, have discharged their task. Whatever 

 may be thought of the policy of a democratic basis for 

 university education, it will be admitted that the 

 burden of the arrangements ought not to fall upon those 

 who are also responsible for the solid work of teaching. 

 In Wales this is largely the case, and both the teaching 

 and the policy of the colleges are likely in the end to 

 suffer. 



In the second article of this series (March 12) 

 we saw that the great bulk of the endowments of the 

 German universities was provided by the State, 81 

 per cent, of the total being so provided in Prussia, and 

 74 per cent, in Germany as a whole. Wales, happily 

 or unhappily, possesses comparatively few men whose 

 individual possessions could enable them to take part 

 NO. 1759, VOL. 68] 



in endowing her colleges in any way commensurate 

 with the need. Of the sums that have been raised for 

 buildings, a great part has been collected, at the cost 

 of healthy but disproportionate effort, from the shil- 

 lings and pence of artisans and small farmers or 

 traders. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that the 

 colleges and the university depend already mainly 

 upon public funds. The County Council grants to- 

 Cardiff and Aberystwyth must in fairness be counted as 

 fees, not endowments, since they are given in return 

 for teaching a definite class of students, and a change 

 of policy in the local authorities might at any time 

 modify or even divert their contributions. The figures- 

 are approximately * as follows, reckoning the interest 

 on investments, as heretofore, at 2\ per cent., and in- 

 cluding in the Government grants those devoted to- 

 special objects, such as agriculture, and the training 

 of primary teachers. 



Present Enaowinent oj University Education in Wales. 



Income from 



Private 

 Endowments. 



University College, Aberyst- 

 wyth 



University College, Bangor 

 University College, Cardiff 

 The University of Wales ... 



Totals 



Percentages 



375 

 1225 



750^ 



^2350 

 10 



Income from 



Govarnment 



Grants. 



6000 

 6000 

 5250 

 4000 



;^2I,2SO 



90 



There Is only one conclusion. In great cities like 

 Liverpool and Manchester there is accumulated wealth 

 and an accumulated tradition of culture to which their 

 colleges have appealed with some success. In Wales 

 the culture has been for centuries remote from univer- 

 sity life, and the wealth, as we have seen, is non- 

 existent. If, therefore, the Government wishes that 

 the 2i,oooZ. a year which it now spends in grants to 

 the colleges and the University of Wales shall not be 

 wasted, It Is high time that It should face the question 

 of what they really need. 



In order to represent these needs in as concrete a 

 form as possible, we have made inquiries as to the 

 sums which. In the opinion of responsible persons at 

 each college, would suffice to place them in a position 

 to discharge their work with real efficiency. In each 

 case we shall mention two capital sums, the one that 

 required to construct or complete the buildings and 

 equipment of the college, the other that required as 

 an endowment for maintenance, the interest in this 

 latter case being reckoned at 2\ per cent. Aberyst- 

 wyth has from the first been the most fortunate of the 

 three colleges in the matter of buildings, so that its 

 needs under this head are smaller; similarly Bangor 

 needs slightly less towards maintenance as being pos- 

 sessed of somewhat larger invested endowments, 

 Cardiff and Aberystwyth having only very small posses- 

 sions of this kind ; trust-funds for scholarships are, of 

 course, disregarded altogether in the estimate. 



The figures assume that the present Government 

 grants will continue, and under both heads state the 



1 The exact figures vary slightly from year to year. 



3 Including the annual grant of 350/. from the Diapew' Company for 

 Engineering. 



