274 



NA TURE 



[July 21, 1904 



as a representative of all branches of engineering, 

 said : — 



During the past year a committee representing all 

 branches of engineering, and nominated by all the principal 

 engineering societies of the country, has been considering 

 the best system of training for engineers. Its work is still 

 incomplete, but its investigations make it obvious that great 

 extensions of existing universities and university colleges 

 which provide for engineering education are needed in order 

 to meet national requirements and to secure equality of 

 conditions with those existing in other countries where 

 industrial enterprise is making great strides. 



British engineers consider that private enterprise and 

 generosity should continue to play a leading part in the 

 support of institutions for teaching the higher branches 

 of their profession, but they hold that, in view of what is 

 being done abroad, it is absolutely necessary that private 

 efforts should be supplemented by substantial Government 

 aid. Such a course on the part of the Government would 

 undoubtedly tend to stimulate private generosity, and before 

 long would place this country in a position of relative 

 ■efficiency greatly superior to that which now prevails. 

 With the rapid development of engineering now taking 

 place in all directions, there is an absolute necessity for 

 scientific procedure and a thorough knowledge of principles 

 on the part of those employed therein. Unless immediate 

 steps are taken to remedy needs that are universally recog- 

 nised, the industrial position of this country must become 

 increasingly unsatisfactory. 



The importance of the application of science was 

 urged by Sir William Ramsay, K.C.B., who, in the 

 ■course of his remarks, said : — 



In asking for a new departure — the State endowment 

 of universities — we must inquire what information we can 

 obtain from others who have previously made experiments. 

 We find that on the Continent successful experiments have 

 been made for many years. In these practical researches 

 Germany has taken the lead ; but in all European countries, 

 and in America, progress is being made on lines closely 

 resembling those which have been found advantageous in 

 Germany. We may note that almost all the proprietors 

 of chemical works, or of works which depend for their 

 success on the application of chemical principles, are either 

 university men who have taken a degree in science or men 

 from " Polytechnika," who have taken a diploma. 



One reason for the almost universal spread of university 

 education is the very small fees that are charged to students. 

 By far the larger portion of the cost of university education 

 is paid by the State — probably three-quarters. Ten pounds 

 covers a year's education in fees, whereas forty pounds 

 must be charged here in non-endowed universities. 



This close contact between science and industry can be 

 maintained only by a graduated and relatively high scale 

 of pay for the professors in the large universities. Unless 

 the prizes are sufficient to tempt men to choose a scholastic 

 career instead of a commercial one, the ablest young men 

 will choose commerce. 



In America most of the chemists have either been 

 ■educated in Germany — the older generation especially — or 

 have been trained in copies of the German schools of 

 chemistry. Hence America entertains much the same ideas 

 as Germany as regards the importance of scientific training. 

 Indeed, manufacturers engage the services of youths who 

 have not finished their " college " career. 



As regards the merits of universities and " Polytechnika," 

 the main difference is that in the former students have been 

 trained in methods of research, whereas in the latter they 

 have been taught what is already known. I am informed 

 by a leading German manufacturer that he prefers the 

 university youths to those trained in " Polytechnika," 

 ■because the former are more suggestive. The inventive 

 power is recognised as the highest and most lucrative when 

 applied to industry. I am convinced that the bestowing of 

 money on the support of the university teaching of science, 

 while desirable for its own sake, will'be like casting bread 

 upon the waters, it will be repaid a hundred-fold. 



In referring to the needs of the younger universities 

 in respect to literary studies. Sir Richard Jebb, M.P., 

 remarked : — 



NO. 181 2, VOL. 70] 



It would be a serious national misfortune if our education 

 should become one-sided. The humane studies — history, 

 philosophy, language, literature — cultivate the imagination, 

 enlarge ihe sympathies, widen the outlook upon life, aid 

 in fitting people to understand one another and to cooperate 

 intelligently ; in a word, they are essential elements in the 

 formation of the efficient worker, whatever his line of work 

 may be. That cardinal fact is thoroughly well understood 

 in those countries where education, from the lowest to the 

 highest grade, is best organised. Let us see to it that in 

 our own country we do not overlook this fact. The men 

 of science go heartily, I believe, with the men of letters 

 in desiring that it should not be overlooked. The import- 

 ance of maintaining such an equipoise in education inight 

 be urged on the utilitarian ground, as a condition of our 

 holding our own in the competitions of the civilised world. 

 But it must be urged also' on a higher ground, as a thing 

 essential to the intellectual and spiritual well-being of the 

 nation and of the Empire. 



Sir Henry Roscoe pointed out the influence of 

 scientific research on our national well-being ; and in 

 his speech he said : — 



It is to the university that we must mainly look to raise 

 the type of man who by training and character is fitted to 

 prosecute research. Are our British universities at the pre- 

 sent moment adequately equipped in men and material to 

 enable them to carry out successfully this national work? 

 A comparison of their capabilities with those of other 

 countries shows a deplorable deficiency in both the above 

 respects. 



This state of things being generally admitted, we come 

 before you as the head of the Government to ask you to 

 bring about that closer connection between scientific method, 

 scientific studies, and national industry, upon which you 

 have so strongly insisted, by giving to our universities a 

 .State endowment which will not merely serve as a national 

 insurance against attack from without, but is, unlike others, 

 a productive insurance which will repay the nation, not 

 merely once, but over and over again. 



Speaking more especially as a business man who 

 has noted the effect of applied science in the industrial 

 world, Mr. A. Moseley, C.B., remarked: — 



I am practically impressed with the necessity for those 

 in training for commerce and industry to be thoroughly 

 equipped with technical instruction of university rank, de- 

 signed to bear especially upon the particular vocations that 

 the rising generation intend entering. On the points 

 mentioned we are distinctly behind both Germany and the 

 United States of America. The success of ttie United 

 States at present, and perhaps even more so in the future, 

 is and will be due to the higher scientific and practical 

 training her young people receive in her universities first 

 and technical colleges afterwards. 



Mr. Bell, M.P., speaking in the absence of Mr. 

 Burt as the representative of artisan classes of the 

 country, said : — 



This question is one of vital importance. Unfortunately, 

 my practical knowledge of universities is little. But 

 hitherto a university training has been the luxury of the 

 comparatively well-to-do. The aim is to open the door to 

 the choicer spirits of the poorer classes. 



Lord Kelvin wrote to the president of the British 

 Association expressing his regret at not being- able to 

 be present and his hearty wishes for the success of 

 " every effort for the much-needed improvement and 

 strengthening of the universities of the L'nited 

 Kingdom." 



In the course of his reply to the deputation, Mr. 

 Balfour said : — 



I do not suppose that there have ever before been congre- 

 gated in one chamber so many representatives of learning 

 in this country. We have been told that we have fallen 

 far behind at least two great countries in our educational 



