December i, 1898] 



NA TURE 



103 



One of these questions has been brought into prom- 

 linence in a leading article in the Times on Saturday last, 

 which shows very clearly that in the opinion of many 

 •important persons the University must be launched on no 

 mean scale. 



Some of those interested in educational matters sug- 

 gested some time ago that many of the unused halls of 

 the Imperial Institute could be put to no better service, 

 or one more in harmony with the real intentions of its 

 founders, than their utilisation for some of the purposes of 

 the new University. The Examining Board, hitherto mis- 

 leadingly called the London University, has always been 

 imperial in its objects, and there is little doubt that when 

 teaching is added to e.Kamination the imperial uses will 

 be strengthened. 



We shall content ourselves this week in reprinting the 

 Tii/h's article, which not only indicates very clearly the 

 manner in which Government endowment in the matter 

 of the site may be most economically made, but suggests 

 a somewhat new side of University activity which should 

 not be neglected in these times of commercial com- 

 petition. 



On a future occasion we shall take an opportunity of 

 referring to these and other matters which seem to be 

 among those the consideration of which is necessary to 

 clear the ground for the future labours of the Commission. 



The Statutory Commission, appointed under the Act of 

 last Se.ssion for the reconstitutioii of the University of London 

 as a body organised with a strongly developed leaching side, 

 has made a practical beginning with its work during the present 

 week. When that work is accomplished, within the limits 

 imposed by Parliament, it will, no doubt, fail, as every com- 

 promise must fail, to realise the ideals of extreme partisans on 

 both sides. Neither those who regarded the old examinational 

 system as perfect and aJmost sacrosanct, nor those who could 

 see nothing good that did not come out of a teaching institution 

 with a fully-equipped professorial staff, will be altogether 

 satisfied with the change. For ourselves, we cannot doubt that, 

 after unreasonable hesitation and in a somewhat halting and 

 tentative way, a considerable step in advance has been taken for 

 ithe improvement and expansion of the higher education in the 

 greatest city in the worlcL But we must not lose sight of the fact 

 that when the Statutory Commission has brought its labours to 

 a close and the results have been laid, in due course, before 

 iParliament, a good deal will remain to be done, partly by 

 legislative action and partly by private effort, before the new 

 system gets a fair start. It is not altogether clear from the 

 Act that the Commissioners have power to decide upon the 

 name of the reconstituted University, though it may be argued 

 as an inference that they can suggest it, and the titles proposed, 

 from time to time, such as the Gresham University and the 

 Albert University, have not met with public acceptance. \ 

 point of, perhaps, greater practical importance is that there is 

 no authority to determine where the University is to have its 

 .local habitation, and to what extent or in what way teachers 

 "directly appointed by the University," a class expressly 

 mientioned in the schedule to the .-\ct, are to be nominated and 

 provided for. It has been generally assumed that the new 

 University could, for a time at least, be accommodated for the 

 purposes of examination and public meetings in the existing 

 buildings in Burlington Gardens, with the occasional use of 

 rooms lent by some of the chief affiliated colleges. There is 

 reason to believe, however, that this is a misapprehension. We 

 understand that the Government will shortly be under the 

 necessity of resuming the Burlington Gardens site and buildings 

 for the extension of public offices. In that case it would be 

 necessary to furnish the University with new buildings, which 

 at a time when the Treasury will be called upon for an additional 

 grant to the same body for educational objects might not be 

 altogether convenient. The Burlington Gardens property is 

 valued at upwards of ii 00,000/. , but in the hands of the 

 University the rates, taxes, and outgoings are a heavy charge. 



There is a magnificent etlifico in the best part of London, in 

 which the new University might be housed under conditions 

 worthy of its dignity and aspirations. The stately structure of 

 the Imperial Institute is one of the best examples of modern 

 British architecture. But, though the Institute represents a 



NO. I 5 18, VOL. 59] 



great conception and has borne excellent fruit, the buildings are 

 far larger than its special work at present requires. It has been 

 suggested that the Imperial Institute, without abandoning any 

 part of its chosen task, might ally itself closely with a kindred 

 institution and, instead of lending its superfluous space for the 

 purposes of casu.1l and miscellaneous exhibitions, might give the 

 enlarged and reformed University a suitable and splendid 

 residence. The privileges and the position of the founders and 

 Fellows and the special interests which the Institute was 

 established to preserve and foster for the advantage of India and 

 the Colonies must, of course, be carefully safeguarded. But the 

 control of the land and buildings by a joint committee, repre- 

 senting the Institute on the one hand and the University on the 

 other, would be full security on this score. It cannot be denied 

 that the Imperial Institute would be an appropriate scene for 

 the ceremonial functions of what might well be called the 

 Imperial University of London. Even at present, the 

 University examines candidates for degrees from the Colonies 

 and India, and, while this duty will be preserved along with the 

 rest of the "external" side of its activity, it will, in all 

 probability, be developed much further when the scheme of 

 which the Statutory Commission is settling the framework has 

 come into full operation. The University, as we have said, is 

 empowered not only to " recognise " competent professors and 

 lecturers in the teaching colleges within the metropolitan area, 

 but also to " appoint " teachers of its own. At the same time it 

 is quite clear that the University is bound not to enter in any 

 way into competition with the colleges recognised as supplying 

 academical teaching for the people of London. To do so 

 would be to depart from the spirit if not the letter of the 

 compromise, on the faith of which the teaching bodies 

 became parties to the scheme of reform. But there is a 

 large sphere of work upon which the existing colleges have 

 not entered and can hardly hope to enter. The establish- 

 ment of a "Faculty of Commerce" — following the example 

 of Germany — is a development of University work which 

 cannot be neglected in our great centres of trade and 

 industry. In this movement London ought not to be behind- 

 hand. Without looking to Governnrent for much more than 

 approval, there are ample resources available, if an appeal is 

 made to the public spirit and liberality of wealthy individuals 

 and of great industrial organisations, for the establishment of 

 professorships of advanced technical study, of applied science in 

 its industrial and commercial aspects, of engineering and 

 electricity, and of many practical branches of economics. 

 These chairs would not compete with the ordinary teaching of 

 the colleges in the abstract and elementary work connected with 

 the sciences in question ; but when the student had shown his 

 knowledge of the groundwork he would be able to place himself 

 under the guidance of a selected body of experts and to specialise 

 his studies in preparation for a high degree. The class-rooms 

 and laboratories connected with this part of the work of the 

 University would be for the most part appropriately grouped 

 around the buildings of the Imperial Insitute. There is no 

 reason why degrees given by a Faculty of Commerce and In- 

 dustry in what might well be called the Imperial University of 

 London should not be eagerly sought for by young men trained 

 in the colleges of Calcutta, Bombay, and Lahore, of Melbourne, 

 Sydney, and Adelaide, of Quebec, Toronto, and Cape Town, 

 as well as by students in the recognised schools of London. 

 At all events, this aspect of the question ought not to be lost 

 sight of either by the Statutory Commission or by the Govern- 

 ment. 



If, however, the reconstituted University is to take this task 

 in hand, it will be necessary not only to secure the endowment 

 of a number of professorships and lectureships, but to find a 

 fitting place for carrying on the work. The buildings of the 

 Imperial Institute would supply a great part of the acommoda- 

 tion that is needed, but the property includes also some three 

 acres of vacant land which could be turned to account for 

 the erection of laboratories or special class-rooms. It is hardly 

 necessary to mention that the expenditure on the existing 

 buildings has been very large. If the authorities of the 

 Imperial Institute are willing to place the estate at the disposal 

 of the Government, for the purpose of housing the University 

 of London, what seems a very .satisfactory arrangement from 

 the point of view of the public might be made. The Prince of 

 Wales and his colleagues are understood to be favourable to 

 such an arrangement, provided, of course, that the special 

 interests with which the Institute is identified are safeguarded. 



