TuLy 10, 1902] 
NATURE 
253 
than was possible under the old system, which gave the 
London University control of the examinations. This 
worked well for a time, but owing to the growth in the 
number of students, owing also to the different directions 
in which the three colleges are developing, we are rapidly 
‘drifting back to the old state. Victoria University is 
now practically an examining body, which unites all dis- 
advantages, for while on the one hand it controls the 
teaching too much in some directions, it is unable to 
secure uniformity of standard inothers.’ This is a funda- 
mental defect of the federal system, which can only work 
well during the early growth of the federated colleges, 
and will always break down as scon as some of the 
colleges are strong enough to stand alone. 
As a mere piece of administrative machinery, ‘the 
federal university must always be clumsy and wasteful. 
its statutes and regulations must be framed to satisfy the 
various and sometimes diverging requirements of the 
different colleges. This can only be done by means of 
endless meetings and constant compromises. It is the 
duty of every teacher to give up a portion of his time to 
administrative work, and he will be glad to do so if 
satisfactory results may be arrived at without a wasteful 
expenditure. Every man has only a certain amount of 
strength and energy, and every hour spent in the com- 
mittee room is so much taken away from his power of 
promoting knowledge. Simplicity of machinery is a 
matter of primary importance in university organisation, 
and it is not too much to assert that whatever success 
the Victoria University has achieved, it has done at the 
expense of taking away a very substantial and unneces- 
sary amount of time, which its teachers might more 
profitably have spent in their studies or laboratories. 
The objections to the splitting of the Victoria University 
are chiefly based on the assumption that a multiplication 
of universities is bad in itself. : “ Union is strength” is a 
good party cry, but the saying is not true when the union 
is of the kind one gets in a three-legged race. If there 
are universities in Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds, it is 
further asked, why not one in Sheffield or in Oldham, 
Rochdale or Burnley? Such objections are not serious, 
and savour too much of the political platform. We might 
as well argue that we should not eat and drink enough 
because we might possibly eat and drink too much. 
_ Surely, if a town possesses a college of sufficient standing 
to supply the highest teaching in its various faculties, it 
it is established on such financial basis as will secure its 
permanence and its capability of attracting teachers of 
eminence in the future, and if there is a sufficient supply 
of students, no reason can be urged against the creation 
of a fresh university. 
Competition and rivalry, it is argued, will lower the 
standard of a degree. This objection springs from that 
distrust of the teaching profession which has been one of 
the chief causes of the backward state of education in 
this country, and is only now being slowly overcome. 
Because it is believed that a teacher, if left to him- 
self, will neglect his dutiés, all kinds of safeguards, ex- 
ternal examinations and inspections are invented, which 
may be excellent if intended to help the teacher, but are 
bound to break down if used to overlook and correct 
him. The three Dutch universities of Amsterdam, 
Leyden and Utrecht are nearer to each other than Liver- 
pool, Leeds and Manchester. Though subject to certain 
“State regulations as regards curricula, the teachers are 
entirely free to fix their own standard of examination. 
Any of these universities could, if it wished, lower its 
standards and give its degrees on easier terms than 
the other two. If they do not do so, it is because they 
are not foolish enough to commit suicide, but desire to 
attract the best students, and keep them for post-graduate 
and research work. Rivalry will be found to act as a 
healthy stimulant and not as a temptation. 
America is sometimes pointedly referred to as an ex- 
NO. 1706, VOL. 66] 
ample of the evil effects of the multiplication of univer- 
sities, and of the danger which accompanies the complete 
freedom of power to confer degrees. This freedom has 
apparently led to the depreciation of degrees in the case 
of a few institutions which abuse their privilege. But 
the standard of university education in a country should 
be judged by its highest and not by its lowest work, and 
when we think of university education in America we 
think of Harvard, of Yale, of Cornell and other places 
of high reputation, and do not trouble about a few 
insignificant places, which after all do very little harm. 
If we could secure another half-dozen efficient and 
progressive universities in England, they would not be 
too dearly purchased, even if by some mischance one 
or two were established which did not justify their exist- 
ence. But there is no fear as regards the immediate 
question at issue that any lowering of standard will 
result from the separation of the three northern colleges. 
In this country it is the old and not the new universities 
which are tempted to give degrees on insufficient attain- 
ments, and can do so without loss of prestige. 
There are, of course, matters in which cooperation is 
desirable. Different entrance or preliminary examina- 
tions would obviously be objectionable and complicate 
the work of the schoolmaster who prepares boys for the 
university. Unification is here called for, not only as 
between the three colleges of the Victoria University, 
but throughout the country. The question of separation 
should not be mixed up with the no doubt very important 
question of admission to a university course. 
A plausible argument against the multiplication of 
degree-giving bodies is found in the case of medicine, 
where the degree carries a qualification with it. The fact 
that this objection has been very strongly urged shows 
that our present system is not understood, and that 
separation is called for in the interest of a clearer definition 
of the meaning of our degrees. Efficiency is most easily 
secured if the burden of responsibility is placed on the 
right shoulders. Let each college give its own stamp to 
its own graduates, and the college will take better care 
to secure good teaching than while it can shelter itself 
behind the nondescript “Victoria University.” This 
holds with special force where the examination, as in 
medical subjects, is to a great extent of a practical 
character. It is impossible in these cases to secure 
equality, and if the public is induced to think that the 
training or even the examination test is necessarily 
identical the public is deceived. If separation means 
the clearer realisation of the nature of the training 
received, separation is an advantage. 
It will be to the ultimate good of each institution, 
if it feels the weight of its responsibility, and is more 
immediately made to suffer in public estimation for 
deficiencies in any of its departments. The effect of 
this feeling of responsibility is very real and swift. Liver- 
pool has already raised a large sum of money condition- 
ally on a charter being granted, and Leeds has put down 
its wants at a high figure. What is all this money 
wanted for except to make the teaching more efficient? 
It is wanted just as much whether the Victoria University 
remains as it is or divides ; but the probable establish- 
ment of separate universities has roused the feeling of 
responsibility, and brought the gaps and deficiencies 
home to the governing bodies and to the public, 
One further and very cogent argument must be brought 
forward. University education is often looked upon too 
much as a matter standing by itself, and without relation- 
ship to the previous training of the boys at school, or the 
parallel training in technical colleges. If a coordination 
of education is desirable, a federal university of colleges 
situated in three large cities becomes an impossibility. 
It is not necessary to argue this point in detail. Those 
who know the conditions of educational facilities in the 
north of England, will realise that the great diversity 
