2 The N.Z. Journal of Science and Technology. [Jan. 
necessities, but, above all, he longs to have the handling of money which 
he feels he has earned, or which at least comes to him from an outside 
source. Commercial and professional careers and the 'Public Service offer 
tempting baits. Many potential students are ensnared by the possibility 
of going into a situation and eventually “ taking a degree ” of some sort 
by attendance at evening classes or even by reading as “ exempted ” 
students of the New Zealand University. 
But the way to research lies through full-time university work, and, 
what with the survival of the fee system and the inadequacy of the 
paltry sums available as scholarships, full-time study remains a luxury 
reserved for the comparatively rich. 
Whatever may be the correct attitude towards higher education from 
the point of view of general culture, it is unfair to assume that during 
the long training period of a future scientific worker his maintenance is a 
legitimate charge upon his parents, be they rich or poor. Do not students 
entering on such courses deserve equal treatment with cadets entering 
the Public Service to do clerical work ? 
It is interesting in this connection to read some remarks on the 
subject of the training of scientific workers in the Report of the Committee 
of the Privy Council for Scientific and Industrial Research for the Year 
1917 - 18 * and to note with what approval certain passages are there 
quoted from the report of Sir Joseph Thomson’s committee on scientific 
education! :— 
Unless access for all well-qualified students to our universities and higher technical 
institutions is made easier than it is at present, and unless they are generously supplied 
with the large funds which are necessary for their work, our efforts will be foredoomed 
to failure. 
In support of this view, repeatedly expressed, we would call your Lordships’ special 
attention to the findings of the committee appointed by the Prime Minister “ to inquire 
into the position of natural science in the education system of Great Britain.” The 
powerful report issued by this body of experts and men of affairs claims “ that a large 
increase in the number of students passing through our universities is a matter of great 
national importance, and that steps should be taken to bring a university training 
within the reach of every one of sufficient ability to profit by it.” To this end they 
think it necessary that a substantial reduction in the scale of fees and an equalization 
of the fees in the different faculties are necessary reforms, endorsing in this respect the 
unanimous report of the Haldane Commission on University Education in London. 
They also recommend the establishment of loan funds for the assistance of older 
students and a generous extension of the system of scholarships. They advocate an 
increase in the stipends of junior university teachers, but they lay even greater stress 
on a reduction of their “ official duties ... to at most four days a week,” and 
they urge further financial assistance from the State for the “ efficient equipment of the 
laboratories in our universities,” while steps should be taken “ to relieve the professor,” 
who in smaller institutions is often single-handed, “ of some part of his routine work 
and leave him more time for the organization and supervision of research." 
Sir Joseph Thomson’s committee point out that although “ one cannot hope to get 
great discoveries simply by paying for them,” yet “ the most hopeful way of promoting ” 
them •“ is to ensure that the laboratories are as efficient as possible and that the 
professors and other teachers who work in them have enough free time for original 
research.” This is the root of the matter, and we desire to associate ourselves with 
the exhortation to prompt action with which the Committee preface their report. . . . 
“ To postpone action until equipment and building are perfect, or the supply of wise 
« teachers abundant, until the enthusiasm of the parent is aroused or the patronage of 
the employer is secured, until all fear of officials has vanished and complete confidence 
exists between the literary lion and the scientific lamb, is to place an obstacle in the 
way of progress—an obstacle greater even than the war.” 
* Cd. 9144. 
f Cd. 9011. 
