New-York tribune., 1903-07-20
UNIVERSITY FEDERAIIOv
The British MOUement for Prom,
ing Scientific Research.
London. him

throughout the United Kingdom The - 8
I has been recognized that Englishmen and co.
/ NAL students are compelled to go eithsr /.
i the United States Germany or France n -
/ desire special education and training as !,
/ gineers and that there ought to be techn,,.,
/ university in London worthy OF the power a.
greatness OF the British Empire. There 1, :
longer an excuse for the apathy Of the muu.
| ipaI council respecting technical education. :.
| the powerful South African mining firm, Me,s-
/ Wernher. Belt & Co. have offered TO subsr-s.
| a large SUM for the building and equipmsut !.
I an institution Of this kind. and other subsc-s,
tions are available from public spirited citizss,
| A site for the building, for which S150OO0D
virtually already subscribed. can easily Be a.
tanned from the commissioners OF the WortH
/ Fair OF 1851; and with an endowment OF s1na
600 a year from the London County Councn a.
metropolis can have. in the course Of En-
years. a technical university thorouzslz
equipped for training students in snginee-in,
chemistry and science applied to modern a.,
and Industries. These proposals have been vs
coined with more enthusiasm than the nm
visions of the Rhodes viii in relation to Amer.
can, German and colonial scholarships at o..
ford. and there has been no attempt In auv =
huentiaI quarter TO conceal the fact thar ~
ordinary British universities are long way ba
hind those OF the United States and the us,.
progressive Continental nations In their eauls
ment for postgraduate studies. scientias ~
search work and technical training.
Hardly has this general confession OF BrrH
backwarlness in technical education been ma.
with characteristic candor. IL not with chas
ened humility than there is an allied coloass
universities conference in London. with Z.
tinguished body OF delegates from thirty
more institutions Of learning. Sir Gilbert p,
Canada, Australia and Egypt for citizenshhs
/ the empire has been the leading spirit Of in
practical movement for the promotion OF tsc
nicaI study and research work in the univ.rs.
ties Of the kingdom and the colonies. The ur.
mary object Of the conference has been the "a.
ordination of university education throughuut
the empire. Two resolutions were adopted ahsr
prolonged but entirely harmonious discussion
One was OF a purely academic nature. declaring
that such relations should be established BE-
tween the principal teaching universities Of ths
empire as would secure that special or local
advantages for study. and in particular tor
postgraduate study and research. be made
as accessible as possible to students from ali
parts of the Kings dominions''; the other "a
vored the formation OF an imperial council Tor
dealing permanently with all matters Of special
interest TO colonial and British university stu
ed by Lord Kelvin. Lord Strathcona
and Mr.. Bryce. to arrange the de-
tails of organization The conference at Bur
lington House was attended by a most infu-
entail body of educators. The universities Of
Oxford and Cambridge were represented hy
their vice-ch -chancellors and many eminent pro
fessOrs. and there were delegates from all the
remaining universities Of the United Kingdon
and from nearly all the colonial universities
Although there were great diversities OF opiniss
among the delegates respecting Mr.. Chambs
lain's fiscal proposals. they were OF one min
in regarding the coordination Of university
education as one Of the links IN the federation
Of the Anglo-Saxon race.
The ways and means OF correlation Of the
forces OF higher education in the mother coun-
try and the colonies were explained by many
learned men and practical teachers. DR.. Ma
haffy. Of Trinity College. Dublin. laid stress
upon the interchange OF professors aud the
movement OF students from one university to
another. they were attracted by pre-smiuent
teaching talent or research work Sir Oliver
Lodge. principal OF Birmingham University.
contended that coordination could not involve
uniformity, but that the universities Of the
United Kingdom and the colonies would vie
with one another In trying educational sxpsF-
ments in methods Of training teachers and con-
secured after a comparison OF results. Sir A.
Rdcker. principal OF London University advO-
Gated the principle OF absolute reciprocity by
which educators at home and IN the colonies
could work together harrnoniousIy and benefit
by mutual assistance. Sir William Ramsay de-
clared that the Interchange Of university rela-
tions depended upon the employment Of aFst
rate men, who were we'll paid for their byain
WORK. ana that wherever these masters OF
higher education were found, whether IN the
kingdom or In the colonies students would aock
around them Lord Kelvin urged that every
thing should be done to make the universities
OK the kingdom as attractive as those OF Ger
many and France. so that American and colo
hlaI students would not be diverted 10 Conti-
mental centres OF learning. but be content to
take advantage OF the special facilities IN
science and engineering offered by British uni
Versities. Little was said about degrees and
their acceptance at their full value wherever
students presented them. but there were many
references 10 the value OF research work con-
Quoted by American and European universities
and TO the necessity for introducing It on
large scale in British universities.
Mr., James Bryce. who presided over this
unique conference. described the colonial uni
Versities as stiIi comparatively young and in
suIhclently equipped. and suggested that their
standards of teaching and research would Oe
raised by the creation of an imperial counen
and by arrangements for the interchange OF
students between them and the mother eoun-
try He referred in detail to the Rhodes sehoi-
arshlps at Oxford and expressed his belief uasI
the object in view would best be attained 0s
bringing in students who had already gore
through a portion OF their course at colonial
German and American universities. While hs
considered IL impossible to exaggerate the NJ
portance OF pOst-graduate courses al British