New-York tribune., 1907-10-13
THE NEW OXFORD.
SeqstsJ to the Rhodes Trnst-More
Money Wanted.
London, October Z.


has largely increased the number Of Colonial
end foreign students ct Oxford and created an
obligation 10 develop its resources as a modern
university where men may have a practical
training :or &c. This may not have been the
great iTaDeTiaiists7 main motive. but II is the
first consequences cf a unique benefactioT for the
benefit OF Anglc-SaSon civilization. A univer-
sity Of colleges, as Professor Goodwin Smith once
described it. must be released from the unpro-
gressive inefTiciency caused by IT'S own poverty
and their wealth; and this can be accomplished
only by an enlargement Of its endowment Lord
Curzon. The new Chancellor, has undertaken the
task of raising what IS regarded as the minimum
required for carrying on the work of the univer-
sity IN enlightened spirit. This is f250O00-
beggarly sum in comparison with the aggre-
gate gifts of wealthy Americans to their univer-
sites and colleges during the last thirty years.
But no appeal is to be made 10 miionaires TO
find the money. 1t is to be a family affair
oxford men-and there are twenty thousand Of
them-are TO be asked to provide the capital
needed for increased equipment Of the uni
versty for its work in the world. With f56,TOO
already subscribed. body Of trustees is to be
appointed and a general appeal sent out to
oxford men to contribute the four-flfths of the
fund still uncovered. Literature IS 10 he show
cred upon them, not perhaps in volume so CO.
pious as in a campaign in favor Of classical
Greek or in opposition to degrees for women. but
in serviceable quantity; and subscribers are TO
be allowed the option of giving a lump sum
outright or Of scattering IL over term Of years
oxford is 10 supply the new capital out of the
resources of its own household without help
from rn:llionaires outside; and THE York
shire Post" remarks with a sneer flung across
seas, There can be no suspicion that the wells
Of learning and particularly those which con-
Germ economies. run a risk Of contamination at
their source"
There is in this appeal the reflex effect OF
Cecil Rhodes's own conviction that everything
could be done with money and nothing without
H. He valued wealth, not for its own sake, but
as the necessary instrument for carrying out
imperial projects of worldwide Importance
What is the use Of IDEAS he asked General
Gordon. unless you have the means to carry
them cut ?" The bulk Of his surplus wealth
went into this university scheme for securing
Anglo-Saxon cooperation in world politics, and
as soon as the Rhodes trust is in practical
operation conservative oxford becomes sut1i-
GENTLY rnodernized TO perceive that an made
ouate endowment is source Of fatal emoarrass-
r1ent in carrying out university Ideals on broad
lines Larger reserves of capital are urgently
headed for the work thrust upon oxford Of
training men from the colonies, America and
Germany and making good Anglo-Saxons Of
them; and there is a combined effort supported
nv approved methods of academic cadging. with
the Chancellor himself at the head Of the beg
ging brigade. for raising the money. In life
Cecil Rhodes brooded over the great things
which could be done with a lot of money behind
him and wherever he went he created an at
mosphere for large projects with a farreaching
trend His influence has not ceased with death.
Reluctantly and without much sympathy for
either the means or the end. oxford has found
rO ideas
awakening 10 the truth that there must be more
money behind them or they Will be as useless
as General Gordon's premonitions of altruism
There are objectors who complain that reform
measures and practical legislation are more i'm
portant than an increased endowment. They
assert that nearly all the colleges are rich and
that their resources are wastefuy used for
selfish ends. instead of being employed for the
relief OF the impoverished university 1t is not
difficult for Bishop Gore to find counts for his
Indictment that the colleges have been con-
verted into recreation grounds for well born
idlers, who live Iuxuriousy and are incapable
of serious work; nor is there lack Of evidence
that laboratories and other portions of the plant
are needlessly multiplied and that retrench-
nents could be effected by amalgamations Of
colleges and concentration OF effort. The tradi-
tional college system is wasteful because so
much Of the time and energies Of coaches and
tutors is taken up with grammar school work
for idlers, in place OF advanced study for genu-
ine workers. Great advantages would be de-
rived from a revision of examinations scholar
ships and methods of teaching and from a
distribution Of the wealth Of the colleges for
the relief Of the impoverished university, whose
courses of study need to be broadened and sys-
tenaaticaliy rnodernized. The reformers can
make OF: a strong case for setting the house
in order; but when they have finished their
pleading the truth remains that oxford must
always be a congress Of self-governing colleges
with their own individuality and characteristic
life The system may be unscientific and waste
ful, but it is the ground which the university
has stood for centuries. There can be no other
foundation for mossgrown. storied oxford.
The college system may be serious obstruc-
tion TO the expansion Of the university as
stronghold Of learning for the scholarship OF
the world: but increased capital will do much
70 improve the equipment, to multiply professor
chips and courses, and to provide a thoroughly
nodernized plant. The Chancellor has explained
What viii be done with the new endowment
when II is raised and few objections are offered
TO the proposals. The Bodeian is one Of the
greatest libraries in the world. but il is over
crowded and unmanageable, and cannot be
brought into thorough without extensive
changes and engagements and an exhaustive
revision OF the catalogue. Chemistry and other
branches Of science are neglected, and there Is
department Of scientific engineering. The
staff OF lecturers in arts and letters. history and
languages is Inadequate and many new pro-
fessorships and several additional buildings are
requisite These and other defects are pointed
out, and f250oO0 is the estimated cost Of cover
Ing what are considered necessaries, without