A deputation waited on Mr. Asquith on Wednesday from the
Manchester University to protest against the proposed reduction of the grant from £12,000 to £10,000 a year. The case against reduction was put with great ability by the Vice-Chancellor, Mr. Alfred Hopkinson, S.C., and was supported by the Lord Mayors of Manchester and Salford as well as a number of leading Lancashire merchants and Members of Parliament. Mr. Asquith in reply promised his sympathetic consideration, and undertook to refer the matter once more to the Committee specially appointed to advise the Treasury as to the allocation of the Government grant of £100,000. The crux of the situation, as Mr. Hopkin- son himself admitted, is how to adjust a fixed sum to the needs of an increasing number of Colleges eligible for aid without prejudicing the interests of the most efficient and most distinguished provincial Universities. The only other Colleges which have suffered reductions are the University College of Nottingham and the Hartley College of South- ampton, and in both cases special reasons are given which do not apply to Manchester.
Previous page
