SCOTTISH EDUCATIONAL ENDOWMENTS
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.]
Sin,—It is unfortunate that Sir Archibald Sinclair, in his defence of the Educational Endowments (Scotland) Com- mission; should blandly assume as fact the fallacy on which the Commissioners obviously base their attack on University Bursaries. " The Commissioners have had to guard against the application of endowment funds to the payment of bursaries which would otherwise be provided by local authorities under recent legislatiOn." But recent legislation has Made the payment of bursaries by local authorities permissive, not obligatory ; and during these years of economy no form of expenditure has been more drastically pruned than that on bursaries.
Is Sir Archibald unaware that more than one local authority in Scotland is actually seeking powers to convert its scheme of bursaries into a system of loans, to be repaid, under penalties, at stated times ? The. generous benefactor would surely never have meant his endowment to be used to immesh the deserving student, before his career in life begins, in the stranglehold of debt. Yet that may easily be the ultimate result of the Commissioners' present policy.—I am, Sir, &c., Academy House, Nairn, Scotland. J. MATHEWSON MILNE.
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