[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SFECTATOR.1
SIR,—In a letter which appeared in your columns last week, the Principal of the Owens College states "that it is impossible to suppose that all who have recently memorialised the Lord President against our scheme can have been aware that the two principles which their memorial affirms are explicitly adopted by us," and further suggests that you had yourself overlooked the fact that the Owens College proposal includes provision for the incorporation of other Colleges.
In an editorial note you stated that this latter supposition was incorrect, and the names of many of the memorialists are in themselves a sufficient guarantee that their support was not given without a thorough investigation of the questions in dispute. I shall, however, be glad, if you will allow me to add that such care was taken to acquaint the memorialists with the exact nature of the Owens College scheme, that "it is impossible to suppose" that any misconception on this head can have been rife amongst them.
All invitations to sign the memorial, whether addressed to in- dividuals or corporations, were conveyed in a printed letter, which was accompanied by a pamphlet, entitled, "The Proposed New University." Copies of these documents I enclose. The first states that the "Owens College, Manchester, has petitioned for the establishment of a University, with power to incorporate Colleges situate in other towns," and that the "Owens College memorial proposes that representatives of the various Colleges shall be admitted to the Governing Body of the University." In the second, the same facts are again and again referred to, and a passage is quoted from a pamphlet published by the authorities of the Owens College, in which the incorporation of other Colleges is described as an "integral part" of their scheme. In some few instances the printed letter may have been re- placed by a written one, but I believe that very few, if any, of the memorialists have not been supplied with both these papers, in which all the facts of the case, as the above extracts show, are fully set forth.
But, Sir, I must also ask you to permit me to say that I do not, and did not in the letter to which Professor Greenwood re- fers, admit that the Owens College has made "fairly satisfactory provision" for the principles specified in our memorial. One of our chief grounds of objection to the proposed constitution of the University is, that it is inconsistent with itself. Thus while I willingly granted that many of the provisions with respect to the incorporation of Colleges outside Manchester are satisfac- tory, I proceeded to argue against other features of the scheme by which their good effects would be neutralised. The suggestions that the Charter shall be granted to the Owens College, and the new University named after the city of Manchester, were selected as the special subjects of the memorials. If they were carried into effect, the Owens College would at first be in almost exactly the same position as if the University had been created for it alone. The governing bodies of the University and College would be nearly identical. There would be little or no distinction between College and University interests. There would be no guarantee that the University was looking forward to and preparing for a time when its organisation would become more complex. A state of things would thus be inaugurated which, if permanent, would obviously be incompatible with federation, and if only tem- porary, would practically involve the reconstruction of the Uni- versity on the incorporation of a second college. Is it too much to hope that as the Bishop of Manchester has suggested a con- ference on the questions in dispute, and the Manchester Guardian has admitted that one of our proposals affords "a fair ground for negotiation," it may yet be possible to obtain the assent of the Owens College to a constitution which would enable the new University, if established, to steer a middle course between those adopted by the Universities of London and Dublin ?—I am, Sir, &c., The Yorkshire College, Leeds, May 27th. A. W. RUCKER.
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