MR. CARNEGIE'S GIFT TO THE SCOTTISH ' UNIVERSITIES. T HE newspapers
of Tuesday contained. the announce- ment of a benefaction which must have taken away the breath of many readers by its bold magnificence. Mr. Andrew Carnegie, following up the work which he began with his free libraries, has long been meditating some form of endowment for those Universities which are the chief educational glory of his native land. A recent magazine article by Mr. Thomas Shaw attracted his attention, wherein the present sum raised by fees in the Scottish Universities was worked out at about £49,000. An income of £50,000, then, between the four seats of learning would make education free, and with characteristic boldness and generosity Mr. Carnegie is prepared. to put his conclusions into practice. He offers to establish a Trust which . shall control some two millions of money in order to provide education without payment of fees at Edinburgh, Glatow, St. Andrews, and Aberdeen for natives of Scotland. A meeting to discuss 'the matter was held last Saturday at Dover House, attended by representatives of different poles., in politics like Mr: Balfour and Mr. Morley,-and though in the circunistanc,es of the case no resohitioncouId be'come_ to, the meeting was unanimous: in its welcome *to Mr.: Carnegie's endowment:. In Scotland' the proposal seems: to'lave been received with enthusiasm, and. we notiCti thar so great a figure as Professor Masson has called it the realisation of his life's dream.
We think we can guess at Mr. Carnegie's motives in this gift, and very honourable and generous they are. Like all Scotsmen, more especially self-made Scotsmen, he is proud of that ancient tradition of the Scottish Colleges which made all men equal in the pursuit of learning. The fees were comparatively low, the tradition was all of hard- ship and plain living, the rewards were great in Scottish eyes and open to all. Knowledge was no elegant privilege, but an imperious necessity, and to strive after it by the light of a farthing candle in a genet was the plain path of duty. The University, in Stevenson's words, was "no quiet clique of the exclusive, studious and cultured, no rotten borough of the arts." But changed times have brought changed conditions. It is becoming increasingly difficult for the boy from the plough-tail to compete on anything like equal terms with the boy from a good school. College education begins, so to speak, a stage later in knowledge than of old, and it goes ill with him who has to forego the preceding stage. Again, living is dearer, lodgings are dearer, and in the growing stress of competition in modern life it is harder for the poor scholar to find the occasional employment during leisure hours which he found before. More rigorous studies require greater application, and at the same time the chances of the student supporting himself by other work are fewer. Therefore there is danger of this noble democracy of learn- ing becoming a thing of the past, and to arrest decay while there is yet time Mr. Carnegie comes forward with his scheme. If he cannot provide the means of life for the lads from the fishing village and the moorlands, he will at least take care that they pay nothing for that learning which they undergo such sacrifices to obtain. And we think that Mr. Carnegie has another motive for his gift. He has shown himself a stout believer in a kind of democratic philosophy where equality is the central doctrine. He would undermine privilege by abolishing its fortresses, and though University educa- tion has been less of an affair of privilege in Scotland than in almost any other European country, yet as things stand to-day there is a certain amount of class distinction in the possession of a degree. The mere fact that a poor boy may attain the same end by industry does not detract from this general character. But by freeing education the last trace of privilege would depart. The University would become what it was created to be, a corporation of workers without thought of class or fortune.
It has been officially stated that the ordinary Press accounts of the scheme are premature and that Mr. Carnegie's design has been incorrectly stated. We cannot criticise the scheme till we know the details of its proposed working, but, taken simply, there seem certain difficulties both in realising the donor's particular intentions and in seriously benefiting Scottish education by this device of subsidy. The Scottish Universities, like Oxford and Cambridge, need all the money they can get; but if this new income of ..t15,000 were given to each University free of conditions, we are sure that the abolition of fees would not be the use they would put it to. Each University cries out for new buildings, laboratories, engine-rooms, means wherewith to extend its activity, and so avoid the reproaches of Lord Rosebery and his school of very modern educationists. But Mr. Carnegie's motive is aim?liatre jurisdictionem, and not to endow research or assist in new departures. Therefore we suppose the Universities will not be consulted as to the mode in which they would like to spend this money, and the abolition of fees will be made one of the chief terms of the Trust settlement. If so, how will this purpose be effected ? If the Universities themselves abolish fees (a proceeding, we may note, which would require an Act of Parliament), it may be presumed that the number of students will largely increase. But Mx. Carnegie's benefaction is calculated only on the present basis, and the extra cost would have to fall on the Scottish ratepayers. If, on the other hand, the fund is kept apart and used to make grants to poor students with which to pay their fees, Mr. Carnegie's purpose will not be effected, there will be no liberating of University education, and in a country so proud as Scotland the application for, and reception of, those subsidies will inevitably tend to class division within the Colleges. On any solution of the above question, it seems to us that secondary education in the schools will present great diffi- culties. For to have the two extremes of elementary and University education free, and the middle stage paid for, would be an anomaly too gross to be borne. Free educa.- tion in every stage would soon be the cry, and the rate- payers would have another heavy burden thrown on them before they were prepared for it. Pauperisation and waste, these are the Scylla and Charybdis in all educa- tional experiments, and the simple abolition of fees appears to us to contain both dangers. If made absolute (the only plan which would realise what we conjecture to be Mr. Carnegie's idea of a democratic University), it would subsidise in many directions unworthily and unnecessarily, and cast new burdens on the public which we do not feel would be compensated for by very striking advantages only to be obtained in this fashion. At the same time, we fear it would really cut at the root of that old independence and adventurous love of learning which it is Mr. Carnegie's chief purpose to preserve. At present each Scottish student pays about £10 yearly in fees, and his living, with the strictest economy, will cost him some £30 or .f.40 more. It may be said that the fees form so small a part of his total expenditure that, though they were abolished, he would still have abundant opportunities for courage and industry in finding the means of livelihood. This is true, but we must remember that the expense least grudged and most readily provided for is the due directly paid to knowledge, the fees for classes. It is an old cry, not quite without meaning, that that which costs little is little valued. University education is different in kind from elementary or secondary education. In it a lad feels that he is going directly into training for his life-work, and that he is a member of a corporation of learning by his own choice and for his own good. The corporate feeling in Scottish Colleges seems to us to be growing greatly, as those institutions, without losing their ancient character, borrow some good fashions from Oxford and Cambridge. But if the College is made a free institution, we do not think that corporate feeling will long continue.
We do not know who will have the final acceptance Or refusal of Mr. Carnegie's generous gift, but we think that there will be a strong inclination in many quarters to refuse it. Doubtless such a course would be consistent enough with the old, proud traditions of Scottish educa- tion, but we think it would be foolish and ungracious. Mr. Carnegie's scheme seems to us full of promise, but we trust that he will not fetter it from the start by a too strict adherence to any dogma, however bold. For the reasons given above, we do not see how it would be possible without the gravest inconvenience for the Universities permanently to abolish fees, and we should be much averse to any plan of subsidising poor students from a general fund. Nor do we think that either Mr. Carnegie or the public would be content that the Univer- sities should receive his money to use at their own dis- cretion. We would suggest, as a possible solution, that the abolition of fees should be made a second-year or third-year thing, not to commence on a student's matricu- lation, but to be given konoris causci after he has approved himself by a year's work. Every student who showed a certain fair level of industry and competence should be allowed to have the rest of his University course free. We do not like examinations as tests, but a year's work would be a reasonable field for a lad to approve himself in. If this plan were adopted there would be no question of pauperising, for both rich and poor would share in it, and the element of merit would give the privilege a certain value. The poor boy would be able to support himself for one year in the fairly certain knowledge that the rest M his course would be paid for. Education would not be cheapened, for the year of probation would be before every student. On such a system the numbers in each Univer- sity would undoubtedly increase, and if Mr. Carnegie kept his donation at its present figure, the surplus might be enough to meet the new demands without falling back upon the public.
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