UNIVERSITY IDEAL.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 443, 27 February 1909, Page 10

UNIVERSITY IDEAL.

TO ATTRACT TrfE BEST AdILITV. VIEWS-OF DR. E l . C, S. SCHILLER.. , Dr, F. C. S. Sohiller, iu the latest:issue ' 0f... the "Oxford ■ and Cambridge 'Review,'" points ..out what he calls "the ougenical value, of the -Scholarship System."' He is dealing with tho contention of some that our scholarships are wasted upon those Whose: fathers: can well afford to send their, sons to'schools. _ "It is argued," he says, "that the existing .system or awarding scholarships amounts to a gross perversion of tho original purpose of these aids to learning, intended for tho-'poor, they havo become the-perquisites of the rich." 7;; Dr. Schiller-'does riot dony the fact, but argues that to-day the Universities'' ideal "should bo to; attract the best ability, from frhatever section of the community it can bo drawn by whatever': means seem most effectual and then to gives it tlnvbeSt training for tho service of the' community. , , : It stands to'reason that^poverty should, be a baras little as a qualification for ait aeadehiic career, arid, that poor men of real ability should" be enabled to keep themselves at college.'- It is-'directly'' to the "interest of every University to'construct' ladders whereby ability may .obtaiii access to. it, just'.'as it is to the interest of every nation to enable tho ability in it, to rise to the top,' J ; - '"Intelligence and ability" are': hereditary;.: We'can:argue, therefore,' from tested ability lir.tb.6 parents to. probable 'ability.iri':the : children with' some degree of. Confidence! Not,' of course, that ability dobs' not occtir in the lower strata of society. It does, arid in the aggregate any society may.'have'to draw the i bulk ;df its ability from its' 'lower* Classes; it is 'therefore exceedingly foolish if .it .fails to. construct, a ladder by which this ability,, may mount to the topi, But it. is; still nioro ,'foolish , if, ■ having, enabled ability to'rise, it neglects to make its dWn 6rder Such that 'ability' can per'potuato itself?' for the probability ofgettiiig able children is ;vastly greater, if sprlrig from able' parents. Hence it is a vital necessity for a nation to. encourage,, or at least not to check, tho multiplication Of, its ablest and most efficient citizens. .

Thp Solsnco of Eugenics. -,". "Suck in brief is the central, idea of Mr. Gallon's, new science'of Eugenics, which,though it/is. as. yet mainly a theoretic science concerned with the interpretation of statistics, «inay easily in. the course of another. century 'or 1 two become the most important. factor in politics.' ;■■.'■■;*-:■■■.■: "The professional classes arc-is'a Whdld tlid most prudent and self-controlled part of tho nation. ; They take more thought for the inofroW in their matrimonial arrangements • than either .'the lowest, oi' the highest classes. Add they tend to.do.so to ah ever-ihcreasirig' eSteilt. • If. scholarships, are not eUgenical already they are therefore bound to. becdme so, and it is better that a scholarship should occasionally bo. held by one who could strictly afford to do without it; thati that tho supply of intelligence deserving'of scholarships should be scridusly diminished. "Nor is 'all this a.matter of- alarmist appfehdrision only. It. is to .'a. large, extent ft,matter of fact, the continuous:fall.of the birthrate in England, as in all.civilised couri-. tries', is an indisputable fact,, to which statesmen and-political philosophers have .hardly devoted! sufficient attention, It appears .to be. greatest in tho very places where 4 it ottght to be least, in the ' upper' .classes, Le., among the.people whose parents■ or ancestors hive been most successful in adroit in adapting 'themselves to the requirements .'of:,s6c'U3ty, But what does this .mean? It means that.society has contrived so to orgahise- itself that its,action..contradicts itself,' arid that' success is subsequently punished.by extinction/ .; , . faying at tho top. ''It means' that the race is dying at the top, and weeding out What it itself cdnsidefs its most admirable qualities.' The more efficiently; moreover, it organises itself to select and promote ability (as every nation tatisi do in its own immodiatd interest),, the iudre fatally does it accelerate the ultimate elimination of - its dwt eugeiiicaliy valuable families. And whereas tendencies to physical degeneration dan bd largely coiintei'actcd by improvements in food and air supply, in SariS tation; and Medical SupefvisidU, there .is rid bbvious remedy for Spiritual degeneration Of this ; kind. •! ■'■■;.' : ::.-" The end of the prdceßS is inevitable, and It ileeds, no major prtiphdt: to proclaim it. The ' superior' races will lose their superilority, and must give w;ay to those who.cdhV trive to honour ability without destroying it by their clumsy, effdrts. It is quite .conceivable that in a couple of hundred years' timd, not only the Japanese and the Chinaman, but also the Negrd may bo the superior in sheer intellect of the enervated European. Meanwhile it behoves oUf statesmen to.foreSoe these, subtle, .dangers and to guard against 'them to\the:best'of their ability arid of but Scientific knowledge. They should 1 devise new and equally subtle means of fighting them; they should certainly, beware of spoiling (the eugenmal institutions which, by good fortune rather than.by foresight,,wo already happen to possess."