UNIVERSITY REFORM

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1496, 19 July 1912, Page 6

UNIVERSITY REFORM

Sir,—All who make it (heir business (o study our educational system scriouslv and dispassionately must feel under obligation to you for your judicious and opportune leader (in Monday's issue), headed ' Mr. ISryce and (he University." The two last fenlences in thai leader should be carefully studied by all interested in bers of tho Education Coinmi«isii] about to sit in Wellington. let nio'eito them — "Vast sums have been wasted by tho Mate in the name of education, as the Education Commission will discover if it kiio\Vs what education reallv i s . Le tins waste be stopped, and'there will ba ready provided a handsome contribution towards making our university a living and effective force." After hearing Mr. ISryco's speech at the lown Hall a week ago, I put uivself in communication with university 'friends at the four university college's, and 1 nave already received important information regarding tho "waste" in connection with our university system. 1 find that nearly half the cost of university education in New Zealand is incurred in connection with Hia teaching of -so-called science, while slightly under 8 per cent, of Iho students attending our university colleges aro bona-iide students of science! In f llc (, if , ve luW ihß „,„„. her of years that the four colleges havo been in oxislence, and add also all the graduates in science- of the I'nivi-vsitv of New Zealand up to the present date; wo hud that there is only slightly moro than one-third of a graduate in science nor annum lor each college! For instance, Victoria College has not got an average of ono graduate in science per annum since the college was established, and.yet nearly half the monev spent on Victoria College up to this date has been expended on tho science side! J.IUS is surely astounding! Here are interesting statistics: Graduates, of the Lmvcrnty of Neiv Zealand (approximately), 1700. Of these,' 152 an graduates in science. Of these 152 77 are credited to Otago, 10 to Canterbury, 23 to Auckland, and 12 to Victoria ColW In other words, Otago is credited with more Biaduatos m science than all the three other colleges token together. This seems to make it abundantly clear that tha-> is no justification for attempting to run science iaculties at tho four colleges. Science could be-most economically taught m Dimedin in conjunction with medicine. &o far as Victoria Co!lej>e is concerned tho science faculty is maiuArts faculties There can be- no disputing the fact that the meagre demand f 0 ? science at Victoria College docs, not j^ , . tily the enormous expense incurred in connection therewith. One fullv equipped science, facuttj-should suffice for the whole Dominion. So. far as tho demand for science is concerned at Canterbury, Auckland and Wol ington, adequate provision could be made by establishing two lectureships in science at each of them kLT <P& r reF e - [ M, the Professorial Boaad of Victoria College is asking the Senate to discontinue the B.Sc. decree and have but ono pass degree (8.A.), leadl ing to honours in arts and. in.science. U'rhaps this proposal is prompted by a de ? ire to hide tho nakedness of the science side. I am also informed that an attempt is. being made to deny to lecturers direct representation in the proposed ?i"V la i. 1 i Profe SK>™l Conference, as aUo that three or four of. the Victoria. 'ColJego .delegates to the next Proitawia] .inference have the smallest classes in Uie Lniversity while.at least three meniber, of the staff, with classes of from one to two hundred are totally unrepresented! It would be interesting .to"havo the University reformers views on the foregoing statements In tho course of a few days' I hope to Ire able to furnish some further facts about "waste" in, high placos.-I

[Tins letter, with others, has been dolaved in publication owing to pressure on our space, <lue to the politicalsituation.]

' the- Late mr!' g. f. bullen/ 1 Sir,-The paragraph in Saturday's Dominion referring to the death of Mr. <j. F. Bullen, late of Kaikoiira, relates to one of three brothers, two of whom namely ]?.' and G; F. Bullen, were remarkable men whose ability and integrity were of a high order. A reference to them m the long past will'be of interest many of your readers, especially to those of Old Dunedin, who were acquainted with them, in those days I am the only one now living who held a position of importance in their employment, therefore I supply tho facts of the happenings of long ago. When I was in Messrs. F. and G P Billion's employ, a lasting .friendship sprung up between Mr. G; F. Bullen and myself and lasted onwards. In those faroft days Messrs. F. and G. l< , . Bullen - s headquarters in New Zealand wero on the corner, of Princess Street and Knttray htreet, with our wholesale store in MacIflgan Street, and with branches in Queenstown Ari-owtown, Hokitika, and Grevmoiith. Messrs. F. and G. F. Bullen sold their Melbourne business to their younger brother and sold their Queenstown and Arrowtown businesses to Messrs. Hnllcnstcin Bros., and their Duneojtt and Hokitika businesses to Mr. Simeon Isaacs, and bought a largo quantity of land at Kaikoura up to the snowlino; also Keen's, and other stations adjoining. This-land was largely over-run with grey rabbits of a good fur-nroduc-nig kind which they started to" exterminate. The stock on those -stations at that time was meagre and inferior, and Messrs. Biillen started to restock by chartering the barques Kate Water* anil Minebaha (laughing waters) to brin« them a bet »jr class of animals from Australia. At first they, employed forty or nfty rabbiters nnd amuiallv many bales of rabbit-skins of tho greyfur sort. Mr. Billion (old me the price realised by (lie sale of those skins in London more than paid the ivnges of these men. In order to improve the Carrving capacity of their runs at ono time tfiey had forty or fifty ploughs going. Mr. Fred. Bullen had a patent rabbit catcher. The rabbits were eating all the grass, so alongside and pnrelle) with the boundary fences Mr. Fred. Bullen erected another rabbit-proof fence. The two fences were about o. chain apart. At intervals along this liiio of fencing he erected ■sentry boxes and drums on which wires were coiled and uncoiled at will bv a man at each end of the drum. The grass between the fences on this chainwide patch grew luxuriantly, whilst on tho outsido it was eaten quite bare, and 'bunny" saw the promised land which ho could not gain admittance to, because of the wire-netting. A man in each sentry box took up his position fortified with Spurgedn's Sermons and wound up the rabbit netting, and the - rabbits entered. As soon as the division was well filled the men uncoiled the netting again thus closing the exit, and the slaughter began. At that time men on sheep and cattle stations and in the back blocks of Australia and New Zealand were far away from churches nnd religious influences. Mt. Fred. Bullen, to k«ep religious influences alive in the outer marches, paid to the proprietors of tho "Australasian" weekly newspaper a large sum of 1 money a year for printing every week on the back page o, "Pmireenn's Sprmon for their Sunday's reading. When Messrs. Bullen bought" these Kaikoura stations there was no. church there. Mr. Fred. Bnllon built a Presbyterian' Church there nnd ns tho pomilnfion was spare® and they could not afford a salaried man lie himself conducted the services. Other denominations of the evangelicals wero allowed the free use of this church, and nt their hands Messrs. Bulen gave many gifts from time to time 'or good objects. For instance, Mr. G. F. BttUen gave, five thousand pounds towards the 'endowment of n- Clinir of Theologv in the University of, Dunodin. Mr. G. .F. Bullen being the last survivor of :.hn firm, nnd their branch mannjera nil JBinp dead, it devolves on the only ono living to yay peace be to their nshes.— 1 am, etc., JAMES M'DOWF.TJ,.,