KENTUCKY " KID."

NZ Truth, Issue 119, 28 September 1907, Page 7

KENTUCKY " KID."

BOGUS DECREE-GIVING UNIVERSITIES. EdEcational Experts-in Impudence. How Fond Parents are Humbugged by Illiterate Impostors with Worthless Degrees.

For many years the public m Australasia was grossly defrauded by men styling themselves M.D., etc., without, proper qualification, and 1 , the amusement caused by the worthy gentleman who, when giving evidence before a Select Committee, stated that the letters M.R.C.S. attached to his name meant that he had practised at Melbourne, *Rioh,mond.. Collin-fflwood and Sydney, is still fresh m the minds of most people who take any interest m public affairs. Fortunately, Parliament has now stopped this form of imposture. The authorities have declared that murderers shall not be turned loose upon the community/ There is, however, another kind of >fj>uackery which still flourishes here "Hire the green bay-tree." It appears that any illiterate person may, with impunity, s-tyle himself M.A. or 8.A., amd, on the strength of

THIS IMPUDENT PRETENCE, undertake the work of instructing the young. Only those who have for years been m close touch with educational matters m Australasia know how widespread the dishonest practice is. Indeed, the fact that the country spends immense sums of money winually on the education of the rising generation, and insists on thorDugh efficiency m the case of its own beaohers, and that at the same time it permits audacious impostors to deceive parents and ruin children's future careers, must be regarded as one of the Teatest anomalies m our law, as it exists- at present;.

It is not for one moment contended, that those who hold University decrees are efficient or competent teachers. Many of. our greatest men, m all departments of life never saw the . inside of a University. Herbert Spencer, John Stuart Mill, Georgje Henry Lewes, .Buckle, Tyndall, and many other eminent men owed nothing to any University. The great Charles •Darwin, indeed, declared that the time he spent at Cambridge ''was wasted as far as the academical studies were concerned." These facts, however, do not affect the case. The question is : Should not both parent and child be protected from fraud ?

For a complete grasp of Hie nature of the boa;us-degree swindle, some knowledge of American educational institutions and "universities" is almost indispensable. An English journalist who recently visited the United States characterised that country as >"<a land of insidious fraud." His sweeping remark may be, and probabily is, unjust to -tbe Great Republic ; but there can be no doubt as to the fraudulent nature of many of its so-called universities. In 1905, Mr E. S. A. Roibson, the ■well-known educational exj>ert of Manchester, spent a considerable time m the United States, and made an exhaustive inruriry into 'this question- He states Ih^t of over 500 decree-conferring institutions m the United States, not more than 30 require a standard of scholarship actual to that of the

BEST ENGLISH HIGH SCHOOLS. Sonnenschein's "Cyclopaedia of Education" (1906 edition, page 475) says of American universities : "Na State or territory m the union is without dts university or college, and m Ohio there are as many as 33. In connection with these statistics it has to be borne m: mind that educational terms are much abused m the United States/ Scores of institutions which call themselves universities are quite unworthy of their designation ; and, 'judged by the European standard), there are few institutions which can be called complete universities."

In 1903, one P^-Garnett, desiring to enter the Congregational minds-try m Enffland 1 , succeeded m obrfcaining a bare pass m the first sectional examination, which was of an extreme ly elementary nature- A few weeks later he 'blossomed forth as the Rev. P. Garnett, M.A., D.D. Thereupon the "Christian World" castigated the reverend master of arts somewhat severely, the result being the libel action Garnett v. Clark, m which plaintiff asked an English .court of law to give him £1000 compensation for his wounded pride and shattered reputation. Tbe plaintiff, m. givim^ his evidence, produced from "Harriin&n University" a "diploma" which showed that not only had he obtained his M.A. degree, but that he obtained it "pro honoris" ! This is a staggerer, no doubt ; but the climax is yet to come. An official occupying a high position on the staff of the •American Embassy m England, ac■tually swore that "Harriman University" was regarded m the United 'States as an institution with a high

standard of scholarship. It is gratifying to know that the learned theologian received no damages, and had to pay his own costs. Last year the Rev. C. F. Aked, on whom an American University had conferred the degree of D.D., publicly stated that he regarded the acceptance of the "honor" as one of the great mistakes of his life, and that both the educated classes and the man m the street were justly suspicious of American degrees." Another institution to which we wish to draw special attention is the

UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY. This university has furnished our State with several brilliant alumni m both the educational and clerical professions. Two letters sent to this institution asking for a copy of examination papers set for the B.A. or M. A. degree for any year, failed to elicit a reply. But among the hundreds of university publications m the reading-roam of. the British Museum no calendar or collection of examination papers published by this university could be found. Mr E. S. A. Robson says of this place '—"No one deplores more than educated Americans the existence of such degreeconferring institutions," while a distinguished American university professor recently remarked to the present writer : "The degree at this university is not a swindle m the sense that you can buy it, but it is almost a swindle m the sense that the standard of scholarship is so low." Parents and guardians are, therefore, warned to inquire into the genuineness of the degrees supposed to be held by those who undertake to prepare their children for the university. Any person who holds a degree from a reputable institution will be only too glad to mention the name of his alma mater. No such person will resent being asked where he graduated. The unjustifiable display of American degrees is also rampant m the clerical, profession,- and though here the' harm done is far less serious than m the case of the bogus tutor or schoolmaster, the heads of churches would do well to see that this, sort of thing is reduced to a minimum. It is

A REGRETTABLE THING 1 to see a man who calls himself a disciple of Christ," "m whom v " according to the sacred record, "there was no sin, neither was there any guile m his mouth," accepting a Kentucky degree and advertising himself far and wide as G. T. Walden, M.A. This man is a very strong advocate of temperance and social purity, a vehement "anti-papist," and a prominent supporter of the Christian Endeavor movement. Doubtless his fellow "disciples of Christ" are proud of him.

Not many months ago the present writer heard an address by an elderly gentleman who had been advertised as M.A., Ph.D. Where the learned doctor of philosophy obtained the precious degrees could not be ascertained ; but here are two expressions which he used m the course of a very commonplace address : "I 'seen' that picture m Rome" ; "the monks deserve credit for the 'maintainance' of these schools."

In the interests of the public, "Truth" publishes the following list of those engaged m the scholastic or clerical professions, whose degrees were, it is believed, obtained from American institutions :— "Rev." C. ,T. Forscutt, "8.A." (Kentucky). H. Oliver, "M.A." "Ph.D." (states that, he .wrote a. thesis for his M.A. Degree, t.bjit refuses to mention the name "?pft the University. The degree cannot be obtained m this way from European or Australian universities, unless the candidate submitting the thesis has already passed the regular course of the 8.A.) The following have refused to give any information concerning the source of their degrees, notwithstanding the fact that they have advertised themselves widely as university men : — F. Bevill, M.A., Q.V. markets, Sydney ; G. H. Childers, 8.A., Manly (formerly he styled himself B.Sc, but he seems to have dropped this recently) . We may mention that any member of the public is ENTITLED TO ASK tutors and schoolmasters who advertise themselves as M.A., 8.A., to mention the name of the university at which they graduated. All bona fide coaches know that the request is quite reasonable and quite common. As to the quality of Kentucky University, we publish two letters sent

to a tutor, the graduate of a university of high standing, who at the tinie of the receipt of the letters, was m London. He is now m Sydney. Letters sent from Sydney to the Secretary of Kentucky College were not answered. A letter, however, sent from London, elicited THE FOLLOWING REPLY :— Kentucky University, Lexington, Ky. < lober 2nd, 1906. Mr dear sir,— < our letter of September 15th is received? In reply I would say that George Tilford Walden graduated from the College of the Bible, m 1888 ;. Charles Thomas Forscutt graduated with the degree of 8.A., m 1885, from the College of Liberal Arts, of Kentucky University, and m 1886 graduated from the "College of the Bible. yours, (Signed) C. M. WHITE, Secretary.

Now, as to the sort of university Kentucky University is, let Mr Robson, the great English authority on American educational institutions, inform us. His letter is as follows :— COUNTY BOROUGH OF WARRINGTON EDUCATION COMMITTEE. I—B— 'o6. Dear Sir,— ln reply to your inquiry re Kentucky University, Lexington, Ky., I beg to forward the following information gathered from the last report of the Commissioner of Education (dated 1903) :— Kentucky University : 1. Founded 1836 ; 2. No. of professors, etc., preparatory 5, collegiate 15, professional 20; 40 ; 3. No. of students, . preparatory 81, collegiate 24T), graduate 8, professional 396,. 725 ; 4. Tuition fees £6 per annum ; 5. No. of scholarships 8 ; 6. Volumes m library 18,000 ; 7- Value of apparatus, machinery and furniture, £1000 ; 8. Value of buildings £00,---000 ; 9. Total annual funds, £5260. Theaa figures are not much .to go by, a.s they might easily be surpassed by a good high school. The number of graduates (8) is extremely low. The value of the apparatus (£1000) is low. The funds (£5000) would not go far to pay 40 teachers, and buy fresh apparatus, especially as the university grants degrees m arts and science (B.A. and 8.5.). Of course, the educated Americans deplore the existence of such degree-giving institutions, but there is no body like our Privy Council to supervise the granting of charters. In my pamphlet, I have mentioned all the universities of first-class rank, and I should not care to possess a degree outside that list.— l am, yours sincerely, (Signed) E. S. A. ROBSON.