1.—13 a.

52

[P. G. MOKGAN.

years been overdone. Some authorities regard them as a necessary evil; others advocate their complete abolition. If degree examinations by external examiners are to be retained, the present class examinations by professors ought to be abolished, or at least no class examination should be held within the txvo months preceding the degree examinations. My own personal experience is that the strain of txx'o sets of examinations closely following one another is harmful. For women it is likely to be even more injurious than for men. There ought to be some system about such class examinations as are intended to be adjuncts to the teaching, 'these should be held according to a time-table arranged by the xvhole body of teachers. 1 am in favour of abolishing the present system of external examiners for most degrees, and of substituting a system in which the teachers should act with examiners external to their college. Even if the teacher of a subject were made the sole examiner, 1 do not think that the personal bias of any respectable man is more to be feared than the intellectual bias of an external examiner who does not knoxv the students whom he examines. 1 do not think the personal element with regard to unfairness is greatly to be feared in the case of men who are university professors. There is a very considerable element of chance in the success attained by a student under the present external-examiner system. He simply has the one shot, and either succeeds or fails on one xveek's work. A most harmful feature is the delay between examination and the obtaining of results —at least three months. The average student, not knowing xvhether he has failed or passed, cannot settle to any regular course of study during that time. Especially in the case of scholarship candidates the delay is cruel, because their whole career sometimes depends upon their obtaining the scholarship, and they may not be able to sustain their studies xvithout the assistance of a scholarship. Compulsory subjects : 1 hardly think that any subject should be compulsory to the degree standard, but consider there should be an intermediate standard of compulsion in certain cases — e.g., English for all; German for science students, &c. There will, of course, be more or less compulsion in correlated courses of study. If any one subject is to be compulsory for the B.A. degree, it should be English. My experience is that many graduates do not xvrite really good English. 2. Mr. Hanan.] And many professors?— Yes, 1 dare say that is quite true. The necessity of being able to speak and write clearly and concisely in his native tongue should be impressed on every student. Scholarships : There should be senior and research scholarships for all xvho reach a prescribed standard. If this standard is not quite reached one scholarship might still be awarded. I do not believe in emphasizing the competitive feature of scholarships. There may be two or three candidates nearly equal and only one can get the scholarship. There ought to be numerous travelling scholarships, tenable at foreign universities, &c. Evening work :As pointed out in the pamphlet on University Reform (page 15), the present system of evening classes is a hardship to those students xvho devote their whole time to study, and leads to a lowering of the standard attained. I do not advocate the abandonment of evening university classes, but that the whole-time students should not be sacrificed to the part-time students. Libraries : I indorse the paragraph in the University Reform pamphlet on libraries (page 14). The condition of affairs that has prevailed at Otago University for the past twenty-five years or more is simply disgraceful. Appointments and emoluments of teachers and professors : Appointments to the teaching staff of a University College ought to be made under the advice of educationalists in touch xvith Nexv Zealand needs. New-Zealanders ought always to be preferred, other things being approximately equal. I am strongly opposed to class fees being paid to professors, as is done in Canterbury and Otago. Considering the length of their holidays, professors are fairly well paid in Nexv Zealand. 1 think, however, that their emoluments should be indirectly increased by making liberal provision for pensions. It ought to be remembered that a professor has received an expensive education, and before becoming a professor may have held poorly paid positions for many years. All professors should be allowed to retire on full pension at sixty, and on part pension at earlier ages. At sixty-five retirement should be compulsory except in special cases, and in these there should be a young colleague to undertake the main burden of teaching. Professors should be encouraged to visit the Northern Hemisphere every few years, and allowed full pay, and in some cases travelling-expenses, xvhile absent from New Zealand. The cost of such journeys is part of the price xVfe must pay for our isolation from the great centres of civilization. In this Dominion xve suffer from isolation, but we may be able to do something to remedy it. So far as I can judge, past and present professors of the New Zealand University Colleges are by no means so mediocre or inferior as would be judged from a perusal of page 26 of the University Reform pamphlet. As a body they are as good as, or better than, could be expected from the present system of university government. 1 think the University Reform pamphlet rather overstates the deficiencies of the University Colleges on page 26. It gives one a rather bad impression of the professors, and it will give outside people even a worse impression. Government: The educational part of the University—that is, courses of study, examinations, Ac. —should be controlled mainly by the professors. It xvould doubtless be advisable to give graduates and perhaps the Government (as representing the general public) some say. I think it would be quite useless to have manhood suffrage in connection xvith the election of University governing bodies. The general government of the University and of its constituent colleges should be in the hands of bodies representing professors, graduates, and the general public, not in proportion to numbers, but in proportion to the intelligent interest taken. If the University becomes free, the graduates xvill be draxvn from all classes of the community, and a body elected by them will be truly representative of its best elements. As regards the Senate, I xvould not greatly interfere xvith its present constitution for the time being. I think its members ought not to sit for more than four years without re-election. The present system of electing College Councils leave much to be desired. I do not sec why at Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch members of the Legislature should directly elect members of the Council, seeing that the Governor in Council already appoints several members. In Otago the Governor in Council is far too strongly represented. He