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Toua lea autrea exemplairaa originaux aont filmte an commenpent par la premiAre page qui comporta une empreinte d'impreaaion ou d'illuatration et en terminant par !a darnidre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un dea aymbolea auivanta apparaltra sur la darniAre image de cheque microfiche, aelon le cas: le aymbola — »> signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole y signifie "FIN". Les cartea, planchaa, tableaux, etc.. peuvent Atre filmAa 6 dea taux da reduction diff*renta. Lorsque le document eat trop grand pour Atra reproduit en un aeul cliche. 11 eat film* A partir de Tangle suptfrieur gauche, de gauche A droite. et de haut en baa. en prenant la nombre d'imagea nAcassaira. Lea diagrammas auivanta illuatrent la mAthoda. 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 FACTS CONCERNING FEDERATION AN ADDRESS TO THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OF VICTORIA UNIVERSITY AT THEIR ANNUAL MBETINO. ALUMNI HALL. COBOURO, ONT., MAY llTH, 1889. BT JAMBS ALLEN, PresitUui of the Alumni. I'UBUSHED BY ORDER OF THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION. I a: I'L L FACTS I CONCERNING i FEDERATION. A\ ADUKKSS ro THK ALUMNI AS:^OL'IATION OF VICTORIA UXIVKItSITY AT THEIR ANNUAL MEETING. ALUMNI HALTi, COBOURO, ONT.. MAY Uth, 1889. BY JAMBS ALLEN, Pnndeitt of the Alumni. I'UHLISIIKD BY ORDER OF THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION. »i, o. OCT 8 3 »« Facts Concerning Federation. 11 Wlien the question of how to hegin a univer- sity was upon tlie minds of the trustees of Johns Hopkins, the president, J)r. Gihnan, said, " Enlist a great mathematician and a distinguished Grecian; your prohiem will he solved. Such men can teach in a (Iwelhng-house as well as in a palace." Dr. Harris, professor of chemistry in Amherst, in con- versation with me not h)ng since respecting the needs of a university, remarked, *' The first and greatest need is men. Get strong, well qualified, thoroughly competent men for professors, and you have your university. You can erect buildings, and add apparatus and equipment as you get the means. All other university needs sink into in- significance compared with the great niBed of strong men in the faculty." The removal, therefore, of a strong man from our faculty is the most serious loss that we can sustain. To our great regret Dr. Haanel has resigned his position as Dean of the Faculty of Science, to ac- cept the chair of Theistic Science in the Syracuse University. Dr. Haanel has had charge of our Science Department for sixteen years. To him we owe the erection of Faraday Hall. He gave a H II I 1|^ i J Facts Concerning Federation. \ I general impulse to scientitic teaching in this country; and, tlioii^'li hampered much hy the lack of apparatus, which could not he purchased on ac- count of our poverty, he has done such etlicient work that stiulents have left wealthier institutions to seek the degree of \'ictoria in Science. Dr. Haanel's gifts as a teachei" are veiy great, and the graduates and undergraduates of this iniiversity have a keen sense of ohligation for the intellectual henefits received from him. He is known among scientists chiefly hy his discovery of a new method of hlow-pipe analysis. He will be remeujbered hy his students with affection and respect, on account of his strong desire to be serviceable to them ; his quick appreciation of their difficulties ; his steady purpose to be thorough himself, and to make his students thorough ; his steady purpose in all his thought, experiment and connnunication to nnike his students men. The course pursued by the authorities of Victorin in selecting from ou;- Canadian universities the best graduates, who have given proof not only of scholarship but of exceptional ability as practical teachers, and encouraging them to go abroad to pre- pare for professorships, has been productive of the best results. The Board of Regents has, fortu- nately, secured one of these men, Dr. Coleman, to take charge of the Science Department. Dr. Cole- man carried away the highest honors of his Cana- dian Alma Mater in 1876. He demonstrated his ability to teach by several years' service in the ('oUe- I Facts Concerning Federation. 5 «,nate Institute, Cobour^', i)ursuin«,' at tlic same time post-j(ra(luate studies, under the direction of Dr. Haanel. His def,Mee of Doctor of Philosophy was won by close study and severe examination, after several years' residence at Breslau University, Ger- many. Since 1888 Dr. Coleman has ai)ly performed the duties of professor of Natural History and Geology. His great and varied information, his rare ability as a teacher, the excellent work done by him in the past, guarantee his fitness for the position he is to o(;cupy. Professor Horning has applied for, and obtained, leave of absence. He intends to spend several years in availing himself of the advantages of residence and study in the best universities of Europe. Mr. Petcli, who is now in Europe, will enter next year upon the duties of Assistant Pro- fessor of Modern Languages. He is well furnished for his work. Our late Chancellor, Dr. Nelles, in an address delivered in 1888, made the following reference to Professor Pell : " When, not long since, an adjunct professor was recpiired to assist, both in ancient and modern languages, the Board secured the services of a high honor man from the University of Toronto, and we have great reason to congratulate ourselves on the selection then made." During the last four years Professor Bell has continued his studies in Europe. He is ex- pected to return to the service of the University next fall, well prepared to advance the branch of knowledge to which he is devoted. Although Dr. Workman has been publicly welcomed by the 6 Facts Concerning Federation. Faculty and students, I may he peiinitted to con- «st- graduate work, the cost of a library foi* under graduate work ; I'especting the merits of the fixed course, and of the various forms of what is known as the elective system ; the best location for a university ; the effect upon the country of cen- tralization ; the nund)er of students which can be taught with advantage in one cc^Uege ; whether there should be few colleges with many students in eacli, or many colleges with fewer students in each. These and kindred (|uestions recpdre patient, impartial study before sound judgment could be exercised respecting Federation. This question was iirst discussed in the Board of Regents, on the 9th of January, 1885. It was argued by the advocates of F'ederation that the condition of our finances would not warrant the ■ ;'MMUM«Hi*mn>M fl '^iaKffli Facts Concern ini^ Federation. inaiiiteiiHUce of \w\ iiulopeiuhMit university. No detailed statement was ^iven, and I was witliout tlie definite intbnnation wlucli would enable me to form an independent jud<,nnent. 'IMie arj^uments appeared to me to be (•()nvin{'in^^ and I voted for tbe resolution. Tbe next time tbe (pu»stion came before the ]3oard, on May '21st, 18H(), the very men who adv()(;ated Federation so strongly on financial grounds, argued as strongly against it for the same reason, viz., that the condition of our finances would not warrant our entrance into Federation, [t was shown by Dr. Burwash that for $15(),()0() less than Federation would cost, we could provide for an independent university an equipment superior to anything then in the Province. I was still without definite information. As in the former case, the argument appeared clear and convincing, though it pointed to the opposite conclusion, and I voted for Independence. As I gave that vote, I felt humiliated and ashamed at finding myself without * the definite information which would enable me to form an independent judgment. As one of your representatives on the Board, [ felt that I ought not to know so little about university organization and equipment as to be compelled to take my opinions from two or three men. From that moment I set myself to th ■ patient and earnest study of the (juestion, and I found that Dr. Burwash's estimate was upon the whole accurate, viz., that Independence in Cobourg, with an equipment superior to anything then in the -I lO Facts Concerning Federation. Province would cost $150,000 less than Federa- tion. You will find this estimate on page 199 of the General (Utuference Journal. As other questions came up, I sought information whicli wouhl enahle me to understand them from every reliable source that was open to me. The most enlightened instructors and administrators have been good enough to reply to my letters, and to grant me personal interviews. During the past year I have visited tht following universities : Kochester, Syracuse, Cornell, the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins, Columbia, the Uni- versity of the ('ity of New^ York, Boston Univer- sity, Amherst, Yale and Harvard. My inquiries were made, first, in the direction of university organisation and government ; the constitution of a hoard of regents, how elected, how vacancies should be tilled, the qualifications members should possess ; the best methods of obtaining information which would enable mem- bers to discharge tlieir duties ; the constitution, ])Owers and duties of the senate, the methods of appointing professors, the powers of the faculty, the special functions of the various officers, the relation of these three bodies — Board, Senate and Faculty — to one another. The importance of clear ideas on these (questions must appear from the differences of opinion among ourselves respecting the powers of Advisory Committee, Board, and Senate. My inquiries were made, secondly, respecting Facts Concerning Federation. 1 1 university methods, equipment and work, and addressed to men whose right to speak witli authority on these questions is recognized by the continent. I wish you to compare with their views some of the representations made by the Federationists. Take the statement that Federation is to give us a university second to none upon the continent, with provision for post-graduate work such as is now found only in the United States and in Europe. This statement has not been made, so far as I know, by any one having authority to speak for Toronto University or for the Provincial Govern- ment. The nearest approach to an official utter- ance is an editorial in the Globe, from which I will now quote : " The whole subject," viz., Federation, *' becomes a matter of the first conse(|uence, if only it is possible under such n scheme to secure a university second to no other at any seat of learn- ing on the continent. And because we desire to see Ontario occupying a first place in higher edu- cation among the states and provinces of this continent, and providing for her sons the best instruction procurable in the world of Science and the Arts, we favor a scheme for a federation of the colleges." It is stated by Dr. Burwash in his article entitled, ** The Present Aspects of University Federation," published in the Methodist Magazine of November, 1887, and circulated in tract form by the Secretary of Education, that by federation we will gain " a t ;ai) the university students, including the few who may be candidates for a higher diploma, that of Doctor or Master (a certificate that they have made special attainments in certain brancdies of knowledge), and a larger nund)er who, without reference to a degree, are simply continuing tlieir studies for varying periods, (corresponding to the wants of these two classes of students, we have two methods of instructitm. The rule of the college which provides discipline, drill, training in appointed tasks and for definite periods ; and the rule of the university the note of which is opportunity, freedom, encouragement and guidance in more difficult studies and pursuits." From this distinction between the university and the college you perceive that, speaking broadly, all work leading up to and ending in the baccalaureate degree is college work. University work is the pursuit of some special branch or branches, which may be continued to any length. This special work can- not be pursued to the best advantage, except in its ■•/I 1 \ ^ 14 Fac^s Concerning Federation. elementary parts, until the foundation for liberal culture is laid in the college. Look at some ex- amples which show the difference between post- graduate and undergraduate work. In Clark University, which is to be opened in Worcester, Mass., next October, for post-graduate work only, individual arrangements may be made, and an independent room, and even special appa- ratus and books, provided, that students of suffi- cient training, who wish to devote their time to particular lines of study or research, may pursue their investigations. In the Department of Chem- istry alone a large laboratory of fifty rooms is furnished with apparatus on the amplest §cale. Now, this is called university or graduate work. It is best known among us as p jst-graduate work. To provide for advanced teaching of this kind involves enormous expense. Some of the universities of the United States are very wealthy. Johns Hop- kins has an estate within Baltimore city limits which, when surveyed, will furnish fifteen or sixteen miles of street frontage. This estate will add largely to its already large income. Other universities have innnense endowments ; but most of their means are expended on post-graduate work. But the college work, or what we call undergraduate work, is simple, elementary, and comparatively inexpensive. Apparatus and chemi- cals for a course on the fundamental principles of chemistry, such as that taken by our pass men, may be purchased for $298.77. This estimate is r Facts Concerning Federation. 15 opened in ■graduate be made, cial appa- 8 of suffi- time to rooms 18 est §('ale. e work. It work. To d involves ersities of ohns Hop- I'ity limits fifteen or 3Btate will e. Other ; but most it-graduate it we call ntary, and and chemi- •inciples of pass men, estimate is made by Eimer & Amend, of New York, and given by Professor Cooke, Director of the Chemical Laboratory of Harvard University. Professor (Jooke adds to this estimate the following note : " The above estimates are all on a very liberal scale. When economy is necessary, the teacher can largely reduce the cost by devices of his own." Dr. Haanel states that, in addition to what we have now in our Laboratory, $1,000 will purchase all the apparatus in chemistry that could be used by the most brilliant honor man in undergraduate work. There is a vast difference between the chemical laboratory of Clark University, with its fifty rooms furnished with the most expensive apparatus, and the chemical laboratory of Victoria (yoUege, with an additional $1,000 worth of appa- ratus. But the one is as well furnished for under- graduate as the other is for post-graduate students. An undergraduate student in chemistry could no more use the expensive apparatus of Clark Univer- sity than a boy could read Homer before he knew a letter of the Greek alphabet. As fifty rooms furnished with the most costly apparatus is to one room supplied with apparatus costing $1,000, so is the expense of post-graduate to the expense of undergraduate work. Now, the expense involved in these two classes of work is confounded by many. They hear of the vast amount required for university — that is, post-graduate — subjects, and ttiey apply it to collegiate or undergraduate subjects. For example, the editor of the '* Meth- I i6 Facts Concerning Federation, odist Magazine " reads that the University of California has a telescope which cost $250,000, and straightway he founds upon it an argument for Federation. Methodists, he says, would not be satisfied to give their sons anything less than the best. The best is a very expensive thing. We must enter into Federation that we may have nothing less than the best, viz., a telescope costing $250,000. The Editor forgets that such a tele- scope is not necessary for undergraduate instruct- ion, but is used mainly by specialists who devote themselves to original investigation, and whose object may be to announce the existence, and to analyze the materials, of some luminous point which may be seen two or three times in the course of a century when the weather is favorable. Professor Swift, Director of the Warner Observatory, showed me a telescope which he calls his " comet seeker." This telescope, which cost $300, he has used for thirty years, and with it has made many of the dis- coveries by which he is so widely known among astronomers. Such a telescope would answer as well as the more costly instrument for the instruc- tion of students who do not know the visible mo- tions and the known relations of stars that can be seen by the naked eye. An observatory has been erected at Johns Hop- kins, and a telescope, with all the necessary ac- cessories and other appliances, provided at very great expense. Professor Newcome, who was f(^ many years connected with the Naval Observa- * "^listflfll Facts Concerning Federation. »7 tory at Washington, and who is now Superinten- dent of the United States Nautical Ahnanac, has been engaged as Professor of Astronomy. Pro- fessor Newcome lectures to four or five students, and I was told that there is one student who in- tends taking the Doctor's degree in Astronomy as his principal subject. Now, undergraduate stu- dents in Astronomy could no more profit by the instruction given by Professor Newcome to his post- graduate students, than a boy who knew nothing of multiplication could calculate an eclipse. For post- graduate work, as has been shown in the case of Johns Hopkins University, a well-appointed astro- nomical observatory is absolutely necessary for proper and practical instruction in Astronomy ; but the students taking such subjects are usually very few. For colleg^iate instruction, a costly telescope with its appurtenances is, to a great extent, a piece of useless apparatus ; for, aside from the fact that the students are not far enough advanced to handle such an instrument, it is evident that each indivi- dual of the class would have to look through the telescope, and, where the class is large, the valu- able time of the professor would be frittered away to no purpose. By throwing any group of stars or nebulae upon the screen, the w^hole class can view together the objects to which their attention is directed by the lecturer, and the lecturer can pro- ceed without the confusion which must necessarily result when fifty or more students are crowding to the eye-piece of the telescope to get at best only i8 Facts Concerning Federation. an unsatisfactory and partial view. Hence, with a telescope costing $250,000, such as the Methodist Magazine proposes, we have the proportion : as $250,000, cost of telescope, is to $350, cost of apparatus for throwing astronomical objects of instruction on the screen, so is the expense of post- graduate to the expense of undergraduate work. Now, so far from Federation giving lis a univer- sity second to none upon the continent, with post- graduate courses, such as are now provided only in the United States and in Europe, it is not proposed to do this class of university work at all. The Minister of Education nowhere hints at such a thing. It is true that the present University Faculty is to be divided ; one part will be known as the Faculty of University College, the other part is to be called the University Professoriate. The University Professoriate is to provide teaching in certain branches for the students of all the federa- ting colleges. But the work done by the colleges and the work done by the University Professoriate is of the same grade It is all collegiate ivorJc, undergraduate tvork, work preliminary to the B. A. degree. The University ProfesHosiate does no university, that is, post-graduate, work. That Federation will give us a university where men can be educated who wish to become such special- ists as Dr. Haanel, Dr. Coleman, Dr. Workman and Dr. Bell is a dream, without the shadow of a promise from the Government to rest upon. .£-«, Facts Concerning Federation. 19 rn Thk Elective System. What is known as the Elective System must be clearly understood before we can decide wisely upon Federation. Dr. Burwash sets forth its im- portance in a reply to Dr. Sutherland, imblished in the Mail of December 22nd, 1888. He says : " Five years ago the new university departure of specialization for the degree of B. A. was on its trial in this country. Many of us, thought the old, all-round course was better. I was one who be- lieved in the conservative curriculum. ♦ * * * If Dr. Sutherland could bring back to this country and to the whole civilized world the old-time tixed, balanced curriculum for the B. A. degree, I would light again by his side for our independence." Now, before we surrender our independence be- cause we have no longer the old-time fixed, balanced curriculum, which I have no wish to bring back, we should inquire into the character and extent of the specialization for the degree of B. A. which is demanded by our age, and by what Dr. Burwash calls the "trend " of the times. Which involves the greater expense, Federation or an in- dependent college, supplying such means as the age demands for special study for the B. A. degree? The custom of the chief American universities, and the views of the ablest edmators among them, will assist us in coming to a conclusion. The elective system, as it is pursued in the various universities in the United States, is gener- ^m 30 Far/s Concern inj^ Federation, ally canied out in one of two ways. It either gives the student a choice l)etvveen various courses of study, which are so arran^'ed as to secuire a liheral and not a special education ; or, secondly, it allows him in a speciiied course to add to a nucleus of studies absolutely required a certain number chosen with reference to his aims and tastes. In Har- vard, however, the college is practically abolished. The freedom of German university life is allowed in undergraduate studies. Two things are fixed by Harvard for the degree of B. A. First, the amount of work ; and, secondly, the quality of the work. The student is allowed perfect freedom in the choice of studies. He may study but one sub- ject all through his undergraduate course ; or he may study a great many subjects. This is described somewhat sarcastically by the university men who disapprove of it as, " the free lunch system of Harvard." If specialization for the degree of B. A. is to be of this character, tlien no college in this country is competent for the work. But is it to be of this character ? I will put before you some of the views of the chief university men on this continent, and you can draw your own con- clusion. President Oilman, of Johns Hopkins University^ was good enough to grant me several interviews,, and converse with me fully and freely upon the questions concerning which I was seeking infor- mation. He said that, in his opinion, a sharp dis- tinction should be made between the legitimate Fads Concerning Federation. 21 work of Ji university and the le^Mtiniate work of a college. Students at their collef?e stage require positive training in physical, intellectual, moral, and religions action. They are forming the habits wliich will govern their future lives, and they re- ((iiire the discipline which comes from adherence to established methods of instruction and from the example of wise and faithful teachers. Johns Hopkins University is organized upon the idea that university instruction is distinct from collegiate instruction, which it presupposes. The freedom ot choice permitted by some universities to their undergraduates must be injurious. Johns Hop- kins University does not allow students to make a choice of studies, but oifers them a choice of one out of seven parallel courses which are so arranged as to secure a liberal and not a special education. Ordinarily two parallel courses in undergraduate work are sufficient. If he could have but two parallel courses, one classical and one scientific, he would still maintain an independent college, and add other courses in time He spoke in compli- mentary terms of the work done by denominational colleges, commending especially the religious ele- ment. He also made, as nearly as I can recollect, the following comparison between religious and in- tellectual liberality : When denominational col- leges apply to me for a professor and say, *' send us a Presbyterian, or a Methodist, or a Ritualist, or a Baptist, or a Unitarian," I understand the request, and sympathize with it. Parents want their boys gi^ 22 Fads Concerning Federation. f\ at the most susceptible period of life, under the control and discipline which is in harmony with their own religious belief until their characters are so far formed that they are competent to choose for themselves. And I no more value that religious liberality, which says, "See, one of our professors is a Methodist, another a Quaker, another a Ritua- list, another a Presbyterian, another a Unitarian, and another nothing," than I value that intellectual liberality, which says, " We allow our men to specialize ; they can take what studies they please." " If this university" — I now use the words of Presi- dent Gilman — " if this university has rendered any service to the country, it is due, I think, to the persistent maintenance of the idea that the tradi- tional American college should be perpetuated in its essential characteristics ; while beyond its cur- riculum, the most generous opportunities for the prosecution of all branc'.ies of learning should be offered to those who intend to pursue the learned professions, or who aim to be teachers, or who wish to widen their culture and enlarge their minds." Dr. Harris, whom some of you remember as one of the ablest professors that was ever upon the staft' of this college, and who went from Victoria more than twenty years ago, to take the chair of Chemis- try in Amherst, said, in reply to my inquiries, that when he went to Amherst he began to fight for the introduction of options. At first the entire Faculty was against him, but in time he won the day. When Amherst abandoned the fixed course. Facts Concerning Federation. 23 the other New England colleges soon followed her example. He has observed the elective system carefully, and while they have gained a little by adopting it, they have lost a great deal. Of one thing he is certain that they are not making as strong men as they made when they had the fixed course. This he considers not so much the fault of the elective system, as the fault of the profes- sors, who do not work it properly. You cannot, he said, turn strong men out of a college, unless you make them work hard. The subjects taught are important, but the principal thing is w'ork, work. You must drill students until hard work, application, becomes the haLit of their lives, Where students are allowed freedom of choice, most will select that which is easy. Where they are allowed to choose between professors, pro- fessors are apt to lighten the work of the students in order to acquire popularity, and give their own departments an appearance of prosperity. The elective system has been carried to an extreme, especially by Harvard ; but the reaction has already set in, and the signs of the times indicate that there will be less specialization in the future than there has been in the past. His own view is that for the freshman year, and the first term of the the sophomore year, the course should be fixed. During the rest of the undergraduate work he would have, not optional studies, bat, optional courses. Dr. Chandler, Dean of the School of Mines, of I JPRSN 24 Fac^s Concerning' Federation. )' I i ^ H^ Columbia University, approves of parallel courses. A student in the School of Mines may choose one of the appointed courses, but having made his choice he must confine himself to that course, and take all the studies it contains. He would no more allow an undergraduate student to pick and choose a study here and there, than he would allow a child to pick and choose its food. " There," said he, pointing to a student who happened to come in at the time, " is a fellow who, no doubt, thinks he knows what he should study better than I do ; but I say that he does not. A student comes to me, for instance, and says that he wants to take a certain course, but one of the studies in the course will l)e of no service to him in the pro- fession which he intends to adopt, and asks to be allowed to substitute something else for it. I reply, young man I have taught for twenty-live years, and I am not fit to be your professor if I do not know what you ought to study better than you do yourself. Here is our bill of fare. It is carefully selected — selected with more skill than you pos- sess. If it does not suit you, you must go souie- where else, you can get no free lunch here." President Adams, of Cornell, would take the students a year earlier from the high school and make the college (course but three years in length, ending in the B. A. degree. This course he would have absolutely fixed, allowing no freedom of choice until advanced studies are taken up afterward in the university. Substantially the same view is Facts Concerning Federation. 25 held by the Hon. A. D. Wliite, ex-president of (yornell University. Provost Pepper, of the univer- sity of Pennsylvania, would not take the student from the high school any earlier, nor would he shorten the course ; but he would have the studies of the two lirst years absolutely fixed, the remaining two years he would allow tlie student to specialize, (chancellor Sims, of Syracuse University ; Chancel- lor Hall, and Vice-Chancellor McCracken, of the University of the City of New York, would have but few options. Professor Chittenden, of Yale, gave substantially the same opinion as that given by President Gilman and Dr. Chandler. I found Dr. Drisler, acting-president of Columbia Univer- sity, especially decided in his views. He would allow no specialization at all, until the last year. Then he would permit a student to choose special studies bearing in the direction of his life work ; but only to a limited extent. This part of my subject may be fitly closed with the words of President Dwight, of Yale. I was so unfortunate as to obtain no interview with Presi- dent Dwight, who had left New Haven the morning 1 arrived ; but his views on the elective system are set forth clearly in the following words which I copy from his annual report : *' One of the gravest evils of our national life in the immediate future, as it seems to me, is likely to be the one-sidedness of education— the fact that men are to have one line of thought only, moving within the sphere of their own single profession or business, and are to ■'iimmwm:«s^'Sk'<*fmiimmi J^ '^ 26 Facts Concerning Federation. /:! ; "• '•- i ' ;; ! have their idea of the mind's Hfe Hmited to its practical results, and not enlarged to the compre- hension of what the mind is, in and for itself. The signs of this coming evil are already apparent in our public and popular life, and I cannot but think that the subject which it suggests is worthy of most serious consideration on the part of all whose home and work are in our various seats of learning. ***** We open two lines of study, which are carefully and thoughtfully arranged, and which lead to two different bachelors' degrees — one of them making provision for that course of study which has been handed down from earlier times, with such additions as in this- age are required to ' fit any person of liberal education for his mature life ; the other furnishing instruction along those lines which especially lead to scientific research, and to practical working in the field of the great material interests of the country. In both alike a common curriculum of study is required of all in the earlier year or years, while in the later years a greater freedom of choice is allowed, yet in every case with a movement along some definite and prescribed line." The men among ourselves who have contended for the views advanced by such educators as the presidents of Yale, Columbia and Johns Hopkins, and who would now surrender our independence because, in their opinion, such views are not likely to prevail, are in the unhappy position of discour- aged soldiers who desert to the enemy just when I I ■8,(){)0. But this is only pass work, and the Science Department must be e(|uipi)ed for the honor man. Suppose that an honor student in Physics, after spending seven months in obtaining a general view of the subject, should spend the remaining eleven months, equivalent to more than a year and a half of college time, in the study of some special branch-Magnetism, Electricity, Heat, Acoustics, oi" Optics — any one of which may be selected by the professor to train the student in the methods of physical incpiiry, and to introduce him into the knowledge of physical measurements. The apparatus re(|uired for this special work is the chief instruments for })hysical measurement, and an expansion of them in the special subject selected by the professor for illustration of the methods of physical inquiry. The addition to our apparatus for this advanced course may be purchased for $4,000. Add $7,000 worth of apparatus to what is now in our Laboratory, and you will have all that can be used by the most brilliant honor man in the undergraduate course in the subject of Phjsics. Chemistry. In all other departments the apparatus is much less costly. We have already seen that the addi- TT r t 34 Fac/s Concerning Federation. tion to what is now in our Labonitory of all the necessary chemical aj)paratus can he purchased for i$l,(){)() (see pa^'e 15). The fact must not he over- looked that students pay fees for api)aratus, and are responsible for dama«,'e and l)reaka«i[es. Add 5$1,{)()() worth of apparatus to what we have now, and, with careful mana^'ement, the fees will main- tain the efticiency of this dc^partment. MiNKHALOGY. In Mineralogy we are nearly supplied. Some assay furnaces are required, a set of goniometers, and a cabinet of hand specimens of ininerals. Six or seven hundred dollars would cover the necessary expense for this subje(;t. Natural History. All that need be added for instruction in Natural History is a set of microscopes, costing about $300. Geology. The Geological Department is well supplied with cabinets. About $600 or $700 is required to purchase lithological microscopes. My authority for these figures is the Dean of our Science Department. Dr. Haanel states that $10,000 worth of apparatus, added to what is now in our Laboratory, and $1,000 annual outlay to maintain it, will put us in a position, with respect to apparatus, to do as good work as can be done on this continent or in Europe, because that sum \ii I' a*35; Facts Concerning Federation. 35 would furniHli our lal)onitories with all the appa- ratus that could he used iu the un(ler<(raduate work tor pur])OHes of instruction. 1 ohtained estimates from President (iilman, Dr. Howell and Dr. l\ind)all, of Johns IIoj)kins ; Dr. ('handlei', of ('olm)il)ia; Prof. Chittenden, of the Shetlield School of Science, Yale ; Prof. Cooke, Director of the Chemical Lahnratory, Harvard, and Fn)f. Harris, of Andierst. In no instance were the estimates more tlian 5!i>l(), ()()(). Kach one, how- ever, prefaced his statement, hy sayin«,'that every- thing^ depended upon the person who huys and uses your apparatus. Some professors have the power of d()in<,' nnich with little, otheis will spend a ^Meat deal of money and then accomplish nothing. When I put my (juestion to Dr. Chandler, Dean of the School of Mines, of Columbia University, he replied, using, as nearly as I can recollect, the fol- lowing words : " Everything depends upon your professor. One man will do moi*e work with a paving stone than another man will accomplish with |> 1,000 worth of apparatus. I give a full course of lectures on Physics and Chemistry, at the College of Physicians and Surgeons. The profes- sors take the fees for their pay hut they must pur- chase their own apparatus. It is, therefore, to my interest to purchase no ujore than is absolutely necessary, as the less expense I have to bear the more money I have left. Yet it is to my interest . to purchase all that is necessary, as the more clear and interesting I make my lectures and the better BlmaiiujLtol; • myptrtetcmwnek t'' I. '^' I 4' / ' l^ Ml ft r-i 36 /^a!f/j Concerning Federation. they are illustrated by experiment the more students attend. For a full course of lectures in Physics and Chemistry it has cost me about ^5,000, in apparatus. I prefer a small annual sum for out- lay in apparatus to large sums expended at long intervals. You can equip a college which does undergraduate work only with all the apparatus necessary for scientific teaching for $10,000 and a small annual outlay to sustain it. But," added Dr. Chandler, emphatically, " you must have the right man to purchase and use your apparatus. You must have the right man." Dr. Harris, of Amherst, in reply to my question about outlay for apparatus, began as did all others, "Everything depends upon your man." Foolish expenditure, he said in substance, has been the order of the day. Thr^e dollars out of every four expended for scientific apparatus has been money thrown away. Many professors do not know what they, want, and they buy for tlie purpose of making a display. They get expensive pieces of apparatus which they do not know how to use, and which, therefore, soon get out of order. But they put the price in the papers, and people think the college must be a great institution, because the apparatus cost so nuich. Other professors have scientific hobbies, and expend money for apparatus which can be of no benefit to the students. The public pay the bill, and imagine that they are making provi- sion for tlie higher education of their sons, when they are only paying fancy prices for scientific "^MC^Ij^^ Facts Concernins^ Federation n >re in |00, ut- »ng loes -tus Id a Jded the tus. hobby-horses. " For $8,000 or $10,000," said Pro- fessor Harris, "and with a yearly outlay of about $1,000, you can get all the apparatus necessary, if you have the right man." Other advantages claimed for Federation, other statements made respecting our inability to give instruction in all the subjects belonging to a full undergraduate course will be found as visionary and as erroneous as those which have been to-night examined. In view of these facts, it be- comes us to pause and consider whether we effect a saving and better ourselves educationally by ac- cepting Federation, which involves the loss of our charter and the limitation of our work ; or whether by maintaining our own autonomy, independent of state influence, we shall not, at a less cost, be able to do more effective work and accommodate our- selves in educational methods, more to the needs of the Church and the Country. If our Alma Mater, in which we are so deeply interested, to which we confess ourselves indebted, has not been as successful in the past as some would allege, which I utterly deny, let us seek for the true causes of this want of success, and do our duty by removing them. Let us build up our Ihiiversity into what it ought to be, rather than relinquish the successes already achieved and destroy our independence by venturing upon an untried educational policy, which at the very beginning will, as has been shown, cost us more than to maintain Victoria in independence, and to make her thoroughly efficient.