Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 62.djvu/576

570 the existence of state and private institutions with no machinery for correlation, and some question has already arisen in one or two of the western states as to the part to be taken by the board of education, the state university and the private institutions. In several conferences that have been held in the East the question has arisen as to whether the boy should go to Oxford to begin his college work or after he has taken his A.B. degree here.

We see no reason why the intentions of Mr. Rhodes should not be followed. These were certainly that the scholars should spend the three years in residence at one of the Oxford colleges preparing for the B.A. degree, and that they should be selected by the schools, not by the universities. Mr. Rhodes proposed that the qualifications should be rated on a scale of ten, one point for leadership in manly outdoor sports and three for qualities of manhood, these to be determined by fellow students, then two points for force of character to be assigned by teachers, and lastly four points for scholarship to be determined by examination. Mr. Rhodes does not seem to have considered the difficulty of comparing the claims of students from different schools, but if a candidate is nominated by each school wishing to do so, the central state authority could give the competitive examination and select the scholar as the result of this and of his school record. It seems proper that Mr. Rhodes's intention should at least be given a trial, even though the presidents of American universities think it better that B.A.'s should be sent to Oxford for research work. There is indeed much to be said for Mr. Rhodes's plan of selecting the scholars and for his intention that they be undergraduates. Oxford is not a particularly good place for graduate work, but its college life has certain admirable aspects not to be found in American or continental institutions. It would not do to educate all American boys by the Oxford method, but much gain will accrue to the educational, political and social life of the country by sending thirty each year thither.

There appears to be some opposition to the Rhodes scholarships. The students of Göttingen are said to have voted not to accept them, and some American newspapers print editorial criticisms not always well informed. The New York Sun, for example, says 'The Rhodes bequest was based upon a flagrant misconception of facts, and inspired by an ill-considered purpose.' This opposition seems to be based on the assumption that Harvard and Berlin are better universities than Oxford, and that the student will be anglicized to the advantage of Great Britain. Harvard and Berlin are of course better universities than Oxford, but the Oxford College is sui generis, and its influence on the students is great and on the whole beneficial. It would doubtless be an excellent economic investment for Great Britain to send one hundred students to study at Berlin and Harvard, and it certainly seems to be an advantage for the United States to send one hundred students to Oxford to be educated at the cost of Great Britain.

issue of for October, which contained an article by Dr. F. A. Woods reviewing heredity in the Romanofs prior to 1762, was censured by the Russian government in a curious manner. The leaves containing the article were cut out from the number and the title on the table of contents was so inked that it could not be read. This seems to show a considerable degree of conscientiousness on the part of the censor, as it would have been easier and less exciting to the curiosity of subscribers to have simply destroyed the numbers. The incident recalls, however, the