Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 73.djvu/542

538 faculty list of 69. Of the 450 students 6 were in the kindergarten course, 35 in the primary department, 141 in the school of music, 58 in the college of liberal arts—doubtless very liberal—and 210 scattered through other departments of less importance. This fortunate university "received its charter from the Legislature of the State of Florida." Of its faculty "the majority have pursued graduate courses in American or European Universities" and are "Christian men and women "; hence it would be uncharitable to think that good work is not done. In the mathematical courses the work offered includes "osculation, roulettes, Jacobians, gamma functions, various volutions of cubics and quartics, homographic division, reciprocal polars, conic invariants, and covariants."

The national pure food law has lately mitigated the evils of false pretense in the sale of food and drugs. We are in need of similar protection against those who secure charters for universities with kindergarten departments. The chief function of these universities is to nullify the meaning of college degrees.

In the second annual report of the Carnegie Foundation the president, Dr. Pritchett, says (p. 37):

Some thoroughgoing financial statement of investments, annual receipts and expenditures should be required by law of all chartered institutions. There is the same reason for a college to exhibit in a business-like way its financial history as for any business concern; and every institution should do this as a matter of good faith.

Probably the mere possession of a charter from the state might be considered sufficient reason for the annual rendition of such a report to the state superintendent of education. He would naturally publish a comparative summary for the different institutions thus represented. For the larger institutions the treasurer's report is always printed and is subject to inspection by those who may be specially interested in it. The financial statement is summarized by each treasurer according to his own plan. Probably it might be best for a common plan to be used by all institutions in the same state. Of late years there has been so much criticism of "bought patronage" that it would be wise for each institution to publish the total amount remitted from students' fees without mentioning the name of any beneficiary. The impersonality of such a statement removes all reasonable objection to such publication.

In addition to its financial statement it would perhaps be very desirable that every college should be subject to examination in such matters as the maintenance of its professed standards of admission and graduation. No detailed investigation of this kind would be possible without treading on delicate ground. It has been suggested that this function might be delegated to a state commission; but the intrusion of politics would be a serious danger, probably nullifying the benefits