Its Needs and Possibilities—The Recent Commission of Inquiry—$1,000,000 from Government A Great Enterprise About six months ago various, rumours concerning the finances of{ the University of Hongkong were in local circulation. Somebody or other suggested that there was to be curtailment of the staff, and statements appeared in print, which might easily have led the ignorant reader to suppose that (a) the University was to become in future only a school for technical instruction; (b) the University was to abandon technical work altogether, or (c) the Government of the Colony was shortly to take over the University and make it a portion of the local Department of Education, Finally there appeared in the local Government Gazette an official statement. His Excellency the Governor had appointed a Commission of Inquiry into the various problems arising out of the working of the University.
Tt would be tedious to go over all of the official statements, or to repeat the various stories about the future and the past of the University, but the following general outline is essential if the reader is to understand the present position. First of all when the University was founded the endowment fund was inadequate. Just before the opening session (1912-13) it was intended to commence work in only two faculties, those of Medicine and Engineering. The reasons had been clearly stated by Sir Frederick Lugard, the first Chancellor of the University. His idea had been to develop what may be called "the bread and butter studies," and he was particularly anxious to introduce, as quickly as_ possible, training in- scientific subjects. At the last moment, just as the first session was about to commence, it was arranged to engage local part-time lecturers" for instruction in certain subjects such as_ history, economics and English literature. In the following year the Faculty of Arts was formed and the University of Hongkong had three Faculties, viz., Medicine, Engineering and Arts. Unfortunately it had only one endowed chair and} that was the Taikoo chair of Engineeri: named after the famous British firm so well known in the Far East as a recognition of the generous donation of £40,000.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.