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University, 61 per cent; Aberystwith University College, 70 per cent.
So far as income from endowments is concern- ed, the proportion to total income in the case of Bristol University is 7.3 per cent; of Exeter Uni- versity College, 2.3 per cent; of Leeds University, 5.7 per cent; of Sheffield University, 5.7 per cent; and of Aberystwith University College, 6.7 per cent.
Contrasting Figures.
In striking contrast to these figures the Uni- versity of Hong Kong at present receives, for the general purposes of the University, $50,000 per annum from the Colonial Government which re- presents merely 9 per cent of its total income; and an increase in the amount of the grant to $250,000 per annum would only bring the Government con- tribution to about 33 per cent of the total income of the University. Furthermore, as shewing the gen- erous manner in which contributions have been made by members of the public to the Endowment Fund of the University, the income derived from this source amounts to about $300,000 or about 50 per cent of its total income at present and nearly five times the sum which the Chater Committee, 1909, estimated as the probable total annual ex- penditure of the University.
Even if the Government grant is increased to $250,000 a year as suggested, the University would not be fully supplied, financially. It could not, for the reasons I have mentioned, give, for the present, any but a small increase to existing salaries, and would only be enabled to carry on its present activ- ities without running into debt. Further develop- ment will be contingent upon the acquisition of funds from other sources.
Private Generosity Neutralised.
As showing how, under existing conditions, the development of the University may be hampered, and how the generosity of members of the public may be made unavailable, I am able to give a most striking example. A donation of $60,000 was made by Mr. Tang Chi Ngong last year for the provision of a building for the School of Chinese Studies but it has not been utilised as yet owing to the uncertainty as to whether the requisite funds for maintaining the school as a permanent institution will be forthcom- ing or not. A further sum of $200,000 was collect- ed by the local Chinese community for the endow- ment of this school, but the interest on this sum only amounts to about $14,000 a year while the ultimate annual cost of the school is estimated to
be $60,000. At present the balance is being pro- vided by Government from year to year as a pro- visional and temporary measure. The Finance Committee of the University hold a very strong opinion that it would not be business-like to proceed with the building scheme on this precarious basis; to say nothing of the injustice that would be done if the school had to be closed before any student had completed the prescribed four years of the Course.
Movement or Stagnation.
Sir, I stand here to offer no apology on behalf of the University of Hong Kong. It has advance:1 beyond the stage of apology and deprecation; it can, and must, stand on its own merits. The Academic successes of its graduates proclaim the worth of its professorial staff. The degrees it confers have re- cognition throughout the British Empire. But the same economic law dominates the devlopment of a business and an University. An increasing business must increase, correspondingly, its working capital, or its very success may land it in bankruptcy. The same rule holds good in the case of the University. If the additional contribution askel for from the Cofonial Governinent is made, the University can, despite the serious loss due to the fall in exchange, carry on its work within existing limits for a time more or less considerable; but if its activities are to be extended, its sphere of usefulness enlarge:1, and its duty to the Teaching and Administrative staffs fulfilled, then further financial resources must be provided. Otherwise a condition of stagnation must inevitably be faced; and stagnation, whether in an institution or in an individual, is the precursor of death.
But I am an incurable optimist, and confident that the fount of private generosity which has provel so bountiful in the past, will continue to flow more and more freely as the work of the University is more clearly realised.
Before concluding I should like to express our cordial appreciation of the good offices of Mr. Mason and his choir in making it possible to have the University Anthem sung this afternoon. The Anthem as many of you know was originally com. posed as an inaugural one by Sir Cecil Clementi and was sung at the opening of the University in 1912. His Excellency has now revised certain parts of the Anthem so as to make it suitable for general oc- casions; and it is singularly appropriate and for- tunate that it has been practicable to have the revised Anthem sung for the first time at this Congregation the last at which His Excellency will officiate as Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong,
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141
Speech of H.E. Sir Cecil Clementi, K.C.M.G., LL.D., M.A. Oxon, F.R.G.S.
Governor of Hong Kong. Chancellor of the
University of Hong Kong.
H. E. the Governor then addressed the assembly and said:-Members of the Congregation of the University of Hong Kong:
It has been a great pleasure to me this after- noon, by virtue of the authority vested in me as Chancellor, to confer upon Sir Henry Gollan, Chief Justice of Hong Kong and acting Vice-Chancellor of this University, the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws. In him we honour not only an eminent judge, who commands universal respect in this Colony, but also a firm friend of University of Hong Kong, well-tried at need, and willing to serve the University at considerable sacrifice to himself. When it became necessary for Mr. Hornell, our Vice Chancellor, to proceed on leave of absence to England, partly for a well deserved rest, and partly to plead our cause with His Majesty's Governmen for a grant to this University from Boxer Indemnity funds, Sir Henry Gollan, in spite of the heavy duties which his position as Chief Justica entails, was not only willing to take upon himself the work of acting Vice Chancellor, but made it a condition of doing so that no remuneration whatever should be paid to him on this account. He has thus saved the University from incurring considerable expenditure. More than that, Sir Henry Gollan at my request agreed to undertake the difficult and unenviable task of presiding over the committee which has recently reported upon the conditions of salary and service of the academic staff of the University. In this work he had the assistance of two members of the University Court, namely, Mr. Paul Lauder, our Honorary Treasurer, and the Honourable Dr. Ts'o Seen-wan, upon whom the University has already conferred its honorary degree of Doctor of Laws. I take this opportunity of thanking the Committee very sincerely for the admirable manner in which its duties have been discharged.
My only regret, in this connection, is that Sir Henry Gollan intends shortly to retire on pension and that, therefore, this is the last occasion on
which he will be present at a Congregation of this University. I too, am unlikely to be present ever again at Congregation, for I am about to lay down my duties as Chancellor. I shall do so with the deepest regret, for my work here has been a labour of love and I have felt most strongly that nowhere can better or more enduring service be rendered to Hong Kong than in this University. I can but hope that at Singapore, which is not very far away, I may still have some opportunity of helping you.
Financial Difficulties.
In his address to the Congregation Sir Henry Gollan has just dwelt upon the financial difficulties which bass the University, and I wish now, aз your Chancellor, to suggest the means whereby these financial difficulties may be overcome. There are in my opinion, apart from the donations by private benefactors, which have been very generously given, two sources, to which the University may properly look for help. The first is the Government of Hong Kong. When the Colony's budget for this year was under discussion in the Legislative Council during last September, the Honourable Mr. W. E. L. Shenton, speaking of the measure of financial assistance given from the public purse to Universities in England, said:-
"A Royal Commission was appointed presided over by the Right Honourable Mr. Asquith in the year 1919, as a result of which very large Govern- ment grants were made, and to-day, roughly, the Government provides, either direct or through local authorities, 50% of the revenue of Oxford University, 45% of the revenue of Cambridge University, 50% of the revenue of Birmingham University, 70% of the revenue of Bristol University, and 60% of the revenue of Leeds University. In fact out of the total income of the Universities of Great Britain about 50% is contributed by either Governmsat or local authorities. The conclusion that follows fron
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