WILSON AND THE COLLEGES

Every friend to higher education will be glad of the opportunity that will be afforded Governor Wilson to take a stand in defense of the legitimate colleges of the country in his attitude toward the Gallinger Bill (Senate No. 8378) which will come up for action shortly after the inauguration. The purpose of the bill is, briefly, to stop and prevent "faking" in the matter of colleges and college degrees. The bill has special application to the so-called "colleges" of the District of Columbia but is applicable to a much wider range. It seems peculiarly fitting that Dr. Wilson will have a chance to act in this matter and his co-educators throughout the country look forward with interest to his action.

There can come a great deal of good from the apparently simple task of defining "college" and "university" which the bill attempts. For too long the loose state of the law on the subject has allowed the public to be made the prey of men who could establish a "college," solicit funds, award degrees of more or less value and significance, and still not actually violate the law. For too long unsuspecting donors have been relieved of funds which they fondly believed were destined to help the cause of education but which really never accomplished the purpose for which they were given for too long have apparently valuable degrees been awarded with no basis in scholarly achievement. The proposed action is not only a naive admission of the extent to which we are systematising, and bringing under the modern commercial and practical standards of efficiency, higher education, but it is also a witness to the increasingly intimate relation between the colleges of the land and public life.