CLAUSE 3.—(Provision regarding ordinances or scholarships in United Free Church of Scotland.) (Hansard, 11 May 1932)

§ Mr. SKELTON
I beg to move, in page 4, line 18, after the word "Session," to insert the words: or in any scheme under the Educational Endowments (Scotland) Act, 1882, or in any order under the Churches (Scotland) Act, 1905. This Clause enables bursaries which might otherwise be limited in their scope to be used in a broader way. One class of bursaries was omitted by mistake, namely, bursaries whose use was decided under the Educational Endowments (Scotland) Act, 1882, and we are now seeking to include them by this Amendment.

§ Mr. SKELTON
I beg to move, in page 4, line 39, at the end,, to insert the words: Provided also that, where any bursary or scholarship which, in pursuance of a deed of declaration under this section is tenable at a Scottish university, is awarded to a student of theology preparing for the ministry of the United Free Church of Scotland (Continuing), any period not exceeding one year during such student's tenure of the bursary or scholarship which he may spend as a student in the college of the United 2048 Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) shall, for the purposes of the said deed of declaration, be deemed to be spent at the university. The present Bill embodies an arrangement made between the universities and the Church of Scotland and approved subsequently by what is called the United Free Church Continuing, which is the part of the United Free Church which remained separate when the greater part of that body united with the Church of Scotland. Under the arrangement by which these two churches united provision was made for rules by which students should enjoy theological bursaries. One of the terms was that they should enjoy these scholarships or bursaries, even although one of the years in which they were enjoyed was spent not at the university but at their own theological college. That particular provision was overlooked in the framing of the Bill, and I now seek to reintroduce it in order that students may still enjoy these bursaries, as the Church of Scotland intended they should.

§ Mr. COWAN
As one of the representatives of the Scottish Universities I would Hike to congratulate the Secretary of State and the Under-Secretary for Scotland on the fact that they have been able to carry this Measure to its last stage. It must be a matter of special gratification to my colleague, the Undersecretary, that he has been able so early in his official career, to help forward a Measure which will do much to advance the reputation of the Scottish Universities. Brief and simple as the Measure may appear to be, it embodies many years of hard work. It is a, triumph of the art of conciliation applied to practical difficulties. In the past Scottish Universities have had a great reputation in the sphere of theological studies, but alongside the university roll of distinction in that respect there has been another roll of the three colleges outside, and the result has been that there has often been a duplication of work. By this Bill that will be remedied. In future the universities will be able to call to their assistance not members of one denomination only 2049 but of all denominations. It has often been said that Scotsmen give most of their free time to the discussion of theological or metaphysical questions. That may or may not be so. But it is quite true that in the field of theology Scotland has had and still has a leading part. I believe that the Bill will lead to a very great advance. The department of theology has always been one of the foremost in the Scottish Universities. We are all agreed that that department is, perhaps, the greatest department to which mankind can devote its intelligence. While I congratulate the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Undersecretary, I should like to associate with them in those congratulations the men who, for years past, have been carrying on the discussions which have led to the presentation of this Measure. Some of us have personal knowledge of what their efforts have meant. There have been difficulties. It has been necessary to harmonise in this Bill, the interests of the Crown, the interests of the universities and the interests of the churches. 2050 As a Scotsman, apart from my position as a representative of the Scottish Universities, I think that the passing of the Bill will mark a great scholastic and academic advance in Scotland and I hope that the Measure will receive the unanimous assent of the House and will have results far beyond even our greatest expectations.