UNIVERSITIES (SCOTLAND) BILL. [H.L.] (Hansard, 3 March 1932)

§ LORD STRATHCONA AND MOUNT ROYAL

My Lords, the Bill which I have the honour to bring to the notice of your Lordships to-day is, as its title states, a purely Scottish measure, and I shall not, therefore, detain your Lordships for more than a few moments with the details of its structure. The Bill is a sequel to the union of the Church of Scotland with the United Free Church of Scotland which, your Lordships will remember, took place in 1929, after protracted negotiations covering a period of nearly twenty years. It will be recalled that in order to facilitate that union Parliament passed two Acts—the Church of Scotland Act, 1921, which dealt with the constitution of the Church of Scotland on the spiritual side, and the Church of Scotland (Property 773 and Endowments) Act, 1925, which regulated its temporal affairs. The present Bill may be regarded as the third chapter in this legislative story.

It deals with the reorganisation of the theological teaching in the faculties of divinity of the Universities and in the colleges of the reunited Church, and aims at the abolition of overlapping and duplication of theological instruction which was inseparable from the old régime, and which at present is a serious cause of embarrassment to the ordinary development of this side of University life. There is available a memorandum giving your Lordships all the details of this Bill, prepared on behalf of the Universities, and any of your Lordships who care to read that carefully will learn all the different points which are dealt with in the Bill. I should like to emphasise the act that the proposals of this measure represent the agreed views of the four Universities and the General Assembly of the Church by whom the matters with which it deals have been under long and careful consideration. The attainment of unanimity in this instance appears to me a result upon which those who have devoted so much time and anxious attention to these problems deserve to be heartily congratulated.

With regard to the clauses of the Bill itself, Clause I transfers to the. University Courts the right of presentation or appointment to any theological chair in the Scottish Universities which at present is vested in the Crown or in other bodies. I understand that in all there are fourteen chairs, the right of appointment to which will be affected by this clause, and that eleven of these are at present in the patronage of the Crown. The right of appointment will henceforth be invested in the respective University Courts, normally on the nomination of a board of nomination constituted under Clause 2 of the Bill. A board of nomination will be composed of representatives elected in equal number on the one hand by the University Court and on the other hand by or under the authority of the General Assembly, or otherwise in such manner as may be agreed on by the University Court and the General Assembly. Clause 2 extends the existing power of the University Courts so as to enable ordinances to be made for the constitution as already mentioned of boards of nomination. Clause 3 deals with bursaries and 774 scholarships hitherto tenable by students at the Church colleges. It provides that these may be held by any student of theology in any of the Scottish Universities who is preparing for the Ministry of the Church of Scotland or of the United Free Church of Scotland (Continuing). Provision is also made where a bursary was founded for the students of a particular Church college, that it shall normally be tenable only at the University in the town in which such college is situated.

Clause 4 provides that nothing in this Act shall restrict any University Court from entering into agreements with any Christian Church or association of Christians for the admission of teachers of theology to University status. This clause has been inserted at the request of the Church of Scotland in order to demonstrate that that Church has no desire to secure for itself any privileges which are not equally obtainable by any other Church if circumstances should render such a course expedient. Clause 5 is important because it abolishes what is usually termed the "test" for University officers. The religious test was originally imposed on all principals and professors by an Act of Queen Anne confirmed by the Act of Union. By the Universities (Scotland) Acts of 1853 and 1859 that requirement was limited to the divinity professors in each of the. Universities and the Principal of St. Mary's College in the University of St. Andrew's. It is now generally recognised that the imposition of such a requirement as a test of this character is an anachronism, and for that reason it is remedied by this clause of the Bill. Clauses 6 and 7 deal with definitions and repeals.

In asking your Lordships to give this Bill a Second Reading I would emphasise that there exists in. Scotland a very pressing practical problem with which the Bill proposes to enable the Universities to deal in co-operation with the Church of Scotland, and that its provisions have the complete approval of the University Courts and the Commission of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland specially appointed for that purpose. I beg to move.