‘Practically it has brought me in touch with almost every educational man of weight in the United States and in all our Colonies. In New York I met the heads of fifteen of the greatest American Universities, and in Washington the Presidents of the State Universities throughout the Union assembled in conference. At Boston the Colleges and Schools of New England were represented. At Chicago nearly sixty heads of Colleges from the six neighbouring States, representing altogether between twenty and twenty-five millions of people, had been drawn together by President Harper. At Atlanta the nine Southern States were represented, the delegates coming 600 miles southward from Virginia and 500 miles northward from Louisiana. At Kansas City, Spokane, San Francisco, and Denver, the representatives of the Far West and the Pacific Coast were collected. In the Maritime Provinces of Canada, at Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Regina, and Vancouver, independent conferences were held, as also in each of the Australian States, in New Zealand, Bermuda, Jamaica and Newfoundland. In South Africa the consultation was chiefly with individual schools or the heads of educational departments.’[18]
As may readily be seen from clause 23 of the Will, Rhodes had in mind a system of selection which is only possible to ‘Schools’ and to some Colleges which are organized after the manner of the English ‘Public School’. Obviously this system would be altogether inapplicable in most parts of the United States and in the newer parts of the British Empire. Clause 25, however, leaves to the Trustees the right to make such arrangements and provide such a system as shall be found practicable.
The questions, then, which these conferences had to discuss were: the extent to which it was possible to adhere to Rhodes’s suggestions; methods of selection; the committees of selection; eligibility; age limits; conditions of domicile; and school or collegiate standing which should govern candidature and appointment.
The results were, broadly speaking, as follows:[19]—
In those Colonies where neither Governor nor Chief Justice is elected or directly subject to political influence, these officials were asked to act along with educational men on the Committees of Selection.
In four of the Canadian Provinces and a few States of the United States a system was agreed upon among the leading Colleges or Universities whereby they were to nominate Scholars in rotation. (This remains the case only in Maine, Vermont, and Washington, and these may soon be changed.)
Scholars from Cape Colony were of course chosen from the individual schools to which Scholarships were assigned.
Whenever the number of Independent Colleges or Universities is large, and when courses of study vary widely, it was found most practicable to adopt a plan of open candidature.
Aside from those Committees in which the Governor and Chief Justice were included, the Committee of Selection were chosen entirely from among prominent educators. The Presidents of the leading Universities are chairmen or members of those Committees, and two, four, or six, prominent University men of their respective States or Provinces are associated with them. The constitution of Committees in the United States has been kept purely academic.
In Germany the appointment as provided by the Will lies with the Emperor.