Calendar: 1876-1877 Page 66

6 ANNUAL REPORT sympathy with the College and in memory of his father Mr Edward Wigram for many years its Treasurer which he had made contingent on the raising of this sum The Council warmly acknowledge the liberality of the friends of the College and heartily congratulate the Court on the completion of this most important undertaking which has occupied their atten- tion during the last five years The College is still far from possessing adequate resources for its large and daily increasing work But it is now relieved from severe pecuniary pressure and the Council to their great satisfaction have felt them- selves able to dispense with the Annual Sinking Fund which occasionally entailed taxation of the incomes of the Staff They have every reason to believe that the relief from em- barrassment will be permanent and that the College will henceforth be entirely self-supporting The Council however still look with anxiety to the fate of the proposal of pecuniary aid from the Government to King's College and similar institutions of high scientific teaching made by the Royal Commission for the Encouragement of Science urged by deputation on the attention of the Lord President of the Council last year and at that time not unfavourably entertained by him No action has as yet been officially taken They are glad however to see that the British Association represented by au influential deputation has this year assumed the task of again pressing the subject on the attention of the Education Department and that the Vice-President of the Council is to announce the determination of Her Majesty's Government during the present Session Seeing that the matter was thus satisfactorily taken up and feeling that those not pecuniarily interested in the success of the proposal could best advocate its claims the Council have not thought it right to take any further action beyond the deputation and the memorial reported last year but their sense of the importance of the subject is undiminished and they cannot but hope that the strong claims to public support of the institutions concerned will at no distant date secure to them the aid necessary for the full development of their usefulness