Welsh Journals

Reichel, principal of Bangor, and by Thomas F. Roberts, principal of Aberystwyth. The independence of the colleges was strongly felt and to an extent they were rivals for resources. The rapid expansion and development of Cardiff was resented by the other two and this was particularly strong when it came to the siting of the independent Welsh National School of Medicine in Cardiff. The question of the creation of three separate universities was raised early on but both the Raleigh committee (1907) and the Haldane Commission (1918) recommended that, given the smallness of the individual colleges, the federal structure should be retained- a single university affords the best security for freedom as against external interference, and for a due appreciation of the value of the degree outside Wales'. Similar arguments were presented in Ireland between 1914 and 1919 when Sir Bertram Windle, president of University College, Cork, attempted to persuade the government to end the 'bondage of federalism' by creating a separate University of Munster in Cork, an effort which was defeated by the Senate of the National University of Ireland and by nationalist Sinn Fein who were determined to make the National university truly 'national' on the achievement of political independence. J. Gwynn Williams's volume is divided into separate chapters on the history of the university and that of the three colleges, and this probably reflects well the reality of the position up to 1939. The final two chapters deal with the 'University and Nation' and discuss ways in which the university has contributed to the development of Welsh language and culture. The recommendations of the Haldane report led to the setting up of bodies such as the University of Wales Press, the University Extension Board to co-ordinate extra-mural courses, and the University Council of Music. In addition, the local authorities now were required to contribute to the university finances (in return for increased representation in the University Court) and this greatly helped the university funds. In Haldane's opinion, 'the University of Wales could not be at its greatest until it was a University that stood for Wales as a nation'. Prys Morgan deals with the marked expansion of the university in the post-1945 years and presents a study of the university and of the colleges as a whole. He stresses the importance of the federal link in co-ordinated planning. The university grew from being an institution of around 3,000 students to one of over 30,000 in the 1990s. This dramatic expansion led to another crisis regarding the federal structure and in 1961 the University of Wales Commission was set up amid a fierce debate between the federalists and the defederalists. The members of the Commission were unable to agree and two reports were presented, the majority one being in favour of defederalism. The University Court eventually voted in favour of retaining