It Is unfortunate, although inevitable, that the Churchill Memorial Fund should have been subjected to much needless criticism before it has got properly under way.

So far, the Trust has not been established, and the organising committee, which has been responsible for all the preliminary work, has been deliberately general in its elaborations on the aims and objectives of the Fund.

Nevertheless some elaboration has been felt necessary, and this information has now been released. It is obvious that this Trust will not only be honouring Winston Churchill but will also be serving New Zealand and New Zealanders particularly well.

The granting of fellowships will not be restricted to any particular class of applicants. It is possible to go through the alphabet from artisan to zoologist, and find a wide range of occupations from which selected fellows may come. They may be men or women, their racial origins will be of no significance, they may belong to any party (or none at alb, and their church affiliations will have no relevance.

Fellowships will be awarded to people not as rewards for past efforts and services, but rather as investments which will benefit the holders and through them the people of New Zealand. Clearly, past performance will be one of the criteria by which applicants for fellowships will be judged. But it will be used as a method of predicting the probable degree of Future success on the holder's return to New Zealand. In other words, an applicant will need to show evidence of ability to profit by a period of study and travel overseas.

It is expected that some fellowships may be granted to people from Commonwealth and other countries who by visiting New Zealand can provide ideas and stimulus to their colleagues in this country. In principle, the same tests of eligibility will be applied to such people as will apply to New Zealanders overseas.

If New Zealanders receive fellowships and go overseas, they will probably want to do a variety of things. Some will profit by spending Time in workshops or laboratories alongside people like themselves, learning new techniques, engaging in discussions, seeing new equipment, taking part in experimental work not usually done in New Zealand. Others may gain most by travelling through a country, seeing at first hand what they have previously only read about and by meeting face to face men and women known to them only by name.

Others may gain much benefit and bring back to New Zealand more profit by attending, say, a series of conferences in their special fields of interest. Some, again, will undertake refresher courses of study in overseas institutions. These are but a few examples of how the holders of fellowships might use their opportunities; there are many more specific examples that can be thought of.

The organising committee hopes that the Trust when established will take a generous view of its responsibilities, by making grants that are substantial enough to relieve the holders of any financial cares while they are overseas.