It was therefore a question of prime importance to what extent it would be necessary, and then how far desirable and advisable, that the equipment of Rhodes Scholars should approximate to that of their college-mates-to-be, and in what respects they might advantageously differ. It was pointed out in the Conferences:— That the English ‘Public School’ gives a boy an opportunity to distinguish himself through its elaborate system of athletics and scholarship examinations at an earlier age than is usual in Colonial or American Secondary Schools. That the American or Colonial student after two or more years of college or University life at home would be much better fitted to enter Oxford without handicap than if he went directly from his Secondary School. That for the sake of understanding the English University from the American point of view and the American University from the English point of view, likewise for understanding and comparing other institutions, and above all for the sake of his later life when he should return to live in his own country, he ought to have a preliminary experience of University life in his own country. That in order to appreciate and make the most of the advantages or opportunities which his position as a Rhodes Scholar would offer him, and to avoid the temptations to idleness to which Oxford would expose him and the variety of temptations which the long Vacation present, and in order that he might know, and remain in thoughtful and intimate sympathy with affairs in his own country, it would be greatly to his advantage to be more mature than the average graduate of the Colonial or American Secondary School, or than the ordinary Oxford matriculant. W. T. Harris, United States Commissioner of Education, said in 1902:[20]—‘It would seem best that our candidates for the Rhodes Scholarships should all have obtained a preparation amounting to that required for the A.B. degree.’ The consensus of opinion, while not going to that length, was that at least two years of previous College or University life should be required, and with few exceptions this was made the rule.[21] In cases where a Committee expressly asked leave to appoint from Secondary Schools, leave was granted. (This privilege has not been made use of.) Two years’ college requirements were adopted for Canada, for four of the six Australian States, and for New Zealand. Three of the four South African schools to which Scholarships were especially assigned, asked to be allowed to send pupils who had pursued their work after leaving school for at least two years at the Cape University. Queensland, West Australia, Natal, Rhodesia, Newfoundland, Bermuda, and Jamaica are the only Colonies where two years’ University standing is not insisted on.[22]