UNIVERSITY GATHERING.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 174, 25 July 1928, Page 13

UNIVERSITY GATHERING.

The University Women's Club held a reception in honour of Miss Mary Richmond, who has recently returned to New Zealand after a prolonged stay in England. Miss Richmond, who was accompanied by her sister, Miss Emily Richmond, was introduced to the members by Miss Watson, chairwoman of the executive. Miss Watson recalled Miss Richmond's services to education in Wellington, notably the establishment of the Wellington Free Kindergartens, now a most thriving civic asset. Miss Richmond, in an exceedingly interesting address to the club, differentiated between standards and ideals. She said that a standard once arrived at remained stable, was static, while an ideal kept moving forward, and was dynamic. It had been said that in New Zealand our ideals were high, but our standards in some matters were low. Yet this relaxation of moral standards was world wide, and our care should be not to allow ( liberty to develop into license. Our standards must here come to our assistance, and in the formation of ideals it was of interest to trace the development from consciousness of self, through and national consciousness to internationalism. Selfconsciousness raised above the egotistical plane became the foundation of conscience. The phrase "class consciousness" indicated that the-soul had passed from self to a wider field of thought and feeling. But progress must not stop there, and the mind and heart must grow to embrace the nation, and so pass to the idea of a League of Natiofts. Internationalism requires this triple base, the indivdual conscience, faithful work for the class into which a man was b<>cn, loyalty to the nation to which he belonged. With regard to class, here in New Zealand we all seemed to belong to the middle classes, fortunate in that we were not, like* the very rich, debauched by immunities, and, like the very poor, by necessities, and so made more or less inaccessible to ideals. It was the middle class that very largely moulded public ideals. When public opinion has been educated up to a certain ideal it became possible to standardise that ideal, but the danger that attended the standardising of an ideal before the public was ready was clearly shown in the liquor conditions of America to-day. They showed that it would have been better to wait until there was a true majority in the country for the reform. The work that awaited the educated woman of the present time was to assist in the raising of public ideals to the point where it was possible to standardise and stabilise the forward movement, and yet never to lose sight of the greater ideal beyond. Dr. Sylvia Chapman thanked Miss Richmond for her able address, and assured her of the appreciation of the club. Later in the evening, Miss Richmond, in response to requests, gave a most charming talk on Xewnham College headmistresses whom she had known personally. Supper concluded a delightful evening.