"NARROW VIEW."

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 207, 2 September 1936, Page 5

"NARROW VIEW."

N.Z. HISTORY.

FOUNDING OF CHAIR

DUNEDIN PROFESSOR OPPOSES To establish a Chair of New Zealand History in one of the university colleges, as a monument commemorative of New Zealand's centennial is not a suggestion favoured by Professor John R. Elder, professor of history at the University of Otago. To do so, he considers,-would be to emphasise a narrow and parochial view of history, which New Zealand, in its essential isolation, should strive to avoid. Professor Elder expresses that point of view in a letter written in reply to the suggestions made by Mr. F. L. Combs, president of the New Zealand Educational Institute, Dr. James Hight, rector of Canterbury College, Mr. A. H. Johnstone, K.C.. Sir Apirana Ngata ancl I the Bishop of Waiapu.

In a joint letter the movers of the proposal pointed out that there was not even a lectureship in New Zealand history in any university college. Proper provision for research and for the teaching of Jesuits of such research was needed. "The history cf New Zealand is a very eventful one, but so far a great part of it remains obscure," stated the letter. "Apart from great national movements, there has been little research in provincial and town history, and hardly a?Sy satisfactory biographies of our distinguished men have been produced. A chair of New Zealand history would become a centre for all such studies." "Entirely Misleading." "The suggestion," says Professor Elder, "together with the arguments by which it is supported, calls for comment, particularly as some of these arguments are entirely misleading. New Zealand history already forms part of the prescribed course in history of the University of New Zealand, and«is given a prominent place in colonial history. Again, those making the suggestion say that there has been little research in provincial history. This is certainly not true of Otago. In the Hoeken Library there have been deposited over a considerable number of years theses covering practically every aspect of the history of the province. "These are the work of both students in honours history and of post-graduate scholars, and much valuable work of the same type is being carried 011 at the present time. Many of these theses are worthy of publication, and would already have been made available to students and the general public alike had this been financially possible. The stimulus to research work in history will come not from the spending of more money in the teaching of the subject, but from the provision of a publications fund, and one is glad to see that this suggestion is supported by your correspondents. Subsidy for Research. "The Carnegie Trust has already provided such a fund for the encouragement of research in the subject of education, and the Centenary Celebrations Committee can best render service to the study of local history by subsidising historical research and publications in similar fashion. It is further suggested that a Chair of New Zealand History would become a centre for all historical researches. This ignores the fact that every history chair is already a centre for such studies. The suggested chair could have practical influence Only upon the students of the centre where it was established. As a matter of fact, the crying need in Dunedin at present, so far as students of history are concerned, is that the liocken Library should be made more accessible to them by the appointment of a full-time librarian. This change could be effected at a mere fraction of the cost. required for the foundation of a chair. Part of Colonial History. "There is a wider issue, however," concludes Professor Elder. "New Zealand university colleges require, at their present stage of development, to build up the resources they already possess and to subsidise existing facilities, as in the case of the Hocken librarianship, which I have cited. Again, to establish a chair of New Zealand history is to emphasise a narrow and parochial view of history, which New Zealand, in its essential isolation, should strive to avoid. New Zealand history, so far as the pakeh.-v is concerned, begins long centuries before 1814, and the scholar who is devoting himself to a study of. the fundamental facts underlying the influences which have made the British character is, of necessity, studying an essential part of New Zealand history. New Zealand history, in short, is a part of British colonial history, and must be considered with, and in relation to, the whole subject."