SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21941, 16 November 1936, Page 8

SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY

PROFESSOR SHELLEY’S 1 i WORK PRAISED j 1 l HONOURED BY SOCIETY FOR , IMPERIAL CULTURE i Members of the Society for Im- , perial Culture met on Saturday, evening to say farewell to Professor J. Shelley, president of the society since its inception, who is leaving I Christchurch to take up the position of Director of Broadcasting. Tributes | were paid to the original thought; and adventurous spirit of- p ro£essoi i Shelley and also to his whole-heat ted j enthusiasm in many causes for th i cultural welfare of the community.; The meeting was held in the new j memorial hall of the Christcnurcn • Technical College, and Dr. J. Higm, j patron of the society, presided. e The members of the society weie gathered to say officially how much. they deplored Professor Shelley s leaving them, said Di. Might, iney deplored the society’s loss, but con- . gratulated him on his elevation to , a position of such tremendous possibilities. As members of a society for the study and development of m culture they rejoiced that he went:, to control an instrument of suen , great power for national culture. ■ When the society had been formed) it had been the obvious thing to j persuade Professor Shelley to be its. i president, and he had retained that;, position to the present time. * hen -. he came to New Zealand 16 years j ago he had already a reputation tor. independent thought and for cour- , ageous action. He had the distinct-; tion of being the only man to give up a university chair in England to occupy one in New Zealand, ms action in doing so being characters- hj tic of his independent spirit. Clarifying Vision Professor Shelley had played ■ many parts in the community. In. planning and guiding the work of i, the society he had shown abundant,, proof of his various abilities and ot his characteristic quality of abundant self-sacrifice. He had taken the , whole community as his school and made its vital interests his own concern. There was nobody whose , vision had not been clarified and sharpened by contact with him. particular he had done essentia sendee by emphasising the cultural side of life and the need for and true character of progress. There had always been a provocative quality in what Professor Shelley had said. He had aroused people from lethargy, often by casting a bomb or projecting some original thought among them. He carried with him the best wishes of the members of the society, who believed that he was going to a position where his work for education would have a wider scope. Presentation Made Mrs E. Rosa Sawtell, as one who was associated with Professor Shelley m the inception of the society, then pr senled to him on behalf of the members a landscape painting by Mr Sydney L. Thompson. She remarked on toe inspiration it had been to work with him, and on the deep sense of loss caused by his leaving, although this was combined with pleasure at the nature of the work to which he was going. Madam Gower-Burns, a foundation member of the society, also expressed regret at the departure of Professor Shelley and pleasure at the scope oi his new work. . ~, , Mr J. Fitzgerald emphasised the valuable services which Professor Shelley had been able to render in all circumstances. In particular the wideness of his intellectual outlook was to be remembered. for so many intelloctual people tended to be lop-sided in their development. There was need in the community for people who were able and willing to give so much to it. In reply Professor Shelley said that j ’the society could not give him anything he would treasure more than a picture by his friend Sydney Thompson. He was honoured by such a gut, and' he thanked the society. Fundamental Humanity Probably the greatest single cultural j influence in his life was his contact with ordinary men as a private in the army. In tlie line the msn on one side of him had been a bookie's tout and the one on the other a mar of independent means. In those circumstances both were met as solid human beings, stripped of the trappings of circumstance. , To understand the nature of culture it w T as necessary to get down to the fundamental human being. His own guide in life was summed up in the phrase, “Be simple.” The new position he was going to he knew was in some ways a thankless job, full of criticism and difficulty. All he was going to do was to be simple. “If a person says, T like so and so, I shall ask myself what it is in him that makes him like that thing. I shall ask myself what I can give him that he will recognise as better, not what I from a superior height recognise as better, because I deny the existence of that superior height.” Professor Shelley added that he regarded the radio as being in one aspect the voice of the. people, and to it under certain circumstances the old tag about the voice of the people being the voice of God most truly applied. In conclusion, he recalled the early days of the society, and paid a tribute to the work of Mrs Sawtell. He thanked the members for their kindnesses in past years and for the honour they had done him that evening. i Musical Programme I The evening’s musical programme included dances by Miss Rona Vaughan’s pupils, including an interpretation entitled “War,” and a duo “War of the Winds,” by Miss Leslie Hayes and Miss Betty Pine. Songs by Madam GowerBurns included the recitative and air “Azael” (Debussy), “A Swan” (Greig), and “Oh My Garden” (Mallinson). Members of the Harmonic Society Choir, conducted by Mr V. C. Peters, sang “The River” (Rowley), the narrative being spoken by Professor Shelley. During an interval the members inspected in the hall the collection of 82 paintings by modern New Zealand artists which has been assembled through the energy of Mr McGregor Wright, of the Technical College Board of Governors. These paintings, which make a truly representative collection of New Zealand art of to-day, have been presented to the college by the artists.