COLLECTION OF ESSAYS

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26039, 16 February 1950, Page 3

COLLECTION OF ESSAYS

Tribute To Sir James Hight FORMER STUDENTS AND COLLEAGUES As a tribute to Sir James Hight on his retirement from the chair of history at Canterbury University College, which he held from 1920 to 1949, a group of his colleagues and former students have written a series of essays in his honour, which will be published this month under the title of “Liberty and Learning.” Among the contributors are former students of Sir James Hight who have achieved eminence not only in academic life but in public life in New Zealand and other countries. The first copy of the book was presented to Sir James Hight yesterday morning. The book, which has been edited by Dr. R. S. Allan, Professor of Geology at Canterbury University College, is divided into three sections. The first is a tribute to Sir James Hight’s work as a university administrator and as an educator who has had a profound-in-fluence on the training and thinking of his students. The contributors in this section are Sir James Shelley, who. was professor of education at Canterbury University College from 1920 to 1936, and Director of Broadcasting from 1935 to 1949; Sir Thomas Hunter, formerly vice-chancellor of the University of New Zealand, and now principal of Victoria University College; Professor J. B. Condliffe, who was professor of economics at Canterbury University College from 1920 to 1926, and now holds the same position at .the University of California at Berkeley; Dr. A. J. Harrop, historian and journalist, who was a student under Sir James Hight, and is now news editor of an Australian newspaper’s cable service in London; and the late Dr. J. C. Bradshaw, who was professor of music at Canterbury University College. Dr. Bradshaw’s contribution is a song, “Over the Wakening Landscape,” with words written by his wife (who before her marriage was Sir James Hight’s secretary). Sir James Hight’s own work as an historian is represented by his paper, “Some Observations on the Uses of History.” This paper, which forms the second section of the book, was read at a conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science in 1935. Modern Outlook The third and major section of the book comprises a series of studies representing the modern outlook in various fields of learning—history, philosophy, science, economics, law, political science, and the classics. Each subject is one with which the writer has been closely associated. Dr. Allan’s subject is “Science in the Post-war World,” and Mr A. C. Brassington, an assistant lecturer in international and constitutional law, writes on “Constitutional Law: Some Aspects of Change.” Dr. H. D. Broadhead, senior lecturer in classics, writes on “Thucydides,” and Professor Condliffe’s essay discusses “Scholarship and Scholasticism.”

Professor D. B. Copland, who was an economics student when Sir James Hight was Professor of History and Economics, has written an essay on “Culture versus Power in International Relations.” He is now Vice-Chancellor of the Australian National University at Canberra, and has been economic consultant to the Australian Prime Minister from 1941 to 1945, Commonwealth Prices Commissioner, and Australian Minister in China. Sir Arthur Donnelly’s contribution is an essay on “The Law in New Zealand To-day,” and Dr. H. N. Parton, associate professor of chemistry at Canterbury University College, writes on “Science and the Liberal Arts.”

Professor N. C. Phillips, who was one of Sir James Hight’s history students and succeeded him as professor of history, discusses “Political Philosophy and Political Fact.” and Professor L. G. Pocock, professor of classics, has written an essay entitled “R( volution in Europe.” Another student of Sir James Hight’s is Professor C. G. F. Simkin, now professor of economics at Auckland University College, who deals with “New Zealand’s Monetary and Exchange Policy.” A former colleague, Professor A. H. Tocker, who was professor of economics from 1926 to 1948, and rector of Canterbury University College from 1943 to 1948, discusses monetary expansion in New Zealand from 1938 to 1947 in his essay. The Director of Marketing and Stabilisation, Mr L. C. Webb, who was another of Sir James Hight’s students, and later a lecturer in political science at the college, contributes an essay entitled “A Note on Alexis de Tocqueville.” Mr J. V. Wilson, also a student of Sir Janies Hight’s, and later private secretary to Lord Perth, first Secre-tary-General of the League of Nations, has written an essay on “The United Nations and the League.” He is now with the Prime Minister’s Department in Wellington, and has been a New Zealand delegate to the United Nations. “Life and Learning” contains a bibliography of Sir James Hight’s writings. The frontispiece is a portrait painted by the Christchurch artist, A. Elizabeth Kelly.