UNIVERSITY REFORM.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 895, 15 August 1910, Page 7

UNIVERSITY REFORM.

( ■ .» ; "DARK AND TURBULENT WATERS." A SARCASTIC PROFESSOR. THE SYSTEM OF OVERSEA EXAM' INERS. Though most of the speakers ex. pressed a desire to avoid tho contentious ' subject, several references wero inndo to university reform at the dinnor given by the Victoria College Graduates' Association to Mr J. W. Joynt, tho departing Registrar, on' Saturday night. Mr. Joynt himself, replying to the toast of his health, said he did not know whether the university graduate' should be addressed nowadays with respect or commiseration. From one point of view ho was exalted and from another point of view he was debased. Ho had been forced to ask himself whether a graduate going up to. tako his degree must not bo regarded rather as a sneak and a hypocrite. That was not meant very seriously, but ho had been ' taught last year by t a leading article in a Wellington paper that the degrees of the University of New Zealand were a perfect sham, and he asked himself, if this was true, what on earth they were making such a fuss about, why were they all present 'as graduates, and did that symbolise anything. To his mind it symbolised a' great deal more than the flippant leader writer knew anything about. But he shrank from even touching the stormjy dark, and turbulent waters of university reform.

Mr. Georgo Hogben, Inspector-Gen-eral of Schools, just alluded to the'subject, on which he confessed himself a radical. . .

Sir Robert Stout, in proposing "Universities Beyond the Seas," expressed ardent appreciation of the debt owed, by Now Zealand to the older universities, his remarks being naturally called forth by the toast he was proposing. It was reserved for' Professor von Zedlitz, in responding to this toast, to make a vigorous and at times sarcastio speech in defence of university reform, to which, owing to the nature of tho occasion and the toast list, thoso who held a different opinion were unable to reply. Referring lo tho system of oversea examiners, Professor von Zedlitz suggested that there were other directions in which the policy of "dependence" might be imagined. For example, it might be provided that though a New Zealand doctor might prescribe for a patient, yet. in,order to ensure tho greatest possible ' experience, and knowledge, the prescription should in every case be sent Homo to bo made up by some-eminent British physician. That would involve some difficulties, since if the patient died before the inedicino arrived there might be a difficulty in enforcing- payment, and if tho patient got better before it arrived the difficulty would be even groater. Or, again, it- • might be the practice that a • New V Zealand- judge should only ' 'hear evidence and argument' iii a'case," and. that,"fqf 'the suniu, obvious reasons as in the previous illustration, ho should then send Home all. tho documents to'' the Lord Chancellor, who would hand them over to tho best English judge available, in order that he might pass sentence. If such a system had been in forco hero from the they would hayo found many people much. averse to altering it. They could.! almost make up for themselves the sort of article'that would have appeared in The Dominion had an agitation been started to permit'judges' in New Zealand, as elsewhere, to pronounce sentence •' themselves. The article would have begun by paying, tribute to the energy and respectability of those junior judges' who had been agitating, for' reform in this direction,' and would have gone on to say that it would be scarcely wise for tho community to act hastily hi tho matter, since the. more experienced judges were apparently not in sympathy with the movement. - Very serious objections could very easily be seen to apply to such a. change. In the first place, "what was to bis put in place of tho existing system? It could not seriously be pronounced proper that tho judge who tried the casb should give sentence, because as there were judges in different centres, one judge might give a sentence of four years and another df ten years for similar offences. For the sake of eniformity there must be one judge for tho whole colony. The article would go on to say that the most impressive arguments used by the reformers wore that now and then mistakes had arisen in the send-' ing Home and cabling back of particulars, and that it was suggested that the Lord Chancellor did not absolutely look through the. whole of the papers himself, but occasionally 'passed > them ; on to a few briefless barristers in re-: turn for a fee. The Dominion would say that this latter allegation was not : improbably truo ; ; but that everything depended, on the public believing in the', absolute integrity and sanctity of the administration of justice, and. so .* long as they, did not'know; otherwise, the greatest interests of the State would bo conserved. As regards mistakes, it was quite true a judge had pointed out that one' unfortunate .man, owmg to a mistake in a code "word,had been hanged instead of imprisoned for six weeks, but all'human institutions were imperfect, and cyen if. sentences Were delivered by judges in New Zealand, mistakes would occasionally be made. They would have an article then that would remind him of a saying of Napoleon, that "there is no worse sign of mediocrity than tho spirit which always sees objections to every new departure proposed." Continuing, Professor von Zedlitz stated that the advocates' of university reform knew that they were doing: something which was not popular, and that they were liable to be accused of disrespect towards.the founders of the University of New Zealand. They dU not willingly undertako this task whici. they knew to be unpopular; they undertook it because they could not do otherwise. Professor von' Zedlitz described how English games bad been introduced into his old French school, and abandoned as quite hopeless after, a very, short trial, because the masters did'not understand them. He had no disrespect for thoso masters, because they had never played or seen played English games; arid, similarly, he had no disrespect for members, of the Senate who had never, played or seen played the game of higher education, and knew nothing about it: He believed that if a man who had tho energy and' character of the founders of tho New Zealand University could take up the cause of university reform to-day,-it would bo successful. If the : Chancellor of the University, with hia position,' energy, and instinct for domination, and inspiring universal respect •had been with them success would have been certain. As it was, ft might not come in their time.