UP FOR CENSURE.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1788, 28 June 1913, Page 7

UP FOR CENSURE.

THE STUDENTS & THE SATURNALIA,

ON CAPPING DAY. Conduct of the students at Thursday's capping ceremony was criticised at yesterday a meeting ol the Board of Governors ' of the Wellington Colleges. The subject. , •was introduced by the chairman {Mr. A. j do B. Brandon). . , Mr. Brandon wos of opinion .that the board should take some cognisance of the . matter, because as governors •of • mstitu- j tions which, to a certain extent, supply, Victoria College with students, they t should see that the boys who go from , Wellington College to the University were , educated to act in a way consistent with , a University .career. He then moved:— | "That this' board Btrongly disap- i proves of the' notions of, the students < of the 1 Victoria College in connection i .with the conferring of the degrees < . awarded by the University of New ; Zealand. The board is of opinion l that, ' the exhibition by the students in the 1 publio streets of the city and at the ' Town Hall in the afternoon supports < the view that the' natural tendency of 1 man is to revert to loivor standards, i unless it is chucked by an ambition m »aoh individual to attain that intellectual supremacy which it is tho fnnc- ' tion of a University to develop. This board insists that tho state of pupil- ' age connotes respect for constituted authority, and directs .the principals, of both colleges to take such steps as ; tfiCT may think best to , impress upon . •• their pupils the necessity, lor blich ro ' epect." This Way Lies Anarchy., Continuing, Mr. Brandon remarked that the propositions spgko for themselves, but it was a matter wfiich certainly required more than a more passing consideration. There was no denying that, in order to keep the . social system in.. a proper state, the young must be _ edu- 1 cated to discipline. That discipline should oommenco at home. In these , present days discipline in the homo, was | rather a negative quantity. Too much , independence altogether was allowed to the younger members of the family. As , supplementary to home training, dis- , cipline should be taught in the schools. The means for enforcing discipline were, to a certain extent, denied.; the teachers in control. Discipline, could be enforced to a-large extent by example and moral suasion, tut where oxample and moral suasion did not succecd then there'was the obvious remedy in corporal punishment. But the present state of feeling ■among the public was that when corporal nisifment had been inflicted a crime been oommitted, and the unfortunate teacher was summoned in th 9 civil courts for assault. The teachers, not having public support, could not enforce discipline, and pupils had no idea whatever of control, had no Tespect for authority, and they went on as they did yesterday. If while they are young they are allowed to carry on in this way, what will happen when tney grow older and come into control of the affairs'of the nation? It simply that they would all be at sixes and sevens, fighting one against the other. There would be no one ■in authority, and the result would be anarchy. Remark on the Mr. J. P. Luke agreed with the chairman that discipline was necessary in the ' nation, but he did not think ,thati.there was any tendency whatever to anarchy. What he most regretted in Thursday's- . ceremony was that the graduates were denied the honour .of being publicly capped. Regarding the happenings in the hall, the speaker stated that the professors were led, along with the students, , to take up a line of action which was not in accordance with the wishes of the Chancellor. The Chancellor did not see 'his way to take the proceedings in the large hall. -Had he done so there might have been no-'troilble.' If '' there had been a little Weft) WMftcSJJAnd a little more community~'ttf interest biv tween- the -students and the' Chancellor there wuld'have';. I^en'^d''trouble/'\ Growing "Illbertl'ds"''by Students. , ' Mr.- W.- -H. >P. >Barber concurred with ' the sentiments expressed by the chairman, and , was of the -opinion that the last- clause of the motion justified the beard in taking action. ■ The liberty taken by the students had been growing, until, now, it had become a ; serious' matter. The. conduct at capping' ceremonies was sitrprising in people of education. Mr. R. Lee doubted whether the resolution would be useful, but to was in sympathy, with it on the whole. . The question was whether students were exceeding reasonable'limits. He was ■ quite in sympathy with human fun, and the traditions of the past allowed that, but it appeared, from what had happened at Chnstchiirch and Wellington, , tjiat tho Btudents were becoming a-little outre. If tha resolution was not too drastic, he .would support it.. < Remark on the Chancellor. Mr. P. Ward expressed the opinion that the capping ceremony was a serious matter,. and should be taken - seriously. 'Any conduct which tended to lower the dignity of-the ceromony or lower the rer epect of the students for constitutional authority was to be deplored. It was not to be supposed that the students were in favour of -unrestrained lairikinism. Many of them did their best to suppress it. But the proceedings on Thursday were due to extraordinary incidents. Tho hasty action of tho Chancellor precipitated the disturbance. He did not desire to. defend the students, and ho doubt thled,r actions irritated the Chancellor. He thought Mr. Luko was wrong in blaming the professorial staff. He, for one, did not go into tho Council Chamber with the Chancellor, as he regarded the public proceedings as at an end. Miss Richmond said . that the only apology foT the studonts appeared to bo (according to the public prints) -that there was a collision between the Professorial Board and the Chancellor, and the students could not bo loyal to both. . The Street Side-Show Criticised. Mr.-Field regretted what had occurred <m ITmrsday, and he did not think any ■ apology would excuso tho students. He, ■however, did not think. that the street performance to anything to be censured. The chairman: It is degrading to the University. There was nothing- of that kind in the streets of Cambridge when I was there. The Motion Passed. * 'After further discussion tlio mdtion was amended to read as follows:— "That this board strongly disap- - proves of the actions of tho students of the Victoria College in connection with the conferring of tho degrees Awarded' by tho University of NewZealand, and insists that tho statei of pupilage connotes respect for constituted authority, and directs the prin<ppal9 of both colleges to take such steps as the.v may think best to impress upon their pupils the necessity for aueh respect." Tho motion as amended / was then Vlopted.