WHAT THEY THINK

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 87, 9 October 1937, Page 26

WHAT THEY THINK

YOUTH OF TODAY "SPIKE" AS A MOUTHPIECE £By "Quivis.") To the university college magazine much more importance must be attached in New Zealand than almost anywhere else, because it is almost the only literary medium through which the intelligentsia—in its best sense— of the youth of today in this country can address itself to its generation and express its ideas. This is all the more important at the present time when ihe cleavage between the ideas of today and yesterday has become greater than .ever before, and is growing to the daniger of accentuating the possibilities of misunderstanding between young and old. It is this fact that makes "Spike, I the Victoria College Review, for 1937, la copy of which is just to hand, so interesting. "Spike" is not ■ only .a colllege institution —this issue is marked "Vol. 37, No. 65"—but it has always I been distinguished for its literary quality above its contemporaries. In this (respect the 1937 "Spike" keeps up the i reputation. Its prose articles arc all (to the point and show the tendency of (recent years to extend the field of I criticism far outside. the college preIcincts to the wide world youth is findling so difficult today. This is all to the good, and those in authority Will find this expression of what youth is )thinking today a most useful indication of the ideology of tomorrow. Almost every article in this years '"Spike" is frankly critical. The openling editorial, "Town and Gown," is a 'shrewd survey of the admittedly unisatisfactory relations between Victoria !College and the citizens of Wellingiton. "Throughout her short history,' says the writer, "Victoria College seems (at no time to have enjoyed the full japproval and co-operation of the citizens of Wellington." Both sides are to •blame. "Where the town has been m■tolerant, the gown has too frequently reacted with impertinence," the writer proceeds, adding later a statement which is worth reproducing as voicing the opinion of the student: — It is : significant that in times of peace and easy living the student lias been always more moderate in his views, the citizen more lenient Jn his attitude. In harder days where personal liberties and comforts are affected, fundamental principles of conduct are more rigidly examined. To some extent also there exists a. class struggle, for wherever a community Allows such obvious flaws as our civilisation presents, it should be for the student, privileged in knowledge, if not always in experience, to rebel against them, seeking their cause and striving for their remedy. Equally, the escape provided by merely being rebellious dissipates energy that should serve a more constructive purpose. More than anything elso tills tendency on the part of the students leads to resentment and misunderstanding and hinders co-operation with the community of which tiio collogo should be a functioning part. Then, after emphasising the proper function of a university and the peculiar position of Wellington with its university college in close proximity to the city, making for friction, but actually offering great opportunity for cooperation, the writer concludes:— At all events whether or not such co-opera-tion of university and State is achieved it is still Imperative that the College, more particularly the studont body, settle its own probJem and attain a better relationship with the community. The iniiative must lie wtlh the students rather than with the town. . . . Our Tory claim to distinction, as a College, may .vet lie in the proper working out of the relations between town and gown. * SPIRIT OF REBELLION. The spirit of rebellion colours most of this issue of "Spike," both verse and prose. There is an excellent appreciation of the drama of Clifford Odets, the playwright of the people, whose work "Till the Day I Die" was staged by the V.U.C. Dramatic Club. "This Year of Blah" is a satirical account of what preceded and what followed the Coronation of 1937. It concludes: "May the present King rule for many years if it will spare us from the saccharine hooey of another Coronation." Another feature of the kind is "This New Zealand," on the lines of "Americana" and "This England," with the prize quotations from the Press of the year, to show "how essentially rational and sophisticated we are." "Radio, Commerce, and Evolution" reveals a student attitude to the latest development of broad- ! casting, with the dictum: "Like literature and the stage in all ages, Radio 'must now talk to the public instead of to itself." "Socialised Sport" deals with the Hon. W. E. Parry's proposals for a National Council of Sport, with an indication of "at least some of its potential dangers as well as its merits." "At the same time," it concludes, "independent criticism is al|ways a function of the university, jso that a critical attitude to this new organisation, should it evolve in any [direction inimical to social progress, fis as much the concern of the uni- ) versity as any study of art or [philosophy." These brave words might well be itaken as the text on which the whole 'issue delivers its sermon. The criti- ! cal spirit is maintained throughout. ""Smad," the college's other organ of 'opinion, comes in for a devastating 'attack, quite in the manner of the crushing of a "reptile contemporary." '"As it is produced now it is a sorry on student intelligence and by no. stretch of the imagination can it be considered a credit to the col- ■ lege." Dr. Beaglehole's "University lof New Zealand" is competently reI viewed, with full appreciation of its t admirable qualities. To the student ! there will always be something both I tragic and heroic in the sacrifice of l scholar and student in Spain, well brought out in an article, "The Meaning of Spain," recording the death of irnen like' Ralph Fox, Charles Donmelly, John Cornford, and the New (Zealander Griffith Maclaurin. This particle is a fine piece of literary work, apa?t from the interest in the subject iitself. What characterises this number of "Spike," above almost any past issue one remembers, is its wide range of ideas, as what is said here will show. This is really more important ■than the purely literary aspect in this instance. Of the aboundant verse again matter and thought seem to overshadow manner and expression. The verse is highly modernistic in theme and execution. To lovers of the older-style of poetry it has little appeal and in no respect is there such •a complete break with tradition as between the verses of the older Spike, S.S.M., S.E., F. A. de la Mare,,and Antipodean Horace, and the poetry of the present issue. Judgment is passed on it by "Spike's" own Independent critic, Mr. W. J. Scott, who judged the entries in the literary competition. One can leave it with him. The trend of the time is well illustrated in an article "Of the Canton Club," describing a praiseworthy venture in literature inaugurated about a year ago. It is suggested that modern poets "cannot achieve the effect they desire unless something is done about the education of their public." So there's the rub. Let them go to It "Spike" of 1937 then Is an excellent piece of work displaying an

unusual sense of unity in its contents. The cover design, with the editor's spike and shadow of pen and ink—a quill pen for effect—is, perhaps, the best "Spike" has yet achieved. There are fewer photographs, but all good. The local college news seems to be adequately covered. Altogether the issue is a credit to the producers and the student body and also to the college as a whole. One of the best and brightest things in it is Professor Gordon's "Ode to the Southern Hemisphere" in heroic measure, which ends appropriately: "Like your great hemisphere, you have a lot to learn."