THE AUCKLAND UNIVERSITY STAR CHAMBER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 9367, 25 November 1893, Page 3

THE AUCKLAND UNIVERSITY STAR CHAMBER.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —As we have heard nothing of late of the case of Professor Aldis, I suppose that we may take it for granted that the chairman of the Council and those who have hitherto followed his leading are still determined to adhere to the utterly false and utterly untenable position in which they have defiantly placed themselves. Long ago they gave us a statement of the facts or reasons which had led to their decision, and w« all know now what is the precise value of that precious manifesto. I shall not discuss its merits ; they have been exhaustively discussed in your columns already, and I shall only say this, that the reasons alleged by the Council are ridiculously inadequate, even if the so-called facts were distinctly proved to be deadly facts and not misrepresentations. To suppose that the members of the Council believe in their validity, might certainly be some tribute to their honesty, but it would be gross insult to their judgment and general intelligence. The Council must have been aware long before this of the indignation which their arbitrary and puerile proceedings have awakened throughout the whole colony. They have had representations made to them by some of the best minds in the community— by gentlemen who were fully acquainted with ail the facts of the case, and, as unbiased outsiders, better qualified to form a correct judgment on the matter than any member of the Council itself. We know how these representations of them made in the most conciliatory —were received. The Council simply reiterated the " statement," and fell back on what they called with unconscious irony their "dignity." They could take no step till Professor Aldis had explained and apologised. It would be hard to tell what sort of apology and explanation was required. Did they expect him under the pressure of their moral thumb screw to apologise very humbly for having been unjustly dismissed by them, and to explain how it was that he had dared to hinteven though quivering under the sharp sense of what he believed to be a cruel wrong—that any member of that Council, from the chairman down to the least considerable of his invertebrate adherents, could be influenced in his action by spite, malice, or indeed any meaner motive than the perfect love of justice and fair play! Believers in the utter depravity of human nature will not be surprised to hear that Professor Aldis, instead of apologising and explaining, had actually the audacity to demand from the Council their reasons for his dismissal. Reasons indeed ! 0 culminating insolence ! Had he not " The Statement." Judging by what they have already done, it would be hard to say what our Academic Star Chamber may persist in doing. But, whatever they may consider to be their duty, our duty as citizens of Auckland is remarkable clear. We must not permit this act of injustice to be consummated. We must not allow this shameful stigma to be offered to the good name of our young city. They say that we are apathetic, and that our enthusiasm on any subject, even when fairly aroused, is apt speedily to subside. Dr. Mackellar is evidently of this way of thinking, and in his most friendly anxiety to get rid of Professor Aldis with all possible dispatch, he was no doubt thinking that if the deed \ were done and done quickly, there would be an end to it, and we should hear no more of the matter. Never was that zealous henchman of the chairman of the Council more mistaken in his diagnosis of a case. We may be somewhat apathetic : But thank God we have not lost the Anglo-Saxon instinct of hatred of foul play, whether the victim of it be a coal-heaver or a Professor of Mathematics. The O'Rorkes and the Mackellars may fancy that amid the babble and clamour of this election time, their unjust action has been forgotten, but I can tell them that the gentlemen in this community, and indeed throughout the whole colony, who have the fullest knowledge of the case, and the deepest keenest sense of an injustice, are not likely to forget. I do not know Professor Aldis. I have never even seen him. But I believe him to be a gentleman of upright unblemished character ; and, in his own department, of most distinguished reputation. He has friends, too, in England, who have the ear of a much larger and more educated publirs than we can furnish ; and we may depend upon it that his claims, and the contemptible policy of those who call themselves his " employers," will be fairly and amply discussed. We talk sometimes about the judicious advertisement of our colony. Thanks to Sir Maurice O'Rorke and his coadjutors, this—from an educational point of view—will be the most damaging advertisement we have ever issued, —lam, etc., Alex. FERGUSON. Park Road, November 23,1893.