CHRIST'S COLLEGE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 20024, 14 August 1928, Page 12

CHRIST'S COLLEGE.

OLD BOYS' REUNION

HONOUR TO HEADMASTER. TRADITIONS OF THE SCHOOL. [from our own correspondent. ] LONDON, July 13. The Rev. E. C. Crosse, D.5.0., M.C., M.A., headmaster of Christ's College, was the guest of the evening at the annual dinner of Christ's College Old Boys' Club —the English branch of the Old Boys' Association —which took place on July 2, under the chairmanship of the Hon. YV. Pernber Reeves.

Those present were:—Lieutenant-Colonel R. T. Harper, Major V. M. liutton, Dr. W. G. Weston, the Rev. G. V. Gerard, Rear-Admiral J. E. T. Harper, R.N., Messrs. J. S. Balchelor, J. O'B. Beckett, H. J. Beswick, C. D. Bowen, H. D. Cook, W. N, C. Ellis, S. Gerard, R. 1). Horton, R. F. Hutchinson, H. B. L. Johnstone, C. L. Meredith-Kaye, P. Nathan, E. W. Ormond, J. M. Ritchie, P. C. Savage, G. Shortcliffe, G. A. U. Tapper, T. P. C. Tapper, P. H. T. Williams, W. Wilson and Hal Williams (hon. secretary). Mr. Hal Williams read a number of letters received from those who could not attend. All those " old boys " wished to join in the welcome to Mr. Crosse, and to express their appreciation of the splendid work he was doing as headmaster. Mr. C. C. Corfe, p former headmaster, wrote: " The old boys' dinner will be an eventful one. I do riot think a headmaster has ever bc-err present at one in England before, and I am delighted to think that the governing body are realising that a headmaster in the colonies ought to have leave to visit the Old Country every seven years. My very best wishes for a good gathering, and congratulations to Mr. Crosse for the splendid report he was able to give of the old school, which I read in the April number of the Register." Professional duties prevented the attendance of Dr. Crosbie Hamilton, who, in the course of his letter of apology, remarked: "My best wishes to the old boys for a happy evening. 1 hope, Hal, that you and the old crowd will keep the dinner going, so that when we older ones fall out, the younger ones will ,keep it going for all time. lam already looking forward to July, 1929, to renew the old friendships."

Mr. Williams said that, in view of the large number of university students who were unable to attend, it had been decided to consult the men at Oxford and Cambridge next year and fix a date that would suit them better. A number of the undergraduates at the Universities had joined the Royal Air Force Reserve, and, as they were training, they could not get leave. Mr. Reeves, when proposing the loyal toast, recalled that King George was the only King of England who had ever visited New Zealand.

The toast of the evening—" Christ's College " —coupled with the name of the headmaster—was proposed by the chairman in his customary happy and amusing manner.

Mr. Crosse, who had a very cordial reception, spoke for a considerable time, all that he had to say being listened to with keen interest, especially by the senior members, to whom it was quite evident that Christ's College and the welfare of the boys who passed through it, were very near his heart. It was mainly to the older members, who had long been resident in England, that he chiefly addressed himself. He spoke of the position of the college in New Zealand, and contrasted it with that of the great public schools in England. In the old world, said Mr. Crosse, the public schools enjoyed a position of unquestioned privilege. But England was a theoretical rather than an actual democracy, and in practice, vested interests still held an unassailable position in high places. In New Zealand the position quite different. There, actual democracy was in full swing, and it was necessary for every institution continually to justify itself at the bar of public opinion. Christ's College was very definitely an English institution, in the sense that its parentage was English. It did quite definitely seek to carry out the tradition of the old English schools in the new world, but it must bo ready at all times not merely to uphold those ideals, but to prove their value on an environment which was necessarily more critical. The community was very proud of the college, but they expected it to deliver the goods.