YOUNG FARMERS' VISIT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21988, 24 June 1933, Page 3

YOUNG FARMERS' VISIT

CONCLUDING FUNCTIONS VISIT TO ART GALLERY The young farmers’ school and educational course, which has occupied the whole of the past week, was brought to a close yesterday with meetings in the Chamber of Commerce board room and a visit to the Dunedin Art Gallery. During the afternoon the party visited the Evening Star office, where they saw the last stages of production of the modern newspaper, an operation which was undertaken in the Daily Times office too late for general inspection the night before. The first event of the day was an address by Dr G. E. Thompson on “ The True Meaning of Education,” a talk which was listened to with great interest. The next item was quite unrehearsed, and took the form of a presentation to Mr A C. Cameron, who had done so much for the advancement of the course. In the afternoon there was a visit to the Art Gallery, followed by a visit to the Evening Star office to see the paper being printed, and in the evening many of the visitors went to the Observatory to have their first view of the heavens through a telescope, a privilege which was vouchsafed to them by Mr J. C, Begg. “THE MEANING OP EDUCATION.”

At the outset Dr Thompson said it was perhaps fitting that the week’s programme of educational activity should close with a talk on education itself, and on its true meaning. They could now pause and take stock of the work they had done. They had been addressed on subjects of great variety; they had been shown many things of which they previously had no idea—indeed, they had had exhibited to them many departments of city life which city boys themselves rarely

if ever saw. They could now review the week, think over what they had learnt, and try to estimate its value. This would be their first step in the short journey of inquiry which they and he were about to make that morning. They would find, first of all, that they had acquired many new facte and many new ideas. Both were important; but the new ideas would be of more value to them than the new facts: A new fact might be a useful addition to their knowledge, but a new idea, being a more living thing, -would have a greater influence on the mind. For it was ideas rather than facts that developed the intellect, inspired enthusiasm, guided the judgment, and opened the gate to a wide field of further knowledge. One idea was a lighted candle brought into a dark room. “But, further,” said Dr Thompson, “ athough a week is a short time —have you received anything else besides facts and ideas? Have you come to look at things a little differently? Will you return home with a slightly different outlook —different from those boys who have not come to this educational week? And had this week extended to months, or to a year or to several years, would you go back to your districts fitted to put all your lessons into practice, adequately supplied with knowledge to cope with life, keen to carry out the high ideals which such a longer period would have inspired in you; gifted- with a wise judgment that would make you do the right , thing in difficult circumstances; _ trained to quick thinking and rapid decisions; so strengthened in mind and character that the men of your community will look up to you as a leader; then the organisation or institution that produced these qualities in you would have achieved a system and a practice of education after which thinkers of many past ages have been striving.” They could see from all this that education was a many-sided problem. , It has a dozen aims, of which the acquiring of knowledge was only one. The boy who went to school satisfied with the know-

ledge he acquired eame out into the world as a one-armed man. Besides acquiring the facts of knowledge a boy must be trained to use them. The facts of history, for example, were useful only when they taught the lessons of history. The details of geography were useful, but they should enlarge and define one’s conception of the world. One might proceed through the various subjects in a school curriculum to show that every subject, besides imparting knowledge, must train. All education must be training. And the best training ground was the overcoming of difficulties. A man properly trained should be able to cope with problems which his school work never touched upon. To frame a school curriculum in order to balance .carefully the information and the training contained in the various subjects was no easy task, he said. Some subjects were rich in useful information but poor from the point of view of training. Other subjects were of little practical use in the everyday affairs of life, yet they gave reliable training of a kind that no other subject could give. Neither side could be ignored. Subjects that were useless from the informational side might be highly useful from the point of view of training. Those people who viewed education exclusively from the informational side would always raise an outcry against the so-called useless subjects, saying: “Of what use is algebra, geometry, Latin! I shan’t need to use them in life.”

“So far,” said the speaker, “ I have dwelt only with two of the dozen aims of a proper education—information and mental training. These have to deal with the intellect only. But even they do not exhaust the intellectual side of education. A boy may have this information and this training, but he may be for all that what I call a ‘ten seconds man.’ He may think of things to say and do at least 10 seconds late. He has no power of self-expression. For this the French have a most appropriate expression—esprit ‘ d'escalier (‘staircase wit’). Imagine a man ascending the stairs for an interview with some man of high position. On the conclusion of the interview, as the interviewer is descending the stairs, he thinks of all the fine and appropriate things he might have said. To be a slow thinker is one of life’s deadliest handicaps. Some years ago I read of a German commercial college which endeavoured to encourage rapidity of decision in its pupils. A revolving wheel had numbered cards attached to it. As the wheel turned a number was called out, and the pupil’s task was to snatch the card on which the required number was printed. By means of the same rapidly-revolving wheel other methods were apparently used to test and train speed of nerve reaction and presence of mind.” There was scarcely any mental gift that distinguished one man from another as much as judgment, which he might define as the ability to say and do the right thing at the right moment. The man of judgment revealed himself as much in his conversation as in his actions. _ The man who had the double gift of wise judgment and* quickness of thought was a man whom they rightly called brilliant. Some men had one gift without the other. Goldsmith, who wrote sq divinely, was so poor in his conversation that Dr Johnson said of him: “He writes like an angel, but talks like poor Poll.” '

15 eg ides these purely mental qualities education must deal with elements that were largely moral, though the mental and the moral could not always be sharply distinguished. These moral qualities included character, strength of will, self-reliance, ability to lead, generousmindedness. To impose on a school the duty of teaching or inculcating these qualities was surely to ask an impossibility, They could not bo taught in a classroom. This brought him to the old ideal of the great English public schools —those schools which had been at the same time eulogised and ridiculed through the wide world. The aim of these schools was to produce men of character, men who were qualified to become leaders of men. Those of them who had read about these schools knew something about their organisation. As far as possible the boys were set to govern themselves. Each house was-a little self-contained community controlled by its prefects and its monitors. What better training in leadership and in the handling of men could be devised? Each school jealously guarded its traditions, built up brick by brick and stone by stone by what every boy brought into the school when he entered and by what he left behind him when he left it. They cherished the memory of every boy who performed a noble and outstanding part in after life, so that year by year the spirit of the school became almost a living being, whose inspiring example was always present. These were the schools from which came those great Englishmen who for the last ICO years and more had either governed England at home or had become her representatives in every corner of the British dominions. In many quarters of the globe there were young Englishmen and Scotsmen holding the lonely outposts of the Empire, some of thein almost sole governors of hundreds, of thousands of people. To do this effectively required character, grit, courage, judgment, promptness of decision. An amusing story was recently told — one not without a certain significance—of a young Englishman holding a oneman post somewhere in the heart of Africa, to which news of the outside world rarely penetrated. One day in 1914, on the outbreak of the Great War, he received a cablegram from London: “War declared. Secure at once all enemy aliens.” In three hours he wired back to London: “ Have imprisoned three Frenchmen, two Americans, four Germans, six Arabs, one Spaniard; please wire with whom we are at war.” It had been frequently stated that at all the great international conferences held during the last 10 years the outstanding feature had been the tact and ability of men of the British Civil Service who took part in them. Dr Thompson went on to say that of recent years the methods of the great English public schools had been called in question. They had been criticised for their undue depreciation of the claims of pure knowledge. For a long time they were the only secondary schools in England. During the last 80 or 40 years many secondary schools of a popular kind had been established, which naturally in their earlier stages went to the other extreme. While the o|der schools were gradually changing their methods in the desired direction tile newer schools had I already incorporated much of the system! | which was such a distinctive mark of tTie I ancient schools.

Enough had been said to indicate the many-sidedness of education. Many writers of note, even in past centuries, h.ad emphasised this in various forms of words. Rousseau, in the eighteenth century, defined education as “ tire art of forming men.” Another French winter of the same century described it thus: “To educate a child is to fit him for fulfilling iu the best possible way the destination of his life.” A German thinker called it “the harmonious development of all the faculties of man.” Stuart Mill saw that “education should raise us as near as possible to the perfection of onr nature.” Herbert Spencer put the expressed aim of education as “ the preparation for complete life.” The German idiilosophor Kant wrote

that “ education should develop in man all the perfection possible to his nature.” And many writers agreed that the ultimate aim of education, beyond the improvement of the individual, was the production of a good citizen. If the members of a free, self-governing democracy were not good citizens, how could democracy endure? Every improvement made in individual education worked towards the general progress of the community, which, in its turn, reacted to the benefit of the individual. Bread thus cast on the waters returned after many days. So far he had been concerned with the years that lay behind them. What manner of education laM» before them? The education which thinkers of the past were mostly concerned with had to do with the school. Nowadays a new branch of education had risen up, and was every year becoming more and more prominent. This was adult education—or post-school education. Up to recent years it was widely assumed that as a. man grew older his capacity for learning and improving his mind decreased with the years. This old-fashioned view had now been abandoned. One of

the greatest authorities on the subject had proved by lengthy researches that no one under 45 need restrain himself from learning a new subject for fear that be was too old to learn. Age alone was never a hindrance to learning. In fact, in most cases age made learning easier. The reasons were obvious. The adult man had more powers of concentration, attacked the subject more seriously and earnestly, had fewer distractions. If his memory was poorer ip ; some respects, in other respects it wag better. When we tttv’ 6 y° ul) S we learned, mechanically, w hen the time came when we could reason out things our memories _ were tremendously assisted by the logical connections we were able to establish between the things we were learning. Our minds, too, were richer in thoughts and experiences, and nothing aided the memory so powerfully as association of ideas. It had therefore been proved by actual experimentation that teachers of adults of age 25 to 40 should expect them to learn at nearly the same rate as they would have learnt the same thing at the age of 15 to 20.

Their education was therefore pot yet complete. They might learn more in the next 10 years than they had learned in the last 10 years, and in a fuller, richer way. In conclusion the lecturer stressed the value of hobbies.

After a number of questions had been answered Mr A. Beaton (Cromwell) moved a hearty vote of thanks to Dr Thompson for his address. This was carried by acclamation. FARMERS’ SERVICE ORGANISATIONS. Later in the morning Mr Cameron gave a talk setting out the aims and objects of the Farmers’ Union and detailing the work being carried out by the Dominion Executive in its capacity of the “watchdog” of the farmers and'their interests. He stressed the importance of loyalty and support to the union, and urged the young farmers present, as the future leaders of the farming community, to infuse life and energy into those branches which had fallen into a rut. It was on them that the union depended for future activity. The union was a body to which they should all be proud to belong. Mr A. B. Struthers gave an outline of the history of the growth and development of the Farmers’ Union Insurance Company, and the important part it played in the development of the Fanners’ Union work jn Otago. Without the financial backing of this company much of the work being done for farmers in Otago by the union could not be accomplished. A new service which had been started wag the Farmers’ Accountancy Association, which, he said, was non-profit earning, and had been started to assist farmers to straighten out their accounts, fill in their income tax forms, let them see definitely how they were heading, and to give them advice on financial matters. This service was in keen demand at the present time.

Mr S. R. Whyte (sales manager of Producers, Ltd.) then spoke on his organisation, which, he said, was the trading organisation of the Farmers’ Union, which was started in order to help farmers to keep down costs. He welcomed the opportunity of speaking to the lads, and Imped they would take advantage of this further service for farmers. AT THE ART GALLERY. During the afternoon the party visited the Dunedin Art Gallery, where they were met by Mr R. H. Neilson (secretary), Mr H. Maudeno (treasurer), Messrs P. R. Sargood, James Begg, and W, J. Williamson. On behalf of the council of the Dunedin Art Gallery, Mr H. Mandeno welcomed the party, and expressed the hope that they would enjoy their visit, and in the brief time at their disposal eee something of the fine paintings which hung in the various rooms. »

Mr Noilson spoke for a few minutes and told the lads that some of the paintings wei'e not necessarily true to detail as regards anatomy, etc., but were rather attempts by the artist to convey au idea or impression of something which had caught his or her attention. Mr P. R. Sargood said he would not like the lads to think that art was only to be found in an art gallery. True art was to be seen in a straight furrow made by a ploughman, in a well-built stack, and in other departments of farm life.

After this, the party split up into five groups, the guides explaining and pointing out paintings which deserved special attention because of tone value or sense of movement and light, etc. Prominent

paintings which were explained to the boyg included “The Dutch Know-seen*" and "Waterfall in the Otira Gorge,” by P. Van der Velden; “Midsummer Dawn, by George Clausen; “The Unskilled .Labourer,” by Harold Sheed; “ Cunningham Graham in Fencing Dress,” by Rothenstein'; Orpen’s " Self-portrait, ’ “Dorothy,” by Ambrose M'Evoy; the landscape by Hughes-Stanton; “Nan"; “A Sussex Common,” by H. H. La Thague; “Italians’ Peasant Dance/ r by Laura Knight; “The Defence Minister’s Tele.gram," by A. IJ,, O’Keeffe, and others. 1 Many questions 'were asked by the lade, who listened to the guides with the closest attention. Afterwards they were allowed to wander round the gallery on their own. Before leaving Mr J. Craig (Greenfield) expressed the appreciation of those present, and moved a very hearty vote of thanks to Messrs Neileon, Maodeno, Sargood, Begg, and Williamson. Mr Mandeno briefly responded. VISIT TO STAR OFFICE. Al visit was paid to the Star Printing Department, and the boys bad an opporunity of watching the final process of printing the Evening Star. On the motion of Mr J. Love (Moa Flat), a hearty vote of thanks was passed to the management of the Evening Star for giving them the opportunity of seeing the complete proCONCLUSION. The boya then reassembled in the Chamber of Commerce boardroom and Mr N. Wright, of Palmerston, gave them a very brief outline of the working of the Young Farmers’ Club Movement. Mr A. C. Cameron, who was received with applause, said that he did not intend to make another speech. The success of the week had been undoubted. He hoped that the lads would return to their homes with their outlook broadened by what they had seen and heard, For future guidance, he would like to know what had impressed them most. He could definitely announce that another course would be arranged next year-^-(applause); there would be a different programme, and as they would again be limited to numbers, it might not be possible for the same lads to attend. However, he hoped that there would be a reunion of those who had attended the course in, say. three years’ time. — (Applause.) Mr Cameron then asked if any present had any suggestiona in regard to improving the programme which had been arranged for them. ■ ' Opinions varied as to what had impressed them most, but the majority of the lads were of the opinion that if they had to go through it again they would not like anything to be cut out. Mr H. P. West was then sent for, and Mr P. Norrish (Tahatjka) asked him to convey to his executive the sincere thanks of those present for the use of the boardroom, and to convey to the business community their appreciation of the courtesy extended to the party during their weak in Dunedin. Mr West briefly respondedThe course then concluded with the singing of “Auld Lang Syne,” APPRECIATION OF SERVICES, Appreciation of the efforts of Mr A, C. Cameron in organising the course was warmly expressed at the morning cession of the school.

Mr J. A. Love (West Otago) spoke on behalf of his district and thanked Mr Cameron for the highly interesting and instructive course that had been arranged. With the name of Mr Cameron those of Mr A. B. Struthers and Mr L. F. Thomas were coupled. Further remarks of appreciation were voiced by Messrs A. Heron (North Otago), T. Allison (Hawea Flat), B. Greer (Cen* tral Otago), and C. Wilson (South Otago), Mr J. Craig then presented Mr Cam* eron with a leather suit case and a pair of leather motor gloves. Mr Cameron, in returning thanks, stated that he intended organising similar courses in succeeding years. He was delighted with the conduct of the young farmers since they had been in town, and their hosts and hostesses had freely congratulated him ou the fine type of lad whir had come in from the country for the prei ent course.

Mr N. Wright then presented Mr Struthers with a Rolls rarer, and Mr A, Orbell presented Mr Thomas with a leather pocket book. Both recipients replied, and the boys sang " For they are jolly good fellows ” and gave three cheers for the trio.