A STRONG PROTEST

Southland Times, Issue 22471, 6 November 1934, Page 7

A STRONG PROTEST

LEADER OF OPPOSITION.

VETO ON PROFESSOR’S APPOINTMENT.

(From Our Parliamentary Reporter.)

Wellington, November 5.

A strong protest against the veto imposed on the appointment of Dr J. G. Beaglehole to the Chair of History at Victoria University College was voiced by the Leader of the Opposition, Mr M. J. Savage, in the House of Representatives t&s evening when the Appropriation Bill was under consideration. Mr Savage suggested that the whole of the circumstances should be made the subject of inquiry by’ the Government. \ Mr Savage said that recently it became necessary to appoint a professor of history at the university and a committee was set up to make a recommendation. The committee consisted of Professor Hunter, Professor of Philosophy, and the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Gould, Professor of Education, and Mr P. Levi, chairman of the University Council. The committee unanimously recommended the appointment of Dr Beaglehole who was recognized as one of the best qualified men in the country, or out of it for that matter. However, in spite of that recommendation, Dr Beaglehole was rejected by people with superior minds or with minds belonging to the stone age because he .held advanced ideas. “I want to know where our universities are getting to, or where our education system is going to land us if, in this age, we are not expected to have professors with advanced ideas,’’ said Mr Savage. “Must professors have minds belonging to the middle ages before they are qualified to occupy chairs in the various universities? It is possible that Ministers of the Crown know nothing about this, and all I am asking is that they should make serious- inquiry into what had actually happened. Surely we don’t want to go backwards. I think anyone who has. given any consideration to the question at all will surely admit that it is men with advanced ideas who are necessary. Because Dr Beaglehole is alleged to have advanced ideas his appointment by the committee, whose members have a good grasp of the requirements of the position, is vetoed by persons less qualified to form an opinion. That is the mildest way I can put it. Surely a serious state of affairs has arisen. I hope the Government will look into it and see that justice is done, not only to Dr Beaglehole, but to the University of New Zealand as well. I hope it will n ®yer be said that the University of New Zealand is to be staffed by men who have not advanced ideas. It seems to be that those are the men we are looking for. We are living in an age of change and the world is in the melting not. We don’t want men with ideas running along in the old rut that is rapidly closing behind us. We want men capable of advising us what the new world is to be. The man occupying the chair of history should be a man with ideas that are at least vn to date.