LIFE AT OXFORD.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume VII, Issue 1872, 13 February 1920, Page 2

LIFE AT OXFORD.

A PRE-WAR PICTURE. BHODES SCHOLAR INTERVIEWED. \ visitor to Christelmreh yesterday j vas Mr S. X. Ziman. M.Sc (N.Z.), B.A. (OxoiO. who was the New Zealand Rhodes Scholar for 1908 and who now, holds an important position in the Indian Civil Service. Mr Ziman is at 1 present on furlough. He was an Auck-1 laud bov, and he intended to catch last, night's ferrv steamer on his return to : that eitv. Until now. he has not revisited New Zealand since he left to enter Oxford University. In an interview with a Six representative vesterdav afternoon. Mr Ziman spoke interestingly of his Oxford experiences and also, but very guardedly, of his work in India. As a Government official, he is debarred from discussing Indian affairs at all openly. After nine year-' experience of that country—Air Ziman went direct from Oxford in 1911, —he does, however, stress the fact that ; opportunity offers for far closer inter--course between New Zealand and India than at present exists. New Zealanders, ■ in Mr Ziman"s opinion, have a colossal ignorance of India and Indian doings—and India is equally in darkness regarding the Dominion. Especially are there openings for reciprocal trading relations; and when Mr Ziman returns lo India he intends to see what steps can he taken on that side to remedy the existingjstate of affairs. There is now a certain amount of trade between India and New Zealand, but this observer's opinion was that if might be considerably developed to the advantage of both countries. LIFE AT OXFORD.

The visitor confesses that his recollections of Oxford won- not so vivid as they had been, but he had still something informative to say of the I mversitY ami of the life of a Rhodes Scholar these. Referring to the criticism that New Zealand had not reaped from her Rhodes Scholars the benefit that might have boon exported, particularly in regard to their participation in i public bfe. he pointed out that it was] first of all necessary for every one ot | the scholars, on leaving Oxford, to earn his living. The scholarship had .been established onlv in 190:?, so that the I benefit looked for would probably come yet. Most of the New Zealand Rhodes Scholars had returned to the Dominion, but even if they had settled in some other part of the Empire, as he had, it must not be forgotten that the scholarships had an Imperial rather than a local significance. The Rhodes Scholarship Trust is now asking scholars to find £3O per annum of their own. to supplement the £IOO of the scholarship, in order to meet ihe increased cost of residence at Oxford. "I think that the University of NewZealand should pay that,' - remarked Mr Ziman; "otherwise, it is going to debar a number of otherwise eligible men from accepting election. The average colonial undergraduate has not that monev. In any case, he is usually looked to to provide his own fare Home. Also £330 will be the bare minimum required now. It will not go so far as £3OO did in the old days." 1 GERMAN UNDERGRADUATES. During the time that Mr Ziman was in residence at Balliol College, there 1 •were 13 German Rhodes Scholars at the Universitv. Germany, it is interesting J to note, secured her scholarships by a codicil to Cecil Rhodes's will. In that codicil he set forth, as a reason for the extension of his gift, his belief that a union of the three great Anglo-Saxon races would be of undoubted benefit to the World, and would make war practically impossible. But the presence of the Germans at Oxford did not bring about that union. The selection of the German scholars was wholly in the hands of the ex-Kaiser. The result was that they were chosen mainly from the families' of his personal friends that many were titled men, and that all had to have some private income. One of those in residence in Mr Ziman s time -was a son of Dr von Bethmann-Holl-weg, later German Imperial Chancellor. This undergraduate won a place in his college winter eight. Some others ot the Germans tried hard at games, but thev came across to England sadly handicapped so far as knowledge of that side of life went. At cricket they did not shape very well, but tennis was more popular with them. These men were allowed only two years at Oxford—then they had 1o return to their army training. They had served in a kind of Cadet Corps, after the fashion of a British Officers' Trainiii" Corps, before coming to England. War was declared during the University vocation, and all the students got back to Germanv. It was found, during the War that' some of them used their knowledge of English—thev spoke with praeticallv no accent—and of British wavs, to' work as spies. The.wcould come into a British trench, in British uniform, and give orders that would cieate no suspicion. The majority, however, it had been found, did good work for humanitv in their care of Allied prisoners of War. so that the Oxford 'training had accomplished something. Tt will be for the Rhodes Scholarship 'Trust to de.ide now what shall be done with the funds formerly available for German scholarships. There is talk of offering more to the Dominions and Colonics, and of bringing in India, which has no Rhodes Scholarships, although there are six Indian universities.

THE "OXFORD TOPCII." Mr Ziman agrees that tho TJhodes scholarships have fulfilled many of the hopes of their founder. Colonial nion i arc given a wider, fuller, ami, in many rpspc«-t«. an altered outlook on lit - '.' by their association with men of oilier nations and of other parts of the Empire.] And Oxfor.l itself has been affected. It has taken on a more cosmopolitan air, ami its outlook has been mmle a little broader. More attention is i.eiiej, paid to subjects of world wide importance. "Tli.re is 1,0 .lonbt,*' observed Mr Ziman with a smile, "thai the Oxfor.l lif.. helps. :l man to enjoy hi- leisure hours to a treat, r evict than it helps him to earn his living. * * Hut that, lie explain;', l. was only natural when there ■were mi uianv undergraduates who wool.l iirwrbe faced with fia\ in-; to earn their own 1 ivi i!'_ rtiik i;iioi;i:s scnor,AT{f?. Tn pie War times, from 170 to 100 Rhodes Scholars were 'resilient at Oxfr.nl. The majority came from America, for there were iwo from every St:;te in the I'liion. This K ave some body of American opinion, hul the man from the States. Mr. Ziman found, "slipped" easilv into the general university life. He excelled in hack and field athletics, and took kindly to cricket, ),\i\ 'varsity football found him rather at sea for a start. The Canadians brought lacrosse to Oxfor.l, and some of the Americans took that game up enthusiastically. Its (supporters did urge that a "half-blue" should be granted for the Canadian Home, but it had not a sufficient hold for the authorities to agree to that. A "half-blue" at Oxford is granted in the case of minor sports, such as hockey, fencing and boxing. A man may win his full "blue" in cricket, football (Bugby or Soccer), rowing ami athletics

amongst other sports. So far as value toes, there is not a great deal of difference. A half-blue is entitled to practieally all the privileges of a "blue"— except that he wears a blue and white instead of a blue tie. The American scholars varied greatly in attainments according to their State. Some, said Mr Ziman, were just schoolboys, others grown men. The American | Club kept them more or less together, |but they were not-"clannish." I There is a Colonial Club at Oxford, but it is designedly made a'mere debating society, so that colonials may not ,be kept apart from the general universify life. The Rhodes Scholar from the I Dominions is on exactly the same footling as anv other undergraduate, and he has no 'difficulty at all in making friends.

OXFORD'S TUTORIAL SYSTEM. The system of instruction at Oxford is somewhat different from that followed at the New Zealand University colleges. There, the mainstay is the class of five or six. each with ' its tutor. Every member reads an essay in each class, and tiie others (including the tutor) criticise. Those classes are of far more importance to the men than are the lectures which they attend. As Mr Ziman puts it, "Von rub your mind up against that of the other undergraduates; and vou learn as much from them as from the tutor." It is this system of small tutorial classes that makes the Oxford course so much more expensive than that in one of the New Zealand colleges. The Oxford undergraduate and the colonial undergraduate are not of one type. The colonial, in Mr Ziman's opinion, usually realises earlier in his course that he will have to earn his j living later on. At Oxford that realisation appears to come to many men with 'something of a shock in their final year. I But the British graduate, on the other hand, savs this New Zealander, is not !so apt to'consider a degree the finishing ipost of education. lie will more readily admit that his education has only just commenced when he has i graduated. In India, too, Mr Ziman ! savs. there is a tendency to look upon a degree as a passport to a safe and comfortable Government appointment.