Public Service and University

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 108, 31 January 1935, Page 11

Public Service and University

Sir. —As a well-wisher for New Zealand and its line Public Service, I sincerely hope that the proposals put forward by Dr. Hight on behalf of the Academic Board will never come into force. Dr. Hight contends that the higher positions in the service should be tilled by the appointment of men of mature age, trained in the university, and that such men should have preference over those who entered as boys and who, by virtue of some five or more years actual experience in the duties, have acquired a knowledge ot requirements. In making this proposal he assumes without question that academic training is superior to practical experience, an assumpton which is not shared by many men of the highest possible attainments and whose opinions cannot be ignored, lor example, Herbert Spencer quotes with rhe fullest concurrence T. A. Edison s expressions of contempt for college teaching. In his autobiography, page 167, he makes the following significant statement:— "In ‘The Speaker’ for April 9, 1592, Mr. Poulteney Bigelow gives an account of an interview with Mr. Edison, the celebrated American inventor. Here aie some quotations from it: —‘To my question as to where he found the best young men to train as his assistants he answered emphatically, “The ’ college-bred ones are not worth —. I don’t know why but tlwj don’t seem able to begin at the beginning and give their whole heart to their work. Mr Edison did not conceal his contempt for the college training of the present day insofar as it failed to make boys practical and fit to earn their living. Ihis be it noted was written -when Edison was a comparatively young man and engaged on some of his most wonderful inventions. His subsequent unparalleled career as an inventor is too well known to need eml Apart from the acute discouragement and discontent which would inevitably arise in our Public Service if were promoted ever the heads of officers already in the tervice, solely on account of their academic qualifications it is extremely probable, nay almost certain, that the university graduates so appointed would not perform their duties to the public with the same conscientious efficiency as the more experienced men they ' Furthermore, it should be remembered that at the present time many thoughtful people are very dissatisfied with the existing educational system winch subordinates real culture to note learning and its concommitant examinations. The university must be held mainly, if not entirely, responsible for this. Let it also be clearly realised that the university already dominates the lives and ambitions of all our voting people. It is quite unsympathetic with anv aspirations, or individual activities which depart from its established curricula, and no modification of this policy can be hoped for. It does nothing to foster or encourage native genius, and those who find its scholastic prescriptions too tedious or too unpalatable to follow are debarred from earning a decent living. All must go through the same treadmill or else be ruthlessly relegated to the nrmvof the unfit. The powers of the university in New Zealand are already manifold and art- directed by no means wholly to the public good. Is it desirable to further increase These powers by placing the Public Service under its domination? —I am, etc., G. V. HUDSON. Karori, Wellington, January 29.