W.E.A. ACTIVITIES

Evening Star, Issue 22457, 30 September 1936, Page 16

W.E.A. ACTIVITIES

OTAGO AND SOUTHLAND DISTRICT [Conducted by “ Tutor.”] Memoranda, Brief comments upon matters referred to below will be welcomed. Letters should be addressed to “ Tutor,” care W.E.A. office, Otago University. The W.E.A. column appears in this paper fortnightly on Wednesday. Correspondence. “ Interested ” writes:—ln this column on September 16 Mr Grocott, of Oamaru, does not agree with me that “ the incessant travelling backward and forward ” by tutors is a waste of time and money. Will he please note that I had not the least idea of reflecting upon any particular tutor. I was thinking of the time and money that have been spent in this way during the past 16 years. Travelling was not always what it now is. There is a difference, too, between travelling by train and by bus. I do not think any tutor will be able to make much use of a bus journey for reading or writing. And I did not say a word about country classes being a waste of time. My sole purpose was to discuss how to make the best possible use of the tutors’ time and energy, and to save them, if possible, from undue strain and weariness. I would like to see the country covered with classes. And, strange to say, while Mr Grocott seems to regard me as a hostile critic, he arrives at exactly the same conclusion as I did. He suggests a resident tutor for North Otago. That was the initial purpose of my letter. I wished to support the suggestion made by “ A.W.” a fortnight earlier. T' think that resident tutors, both in the north and in the south,, would be a far better system of organisation than the present plan. Of course, there is the cost and some other matters to be considered. But I was under the impression that the W.E.A. was about to launch a new and larger campaign, and I wished to make my contribution to the discussion. I am very pleased that Mr Grocott has replied to what I said, and I hope he will continue the discussion. In regard to what “ One Who Knows ” said upon the same matter, I think he has quite misapprehended my purpose. His reference to “grudging a few country groups the opportunity of having one tutored class a week or one a fortnight,” “ wasting time on petty rival cliams of- city and country,” and to boarding charges and such matters are quite beside the mark. I hope he, too, will continue to discuss the association’s problems, but in a much broader spirit. “ Suburbanite ” asks why the Dominion conference of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union, in a remit sent to the Minister of Education, advocated “ a system of voluntary adult education similar to that afforded in Danish folk schools.” “ According to an article that you published on September 16,” “ Suburbanite ” says, “ the object of the Danish people’s high school system is * not to give vocational instruction or prepare for examinations, but to quicken the moral and spiritual life of the pupils and create in their minds a love of learning? Is not that the object of the W.E.A.? _ Why, then, should the Farmers’ Union prefer a Danish system of education?” [Wo do not know. Perhaps the Farmers’ Union is under a misapprehension in regard both to the W.E.A. and to. the Danish folk schools. The W.E.A. is particularly anxious to be of use to groups thch as the Farmers’ Union. A conference between the two bodies would perhaps pave the way towards a helpful co-operation.—Tutor.'] “ Woman ” asks if it could be possible for the tutors or some of the advanced students to supply reviews of books on all sorts of subjects. She says that a great deal of good could be done in this way through the W.E.A. column. The classes are now closing, and everybody will have more time for general reading. “ Woman ” adds: “ I am not going to allow anyone to dominate my ideas regarding what are good and bad books; but book reviews may be very useful all the same.” [Quite right, “ Woman preserve your independence. We had hoped to do something about book reviews. but so far have not found it possible. Perhaps “ Woman’s ” letter will help us.—Tutor.] Books for Students. “ It is pre-eminently in the role of a moralist preoccupied with the problem which to-day overshadows all others—the problem of world peace—that Aldotis Huxley appears in his new novel, 1 Eyeless in Gaza.’ Apart from the fact that it is not a comic novel (it is very rarely indeed that it is funny). ‘ Eyeless in Gaza ’ has all the qualities which distinguished the earlier works. It is written within a curious time pattern. A middle-aged gentleman is depicted in the first chapter looking at photographs of his past, photographs of parents and relations, of schoolboys and of student groups. Of the photographs the book is the counterpart; it is, that is to say, a series of literary snapshots, being composed of scenes and incidents taken from the lives of the two main characters, Anthony Beavis and Helen Amberley, arranged in no order, but tumbled out higgledy-piggledy, like cards which have dropped from a pack. . . . But the real content and purpose of the book is the elaboration of a pacifist attitude to life. If peace is to be established in the world (Huxley has recently argued in his pamphlet, ‘ What are You Going to Do About It?’), it must bo established first in men’s hearts. Pacifism, in other words, is a creed that must express itself first in our personal relations. In the pamphlet, he recommends the establishment all over the world of small cells of practising pacifists. The organisation of such a movement and, still more, Beavis’s attempt to give expression to this pacifist ideal in his own life, have become by the end of the novel its main theme. . . . This latest novel brings out in a new form the problem that dominates Huxley’s thought—the problem presented by the eternal questions—How ought man to live? What is his duty?” [The above is from a very fine article, entitled 1 Aldous Huxley, the Man and His Work,’ by C. E. M. Joad, in ‘ John o’ London’s Weekly,’ July 23, 1936. Those interested should also look up a cable message that appeared in the local Press on September 26. It stated that a manifesto signed by Lord Ponsonby, Lord Arnold, Canon “ Dick ” Sheppard, Mr G. Lansbury, and Mr Aldous Huxley declares that war under any circumstances is a crime against humanity.—Tutor.] An Australian Tutor. The following is from the Australian ‘ Highway ’: — “ The last of those we mourn was perhaps the most brilliant of all the tutors that have served the movement in Australia—E. S. Jordan; If I tell ‘ Highway ’ men how brilliant and versatile this man was, they will simply not believe me. One reminiscence must

servo. We had advertised an inaugural lecture for a class in musical appreciation at the Consorvatorium. At halfpast five in the afternoon David Stewart rang me in consternation to say that the musician who was to give the lecture had just been picked up unconscious. He could get no one else. What were we to_ do? I was at my wits’ end. when in- walked Jordan—- ‘ Fluffy ’ I used to call him. “ You look glum,’ he said. I explained the position. Like Isaiah, and to my intense surprise, he remarked; ‘Here am I, send me.’ ‘ But,’ I expostulated, ‘ it’s at eight o’clock to-night, and it’s about music.’ ‘ All right,’ said he, ‘ I’ll be there.’

“ With some misgivings I rang Stewart and explained that I had secured a stop-gap. He was in no mood to question the goodness of the gods, and snatched at Jordan like a greyhound at a tin hare. But I need not have worried. ‘ Fluffy ’ gave the lecture with the utmost unconcern, enunciating some shockingly heterodox views about music, and illustrating them with hia strong, stubby fingers at the piano. “ He lectured on politics, economics, literature, and history. He made speeches about anything at a moment’s notice. He habitually carried round a suitcase full of books, and was a constant worry to my colleague, F. _A. Bland, because he would forget to sign for the books he collared from the shelves of the department. When he left for England I gave him a parting gift—a safety razor—remarking: ‘ It’s time you shaved.’ He sent me a couple of books, enclosing a note: ‘ It’s time you read something.’ “An insolent, attractive, lovable chap this, whose untimely end in London shocked us all and left a pain in many an Australian heart.—G.V.P.” Local Classes. The Grant’s Braes Class concluded its session on September 17, the meeting being held in the residence of Mr and Mrs E. Salter. There was a largo attendance and a very hearty spirit prevailed. Mr J. S. Gerrard pi'esided. The tutor reviewed the session’s work, and a discussion took place upon next year. It was unanimously decided to ask that the class be continued, and the subject ‘ The English Novel” was chosen. It was further decided to have a synopsis of the lecture prepared and placed in the hands of class members before the night on which the subject was to be dealt with. A keen interest was shown, too, in regard to essays and other written work. Votes of thanks and sociabilities wound up the meeting. Green Island concluded on September 24 with something like a full muster of the members. The. lecture wa s on ‘ Socialism,’ and it was followed by a lively discussion. Then came a brief review of the session’s work. It was unanimously decided to meet again next year, and to take as the subject ‘ European and World Affairs.’ If possible, the class will meet weekly next year, and the session will bo sliorter. The chairman (Mr W. Dickenson), the secretary (Mr G. Stapley), and a number of the members expressed their indebtedness to the W.E.A., and said that they had learned a great deal from the lectures and discussions.