THE GLOBE. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30, 1882. THE PROFESSOR AND THE PRESS.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2620, 30 August 1882, Page 2

THE GLOBE. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30, 1882. THE PROFESSOR AND THE PRESS.

The annual ceremony yesterday of conferring degrees and presenting diplomas in connection with the New Zealand University afforded an opportunity for others than the Chancellor to address the assemblage. Tho two gentlemen who availed themselves of this were Professors Von Haast and Brown. Whilst fully recognising the value of the thoughtful and well-digested addresses of the Chancellor and Professor Von Haast, it is not with these that we wish to deal on the present occasion. It is rather in respect to some remarks made in tho course of his oration by Professor Brown that wo desire to offer a few remarks. Generally speaking, tho address alluded to was an amplification of a line in that grandest of all poems, Longfellow’s “ Psalm of Life,” Life is earnest, life is real; and Professor Brown very eloquently and forcibly pointed out this truth to the students before him, urging them, though 1

devoting themselves to academical pursalts, not to forget that there was real work to do in the world. So far we go with him, and no one can but applaud such a sentiment. Sat the Professor went much beyond this. He went out ef his way to cast undeserved opprobium upon an honorable profession, equal in importance, equel in power over the great body of the people, and infinitely superior as an educator of the masses to that to which Professor Brown: so worthily belongs. The accusation of wilful misrepresentation, of fostering malice and evil speaking, levelled by Professor Brown against the Press of the colonies is, we boldly assert without fear of contradiction, utterly unfounded and* untrue; and beyond this, a totally un-called-for attack upon a body of men who, according to their rights, labor for the good of the community and its advancement quite as zealously and truthfully as Professor Brown and bis coadjutors. It is true an attempt is made to thinly veil the accusation under the sort of excuse that these misrepresentations, this “ malice and lies,” are the I product of“the colonial Press, because, forsooth, “ copy ” is short. The excuse seems to ns to aggravate the slander, and to heighten the very grave offence of a gentleman holding a high position in the educational world making a public statement which is not quite consistent with fact. That it is Professor Brown who makes such statements, and not on the spur of the moment, but in a carefully prepared speech, adds great height to its influence with the public. Accusations

have ere now been made against the Press of the colonies with quite as little truth as those of Professor Brown; hut the insignificance of the accuser demanded no refutation beyond the well-known fact that the Press of this colony can compare favorably both as regards ability and independence of thought and action with that of any part of the Colonial empire. Bat when a gentleman holding the high position in relation to education that Professor Brown does, stands forward publicly to traduce one of the most powerful and successful educators of the present age, it behoves those attacked to stand forward and boldly deny the charge. That misrepresentations and mistakes have occurred in connection with the Press of the colony it would be absurd to deny. The greatest vigilance sometimes fails to detect these. But that those who have the conduct of the Colonial Press, or are in any way connected with the literary portion of it, knowingly, as Professor Brown insinuates, publish malicious and unfounded rumours, we deny. The Rev. Dr. Talmage, speaking of newspaper men, says in effect that he wondered after the daily, nay, almost hourly, experience which is theirs of the petty meanness, falsehood, and deceit of mankind, that they had left one spark of belief in the honesty or honor of the world; and Processor Brown may rest assured of this, that the conductors of the Colonial Press, were they as black as he has painted them, could day after day fill their columns with the kind of matter he has referred to. But, to their honor, he it spoken, we challenge Professor Brown to produce any journal in the colony, worthy the name of a journal, which will prove the truth of his assertion. It is by far too much the praetico amongst those who profess to belong to our electro-plate aristocracy to regard any one connected with newspapers as a little above a footman, hut not quite as respectable as a butler. Socially there are a few here who would like to regard newspaper men—though infinitely superior in intellect to their supercilious friends—as Pariahs. They would coldly tolerate them when they were necessary to bo of use to them, and then—ignore them. We are afraid Professor Brown is one of these, or if not, then he must be soma century behind the age, and be judging the pressmen of to-day by the standard of tho Grab street hack. At any rate a most unnecessary insult has been offered to a profession to which some of the brightest ornaments of the aga have felt it an honour to belong, and statements have been made which, under the circumstances, either require to be proved or amply retracted. "We feel sure Professor Brown will forgive ns if we have written somewhat warmly on this subject, the more so whan we remember that it was he who gave the provocation.