South Canterbury Times, MONDAY, MARCH 27, 1882.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2810, 27 March 1882, Page 2

South Canterbury Times, MONDAY, MARCH 27, 1882.

sib 0. M. O’Eorke, ■ at the, recent sitting: of. the Seriate of iiWUffiWmty df New Zealand i^^uqklaj^jP^Qpoae^ to grant degrees'to'" students without requiring;; them:;ito ,1 ‘‘;keepdieffns;” if they happened to reside ,at an , incpn T Venieflt'distance'’from’^tlffrcollege, and the proposal being favorably .received', aj regulation to that effect was established. Upon, this some undergraduates and graduates in Otago Endeavoured to get up a protest against the regulation as prejudicial to the interestsof... the -University and of affiliated colleges. That such an illnatured growl should come from Otago not,, yj r the least, surprise us.-, ?Thatdfi f, a Upilqr|ity , display such * an illiberal spirit does not reflect much, credit upon them or "tend to show that learning has any liberalising pffiech upon the mind> 5As for the undergraduates—well, ,#et.all ' know what undergraduates are, and' cap forgive them almost anything. 1 Sir Gr. M. O’Rorke -mudelthe proposal jpar.ticularly in the interest of Auck- ; la nd students, .'.and this is the root . of -t‘,he whole 'matter: ! ‘We A are glad to learnj 4; that:.., th e . i opposition? elided ini smoke, however, and . that there was a sufficient residum of good sense in the convention of protesting members to save the reputation ■ of their order by preventing the presentation of any memorial, so childish apd narrow-minded. -;iSir George very properly proposed that if young .mep could, “ attain" ttie requisite standard of jknowledge,. tested precisely - ip the 1 same way as the students in other 'pairts of the colony, they shall obtain thei degrees of tlae" university.” A very large number of anxious, able, and ambitious students prq.sp.>j9|tuated that they cannot 11 keep terms,” in consequence of ? their, from college and their inability to sustain the j expense of leaving home and occupation to do so," and the senate proposes, very properly, to assist such ‘by jt provisional: regu|at)Otf/runtil. in dueicourse the disabilities are removed. Th© ( obj ectors v are 7 men; who' havtf already acquired all the exclusiveness and inarrowness that used to characterize older Universities. Anything outside Toe ibeaten path, any divergence not in strict accordance with tradition is voted a dangerous innovation.: ‘ This Odii- : servatisra, we have seen, was carried to top great an extent in the Olcl pountry and jmay very easily, in the colonies,be carried to an injurious leng th. The aim of the University . is, or ought to be/ the promotion of learning, and it is' for the Senate to take such, measures aa they deem most likely to.effect’the purpose. One of these is certainly to mitigate in some way the hardship ’under which students at in .’distance labor, by either giving them the means to. attend, lectures or, if. tin at plan be considered too expensive, ’ ’e; tease them from so attending, and leave it to them .to prepare themselves by ,c very means in their power,for examinations. These caitaot well be made too strict ; but the mode of prepara tiou must be, iin fairness, allowed to depend: upon circumstances. The ancients, with whom tin; protesting graduates and undorgn iduutes are familiar, teach them' no sc ,ch lesson ( of narrowness, and we trust the University., and the cause of lei irning generally, ■ will never again 1 )e disgraced and brought .into cont empt by a churlish and unworthy treatment of those who l. ' to ris’cTb'ut who labor under insup- -able disadvi antages ; or the grand old name of Alma Mater

; be tarnished by anything that savors ~of an " illiberal spirit. .■ 'Wh, 'observe with pleasure that:our . contemporary , the'; Dunedin “ Evening. Star,” (which AAgenerally distinguished ,by a liberal spirit) sneaking for Otago, fully endorses the action of the Senate". -