The Sun TUESDAY, JULY 17, 1928 TEACHING OLD DOGS NEW TRICKS

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 408, 17 July 1928, Page 8

The Sun TUESDAY, JULY 17, 1928 TEACHING OLD DOGS NEW TRICKS

ft LONG time ago in older lands the Church and the University stood for what has been described as the purest illumination and wisest guidance of civic life. They were the source and centre of everything that was good in their community. Their inspiration and service were reflected in sound government and unselfish administration. In more recent times, however, neither the Chureli nor the University has had anything like their earlier influence on local government. Their former purity of illumination and wisdom of guidance in civic life have given way extensively to the dimmer and duller ideas of party politicians. Local government has followed or “sedulously aped” State government, with the result that both have lost inspiration, and now are among the most mediocre activities in national affairs. Since the Church has concentrated on things spiritual and elected to he closer to the next world than to this, it may be left •to shape its destiny to the best advantage of the people, but the University must keep in close touch with democracy and help it forward to beneficial achievement. Hitherto, the Gown, in its service for the Town, has been too much content with directing its energies to providing professional and technical workers with certificates of scholastic competency. Fortunately, in this community, the University College administrators have realised the need of putting more education into politics and civics. Arrangements have been finalised for carrying out a scheme of informative lectures in comparative local government. The College Council yesterday accepted the recommendations of its Education Committee on the project, and a course of useful instruction is assured. The cost of the initial scheme is relatively trivial —£1,250 for the first five years. In view of the results which, under efficient practice, might accrue, ten times that sum would not be an extravagance. The ratepayers, as represented by the Auckland City Council, will find the money at the moderate rate of £250 a year. They will not grumble at the expense, but many of them, without exercising a spirit of meanness or a mood of prejudice, may be tempted to hope that the money will not be spent entirely on teaching the art of local government only to the questing youth in the community. The City Council, with great advantage to itself, and with greater benefit for the city, might well resolve to take the whole course of lectures on public bodies’ administration and local government. Councillors may feel too proud to learn, but they need not yet think that they are too old to learn. It should be recognised by local bodies that modern conditions under a quick process of development have outrun the charters of government which were granted to them when they were comparatively insignificant communities. As an Australian scholar has observed, it is not enough merely to measure cities by the yardstick of numbers and add to their imposing' administrative machinery. It has become necessary, in the face of the threat of huge cities, to realise that modern citjf constitution making is not merely an economic and political problem, but an educational and spiritual one. And there is no reason for confining the new work of the University to improving the educational status of local government. Why not extend it to the intellectual improvement of Parliament? There, the need of the purest illumination and wisest guidance of political life is greater than it is among the lesser administrators of civic life. Politicians have ample leisure for study, and should be able to devote many evenings throughout their long vacation to attendance at free university continuation classes for obtaining scientific teaching of perfect government. »