"HALF WAY TO PARADISE"

New Zealand Listener, Volume 18, Issue 447, 16 January 1948, Page 13

"HALF WAY TO PARADISE"

An Englishman Looks at N.Z. —

‘ably the best country in the world in which to live at the present time. It is a beautiful country, there is plenty of work for everybody, excellent Social services, a 40-hour week, good wages, plenty to eat, goods of all descriptions available-and this leads one to the view that you have everything required for a healthy and happy life. You are half way to Paradise, but most of you don’t realise it." This is the impression of the Dominjon which an English visitor carries away with him .after a leisurely visit during which he has travelled some 7,000 miles " ZEALAND is prob-

through New Zealand and talked with educationalists, businessmen, farmers, workers of all kinds, and students. He is E. J. Studd, secretary of the Workers’ Educational Association, West Midland area, secretary of the University of Birmingham Joint Committee for Tutorial Classes, and holder of ‘various other appointments connected with education. At present he is on nine months’ leave of absence from the University-partly on holiday, partly to study educational Systems overseas. The reason for his choosing New Zeafand to visit, Mr. Studd explained, was that he had heard much of the country from the vice-Chancellor of Birmingham University, Dr. Raymond Priestley, with whom Mr, Studd served on the Council for Education in His Majesty’s Forces during the war, Dr. Priestley was geologist with Shackleton’s expedition to the South Pole and also on Scott’s last expeditién, and had spent considerable time in New Zealand. R. STUDD travelled here by way of Canada and the United States, studying adult education\work in those countries, and at the conclusion of his New Zealand tour he plans to go to Australia. During his stay in this Dominion Mr. Studd has visited the University Colleges, grammar _ schools, technical schools and primary schools and has discussed educational problems with lecturers and teachers. He would not, however, comment upon the system here, except to say that it corresponded in many respects with the English system they hoped to develop under the Education Act of 1944. : Visits were paid by Mr. Studd to Lincoln and Massey Colleges as well as to many farms, and while he was pleased to see these colleges crowded

3 re ‘ and. waiting of studentssignifying that there is still a keen interest in farming among the younger generation — he felt that more manpower was required for the full development of farms already under cultivation. Young immigrants-returned soldiers and their wives-would be willing to come from Britain to go on the land if in addition to the jobs now offering accommodation could be provided for them. "I notice a considerable number of new houses being built in the country and that efforts are being made to meet the needs of ‘your own people, but a much more ambitious scheme of housing is in my opinion necessary if an increase in the population of your country is regarded as vital." One general impression Mr. Studd gained, and it struck him as strange, was the large number of New Zealanders who "ran down" their own country. He thought this was perhaps partly due to their being very critical by nature and wanting to see improvements made, ‘THE W.E.A. orgatiisation here, Mr, Studd pointed out, was more similar to that of England than was the case with Canada and the United States, One important respect in which it differed, however, was that in England the movement had always laid great stress on the University tutorial classes. These involved three winter sessions and summer schools of intensive study of a partticular subject. New Zealand did not have a counterpart of this. -Another® dif-ference-though Mr. Studd did not mention it directly as such-was that the British W.E.A. had, a considerable number of famous ple taking a direct interest in the movement. The late Dr. Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury, was a president; Professor R. H. Tawney and Professor C. E. M. Joad are but two of many world-renowned University figures who have assisted the W.E.A. Tawney and Joad Mr. Studd has known well for many years, and he says that Joad attributes his ability to give a quick answer on the Brains Trust to the mental agility he obtained replying to questions at W.E.A. lectures, _ In New Zealand seeing people has been perhaps more important for Mr. Studd than seeing places, but in Aus-, tralia, which he visits in a day or two, the position. will be reversed, for more than anything Mr. Studd wants to see there the cricket pitches. This is understandable since he comes of a noted cricketing family who produced C, T. Studd, a member of the English XI captained by the Hon, Ivo Bligh which took home the Ashes from Australia in 1883. (oe ence easement a