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The Spike: or, Victoria College Review, June 1909

[Editorial]

"Enfants des homes...
De vos soins quell est le fruit?
Par quelle erreur...
Achetez-vous si souvent
Non un pain qui vous repaise
Mais une ombre qui vous laisee
Plus affiames que devant?"

Racine

Devil hammering nail through mortarboard

IIN this country there seems to be a most careless neglect of literary talent; the public are not slow to recognise the merits of writings which have been appraised in which would enable them to recognise for themselves works of merit. There is no encouragement for the establishment of a literary school amongst us; and why? The encouragement of literature is in the hands of our educational institutions and of our newspaper. And these bodies fail.

In our primary schools there is still a regard for the rules of grammar that allows of little times for the reading of classics. The children spend their time at spelling or at learning rules of syntax which are incomprehensible to those who read so little; there is too much theory and far too little practice. The secondary schools fail in much the same respect. The pupils at most of those schools are limited to one or two good works each page 14 year; they read those books because they are compelled to do so; they have not read enough to have learnt to appreciate. Of course the examination fetish is responsible for some of this; a pupil who has to pass an examination by a certain time is crammed with all the information possible, and has little opportunity to read by the way. But even so more could be done.

Then when a matriculated student comes to the University, his knowledge of the literature of his own language is a most hopelessly inadequate foundation for a thorough literary training; which is perhaps the reason for the literature course being allowed to remain in its present unsatisfactory condition. At present the student is not encouraged to read widely or well—in fact, his best course is to read little, and to have no opinions of his own. If he spends too much time in wide reading or in original thought he is wasting time as far as his examinations are concerned. In the prescribed course in English language and literature, for instance. It is possible, and an annual occurrence, for students to pass examinations in set books without seeing within these books covers. It is feasible, and a most usual practice, for students to pass an examination on a certain period of literature without a first-hand acquaintance with the works of any of the authors of that period. And the amount of essay writing that the average student does in a year is not even sufficient to show him some of the limitations of his own style and vocabulary. But the University Senate is obstinately persistent in resisting all proposed improvements.

Apart altogether from our educational institutions, however, it is in the power of our newspapers to do much to encourage literary talent. They certainly do not do so at present. A man of literary abllity who joins the staff of a newspaper, can find little congenial work under the present conditions of newspaper management. And a degree of journalism which was suggested a short while back, was scoffed at by the papers. One paper went so far as to assert that a University training was a handicap to a man entering the profession of journalism. Certainly the average New Zealand newspaper does nothing to educate the public taste. The papers do not welcome to their columns work of literary ability; even their criticisms, which should give some scope for talent are governed by the advertising columns. The whole standard of writing in the papers is not a high one, and to raise that standard would be to develop the literary taste of all those who peruse the papers.

Some day, of course, all this may be improved. There certainly is room for improvement in every direction. In our schools the pupils can be taught to appreciate good literature; page 15 they should gain first-hand acquaintance with most of our best classical authors, and should be taught to express their own thoughts in their own language. Let every lesson be a lesson in English; if a student is taught correctly. He will fall naturally into a correct style of expression; the rules of grammar will come naturally to the pupil who reads widely and with ordinary intelligence. At present pupils are not encouraged to read widely and are not encouraged to read widely, and are not taught to criticize or appreciate for themselves, but are taught rather to become copyists, and feeble copyists at that.

In the University the room for improvement is even greater. The present pass degree in literature abounds in absurdities. It is absurd, to take an instance, that a student who goes no further than his B.A. should waste time in cramming up the translations of certain set pieces of Anglo-Saxon when he is not required to learn anything more of the language. And as we pointed out, the student need not read the books of the year. We are afraid that until the work done during the year is the chief consideration in granting a degree, there can be little improvement. Under the existing system, after passing terms, which in some cases is painfully simple, the student is examined by a man who knows nothing of what that student has done during the year. The examiners' idiosyncrasies are studied beforehand, and his opinions are eagerly devoured, so that when the examination arrives the student can repeat in parrot-like fashion the criticisms that he has so carefully read. It is scandalous that the present anomalies should be allowed to exist. The only way to remedy the greatest defects is to devisee course which will absolutely necessitate that the student reads for himself during the year and that he reads with sufficient care to enable him to appreciate or criticize. So long as the examinations are conducted from England, the student will cram his subjects because it is profitable. As soon, however, as a recommendation by the student's Professor is made the chief requisite for a degree, so soon will the student find it necessary to do really profitable literary work. The student will them find—if our Professors are capable to any degree, and they are —that he must study the language and literature for himself. A student who is liable to be questioned at any time on his work nation at the end of the year only. The Professor can and will see, from the work he is setting his students, that they are really profiting by what they read; that their talents are really being developed, and that their originality is being encouraged. Such a change would benefit the student, and give some satisfaction to the Professor.

page 16

Our newspapers at Present seem hopeless. And they reach a vast public which is beyond the influence of our secondary schools and Universities. Let the newspapers see that their writings are something more than a fleeting criticism or recital of the events of the day. We cannot complain of them as newspapers pure and simple; but is it a true reflection of the spirit of the age that they should remain at their present low standard? We venture to think not; we venture to assert that the papers would be held in far greater esteem if they were to publish daily articles of literary value of short stories of real merit-not mere "pot boilers. " The criticisms—dramatic, musical, and literary—of the newsysyers would if they were written by really seem that, provided that a man can write at all intelligibly, it matters not what education he has received, he is fit to become a journalist.

We know that there are difficulties in the way of every reform. We have very definite view on what the magazine of a University College should be. In our opinion, such a magazine should most certainly not be devoted for the most part to reports of the doings of clubs. The chief features of such magazines should be writings of a really literary character—it matters not whether they take the form of short stories, essays, verse, or ought else. Unfortunately, however, it is wondrously difficult to induce students to write anything at all—and the editors of a University College magazine are not all chosen for any marked literary ability. But we can at least signify our ideals in the hope that in the future at least, The Spike will be able to rise above the level of mere report, and will be such as to command the respect which should be given to the official organ of a body of nearly five hundred University students.

* * * * *

We have to welcome to our midst Mr. F.P. Wilson, M.A., and Mr. C.A. Cotton, M.Sc., who have been appointed lectures in Economics and Geology respectively. These gentlemen are double welcome by reason of the fact that they are both New Zealand graduates—Mr, Wilson of ours, and Mr. Cotton of Otago.