Salient: Victoria University Students' Paper. Vol. 29, No. 10. 1966.

Enthusiasm

Enthusiasm

The enthusiasm, the elan, the wit of our founding fathers, the eagerness to come to grips with contentious matters shines brightly through the records of early days.

Nor were these their only qualities. That they had taste and judgment, too, is shown by the subjects they rejected and decided not to debate. Subjects such as these: "That a hospital called Drone Hall be built for professors who lead a dronish, slothful life," "That women should be carted out of the university and not allowed to return before they are 50 years old." and two subjects with a remarkably contemporary atmosphere (I can even imagine the present committee rejecting them!):

"That the College Council should consider what gentle methods may be of service to win the Government over to them" and

"That no university distinctions should be given to the grossly idle, ignorant and pompous."

The programme for one of these early years concluded with a debate on the subject of cremation, an issue described by the mover as a burning one. We are told that the subject produced a fiery discussion, both sides going into harrowing details. The result was a deat-heat.

The liveliness, enthusiasm and the native ability of the members of the society and their committees carried it splendidly through the first ten years. It is not to be wondered at then if in the years just before World War 1 there was a little falling off and when the war came the society was obliged to discontinue its set programme. But it did not give up debating. Nor was the original spirit falling. We find them in June, 1915, arguing "That the attitude of the Asquith Ministry in the negotiations preceding the Great War was such as to merit the condemnation of the English electorate" and six weeks later "That war is incompatible with Christianity."

Attendances may have been smaller, but the society's intellectual and moral robustness was as large as ever.