Free Discussions Club.

A certain amount of interest was aroused among students last term by the abandonment at a day's notice of a Free Discussions Club meeting, advertised for the 14th April, which was to have taken the form of a debate on the subject, "That Communism would give a better social order." This action was the result of a letter from the Chairman of the Professorial Hoard cancelling the permission already given to the Club to use one of the rooms in the College, unless he was assured that one of the speakers at the meeting would not be allowed to speak. The meeting for the 1Mb was accordingly abandoned. Since this action of the Hoard's raised a question of principle affecting the future activities of the Club, a letter was addressed to the Chairman inquiring under what circumstances the Hoard would be likely to refuse the Club the use of a room. Were any subjects proscribed, or any classes of individuals? Owing to the uncertainty of our position with regard to choice of subjects and speakers, it was decided to suspend future meetings of the Club until more definite information was to hand. Towards the end of the term a reply was received which defined the position of the Club. No topic which was a subject of real human interest would be proscribed, but the Hoard wished the list of outside speakers at. any College or Society to be first submitted to it and approved.

Meetings of the Free Discussions Club will be held weekly throughout the Second Term, in order to make up for the suspension of meetings during the first term. By the time "Smad" is published, members of the Club will have had the pleasure of hearing Major Pharazyn speak on "Soviet Russia." This will be followed the next week by a discussion on the "Value of Christianity" by Messrs Hurley and Riske, and in the third week Mr. R. J. Reardon will speak on "Ireland and De Valera." Other meetings in the near future will be Dr. T. I,. G. Sutherland on "The Latest from Russia," and Dr. Henning on "Do we need a Censorship?"

Members of the Club and others are again reminded that the Club purchases and places in the Library several periodicals dealing with current events, namely. "The Adelphi," "Harper's Magazine." "The Hibbert Journal," "New Republic," and "New Statesman and Nation."