Weir House en Kindergarten

Weir House has passed through eventful stages in the three years of its history, but never before has it been laid open to the taunt that it is nothing more or less than the Kindergarten of the University. The Management Committee (whose word is law) have decided that all over the tender age of 2l years must depart, and that the control of the House must hence be placed in the hands of frivolous, irresponsible, beardless boys, incapable of higher intellectual pursuits than hakas and the Haeremai Club (which admittedly have their uses, time, and place).

At a farewell supper given to those leaving, the gloves were donned and the views of some members on the subject were aired with pleasing frankness. Roy Jack led the way with a piece of biting rhetoric, in which he informed his attentive hearers that "the Management Commttee in adopting the Procrustean age limit have not displayed that super-superlative quintessence of wisdom so commonly associated with them." The President, in a speech of some subtlety and force, "damned with faint praise" many and varied phases of the sytem adopted, and pointed out in an uncertain terms that 1986 would prove n lean year in the history of Weir House, lacking as it would (he balance and stability contributed to it by (he older residents, who experience of University life and affairs had enabled them to make Weir House the backbone and not merely the wishbone of the University.

The Warden, in delivering his valedictory address, stated that "the way in which those asked to leave took their disappointment was a test of character." With this observation, "Smad" is in complete agreement, but it might be pointed out that the method adopted by the Management'Committee to surmount the obstacle of a growing visiting list was also a test of their prudence and foresight: and it is submitted that here indeed they have erred. The "Patriarchal Parasites" seem indeed to have forgotten that "youth and discretion are ill-wedded companions" and may have unwittingly set the House on a definitely downward path.

As a final gesture, the rejects foregathered in the diningronm to wreak havoc at dead of night, only to be interrupted by Angry Authority, which blared: "The scamps! I'm glad they're going!" From further irate mutterings it appeared that the parenthood of all the dismissed had been subjected to an intense scrutiny, beneath which its validity had hardly stood the test.