Freedom of Speech

The last two weeks have seen a focussing of public attention on to student affairs, through the columns of newspapers which lose no opportunity to condemn students for their occasional lapses, and which neglect completely the value of the university as a force in the community.

John Child's speech at the Otago University Freshers' Welcome was cynical and amusing, and refreshingly frank even if it was not really constructive. But the question involved is the right of students' elected representatives to express freely their opinions on all subjects, within the limits of obscenity and libel. We have sufficient faith in family life and our educational system to believe that the students who heard Mr. Child's speech will not, because of it immediately and without some thought, reject the moral standards they have been educated to respect. The ill-considered dogmatism of those who attacked Mr. Child will do more to undermine the young generation's acceptance of established authority than his own flippant remarks.

It is not yet definite what measures have been taken against Mr. Child. Whatever they are, we deplore them. It is by such vindictive measures that a university loses its dignity and its status as a centre of learning and tolerance.