"A Vocally Strong Minority Carried the Day"

Guided by the four days I spent at the Congress, I must flatly contradict this statement. It is, of course, true that the speakers, bound to be a minority at any such gathering, did voice the feeling and outlook of the majority present, though not, I should opine, those of Mr. Sullivan. This taken for granted, however, the Congress was the most democratically conducted affair of its kind I have ever attended. Following on an address, it broke up for group discussions and then united again to criticise and question the speaker. It is perhaps to the point to say that my own very radical views of university reform were both drastically and ably criticised and that, had time permitted, they would have been even more faithfully dealt with. This being so, Mr. Sullivan's suggestion that most of the students were sheep easily led, is wide of the mark. Moreover, the manner in which the discussions were sustained—quite a good deal by animated dissentients—and the interest shown by the audience, renders Mr. Sullivan's allusion to "most of the students" as appearing "inarticulate, woolly-minded, or dumb," entirely out of keeping with the facts. As already said, it is, of course, true that most of the speaking was done by a minority, but it was not a small minority. Has Mr. Sullivan ever attended similar gatherings where this was or could be otherwise? I have not.