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The Spike: or, Victoria College Review, September 1926

Our Friend the Hun — German Students and British Scholarships

page 5

Our Friend the Hun

German Students and British Scholarships.

It is gratifying to be able to report that the entry of Germany into the League of Nations coincides with a clearly evident rapprochement between the Universities of the erstwhile enemy countries. In the early stages of the Great War, when it was fashionable solemnly to swear before God that we should never again have dealings with the perfidious Hun, the British legislature arbitrarily modified the provisions of the Rhodes Scholarship scheme by depriving German students of the right to hold these scholarships. Possibly the first step towards righting this wrong, towards repudiating the idea that we, the victors, (in the military sense, at any rate) should not carry over into peace times the petty hatred of wartime, was that taken by the Conference of University students of the British Empire which assembled a couple of years ago. Conference adopted a resolution favouring the restoration of Rhodes Scholarships to German students. Arising out of a similar resolution carried unanimously at the last annual general meeting of the Victoria University College Students' Association, representations have been made to the Rhodes Trust. A reply just to hand states that legal difficulties stand in the way of the restoration of the scholarships in their original form, but that, with the object of bringing about an immediate interchange of students between British and German Universities, the Rhodes Trustees are providing a considerable contribution to a fund for that purpose. This is eminently satisfactory. Presumably the foreign students will not be confined to Oxford, as in the case of Rhodes Scholars, and this will largely compensate for any disadvantages which may arise from the failure to restore the scholarships in their original form.

We are justified in rejoicing at the foregoing as evidence of returning sanity in our international outlook. The impudent assumption that the rabid nationalist has a monopoly of patriotism is coming to be seen at its real worth. As a matter of fact, the most obvious thing to-day is that if, as many believe, the British Empire stands in danger of disintegration, and England herself in danger of ruin, this state of affairs stands to the credit of the war-monger and not of the pacifist. However that may be, the generous action of the Rhodes Trustees, wholly consonant with the will of the great imperialist himself, is to be welcomed. One may at least hope that this will help in the direction of rendering impossible of repetition that wild frenzy of hate, and that intense eagerness to rush into any war at the bidding of politicians, such as we have witnessed in the not far distant past.

"You will be disappointed to learn that I have not seen a sponge since I met you in Nelson." This is an extract from a letter recently received by one of the Science Professors. The Professor offers the explanation that his correspondent had asked his advice as to taking up the sponges as a group for research. We publish his explanation without comment.