Welsh Journals

final selection in either case, but we conceive it to be the duty of every true lover of Wales and of Welsh education to criticize the spirit in which both selections were carried out, and we say that there is a vast deal to be ashamed of in connection with both. In both cases, the choice should have been discussed throughout on the highest plane- from the standpoint of the Colleges as the formative influences of national character, as great centres of ex- pedition into the unknown lands and over the uncharted seas of knowledge, as the directing and stabilising influences in our social life, as the active stimuli to intellect- ual creativeness, and as the chief co-ordinating forces of all national culture. The merits of each individual' candidate should have been considered from such stand- points and such standpoints only. The men and women entrusted with the enormous responsibility of selection should have weighed the merits of all the candidates in academic distinction, in scholarship, in personality, in the spirit of adventure, in administrative experience, in outlook, in general culture, in service, in national sympathy and understanding, and no meaner considerations should have been allowed to enter their minds. What did we actually find ?-personal enmities and dislikes breeding endless intrigue denominational and sectarian influences brought into the most active play; in some cases even the lowest form of cunning not thought out of place if the result could be influenced thereby. To such an extent was this carried out, in one case, that one of the candidates- a most distinguished scholar-declared that he would rather starve than ever again have his claims considered for a Welsh appointment, and we should be greatly sur- prised if some of the other candidates have not for a time felt the same. Sadder still, we find neither the inclination nor the courage among the members of the respective Councils to take their stand against these evil forces, but rather a tendency to arrive at any easy compromise by minimising the value of exceptional qualifications in arriving at their decisions. And what we have said of these appointments is true of other recent appointments in the Welsh Colleges, as we have had occasion to point out in the pages of the Welsh Outlook. Is it any wonder that we are exporting genius and importing mediocrity ? Some of the men rejected" in the past of the Welsh Colleges through petty spites and persecutions have, in exile, become European figures, and we all know it, but we have not learnt the lesson of it. We have said all this not to widen any division or to further any strife, but for the very opposite purpose. Luckily, in the case of the two appointments to which we have particularly referred, the result of the same forces under slightly different conditions might have been in- finitely worse. One is a safe man, the other a devoted Welsh Nationalist, the greatest living Welsh bibliographer. and a great deal more besides. Surely all sections will now realize that the cause of Welsh education is greater than any personal controversy. however strong the convictions on one side or the other. But we must start once more in the spirit of the magnificent declaration of Principal Viriamu Jones. We must have faith-yes, even in the wisdom of our Governors, and we must unite, we must support them,- but we must reform the system, and faith always in- volves an eternal restlessness for reform. In the first place, we must try to make the governance of the Univer- sity and of the University Colleges a great deal more democratic than is even proposed in the Report of the Royal Commission. To this matter we propose some day to return in detail, but we say at once that it seems to us that the purely academic element and the allied vested interests will be far too powerful even under the proposed new constitutions. The ideal University of Wales will not be controlled by any interest or by any party,-it should be and will be in every sense the people's Univer- sity. In the second place, a healthy and active public opinion must be created in Welsh education. Too long have we acted as if we thought that educational questions were for the experts only. The policy and the direction of university, secondary and elementary education, and all matters in connection with them must be discussed openly and publicly. It might be a salutary check on important educational and other public appointments if, for instance, the qualifications and testimonials of all the applicants were available for the public before the appointments are made. In this way, intrigue and defection in a sense of public spirit will be eliminated. There should be no place on any of our councils either for those who are always weaving conspiracies, or for those who like the Merozites wait to see how the issue is turning before taking their place in the fray. And, above all. the younger generations of the Welsh Colleges must be given a much larger share in the direction of the University and the Colleges. One has only to look at a list of the members of any one of the governing bodies and councils to see how little power the last twenty years in the Welsh Colleges have at the moment. It is not that the hundreds of men and women who have passed through the Colleges during those years have no enthusiasm, no ability, and no ideas, but that an earlier generation has entrenched itself. Thus it is that, un- consciously probably, the powers that be are really on the side of conservatism and reaction that originality is suspect, that energy and activity are held to be dangerous, and independence in thought and action considered the worst of bad form. Principal Viriamu Jones believed in the capacity of Welshmen to make their University res- pected among the Universities ot the world. So do we. But he lived among a generation of men who had been moved by a great idea,-who appointed men well under thirty as principals, and even gave a Churchman and a Baptist a chance. Above all, we must always bear in mind, at a time in Wales when the majority is satisfied with what has been done-and it is a great deal-that we have only just set out on the great task of national education. The promise in some ways is inspiring. There are at the moment four or five men in Welsh education,-who almost without exception have been refused the highest responsibility by those purporting to act on behalf of their country men,- but who are evangelists of new gospels in education. It is with them that the future lies, and for us to see that the prophets shall not always be stoned.