Correspondence
A LETTER. FROM OXFORD.
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sin,—By the death of Lord Cave Oxford has lost four Chan- cellors in as many years. It is to be hoped that Lord Grey will reconsider the candidature that was proposed just before the last election.
The resigning Senior Proctor, Mr. Woodward, made an oration in English, for which a previous Proctor had already given precedent. Unlike most speeches of this type, that of Mr. Woodward was full of interesting comment and sage advice —in particular that sort of advice which a Proctor, by virtue of his rather wide (if brief) knowledge of University affairs, is able, despite his comparative youth, to give to the elders of the University. His suggestion that as much care might be spent on saving time as is spent on saving money was one which has a peculiar appeal to the younger members of Congregation. His comments on the undergraduates were sane and gratifying. This is a subject which a Proctor can be trusted to know. There is no " crime wave," he assures us, nor are there any traces of what the public calls " decadence" : undergraduate life, in fact, is normal and healthy, and now that the generation of young men who spent an uneasy youth at home during the War has passed, the type of undergraduate is practically of a pre-War standard, and in some respects better.
The failure in the Boat Race is, however, giving rise to a
reconsideration of Oxford methods of athletic training. It is agreed on all hands that the crew this year were of as good material as could possibly be found. Their training seems to have been radically at fault : in fact, the methods of the last few years seem to have been out-of-date. In any case, the. 'blame is not wholly with the athletes.
- The coming term will see an attempt at the solution of one of the most important problems Oxford has had to face for Over a century—the Bodleian problem. The matter comes up for discussion early in May, and out of the many schemes proposed one must be selected. Briefly the schemes thin out to two : the first is to rebuild anew the whole library on a pew site and keep the old part of the present buildings as an. annexe. The other scheme seeks to utilize the present buildings, but to employ other University buildings and to
add some new ones and so decentralize the Library without serious and fundamental change. The first scheme would cost about 1500,000, the second very much less. Where the money is to come from is not clear.
Opinion is naturally widely divergent. But the matter is a vital one that concerns every branch of teaching. It would be short:sighted to let the matter be decided in terms of pounds, shillings, and pence. It is thought that if the first scheme is favoured a new Bodley will appear as a ready bene- factor. The second scheme calls for no benefactors, and will not enrich Oxford from an architectural point of view.— I am, Sir, &C., YOUR OXFORD CORRESPONDENT.
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