UNITVMSITT OF 3h! RIINHAM
DEGRE CONUGAYIO1 19W
Ceremony In Great Hall-
11.0 am. 3aturdaY. 11th July
THE RT. RON. SIR ROBERT MENZIES -Prim Minister of Australia
Hats are curious things -hae you noticed thatt The
higher orders, like myself, we war these; and then I -m
supposed to keep It en, but I wn't. I noticed this owrning
that on a slightly lewer level they wear mortar-bierds ad
this permits an imfimite variety of app arm" but I want to
award a special prime to the m Who, I tboxgbtv were bis
mortar-board with the post bravura tes right bookew a well
thatched head. I refers you willI all uaderstai, to Mr.
Jonathan George Hodgkins,
Now, Sir, I don't want to detain this congregation but
there are pertaps one or two things I would like to say. OVA
of~ them is about the Public Orator. Boing public, but no
orator, myself, I have a great Interest in Publie Orators..
Very frequently they address the Chancellor in Latin, a language
now not as commonly understood as it should beg but even then
If you still retain a smattering of Latin, Sir, yeu are up
0 against the great problem of hew It is te be premeunod: old,
new. or what I call ' Law Courts Latia'. -A very great problem.
At another great seat-. of learning 1* this country I as presented
by'a Public Orator, who produced his Latta with the stiotest
adherence to the new proieatms Xnms of Y" ot cients
understand this), and the Chanoeller was Lord Ealifax, who plied
much to my relief In the old prenuneiation, ad I thought I was
doing very well when I roughly, roughly, understood both of them.
I found out afterwards, looking around all the assenbled 4int
that It turned out I was the only ome who did, and that Is very
encouraging. In the University of Western Axstralia * the other'
iday I was given a degree, 9one of these unearnd dogrees4 I have
one or two of sy own that I lae sweated. for and A t'ePblic
Orator. did most of -it. In Englsh and then a -few phrasses* In Latin.
Now I must tell you, If you don't know, that mWn years ago in my
country I had a 1little disputo with the waterside workoe about
the shipping of vig iretm they emteed so ** Pig Ireneva I
title that I have wars with singular distinotion for a longs long
time, end the Public Oratokr at the Vniversity of Western Australia,
Sir, he presentedom einally inthe Latin bit: ' 8sub nemime
poemsi ferrimo'.
Sir, having disposed of these irr~ lvaines, I would lk*
to say something, If I night on this very happy oecailon, about
you.* I ease from a far but I do It camn fkab ' a very
far spot In your mind. We hive bas. over many yeafts great
friends, and 1, over many years, have been your preat. aairor.
I think that this country has been fortunate ' in having In Its
service a aman of sush learming, high Intelligence, great
courage In prosperity and afversity, as the present Lord Avon,
whom I know bettor as Anthony Meg ad this University, If I
may war so, io greatly hemiured to have him Is the ohair.
You know, Sir, polities of whieb I M a species of
practitioner myself polities io regarded by all aes-politieal
people an etraordinarily easy., and by all newpaper
Icommentators as almost fantastically simple. Quite easy.
Polities, of course; statesmanship In the conduct of the affairs
of nations; is the most testing of all occupatins It sowetime
attracts the attentio* of people * t coarse 1i6re and low
quality. Ivory sow and thoen It attrats te attention of a man
of fine fibre and great quality. I don't Ilke anticipating what
that mythical being, the historian, will say; you knew, this Is
one of the clches of life isn't It 40the historian will sayg,
the belief being, Mrw. Chancellor, that histerima got It right.
Well perhaps they do oceasiemally. But still, In the long
a runthere Is a judgment of history and I ventur, to say with
W some dogma that history wilf roeer4f when It somes to be settlei
ad balanced, If -It ever 4068, that your Chancellor was the
gratest Foreign Minister that this country has had In thi
century, and a Prim Miniaster of such courage and Imagination'
that, looking back an Itp and we had a few troubled tises
together, I marvel at his fortitude.'
This is a groat-story. af-g roat life,,. and when I received
a letter asking me to come here to be honouared by a -degreeg and
I found that the Chanellorwas thisfriend of em, what
normally would have been a peat pleasure beoao a singular
pleasure, a tremndous occasion for rejoicing io ' my heart, and
pride In my mind, and that is my first reason feWt appreciating
this honour.
Ihae a ade~ d reason, ' ast which I wtil bi. quits, brief.
I t sum out that I have tad good deal 6a do Oith the moders.'
developent of. Universities in Anstralia, aNo. I 1*~ It turns
out,. because although I an a Uniersity am myself sd have
always had, I hope, ioe undoretandiug of what Univereitses
man and how mushi the wend ne043 thou, It 614 tuan' iut thatk
after the wa there was a tremeadous upsurge In the umer of
students who wanted to * one Into the Austr~ lian Universities.
Now the Australian Universities are primarily the bulsino of
the State Goverinomte, the Stato'Fanlset, In Autralia;
the Commnwalth bad sever entered Into that field; but the
whole problem seened to me to be so troesedous ad so growing
that I did secure the services of Sir Keith Murray to come out
and head a Comittee, and whea he made his rdport, and I read
the figures, I concealed the report from the ' Treasury. I
don't encourage deceit as a general role, but on this occ1ao
I practised a 1ittl. 14 I didn't conceal it from the. altogether,
but~ I just let them have It * t the las possible moment, and
then I bad a Cabinet Meeting and I eiraulated the report Mons
the Cabinet Ministers only the night befft the ' Cabinet Meeting,
so I was the only ose really who know wat was in the report,
and by nightfall we bad adopted every re~ onedatlon In the
0report. Anybody who is coatemplating. pellitio as a career
could do no -better than study that ozmple -of political technique.
And'since then we have establid a Usiversity Commssion mad
the " nount that is called for year by year, or every triennim,
grows in the most fabulous fahibon, buj this I believe, has
* opened up a new chaptoet In the history of the Universities*
and In, this generation, In this omtury, everybody met realiso,
that the greatest need of the world, and the greatest need of
your country, and the greatest nemed of my souatip, is net am
happy stroke on a financial inveptiment, but a lnreasing
producton of educated men and wonen throu* b -or Uiveritse.,
Ibis is -tho potential wealthl or the country ad, without i,
* we will dwindle,, peak and pine.
It Is a very exelig thing to me $ Irv to go to0 eenforriSg
of degroes 11it this, becomee I leek around'and I see literally
in front of se the additional assets thkat the nation % as secun"&,
and t hope every graduate will tbink of it, not in a priggIsh way
but with an understanding of poew $ no that is'.
But' there Is one great* problem that conifronts the
Universities In my country and that so doubt cozfronts the
Universities here. it is this. It io always possible,
given enough authority, or Impuence, or Ingenuity, to getmoney
out of the Treasury., It!@ a fact It's always possible.
But you can' t get. Uaiveroity. professors and lecturer, and staffs
in nome shop or free any Govewmnt 4eparmt Thousinds and
thousands of undergraduates are added to -the normal rate of~
Increase in my country every year, and my complete problen all
the time is where are we going to provide the academic staffs
that are needed to mantain this standard. Tbat Is -a Much
bigger problem than bricks aad mortar$ A mobh bigper preblem
than money, because of-all things that W, mus" t 84014' -it is a
debasement of the currency. . W. i co't hov# a Greshmans Law
applying to aeaidenio standards., of bad money drivimng out good.
we can't have this. We post son't. afford it.
I have a fixe4 belief that every 7earls.# oup of g ra4jates
ought to be, on the whole, rather better than their predecessors;
better trained amd, of @ ou" rso, In the world of. Soiesnoeamplexities
grow so-uch that you must be Immeasurably letter equipped a
scientists than your fathers were. ftt must keep the standards
up, end I hope that the staMisrds will be Ike" ae, that many
people who are now going to the Unmvrsitles and who bay* great
talent and have achieved high acidenic statuq, that som of then
will think of working In the Univofttiei,.. of teaching I. n schools,
of helping to produce a new generation. We can't all go off
after the best paid job, there must be constantly, year Sy Year,
a number of people who'have a feeling of dedication . to this
matter and who say, I an determined th~ t the standards of my
L'niverity will ris not fall, eivery year. That's the greatest
problem that confronts the Univrsties, in my opinion, But
every tim, Sir, I feel pessimistic abopt it*, and' I go to an
In'vesttture and I see the neow graduates, I-become an optimist.'