Editorial

By the time this number is published it is probable that the Gener Election will be over and the people of this country will have mad the great decision. For a great decision it must be; unless, of course there is a repetition of the virtual stalemate of February, 1950. After six years' experience of the application of Socialist theories the country will make its choice, and will approve or disapprove. The verdict will have repercussions on the lives of all of us, and will certainly affect profoundly the future course of educational development. A "Peterite" editorial is no place for political discussion or for prophecies which may well be falsified before the words are in print. What is of concern to us at the time we write (some three weeks before polling-day) is the tremendous interest in the election which is already manifest at all stages in the School. Today politics are for all. The modern schoolboy, unlike, shall we say, his Edwardian counterpart, to whom party politics were a dull and remote mystery which could safely and comfortably be left to parents, and general elections no more than an occasion for a passing mood of excitement, is deeply concerned and deeply interested—the result, of course, of the rapid widening of the scope of democratic citizenship in the last thirty years. Within a year or two of leaving school the VIth Form boy will have the privilege (and the duty) of casting a vote.

The change has added a responsibility to schools which was nonexistent a generation ago. We at St. Peter's are conscious that current national and international affairs are of moment to our senior boys, and that it is our duty to equip them to face their imminent responsibilities. Not that we would propagate doctrines either of the Left or of the Right. That, indeed, would be morally indefensible. But both formally in the curriculum and generally in our out-ofschool activities we aim to inculcate the principles of citizenship and to endow the present-day Peterite with the knowledge and understanding to use intelligently the vote which will soon be his. It is a duty which schools of today owe to the community, and one which they cannot evade.

The new term has brought the inevitable changes of staff. Mr. G. W. Stevens, whose services to the music of the School we have learnt to value highly during the past five years, left us, to our regret, at the end of the Summer Term. Mr. P. M. Lanning, B.A., of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, has joined the staff of the Junior School, and we extend to him a hearty welcome to St. Peter's. At the time of writing we have no precise knowledge of the exact date of Mr. Dodds' return from his Korean adventure, but we confidently hope that he will be with us again in November. Meanwhile, Mr. G. A. Henderson, who for a year has deputised for him, has agreed to prolong his stay with us. When Mr. Henderson does finally depart, to a career in the foreign office, he will have our very best wishes.

MARRIAGE FIELD—KESTEVEN.—On Thursday, the 9th August, 1951, Charles

E. Field to Joan Kesteven, at Beeston Hill Congregational Church. * * *

BIRTH

The following announcement, culled from The Times, will be of interest to many Old Peterites, as well as to those older members of the Staff who remember Mr. W. N. Corkhill as a colleague. Mr. Corkhill, who was Housemaster of The Rise and Senior Science Master, left St. Peter's in April, 1941, to join the staff of Imperial Chemicals. After the war his work with I.C.I. took him to South Africa :— "CORKHILL.—On 23rd September, 1951, at P.O. North Rand,

Johannesburg, to Marjorie, wife of Wilfred Neville Corkhill, a daughter."

COMMEMORATION, 1951

(Friday, 27th July, to Sunday, 26th July)

The appeal of the annual festival of Commemoration remains as strong as ever, and there was present at the various events of the three days a large gathering of Old Peterites, parents, and friends of the School. The weather was again propitious and the full programme could be carried out without curtailment or modification. The peculiarly Old Peterite aspects of the reunion, the Annual General Meeting of the Old Peterite Club and the Dinner, held for the first time at the Chase Hotel, are reported in our "0.13. News", and accounts of the boat races and the cricket match between the School and O.P.s will be found in their appropriate places in this issue. Once again the display by the C.C.F. Band, under Acting Drum Major J. M. Raylor, was augmented by contingents of the Naval and R.A.F. sections, and an enjoyable Saturday was impressively concluded by a parade of all three Services for the sounding of "The Retreat" and the Naval Ceremony of "Sunset".

An addition this year to the usual programme was the brief ceremony on the cricket field, following the Prize-giving at the Clifton Cinema, at which Sir William Crosthwaite, J.P., formally presented the new cricket scoring-box which he has so kindly given to us. The gift was acknowledged in an apt speech by the Dean of York as Chairman of the Governors. Sir William's generosity has added much to the amenities of the Cricket Field and to our enjoyment of the 1st XI matches, and we are grateful to him. The fact that in its