THE PETERITE Vol. LIX
MAY, 1967
No. 375
EDITORIAL The war in VietNam goes on. So what? Of what concern is it for us who live on the other side of the world? If Ho Chi Minh were to be replaced by Ky, Britain would not in any way be changed. Nor would life in the United States be any different. Why, then, are the newspapers so full of these distant events? It is because everything in the world concerns us. It may not affect us politically or economically, but it affects us as human-beings. It is right to send money to relieve famine in India. It is right to mourn the death of Komarov. It is right to try to block the illegal import of harmful drugs into this country. None of these random examples may have any immediately apparent relevance to a well-fed, balanced Englishman, but they all have relevance to a member of the human race. The world has become too small for us to be able to turn a blind eye, to present a deaf ear or to hold a tongue. As John Donne said: "Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde." The political rights and wrongs of the VietNam war are not important. Human obstinacy and, as a result, human suffering are involved. A dead Viet Cong and a dead G.I. are both dead. We survivors are thereby diminished.
SCHOOL NOTES We welcomed Mr. S. Elliot, who has come for two terms to teach Mathematics. Mr. Elliot was Senior Mathematics master at Bootham School until his retirement in July, 1966. * * * Mr. B. Carr, who is working for a diploma of Education at Hull University, did a term's teaching practice at St. Peter's. We thank him for his help and wish him well in the future. * * * In connection with the Schools' Council, 26 boys from Transitus and the Sixth Form were interviewed in late January and early February. 1
