McGill University - Old McGill Yearbook (Montreal Quebec, Canada)

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THE CHANCEll0R'S MESSAGE ln offering o few words of forewell to those lectving lVlcGill lost yeor l suggested they were going into o world of much doubt ond confusion. For some yecirs post ond for some yeors to come l feor it hos been ond will be possible for this remorlc to be left set up in typeefor onnuol use. The groduoting closs of 1938 went out into o world still struggling with the economic problems orising rctther directly from whcit we hcive become occustomed to coll the greot depression. lnternotionol rivolries, ond the consequences of these, foced them but not in the storlc foshion in which they foce the groducttes of 1939. Yours is the first post-Munich closs. Yours is the closs which hos seen the Red ond White Review shoring the doily press with the first rumblings of the invosion of Czechoslovokio. Yours is the closs whose finol exominotions must hove been com- plicctted C1 little by the possibility thot they might be written in QCIS-mOSl4S. For my own port l still remoin hopeful of the continued peoce of the world into which you now emergesolthough my forecost moy be proven wrong before it rectches the printed poge. ln ony event, however, the world into which you go, if it be one of peoce, will be for ct long time yet one of ormed peoce. Our country is for from the scene where internotioncil iecilousies ond rivolries moy produce ctctuol closh of orms, but this is not o world in which distonce meons whot it did when l come out of the University to see o little wor between the United Stotes ond Spoin ond on expeditionory force recopture Khortoum. We cctnnot offord for o moment to guide our octions in this country by ony mistol4en ideci thot we ore immune to the politiccil troubles of o distcint continent. l om not sciying these things to stimulote wcirlilce ctrdour, to urge you to greoter potriotism, or to do cinything which sovours of flog-woving. l venture to remind you of the noture of the world into which you come, becouse this noture imposes upon you certoin responsibilities which did not lie os hecivily upon your predecessors. You belong to thot generotion which must leorn how to compromise between the necessory effort to mol4e your country strong ond to lceep it oble to ploy its port in the world, ond the ever-broodening need of improvement in internotionol goodwill ond brotherhood between men. It lies on your shoulders to find out ond understctnd the problems of other roces ond other notions, ond to sympothize with their recisonoble ctmbitions ond yet to ovoid feeble refusol to stond up for whot is right ond for the defence of those institu- tions which your own notion regords os vitol to o civilized society. l wish you success. l oslc you to remember thot by this success will be iudged the rectl worth of this University of yours. l pleod pctrticulorly with you to remember thot, when you lecive McGill, you do not end the life-long connection which you should mctintoin with the University, to full membership in which you ore now ctbout to be cidmitted. Z 9

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THE PRlNCIPAl'S MESSAGE The annual message to those who are about to pass out of and beyond the protecting walls of the University should be a sincere farewell on an occasion which marks the termination of one era in your lives and the beginning of a new. To some, perhaps to many, it will be in a sense a sad occasion. Yet it should not be so, for it is but an inevitable consequence of life itself, a stage in the evolution of your careers. The freedom and discipline of the University experience, and the gaiety, too, will only give way to the freedom and discipline and humour of a wider world. New horizons will be opening up, presenting new views and new problems, adding to your experiences, enriching your lives and taxing your abilities. There is no need to be depressed at the gathering clouds which cast darl4 shadows on our world. It is only necessary to remember that the whole fabric of the democratic doctrine has been woven out of the thread of the idea that man is a reasonable being, that he is moved by reason not by passion, that he is capable of exercising self-dis- cipline and self-restraint, that his inherent virtues merit the dignity which has been conferred on him. There is no need to assume that that fabric which for a century served the world so well has now become threadbare and moth-eaten. There is no need to be caught in the fatalism of our times. There is no need to become an un- resisting victim of the doctrine so common throughout the worldfthe doctrine which denies the dignity of manlcind, which prevents the elevation ofthe human spirit, and which corrupts the effort to emancipate the human race. If to some it seems that blaclc doom is slowly settling down on our lives, it would be wisdom to remember that without courageous resistance those forebodings will become an accomplished fact. If to some it seems that our world does not extend the inviting hand of opportunity as former worlds have done, it would be well to remember that one of our great taslcs is to revive the promise of attaining distinction through worlc well done. This is no time to embrace the philosophy of despair, to cave in before the constant ideological drum fire of an alien line. lndeed, this is the time for courage and vision, determination and faith. For they alone can restore tranauility to a troubled universe. This is your taslc as educated men and women. This is, indeed, everyones taslc, and you are merely enlisting your services in the cause. You must appreciate how sincerely we wish you well and how deeply we hope for you Good Luclc, Good Deeds and a Good Life. 11