The Summer School
| Published date | 01 December 1923 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.1923.tb02143.x |
| Date | 01 December 1923 |
The
Journal
.
of
.
Public
8
Adminis
tra
ti0
n
The
Summer
School
An
Impreesion
HAT
is the good
of
conferences
?
”
‘‘
Do
they serve any useful
“
vv
purpose at
all
?
”
are questions one frequently hears from
delegates before, during, and most of
all,
after conferences
of
all descrip-
tions, and though they ask these questions almost automatically,
I
think
the delegates themselves if asked the same questions by an outsider
would reply unanimously that the value
of
conferences may be measured
not
so
much by the papers read, nor even by the discussions following
the papers, but by the fact that they bring together people from all
parts who, although their work and interests are similar, if not identical,
might go on in their
own
localities from year to year without any chance
of coming into contact with each other if there were not these pre-arranged
meetings.
If
this
is
true of most conferences, it is especially true of a conference
such
as
that held
at
Trinity College, Cambridge, by the Institute of
Public Administration. The outstanding feature was the fact that
it brought together for the first time officials, both local and national,
who under the common title
‘L
public seivants
”
discussed their various
administrative problems not as separate units but as part of one great
whole which
it
was their aim to improve by joint endeavour and by
a
clearer understanding than heretofore of each other’s positions and
difficulties.
The conference, which was held from Friday, 27th July, to Tuesday,
31st July, was attended by about seventy local and civil service officials.
Seven papers were read on such subjects as Local Rating, Education,
Town Planning, etc., and it was noticeable
in
all the discussions (with
the possible exception of that on the last paper “Recruitment and
Training of Public Servants
”)
that
local
rather than national adminis-
tration seemed to predominate. But
I
need not say much of the papers
and discussions, which are fully reported in another part of this
JOURNAL.
By the courtesy of the authorities members were lodged at Emmanuel,
Magdalen, and Trinity, and everything possible was done for their
comfort, arrangements also being made for those who wished to visit
other colleges and public buildings between sessions. On Friday, Colonel
Tebbutt took a small party
to
Ely Cathedral
;
on Saturday, when Lord
Haldane was present, a delightful garden party was held at Magdalen
College, and after tea there was an extremely interesting visit to the
Pepys Library. That
same
evening the Master of Magdalen,
A.
C.
Benson, known to most of
us
by
his
delightful books,
From
a
College
256
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