{Evangelical Lutheran Seminary of Canada
Waterloo, Ontairo}
Aug. 25, 1928.
Dear Mother:
As I am going up to Elora to-morrow and do not know just when I will get back I thought I would write you a few lines to-night. Dr. Froats is driving me up in his car and Herman, Arthur and Robert are going with me. We will probably get back to-morrow afternoon before supper; but I do not know for sure. I received my salary for July on the 23rd of August and spent every cent of it the same day in paying off my bills. So I am no better off now than I was before. The other men have not received their salary yet and I got mine only by going down after it. I had also to collect my money for preaching in St. John's, and tried to collect from First English; but so far have not succeeded. I also didn’t get anything for preaching last Sunday at Hespeler as yet. It seems that when a man is “down and out”, every man’s hand is against him. However, we haven’t suffered anything as yet except some inconveniences. I hope the situation will improve, but I don’t
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see very great prospects for it. After the various departments of the school open up there will be fees coming in which should tide us over for a month or two, and it may ne that after that there will be sufficient money coming in from the apportionments to keep us running for a while longer. Dr. Willison showed up last week to “organize the Seminary Faculty”. I had it hot and heavy with him for about two hours. He is absolutely impossible and if he ever should become President of this institution it will be high time for me to get out. He has it in for Prof. Neudoerffer and myself because we declined to further his ambitious designs and he is trying in every way possible to humiliate us. He wanted to jumble up the Faculties in such a way that you would never know whether a man belonged to the Seminary or to the College. He thinks that by interlocking them he can prevent the Seminary from ever being separated from the College. He proposed Prof. S. W. Hirtle for the subject of Homiletics in the Seminary. I told him I would never consent to that; that I was down at First English Sunday and heard Hirtle announce his subject for next Sunday – “God’s Failures” -; and I said I would never consent to a man who announced such a blasphemous subject teaching our boys Homiletics. I suppose he went straight over and told Hirtle; for the latter hardly speaks to me
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any more, which, however, is not a great social loss. I told him I considered it a downright insult to the Seminary Faculty that they picked out it to be ‘organized’; and that if we were such incapables the best thing would be to turn us off. I said it was also a reflection on the Faculty that the Board should determine to bring in a new and untried man as President and make him at the same time Dean of the Seminary. His only answer to this was that it couldn’t be helped. He said he didn’t want to take the position of “Institutional Supervisor”, but was prevailed upon by the Board to accept it, when I knew as a matter of fact that the whole suggestion came from him and that he knew that no one else would be given the job. He said I had no authority until he had “organized” the Faculty and that he could put in any man that he wanted to. He even wanted to give Dr. Schorten my Junior Dogmatics. But I had my schedule of courses for each professor drawn up; and the only concession that I made – and that under protest – was that Hirtle might take Catechetics, a minor subject that occurs over a week. He had the gall to tell me how to teach and to instruct me as to the sending out of students as supplies. He said I should make out a list and not send
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out only the professors as was done last year. That wasn’t true in the first place, although I had nothing to do with it. And even if it had been true it came with very bad grace from him who had supplied Hamilton practically every Sunday last year and not only did not send students, but not even professors there. He was ugly, and all because I didn’t recommend him for President of the whole institution, Dean of the Seminary, Dean of the College and Housefather. I didn’t recommend him and I never would; for he has neither the temperament nor the qualifications that are required. But as I anticipated he is going to make us all kinds of trouble and he doesn’t want to allow us to say a word or make any suggestions to the Board. Willison dominates the Board with two clerical exceptions. These men were not at the meeting when it was decided to “organize” the Seminary Faculty and appoint an “Institutional Supervisor”. I think at the next Board meeting they will put up a fight. Willison warned me against making any “propaganda”. He wants a monopoly on that himself. I never saw a man with such a swelled head as he has or one so overwhelmed with ambition. I am sure he must be perfectly unhappy. We are having nice cool weather now and lots of corn. We eat some times 70 or more ears at a meal. I didn’t enter the marathon swim to-day. There were too many expert swimmers for me; but I swam around the course yesterday. I took up so much space over our troubles that I am not able to write much else. So I will close at this convenient spot. With love to you all and all good wishes, I am Most Sincerely yours,
[signed] Carroll H. Little.
