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In 1957, a very considerable proportion (over half) the Vic. candidates for the New Zealand University examination in the Law of Evidence failed to meet with the approval of the learned examiner in the subject, Mr. J. D. Willis, Stipendiary Magistrate, and editor of Garrow's "Law of Evidence in New Zealand".
The proportion of Vic. failures in the Law of Contract was also high.
These incidents have caused a stir among the students in our Law Faculty, and many of them have been asking what is wrong with (a) the method of examining at the national level; (b) the system of teaching at the local level; (c) the course itself or, possibly, (d) the calibre of Wellington students.
In the particular case of Evidence, the choice seems to lie between (a) and (b) above. To say the least of it, the local lecturer and the national examiner appear to be at cross-purposes. Their conceptions of the scope and essence of the subject are light-years apart. Since there has been a tendency among students to blame the lecturer (presumably because he was nearer and therefore more vulnerable) rather than the examiner, let us here take a brief look at each.
Dr. George Barton has academic distinctions in Law which are unparalleled in the Faculty. Whatever his faults technically as a lecturer, he teaches the subject as a subject worthy of inclusion in a university course—discusses its principles and their application in an adult manner.
Mr. Willis, from a bar career undistinguished by anything except being selected to assist a Royal Commission on pubs, was appointed to the Magistracy in that cultured centre of the nation, Invercargill—the same centre to which Mr. Stuart Hardie was appointed after he had endeared himself to the people of Wellington by trying to ban the Vic. Capping Procession in
It might be expected, then, that the learned author of this work would be scarcely a satisfactory person to be in charge of examining students in evidence. In fact, the results have been fantastic. While Otago and Canterbury, where staffs in the Law Faculty are all part-time and the standard is universally acknowledged to be lower than in the North, can boast up to 100% passes, Vic's failure rate is over 50%! Not only that, but students who show considerable promise—in one case a student who won first-class terms—fail, while self-confessed dullards score heavily. In
This question is not, however, limited to Evidence. The whole of our law course suffers from the petty standards imposed by examiners. It might be argued that this is due to having outside examiners who are for the most part engaged in the business of law as practitioners, and that since the whole aim of the course is to produce lawyers, then they are precisely the right people to choose for the job; that the academic and theoretical side of law is all very well, but is no use to the bloke who wants to get out and draw documents and win cases. But in fact the examiners at present often do not even encourage the sort of knowledge that would equip students for practical work. To ask (as did the examiner in Trusts last year) what are the provisions of two numbered clauses of a certain Act is the wildest inanity imaginable, and an insult to the intelligence of students. If the practitioner wants to know what an Act says, he looks it up. If it were necessary to success as a lawyer that the Statutes of New Zealand should be committed to memory, then the expectation of life in the profession would be very much shorter than it is, and electronic machines would be much better able to excel at the bar than human beings.
What lawyers need is a sympathetic and thorough knowledge of the broad principles of the law in its various branches; an understanding of the history of important aspects of the law, and their social and other implications; and an intelligent training in where and how to seek information on problems that arise. Any other sort of legal education is more fitting for a cram-school or a polytechnic than for a university.
If our law schools are to be any use at all, all power to the Bartons and curtains down on the Willis's.
I remain for obvious reasons—
On April Fools' Day, 1946, the V.U.C. Socialist Club held its inaugural meeting. Judging by the attendance at the meeting the club at the time boasted fully 70 members. Over a period of about eleven years this dwindled to a mere handful so that the club became the least active in the whole college.
The club first achieved notoriety in 1947 when it organised a deputation of over 300 students to the Dutch Minister in New Zealand to protest against Dutch aggression in Indonesia. Despite police provocation a perfectly orderly, though illegal, procession of students and trade unionists marched from the Cenotaph to the Dutch Legation. For taking part in this little incident seven students and three wharfies had charges laid against them by the police. These charges were subsequently dismissed in the Magistrates' Court in a judgment which referred to the freedom to demonstrate as a "cherished right of the British nation."
Despite the Magistrate's decision, certain groups in the college who were opposed to the Club's aims and objects, and probably to the terms of the judgment (both anti-fascist), attempted to move the Club's disaffiliation. They were decisively defeated.
Later in the same year the Club hit the headlines again. This time the cause of the stir was a statement by Mr. Skinner, the Minister of Rehabilitation, that members of the Communist Party should not be allowed to remain in New Zealand. At the time Mr. Skinner was patron of the Socialist Club. The secretary, Mr. G. Warner, thereupon informed Mr. Skinner that his remark was "detrimental to Socialism and working-class unity" and that the Socialist Club no longer considered him a fit person to hold the position of patron of the Club.
Then in
With the passing of the need for demonstrations the Socialist Club fell into disuse and became virtually defunct. As far as "Salient" can determine (the difficulty being the lack of known members and the non-existence of any records since about
On the
The editor does not accept any responsibility for the views expressed in "Salient" and it is most improbable that they should correspond with the views of either Executive or the student body. Any responsibility for seditious, obscene and blasphemous utterances rests entirely on the shoulders of the Official Censor.
Editor: Terry Kelliher.
Assistant Editors: Hector McNeil, John Daniels.
Sub-Editor: Tilly Piper.
Business Manager: Barry Hume.
Secretary: David Patterson.
Sports Editor: Don Kenderdine.
Literary Editor: Keith Campbell.
Club Liaison Officer: Barry Doyle.
Advertising Manager: John Rostron.
Publicity Manager: Neil Plimmer.
Reporters: Pastor Andrew Brown, Jack Sadlier, Barbara Ewing.
Undoubtedly the greatest significance of the Incarnation lies in the fact that Jesus Christ came to this earth as a man to die for the sins of the human race, of which we are all members. Thus the Incarnation has a personal importance for each of us—no one can say, "This does not apply to me".
"But the Incarnation is significant in other ways," continued Mr. MacKay, Lecturer in Classics, as he spoke at the Evangelical Union meeting on Friday, 14th March, on the subject of the "Incarnation in Relation to Us". It shows how highly God thought of man that He sent his only son to die a criminal's death for the sins of man. The recent tendency throughout the world has been to glorify man as the highest and greatest in the animal world. But surely the true worth and dignity of man is shown not so much by his being the greatest animal as by the value the Omnipotent God has placed on him.
Christ also came to this earth to show what man is capable of, to what heights man can rise. It was said of the young Jesus that he "increased in favour with God and man". Much is said today of the Brotherhood of Man in this world. But too often this attitude leaves God out of the picture. Christ certainly said to "Love thy neighbour as thyself", but He quite clearly stated that the above commandment was subordinated to the first and great commandment, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy soul and all thy mind and all thy strength". We can never love our neighbours as we ought until we love God as we ought.
Mr. McKay concluded by asking what constituted real success. Many would point to the acquisition of wealth and power as the marks of success, but these are transient and by no means satisfying. The only way to real and permanent success in this world and the next is to take up the Cross and follow Christ.
A further talk on the subject "God in the World", will be given next Friday night at 7.30. All students are warmly invited to attend.
A Christian's belief can have only one of two foundations. Firstly, it may be a rational faith, built upon the testimony of history and upon the discoveries of archaeological expeditions. This is the interpretation of Christianity that is to be encouraged; it is only this type of healthy religious belief that is capable of producing a humanism that integrates theology with the discoveries of modern science. It is this brand of Christianity that produces a philosophy of social ethics, a Christian political programme, a Christian jurisprudence—in other words, a Christian way of life.
Opposed to this version of Christianity is that all too prevalent interpretation that regards faith as a naive sort of belief, a sort of plunge or leap in the dark. It is this sort of nonsense that brings Christianity into disrepute among Rationalists and, for that matter, among the ordinary men in the street. This type of religious belief consists of meaningless platitudes, and strings of empty phrases appealing principally to the emotions and sentiment.
Most people of normal intelligence regard this latter sort of belief as childish to say the least. Yet the tragedy of it all and the whole point of my editorial is that there is a stronghold of this sort of nonsense in this very university. This type of belief leads inevitably to a hysterical condemnation of alcohol and betting. It leads to a false asceticism of a puritanical nature.
I call upon all balanced Christians (such as you usually find in the S.C.M. and the C.S.G.) to fight for the propagation of a rational Christianity that recognises the right to engage in social activities. Silent prayer is all very well but it can have an undue emphasis placed upon it, so that the social and practical side of man's character is neglected.
Perhaps one could recommend leapfrog amidst the tombstones as a body-building sport. Perhaps one could go even further and suggest some even more appropriate use for the old Catholic cemetery that graces Vic's back entrance. It is a relatively easy matter to transfer a few graves to a new site. Perhaps a charnal-house could be constructed in one little corner.
What I am driving at is that it is a crying shame that the university should be allowed to grow long and skinny when it could be expanded widthways by the simple process of shifting a few old bones. The site in question is far too useful to be left in neglect. It would be simply ideal for a student hostel, whether run by the university or by a church. Might I suggest that the university authorities investigate the possibilities of utilising this valuable site for student accommodation.
Printed by the Disabled Servicemen's League at their registered office, 21 Lloyd Street, for the Victoria University of Wellington Students' Association, Wellington.
(But of course not referring to anybody in particular.)
The upward flip in the proportion of Roman Catholics in our midst appears to give you much delight. You seem to imply that this is some manifestation of the approach of a new age of light. In fact, the reasons for the (small) increase to which you refer are very simple: firstly, the Roman hierarchy's peculiar views on birth control, and secondly, the influx of predominantly Roman Catholic immigrants from Europe.
On the first point, it stands to reason that as long as a child is to be expected as the result of every act of marital intercourse between Roman Catholics, but not necessarily between Protestants, then the former will increase at a faster rate than the latter. In fact, in drawing my attention to the press announcement of the very figures you quote in your editorial ("Rationalism in Decline",
On the second point, the religions complexion of new Australians recently received some attention from the Labour Party there—not from reasons of religious bigotry, but because of the great disservice done to Labour by the interference of the hierarchy in a narrow and sectarian direction, and the tendency of European Catholics, often nurtured in superstitious ignorance, to follow the politics of the local hierarchy without question. A Netherlands Protestant cleric commented on the preponderance of Roman over Protestant immigrants in New Zealand from his country a few years ago, and it is understood that the position is still much the same.
(Mr. Bollinger may resort to childish cynicism if he wishes, but this does still not explain away the 36 per cent, decline in our Rationalist adherents in a space of only five years.
Avarice deciding factor in election.
"Now that the tumult and the shouting has died, we can take a sober look at the election, the policies and the results," said the Social Credit Leader (Mr. W. B. Owen) in a supplied statement today.—Evening Post,
. . . business men should advise Cabinet, not civil servants.—Letter, "Evening Post,
Share room, bed and breakfast...
Full board, 2 respectable gentlemen, non-drinkers, double room on bus stop ...
Singapore, 3rd March.
Mr. Nash today gave an impromptu lesson in Civics to 50 Chinese convent girls.
Four students were arrested today after the riotous installation of the Home Secretary, Mr. R. A. Butler, as Rector of Glasgow University. For more than an hour during the ceremony students bombarded—and often hit—the Minister with rotten fruit, bags of flour, toilet rolls, and other missiles, finally spraying him with a fire-extinguisher.
—Evening Post, Saturday, 22nd Feb.
Some useful hints for the Cable Car boys!—Ed.
(a) The Tongues of Men. 20th century:
15th century carol:
Through a maiden has come to us:
(b) Repetition. 20th century:
Which is historically correct, as we see from a poem by Catullus, first century B.C.:
"Let us live and love, and not care two pence for all the talk of our straightlaced elders. Suns, having set, may rise again, we, when once our brief light's set, must sleep one eternal night. Give me a thousand kisses, then yet another thousands, then a second hundred, then yet another thousand, then a hundred. Then, when we have had many thousands, we shall lose count of them, so as not to know their number—or some evil may frown upon us, knowing the number of our kisses."
This year the Geological Society was very fortunate in acquiring the services of Dr. Falla of the Dominion Museum to speak at its A.G.M. He is to present a paper on his recent trip overseas, especially on his visit to the MacQuarrie Islands; the talk will be illustrated by colour slides.
The A.G.M will be held in the Geology Lecture Room at 7.30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 25th.
Supper will follow and all freshers are specially welcome. All students who have paid their Stud. Ass. fees are eligible for membership of the Society and all people whether Arts or Science will find the social and scientific aspects of the society most stimulating. This year the Society intends to hold its major field trip in one of the most interesting areas of Tertiary geology, that of the Wanganui District. Lunch hour films and evening meetings will be held at regular intervals throughout the year.
This year the recent visit of two of our members to Antarctica will be one of the highlights of our year's programme. One-day field trips will also be held at intervals to places such as Titahi Bay and other interesting areas around Wellington. All students are cordially invited to the A.G.M. to hear Dr. Falla and to hear further of our activities.
All of this year's freshers, 600 in all, were invited to this Orientation-week debauch, and 185 found the prospect sufficient attractive to turn up. The host and hostess were Dr. and Mrs. Williams, and the speaker was Dr. T, Jeffries, Wellington's Officer of Health. Official guests included Stud. Ass. President John Marchant, Mr. and Mrs. K. L. McKay, Mr. H. Millar, Mr. E. Hornblow, Mr. Summers and Dr. Fell.
The dinner was sumptuous (three different coloured jellies!) enough to make it clear that E.U. must have quietly abandoned mortification of the flesh as the way to salvation. Speeches followed, and the speakers were evidently anxious to make new students feel at home in their new surroundings—with the general feeling of good-will generated by the dinner this shouldn't have been too hard. The only difficulty now will be to get E.U.'s new recruits adjusted to the more frugal standard of the repasts served up by Miss Rosie and her mignons in the Varsity Cafeteria.
Future contributors (in prose or verse) should be
Careful to avoid referring to "V.U.C."
For since last October, the editor will trouble you
To remember that the place is now called "V.U.W."
The newcomers, who each year make this place less like a university and more like a creche,
Are known as "freshers", though some of them are very far from fresh.
And since all other people have some sort of generic term (like tinkers, tailors, soldiers and sailors),
Might it not be a good idea if some of our permanent undergraduates wert to be known as "stalers"?
It is fun to be back at the University, to mix with students on the other side of the globe, to note that fundamentally they are exactly the same as their colleagues in England and Europe.
It is fascinating to take up the glove in a battle between minds. It is amusing to see that some professors and lecturers, in New Zealand too, have their little act and pass slightly sarcastic remarks which make you feel a perfect fool.
And above all it is delightful to find an audience in university girls who during a highbrow discussion have a pensive look on their pretty faces. This is more inspiring than talking to the stupid looking males.
As a graduate from the Amsterdam University I could not help comparing my university with yours. I observed the differences and weighed up the advantages and disadvantages of both.
I have learnt one lesson early in the journey—the lesson we keep learning every day, if we want to grow up, that of humility.
I was surprised when I read in "Salient" that students were referred to the Classics Department for a translation of their own University motto; "Sapientia magis auro desideranda".
I thought how back home, if we wanted to matriculate, we had to learn Latin, Greek, French, German and English for five to six years, and compulsorily at that.
When during a discussion of a class test in Property the professor supplied the rest of the Latin maxim "Quicquid plantatur, solo, solo cedit", a student asked with the laudable frankness of a New Zealander: "What does it mean, Professor?" We all burst out laughing, unashamed.
I could hardly believe the girl who told me she was majoring in French, yet that most of the lectures were given in English.
However, a little later, I began to see things in a different light, I realized that the knowledge of all those languages did not necessarily make you more cultured, and certainly not wiser. Perhaps we were intellectual snobs back home.
I soon learned to admire the practical outlook of this university. I was impressed by the method of teaching in my own faculty. Although the whole course is split up into separate units with so many exams, (at our university you have to do the whole lot at once at the end of the course), they certainly drum them into you. Throughout the lectures questions are thrown at the students who are forced to discuss cases on the spot. They have to submit regularly written opinions on points of law. They are trained how to express themselves skilfully in the moots. They certainly make lawyers out of you at the Victoria university.
I admire the students for their courage, for their determination to argue a point with the professor.
The staff struck me by their lack of pomp or snobbish dignity, by their sense of humour and their helpful attitude. They are much more approachable than the ones I have met overseas and their modesty is indicative of their culture and wisdom.
The freshers, as anywhere, are an amusing lot. They walk round with grave faces and feel very important (not all of them, thank heaven) for having reached the temple of higher wisdom and learning.
They want to discuss and enthusiastically talk about subjects they know nothing about. I love to shock them with unconventional remarks and urge them to refute my stupid statements. The excuse is: "You want to be educated, to broaden your mind? Well you might as well start right now."
One of the favourite topics is religion. It takes maturity and wisdom to tackle that one without hurting and being hurt. Sincerity is not always appreciated by people who are convinced they alone have the truth and nothing but. . . .
I got into trouble when ending such a discussion with a fresher on a light note. The humour of the situation was not appreciated and the young lady walked out, assuring me she was not offended but simply had to go. When the episode was unfavourably remarked on later by total strangers, I thought of the truth of the Latin saying, taken from Vergil, and jocularly varied to suit the case:
"Quidquid id est, timeo feminas et oscula dantes" (be aware of woman even when she kisses you—in other words: you can't trust a woman. Finally, taking stock, you wonder whether it was worth it. You look at the older students who quietly smoke their pipes in the common room, saying absolutely nothing. They, at least, have learnt the art of silence, as they should. They have learnt their lesson and are thoroughly fed up with talking rubbish.
Yes, wisdom, truth and maturity is learnt in the realm of silence. That even goes for religion which is so rarely found through academic discussions.
Only in peaceful isolation, only by drawing from within, only in meditation can you feel the mystical hand of God tugging at your sleeve.
It is some time now since the second World War ended. Twelve years ago the forces of east and west, instead of glowering at each other and threatening each other with their arsenals of atomic weapons were united against the common enemy—Nazism.
While many of the leaders of the Nazi conspiracy have received their just reward for their part in the horrors of the concentration camps, mass murders on a scale never before reached by the most brutal of tyrants, and the destruction of a high proportion of Europe's cities, today certain of the key Nazis and their collaborators are again being regarded as respectable people because they are of use to the West against the new enemy, Russia. President Eisenhower considers the western powers have recency on their side. There is little decency in Dr. Werner von Braun, Baron Krupp, and General Adolf Heusinger who are emerging as prominent leaders of the west m me scientific, industrial and military fields respectively.
There is no doubt that Dr. von Braun is a brilliant scientist. At the age of twenty he was already Germany's leading rocket scientists and was chosen by te Nazis to head their rocket research team. In this capacity he bore a direct responsibility for the plastering of London with the V-2 rockets which he invented. Today he is America's leading rocket scientist—the designer of the Jupiter-C, America's satelite-carrying rocket. Moreover he has with him 120 ex-German scientists, all of whom worked for Hitler. He is admired throughout the U.S. What would the Americans have thought had his work of 15-16 years ago been more successful and had New York been plastered with rockets in the same way as was London.
Krupp today is one of the great heavy industrial magnates of Western Europe. He is welcomed by heads of government and businessmen wherever he goes. There are a few who remember the past and will have nothing to do with him but they are in the minority. During the World War Krupp was a leading supplier to the German forces. In his factories he employed slaves from the occupied countries, contravening international law. Thousands of people, both Jews and non-Jews died as a result of working long hours under shocking conditions in the Krupp works.
General Heusinger was a loyal Hitlerist in the 30's and during the war. Today, he commands the Wehrmacht, the West German Army, which is part of the forces of Nato.
The West claims to have morality on its side in its struggle with the Russians. If me west wants to give the least impression of morality on those as yet uncommitted it must get rid of all ex-Nazis in prominent positions.
To any student doing law it must be obvious that to continue with the present degree course in law is to continue to produce second-rate lawyers. The student who after five years or so graduates in law has a hazy knowledge of his subject, knowing a little about a lot but not knowing much about anything.
An intending solicitor, who desires to specialise in Property Law and Conveyancing, has to fret away years of his life studying Criminal, Civil and Constitutional Law—subjects which subsequently he intends to take no interest in at all. Worse still is the plight of the intending civil and criminal lawyer who has to devote nightmarish years to studying the illogicalities and oddities of the law of Property. What earthly use is it to a criminal lawyer to know the difference between an estate tail male and an estate tail female? How many criminal cases would he win with a plea that his client's title was indefeasible? Again, what use is it to a conveyancing solicitor to know the difference between theft, robbery, aggravated robbery, and burglary?
The result of all this mucking about is that few of the subjects in the course are adequately covered. In fact of the eighteen subjects in the course only about nine are of any practical value. What is the effect of this upon an intending property lawyer? Firstly, it means that he will study only about three subjects mat are of any use to him, viz., property, conveyancing, and trusts and wills. His most important subject—property—will not be adequately covered. The whole of the law of personal property will have to be dealt with in three or four lectures. The same chaotic situation holds true for the intending commercial lawyer. Whole slabs of the law relating to contracts will be left untouched and other parts will be dealt with only sketchily. Insurance, arbitration and quasi-contract are left out altogether. (Last year students were told that quasi-contract was not in the syllabus—yet a question was asked about it in the exam.) Specialty contracts are only touched upon. The intending criminal lawyer is in the same boat. His criminal law course will leave out slabs of the Crimes Act of
My suggestion is that the law course in our New Zealand universities should be drastically altered to allow for greater specialisation. For example, in the engineering course a student who has gained his intermediate may elect to pursue one of any six separate courses of study. He is free to specialise in either mechanical, electrical, civil, chemical, mining or metallurgical engineering. Why should not the law student have a similar option? There is no reason why it should not be done. Apart from the frills that make up half the degree, the law course splits up into about three separate categories. There are those subjects relating to property law, those relating to commercial law, and those relating to criminal and civil (tortious) law. Instead of future law students having to study the whole lot, let them elect to follow one of the three (or perhaps, two of the three) courses and make a far deeper study of their particular choice.
Have you heard tell of the law student who, having got 3 per cent. in a Property Law Terms exam did some fast talking and then sat finals, passing with an average of 73 per cent.—the highest mark from V.U.W. Ref. Heading on page 1. (Could it have been the lecturer?)
There is nothing more divinely illuminating and uplifting than to read the writings of Paul, the Apostate of the Gentiles. They can be found in a volume called Holy Writ, which is well-read and well misunderstood by Protestants and well-unread and well understood by R.C.'s.
One of the most striking of the views of this Gentle Apostle is his condemnation of the breeding of pedigree dogs and of the controversies of lawyers. So we find him writing in Titus III, 10-11, "But take no part in vain researches into pedigrees and controversies that wrangle over points of the law; they are useless folly."
Equally striking was this gentle apostate's love for strong drink. So we find him writing to Timothy (I Tim. 5, 23-24) "No, do not confine thyself to water any longer; take a little wine to relieve thy stomach." There was no doubt that he was a man who enjoyed the best things in life. So we find him in I Tim. 4, 1-6, condemning false asceticism. Apparently only deacons had to restrict themselves in the use of the bottle as one of their qualifications is that they are not given to deep drinking. (I Tim. 3, 8-9).
What I do find a little odd, however, is this gentleman's condemnation of nursery rhymes in I Tim. 4, 7, where he writes, "leave foolish nursery tales alone."
What always beats me is how a chap can reconcile studying (or worse still) teaching philosophy with being a Christian. For we have only to read the penny-dreadful, Holy Writ, to find Paul, the Apostate of the Gentle, warning us of the evil of philosophy. Thus in Colossians 2, 8-9, he wrote "take care not to let anyone cheat you with his philosophizings". . . . And to think that the Professor of Philosophy is a clergyman. What a scandal!
The girls of today would do well to read the words of this man of the world. How many of them are aware that it is a sin for them to have plaited hair, or to wear pearls, or to wear rich clothes? (I Tim. 2, 9-11). (Note that he did not say that it was a sin for girls to wear clothes. It is only wrong for them to wear rich clothes.)
Anyrate, it is my advice to you all to read this delightful work and to put into practice its marvellous teachings. That means, girls, that you will have to take off your pearls and unplait your hair. It also means (E.U. members take particular notice of this) that we should frequently imbibe the juice of the grape for the sake of our stomachs.
The discussion on the examination question started off by Russell Price, should not obscure the fact there is a Machiavellian aspect to sitting examinations. Whether the system is good or bad, while we are stuck with it there are one or two things students can do.
In fact, a manual could be written on how to sit examinations, and I hope that my views, together with what others may have to contribute, will form a starting point for the composition of such a manual.
We don't need to waste time on the proposition that the best way of sitting examinations (and passing them) is to know the subject matter. But where the ideal is not possible one has to be content with the practicable.
The first matter of technique is to discover the field you are meant to have studied. You can do that, first, by looking at the prescription in the calender and, second, by analysing the structure of the lectures you have had and the pattern of the reading lists you may have received.
You can then go on analysing previous examination papers (careful, the syllabus has a habit of changing) and predict at least some of the questions with a fair degree of certainty.
Allied studies will show you that there is often a fair chance of a topic dealt with in class examinations to come up, that there is more than a chance probability that there will be questions on essay themes and that a thorough knowledge of set books is also likely to be useful.
So far you have not become very Machiavellian and are still very much like the students who study because they like it. But you are about to take the plunge (with me) into te murky seas of power and influence.
First, it pays to study your examiner. Watch him like a hawk. This is best done by regularly attending lectures. You will get to know (for instance) that he is an ardent proponent of theory A and thinks that theory B is nonsense. Here is your chance. In class you get to know all about theory A and probably a little less about theory B, so you make a point of studying both thoroughly. The non-Machiavellians (who have been subjected to theory A only and are likely to have had their mental horizons pretty well delineated) will at examination time have little else to trot out than theory A. Then the man opens your book.
Your answer, systematically setting out both theories, provides an icy blast of rationality compared with the answers of the stuffy conformers. The examiner—shocked at first—then remembers this ancient game of cricket and the moral code that goes with it. You can lay 10 to 1 that he will ensure that justice is not only done, but that it is manifestly seen to be done.
Another very Machiavellian tactic (and here I suggest that the official censor of this journal puts dark glasses on before he reads any further) another Machiavellian tactic is what can be described as the apt quotation.
The use of this one is rather limited, but young language students should take note. When you read a set play (or book) and have analysed it thoroughly so that the wicked examiner can not take you by surprise, do more than write down your answer with the supreme nonchalance that would make a Borgia envious. Stick in the apt quotation, neatly broken out from the rest of your argument so that it can not fail to strike the right note. It pays to have a quotation that fits the question and your argument, but like the ancient art of assassination, you can acquire dexterity by practice and preparation.
The third bag of Machiavellian tricks could be labelled "anti-tiptruck-ship". Now supposing you are asked about the meaning of a particular English drama. Do you gush forth about drama in general? Do you write about English literature and what it has done for your mental development? No sir. You smile one of those wicked smiles and write about that particular drama—and about the meaning only. Background? You waste but little time sketching it in.
In the fourth place there is the publicity trick. This simply means that you advertise your wares as best you can. Say you are going to argue that something is true for five reasons. Non-Machiavellians would simply write them down, any old way. You press the advantage home. You start by saying that the proposition is true for five reasons. You give those reasons and number them boldly. Then you finish up by saying that those five reasons, in your view, establish the case. How much better than to give two reasons, to state the problem, to give another two, to give the answer and to state the last one. The only advantage you have is organisation. It will pay.
For reasons upon which I need not dwell this small contribution about Machiavellian tactics in the sitting of examinations must remain anonymous—at least till such time as the university is peopled by characters who (unlike the Everest expeditioners) acquire knowledge for the sake of knowledge.
In the meantime, friends, you and I must continue to lay our snares and set our traps, to sharpen our daggers and oil our stilettos.
They tell me that beer and women tend to interfere with that grim task. But those of you with Machiavellian tendencies need hardly be told about that.
I am a socialist. I do not belong to any union, to the Labour Party, to the Socialist Club or the Communist Party. The difference between me and the members of all these is that some day, when I grow up, I am going to be Prime Minister and I don't care how I get there.
The National Party, clever cover for the bankruptcy of the Labour Party, is defeated and the people at last have the government they deserve. It is an alliance of old men, boors and union secretaries. Soon the old men will die.
The people deserve the government because they can't see beyond the next tea-break and they don't want to. They know that Import Control and some other harmless irritants will make it all jake soon, maybe later. They will not think their standard of living affected because when they have bought all they need they will still have money in their hands. The Government thinks the people will save. The Government reckons without lotteries, night clubs, coffee shops and gee-gees.
Mr. Nordmeyer is the figurehead for this gaggle of old wizards. He holds the top part of the Treasury Report in his hands and reads out the case for Import Control; the bottom part of the Report, which deals with the need to withdraw money out of circulation, he tramples with his feet and what else he can spare while he ignores certain straight talk from the Opposition with his mind.
He is so frankly irresponsible that even the "Dominion" is able to write impartial editorials and still make a watertight case against the Government. Not that it's needful to make a case against the Government. The people are too embarrassed to make a stand lest they should embarrass the damned Government. In the meantime they don't worry because She, patron saint of Pig Island, will be right; in the meantime, if not a goldie, She's at least jake.
Do we have to look forward to a long wallow, backward and downward, by a naive, union-orientated Labour Party? Could it be there might come an infusion of direction or purpose from the unions?
No independent thinking is done by the union rank and file, which is incapable of changing its allegiance or anything else, and would vote Labour if the Fiend himself led the Party. The union M.P.'s may be there as a reward for their services or because they need a change from the rank and file or because they really want to do something for the workers (to tell the truth there's very little left to do). Apart from the fact that no proper union man would go into Parliament, there are very few there because they feel a missionary urge to serve their country.
There are about 500 people left who believe that the New Zealand Communist Party has anything to offer the Labour Party or New Zealand. Quote me a Communist whose true concern is to increase the potency of the whole Labour Movement rather than to justify himself to 499 initiates, and I'll back down humbly.
This is the first part of a lengthy article by John Gamby. We propose, if, as he says himself, "the readership can take it" (he must read "Time", a fine socialist periodical) to publish this in no fewer than five instalments. We feel sure you will look forward to them.
The university socialist groups have been great fun; I can't think of a finer or more entertaining bunch of amiable fellows, or more stimulating people to talk to than these thoughtful, inimitable-types. They have organized demonstrations, enlarged the life of the university, written delightful copy for "Spike" with all the gay, useless bravado of a regiment of calavry.
But the minute you suggest that they consider ways of making an effective, representative force of the Parliamentary Labour Party, they look sheepish" . . . Oh no! . . . We're working behind the scenes ... in the Public Service . . . haven't you heard the departmental heads rule the country . . . Mustn't split the Party you know!" But the departmental heads don't rule the country and most certainly don't direct the country. That is done by leaders. You wicked boys. Oh, you young dogs. You ostriches.
As far as I know not one member of either Victoria leftist club has tried to gain a voice in Labour Party policy-making since the War.
[He doesn't know much, then.
(Why is it that our one law-giving body (whose every word is broadcast from our strongest station) consists almost wholly of inarticulate men? Apparently our levelling attitude frustrates any attempts to train men for public life. Ironically the two places where the New Zealander can mix the sweets of power and blarney—the Union and the Chamber of Commerce—tend to be dominated by petty, inflated bigots.)
China is probably the world's greatest enigma. Is Mao's Government really red or is it just pink? Is China really a Communist nation or is it merely the product of a resurrection of patriotism and nationalism? Is there religious freedom in China? Are there any Capitalists left? Are the people happy? These are just a few of the hundred and one questions that spring to our minds when we think of the new China. In the light of these queries let us examine what information (or propaganda, perhaps) which correspondents, tourists, delegations and the like have brought back to us from the land of Mao. Then we can endeavour to weigh the pros and cons.
A "Look" writer and photographer last year became the first U.S. news team to visit China since the Chinese Revolution. They reached seven conclusions, the first being that the regime is firmly in the siddle and could be overthrown by nothing short of a major war of conquest. Secondly, they concluded that China is not a Soviet satellite, and has a far broader base of popular support than any other Communist government including that of the Soviet Union. Thirdly, they fould that all opposition had either been liquidated or won over to the regime. Fourthly, they discovered that living standards, though still low, are rising steadily. Fifthly, they found little genuine anti-Western feeling despite anti-Western propaganda, and, sixthly, they concluded that China's biggest problem is its birthrate.
The seventh finding is of particular importance. They discovered many detestable features of the regime which point to rigid police control. There was evidence of brutality and arbitrariness, regimentation, brainwashing, monotony, oppressive puritanical morality and lying propaganda about the outside world. This finding is in keeping with other reports from China. For example, the Peking "People's Daily" revealed in July that more than 81,000 so-called counter-revolutionaries had been "dealt with" by law in a campaign launched in
Things look better for the future. In
Let us hope that this favourable trend continues.
Since the Hungarian Revolution there have been sporadic outbursts of revolt throughout China, but nothing much has come of them. Most of them seem to have been localised riots that have been swiftly quelled. On July 26th the Press reported that the Chinese had had to suppress a revolt against the regime in the remote province of Tsinghai, adjoining Tibet. The report indicated that the uprising was led by intellectuals. In August the Press informed us of numerous revolts and planned uprisings in Hupeh, Hunan, Kwantung, Kwangsi, Shantung, Szechwan, Shanghai and Chinghai. In Hangyang in Central China 1000 students rioted and demonstrated against the Government. As a result several persons were executed, including the Vice-Principal, and several others were imprisoned.
In July the President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Mr. Albert Monk, back from leading a Union delegation to China, reported that capitalists and other non-Communists still had substantial power in Red China. Only 54 per cent. of the members of the Congress are Communists, he stated, and private capitalists are at present operating in China with a guaranteed return of 5 per cent. over a seven-year period. However, the claim that only a little over one-half of the members of the nation's leading governing body are Communists must be taken with a pinch of salt. We can be pretty sure that the remainder are mostly fellow-travellers completely subservient to the regime.
Mao has himself admitted that a "dangerous tendency" towards bureaucratic irresponsibility had shown itself among many Communist Party members. This was a concern for personal gain and an unwillingness to share the joys and hardships of the masses. In an attempt to rectify this more than a quarter of a million Chinese white-collar workers have been sent to work in factories, mines and collective farms. More than ten thousand Communist Party organisers have also been moved from area and district organisations to act as village officials.
The first five-year plan that ended in
In China today there is no freedom of religion in the sense in which we understand it. Many churches are permitted to function freely as centres of prayer, provided that they are subservient to the State and accept the supervision of a State-appointed Bureau of Religious Affairs. The churches, however, are not at liberty to set up schools, hospitals, orphanages and the like, nor are they permitted to have their own free Press. The Catholic Church has been singled out for particularly violent persecution because of its foreign contacts and opposition to the regime. It was recently pointed out by Father Aidan McGrath, who spent twenty-four years in China and thirty-two months of them in solitary confinement, that the cost to the Catholic Church has been the expulsion of six thousand missionaries, of whom over fifty European priests died in prison or from ill-treatment; the deaths of five hundred Chinese priests and the imprisonment of one thousand more; and the confiscation of three thousand primary and two thousand secondary schools, two hundred hospitals and three universities. Attempts are also being made to form a "Patriotic Church" headed by a twice-excommunicated ex-Vicar-General of Peking. One can only conclude that the churches are given a limited right to exist but are prevented from proselytizing and from running any educational and charitable institutions.
Already the Chinese have drawn Manchuria, Inner Mongolia, Sin-kiang, Tibet, Vietnam and North Korea into their orbit, but their plans indicate that this is only a beginning. Recently some consternation has been caused in neighbouring territories by the distribution of Chinese maps setting out the territories of the People's Republic of China. The new maps show parts of Burma, parts of Kashmir, parts of Afghanistan and Assam and the whole of Tibet within the borders of China. Reports indicate that Tibetan resistance to Chinese domination and communisation of the country is increasing rather than diminishing. The Chinese Foreign Minister, Mr. Chou En-Lai, was last year presented with demands of independence by three Tibetan Cabinet Ministers. One of these died suddenly on his return trip to Lhasa and the other two were banished as soon as they reached home. In parts of Tibet Chinese garrisons are isolated and have to depend upon air drops for their supplies. So strong is the Tibetan resistance that Mao has decided that attempts to introduce "Socialism" in Tibet must be postponed, probably for at least five years. Relations with nearby Burma are also not too good. The Chinese some time ago invaded Wa State, and have agreed to evacuate it only upon the condition that the one hundred square miles of the Namwan Tract and the Kachin villages of Hpimay, Kangfang, and Gwalum, at present administered by Burma, shall be recognised as Chinese territory. Perhaps it is only a matter of time before New Zealand and Australia begin to appear on maps of China.
Several sources indicate that the Chinese have been whipped up to hygiene campaigns and that graft and theft are being rigorously stamped out. Flies have been virtually eliminated in some areas; the workers carry fly swotters about with them and ruthlessly exterminate any flies that they happen to see. Litter, too, is rarely found in the streets. Guests in China have no fears as to their luggage; in the hotels they do not even need to lock their doors.
Communist China is emerging with the largest standing military force in the world. The army numbers between 3,000,000 and 3,500,000 soldiers and these are supported by an air force equipped with four thousand bombers and fighters. Already the Chinese are manufacturing their own military aircraft, and last year they allocated the collosal sum of 2.3 billion dollars—almost 20 per cent. of their total budget—for defence.
With the Chinese growing more powerful and populous every day we can no longer afford to ignore them. Reality demands that we recognise China and give her her rightful place in United Nations and in Disarmament Conferences. How can we expect to reach an effective agreement on disarmament when the nation with the world's largest army is excluded from disarmament conferences? Much though we may dislike Chinese methods, we cannot escape the fact that in about two decades' time China will be the world's leading power. If we are to avert a tragedy we must act now before it is too late. This calls for a complete volte-face in our relations with China. We must recognise her, trade with her, offer her economic aid and in general try to woo her over to our way of life. We must point out to Mao's people that the natural field for Chinese expansion is not South across the Pacific, which is well protected by the American fleet, but rather that it is North into the vast sparsely-populated areas of the Soviet Union, where the huge Chinese army could be made use of. Once again I wish to point out that China's borders contain one child in every three. With this in mind dare we ignore them?
Not so long ago the world was shocked to learn that the French had bombed a small Tunisian village at great cost to human life. The incident is particularly detestable in that it occurred on market day when the streets were packed with innocent natives from the interior. This is just one example of the criminal acts which the French are perpetrating in an effort to hang on to part of North Africa.
In the issue of "Universities and Left Review" for summer
Now we learn that Mr. Mohammed Khemisti, the General Secretary of the Union Generale des Etudiants Musulmans Algerians (UGEMA) was arrested in Montpellier, France, where he was enrolled at the University. No official charge has been brought against him. Yet we learn that he is to be handed over to the Military Tribunal in Algeria, even though he has been absent from that country for the past five years. Since a number of other prominent Algerian scholars and leaders have in recent years been taken into custody and simply "disappeared", it becomes evident that his life is in grave danger. On behalf of the International Union of Students "Salient" editor requests all readers to send protests to the French Embassy.
Mr. Nash's unequivocal utterances at and en route to the Seato Conference at Manila are disappointing. At a time when leading spokesmen for Labour in Britain, and others much further right, are declaring in favour of spreading neutralism in Europe as a means of preventing conflict between Nato and Soviet power, Mr. Nash appears to be trying to talk the already entrenched neutrals of South-East Asia into enlisting in the armed "Western" alliance.
True, his reported remarks about the advantages of Seato membership for the Indians are partly softened by his tone of caution towards the open line-up of Seato with Nato and the Bagdad Pact. But his general attitude displays a too marked lack of sensitivity to the real issues confronting the Pacific and South-East Asia area with which New Zealand's future is integrated.
Mr. Nash effects admiration for Mr. Nehru. But he shows complete failure to comprehend Mr. Nehru's tremendous achievement in the world of power-politics. By linking nationalism, democratic liberties, and socialism with a tradition of non-violence and practical sanity, the Indian Premier has stretched a broad belt of uncommitted territory and humanity between the impassioned camps of "East" and "West" in South-East Asia.
George F. Kennan, one-time tub-thumping exponent of the U.S. policy of "containment", has concluded in his recent Reith Lectures that only the reproduction of this general pattern in Europe can rescue it from being the jittery powder-keg of the world. Air Marshal Sir John Slessor, in a series of articles recently reproduced in the "Dominion", has come to the same conclusion, and so have the last two British Labour Party conferences—their general view being best expressed in Denis Healey, M.P.'s, new Fabian tract, "A Neutral Belt for Europe?"
For the sentiment for neutralism in Europe is as great now as it is in Asia. Just as, one by one, Burma, Indonesia, Ceylon, Afghanistan, Laos have followed India, and substantial groups in Japan, Pakistan, Thailand and the Philippines favour the same course, so on both sides of the curtain in Europe there are moves towards disengagement from the two great colossi and convergence towards the central position so solely occupied by Austria.
The Hungarian and Polish stories are well enough known. We tend to forget that there are a few uneasy allies on our own side, and perhaps have not heard of the strength of the neutralist component in the huge opposition alliance in Greece, the known pro-neutralist sympathies of prominent Italian statesmen such as President Gronchi, and the nearly neutralist platform of the Mendes-France group in the French Radical Party.
It is easy to overlook the fact that in the panic of the marshalling of opposing teams when the cold war got under way around
Nor was it only in the East that Socialists saw Moscow as a lesser evil. Victor Gollancz wrote during the war: "I do not want 'Stalinization,' but if I had to say which, as a fait accompli, I should think better, Russian bolshevism or a chaos of sovereign capitalist states: then deliberately and after full reflection I should give my vote to Stalin."
Capitalism, as the compost-heap on which fascism, imperialism, unemployment and war have spawned, has justly earned the hatred of men of goodwill to such an extent that they will fall headlong into the hideous error of a self-styled socialism which lacks democratic freedoms and decencies.
Similarly, the horror of labour camps and judicial murders have made men of goodwill recoil into the arms of politicians intent on advancing the banners of capitalism under the slogans of democracy.
European sentiment is consolidating in favour of a neutral position which combines the socialist ideal of the East with the democratic ideal of the West. It is a measure of the maturity and vision of such statesmen as Nehru and Sukarno that Asian opinion has been fairly thoroughly consolidated in this direction for a long time.
It would be fitting for a New Zealand Labour Government to approach it with sympathy and a little humility.
Let me tell you an old, old story; Victoria still has a wooden spoon (being a trophy awarded for the lowest points at Easter Tournament). Unusual. No. Apart from one bright spell in
Last year at Dunedin Vic. failed to score in Athletics, Men or Women; Basketball; Shooting and Swimming, and just scraped on to the score board in rowing by half a point. In an issue of "Salient" following this Tournament (
Beside the incompetents are the purely social. The distinction between the two is rather fine but I would classify those people who are quite capable, but not interested, in the sporting side of Tournament. If only these "social" members would realise that by their attitude to Tournament they are disregarding the interests of fellow team members and of the University as a whole. Don't interpret this the wrong way; I am not advocating that the attitude to. Tournament should be one of fanatical sporting devotion but merely the reasonable one of appealing to team members to remember that your primary obligation is to sport and to fulfil that obligation to the best of your trained ability. It can only be by a "balanced diet" at Tournament that you can expect to draw, from the enormous potential, the fullest satisfaction. And club selectors remember that if it is not absolutely necessary that a full contingent be sent it is within your power to reduce the number sent which will tend to raise the low standard of Victoria's Easter Sportsmen.
To clarify the position of eligibility for Easter Tournament "Salient" has extracted the relevant section of the Constitution.
No person is eligible for Easter Tournament unless:
If you are outstanding at a summer sport and have not been contacted then its probably too late but contact the secretary of the club in which you are interested. The names and contact numbers are available in the Exec. Office at the end of the veranda of the Gym.
The scheduled game against Massey this year was completely washed out by heavy rain which prevented even an appearance on the pitch.
Dr. Williams, as first Vice-Chan-cellor of the Victoria University of Wellington, made the necessary substitutions in past welcoming speeches and delivered it to 200-300 freshers. For further information as to content see "Salient"
It's an old story that universities accumulate knowledge because the freshers bring some with them from school and the graduates take none away. Bearing this in mind, the old hands around the place were only too glad to bow to the wisdom of the freshers. Among the gems floating around were the following:—
Overheard at freshers Welcome supper—
Female fresher in disappointed tones: "They aren't very full. I thought they wouldn't be able to stand."
Repeated in a geography class—
Fresher to Prof. Buchanan: "Is the Dean of Science busy?"
Overheard in the main corridor—
One female fresher to another: "Isn't it vulgar to sit in the common common-room?"
To Frank Crotty for asserting that he "rode" in the Union Four when we have it on quite good authority that this time he rowed.
You are no doubt aware that Tiddlywinks is becoming a worldwide sport, and naturally as in any growing and virile activity there are several minor differences regarding the mode of play.
If this promising pastime is to progress to its rightful position as one of the world's great games we must reconcile these minor differences and formulate a standard set of rules.
As the World Champions we, at Cambridge, feel that we should give the Lead, and so we cordially invite a member of your Tiddlywinks Club to represent your University at the First World Tiddlywinks Congress to be held here in Cambridge on
We appreciate that in some cases the expense entailed in attending this conference may be sufficiently exorbitant to prevent your delegate from being present. If this is so we would be grateful for your Club's views and comments on the following:
Please find enclosed a copy of the rules used at Cambridge University.
We look forward to receiving your reply.
Yours faithfully, for L. M. M. Howells, B.A., and W. M. Steen, B.A., joint chairmen of the First World Tiddlywinks Congress.
Due to the resignation of three members of the Exec several changes have had to be made. Late last year Mr. J. R. Martin left New Zealand and, consequently, left a vacancy on the Men's Committee which was filled by the co-option of Mr. P. V. O'Brien. Shortly following this initial resignation were the resignations of both Vice-Presidents, Mr. H. R. Carver who has taken up residence in Wanganui) and Miss G. M. Jackson, who is now Mrs. Maxwell. This entailed the appointment of a member of the Mens Committee, Mr. D. D. Wilson, to the position of Mens Vice-President and Miss A. C. Duncan, of the Womens Committee, to the position of Womens Vice-President. Two more co-opotions were thus needed to fill the vacancies on Exec. These have been Miss G. H. Meyer and Mr. D. Trow. We extend our congratulations to those involved.
Business attended to at the first meeting of the House Committee established in
Congratulations to Exec for their long overdue adoption of the policy of allowing Travelling Subsidies to Tournament members not travelling with the team, and for the purposes of general information the Travelling Subsidy is made from the basis of one quarter of the standard second class return, not third class, fare under Group Travel concessions.
Could it be that the proposer of the motion that boxing be deleted from the list of Winter Tournament Sports be uninformed as to the true condition of the sport in the University. The lack of interest which he claims exists at Victoria may be only apparent because of the lack of facilities at Victoria, forcing participants in this noble sport to resort to training at a local professional gymnasium.
Constituent Universities of N.Z. U.S.A. have been asked to consider the issuing of an invitation to a debating team from Australia for
Next Tuesday: Special Tournament Issue
"When a multitude of young men, keen, open-hearted, sympathetic, and observant, as young men are, come together and freely mix with each other, they are sure to learn from one another, even if there be no one to teach them; the conversation of all is a series of lectures to each, and they gain for themselves new ideas and views, fresh matter of thought, and distinct principles by acting, day by day ... the pupils or students come from very different places, and with widely different notions, and there is much to generalize, much to adjust, much to eliminate, there are inter-relations to be defined, and conventional rules to be established, in the process, by which the whole assemblage is moulded together, and gains one tone and one character."
This may be taken as the ideal of Congress; it remains to estimate how far this year's gathering came up to this ideal, how far it became moulded together.
The prime fault was that Congress
How far this over-saturation affected Congress at large it is impossible to say; certainly it must take the blame for a large number of the meandering contributions which followed upon each lecture, and for the larger number of those who preferred to wrestle with their complexities in silence. It must also bear some of the responsibilities for the contrasting enthusiasm with which the students entered into the social and sporting activities as a means of escape.
But for all that, it cannot account for all the meanderings; it cannot account for the intellectual defeatism which was present and although no sound does not necessarily involve no activity, it verges on illusion to conclude that all those who remained silent were engaged in contemplation. Further, good taste, in a number of cases, seemed more important than truth; and the abject apologies offered before some of the questions smacked more of guarding against an intellectual
This general judgment on the standard of post-lecture discussions was borne out on the three occasions when the students could have been expected to contribute more intelligently than on the other occasions: the forum on University education in New Zealand, the Congress forum,
"There are no hard and fast sociological criteria to help us define membership of the intelligentsia in the same way as we do with regard to the other socio-economic classes," Doctor Charlesworth began.
"What, I think, we require before we award—or impose—the title of intellectual on anyone, is not merely that he engages in 'higher thought', but that he has a certain social attitude, a certain attitude towards the society of which he is a member."
Arthur Koestler, in his "The Yogi and the Commissar", has defined the intelligentsia as that which "first appears as that part of a nation which by its' social situation is driven to independent thought, that is, to a type of group behaviour which debunks the existing hierarchy of values (from which it is excluded) and at the same time tries to replace it with new values of its own. This constructive tendency of the intelligentsia is its second basic feature. The iconoclasts always had a prophetic streak, and all debunkers have a bashfully hidden pedagogic vein."
Doctor Charlesworth thought that this definition was too narrow, pointing out that the intellectual is not necessarily an iconoclast or a debunker. "We must, then, broaden Koestler's definition and say rather that the distinguishing feature of the intellectual is that he is one who attempts to stand apart from the society or the culture of which he is a member in order to examine and judge the basic values which it takes for granted in a wider perspective."
What was essential to the intellectual's attitude was his dissociation from his immediate social environment, refusing to take it for granted and realising that it was merely one precarious contingent actualisation among an infinite number of possibilities. It was here that the social value of the intelligentsia primarily consisted, "for this critical self-conscious attitude is an indispensable counterweight against the tendencies of societies to become 'closed' societies, . . . . and to insulate themselves from the risk of communication with other cultures."
However, . . . the intellectual not only stood in judgement on society, but he also attempted to transform his society and adopt a missionary attitude toward' it.
Dr M. J. Charlesworth, M.A. (Melbourne). Ph.D. (Louvain), Lecturer in Philosophy. University, of Auckland. Studied at the Institut Superieur de Philosophy on a post-graduate scholarship after graduating from the University of Melbourne, 1949. Especially interested in Aristotle and the medievals.
Elaborating on this notion of a basic duality—the awareness of the intelligentsia that they were a class apart, and the consequent missionary attitude towards the non-intelligentsia—Doctor Charles-worth maintained that it created a kind of tension which was very difficult to maintain. "No doubt, at first the missionary attitude of the intellectual towards his fellows is a purely disinterested one—he has seen a vision of a higher and better world and he wants to share that vision with others. However when he finds that this vision, luminously clear and convincing to himself, is rejected, he is tempted to judge his fellows as being either fools or knaves and either to retire to sulk in an ivory tower or, if he has the chance, to coerce the others 'for their own good.'"
Thus the inevitable tendency of an intelligentsia which has no real hope of influencing society was to emphasise its status as a class' apart and to end in a kind of irresponsible Utopianism, or as Koestler put it, a kind of collective neurosis. At the other extreme too favourable social conditions saw the intelligentsia forget its critical and dissenting function and laspe into the
". . . At the risk of appearing to be entirely paradoxical", he continued, "I would claim that it is only the Christian who can, practically speaking, maintain this precarious balance between debunker and missionary without it degenerating into esotericism on the one hand or into fanaticism on the other. In the light of the historical record of Christianity this may seem to be hard to justify . . ."
Doctor Charlesworth went on to claim that Christianity maintained this balance because it was opposed to the temptation of esotericism—illustrated by the efforts of the early Church to combat agnosticism on the one hand, and because it worked against the opposite temptation of fanaticism or Utopian totalitarianism on the other.
Turning to the present mood of the intelligentsia. Doctor Charlesworth considered it to be anti-Utopian in character This mood of disillusion was to some extent due to the war and its aftermath, but mainly to the revealed totalitarianism of Russian communism which,
In England removal by the Welfare State of the social and economic injustices which the intelligentsia previously attacked, together with the post-war 'recognition of the intelligentsia, had meant a decline in the importance of this group.
Turning to Australia and New Zealand, Dr. Charlesworth claimed that both countries had never had intelligentsia in the real sense. "For most of their short lives Australia and New Zealand have been pioneering societies concentrating all their energies upon immediate "practical tasks, and of course in such societies there is no real place for intellectuals. Again the egalitarian atmosphere of both societies means that any such class as the intelligentsia which challenges what Doctor Bill Pearson has called the 'almighty norm', is suspect. Even within the Labour parties of both countries intellectuals have never been important or influential, for in so far as the programme of the Labour parties has been socialist it has been of a quite pragmatic tin-doctrinaire kind. This pragmatic political attitude worked successfully while there were immediate social injustices and inequalities to be remedied, but now with the advent of the Welfare State, the Labour Parties find themselves without any kind of raison d'être, any long-range conception of society which could distinguish them fundamentally from the conservative parties.
An article in another part of this supplement complains that Congress was over-organized; the managers might take some comfort from the fact that it was over-organized efficiently. Congress Controller Tony Holman may justifiably take much of the credit for the programme having few hitches, and Congresses with involved programmes and few hitches inevitably mean that the work had been going on for some months.
The chairmanship followed this pattern of competence. Doctor Scott's arrival was, in the circumstances, sufficient evidence of his enthusiasm; amongst a group of characters, as the lecturers were, Harry Scott was well to the fore.
"The present situation of the intelligentsia in Australia and New Zealand, then, is rather depressing. There are in doubt strong and Jively literary and artistic cliques in both countries as well as the University intelligentsia. But none of these groups have any real social influence. So long as the same circumstances continue in Australia and New Zealand, the intelligentsia will continue to be superfluous. But, one may ask, how long are the present circumstances likely to last? Both Australia and New Zealand in the very near future, whether they like it or not have to come to terms with their Pacific and near-Eastern neighbours, that is to say, with societies or cultures radically different from their own and societies influenced by Chinese communism. That coming to terms—if indeed we are lucky enough to be able to come to terms—will require a great
"It is not necessary for the psychologist to go outside the universe of organic evolution to explain the position of the mind and how it operates," said Dr Scott.
"The 'mind' is a concept; we use the term 'mental' to designate events or aspects of people's activities. It is in order to use this term 'mental' to characterise them, so long as we don't assume we have explained them by putting them down to the working of 'the mind' as a thing, an entity."
Dealing first with common aspects of behaviour, Dr. Scott said the mammal's response to the environment was very selective. What it would notice and respond to depended on what is relevant. Organised behaviour had a temporal sequence—the organism was thus pre-tuned to perceive certain things and disregard other irrelevant things.
Without this pre-tuning the mammal would be continuously distracted and would bat around in a cycle of unfinished activities. On the other hand if there was too much pre-tuning the organism was not very adaptable; its attention became too narrow and it failed to notice important signals in the environment when the situation changed—it was preoccupied.
Without this intense human concentration none of the great feats of human performance would be possible—from abstruse mathematical solutions to pole-vaulting. Our approach to the understanding of organised on-going behaviour has been in terms of this specific response of the brain to particular stimuli. But it has recently emerged that this focussing of the organism on a very small range of relevant stimuli—relevant to the task in hand that is—had curious consequences. In the end it was detrimental to efficient performance.
Boredom was the effect of doing too little for too long. The person who said "I feel terribly tired, I have done nothing to-day' was saying he was bored. It seemed that the brain needed continuous stimulus by a wide range of stimuli, a good many of which would be 'irrelevant'. The man concentrating on the radar screen saw little and did little and though he may not have become tired in the first half hour, he certainly became less efficient at his task. Dr. Scott then described the two routes, the direct and the more indirect, by which a stimulus could reach the brain. The direct route was well known. The stimulation from the retina of the eye traversing the optic nerve passed through the thalamus, along the temporal radiations to a particular part of the brain—the visual cortex, the first six cell layers at the back of the head. The second route was not a simple, direct, express route but, except for smell, a slower, scattered, more diffuse one. It took off from the main route by collaterals into a pool of neurones in the brain stream. From this pool, which was stirred into general activity by incoming stimuli, protectives went diffusely to various parts of the cortex and these carried the genera! 'alerting' stimulation not a specific signal.
Electrical responses in the brain, plotted on an oscilloscope could measure the effect of the stimuli. Two rhythms had been noted—a resting rhythm when 12 responses per second were recorded and an active rhythm, which was
When a single stimulus reached the
This was what was known as the habituation of the activating mechanism There came a time when the cortex ceased to be alerted by a given stimuli. But if there was any change in the pitch or tone of the stimulus the reaction began all over again.
Maybe for the man concentrating on the radar screen, the stimulus or 'blip' ceased to activate; all the other unchanging stimuli about him likewise. An experiment was carried out to see what effect long exposure to a narrow range of unchanging sensation would have. Subjects were isolated from normal stimuli. Their eyes were covered with goggles which admitted light but did not permit vision; they could hear nothing save the hum of an amplifier and an air conditioner; their cubicle where they lay on a' comfortable couch was semi-sound proof; they could not feel because their hands were covered with cotton gloves and cardboard tubes; they did not shave or wash; they were allowed to go to the toilet and eat with guidance. "The aim was to make the subject's environment as bland, flat and perceptibly characterless as possible." The subject was well rested and eager for things to do, e.g. problems to solve. But his efficiency fell off dramatically; they did not succeed at tasks they set themselves. After 36 hours the students were utterly and desperately bored.
Besides test results demonstrating their inefficiency there were other examples too of their confusion. The musician who believed he had discovered a beautiful cadence for his symphonic work later found that it was one he had rejected a week earlier. In this environment the subjects became quite absent minded: those who attempted to think could not develop a clear, logical line.
Subjects also started reporting odd things. Most observed visual and auditory hallucinations which developed from the simple to the complex, and were similar to those experienced by people who take such drugs as mescal. Although on release the subjects assumed that their behaviour was quite normal they were still for a time quite inefficient. Most behaved as if they were mildly schizophrenic the symptoms of which persisted for several days.
Deterioration of a similar though milder sort, explained Dr. Scott, resulted in mental tasks requiring long concentration. Also, there was certain evidence that habituation to the activating aspects of the environment was accumulative; as the day wore on the brain ceased to be activated without a complete change of scene or activity. Recovery was effected through sleep—which was at the same time a period of perceptual isolation. Thus one had to recover from the ill effects of sleep before the beneficial effects could "come out.
In conclusion Dr. Scott referred to the social implications of these facts about human behaviour. "There are many examples where our institutions force on us periods of perceptual isolation, long or short, as for instance some prisons and long air flights. Further, the high points of human thinking and efficiency require the minimum of obviously distracting and irrelevent stimuli. Yet it is paradoxical that these are the very conditions which will inevitably lead to quick deterioration. Close concentration cuts us off too completely from the range of stimulations with which the brain must be bombarded if it is to remain in its best, most efficiently organised working condition. Most of man's Noblest, most creative moments are indeed moments only; we take off but we remain airborne only briefly. Our best thoughts comes only in bursts."
The Editors regret that a summary of the
Dr T. H. Scott M.A.. Ph.D. (McGill). Chairman, Senior Lecturer and Head of the Department of Psychology, University of Auckland. Previously Research Assistant at McGill University, 1952-54, and Senior Lecturer in Psychology, University of Canterbury. Toured the United States on a Carnegie Grant in 1955. An N.Z.U. Blue in Hockey and a writer for various journals, including "Landfall."
Political Economy may be called Russia's Secret Weapon, said Mr Rosenberg, because it is so little known in Western countries. It is either ignored or belittled. Yet the amazing success of the Russian economic system which was recently epitomised by the Sputnik shows that it is in her economic system that Russia's strength lies.
The reason for our ignoring Russian economic theories lay in the fact that to understand Soviet economic theory it was necessary also to revise some basic value-notions which we all hold very dear. For, Mr. Rosenberg claimed, it is impossible to reconcile a number of the concepts of Western democracy with the political set-up which is the necessary outcome of the scientific organisation of economics in the Soviet Union. Mr. Rosenberg compared the unwillingness to understand the thoroughly rational system of economics established in the Soviet Union with the resistance to the Copernican world system which made the sun the centre of the universe and thus also destroyed a number of deeply cherished values. Yet, in order to achieve scientific progress, some values had to be adjusted to the new facts of life.
Continuing to develop the background to his talk Mr. Rosenberg then pointed out that the success of the Russian economic system, based on their economic theory, was of immense importance in the present struggle for the loyalty of the "uncommitted nations." These nations which represented the poorest part of the world needed economic improvement urgently and they represent over 1,000 million people.
Mr. Rosenberg then moved on to the main part of his address which was a review of "Political Economy", the text-book of the Russian Academy of Sciences on Political Economy. The book was divided into two parts—a criticism of the capitalist economic system and an appraisal of the socialist one. The first part, Mr. Rosenberg said was the weakest and contained a great number of distortions, such as a reference to the ruin of the peasantry which sounded somewhat strange in the light of New Zealand farming. However, Mr. Rosenberg claimed that the approach to economics as Political Economy rather than economics pure and simple was much more realistic than was the case with our own economic theory. Economics cannot be divorced from the social and political factors in which economic forces developed, he said. And this was particuIarly true with regard to the under-developed countries. Capitalist economics which tried to describe an economic system which was essentially irrational could not fail but be unsatisfactory. If these were economic laws, economists were largely unable to control them. Thus we were
Present day Western economics was a form of applied logic where conclusions were developed from largely unrealistic assumptions. The striking paradox was that the science of economics was a system of logic hut that it dealt with an economic system which was the height of illogicality. Falling prices in our economy were a disaster—as illustrated by the fall in the price for New Zealand cheest—Mr. Rosenberg claimed. Defence expenditure appeared to be a boon to the economy instead of a burden and while there was widespread hunger throughout the world agricultural production cither "over-produced" or was restricted in the Western world in many instances. Mr. Rosenberg claimed that the rational-political approach to economics which was the main aspect of Soviet economics was for this reason very impressive.
Moving on to the second part of the book—the political economy of socialism—Mr. Rosenberg said that it had a basic assumption that there must be correspondence between the economic and social systems of a society. In order to achieve this correspondence the book maintained that private property in the means of production had to be abolished. For private property made it impossible to co-ordinate the activities of all productive forces in the best interest of society.
The basic laws of the political economy of socialism were two: the fundamental law—" . . . the securing of the maximum satisfaction of the constantly rising material and cultural requirements of the whole of society through the continuous expansion and perfection of socialist production on the basis of the highest techniques;" and the law of Planned Proportional Development, which entailed balancing present resources both material and financial, and balancing the present and the future. The fundamental law meant the continuous improvement of education to instill into the people a higher sense of Jiving and absorb the increasing output of goods; science thus became a most important factor both in production and education, and explained why Russia was ahead of the West in scientific education at the present time. The implementation of the law of Planned Proportional Development involved distribution of wages according to work done and the use of the price mechanism.
The social objectives of the rational planning of production were maximum satisfaction of consumers, both materially and culturally; social and economic equality; and freedom, which for socialism meant man becoming master of his social and economic relations.
In conclusion, Mr. Rosenberg claimed that the book "Political Economy" was an impressive pointer towards solving the problems of over-population and overproduction, the twin problems of the capitalist world. To that extent it is a powerful weapon directing the attention, of the uncommitted world towards Russia.
"'Political Economy'", said Mr. Rosenberg," does not show the way to the good life, but for those who starve or live in the fear of starvation the rich life and the good life may be synonymous, even if these terms are not synonymous for us—surely a minority in our materialistic age."
Mr W. Rosenberg, M.Com., F.R.A. N.Z., Senior Lecturer in Economics, University of Canterbury. Has travelled in the United States, the U.S.S.R. and Europe.
Mr Collins began by examining the attitude of the worker in New Zealand to his work, and he maintained that it was "the least possible for the most money." The speaker went on to claim that when this same worker was called on in an emergency, then he would do a job which could be bettered by no one.
"Generally there is no feeling of doing a job of community importance," said Mr. Collins. "'She'll do' and 'near enough' apply to many jobs, and there is little real interest in them. But when a job does require skill and ingenuity and application by the same man, then 'she'll do' and near enough' become expressions of satisfaction in a job well done.
"A skilled man in a skilled job has a pride in his work, but there is far too, little incentive and recognition for the man in the lowly and menial job. Our sense of values is all wrong. The dustman is just as valuable to our society as the doctor. But generally speaking the worker's attitude, in his own words, is 'I don't come here for the work, it's the money."
Mr N. A. Collins, Trade Unionist. Represented a group of trade unions on a visit to the U.S.S.R. in 1952 and has also visited Great Britain. Officer and member of several Christchurch committees concerned with youth and International work.
On the question of whether or not the trade union movement was outdated and unnecessary in these times, Mr. Collins maintained that the last Government's actions in passing laws discriminating and aiming against trade unions were sure evidence that nothing could be taken for granted or that a point once gained will always remain.
"Over the last year or so, there have been moves by employers to have awards altered to lower wages, increased hours of work, and to lower working conditions. So long as moves such as this have to be met, unions are not outdated." He went on to say that it did not need a depression to make unions a live force.
Mr. Collins maintained that the Government does not provide ideal working conditions for its employees, and thus eliminate the need for trade unions there. In evidence of this, he quoted the
"Government employees get what good conditions they have in the same way as other workers get them—by fighting for them," he said.
Turning to worker participation in the management of his industry, Mr. Collins said that there was a great deal of scope for this, particularly in government departments.
"Who knows the details and practicabilities of his job better than the man who is doing it? We see examples time and time again and are helpless to do anything—mistakes, bungling, inefficiency, waste, incompetent bosses waiting to retire. I believe unions should concern themselves in production and efficiency. My union branch is endeavouring to do something in this field, but it has a terrific hurdle of prejudice and 'bossitis' to overcome first."
Describing the organisation of trade unions in New Zealand, Mr. Collins said that there was much apathy towards Unions by many workers, who were no different to other community groups in their couldn't-care-less attitude.
"Only a minority are effective unionists. I think it says much for these men and women that they giye so much for the welfare of the huge majority who little appreciate what is being done for them.
This is the second in a series of supplements giving students a summary of talks at Congress,
"But these 'Tired Tims' who don't attend union meetings, who do nothing to help, are only too ready to criticise and condemn, but never refuse the gains made. Those who condemn the unions do so in sheer ignorance.
". . . Unions today lack drive and virility; there is no militancy in presenting the workers' case. No union can be made a powerful and crusading organisation by a few representatives. Unless the members in the mass use the union as a weapon for social betterment, then it will be tame and docile, as most of them are—a mere reflection of their members.
"This is one of the results of compulsory unionism. I personally dislike it and believe that persuasion and example is a better method than compulsion. Compulsion tends to give a false strength to the trade union movement as a whole, makes unreliable members and makes things easy for professional officials and gives them a power they should not have, because of uninterested members.
"However idealism must be tempted with reality and there are definite advantages in compulsory trade unionism."
The speaker also commented on the Arbitration Court and the arbitration system in general: "I would say that the workers accept it and approve of it so long as it gives reasonable results. Very few would like to return to strikes and bitterness but at the same time, I believe, unions must have the right to strike as a last resort. After all, an employer, as long as things are fair and above board, has the right to hire and fire and the workers should have the right to withhold their labour. If we believe in collective bergaining—unionism—then this means collective withholding of our labour—the strike.
"... One aspect of the Arbitration Court awards, although no fault of the court itself, is that it makes a wage increase to make up for, amongst other things, the increase in the cost of living since the last wage rise. Then as soon as the increase is announced, up go prices everywhere to meet the wage rise. The worker is once again on the losing end. I consider this dishonest practice and cheating the worker and that the Government should take action in the matter."
On the matter of the trade unions and politics, Mr. Collins maintained that politics "is bound up with us and is part and parcel of our union work. Politics, after all is the business of living and very close to the workers. Because of this concern, trade union politics affects very much the everyday life of the community and its influence and power must be a concern of any government, whether friendly or otherwise."
"... The trade union movement is a vital and essential part of our New Zealand family and we would be the poorer without it," Mr. Collins concluded.
The greatest achievement in biological thinking in the nineteenth century, according to Dr. R. E. F. Matthews, was organic evolution, in which many different unrelated facts were made into a consistent story of living things. Darwin for instance had said that "God injected something outside matter into the first living life and from then on this process of organic evolution lead up to man."
Another of the nineteenth century evolutionists, Alfred Russell Wallace, had claimed that there were three stages in the development of the organic world. The first was that there was the change from the organic to the inorganic when the first vegetable cells or living protoplasm out of which life arose appeared. This involved something quite beyond increased complexity of chemical compounds. The first vegetable cell was a new thing which demonstrated its "vitality" in its fixation of the oxygen from the air and in its power of reproduction:
"We can reasonably account for the origin of life and for its maintenance in giving the properties of inorganic matter as we know them today," said Dr. Matthews.
Turning to the origins of life, Dr. Matthews said that there were only two possibilities, special creation in the beginning, or else spontaneous generation. Both these were theologically acceptable but today science allowed only the latter.
The earth in its earliest period was an ocean of water, where the atmosphere contained nitrogen and methane but not oxygen or carbon dioxide. This absence of oxygen and carbon dioxide means that the ultra-violet rays from the sun streamed through to the earth. Experiments had shown that with such conditions sub-units would arise spontaneously from many of the chemical compounds which would be present at that time. Since these newly broken down substances could not be oxidised by oxygen in the atmosphere or eaten by micro-organisms they aggregated into larger molecules. Once these aggregates formed in the soup of a sea, competition developed for food.
The use of energy was the next crucial step, explained Dr. Matthews, and almost certainly the first type was fermentation, a by-product of carbon dioxide, which was in turn released into the atmosphere. This allowed photosynthesis, the first really great process of living material, to develop. With photosynthesis established three things happened: primitive organisms were now independent of the sea soup from which they had arisen, there was oxygen in the atmosphere so that the ultra-violet rays were cut off from the sun thus allowing life to come on to the land, and there evolved an efficient source of energy producing compounds. Oxygen in the air thus allowed the development of respiration, an efficient method of using fuel.
"There is no essential difficulty in this sequence," said Dr. Matthews. "Although a lot of these reactions may seem highly improbable if they have any probability at all, given the vast period of time available—something like two billion years—a most improbable event becomes almost certain."
Concluding his study of "spontaneous generation, the speaker said that the first primitive living cells did not reproduce sexually. This meant that the most important part of the reproductive process—the unifying of two different lines of experience—was precluded. With the development of sexual reproduction living matter was able to increase and vary greatly.
Dr. Matthews went on to show how children were similar to their parents. The sperm transmitted the detailed qualities to the offspring and how this took place had been the subject of much study in the nineteenth century. According to the Preformation school the sperm contained a complete little man, inside him was another complete little man, and so on. On this basis it had been estimated that Eve contained 1,542,657 little men. Today the view was one of germinal continuity; any animal was the home of the next generation but there was no relation between the body and the sperm cell.
The characters which made human life were individual units, generally stable and separated and assorted independently while the germ cells were being made. The children of blue and brown eyed parents for instance would be brown eyed, but some of the next generation blue eyed. "The essential fact is that the brown eyed carry information from the blue, but this information does not become contaminated or mixed through being in a 'blue eyed' body," said Dr. Matthews.
Inside the nucleus of the reproductive cells were a set of chromosomes which underwent complicated division, as a result of which each new cell received a completely new set. Recent work has shown nucleic acid to be the chemical bas's. Quoting experiments with a tobacco virus. Dr. Matthews said that the outer protein rod had been separated from the inner nucleic acid. It was found that the protein was unnecessary since only the nucleic acid was infected.
"For the first time we have experimental proof that one large chemical molecule can carry in some way the information for the production of another," he concluded.
Dr R. E. F. Matthews, M.Sc. Ph.D. (Comb.), Senior Principal Scientific Officer. Plant Diseases Division D.I.S.R., Auckland. Research worker on the biology and biochemistry of plant viruses. Travelled throughout Europe and North America.
That the New Zealand Government take steps to construct a, modern mental health service, including reform of the mental hospitals and of the law relating to mental illness, and establishing psychiatric centres serving the general community from ordinary hospitals; further that this expansion of psychiatric facilities be on the lines laid down by the W.H.O. in its technical reports, by the American Psychiatric Association in its list of standards for mental hospitals, and by the recent British Commission on the Law Relating to Mental Illness.
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That Clause 4 (d) be deleted from the Fourth Schedule, N.Z.U.S.A. Constitution. Voting: 60 in favour, 38 against. 1 abstention, 6 recorded dissents.
Clause 4 (d) reads as follows:
All persons attending the Congress shall be subject to the following rules and failure to abide by or to obey these rules shall at the discretion of the Committee be subject to any one or more of the penalties provided in Clause (5). To refrain from bringing any alcoholic drinks on to the Congress site.)
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That this Congress calls upon N.Z. U.S.A. to ask the Government to express to the Government of the Union of South Africa its opposition to and disapproval of the policy of Apartheid.
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That the compulsory foreign language unit or the foreign language reading requirement for the Arts degree be done away with in the Universities in New Zealand where it is applicable. Voting: 57 in favour, 37 against.
That the accrediting system be abolished.
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That this Congress considers necessary the early repeal of the Police Offences Amendment Act (
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That this Congress calls upon the Government to take urgent steps to improve the welfare of the inhabitants of New Zealand's island dependencies.
The mediator was the man between and intimate with two cultures, and his work, whatever it was, was consented to or asked for by the community, said Mr E. Schwimmer.
Turning first to the mediator in the field, Mr Schwimmer stated that he found himself restricted in two ways. "First, there are some parts of himself and the cultural background about which he cannot speak with his new friends, since they would not understand, and second, there are some parts of the community life with which it is not wise to become involved."
The mediator should not become identified with any 'sore spots' of the community, as did a Professor, who criticised Western civilisation before a Maori audience, as a means of getting support. But since the Professor represented Western civilisation to that group he failed; first, because he revealed his personal feelings about Western civilisation, and second, because he had wrongly interpreted the group's attitude to Western civilisation. "The mediator is no mere manipulator of a community; from one point of view he is merely a member of it and he has to play the role the community assigns to him."
It was hard to analyse how one became a successful mediator. Ostensibly the initiative was his but on the other hand he must wait for the Maori to signify that he had been accepted by the community: It was also dangerous for the mediator who had been given a role to assume he had been given any complete authority. In certain rare cases the stranger was offered a full community role, particularly when mediators were sent to an area to introduce far reaching changes in a short time, working through the traditional leadership of the community. In such cases the mediator became an influential leader and the symbol of the progress made even though he did not aspire to that role.
"Thus when the mediator is withdrawn from the people the reforms collapse for the mediator has become more valued than the reforms which he has instituted .... Thus on his departure the only right substitute would be another mediator, the absence of which sees frustration and stagnation set in. It would be better therefore not to set up this kind of relationship if it cannot be maintained."
The motives of the mediator varied greatly, the speaker said. Isolation was one—the person far from town who needed an outlet for his energy. Emotional disturbance or the adoption of the Maori community as the only one where they could be loved and respected, was another. The Maoris were splendid in the handling of such people and made use of what they had to give, as well as soothing and comforting them.
Rebellion against society was the third and most evident cause. People such as those in close contact with Maori communities were regarded with profound suspicion when they tried to influence Government policy. Yet the Government showed much hesitation in accepting their specialist knowledge as for example Maori assimilation, which the mediators advocated but the Government opposed.
"Although the mediators may probably be right the Government suspects the motives behind the mediator's arguments. And their suspicions are fully justified. For I would say about almost anyone of these more influential mediators that he would turn the whole of New Zealand into a Polynesian paradise if he could. These people don't approve of our present civilisation and they dislike the idea of the Maoris having to adopt it. Quite obviously if these people liked. European civilisation why should they choose to live among the Maoris. As a group they are rebels and New Zealand society regards them as such."
Considering the manner in which the mediator benefitted from the culture he desired, saw before him but could never fully take in, Mr. Schwimmer said that normally as in his own case there was an intense relationship. He regarded Maori society as a strange object, the nature of which he wanted passionately to know. The disconnected pieces of knowledge which he collected became a vital part of his personality, labelled 'Maori world' as it were. "Here there were several processes going on at the same time. I saw the Maoris in the way in which they would see each other; I described them in the magazine in a way which would interest them; and I started friendships of a sort in which I was far more deferential than in ordinary life.
Mr E. Schwimmer, M.A., Advisory Officer. Department of Maori Affairs, Editor of Te Hou and formerly Co-Editor of the literary quarterly, "Arachne." New Zealand correspondent of UNESCO features and has contributed to "Landfall," "Numbers" and "Poetry Yearbook."
Two 'selves' thus became apparent—the one wrapped up in community causes and the other with the normal things of everyday life. This was true of all mediators. This phenomenon seemed to fit in and the unconscious, the hidden opposite with Jungian theory which saw the personality as consisting of the conscious being referred to as the 'shadow' per sonality. Psychlogical disorders were explained as the repression of the unconscious part of the self, the remedy being the making conscious of this shadow personality and giving it some work to do. Mr. Schwimmer claimed that it was this emergence of the hidden half which brought about the integration of the mediator's personality. But although the two 'selves' existed in harmony, the second had distinct qualities, being less robust, much better organised, and more able to embrace almost any religion at all.
"Although everyone had a shadow personality, it is only a certain type of people who become mediators. They are not as a rule particularly well adjusted to European civilisation; quite a number I know show a definite tendency towards neurosis, but instead of this impeding their work on the contrary it makes their work possible and the personality is held in excellent balance as long as the mediation lasts .... The difference between the mediator and the ordinary man is that while the mediator lives in two cultures the ordinary man can only live in one.
Because of this the person with the integrated personality was not the best choice as a mediator. A well developed person in an underdeveloped community might well regard himself as a solitary island of Western sanity on a turbulent ocean of non-Western madness, and would regard the people as difficult. On the other hand the person who was looking for integration with another culture was pleased to see how different his new environment was from the detestable European model.
"If the authorities were to accept this principle they could do a lot of good," claimed Mr. Schwimmer. "It is surprising how many people are never very happy in this world, but they could make good mediators ... If a determined effort was made to bring these people together a marked improvement would be seen in the work of such Government agencies as the Department of Maori Affairs and the Maori Schools Service, and at the same time some people would find their right vocation."
President: D. J. Stone, Past Editor, 'Craccum', A.U.
Secretary: R. W. Armstrong, Past Editor, 'Craccum', A.U.
Executive: Sue Cox and Denis Taylor; Editors, 'Craccum', A.U.; T. Kelliher, Editor, 'Salient', V.U., R. Frizzell, Editor, 'Canta', CU.; D. Lenihan, Editor, 'Critic', O.U.; R. Harvey, Editor, 'Chaff, M.A.C.; A. Nordmeyer and R. Plummer, Editors, 'Caclin', C.A.C.
Supplement: Edited by M. Chapman (A.U.), and D. Lenihan (O.U.), assisted by Linley Martin and R. W. Armstrong (A.U.).
and the discussion after the most provocative lecture of them all—that of Mr. Collins.
With the forum on University education, the stage-managing was again at fault; the forum plunged straight into the ethics of university education in practice, but as Miss Nyhan correctly pointed out, one cannot dispute the rights and wrongs of education in practice until one has decided on the rights and wrongs of education in theory. Exasperatingly enough, the chairwoman admitted the validity of this point, but proceeded as before. The result was a helpful corpus of information on New Zealand universities, but the hoary old disputes of arts versus science and the ignorance of one student about the activities of another, and the omission or inclusion of particular topics in
The Congress forum produced the occasional intelligent motion, principally, however, from only the occasional intelligent contributor. The motions concerning accrediting and the foreign language requirement suffered, largely from the same fault as the education forum, and finally degenerated into a soul-baring marathon from those who had experienced them; not only this, but persistent attempts to cut short this output of personal recollection were as persistently rejected by the majority.
The gasp of expectation and the buzz of excitement which came after Mr. Collins'
To judge the intellectual activity of Congress, however, solely from the standard of the public discussions, would also be an illusion. Certainly disputes and questionings must have continued later in the smaller groups over cups of tea, meals, and the table-tennis net; the frequency and standard of these must remain intangible. This preference for retreating into small groups, however, indicates another facet of Congress
account for so many people preferring parties to lectures, especially since the parties, were the usual trinity of wine, women, and song. Too many, to coin the old Come join us' line, preferred Anything but the intellectual whip.
But it was here, on the social side, that Congress
Congress
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Because there is too much
The second type was the listener meaning expressed in sky.
In the third category was the inside and outside the music simultaneously, so that his approach was both subjective and
Dr. Tremain went on to discuss
The idea formed the composer's raw materials, their seperate elements being rhythm, melody, harmony, texture and tone colour.
Rhythm Dr. Tremain described as the temporal dimension of music, or the organisation of sounds of timelessness appreciable to the senses. Various types of dance music were used to illustrate the differences in the rhythmic variations.
Melody was described as something as elusive as the scent of a flower, but consisting of tone as opposed to mass. The attributes of a good melody were beauty of shape, a sense of progression to a climax, and the avoidance of monotony.
Texture could be melodic, harmonic or contrapuntal. The last involved extension of melody or the co-existence of two or more themes. To appreciate this type of music Dr. Tremain said that it was vita to require the capacity to listen in the third dimension, particularly with the music of Bach. A simple illustration of contrapuntal texture was the community singing of 'Pack up your troubles' from one half of a group while the remainder sang 'It's a Long Way to Tipperary.'
Dr. R. Tremain, Mus.B., Mus.D. (London). Lecturer in Music, University of Auckland. Previously Professor at the Trinity College of Music, London, and Lecturer in the Extra-Mural Department of the London University. Studied Composition and Oratorio in Rome on an Italian Government Bursary. Travelled in Italy, France, Austria and Sicily.
Harmony was the easiest element of music to take in, said Dr. Tremain. It obeyed certain simple rules or principles, moving from simple thirds upwards, to the polytonality of the twentieth century.