Publicly accessible
URL: http://www.nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/collections.html
copyright 2015, by the Victoria University of Wellington Library
All unambiguous end-of-line hyphens have been removed and the trailing part of a word has been joined to the preceding line, except in the case of those words that break over a page.
Some keywords in the header are a local Electronic Text Collection scheme to aid in establishing analytical groupings.
In order to make new content available faster this work has been uploaded but does not have comprehensive name authority mark up for sub-works and corresponding authors. We will endeavour to add this mark up as soon as possible.
A Special General Meeting of the association has been called at 6pm next Tuesday to consider a motion effectively granting the Malaysian Students Association the use of Association facilities. This will rescind the AGM motion denying them that use, and be a major blow to the Malaysian-Singapore Students' Association's attempts, endorsed by NZUSA, to Keep the MSA off campus.
In
All this is hotly denied by the members of MSA. They argue that from the fact that they receive financial assistance from the Malaysian High Commission in Wellington it does not follow that they are dominated by it. They repudiate all charges of bribing and corruption, and although MSA President Michael Lim acknowledges that MSA members who are on friendly terms with High Commission staff may in fact informally discuss the activities of MSA members, he considers that they are "busy-bodies" rather than "spies."
This is, of course not likely to be the last step in the fight. The VUWSA Executive has consistently refused to affiliate the MSA, and if the motion is passed by the SGM it could be taken of a sign of student support for the MSA. Further, it is likely that many students will "consider the issue of alleged political interference irrelevant. While it can be conceded that the Malaysian Government is fascist in its outlook, even the New Zealand Government makes a practice of keeping a "paternal eye" on its students abroad, and no-one can expect a realistic Malaysian student, on a Government bursary, to take a stand in defiance of his Government's official policy. This is not to excuse the actions of High Commission officials, merely to point out that Governments make a habit of checking on their overseas students.
The issue removed from these political considerations, is whether or not the Malaysian Students' Association can and does function as a cultural club providing for its members in a separate way from other clubs. If this is the case, and it seems to be, then there is no reason for not admitting it as an affiliated body like any (similar) cultural club; since if it is to become standard practice for the association to refuse affiliation to nationalist groups because of intergovernmental politics, the Association will seriously have to consider whether or not it should allow any individual nationalist group to affiliate. Or rather permit only one club, such as the International Club, to cater for the cultural needs of these groups.
Footnote: last week's news-story on the Malaysian Students' Association was by Amir Shariffudin, the
Last Thursday the Publications Board decided to publish Salient on a fortnightly basis for the rest of the year. The decision came from a vote of 4 to 2 (with 2 abstentions), after a critical discussion of Salient's role as a university paper and the quality of the issues so far. It is understood that another Publications Board meeting has been called to reverse this decision.
The main reasons given by the proponents of the change; Argot Editor, John Hales; Publications Officer, Dave Smith and Treasurers, Len Watson and Trevor Webb; were that it would mean a substantial saving to the Association and would give a greater selection of copy resulting in a higher quality publication.
Replying to these criticisms, the editor (Roger Cruickshank) said that it was not true that there would be a saving to the Association by such a move. He said that although some 53 percent of Publications Board finance came from student levies, a reduction in the number of issues would result in a corresponding reduction in advertising and other revenues. This would be balanced by increased printing costs from the publication of a (larger) fortnightly issue.
As far as the quality of copy was concerned, he said that while not totally satisfied with the copy so far, the selection of copy was a matter of editorial discretion and ultimately any dissatisfaction in the quality of copy could only be rectified by a change of editor, not a change in the frequency of publication.
Mr Hale's objection that the editorial staff were more engaged in technical duties (proof reading etc) than selection of copy was conceded by the editor because, he said, the nature of the typesetting made it imperative that each completed tape be immediately proof read and sent to the typesetters. During the first term the I.B.M. input operator employed by the Association worked irregular hours and it was impossible to arrange for an adequate proof reading staff. The main burden of purely technical work fell on the shoulders of editorial staff, so that time could not be spent on more extensive arrangement and selection of copy. This term, however, the input operator has been hired on a regular basis and it will be possible to co-ordinate proof reading and other technical work.
However, any disagreement with editorial policy, he reiterated, could only be overcome by an editorial change.
Reprinted below are two letters which illustrate this disagreement with editorial policy.
Student newspapers have the good fortune of freedom from commercial pressures. Their producers have an established income and a set output. With the profit motive removed, what role should they take? The post of editor is vital. It should be his responsibility to seek balance in what is published and present as accurate a reflection of the University community as possible.
The present editor of Salient shows no such inclination whatever. This year's paper has drifted along, varying in standard from a left-wing propoganda sheet to a third-rate comic album. A policy of publish what contributions appear would under normal commercial conditions lead to ruin. Why should the paid employee of students be allowed such laziness?
The major function of a newspaper should naturally enough be to print news. Not just subjective interpretations of events, but straight news. A weekly glance at the columns of Salient gives no true indication of what has been happening at the University. The editor's task should be to actively seek reports of the main events and present them in an objective way. Student politics has received next to no attention at all. The student newspaper should be the prime source of information about the running of the association. A dose of publicity might well bring forth more ac
A campus of 6000 must surely have people and activities interesting enough to write about. It should be the editor's task to look for such material.
In a community whose origin was the spirit of enquiry, Salient is particularly lacking in intellectual stimulus. The only controversy aroused this year has been over 'A Day for a Lay' and that only about whether it was worth printing. The existing style of journalism makes any serious contributions appear laughable. But there must be students any serious contributions appear laughable. But there must be students who would be prepared to write about subjects on which they feel strongly. Researchers might be encouraged to provide simplified accounts of their findings for instance. Again it is up to the initiative of the editor to find such people.
The antics of the Salient staff may have been amusing for the first few weeks, but now are merely tedious. Layout is little better than chaotic and the use of comic strip illustrations distracts from whatever content there is. Auckland's paper, Craccum manages with a very ordinary layout to present some worthwhile articles—the use of so much filling in Salient really indicates laziness on the part of the editor.
So the primary role of a student newspaper should be to create a sense of student identity. While there is campus material available the editor should prefer it to that syndicated from elsewhere. There are many other publications which can cater for that type of article. A student newspaper's prime responsibility should be student affairs.
But there is certainly a place for articles about the wider world. Issues of regional importance, and especially those which will affect students, such as rises in bus fares or the advance of the motorway are worth investigating. Salient can also afford to be more forceful in its criticisms than the two Wellington dailies. World issues like war and racism warrant coverage too, but preferably in conjunction with a conference or demonstration. The verbatim printing of overseas material is little better than useless.
If the editor has a particular viewpoint to hammer, then he can do so with a combination of editorial and feature articles. But his first duty should be to mirror the activity of the campus.
And it is worth remembering that the present editor receives an honorarium of $800 for the rag he produces. Or if cost per issue makes the situation more plain, each Salient you read costs you five cents. Are we really getting value?
Professionalism is not a Salient feature. In the great "Schoolboy mag" tradition the reader encounters a comic strip (last issue, two pages of them). No, not a clever satire, or a work of art, no even is it hilariously funny, as you might expect from 6,000 bright (?) university students. It is just so predictable each week, and the creator, like Mr Holyoake, is "unaware". I feel as sick as that blasted cat, and if I ever met him I would personally flush him down the toilet.
The rest of the paper is a load of biased rubbishing surely we know by now what Woman's Lib is, and all about Trotskyists and that shit does exist (on every page). How about something new, something that doesn't smell as much and is written in English that isn't so overworked and hackneyed that the words just lie on the page like neat rows of old worn out boots that have lost their kick.
Isn't there anyone at Vic who can write and think.
C'mon Victorians! Don't let Salient be run by Salien ians since "in the midst of our activity we have so little that is salient or characteristic of life".
I have just read a letter published in your last issue by a student in International Politics II who, understandably, chooses to have his name withheld. He appears to be in a state of extreme distress and I regret that he has not attempted to talk with me in person, instead of resorting to the less than satisfactory means of communicating through an intermediary such as Salient. It is his means of communication which leads me to suspect that his intentions are not so much to seek assistance, as to attempt to gain support from among the other members of the class who may not agree with his opinion (these he calls 'ego-trippers', whatever that means). Be that as it may, his main criticisms boil down to the following: 1) the Political Science Department in general treats students like shit; 2) there is a complete lack of unity or co-operation amongst the staff running the International Politics II course; 3) the seven quizzes from a set text are a real cause of student unrest in the class; 4) the work-load expected is excessive.
Let me briefly answer this, not to silence Name Withheld, but, on the contrary, to encourage him to enter into a constructive dialogue with me regarding this course and the teaching of political science in general at this university. First, I am sincerely unaware of any member of our department treating any student as if he were a piece of excrement (although conservationists would no doubt consider such treatment to be praiseworthy). On the contrary, my academic experience in the United States, Australia and New Zealand leads me to believe that our department has a better staff-student relationship than most. Whether this is the case in International Politics II this year is another matter, and one to be treated below. Secondly, Name Withheld appears to so far fail to see any unity within the International Politcs II course. I am not sure what he means by unity, but if he means an understandable progression leading to increasing comprehension of the interrelationships among the components, then I think his judgment is both incorrect and premature. Incorrect because the course begins with an introduction to the contemporary international political system, focusing initially on the cold war period; then moves to discussion of problems of Australian and New Zealand foreign policy, next probes decision-making theory before examining one type of foreign-policy decision-crisis-exemplified in ten empirical case studies; concurrent with this portion, problems of international integration are treated, (this is where I agree with Name Withheld; this treatment, in an ideal course, would come in the last section dealing with theory and trends in the international political system - but time constraints and commitments of staff members preclude this this year); finally, the course looks at theoretical frameworks relevant to an analysis of foreign policy and changes in the international political system, and attempts to apply them to the empirical materials discussed in the earlier portions on Australian and New Zealand foreign policy problems, and the ten empirical crisis case studies. In short, the structure of the course does contain an understandable progression leading to increasing comprehension of the interrelationships among the components. His judgment is thus premature, because at a point in time when we are barely beginning a discussion of crisis cases, one cannot be expected to see the utility and limitations of various theoretical frameworks for the evaluation of crisis decision-making in foreign policy, much less for the evaluation of changes in the international political system. As for the charge of a lack of unity and cooperation among the staff teaching the course, I can assure Name Withheld that he is wrong. Professor Murphy, Dr Robinson, Mr Alley, Miss Pery-Johnston and I have an extremely good working relationship. The return of one member from refresher leave did complicate scheduling somewhat, but certainly not to the extent that Name Withheld suggests.
Thirdly, the seven quizzes are obviously a cause of some disillusionment in the class. In fact, even the 'ego-trippers' (whoever they may be) have made this plain, and one does not need to hide in a key hold anywhere and scrutinize faces in order to realise this. Yet, since it has been made clear that these quizzes do not constitute a major portion of the final grade (in fact, they are supplementary rather than primary components, and will only be taken into consideration when a student's grade is marginal). I cannot see why serious, conscientious students should find it so intolerable to be examined on seven segments of a paperback book, especially when the examination is spread over the entire academic year.
Fourthly, the work-load in this course is less than it has been at any time in the last three years. It consists of five essays and admittedly, extensive reading. The massive research paper which at one time was mandatory, is no longer required. And to the extent possible, reading materials have been provided free of charge to students. In my opinion, the work load is about right, although some of my colleagues are of the opinion that it could be increased. I am in charge of coordinating the course this year, and so the total workload expected (and seldom fulfilled) does reflect my preferences.
But I do not want to close this letter without treating some of the more disappointing innuendoes. Comparisons of attendance with lectures and tutorials with that of other stage two units is a futile exercise; experience shows that attendance varies with many factors, including the nature of the topic under discussion that day, the preparation done by the student, the "popularity" of the lecturer or tutor, the weather, the proximity of exams, etc. Furthermore, attendance in lectures is not mandatory, and tutorial rolls show that the slight drop-off at this time of year is a regular feature in the International Politics II unit every year. I might mention that, in my opinion, the class size is some-what too large to begin with, and some diminution is both inevitable and desirable.
But not effort is consciously being made to discourage attendance. To my knowledge, International Politcs II has never equalled the numbers of either History II or Political Science IIA, and to a certain extent, the structure of the political science offerings reduces the incentive of a student to concentrate on the study of international politcs.
Name Withheld warns that "The writing is on the wall!!!" I would ask him to please be more specific. Which wall? What writing? And why not speak up instead of hiding behind veiled threats, pitiful pleas, and obtuse obscenikties?
This is to tell all you chaps that we were a bit amazed by last week's drug crazed soul searching by Snelling and Neville. The latter of course has a fair standing in the shit and rock music scene which is about what the counter-culture is, counted as a political pressure group which is the only way anyone counts, believe it or not. They groove all over the world and they form a percentage of every European—work that out—community. Even from these antipodean perspectives they sometime have a vague idea what goes on. So we are inescapably led to the conclusion that something is radically wrong in this scene. Could it be that we don't know enough? That is about scenes like history. The original happy movement was a bizarre application of acid to the problem of what to do about all the problems. All these bastards copped out of the energy business unless bread was concerned except a few political freaks and they haven't set a very good example either.
Dealing and music are at least sometimes rewarding to the people they entertain but politics doesn't entertain anyone except lunatics who think they're heavy enough to merit everybody else's attention. So? Neville and his chum find that this L.B.J. stuff not only doesn't effect any chromosomal changes, but that it might be better if it had. And they hold up their little stranglers and scream! Fuck, this disillusion scene has been done before, chaps, but never so crassly. What the sane individual needs in these vexed times is less acid and more effort. There's no need to keep acid illegal but it's obvious that however it's handled it better be carefully. There's no reason why a sane person shouldn't trip when he wants to, provided he Really wants to and is sane, and that doesn't leave as many as you'd think. But our welfare service including such celebrated, nay, august progressives as Strenuous Efforts to get grass legalized. If anyone really wants to organize the obvious people to get at are the breweries, because in ten or twelve years Every-Body in this little country is going to be smoking dope. By then, even here, whatever impossible sort of government we have is going to have to think about legalizing smack, because it's not out of the question that a thirdor so of the population will be addicted to it; it has happened before. Turkey and China aren't in very good shape but Opium has been effectively legal in both these countries at times in history and they are still, in a sense, there on the map, with a population and sanitation and assassination and all that shit. They adapted to it in the curious way that the human animal has, although it's hard to see how we can evolve out of the present state of affairs fast enough. The root of the problem that is fatuously called the generation gap is that a proportion of the population is privileged in political and economic power and the other half knows too much—mainly about the wrong things, and hardly ever about the things that might help them Think about the shit of a situation they're in: Who made it is irrelevant.
Yippee! I've read seven years of student newspaper film reviews and never written a letter; i read my first issue of "Salient" (it said so on the cover) and launch into a diatribe.
It's about your film review page. I'm very impressed with M. Heath. Never have I read so much bullshit in such concentration. How lucky we are to have a film critic who can crap on for so long and say so much about himself, so little about films. But what really hoses me off isn't so much what he produces as how it comes out.
We all expect published film columns to display ignorance, bias and cheap linguistic thrills. But this one is unintelligible too—an unforgiveable sin.
Your reviewer discharges words in great deafening liquid torrents. His language is half-digested. The effect is pat, but messy.
I hope he wipes his mouth between issues.
On my way home last Thursday, and who should I bump into coming out of his Labour Party Conference, but Old Arthur Faulkener. Arty and I Have been friends for years, but since I left the Press Gallery we haven't bumped into each other much. As is his wont he asked me how my health was, and I said I was O.K., and added that the weather was very nice, but he did not seem his normal cheery self, so I asked him what was wrong. It is always easy to ask Arthur personal questions. I remember the time when I was in the gallery, and he came up not looking too cheery, so I asked him how his wife was (funny how one always asks the appropriate questions on such occasions), and he said she had just died. I must say I laughed, but Arthur never saw the joke. Not a humourous chap.
In any case, what turned out to be wrong this time was that Arthur had lost a motion in his conference. The motion to withdraw from S.E.A.T.O. had come before his foreign affairs committee, and he had used his casting vote to get a "no" recommendation to the conference. "Damn me if the conference didn't reject the recommendation of its duly elected committee" meditated Arthur, "I believe in democracy, but those
I remember the times when Sir Keith (Keith, plain Keith as he was then), used to walk into the house of a winter's day to the cheering of the Government, and the jeers of the Opposition; great days they were in
Someone was saying to me (funny me not remembering who), how much better the old Labour Party conferences used to be when all the delegates would stand and sing the Red Flag (arousing song that one, if a bit red), and then they would sit down and listen in respectful silence to their leaders (and they were real leaders in those days), and then pass good, strong, radical, might I say heartwarming, motions, as suggested by their leaders. One has heard it said, and one might say one agreed with it, that what we lack today is respect for leaders, and leaders to respect. Is there any member of Parliament today who can sit through an all-night session without falling to sleep? I fear not; I fear that it is not everything that has changed for the best. Where is the yellow peril now we not longer fear it? Right on our doorsteps.
World Goodwill is an accredited NGO with the United Nations. It is working to aid the extension of right human relations through the constructive power of goodwill and is based upon the principles of brotherhood, human unity, sharing and cooperation.
This Full Moon of June is the twentieth World Invocation Day when the following world prayer, the Great Invocation, is used by an ever increasing number of people, who believe in our one humanity, to channel light and love into human consciousness.
for information: Goodwill Assn., Box 5925, Auckland. World Goodwill, 235 Finchley Rd., Hampstead, London NW3.
Whatever happened to all the shabby students? Judging by the numbers that took an active part in Capping Week this Varsity has about 600 students, not 6,000. The fact is that the great bulk of students couldn't be bothered or thought that they were too busy with work.
These are the people, the ones who are turning our University into a deadpan institution downtown. The University as well as a place of learning should be a community. Hell, there are 6,000 young intelligent people here, surely we can have some sort of social life. The students who organised Capping Week this year had this in mind. They went out of their way to organise a week of social activities and if you did not participate then the chances are that you are one of the dead-shits.
The heads of various departments did not make it any easier. They refused to comply with the ruling of the Professorial Board and the Vice Chancellor that lectures and exams be cancelled from 11 - 2 p.m. on "Procesh"day.
Nevertheless we had Capping Week, and here's a rundown of what happened. The Warig-Taylor Street Warriors helped stuff up the stunts and treasure hunt by arresting a few Weir House inmates for theft of road signs.
The Miss Vic Contest was well attended even if it was the Woman's Lib who were present. Admittedly its a bit of a farce, but hell surely its better than working in the library! It's all part of the weeks social activities. The forces of the Ho Chi Minge attacked the Miss Vic Contest in a well planned tit offensive. One cannot help be sceptical of their motives when a group of the biggest pigs at Varsity disrupt a contest aimed at finding the best looking chick on campus. It is like a delegation of lepers picketing the clerasil factory.
The three balls held during the week were shit hot. In what is perhaps a Varsity first, the piss was still flowing at the end at both the grad balls. An unscheduled male burlesque show stirred some of the more immature graduates at the Thursday night ball to smash a few glasses and doors etc.
Procesh went off O.K., but with a few floats short this year. A handful of city business firms helped with trucks and materials, but most politely said "get stuffed". The Fijian Students' Association won first prize with a well prepared float, and the Chemistry Society was second. Unfortunately the Parade was rushed through town by the authorities, but we did manage to shock a few people on the way. Students did not seem as pissed this year as in previous years. This is a bad sign.
The tea party for orphans was a great success. Sarah Bradshaw, Lois Ongley and Co. were swamped with screaming kids and balloons. The Maori Club performed action songs, part of the Varsity dance theatre danced and the Folk Club folked. Everyone had a folking good time.
"Splash" succeeded in what it set out to achieve. By getting pissed at our own show we caused as little disruption as possible downtown. Things turned a bit shabby after a while and the piss had to be turned off when there was still 300 gallons left. It still wasn't the same as smashing up the Gresham.
The Charity Collection realised just over $1,000. It was great to collect this money, but even this amount could have been doubled if you had pulled your finger out.
On Tuesday last a large contingent of uniformed and plain-clothes police swarmed all over and around tho Trades Hall, accompanied by itchy-fingered oceivers and a character who refrained from saying anything in the vain hope that he wouldn't be detected as a Scotland Yard slouth.
When Freezing worker Secretary Sid Giles rightly refused to give "Call-me-Dave" Patterson the keys to the Union's safe, the coppers called a lock-smith, and five happy hours were spent in drilling holes in the safe. (A couple of unaccountable power failures held up proceedings a little)
We understand that tho police, Receivers etc, wish to express their thanks to the freezing workers present who made their long stay such a pleasant one.
On this occasion the police were actually
Just what the police were looking for is a mystery, and from their actions and behaviour will probably remain so as far as normally-minded people are concerned.
While this episode had its lighter side, it also points' a serious warning to the wide power a without discrimination or accounting that the police possess, and their attitude shows' that they now look upon those powers as a normal right.
The womens Auxiliary (who wore refused permission to state their case to the woman of Wellington by the "wharfios boot friend," McLennan) inform us that they understand that the Town Clerk is refusing tho Services tho use of the Town Hall as a result of tho disgraceful exhibition and conduct at the recent Services Ball.
Pillaged whiskey and other "harmless" beverages "incited disorder," and as there wore 3 men to every women, the party developed in a very unpleasant manner - woman present were disgusted and some of them had to seek police protection and assistance in order to escape from the hall.
Government sources regard stoppages on the scale of the
The stoppages are likely to arise in the next stage of the container handling dispute. Employers have agreed to pay Wharfies rates about 20% higher than normal storemans' rates for container packing, in designated off-wharf depots. But Plunket quotes a high Government source as saying that the Government will not designate any off-wharf depots for Wharfie-labour until it gets the result of its Royal Commission of Enquiry into container handling. The F.O.L. has refused to accept the terms of reference of this Commission, because all matters designated in the terms have already been settled in various agreements between the Union, the employers and the Government. Last September the Minister of Labour wrote to the Wellington Waterside Workers Union saying: "I accept the depots already designated by the F.O.I...." The Unions are thus unlikely to accept a long wait for the results of a Royal Commission, which might overrule concessions they have already achieved by industrial action, at considerable sacrifice to all the workers involved.
The container packing dispute is an almost inevitable consequence of the move to containerisation in freight. For the Wharfie it means a massive reduction in work available, because actual handling of freight on the wharf is reduced to a minimum. The only way to avoid massive redundancy, unemployment and reduced earnings is thus to gain control of the area where the freight handling will now, in the main, take place—the off-wharf consolidating depots.
This has naturally met considerable opposition from the employers because one of the most tempting aspects of the container revolution was the prospect of having only the non-militant right-wing Storeman and Packers Union to contend with, instead of the Watersiders who have a long history of militancy. This is evidenced by the alliance of the employers, the Manufacturers' Association, and the Storemen, against the F.O.L. and the Wharfies. The Storemen and Packers have almost no history of working in this field of the transport industry, and, in the light of their past history are unlikely to be able to gain the improvement in conditions justified by the increased productivity. The F.O.L. has sided with the Wharfies in the inter-union dispute, in what has been both a backs-to-the-wall stand against a reduction in the Wharfies conditions. They have also backed the Watersiders as the most likely to be able to gain the best conditions. The Wellington Branch of the Store-men left the F.O.L. and now a 20% margin has been negotiated. This is small concession compared with that which could have been gained had the Storemen not caused a break of unity in Union ranks, and this will harden Watersiders' and F.O.L. determination to stand up for the small concessions the Union has gained. That is why a confrontation is likely.
But any comparison with
In today's situation the threat of deregistration thus carriers less weight than it did in
There is no right to trial by jury. The Minister of Labour decides whether or not a strike exists.
You are liable to a fine of $200, or three months jail, or both, if—you make any payment or contribution for the benefit of any workers who are parties to a declared strike.
Some of the specific regulations are interesting. They create nothing less than a police state.
Reg. 15 (1) Every person commits an offence against these regulations who -
(2) This regulation applies to -
(3) Every person who commits an offence under this regulation may be arrested without warrant by any constable.
Reg. 17 (1) Every person who is found committing or has committed or is suspected of haying committed an offence under these regulations shall, if required to do so by any constable give to that constable his true name and address and verify them to the satisfaction of the constable. (2) Every person who fails to comply... may be arrested without warrant...
Reg. 16 (l) If a member of the Police Force of or above the rank of Sergeant is satisfied that the holding or continuance of any procession in a public place....or within view of a public place, or the holding or continuance of any meeting (whether in a public place or elsewhere) is likely to be injurious to the public safety or to the public interest, he may prohibit the holding or continuance of the procession or meeting.
(2) Where the holding... is prohibited...every person commits an offence who...takes part...or continues to be present thereat after being requested by a constable to leave.
Reg. (4) Every person commits an offence against these regulations who -
(d) Prints or publishes any statement, advertisement, or other matter that constitutes an offence against these regulations, or that is intended or likely to encourage, procure, incite aid or abet a declared strike or the continuance of a declared strike, or that is a report of any such statement made by any other person.
Laws of that nature can only be combatted by enormous opposition. They are certainly as repressive as any legislation in any totalitarian country, and are worthy of no respect. Of course the chief advantage of them as far as the government is concerned is that they give an opportunity for them to lock up any trade union leader or "agitator" almost by reason of his existence. The only way for such an advantage to be removed is for the person to step into the shoes of every person removed, and for every person, leader or not, to do everything in his power to defeat the regulations. In
If emergency regulations are to be introduced again the possibilities of enforcing them will be, and must be made, much less than in
We do not live in a democracy as long as the government has such powers, as the right to make emergency regulations up its sleeve. For as long as it has those powers it can allow freedom of speech and action when it can afford to; and when there is a risk to its interests, it can remove all democracy. It is at times when the country is in such a state of turmoil that democracy really means something in terms of power to alter the course of events. If it can be removed at those very times it is mere sham.
Of course we cannot hope that any government existing under the present economic system in New Zealand will abolish this power. Such powers exist as the final prop of government when its power to influence through persuasion or bribery is lost. They exist to teach a lession to groups within society who wish to challenge anything more than the day-to-day running of society, who wish to achieve their aims by methods which are not stamped with the "Good-Government Seal of Approval", that they cannot go any further than the government wishes. If the government succeeds in smashing the Wharfies, it will serve as a salutary lession to all unionists, in fact to all people whose interests or ideas are opposed to this system, that to do anything more than talk is dangerous. If the trade union movement succeeds in uniting the people of New Zealand into a body that succeeds in preventing the emergency regulations from doing their job, that will serve as a salutary lession to every person in New Zealand, that by united action that they can do what they will. That if, they so desire they can overthrow this system and replace it by a system that does not outlaw worker's rights to struggle for better conditions, but in fact exists entirely to improve these conditions, and in improving those conditions improving our whole way of life. It will serve as a lession that there is no need for a minority to continue for its benefit to impose its wishes on he majority. That the majority itself can take stale power and create a socialist state.
After twenty-two weeks of the greatest industrial struggle in New Zealand's history in which 20,000 workers have stood alone against the most vicious employers' Government seen outside
After squandering tens of millions of money and their last remaining moral asset to smash at the heart of the New Zealand trade union movement, the employing class has failed Only the abandonment of union policy by the rank and file and the repudiation of their fighting leadership would rep-resent victory to tho employers.
But, despite their heroic stand in the face of sacrifice hardship and persecution for themselves and their families, the workers would have victory only if an aroused people had joined them to wipe out the Emergency Regulations and had compelled the shipowners and shipowners Government to negotiate.
Neither capital nor labour can claim complete victory. The issue is yet to be decided.
In this situation the maritime unions could turn their backs to the sea and leave the employers to the chaos of their own making - and to the scabs. But the ships and the wharves are the own workplaces. They are the ground, together with mines, freezing works and other industries, where the battle for trade union rights must be fought and won. Now is the time for that battle to be joined. Now is the time to consolidate tho magnificent fighting unity developed during this epic struggle.
Supremely confidant of the conscious discipline of our ranks we call upon every individual member to return to work and hold up the banner of his union on tho Job.
We call upon watersiders, seamen, miners, freezing workers, drivers, and all other unionists to stand by their fellow workers in a positive fighting programme to overcome screening, hold conditions, and clean out scabbery root and branch.
In unity we have fought and in unity we return to our industries to fight again.
In twelve months it will be time to say whose is the victory! We are confident in Our strength!"
(The above resolution was carried by tho National Strike Committee on July 9, and endorsed by the Wellington Branch on
As we go to
Apparently the authoritias in Auckland, with unhappy memories of the consequences of refusing the Hall to Walter Nash, did not consult Inspector McLennan, who never be "Bernes will never be allowed to address another meeting in New Zealand!"
The next step is radio time -
With the return to work of the involved unions, this is the last "Look-out" edition of this Information Bulletin.
During the course of the dispute this Bulletin has been the only answer to the welter of press, radio and Government lies and distortions, and has been the only medium through which people could learn tho true foots of tho waterfront lock-out.
The look-out is over - but the lies and distortions will go on - and this Bulletin will go on too, answering the lies and continuing to bring the truth about the industrial movement to its members and to the public.
The great waterfront Lock-out of 1951 is now over - in its prellianesy stage - for the return to work of the unique involved in what will go down in history as the goat momentous industrial at struggle in New Zealand brings about the start of a now phase of that struggle.
The resignation of the Government marks the end of the first round - the sound will be decided in six weeks time at the special General Election.
The call for the resignation of the Holland Government has been, one of the
We have said repeatedly that the Government was groggy; that there was a wide
The Government had committed itself or completely to its
Our task is now clear - we must
Who in hell wrote the "comments" on "One in Five"? If I had written such sensational drivel I don't think I would have put my name to it either! Whoever it was made an excellent satirical review sound like one of Peter Kelly's Cup Day race commentaries. Since when have actors been pipped on the post and run "a close second"? Since when have half a dozen [spare] seats" altered the quality of a theatrical performance, or conversely, been the pre-requisite for a worthwhile production? Is this the first time your "reviewer" has even been to the theatre?
Surely he could have mentioned the high quality of the satire, the good balance (if somewhat tiresome length) of the production. He cannot have noticed the generally smooth transition between skits, or the audience reaction (apart from the fact that there was an individual sitting in every seat in the house!).
"For Christ's sake get rid of this person, or let him review the movements of the smoking room clock; but he must never be let loose on any performance at the Memorial Theatre. Isn't it about time you gave a bit more space to good reviewing? I saw no mention of the latest pottery exhibition at the Display Centre, no book reviews, no film reviews, in fact no serious reading what-so-ever; just double page comic strips and condensed-shit reviews. By the way, to settle an argument, is John Clarke really Max Richards?
John Hales should learn the art of constructive criticism; then his present attempts would not appear so pathetic.
The article by Richard Greenfield B.C.A. in last week's Salient does nothing to enhance his reputation as the past Treasurer of V.U.W.S.A. Perhaps Mr Greenfield B.C.A. fancies his vocation a a financial prophet extraordinaire. Mr Greenfield B.C.A. conveniently avoids mentioning that the $4,000 profit Arts Festival made last year is going directly into the Association's general account. $2,500 of it will go to the Union to provide sound equipment for the theatre, but the other $1,500 is practically floating this Association. The credit for this unexpected money is Graeme Nesbitt's, ex-Cultural Affairs Officer, but no money is to go to Cultural Affairs.
The comments concerning the Rugby, Cricket and Visual Arts Clubs are inaccurate entirely. Last year there were no persons on the councils supervising grants to dole out large amounts of money to these clubs through any personal motive, as Mr Greenfield B.C.A. implies. If he is perhaps referring to this year, I have no money to give out yet. The visual Arts Club has received more money than political and religious clubs because the Cultural Affairs Officer knew that club needed the money more. The club puts most of its money into assets for the Association and provides classes on a subject that is not taught within the University anywhere else. Reasons for doing anything are not for simply wanting it that way, as Mr Greenfield B.C.A. facilely suggests. Mr Greenfield B.C.A. may like to know that Visual Arts is holding a multi-media show ("Collusion") mainly for its aesthetic value, but perhaps to raise some urgently needed money also.
Reducing grants to some clubs will force them out of action altogether. I maintain that club grants must be kept at the level they now are and at the same time encourage clubs to raise their own finance. Club accounts are in a bad way but this is being remedied under threat of cut grants. The Drama Society is receiving no grant this year as it is felt that this club has a Urge enough source of income, if it liked to use it efficiently, and has better facilities available to it than any other club.
As for Mr Greenfield's statement of finances. We were under the impression that the Association's deficit was $950 last year, as stated in this year's Annual General Report, not $3,550.
Cabinet has rejected the Police Department-sponsored legislation which would make it a crime to consort with known drug users, reliable sources confirm. The legislation was strongly opposed by the Health Department and received only lukewarm support from the Minister of Justice, Mr Riddiford, whose department had opposed the introduction of such legislation.
The Police had been pushing for legislation on the topic for some time, but the unexpectedly strong opposition spoiled what had appeared to be a fait accompli after Mr Marshall's statement in an issue of the Sunday Times last month in which he said that the new legislation was due to be introduced this session.
Do you remember sitting in a large picture theatre during
Attending the 55th, Annual Conference of the N.Z. Labour Party was a similar experience. A party whose leader had attacked Mike Hirschfeld now voted this gentleman on to the National Executive. Whereas it had been strikingly obvious last Conference that the success of a remit depending on who supported it, rather than the idea itself, this year decisions on remits were not so openly stage managed from the platform. Norman Kirk and those sitting on the platform were relaxed and good humoured, com pared to their previous uneasiness. Can such fundamental changes in outlook be attributed solely to the change in the President of the Party.
Much comment has been made about Bill Rowling's low key human chairing of the Conference proceedings. The image that this particular Conference has acquired is smooth, unified, and liberal. However, it should be borne in mind that the passing of a remit at Conference is not a water tight guarantee that it will become Party Policy—those who attended the Conference prior to the last election are very aware of this fact—and policy can stilt be announced that has not even been discussed at Conference, and that is even contrary to decisions made at Conference (e.g. State Aid, and Kirk's recent press statement on S.E.A.T.O.).
In the final analysis, what the Labour Party goes to the country on, must be balanced between democratic decision-making, and political expediency. For such is a fundamental fact of political life.
One of the most interesting features of Jane Mander's Allen Adair is that it is a work of New Zealand fiction which has been out of print for approximately the last 46 years. Originally published in Allen Adair was unable to establish itself or to materially improve Jane Mander's local reputation, and by the time interest in regional fiction was active copies were unobtainable." A second point which highlights the interest value of the book and is undoubtedly related to its prolonged hibernation, is the relative obscurity of its authoress in the lists of New Zealand fiction writers. Therefore, when one is informed via the dust-jacket that "Jane Mander was the first New Zealand-born novelist to portray her country in terms which carry both conviction and illumination to the modern reader" there is a promise that the Allen Adair will "illuminate" what were formerly dark spots in one's knowledge of New Zealand. Unfortunately however, the modern reader will find his expectations far from fulfilled. Indeed, the main feature of Allen Adair is that it probably could have been written anywhere, anytime and about any place. Of course, this in itself cannot be taken as a total condemnation of the novel, but if there was ever anything unique about the effects of the Kauri gumfields of North Auckland, where the novel is set, on a young man with dreams such as Allen Adair, Mander fails to convey exactly what. Then again, perhaps she did not really try, an impression that is fostered by the basically simple, even "domestic" character of the novel.
Allen Adair is a young man who, surprisingly, fails to conform to his father's expectations, and even an enforced session away at Oxford fails to instil in Allen the conventional ambitions his father seeks to promote. Having reached a "generation-gap-style" stalemate, Allen then allows his "restless spirit" to lead him to North Auckland lured by the aura of adventure which supposedly surrounds the Kauri gumfields. At first he works a river delivery-boat service, before selling himself up as a provisioned of general supplies to the men working in the gum-fields. He then marries Marion, with whom he proves unable to strike up a deep empathic liason, - at least not as deep as that he slowly forms with another somewhat mysterious resident of the gum-fields. Dick Rossiter. This is not to suggest that Mander hints at anything remotely homosexual in the relationship of the two men; rather she seeks to convey the development of a bond, albeit largely unspoken, of the kind that is possible only between men and not between a man and a woman. The intention is clear, but the development of the theme is anything but convincing. Allen is a shadowy figure and because we are never really able to get close to the spirit which motivates him, we are doubly frustrated in trying to understand the nature of his relationship with Dick. Indeed the novel as a whole suggests that Mander is often treading on ground she does not really know herself, but which she seeks to understand better through artistic expression. Occasionally, however, we strike a passage in the book which contrasts sharply with its generally domestic character, thereby morroring the contrast between Allen's vision and what he learns to know as reality. For example, while watching Marion coming out of the door of his cottage followed by his daughter Joan, Allen "felt an exaltation of feeling as if he had been lifted off the earth by some invisible force going mysteriously by him on the hillside. Felt something inside him straining to get away from the limitations of his physical frame. He sat suspended between the power of thought and of action, as if he had become disembodied, not knowing what it was he felt, or what moved him so to feel. There was nothing left to him afterwards but a sensation of straining and floating to music perceived, but not heard. He lingered with the memory of it, knowing that the spell would be broken when he went down to the house." Such passages as this stand very much in isolation from the rest of the novel, and their contextual incongruity has the unfortunate effect of making what are possible Mander's more artistic inspirations, sound somewhat hollow and contrived. Indeed one may legitimately ask whether the soul of Allen Adair and the spirit Mander attempts to recreate might not have been better expressed in a poem. What then would be left of the novel provides little to enthuse over. Allen's marriage degenerates into an arrangement of convenience, with the materialistic Marion unable to share in his vision, nor his love of the country life. In a sense she symbolizes much that Allen was never able to be pat of, and when they eventually move into Auckland, it is the final spiritual capitulation. Still the book ends on an optomistic, if well-worn note, with Allen reconciling himself to the erosion of his dreams, while expressing a sentimental regard for some things past and a renewed hope for the future.
To say the books does not explore any original material is probably an understatement, nor can we accredit Mander with examining the pitfalls of such institutions as marriage, with any unusual degree of sensitivity. What is unusual however, is the way in which she attempts to bring the mundane and the lofty together into a total work of art. The somewhat disjointed, even puzzling impression which one is left with after reading Allen Adair is probably a fair measure of her success in this attempt. Yet if the book else, it undoubtedly arouses an interest far behind the sceneselse, it undoubtedly arouses an interest far book does nothing else, it undoubtedly arouses an interest far behind the scenes appearing only rarely though with noticeable impact. And indeed in the spirit of Allen Adair, I believe we can find an important key to this underexposed New Zealand authoress.
There is a curious lack of logic among anti-abortionissts. Setting up a straw man ("But don't you really think that birth control is better than abortion?") they proceed to knock it down ("Oh, you do, then why don't you advocate more and better birth control measures instead?"). The obvious statement that no amount of birth control can cure an unwanted pregnancy seems to be called for at this point.
To the best of my knowledge there is no one in favour of abortion law reform who does not also plead for more and better birth control. However, birth control and abortion on demand, together, are the only methods of dealing realistically with the problems involved. No sansible person would prefer an abortion, an operation, over birth control. But it's not that simple. First of all, let it be made very plain that there is no birth control measure yet available that is 100% certain. Even sterilisation has been known to reverse itself; while the safest temporary method of birth control, the "mini-pill", is 99% effective. It is no consolation to the 100th woman that the other groups of 99 are luckier in the draw. The diaphragm is about 97% effective and other measures less so. A woman who has been as responsible as she knows how, following the directions of her doctor, is now penalized for an accident beyond her control.
Then there are large numbers of married women who are extraordinarily ignorant of proper birth control, and it is their right to have clear and intensive education. There are women who conceive deliberately, or at any rate are not reluctant to accept another pregnancy and birth, but who later find that the embryo is deformed because of drugs, hereditary disease or other causes. If a woman is educated and well-to-do, she is more likely to find out in time in the first place, and more likely to be lucky in getting an abortion in N.Z. in the second.
The problem of young girls conceiving before maturity is a particularly difficult one Usually such children are somewhat emotionally disturbed in the first place. And then, reflecting the chaotic emotions of society, they refuse to prepare themselves by using birth control. To be effective, the pill must be taken from two weeks to two months before it is needed A diaphragm or other mechanical device for a woman requires foreknowledge and acceptance, purchase and preparation. To most of these young girls, the idea of preparing for intercourse is wicked and makes them "feel like a slut"; their justification for making love often lies in their being "swept away by passion". This group has learned the irresponsible, irrational and hypocritical lessons society teaches about sex, only too well.
Many young girls are not "swept away by passion" by anyone's standard. Perhaps these are the saddest of all. Seeking human closeness at any cost, they hope to retain a boyfriend by giving in to his desires even if they do not share them. Their problems are worsened, their education is interrupted and they are left to bear the brunt of their own misfortunes.
While few girls in their early teens suffer permanently from too-early pregnancy and childbearing, any teenage girl's health is likely to be injured because her need for nutrition is extremely high at this time of life. If she is pregnant, both she and the developing fetus may suffer, often quite severely, from malnutrition. While the too-young mother may largely recover from the effects of this deprivation, a child who has been deprived of protein, for example, in pre-natal and early post-natal development, will be permanently mentally stunted to a greater or lesser extent.
Abortion then is a necessary part of birth control, the back-stop part, but it should not need stressing that any new laws would be permissive. That is, no woman should be coerced into an abortion, just as no woman should be denied one.
Anti-abortionists raise another objection, uttered with so little logic that their entire approach is suspect They call abortion "murder" and then turn their backs on the whole problem If it is murder indeed, then why are they not pressing for the abolition of all abortions? For to support the present law is from this emotional standpoint to accept that our hospitals are places where murder is sometimes justified.
It is proposed here to examine as many aspects of abortion as possible in order to encourage clear and rational thinking on this difficult subject.
The earliest known records of abortion methods date from 3000BC in ancient China The ancient Egyptians. Greeks and Romans all developed an extensive literature on abortion. In spite of admonitions to "
Among most of the world's population, abortion has not been opposed on religion The Shinto faith in Japan has never contained religious or ethical objections to abortions The Islamic belief has been that life begins in the fetus only after 150 days, that is, around midterm. And neither Buddhist nor Hindu theology prohibited early abortion, it is considered a social rather than a religious issue.
We are therefore left with a patchwork of social and political laws on abortion in countries where these faiths predominate.
Among all the known hundreds of primitive societies throughout history and up to the present time, abortion is unknown in perhaps one. It seems therefore that no matter what prohibitions there may sometimes be against abortion, and no matter what the dangers of the act of abortion, women have always resorted to it and presumably always will—at least until a safe and sure morning-after pill of some kind is perfected and is universally and freely available.
At present the laws regarding abortion outside most of Asia and Africa are as follows:
In the United Kingdom abortions may be legally performed to preserve the life, physical and mental health of the pregnant woman or any of her existing children, or if there is a substantial risk of physical or mental abnormality in the fetus. In practice the situation is that if a girl or woman is fortunate in her choice of doctor and is living in or near a large centre, she will probably be able to obtain an abortion pretty well on demand. If she is unlucky, and poor, then although her situation may lie well within the strict bounds of the law, she may not be able to obtain an abortion. Any two doctors may recommend an abortion.
In Scandanavia the laws generally have been reformed but are tightly controlled. In Sweden the abortion decision is given after the Medical Board has examined each woman's case, if it is felt that there is a serious threat to life or to physical or mental health, arising from disease, a bodily defect, or exhaustion; for eugenic reasons; or in cases of pregnancies resulting from rape, incest or impregnation of girls under fifteen or sixteen. In Norway and Finland there are now similar laws. In Denmark there is a network of Mothers' Aid centres where abortion applications are processed and if refused, the girl or woman is given financial, medical and moral support in bringing the pregancy to term and in caring for the resulting child for up to two years.
In the rest of Western Europe, with the exception of Switzerland, abortion is either extremely difficult to obtain or else is banned altogether. Switzerland is halfway between Scandanavia and the rest of Western Europe—the law is less liberal than in Scandanavia and is most strictly enforced.
In Western Europe, generally, it should be noted, there remains a very high rate of illegal abortion, for most women wanting abortions do not fall into the legal categories.
In the Soviet Union, abortion on demand was introduced in
In Eastern Europe, unlike the Soviet Union, abortion, records are widely published, and the subject is widely debated. The law varies from abortion on demand, to something approaching the Scandanavian system; while in East Germany and Albania there is no legal abortion at all. In East Europe generally, the abortion rate is high; but it must be taken into account that there is a great deal of confusion in this area of the world. First of all, most East European countries are predominantly Roman Catholic, and the Catholic Church officially is now strongly anti-abortion. The governments, finding it difficult to reconcile their anti-malthusian theories with the reality of the rising birth rate and the consequent cost in schools, medical services etc., have not made birth control devices freely available, let alone promoted them. Abortion in this area, then, is used instead of contraceptives, and is switched on and off with the fluctuations of various governments' attitudes and theories.
Before
In the United States, abortion on demand is now available in three states, while in several others it is available where the life of the woman is endangered, or in cases of rape or incest, or where there is a substantial risk of disease or deformity in the embryo. Even in the three most advanced states however, in practice there is no abortion on demand, for the operation must be performed in a hospital rather than a clinic or doctor's surgery, and the fee usually charged puts the operation out of reach of the women who need it most Prior to the repeal and reform of some of the states' abortion laws, there grew up in some large cities, groups of Protestant and Jewish clergymen who organised a Clergy Consultation Service on Abortion, freely available to any woman, counselling women without coercion and if the desire for the abortion was firm, recommending safe illegal abortions. The experience of these courageous and humane people led them to believe that reform of the law would do little to relieve the suition of illegal abortions and overburdened women, and that "it is the solemn and religious obligation of the church" to press for free abortion on demand.
In Canada the old ambiguous laws on abortion were reformed in
In Latin America generally, abortions are forbidden by the Catholic authoritarian governments. In that continent, where the well-to-do women use the Pill as freely as their North American Catholic sisters, the poor women, the mass of women, resort to sticks and sharp implements to abort themselves, with the result that the largest quantity of blood for transfusions in many hospitals, is used to try to save some of the lives of abortion victims, women tormented by constant pregnancies in the midst of appalling poverty. In Chile alone have recent governments begun to educate poor women in birth control (particularly the "loop" or intrauterine device) with resulting lower abortion rates.
New Zealand's abortion law is ambiguous Strictly interpreted, an abortion is permitted only to save the life of the pregnant woman, sometimes, following the English case of Dr. Alec Bourne in
Among Western religious bodies, opinions and rulings on abortion vary widely not only among the various sects of Judaism and Christianity but inside many of the sects also. It is important consider Judaism first because it is from this religion that Christianity sprang.
Orthodox Judaism provides that abortion may be performed only in order to save the life of the woman, up to and including the birth process itself Conservative and Reform Judaism are more flexible on the matter, as on most issues, with an example of a particularly liberal view being that of Rabbi Israel Margolies of New York who, speaking on abortion, insists that "It is a man and woman who must decide whether or not they wish their union to lead to the birth of a child, not the church or synagogue and certainly not the state".
Judaism has never been concerned with the concept of the soul and the moment of its inception in the fetus; nor does it treat the fetus as a human entity apart from its mother. If the infant dies before thirty days, no funeral service is held, no memorial prayer for the dead need be recited, for the infant is not considered to have lived at all Yet this theology has not corrupted the sense of the value of life. Few religions place more importance upon the value of the individual and his or her responsibilities; few religions have such a record of enduring family life.
The Roman Catholic position on abortion is important far beyond that church's representation in a population as Protestant attitudes—sometimes examined and sometimes taken for granted—are of course rooted in it The Catholic stand has varied through that churcn's history. Although early Christian dogma opposed abortion, the Roman abortion laws remained unchanged even after Christianity became officially accepted in 313 AD. A few theologians condemned all abortion on the grounds that the soul was infused at conception: but most held Aristotle's view that there were three stages of development, the vegetable soul, the animal soul, and the rational soul An abortion became murder only after the soul had become "rational" or "animated". This point; was set at 40 days after conception for a male and 80 to 90 days tor a female, presumably on the principle of female inferiority It was never explained by these dwellers in ivory towers; however, how the fetal sex was to be determined in advance.
In
There are Roman Catholic theologians however, who consider that morals cannot and should not be legislated; in some countries (though notable not those which are predominantly Catholic) this has been evident in Roman Catholic abstentions in government, in matters such as divorce and birth control legislation Some Roman Catholic spokesmen in the United States. Canada and Europe specifically include abortion legislation in this argument.
Catholics still maintain that as the time of "infusion of a soul" cannot be determined it should be presumed to take place at the "moment of conception", to be on the sale side. (What happens in the case of identical twins, when a fertilized ovum splits in half, has not to my knowledge, been theologically examined Perhaps it would turn out that identical twins, poor things, are only half souled.)
Anglican churches throughout the world vary in opinion on abortion, in
Before the change in the Canadian abortion laws, representatives of the Anglican Church of Canada, and of the United Church (a union of Presbyterian and Methodist churches in Canada) not only insisted that health should be included as a ground for termination of pregnancy but required that "health" should be interpreted in the broadest sense, that of the World Health Organization; "A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." Their recommendations were not however specifically followed. Some Anglican and Presbyterian spokesmen in New Zealand have been as rigid and harsh in their anti-abortion stance as any Roman Catholic. In general, Protestant clergymen who favour reforming or repealing the present abortion laws seem disturbingly unwilling to stand up and be counted. Overly cautious and defensive, they seem to be unresponsive to the great need for the open debate and controversy that a changing theology of abortion requires.
Despite disclaimers from conservative medical spokesmen, there are many conditions that a woman may be suffering from which would be greatly worsened by carrying a fetus to term and giving birth. There are on record, cases in the U.K. and Canada since the passage of reformed abortion legislation there, where women suffering from cancer, Hodgkin's disease, cardiac disease and other such illnesses, have been refused abortions. Sir Francis Adams, in "Criminal Law and Practice in New Zealand" says: "In cases coming within the present group of sections a surgeon may well find himself in the dilemma that if he operates he may be held to have offended against one or more of those sections, whereas if he refuses to operate he may be called upon to face a charge of manslaughter of the mother," A serious situation indeed, and one calling for more outspokenness on the part of all sectors of the medical profession in this country. As Dr. Alec Bourne in theeelebrated English abortion case of
Again, it is maintained by some medical spokesmen in New Zealand that abortion is a dangerous operation. Statistics are quoted in order to "prove" this statement but the spokesmen are either deliberately dishonest or unprofessionally careless. For New Zealand abortion statistics are meaningless, because in order to obtain a legal abortion it is necessary for a woman to be suffering from a severe if not dangerous illness. It is only when abortions are permitted on demand, upon normally healthy women, that meaningful statistics can be obtained. In Hungary, for example, statistics show that deaths from abortion amount to 6 per 100,000. To put this in perspective, it should be added that deaths from tonsillectomies average 17 per 100,000, while maternal deaths in childbirth average 24 per 100,000. As far as the safety of the woman is concerned, abortion by a doctor in a hospital or clinic is four times safer than childbirth itself.
In fact, in recent years, new and safer methods of abortion have been increasingly used, not only in China and the USSR where they originated, but in North America and other areas. The main new methods are either the vibrator-and-section method, or suction by itself; they can be performed much more safely and quickly than the old fashioned 'd and c.' (This is the operation used in the first 12 weeks for an abortion, as well as for other medical indications; it involves dilating the cervix and scraping the walls of the uterus). After three months, when it is no longer possible to performed a 'd and c,' two methods are possible: a) a saline injection to induce labour, or b) what is in effect a minor caesarian operation. Both have considerably higher risks, as is shown by abortion statistics from Scandanavia. There, the cumbersome committee meetings required, result in many late abortions with increased dangers.
It is a remarkable fact that the fetus has differing values according to whether it is attached to the uterus or whether it is dead. As long as it is alive it is variously considered state property, Sacred and Innocent Human Life (presumably opposed to some other, guilty type of life) or a potential human being. Once dead, however, it does not require a death certificate up to twenty weeks, or nearly five months; and it does not require and is rarely given any kind of burial. In point of fact, this tiny combination of dead cells is disposed of like any other pathological material in a hospital, like a diseased appendix or amputated limb. It is treated as rubbish. As it becomes more widely known that an extremely large number of fertilized ova at various stages of development are sloughed off by women throughout the world in menstrual flow, even Roman Catholics begin to re-examine their position. A North American Catholic theologian stated that if indeed the church were convinced that a fertilized ovum were possessed of a soul, then "we should have to insist that a search should be made in the menstrual flow of every woman who has had sufficiently recent matrimonial (sic) intercourse to see if there were not some germ there, or, better still, we ought to pour baptismal water on this blood, taking care that the water should penetrate everywhere, and pronouncing "sub-conditione" (of life) the baptismal words".
If it were not for the lives of girls and women, traumatized by illegal abortions or by the birth of illegitimate or unwanted children—then such statements would indeed be hilarious.
Another argument used by anti-abortionists is that women who have abortions suffer severe guilt and depression, amounting to serious mental damage Any person who performs an act that has been sternly taught as immoral, is going to suffer guilt feelings about it. Doubtless the New Guinea headhunters who fail to hunt sufficient heads, suffer pangs of guilt and shame in their particular circumstances... As far as statistics can show, a woman's guilt after an abortion depends upon her religious and moral beliefs and those of her environment rather than upon the act of abortion itself. For example, women in Norway where there is a less harsh attitude towards unmarried mothers and premarital sex, and something of an acceptance of abortion as a necessary evil, the number of women suffering severe metal depression after an abortion amounts to 2%. But in Switzerland, a country so anti-feminist that women have only recently been granted the vote, the rate is nearly 50%. Another factor to be taken into account and not apparent in these statistics, is that a certain proportion of people including women, at any given time may be suffering from mental stresses; and these can be made worse by say, abortions on the one hand, or on the other by unwanted pregnancies and their often tragic results. Catholics who have abortions have among them a higher proportion of guilty and depressed women than do Protestants or Jews.
In countries like New Zealand, where public information on abortion is extremely limited, and public debate of very low calibre, it is particularly reprehensible that some doctors take it upon themselves to pass noisy moral judgement in the matter of abortion. Their expertise extends only to medical matters, in morals they are no more and no less competent than the poorest and most ignorant woman with a problem pregnancy. If doctors or their associates have genuine moral objections to performing such operations, their consciences should of course be respected; so also however should the consciences of those women who believe that having an abortion in their particular situation is the most moral decision for them.
Another argument used is that the illegal abortion rate tends to rise where abortions are somewhat more freely granted. This argument is entirely accurate; as women begin to become aware of their oppression in bearing unwanted children their self-respect blossoms and they become assertive over their new-found rights. If they are denied legal abortions they tend not to suffer passively any longer, but to act on their own behalf and obtain an illegal one. The only way to cut down on illegal abortions is to promote most vigorously all manner of birth control and to repeal all abortion laws, leaving the matter of abortion to the woman, her conscience, and any medical practitioner who feels morally free to perform the operation.
Some of the methods used by women, usually in full knowledge of the dangers involved but desperate enough to risk their health and their lives, are: pieces of wire or sticks prodded into the uterus; the pumping of air into the uterus; drugs and potions of various kinds which can cause insanity, blindness or death; the suction of a vacuum cleaner; syringing with various liquids such as soap solutions. Some of these methods have been known to accomplish abortions; some can cause injuries resulting in infections like peritonitis; some cause massive haemorrhages endangering life; some result in sterility; some, such as the use of the vacuum cleaner, in instant death.
Now to turn to the question of whether, or when, a conceptus is a person Ignorant and simplistic people proclaim with much emotion that any abortion is murder and close their minds to any examination of biological facts. A common idea on abortion is that "life begins at the moment of conception". The biological fact of the matter is however that fertilization does not occur at any particular "moment" but is a process taking about twenty four hours. Malcolm Potts. Fellow and Director of Medical Studies at the Sidney Sussex College in England, said in
"Unborn child" is a new cry in New Zealand but "Unborn child" is a meaningless phrase. It is an emotive term designed to conjure up images of curly hair, rosy cheeks and booties; in fact at any time that an abortion should be granted upon demand—if only for the health of the woman—the creature which is a potential human being is not more than two inches long. If abortions were granted upon demand, women would want to have them as early as possible, for many obvious reasons, and the potential human being would be a barely discernible shapeless little scrap of living tissue. If correct terminology is to be used, then we begin with a sperm and an ovum once fertilization has taken place it is known as a zygote, until, implanted in the uterine wall several days later, it is a blastocyst. Soon it is known as an embryo, and after three months it is a fetus. If abortions were freely available and if the general climate of opinion were not so harshly condemnatory, there would be few women or girls who would put off facing the truth of their situation and wait until the fetal stage had been reached.
Liberal religious leaders in the United Kingdom and in North America increasingly stress the concept of a continuum of life, an "accruing value" of the life of a potential human being. Unless one's religious beliefs instruct one that a fertilized ovum is "ensouled" it is obvious that a microscopic dot of human material is not a person. These liberal religious leaders place considerable emphasis upon the actual experience of the pregnant woman who usually does not feel that the life within her, even if planned and eagerly awaited, is a "real person" until nearly midterm when it is felt to move.
It is very easy to make black and white pronouncements: it makes life simple to have moral decisions that are cut and dried especially if they can never be applied to one's own body but only to other people's. Much more difficult to realize that life is a complex matter and moral decisions have to be made after taking into careful consideration the whole context of each situation—with imagination, compassion and respect for others' consciences.
Even in the rigid sphere however, there is no more consistency in practice today than there was in moral theories of the past centuries. A Roman Catholic woman who had suffered rape used to be permitted to use a douche up to ten hours after the assault. More recently, she is permitted to obtain a "d and c" operation within five days of the assault. These rigidly laid down rules show once again how ivory tower theories are made with blithe disregard for facts. For all too many women have learned to their sorrow how great is the risk of conception even if a douche is used immediately after intercourse; while permission for a "d and c" is an example of Jesuitry at its most artistic; it is not permissible to detach the blastocyst from the uterine wall once it has become attached, but it is entirely moral to scrape that wall to ensure that the zygote cannot attach itself! The end result is not only the same, but intended to be the same—the death of the life just begun.
This leads us directly to the whole question of who makes the laws, both legal and moral. Who also makes pronouncements medical and psychiatric. Roman Catholic authorities are not only exclusively male, but exclusively celibate-male. How far such people can remove themselves from the actualities and real sufferings of life has been indicated in some examples above. Protestant churches are still either exclusively or nearly exclusively male strongholds. Most medical doctors and most psychiatrists are male, and nearly all are taught by males from male-written textbooks and points of view. It would be arrogant enough for a group of women to set itself up as arbiters of what is moral and what is immoral for other women in such matters as birth control and abortion; but at least there would be a shared experience of life that might engender compassion and care. That men, from government and church leaders, through doctors and psychiatrists, down through all too many husbands and boyfriends, want to keep the power to Coerce women to conceive, and to force women to continue pregnancies against their wills, might well seem to an impartial observer from, say, Mars, to be a psychotic disorder on a massive scale.
It seems very suspect that so many grown men (in government, church, medicine etc) as well as some women, find it so very much easier to identify with an unformed potential human being at a very early stage of development rather than with another adult human being—who happens to be female: the reluctantly pregnant woman. It could be a sad comment on the stage of psychological maturity of those concerned.
This matter of power of men over women's pregnancies warrants a closer look. For example, Latin America is a traditional stronghold of "machismo", the pseudo-mystical cult of virility, a prime proof of which is the fathering of the largest possible number of offspring. It has been reported that many husbands in that continent are taking their wives back to the doctors and asking for the removal of the intrauterine device commonly used in underdeveloped countries for some of the more fortunate of the poor women. It appears that these wives have begun to behave with increasing self-respect and less passivity with their new freedom from constant pregnancy; and the husbands prefer the continual additions of mouths crying with hunger around them, to the strain of adjusting to women who are rapidly becoming "people".
In ghettoes in the United States, it has been reported that many husbands and lovers object to women taking the Pill, so that the women have to hide their medication on pain of having it destroyed. These men are very often precisely the ones who leave the women when they become pregnant. The poor man, and particularly the poor coloured man, is low man on the totem pole, but there is another human being lower down—the coloured woman.
In New Zealand, some small studies indicate that many Maori men, too, frequently dislike their wives using contraceptives although the women increasingly desire to use them.
The hierarchy of the Roman Catholic church has until very recently pronounced that women should have as many babies as humanly possible. Even now the pill is not sanctioned by the pope, while overburdened, poor and ignorant women the world over suffer because of constant pregnancies, aging them prematurely and reducing them to the level of animals.
There are the husbands who receive a large emotional bonus when their wives are pregnant whether the wives want the pregnancy or not; and there are the husbands who persuade their wives to have "just one more" especially in order to "try for a boy".
There are public spokesmen overseas who are "liberal" enough to agree to some reform of abortion laws but who wish to reserve to the husband the right of veto over the wife's abortion.
All this points to the revelation that men like power, but specifically that vast numbers of men now living, have that power, and keep it and use it, individually and collectively, to control and often to force the pregnancies of women. And they very often do this without taking the responsibility for even the economic consequences of their actions—and this applies equally to moral and legal authorities and to ghetto husbands and lovers who decamp when they have proved their power. This use of power is a vicious circle however. Women like power every bit as much as men do; it is just that they cannot usually exercise the same sort of power over men, as men can over women. But women have and use all sorts of power over children. It's a sort of pecking order of men pecking women who peck children; but the bottom hens grow up and the male ones remember and take it out on their wives who take it out on their children...
Although some agencies show genuine and informed concern. New Zealand generally has a harsh and punitive altitude towards premarital pregnancy. Meanwhile this country's appalling illegitimacy rate continues to rise. The same people who make pious noises about "the unborn child", use this same "unborn child" as a weapon to punish unmarried women for their sexual activity. They do not seem able to realize that to use a human being as a weapon, an object, is to deny that person humanity. Lip service is paid to the value of "the unborn child" but these people show little care for the resulting conditions of child and mother, often living in poverty, or for the girl with the sole responsibility of raising a child, a responsibility heavy enough when shared with a loving partner. Too many so-called Christians pass down easy judgements from their high seats of virtue, or turn their backs, or at best shut the stable door when the horse has gone.
According to the mores of society, a woman might sometimes admit that she hadn't wanted a particular pregnancy, but it is laid down pretty clearly that she mustn't admit that she doesn't want her children once they are born One of her two main functions in life is motherhood, and in her eyes and those of society, her value largely depends upon her acceptance of it. However much one thinks one ought to, one cannot love "to order". A woman with an unwanted child may be able to fool her neighbours, her husband or even herself, but she can never fool the child The emotional wounds, whether or not accompanied by physical harm, condemn vast numbers of unwanted children to our crowded mental hospitals, borstals and prisons.
To try to ensure that every child is born a uniquely wanted child, with the right to be cared for materially, emotionally
Crominal Law and Practible in new Zealand—Sir Fraios Adams.
Papers cosseoinal at the Chage Conference on Aborror,
The Report or the Status of Wordrt in Caaacia.
One tends to think of Texas as a vast country within a country, where cowhands still chase long-horns over the prairie and oil wells clank day and night on half the ranches. And so it is. But there's another side to Texas. In the United States families with an income below $6000 are considered to be in the poverty bracket, and in Texas 26% of the population comprises 843,705 families with an annual income of less than $3000. Of a total population of 11 million, 2.8 million live in such families. In about 30% of Texas's 254 counties almost 50% of the population are 'officially' poverty stricken.
Texas is identified by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare as the state with the greatest number of 'working poor'. Yet only 11 states have a lower per capita expenditure by state and local governments for public welfare. On the other hand only a few states have a greater number of resident millionaires.
A 'culture of poverty' is dangerously close to becoming stratified as a permanent social level in Texas. Ironically the economic 'locking in' of a large segment of the population at a level below the poverty level is occurring simultaneously as Texas attains national leadership in industrial development.
To qualify for welfare assistance recipients must be in one of four categories 1) Aid to families with Dependent Children (A.F.D.C.); 2) Old Age Assistance (O.A.A.); 3) Aid to the Permanently and Totally Disabled (A.P.T.D.); 4) Aid to the Blind (A.B.).
99% of the A.F.D.C. families have only 1 parent in the family. 95% of the families have anincome from A.F.D.C. payments of less than $60 per week, and only 35% of families have any outside income, so that 60% of the 62,000 families on A.F.D.C. have an income of less than $60—in actual fact the average monthly grant per family is a mere $118 per month. Since the families average 3.2 children, $30 per week hardly buys the weekly ration of homing grits and corn bread or tacos and chile beans, let alone pays the rent, buys clothing or pays for education.
Ethnically around 50% of A.F.D.C. recipients are negro, 35% Latin, and the rest mainly Anglo.
The biggest category of welfare recipients are the aged, 250,000 of them. To qualify for assistance the land on which one's house is built must not be more than 200 acres or $5,000 in value and one must not own a car "being the current year's model". So on the surface at least, qualification criteria do not seem too harsh. But the payments average only $63 per month, and are prohibited from exceeding $130. To live on $15 per week is difficult in New Zealand; it is well nigh impossible in the United States. Fortunately some of the aged receive extra payments from the Old Age Surviviors Dependency Insurance scheme. Veterans pensions, Railroad retirement funds and other sources.
The third category of welfare recipient is the totally or permanently disabled. To qualify, a recipient must have a condition which is "irreversible or progressive. He must require the services or presence of another person to perform the usual tasks of daily living and he must be unable to engage in a useful occupation." The property qualification for eligibility is the same as for O.A.A., with the exception that a person is ineligible if he owns more than 50 acres of land. The average payment is $60 per month. Only 52% of recipients have any other income besides A.P.T.D. payments.
Aid to the Blind is the smallest category, there are only 4000 recipients and paradoxically they are better off than the disabled averaging $80 per month. 66% however receive no outside income.
Lumping all four categories together there are 536,000 receiving welfare payments in Texas, 25% are Latin, 36% Negro and 38% Anglo. But as I said earlier, there are almost 3 million Texans living in families with incomes of under $3000, so that means 2.5 million poverty stricken people are receiving no help whatsoever. Why?
There are a variety of reasons. A major one is that Texas is really the epitomy of the American myth, cowpoke to millionaire. Texas is a prime example of what capitalism, in its pure form, can do to its dropouts. The state welfare offices are trying to bridge the gap, but so far with little success. They are constantly faced with stringent opposition from influential Texans who consider welfare on a par with panhandling. And to worsen matters, at the moment the welfare agencies are caught in a wrangle between Federal and State Government over just who should finance and control the welfare system. The Federal Government is trying (and succeeding) in gaining more control over the welfare system while reducing the proportion of its share in total payments. The trend will probably be in Texas, as in other states, for the State Government to provide an equal share of funding in Federal inspired projects.
Statistics like the preceding may not convey much. It's only really when you see the poverty at first hand, smell it that you know what living on $60 a month is like. I was lucky enough to spend a week with the supervisor of the office of the State Department of Public Welfare in Tyler, 50 miles east of Dallas. Tyler is a city about the size of Palmerston North, unexceptional, except for its billing as the 'rose capital of the world'! Previously I'd driven through slum areas in similar towns in Florida, Louisianna, Alabama, Mississipi, but here I got my chance to see at first hand. For several days I accompanied social workers as they made their calls, and while I thought I knew what to expect, actually coming face to face with it was a shock.
Tyler is divided into different residential segments, white upper class, middle class, lower class, negro middle class (not many houses in that one actually) and lower class, and mexican. It's hard to pick the grottiest part of town, negro or white poor. But the negro section is bigger.
The roads are dusty, red clay pitted with potholes that break axles like matchsticks; the city authorities just ignore the question of the provision of sealed roads and footpaths, and few of the houses have plumbing inside, an outhouse suffices. The houses are one two or three rooms usually, and always overcrowded. In summer the heat, the flies, and the dust from the road and yards outside make life miserable, and when it rains the dust becomes knee deep mud.
I visited the area in mid-week, and quickly lost count of the number of school aged kids playing hooky. Poverty in its vicious cycle breeds apathy, apathy means parents who don't give a damn what their kids do. And when you meet a 13 year old girl with 2 illegitimate children you have a fair idea of what their kids do do.
The worst poverty I saw was actually outside Tyler about 5 miles. We made a call on an old couple named, in good bible belt fashion, Gertrude and Sampson. Sampson had palsy and couldn't see too well so he wasn't much help to Gertrude, which was a kind of a pity since Gertrude had glaucoma so wasn't too hot herself. Their shack (they had been dispossessed from their last one and were in danger of losing this one) was a one-roomed affair, with a rakishly tilted roof which threatened to topple in the next storm. The only furniture was an old bed with a couple of tattered blankets on it, and a battered T.V. set whose monochrome flickers might have provided some relief from the old couple's monotonous routine had not their encroaching blindness prevented this. There was no plumbing in the house, a neighbour with a car fills some detergent cans with water when he remembers. They were living off $60 a month, which they would not have got if a social worker hadn't spotted their shack and come to investigate. The worker had to invent ages for the old couple to enable them to qualify; neither remembered when they were born.
The lot of the welfare workers is not an easy one. They are hampered by inadequate funding from above, and often a refusal to cooperate from below. It is a frustrating job usually; the recipient's lives have often been irretrievably ruined by poverty and the resulting ignorance. Girls are prescribed contraception and get pregnant, children are placed in school and then run away, houses are built and are slums in months.
I remember once trying to locate a negro man who had applied for disability payment. We stopped at a farm to ask a group of women who were shelling peas in an old tin shed if they knew of the man. "No suh" was the answer from all (and we had explained why we wanted the man). Yet when we eventually traced him, we found that his wife had been one of the workers in that shed.
This was a classic example of the suspicion and hostility which exists between the bulk of the Southern black populace and the whites; even with the very whites who are doing their utmost to improve the situation.
The Texas legislature is at least making some move toward reform, and in
Unfortunately I left before hearing just what action the Senate will take, but it is unlikely that the amount of aid reaching the army of poor in Texas will be substantially or significantly increased in the near future, unless a drastic rethink on the whole problem is undertaken by the influential (moneyed) Texans who run the state.
(All Statistics accurate as at
Life magazine described the deaths of Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix as 'a double epitaph of a run-down culture.' All snide references to that magazine's musical authority aside, it is not news that hard rock is fast becoming softer, though the energy is being rechannelled rather than exhausted. I want to compare and discuss here the latest offerings of two very different but nevertheless important interpreters of the blues/rock form: Janis Joplin, surely the greatest female rock singer of the sixties, whose antics also included consuming a quart of whisky onstage and tilling interviews with the greatest number of incomplete words (F**k you too, Newsweek); and Duster Bennett, a young British one man blues band who plays guitar, harmonica, drums and cymbal similtaneously and well.
While the music of both performers has been characteristically exuberant and extrovert, it is now quieter and more thoughtful. Joplin, in particular, has lost a great deal of her frenzy, but the power is still all there it shows up in the long suspended phrases. The inflexions that make her style haven't changed, but how could you disguise a voice so distinctive? This is an older Joplin, wholly in control of the music. The album is quite different, in this respect, from Cheap Thrills: here, the musicians are solely hacking. True, they do break out occasionally, but it's unquestionably her LP.
Duster Bennett works inside the blues idiom, while leaning towards country, but he doesn't bother to torture his voice in an attempt to produce an ethnic noise. His music is therefore described as facetious by some, hut his musicianship and coordination are impeccable. When he played with John Mayall he was sometimes featured as a one man band during performances. Most of the tracks on this album are original, though Ray Charles and Ray Davies wrote one each.
One of his greatest forms uses a harmonica over a walking blues on guitar, as here on Sugar Beet. He also uses rhythmic rock and roll vamping, in I love my baby and I chose to sing the blues. As usual, Bennett introduces a few novelties: Vitamin pills is a walking piano blues with the voice throughan all-treble amp, while Everyday features a harmonium, such as is found in provincial churches, as a backing to a very cool, slow, pensive vocal. Act nice and gentle is a twelve-bar jug band blues and That mean old look is straight novelty stuff from Lonnie Donegan's era. Soft strings accompaniment is used on Woman without love—this ballad style is atypical of Bennett, though it sounds good. However, it could easily be wrecked as a single by Big singers like Puke Manu (apologies to those who didn't see "One in five"). Sweeter than sugar is a B.B. King-style modern blues with organ, bass and guitar backing, and the last track, Hill St. Rag, is a bluegrass dance tune on mandolin. It's good, but there's only a little of it.
It should be pretty obvious by now that there's a wide range of stuff here, some of it unashamedly not blues/rock. This diversity seems to be a symptom of the mellowing of rock, since Janis isn't quite her rowdy, raucous self anymore either. Her album opens with Move over (by Janis), which is routine rock, with Janis' gutsy vocal backed up with good guitar work. The next track, Cry baby along with My baby introduces her as a soul singer. It's a big spiritual sound, with organ and all the trappings (My baby even has a chorus backing). Each of these tracks could quite easily come out on Atlantic or Tamla Motown as a first single for a new soul singer, but nevertheless they're unmistakeable Joplin. Half moon is a jump number and it's cool refreshing music. The musicians have a track to themselves in Buried alive in the blues, which sounds something like The Doors in that it's well-planned music that still exhibits an agreeable spontaneity in its short breaks. Me and Bobby McGee on the second side is followed by Mercedes-Benz, an unaccompanied song, by Janis, 'of great social and political import':
O Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes-BenzMy friends all drive Porsches, I must make amendsWorked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friendsSo, O Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes-Benz.O Lord, won't you buy me a colour TVDarling for dollars is trying to find meI wait for delivery each day until threeSo, O Lord, won't you buy me a colour TV.O Lord, won't you buy me a night on the townI'm counting on you Lord, please don't let me downProve that you love me, and buy the next roundO Lord, won't you buy me a night on the town.
You won't believe it's Janis at first on Trust Me, but the guts soon shows. The organ backing is superb—it's a tremendous track. Get it while you can is an emotive, retrospective song. It reminds me of 'Every little bit hurts' by The Spencer Davis Group. Possibly it's significant that it's the last track on the album. The record is characterised by the restraint shown by Janis and the extensive use of keyboards, both piano (Richard Bell) and organ (Ken Pearson). Paul Rothchild's production is particularly good. Janis Joplin's style is more personal and introverted than before, but it is not in any way weakened.
Indeed. Don't be put off by the change I've described: remember, all things must pass, though not necessarily away. What else can I say? Listen carefully to each—I think you'll find it worthwhile.
Although the earliest recorded blues was dominated by female singers, the commercial focus shifted in the late "The Country Blues", but they would make a test of anybody who wandered in, no matter what kind of music he played or how drunk he was."
Although the boundaries are understandably blurred, Southern rural blues tends to divide into three general geographic areas: Georgia and the Coastal regions, Mississippi and the Delta, and Texas and the Southwest. Assigning specific performers to specific styles is difficult. Blind Lemon Jefferson tended to play with the irregular rhythms and light textures of the Texas style. Blind Willie McTell, Blind Boy Fuller, and Peg Leg Howell favoured the bass ostinatos and standardised forms of the Georgia blues. Bukka White, Sun House, and the brilliant Robert Johnson were among the best interpreters of the unusual blues forms and speech-like vocal expressions of the Delta.
Robert Johnson recorded a total of twenty-nine sides in five recording sessions with the mobile studios in the late thirties. The sixteen tracks on this second volume of Robert Johnson: King of the Delta Blues Singers completes the release of the total recorded output of this incredibly talented young Negro blues singer and musician of the thirties. Although he died young, at 21, (poisoned by a jealous girlfriend), Johnson's effect on subsequent blues performances has been phenomenal. Consider the tracks on this album that are standard blues numbers: 'Dust My Broom', 'Sweet Home Chicago', 'Rambling on My Mind', 'From Four Until Late', 'Love in Vain'—recorded by such different (and significant) artists as Muddy Waters, Cream, and the Rolling Stones. It is even rumoured that Johnny Winter learned to play slide guitar off the first Robert Johnson album. Johnson's music manifests the essence of the blues—the expression of deeply personal emotions, disappointments, jealousy, anger, homesickness, desire, wanderlust. It is the effort to express these emotions that gives the music its uniqueness.
As implied before, Robert Johnson's strong point is his bottleneck work, ranging from standards like 'Dust My Broom' to the intricate rhythms of the well-known 'Preaching Blues'. There are other mannerisms, for example dropping from sung falsetto to spoken phrases in 'Kind Hearted Woman Blues' and the skilled use of harmonies in 'Sweet Home Chicago', 'Phonograph Blues' contains some classic double entendre'
While the eroticism of 'I'm a steady rollin' man' is more direct:
The original version of the early Cream number, 'From Four Until Lata' appears on the second side, in exactly the same form as it takes on the more modern LP. 'They're Red Hot' is an old-style rag, and obviously a concert number - up-tempo, a jug band style. The wanderlust of the itinerant blues singer comes out in 'Rambling on My Mind"
The last track, 'Love in Vain', (used by The Rolling Stones on "Let it Bleed") has an obvious country flavour in its sentimentality;
Robert Johnson displays the rural blues singing and playing style specifically calculated for the most direct communication of gut emotion, though his music is somewhat sophisticated because of his contact with urban life (and probably his taste for the special joys and discontents of town life). This album is essential listening for all blues/rock aficionades with any interest in where their music began.
It's official now. Time has run a feature on James Taylor and the new rock is now 'bitter-sweet and low. Notwithstanding the putative erudition of the music editors of Time, I think the new move in rock might be more accurately described as a 'renaissance in Romanticism.' I use these words advisedly, for many of the new stars produce songs with all the delicate balance and finesse of Elizabethan madrigals. If we accept these premises, then Cat Stevens is one of the 'new' rock artists. Except that he isn't.
Cat Stevens put out a string of hits in England in the mid-sixties (Semi-detached Suburban Mr. James' et al.) Even then his songs, though rather trite, displayed a little more artistry than the music many of his pop contemporaries were issuing. Stevens was not very happy with his product however, and finally, after a new breakdown, managed to get out of his contract by demanding his next record have a hundred-piece orchestra and massed choir. Nothing was heard of him for some years, until Mona Bone Jakon his first album for a long time, suddenly took off in the U.S. He had tapped the first demand for the 'new rock'.
Stevens can't really be compared with James Taylor or people like Elton John, though he has, like Taylor, spent time in mental institutions. But while Taylor's music is indeed 'bitter-sweet and low', Stevens has, perhaps, a message more of hope, though in a similar mood. Tea for the Tillerman, his second album, is a sparing LP, using only a few sidemen and strings. The music is finely balanced, two acoustic guitars dominating (Stevens plays guitar and keyboards.) Delicacy and precision are the watchwords. Cat Stevens' songs are most intricately written. It is obvious he is quite scrupulous in polishing them for recording. He does not use a straightstanza very often, but winds the music about the words, repeating words in different rhythms when there is a point to make.
Here I wish to emphasise that it is wrong to consider Stevens as a 'folk musician', at least in the strict sense of the words. One of the highly-trained rock musicians (someone like Keith Emerson, I don't remember whom) said recently that The Beatles and similar groups were really folk musicians, playing for the people on a fairly shallow musical level. Stevens is not. His music is well rehearsed and well executed. It is not the sort of music that any singer could put down in a day given competent sidemen. The pauses, the balance, the interweaving of vocal and music are the products of highly competent musicianship.4, Stevens' voice is a curious one. At once it seems delicate and highly poised, and about to break into a shouting blues a la Stevie Winwood. It is a beautiful instrument the way he uses it ('the medium is the message?') The lyrics of the songs are by Cat Stevens for Cat Stevens. Quite personal, they rather convey a mood of romanticism, bitterness, sadness, and hope, than explicitly state a message. Odd phrases suddenly leap out at you and take you by surprise, however ('nevertheless you know you're locked towards the future') and stick in your mind. One song, Into White, is completely abstracted:
I built my house of barley rice, green pepper walls and water ice.
Fire and spring ice? It is very evocative.
So. If you are tired of heavy heavy heavy rock, or if you wish to balance your mind. Cat Stevens is an excellent choice. A beautiful and delicate LP, Tea for the Tillerman conveys, with some subtlety, the sort of moods we seem to lose most of our ability to express after leaving the confines of the College Magazine, and is a most refreshing noise. Understandably jaded with heavy music, it's easy to see why the Arrierican and British audiences have turned to artists like this, branded new as the bitter-sweet and low apostates of the new rock.
A recent visitor to the sporting scene on campus was Australian Test Rugby lock. Tony Abraham, who holds both a B.A. and an LL.B. Abraham was a Wallaby from '67 to '69, but since then injury and a commitment to his anti-racist opinions have kept him out of serious rugby.
Of the 30 man Australian team which travelled to South Africa in
Ques—What is the general public attitude in Australia to movements such as Hart, Care, and so on; in fact, towards the whole an anti-apartheid movement?
Abraham—"The general public feeling is difficult to gauge of course, but in New South Wales, for example, two of the major morning papers are on our side. The majority of Australian students are against any sporting contact with South Africa, and the policy of ASA is to oppose any such contact."
Ques—How do you deal with the much-heard argument that before you look at South Africa and the situation existing there, you should look at your own country, and its treatment of the Aborigine as we should look at our treatment of the Maori, and so on?
Abraham—"I see the anti-tour activities and so on as a possible springboard for raising the issues in Australia. We now have Aborigine representation on the anti-tour committees throughout the country tor example. Besides, though our |Australian| treatment of the Aborigine is often compromising, surely our compromising with South Africa is of a far more serious nature?... it emphasises or reinforces our home policy if you like."
Ques—Why not oppose Russia, or any other country, for its offenses against human liberties? Why pick on South Africa, and give it all your attention?
*Brackets are mine.Abraham—"Well, firstly, there isn't any other country in the world which makes its political situation so blatantly manifest in sport. Also, sport can be used as a means of breaking down socio-political barriers between countries, the recent case of the American ping-pong team playing in Red China being a classic example. And 400 million people saw on T.V. the scenes at the end of the last Olympic Games, where athletes danced in the centre of the arena, forgetting Such differences as skin-colouring. Yet 50 years of sporting contact with South Africa by both Australia and New Zealand has seen no breaking down of barriers. It was only the refusal of the N.Z.R.F.U. to compromise with South Africa's racist sporting policies in
Ques—What do you think of the recent move by the South African Government to allow your Aborigine tennis star, Marie Woollongong, to play in South Africa, and her acceptance of their invitation?
Abraham—"I view it as a terrible compromise. I also suspect that she was only granted an entry visa because of the proposed cricket and rugby tours of Australia by South Africa later this year. Sport is fast becoming the only link you see..."
The Wellington Provincial Handicap Tournament was held in Bulls (of all places) over Anzac weekend. This tournament is especially interesting as senior fencers are heavily handicapped with points against them before they start, to give junior fencers a chance to win. Vic Swords Club entered a large number of entrants, as usual and as usual club members figured in the placings.
Five out of the six finalists in the women's division were from Victoria, and although that damned first place eluded us, Stephanie Grant-Taylor gained second place only after a lond and bitter struggle with the eventual winner. Sue Norris, Viv McLean, Sue Grant-Taylor and Jennifer Stacey took the other placings. The men's event was tougher. The guy that eventually won the event had just re-turned from representing New Zealand at the Pan-Oceanic Games in Australia. Martin McCaffery fenced well to take third place in the final and Dave Grant-Taylor was unlucky to be put out in the semi-final. Especially pleasing was the performance of junior fencers, most fencing in their first tournament: all of them won some bouts and show great potential as typical aggressive Victoria fencers. Everybody enjoyed the bunfight and binge put on by the hosts, Ohakea Fencing Club, after the fencing, although some of our members did not seem to enjoy Sunday morning! Thanks to Ohakea for a great tournament.
The next event on the competition calendar is the North Island Championships to be held in Waitara over Queen's Birthday weekend. Victoria will be fielding a large number of entries and we hope to take home some of the prizes, especially the junior men's (visual) events.
The VUW Underwater Club's seventh trip to the warm clear waters of North-land was considered to be New Zealand's first underwater photography convention. With well-known underwater photographers from all over NZ, the trip proved to be a stimulating interchange of ideas of both diving and photographic skills. The weather, while" not as kind as in previous years, still allowed three trips out to the Poor Knights Islands, and one coastal dive. Cancelled diving days provided time for a trip up to Paihia to see Kelly Tarlton's museum of shipwrecks and to continue the synthesis of knowledge.
The diving was in many respects the best yet, with rare animal species being noted, moray eels encouraged to fight in front of the camera lens, and fish being enticed closer with broken sea urchins, at times being fed from the hand. Accommodation was 400% better than the previously utilised Hotel Cabins. The "flat" at Matapoun Bay slept 13 people in luxurious comfort, at a minimal weekly charge.
The trip was judged such a success that many divers have indicated their interest in our next trip in November (13th to 21st). We will book two flats (accommodation 20 or 22) and two boats if necessary. Any inquires to Kel Nairn or John McKoy, phone 838-284 day.
The Varsity Harrier Club recently held its Novice and Veterans Cup Race over Seatoun Heights. The race, some 2— miles in distance, is the first club race of the season and provides an indication of how good performances are going to be later in the season.
The Novice Cup which is competed for by runners who have not won a major race since leaving High School, was won by Eric Cairns in a time of 13min 20 sec. This broke the Novice record set by Ian Hunt in
The Veterans Race was won by George Seconi in 13mins 39sec, second in 13min 57sec was Ian Hunt and third was lan Stockwell. The first Junior home in this race was Bruce Batten, second was Frank Nolan (15min 1sec) and third was lan Tracey (15min 22sec). These good times for the junoirs indicate that Vic will have a lot of strength in the seasons to come.
The Vic Harrier Club recently competed in the inter club Shaw Baton Relay race held at Johnsonville West.
Varsity fielded three Senior teams and one Junior team. This was Vic's biggest participation in this race so far. Each team consists of six runners who each run a lap of one and one tenth miles.
In the Senior race the Vic. A. team was lying 8th at the end of the first lap run by Eric Cairns in a time of 5mins 40sec George Seconi in the second lap (5min 41sec.) passed the Kapiti team, the Wellington E team and the Hutt A team! Bryan Dawkins maintained this place with a time of 5 min 46sec, lan Hunt (5min 56sec) on the fourth lap lost a place to the Hutt team and Peter Konig (5min 57 sec) on the next lap was unable to reverse this placing. In the last lap Ian Stockwell with a lap time of 5min 42sec. passed the Hutt runner and took Varsity back to 5th place with a total time of 34min 42sec. The first teams home were Wellington Harriers A. 32min 58sec. Olympic 33mm 27sec, Scottish A. 34min 6sec, Wellington Harriers B. 34min 8sec.
The Vic 'B' team saw Wayne Stevens finish 25yh in the first lap with a time of 7 minutes. Bernie O'Donnel improved this to 20th place with a time of 6 min 9sec. Richard Owen gained one place with a time of 7 minutes and Roger Clark (6min 40sec) also gained a place. The two strong runners in the 'B' team, Tony Burge (5min 59sec) and Tony Woolhouse (5min 58sec) pushed the B team up to finish in 14th place with a time of 38mm 43sec.
The C team finished in 30th place out of 33 teams competing. The C team members and times were as follows; Norm Rodley (8min 29sec), Alan Jenkins (7min 52sec). Steve Havill (6min 44sec), Malcolm Rise-borough (7min 32sec), John Riseborough (8min 59sec) and Peter Wiltshire (8min 17sec)
The Junior team finished 6th in their race with a time of 37min 3sec behind Scottish A (35min 7sec), Hutt A (35min 42sec), Olympic A 35min 55sec),United A (35mm 58sec), and Master-ton (36min 57sec).
The individual Vic Junior times were: Bruce Cumming (5min 52sec), Lance Malkin (6min 39sec), Frank Nolan (6min 3sec), Philip Rodley (6mm 51sec), Ian Tracey (5min 58sec), and Bruce Batten (5min 40sec). Bruce Batten's time was the 6th fastest for a Junior that day.
Eric Cairns the sole Victoria University entrant, won the
Previous Vic winners have been John Souter (
A Rugby club fielding 17 teams and provided with the social facilities such as those enjoyed by our members should be titanic in strength—but this is not the case with the Vic club. The press openly speculates about the A's chances in the Hardham Cup—outsiders from other clubs describe the B's and the C's as the poorest such varsity teams they have seen for years and an ever-growing army of reserves for these teams includes players whose talents should not be allowed to languish like "some Village Hampden yet unborn" on the sideline.
A student's first priority is clear—studies are paramount. It is when second priorities are fixed that the vague boundary between sport and social life becomes almost indistinguishable. Rugby as one of the finest team games available offers an unrivalled opportunity to experience the type of comradene which the RSA assures us is only available to those who have fought wars overseas. (Which of course is baits.)
It is a fifteen-man game where 14 of the side are depending on the 15th not because they have to, not because they must do, but simply because they want to. That is the essence of team spirit and if you wish to play for a team it is your responsibility to present yourself in a degree of physical fitness which will ensure you last eighty minutes of match rugby.
Rugby should not be played to get fit—that sort of twaddle went when the playing-fields of Eton ceased producing those enlightened exponents of a colonizing civilisation which made Hitler's solution to "the Jewish question" resemble a garden party. Those who talk loudest and longest about not having enough time to train are those frequently seen in establishments which promote brewery profits!
One side enjoying early success is comprised entirely of students, some of whom are taking as many as five units. The members of this team would never qualify for Mick Bremner's skinheads but these same footballers all attended their regular practice at 8 pm following "Procesh" and after participation in those activities which are an integral part of that day. This is just one example of the loyalty of these players to each other, which loyalty is epitomised on the football field. Their enthusiastic playing of "true varsity football" has brought praise from Mick Bremner himself and their victories have been tribute to their attitudes to the game. These young men, the majority of whom have yet to turn 20, reflect great credit on their team, the club and themselves. It is to be hoped that their position in the grade at the end of the season will be an adequate indictment of those older footballers who have chosen to devalue their abilities by playing in grades which are beneath their individual talents and personal dignity.
I would be unfair if I were to describe these older players as members of "social" teams—rather. I prefer the circumlocution "those foot-ballers who play for sides which do not have regular and organised team training sessions". Those players should remember that they are "selling themselves short" and, albeit of secondary importance to cheapening their own image, are not helping the Club.
The form of the Junior 1st, 2nd and Under 19 sides is encouraging for the future, but the picadors have already commenced their blood- letting activities on the body of Victoria University Rugby, and the matador is poised for the moment of truth—so you more experienced players remember your obligations to your team, your club, and above all to yourselves, by playing in as high a grade as your abilities permit.
The Tournament team squad is now being formed. Anybody who wishes to be considered for inclusion should contact the Club Captain, John Reeve—894-956(home) 887-100x69 (bus) or the Secretary, Clife Laking—552-3 16(home) 46-040x304(bus) as soon as possible. This reminder applies particularly to student players who are members of other clubs.
In the local competition, the first team has finally notched a win with a 3-2 victory over Western Suburbs. Lower grade teams are performing indifferently, the seventh grade team being the only side to date having a desirable imbalance between wins and losses.