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Wellington's two daily papers can expect and indeed deserve widespread public contempt for their proposed merger. Neither paper reflects much credit on the capital at present anyway. The Dominion is blatantly a commuter's paper. Its tabloid size means that news must be presented in Reader's Digest style. The Evening Post may indeed print news but does so without discrimination, so that it is difficult to decide what is important. With the possible exception of Dunedin, Wellington has the most inadequate newspaper coverage of any major New Zealand city.
Two mediocre papers are not likely to be improved by a monopoly situation. This manipulation of shareholdings is not intended to improve service to the public.
Both Blundeli Bros, and the Wellington Publishing Company-have been suffering lower profits, and presumably see the monopoly situation as a way of escape.
Directors of each company may well be sincere in their desire to preserve editorial freedoms. The fact remains that by merging managements, they are providing the potential for abuse.
In an effort to justify its intended merger the Evening Post has been throwing up smokescreens. It is nonsense to claim that what might have been termed monopoly back in
For the privately owned press to turn and criticize the near monopoly of the N.Z.B.C. is ludicrous.
No-one imagines the shareholders or directors are in the business to perform a public service. They would probably be most happy if their papers carried only profit making advertising.
The industry's recent moves towards monopoly control reveal the hypocrisy of its defence of private enterprise. Indeed as the Evening Post bemoaned, in a different context, times have changed. And the changed times require more responsible control than private profit for what is an important public service.
Maybe instead of sitting back and wailing when economic pressures force newspapers to merge, the Labour Party should propose a government - sponsored newspaper corporation similar to the N.Z.B.C..
This latest in a series of takeovers mergers is particularly obnoxious because it threatens the news outlets of a whole region. The public could at least feel confidence in a public corporation that had service as its aim.
One can only surmise about the consequenses of newspaper monopoly. The two papers will be in a strong position to increase their advertising rates. For instance, when the Dominions property guide started about a year ago it offered reduced rates for the real estate agents. What will happen when present contracts expire?
Was it just coincidence that both papers raised their price from 3d to 4c to 5c to 6c at the same times. When can we expect the next rise.?
Between them, the Evening Post and Dominion have the major printing presses in Wellington. There would be little hope for the smaller companies in the event of a price war.
Journalists of both present companies are justifiably concerned about their future roles. There will be little motivation for reporters to compete. Worse, there is the monopoly control of employment. Both papers may offer guarantees of tenure at present but future economic reasons may mean reductions of staff. The case of the Waikato Times (which the Wellington Publishing Co. bought last year) provides a disturbing indication. Some of its top journalists have been brought to Wellington with a consequent weakening in Hamilton, and less diversity of news comment.
The proposed merging of the Evening Post and Dominion is plainly not in the public interest, and calls for a more thorough appraisal than the directors and the government seem prepared to give.
A final word should come from two Directors of the Wellington Publishing Company. J.H. Dunn and A.L. Mason, directors of Truth, who have objected strongly to the proposed merger:
"The advocates of the merger claim that it is necessary for the protection and the resuscitation of "The Dominion". We believe that if the preoccupations of top management are diverted for a year or two from the succession of take-overs which have consumed their energies in the past few years and are directed to the achievement of internal efficiency and the re-organisation of management in "The Dominion", it can quickly, and at much less cost than is involved in this proposal, be restored to a satisfactory degree of profitability."
Tuesday night; Evening Post carries hews of the 'merger' proposals in its leading story. A low key announcement emphasising the reasonableness of the economic argument. Written in such a legalistic way that it makes dull reading.
Wednesday morning; The Dominion judges the news as worthy of no more than third page treatment.
Wednesday evening. The Evening Post carries the comments of Warren Page, president of the New Zealand Journalist's Association, under a small headline towards the bottom of its front page. Beside it, in large print is an explanatory editorial seeking sympathy from readers for the cold economic facts of newspaper life. And on page 12 somewhere is the story 'Labour sees Planned Newspaper Merger as 'Real Unholy Alliance'.
Thursday morning. Mr Page's statement warrants coverage only on the Dominion's television page.
Friday morning. The Herald, afraid for its status as New Zealand's second biggest company has asked Mr Marshall if the government intended to take any action. True to form, Mr Marshall replies that 'the Government has not at this point of time considered that the public interest is affected to an extent which would justify legislation to deprive people of their rights to conduct their own businesses in this way.'
The proposed merger between the Dominion and Evening Post means that Salient will be one of only two papers in the Wellington area not controlled by the new combined company, points out. The monthly Western Suburbs News would be the only other independent paper.
Notwithstanding the assurance of containing editorial independence of both the Dominion and the Evening Post, the public must be very concerned that news and opinion outlets are being concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. Not only must editorial independence be retained; it must be seen to be retained, if the public are to have any faith in the newspapers as a source of news and comment. The public will obviously realise that in the ultimate, editorial policy is controlled by the Board of Directors and not the editorial staff.
In stating that the Government does not intend tend to interfere, as the Companies are under no obligation to inform the Government of their intentions, Mr Marshall has shown the Government at its laissez faire best.
There is clearly no intention on the part of the Government to ensure that newspapers operate in the public interest. Public interest requires that the public should receive a variety of views on issues, and control should be appointed by the Government, which would have powers to forbid any takeovers or combinations of newspapers it considers to be against the public interest. This would be a necessary and desirable interference with "their freedom to conduct their own business... and dispose of their property as they see fit" which Mr Marshall has elevated to a holy principle. The Government is also being inconsistent here since in
There are two other significant points concerning the merger. Firstly both companies say that the merger has been decided on because of the financial advantages of combining their printing operations. However if this really is the main reason the purposes of both companies would have been just as well served by some other approach. They could simply have agreed to combine their printing plants and established a holding company to run the printing plant, keeping editorial control completely separate.
Secondly, only the shareholders in the Evening Post, nearly all of whom are members of the Blundell family have any say in the merger. This is because in fact the Dominion is taking over the Evening Post and not vice verca and offering shares in its expanded company to shareholders of the Evening Post. Undoubtedly
After the N.Z. Government's highly predictable statement to the effect that everything within its power would be done to make the Springbok tour a success, the scene is now set for the greatest upsurge of antagonism ever to have been directed within this country's confines. Because I know that love and acceptance cannot be pressurised, into existence; that love begets love end can only be bred by love, I find myself in sympathy with Mr Marshall's decision not to obstruct those people who went to play garnet with mutually feeling people over here. So far as the appropriateness of action affecting others is concerned, there must be only one issue and this concerns whether or not the repercussions of that action will help dissipate, the ignorance which is the natural destruction to universal love, brotherhood and understanding. I would presume that a society which feels the need for apartheid is rather more darkened by the shades of ignorance than most. Oppression end ignorance have a rather vicious reinforcing effect on each other and it is good therefore that the African apartheid systems have been so well exposed and that they should continue to be well exposed. To still be in favour of apartheid one would indeed need to be blind. But blindness affects most of us to some extent or other. We live to eliminate it.
The anti-apartheid demonstrators, apart from my statement of sympathy for Mr Marshall, would I think, implicitly or explicitly profess to agree with me thus far, for it is the force of love which dispels ignorance and surely love of the South African blacks and coloureds can be the only valid motive for acting in the hope of effecting their liberation. I use the word "motive" not because I really believe that love can be a motive but is in fact rather a basis for action, but because I believe that the ant-apartheid factions use the word in this way. When "love" denotes
Let compassion rule your hearts and sorrow anticipate the inevitable bummer which will be experienced unless all individuals concerned through a bit more self-searching realise she possibilities of awakening this latent omnipresent, omnipotent love trip singing good good good vibrations and disolving into transparency...
Far be it from me to rush into print echoing those hysterical denunciations, salutations and echortations generally, in fact universally, known as 'Letters to the Editor'. I would not, even if I could tax my pen to such a pitch of obsenity, and blasphemy as may tend to confuse end discompose those pure end young minds shortly to be blighted by the perusal of your publication - if they persist. No Hotspur I, my muse tends to gentler tones. Be this as it may, it is not my present intention - nor will it be, I hasten to assure you- to cast unwarranted aspersions on the columns in which, I am sanguine, my modest epistle may well appear, nor is it my wish to add to certain controversies concerning the scope of what one would call 'the press'. My purpose is to avoid such pitfalls end be brief and to the point as possible.
It has been my privileged pleasure for some time now to walk within these hells of scholarship. I have found, on the whole, its students to be as pleasant, interesting, well-informed and well-groomed a group of young people as one might wish to meet. - one does not of course entertain unreasonably high expectations of young people these days. One sector unfortunately has come to my notice, however, as deserving of some disapprobation. I am referring to that group of people who, through their insipidity, arrogance, abhorrent vulgarity and general onanism, tend to debase the Christian religion which they profess to espouse. Allow me, sir, to register my strong protest to these people - they know only too well who they are.
The cliche-ridden declaration of "The Instigators" will no doubt have "certain individuals" shaking in their apparently not so leftist boots. We have been informed with great sincerity that ell bourgeoisie traits within the fashionable Left will be exposed but that the matter will not end there One wonders whether 'The Instigators' should ascend straight to heaven rather than taint their souls with the day to day contact with people who actually have the typically capitalistic aim of attaining a degree.
What these anonymous gentlemen (or ladies) don't seem to realise is that we've heard their line a thousand times before and it is frankly becoming boring. As they pointed out themselves the Left is not above the petty squabbles that are rife among the establishment, but neither is it above "a prissy parade of tired phrases" to quote Peter Giles from last weeks Salient (not to mention pomposity.) They too, it appears, want to "build bridges", because as any fascist pig knows that is the only way they will be able to solve the differences of the Left. All I can say is Right on (and on).
I would like to propose a capping day stunt with a purpose.
It consists of completely disrupting one of the city's biggest department stores.
There is this cafeteria I know where a very justified and legal action would win its business for a day and perhaps give it enough of a stink to affect it for some time. The managements attitude to it's average consumer is clearly indicated by the showy and revolting food for this reason, I would like to see the place pecked with students filling all available seats and all buying the cheapest bit of food possible. They could then all spend two hours eating it while the long queue of idiots piles up to get into the place.
The purpose of the exercise might be best seen by a student ass. organised appeal for some worthy charity, round ell department stores shops etc...
I am pissed off with the so called revolutionaries in Vic. In Forum last week Vic's revolutionaries were suggesting things to combat racialistic tours of NZ, and also suggesting the idea of a sit in in the Staff club room, mouthing again. The shit stirrers were most surprised when the apathetic audience decided to do it now, what happened to our revolutionaries. One pointed to possible illegality, a feature which should never bother an ardent revolutionary, the other decided he was not ready, and finally decided it would be held next week. Talk about the fucking apathetic students, what else does Vic. expect with the useless revolutionaries it has who having the support of Forum cannot even lead the bloody mob up the hill to fight for library space but that's not an international issue so why should they bother.
Member of
Printed by the Wanganui Chronicle, Box 433, Wanganui and published by the Victoria University of Wellington Students' Association, Box 196, Wellington.
Registration begins at 9 am, Saturday April 1. $1 for two days, 60 cents for one day.
First day - Teach-in at 10 am. A full programme of speakers on aspects of women's oppression and issues around which women are becoming involved today. Topics include: Living with men, child care, women in employment, sexploitation, abortion, matrimonial property laws, women in high schools, Maori and Polynesian women, the need for a women's movement, bisexuality, women and politics. The speakers are women who are involved in the movement or who are closely related to its aims. This session is open to the public.
Second day - Conference proper at 10 am. Reports from all groups. Workshops on major issues. Area workshops (high school women, student women, Maori and Polynesian women, gay women, etc.) (These workshops to be finalised at conference, in accordance with the wishes of the participants.) Plenary session: Reports from workshops, discussions and resolutions. This session will be open to all women, whether in groups or not. It will be closed to men. (sorry fellas). The conference is being organised by the V.U.W. Women's Liberation Movement. Phone 766-891 for more info'.
Free Creche Available Both Days.
Bobbi Sykes spent many years organising and gathering information in the numerous black communities in Northern Queensland before finally realising the futility of working for local improvements to a system that oppresses blacks on a nationwide scale. She has written many articles on the black question for various journals and newspapers including Identity, The Review and Women's Weekly.
At present she is engaged in touring various areas, gathering information, speaking, organising and participating in protests against racism and the oppression of blacks in Australia. She is also writing a novel concerning the condition of black people in Northern Queensland at the time of white penetration of the area.
Recently, Bobbi's most importan work has been the organisation of a national Lionel Brockman Defence Campaign. Lionel Brockman is a black man who was forced to steal to feed his starving family. The police spent $50,000 chasing him and his family around the Western Australian desert and upon being captured, he was sentenced to 3½ years in jail. Bobbi played a key role in organising the big protests over the Brockman issue in Melbourne and Adelaide, and has toured Western Australia organising blacks in support of Brockman.
Over the past few months she has been involved in numerous black protests, including the widely publicised setting up of an "Aboriginal Embassy" in tents opposite Parliament House, Canberra.
And he went with a multitude into a high place and sat under a red and white spotted mushroom and spoke to the people saying, "Is there any relation between all this brain damage drugs are supposed to cause and the number of junkies who turn Jesus freaks?"
Two points can be made in favour of the Christian Union's Lunch-rime Revival Hour, the first is that the idea had not been blatantly stolen from the organisers of Ripple, the second is that none of the advertising was misleading. We all knew what to expect, This last point no doubt explains why the room was filled almost exclusively by the already converted and in turn this could explain why no-one laughed openly at the mighty evangelist, Muri Thompson.
The deeply meaningful choruses usually a feature of revivals, proved in fact to be only a gimmick designed to draw the sinners within reach of Muri Thompson's powerful charisma. The sermon or exhortation, started almost immediately and followed the classical evangelical order of service except that no collection was made for the extension of the kingdom.
The guilt generating part of the service revealed Muri at his best, the straight delivery, the superb logic, the economy of language, all contributed to the creation of an atmosphere in which the still small voice of the spirit could be heard at its clearest. Justice cannot be done to the argument in so small a space, but basically Muri showed us that every action, no matter how altruistically performed, is always open to the criticism that self-interest is, deep down, the motivating factor. Now every christian knows the saying of the Gospel according to John which says "Verily anything that thou likest to do is a sin" so we were all straightway convicted in our hearts and there was a great wailing and a gnashing of teeth.
But Muri, being a man of great mercy, then revealed to us the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ and taught us that if we were genuinely repentant then we'd get let off the hook on judgement day. It was at this point that Muri introduced his trump card, he offered the sceptics (for the first time since Isaiah called down fire) a verification of God's existence. All we had to do was go home and pray "God, if you're real I want you to show yourself to me" and, provided we were sincere, we'd get to see God.
I was very impressed by this, so on Thursday night I thought I'd give it a try.........Lo and behold this bloke in a red boiler suit turns up and offers me a win with the bonus bonds if I go and heckle Mr. Adams-Schneider next day. He pointed out that the second part of John 10: 10 reads "I come that they may have life, and have it to the full."
by have Cunningham.
* * *
A week of Gather for Jesus propaganda in preparation for Friday evening's rally in Civic Square culminated in a lunch-hour meeting in the Union Hall at which three distinguished personalities (?) ventured to give their accounts of a belief in Christ.
Mr Adams-Schneider, true to his "honourable profession" (he said it), embarked on a vociferous discourse that at times seriously threatened to challenge the accepted supremacy of Billy Graham, and judging by the response at the end of his 'campaign' the audience was either with him from the start or else he had indeed accomplished a miraculous conversion.
He did however state his firm belief in three basic principles of Christianity- (i) that all men (and women) are equal, (ii) they need a Saviour in Jesus and (iii) whoever accepts him shall have eternal life.
His refusal to be drawn on the question of how he reconciled his belief in the equality of all men with his Party's attitude to apartheid evoked some loud criticism, especially when he stated that the central problem of apartheid was political and that he had been invited to give a talk on his Christian belief, but would willingly return to a discussion on apartheid at a later date.
Marcus, after hitting out at the professional hecklers, spoke of how he had "seen the power of Christ working". He lamented that society was both apathetic and greedy and what was needed above all was love. "Christ opens the mind and gives the love that society needs".
From the auditorium, James K. Baxter commented that he would not wish to quarrel with the man who recognises good but does not know where it comes from, so that chanting Christ's name can become a noise. What about a man like Ghandi?
Although Marcus was quite prepared to admit his recognition of other great teachers for their manifestation of a particular quality, for him, Christ embodied all these qualities. In conclusion, he expressed the wish that the student body might only examine Christian teaching as much as it did Eastern philosphy.
Dean Hurst spoke briefly, and observed that some people try to push others into their mode of belief instead of sitting down to help them work out their own. "It's easy to sit in judgement -but we must accept people as they are and lead them to Christ."
* * *
Under the National Military Service Act
If you wish to become a conscientious objector it is useful to bear the following points in mind. There are two categories of conscientious objection: unconditional, which is an objection to all military service, and conditional, which is an objection to combatant duties only. If you tell the tribunal that you are willing to undertake non-combatant duties then very little further questioning will take place. This is hardly surprising when you realise that in a modern highly mechanised army the logistical tail is usually larger than the combat head (which is one of the reasons why the unmechanised Vietcong can run rings round mechanised Americans in Vietnam). People who are seriously thinking of becoming non-combatants should realise that without them the combat troops could not fight in the manner in which they are accustomed. There is a strong case for saying that non-combatants are still part of the military machine and are fighting by proxy.
The tribunal is set up under the act to discover, as far as it can, the sincerity with which a person's views on conscientious objection are held. Although originally it was considered that such views could only be held on the basis of a belief in a Supreme Being, this is no longer the case. Any person who cannot, on the basis of his conscience, bring himself to take part in military service can apply to become a conscientious objector. The battle to obtain the right for conscientious objection to war has been fought and won by dozens of people who went to prison during the first and second world wars. It is now a part hearing by the tribunal. All you have to do is to explain in a straight forward, friendly and positive manner why you feel the same way about war as those people who went to prison for their beliefs
A witness is very important to help your case. The tribunal only has about 10 or 15 minutes to discover where your conscience lies, and the presence of a witness is of inestimable value in helping the tribunal coma to a decision.
It is useful to bear the following-three questions in mind for these are the sort of things the tribunal is interested in:
Corso campaigns and the like, and anything which shows a constructive rather than destructive approach to life.
If your objection to military service is based primarily on a dislike to the Vietnam war in particular rather than any strongly held belief against war in general this could quite legitimately be put into any statement e.g. the Vietnam war is the only war you have had any real contact with, and if war is as bad as that you just cannot tee yourself taking part. You may get a question, though the are fairly rare these days, of the type, "What
There is, finally, a third alternative which can be considered more radical than becoming a CO.; this it conscientious non-compliance or
Further information on non-compliance can be obtained from Organisation to Halt Military Service (OHMS) P.O.Box 1226, Wellington. (758-646).
At last compulsory military service has come under the scope of an organisation which is trying to do something constructive. The Organisation to Halt Military Service was recently formed in the university to oppose the whole system of compulsory military service to encourage those eligible not to register to encourage those who have already registered, to send back their cards and notify the Minister of Labour that they will no longer comply with the directions of the department, or to aid those who have been called up, and refuse to undergo military training.
On the 7th March a panel of four, Don Borrie of S.C.M., John McCreary, Sociology professor who was interested as a Conscientious Objector during the last war, Nigel Taylor a lawyer, and Conrad Bollinger who was involved with the
On the point of raising a nationwide petition it would seem that the organisers are hesitant because they are apprehensive that the public may not come forward to sign and therefore it might be a waste of time and effort. What other things does OHMS hope to achieve before it proposed to face the law courts in a test case, which mutt inevitably come if the organisation is to have any relevance at all? Don Borrie would like to see church opinion mobilised throughout the country. Since it is the church that provides the raison d'etre for society, and where else in the country do people congregate every week with the intent of contemplating the moral values of the society in which we live? He would also like the group to be able to win the support of the trade-union movement and the F.O.L. and thus present the authorities with a united front.
So far the group has not properly got off the ground. There has been one fruitiest meeting with the former Minister of defence, Mr Thompson. Or as one of the orgaisers said, "...a complete non response, he didn't respond in the slightest." Not surprisingly the group expects the same sort of response from the new Minister holding the portfolio, Mr McCready. Therefore the group sees the best hope forgetting the act repealed by the Labour Party. Repeal of the act has been part of Labour Party policy since
At the moment the group can only put any possible objectors and/or fugitives onto lawyers who are willing to help in the field of legal advice. In the future, however, it Is hoped that the group will be able to provide financial, legal and moral support to anyone who eventually comet into conflict with the establishmentarian forces, to that when the person it on trial he will know that he is not forgotten, nor without allies.
The following months will see the shaping of the organisation as a coherent and forceful body which hopes to get the act repealed and make the whole matter an election issue. Should you with to help or obtain help from the organisation then ring 51-542 and ask for either Ken Howell or Anna Smith, or alternately go to the S.C.M. cabin, which is perched on the hill in front of Rankine Brown.
I am replying to your letter of 21 November about the availability of conscientious objector forms under the National Military Service Act
It is correct that forms to register for military service are available from Post Offices whereas forms for registration as a conscientious objector are only available at offices of the Department of Labour.
There are comparatively few of those required to undergo military training who wish to apply for registration as a conscientious objector. It has been found in the experience of operating the scheme that persons wishing to register as conscientious objectors often request further information on rights and obligations which cannot be adequately answered by other than Labour Department officers.
In these circumstances, it is preferable for members of minority groups to obtain sufficient information from qualified persons rather than obtain information of a general nature only which may or may not apply to their particular case. For these reasons, these forms are not available for distribution on campus throughout the country.
The anti-apartheid conference which met at Victoria University last weekend began to prepare the groundwork for breaking New Zealand's relations with the White racist regimes in Southern Africa, and building up support and assistance for the liberation movements fighting those regimes.
The greatest impact on the people attending the conference was made by Miss Frede Guinwala, and Executive Member of the African National Congress, who flew from London to attend. Miss Guinwala dealt with the question of violence during the course of her address, and emphasised that the ANC had decided to choose armed struggle in fighting the South African regime not only to take over the state but also because of the necessity of self-defence of the non-white people in South Africa against the Bornster regime's oppression.
She said that the South African people had to choose the way they are going to act themselves In the anti-fascist struggle of World War II, people had decided that what they were fighting for was worth the sacrifice. By what right, she asked, are we to be denied the right of sacrifice so that our children can have a better life? The Sharpeville massacre in
Earlier, Logan Moodley, a South African whose citizenship was revoked by the South African Government in
The United States to only supported the South African regime but also Portugese colonialism in Fuine-Bissau, Angola and Mozambique. For example the U.S. Government has recently signed a treaty with Portugal for a U.S. base in the Azores. The U.S. end other western countries could, he said, help to isolate and overcome the dangers of South Africa end help to shelter Zambia and Tanzania from white racist governments. Instead Nixon has chosen to come to Lisbon's aid. Nixon's generosity to the Portugese was motivated by the old argument that because the Soviets give the guerilla said, the guerillas are Soviet stooges and must not be allowed to succeed. U.S. aid to Portugal, he said, could also have something to do with recent oil finds in Angola.
Britain's position was exactly the same as that of the U.S. Over half of all the overseas investments in South Africa came from Britain, and more and more British capital was flowing into South Africa. France, Germany and Italy were all increasing trade with South Africa. Capitalism and racialism go hand in hand.
Another important contribution to the Conference came from Terry Bell who talked about the Apartheid propaganda machine in South Africa. Terry Ball was a journalist in South Africa and now works as journalist in Auckland. He stressed that apartheid is not limited to South Africa. Vorster who was detained during the Second World War for fascist activities had been head of the South African Nazi underground. Apartheid was an expansionist doctrine, and South Africa was selling the Herrenvolk ideal of a world order to the rest of the world. South African propaganda today, he said, was "the same vile pill given a very good sugar coating." Bell analysed four different types of South African propaganda; Firstly the official propaganda mainly through the Department of information. Then there is semi-official and 'independent forms of propaganda by film companies which have supplied the N.Z.B.C. with films.
The South African Race Bureau issues statistics etc., and especially the South Africa Foundation, which has organised links in business and politics throughout the western world with the full backing of the Department of Information. South Africa, he said, has analysed New Zealand and assessed that a substantial reservoir of anti-coloured feeling exists and is shown, for example, by New Zeeland's racist immigration laws. There is also a Kiplinges que British feeling in New Zealand, and Peter Hugh Philip, M.B.E., M.A. (Oxon) is a very suitable propagandist. The fourth type of South African propaganda was the liberal sector of Apartheid which preaches a line of moderation. This, he said, was the most invidious. Mr Marshall's bridge-building with South Africa meant building a toll bridge with the fare dictated by the South African Government. The line of liberal moderation was a sham. For an example the much-publicised walk-off from a cricket field by All Barker, the South African cricket captain, and other white cricketers was purely a piece of show for the rest of the world. The place to build bridges to, Bell said, was the non-racial sporting bodies in South Africa, which were not illegal and despite tremendous pressure still exist. The South African Progressive Party (and its one parliamentary representative Mrs Helen Suzman) and the Rand Daily Mail newspaper were also part of the liberal type of apartheid propaganda. They exist, he said, because the South African Government let them. By allowing this sort of opposition the government are able to preserve a veneer of moderate opposition. Bell pointed out that Harry Oppenheimer, a leading member of the South Africa Foundation bankrolls the Progressive Party and effectively controls the Rand Daily Mail and the United Party's Sunday Times. The line of anti-government moderation, the call "please don't boycott us" was the most dangerous form of apartheid propaganda. After outlining some of the more insidious forms of South African propaganda, such as newspaper articles by bona fide journalists in the pay of the South African Government, Bell concluded "This is war and anybody who does not regard it as such should not be here." The South Africans, he said, sell neutrality. They succeed because they survive, and they survive because we let them.
The most important practical part of the Conference was the meetings of tactical planning groups on Sunday mornings. These groups reported back to the full Conference on Sunday afternoon, and their reports with minor alterations were adopted and referred for action to the proposed national Co-ordinating Committee which will be established at a meeting of the Conference Planning Committee, to representatives of the organisations which sponsored the conference end to other interested organisations.
The Diplomacy planning committee decided that Philip's activites could be countered by offering speakers to groups which invited him to speak, reproducing his speeches (or rather his one basic speech) with the appropriate corrections for distribution at meetings he addresses, monitoring his activities and those of his staff to find out what they are doing, end documenting his activities and presenting a report to the U.N. This group also decided to take action against the three honorary Portugese consuls in New Zealand, and called for a report on the activities of the South African Front organisations, such as the Friends of South Africa. The New Zealand Government should establish diplomatic representation in one African state as a high priority-Kenya and Zambia were mentioned. The Liberation Movements in Southern Africa, the Organisation for African Unity and individual African countries should be asked to appoint representatives in New Zealand, or Australia and New Zealand. The New Zealand Government, it was decided, was making insufficient provision for the distribution of United Nations information, and the N.Z.B.C. should be asked to take the U.N.'s free radio programme. Continuous pressure is needed on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to improve New Zealand's voting record in the U.N. on questions concerning Southern Africa, and the Government should be urged to make financial contributions to the Trust Fund for South Africa, the Educational and Training Programme for Southern Africa and the Trust Fund for Namibia (South West Africa) initially equal to its contribution to the
The Conference further decided on a compromise resolution urging that anti- apartheid groups should work for the severance of diplomatic contacts between South Africa and New Zealend.
The planning committee on aid to liberation movements in Southern Africa stressed that it was well aware that it was at the very beginning of its work. It recommended a co-ordinating committee to collect contributions for liberation movements which should approach national organisations, such as the F.O.L. for support.
The planning committee on worker action and trade boycotts called for personal boycotts of South African goods. Government removal of all tariff preferences on ell South African products, an embargo on all South African goods produced under discrimanatory wage rates and labour laws; endeavours to persuade all individuals and companies in New Zealand to cut off investments and financial activities in South Africa, and invited N.Z. U.S.A. to investigate the possibility of individuals acquiring voices in companies with interests in South Africa. The committee's most important recommendations were to work to persuade trade unions not to provide any services for racist sports teams visiting New Zealand and to help give effect to the declared anti-apartheid feelings of New Zealand trade unions. Pet Kelly representing the Northern Drivers Union emphasised that it was most difficult to achieve actual participation by the trade union movement, but stressed that only workers could stop the apartheid system. "We have now in F.O.L. policy, all that is required to implement all you have spoken about", he said.
The Sporting Contacts planning groups gave strong strong support for a stratified attack on the
There was disagreement at the Sporting Contacts group meeting over the question of non-violent disruption of the tour as opposed to mass protest A motion "That this Conference support the building of a series of mass non-disruptive protests against the
The final group to report was the Publicity planning group whose main recommendation was to appoint a full time paid co-ordinator of activity with an emphasis on publicity work. Before the Conference concluded with discussion about the proposed national co-ordinating committee, a resolution moved by Pat Kelly resolving to affect a boycott of all Caltex products as long as they employ the chairman of the Rugby Union, Jack Sullivan, as their General Manager, was carried.
The action from this conference has still to coma, and will only come from harder work and better organisation on the part of Anti-Apartheid groups in New Zealand. The important thing about this conference is that it provided an impetus for action for a lot of people who have opposed apartheid in varying degrees before. There is one important point which should not be forgotten by ell those who profess an abhorrence of apartheid and colonialism in Southern Africa. That is, that racialism, even if it is not so apparent, exists in New Zealand too, and, as Hannah Jackson told the Conference, white liberals should give more support to Maori groups, such as Nga Tamatoa, which are fighting racialism here.
The weedkiller 2,4,5-T as presently sold in New Zealand contains significant levels of an impurity called dioxin which could cause birth defects in human babies. Present government warnings and restrictions on 2,4,5-T are seriously inadequate. Farmers should welcome sensible restrictions on 2,4,5-T because it is their babies who are most threatened and in any case 2,4,5-T may well be harmful to stock and pasture. The government should immediately ban domestic and aerial spraying of 2,4,5-T.
Dr Robert Mann was a student at Victoria from 1959-63 where he completed his MSc. He then worked at Berkeley University, California, five years with the Nobel prizewinner (and Dow director), Melvin Calvin.
This article was rejected by the NZ Farmer because their editor thought he would be "irresponsible" to print it while the special government subcommittee is investigating the matter and because the Dow Company might withdraw its advertising.
The Dow company's magazine Service has vigorously supported the use of 2,4,5-T.'
Since the thalidomide disaster it has been common knowledge that chemicals which do not harm a pregnant woman may, during the first few months of pregnancy, cause malformations of the foetus. Commercial 2,4,5-T contains an impurity which is one of the most powerful poisons known and is especially potent in causing malformations to pregnant mammals. This impurity is called 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-para-doxin, commonly abbreviated "dioxin". To summarise briefly a lot of scientific research, it appears that, in the rat, the maximun safe daily dose of dioxin is in the region of 1/8 of one millionth of a gram per kilogram of body weight. Since drug dosages are usually quoted in terms of weight of drug per unit of animal body weight, let us use the abbreviation microg./kg. for "millionth of a gram per kilogram body weight." The hamster is even more sensitive than the rat to the foetus-deforming effects of dioxin: daily doses of 0.02 microg./kg. in early pregnancy cause foetal damage in the hamster.
Of course we do not know how potent dioxin is in pregnant women. It might be less potent than in animals. On the other hand, it might be more potent. Thalidomide is 700 times more potent
How serious in fact is the risk to people from the dioxin in 2,4,5-T? The bulk of NZ 2,4,5-T is made in New Plymouth by Ivon Watkins - Dow, who state that their product contains only about 0.5 -0.8 part per million dioxin. This may seem an impressively low impurity, but in fact even this level is significant. The most obvious way a woman could take a dangerous dose of dioxin from 2,4,5-T is through drift of aerial spray. Farmers end advisory officers are familiar with the fact that sprays laid from the air can and do drift for miles even on fairly calm days. If such a spray drifted on to a farm roof from which drinking water is collected, even the 0.5 ppm of dioxin in the 2,4,5-T could administer a daily dose of about 0.015 microg./kg. to a woman in the house. This figure was calculated by the Chairman of the Agricultural Chemicals Board, Mr P.J. Clark; he points out that such a dose is very unlikely, but that it is possible. If we now compare this possible dose from aerial spraying with the maximum safe dose indicated by experiments on animals, given above, we notice that the dose to the woman would be thousands of times the safe level. In fact, even if we were to ignore the safety factor (which no responsible scientist would do), we notice that the possible dose to a woman calculated by Mr Clark (0.015 microg./kg. daily) is very close to a dose (0.02 microg./kg. daily) which is positively known to cause foetal damage in the hamster.
In
The bans on home and water use of 2,4,5-T were not appealed against by the manufacturers of 2,4,5-T but the crop-use ban was : two manufacturers (Dow and Hercules) asked for a scientific advisory committee to review the decision. This committee reported to the Environmental Protection Agency in mid-
Another investigation of 2,4,5-T was made by the President's Science Advisory Committee, whose 68-page report (
The state of Massachusetts (population over 5,000,000) has a special Pesticide Board, which voted on
In short, then, considerable progress has been made in the U.S.A. toward protecting people from this danger.
The Agricultural Chemicals Board is charged by statute with being vigilant on behalf of the public health in matters such as this. The chairman of the Board, Mr Clark, has calculated that this accidental drift of aerially-sprayed 2,4,5-T could give a pregnant woman a daily dose comparable with those known to cause foetal abnormalities in animals. This means that there is one clearly feasible way in which 2,4,5-T could cause human birth defects. There exists, therefore, a clear case for public warnings and for restricting human exposure. Mr Clark, however, has never publicly rescinded his statement of
The main point is that the public ought to be protected from a risk which is already known for certain to be significant. Suppose that thalidomide had been shown by pre-sale tests to cause deformities in several species of mammal at doses which women would take. Would anybody then advocate the release of thalidomide for public consumption? of course not. Yet our Messrs Clark and Watts are in the position of advocating a similar exposure risk. To make things even worse, they ignore the distinction that at least thalidomide was of some benefit to and was voluntarily taken by women, whereas aerial spraying of 2,4,5-T can result in involuntary poisoning, with no compensating benefits to the victim.
The only action taken by the Agricultural Chemicals Board to protect people from the risks attendant upon spraying of 2,4,5-T is label amendments which have been and are being made. At present, one can buy from the Food department of a large Auckland store a bottle of 2,4,5-T which is not even labelled "Poison", and bears no warning of the possible hazard to health. Proper labels would be welcome; but they scarcely begin to meet the need. If your wife gets dosed with 2,4,5-T from your neighbour's aerial spraying, she can hardly be helped by any label which may have been on your neighbour's bottle.
1. In view of the grave risks, aerial application of 2,4,5-T should be banned forthwith where there is any danger of exposure of humans.
The Minister of Agriculture has the power to do this. Farmers should not object, because:
Chemical Structures:
2. The Agricultural Chemicals Board at present is mainly made up of users and producers of chemicals. Several scientists should be added.
3. There is a 50% subsidy to the manufacturer (recently introduced). This tends to encourage use of chemicals rather than burning or slashing, and should be replaced by selective financial aid to those farmers who, in the judgement of competant advisers, must use agricultural chemicals.
4. New statutes should be passed to prohibit use of agricultural chemicals in ways which endanger the public health. (At present, farmers and home gardeners are free, under perhaps some pressure from chemicals salesmen, to use dangerous kinds and amounts.)
5. The government should support research into possible poisoning of animals and people by inhaled sprays of 2,4,5-T and other chemicals.
References: The leading British scientific journal "Nature" has summarized facts and opinions on 2,4,5-T:
"Want to Help?
This article is mostly a summary of the scientific section of the petition which was recently presented to the Ag Chem Board by the Environmental Defence Society, a group of scientists, town planners and lawyers which will be considering court action against the Board if it does not act to protect people from 2,4,5-T. To support the EDS, join it: $5 (students $1) to P.O. Box 8, Auckland.
It is a pity that Tony Simpson was so wrapped up in his particular view of how history should be written that he could find no time in his alleged review of Mike Bassett's Confrontation '51 to talk about the
Simpson does not claim that Bassett's account of the lockout is inaccurate or wrong. In fact he says that "lf one wants the facts on the '51 Lockout they are here..." His only criticism of Bassett is that he does not express the feeling of the time,—"...the record of men and women who felt and thought in certain ways on both sides." Such an approach to the '51 Lockout is incompatible with Bassett's chronological and analytical approach. The question Simpson raises by this criticism is simply whether Bassett's book presents an explanation of the lockout which is not readily available elsewhere, and which offers some historical lessons from this particular event.
Simpson's criticism of Basset might have some point if literature on the lockout was more readily available. However Confrontation '51 is the first full acount of the '51 Lockout to be published which attempts to explain what happened and why in a reasonably, objective way. Dick Scott's 151 Days which was first published in 151 Days easily disregarded, because it is partisan. 151 Days rates with The Tragic Story of the Waihi Strike, by Harry Holland, "Ballot Box" and R.S. Ross as a great record of the struggles of militant unions in New Zealand. However Bassett's academic objectivity will serve better in showing what did actually happen in
The lessons of the Confrontation '51 even though Bassett does not spell them out explicitly.
Firstly, the ease with which the National Government of the day could break the Watersiders' Union and their allies is quite apparent. Since
Secondly, the '51 Lockout shows how one-sided the press in New Zealand can become in a showdown between government and employers, and militant unions. The N.Z.B.C. today, however, is certainly far more independent than the Broadcasting Service was in
Thirdly the Labour Party's impotence in
Finally the, serious divisions in the New Zealand labour movement after the Second World War, between the moderate arbitrationist unions under the leadership of the Federation of Labour, and the militant unions under the Watersiders' leadership, were possibly the main factors enabling the Government to defeat the wharfies and their allies so easily. F.P. Walsh, the F.O.L. Vice-President in
Bassett's study of the Confrontation '51 again, and try to suppress his obvious desire to put Bassett down. I humbly suggest that Simpson might learn that the history of militant unionism in New Zealand is a history of serious struggles and defeats- a little more in fact, than jolly anecdotes and old 'Wobbly' songs That is, of course, if he is serious when he talks about revolution.
Too many of our Lecturers are like our Politicians — Speak a lot but say Nothing.
Not that this is about Politicians — in fact it's more about Lecturers. Now that the Hassle of the First Few Weeks is Over and Most have Settled Down to At—Tending the Odd Lecture its Time to Review the Types of Lecturers there are, and to Mention why your Notes Aren't Going to be all that Good to Swat from.
After all, Swatting's a Drag Anyway. But Hell its Worse if you Blow your Brain Trying to Understand your Notes. Not that Poor Notes are your Fault—Often its that of your Lecturer.
You've got the Real Hopeless Cases, and they know who they are as well as you do. There's at Least a Couple in Every Department. They are Usually Characterized by Poor Presentation—Reading Rather than Lecturing. And who can Take Notes at the Same Rate as Someone Talking? Unless you can do some form of Shorthand its Bad News. They've Either been in the Department for Years or came into it from an Honours Class. Either way they Provide you with Pretty Useless Notes Because you can't Keep up. Mind you all Bad Notes Aren't Caused by Bad Lecturers—there are other Influencing Factors such as Noise or just Plain Poor Note Taking Technique. Generally Though, Bad Notes can be Attributed to Poor Lecturing.
Now you could Take the Bull that we Started off with by the Horns and Kick up the Shit by Trying to get that Certain Lecturer Removed.
Or you could Avoid the Embarassment of that and Take a Short Course in Shorthand and get all what he Says Down Anyway. Something Like 80-100 Words a Minute, Yet Using the Basic Longhand Alphabet with Only a Few Foreign Symbols. To Learn a Course Like Pitman Script is Easy and Quick. You Take it on Saturday Mornings-12 of them—when you don't do Much Anyway. It Only Costs Six Bucks for the Full Course and $4.50 of that is Taken up with Books. Really its a Good Cheap Way to Pass Units Without the Hassle of Swatting from Texts, Borrowing Notes and Blowing your Brain Generally.
Enrolments are now Being Taken for Pitman Script Either at the Students Association Office or Enquire on the First Floor of Whitcombes—the Same Floor as you Found your Text Books.
Whitcombe & Tombs
Lambton Quay
for Textbooks Stationery Pitman Script General Reading
A group of alcoholics were parading outside The Band Rotunda with placards reading 'Baxter, Why Don't You Come Down From The Cross And Be Buried' and 'God Is A Bad Substitute For Meths'. They claimed to be demonstrating because they could not afford admission to and were denied any part in a play which dealt sincerely and graphically with their depest problems and cauterised their vivid intricate speech in a bleak, truncated poetry, (All alkies are intellectuals - that's the whole point of The Band Rotunda ) At a time when most alkies are unemployed, the use of scab labour to act out the spiritual problems of the alcoholic intellectual was an insult to people who drank real meths and occasionally tried Communion wine as well. "I've never broken into a vestry to get the altar wine like some people 1 could name," a spokesman for the demonstrators said, "but I wouldn't mind trying it on for a week or so. And I could stick a sheila on the stage a damn sight better than that guy Marray Alford. How can all these people who've never drunk meths straight in their lives speak for us? What Unity Theatre needs is Alkie Power." At this stage as Byron Buick-Constable entered the theatre, the demonstration turned violent and after a scuffle in which I was threatened several times with broken meths bottles I retreated into the theatre office to call the Salvation Army, who beat up several of the demonstrators with jagged castanets.
Salient's preview of James K. Baxter's play The Band Rotunda (an official Unity Theatre advertising handout made in a desperate attempt to counterbalance the effects of the Salient review) declared in its one accurate statement that, in the play, "Baxter's concern for the plight of man is left for the actor to interpret." The actors certainly do have a big responsibility in this play, as they are let down successively by the playwright, the producer, the stage manager and the wardrobe mistress as the play progresses. The meaninglessness of the whole play - as Baxter explained afterwards, a play written to expound Catholic agnosticism must lack meaning - was consistently ignored by a good cast which manfully and womanfully substituted their stage experience for the playwrights incompetence. Bill Smith as Concrete Grady gave personality to a character Baxter conceived as depersonalised man searching for identity. Marray Alford and Ray Fry, as Jock Ballantyne and Snowy Lindsay, managed to turn their roles as drunken philosophers into something much more closely resembling decent gormless alcoholics. Even Margaret Bell as Rosie O'Rourke, in spite of her own, and Baxter's middle-class inhibitions, came far nearer to being a solid bouncing pub prostitute than Baxter intended. Baxter explained afterwards that she was really intended to be a Women's Lib advocate (her best line echoes Kay Goodger in a demand that God, Baxter and Unity Theatre, sometimes known as the Holy Trinity, provide her with "only one decent man") who wants to start a social revolution in order to raise six sprogs with the Catholic Church's blessing.
The costumes, clearly borrowed from the City Mission for the occasion, are far too clean (when did you last see a metho with a clean singlet?), none of the shoes are down at heel (they are just splattered with paint), and in spite of the play's publicity poster all the actors are completely clean-shaven. Anybody in the cast could have wandered down past the library and made an alkies day for him by swapping Unity's clean City Mission clothing for sweat- beer- and tobacco-stained, torn used clothes, but if the cast were afraid even to avoid shaving for a week in case the blokes at work commented, any close contact with the people whose lives they parody would be a bit much to ask. I felt out of place at the theatre, since my worn shoes with holes at the toes, un-ironed, uncreased longs and totally untrimmed beard made me look more like an alkie than anyone else in the theatre. But as a better Catholic than Baxter once said, human kind fears too much reality.
The Band Rotunda was written by Baxter while on a Burns Fellowship in Dunedin, which indicates that Burns may have more to answer for than the bastards with whom he populated the Scottish lowlands. Baxter's Dunedin guru, Patrick Carey, once told James K., on James K.'s own account, that "the play is a fiction", and this wise lesson has been well learnt in The Band Rotunda. There can have been few plays written in New Zealand with so small an admixture of reality. Because Baxter believes that there is "not enough language in modern plays", which are "too bureaucratic" (the New Left theory of dramatic criticism), there is no action whatever in Act II, which consists of seven consecutive alcoholic monologues relieved by one arrest, a song ("influenced by Brendan Behan", according to Baxter - it certainly has no dramatic point), and culminating in an alchoholic death like a good Trotskyist at rehearsal).
The first act is technically so competent and says so little that I suspect Patrick Carey must have written most of it. Apart from the miserable hymn singing, which would disgrace a Jehovah's Witness congregation whose choir leader had endured a forcible blood transfusion, the acting is first rate and the stage action is so straight forward that not even the producer has been able to reorganise it. If the story-line had been at all coherent, or something else happened besides the introduction of the major characters, it might have had the makings of a play good enough for NZBC Television to reject. As it is, rewritten in the narrative prose style of Sylvia Ashton-Warner's latest novel it would be just bad enough to win a Listener short story competition. All one can say is that the chaos of the play's story-line symbolises the chaos of humanity without Christ, the Church and the Resurrection. Both are exactly pointless. In the face of the complete absurdity of the total despair of secular man, all one can do is echo Snowy's words, when he challenges the empty formulas and spiritual cliches of the Salvation Army : "Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren; and Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Arom". This is indeed the word of God to man in our time, and, if The Band Rotunda says nothing else (and it does), this is its most vital message.
Pauline looked across at Dr. Peter Schofield, hit white smile illuminating the operating theatre, both with light and confidence. A small flutter wavered in her heart, welled up, and came forth as a sigh. Peter looked over, flashed her a smile and returned to work. Slowly the miracle of birth unfolded before them and Pauline felt the lump in her throat tighten. At last the baby was of the world hanging by an ankle, half-way between life and death. A moment passed without a sound. Schofield looked at the young child, shrugged and gave it a hearty slap on its bottom. Without warning the baby lurched up, looked the doctor in the eye and snarled....."What's the matter, ya bastard, can't you give a man time to marshall his thoughts?".
Timothy Richard Shadbolt has never looked back.
"Would you tell me please, which way I ought to go from here?" That depends a good deal on where you want to go to" said the cat.
The Court: You are charged on this 21st of March you did use indecent language in a public place, namely Albert Park, to which you pleaded not guilty. Is that correct?
The Defendant: Yes.
The Court: You may sit down and you probably know the form.
In our very fine system of justice one of the major principles of law is that your previous court appearances can't be revealed until you are found guilty. Every man is innocent until proven guilty. So when (Blip) said 'You probably know the form' he was saying — Shadbolt, you have appeared in court before. You're a guilty man. I had been judged a criminal before I sat down.
A good magistrate is one who doesn't get too deeply involved in the battle between defence and prosecution. (Blip) my case on about eighty different occasions. It was like playing a game of rugby and getting penalised eighty times, when the other side doesn't get penalised at all. That sort of thing doesn't happen too often in rugby but it happens every day in court.
The Prosecutor Calls Helen Claire Bowsfield (Sworn)
The Prosecutor: I believe your full name It Helen Claire Bowsfield and you reside at Flat 9, Ash ton Road, Mount Eden?... Yes. And your occupation?... Nurse aid. These words when they were used, did they have any effect on you?... Yes.
What effect?... They offended me.
Thank you.
Transcript of Trial
They've fined me a hundred dollars and now they don't want to put me in jail and every-time I get a press report I say "And I'm just on the verge of going into jail" and I haven't heard a Word from them. Y'know, when I was in court they said you've got two weeks to pay this or we'll take Immediate and Prompt and Instant Action, and that was about four months ago and I've been standing around yelling ever since "I'm On the Verge" and 'They'll Put me in Jail Soon", but I think it's the last thing they want to do because the last time I was in Mt. Eden there was a riot two weeks later and they all thought it was my fault -they're so horrified about lefties - I think all they do is moan about the food but they see it as a real deep seated political rebellion inspired by left-wing commies.
The courts are tempting the police to smash a guy in the guts until he confesses. Society can scream indignantly 'Prove it', but I don't intend to prove here that cops assault people at Central to gain confessions. I know it happens, the cops know it happens, anyone who's been involved with crime knows it happens. Only the stupid, the ignorant and the magistrates say that it doesn't, and even they sometimes comment on the truth.
"They told me they were going to Mount Eden but drove me to Central. When I protested they just laughed. I told them I wanted, to ring my lawyer and they told me to "Shut up — or we'll shut you up". Detectives (Blip) (Blip) got me into this small room and started questioning. I refused to even open my mouth. (Blip) threw the first punch I told him I hadn't been charged with anything and they had no right to hold me (Blip) had his sleeves rolled up: he punched and questioned, punched and questioned while (Blip) held me in the chair. Then they dragged me against the wall and really started hammering; I tried to keep standing but I was going dizzy — my guts were screaming for mercy and I was winded. As I fell one grabbed me by the hair and I felt a rabbit killer. You bastards, I hope you're proud of yourselves. (Blip) had me in an armlock and was stretching me out so that I couldn't buckle (Blip) was punching me in the guts and slapping hard, vicious belts around the head. They had me on the floor now and an old wound on my arm opened up. "By the time we've finished with you, you'll crawl out of here Bower". When I came to Hutton was sitting beside me. He was really nice to me and said he was sorry and that he didn't want to see me hurt. This is an old police trick and I told him nothing".
The libel and defamation laws in this country are so ill-defined and protective of the status quo and lawyers so much in disagreement about what may constitute defamation that we've had a hard job deciding what to do We do know that the courts would be hard on author, publisher and printer of this book if they had half a chance. We don't want to give them that chance, nor pay out thousands to conservative members of the establishment. So, where it is possible that a judge of our Supreme Court could direct a jury that a passage may possibly have a defamatory meaning, we have inserted a . You may call it playing safe, we just want to publish more books like this, while creating an environment in which the laws of defamation, libel and contempt of court may be liberalised.
Where a passage may possibly be construed as obscene, we have inserted a . but you will note that this Is used sparingly and we fully expect to be taken to the Indecent Publications Tribunal anyway.
"It is a joke. It may not be a very good joke, but I maintain that even the funniest joke in the world, after you (the prosecutor) had finished with it, would not be very funny. The sexual part is of little importance."
"Of little importance?" asked the Prosecutor "The sexual part is of little importance," repeated the witness. "The main point about it is that Rupert Bear is behaving in a way one would not expect a little bear to behave."
"Yes," said the prosecutor "But what sort of age would you think Rupert is to your mind; what sort of aged bear"
Witness:- "Oh I'm very sorry, I'm not up to date with bears".
Jack/and what happened in the end, who took it?
Tim/ none of them, we sort of had to do it ourselves, just a young guy - he's really just a sort of editor, he's doing it, and a few other people and myself, mostly a Wellington group, under Alister Taylor.
John/ you know Jack, we find there's far more censorship by publishers and printers than by the Tribunal.
Tim/yeahhh, believe it or not even typesetters will damp down - we had that problem. These typesetters got hold of the text and they kept it for 10 days and then said they wouldn't do it. You see why Hoffman has got all disillusioned and cut his hair off, y'know, not that I agree, but you see why you do get disillusioned at times with long-hairs because we went to this typesetting firm place, there were all these reel long haired hips and they say "gidday mann, how ya goin" y'know and "Hi! doin' a book eh man?" and all that, and these really groovy birds and I thought what a terrific place y'know all these young wild kids working here. And they wouldn't do it. Their boss just said "No it's indecent". And they all went "O well you know, that's the way it goes man". O jesus. I said look at you working here, you're just slaves. And we went to another place and they set it and they were corny old doddery men - real conservative short beck and sides and they said yeah, OK, and they are just doing it without any trouble.
Jack / What's it called ?
Tim/"Bullshit and Jellybeans"
Judge: What's the problem now?
Leary: Kinky is another word the witness (Richard Neville Editor Oz) doesn't like.
Judge: Which one (advertisement in School Kids Oz) are you looking at now?
Leary: My Lord the one that starts: "The Adults Revue".
Judge: Oh, so sorry. I was looking at Voyeurs, Homosexuals, Lesbians.
Leary: My Lord, sorry. Rubber gear, men dressed as maids, leather gear, all perversions
"Now I'm into my next book. I'm looking forward to receiving lots of letters"
friendly: Dear Tim, Hi thought I would drop you a line to tell you I was impressed with your book Bullshit and Jellybeans...
Dear Tim, I am an "oldie" I suppose by your terms.... and I find your book crystallises in my mind what protests are all about.
freaky: Dear Tim, ... the end gets closer and at ever Increasing speed. Maybe its already too late. Maybe one can be too cynical and give up hope but maybe 'hope springs eternal in the human brest!...
fantastic!
— your perverted life is an abomination to the name of man.
— Disgusting
— Filth
— You will gain little with your sordid little work...
In recent years when guitars have come equipped with successively more sophisticated hardware, we rarely hear the instrument as just naked wood and strings.
Who nowadays plays in a modern idiom without even an amplifier? Charlie Byrd is one of the few jazz guitarists to learn his craft from sources other than jazz. Byrd found his inspiration in both folk music and the classics.
He studied the classical guitar with Sophocles Papas and Andres Segoria, and learned the literature of traditional guitar from 16th and 17th century Europe to modern Latin American concert music. But he also heard folk music - flamenco, Hungarian and the Country Blues.
There are instances when you can point to these influences in his playing, but the guitar as instrument appears to be Byrd's real influence. He thinks guitar - its tone, its chords, its rhythms and how they are produced. His successderives from his technicalability to say what he thinks and feels about his instrument.
In contrast with most other contemporary forms of music, Byrd's jazz has nothing to say. It's pure revelry and of a quiet, light and easy kind, but conducive to catharsis nonetheless, by its pure rhythms and striking clarity. And it comes as one helluva relief from the harshness of a lot of rock.
For a while the album struck me as being dated - it seemed too sweet and rosy - the way the world looked from bible class coffee bars. Its also the sort of music that can slip into the background very easily. There are no obtrusive musical obscenities. Charlie Byrd uses an unfamiliar lead instrument in jazz, but still this is perfectly honest and good music.
* * *
How pleasant, when asked to review a recording of a work whose idiom is entirely distasteful, not to have to hide a begrudging admission that the piece is well played and recorded behind protest at this perpetration of a bouquet of Bohemian fold-tunes in the name of "symphony". Dvorak's symphonic music may be pretty silly, but it was never so gross as to warrant the debasement to which it is subject in this issue which appears as a compendium of errors of modern recording.
The sound is completely artificial - for once the proverbial kerosene tin does seem apposite - a curious and highly metallic sheen which is utterley unreal, I am shocked at the amount of out-of-tune playing, unclear rhythmic articulation, dynamic imbalance and the continual "whipping-up" of the climaxes (eloquent enough as they stand), in a manner beloved of fashionable young men of the podium and reminiscent of the grimiest of Dr. Graham'sevangelisings. Mr. Jorda often takes a curiously literal view of the score markings which leads him into several traps; staccato articulation of parts of the Introduction and of the opening of the Scherzo so fragment the phrase as to render the musical shape quite meaningless. The record surface on the review copy is un-pardonably noisy and there are some bad editing slips And so on.
The label may be a cheap one although the copy submitted does not say so. Lest the makers plead 'economy' let me add that that is the last excuse or reason which I will accept in justification of the sort of nonsense here permitted. It might be appropriate to suggest some kind of protest against the monolithic commercial recording structure by ignoring its effort in the present contemptible case, and showing that it cannot assume that any half-witted performance of big-name, second-rate music will be lapped up by a gullible buying public.
If there are people who will buy this disc, good luck to HMV. If you must have a recording of the piece, don't buy this one. It is very, very nasty.
"Music started as a loon for me, then it got serious and now its a loon again." So said Arther Brown of his association with new group Kingdom Come. Superficially at least, it would seem that Brown has changed from the days of this Crazy World. Gone is god of hell-fire painted faces, flashing teeth, black magic and primitive basicness. Instead we are confronted with a barrage of electronics, bizarre science-fiction and heavy up-dated driving music. The primitive Arthur Brown is replaced by the futuristic surreal one. But beneath it all, the sobbing shrieking voice is unchanged, only transferred to the setting of a new age.
Galactic Zoo Dossier starts with deceptive timidity with a religious message (tongue held firmly in cheek) audible from amid a confused pile up of voices, but then proceeds to range (or perhaps ramble) over a large number of modern musical forms. Heavy orthodox riffs are swallowed in majestic organ, while on some tracks the listener is treated to speeded up tapes, unorthodox organ, electronically-distorted metallic vocals, jazz-inspired solos, gentle acoustic guitaring... you name it.
The tracks are all run together so to provide a continuous stream of music and weird sound effects so that it takes so long (half way through the second side on first hearing) for the record to lose its freshness and charm, Kingdom Come play well, especially Michael Harris on organ, but are not, I think, quite of the standard demanded by such an ambitious project. The key to the album's success (or rather, lack of failure) must lie in Arthur Brown's singing which provides a sustained link throughout the musical meanderings of his group. If everything else has changed about Brown, his voice has managed to retain its wide range, its hysterical tortured scream, its pained sobbing and its immense power. Still his vocal gyrations would do justice to Screaming Jay Hawkins or James Brown. It is a (backhanded) tribute to Arthur Brown that the record tends to be somewhat dull when he is removed from the lead vocal spot.
This record is certainly not everyone's, but, despite occasional lapses in power, it is not at all bad — if you like your music with just a suggestion of the avant-garde and not too mush innovation, that is. The new Brown must pale by comparison to the old, but he is still worth a listen.
Gallery- To quote a well-worn phrase- seem to have done their homework, and produced some good programmes. But- they've had good material to work from as the Gold water interview showed. His comments on the American political scene were entertaining, and his views on his fellow politicians were priceless- they reminded me of Mark Anthony's praise of Brutus. But what the hell was the purpose of film inserts of the self-same politicians while Gold water was speaking? They weren't informative- merely ridiculous. Another blunder was in the choice of interviewer for Germaine Greer. Dairne Shan-ahan was so embarrassing it wasn't funny- people who try and play devil's advocate should realise it's only a role and not take it too seriously. Still on the subject of Germaine, I was very pleased to see that the Network News included her rave on contraceptives- if it had been in a programme, the odds would be that it would play after 10 at night. Hopefully, the example would have not been lost on those who censor our programmes. After Gallery this Thursday there's the second programme of the series Spanish Farm. It seems a disappointing replacement of the usually excellent plays that played in this spot up till now. For me, they laid the old idea that somehow BBC play dramatisations were better than those of the independents- the BBC did Spanish Farm, and ITC made the aforesaid plays.
Tonight Whicker hits our screens once again. This time he's doing another hatchet job on the Americans, investigating the alleged 24 million swinging singles in the United States. It's very good - even Whicker seems to realise the ness of the whole situation, of people 'caught between two cultures' - and all the commercialisation of this wealthy, lonely group.
If you're a devout fan of Paul Gallico- or you want a good laugh- I recommend the Snow Goose, which is playing over Easter some time. Whatever you liked (or disliked) about the novel is portrayed faithfully in the very professional television production.
The prime attraction for me over the Easter period is, of course, the Marx brothers in The Big Store- one of their later films (The Point, an hour long cartoon narrated by Dustin Hoffman The cartoon style is somewhere between Yellow Submarine and Sesame Street, and the humour, though rather heavy handed at times, is quite appealing. However, the last half-hour lacks any evil character, which makes it a little tedious. Cartoons require good old-fashioned melodrama to make them work.
Golden Silents to be the funniest series on Television, closely followed by Bugs Bunny. This latter series is quite ancient, I think, it is, it's an adequate comment on the decline of the American cartoon.
The
Some members returned to the Knights after Xmas and were hosted by Lew Ritchie, one of our foundation members. Lew provided his boat for coastal dives and for several trips out to the Knights. Scenery included bronze whalers and, on one dive, several black coral trees.
In late
Local diving has been dampened by weather but all coasts have been div able at some time even though visibility in some areas has been very poor. Mana Island is gradually revealing its secrets and Hunter Bank is still enticing when the weather is good. In Wellington Harbour the first units of the artificial reef have been put down. Our sponsors ensured good press and T.V. coverage. Anyone interested in helping with further stages (and there will be plenty) please contact the Secretary.
Games played on Monday 13th March resulted in wins for Education, Physics, Staff and Chemistry. Championship points to date:
Games played on Wednesday 15th March. Results as follows;
Accumulative points to date:
Physical Welfare Staff will still accept your team for Intramural Volley Ball. Enter a team or leave your name and phone number with one of the confusion experts at the gym.
The club executive is making noises in the appropriate quarters on several issues—
The paua closed season and restrictions on amateur scuba divers taking these animals. Although recognising the need for control measures we are doubtful as to the value of blanket closed seasons in control since pirating by 'commercial' divers, will continue. The regulation as it stands appears ill-conceived and valueless.
Another portion of the same regulation forbids the taking of "shellfish" with scuba and concurrent possesion of "shellfish" and scuba. We are seeking a redefinition of the word "shellfish" which at present includes all molluscs, echinoderms and Crustacea with the exception of some of the commercially important species such as, crayfish, toheroa, rock oysters etc., which are covered by special regulations. If these species are covered by special regulations, why the need for a ban on all "shellfish"?
We are also involved in the Poor Knights mining issue. We are seeking a "buffer" boundary of several miles between the Islands and any possible oil prospecting and drilling operations. We feel that such a reduction in the prospecting area is a small price to pay to help ensure the protection of the unique fauna at the Knights.
Want to spend 2 weeks and $155 diving at Norfolk? Cost includes return airfare and accommodation. Trips start
Training courses will commence in May. Both SCUBA and snorkel training will be offered. Each course takes 7-8 weeks at the Freyberg Pool on Tuesday evenings. Fees for the course are yet to be determined but they will be quite reasonable. Further information from the secretary.
Any body interested in the spear fishing compettion who has not already been contacted ring Neville Wynne U.H. 82925. We require assistance with organisation, and transport. All of this lot is stored at the Island Bay Marine Lab. Club windscreen stickers 30c.
is to be held on
The club caters for all types of soccer players. This season six teams will be fielded. The top team will play in the Wellington First Division. Other teams will play in the Third, Fourth, Fifth. Sixth and Seventh Divisions. Should there be sufficient players a team will also be entered in the Eighth Division.
Training facilities are good. Ronnie Temple, who last season played for the Central Districts League Championship winners. Waterside, has been appointed Club Coach for the
About June work will commence on building new changing room facilities for Kelburn Park. Above these changing rooms Clubrooms will be built. These will be the joint property of the circket, hockey and soccer clubs. An additional advantage of the University soccer club, especially to University students, is the low subscription rate.
If you would like to learn more about the club attend one of the training sessions, or contact one of the following Committee members:-Derek Smith, 'phone numbers 51439(work) or 896100 (home). John Reeve, Biochemistry Department, Easterfield Building. Cliff Laking, Room 7, 50 Kelburn Parade, who will be pleased to give further information.
Swami Venkatesananda is travelling around New Zealand giving lectures on the yoga sutras and the Bhagavad Gita. He is a fascinating man and gives to yoga a reality often lost by soma of its advocates. His lectures on the yoga sutras (yoga philosophy) retained the simplicity that Patanjali set down C. 300 BC and yet he directed them at the age we live in today. He believes we make our lives far too complicated and stresses the need to discover a more simple life. "Meditation sitting in front of a blank wall is only for the stupid." Swamiji took a group for pranayama in the gymnasium. Pranayama is the discipline of the life force. It is derived from 'prana' meaning energy and 'yama' meaning discipline. There are eight pranayamas; bhastrika, bhramari, Kapalabhati, murchchha, sitali, sitkari, suryabhedana and ujjayi. They involve cooling, cleansing and retention of the breath. The asanas, (postures) and pranayama make the two limbs of Hatha yoga which is the initial path in all yoga. It aims at developing an awareness and control of the body and it is a practice for dharana (concentration) and, dhyana (meditation). These last two lead to samadhi which is the state of super-consciousness.
Swami Venkatesananda believes that pranayama is essential to reach the state of Kaivalya which is the aim yogis wish to reach where they have need for neither the world, body nor mind. Hatha yoga classes in the gym:
All beginners welcome.
Tentative dates for winter tournament are the 20th to 25th of August, So would secretaries of Winter Sports clubs contact Geoff Stubbs Sports Officer about sizes of teams so he can fix up the travel arrangements. The point of arrangements being made this early is to avoid the cock-ups made in the past with late bookings crapping out for want of space.
You don't need electric Gadgets round the kitchen. Unless you're disabled. There is no such thing as a time saving device.
Don't use Detergents that are non biodegradable (i.e. use those which are eaten by bacteria, etc). Sunlight soap in a shaker is better than most detergents. And much cheaper.
A recent survey has proved that people who use Toothpaste; regularly suffer more from tooth decay than those who never use it.
Shampoo's are mostly frauds - certainly there's no additive that will 'enrich' hair. Again "Sunlight" will do, rinse well.
Deodorant - who needs them - learn to ignore sweat or love it.
Make up - who needs it?
Tissue Papers are no better than soft toilet rolls - don't waste your money on puerile prejudices.
Children don't need expensive Toy's to keep them happy.
If a product is advertised on T.V. it could mean that they spend so much on advertising and packaging that the goods inside aren't worth the money.
Don't buy food with excessive packaging. Refuse paper bags unless absolutely necessary.
"Free Gifts" and competitions might be fun but they make food more expensive.
Try not to buy food in plastic containers, especially in plastic bags.
If you've got a garden, or even a window ledge - grow your own.
You don't need more than one big meal each day (best in the morning).
Overeating is the enemy of the body and of sharing. Especially sharing with the undernourished. Buy foods in bulk. But don't forget that the more you have in your cupboard, the more you eat.
Support the students Food CO-OP - press for a wider range of goods, press for a full time, non profit, shop. Uncut loaves of Bread are preferable to cut loaves. Make your own.
Whole meal flour is not as cheap as refined flour but it is much better. And the more people buying, the cheaper it will become.
'Chapati' is easiest - flour, water, salt, rolled thin, baked ten minutes.
All power pollutes - including electricity - so have as many salads as you can stand.
Nothing is better cooked than raw. Well maybe potatoes. But remember, power is money, money is work, power is pollution.
Save water don't waste it.
Shower don't bath. Do you really want to swill in your own dirt?
Don't run the cold tap while brushing your teeth. Grow a beard - save effort, money on razors, soap, water.
Salt and tobacco makes you thirsty. Thirst quenching necessitates too much pissing equals eating inefficiency.
Do you know about family planning?
Does your cousin in Eketahuna?
If you want to have more than two Children, Adopt them. Especially adopt a child or two from a different race, born in N.Z. or in Asia.
Oppose building encroachment on parks.
Oppose legislation for more Motorways, especially in the city.
The Wellington motorway is surely a monstrous plot, beyond bureaucratic control.
Suggest improvements in public transport facilities. Think of ways to improve and build up this university community - think of ways to improve your city.
Don't drive them when you can walk or cycle. Support the dying buses.
If you live miles out, operate a Car Pool don't all have cars.
If you must have a car, have a small one.
Don't be bound by organisation or other peoples times.
Walk everywhere. If you want to get there in a hurry, run.
Taxis don't fill a demand, they create an imaginary one.
There's nothing worth hurrying for, though there are things worth leaving early for.
There are dozens of empty houses near the university and more far from it. Sleep in them, eat, work, and wash at university.
Squat in them, even illegally, until 'they' make it legal or find more houses.
When you do find satisfactory accommodation, don't forget those who haven't.
Tell your maiden aunt to leave her four bedroom house in Island Bay or Kelburn, and join or start an Oldies Commune
Fill the nearly empty houses, and you'll also be solving the old people's problems, of loneliness and inconvenience and high costs.
What do you know about recycling? What does anybody know?
In the U.S., yippies and ecofreaks have started recycling factories and processes.
One firm boasts that no more trees are cut down to be made into their cigarette papers - they use only recycled paper.
Other., firms buy even small amounts of Scrap tin cans, etc, to be recycled.
Help stop the rape of the earth. Don't accumulate waste and don't make it.
Throw all organic scraps onto the Compost.
Don't burn your bra, put it on the compost, for ecology, as well as liberation.
Resist the anti-human fashion exploitation industry, (wear coalsacks!)
Breast feed, don't start the baby on the bottle, the sterilisers, and the milk factories.
You can, think of lots more. Be aware, be Activist Don't leave it to 'the Authorities' anywhere. They're mostly old and self-interested. They have no conception of the enormity of The Problem, and would not in any case have the faintest notion how to set about solving it.
Rubbish these ideas if you think they're rubbish. Suggest better, suggest more. Be aware, be Activist.
'Economize on everything except education'