Whats in a Name?

The first meeting of the year of the Social Democrat Society was held on March 29th at Mrs. Naylor's flat. No 6 Salamanca Road. There was no formal business and discussion ranged over a wide field. Members of the Society discussed the best ways of developing the activities of the club both inside and outside the university. It was agreed that the club should continue to sponsor prominent speakers at the University and invite contributions for "Left Review". It was also hoped that a weekend school might be arranged in the second term.

There appeared to be quite general agreement that the current economic crisis in the capitalist countries of the Weal was in fact part of a deeper general crisis that has existed for a considerable time but which had for one reason or another been masked by other factors. While it seemed difficult to predict what the exact course of events would be, there could hardly be any doubt that even at the least, more community control over the processes of production would be needed to maintain full employment, and that if the present malady of free enterprise became chronic then no solution short of the socialisation of the basic industries in the most industrially advanced countries would suffice to provide a remedy.

Members of the club agreed that it was now highly important that specialised research on New Zealand problems should be undertaken by Socialists in the university.

On March 17th the club held its annual general meeting in C. I and elected its committee for 1958. Notice, of motion in the name of John Ferny hough and Hector MacNeill had been given to the proposal to change the name of the club to the V.U.W. Labour Club. After some considerable discussion as to the merits of this change the new name was unanimously adopted. It was agreed generally that though the club's name might lead some to think that it was an affiliate of the N.Z. Labour Party the club could make it clear by what it did, that it was a grouping of independent democratic left-wingers unattached to any political party. On many subjects the club might feel itself in agreement with the Labour Party but this might not always be so on all issues. The pattern in both British and Australian Universities had been to have both Labour clubs and Labour Party clubs and if students wanted a body that was affiliated to the Labour Party then the way was open for them to form one but that the possible and probable disadvantages of the present club doing this outweighed any prospective advantages.

After formal business had been concluded there was a discussion on the history of the labour movement, industrial and political in New Zealand.

Officers of the new club: President, Hector MacNeill, telephone 73-081, or letter rack; Secretary, Terry Kelliher, 70-471.