.jpg)
Salient: Victoria University Students' Paper. Vol. 28, No. 6. 1965.
Letters
Letters
Adverts For Ourselves
Sirs,—It would appear from Mr. H. B. Rennie's article on Social Credit in Vol. 28, No. 2, and his reply to W. Dalglish's letter in Vol. 28, No, 4, that he has restricted his reading to Martin Nestor's and Prof. Danks' criticisms, and has made no real study of the subject himself. Because of the position he holds within the National Party, the former's views might reasonably be expected to reflect opposition to Social Credit: Professor Danks is an economist of standing; but has he made a searching Inquiry himself into the possibility of there being "a small group vaguely designated Bankers and International Financiers" seeking universal control?
"The Mirror" (N.Z.), issued August, 1951, had an article by Professor Frederick Soddy. M. A., LL.D, F.R.S., a chemist of International repute, and not a Social Crediter, but a keen student of Money and Banking and an author in these subjects. Quoting from his article:
"My thesis is that the threatened collapse of our Western civilisation has nothing to do with the political issues between Capitalism and Communism, but is the consequence of its false money system. Not only the impending collapse, but its whole development, culminating in this very concentration of power into two opposing world groups, has been due to the creation and issue of money having passed out of the hands of the several nations, at first into the hands of private bankers and now into the supernational Money Power which has usurped sovereignty over the Western World." Well, Mr. Rennie.
Does Mr. Rennie know that the Alberta Press Censorship Law of 1937 was in fact entitled "An Act to ensure Publication of Accurate News Information," and, if not, would he have certain knowledge that such an Act was not warranted? Freedom of the Press is a fine thing, provided that it is not abused. Does Mr. Rennie read the newspapers?
J. A. Cameron,
President, Social Credit Association.
Reply
Mr. Rennie has not restricted his reading to Danks and Nestor, nor can this inference be drawn from what Mr. Rennie has written. Mr. Rennie is quite well, despite the quote from The Mirror, which was, of course, that magazine run by Douglas Credit exponent Kelliher. of Dominion Breweries fame. Mr. Rennie does not normally go to economists for opinions on chemistry, nor the other way round. Mr. Rennie does know that the Act was so entitled. Mr. Rennie also knows that the act licensed the Press, forced publishers to disclose to the Social Credit Board the name of reporters who wrote particular articles, forced newspapers to disclose sources of information, and provided for the cancellation of licences.
Mr. Rennie is aware that the Act was declared ultra vires ultimately, but notes that that unreliable man, Martin Nestor, cites one example of the jailing of a reporter on the order of the Social Credit Board. Mr. Rennie does not consider the rule of any "Social Credit Board" approximates to either democracy or justice, and was under the impression that laws were normally carried out in courts.
Mr. Rennie is convinced from the letters he has received that Social Crediters cannot make or follow a logical argument and is not prepared to give any more Salient space over to the matter.
Mr. Rennie does read the daily papers—and occasionally writes Salient editorials about them. Does Mr. Cameron read Salient?
H.B.R.
Berkeley Again
Sirs,—From the analysis by Dr. B. D. Inglis of the Berkeley situation I take the following points:
(1) Crude mudslinging is quite in order. To say that the people you disagree with sit in the gutter and stink helps your case no end.
(2) It is a fine thing to get everyone to conform to your own standard of dress.
(3) Any "fair-minded" person will not worry about police brutality because the offenders are only getting what they deserve, i.e., they are committing the heinous crime of trespassing in University buildings.
(4) The student demonstrators are not such bad people really because although they don't have baths they do spend their long vacations doing something for the negroes. Unfortunately this experience has a bad effect on them. They come to think there are things more important than tidiness of dress.
(5) Having noted that the great majority of students are fine, clean-living folk who all "comply with ordinary decent standards of dress and behaviour" and are submissive to authority, then it is a real surprise to find that they're all completely apathetic.
Russell Campbell
Petty Points
Sirs,—Just a petty point to "Latent" concerning his suggestion that a new course be instituted in "Social Techniques"—that if the majority of girls who anyway have an inborn intuition of Social Techniques failed to show those intuitions and did not "put on faces" there is a serious possibility that relations between the sexes would break down, because the true female face can be repellent.
Therefore it is only meet and right that these faces be covered (a) to ensure the continuation of the species, and (b) the continued success of mixed tutorials.
Barbara Cowan.
Sirs,—In your issue of April 27 you state, under the column titled "Pettipoint," that very few Roman Catholic students go through the Department of Philosophy.
To keep with the spirit of the column, as indicated by its heading and the nature of its comments. I would suggest that possibly a greater number of Wellington Catholic students go through the Department.
R. McMullan.
Sirs,—Shame on the writer of Pettipoint in your April 27 issue! Even the suggestion of an Apathy Club in this University—so renowned for its outspokenness—is heresy. This writer shows a blatant disregard for the idealistic work of dozens of study groups which, in their own small way, are concerned with curing the ills of the modern world. A clear and unanimous appreciation is due to those avant-garde intellectuals who give up much of their valuable time to meet and read newspaper clippings on Vietnam and the French tests. These people constantly lavish great mental efforts on petitions to the Government and make known their final decisions to the people of New Zealand. Many other students are equally deserving of recognition for their selfless application to the—unfortunately—decreasing causes, often to the detriment of their own studies. (If any confirmation is needed for this, I refer to a letter in the same issue of Salient in which Anthony Haas, Helen Sutch, and Alister Taylor state their dedication to the revolution in South Africa.)
Down with apathy. We, the future leaders of this glorious and powerful country, must be prepared to take a stand on every major issue and make our voices heard in the councils of the world. Only thus can we force the imperialistic capitalists and totalitarian Communist infiltrators to live in peaceful co-existence, a task which remains unaccomplished in the history of this earth.
Jonathan Cloud
P.S. If somebody gets up a non-petition, I might be persuaded to non-sign it.