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Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Vol 35 no. 11. 31 May 1972

Capotes anglaises

Capotes anglaises

Sir,

The suggestion to write letters of protest to Monsieur Pompidou which has been circulated lately in university circles is so naive that only a short-sighted bookworm could entertain any hope of making an impact on the French Government.

Students should show more imagination and more insight. We should also give a more energetic and sincere example of involvement in this issue which is a confrontation between an arrogant Government and peoples living in the South Pacific.

There is a much more efficient means of bringing to the notice of the French Government the fact that we strongly disapprove of and oppose the explosion of nuclear devices in the Pacific. Our High School, University and Adult Education students should stop now, in this second term, attending all French lectures, classes and club meetings. The French Government could not ignore a protest which threatens the cultivation of French language and culture abroad. After all, French culture is the spearhead of French economic penetration. It is another more subtle and more persistent form of colonisation which we endure because of vested interests and pay for.

Moreover we should not stop at this. We should, as taxpayers, ask our Government their reason for continuing to finance the teaching of French language and literature in our educational system. Is French really needed by us in this age? Is it so important in the Pacific, where the French presence is limited to a few, tiny colonial territories?

Can we afford to spend $2.5 million per year to teach French in our secondary schools and universities, instead of devoting this sum to other more vital subjects such as the sciences and medicine?

If someone asserts that our economy needs trade with France, it is true to say that France needs our wool and primary products even more than we need her cosmetics, cars and culture.

Miso Gallo