Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Vol. 38, No. 18. July 23rd 1975

Lane Replies

Lane Replies

Dear Editor,

Your petulant outrage in Salient 17 (see article "Intercontinental Arrogance", page 4) does nothing but bear out the truth in the letter of mine you printed from Intercontinental Press. When you reprinted the Israel Shahak interview I was pleasantly surprised, as on other occasions this year you have displayed a narrow-mindedness peculiar to followers of Mao in refusing to print articles that presented the views of your political opponents on the left. For arrogance, your disinterest in Black feminist and socialist Nan Bailey takes the prize.

Nan's meeting was one of the largest political meetings on campus this year, outside of Muldoon's meeting, yet you were not intersted in printing anything of her visit. One of the more absurd reasons given was your false claim, that "the Young Socialists doesn't support the PRG (Provisional Revolutionary Government of Vietnam)". To see that this petty and apolitical attitude (that anything of Trotskyist origin doesn't interest you) was not extended to the Shahak interview was gatifying.

Recently, in the Letters to the Editor column in Salient, there have been several letters relating to the Socialist Action Election Campaign. Here Bruce, is your opportunity to show that this narrow-minded attitude of the past has come to an end. Take up our offer and interview one of the candidates so students can find out more about this campaign. You could find yourself again printing "an excellent interview",

Fraternally,

Tony Lane.

(I asked a simple question of Tony Lane in the last issue of Salient. I asked him if he supported the PLO in their struggle for national liberation. Apparently he has chosen to ignore that question. The rest of his letter is a pretentious complaint that I have given too little free publicity to the Socialist Action League in the past and could I please rectify this and interview one of their election candidates.

May be I will.

I feel it necessary to comment on Tony Lane's many other statements.

Nan Bailey did in fact get a large meeting — she also got a remarkably negative response in a following SRC when students were asked to help subsidise her visit. She was called variously 'just a liberal' and a 'nobody', students felt that they had been conned. I felt no need to report her meeting as a result.

On the false claim' that they do not support the PRG. The PRCs political line is based on the theory of a two stage revolution. Trotskyites do not accept this but believe that the PRG should should have fought for a socialist revolution. If you can oppose the major tenner of the PRC's political line and still support them then the Trotskyites support the PRG. Personally. I believe that the Troskyites who have continually made reference to various sellouts of the Vietnamese revolution perpetuated by the Stalinist leadership headed by Ho Chi Minh never transfered their opposition to American imperialism 'Out Now' to a genuine support of the Vietnamese forces fighting that imperialism.

And if you need any further indication of the reactionary arrogance of the SAL then try and and think of how many people apart from Tony Lane who use their own writings as sources for quotations. — Ed.)