Salient. Official Newspaper of the Victoria University of Wellington Students' Association. Vol 40. No. 7. April 13 1977

Peace Conference Part III

Peace Conference Part III

My naive hope had been that this Convention would be a watershed for progressive groups working for peace, as the Peace Power and Politics Conference must have been for participants and organisational direction in 1968. I respect the sincerity of many of the organisers and the hard work put into organising. My belief is that the toil and dedication will prove to be misplaced.

Canwar

There was little attempt to utilise already existing organisations. Despite an outline of participating organisations being requested from those organisations, nothing was published. Canwar was not the only participant left out of the roll call. Our publication was banned from sale at the Convention by the ICPA organiser, with or without the organising committee's sanction I don't know. None of Canwar's submitted action proposals were listed for discussion, because it was held by the organisers that they were incorporated in other action proposals, despite the fact that other action proposals also duplicated themselves. A previous justification given was that there wasn't enough time to open the mail.

Canwar members have been slated for not assisting with ICPA. "Where were they when we needed them?" thunders Hinchcliff. I, in particular was portrayed as renegging on an undertaking to attend organising meetings. Personally I was already over-committed, gave no such undertaking and was not specifically invited anyhow. A number of Canwar executive members worked to create ICPA. "Who were they?" says Hinchcliff. They were George Goddard, Simon Gunsen and Ken Hulls. Canwar was thus kept informed on developments but frustrated in being a Wellington based organisation when it was the Auckland committee who made all the important decisions and passed them on to Wellington. The detached ideas sphincter was operating even then.

Canwar distributed ICPA material and advertised the 'Peace is Possible' publication for it. Canwar also volunteered to organise a march through Wellington to precede the Convention but when the Auckland organisers decided there was a higher priority to hear overseas speakers at that time, we cancelled the march.

I travelled to Auckland to discuss ICPA with John Hinchcliff last year and I also accepted the invitation to chair one of the action groups. I have also attended every weekly meeting (travelling 100 miles to do so) of the only group to be formed as any sort of consequence of ICPA. Canwar members made suggestions to Hinchcliff when he visited Wellington in November.

Thus I feel there is little justification for Hinchcliff to use the microphone to shut me up when I raised a point of order and tell me to organise my own conference; then abuse myself and Canwar for not contributing.

Plenary Session.

The reasons given for not holding a plenary session are of great interest. I personally raised the matter of plenary discussion with John Hinchcliff last year. The circulated programme stated: — "Proposals for action, as revised after discussions, will be given to all participants; a discussion and then we will finish by committing ourselves to the cause of peace in a simple ceremony."

Thus the abolition of the plenary was a sudden and unpublicised change — not Hinchcliff's assertion of the opposite, which he gave as two of his reasons for not holding one.

In a later Convention programme, there was no mention of a plenary. Consequently Canwar, after being denied any statement on the Convention floor, sent a delegation to Hinchcliff. Hinchcliff walked out on the delegation leaving it to another organiser. After discussion with Canwar participants we discovered that a large number of action groups had asked formally or otherwise for a plenary session. Their requests likewise were ignored.

In the final session of speeches, Hinchcliff talks of a vote to have a plenary. But:—
1) No discussion was allowed.
2) The 'vote' was put by Hinchcliff who wasn't even in the chair.
3) The vote was put as a shouted, "Who wants to listen to these interruptions?"
4) No count was taken. Hinchcliff guesses 50 out of 700 "voted for the plenary. An organising committee letter claimed "no more than 20."
5) No call was even put to find out those against the "vote."
6) No motion was declared at the time.

To present this as a Convention decision, democratic or otherwise is a great travesty.

Hinchcliff says that the statements delegates stood for on the Friday evening were affirmations, not resolutions. Why then were they called resolutions in material distributed at the Convention?

Delegates had their views sifted by the organising committee through action group reports. These delegates have yet to be contacted as specific group members, yet the stated aim of the Convention was to have action and decision only and especially from these groups.

Liaison Committee and Peace Embassy

From this sorry saga of contradictory standpoints and complete suppression of alternative viewpoints, we are to be presented with a Liaison Committee and Peace Embassy How they are to be structured is anybody's guess. "Delegates from each centre will decide," announces Hinchcliff a month later. More Conventions? Who will be the delegates and how many and which centres?

PEACE ANY MORE INTERUPTIONS AND ILL RIP YOUR BLOODY HEADS OFF

Currently the ICPA organising committee "doesn't claim to represent the New Zealand Peace movement" claims Hinchcliff. Someone who doesn't represent anybody has already gone to two overseas peace conferences and is, I understand, soon off to another in Poland.

Politics in the Peace Movement

Delegates to ICPA were lectured to by foreign guests that the great powers, the US and USSR, are de-escalating their confrontation. The SALT the concept of detente and doing the international peace circuit are all designed to push this great lie. No guests were present who openly challenged these stratagems.

Hinchcliff didn't want, "an ideological free for all." "Keep politics out of the. Deace movement," one might say. He criticises those who would, "foster the dangerous cold war mentality," and reveals his own ideology in doing so. At one and the same time is the view implied that wars are caused because of a lack of communication and understanding and yet he categorically denies any alternative political or organisational viewpoints.

The first proposition is palpably ridiculous. Wars are caused when governments understand only too well what their adversaries intend and stand for — not because they don't understand each other. The second proposition results in the real issues of war and peace being ignored for a phyrric and unproductive unity.

— Don Carson,

Canwar

A Winters Tale: Autumn's 'Mellow Fruitfulness' Preserved.

Why preserve? Because it's easy; (Cucumber relish below requires no cooking at all) because it gets rid of all those wine bottles, jam, coffee and vinegar jars you've got hanging around; because it gives you inexpensive nutritious and delicious summer fruits and vegetables in the depths of winter; because you know the quality of your preserves is guaranteed, without added "things" such as colouring and emulsifyer; and because you've done it yourself it's a satisfying and creative experience. These recipes don't require specialised equipment such as water baths, usually associated with preserving; or such things as special jars, screw bands, and lids. Use your empties and their lids with the cardboard inside removed.

Plastic film goes over the jars when they are full and cold and then their own lids, tightly. Use wine bottles for sauces.

All jars and bottles must be very clean: wash them out with hot water, then sterilise by placing in oven at 250 degrees F, Gas Mark 2, for 30 minutes.

Cucumber Relish (no Cooking) — for Cold Meat, Crackers and Bread.

  • 1 ½ lbs cucumber
  • 1 lb onions
  • 1 lb apples
  • ½ lb sugar
  • 2 oz salt
  • 1 oz ground ginger
  • ½ tsp cayenne
  • 1 pint vinegar

Grate all vegetables or put through mincer. Drain off any liquid. Add vinegar and remaining ingredients. Let stand for 24 hours. Bottle.

This is a thin chutney, without a thick sauce. If too thin, drain off some of the liquid.

Tomato and Green Pepper Chutney

  • 4 lbs tomatoes
  • 1 lb onions
  • 2 lbs green peppers
  • 2 lbs sugar
  • 3 level tbsp salt
  • 4 cups vinegar

Peel and chop onions very finely, or grate. Cut peppers in half, remove white ribs and seeds. Chop very finely. Place tomatoes first in hot water, then in cold water. (Skins will burst and peel off easily.) Cut into small pieces. Add to onions and peppers, sprinkle with salt. Stand for ten minutes. Add vinegar. Bring to boil in large saucepan, and boil Gently on low heat heat for half an hour.

Then stir in sugar. Boil hard on higher heat until mixture thickens approx. 1 ¼ hours. Stir frequently. Seal when cold in jars.

Mustard Pickles

Take 2 lbs of vegetables such as green beans sliced, onions chopped, small cucumbers sliced, chopped celery or marrow, and include part of a cauliflower broken into flowerets.

  • 1 ½ oz each of mustard, ground ginger,
  • ½ oz turmeric,
  • ½ pt vinegar,
  • a few chopped chilis (optional),
  • garlic, and pepper corns, and whole cloves,
  • 1 tbsp cornflour, or plain flour.

Place prepared (i.e. chopped etc) vegetables in bowl and cover with water in which is dissolved a breakfast cup of salt (this mixture is the Brine.) Let stand all night, covered.

Drain the next day, discard liquid. Mix the mustard, ginger, tumeric and cornflour or flour to a smooth paste with a little of the vinegar.

Tie spices such as garlic, peppcrcorns, whole cloves and chilis (optional) in a muslin bag and lower it into the remainder of the vinegar, and the sugar.

Boil two minutes. Remove spices. Remove pan from heat. Mix the paste into the hot vinegar stirring carefully.

Return pan to heat, stirring as the mixture thickens. Pack the vegetables into hot jars, pour the vinegar mixture into each jar.

Cover each jar with a saucer or plate until the contents are cold. Then cover. (They will keep well for two years.)

—Helen Corrigan & Jim Gray.