As at the previous congressess, about 130 students of all colleges and some from Australia lived with the speakers in a community which gave full scope for the free interchange of ideas. For those who wished, there were church services on the Sundays, and about half the congress attended. Obviously enough too, and also not so Obviously, activities were not limited to intellectual ones. Curious Cove just is a delightful spot for swimming, the sun, volley ball, boating, walks, music or what you will. Thanks to the excellent new N.Z.U.S.A. Song Book, singing often resounded far into the night. On the social side, who will forget the example of socialist Paul Oestreicher and free-enterprise Clive Cresswell living happily together under a planned economy ?

Opening

From the moment the chairman Mr. A. R. D. Fairburn (Auckland) introduced the first session, it was plain that the congress would be pervaded by an invigorating spirit of open enquiry and a sense of humour. Rex Fairburn was a first-rate Chairman of Congress.

It is impossible in this space to do justice to the speakers or to criticism, but an outline may give some idea of what it was we thought about. Mr. J. R. Marshall, M.P. (Mount Victoria, Wellington) opened the congress officially. He saw the world situation as East-West conflict. Hope would lie in the strength of the West. He stated his view of present-day Communism, its strategy, and the methods he favoured of combating it. Discussion showed, however, that free liberal enquiry can still be found. Mr. Marshall concluded with a quotation from T. R. Glover to the effect that in ancient times the Christians outlived the pagans, out-thought them, and out-died them. Lance Robinson pointed out that this did not say out-fought them.

Background

Prof. Wood (VUC) put the theme that what pattern you drew from history depends upon the philosophy with which you approach history. Prof. Wood did mention that Mr. Marshall had defined present Commuism by the Manifesto, a process that could be likened to defining the Most Rev. C. F. Fisher by the Sermon on the Mount. Discussion was poor, but did produce, in response to Shayle Searle's quoting Venn on aggregate regularity with individual irregularity, Kevin O'Brien's. "Sounds like a laxative ad."

Dr. Odell (Otago) dealt with modern exploration and the Everest expedition, and gave a timely reminder about the Ross Sea Dependency. Without man's enquiring mind, man would indeed have no hope.

Dr. Mansergh, Prof. of British Commonwealth Relations at Chatham House, London, gave two most able addresses, the first on the Pattern of British Commonwealth Foreign Policies 1936-50, the second on the Commonwealth in Asia. The problem was how to prevent a recurrence of world wars. The Commonwealth had an important part to play in this. After an outline of Commonwealth relations, and the members' attitudes in the present situation, Dr. Mansergh went on to consider the addition of the Asian members and the change in balance entailed. The second address began with an outline of the nature of the Commonwealth with its autonomous co-operating members. The value of free discussion in a democracy was emphasised. Many aspects of the situation in regard to Asia were treated fully. It was mentioned that the rising nationalisms there have not been wholly immoderate. Where external policy is concerned we must be sure there is no other alternative before we let ourselves become involved in a war. In the writer's opinion, Dr. Mansergh's talks, except for the first few minutes of each, were constantly implicitly assuming that Russia intends to make war on us, although Dr. Mansergh denied that he made this assumption. Questions as to what evidence there was for this elicited no satisfactory answer. Many were of the distinct impression that Dr. Mansergh was evading the questions put to him during discussion time. There was no answer to Lance Robinson's question: How far does Dr. Mansergh base his hope, if any, on power politics?

The Effect of Beliefs

Father McArdle (Dunedin) posed the question: Can our civilisation stand the wars and rebuild? War has accustomed victors and vanquished alike to methods that Christianity has been striving for centuries to eradicate. The ruins of Europe, where the founders of Western Civilisation fought each other, stand in stark contrast to the confidence of the Asian peoples.

U.N.O. seems to offer little hope. The solution to our difficulties is not easy. It requires us to look beyond the immediate and obvious causes. The world is one for the first time and is conscious of it. The present is a crisis of unification due to technological development. The world of ideals has been abandoned in favour of efficient action.

We are unprepared to meet this new unity. The stability proper to civilisation must have an ethical basis—the moral law accepted as an imperative duty. Without Christianity, science lends itself to unilitarism and exploitation. Without science Christianity becomes stagnant. We can have both in a return to the Christian tradition. The one human race must be brought together in brotherhood. These ideals are not easy to realise because of the evil in man. (In discussion Father McArdle agreed Christianity tells of the only method of overcoming this evil.) Christianity alone can give the spiritual unity necessary. "Where there is no God there is no man either." Working to this end will take a long time, but it is the most worthwhile and hopeful task. Working to this end will involve fighting profit, enjoyment, force and nationalism, [unclear: while] encouraging the growth of international and co-operative organisations.

In view of this talk, one cannot help being puzzled by, for instance, the attitude of the catholic Church to Communists, one also had the feeling that questions and discussion elicited stricter specific views.

Dr. Bernadelli (Otago) used cross-cultural tests of ability (wide sense) as a basis for a long range analysis of civilisations. The tests were supported with instances of practices such as some methods of grinding corn, and persistence in these methods. Dr. Bernadelli argued that both the practices and the persistence were unintelligent. It seemed that technological development was the main test of civilisation, and that it was due to genetic factors.

Possible geographic and economic factors were left out of account. Hereditary and environmental factors in the transmission of patterns of living from one generation to the next were confused, and Dr. Bernadelli made no reference to the vast contribution of the cultural anthropologists to the better understanding of this issue. His criterion of civilisation was a prominent bone among the many contentions in discussion.

Dr. Aitken (Otago) discussed our belief and action and their relation with observation and reasoning. Observation and reasoning can temper belief and action, yet also as, e.g., in social studies, belief and action influence observation and reasoning. The more accurately this cross influence were appreciated the more closely we [unclear: would] approach truth. Within the university we should not seek to promulgate party political views, but rather study them intellectually. This did not discharge the student's duty to live as a citizen. The same applied to the study of religion within the university.

A major issue in the vigorous discussion was whether one could fully understand some things, e.g., politics, religion, art, without participating in them. The issue of whether a university could avoid committing itself to any philosophical position was also raised.

Prof. Knight (Otago) brought the Hebraic tradition to our notice. By contrast with the Greeks, the Hebrews did not divide mind and matter; they regarded reality as one. Hence he sought to present a pattern of history derived from the Old Testament, exemplified to the limit of human understanding by Christ's life death and resurrection, and instanced all the time. A modern example was the new hope springing from the ruins of Europe. As the ancient Hebrews made no mind-matter division, they never felt the difficulty of getting at mind and personality which we seem to have, although they thought of ultimate reality as something which could only be hinted at. They had, however, connected their perception of a Presence with their perception of a Purpose and, anthropomorphic though it might be, had followed the promptings, and had found their experience developed and fulfilled. The Purpose was moral, holy, good, loving and present Therefore it was enough to trust it.

However, many were dissatisfied at Prof. Knight's unwillingness to define his terms even a little, or to meet the problem of predestination which his view seemed to raise. Perhaps his mistake lay in not showing precisely how the Purpose and people are connected.

I.S.S.

Mr. Carter (Canterbury) gave a splendid and fair summary of I.C.S. and its functions. The trouble is we are so used to hearing huge figures of starvation that we don't heed them. Our apathy has no excuse. The controversy with I.U.S. was fairly touched upon. The I.U.S. data which was also available at the congress was mentioned at discussion time.

Art and the Problem

Mr. Fairburn's own address on the revelance of the arts to the congress theme directed attention to the subjective aspect of the situation. One of the strongest factors making for war was the vacuum in our bored minds. Life is a search for meaning. Our experience has meaning when we can find order in it. Art exteriorises the order and thereby enables us to participate in a life of fuller meaning. We live in two worlds—the world of nature and time, and the world of idea imagination and value. Human capacity for abstraction has caused this rift in our experience. This rift extends to the division between process and imagination, the building up of tensions, which, though necessary to civilisation, have consequences which need to be guarded against. Our problem is to live so as to belong properly to the world of process and also be aware of value. Suggested that language, of which art is one particular form, may be the clue to achieving this. In works of art we find a fusion of abstract and concrete, of idea and image. Unless you can put thought into imagery it is unorganised and useless. (Is this so?) We hope to enjoy life, i.e., be involved thoroughly in it. This carries the consequence of imposing or finding order on or in it. (Is this a true picture?)

Action?

From this the emphasis changed to Mr. Schapper's "Hope is not enough." Action is necessary. His remarks were confined to one crisis only: the East-West conflict. The crisis can be averted if we are prepared to look at the facts and act on the basis of an ethical postulate such as Confucius' "What you would not others should do to you, even so do not unto them," or Christ's "Love thy neighbour as theyself." These principles are preconditions of persons being able to live together and attain the highest in their potentiality.

Mr. Schapper (Lincoln) then began his survey of the facts of and basic considerations regarding the relations between "Communism" and "Democracy," basing his remarks primarily on "The United States and the Soviet Union"—some Quaker proposals for Peace, and, to a lesser extent on Wolfgang Rosenberg's article in "Landfall" No. 16—"Two Worlds or None." Some of the considerations were (1) The existence of a widespread desire for peace (2) Both East and West systems will continue their way of life for a long time to come (3) Their sometimes belligerent apparent aims should not blind us to their common aims, e.g., improved economic welfare, and equality of opportunity for all persons. (4) Both fail to live up to their ideal aims. (5) Differences of economic and political methods must not be ignored, but need not blind us to the similarities of the persons living in each system. (6) There is suffcient ent common ground for us to live in peace. Peace has been possible in the case of similar divisions in the past.

It was also commented that the fact that U.S.A. spends 5/7ths of its budget on military objects raises doubts as to the efficacy of the present methods aimed at security. The armament race will increase the likelihood of war. Nehru in April, 1949, put forward India's positive approach to this issue.

In conclusion Mr. Schapper mentioned eight points of the present New Zealand foreign policy which, in the light of the foregoing, are insupportable. Officially we are selfish and follow the policy of trying to be strong. Why can't our smallness in size enable us to be big in mind internationally ?

New Ideology

The S.C.M. session was conducted by Mr. Alun Richards (editor of "The Outlook," Christchurch). The Christian is the one who can offer hope, and his role to-day therefore is to say and show what this is. All previous speakers had found the state of affairs lamentable yet had said there was still hope. The danger seen in the speed of the spread of Communism is small beside that due to the meaninglessness of our own lives. In the desperate situation to-day we must do something, and a first step is to construct a new ideology. This will have to be both theoretical and practical, and based on a proper approach to understanding man and his place in the universe. Marxism's inadequacy is shown here. Human relations are personal, "I-thou," each recognising another centre of responsibility. Egoism is the barrier to achieving this true relation, and can be overcome only as a consequence of a true relation with God. To build an ideology on which to build a civilisation we have to be accurate about man—ourselves. Where, then, does this hit us? Our community lives by casual materialism, treats people as things, each individual seeks his own. Proper personal responsibility—mutual personal interaction—is shirked. Duty then is to accept this responsibility because man is under authority of God whose will is for absolute honesty, absolute purity, and absolute caring for other people. Our job, then, is socially to build a new ideology; intellectually, to drop many notions and build from the facts of personality; and personally, to accept responsibility.

Discussion following this address was vigorous and good. Catholic and humanist points of view were put and discussed with Mr. Richards's thesis.

The Forum Resolves

Debate was keen and the spirit was good.

Motions passed (1) That exam marks in all subjects, all stages and all colleges be made available to the candidates. (2) That this congress support N.Z.U.S.A.'s request for an enquiry into the New Zealand Government's refusal to renew the permit to remain in New Zealand of Mr. Chanra Pratap Sharma, an Indian student from Fiji at Canterbury College without making public the reasons for their action; and that if the results of this enquiry give evidence of social and political discrimination, that this congress deplores the Government's action. (3) In view of the Arbitration Court's decision to increase all wages by 15 per cent, this Congress expresses the opinion that all university scolarships and bursaries should be correspondingly increased, and requests the N.Z.U.S.A. to take action to this end.

(4) That this Congress, seeking a way of living in peace with all peoples, recommend to the New Zealand Government that it recognise the spontaneous forces of Asian nationalism and the rights implied by the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights for Asian peoples to select their own forms of government; and in particular that it acknowledge that the Chinese People's Republic has the support of and meets many of the needs of the great majority of people in China; and therefore that, following the Government of Great Britain, the New Zealand Government should accord diplomatic recognition and political tolerance to the Chinese people's Republic.

This above motion was debated on the issue whether a short form should be given to the motion, or the reasons set out as above. The full motion as above was carried 39-26.

(5) That this Congress regrets the approval of the New Zealand Government to rearm former enemy countries with whom no peace treaties have been signed as such action will inevitably be regarded as provocative and potentially aggressive by the Soviet Union and its satellites. Carried 33-29.

(6) That this Congress considers that the challenge to our way of life made by the communist ideology should be met by widespread endeavour to understand it, to compare the ideal with the facts of its practice, and to encourage discussion and publication to those ends, rather than by suppression (as in Australia), vague prejudiced propaganda against it, and often untrue statements about it and the nature of capitalism. Carried with only a few dissentients.

(7) That this Congress deplores the personal frustration and waste of talent among Displaced Pesons, and accordingly requests the N.Z.U.S.A. and the college asociations to sponsor selected intellectuals from D.P. camps for settlement in New Zealand and the performance of socially valuable work that may restore their personal confidence.

(8) To the effect that: All overseas students admitted to N.Z. should be allowed without discrimination to seek employment for financial gain; and that N.Z.U.S.A. be requested to take up this matter.

(9) That this Congress urge the New Zealand Government to give greater economic aid to the countries of South-east Asia; and that as a practical expression of this desire the members of this Congress take up a voluntary collection of money to be paid to N.Z. I.S.S, for relief purposes in South-east Asia. Carried with only two or three dissentient. A collection was token up from the 100 students who remained at the Congress and £54/10/- was obtained. This sum has since then been increased.

Discussion, and resolutions are of course not all that can be done, but they are something. The results of the collection showed the genuine spirit of the Congress.

Why Not Go?

Well, there you have It—addresses, discussion, sun, fun, and resolutions. In view of the extraordinary difficulty of tackling the theme, especially in a large Congress, the standard of addresses and discussion was high. Further, as well as an increasing sense of community, progress in thought could be discerned as the congress went on. That is even more remarkable when one recalls how little sleep everyone had. This report cannot, unfortunately, do justice to the informal and intangible aspects of the congress. For nine days, something was done to make up for our lack of residential colleges. That sort of thing may help to add to the insights that should come from a university education. What cannot be left unsaid is that everyone thoroughly enjoyed it.

The next Congress will be held next January.

—Erle Robinson.