Other formats

    Adobe Portable Document Format file (facsimile images)   TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

SMAD. An Organ of Student Opinion. 1935. Volume 6. Number 18.

Ballot Explained

Ballot Explained.

Dear "Smad"—

As the committee responsible for finalising the questionarie in draft form we thank you for giving us an opportunity of replying to the above letter.

We shall try to answer Mr. Hutton's points one by one. He has, after due thought come to the conclusion that he would be insane to support Great Britain blindly. He should therefore answer the question in the negative. There is then no criticism here.

Your correspondent next attacks Questions A3 and 4. It is surely obvious that the League of Nations referred to is the one at present located at Geneva, and not some future perfected League. Had the indefinite article been used there would we agree have been a doubt, but in the circumstances there seemed to us to be no room for doubt. If Mr. Hutton bases his hopes on some future league of nations he should answer C2 in the affirmative.

Mr. Hutton is again in a quandary when he sees the phrase "peace time." This must be construed as meaning a time when New Zealand is not at war with another state.

We think Mr. Hutton has stronger grounds when he wishes to know to what sort of war we refer in B4. Yet he should realise that in a questionaire of this sort it is not possible to provide an elaborate classification to cover all kinds of war. If any student feels that the question is too broad he may clarify his position by comments on the back of the paper, and indicate his difficulty by a cross in the query column.

The issue in C1 is whether or not capitalism in itself is a serious provocation to war, and the question of alternatives to capitalism does not really arise.

Finally, Mr. Hutton thinks that most students will query the questionaire and that only the fanatics will express their opinion. We have more confidence in the average student. We are convinced that the average student will not shrink from these issues. If we are wrong the questionaire must fail in its effect, as any questionaire would, for it is, of course, not possible to ask students to write a book on the subject: as Mr. Hutton says, the exams. are very close now and we realise with him that "the students difficulties are great enough without needlessly increasing them."

—The Drafting Committee,

N.Z.U.S.A