Motions...

The next hotly debated question was that of the appointment of a Controller for the next Congress to be held in January, 1950. at Curious Cove. An application for that position had been received by the Executive of NZUSA from Rev. M. Sullivan. The exec, for reasons which we will consider later on, refused to recommend him and referred the application to their Council. Otago University moved "that this application be supported." Their case seemed to have only one relevant point—that the Rev. Sullivan was an experienced and capable organiser; in fact, more experienced than the last Congress organiser Mr. Dowrick. Such flimsy grounds for support scarcely warranted the heat with which they were put forward, and it seemed to us that personal allegiance rather than merit was at the back of it. Mr. N. Taylor vacated the chair to speak on the motion.

He opposed the application on the following grounds:

1. That the Rev. Sullivan was not capable as organiser. Remember the £5 per students appeal?

2. That the Rev. Sullivan had shown by his statements to the press after the last Congress that he, at least in this instance, was capable of acting stupidly. His statements to the Press were not correct and a man of his experience should have realised the interpretation that the press would put upon them. He waited till the Congress was over and made his criticisms to the press without having put these forward to the people concerned—though he had every opportunity to do so both at Congress itself and on the NZUS Congress Committee. These press statements have done untold harm to the University in general in N.Z. They have earned the censure of prominent University men who were interested in Congress. A person who could be so short-sighted as to behave in this fashion is not one in whom the faith of NZUSA could be reposed. Mr. N. Taylor went on to say that, when asked to explain his actions, Rev. Sullivan admitted that he was in the wrong, but the damage was done. He concluded by saying that the residents of the NZUSA were not prepared to let Rev. Sullivan have anything further to do with the running of NZ students' affairs.

Mr. K. O'Brien also opposed the appointment, citing a breach of faith which had been committed. The Rev. Sullivan had been asked to write to the press correcting the published statements. This he agreed to do within a fortnight, the letter to be referred to the Exec, for approval. This he did not do eventually handing in the letter at such a late date that there was no point in reviving the issue.