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Salient. An Organ of Student Opinion at Victoria College, Wellington, N.Z. Vol. 13, No. 20. Thursday, September 7, 1950

[Introduction]

"We demand the withdrawal of all US troops from Korea and the rescinding of the illegal decision of the Security Council."

This is a quotation from a resolution which was passed without dissent and with a very small number of abstentions on the second day of the Second World Student Congress in Prague.

Congress has now been sitting over a week. Delegates and observers from 71 countries number over 800, and the whole of Prague seems to have been reorganised around the Congress. Flags and decorations, messages of welcome and slogans of peace and friendship are seen on almost every building. On Saturday, August 12, the radio announced that there would be festivities that evening in Wenceslaus Square. This "square" is really a wide boulevard half a mile long, and it was packed with people—not only students of Prague and delegates, but thousands of ordinary citizens, singing and dancing for four hours. Even policemen joined in the dancing. Nothing was prepared beforehand; it was simply a matter of going there and joining in the fun. That evening was typical of the way Congress had been received here. Everywhere we were welcome, asked to sign autographs, invited into homes. Food and drink is pressed on us, and everyone wants to show us the sights of this wonderful city. We are quite free to go where we choose, and of course we do this in different ways. Some go to small pubs like the Slavia where the opponents of the regime are to be found, while others visit friends who are just bursting to tell us about the achievements of the Czech people.