19 April 2016
4 hours

National Committee of 100: London Committee Archives.
Archive Box 14. The cover states: Agenda’s, correspondence, minutes, working papers / 1960-1961.
- “An Account of the Committee of 100”
Carbon copy (very poor quality). Author: John Marris. No date [ca. 1963]. Format: B4. 37 pages.
Extensive history and useful account of the Committee of 100 and its predecessor, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. The Committee was founded in October 1960 by Bertrand Russell, Ralph Schoenman and several people closely connected to the WRI, such as Michael Scott, Michael Randle and April Carter. In early 1962, the Committee decentralized into regional committees or Area Working Groups. The coordination of the activities was in the hands of the National Office.
The reason Russell gave for founding a new organization centered on non-violent civil disobedience: “The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament has done and is doing valuable and very successful work to make known the facts, but the press is becoming used to its doings and beginning to doubt their news value. It has therefore seemed to some of us necessary to supplement its campaign by such actions as the press is sure to report. There is another, and perhaps more important reason for the practice of civil disobedience in this time of utmost peril. There is a very widespread feeling that however bad their policies may be, there is nothing that private people can do about it. This is a complete mistake. If all those who disapprove of government policy were to join massive demonstrations of civil disobedience they could render government folly impossible and compel the so-called statesmen to acquiesce in measures that would make human survival possible. Such a vast movement, inspired by outraged public opinion is possible, perhaps it is imminent. If you join it you will be doing something important to preserve your family, compatriots and the world.”

- “Committee 0f 100: Resistance, 9 December 1961 – Wethersfield-Ruislip – Legal Briefing (Including Notes on Non-Cooperation, Police and Court Procedure, Obtaining Legal Advice, Offences and Penalties, Young persons and Juveniles)”
Original typescript. No author. Date: 1961. Format: A4. 7 pages.
Draft version of the official legal briefing for the massive protest action at Wethersfield. Unlike later documents of this kind (see below and Archive Box 17), that first and foremost focus on protecting the nonviolent character of the protests, this one mostly deals with the consequences of arrest and the legal actions that could be brought against the demonstrators. “The demonstrations on 9^th December at Wetherfield and Ruislip are peaceful. But they do involve breaking the law. These notes are intended as a brief guide only. They contain relevant information and notes on police and court procedure and Committee recommendations for various situations.”
The risks were high. All protestors were ordered to demonstrate a high level of self-restraint and self-discipline, and had to be prepared to face the consequences in case of arrest. Once you were arrested, the Committee recommended non-cooperation, both physically (by remaining limp) and through legal obstruction, by refusing to give your name and, once you had been heard, refusing to pay any fines. Any protestor had to be prepared to serve jail time.
Possible charges were willful obstruction; conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace; obstruction of the police in the execution of their duty; and (much more serious) conspiracy, riot and unlawful assembly. The latter crimes could result in serious prison sentences. “If you are charged with one of the [latter] offences you should make no statement and ask to contact the solicitor immediately. In view of the large number of people involved we think it unlikely that more serious charges will be pressed except possibly in the case of some of the organizers.”

- “Welsh Committee of 100 – 9^th December 1961 – Mass Resistance in Cardiff: General Briefing and Legal Notes”
Original typescript. No author. Date: 1961. Format: A4. 7 pages.
Unlike the previous briefing, this one mainly stresses the need to, maintain and protect the nonviolent nature of the protest at all times. “This is a non-violent demonstration. This does not mean that you have to be a pacifist to take part. It means recognizing that on this occasion protest without violence is the only possible effective method. We ask you not to shout slogans and to avoid provocation of any kind. Although we want massive support for the demonstration, we must insist that all who take part accept this non-violent discipline. If you are unwilling to do so, we ask you to stay away.”
The plan for the Cardiff demonstration was a massive sit-down on the main square in the city center that would last until demonstrators were carried away and/or arrested.

Archive Box 15. The cover states: Material of Committee of 100.

Archive Box 16. The cover states: Minutes, correspondence / 1961.
- “Aims, Policies And Methods”
Original typescript. Author: Peter Cadogan. Date: 1962. Format: B4. 2 pages.
One of the aims of the Committee of 100 is “to explore the meaning of the nonviolent society of the future, realizing that our present non-violent means are the elements of the future society in embryo.” Regarding the methods: “To practice non-violence, while recognizing that for some of us this is a principle and to others a tactic. It is enough that we are in agreement on our practice and that the discussion of the grounds of our agreement will continue freely amongst us. […] Another element, both in policy terms as in methods, is to discuss the degree of non-cooperation in advance of any demonstration, so as to assess the risks of the demonstrators in any given demonstration.”

Archive Box 17. The cover states: Correspondence, minutes, reports / 1962-1963.
- “Greenham Common, U.S.A.F. Base – June 23-24”
Flyer. No author. Publisher: Committee of 100, National Office. No date [ca. 1962]. Format: A5. 2 pages.
The flyer is titled Non-Violent Resistance. “Non-violent resistance is a way of acting against policies of violence. It means that people are to withdraw their support, and at times non-violently intervene, in opposition to the policies they oppose. They may use such methods as marches, vigils, refusing certain jobs, strikes, boycotts, sit-downs, civil disobedience and non-violent intervention. In it people must be non-violent while taking part in resistance, but resisters do not have to be pacifists. […] We believe that non-violent resistance is necessary: to shatter the widespread escapism so that millions throughout the world will face the issues and make up their minds; to bring governments seriously to consider that a significant number of people strongly oppose nuclear war preparations […]; to dissociate ourselves from this policy of genocide to revitalize the normal democratic process, so that real debate becomes possible; and to build up a future movement combining mass support with effective resistance.”

- “Draft Leaflet: Advice to Demonstrators”
Carbon copy. No author. No date [ca 1962]. Format: B4. 2 pages.
Recommendations on how to demonstrate nonviolently are becoming more and more detailed. This draft leaflet contains eleven rules on how to behave nonviolently during a demonstration. Some of the more striking ones include:
“(1) Under no circumstance offer physical violence to any person at the demonstration, even if you are attacked. (2) The shouting of slogans soon becomes rhymical [sic]. This rhythm is, like jazz or alcohol, conducive of loss of control and opens the door to violence. It is self-indulgent and unproductive as well as dangerous. Singing, on the other hand, does not lead to hysteria; if you cannot be silent singing is better than shouting. (3) Do not shout at the police, even if they act badly. Shouting will confirm the police in their attitude. (4) Remember that agents provocateurs may be at the demonstration to foment violence and discredit it,” plus seven other rules along the same lines.
The draft also says that “non-violence is essentially dynamic and that those who adopt it may be sure that their best and most creative faculties are being called into play. Non-violence implies perpetual revolution but it is revolution based on respect for the adversary and a determination to win his cooperation by appealing to his humanity and by our own proper firmness.”

Archive Box 18. The cover states: Correspondence, minutes etc. / 1963-1964.
- “The Uses of Non-violence”
Carbon copy. Author: John Adamson. No date [ca. 1963]. Format: A4. 3 pages.
Adamson opposes both a ‘conservative’ and an anarchist approach to the concept of nonviolence and proposes a synthesis of the two. 
The conservative approach to nonviolence is its adaption as an alternative to or substitute for national defense, whereas the anarchist variant is not interested in ‘fighting off’ a foreign invader as it proclaims the state itself to be its main enemy. 
The weakness of the conservative position is that it doesn’t work very well (the author cites the example of India and the Indo-China conflict, where the non-violent army identified itself fully with the interests of the national state). Also it is a static conception: “Instead of being protected by the deterrent of military training, we all have the satisfaction that we can resist non-violently, so we go home and wait to b invaded, fortified by pep-talks on the telly by Bertrand Russell.” The inherent weakness of the anarchist position is that most people are unable to distinguish between society and the state, and, as a consequence, feel that ‘we’ need to be protected.
Adamson proposes a synthesis, departing from the wisdom of ordinary people, in which we show the relevance of non-violence in ordinary situations, as a weapon for the defence of civil liberties that can be used both against our own government as well as against outside threats. 

- “The Negro Revolution: The Power of Social Dislocation”
Carbon copy. Author: David McReynolds. No date [ca. 1963]. Format: A4. 5 pages.
McReynolds points out that the peace movement has much to learn from the “Negro revolution”, for instance that moral pleas and intellectual arguments always fall short to mass direct action. “The Negroes have taught us a new lesson, and have advanced non-violent tactics beyond the point Gandhi carried them.” For Gandhi operated in a situation where the “British are a minority – a tiny minority at that – in India. In such a case any tactic, violent or non-violent, was bound to eventually win out against the British. But in the Unites States the Negro is a distinct minority. […] It is, of course, true that this relative handful of Negroes speak for and morally represent the silent and uninvolved masses, while the peace movement, involving perhaps two percent of the population, certainly does not presently speak for and morally represent anything very much outside of its own ranks.” The break through from the black perspective is that they have shown that their branch of non-violence is capable of dealing with “group pathology”. “I do not know of any more unlikely place for non-violence to operate (except perhaps the later period of Hitler Germany) than the rural South. Now we know – the Negroes have shown us – that if there is sufficient courage and common sense, a non-violent movement can operate against an unjust social system which is rooted in mass pathology, even when that movement only represents a minority of the people!”