Oratory

The triennial contest for the Bledisloe Medal was held thin year during winter tournament in the provincial chambers at Christchurch. Each of the four major colleges is represented by two speakers and the contest is judged on the same basis as our Plunket medal. This year Victoria was represented by Hector MocNeill, winner of this years' Plunket medal, and by Sue Mitcalf, a new orator at Victoria.

The standard of speaking was very high. The winner. Miss L. Jones of Canterbury University College, spoke in a fluent and experienced manner on Richard John Seddon. She is a very gifted speaker who spaced her words well and used her hands to their full effect; yet her speech failed to affect the audience as did those of the other speakers.

Hector MacNeill of Victoria was placed second for his sincere and powerful speech on Te Whiti Oronga-mai. His voice was powerful and he used it to the full. His sincerity conveyed itself to the audience and he well deserved his placing.

The speaker who took third place was Mr. Elliot, also of Canterbury, who spoke on Lord Rutherford, who did much of his early experimentation in the present rooms of the E.U. at Canterbury University College. He spoke calmly and with dignity, with excellent diction and command of his subject, yet at times seeming to stand off from his audience.

Two other speakers worthy of note were Miss Mitcalf of Victoria and Mr. Peter Gordon of Auckland. Miss Mitcalf delivered the most powerful and moving speech of the evening, on Robin Hyde, showing a remarkable insight and feeling for the subject's character and conveying this to her audience. Of all the speeches Miss Mitcalf's is likely to stand out longest in the memory of the hearers.

Sir James Caroll was the subject chosen by Mr. Peter Gordon, who, at times, seeming to find difficulty in remembering his speech, succeeded in appealing to his audience. Outstanding in his speech was the conclusion, which was delivered in Maori, and showed Mr. Gordon's fine oratorical power.

To many, the judgment was disappointing, for speakers seemed to be commended primarily for technical perfection and secondarily for sincerity and command of the audience. Nevertheless the evening was one of fine oratory and all speakers showed power, although none were without many defects.