An agricultural college, we thought, possibly a cowshed or two, lectures in the barn, perhaps. Or that may be a bit sweeping—we'll allow them an old farmhouse to hold the debates in and a piece of drained swamp land for the football. Two or three lecturers—about 50 students—laboratories, if any, in the hayloft.

Thus we all thought in the Palmerston train and thus I fear have many, if not most, students in the four main colleges felt.

There were perhaps excusing circumstances; the Joynt Scroll team had the dry horrors and I myself viewed their last minute preparations with something akin to dismay. Our opinion of any college would have suffered at that time. But the point of all this is that we were wrong—our opinions have changed completely and this is written in order that your ideas, if they were as far out as ours, may change too. But let the story tell itself.

Reception

We were met at Palmerston station by Stud. Ass. members complete with car; petrol had been obtained for the occasion and that car figured prominently in subsequent activities.

First to our respective billets for lunch and then by car via the Esplanade Gardens to the College. Prepared as we were for polite exclamations and the remark courteous, we could say little when the College building appeared between the trees. Situated on a low hill, in the midst of daffodil pierced lawns, magnificent rock gardens and rolling acres of trees, one of the most beautiful and best equipped Colleges in New Zealand rose before us. A little behind and below were the hostel, registrar's buildings, dining hall and common rooms. We bowed our heads in shame—Victoria had nothing to compare with this.

Victoria Please Note

A very fine and sunny library, well stocked, open for long hours and well lit, modern laboratories and lecture rooms. I thought of my wasted years in other Universities and decided immediately to take B.Ag.Sc. at Massey.

The College has three farms, one directly adjoining. We spent an interesting hour revising our memories of cows and their functions, inspecting sheep saddled with strange apparatus, listening to learned discussions of the latest facial eczema experiments.

The debates were to be held in Massey's main hall, about the size of the Gym., but built some 30 years later; it rather put the Gym. in the shade for furnishings and stage equipment. The V.U.C. team viewed this with anguish and repaired hastily to the staff reading room for some final work on the Atlantic Charter.

Draws between the six Colleges had placed the debates in the following order: in the afternoon, Canterbury v. Otago on the motion "That Patriotism is a Menace"; in the evening, Auckland v. Victoria, "That the Principles of the Atlantic Charter are the essential basis for an enduring peace," and Massey v. Lincoln on a subject after their own hearts, "That the system of freehold tenure be continued."

Individual subjects were agreed upon between contestant Colleges and with the exception of the first, were ideal debating topics.

Patriotism

Dress in the afternoon was informal—Otago and Canterbury took the platform to an audience of about a hundred. The debating was of a fairly high standard, although handicapped by what most people considered a poor subject. A.C.1 Pill Newall (last year V.U.C.) led Canterbury for the affirmative. A strong speaker, he marred good material and reply by his speed. Leading the opposition was Bradley of O.U., a man of 35 or so and obviously of considerable experience. Patriotism was just his oyster—he loved it—and laid it on plenty thick. In fact he played far too much on the emotions of the audience and flung the dead bodies of fellow students at them so well that he put himself completely offside both with audience and judges. A great pity, for it was otherwise a fine speech.

In the Joynt Scroll contest no heckling is allowed and there are no speakers from the floor. While this is a good and necessary thing it seemed to leave the Victoria team, accustomed to an uproarious house, rather ill at ease, and unable to judge the feelings of the audience towards them.

The Atlantic Charter debate took place in the evening, first on the list. The town had turned up in force, a crowded hall, and evening dress on stage contributed immense gravity to the occasion.

We Do Our Bit

Peter Dempsey led off strongly for Auckland and placed the Charter and its extremely democratic principles before the house. In doing so, however, he stressed far too much the idealism of that document and placed himself right before the heavy batteries of Miss O'Flynn. She opened up without mercy. First by an enunciation of the fourteen points and a brief review of the historical events following Versailles, the depression, rearmament, Spain, Munich, and finally war again, the complete impracticability of the Charter was demonstrated. Next the inconsistencies, clause by clause, and finally the "cart and horse" loopholes, such revealing weaknesses as "They will endeavour, with due respect to their existing obligations, to further the enjoyment by all states, great or small, victor or vanquished, of access, on equal terms, to the trade and to the raw materials of the world."

Miss McMillan, for Auckland, finding all this a little difficult to reply to, contented herself with re-emphasising the democratic aims of the Charter and maintaining that these principles, workable or unworkable, were the basis of an enduring peace.

Mr. Fowler then rose and gave a typical speech, surveying analytically and dispassionately the economic causes of war and concluding on its inevitability until these were removed. Had his genius for ignoring the audience been tempered by a little oratorical fire this would have clinched the case. As it was. Miss O'Flynn, in a fluent and fervent summing up, knit all arguments into a very strong debate.

Land Tenure

Massey and Lincoln fought very well over the leasehold system of land tenure—Massey against and Lincoln for—and provided the most interesting and amusing speeches of the day. Mr. MacDonald, an experienced speaker although a new debater, led for Massey, strongly supported by Al. Rae. Lincoln leader suffered from that most annoying of all handicaps a heavy cold, but his seconder, Mr. Taylor, a most pugilistic speaker, amply made up for any defects.

Finally, ten minutes of acute anguish on the part of the twelve speakers, brought us to the judges' placings and remarks. Mrs. Mountjoy, Joynt Scroll contestant of previous years, spoke for herself, Mr. Opie and Mr. Bennett in saying that their fear that the wartime standard of debating might be low was entirely unjustified, in congratulating the teams on their efforts, in awarding the trophy to the V.U.C. team, and in placing Miss O'Flynn, then Mr. Taylor, as the two best speakers. Victoria were rather overcome but Helen O'Flynn kept enough presence of mind to receive the Shield and say a few words of thanks.

So it ended. The myth about Massey has been exploded and Victoria have brought back the Joynt Scroll yet again.

A Good Thing!