First speaker was Kevin O'Connor of Maasey. His subject was a religious one—Mother Mary Joseph Aubert. He was a slower speaker than the other contestants, and his voice had a dreamy, melancholy, almost dirge-like quality, which was certainly effective for his subject, but almost produced coma. Had he appeared at a later stage in the evening he would have reduced his audience to slumber. His speech compared Mother Mary to Joan of Arc. because of the "charity" each possessed, apparently. Mother Mary had aroused the "chivalry of Wellington"—miraculous feat! He made more of this than of her founding of the Home of Compassion. Towards the end he became a little more enthusiastic, a little more moved, but his techniques were a trifle too obvious.

O. S. Robinson of Olago (the winner) spoke on the coming of the Maori. He is an accomplished speaker, perhaps a little fast in his delivery, but memorable for his way of fitting the rhythm of his speech to the theme. He started a little pompously . . . "We British people are proud of our seafaring heritage, and rightly so ... " Then he went on to detail the dimensions of the canoes. At this stage he was speaking a little too quickly, and sounded like a traveloguo commentary. Then we were subjected to a heart-rending account of the farewell to Hawaikl and an account of the rigours of the voyage. The body of the speech was woven round the canoe-song of the Aolea, and was a fine dramatic effort, effortlessly controlled, with a powerful and changing rhythm.