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Salient. The Newspaper of Victoria University College. Vol. 20, No. 7. August 9, 1956

Elwood on Ngata

Elwood on Ngata

The speaker who was to be placed second, Mr. Brian Elwood, followed Mr. MacNeil. He too, presented an oration, in a full rich voice, using well spaced gestures and with command of his subject and the stage, he spoke on Sir Apirana Ngata. Although he possessed all the qualities necessary to the perfect rendering of a speech, one felt that Mr. Elwood could have swayed his audience almost as much as if his content had been superficial. As with Mr. Dawick, he tended not to speak of the man as much as the movement he furthered, Maori welfare.

John Whitta suffered from the same fault. He talked of the Poujade movement in French politics rather than its leader, Monsieur Poujade. Although he used gesture well and seemed confident, his speech seemed more like a public address than an oration.

Miss Pat Newcombe was probably the most intense speaker of the evening, in a clear commanding voice she drew a vivid picture of Gerard Manley Hopkins, the poet and priest. Allowing no concessions to be made for her sex, she challenged the male speakers on their own ground with a command and use of her voice which was quite magnificent. Nevertheless the high emotional pitch which she sustained throughout lost her points and her richly phrased speech informed rather than described.