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Salient. An Organ of Student Opinion at Victoria University College, Wellington N.Z. Vol. 21, No. 9. July 23, 1958

Plunket Medal 1958

page 3

Plunket Medal 1958

For what is one of the more venerable of Victoria's institutions, the apathy shown by the student body towards Plunket Medal was quite remarkable.

The audience, which all but filled the concert chamber on Saturday, 5th July, was notable for the scarcity of students, and the complete absence of any members of the University staff. Is it some form of inverted snobbery that a University function is good enough for the general public, but not for the gen-try in the employment of Wellington's own Redbrick Night School?

The contest was the best attended for some years and was made notable by the the presence of His Excellency the Governor-General and an official party which excluded few of Wellington's notable citizens.

Before such an audience then it was no small ordeal for the eight speakers, five of whom had not previously competed, to produce oration with no trace of nervousness and their generally confident manner is to be commended.

Mr. J. M. Whitta

Mr. J. M. Whitta, who spoke on Sir Stafford Cripps, was placed first by the judges, who commented on what they considered the disappointing standard, probably harkening back to the halycon days of 1929.

Mr. Whitta had the benefit of 12 months' preparation, and this made his speech the most polished and pleasant of the evening. The delivery was cairn, and Mr. Whitta did not deem, or find, it necessary to hold his audience by extravagant gestures or modulation of his voice. He traced the career of Sir Stafford Cripps, a man who lived his whole life in the glow of success, through its many paradoxes. His was a life in future contests if this first entry of asceticism devoted to the good of the poor, and if Churchill is symbolic of the glorious history of British imperialism, then Sir Stafford Cripps was symbolic of that history, more rarely told, the history of the Common Man.

A man moving icily through the warm, corrupting air of politics, who saved Britain from the threat of the mighty dollar and brought stability back to sterling. Telling phrases and well conveyed to the audience.

Miss Merle Boyle, who has a voice which must be the dream of any elocutionist, described the career of the scraggy backwoodsman, Abe. Lincoln "who ain't good for nothin' but dreamin'!" — his early life as postmaster and later lawyer and statesman; his search for a general who could match the South's Robert E. Lee, and in victory his compassion for the people of the South. Little incidents from his life and quotes from people who knew him —these made Miss Boyle's speech something close to an oration, and the conclusion of her speech: "He was great, but in his greatness he did not forget what it was to be a man" left unsaid nothing which should have been said.

Mr. Hendrickse gave us the most emotional speech of the evening, on Mahatma Ghandi—the funny little Hindu who defeated the might of the British Empire. A pilgrim making his way deep into the hearts of multitudes. A gentle man, eyes deep and full of light—like the sea; who was shot into immortality at the age of 79. Even if one could not entirely agree with his facts one could not fail to be moved by Mr. Hendrickse. The judges seemed to have other standards for oratory.

They placed Miss Boyle and Mr. Hendrickse second equal.

Mr. Larsen told well of Josip Broz, the man who dreamed and worked to make his dream come true, and of Marshal Tito, who defied Hitler, and later the Kremlin. Of the struggle within the man between an ideal and a loyalty. The ideal of a free Yugoslavia, and a loyalty to the U.S.S.R.—and the resolution of that struggle which gives a message of hope to the free world.

Photo of male performer

Mr. Doogue chose to talk on Ara-whata Bill, who was the symbol of the New Zealand pioneer, living in harmony with nature and searching for riches, not realising that the reward lay in the search itself. A fine voice and impressive manner made this speech powerful, and a better subject might have put Mr. Doogue into the money.

Mr. Wiggs spoke of Tom Paine, the philosopher of the American Revolution, who broke the dam of pent-up emotions and gave vent to the fervour that resulted in the Declaration of Independence. Mr. Wiggs may prove a hard man to beat in the future.

Mr. Roberts, on Peter Fraser, adopted a tone which came rather too close to a lecture, but nevertheless told well of the two Peter Frasers, the 20-year-old with fire in his belly and the later man, more experienced, humble, who lived to be Prime Minister and to see his work destroyed.

Mr. Hamlin spoke on Hitler. His approach was the obvious one, of condemnation, with an attempted analysis of the reason for Hitler's career. With more preparation Mr. Hamlin's speech would have been less of a strain on the sympathy and intelligence of the audience.

In presenting the medal to Mr. Whitta, His Excellency said that Public Speaking was the art of compression, but it was not Oratory. He said that when it came to a time of crisis, the trappings of the orator fell away, and one was left with the bare truths and the character of the man. This was illustrated to be true by a quotation from one of Churchill's war speeches, when he first asked for a vote of confidence from the House of Commons "... I promise you blood, toil, sweat and tears. . . ."