Free Discussions Club

Once again the relentless pursuit of Truth for which the Club is so noted seems to be going on with all the usual vim and enthusiasm. All shades and types of opinion have come to tarry, though perhaps not to rest, under our stormy wings and the general discussion after each meeting has usually been, where possible, vigorous and sometimes, to the point.

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As to the meetings themselves: the annual general meeting was held on Friday, March 23rd. After getting through the business part of the evening, such as the election of officers, presentation of report and balance sheet with characteristic speed and efficiency, Dr. I. L. G. Sutherland opened a discussion on "Modern Substitutes for Religion." The speaker pointed out first, that there was at present an evident decline in religious attendance and belief among Western nations. A. N. Whitehead and the recent Nation and Athenaeum questionnaire were brought forward as evidence of this fact. There were reasons for this decay of religious faith, however. They were to be found in the substitution of the modern scientific reaction to the world for the older magical view. As a result of this, the world has become dehumanised, neutralised, at variance with what man desires. As a result, his spirit is dissociated, disintegrated, and he can no longer find satisfaction in traditional beliefs and orthodox practices. The characteristics of the religious attitude were briefly these: awe, reverence, the practice of ritual, the consolation of misery, sacred books, code of morals, a priesthood. The speaker then went on to deal with the various substitutes where-by man finds emotional satisfaction when he has not orthodox religion to fall back upon. Among the most important were grouped politics, where patriotism, for instance, provides ritual, reverence, etc.; clubs, lodges, societies, such as the Ku Klux Klan; sports and games; finally big business, where money-making had become a spiritual act and was embodied in associations like Rotary, etc. (see the quoted writings of Messrs. Glen Buck and Bruce Barton). Priest surrogates were to be found in the popular artist of the day, the writer of the best seller, the doctor and the lawyer.

What of the future? The speaker did not imagine there would be a disappearance of religious substitutes. There would be great changes, however, which would involve in some way or other, a new integration of the personality so that it would be in harmony with the new world outlook. A good discussion followed Dr. Sutherland's address. After a vote of thanks had been passed to the speaker, the meeting adjourned in a fairly amicable fashion.

On Friday, April 13th, we had the pleasure of hearing Mr. H. G. Miller, M.A., read us a paper in the form of a Platonic dialogue entitled "Onward, or Plato's New Zealand Republic." This delightful piece of work will not bear compression. Sufficient it is to say that it was clever, amusing, witty; it enabled the speaker to have an impartial—or partial —tilt at the Plunket system, land agents, politicians, lawyers, and at everything else of which the people of New Zealand seem to be so abnormally proud. The general conclusion of the meeting seemed to be that New Zealand was in many respects little better than a mutual admiration society, with distinct tendencies towards the American model, and an infinite capacity to talk humbug and cant in large mouthfuls. A vote of thanks to the speaker concluded the meeting.

The next meeting was held on Friday, April 27th, when Miss F. L. Mulholland, M.A., opened a discussion on "Fashion." The speaker considered first the factors upon which the forming of fashion depended. Then she went on to speak of fashion in women's dress, in mens' attire, in dancing, in games and indoor sports, in music and literature. The effects of fashion upon the community were important Fashion seemed to lead to extravagance, to the accentu page 47 ation of class differences, to the wasting of wealth in stupid expenditure, to the breeding of an anti-social spirit. The economic effects of fashion were next considered. Here again the indictment was severe. Fashion led to waste, discarding of articles before they are worn out, it caused sweated labour, it squashed originality, accentuated trade circles, disorganised and redistributed industries. Finally, fashion tends to corrupt art, since novelty is the supreme effect after which artists strived, and there could be no lasting, definite work.

A keen discussion followed, and was centred about such topics as the effect of advertisement and legislation upon fashion, the remedy for the ills which irrational following of fashion invariably brings upon the community, the relative degree to which men and women follow fashion, and the reasons for this. Altogether an interesting paper and our thanks are due to Miss Mulholland for the trouble she took in preparing and reading it to the club.

On Friday, June 1st, the club met again to discuss the cinema. Mr. E. Beaglehole, M.A., opened the proceedings by reading a paper on 'Where Are the Movies Moving? The speaker disclaimed any attempt on his part either to whitewash the films or to give them a bad name and then hang them. He dealt first with the influence of the cinema on children, pointing out that although there were dangers in store for those children who patronised the cinema too exclusively, nevertheless the children might well be in worse places than at the pictures. The relation between juvenile crime and the pictures was then dealt with, the speaker endeavouring to show that there was little real connection between the two. The verdict of most authorities was that the cinema was an almost negligible factor in causing delinquency. The question of the immoral or anti-social effects of the films upon the adult mind was next considered. The speaker suggested that these charges were again exaggerated, and that what the cinema really did was to provide us with a cheap, easy and satisfactory escape from the world of actuality and monotony into an emotional world of action and movement. In this respect, the cinema might be compared with literature, music, or any other means of escape. Finally the speaker touched lightly upon the problem of the Americanisation of our manners and wavs of action. He then turned to consider the art of the cinema, comparing first the cinema with the drama and showing that here it was more or less useless to compare the two arts, to the detriment of one or the other, because each used different media; and then showed that the cinema, as art, had two functions: to tell a story and to develop a theme by the use of a rhythmical flowing design of images. The best film is the outcome of a blending of these two functions. The film is an art because it expresses a part of us—movement—that no other art can express, and is nearer to painting, music, architecture, or the ballet than it is to the stage.

A discussion of various points arising out of the paper followed and the meeting closed with a vote of thanks to the speaker for his interesting paper.