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The Spike or Victoria University College Review 1933

The Plunket Medal Contest, 1933

page 28

The Plunket Medal Contest, 1933

It is to be regretted that the Plunket Medal contest should be a contest in oratory rather than in public speaking. The orator is an exceedingly rare bird, and although the standard of public speaking at Victoria may not be a low one, orators are few and far between indeed.

The first speaker this year was Mr. Crossley on Leonardo da Vinci. He failed to be convincing because he himself was not convinced. He vainly tried to give his audience impressions which he himself had failed to take.

He was followed by Mr. Kingi Tahiwi, who is fortunate in belonging to a race to whom oratory seems to be a natural gift; and although his speech was by no means an oration, his subject, Te Rauparaha, was well chosen and handled with no little skill. He did not use his voice to the best advantage, but did make some use of his hands in quick decisive gestures which emphasised the important points of his speech.

Miss Pridham was even less convincing than Mr. Crossley, and quite failed to hold our attention or stir our imagination by her monotonous monologue on Sir Walter Raleigh.

The contrast of Mr. Scotney's speech was refreshing indeed. His delivery was vigorous, suiting well the character of his subject, and with his forceful manner he seized the attention of his audience, while with vigorous strokes he painted his picture of Cecil Rhodes.

But the level fell sadly again with Mr. Foster who, though equipped with a singularly deep and resonant voice, was woefully lacking in "plat-form presence." More successful than Miss Pridham, he did succeed in presenting to his audience an aspect of the character of Julius Caesar with which they were unfamiliar.

In Dr. Albert Schweitzer, Mr. Scott had a subject which it would be difficult to surpass. His account was clear and concise, but he was severely handicapped by a voice unfitted for public speaking and a total inability to make use of gesture.

Mr. Scott was followed by the winner, Mr. Katz, who had the disadvantage of an American accent. He made a deliberate attempt at an oration, but unfortunately played too often on the same note. His tricks of oratory, though novel to most of those who heard him, are common enough literary devices in a certain type of American magazine. But he did succeed in arousing our interest in John Reed, and left in the mind of everyone in the audience a distinct impression of the character of his subject. Above all, he made us like him.

Mr. Watson's speech was nothing more nor less than a piece of insolent propaganda,—a political harangue. His delivery was chiefly remarkable for slovenliness of diction and the some-what aggressive manner common to speakers of his type. He left his audience with little idea of the character of Carl Leibnecht, but fully aware of the colour of Mr. Watson's political coat.

His speech and Mr. Katz's were an object lesson in right and wrong types of propaganda. Mr. Katz showed us a communist who was a reasonable and likeable man—clever and idealistic. He said, in effect: "If John Reed, being a communist, was so reasonable, how then is Communism so unreasonable?"

No such finesse of method for Mr. Watson. He preferred the bludgeon and the bomb.

The Judges were the Reverend W. Bullock, A.K.C., Mr. Peter Fraser, M.P., and Mr. A. F. T. Chorlton; and they were unanimous in awarding the Plunket Medal to Mr. Katz. They placed Mr. Scotney second, and Mr. Foster and Mr. Scott third, equal.

In delivering judgment, the Reverend W. Bullock deplored the lack of originality shown by the majority of the speakers. But Lord Plunket demanded oratory, and oratoty the unfortunate contestants try to give him. In the result, the "speech," more often than not, is simply the recitation of a hotchpotch of fine-sounding phrases culled from every possible source and welded together by the few (if any) original ideas which the speaker has on the subject. Plunket Medal contests cater for those who want to say something, rather than for those with something they want to say; so that, with one or two exceptions, the characteristic mark of a Plunket Medal speech must ever be a sort of hollow and funereal pomposity.

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Victoria University College Students' Association Executive 1933

Victoria University College Students' Association Executive 1933

Photo: Crown Studios.

L. O. Desborough, H. K. Hurley, M. J. Duncan, K. Hoby, B.Sc., H. R. C. Wild, R. J. Larkm,

D. M. Burns, B.Sc. (Hon. Sec), J. M. Dunn, LL.M. (Vice-Pres.), R. J. Nankervis, M.Com. (Pees.),

A. H. Scotney (Vice-Pres.), R. C. Bradshaw (Hon. Treas.).

Tournament Basketball Team 1933

Tournament Basketball Team 1933

Photo: Elizabeth Greenwood Studio.

P. Dennehy, B. Olphert, J. Watson, N. McLaren, V. Wilson, M. Mules, K. Wood,

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The Graduates, 1933

The Graduates, 1933