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Debating Society

This, the oldest established of the College's clubs, has continued to maintain a regular programme of activities and, if the standard of debate has at times been rather uneven, the club has held the support of the more forensically minded student. There can be no doubt that a debating society, if it is to flourish to the maximum degree, requires a climate that nurtures the hot breath of controversy; the immediate postwar years provided such a climate. It is doubtful whether the enthusiasm of the years 1946-1948; that brief flirtation period when it began to be thought, even in high places. that idealism and political expediency might yet be mated; that time of ferment, and of discussion, which crystallized out of the intermingling of wartime experience and the desire to seek intellectual explanations.

So in a sense, the years that followed seemed something of an anti-climax. Where it had been the usual Friday "full house" in the lower gym, the society found itself, in mid-1949, cancelling debates for lack of an audience. But the decline was not for long, and a 6low revival has resulted in the society's position today being a very healthy one. This may be attributed to two factors: the consistent loyalty of its committee members and the arrival at the College of a 'new generation" of debaters, who, while perhaps lacking the ruggedness of their immediate predecessors, brought to the society a polished style which had wide appeal.

Perhaps the major feature of the period under review was the Jubilee Dinner of the society which was held at the Midland Hotel in conjunction with the celebrations of the Jubilee of the College in inid-1949. The function was very well attended, and as was to be expected, the company was a distinguished one. The occasion was made the more memorable by the presence at the official table of Mrs. Annie Down, the first president of the society: it is with regret that I have to record here her death in May 1954.

The society competed more successfully in the realms of international debating than it did in the competitions with its fellow constituent colleges. A team from the society comprising Messrs. B. M.

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O'Connor, M. J. O'Brien and J. D. Milburn were successful in defeating a touring Australian Universities team in 1949; and a team comprising Mr. J. D. Milburn and Mr. F. L. Curtin defeated a United States Universities team in 1952. But despite our every effort, the Joynt Scroll has eluded us—it is now eleven years since the emblem of inter-college debating supremacy rested at V.U.C.

Successive committees have sought to add variety to the society's programme and recent years have seen the revival of some former contests: the Staff-Student Debate was resumed in 1950 and has since proved an annual feature of our programme; the annual Visitors' Debate which traditionally took the form of a debate on a motion of no-confidence in the government of the day, was revived in 1953. and the Inter-faculty Debate has been held for the last two years.

Prizewinners and representatives of the society from 1949-1954:

Plunket Medal Winners

1949:	H. J. Benda.
1950:	M. F. McIntyre.
1951:	F.L. Curtin.
1952:	C. V. Bollinger.
1953:	D. R. Mummery.
1954:	—.

Union Prize Winners

1949:	J. D. Milburn, B. L. Talboys.
1950:	D. Garrett.
1951:	F. L. Curtin.
1952:	D. Foy.
1953:	B. M. Brown, G. N. Cruden.
1954:	—.

Joynt Scroll Representatives

1949	J. D. Milburn, M. J. O'Brien.
1950	J. D. Milburn, M. J. O'Brien.
1951	F.L. Curtin, D. Foy.
1952	J.D. Milburn, F.L. Curtin.
1953	G.N. Cruden, J.M. Whitta.
1954	B.M. Brown, D. Garrett.

Presidents of the Society,1949-1954:—

1949, B.M. O'Connor; 1950, J.D. Milburn; 1951, J.D. Milburn; 1952, F.L. Curtin; 1953, C.V. Bollinger; 1954, Miss M. OR'eilly.