EMPIRE DEBATING TOUR

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 91, 14 October 1926, Page 18

EMPIRE DEBATING TOUR

RETURN FROM WORLD TRIP

IMPRESSIONS OF NEW ZEALAND,

(From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, 24th July. Mr. Ralph Nur.n May (an. ex-presid-ent of the National Union of Students and leader of the debating touring team who left England to visit the universities of Canada, New Zealand, and Australia) gave to the "Birmingham Mail" some impressions of the tour. The party, it will be remembered, consisted of four members: Mr. May (Birmingham University), Mr. T. P. M'Donald (Edinburgh), Mr. Paul Eeed (London), and Mr. A. H. E. Molsobs(Oxford). It had its origin in the Imperial conference of students in July, 1924, as oae way of bringing the universities of the Empire closer together and giving them a better knowledge of one another.

. "It was a great success from our point of view," said Mr. May, "though I must leave it to our hosts overseas to say whether it achieved all its purpose. So far as debating went, we found two quite distinct styles, the Canadian system of a debate is entirely different from anything to which we were accustomed. Canadians do not regard it as an art to be practised and enjoyed, but as a game, to be waged grimly, one team against the other. Ii New Zealand and Australia it was much more like our own free and easy st/le. THE BEST DEBATERS. "In Canada, the speeches aye prepared beforehand with almost incredible labour, and learnt by heart. Each team follows its own^line of argument, and ignores, with delightful nonchalance, the points brought forward by: the opposition. The debate is judged by three men sitting in the audience who give points for style, clarity, expression, argument, and so on. At the end the judges hand their slips to the chairman, who declares which is the winning team. Although it was so strange to us, the. judge seemed kindly disposed, and we lost, only about four of our debates in Canada. Elsewhere we followed the English plan of putting the motion to the audience for voting. We lost about three debates in New Zealand, and rather fewer in Australia. The Australians were the best debaters, judged by our own standards, very quick in argument and witty in speech. A COUNTRY WITHOUT PROBLEMS. "Our reception everywhere was wonderful. In Canada the railway company took charge of us, aad looked after us with unfailing courtesy and consideration from the time we landed at St. John until we sailed on the Aorangi for New Zealand. In the colleges of the maritime province, t-ho great universities of Montreal and Toronto, and the newer State institutions, of the West, we were welcomed and entertained with royal generosity. The New Zealand students were an exceptionally bright and cheerful set, very fond of ragging, and at one college they greeted us with a salvo of cabbages and carrots. New Zealand is a country without problems, the happiest and most contented country we saw. They have no extremes, of wealth and poverty, and much the same might be said about New Zealariders intellectually, though one must not overlook such men of outstanding intellect as Professor Rutherford and Samuel Butler, of 'Erewhon' fame, who hailed from New Zealand. People who live in big countries, with'extremes of climate and dis-' tance, seem to develop marked characteristics. Canadians are enormously industrious, Australians are big men physical!/, great gamblers and spdrtsmen, not over keen on hard work.''.

Owing to the fact that dance bands play as fast or as slow as they like, Mr. George Chester, president of the British Association of Teachers of Dancing, says that the standard of dancing is being seriously lowered.