POPULAR DEBATERS

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 147, 23 June 1928, Page 11

POPULAR DEBATERS

THE AMERICAN TEAM PROHIBITION DISCUSSED EASY SPEAKERS To quite a number of people the mention 'of a debate does not mean anything very attractive. To them a debate is "about, ns dry as dust." In reality a debate can provide some.. excellent entertainment. Everything depends upon the speakers, and" in the category1 o£ entertaining debaters may be placed Messrs. M. L. Ames, 0. H. Guptill, and J. ]?; Davis, of Bates College, Maine, U.S.A. These three; students/who are on a woi'ld tour, engaged in a debate on the proposition "That the 'American Policy of Prohibition is Desirable," with 'representatives of the Victoria University College, in the Town Hall lijst evening, and made a' good impression on the audience. ' Xt is 110 new thing for Wellington to have a visit from a debating team from overseas. English teams have spoken inWellington, and while some, no doubt, remember the excelelnt way they treated various' subjects, , that would hardly ac-^ count for the largo audience at the .Town' Hall last night. Possibly it was the popularity of the subject that attracted, or was it just a desire on the part of Wellington people to honour the students? Many prominent citizens were present, and there was a large attendance of Victoria College students, who supplied ample impromptu entertainment. . Two of the visiting speakers', who took the. affirmative, are young in appearance; but last evening they showed a maturity ■iti their speeches'.which would do credit to much older men. They have an easy and'delightful ,way with', them; they arc natural; they are'never at a loss for words, ■and above all have* a very pleasing light touch. Mr. Ames, the senior member of tho. team, is. a little more serious; but he, .to, can., provide a light touch. The■ members of the audience' .-were asked, to record their, votes on ■Jeaving the hall as to which team, in their opinion, had presented the best case. NOT PROPAGANDA. Professor B. E. Murphy, who presided, and the debating teams, took their seats on the platform to the singing of "Barney i Google," which was followed, by the war cry of ■ the. Victoria College students, a large proportion of whom were seated at the rear of the .hall. After 'apologising for the unavoidable absence of the Mayor (Mi-. G. A.- Troup), Professor Murphy welcomed the visitors.'-. The selection of the subject for discussion was''made from a list submitted by- the Bates College speakers, and it .was in no way intended to be in the nature, .of propaganda for or against J Prohibition. ! At the outset Mr. Guptill. who moved the motion,; revealed his ability to reply quickly and good-naturedly to interjectors. He stood with his hands half in the pockets of ■ his. co'ati. waiting for the applause to.cease.l "Take your hands out of your i pockets,": advised someone at the back I of the hall. "If you had a warmer climate here I would be quick to," came the ready .response, amidst applause and laughter. In the first, place, he said, thai the team was. not on' any missionary' enterprise to preach the virtues, of-Prohibition, nor" had it any particular judgment as to how the people of the Dominion might solve their liquor problem if they-had a liquor problem. All they were'going toi try and do was to give some idea of the • American policy and the American, viewpoint. with regard to Prohibition, which had done a great many.things in the United States. Prohibition had stopped a few people from drinking—(laughter)—those whom it had not stopped; had been given added romance and-adventure. :Then,l too, it had j done more than tariff reciprocity ever had to-increase-the friendly relations between America and Canada. (Laughter.) CORRUPTIONI AND GRAFT. ' In a more serious manner' Mr. Guptill gave details of the effects of liquor. It had produced political corruption; it.had affected the-social -life'of the people; and it had had an effect upon industry. Maine was the first State to adopt local Prbhibition, and '.the : movement gradually ixew i until finally national.- ■. -Prohibition . was I passed. ; _- : .T.orday in • the United: States well over .70 .per-cent: of ■'-both parties in .the House of 'Gongress.voted "dry." . -. | ,j\lr.' G. ft. Powles, who led for the riega--1 tive, referred -to Mr. Guptill's . remarks that one of the main reasons for the bringing 'in' of Prohibition was" the corruption of politics, and read an extract from the London "Times" of 9th March,' stating that .'IOO,OOO Chicago residents went to church on one occasion to pray'for delivery from . corruption. and graft. ... He I was one; of those iwho honestly and sincerely opposed - the cause of , Prohibition, but he did not.wish the audience to think for one moment that they believed . in 'drunkenness. (Cries of "Oh! Oh!") There was a time and a place for everything. ' Mr. Powles was proceeding, when an interjector, who had stood up more than once previously, commenced to hold forth again. '.He was told by Professor Murphy : that if he persisted in interrupting he ; would have to leave the hall. . ■ Mr. Powles maintained that after, eight ;years of Prohibition-the United States of '.America was still a drunken country, and ,the State'of Maine still a drunken State. (Laughter and applause.) The old devil was coming back to the States and bringing seven others worse. OVERWHELMING ELOQUENCE. ' "-The eloquence, of the first speaker for the negative-was quite overwhelming, and 1, could not help but think- that I must feel myself up.against him or there would be no debate to-night," said Mr. Davis. Eight years had been'sufficient to convince America that Prohibition was a good thing in their country/Reference had been made to Chicago, but it was not'typical of America; in fact they were ashamed of Chicago. Prohibition had done a lot. ■_ To the amusement of the audience, he presented himself as an example of what Prohibition had done for him; he. owed his robust health to Prohibition. As a result of Prohibition there was an increase in .the temperance' of American people; organisations which manufactured, advertised, and sold liquor had disappeared, aqd .Prohibition had been proved, to have a very uplifting influence on the youth of America. Mr. C. H. Arndt, who gave some good replies to points raised by the visitors, submitted that -Prohibition was unenforceable. It had created a spirit of contempt for the laws of America, and it had done little, if anything, for the eeonojnic progress, or well-being of the United States. Mr. Ames delivered an excellent and well-feasoned speech. Maine had been pictured as such a disastrous State that he was really afraid ito. go back. People bought the things which were advertised, ■and in America, if they had not accomplished anything else, they had "cut" out advertising liquor. They had been told that the.bars in New Zealand hotels were closed at 6 o'clock, but in America they had closed the saloons forever. INCREASE IN CRIME. It was submitted by Mr. Hall that a iiumber of the points raised by the visitoi's werein opposition not to liquor but to the immoderate use of liquor, and could riot bo stated as arguments for Prohibition. He contended that crime had increased in America at a much greater rate than had the population during the past six years. Eighty per cent, of the.people were living just above a line belo\v' which were the depths of poverty and -indecency. ' (Cries of "Oh! Oh!" and laughter.) The Prohibition law in' America was unjust. After Mr. G-up.till had replied to some of tho remnrks made by the opposition, Mr. W. P. Rollings, on behalf of the Victoria University College Debating Society and the Students' Association, expressed thanks to Professor Murphy for presiding and ,to the speakers on both sides. A vote of thanks to the chairman and. visitors was carried by acclamation. The voting of the audience, which was directed' to be given on the merits of the team aiid not on the question under debate, was 'in favour of the -visiting team "by COS votes to 130.