AMERICAN DEBATERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19976, 19 June 1928, Page 10

AMERICAN DEBATERS.

PROHIBITION AS SUBJEGT. VISITORS' POLISHED SPEECHES. CLEVER TOUCHES OF HUMOUR. The university debating team from Bates College, Maine, Messrs. M. L. Ames, C. H. Guptill and J. F. 3}avis, arrived at Auckland by the Niagara yesterday. They are on a world tour. The visitors were welcomed by the College Students' Association and the UniversityCollege Council. Whether from a desire to honour the visitors or because a topical subject had been chosen, there was a full house in the Town Hall last evening for their debate with an Auckland University College team on the proposition, "That the American Policy of Prohibition is Desirable." Well-known representatives of both camps were to be seen in the audience, and a largo sprinkling of students in the galleries provided comic relief whenever it seemed to be needed. In spite of the gaiety the American speakers, who took the affirmative, were given at all times a courteous and appreciative hearing.

Youthful Visitors' Success. No decision, by vote or otherwise, was given at the close, but the visitors easily carried off the honours. They treated their case with abundant humour, and the two junior members of the team, although surprisingly young in appearance, showed a still move surprising maturity in the manner ai.d matter of their speeches. Before the debate began a party of students entertained everybody with choruses and ii couple of liakas. They were in the middle of "The More We Are Together" when the chairman, Sir Walter Stringer, and the two teams made their entry. A few words of welcome by the chairman were endorsed with, I 1 or They Are Jolly Good Fellows," sung in chorus. " This debate is not by way of propaganda for or against prohibition," said Sir Walter. "It is a friendly debate of a purely academic character. Our visitors are from Maine, which has been a prohibition State for over 50 years, so they should be well acquainted with all the various phases of the subjectNational prohibition was adopted in the United States eight years ago, and the Government ever since then has been trying very diligently to enforce it, with what success you will doubtless heai later on." Memories of Shipboard. Mr. C. H. Guptill, who opened in the affirmative, made the audience laugh at once by saying how glad ho was to see it in such good spirits, because after all the subject was an extremely dry > one. "If I seem unsteady on my legs," he went on, "it is because I have some recollections of the good ship Niagara, and not because I am out of sympathy with my subject He assured everybody the team had not come on a missionary enterprise, in spite of the rather Calvinistic appearance of one of its members. Prohibition had done great things in America. It had not only stopped some of the people from drinking; it had also added romance and adventure to the drinking of _ those whom it had not stopped. Prohibition had intensified the friendly relations between the United States and Canada, and had added much to the glamour of foreign travel. Speaking seriously, he detailed the effects of liquor in promoting political corruption, vico and gambling in the lowest strata of a cosmopolitan population, and its bad influence on industry, family life, and (he general welfare of the young. In conclusion, he offered himself and his colleagues as some evidence that the American population was not declining as a result of bootleg vendettas, orgies of poisoned alcohol and widespread civil war. A Walking Object-Lesson. Mr. A. Bailey, the leader for the negative, denounced prohibition as vicious in principle, fundamentally wrong, and altogether an impossibly idealistic scheme that took no account of expediency. A diversion occurred during his speech when someone dropped a hat from the gallery and had it returned to him amid loud applause. Air. J. F. Davis, the youngest-look-ing and smallest of the visitors, caused laughter by complimenting the last speaker on his " most beautiful flow of adjectives." He suggested the arguments used in support of prohibition had not yet been touched. Mr. Bailey appeared to have seen certain things painted on a window, but had not taken the trouble to look through it. , Declaring that until the present trip he had never seen a licensed bar, he amused the audience greatly by holding himself up as an example of American youth. " I may say," he added with mock seriousness, " that I attribute my robust health entirely to prohibition." Mr. W. Simpson, who undertook to give his hearers a view through the "back window " of prohibition, quoted a number of authorities and statistics to show that only a minority of the American people had voted for the ratification of nationwide prohibition. Economic Aspect of Issue. Mr. M. L. Ames, the senior member of the American team, delivered a very well reasoned speech in a mature style, replying specifically to some of the attacks. The last speaker, he said, had painted such a dreary and awful prospect of America that chills ran down his spine at the thought of returning thither. Prohibition was no longer a moral issue in America, but simply an economic one. The abundant prosperity of the people had more than justified it. The last Auckland speaker, Mr. S. Black, provided something of an anticlimax by discussing conditions in the State of Maine, concerning which the visitors had no opportunity to reply. Unintentionally he caused a good deal of amusement and finally .sat down when some of his student friends began clapping hands in the tempo of "counting out," while others made gestures of mock farewell. Votes of thanks to the chairman and the visitors were moved by Mr. A. B. Thompson, president of the Students' Association. and were carried bv acclamation This evening there will bo a further debate. the subject being "That Efficiency has Become a Deplorable Fetish in Modern Life," the Auckland team taking the affirmative. The visitors will leave Auckland on Thursday for the South and will compete in debates with teams representing Victoria University College, Wellington. Canterbury College and University. They will sail from Wellington on July 6 for Svdnev.