DUNEDIN D.L.F. LITERARY AND DEBATING CLUB.

Otago Witness, Issue 2924, 30 March 1910, Page 85

DUNEDIN D.L.F. LITERARY AND DEBATING CLUB.

Motto: "Union is Strength." The usua-I weekly_nieeting of the abcwe club was held on Tuesday evening-, 22nd March, t'-ere being present about a dozen members. Roxana wa3 voted to the chair, and Indian Chief was" chosen to act as secretary. Dot suggested that on open meeting and special subject evenings the'papers should bs informally criticised and discussed and views given on the subjects treated. This suggestion -was approved of. and it was iecided to p\it it into_ operation next evening. Messages of goodwill were received from Je33ica, Hoolihan, and Ned Devine. These are heartily returned. The subject for debate was "Which is the Happier, the Millionaire or the Peasant?" Indian Chief led for the millionaire side, supported by l l rancis. Areta, (impromptu), Larkspur, and Itsdy Esler. Roxana was leader for the peasant side, supported by Cornish, Texas Jack, Emerald, and Matty. Oornish, Texas Jack, and Emerald were absentees, but sent in papers. Some lively arguments were brought forth, and the issue of the debate was put to the meeting, and resulted in an even decision, < so it was allowed that one side .made as gocd a fight as the other. There being no business to be considered, the chairman closed an exceedingly satisfactory meeting by announcing next evening as open meeting. The following extracts are from papers put before the meeting: "Money, in the hands of .. man or a woman who knows how to use it, becomes one of the most powerful factors for the good of mankind which sxist on this earth. I do not mean to assert that every man wl-o Las won to the rank of millionaire is a fit and proper person to- fully appreciate and use to the best advantage for suffering humanity the wealth which he has been ab'.e to accumulate. ... A millionaire can not only make himself happy, but he can also alleviate ■ the sufferings of others, and help tlMm to be happy too. The peasant's socalled happiness is marred by discontent with his humble lot. _ The percentage of really happy peasants is small when compared with the- percentage of happy millionaires."—Indian Chief.

Boxana craned his paper with the tale o p the prince who was not happy and wished to bo so. He was told he must sleep for a night in the shirt of a contented man. "Leo"; at J. D. Bockef eller! What good. do his millions do him? A confirmed dyspeptic, who has to make a meal of? watered or peptonised foods when he could afford the most expensive and appetising luxuries. . . . Here is Carnegie, with an income he himself hardly knows the extent of. . . . To collect such , wealth in AhS -possession of one man, think of the., souls ground beneath"" the iron heel' of capital. . . . The millionaire can force the hands of the producer (by trusts and combines}, and can buy his materials at -almost his own figures." Boxana pictured the dreams of amillionaire troubled by his conscience: "Can he buy lovn of a wife, trust of hie fellow-men, the prattle of little children round his knee? ... . The peasant has his

liome, and a sweet little woman to welcome him as be comes in tired from his daily toil. He_-has a healthy appetite, and when lie retires for the night is not haunted by the dreams which arise from a troubled conscience." —Boxana. "The millionaire brings happiness to others "besides himself by benefiting mankind, as, for example, by building libraries, supplying homes for , the workers, and suppressing famine in overcrowded cities." —Francis. Texas Jack draws an alluring picture of the healthy life led by the peasant, and calls the millionaire . a bundle .of nerves, caused by the pace of business and the nervous tension of stock exchanges. He points out the trusts and combines, and speaks of the conscience of a millionaire troubling him; and finally he mentions the piece "Ingersoll at the Grave of Napoleon," and saying that in giving libraries the millionaire takes good care that the public knows who provides the cash. After all, lie adds, "the public are only getting their own back.

~ Larkspur draws attention to the many ways t. millionaire can make others happy. Lady Esler draws 'an apt comparison' between the lives of the peasant and millionaire, in which the millionaire has decidedly the best of it. She thinks-it is not true that poor circumstances bring ' out the best an a person. "Nothing warps or embitters a mature so much as struggling night and day to make ends meet." "It seems to me that the peasant is decidedly the happier. He leads a simple life, and.it is a known fact that the simpler the life a man leads the happier he is. He bas his daily Tound of toil, which to a man in good health" is a pleasure. He has no false positions to fill, like a millionaire, and instead of attending different functions in Which he takes no interest he spends his evenings at home." —Mattie. "I think the millionaire is happier than the. peasant, because he can make those around him. happy. The peasant has to toil hard to keep horn© together. The millionaire's ivay can be made smooth by money."— Thelma.

Roxana, in reply: The giving of libraries is often caused ..merely, by the. pricking of conscience. "Making ends meet embitters the nature," Lady Esler says. Why, many of the sweetest women I have known have had a hard struggle to make ends meet. Indian Chief in reply: J. D. Rockefeller is only, one man out of many millionaires. Peasants- are always grumbling—not enough rain or too much. ' Cornish's paper is only a picture, and can count for little. Trusts and. combines are usually composed of limited companies, and millionaires have had little, to do with them.. Ingersoll's opinion as worth little. He is., a turncoat. Emerald's paper and Cornish's I am sending in for publication in full. • Indian Chief, Acting-secretary. ■ £P.S. —Until a regular secretary is appointed, Dot will gladly receive and take charge of any-communications for the club. Address: Secretary D.L.P. Club, care Dot, Witness Office, Dunedm.J SYLLABUS FOR APRIL. March 29.—Open r meeting. April s.—'"Will the conscription system now law be an advantage or disadvantage to the personnel of cur; forces?" April 12. —"The dangers of our favourite pastime." \ -'-■' April 19.—Should women be on an even footing wath men as regards labour?" April 2fe—Open meeting.