Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, SATURDAY, APRIL 17, 1926 ORATORY IN POLITICS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LII, Issue 1701, 17 April 1926, Page 4

Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, SATURDAY, APRIL 17, 1926 ORATORY IN POLITICS.

Oratory iii these <lr<ys is rather at a discount. It is classified as an art. As an art, it is not natural. Not being natural, the modern man regards oratory as affectation. Upon the assumption that oratory is unniitur.nl, there is much to be said for its being looked at rather askance, more than with favor. To get at the root of the matter it may be necessary to arrive atisomc- idea as to what oratory is, and what, that passes for oratory, is super•icial brilliance, strongly suggestive of insincerity. Oratory, from its original root meaning, suggests worship; to this day an oratory is a place for worship. What is in any degree false is as far removed from oratory as "sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal" is 'from charity. Oratory is, not like music, which soothes and charms th?, musical sense of the hearers, but has no further immediate objective. An orator is, or should be, a pleader. He pleads lor a cause. He would win his cause by the-choice of apt words. If what we think to be the true view of oratory were belter understood, the plain man, who, through- opposition to what-he conceives wrongly oratory to be, in the refusal of its aid, and in the affectation of blunt speech, stripped of all grace, which he adopts, is despising an adjunct of great, power, which, if he is to succeed, he cannot afford to reject. It is really not oratory that men of our day despise. It is what passes for oratory; that: which is objectless, gaudy, and almost wantonly insincere. If statuary which has come down to us from ancient times is any guide, men of all ages have taken the greatest pains to attain to excellence of the body. In very primitive times personal strength made for personal security. The modern world has not the spur of personal fear to urge upon men the fullest development of the body, but the .modern devotion to sport of all kinds serves the same purpose. No sacrifice is too great nor training too severe in order to attain j.npor-cxeollcnco of limb for the contest in the football ground, the cricket held or the tennis court. The country is straining its financial resources .to the very utmost in order to educate the young and so to enable them, as our successors to excel ourselves. By what law has it come to pass that the tongue —not always an unruly member --should be neglected, if not despised, as the natural organ for giving expression to what the schools have taught and which the wholesome psysique of the body enables. Oratory is well chosen .words applied in the most natural way with the object of persuading men to adopt a definite course of conduct or action or to accept as true a. particular view or opinion. It was the fashion at one time, and that not very long ago in England to deprecate the oratory of the Victorians and to make uso of Mr. Baldwin as the example of the triumph of plain speech over oratory. It may have been that oratory had degenerated into language which was verbose, ornate, unreal, and calculated rather to advertise the speaker than to win a cause. Speech in the House of Commons in re-action to set speech had become'largely conversational, a statement by a Ministc.j was usually read from a printed paper. So it came to be that the House and the country found a plain'speech from Mr. Baldwin, in good but simple words, and intended to persuade members to agree to a real thing for a real purpose, to be singularly refreshing, and oven new. It has now been discovered that Mr. Baldwin is an orator; that in his speeches he fulfils all that goes to make for incisive oratory; right words, well constructed phrases, clear enunciation, unmistakeable meaning, and an earnestness which carries conviction. There can be no doubt Iral what as a speaker he is absolutely convinced of the truth of what ho- is, advancing. True oratory is fruitless in result among L'nglish people unless the language used is in strict harmony with and appeals ■ to common sense. Hume, the historian of'.a remote day, is quoted as having said "The English, are conspicuous for good sense, which make them very jealous of any attempts to deceive them by the flowers of rhetoric and elocution. They are also peculiarly modest; .which makes them consider it as a piece of arrogance to ofer any thing but reason'to public assemblies, or attempt to guide them by passion or fancy. "It is not sufficient for a speaker.to uso the right words, or to prove himself a master of-

his subject; he has to create a receptive ; z6no, id Which his audience are; at home, and at one with him. His . task'is not so much to please as it is ; to win. On the other hand a discordant note will in a moment destroy the : effect of what otherwise would have | been a victory. It is difficult to account for the.orator's art in establish- 1 : ing sympathetic relations with hisi hearers. It cannot be put into any . rule. It is indefinable. Without it the effort Jails. With such relations established the. speaker can do what he pleases—at least for a time —with his audience. The player and the instrument are in tune. In modern politics greater weight is attached to the counting of heads than to their instruction. This is a tribute to the high level of modern democracy. The leader comes to take his inspiration from the led. Along this road there is not much room for national advancement. Mr. Massey, probably unconsciously, during his long reign, endeavored, as Prime Minister, to check this inclination downwards by exaggerating personal force in leadership. Whether his great services, to New Zealand would have been ever greater if he had depenued more upon others and checked that indomitable will. Kvcd of many ye.'.rs in opposition, no one can say. Mr. Coates won his first great victory as Prime Minister by plainness rather than by ornament of •speech. Plain speech to be continu'"o'usly sticrcssful.,in politics,.must be than blnfttness.' Mr. Seddoii iised Ijliihtness of speech, perhaps more than any New Zealand statesman ever did, but he. mixed with it, at all times, a humorous enmaradene—the art . of;, without-: art, putting his ' audience; whether on the hillside at a picnic, or ■in .Parliariiont', at- one with himself, and, what was more important, with his immediate object. Common sense, force, not. too greatly obtruded; integrity beyond suspicion; all expressed or implied in public speech will strengthen a leader in the House and ensure victories at the polls. Mr. Baldwin has all these qualities but he has.also-what was unsuspected, a mind stored with the vast resources of wido reading and literature. Good speech is natural to man. That which is artificial and debasing in language is artificial. True oratory, which is simplicity in expression, is as deserving of cultivation, as is the physical development of the limbs of the body for proficiency in war or in games. It is more worthy, because its rewards are greater. By expressive speech it jis possible for a* man to sway, not only Parliament but the nation, so that public, security, national advancement, -and the happiness of the community may' be more firmly established.