DEBATING CLUB

Southland Times, Issue 22040, 13 June 1933, Page 6

DEBATING CLUB

MARIST OLD BOYS. WIRELESS DISCUSSED. The first meeting for the season of the Marist Old Boys’ Debating Club was held last evening, a large number of members being present. The evening was devoted to a debate on the subject: “That wireless has improved the condition of the home life of the community.”

Mr W. E. Packer opened the debate for the affirmative and sketched the practical benefits obtaining from the broadcasting of educational and musical items and trade reports. No longer, he said, were country districts isolated and for a small expense all could enjoy what was one of the most wonderful of modern inventions.

Mr K. F. Jones, leader of the negative, pictured the quiet contentment of home life in the past and contrasted it with the noisy and unhappy lot of the individual in the modern home due to the advent of wireless. The evils of the time-payment system came in for criticism, and the tendency to increase betting due to broadcasting race meetings was enlarged upon. The second speaker for the affirmative, the Rev. Brother Tarcisius, showed that science was bestowing innumerable benefits on civilization, one of the greatest of which was wireless. The dissemination of news, the spread of culture, the improvement of the standards of education, had been assisted greatly by wireless and had had a direct beneficial effect on the community. Mr P. Cusack, in support of the negative, enlarged upon the unemployment caused through the displacement of musicians and the tendency towards a standardized outlook. Individuality was no longer encouraged, he said. The aspect of wireless with regard to making working conditions pleasant was dealt with by Mr J. Barry in support of the affirmative. Home training was largely responsible for the proper training of youth, he said, and wireless tended to keep them home and under parental control. Mr T. Cooney, in a humorous speech full of argument, lucidly portrayed the dissension caused in the home by different tastes as to wireless programmes His description of the family endeavouring to play a game of cards with the wireless in full blast provoked much merriment. Mr R. O’Brien supported his colleagues on the affirmative side and detailed the employment that wireless caused and the consequent beneficial effect on the community.

The final speaker for the negative side, Mr J. Tuohy, in a well-thought-out speech, exposed the fallacies of some of the arguments of the opposition. The chairman, Mr T. V. Mahoney, in a criticism of the various speakers awarded his decision to the negative side, who were successful by a small margin of points. t Judge M. Gilfedder expressed ms pleasure at being present at the meeting and congratulated the members on the standard of debate. The next meeting night will take the form of prepared speeches and Judge Gilfedder will give an address on “The Colonization of New Zealand”