The Christchurch Star MONDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1929. THE ART OF ORATORY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18901, 28 October 1929, Page 8

The Christchurch Star MONDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1929. THE ART OF ORATORY.

'TVRAINING for oratory championships, about which we J- have a cablegram from Canada to-day, has not yet become part of the high school system in New Zealand, but it might very well be introduced with advantage to the community. We are inclined to belittle and ridicule any attempt at earnestness, apart from religious oratory, for the reason, probably, that an unfledged, unpractised orator always tends to be “ high-falutin.” Nevertheless, oratory has been well defined as “ speech regarded as an art,” and it is an art that ought not to be lost. Lord Hewart, in commenting on Francis Bacon’s statement that “ the office and use of the art is to apply and recommend the dictates of reason to the imagination, in order to excite the affections and will,” said that the affections were to be excited in order that the audience might be attracted to the cause, or the course of conduct, which was being advocated; the will was to be roused in order that it might lead to action; and the imagination was to be provoked into championing something which was represented as reasonable. Modern oratory, however, tends more and more to plain speech, disdaining all ornament, and this in itself is an encouraging sign of the greater discernment of the masses, by whom obscurity is no longer tolerated to the extent which many politicians have practised in the past. The basis of all oratory is sincerity and simplicity of diction. If the hearer begins to ask himself what it is all about, the speaker in these critical and enlightened days has missed the mark. The decay of oratory may have been contributed to by the development of the Press, and the conquest of the spoken by the written word, but it is due also, as a writer in the “ Morning Post ” has said, “ to that increased pressure of modern life which breeds impatience qf any sustained claim on the attention—which demands more matter and less art; and is always anxious, in the phrase of the familiar anecdote, to ‘ cut the cackle and come to the ’osses.’ ” WHAT WILL INVESTIGATION PROVE? THERE IS NOT A SUFFERER from cancer in the world to-day who is not buoyed up with hope that some day somebody will suddenly find a cure for all forms of the disease. That fact gives poignancy to the statement of a South Island doctor that he has a patient with inoperable cancer who is making insistent inquiries, which cannot be answered, regarding the claim that a kerosene cure has been stumbled over by a man in the Auckland district. Of course, the Auckland case ought to be investigated, and will be investigated. At present, as Dr Maguire says, only non-committal answers can be given to the questions: Had the patient cancer? Has it been cured? But the fact ought to be emphasised that little hope for the success of empirical methods can be held out in connection with the study of the disease. The “ new war ” reported in a cablegram to-day calls upon every practitioner in the Kingdom to keep special watch on all cases and to submit exhaustive reports, including a full history of each patient. Experience and observation under these conditions, coupled with the scientific knowledge already available, can hardly fail to make for headway in the fight against the disease, and it is even possible that cases like that in Auckland may throw an unexpected sidelight on the wo,rk that is going forward persistently in the laboratories and clinics. But it would be cruel to create false hopes that a sudden cure may be discovered. The best advice that can be given is that persons who suspect the presence of cancer should submit to an early medical examination. With the rapid advances made in the radium treatment, it is now known that cancer is curable in its early stages. GAMES A RELIEF FROM MONOTONY. ' | 'HE TIME HAS PASSED when anyone can seriously contend that women and girls should not participate in organised sport, although there may be something in the action of the French Women’s Sports Federation in demanding a certificate of fitness if it is intended to apply to the more strenuous competitive games. Women, without doubt, are in the field of sport permanently, and they will gravitate to the form of sport most suitable for them. Humanity would be very much the loser if they were debarred from wholesome and invigorating recreation. What the world really needs, and New Zealand just as much as any other country, is greater opportunity for women in pastimes that involve little if any serious drain on their physical resources. In the bulk, the best, happiest, and most economical method of keeping people healthy is to give them a sporting chance of enjoying sport. A woman earning her living in a workshop or office or pestered daily with the hundred and one details of domestic management requires as often as possible the stimulus of active and interesting occupation in the open air. The woman with the truly sporting spirit, which is really the love of doing something for its own sake, will almost invariably turn out to be a better worker and a cheerier companion than the woman who is tied down without relief to the same old routine, year in and year out. It is the same, of course, with everyone. The man who spends his day in an office and his evening in a stuffy club begins the next day with a glum mind. The boy who has no playground hut the pavement or his own backyard stands in grave danger of growing up to be a bad citizen. Very soon we shall see a Ministry of Sport part and parcel of every progressive government. To spread more happiness among the people should be the first commandment of statesmanship.