The Debating Society

For the second meeting of the term our thanks are due to Mr. Barnby, who invited us to his room in Albany House to read " Androcles and the Lion," by George Bernard Shaw. Suffice it to say that everybody was amused. Between the acts Mr. Barnby very kindly provided The Curtain with a supper of the first order.

Before the actual debate there was an election in order to fill two vacant places on the Committee. T. H. Butler and J. M. Rucklidge were elected. The chairman then called upon Mr. A. W. Ping to propose the motion that " The British proposals for the settlement of Czechoslovakia are disgraceful." He suggested that if matters had been dealt with in a, different manner many years ago, this country would not be in such an unfortunate position now. If Britain's statesmen had shown an aggressive front, instead of talking nonsense about impracticable ideas, war would not have been imminent at the present time. In reply, H. A. Milburn said that Mr. Chamberlain's energies were directed towards trying to wipe out a disgrace, i.e., the " Treaty of Versailles." He stated that through this Germany was ruined economically and internally, and it was impossible for the country to exist under such conditions. He then concluded by saying that there was no disgrace in trying to remedy an action disgraceful in itself. J. H. Butler, seconding the motion, said that Germany should have been put under Allied rule and so made it impossible for her to rise to power again. He also added that it was disgraceful that Britain, who is allied to France, had let her down. C. M. Robson, who was seconding the opposition, made the point that Hitler's position is not absolutely supported in Germany, and he must keep on doing things spectacular and decisive in order to hold his position. The debate was then thrown open to the house, and Mr.

Rhodes rose to give his views. He said that Mr. Chamberlain was trying his best to avert war, and there was no disgrace in applying common-sense reasoning which eliminated war. Mr. Ping, in summing up, said that Mr. Chamberlain's action was brave, but the proposals themselves were ' disgraceful.

Milburn, in summing up for the opposition, said it was better to do something for peace instead of making actions which would certainly lead to war.

A vote was then taken, and the motion defeated by 40 votes to 7.

Meeting held on October 22nd, 1938.

The meeting was opened by the minutes being read and signed. The chairman then called upon Motum to propose the motion, " That air travel is as safe as any other means of transport." He emphasised the fact that the Post Office sends a great percentage of mails by air, and it must be influenced by the factor of safety as much as that of speed. He said that all air crashes were reported in the papers, but the actual percentage of deaths in the air was very low in comparison to the road. Further, he said that the aeroplane was in its infancy, and that the car and the train had already passed this stage.

Stephenson, in opposing the motion, claimed that air travel was always bound to be more hazardous than any other form of travel by the nature of the element. Fogs and air-pockets and storms were all common phenomena in air and were the nightmare of all pilots.

Revell, in seconding the motion, refuted Stephenson's statements about the dangers of air travel, and showed that a plane was equipped with all the instruments known to science for combatting the various obstacles to safe flying. Further, he claimed that a plane was safer in a storm than a ship, since it had greater speed and mobility, and so could fly away from or over the storm.

G. C. Brown, seconding the opposer, emphasised the weather factor in flying, and said that flying, being only in its infancy, was necessarily still unsuitable for safe transport.

The debate was then thrown open to the House, and there were many speakers, most of whom seemed to know a little about the subject.

A vote was taken, and the motion was carried by 19 votes to 18.

Meeting held 5th November.

The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved, and then Mr. Crews proposed the motion of " Too much Law." He commenced by saying that a strict upbringing led to excesses when the restrictions imposed in earlier life were withdrawn. He went on to say that all laws, which had 18