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

Otago Witness, Issue 2815, 26 February 1908, Page 85

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

Motto : " Excelsior."

The ordinary weekly meeting of the above club was held in South British Chambers, Esk stret, on "Wednesday, February 12. The-office-bearers present were Shasta (president); vice-presidents— Lola, Millicent, Hazel, and Midgie; and of the General Committee, JRewa. P«keha. Lord Wolseley, Bohva, Homa, and Miss Bobbie. Ida conveyed Dot s greetings to the club, and Jessica and Roby also sent messages, the latter being enrolled as an honorary member. An apology was received from Smoking Flax, who was unable to be present. It was* found that the proposed Tisbury picnic would have to be postponed until a future date, on account of several otKer attractions on the 19th. A letter from the school mistress (Miss Mac Donald) informed us that there are 19 girls and one boy D.L.F. in that district, and she very kindly sent all their names and addresses to Lola, who had been making inquiries in that direction. It would be a big addition to -the club if all these became honorary members, and I think to spend an afternoon with them would be the best way to get a mutual interest established. Vi ell, now to proceed with the subject for the evening—" Which is the Happier, Barbarian or Civilised Man." Unfortunately neither of the two leaders was present, so Lola, supported by Boliva, championed the cause of the barbarian, and Shasta, supported by Miss Bobbie, defended the civilised man. The debate was intensely interesting— in fact, it was the best debate held (or a long time. The number of barbarians among us that night was overwhelming, and the matter was decided by a paper and post-card from Smoking Flax, which gave the barbarians a win by a majority of one. To dispose of the rest of the evening an impromptu discussion was held on the subject, which I am sure everyone present enjoyed. Before closing, Shasta, on behalf of the club extended a hearty welcome to Imogen and Eebekah. We hope they v.ill find it convenient t-o attend more of our meetings. A letter was received from Dot exp?aining that the mistake in the motto was just an oversight made upstairs, but now that attention has been called to it the matter has been righted. There will be no meeting on Wednesday, 19th, as about nine out of ten of the office-bearers cannot be present, as well as several of the other members, so that the subject for that evening — " Which Event do you Consider had .the Greatest Effect on British National History " — will be adjourned until Wednesday, 2?th, at 7.45 p. mi

sharp. This concluded tl» business for the evening, and Shasta declared the club closed. , The following are extracts from some of the papers: —

" The first step towards civilisation is seen when a savage nation takes to cultivating the soil; when a hunting people take to agriculture it has crossed the border line between barbarism and civilisation. They can no longer be called barbarians pure and simple. "What is the chief constituent of happiness? 1 say pure, good, and high thoughts. "What do savages know of thought? They are as children — easily amused, easily discouraged. What do they know of thought? — Nothing. What do they know of happiness? — Nothing." — Shasta.

" We- are fast becoming a discontented race. On every side we hear pessimists declaring that life is not worth living, and that the world is growing old andl weary. This should not be, but nevertheless it is so. Barbarian man was hagpy with the joyful happiness of the child; even death had no great terror for him. He had a simple child-like faith in a new life and a fuller happiness. The sorrows of to-day were forgotten by to-moirow." —Lola.

" There is ambiguity in the use of the word ' civiliEeil.' It is usually xmderstood to refer to material benefits, such as railways, electric lights, steamships, telegraphs, and the like ; if this is all it means, then the barbarian is in a sad condition. But if ' civilised can be properly appled to a- man whose moral character is on a. level with, or above, his material surroundings, then "the civilised man is condemned, for -he often lose»-\in 'moral character what he gains in material benefit." — Smoking Flax. "Are they not nappy in their own way? Their acts nc doubt seem barbaric at times; but it is only we who find tSem so, and call them rude, cruel, uncivilised. Can we for a moment think that they view their actions in the same light as we do?" — Midgie.

" Compare the lvfe of a civilised) man to that of a barbarian — the one witlr his happy home in a 'well-built city or on a flourishing farm, surrounded by his wife and children, living in peace, pursuing a daily occupation, educated and refined, enjoying all the scientific discoveries and inventions of an enlightened age ; compare him. with the barbarian, living in hovels, constantly at war with his fellows, living a life of ignorance and darkness, ekeing out an "existence that has nothing to commend it to his civilised brother." — Miss Bobbie.

" W» cannot realise how hard 1 the demands and restrictions of our daily life are except in the cases where we try to impose-this socalled civilisation on otter races, when we usually find it means death and racial extinction to them." — Smoking Flax.

" Barbarians are often idolatrous because they know no better, but when they become civilised and begin to learn something of true religion, when conscience begins to discriminate between good and evil, do you tliink they could go back to a of barbarism and be happy? No. Had we been happier in our savage state we would never have been raised to the high standard of civilisation of the present time." — Miss Bobbie.