Evening star., 1926-10-16
WEN|G, j. S. ENTRY,
WINS WORLD TITLE
IN 0RATORY MEET
Defeats Four Foreign Youths
Before Brilliant Audience.
President Speaks.
CONTESTS EDUCATIONAL
VALUE CITED BY COOLIDGE
Cans la, England, France and Mex
loo Represented by Highly Capa-
BILE Analysts Of Governments.

Herbert Wenig Of Los Angeles last
night became the schoolboy oratory
| champion of the world.
The California youth won the
! championship and the great silver
| loving cup, which Is its symbol by
q close margin over Jose Munos-
Costa of Mexico City In the first in
ternational scholastic oratory con-
test.
The five boys who contended spoke
from the same platform where, few
moments before, the President Of the
United States had expressed his
enthusiasm over just such contests
because of their potency in inspir-
ing the youth of all lands to study
the fundamentals Of government. The
President considered that the pur-
pose of such contests as this, spon-
sored by q committee Of publishers
in the United States and abroad, is
only secondarily to provide a mere
test Of oratorical skill. The primary
purpose is educational-that school
boys and girls may dig for them
selves out Of the mountains Of his
tory the ore of understanding pa
| triotism.
President Is Epigrammatic.
Mr.. Coolidge's address,, which is
printed elsewhere, abounded in the
epigrammatic. quotable statements for
which his speeches are notable. such
as the following:
Good citizenship is not so much a
matter of information as of disposi.
ton, not so much Of the head as Of
the heart, not so much dependent on
knowledge as upon sentiment"
Those who want to do right have
little difficulty in finding out the
right"
observance of the law is the es-
Sence of self-government."
ITO neglect to vote Is to abdicate."
Repeated Winning Orations.
The contestants repeated the ora
tions with which they had won the
championships Of their own countries,
Both words and manners Of the speak
ers afforded an interesting study in
national customs and methods Of.
Itahinkipg.t ,@ - =
First came tha Canadian champion.
Herbert Moran Of Toronto, who spoke
on "Canada's Place in the New
World" The Grafton throbbed with
the enthusiastic idealism Of a new
country. Young Moran was almost a
perfect orator. He dwelt chiefly on
the future Of the Dominion, it's nat
| ural resources, the high quality Of its
citizenship and its idealistic outlook
upon the world of tomorrow. He
stressed it's contributions to the
world 8 science and culture and passed
lightly over its record at arms.
But Canada, he emphasized, has its
roots deep in the traditions Of the
British Empire and is conducting an
altogether different sort Of experiment
neighbor to the south. 1t is striving
to attain similar ideals Of liberty
| while still cling1ng to Great Britain
as to a childhood home.
British Speaker Effective.
An entirely different picture was
presented by the second speaker, Will
liam Meades Newton Of Liverpool,
who spoke on 1.-THE British Empire"
The English boy gave a highly intel
lectual presentation Of British i'm
perialism. He spoke easily, conf
IDENTIFY. There was no self-conscious-
ness. no striving for effect. Newton
spoke with @ notably English accent.
He seemed to disdain the arts of ora
tory-the subtly varied infections, the
gestures.
He had a message to deliver to the
effect that British imperialism was not
the evil thing that 1t had been painted;
that it never had been a Machiavellian
policy, but had grown purely circum.
stantially, and that 1t had contributed
enormously to the civilization Of the
world.
Newton's manner on the stage was
that of q boy on a great lark. A
happy-go.lu lucky smile played over his
face. It apparently made no great
difference whether he won or not.
Wenig Typically American.
Wenig was the third speaker. and
his Grafton differed markedly from
those of Moran and Newton. It was
typically American with the tradition
al faults and virtues Of things Amer
lean. Without any question it was
the outstanding talk Of the evening
from the standpoint Of oratory. The
boys voice has the quality Of q cor
net-deep, rich, musical. It was an
impassioned talk. It was intensely,
unquestionably sincere. 1t was t'et-
ter spoken than written. It was Clay,
not Burke.
The boy dwelt eloquently and ten
derly on the founders of the Constitu.
ton, on the place of that document
as the corner stone of American liber-
ties and the American system Of gov.
ernment, and on the duty of Ameri-
cans to defend it against the attacks
of prejudice and ignorance. The
speaker neglected none of the arts Of
oratory and he carried his hearers
with him easily.
These speakers had represented
Anglo-Saxon thinking and culture.
Strikingly different was the offering
Of the Mexican boy, Munos-Costa, who
spoke on Bolivar and the Latin
American Peoples" There was a very
close vote between the Mexican and
Wenig for the championship, but from
the point Of view Of oratory alone, the
American had the superiority without
much question.
Mexican Is Intellectual.
The Mexican lads Offering was high
ly intellectual. eloquent and a trifie
mystical. It approached nearest to
that of Newton among the English
speaking contestants, but there was 6
distinctly Latin element. He dwelt
upon the spiritual foundations and as
pirations of his people. There was no
note Of material patriotism. Munos-
Costa's grafton was Thought dressed
in red silk with bells in her hair, max
ing the sign Of the cross on her brow
as she passed q wayside shrine.
The English boys talk, on tho
16ontinusd on ase 3zsoeiann b3