Show IF Ir there is an any characteristic of the ideal person person more beautiful than all others it seems to me it is that of sin sin- And one would in allt all t the e proceedings ot of society room would be found for this quality to display it it- it self But it is attended by modesty and so is often disregarded occasionally sneered at and generally appreciated most when found among the memories of the past That it is still popular in spite of th the great strides in civilization to slight this quality is illustrated by the fact that society swarms with clubs ties and literary associations whose most active pastime is the discussion of popular questions in the form of debate without any regard as to whether the convictions of the appointed champion of a given side are in harmony with the proposition he is to maintain or not The object of this kind of deliberation deliberation deliberation delibera delibera- tion is said to be the brightening of intellect intellect intellect in in- the broadening of the participants participant's participants participant's participants participant's pants pant's horizon of thought and the promotion of his power of expression The practice is defended by the stone wall of custom and who would be so imprudent as to blunt his arrow against its ramparts M Men n cling with reverence and tenacity to the formalities of the past without a suspicion that they may maybe maybe maybe be fallacious or corrupt Thousands of young men and women enter these societies every year to be by their patterns Among the many I once knew a country stripling fresh from the meadows He had scarcely been enrolled a week when he was asked to to argue in support of a cause that was diametrically opposite to his beli belief f. f Upon refusing and stating his reasons he was laughed at and rightly perhaps called a It hayseed It was only a few weeks later that I heard another plain blunt young farmer reminded of his plebeian descent for the same reason And in the face of the broadening tendency tendency tendency ten ten- dency of their mode of debate these sarcastic youths had failed to catch caich the idea that there might be truth on the theother theother theother other side I wondered how these dogmatically dogmatically dogmatically dog dog- debaters would have man maneuvered had they been appointed appointed ap ap- pointed to assert the opposite of the opinion they had just expressed I fancied I could hear their plea It is well said that ones one's convictions should never be so fixed that he cannot see the truth on the other side But this alas I does not mean as many seem to think think- that one is morally justified in asserting the opposite to them while they are yet his And in spite of himself he finds convictions in his possession even if they are no other than that he should be broad and Ii liberal beral T The e philosopher er who asserts that he doubts whether he doubts has a positive opinion if f he means what he says But we are told that the attorney must take any side of a case case that chances to fall within his reach and make out the best possible case for his client If this means that he must defend crime crime- crime crime-by by befogging a justice or jury with oratorical storm trickery and sophistry I 1 have no sympathy for him himor or his profession It is very possible however that a genuine man in the legal profession looks at the matter in a very different light Upon learning in the progress of a case that he was supporting a criminal Lincoln left the room court-room and refused to return Phillips abandoned his profession at the bar in the most brilliant period of his career because it seemed to require disloyalty to his conception conception conception con con- of truth Imagine the great champions of politics politics poli poli- I tics philosophy or morality opposing the principles they most firmly believe in merely for the sake of display and exercise exercise exercise exer exer- cise in mental gymnastics or to sh show w how perfectly hot and cold can be blown from the same mouth But it is said that there is truth on both sides and that the object in this debate is to bring this out in bold relief That the former assertion may be true I have already admitted but the latter I deny for it is truth an and not championship champion champion- ship that is sought Why appoint judges to decide whether James ames beat John ohn Why is it that political questions that can be reduced to a problem in arithmetic tic are often presented to the voter in such uch halos of sophistry that he is compelled compelled compelled com com- in order to be an intelligent voter to spend the few hours he is at liberty to study in discerning the reality through the mist Or if I mistake and andL L the subject of government is really so intricate and profound that the most seeing far-seeing statesmen can scarcely sound it why is it brought before the average man for solution Is not this largely to be accounted for by the fact that many who present these subjects before the masses have in our debating societies societies societies socie socie- ties studied and practiced to proficiency the trickery of obscuring the truth and polishing error for the sole purpose of gratifying their combativeness and coarse love of display and now make the mere winning of a campaign and the II fat fat living they hope will result their sole aim But again it jt is said that this complexity complexity complexity com com- and deception II sharpens the intellect II I answer that mental discipline discipline discipline pline may be had in more productive exertion How much grander would it seem to find the average citizen discussing discussing discussing discuss discuss- ing with his friends and neighbors in a truth-seeking truth attitude the problems of science philosophy and literature than to find his mind filled and fevered with coarse sophistical al witticism and harangue We Weare are confronted almost daily with new discoveries and demonstrations in inthe inthe inthe the world of truth that lie at the very foun foundation of our conception of the universe This is the age pre-eminent pre for its discoveries of new truths And who are discovering them There is today an army of volunteers on the border line of the unknown who have dedicated their lives to the search for truth and shall we make it the object of sport There are toys for children whose only object is play and whose exercise has in it the only object of training the hand and eye for a real life of the future but the person who has advanced to the stage of thought that fits him for work in a deliberative society ought to have risen above such imbecility and if h he has not custom should not place in his hands the gems of truth to be mis mis- appropriated Truth should not be a means to an end but the supreme end of all means and when it has at length been found it seems to me that among the most unpardonable of all acts is the placing of it in the dark This ordinary way of making mercenary mercenary mercenary mercen mercen- ary champions of a cause for money or honor in addition to being morally unjustifiable has in the proportion that the speaker is conscientious and conscious conscious conscious con con- of the importance of his subject an enervating tendency The result pervades half the deliberative assemblies of today where it retards business and sickens the social element If there is any anyone one custom that has stifled progress in the world more than any other it must have been popular deception It appears therefore that the prime object in debate should not be the winning winning winning win win- ning of judges in fact that judges have no legitimate place in the ideal debate that the present system of debate cannot be morally justified but is a relic of a cruder civilization that breeds mistrust in human natures disregard disregard disregard dis dis- regard for truth and develops demagogues demagogues demagogues gues and petty politicians with which the world is and ever has been overstocked overstocked overstocked over over- stocked that it often compels the conscientious conscientious conscientious con con- man either to lie or be an odd member of society that it is not conducive to the most vigorous kind of deliberation but paralyzing in n its effect that it has never been approved by a conspicuous moral leader but has been opposed by many and last that in view of these facts it cann cannot t so much muchas as advance the plea of a necessary evil It is not to be expected that the young reasoner should have a ready and definite opinion on all debatable questions questions ques ques- but in his study of the question to be discussed let him be permitted to draw his unbiased opinion and permit him to assert it Let the platform be beheld beheld beheld held by men who have an opinion and an honest one who have a conviction and not merely an argument The object in forensic speaking is to persuade persuade persuade per per- suade and to persuade effectively one must appear to have his convictions with him and to appear to believe that which he does not is of course counterfeIting counterfeiting counterfeiting counter counter- in some form Let worthy questions questions questions ques ques- be selected at the beginning of the season let aspirants select their questions and after a thorough and impartial investigation announce their readiness to defend their theIr position There is nothing more invigorating to the participants an and listeners than a genuine debate where the contestants have a principle at stake and each is fully convinced that he is in the right and that the question is of moment It Itis Itis Itis is only by placing our system of debate on such a basis that we can hope to develop that commendable power in the theart theart theart art of disputation that we are seeking A. 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