Brief for the Affirmative
I. Capital punishment is inexpedient.
(a) It is contrary to the tendency of civilization.
(b) It fails to protect society.
(1) It does not prevent murder.
(2) New crimes follow hard on executions.
(c) It makes punishment uncertain.
(1) Many criminals are acquitted who would
be convicted if the penalty were imprisonment.
(d) It is not reformatory.
II. Capital punishment is immoral.
(a) It rests on the old idea of retribution.
(b) It tends to weaken the sacredness of human life.
(c) It endangers the lives of innocent people.
(d) Executions and the sensational newspaper
accounts which follow have a corrupting influence.
III. Capital punishment is unjust.
(a) Its mistakes are irremediable.
(b) Many men are criminals from force of
circumstances.
(1) From heredity.
(2) From environment.
(c) Inequalities in administration are marked.
(1) In some states men are hung, in others
imprisoned for the same crime.
[3] Taken from Brookings and Ringwalt: Briefs for Debate, Longmans, Green and Co., where specific references of material for many of the topics are given, as well as general references for the entire subject.
(2) Many jurors have conscientious scruples
against condemning a man to death.
(3) Men of wealth and influence are rarely
convicted.
IV. The abolition of capital punishment has been followed
by satisfactory results,
(a) In Europe.
(1) Russia.
(2) Switzerland.
(3) Portugal.
(4) Belgium.
(5) Holland.
(6) Finland.
(b) In the United States.
(1) Michigan.
(2) Rhode Island.
(3) Maine.
(4) Wisconsin.
Brief for the Negative
I. Capital punishment is permissible.
(a) It has the sanction of the Bible.
(1) Genesis ix, 2-6.
(b) It has the sanction of history.
(1) It has been in vogue since the beginning
of the world.
(c) It has the sanction of reason.
(1) The most fitting punishment is one equal
and similar to the injury inflicted.
II. Capital punishment is expedient.
(a) It is necessary to protect society from anarchy
and private revenge.
(1) Death is the strongest preventative of
crime.
(b) No sufficient substitute has been offered.
(1) Life imprisonment is a failure.
(2) Few serve the sentence.
(c) Its abolition has not been successful.
(1) In Rhode Island.
(2) In Michigan.
III. The objections made to capital punishment are not
sound.
(a) Prisons are not reformatory.
(b) The fact that crimes have decreased in some
places where executions have stopped is
not a valid argument.
(1) All causes which increase the moral well-being
of the race decrease crime.
(c) The objection that the innocent suffer is not
strong.
(1) The number of innocent thus suffering is
inconsiderable when compared with the
great number of murders prevented.
(d) The objection that the penalty is uncertain may
be overcome by making it certain.
A few paragraphs back it was said that an outline or brief shows the relative significance of all the parts of a speech. This is done by a systematic use of margins and symbols. From the quoted forms in this chapter certain rules can easily be deduced.
Margins. The speech will naturally divide into a few main parts. These can be designated by spaces and general titles such as introduction, body, development, main argument, answer to opposing views, conclusion. Other captions will be suggested by various kinds of material. Main topics next in importance are placed the farthest to the left, making the first margin. A reader can run his eye down this line and pick out all the main topics of equal importance. Entries just subordinate to these are put each on a separate line, starting slightly to the right. This separation according to connection and value is continued as long as the maker has any minor parts to represent in the brief. It should not be carried too far, however, for the purpose of the entries is to mark clearness and accuracy. If the helping system becomes too elaborate and complicated it destroys its own usefulness.
It is perfectly plain that such an outline might be made and be quite clear, without the addition of any symbols at all, especially if it was short.
Discrimination in the use of words is secured by
The study of synonyms
antonyms
homonyms
and care in employing them.