This kind of evidence is very strong when those addressed have confidence in the integrity, ability, and judgment of the person quoted. If, however, they do not know him, or if they do not consider him reliable, the evidence is of little value. Therefore, the test that an arguer should apply before using this kind of evidence is as follows:—
Is the witness an acknowledged authority on the subject about which he speaks?
Sometimes a short statement showing why the witness quoted is able to speak wisely and conclusively will render the evidence more valuable in the eyes of the audience. In the following example, notice how Judge James H. Blount used "authority" in proving that the Filipinos desired self-government:—
Senator Dubois, of Idaho, who was a member of the Congressional party that visited the Philippines, has since said in the New York "Independent": All the Filipinos, with the exception of those who were holding positions under and drawing salaries from our Government, favor a government of their own. There is scarcely an exception among them…. There is nobody in the islands, no organization of any kind or description, which favors the policy of our Government toward them.
Senator Newlands, of Nevada, also a member of the Congressional party aforesaid, has declared, in the number of this Review for December, 1905, that practically the whole people desire independence. Congressman Parsons, also a member of the same party, has since said: "There is no question that all the Filipino parties are now in favor of independence."
Captain J. A. Moss, of the Twenty-fourth Infantry, a member of General Corbin's staff, is quoted by Mr. Bryan, in the "Commoner" of April 27th, 1906, as saying in an article published in a Manila paper while Mr. Bryan was in the islands, with reference to the wishes of "the great majority" of Filipinos, that "to please them, we cannot get out of the islands too soon." [Footnote: North American Review, Vol. CLXXXIV, p. 136.]
II. REASONING.
As has been said, proof consists of evidence and reasoning. Evidence has been considered first because this order corresponds to the way in which proof is usually generated; obviously, the discovery of facts precedes the process of reasoning which shows their significance. In some instances, however, this order is reversed: a man may form a theory and then hunt for the facts on which to base it; but in general, facts precede inferences.
Since all people when they reason do not reach the same conclusion, it is very essential for a student to investigate the various processes of reasoning. Given exactly the same evidence, some men will draw one conclusion, some another. A current periodical recognizes this fact when it says:—
How widely divergent may be conclusions drawn from the same source can be judged by contrasting these two statements: Messrs. Clark and Edgar declare that "where municipal ownership has been removed from the realm of philosophic discussion and put to the test of actual experience it has failed ingloriously"; Professor Parsons and Mr. Bemis on the contrary assert, to use Professor Parsons' words, "it is not public ownership, but private ownership, that is responsible for our periodic crisis and the ruin of our industries," and "it is not impossible that the elimination of the public service corporations through public ownership is one of the things that would do more to help along the process of making our cities fit." [Footnote: Outlook, July 27, 1907.]