DEBATING FOR BOYS
CHAPTER I
WHY BOYS SHOULD DEBATE
For two reasons I am going to discuss with you the theories of debating.
In the first place, the debate of the boys’ club, of the school society, or of the city lyceum, is the same in form and method as the debates in legislature or Congress. Any lad who is trained to debate, who knows his subject, who is logical and direct, who is frightened neither at his own voice nor of his opponent’s ability, will later in life be able to meet an opponent in the larger halls of the capital. He will find it no different in Washington than it was in the village school—his audience will be larger and his judges different but the rules governing his thought and its expression will be the same.
In the second place, when he is effectively trained in debate, he is also completely equipped for the more informal thought and discussion which is his daily habit. When from his study and practice of debating, he knows something of logic, something of the ordinary rules of evidence, something of the organization of an argument, he will be impatient and intolerant of weak and jointless talk, even in informal discussion. Every one has overheard in crowds talk which has passed for argument but has been as formless as a jelly-fish—merely talk. It began nowhere and ended nowhere. So I propose to discuss debating because it will prepare you for the highest responsibilities which may be placed upon you, while at the same time it will equip you for the everyday duties of active boyhood and later manhood.
Purpose of Debating.—Remember then that debate is simply the spoken argument presented formally; what is its purpose?
The answer is, not to beat the other side, but to get at the facts.