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diff --git a/13089-0.txt b/13089-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..103d2b6 --- /dev/null +++ b/13089-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9943 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13089 *** + +THE MAKING OF ARGUMENTS + + + + +J.H. GARDINER + +FORMERLY ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY + + + +1912 + + + +TO MY FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES ON THE STAFF OF ENGLISH A + + + + +PREFACE + + +The object of this book is to lay out a course in the writing of +arguments which shall be simple enough for classes which give only a +part of the year to the work, and yet comprehensive enough for special +classes in the subject. It is especially aimed at the interests and +needs of the student body as a whole, however, rather than at those of +students who are doing advanced work in argumentation. Though few men +have either the capacity or the need to become highly trained +specialists in the making of arguments, all men need some knowledge of +the art. Experience at Harvard has shown that pretty much the entire +freshman class will work with enthusiasm on a single argument; and they +get from this work a training in exact thought and a discipline that +they get from no other kind of writing. + +Accordingly I have laid out this book in order to start students as soon +as possible on the same kind of arguments that they are likely to make +in practical life. I have striven throughout to keep in mind the +interests and needs of these average individuals, who in the aggregate +will tread such a variety of paths in their passage through the world. +Not many of them will get to Congress, there to make great orations on +the settlement of the tariff, and the large majority of them will not go +into the law; and even of the lawyers many will have little concern with +the elaborate piecing together of circumstantial evidence into the basis +for a verdict. But all of them will sooner or later need the power of +coming to close quarters with more or less complicated questions, in +which they must bring over to their views men of varying prepossessions +and practical interests; and all of them all their lives will need the +power of seeing through to the heart of such questions, and of grasping +what is essential, though it be separated by a hair's breadth from the +inessential that must be cast to one side. It is for this training of +the powers of thought that a course in the making of arguments is +profitable, even when pursued for so short a time as can be given to it +in most schools and colleges. + +In laying out the book I have had these three purposes in mind: first, +that the student shall without waste of time be set to exploring his +subject and running down the exact issues on which his question will +tarn; second, that as he collects his material he shall be led on to +consider what part of it is good evidence for his purpose, and how to +test his reasoning from the facts; third, that with his material +gathered and culled and his plan settled he shall turn his attention to +presenting it in the most effective way possible for the particular +occasion. + +Throughout I have tried to lay stress on the making of arguments, not as +an end in themselves, and to fit certain more or loss arbitrary +formulas, but as the practical kind of appeal that every young man is +already making to his fellows on matters that interest him, and that he +will make more and more in earnest as he gets out into the world. The +tendency of some of the books to treat argumentation, especially in the +form of debating, as a new variety of sport, with rules as elaborate and +technical as those of football, turns away from the subject a good many +young men to whom the training in itself would be highly valuable. The +future of the subject will be closely dependent on the success of +teachers in keeping it flexible and in intimate touch with real affairs. +I have made some suggestions looking towards this end in Appendix II. + +My obligations to earlier workers in the field will be obvious to all +who know the subject. In especial, I, like all other writers on the +subject, have built on foundations laid by Professor George Pierce +Baker, of Harvard University. + +For permission to use the articles from _The Outlook_ I am indebted to +the courtesy of the editors of that journal; for the article on "The +Transmission of Yellow Fever by Mosquitoes," to the kindness of General +Sternberg, and of the editor of _The Popular Science Monthly_. + +J.H. GARDINER + + + + +THE MAKING OF ARGUMENTS + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +WHAT WE ARGUE ABOUT, AND WHY + +1. What Argument is. When we argue we write or speak with an active +purpose of making other people take our view of a case; that is the only +essential difference between argument and other modes of writing. +Between exposition and argument there is no certain line. In Professor +Lamont's excellent little book, "Specimens of Exposition," there are two +examples which might be used in this book as examples of argument; in +one of them, Huxley's essay on "The Physical Basis of Life," Huxley +himself toward the end uses the words, "as I have endeavored to prove to +you"; and Matthew Arnold's essay on "Wordsworth" is an elaborate effort +to prove that Wordsworth is the greatest English poet after Shakespeare +and Milton. Or, to take quite different examples, in any question of law +where judges of the court disagree, as in the Income Tax Case, or in the +Insular cases which decided the status of Porto Rico and the +Philippines, both the majority opinion and the dissenting opinions of +the judges are argumentative in form; though the majority opinion, at +any rate, is in theory an exposition of the law. The real difference +between argument and exposition lies in the difference of attitude +toward the subject in hand: when we are explaining we tacitly assume +that there is only one view to be taken of the subject; when we argue we +recognize that other people look on it differently. And the differences +in form are only those which are necessary to throw the critical points +of an argument into high relief and to warm the feelings of the readers. + +2. Conviction and Persuasion. This active purpose of making other +people take your view of the case in hand, then, is the distinguishing +essence of argument. To accomplish this purpose you have two tools or +weapons, or perhaps one should say two sides to the same weapon, +_conviction_ and _persuasion_. In an argument you aim in the first place +to make clear to your audience that your view of the case is the truer +or sounder, or your proposal the more expedient; and in most arguments +you aim also so to touch the practical or moral feelings of your readers +as to make them more or less warm partisans of your view. If you are +trying to make some one see that the shape of the hills in New England +is due to glacial action, you never think of his feelings; here any +attempt at persuading him, as distinguished from convincing him, would +be an impertinence. On the other hand, it would be a waste of breath to +convince a man that the rascals ought to be turned out, if he will not +on election day take the trouble to go out and vote; unless you have +effectively stirred his feelings as well as convinced his reason you +have gained nothing. In the latter case your argument would be almost +wholly persuasive, in the former almost wholly a matter of convincing. + +These two sides of argument correspond to two great faculties of the +human mind, thought and feeling, and to the two ways in which, under +the guidance of thought and feeling, mankind reacts to experience. As we +pass through life our actions and our interest in the people and things +we meet are fixed in the first place by the spontaneous movements of +feeling, and in the second place, and constantly more so as we grow +older, by our reasoning powers. Even the most intentionally dry of +philosophers has his prejudices, perhaps against competitive sports or +against efficiency as a chief test of good citizenship; and after +childhood the most wayward of artists has some general principles to +guide him along his primrose path. The actions of all men are the +resultant of these two forces of feeling and reason. Since in most cases +where we are arguing we have an eye to influencing action, we must keep +both the forces in mind as possible means to our end. + +3. Argument neither Contentiousness nor Dispute. Argument is not +contentiousness, nor is it the good-natured and sociable disputation in +which we occupy a good deal of time with our friends. The difference is +that in neither contentiousness nor in kindly dispute do we expect, or +intend, to get anywhere. There are many political speeches whose only +object is to make things uncomfortable for the other side, and some +speeches in college or school debates intended merely to trip up the +other side; and neither type helps to clear up the subjects it deals +with. On the other hand, we spend many a pleasant evening arguing +whether science is more important in education than literature, or +whether it is better to spend the summer at the seashore or in the +mountains, or similar subjects, where we know that everybody will stand +at the end just where he stood at the beginning. Here our real purpose +is not to change any one's views so much as it is to exchange thoughts +and likings with some one we know and care for. The purpose of +argument, as we shall understand the word here, is to convince or +persuade some one. + +4. Arguments and the Audience. In argument, therefore, far more than in +other kinds of writing, one must keep the audience definitely in mind. +"Persuade" and "convince" for our purposes are active verbs, and in most +cases their objects have an important effect on their significance. An +argument on a given subject that will have a cogent force with one set +of people, will not touch, and may even repel, another. To take a simple +example: an argument in defense of the present game of football would +change considerably in proportions and in tone according as it was +addressed to undergraduates, to a faculty, or to a ministers' +conference. Huxley's argument on evolution (p. 233), which was delivered +to a popular audience, has more illustrations and is less compressed in +reasoning than if it had been delivered to the American Academy of Arts +and Sciences. Not only theoretically, but in practice, arguments must +vary in both form and substance with the audiences to which they are +addressed. An argument shot into the void is not likely to bring down +much game. + +5. Profitable Subjects for Arguments. To get the best results from +practice in writing arguments, you must choose your subjects with care +and sagacity. Some classes of subjects are of small value. Questions +which rest on differences of taste or temperament from their very nature +can never be brought to a decision. The question whether one game is +better than another--football better than baseball, for example--is not +arguable, for in the end one side settles down to saying, "But I like +baseball best," and you stick there. Closely akin is such a question as, +Was Alexander Pope a poet; for in the word "poet" one includes many +purely emotional factors which touch one person and not another. Matthew +Arnold made a brave attempt to prove that Wordsworth stood third in +excellence in the long line of English poets, and his essay is a notable +piece of argument; but the very statement of his thesis, that Wordsworth +"left a body of poetical work superior in power, in interest, in the +qualities which give enduring freshness, to that which any of the others +has left," shows the vanity of the attempt. To take a single +word--"interest"--from his proposition: what is the use of arguing with +me, if Wordsworth happened to bore me, as he does not, that I ought to +find him interesting. All I could do would be humbly to admit my +deficiency, and go as cheerfully as might be to Burns or Coleridge or +Byron. Almost all questions of criticism labor under this difficulty, +that in the end they are questions of taste. You or I were so made in +the beginning that the so-called romantic school or the so-called +classical school seems to us to have reached the pinnacle of art; and +all the argument in the world cannot make us over again in this respect. +Every question which in the end involves questions of aesthetic taste is +as futile to argue as questions of the palate. + +Other questions are impracticable because of vagueness. Such questions +as, Should a practical man read poetry, Are lawyers a useful class in +the community, Are the American people deteriorating, furnish excellent +material for lively and witty talk, but no one expects them to lead to +any conclusion, and they are therefore valueless as a basis for the +rigorous and muscular training which an argument ought to give. There +are many questions of this sort which serve admirably for the friendly +dispute which makes up so much of our daily life with our friends, but +which dissolve when we try to pin them down. + +Some questions which cannot be profitably argued when phrased in general +terms become more practicable when they are applied to a definite class +or to a single person. Such questions as, Is it better to go to a small +college or a large one, Is it better to live in the country or in the +city, Is it wise to go into farming, all lead nowhere if they are argued +in this general form. But if they are applied to a single person, they +change character: in this specific form they not only are arguable, but +they constantly are argued out with direct and practical results, and +even for a small and strictly defined class of persons they may provide +good material for a formal argument. For example, the question, "Is it +better for a boy of good intellectual ability and capacity for making +friends, who lives in a small country town, to go to a small college or +a large," provides moderately good material for an argument on either +side; though even here the limiting phrases are none too definite. In a +debate on such a subject it would be easy for the two sides to pass each +other by without ever coming to a direct issue, because of differing +understanding of the terms. On the whole it seems wiser not to take +risks with such questions, but to choose from those which will +unquestionably give you the training for which you are seeking. + +Roughly speaking, subjects for an argument which are sure to be +profitable may be divided into three classes: (1) those for which the +material is drawn from personal experience; (2) those for which the +material is provided by reading; and (3) those which combine the first +two. Of these there can be no question that the last are the most +profitable. Of the first class we may take for an example such a +question as, Should interscholastic athletics be maintained in---- +school? Here is a question on which some parents and teachers at any +rate will disagree with most boys, and a question which must be settled +one way or the other. The material for the discussion must come from the +personal knowledge of those who make the arguments, reenforced by what +information and opinion they can collect from teachers and townspeople. +In Chapter II we shall come to a consideration of possible sources for +material for these and other arguments. There is much to be said for the +practice gained by hunting up pertinent material for arguments of this +sort; but they tend to run over into irreconcilable differences of +opinion, in which an argument is of no practical value. + +The second class of subjects, those for which the material is drawn +wholly from reading, is the most common in intercollegiate and +interscholastic debates. Should the United States army canteen be +restored, Should the Chinese be excluded from the Philippines, Should +the United States establish a parcels post, are all subjects with which +the ordinary student in high school or college can have little personal +acquaintance. The sources for arguments on such subjects are to be found +in books, magazines, and official reports. The good you will get from +arguments on such subjects lies largely in finding out how to look up +material. The difficulty with them lies in their size and their +complexity. When it is remembered that a column of an ordinary newspaper +has somewhere about fifteen hundred words, and that an editorial article +such as on page 268, which is thirty-eight hundred words long, is in +these days of hurry apt to be repellent, because of its length, and on +the other hand that a theme of fifteen hundred words seems to the +ordinary undergraduate a weighty undertaking, the nature of this +difficulty becomes clear. To put it another way, speeches on public +subjects of great importance are apt to be at least an hour long, and +not infrequently more, and in an hour one easily speaks six or seven +thousand words, so that fifteen hundred words would not fill a +fifteen-minute speech. This difficulty is met in debates by the longer +time allowed, for each side ordinarily has an hour; but even then there +can be no pretense of a thorough treatment. The ordinary written +argument of a student in school or college can therefore do very little +with large public questions. The danger is that a short argument on a +large question may breed in one an easy content with a superficial and +parrotlike discussion of the subject. Discussions of large and abstract +principles are necessary, but they are best left to the time of life +when one has a comprehensive and intimate knowledge of the whole mass of +facts concerned. + +By far the best kind of subject, as has been said, is that which will +combine some personal acquaintance with the facts and the possibility of +some research for material. Many such subjects may be found in the +larger educational questions when applied to your own school or college. +Should the elective system be maintained at Harvard College, Should the +University of Illinois require Latin for the A.B. degree, Should +fraternities be abolished in----High School, Should manual training be +introduced in----High School, are all questions of this sort. A short +list of similar questions is printed at the end of this section, which +it is hoped will prove suggestive. For discussing these questions you +will find considerable printed material in educational and other +magazines, in reports of presidents of colleges and school committees, +and other such places, which will give you practice in hunting up facts +and opinions and in weighing their value. At the same time training of +your judgment will follow when you apply the theories and opinions you +find in these sources to local conditions. Moreover, such questions will +give you practice in getting material in the raw, as it were, by making +up tables of statistics from catalogues, by getting facts by personal +interview, and in other ways, which will be considered in Chapter II. +Finally, such subjects are much more likely to be of a size that you can +bring to a head in the space and the time allowed to the average +student, and they may have some immediate and practical effect in +determining a question in which your own school or college has an +interest. Arguments on such subjects are therefore less likely to be +"academic" discussions, in the sense of having no bearing on any real +conditions. When every college and school has plenty of such subjects +continually under debate, there seems to be no reason for going farther +and faring worse. + +The main thing is to get a subject which will carry you back to facts, +and one in which you will be able to test your own reasoning. + +6. Suggestions of Subjects for Practice. Many of the subjects in +the list below will need some adaptation to fit them to local +conditions; and these will undoubtedly suggest many others of a similar +nature. Other subjects of immediate and local interest may be drawn from +the current newspapers; and the larger, perennial ones like prohibition, +woman suffrage, immigration laws, are always at the disposal of those +who have the time and the courage for the amount of reading they +involve. The distinction between a subject and the proposition to be +argued will be made in Chapter II. + + +SUGGESTIONS FOR SUBJECTS OF ARGUMENTS + +TO BE ADAPTED TO LOCAL AND PRESENT CONDITIONS + +1. Admission to this college should be by examination only. + +2. The entrance requirements of this college set a good standard for a +public high-school course. + +3. Admission to this college should be by certificate from the +candidate's school, such as is now accepted at----College. + +4. The standards for admission to this college or to the State +University should be raised. + +5. The standard for graduating from this college should be raised. + +6. Attendance at chapel exercises should be made voluntary. + +7. The numbers of students in this college should be limited by raising +the standard for admission. + +8. A reading knowledge of French or of German, to be tested by an oral +examination, should be substituted for the present requirements for +entrance in those languages. + +9. No list of books should be prescribed for the entrance examination in +English. + +10. Freshmen should be required to be within bounds by eleven o'clock at +night. + +11. Freshmen should not be elected to college societies. + +12. Students who have attained distinction in their studies should be +treated as graduate students are, in respect to attendance and leave of +absence. + +13. Arrangements should be made by which the work done on college papers +should count toward the degree. + +14. The honor system in examinations should be introduced into this +college. + +15. The course of study in this college should be made wholly elective. + +16. Coeducation should be maintained in this college. + +17. Secret societies should be prohibited in----High School. + +18. The business course in----High School should be given up. + +19. Compulsory military drill should be introduced into----School (or, +into this college). + +20. Greek should be given up in----School. + +21. All students in----School, whether in the business course or not, +should be required to study Latin. + +22. Athletics have had a detrimental effect on the studies of those who +have taken part in them. + +23.----School should engage in athletic contests with two other schools +only. + +24. The school committee in----should be reduced to five members. + +25. The school committee in----is at present too large for efficient +direction of the schools. + +26. The principal of the high school in----should report directly to +the school committee and not to the superintendent of schools. + +27. This city should assign a sum equal to----mills of the whole tax +rate to the support of the public schools. + +28. The high school of this city should have a single session each day, +instead of two. + +29. This city should substitute a commission government on the general +model of that in Des Moines, Iowa, for the present system. + +30. The commission form of government has proved its superiority to +government by a mayor and two legislative boards. + +31. This city should elect its municipal officers by preferential +voting. + +32. This city should establish playgrounds in the crowded parts of the +city, notably in Wards----and----. + +33. Boys should be allowed to play ball in unfrequented streets. + +34. This city should set apart----mills on the tax rate each year for +building permanent roads. + +35. The laws and regulations governing the inspection and the sale of +milk should be made more stringent. + +36. This city should buy and run the waterworks. + +37. This city should build future extensions of the street railway +system and lease them to the highest bidder. + +38. This city should buy and operate the street railway system. + +38. The street railway company in this city should be required to pave +and care for all the streets through which it runs. + +40. A committee of business men should be appointed by the mayor to +conduct negotiations for bringing new industries to the city. + +41. This city should establish municipal gymnasiums. + +42. This city would be benefited by the consolidation of the two street +railway systems. + +43. This state should adopt a ballot law similar to that of +Massachusetts. + +44. This state should adopt the "short ballot." + +45. This state should tax forest lands according to the product rather +than the assessed value of the land. + +46. The present rules of football are satisfactory. + +47. This college should make "soccer" football one of its major +sports. + +48. Unnecessary talking by the players should be forbidden in games of +baseball. + +49. Coaching from the side lines should be forbidden in baseball. + +50. "Summer baseball" should be regarded as a breach of amateur +standing. + +51. An intercollegiate committee of graduates should be formed with +power to absolve college athletes from technical and minor breaches of +the amateur rules. + +52. This college should make an effort to return to amateur coaching by +proposing agreements to that effect with its principal rivals. + +53. This university should not allow students with degrees from other +institutions to play on its athletic teams. + +54. The managers of the principal athletic teams in this college should +be elected by the students at large. + +55. The expenses of athletic teams at this college should be +considerably reduced. + + +7. The Two Kinds of Arguments. With the subject you are going to +argue on chosen, it will be wise to come to closer quarters with the +process of arguing. A large part of the good results you will get from +practice in writing arguments will be the strengthening of your powers +of exact and keen thought; I shall therefore in the following sections +try to go somewhat below the surface of the process, and see just what +any given kind of argument aims to do, and how it accomplishes its aim +by its appeal to special faculties and interests of the mind. I shall +also consider briefly the larger bearings of a few of the commoner and +more important types of argument, as the ordinary citizen meets them in +daily life. + +We may divide arguments roughly into two classes, according as the +proposition they maintain takes the form, "This is true," or the form, +"This ought to be done." The former we will call, for the sake of +brevity, arguments of fact, the latter arguments of policy. Of the two +classes the former is addressed principally to the reason, the faculty +by which we arrange the facts of the universe (whether small or great) +as they come to us, and so make them intelligible. You believe that the +man who brought back your dog for a reward stole the dog, because that +view fits best with the facts you know about him and the disappearance +of the dog; we accept the theory of evolution because, as Huxley points +out at the beginning of his essay (see pp. 233, 235), it provides a +place for all the facts that have been collected about the world of +plants and animals and makes of them all a consistent and harmonious +system. In Chapter III we shall come to a further consideration of the +workings of this faculty so far as it affects the making of arguments. + +Arguments of policy, on the other hand, which argue what ought to be +done, make their appeal in the main to the moral, practical, Or +aesthetic interests of the audience. These interests have their ultimate +roots in the deep-seated mass of inherited temperamental motives and +forces which may be summed up here in the conveniently vague term +"feeling." These motives and forces, it will be noticed, lie outside the +field of reason, and are in the main recalcitrant to it. When you argue +that it is "right" that rich men should endow the schools and colleges +of this country, you would find it impossible to explain in detail just +what you mean by "right"; your belief rises from feelings, partly +inherited, partly drawn in with the air of the country, which make you +positive of your assertion even when you can least give reasons for it. +So our practical interests turn in the end on what we want and do not +want, and are therefore molded by our temperament and tastes, which are +obviously matters of feeling. Our aesthetic interests, which include our +preferences in all the fields of art and literature and things beautiful +or ugly in daily life, even more obviously go back to feeling. Now in +practical life our will to do anything is latent until some part of this +great body of feeling is stirred; therefore arguments of policy, which +aim to show that something ought to be done, cannot neglect feeling. You +may convince me never so thoroughly that I ought to vote the Republican +or the Democratic ticket, yet I shall sit still on election day if you +do not touch my feelings of moral right or practical expediency. The +moving cause of action is feeling, though the feeling is often modified, +or even transformed, by reasoning. We shall come back to the nature of +feeling in Chapter V, when we get to the subject of persuasion. + +An important practical difference between arguments of fact and +arguments of policy lies in the different form and degree of certitude +to which they lead. At the end of arguments of fact it is possible to +say, if enough evidence can be had, "This is undeniably true." In these +arguments we can use the word "proof" in its strict sense. In arguments +of policy on the other hand, where the question is worth arguing, we +know in many cases that in the end there will be men who are as wise and +as upright as ourselves who will continue to disagree. In such cases it +is obvious that we can use the word "proof" only loosely; and we speak +of right or of expediency rather than of truth. This distinction is +worth bearing in mind, for it leads to soberness and a seemly modesty in +controversy. It is only in barber-shop politics and sophomore debating +clubs that a decision of a question of policy takes its place among the +eternal verities. + +With these distinctions made, let us now consider a few of the chief +varieties of these two classes of arguments, dealing only with those +which every one of us comes to know in the practical affairs of life. It +will be obvious that the divisions between these are not fixed, and that +they are far from exhausting the full number of varieties. + +8. Arguments of Fact. Among the commonest and most important varieties +of arguments of fact are those made before juries in courts of law. It +is a fundamental principle of the common law under which we live that +questions of fact shall be decided by twelve men chosen by lot from the +community, and that questions of the law that shall be applied to these +facts shall be decided by the judges. Accordingly in criminal trials the +facts concerning the crime and the actions and whereabouts of the +accused are subjects of argument by the counsel. If the prisoner is +attempting to establish an alibi, and the evidence is meager or +conflicting, his counsel and the prosecuting officer must each make +arguments before the jury on the real meaning of the evidence. In civil +cases likewise, all disputed questions of fact go ordinarily to a jury, +and are the subject of arguments by the opposing lawyers. Did the +defendant guarantee the goods he sold the plaintiff? Was undue influence +exerted on the testator? Did the accident happen through the negligence +of the railroad officials? In such cases and the countless others that +congest the lists of the lower courts arguments of fact must be made. + +Other common arguments of fact are those in historical questions, +whether in recent or in ancient history. Macaulay's admirable skeleton +argument (p. 155) that Philip Francis wrote the _Junius Letters_, which +so grievously incensed the English government about the time of the +American Revolution, is an example of an argument of this sort; the part +of Lincoln's Cooper Institute Address which deals with the views of the +founders of the nation on the subject of the control of slavery in the +territories is another. Another question concerning facts is that which +a few years ago stirred classical archaeologists, whether the Greek +theater had a raised stage or not. In all such cases the question is as +to facts which at one time, at any rate, could have been settled +absolutely. The reason why an argument about them becomes necessary is +that the evidence which could finally settle the questions has +disappeared with the persons who possessed it, or has been dissipated by +time. Students of history and literature have to deal with many such +questions of fact. + +A somewhat different kind of question of fact, and one often extremely +difficult to settle, is that which concerns not a single, uncomplicated +fact, but a broad condition of affairs. Examples of such questions are +whether woman suffrage has improved political conditions in Colorado and +other states, whether the introduction of manual training in a certain +high school has improved the intelligence and serviceableness of its +graduates, whether political corruption is decreasing in American +cities. The difficulty that faces an argument in such cases as these is +not the loss of the evidence, but rather that it consists of a multitude +of little facts, and that the selection of these details is singularly +subject to bias and partisan feeling. These questions of a broad state +of affairs are like questions of policy in that in the end their +settlement depends thus largely on temperamental and practical +prepossessions. + +Still another and very important variety of arguments of fact, which are +often conveniently described as arguments of theory, includes large +scientific questions, such, for example, as the origin of our present +species of plants and animals, or the ultimate constitution of matter, +or the cause of yellow fever. In such arguments we start out with many +facts, already gained through observation and experiment, which need the +assumption of some other fact or facts attained through reasoning from +the others, to make them fit together into a coherent and intelligible +system. Every important new discovery in science makes necessary +arguments of this sort. When the minute forms of life that the layman +lumps together under the name "germs" were discovered there was a host +of arguments to explain their manner of life and the way some of them +cause disease and others carry on functions beneficent to mankind. A +notable example of the arguments concerning this kind of fact is that at +page 251 concerning the cause of yellow fever; and another is Huxley's +argument on evolution (p. 233), where he points out that "the question +is a question of historical fact." The element of uncertainty in the +settlement of such questions is due to the facts being too large or too +minute for human observation, or to their ranging through great ages of +time so that we must be contented with overwhelming probability rather +than with absolute proof. Furthermore the facts that are established in +arguments of this sort may have to be modified by new discoveries: for +many generations it was held to be a fact that malaria was caused by a +miasma; now we know that it is caused by a germ, which is carried by +mosquitoes. Arguments of this type tend to go through a curious cycle: +they begin their life as arguments, recognized as such; then becoming +the accepted explanation of the facts which are known, for a longer or +shorter time they flourish as statements of the truth; and then with the +uncovering of new facts they crumble away or are transformed into new +and larger theories. Darwin's great theory of the origin of species has +passed through two of these stages. He spoke of it as an argument, and +for a few years it was assailed with fierce counterarguments; we now +hold it to be a masterful explanation of an enormous body of facts. When +it will pass on to the next stage we cannot foresee; but chemists and +physicists darkly hint at the possibility of the evolution of inorganic +as well as organic substances. + +In arguments of fact, it will be noticed, there is little or no element +of persuasion, for we deal with such matters almost wholly through our +understanding and reason. Huxley, in his argument on evolution, which +was addressed to a popular audience, was careful to choose examples that +would be familiar; but his treatment of the subject was strictly +expository in tone. In some arguments of this sort, which touch on the +great forces of the universe and on the nature of the world of life of +which we are an infinitesimal part, the tone of the discourse will take +on warmth and eloquence; just as Webster in the White Murder Case, +dealing with an issue of life and death, let the natural eloquence which +always smoldered in his speech, burn up into a clear glow. But both +Huxley and Webster would have held any studied appeal to emotion to be +an impertinence. + +In ordinary life most of us make fewer arguments of fact than of policy. +It is only a small minority of our young men who become lawyers, and of +them many do not practice before juries. Nor do any large number of men +become scholars or men of science or public men, who have to deal with +questions of historical fact or to make arguments of fact on large +states of affairs. On the other hand, all of us have to weigh and +estimate arguments of fact pretty constantly. Sooner or later most men +serve on juries; and all students have to read historical and economical +arguments. We shall therefore give some space in Chapter III to +considering the principles of reasoning by which we arrive at and test +conclusions as to the existence of facts, and the truth of assertions +about them. + +9. Arguments of Policy. When we turn from arguments of fact to +arguments of policy it will be noticed that there is a change in the +phraseology that we use: we no longer say that the assertions we +maintain or meet are true or not true, but that the proposals are right +or expedient or wrong or inexpedient; for now we are talking about what +should or should not be done. We say, naturally and correctly, that it +is or is not true that woman suffrage has improved political conditions +in Colorado but it would be a misuse of words to say that it is true or +not true that woman suffrage should be adopted in Ohio; and still more +so to use the word "false," which has an inseparable tinge of moral +obliquity. In questions of policy that turn on expediency, and in some, +as we shall see directly, that turn on moral issues, we know beforehand +that in the end some men who know the subject as well as we do and whose +judgment is as good and whose standards are as high, will still +disagree. There are certain large temperamental lines which have always +divided mankind: some men are born conservative minded, some radical +minded: the former must needs find things as they are on the whole good, +the latter must needs see vividly how they can be improved. To the +scientific temperament the artistic temperament is unstable and +irrational, as the former is dry and ungenerous to the latter. Such +broad and recognized types, with a few others like them, ramify into a +multitude of ephemeral parties and classes,--racial, political, social, +literary, scholarly,--and most of the arguments in the world can be +followed back to these essential and irremovable differences of +character. Individual practical questions, however, cross and recross +these lines, and in such cases arguments have much practical effect in +crystallizing opinion and judgment; for in a complicated case it is +often extremely hard to see the real bearing of a proposed policy, and a +good argument comes as a guide from the gods to the puzzled and +wavering. But though to be effective in practical affairs one has to be +positive, yet that is not saying that one must believe that the other +side are fools or knaves. Some such confusion of thought in the minds of +some reformers, both eminent and obscure, accounts for the wake of +bitterness which often follows the progress of reform. Modesty and +toleration are as important as positiveness to the man who is to make a +mark in the world. + +Arguments of policy are of endless variety, for we are all of us making +them all the time, from the morning hour in which we argue with +ourselves, so often ineffectually, that we really ought to get up when +the clock strikes, to the arguments about choosing a profession or +helping to start a movement for universal peace. It would be a weariness +to the flesh to attempt a classification of them that should pretend to +be exhaustive; but there are certain major groups of human motive which +will be a good basis for a rough, but convenient, sorting out of the +commoner kinds of arguments of policy. In practical affairs we ask first +if there is any principle of right or wrong involved, then what is best +for the practical interests of ourselves and other people, and in a few +cases, when these other considerations are irrelevant, what course is +dictated by our ideas of fitness and beauty. I will briefly discuss a +few of the main types of the argument of policy, grouping them according +as they appeal chiefly to the sense of right and wrong, to practical +interests, or to aesthetic interests. + +There are many arguments outside of sermons which turn on questions of +right and wrong. Questions of individual personal conduct we had better +not get into; but every community, whether large or small, has often to +face questions in which moral right and wrong are essentially involved. +In this country the whole question of dealing with the sale of alcoholic +drinks is recognized as such. The supporters of state prohibition +declare that it is morally wrong to sanction a trade out of which +springs so much misery; the supporters of local option and high license, +admitting and fighting against all this misery and crime, declare that +it is morally wrong to shut one's eyes to the uncontrolled sales and the +political corruption under state-wide prohibition. The strongest +arguments for limiting by law the hours of labor for women and children +have always been based on moral principles; and all arguments for +political reform hark back to the Ten Commandments. One has the +strongest of all arguments if he can establish a moral right and wrong +in the question. + +The difficulty comes in establishing the right and wrong, for there are +many cases where equally good people are fighting dead against each +other. The question of prohibition, as we have just seen, is one of +those cases; the slavery question was a still more striking one. From +before the Revolution the feeling that slavery was morally wrong slowly +but steadily gained ground in the North, until from 1850 it became more +and more a dominant and passionate conviction.[1] Yet in the South, +which, as we must now admit, bred as many men and women of high devotion +to the right, this view had only scattered followers. On both sides +tradition and environment molded the moral principle. In arguing, +therefore, one must not be too swift in calling on heaven to witness to +the right; we must recognize that mortal vision is weak, and that some +of the people whom we are fighting are borne on by principles as +sincerely held to be righteous as our own. + +Nevertheless, a man must always hold to that which to him seems right, +and fight hard against the wrong, tolerantly and with charity, but with +unclouded purpose. In politics there are still in this country many +occasions when the only argument possible is based on moral right. The +debauching of public servants by favors or bribes, whether open or +indirect, injustice of all sorts, putting men who are mentally or +morally unfit into public office, oppression of the poor or unjust +bleeding of the rich, stirring up class or race hatred, are all evils +from which good citizens must help to save the republic; and wherever +such evils are found the moral argument is the only argument worthy of a +decent citizen. + +By far the most numerous of arguments of policy, however, are those +which do not rise above the level of practical interests. The line +between these and arguments of moral right is not always easy to draw, +for in the tangle of life and character right and advantage often run +together. The tariff question is a case in point. Primarily it turns on +the practical material advantage of a nation; but inevitably in the +settling of individual schedules the way opens for one industry or +branch of business to fatten at the expense of another, and so we run +into the question of the square deal and the golden rule. + +In general, however, the great questions on which political parties +divide are questions of practical expediency. Shall we, as a nation, be +more comfortable and more prosperous if the powers of the federal +government are strengthened and extended? Shall we have better local +government under the old-fashioned form of city government, or under +some form of commission government? Should we have more business and +more profitable business if we had free trade with the Dominion of +Canada? Shall we be better off under the Republican or the Democratic +party? All these are questions in which there is little concern with +right and wrong: they turn on the very practical matter of direct +material advantage. In some of these cases most men vote on one side or +the other largely through long habit; but there constantly arise, +especially in local matters, questions which cross the usual lines of +political division, so that one, willingly or unwillingly, must take the +trouble of thinking out a decision for himself. Not infrequently one is +a good deal puzzled to decide on which side to range himself, for the +issues may be complex; then one reads the arguments or goes to meetings +until one side or the other seems to present the most and the most +important advantages. When one is thus puzzled, an argument which is +clear and easy to understand, and which makes its points in such a way +that they can be readily carried in mind and passed on to the next +person one meets, has a wonderful power of winning one to its side. + +The arguments of policy which, after political arguments, are the most +common, are those on questions of law. As we have seen a few pages +back, such arguments are settled by the judges, while questions of fact +are left to the jury. In the White Murder Case, in which Daniel Webster +made a famous argument, it was a question of fact for the jury whether +the defendant Knapp was in Brown Street at the time of the murder, and +whether he was there for the purpose of aiding and abetting +Crowninshield, the actual murderer; the question whether his presence +outside the house would make him liable as a principal in the crime was +a question of law. This distinction between questions of fact and +questions of law is one of the foundation principles of the common law. +From the very beginning of the jury system, when the jury consisted of +neighbors who found their verdict from their own knowledge of the case, +to the present day when they are required carefully to purge their minds +of any personal knowledge of the case, the common law has always held +that in the long run questions of fact can best be settled by average +men, drawn by lot from the community. Questions of law, on the other +hand, need learning and special training in legal reasoning, for the +common law depends on continuity and consistency of decision; and a new +case must be decided by the principles which have governed like cases in +the past. + +Nevertheless, these principles, which are now embodied in an enormous +mass of decisions by courts all over the English-speaking world, are in +essence a working out into minute discriminations of certain large +principles, which in turn are merely the embodiment of the practical +rules under which the Anglo-Saxon race has found it safest and most +convenient to live together. They settle in each case what, in view of +the interests of the community as a whole and in the long run, and not +merely for the parties now at issue, is the most convenient and the +justest thing to do. Mr. Justice Holmes, of the Supreme Court of the +United States, wrote before his appointment to that bench: + +"In substance the growth of the law is legislative. And this in a deeper +sense than that what the courts declare to have always been the law is +in fact new. It is legislative in its grounds. The very considerations +which judges most rarely mention, and always with an apology, are the +secret roots from which tine law draws all the juices of life. I mean of +course considerations of what is expedient for the community concerned. +Every important principle which is developed by litigation is in fact +and at bottom the result of move or less definitely understood views of +public policy; most generally, to be sure, under our practices and +traditions, the unconscious result of instinctive preferences and +inarticulate convictions, but none the less traceable to views of public +policy in the last analysis."[2] + +In some cases it is obvious that the question of law is a question of +policy, as in the so-called "political decisions" of the United States +Supreme Court. Such were the decisions formulated by Chief Justice +Marshall on constitutional questions, which made our government what it +is. The difference between "the strict construction" of the Constitution +and the "free construction" was due to a difference of temperament which +has always tended to mark the two great political parties of the +country. So with the Insular cases, which determined the status of the +distant possessions of the United Stales, and which split the Supreme +Court into so many pieces: the question whether the Constitution applied +in all its fullness to Porto Rico and the Philippines was essentially a +political question, though of the largest sort, and therefore a question +of policy. + +Finally, there are the arguments of policy which deal with matters of +taste and aesthetic preference. The difficulty with these arguments is +that they do deal with questions of taste, and so fall under the ancient +and incontrovertible maxim, _de gustibus non est disputandum_. Artists +of all varieties and some critics are given to talking as if preferences +in color, in shape, in styles of music, were absolutely right and wrong, +and as if they partook in some way of the nature of moral questions; but +any one who has observed for even twenty years knows that what the +architects of twenty years ago declared the only true style of art is +now scoffed at by them and their successors as hopelessly false. The +cavelike forms of the Byzantine or Romanesque which superseded the +wooden Gothic have in turn given way to Renaissance classic in its +various forms, which now in turn seem on the point of slipping into the +rococo classical of the École des Beaux Arts. In painting, the violent +and spotty impressionism of twenty years ago is paling into the study of +the cool and quiet lights of the Dutchmen of the great period.[3] And at +each stage there are strenuous arguments that the ideas of that +particular live years are the only hope for the preservation of the art +concerned. + +The essential difficulty with all such arguments is that the aesthetic +interests to which they appeal are personal, and depend on personal +preferences. Most of us in such matters, having no special knowledge, +and liking some variety of differing styles, modestly give way to the +authority of any one who makes a profession of the art. In the laying +out of a park a landscape architect may prefer single trees and open +spaces, where the neighbors and abutters prefer a grove. In the long run +his taste is no better than theirs, though he may argue as if they were +ignorant and uncultivated because they disagree with him. In all such +cases, unless there is some consideration of practical expediency, such +as letting the southwest wind blow through in summer, arguments can do +little except to make and keep everybody angry. Their chief value is to +make us see things which perhaps we had not thought of. + +In practice these three kinds of arguments, which turn on moral, +practical, and aesthetic considerations, tend to be much mingled. The +human mind is very complex, and our various interests and preferences +are inseparably tangled. The treacheries of self-analysis are +proverbial, and are only less dangerous than trying to make out the +motives of other people. Accordingly we must expect to find that it is +sometimes hard to distinguish between moral and aesthetic motives and +practical, for the morality and the taste of a given people always in +part grow out of the slow crystallizing of practical expediencies, and +notions of morality change with the advance of civilization. + +Furthermore, one must never forget that an argument of policy which +does not involve and rest on subsidiary questions of fact is rare; and +the questions of fact must be settled before we can go on with the +argument of policy. Before this country can intelligently make up its +mind about the protective tariff, and whether a certain rate of duty +should be imposed on a given article, a very complex body of facts +dealing with the cost of production both here and abroad must be +settled, and this can be done only by men highly trained in the +principles of business and political economy. Before one could vote +intelligently on the introduction of a commission form of government +into the town he lives in he must know the facts about the places in +which it has already been tried. It is not too much to say that there is +no disputed question of policy into which there does not enter the +necessity of looking up and settling pertinent facts. + +On the other hand, there are some cases of questions of fact in which +our practical interests deeply affect the view which we take of the +facts. In all the discussions of the last few years about federal +supervision and control of the railroads it has been hard to get at the +facts because of the conflicting statements about them by equally honest +and well-informed men. Where there is an honest difference of interest, +as in every case of a bargain, the opposite sides cannot see the facts +in the same way: what is critically significant to the railroad manager +seems of no great consequence to the shipper; and the railroad manager +does not see the fixed laws of trade which make it impossible for the +shipper to pay higher freight rates and add them to the price of his +goods. It is not in human nature to see the whole cogency of facts that +make for the other side. In all arguments, therefore, it must be +remembered that we are; constantly swinging backward and forward from +matters of fact to matters of policy. In practice no hard-and-fast line +separates the various classes and types; in the arguments of real life +we mingle them naturally and unconsciously. + +Yet the distinction between the two main classes is a real one, and if +one has never thought it out, one may go at an argument with a blurred +notion of what he is attempting to do. Since argument after school and +college is an eminently practical matter, vagueness of aim is risky. It +is the man who sees exactly what he is trying to do, and knows exactly +what he can accomplish, who is likely to make his point. The chief value +of writing arguments for practice is in cultivating a keen eye for the +essential. To write a good argument means, as we shall see, that the +student shall first conscientiously take the question, apart so as to +know exactly the issues involved and the unavoidable points of +difference, and then after searching the sources for information, he +shall scrutinize the facts and the reasoning both on his own side and on +the other. If he does this work without shirking the hard thinking he +will get an illuminating perception of the obscurities and ambiguities +which lurk in words, and will come to see that clear reasoning is almost +wholly a matter of sharper discrimination for unobserved distinctions. + +EXERCISES + +1. Find an example which might be thought of either as an argument or an +exposition, and explain why you think it one or the other. + +2. Find examples in current magazines or newspapers of an argument in +which conviction is the chief element, and one in which persuasion +counts most. + +3. Give three examples from your talk within the last week of a +discussion which was not argument as we use the term here. + +4. Show how, in the case of some current subject of discussion, the +arguments would differ in substance and tone for three possible +audiences. + +5. Find three examples each of questions of fact and questions of policy +from current newspapers or magazines. + +6. Find three examples of questions of fact in law cases, not more than +one of them from a criminal case. + +7. Find three examples of questions of fact in history or literature. + +8. Find three questions of a large state of affairs from current +political discussions. 9. Find three examples of questions of fact in +science. + +10. Find from the history of the last fifty years three examples of +questions which turned on moral right. + +11. Give three examples of questions of expediency which you have heard +argued within the last week. + +12. Give an example from recent decisions of the courts which seems to +you to have turned on a question of policy. + +13. Give two examples of questions of aesthetic taste which you have +recently heard argued. + +14. In an actual case which has been or which might be argued, show how +both classes of argument and more than one of the types within them +enter naturally into the discussion. + +15. Name three subjects which you have lately discussed which would not +be profitable subjects for a formal argument. + +16. Name five good subjects for an argument in which you would draw +chiefly from your personal experience. + +17. Name five subjects in which you would get the material from reading. + +18. Name five subjects which would combine your own experience with +reading. + +19. Find how many words to the page you write on the paper you would use +for a written argument. Count the number of words in a page of this +book; in the column of the editorial page of a newspaper. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +PLANNING THE ARGUMENT + +10. Preparations for the Argument. When you have chosen the subject +for your argument there is still much to do before you are ready to +write it out. In the first place, you must find out by search and +reading what is to be said both for and against the view you are +supporting; in the second place, with the facts in mind you must analyze +both them and the question to see just what is the point that you are +arguing; then, in the third place, you must arrange the material you are +going to use so that it will be most effective for your purpose. Each of +these steps I shall consider in turn in this chapter. + +As a practical convenience, each student should start a notebook, in +which he can keep together all the notes he makes in the course of his +preparations for writing the argument. Number the pages of the notebook, +and leave the first two pages blank for a table of contents. A box of +cards, such as will be described on page 31, will serve as well as a +notebook, and in some ways is more convenient. From time to time, in the +course of the chapter I shall mention points that should be entered. + +For the sake of convenience in exposition I shall use as an example the +preparations for an argument in favor of introducing the commission form +of government into an imaginary city, Wytown; and each of the directions +for the use of the notebook I shall illustrate by entries appropriate +to this argument. The argument, let us suppose, is addressed to the +citizens of the place, who know the general facts relating to the city +and its government. In creating this imaginary city, let us give it +about eight thousand inhabitants, and suppose that it is of small area, +and that the inhabitants are chiefly operatives in a number of large +shoe factories, of American descent, though foreign-born citizens and +their offspring are beginning to gain on the others. And further, let us +suppose that this imaginary city of Wytown now has a city government +with a mayor of limited powers, a small board of aldermen, and a larger +city council. The other necessary facts will appear in the introduction +to the brief. + +11. Reading for the Argument. The first step in preparing for an +argument is to find out what has been already written on the general +subject, and what facts are available for your purpose. For this purpose +you must go to the best library that is within convenient reach. Just +how to look for material there I shall discuss a few pages further on; +here I shall make some more general suggestions about reading and taking +notes. + +Almost always it pays to give two or three hours to some preliminary +reading that will make you see the general scope of the subject, and the +points on which there is disagreement. An article in a good encyclopedia +or one in a magazine may serve the purpose; or in some cases you can go +to the opening chapter or two of a book. If you have already discussed +the subject with other people this preliminary reading may not be +necessary; but if you start in to read on a new subject without some +general idea of its scope you may waste time through not knowing your +way and so following false leads. + +In your reading do not rest satisfied with consulting authorities on +your own side only. We shall presently see how important it is to be +prepared to meet arguments on the other side; and unless you have read +something on that side, you will not know what points you ought to deal +with in your refutation. In that event you may leave undisturbed in the +minds of your readers points which have all the more significance from +your having ignored them. One of the first reasons for wide reading in +preparation for an argument is to assure yourself that you have a +competent knowledge of the other side as well as of your own. + +In using your sources keep clearly and constantly in mind the difference +between fact and opinion. The opinions of a great scholar and of a +farseeing statesman may be based on fact; but not being fact they +contain some element of inference, which is never as certain. When we +come to the next chapter we shall consider this difference more closely. +In the meantime it is worth while to urge the importance of cultivating +scruples on the subject and a keen eye for the intrusion of human, and +therefore fallible, opinion into statements of fact. A trustworthy +author states the facts as facts, with the authorities for them +specifically cited; and where he builds his own opinions on the facts he +leaves no doubt as to where fact ends and opinion begins. + +The power to estimate a book or an article on a cursory inspection is of +great practical value. The table of contents in a book, and sometimes +the index, will give a good idea of its scope; and samples of a few +pages at a time, especially on critical points, which can be chosen by +means of the index, will show its general attitude and tone. The index, +if properly made, will furnish a sure guide to its relevance for the +purpose in hand. Half an hour spent in this way, with attention +concentrated, will in most cases settle whether the book is worth +reading through. An article can be "sized up" in much the same way: +if it is at all well written the first paragraphs will give a pretty +definite idea of the subject and the scope of the article; and the +beginnings, and often the ends, of the paragraphs will show the course +which the thought follows. Though such skimming cannot be relied on for +a real knowledge of the subject, it is invaluable as a guide for this +preliminary reading. + +12. Taking Notes. In reading for your argument, as for all +scholarly reading, form early your habits of taking thorough and +serviceable notes. Nothing is more tantalizing than to remember that you +once ran across a highly important fact and then not be able to recall +the place in which it is to be found. + +One of the most convenient ways to take notes for an argument is to +write each fact or quotation on a separate card. Cards convenient for +the purpose can be had at any college stationer or library-supply +bureau. If you use them, have an ample supply of them, so that you will +not have to put more than one fact on each. Leave space for a heading at +the top which will refer to a specific subheading of your brief, when +that is ready. Always add an exact reference to the source--title, name +of author, and, in case of a book, place and date of publication, so +that if you want more material you can find it without loss of time, +and, what is more important, so that you can fortify your use of it by a +reference in a footnote. When you find a passage that you think will be +worth quoting in the original words, quote with scrupulous and literal +accuracy: apart from the authority you gain by so doing, you have no +right to make any one else say words he did not say. If you leave out +part of the passage, show the omission by dots; and in such a case, if +you have to supply words of your own, as for example a noun in place of +a pronoun, use square brackets, thus []. On the following page are +examples of a convenient form of such notes. + + * * * * * + +RESULTS IN DES MOINES + +The streets have been kept cleaner than ever before for $35,000. +The rates for electric lights have been reduced from $90 to $65. +Gas rates have dropped again from $22 to $17. +Water rates have dropped from 30¢ to 20¢ per 1000 gal. +The disreputable district has been cleaned up and bond sharks +driven out of business. + +The Des Moines Plan of City Government, _World's Work_, Vol. XVIII, +P. 11533. + + +PRESIDENT ELIOT'S VIEWS + +"Now city business is almost wholly administrative and executive +and very little concerned with large plans and far-reaching legislation. +There is no occasion for two legislative bodies, or even one, in the +government of a city.... Now and then a question arises which the +will of the whole people properly expressed may best settle; but +for the prompt and conclusive expression of that will the initiative +and referendum are now well-recognized means." + +C. W. Eliot, City Government by Fewer Men, _World's Work_, Vol. XIV +p. 9419. + + * * * * * + +In making notes, whether for an argument or for general college work, it +is convenient, unless you know shorthand, to have a system of signs and +abbreviations and of contractions for common words. The simpler +shorthand symbols can be pressed into service; and one can follow the +practice of stenography, which was also that of the ancient Hebrew +writing, of leaving out vowels, for there are few words that cannot be +recognized at a glance from their consonants. If you use this system at +lectures you can soon come surprisingly near to a verbatim report which +will preserve something more than bare facts. + +In your reading for material do not cultivate habits of economy or +parsimony. You should always have a considerable amount of good fact +left over, for unless you know a good deal of the region on the +outskirts of your argument you will feel cramped and uncertain within +it. The effect of having something in reserve is a powerful, though an +intangible, asset in an argument; and, on the other hand, the man who +has emptied his magazine is in a risky situation. + +13. Sources for Facts. In the main, there are two kinds of sources +for facts, sources in which the facts have already been collected and +digested, and sources where they are still scattered and must be brought +together and grouped by the investigator. Obviously there is no sharp or +permanent distinction between these two classes. Let us first run +through some of the books which are commonly available as sources of +either kind, and then come back to the use of them. + +To find material in books and magazines there are certain well-known +guides. To look up books go first to the catalogue of the nearest +library. Here in most cases you will find some sort of subject +catalogue, in which the subjects are arranged alphabetically; and if you +can use the alphabet readily, as by no means all college students can, +you can soon get a list of the books that are there available on the +subject. On many subjects there are bibliographies, or lists of books, +such as those published by the Library of Congress; these will be found +in every large library. For articles in magazines and weekly journals, +which on most current questions have fresh information, besides a great +deal of valuable material on older questions, go to Poole's "Index to +Periodical Literature," which is an index both by title and subject to +the articles in important English and American magazines from 1802 to +1906, and to "The Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature," which began +in 1901 and includes more magazines, and which is brought up to date +every month. + +For other material the works listed below will be serviceable; they are +the best known of the reference books, and some of them will be found in +all libraries and all of them in large libraries. The books on this list +by no means exhaust the number of good books of their own kind; they are +good examples, and others will ordinarily be found on the same shelves +with them. + + DICTIONARIES + +THE NEW ENGLISH DICTIONARY (MURRAY'S) Unfinished: to have ten volumes, +of which nine have now been published. This gives the history of each +word for the last seven hundred years, with copious quotations, dated, +to show the changes in its use. + +THE CENTURY DICTIONARY, CYCLOPEDIA OF NAMES, AND ATLAS New edition, +1911, in twelve volumes. This has fuller information about the meanings +of the words than is usually found in a dictionary. + +THE NEW INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY (WEBSTER'S) New edition, 1910, +enlarged, with copious and exact etymologies. + +ROGET'S THESAURUS OF ENGLISH WORDS AND PHRASES A standard book of +synonyms. + +FERNALD, ENGLISH SYNONYMS, ANTONYMS, AND PREPOSITIONS With illustrations +and expositions of the differences in meaning. + + ENCYCLOPEDIAS + +ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA Very full; highly authoritative; 11th edition, +1910. + +NEW INTERNATIONAL ENCYCLOPEDIA Briefer; reedited in 1904. + +LA GRANDE ENCYCLOPIDIE; BROCKHAUS, KONVERSATIONS-LEXIKON Both copious +and authoritative. + +ALLUSIONS AND QUOTATIONS + +CRUDEN'S CONCORDANCE An index to every word in the Bible. + +BARTLETT'S CONCORDANCE TO SHAKESPEARE An index to every word in +Shakespeare. + +BARTLETT'S FAMILIAR QUOTATIONS An index to a very large number of the +quotations most frequently met with. + +BREWER'S DICTIONARY OF PHRASE AND FABLE This explains a great quantity +of common allusions in words and phrases. + + DICTIONARIES OF PROPER NAMES + +CENTURY CYCLOPEDIA OF NAMES This includes not only names of real +persons, but also those of many famous characters in fiction. + +LIPPINCOTT'S UNIVERSAL PRONOUNCING DICTIONARY OF BIOGRAPHY AND MYTHOLOGY + +DICTIONARY OF NATIONAL BIOGRAPHY Revised edition. Confined to English +biography, and to persons dead at the dale of publication of Supplement +(1909). The articles are full, and of the highest authority. In the +index and epitome is a convenient summary of dates and facts. + +APPLETON'S CYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY Six volumes, 1887-1901; with +supplement (unfinished), bringing it down to date. + +WHO'S WHO An annual publication; English, but with some American names; +living persons only. + +WHO'S WHO IN AMERICA; WER IST'S; QUI ÊTES-VOUS Corresponding works for +America, Germany, and France. + +DEBRETT'S PEERAGE A repository of a great mass of facts concerning +English families of historical distinction. + + FOR CURRENT OR HISTORICAL FACTS + +THE STATESMAN'S YEAR BOOK Arranged by countries; contains a great mass +of facts; has a bibliography at the end of each country or state. + +THE WORLD ALMANAC; THE TRIBUNE ALMANAC Examples of annuals issued by +large newspapers, which contain an enormous mass of facts, chiefly +American. + +WHITAKER'S ALMANAC Much miscellaneous information about the British +empire and other countries. + +THE ANNUAL REGISTER; THE NEW INTERNATIONAL YEARBOOK; THE AMERICAN +YEARBOOK These three give information about the events of the preceding +year. + +INDEX TO THE LONDON _Times_ + +MISCELLANEOUS WORKS + +LIPPINCOTT'S NEW GAZETTEER A geographical dictionary of the world. + +THE CENTURY ATLAS With classified references to places. + +THE HANDY REFERENCE ATLAS Small size (octavo); a most useful book for +the desk or library table. + +PLOETZ'S EPITOME OF UNIVERSAL HISTORY A very compact epitome of history, +with all the important dates. + +NOTES AND QUERIES A periodical devoted to notes and queries on a +multitude of curious and out-of-the-way facts; yearly index volumes are +issued. + +BIBLIOGRAPHIES ISSUED BY THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS + +SONNENSCHEIN'S THE BEST BOOKS A guide to about fifty thousand of the +best available books in a great variety of fields, classified by +subject. + +Make yourself familiar with all of these books which are within your +reach. Get into the habit, when you have a few minutes to spare, of +taking them down from the shelves and turning over the pages to see what +they contain. And whenever a question of fact comes up in general talk, +make a mental note of it, or better, one in writing, and the next time +you go to the library hunt it up in one of these reference books. You +will be surprised to see, when once you have made the habit, how short a +time it takes to settle disputes about most facts; and at the same time +you will be extending your general knowledge. + +In learning the use of these and other books, do not forget the most +important source of all, the librarian. The one guiding principle of +modern librarianship is to make the books useful; and it gives every +proper librarian active pleasure to show you how to use the books in his +charge. + +In using books and magazines scrutinize the character of the source. Is +it impartial or partisan? Is its treatment of the subject exhaustive and +definite, or cursory and superficial? Does the author know the subject +at first hand, or does he rely on other men? On such points the second +book or article will be easier to estimate than the first, and the third +than the second; for with each new source you have the earlier ones as a +basis for comparison. In any case do not trust to a single authority: no +matter how authoritative it is, sooner or later the narrow basis of your +views will betray itself, for an argument which is merely a revamping of +some one else's views is not likely to have much spontaneity. + +In many subjects, and especially those of new or local interest, you +will not find the facts gathered and assimilated for you; you must go +out and gather your own straw for the making of your bricks. Such are +most questions of reform or change in school or college systems, in +athletics, in municipal affairs, in short, most of the questions on +which the average man after he leaves college is likely to be making +arguments. + +To get decisive facts on such questions as these you must go, in the +case of local subjects, to the newspapers, to city and town reports, or +to documents issued by interested committees; for college questions you +go to the presidents' reports and to annual catalogues or catalogues of +graduates, or perhaps to _Graduates' Bulletins_ or _Weeklies_; for +athletic questions you go to the files of the daily newspapers, or for +records to such works as the _World_ or _Tribune Almanacs_; for school +questions you go to school catalogues, or to school-committee reports. +You will be surprised to find how little time you use to get together +bodies of facts and figures that may make you, in a small way, an +original authority on the subject you are discussing. It does not take +long to count a few hundred names, or to run through the files of a +newspaper for a week or a month; and when you have done such +investigation you get a sense of surety in dealing with your subject +that will strengthen your argument. Here, as in the larger discussions +of later life, the readiness to take the initiative and the ingenuity in +thinking of possible sources are what make you count. + +Such sources you can often piece out by personal inquiry from men who +are conversant with the subject--town or city officers, members of +faculties, principals of schools. If you go to such people hoping that +they will do your work for you, you will not be likely to get much +comfort; but if you are keen about your subject yourself, and ready to +work, you will often get not only valuable information and advice, but +sometimes also a chance to go through unpublished records. A young man +who is working hard and intelligently is apt to be an object of interest +to older men who have been doing the same all their lives. + +EXERCISES + +1. Name those of the sources on pages 34-36, which are available to you. +Report to the class on the scope and character of each of them. (The +report on different sources can be divided among the class.) + +2. Name some sources for facts relating to your own school or college; +to your own town or city; to your own state. + +3. Report on the following, in not more than one hundred words, naming +the source from which you got your information: the situation and +government of the Fiji Islands; Circe; the author of "A man's a man for +a' that"; Becky Sharp; the age of President Taft and the offices he has +held; the early career of James Madison; the American amateur record in +the half-mile run; the family name of Lord Salisbury, and a brief +account of his career; the salary of the mayor of New York; the island +of Guam: some of the important measures passed by Congress in the +session of 1910-1911. (This exercise a teacher can vary indefinitely by +turning over the pages of reference books which his class can reach; or +the students can be set to making exercises for each other.) + +14. Bibliography. Before starting in earnest on the reading for your +argument, begin a bibliography, that is, a list of the books and +articles and speeches which will help you. This bibliography should be +entered in your notebook, and it is convenient to allow space enough +there to keep the different kinds of sources separate. In making your +bibliography you will use some of the sources which have just been +described, especially "Poole's Index," and "The Reader's Guide," and the +subject catalogue of the library. Make your entries so full that you can +go at once to the source; it is poor economy to save a minute on copying +down a title, and then waste ten or fifteen in going back to the source +from which you got it. On large subjects the number of books and +articles is far beyond the possibilities of most courses in +argumentation, and here you must exercise your judgment in choosing the +most important. The name of the author is on the whole a safe guide: if +you find an article or a book by President Eliot on an educational +subject, or one by President Hadley on economics, or one by President +Jordan on zoology, or one by any of them on university policy, you will +know at once that you cannot afford to neglect it. As you go on with +your reading you will soon find who are authorities on special subjects +by noting who are quoted in text and footnotes. If the subject happens +to be one of those on which a bibliography has been issued either by the +Library of Congress or from some other source, the making of your own +bibliography will reduce itself to a selection from this list. + +Keep your bibliography as a practical aid to you in a very practical +task. Do not swell it from mere love of accumulation, as you might +collect stamps. The making of exhaustive bibliographies is work for +advanced scholarship or for assistant librarians. For the practical +purposes of making an argument a very moderate number of titles beyond +those you can actually use will give you sufficient background. + +Notebook. Enter in your notebook the titles of books, articles, or +speeches which bear on your subject, and which you are likely to be able +to read. + +Illustration. Bibliography for an argument on introducing +commission government of the Des Moines type into Wytown. + + BOOKS + +WOODRUFF, C. R. City Government by Commission. New York, 1911. +Bibliography in appendix. + +HAMILTON, J. J. The Dethronement of the City Boss. New York, 1910. + + ARTICLES + +From Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature, Vol. II (1905-1909). +(There are thirty entries here under the heading, Municipal Government, +and the subheading, Government by Commission. Of these I omit those +dealing with cities in Texas, as not bearing directly on the Des Moines +plan, and select seven of the most recent.) + +"Another City for Commission Government," _World's Work_, Vol. XVIII +(June, 1909), p. 11,639. + +"City Government." _Outlook_. Vol. XCII (August 14, 1909), pp. +865-866. + +BRADFORD, E. S. "Commission Government in American Cities," National +Conference on City Government (1909), pp. 217-228. + +PEARSON, P. M. "Commission System of Municipal Government" +(bibliography), Intercollegiate Debates, pp. 461-477. + +ALLEN, S. B. "Des Moines Plan," National Conference on City +Government (1907), pp. 156-165. + +"Des Moines Plan of City Government," _World's Work_, Vol. XVIII +(May, 1909), p. 11,533. + +GOODYEAR, D. "The Example of Haverhill," _Independent_, Vol. LXVI +(January, 1909), p. 194. + +From Reader's Guide (1910). (Seven entries, of which I select the +following.) + +GOODYEAR, D. "The Experience of Haverhill," _Independent_, Vol. +LXVIII (February, 1910), p. 415. + +"Rapid Growth of Commission Government," _Outlook_, Vol. XCIV (April, +1910), p. 822. + +TURNER, G. K. "New American City Government," _McClure's_, Vol. XXXV +(May, 1910), pp. 97-108. + +"Organization of Municipal Government," American Government and +Politics; pp. 598-602. + +15. Planning for a Definite Audience. Before setting to work on the +actual planning of your argument there are still two preliminary +questions you have to consider--the prepossessions of your audience, and +the burden of proof; of these the latter is dependent on the former. + +When you get out into active life and have an argument to make, this +question of the audience will force itself on your attention, for you +will not make the argument unless you want to influence views which are +actually held. In a school or college argument you have the difficulty +that your argument will in most cases have no such practical effect. +Nevertheless, even here you can get better practice by fixing on some +body of readers who might be influenced by an argument on your subject, +and addressing yourself specifically to them. You can hardly consider +the burden of proof or lay out the space which you will give to +different points in your argument unless you take into account the +present knowledge and the prepossessions of your audience on the +subject. + +Where the question is large and abstract the audience may be so general +as to seem to have no special characteristics; but if you will think of +the differences of tone and attitude of two different newspapers in +treating some local subject you will see that readers always segregate +themselves into types. Even on a larger scale, one can say that the +people of the United States as a whole are optimistic and self-confident +in temper, and in consequence careless as to many minor deficiencies and +blemishes in our national polity. On a good many questions the South, +which is still chiefly agricultural, has different interests and +prepossessions from the North; and the West, being a new country, is +inclined to have less reverence for the vested rights of property as +against the rights of men, than the Eastern states, where wealth has +long been concentrated and inherited. + +As one narrows down to the immediate or local questions which make the +best subjects for practice the part played by the audience becomes more +apparent. The reform of the rules of football is a good example: a few +years ago an audience of elderly people would have taken for granted the +brutality of the game, and its tendency to put a premium on unfair play; +the rules committee, made up of believers in the game, had to be +hammered at for several years before they made the changes which have so +greatly improved it. So in matters of local or municipal interest, such +as the location of a new street car line, or the laying out of a park, +it will make a vast difference to you whether you are writing for people +who have land on the proposed line or park, or for the general body of +citizens. + +Differences in thy prepossessions of your audience and in their +knowledge of the subject have, therefore, a direct and practical effect +on the planning of your argument. Suppose you are arguing in favor of +raising the standard of admission to your college; if your argument is +addressed to the faculty you will give little space to explaining what +those requirements now are; but if you are sending out an address to the +alumni you must give some space to telling them clearly and without +technicalities what present conditions are and explaining the changes +that you propose. Theoretically an argument should change in form and +proportions for every audience which you address. The theory may be +pushed too far; but in the practice of real life it will be found nearly +true. With different audiences you will unconsciously make different +selection of material, and you will vary your emphasis, the place of +your refutation, and the distribution of your space. + +Notebook. Enter the audience for whom your argument might be +written, and note what you think would be their knowledge of the +subject, and their prepossessions toward it. + +Illustration. The citizens of Wytown. They are convinced that +there should be a change in the city government; but they are not yet +familiar with the Des Moines plan. + + +EXERCISES + +1. Bring to class editorials from different newspapers on the same local +subject, and point out differences of attitude which they assume in the +audiences they address. + +2. Suggest three different possible audiences for your argument, and +show what differences you would make in your argument in addressing each +of them. + + +16. The Burden of Proof. The principle which underlies the +responsibility for the burden of proof may be summed up in the adage of +the common law, _He who asserts must prove_. + +At the law this principle has been elaborated into a large and abstruse +subject; in ordinary arguments where there is no judge to make subtle +discriminations, you must interpret it in the broadest way. The average +man lacks both the interest and the capacity for making keen +distinctions; and when you are writing for him you would make a mistake +if you were to stickle for fine points concerning the burden of proof. + +In general, the principle as it bears on the arguments of everyday life +implies that any argument in favor of a change shall accept the burden +of proof. This application of the principle is illustrated in the +following extract from an editorial article in _The Outlook_ some years +ago, on a proposed change in the law of New York concerning the +safeguards of vivisection. + + * * * * * + +The real question is not as to the merits of vivisection, but as to the +proper safeguards with which the law should surround it. + +At present the law of New York state applies to experiments upon animals +the same principle that it applies to surgical operations upon men, +women, and children. It does not attempt to prescribe the conditions +under which either experiments or operations should be conducted; but it +does prescribe the standards of fitness which every person who may +lawfully engage in surgery and which every person who may lawfully +engage in animal experimentation must meet. It penalizes with fine or +imprisonment or both the unjustifiable injuring, mutilating, or killing +of animals; and it confines to regularly incorporated medical colleges +and universities of the state the authority under which animal +experimentation may be conducted. + +The burden of proof rests upon those who would have the state abandon +this principle and substitute for it the principle of prescribing the +conditions of scientific investigation. It rests upon them to prove, in +the first place, that the present law is inadequate. It is not +sufficient for them to produce lawyers who give opinions that the law +is not efficient. There are lawyers of the highest standing in the state +who declare that it is efficient. The only adequate mode of proof would +be by the prosecution of an actual abuse. So far as we have been able to +learn, only one authentic case of alleged unjustifiable experimentation +has been brought forward by the supporters of the bills. This is +certainly not proof that the present law is inadequate. + +In the second place, the burden of proof rests upon them to show that +legal restrictions on the methods of science would not vitiate +investigations, and would not, therefore, entail upon human beings +greater suffering than would otherwise be inflicted upon animals ... + +It is because _The Outlook_ is convinced by overwhelming evidence that +the practice of vivisection has not increased suffering but has rather +widened immeasurably the merciful ministrations of medicine and surgery +that it regards as dangerous unintelligent interference with +vivisection, and urges the maintenance of the principle underlying the +present New York law. + + * * * * * + +So with other questions of policy, the burden of proof would be on any +one who proposed a change from a policy long established, such as free +trade in England, and to a less extent protection in this country, the +elective system in many American colleges, the amateur rule in school +and college athletics. + +Always, one must remember that the burden of proof depends on the +prepossessions of the audience, and that on the same question it may +change within a moderately small number of years. Ten years ago, on the +question of the popular election of senators the burden was clearly on +the side of those who advocated a change in the Constitution. By this +time (1912) the burden of proof has for a majority of the people of the +United States probably swung to the other side. In the state of Maine, +where prohibition had been embodied in the state constitution for a +generation, the burden of proof was on those who in 1911 argued for its +repeal; whereas in Massachusetts, which has done well for many years +with local option and high license, the burden would still be on those +who should argue for state prohibition. In the discussions of the game +of football a few years ago the burden of proof before an audience of +athletes would have been on those who declared that the game must be +changed; with college faculties and men of like mind the burden of proof +would have been on those who defended the old game. In each case that +comes up, you cannot place the burden of proof until you know whether +the people you are trying to convince have any prepossessions in the +matter: if they have, the burden of proof is on him who attempts to +change those prepossessions; if they have not, the burden is on him who +is proposing to change existing views or existing policies. + +In no case, however, with a popular audience is it very safe to depend +much on the burden of proof; almost always it is better to jump in and +actively build up the argument on your own side. In argument, as in +strategy, take the offensive whenever you can. + + * * * * * + +Notebook. Note whether the burden of proof is with you or against +you, taking into account the probable prepossessions of the audience you +have selected. + + * * * * * + +Illustration. In the argument for the introduction of the +commission form of government into Wytown the burden of proof is on the +affirmative to show that the Des Moines plan of city government will +cure the evils of the present government of Wytown. With the audience +assumed (see p. 43), there is no burden of proof on the affirmative to +establish the need of a change. + +EXERCISES + + +1. In three subjects which you might choose for an argument show where +the burden of proof would lie. + +2. In the case of one of these arguments show how the burden of proof +might change with the argument. + +17. The Brief. When you have settled these preliminary questions of +the audience you wish to win over to your view, and of the way their +prepossessions and knowledge of the subject will affect your +responsibilities for the burden of proof, you are ready to begin work on +the brief, as the plan for an argument is called. This brief it is +better to think of as a statement of the logical framework of the +argument, which you are constructing for the purpose of clearing up your +own mind on the subject, and especially to help you to see how you can +most effectively arrange your material. It differs from the usual brief +in a case at law in that the latter is ordinarily a series of compact +statements of legal principles, each supported by a list of cases +already decided which bear on that principle. The brief you will be +making now will consist of an _introduction_, which states whatever +facts and principles are necessary to an understanding of the brief, and +the _brief_ itself, which consists of a series of propositions, each +supporting your main contention, and each in turn supported by others, +which again may each be supported by another series. Such an analysis +will thoroughly display the processes of your reasoning, and enable you +to criticize them step by step for soundness and coerciveness. + +I shall first explain the several steps which go to the making of the +introduction to the brief; and then come to the making of the brief +itself. + +18. The Proposition. The first step in making the introduction to your +brief is to formulate the question or proposition (the two terms are +interchangeable in practice). Until you have crystallized your view of +the subject into a proposition you have nothing to argue about. +"Commission form of government" is a subject, but it is not arguable, +for it gives you no hold either for affirming or denying. "Commission +government should be adopted in Wytown," or "Commission government has +improved political conditions in Des Moines," are both propositions +which are arguable (though not yet specific enough), for it is possible +to maintain either the affirmative or the negative of either of them. + +The proposition must be single. If it be double, you have what the +lawyers call "a squinting argument," that is, an argument which looks in +two directions at the same time. For example, the proposition, +"Commission government would be a good thing for Wytown, but the +initiative and referendum are wrong in principle," involves two separate +and unconnected principles, since commission government as first +embodied at Galveston does not include the initiative and referendum. +Many people, including those of Galveston and other places in Texas, +would accept the first half of the proposition, and disagree with the +second half. On the other hand, "Wytown should adopt a commission +government on the Des Moines plan," would not be a double proposition, +though this plan includes the initiative and referendum; for the +proposition makes the issue that the plan should be adopted or rejected +as a whole. + +In some cases a proposition may be grammatically compound, and yet carry +a single assertion. "Municipal government by commission is more +economical and efficient than municipal government with a mayor and two +chambers," is really a single assertion of the superiority of the +commission plan of government. In this case there is no danger of +getting into a split argument; but even here it is safer to reduce the +proposition to one which is grammatically single, "Municipal government +by commission has proved itself superior to municipal government with a +mayor and two chambers." A predicate wholly single is a safeguard +against meaning two assertions. + +The proposition must not be so abstract or vague in terms that you do +not know whether you agree or disagree with it. Macaulay summed up this +difficulty in one of his speeches in Parliament: + + * * * * * + +Surely my honorable friend cannot but know that nothing is easier than +to write a theme for severity, for clemency, for order, for liberty, for +a contemplative life, for an active life, and so on. It was a common +exercise in the ancient schools of rhetoric to make an abstract +question, and to harangue first on one side and then on the other. The +question, Ought popular discontents to be quieted by concession or +coercion, would have been a very good subject for oratory of this kind. +There is no lack of commonplaces on either side. But when we come to the +real business of life, the value of these commonplaces depends entirely +on the particular circumstances of the case which we are discussing. +Nothing is easier than to write a treatise proving that it is lawful to +resist extreme tyranny. Nothing is easier than to write a treatise +setting forth the wickedness of wantonly bringing on a great society the +miseries inseparable from revolution, the bloodshed, the spoliation, the +anarchy. Both treatises may contain much that is true; but neither will +enable us to decide whether a particular insurrection is or is not +justifiable without a close examination of the facts.[4] + +In other words, though the word "insurrection" seems to be plain in +meaning, yet when we make it one term of a judgment of which the other +term is "justifiable," we find that we do not know whether we agree or +not. The terms of the proposition are so vague that there can be no +meeting of minds. If we limit the subject to a specific case, +insurrection in Venezuela, or insurrection in Cuba, then we have made a +beginning toward making the proposition arguable. In these particular +cases, however, it would probably be necessary to go further, and +specify which insurrection in Venezuela or in Cuba was intended, before +the average American would be prepared either to affirm or to deny. +Wherever the terms of a proposition are too vague to provoke profitable +discussion they must be narrowed down to a specific case which will draw +forth affirmation and denial. + +A common case where the vagueness of the proposition leads to +difficulties in the argument is described in the following passage: + + * * * * * + +An equally common form of argument, closely allied to the argument by +analogy, and equally vague, is that which is popularly known as the +objection to a thin end of a wedge. We must not do this or that, it is +often said, because if we did we should be logically bound to do +something else which is plainly absurd or wrong. If we once begin to +take a certain course there is no knowing where we shall be able to stop +with any show of consistency; there would be no reason for stopping +anywhere in particular, and we should be led on, step by step, into +action or opinions that we all agree to call undesirable or untrue.... + +For it must not be forgotten that in all disputes of this kind there are +two parties opposed to each other, and that what divides them is +precisely their lack of agreement on the question what principle is +really involved. Those who see a proposal as a thin end of a wedge +always see the principle as a wider, more inclusive one, than those who +make the proposal; and what gives them freedom so to see it is merely +the fact that it remains indefinite.[5] + +As a practical example of this confusion, consider the following extract +from a speech in the United States Senate opposing the popular election +of senators: + + * * * * * + +Every intelligent student of the present rapid trend toward popular +government must see what would happen when this sentimental bar of the +States being represented by two Senators instead of by the people in the +United States Senate is thrown down. The initiative, the referendum, and +the recall are but symptoms of the times. That the people will have +their way, because they, and they alone, are the government, is the +underlying spirit of our institutions, of our newest State +Constitutions, and of our progressive laws. Skillful agitation seizes +upon every pretext and eagerly grasps and enlarges every opportunity for +appeal to the passions in an advancement of its purposes. The next cry +will necessarily be, "Why not elect the Supreme Court of the United +States by popular vote? Why not elect the Federal Judiciary everywhere +by popular vote?"[6] + + * * * * * + +Here the proposition, "That the people will have their way, because +they, and they alone, are the government, is the underlying spirit of +our institutions, of our newest state constitutions, and of our +progressive laws," is not only obscure in terms, but it is wholly vague, +for it does not define how far the progressive party propose to carry +popular direct government. Until the two sides agree on that point they +have nothing definite enough for profitable argument. + +It is surprising to notice how often in political debates this fallacy +is committed. It is human nature to believe for the time being that the +other side will do the worst thing that the circumstances make possible. +Fortunately, human nature just as constantly refutes the error. + +To make clearer this necessity of having a definite proposition to +argue, let us take one of the subjects suggested on page 10 which is not +yet in a form for profitable argument, and amend it. "The standard for +graduation from this college should be raised," is a subject that can be +discussed, but as it stands it would not be a good proposition for an +argument, because it is vague. How much should the standard be raised? +By what method should it be raised? These and other questions you would +have to answer before you would have a proposition definite enough to be +argued with profit. The proposition could be made definite enough by +such amendments as the following: "The standard for graduation from this +college should be raised by requiring one eighth more hours of lecture +or recitation in each of the four years"; or, "The standard for +graduation from this college should be raised by increasing the pass +mark in all courses from fifty per cent to sixty per cent"; or, "The +standard for graduation from this college should be raised by allowing +no student to have his degree who has fallen below sixty per cent in one +fourth of his work, and has not attained eighty per cent in at least one +eighth of his college work." In each of these cases the proposition is +so definite that you could find exactly how many students would be +affected. A proposition which involves a definite body of facts is +arguable; one which involves an indefinite and incalculable body of +facts is not. + +To take another example from the brief we shall be working out in this +chapter, the proposition, "Wytown should adopt the commission form of +government," is not definite enough, for there are various forms of +commission government, such as the Galveston plan, the Des Moines plan, +and by this time a considerable variety of others; and citizens who are +at all particular in their voting would want to know just which of these +was proposed for their approval. The proposition, therefore, would have +to be limited to, "Wytown should adopt a commission government after the +Des Moines plan." + +The exact form of your proposition will not always come to you at the +first try. It may easily happen that you will not see the exact issue +involved in the argument until you have gone some way with the processes +of analysis which we shall be considering in the rest of this chapter. +Always hold yourself ready to amend your proposition, if you can thereby +come closer to the question. + +Notebook. Enter the exact proposition which you are to argue. + +Illustration. Wytown should adopt the commission form of +government, in the form now in practice at Des Moines, Iowa. + +EXERCISES + +1. Make three arguable propositions on the subject, "Entrance +examinations for college." + +2. Criticize the following propositions and amend them, if necessary, so +that they might be argued with profit: + + a. Freshmen should be required to keep reasonable hours. + + b. The honor system should be introduced everywhere. + + c. This city should do more for its boys. + + d. The street railway companies in this city should be better + regulated. + + e. The amateur rules for college athletes are too stringent. + + f. Intercollegiate football is beneficial. + + +19. Definition of Terms. Making a proposition definite is chiefly +a process of defining terms which are found in it; but when these are +defined you may still in your argument use others which also need +definition. In general the definition of terms, whether in the +proposition or not, implies finding out just what a term means for the +present purpose. Almost every common word is used for some variety of +purposes. "Commission," for example, even within the field of +government, has two very different meanings: + +As applied to state and national administration, the term "commission +government" is used in connection with the growing practice of +delegating to appointed administrative boards or commissions--the +Interstate Commerce Commission, state railroad commissions, tax +commissions, boards of control, etc.--the administration of certain +special or specified executive functions ...From the standpoint of +organization, then, "commission government," as applied to the state, +connotes decentralization, the delegation and division of authority and +responsibility, and the disintegration of popular control ...As applied +to city administration, however, commission government has a very +different meaning. In striking contrast to its use in connection with +the state, it is used to designate the most concentrated and centralized +type of organization which has yet appeared in the annals of +representative municipal history. Under so-called commission government +for cities, the entire administration of the city's affairs is placed in +the hands of a small board or council--"commission"--elected at large +and responsible directly to the electorate for the government of the +city.[7] + +Furthermore, even the term "commission government for cities" is not +wholly definite, for there are already several recognized types of such +government, such as the Galveston type, the Des Moines type, and recent +modifications of these. If you are making an argument for introducing a +commission government, therefore, you must go still further with your +definitions, and specify the distinguishing features of the particular +plan which you are urging on the voters, as is done in the definition on +page 59. In other words, you must make exactly clear the meaning of the +term for the present case. + +Your first impulse when you find a term that needs defining may be to go +to a dictionary. A little thought will show you that in most cases you +will get little comfort if you do. The aim of a dictionary is to give +all the meanings which a word has had in reasonable use; what you need +in an argument is to know which one of these meanings it has in the +present case. If you were writing an argument on the effects or the +righteousness of the change wrought in the English constitution by the +recent curtailment of the veto power of the House of Lords, and wished +to use the word "revolution," and to use it where it was important that +your readers should understand precisely what you intended it to convey, +you would not burden them with such a definition as the following, from +an unabridged dictionary: "Revolution: a fundamental change in political +organization, or in a government or constitution; the overthrow or +renunciation of one government and the substitution of another, by the +governed." Such a definition would merely fill up your space, and leave +you no further ahead. A dictionary is studiously general, for it must +cover all possible legitimate meanings of the word; in an argument you +must be studiously specific, to carry your readers with you in the case +under discussion. + +Moreover, words are constantly being pressed into new uses, as in the +case of "commission" (see p. 54); and others have entirely legitimate +local meanings. Only a dictionary which was on the scale of the New +English Dictionary and which was reedited every five years could pretend +to keep up with these new uses. In an unabridged dictionary dated 1907, +for example, the full definition of "amateur" is as follows: "A person +attached to a particular pursuit, study or science, as to music or +painting; especially one who cultivates any study or art, from taste or +attachment, without pursuing it professionally." Of what use would such +a definition be to you if you were arguing in favor of strengthening or +relaxing the amateur rules in college athletics, in which you had to +follow through the intricacies of summer baseball and of reimbursements +for training table and traveling expenses? Such a definition hardly +comes in sight of the use of the word which is most in the mouths of +college students in America. Words mean whatever careful and accepted +writers have used them to mean; and the business of a dictionary is so +far as possible to record these meanings. But language, being a living +and constantly developing growth, is constantly altering them and adding +to them. + +What a dictionary can do for you, therefore, is merely to tell you +whether in the past the word has been used with the signification which +you wish to give to it; but there are very few cases in which this will +be much help to you, for in an argument your only interest in the +meaning of a term is in the meaning of that term for the case under +discussion. + +There are two quite different kinds of difficulty in putting the right +interpretation on a statement, and a dictionary can only remove one of +these, and by far the less important one. When you meet with a statement +containing an unfamiliar word--say, the word "parallax," or +"phanerogamous," or "brigantine"--and when you understand all the rest +of the statement except that word, then as a general rule the dictionary +will help to make the meaning clear. But when the difficulty is caused, +not by a word being unfamiliar, but by its being used in a certain +context, then the best dictionary in the world is, for your purpose, of +no use at all. The nature of every dictionary is necessarily such that +it entirely leaves out of account all doubts about meaning which are of +this second kind. The most that a dictionary can do is to tell us the +meaning of a word in those cases where the context in which it is used +is _not_ such as to make the meaning doubtful.[8] + +In practice the words which most often need definition are those which +are, as it were, shorthand symbols for perhaps a very extensive meaning. +Unless the limits of this extended meaning are clearly marked out you +cannot tell whether the minds of your readers are, as the lawyers say, +running on all fours with your own or not. This extended meaning may be +of various sorts: for example, it may be a large general principle, as +in the case of "evolution" or "culture"; or it may be a general system +or practice, as in the case of "commission government," "honor system," +or "high standards for graduation"; or it may be a general class of +things, persons, or events, as in the case of "secondary school," +"professional coach," or "murder." When you use any such term in an +argument, it is essential that your readers shall have the same set of +details, ramifications, or instances in mind as you have yourself. For +this purpose you must define the term; or, in other words, you must lay +out or display the ramifications and limitations of the principle, the +details of the system or practice, or the exact kinds of things, +persons, or events, which you have in mind when you use the term. A few +examples will make this practical meaning of defining clear. + +Sometimes the definition proceeds by careful and specific limitation of +the general signification of a word, as in the following example from +Bagchot: + + I should say that except where it is explained to the contrary, I + use the word "toleration" to mean toleration by law. Toleration by + society of matters not subject to legal penalty is a kindred + subject, on which if I have room I will add a few words; but in the + main I propose to deal with the simpler subject, toleration by law. + And by toleration, too, I mean, when it is not otherwise said, + toleration in the public expression of opinions; toleration of acts + and practices is another allied subject, on which I can, in a paper + like this, but barely hope to indicate what seems to me to be the + truth, and I should add that I deal only with the discussion of + impersonal doctrines: the law of libel, which deals with accusations + of living persons, is a topic requiring consideration by itself.[9] + +Sometimes the definition is rather an unfolding and displaying of the +implications (from the Latin, _implicare_, to fold in) of the term. +Huxley, near the beginning of his three "Lectures on Evolution," made +sure by the following definition that his hearers should have a precise +idea of what he meant by the term "evolution": + +The third hypothesis, or the hypothesis of evolution, supposes +that, at any comparatively late period of past time, our imaginary +spectator would meet with a state of things very similar to that +which now obtains; but that the likeness of the past to the present +would gradually become less and less, in proportion to the remoteness +of his period of observation from the present day; that +the existing distribution of mountains and plains, of rivers and +seas, would show itself to be the product of a slow process of +natural change operating upon more and more widely different +antecedent conditions of the mineral framework of the earth; +until, at length, in place of that framework, he would behold only +a vast nebulous mass, representing the constituents of the sun and +of the planetary bodies. Preceding the forms of life which now +exist our observer would see animals and plants not identical with +them, but like them; increasing their differences with their antiquity +and, at the same time, becoming simpler and simpler; until, +finally, the world of life would present nothing but that undifferentiated +protoplasmic matter, which, so far as our present knowledge +goes, is the common foundation of all vital activity. + +The hypothesis of evolution supposes that in all this vast progression +there would be no breach of continuity, no point at which +we could say, "This is a natural process," and "This is not a +natural process," but that the whole might be compared to that +wonderful process of development which may be seen going on +every day under our eyes, in virtue of which there arises, out of +the semifluid, comparatively homogeneous substance which we +call an egg, the complicated organization of one of the higher +animals. That, in a few words, is what is meant by the hypothesis +of evolution.[10] + +Here Huxley has laid out, in compact form the principal ramifications of +the great principle of evolution, giving his hearers something like an +outline map of it with its limits and principal divisions. + +Where you have a practice or system to define, you will be more likely +to do it by specifying the chief and essential details of the system, as +in the following definition of commission government for cities. It will +be noticed that this narrows down the meaning of the term to something +like the Des Moines system, as distinguished from the Galveston plan. + +A straight commission form of municipal government, in the judgment of +Dr. Charles W. Eliot, one of its most active advocates, requires a +commission composed of five members elected at large, one of whom is +called the mayor, acting as chairman of the commission, but with no +veto power, or any other special power not shared by the other members +of the commission. + +The commission so elected is the source of all authority in the city, +makes all ordinances, appoints all officials, collects taxes, and makes +all appropriations. As set forth by its advocates, the significant +features of the plan, in addition to those already mentioned, are: + +Assignment of the important divisions of the city government to +individual members of the commission, or their election thereto by the +voters, each being directly responsible for the conduct of his +particular department; adequate compensation to the commissioners for +their time and labor, the city employing all the commissioners at living +salaries, thus elevating the dignity of municipal service and making it +a public career, and not a mere avocation; regularity, frequency, and +publicity of the meetings of the commissioners; all employees above the +class of day laborers selected from eligible lists based on +examinations, oral and written, carefully devised to develop merit and +fitness; recommendations after examination by an independent civil +service commission; provision for the retention in office of all +employees so appointed during good behavior; the power to initiate +legislation reserved to the people, this right being known as the +initiative; the power to call for a public vote on any measure adopted +by the commission before being given effect as law reserved to the +people, this being known as the referendum; the power at any time to +make any member of the commission stand for reelection reserved to the +people, this being known as the recall; the granting of public franchise +always to be submitted to the approval of the electors. + +There are two other important features: the introduction of the +principle of the short ballot and the elimination of ward lines. In the +matured judgment of municipal students these are considered, together +with the concentration of authority, as the most effective features of +the system.[11] + +Here is a pretty complete display of all the essential details of the +system which the author of this definition intended to mean by the term +"commission government for cities." + +Where the term which is to be defined is the name of a general class, +whether of persons, things, or events, the definition must show just +what persons, things, or events are to be included under the term for +the present purpose. Lincoln gave a famous example of this sort of +definition in the opening of his address at Cooper Institute, February +27, 1860. He took for the text of the first part of his speech a +statement of Senator Douglas. + +In his speech last autumn at Columbus, Ohio, as reported in the New York +_Times_, Senator Douglas said, "Our fathers, when they framed the +government under which we live, understood this question just as well, +and even better, than we do now." + +I fully indorse this, and I adopt it as a text for this discourse. I so +adopt it because it furnishes a precise and an agreed starting point for +a discussion between Republicans and that wing of the Democracy headed +by Senator Douglas. It simply leaves the inquiry: What was the +understanding those fathers had of the question mentioned? + +What is the frame of government under which we live? The answer must be, +"The Constitution of the United States." That Constitution consists of +the original, framed in 1787, and under which the present government +first went into operation, and twelve subsequently framed amendments, +the first ten of which were framed in 1789. + +Who were our fathers that framed the Constitution? I suppose the +"thirty-nine" who signed the original instrument may be fairly called +our fathers who framed that part of the present government. It is almost +exactly true to say they framed it, and it is altogether true to say +they fairly represented the opinion and sentiment of the whole nation at +that time. Their names being familiar to nearly all, and accessible to +quite all, need not now be repeated. I take these "thirty-nine," for +the present, as being "our fathers who framed the government under which +we live." What is the question which, according to the text, those +fathers understood "just as well, and even better, than we do now"? +It is this: Does the proper division of local from Federal authority, or +anything in the Constitution, forbid our Federal Government to control +as to slavery in our Federal Territories? + +Upon this, Senator Douglas holds the affirmative, and Republicans the +negative. This affirmation and denial form an issue; and this +issue--this question--is precisely what the text declares our fathers +understood "better than we." + +Let us now inquire whether the "thirty-nine," or any of them, ever acted +upon this question; and if they did, how they acted upon it--how they +expressed that better understanding. + +Here as will be seen, Lincoln took every important word and phrase, and +showed exactly what persons and things were included under them. Then he +went ahead with his argument with the assurance that his audience and he +were treading the same path. + +Somewhat similar are the definitions in many cases at law, where the +issue is whether the agreed facts in a case come under a certain term or +not. The Constitution of the United States provides that "direct taxes" +shall be apportioned among the states in proportion to their population, +but makes no such restriction on the levying of "duties," "imposts," and +"taxes." When Congress establishes a new form of tax, therefore, such as +the income tax or the corporation tax, the Supreme Court is pretty sure +to be called on to decide under which of these large constitutional +classes it falls. In such cases as the Income Tax cases, which decided +that the income tax laid in the Act of 1904 was unconstitutional, and in +the Corporation Tax cases, which upheld the Act of 1909, both the +arguments of counsel and the decision of the court deal wholly with the +definition of the term "direct tax." Here the definition takes the form +of an examination of previous cases which involved the term, to see +whether the present case is like those that have been held to be within +it, or like those which have been held to fall outside it. From this +comparison of the two sets of cases the essential characteristics of the +direct tax are brought to the surface. + +A good example of the careful distinctions which must be made in +defining a legal term is found in Daniel Webster's famous argument in +the White Murder Case, of which an extract will be found below. The +question here is just how far the term "murder" shall be extended. + +There are two sorts of murder; the distinction between them it is of +essential importance to bear in mind: (1) murder in an affray, or upon +sudden and unexpected provocation; (2) murder secretly, with a +deliberate, predetermined intention to commit the crime. Under the first +class, the question usually is, whether the offense he murder or +manslaughter, in the person who commits the deed. Under the second +class, it is often a question whether others than he who actually did +the deed were present, aiding and assisting therein. Offenses of this +kind ordinarily happen when there is nobody present except those who go +on the same design. If a riot should happen in the court-house, and one +should kill another, this may be murder, or it may not, according to the +intention with which it was done; which is always matter of fact, to be +collected from the circumstances at the time. But in secret murders, +premeditated and determined on, there can be no doubt of the murderous +intention; there can be no doubt if a person be present, knowing a +murder is to be done, of his concurring in the act. His being there is a +proof of his intent to aid and abet; else, why is he there? + +It has been contended, that proof must be given that the person accused +did actually afford aid, did lend a hand in the murder itself; and +without this proof, although he may be near by, he may be presumed to be +there for an innocent purpose; he may have crept silently there to hear +the news, or from mere curiosity to see what was going on. Preposterous, +absurd! Such an idea shocks all common sense. A man is found to be a +conspirator to commit a murder; he has planned it; he has assisted in +arranging the time, the place, and the means; and he is found in the +place, and at the time, and yet it is suggested that he might have been +there, not for cooperation and concurrence, but from curiosity! Such an +argument deserves no answer. It would be difficult to give it one, in +decorous terms. Is it not to be taken for granted, that a man seeks to +accomplish his own purposes? When he has planned a murder, and is +present at its execution, is he there to forward or to thwart his own +design? Is he there to assist, or there to prevent? But "curiosity"! He +may be there from mere "curiosity"! Curiosity to witness the success of +the execution of his own plan of murder! The very walls of a court-house +ought not to stand, the plowshare should run through the ground it +stands on, where such an argument could find toleration. + +It is not necessary that the abettor should actually lend a hand, that +he should take a part in the act itself; if he be present ready to +assist, that is assisting.... The law is, that being ready to assist is +assisting, if the party has the power to assist, in case of need. It is +so stated by Foster, who is a high authority. "If A happeneth to be +present at a murder, for instance, and taketh no part in it, nor +endeavoreth to prevent it, nor apprehendeth the murderer, nor levyeth +hue and cry after him, this strange behavior of his, though highly +criminal, will not of itself render him either principal or accessory." +"But if a fact amounting to murder should be committed in prosecution of +some unlawful purpose, though it were but a bare trespass, to which A in +the case last stated had consented, and he had gone in order to give +assistance, if need were, for carrying it into execution, this would +have amounted to murder in him, and in every person present and joining +with him." "If the fact was committed in prosecution of the original +purpose which was unlawful, the whole party will be involved in the +guilt of him who gave the blow. For in combinations of this kind, the +mortal stroke, though given by one of the party, is considered in the +eye of the law, and of sound reason too, as given by every individual +present and abetting. The person actually giving the stroke is no more +than the hand or instrument by which the others strike." The author, in +speaking of being present, means actual presence; not actual in +opposition to constructive, for the law knows no such distinction. There +is but one presence, and this is the situation from which aid, or +supposed aid, may be rendered. The law does not say where the person is +to go, or how near he is to go, but that he must be where he may give +assistance, or where the perpetrator may believe that he may be assisted +by him. Suppose that he is acquainted with the design of the murderer, +and has a knowledge of the time when it is to be carried into effect, +and goes out with a view to render assistance, if need be; why, then, +even though the murderer does not know of this, the person so going out +will be an abettor in the murder. + +20. Definition through the History of the Case. In some cases the +easiest way to put before your readers the precise details or +limitations implied in a term is through a brief review of the history +of the question. In the Lincoln-Douglas debates Lincoln was constantly +showing that Douglas's use of the term "popular sovereignty" must be +understood in the light of the whole history of the slavery question; +that it meant one thing--what Douglas intended it to mean--if the +history of the question before 1850 were left out of sight; but that it +meant a wholly different thing if the steady encroachment of the slave +power from the Missouri Compromise of 1820 on were taken into account. +And Lincoln showed that in reality "popular sovereignty" had come to +mean a power oh the part of the people of a territory to introduce +slavery, but not to exclude it.[12] In our own day "progressive" has a +different meaning when applied to a Republican from Kansas and to one +from Massachusetts or New York. + +To know just what is involved by applying the term to any given public +man, one must go back to the recent history of his party in his own +state, and to the speeches he has made. In political discussions popular +phrases are constantly thus blurred in meaning through being used as +party catchwords; and to use them with any certainty in an argument one +must thus go back to their origin, and then dissect out, as it were, the +ambiguous implications which have grown into them. + +If you were arguing any question concerning the elective system or the +entrance requirements for your own college, you would often do well to +sketch the history of the present system as a means of defining it, +before you go on to urge that it be changed or kept as it is. So if you +were arguing for a further change in the football rules, your best +definition of the present game for your purpose would be a sketch of the +way in which the game has been changed in the past few years, at the +urgent demand of public opinion. Such a sketch you could easily get by +running through the back numbers of such a magazine as _Outing_, or the +sporting columns of some of the larger weeklies. Or again, if you were +arguing that the street railway systems of your city should be allowed +to combine, your best description or definition of the present situation +might well be a sketch of the successive steps by which it came to be +what it is. Here you would go for your material to the files of local +newspapers, or, if you could get at them, to sets of the reports of the +railway companies. + +The definition of terms through the history of the question has the +advantage that, besides helping your readers to see why the terms you +use have the meaning you give them for the present case, it also makes +them better judges of the question by giving them a full background. + +Ambiguous definitions, which do not distinguish between two or more +meanings of a term for the case under discussion, are usually avoided by +going back to the history of the case. In Chapter III we shall consider +more fully the fallacies which spring from ambiguous use of words. Here +I shall insist briefly on the necessity of searching into the way terms +have come to be used in specific discussions. + +The first of these is the danger which arises when a word in general use +takes on a special, almost technical meaning in connection with a +particular subject. Here you must take some pains to see that your +readers understand it in the special sense, and not in the popular one. +A crass instance, in which there is little real possibility of +confusion, is the use of words like "democratic" or "republican" as the +names of political parties; even with these words stump speakers +sometimes try to play on the feelings of an uneducated audience by +importing the association of the original use of the word into its later +use. There are a good many words used in the scientific study of +government which are also used loosely in general talk. "Federal" has a +precise meaning when used to distinguish the form of government of the +United States from that which usually binds together the counties in a +state; but we constantly use it in a sense hardly distinguishable from +that of "National." The following extract from an editorial on the +Philippine question is a good illustration of this precise and +semitechnical use of words, and the loose, not very accurate use of +everyday speech: + +On the other hand, it is said that this policy of the United States +toward its dependencies is insincere; that it is a covert plan of +exploitation; that, as it is practiced, it is a denial in act of a mere +promise to the ear; and that if it were genuine the United States would +bestow self-government upon its dependencies by granting independence. + +This criticism is obviously based on a confusion of independence with +self-government. Russia, is independent, but in only a very slight +degree are its people self-governing. Turkey has long been independent, +but until the recent revolution the people of Turkey were self-governing +in no sense at all. On the other hand, Canada, though not independent, +is self-governing.[13] + +Many an argument goes to wreck through carelessness in the use of words +of this sort. Wherever the subject under discussion has grown into the +partial possession of a special field, but still uses words drawn from +everyday life, you must be careful that not only you, but your audience +also, understand your terms in the more precise way. + +Closely related to this kind of ambiguity, and in practice still more +insidious, is the ambiguity which arises from the connotation or +emotional implications of words. The use of "republican" and "democrat" +cited above runs over into this kind of confusion. In collegiate +athletics "professional" has come to have almost an implication of +moral inferiority, when it is often dependent on pretty technical +considerations of expediency. In politics, to one class of temperaments +"conservative," to another "radical," or at any rate "liberal" or +"progressive," carries the implication of the salvation or the ruin of +the country. All such words introduce a sure element of obscurity and +confusion into an argument. If a word stirs your feelings in one way and +those of some of your readers in another, you cannot use that word +safely; in spite of the most careful definitions and disclaimers the +emotional bias will creep in and twist the effect of your words in the +minds of some of your audience. This emotional ambiguity is the most +insidious of all ambiguities in the use of words. The danger from it is +so real that I shall return to it at greater length (see p. 158). + +In a good many cases the necessity of defining the terms to be used, +whether in the proposition itself, or in the argument, changes with the +audience. If you begin a movement to introduce a commission form of +government into the town or the city in which you live, at first you +will have to repeat the definition of commission government a good many +times, in order that most of the voters may know exactly what you want +them to do. If the town once wakes up, however, and gets interested, you +and every one else will be using such technicalities as "Galveston +plan," "Des Moines plan," "recall," "initiative," and the like with no +danger of leaving darkness where there should be light. + +So even more obviously with school and college questions: if you are +sending memorials urging the introduction of the honor system or of +student self-government, one to the trustees of your college, and +another to the faculty, and at the same time addressing an appeal to +your fellow students through a college paper, in each of the three cases +your definitions might differ. You could probably assume that both +students and faculty would be more or less familiar with the question, +so that your definitions would be of the nature of precise +specifications of the plan you were urging. With the trustees your +definitions would probably have to be longer and your explanations more +detailed, for such a body would start with only a vague knowledge of the +situation. + +As in all other steps in making an argument, so in defining, there is +no formula for all cases. In each case your knowledge of your audience +must guide you, and your own sagacity. Unnecessary definitions will make +them think you a prig; insufficient definition will let them stray away +from your meaning. + +Notebook. Enter any terms which need definition for the +audience you are addressing. + +Illustration. Commission form of government after the Des Mouses +plan. The essential features of this plan are as follows: The entire +affairs of the city are conducted by a mayor and four councilors, +elected at large for two years; they are nominated at a primary +election; at neither primary nor final election are party designations +allowed on the ballot; these officers are subject to the recall; the +mayor is chairman of the council, but has no power of veto; the +executive and administrative powers are divided into five departments, +each under the charge of a member of the council--(1) public affairs +(under the charge of the mayor), (2) accounts and finances, (3)public +safety,(4) streets and public improvements, (5) parks and public +property; all other offices are filled and their duties prescribed by +majority vote of the council; recall; grants of franchises must be +approved by popular vote; initiative and referendum; a summary of city +affairs must be published and distributed once a month. + +Recall, On petition of twenty-five per cent of the voters at the last +election the mayor or any of the councilmen must stand for reelection at +a special election. + +Referendum. On petition of twenty-five per cent of the voters any +ordinance must be submitted to popular vote at a special election; no +ordinance goes into effect until ten days after being passed by the +council. + +Initiative. On petition of twenty-five per cent of the voters a +proposed measure must either be passed by the council or else submitted +to popular vote. + + +FINDING THE ISSUES + +EXERCISES + +1. Write definitions of the system for choice of studies by +undergraduates which is in force at your college; of the terms for +admission to college; of the requirements for the degree. + +2. Write a compact description or definition of the form of city +government in your own city or town, like that of the Des Moines plan of +commission government on page 70. + +3. Write a definition of the requirements for entrance in English, +according to those set forth by the Conference on Uniform Entrance +Requirements in English. + +4. Write a definition of the present system of college societies in your +own college, using the history of their development, for your fellow +students; for an article in a popular magazine. + +5. Write a definition of "summer baseball" for an audience of +undergraduates; for the trustees of your college. + +6. Write a definition of "professional coach." + +7. Write a definition of "squatter sovereignty," as used by Lincoln. + +8. Write a definition of "the mutation theory." + +9. Write a definition of "the English system of government." + +10. Write a definition of "the romantic spirit in literature." + + +21. Finding the Issues. Your preparation for your argument should now +have given you a clear idea of the interests and prepossessions of your +readers, it should have left you with a definite proposition to support +or oppose, and it should have made you sure of the meaning of all the +terms you are to use, whether in the proposition or in your argument. +The next step in working out the introduction to your brief is to note +down the chief points that can be urged on the two sides of the +question, as direct preparation for the final step, which will be to +find the main issues. These main issues are the points on which the +decision of the whole question will turn. They will vary in number with +the case, and to some extent with the space which you have for your +argument. In a question of fact, which turns on circumstantial evidence, +there may be a number of them. In the White Murder Case, in which as we +have already seen, Webster was the chief counsel for the prosecution, he +summed up the main issues in the following passage. The essential facts +needed to understand the case are that the defendant was Franklin Knapp, +that his sister-in-law, Mrs. Joseph Knapp, was the niece of Captain +White, that by removing and destroying the will of Captain White the +defendant and his brother Joseph supposed that they had made sure that +she would inherit from him a large sum of money, that Richard +Crowninshield, the actual perpetrator of the murder, had killed himself +in prison. To convince the jury of the guilt of the prisoner, Webster +had to carry them with him on the following seven main issues: + + Gentlemen, I have gone through with the evidence in this case, and + have endeavored to state it plainly and fairly before you. I think + there are conclusions to be drawn from it, the accuracy of which you + cannot doubt. + + I think you cannot doubt that there was a conspiracy formed fur the + purpose of committing this murder, and who the conspirators were: + + That you cannot doubt that the Crowninshields and the Knapps were + the parties in this conspiracy: + + That you cannot doubt that the prisoner at the bar knew that the + murder was to be done on the night of the 6th of April: + + That you cannot doubt that the murderers of Captain White were the + suspicious persons seen in and about Brown Street on that night: + + That you cannot doubt that Richard Crowninshield was the perpetrator + of that crime: + + That you cannot doubt that the prisoner at the bar was in Brown + Street on that night. + + If there, then it must be by agreement, to countenance, to aid the + perpetrator. And if so, then he is guilty as "Principal." + +Similarly, in most arguments of policy there are a number of +considerations that converge in favor of or against the proposed policy. +If you were writing an argument in favor of keeping the study of Latin +in the commercial course of a high school, you would probably urge that +Latin is essential for an effective knowledge of English, that it is the +foundation of Spanish and French, languages which will be of constantly +increasing importance to American business men in the future, and that +young men and women who go into business have an even stronger right to +studies which will enlarge their horizons and open their minds to purely +cultivating influences than those who go on to college. Indeed, in very +few questions of policy which are doubtful enough to need argument is +there any single consideration on which the whole case will turn. Human +affairs are much complicated by cross interests, and many influences +modify even one's everyday decisions. + +To find the main issues--which are really the critical ones on which +your audience will make up their minds--is a matter largely of native +sagacity and penetration; but thorough knowledge of your whole subject +is essential if you are to strike unerringly to the heart of the subject +and pick out these pivotal points. + +A simple and very practical device for getting at the main issues is to +put down on paper the chief points which might be made on the two sides. +Then with these before you, you can soon, by stating them and +rearranging them, simmer down your case into arguable form. + +In the argument on introducing a commission form of government into +Wytown this noting down of the chief points which might be urged on the +two sides would be about as follows: + +Contentions on the Two Sides. On the affirmative the following points +might be urged: + + 1. The plan would make the individuals who hold the power directly + responsible at all times to the citizens. + + 2. It would make the responsibility for all municipal action easy to + trace. + + 3. It would get abler men to serve the city. + + 4. It would take municipal government out of politics. + + 5. It would hold municipal administration up to the same standards + of honesty and efficiency as private business. + + 6. It would make it difficult to elect representatives of corrupt + interests. + + 7. It would make possible advantageous dealings with public-service + corporations. + + 8. It would make possible the immediate removal of an unfaithful + official. + + 9. It would tend to interest the citizens intelligently in municipal + affairs. + + 10. It has worked well wherever it has been tried. + +On the negative side the following points might be urged: + + 1. The plan is a complete departure from the traditional American + theory of government. + + 2. It throws away a chance for training in public affairs for a + considerable body of young men. + + 3. It might put very great power in the hands of unworthy men. + + 4. Corrupt interests, having a larger stake, would work harder to + control the city. + + 5. Past experience gives no reason to expect the constant interest + on the part of citizens which is necessary to make so great + concentration of power safe. + + 6. With further increase in the foreign population of the city there + will be danger from race and religious clannishness. + + 7. A return to the old-fashioned town government, or some such + modification of it as has been tried at Newport, would enlist the + active interest of more citizens. + + 8. The system is still an experiment. + + 9. The present success of the plan in various places is largely to + be ascribed to its novelty. + + 10. The present system has in the past given good government. + + 11. The liability to recall will keep public officials from + initiating advantageous policies if they would be detrimental to + part of the city, or if they were unpopular because of novelty. + +In most cases, as here, you will get too many points to argue out in the +space which is at your disposal. Fifteen hundred or two thousand words +are very soon eaten up when you begin to state evidence in any detail, +and arguments written in school or college can rarely be longer. You +must look forward, therefore, to not more than four or five main issues. +In going over and comparing the points which you have jotted down in +this preliminary statement you must consequently be prepared to throw +out all that are not obviously important. Even when you have done this +you will usually have more than enough points left to fill your space, +and must make some close decisions before you get at those which you +finally decide to argue out. + +You must also be prepared to rephrase and remold some of the points in +order to get at the most important aspects of the case. This noting down +of the points which might be urged you should therefore regard entirely +as a preliminary step, and not as fixing the points in the form in which +you will argue them out. + +In the main issues for the argument on introducing commission government +into Wytown, as they are worked out below, it will be seen that main +issue 4 for the affirmative is derived in part from the points marked +1, 2, 6, and 8 of those for the affirmative, and those marked 3, 4, and +5 for the negative. + +Furthermore, it is obvious that the main issues you choose will vary +somewhat with the side of the question which you are arguing. You will +almost surely have to leave out some of the points which might be urged, +and there is no sense in letting the other side choose your ground for +you. Points which from one side may be of no great consequence, or not +very practicable to argue, may on the other be highly effective; and in +arguing you should always take what advantage can fairly be gained from +position. + +The phrasing of the main issues, too, will vary with the side on which +you are arguing them. Here, again, you must take every fair advantage +that is to be gained from position. In the main issues of the question I +have been using for an example, as they are stated below, it will be +seen that main issue 1 on the affirmative and main issue 3 on the +negative cover very nearly the same ground; but if you were arguing on +the affirmative you would direct attention to the shortcomings inherent +in the system of government, if on the negative, to the temporary and +removable causes of them. Whichever side you were arguing on there is no +reason that you should lose the advantage of so phrasing the issue that +you can go directly to your work of establishing your contention. + +In the argument on introducing commission government into Wytown the +main issues might be as follows: + +The main issues as chosen by the affirmative: + + 1. Is the admitted inefficiency of the city government at present + due to the system of government? + + 2. Will the adoption of the plan result in more economical + administration? + + 3. Will the adoption of the plan result in more efficient service + to the city? + + 4. Will the direct responsibility of the mayor and councilors to the + citizens be a sufficient safeguard for the increased power given to + them? + +The main issues as chosen by the negative: + + 1. Is there danger in putting such large powers into the hands of so + few men? + + 2. Will the new plan, if adopted, permanently raise the standard of + public servants? + + 3. Is the inefficiency of the city government at present due to + temporary and removable causes? + + 4. Has the plan succeeded in other places largely because of its + novelty? + + 5. Will the liability to recall keep officials from initiating new + policies for fear of unpopularity? + +In some cases it will be hard to reduce the number of issues to a +manageable number; in others, for special reasons, it may be possible to +treat a part of them only at length. In such cases one can always adopt +the device of an imaginary "next chapter" or "to be continued in our +next." In considering how many issues you can deal with satisfactorily, +however, you must not leave out of account contentions on the other side +that must be refuted; and in choosing among the possible main issues you +must always exercise judgment. Many points which might be argued are not +worth the space it would take to deal with them; but not infrequently +you will have to let points that have some weight give place to others +that have more. + +It is not to be expected that the points made by the two sides will +always exactly pair off, for the considerations which make for a course +of action may be different in kind from those which make against it. +Sometimes one side will contribute more to the final number of main +issues, sometimes the other. Ordinarily your own side will give you the +larger number of points that you think worth arguing out, for an +affirmative and constructive argument usually makes more impression than +a negative one. + +Notebook. Enter the chief points which might be made on the two sides +of your question. Then, after studying them and comparing them, enter +the main issues which you decide to argue out. + +(The contentions on the two sides and the main issues for the model +argument will be found on pages 74-77.) + + +EXERCISE + + +Take one of the questions on pages 10-12, with which you have some +acquaintance, and obtain the main issues by noting down first the points +which might be urged on the two sides. + +NOTE. This exercise is a good one for class work. Let the class suggest +the points, and write them, as they come, on the blackboard. Then call +for criticism and discussion of them, in order to come to the main +issues. + + +22. The Agreed Statement of Facts. Now that you have compared the points +on which the two sides disagree, you can pick out the points on which +they agree, and decide which of the latter will enter into the +discussion. You are therefore in a position to draw up the agreed +statement of facts, in which you will sum up compactly so much of the +history of the case, of the origin of the present question, and other +relevant facts and necessary definitions, as will be needed to +understand the brief. The style of this statement should be strictly +expository, and there should be nothing in it to which both sides could +not agree. It should be similar to the statements of facts in courts of +law, which are sent up with the briefs when a case is appealed on a +point of legal principle. + +Since this agreed statement of facts is not argument, it will make small +use of such conjunctions as "because," "for," "hence," and "therefore." +If you find any of them in your agreed statement, it is better to +rearrange it, so that you will not seem to be giving reasons before you +have begun your argument. + +In the making of this preliminary statement and to a certain extent in +the framing of the main issues, it is convenient and advisable, +wherever both sides of the question are to be presented in arguments, +whether in writing or in debate, for the two parties to work together. +In this working together they should aim to agree on as many points as +possible. If they meet in a carping and unyielding temper, the result +will be in the end that the patience of the audience will be tried and +its attention dispersed by lengthy arguments on preliminary details. In +making an argument one should never forget, even in school and college +work, that the aim of all argument is to produce agreement. Few people +have much interest in a contest in smartness; and it is a bad habit to +care too much about the mere beating of an opponent on a question where +there are real and serious issues. Any question which is worth arguing +at all will have far more ground to cover, even when everything possible +has been granted by both sides, than the average student can cover with +any thoroughness. + +Notebook. Enter those of the essential facts and definitions in +the case which would be agreed to by both sides, and which are needed +for an understanding of the brief. + +Illustration. Agreed Statement of Facts. For many years the tax +rate in Wytown has been high, and in the last ten years has not fallen +below twenty-four dollars on one thousand dollars. The city water supply +is of doubtful purity, and nothing has been done to improve it, chiefly +because the city debt is now close to the limit allowed by law. The +police service has been inadequate, especially in the region known as +South Corner. Though two hundred thousand dollars have been spent on the +streets in the last five years, the main street of the city is still +unpaved, and none of the other streets are macadamized. Though under the +local option law the city has uniformly voted for no license, yet there +is much liquor selling. The city officials have regularly been nominated +at Democratic and republican conventions. + +The question has arisen at the present time because of quarrels between +the mayor and aldermen, because of the petition of the city government +to the legislature to issue bonds for new waterworks above the +authorized debt limit, because the tax rate last year was higher than +ever before in the history of the city, and because of the formation of +a citizens' association which has been instrumental in securing from the +legislature a bill authorizing the citizens to vote on the adoption of +the proposed plan. + +Points which are not discussed here will be taken up in succeeding +papers. + +The definitions on page 70 are to be taken as part of this agreed +statement. + + +EXERCISES + +1. Criticize the following sentences for their fitness as parts of +introductions to briefs: + + a. It is agreed that the commission form of government has succeeded + in Des Moines because it is simple and easily controlled by the + people. + + b. Summer baseball is to be understood as playing baseball for + money, for a man who is given his board and lodging by a hotel for + playing is taking the equivalent of money. + + c. (As one of the contentions for the affirmative on the question + whether a street railroad should be compelled to build a certain new + line, which would not be immediately profitable.) The convenience of + the public should be considered before large dividends, since the + public grants the franchise. + +2. Make an agreed statement of facts for an argument on one of the +subjects in the list on pages 10-12. + +NOTE. This is a good exercise for class use: let the different members +of the class propose facts to be agreed on, and then put them before the +rest of the class for criticism. + + +23. Arrangement of Material. For the arrangement of the material in +a brief, it is not possible to give much general advice, since this +arrangement would change with the space allotted to the argument, and +especially with the audience. On this point knowledge of your readers, +of their acquaintance with the subject, and of their prepossessions will +count as much as knowledge of the subject when you come to the arguments +of practical life. + +In general, if your audience is likely to be lukewarm or indifferent, +begin with a point which will stir them up. In the argument on the +introduction of commission government into Wytown, for which I have +constructed a brief, I assumed that the citizens were already aroused to +the need of some change, and therefore began by showing that the evils +of the present administration can be traced chiefly to the present +system of government. If I had assumed that the people needed first to +be aroused to believing a change to be necessary, I should have put at +the beginning an exposure of the corruption and inefficiency of the +present city government, with specific cases to establish the point. + +Likewise for the close of your argument be sure that you have a strong +and effective point. In the case of commission government for Wytown, by +refuting the objection that too much power is given to the councilmen I +provide a chance to show at the same time how completely the commission +government keeps the control in the hands of the people; and the latter +point is the strongest that can be made for the commission form of +government. + +24. The Place of the Refutation. The place of the refutation and +its extent also differ greatly with the audience. Sometimes it may +occupy practically the whole space. A few years ago _The Outlook_ +published an editorial opposing a change in the laws of New York +relating to vivisection (for a part of it, see p. 44), in which it +refuted the two arguments urged for the change, and then pointed out +that the burden of proof still rested on the other side. Here the +refutation occupied almost the whole of the argument. Huxley, in his +three "Lectures on Evolution," of which the first is printed on page +233, gave the whole of this first lecture to a refutation of the +alternative theories of the origin of plants and animals; since it was +necessary to dispose of accepted theories before the new theory could +get a hearing, he put his refutation first. + +Where there are no such special reasons, it is safe to follow the +principle that you should not draw more attention than necessary to the +arguments on the other side. Refutation of less important statements and +contentions will naturally come at the point of the argument which deals +with that part of the subject. State them fairly always, but do not +magnify their importance by dealing with them at too great length. + +It is not often wise to lump the refutation at the end of your argument. +The last impression on your audience is the strongest: it is good +strategy to keep it for your own best points. Sometimes, as in the brief +worked out on page 90, it is possible to combine the refutation with +positive argument which will be effective; but do not forget that +negative argument makes much less impression than that which is positive +and constructive. + +25. The Brief Proper. We have seen on page 47 that the brief is in +essence a statement of the logical framework of your argument. Its +purpose is to lay out your reasoning in such a way that you can +scrutinize each link and make sure that each assertion and each group of +assertions is attached to a firm support. For this reason the brief for +a written or spoken argument is best thrown into the form of tabulated +statements marked with a series of numbers and letters which will show +at a glance the exact place of each statement or assertion in the whole +system of reasoning. When you can thus, as it were, strip your argument +to its bones and tendons, you can go ahead with the confidence that your +reasoning is logically coherent. + +When you get out into the world you will work out your own way of making +briefs for any arguments that fate imposes on you. The value of practice +now is in being able to get at the work then without wasting time. The +rules below are offered to you as the result of long experiment and +study lay the best authorities. Moreover, if you are working in a class +you should remember that you will get a great deal more out of your +teacher if you save his time by sticking closely to uniformity in +outward form. + +I shall first show how a brief is constructed, by following through part +of the process for the argument on the introduction of commission into +Wytown; then I shall give the rules, with some explanation of their +working and of their practical expediency. + +We have just seen that the brief is essentially a display of the logical +framework of the argument: it should consist, therefore, of the main +contentions in support of the proposition, with the reasons urged in +support of these contentions, and of the facts and reasons brought +forward in support of these reasons, this successive support of reasons +being carried down to ultimate facts, wherever possible. + +When you come to the working out of your brief you start with your main +issues, stated now as assertions. Then for each of them you give one or +more reasons. + +In the brief for introducing commission government into Wytown, let us +start with the main issues for the affirmative, transforming them from +questions into assertions. The first main issue would then read: + +The admitted inefficiency of the city government at present is +due to the system of government. + +The next step is to assign reasons for making this assertion. +Accordingly we should add a "since" or a "for" to the assertion, and +then underneath arrange these reasons in order. Let us suppose that we +put down three reasons: + +I. The admitted inefficiency of the city government at present +is due to the system of government; for + + A. Partisan politics determine nominations to office; + + B. Advantageous contracts cannot be made; + + C. The responsibility for expenditures is scattered. + +Each of these assertions clearly needs to be supported before it will be +accepted. Let us follow out the support of the first one, and set down +here the reasons and facts which will make it incontestable. + + A. Partisan politics determine nominations to office; for + + 1. The organization of the national parties is permanent. + + 2. There has been bargaining between parties to reward + political services with city offices. + +Of these points the first is an obvious fact; in the argument it will +need only slight development and specification to make its bearing on +the case effective. The second, on the other hand, must be supported by +evidence; and in the brief, accordingly, we should refer to the facts +as stated in newspapers of specified dates from which full quotation +would be made in the argument. Here then, in both cases, though in +different ways, we get down to the bed rock of fact on which the +reasoning is built up. At the same time, each joint in the framework of +the reasoning has been laid bare, so that no weak place can escape +detection. These are always the two main objects of making a brief--to +get down to the facts on which the reasoning is built up, and to display +every essential step in the reasoning. + +26. Rules for Briefing. The rules given below are divided into two +groups: those in the first group deal chiefly with the form of the +brief; those in the second go more to the substance; but the distinction +between the two groups is far from being absolute. + + + + I + +1. A brief may be divided into three parts: the Introduction, the +Proof, the Conclusion. Of these the Introduction should contain +noncontentious matter, and the Conclusion should be a restatement of the +proposition, with a bare summary of the main issues in affirmative (or +negative) form. + +The introduction has already been dealt with at length (see pp. 48-81). +The conclusion brings the main points of the argument together, and +gives an effect of workmanlike completeness to the brief. It should +never introduce new points. + +2. In the Introduction keep each step of the analysis by itself, and +indicate the several parts by such headings as "The following terms need +definition," "The following facts are agreed on," "The following points +will be left out of consideration in this argument" "The chief +contentions on the two sides are as follows," "The main issues on which +the argument will be made are as follows." + +It is not to be expected that all these steps, with the appropriate +headings, will be necessary in every brief. The only use of a brief is +to aid you to construct a specific argument, and you must consider each +case by itself. + +3. Follow a uniform system of numbering throughout, so that each number +or letter used will show whether the statement is one of the main +supports of your case, or in what degree it is subordinated. + +In other words, the numbering should show at a glance whether a given +assertion is a main reason, a reason for a reason, or in still more +subordinate degree of support. The system of numbering in the brief on +page 90 is convenient. Whatever system is adopted, it should be followed +by the whole class. + +4. The refutation should have a distinct set of symbols. + +These symbols may well be uniform with the others, but with the prime +mark to distinguish them (see p. 93). + +5. In briefing the refutation always state first the assertion that is +to be refuted, with such connectives as, "Although it is urged ..., yet +the contention is unsound, for ...," "Although the case is cited, ... +yet the case is irrelevant, for ..." + +These connectives will vary with the nature of the assertion to be +refuted; the important thing is to state the assertion so clearly that +your critic can judge the relevancy and force of your refutation. (For +examples, see pp. 91-93.) + + II + +6. A brief in all its parts should be phrased in complete sentences; +mere topics are of no value. + +In the brief on page 90, if the headings under I were "A. Party +politics, B. Waste in contracts, C. No responsibility for +expenditures," neither the maker of the brief nor the critic of it could +know with any certainty the course of the reasoning. It is undoubtedly +true that many lawyers and other men of affairs use only topic heads +when they are planning an argument; but it is to be remembered that they +are men who have been training their powers of thought in hard earnest, +and their ability to work out and stick to a train of reasoning with so +little written aid has not much bearing on what is the best practice for +young men who are in the process of gaining this ability. To make a full +outline of the reasoning in a few arguments is the best way to get the +sense for logical and coherent structure. + +7. Each heading should contain a single assertion only. + +The reason for this rule is obvious: if under each assertion you are +going to set the reasons for that assertion, you will get into trouble +if your assertion is double-headed, since what is a reason for one part +of it may not be a reason for another. If in the brief on page 90 +heading I B should read, "Advantageous contracts cannot be made, and +the responsibility for expenditures is scattered," subheading I C 2, +"Accounts are submitted to separate committees of the two boards in +which no members have special responsibility," would have nothing to do +with the making of contracts, and subheading I B 1, "Contracts must be +passed on by both aldermen and common councilmen and the mayor," would +have nothing to do with expenditures. + +8. In the body of the brief the assertions should be arranged as +follows: Each main heading should embody one of the main issues as +stated in the Introduction; and each of the subordinate assertions +should stand as a reason for the assertion to which it is subordinate. +The connective between an assertion and one subordinate to it will +therefore be for, since, or because, or the like, not hence or +therefore, or the like. + +A brief thus arranged lays out the reasoning in a complete and easily +scrutinized form. Thus in the brief on page 90 for the assertion in the +first main issue, "The admitted inefficiency, of the city government at +present is due to the system of government," three chief reasons are +given: A. "Partisan politics determine nominations to office," B. +"Advantageous contracts cannot be made," and C. "The responsibility for +expenditures is scattered." Then for each of these secondary assertions +reasons in support are adduced; thus for B. "Advantageous contracts +cannot be made," the reasons are I. "Contracts must be passed on +separately by aldermen, common councilmen, and the mayor," and 2. +"Bargains are made between the aldermen representing different wards." +In this case final references are given for each of these subordinate +assertions, so that we get down to the ultimate foundation of verifiable +fact on which the argument is to be built up. + +The advantage of this form is that if you have set down several +assertions as reasons for another, and you are doubtful whether they all +belong there, you can test them separately by putting them one by one +after the main assertion they are intended to support with a "for" or a +"since" between. + +You put the assertion first and the reason for it afterwards, because +when there is more than one reason in support, if you have the reason +first you must then repeat the assertion with each reason, or run the +risk of confusion. If under I in the brief on page go, for example, you +began with the reason, "In the present system partisan politics +determine nominations to office," and then added the result, "Therefore +the city government is inefficient," you would have to repeat the result +with B and C; and when you came to the third degree of support, the +repetition would be intolerably clumsy and confusing. + +9. Headings and subheadings should not have more than one numbering. + +The reason for this rule is also obvious: each heading or subheading +marks a step in the argument, and what belongs on one step cannot be on +another at the same time. In the brief on page 90 the assertion that +"Partisan politics determine nominations to office" is stated as a chief +reason for the assertion in the first main issue, that "The admitted +inefficiency of the city government at present is due to the system of +government." It would confuse a reader to mark it A I, as if it wore a +support also in the second degree. + +10. The brief should give references to the evidence or authorities +relied on to support assertions. + +General references to articles and books which will be constantly +referred to should be put at the beginning of the brief. References to +specific statements of fact or quotations of opinion should be added as +they occur in the brief (see the brief on p. 90). + + +EXERCISES + +1. Criticize the following portion of a brief: + +This college should have a longer Christmas vacation, for + +I. College life tends to break up family life; + + A. Father and son; + + B. Younger brothers and sisters; + + C. Intimate friends. + +2. Criticize the following detached portions of a brief on the +proposition, This city should double its appropriation for the public +library, and amend them if necessary: + + a. II. The funds for the purchase of books are insufficient and the + staff is inadequate. + + b. B. The reading room is crowded to suffocation, therefore + 1. Many people avoid the library. + + c. III. Those who oppose the increased appropriation declare that + A. The library is a luxury for the rich; hence + 1. The rich should support it; but + 2. This is not true, for + a. Most of the borrowers of books are people + of moderate means; therefore + b. The city should support the library. + + d. IV. A. The city is able to double the appropriation; for + 1. It has spent largely for parks, + a. Which are also for the pleasure and improvement + of the citizens; + b. Hence it can pay for additions to the library. + e. VI. It is not true + A. That the readers want only recent fiction and that they + should buy these books for themselves; for + 1. They mostly are not able to buy books; hence + 2. They should be encouraged to read other books. + 3. Give an example of an argument and an audience where it + would be necessary to put the refutation first; of one + in which it would be necessary to stir up the interest + of readers at the start. + 4. Suggest methods for gaining the interest of the readers + in the last case. + + + + SPECIMEN BRIEF + +Wytown should adopt a commission government like that of Des Moines, +Iowa. + +General references: C.R. Woodruff, City Government by Commission. New +York, 1911; J.J. Hamilton, The Dethronement of the City Boss, New York, +1910; City newspapers of various dates; draft of proposed charter, +published by the Citizens' Association. + +(The successive steps of the introduction will be found on pp. 43, 53, +70, 74-75, 76-77, 79-80.) + +I. The admitted inefficiency of the city government at present is due to +the system of government; for + A. Partisan politics determine nominations to office; since + 1. The organization of the national parties is permanent, and + that of any citizens' movement temporary. + 2. There has been bargaining between the parties to reward + political services by city offices. Daily papers, March 12-20, + 1909; March 3-15, 1910. + B. Advantageous contracts cannot be made; for + 1. Contracts must be passed on separately by aldermen, common + councilmen, and the mayor. Present city charter, sections 19-21. + 2. Bargains are made between the aldermen representing different + wards. Daily papers, October 3, 1908; January 25, 1910. + C. The responsibility for expenditures is scattered; for + 1. Heads of departments are responsible to the two boards and + not to the mayor. Present city charter, section 15. + 2. Accounts are submitted to separate committees of the two + boards in which no members have special responsibility. Present + city charter, sections 22-23. + +II. The adoption of the plan will result in important economies; for + A. The administration of city affairs will be made simpler; since + 1. The councilmen will both lay out the work and be responsible + for the execution of it. Draft or charter, sections 5 and 13. + 2. Plans for work in all departments will be considered together. + 3. A small body with full powers can make better bargains than + two larger ones acting independently. + B. The plan has resulted in economies where it has been tried; for + 1. In Des Moines, Iowa, the first year under the new charter showed + a relative saving of $182,949.65 as compared with the year + before. C. R. Woodruff, as cited, p. 250. + 2. In Haverhill, Massachusetts, in the first year of commission + government a deficit of $79,452 was turned into a surplus of + $36,511, after paying off indebtedness to the extent of + $133,000. C. R. Woodruff, as cited, p. 278. + 1'.Though a despatch in a daily paper (April 3, 1911) declares + that the city of Haverhill has been forced to borrow, yet the + report is untrustworthy without further evidence; for + a'. In itself it is contradictory and confused; and b'. It is + known that professional politicians and other enemies + of the plan have often spread false reports about it. + McClure's Magazine, Vol. XXXV, p. 107. + +III. The adoption of the plan will result in more efficient service to +the city; for + A. A better class of citizens will be drawn into office; + for + 1. City officials can plan and carry out their policies + without petty interference; + 2. In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the commission, employed a civic-service + expert, and carried out his recommendations. J. J. Hamilton, + as cited, p. 180. + 3. In Galveston, Texas, citizens of a better grade have taken + office, and the tone of the city administration has been + raised. W. B. Munro, in The Chautauquan, Vol. LI, p. 110. + B. Commission government has resulted in better administration where + it has been tried; for + 1. Galveston and Houston, Texas, Des Moines and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, + have all reported better police administration, improvements in + streets and parks, more advantageous dealings with + public-service corporations. C. J. Woodruff, as cited, + pp. 242-287. + 2. No city which has tried the plan has yet given it up. C. J. + Woodruff, as cited, p. 310. + 1'.Although Chelsea, Massachusetts, is cited as having given up a + commission government, yet the case is not parallel, since + a'. The commission under which the city had lived was appointed + by the governor after a disastrous conflagration; and + b'. The form of government substituted has most of the essential + features of the: commission government except the size of + the council, which has four members elected at large, and + five by district. + +IV'. Although it is urged that the corrupt element in politics would +have unlimited power if they should capture the commission, yet the +direct responsibility to the citizens will be a safeguard for the +enlarged power, for + A'. Every act of the city government will be known; since under the + charter--sections 24, 25, 29, 33-- + 1'. The meetings of the council will be public. + 2'. All resolutions are to be in writing and recorded. + 3'. All votes are to be recorded. + 4'. An itemized statement of receipts and expenditures must + be printed and distributed every month. + 5'. Ordinances making contracts or granting franchises must be + published one week before final passage, and on petition may + be referred to the people. + 6'. In Des Moines under the new charter the newspapers give much + space to the doings of the city government. _McClure's + Magazine_, Vol. XXXV, p. 101. + B'. The provisions for a recall will be a check on corrupt officials; + for + 1'. In Des Moines a chief of police was retired on the suggestion + of a recall for the commissioner who was responsible for his + appointment. _McClure's Magazine_, Vol. XXXV, p. 101. + 2'. In Seattle a mayor who made terms with the vicious element, + and was in league with public service corporations, was + recalled. Daily papers, March, 1911. + + + CONCLUSION. + +Wytown should adopt a commission government like that of Des +Moines; since + + A. The admitted inefficiency of the city government at present is + due to the system of government; + + B. The adoption of the plan will result in important economies; + + C. The adoption of the plan will result in more efficient service to + the city; and + + D. The direct responsibility of the mayor and councilmen to the + citizens will be a safeguard for the increased power given to them. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +EVIDENCE AND REASONING + + +27. Evidence and Reasoning. We have seen in the last chapter that +the chief value of making a brief is that in the first place it lays out +your reasoning so that you can scrutinize it in detail; and that in the +second place it displays the foundations of your reasoning on facts +which cannot be contested. In this chapter we shall consider what +grounds give validity to evidence and to reasoning. + +Where the facts which you bring forward come from persons with +first-hand knowledge of them, they are direct evidence; where you must +establish them by reasoning from other facts they are indirect evidence, +and in the latter case reasoning is an essential part of establishing +the facts. In this chapter, therefore, I shall speak first of direct +evidence, then of indirect, and then pass on to consider a few of the +simpler principles which govern reasoning. + +In ordinary usage the word "evidence" is pretty vague, and means +anything that will help to establish one side or another of any +question, whether of fact or of policy. The word, however, comes +ultimately from the law, where it is used for the testimony, either oral +or written or material, which is brought in to establish the truth of +assertions about fact: evidence is set before the jury, which under the +common law decides questions of fact. In almost any argument of policy, +however, we use facts as reasons for or against the policy which is in +question, and therefore inmost cases we must use evidence to establish +these facts; in many cases, when the facts are established there is no +further disagreement about the policy. For example, in arguments for and +against state prohibition of the liquor trade, it is an essential fact +to determine whether in status where prohibition has been tried it has +failed or succeeded, and another essential fact whether under similar +conditions a combination of high license and local option has or has not +produced less drunkenness. Both are extremely complicated and difficult +facts to decide; but if clear evidence can be brought forward to +establish them, reasonable-minded people would generally hold as settled +the question of the policy which should be adopted. Similarly, an +argument for the popular election of senators would undoubtedly make +large use of the alleged fact that, in elections by the legislatures, +there has been much undue interference by special interests and rich +corporations; and the assertion of this fact would have to be supported +by evidence. If this fact were thus clearly established, it would be +recognized as a strong reason for a change in our present policy. In the +interest of clearness of thought it is worth while to remember this +distinction; for, as we shall see, it is only by so doing that we can +determine when the ordinary rules of logic do and when they do not apply +to the processes of reasoning on which argument is based. I shall speak +here, therefore, of the evidence for facts, and of the reasons for or +against a policy. + +It may be said in passing that the highly complicated rules of evidence +at the common law have practically nothing to do with our present +subject, for they spring from very special conditions, and have been +molded by very special purposes. Their object is to establish, so far as +is possible, principles which will apply to all cases of a like nature; +and they therefore rule out many facts and much evidence which outside +the court we all use without hesitation in making up our minds. The jury +system has had a curious and interesting history: and judges have built +up hedges around juries which seem to the layman merely technical, and +unnecessary for the ends of justice.[14] Yet though the sweeping away of +many of these rules from time to time shows that there has been and +perhaps still is justice in this view, one must remember that the whole +common law is based on the application of principles already established +by earlier cases to new cases of like character; and that great care +must therefore be used not to establish principles which may interfere +with the even distribution of justice in the long run (see on this point +S.R. Gardiner, p. 103). Even if in single cases the rule of evidence +that forbids hearsay evidence works an injustice, yet in the long run it +is obvious both that, if hearsay were allowed, litigants would take less +trouble to get original evidence, and that much hearsay is thoroughly +untrustworthy. + +Another reason why the rules of evidence at the common law have little +bearing on the arguments of everyday life is like that which makes it +unwise to dwell much on the burden of proof: there is no one either +competent or interested to enforce the exclusion. Assertion and rumor +must be more than palpably vague before the ordinary man will of his own +initiative take the trouble to scrutinize it; and even in refuting such +material you must make its untrustworthiness very patent if you expect +to make ordinary readers distrust it seriously. + +28. Direct and Indirect Evidence. When we come now to consider how we +establish facts, whether single or complex, we find that, both to aid +our own judgment and to convince other people, we rely on evidence. We +have seen that evidence falls roughly into two classes: either it comes +from persons who testify out of their own observation and experience, or +it comes indirectly through reasoning from facts and principles already +established or granted. The two kinds of evidence run into each other, +and the terms commonly used to describe them vary: "direct evidence" is +not infrequently, as in Huxley's argument (see p. 240), called +"testimonial," and "indirect evidence," as in the same argument and in +the opinion of Chief Justice Shaw, quoted below, is called +"circumstantial." On the whole, however, the opposition between the two +classes, so far as it is of practical importance, may best be indicated +by the terms "direct evidence" and "indirect evidence." The distinction +between the two classes is made clear in the following extract from the +opinion of Chief Justice Shaw of the Massachusetts Supreme Court. It +will be noticed that it is the same doctrine as that laid down by Huxley +(see p. 240). + +The distinction, then, between direct and circumstantial evidence is +this. Direct or positive evidence is when a witness can be called to +testify to the precise; fact which is the subject of the issue in trial; +that is, in a case of homicide, that the party accused did cause the +death of the deceased. Whatever may be the kind or force of the +evidence, this is the fact to be proved. But suppose no person was +present on the occasion of the death,--and of course no one can be +called to testify to it,--is it wholly unsusceptible of legal proof? +Experience has shown that circumstantial evidence may be offered in such +a case; that is, that a body of facts may be proved of so conclusive a +character, as to warrant a firm belief of the fact, quite as strong and +certain as that on which discreet men are accustomed to act in relation +to their most important concerns.... + +Each of these modes of proof has its advantages and disadvantages; it is +not easy to compare their relative value. The advantage of positive +evidence is, that you have the direct testimony of a witness to the fact +to be proved, who, if he speaks the truth, saw it done; and the only +question is, whether he is entitled to belief. The disadvantage is, that +the witness may be false and corrupt, and the case may not afford the +means of detecting his falsehood. + +But in a case of circumstantial evidence where no witness can testify +directly to the fact to be proved, you arrive at it by a series of other +facts, which by experience we have found so associated with the fact in +question, as in the relation of cause and effect, that they lead to a +satisfactory and certain conclusion; as when footprints are discovered +after a recent snow, it is certain that some animated being has passed +over the snow since it fell; and, from the form and number of the +footprints, it can be determined with equal certainty, whether it was a +man, a bird, or a quadruped. Circumstantial evidence, therefore, is +founded on experience and observed facts and coincidences, establishing +a connection between the known and proved facts and the fact sought to +be proved.[15] + +Under the head of direct evidence, as I shall use the term, would fall +the evidence of material objects: in an accident case, for example, the +scar of a wound may be shown to the jury; or where the making of a park +is urged on a city government, the city council may be taken out to see +the land which it is proposed to take. Though such evidence is not +testimony, it is direct evidence, for it is not based on reasoning and +inference. + +29. Direct Evidence. Direct evidence is the testimony of persons +who know about the fact from their own observation: such is the +testimony of the witnesses to a will that they saw the testator sign it, +the testimony of an explorer that there are tribes of pygmies in Africa, +the testimony of a chemist to the constituents of a given alloy, or of a +doctor to the success of a new treatment. Every day of our lives we are +giving and receiving direct evidence; and of this evidence there is +great variety in value. + +In the first place, no one should place too much reliance on his own +casual observations. It is notorious that we see what we expect to see; +and no one who has not deliberately set himself to observe the fact can +realize how much of what he thinks is observation is really inference +from a small part of the facts before him. I feel a slight tremor run +through the house with a little rattling of the windows, and assume that +a train has gone by on the railroad below the hill a hundred yards away: +as a matter of fact it may have been one of the slight earthquake shocks +which come every few years in most parts of the world. The mistakes that +most of its make in recognizing people are of the same sort: from some +single feature we reason to an identity that does not exist. + +Of recent years psychologists have set themselves to getting some +accurate facts as to this inaccuracy of human observation, and various +experiments have been tried. Here is an account of one: + +There was, for instance, two years ago in Göttingen a meeting of a +scientific association, made up of jurists, psychologists, and +physicians, all, therefore, men trained in careful observation. +Somewhere in the same street there was that evening a public festivity +of the carnival. Suddenly, in the midst of the scholarly meeting, the +doors open, a clown in highly colored costume rushes in in mad +excitement, and a negro with a revolver in hand follows him. In the +middle of the hall first the one, then the other, shouts wild phrases; +then the one falls to the ground, the other jumps on him; then a shot, +and suddenly both are out of the room. The whole affair took less than +twenty seconds. All were completely taken by surprise, and no one, with +the exception of the president, had the slightest idea that every word +and action had been rehearsed beforehand, or that, photographs had been +taken of the scene. It seemed most natural that the president should beg +the members to write down individually an exact report, inasmuch as he +felt sure that the matter would come before the courts. Of the forty +reports handed in, there was only one whose omissions were calculated as +amounting to less than twenty per cent of the characteristic acts; +fourteen had twenty to forty per cent of the facts omitted; twelve +omitted forty to fifty per cent, and thirteen still more than fifty per +cent. But besides the omissions there were only six among the forty +which did not contain positively wrong statements; in twenty-four +papers up to ten per cent of the statements were free inventions, and in +ten answers--that is, in one fourth of the papers--more than ten per +cent of the statements were absolutely false, in spite of the fact that +they all came from scientifically trained observers. Only four persons, +for instance, among forty noticed that the negro had nothing on his +head; the others gave him a derby, or a high hat, and so on. In addition +to this, a red suit, a brown one, a striped one, a coffee-colored +jacket, shirt sleeves, and similar costume were invented for him. He +wore in reality white trousers and a black jacket with a large red +neck-tie. The scientific commission which reported the details of the +inquiry came to the general statement that the majority of the observers +omitted or falsified about half of the processes which occurred +completely in their field of vision. As was to be expected, the judgment +as to the time duration of the act varied between a few seconds and +several minutes.[16] + +Another type of cases in which our direct testimony would be valueless +is legerdemain: we think that we actually see rabbits taken out of our +neighbor's hat, or his watch pounded in a mortar and presently shaken +whole and sound out of an empty silk handkerchief; and it is only by +reasoning that we know our eyes have been deceived. + +It is obvious, therefore, that to question a man's evidence is not +always to call him a liar; in most cases it is rather to question the +accuracy of his inferences from such part of the facts as he actually +grasped. In science no important observation is accepted until the +experiments have been repeated and checked by other observers. Indeed, +most of the progress of science is due to the repetition of experiments +by observers who notice some critical phenomena which their predecessors +have missed. + +With this qualification, that human observation is always fallible, +good direct evidence is on the whole the most convincing evidence that +you can use. If you can establish a fact by the mouths of trustworthy +witnesses, making your readers recognize that these witnesses had good +opportunities of observation and a competent knowledge of the subject, +you will generally establish your point. In case of an accident in a +street car it is the custom of many companies to require their +conductors to take down immediately the names of a few of the most +respectable-looking of the passengers, who may be called as witnesses in +case of a lawsuit. All the observations of science, and most of the +facts brought before juries in courts of law, as well as the multitude +of lesser and greater facts which we accept in everyday life, get their +authority from this principle. + +In the arguments of school and college you may not make much use of +direct evidence, for they do not often turn on single, simple facts. +Even here, however, cases arise where you must call in the direct +testimony of witnesses. If you were arguing that secret societies should +be abolished in a certain school, and wished to show that such societies +had led to late hours, playing cards for money, and drinking, you would +need direct evidence. If you were arguing that the street railroad +company of your city should be obliged to double track a certain part of +its line, you would need direct evidence of the delays and crowding of +cars with a single track. + +When you are using direct evidence you should make it clear that the +person from whom it comes is a competent witness, that he has been in a +position to know the facts at first hand, and that, if necessary, he has +had the proper training to understand their meaning. In the case of an +automobile accident a man who had never run a car would not be the best +sort of witness as to the actions of the chauffeur, nor a man who had +never sailed a boat as to what happened in a collision between two +sailboats. In a scientific matter the observations of a beginner would +not carry weight as against those of a man who had used a microscope for +many years. + +The witness, too, must be shown to be free from bias, whether practical +or theoretical. It is a well-known fact that men differ greatly in the +clearness of their eyesight in observing the stars, and that men who are +gifted with exceptional eyesight may make valuable discoveries with +inferior instruments; but if such a man has espoused a theory, say, as +to the nature of the rings of Saturn, and is known to defend it +passionately, his evidence concerning what he had seen is bound to be +somewhat discounted. + +Even official reports cannot be trusted without scrutiny. + +The fact is that many things conspire to make an official report +constrained and formal. There is the natural desire of every man to put +the best face on things for himself as he sets his case before the +government and the world; subordinates must be let off leniently; you +must live with them, and it impairs comfort to have them sullen. To make +a statement unpleasant to a superior might be construed as +insubordination. The public welfare makes it imperative to tell a +flattering tale. The temptation is constant to tell not quite the whole +truth, and nothing but the truth. There are important suppressions of +fact in the official records, none more so, perhaps, than as regards +Chancellorsville.[17] + +If you happen to be dealing with a historical matter, where the +testimony comes from a more or less remote past, and the evidence is +scrappy and defective, you must be still more careful. + +The great English historian, the late S.R. Gardiner, in his +examination of the evidence on the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, wrote as +follows about the difficulties of dealing with historical evidence: + +It seems strange to find a writer so regardless of what is, in these +days, considered the first canon of historical inquiry, that evidence +worth having must be almost entirely the evidence of contemporaries who +are in a position to know something about that which they assert. It is +true that this canon must not be received pedantically. Tradition is +worth something, at all events when it is not too far removed from its +source. If a man whose character for truthfulness stands high, tells me +that his father, also believed to be truthful, seriously informed him +that he had seen a certain thing happen, I should be much more likely to +believe that it was so than if a person, whom I knew to be untruthful, +informed me that he had himself witnessed something at the present day. +The historian is not bound, as the lawyer is, to reject hearsay +evidence, because it is his business to ascertain the truth of +individual assertions, whilst the lawyer has to think of the bearing of +the evidence not merely on the case of the prisoner in the dock, but on +an unrestricted number of possible prisoners, many of whom would be +unjustly condemned if hearsay evidence were admitted. The historian is, +however, bound to remember that evidence grows weaker with each link of +the chain. The injunction, "Always leave a story better than you found +it," is in accordance with the facts of human nature. Each reporter +inevitably accentuates the side of the narrative which strikes his +fancy, and drops some other part which interests him less. The rule laid +down by the late Mr. Spedding, "When a thing is asserted as a fact, +always ask who first reported it, and what means he had of knowing the +truth," is an admirable corrective of loose traditional stories. + +A further test has to be applied by each investigator for himself. When +we have ascertained, as far as possible, on what evidence our knowledge +of an alleged fact rests, we have to consider the inherent probability +of the allegation. Is the statement about it in accordance with the +general workings of human nature, or with the particular working of the +nature of the persons to whom the action in question is ascribed? Father +Gerard,[18] for instance, lavishly employs this test. Again and again he +tells us that such and such a statement is incredible, because, amongst +other reasons, the people about whom it was made could not possibly have +acted in the way ascribed to them. If I say in any of these cases that +it appears to me probable that they did so act, it is merely one +individual opinion against another. There is no mathematical certainty +on either side. All we can respectively do is to set forth the reasons +which incline us to one opinion or another, and leave the matter to +others to judge as they see fit. + +It will be necessary hereafter to deal at length with father Gerard's +attack upon the evidence, hitherto accepted as conclusive, of the facts +of the plot. A short space may be allotted to the reasons for rejecting +his preliminary argument, that it was the opinion of some +contemporaries, and of some who lived in a later generation, that +Salisbury contrived the plot in part, if not altogether. Does he realize +how difficult it is to prove such a thing by any external evidence +whatever? If hearsay evidence can be taken as an argument of +probability, and in some cases of strong probability, it is where some +one material fact is concerned. For instance, I am of opinion that it is +very likely that the story of Cromwell's visit to the body of Charles I +on the night after the king's execution is true, though the evidence is +only that Spence heard it from Pope, and Pope heard it, mediately or +immediately, from Southampton, who, it is alleged, saw the scene with +his own eyes. It is very different when we are concerned with evidence +as to an intention necessarily kept secret, and only exhibited by overt +acts in such form as tampering with documents, suggesting false +explanation of evidence, and so forth. A rumor that Salisbury got up the +plot is absolutely worthless; a rumor that he forged a particular +instrument would be worth examining, because it might have proceeded +from some one who had seen him do it.[19] + +While it is rare to find a man of whom it may justly be said that there +is no partition between his memory and his imagination, yet there are +few of us who can be sure of facts in past matters which touch our +feelings. We cannot help to some degree reconstructing events as they +fade away into the past: we forget those parts of an event which did not +at the time sharply touch our imagination, and those which did move us +take on an overshadowing importance. Therefore the further away the +events which the evidence is to reconstruct, the more care we must take +to scrutinize it to see if there are signs of bias. + +To test the value of direct evidence, therefore, as to single and simple +facts, consider whether the evidence comes from a specifically named +source, whether there is any likelihood that the witness may have been +honestly deceived in his observation, whether he had a good opportunity +to know the facts and a sufficient knowledge of the subject about which +he is giving evidence, and, finally, whether he was reasonably free from +bias in the matter. + +Whenever you use direct evidence, however, it must be direct. To assert +that "every one knows that secret societies in a certain school have led +to immoral practices," is not direct evidence, nor to declare that "the +best authorities in the city are agreed that the company should lay +double tracks on a certain street." Such assertions are apt to be the +most roundabout sort of hearsay. Try cross-examining the next man you +hear make this kind of sweeping assertion, in order to see what he +really knows of the facts, and you will soon find how recklessly such +assertions are made. You constantly hear grave statements of facts whose +ultimate basis is the imagination of some enterprising newspaper +reporter; yet careful and truthful people pass them on as if they were +indubitable. + +The news columns of the papers are largely written by young fellows just +out of high school, who will declare the whole gospel on subjects with +which they have a half hour's acquaintance, yet most people never +question their statements. The printed page, whether of a hook, a +magazine, or a newspaper, casts a spell on our judgment. Such floating +assertions, with no one to father them, are of no value whatever. If you +have to use statements in a newspaper as direct evidence, either take +them from a newspaper which is recognized as careful about facts, or +else look up the matter in two or three papers, and show that their +testimony agrees. + +On the other hand, a specific name, with a specific reference to volume +and page, will go a long way to give your readers confidence in the +evidence you adduce. And rightly so, for one man with a name and address +is worth hundreds of unnamed "highest authorities"; and the more +specifically you refer to him and to his evidence, the more likely you +will be to win over your audience to your view. + +A famous and effective example of the use of specific names to give +authority to an argument, and the incidental refutation of a vague and +loose assertion, is found in Lincoln's address at Cooper Institute, in +the first part of which he took up Senator Douglas's statement that "our +fathers, when they framed the government under which we live, understood +this question just as well as, and even better than, we do now," with +the implication that they intended to forbid the federal government to +control slavery in the federal territories. Lincoln showed that "our +fathers who framed the government under which we live" must be the +makers of the Constitution: and then he proceeded to show just what +action each one of them, so far as record had been preserved, had taken +on the question. Here is a passage from his argument: + +The question of Federal control in the Territories seems not to have +been directly before the convention which framed the original +Constitution; and hence it is not recorded that the "thirty-nine," or +any of them, while engaged on that instrument, expressed any opinion on +that precise question. + +In 1789, by the first Congress which sat under the Constitution, an act +was passed to enforce the ordinance of 1787, including the prohibition +of slavery in the Northwestern Territory. The bill for this act was +reported by one of the "thirty-nine"--Thomas Fitzsimmons, then a member +of the House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. It went through all +its stages without a word of opposition, and finally passed both +branches without ayes and nays, which is equivalent to a unanimous +passage. In this Congress there were sixteen of the thirty-nine fathers +who framed the original Constitution. They were John Langdon, Nicholas +Gilman, William S. Johnson, Roger Sherman, Robert Morris, Thomas +Fitzsimmons, William Few, Abraham Baldwin, Rufus King, William Paterson, +George Clymer, Richard Bassett, George Read, Pierce Butler, Daniel +Carroll, and James Madison. + +This shows that, in their understanding, no line dividing local from +Federal authority, nor anything in the Constitution, properly forbade +Congress to prohibit slavery in the Federal territory; else both their +fidelity to correct principle, and their oath to support the +Constitution, would have constrained them to oppose the prohibition. + +Again, George Washington, another of the "thirty-nine," was then +President of the United States and as such approved and signed the bill, +thus completing its validity as a law, and thus showing that, in his +understanding, no line dividing local from Federal authority, nor +anything in the Constitution, forbade the Federal Government to control +as to slavery in Federal territory. + +No great while after the adoption of the original Constitution, North +Carolina ceded to the Federal Government the country now constituting +the State-of Tennessee; and a few years later Georgia ceded that which +now constitutes the States of Mississippi and Alabama. In both deeds of +cession it was made a condition by the ceding States that the Federal +Government should not prohibit slavery in the ceded country. Besides +this, slavery was then actually in the ceded country. Under these +circumstances, Congress, on taking charge of these countries, did not +absolutely prohibit slavery in them. But they did interfere with +it--take control of it----even there, to a certain extent. In 1798 +Congress organized the Territory of Mississippi. In the act of +organization they prohibited the bringing of slaves into the Territory +from any place without the United States, by fine, and giving freedom to +slaves so brought. This act passed both branches of Congress without +yeas and nays. In that Congress were three of the "thirty-nine" who +framed the original Constitution. They were John Langdon, George Read, +and Abraham Baldwin. They all probably voted for it. Certainly they +would have placed their opposition to it upon record if, in their +understanding, any line dividing local from Federal authority, or +anything in the Constitution, properly forbade the Federal Government to +control as to slavery in Federal territory. + +In the end this exact statement of names, for which he had prepared +himself with such laborious care, enabled Lincoln to sum up with +absolute conclusiveness: + +The cases I have mentioned are the only acts of the "thirty-nine," or of +any of them, upon the direct issue, which I have been able to discover. + +To enumerate the persons who thus acted as being four in 1784, two in +1787, seventeen in 1789, three in 1798, two in 7804, and two in +1819-1820, there would be thirty of them. But this would be counting +John Langdon, Roger Sherman, William Few, Rufus King, and George Read +each twice, and Abraham Baldwin three times. The true number of those of +the "thirty-nine" whom I have shown to have acted upon the question +which, by the text, they understood better than we, is twenty-three, +leaving sixteen not shown to have acted upon it in any way. + +Here, then, we have twenty-three out of our thirty-nine fathers "who +framed the government under which we live," who have, upon their +official responsibility and their corporal oaths, acted upon the very +question which the text affirms they "understood just as well, and even +better, than we do now"; and twenty-one of them--a clear majority of the +whole "thirty-nine"--so acting upon it as to make them guilty of gross +political impropriety and willful perjury if, in their understanding, +any proper division between local and Federal authority, or anything in +the Constitution they had made themselves, and sworn to support, forbade +the Federal Government to control as to slavery in the Federal +territories. Thus the twenty-one acted; and, as actions speak louder +than words, so actions under such responsibility speak still louder. + +When you come to evidence about a large and complex state of affairs, +which is the kind of fact that so many of the arguments of practical +life deal with, though you will still be dealing with a fact, yet the +very nature of the fact changes the value and the character of your +evidence. It is a comparatively simple matter to determine whether a +certain woman faced forward or backward as she was getting off a street +car, or whether the eggs of a sea urchin do or do not begin to germinate +under the influence of a certain chemical substance; but it is far from +simple to determine whether a free elective course has or has not inured +to greater intelligence and cultivation in the graduates of a certain +college, or whether the graduates of another college where the classical +course is maintained have keener and more flexible minds and more +refined tastes as a result of their study of the classics. In such cases +as these the citing of direct evidence brings on you difficulties of a +different kind from those you face when you are establishing a single, +simple fact. Here you will usually depend on two main sources of +evidence: statistics, and the evidence of recognized authorities on the +subject. + +30. Statistics. Statistics, which are collections of figures, are +notoriously treacherous. On many important subjects, such, for example, +as the practical effect of the elective system, it is impossible to get +them; and on many other subjects, such as the effects of a protective +tariff, they must be had in so enormous masses, if they are to be +trusted at all, that only profound students can handle them. Where the +facts are complicated, and interests are tangled, moreover, many sets of +figures may enter into the question, as notably in the case of a tariff; +so clearly is this difficulty now recognized that Congress has +authorized a tariff board made up of distinguished students of economics +and men of long experience in dealing with tariff matters to collect and +study the facts and make recommendations based on them. Similarly, with +the investigation into the liquor question made fifteen years ago by the +Committee of Fifty: the whole question had been so tangled by assertion +and counter-assertion that it became desirable to have an investigation +into the facts by men of recognized ability and impartiality.[20] + +In general, to use statistics safely you need a wide acquaintance with a +subject, especially where the question is in any way mixed up with men's +feelings, whether through politics or not. All the statistics we have +make dead against great armaments and preparation for war; yet while +human nature is what it is, necessary prudence seems to require every +nation of any size to have them. A very little human nature will upset a +very great body of statistics. Furthermore, in most human affairs +results are produced by a multiplicity of causes; and though statistics +may throw light on three quarters of all the causes that are potent in +any given case, yet the other quarter which are irreducible to definite +statement may wholly alter the result. If you are using statistics in +your argument, therefore, as evidence of some large and complex fact, +you should usually justify them to some extent by showing that there are +no counteracting forces which they do not cover. + +With this precaution, however, statistics are the foundation of most +arguments on large questions. If you were arguing in favor of the +purchase of local waterworks, you would present figures showing the +number of houses using the public water supply, the rates paid, the +profits of the company, the exact points at which public control could +work economies. If you were arguing for a rule that no man shall play on +a university team until he has been registered a year at the university, +you would need statistics to show how many men would be affected by the +rule. If you were arguing for a single session at a school instead of +two, you would show exactly how many students in the school live more +than a mile away from the building. In every case where statistics can +be presented in such a way as to make clear that they fairly cover the +ground, they are most valuable evidence. They give the argument the +effect of being founded on a rock. If it be obvious that the statistics +have been freshly gathered, and are not merely casual and second-hand +gleanings, they have still greater effect, for then they have a +secondary force in testifying to the personal knowledge that the witness +has of the subject. We shall see later the danger of the fallacy of +generalizing on too narrow a basis: a generalization based on a good +body of statistics runs no danger of this fallacy. + +31. The Opinion of Recognized Authorities. The other chief source +of evidence to establish a fact which consists of a large and complex +state of affairs is the opinion of recognized authorities on the +subject. The strength of such evidence depends on whether the audience +will accept the person you cite as having authority on the matter. Most +of us read some newspaper or periodical in the opinions of which we have +confidence, because they seem to be based on investigation and competent +knowledge. The annual report of the Secretary of the Treasury is +excellent evidence on the state of the national finances. The reports of +presidents of colleges are excellent evidence from authorities on such +questions as the value of the elective system or the effect of raising +the standard of admission. The report of a dean or of a schoolmaster on +the value of organized athletics is effective if the audience knows that +he likes out-of-door sports and takes time to see the games. Evidence +drawn from an authority who is likely to be used by the other side is +doubly effective, since your readers recognize that his competence is +admitted. + +If a man has given his life to the study of a subject and has published +books that are of recognized authority, his evidence will be of especial +weight. Mr. Bryce's opinion on all questions concerning a state of +affairs in this country would be recognized at once as weighty, for he +has given time and study to collecting the multitude of small facts +which constitute the large fact. His opinion that political honesty is +increasing with us has brought comfort to many good citizens who had +grown despondent over the accounts of recurrent rascality in the +newspapers and magazines. This is a typical case for the citation of +authorities; for the facts are enormous in number, very widely +scattered, and often contradictory. Only a man who has taken the pains +to keep himself constantly informed, whose judgment has been trained by +long consideration and comparison of the facts, and who is born with the +judicial temperament can attain the authority of Mr. Bryce. + +There will be cases on which you will have the right to put yourself +forward as an authority, for on many subjects which fall within the +range of undergraduates their knowledge is first-hand. On all questions +of athletics, especially, an undergraduate is apt to have freshly in +mind a considerable mass of facts. In the same way, on the results of +certain requirements for admission to college, you can speak from recent +experience. In matters concerning your own city, too, you may have +original knowledge. + +If you are going to put yourself forward as an authority, however, you +must round out your knowledge of the facts by extending it beyond your +own personal experience. If it is a question of entrance requirements, +you cannot stop with your own experience, or even with that of your own +class at school. You must go back to the records of a number of classes +before and perhaps after your own, and talk them over with the principal +of the school, to see whether there are any special circumstances which +affect any of them. If you are arguing for or against a change in the +present rules of football, you would have to go beyond the games of your +own college team, and beyond those of the present season. If, for +example, it were a question of amending the rules concerning the forward +pass, you could not speak with full authority unless you had looked up +the accounts of the principal games for two or three years at any rate. +If you put yourself forward, then, as a witness on one of these cases of +complicated facts, you must make it clear to your readers that you have +a right to be considered such. If you have the right, it would be folly +to hide your light under a bushel. + +An example of the care which is taken by men who have made themselves +authorities on their subjects is to be found in the following passage +from President Eliot's address, "A Wider Range of Electives in College +Admission Requirements."[21] Notice how broad a basis he lays for his +conclusions both in facts and in the opinions of other authorities. +What should be the grounds of a just valuation of all the subjects +that can be presented at admission examinations which include +numerous options? + +That question introduces us to a difficult inquiry. It is, of course, +not an intelligent method to attribute a value to each subject in +accordance with the time devoted to the examination in that subject. +What clue have we toward a better mode of determining the value +which ought to be attributed to each of the numerous electives, +when the young men cannot present all the permitted subjects, +and hardly three fifths of them, indeed, if the range is adequately +widened? I believe that the best criterion for determining the value +of each subject is the time devoted to that subject in schools which +have an intelligent program of studies. The Committee of Ten[22] +examined the number of subjects used in about two hundred of the +best secondary schools in this country, and the time-allotments for +the several subjects. They found a great variety of practice as to +both selection of subjects and time-allotments. You can hardly say +that there is an accepted time-allotment in these secondary schools +for any subject--not even for the old traditional subjects. The +time-allotments differ widely in different parts of the country, and +even in different schools in the same part of the country. If, then, +we are to determine by school time-allotments the valuations of the +different subjects, prescribed and elective, which may enter into +admission examinations, we must have some sort of standard programs for +secondary schools. At present (1896) I know no programs which can answer +that purpose, except the provisional programs of the Committee of Ten. +They may fairly be said to be the best-studied programs now before the +country, and to represent the largest amount of professional consent, +simply because they are the result of the work, first, of ninety school +and college teachers, divided into nine different conferences by +subject, and secondly, of ten representative teachers combining and +revising the work of the conferences, with careful reference to the +present condition of American schools. + +32. Indirect Evidence. The term "indirect evidence" may be used for +all evidence as to fact in which reasoning consciously plays a part. +Without it we should be helpless in large regions of our intellectual +life, notably in science and history, and constantly in everyday life. +Clearly the line between direct and indirect evidence is vague and +uncertain; it is one of the first things learned in psychology that our +perceptions and judgments of things about us are almost never based +exclusively on the testimony of our senses, and that we are all the time +jumping to conclusions from very partial observations. + +Professor Münsterberg gives the following example from his own +experience of this unintentional substitution of indirect evidence for +direct: + +Last summer I had to face a jury as witness in a trial. While I was with +my family at the seashore my city house had been burglarized and I was +called upon to give an account of my findings against the culprit whom +they caught with part of the booty. I reported under oath that the +burglars had entered through a cellar window, and then described what +rooms they had visited. To prove, in answer to a direct question, that +they had been there at night, I told that I had found drops of candle +wax on the second floor. To show that they intended, to return, I +reported that they had left a large mantel clock, packed in wrapping +paper, on the dining-room table. Finally, as to the amount of clothes +which they had taken, I asserted that the burglars did not get more than +a specified list which I had given the police. + +Only a few days later I found that every one of these statements was +wrong. They had not entered through the window, but had broken the lock +of the cellar door; the clock was not packed by them in wrapping paper, +but in a tablecloth; the candle droppings were not on the second floor, +but in the attic; the list of lost garments was to be increased by seven +more pieces; and while my story under oath spoke always of two burglars, +I do not know that there was more than one.[23] + +Constantly in everyday life we make offhand assertions in the full +belief that we are giving direct evidence, when as a matter of fact we +are announcing inferences. The distinction is of importance in many +ways, and not least as a means of avoiding heat in argument; for to +question a man's inference is much less likely to make him angry than to +deny his statement of fact. + +For the practical purposes of argument we may let the distinction +between observation and inference, and consequently that between direct +and indirect evidence, turn on whether the inference is a conscious and +readily distinguishable part of the judgment or not. Though bringing to +light an unconscious inference is often an essential part of the +detection of false reasoning, where there is no such practical +consequence, we need not be too curious here about the line between +direct observation and inference from observation. For the rough and +ready purposes of everyday arguments it is exact enough to say that +where you recognize that you are basing your conclusion as to a fact on +some process of reasoning, then you are resting on indirect evidence; +where you do not recognize the inference without reflection, you are +resting on direct evidence. + +In the following discussion of reasoning I shall sometimes be dealing +with proving a fact, sometimes with arguing forward to a policy. In many +cases the two processes are practically identical, for if the fact is +established the policy follows as a matter of course: in these cases, +therefore, for the sake of convenience I shall use the terms +interchangeably, and keep them separate only where there is danger of +confusion. + +33. Reasoning. Though the various forms of reasoning and the +principles which they follow are the concern rather of psychology and +logic than of a practical work on the writing of arguments, yet these +sciences help us to understand the processes of the mind by which we +convince first ourselves, and then other people, of the existence of +facts, when for one reason or another direct testimony is wanting. +Psychology describes the processes of reasoning as part of the activity +of the mind, analyzes them into their parts, and shows their working. +Logic is concerned rather with the forms of reasoning: its aim is to +establish principles and rules the application of which will insure +correct reasoning. + +I shall first briefly and very simply sketch the underlying nature of +the reasoning process as it is described by psychologists; then I shall +pass on to a practical application of the principles thereby attained; +next I shall set forth a few of the simplest and clearest of the +processes of reasoning which have been worked out by logic; and, +finally, I shall discuss each few of the best-recognized forms of false +reasoning. From both the psychological description and the rules of +logic we shall derive practical suggestions for establishing facts +which may be needed in an argument. + +The essential feature of the process of reasoning is that it proceeds +from like to like, by breaking up whole facts and phenomena, +and following out the implications or consequences of one +or more of the parts.[24] For example, if I infer, when my dog +comes out of a barnyard with an apologetic air, and with blood and +feathers on his mouth, that he has been killing a hen, I am breaking +up the whole phenomenon of the dog's appearance, and paying +attention only to the blood and feathers on his head; and +these lead me directly to similar appearances when I have caught +him in the act. If I reason, Every student who can concentrate his +attention can learn quickly, George Marston has a notable power +of concentration, Therefore George Marston can learn quickly, I +again break up the abstraction _student_, and the concrete fact +_George Marston_, and pay attention in each to the single characteristic, +_concentration of attention_. Thus by means of these similar +parts of different wholes I pass from the assertion concerning the +class as a whole to the assertion concerning the concrete case. +This process first of analysis and then of abstraction of similars is +the essential part of every act of reasoning. + +In intuitive or unreasoned judgment, on the other hand, we +jump to the conclusion without analyzing the intermediate steps. +If I say, _I have a feeling in my bones that it will rain to-morrow,_ +or, _it is borne in on me that our team will win_, the sensations and +ideas that I thus lump together are too subtle and too complex for +analysis, and the conclusion, though it may prove sound, is not +arrived at by reasoning. The difference between such intuitive +and unreasoned judgments, and reasoning properly so called, lies +in the absence or the presence of the intermediate step by which +we consciously recognize and choose out some single attribute or +characteristic of the fact or facts we are considering, and pass +from that to other cases in which it occurs. + +The skill of the reasoner therefore consists of two parts: first, the +sagacity to pick out of the complex fact before him, the attribute or +characteristic which is significant for his present purpose; and second, +the large knowledge of the subject which will enable him to follow it +into other cases in which it occurs with different circumstances, or, in +other words, to follow a similarity through diverse cases. Darwin's +great achievement in establishing the principle of evolution lay first +in the scientific sagacity which flashed home on him, after years of +patient study, that the one common fact in all the multitude of plants +and animals is that in the struggle for existence by which all living +beings persist, those who are best fitted to their circumstances +survive; and second, in his rich knowledge of the world of nature, which +made it possible for him to follow out this characteristic in all kinds +of plants and animals, and so to reach the general law. But whether it +be so world-sweeping a conclusion as his, or my conclusion that my dog +has killed a hen, the process is the same: analysis or breaking up of +the complex fact, and following out the consequences or implications of +some selected part of it into other cases. + +All reasoning thus reduces itself in the end to a process of passing +from like to like: we notice that the present case is like other cases +which we already know: then, since these cases have always in the past +been accompanied by certain circumstances or consequences, we believe +that the present case will also show these same circumstances or +consequences. Whenever my dog has killed when the cases have been +similar in the blood and feathers on his mouth; in this case he has +blood and feathers on his mouth; therefore he must have killed a hen. +Individual plants and animals survive which are fitted to their +environment by special characteristics, and those which are not so +fitted die; species of plants and animals, as well as individuals, show +special adaptation to their environment; therefore species have survived +through the same process of natural selection. + +It follows that reasoning, whether it results in a general law or in +concrete judgment, depends on the assumption that nature--and in nature +we mean here the whole universe as we know it is uniform; that there are +ties between facts which make it possible for us to be certain that if a +given fact occurs, then another fact always occurs with it as an effect, +or as a cause, or connected with it in some other manner. Without this +certainty of the uniformity of things there would be no reasoning, and +therefore no argument from indirect evidence. Huxley sets forth this +fundamental truth clearly and impressively at the beginning of the first +of his "Lectures on Evolution" (see p. 234). + +For practical purposes the various types of this inference from +similarity can be conveniently thrown into three groups. As will be +obvious, there is no fixed and impassable line between them. + +"If an inference relies upon a resemblance that is newly seen, rare, or +doubtful, it is called an inference from analogy; if it is made upon the +basis of an established classification, it is called a generalization; +if it involves a variety of resemblances so combined as to bear upon a +single point, it is usually or frequently called an inference from +circumstantial evidence."[25] + +I will take up each of these types and show how we use them in the +practical work of argument. It will be seen that they vary greatly in +certainty of results. + +34. Reasoning from Analogy. Analogy in its most tenuous form is +weak as a basis for an actual inference, though it is often effective as +a means of expressing an intuitive judgment where the reasons are too +subtle and diffused for formal explanation. When Lincoln in the middle +of the Civil War said that men do not swap horses while they are +crossing a stream, the analog, though subtle, was felt to be real. +Popular adages and proverbs are common modes of expressing such +deep-lying analogies: for example, "Where there is smoke there is fire"; +"The slothful man saith, There is a lion in the way." Poetry too is full +of these subtle, pregnant similarities which link things in some one +aspect, but fail for all others. + + To die; to sleep; + No more; and by a sleep to say we end + The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks + That flesh is heir to. 'Tis a consummation + Devoutly to be wish'd. To die; to sleep;-- + To sleep? Perchance to dream! Ay, there's the rub; + For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, + When we have shuffl'd off this mortal coil, + Must give us pause. + +But, as in this case of Hamlet's, poetical analogies will not bear much +strain; the aspect in which the similarity holds is usually the only +aspect the two cases have in common, and to take poetry as a precise +formulation of fact is to sin against both humor and sound reasoning. + +In daily life we are constantly reasoning by analogy. If you argue that +a certain man who has been successful at the head of a railroad will +therefore make a good president for a college because that also is a +complex institution, or that because self-government has worked well in +a certain school it will probably work well in a college, or that +because a friend has been cured of sleeplessness by taking a walk just +before going to bed therefore everybody who sleeps badly can be cured in +the same way,--in all these cases you are reasoning by analogy. In each +case it will be noticed you would pass from a similarity which exists in +a single case or in a small number of cases to the conclusion. The +reasoning is sound, however, only in so far as the similarity bears on +the actual purpose in hand: in the first example, if the success of the +railroad president arises from the power of understanding men and of +philosophic insight into large problems, the reasoning will probably be +valid; in the last example, if applied to insomnia due to overwork, it +might be bad. + +In practical affairs it is easy to find examples of reasoning from +analogy, especially in arguments of policy. The first trial of city +government by commission depended on such reasoning: when Galveston, +Texas, was devastated by a storm it was reasoned that in business +matters a small body of picked men with absolute powers are most +efficient in an emergency, and that since the reconstruction of the city +was essentially a matter of business, such a body would best meet the +emergency. So the extension of commission government in other states at +first followed reasoning by analogy: government by commission worked +well in Galveston; it would probably work well in Des Moines. In the +same way with the arguments for a parcels post: they proceed from the +analogy of the present postal service, which has been successful so far +as it goes, and from the success of the parcels post in almost all the +countries of Europe. If you were arguing that "Association" (or +"soccer") football should be made one of the major sports at your +college, you would reason from the analogy of its great popularity with +Englishmen all over the world that it would also probably be popular in +America. + +When you use the argument from analogy, however, you must make sure that +the similarity between the two cases runs to the point you wish to +establish. In the following extract from an argument in favor of +commission government for all cities, the author explicitly limits his +reasoning from the analogy of Washington to the point of the extension +of the system to large cities. + +If we look for successful governments by commission in this +country, it is not difficult to find them in our largest cities. The +city of Washington is governed by a small commission, and is +acknowledged to be one of our best-governed cities. While this +commission originated in an entirely different way from that of the +commission form of government, successful administration under its rule +is a valid answer to the argument that small commissions are suited only +to the administration of small cities.[26] + +Whenever you use this type of reasoning, it is wise thus to limit its +bearing. If in an argument in favor of allowing secret societies in a +high school you rely on the analogy of college life, take pains to show +that the resemblance covers the social life of a school. If you were +arguing that your city should establish a municipal gymnasium, and +relied on the reasoning from the analogy of a family, in which all the +members have a direct interest in the health of the others, show that +this interest has practical grounds of welfare, and does not rest wholly +on affection. In every case, unless the limits of the analogy are +obvious, specify them in order to carry your readers safely with you. + +35. False Analogy. A peculiar danger of the argument from analogy +is the fallacy which is known as false analogy, or reasoning to a +conclusion which the similarity does not support. Arguments in which +there are many figures of speech, especially when the style is at all +florid, are apt to slop over into this fallacy. To liken education to +the unfolding of a flower is all very well, if you do not go on to argue +that because the lily of the field neither toils nor spins, therefore a +child should do no work in school. It is said that M. Stolypin, the +late premier of Russia, once half apologized In the Duma for the +slowness of his reforms, saying that he Was like a man shooting with a +flintlock musket; to which one of the Liberal members replied that it +was not a question of weapons, but of aim, and that if his Excellency +was to go on shooting at the people, it would be better if he went on +using flintlocks. Under the auspices of the Carnegie Institution an +expert in business administration made an inquiry into the methods of +teaching and research in physics at various American universities, and +made recommendations based on the conduct of business establishments. A +professor of physics in answer showed in how many ways the analogy +between a business concern, whose end is profit, and a physical +laboratory, whose end is the advancement of knowledge, is false and +misleading. The expert had suggested a general research board to +correlate researches; the professor cited the cases of Airy, the +astronomer royal of England, who by his dominating position held back +astronomical research in England for a generation, and of Sir Humphry +Davy, who discouraged the work of Faraday, when the latter was his +assistant. + +The expert suggested that apparatus could be passed on from +one investigator to another: the professor replied that few men can use +apparatus designed for some one else's purpose, and that the cost of +reconstruction would exceed the cost of new machines. In short, he +completely riddled the argument from analogy set up by the expert.[27] + +A notable example of conclusive refutation of an argument based on a +false analogy is to be found in William James's Ingersoll Lecture on +Immortality. He took up the ordinary argument against the immortality of +the soul, which, starting from the accepted physiological and +psychological formula, "Thought is a function of the brain," reasons +that therefore when the brain dies and decays, thought and consciousness +die, too. + +This, then, is the objection to immortality; and the next thing in +order for me is to try to make plain to you why I believe that it has in +strict logic no deterrent power. I must show you that the fatal +consequence is not coercive, as is commonly imagined; and that, even +though our soul's life (as here below it is revealed to us) may be in +literal strictness the function of a brain that perishes, yet it is not +at all impossible, but on the contrary quite possible, that the life may +still continue when the brain itself is dead. + +The supposed impossibility of its continuing comes from too superficial +a look at the admitted fact of functional dependence. The moment we +inquire more closely into the notion of functional dependence, and ask +ourselves, for example, how many kinds of functional dependence there +may be, we immediately perceive that there is one kind at least that +does not exclude a life hereafter at all. The fatal conclusion of the +physiologist flows from his assuming offhand another kind of functional +dependence, and treating it as the only imaginable kind. + +When the physiologist who thinks that his science cuts off all hope of +immortality pronounces the phrase, "Thought is a function of the brain," +he thinks of the matter just as he thinks when he says, "Steam is a +function of the teakettle," "Light is a function of the electric +circuit," "Power is a function of the moving waterfall." In these latter +cases the several material objects have the function of inwardly +creating or engendering their effects, and their function must be called +_productive_ function. Just so, he thinks, it must be with the brain. +Engendering consciousness in its interior, much as it engenders +cholesterin and creatin and carbonic acid, its relation to our soul's +life must also be called productive function. Of course, if such +production be the function, then when the organ perishes, since the +production can no longer continue, the soul must surely die. Such a +conclusion as this is indeed inevitable from that particular conception +of the facts. + +Rut in the world of physical nature productive function of this sort is +not the only kind of function with which we are familiar. We have also +releasing or permissive function; and we have transmissive function. + +The trigger of a crossbow has a releasing function: it removes the +obstacle that holds the string, and lets the bow fly back to its natural +shape. So when the hammer falls upon a detonating compound. By knocking +out the inner molecular obstructions, it lets the constituent gases +resume their normal bulk, and so permits the explosion to take place. + +In the case of a colored glass, a prism, or a refracting lens, we have +transmissive function. The energy of the light, no matter how produced, +is by the glass sifted and limited in color, and by the lens or prism +determined to a certain path and shape. Similarly, the keys of an organ +have only a transmissive function. They open successively the various +pipes and let the wind in the air chest escape in various ways. The +voices of the various pipes are constituted by the columns of air +trembling as they emerge. But the air is not engendered in the organ. +The organ proper, as distinguished from its air chest, is only an +apparatus for letting portions of It loose upon the world in these +peculiarly limited shapes. + +My thesis now is this: that, when we think of the law that thought is a +function of the brain, we are not required to think of productive +function only; _we are entitled also to consider permissive or +transmissive function_. And this the ordinary psychophysiologist leaves +out of account.[28] + +The question of the validity of an analogy in reasoning is always, as +here, whether the similarity on which the reasoning rests really runs +between the two cases in hand, or is not merely a general resemblance +expressed by some phrase or word which seems to mean more than it does. +In other words, when you are testing an analogy, whether your own or an +opponent's, make sure that the similarity is real for the present case. +A picturesque figure of speech may add life to an argument, but it may +also cover a gap in the reasoning. + +36. Reasoning by Classification or Generalization. Obviously the +strength of reasoning from analogy increases with the number of cases +which you can point to as showing the similarity on which you rely, for +you can then begin to generalize and classify. + +Analogy expresses our natural tendency to assimilate the new to the old, +to interpret what is strange and unfamiliar in the light of what we +already know. It may therefore be described as classification in the +making. The resemblances which guide us are called analogies so long as +they are newly seen, rare, or doubtful; but as the number of cases +increases, analogy passes by insensible stages into established +classification.[29] + +An excellent example of this transition may be seen in the present state +of the argument in favor of commission government: at first, as we have +seen, it depended chiefly on reasoning from analogy; by this time enough +cities have adopted the plan to make it possible to classify them, and +so reason by generalization. + +Generalization and classification, it may be noted in passing, are two +aspects of the same process of thought. When one passes from the +individual facts to the larger fact which brings them together, as in +the assertion, _Members of the Phi Beta Kappa are good scholars_, one +makes a generalization; when one asserts of an individual the larger +fact, as in the assertion, My _brother is a good scholar_ (My _brother +belongs to the class Good Scholars_), one makes a classification. + +When a classification or generalization is constant and familiar, it +brings forth, by the natural economy of language, a name for the class +or the principle; "federation," "deciduous trees," "emotion," "terminal +moraine," are all names of classes; "attraction of gravity," "erosion," +"degeneration," "natural selection," are names of principles which sum +up acts of generalization. Almost always these names begin as figures of +speech, but where they are used accurately they have a perfectly exact +meaning. Darwin has given some account of this process of language: + +"It has been said that I speak of natural selection as an active power +or deity, but who objects to an author speaking of the attraction of +gravity as ruling the movements of planets? Every one knows what is +meant by such metaphorical expressions, and they are almost necessary +for brevity: so, again, it is difficult to avoid personifying the word +'Nature.' But I mean by Nature the aggregate action and product of many +laws, and by laws the sequence of events as ascertained by us."[30] + +When the facts intended to be meant by a phrase are thus carefully +specified and delimited, the phrase ceases to be a figure of speech, and +becomes the name of a class or of a principle. + +Generalization and classification always take place for purposes of +reasoning;[31] and reasoning which is dependent on them rests on the +assumption that things are uniformly correlated in nature; when we +throw things together into classes we assume that what is true for one +member of a class, so far as it is a member of that class, is true to +the same extent and for the purpose for which the class is made for all +other members of that class. + +In practice a large part of our reasoning is through generalization and +classification; and as we have seen, it has a more substantial basis +than when we rest on an analogy. If you hear that your brother has been +elected to the Phi Beta Kappa, you reason from the generalization that +all members of the Phi Beta Kappa are high scholars to the inference +that your brother must have taken high rank. When I see a gang of +carpenters knocking off work at four o'clock in the afternoon, I infer +that they must belong to the union, because I know that unions as a +class have established an eight-hour day. If you were arguing that the +standards for graduation from your college should be raised, you would +try to show that each year enough men are graduated with low +intellectual attainments to make a class large enough to generalize +from. If you were arguing that your city should establish a municipal +gymnasium, you would try to show that of the boys and young men brought +before the police courts for petty mischief and more serious offenses +almost all have lacked the chance to work off their animal spirits in a +healthy way. Wherever you can thus establish your special case in a +class which has known characteristics or consequences, you can then +apply the characteristics and consequences of the class to your special +case. + +Where the class is recognized as having definite characteristics or +consequences, you can make your inference by showing that your case +falls within the class. Sometimes the stress of your reasoning will come +on making it clear that the consequence or characteristic on which your +reasoning depends really belongs to the class. If, for example, you were +arguing, as did the Class of '85 at Amherst College, that your college +should return to something like the old-fashioned classical education, +you would try to establish the fact that men who have had the +old-fashioned classical education are as a rule characterized by +intelligence, liberal culture, and open-mindedness. In such cases it is +the generalization on which the class is based which is the difficult +part of your task. + +In general, however, if you can show your readers that the present case +belongs in a class of cases which can be recognized as belonging +together by virtue of definable characteristics, you have established an +excellent foundation for an inference based on those characteristics. + +37. Reasoning by Causal Relation. Reasoning by generalization rises +greatly in certainty, however, whenever you can show the workings of +cause and effect. If a college receives every year from a certain school +a number of boys who are slack and lazy students, the dean of that +college may come to generalize and expect most of the boys from that +school to be poor timber. If, however, he finds that the master of the +school will take and keep any boy who lives in the town, he is able to +argue from this as a cause to the conclusion that the standards of the +school are low, and then from these low standards as a cause to the poor +quality of the graduates of the school. + +Here is another example, from Professor James: + + I am sitting in a railroad car, waiting for the train to start. It + is winter, and the stove fills the car with pungent smoke. The + brakeman enters, and my neighbor asks him to "stop that stove + smoking." He replies that it will stop entirely as soon as the car + begins to move. "Why so?" asks the passenger. "It _always_ does," + replies the brakeman. It is evident from this "always" that the + connection between car moving and smoke stopping was a purely + empirical one in the brakeman's mind, bred of habit. But if the + passenger had been an acute reasoner ... [and had] singled out of + all the numerous points involved in a stove's not smoking the one + special point of smoke pouring freely out of the stove-pipe's mouth, + he would probably ... have been immediately reminded of the law that + a fluid passes more rapidly out of a pipe's mouth if another fluid + be at the same time streaming over that mouth.[32] + +Here the passenger's certainty that the smoking would stop would have +been much increased if he had, as Professor James suggests, reasoned to +the cause, instead of trusting to the brakeman's generalization from +experience. + +In scientific matters search for cause and effect the chief mode of +progress. General Sternberg's article "Yellow Fever and Mosquitoes" +(p. 251) is an admirable account of this advance from probability to +certainty, which comes from demonstrating the necessary sequence which +we call cause and effect. When Major Reed and his associates had shown +that in cases where mosquitoes were kept away there was no yellow fever, +but that in cases where infected mosquitoes were allowed to bite +patients yellow fever followed, they turned the probability that +mosquitoes were the transmitting agent of the fever into a certainty. +Likewise with the glacial theory: it had already in the time of the +elder Professor Agassiz been established that certain regions of +northern Europe and America could be classed together by the occurrence +of certain phenomena--rounded hills, ledges of rock smoothed off and +marked with scratches running more or less north and south, deposits of +clean gravel and sand, boulders of various foreign kinds of rock +scattered over the surface of the country; when he showed that glaciers +in their movements produce all these phenomena, he laid bare the cause +of the phenomena, and so demonstrated with practical certainty the +theory of the former existence of a huge glacial sheet in the northern +hemisphere. Wherever you can show that your case not only belongs to a +recognized class of cases, with recognized characteristics, but also +that in those characteristics there is a necessary sequence of cause and +effect, you have proved your point. + +In the example above, of an argument for the establishment of a +municipal gymnasium, if after showing that all the boys and young men +who get into the courts have no normal and healthy way of working off +their natural animal spirits, you can show that in places where through +settlements or municipal action gymnasiums have been provided, the +number of arrests of boys and young men has greatly fallen off, you have +established the grounds for an inference of cause and effect which gives +your argument a wholly new strength. In the case of the argument for a +return to a classical course in a college, this sequence of cause and +effect would be very difficult to establish, for here you would be deep +down in the most complex and subtle region of human nature. Wherever it +is possible, however, lead the inference from a classification or +generalization on to an inference of cause and effect. + +38. Induction and Deduction. Our next step is to consider how we +get the generalizations on which we base so much of our reasoning. As we +have seen, the science which deals with the making of them, with their +basis, and with the rules which govern inferences made from them is +logic. + +Logicians generally distinguish between two branches of their science, +inductive and deductive reasoning. In inductive reasoning we pass from +individual facts to general principles; in deductive reasoning we pass +from general principles to conclusions about individual facts. The +distinction, however, draws less interest in recent times than formerly, +and logicians of the present generation tend to doubt whether it has any +vital significance.[33] They point out that in practice we +intermingle the two kinds almost inextricably, that the distinction +between facts and principles is temporary and shifting, and that we +cannot fit some of the common forms of inference into these categories +without difficult and complicated restatement. + +Nevertheless, as deductive logic and inductive logic are ancient and +time-honored terms which have become a part of the vocabulary of +educated men, it is worth while to take some note of the distinction +between them, I shall not attempt here to do more than to explain a few +of the more important principles. I shall begin with inductive logic, +since that is the branch which deals with the making of generalizations +from individual fact, and therefore that which has most concern in the +arguments of the average man in his passage through life. + +39. Inductive Reasoning. In inductive reasoning we put individual +facts and cases together into a class on the basis of some definable +similarity, and then infer from them a general principle. The types of +inductive reasoning have been reduced by logicians to certain canons, +but these reduce themselves to two main methods, which depend on whether +in a given piece of reasoning we start from the likeness between the +instances or the differences between them. On these two methods, the +method of agreement and the method of difference, hang all the processes +of modern science, and most of our everyday arguments. + +The method of agreement has been defined as follows: + +If two or more instances of the phenomenon under investigation have +only one circumstance in common, the circumstance in which alone all the +instances agree is the cause (or effect) of the given phenomenon.[34] + +A few examples, which might easily be multiplied, will show how +constantly we use this method in everyday life. Suppose that a teacher +is annoyed at somewhat irregular intervals by whispering and laughing in +the back of the schoolroom, for which he can find no cause, but that +presently he notices that whenever a certain pair of boys sit together +there the trouble begins; he infers that these two boys are the cause of +the trouble. + +In the old days before it had been discovered that the germs of malaria +are carried by mosquitoes, the disease was ascribed to a miasma which +floated over low ground at night; and the innkeepers of the Roman +Campagna, where malaria had almost driven out the population, urged +their guests never to leave their windows open at night, for fear of +letting in the miasma. In the lights of those days this was good +reasoning by the method of agreement, for it was common observation that +of all the many kinds of people who slept with their windows open most +had malaria. We are constantly using this method in cases of this sort, +where from observation we are sure that a single cause is at work under +diverse circumstances. If the cases are numerous enough and diverse +enough, we arrive at a safe degree of certainty for practical purposes. +As the case just cited shows, however, the method does not establish a +cause with great certainty. No matter how many cases we gather, if a +whole new field related to the subject happens to be opened up, the +agreement may be shattered. + +The method of difference, which in some cases does establish causes with +as great certainty as is possible for human fallibility, works in the +opposite way: instead of collecting a large number of cases and noting +the single point of agreement, it takes a single case and varies a +single one of its elements. The method has been stated as follows: + +If an instance in which the phenomenon occurs, and an instance in which +it does not occur, have every circumstance in common save one, that one +occurring only in the former; the circumstance in which alone the two +instances differ, is the effect, or the cause, or an indispensable part +of the cause, of the phenomenon.[35] + +The principle is clearer and more apprehensible in the concrete example +than in the abstract statement; as a matter of fact it is applied in +every experimental search for a cause. The Agricultural College of New +York, for example, in the course of certain experiments on apple +orchards, bought an orchard which had not been yielding well, and +divided it into halves; one half was then kept plowed and cultivated, +the other half was left in grass; otherwise the treatment was the same. +When the half which was kept cultivated gave a much larger yield than +the other, it was safe to infer that the cultivation was the cause of +the heavier yield. Dr. Ehrlich, the great German pathologist, is said to +have tried six hundred and five different substances before he found one +which would kill the germ of a certain disease; in each experiment he +was using the method of difference, keeping the conditions the same in +all except a single point, which was the addition of the substance used +in that particular experiment. Wherever the conditions of an experiment +can be thus controlled, the method of difference gives a very accurate +way of discovering causes. With advancing knowledge a supposed cause may +be in turn analyzed in such a way that each of its parts can be +separately varied, in order to come more closely to the actual sequence +involved. + +It has been pointed out[36] that the two methods are really statements +of what is required for the verification of a theory at two stages of +its growth: when we are first getting a glimpse of a causal connection +between two facts we collect all the cases in which they occur in as +much variety as possible, to see if the connection is really universal; +then, having established the universal sequence, we come to close +quarters with it in a single critical instance, varying the conditions +singly until we run down the one without which the effect cannot take +place. + +No neater and more illuminating example of this relation between the two +methods and the successful working of them can be found than that in the +article by General Steinberg, "Yellow Fever and Mosquitoes" (p. 251). +In that case first Dr. Carlos Finlay of Havana, and then Dr. Sternberg +himself, had become convinced by comparing many cases of yellow fever +that there was some intermediate host for the bacillus that caused the +disease. This conclusion they reached through the method of agreement. +Dr. Finlay's experiments by the method of difference had failed, +however, indisputably to establish the cause, since he did not see that +it was necessary to allow the bacillus at least twelve days for +incubation in the body of the mosquito. The final and definitive proof, +which came through the splendid self-devotion of the surgeons in charge +of the experiment and of certain enlisted men who volunteered to be made +the subject of the experiment, was by the method of difference. These +brave men allowed themselves to be exposed to mosquitoes which had +already bitten patients suffering from the fever, and they promptly came +down with the disease; one of them, Dr. Lazear, gave his life for his +devotion to the cause of his fellow men. Then other men were exposed in +a mosquito-proof room to clothes and other articles brought directly +from yellow-fever patients, and showed no ill effects. Thus it was +absolutely proved, though the bacillus itself had not been found, that +yellow fever is carried by mosquitoes, and is not carried by ordinary +contagion. + +The unsuccessful experiments of Dr. Finlay and the later success of +Major Reed show how science advances by refinement of analysis in the +use of the method. The hypothesis on which the former worked was that +all mosquitoes who had bitten a yellow-fever patient can carry the +disease. Dr. Reed and his associates analyzed the phenomenon more +closely and tried their experiments on the hypothesis that only +mosquitoes who have lived twelve days after biting the patient are +capable of passing on the disease. This refinement of analysis and +observation is the chief mode of advance in the sciences which depend on +experiment. + +Scientific arguments, therefore, make constant use of both methods. +Medical research frequently begins with the gathering of statistics from +reported cases, and the theory or theories suggested by the method of +agreement working on these facts leads to the application of the method +of difference through some series of critical experiments. In general +the conclusions of science where experiment cannot be used depend on the +method of agreement, especially in the larger theories in biology and +geology, where the lapse of unnumbered centuries is necessary to bring +about changes. In physics, in chemistry, in medicine, on the other hand, +critical experiments are generally possible, and so progress is by the +method of difference. In such subjects as political science and +government, where experiment is out of the question, one must depend +chiefly on the method of agreement, except in such cases as will be +mentioned below where a change in policy has the same effect as an +experiment. Here, however, one must not forget that in all matters human +the incalculable clement of human nature enters to complicate all +results, and that emotion and feeling are always irrational. + +It is by the same processes that we get most of our explanations of the +world as we go through it, and most of the facts on which we base +judgment and action. When the same sort of thing happens in a number of +fairly different cases, we begin to suspect that there is a reason; and +if we are going to make an argument on the subject, we take note of the +cases and try in some way to arrange and tabulate them. The supporters +of a protective tariff collect instances of prosperity under such a +tariff, the supporters of free trade cases of prosperity under free +trade, the believers in the classical education cases of men trained in +that way who have attained to eminence, believers in the elective system +cases of men who are the products of that system who have attained equal +eminence. In most cases such collection of instances does not carry you +far toward a coercive argument; the cases are too complex for you to +assert that any one factor is the cause of the result. + +In another kind of case you can come a little nearer. In an argument for +the establishment of a commission form of government in a given city or +town there are now enough cases of this type of government in practice +to make possible a good argument by the method of agreement; the places +are scattered over the country, north and south, east and west, and +range greatly in size and environments; and all of them so far (1911) +report improvement in efficiency and honesty of government. Accordingly +it is a fair presumption that the improvement is due to the introduction +of the new form of government, since in all other respects the places +which have tried it have little in common. + +A more important result of the inquiry is to lead us on to an +application of the method of difference. Starting with this strong +probability that the improvement is due to the new form of government, +we can go a step further and examine a single case, in order to +establish more clearly the sequence of events which we call a cause. In +the case of any given town which has adopted the commission government +the material for the application of the method of difference is ready to +our hands, if nothing else has been changed in the town but the form of +government. The inhabitants and the voters are the same, the physical +conditions are the same. If now we seek for the cause of an admitted +improvement in the administration of the city affairs, we are driven to +ascribe it to the only factor in the case which has been changed, and +this is the form of government. Such an argument, if supported by +figures and specific facts, is obviously strong. + +The same kind of argument is constantly used in the discussion of +prohibition and local option as a means of reducing the amount of liquor +consumed in a community, for the frequent changes both in states and in +smaller communities provide material for the application of the same +method of difference. Here, however, the factors are more complex, on +account of differences in the character of the population in different +places, and their inherited habits as concerns the use of wine, beer, +and other liquors. + +40. Faulty Generalization. Both generalization through the method +of agreement, and the assignment of causes through the method of +difference, however, have their dangers, like all forms of reasoning. A +discussion of these dangers will throw light on the processes +themselves. + +The chief danger when you reason through the method of agreement is of +jumping to a conclusion too soon, and before you have collected enough +cases for a safe conclusion. This is to commit the fallacy known as +hasty generalization. It is the error committed by the dogmatic sort of +globetrotter, who after six weeks spent in Swiss-managed hotels in Italy +will supply you with a full set of opinions on the government, morals, +and customs of the country. In a less crass form it affects the judgment +of most Englishmen who write books about this country, for they come +over with letters of introduction to New York, Boston, Chicago, and San +Francisco, and then generalize about the rest of the country and its +population. + +We are all in danger from the fallacy, however, for it is a necessary +law of the mind that we shall begin to make opinions and judgments on a +subject as soon as we become acquainted with it. The only safeguards +are, in the first place, to keep these preliminary judgments tentative +and fluid, and in the second, to keep them to one's self until there is +some need of expressing them. The path to wisdom in action is through +open-mindedness and caution. + +When one has to refute an argument in which there is faulty +generalization, it is often easy to point out that its author had no +sufficient time or chance to make observations, or to point out that the +instances on which he relied are not fair examples of their class. In +practice the strength of an argument in which this error is to be found +lies largely in the positiveness with which it is pronounced; for it is +human nature to accept opinions which have an outward appearance of +certainty. + +A not uncommon form of faulty generalization is to base an argument on a +mere enumeration of similar cases. This is a poor foundation for an +argument, especially for a probability in the future, unless the +enumeration approaches an exhaustive list of all possible cases. To have +reasoned a few years ago that because Yale had beaten Harvard at rowing +almost every year for fifteen years it had a permanent superiority in +the strength and skill of its oarsmen would have been dangerous, for +when the years before the given period were looked up they would have +shown results the other way. And an enumeration may run through a very +long period of time, and still in the end be upset. + +To an inhabitant of Central Africa fifty years ago, no fact probably +appeared to rest on more uniform experience than this, that all human +beings are black. To Europeans not many years ago, the proposition, 'All +swans are white,' appeared an equally unequivocal instance of uniformity +in the course of nature. Further experience has proved to both that they +were mistaken; but they had to wait fifty centuries for this experience. +During that long time, mankind believed in an uniformity of the course +of nature where no such uniformity really existed.[37] + +Unless you have so wide and complete a view of your subject that you can +practically insure your enumeration as exhaustive, it is not safe to +reason that because a thing has always happened so in the past, it will +always happen so in the future. The notorious difficulty of proving a +negative goes back to this principle. + +So closely like hasty generalization that it cannot be clearly separated +from it is faulty reasoning that arises from neglecting exceptions to a +general principle. All our generalizations, except those that are so +near truisms as to be barren of interest, are more or less rough and +ready, and the process of refining them is a process of finding +exceptions and restating the principle so that it will meet the case of +the exceptions. + +Darwin is said to have had "the power of never letting exceptions pass +unnoticed. Every one notices a fact as an exception when it is striking +or frequent, but he had a special instinct for arresting an +exception."[38] It was this instinct which made him so cautious and +therefore so sure in the statement of his hypotheses: after the idea of +natural selection as an explanation of the origin of the species of the +natural world had occurred to him, he spent twenty years collecting +further facts and verifying observations to test the theory before he +gave it to the world. A generalization that the republican form of +government produces greater peace and prosperity than the monarchical +would neglect the obvious exceptions in the Central American republics; +and to make it at all tenable the generalization would have to have some +such proviso as, "among peoples of Germanic race." Even then the +exceptions would be more numerous than the cases which would fall within +the rule.[39] One must cultivate respect for facts in making theories: a +theory should always be held so tentatively that any new or unnoticed +facts can have their due influence in altering it. + +Of the errors in reasoning about a cause none is more common than that +known by the older logic as _post hoc, ergo propter hoc_ (after this, +therefore on account of it), or more briefly, the _post hoc_ fallacy. +All of us who have a pet remedy for a cold probably commit this fallacy +two times out of three when we declare that our quinine or rhinitis or +camphor pill has cured us; for as a wise old doctor of two generations +ago declared, and as the new doctrines of medical research are making +clear, in nine cases out of ten nature cures. + +Of the same character are the common superstitions of daily life, for +example, that if thirteen sit at table together one will die within the +year, or that crossing a funeral procession brings misfortune. Where +such superstitions are more than playfully held, they are gross cases of +calling that a cause which has no relation to the event. Here is another +example, from a letter to _The Nation:_[40] + +In the last volume of the Shakespeare controversy, the argument +presented "To the Reader" seems fairly to be summarized as follows: The +plays are recognized as wonderful; scholars are amazed at the knowledge +of the classes in them, lawyers at the law, travelers at the minute +accuracy of the descriptions of foreign cities; they show a keen critic +of court etiquette and French soldiery; the only possible man of the +time with this encyclopedic outlook was Francis Bacon. Both in the +original and in the summary there seems a _casual_ connection implied, +namely, that the plays are wonderful because of the knowledge, and +because of the knowledge Bacon is the author. But, stated thus baldly, +the fallacy is obvious. It is not because the author "had by study +obtained nearly all the learning that could be gained from books" that +the Elizabethans went to see the plays, or that we to-day read them; but +it is because there is to be found in them wonderful characterization +expressed dramatically, namely, before an audience. And this audience is +what the scholars seem to forget. For by it is the dramatist limited, +since profundity of thought or skill in allusion is good or bad, +artistically, exactly in proportion as the thought is comprehended or +the allusion understood. + +Sometimes this fallacy is caused by assuming that because a certain +result followed an event in the only case known, therefore there was a +causal connection. In a hearing before a committee of the Massachusetts +legislature on a bill to establish closer relations between Boston and +its suburbs, the question was asked of a witness whether he believed +that in the case of London "the London police would have been as +efficient as they are now if there had been no annexation" of the +surrounding towns; he very properly replied: "That's a hard question to +answer, because we have only the existing side to look at. We don't know +what it would have been as separate communities." Wherever multiple +causes are possible for a phenomenon it is unsafe to argue from a single +case. + +Another form of error in reasoning to a cause is to assume that a fact +is simple, when it is really complex, as in the following example: + +I do not think I am overstepping the bounds when I say that the headship +of no corporation, or state, or even the headship of the United States, +requires greater general ability, force of character, or knowledge of +administration than the head of administration of a great city like New +York or Berlin. The latter we know to be well administered, the +former--well, let us say, less so. The whole difference is in the +systems. Apply the Berlin system to New York, and you will get Berlin +results. + +Here the writer wholly ignores all sorts of active causes for this +difference: Berlin has a tolerably homogeneous population, New York the +most heterogeneous in the world; Germans by nature respect law and +authority, and hanker for centralization; Americans make and break laws +light-heartedly, and are restive under authority; and one might easily +go further. + +Arguments that national prosperity has followed a higher or a lower +tariff are especially apt to be vitiated by this error. It is not that +the tariff has no relation to the prosperity, but that there are other +causes intermingled with it which may have had more immediate effect. A +bad grain crop or a season of reckless speculation may obliterate all +the traceable causes of a change in the tariff. Arguments from motive, +too, are apt to fall into this error. It is notorious that human motives +are mixed. If you argue that a whole class of business organizations are +evil because they have been formed solely for the purpose of making +inordinate and oppressive profits, you leave out of sight a motive which +is strong among American business men--the interest in seeing a great +business more efficiently managed, and the desire to exercise power +beneficently; and your argument suffers from its illegitimate assumption +of a simple cause. So in the same way if you are arguing for or against +the advantages of the elective system in a school or a college, or of a +classical education, or of athletics, it would be folly to assume that +any one cause or effect covered the whole case. Whenever in an argument +you are trying to establish any such large and complex fact, you must be +wary lest you thus assume a single cause where in reality there are a +legion of causes. + +41. Deductive Logic--the Syllogism. Deductive logic, as we have seen, +deals with reasoning which passes from general principles to individual +cases. Its typical form is the syllogism, in which we pass from two +propositions which are given to a third, the conclusion. Of the two +former one is a general principle, the other an assertion of a +particular case. The classic example of the syllogism, which started +with Aristotle and has grown hoary with repetition, and so venerable +that it is one of the commonplaces of educated speech, runs as follows: +_All men are mortal, Socrates is a man, Therefore Socrates is mortal_. +Here there is the general principle, _All men are mortal_, and the +assertion about the particular case, _Socrates is a man_. The two have +one term in common, _men_ (or more strictly, the class Man), which is +known as the middle term, through which we reach the conclusion that the +characteristic of mortality in which all men are similar is true also of +Socrates, by virtue of his being a man. Of the other terms, _mortal_, +which is the more inclusive, is known as the major term, and _Socrates_, +the less inclusive, as the minor term. The first two propositions are +the premises, that which contains the major term being known as the +major premise, and the other as the minor premise. + +The validity of the syllogism lies, as I have said, in the assertion of +a general principle, and the bringing of the particular case in hand +under that principle: if the principle is granted as incontrovertible, +and the special case as really coming under it, the conclusion is +inevitable. + +On the syllogism in its various forms deductive logic has built up an +imposing structure of rules and conclusions. In practice the value of +the syllogism is largely indirect. The trouble with it in itself as a +mode of progress in reasoning is twofold: in the first place there are +very few general principles which, if you are cautious, you will accept +without reservations; and in the second place the crucial question in +another set of cases is whether the given case really falls under the +general principle. The syllogism, _All great statesmen are farsighted, +Daniel Webster was a great statesman, Therefore Daniel Webster was +farsighted_, sounds simple; but two generations have disagreed on the +question whether Webster was a great statesman; and both _great +statesman_ and _farsighted_ are such vague and inclusive terms that one +would either accept a general principle of which they are terms as a +harmless truism, or else balk at being asked to grant a proposition +which might have unexpected meanings thrust into it. This double +difficulty pursues the syllogism as a device for forwarding knowledge: +either it sets forth a truth so large and vague that you cannot say +whether you accept it for all cases or not, or else the disagreement +comes on one of the premises, and unless both the premises are granted, +strictly syllogistic reasoning does not get under way. + +Nevertheless, the syllogism has great practical value for the reasoning +and arguments of everyday life: in the first place it affords a means of +expanding and scrutinizing the condensed forms of reasoning which are so +common and so useful; and in the second place it can be used to sum up +and state the results of a course of reasoning in incontrovertible form. +I shall examine and illustrate both these uses of the syllogism; but +first I shall give certain rules which govern all sound reasoning +through syllogisms. They were invented by Aristotle, the great Greek +philosopher. + +42. The Rules of the Syllogism. (A term is said to be distributed, +or taken universally, when the proposition of which it is a part makes a +statement about all the objects included in the term. In the proposition +_All men are mortal_, the term _men_ is obviously distributed, but +_mortals_ is not; for no assertion is made about all mortals but only +about those that are included under all men. In the proposition _No hens +are intelligent_, both terms are distributed; for the assertion covers +all hens, and also the whole class of intelligent beings, since it is +asserted of the class as a whole that it contains no hens.) + +I. A syllogism must contain three terms, and not more than three +terms. + +This rule is to be understood as guarding against ambiguity, especially +in the middle term; if the middle term, or either of the others, can be +understood in two ways, the syllogism will not hold water. + +II. A syllogism must consist of three and only three propositions. +The reasons for this rule are sufficiently obvious. + +III. The middle term of the syllogism must be distributed at least once +in the premises. + +If it were not thus distributed or taken universally, the two premises +might refer to separate parts of the middle term, and so there would be +no meeting ground on which to form the conclusion. In the syllogism, +All good athletes lend a clean life, These men lead a clean life, +Therefore these men are good athletes, the fallacy lies in the fact +that in neither premise is any assertion made about all men who lead a +clean life. This fallacy, which is not uncommon in practice where the +terms are complicated, is known as the fallacy of the undistributed +middle. + +IV. No term must be distributed in the conclusion unless it was +distributed in at least one of the premises. + +In other words, if you have premises which deal with part of a class +only, you cannot reach a conclusion about the whole class. In the +syllogism, All newspaper editors know how to write, All newspaper +editors are paid, Therefore all men who know how to write are paid, the +fallacy is obvious. But in the following, _All bitter partisans are +dangerous citizens, This man is not a bitter partisan, Therefore this +man is not a dangerous citizen_, one may have to scrutinize the +reasoning a little to see that the fallacy lies in the fact that +_dangerous citizen_ is taken universally in the conclusion, since a +proposition with a negative predicate makes an assertion about the whole +of its predicate, but that it is not taken universally in the premise in +which it occurs. A fallacy which thus arises from not noticing that a +negative predicate distributes its term is apt to be insidious. + +V. No conclusion can be drawn from two negative premises. + +In other words, if both the major term and the minor term lie outside +the middle term, the syllogism gives us no means of knowing what their +relation is to each other. The following example will make the reason +clear: _No amateur athlete has a salary for playing, John Gorman is not +an amateur athlete, Therefore John Gorman has a salary for playing_. + +VI. If one of the premises is negative, the conclusion must be +negative. + +If of the major and minor premise one is negative, then either the major +or the minor term does not agree with the middle term, and the other +does; therefore the major and minor term cannot agree with each other. + +43. The Syllogism in Practical Use. The practical value of the +syllogism and its rules comes in the first place, as I have said, when +we expand a condensed form of reasoning into its full grounds in the +form of a syllogism. Our reasoned judgments ordinarily take the +shortened form, _Socrates is mortal, because he is a man; The +Corporation Tax Bill is constitutional, because it is a tax on a way of +doing business._ In each of these cases we are reasoning from a general +principle, which is previously established, and from a particular way of +conceiving the special fact before us, but we assume the general +principle as understood. In the cases above the meaning is clear without +declaring at length, _All men are mortal,_ or _All taxes on a way of +doing business are constitutional._ + +At any time, however, when you find a piece of reasoning in this +condensed form, whether your own or some one else's, which seems to you +suspicious, if you expand it into a full syllogism you will have all its +parts laid bare for scrutiny. Take, for example, the assertion, +_"Robinson Crusoe" must be a true story, for everything in it is so +minutely described_: if you expand it into the full syllogism, _All +books in which the description is minute are true, "Robinson Crusoe" is +a book in which the description is minute, Therefore "Robinson Crusoe" +is true_, you would at once stick at the major premise. So where you +suspect an ambiguity in the use of terms, you can bring it to the +surface, if it is there, by the same sort of expansion. In the argument, +_Bachelors should be punished, because they break a law of nature_, the +ambiguity becomes obvious when you expand: _All law breakers should be +punished, Bachelors break a law of nature, Therefore bachelors should be +punished_; at once you see that _law_ is used in two senses, one the +_law of the land_, the other the statement of a uniformity in nature. In +the argument, _These men are good citizens, for they take an interest in +politics_, the expansion to _All good citizens are interested in +politics, These men are interested in politics, Therefore these men are +good citizens,_[41] shows that the reasoning contains a breach of the +third rule of the syllogism (see p. 148) and is therefore a case of the +fallacy of the undistributed middle. + +Whenever you make or find an assertion with a reason attached by such a +word as "since," "for," or "because," or an assertion with a consequence +attached by a word like "therefore," "hence," or "accordingly," you have +a case of this condensed reasoning, which, theoretically at any rate, +you can expand into a full syllogism, and so go over the reasoning link +by link. + +Sometimes, however, the expansion is far from easy, for in many of the +practical exigencies of everyday life our judgments are intuitive, and +not reasoned. In such judgments we jump to a conclusion by an +inarticulate, unreasoned feeling of what is true or expedient, and the +grounds of the feeling may be so shadowy and complex that they can never +be adequately displayed. + +"Over immense departments of our thought we are still, all of us, in the +savage state. Similarity operates in us, but abstraction +has not taken place. We know what the present case is like, we know +what it reminds us of, we have an intuition of the right course to take, +if it be a practical matter. But analytic thought has made no tracks, +and we cannot justify ourselves to others. In ethical, psychological, +and aesthetic matters, to give a clear reason for one's judgment is +universally recognized as a mark of rare genius. The helplessness of +uneducated people to account for their likes and dislikes is often +ludicrous. Ask the first Irish girl why she likes this country better or +worse than her home, and see how much she can tell you. But if you ask +your most educated friend why he prefers Titian to Paul Veronese, you +will hardly get more of a reply; and you will probably get absolutely +none if you inquire why Beethoven reminds him of Michael Angelo, or how +it comes that a bare figure with unduly flexed joints, by the latter, +can so suggest the moral tragedy of life.... The well-known story of the +old judge advising the new one never to give reasons for his decisions, +'the decisions will probably be right, the reasons will surely be +wrong,' illustrates this. The doctor will feel that the patient is +doomed, the dentist will have a premonition that the tooth will break, +though neither can articulate a reason for his foreboding. The reason +lies embedded, but not yet laid bare, in all the previous cases dimly +suggested by the actual one, all calling up the same conclusion, which +the adept thus finds himself swept on to, he knows not how or why."[42] + +The small boy who said that he could not keep step because he had a cold +in his head was relying on a sound general truth, _Colds in the head +make one stupid_, for his major premise, but his condition prevented his +disentangling it; and all of us every day use minor premises for which +we should be incapable of stating the major. + +A second practical use of the syllogism is to set forth a chain of +reasoning in incontrovertible form. If you have a general principle +which is granted, and have established the fact that your case certainly +falls under it, you can make an effective summing up by throwing the +reasoning into the form of a syllogism. + +Conversely, you can use a syllogism to bring out some essential part of +the reasoning of an opponent which you know will not commend itself to +the audience, as did Lincoln in his debate with Douglas at Galesburg. +Douglas had defended the Dred Scott decision of the United States +Supreme Court, which decided that the right of property in a slave is +affirmed by the United States Constitution. Lincoln wished to make the +consequences of this doctrine as glaringly evident as possible. He did +so as follows: + + I think it follows, and I submit to the consideration of men capable + of arguing, whether as I state it, in syllogistic form, the argument + has any fault in it. + + Nothing in the Constitution or laws of any State can destroy a right + distinctly and expressly affirmed in the Constitution of the United + States. + + The right of property in a slave is distinctly and expressly + affirmed in the Constitution of the United States. + + Therefore, nothing in the Constitution or laws of any State can + destroy the right of property in a slave. + + I believe that no fault can be pointed out in that argument; + assuming the truth of the premises, the conclusion, so far as I have + capacity at all to understand it, follows inevitably.[43] + +Lincoln knew that this doctrine that no state could interfere with +slavery would be intolerable to the people of Illinois, before whom he +was carrying on his campaign; and this syllogism made clear to them the +consequences of the decision of the Supreme Court. + +Or you can use a syllogism to make obvious a flaw in the reasoning of +your opponent, as in the following example: + +In view of the history of commission government in this country so far +as it has been made, the burden of proof rests with those who attempt to +show that a government which has been so successful in cities of +moderate size will not be successful in our largest cities. The +syllogism they are required to prove runs briefly thus: + +Commission government is acknowledged to have been successful in cities +as large as one hundred and thirty thousand inhabitants, but + +It has not been tried in cities containing more than one hundred and +thirty thousand inhabitants; + +Therefore, it will not be successful in cities of four hundred thousand +or larger, which is a _reductio ad absurdum_. + +The folly of the attempt is shown by the very statement of the +conclusion.[44] + +44. The Dilemma. One special form of the syllogism is at times so +strong an argument that it deserves special mention here, namely, the +dilemma. This is a syllogism in which the major premise consists of two +or more hypothetical propositions (that is, propositions with an "if" +clause) and the minor of a disjunctive proposition (a proposition with +two or more clauses connected by "or"). + +In the course of the Lincoln-Douglas debate a question was put by +Lincoln to Douglas, as follows: "Can the people of a United States +territory in any lawful way, against the wish of any citizens of the +United States, exclude slavery from its limits, prior to the formation +of a state constitution?" The question may be viewed as the source of a +dilemma, both in the practical and in the syllogistic sense of the term. +In fact it involved a situation which, syllogistically, comprised more +than one dilemma. They may be stated as follows: + +I. If Douglas answers yes, he offends the South, and if he answers no, +he offends the North; + +But he must answer either yes or no; + +Therefore he will offend either the South or the North. + +II. If Douglas offends the South, he loses the nomination for the +Presidency in the next convention; and if he offends the North, he loses +the election to the United States Senatorship (and his chances for the +Presidency); + +But he must offend either the South or the North; + +Therefore he loses either the Presidency or the Senatorship. + +Or, III. If Douglas offends the South, he cannot become President; and +if he offends the North, he cannot become President; + +But he must offend either the South or the North; + +Therefore he cannot become President.[45] + +The dilemma, if it leaves no hole for the other side to creep through, +is an extremely effective argument in politics and in competitive +debate. If you can thus get your adversary between the devil and the +deep sea on a point that in the eyes of your audience is interesting and +critical, you have crippled his case. But if the point is not momentous, +though your audience may find the dilemma amusing, you run the risk of +the reproach of "smartness" if you crow very loudly over it. + +On the other hand, a dilemma that is not exhaustive will hold no one. +Many of the arguments against the imposition of a federal tax on +corporations assumed that if the tax were imposed it would soon be made +unreasonable in amount. Most arguments that the other side will abuse +any power that is given to them may be regarded as falling into the +class of incomplete dilemma. A speaker who uses a leaky dilemma must +have great confidence in the unintelligence of his audience, but it is +surprising to see how often such dilemmas occur in political debates. + +45. Reasoning from Circumstantial Evidence. The third type of +reasoning from similarity named on page 120 is reasoning from +circumstantial evidence. The term is familiar to every one from murder +trials and detective stories. Webster's argument in the White Murder +Case, from which I print a short extract on page 157, is a famous +example of an argument on circumstantial evidence; and in fiction Sir +Conan Doyle has created for our delectation many notable and ingenious +cases of it. But reasoning from circumstantial evidence is far from +being confined to criminal cases and fiction; as Huxley points out (see +p. 241), it is also the basis of some of the broadest and most +illuminating generalizations of science; and the example below from +Macaulay is only one of innumerable cases of its use in history. + +Reasoning from circumstantial evidence differs from reasoning from +analogy or generalization in that it rests on similarities reaching out +in a number of separate directions, all of which, however, converge on +the case in hand. This convergence is pointed out by Macaulay in the +following admirable little argument on the authorship of the _Junius +Letters_, which were a series of pseudonymous and malignant attacks on +the British government about 1770: + +Was he [Francis] the author of the Letters of Junius? Our own firm +belief is that he was. The evidence is, we think, such as would support +a verdict in a civil, nay, in a criminal proceeding. The handwriting of +Junius is the very peculiar handwriting of Francis, slightly disguised. +As to the position, pursuits, and connections of Junius, the following +are the most important facts which can be considered as clearly proved: +first, that he was acquainted with the technical forms of the secretary +of state's office; secondly, that he was intimately acquainted with the +business of the war office; thirdly, that he, during the year 1770, +attended debates in the House of Lords, and look notes of speeches, +particularly of the speeches of Lord Chatham; fourthly, that he bitterly +resented the appointment of Mr. Chamier to the place of deputy +secretary-at-war; fifthly, that he was bound by some strong tie to the +first Lord Holland. Now, Francis passed some years in the secretary of +state's office. He was subsequently chief clerk of the war office. He +repeatedly mentioned that he had himself, in 1770, heard speeches of +Lord Chatham; and some of these speeches were actually printed from his +notes. He resigned his clerkship at the war office from resentment at +the appointment of Mr. Chamier. It was by Lord Holland that he was first +introduced into the public service. Now, here are five marks all of +which ought to be found in Junius. They are all five found in Francis. +We do not believe that more than two of them can be found in any other +person whatever. If this agreement does not settle the question, there +is an end of all reasoning on circumstantial evidence.[46] + +Here the five points or marks of similarity between the writer of the +letters and Philip Francis are of such diversity that it would be an +extraordinary coincidence if there had happened to be two men whom they +would fit: where so many lines converge so closely at a single point it +would hardly be possible for them to meet on more than one person. + +The following brief extract from Webster's argument in the White Murder +Case shows the same sort of convergence of similarities: each +circumstance in itself is hardly strong enough to furnish ground for an +argument on analogy, but taken all together they point irresistibly in +one direction, namely, to the fact of a conspiracy. + +Let me ask your attention, then, in the first place, to those +appearances, on the morning after the murder, which have a tendency to +show that it was done in pursuance of a preconcerted plan of operation. +What are they? A man was found murdered in his bed. No stranger had done +the deed, no one unacquainted with the house had done it. It was +apparent that somebody within had opened, and that somebody without had +entered. There had obviously and certainly been concert and cooperation. +The inmates of the house were not alarmed when the murder was +perpetrated. The assassin had entered without any riot or any violence. +He had found the way prepared before him. The house had been previously +opened. The window was unbarred from within, and its fastening +unscrewed. There was a lock on the door of the chamber in which Mr. +White slept, but the key was gone. It had been taken away and secreted. +The footsteps of the murderer were visible, outdoors, tending toward the +window. The plank by which he entered the window still remained. The +road he pursued had thus been prepared for him. The victim was slain, +and the murderer had escaped. Everything indicated that somebody within +had cooperated with somebody without. Everything proclaimed that some of +the inmates, or somebody having access to the house, had had a hand in +the murder. On the face of the circumstances, it was apparent, +therefore, that this was a premeditated, concerted murder; that there +had been a conspiracy to commit it.[47] + +The strength of reasoning from circumstantial evidence lies in the +number and the diversity of the points of similarity to the point in +hand. If there are few of them, the possibility of coincidence +increases, as it also does when the points of similarity come from the +same source or are of the same nature. This possibility of coincidence +is a good rough test of the value of reasoning from circumstantial +evidence: where the theory of a coincidence would stretch all +probabilities one may safely leave it out of account. + +In practice the argument from circumstantial evidence is more frequent +in the experience of lawyers than in that of other men; but sooner or +later everybody has to pass on such reasoning, for wherever direct +evidence is out of the question it may be necessary to piece the +situation together by circumstantial evidence. There is some prejudice +against such evidence, springing from reported cases of miscarriage of +justice in convictions based on it. Such cases, however, are very rare +in reality, and probably do not equal in number the cases in which +mistaken or false direct testimony has caused injustice. + +46. Some Pitfalls of Reasoning--Ambiguity. I have already spoken of +some of the dangers to which reasoning is subject--false analogy, faulty +generalization of various kinds, and various sins against the rules of +the syllogism. There are still a few general dangers to speak about. It +should be noted that the various kinds of fallacies run into each other, +and not infrequently a given piece of bad reasoning can be described +under more than one of them. + +Of all the sources of faulty and misleading reasoning, ambiguity is the +most fruitful and the most inclusive. + +It springs from the facts that words, except those which are almost +technically specific, are constantly used in more than one sense, and +that a great many of the words which we use in everyday life are +essentially vague in meaning. Such common words as "liberty," "right," +"gentleman," "better," "classic," "honor," and innumerable others each +need a treatise for any thorough definition; and then the definition, if +complete, would be largely a tabulation of perfectly proper senses in +which the words can be used, or a list of the ways in which different +people have used them. Besides this notorious vagueness of many common +words, a good many words, as I have already shown (p. 54), have two or +more distinct and definable meanings. + +Strictly speaking, the ambiguity does not inhere in the word itself, but +rather in its use in an assertion, since ambiguity can arise only when +we are making an assertion. It has been defined as "the neglect of +distinctions in the meaning of terms, when these distinctions are +important for the given occasion."[48] Suppose, for example, you are +arguing against a certain improvement in a college dormitory, on the +ground that it makes for luxury: clearly "luxury" is a word that may +mean one thing to you, and another to half of your audience. By itself +it is an indefinite word, except in its emotional implication; and its +meaning varies with the people concerning whom it is used, since what +would be luxury for a boy brought up on a farm would be bare comfort to +the son of wealthy parents in the city. Indeed the advances of plumbing +in the last generation have completely changed the relative meanings of +the words "comfort" and "luxury" so far as they concern bathrooms and +bathtubs. In the case of such a word, then, the weight of the definition +above falls on the last clause, "when these distinctions are important +for the given occasion"; here is a case where the occasion on which the +word "luxury" is used determines nearly the whole of its meaning. In +practice, if you have a suspicion that a word may be taken in another +sense than that you intend, the first thing to do is to define it--to +lay down as exactly as possible the cases which it is intended to cover +on the present occasion, and the meaning it is to have in those cases. +For good examples of this enlightened caution, see the definitions on +pages 54-65, especially that from Bagchot. + +A similar difficulty arises with the words which, in the somewhat +slipshod use of everyday life, have come to have as it were a sliding +value. + +We may raise no difficulty about understanding the assertions that +Brown, and Jones, and Robinson are "honest," but when we come to the +case of Smith we discover a difficulty in placing him clearly on either +side of the line. That difficulty is nothing less than the difficulty of +knowing the meaning given to the word in this particular assertion. We +might, for instance, agree to mean by Smith's "honesty" that no shady +transactions could be legally proved against him, or that he is "honest +according to his lights," or again that he is about as honest as the +majority of his neighbors or the average of his trade or profession.[49] + +That this is not a fanciful case can be shown by noticing how often we +speak of "transparent" honesty, or of "absolute" honesty: this is +notably one of the words for which we have a sliding scale of values, +which vary considerably with the age and the community. "Political +honesty" has a very different meaning in the England of to-day from that +which it had in the eighteenth century. To get at the exact meaning of +honesty, then, either for Mr. Sidgwick's Brown, Jones, Robinson, and +Smith, or for Mr. Asquith and Mr. Balfour as compared with Walpole or +Pitt, we need a good deal more than a dictionary definition. What has +already been said (p. 65) on the use of the history of the case to get a +preliminary understanding of the question which is to be argued, and the +terms to be used in it, applies all through the reasoning involved in +the argument. Scrutinize all the terms you use yourself, as well as +those used in arguments on the other side. I have already pointed out +the ambiguity there is in the emotional implications of words; but the +danger from it is so subtle and so besetting that it will be worth while +to dwell on it again. There are many cases in which there is no doubt as +to the denotation of the word,--the cases which it is intended to +name,--but in which the two sides to a controversy use the word with a +totally different effect on their own and other people's feelings. +Before the Civil War pretty much the whole South had come to use the +word "slavery" as implying one of the settled institutions of the +country, more or less sanctified by divine ordinance; at the same time a +large portion of the North had come to look on it as an abomination to +the Lord. + +Here there was no doubt as to the denotation of the word; but in a +highly important respect it was ambiguous, because it implied a totally +different reaction among the people who used it. In a case where the +contrast is so glaring there is little danger of confusion; but there +are a good many cases where a word may have very different effects on +the feelings of an audience without the fact coming very clearly to the +surface. "Liberal" is to most Americans a term implying praise, so far +as it goes; to Cardinal Newman it implied what were to him the +irreverent and dangerous heresies of free thought, and therefore in his +mouth it was a word of condemnation.[50] "Aesthetic" to many good people +has an implication of effeminacy and of trifling which is far from +praiseworthy; to artists and critics it may sum up what is most +admirable in civilization. If in an argument on abolishing football as +an intercollegiate sport you describe a certain game as played "with +spirit and fierceness," football players would think of it as a good +game, but opponents of football would hold that such a description +justified them in classing the game with prize fighting. When one of the +terms you use may thus stir one part of your audience in one way, and +the other part in just the opposite way, you are dealing with an +uncomfortable kind of ambiguity. + +It is easy to get into the way of thinking that the denotation of a +word--the things which it names--is the only part of its meaning that +counts; but with many words the connotation--I use the word in the +rhetorical rather than in the logical sense, to include its +implications, associations, and general emotional coloring--has more +effect on human nature. There is a good deal of difference between +telling a man that his assertion is "incorrect," "untrue," or "false"; +if you use the last and he is at all choleric you may bring on an +explosion. In argument, where you are aiming to persuade as well as to +convince, the question of the feelings of your audience and how they +will be affected by the terms you use is obviously of great importance. +And if you are using such terms as "gentleman," "political honesty," +"socialist," "coeducation," you must not forget that such words have a +definite emotional connotation, which will vary largely with the reader. + +47. Begging the Question. The fallacy of "begging the question" +consists of assuming as true something that the other side would not +admit. It is especially insidious in the condensed arguments of which I +spoke a few pages back. A common form of the fallacy consists of +slipping in an epithet which quietly takes for granted one's own view of +the question, or of using some expression that assumes one's own view as +correct. For example, in an argument for a change in a city government, +to declare that all intelligent citizens favor it would be begging the +question. In an argument for the protection of crows, to begin, "Few +people know how many of these useful birds are killed each year," would +be to beg the question, since the argument turns on whether crows are +useful or not. A gross and uncivil form of this fallacy is to use +opprobrious epithets in describing persons who take the other view, as +in the following sentence from an article in a magazine on the question +of examinations for entrance to college: + +As for interest and variety, what could destroy and taboo both more +effectually than the rigid and rigorous demands of a formal set of +examinations prepared, as a rule, by pedantic specialists who know +practically nothing of the fundamental problems and needs of the high +school. + +Begging the question is often committed in the course of defining terms, +as in the following passage from Cardinal Newman's "Idea of a +University": + + It is the fashion just now, as you very well know, to erect + so-called Universities, without making any provision in them at all + for Theological chairs. Institutions of this kind exist both here + [Ireland] and in England. Such a procedure, though defended by + writers of the generation just passed with much plausible argument + and not a little wit, seems to me an intellectual absurdity; and my + reason For saying so runs, with whatever abruptness, into the form + of a syllogism:--A University, I should lay down, by its very name + professes to teach universal knowledge; Theology is surely a branch + of knowledge; how then is it possible for it to profess all branches + of knowledge, and yet to exclude from the subjects of its teaching + one which, to say the least, is as important and as large as any of + them? I do not see that either premise of this argument is open to + exception.[51] + +The obvious answer is that "university" is a vague term and that there +may be many kinds of universities, as indeed there are in this country; +moreover, the importance of theology is an arguable matter even among +church members. + +A well-recognized, but often subtle, form of begging the question is +what is known as "arguing in a circle." Usually the fallacy is so +wrapped up in verbiage that it is hard to pick out. Here is a clear and +well-put detection of a case of it: + +There is an argument in favor of child labor so un-American and so +inhuman that I am almost ashamed to quote it, and yet it has been used, +and I fear it is secretly in the minds of some who would not openly +stand for it. A manufacturer standing near the furnace of a glasshouse +and pointing to a procession of young Slav boys who were carrying the +glass on trays, remarked, "Look at their faces, and you will see that it +is idle to take them from the glasshouse in order to give them an +education: they are what they are, and will always remain what they +are." He meant that there are some human beings--and these Slavs of the +number--who are mentally irredeemable, so fast asleep intellectually +that they cannot be awakened; designed by nature, therefore, to be +hewers of wood and drawers of water. This cruel and wicked thing was +said of Slavs; it is the same thing which has been said from time +immemorial by the slave owners of their slaves. First they degrade human +beings by denying them the opportunity to develop their better nature: +no schools, no teaching, no freedom, no outlook; and then, as if in +mockery, they point to the degraded condition of their victims as a +reason why they should never be allowed to escape from it.[52] + +In a diffuse and disorderly argument there is always a chance to find +some begging of the question which may consist either of getting back to +an assumption of the original proposition and so arguing in a circle, or +of simply assuming that what has been asserted has been proved. The +fallacy of the invented example, in which a fictitious case is described +as an illustration, and presently assumed as a real case, is a not +uncommon form of begging the question. + +48. Ignoring the Question. This is a closely allied error in +reasoning that is apt to be due to the same kind of confused and woolly +thinking. It consists in slipping away from the question in debate and +arguing vigorously at something else. A famous exposure of the fallacy +is Macaulay's denunciation of the arguments in favor of Charles I: + +The advocates of Charles, like the advocates of other malefactors +against whom overwhelming evidence is produced, generally decline all +controversy about the facts, and content themselves with calling +testimony as to character. He had so many private virtues! And had James +the Second no private virtues? Was Oliver Cromwell, his bitterest +enemies themselves being judges, destitute of private virtues? And what, +after all, are the virtues ascribed to Charles? A religious zeal, not +more sincere than that of his son, and fully as weak and narrow-minded, +and a few of the ordinary household decencies which half the tombstones +in England claim for those who lie beneath them. A good father! A good +husband! Ample apologies indeed for fifteen years of persecution, +tyranny, and falsehood! + +We charge him with having broken his coronation oath; and we are told +that he kept his marriage vow! We accuse him of having given up his +people to the merciless inflictions of the most hot-headed and +hard-hearted of prelates; and the defense is, that he took his little +son on his knee and kissed him! We censure him for having violated the +articles of the Petition of Right, after having, for good and valuable +consideration, promised to observe them; and we are informed that he was +accustomed to hear prayers at six o'clock in the morning! It is to such +considerations as these, together with his Vandyke dress, his handsome +face, and his peaked beard, that he owes, we verily believe, most of his +popularity with the present generation.[53] + +In an argument for woman suffrage on the ground that suffrage is a right +which ought not to be denied, it would be ignoring the question merely +to enumerate the various ways in which the responsibility of a vote +might help to better the condition of women. + +To ignore the question by trying to lead the public off on a false scent +is a constant device of officials who are accused of misconduct. A +United States senator whose election had been questioned gave in his +defense a full and harrowing account of the struggles of his boyhood. A +board of assessors who had been charged with incompetence ended their +defense, in which they had taken no notice of the charges, as follows: + +Criticism of the Board of Assessors comes with poor grace from those +whose endeavors for the common good are confined to academic essays on +good government. It savors too much of the adroit pickpocket, who, +finding himself hard pressed, joins in the chase, shouting as lustily as +any of the unthinking rabble, "Stop, thief!" + +The curious thing is that this trick of crossing the scent does lead so +many people off the trail. + +The so-called _argumentum ad hominem_ and the _argumentum ad populum_ +are special cases of ignoring the question: they consist of appeals to +the feelings or special interests of the reader or the audience which +run away from the question at issue. They are not uncommon in stump +speeches, and in other arguments whose chief purpose is to arouse +enthusiasm. + +An argument on the tariff, for example, sometimes runs off into appeals +to save this grand country from ruin or from the trusts or from some +other fate which the speaker pictures as hanging over an innocent and +plain people. An argument for the restoration of the classical system of +education which should run off into eulogies of the good old times might +easily become an _argumentum ad populum_; an argument in favor of a new +park which should dwell on selfish advantages which might be gained by +the abutters without regard to larger municipal policy would probably be +an _argumentum ad hominem_. + +Obviously these two forms of shifting the issue trench closely on the +element of persuasion in an argument, and in making the distinction you +must apply common sense. Your adversary may reprove you for an +_argumentum ad hominem_ or _ad populum_, when you believe that you are +keeping well within the bounds of legitimate persuasion; but in general +it is safe to guard your self-respect by drawing a broad line between +dodging and unworthy appeals to prejudice and justifiable appeals to +feeling and personal interest. + + +EXERCISES + +1. Name a question of policy which would be settled by the establishment +of some controverted fact. + +2. Find in the daily papers an account of a trial in which evidence was +declared inadmissible under the rules of law which would have been taken +into account by the average man outside the court in making up his own +mind. + +3. Name three questions in which the evidence would be affected by +temperamental and other prepossessions of the witness. + +4. Name a scientific question in which some important fact is +established by reasoning from other facts. + +5. Cite a case, either from real life or from fiction, in which a fact +was established by circumstantial evidence; analyze the evidence and +show how it rests on reasoning from similarity. + +6. Give a case in which what you believed to be direct observation of a +fact deceived you. + +7. Give an example from your own experience within a week where vague +authorities have been cited as direct evidence. + +8. What would you think of the writer of the following sentences as a +witness to the numbers and importance of the participants in the woman +suffrage procession he is reporting? + + Fifth Avenue has seldom, if ever, been more crowded than on Saturday + afternoon, and never anywhere have I seen so many women among the + spectators of a passing pageant. Throngs, many tiers deep, flanked + the line of march, and these throngs were overwhelmingly composed of + women. As I passed from block to block I could not get away from the + thought that the vastest number of these were sick of heart and + ashamed that they, too, were not in line behind the kilted band that + headed the procession, the historic symbolic floats, and the + inscribed banners, along with their three thousand or more sisters. + Here were women, fighting a good fight for the cause of women--for + the underpaid factory workers and the overfed lady of fortune who is + deprived the right of voice in the government over her inherited + property. (Report in a daily paper, May 8, 1911) + +9. Find an example of historical evidence in a case where there are no +direct witnesses to the fact; discuss it according to S. R. Gardiner's +tests (p. 103). + +10. Find two examples from the daily papers where statistics are used to +establish a complex fact. + +11. Name two subjects on which you could gather statistics, and the +sources from which you would draw them. + +12. Bring to class the testimony of a recognized authority on some +complex fact, and explain why his testimony carries weight. + +13. Name a subject on which you can speak with authority, and explain +why your testimony on that subject should carry weight. + +14. Give an example from your own experience of a case in which it is +hard to distinguish between direct and indirect evidence. + +15. Find in the daily papers or current magazines an argument based on +reasoning by analogy; one based on reasoning by generalization; one +based on circumstantial evidence; explain the character of each. + +16. Find an example of an argument based on reasoning from a causal +relation. + +17. Find an example of an argument from enumeration of like cases which +might be easily upset. + +18. In the proposition, "A gentleman ought not to become a professional +baseball player," what meaning could be given to the word +"gentleman"? + +19. Distinguish between the meanings of _law_ in the phrases "moral +law," "natural law," and "law of the land." + +20. What different meanings would the word "comfort" have had in the +days of your grandfather, as compared with the present day? + +21. Give, two examples of words with "sliding meanings." + +22. Give two examples of words whose denotation is fixed, but whose +connotation or emotional implications would be different with different +people. + +23. Find an example of false analogy. + +24. Criticize the reasoning in the following extract from a letter to a +newspaper urging Republican and Democratic tickets at the municipal +election in a small city in the country. + + It is an acknowledged fact that competition in the business life of + our city is beneficial to the consumer. If that be so, why will not + competition in city affairs bring equally good results to the + taxpayer? + +25. Give an example you have recently heard of hasty generalization; +explain its weakness. + +26. Give an example of your own of the _post hoc_ fallacy. + +27. Give an example of false reasoning based on assuming a complex fact +to be simple. + +28. Criticize the reasoning in the following extracts: + + a. [Dispatch to a daily paper.] Haverhill, March 30, 1911. Opponents + of commission form of government are deriving no little satisfaction + from the development of testimony borne out by figures taken from + the auditing department of the city of Haverhill that this method + of administering municipal affairs has proved thus far to be a + costly experiment there.... The total amount of bonds issued during + the past twenty-seven months, covering the period of operation of + commission form of government, was $576,000; the present borrowing + capacity of the city is only approximately $35,000; that the city's + bonded debt has increased from $441,264 to $1,181,314 in the past + five years; the net bonded debt has more than doubled within three + years; that the assessed valuation has increased $5,000,000; and the + tax rate has been raised from $17.40 to $19 in five years. The + borrowing capacity of $341,696 on January 1, 1906, has decreased to + $95,000 on January 1, 1911.... Commission form of government went + into effect in Haverhill on the first Monday in January, 1909. + + b. From an article in a magazine, opposing the plan of the + postmaster-general to increase the postage on the advertising + sections of magazines: consider especially the word "censorship": + + We see two grave objections to the postmaster-general's plan. First, + it requires a censorship to determine what periodicals are + "magazines" whose advertising pages are to be taxed, and what are + the educational and religious periodicals which are to continue to + enjoy what the President calls a "subsidy." Such a censorship would + be a new feature in postal administration, and it would seem to be a + thing very difficult to work out on any fair basis. + +29. In a newspaper report of an inquiry made by the director of the +Columbia University gymnasium into the effects of smoking, the following +sentences occur: + + In scholarship the nonsmokers had the distinct advantage. The + smokers averaged eighty per cent in their studies at entrance, + sixty-two per cent during the first two years, and seven per cent of + failure. The nonsmokers got ninety-one per cent in their entrance + examinations and sixty-nine per cent in their first two years in + college, while only four per cent were failures. In this respect Dr. + Meylan thinks there is a distinct relation between smoking and + scholarship. + + Of the same set of students forty-seven per cent of the smokers won + places on varsity athletic teams, while only thirty-seven per cent + of the nonsmokers could get places. + +If the next to the last sentence had read, "Smoking therefore seems to +be a cause of low scholarship," what should you think of the reasoning? + +30. Criticize the reasoning in the following portion of an argument for +prohibition: + + Dr. Williams says, "We find no evidence that the prohibition laws + have in the past been effective in diminishing the consumption of + alcoholic beverages." ... The absence of logic in Dr. Williams's + conclusion will be readily seen by substituting the homicide evil + and the greed evil for the liquor evil in his argument. + + Since its establishment the United States has sought to remedy with + prohibition the homicide evil. Every state has laws with severe + penalties prohibiting murder. And yet the number of homicides in + the United States has steadily increased until the number in 1910 + was eight thousand nine hundred and seventy-five. Since, then, + homicides have steadily increased during the past hundred years + under a law with severe penalties prohibiting them, a prohibitory + law has not been and cannot be a remedy for homicide. + +31. Criticize the reasoning in the following extract from an argument +for the electrification of the terminal part of a railroad: + + It is true that locomotive smoke and gas do not kill people + outright; but that their influence though not immediately measurable + is to shorten life cannot, I submit, be successfully combated.... A + few years ago I made some calculations based on the records of ten + years' operation of the railroads in this state, and found that if a + man should spend his whole time day and night riding in railroad + trains at an average rate of thirty miles an hour, and if he had + average good luck, he would not be killed by accident, without his + fault, oftener than once in fifteen hundred years, and that he would + not receive any injury of sufficient importance to be reported + oftener than once in five hundred years. I ask you to estimate how + long a man would, in your opinion, live if he were obliged + continuously day and night to breathe the air of our stations + without any opportunity to relieve his lungs by a breath of purer + and better air. + +32. Give an example in which you yourself have used the method of +agreement in arriving at a conclusion in the last week. + +33. Give an example, from one of your studies, of the use of the method +of agreement. + +34. Give an example, which has recently come to your notice, of the use +of the method of difference. + +36. Criticize the following syllogisms, giving your reasons for thinking +them sound or not: + + a. All rich men should be charitable with their wealth; Charitable + men forgive their enemies; Therefore all rich men should forgive + their enemies. + + b. Every man who plays baseball well has a good eye and quick + judgment; Every good tennis player has a good eye and a quick + judgment; Therefore every good tennis player is a good baseball + player. + + c. Whenever you find a man who drinks hard you find, a man who is + unreliable; Our coachman does not drink hard; Therefore he is + reliable. + + d. All the steamships which cross the ocean in the quickest time are + comfortable; This steamship is slow; Therefore she is not + comfortable. + + e. All dogs who bark constantly are not bad-tempered; This dog does + not bark constantly; Therefore he is not bad-tempered. + + f. All cold can be expelled by heat; John's illness is a cold; + Therefore it can be expelled by heat. (From Minto) + + g. The use of ardent spirits should be prohibited by law, seeing + that it causes misery and crime, which it is one of the chief ends + of law to prevent. (From Bode) + + h. Rational beings are accountable for their actions; brutes not + being rational, are therefore exempt from responsibility. (From + Jevons) + +36. Expand the following arguments into syllogisms and criticize their +soundness: + + a. The snow will turn to rain, because it is getting warmer. + + b. The boy has done well in his examination, for he came out looking + cheerful. + + c. We had an economical government last year, therefore the tax rate + will be reduced. + + d. Lee will be a good mayor, for men who have energy and good + judgment can do incalculable good to their fellow citizens. + + e. There is unshaken evidence that every member of the board of + aldermen received a bribe, and George O. Carter was a member of that + board. + + f. The candidate for stroke on the freshman crew came from Santos + School, therefore he must be a good oarsman. + +37. Criticize the reasoning in the following arguments, pointing out +whether they are sound or unsound, and why: + + a. It costs a Nebraska farmer twenty cents to raise a bushel of + corn. When corn gets down to twenty cents he cannot buy anything, + and he cannot pay more than twelve or fifteen dollars a month for + help. When it gets up to thirty-five cents the farmer gives his + children the best education possible, and buys an automobile. + Therefore the farmer will be ruined if the tariff on corn is not + raised. + + b. For many years the Democratic platforms have declared explicitly + or implicitly against the duties on sugar; if the Democrats should + come into power and reduce the duties, they would lose their + strength in the states producing cane sugar and beet sugar; if they + do not reduce the duty, they admit that their platforms have been + insincere. (Condensed from an editorial in a newspaper. March, 1911) + + c. I hardly need say that I am opposed to any such system as that of + Galveston, or to call it by its broader name, the commission system. + It is but another name for despotism. Louis XIV was a commissioner + for executing the duties of governing France. Philip II was the same + in Spain. The Decemvirs and Triumvirs of Rome were but the same sort + of thing, as was also the Directory in France. They all came to the + same end. Says Madison, in No. XLVII of _The Federalist_: "The + accumulation of all powers, legislative and judiciary, in the same + hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, + self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very + definition of tyranny." Mr. justice Story said, "Whenever these + departments are all vested in one person or body of men, the + government is in fact a despotism, by whatever name it be called, + whether a monarchy, an aristocracy, or a democracy." + + d. The procedure of Berlin has in it an element of fairness worthy + of our consideration; those representing large property interests + have a surety of being at least represented. Some such system must + be devised if the holding of properly at all be regarded as moral + and necessary to our civilization. Remember that you are, in a large + sense, but a chartered joint-stock corporation. Can you imagine the + control of any other joint-stock corporation delivered over to those + who have no stock or the least stock in it? Can you imagine the New + York & New Haven Railroad, for example, controlled by the + passengers, to the exclusion of the stock holders? Now this, to a + very great degree, is what has happened in many of our cities. We + have deprived the true stockholders, in some cases, of any + representation whatever. I thus hold that to give property some + voice in the control of a municipal corporation is but sense and + justice. + + e. We have tried commissions in Buffalo in branches of our city + government. They have tried them in nearly every city in this + country. We have governed our police by commissions, our parks by + commissions, our public works by commissions. Commission government + was for many years a fad in this country, and it has become + discredited, so that of late we have been doing away with + commissions and coming to single heads for departments having + executive functions and some minor legislative functions, such as + park boards, and police boards, and have been trying to concentrate + responsibility in that way. In Erie County and throughout New York a + commission elected by the people governs our counties. The board of + supervisors is a commission government. It has never been + creditable--always bad, even as compared with our city governments. + To be sure, it is not just that kind of commission government. It is + a larger commission; it is not elected at large, but by districts, + but it is an attempt at the same thing. So I say there is nothing + new about this idea of government by a commission. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE ARGUMENT WRITTEN OUT + + +49. The Brief and the Argument. If your brief is thoroughly worked +out, and based on a careful canvass of the evidence, the work on your +argument ought to be at least two thirds over. The last third, however, +is not to be slighted, for on it will largely depend your practical +results in moving your readers. Even a legal argument rarely goes to the +court on a written brief alone; and the average reader will never put +himself to the effort of reading through and grasping such a brief as we +have been planning here. Furthermore, if your complete argument is +merely a copying out of the brief into consecutive sentences and +paragraphs, you will get few readers. The making of the brief merely +completes what may be called the architectural part of your labors; the +writing of an argument will use all the skill you have in the choice of +words and putting them together. + +We saw in Chapter I that argument has two kinds of appeal to its reader: +on the one hand, through its power of convincing it appeals to his +reason; on the other, through its persuasive power it appeals to his +feelings and his moral and practical interests. Of these two kinds of +appeal the convincing power is largely determined by the thoroughness of +the analysis and the efficiency of the arrangement, and therefore in +large part hangs on the work done in making the brief; the persuasive +power, on the other hand, though in part dependent on the line of +attack laid out in the brief and the choice of points to argue, is far +more dependent on the filling in of the argument in the finished form. +Even the severest scientific argument, however, is much more than the +bare summary of the line of thought which would be found in a brief; and +in an argument like the speeches in most political campaigns a brief of +the thought would leave out most of the argument. Wherever you have to +stir men up to do things you have only begun when you have convinced +their reason. + +50. The Introduction of the Argument. Much depends on the first +part of your argument, the introduction. Its length varies greatly, and +it may differ largely in other ways from the introduction to your brief. +If the people you are trying to convince are familiar with the subject, +you will need little introduction; a brief but clear statement of +fundamentals will serve the purpose. For such an audience it is chiefly +important to make the issues stand out, so that they shall see perfectly +distinctly the exact points on which the question turns. Then the sooner +you are at work on the business of convincing them, the better. In such +arguments the introduction will perhaps not differ greatly in substance +from the introduction to the brief, though it must be reduced to +consecutive and agreeable form. At the other extreme is such an argument +as that of Huxley's (p. 233), where he had to prepare the way very +carefully lest the prejudice against a revolutionary and unfamiliar view +of the animate world should close the minds of his hearers against him +before he was really started. Accordingly, before getting through with +his introduction he expounded not only the three hypotheses between +which the choice must be made, but also the law of the uniformity of +nature and the principles and nature of circumstantial evidence. Where +one shall stop between these two extremes is a question to be decided in +the individual argument. + +One thing, however, it is almost always wise to do; indeed, one would +not go far wrong in prescribing it as a general rule: that is, to state +with almost bald explicitness just how many main issues there are, and +what they are. In writing an argument it is always safe to assume that +most of your readers will be careless readers. Few people have the gift +of reading closely and accurately, and of carrying what they have read +with any distinctness. Therefore make it easy for your readers to pick +up and to carry your points. If you tell them that you are going to make +three points or five, they are much more likely to remember those three +or five points than if they have to pick them out for themselves as they +go along. Huxley, perhaps the ablest writer of scientific argument in +the language, constantly practiced this device. In his great argument on +evolution, he says (see p. 235): "So far as I know, there are only three +hypotheses which ever have been entertained, or which well can be +entertained, respecting the past history of nature"; and then, as will +be seen, he takes up each in turn, with the numbering "first," "second," +and "third." In the same way in his essay "The Physical Basis of Life" +he says, not far from the beginning, "I propose to demonstrate to you +that, notwithstanding these apparent difficulties, a threefold +unity--namely, a unity of power or faculty, a unity of form, and a unity +of substantial composition--does pervade the whole living world." Burke, +in his great speech "On Conciliation with America," said, "The capital +leading questions on which you must this day decide are two: first, +whether you ought to concede; and secondly, what your concession ought +to be." + +It is hardly too much to say that those writers whose sense of style is +most developed are most likely to state the issues with the baldest and +most direct precision. + +The statement of the issues will bring out the importance of closely +limiting the number of main issues. There are few subjects of argument +which do not conceivably touch the interests and beliefs of their +audiences in many directions; but out of these aspects some obviously +count far more than others. If in your introduction you try to state all +these issues, small and great, you will surely leave confusion behind +you. Very few people are capable of carrying more than three or four +issues distinctly enough to affect their judgment of the whole case; and +even of these some will not take the trouble to do so. If you can simmer +down the case to one or two or three critical points, you are making a +good start toward winning over the minds of your readers. + +A good statement of the history of the case is apt to be a useful and +valuable part of an introduction, especially for arguments dealing with +public policies. If you remind readers of what the facts have been, you +can more easily make clear to them the present situation from which you +make your start. An argument for raising or lowering the tariff on some +article would be apt to recount the history of the tariff so far as it +concerned that article, and the progress in importing it and +manufacturing it within the country. In writing out the argument from +the brief on page 90 one would almost inevitably include the recent +history of the city government. + +In general it is best to make this preliminary statement of the history +of the case scrupulously and explicitly impartial. An audience is likely +to resent any appearance of twisting the facts to suit the case; and if +on their face they bear against your contentions, it is wiser to +prepare for your argument in some other way. There are more ways of +beginning an argument than by a statement of facts; and resource in the +presentation of a case goes a long way toward winning it. + +It is often wise to state your definitions with care, especially of +terms which are at the bottom of your whole case. The definition from +Bagchot on page 58 is a good example. Here is the beginning of an +address by President Eliot, in 1896, on "A Wider Range of Electives in +College Admission Requirements": + +As usual, it is necessary to define the subject a little. "A wider range +of electives in college admission requirements." What field are we +thinking of when we state this subject? If we mean the United States, +the range of electives is already very large. Take, for example, the +requirements for admission to the Leland Stanford University. Twenty +subjects are named, of very different character and extent, and the +candidate may present any ten out of the twenty. Botany counts just as +much as Latin. There is a wide range of options at admission to the +University of Michigan, with its numerous courses leading to numerous +degrees; that is, there is a wide range of subjects permissible to a +candidate who is thinking of presenting himself for some one of its many +degrees. If we look nearer home, we find in so conservative an +institution as Dartmouth College that there are three different degrees +offered, with three different assortments of admission requirements, and +three different courses within the college. I noticed that at the last +commencement there were forty-one degrees of the old-fashioned sort and +twenty-seven degrees of the newer sorts given by Dartmouth College. Here +in Harvard we have had for many years a considerable range of electives +in the admission examinations, particularly in what we call the advanced +requirements. We therefore need to limit our subject a little by saying +that we are thinking of a wider range of admission electives in the +Eastern and Middle State colleges, the range of electives farther west +being already large in many cases.[54] + +Professor William James, in his essay "The Will to Believe," in which he +argues that it is both right and unavoidable that our feelings shall +take part in the making of our faiths, begins with a careful definition +and illustration of certain terms he is going to use constantly. + +Next, let us call the decision between two hypotheses an option. Options +may be of several kinds. They may be (1) _living_ or _dead_; (2) _forced_ +or _avoidable_; (3) _momentous_ or _trivial_; and for our purposes we +may call an option a _genuine_ option when it is of the forced, living, +and momentous kind. + +1. A living option is one in which both hypotheses are live ones. If I +say to you, "Be a theosophist or be a Mohammedan," it is probably a dead +option, because for you neither hypothesis is likely to be alive. But if +I say, "Be an agnostic or be a Christian," it is otherwise: trained as +you are, each hypothesis makes some appeal, however small, to your +belief. + +2. Next, if I say to you, "Choose between going out with your umbrella +or without it," I do not offer you a genuine option, for it is not +forced. You can easily avoid it by not going out at all. Similarly, if I +say: "Either love me or hate me," "Either call my theory true or call it +false," your option is avoidable. You may remain indifferent to me, +neither loving nor hating, and you may decline to offer any judgment as +to my theory. But if I say, "Either accept this truth or go without it," +I put you on a forced option, for there is no standing place outside of +the alternative. Every dilemma based on a complete logical disjunction, +with no possibility of not choosing, is an option of this forced kind. + +3. Finally, if I were Dr. Nansen and proposed to you to join my North +Pole expedition, your option would be momentous; for this would probably +be your only similar opportunity, and your choice now would either +exclude you from the North Pole sort of immortality altogether or put at +least the chance of it into your hands. He who refuses to embrace a +unique opportunity loses the prize as surely as if he tried and failed. +_Per contra_ the option is trivial when the opportunity is not unique, +when the stake is insignificant, or when the decision is reversible if +it later prove unwise. Such trivial options abound in the scientific +life. A chemist finds an hypothesis live enough to spend a year in its +verification: he believes in it to that extent. But if his experiments +prove inconclusive either way, he is quit for his loss of time, no vital +harm being done. + +It will facilitate our discussion if we keep all these distinctions well +in mind.[55] + +In some arguments the working out of the definitions of a few principal +terms may occupy much space. Matthew Arnold, a famous critic of the last +generation, wrote as an introduction to a volume of selections from +Wordsworth's poems an essay with the thesis that Wordsworth is, after +Shakespeare and Milton, the greatest poet who has written in English; +and to establish his point he laid down the definition that "poetry is +at bottom a criticism of life; that the greatness of a poet lies in his +powerful and beautiful application of ideas to life--to the question, +How to live." To the development of this definition he gave several +pages, for the success of his main argument lay in inducing his readers +to accept it. + +Many legal arguments are wholly concerned with establishing definitions, +especially in those cases which deal with statute law. The recent +decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States in the Corporation +Tax cases and the Standard Oil Case are examples: in each of these what +was at issue was the exact meaning of the words used in certain statutes +passed by Congress. In the common law, too, there are many phrases which +have come down from past centuries, the meanings of which have been +defined again and again as new cases came up. We have seen (p. 63) how +careful definition the word "murder" may need. "Malice aforethought" is +another familiar instance: it sounds simple, but when one begins to fix +the limits at which sudden anger passes over into cool and deliberate +enmity, or how far gone a man must be in drink before he loses the +consciousness of his purposes, even a layman can see that it has +difficulties. + +In such cases as these a dictionary definition would be merely a +starting point. It may be a very useful starting point, however, as in +the following extract from an article by Mr. E.P. Ripley, president of +the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway Company, on "The Railroads +and the People": + +There is one point regarding this matter that many forget: this is that +in all affairs there are two kinds of discrimination. There is the kind, +which, as the dictionary expresses it, "sets apart as being different," +which "distinguishes accurately," and there is the widely different kind +which "treats unequally." in all ordinary affairs of life we condemn as +"undiscriminating" those who have so little judgment or fairness as not +to "distinguish accurately" or "set apart things that are +different"--who either treat equally things that are unequal, or treat +unequally things that are equal. Now, when the railway traffic manager +"sets apart things that are different," and treats them differently, he +simply does what it is the duty of every one to do.[56] + +Then he goes on to develop this definition by showing the facts on which +it has to bear. + +On the other hand do not bore your readers with dictionary definitions +of words whose meaning no one doubts; that is a waste of good paper for +you, and of good time for them; and we have seen in Chapter II the +futility of the dictionary for cases in which there is real disagreement +over the meaning of a word. + +It will be seen, then, that the analysis you have made in preparation +for the brief may spread out large or small in the argument itself. It +is wise, therefore, to look on the work done for the introduction to the +brief as work done largely to clear up your own thought on the subject; +when you come to writing out the argument itself, you can go back to the +introduction to the brief, and see how much space you are now going to +give it. + +In a college or school argument you will usually follow it rather +closely; and you do well to do so, for you will thus fix in your mind a +useful model. But when you get out into the world, you will have to +consider in each case the needs and prepossessions of the particular +audience. Here as everywhere in the argument you must exercise judgment; +there is no formula which will fit all cases. The scheme of analysis of +the case which has been expounded in Chapter II has stood the test as +the best means yet found of exploring a subject and insuring clarity of +thought and certainty of attack;[57] but I know of no single fixed scheme +for the argument itself which will not be racked apart by the first half +dozen practical arguments you apply it to. + +51. The Body of the Argument. In the main body of the argument the +difference from the brief will be largely a matter of expansion: the +brief indicates the evidence, the argument states it at length. Here +again you cut your argument to fit your audience and the space at your +command. In an argument in the editorial of a newspaper, which is rarely +longer than a long college theme, there is little space for the +statement of evidence. In Webster's argument in the White Murder Case, +which has some thirteen thousand words and which must have taken two +hours or more to deliver, the facts are studied in minute detail. Most +people are surprised to see the way in which a full statement of +evidence eats up space; if the facts are at all complicated, they must +be analyzed and expounded one by one and their bearing on the case laid +out in full. This necessity of using space in order to make facts clear +is the reason why it is so hard to find adequate and convincing +arguments which will print in less than fifteen or twenty pages. The +trouble with a swift and compact argument like that of Macaulay's on the +authorship of the _Junius Letters_ (see p. 155) is that unless you have +gone into the question for yourself, you do not know whether to accept +the stated facts or not. If you do accept them, the conclusion is +inevitable; but if you happen to know that scholars have long held the +decision doubtful, you want to know more about the facts in detail +before surrendering to Macaulay's conclusion. For an average reader +to-day, who knows little of the facts, this argument would have to be +greatly expanded. + +In this expansion comes the chance for all the skill in exposition that +you can muster, and for that subtle appeal to your readers' feelings +which lies in vividness and precision of phrasing, considerations with +which I will deal separately further on. Questions of proportion of +space we may consider here. + +The only rule that can be laid down for the distribution of your space +is to use your sagacity, and all your knowledge of your subject and of +your audience. In a written argument you have the advantage that you can +let your pen run on your first draft, and then go back and weigh the +comparative force of the different parts of the argument, and cut out +and cut down until your best points for the purpose have the most space. +In a debate the same end is gained by rehearsals of the main speeches; +in the rebuttal, which is best when it is spontaneous, you have to trust +to the judgment gained by practice. + +Other things being equal, however, brevity carries an audience. If you +can sum up your case in half the time that it takes the other side to +state theirs, the chances are that your audience will think you have the +right of it. Above all, beware of boring your readers by too exhaustive +explanation of details or of aspects of the case which they care nothing +about. I suppose there is no one of us who has not a worthy friend or +two who will talk through a whole evening on whether a lawn should be +watered in the evening or the early morning, or whether the eighth hole +on the golf course should not be fifty yards longer. One must not be +like the man who in the discussion of bimetallism a few years ago used +to keep his wife awake at night expounding to her the iniquities and +inequalities of a single standard. It is safer to underestimate than to +overestimate the endurance and patience of your audience. + +52. The Refutation. The place of the refutation will, as we have +seen in the chapter on planning (see p. 82), vary greatly with the +argument and with the audience. Its purpose is to put out of the way as +effectively as possible the main points urged by the other side. In an +argument of fact this is done both by exposing weak places in the +reasoning and by throwing doubt on the facts cited, either through proof +that they are contradicted by better evidence, or that the evidence +brought forward to establish them is shaky or inconclusive. In an +argument of policy the points on the other side are met either by +throwing doubt on the facts on which they rest, or by showing that the +points themselves have not coercive force. + +Where there are really strong points on the other side, in either kind +of argument, it is often sound policy to admit their strength. This is +especially true in arguments of policy where the advantages are closely +balanced. If you are trying to convince a boy that he should go to your +college rather than to another, you do not gain anything by telling him +that the other college is no good; if he is worth gaining over he will +know better than that. And in general if you have given a man to +understand that there is nothing to be said for the other side, and he +afterwards finds that there are strong grounds for it, your argument +will have a fall in his estimation. + +In the manner of your refutation lean towards the side of soberness and +courtesy. It has been said that the poorest use you can put a man to is +to refute him; and it is certain that in the give and take of argument +in active life the personal victories and defeats are what are soonest +forgotten. If after a while you have to establish a fact in history or +in biology, or to get a verdict from a jury or a favorable report from +the committee of a legislature, you will think a good deal more about +the arguments of your opponents than about them personally. There are +few arguments in which you can afford to take no notice of the strong +points of the other side; and where the burden of proof is strongly with +you, your own argument may be almost wholly refutation; but it is +always worth bearing in mind that if it is worth while for you to be +arguing at all, there is something, and something of serious weight, to +be said on the other side. + +53. The Conclusion. The conclusion of your argument should be short +and pointed. Gather the main issues together, and restate them in terms +that will be easy to remember. Mere repetition of the points as you made +them in your introduction may sound too much like lack of resource; on +the other hand, it helps to make your points familiar, and to drive them +home. In any event make your contentions easy to remember. Most of us go +a long way towards settling our own minds on a puzzling question when we +repeat to some one else arguments that we have read or heard. If you can +so sum up your argument that your readers will go off and unconsciously +retail your points to their neighbors, you probably have them. On the +other hand, when you have finished your argument, if you start in to +hedge and modify and go back to points that have not had enough emphasis +before, you throw away all you have gained. In arguing nothing succeeds +like decision and certainty of utterance. Even dogmatism is better than +an appearance of wabbling. It is the men like Macaulay, who see +everything black and white with no shades between, who are the leaders +of the world's opinion. Sum up, then, wherever it is decent to do so, as +if there were only one side of the case, and that could be stated in +three lines. + +54. The Power of Convincing. The convincing power of an argument +depends on its appeal to the reason of its readers. To put the same fact +in another way, an argument has convincing power when it can fit the +facts which it deals with smoothly and intelligently into the rest of +the reader's experience. If an argument on a complicated mass of facts, +such as the evidence in a long murder case, makes the reader say, "Yes, +now I see how it all happened," or an argument for the direct election +of United States senators makes him say, "Yes, that is a plain working +out of the fundamental principles of popular government," then he is +convinced. In this aspect argument merges into exposition. It is +significant that, as has already been noted, Matthew Arnold's argument +that Wordsworth is the greatest English poet after Shakespeare and +Milton, and Huxley's argument that the physical basis of animal and +plant life is the same, are both used in a book of examples of +exposition.[58] The essential difference between argument and exposition +from this point of view lies in the emphasis: normally an explanation +covers the whole case evenly; an argument throws certain parts and +aspects of the case into relief. + +If, therefore, to be convincing, your argument must provide a reasonable +explanation of the whole state of affairs to which the case belongs, you +can use all the devices there are for clear and effective explanation. I +will therefore briefly review a few of these. + +Of the value of an introduction which lays out the ground to be covered +I have already spoken. The more distinct an idea you can implant in your +readers' minds of the course you are going to follow in your argument, +the more likely they will be to follow it. Since the success of your +argument hangs on carrying them with you on the main issues, let them +know beforehand just what those issues are, and in such a way that they +can hold them with a minimum of effort. The value of a clear and, as it +were, maplike introduction is even greater in an argument than in an +exposition. + +In the second place, use your paragraphing for all that it is worth, and +that is a great deal. The success of any explanation or argument springs +from the way in which it takes a mass of facts apart, and rearranges +them simply and perspicuously; and there is no device of composition +which helps so much towards clearness as good paragraphing. Accordingly +when you come to make your final draft, make certain that each paragraph +has unity. If you have any doubts see if you can sum up the paragraph +into a single simple sentence. Then look at the beginnings of the +paragraphs to see whether you have made it easy for your readers to know +what each one is about. Macaulay's style is on the whole clearer and +more effective for a general audience than that of any other writer in +English; and his habit of beginning each paragraph with a very definite +announcement of its subject is almost a mannerism. Incidentally there is +no better rough test of the unity of your paragraphs than thus to give +them something of the nature of a title in the first sentence. Often, +too, at the end of an important paragraph it is worth while to sum up +its essence in pithy form. Mankind in general is lazy about thinking, +and more than ready to accept an argument which is easy to remember and +repeat. The end of a paragraph is the place for a catchword. + +In the third place, bind the sentences in your paragraphs together. When +one is building up a first draft, and picking facts from a variety of +sources, it is inevitable that the result shall be somewhat disjointed. +In working over the first draft, really work it over, and work it +together. Make all the sentences point the same way. Pronouns are the +most effective connectives that we have; therefore recast your +sentences so that there will be as little change of subject as possible. +Then use the explicit connectives in as much variety as you can. It is +not likely that you will make your paragraphs too closely knit for the +average reader. + +In the fourth place, bind your argument together as a whole by +connectives at the beginnings of the paragraphs and by brief summarizing +paragraphs. In the present generation of schoolboys a good many have +groaned over Burke's speech "On Conciliation with America"; but if the +first time that one of these sufferers must make an argument in real +earnest, he will go back to Burke for some of the devices used to bind +that argument together, he will be surprised to see how practically e +efficient those devices are. And none of them counts more for clarity +and thoroughness than the conscientious way in which Burke took his +hearers by the hand at the beginning of each paragraph, and at each turn +in his argument, to make sure that they knew just how they were passing +from one point to another. + +From the doctrine of clear explanation, then, we may carry over to the +making of clear arguments the habit of laying out the ground at the +beginning, of making the paragraphs do their full work by attending to +unity, to emphasis, and to coherence, and of binding the paragraphs +together into a closely knit whole. + +55. The Power of Persuading. Finally, we have to consider the +question of how an argument can be made persuasive--probably the most +difficult subject in the range of rhetoric on which to give practical +advice. The key to the whole matter lies in remembering that we are here +dealing with feelings, and that feelings are irrational and are the +product of personal experience. The experience may be bitter or sweet, +and to some degree its effects are modified by education; but in +substance your feelings and emotions make you what you are, and your +capacities in these directions were born with you. If the citizens of a +town have no feeling about political dishonesty, reformers may talk +their throats out without producing any result; it is only when taxes +get intolerable or the sewers smell to heaven that anything will be +done. Many people die for whose deaths each of us ought to feel grief, +but if these people have never happened to touch our feelings, we can +reason with ourselves in vain that we should feel deeply grieved. +Feeling and emotion are the deepest, most primitive part of human +nature; and very little of its field has been reduced to the +generalizations of reason.[59] + +When you come, therefore, in the making of your argument to the point of +stirring up the feelings of your readers on the subject, do not waste +any time in considering what they ought to feel: the only pertinent +question is what they do feel. On your shrewdness in estimating what +these feelings are, and how strong they are, will hang your success as +an advocate. Tact is the faculty you need now--the faculty of judging +men, of knowing when they will rise to an appeal, and when they will lie +back inert and uninterested. This is a matter you cannot reason about; +if you have the faculty it will be borne in on you how other men will +feel on your subject. The skill of politicians, where it does not +confine itself to estimating how much the people will stand before +rebelling, consists in this intuition of the movement of public opinion; +and the great leaders are the men who have so sure a sense of these +large waves of popular feeling that they can utter at the right moment +the word that will gather together this diffused and uncrystallized +feeling into a living force. Lincoln's declaration, "A house divided +against itself cannot stand, I believe that this government cannot +endure permanently half slave and half free," brought to a head a +conflict that had been smoldering ever since the adoption of the +Constitution, and made him the inevitable leader who was to bring it to +a close. It will be noticed, however, that the time had to come before +the inspired word could make its appeal. The abolitionists and +antislavery men had long been preaching the same doctrine that Lincoln +uttered, and the folly and wickedness of slavery had been proved by +philosophers and preachers for generations. Until the time grows ripe +the most reasonable doctrine does not touch the hearts of men; when the +time has ripened, the leader knows it and speaks the word that sets the +world on fire for righteousness. + +The same faculty, on a smaller scale, is needed by every one of us who +is trying to make other people do anything. The actual use of the +faculty will vary greatly, however, with different kinds of arguments. +In certain kinds of scientific argument any attempt at persuasion as +such would be an impertinence: whether heat is a mode of motion, whether +there are such infinitesimal bodies as the ions which physicists of +to-day assume to explain certain new phenomena, whether matter consists +of infinitesimal whirls of force--in all such questions an argument +appeals solely to the reason; and in such Bacon's favorite apophthegm +has full sway, Dry light is ever the best. In Huxley's arguments for the +theory of evolution feeling had some share, for when the theory was +first announced by Darwin some religious people thought that it cut at +the foundations of their faith, and Huxley had to show that loyalty to +truth is a feeling of equal sanctity to scientific men: hence there is +some tinge of feeling, though repressed, in his argument, and a definite +consciousness of the feelings of his audience. + +At the other extreme are the arguments where the appeal to feelings is +everything, since it is clear that the audience is already of the +speaker's way of thinking. Examples of such arguments are most apt to be +found in speeches in political campaigns and in appeals for money to +help forward charities of all kinds. It is probable that most of the +conversions in political matters are through reading; consequently the +purpose of the speeches is to stir up excitement and feeling to such a +heat that the maximum of the party voters will take the trouble to go +out to the polls. Arguments directed to this class, accordingly, are +almost wholly appeals to feeling. The famous debate between Lincoln and +Douglas in 1858 was of this character; of the thousands of people who +heard them in one or another of the seven debates most had taken sides +already. In such a case as this, however, where a change in general +political opinion was impending, the reasoning of the debates had more +force than in ordinary times, and probably helped many voters to a +clearer view of a very distressing and harassing situation. Between +times, however, in politics, where there are no great moral or practical +differences between parties, the purpose of speeches is almost wholly +persuasive. Success one way or another is a question of getting out the +voters who more or less passively and as a matter of habit hold to the +party. Party speakers, accordingly, use every device to wake up their +voters, and to make them believe that there is a real crisis at hand. +Every attempt is made to attach moral issues to the party platforms, and +to show how the material prosperity of the voters will fail if the +other party wins. + +Roughly, therefore, we may say that persuasion tends to play a small +part in arguments of facts, and a larger part in questions of policy. +This is a rough generalization only, for every one knows what eloquence +and efforts at eloquence go into the arguments before juries in capital +cases, and how dry and abstract are the arguments before the judges on +points of law, or on questions of public policy in books of political +economy. But in the long run, the less feeling enters into decisions of +questions of fact, the better. + +Of the factors which make for the persuasiveness of an argument I will +speak here of three--clearness of statement, appeal to the practical +interests of the audience, and direct appeal to their feelings. + +There can be no doubt that clearness of statement is a powerful element +in making an argument persuasive, though the appeal that it makes to the +feelings of the readers is slight and subtle. In practice we mostly read +arguments either to help make up our minds on a subject or to get aid in +defending views for which we have no ready support. In the latter case +we do not need to be persuaded; but in the former there can be no +question that an argument which clears up the subject, and makes it +intelligible where before it was confusing, does have an effect on us +over and above its aid to our thought. + +56. The Practical Interests of the Audience. Of directly persuasive +power, however, are the other two factors--the appeal to the practical +interests of readers, and the appeal to their emotions. Of these the +appeal to practical interests has no proper place in arguments on +questions of fact, but a large and entirely proper share in most +arguments of policy. Henry Ward Beecher's speech on the slavery issue in +the Civil War, before the cotton operatives of Liverpool,[60] is a +classic example of the direct appeal to the practical interests of an +audience. They were bitterly hostile to the North, because the supplies +of cotton had been cut off by the blockade; and after he had got a +hearing from them by appealing to the English sense of fair play, he +drove home the doctrine that a slave population made few customers for +the products of English mills. Then he passed on to the moral side of +the question. + +Arguments on almost all public questions--direct election of senators, +direct primaries, commission form of government, tariff, currency, +control of corporations, or, in local matters, the size of a school +committee, the granting of franchises to street railroads or water +companies, the laying out of streets, the rules governing parks--are all +questions of policy in which the greatest practical advantage to the +greatest proportion of those who are interested is the controlling force +in the decision. At particular times and places moral questions may +enter into some of these questions, but ordinarily we come to them to +settle questions of practical advantage. + +In arguments on all such questions, therefore, the direct appeal to the +practical interests of the people you are addressing is the chief factor +that makes for persuasiveness. Will a change to a commission form of +government make towards a reduction of taxes and towards giving greater +and more equitably distributed returns for those that are levied? Will +the direct primary for state officers make it easier and surer for the +average citizen of the state to elect to office the kind of men he wants +to have in office? Will a central bank of issue, or some institution +like it, establish the business of the country on a basis less likely to +be disturbed by panics? Will a competing street-car line make for better +and cheaper transportation in the city? In all such questions the only +grounds for decision are practical, and founded in the prosperity and +the convenience of the people who have the decision. + +To make arguments in such cases persuasive you must show how the +question affects the practical interests of your readers, and then that +the plan which you support will bring them the greatest advantage. +Generalities and large political truths may help you to convince them; +but to persuade them to active interest and action you must get down to +the realities which touch them personally. If you are arguing for a +commission government in your city on the ground of economy, show in +dollars and cents what portion of his income the owner of a house and +lot worth five or ten thousand dollars pays each year because of the +present extravagance and wastefulness. If you can make a voter see that +the change is likely to save him ten or twenty-five or a hundred dollars +a year, you have made an argument that is persuasive. The arguments for +the reformation of our currency system are aimed directly at the +material interests of the business men of the country and their +employees; and the pleas for one or another system attempt to show how +each will conduce to the greater security and profit of the greatest +number of people. + +To make such arguments count, however, you must deal in concrete terms. +A recent argument[61] for the establishment of a general parcels post in +this country presents figures to show that for the transportation of a +parcel by express at a rate of forty-five cents, the railroad gets +twenty-two and one-half cents for service which it could do at a +handsome profit for five cents. Of the validity of these figures I have +no means of judging; but the effectiveness of the argument lies in its +making plain to each of its readers a fact which touches his pocket +every time he sends a parcel by express. It is this kind of argument +that has persuasiveness, for the way we spend our money and what we get +for it come close home to most of us. Of all practical interests those +of the purse are of necessity the most moving for all but the very rich. + +Money interests, however, are far from being the only practical +interests which concern us: there are many matters of convenience and +comfort where an individual or a community is not thinking of the cost. +Such questions as what kind of furnace to set up, whether to build a +house of brick or of cement, which railroad to take between, two cities, +are questions that draw arguments from other people than advertising +agents. Of another sort are questions that concern education. What +college shall a boy go to; shall he be prepared in a public school, or a +private day school, or a boarding school? Shall a given college admit on +certificate, or demand an examination of its own? Shall a certain public +school drop Greek from its list of studies; shall it set up a course in +manual training? All these are examples of another set of questions that +touch practical interests very closely. In arguments on such questions, +therefore, if you are to have the power of persuading and so of +influencing action, you must get home to the interests of the people you +are trying to move. The question of schools is very different for a boy +in a small country village and for one in New York City; the question +of admission is different for a state university and for an endowed +college; the question of Greek is different for a school which sends few +pupils on to college and for one which sends many: and in each case if +you want to influence action, you must set forth facts which bear on the +problem as it faces that particular audience. Except perhaps for the +highest eloquence, there is no such thing as universal persuasiveness. +The questions which actively affect the average man usually concern +small groups of people, and each group must be stirred to action by +incentives adapted to its special interests. + +57. The Appeal to Moral Interests. Still further from the interests +that touch the pocket, and constantly in healthy and elevating action +against them, are the moral interests. The appeal to moral motives is +sometimes laughed at by men who call themselves practical, but in +America it is in the long run the strongest appeal that can be made. We +are still near enough to the men who fought through the Civil War, in +which each, side held passionately to what it believed to be the moral +right, for us to believe without too much complacency that moral forces +are the forces that rule us as a nation. Mr. Bryan and Mr. Roosevelt +have both been called preachers, and the hold they have had on great, +though differing, parts of the American people is incontestable. If any +question on which you have to argue has a moral side, it is not only +your duty, but it is also the path of expediency, to make appeal through +the moral principle involved. + +The chief difficulty with making an appeal to moral principles is to set +them forth in other than abstract terms, since they are the product of a +set of feelings which lie too deep for easy phrasing in definite words. +In most cases we know what is right long before we can explain why it is +right; and a man who can put into clear words the moral forces that move +his fellows is a prophet and leader of men. Moreover, it must be +remembered when one is appealing to moral principles that upright men +are not agreed about all of them, and there is even more doubt and +disagreement when one comes to the practical application of the +principles. We have seen in Chapter I what bitter division arose in our +fathers' time over the right and the righteousness of slavery; and how +in many states to-day good and God-fearing people are divided on the +question of prohibition. + +But even where the two sides to a question agree on the moral principle +which is involved, it by no means follows that they will agree on its +application in a particular case. Church members accept the principle +that one must forgive sinners and help them to reform; but it is another +thing when it comes to getting work for a man who has been in prison, or +help for a woman who has left her husband. How far is the condoning of +offenses consistent with maintaining the standards of society? And in +what cases shall we apply the principle of forgiveness? In a business +transaction how far can one push the Golden Rule? Life would be a +simpler matter if moral principles were always easy to apply to concrete +cases. + +One must use the appeal to moral principles, therefore, soberly and with +discretion. The good sense of readers will rebel if their moral sense is +called on unnecessarily; and even when they cannot explain why they +believe such an appeal unsound, yet their instincts will tell them that +it is so. The creator whose right hand is always rising to heaven to +call God to witness disgusts the right feeling of his audience. On the +other hand, where moral principles are really concerned there should be +no compromise. If in a political campaign the issue is between honesty +and graft in the public service, or between an open discussion of all +dealings which touch the public good, and private bargaining with party +managers, the moral principles cannot be kept hidden. If a real moral +principle is seriously involved in any question, the debate must rise to +the level of that principle and let practical considerations go. And +every citizen who has the advantage of having had more education than +his fellows is thereby placed under obligation to hold the debate to +this higher level. + +58. The Appeal of Style. Finally, we have to consider the appeal to +the emotions, which is the distinguishing essence of eloquence, and the +attempts at it. In part this appeal is through the appeal to principles +and associations which are close to the heart of the audience, in part +through concrete and figurative language, in part through the +indefinable thrill and music of style which lies beyond definition and +instruction. + +The appeal to venerated principle we have considered already, looked at +from the side of morals rather than of emotions. But morality, so far as +it is a coercive force in human conduct, is emotional; our moral +standards lie beyond and above reason in that larger part of our nature +that knows through feeling and intuition. All men have certain standards +and principles whose names arouse strong and reverent emotions. Such +standards are not all religious or moral in the stricter sense; some of +them have their roots in systems of government. In a case at law, argued +purely on a question of law, there does not seem much chance for the +appeal to feeling; but Mr. Joseph H. Choate, in his argument on the +constitutionality of the Income Tax of 1894, before the Supreme Court +of the United States, made the following appeal to the principle of the +sanctity of private property, and the words he used could not have +failed to stir deep and strong feelings in the court. + +No longer ago, if the Court please, than the day of the funeral +procession of General Sherman in New York, it was my fortune to spend +many hours with one of the ex-Presidents of the United States, who has +since followed that great warrior to the bourne to which we were then +bearing him. President Hayes expressed great solicitude as to the future +fortunes of this people. In his retirement he had been watching the +tendency of political and social purposes and events. He had observed +how in recent years the possessors of political power had been learning +to use it for the first time for the promotion of social and personal +ends. He said to me, "You will probably live to see the day when in the +case of the death of any man of large wealth the State will take for +itself all above a certain prescribed limit of his fortune and divide +it, or apply it to the equal use of all the people, so as to punish the +rich man for his wealth, and to divide it among those who, whatever may +have been their sins, at least have not committed that." I looked upon +it as the wanderings of a dreaming man; and yet if I had known that +within less than five short years afterwards I should be standing before +this tribunal to contest the validity of an alleged act of Congress, of +a so-called law, which was defended here by the authorized legal +representatives of the Federal Government upon the plea that it was a +tax levied only upon classes and extremely rich men, I should have given +altogether a different heed and ear to the warnings of that +distinguished statesman.[62] + +Our emotions do not rise, however, anymore surely in the case of our +veneration for the basal principles of religion and government than in +that of more personal emotions. The appeal to the Constitution is worn +somewhat threadbare by the politicians who call on it at every election, +small or great, as is the appeal to the principles of the Pilgrim +Fathers. It takes eloquence now to rouse our feelings about these +principles. If you have a case important enough to justify appeal to +such great principles and the skill in language to give your appeal +vitality, you may really arouse your readers. But, on the whole, it is +sound advice to say, Wait a few years before you call on them. + +The second mode of appeal to the feelings of your audience, that through +concrete and figurative language, is more within the reach of advocates +who are still of college age. This is particularly true of the use of +concrete language. It is a matter of common knowledge that men do not +rouse themselves over abstract principles; they will grant their assent, +often without really knowing what is implied by the general principle, +and go away yawning. On the other hand, the man who talks about the real +and actual things which you know is likely to keep your attention. This +goes back to the truth that our emotions and feelings are primarily the +reaction to the concrete things that happen to us. The spontaneous +whistling and humming of tunes that indicate a cheerful heart rise +naturally as a response to the sunlight in spring; the fear at the +terror that flies in a nightmare is the instinctive and physical +reaction to indigestion; we sorrow over the loss of our own friends, but +not over the loss of some one else's. The stories that stir us are the +stories that deal with actual, tangible realities in such terms that +they make us feel that we are living the story ourselves. Stevenson has +some wise words on this subject in his essay, "A Gossip on Romance." The +doctrine holds true for the making of arguments. + +Even where as in Burke's speech "On Conciliation with America," +abstractness is not vagueness, the style would be more effective for the +richer feeling that hangs over and around a concrete vocabulary. The +great vividness of Macaulay's style, and its bold over so many readers, +is largely due to his unfailing use of the specific word. If you will +take the trouble to notice what arguments in the last few months have +seemed to you especially persuasive, you will be surprised to find how +definite and concrete the terms are that they use. + +Accordingly, if you wish to keep the readers of your argument awake and +attentive, use terms that touch their everyday experience. If you are +arguing for the establishment of a commission form of government, give +in dollars and cents the sum that it cost under the old system to pave +the three hundred yards of A Street, between 12th and 13th streets. The +late Mr. Godkin of the New York _Evening Post_, in his lifelong campaign +against corrupt government, to bring home to his readers the actual +state of their city government and the character of the men who ran it, +used their nicknames; "Long John" Corrigan, for example (if there had +been such a personage); and "Bath-house John Somebody" has been a +feature of campaigns in Chicago. The value of such names when skillfully +used is that by their associations and connotation they do stir feeling. +Likewise if you are arguing before an audience of graduates for a change +from a group system to a free elective system in your college, you would +use the names of courses with which they would be familiar and the names +of professors under whom they had studied. If you were arguing for the +introduction of manual training into a school, you would make taxpayers +take an interest in the matter if you gave them the exact numbers of +pupils from that school who have gone directly into mills or other work +of the kind, and if you describe vividly just what is meant by manual +training. If your description is in general terms they may grant you +your principle, and then out of mere inertia and a vague feeling against +change vote the other way. + +A rough test for concreteness is your vocabulary: if your words are +mostly Anglo-Saxon you will usually be talking about concrete things; if +it is Latinate and polysyllabic it is probably abstract and general. +Most of the things and actions of everyday life, the individual things +like "walls" and "puppies," "summer" and "boys," "buying" and "selling," +"praying" and "singing," have names belonging to the Anglo-Saxon part of +the language; and though there are many exceptions, like "tables," and +"telephones," and "professors," yet the more your vocabulary consists of +the non-Latinate words, the more likely it is to be concrete, and +therefore to keep your readers' attention and feelings alive. Use the +simple terms of everyday life, therefore, rather than the learned words +which would serve you if you were generalizing from many cases. Stick to +the single case before you and to the interests of the particular people +you are trying to win over. To touch their feelings remember that you +must talk about the things they have feelings about. + +The use of similes and metaphors and other figurative language raises a +difficult question. On the whole, perhaps the best advice about using +them is, Don't unless you have to. In other words, where a figure of +speech is a necessity of expression, where you cannot make your thought +clear and impart to it the warmth of feeling with which it is clothed in +your own mind except by a touch of imaginative color, then use a figure +of speech, if one flashes itself on your mind. If you add it +deliberately as adornment of your speech, it will strike a false note; +if you laboriously invent it the effort will show. Unless your thought +and your eagerness for your subject flow naturally and inevitably into +an image, it is better to stick to plain speech, for any suggestion of +insincerity is fatal to the persuasiveness of an argument. + +The value of the figure of speech is chiefly in giving expression to +feelings which cannot be set forth in abstract words, the whole of whose +meaning can be defined: in the connotation of words--that indefinable +part of their meaning which consists in their associations, +implications, and general emotional coloring--lies their power to clothe +thought with the rich color of feeling which is the life. At the same +time, they serve as a fillip to the attention. There are not very many +people who can long keep the mind fixed on a purely abstract line of +thought, and none can do it without some effort. Professor William James +is a notable example of a writer whose thought flowed spontaneously into +necessary figures of speech: + +When one turns to the magnificent edifice of the physical sciences, +and sees how it was reared; what thousands of disinterested +moral lives of men lie buried in its mere foundations; what patience +and postponement, what choking down of preference, what +submission to the icy laws of outer fact are wrought into its very +stones and mortar; how absolutely impersonal it stands in its vast +augustness,--then how besotted and contemptible seems every +little sentimentalist who comes blowing his voluntary smoke wreaths, +and pretending to decide things out of his private dream.[63] + +One cannot go to sleep over a style like that, for besides the +obvious sincerity and rush of warm feeling, the vividness of +the figures is like that of poetry. On the either hand, one +must remember that it is given to few men to attain the +unstudied eloquence of Professor James. + +Fables and anecdotes serve much the same purpose, but +more especially throw into memorable form the principle +which they are intended to set forth. There are a good many +truths which are either so complex or so subtle that they defy +phrasing in compact form, yet their truth we all know by intuition. +If for such a truth you can find a compact illustration, +you can leave it much more firmly fixed in your readers' minds +than by any amount of systematic exposition. Lincoln in his +Springfield speech, for example, threw into striking form the +feeling which was so common in the North, that each step +forward in the advance of slavery so fitted into all earlier ones +that something like a concerted plan must be assumed: + +We cannot absolutely know that all these exact adaptations are, the +result of preconcert. But when we see a lot of framed timbers, different +portions of which we know have been gotten cut at different times and +places and by different workmen,--Stephen, Franklin, Roger, and James, +for instance,--and we see these timbers joined together, and see they +exactly make the frame of a house or a mill, all the tenons and mortises +exactly fitting, and all the lengths and proportions of the different +pieces exactly adapted to their respective places, and not a piece too +many or too few, not omitting even scaffolding,--or, if a single piece +be lacking, we see the place in the frame exactly fitted and prepared +yet to bring such piece in,--in such a case we find it impossible not to +believe that Stephen and Franklin and Roger and James all understood one +another from the beginning, and all worked upon a common plan or draft +drawn up before the first blow was struck. + +On the other hand, there is the danger of being florid or of playing the +clown if you tell too many stories. Whether your style will seem florid +or not depends a good deal on the part of the country you are writing +for. There is no doubt that the taste of the South and of a good deal of +the West is for a style more varied and highly colored than suits the +soberer taste of the East. But whatever part of the country you are +writing for, just so soon as your style seems to those special readers +overloaded with ornament it will seem insincere. In the same way, if you +stop too often to tell a story or to make your readers laugh, you will +produce the impression of trifling with your subject. In both these +respects be careful not to draw the attention of your readers away from +the subject to your style. + +The ultimate and least analyzable appeal of style is through that thrill +of the voice which in written style appears as rhythm and harmony. +Certain men are gifted with the capacity of so modulating their voices +and throwing virtue into their tones that whoever hears them feels an +indefinable thrill. So in writing: where sounds follow sounds in +harmonious sequence, and the beat of the accent approaches regularity +without falling into it, language takes on the expressiveness of music. +It is well known that music expresses a range of feeling that lies +beyond the powers of words: who can explain, for example, the thrill +roused in him by a good brass band, or the indefinable melancholy and +gloom created by the minor harmonies of one of the great funeral +marches, or, in another direction, the impulse that sets him to +whistling or singing on a bright morning in summer? There are many such +kinds of feeling, real and potent parts of our consciousness; and if we +can bring them to expression at all, we must do so through the rhythm +and other sensuous qualities of the style which are pure sensation. + +How is that to be done? The answer is difficult, and like that +concerning the use of figurative language: do not try for it too +deliberately. If without your thinking of it you find yourself becoming +more earnest in speech, and more impressed with the seriousness of the +issue you are arguing, your voice will show it naturally. So when you +are writing: your earnestness will show, if you have had the training +and have the natural gift for expression in words, in a lengthening and +more strongly marked rhythm, in an intangibly richer coloring of sound. +In speech the rhythm is apt to be shown in what is called parallel +structure, the repetition of the same form of sentence, and in +rhetorical questions. In writing, these forms more easily tend to seem +either excited or artificial. Sustained periodic structure, too, can be +carried by the speaking voice, when it would lag if written. Every one +recognizes this incommunicable thrill of eloquence in great speakers and +writers, but it is so much a gift of nature that it is not wise +consciously to cultivate it. + +59. Fairness and Sincerity. In the long run, however, nothing makes +an argument appeal more to readers than an air of fairness and +sincerity. If it is evident in an argument of fact that you are seeking +to establish the truth, or in an argument of policy that your single aim +is the greatest good of all concerned, your audience will listen to you +with favorable ears. If on the other hand you seem to be chiefly +concerned with the vanity of a personal victory, or to be thinking of +selfish advantages, they will listen to you coolly and with jealous +scrutiny of your points. + +Accordingly, in making your preliminary survey to prepare the statement +of the facts that are agreed on by both sides, go as far as you can in +yielding points. If the question is worth arguing at all you will still +have your hands full to get through it within your space. In particular +waive all trivial points: nothing is more wearisome to readers than to +plow through detailed arguments over points that no one cares about in +the end. And meet the other side at least halfway in agreeing on the +facts that do not need to be argued out. You will prejudice your +audience if you make concessions in a grudging spirit. Likewise, +wherever you have, to meet arguments put forward by the other side, +state them with scrupulous fairness; if your audience has any reason to +suppose that you are twisting the assertions of the other side to your +own advantage, you have shaken their confidence in you, and thereby +weakened the persuasive force of your argument. Use sarcasm with +caution, and beware of any seeming of triumph. Sarcasm easily becomes +cheap, and an air of triumph may look like petty smartness. + +In short, in writing your argument, assume throughout the attitude of +one who is seeking earnestly to bring the disagreement between the two +sides to an end. If you are dealing with a question of fact, your sole +duty is to establish the truth. If you are dealing with a question of +policy, you know when you begin that whichever way the decision goes, +one side will suffer some disadvantage; but aim to lessen that +disadvantage, and to discover a way that will bring the greatest gain to +the greatest number. An obvious spirit of conciliation is a large asset +in persuasion. + +With the conciliation make clear your sincerity. A chief difficulty with +making arguments written in school and college persuasive is that they +so often deal with subjects in which it is obvious that the writer's own +feelings are not greatly concerned. This difficulty will disappear when +you get out into the world, and make arguments in earnest. A great part +of Lincoln's success as an advocate is said to have been due to the fact +that he always tried to compose his cases and to make peace between the +litigants, and that he never took a case in which he did not believe. If +you leave on your audience the impression that you are sincere and in +earnest, you have taken a long step towards winning over their feelings. + +On the whole, then, when one is considering the question of persuasion, +the figure of speech of a battle is not very apt. It is all very well +when you are laying out your brief to speak, of deploying your various +points, of directing an attack on your opponent's weakest point, of +bringing up reserve material in rebuttal; but if the figure gets you +into the way of thinking that you must always demolish your opponent, +and treat him as an enemy, it is doing harm. If you will take the +trouble to follow the controversies which are going on in your own city +and state over public affairs, you will soon see that in most of them +the two sides break even, so far as intelligence and public-spiritedness +go. In every transaction there are two sides; and the president of a +street railroad may be as honest and as disinterested in seeking to get +the best of the bargain for his road as the representatives of the city +are in trying to get the best of it for the public. There is no use +going into a question of this sort with the assumption that you are on a +higher moral plane than the other side. In some cases where a moral +issue is involved there is only one view of what is right; if honesty is +in the balance, there can be no other side. But, as we have seen, there +are moral questions in which one must use his utmost strength for the +right as he sees the right, and yet know all the time that equally +honest men are fighting just as hard on the other side. No American who +remembers the case of General Robert E. Lee can forget this puzzling +truth. Therefore, unless there can be no doubt of the dishonesty of your +opponent, turn your energies against his cause and not against him; and +hold that the proper end of argument is not so much to win victories as +to bring as many people as possible to agreement. + + +EXERCISES + +1. Compare the length of the introductory part of the argument of the +specimens at the end of this book; point out reasons for the difference +in length, if you find any. + +2. Find two arguments, not in this book, in which the main points at +issue are numbered. + +3. Find an argument, not in this book, in which a history of the case is +part of the introduction. + +4. Find an argument, not in this book, in which the definitions of terms +occupy some space. + +5. In the argument on which you are working, what terms need definition? +How much space should the definitions occupy in the completed argument? +Why? + +6. In the argument on which you are working, how much of the material in +the introduction to the brief shall you use in the argument itself? Does +the audience you have in mind affect the decision? + +7. How do you intend to distribute your space between the main issues +you will argue out? + +8. How much will explanation enter into your argument? + +9. Find an argument, not in this book, in which the explanation chiefly +makes the convincing power. + +10. In which of the arguments in this book does explanation play the +smallest part? + +11. Examine five consecutive paragraphs in Huxley's argument on +evolution, or _The Outlook_ argument on the Workman's Compensation Act, +from the point of view of good explanation. + +12. Find two examples of arguments, not in this book, whose chief +appeal is to the feelings. + +13. Find an argument, not in this book, which is a good illustration of +the power of tact. + +14. Name an argument which you have read within a few months which made +a special impression on you by its clearness. + +15. Find an argument in the daily papers, on local or academic affairs, +which makes effective appeal to the practical interests of its audience. +Analyze this appeal. + +16. Name three subjects of local and immediate interest on which you +could write an argument in which you would appeal chiefly to the +practical interests of your readers. + +17. Name two current political questions which turn on the practical +interests of the country at large. + +18. Name two public questions now under discussion into which moral +issues enter. Do both sides on these questions accept the same view of +the bearing of the moral issues? + +19. Find an argument, not in this book, in which the eloquence of the +style is a distinct part of the persuasive power. + +20. What do you think of the persuasive power of Burke's speech "On +Conciliation with America"? of its convincing power? + +21. Find an argument, not in this book, in which the concreteness of the +language adds to the persuasive power. + +22. Find two examples, not in this book, of apt and effective figures of +speech in an argument. + +23. Find an example of an apt anecdote or fable used in an argument. + +24. In Lincoln's address at Cooper Institute, what do you think of his +attitude towards the South as respects fairness? + +25. In the argument on which you are at work, what chance would there be +of inducing agreement between the two sides? + + + + +CHAPTER V + +DEBATING + + +60. The Nature of Debate. The essential difference between debate +and written argument lies not so much in the natural difference between +all spoken and written discourse as in the fact that in a debate of any +kind there is the chance for an immediate answer to an opponent. +Quickness of wit to see the weak points on the other side, readiness in +attacking them, and resource in defending one's own points make the +debater, as distinguished from the man who, if he be given plenty of +time, can make a formidable and weighty argument in writing. The best +debating is heard in deliberative bodies which are not too large, and +where the rules are not too elaborate. Perhaps the best in the world is +in the British House of Commons, for there the room is not so large that +hearing is difficult, and skill in thrust and parry has been valued and +practiced for generations. + +The military figure for argument is more apposite in debate than +anywhere else, for in the taking of the vote there is an actual victory +and defeat, very different in nature from the barren decision of judges +in intercollegiate and interscholastic contests. It is undoubtedly rare +that a particular debate in any legislative body actually changes the +result; but in the long run the debates in such bodies do mold public +opinion, and within the body amalgamate or break up party ties. The +resource and the ready knowledge of the subject under debate necessary +to hold one's own in such running contests of wit Is an almost essential +characteristic of a party leader. It is on these two qualities that I +shall chiefly dwell in this chapter. + +61. Subjects for Debate. Debate almost always deals with questions +of policy. In trials before a jury there is something approaching a +debate over questions of fact; but the rules of evidence are so special, +and within their range so strict, that even though the arguments are +spoken, they can have little of the free give and take which makes the +life and the interest of a real debate. Accordingly I shall draw my +illustrations here from questions of policy, and so far as is possible +from the sort of question that students are likely to turn their +attention to. The later years of school and the whole of the college +course are often the molding years for a man's views on all sorts of +public questions. It has been said that a man's views rarely change +after he is twenty-five years old; and though one must not take such a +dictum too literally, yet unquestionably it has truth. At any rate it is +certain that a student, whether in high school or college, if he is to +do his duty as a citizen, must begin to think out many of the questions +which are being decided in Congress, in state legislatures, and in +smaller, more local bodies. At the same time, in every school and +college questions are constantly under discussion of a nature to provide +good practice in debate. Some of these questions must be decided by +school committee, principal, faculty, or trustees, and most of them call +for some looking up of facts. They would provide admirable material for +the development of judgment and resource in debating, and in some cases +a debate on them might have effect on the actual decision. + +The choice of subject is even more important for debating than for +written argument. In a written argument if you have a question which has +two defensible sides, it does not make much difference whether one is +easier to defend than the other: in a debate such a difference might +destroy the usefulness of the subject. Though to some older minds the +abolition of football is a debatable question, before an audience of +undergraduates who had to vote on the merits of the question the subject +would be useless, since the side which had to urge the abolition would +here have an almost impossible task. So in a debate on the "closed +shop," in most workingmen's clubs the negative would be able to +accomplish little, for the other side would be intrenched in the +prejudices and prepossessions of the audience. In political bodies +unevenness of sides is of common occurrence, for a minority must always +defend its doctrines, no matter how overwhelming the vote is certain to +be. In the formal debates of school and college, on the other hand, +where the conditions must be more or less artificial, the first +condition is to choose a question which will give the two sides an even +chance. + +A fair test of this evenness of sides is to see whether the public which +is concerned with the question is evenly divided: if about the same +number of men who are acquainted with the subject and are recognized as +fair-minded take opposite sides, the question is probably a good subject +for debate. Even this test, however, may be deceptive, since believing a +policy to be sound and being able to show that it is so are very +different matters. The reasons for introducing the honor system into a +certain school or college are probably easier to state and to support +than the reasons against introducing it; yet the latter may be +unquestionably weighty. + +In general, arguments which rest on large and more or less abstract +principles are at a disadvantage as against arguments based on some +immediate and pressing evil or on some obvious expediency. Arguments for +or against a protective tariff on general principles of political +economy are harder to make interesting and, therefore, cogent to the +average audience than are those based on direct practical gains or +losses. This difference in the ease with which the two sides of a +question can be argued must be taken into account in the choice of a +subject. + +In the second place, the subject should be so phrased that it will +inevitably produce a "head-on" collision between the two sides. If such +a proposition as "The present city government should be changed" were +chosen for a debate, one side might argue it as a question of the party +or of the men who happened to be in control at the time, and the other +as a question of the form of government. So on the question of +self-government for a college or school, unless the type of +self-government were carefully defined, the two sides might argue +through the debate and not come in sight of each other. What was said in +Chapter II about framing the proposition for an argument applies with +even more force to finding the proposition for a debate; for here if +they do not meet on an irreconcilable difference, there is little use in +their coming together. + +In the third place, it is desirable that the proposition should be so +framed as to throw the burden of proof on the affirmative. Unless the +side which opens the debate has something definite to propose, the +debate must open more or less lamely, for it is hard to attack or oppose +something which is going to be set forth after you have finished +talking. Here, however, as in the case of written arguments, it must be +remembered that burden of proof is a vague and slippery term; "he who +asserts must prove" is a maxim that in debate applies to the larger +issues only, and the average audience will give themselves little +trouble about the finer applications of it. If you are proposing a +change in present conditions, and the present conditions are not very +bad, they will expect you to show why there should be a change, and to +make clear that the change you propose will work an improvement. It is +only when conditions have become intolerable that an audience thinks +first of the remedy. In the ordinary school or college, for example, +there is little reason in current conditions for introducing the honor +system in examinations: in such a case the burden of proof on the +affirmative would be obvious, If, however, as occasionally happens, +there has been an epidemic of dishonesty in written work, then the +authorities of the school and the parents would want to know why there +should not be a change. But it would both bore and confuse an audience +to explain to them at length the theory of the shifting of the burden of +proof; and the chances are that they would say, "Why doesn't he prove +his point, and not spend his time beating about the bush?" + +Finally, the proposition should, if possible, give to the negative as +well as to the affirmative some constructive argument. If one side +occupies itself wholly with showing the weakness of the arguments on the +other side, you get nowhere on the merits of the question; for all that +has been shown in the debate, the proposition put forward by the +affirmative may be sound, and the only weakness lie in its defenders. +Moreover, where the negative side finds no constructive argument on the +merits of the question, or elects to confine itself to destructive, +arguments, it must beware of the fallacy "of objections"; that is, of +assuming that when it has brought forward some objections to the +proposition it has settled the matter. As I have so often pointed out in +this treatise, no question is worth arguing unless it has two sides; and +that is merely saying, in another way, that to both sides there are +reasonable objections. Where a negative side confines itself to +destructive arguments it must make clear that the objections it presents +are really destructive, or at any rate are clearly more grave than those +which can be brought against leaving things as they are. And if they +confine themselves to destroying the arguments brought forward by the +affirmative in this particular debate, they must make clear that these +arguments are the strongest that can be brought forward on that side. + +On all questions as to construction of terms and burden of proof, it +should be understood beforehand that the judges of a formal debate will +heavily penalize anything like pettifogging or quibbling. The two sides +should do their best to come to a "head-on" issue; and any attempt at +standing on precise definition, or sharp practice in leading the other +side away from the main question, should be held to be not playing the +game. Where the judges are drawn from men of experience in affairs, as +is usually the case, they will estimate such boyish smartnesses at their +true value. + +62. Technical Forms. The formal debates of school and college have +certain forms and conventions which are partly based on parliamentary +procedure, partly have been worked out to make these debates more +interesting and better as practice; and there are certain preliminary +arrangements that improve debating both as intellectual training and as +fun. I shall speak first of the forms and conventions. + +In debates in school and college it is usual to have two or three on a +side, and for good reasons. In the first place, the labor of working up +the subject is shared, and it is better fun working with some one else. +Then, in the debate itself there is more variety. In class debates there +are usually two speakers on each side, with provision of time for +several four- or five-minute speeches from the floor before the closing +speeches in rebuttal.[64] If there are as many speakers as this a +two-hour period must be allowed. This allotment of time will naturally +be adapted to special conditions; as, for example, where it is desirable +that there shall be more speakers from the floor, or where it is desired +to give the whole time to the regular debaters. In important +intercollegiate debates there are usually three speakers, each of whom +has ten minutes for his main speech and five minutes for rebuttal. This +arrangement varies greatly, however, in different places, and not +infrequently there is only one speech in rebuttal. The affirmative is +usually given the last speech, on the theory that it is a disadvantage +to have to open the debate. Obviously, however, in practice the reverse +may often be true, since a skillful speech in opening may largely +determine the course of the debate; and for this reason many debating +societies and colleges allow the closing speech to the negative. It is +wise not to look on any of these rules as inviolable.[65] + +The distribution of the points between the speakers on a side should be +made beforehand, but always with the understanding that the exigencies +of the debate may upset the arrangement. We shall see presently the +advantage there is in having each member of a "team" prepared to defend +all the points on his side. The only speech for which a fixed program +can be made beforehand is the first speech on the affirmative: obviously +this must at any rate expound the main facts which the audience must +know in order to understand the speeches that follow. After that each +speaker should be prepared either to answer directly what has just been +said or to explain why he postpones the answer. At the same time, unless +his hand has been forced, he must make the point or points which have +been committed to him in the preliminary plan of campaign. Each speaker +after the first generally takes a minute or two to sum up the position +as his side sees it; and the final speaker on each side ought to save +time to recapitulate and drive home the main points that his side has +made and the chief objections to the arguments on the other side. Beyond +these suggestions, which should not be allowed to harden into invariable +rules, much must be left to the swift judgment of the debaters. It is a +good test of skill in debating to know just when to stick to such rules, +and when to break away from them. + +A debater uses certain forms which have long been established in +parliamentary law. To begin with, he never uses the name of his +opponent: if he has to refer to him he refers indirectly in some such +form as "the last speaker," "the first speaker for the affirmative," +"the gentlemen from Wisconsin," "our opponents," "my colleague who has +just spoken." This is an inviolable rule of all debating bodies, whether +a class in school or college or one of the Houses of Congress. + +In a formal debate the subject is stated by the presiding officer, who +is usually not one of the judges, and he also introduces each of the +speakers in the order agreed on beforehand. + +In class debates the subject is usually given out by the instructor, who +may assign the speakers, or may call for volunteers, or may let each +member of the class take his turn in regular rotation. This distribution +will usually work itself out to suit the class and the circumstances. In +interscholastic and intercollegiate debates the subject is generally +chosen by letting one side offer a number of subjects from which the +other selects one. Sometimes the team which does not have the choice of +subject has the choice of sides after the other team has picked the +subject. In a triangular debate two or three subjects are proposed by +each team, and then one is selected by preferential voting of all the +contestants, first choice counting three points, second two, and third +one. In such a contest each institution has two teams, one of which +supports the affirmative, and the other the negative; and the three +debates take place on the same day or evening. + +In class debates the two sides should unite in preparing an agreed +statement of facts, which shall contain so much of the history of the +case as is pertinent, facts and issues which it is agreed shall be +waived, and a statement of the main issues. Furthermore, it is highly +desirable that the sides should submit to each other outline briefs +covering the main points of their case. With such preparations there is +little probability that there can be any failure to meet. The same +preparations would be useful in interscholastic and intercollegiate +debates, wherever they are practicable. Anything which leads to a +thorough discussion of identical points and to the consequent +illumination of the question makes these entertainments more valuable. + +For intercollegiate and interscholastic debates it is wise to have some +sort of instructions for the judges, which should be agreed on +beforehand. These instructions must make clear that the decision is to +turn not on the merits of the question, as in real life, but on the +merits of the debaters. Among those merits the substance should count +much more than the form. Of the points that count in judging the +substance of the debate the instructions may note keenness of analysis, +power of exposition, thoroughness of preparation, judgment in the +selection of evidence, readiness and effectiveness in rebuttal, and +grasp of the subject as a whole. For form the instructions may mention +bearing, ease and appropriateness of gesture, quality and expressiveness +of voice, enunciation and pronunciation, and general effectiveness of +delivery. Sometimes these points are drawn up with percentages to +suggest their proportionate weight; but it is doubtful whether so exact +a calculation can ever be of practical value. In most cases the judges +will decide from a much less articulate sense of which side has the +advantage.[66] + +63. Preparations for Debating. Since the chief value of debating, +as distinguished from written arguments, is in cultivating readiness and +flexibility of wit, the speaking should be as far as possible +extemporaneous. This does not imply that the speaking should be without +preparation: on the contrary, the preparation for good debating is more +arduous than for a written argument, for when you are on your feet on +the platform you cannot run to your books or to your notes to refresh +your memory or to find new material. The ideal debater is the man who so +carries the whole subject in his mind that the facts flow to his mind as +he talks, and fit into the plan of his argument without a break. To the +rare men who remember everything they read, such readiness is natural, +but to far the largest number of speakers it comes only through hard +study of the material. Daniel Webster declared that the material for his +famous Reply to Hayne had been in his desk for months. In so far as +debating consists in the recitation of set speeches written out and +committed to memory beforehand, it throws away most of what makes +debating valuable, and tends to become elocution. We shall consider +here, therefore, ways in which speakers can make themselves so familiar +with the subject to be debated that they can confidently cut loose from +their notes. + +In the first place, each debater on a team should prepare himself on the +whole subject, not only on the whole of his own side, but also on the +whole of the other side. It is usual to divide up the chief points that +a team is to make among its different members; but in the sudden turns +to which every debate is liable such assignment may easily become +impossible. If the other side presents new material or makes a point in +such a way as manifestly to impress the audience, the next speaker may +have to throw over the point assigned to him and give himself +immediately to refuting the arguments just made. Then his points must be +left to his colleagues, and they must be able to use them to effect. +Likewise a team should know the strong points on the other side as well +as on its own, and come to the platform primed with arguments to meet +them. In intercollegiate contests, to insure this fore-knowledge of the +other side the speakers as part of their preparation meet men from their +own college who argue out the other side in detail and at length. In a +triangular contest each team from a college has the advantage of having +worked up the subject in actual debate against the other. The more +thoroughly you have worked up both sides of the question, the less +likely are you to be taken by surprise by some argument which you do not +know how to meet. + +64. On the Platform. When it comes to the actual debate experience +shows that speeches committed to memory are almost always ineffective as +compared with extemporaneous speaking. Even when your confidence is not +disturbed by a slippery memory there is an impalpable touch of the +artificial about the prepared speech which impairs its vitality. On the +other hand, especially with the first speeches on each side, you cannot +get to your feet and trust entirely to the inspiration of the moment; +you must have something thought out. One of the most notable lecturers +in Harvard University prepares his lectures in a way which is an +excellent model for debaters. He writes out beforehand a complete +analytical and tabulated plan of his lecture, similar to the briefs +which have been recommended here in Chapter II, with each of the main +principles of his lecture, and with the subdivisions and illustrations +inserted. Then he leaves this outline at home and talks from a full and +well-ordered mind. Some such plan is the best possible one for the main +speeches in a debate. Often the plan can be most easily prepared by +writing out the argument in full; and this expansion of the argument has +the added advantage of providing you with much of your phrasing. But it +is better not to commit the complete argument to memory: the brief of +it, if thoroughly digested and so studied as to come readily to mind, is +enough. Then practice, practice, practice, will give the ease and +fluency that you need. + +The rebuttal should always be extemporaneous. Even if you have foreseen +the strongest points made by your opponent and prepared yourself to meet +them, you cannot foresee just the way he will make the points. Nothing +is more awkward in a debate than to begin with a few obviously +extemporaneous remarks, and then to let loose a little speech which has +been kept, as it were, in cold storage, and which just misses fitting +the speech to which it should be an answer. It is better to make the +rebuttal a little less sweeping than it might be and have it fall pat on +the speech which it is attacking. Ready and spontaneous skill in +rebuttal is the final excellence of debating. At the same time the skill +should be so natural that wit and good humor may have their chance. If +from the beginning you practice making your speeches in rebuttal +offhand, you will constantly gain in confidence when you are called on +to speak. + +Whether to take notes on to the platform or not is a somewhat disputed +question. If you can speak without them and hold without stumbling to +the main course of your argument, so much the better. On the other hand, +most lawyers have their briefs when they are arguing on points of law, +and some sort of rough notes when they are arguing before a jury; and +when unassumingly and naturally used, notes are hardly observed by an +audience. Only, if you do have notes, do not try to conceal them: hold +them so that the audience will know what they are, and will not wonder +what you are doing when you peer into the palm of your hand. + +If you have passages to quote from a book or other document, have the +book on the table beside you; its appearance will add substance to your +point, and the audience will have ocular proof that you are quoting +exactly. + +For purposes of rebuttal it is usual to have material on cards arranged +under the principal subdivisions of the subject, so that they can +readily be found. These cards can be kept in the small wooden or +pasteboard boxes that are sold for the purpose at college stationers. If +the cards have the proper kind of headings, you can easily look them +over while your opponent is speaking and pull out the few that bear on +the point you are to meet. Examples of these cards have been given in +Chapter II. The important thing for their use in a debate is to have the +headings so clear and pertinent that you can instantly find the +particular card you want. Naturally you will have made yourself +thoroughly familiar with them beforehand. + +When you have to use statistics, simplify them so that your hearers can +take them in without effort. Large numbers should be given in round +figures, except where some special emphasis or perhaps some semihumorous +effect is to be gained by giving them in full. Quotations from books or +speeches must of necessity be short: where you have only ten minutes +yourself you cannot give five minutes to the words of another man. + +Keep your audience in good humor; if you can occasion ally relieve the +solemnity of the occasion by making them laugh, they will like you the +better for it, and think none the worse of your argument. On the other +hand, remember that such diversion is incidental, and that your main +business is to deal seriously with a serious question. The uneasy +self-consciousness that keeps a man always trying to be funny is +nowhere more out of place than in a debate. + +65. Voice and Position. The matter of delivery is highly important, +and here no man can trust to the light of nature. Any voice can be made +to carry further and to be more expressive, and the poorest and thinnest +voice can be improved. Every student who has a dream of being a public +speaker should take lessons in elocution or in singing or in both. The +expressiveness as well as the carrying power and the endurance of a +voice depend on a knowledge of how to use the muscles of the chest, +throat, and face; and trainers of the voice have worked out methods for +the proper use of all these sets of muscles. A man who throws his breath +from the top of his chest and does not use the great bellows that reach +down to his diaphragm can get little carrying power. So with the throat: +if it is stiff and pinched the tones will be high and forced, and +listening to them will tire the audience nearly as much as making them +will tire the speaker. Finally, the expressiveness of a voice, the +thrill that unconsciously but powerfully stirs hearers, is largely a +matter of the resonance that comes from the spaces above the mouth and +behind the nose. A humorous singing teacher once declared that the soul +resides in the bridge of the nose; and the saying is not so paradoxical +as it sounds. Lessons in the use of all these parts, and faithful +practice in the exercises which go with them, are essential for any man +who wishes to make a mark in public speaking. + +With the use of the voice, though less essential, goes the position and +bearing on the platform. It is not necessary to insist that the more +natural this is, the better. If you can wholly forget yourself and think +only of your points, the chances are that your attitudes and position +will take care of themselves. Only, before thus forgetting yourself, +form the habit of talking without putting your hands in your pockets. +You ought to need your hands to talk with, if not as much as a Frenchman +or an Italian, yet enough to emphasize your points naturally. The mere +physical stimulus to the eye of an audience in following your movements +will help to keep their attention awake. Every one who has tried +lecturing to a large class knows how much easier it is to hold them if +he stands up and moves a little from time to time. Learn to stand easily +and naturally, with your chest well expanded, and your weight +comfortably balanced on your feet. If it comes natural to you, move +about the stage slightly from time to time; but be careful not to look +each time you move as if a string had been pulled. In attitude and +gesture the only profitable council is, Be natural. + +For all these matters of preparation, both of what you are going to say, +the use of your voice, and your attitude and action on the platform, be +prepared for hard practice with competent criticism. It is a good plan +to practice talking from your outlines with your watch open, until you +can bring your speech to an end in exactly the time allowed you. The +gain in confidence when you go to the debate will in itself be worth the +time. Again, practice speaking before a glass to make sure that you have +no tricks of scowling or of making faces when you talk, and to get used +to standing up straight and holding yourself well. What you see for +yourself of your own ways will help you more than the advice of a +critic. + +But in all your preparation think beyond the special debate you are +preparing for. What you are or should be aiming at is habit--the +instinctive, spontaneous execution of rules which you have forgotten. +When the habit is established you can let all these questions of voice, +of attitude, of gesture, drop from your mind, and give your whole +attention to the ideas you are developing, and the language in which you +shall clothe them. Then the tones of your voice will respond to the +earnestness of your feeling, and your gestures will be the spontaneous +response to the emphasis of your thought. You will not be a perfect +debater until all these matters are regulated from the unconscious +depths of your mind. + +In your attitude towards the debaters on the other side be scrupulously +fair and friendly. In class debates the matter is finished when the +debate is over; and what you are after is skill, and not beating some +one. In interscholastic and intercollegiate debates victory is the end; +but even there, after the debate you will often go out to supper with +your opponents. Therefore demolish their arguments, but do not smash +their makers. + +If the first speech falls to you, set forth the facts in such a way that +not only your opponents will have no corrections or protests to make, +but that they will be wholly willing to make a start from your +foundation. Yield all trivial points: it is a waste of your time and +proof of an undeveloped sense of proportion to haggle over points that +in the end nobody cares about. You have won a point if you can make the +audience and the judges feel that you are anxious to allow everything +possible to the other side. + +If your opponent trips on some small point of fact or reasoning, don't +heckle him; let it pass, or, at the most, point it out with some kindly +touch of humor. If his facts or his reasoning are wrong on important +points, that is your opportunity, and you must make the most of it. +Even then, however, stick to the argument, and keep away from any +appearance of being personal. + +66. The Morals of Debating. There is a moral or ethical side to +practice in debating which one cannot ignore. It is dangerous to get +into the habit of arguing lightly for things in which one does not +believe; and students may be forced into doing this if great care is not +taken in the choice of subjects and sides. The remedy lies in using, so +far as they can be kept interesting, questions in which there is no +moral element; but still better in assigning sides to correspond with +the actual views and preferences of the debaters. Where a question of +principle is involved no one should ever argue against his beliefs. The +better class of lawyers are scrupulous about this: they will not accept +a brief which they believe to be in a cause which ought not to win. If +you have clearly made up your mind on a question of public policy, you +are in a false position if you argue, even for practice, against what +you believe to be the right. + +The formal debates of school and college are of necessity barren of +practical result; yet even here your discussions have a potent effect in +molding your opinions. It is a habit of mankind to start idly talking on +a subject, and as idly taking sides; then, when the talk grows warmer, +in the natural desire to carry a point to talk themselves into belief. +This is a human, though not a very reasonable way of framing your views +on public questions; and it does not make either for consistency or for +usefulness as a voter. It is not good to back one's self into opinions +of what makes for the common weal. + +Furthermore, debate is something very different from dispute: to talk +round and round a subject, contradicting blindly and asserting without +bringing forward facts, has its place in our life with our friends, so +long as it is good-natured; but it does not bring illumination. The +essence of debate, whether in a classroom, in a city council, or in +Congress, should be to throw light into dark corners, and to disentangle +the view that most makes for the general good. For us in America +_noblesse oblige_ applies to every educated man. The graduate of a high +school, and, even more, the graduate of a college, has taken exceptional +benefits from the community. This obligation he can in part repay by +helping all citizens to a better understanding of the issues on which +the progress of the nation turns. + +Finally, debating should share the zest that comes of any good game that +means hard work and an honorable struggle with opponents one respects +and likes. It is preeminently a social occupation. The House of Commons +has long been noted as the best club in England; and this sense of +fellowship, of continuing friendship and intimacy, gives a charm to +English parliamentary life which is hardly possible with the unwieldy +numbers and huge hall of our own House of Representatives, but does +spring out of the smaller and continuing membership of the Senate. A +class in debating should have the sense of comradeship which comes of +hard work together and the trying out of one's own powers against one's +equals and betters, and from the memory of hard-fought contests; and +intercollegiate and interscholastic contests should be carried on in the +same spirit of zest in the hard work, of a sane desire to win, and of +comradeship with worthy opponents. + +EXERCISES + +1. Name three questions in national affairs which have been debated +within a month, on which you could profitably debate; three in state +affairs; three in local affairs. + +2. Name two subjects affecting your school or college which are under +debate at the present time. + +3. Name two subjects on which you could write an argument, but which +would not be profitable for debate. Explain the reason. + +4. Name two good subjects for a debate drawn from athletics; two from +some current academic question; two from local or municipal affairs. + +5. Find a proposition in which the two sides to a debate might in good +faith pass each other without meeting. Make it over so that the issue +would be unavoidable. + +6. Frame a proposition in which the burden of proof would not be on the +affirmative. Make it over so that the burden of proof would fall on the +affirmative. + +7. Draw up a scheme for a debate on one of the propositions in Exercise +4, with a tentative assignment of points to three debaters on a side. + +8. Draw up a set of instructions to judges for an intercollegiate or +interscholastic debate, so framed as to produce a decision on the points +which seem to you the most important. + +9. Prepare yourself for a five-minute extemporaneous speech on a subject +on which you have written an argument. + +10. Name three questions on which you could not, without violence to +your convictions, argue on more than one side. + + + + +APPENDIX I + + +EXAMPLES OF ARGUMENT + +THE THREE HYPOTHESES RESPECTING THE HISTORY OF NATURE[67] + +THOMAS H. HUXLEY + +This is the first of three lectures which make a continuous argument, +which were delivered in New York. September 18, 20, and 22, 1876. It +should therefore be regarded as the introductory part of the argument; +and as a matter of fact it does not get to Huxley's positive proof, but +is occupied with disposing of the other theories. This refutation +finished, Huxley was then at liberty to go ahead with the affirmative +argument, as he indicates in the last paragraph of the lecture. + +The argument is a notable piece of reasoning on a scientific subject, in +terms which make it intelligible to all educated men. When Huxley spoke, +the heat which had been kindled by the first announcement of the theory +of evolution in Darwin's "Origin of Species" was still blazing; and +there were many church people who held that the theory was subversive of +religion, without giving themselves the trouble to understand it. This +timid frame of mind explains Hurley's mode of approach to the subject. + +We live in and form part of a system of things of immense diversity and +perplexity, which we call Nature; and it is a matter of the deepest +interest to all of us that we should form just conceptions of the +constitution of that system and of its past history. With relation to +this universe, man is, in extent, little more than a mathematical point: +in duration but a fleeting shadow: he is a mere reed shaken in the winds +of force. But, as Pascal long ago remarked, although a mere reed, he is +a thinking reed; and in virtue of that wonderful capacity of thought, he +has the power of framing for himself a symbolic conception of the +universe, which, although doubtless highly imperfect and inadequate as a +picture of the great whole, is yet sufficient to serve him as a chart +for the guidance of his practical affairs. It has taken long ages of +toilsome and often fruitless labor to enable man to look steadily at the +shifting scenes of the phantasmagoria of Nature, to notice what is fixed +among her fluctuations, and what is regular among her apparent +irregularities; and it is only comparatively lately, within the last few +centuries, that the conception of a universal order and of a definite +course of things, which we term the course of Nature, has emerged. + +But, once originated, the conception of the constancy of the order of +Nature has become the dominant idea of modern thought. To any person who +is familiar with the facts upon which that conception is based, and is +competent to estimate their significance, it has ceased to be +conceivable that chance should have any place in the universe, or that +events should depend upon any but the natural sequence of cause and +effect. We have come to look upon the present as the child of the past +and as the parent of the future; and, as we have excluded chance from a +place in the universe, so we ignore, even as a possibility, the notion +of any interference with the order of Nature. Whatever may be men's +speculative doctrines, it is quite certain that every intelligent person +guides his life and risks his fortune upon the belief that the order of +Nature is constant, and that the chain of natural causation is never +broken. + +In fact, no belief which we entertain has so complete a logical basis as +that to which I have just referred. It tacitly underlies every process +of reasoning; it is the foundation of every act of the will. It is based +upon the broadest induction, and it is verified by the most constant, +regular, and universal of deductive processes. But we must recollect +that any human belief, however broad its basis, however defensible it +may seem, is, after all, only a probable belief, and that our widest and +safest generalizations are simply statements of the highest, degree of +probability. Though we are quite clear about the constancy of the order +of Nature, at the present time, and in the present state of things, it +by no means necessarily follows that we are justified in expanding this +generalization into the infinite past, and in denying, absolutely, that +there may have been a time when Nature did not follow a fixed order, +when the relations of cause and effect were not definite, and when +extranatural agencies interfered with the general course of Nature. +Cautious men will allow that a universe so different from that which we +know may have existed; just as a very candid thinker may admit that a +world in which two and two do not make four, and in which two straight +lines do inclose a space, may exist. But the same caution which forces +the admission of such possibilities demands a great deal of evidence +before it recognizes them to be anything more substantial. And when it +is asserted that, so many thousand years ago, events occurred in a +manner utterly foreign to and inconsistent with the existing laws of +Nature, men, who without being particularly cautious, are simply honest +thinkers, unwilling to deceive themselves or delude others, ask for +trustworthy evidence of the fact. Did things so happen or did they not? +This is a historical question, and one the answer to which must be +sought in the same way as the solution of any other historical problem. + + * * * * * + +So far as I know, there are only three hypotheses which ever have been +entertained, or which well can be entertained, respecting the past +history of Nature. I will, in the first place, state the hypotheses, and +then I will consider what evidence bearing upon them is in our +possession, and by what light of criticism that evidence is to be +interpreted. + +Upon the first hypothesis, the assumption is, that phenomena of Nature +similar to those exhibited by the present world have always existed; in +other words, that the universe has existed from all eternity in what may +be broadly termed its present condition. + +The second hypothesis is, that the present state of things has had only +a limited duration; and that, at some period in the past, a condition of +the world, essentially similar to that winch we now know, came into +existence, without any precedent condition from which it could have +naturally proceeded. The assumption that successive stales of Nature +have arisen, each without any relation of natural causation to an +antecedent state, is a mere modification of this second hypothesis. + +The third hypothesis also assumes that the present state of things has +had but a limited duration; but it Supposes that this state has been +evolved by a natural process from an antecedent state, and that from +another, and so on; and, on this hypothesis, the attempt to assign any +limit to the series of past changes is, usually, given up. + +It is so needful to form clear and distinct notions of what is really +meant by each of these hypotheses that I will ask you to imagine what, +according to each, would have been visible to a spectator of the events +which constitute the history of the earth. On the first hypothesis, +however far back in time that spectator might be placed, he would see a +world essentially, though perhaps not in all its details, similar to +that which now exists. The animals which existed would be the ancestors +of those which now live, and similar to them; the plants, in like +manner, would be such as we know; and the mountains, plains, and waters +would foreshadow the salient features of our present land and water. +This view was held more or less distinctly, sometimes combined with the +notion of recurrent cycles of change, in ancient times; and its +influence has been felt down to the present day. It is worthy of remark +that it is a hypothesis which is not inconsistent with the doctrine of +Uniformitarianism, with which geologists are familiar. That doctrine was +held by Hutton, and in his earlier days by Lyell. Hutton was struck by +the demonstration of astronomers that the perturbations of the planetary +bodies, however great they may be, yet sooner or later right themselves; +and that the solar system possesses a self-adjusting power by which +these aberrations are all brought back to a mean condition. Hutton +imagined that the like might be true of terrestrial changes; although no +one recognized more clearly than he the fact that the dry land is being +constantly washed down by rain and rivers and deposited in the sea; and +that thus, in a longer or shorter time, the inequalities of the earth's +surface must be leveled, and its high lards brought down to the ocean. +But, taking into account the internal forces of the earth, which, +upheaving the sea bottom, give rise to new land, he thought that these +operations of degradation and elevation might compensate each other: and +that thus, for any assignable time, the general features of our planet +might remain what they are. And inasmuch as, under these circumstances, +there need be no limit to the propagation of animals and plants, it is +clear that the consistent working out of the uniformitarian idea might +load to the conception of the eternity of the world. Not that I mean to +say that either Hutton or Lyell held this conception--assuredly not; +they would have been the first to repudiate it. Nevertheless, the +logical development of their arguments lends directly towards this +hypothesis. + +The second hypothesis supposes that the present order of things, at some +no very remote time, had a sudden origin, and that the world, such as it +now is, had chaos for its phenomenal antecedent. That is the doctrine +which you will find stated most fully and clearly in the immortal poem +of John Milton,--the English _Divina Commedia,_--"Paradise Lost." I +believe it is largely to the influence of that remarkable work, combined +with the daily teachings to which we have all listened in our childhood, +that this hypothesis owes its general wide diffusion as one of the +current beliefs of English-speaking people. If you turn to the seventh +book of "Paradise Lost," you will find there stated the hypothesis to +which I refer, which is briefly this: That this visible universe of ours +came into existence at no great distance of time from the present; and +that the parts of which it is composed made their appearance, in a +certain, definite order, in the space of six natural days, in such a +manner that, on the first of these days, light appeared; that, on the +second, the firmament, or sky, separated the waters above, from the +waters beneath the firmament; that, on the third day, the waters drew +away from the dry land, and upon it a varied vegetable life, similar to +that which now exists, made its appearance; that the fourth day was +signalized by the apparition of the sun, the stars, the moon, and the +planets; that, on the fifth day, aquatic animals originated within the +waters; that, on the sixth day, the earth gave rise to our four-footed +terrestrial creatures, and to all varieties of terrestrial animals +except birds, which had appeared on the preceding day; and, finally, +that man appeared upon the earth, and the emergence of the universe from +chaos was finished. Milton tells us, without the least ambiguity, what a +spectator of these marvelous occurrences would have witnessed. I doubt +not that his poem is familiar to all of you, but I should like to recall +one passage to your minds, in order that I may be justified in what I +have said regarding the perfectly concrete, definite picture of the +origin of the animal world which Milton draws. He says: + + "The sixth, and of creation last, arose + With evening harps and matin, when God said, + 'Let tine earth bring forth soul living in her kind, + Cattle and creeping things, and beast of the earth, + Each in their kind!' The earth obeyed, and, straight + Opening her fertile womb, teemed at a birth. + Innumerous living creatures, perfect forms, + Limbed and full-grown. Out of the ground uprose, + As from his lair, the wild beast, where he wons + In forest wild, in thicket, brake, or den: + Among the trees in pairs they rose, they walked; + The cattle in the fields and meadows green; + Those rare and solitary; these in flocks + Pasturing at once, and in broad herds upsprung. + The grassy clods now calved; now half appears + The tawny lion, pawing to get free + His hinder parts--then springs, as broke from bonds, + And rampant shakes his brinded mane; the ounce, + The libbard, and the tiger, as the mole + Rising, the crumbled earth above them threw + In hillocks; the swift stag from underground + Bore up his branching head; scarce from his mould + Behemoth, biggest born of earth, upheaved + His vastness; fleeced the flocks and bleating rose + As plants; ambiguous between sea and land, + The river-horse and scaly crocodile. + At once came forth whatever creeps the ground, + Insect or worm." + +There is no doubt as to the meaning of this statement, nor as to what a +man of Milton's genius expected would have been actually visible to an +eyewitness of this mode of origination of living things. + +The third hypothesis, or the hypothesis of evolution, supposes that, at +any comparatively late period of past time, our imaginary spectator +would meet with a state of things very similar to that which now +obtains; but that the likeness of the past to the present would +gradually become less and less, in proportion to the remoteness of his +period of observation from the present day: that the existing +distribution of mountains and plains, of rivers and seas, would show +itself to be the product of a slow process of natural change operating +upon more and more widely different antecedent conditions of the mineral +framework of the earth; until, at length, in place of that framework, he +would behold only a vast nebulous mass, representing the constituents of +the sun and of the planetary bodies. Preceding the forms of life which +now exist, our observer would see animals and plants not identical with +them, but like them: increasing their differences with their antiquity, +and at the same time becoming simpler and simpler; until, finally, the +world of life would present nothing but that undifferentiated +protoplasmic matter which, so far as our present knowledge goes, is the +common foundation of all vital activity. + +The hypothesis of evolution supposes that in all this vast progression +there would be no breach of continuity, no point at which we could say +"This is a natural process," and "This is not a natural +process"; but +that the whole might be compared to that wonderful process of +development which may be seen going on every day under our eyes, in +virtue of which there arises, out of the semifluid, comparatively +homogeneous substance which we call an egg, the complicated organization +of one of the higher animals. That, in a few words, is what is meant by +the hypothesis of evolution. + + * * * * * + +I have already suggested that in dealing with these three hypotheses, in +endeavoring to form a judgment as to which of them is the more worthy of +belief, or whether none is worthy of belief--in which case our +condition of mind should be that suspension of judgment which is so +difficult to all but trained intellects,--we should be indifferent to +all _a priori_ considerations. The question is a question of historical +fact. The universe has come into existence somehow or other, and the +problem is, whether it came into existence in one fashion, or whether it +came into existence in another; and, as an essential preliminary to +further discussion, permit me to say two or three words as to the nature +and the kinds of historical evidence. + +The evidence as to the occurrence of any event in past time may be +ranged under two heads, which, for convenience' sake, I will speak of as +testimonial evidence and as circumstantial evidence. By testimonial +evidence I mean human testimony; and by circumstantial evidence I mean +evidence which is not human testimony. Let me illustrate by a familiar +example what I understand by these two kinds of evidence, and what is to +be said respecting their value. + +Suppose that a man tells you that he saw a person strike another and +kill him; that is testimonial evidence of the fact of murder. But it is +possible to have circumstantial evidence of the fact of murder; that is +to say, you may find a man dying with a wound upon his head having +exactly the form and character of the wound which is made by an ax, and, +with due care in taking surrounding circumstances into account, you may +conclude with the utmost certainty that the man has been murdered; that +his death is the consequence of a blow inflicted by another man with +that implement. We are very much in the habit of considering +circumstantial evidence as of less value than testimonial evidence, and +it may be that, where the circumstances are not perfectly clear and +intelligible, it is a dangerous and unsafe kind of evidence; but it must +not be forgotten that, in many cases, circumstantial evidence is quite +as conclusive as testimonial evidence, and that, not unfrequently, it is +a great deal weightier than testimonial evidence. For example, take the +case to which I referred just now. The circumstantial evidence may be +better and more convincing than the testimonial evidence; for it may be +impossible, under the conditions that I have defined, to suppose that +the man met his death from any cause but the violent blow of an ax +wielded by another man. The circumstantial evidence in favor of a murder +having been committed, in that case, is as complete and as convincing as +evidence can be. It is evidence which is open to no doubt and to no +falsification. But the testimony of a witness is open to multitudinous +doubts. He may have been mistaken. He may have been actuated by malice. +It has constantly happened that even an accurate man has declared that a +thing has happened in this, that, or the other way, when a careful +analysis of the circumstantial evidence has shown that it did not happen +in that way, but in some other way. + +We may now consider the evidence in favor of or against the three +hypotheses. Let me first direct your attention to what is to be said +about the hypothesis of the eternity of the state of things in which we +now live. What will first strike you is, that it is a hypothesis which, +whether true or false, is not capable of verification by any evidence. +For, in order to obtain either circumstantial or testimonial evidence +sufficient to prove the eternity of duration of the present state of +nature, you must have an eternity of witnesses or an infinity of +circumstances, and neither of these is attainable. It is utterly +impossible that such evidence should be carried beyond a certain point +of time; and all that could be said, at most, would be, that so far as +the evidence could be traced, there was nothing to contradict the +hypothesis. But when you look, not to the testimonial evidence--which, +considering the relative insignificance of the antiquity of human +records, might not be good for much in this case--but to the +circumstantial evidence, then you will find that this hypothesis is +absolutely incompatible with such evidence as we have; which is of so +plain and so simple a character that it is impossible in any way to +escape from the conclusions which it forces upon us. + +You are, doubtless, all aware that the outer substance of the earth, +which alone is accessible to direct observation, is not of a homogeneous +character, but that it is made up of a number of layers or strata, the +titles of the principal groups of which are placed upon the +accompanying diagram.[68] Each of these groups represents a number of +beds of sand, of stone, of clay, of slate, and of various other +materials. + +On careful examination, it is found that the materials of which each of +these layers of more or less hard rock are composed are, for the most +part, of the same nature as those which are at present being formed +under known conditions on the surface of the earth. For example, the +chalk, which constitutes a great part of the Cretaceous formation in +some parts of the world, is practically identical in its physical and +chemical characters with a substance which is now being formed at the +bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, and covers an enormous area; other beds of +rock are comparable with the sands which art; being formed upon +seashores, packed together, and so on. Thus, omitting rocks of igneous +origin, it is demonstrable that all these beds of stone, of which a +total of not less than seventy thousand feet is known, have been formed +by natural agencies, either out of the waste and washing of the dry +land, or else by the accumulation of the exuviae of plants and animals. +Many of these strata are full of such exuviae--the so-called +"fossils." + +Remains of thousands of species of animals and plants, as perfectly +recognizable as those of existing forms of life which you meet with in +museums, or as the shells which you pick up upon the seabeach, have been +embedded in the ancient sands, or muds, or limestones, just as they are +being embedded now, in sandy, or clayey, or calcareous subaqueous +deposits. They furnish us with a record, the general nature of which +cannot be misinterpreted, of the kinds of things that have lived upon +thy surface of the earth during the time that is registered by this +great thickness of stratified rocks. But even a superficial study of +these fossils shows us that the animals and plants which live at the +present time have had only a temporary duration; for the remains of such +modern forms of life are met with, for the most part, only in +the uppermost or latest tertiaries, and their number rapidly diminishes +in the lower deposits of that epoch. In the older tertiaries, the places +of existing animals and plants are taken by other forms, as numerous and +diversified as those which live now in the same localities, but more or +less different from them; in the Mesozoic rocks, these are replaced by +others yet more divergent from modern types; and in the Paleozoic +formations the contrast is still more marked. Thus the circumstantial +evidence absolutely negatives the conception of the eternity of the +present condition of things. We can say with certainly that the present +condition of things has existed for a comparatively short period; and +that, so far as animal and vegetable nature are concerned, it has been +preceded by a different condition. We can pursue this evidence until we +reach the lowest of the stratified rocks, in which we lose the +indications of life altogether. The hypothesis of the eternity of the +present state of nature may therefore be put out of court. + +We now come to what I will term Milton's hypothesis--the hypothesis that +the present condition of things has endured for a comparatively short +time; and, at the commencement of that time, came into existence within +the course of six days. I doubt not that it may have excited some +surprise in your minds that I should have spoken of this as Milton's +hypothesis, rather than that I should have chosen the terms which are +more customary, such as "the doctrine of creation," or the "Biblical +doctrine," or "the doctrine of Moses," all of which denominations, as +applied to the hypothesis to which I have just referred, are certainly +much more familiar to you than the title of the Miltonic hypothesis. But +I have had what I cannot but think are very weighty reasons for taking +the course which T have pursued. In the first place, I have discarded +the title of the doctrine of "creation," because my present business is +not with the question why the objects which constitute Nature came into +existence, but when they came into existence, and in what order. This is +as strictly a historical question as the question when the Angles and +the Jutes invaded England, and whether they preceded or followed the +Romans. But the question about creation is a philosophical problem, and +one which cannot be solved, or even approached, by the historical +method. What we want to learn is, whether the facts, so far as they are +known, afford evidence that things arose in the way described-by Milton, +or whether they do not; and, when that question is settled, it will be +time enough to inquire into the causes of their origination. + +In the second place, I have not spoken of this doctrine as the Biblical +doctrine, It is quite true that persons as diverse in their general +views as Milton the Protestant and the celebrated Jesuit Father Suarez, +each put upon the first chapter of Genesis the interpretation embodied +in Milton's poem. It is quite true that this interpretation is that +which has been instilled into every one of us in our childhood; but I do +not for one moment venture to say that it can properly be called the +Biblical doctrine. It is not my business, and does not lie within my +competency, to say what the Hebrew text does, and what it does not +signify; moreover, were I to affirm that this is the Biblical doctrine, +I should be met by the authority of many eminent scholars, to say +nothing of men of science, who, at various times, have absolutely denied +that any such doctrine is to be found in Genesis. If we are to listen to +many expositors of no mean authority, we must believe that what seems so +clearly defined in Genesis--as if very great pains had been taken that +there should be no possibility of mistake--is not the meaning of the +text at all. The account is divided into periods that we may make just +as long or short as convenience requires. We are also to understand that +it is consistent with the original text to believe that the most complex +plants and animals may have been evolved by natural processes, lasting +for millions of years, out of structureless rudiments. A person who is +not a Hebrew scholar can only stand aside and admire the marvelous +flexibility of a language which admits of such diverse interpretations. +But assuredly, in the face of such contradictions of authority upon +matters respecting which he is incompetent to form any judgment, he will +abstain, as I do, from giving any opinion. + +In the third place, I have carefully abstained from speaking of this as +the Mosaic doctrine, because we are now assured upon the authority of +the highest critics, and even of dignitaries of the Church, that there +is no evidence that Moses wrote the Book of Genesis, or knew anything +about it. You will understand that I give no judgment--it would be an +impertinence upon my part to volunteer even a suggestion--upon such a +subject. But, that being the state of opinion among the scholars and the +clergy, it is well for the unlearned in Hebrew lore, and for the laity, +to avoid entangling themselves in such a vexed question. Happily, Milton +leaves us no excuse for doubting what he means, and I shall therefore be +safe in speaking of the opinion in question as the Miltonic hypothesis. + +Now we have to test that hypothesis. For my part, I have no prejudice +one way or the other. If there is evidence in favor of this view, I am +burdened by no theoretical difficulties in the way of accepting it: but +there must be evidence. Scientific men get an awkward habit--no, I won't +call it that, for it is a valuable habit--of believing nothing unless +there is evidence for it; and they have a way of looking upon belief +which is not based upon evidence, not only as illogical, but as immoral. +We will, if you please, test this view by the circumstantial evidence +alone; for, from what I have said, you will understand that I do not +propose to discuss the question of what testimonial evidence is to be +adduced in favor of it. If those whose business it is to judge are not +at one as to the authenticity of the only evidence of that kind which is +offered, nor as to the facts to which it bears witness, the discussion +of such evidence is superfluous. + +But I may be permitted to regret this necessity of rejecting the +testimonial evidence the less, because the examination of the +circumstantial evidence leads to the conclusion, not only that it is +incompetent to justify the hypothesis, but that, so far as it goes, it +is contrary to the hypothesis. + +The considerations upon which I base this conclusion are of the simplest +possible character. The Miltonic hypothesis contains assertions of a +very definite character relating to the succession of living forms. It +is stated that plants, for example, made their appearance upon the third +day, and not before. And you will understand that what the poet means +by plants are such plants as now live, the ancestors, in the ordinary +way of propagation of like by like, of the trees and shrubs which +flourish in the present world. It must needs be so; for, if they were +different, either the existing plants have been the result of a separate +origination since that described by Milton, of which we have no record, +nor any ground for supposition that such an occurrence has taken place; +or else they have arisen by a process of evolution from the original +stocks. + +In the second place, it is clear that there was no animal life before +the fifth day, and that, on the fifth day, aquatic animals and birds +appeared. And. it is further clear that terrestrial living things, other +than birds, made their appearance upon the sixth day, and not before. +Hence, it follows that, if, in the large mass of circumstantial evidence +as to what really has happened in the past history of the globe, we find +indications of the existence of terrestrial animals, other than birds, +at a certain period, it is perfectly certain that all that has taken +place since that time must be referred to the sixth day. + +In the great Carboniferous formation,[69] whence America derives so vast +a proportion of her actual and potential wealth, in the beds of coal +which have been formed from the vegetation of that period, we find +abundant evidence of the existence of terrestrial animals. They have +been described, not only by European but by your own naturalists. There +are to be found numerous insects allied to our cockroaches. There are to +be found spiders and scorpions of large size, the latter so similar to +existing scorpions that it requires the practiced eye of the naturalist +to distinguish them. Inasmuch as these animals can be proved to have +been alive in the Carboniferous epoch, it is perfectly clear that, if +the Miltonic account is to be accepted, the huge mass of rocks extending +from the middle of the Paleozoic formations to the uppermost members of +the series, must belong to the day which is termed by Milton the sixth. +But, further, it is expressly stated that aquatic animals took their +origin upon the fifth day, and not before; hence, all formations in +which remains of aquatic animals can be proved to exist, and which +therefore testify that such animals lived at the time when these +formations were in course of deposition, must have been deposited during +or since the period which Milton speaks of as the fifth. But there is +absolutely no fossiliferous formation in which the remains of aquatic +animals are absent. The oldest fossils in the Silurian rocks[70] are +exuviae of marine animals; and if the view which is entertained by +Principal Dawson and Dr. Carpenter respecting the nature of the _eozoön_ +be well founded, aquatic animals existed at a period as far antecedent +to the deposition of the coal as the coal is from us; inasmuch as the +_eozoön_ is met with in those Laurentian strata which lie at the bottom +of the series of stratified rocks. Hence it follows, plainly enough, +that the whole series of stratified rocks, if they are to be brought +into harmony with Milton, must be referred to the fifth and sixth days, +and that we cannot hope to find the slightest trace of the products of +the earlier days in the geological record. When we consider these simple +facts, we see how absolutely futile are the attempts that have been made +to draw a parallel between the story told by so much of the crust of the +earth as is known to us and the story which Milton tells. The whole +series of fossiliferous stratified rocks must be referred to the last +two days; and neither the Carboniferous, nor any other, formation can +afford evidence of the work of the third day. + +Not only is there this objection to any attempt to establish a harmony +between the Miltonic account and the facts recorded in the fossiliferous +rocks, but there is a further difficulty. According to the Miltonic +account, the order in which animals should have made their appearance in +the stratified rocks would be this: Fishes, including the great whales, +and birds; after them, all varieties of terrestrial animals except +birds. + +Nothing could be further from the facts as we find them; we know of not +the slightest evidence of the existence of birds before the Jurassic, or +perhaps the Triassic, formation;[71] while terrestrial animals, as we +have just seen, occur in the Carboniferous rocks. + +If there were any harmony between the Miltonic account and the +circumstantial evidence, we ought to have abundant evidence of the +existence of birds in the Carboniferous, the Devonian, and the Silurian +rocks. I need hardly say that this is not the case, and that not a trace +of birds makes its appearance until the Tar later period which I have +mentioned. + +And again, if it be true that all varieties of fishes and the great +whales, and the like, made their appearance on the fifth day, we ought +to find the remains of these animals in the older rocks--in those which +were deposited before the Carboniferous epoch. Fishes we do find, in +considerable number and variety; but the great whales are absent, and +the fishes are not such as now live. Not one solitary species of fish +now in existence is to be found in the Devonian or Silurian formations. +Hence we are introduced afresh to the dilemma which I have already +placed before you: either the animals which came into existence on the +fifth day were not such as those which are found at present, are not the +direct and immediate ancestors of those which now exist; in which case +either fresh creations of which nothing is said, or a process of +evolution must have occurred; or else the whole story must be given up +as not only devoid of any circumstantial evidence, but contrary to such +evidence as exists. + +I placed before you in a few words, some little time ago, a statement of +the sum and substance of Milton's hypothesis. Let me now try to state as +briefly, the effect of the circumstantial evidence bearing upon the past +history of the earth which is furnished, without the possibility of +mistake, with no chance of error as to its chief features, by the +stratified rocks. What we find is, that the great series of formations +represents a period of time of which our human chronologies hardly +afford us a unit of measure. I will not pretend to say how we ought to +estimate this time, in millions or in billions of years. For my purpose, +the determination of its absolute duration is wholly unessential. But +that the time was enormous there can be no question. + +It results from the simplest methods of interpretation, that leaving out +of view certain patches of metamorphosed rocks, and certain volcanic +products, all that is now dry land has once been at the bottom of the +waters. It is perfectly certain that, at a comparatively recent period +of the world's history--the Cretaceous epoch--none of the great physical +features which at present mark the surface of the globe existed. It is +certain that the Rocky Mountains were not. It is certain that the +Himalaya Mountains were not. It is certain that the Alps and the +Pyrenees had no existence. The evidence is of the plainest possible +character, and is simply this:--We find raised up on the flanks of these +mountains, elevated by the forces of upheaval which have given rise to +them, masses of Cretaceous rock which formed the bottom of the sea +before those mountains existed. It is therefore clear that the elevatory +forces which gave rise to the mountains operated subsequently to the +Cretaceous epoch; and that the mountains themselves are largely made up +of the materials deposited in the sea which once occupied their place. +As we go back in time, we meet with constant alternations of sea and +land, of estuary and open ocean; and, in correspondence with these +alternations, we observe the changes in the fauna and flora to which I +have referred. + +But the inspection of these changes gives us no right to believe that +there has been any discontinuity in natural processes. There is no trace +of general cataclysms, of universal deluges, or sudden destructions of a +whole fauna or flora. The appearances which were formerly interpreted in +that way have all been shown to be delusive, as our knowledge has +increased and as the blanks which formerly appeared to exist between the +different formations have been filled up. That there is no absolute +break between formation and formation, that there has been no sudden +disappearance of all the forms of life and replacement of them by +others, but that changes have gone on slowly and gradually, that one +type has died out and another has taken its place, and that thus, by +insensible degrees, one fauna has been replaced by another, are +conclusions strengthened by constantly increasing evidence. So that +within the whole of the immense period indicated by the fossiliferous +stratified rocks, there is assuredly not the slightest proof of any +break in the uniformity of Nature's operations, no indication that +events have followed other than a clear and orderly sequence. + +That, I say, is the natural and obvious teaching of the circumstantial +evidence contained in the stratified rocks. I leave you to consider how +far, by any ingenuity of interpretation, by any stretching of the +meaning of language, it can be brought into harmony with the Miltonic +hypothesis. + +There remains the third hypothesis, that of which I have spoken as the +hypothesis of evolution; and I purpose that, in lectures to come, we +should discuss it as carefully as we have considered the other two +hypotheses. I need not say that it is quite hopeless to look for +testimonial evidence of evolution. The very nature of the case precludes +the possibility of such evidence, for the human race can no more be +expected to testify to its own origin, than a child can be tendered as a +witness of its own birth. Our sole inquiry is, what foundation +circumstantial evidence lends to the hypothesis, or whether it lends +none, or whether it controverts the hypothesis. I shall deal with the +matter entirely as a question of history. I shall not indulge in the +discussion of any speculative probabilities. I shall not attempt to show +that Nature is unintelligible unless we adopt some such hypothesis. For +anything I know about the matter, it may be the way of Nature to be +unintelligible; she is often puzzling, and I have no reason to suppose +that she is bound to fit herself to our notions. + +I shall place before you three kinds of evidence entirely based upon +what is known of the forms of animal life which are contained in the +series of stratified rocks. I shall endeavor to show you that there is +one kind of evidence which is neutral, which neither helps evolution nor +is inconsistent with it. I shall then bring forward a second kind of +evidence which indicates a strong probability in favor of evolution, but +does not prove it; and, lastly, I shall adduce a third kind of evidence +which, being as complete as any evidence which we can hope to obtain +upon such a subject, and being wholly and strikingly in favor of +evolution, may fairly be called demonstrative evidence of its +occurrence. + + + +THE TRANSMISSION OF YELLOW FEVER BY MOSQUITOES + +GEORGE M. STERNBERG, M.D., L.L.D, SURGEON-GENERAL U.S. ARMY[72] + +This article is a scientific demonstration of a new fact. It shows +clearly the processes of scientific reasoning based on the methods known +to Logic as the Methods of Agreement and Difference. The theory that the +germs of the disease are carried by mosquitoes seems first to have +suggested itself to Dr. Sternberg and to Dr. Finlay through noticing a +similarity of phenomena in many cases under different conditions. Yet, +however plausible, the theory, neither of them could declare that he had +discovered the fact until the experiments carried on under rigorous +precautions had been tried. By these experiments all other causes were +ruled out of consideration. + +The discoveries which have been made in the past twenty-five years with +reference to the etiology[73] of infectious diseases constitute the +greatest achievement of scientific medicine and afford a substantial +basis for the application of intelligent measures of prophylaxis.[74] We +know the specific cause ("germ") of typhoid fever, of pulmonary +consumption, of cholera, of diphtheria, of erysipelas, of croupous +pneumonia, of the malarial fevers, and of various other infectious +diseases of man and of the domestic animals, but, up to the present +time, all efforts to discover the germ of yellow fever have been without +success. The present writer, as a member of the Havana Yellow Fever +Commission, in 1879, made the first systematic attempt to solve the +unsettled questions relating to yellow fever etiology by modern methods +of research. + +Naturally the first and most important question to engage my attention +was that relating to the specific infectious agent, or "germ," which +there was every reason to believe must be found in the bodies of +infected individuals. Was this germ present in the blood, as in the case +of relapsing fever; or was it to be found in the organs and tissues +which upon post-mortem examination give evidence of pathological +changes, as in typhoid fever, pneumonia, and diphtheria; or was it to be +found in the alimentary canal, as in cholera and dysentery? + +The clinical history of the disease indicated a general blood +infection. As my equipment included the best microscopical apparatus +made, I had strong hopes that in properly stained preparations of blood +taken from the circulation of yellow fever patients my Zeiss 1-18 oil +immersion objective would reveal to me the germ I was in search of. But +I was doomed to disappointment. Repeated examinations of blood from +patients in every stage of the disease failed to demonstrate the +presence of microorganisms of any kind. My subsequent investigations in +Havana, Vera Cruz, and Rio de Janeiro, made in 1887, 1888, and 1889, +were equally unsuccessful. And numerous competent microscopists of +various nations have since searched in vain for this elusive germ. +Another method of attacking this problem consists in introducing blood +from yellow fever patients or recent cadavers into various "culture +media" for the purpose of cultivating any germ that might be present. +Extended researches of this kind also gave a negative result, which in +my final report I stated as follows: + + The specific cause of yellow fever has not yet been demonstrated. + + It is demonstrated that microorganisms, capable of development in + the culture media usually employed by the bacteriologists, are only + found in the blood and tissues of yellow fever cadavers in + exceptional cases, when cultures are made very soon after death. + +Since this report was made, various investigators have attacked the +question of yellow fever etiology, and one of them has made very +positive claims to the discovery of the specific germ. I refer to the +Italian bacteriologist, Sanarelli. His researches were made in Brazil, +and, singularly enough, he found in the blood of the first case examined +by him a bacillus. It was present in large numbers, but this case +proved to be unique, for neither Sanarelli nor any one else has since; +found it in such abundance. It has been found in small numbers in the +blood and tissues of yellow fever cadavers in a certain number of the +cases examined. But carefully conducted researches by competent +bacteriologists have failed to demonstrate its presence in a +considerable proportion of the cases, and the recent researches of Reed, +Carroll, and Agramonte, to which I shall shortly refer, demonstrate +conclusively that the bacillus of Sanarelli has nothing to do with the +etiology of yellow fever. + +So far as I am aware, Dr. Carlos Finlay, of Havana, Cuba, was the first +to suggest the transmission of yellow fever by mosquitoes. In a +communication made to the Academy of Sciences of Havana, in October, +1881, he gave an account of his first attempts to demonstrate the truth +of his theory. In a paper contributed to _The Edinburgh Medical Journal_ +in 1894, Dr. Finlay gives a summary of his experimental inoculations up +to that date as follows: + +A summary account of the experiments performed by myself (and some also +by my friend, Dr. Delgado), during the last twelve years, will enable +the reader to judge for himself. The experiment has consisted in first +applying a captive mosquito to a yellow fever patient, allowing it to +introduce its lance and to fill itself with blood; next, after the lapse +of two or more days, applying the same mosquito to the skin of a person +who is considered susceptible to yellow fever: and, finally, observing +the effects, not only during the first two weeks, but during periods of +several years, so as to appreciate the amount of immunity that should +follow. + +Between the 30th of June, 1881, and the 2d of December, 1893, +eighty-eight persons have been so inoculated. All were white adults, +uniting the conditions which justify the assumption that they were +susceptible to yellow fever. Only three were women. The chronological +distribution of the inoculations was as follows: seven in 1881, ten in +1883, nine in 1885, three in 1886, twelve in 1887, nine in 1888, seven +in 1889, ten in 1890, eight in 1891, three in 1892, and ten in 1893. + +The yellow fever patients upon whom the mosquitoes were contaminated +were, almost in every instance, well-marked cases of the albuminuric or +melanoalbuminuric forms, in the second, third, fourth, fifth, or sixth +day of the disease. In some of the susceptible subjects, the inoculation +was repeated when the source of the contamination appeared uncertain. + +Among the eighty-seven who have been under observation, the following +results have been recorded: + +Within a term of days, varying between five and twenty-five after the +inoculation, _one_ presented a mild albuminuric attack, and _thirteen, +only_ "acclimation fevers." + + * * * * * + +While Finlay's theory appeared to be plausible and to explain many of +the facts relating to the etiology of yellow fever, his experimental +inoculations not only failed to give it substantial support, but the +negative results, as reported, by himself, seemed to be opposed to the +view that yellow fever is transmitted by the mosquito. It is true that +he reports one case which "presented a mild albuminuric attack" which we +may accept as an attack of yellow fever. But in view of the fact that +this case occurred in the city of Havana, where yellow fever is endemic, +and of the eighty-six negative results from similar inoculations, the +inference seemed justified that in this case the disease was contracted +in some other way than as a result of the so-called "mosquito +inoculation." The thirteen cases in which only "acclimation fevers" +occurred "within a term of days varying between five and twenty-five +after the inoculation" appeared to me to have no value as giving support +to Finlay's theory; first, because these "acclimation fevers" could not +be identified as mild cases of yellow fever; second, because the +ordinary method of incubation in yellow fever, is less than five days; +and, third, because these individuals, having recently arrived in +Havana, were liable to attacks of yellow fever, or of "acclimation +fever" as a result of their residence in this city and quite +independently of Dr. Finlay's mosquito inoculations. For these reasons +Dr. Finlay's experiments failed to convince the medical profession +generally of the truth of his theory relating to the transmission of +yellow fever, and this important question remained in doubt and a +subject of controversy. One party regarded the disease as personally +contagious and supposed it to be communicated directly from the sick to +the well, as in the case of other contagious diseases, such as smallpox, +scarlet fever, etc. Opposed to this theory was the fact that in +innumerable instances nonimmune persons had been known to care for +yellow-fever patients as nurses, or physicians, without contracting the +disease; also the fact that the epidemic extension of the disease +depends upon external conditions relating to temperature, altitude, +rainfall, etc. It was a well-established fact that the disease is +arrested by cold weather and does not prevail in northern latitudes or +at considerable altitudes. But diseases which are directly transmitted +from man to man by personal contact have no such limitations. The +alternate theory took account of the above-mentioned facts and assumed +that the disease was indirectly transmitted from sick to well, as is the +case in typhoid fever and cholera, and that its germ was capable of +development external to the human body when conditions were favorable. +These conditions were believed to be a certain elevation of the +temperature, the presence of moisture and suitable; organic pabulum +(filth) for the development of the germ. The two first-mentioned +conditions were known to be essential, the third was a subject of +controversy. + +Yellow fever epidemics do not occur in the winter months in the +temperate zone and they do not occur in arid regions. As epidemics have +frequently prevailed in seacoast cities known to be in an insanitary +condition, it has been generally assumed that the presence of +decomposing organic material is favorable for the development of an +epidemic and that, like typhoid fever and cholera, yellow fever is a +"filth disease." Opposed to this view, however, is the fact that +epidemics have frequently occurred in localities (e.g. at military +posts) where no local insanitary conditions were to be found. Moreover, +there are marked differences in regard to the transmission of the +recognized filth diseases--typhoid fever and cholera--and yellow fever. +The first-mentioned diseases are largely propagated by means of a +contaminated water supply, whereas there is no evidence that yellow +fever is ever communicated in this way. Typhoid fever and cholera +prevail in all parts of the world and may prevail at any season of the +year, although cholera, as a rule, is a disease of the summer months. On +the other hand, yellow fever has a very restricted area of prevalence +and is essentially a disease of seaboard cities and of warm climates. +Evidently neither of the theories referred to accounts for all of the +observed facts with reference to the endemic prevalence and epidemic +extension of the disease under consideration. + +Having for years given much thought to this subject, I became some time +since impressed with the view that probably in yellow fever, as in the +malarial fevers, there is an "intermediate host." I therefore suggested +to Dr. Reed, president of the board appointed upon my recommendation for +the study of this disease in the island of Cuba, that he should give +special attention to the possibility of transmission by some insect, +although the experiments of Finlay seemed to show that this insect was +not a mosquito of the genus _Culex_, such as he had used in his +inoculation experiments. I also urged that efforts should be made to +ascertain definitely whether the disease can be communicated from man to +man by blood inoculations. Evidently if this is the case the blood must +contain the living infectious agent upon which the propagation of the +disease depends, notwithstanding the fact that all attempts to +demonstrate the presence of such a germ in the blood, by means of +microscope and culture methods, have proved unavailing. I had previously +demonstrated by repeated experiments that inoculations of yellow fever +blood into lower animals--dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs--give a negative +result, but this negative result might well be because these animals +were not susceptible to the disease and could not be accepted as showing +that the germ of yellow fever was not present in the blood. A single +inoculation experiment on man had been made in my presence in the city +of Vera Cruz, in 1887, by Dr. Daniel Ruiz, who was in charge of the +civil hospital in that city. But this experiment was inconclusive for +the reason that the patient from whom the blood was obtained was in the +eighth day of the disease, and it was quite possible that the specific +germ might have been present at an earlier period and that after a +certain number of days the natural resources of the body are sufficient +to effect its destruction, or in some way to cause its disappearance +from the circulation. + +This was the status of the question of yellow fever etiology when Dr. +Reed and his associates commenced their investigations in Cuba during +the summer of 1900. In a "Preliminary Note," read at the meeting of the +American Public Health Association, October 22, 1900, the board gave a +report of three cases of yellow fever which they believed to be direct +results of mosquito inoculations. Two of these were members of the +board, viz., Dr. Jesse W. Lazear and Dr. James Carroll, who voluntarily +submitted themselves to the experiment. Dr. Carroll suffered a severe +attack of the disease and recovered, but Dr. Lazear fell a victim to his +enthusiasm and died in the cause of science and humanity. His death +occurred on September 25, after an illness of six days' duration. About +the same time nine other individuals who volunteered for the experiment +were bitten by infected mosquitoes--i.e. by mosquitoes which had +previously been allowed to fill themselves with blood from yellow fever +cases--and in these cases the result was negative. In considering the +experimental evidence thus far obtained, the attention of the members of +the board was attracted by the fact that in the nine inoculations with a +negative result "the time elapsing between the biting of the mosquito +and the inoculation of the healthy subject varied in seven cases from +two to eight days, and in the remaining two from ten to thirteen days, +whereas in two of the three successful cases the mosquito had been kept +for twelve days or longer." In the third case, that of Dr. Lazear, the +facts are stated in the report of the board as follows: + +Case 3. Dr. Jesse W. Lazear, Acting Assistant Surgeon U.S. Army, a +member of this board, was bitten on August 16, 1900 (Case 3, Table III) +by a mosquito (_Culex fasciatus_), which ten days previously had been +contaminated by biting a very mild case of yellow fever (fifth day). No +appreciable disturbance of health followed this inoculation. + +On September 13, 1900 (forenoon), Dr. Lazear, while on a visit to Las +Animas Hospital, and while collecting blood from yellow fever patients +for study, was bitten by a _Culex_ mosquito (variety undetermined). As +Dr. Lazear had been previously bitten by a contaminated insect without +after effects, he deliberately allowed this particular mosquito, which +had settled on the back of his hand, to remain until it had satisfied +its hunger. + +On the evening of September 18, five days after the bite, Dr. Lazear +complained of feeling "out of sorts," and had a chill at 8 P.M. + +On September 19, twelve o'clock noon, his temperature was 102.4°, pulse +112; his eyes were injected and his face suffused; at 3 P.M. temperature +was 103.4°, pulse 104; 6 P.M., temperature 103.8° and pulse 106; albumin +appeared in the urine. Jaundice appeared on the third day. The +subsequent history of this case was one of progressive and fatal yellow +fever, the death of our much-lamented colleague having occurred on the +evening of September 25, 1900. + +Evidently in this case the evidence is not satisfactory as to the fatal +attack being the result of the bite by a mosquito "while on a visit to +Las Animas Hospital," although Dr. Lazear himself was thoroughly +convinced that this was the direct cause of his attack. + +The inference by Dr. Reed and his associates, from the experiments thus +far made, was that yellow fever may be; transmitted by mosquitoes of the +genus _Culex_, but that in order to convey the infection to a nonimmune +individual the insect must be kept for twelve days or longer after it +has filled itself with blood from a yellow fever patient in the earlier +stages of the disease. In other words, that a certain period of +incubation is required in the body of the insect before the germ reaches +its salivary glands, and consequently before it is able to inoculate any +individual with the germs of yellow fever. This inference, based upon +experimental data, received support from other observations, which have +been repeatedly made, with reference to the introduction and spread of +yellow fever in localities favorable to its propagation. When a case is +imported to one of our southern seaport cities, from Havana, Vera Cruz, +or some other endemic focus of the disease, an interval of two weeks or +more occurs before secondary cases are developed as a result of such +importation. In the light of our present knowledge this is readily +understood. A certain number of mosquitoes having filled themselves with +blood from this first case after an interval of twelve days or more bite +nonimmune individuals living in the vicinity, and these individuals +after a brief period of incubation fall sick with the disease; being +bitten by other mosquitoes they serve to transmit the disease through +the "intermediate host" to still others. Thus the epidemic extends, at +first slowly from house to house, then more rapidly, as by geometrical +progression. + +It will be seen that the essential difference between the successful +experiments of the board of which Dr. Reed is president and the +unsuccessful experiments of Finlay consists of the length of time during +which the mosquitoes were kept after filling themselves with blood from +a yellow fever patient. In Finlay's experiments the interval was usually +short,--from two to five or six days,--and it will be noted that in the +experiments of Reed and his associates the result was invariably +negative when the insect had been kept less than eight days (7 cases). + +Having obtained what they considered satisfactory evidence that yellow +fever is transmitted by mosquitoes, Dr. Reed and his associates +proceeded to extend their experiments for the purpose of establishing +the fact in such a positive manner that the medical profession and the +scientific world generally might be convinced of the reliability of the +experimental evidence upon which their conclusions were based. These +conclusions, which have been fully justified by their subsequent +experiments, were stated in their "Preliminary Note" as follows: + + 1. Bacillus icteroides (Sanarelli) stands in no causative relation + to yellow fever, but, when present, should be considered as a + secondary invader in this disease. + + 2. The mosquito serves as the intermediate host for the parasite of + yellow fever. + +In "An Additional Note" read at the Pan-American Medical Congress held +in Havana, Cuba, February 4,-7, 1901, a report is made of the further +experiments made up to that date. In order that the absolute scientific +value of these experiments may be fully appreciated I shall quote quite +freely from this report with reference to the methods adopted for the +purpose of excluding all sources of infection other than the mosquito +inoculation: + +In order to exercise perfect control over the movements of those +individuals who were to be subjected to experimentation, and to avoid +any other possible source of infection, a location was selected in an +open and uncultivated field, about one mile from the town of Quemados, +Cuba. Here an experimental sanitary station was established under the +complete control of the senior member of this board. This station was +named Camp Lazear, in honor of our late colleague, Dr. Jesse W. Lazear, +Acting Assistant Surgeon U.S.A., who died of yellow fever, while +courageously investigating the causation of this disease. The site +selected was well drained, freely exposed to sunlight and winds, and +from every point of view satisfactory for the purposes intended. + +The personnel of this camp consisted of two medical officers, Dr. Roger +P. Ames, Acting Assistant Surgeon U.S.A., an immune, in immediate +charge; Dr. R. P. Cooke, Acting Assistant Surgeon U.S.A., nonimmune; one +acting hospital steward, an immune; nine privates of the hospital corps, +one of whom was immune, and one immune ambulance driver. + +For the quartering of this detachment, and of such nonimmune individuals +as should be received for experimentation, hospital tents, properly +floored, were provided. These were placed at a distance of about twenty +feet from each other, and numbered 1 to 7 respectively. + +Camp Lazear was established November 20, 1900, and from this date was +strictly quarantined, no one being permitted to leave or enter camp +except the three immune members of the detachment and the members of the +board. Supplies were drawn chiefly from Columbia Barracks, and for this +purpose a conveyance under the control of an immune acting hospital +steward, and having an immune driver, was used. + +A few Spanish immigrants recently arrived at the port of Havana were +received at Camp Lazear, from time to time, while these observations +were being carried out. A nonimmune person, having once left the camp, +was not permitted to return to it under any circumstances whatsoever. + +The temperature and pulse of all nonimmune residents were carefully +recorded three times a day. Under these circumstances any infected +individual entering the camp could be promptly detected and removed. As +a matter of fact, only two persons, not the subject of experimentation, +developed any rise of temperature; one, a Spanish immigrant, with +probable commencing pulmonary tuberculosis, who was discharged at the +end of three days: and the other, a Spanish immigrant, who developed a +temperature of 102.6° F. on the afternoon of his fourth day in camp. He +was at once removed with his entire bedding and baggage and placed in +the receiving ward at Columbia Barracks. His fever, which was marked by +daily intermissions for three days, subsided upon the administration of +cathartics and enemata. His attack was considered to be due to +intestinal irritation. He was not permitted, however, to return to the +camp. + +No nonimmune resident was subjected to inoculation who had not passed in +this camp the full period of incubation of yellow fever, with one +exception, to be hereinafter mentioned. + +For the purpose of experimentation subjects were selected as follows: +From Tent No. 2, 2 nonimmunes, and from Tent No. 5, 3 nonimmunes. Later, +1 nonimmune in Tent No. 6 was also designated for inoculation. + +It should be borne in mind that at the time when these inoculations were +begun, there were only 12 nonimmune residents at Camp Lazear, and that 5 +of those were selected for experiment, viz., 2 in Tent No. 2, and 3 in +Tent No. 5. Of these we succeeded in infecting 4, viz., 1 in Tent No. 2. +and 3 in Tent No. 5, each of whom developed an attack of yellow fever +within the period of incubation of this disease. The one negative +result, therefore, was in Case 2--Moran--inoculated with a mosquito on +the fifteenth day after the insect had bitten a case of yellow-fever on +the third day. Since this mosquito failed to infect Case 4, three days +after it had bitten Moran, it follows that the result could not have +been otherwise than negative in the latter case. We now know, as the +result of our observations, that in the case of an insect kept at room +temperature during the cool weather of November, fifteen or even +eighteen days would, in all probability, be too short a time to render +it capable of producing the disease. + +As bearing upon the source of infection, we invite attention to the +period of time during which the subjects had been kept under rigid +quarantine, prior to successful inoculation, which was as follows: Case +1, fifteen days; Case 3, nine days; Case 4, nineteen days; Case 5, +twenty-one days. We further desire to emphasize the fact that this +epidemic of yellow fever, which affected 33.33 per cent of the nonimmune +residents of Camp Lazear, did not concern the seven nonimmunes occupying +Tents Nos, 1, 4, 6 and 7, _but was strictly limited to those individuals +who had been bitten by contaminated mosquitoes._ + +Nothing could point more forcibly to the source of this infection than +the order of the occurrence of events at this camp. The precision with +which the infection of the individual followed the bite of the mosquito +left nothing to be desired in order to fulfill the requirements of a +scientific experiment. + +In summing up their results at the conclusion of this report the +following statement is made: + +Out of a total or eighteen nonimmunes whom we have inoculated with +contaminated mosquitoes, since we began this line of investigation, +eight, or 44.4 per cent, have contracted yellow fever. If we exclude +those individuals bitten by mosquitoes that had been kept less than +twelve days after contamination, and which were therefore probably +incapable of conveying the disease, we have to record eight positive and +two negative results--80 per cent. + +In a still later report (May, 1901) Dr. Reed says, "We have thus far +succeeded in conveying yellow fever to twelve individuals by means of +the bites of contaminated mosquitoes." + +The nonimmune individuals experimented upon were all fully informed as +to the nature of the experiment and its probable results and all gave +their full consent. Fortunately no one of these brave volunteers in the +cause of science and humanity suffered a fatal attack of the disease, +although several were very ill and gave great anxiety to the members of +the board, who fully appreciated the grave responsibility which rested +upon them. That these experiments were justifiable under the +circumstances mentioned is, I believe, beyond question. In no other way +could the fact established have been demonstrated, and the knowledge +gained is of inestimable value as a guide to reliable measures of +prevention. Already it is being applied in Cuba, and without doubt +innumerable lives will be saved as a result of these experiments showing +the precise method by which yellow fever is contracted by those exposed +in an "infected locality." Some of these volunteers were enlisted men of +the United States Army and some were Spanish immigrants who had recently +arrived in Cuba. When taken sick they received the best possible care, +and after their recovery they had the advantage of being "immunes" who +had nothing further to fear from the disease which has caused the death +of thousands and tens of thousands of Spanish soldiers and immigrants +who have come to Cuba under the orders of their government or to seek +their fortunes. + +The experiments already referred to show in the most conclusive manner +that the blood of yellow fever patients contains the infectious agent, +or germ, to which the disease is due, and this has been further +demonstrated by direct inoculations from man to man. This experiment was +made by Dr. Reed at "Camp Lazear" upon four individuals, who freely +consented to it; and in three of the four a typical attack of yellow +fever resulted from the blood injection. The blood was taken from a vein +at the bend of the elbow on the first or second day of sickness and was +injected subcutaneously into the four nonimmune individuals, the amount +being in one positive case 2 cc, in one 1.5 cc, and in one O.5 cc. In +the case attended with a negative result, a Spanish immigrant, a +mosquito inoculation also proved to be without effect, and Dr. Reed +supposes that this individual "probably possesses a natural immunity to +yellow fever." Dr. Reed says with reference to these experiments: + +It is important to note that in the three cases in which the injection +of the blood brought about an attack of yellow fever, careful culture +from the same blood, taken immediately after injection, failed to show +the presence of Sanarelli's bacillus. + +Having demonstrated the fact that yellow fever is propagated by +mosquitoes, Dr. Reed and his associates have endeavored to ascertain +whether it may also be propagated, as has been commonly supposed, by +clothing, bedding, and other articles which have been in use by those +sick with this disease. With reference to the experiments made for the +solution of this question I cannot do better than to quote _in extensa_ +from Dr. Reed's paper read at the Pan-American Medical Congress in +Havana. + +[This extract from Dr. Reed's paper describes in careful scientific +detail the experiments which finally established the fact that the +contagion came through mosquitoes, and in no other way. Into a small +house, thoroughly air-proof, were brought bedclothes, clothing, and +other articles which had been contaminated by yellow fever patients. +Then for twenty days men who were nonimmune to the fever slept in this +building, with no evil effects. This experiment was repeated several +times. Then in another building similar, except that it was ventilated +by mosquito-proof windows, and had been thoroughly disinfected, another +volunteer was bitten by mosquitoes which had first bitten patients +suffering with yellow fever; and he developed the disease. The last +paragraph of the extract is as follows:] + + "Thus at Camp Lazear, of seven nonimmunes whom we attempted to + infect by means of the bites of contaminated mosquitoes, we have + succeeded in conveying the disease to six, or 85.71 per cent. On the + other hand, of seven nonimmunes whom we tried to infect by means of + fomites [cloth and other material generally capable of carrying + germs] under particularly favorable circumstances, we did not + succeed in a single instance." + +It is evident that in view of our present knowledge relating to the mode +of transmission of yellow fever, the preventive measures which have +heretofore been considered most important, that is, isolation of the +sick, disinfection of clothing and bedding, and municipal sanitation, +are either of no avail or of comparatively little value. It is true that +yellow fever epidemics have resulted, as a rule, from the introduction +to a previously healthy locality of one or more persons suffering from +the disease. But we now know that its extension did not depend upon the +direct contact of the sick with the nonimmune individuals and that +isolation of the sick from such contact is unnecessary and without +avail. On the other hand, complete isolation from the agent which is +responsible for the propagation of the disease is all-important. In the +absence of a yellow fever patient from which to draw blood the mosquito +is harmless, and in the absence of the mosquito the yellow fever patient +is harmless--as the experimental evidence now stands. Yellow fever +epidemics are terminated by cold weather because the mosquitoes die or +become torpid. The sanitary condition of our southern seaport cities is +no better in winter than in summer, and if the infection attached to +clothing and bedding it is difficult to understand why the first frosts +of autumn should arrest the progress of an epidemic. But all this is +explained now that the mode of transmission has been demonstrated. + +Insanitary local conditions may, however, have a certain influence in +the propagation of the disease, for it has been ascertained that the +species of mosquito which serves as an intermediate host for the yellow +fever germ may breed in cesspools and sewers, as well as in stagnant +pools of water. If, therefore, the streets of a city are unpaved and +ungraded and there are open spaces where water may accumulate in pools, +as well as open cesspools to serve as breeding places for _Culex +fasciatus_, the city will present conditions more favorable for the +propagation of yellow fever than it would if well paved and drained and +sewered. + +The question whether yellow fever may be transmitted by any other +species of mosquito than _Culex fasciatus_ has not been determined. +Facts relating to the propagation of the disease indicate that the +mosquito which serves as an intermediate host for the yellow fever germ +has a somewhat restricted geographical range and is to be found +especially upon the seacoast and the margins of rivers in the so-called +"yellow fever zone." While occasional epidemics have occurred upon the +southwest coast of the Iberian Peninsula, the disease, as an epidemic, +is unknown elsewhere in Europe, and there is no evidence that it has +ever invaded the great and populous continent of Asia. In Africa it is +limited to the west coast. In North America, although it has +occasionally prevailed as an epidemic in every one of our seaport cities +as far north as Boston, and in the Mississippi Valley as far north as +St. Louis, it has never established itself as an epidemic disease within +the limits of the United States. Vera Cruz, and probably other points on +the Gulf coast of Mexico, are, however, at the present time, endemic +foci of the disease. In South America it has prevailed as an epidemic at +all of the seaports on the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, as far south as +Montevideo and Buenos Aires, and on the Pacific along the coast of Peru. + +The region in which the disease has had the greatest and most frequent +prevalence is bounded by the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, and includes +the West India islands. Within the past few years yellow fever has been +carried to the west coast of North America, and has prevailed as an +epidemic as far north as the Mexican port of Guaymas, on the Gulf of +California. + +It must be supposed that _Culex fasciatus_ is only found where yellow +fever prevails. The propagation of the disease depends upon the +introduction of an infected individual to a locality where this mosquito +is found, at a season of the year when it is active. Owing to the short +period of incubation (five days or less), the brief duration of the +disease and especially of the period during which the infectious agent +(germ) is found in the blood, it is evident that ships sailing from +infected ports, upon which cases of yellow fever develop, are not likely +to introduce the disease to distant seaports. The continuance of an +epidemic on shipboard, as on the land, must depend upon the presence of +infected mosquitoes and of nonimmune individuals. Under these conditions +we can readily understand why the disease should not be carried from the +West Indies or from South America to the Mediterranean, to the east +coast of Africa, or to Asiatic seaport cities. On the other hand, if the +disease could be transmitted by infected clothing, bedding, etc., there +seems no good reason why it should not have been carried to these +distant localities long ago. + +The restriction as regards altitude, however, probably depends upon the +fact that the mosquito which serves as an intermediate host is a coast +species, which does not live in elevated regions. It is a +well-established fact that yellow fever has never prevailed in the City +of Mexico, although the city has constant and unrestricted intercourse +with the infected seaport, Vera Cruz. Persons who have been exposed in +Vera Cruz during the epidemic season frequently fall sick after their +arrival in the City of Mexico, but they do not communicate the disease +to those in attendance upon them or to others in the vicinity. Evidently +some factor essential for the propagation of the disease is absent, +although we have the sick man, his clothing and bedding, and the +insanitary local conditions which have been supposed to constitute an +essential factor. I am not aware that any observations have been made +with reference to the presence or absence of _Culex fasciatus_ in high +altitudes, but the inference that it is not to be found in such +localities as the City of Mexico seems justified by the established +facts already referred to. + +As pointed out by Hirsch, "the disease stops short at many points in the +West Indies where the climate is still in the highest degree tropical." +In the Antilles it has rarely appeared at a height of more than seven +hundred feet. In the United States the most elevated locality in which +the disease has prevailed as an epidemic is Chattanooga, Tennessee, +which is seven hundred and forty-five feet above sea level. + +It will be remembered that the malarial fevers are contracted as a +result of inoculation by mosquitoes of the genus _Anopheles_, and that +the malarial parasite has been demonstrated not only in the blood of +those suffering from malarial infection, but also in the stomach and +salivary glands of the mosquito. If the yellow fever parasite resembled +that of the malarial fevers, it would no doubt have been discovered long +ago. But, as a matter of fact, this parasite, which we now know is +present in the blood of those sick with the disease, has thus far eluded +all researches. Possibly it is ultramicroscopic. However this may be, it +is not the only infectious disease germ which remains to be discovered. +There is no doubt a living germ in vaccine lymph and in the virus from +smallpox pustules, but it has not been demonstrated by the microscope. +The same is true of foot and mouth disease and of infectious +pleuropneumonia of cattle, although we know that a living element of +some kind is present in the infectious material by which these diseases +are propagated. In Texas fever, of cattle, which is transmitted by +infected ticks, the parasite is very minute, but by proper staining +methods and a good microscope it may be detected in the interior of the +red blood corpuscles. Drs. Reed and Carroll are at present engaged in a +search for the yellow fever germ in the blood and in the bodies of +infected mosquitoes. What success may attend their efforts remains to be +seen, but at all events the fundamental facts have been demonstrated +that this germ is present in the blood and that the disease is +transmitted by a certain species of mosquito--_Culex fasciatus_. + +[At the end of the article General Sternberg reproduces the general +orders issued to the army in Cuba with directions for the precautions to +be taken against the disease.] + + + + +THE WORKMAN'S COMPENSATION ACT[75] + +This is a good example of the high quality of argumentative writing +which is being turned out by daily and weekly journals in great +quantities throughout the year. This article, being from a weekly +journal, is longer and more searching than the editorial in a daily +paper, and to some extent partakes of the nature of an essay. It is +notable for the thoroughness of the analysis of the question, for the +careful review of the history of the case, and for the precise statement +of the points at issue. There is little space for the presentation of +evidence, though the specific statement of facts and the quotations from +authorities, so far as they go, serve as evidence. + +We purpose in this article to give to our readers an interpretation of +the recent decision of the New York Court of Appeals declaring that the +Workman's Compensation Act is unconstitutional. We regard this decision +as of very great importance, because, if the Court has correctly +interpreted the Constitution of the United States, that document +prevents America from adopting an industrial reform which has been +adopted as just and necessary by practically the entire civilized world. +We do not believe that the interpretation of the Court is correct. It +is, in our opinion, in conflict alike with the progress of civilization, +the spirit of democracy, the principles of social justice, and the +analogies and tendencies of law. And we believe that this unconscious +attempt to fasten upon the workingman an unjust and intolerable burden +from which all other civilized nations, with one exception, have +relieved him, will ultimately prove as futile as was the conscious and +deliberate attempt of the United States Supreme Court, under the lead of +Chief Justice Taney, to halt the movement for the emancipation of the +slaves. + +In the earlier stages of industrial development, when industry was +unorganized, machinery hardly existed, and labor was an individual +handicraft, the courts naturally assumed that accidents occurring to a +workman were probably due to his own negligence. + +If he were mowing in a field and cut himself with his scythe, if he +were digging a ditch and sprained his ankle, if he were cutting down a +tree and it fell upon him and broke his leg, he could recover from his +employer only on proof that his employer was at fault. Nor could he +recover if the accident were due to the carelessness of a fellow +workman. There was always a natural presumption that he could better +guard against such carelessness than could the probably absent employer. +If he were turning a grindstone and his awkward fellow workman so held +the scythe as to cut him, if he were in the forest and his fellow +workman gave no notice of the falling tree, it was natural to presume +that the carelessness was shared between the two, and the law would +neither attribute blame to the employer nor levy the damage upon him +when he was not blameworthy. + +But the organization of labor and the creation of elaborate machinery +has destroyed this presumption of the common sense, and therefore in all +civilized countries has destroyed this presumption of law. When a +railway train runs off the track because of a misplaced switch or a +defective rail, there is no presumption that the engineer was careless +or could have guarded against the carelessness of the switch tender or +of the manufacturer of the rail. When a fire breaks out in a room where +scores of shirt-waist makers are confined at their work and a hundred +and forty of them are burned to death, there is no presumption that the +impossibility of their escape through narrow passageways and a locked +door was due to their carelessness, or that they were to blame because +the tables at which they were working were wood, not metal, or that they +could have prevented the careless fellow workman from throwing his +cigarette down in the inflammable material which surrounded them. In +fact, only a very limited number of modern accidents are due to the +carelessness of the injured party; probably a somewhat larger number are +due to the carelessness of some other employee; while a very +considerable proportion are incidents of the trade and due to no +definite culpability which it is possible to trace home either to the +employer or the employed. + +The Christian nations of the world have, with singular unanimity, +recognized this change, and have changed their laws to meet the new +conditions. The change which they have made was indicated to them by +their maritime laws, which in this respect have been alike in all +civilized nations and from a very early period. An accident occurring to +a sailor on shipboard has always been regarded as an accident to the +ship; and the ship has always been required to bear the burden of his +care and keep and cure. This right to be cared for does not rest on any +assumption that the master of the ship has been negligent, nor is the +seaman deprived of his right to care and keep and cure by proof that the +accident was due in part, or even altogether, to his negligence. He is +not debarred from recovery by proof of his carelessness; he is not given +larger damages upon proof of the negligence of the master. His right to +be cared for rests, says Mr. Justice Story, upon the fact that "seamen +are in some sort co-adventurers upon the voyage." Modern jurisprudence +throughout Christendom recognizes that under modern industrial +conditions the workman in the railway, the mine, and the factory is a +co-adventurer in the enterprise, and that the hazards incident to his +employment should be borne, not by the individual, but by the industry. +This principle is now recognized and incorporated in their legal, +systems by every country in Europe (including Russia but not Turkey) +with the single exception of Switzerland.[76] + +The justice and importance of this reform have been recognized by such +statesmen as the President of the United States and his predecessor in +office, by such lawyers as Elihu Root, by workmen who desire some better +insurance against accident than is furnished them by a right to sue +their employers, by employers who desire to be protected from vexatious +lawsuits and the peril of verdicts for great sums, and by about half a +dozen states, including Kansas, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and New York, +all of which have passed Workmen's Compensation Acts. Such an act, +shifting the responsibility for the risks which are incident to the +trade in organized industry from the individual to the organization, the +New York Court of Appeals declares no state in the Union has authority +to enact, because the Constitution of the United States forbids its +enactment. The Court recognizes the need for a change in the Law. "We +desire," says the Court, "to present no purely technical or +hypercritical obstacles to any plan for the beneficent reformation of a +branch of our jurisprudence in which, it may be conceded, reform is a +consummation devoutly to be wished." It presents forcibly, +appreciatively, and apparently with entire approbation, the arguments +which have brought about this reform in other lands: "There can be no +doubt as to the theory of this law. It is based upon the proposition +that the inherent risks of an employment should, in justice, be placed +upon the shoulders of the employer, who can protect himself against loss +by insurance, and by such an addition to the price of his wares as to +cast the burden ultimately upon the consumer; that indemnity to an +injured employee should be as much a charge upon the business as the +cost of replacing or repairing disabled or defective machinery, +appliances, or tools; that under our present system the loss falls +immediately upon the employee, who is almost invariably unable to bear +it, and ultimately upon the community, which is taxed for the support of +the indigent; and that our present system is uncertain, unscientific, +and wasteful, and fosters a spirit of antagonism between employer and +employee which it is for the interest of the state to remedy." + +To these considerations the Court suggests no reply, and upon them it +offers no criticism. On the contrary, it in terms concedes "the strength +of this appeal to recognized and widely prevalent sentiment." It +declares that "no word of praise could overstate the industry and +Intelligence of the Commission" which prepared the New York law, and it +apparently agrees with the conclusion of the Commission, based on "a +most voluminous array of statistical tables, extracts from the works of +philosophical writers, and the industrial laws of many countries"--the +conclusion that "our own system of dealing with industrial accidents is +economically, morally, and legally unsound." But all these +considerations of public policy, social justice, and world-wide +conviction are set aside "as subordinate to the primary question whether +they can be molded into statutes without infringing upon the letter or +spirit of our own written Constitution." The countries which have +adopted this desirable reform, it is said, "are so-called constitutional +monarchies in which, as in England, there is no written constitution, +and the Parliament or lawmaking body is supreme. In our country the +Federal and State Constitutions are the charters which demark the extent +and the limitation of legislative power." + +In brief: The change in the law is just: it is demanded by the change +which has taken place in our industrial system; it is all but +universally desired; the experience and the conscience of the civilized +world call for it; but America is powerless to make it under her present +Constitution. Other countries can make it because they are monarchies: +America cannot make it because she is free. + +The clause in the Constitution which, in the opinion of the Court of +Appeals, prohibits the legislature from making this wise and just reform +in our law is the clause which provides that "no person shall be ... +deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law"--a +prohibition which occurs twice in our Federal Constitution (Amendments V +and XIV), and is to be found in many, very probably in most, State +Constitutions. We believe that the Court of Appeals, in its contention +that this clause in our Constitution prohibits this just and necessary +reform in our industrial laws, is sustained neither by the spirit nor by +the letter of this clause in the Constitution, neither by the history of +its origin and significance nor by the course of judicial interpretation +which has been given to it by the United Slates Supreme Court. + +Let the reader stop a moment here and reflect upon the principle +involved in the law enacted in other civilized countries and proposed in +ours. It is not that an employer should be mulcted in damages when he +has been guilty of no fault. It is not that he should be compelled to +pay for his carelessness without an opportunity to prove to the court +that he has not been careless. It is that accidents occurring in the +course of organized industry should be held to have occurred, not to the +individual, but to the industry. + +"In everything within the sphere of human activity," says the Court of +Appeals, "the risks which are inherent and unavoidable must fall upon +those who are exposed to them." The jurists of all the civilized +countries of Europe agree that in modern organized industries it is the +industry, not the individual, that is exposed to the accidents. The law +applies to the factory hand for the future the principle heretofore +applied to the seaman in maritime law. The factory hand is henceforth to +be regarded as a "co-adventurer" with the employer in the industry. + +Nor is "due process of law" denied by the Workman's Compensation Act. No +damages can be recovered from the employer against his consent without a +suit at law. The statute in terms provides that "any question which +shall arise under this act shall be determined either by agreement or by +arbitration as provided in the Code of Civil Procedure, or by an action +at law as herein provided." And what is provided is that, if the +employer fail to make compensation as provided by the Act, the injured +party or his guardian or executor may sue for the amount. The law does +not deny the employer his day in court. But it redefines the question +for the court to decide. It has not to decide whether the employer is +guilty of fault. His liability does not depend on his fault. The court +has simply to decide whether the accident occurred in the due course of +the business, and, if the employer chooses to raise the question, +whether it was "caused in whole or in part by the serious and willful +misconduct of the workman." If not, the workman is entitled to recover, +and the amount which he is entitled to recover is fixed by the statute. +The question, then, is this: + +Does a law which, for accidents in certain carefully defined and +especially dangerous employments, transfers the liability from the +individual to the organization, and which carefully preserves the right +of the employer to submit any questions which arise under the law to the +courts for adjudication, deprive the employer of his property without +due process of law? The Court of Appeals of New York State affirms that +it does. _The Outlook_ affirms that it does not. + +To state this question appears to us to answer it. Certainly there is +nothing in the Workman's Compensation Act which violates the _letter_ of +the Constitution. It does not in terms take the property of the employer +without due process of law. How any one can find in the act a violation +of the _spirit_ of the Constitution we find it difficult to conceive. +And that difficulty is enhanced, not relieved, by a careful study of the +opinions of the Court. For in those opinions it is assumed that on its +face the law is unconstitutional, and the Court devotes all its +intellectual energies to an attempt to show that the authorities cited +in opposition are exceptional. That the law and the Constitution are not +inconsistent is, however, established both by a consideration of the +object and intent of the Constitutional provision and by judicial +decisions interpreting it. To these two considerations we now direct the +attention of the reader. + +The provision in the federal Constitution that "no person shall be ... +deprived of life, liberty, or property, except by due process of law" +(Fifth Amendment), and the provision, "nor shall any state deprive any +person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law" +(Fourteenth Amendment), are derived from the Great Charter wrested from +King John by the Barons in 1215. "No freeman shall be taken or +imprisoned, or disseized, or outlawed, or banished, or any ways +destroyed, nor will we pass upon him, nor will we send upon him, unless +by the lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land." This is +perhaps the most important of those general clauses in the Great Charter +which, says Hallam in his "History of the Middle Ages," "protect the +personal liberty and property of all freemen by giving security from +arbitrary imprisonment and arbitrary spoliation." Hume gives some +intimation of the abuses that led to this provision: merchants had been +subjected to arbitrary tolls and impositions; the property of the dying +had been seized and their lawful heirs dispossessed; officers of the +Crown had levied on horses and carts in time of peace for their own or +the public service. Green, in his "History of the English People," gives +the picture of John's despotism and of the growing spirit of liberty in +the English common people with greater detail The King's exactions drove +the Barons into alliance with the people. "Illegal exactions, the +seizure of their castles, the preference shown to foreigners, were small +provocations compared with his attacks on the honor of their wives and +daughters." The demand of the common people to substitute due process of +law for wager by battle, and to be secure in their lives, their +liberties, and their property from acts of lawless and irresponsible +power, the Barons made their own, and by the same act claimed for others +what they claimed for themselves. "The under tenants were protected +against all exactions of their lords in precisely the same terms as they +were protected against the lawless exactions of the Crown." + +From such a provision for the protection of the fundamental rights of +person and property it is a far cry to the conclusion that the people +cannot remedy the injustice which inflicts all the consequences of +accidents which occur in extrahazardous trades upon the individual who, +in practicing that trade, happens to be subjected to the peril. Common +sense, as well as frequent decisions of the courts, sustain Daniel +Webster's definition of the scope of the Constitutional provision +embodying in our law this provision of the Great Charter: "The meaning +is that every citizen shall hold his life, liberty, and property and +immunities under the protection of general rules which govern society." +That society can never make new rules for the better protection of life, +liberty, and property and immunities, is a doctrine as repugnant to +reason as it is to social progress. It is equally repugnant to the +principle of interpretation laid down by the Supreme Court of the United +States: "The law is perfectly well settled that the first ten amendments +to the Constitution, commonly known as the Bill of Rights, were not +intended to lay down any novel principles of government, but simply to +embody certain guarantees and immunities which we had inherited from our +English ancestors."[77] And it seems never even to have occurred to +English law makers that the Workman's Compensation Act is inconsistent +with this provision of their Great Charter--a charter which is as much a +part of the British constitution as the Fifth and Tenth Amendments are +of ours. In the English Constitution, as in the American, the principle +is carefully defined in writing. The only difference is that in England +the Parliament is the final judge of its meaning; in the United States +that final judge is the Supreme Court of the United States. + +At least it ought to be. But the New York Court of Appeals does not +allow that it is the final authority. In this particular case it is not, +for no appeal lies by the plaintiff in this case from the state to the +national court. But an appeal does lie by the public. _The Outlook_ takes +such an appeal. And it declares without hesitation that the decision of +the New York Court of Appeals is in conflict, not only with the trend of +judicial decisions in that Court, but also with its very explicit +statement of the fundamental principles to be applied in interpreting +the Constitution. + +We have already noted the fact that maritime law regards a seaman as a +co-adventurer with the shipowner, and therefore makes the ship liable +for his care, keep, and cure in case any accident occurs to him, even +though it be produced by his own fault. We now add that the Supreme +Court of the United States has decided that such a law does not take the +shipowner's property without due process of law. That, says the Court of +Appeals, is different, for "the contract and services of seamen are +exceptional in character ... When he is sick or injured he is entitled +to be cared for at the expense of the ship, and for the failure of the +master to perform his duty in this regard the ship or the owner is +liable." No doubt there is a difference between a seaman on a ship and a +factory hand in a factory. Very probably that difference ought to weigh +with the representatives of the people in determining what difference +there should be in their respective treatment. But if making a ship +liable for accidents happening to a seaman does not take the shipowner's +property without due process of law, then rendering a factory liable for +accidents happening to a factory hand does not lake the factory owner's +property without due process of law. The Constitution of the United +States is precisely the same on sea as on land; but to the Constitution +of the United Slates the Court of Appeals gives one meaning on shipboard +and another meaning in the town. + +The right of the legislature to impose new responsibilities upon +property is not confined by the United States Supreme Court to the sea. +It is equally sustained upon the land. The State of Oklahoma provided +for an assessment on all banks in the State in order to create a fund +for the purpose of guaranteeing the depositors in all banks in the +State. The Noble State Bank brought suit against the State to prevent it +from collecting this assessment, on the ground that it was taking +property without due process of law. The Supreme Court, without a +dissenting opinion, held that the act was constitutional, on two +grounds: first, because "it is established by a series of cases that an +ulterior public advantage may justify a comparatively insignificant +taking of private property for what in its immediate purpose is a +private use"; and, second, because "it may be said in a general way +that the police power extends to all the great public needs. It may be +put forth in aid of what is sanctioned by usage or held by the +prevailing morality or strong and preponderant opinion to be greatly and +immediately necessary to the public welfare." A similar case coming +before the Court from the State of Kansas was decided with the same +unanimity by the Court at the same time.[78] + +This definition of Constitutional law by the unanimous opinion of the +Supreme Court of the United Slates, if accepted, clearly determines the +constitutionality of the Workman's Compensation Act. That this Act "is +sanctioned by usage and held by the prevailing morality and strong and +preponderant opinion to be greatly and immediately necessary to the +public welfare" is proved by the fact that it is demanded alike by +employer and employee, that it has been approved by the general public, +that it is apparently regarded by the Court of Appeals itself as a +reform much to be desired, and that it has been adopted by every +civilized country in Europe except Switzerland. The New York Court of +Appeals can find only one escape from this declaration of principle by +the highest tribunal in the land, in these two cases, namely, a +repudiation of the authority of that tribunal in these cases: "We cannot +recognize them as controlling our construction of our Constitution." + +In this review of the decision of the New York Court of Appeals we have +passed by without comment some extraordinary statements which should not +be passed by in any complete review--the statement that "practically all +of these [European] countries are so-called constitutional monarchies in +which, as in England, there is no written constitution," whereas, in +fact, practically all of the European nations have written +constitutions; and the statement that the Workman's Compensation Act +"does nothing to conserve the health, safety, or morals of the +employee," whereas, in fact, it is aimed and purposed to accomplish all +three results, and was urged in the English House of Lords by Lord +Salisbury specifically on the ground that "to my mind the great +attraction of this bill is that I believe it will turn out a great +machinery for the saving of human life." + +But we have deliberately neglected all minor details in an endeavor to +put before our lay readers a true interpretation, and what we hope they +will generally believe to be a just criticism, of this decision of the +highest court of the Empire State. In that decision, in our opinion, the +Court has disregarded all considerations of social justice and public +policy, has set itself against the conscience and judgment of the +civilized world, and in its forced interpretation of the Constitution +has disregarded alike the history of the Constitution's origin and of +its judicial interpretation by the highest court in the land. + + + + +APPENDIX II + +SOME SUGGESTIONS TO INSTRUCTORS + + +What is the purpose of a course in the writing of arguments? The +arguments which it turns out cannot convince any one, since there is no +one for them to convince; so that the immediate and tangible product of +the course must be looked on as a by-product, and a by-product from +which there can be no salvage. + +What products, then, can teachers aim to produce? First, a vital respect +for facts and for sound reasoning therefrom; second, the power so to +analyze and marshal the facts in an obscure and complicated case as to +bring order and light out of confusion; and third, the appreciation of +other men's point of view and training in the tact which will influence +them. Incidentally a good course in argumentation should leave with its +students an acquaintance with certain effective and economical devices +for going to work that should serve them well in later life. + +I will take up each of these points in order, and speak of a few methods +which I have found useful in practice. + +In the first place, how can a teacher establish and strengthen the +veneration for fact and the suspicion of all unsupported assertion and +_a priori_ reasoning? Partly by judicious exercises, partly by quiet +guidance in the choice of subjects. Let a class cross-examine each other +on their exact knowledge of the ultimate facts on some familiar subject. +On the question of the value of Latin, for example, just how many of the +class know no Latin? In a piece of their own writing, how many of the +words are derived from the Latin? and what kind of words are they? Of +the leaders in scholarship in the class how many know Latin? Of the best +writers? Of the authors whose works they are studying in English +literature, how many were trained in Latin? Of the authors of the +textbooks in science how many? A few such questions as these will +suggest others; and the members of the class should keep a record of how +many such questions they can answer with precision. Very few people have +any exact command of facts on subjects about which they talk freely and +with authority; and a young man who has had this truth borne in on him +by personal examination will come to writing an argument with more +modesty and scrupulousness. + +Then a class can be guided away from the large subjects where of +necessity their knowledge of facts is second-hand, and in which their +arguments, being of necessity short, can touch only the surface of the +subject. Here, I think, is where much of the ineffectiveness of courses +in argument is to be found. "Judges should be elected by direct vote of +the people," "The right of suffrage should be limited by an educational +test," "Corporations engaged in interstate commerce should be required +to take out a federal license," are samples of propositions recommended +as subjects for arguments of two thousand words or less. No +undergraduate has the practical knowledge of affairs to judge the value +of facts adduced in support of such propositions, and except for the +members of debating teams, who spend time on their contests comparable +to that given by athletes to their sports, no undergraduate can make +himself acquainted with the vast fields of economics and governmental +theory covered by such subjects. To write an argument of twelve hundred +words on such a subject will weaken rather than strengthen the respect +for facts. + +What sort of subjects, then, can be used? This is, I confess, a question +not altogether easy to answer; but I have had a try at an answer in the +list of Subjects which is given in Chapter I, which can be adapted to +special conditions of time or place. In general a question which a +student would discuss of his own accord and with some warmth is the best +subject for him. There are many such subjects in athletics: at this date +the rules of football seem not yet settled beyond amendment, and the +material for hunting facts in the records of past games is large; Dean +Briggs of Harvard is making an appeal to players to raise the level of +manners and of ethics in baseball; do all your students agree with him? +Should the universities be allowed to use men in their graduate schools +as members of their teams? And what are the facts about the playing of +such men in the universities in which your students would be interested? + +Then there are various educational questions, on which the views of +students have real value, especially if they are based on some +examination of facts in the course of writing an argument. President +Lowell of Harvard told a body of students whom he was consulting that it +did not make much difference what they wanted, but that their views when +set forth for the purpose of helping the authorities of the college were +of great value. The views of your class on examinations for entrance +would be based on knowledge which a member of the faculty cannot have at +first-hand. What is the estimate of the relative difficulty of getting +into various colleges, and on what figures from schools is the estimate +based? For how many boys are languages easier or harder than history or +mathematics or science? Does admission by certificate provide sufficient +safeguard for the standards of the college? Does a rigid prescription of +subjects for examination distort the course for the high school? How +many boys, who can be named, had their education injured by such +prescription? Should the standard for entrance or for graduation be +raised, or lowered, at your college? Should honor students be excused +from final examinations? Should they have special privileges? Should +freshmen be required to be within college bounds at a fixed hour every +night? Should class rushes be abolished? Here are only a few suggestions +of subjects which can be adapted to the needs and the knowledge of +special classes. They are of no value, however, unless the students are +driven to gather facts, and to reason from these facts, not from general +impressions. School catalogues, college catalogues, informal censuses, +reports of presidents and of committees, and other printed or oral +sources will help in the gathering of facts. + +Then there are the innumerable local and state questions that touch the +fathers of at least half of any class, and that the sons may be in the +way of hearing discussed at home, or may be sent to hear discussed in +legislatures and city councils. Every instructor who takes a daily +newspaper will be provided with more of these subjects than his class +can use. For their facts the students can go to the newspapers, to +printed reports, to the persons who are concerned with the questions +which they are going to argue. In some cases the students will get +valuable interest and advice from the older men who have the active +charge of the questions under discussion; and it is not inconceivable, +that if some of the latter happen to be graduates of the college or +school, they will even read the arguments and make helpful criticisms on +them. The grateful interest of graduates is a source which has not been +overdrawn for aid in the processes of instruction. + +Many of the subjects which I have here offered as suggestions can be +discussed in part, at any rate, within the space of an editorial +article; and that I conceive to be about the length which most arguments +written by students, except those in special courses, will run to. In so +short a space, it is hardly necessary to point out, evidence cannot be +presented and discussed with the detail, say, of Webster's "Speech in +the White Murder Case." It would be a good separate exercise to call for +such detailed presentation of evidence on some single point in the +argument. With most classes, however, the instructor cannot do much more +than rule out wholly unsupported assertion, and insist that the +distinction between fact and inference from fact shall be kept in sight. + +The second of the results which an instructor in a course in +argumentation should aim for is the power to analyze complicated masses +of facts and so arrange them and present them as to bring order out of +confusion. President Taft has said that Justice Hughes "won his +reputation at the bar by his gift of boring to the innermost core of a +subject"; and that is what the drill on the introduction to the brief +should to some degree impart to students. The orderly analysis of the +question, step by step, according to the admirable scheme devised by +Professor Baker, cannot help implanting some understanding of what it +means to go to the heart of a question. Every man sooner or later, must +face complicated and puzzling questions; and the ordinary man will give +himself a long start if he will thus put down on paper the points that +can be urged on the two sides of a question, and then study them until +the real points at issue emerge. Then the drill in laying out the +logical skeleton of an argument, so plainly that no false or broken +connection can escape detection, will strengthen the conscience for +clearness and coherence of thought; and the necessity for getting back +to ultimate facts for every assertion, and putting down the source from +which the facts are derived, will help to implant a wholesome respect +for facts as something different from assertion. + +Since the argument written out is the final test of the thinking, some +care must be taken that students do not obscure by careless paragraphing +and slovenly sentences such clearness of thought as they have attained +in their brief. I have found it useful to prescribe marginal titles to +the paragraphs: a student who has struggled to find a single phrase that +will cover all of a sprawling paragraph will have learned some respect +for firmness of paragraphing. In general, an instructor has a right to +insist that his class shall apply in practice all that they have learned +about the ordinary devices for getting clearness and emphasis. + +In the third place, this practice in writing arguments ought to leave +with students a more developed idea of how to make readers look +favorably on a proposition which they are urging. I have insisted, at +the risk of seeming repetitious, on the need of considering the audience +whose minds are to be won over; for what persuasiveness can mean apart +from specific persons to persuade I cannot conceive. Much of the +perfunctory emptiness of the textbooks when they get to this part of the +subject comes from neglecting this very practical and obvious side of +making an argument. The difficulty it raises for arguments written in +class work is just as obvious; more than most kinds of composition +written for practice, arguments run the risk of having no touch with +reality. Something may be done, however, if an instructor guides his +class toward the kind of questions I have suggested above: an argument +on the rules of football would be addressed to the Rules Committee, and +most youths would know something of the prepossessions of so famous a +man as Mr. Camp; an argument on a college question would be addressed +to the faculty or the president, and it may be assumed that students +have some idea of their general attitude on such matters. I have +followed the practice in my own sections of freshmen of requiring them +to put at the head of their brief and of their argument the audience +which they had in mind. Then when one comes to criticism and conference +one can by a little cross-examination bring home to them the very +practical nature of this matter of persuasion. + +One must be careful not to insist too strictly on the model and the +scheme of work laid down here, and in practically the same form in other +books. It is the best that has yet been devised, but any student who is +set to making a brief of one of the examples of argument at the end of +this book will see for himself that there is no one infallible way of +making an argument. Each argument must adapt itself to its occasion and +its audience; and an instructor will be wise to keep himself awake to +this truth by noting divergencies from the model. The rules which are +here set forth and the model which is built on them are serviceable just +so long as they are serviceable, and no longer. Their chief service is +done when they have set up in the minds of students a standard of +effectiveness in singling out and emphasizing the critical issues of a +question. + +As to the exercises which should accompany the work in argument my +experience with classes of five to six hundred freshmen leads me to +think that their value to the student can hardly be overestimated. I +will speak here of a few of them. + +The exercises in the use of reference books is something that every +student ought to be put through. I found it simple and not too +extravagant of time to take my sections to the library in squads of ten +or a dozen, and show them and let them handle the principal books on the +list. Then on the spot I gave each of them a sheet of theme paper on +which I had written some sort of fact drawn from one of these books, and +told them to look up that fact and report on it. My object was to +convince them that most ordinary facts can be looked up in less than +five minutes. The material for this exercise I got by turning over the +reference books and jotting down almost anything that caught my eye. One +can in this way get a great variety of facts in a very short time. In +some libraries it might be possible to get members of the library staff +to share in this instruction; in all libraries one will find active +cooperation. + +For the preliminary work on the argument we found that it was often +practicable and advisable to let the students pair off on the two sides +of the question, and work together through all the preliminaries. Two +men thus working together often discuss themselves into the liveliest +kind of interest in their question; and almost always they come closer +to the important issues involved by sharpening their wits against each +other. Their arguments, too, are better, especially in the refutation, +from their knowing just what points can be made on the other side. + +It is excellent practice, not only for the brief and the argument, but +also for all other college work, to set the students to making briefs of +parts or wholes of the arguments printed here as examples, or of other +arguments found outside. Not only lawyers, but other men of affairs, +constantly have to digest and summarize papers; and skill in picking out +essential facts and the thread of thought from a document is a highly +valuable asset for practical life. The exercise is sometimes irksome to +students, for it is hard work at first and calls for concentration of +mind: but it can be sweetened and made livelier by the competition of +classroom discussion. + +All through the work on the argument students may well be set to +watching the daily papers and the magazines for examples of arguments, +and of good and bad reasoning. Very often an instructor can get, at the +cost of a cent or two apiece, a set of arguments printed in a newspaper +for his class to analyze. Senators and representatives in Congress are +notably willing to send copies of speeches, and these sometimes furnish +good examples of both sound and unsound reasoning. + +If time serves, instructors will do well to give a grounding in logic. I +have inserted a brief discussion of the subject with the hope that it +will furnish a basis for a short study; it can be reenforced by a few +weeks on such a manual as Jevons's "Primer of Logic," or Bode's "Outline +of Logic" if there is time. Whatever be one's view of the positive value +of deductive logic, there can be no doubt that every student should have +some knowledge of the canons of inductive logic, and that a study of +propositions and syllogisms is a mighty sharpener of the discrimination +for the real meaning of words and sentences. + +The short chapter on debating I have added for the use of classes where +a moderate amount of training in this most useful of exercises is +practicable. Debating may be looked at in two ways, either as training +in alertness and effectiveness in discussion, or as a form of +intercollegiate or interscholastic sport. On the latter aspect a +recognized authority has said: "Formal debate is a kind of game. In the +time limit, the order of speakers, the alternation of sides, the give +and take of rebuttal, the fixed rules of conduct, the ethics of the +contest, the qualifications for success, and the final awarding of +victory, debate has much in common with tennis";[79] and he develops the +likeness through a page of rather fine print. From this point of view +debating has keenly interested a small body of students; in some +colleges it has been recognized by hatbands or other emblems of +distinction for the successful "teams"; and it has developed an +elaborate apparatus of rules and of "coaches." With the game in this +full bloom I have not space to deal in this small book; for such +elaborate work of analysis and preparation one must go to special +manuals which deal with it at length. I have confined myself to an +application of the general principles of the subject to the spoken +argument, and to a few suggestions for preparing for and carrying on the +not very formal discussions which the average man gets into in the +ordinary run of life. + +Even where there is not time for systematic practice in debating, much +may be done by extemporaneous five-minute speeches. There is +unquestionably an active movement among the best teachers of English for +more stress on oral composition; they recognize that the power to stand +quietly and at one's ease on one's feet and explain one's views clearly +and cogently will help any man in his life work. + +In some cases there may be local or academic subjects under discussion +at the time the class is working on argument on which they can prepare +themselves to speak. It may be possible to interest graduates of the +school and college, so that they will give help in getting material, and +perhaps in judging and criticizing. Occasionally, perhaps, a man who has +the actual settlement of a local question or a share in the settlement +may be willing to hear the discussion. Any aid of this sort that will +bring the debate within the bounds of reality will add zest to it. + +For the use of this book when a comparatively short time, perhaps six +weeks, is at the disposal of the instructor, my advice, based on the +practice worked out with my colleagues in the freshman course at +Harvard, would be to begin with Chapter I, and at the same time ask the +class to hand in subjects for approval. This should be done a fortnight +ahead of the main work, in order to allow changes of subject, after +consultation if necessary. In connection with Chapter II would come +exercises in making briefs of one or more of the arguments in the back +of the book or of others provided for the purpose. Then would come the +preliminary work on the brief, the introduction to the brief. This it is +profitable to treat as a separate piece of work, with a grade of its +own. At this stage would be the place for the exercises in the use of +reference books, which will lead naturally to looking up the material +for the brief. If possible a conference should be given on the +introduction to the brief. Then comes the next main step in the work, +the brief. The work for this would naturally be accompanied by study of +Chapter III, and by such exercises in the correction of bad briefing and +in correction of fallacies as the instructor finds time for. There +should be another conference on the brief, and it should be rewritten if +necessary. Instructors who have been through the subject will know from +sad experience that one rewriting and one conference may be only +starters. Then comes the argument itself: this should be the climax, and +not merely a perfunctory filling out of the brief. If it be at all +possible, the argument should be rewritten after a conference, and the +conference can hardly be too long. If the argument is fifteen hundred or +two thousand words long, a half an hour will be found a short time to go +over the whole with any thoroughness. No instructor in English needs to +have it pointed out that conferences are his most efficient means of +education. + + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 1: See Lincoln's speech at Galesburg and at Quincy, in the +Lincoln-Douglas debates.] + +[Footnote 2: O. W. Holmes, Jr., The Common Law, Boston, 1881, p. 35.] + +[Footnote 3: For such changes of fashion in literature see Stevenson's +Gossip on Romance and A Humble Remonstrance in "Memories and Portraits," +and The Lantern Bearers in "Across the Plains."] + +[Footnote 4: From the speech on the Repeal of the Union with Ireland; +quoted by W. T. Foster, Argumentation and Debating, Boston, 1908, p, +90.] + +[Footnote 5: A. Sidgwick, The Application of Logic, London, 1910, pp. +40, 44.] + +[Footnote 6: From the speech of Senator Depew, January 24, +1911.] + +[Footnote 7: C. R. Woodruff, City Government by Commission, New York, +1911, p. 11.] + +[Footnote 8: A. Sidgwick, The Application of Logic, London, 1910, p. +248.] + +[Footnote 9: W. Bagchot, The Metaphysical Basis of Toleration, +"Works," Hartford, Connecticut, 1889, Vol. II, p. 339.] + +[Footnote 10: From Huxley's first Lecture on Evolution (see p. 233).] + +[Footnote 11: C.R. Woodruff, City Government by Commission, New York, +1911, p. 6] + +[Footnote 12: See Lincoln's speech at Ottawa.] + +[Footnote 13: _The Outlook_, November 20, 1909. See also the example +quoted on page 180, from William James's Will to Believe.] + +[Footnote 14: A full and very readable account of the growth of the law +of evidence and the changes in the system of trial by jury will be found +in J. B. Thayer's Preliminary Treatise on the Law of Evidence, Boston, +1896.] + +[Footnote 15: George Bemis, Report of the Case of John W. Webster, +Boston, 1850, p. 462. Quoted in part by A.S. Hill, Principles of +Rhetoric, p. 340.] + +[Footnote 16: H. Münsterberg. On the Witness Stand, New York, 1908, p. +51.] + +[Footnote 17: _The Nation_, New York, Vol. XCI, p. 603, In a review of J. +Bigelow, Jr.'s Campaign of Chancellorsville.] + +[Footnote 18: Mr. Gardiner was answering Father Gerard's book on the +Gunpowder Plot.] + +[Footnote 19: S. R. Gardiner, What Gunpowder Plot Was, London, 1897, pp. +4-11.] + +[Footnote 20: Wines and Koren, The Liquor Problem. Published by the +Committee of Fifty, Boston, 1897.] + +[Footnote 21: Reprinted in Educational Reform, New York, 1898. See p. +381.] + +[Footnote 22: A committee appointed by the National Educational +Association to recommend a course of study for secondary schools.] + +[Footnote 23: H. Münsterberg, On the Witness Stand, New York, 1908, p. +39.] + +[Footnote 24: W. James, Psychology, New York, 1890, Vol. II, p. 330; B.H. +Bode, An Outline of Logic, New York. 1910, p. 216.] + +[Footnote 25: B. H. Bode, An Outline of Logic, New _York_, 1910, p. 170.] + +[Footnote 26: C. R. Woodruff, City Government by Commission, p. 184.] + +[Footnote 27: Professor John Trowbridge, in the _Harvard Graduates +Magazine_, for March, 1911.] + +[Footnote 28: W. James, Human Immortality, Boston, 1898, p. 11.] + +[Footnote 29: B. H. Bode, An Outline of Logic, New York, 1910, p. 162.] + +[Footnote 30: The Origin of Species, London, 1875, p. 63.] + +[Footnote 31: "There is only one aim in all generalization--the finding +of signs that are fit to be trusted, so that, given one fact, another +may be inferred."--A. Sidgwick, The Process of Argument, London, 1893, +p. 108. + +"The whole object of any class name is to group together (for the +purpose of making general assertions) individual members which are not +only alike but different; and so to give unity in spite of +difference."--A. Sidgwick, The Use of Words in Reasoning, London, 1901, +p. 165.] + +[Footnote 32: W. James, Psychology, New York, 1890, Vol. II, p. 342.] + +[Footnote 33: See B. Bosanquet, The Essentials of Logic, London, 1895, p. +162; A. Sidgwick, The Process of Argument, London, 1893, chap. vi; B.H. +Bode, An Outline of Logic, New York, 1910, p. 234.] + +[Footnote 34: A. Sidgwick, Fallacies, New York, 1884, p. 342.] + +[Footnote 35: A. Sidgwick, Fallacies, New York, 1884, P. 345.] + +[Footnote 36: A. Sidgwick, The Use of Words in Reasoning, London, 1901, +p. 91.] + +[Footnote 37: J.S. Mill, A System of Logic, Book III, chap. iii, sect. 2; +quoted by E.H. Bode, An Outline of Logic, New York, 1910, p. 109.] + +[Footnote 38: Quoted by A. Sidgwick, The Use of Words in Reasoning, +London, 1901, p. 28, note.] + +[Footnote 39: See also the next to last paragraph of the argument on The +Workman's Compensation Act, p. 268.] + +[Footnote 40: New York, March 9, 1911, p. 241.] + +[Footnote 41: B. H. Bode, An Outline of Logic, New York, 1910, p. 71.] + +[Footnote 42: W. James, Psychology, New York, 1890, Vol. II, p. 365.] + +[Footnote 43: Abraham Lincoln, Complete Works, edited by Nicolay and Hay, +New York, 1894, p. 445.] + +[Footnote 44: C. R. Woodruff, City Government by Commission, New York, +1911, p. 186.] + +[Footnote 45: B. H. Bode, An Outline of Logic, New York, 1910, p. 86. For +another example see Luke XX, I 8.] + +[Footnote 46: From the Essay on Warren Hastings, The Works of Lord +Macaulay, London, 1879, Vol. VI, p. 567.] + +[Footnote 47: The Works of Daniel Webster, Boston, 1851, Vol. VI, p. 62.] + +[Footnote 48: B.H. Bode, An Outline of Logic, New York, 1910, p. 30.] + +[Footnote 49: Sidgwick, The Use of Words in Reasoning, London, 1901, p. +192.] + +[Footnote 50: See, for example, his Apologia pro Vita Sua, London, 1864, +pp. 192, 329.] + +[Footnote 51: Newman, The Idea of a University, London, 1875, p. 20.] + +[Footnote 52: Felix Adler; quoted by Foster. Argumentation and +Debating, Boston, 1908, p. 168.] + +[Footnote 53: From the Essay on Milton, The Works of Lord Macaulay, +London, 1879, Vol. V, p. 28.] + +[Footnote 54: C.W. Eliot, Educational Reform, New York, 1898, p. 375.] + +[Footnote 55: W. James, The Will to Believe, New York, 1897, p. 3.] + +[Footnote 56: _The Atlantic Monthly_, Vol. CVII, p, 14.] + +[Footnote 57: It was invented and developed by Professor George P. Baker +in the first edition of his Principles of Argumentation, Boston, 1895.] + +[Footnote 58: Lamont, Specimens of Exposition.] + +[Footnote 59: See the passage from James's Psychology, p. 150.] + +[Footnote 60: Reprinted in Baker's Specimens of Argumentation, New York, +1897.] + +[Footnote 61: _World's Work_, Vol. XXI, p. 14242] + +[Footnote 62: From the stenographic report of the argument; reprinted in +the author's Forms of Prose Literature, New York, 1900, p. 316.] + +[Footnote 63: W. James, The Will to Believe, New York, 1897, p. 7.] + +[Footnote 64: See Baker and Huntington, Principles of Argumentation, +Boston, 1305, p. 415.] + +[Footnote 65: Fuller discussion of the rules for the distribution of the +speakers and the time will be found in Baker and Huntington, Principles +of Argumentation, p. 415; and an elaborate, almost legal, set of +instructions to judges, and the agreement of a tricollegiate league, in +Foster, Argumentation and Debating, Boston, 1908, pp. 466, 468.] + +[Footnote 66: Suggestions of points for the judges to consider will be +found in Pattee, Practical Argumentation, p. 300; and format +instructions in Foster, Argumentation and Debating, Boston, 1908, p. +466.] + +[Footnote 67: Lecture I of three Lectures on Evolution. From American +Addresses, London, 1877.] + +[Footnote 68: The diagram, which is not reproduced here, gives an ideal +section of the crust of the earth, showing the various strata lying one +under the other. The strata are divided by geologists into three groups: +the Primary, which is the oldest and deepest; the Secondary, above that; +and the Tertiary and Quaternary on top. The Cretaceous is the lowest +stratum of the Tertiary.] + +[Footnote 69: One of the upper strata of the Primary rocks.] + +[Footnote 70: The Silurian rocks occur about the middle of the Primary +formations. The _eozoön_ was formerly supposed by some geologists to be +a form of fossil. The Laurentian rocks are the lowest strata of the +Primary formations.] + +[Footnote 71: The Jurassic formation occurs about the middle, the +Triassic, just below it, in the lower half of the Secondary rocks. The +Devonian occurs just above the middle of the Secondary, between the +Carboniferous above and the Silurian below.] + +[Footnote 72: From _The Popular Science Monthly_, July, 1901.] + +[Footnote 73: Knowledge of the cause.] + +[Footnote 74: Prevention.] + +[Footnote 75: _The Outlook_, April 29, 1911.] + +[Footnote 76: Probably the reason why it has not yet been adopted by +Switzerland is because her organized manufacturing Industries are so few +that no pressure has been brought upon the state to change the law.] + +[Footnote 77: Robertson _vs_. Baldwin, United States, 281.] + +[Footnote 78: Noble State Bank _vs_. Haskell; Shallenberger _vs_. Bank of +Holstein, January 3, 1911. Lawyers' Cooperative Publishing Company, +Rochester, New York.] + +[Footnote 79: Foster, Argumentation and Debating, p. 281.] + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Making of Arguments, by J. H. Gardiner + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13089 *** |