Practical Argumentation Part 8

EXERCISES.

A. (1) Criticise the following Introduction to a brief, and (2) Write a suitable Introduction to a brief on this subject.

City Location for College.

Introduction.

A. This question is important.

I. The following explanation will aid--

(a) In the understanding, and

(b) In the discussion of the question.

1. Primarily men come to college to study.

2. Men can study better in the country.

3. But is this really the case?

B. A college is an inst.i.tution of learning higher in rank than a high school or an academy.

C. The issues of the question are the following:

I. Which college location is more favorable to health and intellectual development?

II. Is the student able to enter athletics?

III. Does the student in the lonely country college form more lasting friendships?

IV. Which is the cheaper? Which is the better location?

B. Put into brief form the Introduction found above, Chapter 3, Exercise #7, dealing with Henry Ward Beecher.

C. Put the following Introductions into brief form:--

(1) HOW TRUSTS AFFECT PRICES.

Perhaps no subject in connection with the Industrial Combinations of the last few years has been more discussed than that of their influence upon prices. Opinions have differed widely, the opponents of the Combinations usually believing that they have increased prices materially, their defenders claiming with equal positiveness that they have reduced prices. Differences of opinion have probably originated largely from the fact that the subject has been approached from different points of view; and mistakes have also, in many cases, been made through lack of a careful interpretation of available facts. It by no means follows that the Trusts have lowered prices because prices have fallen within a few years after their formation; nor, on the other hand, that Trusts have raised prices because prices have been increased. Neither does it follow that, because the Industrial Combinations might through their economies lower prices, they have, as a matter of fact, actually done so; nor again that, with the possible ability to increase prices through the exercise of monopolistic power, they have not found it advisable under certain circ.u.mstances really to lower them. Any careful discussion of the subject will involve, first, what the influence of combination would enable the Trusts to do regarding prices; second, what the Combinations actually have done; and, third, what effects upon society may be antic.i.p.ated from any changes in prices made by Industrial Combinations. [Footnote: Jeremiah W. Jenks, North American Review for June, 1901, p. 906.]

(2) Mr. Chairman: This bill (H. R. 17019) which I shall ask this House to pa.s.s to-day is one of that general cla.s.s usually called "private bills"; and while the usage of this House might catalogue it under that head, it is in reality a "public bill," because it has to do with the interests of many people--indeed, an entire city of 75,000 population.

This bill provides that the legal t.i.tle to a certain tract of land situated near the city of Tacoma, the t.i.tle to which is now in the United States Government, shall be transferred to the city of Tacoma.

However, I wish to a.s.sure this House that as a matter of fact the Government practically loses nothing by the pa.s.sage of this bill. I realize that these two statements placed side by side seem to involve a contradiction. Therefore I will make a brief explanation of this matter.

Since the year of 1866 the Government has owned a tract of land adjoining what is now the city of Tacoma; this tract of land contains 637.9 acres. In the year of 1888 the Government gave the city of Tacoma a right or license to use and occupy this land as a city park, but retained the legal t.i.tle in the Government, because it was thought that at some future time the Government might need to use and occupy this land for military purposes. Therefore you will observe that the present condition of the t.i.tle to this land is that the legal t.i.tle is in the Government, with the right in the city to use and occupy the same. This bill, if it shall pa.s.s, will simply reverse and place the legal t.i.tle to this land in the city of Tacoma, with the right remaining in the Government for all time to come to take possession or use and occupy any or all of this land that it might need for military, naval, or lighthouse purposes.

I wish to explain briefly to this House why the pa.s.sage of this bill and this change in the t.i.tle is not only fair and just, but the failure to pa.s.s this bill would, in my judgment, be very unfair to the 75,000 people in the city of Tacoma. [Footnote: Speech of Hon. Francis W. Cushman of Washington, in the House of Representatives, Feb. 28, 1905.]

(3) GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENT OF INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISES. [Footnote: A. T.

Hadley, _Economics_, pp. 390-393.]

By far the most important part of consumers' co-operation is exemplified in government management of industrial enterprises. This differs in two important particulars from the co-operative agencies already described. In the first place the choice of managers of a government business enterprise is connected with the general political machinery of the country, and regulated by const.i.tutional law instead of by statutes of incorporation. In the second place, these managers are likely to fall back on the taxing powers of the Government to make up any deficit which may arise in the operations of a public business enterprise; or in the converse case to devote any surplus above expenses to the relief of tax burdens elsewhere. A government enterprise is managed by the people who represent, or are supposed to represent, the consumers; but the good or bad economy of its management does not necessarily redound to the profit or loss of those who most use it.

In the beginning of history, the government is the power that controls the army. When tribes were in a state of warfare with one another defense against foreign enemies was a matter of primary importance. No man could let his private convenience stand in the way of effective military operations. The discipline and subordination necessary to wage successful war were all-important; and all the powers necessary to maintain such discipline were entrusted to the leaders of the army.

Somewhat later the military authorities undertook the work of maintaining discipline in time of peace as well as war, and of defining and enforcing the rights of members of the tribe against one another, no less than against foreign enemies. This function was not accorded to them without a struggle. The priests, under whose tutelage the religious sanction for tribal customs had grown up, tried to keep in their own hands the responsibility of upholding these customs and the physical power connected with it. In some races they succeeded, but among European peoples the military authorities took the work of enforcing and defining laws out of the hands of the priests, and made it a function of the state as distinct from the Church. As security from foreign enemies increased, this law-making power became more and more important. The Government was less exclusively identified with the army, and more occupied with the courts, the legislatures, and the internal police. Its judicial and legislative functions a.s.sumed a prominence at least as great as its military function.

The growth of private property was also coincident with the development of these domestic functions of government. In fact, the two things reinforced one another. The production and acc.u.mulation of capital, to which private property gave so vigorous an impulse, placed the strong men of the community in a position where they had less to gain by war and more by peace. It put them on the side of internal tranquility. It thus made the government more powerful, and this in turn still further increased the acc.u.mulations of capital. But along with this mutual help, which strong domestic government and strong property right rendered one another, there was an element of mutual antagonism. The very fulfillment of those functions which made the acc.u.mulation of capital possible, rendered it impossible for the government to do its work except at the expense of the capitalists. It was no longer possible to support armies by booty, or courts by fines and forfeitures. The expense of maintaining order had to be paid by its friends instead of by its enemies. The growth of private property was followed by the development of a system of taxation, which, in theory at any rate, involved the power to destroy such property.

The existence of such a system of taxation, with the machinery for collecting money in this way, allows the government more freedom of industrial action than any private individual can command. It can make up a deficit by compulsory payments; and this gives it a wider range of power in deciding what services it will undertake and what prices it will charge--a power which affords almost unlimited opportunity for good or bad use, according to the degree of skill and integrity with which it is exercised.

Every extension of government activity into new fields restricts private enterprise in two ways: first by limiting the field for investment of private capital, and second, by possibly, if not probably, appropriating through taxation a part of the returns from private enterprise in all other fields. The question whether a government should manage an industry reduces itself to this: Are the deficiencies or evils connected with private management such that it is wise to give government officials the taxing power which const.i.tutes the distinctive feature of public industrial management?

D. Draw an Introduction to a brief on each of the propositions given on page 82.

CHAPTER VI

THE DISCUSSION--CONVICTION

It has been seen that one who wishes to establish the truth or the falsity of a proposition must answer certain vital questions that are bound to arise in connection with it. Then, as different persons may answer these questions in different ways, it becomes necessary for him to convince his audience that his answers are correct. He must always beware of a.s.sertiveness. This defect occurs whenever a speaker or writer makes a statement but does not establish its truth. As simple denial is always sufficient answer to mere a.s.sertion, an unsupported statement is worthless. No one can hope to win in debate or change another's belief unless he can prove that what he says is true; he must substantiate with proof every statement that he makes, and show that no possibility for error or deceit can exist. _In argumentation every statement not commonly accented as true must be proved_.

The following pa.s.sage is a highly a.s.sertive bit of argument; its worthlessness is apparent.

The decision of Congress to increase still further our already enormous navy is an injustice to every individual who contributes to the support of the national government. It is a crime to squander millions of money on a fleet that we do not need. Our navy to-day is more than the equal of any foreign armament that floats. Though second in number of ships, it ranks first in efficiency among all the navies of the world. No other country can boast of such marksmanship as our gunners display; no other country can boast of such armor plate as is to be found on our first-cla.s.s battleships; not even England can successfully compete with us in seamanship and in general efficiency.

Proof is "anything which serves either immediately or mediately to convince the mind of the truth or the falsehood of a fact or proposition." [Footnote: On Evidence, Best, p. 45.] Belief in a specific statement is induced by a presentation of pertinent facts, and usually by a process of reasoning whereby from the existence of these known facts, the conclusion, hitherto unaccepted, is reached.

Those facts that have to do with the proposition under discussion are known as _evidence_. The process of combining facts and deriving an inference from them is known as _reasoning_. Evidence may be made up of the testimony of witnesses, the opinion of experts, knowledge derived from experience, the testimony of doc.u.ments, or circ.u.mstances that are generally known to have existed. Reasoning is the process by which men form opinions, render judgments, explain events, or in any way seek new truths from established facts.

In the following bit of proof, notice the facts that are stated, and see how, by a process of reasoning, they go to substantiate the idea that they are intended to prove:--

New York hires two policemen where Nashville hires one, and pays them double the salary; yet Nashville is as peaceable and orderly as New York. In Nashville any child of school age can have a seat in the public schools all through the year; in New York there has been a shortage of seats for many years. Nashville has a filtered water supply; New York is going to have one as soon as the $12,000,000 filtration plant can be built at Jerome Park. Street car fares are five cents in both cities; in Nashville one can always get a seat; in New York one has to scramble for standing room. The southern city maintains hospitals, parks, food inspectors, and all other things common to New York and other large cities. Apparently, Nashville is giving as much to its inhabitants for six dollars per capita as New York for thirty-one. These facts can point to but one conclusion--that Nashville has a superior system of government.

Since the first step in the generation of proof is the discovery of facts, the arguer should at the very outset become sufficiently familiar with the various kinds of evidence to estimate the value and strength of each idea that has a bearing upon the subject.

I. EVIDENCE.

There are two kinds of evidence: (a) direct, and (b) indirect or circ.u.mstantial. If a man sees a gang of strikers set fire to the buildings of their former employer, his evidence is direct. If, however, he only sees them stealthily leaving the buildings just before the fire breaks out, his evidence is indirect. In the latter case the man's testimony is direct evidence that the men were in the vicinity of the fire when it started, but it is indirect evidence that they perpetrated the crime. If a student who has failed to do good work throughout the term, and who has had little or no opportunity for special preparation, pa.s.ses in a perfect paper at the close of an examination, the presumption is that he has received aid. The evidence on which this supposition rests is entirely circ.u.mstantial. But if some one saw the student obtaining aid, that fact would be direct evidence against him.

Direct evidence, as a rule, is considered more valuable than indirect, but each kind is frequently sufficient to induce belief. The best possible kind of evidence, the kind that is least liable to contain error or falsehood, is a combination of both direct and indirect.