DEBATING DURING THE YEAR

During the past year, there have been many important changes in debating in the University, which have made the work of the past year successful and which promise even more successful work next year. The most important of these changes have been the reorganization of the management of the University debates, the substitution of an inter club series for the class debates, and the arrangement of a Freshman debate with Yale. An encouraging feature of the work of the past year has been the marked tendency for University debating to become a more thoroughly undergraduate activity.

Debates with Yale and Princeton.

In the intercollegiate debates this year, Harvard defeated Yale but lost to Princeton. Princeton also defeated Yale, and thus won the intercollegiate debating championship.

The debate with Yale--the first University debate of the year--was held in Sanders Theatre on December 7, 1906. The subject, which was submitted by Harvard, was "Resolved, That further restriction of immigration is undesirable." Yale chose to argue the affirmative and was represented by J. W. Murphy '08, J. C. Slade 3L., and E. H. Hart '07. The University team, which supported the negative, was made up of H. Hurwitz '08, A. H. Elder '07, and G. J. Hirsch '07. The Coolidge Prize of $100 for the best work in the trials was awarded to H. Hurwitz '08, and the team was coached by E. M. Rabenold '04. Professor G. P. Baker '87 presided at the debate, and the judges were Hon. Edgar Aldrich of Littleton, N. H.; Hon. W. B. Hornblower of New York, N. Y.; and Hon. W. Le B. Putnam of Portland, Me. They rendered a unanimous decision in favor of the University team, making a total of 13 victories for Harvard in the 17 debates that have been held with Yale.

The thirteenth annual debate with Princeton was held in Alexander Hall, Princeton, on March 22, 1907, on the subject, "Resolved, That the present distribution of power between the federal and the state governments is not adapted to modern conditions and calls for readjustment in the direction of further centralization." Princeton submitted the question and Harvard chose to support the negative. The Princeton team, which argued the affirmative, consisted of R. T. Sterrett '07, M. H. Fry '09, and R. S. Sidebotham '07. The University was represented by E. R. Lewis '08, B. M. Nussbaum '08, and I. L. Sharfman '07, of whom E. R. Lewis '08 was awarded the Coolidge Prize. This team was also coached by E. M. Rabenold '04. J. C. Cadwalader, of New York, presided at the debate; and the judges, Professor J. B. Clark of Columbia University, Mr. Rollo Ogden, editor of the New York Evening Post, and Professor T. C. Trueblood of the University of Michigan, rendered a unanimous decision for Princeton. Of the 13 debates between the two universities, Harvard has won eight and Princeton five.

Work of the Agora and Forum.

Until this year, the debating interest within the University, outside of that shown in the debates with Yale and Princeton, has been centred on the interclass debates. It was decided this year, however, to discontinue the interclass debates and to encourage the formation of rival debating clubs. Accordingly the Agora and the Forum were organized as upper class debating clubs, drawing their membership from all students in the University except Freshmen, who still had the Freshman Debating Club. During the year, each of the clubs has had about 40 active members, who were divided into teams of four men each. These teams met each other in a series of debates on questions of current college and public interest, which ended just before the spring recess.

All three inter club debates were won by the Agora, but the Pasteur Medal was awarded to I. Dimond '09, of the Forum, in the final debate.

Freshman Debate with Yale.

The Freshmen have had a very successful year in debating. During the year their club has had about 75 members, who were equally divided into two camps which debated questions of current college and public interest at the fortnightly meetings of the club. In place of the Freshman debate with Exeter, which was discontinued this year, a debate was arranged for the first time in several years between the Harvard and Yale Freshmen. It was held in the New Lecture Hall on April 26, on the question, "Resolved, That, if constitutional, United States shipping engaged in South American trade should be subsidized." The judges rendered a unanimous decision in favor of the Yale freshmen. This debate did much to arouse a strong interest in debating in the Freshman class, which will probably be continued in the future.

New Financial Policy.

As in former years, the University Debating Council has had general charge of debating in the University. The most important administrative change that it attempted during the year was the reorganization of its financial policy. In previous years, the funds to support debating were obtained from the receipts at the University debate in Cambridge, to which admission was charged. This year, however, the debate with Yale in Sanders Theatre was thrown open to the public, and the money to carry on debating was raised by dollar subscriptions from members of the University. By this method, a little over $500 was collected, which was sufficient to place debating on a satisfactory financial basis for the year. The abolition of an admission charge at the debate resulted in an increased attendance, and over 1800 people--the largest audience that has attended a debate in Cambridge--filled Sanders Theatre on the night of the debate with Yale. The new financial policy has proved a success and will be continued next year.