Part 8 (1/2)

4. It would take munic.i.p.al government out of politics.

5. It would hold munic.i.p.al 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 munic.i.p.al 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-fas.h.i.+oned 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 s.p.a.ce 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 s.p.a.ce, 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 establis.h.i.+ng your contention.

In the argument on introducing commission government into Wytown the main issues might be as follows: