The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-01-08

There seems to be a vague impression On
the part of many men who can make good
addresses that unless they occupy half an
hours time they fail to demonstrate their
intellectual capacity. The time occupied
seems to be regarded as one of the main es-
sentials of good address. There are occa-
sions where a long speech is pecessary-for
instance where one man is the sole speaker
and an exhaustive argument is to be made
Even then the address may be made too
long. 1t certainly is when an attorney
talks two hours to argue a case involving
a few dollars or an assault and battery.
Years ago the preacher who did not occupy
an hour in the delivery of a sermon would
have fallen under suspicion of being unfaith-
full to his trust to-day he would be a very
able preacher who could hold large con-
gregation Sunday after Sunday when it
came to be known that his sermons were
of an hours duration. 1t is not too much
to say that a preacher who would draw
good congregations and be regarded as pop
ular with discourses of less than half an
hour would be failure with hour discourses
and scatter his congregation.
The same is true of debates in legislative
bodies. The Senate speeches of hours and
days are not listened to by senators or read
by constituents. The men who receive re-
spectful attention in the House of Repre-
sentatives are not those who can be called
orators but men who can give clear and con-
else information regarding measure in ten
or fifteen minutes. OF the less than a score
of men in the House the past dozen years
who have always received the respectful at
tention of the members. not one has been an
hour or half hour, but a ten or fifteen-min-
ute speaker. In the sense that fowery dec
lamation and gymnastics are oratory
they have not been orators. Their power
has been in concise and clear-cut state
ments. In all legislatures there are men
who would be effective if they could
learn the value of brevity in speech, but
whose frequent and long dissertations when
their habit is understood, harm rather than
help a cause.
On such occasions, when half a dozen
speakers are on the programme, the half
hour speaker, unless he is celebrity, is
simply terror, while the man who can con-
dense what he has to say into ten or fifteen
minutes-and often ten is better than fifteen
lis the approved speaker. For ten minutes
a speaker will receive attention, but unless
he is exceptionally brilliant, he cannot go
beyond fifteen minutes. A severely frank
listener said to a young speaker recently:
1.-THE first ten minutes of your address was
excellent, but the last fifteen minutes
spoiled the whole" Nevertheless he spoke
the truth. Besides, the man who is on a
programme with three or four others and
takes twice as much time as he should is
not courteous to his associates.
Two men in this country have furnished
examples of the effectiveness of the brief
address. OF course. both had ideas but the
force and popularity of those brief ad.
dresses as they passed through the country
or spoke TO audiences visiting them, assisted
in giving a setting to one thought in lam
guage so simple that all could understand
APPLES of gold in pictures of silver" The
language and style of ex-President Harrison
and President Mckinley in their briefer
speeches are models of the future The
man who would be an effective speaker
should give time to studying them.