New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-12-06

Of
enn pledge TO keep this agreement. Perhaps II may
he going little too far for him 20 insist that the sew
erl sneakers shall everyone Of them take an oah Dcoie
notary public not to stand his feet for one single
second beyond the assigned fifteen minutes; ouV inc
chairman ought to be authorized ana instructed 10 "a,
short reentcssy the remarks OF any man 50 IoS' 10 '
sense Of decencv as to violate his pledge by more than
five minutes -, t,.
,,t,,ro that man on his feet and talking to his own
satisfaction takes little account OF time. AFTER MS
first few sentences he really does not know Wne'eI nc
has been speaking for five minutes or Tor I"enly-Nc
and often when he has taken the twenty-five ne "ouu
declare in all sincerity that he had not taken more IMAM
FIVE. This is one reason for the admirable ten-mnute
r,,ro adonted in important debates in Congress.
This Is also the basis for the startling suggestion that
every man attending a public dinner should be pro-
yded with an electric pushbutton under the 'aDlc'
which he could touch as soon he had had enough
Of anv speakers remarks the apparatus being so al
usted that when than halt OF the diners had Iu'
signiied their desire have the speech cut snort
loud bell over the speakers table should begin to rng
tins barsb1v summoning the man on his feet to SIT
down rs speedily as ne could find his chair ms IS
norbaps little too drastic device to be adopted WITH
ont prolonged consideration; yet there IS much TO
be said in its favor. If it were explained TO the sew
cral speakers when the invitation was extended 10
tbc,, they would be more careful in PREPARATION and
they ''1NN''r'N''
diners. This electric device may never be accepted
but the experiment is certainly worth trying and no
ornecnt critic Of the public dinner could doubt that
the results would be surprising and significant.
Probably it would not be unwelcome to the really
ACCOMPLISHED speakers, those who are aware that
GOOD aftcr-dinncr address is a work OF art, and like
other work., of art TO be achieved not only by taking
pains. but also by understanding OF the principles
of the art. The trouble with the speakers who have
nothing TO say and who say il at inordnatc length
threefold: They are selfish; they are careless; and
they. are ignorant. 1t is sheer scshncss for anyone
of us to inGict upon his fellow man procession OF
empty platitudcs a slowly moving column OF common
places dead march Of drcary rcpetions. II is gross
carccssncss for anyone of us 10 stand up TO deliver
MESSAGE unless ne has made sure that he has message
10 deliver and unless he has taken time to think out
the best way in which to deliver that message. And
it is blank ignorance for any OF us 20 suppose that he
can hold the attention of dozen or score or num-
dred of his fellow men unless he has discovered the SCI
crct of the successful address
THIS secret like most other secrets is simple enough;
and it can be stated in two ways the negative and
the positive No man can hope to interest any group OF
his fellow citizens unless he has something to say that
ne wants 10 saw that he wants say to that partcu-
lar group Of men, and that this particular group OF
men wants to hear from him. And any man can inter-
est this group if he has something he wants To- say TO
that group and that this group wants 70 hear from
him. In other words, any address, TO be effective,
must be adjusted to It's audience: the speechs pros
pcrity lies in the ears of those who hear II.
Perhaps this secret can best be illustrated by the
experience Of a friend Of mine quarter of century
AGO. before the large clubs were founded by the New
York graduates of the leading universities the alumni
associations Of Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Column