Cut Bank pioneer press. [volume] (Cut Bank, Mont.) 1909-current, 1916-12-08
Is HIGH SCHOOLS
WING In DEBATE
CONTESTS NOW ON IN SEVEN
DISTRICTS TO CHOOSE
TEAMS FOR FINALS.
State Champion Will Be Chosen at
Interscholastic Meet at Missoula
in May; Rules Designed to Make
Training Valuable to Participant
in Business or Professional Life.

This is the season when the youth
of the state that is Just about to
sprout into manhood and which has
a longing for the tot of a LAWYER
and the leader of the people is
learning to control his hands and his
feet and to keep his head cool on
the rostrum.
Under the auspices of the Mon
tana High School Debating league,
OF which Prof. George R. Coffman is
president, 20 schools throughout the
state, d1vlded into seven districts, are
engaged in a contest that will not be
determined until the interscholastic
meet OF b university is held at Mis-
soula in May. The district contests.
winch started in the early part of
november, will be completed before
the first Of March.
The districts, for each of which a
champion team will be chosen. are
as follows:
District Columbia Falls, Eure-
ka, Kalispell, Libby, Poison, White
fish.
District 2-Deer Lodge, Hamilton,
Missoula, Victor.
District 3-Mahhattan, Bozeman,
Butte, Townsend.
District billings. Columbus.
District 5-Conrad, Stanford. Lew.
istown, Shelby.
District e Forsyth, Hysham,
Miles City, Terry.
District 7-Culbertson.
Decision Now On individual.
Until last year the decision was
upon the issue of which was the b Il
team. Then for the first time the
pest debater was chosen - Ton
Brockway of Butte. He holds the
title of state champion nutil a de
clslon is given by the judges at the
finals next spring.
h league was organized at thu
University of Montana May II, 1905
with Professor j. S. Snoddy as it!
first president. The first interschol
astic debate in Montana was held De
cember 81 of that year between tn,
Carbon county High school and tn,
Columbus High school on the ques
ton, Resolved, That Greece has con
tributed as much to civilization a
has Rome;" but the first series o
high school debates under the aus
pices of the league was held il
1867. Since then the champion
ship teams have been as follows
1906-7, Hamilton; 1907-S, Missoult
county; 19O8-9, Forsyth; 1909-1O
Jefferson; 1901, Forsyth; 1911
IL, Gallatin county; 1928, Gala
tin county; 1914, Gallatin county
1914,-15 Flathead; 1866, Butte
Tom Brockway.
Several Prizes Awarded.
each year the University of MOI
tana offers a souvenir cup to the re
preventative who wins the final cor
test, while former Senator Joseph M
, Dixon offers a gold medal for tn
best debater. There have usual,
been a number of other prizes of
; supplementary nature.
The leagues series of debates |
carried on under restrictions de
signed to make the training the de
batter receives of the greatest degre
| of usefulness in his future bushes
or professional career. Speeches i
all contests are limited to 10 min
, utes, closing speeches to five minutes
| The participants are required to hav
, passing grades in their regular schoo
: work. The debaters are not per
mitted to read their speeches thoug'
| they are permitted, under certai
restrictions, to use notes. The rule
tend to discourage the memorizin
of speeches and to encourage the de
} baters to speak from their feet.