Putnam patriot., 1918-03-29

Putnam won the silver cup offered by the Putnam and Danielson Cham bers of Commerce by winning the de i bate from Killingly High school at Danielson last Friday evening. They l not only won the cup but so far out classed their opponents that the au- I dience was satisfied before the sound ] of the last debater's voice had died away that Putnam had won an easy victory. The judges went out to dis euss the merits of the two teams as a matter of form, but it is thought that they might have announced the winners without leaving their seats ! It was apparent even to the oppon- ents of Putnam that Putnam out elassed them, and they showed d most excellent spirit in aekpowledg= l ing their defeat and Putnam's victory
 The series of debates is now clos ed and the fine silver loving cup be I comes Putnam High schools personal property The cup may be seen in i the store window of George F.. Shaw.
 There have been three debates The first was in Putnam, Friday evening, March 24th, 1916. The subject dis eussed was Resolved. That there should be compulsory military train ing in secondary schools and colleges of the United States Putnam had i the negative side and won The de 1 batting team was made up of Malcolm 1 Wiley, Miss Ruth Child, Gould Beard and Percy Richardson.
 The second debate was held at Dan ielson Friday evening, April 20th. The l question was Resolved: That as suming that league of powers to en- force peace comes into existence af- i ter the present war, the United States should so depart from it's traditional policies as to participate in the i league.
 Putnam had the affirmative side and the team was composed of Percy
 & Richardson, Miss Hazel Perry and ] Byron Wilcox. After being out for half an hour the decision was given to Killingly, the judges standing two to three.
 i With each school having won one contest the interest in the deciding discussion last Friday night was in tense and large following of Put nam supporters journed to the bor- ough to the south in motor trucks. They found much to enjoy and take pride in as the local team appeared to excellent advantage throughout The team was composed of Miss Gladys Robbins, Miss Sylvia Wheel ock, and the Misses Dorcas and Ruth Bartlett
 Both teams entered the hall nron Ut ly and the audience was impres ad with the earnest and aggressive atti- tude evidenced Before taking their places Miss Ruth Bartlett posted in plain view a carefully prepared chart showing the railroad system of the United States The question under consideration was: Resolved That the United States government should own the railroads after the war. Put nam had the negative side.
 The Putnam debaters showed that they had been excellently and thor oughly trained by E. H. Snow of the school faculty. They evidenced an exhaustive study of the subject in hand and their reasoning was logical and to the point. Their delivery, al so, was impressive and the audience, including the supporters of the Xiii lingly team, was so we'll impressed that they gave generous applause to each Putnam speaker.
 Miss Gladys Robbins shifted the burden of proof to the shoulders of her opponents as she summarized the constructive arguments for the nega- tive side and then proceeded to clear l ly and forcefully point out that gov ernment ownership of railroads was unnecessary because American rail roads are the best in the world and the most efficient She drove home her argument with carefully compiled statistics and figures, quoting reliable authority in their support.
 Miss Sylvia Wheelock convinced the audience that government owner ship was not necessary because pri- vate interest and business incentive was lacking and because politics would be a grave danger and apt to hinder operation. Her arguments were clear cut and were unchallenged by her opponents.
 The last speaker, Miss Ruth Bart lett, in summing up showed that gov ernment ownership had failed under the most favorable conditions in for eign countries and completely won the audience by her earnest and con vincing presentation of the subject.
 While the teams were preparing for the rebutal the audience was de- lightfully entertained by fine mu-