Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1922-11-24
LEAGUE O NATIONS
NOT FOR AMERICA
IS THE DECISION
Middlebury College Foren-
sic Defeats Syracuse
Last Night
JUDGES FAVOR
MIDD 2 TO 1
Fine Argument Put Forth
by Both Teams in Mead
Chapel Last Night

For the past three seasons Middle
bury College has not lost a debate.
Last night in the Mead Memorial
Chapel they added to their former
laurels by defeating the forensic repre-
Sentatives of Syracuse University,
who upheld the affirmative position on
the question, Resolved That the
United States should join the League
of Nations. The decision was two to
one in favor of the negative, supported
by the Middebury team.
The trio who defended the colleges
record included w. Harry Lawton %,
who captained the team; Max NJ. Sa-
witt %; and Edgar T. Austin "a.
They undertook to demonstrate that,
the League of Nations had failed to
function in times of international
crises; that it had been a complete
failure in attempting to stop wars; and
finally that it was menace to the
moral, social, political, economic and
legal integrity of the United States
In a heated reply to the assertions
Of the negative, the Syracuse represen-
tatives, Harold W. Hebbethwaite "a,
Laurence +. Spring 24, and Clyde E.
Shuts "a, took issue with the Middle
bury men, stating that the League was
yet in its infancy; that it could not he
expected to perform miracles; that it
needed the influence of America to
make its acts more binding upon the
powers who were associated together
in the League They likewise told OF
the accomplishments of the League
and predicted that in the future it
would be able to more easily dictate
the policy to be pursued by other ma
tions because it was gaining constantly
in Influence, power and prestige
In a very drastic rebuttal, which was
both forceful and convincing in its
nature, Mr. Austin, the third speaker
for the negative, told of the evils that
had been brought about through the
use of mandates, He pointed out the
failure of the League to prevent wars
throughout the Near East and he
cautioned his hearers to think care
fully about the terms of the Leagues
covenant which had not been fulfilled.
He asserted that the League never
intended to do anything that would
bring peace in the world, but that in
stead it was made place where Amer
iCa's sovereignty and right to act as
she thought fit and best would be re-
moved and would be the starting point
for the establishment of super state
with all the rights and powers of such
an organization
Mr. Shuts in closing for the SYRIA
CuSe team stated that while the League
had not been perfect, while it had
failed in several of its attempts to es-
tabliSh peace and order in a world that
was filled with chaos, it had demon
Strated its effectiveness as an inStrl
ment of peace The failure of the
United States to join the League would
permit the return of the old conference
system of attaining basis for inter
national cooperation between a few
nations, but that as this system gave
rise to secret diplomacy, while the
League provided for open diplomacy,
the League with all its faults was far
better for the world.
He concluded his rebuttal by declar-
ing that the world, broken by wars
and threats of wars, could not be
brought back to a peace time basis
until the United States would enter
the League The wealth, the power, and
the influence of our government was
needed in the councils of the world,
and until they agreed to lend their
support to such a movement the day
of peace, and the gateway to progress
would not be reached.
The judges for the contest were
Judge George NJ Powers of the Yer
mont Supreme Court; Benjamin Gates,
state auditor; and Benjamin Williams
of the Vermont Marble Co President
Paul d Moody presided.