Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1923-01-12
WIN DEBATE AGAINST
JUNIORS BEFORE LARGE
AUDIENCE

of the Wildwood High School took
place in the auditorium on Monday
evening before an audience that lis
tened attentively to the arguments
propounded by the different debaters.
The Senior Glass team, composed of
Miss Margaret Sheppard, Miss Naomi
Bright and Miss Minnie Carol, with
Milton Robbins as alternate, had
somewhat the advantage over the Jun
ior team in hat they had served as
the Varsity debating team for the high
school in 1922 and also won the debate
last year when they, as Juniors, faced
the team of the Glass of 1922. Their
previous experience on the debating
platform as a team unit placed them
in a much better chance to win than
the team representing the Juniors and
made up of William Wexler, Rex Gar
rison and Miss Helen Silen, with Nor
ris Baker as alternate.
The question for the debate was:
Resolved, that the United States
Government should have complete
control of their coal mines" Wexler,
the first speaker for the affirmative,
showed the disadvantages the country
was undergoing by the burning of soft
coal when there was ample anthracite
beneath the ground. Miss Sheppard,
following Wexler for the negative,
stated that they were not arguing the
smoke question, but were arguing
the coal question. She showed how
fha aOrrnnffnp IN fhn o4o1 hOn1ftiAnC
of the country could not be benefited
by the purchase of the mines by the
government, and then showed how this
purchase would be impossible in that
it would require 500, 600, 900 1000, and
that it would be impossible for the
government to raise this amount.
Garrison, of the affirmative side, next
spoke and gave a series of quotations
regarding the question from Senator
William H. Bright, Gus He'll, Senator
Capper, the Scranton Times and gov
eminent officials
Miss Naomi Bright followed Gar
rison and showed how buying the
mines would bring financial disaster
to the country. She gave figures show
ing the expense resulting to the gov
eminent by the operation of the mines,
and also showed how the government
ownership of the railroads had been a
financial failure.
Miss Helen Silen was the last
speaker for the affirmative. She re-
ferred to the success of the postal
system, owned and controlled by the
government. She mentioned that the
same system could successfully be APP
piled to the mines. She also gave a
verbal picture of West Virginia where
the public are prisoners and serfs to
coal under the private ownership of
the mines. She closed by saying that
the time to act has arrived. That if
the government stands idly by in this
crisis that they are decidedly not a
government for, of and by the people,
as the constitution SO declares.
Miss Carol, in concluding for the
negative, stated that her side did not
favor the purchase of the mines, but
did favor the permanent government
regulation Of the mines. There are
evils in the present system, she adj
mitted, and these evils could be cor
rected by this procedure. Success
would follow in this regulation as it
has in the Interstate Commerce and
Banking systems. Herbert Hoover is
now advocating government regula-
ton Of all industries. She stated that
it was possible to control the mines
even if changes in the constitution of
the country were necessary. Presi-
dent Harding favors private owner
ship, she stated. In. closing she said
that all the advantages of ownership
in control could be found in govern
ment regulation and that this pro-
cedure held none of the disadvantages
of the control by purchase.
Following this concluding, argument
the two classes retired to separate
rooms to prepare their rebuttal
speeches. The Seniors were accom-
panied by the president of the Junior
Glass and the Juniors by the president
of the Senior Glass. During the in
term the High School Orchestra fur
nished several musical selections and
q DOduIlIul llduIcQ plCIuI0 VI HISu.
Morgan's Harvest Noon was pre-
scented to the school by F. S. Lloyd on
behalf of the Glass of 1922, which
graduated last June. A short and ap-
propriate acceptance speech was made
by Principal Lanning Myers.
Now came the rebuttal speeches.
Miss Carol represented the Seniors
here and stated that government own
ership would be monopolization, an
unlawful thing. The purchase of the
mines would only be the start of the
trouble of settling the coal questions,
she argued. She showed that although
our nation is n of the wealthiest,
still our government is in poor fnan-
cial condition. Referring to the postal
system she stated hat the success of
this enterprise was no proof of the
success of the coal mine management.
Tn concluding she stated that DurchaSe