Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1926-03-20
"CHEERUP," COMING BPvV MUSICAL REVUE
COMMITTEE HAS GENIAL GENERAL CHAIRMAN
e0NY Affirmative
DEbATERS DEFEAT
GARDINER HIGH HERE
Negative Team Loses to Wat
erville, Eliminating Cony in
Bates League Preliminaries

Cony High affirmative debaters
won from their Gardiner negative OPP
ponents by judges vote Of two to
one. Friday night at Assembly hall,
in preliminary contest of the Bates
Interscholastic Debating League.
Miss Marion White of the Cony team
was chosen as the best speaker, with
James Booker of Gardiner, Harry
Slosberg of Gardiner and Atwood
Nelson of Augusta following in the
order named
The subject of the debate was IRE
solved, that the proposed child labor
amendment to the federal constitu-
ton should be ratified by the State
of Maine" Mr.. Nelson and Miss
White appeared for the affirmative
with Beverly Hewins as alternate,
while Slosberg and Booker, with Miss
Rachel Milton as alternate supported
the negative
Superintendent of Schools Fred w.
Burrill presided and the judges We're
Donald Sprague. Colby '26, intercol
legiate debater; Rev. Arthur Buck
ner Of the Waterville Unitarian
church, and Professor Herbert r.
Brown. head of the department of ar
VI DON uOltl COllCSc.
Twelve minutes We're allowed for the
main speeches and five minutes in
rebuttal.
Atwood Nelson, the first speaker
for Cony, maintained that child labor
is national menace and as such
should be dealt with by the nation
and that the various states are inef-
fective and inefficient in dealing with
this matter. He also claimed that
federal control of this matter would
tend to equalize certain economic
conditions now most unequal because
OF the prevalence of child labor in
some states. He further declared
that the nation should take over this
matter in order that the children of
states which have not proper avs or
do not enforce them, might have the
chance to play and to gain an edu-
cation which is the heritage of ALL
Harry Slosberg, the first speaker
for the negative expressed his belief
that the affirmative had overestimat-
ed the need for chance. He said
that federal supervision in other
matters has proved to be inefficient
and would Undoubtedly be so in the
future. He quoted many statistics
to show that conditions are not as
li0y NSAe represented by the a11lffn-
ative.
Miss White argued that the amend
ment would solve the problem as it
sets minimum age under which
minors may not be employed. She
stated that in slavery days the slave
masters paid more attention to the
welfare of their young slaves than
do the employers of child labor today.
James Booker. the last speaker for
Gardiner, said that congress could
not be depended upon to handle this
matter, that different conditions IN
various states would require differ
ent laws and they could not adjust
the laws to- meet these conditions
and do it right. 1t would require the
establishment of bureau and would
tend to bureaucracy, which has
proved the undoing Of. Russia. In
the south, he maintained, the chill
dren mature earlier than they do in
the north and many marry at an
early age. This law would lead to
congressional control of marriage in
time, he argued. He also pointed out
that 80 states nave gone on record as
against the law.
Cony, however, will not be entered
in the finals as the Cony negative
team lost to Waterville at Water
vile. thus eliminating Cony from
further participation in the league.
Waterville by its win over Cony al
Waterville and over Gardiner at
Gardiner will enter the finals at Lew
iSton later in the month.