DEBATING TRIALS.

Tonight the first steps will be taken towards the selection of a team for the triangular debates with Yale and Princeton, which will be held this year for the first time. Each university will be represented by two teams arguing different sides of the same question, and all three debates will occur simultaneously. This system has many obvious advantages as compared with the old method of separate debates on different subjects. The six best debaters in the University will be able to practise under one coach on their respective sides of the question, and a better team should be developed than by the former system. The second team, composed of three men who were expected to do a tremendous amount of work with practically no reward, will be done away with entirely.

The introduction of this form of contest should call forth a large number of candidates at the trials tonight. Of recent years debating has not received the recognition and support which is its due, and as a result of this lack of interest the teams have been chosen chiefly from one group. We wish to remind members of the graduate departments that they are eligible as well as undergraduates, and we hope that men representative of every branch of College activity will make a serious attempt to get on the team.