THE STUDENT ROSTRUM

The Debating Union, an organization for the stimulation of the forensic art among all members of the University, opened its third season last night under the auspices of the Harvard Union. Its short span of life has been a stormy one of decided ups and downs. On occasions it has reached high peaks of success, on others it has plumbed the depths of undergraduate neglect. Its sponsors and members have gone sturdily forward in the face of the most discouraging sort of apathy, and in spite of repeated disappointments have kept the idea alive. Such is the early history of many a well conceived and worthy enterprise. The CRIMSON believes in the ideal of University thought expressed through the medium of debating. The expression of opinion, verbally and in public assembly is an old and dignified custom. It is an accomplishment requiring both courage and skill, and an occupation worthy of the highest intellectual and social orders.

A surface examination of the Debating Union's career serves as material for two broad generalizations concerning its success or failure. It has found popularity in numbers through one of two channels. The first has been in picking a subject of timely and intense student interest such as the football debate of two years ago. Enthusiasm was generated here by the presence of speakers, whose prominence in undergraduate affairs and information on the subject, added some zest to the occasion. The second successful method of attack has been to invite an expert or widely known speaker from the outside, whose appearance alone is sufficient to draw the crowd. The latter procedure, while of considerable value in itself, has proved a weakening influence on the primary purpose of the Union. Members have been awed by a flow of professional eloquence, the invited heckling and speeches from the floor have failed to be forthcoming, and the meeting has resolved itself into a monologue.

The first choice is patently the best. It is also the most difficult of attainment, "subjects of intense interest" invading Cambridge with the frequency of tornados and earthquakes. But pursuing this general course of student problems, of their closest approximations, and student speakers, the Debating Union may well continue happily, and it is hoped, prosperously.