THE AMES COMPETITION

The finals of the Ames Competition held last night in Langdell Hall, mark the end of the twentieth year of student debate between the various clubs of the School. Although these organizations have been a part of the curriculum for the last century, the present system is primarily a result of student interest, paralleling the activities of the Law Review, though widening in scope to include all of the first-year class and the winning competitors in the other two.

The importance of the Ames Competition is not so much that one club has finally emerged from the welter of round-robin debates after a three-year period of trial cases. It lies more in a recognition of the part the Law Clubs have played in the Law School's curriculum. The value of practical forensic discussion is readily attested by the interest of prominent lawyers in the "straw" decision handed down by leading justices of the nation serving as arbiters in the final arguments. The definite need of practical experience combined with legislative theory is well filled by the Ames Competition.