Debaters Fall to Cornell Team on Annual Pay Issue

Claiming that a guaranteed annual wage would bring security to the worker and stability to industry, a team from Cornell University defeated the Debate Council last night in a contest held in Winthrop House Junior Common Room.

Speaking for the victorious Ithacans on the affirmative of the topic: "Resolved, That there should be a guaranteed annual wage in industry" were Arthur Bernstein and Herbert Madison. Edward F. Burke '50 and Elton McNeil '49 defended the negative for the Council. Bernstein was unanimously chosen the best speaker.

Claim Plan Ends Unemployment

Use of the guaranteed annual wage to prevent unemployment and to enable industry to plan for the future, secure that consumer purchasing power would remain constant, keynoted the Cornell debaters' proposal.

As an example of the "practicability" of their ideas, the Cornell team pointed out that almost 200 corporations using a guaranteed annual wage plan had survived depressions in 1929 and 1937. To aid corporations using such a plan, the affirmative proposed that the states and the federal government grant such corporations tax rebates.

Fear Government Domination

Contesting these arguments, the speakers for the negative, stating that the crash in 1929 came at a period of peak employment, claimed that a guaranteed annual wage would not assure sufficient consumer purchasing power to guarantee a market for the products of industry.

Thus, the negative asserted, a plan for a guaranteed annual wage would be unworkable unless the government were to step in to compel consumers to purchase what the government wanted them to.