Elements of Debating Part 20

60. The initiative and referendum in matters of state legislation would be desirable in the state of X----.

61. From the standpoint of the United States the annexation of Cuba would be desirable.

62. The fifteenth amendment to the Const.i.tution of the United States should be repealed.

63. The President should be elected by the direct vote of the people of the United States.

64. Proportional representation should be adopted in the state of X----.

65. The plan of proportional representation in present vogue in the state of X---- should be abolished.

66. The use of voting machines should be required in all elections in cities having a population of more than 10,000.

67. Public interest is best served when national party lines are discarded in munic.i.p.al elections.

68. Suffrage should be limited to persons who can read and write.

69. Ex-Presidents of the United States should become senators-at-large for life.

70. Ex-Presidents of the United States should be pensioned for life at full salary.

71. The United States should adopt a plan of compulsory voting.

72. The national government should purchase and operate the express systems in connection with the parcel post.

73. Federal judges should be elected by direct vote of the people.

74. Two-thirds of a jury should be competent to render a verdict in jury trials in the state of X---.

75. The state of X--- should adopt a plan for recall of state judges.

76. The state of X--- should adopt a plan allowing a referendum of judicial decisions.

77. The appointment of United States consuls should be under the merit system.

78. American vessels engaged in coastwise trade should be permitted the use of the Panama Ca.n.a.l without the payment of tolls.

79. All postmasters should be elected by popular vote.

80. The bill requiring ----, which is at present before the X--- city council (X--- state legislature, or Congress) should be defeated.

ECONOMIC AND INDUSTRIAL QUESTIONS

81. The Underwood tariff bill of 1913 would be a desirable law.

82. The federal government should undertake at once the construction of an inland waterway from the Great Lakes to the Gulf (or from X to Y).

83. All raw materials should be admitted to the United States free of duty.

84. A state law should prohibit prison contract labor in the state of X---.

85. Federal government control of all natural resources would be desirable.

86. Munic.i.p.al owners.h.i.+p of street railways would be an advantage to cities.

87. The Henry George system of single tax would be practicable in the United States.

88. A graduated income tax would be a desirable addition to the federal taxing system.

89. The boycott is a justifiable weapon in labor strikes.

90. The federal government should enact a progressive inheritance tax.

91. The coal mines of the United States should be under federal control.

92. Employers of labor are justified in demanding the "open shop."

93. Irrigation projects to reclaim the arid lands of the West should be undertaken by the United States government.

94. Courts for the compulsory settlement of controversies between labor and capital should be created by Congress.

95. Industrial combinations commonly known as "trusts" are an economical benefit to the United States.

96. The United States should establish and maintain a system of subsidies for the American merchant marine.

97. No tax should be levied on the issue of state banks.

98. Permanent copyrights should be extended by the national government.

99. The judicial injunction as an instrument in labor controversies should be made illegal.

100. A law gradually lowering the present tariff, so that in ten years the United States will be committed to a policy of free trade, would be economically desirable for the United States.

APPENDIX VII

FORMS FOR JUDGES' DECISION

The first of the two following forms is a simple and commonly used one; the second is more formal and is desirable when the schools wish to point out carefully the principles upon which the decision is to be based. A form such as the first, which allows the judge entire freedom, is becoming the more popular.

I.