SUGGESTED SUBJECTS FOR DEBATE
1. Should there be a Board of Arbitration appointed by the Government for Settling Disputes between Employees and Employers?
2. Is England Rising or Falling as a Nation?
Note.—Compare the Elements of Modern with the Elements of Ancient Prosperity.
3. Has Nature or Education the Greater Influence in the Formation of Character?
4. From which does the Mind gain the more Knowledge, Reading or Observation?
5. Is the Character of Queen Elizabeth deserving of our Admiration?
6. Is an Advocate Justified in Defending a Man whom he Knows to be Guilty of the Crime with which he is Charged?
7. Which does the most to Produce Crime—Poverty, Wealth, or Ignorance?
8. Is a Limited Monarchy, like that of England, the Best Form of Government?
9. Is not Private Virtue essentially requisite to Greatness of Public Character?
10. Is Eloquence a Gift of Nature, or may it be Acquired?
11. Is Genius an Innate Capacity?
12. Is a Rude or a Refined Age the More Favorable to the Production of Works of Imagination?
13. Is the Shakespearian the Augustan Age of English Literature?
14. Ought Pope to Rank in the First Class of Poets?
15. Has the Introduction of Machinery been Generally Beneficial to Mankind?
16. Which Produce the Greater Happiness, the Pleasures of Hope or of Memory?
17. Is the Existence of Parties in the State Favorable to the Public Welfare?
18. Is there any Ground for Believing in the Ultimate Perfection and Universal Happiness of the Human Race?
19. Is Co-operation more Adapted to Promote the Virtue and Happiness of Mankind than Competition?
20. Was the Banishment of Napoleon to St. Helena a Justifiable Proceeding?
21. Ought Persons to be Excluded from the Civil Offices on Account of their Religious Opinions?
22. Which Exercises the Greater Influence on the Civilization and Happiness of the Human Race, the Male or the Female Mind?
23. Which did the Most to Produce the French Revolution, the Tyranny of the Government, the Excesses of the Higher Orders, or the Writings of Voltaire, Montesquieu and Rousseau?
24. Which was the Greater Poet, Byron or Burns?
25. Is there Reasonable Ground for Believing that the Character of Richard the Third was not so Atrocious as is Generally Supposed?
26. Does Happiness or Misery Preponderate in Life?
27. Should the Press be Totally Free?
28. Do Modern Geological Discoveries Agree with Holy Writ?
29. Did Circumstances Justify the First French Revolution?
30. Could not Arbitration be Made a Substitute for War?
31. Which Character is the More to be Admired, that of Loyola or Luther?
32. Are there Good Grounds for Applying the Term “Dark” to the Middle Ages?
33. Which was the Greater Poet, Chatterton or Cowper?
34. Are Public or Private Schools to be Preferred?
35. Is the System of Education Pursued at our Universities in Accordance with the Requirements of the Age?
36. Which is the More Healthful Exercise, Bicycle Riding or Walking?
37. Does the Game of Foot-Ball Produce more Evil than Beneficial Effects?
38. Would the Free and Unlimited Coinage of both Silver and Gold be better than the Single Gold Standard in America?
39. Should Women be Granted the Right to Vote on all State and National Questions?
40. Would Absolute Prohibition be a Benefit to the Country?