Practical Argumentation by Pattee, George K.

9. That a free labor union is not the impractical dream of an idealist is to be found in the fact that some of the greatest and most successful of the labor organizations have always adhered to the principle of the open shop. In the Pennsylvania coal-mines union and non-union miners labored together in the same mine and reaped the same benefits from the collective bargaining carried on for them by John Mitchell. In the recent anarchy in Colorado, the one mine which went on with its work peacefully, prosperously, and without disturbance, until it was closed by military orders, was a mine which maintained the principle of the open shop, and in which union and non-union men worked peacefully together.

10. Suppose that all the property you were worth was in gold, and you had put it in the hands of Blondin, the famous rope-walker, to carry across the Niagara Falls on a tight rope. Would you shake the rope while he was passing over it, or keep shouting to him, "Blondin, stoop a little more! Go a little faster!" No, I am sure you would not. You would hold your breath as well as your tongue, and keep your hand off until he was safely over. Now the government is in the same situation. It is carrying an immense weight across a stormy ocean. Untold treasures are in its hands. It is doing the best it can. Don't badger it! Just keep still and it will get you safely over.

C. Prove or disprove the following statements, using, wherever it is possible, argument from antecedent probability, sign, example, and authority. Give references for all evidence except generally admitted facts.

1. The negro is not prepared to receive the same kind of education that the white man receives.

2. Railway pooling lowers freight rates.

3. The election of Senators by State Legislatures is undemocratic.

4. The present commercial relations between Canada and the United States are detrimental to the industries of the United States.

5. The influence of labor unions has greatly diminished child labor in the United States.

6. Woman suffrage would purify politics.

7. Egypt is benefited by the control of England.

8. Strikes benefit the working man.

9. The municipal ownership of street railways is a financial failure.

10. Lumber companies threaten the extermination of the forests in the United States.

CHAPTER VII

THE DISCUSSION--BRIEF-DRAWING

The second division of a brief, corresponding to the second division of a complete argument, is called the _discussion_. In this part of his brief the arguer logically arranges all the evidence and reasoning that he wishes to use in establishing or overthrowing his proposition. Illustrative material, rhetorical embellishment, and other forms of persuasion that may enter into the finished argument are omitted, but the real proof is complete in the brief.

There are two possible systems of arranging proof. For the sake of convenience they may be called the "because" method and the "therefore" method. These methods derive their names from the connectives that are used. When the "because" method is used, the proof follows the statement being established, and is connected to this statement with some such word as: _as_, _because_, _for_, or _since_. To illustrate:--