The Senior Debating Society A long felt want has at last been supplied. The boys of the Senior class met one evening and decided to form a debating society.....Rudolph Rupp was elected president without opposition; Gaius Greenslade was made vice president; Louis Sutherland, secretary and treasurer; and Lacy Galbraith, sergeant-at-arms. Spokane-Walla Walla Debate On the afternoon of Friday, Jan. 3, a delegation of three representative Websters of the Spokane High School arrived in Walla Walla armed with knowledge, facts, words and eloquence, to engage in a battle of words with the Walla Walla High School Knights of the Rostrum. ....Miss Dovell, as chairman of the meeting, read the rules to govern the debate. The question was, "Resolved, That Cuba should be annexed to the United States." The Walla Walla High School supported the affirmative and the Spokane High school, the negative. The first speaker on the affirmative was Gaius Greenslade. He defined the question and argued the question from the political standpoint, showing that we must annex Cuba in order to fulfill our obligations. He also took up the Teller Resolution and held that it had no binding force upon our government. Fred Moore of Spokane was the first speaker on the negative. In a brilliant speech, he outlined the question and showed that Cuba must be granted independence according to a promise of the United States He argued that we are under moral obligations to withdraw from the island. Elmer Tash argued that the Cubans are incapable of self government, from an intellectual standpoint, race feeling and natural conditions. He tried to show that without annexation no government in Cuba could stand. William Holden, of Spokane, held that Cuba would be of no benefit to the United States. He denied the statement that the Cubans are not capable of self government, and showed that they are educated and have ability to manage their own affairs. James McCool took up the commercial relations of the islands. He tried to prove that without annexation the island would soon be on the verge of bankruptcy and industries would fail. He took up the question of reciprocity and showed that it would be unjust to our new territory. Charles Lund ended the negative argument. His argument was mainly to show that moral obligations necessitate Cuban independence. He also refuted many arguments of the affirmative. ...While the judges were discussing the debate, the audience was favored with a violin duet by Misses Offner and Paul, which received a hearty encore. After some time the judges returned and Mr. Brining, in a witty speech, announced that Mr. Fred Moore, of Spokane, had made the best showing, but that the united efforts of the Walla Walla boys was a little better than that of the visitors. ------------------------------------------------------------- The announcement of the prize contest did not meet with such a prompt response as we might have wished, but we received some very good manuscripts. The Junior class was the only class that did not hand in anything. The following prizes have been awarded. Seniors. - First prize, Heber Ryan; second prize, James McCool Sohomores. - First prize, Laura Philippi; second prize, Dottie Perry. Freshmen - First prize, Amy Philippi; second prize, Bessie Wellman.