valuable if not an indispensable instrument for
effecting its own end. In fact, the oratorical contests are something
more than agencies for interesting undergraduates in the peace
movement. The cultivation of the art of expression and of public
speaking, now very generally provided for in college and university
curriculums, is of especial significance to the work of this
association. For it is not alone of importance that the graduate who
leaves his alma mater should be indoctrinated with a message of peace
for the world; that his message may be effective, he must also have
attained some proficiency in the art of clear and forceful diction and
in the art of delivering his message in a pleasing and convincing
manner. Therefore, it is not without reason that our contests are for
the most part under the immediate direction of the department of
English, or of whatever departments have charge of the public speaking
in the various colleges and universities.

A further factor in these contests is their cultural value, both moral
and intellectual. They necessarily cultivate the highest ethical
conceptions, historical and political knowledge, and careful and
logical thinking. To quote from the secretary's report for 1912: "The
work of the Intercollegiate Peace Association is a great force for
righteousness between nation and nation, and so between man and man,
and therefore may be considered as supplementary to the more strictly
moral and intellectual culture in our institutions of higher learning.
The ethical value is not the only value of the contests. In the
preparation of orations the undergraduate necessarily informs himself
of historical conditions, of the economic and social effects of war,
of the legal and constitutional principles involved, and of the
problems, difficulties, and principles concerned with international
relations. It is this early beginning of an intelligent understanding
of the problems involved, together with the right moral insight, that
must count for future effectiveness in shaping international policies
and practices." Finally, while these contests have chiefly in mind the
shaping of the public opinion of coming generations, they are by no
means a negligible factor in their influence upon the public opinion
of to-day. The contests--local, state, and interstate--are heard by
many hundreds of people every year, and in many cases by persons who
would otherwise seldom come in contact with peace sentime