ontests were organized, and
were selected by a series of local, state, and interstate contests out
of about five hundred and fifty orations delivered. The last five,
selected by a series of contests out of about six hundred and fifty,
are the first prize orations of the group contests of the past two
years. They were delivered in the national contests at Mohonk Lake at
the time of the Lake Mohonk Conferences. The fact that many of the
second prize orations, and indeed a number of the others, were given
first place by some of the judges is indicative of the general high
character of all the orations, so that the ten selected orations are
very fairly typical of the thought and sentiment of the whole twelve
hundred. It is therefore believed that the publication of these
orations will be of great value not only as a stimulus to prospective
contestants but as a convincing proof of the quality of the work that
the undergraduate students of the country are doing in the contests.
They are evidence that these contests call out a high grade of
intellectual and moral culture, showing as they do keen and clear
thinking and high moral ideals.

There is included as an appendix to these orations the Pugsley prize
oration of 1913, by Bryant Smith, a senior in Guilford College, North
Carolina, a sample of the prize essays annually submitted for the
Pugsley prize of $100 offered through the Lake Mohonk Conference by
Chester DeWitt Pugsley of Yonkers, New York. The essay is also
fittingly printed in this volume because Mr. Smith represented the
state of North Carolina in the Eastern Group contest of the
Intercollegiate Peace Association in 1912, while still another reason
for including it is the hope that others who have taken part in the
oratorical contests, and who are thereby excluded from entering those
contests again, may be encouraged to try for the Pugsley prize.

_Subjects of Orations._ In view of the fact that so many orations have
been written on peace subjects, it is worthy of note that the topics
have seldom been duplicated, and that when the same topic has been
twice used, the handling of it has been so different that little
duplication has been noticeable. Each oration well represents the
originality and the individuality of the writer or orator. Duplication
is shown in the quotations, and it is therefore suggested that
quotations be sparingly used.

Not the least interesting feature of the orations is the combination
of