ents in life.
A man must change his stand when his convictions are argued away, but
the man whose opinions shift with every new scrap of information or
influence is neither a safe leader nor a dependable subordinate.

For the sake of the training, then, a student _may_ present arguments
from attitudes other than his own sincere conviction, but the practice
should be nothing more than a recognized exercise.

Because of its telling influence upon the opinion of others let us,
without further reservation, set down that the first essential of a
good argument is the ability to convince others. Aside from the
language and the manner of delivery--two elements which must never be
disregarded in any speech--this ability to convince others depends
upon the proof presented to them in support of a proposition. The
various kinds and methods of proof, with matters closely related to
them, make up the material of this chapter.

The Proposition. In order to induce argument, there must be a
proposition. A proposition in argument is a statement--a declarative
sentence--concerning the truth or expediency of which there may be
two opinions. Notice that not every declarative statement is a
proposition for argument. "The sun rises" is not a statement about
which there can be any varying opinions. It is not a proposition for
argument. But "Missionaries should not be sent to China," and "John
Doe killed Simon Lee," are statements admitting of different opinions
and beliefs. They are propositions for argument. No sane person would
argue about such a statement as "Missionaries are sent to China," nor
would any one waste time on such a statement as "Some day a man named
John Doe will kill a man named Simon Lee."

Although in common language we speak of arguing a question the student
must remember that such a thing is impossible. You cannot argue about
a question. Nor can you argue about a subject or a topic. The only
expression about which there can be any argument is a proposition. The
question must be answered. The resulting statement is then proved or
disproved. The topic must be given some definite expression in a
declarative sentence before any real argument is possible. Even when
the matter of argument is incorrectly phrased as a topic or question
you will find almost immediately in the remarks the proposition as a
sentence. "Should women vote?" may be on the posters announcing an
address, but the speaker will soon declare, "Women shoul