C. B. White '96 and H. W. Dutch '97 spoke on the affirmative, while W. S. Appleton '96 and G. L. Paine '96 upheld the negative. W. E. Hutton presided.
Mr. Dutch opened the debate for the affirmative. He dwelt chiefly on the commercial benefits which would accrue from annexation. Mr. Paine spoke next for the negative: He declared annexaundesirable and impracticable, as the majority of people in both countries are opposed to it and Spain would never allow it. Mr. White then took up the affirmative again. He said that the United States would take Cuba if it could do so peaceably, as the question states, because it is the key to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Mr. Appleton then resumed the debate for the negative. He spoke of the difference between Americans and Cubans and declared that Cuba free would be preferable to Cuba annexed both for the island itself and as far as the United States is concerned.
The debate was then thrown open to the house and many of the audience spoke on the subject. After this Mr. White for the affirmative and Mr. Paine for the negative summed up the evening's arguments.
The chief fault of the speakers was a tendency to forget that the peaceful annexation of Cuba was under discussion.