I shall first show how a brief is constructed, by following through part of the process for the argument on the introduction of commission into Wytown; then I shall give the rules, with some explanation of their working and of their practical expediency.

We have just seen that the brief is essentially a display of the logical framework of the argument:  it should consist, therefore, of the main contentions in support of the proposition, with the reasons urged in support of these contentions, and of the facts and reasons brought forward in support of these reasons, this successive support of reasons being carried down to ultimate facts, wherever possible.

When you come to the working out of your brief you start with your main issues, stated now as assertions.  Then for each of them you give one or more reasons.

In the brief for introducing commission government into Wytown, let us start with the main issues for the affirmative, transforming them from questions into assertions.  The first main issue would then read: 

The admitted inefficiency of the city government at present is due to the system of government.

The next step is to assign reasons for making this assertion.  Accordingly we should add a “since” or a “for” to the assertion, and then underneath arrange these reasons in order.  Let us suppose that we put down three reasons: 

I. The admitted inefficiency of the city government at present is due to the system of government; for

    A. Partisan politics determine nominations to office;

B. Advantageous contracts cannot be made;

C. The responsibility for expenditures is scattered.

Each of these assertions clearly needs to be supported before it will be accepted.  Let us follow out the support of the first one, and set down here the reasons and facts which will make it incontestable.

A. Partisan politics determine nominations to office; for

1.  The organization of the national parties is permanent.

2.  There has been bargaining between parties to reward
political services with city offices.

Of these points the first is an obvious fact; in the argument it will need only slight development and specification to make its bearing on the case effective.  The second, on the other hand, must be supported by evidence; and in the brief, accordingly, we should refer to the facts as stated in newspapers of specified dates from which full quotation would be made in the argument.  Here then, in both cases, though in different ways, we get down to the bed rock of fact on which the reasoning is built up.  At the same time, each joint in the framework of the reasoning has been laid bare, so that no weak place can escape detection.  These are always the two main objects of making a brief—­to get down to the facts on which the reasoning is built up, and to display every essential step in the reasoning.