The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1890-07-10
Epv. ATKINSON on SOCIAL SCIENCE.
He Gives a Short Lesson Ill Words Aver
aging ? 1-e Letters Each.

HANOVER, Y. H., June 25.-The an
nual meeting of the Phi Beta Kappa
Society of Dartmouth College Was held
this forenoon. The Grafton was de-
livered by Edward Atkinson, LII. d.,
of Boston. His subject was "Ihe In
terdependence of Men" In one part
of bis oration he said
IF one wishes to bring the relations Of
men which are covered by this long
word 'interdependence" fairly before his
mind, it may be the best way to treat
the subject in few sentences in which
the average number OF letters per word
shall not exceed four: AS | am speak
| ing to students who may be assumed
to have excelled in literary work, l
venture to bring before you this sug-
gestion in regard to style. Write or
dictate in your accustomed way; then
revise your copy, strike out every long
word, and replace it with one or more
short ones. The effect is curious.
What is this conception "i the i'll
Independence Of men and of nations
What are the beneficent results which
ensue from the elimination Of time and
distance in the conduct Of commerce.:
1 will try to put this lesson into very
simple words. This man lives on
good bit of land, from which with lit
tie labor he can get big crop But he
cannot put upon it the kind of sheer
that will Weld the sort Of wool that he
> needs to make his clothes OF. The mex
man can dig ore out Of the side OF ;
hill, and can dump coal with the orr
from the side Of the next hill into
furnace. He can make pig iron will
at low cost, but he can't raise wool o
grow hay. The next man can Gu
> wood : he can also put iron anu Woo(
into tools, and be can put up mill t
grind wheat or to weave wool in. Owe
the way that man lives on bit o
land where he can grow only a lltti
wheat where he can make no iron, bu
where he can clip wool of the righ
sort to be put into the best kind o
cloth. Of course these men all swap
each with each other each gets NOR
of what he wants than if he tried to b
s'independent' and to do all his owl
: work. Modern science has show
men how to lay rails, and to lay wires
so that it does not matter much If tn
| next man is 100, or 10000 miles away
When these men swap they are Sin
terdependent." What shall be said G
the common sense of the men who tt.
| to stop them from swapping?
What kind of money do those nle1
need? The best kind. No one get
, money in order to keep it, unless h
= is a fool. He gets money in order t
spend it. He wants the best none:
: that he can get, in order to get tn
most out of it. What shall be said O
men who try to force him to take poo
money in place of good money? Thi
man wants fish; he had rather max
shoes. That man wants shoes, and n
: likes to fish. What shall be said OF tn
| common sense Of the man who set
himself up as wise man who says
'You had better make your own shoe
and be independent. And you ha(
better catch your own fish and also b.
> independent. If you don't We'll sen(
a ship of war to stop you from swap
ping fish for Shoes" That is the kin(
of work that our members Of Congres
and Senators are now doing in Wash
ton; and they are trying to make peo
pie believe that such is the way to b
''independent."
1 submit this short lesson in socia
science as an example ola style whlcl
is not fine writing or of newspape
English. 1t is given in 4l5 words
averaging 81 letters each.