The Washington times., 1895-03-20
PHILOSOPHY HIS THE KEY
Learned Men Agree Upon the La
bOr Questions Solution.
BISHOP KEANE'S CONCLUSION
He Presided at the Session of the School OF
Applied Ethics = Struggle for Human
Liberty = HENS Ideas Directed By the
Current School Of Thought Ethicism Must
Govern civilization-source of knowledge

Four learned men discussed yesterday
afternoon, before the School Of Applied
Ethics at Columbian University, THE
Relation Of the University to the Labor
Quest ton" These gent leInen, Bishop
Keane, rector of the Catholic Univer-
sity; Hon. Carroll d. Wright, United
states Commissioner of labor; Uyited
States Commissioner of Education W. T.
Harris, and Prof. James McAIIistetr, OF
Drexel Institute. Pa.
Bishop Keane presided, and introduced
in turn the other members ofthe conference.
Bishop Kcane began by lauding the ad-
dress recently delivered before the school
by Prof. Adams, of Michigan, who held
that the development Of the labor cues
ton was the development of philosophy.
This being true it was essential that a right
system Of philosophy should be fnculcated
in this relation. Philosophy may be
true or false, and mems ideas are apt to
be directed by the philosophy in vogue,
by the dominant current school of thought
FOOD FOR THE WORLD.
In the last analysis the life of the world
depends on the philosophical food with
which it is fed. Prof Adams had shown
that the great movement from which the
labor problem was evolved was the strug-
gle for human liberty. This principle
of human freedom become dominant first
under the Christian dispensation. Before
that era the principles of living and being
were the might of empire, the aggrandiZe-
mint OF the individual.
Christianity asserted, and the principle
is Incorporated IN the Declaration Of Ameri-
can independence, tie dignity of man
and his inaienahle rights. This acquired
dominion over the world by successfully
combating the imperialism or the Caesars,
the absOlutlsm of Louis XIV, and fcudalisn
in general. CoIhcTt, minister OF finance
OF Louis XIV enuuciated a true principle
OF solution in his advice to that monarch,
laisseZ fare, which merely meant liberty.
We can trace the effect or this principle
through all the stages OF political and
industrial freedom But liberty was abused,
il Gegenerated INTO the license which cul-
minated III the Reign of Terro~. This, too,
was the result of that philosophy known
i'll that day as poStjVisn. Hobbies taught
materialisn. pure and simple, and after him
Locke and Hume and Adam Smith, who
held the social contract TO be the only
source OF human obligation.
There has been a change. Huxley
has recently taught that ethiCism must gov
ern civilization. Human life demands more
than cOSmic forces to guide il. It's true
guide must be a true ethical philosophy
which shall build up syutheucaly a sys-
TEN, the verItdS in medic. between anarCh-
ism, which means no authority and socialism.
No theory Of balancing and CcunteT-balanc-
ing results VIII solve the problem. No theory
OF a 6octrinaire can solve
CONTROL OF HUMAN CONTRACTS.
Bishop Keane maintained that the con-
troll of human contracts was necessary, and
that the State should have the power 10
execute the moral and ethical features Of
such contracts, without granting too much
to the Caesar of authority. In order to
popularize the true philosophy, the public
mind must be irnbued With truth. and that
is the function OF a university. rather than
of schools of technology or other special
departmental schools. The univeT Sity
teaches men who are 10 think for the world,
for education begins at the top and thence
reaches the masses. The duty of the uni
verSity is first TO send forth teachers
who VIII hold to true philosophy and who
VIII not be mystified by contradictory.
agnostic, or skeptical themes, thus making
They must teach not only phenomena. but
ethical principles. II IS for man TO direct
Cosmic forces and MOTTO be governed by them.
They must Tepudiate the supremacy of the
serial contract The State has tight to
demand that its money shall not support
institutions which teach philOsophieS which
experience has shown TO be failures.
Commissioner Harris endorsed the views
set forth by Dr.. Keane. He agreed with
the thought that the university was the
fountain of true knowledge, and he re-
gretted that there were so many political
economists who were teaching false doc
trines, as to causes and effects on the labor
question. They were teaching false notions
as to wealth, and its relations to the in
dividual
He regretted that these professors could
not get together and eliminate some OF their
heresies They would be well employed
if they spent their time investigating and
exploding useless theories They should
find out the true facts by their own agents
in the cases of those who contend that
they are insufficiently paid by comparing
their wages with production, the actual
and relative value of lands, and assessments,
the total production and the ratio of wages
industrial, agricultural and commercial.
LACK OF SYMPATHY.
Commissioner Wright called attention
to the fact that there has been lack OF
sympathy between the laboring man and
the universities This has been much
changed within recent years. The cool
ness between the people and the universities
he deemed to be due to the professors Of
political economy who taught distractions
and ignored human relations
The universities are now putting them
selves in direct relation TO the people He
devoted the greater part of his SIX min
utes' talk 10 special work in one of the
universities which was determining the
effect Of various foods upon the laboring
classes, and that by the extension of similar
methods university work would bear di-
rectly on the great problem
DR.. James McAllister spoke next and
ton of the masses. He referred to the long
distance between the laboring man and the
university. Man must be educated because
he is man. We are succeeding in universal
education so far as elementary education
is concerned
The States are further giving education
not only in the elementary schools, but
also secondary schools, the link connecting
them with the university. Cambridge and
Oxford have realized that the privileges
OF the university belong to the masses Of
the people and not only to the privileged
classes He believed that in the evolution
of society distinctions between man and
man would disappear, so far as privileges
or opportunities are concerned.
So it is n duty to open the way from the
humbleSt school and child 10 the highest