The herald., 1895-08-25
HAZINd AS A CHARACTER MAKER

If human nature were not the same the
world over, and just the same sveIy day
in the year, we might occasionally be
spared the dull monotony Of events which
we can now foretell with infallible accu-
lacy. In the spring the young mans
fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love,
baseball. rowing, yachting, flirting and
other summer amusements; and in the
fall when he returns to college, his
thoughts as lightly turn to the invention
of new methods of welcoming and max
ing life enjoyable to the timid "pleb"
who is just beginning the ascent of Par
nassus.
With the opening OF each collegiate
year, from time irn mem orial to the pres
ent day, we have had the same harrow
ing tale of cruel hazing; and from the
present day until the crack Of doom. if col
leges and universities exist in the mean
time, these same dismal stories will be
repeated. One would imagine. just at
the time we hear of these things, that
some means could be devised for putting
an end to the atrocious brutalities that
are said to be practiced at some of the
institutions of learning. If ordinary haz-
it to be, there certainly IS no reason why
it could not be greatly curtailed and even
abolished. But is it as bad as it is rep
resented? All college men know that it
is not every ''prep" or ''plob' who S
put through bis PAGES, and 1t is only one
case out of a thousand that results at all
seriously. And the victim almost ,invari-
ably has him self to thank for his little
lesson and its duration and severity.
The whole OBJECT and intent of educa-
tion is to fit the young man for the duties
of life and to enable him to fight its bat
tie successfully. There is no part of col E.
lege training that is more useful to the
student than the actual contact with his
fellows. He learns more of the battle of
life, and of how to conduct himself there
in, than could be got out of a century of
text book research. According as he is
apt or otherwise, he learns how to Judge
his fellow man and how to comport hIm-
self to the best advantage-and that is
about what insures a successful career.
Hazing, as it is called-not the brutal
stories We hear about it every fall, and
which do not lose in the telling. but
the ordinary and inevitable matching OF
wit and Strengths as much a part OF a
young mans education as rectations and
lectures. They are all a part OF college
life and each in its way is an essential.
OF course there are times when the
bounds of prudence are overstepped and
serious results follow. In such cases it is
proper and necessary that the culprits
should be punished. But in the great
majority of instances the hazee sooner
or later looks back upon his experience
as something distinctly beneficial and
with which he would not part under any
circumstances. He has weaknesses in
his own character pointed out to him
while he is yet in condition to correct
them, and he has glimpses OF the charac-
ter of others and of the rougher side of
life itself that he should be thankful for
receiving so young. There will of course
pe the annual outcry against the practice,
but 10 the end of time it will continue TO
play is part in the development of sturdy
and self-reliant men