New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-10-27
STUDENTS AND POLITICS.
COMMENCE or UNIVERSITY UNDER
GRADUATES IN EUROPEAN UPRIsINGs.

.,o-o have been riots Of sufficient gravity TO
rort military Interference at Barcelona. Madrid
I'D at Prague while at Constantnople the
sortas or theological students. have been the
authors OF the sanguinary disturbances that for a
COW DAYS caused a reign If terror 10 prevail on
the shores OF the Bosphorus. Moreover. the most
crsory glance over the pages OF the history OF the
r-esent century will suffice TO show that students
have been in the van OF every revolutionary ris-
Ing Indeed those of ls4S and ls49, that con-
yllsed all Europe and which resulted in the abdi-
cation OF a number OF old-fashioned and reac-
tlonary monarchs opposed TO popular rights and
constitutional government. were almost entirely
the work OF university undergraduates
Neither the great scholastic institutions Of
America nor vet those # England can lay claim
ever to exercised any such political influence
pon the course OF events in their respective coun
tries as those Of Germany. Spain Austria, Russia.
Portugal. Italy Turkey etc. At the very most.
oxford may be said to have instituted two or three
purely religious movements. the authors OF which,
however have been not the undergraduates. but
he dons There has been marked abstention
from, notifies: and although the college debating
societies may occasionally get up some mild en-
thusiasm about national issues. yet The vast ma
foritv Of the scholastic youth OF the English
speaking countries attach infinitely more impor-
lance 10 football. baseball cricket and games OF
one kind and another tnan to electoral warfare or
70 parliamentary strife. And II is in this prefer
ence which American and English undergradu-
ates manifest for athletic pastimes that must be
sought the most satisfactory explanation 10
question that has Just been addressed to The
Tribune namely. as TO why the students Of Amer
lean universities should show much less inter
es. in politics than those Of Continental Europe.
SPORTS INSTEAD OF POLITICS
I, is because the Ango-Saxon undergrad" is
50 entirely absorbed by his sports that he holds
sloof from politics Sports scarcely leave him
time enough for that minimum Of study which Is
Indispensable 70 the taking Of degree, Where
on earth then. should he find leisure to discuss
such abstruse questions as the tarin or SILVER
orestion in the United states or the everlasting
Home Rule problem in Great Britain? To MIN
ne composition Of the football team. Of the base
ball nine or Of the cricket eleven Is OF lmneasur-
ably greater importance than the constitution or
q moro Cabinet or the reorganization Of party.
such as the Goo Coos; aid am sorry 10 say
that he shows decided preference for sporting
I life" and The London Referee to The London
,r,mes. and The Evening Post Of New York
SITE MAY no nart in the life Of the student
~ the Continental universities. True as long as
nuhlic high school he belongs to what is known
as the "turnverein." and goes in largely for gym
rastics But from the moment he leaves school
o,d has his name entered at the university he
abandons gymnastics in favor Of beer; and II IL
a, the various cafes liquor saloons and beer gar
dens that the Continental undergraduates spend
all their leisure hours. instead Of on the foot
hall or cricket field. Athletics are absolutely uh-
known to the students Of Spain. Portugal, italy
Austria and Russia. Those in Germany DO HI
tie in the fencing line, just enough in fact' 70
keep their hand in for the idiotic students dues
which are the subject OF so much rldlcule oo'h
at home and abroad: while the divinity students
at Constantinople occasionally obtain httle
active and healthy exercise by beating and prod
ding with their long iron-tipped stahs the At
menians or other inoffensive Christian SUBJECTS
Of the Sultan whom they may happen to encoun-
Ter when engaged in painting the town green
that being the favorlte color Of the Prophet
HOW THE sOFTAs LIVE
r-hev mono of them have any definite and COM
mon residence. such as have the students OF
Harvard Yale, Oxford and Cambridge colleges
where the undergraduates are lodged boarded
and subjected 10 certain amount or whole
some discipline They live wherever they can
hire room and take their meals at the cheapest
of restaurants places where drink plays lar
more prominent part than nourshing FOOD Inc
result is OF course. that they make the liquor
store their home. 1t is there that they congre-
gate whenever time hangs on their hands anu
the unfortunate combination OF idleness ana
liquor gives birth to the inevitable offspring
thereof namely. politics. students possess
neither the mental balance nor YET the experience
~ the world that is acquired only with mature
md ~
recklessness that in its best phases. results from
youth. and in its less fortunate aspects from
drink In fact. the only SOLDERING inhuence-the
kind Of brake that occasionally checks impulses
o. too hot-headed a nature--is the mental dull
ness and physical sluggishness produced by an
excess of German beer which liquid may be SAID
20 have saved Germany and Austria from many
l riot and insurrectionary movement
The very numbers % these students. as well
as their organization into number OF secret
societies each Of which has its headquarters AT
GONE more or less reputable drinking resort
render them a perpetual menace 10 pubic iran
o,hllitv AS they know their power. the authorl-
ties tenpor.ze with them, save in Russia, Where
they are subjected to such an amount u cruei
tyranny that il results in Nhsm-more than
nne-tenths OF the Nihilist party consisting o.
past or present students belonging 10 'he Naii"u'
Muscovite universities. Thus in Berlin aio"e'
there are. unless / am much mistaken. some o'oV'
students which may serve g explain no" NhpOi
tant was the role which they played IN the pioouN
DAYS OF ls4s. when war ragged in the streets OF
Berlin Al Dresden. az Prague. az Bonn on the
Rhine as well as at Heidelberg they are mum
bered by the thousands also; while IN CONSTANT
nople the Sofas are legion, 10000 Of them having
been deported by the Sultan's orders some tnree
years ago. without making any appreciao'e III
fetence in their numbers
OBJECTIONABLE UNDERGRADUATES.
~ all the Continental undergraduates 'hey are
the most Objectionable. Dirty. ignorant anu
bg3ted 10 4 degree. they are filed WIN fahauc