The sun., 1897-09-24
CORNELL'S OPENING DAY.
President sOHURMAN,s ANNUAL
ADDRESS TO TIE STUDENTS.


ne Refers Indirectly TO tho Brown Univer-
sity 1nctdent. ana Contends for Free
Thought ana Free speech In tho Univer-
stics-Compiiments tho Univsrsity Crew.
ITHACA, Sept. 23.-Cornell University en-
tered on its thirtieth year today, the various
colleges being thrown open to tho students.
President Sohurnan delivered his annual ad-
dress at noon and touched on n great variety OF
subjects extcmpornncously. The subject on
which he exhibited the most earnestness was
that part whore he indirectly referred to the
trouble between the corporation of Brown Uni.
vcrsity and President Andrews IIo said:
Bryce in his great work, The American
Commonwealth, says that while wo assert
that tho majority rules, We assert that the ma
jority Is right. Ho describes II as fatalsm of
tho multitude, readiness to acquicsce In tho
decision Of the majority. Yet another condl-
tion Of affairs may prevail. The minority or a
single person may have truth and be right
whom the.majority.is wrong. II then its..ls tho
business of tho university TO teach tho major.
fly belief, such an assertion contravenos overy
principle on which tho university is founded.
However truo It may be that tho ma Jority may
rule In commonwealth, in q university It
should be ono man with Gods truth. II all of
this Is true, the individual will DO FREQ to an
nounce and proclaim all phases Of tho truth as
Il occurs TO him. A member of the inst tructing
staff who does not exercise such freedom of ex-
precision has missed tho calling OF his profess
sion Socrates Is the example of the greatest
teacher. What Socrates did and what he con-
demned the Athenians for not doing, that is what
tho teachers are called Upon to do. A teacher
is the representative OF no one. Let him be
minister OF Gods truth and minister In the
temple Of learning and scholarship. 1t is
sncrilcge to give out what is false or to sup
press what he himself considers to be the truth.
"Money is needed to carry ON university.
know this we'll. / know that Board OF
Trustees Is wrestling with the question how to
| mako both ends meet Yet II money Is to bc
tho goal of instruction by tho suppression of
| tho truth, by sotting q limit on the teacher,
better n thousand times that the institution
university is truth and the propagation OF the
| truth. Money is means for this end. As an
on ond ~. it has poisonous and deadly bite; Thus
| DO resisted. Nor are these considerations OF
more Importance to the teachers than to tho
The principle is equally true that the individual
| All progress In science has demonstrated this
truth, Take It In the study OF astronomy.
hR% rsh S %rnns
who opposed and bounded him right Dcspots
| have tried tho experiment OF interfering with
| universities and the result has always been tho
same
| In opening his talk tho President said:
| II am very glad onco moro to look into your
| faces and welcome students, old and new. into
| the university. ] have not looked into the
faces OF many OF you since l bade farewell To
| the crew ut Popghkcepsc. They acquitted
| themselves we'll there, and hope the lessons
they taught there will bear fruI They won.
| That Is an important thing. to be sure, but in
their victory they showed characteristics which
| united crew. Their success depended upon that.
| They were friendly crew. and there was a
! feeling of brotherhood among the men such as Is
| seldom in similar organizations. I know
| from conversation with them that they had
| the welfare OF tho university at heart. They
were loyal. With friendship loyalty. and tho
| highest standard OF morality any society is
strong. Without these qualities the same so.
| ciety Is weak l trust that these qualities may
| be present before our minds and animate us
| throughout the year and the years to come.
| Il suppose that the subject OF athletics. to
| which have given much attention. may now
| be dismissed. Some OF YOU will remember that
| few years ago the suggestion WAS made that
| Intercollegiate sports be abolished. l myself
| always opposed this suggestion, and ! am
| has fully vindlcated the action Of tho faculty.
| What we want is healthy athletics and the
| avoidance of the evils that sometimes come from
| these sports. The experience of the last two or
| three years gives us confidence that the stu.
| dents.themselye- will take the matter in hand ="
| He then referred to the increase in the at
| tendance at the university, despite the increased
| requirements. saying that the number would
! reach 1900 this year. as against l,s25 last
| year. He closed With tribute to the memory
| OF Henry w. Sage.