The Hawaiian gazette., 1897-05-04
LIBERTY OF MAN
Hampton School Address.
ed by Woodrow Wilson.
General Armstrong EuIogised in an
Able Address on Liberty on
Founders Day.

hampton SclOOl on fOunQer Day, Dy
Prof. Woodrow Wilson. The address
eulogizes General Armstrong, to whose
patriotic unselfishness the school owes
its existence. Portions of the address
are as follows: / cannot help feeling,
as Virginian, that Virginia is honored
in having Hampton planted on her soil.
l cannot help feeling that Virginia is
honored in having the name of Arm
strong enrolled upon her roster of
brave and honorable men, for Virginia
has given birth to many heroic souls,
and while she did not produce Arm
strong, he, too, has consecrated her
soil. He was one of whom l had heard
great and notable things, as of the man
whose name is known wherever devo-
ton and heroic performance of duty
are held in grateful memory, but not
as one whom l had been privileged to
know personally.
General Armstrong was a man who
seldom spoke of anything he did not
directly know: he spoke always of
what he had seen, whether with the
eyes of his body or the eyes of his
spirit It behooves any one, therefore,
who would honor him in speaking in
this place to his audience, to speak
only of such things as he has seen or
experienced for himself. Therefore. l
am going to speak, not of man but
of theme; a theme commonplace
enough in a way, but theme that is
difficult and complex; theme that it
behooves every man to think about
again and again. l am going to speak
to you of liberty.
Does the man in the ranks think the
order of his general a sign of his lib
erty? And yet he knows how to obey
orders? That makes him part of the
army. Do you yourselves think of a
life of service as consistent with free
dom? And yet service is efficiency. and
efficiency is freedom
Does not nature say to a man:
Learn my laws and you shall be free;
free from physical pain, free from
damage, free to use as you will the
forces of my power" It is knowledge
of the laws of health that keeps man
from disease
Power comes with real possession.
A man possesses, not that which he
stands upon, but that which he uses.
A man may have a great deal of money
and may surround himself with books.
but if he has no education and cannot
read the books they are none of his I
might line the walls of my room with
books; but, if l do not use them. |
might as well have walls of plaster.
1t would be cheaper: and if l knew
about plaster and did not know about
books, it would be more fitting.
The strength of society consists in
the perfect and easy adjustment of
each man to his fellows. The search
after freedom is a search after the
best adjustment. ! do not say adjust
ment simply, for some adjustments
Ill adjustments-cause friction, and
men begin to find they are not free.
There is now a constant friction be-
tween Labor and Capital for example.
so that it is said that Capital runs
free and without friction. but Labor
does not This friction becomes so
great now and again that we fear con-
flagTatiOn, If the sparks should fall
anywhere into combustible matter
We can hardly say that the laborer
is in slavery, because there is a speci-
fic legal meaning attached to that
word. Yet it is true that the laborer
has not full liberty; we have not yet
rightly adjusted him to the other parts
of our social machinery, so that his as
sociations with Capital may always be
harmonious.
No government can get along with
out constitution of liberty. written
or implied; and notice that a constitu-
ton of liberty is expressed in negative
and not positive terms We might
think that Belgium's constitution diff
fered from this. because Belgium does
say: There shall be liberty of the
press. Very well, what is meant by
that? Is she going to admit absolute
freedom of the press? No, society can
not permit that. You have got to have
the liberty of the press defined
Our Bill of Rights is our Constitu-
ton, and in the first clause of the 14th
amendment it says, that no man shall
be deprived "of life. liberty or property
without due process of law" Can I
not be deprived of my life by my coun-
try? Yes: by any due process OF law.
If | do something for which the State
has affixed the penalty of death. can it
not demand that my life shall pay the
forfeit? If the Government is at war
and needs every man in her service,
cannot she draft me for her service:
must / not go even if it be unto death?
There is not drop of blood in my
body that is not at the disposal of the
Government. or the community in
which / live: but | must be treated
as every other man is under the same
circumstances. The picking out of a
man because of personal dislike. or ill
will is despotism. Liberty consists in
adjustments that are equal
In a community where all men are
not equal under the law, there is no
liberty There must be a right of ad-
justment of individuals to one another.
of classes TO one another. and of the
government to all. But this adjust
ment is infinitely difficult TO make, and
must be made anew from age to age
No man ought to be impatient to see
it speedily effected It must come from
day to day. 1t takes infinite patience
to learn a trade. or to read a book; il
takes an infinite deal of patience to
solve a simple problem, and this is not
a efr