The San Francisco call., 1897-12-08
Appeals Against the Ten
denotes Which Work
8 Toward VuIgarity.
" THE STRONG MAN is THE
GENTLEMAN"
Drunkenness, Profanity and the
bling Spirit Evidences of
Weakness.
Special Dispatch to The CALL

PALO ALTO, Dec. DIR. Jordan spoke
very plainly to the students tonight on
the tendencies Of college life which work
toward vuIgarity, and gave the position
of the faculty concerning those signs of
growing evils. He spoke in high praise
OF his impressions of the student body
on his return from Washington, and then
rroce eded with the most plain-dealing
lecture he has ever delivered TO the stu
dents. Among other things he said:
II am no ascetic. believe in the exuber-
ance and Joy of youth. | was boy once,
and as long as live 1 shall hope to be
reckoned with the boys. But there is one
truth that has been very much impressed
upon my mind by the experience of life.
1t is that the strong man IS the gentle
man. The man who moves the world is
the man who is not touched by the worlds
corrosion. l believe that virtue belongs
10 the young and the strong-not to the
prig, the mlksop or the invalid. 1t is the
mission of the university TO bring good
ness out of the abundance of life. The
man we dream OF as the Stanford man
will stand up against vulg ulgarity, roYdyism
and mean temptation as he stands up
against the bold dash of his opponents
rush line"
He then spoke of growing carelessness
among the students concerning the rights
OF Others. This tendency was shown in
the too tree use of college property and
the abuse of library privileges. This
brought him to his severest criticism,
which pertained to carelessness of the
honor OF the university. He said:
"It is true that a Stanford student dis
honors his university when be dishonors
him self. Not many do this, but there are
some. And there are some who DO it not
because they mean to, but because they
90 along with Others. When a Stanford
man enters saloon, gam bin groom or
place of evil and carries with him his
colors, his college or his name he brings
disgrace upon himself, his college and his
family. Those men who go on the
cocktail route will be shocked when they
see you there"
He added that while the faculty would
not follow a student to such places or
punish him for what he did, it would
never be indifferent to a Students mis-
fortunes nor 10 the university's discredit.
ii e remarked that "the only melancholy
that wine can drive away is that which
wine Itself has caused" He referred mot
10 the use of liquors as medicines or table
condiments, but to perpendicular drink
ing" as he termed it, and the use of
liquors as source of Joy and good fellow
ship.
Il detest that happiness which wine or
beer can promote" said he. THAT free
dom which shows itself in laxity of life IS
10 me the most delestabIe form oil
slavery"
He spoke of profanity as a symptom OF a
dull. unretined or degraded nature, a lack
OF richness of spirit, and said the bravest
of men were soft OF tongue and quiet of
action.
There are some among US whom we
know 10 be sorry scamps, but they have
worn the cardinal so long that some of us
may have learned to love them in spite of
he evil they do said he.
He thought batting should be put under
the ban with cheating, for The one who
wins got something for nothing, and the
one who lost got nothing for something.
To conduct athletics with view to sue
cessful betting was TO give the death blow
to all that was good in ii. He deplored
the growth of college politics, and said
that as sudents were more reckless than
grown men, doing dishonorable things
because they had not experienced the
evils of transgression, so were their poll
tics at their liveliest more corrupt than
those OF professlona! politicians. From
the ranks of college politics political
bosses were too often recruited. He
touched on college haziDg, and denounced
The restraints put personal liberty
thereby. His talk will be food for serious
reflection for many days in college circles