Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1899-04-10
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THE FAULT FINDER

The only feature of the late puerile
affair at the university in which I have
| become interested notwithstanding the
undue publicity given it by the public
| prints is half admission by one of the
retiring pupils that the insurrectiop-
lists may have been over-American in
their determination not to be imposed
upon This young man must be Il
foreigner or q badly trained American
if l gather the correct conception OF
his meaning. Because the students
were not allowed to participate in Il
pillow fight or were harshly rep-imand-
ed and threatened with punishment for
doing 50 their Americanisn1 rose to the
surface and they chose to go home to
mamma rather than endure the humili-
alton of restraint. This conduct IS not
American. If it is to be dignifed as
national characteristic let it be called
Filipino" or Cuban" or anything else
suggestive Of an ignorant opposition to
rule and order. The ovtr- worked ex-
preston american" means a great
many things, among which is hatred OF
tyranny. But order is not tyranny any
more than anarchy is. The most seri-
GUS fault CT the university is not hav-
ing taught these boys at the begin-
ming what a true American is.
Speaking Of pillow fights recalls the
subject Of feathers, and from feathers
in general one turns to the three noble
ostrich feathers of the principality of
Wales. These feathers first consti-
tuted the crest of John of Luxembourg,
the blind king Of Bohemia, slain at
C.ecy. Chief among the conquercrs
was Edward the Black Prince. the
noblest prince that ever lived. He
adopted the crest of this dead king and
his n-tto, ''IC1 diem" For Che benefit
of the late university students, who
have been 50 deeply engrossed in pill
lCw fights that they have nCc had time
to learn much else, I viii say that len
diem means 81 serve" The ''Amsri-
canism" Of these retiring university
students would have ravolted at a
mctt0 so suggestive Of degradation and
restca amt. They would have gone
home TO mamma and have gone with
out crest and motto. If they had
lived in the fourteenth century they
would not have participated in the
glory CT pOictisrs and ROncesvalles, |
where the ostrich feathers waved amid
the flash of -batt.eaXes, the CLEAN of
spears and the re.l.tendeGt armOr of
the knights. Not much. They would
have gone back to the fields and lorded
1T over the cattle. On the other hand
l am afraid that the Black Prince
would not have shone as a student of
the uniVe 5ity of Arizona. If
he had been caught sneaking
out to engage in feather
fight and had been ordered back to the
dormItory he would have gone tamely
and would not have broken out the
II ext night, would not have defed the
rules and would not have asked the
faculty to apologize to him. The Black
Prince would have been sadly "un-
American" He would have been at
the university '<to serve
The next most serious fault of the
university was in not having sup
pressed the pillow fight years ago. The
pillow fight may not be a Gtsgracaful
ordinance in a gi1ls' solCoI, but it is L
blot on a so-called university where
young men are supposed to be trained. |
lie CID practice of hazing with its
coWardlce and cruelty was more emf
nently respectable than the pillow
fight could Da made. If the faculty of
the university has not already done SO
st i Immediately interdict this feather /
warfare and substitute for it the ex-
citing game of mumble-ty-peg or hop !
G my-thumb. If the pillow fight is |
IN vogue on January l, 1901, the |
lWenty-frst legislature ought TO refuse
to make an appropriation for the main
tenance OF an institution conducted for
the purpose of converting boys and
young men into children.