New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-06-24
REPORT OF DR.. DWIGHT.
YALE'S RETIRING PRESIDENTS FINAL
OFFICIAL UTTERANCE.


lecture method OF instruction and written exam"
inations-the report is sure to attract "lue az
tention Many educators VIII resatu sunni %
President Dwights positions as reacuohaI!' o
they are none the less noteworthy as tne ma
opinion Of one who Is compiet'"s HIS
as president Of Yale
President Dwight praises two otner retirlhs o"0
GERS OF the NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Franklin b. 10
ter secretary OF the corporation whose k"ow,Ueo
Of Yale life and history is well known. and Wiihaih
W Farnsm the treasurer, who In periou W
raodlv LxIng interest rates has so managed 'ne
funds oS the university as 10 derive from them an
average revenue of more than per cent -,
Commenting on the great Increase IN nu'i'
beautv and comfort OF the new dormi'orieS' .
president approves Of them as an educauoh"i III
nuence and scouts the idea that their greater ere
canoe will endanger or diminish the democratic
spirit Of the institution. This spirit mas never '.u
It's vitality dependent on the fact that every 81
dent was spending the same amount OF H'o"e! %
was or could be expended by every o'"e'' -"
Vale democratic spiri, is no such weak. voorhees,
,n,nracticable Thing as this The true and genuine
d.mocrstic spirit is the spirit which es'i-
mates man according 10 what ne Is ana hoa az
coroine TO what he has" the report says AiiS
does not demand that the man who mas posses
s,ons should not make use OF them Tor MS own
oon,ort and culture and refinement, beyond tha'
which Is possible for the man who has them not
Defence OF FOUR YEARS COURSE.
ON the elective system in the acsdemcel Depart
mont the president commends the tendency VI
juniors and seniors to elect courses IN history Eng
ush literature and political science CONTINUING ne
saws: "If we are have an education OF gen
sra, and well-rounded character, as preparatory
70 a more special fitting for professional me-
we may we'll retain the four years colege cu'Ilcu-
,,,,, and We may htly arrange 1t In It's sue
onss,ve stages in such a way best TO accomplish
the end in view. There can be no DOUBT 'ha' 'n'
tendency TO specializing in our educational SYSTEM
eve, from the beginning of the studies OF youth as
contrasted with childhood. has become excessive
and that II the best education Is 10 continue '"iS
tendency must be counteracted Otherwise we
NAV have educated lawyers or physicians Vi
snec,alists OF one sort another, but not eau
Gated men"
President Dwight's comments on the revival OF
college debating are especially interesting lie az
tributes its decline change In the spirit OF the
age and the adoption by mature men OF an eaII'e'
generation of calm and Unconditional methods rather
than the use rhetoric and rhetorical display l's
revival Is result Of new COZ Euons' ana as sEo"
may have peculiar value. The power whlch prac-
tce I'm public discussion gives is one OF Importance
TO the educated man" He recommends that speciai
urovis,on be made in the buildings for rooms
for debating purposes and that the students nave
special guidance. On intercollegiate contests ne
does not look with much favor. and asks; Is
not the interest of the present time too much the
interest in securing prize or a victory
On the subject OF discipline and influence Presi-
dent Dwights remarks are especially interesuhg'
The call Of the present and the coming time up'b
our professors and teachers is an impressive am
emphatic call to enter into as close relations as
possible with the individual students who are under
their personal instruction. No professor or in
structor fulns his duty his pupils who sees them
only in the lecture room. = II he can {.
infuse his thought and character into the life OF
the individual student ne will. at the end, have &C
demolished an additional and even greater work"
He commends the disciplinary value Of research
work and the practice OF selecting professors and
instructors largely because Of their aptitude and
attachments original investigators, but at the
same time he alleges that this tendency Is attended
by dangers and evils, related to the best educa-
ton Such men-who have no duties in the way
of instruction and do not meet students at lectures
add to its fame but no faculty composed entiIeiy
OF socn h men re US The true educa
ton Of its students has not been and cannot pc Sc
cured without the work and influence Of men gifted
teachers"
VALUE OF ORAL EXERCISES.
He criticised the eclectic system distinctively
especially the instruction is given by lecture:
the teacher to test his students by written rather
than oral examinations AS result OF this neces
sonai,y TO his apprehension. or, at least there II
OF the student and the mind of the teacher thar
when the student recites and the teacher hears ant
tains that written examinations have NOT prove
themselves in experience to be what mas a, bee
lacking in marking the papers they are frequent
he system ny do @s he pnbaon Of the papers
each year II results that they are constantly mad
ling to the student Examinations . hav
rarely If eyer any force %s then FOR the
vestigatons" of the students attachments by tn
instructor Will help 10 arouse enthusiasm and ma
equally well as tests Of knowledge
notable gift TO the university has Just been an
Beecher. who succeeds the late Professor Marsh
gave his entire scientific collections TO the Peabod
to Yale. and represent the results of twenty year
OF labor They comprise upward of one hundred thou
sand specimens. mostly OF nvertebrate fossils I'M
collection. added 10 that Of Professor Marsh make
the Peabody Museum one OF the richest In IN
country. Besides these gifts, The university has i
the last eighteen months received more than sSO W
the b-centennial fund During 1888 the library wal
which $3.50 volumes were purchases
OF his successor President Dwight said: PRO
fessor Hadley will begin his work at a mos
auspicious time in the history OF the university
time when all the inspirations Of the past and TIT
future TO unite together for his encourage
ment and when the promise OF greater things thar
have yet been realized may well bring him will
itself an ever-contnuing energy and conhden
hope" lie dwels the point that the future
development OF Yale is 10 be as university anC
not simply a college"
The personal references OF his farewell word
were as follows
ventures to hope that the friends Of Yale in thei
review OF these last thirteen years. may feel tina
lie mas hiOuRIt HON uiWOItHIIF " tlOse VINO pre-
ceded him. There could be for him. certainly, n
happier fortune than TO be assured that his wcr
has. In some true sense and measure, fifty com
pleted-for the hundred years-that which was be
gun so grandy by his ancestor. II will always
pleasant thought 10 him--if he may have this as
surance-that the beginning and the ending wer
by the favor Of God given to the two men, of IN
same family and bearing the same name. the
allotment Of working in and for the college and un
versity.
With words of-gratefu recognition OF the kline
ness manifested toward him by the members Of III
corporation and the other officers OF the unversit
and OF the friendship OF the graduates to whiC
they have given most generous testimony the pres
dent closes this last report of the years his az
ministration. As he leaves his Office his desire
prayer are that the divine blessing may re-
upon this home OF learning, which consecra Il
by the fathers OF the Christian faith
III