The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-06-12

/ behold a quadrennniaI miracle. A boy
presents himself in my office for matric- |
ulation. He is hard of hand, strong of
face, ungainly Of address. with the rude
disorder of nature evident in his thinking
and in his manner. But he has a faith.
and it is good faith shining in his
knowledge and culture from which pow
erty and hardship sink away abashed.
And the four years go by, and something
rich and strange comes into the face of
that boy, something subtle enters into
his motions and his speech-some pride
of race. some consciousness OF power,
some intimation of Immortality, and at
last he stands here erect and free-that
nOblest OF Gods creatureS-an effective,
cultured gentleman, nj 70 oeget children
refuse 10 accord growth TO such an in
stitution without paying the cost IN
class hatred. in religious rancor, in town
against country. in rich against poor. in
agriculture against manufacture, in cor
poration against individual. The mere
speculative contention that the state has
no right 10 assist in creating its directive
power has no place in my mind in this
pleading. / deem that sentiment, as a
deterrent force, as extinct as the masto-
don. What is most 10 be feared is that
stunning inheritance handed down 10 US
from the grinding days OF want and pow
erty TO which has accustomed US TO the
use OF small means for great purposes.
II may be seen in our treatment of the pub
lie school system as well as in the treat
ment of the higher institutions; 1t Is an
AAAAAN IN a etOSA IN 49,
a habit OF mind not a perversity, and II
must be shaken off for the day OF large
thing is at hand Let no one fancy that l
mean to cavil at this wise. conservative.
just, dignifed ealth, with its
tender constraining power 10 make a man
once a North C~arolinian, a North Caro-
where one might gladly Choose TO be
born. 1t has trusted me and l have
served IL and tasted of its confidence and
the taste is sweet TO my soul. 1t has
done much under stupendous difficulties.
IL it moves slowly il moves with a GER
tain grand steadfastness. If II sometimes
lifts its foot to move along the highway
OF progress and keeps il suspended for
twenty years there are no twirlings and
back-trackings. 1t simply needs to feel
things in its bones before vivid action
follows and this is due in great part to
the lack of the fierce impulsion of Urban
life. Whenever a true conception OF what
a real university is gets into the bone
and marrow of North Carolina this in
stitution will have the finest chance in
America to realize its ideals. Whenever
it is understood what an adequate sys-
tenn of public education means in produc-
tive power to a free people, the percent
age of illiteracy will drop like a thermom-
of a four months school will be replaced
by the juster ideal Of a nine months
school. 1 believe that this day of large
things is dawning in North Carolina. I
pray that it is. 1t is dawning in other
southern states. Fifteen years ago the
states educational duty towards its chill
OTeH was d OeDdLdDle proposition Du 10
day it is an axiom and measures the
growth of the public conscience and the
sweep of the public vision during that
period. The church approves it, the
statesmen proclaims it, the rich man sees
its force in society, and the poor man
thanks God for it. l believe that the ed
ucational policy Of the state will be
shaped for half a century within the next
decade. 1t is true to say. however, that
now it is atomistic ana chaotic. There
is no just correlation of the various ele-
/ mpnrG Primary a6lHarinr iS SET over
against itself. Higher education is Ia
belled and stood in its corner, sometimes
it and seeking to have us believe that it
stands for the monStrouS theory of the
benefit of the few at the expense of the
many. The preparatory school is not
fifty articulated in the great scheme.
The schools of the churches and the
schools of private enterprise do their
unity Of the educational process is not
fully recognized. The conception of it,
however, named, as a social servant is
not realized. The construction of a true
educational system is a fine piece of work
as difficult as it is essential to democra-
cies. Let us make no patchwork job of
this great subject. We have beeen strug-
CLING with it for sixty years, but. intelli-
gent study of the whole subject has not
been made since Arch'N~ Murphy SUBJ
mitted his celebrated report in 1916. A good
public school system is our SupremeSt need
and l may say with Jefferson that as my
first plea in life was for public schools,
my latest plea here shall be for them also,
out the university is as much a part Of
this system as the log school house.
The point for the coming educational
statesman, land that wholesome variety
OF statesmen has indeed arisen among
u.s. to see and to act Upon is the intimate
relation between higher and lower schools
and to afford them coordinate growth.
The university is the dynamo, the public
school the incandescent light. To spend
all the money on the dynamo and neglect
to provide for any lamps would be a
| crime for INV conn m 11nifu hrrt 70 cnnn1 -
all on the lamps and neglect to provide
Tor the dynamo would be a farce. i be-
lieve the new governor and the general
assembly would act wisely to appoint a
commission to study and report in great
detail on this great question before our
educational policy hardens into law and
becomes fixed for generations.
The time has come to decide what
sort of a university we are going 10
make out of this noble foundation. Shall
it be a good honest disciplinary college
and records n traditions and arts, or
shall it become a great modern force.
doing that also but alert to all social
needs from the problems OF suffrage to
the problems of the transference of cleo
trio force. There can be but one answer
to this question. While I do not believe
built here, yet 1 do believe that the
State Of North Carolina has the oppor-
tunlty to make here a far reaching and
powerful institution call it university or
what you will. There can be no limit set
to the ideals of a state university. 1t
must be the source Of power to all below
1t, or fail miserably, and everything may
be taught in it necessary to citizenship,
livelihood and character in the Goth GEN.
tuyr. After isolation, war, submersion.
We are entering into membership into
the modern world. Immense combina-
tions of endeavor and capacity face the
isolated individual. Not only is there
needed the directive brain and the cum
n1ng hand, the factory and the blast fur
mace, but the man who has the right pub
lie spirit and the force to make himself
felt: the thinking man who sees hat
civic unity and community effort must
replace the raw i~ndividualism and the
dlsunlon and rage of section, party and
sect. This is the social engine to create
that benign force. Three great needs APP
pear in order to bring about this result.
AN appropriation of fifty thousand
dollars a year as an investment in man
hod and directive capacity.
! z A scientific busineSs-like organization
OF the alumni demanding h is right
and getting 1t and opening their own pur-
seS Tor the good of alma mater.
| 3. A broader and more effective scbeme