The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1900-12-17
DR.. JORDAN " GAGGED p"
INFLUENCES THAT DROVE PROF.
ROSS AWAY.
The Process Applied More Carefully
and Less Blatantly to the President
Of Leland Stanford University.

The case of Professor Ross of Stan
ford University, says the San Francisco
Bulletin, was not the first in which in
fluences powerful in the affairs of the
institution claimed the right to edit
the public utterances of members of the
faculty and to hold the professors an
swerable for individual opinions public
ly expressed. President Jordan him
self has encountered this strong gag
influence and on at least one occasion
felt compelled to break an engagement
to speak because his well-known OPT
Mons on the subject of his advertised
discourse were not pleasing to certain
persons DR.. Jordan is too big a man to
be "bossed" by anybody and on many
occasions before and since the one to
which allusion is made he exercised his
right of free speech. He cannot be
punished as Ross was punished and
therefore he is a measure the better of
those who would be, if they dared, the
censors of his writings and public ut
terances.
Some time ago DR.. Jordan accepted
an invitation to address the Iroquois
club of this city on the subject of I'm
perialism." 1t was well known that his
views were strongly opposed to Nc
Kinley's policy in the Philippines. Pre-
parations were made for the lecture
and a large audience would have at
tended to hear DR.. Jordan Shortly be-
fore the day of the lecture DR.. Jordan
made an appointment to meet a repre-
sentative of the Iroquois Club at the
Occidental Hotel The meeting was
held and Jordan explained that for GER
tain reasons he could not keep his en-
gagement to address the Iroquois on
imperialism" The reasons were SIM
liar to those presented to Professor
Ross and ignored by him. The matter
was kept secret out of Difference to the
wishes of DR.. Jordan.
DR.. Jordan is. of course, too strong a
man to accept dictation from influences
outside the university or within it, and
he has frequently given public express
sion to his opinions of the Philippine
question. His great book. Imperial
Democracy" was the chief text on the
issue of imperialism" during the late
campaign and was an inexhaustible
fountain of inspiration for Democratic
orators. Doubtless the influences"
which ousted Professor Ross were very
modest when they dealt with DIR. Jor-
dan, not because they respected his
right to think for himself and say what
he thought on matters of great public
moment, but because they respected his
real power in the university. No one
doubts that Jordan is the university in
so far as one man can be the source of
the strength and power and influence
of a great school. His BRAIN as much
as the Stanford money, built up the uni
Versity and if he were compelled to re-
sign the indignation of the public and
of the student body would probably
throw the institution into the second
class and forever impair it's standing in
the country. The interference of wo-
men and financiers in the scholastic af-
fairs of a university tends to make it
ridiculous. Therefore Jordan is free to
do what smaller fry in the faculty may
not do-speak his own mind on public
questions.