The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1900-06-15
SEVENTY YOUNG PEOPLE RE-
CEIVE THEIR DIPLOMAS.
The Graduating Exercises at the Normal
School Friday Evening Largely Attend.
ed.-ExceIlent Address by Rev. M. D.
Shutter on the Cultivation of Patriot
ism.-Diplomas Conferred by Hon. W.
S. Hammond, of the State Normal
Board,

The annual commencement exercises
of the normal school were held in the
assembly hall on Friday even
ing, and were witnessed by an audience
that packed the room. The stage was
attractively decorated with ferns and
palms, and the seventy members of the
graduating class and few others who
assisted in chorus work occupied the
left of the stage The class presented
fine appearance as it marched in in
double file and took the chairs that
were awaiting it. The ladies appeared
in pretty white dresses and wore flow
ers. The class appears to be composed
of very good material.
The members of the faculty were
seated on the right of the stage, and in
the center were President Cooper, DIR.
Shutter, Hon. W. S. Hammond, Resi-
dent Director Clark and several clergy
men.
The exercises opened with an invoca-
ton by Rev. Lee w. Beattie. The
large chorus of eighty voices sang "By
Babylon's Wave" directed by Miss Holt
with Miss Carney at the piano. This
and the two succeeding chorus songs
were splendidly executed. and Miss
Holt is deserving of congratulations on
the success of her painstaking work.
Pou Morioo n Coh,7ttar n n of
Minneapolis, gave the address, his sub
ject being American History as a
Means of Cultivating Patriotism" He
is favonte with Mankato audiences
and his address last night took well.
He said that he thought his subject
quite appropriate for the occasion, as
the meaning and justification of such
an institution as this lies in its in.
fuence for better citizenship.
Our history is just as sacred as that
of Palestine. Washington and the men
of his time were just as divinely raised
up as were Moses and the men of his
time; Lincoln and the men of his time
ware just as divinely raised up as
were David and the men of his time.
All history is divine because it is
simply the unfolding of the purpose of
God.
Patriotism is love of country, the
spirit which leads one to the service of
country. 1t is the love of country that
works itself out in any direction that
the country may need. 1t does not
mean a blind devotion. 1t is love
that sees faults and endeavors to RENE
dy them in every way possible. He
who makes himself a good citizen has
taken long step toward freeing his
country from evil.
The best and brightest spot under the
sun is America. No person in the
world has more reason to thank God
for present blessings and to take cour-
age for the future than the American
citizen. We talk sometimes of present
chaos, and that former days were bet
ter than these are, but they were not.
| The world went no better in the days of
| Washington and the fathers than to
day, nor 80 we'll. Steam and the tele-
graph have been introduced, and prog
ress has been made along the whole
line-moral, intellectual, social and re.
ligious. This progress has not only
been relative but absolute. We talk of
corruption in politics, but when we
take everything into account there was
more political corruption in the days of
Washington and jefferson than today
If Washington could stand the strain of
the depravity of his political associates.
it is not likely that his faith would give
way even when subjected to the terrific
weight of Minnesota legislature or a
national congress. The qualifications
for Office were stricter in the old days
than now, the ownership of a certain
amount of property being one of them.
There have been governors in our own
state not only not rich but not offensive
ly pious. The suffrage has been ex-
tended to the last point that we dare,
vet McMaster tells us that there was
more political corruption among the
fathers than today. We are by no means
perfect now, but thepoliticians of today
will be found roosting round or two
higher on Jacobs ladder than the poll
ticians of the past.
In other parts of the globe men are
now making the same fight that we
made century ago. The Social Demo
Gratis in Germany are asking for free,
compulsory educational system, the ex-
tension of the suffrage, the Divorce of
church and state, and relief from the
burdens of the army. In Russia the
best men are imprisoned, and it is no
wonder that the Russian political
prisoner looks with admiration on a
flag that stands for freedom of speech
and action-a flag as free as the wind
upon which it floats.