The Kinsley graphic. [volume] (Kinsley, Kan.) 1890-1940, 1901-03-22
Sounding the Alarm.

Sounding the Alarm.
The following portion of an address
by President Hadley, of Yale college
commends itself to all people who are
watching the trend of events:
WILL BE AN EMPIRE.
N. Y, March IA special to the
Times from Boston quotes President
Arthur Il. Hadley, of Yale university,
as saying:
I'VE shall have an emperor in
Washington within twenty-five years
unless we can create a public senti-
meptwhich, regardless of legislation,
will regulate the trusts"
President Hadley uttered this at the
old South church last night, the report
explains, before congregatio on
largely made up of the richest church
society in New England. He was de-
livering the third ia a course of Lent
en- addresses by college presidents,
and his specific topic "Tbe Develop
ment of Public Conscience. In the
course of his address he said:
''HOw do things stand as regards
the needs of q public conscience in
this country today? The American
standard of personal morality is on
the whole high. rs compared with 9TH
er nations and other ages. We have
developed personal virtues through
individual conscience very well. But
our actions in politics and in social
and business sense prove our moral
standards in those directions desper-
ately low.
'"There is an appalling contrast be-
tween our methods in dealing with
each other as individuals and the low
standard observed in dealings be-
tween different parts of the whole or
ganiZation of society.
Comparison used to prevent man
from practicing great extOrtion upon
his neighbor, even if he wanted to,
and in politics we once had AZ least a
rough form of relative justice. But
today with our industries organized
into trusts, aud the imperialistic spir-
it developed in politics, the general
development of the principle of trusts
will become appalling unless We cui-
tivate Il higher standard of morality
than ever befOre-legislatiOn will new
er protect us from the evils of trusts,
of deteri riorated politics. The es-
sence of trust is that you must trust
the head of it to exercise his power
wisely or to abuse it, according to the
kind of conscience he possesses.
TRUSTS have got to be regulated by
public sentiment, and that public SEN
i timent is not merely the opinion of
any particular part of the whole peo-
pie, but is readiness to accept, in
behacf of the community. restrictions,
independent of the question whether
you or 1 shall be personally harmed
by those restrictions.
"You will say that the community
will not be governed by this pri inciple?
WE MUST EXPECT THAT THE
COMMUNITY WILL, HOWEVER,
FOR THE ALTERNATIVE IS AN
EMPEROR IN WASH NGTON
WITHIN TWENTY-FIVE YEARS.
Public affairs can no longer be played
as a game but must be directed by an
intelligent and active public con-
science. Individual effort is helpless
and hopeless.
A close attention to current events
will probably show US that Professor
Hadley will be asked to step down and
out within year along with Profess or
Ross, of Leland Stanford university,
Connors Of Syracuse, Bemis of Chi
cago and Heron of Grinnel. Frances
Willard once likened our college pro-
fessors to a ''row of lamps filled with
choicest oil but lacking the light of
daring personal convictions. If the
dear saint were living now she would
find row of them Illuminating the
desert of Intellectual inertia in which
we dwell: Hadley, Ross, Connors, Be-
mis-, Parsons, Heron and Will.
When the people once waken it is a
question whether the yoke of empire
can be thrown off or not as the trusts
now have everything they have been
working for: a standing army, the
greatest menace to free people, the
power of the house of representatives
vested in the speaker, and already
they are planning to apply the rule of
clotnre in the senate which will choke
free speech there.
The daily papers are taking advant-
age of the absence of our senator to
IL L 4