The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-01-17
DIR. CUNNINGHAM
 MAKES AN ADDRESS
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 that the degree of excellence of an individ- ual organism will depend upon the quan- tity and quality of the cells, their fooo and environment.
 The condition of man today is the re- suit of two things, what he inherits and what he has acquired. What he inherits consists of his intrinsic power and his h. trinsic weakness-what he has acquired may decrease or increase either of them. The great problem is, therefore to lp- crease and maintain intrinsic power, to diminish intrinsic weakness by the ac- qustion of such things as promote this end. While the education and skill of the parent dies with the parent, the poten- tiality of the parent, which he inherited and acquired, is inherited by the offspring.
 Kinds of Environments.
 Man has two kinds of environment- natural and artificial. The natural may be improved or mad worse by art. The natural invironment fixes the general character of fauna and flora, and man determines the artificial invironment. pr. Cunningham further stated that the nat ural unchangeable environment of man largely determines the destiny of man within that environment, but that 1t is doubtful if 1t determines race. He ex- plained this by the example of the Amer ican Indian, which once thrived on the open plains and forests, but is dying in the changed environments wrought by the art of the white man. He further stated that selfshness was a natural law, and that the artificial law was created to establish justice among men. Natural law through climates, resources, etc., largely determine the characteristics, physical. mental and moral, of different peoples. The general rule seems to be this; The more natural the environments the greater the physical power, the less the mental and moral The mere artificial the environments the less the physical power, but the greater the moral and mental. The savage has the greater strength, but lack the intelligence of the civilized man, If men would only study and apply the laws of nature in the growth of their bodies. the development and expansion of their minds, and in the proper stimulation and restraint of their conduct, it would revolutionize so- ciety, collectively and individually, and in the end produce race of men and women with sound bodies, sane mns and clean morals. It would so foster the constructive agencies of nature and re- strain the destructive. as to develop the highest possible standard of physical vigcr mental power and moral purity.
 The Divine Law.
 Dr. Cunningham then stated that to a person reading or hearing the above it would seem that he believes in no other law than that of nature. He saIs that. on the contrary he believed otherwise; that the great fundamental principle of the moral law is the survival of the fit- test The great purpose of the moral law is to so modify the natural law as to make the Attest also the best. Moral laws may so modify the motives and conduct of men as to transform them into other beings as far as character is concerned.
 The speaker then addressed the young men of the college as follows:
 Young Gentlemen: Each of you Is a unit in the community and of the human race. Each of you has a duty to perform You may aid the natural and moral law in bettering the world or in damnlng it. as instruments for good or evil. You are not responsible for what you have in herited Your race. your nationality, your intrinsic power and tendency-your pro- genitors are responsible for these. Neithe~ are you responsible for the natural and artificial environment into which you are born. But you are responsible to God. to nature, the community. to civilization and to your posterity for what you try to do. Your ancestors must answer for your inherited weakness and tendency to ruin. disease and death, as you must answer to your children for all that you acquire in your life that will entail upon them this evil tendency Therefore it Is your nat ural and moral duty to know yourself as you are and endeavor to restrain your evil tendency and to strengthen your good qCalities''