The leader., 1903-06-03
VIM. ABSHAGEN.

VIM. ABSHAGEN.
grounds good work taken up
this year. Funds are needed for
improving the buildings, for fur
nishing society halls, and other
works. Organize your strength
for the benefit of your Alma Ma
ter. Your mission to Whitworth
College is therefore a great one.
You are the strong, sensible, we'll
balanced women who stand as its
daughters ready to help others in
to it's portals-ready to make a
way possible for the young
women of this State and section
to gain an education at Whitworth
equal to that gained at any other
institution in the whole country.
Your duties to your college are
only exceeded by your duties in
the relation you bear to the public.
On one side you touch the college;
on the other side you touch the
world. You are the connecting
link between the cultured and
the ignorant, between the few and
the many. In the world you are
again the leaders and pioneers,
and a great responsibility rests
upon your shoulders. If the peo-
pie are to be reached it is through
you. The people must be raised
to the standard you have attained;
they must have the social, intel
lectual and moral development you
have experienced. The possibil-
tiles of growth are wonderful for
our people.
In all the ages l believe there
was never a moment so fraught
with responsibilities and oppor-
unities as this time. The civic re-
sponsibilities of the men involve
the knowledge of the greatest gov
ernmental questions. On the
other hand the domestic problems
and social obligations of the wo-
men were never more important.
These great responsibilities afford
great possibilities. Think of this
great nation, reaching as it does
from ocean to ocean, from zone
to zone with it's liberty-giving-
principles. Every man is born a
king and every woman queen:
1t is nation wherein every man
has an equal chance; where things
are made to come and pass; and
we become anything we desire.
1t is gigantic.
These ale the possibilities with
their attendant responsibilities.
How are our people meeting these
responsibilities? Ale they suf-
ficiently developed educationally,
socially and morally to meet these
growing responsibilities? Are
the people as a whole as they
should be to fulfill their duties as
citizens2 Are the people of this
section as intelligent as they
should hef Ask the brave school
teachers who 60 out into the
country schools what is the con-
dition of the people. They will
tell you that the ignorance they
encounter is often appalling.
The parents themselves are so ig-
norant in some sections they do
not realize that inefficient teachers
have been allowed to take charge
of the schools, until the children
have grown up as poorly de-
veloped as their parents. Where
there is progress, each succeed
ing generation represents a high
er educational status than the pre-
vious generation. Now, if you
had been through the last term
of our court and witnessed man
after man disqualified as jurors
because they could not read or
write; if you had seen their dull
faces pressed around the court
bar, with the expression of the
MAN With the Hoe" upon them,
then you would have felt that all
is not well-that something must
be done.
Now, you are the leaders in
this educational world; and it is
your duty to see that this gen
Grafton has better teachers and
greater advantages than your own.
Into every part of the country
into which You go, let your in
fuenoe be felt for better schools
and more efficient teachers. In
vestigate and expose the condition
of the schools, when you find that
they are not getting the results
that should be expected. 1t is
your duty to see that the children
of women less educated than your
selves should be protected from
poor teachers, and given oppor-
tunitiess as good and great as
those of your own children. II
the educational status..of this coun'
try is ever developed it must be
due to the fact that the educated
mothers Of the country demand
good schools for the boys and
girls who are to become the future
citizens, statesmen and leaders II
the nation and the home. Do yot
realize that this mantle rests up
on your shoulders? That you
are called to lead, direct and sug
gest, and in the end elevate thu
educational condition Of your
country
Having seen that our people ar
not as highly educated as a whole
as they should be, to meet full,