The Washington times., 1905-09-29
The Sun of PubliCitu.

This country has many splendid
specimens of scholarly manhood.
1t needs more of the same
kind. We have learned men In
plenty, our over-wealthy men are
superabundant, and our men of
manly character are everywhere.
What the coming generation must
produce is the blending Of all these
into a culture that is Intellectually
moral and of high, clean, personal
character To this end all our great
est forces are now directed, the
schools, the churches, and the press.
There can be no meaning to the
discoveries Of graft and perverted
trusts, there can be no good result
to the Investigations of divers forms
OF wrongdoing, unless it be that the
people are waking up to an under
standing of the false notions of
honor and business propriety which
have sapped our life, and will cor
rect them. There is hope In the very
stencil Of the insurance disclosures.
The nation should become known
for scholarly manhood. It has the
leaven now at work in it. Among
the many men laboring for the future
Dr. Butler, president of Columbia
University, is a distinguished ex-
ponent of character joined to knowl-
edge and skill, of morality combined
with manliness. In his address at
the opening exercises of the univer-
sity, DR.. Butler said:
Just now the American people are
receiving some painful lessons In practi-
cal ethics. They are having brought
home to them, with severe emphasis.
the distinction between character and
reputation A mans true character, it
abundantly appears, may be quite In
conflict with his reputation, which is
the public estimate of him. OF late we
nave been watching regulations melt
away IKE snow before the sun, and the
sun In this case is mere publicity.
Men who for years have been trusted
inHncitly by their fellows, and so
placed in positions OF honor and grave
less spectators with the money of 9th
ers and petty pilferers Of the savings
Of the poor and needy.
Put bluntly, the situation which con-
principle. The greed for gain and the
greed for power have blinded men TO
rae time-old distinction between right
and wrong. Both among business men
and the bar are found advisers, counted
shrewd and successful. who have sub
stituted the penal code for the moral
law as the standard Of conduct Right
and wrong have given way to the sub
n har
and Illegal; or Netter, perhaps, between
honest, law-honest, and dishonest This
new triumph of mind over morals Is
bad enough in itself, but when in ad-
dition its exponents secure material
gain and professional prosperity il be-
comes menace to our integrity as a
poople.
Against this casuistry of the counting
house and of the law office. against this
subterfuge and deceit, real character
Will otand like a rock. This university
| and ali universities, in season and out
Of season. must keep clearly in view
before themselves and the public the
real meaning of character. and they
must never tire of preaching that char
acter and character alone makes knowl-
edge. skill. and wealth a help rather
than a harm to those WI o possess them
and to the community as a whole.
That is good. sound doctrine. II
is the speech of man who has the
direction of hundreds of our youth
in his care. 1t shows the true aim
and province of the university-the
conservation and perpetuation OF
whatever the race has achieved OF
morality, decency, learning, skill, and
culture. There is nothing more i'm
portant for our young men to learn
than that the glitter of wealth and
the pomp of learning are as nothing
beside the solidity of character which
should be the object of every mans
ambition. One needs to build a repu.
tation upon the true foundation OF
character, one that viii not melt
when exposed TO the sun of pub.
licity.