The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1905-06-28

| ashamed OF every Harvard athlete who
did not spend every ounce there was IN
| him in the effort 10 win, PROVIDED only
he does II i'm honorable and manly fash-
| ion. But - think our effort should be
u minimize rather than TO increase that
! kind OF love OF athletics which manlfests
/ itself not in joining in the athletic sports
! but in crowding by tens Of thousands 10
/ see other people indulge in them.
L. is a far better thing for our coll
! leses 10 have the average student inter
ested in some form OF athletics than 10
have them all gather In mass To see
| other people do their athletics Tor them
So much for the undergraduates. Now
| fo.' the alumni. the men who are AT work
OF in the great world OF coarse the
mans FIRST duty is 10 himself and TO those
Immediately dependent upon him. Unless
he can pull his own weight he must he
content to remain a passenger all his life.
Blu, we have a right 10 expect that the
mo. who come out OF Harvard VIII do
something more than merely pun their
OWE weight We have a right 10 expect
that they will count as positive forces
for the betterment OF their fellow
countrymen: and they can thus count
only II they combine the power OF de-
votion 10 a lofty ideal with practical com
mon sense IN striving TO realize this
ideal.
MEN WITH IDEALS.
This nation never stood in greater need
tnun now OF having among its leaders
men OF lofty ideals. which they try 20
live up 10 and not merely 10 talk OF We
need men with these ideals In public life
and we need them just as much in busl-
ness and I'm such a profession as the law.
We can by statute establish only those
exceedingly rough lines OF morality the
overpassing Of which means that the man
Is I'm Jeopardy OF the constable or the
sheriff But the nation Is badly OF IL
in addition TO this there is not very
much higher standard OF conduct.
standard impossible effectively 10 estab-
lish by statute but one upon which the
community as a whole. and especially the
real leaders Of the community. insist
Take such a question as the enforcement
OF the law. II is. Of course. elementary
TO say that this is the first requisite In
any civilization at all.
But great many people In the ranks
OF life from which most college men are
drawn seem TO forget that they should
condemn with equal severity those men
who break the law by committing crimes
OF mob violence. and those who evade the
law. or who actually break IT, but so cum
ningly that they can not be discovered
the crimes they commit being not those
and craft on the largest scale.
The very rich man who conducts his
business as II ne believed that he were
law unto himself. thereby immensely In
creases the difficulty OF the task OF up
holding order when the disorder is men
ace 10 men OF property for II the COM
munty feels that rich men disregard the
law where II affects themselves. then the
community is apt TO assume the dangerous
and unwholesome attitude OF condoning
crimes OF violence committed against the
interests which In the popular mind these
rich men represent
This last attitude is wholly evil; but so
is the attitude which produces it We
have a right to appeal TO the alumni OF
Harvard. and 10 the alumni OF every In
stitution OF learning in this land. TO do
their part In creating a public sentiment
which shall demand OF all men OF means,
and especially OF the men of vast fortune.
that they set an example 10 their less for
tunate brethren, by paying scrupulous
heed not only 70 the letter but 10 the
spirit OF the laws and by acknowledging
in the heartiest fashion the moral obiga-
tions which can not he expressed in law
but which stand back OF and above all
laws
II is far more important that they
should conduct their business affairs de-
Gently than that they should spend the
DlllantnrODN.
Much has been given 10 these men and we
have a right 10 demand much OF them in
return
is A MENACE.
Every man OF great wealth who runs his
business with cynical contempt for those
prohibitions OF the law which by hired
cunning he can escape or evade. is a
menace TO our community; and the COM
munityi is not to be excused II 1t does not
develop a spirit which actively frowns on
and discountenances him The great pro-
fession OF the law should be that whose
Members ought to take the lead in the
creation Of just such n spirit We all
know that as things actually are, many
OF the most influential and most highly
remunerated members OF the bar in every
centre OF wealth make IL their special
task TO work out bold and ingenious
schemes by which their very wealthy cli-
ents. individual or corporate. can evade
the laws which are made TO regulate in
the interest OF the public the use Of
great wealth.
Now, the great lawyer who employs his
talent and his learning I'm the highly re-
munerative task Of enabling very
wealthy client TO override or circumvent
the law Ia doing all that I'm him lies to en-
courage the growth In this country OF n
spirit OF dumb anger against all laws and
OF disbelief I'm their efficacy Such a spirit
may breed the demand that laws shall he
made even more drastic against the rich.
or else IL may manifest itself in hostility
10 all laws. Surely Harvard has the right
to expect from her sons a high standard
Of applied morality whether their paths
lead them into public life. into business.
or into the great profession OF the law.
whose members are so potent in shaping
the growth OF the national soul.
But In addition TO having high ideals IL
can not too often he said TO body such
as is gathered here today. that together
with devotion 10 what is right must go