The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1905-07-07

The above is the topic. and the fol
lowing are excerpts from an addres
delivered to the graduates of ObeIlil
College. at OberIin. Ohio, by the Hon
James b. Dill, of New York:
The purpOTt OF what / have to say
to Won of today's graduating class i
n tell you plainly something OF thr
kind of post- graduate education yor
are likely to get from the world, Il
state TO you as clearly as / NAV out O
my own experience what, as educated
men and educated women, you will
encounter IN your future attempts tx
educate yourselves in the world, OF,
more accurately. in the worl Is at.
tempts to educate you.
the worlds school begins tomor.
low you must choose your course now
and 1t Is of the utmost importance that
you make a correct choice, for educa-
tion in the real school, the school OF
life, is compulsory.
No intelligent man or woman can
fail to realize that the smoke upon the
social, tisncial and political horizon
indicates tiIe.
so much talk of ''fEenl Cd finance,
of troubles in the bus rs, world. OF
dIssens1ons in our great financial cen
tiers, of corporate O. Iression, drive us
to the conclusion that something is
wrong In the financial situation.
And something is wrong there.
Reports OF political dishonesty, of
corruption, of graft, Indicate that the
political situation is not all that it
should he; that something is wrong in
our governmental machinery.
"And something is wrong there.
What is it that is wrong?
'Some people have been content to
assert that the secret OF the difficulty Is
the tendency toward great aggrega
tions of capital, great corporations,
and that this is the great cause of our
trouble, Is this the answer?
True this has been an era OF CON
soliuation.
"And it is fact that while origi-
nally men sought consolI 1ation for the
purpose of added strength, later com
binatIon was sought as method of
covering up weaknesses, to conceal
fraud, to hide deficiency, to join the
weak with the strong, and to pass the
whole over to the public as sound
proposition.
"Aggregations of capital and cor
poIate or other combinations are often
the centers where such evils become
most apparent. But these are not the
things which are wrong. They are the
symptoms; they are not the disease
They are not the cause. The real evil
lies in men, in character. And l do
not mean "otlieI men,. The trouble is
with you and melt is personal.
We are answered on all sides that
we are in the midst of an era of pIos
peIity.
'"'PIosperity is comparative tenn
If you mean by it that everything IS
all right, that the affairs of the cOun
try are proceeding upon a basis on
which they ought to proceed, that there
are no perlls In the present STU atom,
no dangers 10 be eliminated; IN short,
if by prosperity you mean that there
is no need of reform or 1eformers, then
| must disagree with you. Halling
as | do from financial center, 1 say
You and / are not prosperous We
may be rich in money; ouI stomacns
NAV be full, our heads and our hands
DuSys Dut tudS 10 llOl hOA
all there is of prosperity. All is NOT
we'll For we are losing sight Of chal-
Rcter.
line menace in our s0-called pros
perity OF today is that the men among
us who become poweIs-nnancial,
political, social-abuse their power.
Conditions i'll the BUSINESS AMI imam
cial world are not wholesome. Let us
Ook little deeper. Inc trouble Is
not with matters in the ABSTRACT, 1T Is
not with theories, it IS not win forms. |
trouble is concrete. The evils of !
the past are our fault. The wrong Is
We are not honest.
The cause of today's existing evils !
is not that our theories of finance or |
politics or corporation law are wrong !
They may be wrong, hut they are not
the wrong. Back of them are the
evils which nave their origin within
lur men and our women. No, the T
cause is personal; and-this is | say |
deliberately. the greatest wIongdolng Is
1y educated men and educated women
"Of pretenders, deceTvers OF the /
public. grafters, the most skllltul ana
dangerous are found in the ranks or
educated men and educated women. !
"Men-and wOmen-ot hign social, /
inancIal and political stanong, have
established for themselves a code of