The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-06-28

j the WCIk OF the great masters.
Labor and Its Reward,
1T is, trust, unnecessary to say that
] appreciate to the full the fact that
/ the highest work Of all viii never pc
! affected one way or the other BY any
/ question OF compensation. And mucn
/ OF the work which is really best for the
/ nation must from the very nature or
i things be non-remuneratiVe as compar-
ed with the work Of the ordinary in
/ dustries and vacations. Nor would IL
4 ever be possible or desirable that the
/ rewards of transcendent success in
scholarship should even approximate,
from q monetary standpoint the re-
/ wards in other vacations. But 1t IS also
true that the effect upon ambitious
minds can not but be bad II as a peO-
! pie we show our very slight regard for
/ scholarly achievement by making no
/ provision at all for its reward. The
1 chief use of the increased money Valus
/ Of the scholars prize would be the lndeH
which it was popularity held. The
/ American scientist, the American
| scholar, should have the chance AT
/ least of winning such prizes as are open
to his successful brother in Germany
England or France, where the rewards
paid for frst-class scholarly achieve
nent are as much above those paid IN
this country as our rewards Tor nrSt-
class achievement in INDUSTRY or law
are above those paid abroad
But of course what counts infln-
itely more than any possible OUTSIDE
reward is the spirit Of the worker MN
self. The prime need IS to lnStlu INTO
the minds of the scholars themselves
a true appreciation of real as dlstln-
guished from sham success. In pro
ductive scholarship, in the scholarship
which adds by its work to the sum OF
substantial achievement with Wnlcn
the country is to be credited, it is only
hrstclass work that counts. In this
field the smallest amount of really first
class work is worth all the second class
work that can possibly be produced;
and to have done such work is in it
self the fullest and amplest reward to
the man producing it. We outsiders
should according to our ability ala
him in every way to produce it. Yet
all that we can do is but little com
pared to what he himself can and
must do. The spirit of the scholar is
the vital factor in the productive
scholarship of the country
Normal Function of the College.
so much for the first function of
the university, the sending forth of
small number of scholars of the high
est rank who will do productive work
of the first class. Now turn to the
second, and what may be called the
normal. function of the college, the
function of turning out each year
many hundreds of men who shall pos
sess the trained intelligence, and es-
pecially the character, that will en-
a BILE them to hold high the renoWn OF
this ancient seat of learning by doing
useful service for the nation. It is not
my purpose to discuss at length what
should be done IN Harvard to produce
the right spirit among the men who
go out of Harvard, but rather to speak
of what this spirit should be. Nor
shall I speak of the exceptions, the
men to whom college life is dis
ADVANTAGE. Randolph, of Roanoke, he
of the biting tongue, once remarked
of an opponent that he reminded him
of certain tracts of land which were
almost worthless by nature. and be-
came entirely so by cultivation" OF
course. if in any individual university
training produces a taste for refined
fdlenesS a diStaSte for sustained eff
fort, a barren intellectual arrogance,
or a sense of supercilious alOOfness
from the world of real men who do
the worlds real work, then it has
harmed that individual; but in such
case there remains the abiding COM
fort that he would not have amounted
to much anyway. Neither college
training nor anything else can do
much good to the man of weak fiber
or to the man with twist in his moral
or intellectual make up. But the
average undergraduate has enough
robustness of nature, enough capacity
for enthusiasm and aspiration. to
make it worth while to turn to &C
count the stuff that is in him
There are. however, two points in the
undergraduate life of Harvard about
which I think We have a right to feel
some little concern. One is the growth
of luxury in the university. I do not
know whether anything We can say will
have much effect on this point, but just
so far as the alumni have weight I hope
to see that weight felt in serious and
sustained effort against the growing
tendency to luxury, and in favor of all
that makes for democratic conditions.
One of our number the one whom I
think the rest of us most delight to
hOnOr-COlonel HigginsOn-haS given to
our alma mater the Harvard Union.
( than which no better gift, no gift meet
I ing a more vital need, could have been
! given to the university It is neither
+ possible nor desirable to try to take
1 away all social differences from the
/ student life: but it is a good thing to
/ show how unimportant these differences
4 are compared to the differences of real
+ achievement and compared also to the
/ bonds which should unite together all
the men who are in any degree capable
of such real achievement; bonds, more
over, which should also knit these cap
able men to their brethren who need
their hel2.
The Matter of Sport.
The second point upon which I wish
to speak is the matter of sport. Now !
/ shall not be suspected of a tendency
/ unduly to minimize the Importance OF
sport. I believe heartily in sport. I
+ believe in outdoor games, and do not
mind in the least that they are rough
games, or that those who take part in
them are occasionally injured. [ have
no sympathy whatever with the over
wrought sentimentality which would
keep a young man in cotton WOOL and
I have a hearty contempt for him if he
counts broken arm or collar bone at
OF serious consequence, when balanced
against the chance of showing that he
possesses hardihood. physical address
and courage. But when these injuries
are inflicted by others. either wantonly
or Of set design. we are confronted by
mans character. Brutality in playing d
game should awaken the heartiest and
most plainly shown contempt for the
player guilty of it: especially if this
brutality is coupled with a low cunning
in committing it without getting caught