The Washington times., 1906-02-23
UNIVERSITY MEN
At BANQUET BOARD
Wit, Wisdom, and Good
Cheer Prevail.
WASHINGTON THE THEME
Noted Educators Discuss Characteris-
tics of First President of
United States.
WASHINGTON THE THEME

-Four hundred college men tramped
into Raucher's banquet hall last night
for the second annual oanau-l os She
University Club. II was not a col
Iege affair. not even uriyersilY al
far. but an affair OF daIversities. for
there were graduates - the colleges Of
The North and South and East and
West. The songs they sang were strict
~ non-neTtisan. and strange as ii may
seen. no one related a story of his col
Iege days The committee in charge of
The banquet had written parodies for
several college songs. and If here and
there an enthusiastic son of John Har-
ward or Old Nassau sang the words he
remembered so well. they were lost in
The great volume OF sound
Speaker CannOn's Speech.
When Speaker Cannon BEGAN his
speech. he said dryly that never before
had he addressed such an assembly If
TvIEarKable men. and wnen :he crowG
came back at him with a laugh Re
added quickly he was glad to see that
a university training had not lmDaiI Cd
their sense OF humor- Humor and wit
were in fact the order Of the day. The
attack upon seriousness was Icd hy the
imperturbable POSTMASTER. L. A Coo
lidge. former president of the Gridiron
club
Several remarkable facts were de
veloped during the evening. II was
found that Secretary Wilson, of the
Department of Agriculture. was respor-
sible for the great American hen. which.
as he said. paws half the expenses Of
the country today. and II sufficiently
encouraged may in the future pay them
all.
The hall was CayIy decorated. Colors
az all the colleges hung from the walls
and blended with them were the Stars
and Stripes
President Woodrow Wilson was the
guest Of honor journeying down from
Princeton town TO attend the banquet.
When the inner man had been sufficient
ly fortified, Toastmaster Coolidge
brought the meeting to order and an
Hounccd that it was just 1917, Time for
hishbau."
President Wilson's Wit.
President Wilson declared that his in
PRODUCTION made him feel decidedly up
iu the air, but if he was he soon came
down. He said that he was not going
10 attempt serious speech where there
were 50 many men who had seen him
on similar occasions before and where
even ii all their faces were not known TO
, him, their manners were very familiar
lie said that il was only fitting, in
view of the occasion. to say something
about George Washington, whose birth
day they were celebrating. Everyone
has said something about Washington,
and some have said everything about
him. so the only thing left for him TO
Az l,.H4 Tg4=,v IL
and repeat a twice-told story. In their
efforts 10 humaHiz Washington, Presi-
dent Wilson declared, many persons had
told stories OF him that were without
foundation Washingtons was such a
rounded character that he found it diff
cult TO pick any one side of him to dis
cUss. But the quality Of greatness he
considered separate and distinct. And
The quality of Washington's greatness.
he said, was distinctly American
What Washington Wanted.
Washington did not want the country
To stand still. and In order that it might
not stand still President Wilson said
Americans must cultivate that en-
ergy which comes with poise. ready
10 move at a moments notice
in any direction. 1t is a cant of
the times. he said to say We must cul-
tivate character There IS only one way
10 cultivate character President Wilson
said, and that is TO attend to business.
The moral Of Washington life. he said,
was lnSlStence upon our convictions.
There has been much talk Of late about
The falling off of American ideals. He
recommended as a remedy for such an
evil the "eXpusive power of new of
feCuon. power which he added cer&
tain politicians might soon feel.
1t has recently become the custom 10
spTnS Presidential booms at college
banqUets and last night was no ex-
CeDtion. TnastmaSter Coolidge nOminat-
ed Secretary of War Taft to succeed
President Roosevelt adding, however.
that it was merely a family affair as
there we're shouts from various parts of
the room asking what was the matter
with Root and Wilson. The only thing
the matter with Taft Mr.. Coolidge said.
was that he was not present
"Taft for Me-"
Then the crowd sang:
Taft for me. Taft for me.
He is our big President
Far away on pleasure bent.
Taft for me Taft for me.
Uni Uni Uni university,
Justice Brewer, of the Supreme
Court. was the next speaker The
POSTMASTER presented him with some
thing which he had never seen be-
fore and would probably never see
again unanimous decision OF the
Supreme Court.
Justice Brewer said that although
Washington had never heard OF the
Monroe doctrine nor the Roosevelt re-
Vised edition, he was "a considerable
sort Of man even for this century,"
Washington had ever warned the coun-
Try against going into debt. he said
Justice Brewer spoke at length on the
extrayagances of Americans today, and
urged that We should not pile up obli-
cations which must be assumed by fu-
ture generations.
The Banquet Committee.
The banquet committee included
George o Totten, jr.. chairman: Proc
tor L. pougherty. secretary and treas