The farmer and mechanic., 1907-02-26
The President to College Men
Athletic Sports Scholarship That Produces Results Civic
Duties of the Man of Education.



strength Of body will atone. Harvard
must do more than produce students:
yet, after all. she VIII fall immeasur-
ably short Of her duty and her oppor-
tunity unless she produces a great
number OF true students of true
scholars. Moreover let the students
remember that in the long run in the
field of study judgment must be rem
dered upon the quantity of first-claSs
work produced in the way Of produc-
tive scholarship, and that no amount
of second-c1ass work can atone Tor
failure in the college 10 produce this
firSt-class work. a course Of study is
Of little worth if it tends 10 deade1
intellect and cramD ascholars SO
that they only work ] the ruts worn
deep by many predecessors American
scholarship VIII be judged not by the
quantity of routine work produced by.
routine workers but by the small
amount Of first-class output Of those
who, in whatever branch, stand in the
first rank. No industry IN compilation
and in combination viii ever take The
place of this first-hand original work,
this productive and creative work.
whether in science in art, in literature.
The greatest special function OF q col
lege, as distinguished from its general
function of producing good citizenship.
should be so to shape conditions as Uc
put a premium upon the development
Of productive scholarship, Of the crcl-
tive mind, in any form of intellectual
work. The men whose chief concern
lies with the work Of the student in
study. should bear this fact ever be-
so much for what 7 have to say to
you purely as Harvard men. Now u
word which applies to You merely as il
applies to all college men, TO all men in
this country who have received the
benefits OF 4 college education; and
what I have TO say on this topic can
properly be said under the auspices of
your Political Club. You here when
+ you graduate will take up many diff
ferent kinds of work but there is one
part simply as good American citizens,
and that is the work of self-gOvern-
ment Remember in the first place.
! that to take part in the work of gov
ernment does not in the least mean OF
necessity to hold office. Tt means to
take an Intelligent. disinterested and
practical part in the everyday duties
of the average citi-or, of the citizen
who is not a faddst or q doctrina1re.
but who abhOrS corruption and dis
I likes inefficiency; who wishes to see
/ decent government prevail at home.
with genuine equality Of opportunity
for all men so far as it can be brouaht
about: and who wishes, as far as for-
eign matters are concerned. to see this
nation treat all other nations. great
and small. with respect. and if necd pe
With generosity, and al the same time
show herself able to protect herself by
her own might from any wrong ct the
/ hands of any outside power.
Each man here should feel that he
has no excuse. as q citizen in demo-
1 cratic republic like ours. if he fails TO
do his part in the government. It is
not only his right SO to do. but his
duty; his duty both to the nation and
, to himself. Each should feel that, il
| he fails in this. he is not only falling
| in his duty but is showing himself in Il
| contemplate light. A man may neg
! lect his political duties because ne is
| too lazy, too selfish. too shortsignted.
or too timfd but whatever the reason
may be it is certainly an unworthy
| reason. and it shows either a weakness
/ or worse than 4 weakness in the mans
| character. Above all, YOU college men,
| remember that If your education, tho
pleasant lives YOU lead, make you too
| fastidious too sensitive to take part in
| the rough hurlyburly Of the actual
work of the world, il you become so
| OVercultivated. so Overrefined that YOU
| can not do the hard work of practical
! politics. then you had better never
| have been educated at all The weak
| ling and the coward are out Of place In
| a strong and free community. In q
| republic like ours the governing class
| is composed Of the strong men who
| take the trouble to dOtne work. of gov
ernment: and if YOU are too tfmid or
| too faStdiouS or too careless TO do
your part in this Work. then you forfeit
your right to be cnsidered one of the
governing and you DeCOIoe one of the
governed inStead-One - the driven
| cattle of the political arena I want
| you to feel that it is not merely Your
| right to take part in politics, not mere
| ly your duty to the state, but that it is
demanded by your own self-respect
| unless YOU are content to acknowledge
that you are unfit to govern yourself
and have to submit to the rule Of
| somebody else as master-and this is
what it means if you do not do your
| own part in government.
| Like most other things of value ed
| ucaton is good only in so far as it is
| used Alright, and if it is mussed or if it
causes the OWnertO be so puffed up
With pride as to make him misesu-
mate the relative values of things it
becomes q harm and not a benefit
Inere are few things less desirable
than the arid cultivation the learning
and refinement which lead merely to
that intellectual conccit which makes a
man IN a democratic community like
ours hold himself aloof from his fell
lows and pride himself upon the
weakness which he mistakes for Super-
ciliOuS strength. Small is the use Of
those educated men who in after life
meet no one but themselves and gath
err in parlors to discuss wrong coAdi-
tionS which they do not understand
and to advocate remedies which have
the prime defect of being unWorkabIe
The judgment on practical affairs. DO
litical and social, of educated men who
keen aIoof from the conditions Of
practical life is apt to he valueless 10
those other men VINO do really wage
effective war against the forces OF
baseness and of evil. From the pOliti-
cal standDoint education IS a harm and
not a benefit to the men whom i
] serves as an excuse for refusing to min
gleWith their fellows and for standing
alOof from the broad sweep OF our na-
tiOnal life in a curiOuSly lmpOtent
spirit of fancied superiority. The po-
litical WrOnghea dedneSS .of such men
Continued on Page Two.)