The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1907-04-25

DR.. Drivers Lecture

On Tuesday evening | had the treat
Of listening to DR.. Drivers humorous
lecture: america Facing the Far
East" True, it does not appear to
have been intended for a humorous
lecture; but it has been wisely observed
that the richest humor is usually the
unintended. Indeed, the whole pro-
duction reminded me somewhat OF the
story OF a countryman who visited
Boston, and learning that Josh
Billings was to lecture, asked to be
directed to the hall where the celebrated
American humorist was to speak. His
landlord, thinking to have a little fun
or his Own account, directed him to
where Joseph Cook was to lecture the
same evening on everlasting punish
ment. When the countryman, never
suspecting but that he had been listen
ing to Josh Billings" had returned
from Cooks sulphurous dissertation
to his lodging his landlord asked him
how he had enjoyed the humorous
lecture. His guest replied slowly,
"Well, it was funny, but it wasn't so
d funny" Indeed DR.. Drivers
lecture was more than suggestive Of
the old cOlored woman's ardent praise
OF their new minister and her express
ion OF the unanswerable evidence Of
his extraordinary eloquence: aye jest
orter hear him stomp an holler."
But certain of the lecturers express
ions were not quite so humorous. He
used the colloquial and all but pro-
vincial term, "nigger." Such
complete ignoration OF the sensibilities
OF a northern audience, when no end
was to be subserved by such disregard,
could scarcely be considered respectful
to them. Lincoln once said that no
man would ever be president of the
United States who spelled negro with
two g's. Likewise to refer repeatedly
to household help by a term meyer
properly respectful and which wa
long since abandoned by the gentle
and considerate, namely, "hired
girls" instead OF maids or some like
phrase, was scarcely more defensible,
and savors more Of the parvem than
OF the culture that we have a right to
expect and to demand from the plat.
form.
DR.. Driver also made some mis-
statements so gross as to expose an all
but appalling ignorance OF commonest
facts OF history. He referred to certain
busts and statues OF the Caesars as
having been wrought by the hands Of
Phidies and Praxiteles, an anachron-
ism too amusingly absurd to require
r%efutation.
The speaker also stated that, prior to
the American occupation of the Philip
pines, there had never been a public
school in the islands. This statement
is absolutely contrary to the perfectly
authenticated and easily provable facts.
So eager were the natives of those
unfortunate islands for education that,
before the Battle OF Manila Harbor,
public schools in very large numbers
and in charge Of native teachers had
been established with astonishing
rapidity in the territory recovered by
by Aguinaldo from the Spanish; and
that these schools we're we'll attended
and did effective work also appears
from reliable reports. Moreover, it
should be borne in mind that when
the Americans arrived upon the scene
nearly all of the island OF Luzon ex-
cept the city of Manila were in the
possession OF Aguinaldo's army and
under the control of his government.
While these facts may not be quite
paiatable to u national pride, they
are, nevertheless, indisputable facts.
No statement so crassly superficial
should have weight with the intelligent.
Its use tends to invalidate any other
statement that he would make. Nor
were these his only mis-statements,
but they will serve as salient samples.
1t 10 TO be hoped that the Lyceum
Bureau will not 30 under-rate South