Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1907-02-28

I Inc pOlltlcdl WFUnSuedQeQneSS Oh
lsuch men is quite as great as that of
WHOLLY unaducated men; and no peo-
lple could be less trustworthy as
icritics and advisors. The educated
man who seeks to console himself
for his own lack of the robust quail
ties necessary to bring success in
american politics by moaning over
the degeneracy of the times instead
OF trying to better them, by railing
AT the men who do the actual work of
political life instead of trying himself
TO do the work, is a poor creature,
Is a damage and not a help to the
country You may come far short
of this disagreeable standard and still
be rather useless member of so
ciety. Your education, your cultiva-
ton. will not help you if you make
the mistake of thinking that it is
substitute for instead of an addition
to those qualities which in the strug-
g;e of life bring success to the ordin-
airy man without your advantages.
Your college training confers no priv
ilege upon you save as tested by the
use you make of it. 1t puts upon
YOU the obligation to show yourselves
better able to do certain things than
your fellows who have not had your
advantages. If ii has served mere
" to make you believe that you are to
be excused from effort in after life.
that you are to be excused from CON
tact with the actual world of men
ana events. then 1t will prove curse
and not a blessing. If on the other
hand you treat your education as a
weapon the more in your hands, a
weapon to fit YOU to do better in the
laro struggle of effort. and not as
excusing YOU in any way from taking
part in practical fashion in that
struggle, then ii will be benefit to
'ycu
He urged young men into politics
and declared that normally the prime
object OF political life should be to
achieve results and not merely to is
sue manifestoes-save of course where
the issuance of such manfestoes helps
10 achieve the results. 1t Is a bad
thing to be morally callous, for moral
callousness Is disease. But inflign-
nation of the conscience may be just
as unhealthy so far as the public is
concerned; and IL mans conscience
Is always telling him to do something
foolish he will do well to mistrust its
workings. The religious man who Is
rost pseful is not he whose sole care
is to save his own soul. but the man
whose religion bids him strive to adj
vance decency and clean living and to
make the world better place for his
/ fellows to hive in; and all this is just
as true of the ordinary citizen in the
performance OF the ordinary duties
CT political life.
The president reviewed the prog
ress Which the nation has made dur
ing the past ten years and in conclu-
sion said:
IN az these matters there have
been some men in public life ana
some men in private life whose action
has been at every point one of bar
rem criticism or fruitlegs obstruction.
These men have had no part or lot In
The great record Of achievement and
success; the record Of good work
wCr.hily done. Some OF these men
have been college graduates; but all
Of them have been poor servants OF
the people. useless where they were
not harmful. All the credit for the
tb.ts II a.
life OF this decade belongs to those
who have done Affirmative work in
such matters as those have enumer-
ated above, and not to those who.
with more or less futility, have sought
to hamper and obstruct the work thai
has thus been done.
In short. you college men, be doors
rather than critics of the deeds thai
others do. Stand stoutIy for your
ideals; but keep IN mind that they
can only be realized. even partially
by practical methods Of achievement
Remember always that this republic
OF ours Is very real democracy.
and that you can only win success by
showing that you have the right stun
in you. The college man, the man of
intellect and training should take the
Z lead In every fight for civic and social
righteousness. He can take that
lead only II in a spirit Of thorough.
going dmocracy he takes his place
among his fellows, not standing aloof
from them, but mixing with them, SO
that he may know, may feel, may
sympathize With their hopes, their
ambitions, their principles--and even
their prejudices-as an American
among Americans, as man among
men