The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1907-06-20

Ex-Governor Herbert ]. Hagerman
last Wednesday delivered the address
to the graduating class at the Colora-
do College. Colorado Springs, his sub
ject being the Opportunity of the
College Man in Politics." His address
was in part as follows:
But it is especially to you, the mem
bers of the class of 1907, that 1 am
here to speak / presume that many
of you have already determined upon
your future course and have already
marked out the line of work you pro-
pose to take up. Probably many 9TH
ers have no definite plans for the fu-
ture, and will shape your course much
as circumstances may dictate. But all
of you, If your collegiate education
has resulted in more than the storing
up of an aggregation of facts and fig
ures, will bring to your various pur-
suits the good Judgment and poise of
mind which marks the educated man.
The power to distinguish the false
from the true, sincerity from hypoc-
risy, thoroughaess from superficiality;
the ability to exercise Judgment and
to reach correct conclusions in the
shortest time-are, after all, what a
liberal education must have given
you, If it has resulted in more than
the mere qualification to earn your
living in a profession. From the be-
ginning of your careers you should
have a distinct advantage over those
who have not had the opportunities
to study history and what was form
erly called the humanities Whatever
be the particular line you may adopt
or the specially you may choose as
your life work, there are general du-
ties which all of you owe the commu-
nifty in which you live. and which, as
American citizens, you cannot prop
erly avoid. You will have to mix in
politics If you believe in our repubH
can institutions, as with us the peo-
pie are sovereign. 1 remember that,
when it was first proposed to change
some of our representatives abroad
from ministers to ambassadors, the
wfseacres of Europe said such a thing
was impossible, because an ambassa-
dor was the direct personal represen-
tative of the ruling sovereign. They
said that the United States being a
republic, had no sovereign, and it was
only the theory that our ambassadors
should be the personal representativ-
es. not of the president, but of the
people, who are sovereign, that the
you are willing to forego your birth
right and abandon your sovereign pri-
vilege. you must take some part in pub
lie affairs.
Some of you may take a prominent
and personal part in them. l sincere
who graduate annually from our col
leges and universities do not volunta
rily go into politics. they all will, soon
er or later, be forced TO take part in
contests more bitter and disagreeable
than any political fights could possibly
be. / do not intend. by any means. to
say that a college education alone fits
q man for public life-far from it
but do think that unless a mucn lar
ger proportion OF educated ,mel than
Is now the case are willing TO take
part in politics, our government will
eventually be almost entirely controll-
ed by men TO whom its principles
mean nothing, and that only a very
serious general movement on the part
of all good citizens will suffice to
wrest that control from them
II has been recently said by a man
whose opinion Is certainly entitled to
the highest respect that for the Ameri-
can citizen today. hopefulness is the
nose desired of all qualities. and that
pessimism Is criminal weakness. 1t
is also true that the kind of popular
optimism which leads intelligent men
10 refrain from digging into the facts
Tor fear Of finding out the truth. is
equally criminal The tendency to
gloss over evil conditions and tamely
accept glaring abuses by the care
1essly thinl<ing optimist is as danger
GUS as the Ineffective criticism and
inactive complaints OF the most pessi-
mistic theorist In ths great crises of