Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-06-03


blue and gold. Around the walls or the
theater other flags were draped. Iniver-
sity seal and colors were in evidence ev
erywhere.
Large Feminine Attendance.
There were hundreds OF mothers wives
and sweethearts So many, in fact, that
Lieut.. Santelmann and the Marine Band.
taking the hint, played Every Day is
Ladies' Day With Me- Immediately pre-
ceding the entrance of the graduates
During the preliminary music hundreds
OF bouquets and floral designs Were sent
to the stage and banked high above the
footlights. These were offerings to the
graduates. \ constant stream of messen-
gers bearing flowers entered the theater
doors until it would seem that. iftthe road
to knowledge Ia not royal. II bed or roses
is the halfway station of graduation.
The only address was that of President
Needham. Immediately after his speech
degrees were conferred. At every name
there was a burst of applause The young
women. a number of whom graduated to-
day. received ovations. The law class
cheered Dean Vance with a rousing col
lege yell when he stood up To present his
ca ndidates.
The honorary degree of doctor of laws
was conferred upon Frederick James
Nolney Skiff director of the Field Nh
scum of Natural History OF Chicago. and
upon Willis S. Paine. president of the
Consolidated National Bank of New York.
President Needham's Address.
President Needham's address outlined
the purposes of a university and called
attention to the fact that George Wash
ington University had existed for
eighty seven years. He said university
10 hl,ild
teachers. and men who call forth the
latent power of the human soul and de-
velop the minds of students through self
activity
He also outlined i'm detail the purposes
of each department of the university.
THE spirit of scientific investigation is
everywhere he said. Wherever honest
men are seeking to know the truth. dog
natism must take low seat at The
feast knowledge must be arrived at
along the stepping stones of facts. Not
what some writer thinks the law is. but
what constitutional conventions and leg
islative bodies and judicial tribunals have
declared il TO he. is the Inquiry in the
best schools of today. This knowledge
to be exact must be obtained al the orig
inal sources.
1T Is not enough for the LAWYER TO
know what Blackstone or Story or some
other eminent text writer may have said
he must he able to state a proposition
of law and defend his thesis. While
learning the law the student must also
learn the art of applying il TO concrete
eases This art can only he acquired in a
school by the study of adjudicated cases
and the discussion of them In the class
room under the guidance of a teacher. BY
This method the student acquires a legal
mind and obtains his knowledge from
original sources.
Growth of the University.
THAT the new movement has been wide
there are not wanting some satisfactory
n,oofs The student body of the univer-
sity has increased in numbers during the
four Years of advance. The work done
receives approval and credit by universe
Ties and colleges throughout the land The
university has been accepted and placed
IN the list of the Carnegie foundation FOR
,ha advancement of teaching, decided
credit To ;he work. as Ii Is we'll known
that one of the aims of the Carnegie
foundation has been to place lis require
,n.n,s sufficiently high Ia induce all who
sonpht lis benefits TO do work of excel
lent grade.
approval evidenced hN hhahc.al a!d. Dur
i'm. this period of advance VIZ have re-
..1,..6 over seventy thousand dollars III
cash. have now over ore htiihr'''i and six
~ Thousand dollars In subscriptions:
while !. Il known that there have been
,rn,,ta..d i'm wills lrsacieS amounting Ia
nearly one hundred thousand dollars. /
mention these facts a. matters OF en-
c,ura.ement nj this time. when We are
deeply impressed WIN IN niIithi'ies ana
.dvers. conditions confronting us-per-
hans tb. most trying period in the his
tory of the university.
..;rhe new site IS still undet 7rmned.
while the need fot !, and Tor new build
ings has greatly increases; our nniid-
~. .pd laboratory facilities are over
crowded and inadeaua;e. Our annual OK
n.nses occasioned by the increase in the
quality and methods of instruction. have
innraa. ed over one hundred thousand dol
,ars rndowments TO meet these do
mands and to sustain the life Of the in
s,i,m,ion are imperativelY demanded
poverty is not shame, but with So