New-York tribune., 1908-06-08
DIR. WILSON breaches
Shoes Princeton Glass Hosc Morals
Suffer from Corporate Action.

Princeton " j, June tSpeciaD.-The annual
baccalaureate address delivered TO the gradu-
afing class OF Princeton University this morning
in Alexander Hall by President Woodrow Wilson.
DR.. Wilson'S subject corporate action and IN
diridual morals. He said;
shall not have to lay before you any elaborate
picture of the world we now live in as preface 70
my moral Men do not choose their parts in lie
separately and individually in day, as they
did in the days OF our fathers The men are ne
coming rare now who have businesses or ther oNu;
undertaken upon their own individual capitai aiiu
responsibility. Professional men are rare VIC
rise To the top OF their profession wlthout . ate.
lions or corporations OF sort-doctors TO hos
ptals lawyers 10 great corporate undeI siS
science applied. Every affair of life takes on on
more and more the aspect and practloe prt or w NJ
organization: many drawn tosether IN d
discipline and body; each man nLios nm
self small part Of some great whole. whose op-
Grafton is decided by votes taken about long tables
in directors rooms. whose morals are S9it hnt ,he
material interests of the body dictate and what
the enterprise Of its managers susgesas & ev ,erd
in the general compound Each man conceT1aea conc TT
row and is forced TO be content with seeing ques,
tions of conscience either ignored or adninlstereo
Standards are for the time being sadly confused
by its attempt 10 compound us morais t;ons Of
material ambitions composite
1-7racies of an Ella borate organization.
The tendencies OF our minds the tehuehcles @ or
our age have affected alike our stanoaIus anu W
have seen the life about us and the life Of which
form take certain Organization III
which were. TO pooled ana coflpounue
and enormous material energy, uneSa1nlled Dusl-
ness efficiency have been the result. We nave
stood amazed. with sort Of childish oelsht ar
the work Of our own hands. Success upon the
grand scale has meant power upon a scale unprece-
dented. the power of the individual ana the power
OF the nation The eyes of all the world have been
turned upon US in uneasy wonder and a0mlratlon
a touch of fear well as OF amazerlent we
have said. Behold, il Is good thing. LOOK AZ
its tremendous efficiency II is the glory OF Amer
ica Of the practical American genius the colossal
success which has crowned all the rest that preced
ed il. What if the individual is submergedZ mat
is inevitable result of the system II may pe
rnoralized that is. controlled, as whole. by law
but il would break down under the too great seIl-
assertion Of the individual The rorallst hot III
fatuated by the gross material results can only
reply: Then II viii inevitably break down
Our present cynicisn viii not last is not lasIng
The tendency TO be practical will not conquer
the tendency TO be moral The great awakening We
have iust had the moral aspects OF so nluch OF
modern business is but the beginning OF change
The rnoralist viii dictate both TO the lawyer ana
o the Of business.
There is no more subtle dissolvent Of morals
than sentinentality, and there is more hopeless
ginning at the edges. Go straight TO the point
Put every individual great and small. upon a stern
probation. Let him not escape your judgment pc
cause he is unfortunate and well meaning, be
Just Distinguish what is really unrighteous from
what is not really unrighteous. Go TO Christ Tor
the abiding standards Of moral Judgment: Be sure
that YOU allow the individual his real liberty 70
live truly and serve loyalty Do not impose your
private judgments upon him. but within the limits
Of Christian Justice Judge nfieXibly. Let STANDARDS
be standards. sliding scales that follow your
svnps1hies. Judge men according 10 their essen
1iaf character. but demand that they have some
essential character TO be judged, and be not tire-
servers.