The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-05-07
MY NOT MORE SOUTHERN
 MEN IN UNIVERSITIES?
pr. stagg simultaneously Calls At tention To Some of Our Educa-
 tional Weaknesses.
To the Editor of The Herald

To the Editor of The Age Herald.
 l have never been invited to glorify myself at the state university but once, and that was when several others had been invited to preach at a summer school. and had declined when the pres ident very cautiously and courteously invited me. which invitation l accepted as quickly as a spring trout pulls hook under water, and accordingly l appeared at Tuscaloosa, preach ed what I regarded as a masterly sermon, was accused of heresy by some straight laced brother of what denomination l know not returned to Birmin gham and have never been invited to the univer- sity since, though six years have elapsed.
 The malice, therefore, of this paper is easily accounted for.
 The other night at the Union station l happened to meet With Dr. Aber- crombie, president of the State uniVer- sity and incidentally mentioned that since Dr. Buckner had been invited to Yale university pr. J. H. Phillips or pr. A. J. Dickinson would be worthy successors of the kindly and learned professor, who had so acceptably filled
  Whereupon l was informed that il would most likely be the policy of the board of trustees to select a man who had been trained in teaching. This left my friend pr. J. H. Phillips on the slate but it eliminated my friend pr. A. J. Dickinson, whom 1 no less esteem and so 1 set myself to this question, What is the matter in educational mat ters with Alabama?" Noah K. Davis V to University of Virginia to succeed the great pr. McGuffy-Russellvil Ky, a little one-horse town and coming from little one-horse college with hardly information enough to spak English. The only writer who has attracted the notice of the world at the Univer- sity of Virginia is Noah K. Davis. The l best book in America dealing With l psychology is the work | of this same man Davis, and the ideal | ism of Prof. Buekner of the University of Alabama and the go between of i monism and dualism of Prof. James of Harvard have long ways yet to ! travel to be as clear as the dualistic i statement of Prof. Davis. This prepared teacher idea strikes me as comic, in another ways Little Henry Van Dyke with his No. shoes and his gloves is at the very fore
 
 ature in all the world. At the Eeumen- ical council in the little town of Lon don Eng, this same little Dutch Van Dyke delivered himself of a piece of writing which the British papers de- clared to be the high water mark of writing and oratory, MT. Burke nor MT. Pitt excepted. And this little two by four Van Dyke came from the pulpit of the Brick church on Fifth avenue, New
  the schools for the profession of teach CT, and yet remains to this good day the peer of all teachers of English literature in the world. 1 have no particular use for the man, but honesty compels me to recognize his merit. pr. J. H. Phillips and pr. A. J. Dickinson either one could worthily fill the chair of philosophy at the University of Ala bama, and the time has come in this south land when we should begin to recognize the worth of our own prod uets instead of going to Tank keedom to get people, to tell us how to do the things we can beat them doing. The south is beginning to play part in the nations history of which ouf fathers made the most glorious pages. We are becoming rich, and while we cannot get any democrat to successfully ride the democratic ass un- 1 der the wire in the presidential race, we ought at least to be able to get 1 from Alabama professor of philoso- ! phy for the State university.
 1 I was informed once through little paper published at Opeika, Ala, edited by Messrs. Wilson & Co,-crosses be- tween republicans and democrats-thst t l l had given President Thach "coid 1 feet" by delivering an address at Au burn on the race problem which was ] likely to interfere with the govern ment's appropriation to the institution at Auburn, in which all people take pride, and th possibly I would have to submit an outline of my remarks s should l ever be invited again by this i institution for an address.
 All of which means that there are some men in Alabama who can fill any chair in college or university, and these l men ought to be utilized and my pur- pose in calling attention to these two men in our midst is that the south ] may begin to honor her own, and that i there may be free speech in our com 1 monwealth. Yours very truly
 J. w. STAGG.
 Rirming gham May 6 1908