The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-11-03

and that the violet would be the mower.
On motion the club adjourned.
ADDRESS OF PRES. BRoYLES
The Constitution Committee has decided
that I must make an address to the Clup
tonight. and therefore you must mold them
RESPONSIBLE, I claim that I should be eX-
onerated Of all blame.
am proud of the honor which you have
conferred upon me, in elccting me as your
first president. I must tell you In the pc
Ginning that I have never held an Office
ike this before, and, therefore, l ask your
patience with any mistakes that l may I'M
consciously make, I promise you That I
will do the best I can. I welcome this op.
p~ortunity of knowing socially this body OF
nv pupils, and it was with great pleasure
that l learned from the promoters that or
panization plans had been started. L WISH
to congratulate them for the good work
tbav have done. Gu behalf of the teachers
wish to thank you for electing US to
A literary society is a very fine thing to
halonp to. I do not think 1t would be pos
sihle to form a club like this without bene-
fitting some OF its members, and in this
particular case, let us resolve at Che pc
ginning that every one OF us will profit by
this training. There are many oenehts 10
he derived from this club II we make an
honest effort to fulfill the duties that are
~exspected OF us. We will become familiar
with the rules OF order, as used by all good
societies, and by striving to act according
To their teaching, and the Bylaws OF the
Club. we will acquire a certain amount OF
salf-control over ourselves. We will learn
10 sneak freely before an audience, and the
Importance of being able to do this cannot
.--sl,, 81 raccoH EronIIQnflU q nlr-
son becomes interested on some new sub
iect. and is moved to look up all the infor-
nation HAT he can find on that subject.
This interest may readily be awakened
by hearing the topic discussed at q meet
ing OF some society.
IT is a well known fact that very few peo-
pie can be absolutely impartial, no matter
how hard they may try. Therefore, are
we not Justified in assuming that correct
Conclusions may be more easily drawn
from q debate, in which both sides OF the
Question are discussed, than from any ar
ticle or book that we may e which
would give US only one mans opinion!
work on these debates will teach US to
draw conclusions, frequently from a mere
hint that we may pick up; We learn to
study out questions, apply reasons and
value correctly our points.
In speaking about a person, we generally
saw that they are more or less educateu,
according to the amount Of school training
that h nave had. Now, I claim that
this test is not a fair one. The man with
the real genuine education is the man who
can think. At first, this statement may
seem foolish to you, but there Is a number
Of ways of thinking. What wish TO I'M
press upon you is that the man with the
best trained mind is the best educated,
even If he never saw the inside Of college
walls. We do not 60 to school to e Urn
that two and two are four, or that LORD
baltimore settled Maryland. but we go to
have our brains trained to think clearly
lido not mean to say that | DO not believe
In a fine school education, but 40 protest
against the too prevalent Idea that a man
must necessarily be uneducated unless he
is a member Of some college alumni asso-
citation. The value Of a school education is
that YOU are certain that o will receive
a certain amount Of training. whereas if
YOU try to educate yourself, you are TO
prone to put off till tomorrow what should
be done today. Further, you are likely t.
try TO learn too much at once, and there
nothing. 1 have tried to show you that
the training OF the mind is the fundamental
principle Of the real education, and L have
tried to explain to you some OF the ways
in which a literary society will develope
your faculties. -, ,
Now, after telling you these things, |
think that you can very. easily see that
value to every one Of us. The amount OF
value that each will receive depends en-
tirelv ON the work done and the attention
given to the work Of others.
Understand that this society was Or
panized primarily as q debating club, and
therefore it is right that this part OF the
program should receive the greatest atten-
ton. When o are assigned to duty on a
debate, try to win, first Of all. II you DO
not like the subject selected, do not think
that there is nothing to be said in favor Of
II. but 90 out and try to find something to
say. You will derive more benefit by
speaking on such a subject than from one
which you are familiar with. Try to
think of all the points in favor OF the OPP
posing side, and then hunt for arguments
in refutation' II you DO this carefully
some of their best points will be worthless.
If your colleague is a weak debater, look
over his paper, and IL necessary, give him
some of YOUR points. This will rattle your
opponents, and keep them from centering
their attack on you. Do not try to win the
debate alone, but help your partner, and
let him share the triumph If your side
wins. Another thing. Be careful not to
underestimate your opponents, but go In
to every debate as II you thought that you
were pitted against the very best talent in
the society.
When you are told to write a paper on
Current Events" try to tell US something
that you honestly think we ought to know.
Read the newspapers every day, and make
notes of the important things. Then
near the end Of the two weeks, write your
paper, trying to give us facts. Do not
write a lot Of unimportant things, merely
to have a long paper. This paper can be
made very interesting to the Club, and if
you really try to see how good paper you
can write, I am sure that you will be very
much interested in it yourself.
In closing, I wish to thank you again
for this honor which you have bestowed
upon me, and I assure you that it is an
honor OF which of which any man ought to
feel proud. I hope that this Club will have
a long and useful life, and I beg your
hearty cooperation in making it a great