Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1912-07-01

needed for the endowment of chairs
and scholarships, vast fortunes are
spent on Sstadiums and students club
houses. Even in sports we have Gu
rious mingling of Goldfish aristocracy
and professionalism, Governor
Wilson tried to check these tendencies
and restore to Princeton its former
democratic spirit, but he failed and has
acknowledged the fact and the evils
that are growing fast in college life
An aristocracy founded solely on
wealth has no obligations, and becomes
detached from the general life eff the
people Though those who segregate
themselves according to the "peerages'
published by Dun and Bradstreet Go
not realize it, they are the real losers
by the lack of touch with the public
which comes from it. There are plenty
of exceptions. of course. 1t would be
easy to mention long list of univer-
sity men born TO wealth and social po-
sition, who have kept the common touch
and stand in the forefront of the march
of events. We have plenty of them in
financial and mercantile circles in New
York, in all the trained professions and
in public life. Theodore Roosevelt is
one who has not lost the common touch
but by contact has learned To judge
men and feel the pulse of the public, II
this at least he sets an example that
should serve TO knock the snobbery out
of the eallow youths VINO are making
asses of themselves on the gold
coasts of our colleges.
In business or public life the most
valuable asset man can possess is
the ability to judge his fellow men and
TO pick the right man. No really great
success in large affairs can be won
without it. The scientific investigator
can shut himself up and advance the
cause of humanity through his re-
searches, but he must possess this
knowledge of men il he would reap
rewards for his work. Theodore
Roosevelt, Andrew Carnegie and John
-. Rockefeller this week should inn
press this fact on all who read it. He
always knew to whom TO confide his
message to Garcia" and he never
made mistake in picking his man.
The faculty for Judging character ana
ability in others is acquired early in
life. II begins with intuition in child
hood The instinct children displayain
judging the characters of adults with
whom they came in contact is pre-
verb. II this instinct is cultivated as
the little boy grows To manhood he will
be gifted with Judgment that will save
him from false friends and other pit
falls, and that may make him a leader
of men in his chosen walk in life.
Every man who has taken an active
part in the affairs of the world, as he
grows old, is struck with the way the
boys with whom he went to school run
true to form" Boys of fourteen and
even younger show clearly those quail
ties which afterwards make or mar
them. The courageous and resourceful
boy can be depended on in after life.
The shrewd, industrious little boy be-
comes merchant prince. Many
great man wishes at times he could lay
hands on some boy he knew at school
to do some particular work for him,
perhaps to go to the uttermost ends
of the earth. A few fall through drink,
but in most cases such boys in after
days bear themselves beyond the
promise of their early years.
But the boys and young men who do
not come in contact with their fellows
of all grades of life. who are taught by
tutors or are sent to exclusive schools,
and who then hive with others like
on the gold coast of al
never learn to judge men
either by instinct or by comparison.
They may retain the wealth they in
herit. but they never accomplish any
thing that advances the interests of
the community. 1t would bea easy to
cite cases of the sons and grandsons
of great organizers of industry and
turn over the reins of control to others.
because they could not pick men TO
carry on the work. This does not
mean their financial ruin; in fact, it /
means their financial salvation in
many cases; but they miss the SPLEEN
lid chance to lead and the fame and
living interest that their fathers en-
are depriving themselves of the chance
to do something in life that is worth
while by the undemocratic spirit of
class distinction, or are being robbed
IF it by foolish parents. When such
youths refuse to know their fellow men
at college the lack of such acquaint-
reacts on them in after life
1t does not hurt the others.