Rock Island Argus., 1913-03-01

he used had revealed the existence OF
bottomless chasm In the ways OF
thinking. III the attitude Of spirit that
characterized two sets of Princeton
men. II was the chasm that divides
democracy and aristocracy. respect fo.
the rights Of manhood and submission
to the rights of property. 1t was an
ineradicable instinct in President Will
son and the men who supported him
that the life of students must be made
democratic
Those who were enthusiastic for
university in which social lines should
be obliterated and a group Of co-ordi-
nate democracies set up were divided
from those who were content to main
tain and even accentuate distinctions
by q cleavage as deep as any that ex-
lists in the world today. No wonder
that the partisans Of the opposition. in
the board and out. looked on Wilson
as dangerous man: no wonder that
he. slowly aroused by their vilitica-
ton. began occasionally to unslip the
leash of his tongue, denounce colleges
and churches for yielding TO the &C
cursed domination OF money" and
make impassioned appeals for a dec
laration of college independence. When
the going is rapid Wilson isn't the
man to bother about a shock absorher.
At Pittsburgh. addressing alumni, he
poured out all his soul:
The great voice OF America does not
come from seats OF learning. II comes in
a murmur from the hills and woods and
the farms and factories and the mills.
rolling on and gaining valume until Il
comes to Us from the homes OF common
men. Do these nurmurs echo in the cor
ridors OF universities? I have not heard
them.
The universities would mako men for
get their common origins. forget their uni
versal synpsthies. and Join a class and
no class ever can serve America.
I ! have dedicated every power that there
is within me 10 bring the colleges that
have anything to do with 10 an absolutely
democratic regeneration in spirit.
know that the colleges of this country
must be reconstructed from top TO bot
/ TOM and know that America is going to
demand Il. While Princeton men pause
/ and think hope that they Will think on
these things-thst they will forget tradi-
/ tion in the determination TO see 10 IL that
the free air of America shall permeate
every Granny OF their college.
VIII America tolerate the seclusion of
/ graduate students? VIII America tolerate
the idea OF having graduate students set
apart? America will tolerate nothing ex-
Cept unpatroniZed endeavor. SecIude a
man. separate him from the rough and
tumble Of college life. from all the con
/ facts Of every sort and condition Of men.
and you have done thing which Arlari-
ca will brand with its contemptuous dis
I approval
10 an utteranCe like that there could
be no reply. In an issue thus clearly
defined before the whole world Cfor the
Pittsburgh speech got into the papers.
and all America applaudedl no living
board Of college trustees would have
dared separate itself from the bold
speaker.
No reply! No living men 10 take is
sue: Behold how the president Of the
inImortals tests with us:
/ In the town OF Salem. Mass.. lived
an old man named Isaac &. Wyuau
Isaac had been Es'duated at the col
! lcge Gf New Jersey one June day il
/ lSIS. During the sixty-twO years since
that day he had never returned to
Princeton.
President Wilson's Pittsburgh speech
WAS mad" on April u uhis was IL
1910. 4 month aud day later. May
IS. by the deceasc of Isaac &. Wyman
the graduate college Of Princeton uni
versity became the IeEatee of an estate
estimated at more than So OOOUOO be-
uuPathed In the truStePShip Of John NJ
Ray IE.uat "I >.u-H and Andrew +
West ur Princeton
There i uu duarrcIiu- with the dead
Al the June trustee meeting the Proc
tor offer WAS renewed and accepted
The president made polite announce
meut Of his acquiescence in the situa
tion created by the miraculous wind
fall The gigantic new fund altered
everything.
commencement was Il season of care
ful observance of all outward amenI
ties. The president made the speecl
presenting NJ Taylor Pyne. ESQ, the
leader Of the opposition among the
trustees. with Il gold cup. celebra ting
the attainment Of his twenty-ffth yeal
as a trustee. He attended n dinner
given by Dean West in honor Of Mr.
Proctor All that man forced TO con
feSS himself defeated by events coulC
gracefully do he did What II cost hi.
soul no man could guess. moral de
feat he had not suffered. The principle
for which he had stood had not beer
disprOved, discredited OF annulled The
gods had verwhe-med It: that was
all.
OF course he was laughed at sneer
ed at even, by certain alumni. called OF
TO resign. II they had dared the tri
umphant party would have dismissed
him. They did not dare. Woodrow VII
son was too strong before the country
There WAS this fly in the ointment OF
their rejOicing-an alumni trustee wa!
being elected this year, as usual, anC
It was the turn Of the west TO name
him. But eastern anti-Wilsonites haC
put up candidate and made frenzieC
campaign for him. At commencement
the result was made known-the anti
Wilson. Mt. Joline. had been over
whelmingly beaten. But the presiden
himself felt that his work at Princeton
was done.
He WAS TO retire, but not to obscu
rity, even temporary. The country haC
not missed altogether what was goinj
on at Princeton. The state had beel