Evening journal., 1914-02-24
Plea For Delaware College
By chiei Justice James pennewill.

Speech delivered at the annual ban
quct Of Delaware College Alumni at the
Hotel DUPONT on Saturday night:
"'There are two principal thoughts
suggested to me by this occasion. and
they arc, 1. The general cause Of edu-
cation; and ?. The support and pros.
perity of an old and honored institution
OF our State. And may say that these
two considerations were potential in
persuading me to take part in these
exercises tonight. conceive it to be the
duty Of every citizen, ON all proper oc-
casions, to do whatever he can. bv word
or deed, to advance the cause OF educa-
tion. no matter how inconvcnient OF en-
barrassing the performance of the duty
may be- And but for that feeling /
would probably not be here now.
"Ihe duties that every one owes TO
the public or the commonwealth. are
not all OF a negative character, neither
are they all expressed in the law. al
, though the prevalent notion seems 10 be
that they are. Most persons think they
have performed their full civic duty.
and are not subject to any criticism. il
they do not violate the laws OF their
state if they refrain from niurying
their neighbOrs in person or property; I
they respect the legal rights of others,
discharge their proportionatc part OF the
public burden, and obey the written law.
But there are other and perhaps higher
duties or obligations the faithful dis
charge of which every citizen owes to
himself his brother and the state. and
these are not expressed in any laws
made by man. The performance OF such
duties is more crcditablc to human ma
ture than the observance of the laws.
rules and conventions that man fears
to disregard. Some of those duties are:
The bettermcnt OF the community in
which one lives; the promotion OF the
material and moral welfare Of others;
the voluntary rendering OF that help
ful thing called fellow service. which
Is the practical expression OF the rela-
tion known as the brotherhood OF man.
"a mans work is not all done when
he has made a competency for himself
and those dependent upon him. He
makes that competency from the public.
directly or indirectly. and the public has
a right to expect something valuable or
useful in return. The material success
of every one is largely dependent upon
the prosperity OF the peoplc-their IN
tellectual and moral development
it is manifest that the benefciary's re-
ciprocol duty is TO contribute in such
way. and to such extent as he can to
the making OF such conditions.
81 believe that many and perhaps
most persons do not realize as they
- M A.
dition. in respect to wealth, comfort
or happiness, results very largely
from the conditions under which, and
the character Of the people among
whom, they live. Very often by con-
duct and speech they seem TO repudi-
ate any such thought For example,
/ have heard intelligent persons say.
and no doubt you have, too. that not
one dollar Of their money should ever
20 to the support of the church, be-
cause it accomplished no good, was
of no advantage to the community,
but rather a useless drain upon the
resources Of the people. And yet,
it is an undoubted fact, that no man
who talks like that would prefer to
live in a community where there was
no church Whether he attends II
or not. whether he assists it or not.
yes, whether he be an infidel OF be-
lever. he must feel that it is one Of
the fnstrumentalities on earth that
makes for the betterment of the race.
He knows thai even though there are
bad men in the church. and though
the minister be not saint, still the
church as an institution eXerts an
influence for good that makes for
peace and order. for the protection
of life. limb and property, for the
prosperity of the community. for bet
ter men and women. and for greater
respect for and observance of the
law.
Need of Church and College.
Men may talk as they will, but