Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1914-06-09
ACCOMPLISHMENT.

q pl0maS IN lne DallaS nigh ScuOu
= next Friday have achieved far NOR
, than the acquiring of parchment
which bear their names, for they hav
shown their ability to accomplish diff
ficult task, as hard perhaps as the,
will ever encounter in life, and the,
deserve praise and honor for their dill
gence and perseverance. When W.
are apt to consider school work al
light in comparison with those which
come after, we under rate the Difficult
ties and forget the immaturity of the
scholars. To the boy and girl in schoo
their studies are problems which task
their powers and require individual at
tention. No work coming after these
are really harder to accomplish. The
graduates in our high school are there
fore to be congratulated on their
splendid achievements, and friends
and parents should cordially show
their appreciation at this time, which
is counted as one of the most notable
periods in the life of young people.
1t is worth while to have passed
through modern high school such as
Dallas may well boast of with honor,
for the mind has been trained and dis
ciplined, preparatory to receiving still
greater ideas and ideals. The world
today requires more of men and wo-
men than it did half a century, or
even a quarter of century ago. Sue
cess depends upon worth and merit
and character now as never before.
Mere book learning will not bring
returns worth while, unless it is coup
led with intelligent application. One
must know how ito exercise ones
knowledge if it is to be of practical
worth. There must also be a solid
morality and religion in men and wo-
men if they are to rise above medioc-
rity. There must be desire to be of
service to fellows; of help to the
community, state or nation. Selfish
ness narTows and belittles people, it
degenerates into miserliness and mig
gardness. 1t marks man as a failure
more surely than lack of money or
social position. Graduation from a
high school should also have engen-
dered a knowledge that neither wealth
nor power are as important as are
the traits Of virtue, self denial, prob
ity and perseverance. The lessons in
history should have taught them that
greed for power Or gold geacts upon
their possessor, and destroys the fine
attributes God has given to man.
There are such multiplicity of |
duties to perform, so much to strive |
for in this progressive age, by the
coming generation which the older
ones have left undone, that the
young man and the young woman who
now enter upon what is called active
life, have doubled responsibilities and
The world is as we
make it. Every man may do right and
aid the race upward if he will. The
boy of eighteen has years full of
possibilities before him, while the man
of fifty can hope for comparatively
few. We must look to the gradu-
ates from schools, to the young peo-
pie who have been given special
training for improvement in modern
An honest determine
ion, a sincere purpose to perform the
work given them to do, a keen sense
lf honor and love of truth will en-
lble them to overcome every Difficult
y encountered, and to bring results ,
which will be of far more value than
he accumulation of dollars or the :
,aining of position by unworthy |
means.