The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-05-12
SUBORDINATE CASH
 n GOOD CHARACTER |DR. DENNIS APPEAL
Head of University Makes Eloquent Speech to State Bankers-Men Rather
 Than Money

An eloquent appeal Tor deyelopmcnt
 of character and human service rath-
 CT than dollars and wealth and dec
 laration that instead of iron and coal and cotton. the greatest natural re-
 source of Alabama was her boys and | girls, were made by Dr George B. 1 Benny president of the University of Alabama. al the. bankers convention yesterday afternoon. Dr. Denny spoke
 ia part as follows, taking for his stb | feet. "The Relation of the Banker to
 A1abamas Educational Progress
 '"The supreme need of Alabama, as 1 l see it. is a larger spirit of devo- ion to the immaterial or, if you 1 cnoose, the spiritual side of our life. /, Cn the material side of things there
 can be no cause for pessmism, or even
 fer uncertainty. l have no doubt that
 ( 1T people are going to be rich in ! things material-perhaps not so dis Gustingly rich as some people engaged
 in the banking business yet suffi- fciently rich to keep the wolf from the
 door. Gone forever from our life are
 the days of poverty and privation. Eco-
 
 lives in the past lenses of the sub
 iunctiye mood. We have weathered ev-
 cry danger that has hitherto threat
 ened our rapid march to industrial
 bower until today, after all our disci- ] pline and all our trials, we stand se- i rene and confident on the mount of 1 faith and opportunity.
 "If you will permit me to say what l is in my heart, 1 shall venture, In the brief time allotted to me- to stress just two points which the hgh-minded banker who has regard for high civic ideals will ! everywhere and all the time incorporate
 in his confession of faith.
 Stresses Two Points
 q. The banker who has regard for high
 civic ideals will write, as the first article
 in his business creed these worlds Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.' No man can devoutly utter these words who
 has failed to express in his life the sure conviction that cash Is subordinate to | character. More than once l have said
 that the most loyal son of the University
 of Alabaam is not the man who stands on
 the sidelines in a moment of athletic vic- tory throws his hat into the air and
 shouts. 'Hur rah for the University of Ala
 bama.' but the man whose life is clean,
 whose ideals are correct, and whose de-
 sire is service.
 Character. of course, relates to some- thing more than mere business probity. 1, Ii is a matter of correct attitude of spirit without which the power to speak with the tongue of men and of angels profiteth , nothing Someone has suggested that our , business men are stressing too largely
 such questions these: What shall
 eat? What shall I drink? wherewithal , shall be clothed? It is a fact believe, that success in money-makng is today, : in many American communities, being set
 up as the ultimate test of mans ability , and worth. l have learned in my experi-
 ence as college president that even knowl- edge is ever more and more being sought merely as wage-earing device. The bet ter brains are the faster they will find reason for getting their salary raised is 5 recent observation by a self-made mer- , chant to his son in college. The money r ideal has touched everything in our life | from the dime store to the steel trust Men are more than ever thinking in : figures living in figures and dying hl | hgures. There is perpetual, restless wor-
 ship of the modern goddess called Hurry.
 What does all this mean. if it does not mean the apothesis of mere wealth ? and who is to temper this spirit? For I
 am one of those who believe that 1t is going to be tempered. Indeed | believe that an age of moral warfare is already succeeding an age abnormally obsessed with the crude ideals which l have been , describing. If we are not altogether pro gressive we are certainly 'near-progres- sive,' as Colonel Roosevelt would express , it. If we have not altogether stopped shor, , In the mad race we have been running We have at least paused to take our bear ings and are at last in measure. willing : that the scales of heedlessness shall fal from our eyes, as President Wilson re. gently suggested. We have concluded that of a ,,aor hn |. To ting ready for old age and the still wa I ters. One of the most encouraging symp F toms of returning health 10 that fact tha
 we are no longer so awestruck by tn,
 rich. We are more inclined to ask con f cerning man. not merely what he i!
 worth in terms of money, but also wha , he would be worth if all his money wer, s taken from him.
 s Let no one say that would strike tn
 1 heart out of our economic life. On tn, e contrary, l am merely insisting that VI !, shall put more heart into it. I am mere f l ly insisting that we shall temper it ant f steady it. that we shall inform and in I vest it with an ordered sense of econom I honor and industrial self respect; tha l manhood shall come first and the al | mighty dollar second that riches acquire
 upon any foundation of selfshness am
 dishonor will be as a millstone hange r about our necks
 Must Share Community Burdens '2. The banker who has regard for hig
 civic ideals will never forget that eve high character does not. of and by itself constitute good citizenship. In order
 be a good citizen the banker, must be will
 ing to share the burdens of the commun
 ity and the commonwealth and the worlt
 He must concern himself in the commo
 welfare. Even though he may be force
 to exclaim, Silver and gold l have none 2 he will still have the power and the heai ', to say to struggling humanity. Rise u . dation placing Alabama, which stands fri 7 . maitnan schools and hospitals and | : braries and sanitariums and parks an |. good roads and every conceivable agenc . to reduce crime and suffering thereb ? making men better and happier and nor
 prosperous. If any man would be gres :. among you, let him be your servant D Naturally, as a college man. emphs . . size in my own mind the relation of ou business men to the problem of educs tion. The recent report of the Sage foui
 ton placing Alabama, which stands fri
 in the encyclopedia and in the electio r, returns at the very foot of the list ( It American states in educational efficienc, Il was a rude shock to our pride. Shall c not likewise prove to be a stern challeng a to our patriotism7 The good citizen vi 1t help in this supreme crisis. He will at d vocate a constitutional amendment givir
 to the people the right to provide by locI 1t taxation the money to train their childre 10 If anyone desires to know why r. is that I am stressing this particuls t. phase of civic activity, lot me sa It plainly that I am doing 50 for two-rot re sons; CD. that good schools lie at tf "A hn al 4R nfr a AVpA |