The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1916-02-18
Most Lawless
Civilized Folks
From Saturdays Daily.

l
81 wonder if you realize that we
are the most lawless civilized people
| in the world" said H. w. Shryock,
president of the Southern Illinois
State Normal University of Carbon
dale, H., last night before an assem-
bly, of over five hundred superinten-
dents, principals and teachers of
United States public schools. 81 know
that you know it, continued the
/ learned professor, "if you have read
or travelled. We are the most lawless
civilized people in the world. say
that deliberately, as | know whereof
speak, and am not even consider
ing the terrible lynch law, which is in
a class by itself Half the ordinances
in every city are dead letters"
Professor ,Shryock came to Manka-
to to give an address on the topic,
"The Obligation the Individual Owes
to Society,"" Owing to the unavoid-
able absence of Maurice l. Flagg, di-
rector of the Minnesota State Art
commission, who was to deliver an
illustrated address on "How a. Teach
er Can Make Art Practical" Mr.. Shry-
ock had double the allotted time in
which to explain the faults of the
country and the people in it, and sug-
gest remedies He opened his adj
dress in a light and humorous vein,
and after announcing that his patriot
ism was as loyal as that of anyone
present, ended in thunder of con-
domination of present conditions. His
opening remarks dealt largely with
economic conditions, which are Of
such estimable advantage to the mod
ern men and women, and graphically
cited examples of how a man could
purchase hat for nominal price,
which if he had been situated like
Robinson Crusoe, and compelled to do
all the labor himself from the first
idea down to the finished product, it
would take him about seventy-two
years, and then would not be much
of hat. The economic conditions Of
the present time were oftentimes
overlooked by reason of their very
obviousness, he held Calling atten-
ton to the fact that the public schools
were open to all, and that the states
educate and protect us he asked what
we could do for the world in return
for what it was doing for each one
individually. Each one ought to be
able to make some return to society.
Humans Classified Into Roots.
'The entire human family can be
classified into three great roots" he
said. "The first, those who are in
capable of making any return of val
ue, such as the aged, the very young
and the defective, the second, those
who are capable. but unwilling: the
third, those capable and willing"
America, for aged people in gen.
eral, has done nothing to secure to
old age its rights. The aged should
not be expected to make any return,
and in time every civilized land will
pension old age. In England recent
ly $66,000,000 was expended in one
year recently in old age pensions, for
service rendered, for honorable rec
ords
''We haven't done anything for our
children, Up to the age of twenty
one they should be in school, or study
ing to prepare themselves for what
they are to. do later. When they are
taken from school at tender age,
the state robs itself, and society is
loDUSu VI LllC ClIlio lutuiO uoCluliiCoHo.
We should abolish child labor, and
safeguard our children"
tWe are generous i'm dealing with
our detectives, and we lavish money
upon them, but we do not spend a
dollar comparatively upon old age or
children
The Second Class.
t"1'he second class, who are; capa-
bic but unwilling, are like the mis-
tletoe. the world is full of these semi
parasites The social world is full
of men and women who are all right
until the opportunity comes to be a
CRATER. Of this kind are the de-
faulting bank cashiers. and public Of
ficials. Then there is the deadly para
site group such as gamblers, thieves,
etc. -
1.-THE third class, those who are
carable and willing, may also be sub
divided, and upon an average only
one out of forty are really efficient.
Let us not have but one efficient
person out of forty, but let us increase
the efficient ones and make them eff
fective in their work. Teachers should
lay stress on economic honesty, and
teach honesty, even in dealing with
corporations. Teach respect for the
law. In Europe the law is enforced,
but in America it is not" He then
gave number of illustrations of how
American people were: ready by lies
and tricks to cheat the corporations,
and even the state, and as a reason
to explain this lawlessness he said:
Coming of ForeFathers.
1--WE are only a little ways from
pioneer days Our forefathers came
here in spirit of rebellion. In Mich
igan, after I had made speech, a
small newspaper 'grilled' me, and said
that they were not in that class. But
our ancestors did rebel against the
conditions in Germany and England,
and came here in a spirit of rebellion,
to fight their way through. They
put one kind Of lawlessness against
another, and two wrongs never yet
made a right. That's the American
spirit. -
at has come to pass that crimes