Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-06-03
TO BY FRIENDS TO
SAVE THEM FROM DISCIPLINE

SAW THEM fhOM
But what I want to say to you
young gentlemen is this: I can Illus.
trate 1t In this way. Once in while
when youngsters here or at West Point
have forgotten themselves, and done
something that they ought not to do
and were about to be disciplined. per-
haps severely for 1t. j have been ap-
pealed to by their friends to excuse
them from the penalty. knowing that
| have spent most Of my life at a col
lege, they commonly say to me. You
know college boys. You know what
they are. They are needless youngsters
very often. and they ought not to be
held up TO the same standards of re-
sponsibil!ty that older men must sub
NIT to-
And / have always replied. Yes
know college boys. but while these
youngsters are college boys. they are
something more. They are officers of
the United States. They are not mere
ly college boys. II they were. / would
look at derelictions of duty on their
part In another spirit. but any derelic-
tion Of duty on the part OF A naval
officer of the United States may involve
the fortunes OF nation, and cannot be
overlooked
DO you not see the difference? You
cannot indulge yourselves In weak
nesses, gentlemen. You cannot forget
your duty for n moment. because there
might come time when that weak
spot in you should affect you in the
midst OF great engagement, and then
the whole history OF the world might
be changed by what you did not do, or
did wrong. So that the personal feel
ing / have for you Is this:
ALL BOUND TOGETHER UNDER
SPECIAL OBLIGATION
I'VE are all bound together, l for
the time being, and you permanently,
under a special obligation. the most
solemn that the mind can conceive.
The fortunes Of a nation are confided
to US. Now that ought not to depress
a man. Sometimes l think that moth
Ing Is worth while that is not hard.
You do not improve your muscle by
doing the easy thing; you improve II by
doing the hard thing. and you get your
zest by doing a thing that is difficult.
not a thing that is easy. l would
great deal rather. so far as my sense
of enjoyment is concerned. have some
thing strenuous to do than have some
thing that can be done leisurely and
without a stimulation OF the faculties.
Therefore, 7 congratulate you that you
are going to live your lives under the
most stimulating compulsion that any
man can feel, the sense. not OF private
duty, merely, but of public duty also.
And then if YOU perform that duty.
there Is reward awaiting you which
Is superior to any other reward in the
world. That is the affectionate re-
membrance OF your ellow-men-their
honor. their affection. No man could
wish for more than that or find any
thing higher than that to strive for
And. therefore, I want you to know
gentlemen, if it is any satisfaction to
you, that l shall personally follow your
careers in the days that are ahead of
you with real personal interest. l wish
you godspeed. and remind you that
yours is the honor of the United
States"
Prior to the Presidents address and
the presentation of their dipomas. the
graduates were addressed by Secre-
tary Daniels.
The President personally gave each
of the 178 graduates his diploma and
shook hands with them. He particu-
larry praised the ten ranking members
of the class.