The Evening Missourian. [volume] (Columbia, Mo.) 1917-1920, 1918-06-05

nalloWed grounds, at the very OUTS
= of our battling in the most terrible {
= wars, upon the grave duty of th
}; leaders of our press In war time. Tt
. day, you honor me with the privileg
e of joining you in a farewell to thos
y who in thinned numbers now go fort
from the University, many doubles
to enter directly the service of thei
country. College commencement
E have been frequent these last te
5 months if we would thus describe tn
/ final leaving of the universities o
. those who go to return no more With
out regalia, without ceremony, with
out the awarding of parchments, with
out the customary passing in review
amid the plaudits of their fellows
without music or gaiety, these brave
groups have gone, bowling earnestly
to inexorable fate, believing themselves
crusaders to purge the world of its
most hideous evil-war. From their
lips has come, as they turned for a
last farewell to alma mater, a phrase
scarce heard before upon American
college grounds: "Morituri te salu-
tamusi"
This memory, present with all of
US, for there are none untouched by
it personally, must lend solemn note
to the hour. For even those who go
forth to duties far removed from the
battlefields go forth to responsibilities
beyond what is usually the lot of the
newly graduated. Wartime is forcing
time for youth. There is no chance
for the slower, the normal processes
of maturity. When men lead regi-
ments at twenty-one, wear the stars
of brigadiers at twenty-three and COM
mand divisions at twenty-six, lives
are lived rapidly and powers come
to maturity which might perhaps lie
dormant for two decades War is more
than ever the task of youth 1t is re-
lated of General John Sedgwick in
our Civil War that his sobriquet was
that of "Old Uncle john" he having
reached the ripe old age of forty-five
before commanding a corps AS the
eldest of his large staff was but twen-
ty-five, the others tapering down
thence to eighteen years, it can be well
understood that this was the reverence
bestowed upon age. Today the age
average is perhaps below that of 1861
Even for those collegians who enter
civilian undertakings the line of de-
marcation of years disappears; the
common peril of the nation, of the |
world and of civilization itself, places |
all upon a footing alike-young and |
old must counsel and work together |
GOdspeed to the Seniors.
To all who go forth in these solemn
times we would therefore say vale with |
the warmest possible note of sympa-
thy, appreciation, and affection, with
out the customary admOnition, the
prophecy as to the long
and dure apprenticeship in store for
them. We speak no word of warning, Il
as before, of the dangers arising from
the easy assumption of youth that the
world is at its feet; we are moved to
the depths of our hearts by the grave
dangers to life they so willingly as
sumo. We bid them godspeed. proud
Of their sincerity, their quiet conf
dence, their genuine serenity, conf
dent that from whichever college walls
they come they will live up to their
Individual ideals, in whichever fields
their tasks may take them. We can
not look upon their faces and believe
that elsewhere manhood and woman
hood come to truer or nobler ma
.urity.
have spared no section of the country;
no class, no profession. Upon us all
he burdens bear more heavily, yet
there is good cheer and
Journalists face now the
heavy hand of the censor; editors pub
ish news which may have been CEN
'ored three times ere it reaches their
hands, and edit anew for fear Of all
powerful authority. A single editorial,
Dr. an article, II it be deemed by the
Postmaster General, acting through a
to be hampering to the
effective prosecution of the war, may
be the basis for suppression or prose-
,ution. Upon the altar of Mars has
been laid as a sacrifice the freedom of
he press-cheerfully too, for despite
assurance that this
'reedom shall not be abridged, no one
speaks of assailing its constitutional
y, and only a voice here and there is
'aised in protest. The vast bulk of
he press is ready to assent to this if
hereby the nation may win the I'll
anic struggle in which it is engaged.
Said. by Richard Golden.
From the moment the first shot is
ired, or the first blow is struck in a
lispute," said Richard Golden in one
# those memorable speeches in which
lie earnestly opposed British inter
erence in our Civil War, then fare
veil to all reason and argument
-. l was so convinced of the
liter uselessness of raising ones voice