Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1920-05-06

Dut To have an Old Mil that would
grind out citizens; men who should be
well rounded and predetermined; men who
could see more in their work than wages,
and should have some idea of the sanctity
of citizenship. Never before we're such
men needed in the world. Let us hope
that the University of Vermont will do
its part to meet this need in the future
as well as it has done its part IN the
past"
Following the student speeches Cham
plain was sung and then came the ora
ton of the day by Carroll Warren Doten.
1895, of Cambridge, Mass who chose as
his subject THE College in n Changing
World MIR. Doten said in part;
THE COLLEGE IN A CHANGING
WORLD
TWENTY-FIVE years ago today, as n
representative of the senior class. | had
a part In the Founders day exercises
This fact and the natural inclination Of
one who has long been away from the
university to indulge in "reminiscences will
account for If they do not altogether jus
tify. the things | shall say to you to-
day.
when ] selected the subject Of my re-
marks ! was unconscionsly obscssed by
the popular notion. so prevalent since the
great war broke, that We are living in a.
period of rapid and Transforming change
The more I have thought about the mat =
ter however, the more | have become
convinced that this assumption Is to a
considerable extent. an illusion. It is true
that the war was a great catastrophe,
'aai it resulted in profound political
changes in some parts OF the world, and
n lie .,l
far-rcaching. but we are rapidly learning
since the arm'sticc that We ore living
in the same old world and chat nearly all
tho pre-war motives and ha bits of thought
and action are ruling the world to-day
$50 far AZ this country is concerned the
only effects that seem likely TO persist
are tho large debt and the excessive in
hatIon of money and credit that have
resulted from the financing of the war
These are serious matters and bring many
evils in their train, both to individuals and
10 institutions. but shall consider this
aspect of the situation later on
we are inclined to think that our in
stituttons. social and political. are now
imperilled by radicaiism and unrest but
it may comfort us to recall the great
strike on the western railroads in 1894
which caused President Cleveland to call
out the United States troops to protect
railroad property in Chicago and to insure
the safe carriage of the mails 1t was
at about the same time that the Hay-
market riot occurred in that city This
was charged against the anarchists. and
there was much the same hysteria con-
corning the anarchists and socialists as
we have noted recently in regard TO the
reds
lie mind were much the same y years
ago as they are to-day, the causes were
Numerically different. Then low prices
and unemployment drove the farmers and
wage earners to radical measures Now
with high prices and plenty of work peo-
pie are apparently equally disconnected
Even casual review of history, how
ever is sufficient to bring home to US
the truth that no period, not even the
present. mas monopoly of social ferment
and unrest I need only mention in this
connection the tumultuous period follow
ing the war of 1872 and ending only with
the civil war. and how again in the 70's
iahor riots and general social unrest were
prevalent to serious extent
j DO not wish to convey the impression.
however. that the past % years has not
been period of progress; for such is not
my belief There has been substantial and
marked improvement in many lines and
remarkable developments of various kinds.
wireless telegraphy, the airplane, and the
submarines have aided commerce and
revolutionized the methods OF warfare
The linotype and monotype have filed the
world with printed matter if they have
not aided greatly in the development of
literature or greatly increased the sum
nj In l.
lures have transformed. if they have not
greatly improved. the character of dra
matte art.
The growth in number of students in
the universities. colleges and tech biological
schools of collegiate grade Cother profes.
sonal schools omitted) from 1895 to 1915 was
remarkable. The number OF male stu
dents increased from 5000 to over 152 900.
or l4o per cent: women students from 30 =
I" to 5000 or 1870 per cent. and total
students from 5000 to 237 900 or l5S per-
cent. III is noteworthy also that the rate
or increase was in all cases considerably
greater in the second half of the period
IMAM IN the first; for example, total stu
dents increased 30 per cent. from 1895
to 1907. and ~ per cent. from 1905 to 1875.
one of the most significant develop-
ments on the financial side during this
period Is the tremendous increase i'm the
amount of money contributed by national
State and municipal governments to the
support OF college education. This To-
tailed over s3J. 10000 in 1915, or something
like 400 per cent. more than in 1895. The
larger part of this increase was due TO
the rapid development of the State uni
versltes in the West and the generous
appropriations for their support by the
state Legislatures.
such evidence we nave indicates
that instructors salaries did not advance
even as rapidly as prices during that
period and that the increased incomes OF
the colleges We're absorbed mainly in the
maintenance of more extensive and elab-
crate plants and in the more extensive
industrial and vocational training which
have taken the place OF the older and sim
pier forms OF instruction
More important than the growth of the
college n size and material equipment
howevlr are the changes In the charaC-
tar or tEcir work. Many influences have
had part I'm lessening the interes, Of
students I'm cultural studies ard in lead
ing them to seek the kind OF education
that will fit them for job. The rewards
offered In business and the increasing ap-
plication of the sciences in industry have
tended 60 this end. Thus & has come
about that engineering. applied economies,
and otner so-calied practical courses ab-
sorb an increasing proportion Of tho stu
dents year ny year. Those institutions
which could not give instruction in these
lines have remained stationary or have
actually decreased in size.
We must realize that the tendencies
In. \ L. "a