The Washington herald., 1921-06-01
FIRST
NEED OF REPUBLIC
SAYSDR. VANDYKE
Urges Preparedness in
Sermon at u. of v.
Centennial.

= ChAhLOI iE<cNiLast<.f Nd-g may
3i.-Following eight months Of
preparation. the University Of yir-
einia centennial celebration opened
here today with 5000 delegates.
alumni and invited guests in at
tendance.
The army of visitors crowded
Cabeil hall and the new outdoor
amphitheater at each OF the OPEN
ing exercises.
AS a climax TO the days events
the 10 representa- Of foreign
universities and societies and the
$50 American college presidents
and delegates OF educational insti-
tutions heard DR.. Henry van Dyke.
OF Princeton university. preach q
sermon which denounced Sunday
blue laws, infringements on the
rights of the, individual. the -pesti-
lent diseases of Bergdollism and
Brindalism" and a system OF gov
ernment which spends more for
fleets and armies than for schools
and colleges.
says jefferson Urged League.
Iney Also nedro tue fTlnCelOh
professor state that Jefferson was
the first man to propose a league
OF nations. that he was opposed to
"entangling alliances" and that the
declaration of independence Is a
profoundly religious document.
Popular education is the FIRST and
greatest need of republic" said
Or. van Dyke. without wisdom
and discretion, the sovereign people
are but as flock of sheep or a
drove OF wild asses. Therefore, he
that supports schools and establishes
colleges is a strengthened OF the
foundations of democracy.
I'VE are spending more for fleets
and armies than for schools and
colleges. We are paying our
plumbers and carpenters more than
our teachers.
10 Per Cent uliterate.
We are blindly allowing a gen.
GRAFTON to grow up In our land, 10
per cent of whom can neither read
nor write, and 40 per cent of whom
have no real conception of the
fundamental rights and duties Of
freemen. The republic is not safe
under such conditions. We must
devote more of ,our wealth and ef-
fort to the education of our people
than to any other national purpose.
We must cultivate preparedness,
not only for the exceptional emer-
gency of war. but also. and more
resolutely. for the permanent and
normal demands of peace. We must
build our national defences in the
character and intelligence of our
young manhood and womsnhood"
Earlier in the day DR.. william
Alexander Barr. dean OF Christ
Church cathedral. New Orleans. Of
fered a defense of Thomas Jeffer-
sons liberal tendencies in religion.
Opposed Religious Tests.
one hundred years ago" DR..
Barr stated, "impatience with sec
tsrianism was easily interpreted as
want of sympathy with the Chris
tisn faith itself"
DR.. Barr stated that jefferson
was opposed to the religious tests
and shibboleths which he conceived
as obstructing the most effective
work of an educational institution.
While the eager and fearless for
ward gaze has been the glory Of
preserved along with II a due rever-
ence toward the past and a just
appreciation of its value to the
present.
The younger men Of the alumni.
particularly those who had seen
overseas service. met today in the
mechanical laboratory where a mill
tary headquarters had been set up
to resemble the Virginia European
bureau established in Paris during
the war. Several were veterans of
the Argonne and Belleau Wood and
had not held a reunion since the
stirring days of 1917 and 1918.
Gov. westmoreland Davis. of vir-
ginia, and DR.. Edwin A. Alderman.
president of the university, well
coined the visitors. They were
shown the old home and law Of
nces of former President Monroe
and the personal belongings of JEFF
ferson which are kept as treasured
relics in the rotunda.
Present Pageant Tonight.
Tomorrow delegates will enroll
in the rotunda and then march to
Cabell hall where they will present
greetings from the Institutions
which they represent. Speakers
will include Gov. Davis. DR.. Edwin
A. Alderman, president of the uni
versity: DIR. Julian A. c. Chandler.
president of the College of William
and Mary; DIR. A. Lawrence Lowell,
president of Harvard; Jules Jus
sersnd, French ambassador, and DR..
Albert Ross Hill, president of the
University of Missouri. In the even
ing. the centennial pageant The
Shadow of the Builder" will be
presented.