Evening star., 1922-11-12
BY
BEN AMES
WILLIAMS
THE HIGHER OBLIGATION

to his wife: Letter from Joe. Mary"
'Tll be right down." she promised.
For they always read Joe's letters
aloud. He waited Kill she Joined him
in the living room
Il wired him for full particulars
about Hal Dyer" he reminded her
then. This ought to be his answer"
And slit the envelope and began to
read. Joe had written:
Dear Folks:
II got dads wire Just now. I ought
to have written you before. but the
whole thing has made me feel pretty
sick. Everybody acts as though I had
stolen a sheep or something. The
fellows have always been so decent
to mo that I'm not used to ,he way
they're acting now. Not all OF them,
of course. But fellows l only know
a little bit and even some that :
know pretty well. They act a
though I was q criminal or scme-
thing.
Mark Dyer Is mighty sore at me,
of course. That's why I said there
was no chance of Minotaurs giving
me bid. Not as long as he's there.
Some of the other men have told me
they didn't blame me. They jus
thought I was a damned fool
II guess you read in the papers
what happened. We were going u
have a quiz in Poll Sci. I stopped 1:
Jim Temples room on the way. He
and Hal Dyer room together. and
Hal had made ou, some little sl.rs
with lot Of stuff on them that h.
expected to use in the quiz. l told
him he ought not to do 1t, and he
| laughed at that. SO l asked Jim
what he thought, and Jim said he'd
, told Hal not to do it But Hal was
| going to do IL, anyway. So told him
IL he did I'd report him, and he said
If did he'd knock my block on.
told him again not to do it. But
when we started for Race Hall. where
the quiz was going to be. he put th@
slips in his pocket; and in the class
room he sat next to me. and used
them, and went out of his Wv 70
make sure / saw him.
$50 I reported him, and they voted
to expel him. He didn't knock NY
block off.
| We'll. It started a big row. O.
| course. But. dad. / don't see wha-
/ else could do. This honor system l.
| a pledge on all of US, not only TO b.
straight ourselves. but to see thai
others are on the level too. It's go.
; TO be so. because IL some are square
and some aren't. 1t means that de
gree from here isn't worth the paper
| it's written on. There's got to be
public opinion to enforce the thing. 1
think I'm not much for saying
things: don't know just how to tell
! you what l mean. But l guess you'll
| understand. A fellow has to be
square himself if he's going to think
Of himself as an honorable man. But
he's got to be square for bigger
reason, I guess. 1t looks to me Ike
he's got to be square for the sake Of
the college. If he isn't. and we make
a joke of this thing here, it will give
the college an awful black eye.
You'll see what I mean. dad. You're
on the level because you're grade that
way; but even if you weren't nat
ura,ly square you'd have to be. az
long as you're holding office. B.
cause If you're crooked, you not only
shame yourself, but you shame tn"
county, and the state, and the couH
try.
IF we have an honor system here
and then cheat every one VIII say
the whole college is crooked. Jusf
like your job. If you graft. or don't
keep on the level. every one will say
the government is crooked.
so I guess you'll understand what
I'm trying to get at. l felt pretty
much like dropping out at hrst and
coming home for whila But
guess I'll stick it out. The fellows
will come around, probably.
Anyway. that's the whole story
..your son, JOE.
"P. 81 remember, you said. the
last time I was home. that the Amer
lean people could make any system
work Well, that's what 1 mean. dad
| Somes hesitated once or twice in
reading this letter. The boys mother.
he saw. was crying happily When
he had finished she took the sheets
from his hand and began TO read them
through again. lie watched her, anu
his eyes were troubled.
There were many things that went
, unsaid between these two. When she
had finished Mrs. Somes smlleu
through her tears.
Hes a dear boy, Bob. isn't he?" she
asked.
"Joe's all right. Mary" he agreed.
And they spoke no more Of the mat
ter at that time. Somes took hat ana
coat and went to the garage for his
car. While he drove downtown'
though the drive was short. he had
time to do some thinking. and he had
for a moment 4 feeling that he was
seeine more clearly than he had ever
seen before.
TIE knew how the men among whom
II his life moved judged these mat
ters. Public office was private oppor-
tunity. An opeiT CRATER was not
common. but small peculations. the
capitalizing Of influence. these were
everyday affairs. He was reminded
: of an instance. The printing OF bal
lots had been let privately for years
past at a cost Of some $1,000. Two
years previously the matter had tirsS
been subjected to competitive bids.
The cost of printing the ballots that
year dropped to SIS. The thing had
been a matter of jest. for much
laughter.
A man in public life owed 1t to him
!. -.Ir, .ba of his Onn0r-