Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1926-06-14

crease with advantage to the State.
Shall the State assume the RESPONSE
bility of/providing the opportunity for
a college education to every boy and
girl in Maine who shall make ade-
quate preliminary preparation and is
wiling to apply himself earnestly and
with sufficient natural ability to pro-
MT by the advantages it affords?
A negative answer to this question
Is out of harmony with the traditions
OF America from It's birth. From its
earnest days America has been distin-
guished among the nations of the
earth III making almost a fetish Of
education. Each generation has .euor-
mously expanded the educa tlonal op-
portunities for those of the generation
that was then coming upon the stage.
First came the red school house at
the crossroads, then the grade school
IN the village. and the last generation
has established the free high school
as common thing throughout our
State
Our generation seems likely to be
asked whether the limit has yet been
reached as to the formal education
that the State shall give the youth.
II the expansion OF our secondary
schools Is criterion of the increased
demand for still higher education in
the next few decades and one-half our
high school graduates come properly
qualified to seek a college course the
State of Maine will face the question
of providing facilities for 5000 addi-
tional students in institutions of col
lege grade at an increased annual ex-
pense of over $4,000, 900 without talk
ing into account construction costs.
This represents the approximate
additional obligation which the citi-
zens of the State have assumed In the
last half century in the general pro-
vision of high schools throughout the
State.
America has not been accustomed
TO count the cost of educational under
takings If once satisfied that its youth
were served. Will the volume of hu-
quarter OF our boys and girls shall
receive college education? Is that a
goal at which the State Of Maine may
wisely aim?
There are certain possibly super
fetal phases Of modern education
which give us pause. There are phe-
nomena in the modern social unrest
which seem, to some extent. to be, as
ISOLATED with the liberation of the
mind. We are occasionally reminded
that nothing is so dangerous as an ed
ucated knaVe. All thoughtful cifI-
zens will agree that any deterioration
of our moral fiber as a necessary in
cident to modern education. would be
bought at too great price. Yet we
cannot believe that free thinking
should necessarily mean loss of the
spiritual idealism that has made us
great.
Collegiate fippancy toward reli-
gion may be simply a reflection of
more fundamental influences that are
abroad but colleges must be more
than mirrors if they are to retain the
respect they have long enjoyed. They
are called upon to justify their exist
ence by turning out leaders who shall
seek broader service than is to be
found in the cultivation OF them selves.
'Noblesse oblige" is maxim that ar
CUES the obligation of the college
youth.
1.-The State OF Maine has obvious
necessities which the University is
well calculated to serve. It's usefulness
will constantly expand along these
we'll demonstrated and practical lines.
It's alumni will more and more con-
tribute also to its growth as they
increase in numbers and in the meas
ure of success they have achieved.
THE extent to which the University
shall furnish higher education in tech
meal or classical lines beyond its
present scope and personnel and along
lines not directly related to the prac-
tical service of the State is the chief
problem with which its new executive
must necessarily be concerned.
Some phases of college culture do
not impress themselves upon taxpay-
ers wrestling a hard-earned living
from the soil OF our State. A college
education must demonstrate that it
means something far more fundamen-
tai than the tailoring of ones clothes.
II It means the development of lead
ers with the intellectual and moral
fibre to carry the State through Pc
RODS of stress it will be found
good investment at almost any cost
II It means the development of cynics
and scoffers who use their developed
mental powers for purely selfish and
unsocial ends, lacking the moral
stamina which has carried America
forward through three centuries, it
will be q poor investment no matter
how little 1t may cost.
"The resources of Maine are ex-
banding and a healthy increase may
be expected in the educational facili-
ties we can afford. Maine has not
been niggardly in increasing its an
nual contribution to the University of
Maine by 10000 during the last 20
years-frorn less than $4,000 at the
beginning Of that period to over $780,
600 at the present time. This does not
alter the necessity of the strictest
economy that must be exercised IN
accordance with the policies now pre-
vaiiing more and more generally IN
Governre affairs throughout the
United States and with the practices
in private business and in all private
institutions OF collegiate grade
The new president Of this institu-
ton knows full well the heart and the
thought of the people of this State. 1t
remains for him in intimate confer
ence with the Board of Trustees, pro-
yided by the State. to which he Is
primarily responsible, in the contacts
OF the scholar and the administrator
with his associates throughout the
land. and in cordial cooperation with
each passing State administration
ana the sturdy citizenry of Maine to
build ever more stately educational
mansions dedicated to the service of
mankind.
"There Is ample reason to expect
one of the most enduring and one or
the most profitable incumbencies at
the University that the State has ever
known. Stability and cooperation are
the key-notes Of his past. In entrust-
ing the high opportunities of this In
stifution to his care the tSate OF
Maine anticipates with confidence the
n,rturing of an intellectual, moral
and snirftual culture that will grow
ever more profound and will turn out
citizens who are qualified to lead this
state and this nation into more and