Keuka College - Kiondaga Yearbook (Keuka Park, NY)

Page 14 text:

14 THE COLLEGE RECORD. very near to an important event in our lives. For four consec- utive years we have looked forward to the completion of our course. During this time many pleasant experiences have come to us in our class work, our recreations and our social activities. We have been helped by coming in touch with the trustees of this institution and with the principal and faculty, who have directed our course of study and have made our school life pleasant. To you all, we give our heart-felt grati- tude for everything you have done for us. To those who have been our fellow students and who will remain when we are gone, we wish success and good fortune. There is a beautiful expression in the German language for a parting word Auf Wiedersehn — Till we meet again. This will ex- press our feeling tonight. While this is the culmination of our preparatory course, before some of us there still lies col- lege, and before others, special study. So we would not bid you a final farewell. We would rather think of that happy future time implied in the phrase, Auf Wiedersehn, when you may again hear of the members of the valiant class of 191 2 of Keuka Institute and be pleased with our successes. Meanwhile, by labor and by honor, we will enjoy life to the full and be content with its results. We would now say to all our friends, not Farewell, but 'Auf Wiedersehn. With our classmates, we would join in the spirit of those beautiful lines of an ancient poet: O, we can wait no longer. We too take ship, O Soul. Joyous we too launch out on trackless seas, Fearless, for unknown shores on waves of ecstasy to roll Amid the wafting winds, (thou pressing me to thee, I thee to me, O Soul J Caroling our chant of pleasant exploration, O my brave soul, O farther, farther sail, O daring joy, but safe, are they not all the seas of God? O farther, farther, farther sail ! Helen Miller Space, Class '12, Keuka Institute. THE GOVERNMENT DEPOSITORY. n HE value of the examination of sources in the study of - history is now too widely recognized to be in need of arguments in its favor. In every history course given in

Page 13 text:

THI COLLEGE rkcord. L8 scenes we take a broader vision and forget the vexations which would mar our happiness. A wonderful joy of life is that of friendship. This is one of onr most marvelous influences. A true friend has no fault to find. A friend is considerate. A friend is fair in his judg- ments. He tries to understand us and participate in our pleas- ures. He is the one who encourages our worthy ambitions and ideals, for the fact that some one is concerned in our wel- fare is a powerful incentive to greater effort. Indeed, friend- ship fills one of the greatest needs of life, the need of human sympathy and love. To labor is the common lot of life, but this too is a source of happiness. Work is the only means by which we can reach that goal toward which we are all striving — success. Whether at work or play we long to be active, achieving and conquer- ing our difficulties. To attain this end becomes our fixed pur- pose, and, at the same time, our service seems important and worth while. Examples come before us of men who have stood steadfast to gain a particular object for which they alone were fitted, though others scoffed and ridiculed. They, never- theless, rejoiced in their power to surmount these obstacles. Luther Burbank had to endure just such treatment aud many privations before he could prove his ability to accomplish his task. Now his fame is world-wide. Among his flowers and trees, selecting and choosing with the utmost care, this wiz- ard is the happiest of men. Edison, in his laboratory, success- fully achieving what scarcely seemed possible, is always most contented when following out and trying to prove his theories. Besides all of these sources of happiness, much joy is to be gained from knowldge. There are great fields of investiga- tion and study. Ruskin speaks of the riches to be found in books, if we will only humble ourselves and be willing to dig for them, leaving our prejudices behind, that we may read then for their beauty and truth. History, literature and science not only teach us the lessons in our text books, but they also awaken our interest in the progress of civilization. As we de- velop, we feel bliss in our growth, the quickening of our fac- ulties, the recognition of our own independent powers and the deeper, fuller meanings of life. As the Class of 191 2 of Keuka Institute, we have now come

Page 15 text:

THE COLLEGE RECORD. 15 secondary schools, the more progressive teachers urge the use of sources, at least as illustrative material. The most serious difficulty in the way of their fuller and more effective use, how- ever, is the lack of history teachers prepared to handle such material. It is, in part, with the hope of helping to meet this demand for trained history teachers, that Keuka College is rapidly increasing its facilities for thorough training in the use of sources. The most important problems before the American people at the present time relate to constitutional questions and inter- national relations. For a safe solution in either field a careful examination of State papers and debates in Congress is an absolute necessity. The relations between our State and Federal Governments were determined not only by our Consti- tution, but by the Civil War and by decisions of the Supreme Court. Conditions which brought into existence the Inter- state Commerce Commission have raised new questions, and the demands for such so-called reforms as direct primaries and the popular election of U. S. Senators have increased the jeal- ousy the legislature feels in regard to the Chief Executive. These are serious problems, which must be solved by the citi- zens of the United States ; which cannot be solved according to prejudice or passing fancy ; which can only be correctly and effectively solved by the calm judgment and broad view that comes from a profound study of the origin and development of the Constitution of the United States. For this study the Government has itself furnished us the best and most authori- tative material, in its publications of official documents. In response to our request, the Superintendent of Documents at Washington has sent us several thousand duplicate volumes in possession of the Government Printing office, and Keuka College now has over 4,000 volumes of Government publica- tions, consisting mainly of House and Senate Journals, Execu- tive and Miscellaneous Documents and Reports of Committees — an almost complete set from the first session of the 27th Con- gress (1841) to the second session of the 62d Congress (1910). The debates in Congress are well covered during certain periods, as follows : Debates and Proceedings in Congress, vols. 1 and 2 ; 1789 -91. Register of Debates in Congress, vols 1-13 ; 1824-37.