Princeton University - Nassau Herald Yearbook (Princeton, NJ)

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The N assau H erald is practically ignored and a man who rises to a position in this vocation has usually received his training in a most incomplete and haphazard manner. The folly of such a course is appar- ent and we have only too often paid the penalty. A man is not a banker simply because he has money invested in such an institution 5 a clerk is not a captain of industry even though his desk may be in a room adjoining his employer's ofliceg neither is a low-charactered politician a statesman because a mass of ignorant voters has given him entrance to our legis- lative halls. The peculiarity of this exacting mistress known as Democracy is that she demands of every citizen that he be a statesman. It may not be for him to carry on the active functions of the government but he must at least have a statesman's foresight in selecting the men to Whom these duties shall be delegated. If the men of the country are not worthy of this trust placed in them, if they are unequal to the task, then is Democracy a failure and Despotism or Aristocracy must rule in her stead. And, I think We do not have to listen very hard to hear that cry Democracy in this country is con- tinually sending up,-a plea for more true men: God give us men! .......... Men Men Men Men Whom the lust of Ofl'lCS does not kill 5 Whom the spoils of office cannot buy, who possess opinions and a Will, who have honor,-men who will not lie, Men who can stand before a demagogue, And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking! Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog In public duty, and in private thinking. Who is to produce these men? Today there are institu tions throughout the land without number for training men in medicine, law and engineering and scores of other professions, but their slogan is, We can teach you how to amass great Wealth for yourselves. And the man who enters life with that as his central aim is not the man for Whom We are seeking. What we want are more men taught how they may give, give their strength, give their brains, give themselves to the service 24

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Class Oration MALCOLM MALLETTE MCDERMOTT. Relations of The University and State. In these practical times one does not care to theorize con- cerning the origin and evolution of the modern State. We are content to accept the situation as We find it, thankful for the heritage left us by' our forefathers, and appreciating the high stage of civilization in which it is our good fortune to live. The average individual Worries his head little in specu- lation as to the ultimate ends and destinies of the State. He regards the State simply as a means toward an end, as the best insurer of his peace and happiness. There is nothing particularly to be deplored in this purely utilitarian view-point. Society is organized for the mutual Welfare of its members. It is true that sentiment and race pride play an important part in national life, but no government Was ever set up merely to satisfy these feelings. When a State fails to meet the concrete needs of the citizen then it must of necessity give Way to a more powerful one. I am not so much interested in the attitude we take toward this institution, Whether it be sentimental or selfish, but the pertinent part for us to be alive to is that this thing we call the State is not an automatic, self-running affair. It is an organization which must be sustained. A man to live must have food, an organism to exist must have sustenance, and a State to stand must have men. The so-called Ship of State will never sail Without mariners and pilots, except to destruc- tion. Cf all the activities engaged in by man there is none to compare in majesty or importance with that of the up- building and guidance of the State. These are of vital concern to every citizen, and yet the singular fact remains that while we train men for every other profession, that of the Statesman 23

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Class Omtiou of the nation. Life and energy were not bestowed upon us to be harbored, buried in a napkin or hidden under a bushel. If they are dealt with thus they are soon dissipated and vanish. He that loseth his life, loses himself in work and endeavor to aid civilization in her grand march of progress, He it is that finds life, finds the true art of living. For such services we must have trained men and the ques- tion at once arises, where are they to be trained? I know of no institution better fitted nor any upon whom this duty is more incumbent than the academic universities of the country. The charge is often made that the usual college education is worthless, that it is made up of four years spent in ease and comparative idleness. Modesty forbids one to answer the charge, but of this I feel confident that when the universities of the land shall have caught the full significance of the service they owe the country, these accusations will no longer be made. Unless the college shall take the youth as he comes to it in allhis spirit of bigotry, snobbishness and self-centered- ness-3 mould him, teach him, remake him, and send him out into life a trained, democratic, public spirited citizen,-I say, unless it does these things it is unworthy of any support and has betrayed the trust committed to it. To whom else are we to look except to the colleges for the political training of our youth. This most important phase of education has too long been neglected and left in the hands of professional politi- cians. lt is about time some of the colleges substituted courses on Business Methods in City Government or National Legislation as It Should Be for such courses as The Topo- graphy and Monuments of Greece as Described by Pausaniasu or Self-realization and the Ethics of Idealism. We may well be proud that from a fair judgment of the facts, Princeton appears to have been the first university of the country to realize the duty she owes the nation, for if four year's residence here teaches a student anything it is that he is to go forth into citizenship to work for the political well- being of his country and to make of himself a statesman, in the true sense of the word, whether in public or private life. The 25