San Jose High School - Bell Yearbook (San Jose, CA)

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, Ab P X .N M tm Y X -- is 359' b ., ,4 . 0 an o Illfll . ' ll' 'lu' 579 xhl X. YXRN-N-v Han 5-Xmvrrranwnt By ALONZO WESTLAKE. LMOST three centuries ago, a small ship sailed into a northern harbor, bearing a resolute band who loved freedom and deter- mined to have it at any cost. No friendly eyes watched their coming, no friendly voices hailed them from the shore. A wild scene of forest and ocean and winter sky looked sternly upon them. Yet they went ashore, men and women, and little children, and gave thaks to God, who had brought them over the turbulent sea to offer them the freedom of this great wilderness. The bitter winter dragged slowly along, and when spring came, they planted corn, laid out a town, elected their leader, and called a town meeting to frame just and equal laws for them- selves and their descendants. Then, animated by the same purpose, came the Quaker to Pennsylvania. the Catholic to Maryland, the flsluguenot to Florida, the Cavalier to Yirginia, the Ulster Scotch to New Jersey, and the Irish to all sections-all maintaining their right to live according to the dictates of their own conscience. Thus gathered in tl1e new land a fair representative of all that was valuable in European char- acter-the resolute industry of one nation, the skill and arts of another, the courage, conscience, principle, self-denial of all. From this beginning' arose a new nation of fret-men, who later won their independence and formed a constitution which guaranteed to them- selves and their posterity the rights of self-government. .Realizing the value of a nation founded on freedom and equality, hordes of imrnig'rants, unpraetieed in self-government, but eager to seize the opportunities of- fered by the new government, poured to our eastern shores. At the same time. the sons and grandsons of pioneers were steadily pressing west- ward, carrying their ideals of democracy as they carried their rifles. Wherever they passed. there sprang up flourishing' towns and cities, un- til within fifty years, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, stretched a mighty nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created free and equal. Then on the horizon grew a storm cloud which threatened to engulf the nation, but the Ship of State emerged triumphant with a new victory for humanity, the freedom of the slave. Storms have arisen, and will arise, whenever local or vested interest clashes with the national ideals of liberty, equality, and justice. Today we are facing issues which affect not only ourselves, but our neighbors to the south. And to the south of us, what do we see? VVe see vast virgin areas of lowland and upland, lofty plateaus populated and cultivated through centuries, barren mountains and deserts, wooded slopes, grassy llanos, pampas, and flowering savannas. 'We see the almost forgotten aboriginal races and surviving Indian types mixed With the descendants of early Spaniards and Portugese, and the later sprinkling of adventuresome Germans, Italians, English, and Americans. Two centuries before the coming of the Pilgrim to the northern har- bor, a large ship dropped anchor in a southern harbor. lt had come with

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I si ' , I .1 f, ' I - ry 'J ggriifit , gm A Q - T -?.:.TQ' A' , . . 1 lf: 1 4' l 4,L-..q - - B L , '1- F -.-R45 52 f lx ' H ' rf' , . constitute the most valuable part of our education, as far as it has prog- ressed. It is the mental training we have received in overcoming the problems of school work as they arose from day to day. lt is this part of an education that builds character. Character is that for which we are all striving, that our lives may he creditable, and that we may ad- vance from being beneficiaries to the large sphere of service. Fellow students, the class of February, 1915, will soon separate, never again to be united in the school room. May happiness and pros- perity attend both students and teachers in their future careers! And now to the school officers, to our teachers, and to the people of San jose, who have done so much for our school and class, we return our sincere thanks for their hearty and continued interest in our welfare. .. X I 27

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Q -H sl ,,f,3 A,,,, ..,, ral, .a- ,Q 'Q -ff - -- V5 r - - - .--.-----, l is fr 1,c-.a -,- .-ac- - fi if dr qtcr - '- 'A . ' favoring winds over a tranquil sea. The natives with acclamations of joy waded out to greet the newcomers. The commander, clothed in rich and flowing robes, and bearing his gorgeous banner, went ashore and took possession of the land in the name of the sovereigns of Spain. Those who followed after him pressed southward and westward in search of gold, enslaving the natives and leaving destruction in their wake. Then came the Jesuits. They planted towns and cities. and laid the foun- dation of that spirit of freedom which resulted in the overthrow of Span- ish dominion and in the formation of governments similar to ourrown. Eventually several states united under the United States of Colombia. Our government at once recognized their independence. Then came the Holy Alliance of Russia, Prussia and Austria, which, according to rumor, intended the reconquest of Spanish-America. James Monroe, the Presi- dent of the United States, announced that the American continents were no longer open to European colonization, and that any attempt to inter- fere with the affairs of the Spanish-American Republics would be con- sidered by the United States as an unfriendly act. This doctrine has been respected by the powers, and thus Spanish-America has been developing' along the ideals of our own founders. Now that with the opening of the Panama Canal we guard the gates of two continents, we are confronted with the question of our policy. President Wfilson has said: One of the chief objects of my administration will be to cultivate the friendship and deserve the confidence of our sister Republics of Central and South America, and to promote in ev- ery proper and honorable way the interests which are common to the peoples of the two continents. Comprehension must be the soil in which shall grow the fruits of friendship: and there is a reason and a compulsion ly- ing behind all this which is dearer than anything else to the thoughtful men of America. l mean the development of consti- tutional liberty in the world. Human rights. national integrity. and opportunity, as against material interests, is the issue which we now have to face. Have we as a nation applied these principles. and in any way solved the problem of the policy outlined by President l.Vilson? Yes. Canada and the United States have held the peace for a hundred years, and be- tween them stretches four thousand miles of boundary with never a fort- ress, never a sentinel on guard. They have established a mutual under- standing founded upon friendship and national honor. So Pan-America, or All-America, united by the American ideal of freedom. justice and equality, is a dream that promises to become a re- ality. Pan-Americanism means a mutual understanding. founded on honor and friendship: it means fair play and the abolishing of a lack of discrimination in thought and deed. lt means the healthy and abiding re- lationship of the future, founded on mutual respect and inter-reliance, nation with nation. Out of such a constituent relationship, a real Pan- Americanism will grow, founded on proved advantages, not uttered as a doctrine by the strongest, but subscribed to as a policy by all alike.