St Johnsbury Academy - Lamp Yearbook (St Johnsbury, VT)

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8 THE ACADEMY STUDENT SALUTATORY ESSAY THE FIFTH ESTATE In behalf of the class of 1935, I am glad to welcome you to these graduation exercises. We are about to enter our life’s work, each in his own chosen field. There are many avenues of service open for our consideration; hut since we are living in a scientific age. there is none more timely or important than that of scientific research. In the scientific world there are two recognized divisions: — practical, or applied science and theoretical science or research. It is this second branch of scientific work, which has been called the Fifth Estate. The English Parliament consists of the lords spiritual, the lords temporal, and the Commons, which have long been known as the First, Second, and Third Estates. The hourth Estate is the press, which has gained this distinction because of its far-reaching power and influence. Concerning constructive scientists, Mr. Arthur D. Little has written as follows: “Members of the Fifth Estate are those men having the simplicity to wonder, the ability to question, the power to generalize, and the capacity to apply.” These are the ones who advance and improve the scientific discoveries of the past by their research and analysis. One who merely uses for material profit the product of another’s genius is not a recognized member of this select group, who gain their respected position through their own ingenuity and effort. Only those who have some contribution to make to the general well-being of the world are acceptable as members. Consequently the membership of the Fifth Estate is numerically very low. In the whole world, it is reasonable to estimate, not more than 100,000 persons have been responsible for the progress of science. The total membership of the Fifth Estate could be housed in a third rate city. No politician seeks support from its scattered and ineffective vote. Its members rarely sit in Congress; when they do they sit in the

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THE ACADEMY STUDENT 7 It is small wonder that the period in which we are living is one of extreme cynicism, pessimism, and confus:on, with crime waves sweeping the country and with personal gain and material pleasure the predominating motives. Veterans are clamoring for money, who never saw the battlefield. Millionaires are trying to evade income taxes. Lawmakers are serving expediency rather than principle. Private citizens, too indolent to inform themselves concerning the issues of the day are neglecting even the privilege of voting at the polls. Many Americans are feeling that the government owes them a living. In challenging contrast to this clamor for getting comes the quiet voice of a gentleman bequeathing the ‘‘residue of his fortune” — as lie had given his life — “to the United States of America.” Concerning this bequest one editor has written as follows: ‘‘Would that this gift could be earmarked or set up in a visbile form to be thrust before the eyes of every congressman about to authorize a new splurge of spending, and of every federal employee forgetful of where the money comes from which seems so easy to pass out. Would that it could be offered as a first instalment to shame every bloc that comes begging for a special hand-out, with the words, ‘Here, take this; this is the kind of money you are asking for!.... May this symbol remind other Americans of their own obligation to support their government in every way.” And now the time has come for the Class of 1935 to say farewell to this Academy where it has known such happy years. We are grateful, Trustees, Principal, and Faculty, for your guidance, which has helped us when the way was hard and has better prepared us for the task of life before us. As we go out into the world, may we be stronger and more loyal citizens for the shining example set by the great jurist, Oliver Wendell Holmes. —Claudia Goodrich

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THE ACADEMY STUDENT 9 gallery. However, without the least political influence or support, the Fifth Estate, through its study and application of the facts and laws of Nature, has recast civilization. By the use of its trained intelligence it has given man control over stupendous forces. Man brought nothing to the world, and added little until the Fifth Estate taught him that wealth is produced, not by labor alone, but by labor under the guidance of intelligence. For most of us the first consideration is: what return may we hope for in the profession of our choice? In the material profits of the world, the Fifth Estate offers little. The reluctance of the world’s population to change or accept anything new and strange has resulted in hardship and neglect for the enterprising member of the Fifth Estate who exerts his efforts and spends his money to perfect a new invention or to spread the knowledge of a newly discovered fact to an ungrateful and skeptical world. Lavosier. whose experiments and conclusions leading to the explanation of combustion and the shattering of the obsolete phlogiston theory are scientific history today, was guillotined by a country that “had no need for chemists.” Priestley, who was one of the first to prepare oxygen and to explain how this gas could be obtained by heating mercuric oxide, was driven from his sacked and devastated home. These are only two cases of mistreatment such as in early days was rather the rule than the exception. Even today geniuses live in poverty and often starve, long before they are appreciated and recognized. However, there is a much brighter aspect of this situation. He who has done any scientific research, however slight, and as a result has added a new truth to his mental storehouse, has experienced a thrill of pleasure and power. This is the real reward for members of the Fifth Estate, a reward more precious than any material gain. The real wealth of a member of the Fifth Estate, whose priceless value only he can fully appreciate, is in the Kingdom of the Mind. The Fifth Estate is an important agent in our life today, and is a factor to be reckoned with. Never before have such