Washington and Lee University - Calyx Yearbook (Lexington, VA)

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fl science of f oveniinent whicli he rif;htly deemed, the most important know- ledfjc in a repuhhe. We must preserve and make more fruitful the old leaniiiif, ' . We nuist broaden, as rapidly as possible, our facilities for scien- tific instruction and research, having in view not only general culture, but the bread-winning necessities of our people, and to all those we must add sound preparation for citizenship in a self-governing republic. It is no longer enough to disseminate classical education, to explore the fields of physical science, to turn out clergymen, lawyers, physicians, intelligent farmers, successful business men, builders and managers of railroads, min- ing, electrical and civil engineers. If the South is to produce for her own service, if she is to contribute, as in days past, to the whole country, statesmen, legislators and judges, able to maintain her influence and proper dignity as a great section of the Ameri- can Union, her sons must continue to give, as Mr. Blaine says their fathers gave, deed study to the science of government; and if. amid the harder condi- tions that confront them, after leaving college, they are no longer able to give that study in the leisure and seclusion of their own libraries, the proper foundations for it must be laid in the schools of learning. The supreme necessity for such studies, if we are to perpetuate government by the people and bear our freedom unscathed through all the perils that beset its progress, needs not to be dwelt upon. Such were the ideals of President Wilson in founding the Department of Economics and Politics at Washington. Such was the training and char- acter of Mr. Willis when he came to take charge of that Department. The work of Mr. Willis has been the resultant of these forces — the working out of Mr. Wilsons ideals through tlie medium of Mr. Willis efforts. Those who knew President Wilson, however casually, have felt that there was something finer in the man. than anything which he .said. Even the students of the University during his brief presidency have testified since his death that the impress of his character, received during their college days has been one of the strongest and most uplifting influences of their lives. As has been truly said, he was a college president without double dealing or equivocatit)n. single interview or transaction with him inspired an absolute confidence which re(|uired and could receive no increment, so perfect was its completeness. A week of his acquaintance carried with it an absolute approval of his ideals, aims, and methods. A year with him furnished an inspiration which would last as long as life itself. ■Ul U: ' urn } r

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fl 3 r ' C L- are endeavoring to work out the problems of the American Republic. Presi- dent Wilson realized that this Republic of ours would only be permanent and safe when proper educational facilities had been thoroughly organized and utilized by its citizens. He knew that Democracy ' s battles were only half- fought out. His own experience in public life had taught him, that, if they were to be successfully won. the youth of the country, its future rulers, should be rightly trained in the principles of politics and political econ- omy and in high ideals of public service. Consequently, he believed that the arena upon which Democracy ' s battles in the future should be waged, should be the lecture room of the University, and the battle cry should be, to use the words of the late President Harper. Come let us reason together. Impelled by the force of these ideas and especially by the peculiar needs of the South, Mr. Wilson retired from public life and accepted the Presidency of Washington and Lee. For the same reason he urged in his inaugural a ldress the necessity of providing facilities for the study of political and economic (|uestions at W ashington and Lee, and bent all his energies in this direction until he had successfully established the present department. Only the thoughtless and ignorant, President Wilson declared, de- lude themselves with the idea that paper constitutions are the eflFectual safe- guards of our liberties, and universal suffrage the capable administrator of the institutions through which we are to enjoy and possess them forever. Men who are familiar with the origin of our historic liberty, who know the rareness in all history of stable popular goverimient, and who are sobered by the thickening difficulties tliat confront us, will agree with Sir Henry Maine, that democratic government will tax to the utmost the sagacity and states- manship of the world to keep it from misfortune. As population and wealth increase: as science and invention sweep onward; as civilization grows more complex; as new States join our Union and cities multiply, and a new creation of artificial personages is called into being, to carry on the great commercial and industrial enterprises for which natural persons, even in association, are unequal, problems of government, both of policy and administration, become more difficult, and statesmen, whether as law-makers or as administrators, must not only be learned in the science of government, enlightened by the lessons of human experience, but must be often dependent upon experts whose services they must be able to command and know how to use. We fail in duty to our young men, to our section, to our whole country, if we do not provide that education in the

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To the mind of the writer this hitter faet — tlic inspiration of a year ' s association with Pres. Wilson in fouiuhni; the econoniie department — has been the most significant factor in Mr. Wilhs ' work at Washington and Lee. Since the lamented death of President Wilson, the spirit which constrained him in establishing the work in economics and politics, has been the spirit which has animated Mr. Willis in carrying forward the work. In other words, one of the chief features of Mr. Willis ' work has been preserving and putting into practice the ideals enunciated and cherished by President Wil- son. The mantle of the patriotic beloved college president fell upon the shoulders of Mr. Willis, and he has shown himself to l)e a faithful follower and e.xecutorof his leader ' s wishes. Among the young men of the South and the country at large who have come under his influence, he has sought to generate and develop the desire and power of independent, original re- search, to foster the habits and ability of independent judgment, to ac- quaint them with the origin and historic growth of our institutions, with the fundamental principles of government, and so to enrich them with the re- sults of human experience fliat they can decide on thin or that policy as it may .strengthen or weahen our freedom , upon tli is or that econom ic doctrine, us it may advance or impair the genercd welfare; above all, to make them intelliyent and strony leaders, not servile and ill-informed followers of popular opinion or self beneficiaries of popular delusions. But, as has been said before, Mr. Willis ' work has not consisted alone in being the conservator and executor of President Wilson ' s ideals. He has brought to this important task a distinct personality of his own which has formed a fitting supplement to the influence of President Wilson. His in- tellectual honesty, his high conceptions of civic duty, his unceasing energy, and, as it were, unlimited capacity for work, have been not only a stimula- tion, but an ins])iration to his students. The men under his directions have felt the necessity of seeking after truth, and of aciiuiring right principles of thought and action. They have also felt a broader sympathy with men and affairs. The real teacher, like the poet, is born not made. His functions are not comprehended in the setting of tasks, the hearing of rec- itations, and in the delivery of brilliant and interesting lectures. On the contrary they consist in the impress of character, the implanting of high conceptions, and the stimulation to independent and correct habits of thought. Such a teacher will make a distinct impression upon his students during their college days, but it is in looking backward after leaving the