78 On the Campus 



set the step for the crowd, and guide the direction of its 

 movement. Even the flag may be carried in wrong direc- 

 tions. And as for the party, the safety of the constitu- 

 tion lies in the very fact that men are intelligent enough 

 all the time not to act with party when the party plainly 

 goes wrong. Mr. Bryan found that out, and so did Mr. 

 Taft, and even our most illustrious leader of reform finds 

 in Amazon forests betimes space for reflection. To the 

 phrase, "Whoop it up," the distinguished body of 

 purists now before me would doubtless immediately give 

 answer, "Cut it out!" 



But there are a thousand ways in which a teacher may 

 serve his or her community and not enter the political 

 field at all. We may even leave politics largely to men, 

 as is still for a season the fashion, I believe, in benighted 

 Iowa, and yet in social and economic ways find oppor- 

 tunity to serve the commonwealth to most noble pur- 

 pose. Women avail to bring to a community the spirit 

 of sanity, of cleanness, of beauty that touches every home, 

 even the humblest, every avenue and street, even the 

 widest and finest. Here is the especial field of the woman 

 who is called to teach. She has the ideas and the inspir- 

 ation ; others will furnish the money, for reason. Ev- 

 ery civic problem, every effort for the welfare of children, 

 as well as for the safety of their mothers, is field-work 

 for the trained and gifted teacher, and makes every- 

 where for the conservation of our free institutions. 



The difference between teachers is not so much in what 

 they teach as in themselves, in their appreciation of what 

 they attempt, their grasp of duty, their ability to serve. 



But, lastly, no man, as it seems to me, is sufficient for 



