106 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 



EDUCATION. 



COMMENCEMENT AT THE KANSAS UNIVERSITY. 



Among the numerous exercises and addresses at Lawrence during com- 

 mencement week, none seemed to make a more profound impression than the 

 address of President John Bascom, LL. D., of the University of Wisconsin 

 before the literary societies, on the evening of June 2d, upon the subject: 



" WHAT THE MEMBERS OF A STATE UNIVERSITY OWE TO THE 



STATE." 



Dr. Bascom spoke for an hour and a half on this subject and during the en- 

 tire time held the rapt, attention of his audience, great thoughts seeming to start 

 out from every word. The following imperfect synopsis of the lecture gives but 

 a faint idea of the great strength and character of the discourse : 



"The American people are a practical people. They do things well. Our 

 danger lies where our power lies. The workers have the highway and they who 

 do not belong to this class must look out for themselves. The American 

 proverb is " Look out for no one." The practical and theoretical belong prac- 

 tically to the same thing. We are to remember that the present is for the future 

 and the future grows out of the present. The theorist may be full of ideas, but 

 loses their use. The statesman is both a theorist and a practical man. The 

 American is never afraid to have a tilt with political science. He never wakes 

 up until immediately confronted by great danger. We were thus confronted 

 with the rebeUion. Theory and practice when each is true to itself must meet at 

 some time. The man of theories and book learning must not be avoided. He 

 has that which we must outlive, but through which we must pass. The. subject 

 of the lecture is " What do the members of a State university owe to the State ?" 

 Justice and claims are commensurable. Justice is rooted in the right of men to 

 command me. Benevolence is the right or power to control myself. ''What do 

 we, as men, owe to men ?" You of the university owe gratitude to the State for 

 the great advantages of education. It is wrong for one worthless man to lean on 

 the man of a useful and prosperous life. The State by its just sense of generosity 

 gives it to you for the advancement of the best interests of the public. There is 

 no broader obligation than that under which the State has laid you by its action. 

 The higher institution must care for the lower ones. If the limbs and trunk of a 

 tree be lopped off the roots will perish. Our university should be supported by all 

 the lower institutions of education and protect them as well. A higher education 

 is too little cared for in our country. The State may educate because it can edu- 

 cate, and because it is beneficial to its citizens. We do not fall into such errors 

 when other things are in danger. As to his property when this is the case, he is 



