WHAT T^HE MEMBERS OF A STATE UNIVERSITY OWE THE STATE. 107 



only too ready to conscript his neighbor as a recruit to the army to protect his 

 property. Education should be free and full and humanitarian. That is a disa- 

 greeable one who is a man of mere practicality. Take care of that man and 

 the rnan will take care of himself, and if there is anything worth doing he will 

 see it and do it. To save only that we may save more is true conservatism. 

 To move foward, to grow, is the true course. The second duty you owe to the 

 State is to stand with it and for it. It is the duty of the educated to winnow the 

 wheat and to let none but the good seed go back to the soil. Politics is a sin 

 against the soundness and integrity of human speech. It is an illustration of the 

 saying " every fellow for himself and the devil take the hindmost." The accu- 

 mulation of great wealth in a short time is an appropriation of the public finan- 

 ces, brought about by the peculiar state of our institutions, and he who accumu- 

 lates does not render commensurate service. The common welfare is to be the 

 dominant idea, but it is not now the fact with us. The query ought to be, "Who 

 ought to be made to pay taxes ?" not as it is now, " Who can be made to pay the 

 taxes?" " Vanderbilt and Gould have been more successful, not more selfish. 

 But this power of great accumulation should he made impossible. True liberty 

 stands for productive power. The sale of intoxicating drinks undermines more 

 of the liberties, hopes and happiness of the people than almost anything else." 



The speaker then turned his attention for a few moments to the press, and 

 his words are given verbatim : "Never has the public press been so active, so 

 influential as now. Yet its abuse of power in this country passes all estimate. It 

 substitutes enterprise in gathering and circulating news for real intelligence, and 

 puts smartness of repartee in place of sound principle. Its destructive character- 

 istic is mendacious personality. Let every man for himself modify this statement, 

 general in character, by the exceptions which it calls for, yet these being made 

 how many papers among the thousands of papers in our land would any one of 

 us be willing to bring forward and present to a high minded, fair minded, but thor- 

 ough critic as good types of wise, able and beneficial journalism. The moment an 

 item of interest finds its way into a journal it flies all over the states with only 

 the slightest attention to its truth, or to the injury it is likely to do. One might 

 as well ask the winds that fling dust in his eyes in the street to be a little more 

 considerate, as to ask our daily press, rushing through every highway and by- 

 way like a whirlwind, to be more careful in sweeping upward and onward the 

 perversions and misrepresentations that choke the air ; it ought at least to check 

 our omnivorous appetite for news to reflect that if we include minor errors in de- 

 tail and false coloring, the larger part of what we call news is false, is often moral 

 malaria scattered from the festering centers of human life. True, well ordered 

 responsible journalism, a medium of clear, sound and efficient ideas, is still a 

 drearaed-of blessing, that approaches but slowly and from a great distance. Here 

 also, young men and young women, you should carry correction to this eager, 

 succulent, evanescent journalism, of which we have so long had our fill. Law is 

 is tempered with too much chicanery and needs the refreshing influence of new 

 blood." 



