46 
Proceedings of the Inauguration 
in college ; however insistent some of those requirements ma> 
remain there are new problems which are very alive today and 
keen with interest. Society in all its phases seems bewildered 
and perplexed. Some things must be settled before there can 
be that character of assurance which makes for comfort and con- 
fident advancement. Never were many problems so real ; never 
were so many men so sincerely and earnestly reaching after their 
solution. Some of the most disturbing circumstances are in 
the industrial groups and among the toilers. We have come to 
realize that these disturbances are not to be quieted upon a finan- 
cial basis solely. They are too widely inter-related socially, and 
indeed racially. They are to be settled only after intelligent in- 
vestigation. Balanced poise and positive character are essential 
to the investigator. 
Two or three things are necessary to the creating of a poise 
in our living. One is the motive which actuates the pursuit of 
an education, this is the constant thread which is woven into the 
fabric of the character. Another is the environment in which the 
process of character building proceeds. For some years I have 
been rather intimately questioning which were the more promis- 
ing conditions : those which obtain in the quiet secluded spot 
where beautiful physical surroundings silently but constantly 
conduce to beautiful and lofty inspirations, or those which sur- 
round the municipal school where the more vigorous type of life 
manifests itself with the many voices of the great city. Which 
will produce the better all-round man Which will the better aid 
in the creation of most beautiful womanly character? It is con- 
ceded that there are advantages either way, greater than we 
are apt readily to appreciate, yet I confess to a decided inclina- 
tion toward the smaller college where the fellowships are more 
intimate, and especially to the college located as is this one where 
Nature has been so lavish in her expenditures for beauty, where 
the physical surroundings are full of helpful inspirations. 
Another element which we here regard as essential to the 
best type of life is that which we call Christian. We seem to 
have grown away from some of the limitations which used to 
surround that term. In my college days the Christian school 
had mostly to do with denominational interests. These have 
their values and should never be treated with indifference, but 
the Christian institution is larger than that conception. The 
