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About The Alliance herald. (Alliance, Box Butte County, Neb.) 1902-1922 | View Entire Issue (May 27, 1915)
4 BACCALAUREATE ADDRESS .Splendid Address bjr Hev. Olln 8. Uaker to High School Urad uate Sunday Night Members of the graduating class, I congratulate you that thus far you have run well. But as yet you are only on the threshold of life, and your education Just begun. This Is, as it should be, a proud moment in your life. But the Joy of this hour should only constrain you to push on to the completion of a task co well started. To this end I will speak tonight with the hope of Inspiring you to go on to greater con quests. I shall not speak to you tonight as I would to a class of college gradu-, ates, but shall address myself to the ' theme I deem most needful to the ! Lour, The Value of College Educa tion. 1 In the 16th Chapter, and 16th Terse of a portion of a certain old ! and much venerated book we find these words, "How much better It is to get wisdom than gold," which I . use as a basis of my remarks. j "Your money or your brains," said highwayman one dark night to a i young man of my acquaintance in a 1 large city. It was purely a question , of money or brains. He had none of either to spare. But like most of us ' under the same circumstances, wise-J ly decided not to part with the latter . and handed over his money. Every young person has to face a similar Question. Money or brains; which shall It be? Many have chos en the former, only to find out when too late to change, that they haven't ' Tery much of either. Others choos ing the latter, In time discover they have a liberal supply of both. Money can not make brains, but brains can make money; therefore get brains. The greatest mistake a young per son can make, mark, I say the great est; the supreme mistake is to fail in laying the foundation for a true, strong character, by securing a deep Christian experience in their young life. For failure here means to fall short of your highest success In any department of life. The next great mistake is to fall In acquiring the best possible education. There never was a time when edu cation was such a necessity, when educated men and women were In utu uemana. mere are so many j problems to be solved. Problems ' economic and political; problems of j law and theology; problems of such i i i . . . . . .... . 1 'ui iuiercsi io our national lire mat j wo must, aosoiuieiy must, nave men of knowledge to keep our old "ship of state" off the rocks. Men of educa tion framed our constitution, and or ganized our republican form of gov ernment, and educated men only are able to uphold it and Increase its ef ficiency. The world has made tremendous strides during the last half century in every department of life. But in none, more than along educational lines. Never before were there such strong reasons, such compelling in centives, such alluring inducements,' for young people to secure an educa- one- Take time for it. It is no cred tlon. And never was an education 11 to 7u neither is it necessary to so easy to obtain. Ours Is a state come out of school a physical wreck, and nation of schools. From the Life to precious to commit sul little white school house of the rural clde tnat or any other way. Take district, to high schools, coleges and care ot your health; far better no ed- universities of the cities. Schools ev erywhere, with the best of teachers and equipments, reaching a higher state of perfection every year. When the older members of thla.doln8 wel1- congregation were young people, A "tuaeni once asked the pi schools were not so plentiful; hlgh'dent ' Oberlin college if there grade institutions a rarity, and a col lege education an expensive luxury. But there Is little excuse for the young person of today with reason- o r w w j tw iu a oaovu" i SDie health coming to the years of,0011 manes an oaa ne taxes a nun- maturity without a liberal education. Indeed, it is little short of disgrace. But hundreds of young people have no higher ambition than to finish the grades or high school, and some par ents are willing to let them stop . there. We believe the law of our I If done honestly. But the best foun land should compel every young, ' dation for wealth is an education. healthy person to receive at least a ' high school education for their own good, for the best Interest of society, the state and nation, and if not finan cially able to do so, the state should help them. Every young person should keep before them three goals, and never rest satisfied until they were touch ed. First, graduation from the high school. Second, graduation from some good college. Third, two years or more of special work in some great university at home or abroad. Ten years or more of schooling after the eighth grade ought to put one through it all by the time they are twenty-five or thirty, at least, even though they worked their way through Bchool, and they would be then only a young person. But em inently fitted to step at once into a lucrative position, or to Intelligently enter the vocation of their choice. I The error of most young people is in , not remedy the trouble. A machln thinking they are old at twenty-five. ' 1st was sent for. He bothered with They are only grown children then, it for half a day and gave it up Finish your education if it does take said the machinery must all come you till you are thirty or more. apart. That meant to stop the fac- Beware of a short cut in your edu- cation by crowding two years into W. It. PATH City School Suiierluteiid- . . Class kivj mMws MM rn rv Dorothy Smith Laura Hawkins , v-n Kwiw V I I - ' J Aell Heeler V Harvey Worley James Graham x ) L mm l5j Wf :";"! V .-W Hazel Sheldon X Koy Armstrong : X 'i A I til Phlllipii Viola Kleinke Irtiia Ijotspelrli Iteulnli Heeven ; v - '' . ' (ileim Mount liOttie Owens Alforetta La Mon ' Mary Patterson ucation than no health. True success is never quickly ac- Quired. There are no short cuts. That which Is worth doing is worth once asked the presl- was not a shorter course of study be might take. "Certainly," said the president, "but that depends on what you would make of yourself. When - " dred years, but when he makes a'lng to help himself may find plenty squash he takes but six months." j of chances to work bis way through Two things many young people are school. Every well established col in a hurry about; to get rich and tol"Ke has many avenues of self help get married. Both are commenda-. for men and women, and the records ble. It Is right to accumulate wealth Marriage is ordained of God and honorable; every true man and wom an contemplates It. But get an edu cation first. The haste to be rich and the haste to marry has marred many a life and narrowed Its useful- ness. Finish your education, young man, young woman. Get ready to live, and money will come easier and married life will be the happier. Have you an ambition for riches, would you occupy a prominent posi tion in life, would you be of the greatest usefulness to your felow man? Educate yourself. Knowledge Is power, ignorance is weakness, knowledge is wealth, ignorance is poverty, knowledge is ease, ignor ance Is toil. A Brooklyn manufacturer saw the value of knowledge recently in the wording of a bill. In one of his great factories the hot water pump failed to work. His engineer could tory, a long and expensive delay. : Some one suggested a neighboring C. A. AXDKHSO.V Principal High School History ISAI1KIXK (JAIJIH English, Normal traluinj; of 1915, Alliance High School Nellie Itnth Sturgeon Charles IMnald engineer who was said to be a gen ius. He was sent for. He came, studied the pump closely for a few minutes, then gave it a few sharp raps with his hammer over the valve, and quietly said, "I reckon she'll go now," and she did. The next day be sent in his bill for 125.50. The man-, ( WW3 jlhnr -1 1 1 V ' Izetta Ilenswold M ( v, David lleach Italph Johnson Uirdene Woods I Helen llewett ' -rPT- fJ "V Jj' I I I k:'3?Ty ufacturer was indignant, but reading ity for work is itself an education, it, smiled and paid It at once. It, Teaching habits of industry, econe read: "For fixing the pump, 50 cents, my and independence and bringing for knowing how, $25." Said the the student In contact with the cul- proprletor, "I recognized the value of knowledge and paid it gladly." The plea of poverty is often used for not getting an education. That plea is of less value than it was 25 years ago Today, the student will- HKV. OLIX S. HA K Kit Pastor Firwt MetliodUt Kpit-oial Church, Alliance, Nebr. (In Faculty of the Alliance High School EVA SHf.UDh.iA. Itiu, German Wright i:") Hl'v' V;l Hi A w Sta-ht Nell Tash (iraham show that it is that very class of students who are working their way through school, who make the larg est success In their school work and of life afterward. It is the rich man's son more than any others, who are the failures in school, and the least heard of afterward. The onoortun ture and refinement of educated and wealthy homes. But in addition to the opportunity for work, there Is the educational so ciety of the church, which loans to any needy and worthy student, mon ey without interest every year while In school, requiring no payments or interest for two or three years after the curriculum Is finished and the student has had time to earn it. The young person who wants an educa tion today can have It. But it de pends upon how much he wants it. Where there Is a will there Is a way. . The two great requisites for an education are health and will power. I know certain young peo ple who started to college without money enough to pay their tuition, mastered their course and came out with money ahead. Statistics show that the majority of our great men and women of today worked their way through college. When I think of Helen Keller, that young girl, blind and deaf and dumb, and who is still blind and deaf, who not only learned to talk and to artic ulate distinctly, but mastered the common branches and then the en tire colege course, distancing many in possession of all their faculties, a woman of whom her college is Just ly proud. When I thinir of her, I marvel that any young person in possession of all his senses and in health should hesitate to make the eHort. A college training helps one to de cide his vocation. Many wonder what to do or be. God has an or der In every life, and every life is Intended for some certain work, and the drill of the college will help you GKOHGIA CAXFIF.I.D Domestic Arts Physical Culture Kiting llennelt Adah lllir t)nille Davenport Charles 11 an nan llernard Holsten Mae Ilraudt decide what It is, for under its train ing you will naturally go toward the sphere where you are the best flitted to make life the largest success, and there is where God wants you. The college Is a great power shop, not to manufacture brains but to develop the brains you have. Not to put power Into you, but to draw out the latent power already there, and to reveal the hidden possibilities with in. The drawing out power of the col lege and the value of an education has been illustrated In this way: "A boy Is like a piece of iron, which in its rough state is of little value, but it becomes more valuable as It Is used. A bar of iron which In its rough state is worth only $5 is worth $13 made into horseshoes, but made into needles Is worth $300. Make it into pen-knife blades and It is worth $3,000, but work It over and draw It out into hair springs for watches and it is valued at $250,000. The more you work It the more valu able It is. The iron has to go through a great process of hammering and rolling and pounding and polishing, so If you would be educated men and women and of great value to the world, you must go through a long process of study and training." The iron does not go through half so much to be made Into horseshoes as into delicate watch springs, but of how much less value Is it. You can be a horseshoe or a watch spring whichever you choose. In the lan guage of another, "Young people you may become anything in life you conceive possible to you, pro vided you aim at the one thing and toil unwearied till you reach it." The question has been asked, which is to be preferred, the small or large college? Our best thinkers of today say the small college. For the great schools like great corpora tions tend to eliminate the personal element. The teacher cannot come In touch with the student. Charles Francis Adams is the In stigator of the movement favoring J the division of the University into smaller educational establishments I1FHTHA W1I.SOX 8. L. Clements Phonography, llookkeep- Manual Training, ing culture ...fi.ta President Wood row Wilson, while president of Princeton, tried tlur same thing In a different way, thaC Is. breaking up the big classes into smaller ones by multiplying the nuns ber of teachers. All this Is practic ally a return to the smaller collet- such as nearly every state has. Tn late President Harper of Chlcsgo Un iversity advocated the same Ides- The small college of high grade 1 (he Ideal In the minds of our heat thinkers, for the reason that th closer the student can come to tn teacher the more his rich, full Ufa will enrich the unfolding life of th student and the more the student ab sorbs the college culture of tb teacher the more valuable will be his contribution to the world. And the small college presents the best opportunity for such Intimate coo tract. Finish the curriculum of ths smaller institution, then specialise n the great university. Again, the kind of college Is of vital Importance to the student. Witk all due respect for state Institutions, the denominational school Is far bet ter calculated to round out in sym metrical proportion one's education. Why? Because a Christian collese does more than educate the mind. It seeks to cultivate the moral and spiritual nature as well. Mental ed ucation minus moral and spiritual education makes a one-sided charac ter. The atmosphere of a collese i a real force; it compasses the stud ent and influences him according to Its Intensity and his susceptibility and through him the world he touch es. The secular spirit of some schools have well nigh crushed out II spiritual motives and high ideal. . Mentality may count for most In this life, possibly, but If there be lacking that fine moral quality, the result of moral and spiritual educa tion, no man can hope to achieve the highest permanent success In any sphere of life. The value of a col lege education Is seen in the fact that more and more college men are tak ing the lead. Quoting from that popular magazine "Who's Who la America," we find eight of the nine chief Justices of the supreme court of the United States are college men. nd seven are from denominational colleges. Eighteen of the then twenty-six presidents of the United State were college men and sixteen front denominational schools. Eighteen of the twenty-six masters in Americas letters are college bred and seven teen are from denominational schools, and two-thirds of the col lege graduates in congress at that me were from denominational col leges." These are figures well wor thy of thought when selecting your school. It Is a well known fact that the laboring man receives the lowest wages because he does not have to think. Some one else thinks for him and he Is ruled by another' mind. It is no easy thing to .think learly and act wisely. But reason. maglnatlon and the will may all be cultivated and the- college Is the place for their development. The man or woman who take time to complete a college course be comes the master of his own mind and hence, the master of other mind and multiplies his chances for win ning Inlife's battles 20 to 80 times. Quoting again, "Fewer than one in two hundred of our male population have been college graduates. Less than one-half of one per cent, and from this small percent have com sixty-five percent of our United States presidents, 58 percent of vie presidents, 64 percent of cabinet of ficers, 83 per cent of chief Justices, and bo on, all of which shows that in ' political life the college graduate ha been 120 to 1 against the non-graduate, and more striking still are tb figures when you come to the learn ed professions of law, medicine, min istry. Journalism, teaching, etc., and while statistics show that trained in tellects are the controlling spirits, they also show that as positions In crease In honor, power and responsi bility, the percent of graduates till ing them Increase in a decided ra tio." . illustrations abound to show the value of a college education. A boy of ten years stool watching a auction boss and his gang of men. "tVhat will you be, Fred, when you are grown?" asked the foreman. "A section boss," promptly replied Fred. "No, No," suld the foreman, "you were made for something better. Get an education, my boy.'' That was nt-w Uea to Fred, but it sent him to colege, and today, instead of being a section boss at $15 per tuonth he di rects a hundred .ien at $150 a month, and Is only a young man a yet. Two young ladies of poor families entered college. They boarded them selves, wore pluln clothing but mad their mark in scholarship. Today, one of them Is principal of a ward school in a large city, owns valuable real estate and is a woman of wide Influence In that city. The other i a dealer in real estate, wealthy, and to use her own language, "I do not have to marry for a living." Two young men, graduates of & high school, chose the same voca tion. There was only three month difference in their ages. The older was a better business man, a more (Concluded on page 8) WII.MKH O. LEWIS Agrl- Mathematics, Science Athletic Coach