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About The Hesperian / (Lincoln, Neb.) 1885-1899 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 15, 1891)
THE HESPERIAN. mi added loss, for the republican party is in no position nt the present to lose such men. The worst elements in thnt party nrc struggling fr the mastery, if they haven't it already. Accordingly, the loss of an nblc good man has n greater significnncc to the pnrty thnn to the nation. Sec retary Windom will he sndly missed in the councils of the nation. Thnt his mantle may fnll upon the shoulders of ns worthy a mnn, is the prayer ol every loynl patriot. Mny his ashes rest in pence! EXCHANGE. The Pacific Pharos hns a very poor exchange column. We would suggest thnt the word "exchanges" nt the hend of the column he stricken out and some such word ns "conundrums" or "foreign items" he substituted. For the benefit of the business manager of Tin: Hies- VKRIAN wc insert the following clipping from one of our exchnnges: Lives of poor men nil remind us Honest toil don't stand n chance; The more wc woik wc leave behind us Digger patches on our pants. On our pants once new and glossy Now nrc patches of diflcrcnt hue, All becnusc subscribers linger And will not pny up what is due. Let us then be up nnd doing, Send in your mite, however small, Or when the snow of winter strikes us Wc shall hnve no pants at nil. Ex. A great number of the exchanges arc crowded with oratorical notes and winning orations, and ye editor hns just about come to the conclusion thnt life is too short nnd ench moment too precious to nttempt to read them all. We are glnd however, to see orntory grndunlly working its wny to the front in our educational institutions. If orntory hns become n lost nrt wc sincerely hope thnt it will revive ngnin. Who knows but there may be n little Demosthenes slum bering in the inoccnt ngc of childhood rendy to burst forth at the first inspiration, nnd wake up nn indifferent world with the forcible, burning eloquence of that ancient rcprc scntntivc of the so called lost art. Wc know of no such personage, but fiom the gcnernl trend of our exchnnges on this suject wc think they must hnve found nn anomaly or a "freak." The oratorical association at De Pauw university is not sailing on n very smooth sea just at present. The associ ation met nnd elected officers on u dny some time before the dny provided in the constitution. At n meeting some time after thnt the point vns raised ns to the illegality of the election. This immediately crcntcd two factions that bitterly fought each other until the president of the university had to interfere and adjouin the meeting. The supporters of the question raised, 'immediately adjourned to the campus where they elected officers. There are now two sets of officcis in the nssocintion, nnd the question is now, which set will the state association recognize. We would suggest thnt they continue the fight as long possible, for there is nothing so interesting nnd exciting as a good "college scrap." There has been n few scraps in our own university, and we wish to offer this consolation to our De Pauw frienbs, that they arc perfectly harmless after one gets used to them. The January number of the loua IVesleyan comes to us beautified by a frontispiece. It is a put trull of Miss Anna Williams, to whom the first prize in the oratorical contest was given. Judging from her picture, she must be quite a nice looking lady, and we like to gaze upon her likeness, but we arc able to sec no reason for adopting this method of publish ing features of, together with the oration delivered by, the winner of the contest. To win first place inn contest, even though the winner be n Indy, is certainly not such a grand thing nt this stngc of college oratory, with nine states in the inter-state oratorical nssocintion, nnd besides this, there is in almost every institution ol learning in every stntc n large amount of oratory displnycd in one form or another. It is perfectly right nnd proper thnt the oration should be pub lished, for n good production should win the nttcmion and approval of every one that sees it. A portrait of this sort atlrncts but little attention outside of the college which it represents, and even in the college itself the only question is, "Docs it look like her?" Such a plan often has a greater tendency towards harm than it has towards good that may come from it. Wc quote the following from an article on "Greek Letter Fraternities," found In the University Ncivs, of January 26: "Uroad expansion was one of the fundamental principles of the fraternity, and it has reached its ideal to the extent of seventy-nine chapters, nineteen of which arc dead." The above quotation admits that the ideal of the fraternity is to increase the number of its chapters. Wc believe this to lie true. The "bioad expansion" mentioned means growth in the sense of size, not intellectual development. Wc arc forced to form this conclusion for the reason that there is no hypothesis before us from which wc might work out a different result. A person joins a fraternity nnd thereby shuts himself up within a certain class and becomes indificr cut to the welfare of those outside of his "brothers" and perhaps "sisters." This is the main objection. The fra ternity is entirely too exclusive. As an exchange puts it, there is nothing like the recollections of the "exclusive picnics and parties." The fraternities may have the idea that society in gener,al is incurably qorrupt. If so they entertain the same belief that the supporters of monachism did in the third century and later. Perhaps the members of fraternities think as the monks did many centuries ago, that they will be able to find nn idcnl life in becoming exclusive, nnd in ignoring society as n whole. If so wc would nsk them to study the history of the monks nnd pay special attention to that part that tells of the corruption and vice which existed in thnt body of men banded together and living under a strict rule of "sanctity and obedience." Then let them study the effect of that society on the social and intellectual status of past generations. If they come to the conclusion that society has been benefitted, and that the society of monks should be encouraged, then let them hope that some time they may regenerate the world, and find for it that ideal life that they seek at present in seclusion. "It has reached its ideal to the extent of seventy-nine chapters, nineteen of which arc dead." Immediately we think of that oft repeated saying, "But how little is there of the great nnd good thnt can die." Why are these fraternities dead? We do not know, but the very fact that they are dead signifies a great deal. Wc seldom, if ever, hear of the death of nn open liternty society in a well regulated university or college of learning. But we often hear of the death of a fraternity. Why is this? Perhaps there had been laws passed in the college where secret societies hae gained a foothold ruling them out of existence. Perhaps the members have been too poor to support a chapter in fraternity style. More probable than either of these reasons is the one that the members after joining, found that they had been deluded, and that the fraternity was not what they expected it would be. Hence they resolved to be free once more, so the fraternity was disbanded. . fi
