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About Yale Alumni Magazine | View Entire Issue (April 4, 1900)
266 YALE ALUMNI WEEKLY eT YALE ALUMNI WEEKLY SUBSCRIPTION, - $3.00 PER YEAR, Foreign Postage, go cents per year. PAYABLE IN ADVANCE, Single copies, ten cents each. For rates for papers in quantity, address the office. All orders for papers should be paid for in advance Checks, drafes and orders should be made payable to the Yale Alumni Weekly. All correspondence should be addressed,— Yale Alumni Weekly, New Haven, Conn. The office is at Room 6, White Hall. ADVISORY BOARD. WILLIAM W. SKIDDY, ’65S.,..... -ese. New York, © Purny LINOSLEY, '45 S., cwpesrcces New Haven. WALTER CAMP, °80,.......- Fades east New Haven. WILLIAM G. DAGGETT, °80,....0..00. New Haven. JAMES R. SHEFFIELD, °87,........... New York. JouNn A. HARTWELL, ’89S.,.......- .»New York, Baie SW SELCH, 866 Silda. ckdece New Haven. EDWARD VAN INGEN, ’91 S.,....cecees New York, PLERRE JAY, O2ise css cvsecs ‘efuiless« - New York. EDITOR. Lewis S. WELCH, ’89. ASSOCIATE EDITOR. WALTER CAmp, ’80, ASSISTANT EDITOR. E. J. THOMPSON, Sp. NEWS EDITOR. PRESTON KUMLER, 1900 ——_—_—_— ASSISTANT BUSINESS MANAGER. BURNETT GOODWIN, ’99 S. Entered as second class matter at New Haven P. O. NEW HAVEN, CONN., APRIL 4, 1900. A BUSINESS PROPOSITION OF IN- TEREST TO YALE BELIEVERS IN AN ALUMNI WEEKLY. If this paper allows only the right kind of people to appear in its advertising columns, its readers, if they want to see it grows to its largest and best Yale usefulness, will seek the first and every opportunity to do business with these advertisers and will personally and by letter commend them for appearing in its columns. YALE ALUMNI WEEKLY ad- vertising is good on general principles. Yale men can, if they. will, demonstrate to the most unwilling, that it is the best advertising to be had in the country. ee THE DEBATE. The result of the debate on Saturday was not what Yale wanted and was not what it should be. The same finish and ease in action, and other qualities that come with good platform training, might have won the day for Yale; and this does not underrate the very excel- lent work done by the Harvard men, both in their presentation of argument and in their handling of themselves. The debate simply illustrates the fact, which does not need illustration, that Yale ’s platform training is conspicu- ous for its absence. It is therefore an especial tribute to the good work which their coach, Mr. Nathan A. Smyth, put upon the de- baters, that they did so well. They were splendidly equipped with fact and argument, and when it came down to the hard give and take fight of rebuttal, were very formidable. Mr. Smyth ought to be exceedingly encouraged over his first experience in handling a debat- ing team. The University is certainly very grateful to him. ty, Lie ia PD ces The organization of the alumni of the Divinity School is, of course, a step in the right direction, and will help to bring these alumni into the close relations to the University which they ought to occupy, and which they do not now occupy. As the- University gets to- gether, the students of the Divinity School will the more feel themselves to be parts of. Yale, and they will all the more appreciate their connection with the place through such an organization @ as that which holds the Academic and other students. The President told the Divinity alumni, as is recorded elsewhere, that there has never been such a call or op- portunity for the best work in the pul- pit as there is to-day. Its power should be made greater now than it ever had been. This is very helpful and cheerful, and seems to us quite rational. There is a lot of nonsense printed about the usurpation of the old power of the pul- pit by the press and other agencies. As long as ministers are leaders, people will listen and follow. If there has been a decline in the influence of the pulpit, and there is something more to explain it than the Sunday newspaper or any indifference of the people to the inter- ests of religion. , % v The Williams Weekly announces that the Night Shirt Parade, which is an event, in that institution of March (!!), is losing its grip on the community. A vulgar pun or two on a popular germ affliction might be in order by way of comment. It is hard to tell from the descriptions how literal the costumes are. The spectacle can not be as true to its name as the corresponding function at Yale in June. They must wear some- thing. It is probably an inverted 8.09- . chapel costume. This parade at Wil- liams seems to be a fixed feast, and formal. works and things and it is expensive. It is probably too formal. Yale’s simi- lar event is quite spontaneous. It occurs at any time when it is warm and exam- inations are over, and a Guam-like peace has settled over the Campus for a few minutes. It might not happen at all some years. But it would never be planned for. That would kill it. Fite, atte Gl Within the last ten days Harvard has won the general fencing tournament, Harvard has won the whist contest with Yale, Harvard has won the great annual debate with Yale. This is a condition which is becoming quite too general in late years to suit the Yale mind. The Class of Nineteen Hundred made a good start in the way of disturbing it last Fall and has an opportunity to continue that good work in the next three months. All power to them! —__—__+e—_____ An editorial paragraph in last week’s issue commended the Treasury De- partment for the decision to establish a Yale Campus Post Office. The refer- ence was, of course, to the Treasury Department of Yale, which had been active in bringing the change about. —_——_—_++o—___—_ CURRENT LITERATURE. A President Speaks Out. The Atlantic Monthly, which is print- ing some excellent educational papers these days, has a very frank article called ~“The Perplexities of a College Presi- dent,” written by “One of the Guild.” It is not very strange that it is signed in that way, although one might think his fellows could guess who he was; for the article does not seem framed with any idea of concealing his individuality. But, certainly, if he signed it, his own perplexities would be at once increased to such an extent that he would _ prob- ably be relieved of all of them for the time being. The general sentiment of the paper is, that the average board of trustees, or corporation, of a college or university, does not show the most elementary There are brass bands and fire- common sense in administrative prob- lems. It is not ordinarily, according to this writer, given to the executive to manage the university. He is controlled, interfered with, repressed and handi- capped, by all the particular traditions of administration that have grown up in that particular college or university; by denominational prejudices; by worn out or lazy or highly prejudiced men, or those combining all these character- istics, who believe that residence in the university constitutes authority; by trus- tees, who simply want to avoid trouble, or by those who wish to conserve cer- tain preconceived notions about running a university, when they have never had any opportunity to develop any rational ideas on the subject.’ Trustees never think, says the writer, of giving to the college president, on whom they have placed the almost in- comparable responsibility of leadership, power that is in any way adequate to that responsibility. The universal experience of the world, in all matters outside of those educational, is that that power must go with leadership, if the leader- ship is to arrive anywhere. But prac- tices are allowed in the conduct of the enormously important business of de- veloping a great American university and all that means in the constitu- tion of American ideals and _ the development of American character and the advancement of knowledge—prac- tices are allowed, says this critic, by the board of last appeal, which would ruin any business in six months or wreck a government in less time. The college president, according to this college president, is not generally allowed to know how the departments are being run; it would be an insult for him to inquire. His hands are tied when it comes to the re-arrangement of the cur- riculum, in which, in its highest form, must be expressed his ideas of what the education of his college or university | should be. Some faculty committee is given the work which belongs to the ex- ecutive, and he is over-ridden; and so a gross injustice is done to hundreds of young men; wrong methods of teaching are perpetuated, and unfortunate rela- tions are established between instructors and students. And the president can’t stop it. This writer, when he takes up, early in his article, the case of the men elected to the presidency of a college or uni- versity, excepts “half a dozen that come immediately to mind as already reason- ably well organized and well equipped, modern, up-to-date.” But a great many things which he says he evidently means to apply to pretty nearly every high institution of learning. His conclusion is as follows. “A distinguished member of the United States Senate once declared, ‘I love my Alma Mater for all that she has enabled me to be and to do in spite of her !’—a seeming paradox that will be readily understood by every thoughtful graduate who has at last found his true place in the world’s economy. ‘The spirit of this age accepts the desirability and the necessity of sound and sane training of a very high order, if we are to be saved from the friction and irrita- tion and irretrievable loss that always follow in the train of ignorance and its consequent weakness. Public and pri- vate treasure is poured out most freely to secure this more satisfactory preparation for a larger life. But the wear and tear and waste and delay must continue al- most unbearable, unless the business of education is regarded in a business light, is cared for by business methods, and is made subject to that simple but all efficient law of a proper division of labor and of intelligent and efficient or- ganization,—a division of labor which brings the men who are students of the classics, of the sciences, of the litera- tures, of philosophy, of history, under the wise direction and immediate control of the man who is necessarily and most desirably a student of humanity; with a responsibility which is coincident with the work in hand, and: with an authority entirely commensurate with this re- sponsibility. Whatever of executive difficulties and perplexities will then re- main, they will not be the peculiar diffi- culties and perplexities of to-day.” Fiction in the Lit.—A Warning. In the review of the Yale Lz. for March in the Yale News, Dr. Reed, of the English Faculty, warns the Lit. against indulging its appetite for fiction to the exclusion of the critical essay. The warning is in order. Coming from such a source, it ought to be heeded by [Continued on page 267.] THE QUESTION OF VALUE. When a man selects an article of wearing apparel from a number costing two or more prices and of different qualities, he selects the best; and in this his judgment is good because he takes a long look ahead and the question of future value and durability is foremost in his mind. If this simple principle should be fol- lowed out when many of our business men seek to invest their money, there would be certain prosperity and few if any disappointments. Present value and future durability are the things to be first considered in nearly every busi- ness transaction, whether the articles purchased are to be worn or kept in a safe. : Many men invest their incomes in mines, some in lumber lands, some in orange groves, some purchase stock in industrial enterprises or become silent partners in business firms, and some in- vest in ships that battle with the ele- ments at sea, while others have faith in promising corner lots; but all make their ventures with an abundance of hope. Some of these are successful, but fail- ures oft outnumber successes and the words of the sacred proverb—“hope de- ferred maketh the heart sick,” are again proved true. A financial institution of the magni- tude of The Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York, that has been able to withstand the pressure of many financial crises and panics; a company that has been “tried in the fire,” pro- vides the best means for the safe invest- ment of one’s money. Such a choice will, in the long run, far excel the most promising speculative business enter- prise. The mine may fail to yield its paying ores; the crop may prove short and disastrous; the corner lot may eat itself up in interest and taxes; or the sea may swallow up the vessel; but the policy will endure and produce value for the investor. See to it that you be- come a member of this great institution. Yate Law SCHOOL, For circulars and other information apply to Prof. FRANCIS WAYLAND, Dean. AP eee we ewe we ea 4444444144444 4444++646++ 4446+ +++0+ + $$46+44 4444 $049 $4440444OF 44+ OO 03 COC TCT Tree ' PROPERTY is most valuable where it is best pro- $ tected by law. This is what makes so valuable a policy in the * PDs ew Ue ed tr eC aia Ahn ti i ee a es sss 44444644 444 5 i ee » Lag Massachusetts laws protect the policy-holder. Some interesting literature, includ- ing the forty-eighth annual statement, + sent on application to HENRY M. PHILLIPS, Secretary, SPRINGFIELD, MASS. 4 an an a te Sn a i in Ai ani POC eee rere + ~~ aaa mee ark ++++ te re ++ TOF TFO OO eeees os EesHssEH bse HHH Sooo eto PEPE EOPHSOOH e 64 40+ ¢o 04444 In doing business with the YALE ALUMNI WEEKLY advertisers, please mention this paper. The Magdalena River Colonization Company, which owns 300,000 acres on the Magdalena River, in the United States of Colombia, has determined to subdivide the same into 20, 40, 50 and 100-acre farms, and sell the same at $5 per acre, payable $1 per acre cash, and $1 per acre in 1, 2, 3 and 4 years, without interest. The Climate, soil and produc- tions are the same as Southern California, to which is added all tropical fruits, such as Oranges, Lemons, Limes, Pine Apples, Grape Fruit, Grapes, Pears, Cocoa, Rubber trees, Ginsing root, Tobacco, etc. There will be some of the best farmers from Switz- erland, France, Germany, Italy, England, Canada, and from many of our United States. Some New England farmers already located. The colony has a frontage of 25 miles on the Magdalena Rivet, with steamers running from there to Cartagena and Bananquilla several times a week. We expect t0 have at least five hundred settlers located in one year. For further information address, WM. H. MARTIN, Land Commissioner, 1o14 Empire Building, NEw York.
