| |
| |
Caption: Commencement - 1925
This is a reduced-resolution page image for fast online browsing.
EXTRACTED TEXT FROM PAGE:
and city governments. Only the oilier d / the President of our ountry lent the great wei In of his authority, correcth in my opinion, to a criticism of this state of ai irs. He deplored the excessive growth of federal authority and bureaucracy ; the tendency o\ the states to pass over to the federal government the discharge of duti< that properly belong to themselves; the alleged increasing disrespect for law; and, in general, not only changes in the form of government tending to weaken it, but a change in the attitude of the people at large towards their duty as citizens. He ascribes the situation to excessive legislation. I venture to think, however, that there is a more deeply-seated cause. I venture to say that all the evils to which he adverted are results rather than causes, and that it is in the ideals and attitude of the individual member of the community that we must seek, not only for the causes of the evils described, but also for their cure. It is to this point that I wish for a few moments to call your attention because as you go out into active life it will rest with you and others like you to cure the evil. I think it is Herbert Spencer who remarks somewhere that you can not make a perfect society out of imperfect individuals. You can not make a perfect political organization out of individuals who have false notions of what is excellence in political organization. I venture to say that it is the low ideal of the ordinary citizen of the sacredness of political office or political duty, of his own relation to law and government, that is the basic evil of our present situation. It is frequently said that the people get as good a overnment as they deserve. There is truth in the statement. ( ertainly, they get the government that they choose. If the government is bad, it is their fault. If their servants who operate the machinery of government arc corrupt, it is their fault. There is a tradition that every American citizen is a 11 Sovereign. Hut "a sovereign can not take tips. Yet in our Aineri n life today there is a large number oi citizens who ire t king tips. In short, it is amazing how many individuals are trying to get through pull and influence { 5 )| u [ft]
| |
