ADDRESS
DELIVERED AT THE STATE UNIVERSITY
LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY
BY HoN. Edward J. McDERMott,
A. B., LL. B., LL. D.
Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky
TO THE GRADUATING CLASS
OF THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY
ON JUNE 5th, 1913
co MP LIMENTS OF STATE UNIVERSITY
Errata.
In the fifth line from the top of page 3, the word
“Library” should be “Liberty.”
In the seventeenth line from the bottom of page 5,
“two and a half centuries’’ should read “twen-
ty-three and a half centuries.”
In the eleventh line from top of page 4, the word
“money” should be “many.”
In the eighth line from top of page 5, the word
“by” should be “to.”
\,
The Scholar and the State.
You have been educated by the State at the eXpene Of the
tax-payers. You, therefore, owe much to yOur fellow-Citizens. You
have the training that fits you to do good work and exercise great
influence. Your opinions, your words and all your acts, yOur Success
Or failure, Will affect not only you and your families, but also yOur
‘neighbors and this university. Keep that in mind. The man or wo.
man that thinks only of self-advancement ought never to be favored
**
Or respected. The penalty for such selfishness must be paid soon or
late.
If you think your education now complete, you make an egre-
gious blunder and are doomed to fail in life. I have seen degree-men
of great colleges and universities who, after many years of mental
Sloth, had become almost ignorant drones, far inferior to self-edu-
cated but studious men of the right ambition. If you do not continue
to read and study, whatever your calling, you will soon lose the chief
benefit of your past training. Not the mere reading of newspapers
and magazines and light books, or novel books, or even books of sec-
Ondary rank On important topics will give you real culture, or a firm
grip on the essential questions of life, Which is a stern affair, how-
ever it may be lightened by temporary pleasures. Not even by pour-
ing. Over libraries is the real, broad-minded scholar made, but by the
GOnStant reading of the few great books Which foster no illusions and
gratify no vanities. “If I had read as much as other men,” said
Schoppenhauer, “I should have been as ignorant as other men.”
Even Constant self-improvement and an unselfish Service to others
does not always bring Constant happiness. Great is the tree of know-
ledge, but its fruit is Care and Often discontent.
Education is Valuable, indispensable, but it is not enough to
make a good citizen. It does not of itself make a moral person or a
patriot. Not Only Herbert Spencer and Schoppenhauer and others
Of modern times but even Pericles and Aristotle in ancient times dem-
onstrated that we may train the intellect without improving the
will. “Table talk,” said Spencer, “proves that nine Out of ten people
read what amuses them. Or interests them rather than What in StructS
them; that the last thing they read is something which tells them
disagreeable truths or dispels groundless hopes. That popular educa-
tion results in an extensive reading Of publications Which foster pleas-
ant illusions rather than Of those which insist On hard realities, is be-
yond question.” There has been no great diminution in Crime or groSS
Selfishness in communities where education has been free and practi.
cally universal for several generations; and yet we cannot Conduct
a government like ours unless the great mass of the people have a
moderate degree of education, nor unless leaders are carefully trained
for the higher tasks of life and for important civic duties. In Our OWn
State thorough scholarship is not valued high enough. It does not
get that practical recognition to which it is entitled. We know that
some scholars are narrow and impractical, but hardly any man With-
out thorough scholarship can be as useful and as Safe in the affairs
of life as another man of equal mind who has had the great blessing
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of Wide knowledge and sound mental training. Though it is import-
ant to the State to see that, in Some way, opportunities for education
and the higher Scholarship shall exist, it is not best to make all stu-
dents or all citizens exactly alike as in China in the past. As Mill
Said in his book On Library, we must leave a chance always for di-
Versity in education, habits and pursuits; we must not crush out all
eccentricity or variety; for the differing minority of one generation
may be found to have been right by the majority of a succeeding
generation. Diversity and conflict are better than stagnation or en-
forced uniformity.
The Schools, colleges and universities must teach many things
Of immediate and practical value, but they must “also provide train-
ing and information for the brilliant minds that are to lead and ele-
Vate Others in the future. Learning is good for its practical uses and
also for the refined pleasures Which it affords, especially in middle
life and old age. True scholarship liberalizes and refines the intellect,
widens the vision, and gives greater Certainty to our judgment; it
helps to make us brighter and better. Our happiness depends more
On what we are than on what we have. Early We must decide wheth-
er we prefer wealth to culture and character. We must choose be.
tween pride and leisure, between Champagne and freedom. The
valuable man, whatever his Calling, must WOrk COnStantly to rise, but
fame or wealth is too dearly bought at the price of health. EXCessive
work in any sphere soon leads to bankruptcy; and yet, as Goethe
SayS,
Du musSt Steigen Oder Sinken
Du musSt herrschen und geWinnen
Oder dienen und Verlieren
Leiden Oder triumphieren
Amboss Oder Hammer Sein.
There is a tendency to dwell too much on trade and commerce
and money-making in every form, a tendency which necessarily be-
gets, not only proper thrift, but also avarice and Social injustice. The
State needs wealth, but not excessive wealth; it needs, also Spiritual,
intellectual and political guides of great gifts, thorough Scholarship
and high aims. The world remembers its intellectual and moral
giants; it soon forgets its money-makers. Aristotle said 2,200 years
ago, that the major part of mankind are rather desirous of riches
than honor; but that, to be always hunting after the profitable, ill
agrees with great and free-born Souls. The Greeks. and the ROman.S
thought that any employments exercised for gain Were “mean; ” that
such employments detracted from the freedom of the mind and ren-
dered it “sordid.” That idea, seems absurd to us, but later genera-
tions may think that we now over-value the mere accumulation of
money. As Horace long ago said of beautiful marbles and ivory, fine
clothes and silver and precious gems, and all the other Costly baubleS
which are so eagerly gathered and so proudly displayed by the rich—
especially by the new-rich—“Sunt qui non babent; est qui non Curat
habere.”
All the civilized nations of the WOrld are n0W becoming Sharp
competitors and rivals, on land and Sea, as Soldiers and sailors, a.S
farmers, traders, scientists, Writers and States Imen. TO enjoy com:
forts, leisure and the arts We must WOrk for the neCeSSaries of life;
we must master the mysteries of nature and the problems of agri-
culture, manufacture, trade and Commerce; and we must learn the
4
Science of government. The Church, the School and the Press must
play an important part. As long as the Roman Republic had a host
Of hardy, thrifty, patriotic farmers to fight its battles, uphold its laws,
pay its taxes, and bring it the spoils of war, and sustain its COmmerce,
and as long as the Republic had also able, patriotic statesmen to guide
it in the Solution of domestic and foreign problems, no power could
Stay its armies or its prosperity.
Walter Bagehot gave strong reasons for his theory that the
Stationary state, not the advancing state, is the normal condition of
nations. At every stage infirmities and difficulties tend to produce
Weakness or decay. In money a thing that, on the surface, seems to
be Wholly good, there lurks some unseen evil. The poppy is beautiful
to the Sight but it holds within it like a serpent, a dangerous, treach-
erous drug that benumbs all the other Senses. Many promising reme-
dies for Our ills prove to be baneful. We must always Jold fast to
things that time and trial have shown to be good, but our eyes must
be clear and Wide-Open as we seek, day by day, for means to improve
OurSelves and every thing that affects our dally life and Our ultimate
destiny. Not all change is progress. The phenominal growth of our
Cities at the expense of the farms, for example, 13 not a good sign.
The crowded factories of Connecticut are unfortunately depopulating
her lands. In ancient days, as the Gracchi clearly saw, the gradual
nuigration Gf the suffering of discontented farmel's of Italy to the
Streets and hovels of Rome was a misfortune of evil omen. They
Sought in vain to Cure the disease. The final results were disastrous.
Some men, reading inaccurately, Or not at all, the history of other
nations and their governments, think that we can profit little by past
experience, and imagine that they are “progressive” if they readily
adopt every Chance Or remedy that is plausibly presented by Speakers,
or by writers in newspapers, magazines, or books. Other men, timid
Of all change, resist all improvement. Few of IIS in Stºldying history
make proper allowance for the illusions of perspectIve. When we
think Of the evils and destruction. Of Other ſlations Or governmentS,
we forget how long it took them to rise, flourish and decay; and
we forget also how much we have brought direct to this new conti-
nent from Europe, how much we have been influenced by it, and for
how Short a time we have flourished. NO Statesman. Of modern timeS
can wisely or safely undertake to settle some of our grave problems,
if he does not know well how Such problems arose in Other nations,
in present or past times, and how they were solved or proved to be
unsolvable. The great men who prepared our Feredal Constitution,
and especially those that advocated its adoption With Consummate
ability and learning in the Federalist, studied carefully all the Systems
of government ever tried with success in America or in Europe. Most
men read history to be confirmed in their preconceived likes and pre-
judices. To such men history or experience can teach little. They
imagine differences or resemblances to support their theories, or to
overthrow any antagonistic argument. We cannot blindly nor indis-
criminately follow other nations of the present or past time; but We
can surely learn much from them, especially when the fundamental
resemblances between their condition and Ours are far greater than
the differences.
In architecture, sculpture, poetry, drama, Oratory, athletics, and
perhaps in painting, we have never surpassed the Greeks. The
Athenians had a severe law against grain-dealers Who got up a
5
“Corner” or monopoly on grain and they enforced it. Alexander the
Great, like Some of our multi-millionaires, gave Aristotle 800 talents,
then a big fortune, as an endowment for scientific research, and sent
him Strange animals of other lands for study. That pagan scientist
advocated an elaborate, compulsory application of the theory of eugen-
iCS by the State, a “science” which many “progressive” scientists of
today are advocating as a modern discovery. Elections by ballot, legal
decisions by large juries and, an appeal, by the people were common
in Athens and in Rome. The land question, the conflicts between
Capital and labor, marriage and divorce were discussed in pagan days
as now ; but the proper use of representative government was not un-
derstood till modern times. Socialism had it ardent advocates in that
ancient day and some of its unsound doctrines had a fair and convinc-
ing trial. The “money-lover” was as often denounced then as now,
and the “demagogues” were as artful and as mischevious as at any
time Since; and, it is Said, “Occasioned frequent confiscations in the
Courts; ” and yet it was as evident to Aristotle as to us, to use his
Own words, “that the multitude judge of many things better than
any One Single perSOn.”
When, against Some modern “fad” or evil tendency we appeal
to the experience of the ancient republics, We are told that they had
Slaves; that many Of the people COuld not VOte; but We must remem-
ber that there Were multitudes Of Slaves in Virginia. When She Was
the mother of Presidents and great Statesmen. We are told that
Greece and Rome had no railroads Or telegraph, no air-Ships, Or tele-
phones; but there are small towns and counties that have not much
direct advantage from such great modern improvements, and Still
many of the people there are thrifty citizens, good Voters and Would
be good soldiers, if needed to defend our flag. We have many luxur-
ies and inventions of which Pericles or Aristotle never dreamed, but
their mental powers and civic virtues were as great as those of any
man of modern times. All the skill and Care of teachers—all the
Sciences and inventions of the ages—cannot make any great difference
in the genius or the deeds or the fame of a Caesar or a Napoleon, a
Pericles, a Burke, or a Webster.
We shall look in vain for any modern Speech to Surpass in
beauty, strength, patriotism and political wisdom, the Short Oration
of Pericles, as reported by Thucydides almost two and a half centuries
ago. What he said then, we can profit by today. Mark these sen-
tences, culled from his Speech:
“We do not copy our neighbors, but are an example
to them. We are called a democracy, for the administra-
tion is in the hands of the many, not of the few. The law
secures equal justice to all alike. When a citizen is in
any way distinguished, he is preferred in the public
service. Poverty is not a bar. In private intercourse
we are not suspicious of one another, nor angry With Our
neighbor if he does what he likes. We are prevented
from doing wrong by respect for authority and the laws.
At home the style of our life is refined. We are lovers
of the beautiful yet simple in our tastes, and We Culti-
vate the mind without loss of manliness. Wealth. We em-
ploy, not for talk and ostentation, but when there is real
use for it. To avow poverty is no disgrace; the true dis-
6
grace is in doing nothing to avoid it. We alone regard
a man Who takes no interest in public affairs, not as a
harmless, but as a useless character. Not riches but
honor is the delight of men when they are old and use-
less. Where the rewards of virtue are greatest, there
§. noblest citizens are enlisted in the service of the
tate.”
tº gº Are not those principles and habits sound and worthy of our
imitation today? Shall we not suffer if we depart far from them?
Almost a hundred years after Pericles, came Aristotle, the
learned, careful, brilliant scientist, father of the science of Govern-
ment, the teacher of Alexander the Great, the teacher in fact of
Greece, Rome and mediaeval Europe. He is no longer conceded an
undisputed authority, but though we do not agree to all he says, we
must admit that, in essentials, he was generally sound. He gave his
preference to a free State. He clearly saw that a government is
good Only as far as it satisfies the needs of the people and gives
them a reasonable chance for prosperity, enlightenment and hap.
piness; that a State can be no better than its citizens; that to be
Successful, it must be a community of intelligent, good men; that
great Wealth, like poverty, is an evil; that the people could not re.
main harmonious, free Or Contented if there were, in virtue or wealth,
a great disparity between them; that there must be a large, thrifty
middle Class to Operate Or preserve a democracy; that, if the rich
Were too strong, they Would Oppress the poor, and, if the poor were too
numerous, they would be influenced by demagogues and would want
to Confiscate property and that, in either Case, a Strong, tyrannical
government would follow. Finally, he said that the politician Or the
statesman must be the first to perceive an evil at its Very first ap-
proach; that he must not be remiss in his duty like a faithless night-
guard; that he must be quick to protect the Constitution and must
awaken the fears of the people in time, in Order that they may pre-
Serve it from insidious alterations or Open OVerthroW. The people
indeed must look to men of learning, experience and fidelity to protect
what is good and to alter what is bad, but always With Caution and
wisdom.
As in other States So in Ours, there must be progress; there
must always be improvements; for changes and varied evils in Our
domestic, commercial and civic life will necessarily appear from time
to time; and the laws and leaders of the people must provide new
remedies. In my humble way, as a private citizen and OCCaSiOnally
as a representative of the people in the Legislature, in the Constitu-
tional Convention and as Chairman of the Commission that Wrote
the charter of my native city, I labored hard for more than thirty
years to introduce reforms in elections, in Courts, in Our important
Statutes and Constitutional provisions, and in the procedure and CuS-
toms of the Legislature itself. In the last session of Our Legislature,
I prepared a rule to exclude casual visitors and lobbyists from the
floor of the Senate; and, when there was a tie vote on the rule, I Cast
the deciding vote in its favor. I sought by joint resolution to recover,
for the perpetual use of the Legislature, the Committee rooms Which
had been set apart in the new Capitol for the House and the Senate,
but which had been appropriated to other uses. I wished to proVide
a place where the Committees of the Legislature Could conveniently
meet, and could be met by the citizens of the Commonwealth, and
7
Where the light of publicity might work its beneficent influence. I left
my Seat as President of the Senate to advocate a good bill which
Judge Hobson had prepared, and which provided that the Governor
Should appoint three Statute Commissioners, with the qualifications
of a Circuit Judge, at a small salary of One Thousand Dollars per
year; that it should be their duty, from year to year, to study our
Statutes and to see Where they needed amendment, and to carefully
prepare appropriate bills before the meeting of the Legislature for its
Consideration. If such a regular commission did this work, many
ambiguities and difficulties and inconsistencies in our Statutes would
be avoided and all necessary reforms would be pointed out in time;
and Still none of the prerogatives and duties of the representatives
of the people would be interfered with. Like many other lawyers
and Some of the judges, I have been trying for many years to promote
reforms in legal procedure in order to avoid delays and unnecessary
costs, and to eliminate the importance of all technicalities. While
serving occasionally as Governor of the State, during the necessary
absence of Governor McCreary, I have realized better than ever
before that, while his power for good or evil is great, the Governor’s
usefulness is greatly hampered by unreasonable restrictions, or by
the Withdrawal of necessary powers Which the people think he has,
and which he ought to have in Order to meet their needs, to enforce
their laws, and to promote their prosperity and happiness.
The scholar and the State! Each is indespensable to the other.
Learning has a positive and a negative value; it is useful in action
and in defense. Schoppenhauer said that his philosophy had never
paid him a cent but had saved him much money and many regrets.
The learned man of well-balanced brain has the light and thought and
experience of past generations to guide, refine and Strengthen him,
to enlarge his pleasures and his honors and to make him a Source of
strength to his State. It needs him. In all the complexities and diffi-
culties of the day, in the clamor of ignorance and folly, with unreason-
able complaints and just complaints dinned in Our ears, We need the
practical man and the studious man to help us to high and Safe ground
where virtue and vigilance may guard our liberties and Our Civilization
and pass them unimpaired to our children.