tmr^mm .- '-' '^^'^ . ■:x /cf^r in o GIFT OF . UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT ^ FOUNDER^S DAY MAY \, J897 GENERAL IRA ALLEN. UnivGrsitv of VcrmoRt rOUNDEP'S DAY V\m I, 1597 ADDRESSES BY PCRLCY ORNAN RSY, 1595 GEORGE NAYNARD HOGAN, 1597 AND PROEESSOR DAVIS RICH DEWEY, Ph. D., 1579 WITH THE SONG AND ODES WRITTEN TOR THE OCCASION Printed by the Free Press Association Burlington, Vermont 1897 \ J\- ^^ -I c- u3^ ^.1 -' i 'J 11 ^* -, ■'^ ' The observance of Founder's Day was first proposed in June 1892. The first of May, being the birthday of Ira Allen, the day also on which he set out on his critical and dangerous but successful embassy from the infant Republic of Vermont to the British authorities in Canada, and at the same time an imme- morial Spring Festival almost universally recognized, seemed an auspicious date for such a college holiday. At the next meeting of the Trustees of the University, in June 1893, the suggestion was adopted, and the first celebration was held in the Library in 1894, the Rev. B. H. Byington, D. D., of the class of 1852, reading an address on The Puritans, their Character, Customs and Influence, and the Glee Club sing- ing (with other pieces) the Hymnus Bucharisticus, which for several hundred years has been sung at Oxford at five o'clock on May Day morning. The audience filled the large north- hall of the building. In 1895 the holiday was observed in the Chapel, addresses being presented by Carroll Warren Doten, 1895, Charles Bthaa Allen, 1896, and Professor J. B. Goodrich, 1853. In 1896 the undergraduates were represented by Blwin Leroy Ingalls, 1896, and John Stephen Buttles, 1897, and an ex- cellent address on The Small College was given by the Hon. D. P. Kingsley, of the class of 1881. This was printed in the Cynzc of Ma.y i8th, and in the Daily Free Press of May 19th. [Copies may still be had by applying to the Secretary of the Faculty.] The Proceedings of Founder's Day, 1897, are herewith pre- sented in full, that the Alumni may understand what the new holiday means and what use is made of it. The new festival is believed to have passed the stage of experiment, the public exercises having attracted large and interested audiences. The themes discussed are meant to combine topics both of local and of general interest. U. V. M. FOUNDER^S DAY MAY I, 1897 1. Organ Voluntary, Frank Roland Jewett, 1899. 2. PsALTKR, Psalm 44, read responsively. 3. Hymn 745, God Bless our Native Ivand, sung to the tune America. 4. Prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. J. Isham Bliss, D. D., 1852. . 5. Address by PerlEy Orman Ray, 1898. 6. Ode, by the Glee Club. 7. Address by George Maynard Hogan, 1897. 8. Song, by Glee Club and Students. 9. Oration by Professor Davis Rich Dewey, 1879, of the Mass. Institute of Technology. 10. Latin Ode, Glee Club and Students. 11. Benediction by the Chaplain. The likeness of Ira Allen prefixed to this pamphlet is re- produced from an engraving which may be seen in Volume II of the Collections of the Vermont Historical Society. This is a fairly satisfactory representation of the only likeness known to exist, — a miniature portrait made probably in Paris about 1800 (?), and now in the possession of a grand-daughter of Gen- eral Allen, residing in Lexington, Mass. The University owes it to his memory, and to itself, to place on the walls of the Library or Chapel, without further delay, a worthy portrait of its principal Founder. This was proposed five years ago. Why should not such a portrait be arranged for at once ? 5 The University of Vermont in the Civil War Mr. President, Frieiids ajid Fellow Students : The founder of our University, Ira Allen, whose natal day we celebrate, was more than a statesman, a diplomat. He was a soldier. Not only at Ticonderoga by the side of his brother Ethan, but later as Major General of the Vermont militia, he displayed tireless energy and ceaseless activity. In truth, '^eternal vigilance" was the price Vermont had to pay for her liberty. Upon the coat of arms of our State are inscribed the words, ''Freedom and Ufiity.'' While Ira Allen fought for Vermont's freedom from New York, New Hampshire and England, at a later period the University which he founded gave many of her dearest sons for the preservation of our national unity. To the part the University had in the Civil War t invite your attention. It is exceedingly difficult to put together with any sem- blance of unity the facts connected with this theme. It is hard even to get hold of the facts themselves ; they have to be pick- ed up, here a little and there a little, and we must trust to imag- ination to fill in the details. The University, as such, attracted little more than local at- tention during the war. Students and alumni who enlisted formed no distinctive military organization, but were scattered among different companies and regiments. To appreciate best the active part which the College men took in the war, we must try to get behind the scenes, and enter, if we can, into the spirit of the times. I wish the years could be rolled back, just to give us a momentary glimpse, if not more, of the College boys before the war. We of this genera- tion are apt to think of the young men of those dark days as a little above the ordinary students of today ; as men somewhat overshadowed by Puritanism ; as men devoid of the keen sensa- tions and bubbling life to which we often give such boisterous 6 expression. We are prone to imagine that they were men formed in a sterner mould, more mibending and dignified, less excita- ble, men upon whom our most cherished pleasures exerted little charm or none at all. But while it is true that those were dark days just before the war, we have no reason to believe that the College boys of that time were very different from those of to-day. They were pleased with many of the same pleasures ; stirred by the same sentiments and passions ; burning with the same patriotism that now lies dormant within us. And so, if we can put ourselves to ever so little a degree in their places this morning ; mingle with them ; find out what they were thinking about; and feel, never so faintly, what they felt ; if we can do this, the part our Alumni played in the war will come home to us with far more force. It would be impossible for a body of young men so open to impression as are college students, not to be profoundly stirred by the events just preceding the war. What were those events? The class of '6i had entered as freshmen in 1857. In this very year the United States Supreme Court handed down the famous Dred Scott decision. The next year the Ii be called social, he falls far short of doing justice to an institution worthy to bear the name of college. He neglects to note the most lasting of all the benefits derived from a college education. In speaking of the social side of college life, I do not wish to be understood as referring, necessarily, to receptions, balls, and theatre parties, but rather to what is even more important than any of these — the influence, the spirit, the sentiment exerted by the daily intercourse of student with student. The remark is often made, and with telling force, that the students are educated as much by each other as by the professors. Whether this ought to be the case, may be open to question, yet it must certainly be said that every single college man will secretly acknowledge if not openly, that the power of personal- ity is by far superior in importance to the power of instruction. In other words, that one's personality far exceeds in influence his mental attainments. It is not too much to say that a pleas- 17 ing personality, witli the necessary attributes of mind that al- ways accompany it, is much more to be envied, is much more to be desired and cultivated, than the most profound intellect that lacks such personality. If one thing more than any other has been indelibly im- pressed upon my mind during my course, it is a conviction of the baneful effects that come from magnifying the intellectual at the expense of the practical and social ends of education. For it is the social life that brings out the student's personality. Without a strong, pleasing personality he is utterly unable to cope with the great world outside. He may become the veriest book- worm, and still know absolutely nothing of the affairs of life. "While he may acquire information, he will never be a scholar, and can never be a cultured gentleman. Now how does college help to give one this personality ? In a sense, college is a world by itself — it is the greater world in embryo. Upon entering it one finds himself thrown in with all sorts and conditions of men — rich men, poor men, selfish men, unselfish men ; men who have high ideas of life and work, men who, unfortunately, have not these ideas. For four years he is to live with, be identified with, associated with, all these conflicting temperaments and various faculties. He is, there- fore, compelled to learn how to make friends, how to keep friends. He is to learn how to treat his enemies, if he have any ; how to get on with men, and still preserve his own individuality. He is to learn, as never before, the necessity for, and the power of, tact. And finally, he is to learn that those of the older students who rise to places of trust and confidence, who exert the best and strongest influence; that those among the pro- fessors who are the most popular, respected and beloved, are always and everywhere those who have, perhaps, no extraordi- nary intellectual power, but who have a wholesome, hale and hearty, 2Ln6i pleasing personality. It is because the social intercourse of student with student may develop this power of personality, that I count the result of the social side of college life the very best of its contribu- V- 18 tions to a liberal education. It is only by means of one's own personality that he can ever hope to influence or instruct others with any lasting benefit. It is never to be forgotten that it is humanity that educates humanity, personality that disciplines personality. But a pleasing personality is by no means all that the social life of college gives to the student who mingles with his fel- lows. It strengthens his sympathies, it widens his outlook upon the facts of life. In short, it is the social life which accom- plishes what may be said to be embodied in the general broad- ening, deepening and enriching of character, — all that which may be so much more easily felt than expressed. In the college world, as in the greater world outside, life may be to the student what he chooses to make it. It may be good or bad, pure or vile, worth while or not worth while. Obviously the moral strain is great. If, however, a man dis- ciplines himself to make a clean record in the social life of his college, is not this a fair guarantee that he will do the same in his later life ? The influence of students is constantly recognized in respect to its less favorable aspects, but I think it is not so often recog- nized in respect to its higher and nobler relations. Of this a word seems necessary. There is a certain institution in the social life of every col- lege whose whole object and aim, whose every principle, is such as to call forth in each member his noblest purposes and highest aspirations. It is that part of college life about which cluster the tenderest memories, the most sacred associations. For it, one's dreams of college reputation, his selfish pride, his deep-uttered vows to win a name for himself have all been sobered into affection ; have all blended into that glow of feel- ing which finds its center, and hope, and joy, in the Fraternity. For it is here, in this home life of the college, that one learns to surrender himself to the good of those to whom he has pledged what is nearest and dearest to him. It is here that one learns to make the interests and honor of his friends, the interests and 19 honor of himself. Here, as nowhere else, the power of personal influence is manifest. And, as it is in such a social institution as his own fraternity that for each student may first be born that larger, broader, fraternal feeling which marks col- lege life as most beautiful the world over, so it is that the greater fraternity of the one college body may likewise come to be the source of those elevating, ennobling influences of true college loyalty, college spirit, college friendship — qualities which as long as life endures will never cease to be an inspira- tion and a lasting help to every college graduate. In conclusion, then, we see some of the advantages which the college may give a student if he will but let it. It may develop in him an independence of thought, of study, of action; it may give him a better, truer estimate of his own abilities. He may gain the practical advantages that come from steady application to hard work ; he may reap 'the practical benefits from an ex- perience in getting on with men. And finally, last and best of all, he may have developed in him not only a cultured, pleas- ing personality that will commend itself to every stranger, but he may have developed also those refining sentiments of honor and manliness which come only from the uplifting influences of high-minded companionship ; he may appreciate as never be- fore ''the loyalty, valor and truth Of the friendships that hallow the season of youth." Thus it is that the college pours oil, as it were, into the lamp of character, and makes its light more radiant, and more lasting. George Maynard Hog an, 1897 ^ 20 SONG Air— Nellie Gray. 1. When the golden blush of morning spreads its radiance o'er the sky, And each dew-drop seems a bright and sparkling gem, And the gently breathing ijephyr stirs the silver boughs on high, Thei]^we'll sing to our dear old U. V. M. CHORUS. Then we'll sing the glad refrain, Let it echo once again. And we'll sing it with a will forevermore ; For we're singing of the praises of our dear old U. V. M. May they echo from the mountains to the shore ! 2. When athwart the eastern mountains spreads the sunset's golden glow. And the sun is slowly sinking to his rest. And across the ancient campus creep the evening shadows low, And the silver lake is glistening in the west ; CHORUS. 3. Like a gleam of happy sunshine in this world of care and woe. Like a star that flashes brightly o'er its ways, Far across the fields of memory from the years of long ago Shines the lustre of our happy college days. CHORUS. 4. When at last the voyage ceases and we stand upon the shore, And the shadows gather thick upon the main. Then we'll think with fond remembrance of our college days once more, And we'll long for the dear old U. V. M. CHORUS. Frank Roi^and Jkwktt, 1899 [It is often asked what the mysterious letters "U. V. M." stand for. The explanation is this : In the early days of the University the name of the institution was sometimes latinized as Universitas Viridhcm Montmm.'\ 21 The InterdepKndency of Modern Communities Fellow Students and Friends : The last time that I delivered an oration was nearly eighteen years ago when I stood upon the platform of the Howard Opera House upon the occasion of receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Since that day I have not been called upon for an ora- tion. All that I can hope to do now is to make a brief address which I trust may be in keeping with this most fitting celebra- tion. I shall not, however, dwell long upon the past, or upon the history of our State and the University. A great man or a great occasion can serve no better purpose than to furnish us with a text for the future. It has been frequently remarked that there is more State pride among the sons of Vermont than is to be found among the offspring of any other commonwealth. So, too, we alumni have a peculiar pride in our loved University, and if we chance to be at once the sons of Vermont and alumni of the University, this double pride becomes a rich heritage, a precious memory. We love our college not only for her own sake, but also because she is set upon a hill in a commonwealth crowded with historic memories of a unique civil life. This combination of sentiment, — a love for a college, and a love for a commonwealth, is more distinct, so far as I am aware, among the alumni of Vermont than elsewhere. We love to think that our State had its origin in pioneers who preferred hardships of unconquered nature to the more comfortable homes of commerce on the seaboard, or to a life in the well settled agricultural towns in the interior of Connecticut and Massachu- setts ; who were the offspring of separatism in the church ; who dared to maintain independence not only of the mother country, but also of the sister colonies to the East and the West. We love our State none the less because there is a tradition of tur- bulence and outlawry associated with our youth. Our incon- sistent characters, even that of the insolent Matthew Lyon imprisoned under the alien and sedition laws, have a sympathet- 22 ic interest for us which we cannot explain, save that in some way they appear to be an expression of our independent feel- ing. To us there appears no incongruity in the almost unique action of [our State in making the Masonic question a funda- mental issue in a political election. So, too, we prize the simple history and character of our college ; we love to think that we were once the seat of an interpretation of philosophic thought, unappreciated if not unknown in other intellectual centers of this country. If I had the opportunity, I should enjoy dwelling at length upon some of these conditions and characteristics which have given this distinctive quality to our State, but in thus referring to these characteristics of our commonwealth I do not intend to enter upon a eulogy of the accomplishments of this state, or of the quiet, silent, but forceful work of our University. My thought is in another direction, and I trust that this will not ap- pear to be an inappropriate occasion to dwell for a few moments upon certain forces at work at the present time throughout the world, which are tending to make much of this history of our loved State, and to a certain extent, the annals of our college, even more of a legend than it is to-day. This past indeed should be more than a legend; it should be a cherished archive, pre- served with solicitous care, for its relations to the present are growing dimmer and dimmer. Among the many changes which are taking place at the present time, there are two important facts to be noted ; one is the growing interdependency of different sections of the coun- try ; and the other is its counterpart, an increasing tendency towards uniformity in the characteristics of our population re- garded as a whole. It was not so long ago that it was possible for a section of this country, a state, for example, to disregard national or in- ternational conditions and maintain an isolated position in which it might weave out its own fortunes undisturbed and undistract- ed. Its material prosperity was dependent upon local rather than upon national or world influences ; and in this self-suffi- 23 ciency, it could develop its own mental, moral and industrial traits. But those days are fleeting. The interrelations of the world are becoming more and more complex ; the dependency and interdependency of our interests are more and more important and significant. The working out of this force on a large scale I may illustrate by certain changes which have taken place over long periods of time in the fields of com- merce. The influence of the railroad, the telegraph, the tele- phone and the steamship in opening different portions of the whole country has often been dwelt upon, and has become a trite subject for consideration. But the chief significance of these changes is not merely in annihilating space and lessening time, but in changing the very quality of commerce and the relations of mankind. Commerce, or the interchange of commodities, was until recently, for the most part in the luxuries, not the necessaries of life. If the interchange were interrupted, the mass of the people was but little disturbed. Take a glance at Rome in the classic age. Who but the nobles or wealthy knights were wont to purchase the calicoes or muslins of Malta, the beautiful green marble of lyacedsemon, the byssinus resembling cambric, selling for its weight in gold, from Elis ; the marble from Paros ; the fine earthenware from Samos ; the wine and vermilion from Galatia and Cappadocia ; the columns of stone like alabaster from Phrygia ; the fine wool, black as jet, from Laodicea ; the precious stones, fine resin, sweet oil and copper from Cyprus ; the cedar, gum, balsam and alabaster from Pales- tine ; feathers and ivory from Africa ; and the lead, iron, copper^ silver and gold from Spain ? Nor was it the common people who ate the cheese, geese, and salted pork from Gaul ; and the salted tunni from Thrace ; or the honey from Attica. None but matrons allied to rank and wealth wore the robes made of the plant of which Virgil sings. ''Shall I sing," he says, *'of the groves of Ethiopia, hoary with soft wool, and how the Seres comb out the delicate fleece from among the leaves?" The list is sufficient. The commons of Rome before the imperial era 24 could have lived and died and been none the worse or wiser if never a ship had anchored off the mouth of the Tiber. Only gradually did commerce come to embrace the necessa- ries of life. During the middle ages, the great bulk of the trade was still in commodities for the rich. One of the charming es- sayists of the Spectator, going astray from his customary confi- dential and felicitous advice to female correspondents, into the vulgar realm of trade, described the nature of the commercial dependence which existed in his day, in the following manner ; — and it will be observed how few of the commodities referred to were purchased by the people at large : ''The fruits of Portu- gal are corrected by the products of Barbadoes ; and the infusion of a China plant is sweetened by the pith of an Indian cane. The Philippine Islands give a flavor to the European bowls. The single dress of a woman of quality is often the product of a hun- dred climes. The muff and the fan come together from the dif- ferent ends of the earth. The scarf is sent from the torrid zone and the tippet from beneath the pole. The brocaded petticoat rises out of the mines of Peru, and the diamond necklace out of the bowels of Hindoostan. " English bills of lading today tell altogether a different tale. Wheat constitutes a sixth of the total value of the imports of Great Britain ; cotton and wool in her clothing, another sixth ; butter, eggs, sugar, tea and coffee about an eighth, and so we might continue the classification to show that the great mass of the commodities imported are finally consumed by the middle and lower classes of society. The commercial statistics of other nations testify to the same general change. Of our exports, cotton constitutes more than a fourth ; wheat, flour and corn another quarter ; bacon, ham, lard, cheese and animals, an eighth. Commerce, indeed, could never have expanded as it has, if it had not seized upon the necessities of life as its opportunities. Up to the third quarter of the last century England was practically more than self-sufiicient in wheat and cattle. About 1770, however, England had to seek for foreign supplies. In 25 fifty years this amounted to a large quantity, and by the middle of this century one person in every five in England lived on foreign grain. In 1879 Mr. Caird summed up the situ- ation as follows : ** We now receive our bread in equal propor- tions from our own fields and those of the stranger ; this country thus derives from foreign lands not only half its bread and nearly one-quarter of its dairy- produce, but almost the entire commodities that may be further required by an increase in its population. " Last year England did not raise one-fourth of the wheat which she required. Looking at the world at large, there is at the present time, roughly speaking, a total product in wheat of more than two thousand million of bushels, but what is more to the point for our consideration, there is an annual transfer from country to country of more than one-eighth of this total to sat- isfy local wants. Why was it that commerce was so largely restricted to lux- uries ? There were reasons for it. National insecurity and fre- quent war made it impossible that one nation should depend in any essential degree upon another for the necessities of life. National independence in former times was largely based upon economic independence. A principality or a nation, to maintain its sovereignty, must be self-contained, else she could be starved into submission and thus conquered. A country might, indeed, derive from other lands a small portion of her staple food products, but she must nevertheless have within her own borders the conditions which would make her self suffi- cient within a short period. This argument of self-sufficiency has been a favorite one of statesmen. It was so in the early days of this republic. It was argued that in no respect with re- gard to the necessities of life should the United States be de- pendent upon Europe. Now, however, with the rapid transportation, and the open- ing up of new parts of the world for supplies, this argument has not the force that it had in the past. The world is too large for trade to be stopped by war. And so now 26 we see countries which are far from self-sufficient. They have dared to swing loose trom the basis of domes- tic food supplies and rely upon alien sources for the very necessities of life. A century ago it was computed that the total trade in wheat was not over eleven million of dollars ; now it is in the hundreds of millions. Formerly such a commercial situation would have been regarded with the greatest alarm. Now, it may be ''in every respect advantageous." The significance of the illustration upon which I have dwelt somewhat at length is patent to all. It is general and universal in its application. It was not so many years ago that Vermont was self-sufficient in a large degree in her food pro- ducts, and being off the line of the greater transportation routes, maintained for a longer period her economic independence than did many other Eastern states. We are not able to present statistics or accurate data which will show just how large an amount of food products is im- ported into this little State. We know, however, that even this agricultural community has been sucked into the great stream of exchange, swollen by the flood of production at the lowest possible cost, a stream coming from hundreds or thousands of miles away. I may illustrate this further by examples of inter-depen- dency in other parts of the world. The prosperity of England is particularly dependent upon foreign enterprise. Capital goes out from England to every part of the world and an industrial disturbance not merely in an English colony, but in an indepen- dent nation, is likely to have its reflex action in Great Britain. For example, some years ago there was a rapid development in the Argentine Republic ; harbors and docks, water works, mining projects, railways, electrical enterprises, were equipped from Great Britain. Numerous contracts were engaged in. A crisis took place in Argentine affairs owing to an over-expan- sion of credit and insecure finances. These enterprises came to -an end and the engineering trades of Great Britain were pros- trated. British industry was seriously influenced by the bank- 27 ing crisis in Australia in 1893, which compelled the colonies to restrict their purchases. The currency crisis of this country four years ago reduced our purchases of British productions. The closing of the Indian mints brought about a decrease in the exports of British and Irish produce. England has thus been at the mercy of storms generated in other climes. Competition is quick to seize the smallest possible margin of profit. This point of advantage may be in a distant land, and we, the consumers, without a question transfer our allegiance from our neighbor who grew our wheat and provided our beef and mutton, to some stranger who lives no one knows where, if we can thereby save a fraction of a cent. And this world-wide competition will increase as rapidly in the future as in the past. We are coming more and more to a world -basis of industry ; and this means an upheaval, a wrench- ing, and in many places, desolation, as for example, illustrated in a city in Southern Kansas, a town having three lines of rail- ways connecting it with the outside world, where the population has declined from 2,021 in 1894 ^o 1,074 i^ 1896, and the prop- erty valuation from $273,000 to $171,000. There is an agricultural problem, and its explanation in a large measure lies in the creation of a world market. The struggle for the maintenance of our agricultural population will be severe and painful. It can be lessened by education which will enable every agricultural producer to seize the slightest opportunity for self-help and enable him to adapt himself to new conditions. But not only in our production but in our savings of wealth also do we find this interdependency of interests illustrated. The aggregate resources of all the savings institutions and trust companies in Vermont on June 30, 1896, was, if I read the report of the Inspector of Finance aright, $34,991,346. Where are these savings of Vermont invested ? Nearly one- third, or $11,085,427 are invested in loans on mortgages or real estate outside of this State, and for the most part in the West. The prosperity of this State as far as these accumulated 28 savings have gone, depends upon other portions of the country. This is well known to all, and hardly needs further illustration. A shock, a crisis, or a business depression may not make itself felt in Vermont so acutely or so promptly, but the results are sure to be felt ; and the happiness of many a family in this com- monwealth has been disturbed by the working out of forces far beyond its immediate control. The values of invested securities are disturbed by the fluctu- ations of war between Turkey and Greece — to us apparently, as far as material forces go, an insignificant struggle, and yet the value of your investment in an American railroad bond or stock, or municipal or state security, is lessened by a Greek victory and increased by that of Turkey. Why? So knit are the financial interests of the world that the prospect of new in- vestment securities, issued by a national government, would bring into the market a new supply, which, under the law of supply and demand, would decrease the value of the amount already open for investment. From the standpoint of European politics it is impolitic to let Greece go far in the path of success to the injury of Turkey. This would start a general revolt which would involve extensive interests. The powers would be obliged to interfere ; this would require the borrowing of money or the issuing of loans ; and a new supply would lessen the value of all investment securities in the market. There is another force which brings into prominence the significance of the interdependency of the different sections of our country in different parts of the world, — migration and im- migration. I shall not dwell upon the causes of foreign immi- gration in the past twent}' years ; or show how it differed in kind from that of earlier years ; but if migration of the present quality is to continue, for our own self-protection we shall be more and more justified in showing a profound interest in the uplifting of the lower classes of European nations. But the growth of this interpendency within our own country is illustrated in the facts of interstate migration. For example, in 1890 the total number of persons living in the United States, born in; Vermont, was 422,359. Of these 295,- 625 lived in Vermont. There are 172,769, or nearly 41 per cent, at the present time to be found living in other states and territories of our own national union. They have gone out from this environment to win their way to success or failure in another environment. Of these, 13,439 have settled in Kan- sas and westward; 11,354 have settled in Illinois; 9,452 in Michigan; 9,397 in Wisconsin; 9,301 in Iowa; and 7,683 in Minnesota. Nearly a quarter of this number have settled in the large cities of the United States. For example, Boston has 3,998, Chicago, 3,285, the city of I^owell in Massachusetts 2,057, Worcester, 1971, New York, 1,808, Minneapolis, 1,722 and so on. Of 88 students at the University of Vermont in the fair of 1889, whose present residence is known to the authorities of our college, all but 8 came from Vermont: Of these 88, how- ever, but one- fourth, or 22, settled in Vermont, and of these 22, 10 are in Burlington. Of the 88, 15 settled in New York city. Vermont University is not merely a college for Vermont. Her sons and daughters go elsewhere. We see then that a population like that of Vermont is beset by two powerful forces which are at work throughout the world — the tendency toward a world-condition of industrial produc- tion and commerce ; and secondly, the instability of the popu- lation, — a tendency to move to manufacturing and commercial centers where the margin of disadvantage is least, or the mar- gin of advantage in the world's competition is greatest. This analysis of what I conceive to be the condition not only of Ver- mont, but of many other agricultural sections of our country has not appeared, I trust, pedantic or over-labored. The reason- ing, I believe, is close to the facts even if the illustra- tions be not the most happy. He who works best for the future of Vermont must take these forces into account and ask himself how best shall this and the next generation be fitted for these changing conditions. I am not here to express evil foreboding. If Vermont could create what she has in the past, with little or 30 no advantage in her favor, with no turn of the wheel of fortune to pour wealth suddenly into her lap, with no prestige of the great millionaire — if Vermont has been able to do what she has, with a quiet, patient and intelligent shaping of her opportuni- ties, there is no reason to fear for the future ; and yet to me these reflections upon the future of the land of my birth and the fortunes that it must meet, have for a long time been of interest; and I therefore have endeavored in these few brief moments to' present them. But may I now call your attention to a few other consider- ations connected with this subject of our interpendency. It is a remarkable fact that while economic forces have with irresist- ible power developed this condition, the intellect of man as ex- pressed in political laws and enactments is blind to its existence or thinks it can defeat its ends. lyCgislative enactment may possibly defeat the immediate purposes of our great world force, Cor human will is capable of any blunder whereby great suffer- ing may be brought to mankind. Interpendency is becoming the key-note of the world's situation, and yet for a moment con- sider how little this is recognized in the three most important <3uestions which are before the American people at the present time. I refer to the tariff question ; second, to the currency question ; and third, to the question of our political international relations. A tariff schedule is an instrument designed to control within given limits international economic relations. It is a res- olution to lessen interdependency which might be created under free conditions. In many stages of a nation's development this is desirable. But emphatic protest should be raised against the frequent interference and disturbance of international relations. The changes brought about by a tariff are hardly appre- ciated, and particularly remiss are we to a consideration of the promptness with which they come. Let me illustrate it by one or two examples. First, the change in the tin plate industry of South Wales caused by the McKinley tariff. The shipment to the United States of tin plates formed about 70 per cent, of the 31 whole exports of tin plate from that section, and about one-half of its production, in the period just before the passage of the McKinley tariff. By the adoption of that tariff thou- sands of operatives were thrown out of employment in that section of England, many of whom helped to aggravate the problem of the unemployed in the great cities of England, and others were led to transfer themselves and their families to the seats of the industry in this country. Another striking example of this influence of tariff upon the industrial conditions of one locality was found in the recent experience of Bradford, England, one of the greatest centers of woolen manufacture, particularly worsteds. The United States has constituted about one third of her market, and the active employment of her machinery, it is said, depends upon a large volume of American orders. ** It is generally agreed," says a competent author, ''that on the passage of the McKinley tariff of 1890, and through the business depression which preceded its repeal, Bradford was the dullest and gloomiest town in England." The following are the fluctuations in the exports of Bradford to the United States in millions of dollars : 1890, 20 millions (note, the McKinley tariff comes into operation) in 1891, 11. 6 millions ; in 1894, 8.2 millions. And the tariff of 1894 changed conditions, and the figures once more expand. It will be impossible to take the tariff question entirely out of politics. Nations will be less disposed to plunge into military and naval struggle, so great is the expense of modern warfare, yet international competition, national assertiveness and race rancor will find their outlet in a commercial attack through a tariff. Commercial warfare is likely to rule in the future. But we should recognize the disaster this will bring. Competition aided by the mechanical inventions of the age will penetrate every gap or opening which the ingenuity of the legislator at the time has been unable to close. It will, however, be impossible to pre vent the establishment here or there in the industrial field of close commercial ties, and yet we appear eager to cut apart without a moment's warning these connecting links. 32 A large part of this people believes that we can have a national currency which has no relation to the monetary stand- ards which have been established by the rest of the world ; we should be independent in our unit. The delicate adjustments of trade, the money market, finances, are lost sight of. It is not seen that if we are to have a world commerce, we needs must have a common par of exchange in order that this world-com- merce may be carried on with the least possible friction. And a gold standard, or a silver standard, if it be not a universal world standard, is in so far defective. What is needed is a common standard, not merely an American standard, not merely the standard which England has, but a standard which the world may have. And so again in our international relations, we have seized upon a doctrine justifiable to a certain degree from its historic as- sociations, which would lead us to associate ourselves with the political fortunes of countries with which we have little of this social interdependence, whether it be in material goods, or in intellectual or spiritual aspirations. With what countries should we seek to ally ourselves and establish comity ? a choice which would enable us to work together for common welfare ? We have made the Atlantic ocean a barrier, and considered the great mountain range which extends through Mexico, Central America, and along the spine of South America, a bridge, and endeavored to mark that out as the line along which our political interdependency should be determined, although other forces have drawn us into dependencies which defy political doctrine. The ocean should not be a barrier, but a bridge, and by all the experience in the past half century, we should be closer drawn to nations to the East of us than to nations to the South of us. We may express a sympathy and tender a helping hand when occasion ofi'ers, but we should not permit ourselves to magnify relations which are of less importance, at the expense of interdependency of ties which can be made not only of importance to us as a nation, but of rnost tremendous significance to the world as a civilizing factor. 33 I am not referring here to sentimental considerations which might justify our affection for mother, England, or a sympathy with Greece, or pity toward Western Asia. I rely upon the argu- ment of economic advantage. Our manufacturers, as well as our consumers, have more interest in stable trade relations over the sea than elsewhere. No State then, no individual, can escape the results of this overmastering force toward interdependency. Our Western lake and Eastern river and mountain barriers cannot shut out this in- vading force. It is our part, then, to prepare for as easy an ad- justment as possible. It is not without significance that our University is set upon a hill. The vision has a wide sweep to a distant horizon and from this summit we can look forth upon the world, beat- ing with a quicker pulse, but behind is the same throbbing en- gine that drives us all on and holds us to a common task. The educational system of this commonwealth must there- fore concern itself not only with the preparation of its youth for absorption into its own community which will have to deal with new forces, but it also must prepare its offspring for other en- vironments, for other temptations and struggles. The student may not know by actual contact the full significance of modern immigration of a low and degraded standard, or of the slums of the city, or of the complications of factory life or sweat shop, or of the pressure of great corporations illustrated in unrighteous legislation, or of the frequent failure of the individual who can- not withstand the pressure of corporate competition. The stu- dent born and bred in Vermont may not know the prejudiced feeling or strenuous efforts of organized labor advocates ; he may not hear the heated and bitter oratory of the agitator who has committed himself to an economic scheme rather than to a faith in the political institutions of our country. Of all this he may be ignorant, but of these and similar conditions he cannot remain ignorant long. They are part of his problem whether he go to the larger centers of population or remain at home. 34 He cannot escape their pressure. The forces of life are spin- ning their web in every direction, and he is in the meshes. Davis Rich Dewky, 1879 Professor in the Mass. Institute of Technology, Boston LATIN ODE Written— not to the Metre— but to the Tune, of "Integer vitae. Iterum, fratres, rediit sollennis . Auctoris nostri dies celebrandus Et in memoriam et in spem perennem Rerum maiorum. Grates agamus rebus pro secundis Adhuc expertis, nee ullo cessemus Die conniti Deumque precari Opem ut concedat. Clarius semper altiusque micet Lumen accensum centum abhinc annos Utque a pharo radios diflfundat Latins laetos. Donee a fluvio usque ad lacum amoenum Terra Viridium dulcis Clivorum Plena sit luce honore veritate, — Domus virtutum. Semper ut vivat floreatque Mater Nostra Benigna, mentes atque mores Excolens civitatis ad honorem, Deum rogemus. lU tiOOl 38.3362 S-C .7 UNIVERSITV OF CAUFORNIA UBRARY