,a ,broader ,mission for ,liberal       
,education444  ,baccalaureate ,address1 
,delivered in ,agricultural ,college    
,chapel1 ,sunday1 ,june #i1 #aija4      
,by4444 ,j4 ,h4 ,,worst1 ,,ll4 ,d4      
,president4     ,a ,broader ,mission for
 ,liberal ,education4  ,baccalaureate   
,address1 ,delivered in ,agricultural   
,college ,chapel1 ,sunday1 ,june #i1    
#aija4   ,,by ,j4 ,h4 ,,worst1 ,,ll4 ,d4
   ,,agricultural ,,college ,p4 ,o41    
,north ,dakota4  ,illustration3 ,j ,h   
,worst     ,a ,,broader ,,mission ,,for 
,,liberal ,,education4  ,,baccalaureate 
,,address1 ,,delivered ,,in             
,,agricultural ,,college ,,chapel1      
,,sunday1 ,,june #i1 #aija4  ,,by ,j4   
,h4 ,,worst1 ,,ll4 ,d41 ,,president4    
,in ,america we recognize no aristocracy
 except that of genius or of character4 
,our countrymen are all citizens4 ,our  
government was founded upon the         
principle that all men are created free 
and equal and though intellectual       
endowments differ widely in individuals1

 yet special privileges are accorded to 
no one as a birthright4 ,therefore the  
college graduate1 as well as any other  
aspirant1 must carve his way to fame and
 fortune by energy and perseverance1 or 
lose his opportunity in the tremendous  
activities going on about him4 ,his only
 advantage is superior training which   
must nevertheless be pitted against     
practical minds in strenuous rivalry for
 every desirable thing he would         
accomplish4 ,the mere fact of education 
is considered no badge of merit4        
,education represents power1 but until  
it manifests itself in action1 it is    
merely static1 not dynamic1 potential1  
not actual4 ,it conveys to its recipient
 no self-acting machinery which1 without
 lubricant or engineer will reel off    
success or impress mankind1 as a matter 
of course4  ,the question is no longer  
asked by practical men what does a man  
know but what can he do8 ,knowing and   
doing have thus become so intimately    
associated by common consent as to be   

inseparable2 for knowing without doing  
is indolence and doing without knowing  
is waste of energy4 ,the former is      
sinful1 the latter wasteful4 ,for many  
years progressive educators have been   
striving against the culture-alone      
theory and advocating the education of  
the whole man--hand as well as head1    
body as well as mind4 ,as a result the  
ancient educational structure is pretty 
well broken down1 and the erstwhile     
curriculum has become a reminiscence4   
,many wealthy parents still educate     
their children for the larger pleasure  
which they believe education of the old 
type will afford them in life1 but      
parents generally have come to look upon
 life as a period of intense activity   
rather than a brief round of pleasure1  
and hence provide an education for their
 children that will fit them for the    
every day demands that duty or necessity
 may make upon them4 ,since it is a     
matter of common observation that wealth
 is easily dissipated1 especially when  

inherited1 farseeing parents prefer an  
education for their children that is    
adapted to some useful end rather than  
the education that is largely ornamental
 or fashionable4  ,the vicissitudes of  
life are many4 ,fortune is fickle and   
but few young people can hope to command
 perpetual leisure even should their bad
 judgment make such a thing desirable4  
,there can never be real independence of
 thought and action apart from one's    
conscious ability to cope with others on
 equal terms in any human emergency4    
,the young man who rejoices in the      
provident hoardings of his ancestors    
which exempt him from strenuous exertion
 on his own part has but a small mission
 in life4 ,work is the normal condition 
of man4 ,the stern necessity that       
compels him to labor1 to think and to   
plan1 lifts him into the pleasurable    
atmosphere of usefulness and imparts    
zeal and ambition to his energies4      
,there can be no excellence without     
great labor1 and hard work is only      

another name for genius4  ,a young man  
cannot begin life with a richer heritage
 than good health1 good habits and a    
liberal education--an education that    
imparts culture to his mind and power to
 his body4 ,if he should never have     
occasion to use his hands in some useful
 vocation1 the training they have       
received will never prove burdensome4   
,on the other hand1 the fact of being in
 possession of reserve powers will prove
 a source of pleasure4 ,it will dispel  
many a dark cloud and remove positive   
forebodings of possible want4 ,the world
 is strewn with the wrecks of men who   
inherited fortunes before they had      
developed the mental poise or business  
experience necessary to estimate money  
at its true value4 ,if they had earned  
their money by honest effort they would 
not have fallen into habits that led to 
unbridled extravagance and ultimate     
disgrace4 ,the inheritance of unearned  
wealth quite frequently proves a curse  
rather than a blessing4  ,god never     

intended1 however1 that parents should  
provide a property inheritance for their
 children that will deprive them of the 
natural advantages which reasonable     
labor and its restraining influence     
afford both body and mind4 ,parental    
drudgery and self-denial for the purpose
 of relieving children from the         
necessity of wholesome effort is        
mistaken generosity4 ,it makes parent   
and child alike fall short of the high  
purposes for which life is given4 ,for  
life is intended for more important     
purposes than mere money-getting or the 
pursuit of objects from which man is    
utterly divorced at death4 ,poor indeed 
must be the soul if1 at death1 it must  
part from all it loved in life4 ,but    
this frenzy of excitement in which      
parents live in order that their        
children may be heirs leaves no time for
 the consideration of higher and better 
things4 ,how much more lamentable1 too1 
is such striving in the light of the    
fact that those who are to be benefited 

by these inheritances are in reality    
harmed and checked in their development4
 ,said ,senator ,dolliver3 ,if ,i had a 
son and #ajj1jjj1 ,i would keep the two 
apart4  ,every man owes a duty to ,god1 
to his country1 to his family and to    
himself4 ,to discharge these obligations
 honestly1 fearlessly and with credit   
should be his earnest purpose4 ,no      
ambition should be entertained that does
 not embrace these fundamental duties   
and no career should be considered      
worthy that even underrates their       
sanctity4 ,the fact that men            
occasionally become prominent in        
business1 social and political affairs  
by subordinating conscience and         
character to position or gain should not
 swerve a young man from the strict path
 of rectitude4 ,victories won by        
strategy or injustice1 whether in       
business or politics1 seldom remain     
permanent and never afford substantial  
enjoyment4 ,society has but little use  
for the man who wears a mask4  ,in this 

busy world there is honest work for     
every man to perform4 ,civilization has 
multiplied human wants and also         
developed the ingenuity necessary to    
gratify them4 ,but it requires labor4   
,not such1 however1 as was performed by 
the slave1 but skilled labor--labor     
where the hand is guided by an          
intellect1 quickened by the agency of   
class-room and laboratory for the task  
assigned2 labor1 such as will reflect   
credit upon and elevate a gentleman4    
,for there is no honest work a gentleman
 may not do4 ,work elevates a man4 ,it  
perpetuates the manhood he inherited1   
which was built up by labor and thought 
in the flesh and blood of his ancestors4
 ,the necessity for labor1 therefore is 
heaven's blessing and to repudiate it is
 to invite physical and mental decay4   
,liberal education should take a far    
wider range than has ever been assigned 
to it and exert an influence affecting  
matter as well as mind4 ,it has a double
 mission1 that of facilitating earning  

power to provide for physical comforts  
and also to prepare them to live4  ,in a
 republic where every able bodied       
citizen is an equal factor and where one
 is possessed of mutual privileges and  
obligations1 society demands that each  
shall do his part4 ,to be consistent    
society also should afford equal        
educational facilities for all2         
facilities having as direct bearing upon
 vocation as upon profession1 and for   
those desiring it1 an educational       
training as liberal for manual pursuits 
as is required for law1 medicine or     
theology4  ,the standard of manhood must
 advance to meet the new conditions and 
the tremendous responsibilities of the  
century we have entered upon4 ,within   
the present boundaries of the ,united   
,states there exists the requisite area1
 soil fertility and other resources     
sufficient to support a government of   
five hundred million people4 ,our       
patriotism1 therefore1 must be directed 
toward realizing the largest possible   

destiny for our country4 ,we should     
strive so to conserve the natural       
resources of the nation that with six or
 seven times our present population     
there will be no abridgment of          
opportunity to make a living and to     
fulfill the purpose for which life was  
created4 ,the experiment of             
self-government will have to withstand  
severer strains in the future than in   
the past unless our education is as     
democratic as our politics4 ,the        
educational energies of the nation must 
be so diffused as to uplift all classes1
 reducing to the smallest possible      
minimum the army of unskilled workmen4  
,through skill and training1 labor must 
become pleasure4 ,steam and electricity 
must take the place of human energy1    
lessen waste of raw material and elevate
 the hand that guides the machine4  ,the
 present generation is sinfully         
extravagant4 ,forests1 mines and soil   
fertility are wasted with wanton        
prodigality4 ,we speak of our coal      

deposits and oil and gas wells as       
inexhaustible4 ,we simply mean that it  
will be impossible for this and probably
 for the next generation to exhaust     
them4 ,but coal mines are not           
inexhaustible4 ,oil and gas wells are   
problematical as to the length of time  
they will yield their products4 ,to such
 an extent have the forests been        
destroyed that substitutes for timber   
are already sought for building purposes
 and manufactures4 ,timber that would be
 worth millions of dollars to our grand 
children is burned in a day to provide a
 sheep pasture on some western mountain4
 ,we seem determined to waste and       
destroy what we cannot consume or turn  
into ready money4  ,european countries  
abound in sad memories of wasted soil   
fertility and forest destruction4       
,slowly but surely they are rebuilding  
and rehabilitating worn out tracts at   
tremendous expense4 ,the ruin which     
ignorance accomplished with alacrity1   
education is slowly and painfully       

undoing4 ,americans should heed the     
lessons of history and profit by the    
mistakes of other countries4 ,the       
production of food1 clothing and other  
necessaries of life which is of vital   
importance to a nation1 cannot1 with    
safety1 be left to blind forces or to   
revered but ignorant traditions4 ,for it
 is a singular fact that science had    
quite as much to do with ridding        
agriculture and the manufacture of      
commodities of debilitating             
superstitions that not only retarded    
progress but were positively injurious  
to both man and material1 as it had to  
do with the introduction of rational    
ideas4 ,the rapid increase of the       
world's population and the very general 
occupancy of arable lands throughout the
 world1 presupposes that the maximum of 
food production will soon be reached4 ,a
 liberal and general diffusion of       
scientific information among            
agriculturists alone can augment the    
productive power of the soil and at the 

same time conserve its fertility for the
 support of future generations4 ,this   
subject demands a real awakening of     
public sentiment as to its importance4  
,provision must be made for thorough    
training that will direct the labor     
which produces the fruits of the earth4 
,thus to broaden the scope of liberal   
education it must be divested of all    
aristocratic limitations and rendered   
sufficiently democratic to meet the     
wants of the sons of toil4  ,the        
question naturally arises1 will the     
general introduction of science studies 
in ,american schools tend to lower the  
standard of scholarship8 ,if so1 will   
the more democratic and hence           
utilitarian influence it exerts1        
compensate for the change8 ,to the first
 question the classical schools will    
quite generally and naturally give an   
affirmative answer4 ,but the answer must
 not be considered as conclusive in     
settling the question even if believed  
to be true1 in view of the contention   

that surrounds the second question4     
,more than scholarship is needed to     
direct and control the affairs of men4  
,mere scholarship--book-learning--is    
seldom effective in the solution of     
intricate national and economic         
problems4 ,for profound judgment and    
constructive ability1 such as frequently
 become imperative in great crises are  
qualities which are not evolved through 
classical investigations4 ,they are born
 rather of experience and contact with  
the rugged every day affairs of life4   
,to exert a guiding influence in the    
affairs of state one must feel the throb
 of living forces and come in touch with
 the great heart of humanity4  ,the     
study of ancient languages has long held
 the honored place in the universities  
of ,europe and ,america as peculiarly   
essential to mature scholarship4 ,they  
answered the purpose intended1 for the  
sciences were unknown or in the infancy 
of their development and there was but  
little besides the ancient languages    

with which to train the student mind4   
,but should they dominate the curricula 
of the twentieth century8 ,do they meet 
the requirements of this intensely      
practical age8  ,whatever may be said   
against the materialistic tendency of   
the present time1 the scholarship of the
 idealists at least did not retard its  
growth4 ,materialism abounds everywhere 
at present4 ,the object sought by       
introducing scientific in lieu of       
classical studies in some of the higher 
institutions of learning is that        
facilities may be afforded the children 
of the productive classes1 such as they 
can accept and which will have a        
directing influence upon labor4 ,whether
 such change will tend to increase or   
lessen materialistic tendencies1 remains
 to be seen4 ,the conditions will       
certainly be made no worse4 ,for to     
balance educational forces and more     
nearly to1 equalize educational         
opportunities can only result in        
improvement4 ,equilibrium of            

intelligence tends to unify and         
harmonize ,american interests and to    
strengthen patriotism4 ,and should      
liberal scientific education thus extend
 its beneficence to all conditions of   
men1 especially to those hitherto       
unprovided with facilities for          
preparation for their vocations1 we can 
at least endure the innovation1 for it  
does not aim at the impairment of       
educational opportunities so long       
maintained for students able or desirous
 to take classical training4 ,some of   
the foremost educators of the day admit 
that the study of the sciences possess  
as much disciplinary value as that of   
the ancient languages1 and the          
information obtained1 even though       
incidental to the culture sought after  
is of inestimable value in the practical
 affairs of life4 ,the fact that but few
 instructors are prepared to teach the  
sciences as creditably as they are to   
teach the ancient languages1 does not   
weaken the claims set up for scientific 

education4 ,in the opinion of many sound
 educators1 the cultural advantages of  
the dead languages1 all things          
considered1 are received at the expense 
of more important subjects4 ,says ,the  
,world's ,work3 ,the easier and better  
way of retaining1 restoring and greatly 
broadening the culture-studies of a     
college course is to recognize the      
culture of our own language and         
literature4 ,a broader and saner and    
more humane and thorough and loving     
study of the literature of our own race 
is the obvious way out of the dilemma4  
,and it is more than an escape from a   
dilemma4 ,it is a better means of       
broadening and deepening our culture    
than we have over utilized or tried4    
,the ancient classics as taught in high 
schools are of but little cultural      
value4 ,not one student in a hundred    
reaches the degree of attainment that   
presupposes a positive benefit4 ,if the 
time were devoted to acquiring a more   
thorough understanding of our mother    

tongue it would be more creditable4 ,to 
give time to translating good ,latin    
into poor ,english is paying an         
extravagant homage to a fetish4         
,training in the ancient languages must 
be long-continued and far-reaching1 or  
it seems to be of little value4 ,the    
needs of culture cannot be satisfied by 
mere discipline any more than they can  
be satisfied by merely utilitarian      
subjects4 ,but where the training is    
essentially practical and directly      
helpful in discharging the highest of   
all human duties1 that of providing the 
necessaries of life1 while at the same  
time affording abundant opportunity for 
the study of the language and literature
 of our own race1 the blending thus of  
cultural and practical training should  
possess a clientage immeasurably larger1
 because more useful1 than where only   
the purely cultural is sought4 ,where   
the head is educated away from the hand 
and the number fitted for ministerial   
and professional duties far overruns the

 demand for service1 a heavy burden is  
imposed upon the producing masses4 ,at  
the same time thousands are graduated   
every year for positions that have only 
a prospective existence4 ,the           
professions are overcrowded to a degree 
that challenges the sanity of the       
country's educational energies4 ,and    
were it not for the gravity of the      
theme1 the strenuous defense that is set
 up for the system and the efforts put  
forth every day to still further augment
 the number of neophytes for            
professional honors1 it would seem      
ridiculous4  ,but why this overcrowding8
 ,because the atmosphere of the         
professional institution fills the      
student with prejudice against physical 
labor4 ,it is menial4 ,his education has
 fitted him for something nobler than to
 toil in the field or in the work-shop4 
,institutional rivalry also does its    
share1 sending out alluring             
advertisements and thus filling the     
college classes with recruits from the  

farms and from the homes of labor with  
candidates for positions in life of     
greater respectability than their       
parents were able to enjoy4 ,the seeds  
of prejudice against rural life and     
manual labor are often scattered in the 
country schools by teachers innocently  
imbued with the ideal condition4 ,the   
fascinations and allurements of the city
 readily impress themselves upon the    
youthful mind1 and the fact that        
facilities for liberal education were   
not offered for the relief of the       
toiling millions1 unless to transform   
them into a different social element1   
naturally turned the eyes of those who  
were able to obtain a liberal education 
toward the cities4  ,it remained for the
 federal government to attempt to turn  
the tide that was setting too strongly  
toward urban life4 ,the government's    
remedy is not prohibitive legislation1  
but what should have been afforded      
without direct government               
interference--a liberal education with a

 direct bearing upon agriculture and the
 mechanic arts for those who naturally  
desire to fit themselves for such       
pursuits2 to place the farmer and the   
artisan upon an intellectual and social 
plane that will attract rather than     
repel those who would develop the       
country's resources4 ,at the same time  
no effort should be made1 for the sake  
of patronage or for institutional       
advantage to influence a student from   
the calling his heart honestly indicates
 as the one for which natural taste and 
native ability1 quickened by educational
 training1 fits him4 ,the thing to be   
avoided1 rather1 is the inculcation of  
prejudice against useful vocations and  
desirable pursuits as being undignified 
and consequently beneath the notice or  
ambition of a gentleman4  ,do scientific
 inquiry and scientific knowledge       
generally diffused augment human greed8 
,do they tend to promote avarice8 ,most 
certainly they do not4 ,the man of      
science can see so much beyond--so much 

of beauty and design that even the      
drudgery of toil is forgotten in        
contemplation of the forces which he    
aids or controls4  ,no thoughts can     
arise above the thoughts of ,god as     
written in the growing plant or painted 
upon the bow that arches the sky4 ,to   
the man of science1 even the raw        
material which he reconstructs into     
useful commodities contains a revelation
 in every grain and fiber4 ,the swelling
 bud1 the opening flower1 the growing   
plant1 the greeting shower1 each is a   
chapter from ,nature's open book1 full  
of inspiration4 ,beyond them and above  
them he sees the hand and hears the     
voice of ,god4 ,and since he lives and  
works thus close to ,nature's throbbing 
heart and in close communion with forces
 that link the finite to the ,infinite1 
who dares to spurn the dignity of his   
toil or characterize his associations as
 menial4  ,to live is man's first duty2 
to live well his privilege4 ,but the    
world has its severe as well as         

delightful aspects4 ,the divine law     
which commands man to subdue and        
replenish the earth is not less         
mandatory than that other law which     
commands him to lay up treasure in      
heaven4 ,and just as material wants     
antedate the soul's awakening or        
reason's dawning1 so throughout all     
life1 physical well-being precedes and  
contributes to the growth of the higher 
life4  ,but1 in the language of ,herbert
 ,spencer3 ,that increasing acquaintance
 with the laws of phenomenon which has  
through successive ages enabled us to   
subjugate ,nature to our needs1 and in  
these days gives the common laborer     
comforts which a few centuries ago1     
kings could not purchase1 is scarcely in
 any degree owed to appointed means of  
instructing our youth4 ,the vital       
knowledge--that by which we have grown  
as a nation to what we are1 and which   
now underlies our whole existence1 is a 
knowledge that has got itself taught in 
nooks and corners2 while the ordained   

agencies for teaching have been mumbling
 little else but dead formulas4  ,but we
 may hope for better things4 ,we may1   
some of us1 live even to see liberal    
education divest herself of exclusive   
restrictions and eighteenth century     
idealism and walk hand in hand with     
twentieth century progress2 this will be
 when the overwhelming influence of     
established routine shall give way to   
practical knowledge and love for the    
ornamental in education shall no longer 
override the useful4  ,e4 ,p4 ,powel1 in
 ,the ,arena for ,april1 most           
beautifully and expressively            
contemplates the schools which are to   
be4 ,he says3 ,i will picture what ,i   
believe to be the common school of the  
twentieth century4 ,there will be       
handsome schoolhouses in abundance1     
placed in the center of large gardens4  
,the children will study books half a   
day1 and things the other half4 ,the    
brain will not get any more training    
than the hands4 ,manual culture which is

 already a part of the school life of a 
few towns1 will be a part of school life
 everywhere4 ,the school will have its  
shops and its gardens--and to use tools 
will be the chief end of culture4 ,man  
got away from the monkey by his power to
 make and use tools4 ,he goes back to   
the ape when his hands have to be cased 
in gloves and his brain is ashamed of   
decent labor4 ,in these school-gardens  
botany will be applied to horticulture4 
,in the shops our boys and girls will   
learn to create things4 ,the trouble    
with education now is that it divorces  
knowledge from work--the brains from the
 hands4 ,in the twentieth century the   
glory of ,american education will also  
be a thorough knowledge of economics1   
civics and history1 applied to good     
citizenship4 ,colleges will surely be a 
part of the common school system1 and   
just as full of modern life4 ,i believe 
we shall see the day when boys and girls
 who are in the common school together2 
without damage1 can be co-educated in   

all other grades of school life4 ,the   
farmer will then not have a separate and
 specific college for agriculture1 while
 the rest have one for 'mental culture2'
 nor will college boys in those days be 
ashamed to look ahead to farming as a   
profession4 ,there is no occupation that
 requires so much wit and educated tact1
 and so much positive knowledge as      
farming4 ,when we get the schools1 we   
shall get a style of farming that will  
be as keenly intellectual as our present
 style is wasteful and unintelligent4   
,and yet1 strange as it may appear1 the 
mission and purpose of an agricultural  
college must be constantly defended in a
 state almost wholly devoted to         
agriculture4  ,in conclusion ,i quote   
from ,herbert ,spencer again3 ,how to   
live8--that is the essential question   
for us4 ,not how to live in the material
 sense only1 but in the widest sense4   
,the general problem which comprehends  
every special problem is--the right     
ruling of conduct in all directions     

under all circumstances4 ,in what way to
 treat the body2 in what way to treat   
the mind2 in what way to manage our     
affairs2 in what way to bring up a      
family2 in what way to behave as a      
citizen2 in what way to realize all     
those sources of happiness which nature 
supplies--how to use all our faculties  
to the greatest advantage to ourselves  
and others--how to live completely4 ,and
 this being the great thing needful for 
us to learn1 is1 by consequence1 the    
great thing which education has to      
teach4 ,to prepare us for complete      
living is the function which education  
has to discharge2 and the only rational 
mode of judging of any educational      
course is1 to judge in what degree it   
discharges such functions4              
,transcribers ,note3 ,the following     
words were changed from the             
author's original spelling3             
problemetical changed to problematical  
neophites changed to neophytes