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THE MAROON TIGER
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men in all climes. There is no pattern by which men
think. As individuals differ in physical features so do
they in thoughts, and as a result, progress, power,
knowledge, invariably have come. History’s pages are
replete with examples of its force. It has built up and
and torn down governments; established religions, sub
jugated the uncontrollable forces of Nature; shaped
political institutions and we conjecture that if ever
race prejudice, lynching are wiped out it will be the
result of the contributing force of the powerful, in
visible element, dissent.
It is coming; the air tingles with advance news of
the grateful tidings as it points all weather-vanes in
the direction of its advent; its shadow may be seen
silhouetted against the Eastern horizon; it is Christmas,
which awaits the close of every twelvemonth period,
saving the last for the best. The time that means so much
in the lives of every boy and girl. In our joyful cele
brations and hustle and hustle to exchange gifts let us
not forget that it is the birthday of the greatest giver of
gifts; the most altruistic of the servants of man; the
founder of a religion that has for two thousand years,
withstood the destructive attacks of sin; the giver of
principles that will solve all problems which may arise;
the giver of life eternal.
THE NEED OF A SPIRITUAL ELEMENT
IN EDUCATION
We have passed all previous limits of knowledge,
wealth, and the use of motive power,” says Rufus M.
Jones in the November issue of the Federal Council
Bulletin, '‘but none of these achievements make us
better men. There is no equation between bank accounts
and goodness of hearts. Knowledge is by no means the
same thing as wisdom or nobility of spirit. Increase of
power has brought with it a whole new crop of temp
tations. We have unearthed tremendous secrets of life
and death, and they do not stay hidden in laboratories
and scientific books. We have flung open the doors of
freedom to persons of every class and walk of life,
without which, the world cannot be made safe for De
mocracy or for any other issue of responsibility.
“Just constructive work of building the foundations
of society is, no doubt, what our vast educational sys
tem ought to be doing. But, unfortunately, it is not doing
it. The world has never before seen such an immense
army of educators at work on the Youth of the Country,
nor has there ever been before in the history of the
world such a generous outlay of money for education
both higher and lower. The total effect, however, is
disappointing and misses the central point. Our insti
tutions of learning produce some good scholars and give
a body of scientific facts to a great number. But there
is a pitiable failure in the main business of education
which is, or should be, the formation of character, the
culture of the spirit, the building of the soul. We do
everything else well—except these imponderable things
which are .after all, of the most supreme importance.
“We have learned almost magically, how to increase
the speed of travel hut we have not learned how to
utilize the time we have saved so as to improve in a
corresponding way the quality of the life of the travel
er. We can go with unbelievable rapidity, but we have
only the vaguest idea as to where we are going, or as
to what kind of persons we shall be when we get there!
We have conquered the atom, hut we have neglected
the deeper problem of the soul of man.
“The real solution, the oidy sound solution, is a truer,
deeper moral and spiritual society. Science can help
us to build that. It can assist us to eliminate some of the
survivals that have carried over from ages of super
stition, and it can enable us to utilize the forces which
the laboratories discover. It can, perhaps by a sound
system of Eugenics, lead the way toward a better bio
logical race of men. But after all, as Kant said long ago,
“Nothing is absolutely good in this world, or in any
other world, but a good will,” and the good will is not
the product of the scientific method. There is no sub
stitute for self-discipline, or for moral insight and con
trol.
He concludes: “I am appealing then—not certainly
for a restriction of science—but for a deeper and more
constructive culture, a culture that concerns itself with
the fundamental aims and values of life. I am asking
that we should be as profoundly interested in the nature
of the soul as we are now in the structure of the atom,
that we should take the task of building lives with the
same seriousness we have shown in our engineering
triumphs over external obstacles. What we lack most
is the discovery that life is an adventure great enough
and interesting enough to draw upon all our springs of
interest and to quicken all those deeper and diviner
capacities in us, which make us really men”.
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peenal Articles
THE RESULTS OF THE ELECTION
Roland Smith, ’29
The election of Herbert Clark Hoover to be President
of the United States of America is being discussed in the
various sections of this country and abroad. There are
significant facts interlaced with the election of the Presi
dent-elect. First, he is the first Quaker to ever be elected
President. Second, he is the first President to be elected
west of the Mississippi River. Third, he is the first
person since the Civil War to break the so-called “Solid
South.” These are some of the significant things which
occurred on November sixth.
The recent campaign was one of many cross-current
issues. There were such major issues as prosperity, pro
hibition, and race prejudice. There were such minor is
sues as religion, farm relief, and the future control of
water power by the Government of the United States.
Hoover convinced the voters of this country that he could
best serve the people as their President. Hoover showed
that he had a keen insight concerning the great economic
and moral question which faced the Nation. He dis
cussed in a dignified manner only the issues of the cam-