Show h hI I i. i f J t f t j J tL ARE iARE WE WORTH IT r f t. t t t Lt l I IJ 1 RUTH PALMER CLASS ORATOR The question which naturally arises in the minds of the citizen when hen he beholds the product of our mod modern rn institutions of learning is IS are the youths worthy of the effort we have made to educate them In short is free education a paying investment Looked I at from a financial poi point of view it is the right of every 1 r i man to demand interest on capital invested For several years we r have been as it were the of the tax payer We represent the interest upon the capital Contrary to the Greeks idea that the individual exists for the state it has l long ng been established that the state exists for the indi indi- 0 vidual Upon this hypothesis the state has undertaken to provide e for forthe the citizen by giving him an education The work of the nineteenth f century has been to establish institutions of learning and its outcome is the public school system Whatever matters may claim the attention attention attention atten atten- tion of the people the education of the young citizen is never neglected His welfare is considered of pre-eminent pre importance Is it to the advantage of this governmental institution called the state to provide schools for the thousands of and universities universities universities ties for the thousands of young men and women When we appreciate appreciate date the obligations under which this system of free education has placed placed us we realize that we are responsible for the maintenance maintenance i nance and preservation of that glorious institution Now we ask what is expected of us in return for these advantages 1 If the young men and women leaving these classic halls of learn learning ng go out into the world and become good citizens the highest expectations expectations expectations of the State will be fulfilled Our republic is of of the people r by the people and for lor the people therefore upon the citizen devolves r the burden of its perpetuation and the citizens of the future are to tobe tobe be found in the school rooms of today It is generally conceded that through education will be he found the r solution of the social problems confronting humanity today 7 We must recognize the needs of the masses for in the masses t lies the strength to advance the power to c control and th the number to predominate This has been a growing need and now demands our ourY Y attention the laborer and striker on one hand the capitalist and trusts on oa the other For years this coal has been with periodic outbursts of smoke threatening disaster and at times tion These strikes are only fanning this coal into a conflagration that will be mighty in its extent and awful in its result The country is flooded with newspaper and magazine articles prescribing remedies and predicting results All the while the strikes continue the laborer fighting for an equal recognition h the capitalist reaping a fat profit from this life and death struggle of his brother 8 But some way for the proper adjustment o of these f factions must be 1 found and some time for this proper adjustment to go into operation must arrive But the time has come it has come now in the present and the means has been found and that means is education If we look to the source of the trouble we find ignorance prevails In the the sweat shops of our large cities we find we we find children of two years 1 i t. t beginning a life long life long labor They are reared under these influences and excluded from all benefits of education They see nothing better they know nothing better and they can become nothing better Here is where education is most sorely needed give to these children the advantages advantages advantages ad ad- vantages of the public schools and they will advance themselves let them experience something better and they will help themselves In Chicago during the recent strikes of contractors and builders which has involved almost every trade and profession there the children children children chil chil- dren of the strikers have been taken out of school have been removed from all influence tending to establish peace and justice left to roam the streets mingling with the gatherings of discontented strikers on street corners taking part in amateur discussions and absorbing the spirit of unrest and confusion What can we expect from these children but a stronger and more determined set of such men as swell the number of discontented labor unionists These people are born with equal and inalienable rights and if they can not have them in one way they will in another If If not by reason by force Many of these conditions have been brought about by the labor unions In their effort to relieve the strain they have tightened the tensions and welded them into iron bands Ignorance and lack of experience prevents them from upholding the right of their people or from freeing them from industrial tyranny The ignorant leaders of these organizations travel from east to west subjugating the people stirring them into revolution and then leaving them to face the law and pay the penalty Because this society advocates advocates advocates cates the advancement of the laborer he clings to it supports it and instead of being bet better er able to earn a livelihood he becomes a deo dependent dependent de de- o pendent part of the machine Properly governed these unions might prove to be the very remedy humanity today is seeking it might band the people together to work for a higher nobler and better purpose But lack of education makes the lack of good government and of good results No country can thrive v with its heart and core in this diseased condition no people can prosper with this infection in their very midst Are we worth it Are we worth the time money and care that has been spent on our education This education the great leaven in inthe inthe inthe the huge mass of poverty ignorance and sin This education that not only the scientific literary and aesthetic powers but is a potent moral force With the passing of the nineteenth century we pass from under the influence ce and guidance of parents and tutors We must now as assume assume assume as- as sume our various stations in the thinking and acting world Each has his responsibilities and whether the world shall advance or degenerate degenerate dell dell' de- de de de- ll generate depends upon the way in which each individual meets his f obligations and performs his tasks Then it is with us each of us we the people of the twentieth century to make amends for the past 4 and knowing the need establish better laws and institutions in our land The twentieth century beckons us to a advance for the twentieth century is our century and whether humanity shall reap a rich and fruitful harvest at its close depends on you and me |