Show PUBLIC OPINION ovation delivered by C henry turner of the high school the oration delivered by C henry turner at the graduating class of the school commencement exercises on the night of june ath follows the orations delivered that evening bo published one by one by the standard until all have appeared on this significant occasion which receives all its splendor from the countenance of a thrifty community it la fit that we should contemplate the power of a community your favor has made it possible for us to complete a high school course and to antor practical life with something more than a grammar school education and we who have come here now to say farewell to our alma mater cannot but consider with interest that force which gave t life that power upon whose character our futures so much depend but the establishment of a high school la only a dwarf exhibition ot the power of which we speak to find true demonstrations of tho strength of public opinion we must look upon the broad stage of history where agee form the time and nations the actors and there we learn that the real ruler of the world whose prerogatives are never abridged who sits on no precarious throne nor borrows leave to be is public opinion what la the presidential chair what is congress what Is a legislature what Is a constitution what ie the press mere agents mere mouthpieces to give expression to public opinion it for personal reasons they refuse or tall to give it the right expression that giant power rushes in and shatters in pieces their formal bodies and holds aloft abo fragments crying to the surprised populace 10 lo these be the gods ye worship public opinion is not a child born in our age nor was it created by our race it has existed among men since they first moved from the dark and dingy cave in the hillside and took up the artland associations of civilization ouri shod in its groups of uncouth savages around blazing alrea it is new abo guiding spirit in all adly con kir W s haa luit s ino bas ebeo tn in s but generally ll 11 0 have been L u e e if all law springs explain this if how h 0 pep ale their will has really been the master whence came those hateau una which have lived on the alfo blood of nations through ages disease justly like an hereditary it may be asked how etole tho serpent into the eden of democracy it public opinion has been sovereign how Is it that those abuses have existed which haye robbed the masses of wealth honor and freedom to lay those boons at the feet of the few misery hunger trusts zipper classes are cheso the fruits of the reign of public opinion yes they too owe their existence to the voice of the people it has been truly said corrupt logis latora are the offspring and index of a corrupt public opinion that common mind of humanity has been infected with tho disease we call tolly ignorance has made the world so dark that it did it was the victim of tyranny such a condition cannot always be and long periods of torpid repose must be followed by groat reactions but this critical moment this turning of the tide this all important time in a nations life arrives only when public opinion changes it is during great events when the scales of human destiny are suspended and every man watches with anxious eye the varying balance when aged systems fall and tried principles pass inep disuse when all those rules which have held society in check are disregarded and an offended populace demands redress it is then that public opinion shakes off the dust of past ages and leads the human race one step nearer perfection As it goes forth it scorns all resistance no army of the mailed knights of nobility no king fostering castle of antiquity no superstitious belief can stay its advance its edep is as the tread of a nood that leaves its bed and its march it is rude desolation we need not revert to time long past to find examples of the power of public opinion but last year there was a most excellent demonstration of its strength when you saw our citizens gather in groups on the streets newspapers in hand when you stood in crowds before bulletin boards when you knew great assemblages all over the land were listening to the appeals of orators when you heard even small boys at play crying remember the maine and the gerat mass of the people demanding war when you heard in the still night the roll of ano dram and strains of martial music when you were startled by the call of the bugle and heard the noise of preparation when you stood on the curb and beheld our now renowned volunteers marching away with blankets on their backs to join the great army of justice when you watched with tears in your eyes those sad partings the husband trying to cheer his brokenhearted broken hearted the father kissing darling little ones perhaps for the last time the stalwart son bidding goodbye good bye to his grieved parents and lovers whispering vows of unfailing love when you saw those armies march into dangerous battlefields you witnessed merely the expression of the public opinion of this nation that cuba should be free spain should be brought low tor dastardly destroying one of our battleships and murdering her brave sailors while they slept the shouldering ing embers of public opinion had been slowly but surely increasing their heat and when tanned by that treacherous act of the night of february the flame burst forth and ono more victory for humanity was won before our late war in the popular opinion of the spaniards uncle sam was a equaling pig oh how events change opinions now no doubt they classify him in the wild boar species with extra large tusks which he knows how to use on occasion but public opinion with all its glorious victories Is such an unstable and violent principle it la the common sense of a community but that common sense sometimes degrades into nonsense it changes with the times it Is different in different countries it has committed innumerable crimes its hands are stained with human blood it has choked to death many worthy enterprises and haa broken brave hearts it has burned at the stake the disciples of truth it has atoned women old women because their faces were wrinkled and their backs bent and in ignorance it thought they were witches it baa chained intelligent tell igent men upon tho rack and then turned the cranks until their bodies were torn apart like worthless rags it has greedily permitted human beings to be cried from tho auction block like cheap jewelry it has countenanced great hydra beaded trusts which have devoured private enterprises if public opinion has done all this where then is our security havo we no means of defense can we not entrench our cherished institutions where does public opinion originate it has its origin in a private opinion every great national movement has its origin in the minds of a few even of one the old natural law has its application here it we multiply the very simplest force into enough time it will equal the greatest cause one ripple in a still pool and the whole pool is set in ni ollon individual opinion is tho root of public opinion then it is there we ind its only check and safeguard the only way to govern the growth Is to effect private character and private influence every good citizen who ts enlightened every thinker who entertains just views and possesses a boblo heart every one who forms an opinion after serlona thought and deliberation unmindful of what he reads in a sensational newspaper every man who ie enabled to the true layer of public opinion through the false one or as aye ho blont eee lt to tal lp od it there and act according 0 o fear on every journal that fights esly for the principio pio kimt the welfare of the people Is heavens highest law Is a true educator of public opinion it we consider how much weight each superior intellect haa in the world we find that those intellects are the guides and counselors 0 the rest ot the people but sometimes oven intelligence Is misdirected then it is that one really great man at the head of an influential newspaper is worth more to the people than two houses tilled with congressmen such a man was horace greeley who said 1 I do not regret having braved public opinion when I 1 knew it was wrong and was sure it would be merciless it is because men have discarded old opinions old superstitions and have reasoned with prudence for themselves that this mighty power has grown wiser it is in enlightened public opinion we find the superiority and hope of our times education forms the common minds just as the twig Is bent the tree inclines fellow classmates wo should see our duty clearly even the humblest individual should know that his opinion Is a part of the highiet law ot the land and that he would do wrong to conceal it as an insignificant thought we must be careful what we think and say A single thought of ours may affect the history of our country the pebble in the streamlet scant has changed the course of many a river the dew drop on the baby plant has warped the giant oak forever let us always bear in mind that this world Is like a large whispering gallery where every breath Is heard therefore let our opinion when expressed be wise and well matured for although we but whisper it to our nearest friend it Is carried on with great rapidity bounding on from point to point causing each body it strikes to vibrate its voice gradually increase until it may be heard throughout the land let us profit by the examples of the past we have learned the effects of the power of public opinion when it was rightly governed and when ignorance corruption and superstition guided it it s for us to do what we can in directing it wisely millions have been led into valleys of smiling promise that they there become the toiling slaves of ungrateful masters whole nations may bow before a newer disguised in the robes of authority money and intellect may be employed to mislead the peoples will it Is now our duty to enlist in the great army to grasp in ono hand the shield ot truth and in the other the sword of sound reason and it any unworthy power attempts to usurp control we must forth determined that it shall not become our ruler that it shall not well a sceptre contrary to the spirit of the intelligent public opinion of the nation it seems to have become the custom of this city that every year snarls and slurs are cast against higher education men interested in private or denominational schools prompted by personal motives tell audiences that a high school education Is impractical ungodly and productive of tramps prominent officials are paraded before assemblages at commencement exercises who speak from policy rather than reason uttering catchy phrases unmindful of the facts to please the listeners it a higher education Is impractical it it causes bright youths to become wandering tramps why do statistics show that over fifty per cent of the college educated men succeed while onla about five per cent of the so called business educated men reach the same success and it you please we will use as the standard of measure dollars and cents less than one per cent of the people of this country have a college diploma yet over fifty per cent of the important offices are held by men who have this diploma intelligent people know that ovar two thirds of the presidents of the united states have been college graduates records show thit the percentage of criminals among the graduates of public institutions la less than that of any other class of schools but from a broader view wealth and honors are not the whole success suc ceis from higher education have come nearly all of the successful methods in mining civil and electrical engin chemistry medicine etc broiled minded public opinion endorses higher education with all its latin greek french german mathematics and science because it knows the value of those studies some men have attained success without higher learning but those who are the in the different professions and affairs of state have had that advantage the high school Is here to stay and a few dissatisfied men cannot chance the local public opinion so that it will deprive the boy in ordinary circumstances cum stances of tho chance to obtain a higher education it is not to be presumed that men who are destitute of a higher learning have a proper ap preci atlon of it I 1 may tall to see the value in a fine painting but that should not cause me to say it is valueless val uless it I 1 do I 1 only advertise my ignorance igno ranco to those who have studied art anu know its value |