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 Some Educational Problems. 
 
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 Inlroductory JWdre55 
 
 ELEVENTH LECTURE COURSE 
 
 AT THE 
 
 /IlL^ny (^olle^e of Pl12.rme.c7, 
 
 DELIVERED OCTOBER 5, 1891, 
 
 WILLIS G. TUCKER, M. D., Ph. D., 
 
 Professor of Chemistry. 
 
 ALBANY, N. Y. 
 1891. 
 
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 3ME Educational Problems, 
 
 tkeh: 
 
 Introduclory /IJJre55 
 
 ELEVENTH LECTURE COURSE 
 
 Jllhuij College of Pli£^rm2!iC7, 
 
 DELIVERED OCTOBER 5, 1891, 
 
 WILLIS G. TUCKER, M. D., Ph. D., 
 
 Professor of Chemistry. 
 
 ALBANY, N. Y. 
 i8qi. 
 
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flDD^ESS. 
 
 Gentlemen — The course of lectures in the College of Pharmacy 
 has always been opened by the delivery of an introductory address. 
 The custom is, perhaps, a somewhat antiquated one, and I think it 
 might be urged with some reason that it would be " more honored 
 in the breach than the observance," and that the time thus given 
 to formal greetings and generalities might be more profitably spent 
 in beginning the real work of the course ; but, be this as it may, it is 
 none the less a real pleasure for me to greet you in the old way this 
 evening, and possibly the observance of the custom may be not en- 
 tirely devoid of all advantages. It, at least, serves to bring together 
 class and faculty at the beginning of the session, and prepares the 
 way for that free intercourse which should thereafter exist between 
 teacher and pupil ; for the time has gone by when the duty of the 
 teacher, in such a school as this, is fulfilled by delivering, and that 
 of the pupil by hearing, formal lectures at stated times. Between 
 them there should be a closer bond of union than the mere exist- 
 ence of such mutual duties implies, for both are engaged in a com- 
 mon pursuit, and should, with common aims and purposes, work 
 side by side in full and hearty sympathy. We hope to feel that you 
 are here, not of necessity nor from caprice, but because you have 
 freely chosen for yourselves this vocation to which you are, in very 
 truth, called, and are therefore prepared to make the most of the 
 opportunities which this school offers you for perfecting yourselves 
 in your chosen profession ; and we further hope that you will 
 feel that this faculty desire to aid you in the accomplishment of this 
 end in every way in their power and by the employment of every 
 means which they can command. If, then, this introductory exercise 
 shall bring us at the outset nearer together, and shall serve to estab- 
 lish between us lasting friendly relations, helping us the better to 
 understand each other's aims and needs, the hour thus passed will 
 not nave been spent entirely in vain. 
 
We enter, this evening, upon the second decade in the history of 
 this school. Founded in 1881, it began its work of instruction in 
 October of that year, and last year saw the largest class matriculated 
 and graduated which the institution has known. The growth of the 
 school has been steady and its progress most satisfactory. The first 
 class numbered three graduates, and then were graduated classes of 
 ten, thirteen, eight, ten, seventeen, eleven, twenty-two, eighteen, and 
 last year sixty-nine pupils were in attendance, of whom twenty-four 
 received full diplomas, and two others, not having completed their 
 apprenticeship, received certificates of proficiency. The trustees 
 and faculty of the school are, however, not unmindful of the fact 
 that mere increase in the size of its classes does not necessarily 
 imply true growth and real progress, and they have therefore sought, 
 year after year, to strengthen the course by increasing and improv- 
 ing the instruction given. Pharmacy, considered either as a science 
 or an art, is making rapid strides, and it is the earnest desire of 
 those who govern this school that it should keep pace at all times 
 with these advances. It is not so much that every new thing must 
 be taught merely because it is new, as that those who teach should 
 be cognizant of what is both new and of real value and in full sym- 
 pathy with the progressive spirit of the age. Much of the elemen- 
 tary work in such an institution as ours is as far as possible removed 
 from novelty, though none the less of the first importance, and the 
 wise teacher is he who gives to each part of his course the time that 
 its relative importance demands, neither confining himself to the 
 foundation principles in his department nor sacrificing these essen- 
 tials in a search for novelties with which to entertain his hearers or 
 display his own erudition. Under the circumstances which at pres- 
 ent exist, the teacher, in a school like this, labors under some disad- 
 vantages. The time at his disposal being limited, owing to the fact 
 that most of his pupils devote a considerable share of their time to 
 service rendered employers, he must restrict his course at many 
 points, and, in addition to this, as they come to him very differently 
 prepared to begin the subject to be studied, he has the greater diffi- 
 culty in deciding where he may best curtail or condense and where 
 his instruction should be more ample and detailed. Much of this 
 difficulty might be obviated if more time were given to the course 
 and an elementary knowledge of the subjects taught was required of 
 all pupils at entrance, and in this direction our colleges of pharmacy 
 are tending. In the near future, I believe, two or three years 
 will be deemed none too long a time to be devoted exclusively to 
 
5 
 
 college work and a better preparation for the work of the course will 
 be required at entrance, but such changes as these cannot be effected 
 in a day ; they must be gradually brought about as the public comes 
 to realize more fully the value of a thorough education in pharmacy. 
 In our own school the number of hours occupied by lectures or 
 laboratory work is more than twice what it was during the first few 
 years of its existence, and yet we feel that were it doubled again 
 the time would still be insufficient for the work to be accomplished. 
 During the past summer the pharmaceutical laboratory has been 
 refitted and admirably arranged, and I trust that the improvements 
 which have been made will meet your approval. The courses to be 
 pursued by both senior and junior classes have been systematically 
 planned, and we feel confident that they will prove both profitable 
 and satisfactory and that the laboratory work of the college 
 in the departments of pharmacy and chemistry will be more thor- 
 ough, practical and in all respects more valuable than ever before. 
 We expect still further to enlarge and strengthen our course from 
 year to year, increasing the number of lectures, recitations and hours 
 spent in laboratory work, and if we are encouraged in so doing by 
 the support of those interested or engaged in pharmacy, we can, ere 
 long, remedy many of the present imperfections of our course. And 
 by this you will understand me to mean the course as given in most 
 of our colleges of pharmacy to-day — a course not long enough nor 
 thorough enough to satisfy those who desire to see pharmacy raised 
 to a higher level than it occupies at present among the sciences, 
 though I would by no means be understood as implying that it is 
 too brief or superficial to be of real value, for such certainly is not 
 the case. With all its imperfections and limitations it is yet fairly 
 well adapted to present legal requirements and the demands of the 
 public ; is vastly better in many respects than that given in our 
 schools ten years ago, and is one which, if diligently pursued, must 
 be of great value to the student. And, when all is said, what course 
 can be of value to any pupil who does not apply himself with dili- 
 gence to its prosecution ? Often as I have emphasized the fact, I 
 am again constrained to reiterate that teachers and books, no less 
 than the most elaborate apparatus for imparting instruction, are use- 
 less to him who will not devote himself with assiduity to the acqui- 
 sition of knowledge. No external equipment, no mere possession 
 of titles or degrees, can make a learned man. Personal effort and 
 natural capacity are more than school or teacher. " A man that is 
 young in years may be old in hours," says Bacon, " if he have lost no 
 
time," Treasure these golden words, and remember that success in 
 life, worthy of the name, is chiefly dependent upon individual effort. 
 It has long seemed to me that many of our ideas concerning 
 educational methods and the management of our schools and higher 
 institutions need decided modification, and I ask you this evening 
 to consider briefly with me some of these educational problems. 
 Wide differences of opinion among educated men and educators of 
 course exist, and during the last few years we have seen the value 
 of the present college course, as a preparation for the after-work of 
 life, again and again called in question, and yet I think it must be 
 admitted that the great majority of educated men, so called, mean- 
 ing chiefly those who have pursued higher ' courses of collegiate 
 instruction, hold very conservative views as to the value of such 
 courses, the management of our schools and colleges and the meth- 
 ods employed in teaching. Sentiment and tradition have influenced 
 us in too great a measure ; a disposition to take as our model, in a 
 new and growing country, the educational methods long pursued in 
 older lands with different institutions and social orders, and an indis- 
 position to adapt our system to the real needs of our own time and 
 our own people, have had much to do with some of our failures in 
 education. But these factors, however important, have by no means 
 been the only influences which have been at work. So rapidly has 
 our population grown that in some cases our high schools and col- 
 leges have become little else than great instruction mills for grinding 
 out at wholesale men and women all of much the same grade of 
 intellectual fineness. We need some method by which the individual 
 capacities and peculiar needs of each pupil may be earlier distin- 
 guished, so that the course of study may be adapted to the pupil, 
 rather than that the pupil should be conformed to the methods and 
 the curriculum of the institution in which, very often, chance or the 
 desire of others has placed him. It is true that the young pupil often 
 does not know his own needs, and is by no means always the best 
 judge as to the studies which he should pursue, but, nevertheless, I 
 think that at an earlier day those studies which are related to the 
 business or profession which he proposes to follow should be selected 
 by him or for him. My experience has been that those boys who at 
 an early age show a decided liking and aptitude for a particular 
 calling succeed best in after life. Such boys often educate them- 
 selves largely, and easily acquire a knowledge of those subjects 
 which are congenial to them, for, say what you will about the value 
 of disciplinary studies, we profit little by applying ourselves to sub- 
 
jects for which we have no liking and which seem useless to us, and 
 as we grow older we find that it is easy to comprehend and remem- 
 ber those things which it is essential for us to know, and easy to 
 forget that which has no bearing on our work. A century ago a 
 man who desired an education might obtain it, in a way, by follow- 
 ing a prescribed course of study, but so greatly has knowledge 
 grown that it is no longer possible for any course of study, which 
 the limit of human life admits of pursuing, to impart even a tithe 
 of what is known to-day. To hold fast, then, to ancient traditions, 
 asserting that every educated man must of necessity have acquired 
 just so much Latin, Greek and mathematics, is to adopt an untenable 
 and unreasonable position. The prospective banker or man of 
 business, lawyer, engineer, clergyman, physician or pharmacist, each 
 needs instruction along different lines after the preparatory school 
 has been left behind, and it seems to me irrational to assert that the 
 same mental pabulum should be supplied to each during the most 
 valuable formative period of life. The increase in the number 
 of elective studies in the college curriculum has been a step in the 
 right direction, but it does not go far enough. Much still has to be 
 learned by the average pupil which is relatively of little importance 
 to him, and this is a positive injury in that it entails a loss of invalu- 
 able time. My contention is, in part, that too long a time is now 
 required of the student in doing preliminary work. He leaves his 
 academy at eighteen ; college at twenty-two or twenty-three ; pro- 
 fessional school at twenty-six or twenty-seven, and then devotes two 
 or three years more to post-graduate study or foreign travel to 
 " complete his education," when he should have finished this pre- 
 paratory work long before and been well established in the real busi- 
 ness of life, before youthful ardor and enthusiasm had cooled, ener- 
 gies relaxed and ambition ceased to be a powerful incentive to action. 
 I believe that at the present time young men select and enter upon 
 the line of work which is to be theirs for life at too late a day, and 
 I have little hope for the success of a man who at the age of twenty- 
 five is not yet in some sense a producer, by which I do not mean 
 merely a money-maker, though the acquisition of wealth is by no 
 means to be despised, but that he should be doing something more 
 than merely getting ready to do something. The man who at 
 twenty-five is not yet taking care of himself and at least making 
 ready to do his share in adding to the world's knowledge, comfort 
 or wealth, may have certain uses in this complex life of ours, but it 
 is not easy to discern just what these uses are. 
 
8 
 
 Now if it be said that there will always be a certain class of edu- 
 cated men, living by the labor of others, benefiting by their toil and 
 themselves doing no useful thing, I answer that perhaps it may be 
 so, but that I must not be asked to believe that such men are very 
 useful members of society and that our educational institutions 
 should seek to increase their number. They exist, as yet, in large 
 numbers in other lands and by the influence they exert, chiefly 
 through the property they control, constitute a far too important 
 element in the community ; but we need no such class in a country 
 founded upon the principles which underlie this government of ours 
 and, I think, we must needs look not only with disfavor, but with 
 something akin to alarm, at any tendencies which in this land threaten 
 to create an educated, indolent and wealthy class ; for such a class, 
 when it becomes an important element in the population, will always 
 seek, through the natural selfishness of its members, to put addi- 
 tional burdens upon those less intelligent and fortunate than them- 
 selves, for upon their labors such a class depends for the luxuries, 
 even the necessities of life. Within a few days, Mr. Gladstone has 
 warned the House of Lords of the folly of opposing public opinion 
 and measures of reform originating with the people. " I, myself,'' 
 he says in his Newcastle speech, "in i860 and 1861, had the felicity 
 or infelicity to be in conflict with the House of Lords. We had a 
 great battle upon the repeal of the paper duties, one of the most 
 diflficult and important questions in the whole free trade contro- 
 versy. You know what the consequences have been in the establish- 
 ment of a free press, which has done more than any other single 
 cause to educate the country, and to which we mainly owe the vast 
 extension of the franchise which has enabled us to multiply ten-fold 
 those who take part in elections." The English heriditary cham- 
 ber rests upon an unstable foundation — is liable at any time to be 
 overthrown, and its abolition will not long precede that of the crown. 
 Such meetings as that at Newcastle point plainly to republicanism 
 in the near future in England. At home and abroad, on every side, 
 are signs of coming change. Liberal ideas, socialistic ideas. Christian 
 ideas — call them what you please — are coming to the front more and 
 more. Questions, which a few years ago would have been treated 
 by the press, the pulpit, and the people generally, either with con- 
 tempt or severest denunciation, now receive respectful consideration 
 in the same quarters; and yet there are many still who, blinded by 
 self-interest, entirely fail to recognize the great changes that are tak- 
 ing place in public sentiment and would shut out, so far as they may, 
 
the new light which is shining more and more brightly in the world. 
 This very summer I met an educated gentleman, American born, the 
 son of a New England teacher of note, who deliberately asserted 
 that universal suffrage was a mistake, our presidential elections a 
 menace to the stability of the government, our institutions a failure 
 and the foundation principles underlying our government too anti- 
 quated to last much longer. In his opinion, we needed a standing 
 army, like that of Germany, to put down the uprisings, which he 
 feared, of what he was pleased to call " the people " or " the masses,'' 
 and he held the opinion that if a president chosen by the people 
 could be replaced by an emperor, of the Czar of Russia type, it 
 would be better for the country, by which I take it he meant that 
 the people on top of the coach, to use Bellamy's phrase, would sit in 
 their places with a greater sense of security. And there are plenty 
 of men, educated men, who hold similar opinions. With sounder 
 teaching in our schools we should have less of this frothy nonsense, 
 I think, and little or none of it were the education of the people 
 more directly under the control of our national government. 
 
 This is, perhaps, neither the time nor the place for a discussion 
 of any of those social or economic problems which are forcing them- 
 selves upon the attention of thoughtful men today, and yet, in a 
 sense, many of these questions are closely related to educational 
 problems and it seems to me that it behooves all educated men to 
 recognize the existence of the tendencies to which we have referred 
 and to do their part to avert the untoward results which may flow 
 from them. If we are desirous that our present social order should 
 be not merely maintained, but improved by the correction of existing 
 abuses and wrongs, rather than that existing wrongs should be 
 righted by a social upheaval, which will bring disaster of all sorts 
 in its train, then we must not close our eyes to these wrongs, but 
 must seek a remedy for them, and, I believe, that in the better edu- 
 cation of the people will be found the cure for many ills. Our youth 
 must be thoroughly equipped for the work of life, and the avenues of 
 learning must be opened to the poorest student who is deserving of 
 instruction. It is not so much that we have not at present great 
 colleges and universities with large endowments and extended courses 
 of study, but these are under essentially private control, are ham- 
 pered by many traditions, and appeal to a limited part of the com- 
 munity only. We need other institutions, or more room in those 
 that we have, for worthy students who are unable to meet the pres- 
 ent expenses of higher courses of study. It is true that we have 
 
lO 
 
 scholarships and a variety of helps already for indigent students 
 in most of our institutions of learning, but the number thus bene- 
 fited is comparatively small. ^ Many believe that the needed relief 
 should come through state aid and, for myself, I can see no reason why 
 education by the state should generally stop with the common school 
 and seldom extend beyond the high-school. Is it not possible that 
 the time may come when our national government will control many 
 of our institutions now managed by individuals, corporations, or 
 states, and expend part of the revenue derived by more equitable 
 and reasonable methods of taxation than those which now exist, in 
 establishing and maintaining great universities, with preparatory 
 schools in connection therewith, in which any pupil may obtain edu- 
 cation in any department, poverty being no bar to entrance, and 
 capacity and industry being alone necessary to maintain standing. 
 Such a conception may seem visionary to some, but I am fain to 
 believe that to others, to those who hold that the state should be 
 in a greater degree the distributor of the wealth yielded by its natu- 
 ral resources and owes it to its citizens to minimize their burdens and 
 equalize, so far as possible, their advantages and opportunities, such 
 a possibility will seem worth the endeavor to transform into a 
 reality. 
 
 We need, then, a sounder common school system throughout our 
 land ; a greater uniformity in the methods of imparting rudiment- 
 ary instruction, and attendance upon school required of all children 
 of proper school age. Without regard to color or nationality ; 
 whether in the cotton-growing or the coal-mining regions, in city or 
 country, the children must be educated if we are to expect them to 
 make good citizens. Ignorant foreigners crowd to our shores, and 
 only by educating their children can we hope to make them Ameri- 
 cans other than in name only. We need better methods in our high 
 schools and academies ; better drill in the fundamental English 
 branches and less of languages and science, music and literature in 
 our lower schools; and I think that a recent editorial writer in one 
 of the New York dailies, commenting upon the public schools of 
 that city, says, with reason, " It is painful to reflect upon the time 
 and tissue, and mental, if not moral, strength, that are wasted upon 
 studies which have no place in the popular curriculum. And it is 
 discouraging to find how small is the foundation of sound and thor- 
 ough knowledge beneath. * * * What proportion of all our 
 children as they leave the schools forever are able, for instance, to read 
 English aloud with fluency and understanding, and to write it with 
 
1 1 
 
 simplicity, clearness and ease? We venture to say that one in ten 
 would be a sanguine estimate. And yet not only is there no other 
 single acquisition to be compared with this in utility, but there is no 
 other test of fitness to teach a child so simple, so direct, and so con- 
 clusive. This is a broad statement but we believe it will hold good 
 under all circumstances. To read and write in the way we have in- 
 dicated means good eyes, quick ears, a clear head, a trained voice, 
 delicate perceptions, self possession, and knowledge of many things. 
 We are not afraid of the test, and we earnestly commend it to those 
 who are in large measure responsible for the future well being of this 
 community." 
 
 Many reforms then are needed in our preparatory schools, and in 
 our higher institutions the case is not otherwise. In them we need an 
 earlier adaptation of studies to the pupils' needs and less time wasted 
 in the acquisition of a mere smattering of comparatively useless 
 things, and more than all we need great schools where special train- 
 ing in higher branches and technical pursuits may be afforded to all 
 those worthy of advancement, without regard to wealth, influence 
 or position. Could our whole educational system be placed under 
 the control of the national government, instead of being left to 
 states and localities, many of the desired changes might be quickly 
 effected. We might then have common schools throughout our 
 land well taught and of uniform grade ; high schools without politics 
 or favoritism ; colleges no longer catering to the rich, selecting their 
 presidents with a view to the money they can raise, and making 
 athletics a principal part of their curriculum ; and professional schools 
 which should be more than private money-making enterprises. I 
 mean to bring no general and undiscriminating charge against the edu- 
 cational institutions of our country, but I do say that, admirable as 
 our public school system is in some of the states, it is entirely inade- 
 quate to the needs of the people iti others* ; that many of our high- 
 schools and colleges are not so managed as to benefit the commu- 
 nity as they might, and that, of our professional schools, many col- 
 leges of medicine at least are purely business enterprises, maintained, 
 first, to make money or reputation for those who condnct them and, 
 
 * A recent report of the Connecticut State Board of Education gives the result of an exhaust- 
 ive investigation of the condition of the public schools of New London county, administered under 
 the regulations of the " district " system. It was found that " about two-fiflhs of the children in 
 school above ten years of age cannot write ; " seventy-one schools were considered "utterly ineifi- 
 cient ; " one hundred and seven were doing "some good;" fifty-eight were rated as "useful," 
 and only twelve called "efficient." About fifty school- houses in the county were found "unfit 
 for use" and many of the teachers were "untrained and incompetent." That such a deplora- 
 ble condition of affairs could exist within an hour's ride of Yale College seems almost incredible, 
 and yet in many parts of our eastern states things are no better and in many of the southern 
 States they are much worse. 
 
12 
 
 second, to educate their patrons in the shortest time and with the 
 least trouble. 
 
 And the control of our educational institutions would be but one 
 of many advantages which would result from a greater centraliza- 
 tion of power in the general government, in which direction, 1 trust, 
 wc are tending, ever remembering that this government is of the 
 people, by the people and for the people, and that if this be so we 
 need not be jealous of the rights of the states nor fearful that indi- 
 vidual immunities will be abridged, nor alarmed at the cry of pater- 
 nalism so often raised, for whatever may have been for the intent of 
 the framers of our constitution, we are to-day first a nation and then 
 a confederation of states, and whatever is best for the individual 
 must be best for the nation. The admirable manner in which the 
 general government collects its duties on imports and internal 
 revenue taxes, manages its postal service and controls the national 
 banking system ; the general superiority in brief of our national to 
 our state legislation or municipal management, is, to my thinking, 
 sufificient proof that it may safely be trusted with greater powers, 
 and I could wish that not only our educational system but our rail- 
 roads, reformatory and penal institutions, asylums for paupers and 
 the insane, together with the inspection of foods and drugs and the 
 protection of life, health and property in a hundred ways might be 
 placed under the direct control of the national government. It is 
 an extraordinary thing that the passing of an arbitrary geographical 
 line should alter the legality, and in a sense the morality of many 
 an act, and with our widely differing laws in our different states 
 citizens are subjected to numberless annoyances and bewildering 
 complications and their natural rights and privileges are frequently 
 hampered and sometimes seriously infringed. Our widely differing 
 divorce, excise and interest laws, and varied legislation relating to 
 the practice of medicine and pharmacy and the conduct of various 
 trades, illustrate my meaning. Why should the pharmacist in one 
 state be required to pass a rigid examination and secure a license 
 before he can pursue his vocation, while in another the veriest 
 ignoramus is allowed to dispense medicines and deal in poisons? 
 Why should one state protect its citizens from ignorant medical 
 practitioners while another places no check upon the charlatan and 
 raises no bar against quackery, and why should one state educate 
 its children efficiently and another provide means so inefficient that 
 a large proportion of its youth grow up in ignorance and consequent 
 vice? These things ought not so to be and I cannot but believe 
 
13 
 
 that the rights of the individual and the well-being of the people at 
 large would be promoted by such an abridgement of state rights and 
 enlargement of national powers as should secure greater uniformity 
 and simplicity in our laws, and especially in those which relate to 
 education and a proper supervision of those professions and occupa- 
 tions which need regulation by the state in order that the public 
 may be protected. The properly educated physician or pharmacist 
 should have the same right to pursue his calling in one state as in 
 another. His credentials should pass anywhere, like a government 
 note, and the only way in which this can be brought about is to 
 afifiix to these credentials the government stamp of approval. 
 
 And this is no novel or revolutionary proposal, for our govern- 
 ment has always insured to its citizens certain rights and privileges. 
 It has guaranteed these rights at home, and abroad has protected 
 their persons and their property, and under the constitution it 
 accords to " the citizens of each state " all " privileges and immuni- 
 ties of the citizens of the several states." Why, then, should it not 
 control the education of the people, and especially of those who are 
 to deal with the public as physicians, pharmacists, lawyers and the 
 like who must needs be thoroughly trained before they assume the 
 responsibilities which their callings involve ? Should it not, at the 
 very least, test the fitness of such to pursue their callings and set 
 its seal of approval upon those who are competent, by granting 
 licenses which should have a definite value at home and be respected 
 abroad ? The holder of an English, German or Italian medical 
 diploma or license possesses credentials which have a definite value, 
 everywhere recognized, but the owner of an American diploma or 
 license, in this or other professions, has something the value of 
 which must be demonstrated, and such credentials are seldom recog- 
 nized in foreign countries and perhaps not even in an adjoining 
 state. The graduate of West Point or Annapolis is known to have 
 completed a special course of study and training, but the graduate 
 of one of our colleges or professional schools may or may not be an 
 educated man. So fully do we realize the truth of this statement 
 that diplomas are seldom exhibited by their possessors except it be 
 necessary in order to comply with some law, and are not generally 
 considered as being, in themselves, any real evidence of scholarship 
 or special fitness to pursue a particular calling. State legislation 
 has, in some cases, it is true, established grades and added to the 
 value of the diplomas of our schools, but how much better would be 
 the uniform standards and easily determined value of the credentials 
 
which the national government might grant. If to obtain the 
 license of the Board of Pharmacy of the State of New York be a 
 desirable thing, how much better would it be to secure a government 
 license recognized in all the States and respected abroad. 
 
 And so also in many other professions and trades, but time will 
 not admit of further consideration of this topic and I wish to say 
 only, in concluding this subject, that a greater centralization of 
 power in this country, a truer nationalism, is in no wise inconsistent 
 with a true socialism. The centralization of which I speak does 
 not mean a centering of power in individuals, nor in the government, 
 as meaning a body of rulers with despotic powers ; it does not mean 
 a standing army to awe the people into subjection, nor a naval arma- 
 ment to terrorize weaker powers and vie with greater ; it does not 
 mean any kind of imitation of monarchical methods, for these things 
 can never exist in a democracy like ours and are universally abhorred. 
 But it does mean a closer union of the States; a greater uniformity 
 in our laws ; enlarged rights, privileges and opportunities for indi- 
 viduals, and a better government by and for the people. Let those 
 who believe that the existing order of things should continue 
 unchanged because it exists; that there are no wrongs to be righted, 
 no better methods possible, rest satisfied, but those who hold that 
 much of the existing ignorance, degradation and vice may be amel- 
 iorated by education ; that abuse of power, whether by individuals 
 or corporations, can be checked, and that in a country like ours a 
 greater number can enjoy the common comforts of life than now 
 possess them, can scarce be expected to feel the same satisfaction. 
 
 Doubtless some will be inclined to ask what reason there is to 
 believe that the national government may more safely be trusted 
 with the control of educational and other public affairs, not now in 
 its keeping, than individuals, corporations, cities or states. Those 
 who raise the question will tell us that the goveriTment is only the 
 people and not a mystical power superior to human kind, and this 
 is of course true, but the fact must not be lost sight of that in this 
 country the higher the position the better, as a rule, is it filled. As 
 a general truth I think that this proposition will stand and I believe 
 that the permanence of our political system chiefly depends upon it. 
 As a man advances in political life, step by step, he must see to it, 
 if he would rise, that his record is clean. That many of our cities 
 arc badly governed, admits of no argument, but our state govern- 
 ment is better and our national affairs are managed best of all. 
 I have no sympathy with those who denounce our representatives 
 
15 
 
 at Washington, and our office-holders generally, calling them thieves 
 and swindlers or at the least a horde of hungry politicians, fattening 
 at the public crib. The newspapers are full of such talk and it is in 
 the air all about us, but have those who bring such accusations and 
 utter such sweeping denunciations ever really thought how admir- 
 ably, all things considered, our national affairs are conducted ? Do 
 they remember that defalcations are vastly more frequent in our 
 banks with all their careful management, than in our government 
 offices. Do those who cry out so clamorously for civil-service 
 reform stop to consider how many millions of dollars are collected 
 by our internal-revenue department, dealing chiefly with those who 
 conduct a business into which conscientious scruples little enter, 
 without the loss of a single dollar, and how many thousands of 
 postmasters throughout the country render honest service for one 
 who turns out a thief. Compare for a moment our present tele- 
 graphic facilities with the excessive rates, arbitrary regulations and 
 frequent double tolls to points near at hand, with our almost perfect 
 and yet constantly improving postal service, and this comparison 
 alone, it seems to me, ought to remove all doubt as to the desira- 
 bility of multiplying the functions and increasing the powers of our 
 national government. I hope the time may soon come when it 
 shall control our educational system throughout the land. Even in 
 England free education in the common schools is now an accom- 
 plished fact, but the higher institutions are still closed to the great 
 mass of the people. Advances in this country ought to be more 
 rapid. The age in which we live is an age of change. Let us hope 
 that it is an age of evolution of better things and that the near 
 future may see the correction of many of the imperfections which 
 now exist in our educational methods. 
 
 To-morrow evening we take up the real work of the course which 
 you have come here to do. Some of you have come to this place 
 for the first time and the occasion marks a real epoch in your lives. 
 For such it is a new departure and no new course in life ought to be 
 entered upon without thoughtful consideration. Is it not a good 
 time to indulge in a little mental stock-taking; a good time for 
 abandoning some habits which may have been hindrances and form- 
 ing some resolutions as to future action. You are all anxious to 
 succeed, and if you were to ask me what qualities, in my opinion, 
 most contribute to success in life, I should say these three — earnest- 
 ness, perseverance and sincerity. Unless a man be in earnest little 
 is to be expected of him. Study the lives of inventors, discoverers, 
 
i6 
 
 •II .1 4. 4.U u 11 u 022 138 818 
 
 reformers, and you will see that they have all been ... ^^cx^ v,<a.w^oc, 
 
 as we say. They have put into their work the best that was in them 
 and they have not counted the labor nor the cost. Be in earnest, 
 then, if you would win success. The man who is content to do as 
 well as his neighbor ; who looks about for an easy berth where the 
 pay is good and the work is light, is not the manner of man that you 
 should take as a model. There are plenty of such. Do not add to 
 their number. If you have chosen a congenial occupation and feel 
 that you are adapted to it, work at it early and late ; strive to excel ; 
 aim at the highest mark and never rest satisfied with mediocrity. 
 And if your earnestness be real it will of necessity be linked to per- 
 severance. There are doubtless men, here and there, who hit upon 
 bonanzas, who draw lucky prizes in the lottery of life, but the 
 number of those who are all their lives trying to discover some 
 short cut to wealth and fame is out of all proportion to those who 
 succeed in finding it. Most of us have to work for what we get. 
 The man that wins is the one who enters the race to stay. Do not, 
 then, waste your time and your energies by a fiickle devotion to 
 difTerent interests, but stick to your real work whether it be your 
 preparatory work now or the conduct of your business hereafter. 
 And to your earnest devotion to your work add perseverance and 
 sincerity. Some one has said that this word "sincere" comes from 
 the latin sine cera, from the practice of filling up flaws in furniture 
 with wax, so that it really means pure, not vamped up. Remember 
 this and do not try to cover up the flaws in your work with some 
 deceptive filler or gloss over your deeds with a thin varnish of pre- 
 tense. Be honest with yourselves ; recognize your own deficiencies 
 and shortcomings and you can the better surmount them, and be 
 sincere, genuine, unaffected in your dealings with others and you 
 will win their confidence and merit their esteem. Real success in 
 life depends upon character, and each man builds his for himself. 
 See to it that you build yours upon a good foundation, and for this 
 you can have no better corner-stone than honest, persevering, 
 earnest effort. 
 
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022 138 818 5 *