St. Stephen's College 
 
 A Proposition For Its Recognition and Use; 
 by the Dioceses of the Province. 
 
 AN ADDRESS 
 To the Provincial Synod, January 10, 1918 
 
 BY 
 
 ALANSON B.JHOUGHTON 
 Delegate from Western New York 
 
 resolutions 
 
 Passed by the Synod and by the College Board of Trustees 
 
 There are times, I suppose, gentlemen, when each one of you 
 has wished he had the tongue of an Angel. I confess I could 
 make use of one to some advantage myself for a few minutes 
 this morning. For I want to make a suggestion to you in regard 
 to a possible use of St. Stephen's College, and I have grave 
 doubts of my ability to put it before you as justly and fairly and 
 effectively as I would like. At any rate, let me hope you know 
 more about the institution than I did a year ago when asked to 
 become a Trustee. I had heard of St. Stephen's, of course. But 
 as I had the place in mind, it was a shabby sort of college, 
 somewhere up the river, dying slowly, but with gratifying cer- 
 tainty, because of its inability to conform to modern standards 
 of education — a place where strange and obscure and mysterious 
 religious rites were practiced and taught — a place it was wise 
 to pass quickly lest the President dart out from behind a tree 
 and fasten a degree upon you before you could get away. That, 
 I say, roughly, was my notion of the institution, and, from what 
 I have heard from time to time, I have a suspicion that pretty 
 much the same notion is more or less widespread. When I went 
 to Annandale, however, and looked the college over, I found the 
 reality very different. I found a noble site — one of the most 
 beautiful, perhaps, in the country; I found an entirely adequate 
 set of buildings; I found a high standard of work — a competent 
 faculty — a distinctly promising lot of students, and I found over 
 and about and around the place a Church atmosphere — not 
 
extreme at all, but sane and beautiful. There was nothing 
 shabby — nothing false — nothing amateurish about the place. 
 On the contrary, there was dignity and competency and a 
 proper reserve. I found poverty, of course. I found a need so 
 bitter that it could be met, as it was met, only by personal 
 sacrifice. And my first impression, which has been strengthened 
 by further observation and study, was a sense of wonder that 
 pretty much no one in authority or out was lifting a hand to 
 save the institution literally from starving to death. I came to 
 understand the situation a little more clearly when I was made 
 one of a committee to secure money for the college's more 
 pressing needs. This committee went to various cities. It 
 interviewed various "malefactors of great wealth." Some were 
 interested. Some were not. But the moment any of those we 
 approached took the matter under advisement and made an 
 investigation, then, as some of them were good enough to tell 
 us, it became evident that although St. Stephen's was nominally 
 a Church college, the Church had practically ignored or re- 
 pudiated her, and, of course, the moment this fact became 
 known, money could not be had. So that the conclusion was 
 quickly forced upon us that if the institution was to be saved at 
 all, the Church must first, in some official way, give it recogni- 
 tion and endorsement. No middle ground seemed possible. 
 
 Now the Church, as you know, has many burdens and many 
 calls upon Her. One must have good reason who comes to Her 
 to-day to ask support for any cause. These are not days when 
 money may be carelessly expended. But there are certain 
 reasons, it seems to me, why St. Stephen's is entitled to look to 
 the Church for the recognition it so desperately needs. One 
 practical reason, to put the matter plainly, is that the plant — 
 the grounds and buildings — is altogether too valuable an asset to 
 the Church to be thrown away. I have a horror of waste my- 
 self. That, I dare say, is because I am a manufacturer. And 
 not to make use, and full use, of these facilities seems to me 
 almost a crime. There are only two other purely Church 
 colleges to-day in the country. There is none other in this 
 Province. And I find it hard, as a business proposition, to 
 understand how we can afford to neglect the splendid possi- 
 bilities that center about this institution. A better reason, 
 however, is that St. Stephen's has been loyal to the Church. 
 
During its sixty years of existence, some five hundred clergymen 
 have received their education and inspiration there. To-day, 
 nearly four hundred men in Holy Orders owe to St. Stephen's 
 their pre-seminary training. Surely that is a record of actual 
 accomplishment. But, even more, gentlemen, it is a promise 
 and a pledge for the future. To-day, as in the past, the spirit 
 of the Church is dominating the college and its work, and 
 education there is going hand in hand with religion. Whatever 
 may have been the tendency elsewhere, religion at St. Stephen's 
 has never been regarded as a negligible factor in education. Nor 
 has it been permitted to make the intellectual training there 
 either soft or narrow or cramped. Dr. Finney, Commissioner 
 of Education of the State of New York, bears evidence to the 
 "soundness of the course of study, the thoroughness of the 
 instruction and the high morale of the student body." To be 
 sure, St. Stephen's makes no pretense to teach every branch and 
 kind of learning. It does not aim, for instance, to be a school 
 of technology. It undertakes to give, and it does give, a sound 
 classical education of the old-fashioned sort. And I venture to 
 think that few of you here will undervalue an education of that 
 particular kind. And one other reason I want to bring before 
 you is that, because of its history and tradition and environ- 
 ment, poor men can, and do, go there and live on equal terms 
 with their more well-to-do fellows without a sense of social 
 inferiority. There is no luxury at St. Stephen's — no waste — no 
 extravagance of living. The essentials are there. That is all. 
 But there, also, are the joy and happiness of honest work and 
 achievement. St. Stephen's has no desire to change this. It has 
 set a standard for itself. And to whatever stature it may grow, 
 it will, I believe, continue to be an institution of plain living and 
 high thinking. I mention these reasons because, in justice to 
 the college, it seems to me, they should be urged. I mention 
 them also because I want to leave with you my own conclusion, 
 which any of you can verify by a personal visit, that we have 
 here in this Province an institution of learning of which we have 
 no need to be ashamed — small, it is true, but really efficient — 
 a college, in a word, to which your son or mine may go with quite 
 as much self-respect and confidence as he would go to any of our 
 larger colleges. For the purpose I have in mind to-day, however, 
 such reasons are merely subsidiary. If I ask your formal recog- 
 nition and support of St. Stephen's, it is because I have come to 
 believe that St. Stephen's can perform a certain duty better, 
 
perhaps, on the whole, than any other institution now available 
 — a duty which has to do with a boy we often forget. 
 
 The Church has recently raised a great pension fund. It 
 was a great accomplishment. It had constructive imagination 
 behind it. But it left untouched the fact that, although the 
 cost of living has risen tremendously in the past ten years, 
 clergymen's salaries have not risen in the same proportion, if, 
 indeed, they have risen, on the average, at all. Some, I know 
 personally, are less. Now, one of the uses of a clergyman's 
 salary is the education of his children. And, sometimes, as 
 you know, it proves inadequate. Here and there, in small 
 country parishes, scattered through the States of New Jersey 
 and New York, you will find a promising boy, the son of a 
 clergyman, practically sentenced for life to remain in starved 
 surroundings because no organized means exist to help him. 
 Not always,, of course. Some of these boys break through 
 their environment and grow into places of power and im- 
 portance. And with reason, for they come, gentlemen, of 
 the best stock in the world. But others do not. And, I have 
 been wondering just how far we, as a Church, have any respon- 
 sibility towards these occasional boys who are worth helping, 
 and who cannot help themselves? I do not propose to argue 
 the question. I assume we must admit responsibility in some 
 degree — if only on the ground that while the fathers of, these 
 boys are being paid for parochial work, the service rendered 
 by them must be measured in larger terms — in terms of moral 
 and spiritual betterment of our national life. And I think, 
 also, we may perhaps agree together that we have -not met that 
 responsibility with reckless generosity. The failure touches us in 
 many ways. Just now we are talking a great deal about our duty 
 to America. We hang service flags over our altars. Let me give 
 you a practical illustration of what we are doing to-day for Amer- 
 ica. Let me contrast two instances. Take, for instance, say, a 
 Greek, who comes here to New York as an emigrant, who, living 
 on a foreign standard, is able to save, who buys, say, a fruit stand , 
 who marries, who has a son. That son is offered here, in this 
 city, the very best primary and secondary education. He 
 has the use and opportunity of free libraries, free lectures, 
 free museums, free music. And when he is ready, he can, 
 almost without expense to his father, go to college here in New 
 
York, and qualify himself, by education, at least, to play a 
 part in our national life. The case is familiar enough. Take, 
 on the other hand, a case not so evident. Take an American 
 by birth and inheritance, who goes into Holy Orders, who is 
 called to a small parish somewhere in rural New York or New 
 Jersey, who depends entirely upon his salary, who marries 
 and who has a son. That son, as he grows up, will get the 
 educational advantages that village offers. He may even get 
 the advantages of a high school if one is close at hand. But 
 when the boy reaches the age of sixteen or eighteen years, you 
 may find him a clerk in the village dry-goods store, or driving 
 a butcher's cart. That is honorable enough. But, as a net 
 result, America has, for certain purposes and kinds of life, lost 
 an American, and in his place has put a Greek. We do not 
 complain, of course, because the Greek is fortunate. We are 
 glad. That is what America means. But, I ask again, was 
 it necessary to lose that other boy — that American boy — the 
 boy we have tacitly agreed to abandon because that boy's 
 father, doing the Master's work, in some small isolated com- 
 munity, is unable to send him where the chance of a proper 
 education can be had? Has that boy, I repeat, any claim on 
 us? Has that boy's father any claim on us? I think, gentle- 
 men, that we must answer yes. I think that we, who represent 
 here to-day seven great Dioceses, must, in some degree, admit 
 our responsibility. And I submit that the question to put 
 before ourselves is how that claim and that responsibility 
 may be safely met. We cannot afford to make what is merely 
 difficult easy. For that is not helping — that is pauperizing. But 
 we can safely act when we make the impossible possible. For 
 then we really help. And we meet our duty squarely, I believe, 
 and face to face, when we make an education possible for one of 
 those boys when it was not possible before. 
 
 Now, I do not like to think of those boys and do nothing. 
 Something should be done. And because I believe that St. 
 Stephen's is in a position to do more that is essential for them, for 
 less money, than any other institution now available, it has 
 seemed to me not impossible to bring the two together. For, 
 approximately, $450 a year, St. Stephen's can board and lodge 
 one of those boys comfortably; can, in a Churchly environment 
 and atmosphere, give him a sound classical education; and, can, 
 
at the same time, make him feel he is a man and not a pauper. 
 Does such a sum of money seem to you excessive for such a 
 purpose? I confess, gentlemen, it does not seem so to me. And 
 so I am going to suggest to you that this Synod recommend the 
 establishment, in each of the Dioceses of the Province, of a 
 series of St. Stephen's Scholarships, whereby each year, each 
 Diocese shall, on the nomination of the Bishop, send one of 
 these forgotten boys to St. Stephen's. That would mean, begin- 
 ning the first year with an expenditure of $450, an annual 
 expense in four years and thereafter of $1,800 for each Diocese. 
 St. Stephen's, for its part, will agree, just as soon as conditions 
 become practicable, to endeavor faithfully to build up its 
 endowment to a point where these scholarships may, quite 
 possibly, cease to be a Diocesan expense at all. With such 
 recognition, and for such a purpose, I believe the money can 
 be had. There may be some reason which makes the plan 
 either impracticable or impossible. You may see some objection 
 which I have not seen. In fact, about all I do see is the fact 
 that some of these boys need help, and that we can, if we will, 
 make use of St. Stephen's wisely, I think, and most economically, 
 to give them what they need most — an education. In any 
 event, I am sure your decision, whatever it may be, will be 
 based on a sympathetic knowledge of the bitter need, both of 
 these boys and of the college. I, therefore, offer the following 
 resolution : (The first of the resolutions following.) 
 
 Resolutions Adopted 
 
 at meeting of 
 
 Synod oe Province; of New York and New Jersey 
 July 10, 1917 
 
 Resolved, That this Synod recommend the immediate 
 establishment in each Diocese of this Province of a series of 
 scholarships, to be known as the St. Stephen's Scholarships of 
 said Diocese, one of which shall be awarded annually for a term 
 of four years, on the nomination of the Bishop, to the son of a 
 clergyman, then canonically resident in said Diocese; and, 
 
 That each of said scholarships shall carry with it a grant of 
 $450 per year, which sum shall be used to defray the cost of one 
 year's board, lodging and tuition of the holder of said scholar- 
 ship at St. Stephen's College; and, 
 
 That all such sum or sums shall be included in the annual 
 budget of each Diocese as an ordinary expense; and further, 
 
That each' Diocese shall be represented on the Board of 
 Trustees of St. Stephen's College by at least one member, who 
 shall be nominated by the Bishop of that Diocese. 
 
 Resolutions Subsequently Adopted 
 
 Resolved, That the Synod commend to the Dioceses of the 
 Province and also to the Church at large, St. Stephen's College 
 at Annandale-on-Hudson, as an institution of religion and 
 learning that stands for classical education of the highest order, 
 and as a college of that character which can give to young 
 men, sons of clergymen, and others, a classical training not 
 surpassed by any other college in the country. 
 
 Resolved, That the Provincial Commission of Religious 
 Education be directed to organize a Committee consisting of 
 representatives of each Diocese in the Province to take such 
 action as will make possible the presentation of the resolution 
 of Mr. Houghton regarding St. Stephen's College to each 
 Diocesan Convention in the Province to the end that St. 
 Stephen's College may receive the scholarships according to 
 the Resolution; 
 
 Resolved, That such Committee is hereby instructed to 
 suggest some plan to the next meeting of the Synod by which 
 St. Stephen's College may become an authorized Church 
 institution, and that the Committee be instructed to consider 
 among other things some plan by which the Synod may be 
 represented on the Board of Trustees of St. Stephen's College. 
 
 Resolutions Adopted by the Board op Trustees op 
 St. Stephen's College, January 11, 1918 
 
 Whereas, Certain resolutions were passed at the meeting 
 of theSynodof New York and New Jersey on January 10th, 1918, 
 of which copies have been laid before this meeting; therefore 
 
 Resolved, That a Committee of the Board of Trustees be 
 appointed by the President to meet with the Committee ap- 
 pointed by the Synod to formulate a plan whereby representa- 
 tion of the Synod on the Board of Trustees of St. Stephen's 
 College may be accomplished ; and, 
 
 Resolved, That the Board heartily endorses the plan as 
 outlined in the resolutions passed. 
 
 Resolved, That the Trustees of St. Stephen's College, in case 
 of the adoption by the Dioceses of the scholarship plan pro- 
 posed, will as soon as conditions become practicable endeavor 
 faithfully so to increase and build up the Endowment Fund 
 that the cost of the scholarships to the Dioceses may be reduced 
 to a minimum. 
 
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