CHANGE AND STABILITY
Dr. Kitchin Administers a Parting
Tonic to the Graduating Class
Though feeling that President Kitchin of
Wake Forest College seemingly fails to realize
fully the handicaps to the development, by multi
tudes, of the strong individualism which he com
mends to the 1935 graduating class under the
economic and social regime he so vigorously
champions, yet his baccalaureate address is so
charmingly eloquent and of such tonic potency
that we are here publishing it as an offset to the
many pages of former argument in these col
umns for a “change” which, in my opinion,
should serve to make possible the burgeoning of
many individualities that. will be dwarfed or
utterly withered under the kind of “regimenta
tion’' which has so generally characterized the
old regime.
The writer dots not see in an equitable dis
tribution of .opportunities and an effective eco
nomic co-operativw scheme the danger to indi
viduality, or to initiative and enterprise, that
even Dr. Kitchin evidently conceives as lurking
in the shadows of “change.” Even the individual
ants of the communistic ant hill seem to preserve
all the initiative and enterprise possible to ants
under any circumstances. Each man does his
level best and shot vs a persistence and an inven
tiveness in overcoming the obstacles in the path
of the conveyance of his booty homeward that
few. of our race show. Nor do passing com
rades interfere with him in the performance of
his strenuous tasks unless they see that he has
a burden too great for the lone comrade’s puny
strength, when they have a regular old-fashion
“log rolling.”
Put Dr. Kitchin’s tonic is fine for the indi
vidual under any kind of regime and its com
position shows that he has the Kitchin genius in
rhetorical fields as well as his own special genius
in that of Aesculapius.
Dr. Kitchin’s Address
As I come to say farewell I cannot help think
ing with something like dismay of the world
which is about to receive you. You are entering
life's activities at a time when thought is sur
charged with desirr, for change. When,Gn 1929,
the high fever of imaginary progress vanished,
the hysteria of collapse appeared and extreme
measures were employed to control an abnormal
patient. The warp and woof of the world’s eco
nomic life had become so entangled that millions
of distressed and desperate souls were ready to
follow a Moses who would lead them out of the
wilderness. Then, in view of walled cities and
giant nroblems, self-reliance failed and mannai
and quail were desired.
The proponents of change are preaching a re
ligion of Modernity: “Behold,” they cry, “’ve
make all things new.” As a result we have pro
duced new international treaties and new weap
on- of warfare, new nationalism and a new at
titude of the individual, new education which
cloak- but does not destroy ignorance; new con
ceptions of religion, even—many of them so wild
and radical that the Creator of worlds is left out.
This cult of modernity has indeed become so
popular that change is considered identical with
progress. Give us something new, is the clamor,
anything new and different! Unfortunately, this
attitude has opened wiaetne aoor 10
of all falsehoods, the half-truth, ^rid a legion of
his cohorts. So many things are labeled new
that we are endangered by a myopic view of
values and a loss of our sense of veneration. You
are entering a' world so charmed by illusion and
deception that you may be influenced to reduce
truth to. opinion and replace hope with- futility
hi ay I therefore remind you, that the presen
hour has no monopoly on wisdom, and that the
wealth of the world has not been produced by
this generation.' May I caution you that-some
things are immune to change, and charge y®u
that the superstructure of . your lives, as well as
that of society, must rest upon eternal bed-roc
May we notice a few illustrations of those t in8s
which
are permanent.
Individualism . ,
The first is individualism. A distmgtns
gentleman recently died. A friend wrote of *
"“He had less dust on his windows than on
of any other man I know. His was the un
standing’ that is more than wisdom an ,m.
Hdualism that springs from the wisdom oi1
aRes, the wisdom which-‘reveals that life can
dure and man develop only in an atmosphere,
freedom.’ He had the ability ‘to adjust his ppi
ions to hi^ knowledge.' ” ; . ■
AH individualism m^y-be said to sPnn^, *
the wisdom of the ages”: for it/ is < concerned,
with fly-by-night changes but with development
—and it has been well said that. it is only the
cultivation of individualism that produces,' or
ca^^.ro^ce* well developed human beings.
Me who lets the world, or his own portion of
i , choose his plan .of life for him, has no need of
any other faculty’than the ape-like one of imita
tion. He who chooses his plan for himself, em
ploys all his faculties. . . . Human nature is not
a machine to be built after a model, and set to
do exactly the work prescribed for it, but a tree,
which requires to grow and develop on all sides,
according to the tendency of the inward forces
which make it a living thing.” (Milt.)
Individualism does not imply the libertinism
embodied in claims qf equality or ability and pos
sessions, Genuine individuality is as old and in
herent and unique as man’s first finger: prints.
Every human Jbeing is, in body and mind and
spirit, a peculiar creation. There is no group
mind or spirit as such Effort to. efface; indi
viduality presumes to v'olate the order of crea
tion itself. Unity through diversity is as wide
spread as tfie human family and as far flung as
the stars. , ,,
Individualism guarantees and honors person-,
ality. Personality is, as it should be, one of the
most persistent things in life. It can be dwarfed
and perverted, but not effaced. Nor can it be
eliminated by time, eradicated by climate, de
stroyed by death. Moreover, designs to reduce
all men to a common denominator, in thought
or in wealth, are ultimately as impossible as they
are dangerous. . . -
It is difficult to predict the effects upon per
sonality of those tendencies designated as plan
ned economy, couect'vism, limitation, and divi
sion, and share the wealth. One can say, how
ever, that the utmost caution should be exercised
against current isms—Facism, Nazirism, Bolshe
vism, Socialism, Paternalism—for such central
ization of power may so militate against person
ality as to restrict and stifle it.' Unwarranted,
and perhaps, unsuspected, delegation of author
ity, as excess of liberty, could easily lead to the
worst form of servitude, for it can. subtly trans
form independence into depend'aice and initia
tive into conscienceless beggary.
Personal Rights
The sacredhess of individualism presumes.in
alienable personal rights and obligations.
* There is the right, to work. The law of labor
is as old as crearion, and it can neither be
abridged nor repealed. Disuse means atrophy of
moral fibre, as certainly as a biological organism
tends to eliminate a member which is cannot use.
Labor creates the virtues of thrift, self-reliance,
independence, self-respect, honor, stability. The
Master Workman recognized, honored, and dig
nified manual toil, and the work of mind and
spirit. He placed primary emphasis on the crea
tion of those ultimate riches which rust does not
corrode nor thieves purloin—the “durable goods
that endow the ages , " , • 1
Also, the abundanl life is a moral and social
birthright. For man the abundant life cannot
be had through bread alone. Man is essentially
mind and spirit. He must have bread to exist,
things of the mind and spirit to live. Our fathers
Ipft ns a leeacv. created by their ideals and estab
lished with their labors with compass ana pen
and sword. The legacy is a Jeffersonian prin
ciple, superior to any party, springing from the
essence of democracy, and nurtured by those
consecrated to faith in the divine nature of man.
It is the Palladium of our liberties—the right
to think and to teach our children to think; the
right to religious liberty for ourselves and our
children; the right to practice thrift foy our
selves and our families and attain a degree of
competence and independence; the .right to de
velop individuality in the line of aptitude, unh
dered by false dogmas or unjust ahd_ fettermgTe
' strictions; the right to gain character and truth
and beauty through development of that measure
of the Kingdom of Heaven Within one. This
sacred trust must be kept invidate. It anted^es
the Constitution, the English Bill of Eights, Ro
man Law; it is as old as Noahs rainbow and
God’s covenant with Abraham. - ,. •
So when western civilization follows c^1FieJ?*’
cal fkncy and fatuous opinion; it is inevitable
that sacred treaties become scraps of paper and
£ *e social structure collapscsw.th^such
force as to shake the foundations of-the world.
Nor jean ultimate recovery be had merely through
fuchTte premises. . In government, In educ.
tion and in organized nehgionj the essential na
ture d? man must be recognized.. and personal
rights must be safeguarded and devel^«d^or_we
suffer such a dedensioir-of Ta^h t* ™*'
bring unparalleled! moral -upheav^ and
Srophe Basic/ fights; and obbgafcons-ne«r
actual^onfHtt. - Genuine’ progress may,
Xfhrou^x free4°m*. -Ohly the free W ^ |
- .A... < filter!. V . . . -!f_
come really strong and constructive, ,, fitness
Spartan regimentation and jnomentary ’power;
witness the freedom of Greece, and marvel at
her priceless, and imperishable trwsures of art
and literature and philosophy.. ..Through keeping
inviolate the sacred rights, .of njftO.thore may he
had a dynamic and gravitational force, stronger
than the influences of the Pleiades and the bands
Of Orion. "
The Greatest Permanency ^
But we, know, in-thinking over those things
which abide, that religion is* of greatOst^permai
nency. It is as. old. thf? £oul of man, and has
helped to make it. Eternity is in the heart. Re
ligion at its best, that is, as Jesus taught and
practiced it, has given to the world a great
philosophy, a great ethic, and ’a great source of
power. It creates enduring Values. ‘It' has been
said, “It is1 not the happyjleath; but the happy
life, that makes man happy/V The way to find
happiness1—and let trie remind-you that it is the
only Way—is ,fo * turn 'back tO' these’fefidtMng
values, these- fundamentals of life and religion.
Christianity -is adaptable in practice but un
changeable in its principles. >
■A hundred years ago Thomas Carlyle wrote,
“Religion becomes more , and more mechanical.
Considered as a. whole, the Christian Religion.of
late ages has been gradually dissipating itself
into Metaphysics; and-threatens now to disap
pear, as some rivers do, in deserts of barren
sand.” But we have Divine assurance, that it is
here to stay. Its Founder “ia the same yester
day, today, and forever/* His words are more
imperishable-than Heaven ajwd earth, and’ His
words are more imperisnaDie.*tnaiL rieaven ana
earth, and Has organized truth: is built upon a;
rock. Even if every word Jesus spoke were de
stroyed, His religion ■ would recreate itself, for
it lives in the deeps of the heart and will fcon
. tinue to live .through all the generations, through
all the ages..
I have mentioned three permanent realities—
individualism, personal rights and obligations, and
religion. ' The: way out of the chaos of uncer
tainty cannot be discovered! through mere human
expediency and opportunism; it can be found in
the fundamentals of life and religion.
And so, Members of the Class of 1935, 1 beg
you to enter this turbulent world with high cour
age, believing that the changes we see and fear
are on the surface, like restless waves. The un
^soiindable depths are not disturbed, because—
• I
»
“The Deep-Down Things are strong and great,
Firm fixed, unchangeable as fate,
Inevitable, inviolate,
The Deep-Down Things.
“The Deep-Down Things! AH winds that blow,
All seething tides that roam and flow
May smite but cannot overflow
The Deep-Down Things.
\
“The surge of years engulf the land
And crumble mountains into sand,
But yet the Deep-Down Things withstand
The surge of years.
f
^‘Behind the years that waste and smite,
And topple empires into night,
God dwells unchanged in changeless light
Behind the years.”
A Plea for the Salvage of “Should”
(Continued from-Page Four)
ture from the time of the threat; “was” either
indicates that the paying was before the threat,
or that information as to whether it had been
paid or not was lacking. - r
Long usage has seemed-to establish the em
ployment of simple “shall” of “should” forms
instead of the perfect tense forms, “shall have”
or “should have,”- as correct* English, the equiva
lent of which the Latins, in their exactness of
terise relations, invariably* use 'when" the con
ditioned act must be completed, before the pro
posed or “threatened” act occurs. But to aban
don all suggestions of tie future relation seems
to be going too far and introducing an element
of exceeding slovehness into^ the cohstfuction of
that exceedirijgly important grammatical clause,
the conditional, for which; as; wigge8ted above,
such concern, on the other hand, is felt foh ex
actness in it that the double connective, if und
when, a stranger to the language for ^thousand
years, is now being too generally used. * - - -
Suppose we fry to preserve, at least, the par*
, tial decree of . tense' exactness pf classic English
. before; we Cry fo increase "another kind of ©xacfc
•ness by; a» means that so fretpiently- results un
monstronsities of grammaticaL structute.' 1" in
,sist -that “shall” .and “should“ -ought?to -yetaia
their fortnar