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ADDRESS 
 
 Before the Alumni Association of the University 
 of North Carolina, June 2, 1903, 
 
 JOHN SPRUNT HILL. 
 
Address Before the Alumni Association of the Univer- 
 sity of North Carolina, June 2, 1903, 
 by John Sprunt Hill. 
 
 Mr. President, and Gentlemen of the Alumni Association : 
 
 When I was a student here about fifteen years ago, many 
 of theeollegeboys and a considerable number of their fathers 
 invariably smiled when a young alumnus arose to address 
 an audience and inti^oduced his remarks with allusions to 
 "Classic halls and memories dear." Such salutations were 
 permissible only in great orators, and in men whose "fore- 
 heads were silvered o'er with age." It has, therefore, seemed 
 advisable to me, a mere private in the ranks of speakers, and 
 still painfully young, to bring myself into touch with the 
 occasion by relating a little story that may be of interest to 
 many of you. Ma3'be it has something to do with my 
 presence here to-da}% and maybe it will throw some light 
 upon the erection of one of the recent adornments to this 
 beautiful Campus. 
 
 Away back in the twenties, during the "Era of Good Feel- 
 ing" in North Carolina, the wise men of the State, for reasons 
 known to themselves, enacted a number of statutes, prohib- 
 iting forever from the domains of Chapel Hill, billiard tables, 
 games of chance, exhibitions of artificial and natural curios- 
 ities, and all such other spirits of evil. For more than seventy 
 years the warm-blooded scions of God-fearing ancestors had 
 brooded over the harshness of these decrees. Finally, on an 
 afternoon in May eleven years ago the peaceful reflections of 
 two young students of law upon the serious inconveniences 
 of these historic restrictions, were rudely interrupted by the 
 sudden appearance of a stranger, who asked in a loud voice, 
 "Is there a billiard parlor in this place?" "No, sir-re, no 
 
[4] 
 
 billiard parlor here," the student replied. "In this blessed 
 village the gospel of 'faith, hope and charity' has long since 
 superceded the doctrine of 'life, liberty and happiness.' " The 
 stranger laughed heartily, and soon pulled up a chair and 
 joined the students in smoking pipes of peace and happiness 
 and all indulged in an exchange of personal confidences. 
 Before long the new-comer announced that he was much 
 pleased with the looks of the Campus, and as he was enjoy- 
 ing himself so much, he might stay a few days and rest from 
 his travels. One of these two students of law returned to 
 Chapel Hill about the middle of the following summer to 
 gather up his little worldly goods and thereafter seek new 
 fields of fortune. Upon saying good-bye to the venerable old 
 dispenser of ham and eggs at the Watson Hotel, this student 
 w^as presented with a small white card, recently found, as he 
 stated, pinned to the ceiling of the room occupied by our 
 stranger during his recent stay at Chapel Hill. Upon one 
 side of the card was engraved, "W. G. Peckham, 111 Broad- 
 way, New York," and upon the other side was written in 
 pencil, "If J.S. Hill or W. W. Davies should ever come to New 
 York he will find it to his advantage to call on me." In the 
 course of the following year, the law student, who had finally 
 drifted to New York City, after many weeks of fruitless search 
 for work, called to mind the strange little card and concluded 
 to follow up its suggestion. The presentation of this card to 
 this brilliant but erratic lawyer was an "open sesame" to 
 the years of professional employment which make possible 
 the presence of your speaker here to-day, and during these 
 several years more than twenty thousand dollars of Yankee 
 money found its way into the village of Chapel Hill. 
 
 But, Fellow Alumni, this University cannot live and grovsr 
 in greatness upon Arabian Nights' stories. I have come here 
 to-day on a mission of love and devotion to the State that 
 gave me birth, and to the institution of learning that gave 
 me a thousand times more than I can ever repay. The force 
 of my remarks, therefore, will be directed toward doing 
 
[5] 
 
 something for the good of tlie University, and if by chance I 
 shall strike out into new fields and make statements that 
 mav not meet with vour approbation, I beg you to measure 
 my efiort by the spirit that prompts it rather than by the 
 manner of its performance. 
 
 LEGAL STATUS OF THE UNIVERSITY. 
 
 What is the University of North Carolina ? Is it a creation 
 of a few individimls or of the whole public ? Is it controlled 
 by a small body of men of like mind, or is it controlled by a 
 whole people ? Is it a private corporation or is it a public 
 corporation ? A clear understanding of these legal questions 
 is not often found among our people, and I am satisfied from 
 a personal investigation that the misunderstanding of the 
 exact legal status of the University in the minds of many of 
 the best citizens of our State has militated against its proper 
 support, and narrowed its usefulness. Fortunately it is a 
 very short labor of love to set forth the exact legal setting 
 of our Alma Mater. 
 
 The Legislature of 1789, in pursuance to the mandate of 
 the first constitution, providing that "All useful learning 
 shall be duly encouraged and promoted in one or more 
 universities," passed "An Act to establish a University in 
 this State." This act made full and complete provisions for 
 the organization of the institution. Forty of her greatest 
 men, representing all sections of the State, were declared to 
 be a "body politic and corporate," under the name of "The 
 Trustees of the University of North Carolina," (the corporate 
 name is now "The University of North Carolina"), and were 
 granted perpetual succession. They were authorized to hold 
 all kinds of property "for the use of said University," in 
 "special trust and confidence" that the "profits shall be 
 applied to, and for, the use and purpose of establishing and 
 endowing said University." One week after receiving the 
 charter the Tnistees met for organization, accepted the 
 charter and began to solicit subscriptions from private indi- 
 
[6] 
 
 viduals "to be held as a pe'rmanent fund for the University 
 forever." In 1795 the institution became fully organized 
 and opened its doors to students. There are many early 
 decisions of our courts throwing some light upon this sub- 
 ject, but it remains for our truh^ great jurist, Thomas RuiEn, 
 to lay down the full legal principles governing this charter 
 and defining the exact legal status of the University in a 
 manner so clear and bold that his opinion has become a 
 leading authority, and is cited all over the country. In the 
 case of Trustees of University vs. Maultsbv, 8 Iredell's Equity, 
 258 (1852), Chief Justice Ruffin says, "The University is a 
 public institution and body politic and hence subject to 
 legislative control .... It was founded by the State on 
 public funds and for a general public charity .... It seems 
 to the court that there cannot be an instance of a corpora- 
 tion more exclusively founded for the public, more completely 
 the creature of public policy, for public purposes purely, than 
 the University of North Carolina. It is as much so as other 
 public functionaries, the President and Directors of a Literary 
 Board, and the Board of Public Works ... ." In the same 
 case Chief Justice Ruffin shows how such a public charitable 
 corporation differs from the denominational college or pri- 
 vate charitable corporation in the following words, "Char- 
 ters of corporations founded by individuals on their own 
 funds for their own emoluments or for the purposes of 
 education or other general charity are contracts of inviolable 
 obligation .... The admission and exclusion of members, 
 the qualification of directors and trustees, the mode of keep- 
 ing up their succession and the government of such corpor- 
 ations are absolutely fixed by the charter." And Chief 
 Justice Marshall, in the Dartmouth College case, an institu- 
 tion as you may recall founded b}^ Congregational ministers 
 for the purpose of educating Indian missionaries, says, "A 
 hospital founded by a private benefactor is a private corpor- 
 ation in point of law, although dedicated by its charter to 
 general charity. So is a college founded and endowed in the 
 
[7] 
 
 same manner .... The faCt that the charity is pubHc 
 affords no proof that the corporation is also public." The 
 paramount reason for the establishment of such private, 
 charitable institutions for higher education in North Carolina 
 has always been the free education of ministerial students, 
 and as a subsequent development all young men of good 
 character, irrespective of creed, were admitted, in order that 
 the fees paid by them might help to support the institutions. 
 The theory behind the establishment is about as follows: It 
 is the dut}^ of a body of persons of like religious opinions to 
 educate their candidates for the ministry; educated ministers 
 in time make intelligent worshipers and these individual 
 worshipers finally impart the lasting benefits of education to 
 the entire community. Hence the State exempts such insti- 
 tutions from taxation, protects, fosters and encourages 
 them. Legally they are the friends and allies of the State, 
 and of the State's institution for the promotion and encour- 
 agement of "All useful learning" — its University. Benevo- 
 lence is the mainspring of their existence. 
 
 LIGHT FROM OUR FATHERS. 
 
 And so it was with our forefathers. Benevolence was the 
 dominant spirit of all colonial education. Theology was 
 taught by nearly every college in the original colonies. In 
 North Carolina, as elsewhere, the affairs of the State and the 
 affairs of the Church were under the same general control of 
 the English government. For many years no person was 
 allowed to teach in North Carolina unless he first secured 
 the consent of the Bishop of England, and as about two- 
 thirds of the colonists were dissenters from the established 
 church, who would not have their children taught by teachers 
 who secured this consent, there was no great diffusion of 
 knowledge in the colony. During the last fifty years before 
 the Revolution these religious restrictions were not so rigidly 
 enforced and the history of education in the colony became 
 inseparably connected with the history of the Presbyterian 
 
[8] 
 
 church. "Almost invariably," says Foote (Sketches of N. C. 
 P. 513), "as a neighborhood was settled, preparations were 
 made for the preaching of the gospel by a regular stated 
 pastor, and wherever a pastor was located, in that congre- 
 gation there was a classical school, as in Sugar Creek, 
 Poplar Tent, Centre, Bethany, Buffalo, Thyatira, Grove 
 (Duplin county) and Wilmington, and the churches occupied 
 by Patillo in Orange and Granville counties." 
 
 Queen's College in Mecklenburg county, under the control 
 of the Orange Presbytery, was, immediately prior to the 
 Revolution, one of the greatest church colleges in the country. 
 From the halls of this great Presbyterian stronghold, "with- 
 out concert of other States, without assurances from any 
 quarter," then and there came the first ringing announcement 
 in America of the birth of "a free and independent people." 
 From the halls of Queen's College, this same Presbyterian 
 stronghold came the first ringing demand for a State Univer- 
 sity. Positive instructions were given by these churchmen 
 to their delegates to the constitutional convention at Halifax 
 "to use all their endeavors for the establishment of a Univer- 
 sity and its endowment and maintenance." "Who in this 
 world ever heard of a hard-headed Presbyterian easily chang- 
 ing his opinion ? It is safe to say that nothing short of a 
 revolution and a stupendous death struggle for civil and 
 religious liberty could have caused these grand old fighting 
 churchmen to change their minds. Was it mere accident, 
 and because they were smarting under the insult of George 
 III, who had declined to give them a charter for their college? 
 No, the same kind of church people up in Pennsylvania were 
 making the same demand for a State University, and within 
 a few years great men and great patriots all over the country 
 joined in the same noble work. George Washington, the 
 former Chancellor of the Episcopal College of William and 
 Mary, was pleading for a great national university. Thomas 
 JeflFerson, in Virginia, was making plans for a great State 
 University, and likewise Alexander Hamilton in New York, 
 
[9] 
 
 and John Adams in Massachusetts. Was it a mere accident 
 of history that caused tlicse sturdy sons of North Carolina 
 during the darkest hours of the Revolution, just after the 
 surrender of New York, to meet for the framing of the first 
 constitution of a free people, and "with faith approaching 
 sublimity," write down into their supreme law "a school or 
 schools shall be established by the Legislature for the con- 
 venient instruction of youth, with such salaries to the mas- 
 ters paid by the public as may enable them to instruct at low 
 prices; and all useful learning shall be duly encouraged and 
 promoted in one or more universities ?" No, it was because 
 the blood of the Revolution gave to our fathers a new educa- 
 tional baptism. 
 
 Those of you who have been to that little burying ground 
 by the roadside, as j'ou go toward the valley from the old 
 home of Thomas Jefferson, and have seen the words cut into 
 the marble there, "Author of the Declaration of American 
 Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Free- 
 dom, and Father of the University of Virginia," can follow 
 the grand sequence of ideas, and tell why the patriots of 
 North Carolina gave us a university. It is said of the Univer- 
 sity of Virginia that it is the "lengthened shadow of one 
 man— JEFFERSON." The University of North Carolina is 
 the lengthened shadow, not of one man, but of a whole 
 people, the "freest of the free," united in a grand struggle for 
 civil and religious liberty. It represents their sublime confi- 
 dence in the justice of their cause as well as their abiding 
 hope in its eternal usefulness. In those days, as it should 
 now, the right of private judgment presupposed sufficient 
 intelligence in the individval to arrive at an intelligent judg- 
 ment. Educated citizenship, therefore, was the rock on which 
 the whole structure of their new democratic government 
 rested. Hence, it was the first duty of the State to secure an 
 educated citizenship and provide for its maintenance and 
 support. Believing firmly that the preservation of the bless- 
 ings of liberty to themselves and to all posterity rested upon 
 
[10] 
 
 the education of the youth of the State they were afraid to 
 leave a matter of such momentus importance to benevolence 
 and to philanthropy and to private enterprise. Hence, to 
 the ideas already in existence favoring education for the 
 preservation of learning, for the social, moral and religious 
 improvement, the Revolution brought the new educational 
 baptism and for all future time the dominating idea, of 
 education as a means of self-defense, self-protection and as 
 the best means of preserving civil and religious liberty and 
 transmitting it to posterity. 
 
 Before passing from this line of thought allow me to recall 
 another significant fact from our early history that should 
 be kept in mind in this day of great educational discussion. 
 Our fathers regarded this University as a public trust just 
 as much as the common schools. Look behind the clamor 
 of the crowd for public schools to-day, and you will find, far 
 or near, the brains and the labors of such men as Battle, 
 Craven, Morrison, Winston, Alderman, Venable. No prin- 
 ciple in educational science is better established than the 
 fact that the desire for education starts from the top and 
 travels downward, and not from the bottom upwards. 
 Says United States Commissioner Dawson, who during his 
 term of oflice made a most extensive study of education in 
 the United States, "In every instance the foremost desire of 
 the people has been for colleges and universities, rather than 
 for schools of a lower grade. It was the opinion of the 
 colonists and of the early settlers of the West and the South, 
 that primary and secondary schools were essentially depen- 
 dent for their existence upon higher institutions. This prin- 
 ciple is borne out by the facts . . . The necessity for higher 
 education for the support of the primary schools is now 
 regarded as a fundamental truth." It is significant that in 
 both Pennsylvania and North Carolina, the first two States 
 in the Union to take bold stands in their constitutions for 
 education, the University and the common schools are placed 
 on the same footing, and the demand for the university came 
 
[11 ] 
 
 forty years before the demand for the pubhc schools. The 
 first school established in New England was not a primary 
 school, but a college. 
 
 HOPES FULFILLED. 
 
 How abundantly the hopes of our fathers in establishing 
 this institution have been fulfilled is a grand and glorious 
 record. Its story brings a thrill of pride to the heart of every 
 loyal son of the "Old North State." But the widespread use- 
 fulness of this University has become such common knowledge 
 to this gathering that I shall not delay you to recount its 
 details. Permit me in passing, to recall a brief tribute from 
 Judge Archibald Murphy, the "Father of the Public School 
 System" in North Carolina, found in his official report to the 
 Legislature in 1817. "This institution has been in opera- 
 tion for twenty years and has been eminently useful to the 
 State. It has contributed, perhaps more than any one cause, 
 to diffuse a taste for reading among the people and to excite a 
 spirit of liberal improvement.^' One has but to look around 
 him in our State to-day to see the splendid examples of the 
 effective fruitfulness and public ser\'ice of this institution. 
 Closed for nearlj' ten years during the dark daj^s of recon- 
 struction, out of the first three classes after the reopening 
 came those peerless examples of public service, Charles B. 
 Aycock, James Y. Joyner and Charles D. Mclver. What a 
 splendid fulfillment of the sublime hopes of those great 
 hearted, self sacrificing men, who, thirty years ago "plucked 
 this University from the weeds," and gave back to our pov- 
 erty stricken people the best means of preserving their liber- 
 ties and of upbuilding their fortunes. 
 
 In following the record of achievements of this institution 
 we are forcibly reminded of the famous witticism of Senator 
 Evarts in explaining why Washington was able to throw a 
 silver dollar across the Potomac. A comparison of its rec- 
 ords with those of other institutions shows that it has al- 
 ways been able to make a dollar go farther and bring back 
 more than any other institution in the country. 
 
[12] 
 
 NEEDS OF THE UNIVERSITY. 
 
 But while the laying bare of basis principles, and the re- 
 counting of glorious memories may be interesting and edify- 
 ing to some of us, I take it that the imperative duty of every 
 one of this gathering of her loyal sons is to come down to 
 business and lend his aid toward the formation of some de- 
 finite plan providing for the pressing needs of our Alma 
 Mater. This is a day of large ideas, of great community ef- 
 fort, of gigantic business undertakings, and North Carolina 
 is right up in the forefront of this immense progress. During 
 the last twenty-five years she has become a great industrial 
 community. She is no longer poor and helpless. The city of 
 Raleigh alone has more money in her banks than all of the 
 banks had twenty -five years ago. Mere magnitude in busi- 
 ness no longer frightens our people. Why therefore should 
 mere magnitude in educational matters frighten them ? Is it 
 not the paramount duty of this body to give to our Univer- 
 sity the opportunity of keeping pace with the progress of the 
 times, of moving on to its greater destiny, its higher life, its 
 broader field of usefulness ? Is it not time for us to begin the 
 work of making this institution a great Southern States' 
 University, a modem directive force, commensurate with the 
 demands of our people and alert to all their growing needs ? 
 President Venable has already answered the question in the 
 affirmative, and with hope and enthusiasm is devoting his 
 brains and his energies to the Herculean task. The great- 
 ness of his sacrifice, for without doubt, his salary can no more 
 than pay his living expenses, the nobility of his effort, the 
 wonderful fruitfulness of his labors, the number and the mag- 
 nitude of his pressing needs enlist out deepest sympathy, in- 
 voke the highest admiration, and call for our most earnest 
 and intelligent co-operation. This work will require the best 
 men and we want from them the best service. Let us not 
 beat down the market that we may purchase mediocrity 
 cheap. But let us stand shoulder to shoulder behind our 
 splendid standard bearer and give him the support that he 
 
[13] 
 
 demands. A university which has all it wants has already 
 begun to decline, and a president of a university who is not 
 alw^avs wanting something, should hand in his resignation. 
 I figured up the first eight needs enumerated in Dr. Venable's 
 report, under the head of "Teaching Force," and they call 
 for about $12,000 a year. The remaining pressing needs 
 mentioned under the head of "Equipment" call for about 
 $400,000. In the light of the foregoing discussion it seems 
 tome that the Legislature is the proper place to look for help 
 in providing for an increased teaching force, and that today 
 we need not turn the energies of this body in that direction. 
 
 Indeed in view of the great demand for teachers for the 
 primary and secondary schools all over the State it would 
 seem to be the plain duty of the Legislature to comply with 
 the mandate of the Constitution requiring it to "establish 
 and maintain in connection with the University, a depart- 
 ment of Normal Instruction," and to appropriate at the next 
 session sufficient funds for this new department. 
 
 It appears from the constitutional history of this State 
 that for more than one hundred years the people when act- 
 ing in their soverign capacity have steadil}' and almost un- 
 animously voted for the University. It is safe therefore, to 
 lay aside all fear in this respect and to start with the dictum 
 of Judge Locke in 1805, "The University is as permanent as 
 the government." From a comparison of the history of leg- 
 islation in this State with that of other States, where from 
 the misfortunes of war the condition of public finances in re- 
 cent years has never been conducive to large appropriations, 
 it appears that our lawmakers have been slow to appreciate 
 the value of a great institution for higher education as a 
 means of self protection and as a means of upbuilding the 
 State. But it also appears that during the past few years 
 there have been many evidences of great progress in this res- 
 pect. With the rising tide of public spirit in North Carolina, 
 and the irresistible movement for educated citizenship we 
 ma}' expect a larger view and a more generous consideration 
 of higher education. 
 
[14] 
 
 It is now a well settled opinion of political economists in 
 this country and abroad that in the ideal of democratic 
 liberty which our forefathers gave to us, is to be found the 
 true genesis of the mighty forces which make the great for- 
 tunes of America to outshine the wealth ofOrmusand oflnd. 
 Under the inspiration of this great ideal of the Nineteenth 
 Century the plain citizens of a democratic republic, whether 
 for the creation of wealth, or for the establishment of 
 national power, or for the finer and loftier developments of 
 modem civilization, have become the most productive agents 
 that the Almighty has set to work on the face of this earth. 
 With a clearer understanding of the blessings of democratic 
 liberty, and with a deeper consciousness that to-day there 
 are ominous signs on the horizon, more or less distant in the 
 South, but red and glaring throughout the North and West, 
 pointing to its downfall, we may be sure that further legis- 
 latures in North Carolina will maintain to the best of their 
 ability this old institution, given to us by our forefathers as 
 the best means of preserving democratic liberty and trans- 
 mitting its blessings to all posterity. 
 
 But how about the $400,000 for libraries, halls of science, 
 Young Men's Christian Association building and graduate 
 departments? In meeting these demands it is believed by me 
 that we need not and that we should not look to the public 
 treasury. It is .always the first duty of the guardians of 
 monies of a democratic people to make the burdens of taxa- 
 tion rest as lightly upon the shoulders of the general public as 
 the circumstances will permit. But where an institution for 
 higher education is a public corporation, for the benefit of the 
 whole people, and under the control of the whole people I do 
 think that we have the right to expect the hearty cooperation 
 of the people's representatives. We have the right to expect 
 their aid in improvising methods for bringing to the support 
 of this public, charitable corporation the powerful assist- 
 ance of benevolence and philanthropy, the love and the 
 interest and the wealth of thousands of high minded men 
 
[15] 
 
 and women scattered over this State and throughout the 
 whole country. We do not ask money from the Legislature, 
 but time and consideration and patriotism and brains. Is 
 it not time for the best intellects of North Carolina to make 
 a new and a thorough study of the problems of education 
 for the purpose of harmonizing the conflicting elements in 
 our present sj'stem and for the purpose of blending them in- 
 to a unity of strength and power, of increased fruitfulness, 
 without any greath' increased cost of maintenance? Is it 
 not our duty to look over our educational plant and throw 
 out all the broken and antiquated pieces of its machinery? 
 Sometime ago I asked a prominent manufacturer how it was 
 that he made so much money in certain of his factories 
 where other good men alongside of him had signally failed. 
 His answer was, "I am alwaj^s ripping out old and worn 
 out machiney, and replacing it with the latest and most im- 
 proved machinery that can be found in Europe and America." 
 Granting, however, that the time is ripe for the building 
 up of a great Universit}' here in North Carolina how can any 
 president accomplish the stupendous undertaking with a 
 disorganized alumni and a Board of Seventy -eight Trustees, 
 splendid men as individuals, but as trustees only one out of 
 every four has sufficient educational enthusiasm to attend 
 the meetings of his own Board. If it be true |that "there is 
 safet}' in a multitude," it is equally true that division of 
 responsibility among a multitude prevents progress and 
 brings stagnation and dry rot. This institution no longer 
 belongs exclusively to the residents of North Carolina. It is 
 the Alma Mater of men scattered all over the world. One 
 good live alumnus on the Board of Trustees residing in the 
 City of New York alone, has the opportunity of doing more 
 for this Universit}' than any five average men residing in 
 North Carolina and picked in our eas}' going manner of 
 equitable distribution of honorable distinctions. I know 
 whereof I speak. Far be it from m}- nature to find any fault 
 with the public service of this distinguished body, of which 
 
[16] 
 
 my father was a member almost up to the time of his death. 
 But with love and reverence, I must speak plainly about a 
 matter that I know, and you know, to be a serious handi- 
 cap to the progress of the institution that we love to the 
 bottom of our hearts. 
 
 No institution on earth has a more tender hold upon the 
 affections of the individual alumnus than this University. 
 The love of the old Chapel Hillian for his Alma Mater evokes 
 all the poetry that lies hidden in his innermost heart. Locate 
 him where you w^ill, in New York, Chicago, Galveston, his 
 love for this hallowed place follows him on and on. It is a 
 part of his life. He is like the vase in which roses have been 
 instilled, 
 
 "You may break, you may shatter the vase if you will, 
 But the scent of the roses will hang around it still." 
 
 And yet with all this individual attachment and individual 
 enthusiasm, all attempts to organize the Alumni into a strong 
 working body have signally failed. Why? Because sweet 
 reminiscence will occasionally bring men together to laugh, 
 to speak and to weep, and maybe in an outburst of spas- 
 modic enthusiasm some important business will be trans- 
 acted. But in order to secure the steady pressure, the 
 powerful force of organized enthusiasm, year in and year 
 out, you must have organized business of large importance 
 constantly engaging their attentions and calling for responsi- 
 ble action. What makes men of affairs come from Chicago 
 and Cincinnati to New Haven, Connecticut, every year? 
 It is because the Alumni have some official standing in the 
 affairs of Yale University, and there is an election of a num- 
 ber of their body as "Members of the Corporation." 
 
 ALUMNI TRUSTEES. 
 
 It is believed by many of us that if the Legislature will 
 pass an Act empowering the Alumni Association of the 
 Universit3' of North Carolina to elect twenty -six members or 
 one-third of the Board of Trustees in its own way, it will 
 
[17] 
 
 that moment breathe new Hfe into the dead bones of the 
 Alunmi Association, and a thoroughly organized body of 
 men will (luickly spring into existence that will every day in 
 the year render powerful assistance in carrying the burdens 
 of the University and in supplying equipment for its greater 
 progress and its iiigher development. The plan of giving to 
 the Alumni a business standing in the management and 
 support of higher institutions of learning is not a new one. 
 It has already been adopted in manv localities and has 
 invariably proven productive of splendid results. Such an 
 innovation, while in no manner destroying the safety of the 
 multitude will, in the light of experience in other States, 
 shake off the shackles of inertia, bring to the Board new 
 blood, new educational enthusiasm, and new capacity' for 
 expansion and progress. 
 
 The State Constitution, Section 6, provides that "The 
 General Assembly shall have power to provide for the elec- 
 tion of Trustees of the University," and Judge Pearson, in 
 passing upon the meaning of this section in Trustees, etc., vs. 
 Afc/vcr (1875), says, "B3' confennng an unrestricted power 
 upon the General Assembly, that body could adopt the old 
 mode (election of Tmstees b\- Board of Education) or some 
 other, and if the mode adopted in the first instance proved 
 unsuccessful, set aside and substitute another by ordinary 
 legislation; for instance, if the General Assembl}^ adopted the 
 old mode and that under the new conditions, resulting from 
 the war, did not prove a success — then another mode, an 
 election by the Alumni of the University could be tried, or 
 any other, which on account of the circumstances, in the 
 wisdom of the General Assembly, might be deemed expedient. ' ' 
 It is evident, therefore, that the change can be accomplished 
 very easily by a simple Act of the Legislature. 
 
 THE HAPPY MARRIAGE. 
 May we not learn with profit the lesson of many other 
 institutions, and expect through the organized body of a 
 strong alumni association to reach the volunteer, the philan- 
 
[18] 
 
 thropist, the man who gives aid to education for the preser- 
 vation of learning, for the cause of benevolence, for the 
 purpose of establishing grand and everlasting memorials to 
 families. Our forefathers believed in uniting the system of 
 supporting education for the sake of benevolence v^ith the 
 system of supporting it as a means of preserving their liber- 
 ties. Is there any valid reason w^hy we should turn our 
 backs upon the happy marriage ? Because the whole people 
 contribute fifty thousand dollars a year to the support of an 
 institution for higher education as a permanent investment 
 in good citizenship is not likely to drive away from its 
 support the believer in benevolence and philanthropy. On 
 the contrary, world-hearted men and women will be attracted 
 to its support by the knowledge that the "University is as 
 permanent as the government," that "it stands on higher 
 grounds than other aggregate corporations," that the 
 "trusteeship is of the whole people" binding themselves 
 through their corporate agents "in special trust and confi- 
 dence to apply" each of their benefactions "to the exact 
 purpose of which it was created and exists." They will be 
 all the more inclined to give, by the knowledge of the people's 
 guarantee of permanent support, permitting and securing a 
 broader and a higher field of usefulness, imposing a binding 
 and a lasting obligation in public service, and breathing the 
 fire of the love of country into the beaut}^ of the love of God. 
 But there is much force in the old maxim, "We hate only 
 those we do not know." Its truth is painfull}^ illustrated 
 these days by the ever widening breach between labor and 
 the far off managing owners and officials of great corpora- 
 tions. So it is with the University and with a large body of 
 our most substantial citizens, residents right here in North 
 Carolina, as well as with manj^ who have gone to make and 
 increase their fortunes elsewhere. I have no hesitation in 
 saying that the first duty of an organized Alumni Associa- 
 tion is to devise means of sending home to the minds of our 
 own home people, as well as abroad a clear knowledge of the 
 
[19] 
 
 relation of this University to the whole people, its public 
 service, its record of achievements, its pressing needs, its 
 momentous possibilities, and most of all its glorious oppor- 
 tunities for making benefactions a thousand times effective. 
 The December report of the President is a great step in this 
 direction. But in my humble opinion much more will have 
 to be done before we may expect to uproot the prejudice, 
 overcome the inertia, awaken the interest and draw to our 
 support the sympathy of many men in this State whose aid 
 the University needs and so richly deserves. 
 
 THE VANDERBILT GIFT. 
 
 The stor}' of the Deems Fund is in many respects a happy 
 illustration, not only of the channels through which great 
 philanthropists can be reached, but especially of the wonder- 
 ful fruitfulncss of gifts to this institution. Some twenty years 
 ago, as a meraerial to the young son of Dr. Charles F. Deems, 
 Mr. William H. Vanderbilt, of New York, supplemented the 
 small gift of $300 from Dr. Deems with the gift of $10,000, 
 to the University to be loaned, principal and interest, to such 
 young men as need help in order to secure an education. Up 
 to the first of July, 1902, this fund had not only aided three 
 hundred and eighty-two faithful, active Anglo-Saxon youths 
 to get a college education, but had increased by repayment 
 of loans and interest until the whole fund amounted to 
 $21,733.79, or more than 100 per cent. A splendid tribute 
 to the industry and honor of the kind of men we raise down 
 here in old North Carolina ! There is pressing need for more 
 money of this kind. Three-fourths of the six hundred students 
 here to-day are the sons of poor men, or are here as the result 
 of money borrowed or earned. "During the fall of 1900," 
 says President Yenable, in reporting yearly expenses, "about 
 two-thirds of the students handed in accounts of their ex- 
 penses, and from these accounts it was seen that those 
 students who paid no tuition (holding scholarships) and 
 also received their board as waiters, averaged $63.60 for all 
 
[20] 
 
 expenses, exclusive of clothing and travel. Those paying no 
 tuition but board {about $8.00 per month), averaged 
 $144.61, and lastly the average expenses of the student 
 paying tuition and board were $265.25." Well may the 
 University be proud of this record. Can there be any more 
 fruitful philanthropy than the aiding of worthy young men 
 to get an education at such an institution ? 
 
 A GREAT STATE LIBRARY WANTED. 
 
 During the last few years there has grown up throughout 
 the length and breadth of North Carolina a great number of 
 small libraries in connection with the public schools and the 
 graded schools. The number is now over five hundred, I 
 believe. Such libraries are indicative of the birth of a greatly 
 increased demand for reading and knowledge. Unless an 
 infant library can receive constant direction and support 
 from capable and intelligent sources, it is not likely to get 
 much further than its swadling clothes. Very few people 
 have any knowledge of the ways and means of running 
 libraries. Such information is not picked up at country 
 cross roads and in village factories. Library economy is a 
 special branch of human knowledge, acquired by a few intel- 
 ligent people after ^^ears of persistent study and extensive 
 experience. Already in some parts of the country the force 
 and value of these truths have been quickly grasped and 
 complete State library systems established whereb}' the 
 independence of the local library' is preserved, but opportu- 
 nity is given its management to acquire a practical knowl- 
 edge of books and of methods of conducting a library from a 
 great central source of expert information of library economy. 
 To-day there is no great library in North Carolina, no gen- 
 eral knowledge of library economy, no great source of library 
 inspiration. The library at the University is probably the 
 best equipped in the State, but a feeling of sadness must 
 needs come over the heart of every loyal son of our beloved 
 State when his eyes fall upon our University library equip- 
 
[21 ] 
 
 ment. The building shelters 40,000 volumes and 20,000 
 pamphlets, but many of them are necessarily packed and 
 jammed away in such a fashion as to largely destroy their 
 usefulness. What is a library without research rooms, con- 
 sultation rooms, seminar compartments, with but little 
 room for the general reader, and less for the real scholar and 
 none for the specialist, the man who digs down to the bottom 
 of research and brings out the pure gold of human learning 
 from the treasure houses of the world ? Will not some 
 philanthropist come to our aid and erect a memorial library 
 building on this beautiful campus, with sufficient funds for 
 equipment ? Will not some great-hearted son or daughter of 
 the "Old North State" give our people a great library, the 
 head of the library systemof the State, to illumine the homes 
 of all the people of every creed andof every station, and show 
 them the hidden paths to the kindly fruits of earth and to 
 the eternal blessings of Heaven ? Pearls and palaces and 
 diamonds and dinners will vanish with the tolling of a bell, 
 great fortunes will be made and lost in a centurj' in a whirl- 
 pool of luxury and extravagance, princes will follow princes 
 in the lengthening cycles of debauchery and corruption, but 
 the rich fruits from this, the most beautiful flower of philan- 
 thropy in the garden of your nativitv will give ever increas- 
 ing hope and happiness to your people and prove immortal 
 and divine ! 
 
 TEMPLE OF EVANGEL. 
 We stand here to-day in Gerrard Hall, built a half century 
 ago from proceeds of the sale of lands of Major Charles Ger- 
 rard, bought with his blood in a war for civil and religious 
 liberty. Students and professors are called to worship here, 
 and \'et one-third of the persons summoned are unable to 
 find seats. Within five years more two-thirds of the students 
 and professors will be unable to find seats at these morning 
 prayers. The religious life of the Universit}- is largely in the 
 ^care of the Young Men's Christian Association. Over sixty 
 per cent, of the students and all the professors are church 
 
[22] 
 
 members, and about two hundred are members of the Asso- 
 ciation. Twice a week evening prayers are held by the 
 Association. Four Sunday schools in the nearby country 
 are supported by the Association, and it maintains also a 
 weekly service in a near by cotton mill. Morning classes in 
 Sunday school with an attendance of from one to two hund- 
 red are taught by the professors. Says President Venablein 
 his report, "They have no suitable rooms for their Bible 
 class meetings. No general assembly hall, no reading room 
 and no library." Let us go back for a moment and recall 
 that the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians of the Central and Pied- 
 mont sections of North Carolina were the first persons to 
 raise their voices for this University as a means of preserving 
 religious liberty for all the people of every sect, and of every 
 station. Let us call to mind the story of yonder tablets to 
 commemorate the names and the deeds of that host of our 
 country's leading men sent out from the halls of this hal- 
 lowed place. Not only is every epoch in the history of the 
 State recorded here, but many of the great events of the 
 history of America can be studied from these tablets. All of 
 these and thousands and thousands more of lesser promi- 
 nence received their formative influences in the great depart- 
 ments of society from this University. Church people of 
 North Carolina, let me ask you if this is not the greatest 
 stragetic point in the entire State for those religious opera- 
 tions that seek to touch the heart of higher life and quicken 
 its beats with the universal love of the Father? As an illus- 
 tration of the strategic importance of this institution from 
 a religious standpoint permit me to recall the sublime work 
 of Joseph Caldwell, who for thirty years was the "Atlas on 
 whose shoulders our University world rested," and who 
 during a large part of the time was the controlling spirit of 
 the Presbyterian Church in North Carolina and Chairman 
 of the Board of Trustees of the Union Theological Seminary 
 in Virginia. It was the voice of Joseph Caldwell standing in 
 the pulpits of this University that more than any other man, 
 
[23] 
 
 with the thunderbolts of liis giant intellect, hurled back the 
 furious thraldom of infidelity that swept over our State and 
 threatened to enconi])ass it forever in the darkness of life 
 without ho))e, of mind without God. Is it not time to fling 
 away Lilliputian ideas and let Heaven bom Benevolence 
 join hands with Self-Protection in the erection of a splendid 
 Temple of Evangel upon this campus commensurate with 
 the needs of the religious life of this Universit\'? 
 
 This is no place for sectarian mediocrit}-. It is the true 
 home of the Young Men's Christian Association, and a 
 grand field for the great Evangelist of evei^y denomination. 
 I remember that during my senior year all but three students 
 joined in the work of a great evangelist and evening praj-ers 
 were held on many of the floors of these buildings. It may 
 be observed that several of the leading Christian men of the 
 State to-day received their religious awakening at Chapel 
 Hill in the spring meetings of 1889. I was one of the three 
 black sheep that took no part in the work. In subsequent 
 j'cars I have many times regretted my course. 
 
 GRADUATE DEPARTMENT. 
 
 So much for volunteer givers of large amounts for great 
 single objects. Before closing, allow me to call the attention 
 of this body, and so far as I may be able that of the whole 
 State to another department of this University, which from 
 necessity has been sadh' neglected, but which in the course of 
 time will prove its crowning glor\-. I refer to the graduate 
 department of which President Venable in painful candor 
 says, "No special eff"ort has been made to develop this de- 
 partment, as the strength of the faculty is taxed bj' the large 
 number of undergraduate students." It is in this direction 
 that the individual with moderate means can wisely and 
 with great profit to the University and to its work in up- 
 building the State, give the smaller contributions in keeping 
 with the state of his exchequer and along the lines in which 
 he may be strongly interested. 
 
[24] 
 
 Fellow Alumni and especially you young men, we owe to this 
 University a thousand times more than we can ever repay. 
 We owe to the State and to the noble men and women who 
 have given their hearts and their treasures to this institution 
 a debt of great public service. Moved by the love in our own 
 hearts that sends its warmth down into our very souls, and 
 that lifts its beauty up to the face of high Heaven, let us 
 make a great common effort to take up the burdens that our 
 fathers have so faithfully carried, and lift up to a higher plain 
 of strength and usefulness this grand old guardian of the civil 
 and religious liberties of the people of North Carolina. 
 
 Can we not start here today and appoint a committee from 
 this body to make, during the coming year, a thorough study 
 of the problems of education in North Carolina with a view 
 to uniting our loyal sons and daughters in the common hope 
 and upon the common purpose of upbuilding this institution 
 for the higher education of the whole people ? We can have 
 this committee report the results of its labors to this body 
 one year from today, at which time a further committee can 
 be appointed to memoralize the General Assembly at its next 
 regular session for the purpose of securing its active co-op- 
 eration in this grand labor of love which we have under- 
 taken. 
 
 FELLOWSHIP IN NORTH CAROLINA HISTORY. 
 
 To these ends, Mr. President, I now desire to contribute 
 permanently the yearly income derived from four thousand 
 dollars. And it is my wish that during the coming year, 
 this income be given to the fund for the erection of a building 
 for the religious needs of this institution and thereafter to go 
 toward the establishment of a fellowship in North Carolina 
 History in connection with the University, but open to all 
 students of all institutions for higher education in the State. 
 That the selection of the holder and the scope of his work 
 shall be under the control and direction of the professor of 
 History of the University, of Dr. John S. Bassett, during his 
 professorship at Trinity College and of the donor or a person 
 to be hereafter designated by the donor.