THE HEIR OF THE AGES OF CULTURE
CHUGERMAN, SAMUEL
"THE HEIR OF THE AGES OF CULTURE" More Light on the Lift of Lester F. Ward "A product of his age, he so conquered it that he was really independent of his own times and stands revealed to us in...
...of the eagle, the look of the seer and the conqueror combined, with the kindly and tolerant smile of the child and the sage, of the man who understands all and therefore pardoni all...
...Louis, and at the student colony, Woodstock...
...The Lesgue lecturers broke into the Southern colleges for the first time since the wsr and discovered there a fertile field for educational work...
...Em*t Haeckel and others of tk...
...Other Lecturers Norman Thomas combined with his editorial and other work for the League a good deal of college lecturing, making several trips to the New Englsnd, Middi Atlantic and the Middle Western colleges...
...Cellete Work Of the utmost importance in the work of the League has been its college activities...
...He visited in sll mors than a score ef colleges, spesking before msny thousand students...
...Coleman, while in Chsrleston, with credentials from the New York World, wss srrested on the alleged ground of directing picketing on the part of the miners...
...In the Spring s similsr committee wss crested to look into the workings of ther "yellow dog" contracts, which the mine owners hsve compelled the miners to sign, snd under which they promise not te join the union ss long ss they sre employed...
...Hi grew mentally and culturally like one of his beloved rocks, un«*ried...
...lulluvyouth he was not precocious, nor in maturity a superman...
...Cap.., w«iix vojuaasef hisposthumois publication!, the Glimpses of the Cosmos, desesrbc him ai no pen could...
...We de not kneel with him to any pet Idols or gods and our senses and intellect sre stimulsted to judge and weigh critically his facti and conclusions...
...Seek for the secret of his genius where you will, look for some mysterious alchemy or search for the magic ingredients mixed in the crucible of his heart and soul, his very being breathes the free and independent spirit, a marvelously trained and original mind and a heart in tune with the universe...
...How America Lives," by Harry W. Laidler...
...But though at last he could hardly carry the weight of his few books to his class room, he died jn harness...
...mr, City Groups The New York Chapter remain the largest and most active of th< city groups, with a membership o: between 400 and BOO...
...The second tssk is to expand its college work, its pamphleteering, its industrial investigations, as rapidly as its funds will permit...
...While its work received unstinted prsise from n any educators, it was equally honored by s barrage of attacks—mostly thoroughly mierepresentative in character—from reactionary groups in the country...
...Laidler is alsi devoting soms time to the prepsrs tlon Of his "History of Sopialis Thought," s volume to appear i Thomas Y. Crowell's Social Scienci Sertas...
...will soon be published...
...Paul Britsenden of Co tumble- and Mary G. Porter, re spectively...
...Roads to Freedom," by Hsrry W. Laidler...
...Our conferences on public questions, outside of occasional evening dinners or mass msetings, have been held in soms resort outside of the city where intellectual discussion might be combined with recreation...
...While a product, Ilka all men, of his sge snd circumstances, he so conquered them by force of his brain power snd cosmle vision thst'hs was really Independent of his own times, and stands revealed to ua in this twentieth century ss the heir of sll the ages of culture, s true pioneer of the present and s torch-bearer and bringer ef light for the future...
...by Professor Harry F. Ward of ths Union Theological Seminary...
...AT the conclusion of the college year, 1924-25, it is again time to take stock of the activity and the achievements of our league...
...They were his teem on s field where truth was tha joal, and like the captain of a finely trained football eleven, hs necessarily hsd to know each player's fine points, their strength as well ss fsults, in order to get them ever the coveted line...
...Who dares to call him * genius, s modern Aristotle, this professor whose life was so urdiniry that his death caused hardly a ripple on the surface of hit time...
...And, sad to relate, the people of Japan iod Russia were better acquainted with his thought than the Htudents in America...
...Tea hasjortal Michael Angelo indited sonnets to his beloved Beatrsa.eistS but seven years oHV...
...Research The preparation of the Leagui pamphlets necessarily involves con siderable research work...
...The Lesgue also issued s reprint of Normsn Thomss' "Chsllenge of Wsr...
...During the year 1200 students sent in their membership dues from eellegol...
...He hated the conflicts aa well ai the sporti of men, tinged with cruelty, from war down...
...He did not wis in society, but would hsve gives) anything to have had si) the fine minds he had known gether around him in a home of his own...
...Future Plans The League is planning sn sctivt season for ths coming yesr...
...If he did not think with his purse or resion from his check book, hr might be called indeed different...
...From these eulogies, which come spontaneously from all who knew him or who read his works, one might mistake Ward for an ascetic saint, for am t her Gandhi or Tolstoy that the world haa passed by...
...I doubt whether any speaker ever sent out by sny college organization has ever duplicated Blanshard's record...
...All knowledge was his aim, not for God's saks, but for humsnity's...
...He wsi ever the master not only of his own lifs, but of lifs in general, a lost srt it seems with men both great snd small...
...Nature did for him HI no amourit of education could 2»»<1 the solid character of his K '• the natural product of his IK 1 dLmany'«*W«a nature...
...The smiles of the little people who lived their straw hatted and felt-hatted little lives strictly according to the calendar did not even touch him, for he had enough inside of his head not to be disturbed by what covered it...
...Conferences Following the general L. I. D. Summer Conference at Belmar, Nsw Jersey, lsst June, the L. I. D. held three student gatherings during the Fell...
...Then followed the Winter Conference In New York on December 29 snd 30, with delegstes from Columella, Vssssr, City College of New York, Brown, Dsrtmouth, Massachusetts Agricultural College, Welieiley, Bsrnsrd, Mount Holyoke, University of Pennsylvsnis, Springfield, New York 'University snd other colleges The students present dtscribed the status of social thinking in the respective institutions...
...at the age o." 15...
...William Pickens, Field Secretary of the Association for the Advsnccment of...
...Reeding his works, wa feel the tench of a master hand, yet we are not filled with awe, but -our minds re* main clear and unclouded...
...Editorial Service The editorial service on current industrial and international subjects conducted by Normsn Thomas, and sent twice a month to Labor snd farm papers, is incrsssing in populsrity...
...Sfnaitd the "Thinking Animals" While U'srd w«s an adept et all the modern and ancient languages, he can be regarded, as an ordinary mortal with accomplishments that most men lack, who learned the tecrets and the lore of Nature...
...Paul Blanshard, the League's remarkably able Field Secretary, began his college work in late September in Sen Diego, California, his home, where he spoke before 600 embryo teachers st the assembly st Stste Teschers' College...
...Ths first task of the League is to rsise a btdgst sufficient In permit it to keep its present, staff and its present work intact...
...This was not the peculiarity of genius or the studied neglect of various politicians vho run for office without socks or necktie, thus proving their democracy...
...The editorial pamphlet, resesrch snd organizatior work will be pushed with sll vigor The League in the Fall Is plan ning a new depsrture—a conference of a somewhat intensive nsture or "Labor snd Management," to b* held in New York City, Hereto, fore our city conferences hsve beer devoted primarily to student problems...
...The,service this year contained s numbsr of factual articles on industrisl conditions, super-power, etc., by Dr...
...BRINGING IDEAS TO THE COLLEGES The Year's Work of the L. I. D. —Plans for the Coming Year (Following is the report sub mitted by Harry W. Laidler, executive director of the League for Industrial Democracy, on the activities of that organization during the past l'Z months...
...Holyoke, Columbia, General Theological Seminary, Barnard, Wesleyan, Southern Methodist University, the University of Oklahoma, Missouri School of Mines, Wsshington University, 4he Eden Theologicsl Seminary, St...
...These as* a few sf ths facts ef a voJominously rich life...
...Colored People, slso addressed, as a result of Lesgue cooperation...
...During . late April and esrly May, Frank TannSnbsum spoke on a college trip largely scheduled by the League officers before students of eigl»t or nine New England Colleges on "Mexico's Struggle for Freedom" and on the "Problem of Prisons...
...hunted and classified and studied cleats and e.nimals until he did the same to the so-called thinking aninsl called homo sapient who, working in factories and on farms, kept hs mind and body clean from the costsminations of civilization, and vaote mind and heart overflowed into the pages of his books and WUoi "Immortality...
...But as we search through his worki and into the very core of his philosophy, we come to the hub of his greatness, to the paaslon to spread the truth in the form of sll the knowledge that came to him, into the minds of all men...
...Hi oc"Pisd himself with the larger prob**J of humanity, and remained fff| a cool, collected expert ¦Mga and engineer of society...
...He fills us with wonder at tfe simplicity snd clarity of things thst appeared so complieated and obeure...
...Seldom absent from his clssset, not even the illness which ended his life could keep him away from his life's work—the imparting of knowledge to others, he did not suspect that the students, even though they loved their professor, would have been glad of cutting a few lectures now and then...
...His childlike attitude to the world was not of the frightened child, but rather of the one who wss unafraid and met the ways of the world sincerely and frankly...
...In sn effort to establish free speech in the district he returned to West Virginia with Sherwood Eddy on June 18 With the view of spesking in ths mining section on the Lsbor situation...
...Henry Neumann, Jchn Lsngdon-Dsvies, snd s number of other speakers in arranging mietings...
...Its presi dent snd secretary for tha past yea: were Dr...
...But he loved it for its very faults...
...Schiller wrote his fam(*lhfa» "The Robbers" at 19, tnd Bieon wrote his greatest work, "Novuo}Organuni...
...But he never clashed wl»h his environment or with society st lsrge, never attempted to carve a pig in the presence of Hebrew Rabbis on the Day of Atonement, denounce the ignerent for .heir poverty of ideal or rail against the poor for their ignorance of how to make money...
...Much ss he loved Nsture, he loved humanity still more...
...The *¦* spot in the sunshine is the of ourselves, says Csrlyle, ™*rd never let his own life cast •** shadow upon the field of his nv Tne *u"ersbundance of the . -Os of human kindness that flowed ] SP Vfin" not sour at the conHJ *ith so much pain and agorty "•t the world contained...
...The students will ever remember his tall form, slightly stooped, clad in a long black coat walking alowly along tha campus paths, green bag under the arm, thoee wonderful eyes almost hidden under hii fevprite slouch hst, a gesture not of defiance to custom or convention, but aimply the suiting of his own comfort with the utmost good humor...
...This present gathering is the first eonfsrsnce confined to one phase of the problem ef industrial democracy—Public ownership...
...Pau Blanshard, the Field Secretary, or his return from a steersge trit around the world in October, wil begin what promises to be sn ever more successful trip than thst oi the pasU season...
...V Ward had a stoic conception of obligation...
...Early mid v.- *nd incessant study WM his head project slightly forKbpeople ,,e iif IT'" wtitin'* »™ •'•"P>y it the . °" P*PW' th«n WE »nd handmark of his Weer.nl, Photographs in the 5fgjy of hi...
...While the ignorant do not suspect f» depths of their ignorance, he •'"ntinually saw the shallowness of »i| learning, wise man'that he was...
...In this work of enlightenment ws ask your heartiest cooperation...
...who published i story in seven languages at the age of ten...
...The year hi.s been marked by the gradual decrease of war and postwar hysteria, despite the anti-evolu-, tion drive in the colleges of the South, and the League has found in all of its activities an encouraging spirit of cooperation on the part of student and other groups working in the field of social problems...
...Ws feel that there is room for a conference in the city within easy reach of speakers, ths public and ths press...
...Laidler...
...And unlike Disraeli's mot, "youth a blunder, man* hood s struggls snd old age a regret,'' hll life was long and full, without blunders or regrets, but one of constsnt growth, unfolding sad achievement...
...Like Huxley he was too busy to j*W money...
...It even stimulated one Smployers' organization to send around a former judge of the Kansas Industrial Court for the purpose of counteracting the League's influence on the college ycuth in behalf of an intelligent understanding of the problems of/Labor snd of industrial democracy...
...Pausing, searching, receiving, contemplating, • Gently but with undeniable will, divesting myself ef the holds that men would hold me," Tha Books Ha Read He did not read modern noveli and light literature, but works of a carious nature, and always in the origins' texts, even though thst were Sanskrit or Russisn Arabic or Chinese...
...The contracts, as a result of ike court rulings, make it practically impossible for the union to organise the miners...
...g» Personal ttoHteristici aP* Personal characteristic!, some ?• to call them peculiarities or jWncracies, were the very mirror "mi soul And by soul we sre JPWinking of the ego called Lester W**Ward...
...Laidler, while engaged chiefly in administrative and research work for the League, lectured during the year at Mt...
...u« counted among his personal Z$tt#, Herbert Spencer...
...The Weet Virginia Miners As a result of numerous pitiful tsles that reached the Lesgue regarding the condition of the miner* of West Virginia, th*L..L I)., in eooperstion wish'the American Civil Liberties Union, created a committee in the Fall, consisting of Robert Morse Lovett and Norman Thomas from the L I. D. and Arthur Garfield Hays *a<l Roger Bald win of the Civil Liberties Union, to investigate conditions and find out in -what practical ways it could be of help...
...There are at present student correspondents of ths L. I. D. at nearly 100 colleges...
...Hs wss released on bail, though an indictment is new threatened...
...Ha raised the curtain from all that was so mysterious, complex and Invisible in life that no matter what fold of tha vail he helps us lift, no matter where ha flies with us en wings ef fsncy and hypothesis, see always slight with him upon the solid earth of common sense and actuality Ha takes us far across mountain tops, and what to us whan we climbed alone or with tester guides seamed eheetic and d(sorted snd mysterious, now appears ia bold, clear relief, ths true outline of the mountain range against the blue sky of Nature...
...They found many miners* fsmilies perishing from cold, snd, as a result of their investigation the League and the Union issued cells for clothing snd other assistance...
...He lived on the hyghts, yet was big enough to take erring, foolish humanity to his big heart...
...Ward did not conquer men or ideei by any pride of learning or aggressiveness...
...VAN?* *•»• ti>* wlofi«» ot jV] the tv* who Inew Lester r Ward's wortC His death, Lv said, marked the disapnelrence of a acientiat who Smlild unquestionably rank as **ro> the half down of the latest thinkers in his field that the world has produced...
...Therein lies his greatn.'ss: to be like other men and yet so much'greater...
...He taught as as wrote In aa ecstasy Bat as* fanaticism cr fetishism, bat en hat knees hs tha cods ef truth...
...determined snd strong, He Utsped being effected by s milieu •Isrs the amassing of weslth was means but an end—generally fat tnd of the man himself...
...finest minds of Europe and America While the masses did not know of Ward, his •ark* were studied in every tountry on the globe...
...He was a free soul, as Whitman was free, Whitman who sang in unmetred but immortal lines: "From this hour I ordained myself loosed of limits and imaginary lines, Going where I list, my own master, total and absolute, Listening to others, considering well what they say...
...He had a burning Mar," of natural curiosity, a yearning for the knowledge of the fundamental things that underlie Nature and man, that grew stronger with every day of his life...
...THE HEIR OF THE AGES OF CULTURE" More Light on the Lift of Lester F. Ward "A product of his age, he so conquered it that he was really independent of his own times and stands revealed to us in this Twentieth Century as a true pioneer of the present and a bringer of light for the future...
...Pamphletr Since June, 1924, the following pamphlets were issued by the Lesgue: "The Profit Motive—Is It Indispensible...
...Robert Mores Lovett, while in Chicago, assisted in some of the mid-West Student Conferences...
...The students discussed the present political situation snd the .teed for a Labor party...
...Her was he a Goethe, the truSiSjt all renin ; brain that GerHsny has pni'luivd...
...His "What Is Industrisl Democracy...
...Thus dur ing the yesr ths Lesgus officer hsve conducted researches in con nection on industrial democracy and on American industrial condi tions in connection with pamphlet on these themes...
...No greater error could be made...
...Bom In the (list half of the nineteenth century, it is almost incredible that his idess were born and developed in ilmis whsn ths majority of psople never dreamt ><f such things ss hs sncouraged and taught...
...He hsd the soul of an artiat, for he both recognized and felt the pains and joys of beauty...
...Neither in thought nor in deed was he other than a full blooded, pulsating, energetic man, whole minded and whole hearted...
...many college groups on his trips around the country...
...Kindness and humility, both to man and animals, were a vary part ef Ward, Hs bad none of the queer ways snd still stranger ideas ot those pedants or mystics whose feat walk the paths of men but whose heads are lost in the clouds...
...During tha trip it was not the Southern colleges, but those in Pennsylvsnis and Indiana, according to our secretary, that showed the smallest amount of interest in Labor problems...
...Altogether he sddreued 40,000 students in 101 colleges, ss compared with 35,000 students in 85 colleges during 1923-24, snd in addition, many thousands of towns-people...
...The committee aent MeAlister Coleman as investigator, sccompsnied by Irwin Auerbach...
...During the month of December they interviewed leaders on both sides of the industrial struggle, Snd talked with evicted miners in tents and shacks snd Don Chafln in his feudal barony in Logan County...
...He wae a true Spartan both hi mind and body...
...To the svert§t ntSD, his biography is much less interesting than those dinned into hi, ears, from the time he learns that Washington wss the fsther of hit country, that Wellington caved England snd the Little Corporal nude France, until he grows old enough to fathom the depths of the 4»j)y yellow sheet...
...His college trip began October 1 with sn sddress st Occidental College, Los Angeles, snd from that dste until April 21 of this ysar, s period of i early seven months, he spoke, with but few exceptions, several times each day before student assemblies, economics and sociology classes, Y. M. C. A., L. I. D. and other student groups, Labor unions, women's clubs, church forums snd similsr orgsnizstions...
...will outlive many, many other* **fle was not a Comte, a Pascal or a Voltaire, to take three famous Frenchmen as examples, all remarkable thinkers at the age of 13...
...To become a clear thinker In sociology he had to have all science and philosophic thought at his finger tips...
...The scores of a cricket or baseball hero are far more intriguing...
...Bcript of taking infinite pains (of is it the infinite capacity of taking pains...
...friend, Mr...
...It was able, in cooperation with the American Civil Liberties Union, to assist effectively, in the relief of the West Virginia miners...
...A number of other psmphlets are In course, of preparation, as is also a revised snd enlarged edition of Stuart Chase's "Chsllenge of .Waste...
...Despite the official attitude of some of the colleges of the South toward evolution, the large majority of the colleges visited in that section, white and colored, gave Blsnihard a royal reception...
...The L. I. D. did not confine its college lecture work-to its salaried officers...
...He also sddreued an unususl number of worth-while city groups, including, among others, the Progressive party audience at Madison Square Garden...
...If his works IK still comparatively lying sl.'ep ing in dusty libraries, they can well afford to wait, for they have a long life sad...
...Looking back over the year's work, one, I think, cannot help but be impressed with the steadily increasing influence of the L. I. D. during the last twelve months both in the college world and in the general educational field...
...And they sre not found wanting...
...The response wss generous...
...Blessed with a splen¦tyyiical conititution and exmind...
...But he had the heppy faculty of being able to repress or call forth his strongest desires and Inhibitions at will, being the absolute master of hia passions as well as of his intellect...
...The Lesgue also coopersted with Dr...
...Ths first, on November 22, at the City Club, Philadelphia, was sttended by students from four colleges in Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvsnis, Hsverford, Bryn Mswr snd Swsrthn.ore...
...Why, Ward was not even as infant prodigy," we hear him exelsim...
...He had a far more amazing and eternal quality ttin most of the infant prodigies and adult geniuses...
...The report was presented at the June conference of the L. I. D. at Camp Tamiment this week-end...
...He preferred a day coach when travelling and always carried his c.vn satchel, no mstter how heavy it was, because he disliked the idea cf being portered and flunkeyed when he was able to serve himself...
...There is the e...
...we forget which), then Ward was a true genius...
...He lived above the Jrttkrof life yet was of it...
...fe SAMUEL CHUGERMAN ii...
...Among the other groups addressed by him were the Mexican Federation of Labor at Juarez, Mexico, and the Dallas Forum, Texas...
...A formsr Lsbor sdltor maintained thst this Is one of the most valuable features of the Lesgue's work...
...The Marks of a Real Man This six feet .wo of calm, soft spoken scholar, this handsome but severe countenance with th' piercing gray eyes, these are the marks of a real man...
...Hi did not have to be...
...Its opportunity for constructivs service are constantly increasing...
...He was not r. specialist of any particular science, but of all sciences...
...This is not a reformistic complex Indlng satisfaction in doing gooh, in forcing ideas and making others conform...
...If genius were only the copybook...
Vol. 2 • June 1925 • No. 26
