THE BATTALION,
m
defense of their country or to resent
an act of oppression as one man. And
then I reco£'nize that they have been
taught in the same school, that honor
IS more precious than ought else and
that students, who wear a soldier's
garb, must be men when duty calls and
gentlemen at all times. May it not be
that the very feature of our college,
which has been subject to more pub
lic criticism than any other that mili
tary training demanded by the act of
endowment, is perhaps the most val
uable of them all? The day may come
when soldiers shall no longer be need
ed and when all the swords may be
fashioned into pruning hooks—I hope
it will come:—but I believe, even then,
it would be well to continue this fea
ture. There all wear the same uniform.
Those distinctions of caste or wealth,
which are daily becoming more arrog
ant and more obtrusive in our com
monwealth, must disappear. The poor
est lad, when he sees the sons of the
rich and the great performing the
same duties in shop and class-room
and on the campus, must realize that
he is their equal, and that, just as
he may compete with them for every
collegiate or military' distinction, he
may meet them in after life on equal
grounds. The young students and
future citizens learn here, that every'
one, man or boy, has duties to per
form and that only those who have
learned to obey, are fitted to command.
When I converse with the alumni
of a later period, or the student teach
ers, I find the same likeness. While
you have pursued different lines of
study, while you may have entered out
your life pursuits with superior spe
cial training, I find,two traits strong
and prevailing among you all; a firm
attachment for this institution, a
quick resentment for any attack upon
its fair fame or fortune.
Yes, in spite of all these transforma
tions the “Old College” still lives
within the new. To-day, thanks to
the good judgment of our law-givers
and the friendly consideration of our
honored chief executive, we stand on
the threshold of an era of greater de
velopment. A comparison of the trials
and vicissitudes of the past with the
splendid achievements of the present
presages the greater glory yet to
come, foretells a time when thousands
of the sons of Texas, and the daughters
as well, will assemble here in place
of hundreds to receive • instruction in
letters, in applied science and all the
practical arts. To this fulfillment we
all look forward with joyous anticipa
tion. I hope and trust that, when these
fair promises have grown into actuali
ties, we shall find the same manly
bearing, the same unswerving fealty
to the old A. & M. College, as charac
teristic of its students, its alumni and
its instructors as they were in the days
of seventy-nine, as they are in ninety
and nine. If this hope be realized, we
may rest assured that “though men
may' come and men may go,” the “Old
College” will go on forever—an honor
to our State, a source of pride and joy
to all who hold it dear.