72 State Papers and Addresses

In the public life of today you will happily find a new order. Women are
filling offices of public trust, are sitting on Boards of Education, and are help-
ing to supervise institutions of various kinds. It can truthfully be said that
women have demonstrated their ability to assume controlling positions in
business and commercial pursuits.

Today you stand poised above the troubled currents of life; tomorrow you
will be plunged headlong in to them, to swim successfully to the objectives
that you have marked out for yourself, or to drift, as so many people do today,
and be forced to accept the meager portion that Fortune hands out to those
who are unable, or unwilling, to demand more for themselves.

Today you are filled with ideals, you are suffused with the principles
of the State whose founding your institution was established to mark: to-
morrow you will be in the midst of the turmoil of present-day thought, whether
you like it or not, and you will be forced to make up your mind, often in the
face of apparently conflicting arguments, as to which course to pursue.

The first position you take, the first contacts you make, may introduce
you to a new aspect of life. In 1634, when our forefathers pitched their first
rude shelters where now your splendid Seminary stands, their purpose was to
eliminate all contentions about class and race. They considered every man
equal, and were willing to accord everyone the same right to pursue his own
way unhampered, merely insisting that those same privileges of freedom of
thought, of action and of word be given them, too.

You'll find the world of today vastly changed in this respect. Not only
will you find class hatreds, and race hatreds, rampant where sane thinking
always has been our boast, but, worse than that, you will find thoughtless men
and women, regardless of the toleration that may have been shown them or
their forebears, working militantly to stir up further antagonisms, striving
endlessly to convince those who will listen that old standards must be
abandoned, and new standards created.

You will find, too, all sorts of new ideas proposed with regard to govern-
ment. And you will have to be on your guard, because many of them are
phrased so skillfully as to attract unwary, unthinking people. You will find
some who flatly refuse to accept the Maryland concept of government—the
concept that government is for us, and that human beings were not created
for the State. In their misguided course, or spurred on by subversive teach-
ings, they will try to convince you that the Government owes you a living,
that you do not have to wear yourself out striving to win a living for yourself
and for those dependent on you.

Such people, forgetting the history of our Country, are totally disregardful
of the fact that American initiative and American enterprise, unhampered by
any totalitarian restrictions, have made this the land of opportunity, and
have raised our living standards far above those of any other country. Such
people would try to persuade you that the thing to do is to let the Government
solve every problem. They will tell you that the way to happiness in this life
is to let the Government tell you when and how you may work, what amuse-
ments you have, how much money you may be allowed. Such people will try
to convince you that it is senseless to try to provide for the security of your
old age. "Let the Government take care of you, " they say. "Let the Govern-