Page:Discipline and the Derelict (1921).pdf/55

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time." I gave him the money, took his note, ana ne left me. I did not see him again until after the end of the six months and then only because I sent for him. When he came at my call he paid a part of his indebtedness, made no explanation of his delay, promised to pay the rest within a few days, and passed on. That is the last time I have seen him. Well, perhaps it all went in a good cause, for Mack joined the army and fought for his country. My experience with him, however, is typical and characteristic.

Some one who reads this article may say that I am over-pessimistic, that my faith in the honesty and promptness of the undergraduate is weak, and that any inference drawn from the facts and incidents presented herein would tend to discourage any one who might have a tendency to help the needy undergraduate in college. I hope that this is not true. No one can surpass me in the confidence and faith I have in the college man. I think he will meet his obligations, but I think because of his youth and inexperience that he will seldom do so within the time that he first sets for himself; and if he can not do so he will seldom make any explanation or offer any excuse. He argues that if he can not pay, it does no good just to say so.

I believe, on the whole, that those men who have given money to aid needy students more readily to finish their college course have done well—better even sometimes than do those who endow libraries, or who erect fine buildings for educational purposes, because those who aid the self-supporting student are equipping men more quickly, and directly for life. Those, too, who might otherwise be developed into