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AIR.-"On the Chapel Steps."

Here at the pleasant twilight hour,
When daily tasks are o'er,
We gather in our Chapter Hall

To sing our songs once more.
To sing our praises of THE PALM
Which brings such welcome news
That all our boys-yea every man,—
Her pages will peruse.

O PALM thou child of ANDERSON,
Thou life of our dear cause,
Bear news to every noble one

Who "joins the Alpha Taus."

And may thy pages ever teem

With thoughts that brighter grow

Until the cause of truth shall beam
On every A. T. Q.

Till then may every brother true,

Thy noble cause espouse;

And all with one accord renew

Their sacred, solemn vows.

Then all shall read thine every page,

And ponder what they read,
And thus enjoy thy truths so sage;

And every mandate heed.

But how with those who never saw
Thy fair and comely face?

Do such belong to Alpha Tau?

And wear her badge with grace?

Woe be to such who never care

Our dear good PALM to aid,

No. I.

How dare they claim a brother's share
Before their PALM is paid?

They cannot in sweet song unite,

When daily tasks are done,
To chant her praises every night

Who quarterly will come
To tell us how our glorious cause

Defeats each earthly foe

And binds our hearts as Alpha Taus
In bonds of A. T. Q.

SECRET FRATERNITIES, LITERARY SOCIETIES, AND COLLEGE POLITICS.*

The question has often been discussed among college men, and more especialy among members of colleges strictly literary in their character, "What relation does and what relation should exist between the Greek Letter secret societies and the literary societies of the institution, as regards what is generally known as "college politics." In times past, yea, even in present times, the main argument brought forward by those benighted barbarians who have opposed secret fraternities, and who were and are in positions, either as college president or trustee, in which their opposition amounts to something more than mere "empty vaporings," that secret societies, as they exist, are mere hotbeds of vice, destructive alike to the mental and moral character of its members, and, furthermore, that the advent of a secret society within the college walls marks the very moment at which the literary societies start on the road to decay.

As for the first so called argument, it needs no refutation at my hands. Indeed, it has long since exploded. But now we come to the second argument. What then is the relation existing between the secret fraternity and the literary society? To answer this question it will be necessary in the first place to arrive at a clear idea of the province of each.

When our colleges were first founded, frequently in the midst

*Address delivered before the Georgia State Association, Dec. 31st, 1883, by R. D. Meader, Jr., '86, Georgia Alpha Beta.

of the howling wilderness, it was found necessary by the college authorities to establish some organization which should supplement the college curriculum, and which should also provide a place where the students could assemble. As an outcome of this need the literary society was founded, essentially a part of the college course. The faculty or board of trustees usually appropriated a sum of money to erect suitable halls, and in these the future senators and congressmen of our country first aired their youthful eloquence and imagined they were rapidly becom ing the worthy rivals of Demosthenes and Cicero. Here also the members of the society would ineet on Saturday mornings and talk over the events of the week and matters of interest to themselves. There is no doubt that literary societies were and still are of considerable benefit to their members, as hundreds of our most prominent college bred men will unanimously affirm!

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The questions of the day are frequently discussed with an ability that would do credit to any legislative body whatsoever. The literary societies being a part of the institution, the whole • body of students was admitted to them without reserve. There was no selection or discrimination whatever, and it is a very rare occurrence, at least so far as colleges in this state are concerned, to find a man who has ever attended one of them and who is not a member of one of the literary societies. Here the dullest and the most intellectual, the wealthiest fop and the poorest charity student, the roughest element and the most gentlemanly set of students, met on an absolute equality. Beyond the fact that they were members of the same literary society, there was not, nor could there be, any tie which bound them together. It would have been an anomaly of nature had there

been.

Men whom nature had fitted for one another had no tie to bring them together.

This is a true picture of the average literary society, one which I think most of my audience will readily recognize. Although it provided an excellent mental development for its members, and although some of the societies went so far as to adopt Greek letter names with a secret motto, still there was lacking that spirit of selection acccording to fitness and congen+

iality, that cultivation of the heart and soul, that gave birth to the first Greek letter fraternity.

The secret fraternity goes hand in hand with, and may be said to have grown out of the literary society. While the literary society cultivates and develops the powers of the intellect, the secret fraternity nourishes the sweetest part of our nature, all that is good and noble, and by the very name fraternity, proves that it is a band of brothers, not indeed brothers by birth but brothers by deliberate choice.

The spirit of selection, so painfully wanting in the literary society, is found carried to the highest extent in the best class of fraternities. None but those who reach a certain standard are allowed to enter within the sacred precincts of the chapter hall.

Thus it is possible that both classes, the secret and the literary, may flourish side by side, if each keep within its proper bounds. Let not the fraternity attempt to introduce literary exercises, except such as pertain to fraternity topics into its regular course · of proceeding, then it begins to encroach upon the peculiar domain of the literary society. I am aware that some fraternities attempt to carry on literary exercises and debating as a part of their meetings, with but little success, I imagine. If the fraternity accomplish the mission for which she was founded, the cultivation of brotherly love and the dissemination of all noble qualities and virtues among its members, I am satisfied. Then, let the secret fraternity and the literary society go hand in hand in the noble work of developing the qualities and capabilities of the youths of our country. Let not any member of the fraternity devote himself wholly to the literary society to the neglect of the fraternity, and on the other hand, let him not devote himself entirely to the fraternity to the neglect of the literary society.

As regards the relation between the secret fraternity and that phrase of college life known as "college politics," it is my opinion that it ill becomes a fraternity to indulge in wire-pulling methods or in "cliques," for when it does so it no longer deserves the sacred name of fraternity, but becomes an organized political body, generally under the thumb of one man. Then let our Alpha Tau Omega beware of entering into anything

bearing the semblance of "cliques" or "combinations." If one of the brothers is a candidate for any literary society or class honor, it is the duty of every other member of the chapter to vote for him, and to exert all his available influence in his behalf. But let the brother who is a candidate run on merit solely and on the understanding that he is well fitted for the position for which he is running, and not even the most conscientious member can find any possible reason for not voting for him. I believe this plan to be the only safe one for a chapter of any fraternity that wishes to preserve its fraternal character and not become a political organization.

Then let Alpha Tau Omega ever keep before her the four great principles which are her foundation stones, and although other organizations may repeat the old, old tale of rise, culmination and decay, she shall move majestically down the ages with a record which shall be the glory of all her sons.

STUDENT LIFE AT THE MASS. INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY.

Anyone reading the article “Requisite Conditions" copied in the December PALM from the Chi Phi Quarterly would be apt to have an erronous impression regarding the Mass. Institute of Technology. The writer, in speaking of the failure of Chi Phi at the Institute, says: "There was no college life in the institution. They had no campus, no dormitories, no sports, no reciprocal associations. They only met beneath the eyes of the professors. The students knew only those of their own class and had no dealings with other classmen" and a great deal more which is likely to make anyone think that the conditions are the same at the Institute now. Life at the Institute may have been as the writer described it in 1876 but in 1886 it bears no resemblance to his description.

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Now college spirit is high as will be seen from the following. The three fraternity chapters are all prosperous, the membership in them is divided among the best men in the different classes and the members are as enthusiastic fraternity men as

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