Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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SGA4coc "Best College Newspaper in South Carolina" Member of South Carolina College Preys Association Published Weekly by the Various Literary Societies Terms--$1.50 a Year Entered at the Columbia, South Carolina Postoffice on November 20, 1908, as Second-Class Mail Matter Naws ITEus may be handed in to members of the staff, or phoned to editorial rooms at 907 South Main Street, Phone number 4109, between the hours of I to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, and 10 to 11 a.m. or 2:30 to 5 p.m. on Thursdays. NEWS STAFF W. L. T. CROCKER...................Editor-in-Chief J. V. NIV,.ssN, JR..................Associate Editor W. O. VARN.......................Associale Editor H. S. KING...........................Sports Editor Miss ORA MAE JACKSON.............Co-tld Editor ISADORE PoLER.....................Editorial Policy FEATURE WRITERS Robert Ingram, Fred Minshall, Jimmy Baldwin and Thelma Lee Horger REPORTERS W. J. Thomas, Harold Hentz, O. L. Warr, W. A. Brunson, H. S. Heyman, E. W. LeGette, Elizabeth Lindsay, Elizabeth Hardy, Catherine Phillips and Ted Surasky. BUSINESS STAFF C. W. ScorT .........-.-.................Manager J. R. PA .............................Assistani R. B. HILDEIRAND .......................Assistan SAM READY ...........................Circulation MONDAY, MAY 3, 1926 A MAN South Carolina has lost a statesman; the University has lost a president ; but the loss which will be most deeply felt will be Williar D. Melton, the man. Although in one of the highest positions to which a man can aspire, Dr. Melton never forgot the fundamental bases of fellowship. To his faculty he was not merely the president, he was also the sympathetic friend and ad visor. But the indefinable quality which will be missed most, will be that broad personal sympathy and understanding by which he was known and loved by the student body. Never has the door of the president's ot fice been closed to any student for a man to man talk. The man whose time was busily occup)ied with affairs of state and national im portance was never too busy to give the same attention to a student which a statesman would receive. No one ever asked the applicant for a conference what the nature of his business was. D)r. Melton kniew his students, not simply as students, but as personalities. There was no one in the student body who was not un der his observation; there were few whom he did not know by name ; and none with whom he could not sympathise. Dr. William D. Melton was not simply in terested in building human machines; he was building men. No student has ever left the University for want of funds to continue his education after, appealing to the generosity of Dr. Meltonm. Not only by influence and example, but with his personal means he contributed to the upbuildinmg of the University. Realizing that environment influences quality of work, out of his salary, Dr. Melton p)lanned and paid for the landm~.ape gardens which have added to the attractiveness of the campus. Although Dr. Melton is dead, the impress of his personality will remain upon the destin ies of South Carolina. The men and women who have received their training under his guidance will not prove unworthy of the sac rifices he has made. STATESMAN IN EDUCATION Today South Carolina flies her flags at half mast and the state mourns for an irreparable loss. South Carolina inscribes the name of one of her sons upon the roll of immortal servants. Well may there be written "William Davis Melton, statesman in education" as tri bute to a man of vision who saw the needs of his people and dedicated his life to their care. But few months have passed since W. D. Melton addressed the legislature upon the need for support of South Carolina's educational institutions. The annual report of the presi dent of the University of South Carolina re vealed the wisdom, the capacities of the man chosen to lead the University of his native state, and gave that needed insight into a pr' ' lem that must be met in the regeneration of South Carolina. To many is given the ability of an execu iive; but that greatness of vision which distin -guishes a leader is given to few men. Of the work of Dr. Melton at the University we have written elsewhere. If there had been nfo other stone untouched, no other monument to the man, his address to the law makers of South Carolina would recall to the minds of all men the love and understanding of William Davis Melton. At a time when his body was weakened with sickness he did not flinch from the task before him. When the state quivered from a disastrous year and meditated upon reduced appropriations for higher edpcstional insti tutions, this man stood out-as the statesman in education. With mind undimmed and spirit undaunted, Dr. Melton saw that South Carolina must educate her men and women that the welfare of the state is embodied in the welfare of her future citizens. Not as the head of the University, not as an individual interested in a particular institu tion but as a man who grasped the future of South Carolina, Dr. Melton spoke in the legis lative halls. As an educator he told his fellow citi zens, "The strength, character, reputatini., and influence of a nation depends upon the educa tion of its citizens ...... Education is not a special priviledge. to be enjoyed by a favored few. It is the equal right of every citizen !" The triumph of his cause was not the vic tory of personal achievement, nor the success of the University. It was a marker in South Carolina history proclaiming to all that the state gave confidence and support to her higher educational institutions. Time can not efface that work ...... time will show an awakening state, a growing idea, the culmination of the 'work of the man. That day is a day of days in our history. An educator, a Lniversity president, within the walls of the state house declared that in time of need, South Carolina must not desert her sons and daughters. He told of the latent capacities of the state-limitless sources tl?at should be opened by the education of the p)eo pIe. Dr. Melton talked of actual, not hypoth etical causes. During his illness he had brought together the facts of South Carolina's taxation status. With labor he had compliledl the bur den that the people bore to educate their chil dlren--andl the burden that they' assumed for other causes. William Davis Melton educated his state to the~needs for education. He (lid not talk of generalities--that work of months j usti fled his efforts. And the mien who had come to Colum bia believing that South Carolina must cut her support of educational institutions stayed to listen to this man-heard him tell what South Carolina paid for her ignorance-and gave him their support. The day should mark the beginning of the era of educational progress among the state-supported schools-and every department of education in South Carolina. South Carolina has given sons dedicated to statesmanship, sons whose lives were devoted to the interests of education. She has given WVilliam Davis Melton, "Statesmat in Educa tion" who gave to his state his life-that every boy and girl might receive a college education. and drew no lines where his interest and de votion should stop. We may only pay ttibute and dedicate our lives in the 'work .he began. From Him that shall judge, shall be heard "Well (lone thou good and faithful servant." The statesman in South Carolina education has gone-his work is only begun; his fellow men must not betray the trust. -USC A TIRELESS WORKER With the beginning of the term of William Davis Melton as president of the University of South Carolina, may be marked the growth and increasing service of the institution to the state. Four years of his life work given to the University, and the president is called to his rest; four years that have seen the advance mPnt of the standards of scholarship, the ex tension of all phases of the University. The accomplishments in the short space of time giv en to the man bespeak, as nothing else can, the energies and unceasing thought that he gave. Here we may tell of the material strides of the University in the last four years; we can not define that understanding which made them possible nor tell of the plans that were made for future years. Man's fame is not built in brick and stone, but in the spirit which has made them possible. Under the guidance of Dr. Melton, the University has added to its departments the schools of journalism and pharmacy, the de partment of fine arts, and electrical engineer ing. A mechanical description that cannot describe the foresight that realized the need of the additions-to round out the courses of fered by the University-to prepare her men and women for professions and living. Six hundred and twenty one men and women were enrolled at the University in 1922-23. Today 1419 students are enrolled in the University, which has doubled its student body and is well on the way to triple it. That increase had to be met with increases in the faculty, and increases in the plant. Dr. Melton saw that need and saw that it was met. The forcefulness of the man might be il lustrated with an example. The dormitories had always been firetraps, with no means for unusual exit. At the first meeting of the legislature after this had been called to his attention, Dr. Melton demanded in no uncer tain way, the protection of the lives of the stu dents against any emergency. He pointed out what was needed and within a month fire es capes were built. To care for the increasing student body he, secured two additional dormitories for men. In the face of determined opposition he went to the people of his state on the behalf of the women who wanted a university education and secured a building for them. And when the building was filled to capacity, he secured two additional buildings which are rented as annexes. Four years the students had to be content with dormitories unheated in the winter. Last year saw steam heat and hot water placed in those dormitories. The heating plant was en largedl to meet the demands upon it. The old idea of the students furnishing their own room was relegated to the ancient days, and the Uni v-ersity purchased equipment for all the rooms. Every dormitory on the campus was complete ly renovated and cleaned. It is impossible, to repeat, to survey the work done by the man, nor is it possible to tell of the trials that he overcame in order to p)rosecute his work. A man with less execu tive ability, without his faith in his life work would have failed-where he went on and on to greater accomplishments. To the University has come national recog nition. Heir law school has been admitted to the select circle of the A ssociation of American Law Schools ; her academic standlards have been recognized with a chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa fraternity. Her growth in short, has been phenomienal--but only to those who didn't know the man was guided her destinies. To those who knew him his accomplishments were b)ut a measure of the man. And that measure is not ended with his life. Trhe University is immortal tribute to the man MELTON LIVED TO SERVE HIS, STA (Continued from page one) honors with the degree of Bachelor Laws in 1892. Admitted to the bar the Supreme Court of this state in Ju 1892, he opened his office in Chester March 3, 1893, he came to Columi and at once entered upon successful pr tice. Dr. Melton married Miss Caro Bel of Summerton, Clarendon County, M 10, 11398. She died May 10, 1903, leav three children, Carolina B., now M Walter Bristow; now Mrs. Harry Ka iner; and William D. Melton, Jr. Se'tember 7, 1911 he married Miss Ne Loeb of Charleston. Miss Henrie Melton is the child of this marriage a she with Mrs. Melton also survives hi Dr. Melton served three consecuti terms, six years, as a member of t city council of Columbia and while office he wrote the waterworks and se erage system ordinances, and ordina establishing the paid fire department, Recorder's Court, and the police other commissions. It may be doubt e if another alderman in the whole hist a of Columbia has contributed so grea and constructively to the progress ' the city. Often he was solicited to candidate for mayor, but to seek pub e office was not to his liking. He declin e Before the passage of the act est lishing the State Board of Law Exa ri ners in 1910, tests for' admission to e bar, outside of the law schools, we i relatively, nominal. The vitality t effectiveness of the new law turned u I the character of the board. So perce p ing, the Supreme Court appointed e Melton its chairman and from that ti e the standards of lawyers have been no bly raised in South Carolina. He se nine years in this capacity. r Mr. Melton has come to be recogni 'T throughout the state as a lawyer of d i) tinguished ability and one jealous, c well, of the dignity and honor of d profession. His brother lawyers elec r him president of thq South Caroli 1 Bar Association in 1920. Meantime, r business career had been markediy s cessful and he had taken an active p in niany concerns, including building a loan associations, banks and devele ments of real estate. ar From the day that the United Sta p entered the World War in 1917, Dr. M f, ton virtually gave his time to the vario N phases of activity that it entailed. it was state chairman of the "Four Mim r Men" and state chairman for the Unit c War Work Campaign which raised r proximately one and a quarter milli 1, doilars for war work. This work of his was by no me a done in a swivel chair; he was in t i< street, in the stores and offices, mecti 'T his fellow citizens. He shirked nothii ,e He delivered scores of speeches, of ep quent and, moving strength, and by d si andc by night he responded to every ce e All the while, his honme was an 0o) r1 home for the soldiers and friends A his country. Individually, he was o -. of the most liberal givers and no o : ever app)roached hinm for money for al good cause that lie did not greet hi with a wvelcoming smile. rc There came to the sense of the peoj si all over South Carolina that here was cc mani whlo stood abiove his fellows in c T pacity and desire to be n~seful. Th'l o, sawi in him one to wvhom material pc d sessions were a secondary consideratic ta Tlhe University conferred itRon hi iij the degree of Doctor of L4aws ,the tri at tees p)erceived that lie was the man all mcen, whether of the state or the con st try, to serve it best as president at in4 upjoni Dr. Curreli's resignation, thi A elected him to that office. Since he tor up his duties, in July 1922, his whole Ii anid all of his great energies have be as absorbedl in them. The story of( t i Uniiversity's expansion since that day elsewhere told. It has been far great . than its most enthusiastic lovers won ti have believed possible ten years ago. Dr. Melton has long been an elder the First Presbyterian Church and teac er of the Bible class. Not long ago bulletin whlich he wvrote ont the Engli 'E Bible was published by the Universi .5 and it has had a wider circtilation th: any other work of the kind that has be ni published in South Carolina. He w ;. a faithfnl Christian.