Public Address

"Does the Contemporary American Enjoy Greater Human Freedom and Fulfillment Than His Forebears?"  Ed's primary thesis in this address is that the contemporary American enjoys greater levels of freedom than ever before.  Part of this is due to the installation of the welfare state, which has helped people use freedoms that were previously stifled by deprivation and other factors.  Also, the economic prosperity of the entire society has allowed freedom in the economic realm to flourish.  Overall, this is an excellent example of Ed's writing; it perfectly summarizes his pragmatic philosophical views.  This is a very valuable piece of writing to get an insight into Ed's political personality.  (7/2, Box 3:09)

"Is Moral Virtue Obsolescent as the Primary Goal of Education?"  an address at Belmont Abbey College on November 15th, 1980.  Ed argues that moral values seem to have gone out the window in this country, and he places the blame on education failing to create good and virtuous citizens.  He says that liberal arts institutions especially need to be aware of their role of trying to mold good citizens rather than to simply prepare students for jobs.  (7/2, Box 5:06) 

"Making New Athens Out of Old Towns," an address given on February 20th, 1974 at North Manchester, Indiana.  Essentially, this speech is a philosophical defense of the city, with Ed quoting Plato and Aristotle repeatedly.  He argues that the small city offers the best chance to achieve the goal Aristotle had for cities-to help people live the good life.  He praises North Manchester repeatedly and hopes that this city can achieve the full potential of a smaller sized city and allow unlimited human flourishing.  (7/2, Box 5:06)

 "Moving Forward With Title V And The Rural Development Act Of 1972: The Role of Small Private Colleges," which was given to the Des Moines Conference on Rural Development dated November 26th, 1973.  Ed talks of the ability of colleges to tackle the problems of the rural areas, and he also takes an inventory of the work the CSLG did at SJU.  At the back, there is a list of the various programs and initiatives undertaken by the CSLG.  It is very valuable as an overview of the Center's work.  (7/2, Box 5:07)

"Regionalism in the Countryside," an address given to the National Service to Regional Councils Fourth Annual Conference in Atlanta, Georgia on March 16th, 1970.  Ed talks of the need of rural governments to adapt and change but notes the deep apathy that exists throughout the nation at large.  He notes that many townships have institutions that could barely be called governments.  There is also a lack of a viable bureaucracy in these areas.  He hopes that a sort of "new Federalism" will be established in the small towns that can address the problems facing small towns these days and in the future.  (7/2, Box 5:04)

"Role of the Small City as a Growth Center," an address given to the National Municipal League's 79th Conference on Government at Dallas, Texas on November 15th, 1973. Ed notes that there has not been a federal program of population redistribution since 1862.  However, he argues that one is needed today, since cities are overcrowded.  He notes the conditions that are essential for growth, one of the foremost among these being job creation.  He argues that, to truly achieve all of these goals, a massive federal effort of population redistribution would be necessary, something that appears impossible in the current political climate.  Instead, he offers that individual political leaders in small communities can start to implement policies of change to improve their own communities.  (7/2, Box 6:01)

"Saint John's And The Liberal Arts Tradition," a lecture.  Ed details familiar arguments of the importance of a liberal arts education to form a good citizen.  He then goes on to extrapolate this to the educational experiences of the Benedictines throughout history.  He comments that St. John's has to face, in the future, a tension between upholding its liberal arts tradition and the demands of the marketplace that call for increased vocational training and smaller staff sizes.  (7/2, Box 6:02)

 "Small City Problems," an address which was delivered at the Habitat/Agenda for the Future in Bolton Valley, Vermont from May 17-18, 1977.  Ed is talking about the problems of outmoded governments and also the importance of the government acting as a corrective agent to the inequities of society.  (7/2, Box 5:07)

"Sponsorship/Partnership of Catholic Higher Education: President as Middleman," an address for symposium.  Overall, it is an examination of the relationship between lay administrators of colleges and those in the religious orders who often feel a sense of "ownership" over the Catholic colleges they founded.  Ed seems to come down on the side of hiring effective and competent presidents for Catholic colleges, even if these colleges have to go outside of the ranks of the religiously ordained in order to find one.  (7/2, Box 5:03)

"The Creation of the Anti-Poverty Program Otherwise Called 'The Community Action Program' in the Three County Metro Area of St. Cloud," an address given on April 16th, 1981 at St. Cloud on the anniversary celebration of Tri-Cap.  The organization was founded in 1964 in order to take advantage of President Johnson's programs to fight poverty.  Ed lists the accomplishments of the program: "Youth corps, work study, head start, medicare alert, project share, farm family counseling, home health aides, Vista, etc."  This program "attempted to alleviate poverty by directly involving the poor in designing and operating programs for their own benefit."  He adds that thousands of people in the area were positively impacted by CAP.  It had a stimulus effect on the larger St. Cloud economy as well.  The quality of life in the area was improved drastically as well.  He criticizes the Reagan administration and its philosophy of letting problems of poverty be mostly solved through supply-side economics.  This is a wonderful document that details Ed's fervent liberalism and commitment to fighting poverty.  (7/3, Box 9:10) 

"The Public Responsibility and Community Goals," an address given to the Statehouse Conference on Aging at Bismarck, ND on November 21st, 1969.  It is an address primarily on the issue of housing for the elderly and the needy.  It is another vigorous defense of Ed's liberalism in regards to programs to fight poverty.  (7/2, Box 6:03) 

"The Role of Ethics and Prudence in Politics," an address given to Winchester Academy in Wisconsin on September 30th, 1988.  This address synthesizes Ed's thoughts on both political theory and public administration.  There is a lot in here about the virtues of political pragmatism and how moral trade-offs often have to be made by elected officials.   (7/2, Box 5:05)

"The Tension Between Quality and Equality in United States Higher Education," an address given before the Conference on Excellence and Equality in America Culture on November 12th, 1977.  Ed argues that the relentless drive for egalitarianism in colleges has led to a diminishing of academic quality in these institutions.  He also argues that, historically, colleges were not established as egalitarian institutions, but rather as places were the best students could be educated to become leaders in society. (7/3, Box 8:14)