Frank Dixon

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FRANK DIXON


THE DIXON LECTURES

Educational, without being academic; popular, without being shallow; eloquent, without being flamboyant; dealing with the great economic and social problems which are becoming the storm-centers of politics, yet remaining non-partisan, philosophical, constructive.

His keen and incisive style, and his mastery of the art of epigrammatic utterance are backed by a personality that is the essence of eloquence.  He possesses the true oratorical gift.—George H. Ferris, D. D., Philadelphia, Pa.



Who Is Frank Dixon?—
He was born in North Carolina, after the Civil War, of Scotch-Irish parents, and graduated from the University of his native state.  He taught school a year, entered the ministry, held pastorates in West Virginia, California, and Connecticut, and about twelve years ago passed from the pulpit to the platform, where he at once achieved national distinction.

For more than twelve years, he has filled an average of one hundred and fifty lecture engagements a year, in every section of the United States, returning to many towns and cities again and again.



An Orator—

Frank Dixon has wit, eloquence, logic, intellect,—and more, he has that divine spark called genius, the power that springs from a masterly mind, the courage of a conscious greatness.  The speech sparkled with a spontaneous and original wit that captivated the audience.  Unquestionably one of the most scholarly and intellectual addresses ever heard here.  It contained humor, satire, ridicule and pathos,—all delivered with the masterly touch of the finished orator.—
New Castle (Pa.) News.



A Wonderful Personality—

The Times did not tell half the story of his wonderful personality, his fervid, thrilling, compelling eloquence, his mastery of the emotions, his pervading earnestness, his persuasive logic, his exalted ideals, or the splendid intellectual fire that blazes in every sentence, and captivates while it convinces.  For almost two hours, that torrent of fervid, impassioned oratory flowed on without a break, with never a note to aid memory, with scarcely a pause, yet the audience, never moving, scarcely breathing, listened, and lost all thought of time.—
Adrian (Mich.) Daily Times.



Rare Genius—
A masterly presentation, not of a wild enthusiast, but of a scholar,—clear, definite, logical, vigorous and brilliant throughout.  Mr. Dixon has the rare genius of presenting a weighty theme in a popular fashion, thus at once entertaining and instructing his audience.  His oratory, his logic, his analysis, his satire are splendid, superb.—W. H. Lippold, Former Secretary Y. M. C. A., Fort Dodge, Iowa.



Signal Success—

This lecture on An Outgrown Constitution has been the signal success of the season (1913).  Everywhere Mr. Dixon has aroused unbounded enthusiasm.—
From an Editorial in the Philadelphia North American.




Subjects of Mr. Dixon's Lectures

What Is a Lecture?—
It is thought packed until it bursts into flame.  There is no fire without heat; there is no oratory without feeling.  If a poem can be read without emotion, it is a failure; if music does not stir the soul, it is a failure; if a lecture does not arouse enthusiasm for an ideal or a cause, it is a failure.  A lecture must not only illuminate, it must inspire.  The lecturer condenses into an hour and a quarter the reading and meditation of a lifetime.  Every word is indispensable, every sentence is vital, every conclusion fraught with destiny.



Serious But Not Anaesthetic—
They look as if they were serious, and so they are.  But that does not mean that they are funereal, or anaesthetic.  His fun is of the funniest kind.



Human Welfare—
Mr. Dixon's subjects choose themselves, for they open up the themes that lie at the center of his intellectual interest.  It is impossible for him to lecture upon any subject that does not seem to him to affect profoundly the welfare of humanity.  He discusses the vital things, and with a view to practical, constructive action.



Pertinent Everywhere—
To be good anywhere, a lecture must be good everywhere.  A great lecture, like an immortal poem, is built on lines true to art, with little reference to local peculiarities.

The preacher speaks of heaven, not because the pews are filled with angels; he talks on hell, not because they are filled with devils.

He knows that in all men are the angel and devil possibilities.  Mr. Dixon lectures on Socialism, not because his audience is composed of Socialists, but because Socialism is an influence menacing individual and national character, as much where the word Socialism is never heard, as where the faith is fanatically proclaimed.  His other lectures affect the life of the common man just as directly and deeply as that upon Socialism, whether this common man lives in the city or the country, in New England or the South, in the East or the West.



Radically Conservative and Conservatively Radical—
The value of a lecture to any community lies largely in its challenge to fixed custom and established modes of thought.  The moment a people becomes content with its achievement, it begins to lose the power of action.  The moment is ceases to create, it begins to decay.  To move only along the grooves of familiar thought is to invite brain-paralysis.  The lecturer must be the aggressor, and call all men to give a reason for the convictions that they hold, or abandon them for better.



Economic Basis of Civilization—
The real problems that confront the modern world are social and economic.  The statesman sees this, the man of business sees it, the educator sees it, the privileged classes are becoming aware of it, the disinherited know it.  In the future, governments will stand or fall, according to the measure of success with which they solve these problems.

These problems Mr. Dixon discusses.




I.  The Man Against the Mass—
This is a defence of Individualism against Socialism,—candid, broad, convincing.  Socialism is not a political party; it is a religion.  Its menace lies in the subtlety of its appeal to the spirit of altruism, as well as to that of greed.  It is equally attractive to the religious mystic, to the philanthropic worker, and to the envious, bomb-throwing revolutionist.  Each sees it from a different angle.  its power to destroy is unlimited, but it has in it no capacity for construction.  It is war without quarter upon civilization itself.  What are we going to do about it?  No living man can evade the answer to that question.  Our first duty is to understand it.



II.  The Square Deal—
A clear belief is shaping itself in the common mind, that the man who gets rich by means of a special law is the most dangerous sort of criminal.

All that men want is justice, ordinary justice.

The individual man must have the same chance to succeed that the richest corporation has,—just that and no more.  If the corporation can serve the public better than the individual, let it survive; if the individual can serve the public better than the corporation, let him survive.

The administration of justice must be lifted above the level of financial influence.

Business must be taken out of politics.

We must take the burden of taxation from the back of the man least able to bear it.

Progress lies, not in violent revolution, but in the orderly development of forces even now active along the line of historic growth.



III.  The Coming American—
The most important contribution a nation ever makes to the history of the world is the type of individual it produces.  In him the quality of a civilization reveals itself.  This individual is partly the inevitable product of environment, and partly the creation of deliberate purpose.

We are born into an atmosphere, but immediately we begin to change that atmosphere, to make it satisfy our demands.

The atmosphere of American civilization belongs to the mountain-top of simplicity.  We are lovers of liberty, yet friends of law.  We are enterprising, cosmopolitan, profoundly religious and patriotic.

This is our environment, into which we are born.  But the individual we are creating is being molded by the daily paper, the school and the factory.  These are the forces of destiny.  What type of man will be the product?



IV.  An Outgrown Constitution—
Since our national constitution was adopted the face of the world has changed.  The conditions to which it was supposed to answer nowhere exist.  The governments of the world have undergone transformations so radical that history scarcely retains its landmarks.  Wherever the spirit of Democracy asserts itself in the old world, and men seek models for free institutions, they do not adopt American forms.  A constitution is merely an instrument for expressing the political convictions of a people, and should be flexible as their needs.  Its sanctity is determined wholly by its usefulness.  We must have a fundamental law that embodies our fundamental convictions, and serves our deliberate purposes.



V.  The Social Survey; or, Taking Stock of a Town—
The American people are realizing that the creation of a town or city may be the result of deliberate, intelligent, community action.  The Landscape Architect, the Art Commission, the Sanitary Engineer, and the Municipal Expert are destined to displace the cow-path, the spite-house, the real estate speculator, and the ward politician.  Economy, beauty, health, efficiency,—these are the most valuable assets of any town or city, and their conservation is the supreme duty of enlightened citizenship.





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