The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1881-08-25

into operation machinery, which
will cost him $4,000. With this
machinery there on the ground,
with the great number of skilled
workmen collected there and with
the cheap and inexhaustible re-
sources for construction that can be
had at Austin, it is a mathematical
fact that finer, cheaper, better con-
structed and more durable buildings
can be put up there that anywhere
else in the state. The approprla-
tion for building purposes for the
university contemplates the expen-
diture of SI50,0O0, and it is especial
ly important that this money should
be spent at a point and in manner
calculated to secure the fullest and
best returns for the amount ex-
pended.
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS,
according to our constitution and
the intention of its founders is to be
"a university of the first class" And
what is such an institution? 1t Is
not high school or college. Ii is
not a place where immature youths
and willful boys are collected for
elementary instruction under the
petty restrictions of school room
clearinghouse discipline. On the
contrary, it is place where young
men who have received the funda-
mentals of liberal education else
where, whose aims are fixed and
whose characters are already shaped
| for better or worse, will gather 20
prosecute the higher branches of
learning, and TO perfect themselves
in law, in medicine, in physical
science and in the practical applica-
| ton of all the arts and sciences.
| Such place our university was in
| tended to be, and such it must be, if
it is TO be of the tirst-class. In view
of this fact it should be located at a
point where every possible infu-
ence for gaining knowledge can be
| had and Utilized. 1t must, not be
| buried into some obscure country
neighborhood, nor placed at some
point of mere local or sectional inn
portance, whereby its patronage
will be restricted, it's aims narrowed
and its strength crippled. 1t must
be located at a central point, where
it will be the pride and property of
the whole state; where persons from
other states will see and hear of it,
where the active vigilance and con-
| slant supervision of the state au-
thorities will always be upon it, and
where friends and parents can con-
tinually learn, from personal obser-
vation, of its management and of
their sons welfare and progress.
Such place is Austin, and such is
/ Afh IN HoxrnC HhnRa fhn hnor1
of regents and the legislature will
be in constant contact with the
university authorities, and can see
and know its necessities and correct
its defects; there it will belong to
the whole people and to no section
or locality; there it will become an
object of state pride and grow into
a state benefaction. Place it else
where and it will fall prey to sec
tional and sectarian influences, be
lost to the public view and lead a
sickly and unsuccessful existence.
AT Austin the prominent public men
of the state, in every walk of life,
those renowned for learning, elO-
| Quence and high character, often as
semble, and shed their influences
over such as meet and hear them.
There are gathered the statelibraries
and museums, and all the institu-
tons and influences that go TO make
the civilization and culture of the
capital of a great state like this. In
and around Austin cluster the most
sacred traditions and the most valu-
able historic memories in Texan an
nails. There state pride and patri-
| -. ,..tA 14x0N,@,,
necessarily receive more food for
growth and expansion than else
where. Are all these things nothing?
Do these influences have nothing to
do with securing the success of a
state university and moulding the
minds and characters of It's students?
tell you they have everything to do
with it. They are a part, and The
most valuable part, of that priceless
education that comes not from
books or bookish pursuits, but
from knowledge of men
and the subtle influence of
memory and association. Where
else in all Texas would a young man
be so likely to become familiar with
the history and traditions of his
state, acquainted with her leading
spirits, and imbued with the pride
and genus of her grand and match
less destiny, as at Austin-the capi-
tai of his state, the seat and center
of his government, and the pivot
around which revolve the political
and moral forces that control the
growth of the country and its lnsti-
tutions? 1t is more than absurd to
talk about the corrupting influences
of city. Where are the great uni
versities of the world? At Paris.
. London, Vienna, Dublin, Edin-
burgh, Boston, New York and Bal
timore. Cities have temptations to
vice, but they have likewise oppor-
tunities for knowledge AMI induce
ments to virtue, more numerous and
: equally as strong. Austin is not
even enough of city to possess in
any great degree distractions COM
mon to larger towns, and there is one
respect in which it is peculiarly fitted
for the location of the university
above any other large city in the
state. The larger places in Texas
are all involved in the hustle of
commerce and the rivalry for indus
trial and business success. They
have little of the leisure for interest
in higher education and are too
much absorbed to care in any great
measure for the university. Hence
it Is probable that the institution
might not attract the same attention
nor receive the same encouragement
in strictly commercial city that it
will have at the capital. Austin,
/ while blessed with a reasonable
business activity and prosperity, is
distinctively town of social and
,, literary tendencies; and her tone
and temper favor the leisurely pur-
suits of thought and investigation,
all of which would conduce
} to render her community congenial
} one for an institution of this kind,
To come now to the last of MANY
arguments that might further be
adduced. The attempt has been
made to ridicule, if not denounce,
the idea that the fathers of Texas
ever contemplated placing the uni
yersity of Texas at Austin. Long
winded and technical discussions
have been indulged in, and legal
questions have been agitated in Or
der to show that no such purpose
was entertained. 1 am here to-
night 10 reiterate the assertion made
by the citizens of Austin. in their
circular to the people, that in 1889
the fathers and founders of this gov