The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1884-06-11
IarirnHmai.
Our Agricultural College.


anything in THE WATcHMAN about our
alleged Agricultural College. Have you
given up hope Of any change for the bet
ter there ?" In reply to this we are ready
to make plain statement. That an in
dustrial college, under the terms of the
act of congress of July ., 1862, granting
fund for such an institution in each
state, has ever really existed in Vermont
no one but the managers of the Burling-
ton University and their partisRs even
affects to believe. That institution is
conducted upon precisely the lines of all
our literary colleges with scientific de.
psrtments, and is just one of the educa-
tional establishments which the proposed
industrial colleges were to be so different
from that they "were not to conflict in
the least" In the words of the first
president of the Massachusetts Agricul-
tural College Omitted States Agricultural
Report, 1865, p. 14D, "These funda-
mental provisions call for the establish.
ment of institutions different from our
ordinary colleges, which can in no fair
sense be said to be maintained for the
benefit of agriculture, or the mechanic
arts, or to teach especially such branches
of learning as are related to them. In
loose and general sense all learning may
be said to benefit agriculture and the
mechanic arts, and to be related to
them; but the colleges maintained by the
grant of congress are required to be dis.
tinctiuely and essentially of this character.
1t is therefore FRAUD on the act for
state to transfer the bounty of congress
to existing literary institutions, without re.
quiring them at least to establish regu-
lar course of study in such branches of
learning as are distinctively related 10 agri.
culture and mechanic arts"
Just such fraud as this plain speaking
man denounces the legislature of Yer
mont committed when it transferred the
income of the industrial college grant to
the college at Burlington, with no guar
antee that the act of congress should be
there is no other truthful name for it)
the Vermont legislature was guilty of
when, in November, 1874, after sham in
vestigation, it whitewashed, condoned aud
justified the misuse of that income by the
managers of the Burlington establishment.
just such fraud, by their silence and In
difference, the people of Vermont have
since, and still do, acquiesce in.
When we came to Vermont from Mas
sachusetts, in 1866, it was with an i'm
preston that no state in the Union was
so intelligently Jealous for popular educa-
tion as Vermont. Soon after, becoming
connected with the press as an agricul-
tural writer, one of our first enquiries was
in regard to the Agricultural College. At
that time DR.. Angel, since of the Michi-
gan University, was at the head of the
Burlington College. We formed his &C.
quaintance, and became satisfied that he
had an honest purpose to make the agri.
cultural department effective. He de-
plored the indifference of the people, and
as editor of the Vermont Farmer we did
our best to awaken the farmers of the
state to the Importance of aiding their
special college. Soon after, the Board of
Agriculture was established, and the
chemical professor of the college, DR..
Peter Collier, was elected its secretary.
We co-operated with him earnestly, and
so long (only ashort time, however) as DR..
Angel remained president of the college,
things looked we'll, to our inexperienced
eyes. Professor Collier became very popu-
lar with the farmers all over the state, and
did excellent work. But he complained
to us and to others that the more he
worked for the farmers the more he was
criticised and found fault with at the COL
lege. Under President Buckham a new
and unfriendly spirit towards the farmers
interest seemed to prevail there, and it
has continued to the present day. Moth
ing effective has been done, and but a
trifle of money has been spent, out of the
$4,000 that has been paid from the
agricultural fund to the college, for the
establishment of any form of genuine
agricultural instruction. No distinctly
industrial professorship has been estab-
lished or proposed from the beginning
until now; no industrial class has been
provided for, and none has been formed.
The college went on exactly as before,
with the exception of enlarging its scien-
tifc departments. The agricultural fund
has been spent entirely for the promotion
of professional interests, the college turn
ing out from its literary department bach
elors and masters of arts, from its medi-
cal school doctors of medicine, and from
its scientific department doctors of philos
ophy and civil engineers-but never, 81
far as we know, comforting single me
chanical or agricultural degree, or gradu
ating an agricultural or mechanical stu
dent.
Judging their purposes by their acts
-. 1lI:.oJ 90 hal;ava fbat thu yoa,, n