Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1885-07-02
Mistellameuns &eading.
THE SOUTH CAROLINA COLLEGE.

THE SOUTH CAROLINA COLLEGE.
TITO WIDELY DETERGENT VIEWS As TO THE
IMPORTANCE OF THE INSTITUTION.
Il Speech On Iecv. Ellison Capers and Reply by
Rep. Il. Coke Smith
From the News and Courier.
COLUMBIA, June NEARLY all of the
students of the South Carolina College were
gathered in the College chapel at 8 o'clock
this evening to hear an address by the Rev.
Ellison Capers, member of the board of
visitors. Various members of the boards of
trustees and of visitors occupied the plat
form. When Senator Hampton and Cover
nor Thompson came in together they re-
ceived very hearty round of applause.
The professors remained without.
President McBryde addressed the stu
dents, saying that this joint meeting of
the board ofvisitors was the happy thought
of the honored chairman of the board, Sen
ator Hampton, whom he had the pleasure
of introducing. Senator Hampton was
warmly applauded as he, advanced to the
desk and said:
"After our examination here the other
day of the condition of the college, and l
need not say it was very thorough and ex-
haustive one, the board of visitors were so
surprised and gratified at the exhibit made
by the College and its students, that they
felt it due to you and the public to let the
facts which they ascertained become known.
They asked, therefore, the Rev. DIR. Capers
to remain over and state to you the result OF
their examination. I know that they will
endorse thoroughly what he will have to say
to you. For myself will say that as long
as I have been connected with it and earnest
as have been my hopes for it's success, I be-
lieve that it has never been in better condi-
tion than it is now. Applause And l
must in justice say that very much of the
credit of this is due to you, for the president
and all the professors, and Mayor Rhett
endorse the statement and say that never
has better set of young men been within
the walls of the institution"
Reminding them of what depended upon
their conduct and effort, and expressing the
hope that each one when he left the College
would work earnestly and zealously for the
success of his alma mater, Senator Hampton
introduced Rev. DR.. Capers, of Greenville.
DR.. Capers said that he spoke to give the
students the unanimous, sincere and very
hearty commendation of the board OF visit
ors They had come prepared to do their
duty in looking closely into the condition of
the college, and had had an earnest, burning
interest in its welfare. 1t, therefore, gave
him the heartiest pleasure to assure the stu
dents that the evidence they had just heard
from one whose words were justly revered
in South Carolina, was the honest, hearty
opinion of the board of visitors. They had
invited the professors and tutors to come be-
fore them and discuss freely all matters af
fecting the College. The compliance had
been full and in perfectfrankness. They had
communed together. He could not express
the pleasure felt by the board upon learning
that the great body of Carolina's sons in this
institution were devoted to their studies
and admirable in their conduct. The evil
dence given showed that as the students
passed from lower to higher classes they be-
came more studious, proving the fact that
their College life induced studious habits.
At the request of the board committee OF
students elected by. their classmates, had
also conferred with them, and the testimony
of this committee was that the professors
were doing their full duty, and that in Sc
lecting such instructors the board of trustees
had done an excellent thing. The board
had unanimously concluded that the profes-
sors in this College would compare favorably
with the professors of any institution in our
land. [Applause.]
Being anxious to hear how the students
were behaving in Columbia, the board had
applied to the chief of police for informa-
tion, and had found that he had no fault to
find with any of them. The board were
delighted to find by an examination of the
class books that IS per cent. of the students
had, during the last year, been absolutely
regular in their attendance and in their
studies. Of the absentees reported for the
last year only one-ffth of one per cent. were
marked "uneXcused."
II call this" said DR.. Capers, "a splendid
record. Ought not this to be enough to sat-
isfy the friends of the College," Allow me
to assure you that they are satisfied. But
unhappily there are among the people OF
this State some who are your enemies. The
opposition to the College is formulated on
these two hypothesis: First, that the Col
lege is not in advance of our denominations
al colleges in its curriculum of studies and
the advantages it offers, and is, therefore,
not entitled to the support of the State.
Second, that it is the rival of its sister in
stitutions in South Carolina and injurious
to them. AS to the first charge a careful
comparison has been made of the catalogues
of sixteen colleges in the South, including
all the State institutions and the denomlna-
tional colleges of South Carolina, and it has
been found that the standards of admission
and graduation in our College are as high
as those in the very best Southern college.
| L
University is excepted. That is sui generis
and commands special funds. This is a
broad assertion, but it is the simple fact.
Your standards are just as high as the best
of them. AS high as the universities of
Virginia, or North Carolina, of Georgia, or
of Alabama. AS to the range of studies our
university offers thirty-four subjects of study
and investigation, and this is greater num-
Der than is offered by any other Southern
college except the University of Arkansas.
AS to thoroughness we have forty-six class
es for recitation. Only one other Southern
institution has as many, and that is the
University Of Georgia, and our list does not
include the sub collegiate or the profession
al classes, and this work is done by eight
professors and four tutors, at a cost of $685.
600, of which only $l7,5O0 is paid by the
State. Think of it! Could 800 be ap-
piled to a nobler purpose, a better use, a
more substantial result? The education of
the hearts and minds of two hundred young
South Carolinians!
"What are the facts? These: Since the
rehabilitation of the South Carolina College
the attendance on the UNCONVENTIONAL COL
| leges has increased. l get this fact from
your president, who bases it on careful
examination of the catalogues of these col
leges | can speak myself for Furman Uni
versity which has in five or six years al
most doubled its attendance, and the same
may be said for the college at Due West.
The efforts of the friends of the denomina-
tional colleges have since the reopening of
| this institution positively doubled on ac-
count of this good rivalry which have adj
mitted. 1t is false to assume that all the
youth of South Carolina would be sent to
denominational colleges if these classic
halls were ha rred AGAINST them. Some of