Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1885-01-22
For the HERALD
An Industrial University ior Montana,

Will knock at the doors of Congress for ad
mission as a State. Let us consider wha
provision has been made for higher educa
tion within her borders, when she shal
have taken upnnh erself the honors o
Statehood
ARTICLE VII.
Section ,, OF the constitution declare
that, 1T shall be the duty of the Legisla
tive Assembly to make provisions as soor
rs practicable for State university, etc.
4 ARTICLEIN.
/ Section II states, AT the first genera
election provided for by law there shall b,
elected by the qualified electors of tn,
\ State nine regents of the University. The
regents so elected, and their successors
shall constitute n body corporate to be
known by the name and style Of The
Regents of the University of Montana
Section IL of the same article declares
The board of Regents shall have, under
such regulations and restrictions as NAV
be provided by law, the general supervision
of the university and the control, direc-
tion and disposition of the lands and
moneys granted to the State for university
purposes by the General Government, not
inconsistent with the terms of the grant
The lands and moneys granted by the
General Government, as spoken Of above,
are made plain by the wording of an act
of Congress, approved July =, ls62, en-
titled
AN ACT donating public lands TO the
several states and Territories which may
provide colleges for the benefit OF agricul-
tuIe and the merchanic arts
Be II cHdcied By The Senate and House of Rep
reseRidtires ofHe United States of Imericd,
ia Congress assembled:
/. That there be granted to the several
States for the purpose, hereinafter men
toned, an amount OF public land to be APP
portioned to each State quantity equal TO
10000 acres for each Senator and Repre-
sentative in Congress, to which the States
are respectively entitled by the apportion-
ment under the census OF ls60, prOrided.
that no mineral lands shall be selected or
purchased under the provisions of this act
Sections second and third provide for the
location, etc, OF such lands III the several
States.
Section 1 provides, That all moneys de
rived from the sale of these lands aforesaid
by the State, 10 which the lands are appor
toned, and from the sales of landscript
hereinbefore provided for, shall be invested
in stocks, yielding not less than five per
centum upon the par value of said stocks,
and that the moneys so invested shall con-
stitute a perpetual fund, the capital of
which shall remain forever undiminished
except so far "a may he provided in the
fifth section of this act,) and the interest
of which shall be inviolably appropriated
by each State which may take aud claim
the benefit of this act, TO the endowmeI!,
support and maiatainance of at least one col
lege, where the leading object shall be with
out excluding other scientific and classical
studies, and including military tactics, to
teach such branches of learning rs are re-
lated to agriculture and the mechanic arts,
and in such manner as the legislatures of
the States may respectively prescribe in
order to promote the liberal and practical
education of the industrial classes in the
several pursuits and professions of life
The fifth section of this act was amend
ed in 1s66 as follows That the time in
which the several States may comply with
the act of July 2, 1862, entitled, IAN act
donating public lands TO the several States
and Territories, which may provide col
leges .or he benefit OF agriculture and the
mechanic arts, is hereby extended, so that
the acceptance Of the benefits OF said act
may be expressed within three years from
the passage OF this act, and the colleges re-
quired by said act may be provided within
five years from the date of the filing OF
such acceptance with .he commissioner of
T.. aud nffaa. .4.aridsH That
when any Territory shall become a State
and be admitted into the Union, such new
State shall be entitled to tie benefits of
the act of July, 1852, by expressing the
acceptance therein required within three
wears from the date OF its admission into the
Union, and providing the college or col
leges within fiveyears after such acceptance
as prescribed in this act; pr0rided further,
That any State which has heretofore ex-
pressed its acceptance of the act herein re-
ferred TO shall have the period of five
years within which to provide at last one
college As described in the fourth section
Of said act. after the time of providing
said college, according to the act of July .,
1S62, shall have expired"
Such then ore the liberal provisions
made by the Government and as soon,
then, as Montana shall have become a
State shall we be entitled to this aid in
founding and maintaining an institution Of
learning that shall supplement the work of
the common schools in preparing men and
women for lives of usefulness.
This State University as fostered by the
L. {. Government is intended to head the
common school system and must be kept
as closely rs possible in connection and
sympathy with the entire system.
These acts OF Congress were familiarity
known as agricultural college acts, and the
colleges founded upon the provisions OF
the law referred to are still grouped to-
gether as the agricultural Colleges"
But'this title as applied to them Is made
uuate and therefore so far inappropriate ;
for agriculture is not the only subject
named in the act, and if any college is con-
fined in its, work TO this single object. then
il is culpably violating both the letter and
the spirit of the law The name is made
quate. and therefore misleading. Ii our
common schools were named after any one
of the subjects taught II would certainly
be misnomer.
There is no doubt but that the law speci-
aes agriculture rs leading subject for In
struction in these schools, and there can be
no doubt that in most OF the States this
aim has been kept in the foreground. Many
of the States recognizing the inadequacy OF
the Agricultural and Mechanical, have
organized their institutions under the title
"Industrial Universities" as the law ex-
pressly provides that means by which &c
pormofe the liberal and praficdi education
of the iadastrfdl classes in the several pur.
suits and professions OF life. In this land
where every child, though poorly born. may
nroyide himself with liberal and practical