Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1891-01-30
FRIDAY, JANUARY 30, 1891.
WHO Is To BLAME?

President Buckham of the agricultural
college at Burlington writes a letter to
the editor of the Landmark at White
River Junction in which he says that his
institution pays out Sl6,27O year for
instruction and facilities for instruction
in agriculture and the mechanic arts. So
far as it goes this information is good,
but it does not 60 far enough. 1t Is al
together too general in its character.
When the university gets ready TO tell
the public exactly where every cent of
its income is applied and what is done
by the teachers who receive it, then the
people will be satisfied and not before.
The income from the agricultural col
lege fund is properly put into the COM
mon treasury of the institution with
funds derived from other sources, so that
it is impossible to say to what specific
uses the agricultural college fund is ap-
pled but the accounts of the institution
ought to show Just how all the funds
which 60 into the treasury in the course
of year are spent. Such statement
might be made as would enable the pub
lie to Judge whether the fair thing had
been done with respect to the agricultu-
raj end of the establishment.
Another point: Mr.. Buckham begins
his letter to the Landmark with these
sentences: "Your correspondent asks for
information. Now that is something new,
and right pleasant. The usual course is
for these gentlemen to furnish the in
formation, which proves, for the most
part, to be, in your correspondents
phrase, 'entirely new to u.s."
1t is no doubt true that the agricultural
college has been misrepresented, perhaps
wilfully misrepresented in few cases,
but not in the majority of cases. Those
who have written and spoken concerning
it during the present controversy have
undertaken to state things as they were,
and if errors have been committed they
have resulted from the scarcity of au-
thentic information and for this search
ty the college have themselves to blame
LAKE, lot lilc ldsl ScucIdl Cdld-
logue of the institution. 1t purports to
be catalogue of the officers of govern,
ment and instruction, the alumni and
other graduates of the university of Yer.
mont and State agricultural college, Bur-
lington. Vermont, 179l-lS90." 1t con-
tains the usual lists of officers and mem
bers of the corporation followed by the
names of the alumni in classes, Then
comes a list of the medical graduates, q
list of those who have graduated from
the medical department, an index, and, fl
nally, summary. From this summary
1t appears that the whole number OF
graduates in arts" is 1l0l. "Of these, 81
received the degree of C. f. (civil en-
gneer) ; one of NJ. Z. Ginning enginner)
Al of Phi. b. (bachelor of philosophy
and three of b. ). bachelor of science)
Total of degrees other than \. b. (bach
elOr of arts, the degree usually conferred
on graduates of classical Institutions
10l." The whole number of graduates
in medicine is given as 1865, and the
whole number of graduates "in course
as 2l69. Agricultural graduates do no
show up at all in the summary; and, be
side the medical graduates, the l0l who's,
degrees are detailed above and the l00l
who have graduated from the classlca
department, the institution has neve
graduated any one. At any rate that il
what the catalogue says.
1t is to be borne in mind that the gen
eral catalogue is the official statement o
the officers of the institution concernin,
the work it has done, and this is the sum
mary of it. 1t is no wonder that tn
college is misrepresented, or underrepre
sented, provided it has done anything a
all for the furtherance of the agricul
tural interests Of the State, when it send
out so lame a showing. But possibly
couldn't do better by itself and
honest.