The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-01-17
The STATE UNIVERSITY.
Opinions From Leading Educators
Urging Consolidation Of the
State Institutions
An Address to the Legislature
From Friends OF the Move
mont.
All II Favor Of Concentration ~ the True
Principle In Dealing With Higher
Education.

Principle In Dealing With Higher
Education.
The committees OF the council Of sduca-
cation and the State Teachers association
have prepared an address to ths members OF
the legislature. urging the consolidation OF
the state educational institutions. from
which the following extracts are taken;
I'VE believe that the citizens OF Montana
should have the matter brought 10 their A.
tention in Z prorer and i%ntelltRsnt mannsr.
showing them how the largest and best In.
terssts OF the state may be conserved. BY
the consolidation OF the state university.
Having studied the matter intelli0ently.
from . practical and economical stand
point. wo feel assured that they will rise
shove considerations of merely local inter
ssts and look to the greater advantages
which must accrue TO tho atate as =
whole aud for all the futare. In
support of our proposition we ven
ture to suggest the following Arguments:
The history of state education in tho older
states proves most conclusively that the best
results hove always been reached through
the consolidation of the state educational
Institutions. This arguments will be
strengthened by II perusal Of the opinions
Of the leading educators and presidents Of
state universities, whose views are ap-
rended. These views all gain additional
force in Montana from tho fact that it is
but sparssly populated. and must be for
many years to come. T.. J. Burrill, acting
regent Of Illinois university. says: 1t
would be disastrous to your best eduoa-
tional interests to divide the fund for =
state university to accommodate separate
localitiss.'
David S. Jordan, president Of Leland
Stanford. Jr. university, says in his letter:
TO locate the Institutions, in . state like
Montana, in separate towns. as has been
done In Colorado and other states. is to
doom them to utter failure and lack of in
fuence.' He further says: The separation
from the state univs sity, as w have seen
In nearly half the states of the union, was
= blunder which in time will deepen into a
crime. Wisconsin, Illinois. Minnesota and
Nebraska are examples Of the rapid growth
OF universities when the higher work of the
state ia all concentrated in one place."
considerations of economy are strongly
in favor of consolidation of the state uni
versity.'' says the committee. 'If divided
each institution must have a separate board
OF trustees. Each must have a president,
q professor of English. q professor OF chem
tstiy, a professor OF natural sciences. Each
must have a chemical and physical labora-
tory and library. This argument appeals
very forcibly to Montana. where the num-
Der of students for many Yeas to come
will not be beyond the capacity Of ono pro-
lessor in each department.. and whore ono
I~1 ~~l ~r, sl.nr ill L. r-.~1-
sufficient for all. Not only go, but oom-
bining the funds at our disposal they oan
be equipped and furnished much more etfic-
iently than by dissipatina our funds and
our energies in the equipment Of several
laboratories and Libraries instead of one.
appended views of leading educators.
"Chas. w. Elliott, president Of Harvard
university, refers to Colorado as an example
OF the evils OF separation. In the case of
Montana it must be- even more disastrous,
as 1t has a much smaller population. I'm
less our state institutions are equipped as
we'll as eastern colleges, a large proportion
OF our students will continue to 90 to east
EN- schools because of greater fcoilitiss,
and the advantages of we'll equipped labor
atories and libraries. Whom We consider
the small educational fund at present
available. and, further, that the land ap-
proprlated to the state institutions oannot
be sold at less than ten dollars per acre, it
will be seen that the available funds are
utterly inadequate. and must for many
years be utterly insufficient to cary on tho
work of the separate institutions with any
credit to the state.
III. b. Adams, Of Johns Hopkins univsr-
sity, says: In editing a series of state re-
ports for the United States bureau of edu-
cation on American educational history, T
have been profoundly impressed with the
wrongs dons to all future generations by
the improper division of public money in
the founding and maintenance Of colleges.
The experience Of the state of Ohio in this
regard is the worst on record. In that
state splendid revenues were scattered upon
a number of Institutions in order to crafty
local sentiment. Concentration and CEN
trslization are the true p inciplss in deal
ing with the higher education."
"P3 estdent Jordan, in an address deiiv-
cred before the state university of Illinois,
said: i congratulate the state of Illinois
that lts university ia one unive rsity, that
its pure and applied science, its lite; aturs,
history. philosophy and art are taught in
one institution. by one united faculty. The
be reached without the association Of NIL
othere. The aiming OF the engineer will
be the more valuable from his association
with the classical student. Tbs literary
man may gain much and will lose nothing
from his acquaintance with the practical
Worh VI WIS oARln0e
Believing that the state of Montana
should learn from the mistakes and expert
ences of other states in regard to higher
education, several citizsus have been in
correspondence with tho leading educators
and presidents of state universities through
out the land in reference to this Important
question. and their replies are appended.
suoh evidence ought to outweigh all verso
nal and local considerations We do not
in this appeal to the citizens OF Montana
even Wish to assume that any one town or
city In the state IL preferable to any or all
Others, but We believe that it would be- for
the highest and best interests of the state,
regardless of its location. to have all the
depa tments of the state university csp-
ttalized At one point.
I'm their report TO the legislature now in
session the code commissioner make the
following suggestion: 1t il suggested that
the university of Montana be locaeed at
some place and that the other three cduo..
tional institutions be mado parts of the
university and be connected with it under
their several different nnmes. One build
ing would be sufficient for all. at least for
n time. and one corps of teachers could pcr-
form all the neoessar, dusieB.'
Inc following arc extracts from the let
tiers received from the educators nam0d:
From President VIM. II. Haspcr. OF the
university of Chicago: Il am greatly in
terested in what Montana may do In an
educational way. We have given the mat
ter some COnRideration and hova mn hnpitn.