New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-10-07
TWENTY.FIVE YEARS OF COfNbLL'

Two noliticol conventions and an ntcrna-
tioual Yacht race do not ill the measure OF iii
portant news in New-York State this week.
There is to-day Il gathering nj i'hhca' VII ''e
shore Of Cayuga Lake, when 'hciuues many
eminent citizens. and which Is res"i"eu "''''
deep and sympathetic interest by 'nouSah''
of men and women throughout this ooiniioi-
wealth and the world at large III Is inuccu'
M SLIGHT achievement to found ana 10 main'
tain for a quarter of a century, with constant
ly increasing success, great INSTITUTION Vi
useful learning and ii is fitting tha' SUCH
work should be commemorated WIN serious
thought and with highest honors. Inc event
appeals, moreover, TO an unusually h'se pio
portion of the public. For not only mas II 10 oo
with an institution of learning in which all
followers in higher education must feel an IN
,erost but with what is practically State in
stitution as WE'LL in which every loyal citlzeh OF
New-York ought to feel IA share OF pride anu
of responsibility.
Twenty-fye years ago this 9TH OF October
the doors Of Cornell University were opened
to the first incoming class. The history oi 'he
founding of the school and its subsequent ue-
velopment. with It's strange mingling or the
COMMONPLACE and the romantic. has been made
familiar to all readers. But it Is worth while
10 review at this time some salient FACTS anu
figures relating to the university expansion IN
facilities and progress In usefulness. frcsident
Schurman stated yesterday, In his Official re-
mort TO the trustees that the productive cap
itol had increased from $135.OOO in 1858 TO
81 100 600 in 1893 not including the twenty
eight buildings, worth S2.j00,000 more. The
last years income has been SJO2,Ooo Inc
library. occupying one of the best houses ever
built for the purpose, contains lJo,on Dounu
volumes and $1,000 pamphlets. The facui'y
in 1865 numbered 26: now II numbers more
than 10 In 1923 there were enrolled l,olS
students, and the present academic year will
see more than 1000 names oil the books. The
coulpmcnt Of the various departments in appa-
ratls, etc. has kept pace with the growth III
other directions. and the standard OF schoiar-
ship. as indicated in requirements for admission
and in the curriculum. has been steadily raised.
until In not Il few particulars the freshmen OF
to-day stand almost where the seniors stood
in 1868.
During the twenty-five years Of its exist
cncc, President Schurman reminds MS, Cornell
University has not received cent from the
State Of New-York; until now, when S10,Wo
Is being spent on new building for the Col
lego Of Agriculture. The land grant on which
the institution was founded made by the
United States Government, and the skiltul ad-
mnlstration thereof. aud the vast additions
made 10 the fluid resulting from IT, are all TO
be credited TO individual devotion and munih-
ccncc At the same time. free tuition is given
TO about six hundred students. under II rcnuisi-
ton of the State Government. This last fact
gives especial force 10 the appeal for state
endowment. or annual appropriation which
President Schurman has repeatedly made.
Certainly the State owes much to the univer-
sity in return for what the university is doing
for H. At any rate. whether through public
appropriations or through private muntccncc.
the people of New York State ought To fulfil
the reasonable desires Of this great school. No
stronger appeal can be- made than is made by
the simple record OF things done In these last
twenty-five years. The next twenty-five years
ought TO the ratio Of progress splcndidly
maintained until the university shall literally
be what its founder planned an institution
where any person can find instruction in any
study"