The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1893-03-30

has been brought prominently
before both houses of the legislature
and published abroad through the
press. 1t seems necessary, therefore,
that l should meet the issue made,
however dlsagreeable the task may
be-. Besides, and this | acknowledge
is my main motive in writing this
paper, accusations and insinuations
are made against me as man in this
"memoriap which feel bound to de.
nounce, as / did denounce them be.
fore the house committee in my oral
reply to Prof. Cooper.
In regard to my general lack OF
ability Prof. Cooper says l am not a
great man. ] do not claim to be. L
know of but one man in Texas who
does. But in thl connection Prof
Cnoper makes the following remarka-
bic statement: "He" (Chail man
Waggener) "msintalns sort OF stand
ing with the board which enables
him to control, in a large meas
ure, the selection OF professors
and the inner administration OF
the academic department, and by
his relation to the board of regents,
he controls the faculty." The board
OF regents is cCmposed of eight men,
and its mbership has frequently
changed siDce ! have been chairman,
new men coming in and old men going
out. The faculty is now composed OF
sixteen professors entitled to vote, ana
has grown to this numb by coudant
additions OF new material. If l have
Ontrolled thee Two bodies Ly indi'
rection and by craft, as Prot. Cooper
insinuatss, they must be composed OF
dOlts and fools. If have controlled
them by the weight of my suggestions
and the confidence they have had III
my judgment, must be man of more
ability than Prof Cooper gives me
credit for. The fact is, | have not
controlled theR at all. The board
and the faculty are perhaps as indie
pendent bodies 40 ever met in Texas.
The man that would attempt to control
them would soon discouer his mistake.
AZ q member Vt the faculty | have
had my say on all questions that
came Before it, and have stood, along
with my colleagues, on the merits OF
my position, often failing i'll what L
advocated. AS the chairman OF the
faculty ii has been my duty to report
ito wishes to the board of regents. In
addition, | have frequently expressed,
when asked, my opinion on points
under discussion. sometimes have
declined to do this, bat when | did
express an opinion il was done with.
out fear or favor. AS far as my con-
trolling this selection of professors L
have had perhaps less to do with it
than the executive officer of any insti-
tuition in this country. A notable in
stance OF this occurred when Prof.
Cooper applied for the professOrship of
Latin and Greek in the year 1887.
He failed to secure the place.
From certain actions of his The
morning after his failure l saw that
no held me Responsible for his disap-
pointment. Az | had nothing what
ever to do with bringing it about, |
was naturally indignant at his treat
ment. / mentioned the matter to
three OF tho regents who had remained
over in Austin and they offered to
give me statement that would re-
lisvo me from Prof Cooper's spicion,
l quote from the paper which is ad-
dressed to me.
"In view of the fact that we the un.
dersignsd members of the board of re-
gents of the university of Texas have
been informed that you are being
blamed and censured by Pr jtessOr
Cooper and his friends as being the
cause of the non election of Professor
Cooper to fill the chair of ancient
languages, made vacent by the resig-
nation of Professor Humphreys, we
wish to state that there was nothing
said or done by you whatever that in.
dictated to us what your views or
wishes upon that subject were; and
that our actions in the premises were
not controlled in the least by any
word o" act of yourself or any other
member of the faculty" Then follows
n statement of the real reasons why
Professor Cooper was not elected,
which it is not necessary to quote.
This paper, signed by these three
members mentioned, was forwarded
to three other members for their
signatures. All three replied, declin.
ing to sign the on the expressed
grounds that it was beneath the dig.
nifty of the board to. disclaim undue
influence In their action. In
one of these replies occurs
tho following sentences: l have no
objection 10 stating, as a matter of
justice TO Professor Waggener, If he
desires it, that he did not to me, nor,
so far as l know, to any other member
of the board of regents, attack to the
election or candidacy of Prof ssor
Cooper" l quote the following from
another reply: ~ agree with -
that we are not called ON to explain
our actions to anybody, or disclaim
any influence that disappointed people
may ascribe to us. We are RESPONSE
bic for our administration to the PEG.
pie, and am ready at any time to
respond to inquiries, made in the
proper way, with respect to our adj
ministratiOn of the university. II any
candidate for position bsfore us
should be weak enough to indulge in
complaints or even in abuse, his con-
duct would simply justify our action
IN failing 10 recognize his merits. DR..
Waggener can afford, as well as we,
to make no explanation to anybody
with respect to his influence. If he
should be able to influence our actions
so much the greater compi.
ment to his ability. The sug-
gestion therefore, that he might be
able to influence our minds in an i'm