Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1893-07-06

equipments and to dependence upon those
who have not hitherto been distinguished as
its foremost friends, would DO incapable OF
maintaining the broad aud advanced sphere
OF usefulness, with all OF the requirements
originally designed, upon VIII oh it is now
fairly and repu,ably embarked,
some critics possibly would concsde that
the author of an act of Congress, and its
amendments, ought to know something Of
its meaning, au therefore, could be trust
ed to give 1t a true Interpretation. l ain as
earnestly in favor Of every fibre of the act
OF lS62 rs was more than 30 years ago,
and only insist that 1t was never intended
merely to increase the number of i'll born
and baf-equipped colleges, decrept from
| birth, or colleges only by tho unmerited
! grace of a name
For the Great on Of educational insti-
tutions in each aud every State of less grade
than full nedged colleges available to one
cass only of students, it would be prepos-
! ferrous TO believe that a national endow-
| ment would ever have been proposed or
granted, nor would supplementary aid have
! been obtaiuable
/ BY no means was it Designed to curtail
| the usual extent of a collegiate education,
| but to add thereto such essential and prac-
! teal sciences As were tlen almost univor
sally neglected by literary colleges, although
! indisl elsabe to the advancement of the
American people in their industrial and di-
| ver-i!ied life. 1t should be borne in mind
! that less than 30 years ago modern sciences
were ia their infancy, and may not yet have
| passed beyond childhood, but they
have greatly increased the knowledge aud
| comforts OF mankind, relieved labor from
many irkso M tasks and marvelou,ly mul-
| tiulied remunerative pursuits and profess
| sions. They are tho open door to new vo-
cations AS has well been said we live in
IAN ago when science has become romantic
! and romance scientific. -
The new branches of instruction afford
| ample equivalents for whatever in any an
Gent curriculum may properly be- omitted
/ with reference to future professions. 1t
was not proposed to exclude any
OF tie standard branches Of liberal
learning, nor to coniiue all students
to the same branches, but while
giving new and worthy prominence to
those related to agriculture and the me
chsnic arts, there Is not word that prom
/ ised to either or botl monopoly of tho
/ grant.
The fundamental and chronic defect of
the early New England colleges, was the de-
NAL to science OF its proper value, defect
Inherited from the mother country two
centurle, old, which Bacon had laborsd in
VAN to remedy, and from which it was here
at length earnestly sought to escape. Sclen =
tiic erudtion therefore, was not to be un-
recognized, nor to be held relatively in
ferior to any other portion of what is term
cd n liberal education, and thus to make
! higher education OF mora account and avail
/ aule to much larger numbers IL was hoped
to give the muscular boy, elected to stay
with the old folks at home some educational
training, some higher use OF his brain pow.
er. as well as TO the brother ambitious to
seek the uncertail aud more perIlous learn
ed professions, or the dizzy commercial for
tunes Of the town. |. was not to foredoom
any student to tho vocation of his father,
but if that vocation should be chosen, offer
cd help, love and hospitality.
by the terms of the original act of Con
gress classics were not to ba excluded from
the land grant colleges, and by the terms OF
the legislative act Of Vermont uniting the
University With the Agricultural
college, To, were to be included, as 1t was
specifically set forth that instructions in
''branches OF learning usually taught in
colleges" should mot BE- inferior to that
recently taught in said University" TO
Congress and the Vermont Legislature. 1t
was also provided by tho lnttor that th Z
facilities, scope aud variety of industrial
instruction should be enlarged as to bring
tho same into conformity with the act ol
| Congress. Tuat was all that the Lsgisatu q
! asked. Thus 1t was not aimed to destroy
nor to degrade the older Studies bat TO
/ build up and greatly elevate the new, and
surely it was not contrived like two buckets
in II we'll so that, when one went up, the
other must 80 down.
The land grant was also INTENDED by a
liberal endowment, to mitigate the fast
growing evil OF the too great cost of a four
years college course which threatened, and
still threatens to exclude from many lead
ing colleges all but the sous of wealth. The
! dependence of colleges upon tuition for sup
! port imposes heavy burden upon students.
| The result has been TO esta blish at least one
college in every State, and a dozen more for
coored students, where the xpense is moder-
ate, certainly not eXtravagant, and the ma
llonal fund and State aid to some OF the
colleges have been SO large as to enable
them TO offer free tuition to students.
But the orig nal endowment was found in
adequate to properly maintain such colleges
in all OF ths States on the broad and liberal
SO in the smaller States. This was our su-
preme difficulty in Vermont. We have no
millions of population and, If we have any
millionnaires, they keep it q profound secret.
Locally all spontaneous financial relief was
here invisible, and nearly hopeless. After
many years Of constant effort to remedy
this insuililciency OF the original act, a sup
Elementary BILL introduced by me, became
law IN 1880, by which au equal aud direct
annual appropriation from the proceeds OF
the sales OF public lands is to bs directly
paid-not to States--not to States-but "to
the colleges now established" and to cover
any new incoming States, and with no other
purpose it was added Tor which may be
hereafter established, If not applied to "col-
leges now established, obviously it would
have been mlsjoinder, and the purpose
of the act, as supplementary endowment
to colleges already established, would have
miscarried. An amendment at the time
was suggested in the Senate, to authorize a
change or a new college to be established 10y
the States, but it was at once conceded 10
be undesirable to invite such reorganization
and perhaps local contentious concerning