New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-02-15
4 UESTERN TNITERSITY.

Time was not long ago, when "fresh-water COL
lcge" was a term OF reproach. The great seats
Of learning Of the North Atlantic seaboard re-
garded scornfully the multiudnous colleges
and "universitles'' that were springing up as II
by magic all over the Western country unmind-
full of the fact that their own best sons were the
founders and upbuilders Of them. Nor was THIS
feeling altogether without seeming cause. There
were so-calleri universities in the West bigger
and scarcely higher in scholarship than New
England grammar-school; no more entitled to the
names they bore than was, for example, two
hundred years ago. the institution founded by
John Harvard. Yet who could tell but that they
had within themselves the promise and po-
tency" Of future achievement even greater ana
more rapid of fulhlment that that famous school?
Why should not they who had come from New
England to civilize plain and prairie do as well
as they who had come from Old England to
civilize the wilderness adjacent to Massachusetts,
Bay?
Such n vindicatlon time has indeed made. The
founders Of the Western States were wise in their
day and generaton wiser. perhaps. than their
forefathers. They made generous provision for
education. both primary and higher. They es-
tablshed at the same time the district school
and the State university The latter some
times the Smaller anu weaver VI lIlc wv. ''ue
1t kept pace with the growth of the State itself.
and the result is that the great commemorative
beyond the Aeghanies. and beyond the Mis-
sissippi now have centres Of learning some Of
which are not shamed by comparison with
those Of our Eastern States. Within the last
year we have had occasion to review the mar
vellous progress made by a New-York university
in the twenty-five years of its existence. To-
10. ~ Ia celebrates its
quarter-centenary. And it is by no means ex-
travagant to say that the relations between the
two are those OF comparison rather than Of con-
trast
The University Of Nebraska, Of which thor
ough description was printed in Sundays Trib
une now ranks in size. equipment and scholar
ship among the three or four chief colleges
OF the West. ard. with its compeers. chal-
lenges the respectful esteem OF all American
educators. Planted in the heart Of the West
ern plains. it is naturally typical in spirit
Of the restless energy and enterprise OF that
region Yet II vindIcates its right to the title of
university not only by teaching all branches of
learning which its patrons require but also in
cxceng In the generally recognized require
ments Of liberal culture. 1t gives instruction in
agriculture 1t is to be practsed on the plains.
and IL less diigent and efficient In the classics.
philosophy and art In the former its worth is
recognized by the farmers and herdsmen of the
Platte Valley. and in the latter its achievements
are honored not only here In the East but in the
great centres OF learning in foreign lands. once
the bare thought Of higher culture in the far
West would have provoked derision. To-day.
Greek play on tn banks OF the Platte seems
scarcely less congruous than at Cambridge or
New Haven. ana eXcites a serious interest and
n profound admiration. DR.. Garfield and his CO.
adjutors and the whole "brainy and brawny"
State of Nebraska. are heartily to be congratu-
lated on the quarter-century's achievements,
equally brilliant and substantial which this an
nversary comummorates.