Evening star., 1896-04-14
Educators Everywhere Favor the
University Of the United States:
REPORT OF The SENATE COMMITTEE
The Proposed Institution CordiSfy
Approved and Commended.
PLANS AND PURP SES

Inc report OF tne senate cOmmlttee, tC
establish the University of the United
States. on the bill for that purpose, has
been submitted to the Senate, as hereto
fore published in The Star. The report
contains voluminous Endorsements OF the
university plan from men most prominent
in public and private life, from heads OF
educational departments in nearly every
state and all of the larger cities of the
Union; from the presidents of great num-
Der of universities, colleges and education
al institutions of various ranks, and from
every possible source where an indorse-
ment of such project would carry with it
any weight. .--.s- as-,--.-'-
Plan of the Institution.
The bill before the Senate, as amended,
providessthat university of post graduate
rank, with facilities for scientific and liter
ary research and investigation, shall be es-
tablished in the District of Columbia; that
the government of the institution shall be
vested in a board of regents and univer-
sfty council; that the board of regents shall
be composed of the President of the United
States. who shall be president of the board
the chief justice of the United States the
commissioner of education. the secretary
or the Smithsonian Institution, the preSi-
dent of the National Academy Of Science,
the president of the National Educational
Association, and the president of the uni
versity, and nine other citizens of the
United States, no two of whom shall be
citizens of the same state, to be appointed
by the President by and with the consent
of the Senate; that the university council
snail consist of the board of regents and
Twelve other citizens of the United States
to be appointed by the board of regents
from eminent educators connected with in
stitutions of learning in the United States:
that the board of regents shall have cxclu-
G onpfr rfl 0ft
of the university and all it's affairs not
cOnf1ded to the university council
1t further declares that the university
council shall have power to prosecute and
dlrect the work Of the university in courses
or higher instruction. research and investi-
CATION for the increase of knowledge; that
1t shall also appoint all officers of instruc-
tion; that no chair for instruction sectarian
In religion or partisan In politics shall he
permitted in any form. and no partisan test
Shall be required or allowed in the appoint
ment of professors in the selection of
any officer of the university; that the IA
clhties afforded by the university shall be
open to all who are competent to use them.
on conditions prescribed by the executive
committee, with the advice of the faculties
directly concerned that degrees shall be
conferred upon such persons only as have
previously received the degree of bachelor
or arts or some equivalent degree, or who
nave received certificates of gradua ton
from some state educational institution.
The Proposed Site.
1t is provided that the university shall
have authority to establish with other in
stltutions of education and learning in
this or In other countries such co-opera-
tive relations as shall be deemed advan-
taSeouS; that, In the admission and ap-
po1ntment of persons to places or priyi-
leSes in the university, character and com
potency shall be the sole test of qualifi-
70 hot
viding building sites for the several de-
partments of the university University
Square, selected and set apart by Presi-
dent George Washington for the use of a
national university and heretofore occ,,pied
by the naval observatory, shall be set apart
for the use and benefit of the University
of the United States.
That for the organization, preliminary
Wolk. ana support Of the university an
appropriation of $4,000 is made for the
fiscal year ending June 80, 1891 and s2j0OO
ior the hscal year ending June so, 1898
No permanent endowment is contempla ted
at this time, leaving to Congress in the
future TO provide for the institution by d-
rect appropriation or py setting aside a
portion of the proceeds of the sale of pub
lie lands or otherwise.
The Report of the Committee.
The report says: This bill. contemplates
an institution for men, not for bows subject
to class room drill and control; for men
seeking wide fields for scientific and philo-
sophie research, and with the worlds best
equipments at hand; an institution broader
in Its scope, more complete in it's organ
1zation, more philosophic and practical in
its internal regulations, with the highest
possible educational standards and aims.
an institution above and beyond the best
of the colleges, with their loosely alta ched
professional schools, and on it's own high
er plane existing for the extension and
dinusion of all branches of useful knowl-
edge; an institution where the love of knowl-
edge shall be fostered and deyel-
oped: where advanced students. devoted to
any branch of knowledge, whether science.
language. literature, or philosophy, or to
any of the combinations Of these constitut-
ing the numerous professional courses of
instruction, shall intermirgle and enioy
frieEdiy intercourse as peers of the same
realm; where the professors, chosen from
among the abiest and best scholars of the
world, with absolute freedom of conscience
and OF speech, shall be not teachers of the
known merely, but also earnest searchers
after the unknown, and capable, by their
genius, enthusiasm, and moral power of
infusing their own lofty ambition into the
minds OF all who wait upon their instruc-
tion; university NOT barely complying
with the demands Of the age, but one thai
shall create, develop, and satisfy new d.
mands and aspirations, that shall have
power to fashion and mold the age unto its
own ideal. and which through every change
and every real advance of the world shall
still be at the front, driving back FROM
their Businesses the powers of darkness.
opening up new continents Of truth to the
grand army Of progress, so leading the
nation Forward and helping to elevate the
whole human race. 80. .l.,.,.,l-,, ,I1s'
I'VE have no such institution In the United
n ~ -.