Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-03-10

L
I'm view OF the foregoing facts. we do
MOI think i reasonable that me s,, sta A. 6 pc
college. by granting 1t u large nxed sum
annually. nor tax endowment o. one
tenth Of a mill on the State valuation as
| has been often suggested.
There IL the conclusion of that commit
! tee Now ! ask you. why should we go
| on appointing committees ana commas
sions and men turning them down be-
cause they do not agree with what we
| think should be done. when they have
had the privilege of Investigating this
we know more about the State college
| than they? Some weeks ago we were in
| vited to visit the State college. We
looked over the buildings and the work
i that was being carried on. and every one
| Of those shops were in active operation.
every forge was running. Some OF the
boys in the State college fitted for that
institution under my tuition. and | went
| to some of those boys in the forge room
and asked them how long they had been
| there and what their work consisted OF.
| and they said they were placed there. the
| day before. in order that they might
| make IA good impression when the Legis-
lature visited the college.
We then listened ~ the address of
| President Harris. which was an up
| braidng of the report OF that commits
| sion. but submit that he gave no facts
| wherein he proved conclusively that that
| college should receive a large appropria- :
| ton and that the students should not be
compelled to pay "A moderate tuition. Now
| what was the intention of the founding
| of that college? We find that the land
was appropriated for the founding OF u
| school. where the leading object shall
| be. without excluding other scientific and
| classical studies. and including military
| tactics. 10 teach such branches OF learn
| ing as are related TO agriculture and the
| mechanic arts. In such manner as the
| Legislatures of the states may Respect
| lively prescribe. in order to promote the
| liberal and practical education OF the in
| dustrial classes in the several pursuits
l and professions in life
| That was the act under which the State
| college was founded. In the discussion
! in the House and Senate which followed.
| il was decided. after "a time. that the
| State. by accepting that land. by appro-
l priating "A moderate sum for several
years to the State college. would place
/ the college upon its feet and that II could
| go on and do the work intended with only
| the aid that should be received from the
| United States grant. IL was not intended
| that the president OF that institution and
| his lobby should come here year after
year ana ask for larger and larger appro-
priations. The intention was to educate
| boys who were the sons OF farmers of this
| State and other classes In moderate cir
cumstanceS: but by the report OF the
| president OF the college. we iind less than
one-half of the pupils. today. are farm
| ers sons. They come from other places
| and other walks of life. " uen visiting
| that institution ! went into the rooms nf
| the students. and | rcver saw rooms In
| Bowdoin or Colby or Bates fitted up with
| such sumptuous luxury during the four
| years J was In college ! saw in the
Maine State college, and stili they say
| that the pupils In the State college are
| too poor to nay tuition. The college
| started out with four courses OF study.
| Ii increased those courses gradually and.
| today. they have nine courses instead of
| the four primary courses started In that
| institution. The president desires the
name to be changed TO that ef the Uni
| vepsity of Maine. If they change its
| name under the guidance OF its present
| president. who will not be satisfied until
| IL Is university In the fullest sense of
| the word. you viii soon have to appropri-
| ate SlUo.0oO year for the running of that
| institution. The farmers in my vicinity
| believe that the State college is doing Il
| noble work in agriculture. What Is the
| fact? + rom 1872 to 1895. i,s> stunents were
| graduated. One hundred and seventy
| of those are In the State. today. and 2;
! are engaged in agricultural work. and of
| that % only IL Of those are In this State
| ] believe that the courses in civil engineer
1 ing and mechanical engineering and cleo
| triCal engineering are courses which are
| fitting the boys to receive a good income
| in the future for their work: and If a
| boy wishes to obtain an education which
| Will enable him to receive from $50 to
| slaS a year after he has graduated. why
| shouldn't he be compelled to pay his tut
| ton. il he Is able to. as much as the boy
who goes to Bowdoin or Bates or Colby?
| These students maintain a foot ball team
| and Il. base ball team. and go around the
| country and pay their own expenses and
| that they are so poor that they cannot
pay $40 a year tuition. Is it right that
we should vote such sum from the
State treasury as S21. 600 to carry on n
higher education of only one i'm 200 of
our children? For only one boy in 200 in
| this State is taking a course in any col
iege. and if this be made a State univer-
| sity the tendency will be to absorb them
| all. BY the report of the State superin-
tendent there are teachers in the back
districts who are receiving only 81 II week
weeks schooling in a year Are we to
| let such things as this go on and still
continue the appropriation for this State
college? believe that YOU will agree
with me that the boys who are capable
of paying tuition should pay the moder-
| ate tuition of $40 year. and If they are
| made to pay that tuition they will be the
better off. If boy has not enterprise
enough to go to college and work his way
through. We are educating a bow upon
whom It viii he waste to spend four
years of time to educate him.
Mr. Pattangail of Machias: | think no
question will come before this Legislat,Irel
in which SO deliberate an attempt has
been made to mislead and prejudice mem
beers of this House as in this question of
reasonable appropriation for the State
college. II my friend from Wilton. (Mr
BlanchardD asks me why / refuse To ac-
cept the conclusions of the commission
which was appointed to investigate the
matter. shall tell him frankly it is he-
cause the facts from which they drew
those conclusions are falsified from one
knows it and so does everyone else who
has studied the report. Ever since that
report came out We have heard this APP
preparation referred to under but one
head. the Maine State college grant; and |
say that of all the institutions and or |
EXAMINATIONS that have come before YOU |
for an appropriation. the Maine State
college is the one instance where the |
needs of the institution have not been |
considered but the financial condition of |
the State has been considered That
commission states in its report that the
present buildings at Orono are absolutely
Inadequate for the use of the college: and
yet the friends of that institution do not
ask you for one dollar for building appro- |
priations. The committee on State col |
lege ask for one-twelfth of a mill aud |
they have cut their demands down to So
900 a year because of the condition of this |
State and not taking into considerati ton
their just needs Because of that we are /
entitled to consideration. Because of tnat |
the members of this House whose preiu-
diceS have been played upon should he
aware of any further cutdown. We have
taken the last dollar from that appropri- |
alton that the State college can stand. |
The friends of that institution have done
1t. Now We ask the same fair treatment /
that you will afford other State nstitu- |
tons. The State college Is not to be
compared to Bates or BowdOin or Colby
or any other private institution. 1t il a
State institution. it is absolutely in the
control of the State. Every agent of the