The Portland daily press., 1897-02-20

thusiastie and beloved head" Of the
S tate College. If that "heloved head
made a foolish anu hasty speech it WASH t
the PRESSES fault. AS for the insinua-
| ton of the Commercial that the PRESS
has opposed the continued support of the
( State College on locality grounds, that
is absolutely false, known to be SO by the
Commercial. The PRESS has never, di
rectly or indirectly, or In the Temotest
manner cherished or expressed opposi-
tion on that ground, and the suggestion
OF the Commercial to the contrary, is n
dishonest attamp5 on its part to prejudice
arguments which it canrot answer.
However, the PRESS considers itself
fully compensated for the unjust aspor-
| sions cast upon it by the admissions that
are made by the Commercial regarding
the real purpose of the "hoomers" of this
institution. All along through the dis
cushion heretofore the pretenoe has been
/ kept up that the State was bong asked
to do only what it had agreed TO DO, and
/ that this institution was to continue to
| be what its founders intended it to be, a
school for>industrial training, OF (to
quote the language Of Gov. Coburn
| a Hschool wEers the sons of
farmers may freyly obtain all the neces-
sary facilities to fit them to become orna-
ments to their profession, and, when
| themselves esta blished on their farms to
become so many centres of light, radiat-
| ing knowledge to all within the scope of
| their influence, both by precept and exam
ple.' President Harris in recent adj
dress i'll somewhat obscure sentence"
| spoke about building upa ''great state
university" but this was simply "to
| turn point" 1t was merely "rhetori-
| cal. - as has been explained in regard to
that other ''hasty and obscure remark"
of his that 'Maine farms were only good
to raise boys upon" AS rule the
boomers" have kept very. dark on this
point, and have continued to cultivate
the notion that this college was for the
| purpose of illuminating the ''poor boy''
| from the farm and sending him back to
be "centre of light in his locality.
| But the Commercial has now thrown off
all disguise. Nobody at the present
tine," it says "helieves that the State
College Of agriculture and the mechanic
arts should he today what nybody
thought in 1854 it ought to be" We are
| glad that at last the cat is out of the
bag, and that there is. no mere pretence
that this institution is farmers college
or a poor mans college, and that State
support is asked for it as an educational
institution like Bowdoin or Colby or
Bates. This simplifies the situation very
much. Ii reduces the question simply to
one of ACCESSIBILITY of the States taking
upon itself the support of "great State
university" to be called the University
of Maine, free TO all the people Of Maine
and the rest of the world, capable of in
definite expansion. There are now nine
distinct courses in the university, and
there is practically no limit to it's expan-
sion for under the act of Congress every
branch of knowledge may be taught be-
meath It's roof. It is the right of the peo-
pie of Maine to promote this enterprise if
they SO desire. Inasumoh as we have
only three colleges in the State perhaps
| Oneio 10 A0oU VI d sioaO Otooo uAlFeisl-
| ty" supported by perpetual taxation.
Perhaps it will. be better to increase the
mill tax to support great State uniyer-
sity for the free education of the few in
the higher branches, rather than to sup
port and improve the public schools for
the education of thu many. These are
questions for the legislature to discuss
and settle. 1t is matter of cong-atula-
ton that the Bangor Commercials frank
admission Of what the college "boomers'
are after makes it possible to discuss them
on their merits free from the obscurity
and prejudice which the pretence that
this college was specially farmers and
| Door mans college has tended to create.
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