The Indianapolis journal., 1898-12-19
The Report of the state University.

No official report will be studied this year
with more care than the report of the trus-
tees of Indiana University Heretofore it
has been hastily glanced over by the mem
bers of the Legislature and then laid aside
as having no special significance. but the
demand of two years ago for $250,0OO to meet
a pressing need" IN the way of additional
plant alone, and an indefinite demand for
enlarging the campus and a statement that
larger appropriations would soon be re-
quired to meet running expenses, coupled
with bill i'm the Legislature to give its
graduates precedence over the graduates Of
other colleges, have awakened an interest in
the institution never before felt, hence the
report just from the printer will be studied
with more than ordinary interest, first to
know what idea the trustees entertain as
to the proper scope of the institution itself
and it's proper relation to the State the in
quiry going so far in many quarters as to
question the right of the State to make
any appropriations at all to it. To aid in
this investigation let me call attention to
few things the report reveals and to some
things it conceals which are quite indis-
pensable to a proper understanding of the
situation. Thus, for instance, it shows that
the attendance from Monroe county has
fallen from 155 in 1897 to ninety-five in 1898,
while the general increase was from 1913 in
1897 to 1,049 in 1S98 How is this? Is Monroe
county lapsing into barbarism, while the
rest of the State is more largely represented
in this state school? The fact concealed
is that in order to create the impression
that the school is not e. local school,
Monroe county students, as far as possible,
have been charged to some other county
in which they formerly lived. Thus Marion
county is charged with some who have not
lived here for years and who are as likely
to live forever in Monroe county as any
place else, and the wife of one of the pro-
fessors is charged to the county she once
lived in. A little judicious distribution of
the shrinkage in Monroe county thus
gives the appearance of a college for
the State, and not for Monroe county chief
w. Thus in 1897 there was one in every five
and a half, but this year 1t is only one for
every eleven. The catalogue shows an en-
rollment of 1,049, but 1t does not show how
many or how few of those are in regular at
tendance. Investigation shows that of the
nineteen charged to Hamilton county only
four attended the whole year; the balance
were teachers and others who dropped into
the college for a short time for some Spe-
cial study. Presumably this is the case in
other counties, even including Monroe.
The report shows that for 1897 l5o students
attended from Monroe county, the full sig-
nificance of which fact cannot be under
stood without consulting the books of the
state auditor and learning that Monroe coun-
ty paid of the special tax of 1897 for the
State University only $5l3.56, or $3.3l per
student, while Marion county pad $9,072 on
and Allen county paid $2773 on eleven stu
dents, or $252 per student, while other coun-
ties paid more per student than Allen or
Marion. No one will claim that there is
any parallelism between this and the taxa
ton for common schools which provide
equal accommodations for all, while this
DOT fcv
and a half of those in the State who attend
the same class of schools; the other four
and half, being compelled to pay these
taxes, tax themselves for their own educa-
ton; for want OF room in the state school
if for no other reason-hence there should be
six such colleges.
average reader as in bad taste in ain Off
cial paper; in order to show what good has
come Of money spent on the university, 1t
gives the names of its distinguished alumni
in the seventy-eight years of existence, all
of whom, however, were grauated before it
became a state school, One had served six
years in the United States Senate; one was
for thirty years president of a university
in China; one became an eminent physician:
one distinguished diplomat, and one, who
took only partial course, was for short
time q member of the Cabinet; one a Gov
e-nor of South Dakota, and one is now a
distinguished members of Congress- from
Illinois There is a bit of hurnor in This last
case that is hardly allowable in a grave
state paper, for this man was educated al
Olu A6DuIyg Out OWlHg TO a DIT OF unpIeaS-
antness between the faculty and the senior
class a few weeks before commencement,
growing out of a circus several of the class
withdrew from Asbury and went to Bloom
ington, where they were made seniors by
adoption, as ii were, and thus became
adopted alumni AS their alma mater later
on condoned their offense and conferred the
usual degrees, all those have two mothers,
one the alma who educated them, the other
the foster who adopted and graduated them,
and their names are carried on the roster of
each. each proud of at least this distin-
guished child. IF there is anything I'm such
a parade of deeds to justify appropriations
Oe PauW University, though sixteen years
younger, could claim much more Her roster
shows four United States senators, two
Governors, two controllers of the currency
one supreme Judge of Indiana, one Cabinet
officer, one president of the University in
India. one foreign minister and 511 ministers
and teachers. 81 of whom became college
presidents, many of whom have more than
q national fame, and congressman, judges
and legislators without number. But there
is absolutely nothing in such q parading
Of results These colleges could not we'll help
turning out great men from the race ma
terial the shops and farms of early Indiana
furnished when men were educated, not
crammed. and the fact of major and minor
studies had not played havoc with scholar
snip.
The report claims that this school is pre-
eminentiy the school for persons of limited
means. and, therefore, 1t deserves the
bountiful appropriations it enjoys and
seeks To characterize such a claim as
seeking money under false pretenses would