The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-03-28

| hedQ Sdlu lRdReS lSob-o)s
Mr. President l will say if you leave
the question an open one you may well
destroy the university at once. The
presumption, sir, is, unless civilization
| should be blotted out that both common
| schools and higher institutions of educa-
| ton will continue to exist You can
| not go into any body Of men, whether pro-
| fessional. political or literary in this State,
/ in which you will not find the sons of your
| university. Young men of genius and am
| bition, struggling with poverty through it's
1 provisions have obtained all the advantages
| of education which wealth can beStow. The
| rich can send their sons TO distant institu-
| tons. Not so with the poor and those of
| moderate means. They must have institu-
tons near at hand or be excluded from
| their advantages. But, sir, the idea
prevails to some extent in our State that
| all colleges ought to be under the control
and patronage of particular churches No
1 man ever heard me utter a syllable against
/ the noble and persevering efforts of some
| of our religious denominations in building
/ up institutions of education. 1 honor them
| for these efforts. This is a broad land.
| There is room and work for all. Besides,
the State university-not claimed it's
| own by any denomination needed to fill
/ precisely the ground which it occupies But
| for 1t there is a class of young men who
would either go out of the State or not
enter any public institution"
| Mr.. Bryant, of Warren, said page 1882
You might as well attempt to establish
| planetary system without a sun and center
as to expect that the lower grades of edu-
| cation can flourish whilst the higher are
| neglected or discarded"
| Mr.. Steele, of Wabash, said pages 1920
Il think, sir 1t is as necessary that we
| should have universities and higher order
of schools in Indiana as it is to have conf
mon schools. Would to God that sources of
/ education had been so common in my youth
| as that | could have had access to state
seminary or university"
The final vote on the passage of the sec
| ton page 1888 was seventy-three yeas and
forty-eight nays. Among those who voted
| that the university fund could not be d.
verified, and who thus by their votes de-
clared that the State Universitys existence
should be perpetual, were such intellectual
giants as Horace P. Biddle, Schuyler Col
John l. Morrison, John S. Newman, Abel
Z. Pepper John Petit and David WALLACE
men whose. names are inseparably linked
with the history of the State. Thus while
| the words state university are not in the
| present Constitution, the section in rela-
ton to trust funds was voted upon because
of its relation to the university, and by a
majority of twenty-five votes the constitu-
tional convention decided in favor of the
university. One of the delegates (Mr. Dob
son. of Owen and Greene) voted against the
provision, but he said that he wanted the
university to remain, and his explanation
was as follows page 1850
IF gentlemen will read the obligations
we have put ourselves under to the general
government they will see that there is no
necessity for saying a word about the uni
versity in the Constitution; the act of Con-
gress, approved April 49, 1916, having been
accepted and agreed to by the convention
June 70, 1916, was binding upon both parties
from that date and we could not If we
would discharge ourselves from the obliga-
tons that that acceptance laid upon us
The burden of the work in the conStitu-
tional convention concerning the school sys-
tenn was naturally left to the educational
committee, and the chairman and most in
luential member of this committee was
Prof. John l.. Morrison. who was professor
of languages in Indiana University from
1S45 to 1886, and was one of it's trustees
from 1886 to lS55--a trustee therefore, while
member of the constitutional convention
Or the members of this committee Dele
gates. Blythe. Bryant, Foster, Milligan
Morrison and Nofsinger voted to sustain
the State University, and only two, Hit
and Stevenson, voted in the negative.
1t is a significant fact that the more the
the stronger it became. The logic of such
men as Robert Dale Owen, John l. Morri-
son, John Petit and Horace P. Bidde had
a decided effect. The vote on the unver-
sity fund, on second reading, resulted in
majority of twenty for the university
page 1860. and on the final vote page
1888 the majority was twenty-five.
The friendly spirit of majority of the
members of the constitutional convention
the published debates, but legislation enact
ed Immediately after the convention adj
journed by legislatures many of whose
tional convention.
OTHER FRIENDLY ACTS.
An act approved June II, 1852, enacted
that 'the institution established by an act
to establish college in the State of In
diana approved Jan. g. 1928, is hereby recog-
Eized as the University of the State" Other
laws whose objects were to make favor
able changes for the university were passed
March 3, 1855, March T. 1877 March 2, 1852
May IL, 1861, and May 81 1861, and an adj
vance step was taken by the Legislature
in the act approved March 3, 1867, The pre-
amble of the act is as follows:
Whereas, The endowment fund of the
4 N SxyAF Nv nfsDf Od nf lC+
county, Is 10 longer sufficient to meet the
growing wants of education and make said
university efficient and useful, and whereas
it should be the pride of every citizen of
Indiana to place the State University in the
highest condition of usefulness and make
it the crowning glory OF our present great
common school system, where education
shall be free therefore" there was appro-
priated the sum of 5000 annually out of the
commencing on the 31St day Of March, 1867.
In this act the Legislature not only recog-
nized the university as the GROWING glory
of our present great common school sys-
tenn" but appropriated $4,000 for its support.
At that time probably two-thirds of the
members of the constitutional convention
were alive. Had it been unconstitutional
to appropriate funds for the university they
would have spoken in no uncertain sound
1873 after declaring that the income OF the
endowment fund together with the amount
appropriated by, the act of 1867; had be
come wholly inadequate to meet the growing
wants of public education, and is not sutt1-
cent to enable said university to provide
for the education of all who are seeking m
struction within her walls, and to accom-
pliSh her true mission as the head of our
present great system of common schools,
where education shall be free to all made
an appropriation of $4,000 to be paid semi
annually thereafter from the Both of Sep
tember 1873. Thus did the Legislature not
only consider it constitutional to appropri-
ate funds for the use of the university. but
Il recognized ii as 1.-The head of our present
great system of common schools" This law
ri- mad nv n
bricks, who was member of the constitu-
tional convention, and was qualified to act
in regard to the spirit we'll as the letter
of the Constitution. Alvin p. Hovey was
member Of the constitutional convention,
voted against the diversion of the university
fund, and as Governor considered it consti-
tutional for the State to support its higher
institutions of learning.
If the members of the constitutional con-
vention had been favorable TO the common
schools only. and were opposed to the sup
port of high schools and the state univer
sity they would have said so, They were
opposed to state support of religious or the
illogical institutions, and in Article /, Sec
ton g. said:
mo money shall be drawn from the treas
ury for the benefit of any religious or the
illogical institution"
On the contrary, they said in Article 8.
Section l. that not only was ii the duty
of the Legislature to provide for system
OF common schools, but it shall be the
duty of the General Assembly to encourage
by all suitable means. moral intellectual.
scientific and agricultural Improvement
With these provisions and the section pre-
venting the diversion of the university's
trust funds they insured the continuance
of the policy pursued since the adoption of