The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-12-10
FOR A NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
CARNEGIE OFFERS THE NATION
 41O,OOO,OOO FOR ONE.
Letter Received by Pres. Roosevelt Con- taining tho Proposition- Will
 bo Referred to Congress-Tho Gift Pro- posed After tho Manner of That of James Smithson, the Engiishman-

Washington, Dec 9.-The Washington
 Post tomorrow will say: President
 Roosevelt has received a letter from
 Andrew Carnegie in which the latter
 offers to make a donation of $lO,0OO,O0O to the United States. The letter will be
 referred to congress by the president in
 special message.
 MT. Carnegies gift is for the purpose of establishing in Washington univer- sity for higher education. As far as his
 idea has been developed it proposes a gift after the manner of the bequest of James Smithson, the Englishman who gave $1,OOO,OOO for the establishment and maintenance of what is now known as the Smit hsonian Institution. Smithson desired the institution founded by him to be a factor In ''the diffusion of scien- tific Knowledge" MT. Carnegie pro- poses that the university which he is to endow shall be the greatest institution in the world flor the development of higher education. He has consulted President Gilman of Johns Hopkins un- iversity President Hadley of Yale, President Eliot of Harvard. Former President White of Cornell, and all the leading educators of the country. They heartily endorse his plans
 The proposed university will not in- terfere in the least with the educational institutions already established, but will supplement them, for according to the present plans, it's doors will be open only to those who desire to take up post graduate course. MT. Carne- gie also wants the new university to take the lead in original research, so that the United States can eventually stand side by side with Germany, if not excel that nation, in scientific de- velopment.
 MT. Carnegie's plan does not propose national university in the sense that an appropriation will be asked or need ed. The government is simply to be the trustee of the magnificent endow- ment, just as it administers the fund bequeathed by Smithson. It is proba- ble that board of regents will be ap- pointed as in the case of the Smith, sonian institution, or it may be that the government will be represented upon
 
 templated, shall consist of men of na- tional reputation.
 Mr. Carnegie has kept the proposed | endowment secret until he could def- nitely arrange the plans and scope of | the new university. Even yet all these details have not been arranged so that | little more than the outline of his gift | can be published. It is known, how ever, that he does not propose to ask from 4ongress single foot of land up- | on which the university buildings will be constructed. The entire expense is to be borne out of his endowment. No site has yet been selected. It will have, necessarily, to be very large as it is proposed to erect a series of magnifi- cent structure.
 The amount of money to be given by Mir Carnegie equals the sum of the present endowment fund of Harvard, and is considerably more than the in- vested fund of Yale. With the Catho- lie university, the Methodist university and the proposed Carnegie university, Washington will be the educational center of the country.