The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1903-06-09
commencement at
State University.
.,xrrxrED FROM SECOND PAGE

..+N .E0TDOIdjlOli VI - ~ q puOlIS SCi-
r~oratlon?
7rc many early decisions OF our
,+. tbrowin some light upon this sub
but it remains for our truly great
t Thomas Ruffn, to lay down the
,u legal principles governing this char
.r and defining the exact legal status of
.b. University in a manner SO clear and
lila that his opinion has become d lead
r anthority, and is cited all over the
'"7 In the case of Trustees of Uni
,.r.fy vs.. Maultsby, 8 Iredells Equity,
s-> 1252), Chief Justice Ruffin y
-rho University is a public institution and
,l, rnIitic and hence subject to legisla-
control < 4 = 1t was founded by
,t. state on public funds ana for a gen
.,aI nubic charity. 1t seems to
.En court that.therc cannot be an instance
of 4 corporation more exclusively founded
,ar the public, more completely the crea-
turc Of public policy, for public purposes
,ur.Iv. than the University of North
carolina. 1t is as much so as other public
dictionaries the President and Directors
rr a Literary Board, and the Board of
public Works. r + y"
Those of you who have been to that
little burying ground by the roadside, as
Won go toward the valley from the old
home of Thomas Jefferson, and have seen
the words cut INTO the marble there, "Au-
thor of the Declaration of American indie
uandencc. of the Statute of Virginia for
Religious Freedom, and Father of the
University" can follow the grand sequence
of IDEAS. and tell why the patriots of
North Carolina gave us a university. 1t
is said of the University of Virginia that
11
JEFFERSON" The University of North
Carolina is the heightened shadow, not of
one man but of a whole people, 'freest
of hte free united in Il grand struggle
for civil and religious liberty. It repre-
~cnts their sublime confidence in the JUS
tice of their cause as we'll as their abid-
ing hope in its eternal usefulness. In
those days, as it should now, the right of
private Judgment presupposed sufficient
intelligence in the individual to arrive at
am intelligent judgment. Educated cltl-
zenship, therefore, was the rock on which
the whole structure of their new demo
cratic government rested. Hence, it was
the first duty of the State to secure an
educated citizenship and provide for its
maintenance and support.
our fathers regarded this University as
a. lbuDllC trust JllSC lis 1lutI DIS ne tolIilIloiI
schools. Look behind the clamor of the
crowd for public schools today, and 0
Will find, for or near, the brains and the
hbors Of such men as Battle, Craven,
Morrison, Winston, Alderman, Nenable.
No principle in educational science Is bet
ter established than the fact that the de
sire for education starts from the top and
travels downward, and not from the bot
tom, inward Saws ITnlfpd State. Com
missioner Dawson, who during his term OF
office made a most extensive study Of
education in the United States, "In every
instance the foremost desire of the PEG
pie has been for colleges and universities,
rather than for schools of a lower grade.
1t was the opinion of tho colonists and OF
the early settlers of the West and the
South, that primary and secondary schools
were essentially dependent for their ex-
istence upon higher institutions. This
principle is borne out by the facts. % *
The necessity for higher education for the
support of the primary schools Is now re
garded as Il fundamental truth 1t IS sig
nificant that in both Pennsylvania and
North Carolina, the first two States in the
Union to fake bold stands in their constl-
tutions for education, the University and
The common schools are placed on the same
footing, and the demand for the university
came forty years before the demand for the
public schools. The first school establish
ed III New England was not a primary
school, but a college.
One has but to look around him in oul
State today to see the splendid examples
Of the effective f~ruitfulness and public ser
vice Of this institutions. Closed for nearly
ten years during the dark days of recon
struCtlOn. out of the first three classes at
ter the reOpening came those peerless cX
amples OF public service, Charles 3. Ay-
cock, James Y. Joyner and Charles D
MclVcr. What a splendid fulfillment OF
the sublime hopes of those great hearted
sell sacrificing men, who, thirty years age
"pIuckcd this University from the weeds,
and gave back to our poverty stricken
people the best means OF preserving then
liberties and Of unfolding their fortunes.
\ comparison Of its records with those
OF other Institutions shows that it has al
ways been able to make a dollar go farther
ana bring back more than any other lnstl
tuition in the country.
NEEDS OF THE UNIVERSITY.
Is it not the paramount duty of TIN:
w SIFt " jul ClSlly llt oppoL
lumty OF keeping pace with the progress;
q 1.-THE times Of moving on to its greater
Oh the times, of moving on to its create
Oh u~ctuincss? Is IL not time for us tt
hegin the work of making this lnstltu
non "a great Southern States University
" modern direct force, commensurate Will
me demands Of our people and alert t.
'i ihelr growing needs? President Ven
'"ie has already answered the question II
i"" affirmative, and with hope and enthus'
"n Us deFoting his brains and his energies
I'D lhe Hcrculcan task. The greatness o
HIS sacrifice, for without doubt. his sal
airy can no more than pay his living ex
leh5es' the nobility Of his effort, the won.
"'iiuI iruItfulness Of his labors, the mum
'1F and the ma Magnitude of his pressing
''7'7 ehllst our deepest sympathy, invok'
'g highest admiration, and call for on
-''>' earnest and intelligent cooperation
'"S work will require the best men an
want from them the best service. LIE
S nor beat down the market that WI
purchase mediocrity cheap. But lie