The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1905-01-05

borhood far and near, with pike and
peavey and pole and handspike, to lift
the huge framework into place. OBJ
served that this was not accomplished
by one man stepping forward and Civ.
ing lift to a piece of timber, and then
another lifting, and then another, bu,
that all took hold together, all pre-
pared to work In harmony-to lift in
unison. BY every man helping and all
lifting together, foot by foot the huge
framework went up until it stood erect
with every timber in its place.
So in the raising OF the great educa-
tional framework OF the state it is
necessary that all should lift together
III all the schools and colleges will do
this, each trying to fill to the highest
its own right place, there will be no
difficulty in developing education in
South Dakota to a degree of excellence
not surpassed elsewhere
THE PLACE AND WORK OF THE AGRI-
CULTURAL COLLEGE
And now what is the place and work
OF the State Agricultural College in
the state system OF education? The
answer is to be found in the acts OF
Congress establishing and endowing
the land-grant colleges. The name
given by Congress to these land-grant
colleges is Colleges of Agriculture
and Mechanic Arts" Congress has
clearly indicated the two lines OF work
OF the land-grant colleges under the
double title agriculture" and Me-
chanic Arts" Under the acts OF Con-
gress known as the Hatch Act and the
Morrill, Act this college receives $40,
OOO year from the general govern
ment, aside from the congressional
land-endowment of 160,000 acres. Ac-
cording to the government education
report for 1900, the land granted under
the congressional act to South
Dakota for this college is valued as
worth $194 ,3S5.02 more than the SINH
lar land-grant to any othar state in
the Union. 1t is right that these facts
be called to our attention and that we
keep them in mind, so that we may
not fail to do our part in meeting the
terms OF the contract under which the
state acquired the rich endowments OF
this college.
DOES MECHANIC ARTS MEAN ENGINEER
1t seems that the question has been
raised in this state as to whether the
term Mechanic Arts as used by Con-
gress in this connection means en-
gineering or simple manual training
such as shop work. The Department
of the Interior has answered that ques.
tion in its circular of instruction oi
November 26, 1900, by giving the diff.
ferent departments of engineering the
first eight places nnder the general
head OF Mechanic Arts, and giving
"Shop work. the eighteenth or last
place. Just as the same circular OF
the Interior Department, under the
general head of Agriculture places
agriculture, horticulture, forestry
agrOnOmy and animal husbandry in
the first five places of importance in
the order named, but places agricul-
ture, the bee industry, ninth and last
in the list as being of less importance
WHAT SENEATOR MORRILL, SAID.
According to the official government
education report for 1900, page 1929,
the late Senator Justin S. Morrill, OF
Vermont, the author of the congress-
ional legislation establishing and en-
dowing the land-grant colleges, FUSED
to say that the name agricultural col
leges' would never have been applied
to the institutions except that it had
happened to suit the casual conven-
lence OF an index clerk" On the
same page Senator Morrill, is quoted
as saying: "These colleges were not
established or endowed for the sole
purpose of teaching agriculture. 1t
never was intended to force the boys OF
farmers going into these institutions
so to study that they would all come
out farmers;" and on the preceding
page of the same government report
we read: Nothing could better show
how new was the field into which Mr..
Morrill, was urging Congress to enter
than the course of these discussions.
1t is easy for us, at distance OF forty
years and with full knowledge of the
revolution that has during that time
taken place in the whole spirit and
method OF higher education, to look
back with something of amusement
and surprise at the crudeness of opin-
ion then displayed; but it should be
borne in mind that both the direction
OF congressional legislation proposed
by Mr.. Morrill, and the theory of educa-
ton involved in his bill were new, not
only to Congress, but to the country
at large. There were then in the Un-
tied States less than half a dozen in
stitutions outside of West Point and
Annapolis where young men could
obtain advanced instruction in civil
onC ineering while electrical enoipaor-