The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-07-29

cvf0iH& 70 tHc recent fdpoft oh tur N~ partment Of Agriculture, these institu- faculties aggregating 4.155 professors; 53.51s students, s,os1 graduates for 1905: total graduates 6s.ooI: farm grounds. buildings. and equipments val ued at sf5.251 .060; and total number of volumes in libraries 1,927.045. Certain ly this is mighty engine for promot- ing the cause of education and people throughout the land. And of this great federal system of colleges of applied science Auburn" Is not an unimpor- tant unit.
 Aims and Objects of Technical Colleges.
 Now the purpose or aim of these colleges is not to teach a trade. It Is not to develop merely the artisan. or skilled workmen--important as these are. The aim is to train. as do West Point and Annapolis, the captains rath- CT than the rank and file. The object is to turn out skilled engineers, fcIvil, electrical. mechanic, naining,J chemists agriculturalists. metAll,r gists, men who take the lead, ais superintendents, as executive officers In varied fields of in dustry. and are able to plan. organize, and direct industries of the greatest magnitude and of the most far rsach- ing Influence upon the community.
 Methods.
 Now, the high grade work of schools of applied science can bs achieved only by the most accurate and thorough pro- .cesses Of mental training. Mere ele- mentary education will not suffice. One must be able to grasp many of the high CT principles of pure mAthema tlcs~ and of pure science. and at the same time be able to apply them practically to intricate problems of machinery. and nil forms of natural obstacles that must | Al sy T1w.I~ = good college education will adequately equip ore for engineering, or other advanced scientific work. As has been suggested by President Sehurrnan of Cornell, 1t is scarcely reasonable today to withhold the term ''learned profess sion" from the life work of the stu dent in engineering or science. who for four years is required to pursue most difficult course of study of his degree. while we apply the term to law or medicine which very frequently are practiced by men with neither any academic nor professional training whatsoever. Says General Francis Walker. the recent distinguished head of the Massachusetts Institute of Tech nology. s1'he schools of aY piled sci- cree in the country are today doing a work in the intellectual development of our people which, ic not surpassed. II lG kS GQudlASu- III tnCf4t to tO Bc tOuhu almost the perfection of education for young mem
 To speak specifically Of the Alabama Polytechnic Institute From the begin ming. the college has made. at once, the most generous provision for the practical sciences that pertain imIhedt- ateIy to success In the world. and for those less immediately practical sub- A. l.. .H<xfs zt,f. culture; nor has the college ever court ed pnelic favor by lowering its educa- tionai standard; but 1t has always held that the same degree of rigid prepara- ton fin all the disciplinary and training subjects of education is as necessary for the mastery of thorough course of technical studies and natural scl- enpes. es for the mastery of thorough course of language or philosophy. Its laboratories have not been mere work shops; It's chemical laboratories have not been mere science kitchens for teaching the analysis of materials by cut and dried recipes. In word. the college has endeavored not only to teach the students the how of modern scientific vacations, but the why; not only facts but principles, the mastery of which gives the power to solve all problems and go forward indefinitely HI 0AE pI3lCSSiQlit tNOt NHH " fpt 8Vt- ten that behind the profession is the
 man. and that every American boy is a citizen who should be fitted for the intelligent understanding and the hon orable discharge of all the duties that devolve upon him.
 Under this generous end intelligent policy, the development of the college has been not spasmotic but constant not one-sided but symmetrical: and to. Am~ [ hao fxa fG sam professional departments and practical laboratories. not mere tumble of un- related or discordant fragments but an organic unit grouped about the central Idea of developing practical educated manhood.
 The distinguished success of It's grad uates and students scattered by thou sands throughout the South aud Ma ton attests the wisdom of its policy. There Is a great work in Alabama tc be done by higher scientific education. We are confronted by new problems and new conditions. The farmer is face to face with a changed order of af- fairs, to which he must adjust his oc- cupation or he will be crushed. The naehinlsK the miner, the engineer. must equip themselves with all the skill and knowledge of modern science, or they will be out-stripped by the high ly trained important talent that daily is seeking our virgin fields. Here, within our borders, are prodiasus re- sources all nndeveIoped. Like mighty giants they lie slumbering beneath our hills and within the depths of ous primeval forests. awaiting the magical touch of the hand of knowledge. It Is to be hoped that Auburn in the new era upon which # is now entering may do a worthy snare in the great work of leading on the state to higher and better things. And this # will do as year by year, with tho approval and sympathy of all good citizens. 1t strives towards the full accomplishment of the Ideal of It's founders in sending forth file on file of young men who are al once scholars and trained specialists public spirited citizens and technical experts; young men of broad intelli- genee and sound morality who are able and willing to address themselves to any of the practical problems of the modern life.
 -IAnd is 1t a charity. Is 1t a gratuity but rather is 1t not fit and profita- ble investment--the liberal endowment of an institution in which the young men acquire a training whereby the dormant raw material of the state are immediately converted into articles oi commercial value to enter upon the fax lists and to add directly to the