The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1906-11-16
Methods Adopted Years Ago
Locating the Educational In
stitutions in State.

stitutions in State.
State Journal OF Education, Ma0i-
Paragraph 2, page I, biennial
of superintendent of public
1902 1894, submitted 10y
ex-Superintendent Hon. q. w.
Nash, contains these words: Gas Il
part of the political Arrangement
by which Yankton secured the loca-
tion Of the territorial capital, the
University OF South Dakota was
located at Vermillion in 1862" I'm
fortunately the location of every one
of our state educational Institutions
from that day to this has been "a
part Of the political arrangement"
by which a few sharp, shrewd politj-
cal shyste.s have sought to @engraft
their supposed usefulness as public
servants into the consciences OF their !
constituents for their W private,
political advantage in the future.
The game has been played. Its re-
suits are Before us. Its evil conse-
quences must be dealt with. Let's
take the situation as it is and ANA
lyze it. First, | contend that all
our regular state educational iuslitu-
tlons 1.-THE word 'sregulal'' is used
here for the purpose of eliminating
the Institutions at Plankinlon and
Redheld, which can hardly be
looked upon as S'regular" schools)
save one, the Madison Normal, are
located in succession, n after the
other, right around the edge of the !!
state. The Northern Normal is at
Aberdeen, the School for the Blind
at Gary, the Agricultural College at
Brookings. the School for Deaf
Mutes at Sioux Falls, the State UNI
versity at Vermillion, another nor
NAL at Springfield, the School of
Mines at Rapid City, and another
normal at Spearfish. Being located
as they are, on or near the beundry
line of the state, their natural
fields OF patronage are all on one
side OF each OF them, leaving them
but one-sided institutions. Taking
a birds eye view of the situation
they remind one of a lot of block
houses or fortresses or citadels placed
around the extremity of the state as
%preventions against external inya-
sion rather than institutions for
internal education Having thus
vacated the entire heart of the state,
aspirants for the location of denom-
national schools were not slow to
grasp the situation. The Methodists
located their university at Mitchell,
the Free Methodists located theirs
at Washington Springs, the Congre-
gationalists, with a state school en-
either side of them, at YanNlou.
very wisely dropped another in at
Reutield. while the Presbyterians,
with as keen conception as the rest,
quietly Slipped their school down
from Pierre and located it at Huron,
which, at That time, was practically
in the center of population. What
has been the result? The school at
Redtie]d is prospecting greatly, the
n at Washington Springs has
tlourished beyond all expectations,
the Huron college is forging to the
front with such astonishing rapidity
that they cannot secure enough
room to accommodate their ever
increasing student body, while
Dakota Wesleyan University at
Mitchell started out this year with
an enrichment approximately equal
to the combined enrolment of our
state agricultural college and state
university put together. Facts are
stubborn things. There's no use in
trying to finch now for the purpose
OF concealjng the truth. The loca-
tion is not wholly responsible for
the condition Of our two leading
state schools, it is simply an cpl
demic Of contagious politics. South
Dakota has a far greater number of
state schools in proportion to her
population than any other state IN
the union. What is the result?
Simply an enrolment in each school
OF a couple hundred students with
an excessive and eXorbitant burden
placed upon the state.
In an address delivered at Letcher,
s. d., Oct. 18th, Hon. Coe |. CraW-
ford, republican nominee for COVER
nor, in touching upon this same
theme, said: "Whlle our public
institutions should be efficiently
maintained and built up, the local
ambition Of communities in which
they are located should not be per-
mitted to lead us into any needless
or unnecessary appropriations. Neither