Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1907-03-01

consideration as to what has been dona
in many Of the other states.
| 1 have tried to think that in this mat
| ter my vision has not been bounded by
| the present moment but by the broad
| range of future years when the inhabi-
| tants Of the State of Maine will with
| one accord endorse this policy which has
been mapped out and when our children
| and our children's children shall receive
| the benefits which can necessarily and
| naturally accrue under the advanta ges
| CT that educational institution. And in
| the name of all that it has done in the
| past as earnest of what it will do in the
| future, in the name of justice, in the
| name of fair dealing, in the name o.
| higher education. in the name of the 10]
| students who are there at the presen
| time, in tie name of all the alumni that
| have graduated from that institution.
ask you to stand by and support the uni
| versity. Applause).
Mr.. DOW of Brooks: Mr.. Speaker, /
do not propose 10 enter into this de-
bate, but this morning l received lot
ter which falls so closely in line with
the remarks Of the gentleman from
Yarmouth that ] would ask the priv
| lcge of reading it at this time. 1t is
from n young man in my own town.
without any means Of obtaining an ed
| ucation except by his own efforts, Il
quiet, unassuming young man who is
yet one of the best students in the Uni
versity of Maine today. And this Is the
idea of student at the institution up
on this subject:
Feb. q. 1907.
Dear Mr.. Dow: 1t was noticed with
considerable alarm by all the student
body here that the majority report of
the educational committee was against
our appropriation and particularly
against our Bachelor of Arts regree. 1t
is one of the most critical periods in our
history and we all realize it, because
the dropping of our a. 3. courses will
mean that we can no longer call our
selves true university and that our
curriculum will have to be cut down
to such an extent that the progress of
the institution will be hndered perma-
nently. 1t means a great deal more to
us than the simple dropping out Of
few urimportant courses as our enc
mics are trying to make it appear. 1t
will mean that by abolishing one of the
most important departments ot mod
ern university and thus taking away
the chances of any further develop
merit; we shall lose many of the strong
| est men on our faculty, including Pres
| ident Fellows, within the next year.
In this state Of affairs I have decided
| to drop you a letter. letting you know
| how we are situated here at OronO and
| to ask as a personal favor that you
| Will stand against any proposition to
| abolish our classical course.
Respectfully yours.
FRANK p. HOLBROOk.
Orono. Me.
This r,ryesents the matter from n
students standpoint. That young man
selected the University of Maine as his
| school because he believed he could get
| the most practical benefit from il and
| that he would be in n position where
he could do the most for himself in the
| future. II means something to him. as
| If does to the other students of that in
| stitution. what that standing Will BE-
| when they 20 out into the world. 1t
| means money, it means position. 1t
| means the question of honor. standing,
and their prosperity in the years to
| come am not here to debate the queS-
ton. but | wish to be put on record as
| presenting this matter and representing
the student body in this connection.
| Mr.. McCLUTCHY of Portland: Mr..
Speaker. 1 want to say that I received
| three letters this morning about on the
| same line from students in the Cniver-
| yi.,y Of Maine who live in the city Of
Portland. in favor of that institution.
| Mr.. KENDALL Of Bowdoinham: Mr..
| Sneaker. the gentleman from Yarmouth
| saws that hn congratulatos the state on
the policy outlined by the University of
| Maine and tho method by which it has
| carried that policy into effect repre-
| sent the agricultural interests Of my
! vicinity. and from that standpoint |
| want to beg your patients Il rev mo-
ments while I refer to this question as
| to whether the university, as the guard
| ian of the agricultural interests of the
state, ought to be congratulated in re-
lation to the methods by which it has
carried the interests of agriculture into
| effect. Now. our interests in aS-
riculture are seldom presented to
this House, it seems to me. in
the dignity that they deserve.
! The products of our soil, the
| products OF agriculture, ulIectlS anu
| indirectly. in Maine, amount to more
| than all the other products combined,
| and if we are not successful in these
agricultural lines. who is to blame for
| it? That is. who is there to whom we
| can look to give us points and assist US
in determining what is what and lift
ing us up and enlarging our views in
this direction unless it be the Univer-
sity of Maine? 1t has been said that
there are 700 students in that univer =
sity. Admitted-but does this House
understand what percentage of those
students are students in the agricul-
tural course? As near as l can ascer-
| tain it is somewhere from 26 to 40
students 1t is undecided whether that
. difference of II are in the agricultural
| department or not. whether they are
taking up agriculture specifically or
not So that of that 700 students, about
675 are in some other lines of work.
The gentleman from Yarmouth ar
CUES that we ought to appropriate a
large sum of money to assist these
students of the University of Maine