The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1907-02-13
UNIVERSITY NEEDS
FINANCIAL SUPPORT
FRIEND OF EDUCATION WRITES
ON MATTER OF STATE PRIDE.
POINTS OUT HOW INSTITUTION
SUFFERS FROM NEGLECT.

To the Editor of The Age-Herald:
The condition of the university today
with respect to buildings and equipment
is a disgrace to the state. There is moth
ing that can be said in extenuation. The
institution has been shamefully neglect
ed for years until its present condition is
simply pathetic. It has a good president
and an earnest mad capable faculty. II
also has buildings that are wholly mad
equate for the purpose of modern living
and modern instruction. They are sadly
out of repair in the first place, and in
the second place lack nearly all of the es-
sentials of modern sanitation ventilation
and equipment. The wonder is that such
good instruction is given there when one
considers the means at the disposal of
the authorities
Year after year the needs of this insu-
tuition have been urged, and year after
year they have been ignored Time and
again have appeals been made in its be-
half only to be treated with an indiffer-
ence that is appalling No other instiu-
ton under the care of the state calls for
mora generous treatment, none exhib-
its a greater neglect. The elimination
of the public school system of the state,
it is the last to feel the quickening inn
pulses that have, within the last quar-
ter of a century, brought Alabama to so
honorable a place in the sisterhood of
states
If one may point with pride to the Uni
versity of Alabama it is pride in the pa
tient, long-suffering, earnest and faithful
men who have borne that heat and bur
den of the day under most onerous condi-
tions. We can have no pride in the treat
ment which has been accorded this inst-
tuition by those who have controlled the
public treasury We can have no pride
in buildings, designed and equipped for
the strenuous contests of these later days.
We can. have no pride in seeing the uni
Versity ranked among the best in the
country. Our pride is in the men who have
labored there with meagre equipment and
still more meager salaries, waiting for the
day when the university shall indeed come
into its own.
But hope deferred maketh the heart
sick. We may plan things on hope, but
we cannot do things We may hope to
see the university do great things when
it asks for $40 and gets Is cents, but we
shall never see them.
The university needs a great deal Of
money and needs it now, not next year.
1t needs the money now to be expended
this year and next year and many years
to come 1t can not wait. 1t has waited
too long already. It's needs are imper-
alive, urgent and instant 1t wants what
ii wants when it wants 1t. The men who
are in charge of affairs know more about
such matters than all of the legislatures
that have ever assembled In the state. 1t
Is simply impossible that men who come
together once In four years or once in
two years or even once every year can
understand the needs of such an institu-
ton. This is given only to those who
are brought into intimate and close per-
sonal touch all the time with the daily
problems of a large business. For teach
ing Is a business and the management
of the university Is a business calling for
ability much above the average The
president of the university is at the head
of a business more complicated and far
more important than any other business
within the state There are divers oc-
equations among men but none that calls
for more wisdom, more patience, more
skill, more knowledge than that of teach
ing
Are we to have in this state a univer-
sity worthy Of Alabama? Are we to con-
tinue to witness the wonderful progress
of the state In all lines of material de-
velopment with the university dragging
along an existence which has become al
most intoerable? What opportunities
have not already been lost? What has
been done during the last twenty-five
years to keep even pace with the majestic
march of education? We may boast of
the production of pig iron, coal steel.
cement. iron ore. limestone and what
not and our Boosting. although tiresome
at times. has a sure foundation. But are
these our gods? Is eternal sacrifice to
be made to vulcan. PROSTATE though he
be on Red mountain, with sad-eyed Mi
nerva standing In pitiful entreaty? Quo
vads? To the furnace, the machine shop
and the mne but not to the school
house or the university
This present Legislature has an oppor-
tunity for advancing the cause of the
higher education which can not be grasp
ed again for many years. It has done
notable work in the appropriations for
the ordinary schools a work worthy of
the highest praise. Now let this be sup
plemented by suitable provision for the
university. But above all whatever is
done let It be done now Do It now.
WILLIAM b. PHILLIPS.
Birmingham, February 12 1907