Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1907-03-15
MAINE LEGISLATURE,
(Continued from Page Four.)


grant this appropriation, or any APP
propriaton. without restriction? Those
colleges are doing q certain work. They
are doing it for the State, certainly
not for themselves. They are not en-
Gagged in a money-making enterprise.
No student in any college in Maine
pays that college what it costs to edu-
cate him. Who pays the difference?
The State pays it in the case of the
university, and private benevolence
nays it in the case of the other COL
Ieges. 1t is claimed, and not denied.
that each Of these other colleges has
been running behind of late that their
income has been less than the out-go.
The competition which the State is
now asked to formally authorize will,
of course, tend to withdraw patronage
from the other institutions, and re-
duce their income. The expenses will
go on about the same. Then We are
deliberately asked to cripple the other
colleges. Why should we do that? We
should not do it, and it is a gross in
Justice to Go it, if they are able to do
efficiently the work which the State
needs to have done in their line No
one can deny that they are able to do
that. Then there is no question about
the matter of injustice, no question
that in aggrandizing one Institution,
we are pulling down three others.
Nothing but excuses and pretcxt; can
be found for this course, it seems to
the committee. If solid reasons can be
given for it, they have not been given
as yet One excuse is that the students
Of eastern Maine need a college close
at hand. And it is loudly proclaimed
that they nave a better one close at
hand than they have farther off else
where in the State. If so, the catalogue
will probably show that students in
eastern Maine wanting q liberal arts
training go as a rule TO OrOnO to get
it. If it is better there, and cheaper,
as well as nearer, that is the place for
them to get it. And yet. the fact is,
that each of the three other colleges,
not all Of them combined. but each of
them, has more students in the liberal
arts courses from the eastern part of
the state than the University Of Maine
has And not only that, but. in ma
jorty of cases, they are poor boys too.
This excuse. stated in another form.
amounts to this. that during the early
history of the State, when facilities
for communication We're poor, nobody
complained that another liberal arts
college was needed in eastern Maine,
but now, when express trains penetrate
every county il the STATE, ii is sud-
denly discovered that Il boy must have
q college at his door, or else 90 with
out an education. The argument might
be turned against the university in
this way. If it is necessary for boys
wanting liberal education to have
four places where they can get 1t,
there ought to be four places where
they can get Il technical education. Let
us. therefore, iiavc Il school of tech
nology at Brunswick, and another at
Lewiston. and another at Waterville,
50 thct IL" boys in the ncighborhoOd
Of thOSn places, Who need an indus
trial education, ana couldn't get to
OrOno three times Il year, may have
the training which otherwise they
would go without. Is this nonsense?
OF course it is, and exactly the same
brand of nonsense which argues that
AroostooH and PiScataIuis and Wash
ington will grow up in ignorance of
liberal training unless q college IS
brought to them instead Of their go
ing to college. Let us do this thing
thoroughly if we are to do it at all, and
establish at least one college in every
county in the State. and not less than
two in the big counties. But enough
of that
For there is another kind Of cost to
the State. And that is inferior quality
Of work. | do not refer her" to the
question whether the liberal art
COURSES at Orono are superior or infer
ior to those elsewhere in the state. |
refer to the point, which I b"liev" t.
be we'll taken. that the special work
of the university will inevitably suffer
if it tries to do anything more. y mo-
inent ago | was suggesting. though not
very seriously. that Il technical school
be established at each of the Older
colleges If that proposition were not
otherwise absurd. it would be answer
enough to say that they have work
enough of their own now. And 50 they
do Is there any lack of field 10 cuiti-
vatc at Bowdoin, or Bates. or Colby,
or Amherst, or Dartmouth, or VIII
lams? If not how does it happen that
the University of Maine, with every
thing under the sun hut liberal arts,
had room enough. and has now, I" DO
everything else it was and is DONG,
and do all that the other colleges are
doing now? The answer is easy. II
doesn't happen. The thing can't by
any possibility be done. 1t IS qu"S-
ton of bulk or quality Of work. Which
shall we have? We cannot have both.
Every other New England college says
quality" President Fellows says, Or
that is the meaning Of what he says.
let lis us have Il great big institution.
Let us spread ourselves out over every
department of human knowledge, ana
cover it all as we'll as we can. Oh
course. we can't rival the MaSsachu-
sets Institute of Technology in engi-
nerring or the Massachusetts Agrlcul-
tural College in agriculture, or the otl-
e. colleges in liberal arts. but we can
DE Il univ ersity. with everything IN
the catalogue that Harvard and fale
have, and the State can pay the blliS-
Seriously, | regrd this argument as
the fundamental argument in the case.
Not many things but much was the
wise old rule, which we are asked 10