The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1908-09-15

ent be designed FOR the stewards, rae
tors and hlrers of the soil who use the
laborers as serfs and instruments. In
this country the landlord, farmer or
middle man, and laborer are united In
the same person, the lord of his own
acres, and by necessity he must have
an education to suit his own fortunate
condition. =.
"The United States Agricultural So
ciety at it's annual meeting in January
last, strongly urged the appropriation
of 100000 acres of land by Congress
to each of the states, for the promotion
of agricultural education. The legisla-
ture of Michigan in 1850 anticipated
them by instructing it's delegation in
Congress to ask 100000 acres of land
for the establishment of agricultural
schools in this state. Possibly Con-
gress may hereafter deem 1t as saga
cious to enlighten the future occupants
of the continent, as to construct rail-
roads to transport them"
Thus was the slender scion of an
American system, so admirably cal
culated to train up freemen," engrafted
upon our system of education. 1t lifted
it's modest head in the midst of per-
haps 20 acres of cleared land in
Michigan forest. 1t met the adverse
winds of financial panic and the blasts
of civil war, but it clave to it's stock
and grew. In a few years it was
cheered by the passage of the Morrill,
land grant act. Slowly it's growth and
influence extended, and other agricul-
tural industrial and technical schools
emulated it's example of training the
hand with the head" Other laws have
endowed Experiment Stations and es-
tablished the departments of Agricul-
ture and of Commerce and Labor.
Fifty years of progress passed by,
and on May 81, 1907, concourse of
100000 people gathered on the beauti-
full campus of Michigan Agricultural
College. 1t was an ideal day for its
anniversary exercises. There was the
resident of the United States, the
Commissioner of Agriculture, the Gov
ernor of the state and a most of other
prominent men, among them Presi-
dent E. A. Bryan, of Washington State
College, upon whom was conferred an
honorary degree.
President Roosevelt gave one of his
vital interest talks on "The Man who
Works with His Hands" In it he said:
Progress cannot permanently consist
in the abandonment of physical labor,
but in the development of physical la
Dor so that it shall represent more and
more the work of the trained mind in
the trained body. To provide such
training, to encourage in every way
the production of the men whom it
alone can produce, is to show that as
nation we have a true conception of
the dignity and Importance of labor.
=. We need the training, the man
gence which can best be given in a
ual dexterity and industrial intelli-
good agricultural, or building, or tex
tile, or Matchmaking, or engraving, or
that societies have already been
formed to promote industrial educa-
ton, and that their membership in
cludes manufacturers and leaders of
labor unions, educators and publicists,
men of all conditions who are interest
ed in education and industry. i
If there is one lesson taught by history
it is that the permanent greatness of
any state must ultimately depend more
upon the character of it's country popu-
lation than upon anything else. i
The education to be obtained in these
COll0S0S SuOulu CISdtO lnCluudCO Oles-
tionship as is possible between the
theory of learnig and the facts of &C
tual life
Today there are nearly 70 institu-
tons receiving the benefit of the
grants by Congress in 1862 and 1890
They have 10000 students, and above
$4,000 graduates. Not all return to the
farm, but their education in these insti-
tutions is mighty factor in giving
agriculture an uplift. 1t is potent in
the Department of Agriculture. 1t per-
the work of Farmers Institutes,
of more than fifty Experiment