The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-01-25
ALABAMA PIONEER
IN ESTABLISHING AGRICULTURAL.
SCHOOLS
They Can he Made Of Untold Bcnent
In Developing. the FarminE -
interests of the
Euture

At the recent meeting of the Presi-
dents Of State Agricultural Schools In
was perfected for the upbuilding Of
these schools. Mr.. Clarence j.. Owens.
President of the Southeast Alabama
Agricultural School and Experiment
station. presented the following pa
per which ought to be widely read:
We are living in the practical COM
mon-sence era Of the world. Men are
tnyestigating, experimenting and veri.
flying. With the dawn Of the period
OF the Political Revolution, with the
birth Of liberty which has unshackled
the bodies and minds Of men. greater,
and greater attention 10 given TO the
culture OF the-iadivtdual for the duties
and the Responsibilities Of this life.
Schools and colleges and universities
have been multiplied and never before
In the history of the world nave the
masses Of the people had such oppor-
tunities for the culture OF the head,
the hand and the heart The masses
must be educated. The education OF
the few Is despotfsm; the education of
the many is liberty. and Intelligent
liberty is fame and wisdom and power.
The great object of education Is pri-
marty to make men, secondarily to
make citizens and ultimately. 20 reach
the full zenith of civilization and enjoy
the full fruition Of the very best form
of human government. Our system of
government has as it's fundamental
idea. that the people are educated
How important then. for our citizens to
rise to this high standard, that they
may guard wisely and we'll the sacred
trust of our sacred vote and become
worthy pillars upon which to construct
q government conspicuous for Its
its political purity. Education is no
longer the exclusive right OF an auto
cratic minority. but the divine right
Of an all powerful democratic majors
tty. r. there was ever separation and
al oil WI
power as millions OF young people,
rich and poor are marching under the
standard on which Is inscribed Free
dom Of Opptrunity to All"
The masses OF the people In the
South to be reached by our educational
systems are those who live in the rural
districts. 1t is claimed that nine
tenths Of the population OF the south
Southern States, EARNING is still the
greatest industry and the farm home
is still the greatest institution. Lady
Warwick, some time since. "a address-
ing the laborers of her country. said:
'sXou men are the Empire" Bryan, in
his great Cross Of Gold speech, said In
substance. that II your tear down the
cities thsy. will build up again, but 4
you tear down the rural district. the
birds will build nests in the marts Of
trade and the grasses will grow upon
your streets, and In his independence
Day address before the American club
Its
OF labor and pointed to the Industrial
and AGRICULTURAL schools OF America as
the hope of the country in teaching
that labor in the shops ana on the
farms Is dlgnified and honorable.
The masses Of the people must be
educated and the masses live In the
country. The problem In the educa-
tionai life of the Southern States is to
reach children who live on the farms
The Association of the Superintendent
OF Public Instruction for the Southern
States, in their Birmingham meeting In
1904. published to the South this In.
duiry: Are not your children as good
as the best and do they not deserve the
best? The answer must come ana come
soon from the plain people OF these
Southern states. Shall It be an ever.
Everlasting 1t must be. Upon the an.
gwer hangs the blight or blessing OF
millions of minds, the bondage or free
dom Of millions Of souls, the veal or
= may be the destiny Of Nation, the
prosperity .of a government, the most
beneficient the sun shines on"
Following the principle Of adaptA-
ton. the South has provided Industrial
education for her children. In fact, the
{ great wave Of sentiment that has swept
over this country in favor OF indus
trial e tSs so nds the
ural schools. For thirty years. the
South has taught technical education.
The colleges have satisfactorily met the
demands of the times, and they can
give overwhelming testimony to the
great value they have rendered the en-
tire population. The beginning OF tech
nical training in Alabama was begun
with the establishment of the Polytech-
mic Institute at Auburn. In 1871 Con-
gress gave large tracts of public lands
10 the States for the purpose Of set
ting up Agricultural Colleges. The
sale OF Alabama's share amounted to
$4,000. The income has been in
creased by State appropriations and
also by the Hatch" law, which, in
1887 made Auburn the seat of the Elk
pertinent Station. and the Legislature
under the present administration gave
liberaliy tosallow for the extension of
this important work.
As q part of the great movement to-
ward Industrial education, Alabama
was the pioneer In bringing into exist
ence her splendid system of agricult-
ural school The first was establish
ed by the Legislature In 1Ss8-se.
have the honor to be the executive on
Ger in this first agricultural school Of