Morris tribune., 1910-12-23
BANQUET TO sPooNER
Citizens Get Together to Boost
Farm School.

hotel on Tuesday evening. and was
attended by large number of repre-.
sentative men of TIE community and
a number of prominent farmers.
| When his friends learned that Mr..
| Spooner intended to leave on Tuesday
nights train for ST. Paul, and expect
ed to be gone the entire session, they
began planning this banquet. 1t was
hurriedly gotten up, and there was nc
opportunity to issue formal invitations,
and no doubt some people were over
looked who should have been invited
to participate in such gathering.
Chas. Dushek also did remarkably
we'll in serving the fine banquet which
he did on such short notice.
When it came to the speech making
the meeting took much more of an ed
ucational than political turn. J. H.
Devenney acted as POSTMASTER and
introduced as the first speaker, Supt.
Higbie of the Agricultural School.
Mr.. Higbie's remarks were intense
ly interesting. He is an easy speak
er, and the pictures he painted of the
needs, purposes, plans and growth of
the school here was a revelation to
most of the audience, and not only
commanded the closest attention, but
aroused enthusiasm for the school to
the highest pitch. He spoke of the
great disadvantages under which the
school is laboring at the present time
and his hope that no unfavorable i'm
preston would be spread about on
that account.
He spoke of the provision for a
girls dormitory, central heating
plant. etc., which called for an ap-
preparation of $138, 500 and which
has been adopted by the board of re-
gents and can now be regarded as set
tied. But the school also needs a
boys dormitory, and more and more
improvements each year. and he there
fore believed that the school should at
once be put on basis that will fill
it's needs for ten years, and that the
legislature should be asked to appro-
pirate 100000 for the purpose.
That the school is going to grow is
assured, and the attendance of 500
which will be here in five years
should be provided for in a business
like Ways now. The extra amount
which the school is asking for must
come from the legislature rather than
from the board of regents, and Supt.
Higbie believes all the legislators
from west central Minnesota should
be interested in securing it. In this
connection he paid a compliment to
Mr.. Spooner, whose seriousness and
courage had impressed him the more
he had come to know the man.
Mr.. Higbie's was followed by R.
J. Hall who spoke of the great ques-
tion confronting the American people
today in the power of trusts and cor
porations, and charged Mr.. Spooner
to see that the terminals did not
write the criminal law"
J. C. Morrison was called upon and
spoke of his pleasure in finding that
the people of Morris have found some
thing on which they can get together
as they have with this agricultural
school. He spoke also of the small
amount of taxes which the average
country school district pays and of the
necessity of spending more money if
the country school is to be made as it
should be to be preparatory school
for the larger agricultural school loc- |
ated at Morris.
Representative Moyle Edwards, of |
Breckenridge. was called upon and |
spoke of his interest in the school and
his admiration for Mr.. Spooner.
C. B. Randall spoke of some of the |
difficulties of securing needed appro-
priations from the legislature of |
which he had known when connected |
with the school at st. Anthony.
Rev. Hammond among other things |
urged the necessity of putting this
school on a proper basis at once, for
the longer it is delayed the more
young men will be condemned to
life of drudgery thru not learning pro-
per methods.
Rev. Larson spoke of the institu-
tion in this community which could
undo all the work of the school, and
urged the Importance of the legisla-
ture passing county option or local
option measure.
Supt. Fuller spoke of his interest
in the school and his hope that the
work of tha-Schno1 wo1716 lead to the