University Missourian. [volume] (Columbia, Mo.) 1908-1916, 1910-11-03


Missouri to friends urging support for
the Eleventh Amendment, is the fol-
lowing sent to and published in a
weekly newspaper:
The passage of Amendment Number
Eleven is of the utmost Importance 20
the educational welfare OF the state.
Its passage will mean revolution in
our educational system. Instead Of
the university being dependent Oh the
Legislature for its support. as it now
is, it will be made sell supporting.
The present source of revenue for
the university comes from appropria-
tionS made By tie state legislature.
out Of the general revenue fund. As
a result OF this the university is made
dependent upon each legislature for
its support. This makes the work OF
the university less elective because it
is kept in politics. Moreover the cura-
tors are at disadvantage because
l'hNs hS iiO vi tllc
of money which they will be allowed
TO spend until the legislature makes
an appropriation. The returns from
the collateral inheritance tax does not
help the curators much, for they can
not count on the returns until they are
received. Thus we may see that under
the present system the growth of the
university is retarded in every way.
For q proof of this statement | can
site you the following instance. In
1909 the legislature appropriated a
new building for the Agricultural Col
lege. The contract for the building
has not yet been let because the State
| Treasurer has not yet paid over the
the appropriation will expire by the
first of January 1911, if the money is
not all spent by that time. Even if the
money is all paid to the Curators.
they will not Il ely get the best use
out of it. For they will be forced
to use unbu inesslike methods to get
rid Of the money by the first of JaE-
uary. Not only has this delinquency
on the part OF the State Treasurer. pIr
the Board OF Curators to d;sadvan-
tage. but ii has also hindered the work
of the students. II the agricultural De
40 70 hC
adopted. the students and Curators
would not be hindered in their work
by an insufIiciarcy in~funds.
Then too il the mill tax were adopt
ed, the university would be taken out
OF politics. Ths University appropria-
ton fund has been a club which both
parties used TO attack each other IN
every campaign for the past ten Or
eleven years. Several years ago the
party in power in the legislature sent
Commissioners over tJ Columbia os-
tensibiy tC find out how much it would
but really their purpose was TO find
out whether or not the University au-
thorities had been lavish in the eXpen-
diture OF their appropriations. Their
report was used as a club to attack
the party in power during the previous
years. However. they found that the
University had bsen run upon a re
markably economical basis. They,
nevertheless attacked the Board OF
Curatcrs and recommend that much
smaller appropriation than common
| be made. This affair gave our Uni
versity an unpleasant notoriety. The
adoption Of the mill tax would take
| the University out of politics and pro-
| vide q stable revenue for it. 1t will
remove one source Of party strife and
take away all the unpleasant notoriety
which always occurs tC the University
while the annual struggle over the ap-
preparation is going On. 1t will re-
move from the Board of Curators the
necessity Of begging from the state
iSSs iSltitlI iI!c mont. Will WHICH 10
pay their necessary expenses.
This tax if it is voted will not en-
hance the burden Of the tax payer. If
it is adopted. a tax Of three cents on
the hundred dollars assessed valuation
will be set aside for the University.
And the legislature will apportion its
various uses. Thus a man who has
three thousand dollars worth of prop
erty. which at the present time would
be assessed as one thousand dollars
would pay thirty cents year to the
University. If this amendment is
adopted, the University will not re-
ceiVe any more money from the state
nor will the taxpayers be compelled
to pay a higher tax than they have
in the past. This amendment Will |
IN ro,,,