Newark post., 1912-11-20

referred to above as that of any other
factor.
This sentiment. amounting practically
to public clamor, produced a marked IN
nuence upon legislative sentiment. One
man from California declared that he had
set aside his own judgement and would
vote for the measure because the agrlcuit-
ural sentiment expressed through the leg
islature of California demanded 1t. The
point | wish to insist upon, therefore, IS
that this pcw cducGtjORdt reform Srdhg,
nat from educdtioRai philosophers or the
prOteSst0nal tearhers. bit from the rdaE
and file of the people themselves. Fro
fessor Townshend in Ohio and Professor
Turner in Illinois were prophets who had
a vision of the needs OF the plain people
and they were endowed with the intelli-
gence and the courage to express it. They
are types of the same kind of leadership
in other commonWeaths. The fact that
Michigan in its constitution had provided
for al agricultural college was due, like
these other movements, to proper regard
for the sentiment of the agricultural pop
ulation.
A third line of preparation in estmat
ing the Importance of this general move
ment will be found in the characteristic
features of that period of the century.
For our starting point we may suggest
that the 'Origin of Species by Oar
win was published in 1859, three years
before the passage of the Land Grant
Act. This may be taken as the beginning
of revolution in the thinking and the
Education in America. Naturally it found
its enthusiasm in many of the sciences
related to agriculture such as Botany,
tn pf pt
plant and animal life were now studied
from the standpoint of the evolutionary
hypothesis.
The colleges of agriculture dealing in
practical way with both plant and ami
NAL life We're the natural homes of the
new order of scientific thinking and in
struction. The intellectual awakening
that came found expression in the increas-
Ell devotion to scientific study and to
philosophic thinking. When the Civil
War had closed the whole country turned
anew to fortune building, institution
building and the development of educa-
ton. From this period is marked the
wonderful development of our public
school system, of the endowment of col
eges and the rapid increase of students.
! Manufacturing enterprises, the devel-
opment of the great West, the rehabilita-
tion of the South and the wonderful pro-
gress of the country marked a movement
that has not yet been seriously retarded
1t would not be fair to assume that any
one factor should have the exclusive credit
for its influence in the development and
achievements of this half century. With
due regard for all other agencies that
have made contributions to this growth
it is desired now to point out that the
colleges of agriculture and mechanic arts
were at the very beginning in this pro
gressve movement. Many of them have
been developed into large prosperous
state universities while in other instances
they have developed large and important
colleges with state universities under g
different management. 1t is doubtless
true that no state university has beer
uninfuenced by the agricultural college
in the state. A most direct influence, OF
course, would be in those universities
where the agricultural college is one OF
the component parts of the state S high
er education.
The development of the experiment
station in the full tide of the nation ;.
prosperity, came in response to the de
mand for research work and for basis
of fact scientifically attested, whicl