The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1913-01-20

crowded. The statement has been made
in the press that such a university
might have 1000 or 5000 students
within 10 years, but these 1000 or 5000
students would be divided up among
various colleges, such as the college
of literature and arts, the college of
law, the college Of science, the college
of engineering, the school of medicine,
pharmacy, dentistry, etc. 1t seems al
most a waste of time to cal this mat
ter to the attention of the people of
Montana, for the people of Montana
are an unusually intelligent class of
citizens, yet some might be mislead by
your quotation from the Christian
Science Monitor, applied to such a
question as this.
In another editorial on the subject,
entitled Upon the Auction Block
you quote from the Butte Post in re-
gard to the so-called "Craighead
plan" of asking the different cities to
state, along with the other advantages
they have to offer as a site for the
greater university, what financial aid
they are willing to grant to secure the
location of that university. You hold
up your hands in holy horror, as does
the editor of the Post, on the PROPOSE
ton that the state should ever use any
business sense, and in the editorial
quoted from the Post we find these
words, quoted ~approvingly by The
Missoulian: I'VE cannot help think
ing that the judgment of the people
will be hat it is beneath the dignity
of the commonwealth, and an offense
to it's sense of self-respect, to auction
off its central seat of learning Now,
l believe that the judgment of the peo-
pie will, on the contrary, be in favor of
the states officers showing ordinary
business sense in this proposition. The
matter of money and Ian will be out
one Of the elements considered by the
proposed commission in settling the
location of this university, but it is
presumed that that commission will
have business sense enough to decide
that a city or town in Montana which
does not care enough for education
does not realize sufficiently the i'm
mense value Of such a university with
in it's midst to make some effort to Sc
cure it's not a suitable location for
such an institution. The commission
will undoubtedly give due weight to
sAS 1""J|SN " 1871 ldSllillcS,
the altitude, climate throughout the
year, and the general fitness for stu
dent life, as regards health conditions.
social conditions and moral conditions.
Such a commission as has been pro-
posed will not put the university upon
the auction block, but they will give
due weight to the hustling qualities
displayed by the citizens of every
town in the state. Now, this seems to
me to be perfectly reasonable. Is it SO
preposterous that the state should ex-
pect citizens to advance something to-
ward this proposition in return for the
untold financial benefits they will re-
ceive from the location of such a uni
versity in their town?
If the editor of The Missoulian would
look the matter up he will find that
Montana is not the only state that has
proposed such a method for the loca-
ton of a higher institution of learning;
he will find, indeed, that this element
very commonly enters into the settle
ment of such propositions; he will find
that some Of the largest universities OF
the middle west received bids of this
character, among others the great Uni
versity of Illinois, and in that case the
town that gave the best bid proved to
be a town satisfactory in every other
respect, and secured the university,
and It has been no mistake; the town
is an almost ideal town for a great
university, not too large. not too small,
centrally located and with good trans
portation facilities; but l cannot pre-
sumo that the editor is so ignorant
fhnt bn lnnc NM 1yp~,.x lN1~ f,a..
and will leave that matter for the pres
ent.
The Missionlian says that a certain
toWnsite company is already in with
a bid of three-quarters of a million
dollars and a tract of land, and con-
%tinues:, How many other bidders
there will be we do not know Every
friend of higher education must be
glad to hear the news, for it shows
that some there are who realize the
value Of an educational institution: it
shows that there are hustlers in the
state of Montana. But let me repeat
again that the mere matter of dollars
and land offered as inducements for
the location of this university is but
one element, and will be so considered
by the proposed commission. ! believe
the taxpayers of this state will not OBJ
ject to that element, and coming as it
would, at the very foundation of the
institution, any financial aid would
certainly be most welcome to every
good citizen of Montana. It seems tina
whenever it is proposed that the state
should use ordinary business sense,
somebody holds up his hands in holy
horror, and says. THAT would be So
cialistic in it's tendency" l believe tina
the rank and file of the voters of the
state, If the matter is left to them,
will conclude that whether this be So
cialistic in its tendencies or not, it is
using the same business sense in the
interests of the state that the 500
railroad, or my other railroad, uses in
settling the matter of townsites along
that line. 1t is well known that the
policy of the 500 has been to pick out
its toWnsites and receive the full bene-
fit of the sale of lots in such town.
Now, will The Muscular give a rea-
son why he state should not show
the same business sense that the ordi-