Grand Forks daily herald., 1914-12-10

Total ................ .sSc4,d59.O7
And then, as the rrowning horror,
it is stated that whereas the salaries
Of all the elective and appointive Of
ficials of the state, including the dep
uty examiners, amount to but $751;
900, the officers and instructors of the.
university draw the princely sum of
$4,000, or $4,000 more than is re-
ceived by the state officials.
The :inimus of the article is seen in
the fact that the university has been
singled out as the horrible example
Of lavish expenditure and unholy de-
mands, although the university csti-
mate of appropriations is smaller by
nearly half than the estimate of one
other institution, the Agricultural COL
legc. Why, under the circumstances,
is the university used as an illustra-
tion?
The effort that had been made to
swell the total of university income is
also apparent in tho Use that is made
of some of the items. For instance
an income of approximately $4,000
is anticipated from the commons. or
boarding department. of the 'institu-
tion. The uniformed reader would
very probably assume that it was en-
pectcd that this represented Il surplus
or profit. Nothing of the sort is
true, as the person who compiled the
figures doubtless knew very well. The
aim of the university management is
to operate It's boarding department at
cost The department is maintained
for the purpose of supplying to STU
dents good, plain meals at the lowest
possible price. No profit is realized or
desired, therefore, if it is estimated
that 100000 will be the income from
the commons. it is also estimated that
that sum will be expended in the pur-
chase and preparation of food for the
students Similarly the receipts of
other departments, such as the pub
lie health laboratory, the biological
station and the geological survey are
treated as if they were items Of prof.
it. and available for the general pur-
poses of the institution The charges
which are made by these departments
for services which they perform for
individuals or localities arc not made
on the basis OF profit at ALL. but arc
SO fixed as to offset, as nearly as
possible, the actual cost OF perform
ing the work. Hence, the "income''
of these various departments, derived
in this manner, might he twice, or
thrice, or fifty times what it is, and
still it would not yield a dollar of
available money for the general pur-
poses Of the institution. We take it
that the people of North Dakota, who
are maintaining their educational in
stitutions. do not wish those institu-
tons to operate hotels and analytical
Laboratories, and so forth.t on a COM
nlerfial basis. and for the purpose of
deriving a profit 1t is assumed that
the desire is that these things should
be conducted. as they are at the uni
vsrslty. as mere incidents to the work
Of education. as necessities to the stu
dent body and to the general public,
In such manner that their operation
! will entail no direct loss. That, at any
rate. VIC take to be the manner In
which the university trustees and Of
, ffcers have interpreted the public de-
, sire.
In connection with the total income
of the university, much of which is
of the special character referred to,
a few comparative figures are some
what illuminating. The United States
government complies very carefully
statistics pertaining to the educational
institutions. The compilations; arc
made by state groups. For the year
1911, the. last wear for which figures