The Daily Missoulian., 1914-05-25
Continued From Page one)

vides that the consolidated university
shall be located at either Bozeman or
Missoela, or within five miles of
either of said places. The final voice
in the location of this consolidated
university is not, under the terms of
this bill, to be spoken by the citizens
Of Montana or by any of their official
representatives. who are directly re-
sponsible to the electorate The bill
provides that the governor, the chief
justice of the supreme court and the
superintendent of public. instruction,
or any two of this committee of three
shall appoint a commission of five
members to- be selected from among
the presidents of consolidated state
universities which include an agrieul-
tural college endowed by the federal
government, and that this commission
shall he authorized to select perma-
nent site for the proposed consolidated
university within five miles or less OF
the cities of Bozeman or Missoula.
Upon making it's selection this COM
mission of non residents of Montana is
required to file with the secretary of
state a report in writing designating
the place of said location, and upon the
filing Of this report the place desig
mated therein shall be the scat of said
university The bill further provides
that the consolidation shall be effect
i've from and after August /, 1915, the
evident intent being that the school of
,irea of fe pl either the 3pricl1l-
tural college at Bozeman or the state
university at Missoula shall be closed
prior to the opening of the school year
1915-1916, to be re e~estabtished AS parts
of the consolidated university either
at BoZeman or Missoula. The measure
also provides that Immediately upon
the determination of the location Of
the university by the commission OF
college presidents, as outlined above,
the state board of education shall pro-
cure by purchase, or otherwise, at the
place of location, not less than 1000
acres Of land, inclusive of any lands
owned by the state of Montana, as a
site for the university.
The Commission.
IT will thus be seen that in the mat
ter of location of the consolidated uni
versity the people of the state will, if
this measure is enacted into law, be
compelled to accept the judgment of
five university presidents who, it is
but fair to assume, will have but a
very limited acquaintance with condi-
tions in this state. The bill provides
that this commission shall be APP
pointed not later than March ], 1915
and shall file its report not later than
August i, 1916, five summer months
being allowed for investigation and
for hearing of arguments for and
against both Bozeman and Missoula
Under such conditions it is to be ex-
pected that over-zealous advocates OF
these two cities will go to extreme
lengths in their endeavors to influ-
ence the commission toward dec1-
sion favorable to their particular city
Already, in fact there are evidences
of manifest misrepresentation. Within
the past week I have heard one o
these cities referred to as the centra
noint of a dreadful scourge and tht
other referred to as being possessed
of a climate which would make the po-
lar regions appear tropical i'll com
1)diloOll
Bitterness.
IT is not hard to remember the Dit
terness of the capital campaigns; II
fact. evidences of that bitterness arr
still encountered almost daily shud
der at the prospect of anothef sucf
contest, and even though the decision
is taken away from the electorate
the state and vested in commlsslol
of residents, we must not delua
ourselves with the idea that this UNI
yeysitv contest will be devoid OF bit
ter feeling or prevent misrepresenoa
zion on the part of partisans OF bot
contesting cities. This phase OF Tn
question, I believe, is one worthy Q
the consideration of those patrlotl
citizens of Montana who appreclat
she importance of discouragng the de
veioptnent of sectional feeling.
Moral Consideration.
There are distinct moral consldera
tiOls involved in any discussion
change in the location of Montana
educational institutions. One OF tines