Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1915-04-02
WiscOnSin,S Problem
Is Similar to That
of North Dakota

Il - " Soiiii OlIOALiS
educational institution; Gov
ernor Phillip determined to
cut down expenditures.
Editors rkote-Ihe Tribune
will reprint selections from a Sc
ries Of interesting articles in the /
New York Post. This, first, fol.
lows: &
Since some OF the bitter enemies OF
the present head of the University
claim to be political or personal
friends Ex-Governor E.. l.. Phillip, it
Is of the utmost Importance to know
where the new chief executive of
Wisconsin stands in the matter. The
writer had a very satisfactory and in
teresting interview with Gov. Phillip
in his office at the Capital. The Gov
ernor was candid, definite and de-
sirous of making his position perfect
ly clear.
He demurred at first to the state
ment that there was a controversy"
between the Capitol and the Univer-
sity, but soon assented 10 that way
of putting the. thing, on the under
standing that the term Controversy"
be used mildly" His explanations
and answers to several rather blunt
questions may be summarized as fol-
lows: LAM 8 ;
No Intention OF Destroying.
The governor has not the. slightest
Intention Of breaking down. the uni
versity; he, has been a builder. a con-
structive business man, all his life,
and does not propose to destroy any
thing worth preserving, or to run
amuck among academic departments,
and teachers. He has been forced. to.
take notice of certain. attacks on
President Van Hise, of certain Cos
sip and press communicated on mis-
apprehension largely ard to disavow
in n or two public speeches any
hostility to President Van Hise or to
any group of faculty members. He
protested strongly that he had no po-
litical or personal axes to grind or
grudges to exploit. He would not in
terfere with the board Of regents or
with any body that might succeed that
board under legislation now pending,
SO far as the educational policies OF
the personnel of the university were
concerned.
Peoples Will.
There were, however, he said, GER
tain policies to which he was commit
ted, which the majority of the PEG.
lple had deliberately approved and Or
1dered, and whichewere, i'll ~ opinion,
in every way sound and beneficial.
In the first place, the state had to
retrench and economic. Taxes had
increased in every .directie4r AID, the
people, especially the men Of Small
means, were determined to have a
substantial reduction. Every service,
every commission, every taxing body,
must accept it's share Of the reduc-
ton, and the university was to have
no special immunity. To demand
economy Of it was not, in the circum-
stances, to reveal! hostility to it, or to
commit an injustice toward it.
The university has grown too fast,
1.-The governor thinks; has obtained
and used nor money than the people
tof Wisconsin-after~a l,sn-emalA-stat
and a thrifty, prudent, and conserva-
tive one, whatever a few local social
list victories may appear to argue to-
the contrary--7could really afford to
give it. Perhaps it has INDUCED
dreams and ambitions of "bigness," of
expansion, that are not warranted by
the means of the state.
If so, these dreams must be dis
missed. Quality the State is willing
to pay for; the University must not
lose it's rank or standing; the State Is
proud of the University's name and
fame; but size and numbers are total
ly different matters. To mere size
the people are Indifferent; at any rate,
they object to paying for the educa-
ton of large numbers of nonresident
and ever foreign students, and, while
they want to be fair, they do not care
to be "foolishiy generous" to outsid-
ers at the expense of their W inter-
ests. material, moral, and educational.
Time to Consolidate.
In the second place, the Governor
and his supporters in and out of the
legislature feel that the time has
come to consolidate unity, and i'm
prove the administration of the States
educational system. They say, that
the University, consciously or other
wise, has stood apart and. aloof. It
has thought of little a v the Univer:
sity. The normal schools, of which
:here are eight in the State, and a
ninth building, are managed IN the
same detached way; there is no COZ.
relation or cooperation between them
and the University. The same thing
might be said of other parts of the
system. But while the higher insti-
tutions have grown and have receiv-
ed liberal treatment, the common
schools and particularly the country
schools, and still more particularly
the one-room country schools in the
rural sections, the isolated and remote
sections, have been badly neglected.
and ever sacrificed. That is regarded
by the Governor as unjust, as well as
in efficient and unbusinesslike. The
University itself ought to recognize
that and seek to change the situation.
Rural Schools.
The pressing problem of raising the
rural schools, of giving them better
teachers, Of paying such teachers
more than they nov get, Of making
rural teaching a true profession, OF
counter-acting the drift of teachers to
the towns and cities, of giving the
great majority of the poor boys and
girls Of the State a reasonably salts.