Year: 1872

ments to slay /" the Phillstines of ignorance


and barbarism,' and so far as such schools


and colleges have been established by the


aid of even comp ,ratively small portion OF


the public domain, they will stand as monu-


ments more enduring than the pyramids at


testing the wisdom of American legisla-


ton.


The facts presented show that we still


have abundant lands at our disposal, and, !,


whether we look at the interest of the


dwellers thereon or that of the Government.


that they are not likely to be disposed of
more usefully or upon sounder principles of


national economy. May it not also be


claimed that the wisdom of founding these
institutions no longer needs vindication ?
Though hardly out of their swaddling
clothes they speak for themselves, and fur
nIsh cloud OF unlmpeachable witnesses testi-
flying 20 the value of the work being done,
as well of the greater work yet 10 be done.
If the whole system will tend to increase the
productions or the profits Of agriculture, o.
to enlarge the skill and power of American
mechanics, or to improve minds now lying
iallOw, or to raise our whole people to a
higher plane of moral and scientific value,
increasing both employments nd remuuer-
ation-and all this / have no doubt will be
reallzed-then the measure should excite the
warmest solicitude and have our broadest
and hsartiest support. The curious maps
published with our last census report show
concluslVely that wealth is uniformly dis
tributed in an inverse ratio to illlteracy


1t is national work, embracing our whole
country, costing hardly more than what has
been proposed for ten years subsidy 70
lines OF commerce, and less than has been,
perhaps, proftably given to a single rail
road, but how immeasurably higher in its
sar,H hos oh
reaching results By so much as the brain
is superior to the pocket does this measure
challenge favor. We seek for Americans
that knowledge and virtue which shall give
10 them the foremost rank among men,
Such rank is the chief luster of nations
and Is created, not by one man sparkling
amid benighted thousands, but by the mas
ses polished and reSplendent in the aggre-
gate. No one, however humblyd, should be
without some ambition to improve himself,
but citizen of the United Slater is, also.
bound to improve and carry onward the
good name OF his whole country.


The character of a nation Is determined
By its antecdents. Today Is the father OF
tomorrow. We make the present, and are
therefore responsible for the future. Here
we plant the acorns, assured that oaks will
grow. Here we modestly lay the foundation
upon which a superstructure will rise 10 the
glory of future generations. Let Us show
that Colombus dld not discover world too
large for a tree people. great part ot
legislative work accomplshes It's utmost pur-
pose and Is obsolete at the end the wear
but here is work that may fondly hope
will endure for ages There viii be no Im-
mediate splendor. but spark will he lighted
which may IlumIne the whole land and lliJ
cloud from the pa hway ot the sons OF toll,
Of ancestry or race, that vi ( p to
them higher sphere of service aud hon0r,
give t. republican institutions a more en-
Ightened and enduring support, aud ma ke
A nation which shall not only deserve to live.
but deserve to be immortal.