Purdue University - Debris Yearbook (West Lafayette, IN)

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PURDUE UNIVERSITY I-IIS sketch, or, better, compilation, makes no PIPIGIISIOIIS to being a complete or detailed history of our University, but seeks rather to throw some light on its o1'igin a11d development. In the personal reminiscences it is desired to give the readers some idea of tl1e life of the students in the University at different periods of its history. . In the field of American politics, belief in the inestimable benefits to the states of the 'Amore pe1'fect union has long been a part of tl1e popular faitl1. Though they may not have understood, the people have at least believed that in the source of the federal union they live and move and have their being. In the national political life, in the broad sense, education is one of the most important fields of state jurisdiction, and of the great benefits of the Union in the institutional life of the states, the history of popular education affords a specific a11d striking example. IVe have in a measure recognized the beneficent influence of the federal government i11 the development of education in I11dia11a. That government has been the most gene1'ous and powerful patron of the schools of our state. The tivo townships for colleges, tl1e sixteenth section for the common schools, the surplus fund, the saline la11ds, and minor donations, all coming from the general government, have proved to be the basis for the growth of the schools and the foundation on which the splendid school fund of the state has arisen. The history of Purdue University continues the story of the benefits received for education in Indiana from the national government. Purdue University is the Indiana Institute of Technology. It has been said of Cornell University that it was the gift of the United States govern- ment and Ezra Cornellf, Purdue rests upon a similar basis-on private benevolence upon the one hand and the gift of the central government upon the other. Both institutions, Cornell and Purdue, l1a.d their origin in the act of congress of July 2, 1862. In 1860 the national government had at its command, with the constitutional right of dis- posal, more than a billion acres of unclaimed public land. Agricultural societies' throughout the Union had for some years been petitioning congress for the donation of this land to the states for

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several pursuits and professions in life. As a result of this law, there have been founded in every state and territory of the Union the so-called Land Grant Colleges or Agricultural and Mechanical Collegesf' of which Purdue University is a foremost representative. At the time of the passage of this act it is probable that no one quite realized its full signifi- cance. and even at tl1e present day we have not measured up to a perfect estimate of the impor- tance of its provisions. Under it, colleges have been established in every state and territory, the prevailing characteristics of which are the furnishing, at a very slight expense, of training along scientific and technical lines which is directly applicable to the lives and activities of the great masses of our people. Nearly thirty thousand students are today enjoying the opportunities thus afforded, under the instruction of faculties numbering nearly two thousand instructors. In estimating the significance of this movement we must remember that, to a very large degree, these colleges have had a leading share in the development of scientific education Which previous to their establishment received but minor attention from the older colleges of our land, and that, today, these institutes are the leading centers of scientific a11d technical teaching and research in the United States. YVho shall be able to measure the influence of these institutions-during the thirty-five years they have been established-in modifying the methods of education, in contributing to industrial development and improvement, and, last and most important of all, in the benefits enjoyed by thousands of young men and young women in tl1e opportunities thus afforded for a higher and more practical education. This one act of Senator Morrill is more than enough to secure for him lasting fame. His enduring monument is the most notable group of educational institutions in existence, and his memory will be cherished by succeeding generations of students who profit by the wise provisions of K' The Morrill Act. i :nw t w i in 1 f1tfa1wfft1r'ff if flI'if.-i.l MstaftWil ffffl1u1vIfl4fllifgiQ i

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the purpose of agricultural education. The agitation took formal shape at least as early as 1852. Propositions came from several sources urging that the nation should promote scientific instruc- tion in agriculture, which would soon be needed if we were to preserve our national heritage in forest and field. Mr. Morrill, of Vermont, through whose efforts the land grant bill was first brought before congress, in speaking upon this subject before the house of representatives on April 20, 1858, said : f'There has been no measure for years which has received so much atten- tion in the various parts of the country, as the one now under consideration, so far as the fact can be proved by petitions which have been received from the various sta.tes, north and south, from state societies, county societies. and from individuals. Petitions have come in almost every day from the commencement of the sessionf' The bill then before congress granting land to the states for agricultural colleges was intro- duced and brought to its passage in the house by Mr. Morrill. This was April 22, 1858. It was indorsed by the senate at the following session. It met the veto of President Buchanan, Febru- ary 2-1, 1859. The main ground of the president's objection was that the proposed grant violated the constitution of the United States in that 'L congress does not possess the power to appropriate money in the treasury, raised by taxes on the people of the United States, for the purpose of educating the people of the respective statesfl and that the power specifically given to congress 'G to dispose of the territory and other property of the United States was to be used only for the objects specifically enumerated in the constitution. Firmly believing that the measure which had been defeated was both wise and constitutional, Mr. Morrill reintroduced the measure in the house of the Thirty-ninth Congress, December 16, 1861. It was again unfavorably reported by the committee on public lands, and, seeing its inevitable defeat, Mr. Morrill proposed to submit a substitute, which he hoped Would satisfy the committee and the house, but he was overruled by an objection from Mr. Holman. In the mean- time the measure had found a champion in the senate in the person of Senator W'ade, of Ohio. O11 May 5, 1862, Senator lVa.de introduced in the senate the bill which finally became a law, and which became the foundation of several state agricultural colleges, among them Purdue Uni- versity. Although the bill was bitterly opposed, Senator VVade succeeded in getting it through the senate June 10, 1862, with an amendment by Senator Lane. It passed the house one week later, and on July 2, 1862, it received the signature of President Lincoln and became a law. By this measure it was Henacted by the senate and house of representatives in congress assembled, that there be granted to the several states, for the purposes hereinafter mentioned, an amount of public land, to be apportioned to each state a quantity equal to 30,000 ac1'es for each senator and representative in congress to which the states are respectively entitled under the census of 1860? The lands to be selected excluded all mineral lands, and were to be chosen