University of Maryland College Park - Terrapin / Reveille Yearbook (College Park, MD)

Page 23 text:

By this act every State in which an Agricul- tural College was established, or was to be estab- lished, received unclaimed Western land to the amount ot 30,000 acres for each representative in Congress ; the proceeds from the sale of this land, in place or scrip, to be invested in Government or State bonds paying not less than 5 per cent., as a permanent endowment for such College. The Leg- islature of Maryland accepted the land so granted, in scrip, and designated the Maryland Agricultural College as the beneficiary thereof Owing to the depressed condition of land values at the time that this scrip was sold, 1S65, but comparatively little was realized from the sale in all about $112,000. This was invested in State bonds, yielding a little more than $6,000 per annum in the way of income to the college. At the time of the receipt of this important addition to its income the college had already broadened the sphere of its work, and had provided a somewhat elaborate course of instruc- tion. While the agricultural features of the course were still preserved, considerable attention was paid to the literary branches and the classics, and the degrees of A.B., A.M. and Ph.B. were conferred. But in 1865, the hard times and the unsettled state of affairs in Maryland, consequeut upon the Civil war, had reduced the attendance at the college and brought its finances to so low a point that it was found necessary to apply to the State for aid. The State came to the assistance of the college, becom- ing part owner of the land and property of the corporation, binding itself to an annual appropria- tion for its support, thus securing the right of representation on the Board of Control. Since that time several changes have been made in the com- position of the Board. At present it is constituted as follows. The Governor of the State is ex-officio president of the Board ; the other State officers who are ex-officio members are the Comptroller, the Attorney-General, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Delegates. Besides this representation the Governor appoints six visi- tors and the stockholders elect five. In 1887 Congress passed a second important act in aid of the agricultural interests of the States, appropriating $15,000 a year for the establishment and maintenance of Agricultural Experiment Sta- tions. The Maryland Station was located on the college farm, and was made a department of the college. In 1892 the Board of Trustees so far separat- ed it from the college as to put it under a special Director, who is directly responsible to the Board. Again in 1892 the Federal Government showed its disposition to favor the colleges of Agriculture 17