University of Minnesota - Gopher Yearbook (Minneapolis, MN)

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Never did President Northrop's power of earnest speech show itself in a more marked manner than in his address on agricul- tural education delivered before the Minnesota Horticultural Society in January, 1887. A great danger threatened the Univer- sity. It was proposed to separate the Agricultural School from the State University, and make it an independent institution under entirely distinct management. The idea had been brewing for years, its advocates had appealed strongly to class prejudice, The Old ll'cIl on the Nurtllrop llunlcsteml. and at last the plan was pushed by a strong political party. Then it was that the wisdom and tact of the President inani- fested itself. He did not stand alone in his efforts. The whole weight of Governor Pillsbury's powerful influence was thrown into the scale, and thus the unity of the University was preserved and the state was saved from the curse of two or three weak, struggling institutions, instead of one strong and vigorous. No farmer who had ever grasped his hand could be made to .25 Qzbyraphzbaf.

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xzbyrapbzbaf. And in closing he expressed this wish, which all his relations with the thousands of students who have since gone forth from the University have helped to realize: I hope that all our students, as they graduate and go out into the world, will look to this place as to what was once their home, and what in a very high sense was their birth-place, that they will have pleasant memories ofsoinething besides recitations and lecturesg that they will recall many a word of counsel, of encouragement, of inspiration, given to them by tl1C instructors outside the lines ol' daily The West Lane District School, where President Northrop rcecircll his first instrzu.-tmu 1'0UtiUei and that, HS the .Years pass on, they will love to come back to ns and encourage us in our work, by showing what noble men and women they have become. That is the kind ofloyalty to the Univer- sity we should seek to inspire, a loyalty horn ofthe remembrance that here, in the very crisis oflife, kindness and sympathy were experienced, here intellectual power and moral earnestness were acquired, and here an inspiration to a true life was given, an inspiration whose voice has been heard in all the years that are past, and, they know, will never be silent in the 'years that are to come! ' 24-

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Zlbyraphzbal. believe that he was an aristocrat, who would teach students to look down upon honest laborg no man who listened to his words could doubt that he was the man to whose wisdom and guidance should be committed the education ofthe children ofthe common people. They felt his heart throbbing through his words and they could not help trusting him. He said to them: My early years were spent upon a larm, where l became iainiliar in a practical way Kvith the whole routine ofa l'armer's lile, what his work isg and I believe I know what his needs are so far as they relate to education and preparation lor his work. It is not because 1 happen to be president ol' the University that loppose the establishment ol' a separate college of agriculture. 'l'he separation ofthe college olagrieulture from thc University would not impair the usefulness of the University in other directions, unless, indeed, the State, burdened with the support of two institutions, should withdraw its support from the University and thus stop it in its career of progress, upon which it has fairly entered and to which it challenges attention. l do not understand that the most earnest advocate ofscparation desires to impair the power and usefulness of the University. Hut I oppose the establishment of a separate college of agriculture, as a citizen ol' the state. 1 oppose it because it will involve a needless expenditure ol' money to establish it, and a much larger expenditure of money to carry it on every year than will be required lor doing the same work in the University already established. I oppose it because it involves heavier taxes without corresponding benefits. I oppose it because it is unnecessary, and if established will never accomplish what its supporters hope. I oppose it Hnally because we are in the midst of an experiment with the college of agriculture, and it remains to be seen whether or not we can meet both the wants and the demands of the larmcrs. I have only to add that whenever it shall be proved that some other arrangement than the present will be benclicial, I For one shall heartily welcome the new arrangement. He showed them the sophistry in the arguments which had been drawn from the experience of other states, showed them what had already been done for the farmer and how willing he was to do anything more that should promise to be of real ben- efit. He showed them the fallacy of hoping by any system of education to prevent many of their sons from seeking other employment. I 26