University of Minnesota - Gopher Yearbook (Minneapolis, MN)

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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

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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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I shall regard it as a sad day for the country when the ranks of the professions and of trade and of manufacturing and of banking can no longer be recruited from the sturdy, and energetic and honest sous ol' farmers in the country. The best blood in all lines ofaetivities in our large cities has come from the country and from the homes of farmers. Long may it be so, and lar distant be the day when through any compulsion, social or physicahesoteric or exoteric,sons of farmers shall be shut up to an education purely agricultural, and be forced, against their OW11 tastes and inclinations, to follow the occupation of their fathers. As the mingling of nationalities and creeds and pur- poses and tastes helps the process of assimilation in our national life, so the mixing of families in ditierent pursuits keeps all out of a rut, and adds to the life and activity of the whole. When, then, farmers complain that so many iarmers' sons go into other pursuits than tarming, they complain ol' what is for the best good ofall concerned. What we need to look out for is not lest farmers' sons should go into other professions, but lest fil1'l1lCl'S,XVllClll'lCI' the sons ol' farmers or not, should be uneducated and unfit for their work. And in closing he made this stirring' appeal: The State of Minnesota has many things of which she may justly be proud. Her territory is a royal domain of magniheent pro- portions. Her soil is of surprising lertilityg her climate is most invig- orating. Her people are enterprising, enthusiastic, united. Her rapid progress in material development,in populatiou,in wealth,eommands the attention, the admiration, the wonder ol' the whole country. Beyond her is a territory stretching from the Mississippi tothe Pacilie, the future homes of millions, whose wealth will pour itself in endless iiood into her borders. The State so great in material resources is hardly less great in her liberal provisions for education. She ought to feel pride in her highest institution, her University. What, then, shall the University of Minnesota be to the State of Minnesota? Shall it be a real university, or shall it,bc dismembered and divided, one part here and another there? Shall it be a university or a conled- cracy of high schools? Shall it be to Minnesota what I-Iarvard University has been to Massachusetts, Yale to Connecticut, and Princeton to New jersey, the University of the State and thus of national reputation, or shall it be one ofthe Universities of Minnesota and so unknown beyond the State? It is not the university ofthe regents who govern it, nor of the iaenlty who teach in it. It is the University of the State of Minnesota. To the State of Minnesota, therefore, I look with confidence for such wise and liberal action as shall preserve the University from mutilation, shall enable it to keep abreast the age in its learning and teaching, and shall make it an institution where all sound learning may be gained, where the rich and the poor may meet together on equal terms and may secure an 27 fzbyrapkzbaf.