The Days of a Man ^1885 



The up in the finance committee of the senate, one of 

 member theni) Hugh ^ McMullen of Dearborn County, 



Dearborn spoke sarcastically of the chairman's attitude. Wil- 

 lard thereupon arose in high dudgeon and threatened 

 to resign the chairmanship. McMullen immediately 

 moved that the resignation be at once accepted; 

 the motion passed by acclamation, and Willard 

 found himself high and dry. He afterward re- 

 marked that 'you cannot do anything in a legis- 

 lature full of university alumni." 



The At the same session the senator from Sullivan, 



^ r w ^ PP se d any further endowment of the Uni- 

 versity, set forth a fantastic argument. Referring 

 to William B. Creager, then superintendent of schools 

 in his county, he spoke in substance as follows: 



Six years ago Bill Creager was working out road taxes in 

 Sullivan at a dollar a day. Then he went to the State Normal 

 School at "Terry Hut." Then Sullivan hired him again, this 

 time as teacher, and had to pay a hundred dollars a month. 

 Then he went to the State University at Bloomington, which 

 we support with our taxes. He comes back and we make him 

 county superintendent and pay him two hundred a month. 

 That isn't fair. We pay for the schools and he gets the benefit, 

 while we lose six dollars a day because Bill Creager has been 

 eddicated. 



Still another member "from down Cincinnati 

 way," a saloon man of German origin, had never 

 heard of universities, and asked what they were for. 

 I explained their purpose to his satisfaction and ap- 

 parently secured his vote. It is, of course, only fair 

 to say that the majority of the legislature were 

 competent, steady-headed men, largely farmers and 

 country lawyers. I may also add that the most 

 competent and helpful of all were often attorneys 



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