SPEECH OF HON. JUSTIN S. MORRILL. \11 



mand a veto from the present patriotic occupant of the 

 White House, as he was charged with having done on a former 

 occasion. With this Congress my humble services here will 

 terminate, and the only favor I have to ask of this House is to vote 

 upon this measure squarely on its merits. If its character chal- 

 lenges approval, if the times more than ever persuade to its adop- 

 tion, then give such a vote as will wake into life the instrumental- 

 ities whereby a solid, useful and practical education can be had on 

 terms within the reach of thousands willing and expecting to work 

 their way through the world by the sweat of the brow. 



It is true that some measures which we have been considering, 

 of more or less merit, I have thought it inopportune to press at 

 this particular juncture of affairs ; but I do not include this among 

 them. Instead of being postponed, it is a measure that should 

 have been initiated at least a quarter of a century ago, and if it 

 had been, our taxable resources would now have been far greater 

 than they are, and the absence of all military schooling, would, at 

 the outset of the present rebellion, have been less conspicuous in 

 the loyal States. Agriculture might long ere this have felt its in- 

 fluence ; the statistics of the country might have been more abun- 

 dant and valuable ; the young men might have had more fitness 

 for their sphere of duties, whether on the farm, in the workshop or 

 in the battle-field. 



Something of military instruction has been incorporated in the 

 bill, in consequence of a new conviction of its necessity, forced 

 upon the attention of the loyal States by the history of the past 

 year. A total unpreparedness presents too many temptations even 

 to a foe otherwise weak. The national school at West Point may 

 sufSce for the regular army in ordinary years of peace, but it is 

 wholly inadequate when a large army is to be suddenly put into 

 service. If we ever expect to reduce the army to its old dimen- 

 sions, and again rely upon the volunteer system for defence, each 

 State must have the means within itself to organize and officer its 

 own forces. With such a system as that here offered — nurseries 

 in every State — an efficient force would at all times be ready to 

 support the cause of the nation, and secure that wholesome respect 

 which belongs to a people whose power is always equal to its pre- 

 tensions. 



This bill proposes to establish at least one college in every State, 

 upon a sure and perpetual foundation, accessible to all, but espec- 



