29 

 Evening Session, Tuesday, Xovembek 14, 1005. 



The coiivoiition was callod to order at S.oO o'llock p. lu., J. C Hardy, of Mis- 

 sissipi)!. first vito-|trcsi(lent, in tlic rliair. 



Statistical Work of the V. S. Departmext oe AoRicrr.Tt'RE. 



IT. J. Waters, of Missouri, offered a resolution relatinj; to tliis worlc. wiiieli 

 was referred to the exeeutive eomniittee. (For action on it see p. 49.) 



Petition of Association of Mining Schools Kegardini! Indorsement of Mon- 



DELL Bill. 



A petition from tlie National Association of State Miningc Schools, request*- 

 ing a reindorsement by the association of the .Mondeli liill, was presented by 

 II. C. White, of Georgia, and was referred to tiic cxci iiti\ t> conuuittee. (See 

 p. 42.) 



President E. P>. Voorhees, of New .lersey. was introduced and delivered the 

 annual presidential address, as follows: 



Annual Adiujkss of the President of the Association. 



A review of the proceedings of our annual conventions and their relations 

 to the develoitinent of the work of the colleges and stations in the last eighteen 

 years would doubtless be pr()fital)le and interesting at this time, as showing the 

 intluence of this association in iniifying sentiment and directing and concen- 

 trating effort along the lines of progress. I shall, however, refer but briefly 

 to our early history, but will discuss in a general way some of our i)reseiit-day 

 problems, p;irticuhuiy in their relation to the education of the farmer and 

 his family. In the early history of this as.sociation there were, as was to be 

 expected, two distinct views held by the officers of the institutions, as t(j the 

 character of the larger work that should be done by the colleges provided 

 lor by the Hatch Act of 1887, and the Morrill Act of 1800. 



On the one hand, those who had received their training in our older insti- 

 tutions, were conservative and adhered strongly to the old landmarks in 

 reference to educational methods, and with glowing periods and persuasive 

 logic demanded in the founding and developing of these new institutions that 

 the old curriculum of studies, which had for centuries been found to fulfill 

 the requirements in the development of the intellectual faculties of man, 

 should be, in large part, retained. They urged that " the student must be 

 taught to think : that the powers of reason and memory could be strength- 

 ened in no way quite so well as by a rather close adherence to the classical 

 studies." On the other hand, those who had been trained mainly in the field 

 of action urged quite as strenuously that " the time for a new departure had 

 come; that students should be taught to do, as well as to think, and that the 

 powers of reason, memory, and observation could be developed quite as well 

 by a study of science and its manifestations and ai)plications as by the study 

 of subjects formerly regarded as alone capable of leading to that end, and 

 demanded the entire elimination of these from the agricultural and other 

 courses of a rather scientific character." 



It is evident that rapid progress along the right lines could not be made as 

 long as these opposing and, in a sense, antagonistic views were held. A study 

 of the proceedings of the conventions shows, however, that wise concessions 

 vrere made from time to time on both sides. The conservative parties were 

 imable — nor did they persist in their attempt — to resist the logic of the situa- 

 tion. The demand for workers in technical fields was imperative, and would 

 permit only in exceptional cases that thorough education which the old curricu- 

 lum afforded. The others learned, on their part, that technical studies alone, 

 while training men more (juickly for practical activity, could not in themselves 

 be regarded as sufficient from the l)roader educational standpoint. The best 

 men in the technical pursuits, the leaders, whether in chemistry, engineering, 

 electricity, the scientists in the various branches of experiment station work, 

 had received, as a rule, a broader training than was made possible by the 



