69 



Tlie^o cdllc.uM's owo llKMV birth to tlu> (lc('i> .iihI l'cikm-dus ontluisiiisin (tf statos- 

 inoii who felt the validity of the (h'liiocratif idea! of (MHiaiil\-. It is the iclory 

 of our wostcrii civilization that it has increased initiative and has inultiplicd 

 tho individual ctlicitMK y of tlio avt>rai-'(' man. And the ideal • ( f tlu' founders of 

 these colleires bein.i,' the le.irit iniate exitression in the sphere of e;hicMtlon of that 

 which is most characteristic of western civilization, nnist he cherished in an 

 atmosphere of lila> jrenerous enthusiasm and breadth of view. 



We nuist consi(h'r the character of our students. They are largely from the 

 thrifty industrial classes. They have virile manhood a:id womanhood. The 

 oknnental iiualities that maU.e t'or stren?;th are there. Our first consideration 

 must 1k> su<'h educational training,' and eiiuipment as shall lie calculnti'd to r.-iise 

 "the spiritual character and industrial etlicit'ncy and the polilic.il capacity of 

 the entire ]ieople." In the practical working' out of our democratic system of 

 e(Uication. we fret, on the whole, thi' best material that was «>ver jrathered within 

 college walls. The initial implications as to character and personal force in 

 the very fact of younj; men and youni; women seeking collet*' trainint? are ex- 

 tremely siirniticant. Tlie decision to enter college at all is a uu)mentous one. 

 It has larse imi)lications concenuiiK the tone of life's ambitions and aspirations. 

 It usually si.irnilies a hunjr(>r for knowled.ire; an eagerness to iret at books and 

 to fret into l(>cture halls and laboratories and to find the sources cf information. 

 An earnest and delil)erate (U'cision to enter collefre and to complete a full 

 oolleire course is u.sually itself an index of (lualities of character, of intelh'ct, 

 and of will power that aufrur substantial achievi'ment in life's work. 



But we nuist also bear in mind that we live in a quite (liferent a.ire from that 

 of the founders of these collejres. Their jiurpose and the seojie of their wiirk 

 obviously were somewhat vajrue and indefinite at lirst. They were seekinjr a 

 rtetinition for themselves, a reason for their existence. Meantime there has been 

 J' most remarkable develoi»ment in the fields of ajiidied science — of science as 

 related to the industries. The old siuirle course in airriculture was (|uite a 

 I)rinuti\'e and simple alfair compared with the modern courses offert'd in the 

 most advanced colle.ires of to-day. Instead of a .ireneral coui'se calU'd an airri- 

 cultui'al cuiu'se, offered in the Iowa State Colleire of years ajro. which contained 

 a little jreneral afrriculture, with one jtrofessor irivinn' such instruction as w-is 

 given in the whole field of asrriculture. we now have in airronomy jiroper nine- 

 teen distinct ccnirses of study: in dairyinir. tliirty; animal husbandry, twelve; 

 horticulture, seventeen: afrriculttu-al chemistry, twelve: botany, with special 

 reference to agricultui'e, nineteen; agricultural eccinonnes. one; rural law, one: 

 or one hundred and eleven courses of study aside from the courses offered in tlie 

 general sciences, in history, languages, mathematics, clvi<-s, etc. A like evolu- 

 tion, though not (juite so radical tir marked, lias occurred in tlie schools of 

 engineering. These courses, however, had a somewhat clearer and stronger 

 development earlier, and the transition is not so marked. It is <iuite evident, 

 however, in both the field of engineering and of agriculture, that the develoji- 

 ment has l)een so great and the demand has so increased for distinctively 

 technical studies that these colleges might quite readily become ]»urely and 

 severely technical in all their baccalaureate courses. 



When so many things are crowding for recognition in the curriculum and it 

 comes to an issue between distinctively technical study and a general culture 

 study, it is hard for the more general study to hold its own. The continual 

 remodeling of the courses, the addition of new studies, would seem to threaten 

 the exclusion at last of all the general culture studies. The (luestion is a very 

 pertinent one for us at this juncture, whether such a result is desirable, and if it 

 be not desirable there should be some principle adopted by which the general 

 culture studies shall have some minimum room given them in all courses offered 

 for baccalaureate degree. In my judgment there should lie such a minimum 

 requirement of general culture studies in the first two years of the baccalaureate 

 courses and some opi)ortuiiity for electives in the last two years, and I say this 

 knowing how difficult it is to make such provision, for instance, in a course of 

 civil or mecliiinical engineering. These courses are already heavy. We can 

 not add more studies to the requirements. I believe that the tendency has been 

 overstrong to attempt the minute specialization in technical lines in our engi- 

 neering courses particularly. It is a question to be seriously considered whether 

 we should not react from this tendency and cease to expect to eciuip men for 

 every distinctive technical field, and rather put the emphasis upon the funda- 

 mental principles of engineering, for example, or of civil engineering, if you 

 please, and leave the student to develoi) those prin<-iples in the special field in 

 which he may find himself after graduation. I was profoundly impressed by the 



