124 



by presoriliinp: tlio work, by lejiislativo enactment, or otherwise, ■which each 

 institution should offer. So long as these colleges and universities are depend- 

 ent for support ui)on periodical approi)riations from the legislature there will 

 always be controversies sure to arise ivgai-ding the .-iniounts each institution 

 is enlitled to receive from the State. These widespread agitations are not oidy 

 oxjiensive. Itut pre.judici:il to the interests of higher education. It is !nii)ort:int, 

 therefore, that some means be devised by which permanently to adjust the diffi- 

 culties and establish more harmonious relations lietween these institutions. In 

 connection with the foregoing the following \)\an is suggested: 



(a) That a thorough investigation be made under legislative authority to 

 determine the i)roporti()n or amount of the annual State revenue that can be 

 devoted to higher education. , 



(b) That a similar investigation lie made of the work and requirements of 

 the institutions of higher learning to determine the ])ro])ortion of the amount 

 provided by the State for higher education th.-it should be given to each 

 institution. 



(c) That a .statutory levy be made on all the assessed valuation of State 

 property suthcient to provide each institution with the re(]uired annual income. 



If this jilan were adopted as a permanent policy (1) it would provide a regu- 

 lar fund, which would increase with the growth of the State; (2) it would 

 insure a more stable higher educational policy: (8) it would enable the boards 

 of control to know approximately what their income would be for years in 

 advance, and thereby to plan their expenditures more wisely and more syste- 

 matically : and finaliy, (4) it would relieve the State of the embarrassing and 

 expensive contentions, at each recurring session of the legislature, over the 

 question of apiirojiriations for the land-grant college and the State uni\ersity, 

 and the attendant controversies regarding the respective functions and the com- 

 parative value of these institutions. 



A. C. True, of the Office of Experiment Stations, presented the following 



I)aper : 



The Land-Grant Colleges and the Public Schools. 



The door of opportunity for the land-grant colleges in their relations to the 

 imlilic schools swings both ways. The colleges need to aid in strengthening and 

 inqtroving the schools, because from them nuist come the great m.-ijnrity of the 

 college students, and it is therefore highly inq)ortant that the public schools shall 

 give the right kind of preparation for the coui'ses offered in the land-grant col- 

 leges. The door l)etween the colleges aiid schools nuist have the right inward 

 swing. Tint the colleges should also ally themselves closely to the public schools 

 in order that the schools maintained by the people may feel the inspiration of the 

 great educational motives on which the system of land-grant colleges is based. 

 And therefore the door between the colleges and the schools should swing easily 

 outward .ind the college men and school men should frequently i)ass to and fro 

 through it. 



The fundamental thing is that the public school system should be efhciently 

 orgjinized to meet tlH> <'dncational needs of the masses of American youth, and 

 therefore, like the land-grant colleges, it should provide an education which, 

 whatever else it does, should directly aid tlie " industrial classes," constituting 

 the vast m.-ijcrity of oiu' population, to succeed in the several pursuits and pro- 

 fessions of life. Ninety-four jier cent of American children do n(.t get lieyond 

 the connnon school; 4 ])er cent atti'ud the liigh scho^ds. ;ind less thin '2 pvr cent 

 receive any insti'uction in (-(tlleges of any kin<l. It is obvious that the main 

 l»urpose of the jiublic schools should be to jirepare foi- life, r.-ither than for 

 college. 



Our school system h:is been the outgrowth i f a i)l:ui of education fi-auunl to 

 meet the requirements of the favored few wli;i. under an aristocratic social 

 scheme, were destined foi- leadershij) in letters, statesmanship, medicine, law, 

 and theology. Such modifications as it has thus far received as the masses have 

 come into the imblic schools have mainly tended to direct the youth to those 

 pursuits in which maiuial work is reduced to a minimum. The gi'i-at industries 

 of agi'icidtiu'e .-lud mechanic arts in which most of <nn' iieojile are engaged have 

 thus been discriminated against in (»ur system of public education. an(l the minds 

 of our ])eople have been jirejudiced against them in the schools m;iintained at 

 imldic exi)ense. 



Obviously this is wmng. but grave as this offense is it is not the only injury 

 wrought by such a school systeuL For of late the wisest educators have come 



