SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION. 173 



on Roman soil, so great was Roman faith in Roman destiny, that the 

 very soil at that moment trampled by enemies' feet was sold at auc- 

 tion and bought by competition. But here was greater faith ; here 

 was nobler patriotism. While the windows of the Senate-house were 

 rattling with the enemy's cannon, those men had such faith in the des- 

 tiny of the nation, and such trust in the arts of peace, that they 

 quietly and firmly legislated into being this great, comprehensive sys- 

 tem of industrial and scientific education. In all human annals I 

 know of no more noble utterance of faith in national destiny out from 

 the midst of national calamity. 



But what was this measure ? 



The question is pertinent, and all the more so now, on account of 

 sundry efforts to misrepresent it. Look at the act of Congress itself. 

 You see at once that it did not provide simply for agricultural col- 

 leges, nor simply for colleges of the mechanic arts. No ; the inten- 

 tion was broader and deeper than that. It provided that " subjects 

 relating to agriculture and the mechanic arts " should be made " lead- 

 ing branches," "without excluding other classical and scientific 

 branches," and including " military tactics." 



What, then, was the purpose ? It was to provide fully for an in- 

 dustrial, scientific, and general education suited to our land and time 

 — an education in which scientific and industrial studies should be 

 knit into its very core, while other studies should also be provided 

 for. And, besides this, as it had been seen that the States in rebellion 

 had gained great advantage from the military education of students, 

 it was declared that " instruction in military tactics shall also be in- 

 cluded." 



The act of 1862 was, then, a noble, comprehensive scheme, look- 

 ing, as you see, first of all, at the industries of the nation, but at the 

 same time insisting on provision for the broadest scientific and general 

 culture. 



I pass now to the reception of the benefits of the act by the various 

 States. 



Under the law, land-scrip was given the different States, based 

 upon the representation of each State in Congress, scrip for thirty 

 thousand acres being issued for each representative and senator. You 

 will note here, in passing, one more provision showing thoughtful 

 statesmanship. It was provided that, except in the case of States 

 having public lands within their own borders, no State should^'' locate " 

 the scrip. The great majority of the States could not, therefore, ob- 

 tain land. They could only take the scrip and sell it at market prices. 

 An individual might buy the scrip and locate it ; a State could not. 

 Thus was prevented any troublesome imperium in imperio.^ such as 

 would have been created, for example, had the State of New York 

 been allowed to acquire a million of acres in the heart of the State 

 of Wisconsin. 



