FAKMERS' INSTITUTES. 39 



ment in electricity were iinknown. The onward march along all lines 

 since that time is almost inconceivable. These changes influenced 

 greatly the trend of higher education. "The impression gained ground 

 rapidly that higher education should not be limited to those fields of 

 operation in which medicine, law and theology played the predominant 

 part, but that the best thought and the highest culture should be used 

 in developing our industrial arts, and in making science the hand- 

 maid of toil; that it should arm and equip man for his struggle with 

 the material universe. That our educational system should be so re- 

 constructed that the trained mind, the knowledge and methods of 

 the educated man, should be brought to bear upon the solution of 

 the problems of war, commerce, agriculture, manufacture, public health 

 and government." 



It was also believed that education was not without economic value; 

 I hat it should be made to contribute more largely to increase the 

 wealth of this nation. For as the nation is prospering financially, it 

 grows intellectually. The material and the intellectual welfare of a 

 free people are very closelj^ allied. The masses, under any form of 

 government, cannot rise intellectually unless they can prosper finan- 

 cially. Long hours of toil and an empty stomach are not good con- 

 ditions for intellectual growth. But with all our inventions and im- 

 X>rovements in machinery, art, trade and travel, have come shorter 

 hours for those who toil. This means more time for social enjoyment 

 and intellectual improvement. Under the land grant act of 1787 higher 

 education wns practically limited to the few, and did not fully meet 

 the needs of ihe young growing American nation. The advantages 

 in this country should not be for the few; every man has the oppor- 

 tunity to rise; there is no class distinction; the poorest boy has the 

 opportunity to reach the highest position in the gift of the people. 



The changvd conditions brought about by the rapid progress in this 

 country during the first half of this century emjjhasized the necessity 

 of meeting these new conditions by a broadening of the field and opera- 

 tions of higher education. This change of sentiment led Congress to 

 pass a second land grant act. The object of the first act, and of other 

 acts passed about the same time, was to encourage "religion, morality 

 and intelligence, as they were necessary to good government and the 

 happiness of mankind." The second act was for the purpose of estab- 

 lishing colleges which should, ''without excluding other scientific and 

 classical studies, and including military science, teach such branches 

 of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, in 

 order to promote the liberal and i^ractical education of the industrial 

 classes in the several pursuits and professions of life." The new reve- 

 lation did not annul the old; neither did the purpose for which the 

 second land grant act was made prove in any way that the reasons 

 for the first land grant act were not entirely valid. All that was good 

 in the old remains, but much more has been addv^d and has brought 

 our educational system down to meet the needs of the people of this 

 great country at the present time. 



The Agricultural College, which I have the honor to represent, is a 

 child of the new dispensation. It was established to give a higher edu- 

 cation to the industrial classes of the State. It has a distinct field 

 of its own, and is endeavoring to do its work well within its proper 

 sphere. Its main purpose is to give a liberal and practical education 



