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the country. It is given to the Congress of the United States " to regulate 

 commerce," and that power and the condition of the country demand of it to 

 abandon the granting of special charters, and to declare, by a general law, that 

 companies may organize under it for the purpose of constructing any railway or 

 other channel of travel or commerce, with no other limitation than properly 

 securing the owners of the real estate over which the work may be made, and 

 for such materials as may be necessary in its construction. 



The State of Indiana has set a just and noble precedent for such legislation. 

 Holding the way around Lake Michigan, it could have done as New Jersey 

 did — lay conditions upon the right of way to Chicago, or to other points in 

 Illinois, that would have created a revenue for that State which would, in a 

 great degree, have freed its people from taxation for State purposes. But after 

 the fullest discussion of this subject that State regarded the highways of com- 

 merce as free under the spirit and letter of our federal Union ; that Ohio could 

 not lay under contribution the products of Indiana ; that Indiana could not 

 make such a claim upon those of Illinois, nor upon the general commerce east- 

 ward and westward that might pass over its territory. And so thinking, it 

 passed such an act as we contend should now be passed by Congress. It au- 

 thorized the formation of companies to construct roads of all kinds wherever 

 these companies chose to run them. 



This action was worthy the west and of that State ; not less honorable to its 

 sense of right than just to the relation of the different States. 



The granting of special charters belongs to a past age — to the period of 

 Elizabeth, when the common welft^re was made a monopoly to a few. Then 

 monopolies were given to court favorites, against the general welfare ; noio to a 

 few capitalists, at the expense of the common industry and against national 

 rights. 



AGRICULTURAL COLLEGES. 



Two of the gravest errors have marked the course pursued by the friends of 

 education in our country ; one, however, belonging more to the cities than the 

 other. These errors are, to' scatter our educational resources by the establish- 

 ment of too many institutions, and to expend too much in buildings. The latter 

 is done mostly in cities, where the improvement of the city is more a piirpose 

 than the advancement of education. 



Mr. Justus Liebig, in a conversation Avith Mr. Klippart, during his recent 

 visit to Europe, referred to this evil, and what he said is thus stated by that 

 gentleman : 



" He said, among other things, You don't want much land ; a few hundred acres 

 is all-sufficient for all manner of experiments; and, you must allow me to repeat, 

 you don't want to teach a specific system of model farming, for many reasons : 

 first, not one student, perhaps, can get a farm precisely like your model farm ; 

 he may not be able to get so much grass land, or so much upland, or he may be 

 unable to have farm buildings precisely like the model ones. Then, what good 

 does your model do when nobody can copy it ? Now, when you get home, 

 pray do not misrepresent this idea. I want you to make experiments ; not 

 simply to show what can be done, but make experiments to show what can be 

 done profitably, and what may be done by any intelligent farmer. Of course 

 you cannot expect to accomplish much for the present generation of farmers ; 



