11 



the principles they have learned ; men who can apply to the requirements of modern 

 society the discoveries of modern science. They must be expert, and to r.ake thorn 

 so their training must IK* technical, thut is to say, it most have a decided bearing upon 

 some useful calling. 



Secondly. The country needs more skillful laborers ; men who add to dexterity and 

 ular ability an appreciation of their work, an acquaintance more or les,s profound 

 with the nature of the materials, tin- natural laws underlying the manufacturer'.* pro- 

 cesses, the construction and otliee of the instruments ami enginery employed. Such 

 men, adding brain work to manual work, are more contented with their callings, more 

 untry, and are worth much higher wages than any other laborers. For 

 them industrial or trade schools are requisites tin- more the better. 



Thirdly. T! : want than the tun just named. In order to carry 



forward scientific investigations, and to contribute to the advancement of knowl 

 .on which all the useful arts depend, the country requires a great many men ot sci- 



class includes professors and teachers, i: -re, and writers, leaders in tho 



explorations of new regions, officers of trigonometrical and hydrographic surveys, geol- 



s, naturalists scientists, in short, who are not thinking of pecuniary returns, nor 



primarily of the application of science to the arts, but of the discovery of truth, and of 



its diffusion among men. 



Now, a completely-organized educational scheme for the United States should inclnde 

 provision for all these three wants, by the establishment of, 1st, schools ot 

 2d, schools of technology; and, 3d, schools of industry. It is not necessary to discuss 

 which is the most useful. The eye cannot say to the hand, " I have no need of thee," 

 nor the head to the arm. Science is helped forward continually by practical men ; 

 industry depends upon science at every stage of its progress. 



To prosecute science for the sake of science is the proper work of the highest univer- 

 sities. Men may well devote their lives to such studies. 



Technical expertness must usually be acquired at the college period of life, say be- 

 tween the ages of sixteen and twenty-one. 



Industrial training will ordinarily IK; provided for youth between the ages, say. of 

 fourteen and eighteen, or will be supplementary training to those who, having begun 

 to work, are conscious of their own deficiencies. It is a legitimate part of tin 

 ary school system. 



It is safe to say that thus far in almost all the institutions aided by the congressional 

 grant, the technical aspect predominates, that is to say, special efforts are put forth to 

 train up men who shall lead in the applications of industry. I do not know 



that among all this group of colleges, there is an exception to this recognition of the 

 obvious wants of the country. Some of the institutions also appear to have closely in 

 mind the wants of those who are to labor with their own hands upon the farm anil in 

 the work-shop. There is one institution, and possibly more, where the presence of 

 poet-graduate students, studying science for its own sake, is regarded as of the highest 

 value. Probably as the next decade proceeds, these three tendencies, all good and all 

 honorable, will l>e more and more distinctly marked ; but. at present, it would hardly 

 be just to attempt a classification of the colleges upon this basis. We may. how. 

 even now discover a tendency to certain special liues of work in the several institu- 

 tions which are under discussion. 



The congressional enactment uses the phrase " Colleges of Agriculture and the Me- 

 chanic Arts," and this terminology has governed the aim of every foundation. Massa- 

 chusetts is the only State which has divided the fund giving the larger portion for 

 the promotion of agriculture, the lesser for technology. In Missouri, the school of 

 mines is to be built up away from the other departments of the university, but under 

 the same trustees. The other States propose to provide in one institution for both ag- 

 riculture and the mechanic arts. But there are often decided indications of gr 

 excellence in one department than in another. Thus, in Michigan, I> :,>in, 



Pennsylvania, and* hitherto, in Illinois, education iu agriculture has prepond : 

 over that in the mechanic arts. The same is doubtless true elsewhere. Such tenden- 

 cies will doubtless be more and more distinctly manifested as the years roll on, and 

 doubtless the country will be much benefited by this necessary and multiform diver- 

 sity. It is very desirable that there should be as little reduplication as ]tossible, and 

 that each national college should have an office and aim of its own, distinct from that 

 of other institutions, based upon a careful study of the waut of the State in which it 

 is located, the nature of the colleges and schools already organized, and the degree of 

 culture which the young men of the region are likely to seek after and attain. 



THE PROMOTION OF AGRICULTURE. 



One of the most interesting inquiries which can be made in respect to the influence 

 of the congressional grant pertains to the science of agriculture. There is no doubt 

 that many of those who urged upon Congress the bestowal of a grant of laud to the 

 several States were deeply interested in the culture of the soil and in the development 

 of the national resources by improving the agriculture both of the older and newer 



